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vinnieworld · 3 years

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5 tips to boost 5 days of Productivity

We all love to procrastinate and most of us (including myself) have made sport out of this, but is this how we really should be approaching things?

The answer is NO.... apparently

So join me in my self evaluation of bringing you 5 tips how I avoided procrastination by being a bit lazy.

Being productive for a whole week when you have too much on your plate but you spend your entire weekend scrolling through social media... well me too :)

Though Mondays suck, its a brand NEW week so we can't let Mondays win and ruin out entire week right?

Tip 1 - Preparation before the week start

- Make a to do list - For the next day or the week

A short list of your most prioritised tasks e.g. starting that essay you been avoiding, even if it just picking the ttile

Make sure to not put too much pressure on these tasks

Keep it simple

DO NOT put too many things, be realistic only add things you know you can achieve

Little ramble on how this helped me :)

We all have those sleepless nights, especially when you have a 9am lecture/class the next day. Somehow you end up going to sleep at 4am still make it to your lecture on time, though the rush might be exciting this is not the way to start the week because your mind will get used to this so much and this becomes your normal routine.

Not going to lie, I am super guilty of this but I found out this not only drains my energy, it strips me away from my motivation and make me lazy all the time.

So one bazzare night I thought to myself what would I potentially want to do this coming week, so I got my phone started typing my "potential" to do list for the week, okay the list was quite long and seemed quite overwhelming, and I knew I wouldn't do all of this so though I made the list I didn't put too much pressure on this. When I checked back in the middle of the week I did most of the things on the do to list unconsiously. This was so surprising I never get things done.... what changed ?

Most of the time we put too much pressure ourself, that's why we procrastinate and they avoid the things we need to do. The minute the pressure is gone you get the urge to do your things even if you are unaware of it.

Tip 2 - Follow today's work TODAY

- Follow the lecture and make notes while you're attending the lecture

Take brief notes on what's on the slides

If the lecturer give extra info add those especially

DO NOT panic if you don't write everything on the slide, remember these are brief notes to for later revision

Speed is not important, what's important is that you have something written on the paper

when the lecture/class is finished fill in the gaps you left during it, do this right after while you still have the energy.

one page = one lecture (unless the lecture is 90 slides then its bit tricky)

Little ramble on how this helped me :)

I personally find it very hard to keep on top of things, especially with how different lecturers have different methods and speed with delivering their content. I tried many methods, recording the lectures, printing the slides, handwriting everything but it only made me bored of the things I was learning.

I can't stare at pages and pages of writing when I'm trying to revise, so best way for me to do this is if I have one page or two for the entire lecture. This helped me a lot of condense my notes, motivated me to keep writing and I felt accomplished by the end of every lecture.

Tip 3 - Keep one book for all your modules

- Invest in a chunky subject divider notebook

This is where you write the notes form the previous tip

One book to take to all your lectures, don't have to carry five or more

Write all the assignment and exams for that subject in the dividers (Kinda like a self-reminder)

Keep a general section where you write extra information that relates to the subjects (e.g. extra seminars, extra activity sessions, groups project notes, your own research for subjects, assignment preparation etc. )

Little ramble on how this helped me :)

Most of my detailed notes are digitalised, this is way easier then writing hours and hours of detailed notes by hand. But all the modules, lectures, practicals are separated so it's too much of hassle to find what I want when I want to have a quick glance at something.

Dividing the book by subject and seeing different content I am going to need regularly being on one place really is therapeutic for me, give me less stress so I don't have to spend time looking through pages of notes to find just one sentence.

Having one book for all my modules, helped me so much to keep on motivated to write notes and keep on top of it and when I revisit it, it's so pleasing to the eye.

Tip 4 - Write flashcards on the day

- Put little bit of extra into a flashcard

Once you finished a lecture, read back and pick the most key bits and write a maximum three sentences

Keep it very very brief

Think of pictograms for some words. e.g. little blog with stokes for a virus or a spark for electricity

Some info you can't fit on your page put it on the flashcard, like a diagram or a table

Little ramble on how this helped me :)

I am a sucker for flashcards, seeing them makes me so happy to revise. But making them when an exam is near is frustrating so if you make them before by the time you get your exam season you already have flashcards to revise from. How convenient!

Tip 5 - Write a sentence or research a bit everyday for your assignments

- Every time you feel like you done nothing today take a look assignment and write sentence - Take this step by step everyday and add information along the way

Pick a title first for whatever your assignment is

Do basic research on the title you chose

Do a basic plan

Improve on the basic research

Add information to the plan

and ect....

Little ramble on how this helped me :)

Doing assignments is tricky, very boring, they can be very long and stressful so we avoid even starting it until the day before it's due. Okay, we all work well under pressure but we don't really produce our best work under a day so investing little time everyday or every other helped me to produce more quality work than normal and it was less pressuring and stressful when I started the binge writing on two three days before the deadline, because all the research, preparation is done all I had to do was write and improve my work along the way.

I actually cannot recommend this enough because it saved me from a lot of breakdowns over my assignments. Just by adding something to it every now and then I basically finished my first draft by the time I actually want to start to write properly.

Bonus tip - Take the weekend off! - > If you're like me and get bored very easily with doing the work then follow these tips for the days you have school or uni, finish everything by Friday and take the whole weekend of .... TRUST ME you will be much more prepared for Monday.

Thank you so much ya'll for reading this, I do ramble a lot but it's a part of me that I embrace so I hope this was helpful for you and make sure to tell me your thoughts and feelings.

Till next time Lovelies x

#students #university #productivity #self improvement #study motivation #procrastination #study notes #tips and tricks #study tips

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windhamsrotunda · 3 years

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Roman Reigns x Y/N {Your Name} - "I Like The Way Your Hand Fits In Mine".

Pairings: Roman Reigns x Y/N

Category: FLUFF, Lots of Cuteness. | Angst!

Summary: After a long day at work, Y/N and Roman go clothes-shopping at Y/N's favorite store and then go home to cuddle.

Warnings: Some Language, | Angst! | FLUFF // Cliffhanger at the end!

Requested by: @tribalhotness 💕

Word Count: 2.7k+

Document 17.docx {WRITTEN IN WORD DOCS}.

1 / 8

Y/N taps her fingers upon her desk, pushing her glasses up to the bridge of her nose.

‘’When’s Roman going to come home?’’ She glances over at the clock impatiently. She is stubborn when it came to Roman’s work schedule, she knew he has long and busy work days ahead of him. Sighing, she removes her glasses off of her face and sets them down on the wooden desk, to where she usually does her readings and college essays. Y/N lays her head down on her desk, getting a shut eye as she sleeps in a deep slumber.

*Y/N’s DREAM*

The dream occurred with candles lit up next to the foot of the bed in rows. Roman had come home about late at night. Y/N is waiting by the foot of her bed, the lit-up candles swooshed in the darkness, lighting up the whole room as he walked in.

He dropped his bags down onto the floor, looking to Y/N’s path.

‘’Oh my god, this is amazing, Y/N.’’ He greets with a smile, leaning in to kiss his girlfriend of 5 years. She swoons in his embraced arms, tangling her fingers into his long, Samoan black hair.

‘’I am glad you like it; I did this for us, baby.’’ She smiled softly, as her boyfriend Roman cups her face delicately with one hand, while his other hand was in Y/N’s, he says:

‘’I like how your hand fits into mine.’’

The way Y/N blushes are adorable to Roman, she kisses him on the lips and took him to the side of the bed. Plopping down on the bed next to her boyfriend, she strokes the side of his face.

Daydreaming inside a dream is lucid, although, she kept herself in check and didn’t want to ruin the rest of the surprise. Y/N’s body was comfortable next to Roman’s, her body shifted to face him.

‘’You are my sunshine,’’ She crinkles her nose cutely as her hands falls into his.

‘’My only sunshine,’’ He sang back, surprised that he knew the song.

Receiving a little laugh from Y/N, she looked into his deep, brown chocolate eyes and purses her lips a little. Roman pecks her neck in response from her pursed lips, earning a small and passionate groan from his girlfriend. He hums, scrutinizing her body language. How she sits so perfectly, how the strands of her hair fell delicately on her shoulders, weighing themselves. The exterior of the window a bit crack to get that feeling of life again in the spare bedroom, Y/N says to Roman:

‘’I love the living daylights out of you, Roman. I want to let that sink into your mind and remember I always have your back.’’

He smiles, and kissed her again.

2 / 8

***END OF DREAM***

Y/N woke up, hearing the door handle open to her bedroom, it’s Roman with his luggage in his hands like the dream started out with. She groggily groans, met by her boyfriend, he walks over to the foot of her bed looking at her where she slept on her desk.

‘’Could’ve just slept in your bed,’’ He suggested, giggling a little at the marks on her forehead from resting.

‘’Oh, be quiet.’’ She laughs, getting up and walking over to Roman. There, they sit together on the bed before deciding to go somewhere.

‘’Y/N, what do you want to do?’’

‘’Go clothes-shopping with you,’’ Y/N announced, he crinkles up his nose at the idea, but he didn’t mind at all since it’s supposed to be a fun day for him and her.

‘’Okay! Sure thing, baby girl.’’ He kissed her forehead.

When they got to the mall, Roman held hands with his girlfriend Y/N. Of course, Roman has to dress up in disguise so he wouldn’t get recognized by some crazy fan. He only wants to spend time with his girlfriend and have fun going clothes shopping. Y/N gazes upon the lovely dresses they have displayed, feeling the soft and eye-appealing fabric on the dresses.

‘’I love this one,’’ She points at the dress to Roman that she was admiring. Roman smiled and said:

‘’Why don’t you try it on in the dressing room and let me see how it looks on you?’’

She walks into the dressing room and closed the door behind her. Removing her clothing, she slips on the luxurious black dress, Y/N then zips the backup of the dress and exits the spare dressing room to show Roman. ‘’You look so stunning, love.’’ He smiles softly, his facial expression sweet.

‘’Thank you so much, Ro.’’ She smiles back; her face flushing in red. He takes his hand into her’s again, going up to the cash register. Y/N bought a lot of things, like richened jewelry, her new favorite black dress, some shoes and lots of scrunchies.

‘’Is this all of you, ma’am?’’ The woman at the cash register asks, eyes fixated on Roman.

‘’Yeah,’’ Y/N replies, then realizing the woman at the cash register was googling at her man.

‘’Your total comes up to $77.69,’’ She proclaims, bagging up the clothing and accessories, looking up at Roman every now and then. She never took her eyes off of Roman.

3 / 8

‘’Um, yeah thanks for googling at my man.’’ Y/N said abruptly, pushing the money towards the cash register woman, which causes Roman to giggle a little. ‘’Let’s go, Ro.’’ She takes his hand, and walked away without a trace.

Supposedly, they are in a state of mind of: ‘’staying in Paris’’, to get away from their parents – The idea of cuddling on a stormy, Monday night watching Netflix series of a clique of girls who are cheerleaders, a type of horror flick. It’s Y/N’s favorite types of movies, however, Roman did not mind the cheerleader movies. Suddenly, he had an idea.

‘'Y/N?’’ he announces during the movie.

‘’Yes?’’

He taps his fingers upon her lap, and says:

‘’This is very weird of me to ask, but how about we pause the movie and listen to our favorite songs?’’

She looks at him in direct contact, she grinned.

‘’And dance?’’ She inquires, getting up off the couch.

‘’To slow and reverb songs, of course.’’

{A/N - I am obsessed with slowed and reverb versions of songs I like, so it’s type of an aesthetic mood I go through; Anyway, on with the fic.}

Roman got up off the couch too, and opened his iPhone to play a song by The Neighbourhood, but in slowed version.

‘’This seems familiar,’’

‘’Like 7 years ago familiar.’’ Roman added, running hands through his hair.

Y/N hummed to the beat of the song, then recognizing the ‘’heart beat through the floor beat’’ that she hasn’t listened to in forever ago.

He extends his hand towards her hand, to where they danced slowly under the dimmed lights of the living room. The world stops between the two of them, the echoes through the song seems as if Y/N and Roman are romanticizing it. She lays her head down on Roman’s shoulder while they dance.

***Y/N’s FLASHBACK TO 2014***

4 / 8

Y/N was at the bar with Roman, the first time they met – was magical. The song SWEATER WEATHER played in the background of the bar through the speakers,

‘’Care if I get you a drink?’’ His charming smile was contagious to her, she couldn’t say ‘’no.’’ to the Samoan man, whose face was so sunny. She felt lovesick to the 6’3 guy, feeling like ‘’he could hold both her hands in the holes of her sweater.’’ Afterward, Y/N was out of the bar with the Samoan

‘’Thank you so much for a wonderful night,’’ He smiles, before he turned his back, he remembered to keep in contact with Y/N.

‘’What’s your name?’’ She asks, feeling in love on a Friday night.

‘’My name is Roman, but you can call me Ro.’’ Her cheeks heated up when he wrapped an arm around her waist. The feeling of Roman’s huge arm around her waist was ‘’superior’’, yet ‘’so good.’’ ‘’You alright, baby girl?’'

She snapped out of her thoughts, she looked up at Roman.

‘’Yeah, just stared off into space for a little there---- And my name is Y/N. Y/N L/N.’’

He laughed, ‘’Well, it’s nice to meet you, Y/N. Let me take you home.’’

So, they got in Roman’s car together to drive off to Y/N’s house -

‘’What brings you here in Florida?’’ Roman asked Y/N.

‘’Oh, well I am visiting family and I decided to go on vacation. I take care of animals at a local animal shelter – it's called Pet Resort.’’ She replied.

He hummed at her, smiling.

‘’Interesting,’’ he said, his arm still wrapped around her waist as he pulled up to her house. The both of them got out Roman’s car, there, Y/N stumbled a little due to the fact she got a little drunk.

‘’Whew,’’ she said, almost falling on her ass.

‘’Easy there.’’ Roman tried his best not to laugh at his new friend Y/N, but helped her back up on her two feet.

‘’Thank you,’’ She half-drunk slurred, smiled widely at Reigns.

‘’Anytime, baby girl.’’

---------------------------------

5 / 8

‘’Y/N?’’ Roman snapped a finger in front of his girlfriend’s face, to which she got caught daydreaming.

‘’Huh?’’ she shook her head, eyes up at her boyfriend.

‘’What were you daydreaming about...?’’ He asks her in a bit of concern, and stopped the music.

So, she played stupid and abruptly told him:

‘’Nothing, I was just daydreaming about unicorns.’’

‘’Unicorns?’’ Roman’s face is now puzzled, trying to figure out his girlfriend. ‘’Nah, baby girl. You were daydreaming about something else. Come on, tell me the tribal chief the truth.’’ Her cheeks heat up with red, his huge finger now on her tilted jawline.

She shifts her body weight to turn her back, standing in embarrassment, Roman folds his arms across his chest. ‘’You can tell me anything,’’ he says.

‘’Nope.’’ She bravely answered, running away without a sight and headed into her downstairs bedroom to lock the door behind her.

He groaned with frustration in response, basically playing a game of ‘’Tag, You’re It’’ or ‘’Hide and Seek,’’ Roman wasn’t up for the challenge of finding his girlfriend. But he has to get an answer from her one way or the other. He knocked on the door.

‘’Baby girlllll, can’t hide from the chief foreverrrr.’’ He sang in a cocky tone, kicking the door with his foot.

‘’Y/N is not here right now!’’ Y/N yelled, army crawling underneath her bed. That pissed him off, he kicks the door open and walks in to the entrance of her bedroom. Looking everywhere for her, he then sees two feet buried underneath of Y/N’s bed. Roman crouches down to meet her laying on her stomach.

‘’Get the hell out of there, you damn childish woman.’’ She declines his demands, so he has to pull her out by her ankles, receiving a big yelp from his girlfriend.

‘’So uh, I guess you won the game of Hide and Seek?’’ she jokingly says, he rolls his eyes in a reply.

‘’Hide and Seek is for little girls and boys,’’ He pouts, tapping his foot on the wooden flooring of Y/N’s bedroom.

She stands on her tippy toes to kiss her boyfriend, then ran away again.

‘’Oh, my fucking god Y/N! If you don’t tell me what you were daydreaming about, I am leaving.’’ He threatens, feeling like he’s being toyed with.

6 / 8

She stops in her tracks, and walks calmly back to her boyfriend. Y/N pushes her glasses up at the bridge of her nose, and says:

‘’Fine, so be it since you want to be Mr. Badass.’’ She utters, staring at the tempered Samoan Man.

She turns her back, making a great mistake. He turns her around without any warning and hoists her up. ‘’Ahh! Let me go!’’ she yells.

‘’No ma’am.’’ He growls, carrying her body weight on his broad shoulders. He then sets her down on her couch. ‘’Are you going to tell me?’’ Elbows pressed down on the arm of the couch, with hands resting in his cheeks as he stared at his girlfriend Y/N in deep consideration.

‘’Fine!’’ she chokes out, ‘’I will tell you! It was a 7 year ago memory, from where we first met and I fell drunk on my ass that night, you literally had to carry me inside my house.’’ Y/N’s embarrassed, now the tribal chief had gotten her attention, her strand of hair fell down on her face. She continued:

‘’The song that was playing was our favorite song, Sweater Weather by The Neighbourhood. How it was so nice of you to carry me in the house like that, with your strong ass self.’’ Smiling weakly, her breathing got shallow like cold ocean waves hitting against human’s flesh.

He looks at his girlfriend, about to cry. ‘’No, don’t cry---’’

She cuts him off with a firm: ‘’You’re not the Roman I’ve met!’’ and left the room.

Leaving the head of the table stunned, he slams his fist down on the arm of the couch, shouting: ‘’DAMN Y/N! THEN AFTER ALL OF THIS TIME, WHAT WAS I TO YOU!?’’

Memories flashed before Roman’s eyes, 2-3 years ago from him telling his girl Y/N about his leukemia coming back, telling the whole world who was in the audience that day and watching at home -

‘’I am sorry.’’ He plops himself down on the couch, hands folded into his lap and bowed his head down. Closing his eyes, he pictured better days with Y/N. Attempting not to cry, he gives a deep exhale of frustration and hurt inside of his gut. Rubbing his head, he lays his body down on the couch. Tapping his foot at the end of the arm of the couch, his mind’s scattered like papers scattered on a desk after studying. You know how your brain hurts right after studying and taking time-management on for college? You know that feeling deep down inside for when you give it your all for your fans, your girlfriend, your friends and family? Me too. I’ve been there before.

The soft guitar strings play in the back of Roman’s mind; his eyes sewn shut, trying not to remember the gut-wrenching feeling he gave Y/N. He has to apologize somehow.

7 / 8

Hours of sleep wasted away, his heart pounded hard in his chest, waking up to Y/N sitting on the arm of the couch, she looked at him.

‘’You’re just not the Roman I’ve met.’’ She muttered quietly, fumbling with her pockets, unsure of to forgive Roman or not.

‘’Sweetheart...’’ He fights back piles of tears starting to form in his chocolate brown eyes, trying not to get worked up over the ‘’You’re not the same person I’ve met 7 years ago.’’ comment.

She takes an inhale of oxygen, then exhales. Attempting to stay content, her body sent shivers down her spine coldly. Getting up, she gives a glance at Roman burying his hands in his face. She never saw him cry like this, ever before in the past 7 years. Of course, it was small cries, or a good 30 second cry.

Walking over to the presence of Roman, Y/N hugged him tight into an unforgettable embrace. They sat there, hugging each other for about 10 minutes.

‘’I never want to lose you,’’ she whispers, stroking the Samoan's long black strands of hair.

‘’You won’t lose me, trust me.’’ He mumbles, wiping his tears away with his black tank top.

Her eyes grow with trust, meaning she trusted in what Roman was telling her – that she would NEVER lose him. And he would never lose her. She knows deep inside of her everything Roman told her was true, the usual ‘’I love you’s’’ and ‘’You look beautiful today’’ was the reason why Y/N had stayed alive. This is not a cliffhanging ending, nor a bad ending – it is a happy ending between the two of them.

‘’Y/N?’’ he turned his attention to Y/N, who was blubbering.

‘’Y-Yes, Roman?’’

He stops what he is saying, and places his hands into his girlfriends’ of 5 years.

‘’Will you marry me?’’ He proclaims aloud, shaking his head yes in all smiles at the reaction of Y/N, the words that came out of her mouth are: ‘’I say yes!’’ She cries in joy, hugging her newlywed fiancé tightly. Roman Reigns isn’t always your cocky heel character, but he sure knew how to make things better.

‘’I love you, Y/N Anoa’i.’’

‘’I love you too, Roman.’’

---END---

8 / 8

#wwe #wrestling fanfic #wweimagine #wwe fanfiction #wwe one shot #fanfiction #romanreigns #wrasslin #tribal chief #headofthetable #angst #fluff #somewhatsmut #fluffyfic

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allthecanadianpolitics · 2 years

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Punch Up Collective

Event Listings: Monday, November 1 – Sunday, November 7, 2021

This is the most recent compilation from the Radical Events Ottawa (REO) List. The REO List is a public announcement list for radical events, meetings, protests, and other activities in Ottawa, Ontario, on unceded Algonquin territory. The Punch Up Collective collects submissions and produces this curated weekly compilation of upcoming activities.

Due to COVID-19, we’ve expanded the list of events we would typically include to feature more online activities and actions, including some that are not specific solely to the Ottawa area.

Would you like to see your event included in the next REO list? Submit it through this form by the Friday before! Find out more about our submission guidelines and how to subscribe or unsubscribe here.

CONTENTS

Leveller Story Meeting – Monday, November 1, 7PM

Between Certain Death and a Possible Future – Monday, November 1, 7:30PM

Disruptions 07: Jeff Kasper on Measures of Support – Wednesday, November 3, 2PM-3PM

House of PainT Knowledge Conference – November 4 – 7, 10AM-7PM Daily

Pride, Not Prejudice Craft & Community Fair – November 4 – 7

From IDF to IJV – Thursday, November 4, 7:30PM

Community Holiday Resource Drive – November 8 – 14

All Honor to the Mackenzie Papineau Battalion – Thursday, November 11, 11AM

IWW’s Organizer Training 101 – November 17, 20, 24 and 27

DETAILS

1. Leveller Story Meeting – Monday, November 1, 7PM

Hey there, Levellers! We’re looking for contributors and we need you.

Story Meetings are where you can pitch article ideas, help brainstorm content, or be assigned a story. They’re also a way to learn about the Leveller and introduce yourself.

Our next story meeting is: Monday, 1 November at 7PM

https://meet.jit.si/LevellerOttawaStoryMeeting

Can’t make it? No problem! Email [email protected] to pitch us a story.

Production Cycle is now monthly for this new volume. The due date for this production cycle will be November 15 and publishing on November 22. Our google calendar has the 2021-2022 schedule with all story meetings and publishing dates; here’s the same calendar as a simple webpage.

We Pay $75 per story. It’s not a large sum, but this is an increase from our previous pay scale. We want to support contributors to our online paper especially during these times.

Our Guides will help you understand expectations for contributing. Please take a look at our Submission Guidelines and Honourarium Policy if you would like to get published and paid. Our Leveller News & Analysis Writing Guide provides the framework for our stories.

Check out other ways to get involved with The Leveller.

2. Between Certain Death and a Possible Future – Monday, November 1 at 7:30PM-8:30PM

Featuring: Alexander McClelland, Eddie Walker, Kate Doyle Griffiths, and Ryan Conrad

Hosted by: Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore

More info and RSVP: https://writersfestival.org/events/fall-2021-live-online-events/between-certain-death-and-a-possible-future

An Ottawa Writers Festival event

We’re thrilled to be partnering with Qu’ART and the Ottawa Public Library to celebrate this enthralling and incisive anthology of personal essays on the persistent impact of the AIDS crisis on queer lives.

Every queer person lives with the trauma of AIDS, and this plays out intergenerationally. Usually we hear about two generations – the first, coming of age in the era of gay liberation, and then watching entire circles of friends die of a mysterious illness as the government did nothing to intervene. And now we hear about younger people growing up with effective treatment and prevention available, unable to comprehend the magnitude of the loss. But there is another generation between these two, one that came of age in the midst of the epidemic with the belief that desire intrinsically led to death, and internalized this trauma as part of becoming queer.

Between Certain Death and a Possible Future: Queer Writing on Growing up with the AIDS Crisis offers crucial stories from this missing generation in AIDS literature and cultural politics. This wide-ranging collection includes 36 personal essays on the ongoing and persistent impact of the HIV/AIDS crisis in queer lives. Here you will find an expansive range of perspectives on a specific generational story – essays that explore and explode conventional wisdom, while also providing a necessary bridge between experiences. These essays respond, with eloquence and incisiveness, to the question: How do we reckon with the trauma that continues to this day, and imagine a way out?

3. Disruptions 07: Jeff Kasper on Measures of Support – Wednesday, November 3, 2PM-3PM

Hosted by: Carleton University Art Gallery

Event link: https://cuag.ca/event/disruptions-07-jeff-kasper-on-measures-of-support/

CUAG invites you to join a talk and creative exercises by the NYC-based artist, designer and educator Jeff Kasper. This event is free and everyone is welcome!

This is the seventh event in CUAG’s “Disruptions: Dialogues on Disability Art” series, curated by Michael Orsini to generate dialogue about contemporary art as a force for challenging ableism.

Informed by his ongoing socially engaged projects, Jeff will guide participants through mapping their own networks of support along real, virtual and imagined distances.

This talk is based on his digital workbook “Practicing Distance,” a multi-part guide for preparing for our futures together, post-pandemic.

Thank you Disruptions 07 is generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Reesa Greenberg Digital Initiatives Fund, Office of the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, School for Studies in Art and Culture, The Pauline Jewett Institute of Women’s and Gender Studies, Institute for Comparative Studies in Literature, Art and Culture and the READ Initiative.

Access

This event is held on Zoom. Live captioning and ASL interpretation will be available.

Disability accommodations

Should you have any disability-related requirements, please contact Victoria by 20 October at [email protected].

+Jeff Kasper+ designs pathways for a trauma-informed culture shift by prototyping peer support mechanisms through objects, tools, workshops and social spaces. His current work is deeply informed by queer disability embodiment and over a decade of arts organizing with various cultural institutions, social planning organizations, collectives and both formal and informal spaces of learning. He is Assistant Professor of Integrated Design at University of Massachusetts Amherst.

4. House of PainT Knowledge Conference – November 4 – 7, 10AM-7PM Daily

Hosted by: House of PainT

Festival schedule and info:https://houseofpaint.ca/storyboard/house-of-paint-2021/

Four days of professional development for artists and our communities. Join us for conversations, lectures, presentations, workshops and panel discussions. We’re taking everything you love and doing it online.

House of PainT’s Hip Hop Knowledge Conference is a four day long online conference for hip hop artists and their communities. Artists and administrators address current topics through conversations, presentations, workshops and panel discussions with the goal of sharing knowledge, strengthening the community, and creating sustainable counter-cultural arts practices.

5. Pride, Not Prejudice Craft & Community Fair – November 4 – 7

Schedule: https://pridenotprejudice.ca/schedule

More info: https://pridenotprejudice.ca/

COVID-19, and the necessary social distancing, sucks.

Craft and Community Fairs provide an opportunity for the community to come together. They provide a venue for artists, makers, and creators within those communities to share and sell their works. They provide a crucial space for resource sharing, conversation, and connection. They can serve as an opportunity for inspiration, for revitalization, and for solidarity.

We’re not letting COVID-19 stop that.

Pride, Not Prejudice was conceptualized after learning that Feminist Fair was taking a hiatus for the year due to concerns about COVID-19. This event, organized by the Feminist Twins, has been (and will be!) a truly unique event within the Ottawa community. Focusing on feminist and progressive creators and resources while entwining accessibility and community care – this event stood out as a unique gathering space for likeminded individuals.

Likeminded individuals who might often be labelled “social justice warriors”.

Pride, Not Prejudice is an online craft and community fair that aims to provide as much of this community feel and element as possible in an online format.

Thursday, November 4, 2021 at 5:00pm to Sunday, November 7, 2021 at 6:00pm.

6. From IDF to IJV – Thursday, November 4, 7:30PM

Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV) presents an online event featuring the stories of Jewish activists and former soldiers who went from waging war to waging peace.

Join us to hear IJV members reflect on their time serving in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and what moved them towards a position of support for Palestinian human rights and liberation.

Click here to register: https://bit.ly/idftoijv

Speakers

Yom Shamash was born in Israel. At the age of 6, his family moved to Brazil. He returned to Israel in 1971 as a member of the Hashomer Hatzair group and settled in Kibbutz Zikim, south of Ashkelon. He served in the IDF in the Nahal brigade and was in the Sinai in the Yom Kippur War. He currently lives in Vancouver, where he is a member of IJV-Vancouver.

Daphna Levit was born in Israel and was an enthusiastic Zionist who served in the army NAHAL corps on the then border with Egypt, until the 1967 Six Day War. She was then recruited to serve in the Military Spokesman Office (Intelligence Corps) as a Press Liaison officer to attend to and escort foreign journalists to sensitive locations. This move was due to her fluency in several languages. One of her jobs was to ensure that the foreign press did not violate the strict censorship rules and did not stray into prohibited danger zones. She accompanied reporters to the Allenby Bridge across which Palestinians fled to Jordan when Israel “conquered” the whole of historical Palestine and expelled about 300,000 Palestinians from their homes. Watching the exodus, the fear and the misery of this flight was what turned Daphna into the peace activist she became. She co-authored an earlier book on the Middle East impelled by the Gaza War of 2008-2009. Her most recent book, Wrestling With Zionism was the culmination of many years as a human rights activist and draws on the diversity of dissent that commenced with the inception of Zionism in the 19th century.

Rafi Silver was born in the US and immigrated to Israel in 1971. He did his mandatory service in the IDF from 1974-76 and was in the reserves until 1996. A former member of a kibbutz and a retired social worker, Rafi immigrated to Canada in 2001 and lives in Montreal. He is an active member of IJV-Montreal, and sits on the national steering committee of IJV Canada.

Moderated by Lia Tarachansky – Lia Tarachansky is an Israeli-Canadian journalist and filmmaker born in the former Soviet Union. She has made short, experimental, and feature films and worked as the Middle East correspondent from Israel/Palestine. Some of her films screened on TV, won awards and toured globally; others died on her hard drives. She’s the Education Director of the Morris Winchevsky School in Toronto, and spends her days filming, designing lesson plans, and reading barely-comprehensible books for her PhD in Media Studies.

7. Community Holiday Resource Drive – November 8 – 14

Hosted by: Ottawa Black Diaspora Coalition, Criminalization and Punishment Education Project

The Holidays are coming!

The Ottawa Black Diaspora Coalition and the Criminalization and Punishment Education Project are committed to supporting our Black, low income, newly incarcerated & homeless community through donated items.

We will be accepting donations for the items listed below and taking requests from community on things that they would like/need in their basket. We will be holding multiple drop off days for folks to come and donate their goodies and coordinating for folks to receive their hampers (link to sign up will be posted soon).

Everyone should feel loved and supported during the holiday season, and we can make that happen together.

Drop Off Dates & Locations:

1125 Parisien

Nov 8th – 12th from 4pm-8pm

Nov 13th 12pm – 3pm

Nov 14th 2pm- 6pm

Apply to receive a basket: https://forms.gle/H867hCbiB2FZHVMS9

You can receive items way into December.

8. All Honor to the Mackenzie Papineau Battalion – Thursday, November 11, 11AM

Location: Green Island, 90 Sussex Dr., Ottawa

Hosted by: Anti-Imperialist Alliance, Ontario Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines

Please join us this November 11th at 11am to honor and celebrate the brave fighters of the Mackenzie Papineau Battalion.

The Mackenzie Papineau Battalion, along with Dr Norman Bethune were one of the Canadian working classes greatest expression of international solidarity and anti fascism to date.

The Mackenzie Papineau Battalion were a battalion of Canadians organized by The Communist Party of Canada to fight in defense of the Spanish Second Republic against the fascist coup during the 1930s Spanish Civil War.

Surpassed only by France, no other country sent as many fighters proportionally to their population as the Canadian working class did.

“By summer 1937 some 1,200 Canadians were involved in the Spanish conflict. The Canadians had traveled secretly to reach Spain; some of the early volunteers were dispatched mainly with the volunteer Abraham Lincoln Battalion of Americans. Later they traveled with the North American George Washington Battalion, with about forty Canadians serving in each group. In early May 1937, a separate battalion began to organize for the Canadians in Spain. When it was formally organized at Albacete Spain in July 1937, the volunteers named it for William Lyon Mackenzie and Louis Joseph Papineau. These men had led the Rebellion of 1837 – 1838 in Canada. They became noted politicians in the 19th century. The Canadian volunteers chose this name as a symbol of their national identity and commitment to the Republican government’s side.”

Please bring flowers, relevant flags, and your friends!

This Remembrance Day, we will remember the heroes of our working class and its movement!

9. IWW’s Organizer Training 101 – November 17, 20, 24 and 27

Do you want to form a union at your workplace for better conditions and respect on the job, but don’t know where to start?

The IWW’s Organizer Training (OT101) is there to demystify the union process by breaking it down into simple steps that anyone can follow. Using real world examples from past union drives, roleplays, and advice from longtime union organizers, we’ll help you develop a plan to fight and win together in your workplace.

Due to Covid restrictions, this training will be held online over our virtual meeting hall (BBB) on two Wednesday evenings and two Saturdays.

Each session is 3 hours long with breaks every hour. All sessions must be attended in order to pass the training. Once completed, you’ll be eligible to attend an OT102, as well as the Training4Trainers program should you wish to become a trainer yourself (and we hope you do!)

1st session: Wed Nov 17th 6pm-9pm

2nd session: Sat Nov 20th 1pm-4pm

3rd session: Wed Nov 24th 6pm-9pm

4th session: Sat Nov 27th 1pm-4pm

What you’ll need:

-Laptop or desktop (no phones please) running Firefox or Chrome browser

-Microphone and Webcam (headphones encouraged)

-Pen and Notebook

-Copy of the training booklet (email [email protected] to request a printed copy)

If you’d like to attend, please fill out the form below: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdTIq0trv8VLkYBGbxoWwz2XyV1QldSRmHwmbGlGpy8Gz_lkg/viewform

Deadline for registration is Nov 10th, 2021

#submission #Ottawa #radical events in Ottawa #long post

26 notes · View notes

deniigi · 3 years

Note

sorry to bother again but i am a freshman in college and i am v stressed

how did you get through it and how do I make myself not want to drop every single class i’m in every semester

how does one take more than 5 classes at a time

i am in midterm hell and i am Scared™️

oh you mean, ‘Matt, please do your actual literal job on main?’ Because this is sort of my actual literal job, friend. So don’t worry. I’ve got you.

So first thing’s first, when planning future semesters:

I would recommend against taking more than 5 classes at a time. Mathematically, it is not great for you. If you have to take more than 5, plan on doing 1-2 to during summer school. You won’t be behind. You’re fine. I swear.

Example for future class planning: For every class, look at the number of units/credits it is. That is around the number of hours that you’re gonna spend in that class a week. Now multiply that by 2. That’s about the number of hours total you’re gonna spend on that class in a week (both in class and doing homework).

That means that a 3 unit/credit class = 6 hours of work per week.

You have five of those classes. That means that you’re doing around 30hrs of school work a week. If you have six of those classes, you’re practically working a fulltime job with little to no pay and benefits.

End story: Do not take more than 5 classes a semester if you can help it.

If you can, don’t take more than 4 classes in your major per semester, either. You will die. Use electives and general education classes as your fourth or fifth class to lighten your load and give yourself something that you enjoy and know you can pass for sure. That will give you some breathing room and will help you maintain your GPA.

Coping with Overload now:

At this point in the semester, it’s a little late to be dropping classes, so what you’re going to do instead is to schedule the fuck out of your time.

You need to pick and stick to set dates/times for completing coursework and midterm projects for the next week or two. People do this in different ways, but generally speaking, people will assign projects/homework to certain days.

Example: Monday is Chemistry homework night because assignments are due on Wednesday. You only work on Chemistry on Monday. You finish the assignment and turn it in.

Tuesday is English homework day because assignments are papers and take 3 days to complete due to requiring 3 different steps: research, outlining, and writing. You do the whole researching process on Tuesday and do a basic outline. You will fill out the outline a little more on Wednesday and will then write the whole paper on Thursday so that you can turn it in then, before the Friday deadline.

On Wednesday, after you’re satisfied with your English outline, you will set that aside because Wednesdays are Math days. You will do the Math homework and/or study for 2-3 hours until your brain feels like soup. Then you will stop, do something relaxing for 30min, and then decide if you need to do more studying. If you do, repeat the study + self-care process. Go to sleep at a reasonable hour (before 2am if possible)

Do the same thing for your other 2 classes, assigning each a day and a specific task or set of tasks to complete on each day. Don’t give yourself more than 3 tasks per class/study session, because that’s how you get overwhelmed and into an anxiety spiral.

Apply self-care (breaks, snacks, drinks, music) liberally while doing assignments.

Other tips: figure out how you study.

If you study best in a group, grab some folks from your class and form a study group. If you are in STEM especially, it is expected that you will form study groups. This is how studying happens in STEM, medical, and law fields. It is nigh impossible to do all that labor on your own. Yes, I am serious. Make a study group, even if that’s you and 1 other person.

If you can find a study guide, take it to study group or block out an hour or two and do the whole thing. If you don’t have a study guide, make one yourself out of your homework/assignments and test yourself with flashcards or writing out definitions and forcing yourself to explain the different parts of cycles you learned in class.

If you are in a humanities/liberal arts major, you need to figure out if you study best by reviewing your notes, by re-listening to the lectures, by explaining concepts to others, or by writing it all out as if it was an essay.

If you need to write an essay and are stuck with where to start, reach out for help from a tutor if your school has one, or just start by doing 15 minutes of brainstorming to figure out what you feel about the topic and what evidence/ideas would work to answer it. Pick apart the prompt to see what it is truly asking you to do, write out the components of the prompt separately on a separate page and start answering those question as if they were short answers.

Then when you’ve got that, you can start noting bits of evidence to add to support your points and BAM, just like that, you’ve got an outline. Write a thesis statement at the top that addresses the Who, What, Why and How You’re Going to Prove it of your essay and you’re ready to go.

Example thesis statement: “The world represented in Oh God, How do I Study by Matt Deniigiq includes references to time management, course planning, and big-picture thinking to emphasize the broader theme that this one shit semester is not going to destroy student’s lives. This is evident in the droll humor used throughout the piece and the fact that the author keeps halting in paragraphs to answer emails from frazzled students.”

**yes, your thesis can be 2 sentences long. It’s allowed, I promise.

Know that these 5 classes will not end your life.

Honestly, like, speaking as someone who does this for a living, at public schools anything higher than a C is grand. It’s not usually required for you to list your GPA on job apps later on (I’ve never been asked). No one actually cares about your GPA in social situations.

As long as my students have higher than Cs in their classes and they aren’t like, nursing students, I’m cool with their progress, so give yourself a break if you can.

Also know that getting a low grade in 1 class as a freshmen doesn’t actually fuck up your GPA as bad as you think it will. Like, there’s a lot of complicated shit around this that I could go into, but generally speaking, if you fail one class (and I mean FAIL-fail it. Fs and D-s. None of this ‘UwU I got a C so I failed’), then by the time you’re a junior or a senior, if you haven’t failed additional shit, that F/D- is barely going to shift your GPA.

Like, we’re talking .1 shifts around then. Maybe a .3 shift if you’re at the end of your sophomore year. That’s the diff between a 2.5 and a 2.4. Or a 3.3 and a 3.0. You can make that up almost entirely by taking another round of classes and getting As and Bs (again, the mechanics are complicated, so you’re just gonna have to take my word here).

So yeah, shoot for Cs or higher and know that these classes aren’t the end-all be-alls of your lives.

(For context, if I get a student with a 3.0 or higher, I’m fucking ELATED. I’m not even joking. Y’all will be fine.)

Start with these tips and get back to me if you want something more specific. I do this all day, every day.

#study skills #long post #I am literally answering 10+ email long chains right now of students asking similar questions

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cotncandyboifics · 3 years

Text

1989 [High School AU]: Chapter 1

AO3 Link

Masterpost

Chapter 2 ~ Chapter 3 ~ Chapter 4 ~ Chapter 5 ~ Chapter 6 ~ Chapter 7 ~ Chapter 8 ~ Chapter 9 ~

Pairings: slight Logince, eventual Prinxiety & Logicality

Word count: 1,780

Story summary: Roman Prince is your stereotypical Jock, with everyone swooning after him. Every day a crowd of people follow him around, only to disperse at his personal whim. In reality, he's lucky to have such good acting skills that help him cover up the disdain he has for his life. He only wishes he could use his skills properly.

Patton Whitelock's always there to lend a helping hand, no matter who you are. If you need a favor or just need someone to talk to, go to him. In reality, he's been taught from a young age that kindness should be held above all else. No one suspects that he took it the wrong way.

Logan Montgomery is the smartest boy in the Senior class. He's stern, and most people are too intimidated to speak to him. In reality, he despises most all of his fellow students. He sticks to his studies and doesn't stray, for fear of being stuck in his father's shadow his whole life.

Virgil Black is the most emo kid in school, let alone 12th grade; everyone knows to leave him be. In reality, he's very fortunate. He has two parents who love him dearly. But everything beyond his life, everything within his mind, is utter chaos and turmoil.

what will happen when they're assigned a biology project together?

General CW: food, swearing, implied s-lf h-rm, non-graphic descriptions of s-lf h-rm scars, graphic and non-graphic descriptions of anxiety attacks and panic attacks, drug abuse, minor character intoxicated on heroin, non-graphic drug overdose description, sickness/description of sickness, blood, non-graphic descriptions of needles, (will be added to as I write more)

Chapter CW: <none> (let me know if i missed anything please!)

Author notes: hook chapter go brr

...

Nice to meet you, where you been?

I can show you incredible things

Magic, madness, heaven, sin

Saw you there, and I thought

"Oh my god, look at that face

You look like my next mistake"

Love's a game, wanna play?

Roman checked his watch discreetly as he walked down the hall toward his first class. 7:58. He was almost late, but not quite. As he walked in, earning a glare from Mr. Berry and a few students, he glanced at the whiteboard. It read: "Tuesday, September 3 / Classwork: OT essay workday / Homework: OT Analysis and Essay due FRIDAY". The word "Friday" was written sloppily large and underlined. Roman just kept his sleepy poker face and walked to his desk, in the second-to-last row in the middle. He'd not noticed the shrunken figure at the desk next to him, whom everyone knew but no one liked. Virgil Black.

New money, suit and tie

I can read you like a magazine

Ain't it funny, rumors fly

And I know you've heard about me

So hey, let's be friends

I'm dying to see, how this one ends

Grab your passport, and my hand

I can make the bad guys good for a weekend.

Virgil shoved his hands in his hoodie pockets as he glared in Roman's general direction from behind bright purple bangs. His scowl deepened as Roman pulled out his notebook but didn't take his single earbud out, proceeding to doodle on the margins of his notebook.

Roman propped his head up on his right palm, tilting his head carelessly as he drew stars around a stick man's head. By this time, the plump red-faced man known as Mr. Berry, teacher of English 12, had taken his respected place at the front of the class for a quick lecture before they began classwork.

So it's gonna be forever,

Or it's gonna go down in flames

You can tell me when it's over,

If the high was worth the pain

Got a long list of ex-lovers,

They'll tell you I'm insane

'Cus you know I love the players,

And you love the game

"Good morning students," He said in a blubbering gritty voice, the sagging skin below his chin bouncing comically as he did so. "I trust you completed reading the rest of the book. Now, as I'm sure you've noticed, the Analysis and quotes along with your essay's final draft are due - both printed - on Friday. If you turn it in on Monday, it'll drop two letter grades, and any time after that is a zero. I should hope this first assignment will get you in the punctual mindset for my class." The large man was walking about the room, between desks checking for cheating or kids working ahead. He was strict, and didn't tolerate out-of-line behavior. As he completed his sentence, his eyes fell on Roman, who was still slouched apathetically, doodling, earbud in. The students watching Mr. Berry saw his face somehow achieve a deeper hue of red and his eyes bulge, as a bull does when it spots it's target. Roman however, didn't notice; a pale-faced Virgil tried to get his attention without the teacher noticing.

'Cus we're young and we're reckless,

We'll take this way too far

It'll leave you breathless,

Or with a nasty scar

Got a long list of ex-lovers,

They'll tell you I'm insane

But I've got a blank space baby...

And I'll write your name.

"Psst. Roman." he hissed in vain. Roman's earbud was in his right ear, the same side Virgil was sitting on, so quiet noises from that direction were inaudible to him. Despite the class's uneasiness as Mr. Berry made his way to Roman's seat, and though Roman was fully aware of the fat fuming man advancing on him, he made no change in expression or focus; merely, filled in the dark half of the yin yang he had sketched next to his name as he lightly mouthed the words of the song.

Mr. Berry stopped right in front of Roman's desk, looking down at him furiously. When Roman ignored him, he took further action. Just as Roman had completed the yin yang, a fat red hand came down loudly on his desk and a sudden "MR. PRINCE!!" Erupted from the old man's gullet.

Cherry lips, crystal skies

I can show you incredible things

Stolen kisses, pretty lies

You're the king baby I'm your queen

Find out what you want,

Be that girl for a month

Wait, the worst is yet to come... oh no.

Roman looked up at him slowly, but no trace of fear could be found on his face. Even, a slight smirk hinting at the corners of his mouth. But, not enough for the old man to notice.

"What sort of media is emitting from those... earphones?" Mr. Berry said, bug-eyed.

Roman held up the earbud that wasn't in his ear, looking at it. "You mean these?" He said.

Mr. Berry simply sighed and rolled his eyes frustratedly. "Yes, 'in those', Mr. Prince. You'd better have an adequate response."

Screaming, crying, perfect storms

I can make all the tables turn

Rose garden filled with thorns

Keep you second guessing, like

"Oh my god, who is she?"

I get drunk on jealousy

But you'll come back each time you leave

'Cus darling I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream.

Roman held the old man's gaze, as if searching for something within his grey-brown orbs. After a moment, he sighed quietly and said, "Taylor Swift."

His response earned a few snickers from other students, to which Mr. Berry scanned the room to see if he could bust two students in one go.

Most of the students thought he looked like Napoleon from the 1954 animated movie based on Animal Farm, a fair comparison. His balding head and fat body gave him an appearance that was quite comparable to a pig.

After a moment of glaring at a few of the known renegades of the class, he returned his focus to Roman. But, this time, he didn't appear as angry; rather, he was smiling gently, but his eyes still held an angry glow. "Since you see no point in listening to my lecture, I'm sure you wouldn't mind showing the class a sufficient outline for your first draft essay? Along with the requirements, of course," the senile man's smirk curled up into a grin as he spoke, tilting his head a bit. Roman merely smirked himself, and stood.

So it's gonna be forever,

Or it's gonna go down in flames

You can tell me when it's over,

If the high was worth the pain

Got a long list of ex-lovers,

They'll tell you I'm insane

'Cus you know I love the players,

And you love the game

Mr. Berry watched in moderate surprise as Roman walked swiftly past the rows of desks to the whiteboard, uncapped an expo marker, and began writing in neatly printed lettering. "Ok, so the final draft is due on Friday," He began, "So you should have your first draft completed by tonight. The essay must have at least five body paragraphs, a minimum of two quotes each-" Virgil watched, shocked, gripping his pencil so that his knuckles paled. "So I hope you've picked out your quotes already. The thesis needs to answer the prompt, obviously. Conclusion should be at least five sentences. So overall, about two or three pages. I'd recommend using this class time to create an outline in your notebook, and typing up a first draft. Have your second draft done tomorrow, and final details on Thursday. And because Mr. Berry is too... behind the times to use Google Classroom, you'll need to print it out and hand it in physically. I'm sure Mr. Berry isn't partial to the trees we're killing, so if you're in Environmental club, I'd not bother complaining." And with this final sentence, Roman touched up his writing on the board and walked back to his seat, never taking out his earbud.

'Cus we're young and we're reckless,

We'll take this way too far

It'll leave you breathless,

Or with a nasty scar

Got a long list of ex-lovers,

They'll tell you I'm insane

But I got a blank space baby...

And I'll write your name.

Mr. Berry was still standing over Roman's desk, now staring down at him with large eyes. He opened his mouth slightly to say something, but was interrupted by another student asking a question. From then on, Mr. Berry ignored Roman, which was an easy feat, as Roman did the same.

After a little over half an hour, the bell rang, and Roman slung his backpack over his shoulder and walked out. Mr. Berry considered asking him why he'd only doodled for the entirety of the class period and not worked on his essay, but his pride got the best of him, and he watched as the young man walked out of the room confidently.

Virgil had slipped out before Roman, and was now pretending to exchange things in his locker, which was unfortunately right next to Roman's. The tall jock walked up to his own locker, earning a scowl from the darker boy.

"What? Enjoy the show I put on in Mr. Diabetes' class?" Roman said, leaning against the lockers as Virgil shut his own. The dark boy just grunted and walked off, feeling Roman's eyes watching as he turned a corner. Roman smirked for the hundredth time that morning when he was gone and turned to open his own locker. When a few girls from the cheer team started to linger, flipping their hair and puffing out their chests, and Roman actively ignored them until he walked past close enough that a few of them let out squeals. He heard the usual murmurs from behind him, "he's so hot," and "I'd kill to be his date to Homecoming." He smirked to himself again, making his way to his Physics class.

...

Virgil spotted is best friend Patton in his usual seat as he walked into his second period Economics class. The boy smiled at Virgil up on seeing him, and waved happily.

"Hello Virgil!! how are you feeling this morning?" He said cheerily as Virgil took the seat next to him, sliding his backpack under the desk.

"Alright I guess." He thought about telling Patton about Roman, but thought better of it; Patton had enough on his plate to worry about as it was.

As for Patton, he had already taken to pulling out his notebook, preparing for a long class of note-taking. Economics was one of the most note-heavy classes either of the boys had, and usually required all their focus. As the teacher stood from his desk and turned on his projector, Virgil could've sworn he saw Patton staring at someone, but as soon as he looked, Patton focused on the teacher, readying his pencil. But, Virgil being the parano- vigilant person he was, followed what he thought was Patton's line of sight to... Logan Montgomery? What? Upon realizing who he had thought Patton was looking at, he brushed it off. There's no way Patton would be looking at him. is there?

#logan sanders #roman sanders #virgil sanders #patton sanders #ts patton #ts roman #ts logan #ts virgil #thomas sanders #sanders sides #sanders sides fic #prinxiety #logicality #slow burn #virgil x roman #logan x patton

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ambvrs · 3 years

Photo

𝑨𝑫𝑽𝑬𝑵𝑻 𝑫𝑨𝒀 𝑻𝑯𝑹𝑬𝑬 : 𝑯𝑶𝑻 𝑪𝑯𝑶𝑪𝑶𝑳𝑨𝑻𝑬 .

the classes that she is taking .

𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖 ── re : josephine aydin, second year, creative writing + graphic design major, math minor .

most would expect that a dual major ( and subsequent minor ) in completely differing fields of study would fill her week with more course time than anything, but the reality is that neither major field of study require a significant number of compulsory courses, which means much of the time she dedicates to them goes into homework, projects, etc. josephine is known to throw herself into her courses, because she finds much of it very interesting and it’s things she likes to do rather than needs to do, but is still carefully chosen to best suit her not - so - morning person tendencies.

𝐂𝐑𝐖𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟖 ── 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 .

course description. explore various modes of storytelling in a contemporary context, with a view to developing narrative skills. engage with contemporary fiction, poetry, non - fiction, film, and theatre and will aim to investigate and understand the multiple ways readers and writers engage with storytelling and narrative. students are required to engage with and analyze their own writing and the writing of others, with the aim of helping students to hone their ability to edit and create.

schedule. this�� course lectures once a week for an hour and requires a two hour seminar each week for eleven weeks. josephine attends this course every tuesday. her lecture runs from 10:10 am to 11:10 am, and her seminar is lucky enough to fall on the same day from 1:40 pm to 3:40 pm.

assessments. the end of term assessment for this course is primarily a summative one, which includes a portfolio of creative writing ( 2,000 words or equivalent in poetry or script ), a self - reflective critical commentary ( 500 words ), and a review of a literary event ( 500 words ). there is also a formative assessment based on lecture discussions and tutor feedback based on on - going coursework.

standing. she currently ranks second in this class with a 98.83%, just behind isak nilsson ( small talk tells her it’s a small margin of difference, however ), not that she’s too concerned about that fact. out of all her courses, she considers it her third favorite class, mainly because she loves exploring the way storytelling presents itself in a variety of media forms ( with a preference for fiction, poetry, and film ), and it’s taught by her favorite creative writing and literature professor, and published author, dr. ophelia parker.

𝐂𝐑𝐖𝟐𝟎𝟒𝟕 ── 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 : 𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐄𝐗𝐔𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘 .

course description. look at how a range of contemporary literature is constructed around issues of gender and sexuality. using prose, poetry and drama written by men and women from britain and north america, it explores what it means to write about masculinity, femininity and desire and, indeed, how these concepts affect form and determine meaning. the course provides a theoretical underpinning that will enable students to construct links between contemporary texts and relevant theories.

schedule. this course lectures once a week for an hour and requires a one hour seminar each week for eleven weeks. josephine attends this course every thursday. her lecture runs from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm, and her seminar is also on the same day, from 1:40 pm to 2:40 pm.

assessments. the end of term assessment for this course is a summative one, which includes an essay ( 1,500 words, due by the end of week eight ) and a two hour examination. additional formative assessments may occur in the form of seminar discussions and tutor feedback.

standing. she currently ranks first in this class with a 97.68%, a feat given how complex her fellow classmates consider the content and execution of information. out of all her courses, she considers it her favorite class, and the one she is most excited to attend each week, because she loves dissecting the representation of gender in writing, understanding how individuals of differing genders and sexualities perceive others, and how it affects the overall story being told. it is also taught by dr. ophelia parker, which one may argue is the only professor she consistently seeks to take.

𝐃𝐄𝐒𝟐𝟏𝟎𝟒 ── 𝐀𝐃𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐃 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐍 𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐈𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐒 .

course description. students will be introduced to how organizations use graphic design to benefit and enhance their image and products. students will continue to learn more about the principles and practices of graphic design in the context of business in addition to learning industry standard graphics software by applying their skills and knowledge to create original content. content will be in a variety of styles and formats to best represent a student’s range and understanding of the principles as they have been learned.

schedule. this course lectures twice a week for an hour each week for eleven weeks. josephine attends this course every tuesday & thursday. her lecture runs from 9:00 am to 10:00 am.

assessments. the end of term assessment for this course is a summative one, which includes a personal portfolio of graphic design ( at least three major pieces reflecting some part personal aspect of the student’s life ), two reflection papers ( 500 words each, one mid - semester and one at the end ), and a final project that uniquely uses at least five basic principles of design. additional formative assessments may occur in the form of tutor feedback.

standing. this course does not use traditional grades for ranking methods, opting for letter grades based on submission completion and understanding of the assignment. she currently holds an a+ in the course. her design courses are not necessarily her favorite, because of how monotonous they can seem at times, but she highly enjoys the creative liberties that her professor allows them to take with each assignment. the designing process is her favorite part. it is taught by the head of the graphic design department, dr. blake adams.

𝐃𝐄𝐒𝟐𝟏𝟒𝟔 ── 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐕𝐎𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 & 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐔𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐒 .

course description. students will be introduced to the core skills and essential knowledge associated with the discipline of graphic design, as well as a range of conceptual and practical approaches to image - making in relation to the discipline of graphic design. through technical workshops and software inductions, students will explore the analogue and digital construction of graphic design, informed by historical and contemporary research, as well as find a great deal of support in experimenting with both analogue and digital methods of production.

schedule. this course lectures once a week for two hours each week for eleven weeks. josephine attends this course every thursday. her lecture runs from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm, though generally speaking, her professor only asks that they work for the first hour as the second is often reserved for editing, questions, etc.

assessments. the end of term assessment for this course is a summative one, which includes a portfolio ( five analog & five digital pieces ) and a two hour examination. additional formative assessments may occur in the form of tutor feedback.

standing. this course also does not use traditional numerical grades for ranking methods, opting for letter grades based on submission completion and understanding of the assignment. she currently holds an a+ in the course. her design courses are not necessarily her favorite, because of how monotonous they can seem at times, but again, she does enjoy the content, and quite likes this course in particular with the option to work with analogue and digital means, as she find drawing quite relaxing. it is taught by known artist and professor, julien troy.

𝐌𝐀𝐓𝟏𝟎𝟑𝟑 ── 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘 & 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐒 .

course description. an introduction to probability theory and statistical methods. the course leads to a deeper understanding of probability distributions, random variables and their role in sampling. tools such as hypothesis tests are presented and a basic introduction to the statistical software r is provided. this course acts as a foundation for mathematical statistics, general linear models, and stochastic processes. more generally, it underpins other course where an element of uncertainty / chance / randomness exists or where knowledge of the software package r is required.

schedule. this course lectures three times a week for one hour each week for eleven weeks, meets once every two weeks ( for eight weeks ) for a one hour hands - on lab, and once every two weeks for a one hour seminar ( for ten weeks ). josephine attends this course every monday, wednesday, and friday. her lecture runs from 10:30 am to 11:30 am, her lab meets every other wednesday and her seminar is held every other monday.

assessments. the assessment for this course is a summative one, with one in - term test ( worth 25% of course grade ) and one two hour examination ( worth 75% of course grade ) taken at the end of the term. additional formative assessments may occur in the form of individual written feedback ( or auto - feedback from online tests and quizzes ) via a number of marked formative coursework assignments, as well as verbal group feedback during lectures and by a seminar tutor at fortnightly seminars.

standing. it’s no surprise that she ranks first in this course, given her math history and proficiency, with a current grade of 99.21%. what may be a surprise, however, is that she considers this to be her second favorite course, over most of her major - specific coursework, as she has always loved numbers and enjoys putting in the time to understand and solve complex equations. math brings her a certain sense of happiness and considering it’s the only class she takes on mwf, it helps break up the long hours of writing and design, even if it’s the most thought intensive course she has to take. but dr. michiel ivy was both kind and made the class entertaining, and was among one of the more helpful professors she’s ever taken.

#opalsadvent #if this is Long well Yes : )#does it make sense well Probably Not : )#thank u ual for the design classes and surrey for the Others #imagine understanding a single word of that math class description #anyway i refuse to proofread this just know i've based her entire schedule around the probability class

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lesbianarcana · 4 years

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Commission Update, a PSA for May - July, and Commissions going forward

Hey all, below is some dot points of my current personal workload so you can get a sense of where I’m at, plus some quick discussions about commissions going forward. Under the cut as it’s a bit long.

tl;dr important points to take away -

1) Priority for my workload - 1) day job, 2) university/Judaism studies if they have specific deadlines, 3) commissions, 4) unpaid beta reading projects, 5) personal projects

2) 1 - 2 weeks is the common time frame for me to properly respond to commission emails, but I leave them on unread and they are not forgotten, and I am easily contactable if you need an update;

3) I no longer do commission work (including emails) from Friday - Saturday due to Shabbat observance.

4) Sprite Pack Commissions are no longer on offer from 16 May 2020. Any existing sprite packs will of course be completed in full.

5) New commission types will be coming soon and I will discuss and seek feedback in a separate post.

Commission Status:

Works in Progress - 1 Sprite Pack (almost complete!)

New Commission Emails - 2 (as of 16 May 2020)

The time frame for responding to new commission emails is 1 - 2 weeks; this is normal. I’m also not doing commission work on Shabbat as I’m trying to be more shomer - this means from Friday night to Saturday night my time, emails won’t be answered, and I won’t be painting anything I’m paid to do. It’ll resume on Saturday evening.

I review my commissions regularly, so that’ll be coming up soon with new commission offerings. I’m going to probably expand my commissions into more lengthy, detailed, bigger projects, although I will likely still offer a few slots for illustrations.

Sprite pack commissions will no longer be on offer from today, though. The reason why I’m stopping them is because they’re too time-consuming. Any sprite packs I currently have will be completed, of course.

I will still likely offer half-body or full body sprites.

The types of commissions I’ll be offering in future will probably be simple busts, then bigger projects like concept design (including orthographics), comics and CG illustrations.

Job & Study Workload:

Full-time job –

Monday to Friday, 8.30am - 4:30pm, working from home until further notice. Takes priority over all other workloads.

University work –

Anthropology research essay due 18 May (3,000 words)* Current priority

History research essay due 25 May (2,500) words

Anthropology exam - due early June (online exam)

Judaism Studies –

Written studies – Units 2, 3, 4 and 5

‘Intro to Judaism’ classes – various dates

Beth din exam – aiming for August

As above, current university work is the two research essays and exam that’s coming up. Gotta maintain that GPA! Once my semester is over, I will have more free time.

Beta Editing Projects:

Fenhawke fic, oneshot, WIP

Zevran x Warden fic, multi-chapter, WIP

Modern AU Solavellan fic, multi-chapter, WIP

At the moment I’m not taking on any extra betaing projects, but once my semester is finished I probably will. I’m an extremely thorough beta, and thus my editing takes longer, so I am not able to do rush jobs.

Personal Projects:

Fenris x Nyssa Fic, Multi-chapter, WIP (next update - 17 May 2020)

Food of Thedas, ongoing

By Any Other Name comic, ongoing (next update - Pages 5 - 8, TBA)

The Arcana comic, ongoing (next update - ??, TBA)

Overall you can see that I’m pretty busy. I expect to be less so when the semester break is, but it’s coming up to exam period and I have these two essays that take priority right now, as well as an actual exam quite soon.

#psa #housekeeping #commissions update

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typingandwriting · 4 years

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friday 3/1 (2020!!!)

here’s some muji flashcards which i decided to spice up with some washi tape i bought in berlin last february, i think they turned out super cute!

happy new year everyone!!

i have had such a chaotic half term i can’t even explain

it’s resulted in most of my work being left until the last five or so days of my break which wasn’t my plan

today i’ll be finishing off a history essay + art stuff which i never really finished so my sketchbook is up to date before my first lesson (monday 6/1)

at the moment i’m also working on a load of drawings which are due 15/1, so far i’ve done 1 of 9

i’m planning to try and do 2 more before monday and then the other 6 over the next week or so

hopefully you’re all doing well and feeling rested before term starts!

🎼 daily study music recommendation 🎼

lotsa love to everyone 💚✨

#study motivation #new study blog #uk study blog #study aesthetic #studywithme #study blog #a levelblr #a level art #a level revision #a levels #studyblr #gcses #gcses 2020 #a level english #a level history #gcse history #studyspo #revision #100 days of productivity

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sabraeal · 5 years

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Rarely Pure & Never Simple, Chapter 5

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4

Obiyuki Week, Day 5 Wrath | Patience

By May, Shirayuki has been at Clarines High -- that’s what they call it, no matter whose name is above the entrance, for reasons no one has been able to explain to her -- for eight months, and she’d be hard-pressed to name a single thing Tanbarun Academy could hold over it, except, well...

The backpack ban.

(”It’s not that hard to get around,” Kihal tells her, picking at the pastrami in her sub.

“You can just get a messenger bag,” Obi adds around the remains of his Mayflower. Why someone would want stuffing in a sandwich, Shirayuki will never quite know, but from how baggy his band tees are, he could probably use the calories. “You know, the rind is what has all the flavor.”

“I don’t want the flavor, I want prosciutto, but some people don’t know there’s more than one deli meat with a ‘p.’“

Obi shrugs a shoulder, unapologetic. “We don’t have fancy sliced ham where I come from. If you want pork you have to stab the pig yourself.”

“Oh please.” Kihal’s eyelashes flutter as she rolls her eyes, and it strikes her -- Kihal is flirting. With Obi. “As if you’ve ever seen a pig.”

“I’ve seen them on the side of a can,” he says, all smiles, and Kihal sighs, not even noticing how he’s -- he’s not joking. Shirayuki can’t say she knows Obi much more than she knows anyone here, but --

But she knows what it’s like when you don’t want to talk about hard stuff. Real stuff. Not when everyone around you asks about what you did for your Sweet Sixteen, still.

“See?” Kihal jerks a thumb at him. “If this idiot can figure it out, you can too.”

Shirayuki glances between them, first at Kihal’s flat look and then Obi’s bemused one. “But messenger bags are so bad for your spine!”)

English book? Check. A Tale of Two Cities? Check. Her English notebook, with the three-ring binder definitely, for real closed and not about to spill out onto the floor? Check. Pencil case, with all her writing utensils, including the highlighters? Check.

Shirayuki hefts her haul up, arms quivering, and lets out a satisfied sigh. Sure, Obi may call this doubling down on a bad idea, but life’s too long for scoliosis --

“Ms Leon?” A tall shadow falls across her desk, and even if she weren’t still in his classroom, Shirayuki would know it was Mr Haruka from sternness alone. “Stay after class, if you would.”

She jolts upright, a good eight of her fifteen smooth-glide, fine-tipped journal pens -- all different colors, because who can properly color-code with only black, blue and red, for goodness’ sake -- spill right out on the floor. Ah, she forgot to do the Closed Pencil Case check.

“Y-yes, sir!” She looks him right in the eyes, but they give away nothing, and all she can think is -- plagiarism. She somehow forgot that she read something on the internet, put it in her last essay, and now she’s going to get expelled, barely a month before she graduates --

“Ms Leon.” His mouth curls, just the smallest bit, right at one corner. “Please breathe. And do pick up your writing implements.”

“Oh, yes, um.” She hurries to put the pens back in their case, taking surreptitious glances at his Oxfords. “Sorry, that’s -- important. Breathing, I mean.”

She can’t see his face but she could swear -- swear -- he laughs. Just under his breath, the lightest chuckle. “Over this way, if you please.”

She looks up, following his arm until she realizes -- his desk. He’s pointing at his desk. And the small chair to one side of it. “Oh.”

“Shirayuki.” Her eyes jump to him, and -- oh, yes. Mr Haruka is definitely laughing at her. “You’re not in trouble. I promise.”

“Oh, right.” She lets out a giggle that is awkward, too high-pitched to be anything but pure nerves. “Of course not. Why would I be in trouble? I mean--”

“Just sit, Shirayuki.” He takes the chair behind his desk, shaking his head. “We have a lot to talk about.”

“Valedictorian?” she squeaks. “You’re telling me I’m valedictorian?”

“No! No.” Mr Haruka waves his hands gently, neck swiveling toward the door, as if that might make her words softer, as if he could stop the sound from leaving the room. “We don’t...do those things here. Because of the children.”

His tone makes it very clear that he is not so worried about the children as the administration is.

“Metrics like that might hurt more the fragile eg-- feelings of our students.” His mouth pulls into a grimace. “So we no longer...rank our high achievers. Instead, we invite the top one percent of our senior class to submit a speech. Which is what I’m doing right now. Inviting you to submit one.”

She stares. “But...I only started at Clarines this year. No one could possibly--”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Ms Leon.” His hands fold neatly on top of his desk calendar, which is all she can look at, because she knows -- she knows if she looks at him when he says what he’s going to say next -- “Your experience is just as valuable and important as anyone’s here, and if you -- my god, are you crying?”

“No,” she sniffs, but hot tracks already burn down her cheeks. He thrusts out a fistful of tissues from the box on his desk, staring at the wall like if he doesn’t look, it can’t possibly be happening. “Maybe.”

“Just...clean yourself up,” he tells her, stern, but when she glances up, he’s blushing. “As I was saying, your grades put you at the top of the class, and even if you’ve only been here a year, clearly you’ve made your mark.”

“Thank you,” she manages, little more than a squeak. “But I still think--”

“And unlike your other classmates, you’re literate,” Haruka tells the wall, as if she’s hardly there. “And you’re a good thinker. Your essays are concise and show more original thought than most any I’ve seen in twenty years of teaching. Besides --” his eyes dart back to her, mouth twitching at the corner -- “the kids say that if you’re the Honor Society Advisor’s favorite student, you’re a shoe-in to be picked.”

She blinks. “But, sir. You’re the advisor for the Honor Society.”

His mouth quivers. “Yes, Shirayuki, I am.”

“But...” Her jaw snicks shut. “Oh. Oh.”

“They’re due at the end of next week,” he tells her. “But you can drop it off on my desk as early as Monday. That is, if you’d like--”

“Yes. I mean, I will.” She jumps up, chair screeching across the tile. “Monday.”

He settles back in his chair, concern flitting across his features. “You know, you can’t take your time--”

“Don’t worry,” she tells him with a smile. “I’ll have it perfect.”

She’s halfway home when she feels the buzz in her pocket, and guilt nearly drags her under when her notification screen light’s up with Obi’s smiling portrait.

(”Did you crop this?” Obi’s grin is too wide for safety, and far too close.

“Y-yes!” His breath is hot on her neck, but she is going to finish this essay if it kills her. Which it might, if he keeps on looking at her like -- like that. “I can’t just --” words abandon her -- “have that show up, when my grandparents are around.”

His grin only turns more wicked. “Really? I think Nanna might appreciate--”

“Well, you could certainly ask her, since she got a real eyeful the last time you were over.” Shirayuki had expected a revision of the six-inch rule for her door, but instead Nanna had only smiled and told her, some things can just stay between us girls.

His eyes pulse wide. “It’s just my chest, kid. Not like I sent you a dick --”

“Please,” she squeal, covering her face. “Don’t.”)

Hey babe, it reads, and her stomach flips, just the smallest bit. Just wanted 2 remind u that i was hanging with Zen n every1 tonight.

Her mental calendar clicks into place, and she realizes -- Friday. It’s Friday. He has his usual pick-up game with friends, and she spends the night studying. Unless she goes with him, but even though things are fine between her and Zen -- good, even -- she doesn’t need to rub all this in his face. Especially when he’s hoping for a good time with his friends.

And if tonight’s Friday...

That’s fine. I have something I need to do this weekend. See you on Monday!

Instead of studying -- which she should do, really; finals are coming up in another week -- she spends the night googling things like best graduation speeches, and best HIGH SCHOOL graduation speeches, and best high school graduation speeches by new students not funny. After her nine or tenth compilation video she cuts herself off.

Three days to write a speech. It has to be short, but not too short; sweet, but not saccharine; and funny. Which she can’t do, so she’ll just settle for poignant instead.

With a few short taps, her phone is silenced. No interruptions. Just a weekend with her and a word processor, hoping something like wisdom comes out.

She can do this.

“Shirayuki?”

She startles, and it’s only Nanna’s hand that keeps her from face-planting right into the carpet. She’d fallen asleep, right here at the desk, and --

The speech.

Her neck swivels so fast it makes a painful crack, but there it is, on the screen --

“Oh my gosh,” she breathes. “It’s gibberish.”

“You were on the keyboard, dear,” Nanna sighs, leaning over her. She clicks the cursor and drags all the way up the screen, scrolling past almost three pages of nonsense to --

“Oh, oh!” She grips the edge of the desk. “It’s all there. It’s done!”

“Good girl.” Nanna pats her head, giving her a good scritch at the crown, like she always does. “But Obi’s on the horn.”

“The--?” She blinks, looking up at the cordless cradled against her cardigan. “He called the house?”

“He called the house,” Nanna agrees, very slow, like she’s afraid the implication might miss her. “And he sounds like he’s in a state.”

“Why wouldn’t he just call--?” Shes click her phone on, and the face of it proudly proclaims Obi: 12 missed calls, followed by a run of cut-off text messages. “Oh no.”

She holds her hand out, and Nanna drops the receiver into it. “Obi? Is something -- is something wrong?“

He lets out a laugh but it sounds -- ragged. “I don’t know, is there?”

She blinks. “Should I know?”

“Shirayuki.” His voice is tight, tense. “You haven’t talked to me since Thursday.”

“What? But I--?” She clamps down hard as she looks at their texts.

That’s fine. I have something I need to do this weekend. See you on Monday! still sits above her keyboard, unsent. Above it is, well --

hey is everything okay? kid is something up? you arent picking up your phone. please call me are you angry at me?

She blinks at that one. What could she possibly --

Oh no. Thursday.

(The applause is still rolling from the Daily Double, but Shirayuki can barely remember what the answer is, let alone the question when Obi’s touching her like this, his skirt up around her hips and his fingers deep inside her.

“It better not be College Jeopardy,” Lata calls out from the foyer, door closing behind him, but it’s too late, far too late to do more than stare as he walks into the room, face screwed up in annoyance. “I refuse to watch another night that makes the New York Times crossword look like a Gordian--”

Obi’s back is to him, so it’s Shirayuki that sees his gaze fall on it, then on the shirt discarded on the coffee table and the panties on the carpet, little banana splits smiling up at the plaster ceiling, and at last on the GWU shirt on the latest contestant before he turns on his heel and walks right of the room.)

please call me. we can work this out i promise i can do better

“Oh my gosh, Obi,” she breathes. There’s more but she -- she can’t look at that. Not right now. “I’m so sorry. I thought I had -- my text didn’t send!”

The silence from his end is deafening. “Your what?”

“I’ve been working on a project all weekend,” she admits, voice shaking. “And I silenced my phone so I could, you know, avoid distractions. I just -- I thought I pressed send, but I didn’t, and I’m -- I’m so sorry!”

There’s a pause, and then he must have put his phone down because she can hear him roaring with laughter, just...muted.

“Kid, kid,” he breathes, louder this time, brighter. “You are...something else.”

She’s glad he can’t see her, because he’d definitely call this painful red cute. “I...I guess.”

“Well?” She can almost see his eyebrows raising. “Did you finish?”

“Oh! Yes!” She spins, clicking at the doc. “I’m -- I’m just printing it out now.”

“So...” His voice slides straight into that easy purr, the one that makes her thighs clench just thinking about it. “...You don’t need to avoid distractions anymore?”

Even with all -- that, she still nearly says, I guess not, as if she hasn’t picked up his subtle hints, but her brain catches up quicker than her mouth. She snaps her teeth over the words, giving herself a breath to think.

“Finals are next week,” she says carefully, watching the door. She can’t see Nanna, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t lurking in the hall, waiting to catch her. “You need to study, don’t you?”

His grin is practically audible. “Come over here. Lyrias’s finals are this week, so Lata left early.”

She presses her thighs together, and -- three days. It’s been three days.

“I’ll be over in a bit,” she tells him, all in a rush. “Make sure you come up with a study plan.”

“Oh, trust me,” he rumbles. “I know exactly what I’m going to do.”

“All right, my worst subject is gonna be English, because I forcibly forgot Catcher in the Rye, and now I gotta relearn it,” Obi tells her, and -- and he whips out a piece of paper, written in no less than five colors, and drops it in her lap. “But after that is chem. I don’t know shit about how orbitals work.”

“Oh!” She stares down, squinting at the chicken scratch that is just barely more legible than usual. Never has she been less excited by color-coding. “You actually...you actually made a plan.”

“These are the last set of finals I’m ever going to take in high school,” he tells her, teeth flashing behind his lips. “Hopefully. So I gotta -- gotta make it good right?”

I thought you wanted to make out, sits right on the tip of her tongue, but she looks at him, grinning at her so hard it crinkles his eyes, finally excited and she --

“Right.” She takes out her own, and props them side-by-side on his night table, edges curling in on one another. “Let’s get to work then.”

There’s a flaw in her plan.

Her palms sweat around the folder she holds in them, fingers sticking with an awkward squich as she taps them on the plastic. She had plans for today. Big plans. Plans that involved a mirror and a red pen, but now --

“Obi.”

He looks up from his notes, bubbly p-bonds blooming across the page, and her breath catches right in her chest. It’s soft yet -- yet hungry, molten and knowing, and it’s exactly how he looks right before he kisses her.

Shirayuki can ignore that though. She has -- business.

“Mm?” he hums, and that -- that’s trouble right there, the way he leans in smelling all nice --

Focus! Focus. That’s what she needs to do. “I need you to help me with something.”

This isn’t a good idea, not when this is the first time they’ve had time to be alone, just the two of them, in days, but -- it’s important.

His mouth curls, and oh, maybe she needs to be a little clearer about what she means by help --

“Well, kid?” he rumbles, leaning his chin on his hand. “I’m all ears.”

There isn’t enough air in this room.

That -- that’s the problem here. It’s got to be almost eighty out there, and sure, Lata’s house has central air, but Obi’s just...covered up a vent. That’s why she’s sweating, gasping for each breath like she’s run uphill; that’s why she’s so light-headed she could faint, not --

“Oh, god,” Shirayuki moans, clutching at his back, skin slick beneath her fingertips. “Please...”

-- Not anything to do with what he’s doing between her legs. Oh no, all this quivering just -- just because they need to open a window.

“What was that?” Obi rumbles, grinning against her neck. He lifts her hips, just a little, so that her ass tilts up on his knees, and then he slides his fingers deeper, just where she wants them --

“Holy--”

“I can’t hear you,” he says, too innocent, nipping right at the curve of her jaw. His hand stills, just short of where she needs him. “Maybe you don’t like--?”

Her fingers band around his wrist, showing him just what she’d like. Still he doesn’t do the -- the thing; touching her like this is all fine and good, but sometimes he does this...fluttery thing inside, and she --

“Did you want this?” he asks, half-breathless, and his fingers move. Stars bloom in her vision, bright against the black of her eyelids, and --

Well, she doesn’t have any complaints about it, that’s for sure.

“Stop teasing.” she pants, hips raising to chase his hand. “Just--”

Oh, it’s -- it’s very hard to keep any sort of thoughts in his head while he’s -- he’s doing things.

“Teasing?” It’s an inquisitive rumble right above her heart, eyebrows lifting in the worst impression of surprise she’s ever seen. “I can’t do what you want if you don’t tell me what you need...”

“You’re doing just -- haaah -- fine on your own,” she assures him, back arching off the bed.

“I need encouragement.”

She lifts her head, and the look he gives her is, well -- trouble. “I’m not going to -- to --”

“Scream?” he offers, curling his fingers in a way that makes that seem like a more probably eventuality than it did a minute ago. “I don’t see why not.”

Her face is already flushed from -- from things, but she feels it go darker, chest practically burning up. “What if -- if -- Lata--”

She can’t even finish the thought. She knows far too well what would happen. It will be nothing short of a miracle if she ever manages to look him in the eye again.

“Lata is hours away,” he tells her, lifting his head so that honeyed gaze can bear down into hers, “and you’ll be living in a dorm room soon. So you should take advantage--” he grins as she gasps, his fingers touching her just where he needs him -- “of the fact.”

She means to argue the point, really she does, but he wraps and arm around her waist, lifting her upright into his lap, and -- well, she gives him exactly what he wants.

“Hnn-aah.” Knees jellied, thighs quivering still, Shirayuki tips back with a sigh, Obi’s mattress catching her better than she can her breath.

“Well.” His fingers shimmer with -- with her as he raises them, giving them a thoughtful glance. It’s all for show; she knows before he even moves that he’ll wrap his lips around them, sucking off her taste as if he can’t get enough.

It doesn’t stop her helpless whine when they disappear into his mouth, long lashes fluttering against his cheek. It’s not fair that he looks so good doing -- doing that. “Obi!”

“I liked it.”

For a long minute, she stares, halfway to saying, I know you did, but --

“Oh!” She laughs, shaking her head on his pillow. It smells like him, fresh and earthy. “The speech! Were you even listening?”

“Of course.” He looks almost affronted that she doubts it. “I obviously found it inspiring.”

He settles beside her, his front pressed to her side, and his -- his dick pokes her hip, as if it’s proving his point. Which, all right, it kind of is, but -- but that’s beside the point.

“I should have known better.” She rolls up onto her side, letting it dig into her belly, and she just catches the slight flutter of his eyelashes, the hitch in his breath. “It’s been three days. Expecting you to focus was a big ask.”

“I did focus.” His hips squirm, rubbing up against hers. Her panties are -- well, somewhere, and his fly is open for comfort and she -- she’s a little distracted. By his grin, that was the plan. “I’m still very focused.”

“I get it, I get it,” she laughs, leaning into his chest, closing the space between them with a kiss. It’s quick, affection rather than desire, but every kiss with Obi turns into something that lingers, that leaves her a little breathless when she pulls away. “But really, did you--?”

“I loved it, kid, really.” He leans his forehead against hers, rubbing noses with a grin. “I wasn’t just thinking about whether you had tights on or not.”

She lets her silence do the talking on that one. Mostly because if she said anything, it would come out less like, I appreciate your attraction, but I am more than just what’s between my legs, and more like, I plan what I wear depending on whether or not I think we’ll have time to fool around.

Shirayuki bites back a sigh. I would be nice if all her feminist ideology didn’t crumble the second he looked at her.

His smile softens, fingers reaching out to tuck some errant flyaways behind her ear. “You did great, kid. They’ll love it.”

She leans into his touch, just the littlest bit, and maybe --

Maybe the reason she doesn’t feel like she has to aggressively remind him to respect her is because he already does.

“I especially liked that part about me.”

She’s already flushed, but her cheeks scale up to a five-alarm fire. “It wasn’t about you! It was about--”

“I know, I know, everyone you met here.” He smooths a hand over the top of her head, fingers trailing down to tangle at her nape and draw her close. Lips brush right between her brows, smoothing away the crinkle there. “Don’t worry, kid, I know I’m not the only important person in your life.”

Obi’s right, of course -- it’s not like she just emerged fully-formed from the ether at the beginning of senior year, just to be the girl he liked. She has her grandparents, and the few friends she’s kept from her old school, Zen and Kiki and Mistuhide, Kihal, Ryuu and Higata and the rest of the mathletes --

Wow, that’s a lot more people than she even thought.

But even still, there’s something in the way he says it, not even sad or resigned but -- but so certain he’s not anywhere at the top of the list and fine with it, that makes her blurt out, “Well, I mean, it is mostly about you.”

The flat of his teeth presses against her skin, and she doesn’t need to look at him to know how immensely pleased she’s made him, not when his -- his dick twitches, catching the underside of her belly.

“Do you need to--” even after all this time, she still doesn’t know quite how to ask -- “handle that?”

His eyebrows dip in confusion, and she wriggles her hips, not subtle in the least.

A laugh huffs out of him, his forehead slipping from hers to bury itself in the crook of her neck. She feels him shaking against her, but it takes her a good long minute to realize it’s a -- a shake. A no.

“No. Well--” she feels his lips curl against her skin, which is just doing nothing for her concentration right now -- “eventually. But it can wait.”

She opens her mouth to protest -- it’s not fair that she makes him wait on top of everything else -- but he just says, “I like being with you like this. You know, after.”

A breath catches tight in her chest. She does know; there’s something nice about him being close as she comes down, as the tingle fades from her body and leaves a bone-deep relaxation behind. Sometimes, when she lays there, trying to catch herself against his shoulder, she thinks about how nice it might be for there to be nothing between them, for their touches to be skin-to-skin and for him to be breathless too --

He lifts her arm up and lets it drop, boneless, to the bed. “You get all floppy. It’s really fucking cute.”

He mouth pulls thin, giving him the most forbidding glare she can dredge up, the most scolding she can do in silence --

And he pulls back, taking it in with a smile that is just -- fond. Content. His palm cups the back of her head, and he draws her close, tucking her head under his chin. He’s so close, so silent, that she can hear his heart beat in his chest, hear the breath fill and empty his lungs.

He’s too good to her.

Her fingers curl against his chest, skin still slick beneath them, and she has to take a moment to calm herself, to think, because it’s just -- a lot. So much.

She’s never dated anyone before, not even at her old school, but she knows that this is different. Zen never made her chest feel tight like this, like she’s too small in a single body, like even skin is too much of a barrier between them. That sometimes, if she tried hard enough, she wouldn’t even need to speak to have him know what she was thinking.

It’s intense. More than she thought, and if he were any other boy --

Well, if he were any other boy, he would already be in the bathroom, finishing himself off. If he were any other boy, he would have told her she needs to stop being so shy about dicks if she likes rubbing up against them so much.

But he doesn’t. It doesn’t even seem to bother him, which just -- it has to be fake.

Not that she’s complaining. It’s only --

Sure, it’s just about sex now. But she can’t help but wonder about if something was wrong -- really wrong -- whether he’d tell her or just -- do this, until he couldn’t stand it anymore. She’s good at reading him now, but what about when they don’t see each other every day, when she can’t just look at him to tell if there’s a problem--?

“How are we going to make this work?” she asks his throat, pulse racing against her lips.

He jerks against her like she’s yanked his strings. “What do you mean?”

“When I’m at Lyrias and you’re here.” She pushes back, just in time to see the fear in his eyes fade to concern, fade to certainty. “What if it’s not enough? What if--?”

“I’m going to visit.” He cards his fingers through her hair, the blunt edges of his nails scraping down her scalp in a way that’s nearly as soothing as his voice. “Remember? Once every two weeks, and I’ll stay the whole weekend, if your roommate doesn’t mind. And we can skype as much as you want. And I promise I’ll text you as obnoxiously as I do now.”

“So every two minutes?” she teases, leaning her forehead against his lips.

She can feel his smile against her hairline. “Mm, no. Too long. How about every minute?”

“Obi--”

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding.” He squeezes her close. “Every five.”

Her hands are trapped against his chest, but she’s not above giving a good pinch. Even still, he just laughs, batting her hands away.

“I’m serious, Obi! We see each other every day, and then we just..won’t.” She squirms, tucking herself more firmly under his chin. It’s hard enough to say this out loud, never mind look at him while she’s doing it. “What if...what if...”

What if you get bored of me? She would never insult him by saying it, by implying that between them, he would somehow be the weak link, but -- it’s all she can think about. Hours away, only seeing her every two weeks, and who knows what time she’ll have outside of her course work to give him, and what time he’ll have with school and a job to give her --

Obi’s hand smooths down her back, broad and warm, and she just -- breathes.

“Shirayuki,” he says, her name rumbling fondly under her ear. “Haven’t I told you? You’re the only one who does it for me.”

She means to laugh, but it gasps out like wounded honk. “You can’t just keep saying that.”

“Why not?” For once, he sounds almost frustrated. “It’s true.”

It’s the earnestness that hurts. He’s so sure, and yet -- yet --

She wiggles her hips against his, feeling only the sharp jut of his pelvis. “It doesn’t feel like I’m doing it for you.”

Obi stares at her for a long moment, and then a laugh huffs out of him, his cheeks pink over bronze.

“Well, not right now.” His fingers drag against her scalp, burying themselves in the hair at her nape. “We’re having a serious conversation, I need all that blood. But give me a few minutes...”

The invitation is implicit, and she want to take it -- she means to take it, but --

She shakes her head. “One day you’ll meet a girl who isn’t afraid of penises, and then--”

“I’ve met plenty of girl who were very enthusiastic about penises.” His eyes meet hers as their foreheads touch. “And I still only want you.”

She lets out a sigh, closing her eyes. It would be nice to be able to believe that. “Be serious.”

“About you? Always.” For a breath he just lays there, head pressed against hers, but it doesn’t last. He shifts, pulling back, tilting her chin up so that their eyes meet. “Listen, I get that you haven’t done this whole long distance thing before. I haven’t either. I mean, fuck, kid, I haven’t really done this whole dating thing at all. I’m sure I’ll fuck up somewhere, but it won’t be by thinking the grass is greener on the other side, believe me.”

Her palms press flat against his chest, his heart racing beneath the, “Obi, I didn’t mean to--”

“But if you’re worried about us not being to do other stuff--” he waggles his eyebrows, making crystal clear just what sort of other stuff he’s talking about -- “we can always do skype sex.”

She stares, wondering if she’s having a stroke. “We can what?”

“You know.” His lips twitch. “When you skype each other, and then you watch each other get off.”

“I...” She blinks. “At the same time?”

“I’m mean, I’m a little fuzzy on the details here, but yeah.” His hand smooths down her spine, resting heavy just above her butt. It takes superhuman effort not to squirm back, not to press into it. “That’s typically how these things go.”

“And that...” She licks her lips, but her mouth is already dry. “That would work for you?”

He stiffens under her hands, eyes pulsing wide. “What, seeing you touch yourself? Getting all wet for me?” His hand urges her closer, and she can feel him hard against her thigh. “Watch you get all flushed because you’re hot for me? Think about how it could be me getting you that way, how I’d touch you to make you come?”

To her complete humiliation, she whimpers.

“Yeah,” he breathes, gazes fixed her hers. “I think that would work for me just fine.”

“O-oh,” she squeak, face burning. “Oh.”

His lips curl as he looks at her, as he leans close and rumbles, “Wouldn’t that work for you? Watching me touch myself, knowing I’m hard because you look so incredible when you come?”

Her nails scrape against his chest, earning her a hiss that is -- is not helping with the thinking, here.

That -- that might be okay. Seeings a penis not in person, but through a screen. Not that it’s really helped with google, but -- if it was Obi’s, if it was because she --

“Yes.” He twitches hard against her, and she ducks her head, flushed. “I mean, yes, but ...”

“But..?” he hums, too amused.

“I just...” I only there was a way to say these things without actually having to say them, like Obi does. Some innuendo that could make the problem clear without being so -- so obvious. “I’m not very good at, um, being alone. Like that.”

“Oh, really?” The hardness is impossible to ignore now. “Well, we have an entire summer, kid. Plenty of time for practice sets.”

“What, like summer school for m-m---” she grits her teeth--- “touching myself?”

“Why not?” His grin stretched across her temple. “You seem like the sort of girl who likes to get hot for teacher---”

Duchess Prettymane ends that particular vein of conversation.

“What have we said about you being nicer to your friends?” he says, catching Tiny Frog before he can join the pile surrounding Obi’s head. “If that doesn’t float on the motion of your ocean, I could always just get you a...graduation gift.”

For a long moment, she’s only confused; after all, she’s already looked in to getting him one, and it’s not like she was expecting one from him, but it wasn’t out of the realm of --

She catches his grin, the heat in his eye. Oh. Oh. Graduation gift. The kind she would not be opening in front of Grandad and Nanna.

“Obi!”

“What?” His grin is far too attractive, this close. “It would be very thoughtful. I would think very, very hard about what kind you might like--”

“Kind?” she yelps. “I thought there were, you know, just...sizes.”

“Oh, kid.” He bends close, lips brushing over hers. “Can’t start you off with some big dragon dick. Gotta work you up to it.” His hand skims over her hip, leaving a searing trail where each finger touches, lifting her leg to wrap around his waist. “I was thinking of one of those little egg ones, the king that just sit here--”

She whines at his touch, hips bucking against his as two of his fingers brush just over her clit. She came only a few minutes ago, but she’s wet again, hands clutching at his biceps as he moves those fingers just so --

“That,” she gasps, nails digging into his skin. “That might be okay.”

His jaw drops, eyes blowing wide, and --

Well, she loses a few minutes.

“All right,” he huffs, rolling away from her, fingers still slick. “This is definitely becoming a…ah….pressing issue.”

Her heart squeeze in her chest, but when she looks at him, he only gestures to where – where he is hard against his boxers, to a point that looks nearly painful.

“Oh!” She sits up. “Right.”

He gives her a weak smile. “If you would excuse me…”

He brushes past her getting off the bed, and for a moment she nearly stops him, nearly tells him to stay and pull off those jeans, to let her see him for once –

But she just presses her lips together and calls out, “Have fun?”

Obi tosses her a mischievous grin over his shoulder. “Oh, don’t worry, Kid. I plan to.”

#obiyukiweek19 #obiyuki #akagami no shirayukihime #snow white with the red hair #lemon #my fic #rarely pure and never simple #this was going to cover all the way up to the graduation #but I realized that I didn't explain the speech thing AT ALL in that version #so now you gets a couple weeks before #also yes these idiots are getting caught all over the place #but Nanna was a kid once #and Lata just does not need to be involved #ever #do what you want it was college week anyway

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agallimaufryofoddments · 5 years

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I’m alive. Somehow. Whew...

I’ve been close to fandom silent the past week and a half and acutely aware of the fact--but it couldn’t be helped; I’ve spent the time drenched in work and have work yet to come. In this case, there was a smidgen of a three-minute pitch on Monday (which I shouldn’t have been so concerned for) and other work, but the main thing that’s kept me busy has been a group project which my partner and I presented today--and presented well, I think; I think the exhibit and presentation went quite well! Much better than all the worst-case scenarios I’d been entertaining in my head. And the milder bad scenarios.

We were each chewing through all sorts of readings from Wednesday to Friday, and met up to work together Fri-Sat-Sun for at least four hours each day (but often longer; one night I left the library alone at midnight). Yesterday (Tuesday) was the final longgg stretch; we worked at library till late in the night, went to her place to work some more--discovered a typo on one of the printed exhibit panels which spurred me to bike back to the library in the hour before it closed, print revised versions, come back (despite my front headlight rusting entirely off the bike in the process)--

(That’s right--I have a rental bike now?? Did I mention that? I’ll do so in another post)

--work some more, leave her place at 1 AM, reach flat 20 to 2 AM, sleep at 3 AM...get up at 8, be at her place before 10, arrive 2.5 hours early to department building...

...Yeah. So today that’s one big thing out of the way (though we still have to write a critical reflection on the exhibit due next week), thank goodness. I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had time to come up with an essay question/topic which I need to run by my professor...a question/topic which really should be in by tomorrow, yikes, so that’s something I need to work on before I sleep (sleep!!!!).

I’ve been so busy that I’ve fallen behind on the /r/anime Baccano! rewatch something awful; I commented on the first two episodes/threads but was too tired/busy to participate in episodes 3-onward...and I’m pretty sure Episode 7 thread is supposed to be up today. Already up today. Agh! Perhaps I have enough time now to at least write up and post something for Episode 7--a couple hours late I may be, but at least it’ll show I’ve not dropped out. Leave Episodes 3-6 for tomorrow afternoon, after class. (Apparently the ‘common rooms’ in our building will be ‘officially’ open tomorrow too, but the drinks/snacks celebration is starting at exactly the time my class is supposed to end. I suppose I can try to show up anyway.)

Oh--saw a tweet announcement earlier today about an upcoming Drrr!! stage play announcement this Saturday--but that’s for another post.

#personal #long post #This project utterly consumed the past week and a half and left no time for hobbies but also chores #I only did laundry this Sunday because I was running too low on clothes to survive another week without laundering #Shoutout to my project partner who decided to make both of us lunch or dinner when I was working at her place #It was very kind and also much-needed nourishment considering I have hardly managed to cook anything this past week #This weekend I may finally have time to try and make my room a bit more presentable #it has Suffered from this project

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petuniatom · 5 years

Text

No. 1 Party Anthem [2] | College!Tom AU

Pairing: College!DJ!Bartender/Barista!Tom Holland x Fem!Reader

Series Summary: You’re coming up on your last year of college, grappling with finally getting ready for the actual “adult” world and being in two majors you’re not crazily passionate about. When you’re in the middle of a stressful essay at your favorite local coffee shop/upstairs bar, Dommo’s, you meet Tom Holland, a barista and bartender.

You slowly get to know each other over sangria, and soon enough manage to slip your way into his world where the days don’t usually end until about 5 a.m., music is everything, and uncertainty is your best friend.

A story about late night laments, sangria, and a whole lot of growing up.

SERIES MASTERLIST | Ch. 1

Word count: 5.8K

A/N: Hello! Long time no post! Here’s the long awaited update. It’s a little bit more exposition here, but part three is when it starts getting a little bit more spicy. Primarily, we’re focusing on watching the reader developing more of her other friendships here. But stay tuned for pt. 3 which will be coming very soon!

“I don’t see why we couldn’t just go to Dommo’s,” you whined.

You’d been waiting nearly an hour in line outside of Over & Easy with Tony and Jacob. The day before, you made them promise to get mimosas with you Saturday morning, following their late-night adventures and your Friday night essay-writing. While Over & Easy was one of the best spots in town for brunch food, its popularity meant usually there was a battle for those wanting to get inside.

Jacob and Tony, rather than accepting your quiet suggestion to head over to Dommo’s, were insistent that Over & Easy was the best idea for today. Though it was bound to be busy, Tony was craving their french toast and Jacob said their mimosas were better deals anyway. (After all, Saturdays usually meant pitchers for $5, so he wasn’t wrong.)

“You just went there yesterday!” Tony said. “And we rarely come to Over & Easy.”

“C’mon, it’s good to do something different every once and a while,” Jacob said, nudging you.

“Well, it’s just for a place that’s named Over & Easy it just seems to be the exact opposite,” you huffed.

Jacob snickered, and Tony rolled his eyes at your statement.

“What’s going on with you? Why do you want to go to Dommo’s so badly?” Tony asked.

“My car is there,” you said. Tony and Jacob shot each other a look. You knew the jig was up; these boys could read you almost too well. “All right, I met someone there yesterday. He was really nice. And I wanted to see him again because I forgot to get his number.”

Tony and Jacob let out a long, “Ooooh,” at your response.

“Well, I hear all the Dommo’s bartenders and baristas are kind of fuck boys, Y/N, so it might be well-worth your time to just skidaddle anyway,” Tony said. “But I mean, if you want to meet him, just pop-in for more coffee or something when you go get your car.”

You bit your lip. “I know, but he just didn’t seem like the usual type for Dommo’s. He actually seemed nice, like he wanted to talk to me. He listened to me complain about my major for like two hours, and gave me free sangria. You don’t just give anyone free sangria.”

“We do every week,” Jacob replied, lifting his arms up. “Whine and Wine, c’mon.”

You laughed, shaking your head. “Yes, but we’re close friends. This guy was a stranger.”

“Doesn’t our roommate work at Dommo’s?” Tony asked, slightly scrunching his face up.

Jacob shook his head. “No, you idiot. He works at Wilson’s.”

“I swore he told me that once,” Tony muttered, shaking his head.

At that moment, your group’s name was called out, and you were ushered to a table in the back that seated four. You all ordered a round of mimosas, but you were all going to stick to just that — only one. Tony and Jacob were admittedly a little bit hungover still from last night, and while you were fine, you thought it’d be good to still hold off after all the sangria you drank the night before.

You chatted with both Jacob and Tony about how classes were going so far. Tony was going to have a stressful upcoming week, considering he had an exam coming up in one of his chemistry classes. Jacob, however, was going to be able to take it easy this week. He was a film and acting student, and he only had to worry about a group project he was going to be tackling soon. For the most part though, he was more thrilled than anything when it came to its progress so far, discussing how he met this new girl named Zendaya he wanted to integrate into the friend group.

“She’s a great actress and one of the most laid-back girls I’ve ever met in my life,” Jacob said.

“What is she studying?” you asked, lifting your eyebrows up.

“Women studies and music theory, but she’s heavily involved in the theater scene too.”

“You have to invite her for whine and wine. We need someone new in the mix,” Tony insisted. He then turned to you. “Are you inviting anyone new?”

“Maybe Brynn,” you mused, shrugging.

Jacob and Tony both groaned.

They hadn’t completely warmed up to your friend after an ill-fated incident at a previous party where she, in a completely drunken haze, decided to start jumping on Tony’s already fragile bed, and ended up breaking it. They hadn’t seen her since, slightly agitating the relationship between them and her. In her defense, she did help Tony pay for a new headboard and whatnot. So she wasn’t completely disgraced — just not a favorite to have around.

“You know what that means, time to lock all the bedrooms,” Tony huffed.

You giggled at your friends response, shaking your head. “I don’t think she’ll do something like that again. Besides, it’ll be good to have her around again. You guys can actually get to know her this time around. She’s a good person to complain with.”

“Why couldn’t you just get the bartender’s number and invite him instead?” Tony griped. You knew he was (mostly) kidding, but you were a little bit sad when you realized how fun it would be to invite Tom to Jacob and Tony’s parties on Wednesday nights. You could sit in the corner and chat, sipping on more wine and just get to know each other.

“More mimosas?” your waitress asked, approaching your table.

“I think we’re going to stick to water now,” Jacob replied, thanking her.

After a surplus of french toast and laughing, you were soon walking along the street toward Dommo’s to pick up your car.

Chatter consumed the world around you and you weaved in between all the people who were heading toward their own hangover brunch. You couldn’t help smiling, thinking of how you loved your college town for all its quirks.

As you headed in front of Dommo’s, you immediately spotted your car in one of the two hour free-lots, groaning when you realized you’d gotten a parking ticket for exceeding on your allotted time. It was a $35 ticket — not the worst you’d ever gotten downtown, but still not great.

Figuring you had nothing to lose still, you popped your head inside, scanning the room for Tom.

You sighed when you realized he wasn’t inside, but told yourself that you could maybe make a run by another time. He still owed you that latté that he talked to you about last night anyway. Either way, you headed back to your car, tucking the parking ticket in your glove box.

***

Over the course of the weekend, you quickly got over Tom. You fixated on your homework that was due Monday and Tuesday, burned some candles, and caught up on your favorite television shows. He turned from your brief confidanté into a passing memory.

Soon enough, you were back in your poli-sci class, plopped next to Brynn on the left side of the classroom as your professor lectured. You were nervous about today. He’d sent out an email before class that said he would be handing back papers today — a paper you rushed to complete and barely glanced over. You knew your grade was bound to be fucked by the time you got yours.

While your thoughts spiralized, your classmates were consumed in a debate over the topic of the paper. You heard Brynn contribute to the discussion and you started to doodle on your notebook, in hopes of temporarily escaping your thought process.

You then felt Brynn nudge you, a typical cue for when she needed you to back her up on something. You figured it was the typical conservative boys in the corner giving her trouble, and lifted your head up.

“What’s going on?” you whispered in her ear. “I’ve been tuned out.”

She snickered. “Nothing really, just Brad and Chad here are saying that voter fraud is the reason Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, and it’s an epidemic across the country. No racist history behind voter laws whatsoever.”

You rolled your eyes. Of course, your poli-sci discussion always turned into this at one point. You typically enjoyed the debates a little bit more, but since it was still within the first month, you were in the less compelling element of class. You were less enthusiastic about the fact that you were currently stuck in this class with two of your least favorite fellow political science majors — Carter Higgins and Quentin Carver. They’d followed you through the political science classes since your freshman year, but most of the time, you were fortunate enough to only have one of them. This semester, you got both of them.

You were grateful when your professor decided to cut off the discussion early to hand back papers. You slumped back in your seat, somewhat eager to see your grade and yet not prospective about how it was bound to look.

Soon enough, your professor called out your name. Your fingers felt jittery as you walked up to the front, and grabbed the folded paper from his hand, and returned to your seat.

You unfolded the packet of paper carefully. You were surprised when you saw in red pen on the front a giant “A” and a note from him that said, “Excellent job.”

A wave of relief washed over you. You slumped back into your chair, this time in pure disbelief.

“What did you get?” Brynn asked, leaning over to spot it. “Holy shit, first paper and you already aced it. He’s a tough grader too. Congrats.”

You’d heard of this particular professor’s reputation before throughout others who took his class, so you were familiar with some of the horror stories when it came to grading. You knew it wasn’t just you who helped coordinate all of this, as your mind wandered back to your Friday night in Dommo’s and the bartender who was kind enough to look over your paper.

You focused back on Brynn. “Thanks! How did you do?”

She frowned, “B+, but still good. Better than I expected, that’s for sure.”

You packed up your things into your backpack, waiting patiently for everyone to be handed back their papers. Once everyone had, he gave a short overview of what to do on future papers, should anyone need help and reiterated his office hours incase anyone wanted to chat about their grade. Shortly after, everyone was dismissed, and you slung your backpack back over your shoulder. There was a bounce in your step as you approached the door to the classroom, but right as you were getting ready to leave, your professor called your name again.

You turned around, facing him. “Yes, Professor McKinley?”

“I was really impressed with your paper, Y/N. It was one of the best I’ve seen right off the bat in this class. You have a fairly impressive future ahead of you,” he said.

You were flattered by the statement. Sure, you excelled in all of your political science courses, and you were glad you were already doing well in this class in particular. Yet, the thought of the future still somewhat terrified you. You wanted to tell this professor so badly that you had no idea how you were going to handle things following this school year, and the last thing you thought the future would be for you was “impressive.”

“I’m currently looking for an undergraduate student to be a research assistant and join my team,” he continued. “I think you would be perfect for the job if you’re interested. I need someone that I know can analyze, write, and work well with others. Currently, I just have one person, Carter Higgins actually, who works with me, but I always like to have another person around while campaign season unfolds.”

You gulped. You weren’t sure if you wanted to work alongside Carter; you hated him. Yet, this was a tremendous opportunity. Professor McKinley was one of the most well-connected professors politically. If you wanted a job at a non-profit or in a politician’s office, he almost always had a way in. If you joined and impressed him, you could ride on his coattails.

“What exactly would I be responsible for?”

“Just doing research, maybe picking up some books from the library. We’d go to different parties of political candidates as well. You might accompany me to a few panels as the election approaches, all sorts of things. It’s a great opportunity to network and learn more about political research.”

You bit your lip. Admittedly, you didn’t like your current job so much. It’d be nice to do something during the school year that focused on what you were passionate about.

“I’d love to do it,” you said.

He beamed. “Great, I’ll send you a link tonight to apply. I’m looking forward to working with you, Y/N.”

You gave him a polite thank you, before exiting the room. Brynn was outside, leaning against a wall and waiting for you. You smiled when you saw her.

“What was that all about?” she asked, synchronizing with your step as you both exited the building.

“Professor McKinley just asked me to work for him and do something political research,” you said, not meaning to brag, but well, it did sound that way.

You hated whenever you talked to Brynn about things like this. While she was an amazing friend, she was prone to jealousy and being competitive. A lot of the times, that manifested in your friendship with one another.

You could tell she was a little bit envious about the offer you received, and you felt a little bit guilty. Soon enough, a smile was on her face. You weren’t sure how genuine it was.

“That’s good. You’re going to get a lot of good networking out of that,” she said. “Congratulations!”

And yet, it felt forced. You weren’t sure just why you felt so guilty. Normally, if something like this happened, you would wave off the person who was exhibiting this kind of jealousy. But it was Brynn, and Brynn was one of the most passionate people you’d ever met. She genuinely cared about political science; it was her life ambition. The opportunity would have meant so much more than a resume line and connections to her.

“Thanks,” you replied. “But here’s the downside, I have to work with Carter Higgins.”

She groaned and you felt a little bit better in knowing you could now joke with her about the offer.

“I fucking hate that kid. He thinks he’s so important just because he’s a man and knows how to walk on two legs,” Brynn muttered. “Timmy Turner lookin-ass.”

You giggled at your friend’s string of insults. None of them were inaccurate.

“Speaking of Carter, why were you so spacey today? I needed your back-up.”

You let out a long sigh, uneasy how to best navigate the conversation. You didn’t want to agitate the whole friendship you had between you and Brynn, since you’d known she spent all week working on the paper. You knew she was going to judge you just a little bit for your lack of promptness with the paper, particularly since you’d gotten the special offer from Professor McKinley.

So you settled for, “Oh, I’ve just been anxious all day.”

“Why?”

You hadn’t thought that far along yet.

“Just a number of different things,” you said slowly. You decided your best bet was to slowly spin off the truth. “And like, I don’t know, I was nervous about my grade on the paper because I didn’t think it was my best work, and like, this one is going to sound a little bit lackluster, but I met this cute boy this weekend. We flirted for a few hours and I really liked him, but I forgot to get his number.”

It was an exaggeration to an extent, but for the most part, there was no lie.

“Oh that always sucks. I’ve done something like that before,” she replied, frowning slightly. “But hey, maybe you’ll bump into him again sometime soon. And like, I feel you on the anxiety in general, because I get that all the time.”

You felt yourself simmer down after her response. There were so many reasons you liked Brynn, but primarily because she never invalidated you when you talked about the things that were stressing you out. Even if they were just small things like forgetting to get a boy’s number at a bar.

“So, tell me about the boy,” she nudged you on.

You smiled and recounted how you met Tom to her, and how you opened yourself up to him so immediately it surprised you. You told her how sweet he was, how he waited to ensure you were comfortable with him giving you a ride home and in making sure you got home safely to begin with.

“Wow, you’re smitten by someone you’d only met for maybe two hours,” Brynn remarked.

You laughed. “I know, highly unlikely for me right?” You shook your head, your eyes slightly sparkling. “Some people are just magnetic, though, you know? And I think he’s one of those rare types.”

Brynn donned a smile at your words. “I honestly never thought I’d see the day where you were so flustered over another person. Who knew Dommo’s would put something like this together, huh?”

Brynn was reasonably surprised. In all the years that she’d known you, you’d never really pursued a relationship with another person. Often when someone was interested, you’d go on a date, but it almost always turned into nothing besides maybe a brief fling. This was the first time she saw you genuinely entranced by another person since you’d both been at college.

It was just that you were a total stickler about dating people you felt like were just as motivated as you were. Or at least, people who could keep up with you in terms of interests and banter. Other potential significant others you’d met over the years were great, but you always felt like you were never fully understood by them.

There was something different about this thing with Tom. Finding common ground wasn’t an issue. He got you.

“Hopefully it stays a thing. I haven’t seen him since, remember?” you continued. “And I don’t know how to see him again considering I don’t exactly have his phone number or anything like that?”

“Well, hopefully we’ll find him somehow. Worse come to worse, just run to the studio on Friday and see if he’s around. Or go to Dommo’s again somehow. If he works there as much as he says he does, I’m sure you’ll bump into him eventually.”

***

It was Wednesday night, which only meant one thing for your friend group — Whine and Wine time. You pulled the Yellowtail you’d been saving in your cabinet out, placed it in a bag, and walked over to Jacob and Tony’s apartment.

When you first moved out of the dorms, you knew you wanted to live by yourself. Jacob and Tony desperately wanted you to move into their apartment, but you had a feeling that if you shared a home with them, you wouldn’t be able to handle their living habits. Even so, the three of you agreed to live in the same apartment complex anyway — that way if you ever wanted to hang out or get drunk at the others’ apartment, it wouldn’t be a far distance.

You’d arrived at their front door in less than five minutes. Jacob’s eyes brightened considerably when he opened the door and saw you, and you gave him a tight hug. You were the second person there; the first being Laura, who was an expert at making sangria and was helping them out.

Granted, the general rule in your friend group was to typically arrive 30 minutes after the planned time. So by that standard, you were still about 15 minutes early.

“You’re not going to believe who’s coming today,” Jacob said as soon as you walked into the apartment.

You raised an eyebrow, setting the yellowtail you brought on the counter. “Who?”

“Our roommate,” Tony said from the couch. He was sprawled across it, already half a wine glass into the night. “Can you believe it? I invited him, not really thinking he’d say yes, and he texted back that he’d love to come!”

“He’s gonna be here around 8 o’clock,” Jacob said, nodding his head.

You grinned. “Way to include him in the friend group finally, guys!”

“You’re awfully excited, Y/N,” Laura remarked from the kitchen.

“Okay, they’ve been telling me about this guy for a while now, and he’s so mysterious like- I’m just curious about him. Where does he go? What does he do? Is he cute?”

“She’s going to scare him off within the first five minutes of being here,” Tony said.

You rolled your eyes. “Or maybe he’ll be happy that someone is finally acting interested in his life around here. You guys just ignore him!”

Jacob raised his hand. “In my defense, I try talking to him. Tony barely acknowledges him in the kitchen.”

“I don’t,” Tony admitted. “It’s just weird, like what do we talk about?”

“Wait, so in the morning if you’re like in the kitchen at the same time you guys just stand there in silence?” Laura asked.

You nodded your head. “Tony does at least.”

Laura shot him a look. “You don’t at least say hi or anything?” Tony shrugged again, and Laura rolled her eyes, slightly giggling. “No wonder he doesn’t really come home!”

“I’m trying now!” Tony attested, lifting up his glass of wine for another sip.

“He’s redeeming himself,” you joked. “Speaking of redemption, you know my good friend Brynn, she’s coming tonight. And I think we should give her a chance again, okay?”

Both Tony and Jacob groaned again.

“I’m already at max capacity tonight, Y/N! She broke my bed!” Tony protested.

Laura giggled from the kitchen and you rolled your eyes. “Guys, c’mon. She’s so much fun. Might be a little bit judgey from time to time but like a good friend.”

Jacob shrugged. “Listen, I’m usually just joking about all of this. I don’t actually have a problem with her. If you say she’s good, I believe you.”

Tony was pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’m locking my bedroom door.”

You stuck out your tongue at him, before turning to Jacob and asking, “And what about your friend?”

Jacob frowned. “She’s not coming tonight. She couldn’t make it.”

Tony sat up straight. “What?!”

Jacob shrugged again. “She said she was busy! She seemed disappointed, so maybe some other night.”

Tony let out a long sigh. “I hope she comes eventually. We need more friends around here,” he said.

Laura then started pouring herself a glass of sangria from the pitcher. She offered some to you, which you naturally accepted.

It was good, but not even close to the quality of sangria Tom made you at Dommo’s. But even so, you were content with it.

“Damn, she’s missing out on some great sangria,” you complimented, taking another sip.

Slowly, more of your friends started piling into the apartment. Abraham, Sally, and some people you didn’t know well started walking in right around 7:30 p.m., exactly when you expected more of the crowd to show up. You nudged Tony over and sat on the edge of the couch. Laura sat on the other side of Tony, while Jacob primarily played host by greeting everyone who came in.

Brynn came next, after the large wave of people. She plopped on the ground in front of you, and you could see Tony eyeing her. You knew he was genuinely wary around her, and you couldn’t help giggling slightly at their dynamic.

Brynn started making conversation with Tony, and surprisingly, he was receptive to it. You were only half-tuned into their discussion, as you sipped more of your sangria and enjoyed being slightly antisocial for a long moment.

“So when are we going to start complaining or start group games?” one of Jacob and Tony’s friend that you hadn’t met yet asked.

That was another tradition of whine and wine — when you weren’t crying over your week, you were usually sitting together in a circle playing Cards Against Humanity or more likely, King’s Cup.

“Soon as my roommate gets here,” Jacob said. “We’re waiting on him and a friend to officially get started.”

You all gathered around in different sections across the room to begin catching up. You mostly pursued conversation with Laura, talking about her classes and what life had been like as an accounting major.

Every now and then, you glanced over at Tony and Brynn, who were still having somewhat of a decent conversation. Tony seemed less uneasy about opening up to Brynn now, as his animosity from Brynn breaking his bed was now gone. Laura nudged you about it, placing bets that by the end of the night they would hook-up.

You wandered over to Jacob, who was pouring some more wine for himself over by the kitchen.

“They’re getting along well now, huh?” you whispered, gesturing over to Brynn and Tony.

Jacob snickered. “You know how Tony is. You think the two of them will be good for each other?”

You cocked your head. “I think they have the potential to be. Either they’re going to mortal enemies or soulmates.” Jacob laughed.

But then, the door swung open. You knew who it was going to be even before Jacob leaned over to say it. It was the mysterious third roommate — the one that you’d heard so much information about, but had never met. You felt your heart pick up its pace, ready to make your judgements as soon as the door came to a close.

Two heads poked their way in the apartment. The first was a tall, blond man, with broad shoulders and a serious expression. As you weaved your way through your own memory, you realized you didn’t recognize the face. And it didn’t seem to fit the descriptor Jacob and Tony t0ld you about since they’d moved into this apartment. They told you their third roommate was on the shorter side, and this guy seemed to be fairly average in height, if not higher than average, all together.

But, even more surprising was when you were able to see the second head that stuck its head through the crack of the door. You knew the face; it’d been a face you’d been looking for almost extensively over the course of the past few days. And now, there he was — Tom himself. He was standing right in front of you, with an inquisitive and apprehensive expression across his face as his eyes surveyed over the room. With the ways his eyes moved with ease, like he knew the apartment itself, you knew at once he was the mysterious third roommate Jacob and Tony had been talking about so much.

You laughed to yourself about the irony of it all. You’d been looking for him for so long it felt like, and now, he was right under your nose after all this time.

His eyes brightened once they connected with yours.

“Oh, Y/N, my roommate is here,” Jacob said, nudging you. “Tom! There’s someone I want you to meet!”

He weaved his way over to you and Jacob in the kitchen, his blond friend following closely behind.

“Tom, this is Y/N,” Jacob said, gesturing toward you. “She’s a friend of mine and Tony.”

Tom shoved his hands in his pockets. “Oh, Y/N and I actually know each other. We met Dommo’s this weekend.” He gave you a quick head nod, and you smiled.

Jacob raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really?” He shot a look over at you. You could tell by his reaction that it was all clicking in his head — the way you were eying Tom, the conversation you’d had at Over & Easy, the fact that Tom said you’d already met, and more.

“Yeah, Tom was really helpful to me when I was complaining over that paper I had to write for pols. He even proofread it for me,” you replied.

Jacob nodded his head, a small smirk tugging on his lips. It was all the confirmation he needed. You tried not to blush.

“This is my mate, Harrison by the way,” Tom said, gesturing over to the tall blond boy standing next to him. He stayed relatively quiet throughout the introduction, but now he gave you and Jacob a quick greeting. He was a fellow Brit, you learned quickly. “Harrison, this is Y/N and then Jacob, who is my flatmate. The other one is somewhere around here.”

Jacob and you both gave a quick wave.

“Welcome to your first whine and wine,” Jacob said. “There’s sangria over in the corner, and all the wine is communal usually, so feel free to drink whatever. No one really gives a shit here, we all just try to get drunk and complain.”

Harrison and Tom both grinned.

“Now that’s what I’m down for, mate,” Harrison said, and all of you laughed.

Tom and Harrison excused themselves from the conversation to get a drink. Jacob shot you a look again.

“So that bartender you’ve been obsessed with is my roommate?” he asks.

“It appears so,” you replied, cocking your head. “And I’m not obsessed with him. Just… curious.”

Jacob chuckled, shaking his head. “Oh, whatever. I know you.”

You gave a pout. “I’ve only met him once.”

Jacob shrugged. “Just saying, for meeting only once, he obviously left an impression on you.”

And in truth, Jacob was absolutely right. You were enamoured by Tom in a way you couldn’t quite explain. There was just something about him that you were still trying to decipher.

You weren’t sure if you’d met anyone like him before.

Tom wandered back over to you and Jacob, Harrison closely in tow. He lifted up his glass of sangria, in somewhat of a cheering motion.

“Sangria isn’t so bad, huh?” you asked him, as he took a sip out of the glass.

Tom shook his head, a small smile curling up on his lips. “Do you like it better than mine?”

You pursed your lips. “Yours is definitely the best I’ve had.”

You could tell Jacob and Harrison were surprised by how easily the two of you got into conversation, but they weren’t quite fully sure on the context behind the topic at hand.

“At the bar I work at, I make sangria a lot of the time,” Tom explained. “I’m always trying out new recipes. Y/N was one of the few to try a new one I made the other day.”

“It was really good,” you replied, nodding your head.

“Well, you’ll have to bring it over to Whine and Wine sometime. I think we need more of that around here, if anything. The more alcohol, the better,” Jacob said. He was met by the chuckles of both Tom and Harrison. “But, we’re going to start a game soon if you guys want to jump in. We usually play Cards Against Humanity, or like King’s Cup which is a fun drinking game.”

Tom shook his head. “I think I’ll hold off for now.”

“I’ll jump in,” Harrison offered.

Jacob shot you a meaningful look.

“I’ll hang back,” you said swiftly. “I’ll kick in though after a few rounds, okay?”

Jacob seemed a bit disappointed by your answer, and you knew it had a partial role in the fact that earlier in the week, you’d turned down hanging out with Jacob and Tony at all of those parties. But he could handle himself. This was the first time you were seeing Tom in a while, and you wanted to get to know him better.

Jacob and Harrison both headed over to the living room, where the whole crowd of attendees were hanging out. You tried to stop your hands from fidgeting when you realized you were alone with Tom now.

“I got a job because of your excellent proofreading skills,” you said, a bit abruptly. “Thank you for that.”

Tom’s eyebrows raised at your statement, and a small grin curled up on his lips. “Really? Where?”

You explained how it was a research assistant job, but the professor it was attached to had multiple connections that were bound to help your own prospective career. You mentioned how you got one of the best grades in the class compared to the other students on the paper, and how he’d noticed it.

Tom nodded his head and his eyes stayed fixated on your face as he talked. It was a bit strange, being able to talk to someone with them being so intent in paying attention in what you had to say. It was so typical in college for all the people you were usually around to maybe check their phone every now and then, or at some point, their eyes would slightly glaze over as you spoke. But that wasn’t the case with Tom. Not at all.

He was attentive and engaged. His coffee eyes were soft, but with kindness, rather than with a lack of interest.

“Congratulations,” Tom said finally, when you were done explaining the premise of your new job. “It sounds like you’re a perfect fit for it.”

“Yeah, m’pretty stoked about it,” you replied, shrugging slightly. “I know I gave you all that talk about how it’s not necessarily my passion, but like I actually think this could be good.”

Tom nodded his head. “At least gives you the hope that you’re going somewhere after college. Which means you’re probably doing better than the rest of us.”

You grinned. “Tom, it seems like you have it pretty together.” He snorted, but you continued. “I mean seriously, you host a good radio show, and from the small interaction we’ve had together, you seem pretty emotionally in-tune. Which is more than you could say about most of the men that I’ve met.”

He snickered. “Well, you haven’t gotten to know me super well yet, so maybe hold off on making a lot of judgements yet. I don’t know if emotionally in-tune is necessarily the best way to describe me.”

You bit your lip, and said softly, “I think I’d like to get to know you better though.” Tom raised an eyebrow. “I just think we could be good friends is all. And you live with two of my best friends, as I’ve learned after today. So, might as well, right?”

You’d backed off a little bit, thinking maybe your initial move was a bit too forward. But thankfully, Tom followed along with it.

“Yeah, if anything, you should come by Dommo’s again sometime soon,” he replied. “After all, I still owe you that latté.”

#tom holland #tom holland x reader #tom holland x y/n #tom holland x fem!reader #college!tom #tom holland fanfic #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland x female!reader #we'RE BACK #my writing #n1pa #next chapter: your best friends learn more about the boy you like #a lot of musing and rambling #and we return to dommo's!!!!!

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penguin-writes-books · 5 years

Text

That Damned Universe - Chapter 2

Chapter 1

AO3

Cyrus woke to his alarm, going off at exactly 5:55 am, as it always had- Cyrus was sure it always would. He rolled over with a sigh, sitting up in bed as he slammed his alarm off. Shoving his covers off, he looked around. It took a moment to readjust to his surroundings- right. Lincoln Academy. Cyrus glanced at his roommate's bed, only to find it already empty. TJ had made it before he left, bedding pulled into place without a wrinkle. Cyrus grabbed his uniform, stepping into the bathroom to change. At first, he fumbled about with his dark red tie but later got it, moving on to his hair. Checking his watch, he found that he had an hour and 3 minutes until his first class. He deemed it just enough time to go to breakfast and check his textbooks out from the library. Cyrus grabbed his bag and his phone, texting his parents good morning before calling Andi. "Hey, Cyrus!" she greeted. "Hey, I'm on my way down. You ready for breakfast?" Cyrus asked, holding his phone between his ear and his shoulder so he could lock the door. "Yes! We're starving," Andi replied dramatically. Cyrus chuckled, hanging up as he jogged downstairs. His knuckles had barely made contact with their door when it swung open, revealing Andi and Buffy. They were both wearing their uniforms; white button-down shirts and gray cardigans. The cardigans, of course, had the red Lincoln Academy motto embroidered into them. This paired well with their gray and red plaid skirts, and red ties. "Well don't you two look darling," Cyrus teased, gesturing his head towards the staircase. "Don't make fun, this outfit is bad enough as it is," Buffy chided, locking their door, and jogging after them. "I know, I know. I'm not particularly fond of wearing a blazer every day." "No one is, Cy," Andi said, pushing the doors out of the dorm open. The trio crossed the lawn towards Carver Hall. They each swiped their meal cards at the doors and stepping inside. Hundreds of students filled the expansive cafeteria, their voices overlapping to create a loud buzzing in the room. "What are we feeling today?" Cyrus asked, looking around at the food. "Lots of coffee, I hope," Buffy joked, leading them to the drinks. They each poured a cup of coffee, turning around to survey the cafeteria. "How about cereal?" Cyrus offered, gesturing to the cereal bar. "Good enough," Andi shrugged. "I'm too nervous to eat much anyway." The group wove through the students milling about, each pouring an identical bowl of cereal- Rice Krispies and Cap'n Crunch with 2% milk. They found a table in the corner, sitting down and digging in, watching the cliques form around them. Cyrus caught the eye of TJ, sitting across the cafeteria with his friends. The corner of TJ's mouth pulled into a slight smile before he turned back to the conversation he was having. Cyrus blushed, looking down to his cereal and pushing it around his bowl with the back of his spoon. "Who's that?" Andi asked, nudging Cyrus. "Oh, that's my roommate," Cyrus waved her off as Buffy glanced up to find TJ looking over his shoulder at Cyrus. "What's he like?" "Um, has a twin sister- Amber. She seems nice, but she's a ninth grader; long story. From LA, plays basketball, likes cats better than dogs..." He paused, thinking. "Um, and hates the universe." "Bowie would disapprove," Andi chuckled. "Is he nice?" "I think so," Cyrus said. "I can't decide if he's nice, a little odd, or a serial killer yet." "Keep us posted," Buffy said. "So, do you like him?" "Buffy!" "What? he's your type!" Buffy defended. "What's that supposed to mean?!" "Athletic and unobtainable," Andi offered. Cyrus shook his head, swatting them both in the head. "Okay, in hopes of escaping this torment," Cyrus said as he gathered his things, having finished eating. "I'm going to the library to get my books." "Okay, bye!" Andi said, hugging him. "Good luck! See you at lunch?" "Of course," Cyrus promised. "Good luck, you two." He started to walk away, but Buffy's voice stopped him. "Cyrus!" "Yeah?" he asked, turning around. "You nervous?" Cyrus smiled, nodding. "We'll be alright, Buffy." With that, Cyrus turned and left, passing by TJ's table as he did. TJ smiled up at him, and Cyrus felt his heart melting. He turned to look at Buffy and Andi, who were both snickering at him. Cyrus rolled his eyes playfully, putting his dishes away. With that, he walked out of Carver and towards the massive library building behind his dorm. He stepped inside, inhaling the warm scent of books, before walking up to the desk, where a librarian sat. "Hi, I need to check out my textbooks," he said. "Oh, okay!" the librarian- Mrs. Bell, her desk read- said brightly. She turned to her computer. "Last name?" "Goodman." Mrs. Bell typed his last name in, scrolling through a list of names. "First name Cyrus?" "That's me," Cyrus confirmed. Mrs. Bell smiled, clicking on his name and writing the titles of his books on a sheet of paper. "Alright, we have science, English, history, French, and math." She gestured to the first five things on his list. "And your assigned reading for this trimester in English." She pointed to the other two things on the list- To Kill a Mockingbird and Fahrenheit 451. "Okay," Cyrus said, looking over the list. "Bring all those back here and I can check them out to you. Textbooks are on the first and second shelves and assigned reading books are on the third and fourth. Tell me if you can't find something or if one of those isn't in." "Got it," Cyrus said, nodding as he took in the information. "Thank you!" "Of course, it is my job after all." Cyrus smiled and set off into the library to find his books. He managed to hunt them all down with minimal effort, setting the seven books on Mrs. Bell's desk when he got back. "I think I got them all," he said, counting the books he'd set down. "You did! Great job, I couldn't have done that my first day here. You certainly know your way around a library." "Yeah, I'm kind of a book nerd," Cyrus said, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably. "I can see that," Mrs. Bell said, gesturing to his overfilled bag. "You know, you'd make a great assistant," she said, clearly deep in thought as she scanned his books. "What do you mean?" "What do you say to a job?" "Working in the library?" Cyrus asked, his eyes widening. "Yeah, why not? Shelf some books, make some money," Mrs. Bell proposed. "You could start today after school. We have a lot of books to shelf at the beginning of the year." "I-I'd love that!" Cyrus exclaimed. "It pays next to nothing, but I think you could have some fun. Be here from 4 to 5:30 on Mondays and Fridays?" "Of course! I'd love to! Only Mondays and Fridays?" "Yeah, we've got lots of students working in here." "Oh, okay! I'd love that!" "Alright then, you're all set. See you at 4," Mrs. Bell said, sliding him the stack of books. "See ya!" Cyrus said, picking up his books and leaving the library, a smile on his face as he climbed the stairs back to his room, leaving his books for his afternoon classes on the desk. He managed to find his way to his first class- American History- without much trouble (of course, he did walk into the wrong building at one point), sitting down in his assigned seat and hanging his bag over the back of his chair. Mr. Marlow walked into the room just as the clock ticked to 8:20. "Hello and welcome to American History!" he exclaimed, leaning against his desk. "I am Mr. Marlow, we are in room 132 in Branford Hall, and now would be a great time to ensure you are in the right class." A collective chuckle spread through the students, but everyone checked their schedules anyway. Three people stood up, rushing out of the room to find another and a few minutes later, four others came in, sitting down at the empty desks around the room. The forty minute class period passed quickly, but finished with a bang when Mr. Marlow assigned them a two-page essay on the first chapter of the textbook, due by 11:59 pm Friday. The day continued similarly. By lunch, he'd accumulated a total of 8 pages of essays in just three of his four morning classes. The only essay he hadn't been assigned an essay in was Science. However, he did have to write a detailed summary of the nebular hypothesis by class tomorrow. He trudged back into Carver hall, dropping his things on their table and sitting next to his best friends. "You okay?" Buffy asked with a chuckle, scribbling in a composition notebook. "So many essays to write," Cyrus grumbled, opening his laptop and history textbook, looking down at it as he typed. "You too?" Andi groaned, crossing out a wrong answer on her math homework. "Yep," Cyrus nodded, not taking his eyes from his screen. "We're pathetic," Buffy said. "Study together at 4?" "Can't," Cyrus responded. "I have library duty tonight." "Cyrus! We've been here for 26 hours and you already have a job!" Andi exclaimed in disbelief. "The librarian liked me!" Cyrus defended. Buffy chuckled, finishing her notes and standing up. "I'm getting lunch, what do you two want?" "Pizza," Cyrus andd Andi responded in unison. "Pepperoni." "...That was terrifying, but I'll be back." Buffy came back a few minutes later, carrying two plates, each piled high with something like 9 slices of pizza. "Bless you," Cyrus said, pulling the top slice off the stack. "Buffy," Andi started, taking a slice. "This is 17 slices of pizza." "I know! And this," Buffy gestured to the general state of their table. "Is a major study coma! We need sustenance!" "And when we inevitably can't finish all of this?" Cyrus asked. "We sneak the rest back to our rooms," Buffy shrugged. "Fair enough," Andi seemed to accept that as a good plan, going back to her math homework. They ended up each bringing three slices of pizza back to their rooms; they wrapped each slice in napkins and put them in their bags. Cyrus dropped the pizza on his desk- he'd have it for dinner instead of deducting points from his meal plan. He quickly changed into his PE uniform, rushing to the gymnasium just in time to stand in a room full of sweaty teenagers and chase after a ball for 40 minutes. Forty minutes later, having gained zero life skills and three bruises, he went back to his room to shower and change, only to find TJ sitting on his bed cross-legged, studying. "Oh, hey," he said, pulling his uniform back out of his dresser. "Free period?" "Yeah, I'm not taking an alternating elective this tri, so I have nothing to do 6th period on A days but study my ass off," TJ chuckled. "You get slammed with homework too?" Cyrus asked sympathetically, crouching to pull a towel out of a lower drawer. "Brutally," TJ confirmed. "I blame the universe." "As you should," Cyrus laughed, crossing the room towards the bathroom. "That damned universe, always getting in the way." With that, he swung the door shut behind him, pushing the lock into place. Ten minutes later, he emerged again, his hair toweled dry, tying his tie around his neck. "That was the fastest shower known to mankind," TJ marveled, watching Cyrus grab his things and throw his PE uniform in his hamper. "Well, I was going for a record," Cyrus joked. "Also, I have psychology in seven minutes." "Psychology?" TJ asked. "Yeah, all four of my parents are therapists. Some things stick, I guess," Cyrus laughed, switching his morning books for his math textbook. "Alright, I gotta go, good luck with the studying thing!" "Good luck with psych," TJ replied, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Thanks, I'll need it," Cyrus called over his shoulder as the door clicked shut behind him. Cyrus was just in time for psychology, earning a very stern look from Mrs. Barnett. "Sorry, won't happen again," he promised, taking a seat in the back of the class and pulling out his psych notebook. He took extensive notes all class to make up for his near tardiness, and ended up filling 5 pages of notes. Luckily, Mrs. Barnett didn't assign them any homework for that night, so Cyrus was left with only four classes of homework, plus inevitably some for geometry. Cyrus, desperately not wanting to relive what happened with 6th period, practically ran to geometry, and ended up getting there 17 minutes early. Looking around, he chose a seat at a table near the back, pulling his things out of his bag. Mrs. Bailey walked in a few moments later, greeting Cyrus and telling him he'd need graph paper today. Cyrus nodded, pulling a folder of graph paper out of his bag. "Hey, Cyrus!" Buffy's voice pulled him from his thoughts as she sat next to him, hugging him hello. Over Buffy's shoulder, Cyrus saw TJ step into the room, and waved at him brightly. TJ looked between Buffy and Cyrus, his brow furrowing, then brushed past Cyrus's table, sitting on the opposite side of the room. "What was that?" Buffy hissed to Cyrus. "I have no idea," Cyrus replied. "Definitely more points in the serial killer column, though," Buffy whispered. "A solid twenty, definitely."

#andi mack #tyrus #tj kippen #cyrus goodman #that damned universe fic

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meggannn · 5 years

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into the spiderverse: timeline

when i went to see spiderverse again yesterday one of my goals was to come up with a timeline of the story, so here’s what i found with some of my notes. the main chunk of the story takes place over the course of a week in mid-december, beginning on a monday morning and ending friday night.

SUNDAY

NIGHT: Specified only in the background, but a collider test took place under Fisk tower Sunday evening with three pieces of evidence: 1) As Miles walks to school Monday morning, a friend from Brooklyn Middle asks him if he felt the “earthquake” (collider test) last night. Of course, Miles replies “What are you talking about? I slept like a baby last night.” It could very well be all talk, since this is Miles’s “cool” persona that comes out around his friends. I believe the collider test did occur and was centralized/affected only certain neighborhoods, for reason #3 below. 2) The spider that bites Miles on Monday night glitches as it crawls down from the ceiling, implying that it came from another universe. 3) The confirmation: the news broadcast that Jefferson and Miles pass by in the car on the way to Visions announces that “There are multiple reports of another mysterious seismic event last night.” (Side note: when Gwen is blasted into “last week” New York, an announcer mentions, “...this is the second earthquake in the Tri-State area this month.” So this pre-canon collider test on Sunday wasn’t even the first one.)

MONDAY

DAY: Miles gets a ride to school from his dad, meets Gwen in physics, receives a test back, and is assigned the essay. Miles’s date at the top of his test reads Decembruary 9. I’ve seen a theory that this is what the month is called in Miles’s universe, but later, a poster in Miles’s room advertises the date “DECEMBER 15,” so we can assume “Decembruary” was just part of his efforts to flunk the class. If we assume the date number is correct, this film probably takes place in mid-December. (December 9, 2018 was actually a Saturday, so either the filmmakers didn't check, or Miles was really committed to playing dumb.)

NIGHT: Miles sneaks out to spray-paint with Aaron and is bitten by the spider from another dimension.

TUESDAY

DAY: Miles notices changes. He sticks to everything, tears Gwen’s hair, and realizes he might have Spiderman’s powers.

NIGHT: Miles searches for answers in Brooklyn and returns to the tunnel to check the spider, where he is caught in a battle between PP Spiderman and Green Goblin. PP Spiderman is thrust into the collider beam. PP Spiderman gives him the task of destroying the collider. PP Spiderman is killed by Kingpin, Miles returns to his parents’ place, and stays the night there. The news of PP Spiderman’s death is broadcast across the city. Meanwhile, Peter B and the others are thrust into Miles’s reality this same evening (Gwen goes back in time). Peter B sees PP’s death in Times Square. This evening is the first time Miles experiences Spideysense. In the lead up, his senses feel strange, distorted, and claustrophobic; the visuals look weird on the screen until it suddenly condenses into the wiggly lines and LOOK OUT flashes behind him (when Green Goblin bursts through the wall). After that, his Spideysense triggers normally like the others’.

WEDNESDAY

This is the day I’m most confused about. Common sense says these events couldn’t/shouldn’t all happen in the same day, but other parts of the film indicate that not much/no time has passed, so they have to happen either on Weds, or across a day or two, perhaps Weds-Thurs. For expediency’s sake I’m assuming the filmmakers probably intended it to be Weds due to how urgent they stress the collider situation is.

DAY: The city is in mourning. Miles goes to a costume shop and buys a Spiderman outfit, where he meets Stan Lee. He attends a public speech by Mary Jane Watson, attempts to swing off a few buildings, and accidentally breaks the USB. Peter B also attended MJ’s speech on Wednesday from afar, where he is already seen wearing a trenchcoat he must have scrounged from somewhere. He must have also acquired a pair of sweatpants and mismatching shoes on Weds to cover up/keep warm where the bottom of his suit burned up in collider travel. Wednesday is the first day Miles skips school and drops out of contact with his family.

NIGHT: Miles goes to PP’s grave and apologizes for failing him. We meet Peter B, who Miles accidentally electrocutes, and they go on a train ride together. After Peter is knocked out, Miles takes him to Aaron’s, where he ties him up and questions him. They recognize the Spideysense in each other, and Peter B reluctantly agrees to mentor him. The likelihood of all these events happening in one day is pretty infeasible (MJ’s speech and Peter’s gravestone especially). Families would be given a few days of privacy to mourn, and besides which, MJ would need time to write the speech. Most importantly, people aren’t buried within a day. Also, with PP’s death so fresh, there would definitely be mourners at his gravesite in the evening, unless perhaps Miles waited until they all left and it’s VERY late at night/early morning when he meets Peter B. Peter B’s face is still beat up/swollen in the beginning of the scene when he’s tied to the punching bag, but by the time he’s decided to leave for the collider in the alley, he has fully healed. I would call it a continuity error, but since Peter has healing abilities, I think it was a conscious choice that his injuries lasted this long, either from being knocked out/swung around the city, and/or Miles might have injured him by knocking his head around Aaron’s apartment while tying him up. There’s a time skip between the alley scene and the next morning. Peter walks up the wall next to someone awake in their apartment window, so we might think it’s a reasonable time of night OR early morning (9-10pm, 5-6am), but it’s also New York, so it could just as well be 2am when they’re having this talk. What did Peter B and Miles do before they go out to eat? Peter says “There’s not a moment to lose” and Miles starts to follow him but there’s not much they could do to get started on a new USB in the middle of the night, and in the middle of winter I doubt they just wandered around the city. Did they spend the night at Aaron’s?

THURSDAY

DAY: Peter and Miles eat breakfast at a burger place and travel to Alchemex to steal the data. They infiltrate the lab, meet Doc Ock, break out with the computer, and are introduced Gwen/Spiderwoman in the forest. We are treated to Kingpin’s backstory and his goals behind the collider. Peter tells Miles to look up where Alchemex is, and Miles’s phone says Alchemex “OPENS AT 9AM.” It’s light out when they eat, and NY sunrise in December is around 7am, so I assume this scene takes place around 7-8am. Miles wants to swing to the Hudson Valley, but Peter insists they take the bus, saying he won’t swing “after a hearty burger-breakfast.” It’s a 2-hour bus drive from NYC to the Valley, so they arrive after Alchemex opens. Accomodating for their travel time to Port Authority, they probably get there around 10-11am. Gwen is the third Spider-person Miles has met within a day and a half, after years of thinking there was only one. Only two days ago he was puzzling over the possibility of there being two Spidermen alone in his room, and in the forest he says, “How many more Spider-people are there?” which is honestly probably running through his head all day. Miles has now been skipping school for two days. His last contact with his family was Tuesday evening, and it’s also been two full days since they’ve heard from him. Brooklyn Visions has almost certainly contacted his parents, which likely prompts the call Jefferson makes to Aaron asking if he knows where Miles is. (Little does Jefferson know Miles almost calls him that same evening as he’s wandering Queens after leaving May’s.) We might assume that Visions thinks Miles is just skipping class, not that he’s missing, otherwise Jeff would probably feel more panicked.

NIGHT: The team goes to May’s house in Queens, and are introduced to the rest of the Spider-people that traveled from other dimensions. They haze Miles, prompting him to seek solace with Aaron. Instead he runs into the Prowler, and it’s revealed the Prowler is Aaron. Miles runs, and Aaron gives chase. There’s a time gap between the bus ride back from Alchemex. The bus ride takes 2 hours, which Peter/Miles/Gwen presumably make immediately after breaking out of Alchemex, putting them back in NYC around early/mid afternoon, maybe 1-2pm. They meet up with May around sunset, which is around 4:30 in December in New York. That’s a few missing hours in which they might have gone out to eat or something. Why did they wait a few hours to go to May’s? Theories: 1) They were busy eating/talking/getting to know each other. 2) They waited until they were sure she was home. Is May retired? 3) They waited until the crowds of mourners/fans would be gone. May is presumably housing the Spidergang in her place, including dinner Thursday night and breakfast Friday. Or maybe they ordered takeout.

FRIDAY

Friday has the second-weirdest time skips behind Wednesday. There’s an implication that all of these events happen very quickly following each other, but unless Miles was running around literally all day trying to escape the Prowler, these events have to have some gaps.

DAY: Peni creates a new USB. Miles rushes to May’s house for safety after leading the Prowler on a chase across Brooklyn-Queens. Aaron has called for backup and arrives at May’s home with the Scorpion/Doc Ock/Tombstone. They fight the Spider-gang, Miles escapes with the USB and is cornered by Aaron. Aaron refuses to kill his nephew and is killed for it. Around sunset, Miles runs back to his dorm, where he is confronted by the Spider-gang and Peter tells him they won’t let him destroy the collider. Peter ties him up in his room, and Jefferson visits Miles in his dorm. Peter is wearing sweatpants and shoes over his burnt suit on Thursday and has a fully functional suit (with the onesie covering his feet) when Miles returns to the house. We can assume May either gave him one of dead Peter’s suits, or helped him repair his own. We don’t know when Miles rejoins the gang at May’s house, so you could headcanon it’s in the morning or afternoon. The fight with the Sinister Six probably lasts about an hour. We might assume Miles goes missing again after Aaron dies, and he could’ve spent some time wandering the city in grief again. Again, sunset in NY in December is 4:30, so that’s when the spider-gang confront him in his room. Given everything, my suspicion is that they were waiting at Miles’s dorm room (which Gwen would’ve known) for him to return, so when he throws his book out the window, that’s why someone was able to immediately throw it back.

NIGHT: Miles discovers his powers, escapes Peter’s webbing, travels back to Queens where May helps him with his suit and web shooters. Miles takes the subway to Manhattan to take his leap of faith, and then swings back to Brooklyn to join the gang. Meanwhile, the Spider-gang infiltrate Kingpin’s gala and break into the collider. Miles joins them and they successfully defeat the sinister six, and send everyone home. Miles faces off against Kingpin and destroys the collider. Later, Miles calls Jefferson (first contact in 3 days, since Tuesday), delivers Kingpin to the PDNY, and introduces himself to the city as the new Spiderman.

and that’s all i’ve got for now. curious to hear if anyone has thoughts/if i missed or misinterpreted anything.

#into the spiderverse #peter b parker #miles morales #gwen stacy #spiderverse stuff

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travllingbunny · 5 years

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The 100 rewatch: 1x04 Murphy’s Law

I’m a new fan of The 100, who first binged it last year, August to November. This is my first full rewatch of the show. I was planning to start it anyway and finish it before the season 6 premiere on April 30, and when I saw that Fox Serbia was airing a rerun (Monday to Friday, 40 min. after midnight, with repeats the next day), starting on 1st February, it was a great opportunity to start my rewatch in HDTV on my beautiful new TV. I decided to do write-ups and tag other fans on SpoilerTV website, as I did when I was first watching the show. But my posts turned into full blown essays. So, finally, after over a week, I’ve realized: Why don’t I post them on my Tumblr blog, too? I’ll copy my write-ups of the first 7 episodes, and then I’ll post my rewatch posts after I watch each episode. (The next one, 1x08, is on Monday’Tuesday.)

Spoilers below for all 5 seasons of the show. I go of on a tangents and make a lot of references to future events.

Rating: 7/10

The first 3 episodes took place over something like a day or two, This one happens a week later. Which is a way to avoid having to show Clarke's immediate reaction to Wells' death, and to have to spend a lot of screentime on her mourning, because most of it took place off-screen (we just see her at his grave, and later talking to Finn about him and how good he was to her while they were growing up). At least Finn got an entire episode, even though it lasted just about a day in-universe. This is something that TV shows like to do - have the characters mourn for an episode or a few scenes for a dead character and then never have them mention that person again. Well, at least they did have Wells' father see apparitions of his son multiple times and mention him several times, including when he was dying.

This episode instead isn't at all about Wells, but starts with the Delinquents learning that he wasn't killed by the Grounders and that it was instead one of them, using Murphy's knife. The title of this episode, Murphy's Law, aside from being a pun, also describes the chain of events not just in this episode, but the show in general: everything that can possibly go wrong, will go wrong. This a really good episode right until the last 5 minutes or so. The interactions between Clarke, Bellamy and Murphy are really interesting. Murphy is at this point at his peak obnoxiousness. He's basically acting in the textbook "How to make enemies and alienate people" way. In the first couple of episodes, he was only antagonistic towards Wells, but now he's using his position as Bellamy's sidekick to bully other Delinquents for no reason at all, to try to make himself feel bigger, out of his own envy and hate and resentment, and his inferiority complex. To use a Buffy reference, if Murphy was a high school Mean Girl, he wouldn't be "Queen C" Cordelia Chase, he would be one of the Cordettes - people who latch onto someone more powerful and popular (in this case, Bellamy) and then bully others through that newfound 'power'. The infamous scene where he urinates on another Delinquent happens when he's overseeing the work (the Delinquents are building a wall to have a defense against a possible Grounder attack, since they still have almost no weapons) after he's first mocked that guy for not working hard enough (implying 12 year old Charlotte would work harder), and then mocked him when he said he needed water, but then Bellamy told Murphy to go and get him water. And that's probably why Murphy then urinated on the guy, he couldn't take it when Bellamy took the guy's side, so to speak, and cut down his position of power (or what Murphy sees as such) by sending him to fetch water. Hey, look, here's Manny Jacinto as one of the boys bullied by Murphy. Of course I didn't notice him before, he appears for like a second. Even with knowing Murphy's later development, there's no two ways about it, he was a total dick at this point. Which makes the situation more ambiguous when he's blamed and almost lynched for something he didn't actually do - Wells' murder - though he had threatened to do it, and together with Clarke jumping to conclusions and accusing him of it, because Wells was murdered by Murphy's knife, and the fact that most Delinquents obviously really dislike Murphy at this point (no surprise) leads to that result. What happens to him is wrong, and someone should have apologized for it. But that doesn't excuse him at all for what he does next, trying to make people kill Charlotte instead, after she has confessed, and then, after realizing no one is supporting him, doing his best to kill her, including threatening Clarke's life at one point. I wouldn't think this needed to be pointed out, but I've seen some people in comments to YouTube reaction videos to this episode actually, in all seriousness, argue that he was right and that Charlotte should have been killed. WTF? What's wrong with people that they don't get the whole being 12 year old thing? I know that USA has the weird habit of putting minors on trial as adults, but even then, I'm pretty sure even US legal system doesn't go that far to execute 12 year olds. At which point did the writers and viewers decide that Clarke was "the Head" and Bellamy "the Heart" (which the show made explicit in the season 4 finale, and then overturned in season 5)? I've always felt that was a huge oversimplification and I'm generally not too fond of it. Season 1 Clarke was pretty impulsive in some situations, especially in this episode (it was her best friend who was murdered, after all), immediately deciding that Murphy is the killer and should be punished, while Bellamy argued that this would be a bad idea, because it would create unrest and make the Delinquents turn on each other, and that it was better for them to keep thinking it was the Grounders who did it. Which was maybe cynical, but pragmatic and rational. (BTW, I don't think Bellamy made a connection that Charlotte was the killer - he probably forgot about giving her Murphy's knife or thought someone else took it, but in any case, I don't think it would have occurred to him that she would do it.) Then Clarke actually confronts Murphy angrily in front of everyone, which causes the avalanche of disastrous events, as the boy that Murphy bullied earlier and a bunch of others immediately decide to hang Murphy and ask Bellamy to do it.

Clarke had a lot of moral certainly at this point (which will be eroded slowly over the course of the show) but sometimes it was a bit too straightforward (she didn't stop to think how people will react - you could say, she didn't know her audience that well as Bellamy did), and here she realized that things weren't that simple - she wanted to get some kind of justice, but didn't want Murphy killed, and seeing what she had caused, she admits to Bellamy "I was wrong earlier, you were right".

But where Bellamy goes really wrong in 1x04 is decide to "give people what they want" - in this case, a culprit they want and his death. It's one of his biggest mistakes in S1 and one that will come to bite him in the a.$s, especially at the end of the season when Murphy starts his revenge spree, which will be directed at the guys who first wanted to hang him, but most of all at Bellamy himself. And Bellamy will learn his lesson, an opposite one from Clarke, that you need to do the right thing and not just give the crowd what they want (in 1x12 he tells Clarke "Crowds make bad decisions, just ask Murphy").

The moment when Bellamy goes ballistic and starts acting on pure emotion - and tries to kill Murphy immediately - is later after Charlotte commits suicide, due largely to Murphy's pressure - because of course he would react like that to her death. Guess what, Finn acting decently (actually decently, not just on the surface) didn't last. We find out he was exploring woods by his own and found an old shelter, but he didn't tell anyone. Instead, he gives Clarke a pencil to impress her (right after she's told him about how Wells used to give her stuff when they were growing up, and that she didn't realize at the time that he was denying himself things to give them to her... hmmm). Later he reveals the shelter to Clarke when they need to hide Charlotte from Murphy and his gang. Clarke asks why he hasn't told anyone, and immediately thinks about how they could use things, but Finn tries to justify himself, saying that the food has all expired and there are no weapons, and besides, if he had told everyone, then they couldn't use the shelter now that they need it. So how does that work - he foresaw they would need to hide someone from the rest of the Delinquents?? Or he was just waiting for a chance to use that shelter to show it to Clarke and just Clarke, impress her and show her how good he is to her and how much she needs him? Am I being too harsh on Finn? He does some good things in this episode, like do his best to stop the crowd from hanging Murphy. But still... I never liked him much, my perspective on him is different now, after I have seen season 2 Finn with his "I killed all those people for you, Clarke!" thing, At the time I first watched this, I assumed that Finn was meant to be likable, but that the combination of bad writing and bad acting made him unlikable. I didn't know what it was about Finn that rubbed me the wrong way or that didn't resonate with me. But now I see more and more reasons to dislike him, and I think that his character is more consistent than I initially thought, but that he was never meant to be a really great guy, and that his romance with Clarke was just supposed to create drama and angst rather than be a great ship people would root for. (The whole thing with Raven really shows that.) Maybe I was too harsh on Thomas McDonell, though. He wasn't as good as some other cast members, but he's not that bad, now I have Tasya Teles' acting to compare it with. (I'm sure Tasya is a nice person, but she just can't act.) It's kind of funny that the climax of this episode is focused on Clarke and Bellamy being shocked at Charlotte's death in such a way that it seems like their child just died, and then arguing about leadership (it's already pretty clear that the two of them are those who decide on most things), as Finn just looks on. This may be the crucial moment where their co-leadership begins. Clarke argues "We don't decide who lives and who dies". It's so ironic that she will later during the show be expected and asked to decide just that, more than once. Meanwhile, on the Ark, we get to meet a couple of new characters - Kane's mother, a preacher, who'll be around for a couple of episodes, and Nigel, a woman at the Mecha station who runs a black market, and who, I think, won't ever appear again. But she gets Abby arrested by Kane, and also, through her, we get to learn more about Raven's backstory - that her mother was an alcoholic and that she used to prostitute herself to get stuff. Life on the Ark, especially those of lower classes, seems so freaking wonderful... The last few minutes of this episode initially annoyed me a lot, because it seemed like a return to the cheesy teen soapy bullcrap of the first couple of episodes. The love triangle was set up - Raven takes the pod by herself, since Abby can't go, and is arriving to Earth, while we get a confirmation that Finn is the boyfriend she wants to save - just as Finn and Clarke end up kissing and having sex for the first time. Now that I know and love how this triangle is eventually resolved, I don't hate this so much, but this scene is still really cheesy and feels like the classic TV insta-romance. And it's not just that, I also hated the scene where Octavia kisses Jasper, after praising his courage (for "standing up to a bully" -? I still have no idea what she was referring to, it's always confused me) and telling him that heroism gets rewarded. Ugh. And then Monty gives him a high-five. One of the things I hate the most in fictional romance is when romance/sex is portrayed as a reward that someone - usually a female - gives another person - usually a male, for performing heroic deeds. Gross. I'm so relieved, because of that, that the Jasper/Octavia ship went nowhere, even though I wasn't a big fan of how her romance with Lincoln was portrayed in S1, either.

#The 100 #the 100 rewatch #the 100 1x04 #murphy's law #clarke griffin #bellamy blake #john murphy #raven reyes #wells jaha #octavia blake #jasper jordan

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