#elected pass/fail for a few classes that were kinda like that | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

jq37 · 2 months

Text

The Report Card – Fantasy High Junior Year Ep 7

Fast Times at Aguefort High

Welcome back to Fantasy High where the Bad Kids are, as the episode’s title suggests, being stress tested in a major way! Before we hop into that though, we have a few short scenes at school to get through, starting with a surprise assembly called by Principal Grix.

There’s two main orders of business. The first is to introduce Agent Clark who is going to be investigating because of Fig’s shenanigans over the past 2 seasons. Fig Disguises herself as Kristen causing a scene that forces Adaine to burn a portent roll to cancel a Nat 20 and Agent Clark to go off on a very intense rant about the improper use of Disguises, which we mostly don’t hear because the Bad Kids are busy doing bits.

After that’s done, Grix subjects all of the students to a mandatory drug test and starts literally throwing bolo nets at the students who fail—including Max Durden of course. VP Jace is alarmed and chases after him as he chases after students. Riz was already hella suspicious of Max pushing gorgenfern on them iat the party and now interrogates him about his motives as he cuts him out of the net. Max insists that his only motive was that smoking fantasy weed is awesome and that he’s never gotten in trouble like this before. Riz asks if any of the Rat Grinders were down in the basement with him and he says that they weren’t but Ivy was supposed to be down there. She was the one who hooked him up with the fern. Everyone notes that with suspicion.

The conversation pivots to the fact that KP has a fleet of food trucks outside offering free food as part of her campaign. Riz is on guard but everyone else kinda wants to chow down–for recon reasons of course. After a quick aside where the idea of Adaine solving her money problems by dealing drugs is discussed and quickly rebuffed–they check out the food trucks and find that the food, unfortunately, slaps. Adaine ritual casts Detect Magic to see if the food is charmed in any way and she finds that it’s not but that the paper the food is in has some vote for KP subliminal messages implanted. Which is, como se dice, INTENSE for a school election even though they brush it off.

They discuss going over to KP (who is campaigning with a bullhorn while Mary Ann hands out flyers) and intimidating her but Kristen decides to take the high road. Of course, her version of the high road involves going over in a cowboy hat full of salsa and offering to let KP dip chips into it because this is still Kristen we’re talking about.

Kristen and KP have a very smiley but catty conversation. Kristen implies KP was at the shrimp party but KP denies and says she was busy. Kristen shoots back that she thought she was done with all her classes because the rogue teacher found her (info she got from Riz via Jawbone you’ll remember). KP gives a tight smile at that and Kristen later on a 14 Insight sees that not only is she not rattled or insulted, she’s actually the kind of person who loves breaking the spirit of the law and getting a technical success over a traditional one. Hate that! KP says that it’s nice to be able to focus and asks how things are going with Kristen’s goddess. Kristen, for reasons I can’t fathom, says that her goddess passed and then immediately backpedals and changes it to “passed the test to give me more spells” and tries to “Spiderman away”.

????????????

Luckily she has the best friends in the world and they all team up with various spells to help her make a flashy, magical escape that’s so bombastic a bunch of the food trucks drive off in terror.

As this happens, KP says into the bullhorn, “Your goddess passed? How can you cast spells?” So it looks like that is now public knowledge.

Also, as an aside, Riz brings this subliminal message to Max since he’s a conspiracy head and, by their estimation, a pretty cool guy. Max says he’s on the case.

OK, Now let’s jump into downtime! The way this works is that for the clump of time time that each bit of downtime runs for (this one is from the start of the school year to the beginning of November) each Bad Kid can make a series of rolls in the following categories: Academics, Popularity, Money, Job/Money, Extracurriculars, Relationships, and Mystery. Each roll they make, the DC goes up by 5 and failing some tracks have higher consequences than others.

Having a signed MCAT means you get to roll advantage on all Academic tracks after your first. Succeeding wildly means you get extra fun stuff.

Fig and Kristen are in danger of expulsion and if they fail their Academics by more than 5, they’ll be expelled. And Brennan says Kristen’s Academics rolls will be hard without a god

Adaine is rolling her Academic track with disadvantage until she can get enough money to get to “well off”--diamonds aren’t cheap! (Girl, take Oisin’s diamonds, I’m begging you).

And, if at any point they want to reroll, they can by taking a stress token. They can only take 2 for each roll. The players can’t see this but whenever they take one there is a countdown to 5 and it’s parked by increasingly bigger and gnarlier red crystals which, considering the theme of this season is Concerning.

Fabian gives Bardics to everyone but Riz and Riz takes one of Fig’s corrupted Bardics. Even though this is a long period of time, they’re each only allowed one Bardic (not sure if that’s per person–like they could get one from Fig and from Fabe–or period). Likewise, Adaine can only get help from Boggy once.

OK, that’s all the nitty gritty. Let’s jump into everyone's rolls!

ROUND ONE

Riz predictably knocks out Academics with his DC 5 roll. He gets a 24. Boom, A+ in Rogue class and he’s not breaking a sweat.

Adaine rolls for a job and rolls an 11 which passes but she needs a 25 to get to well off. Her passing roll is enough to get her a job as Basrar’s with Aelwyn as her one reference.

Fabian rolls Popularity and gets a 20 which is a high enough success to get a perk: He’ll now get advantage on charisma whenever he meets someone new at school AND he’ll get advantage rolling on another track because some other student will just help him.

Gorgug rolls all four of his Academic tracks at once–3 Artificers and 1 Barbarian. He doesn’t have an MCAT so it’s way harder than it should be.

AND YET.

His first roll is a 21. A+ no Sweat. His second roll is a 13 which is a C. He takes a Stress token. Nat 1. He takes another stress token. Nat 20! Another A+. He rolls his third Artificer track with advantage because of the last roll.. NAT 20 AGAIN!!! Ayda would be so proud! AND Brennan said that if he crit he’d get something super secret and special (some kind of academic resource). Excited to find out what it is so soon! His Barbarian roll is a 23 which is high but just a C since the DC keeps going up. He decides he’s cool with that.

Kristen, before she rolls, goes to her cleric teacher Yolanda and fills her in on everything re: Cassandra. Yolanda says that if she wants to stay on the cleric track she’s going to need to do extra papers and academic stuff to make up for the lack of magic. She’ll need to get her spells back by the end of fall semester or else she’ll fail just as a matter of course And she needs to perform a miracle. You know, casual stuff. Although this is Kristen so maybe it is kind of casual.

Yolanda does a divination spell on the Cassandra shards and we don’t learn what, if any, info she gleans from that but she does tell Kristen that as long as she still believes in Cass, she shouldn’t be fully gone. Cass can’t work through her right now so she’ll have to step up and work through Cass.

After confirming that the Shrimp Jump doesn’t count as a miracle, she meditates on Cass and doubt and how it’s helped her in her life. When she thinks about doubt as the first step of escaping a bad situation, all the doors and windows in the room she’s in unlock–a minor bit of magic which means that she’s not totally cut off from Cass. The feeling she gets is that the cable is still there, there’s just not any juice running through it. This–tending to her religion–counts as her Extracurricular roll btw and she got a 22 on a DC 5.

She hosts a little ceremony as almost an apology and tribute to Cass and Craig shows up! Good old Craig.

Moving on to Fig, she suddenly has the idea that I’ve been wondering about all season: why not become a paladin to Cassandra? She needs followers. And Rebellion and Doubt go hand in hand. She seems wary cause it’s such a rash decision but Kristen encourages her to go with it.

She goes to Warlock classes where Zara once again offers her a signed MCAT before they take a field trip to the Bottomless Pit–Fig’s domain taken from Gorthalax. It’s backed up with work she’s ignoring and she tells everyone to just build a giant recording studio. Sure.

Fig tells Zara that she’s kind of her own source of warlock power which Zara says is dangerous because it’s super easy to break a promise you made to yourself. She advises Fig to find a promise that she can make to herself that she won’t break.

Fig then sees the Pride Armor behind her which says, “Ruin you have brought here.” Fig tells Baby to check in on who owns that armor and what its deal is. (Which is good because this is definitely the kind of thing that will SERIOUSLY bite you in the butt if you don’t stay on top of it).

Then she rolls for her Warlock classes: 24! Fig’s an A+ student!

ROUND TWO

DCs are higher now and we’re gonna start with Gorgug this time.

He rolls for the Owlbears and is now at a DC 25. He fails and is told then if he fails this track 2 more times, he’ll be kicked off the team. He takes a stress but still fails, playing a truly trash game against the Hudol Hellions.

Fabian rolls for Academics next and tries to get help from Mazey. Brennan makes him roll for the boldness of getting help from her after blowing her off but with a 22, he’s successful and has a flirty conversation with him. He also rolls a 22 on the DC 10 Bard Academic track.

Then, he does his Fighter roll (DC 15 but with Advantage cause he has a signed MCAT) and gets a THIRTY TWO.

His DC 20 Owlbears check? TWENTY THREE.

Fabian is the most popular kid in school, maximum party legend, lofi study nights at his house every weekday, captain of the Owlbears, and straight A student. You truly hate to see it gang.

Adaine rolls Academics next and takes the Help action from Boggy so she can roll flat. That’s a 22 on her DC 10 check. Party nerd, keeping it together even without diamonds (and eggs).

Then, she decides she wants to put her jacket to use and become the school dealer, not of drugs but of things like extra pencils and erasers. Brennan lets her make another Job track check and with a 22 (DC 15) makes 2d10 gold.

She does another roll (DC 20) to try and get the AV club’s help checking the Seacaster Manor security footage for info on the suspicious Mephits but even with a stress token, she can’t find anything. She does know that if they WERE her mephits then they must have been compelled because they wouldn’t have acted like that naturally.

Also, she absolutely isn’t doing her oracle gig even though elves keep showing up at her job. Adaine, just charge them! They’re rich! Take money from the Falinel 1%! It’s easy and ethical!

Finally, Brennan makes her roll to keep her panic in check with all the stress and she succeeds.

Riz rolls for his Extracurriculars next at a DC 10. Brennan allows him to do all of them at once if he takes Disadvantage. He does so and rolls a Nat 1 but with Reliable Talent, that becomes a 10+9=19. He’s doing every club he can and he’s acing it!

October is apparently Riz and Gorgug’s Birthday (which I thought was supposed to be at the folk fairy but either I misunderstood or Brennan misspoke–either way just chalk it up to the time quangle, gang) and they have a joint Ice Cream party at Basrar’s. Gorgug gets an artificing gift card from his bio-parents who are coming down to see him at the Frosty Folk Fair which is coming up.

Fig tells her bard teacher that she wants to do an independent study, causing her to float away in tears (though she absolutely allows it, apologizes for her behavior via email, and says she’s welcome back any time).

Gorgug is having a harder time with his teachers (or at least with Porter because Henry loves him). He asks Fig what to do and she tries to trick Porter into signing Gorgug’s MCAT. He sees right through her and, to Gorgug’s dismay, signs Fig’s MCAT instead, saying that she’s been such a good student just from auditing. In contrast, he tells Gorgug that he needs to get an A+ or he’ll be kicked out. “Must be nice,” Gorgug laments to a baffled Fig who truly was just trying to help her friend. The signed MCAT confers the same benefits to her even though she’s not officially going for Barb levels. She is officially on the books as a Barb/Warlock multiclass.

She does check out Paladin classes however. The poncy knight Halo St. Croix (love these names Brennan) isn’t really her speed so she checks in with one of the multiclass teachers at Brennan’s suggestion. Guess who the paladin/barb specialist is? Lmao, it’s Porter and Zac is so over it. Like, not Gorgug I felt that annoyance coming from Zac Oyama the real life person. Porter tells her that Rage and an Oath are two sides of the same coin because you’re raging to keep the oath to protect the people you care about. He does a very cool Divine Smite to demonstrate his abilities and Fig is on board for private lessons, calling him “sir” and rolling a 22 on this track (I think a DC 10 right now). A+ in Paladin. Insane.

Kristen rolls for Popularity. It’s a DC 10 and she rolls a 12. Riz asks to take stress for her and Brennan says yes but he’s the only one who can do that for other people. I wonder if that’s an in the moment judgment to keep the whole table from taking bullets for each other or a true Riz special but, either way, it totally checks out. She rolls worse and Riz takes another stress which puts her roll at a 21. She gets the same Charisma perk as Fabian.

Next Kristen has to do her homework which she does with advantage because of her newly gained perk. It’s a DC 15 and she gets an 18 to pass (with a C) and then an 11 on her actual research which is on Osmir, the god of magic and secrets. While doing this research, she learns that there is a lot of value in faith that’s not evangelistic and evergrowing (something common in Helioism and the Moon religion) and it can be just as powerful to have one follower who prays every day or monasteries that do their own thing and don’t do converts (which seems kind of like what Osmir’s vibe is).

ROUND THREE

Fig rolls Mystery (DC 15) to find out what Ruben’s type is so she can continue her infiltration mission. She takes a stress to reroll to get a 19 and learns he isn’t picky and actually has a big crush on Wanda Childa and hopes she’ll be at the Frosty Fair that he’s headlining. She’s delighted and magically inserts herself into his dreams to keep that fire burning.

Fabian does a DC 25 relationship roll on Ivy and fails. He takes 2 stress tokens but fails twice more, leaving her unimpressed with him and his friendship with Mazey. She sneers and says that if it gets cold he can “wear her like a sweater”. Fabian is absolutely taken aback by the cruelty and Emily’s disgusted, “Oh my God,” at the table really sums up my feelings. I knew I never liked that bitch. Before Fabian can make a hasty retreat with an excuse about getting a phone call, Ivy gets close to Fabian’s ear and says, “You missed your shot playboy.”

He also gets 10k gold for being a trust fund baby. Yay for Fabian.

Riz does a DC 15 Mystery Roll for the crystal stuff and gets a 23 (2 away from a bigger clue). He learns that Ragh was in middle school when the crystal was put into Lydia so there’s no danger of him being an avatar of any kind of bad magic.

He does another roll to research Lucy (DC 20) and a Nat 1 becomes a 21. Rogues are so good you guys.

He learns that they never found a body but scrying magic confirmed her dead. However, it was low level scrying so all it really confirmed was that she wasn’t alive on the material plane. That still leaves a lot of options that are not quite dead.

More info: She went missing near Lake Shimmerstone which is near the woods the Ratgrinders grind rats at. And, most notably, in that two week period where grades didn’t count anymore, she submitted paperwork to change her god but then submitted paperwork to cancel the first set of paperwork. Riz doesn’t see who she wanted to change her god to though. There’s nothing written there.

Adaine does a Mystery roll to see what’s up with Grix. It’s a DC 25 and even with a stress she doesn’t make it. She’s not grasping anything but the uptick in bureaucracy is very weird and worrying.

Finally, Kristen rolls Mystery to try and find out more about Lucy. It’s a DC 20 and she gets a 19 after taking a stress token. With Fig’s sketchy bardic that takes it up to a 27.

She goes to talk to her teacher again and asks about Lucy and whatever happened to her. Yolanda gets somber and says Lucy was a wonderful student, sad but very kind. She worshiped a goddess named Ruvina who was an ancestral goddess of giants and giant-kin. Her domain is winter and sorrow.

Kristen asks if she was thinking about switching and Yolanda is confused and alarmed. Lucy never would have switched to another god. She was extremely devoted. Kristen mentions the request form and Yolanda says she never got it and didn’t give approval–she wouldn’t have been at school when the form was sent. She thanks Kristen for bringing this to her attention and when Kristen rolls insight, a 27 tells her that her teacher is sincerely upset and frightened at what this info might mean.

Yolanda says she’s going to talk to Grix but Kristen points out that the guy who throws nets at kids probably isn’t the best person to confide in. Yolanda agrees and plans to talk to VP Jace instead. Before she leaves, she gives Kristen a token that says “When the only thing you can believe in is believing.”

Listening to this conversation gives Riz a brain blast. What if the name on the god change form wasn’t blank or redacted. What if it was invisible, like the name of a god you can’t say? He uses some of his dad’s celestial spy gear and, sure enough, there’s something there that can’t be read by mortal eyes.

This is where we exit downtime and everyone has taken some level of stress. Fig has one. Riz and Adaine have two. Kristen, Gorgug, and Fabian have three. They’re all fried and coping in ways that range from being hermits (Adaine) to not slowing down lest the wheels fall off (Riz). There’s a way to reduce stress but Ally says it's hard and Brennan says they can’t try till next time. Based on their stress, they’ll have to pick certain things to have disadvantage on (which isn't great considering there’s def gonna be a fight next episode and we don’t know how long until the next downtime period).

We finish off the day of the Frosty Folk Fair which will be held at Gorgug’s house. Riz realizes he forgot to look into the fraud case his mom is defending but it’s too late now.

At Mordred, Lydia is making a killer breakfast and she also has all the stuff the party asked her to get about her Bakur quest. Since he’s a fiend, they all expected it to be written in Infernal but no. The texts are written in the language of the Giants.

Honor Roll

Gorgug for Acing His Artificing Classes

It’s honestly absurd how proud I am of Gorgug for this. Like I fully recognize that this is a fictional character and these were just random rolls but guys, he’s doing it!

Detention

Ivy for Minitaur Racism and Extreme Bitchiness

Ok look. I love characters who are bitches. Aelwyn is my favorite FH NPC. That’s well known information. But this is a nuanced thing. I’m not out here for any character who just shows up and is mean. You need style. You need flair. You need a decade of family trauma and suppressed affection you don’t know how to express.

Ivy just showing up to be full on racist to Mazey? Jail.

It was like Brennan looked Lou right in the eyes and was like, “If you pursue this character after this point I absolve myself from any responsibility.”

Fabian, my guy, you are under absolutely no obligation to date Mazey if you don’t see her that way but for the love of whoever Kristen is praying to right now, don’t pursue Ivy!

Random Thoughts

Kristen’s range is such that in one breath she can be telling Max that “if we all do drugs he can’t net everyone” isn’t a union and then in the next breath she’s encouraging Adaine to sell drugs.

A little surprised Fig didn’t run into Bucky when she crashed Paladin classes.

Curious if when KP said, “Your god passed, how are you casting spells?” in the bullhorn if that was purely to spill her secrets or if she was also genuinely baffled by that.

I didn’t mention this before but Fig is purposefully tanking her Popularity track to focus on other things/be more stealthy. It’s good she’s not prioritizing it because it seems like she’s doing literally everything else she can! It’s interesting how right as Gorgug is digging more into techy things and magic, she’s dipping more into martial classes. I am so curious to know what her character sheet looks like by the end of the season. If she doesn’t want to take full levels, she can always take the Magic Initiate feat for some paladin spells.

In a clutch bit of detective work from Riz, we learn that the god’s name on Lucy’s sheet can’t be read by mortal eyes. I know Kristen would be loath to do this, but I bet she could get Helio on the phone pretty easily and get him to read it for her, maybe for a price. Maybe he’d even do it pro bono if he’s not mad at her–Kristen thought he sucked but from what I remember he was pretty chill.

The timeline of Lucy’s supposed death is throwing me off. If she’d died Freshmen year the Rat Grinders would make sense to me–why leave the woods if your cleric died the first week of school? But this seems like it was their M.O. even before whatever happened to Lucy. So what’s the deal?

I also can’t get a read on whether the Rat Grinders (by which I mean KP and Ivy–the ones I trust the least) are pro or anti Lucy. Like, is whatever they’re going now a ploy to bring back Lucy (if she’s even dead at all which seems doubtful) or is it a second attempt at whatever did her in, now with Buddy as the sacrifice? I’ve seen people speculate that the Rat Grinders are mad that Kristen and Gorgug were resurrected by Aguefort while their cleric was not and that’s why they hate the system but that theory hinges on whether they cared about Lucy or not. So curious to know what their group dynamics are when they’re alone.

If Lucy’s got is a god of sorrow I wonder if this nameless god was a god of rage. Also wondering if there is any connection between the frost giant thing and the frosty folk fair thing.

I sincerely love this downtime system and I think it’s great that we’re getting more of the high school experience this season. I wonder how many times we’ll get to do this.

I was expecting to have to ask Brennan in a Q&A what Gorgug’s nat 20 would mean, not that it would happen twice back to back on his first set of rolls! I can’t wait to see what he unlocked!

On another note, Porter really needs to let Gorgug get his MCAT. Yes, his grades are slipping like Porter said they would but that’s kind of a self fulfilling prophecy from forcing him into this position.

Yolanda Badgood is weirdly comfortable talking to a student about others students' private business but maybe it's an adventuring school so it would be weird if students weren't breaking into school records from time to time. They literally teach students to be rogues after all.

EDIT: Coming back a day later to make this edit because I can't believe I forgot to mention my new favorite corruption of KP's name: Littledoggy Girlcollar. Chef's kiss. No notes. They are really dragging Brennan's ass for this name--the name of one of his ACTUAL PCs. Lmao, brutal.

The main additions to the Conspiracy Board from this ep:

Not from the ep but we learned from the just released map that KP’s family owns a real estate company (thanks to the anon who gave me the heads up). I wonder if that’s why they keep grinding in that one specific plot of land. Maybe she knows something about the land that others don’t because of intel from her parents.

Lucy seems like she was a good person and switching her god is so out of character that it was deeply worrying for her teacher. We have to wonder if she even sent the form or if one or both of them were forgeries, perhaps by a rogue. And if she did send the form, was she coerced and then quickly changed her mind?

The dead god Bakur was trying to raise seems related to giants and Lucy worshiped an ancestral giant god. We need more to go on but that’s an obvious connection. Did KP learn about this nameless god via Lucy and decide to use it to her advantage?

No idea if this is at all relevant but Lucy's people are said to be from the Mountain's of Chaos in this episode. That's also where Tiberia Runestaff--Adaine's divination teacher who kinda sucks--is from. Doesn't necessarily mean she's implicated but it does mean she might know some information.

#Dimension 20 #dimension 20 spoilers #d20 #d20 spoilers #fantasy high #fantasy high spoilers #fhjy #fhjy spoilers #spoilers #the report card #this episode was a dream to recap #love it when they're this straightforward

40 notes · View notes

jsvjbmh · 1 year

Text

My minor about Applied Psychology is kinda done. From the 6 classes, I had to re-sit 5 of them :').

Three of those classes were classes where I had to hand something on and/or preset something. The other three were exams that I had to take.

Let's talk about the exams. I passed two of them during the re-sit, but I failed the last one (the re-sit as well). For the first exam, I read a summary like once.. for the second one twice and my grade got worse. So for the third one, I read it thrice and I failed that one? I don't know what kind of message that's giving me, but definitely not a great one :').

That lowkey reminds me of a previous class I had to do. It was a Game Art elective. We had to take an existing game and completely change every art related thing to it in 10 weeks in a style that we could chose. I used most of those week to design characters and make them in Blender, also contemplating if this whole thing was worth it because I got stressed out by Blender so much. Anyways, a few days before the deadline I realized that I completely forgot about the UI, so I sketched and draw those in a day. When I received my feedback, the teacher didn't really complimented something specific. Except the UI... From all the things, they complimented the thing I worked the least on :')...

So... the other three classes. I passed one in one go. Passed one during the re-sit and I still have to do the re-sit for the last one. The second class... I had to do a presentation about my progress and some other stuff. I b*llsh*tted some of it.. But when I got my grade, the thing is, I didn't fail those part... I failed the part where I was being genuine :').. So... for the re-shit I b*llsh*tted that part as well and I passed.

0 notes

writethehousedown · 4 years

Text

Lesson In Love (Gigi x Jackie) - Mina

A/N: So excited to participate in one of these challenges again, you treated me so well last time so I’m so excited to release this! Ty so so much to @dollalpaca for being an angel and betaing

Summary: Gigi may or may not be failing her music studies class. She also may or may not have caught feelings for the pretty Persian woman that offered to tutor her. Maybe. She’ll never tell.

“Janet,” Gigi groaned, narrowly avoiding falling off the couch as she rolled over and wrapped her blanket tighter around herself. It was leopard-printed, a gift from Jan to themselves from when they moved into the apartment. “Do you think ‘Intro to Floral Arrangement’ sounds like an easy class? Or do you know anyone who’s taken it?”

“Isn’t it an evening class? I feel like we went over that one like… twenty minutes ago.” The blonde hummed from the floor, not bothering to look up. She was probably right, too. She had her own laptop in front of her, in the process of color-coding her online calendar. Blue for lectures, green for labs and purple for choir practices. Gigi had seen her do this enough times - every semester since they met on move-in day their first year - to be able to recognize the blocks in her schedule at a glance. Sometimes it motivated her knowing that Jan could be so on top of things while also being the most chaotic person Gigi knew, other times it made her want to die and be reborn into someone who could organise her sock draw by diameter.

“Yeah, you’re right.” She frowned, letting out a deep sigh and closing the tab. Goodbye, department of nature studies. So long, her potential florist career.

The thing was, Gigi knew she couldn’t really afford to be particularly picky with only five days before the registration period ended, but still. At least, she thought, she’d long been enrolled in all her textile-related classes for the semester. She was looking forward to most of them too, especially the design ones. Really, it was just that one additional stupid arts gen ed course she needed to get out of the way, and then she’d be free for good.

“How about ‘Art of Listening’?” Gigi asked a few minutes later, reading over the course information. She heard the sound of Jan typing on her keyboard come to a halt. “That kinda sounds like a class for people that want to become therapists or something. Or marriage counsellors?”

“Maybe people that are gonna need marriage counselling, sure,” Jan replied, her typing picking up again.

Gigi laughed, running a hand through her hair and looking back at her screen. “It doesn’t seem too bad, y’know. Just two papers and a final.” She hummed, scrolling through last year’s syllabus. “And it’s actually about music, I could totally do that.”

“Wait, who’s the prof for it?”

“Uh… something-Nguyen I think?“ Gigi paused as she scrolled back up. “Yeah, Andrew Nguyen, why?”

“Oh, that’s the one!” Jan nodded happily. “Rock took it last semester, I think. I remember her talking about it when we first met, she was always complaining about the prof who—”

“Great, you should have just lead with that.” Gigi rolled her eyes as she closed the tab. Rock was one of the more easy going people she’d ever met when it came to that stuff, so she couldn’t imagine what a prof that annoyed her would be like. Probably awful, or at least had a bad taste in anime. A soft but slightly damp piece of fabric hit her in the nose before falling down in front of her, disheartened. She scrunched up her nose in distaste when she realised what Jan just threw at her.

“Why are you throwing your dirty socks at me?” Gigi screeched, picking it up and throwing it back in the blonde’s general direction. “And why is it wet?”

“If you’d just let me finish!” She rolled her eyes pointedly, leaning to grab the sock again. It was a little too far for her to reach, and Gigi watched her stubbornly wiggle to the side until she could close her fingers around it. She smiled victoriously, huffing a little as she leaned back against the couch and made herself stand up straight. “As I was saying,” she started again, enunciating carefully.

“Before I rudely interrupted you.” Gigi grinned down, picking at her nails.

“Yes, before you did indeed do that,” Jan huffed, “Rock took it last semester. And she was always annoyed because the prof didn’t always let them use their laptops in class, but she also said that it was really easy. Most of the time they just had to listen to some music and write about how it made them feel, that sort of stuff.”

“That sounds pretty easy.”

“Right?” Jan nodded excitedly, “And I think she mentioned one of her friends is taking it this semester too. A senior, so she’s probably in the same boat as you.”

Gigi didn’t think that’d make much of a difference, but she didn’t bother telling Jan that. It wasn’t like the class had group projects anyway, so she could hopefully get by with just showing to most lectures and turning in the assignments.

“I really should have done this over the summer, you were right about that,” she exhaled, shutting her laptop and falling back into the couch. She could have gotten those mandatory art electives outside of her major done as a freshmen, or even last year, like most other students in her program did.

“I’m sure it won’t be that bad,“ Jan chuckled, moving closer until she could rest her head comfortably on Gigi’s shoulder, blonde hair falling all over her face. “You’ll do great, because you always do; you’re talented, but you also work hard. So you’re gonna ace all your actual photography classes, pass this one, and be done with all your dumb degree requirements. And then next year you can take all the textiles classes you want, I’ll take all the music production classes I want, we’ll go to each other’s senior showcases, and barely even remember all the time we wasted on the ugly classes we didn’t care about.”

When Jan put it that way, it sounded pretty easy. *** After three weeks of classes, Gigi felt like she could safely conclude that the class was… Not that bad. If she had to give the class a grade it’d be a solid C-, bordering on a straight-up C. It was mostly filled with freshmen from the arts faculty trying to get an easy A, a solid half of whom had already stopped showing up to lectures. And yes, it was weird being back in a two hundred-person room when most of her other classes were forty at most. She had to turn in weekly written assignments, which was also not fun, but writing five hundred words once a week wasn’t a time commitment she couldn’t handle. The problem, though, was that as far as she could tell from those three first weeks, that supposedly-easy class would also n’ot rate the level of effort Gigi had put in as anything more than a C either. Which was definitely not what she wanted out of it. Far from it.

The class did have one major saving grace, a light in the dark and a minor help in stopping Gigi from quitting the class on day one, in the form of a fellow student.

Gigi didn’t know her name, or her major, or anything tangible about her, which was a little unfortunate. She did, however, know that the girl had legs. Long and strong, with toned thighs that suggested at least some form of semi-regular exercise, and looked equally good in the kind of wide-legged, loose cotton pants Gigi herself favoured as they did in denim cutoffs. She had really nice hands too, which the brunette found out about when they accidentally reached for the same assignment sheet. They looked soft, strong and capable and careful. They’d be nice to hold, or to have holding her down tightly, or tangled in her hair while she sucked bruises into her equally-beautiful thighs.

So yeah, you could say Gigi was kind of enjoying the course, sure.

The girl usually sat at the front of the room, in the very first row from where you kind of had to strain your neck upwards to see what was on the board. Gigi knew, because that was also where she sat during the first two weeks, until she realised this wasn’t going to be the kind of lecture where she could talk all the way through the lesson without the professor caring, not if she wanted to do more than just pass, anyway. The girl usually brought her laptop to class too - covered in political stickers and pictures of cartoons Gigi didn’t know. One time the brunette walked past her, only to see a video of a crab walking up a pile of sand playing in the corner of her screen.

Gigi could remember that she made a point about the role of music in religious movements when prompted, and how that connected to society’s idea of liveliness within places of worship. Gigi didn’t really remember the details, mostly because some of it had just flown way over her head, but their professor had been very impressed. When he had said so, instead of the self-satisfied smile that the brunette had been expecting, the girl had looked down at her notes, one arm twitching like she was resisting the urge to scratch at the back of her neck in embarrassment.

Gigi thought she’d even blushed a little, and really, no one should have had the right to be both this attractive and adorable at the same time. She wasn’t quite sure how she felt about the crab video, which was definitely weird, even by art faculty standards. But for her, she thought she might be willing to overlook it.

geege ok this girl at the front of listening class? so hot she’s like 90 percent leg and 40 percent sexy aunt energy

janjanjan sounds Hot

geege i’d let her walk all over me and say ty she’d just be like :] and tell me about the periodic table or smth

janjanjan okay maybe let’s stop there like keep the rest for when you’re alone at home

geege or in the shower

janjanjan thanks not like i use that shower too The thing was, Gigi wasn’t new to having crushes. At all. So perhaps it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to herself that she ended up developing crushes on more than a few of the people she met. Most of them were great, a lot of them were cute, and a few left her heart beating that much faster as she found herself wishing for their conversations to never end.

What was new (or disconcerting, if she were to listen to the Jan voice in her head), was Gigi feeling that way about someone she’d never talked to. Gigi still didn’t know anything about her, other than what she looked like and the sound of her voice - but god did she want to know.

And it felt like it’d been years, so many years, since Gigi had felt too shy to just go up to someone she wanted to know better and introduce herself. She’d felt anxious before, maybe a little self-conscious, but not the kind of shyness that turned into complete inaction. She found herself looking forward to the class, though not the actual work. *** She, Gigi thought, was currently winning at life.

She was done with classes for the week, had no plans that required her to get out of her sweatpants for the next twenty four hours, and was currently sitting back on the couch surrounded by food and two of her favourite people.

So yeah, life was pretty fucking great right now.

She leaned back against one arm of the sofa, a forgotten ball of yarn and half knitted almost-scarf in one hand and the other casually playing with Jan’s hair. The blonde was laying down on the couch, the only one out of the three of them that could kind of do so without most of her legs hanging off one end. Her head was resting on Gigi’s lap while her feet were in Rock’s.

Friday evening was their unofficially -designated group hang out time, a tradition that developed the last few months without any of them being aware of it, but now it was something that she wouldn’t miss for the world. It usually just meant Thai food, bitching about their classes, and whatever booze one of the other two decided to pick up. When Rock made grabby hands at her, Gigi grabbed an unopened can of sparkling water she brought for today and passed it on.

“Thank you,” Rock chuckled as she cracked it open, leaning forward to catch some of the foam that came out before it had a chance to further stain the couch. “Y’know,” she started, as she watched Gigi reach over for the mostly-empty bag of popcorn on the table. “I could just ask Jackie to help you out with the class.”

The brunette’s fingers closed on thin air, the bag of popcorn she was aiming for remaining just out of reach. “Who’s Jackie?” she asked absently, shuffling forward gently and trying not to dislodge Jan’s head from her lap.

Jan flicked her on the thigh regardless. “Rock’s friend, the one I told you about when you signed up! And, y’know, the one that’s also taking the class right now.”

“Oh,” Gigi realised. She totally remembered that, right. Her fingers grazed the bag of popcorn again, but in her haste she just ended up pushing it a few inches further away, balancing precariously on one edge of the table. “That Jackie.”

“I think she tutored, like, half her contemporary fiction class last year. So you know she’s gotta be good at actually teaching things, and not just smart,” Jan continued, as though Gigi’s attention was mostly captured by the pursuit of academics. One more inch, she leaned in a little further, balancing her weight on one arm. She just needed to get one inch closer and the bag would be hers. She could already taste the powdery, buttery, amazingness on her tongue.

“And Rockie’s always talking about how her old professor still basically cries about not being able to convince her to stay in the department. I’m pretty sure she’d totally still take him on as a grad student if Jackie just asked, nevermind that she transferred out more than two years ago.”

“So what do you think?” The blonde finished, a little more loudly, like she realised Gigi had tuned her out a bit. And Gigi had, yes, but she could finally feel her fingers closing in on the bag, triumphantly reaching in and stuffing a handful of popcorn - fat free - into her mouth. “Do you want Rock to ask Jackie when she has some time to meet up with you? Or maybe just give her your number, if that’s easier?”

“What? No, don’t do that. I’m not doing that bad.” Gigi laughed slightly, rolling her eyes. “No, I’m all good.”

“It’s too late anyway,” Rock laughed, all faux-casual. “I already messaged her.” She shoved her phone in front of Gigi’s face, and yeah, right there, that was a message saying just that, complete with her own number at the end.

“Why would you do that?” She complained loudly, tapping at the screen furiously to try and make it delete. It wasn’t that she was against the idea of getting help with the class, but mostly she was reluctant to have it taking up more of her time than it already did. Especially when she didn’t even know the girl.

“You need help!” Rock said with a yelp, avoiding the kick Gigi aimed at her. “She can help! It’s a perfect solution, why are you trying to hit me!” The last one landed just under her armpit, drawing out a higher-pitched squeal. “Besides, Jan agreed with me that it’s a good idea,” she added, turning expectantly towards her. “Tell her how you were the first one to even suggest it.”

Next to them, Jan had indeed been suspiciously quiet. “Why aren’t you saying anything?” Gigi asked, poking the older woman in the chest.

“Don’t you want to see what your soon-to-be tutor looks like, Geege?” Jan giggled, ignoring her question.

“Oh, you’re right, let me show you her insta,” Rock butted in, her thumbs moving on her phone screen for a moment before handing it to Gigi with an evil smile.

Jacqueline Coxx, the profile read, next to a very familiar, grinning face. The same very familiar, grinning face that Gigi had spent many a lesson fawning over. This had to be a mistake, there was no way. “You should really be better at Instagram-stalking people,” Jan laughed as Gigi felt her mind going blank. “I think it’s the only skill that’s going to save our generation from lifelong unemployment. Or underemployment, for that matter.”

The brunette didn’t give it a second thought before she pushed her off the couch and onto the floor, screams of unacceptable betrayal and terrified excitement echoing loud in the room.

*** geege hiiiii is this jackie cox? this is gigi, roxanne’s friend from the listening class she said she’d told you i would message you geege but in case she didn’t i wanted to ask you about some tutoring if you could tutor me i mean geege but if you can’t that’s all good !! don’t feel like you have to say yes just bc of rocks stupid puppy eyes oh and sorry about the triple-text ***

“I more than triple-texted her, but three separate times,” Gigi groaned, burying her face in between the couch cushions.

“I’m sure it wasn’t that bad,” Jan comforted, running a hand through her hair. Gigi would maybe feel a little bad about how much complaining she’d been doing over this, but everytime she thought of stopping, she reminded herself that Jan was at least forty-five percent to blame for this in the first place.

“It’s been more than two days. When’s the last time you went forty-eight hours without checking your phone? And be honest.”

Jan’s silence was enough of an answer. *** Jackie Hey Gigi! Rock did tell me about you, it’s all good Do you want to meet up after class on monday to figure out the details? Oh and sorry for such a late reply My phone was broken after i dropped it in a lake while i was hiking *** In an ideal world, Gigi would have planned things so she could get to class nice and early on the day she was supposed to properly meet Jackie. She’d have maybe put a little more thought than usual into her outfit, and made sure her hair looked good. Worn that red headband she knew did great things for her forehead and her eyebrows, maybe. Not that Gigi ever looked like a slob, but she definitely had clothes she liked more than others, and that she thought served her better for seduction purposes. Or even for just ‘making a decent first impression’, which she’d really settle for right now, as she ran up the final flight of stairs. Nothing said ‘I’m serious about needing help with this class’ like showing up late, especially for a course where attendance was actually recorded.

She spotted the door to the classroom still cracked open at the end of the hallway and slowed down a little, trying to catch her breath. She ran a hand through her hair, hoping that’d tame the mess a little and her cheeks wouldn’t be too red from the unexpected burst of athleticism. At the front of the room, their professor has already started talking, and Gigi quietly slipped into the first free seat she spotted, grateful to have avoided drawing everyone’s attention to herself.

It was only minutes before the class ended that Gigi thought to look around for Jackie, peering across the middle rows of students before she accepted that she wouldn’t dare sit anywhere but the very front row. She tried to lean forward to glance at the first row once or twice, eventually accepting that there was no way she could be subtle and standing the slightest bit up from her chair. The first row was mostly empty, as it usually tended to be. Gigi recognized a girl from the Image Composition class she took last semester, and thought about saying hi to her after class when she remembered she had a goal here. As she let her gaze move through the other students in the front, it eventually landed on Jackie, although Gigi had to do a double-take to make sure it was definitely her.

The thing was, she’d gotten to see - unknowingly, at the time - Jackie often enough since the semester started to get a sense of her style. And from Gigi’s weeks of casual observation, she tended to favour loose, comfortable clothes, and mostly neutral colours. She liked floral patterns too, especially on shirts, which the brunette could appreciate.

However, the first thing she noticed today was Jackie’s hair. And really, Gigi thought that if it wasn’t for the bright smile and the longest legs known to humankind, she wouldn’t have even recognized her.

The messy dark brown hair that Gigi had gotten used to, and maybe dreamt about running her hands through once or twice, was now four inches shorter and numbingly straight, effortlessly falling over her forehead and almost into her eyes when she looked down. Something about the flawlessness of her hair combined with the white hoodie she was wearing seemed to make her face glow, skin tanned and radiant with pearly teeth glinting through a bemused grin as she laughed at something her friend was saying.

Damn.

She was brought out of her daydreaming by the sound of students around her packing up their things, and Gigi realised that she most likely missed the professor dismissing their class. As she struggled with the zipper of her bag, the same one she’d been meaning to get fixed for the last three months but still hadn’t, she felt a hand hesitantly tap on her shoulder, warm against the thin material of her shirt.

“Hey, Georgia right?” A voice asked right behind her, and when Gigi turned around Jackie looked just as good as she did the first time she saw her at the beginning of the semester.

“Gigi. I’m— my name— Yep, hi, that’s me. What’s shaking?” The brunette chuckled awkwardly, “Thank you so much for agreeing to help me out, I really appreciate it! Or at least agreeing to consider it I mean, I know we really just said we’d talk about the details today, so you technically haven’t agreed to anything yet. And you don’t have to, obviously.”

Jackie didn’t seem thrown off by the sudden explosion of words and gratefulness, which Gigi took to be a good sign. If anything, her smile only grew less hesitant, the tiniest dimple appearing on her left cheek.

“We could, like, go to that library around the block? It’s a nice place to study, so.” Gigi nodded, following Jackie and making awkward small talk until they made it inside. She learned in those quick minutes that Jackie liked crabs, and geography, and obscure movie references no one else understood.

“It’s been a while since I was here to be honest.” Jackie grinned, swiping at her phone casually. “I missed it.”

"Right, Rock mentioned you’d transferred out of the faculty.”

The brunette hummed in agreement, looking a little surprised at Gigi’s knowing about this. “Yeah, I swapped my major and minor back halfway through my second year. Geo major with a minor in stage production now.” She made little jazz hand motions as she said it, and the brunette really wished she didn’t find it half as endearing as she did.

“Okay, so, tell me more about what you’ve been struggling with so far,” Jackie asked with a tilt of her head, and they got down to business. *** Maybe it was a little self-sabotaging (or self-serving, she could never quite decide), but part of what Gigi quickly found out she liked best about their bi-weekly tutoring sessions, was how much time she got to just stare at Jackie. She’d finish writing up the draft of her weekly listening assignment and pass it on for the older woman to read over, and get a solid five-to-ten minutes of ogling out of it.

Not that she was ogling her per se, that sounded bad. She was just… appreciating. Appreciating Jackie’s arms, and her neck, and her cheekbones, and her brain as she read through Gigi’s outline. Every now and then, Gigi would catch her frowning slightly, bringing her pen to the paper and tapping over the words as she read a section a few times over before making a quick note and moving on. It was kind of embarrassing how devastatingly cute Gigi found the whole thing, honestly. Like how the way she was resting her head on one hand, her fingers accidentally creating a gap that just perfectly framed the dimple on her left cheek.

“Hey, Geege,” Jackie suddenly smiled as she turned towards her. Fuck. Gigi really hoped her face wasn’t making what she was just doing incredibly obvious. “What did you have in mind for this part here?” She asked, shuffling her chair to bridge the space between the two of them.

“Which part?” Gigi shakily replied, leaning in a little. The paper she wrote her outline on was on the table, technically close enough for both of them to read, but just barely. Gigi told herself that was her excuse for moving in a few inches more, until their hands were almost meeting on the sheet of paper. Almost.

Jackie was making it hard for Gigi to focus, leaving her stumbling through the start of an explanation of the admittedly somewhat unclear point she’d made in her outline about the sudden change in rhythm. As she got into the meat of her point, she could feel herself getting more confidence, gesturing with her hands as the words started coming out more easily, and Jackie nodded in wordless understanding. It only took a few sessions to realize that if there was one thing Jackie was good at, it’s listening. It never felt like she was trying to put answers into Gigi’s mouth - letting her explain her perception of the music instead, and asking questions when needed. She made Gigi feel like even if writing about how she experienced music as an art form would never come all that naturally to her, not in the way sewing or even most visual arts did, it was something that was still within her reach. Something she could understand and relate to.

“So, are you saying it felt expected to you?” Jackie asked eventually, after Gigi paused. “Like it was building up to this in the previous parts? Or that it caught your attention specifically because it was sudden? Or out-of-place, maybe.”

The brunette took a moment to think, replaying the lead-up to that section in her head.

They weren’t even touching, but she could feel the heat radiating off the older woman’s skin. She could feel the warmth, could see it in Jackie’s gaze as she looked softly back at her, she could smell it even. And Gigi knows that didn’t actually make sense, that all she was probably smelling was laundry detergent and sweat and maybe coffee. Gigi didn’t even like the smell of coffee. But right now, sitting side-by-side in the library and alternating between emphatically talking and listening to each other, Gigi felt like all of those things.

It was only when they both moved on from that particular point, a few messy notes from Jackie hastily written to Gigi’s own words, that she realized just how close they’d gotten. She was well into Jackie’s personal space, their shoulders no longer content just brushing against each other occasionally but rather aligned against one another. No wonder she could smell the coffee.

She started to move back slowly, not wanting to draw attention to how close she’d gotten, but a sharp sting on her ear stopped her mid-motion. She let out a small cry of pain, Jackie immediately turning to face her. The older girl felt impossibly closer than a moment ago.

“I think my earring got caught in your shirt,” Gigi said quietly, a pained and nervous giggle leaping from the back of her throat. She remembered putting them on this morning, long and dangly strips of silver shaped like eyes, and thinking about how they might get stuck in her hair. If the lack of distance between the two of them went unnoticed earlier, it was definitely no longer the case. Gigi felt incredibly conscious of every exhale of her breath, of Jackie’s face only inches away from hers. The guy in the seat in front of them threw them a dirty look, like he was annoyed at how wrong Gigi’s flirting attempts had turned out. She couldn’t really blame him because, what the fuck, they had turned out pretty bad, huh.

“Hold on,” Jackie breathed, “let me untangle it for you.” Gigi knew she was speaking quietly because they were in a library, and so close to each other anything above a whisper was unnecessary, but she was struck hard by the intimacy of it nonetheless. She couldn’t decipher whether choosing to wear those earrings today was the best or worst decision she’d ever made.

Jackie reached for the end that got caught, carefully lifting it away from the threads of her sweater. It was the kind of tangle no one could probably ever manage to achieve if they tried, and yet happened without either of them realizing it. When she moved to grasp at the fabric a little more firmly, her fingers brushed against Gigi’s neck, unexpected. And maybe it’s stupid to feel so thoroughly destabilized by the mere touch of a fleeting hand, but Gigi found herself forgetting to breathe for a few seconds.

“There,” Jackie chuckled as the earring finally came free, looking in Gigi’s direction without directly meeting her gaze. “I think you’re all good now.”

Gigi thanked her politely, but she’d be the first to admit she found it hard to focus during the rest of their session, every brush of air or clothing against her neck making her shiver at the memory of Jackie’s fingers. ***

“Wait, Jackie Coxx?” Crystal asked the next time Gigi met up with her to catch up over some drinks in their favorite dive bar. Crystal had technically been Jan’s friend first, but she and Gigi had gotten a lot closer over the years, bonding over a love of what their friends would lovingly call ‘loud’ and ‘confident’ clothing choices. “‘Trips on her own feet’ Jackie Coxx?” Crystal continued, the grin on her face widening as Gigi felt her cheeks heating up. “Follows at least three Twitter accounts dedicated to Star Trek? Rockie’s junior year baby crush? The same—”

“Rock is still a junior, Crys,” Gigi interrupted, laughing, because— what. What. “And wait, she has a crush on Jackie? My Jackie?”

“So not the point,” Crystal answered, still smiling like this was the best news she’d heard all week. “My Jackie huh? God, you’re such a simp—”

“No.” Gigi groaned, dragging out the ‘o’. “Back to Rock. My best friend, Janet fucking Sport, is head over heels, stupidly in love with Rock. And I don’t care how adorable she is, if what you’re telling me is true, she’s just been… been using her! And that really this whole time she’s just been waiting and pining for Jackie! As if Jan didn’t—”

It was Crystal’s turn to interrupt this time, the smile having faded away from her face to leave way for a confused expression. “Gigi, Gigi, stop for a second,” she repeated, a little more forceful than the brunette was used to hearing her speak. “Come on, think of all the time you’ve spent with Rock, with both of them. Have you ever gotten the impression that she was anything that a hundred and ten percent in?”

The brunette closed her eyes for a moment. She thought of Jan ditching her and Nicky to go hang out with Rock every Friday. Of Jan dragging her to go shopping on the weekend before Valentine’s day, an itemized and color-coded list of stores and potential gifts saved on her phone. Crystal definitely has a point, Gigi let herself recognize, deflating as the potential anger left her body as quickly as it had arrived.

“Rock did a tour of the university, back when she was still in high school and she wasn’t completely sure what program to apply for. Jackie was the one doing it apparently.” The red head paused to take a sip of her drink, grimacing a little at the taste. Why she kept ordering those novelty IPAs everywhere they went despite knowing full well she didn’t like how hoppy they were, Gigi had no idea. “I think she just made Rock feel comfortable, you know? Like, it was fine that she didn’t have everything figured out already, and made sure she knew she wasn’t making a decision at seventeen that she could never walk back. So Jackie gave her her number in case she had any questions, and then they actually started hanging out together once Rock started this year.”

“Oh,” Gigi realised, “that does really sound like her, yeah.” She could imagine it in her head, Rock a little younger and more unsure, not all that dissimilar from how she behaved when Jan first introduced the two of them to each other.

It was strange, remembering that a few months ago she would avoid directly meeting her gaze or spending any one-on-one time with her, when she could also recall the ‘u up’ and ‘netflix? :)’ texts she received from the shorter woman last night. It also really sounded like Jackie, although she didn’t tell Crystal so. It was just as easy to imagine her taking the time to reassure a worried high-school student without making her feel like she was being talked down to.

Crystal was still looking at her expectantly, and Gigi couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed at how strongly she reacted. “So, not an actual crush then?”

“Nope, she just thinks Jackie is really cool. God knows why, because based on what I’ve heard, she’s kind of a giant dork.”

“Hot giant dork.” Gigi rolled her eyes. “Maybe I should have asked you that first.”

“Uh-huh,” Crystal replied, giving Gigi’s shoulder a squeeze. “You should ask her for the full story, actually. I’m surprised you haven’t heard it before, but she tells it much better than I do. And maybe you want to spend some time thinking about why you reacted that quickly, because we both know Jan is a pretty flimsy excuse.”

The brunette sighed loudly. “It’s just a crush, it’s nothing.” It didn’t sound convincing even to herself. Back when Jackie was just the hot girl in her class, that would have probably been true, but it felt like a long time ago now.

Crystal rolled her eyes with a cheeky smile. “That was a lot more believable five minutes ago, but sure.”

Gigi made sure to hit her in the leg for that, laughing easily and sputtering mindlessly about how she had it all wrong.

“Wait, what did Rock used to want to study, back when she was in high school?”

There was a long pause, before Crystal finally cackled., “Video game design.” *** geege do you think it’s weird

rockstar YES

geege … to ask someone if you can platonically caress their cheeks kiss them on the forehead at least wait till i finish to be mean

rockstar u know what this is both not as weird AND weirder than i expected ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

geege what do I do roxanne she’s not gonna tutor me forever. the final is less than a month away how do i tell her i wanna date her without seeming like i wanna date her

rockstar go up to her and be like ‘if we played pokemon together, we’d be a pokematch’ ;)))

geege what

rockstar will you be the nidoking to my nidoqueen

geege tf those sound like the names of drugs

rockstar yk it was one thing when you were just thirsting after the hot girl in ur class but now it’s actual feelings how embarrassing

geege u have given me a solid amount of advice. none.

rockstar k fair how about i pick up noodles on my way back? and we can eat that for dinner while you tell me all about ur gay crush without my consent

geege i like the chicken stir fry ones

*** “Do you want to listen to it again, maybe?” Jackie asked, reaching for her headphones. “Then you can tell me the exact part you’re thinking of.”

It was another Wednesday afternoon, but this time they’d ditched the library in favor of a small coffee shop that was closer to where Jackie lived. It was artsy in a way that Gigi was used to, a little hipster, but not actually fancy enough to properly lay claim on the word. The tables were a little worn in and wobbly, the lattes a little too cheap, and the art prints on the wall either too well-known or not enough.

“Sure, just give me a second.” Gigi took the earbud the Persian woman offered her, making an aborted motion towards the computer, before following through as Jackie nodded at her with a soft smile. The older woman’s phone vibrated on the table between them, and she took a quick glance at the screen before putting it back down with a little more force than necessary.

It took Gigi a few tries to find the part she had in mind when mentioning texture, replaying the same part a few times over until she was fairly certain she found what she was looking for. “That part here, until the tempo slows down again—”

The brunette was cut off by the sound of Jackie’s phone vibrating on the table again, lighting up with a missed call notification and some texts.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” the Persian woman cursed sheepishly. “This is so rude. I’m sorry, Geege, I should have just turned it off earlier.” She sounded a little annoyed, but mostly flustered, taking a quick look at the screen before flipping it back over facing down.

She flashed the younger woman an apologetic smile, her cheeks coloring a little as she pointedly pushed the phone away from her.

“Are you sure everything is okay? We can take a break if you need to deal with some stuff? Or even just cancel for today, I think I have basically everything I need to finish writing this up, so.”

“No, no, âsemun be zamin nemiyâd,” Jackie protested, mind clearly elsewhere. “It’s nothing, really. Or, well, it is something I guess, but it’s kind of stupid and I shouldn’t let it distract me, you know?”

Gigi hummed noncommittally, not wanting to force her to talk about whatever this was if she didn’t want to, but finding herself unwilling to acknowledge it as something stupid either. She offered Jackie what she hoped was a quick and comforting smile instead.

“I just…” She sighed, rubbing at her eyes with the heel of her palm. “I’ve been waiting to hear back from this prof about a recommendation letter for grad school? And she’d said yes before, but some more students asked her, and she has this thing about not writing more than five letters per year, I don’t know. So she said she’d get back to me today or tomorrow to confirm, and I’ve just been really stressed.”

“Oh no, I’m sorry. That sounds really stressful.” Gigi brought a hand to Jackie’s shoulders, squeezing the back of her neck lightly. She tried to avoid doing too much extensive thinking about what she might do after college, but she doubted it was a train of thought that’d ever made anyone feel good.

“It’s okay, I should be used to it.” Jackie shrugged with resignation. “It’s just that every time I remember I’m waiting to hear back from her it makes me think of next year, and what’ll happen if I don’t get in? Or if I do, because it’s like I really know that grad school is what I want to do, you know?” She ran a frustrated hand through her hair, and Gigi really wished they were close enough friends for her to offer Jackie a hug or something.

“Just call your prof back now. You should have said something earlier, and we could have rescheduled.”

“Oh,” Jackie breathed out, sounding inexplicably surprised as she turned towards her. “No, no, no, no, that’s not necessary. That wasn’t her. I’m sorry I’m a bit of a mess today, let’s just get back to this thing, yeah?”

Gigi nodded, reaching for the headphones and passing one on to her. In a lot of ways, this had grown to be her favorite part of their sessions. Not that she didn’t enjoy listening to Jackie talk about music, which she did; mostly because she was practically tone deaf and found it magical that Jackie was so good at it, or trading ideas back and forth on the pieces they listened to, both of which were rewarding in their own ways. But there was something about sitting next to each other, silent save for the shared music, that just got to her.

They were standing outside the coffeeshop, Jackie struggling to undo the lock on her bike, when Gigi thought back to their earlier conversation. “I know it’s not the same because I’m not graduating yet, but you know I’m here if you ever need to talk to someone, right? Like, no pressure or anything, but I just— just wanted to put it out there, I guess.”

Jackie stopped mid-motion and looked up at her, half of her U-lock in hand. “Thanks, Gigi.” She grinned, all bright and pearly and warm. “I think sometimes I just get too in my own head, you know? Especially about things I can’t do anything about. And yes, I know how stupid it is to stress out over these things so much, I really do.”

“I don’t think that’s stupid, though,” Gigi mentioned, as they started walking towards her bus stop. It was really nice of Jackie to walk there with her, rather than just take off on her bike straight away. It maybe made sense now that they knew each other well enough, but her heart still kind of fluttered whenever she offered it. “I mean, maybe it’s not productive because you’re worrying about things you can’t control, sure, but it also means you care, right? And I don’t think that’s something stupid, even if you wish you could just… not care less, but care better, you know. Still care, but in a way that’s better for yourself. To yourself.”

She thought of her parents, and of the guilt she used to feel every time she overheard someone asking them if they really thought it was wise to let her go to college for fashion, how she overworked herself to the point of passing out alone in the studio her freshman year in a misguided attempt to redeem herself from having failed a class. Like she thought she could atone for her perceived academic failures by working her body into the ground. She thought of the conversations that had started to happen in her periphery, whispers of ‘What are you thinking of doing after next year?’, ‘Have you also applied for the internship at this gallery?’, ‘Have you considered doing a minor in business?’, and how she sometimes struggled with not letting these thoughts invade her brain late at night.

“I just think it’s hard sometimes, but it’s even harder if we don’t let ourselves accept it. Or talk about it. So I guess all I’m saying is that if you need someone to listen, you know where to find me,” she finished with a deep breath.

When she looked up, there was a quiet smile on Jackie’s face, and Gigi felt warm at the thought of maybe having been the one to put it there. ***

geege you know i suddenly understand why you do the shoulder thing like i use to never really get it but that was before

janjanjan the shoulder thing??

geege wait more important how did ur audition go did they love you when are you gonna hear back

janjanjan it went pretty okay i think they’re def looking more for someone that does modern

geege so that’s good! very good!!!

janjanjan and one of the choreographers sort of smiled and nodded at me at the end i think he was on the dance team my first semester but that was before he graduated ig anyway idk maybe it was just in my head

geege no but that all sounds really good!!! look at u go diva!

janjanjan gigi just finished twenty minutes ago she was wearing this stupid ass shirt a really loose tank bc it’s been hot af and one of the straps kept falling of her shoulder

janjanjan oooooooooh oh no that shoulder thing

geege i saw collarbone and so much shoulder and upper arm

janjanjan how tragic tell me, did she lift it back up

geege yeah but it kept falling back down

janjanjan that’s rly good though!!!

geege no it was torture did you know she has a mole on her shoulder? right at the top and all i kept thinking of was that i wanted to kiss it

janjanjan cute also i don’t know how to tell you this but that shit doesn’t happen by itself

geege well it’s not like it was her fault

janjanjan listen a shirt can be a too big sure but you still kind of have to make it happen it doesn’t magically keep falling off

geege hm

janjanjan believe me i would know *** No matter how much she tried to forget about it, Gigi’s last session with Jackie was a thing that was very much happening right now.

It was strange, thinking back to the beginning of the semester, how she almost didn’t sign up for the class. How she maybe would have never met Jackie if she hadn’t, or maybe would have just pined from afar without ever learning her name were it not for her meddling friends. She found herself spending the last half of their session wondering more about how to casually ask Jackie if they’d still hang out once finals are over. Or if their semester-long friendship was, well, just that.

In the end, she just blurted it out as they packed up their things, subtlety thrown out the window.

“I mean, you’re friends with Rock, so I’m sure I’ll at least see you around, yeah?”

Jackie only hummed noncommittally in reply. She was busy packing her things back into her khaki tote bag, checking each pocket like she was looking for something. It reminded Gigi of what she used to do in middle school, every time she hadn’t done the homework or just really, really, really didn’t want to be the one called on to explain her work in front of the whole class. She’d just lean down, and start searching through her bag very obviously, making a show of opening every zipper, her head almost disappearing inside it if she could manage.

“Do you, like, need help finding something in there?” She asked, her voice coming out more harsh than she’d intended, just as Jackie seemed to decide she’d found what she was looking for and decisively slung her bag back over her shoulder.

“Sorry, I— it was—” she stopped and started, letting out a resigned sigh and shaking her head at herself. It made Gigi want to cringe. “Yeah, I’m good now, and yeah, I’ll still see you around. At least for the summer, but after that too I hope! I mean, I’ll still be around and you’ll be around too, so, y’know…” she trailed off. Her cheeks were tinged pink, just barely. Her ears, too, or maybe it was just the white of her sweater making everything appear brighter in contrast. “Besides, you still haven’t shown me any of your work, and you promised you would.” She was right about that, Gigi knew. She usually wasn’t shy about showing her designs to other people, but somehow she’d found himself unsure of what to show Jackie first.

She settled her bag on one shoulder, and they started making their way out in companionable silence until Jackie spoke again. “Hey, actually, do you maybe want to grab coffee before heading back? I have a bit of time before my next class and I could use a pick-me-up.”

They ended up just stopping by Starbucks, because it was on their way and surprisingly empty for a Thursday afternoon on campus. Gigi got a mocha frappuccino (almond milk, extra whip) and managed to sneak in Jackie’s usual cold brew order before she had the chance to protest.

“Gigi…” She sighed fondly, kind of like a grandma would when her grandchildren were doing something they’d regret. She was shaking her head in resignation, which Gigi took as a sign that she’d decided to leave it at that.

“No, I’ve been stealing almost three hours of your time every week since almost the start of the semester and—”

“How can that even be true when Rock only introduced us in what, February?” Jackie laughed in protest, reaching out to grab her drink from the brunette’s hand.

“No, not the point!” Gigi replied, moving her arm back until the cup was just out of Jackie’s reach. “You’ve given up a lot of your free time for me, is what I’m saying. And you didn’t even really know me, I could’ve been a total freak.”

Jackie opened her mouth and looked like she was about to say something, but Gigi continued before she had the chance.

“And you were so nice about it. Not ‘nice’ like when you have nothing actually all that good or specific to say. But nice in that you never made me feel like I was being stupid, you know? And you actually took the time to explain things to me so I’d understand them, not just the bare minimum so I could pass. You did all that when you didn’t really have to, so that meant a lot. Means a lot. I enjoyed spending that time with you, and not because it means I’m going to pass the class.”

Gigi forced herself to stop there, even though she knew for a fact that she could’ve easily kept going. She could feel her words coming out a little rambly, probably sounding more confusing than appreciative. At least she hoped that was what they sounded like, because the only other alternative was frightening. The idea that Jackie was in fact hearing everything Gigi was saying, her poor attempt at expressing the warmth she had felt growing inside her all semester long every time she was beside her, was infinitely more terrifying.

“Geege.” Jackie looked away, smiling after a moment, looking a little embarrassed. “I don’t even know where to start.”

Gigi could feel her cheeks getting hot, but when she looked up she could see that Jackie’s cheeks were tinged pink, too. It was almost funny, feeling what she felt and seeing the physical reflection of it not on herself, but on the person causing it. She wanted to reach out and let the tip of her fingers brush against Jackie’s cheeks, to see if they felt as warm as her own face did.

“You don’t have to say anything, I wasn’t trying to, like, I don’t know, get anything. I just wanted you to know what I meant, and that I really did mean it, when I was saying thank you.”

Gigi was laid bare, like her body was nothing but a lens, and behind it were all of her feelings jumbled together in a tangled mess, conclusion still very plain to the eye.

It was a surprise, when Jackie stepped forward and kissed her.

Gigi closed her eyes reflexively, but she could feel herself inhaling sharply, her body failing to catch up with what her brain was also struggling to process. When she eventually kissed back, it was only because she could feel Jackie’s body starting to move away, the fear finally pushing her into action. She brought one hand up, resting it on the side of the older woman’s neck, fingers gently brushing against her hair as she kissed back a little more confident. She could feel Jackie’s hand on her waist, warm and solid. Her grip tightened slightly as they separated, not strong enough to keep Gigi anywhere but a reassurance of where she was wanted.

Neither one of them really stepped back when the kiss ended, just stayed standing right in front of each other, breathing the same air. She heard Jackie swallow, loud in the silence of their shared space. She licked her lips, a reflex she didn’t even think about, and it was like the realization that, oh my god, they just kissed, hit her all over again when she found them wet. She suppressed a small shudder, although she wasn’t sure how successfully.

It was Jackie that finally broke the silence and stepped away from her, letting her hand fall away from Gigi’s side, brushing against her wrist and then gone before she had a chance to realize it.

“I,” Jackie breathed, “I’ve wanted to do this for a really long time, Gigi.” She laughed a little, maybe a bit self-conscious, and that was what brought the younger woman out of it.

“I spent hours talking to Jan about this gorgeous girl in my listening class,” she started, words leaving her mouth almost of their own volition. “How I didn’t even know her name but god, I really wish I did. Then I did know, even if I didn’t realize that you were, you know, you, when Rock said he knew someone who could tutor me. And then you were there and still the same person, but also so nice and understanding and just… good? Like, being around you just felt good.”

She paused, forcing herself to meet Jackie’s eyes again. “And I still mean everything I said earlier too, you know. Even if you weren’t interested in me, that’s not why I was saying it, but I still mean it just as much now.”

“Oh.” Jackie’s mouth was gaping so wide Gigi was worried it might actually fall to the floor. Maybe if Gigi were a different person, or if her brain wasn’t currently busy processing and reprocessing their kiss on an endless loop, she would have felt a little self-conscious at her outburst, but that just wasn’t who she was.

Especially not right now. Not when Jackie’s lips were right in front of her, still a little wet, still a little too red.

“That’s, that’s pretty good, then,” she finished quietly. They looked at each other in silence for a moment, only interrupted when Gigi let out a small snort.She couldn’t help but realise they were kind of ridiculous. Her face was taken over by an unashamedly stupidly large grin. Jackie properly stepped back then, far enough that Gigi could no longer feel the warmth of her body. She missed it immediately.

“I really need to get to my next class.” Jackie rolled her eyes. “So I can talk to the prof about her feedback on my draft first, but text me, yeah? I know it’s really shitty timing because we both have finals to take and papers to write, but I’ll make it work. Or I’ll call you, if that’s better? But I’m not running away, I promise.”

Gigi flashed her a bright smile and nodded in understanding. “I have your number too, y’know, so maybe I’ll just be the one to text you.”

“Okay, great, nice.” Jackie replied. She had her bag and coffee in hand, but made no clear motion to leave, kind of like she was worried if she did Gigi might disappear forever. It was so, incredibly, frustratingly cute and Gigi couldn’t help but wonder if Jackie would mind being kissed on the forehead.

“Jacks, it’s fine.” Gigi grinned. “I need to go too, anyway. Just maybe don’t drop your phone in any lake before you text me back this time, yeah?”

She turned away with a laugh of her own this time, and Gigi sipped through the plastic straw like it did anything to hide the smile on her face as she watched Jackie walk away.

“Wait!”

The Persian woman startled, turning back to her with an unsure smile. “What, did you forget something, Geege?”

“My first final is tomorrow,” Gigi said, looking up at Jackie with glinting eyes. “And it’s my first actual written exam this year, because I didn’t have any midterms, so how about another kiss for good luck, huh?”

Gigi’s cheeks ached from the force of her smile as she watched the uncertainty leave Jackie’s face, only to be replaced by a raised eyebrow and deep smile. Her shoulder’s rose slightly, like her instincts were telling her to hide her face in embarrassment at the cheesiness, but her eyes didn’t leave Gigi’s anyway. They didn’t leave Gigi’s, until they closed and their lips met again, and the younger woman thought it felt like more luck than she thought she had the right to ask for.

#rpdr fanfiction #gigi goode #jackie cox #rock m sakura #Jan Sport #Crystal Methyd #gigi goode/jackie cox #jan sport/rock m sakura #jiji #jock #lesson in love #mina #lesbian au #back to school 2020 #day 4: lesson #submission

27 notes · View notes

everlarkficexchange · 4 years

Text

I Choose You

Written by: @wendywobbles

Prompt 51: Katniss E, the Valedictorian of Panem High school, is perfect in all fields of life. And that is the crush of awkward, average in studies, not so popular, never had a girlfriend, often bullied Peeta M. Not only does she have a very popular friend circle but also a handsome, popular boyfriend Gale H. Will she even want to be his friend? Is his crush doomed to fail? Eventual Everlark) [submitted by @white-dandelion-seeds]

AN: I hope I did your prompt proud. The title comes from a Sara Bareilles song that I love.

——————————————-

Peeta Mellark walked quietly in the door and leaned against the wall at the school assembly. He hated these things. Being trapped here for an hour while Principal Trinket droned on and on about what was coming up in the next semester was hell.

They had just returned from their autumn break and Peeta was counting the days down until this last year of school was finished. His experience in Panem 12th Region school had been long, dull and miserable.

Not for the first time he wondered if his dad had lived how his life would have turned out. Would he have been a popular jock with lots of friends and confidence instead of a feeling like a ghost in these hallways? He hoped college would be different. As far as he knew none of the dicks from his year would be attending Capitol U.

He had no idea what Trinket was talking about but he became aware the second the speaker changed……Katniss Everdeen was at the podium and saying hello to everyone. Instantly he paid attention.

Katniss Everdeen was in Peeta Mellark’s eyes the most perfect woman to ever walk the earth. She had long dark hair, clear olive skin and grey eyes.

She was a distance runner for the Panem 12th Region Athletics team. She trained hard , Peeta knew this because he had often seen her running in the early hours of the morning when it was his early shift at the Bakery or sometimes he would see her on the trails when he was out running she always had a smile and wave for him as they passed.

Her grades were always high, again Peeta knew this was down to hard work and not just luck.

Sometimes he would see her at the library when he was hiding out avoiding Cato and the other Jays and his maths whizz brother Leon had been tutoring her since last year.

She has a quiet confidence, and strength that just drew people to her and had a wide circle of friends but would make time for everyone whether it was a quick hello or a longer more in-depth chat. It was no wonder when she ran for student council she was elected president.

With a confident smile the object of Peeta’s affection began to speak

“Hi all! Hope everyone had a wonderful break, I know I did. Principal Trinket has given me a few minutes of the assembly today to talk about our Winter Formal. This year we are looking to do something a bit different and we are hoping that you guys will help us come up with a theme. This is the last 12th Region dance some of us will attend and we would love to make this something a bit special, but right now our ideas aren’t hitting the mark and I know that there are so many talented and creative individuals here so we’d love to hear from you.”

She looked behind her and Annie Cresta, her Vice President, handed her a cardboard box covered in silver paper. She held it up for all to see

“Okay, I know this probably looks a bit basic but this box will be left in library until next Friday. If you have an idea put it in. We will then post the suggestions online and then we can vote for our favourite. Easy right? I can’t wait to see what people come up with.”

“Thanks for listening and don’t forget Friday is the big Game against D13’s Coin Cavaliers and once again the 12th Region’s very own Mockingjays are out to destroy them. Show you school spirit by wearing black and orange. Go Jays!”

All around Peeta students began to cheer, he just rolled his eyes and slipped quietly away.

*********

For the rest of the day school was buzzing with excitement for the game and Katniss announcement. Peeta was glad when his final class was over and headed to his locker to collect his bag.

“Hey Bread Boy” called Johanna Mason, a short shaved head girl that somehow had become one of Peeta’s closest and dearest friends

“Yes Jo?”

“So are you making any suggestions for the Winter Formal? I’ve got mine in – Roller Disco with night vision goggles. Great, huh?”

“Seriously Jo? I mean while I can certainly appreciate the theme, how exactly would a person fund all those glasses……” he smiled.

“I’m the ideas woman, the reality is her ladyship and her minions area of work…speaking of which. Anyway I gotta go, see you later handsome “ and with that Jo sprinted away.

Peeta looked up and saw Katniss Everdeen walking down the corridor. She was carrying an armful of books, a bag and a bottle of water, had an apple wedged in her mouth and her shoe lace was beginning to open on her ever present black Cons. Peeta was thinking how this looked like an accident waiting to happen when Katniss reached up to take the apple out of her mouth, stepped on her now undone shoe lace and tripped herself up sending everything flying.

“Katniss! Oh my god are you okay?” Peeta was by her side in a flash and quickly helped her right herself.

Surprisingly she burst out laughing “Oh my god! I can’t believe that just happened. Thanks Peeta, I’m ok.” He started to help her pick up her stuff when Gale Hawthorne appeared.

“Katniss? What happened? You ok?” concern was all over his features.

“Fine, fine I tripped Peeta was just helping me collect my stuff.”

Gale nodded but proceeded to take the books Peeta had in his arms “Well I’m here now. Mellark you can …go do whatever it is you do. I got this.”

Peeta felt his face flame but kept his mouth shut previous experience had thought him that answering back to people like Gale usually ended up badly for people like Peeta.

“Sure. Whatever” he mumbled and moved to step away.

Katniss meanwhile shot Gale a glance that would have felled a lesser man, but Peeta imagined as Katniss’ boyfriend Gale was probably used to her looks so he just ignored her.(Imagine being able to ignore Katniss thought Peeta)

“Thanks again Peeta. Hey before you go, do you have the details of the English assignment? I can’t find where I wrote it down.”

“Sure, hold on” Peeta rummaged in his backpack and pulled out a notebook. He pulled out a sheet and copied the details onto the paper for her.

“Ummm here you go” he said handing it over.

“Katniss? Are you ready I’ll carry this stuff to your car” huffed Gale.

“Go ahead I’ll be right there. I just want to check something with Peeta” She called without looking at Gale.

“I’ll wait.”

“Dunderhead” muttered Katniss under her breath so that only Peeta could hear her, keeping her voice low she began to speak “Um I was wondering if you were going to submit any ideas for the dance. When we were kids I remember you always had a great imagination.”

Peeta blinked and stared and Katniss “Um no. I don’t….I mean I’m not interested in that kinda thing you know. I’ve never even been to a school dance.”

“Oh…right. Sorry I just, I guess I’ll see you in class or something.” Katniss seemed embarrassed and Peeta wanted to die. This was how he spoke to the girl of his dreams….Leon was right he was an idiot.

As she turned to walk away he called after her “Wait! I may not have an idea but um I’m pretty good at art and design maybe,I mean if you needed it, I could help you guys work on pulling it altogether?” he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

“That would be fantastic! I know you’re headed to Capitol U next year to begin a Fine Art Degree so absolutely we would love your help.” Katniss smile was a mile wide as she said all this.

“Ok. Well keep me posted. Oh and Katniss you should probably tie your shoelace” Peeta smiled and her and began to walk away. It was only as he turned the corner he realised something. He had never mentioned getting into Capitol U …how had Katniss known that?

********

“So what did you need from Mellark?” asked Gale.

“Gale you were standing right there when I was talking to him - English homework and he’s offered to help with the dance.” said Katniss taking her bag from Gale. She reached down to grab the apple that she dropped and popped it in a bin as she walked by.

“Help how? Loser never goes to anything school related.”

“So? What has that got to do with anything? And he’s not a loser. Look Gale we need help with this dance and I’m happy to have someone like Peeta come on board-“

Gale cut her off “ Ooh I get it now, you get the nerdy runt to do all the work and you take the credit.”

“Shut up Gale. When have I EVER treated anyone like that? I can’t believe you would even think I would do that.”

“Oh relax, it’s High School not the real world.”

Sometimes Katniss goody two shoes attitude really annoyed Gale. Kill or be killed that was Gale’s motto(not literally of course) but sometimes you had to be ruthless on and off the field.

“Let me make it up too you… how about a movie?”

“Can’t I have to get home to help dad. I’ll round up the gang maybe we can all go see something on Saturday?”

Frustrated Gale rolled his eyes before responding “Katniss I meant …..”

Katniss knew exactly what he meant and after going out a few times two years ago, Katniss wasn’t going down that road again, Gale however still thought they were perfect for each other and was always trying to get her to agree to a date.

Katniss blundered on pretending not to have heard him “It’ll be a fun way for everyone to relax after Friday’s game. I’ll text everyone later unless you want to do it?”

Gale clenched his jaw frustrated at Katniss he wanted to say something more when his phone rang. It was Cato.

“I’m late for practice. Talk to you later” and Gale took off running towards the sports field.

A grateful Katniss watched Gale sprint away, glad of the reprieve from his hints and outright declarations that they would make the perfect couple.

She hopped into her car and got ready to head home, when out of the corner of her eye she saw the hunched figure of Peeta Mellark walking out and heading towards town, she watched him til he was out of sight.

There was something about Peeta that made Katniss want to get to know him better but the blue eyed blond boy kept himself to himself. She had has crush on him since the first day of school when he drew her a picture of her teddy bear.

She smiled recalling how upset she was being separated from her bear and was missing him something terrible on her first day. Seeing her tears Peeta had marched up to her pencil in hand and asked her what he looked like and under her guidance had drawn a pretty good depiction of Snowball Abernathy.

Katniss still had the drawing; her dad had laminated it years go and she used it as book mark. The bear was also still knocking around, slightly bedraggled, more grey then white these day but still loved.

She sighed remembering a time when they were younger and Peeta was much more open. It all changed when his dad died though he seemed to retreat from childhood.

********

Katniss knew from Peeta’s older brother Leon that it hadn’t been easy after Mr M had died.

She had met Leon when her parents hired him to help her with her maths. Leon was like a skinnier less good looking Peeta. He was in college locally hoping to be a teacher and he loved maths and tutored a few kids.

As Katniss and he worked together they became more friendly.He was kind and funny and talkative.

When Katniss got accepted to Capitol U to study Engineering she was overjoyed and then Leon told her Peeta had been accepted to CU too.

“That’s amazing! What program? I wonder if we’ll run into each other. That would be cool.” Katniss gushed. She was practically vibrating at this piece of news.

And had completely forgotten who she was talking too. She couldn’t stop the blush that crept up her face.

Leon felt a grin spreading over his face “Careful Everdeen or I might think you have a crush on my baby brother……oh my god you do!!!”

That was a few weeks ago and Leon kept encouraging her to talk to Peeta and teasing her that if she let the year pass without saying anything he would tell Peeta before graduation.

Katniss knew though her secret was safe. Leon was very protective of Peeta, and from what Leon had told her-and what she knew from the past herself and gossip- the death of Mr Mellark had hit the whole family hard.

The oldest Mellark brother Sean had taken over running the place full time (this had always been the plan but the death of Sean Snr meant things moved a lot quicker). He quit full time college and moved home.

Leon and Peeta helped out but right after her husband died Mrs Mellark seemed to “disappear” leaving Sean 20, Leon 16 and Peeta 13 to carry on.

The older boys tried to stay on top of everything.- the house, the business, school even dealing with their mom- but their home life was chaotic following in the weeks following their fathers death.

It was a lot to cope with, and they tried to do it all without any help - scared that if they let people know what was going on their family would be further torn apart.

Katniss remembered when Peeta came to school in the same hoodie for 5 days –not really a big deal but Cato Snow grabbed this and began to tease Peeta.

“Hey Smellark. Don’t you have any CLEAN clothes?”

His goons soon joined in for weeks whenever they could get Peeta alone they went at him, they pushed him, squirted hand sanitizer on him, threw water on him.

Some of the other kids tried to tell Cato to stop but no one wanted to make themselves a target so most just ignored what was going on. Katniss did too, and the memory still pained her.

It all came to a head one Monday afternoon Peeta finally snapped and swung at Cato. Peeta may have been quiet and smaller then the others but in the past number of weeks a fire had raged in him.

This particular Monday Cato had decided that Peeta needed a hair cut and got Tom Marvel and Derek Blight to hold him down and started to hack at Peeta’s hair.

It was the final straw for Peeta, to this day no one knows exactly how he did it but Peeta got loose and punched Cato busting his nose, the sight of the blood caused Marvel to flee. Blight wasn’t quick enough and Peeta managed to leave him with a black eye. Peeta picked up his bag and left the school vowing to never return.

While this was going on, an anonymous tip off was left with a children’s care charity begging them to check on the Mellark’s. A young case worker Finnick Odair took the call and hearing how distressed the girl in the end of the call was decided to make a house call.

He met a shaken, tattered Peeta at the house on the front step.

“Hey kid? You ok?”

And for the first time since his dad died and the bullying began Peeta cried and his story just tumbled out

Finnick met with the rest of the family. Mrs. Mellark was very obviously depressed, the boys were grieving but had no time to process everything that was happening as they desperately tried to keep things going. A decision was made to contact Mrs Mellark mother, Sae.

She arrived in a day and scolded her grandsons for not calling her sooner and hugged the life out of them.

She sought out her daughter and held her close as she wept and wept.

Then the five of them sat on the sofa together and Sae told Finnick she was sticking around for as long as was needed and he helped her to find the help her family needed.

Peeta however refused to talk about what had happened and wouldn’t confirm the bullying. He hoped by keeping his mouth shut Cato would leave him alone. (It hadn’t. Although Cato no longer actively sought him out he still tormented him)

When Peeta returned to school a few days later people seemed to give him a wide berth the story of his Hulk like anger had scared people. It made him sad.

When he went to his locker he found a bag there and inside was a paper dandelion, a packet of coloring pencils and notebook.

Peeta was confused and wary but the yellow flower was the first thing he remembered seeing in color; since his dad died life had just been grey. He smiled, just a small one but somehow this flower made him feel something he hadn’t felt in a long time -hope.

********

On Friday the school was buzzing. Peeta had on a black tee shirt and orange cons showing his school spirit.

He had noticed Katniss that morning in her black skinny jeans, a Jays orange jersey, black oversized cardigan, in her braided hair there was an orange ribbon and on her feet a pair of orange cons. He smiled when he saw them.

He was just slipping to class when she called him

“Hey Peeta! Look we’re foot twins.” She bounded over to him and stood toe to toe with him. His heart was pounding.

She pulled out her phone “Can I take a picture?” and she aimed her camera down before clicking a few snaps.

“I think yours look better” she smiled and looked up at him, suddenly aware how close she was to him.

“I’m sorry Peeta I’m such and space invader” she stepped back “like I was saying yours look better, they have that lived in Cons look, mine are brand new they need breaking in. I’m gonna put this on Instagram, want me to tag you?”

“Why? Why would you tag me? I mean we’re not exactly friends, besides I don’t think Gale or his friends would appreciate any part of me appearing on your feed. I have to go Katniss.” Peeta smiled sadly and walked away.

Katniss couldn’t understand what she had said or done but she quickly deleted the post.

********

When the dance committee opened the silver box they found a good deal of papers, half though were filled with utter rubbish- crude drawing, bits of gum wrapped in the paper and some downright dangerous suggestions -roller skating with night vision goggles???

The most surprising thing was that even though the students had been given free reign most were standard dance ideas. According to Delly Cartwright this was because despite claims to want to express themselves and be individuals most teenagers just wanted to blend in and follow the herd, and in the end there were only five familiar themes to choose from.

1. Winter Wonderland/Snow Ball /Yule Ball

2. Once Upon a Time(Fairytales and stories)

3. Enchanted Forest or Magical Garden

4. Candy land

5. Masquerade Ball

Students were just handed a ballot paper and asked to vote for their favourite and with the result revealed at the following weeks assembly.

The winning theme in the end was the Enchanted Forest, and Katniss was secretly thrilled. Now the theme was picked it was time for the hard work to begin, and time to see if Peeta was ready to join the dance committee.

********

Peeta and Jo were sitting on one of the benches outside the school when Katniss walked over.

“Hey” she called

Peeta waved, Jo gave a nod.

“Peeta, if that offer to help out with the dance is still on the table the dance committee is meeting tomorrow after school to get things moving. I was wondering if you’d like to come along and get an idea of budget, how we can pull off the theme and if we can actually make something out of nothing” Katniss joked.

“I don’t know Katniss-“ but before he could finish Jo interrupted

“He’ll be there. What time and can I help too? My dad owns the forest out past Turn 4. He might be able to help with some stuff for decoration.”

“Ok, well we be in Room 17 from about 4 pm and Jo it would be great to have more help. I’ll leave you guys to it then. Bye”

As she walked away she missed the glare Peeta threw at Jo and the grin that spread across her face.

“What? You have been crazy about her for years. Now’s you chance to woo her” grinned Jo

“She has a scary boyfriend or did you forget that? A boyfriend who has no issue with beating a guy like me and might I add he has the connections to dispose of me where no one can find me.” He muttered darkly

“I dunno I know what people say but, I don’t think they are a couple….. anyway never mind that it’ll be at least one fun memory we’ll have of going to this place before we head to Capitol.”

********

Over the next few weeks Peeta’s life and routine took on a different one. The initial meeting of the dance committee had been nerve wracking but the other members, along with Katniss made him and Jo feel very welcome.

Peeta was wary at first but there was no punchline, he wasn’t a joke to anyone and surprisingly he started to enjoy the meetings.

The other members Annie Cresta, Thom Dalton, Brian Turner or Beetee as he was known, Delly Cartwright and Cecelia Hubert were a mixed but fun group.

“Hey Peeta, can you take a look at this?” Katniss called

“What’s up?” he asked.

“This…. I think I did it wrong…..it looks..” they two of them tilted their heads looking at the mess in front of them Katniss was supposed to be making centre pieces from twigs adorned with lights, and flowers.

“I think you’ve glued things on upside down, it’s okay we’ll fix it” he tried not to laugh. Katniss was the least crafty person he had ever met.

“I like the arch way, you’ve made it look really spectacular, it will make the entrance look so special. You have really helped us to set the theme, you and Jo.”

“Well you know us art nerds” Peeta mumbled as he undid some of Katniss handiwork.

“I don’t….but I’d like too” Katniss whispered in a low voice.

Peeta didn’t dare to look at her but kept going with what he was doing. He wasn’t sure what to say. He took a deep breath and prepared to ask her what she meant when suddenly the door burst open and there stood Gale, Cato and the other Jays players.

Gale was wearing what looked like doctors scrubs while the others were dressed in tacky sexy nurse outfits that no nurse in their right mind could wear and work in.

“Hey Katniss”

Peeta would swear he felt Katniss stiffen beside him, then she took a deep breath and turned to look(along with the rest of the room)

Gale unravelled his sign which said “I’m no doctor but it appears you’re suffering from DATELESSNESS. My suggestion is…..” meanwhile the rest held up signs that read “A date with Gale?” And “What more could you want?” And “A dose of Vitamin G!”

“No!” she shouted and the laughter and shouts of the Jays stopped.

“Just no! I told you this last night, the night before. You NEVER listen to me? I don’t want to date you or even go to the dance with you. I’ve tried being polite but it’s gotten me no where, please leave me alone and stop this. I’m not your girlfriend. I don’t want to be. Just stop”

“You selfish b-“ Gale started towards Katniss but Peeta stepped in front of her.

“I wouldn’t take another step or utter another word Hawthorne. Just take your guys and go. Or would you like me to call Miss Trinket?” Peeta’s voice was low and calm. Thom and Beetee had stood up too and walked towards Katniss and Peeta.

“Or what Smellark?” spat Gale.

“Funny, real funny but I think after 4 years you guys could have gotten a bit more creative with your insults. Cato, why don’t you take Gale and the guys and leave. Katniss has refused Gale’s offer, there is nothing else to be said.”

In the crowd of guys a few looked angry but others just looked confused about what had gone on. Had Gale really been hassling Katniss? He made it sound like she had wanted this big fuss but what if she hadn’t? The team started to move away and soon the room was cleared.

“Umm thanks guys…now where were we?”

“Hey Everdeen, I thought that guy was your boyfriend?” asked Jo confused by what had happened.

“Nope. Never was, never will be. He’s never been my type” Katniss smiled

“Interesting…..and would you type maybe be a little less male perhaps?” teased Jo much to the amusement of the others

“Sorry Jo, I’m not into girls, but I do know that Delly happens to think you are real cute.” And with a shocked squeak from Delly the whole committee burst into giggles.

Once everyone had settled down Katniss walked over to Peeta.

“Hey Peeta? Thanks for what you did for me with Gale. I don’t know why he has to act like that you know?”

“Katniss it’s ok really. I’ll walk you to your car after we’re done here if you want? In case he’s still around.”

“Thanks, but I should be ok. Right I better get these to Annie.” She nodded her head at the closed box in her hands that she had picked up from somewhere.

“What’s in it?

“Flowers! I may not be much good at making centerpieces but if you need a paper flower I’m your girl” she grinned as she said this “open the box and have a look.”

Peeta’s stomach dropped when he opened the box there were daisies, roses and right at the top yellow dandelions like the one given to him all those years ago.

“Peeta? Are you ok?” a worried Katniss asked.

“Yeah. Sorry just zoned out. These are really pretty. I better get back to the trees.”

Peeta worked quietly for rest of the hour to trying to figure out why Katniss had given him the flower all those years ago and the pencils and notebook which became his companions. In the notebook he drew his fears, his hopes covering every page and when it was full his mom bought him a new one. Even now he always had a notebook in his bag.

“Peeta? Can I give you a lift home?” asked Katniss Peeta startled at her voice he looked around and was slightly shocked to see they were the last people there. He hadn’t heard the others leave.

“Ok.” He shrugged and gathered up his stuff.

“Katniss? Can I ask you something?” Peeta was nervous but he needed to know why she did what she did.

“Sure.” She nodded

“After…. the Cato incident there was a paper flower and art stuff left in my locker. Did you do that?”

He watched her hands tighten around the steering wheel and she took a deep breath before she answered.

“Yes. I just wanted to give you something nice you know. Those guys were so mean and the rest of us should’ve done more, told the teachers. I watched you almost disappear and I hated that the light in your eyes dimmed so much. Your family was going through so much.”

“You were just a kid Katniss,it’s ok. Really. We got help. As a family we’ve survived. What else could you have done?” He reached over and put his hand on hers, it was awkward in the car but he wanted -no needed- her to know that he was ok.

“Your flower gave me hope, gave my life some color at a time when I had none. Thank you for seeing me, at a time when I felt no one did.”

“I always saw you Peeta.” She was looking at him now Peeta wanted to look away her gaze was almost too intense.

“You’re a painter. You’re a baker. You like to sleep with the windows open. You are the noisiest walker I have ever heard. And you always double-knot your shoelaces.”

“I know these things because I’ve always watched you and yes I know that’s crazy and I sound like a stalker but I need you to know this because we’re going away to college soon and I would like to at least be your friend but what I really want is to know you better and Leon knows and he told me that if I didn’t tell you I liked you he would.”

“Slow down… what?”

“I like you. A lot. Your stupid brother found out and has been teasing me. He said he would tell you before I could especially since we’re going to be at the same college next year. If you just want a friend that’s fine but I would really like to go on a date so you could get to know me…. and then…..well who knows….”

“Okay.”

“Okay like let’s go on a date or like I’m going to get out of car and run away?”

“The first one.”

**********

And so they had their first date 2 nights later.

And their first kiss that night too.

Peeta asked Katniss to be his girlfriend on their third date.

They went to their dance together and danced under the canopy of trees and flowers they had helped create.

They had their first fight when Peeta struggled to understand what a girl like Katniss saw in him. He questioned why? He kept expecting things to fall apart and doubted what they had was real.

Eventually his mom took him aside and told him that his problems were bigger then him and a professional would be better placed to help him.

“You deserve happiness Peeta,let us help you find it.”

He started seeing Dr Aurelius with Katniss, his family and friends supporting him every step of the way.

He told Katniss he loved her one evening when they were in her parent’s house. They were watching a stupid movie and she was laughing. He watched her eyes crinkle, her chuckles ringing in the air as she sat there in a panda onesie and he blurted it out.

She smiled at him and throwing her arms around his neck she told him the same, placing tiny kisses all over his face.

And then they graduated. The one person who didn’t was Cato Snow who was expelled following a positive drug test and several reports of bullying.

Gale never spoke to Katniss again.

A few of the Mockingjays team had apologized for their part in the dance proposal telling Katniss they had believed Gale when he told them that it was her idea.

Neither wanted to go to the end of year dance, instead they went with some of their friends to a small cabin by a lake and had a quiet celebration.

And later, in the quiet of the night after they had spent time having their own private celebration. Katniss sang to Peeta

Let the bough break, let it come down crashing

Let the sun fade out to a dark sky

I can’t say I’d even notice it was absent

‘Cause I could live by the light in your eyes

I’ll unfold before you

Would have strung together

The very first words of a lifelong love letter

Tell the world that we finally got it all right

I choose you

I will become yours and you will become mine

I choose you

I choose you, yeah

There was a time when I would have believed them

If they told me that you could not come true

Just love’s illusion

But then you found me

And everything changed

And I believe in something again

My whole heart

Will be yours forever

This is a beautiful start

To a lifelong love letter

Tell the world that we finally got it all right

I choose You

I will become yours and you will become mine

I choose You

We are not perfect we’ll learn from our mistakes

And as long as it takes I will prove my love to you

I am not scared of the elements I am underprepared,

But I am willing

And even better

I get to be the other half of you

Tell the world that we finally got it all right

I choose You, yeah

I will become yours and you will become mine

I choose You

She had just finished and Peeta was about to say something when Johanna shouted.

“Seriously?? It was bad enough listening to you two screwing each other senseless now I have to hear you sing?! Keep this up and you’ll have to find a new roommate!”

After their laughter subsided Peeta turned to Katniss and whispering quietly he said.

“I choose you too. Always.”

#Springtime Edition 2020 #wendywobbles #white-dandelion-seeds #prompt 51 #early submission #submission

117 notes · View notes

rgr-pop · 4 years

Note

Re: canvassing for Bernie. I guess mostly advice on being effective. I went canvassing in Va before Super Tuesday and felt pretty ineffective, we used the minivan app which just showed us dem voters which makes sense right before the election but I’m wondering if I should widen the net going forward? Idk I’d be canvassing in md and wv thanks in advance you truly are the only smart person on this site

i actually did not have the best experience today, but some of my friends did. my friend the one from flint who went on msnbc to tell chris hayes he didn't vote for hillary because he's from flint, he had a really good day and he felt really good about everything. he gave me some good points, which i will share with you in a second. the reason you didn't feel effective in VA is because everyone in VA is a CIA asset and you shouldn't internalize that. i'm thrilled that you get to talk to people in WV and I think policy and talking points are really going to be on your side, and the people are going to be cool as hell (even if they are not-already bernard voters).

i think bernard kinda fucked over michigan in a few ways this year (no beef but it's true), but i am lucky because my city has some extremely experienced campaign people, and i have never really had to experience doing canvassing for any kind of campaign that wasn't run by them, so i was kind of confused about how little direction you were given. they keep asking me to do higher-up stuff like drawing up the voter lists and strategizing and hosting canvasses, but i keep being like, put me on the doors dude that's where i belong. (my palestinian libra dirtbag is exactly the same, he did like three turfs today lol.) i can probably ask my campaign people for tips if you feel like you don't have any guidance.

since we're so close to election day, we'd normally be only targeting likely/confirmed voters to get out the vote, but because things are so crazy, we're also hitting up voters identified as undecided or previously soft-opponent or i think even independent and we're actually still trying to change minds. this is not super usual but it's crisis time! so, to answer your question, i would say i think you should widen the net, especially in WV. the dem voter problem isn't a huge issue where i am because people in lansing flint and detroit are literally just always democrats no matter what, but in other states i think it's more nuanced.

most of the following advice pertains to actually talking to people, but it should cover the range of voters you may encounter. i think i feel the least effective when i "fail" to engage people in a conversation, so i recommend talking to them in more open-ended ways. i share some of our script down below, but in general i like to ask people questions to draw them in, rather than telling people what we're about. get them to talk about themselves, and they will remember bernie sanders as the candidate that listened. i swear to god that works.

today they gave me a sheet (i gave it to a new girl so i can't remember exactly, but) that focused on swinging those voters. it's still "don't shittalk opponent" territory but it's a list of ways to explicitly contrast sanders and biden on the policies, and it made me realize that we're extremely lucky to be put in this position because those contrasts are stark, and they are convincing to poor people in particular.

what's interesting is that i'm no longer leaning into medicare for all to do my arguing, and i think that's gonna make me more effective. obviously bernie is stronger (literally: strongest) on this issue, but the messaging around biden's work on the ACA and his recent dodging about the issue doesn't help us convince anybody. healthcare is the most important thing on the table but it remains inscrutable: i would say dig into it with voters only if they bring it up as an issue that matters to them, or if they're healthcare workers (non-doctor probably), or if you are going to talk about an experience of your own. when you do talk about healthcare, especially in WV, remember bernie's position on medical debt. this is one of his clearest contrasts with biden. make sure you're familiar with biden's history with bankruptcy and debt, because i'd be willing to bet that that's something that's gonna resonate with WV and MD voters.

the trade deals and NAFTA are, simply, the most important thing to talk about at this point, and imo (based on the critical states, michigan most of all) that's what's going to win us this election, if we talk to people about it. hillary clinton lost the election because she did NAFTA--simple as that. biden, too, did NAFTA, but the thing about him--as i'm sure you're noticing--is that people seem to forget absolutely everything about him, and no one knows that he did NAFTA. joe biden is behind loads of policy that was outright bad for industrial workers and ruined lives. it is simply enough to argue "bernie sanders did not do NAFTA" but you'll want to look into his trade deal positions and history, contrast these with both biden and trump. if you're worried about the xenophobic underbelly of this problem, frame it as exactly what it is: a position that resists giving corporations free reign to do whatever they want, to abandon communities, and stomp all over workers.

look over some of bernie's positions on unions and labor in general. neither of the states you are going to are strongly right-to-work states right now, but where i live that's a really important thing. both biden and bernie, interestingly, have proposed a ban on right-to-work laws (it rules that we are in a place where this was mainstream for candidates, but it remains to be seen who will actually pursue this! the literal birthplace of the UAW went right-to-work while biden was VP soooo.) bernie also wants to end at-will employment and has a slate of proposal to strengthen unions. you should tell this to almost everyone. biden claims to support many similar plans, but he has not historically been especially strong in these areas, and his plans are generally less encompassing.

you should be prepared to confront concerns that bernie's strong environmental positions will hurt workers in WV. talk to people about a "just transition" and really emphasize the point that industry, and coal companies in particular, have been empowered to come and go as they please without any consequences. bernard's plans in general are job creators, and the idea is to bring sustainable--as in, sticking--jobs to appalachia and the rust belt, as well as universal healthcare for people made sick by their jobs. universal healthcare is an engine for jobs.

the war in iraq, support for veterans, and social security are extremely huge issues for poor people, probably specifically in WV.

you will also talk to another major electorate: people who just want to beat trump. this is advice from the msnbc friend, who knows: give them all the bernie beats trump lines. only bernie beats trump. convince them that biden will have all the same problems hillary clinton had against trump. if they bring up the alleged low youth turnout on super tuesday, remind them that the south has particular voter suppression issues that impact young and college voters, and that thus far young people actually have been turning out in the north and west. and the youth turnout on super tuesday was still higher than average! remind them that a democrat without the so-called youth vote has never beat a republican in the general in this century. most importantly, remind them that because of our flawed electoral system, you could win every single person on the west coast, but you're essentially never going to win the election if you can't win macomb county, michigan. and macomb county, michigan is full of working class voters who were really hurt by the policies of joe biden and hillary clinton and, increasingly, donald trump, and they are interested in bernie sanders, and it's life or death for them. tell them you have a friend in michigan who has seen this first hand :). (hoping march tenth bears this out for us lol.)

gonna round out the hard issues section here by suggesting you read this, which i think is pretty convincing: https://newrepublic.com/article/156819/rebooting-bernie-sanders

today i talked to a guy who said, "bernie sanders, i think i heard obama likes him." and i said, yep, bernie worked really hard to pass some of obama's best policies. and that's true :)

in general, the sanders campaign relies really heavily on the "bernie story," the personal narrative. i think it probably works. it really works for me, because i can talk to people about the stuff that isn't just the green new deal and loan forgiveness--although you will definitely also end up talking to educated people who will need to be reminded that bernie sanders wants to forgive their loans and joe biden wants them to be saddled with them until the end of time. remember to talk to people about where you work and where you live. work and homes is the most important thing to absolutely everyone. tell them you have a teacher friend lol. talk to people about other people you've met. tell other people's stories.

in case you need guidance in this area, try a script that looks something like this (sorry if this is condescending and you already have seen the scripts, but i kind of modify them based on my strengths as a canvasser):

i'm so and so and i'm with the bernard sanders campaign and we're out reminding people to vote on [date].

do you plan on voting? do you know who you're voting for? can we count on you to vote for bernie? [remind people of the stakes of the election, it's gonna be a close one, talk to your friends and family.] [then get them to think about their election day plan: do you know where your polling location is? what time are you going? do you have transportation?] [try to have support info available for them if they do not have these things. if they're worrying about not being able to get off work, commiserate/be empathetic and don't blame.] [let them know how they can get involved in the campaign.]

if they say they are not voting, sometimes you can respect that (shoutout to jehovah's witness), but if they're on your list, they're probably registered, so you can ask them what kind of issues prevent them from voting. a lot of people will tell you that voting is stupid. you should agree with them (they are right). remind them that you would not normally be canvassing for a democratic candidate or any presidential candidate. you're working with tons of people who never canvassed, or maybe never even voted before. this is the first time in my entire life that i had the opportunity to vote for a candidate that addressed the issues that weigh on me on a day to day basis. a major candidate that hates the two party system and refuses to submit to democratic party nonsense. who has a plan that might actually work. a candidate that has a plan to make everybody's life better, even people who aren't out here canvassing for him. poor people. remind them that bernie sanders is the strongest candidate among non- and first-time voters! this area is a strength of mine because all of this is 100% true for me. i hate electoral politics and i hate the democratic party! if they have other reasons for not voting, see if you have any info that can help them. also remind them that this is a close race, an uphill battle, a difficult fight, and their vote is going to REALLY make a difference. but if we try, we will win.

if they say they "think" they know who they're voting for, they're probably thinking about someone else. you'd be surprised--i am so surprised--how many people have no idea, even up til they get to the polls, or they change their mind last minute. try to prepare a few sentences that are really personal but probably relatable that they can chew on. mine looks something like this: i'm from flint michigan and i've seen the way the government has started to let companies get away with absolutely anything, abandon families that have worked for them for generations, and weaken unions. i want fair wages, fair taxes and for companies to be accountable to their workers and the communities that make them run & make them rich, and that's the bernie sanders platform, and i fear joe biden's ideas are moving us in the same direction that we're already moving. my husband's family worked for GM for four generations but we can't get jobs in flint much less find a place to live. being from flint, and in my own working life, i've watched the power of unions just totally erode. i myself am in a teacher's union and just recently, for the first time in my life,i feel like we can move in a direction where workers have real power in their workplace. especially watching teachers and support staff rally behind sanders, or these huge strikes. sometimes here i also say something about schools! etc.! ! sometimes that's all you get, but sometimes people want to hear more! in either case, this will stick with them.

if they say they are undecided, ask them what kind of issues motivate them to vote, or ask them what they think about sanders. refer to all of the above, but don't argue, use bernie's positions to add to what they are saying, be a good empathetic active listener etc. but also make sure they know that you have shared experiences, agree with them. 99% of the time their issues will be better addressed by bernie, if they are working class people. sometimes they will reveal that they are nervous to vote for sanders. remind them of the size and energy of the base, and the electability arguments listed above. one of the reasons we want to canvass is to remind people--especially in conservative communities, where their neighbors may not even be voting in this primary--that it's okay and in fact very popular to vote for bernie, and we're competitive, and if we make it to the general we're gonna win. but it's not going to be easy [talk to your friends and family get involved go online etc.]

if they are leaning biden but undecided, sometimes it's fine to ask them why, ask them for a pitch. you can tell them that you agree, and that we have had a really strong contest this year, and maybe in another year biden would have been the strongest choice, but bernie's just better in all these areas, etc.

please lmk if you want more ideas! i'll try to take a picture of some of our documents tomorrow when i'm out.

14 notes · View notes

chaoskatya · 4 years

Text

unfinished brooke x katya hatefuck fic

hi yall :^) so ive had this sitting in my drafts for a WHILE and ive barely dented the actual planned plot but still i felt like it was kind of a waste of what i did write to not ?? idk do something with it? this was originally written for AQ’s rarepair event but irl stuff got in the way so it never got finished, and i kinda lost the inspo to finish it (for now? idk) so here it is, posted unedited in however it was when i last touched it

brooke x katya hatefuck, (well, planned, i obv hadnt written that far) inspired by pics of trixie and brooke together that one time they were weirdly hanging out a lot irl and that one outfit brooke has that looks like that one outfit katya has the polkadot one u know it

“Ugh, I swear, Vi! She really has something against me! I think she hates me!”

Katya punctuates her sentence with a flail of her arms for emphasis before flopping back onto her bed. Violet just rolls her eyes at her roommate’s dramatics, as per usual. This is the third time they’ve had this conversation this week.

“So she’s a little icy, what of it? It’s not like you’re not used to having a mega bitch around, you live with me,” Violet responds plainly, not even bothering to look up from her laptop, “and I don’t think anybody could hate you, Kat.”

Katya huffs at that. “No, I swear, she hates me.”

Katya Zamolodchikova is absolutely sure of three things in her university life: One, Trixie Mattel is her best friend. Two, nothing gets in between her and Trixie. Three, Brooke Lynn Hytes is absolutely making her best fucking attempt.

Katya and Trixie had met last year, Katya being a sophomore in visual arts and Trixie a freshman in musical theater, when Katya had accidentally crashed Ginger’s (kind of pathetic) attempt at being a tour guide for the freshmen of her course. They’ve only known each other for a year, but ever since then the two quickly became inseparable and a year had felt like a lifetime. All of their friends knew, and Katya held it close to her heart, that nothing could possibly stand in their way. That is, until the beginning of this semester.

Trixie had been elected as class representative at the start of their sophomore year, which did not surprise Katya one bit. But that meant that when Canadian exchange student Brooke Lynn Hytes had arrived for the semester, it was Trixie’s job to show her around and make her feel welcomed. And being that Brooke’s degree in classical dance meant her and Trixie had quite a few overlapping classes, the two hit it off and had gotten closer and closer since. It’s only half way through the semester, yet Katya feels as though she’s slowly becoming more and more of a background character in Trixie’s life. They still text each other when they can, but hangout times have slowly grown increasingly thin and so has Katya’s sanity. Not that it’s Trixie’s fault, of course…

“I can’t explain it. But I promise, it’s almost like she’s purposefully occupying Trixie from me! Every time it looks like we might get a chance to even just talk, she’s there coming round the corner asking Trixie for help in one of their classes or for show recs or whatever. And she always looks me dead in the eye, with her stupid fucking smirk, like she knows what she just did! I can’t explain the feeling I get when I see her!”

Katya’s hit full ranting steam now, half hanging off her bed still flailing as animated as ever.

Violet shuts her laptop and turns to face her. “Mama, sounds like you hate her. Sure it’s not just in your head because you’re jealous the amazon’s occupying your barbie?”

There’s a beat of silence. “Jealous? I guess?” Katya scrunches up her face and sits up. “I mean, how could I not be? With her stupid long legs and her flowing blonde hair, like god, Vi, she’s practically perfect! And have you seen her dance?”

Katya turns to pose her question, but Violet is just staring, giving her a look she can’t decipher. She continues,

“So then, fine, of course I’m jealous, but that’s because Trix is my best friend. I barely see her anymore, and when I do she’s always there and I just get so riled up! And I’m sure Trix has started to notice because god I just can’t stand it when she’s near, it just sets me alight in an awful way. I’ve never felt this way about anybody before!” And it’s true, Katya really does not think of herself as someone capable of fully hating someone else. But by god, is Brooke really testing that.

Violet scoffs, turning away to open her laptop once more. “Look Mary, all I gotta say is that that’s an awful lot of emotion for some best friend jealousy. Also, you have a lecture starting in ten minutes.”

Fuck! Katya checks her watch and immediately jumps up to scramble for her belongings, deeply thankful for her roommate’s type A tendencies yet internally chastising herself for allowing her ranting to consume her time like that. She quickly kisses Violet on the cheek and bids her farewell before putting on her boots and heading out of their dorm room to make her best effort to speed walk to class.

But as luck would have it, not that Katya has a lot of it, she quite literally walks right into the subject of their prior conversation. Well, speak of the devils…

“Oh! Trixie, hi!” Katya laughs, immediately reacting to steady Trixie from where Katya had almost knocked her over with the door. From the way she was standing, she figured she had opened the door just as Trixie was about knock.

“Katya! Thank god, I was worried you wouldn’t be in,” Trixie smiles back brightly, smoothing her fluffy golden hair back into place. (Not that it’s ever really out of place, Katya thinks to herself.)

Katya smiles at her, a sight for sore eyes she thinks, but when she realizes Brooke is standing at the end of the hall waiting for Trixie, her smile doesn’t quite reach her eyes. Whether Trixie noticed Katya’s tension or not, she didn’t let on. At least Brooke had the decency to wait at a reasonable distance.

“Uh, yeah, I was just heading out though,” Katya replies, trying her best to look sympathetic. She doesn’t mind that she’s running late anymore, just feels bad she even has to go. “But did you need something?”

Trixie looks equally as sympathetic. “Yeah, uh, listen, I’m really sorry. I know we haven’t been able to hang recently and I’m really sorry for that, midterms and all…”

“Hey, it’s alright, I knew you were busy. It’s no problem, really.” That’s a lie.

“But now that it’s over, let’s celebrate! Let me make it up to you? Be my date to the Edwards party tonight?”

Katya’s smile softens. As much as she was planning to trade in the party for a well-deserved movie night in with Violet and Pearl, she finds she really can’t say no to Trixie, especially not when she’s looking at her like an apologetic puppy. Whipped.

“Down for anything with you, Barbie. Meet you at the dorm hall at 8?”

Trixie squeals and picks Katya up by the middle, “AAAAAAAH yes!! See you bitch!!”

Katya squirms violently to be put down but laughs it off anyway. She really can’t be too mad at her best friend.

“Anyway, I gotta run, see you later Trix!” She rushes to hug Trixie quickly once more before escaping as briskly yet casually as she can out the door. This fails her when all semblance of casualty is lost as she passes the point where Brooke is, all tall and blonde and beautiful even just standing around. As she passes, her gaze quite obviously steels ahead to avoid looking Brooke in the eye, but she can’t fail to catch the quite obvious smug smirk the Canadian has posed on her painted lips.

----

Katya managed to make it to class with only 5 minutes late, thankfully just as her professor was entering the other door. She plops down into her usual seat with an audible groan and immediately drops her head in her hands.

Brooke. Stupid fucking Brooke Lynn Hytes. Lately, Katya’s wandering thoughts always go back to her. There hasn’t been a time where her idle time hasn’t been haunted by a certain ballerina chipping away at her precious concentration. She sees perfect long blonde hair, icy blue eyes, and tone legs that go all the way up.

If she’s being completely honest with herself, she is just a bit jealous of Brooke but not for the reasons Violet insinuates. I mean, sure, she misses Trixie to bits. But that’s only one of the many straws on the camel that is Katya’s completely rational anger.

It’s not that she’s perfect, either, but that sure adds another straw. Seemingly introverted, but able to capture the hearts of anyone in her path through quick and honest charm. Graceful and poised, where Katya is not, and tall and curvy, where Katya is not. Katya really doesn’t understand how someone can attend 7am dance classes with a flawless mug and still leave rehearsals with not an eyelash out of place, it’s inhuman.

No, it’s that no matter how much others testify on her behalf, Katya does not understand it. She doesn’t know what she did, but she has somehow done something to aggravate Brooke against her, and it bothers her endlessly that she doesn’t even know what she did to incur such spite. Katya doesn’t see any of the charm or kindness that others profess, only smug smirks and cocky passive-aggressive jabs and a seemingly passionate desire to find any way she can to poke Katya’s buttons and prompt some kind of response. She’s lucky Katya has a lot more self control than most, and she’s restrained herself from biting back thus far.

She thinks back to the first time she spotted Brooke, on the first day of the semester when Katya had gotten bored and decided to drop in on Trixie’s representative duties despite explicit instructions not to intrude. She had found her in one of the gardens of the student commons, and instinctively made her way to run up and tackle her before realizing Trixie wasn’t alone and stopping dead in her tracks.

Trixie was sitting next to someone Katya didn’t recognize, which was a surprise in itself because Katya knew next to everybody personally in their modestly sized arts college. The girl was sitting next to Trixie on a bench, both hands holding one of Trixie’s own as Trixie appeared to animatedly be telling some story. Trixie then finally noticed Katya frozen standing awkwardly at some distance and paused in the middle of her speech to yell at Katya and becon her over.

“Katya! This is Brooke Lynn, a Canadian exchange student for the semester. Brooke, this is Katya, my best friend!”

Brooke lazily shifted her gaze from Trixie to give Katya the once over, glancing her up and down. Whatever she saw, she suddenly stood up and crowded into Katya’s space, gazing down at her intensely directly from the advantage their clear height difference gave her.

“Well, it’s certainly nice to meet you… Katya.”

And on her lips, the same painted red smirk. The same stupid smirk that would continuously haunt her until…

“Kat, you with us girl?” Hissed Pearl in her ear, jabbing her hard in the side.

#brooke lynn hytes #katya zamolodchikova #rpdr rpf #rpdr fanfic #brooke x katya #THE WHOLE PLOT WAS LIKE DONE i just lost the inspo to finish the thing #so idk i just felt weirdly compelled to like. post it #idk itll ease my guilt maybe for not finishing it #cat writes #cat.txt #my fics #wips

7 notes · View notes

straykidsramblings · 5 years

Text

head over heels. [han jisung]

producer!han jisung x fem!reader feat. 3racha | college!au

word count: ~3.7K

genre: fluff

summary: Jisung falls head over heels (quite literally) for a girl and finds himself struggling to cope with the situation he’s placed himself in.

Jisung wouldn’t be able to tell you what possessed him to go running that morning, but that was just about the best decision he’d made since he chose Music Composition as his major at SK University. Maybe it was the fact that Chan had been talking about needing to go back to the gym. Maybe it was the fact that Changbin always wore muscle tees in the studio because, as he claimed, “it was too hot.” (Honestly, spring wasn’t that hot of a season.) Maybe it was the fact that Jeongin, the youngest of their friend group, had abs. Whatever the reason was, Jisung Han found himself on a run at 7:19 on a Tuesday morning.

As he stepped out of the dorm building, he immediately put in earphones before he faced any awkward silences. Jisung was a musically-oriented man. He also used this as an excuse to always be listening to some kind of music. Once the earphones were in, Jisung was out. Stretching lightly, he took one last deep breath before breaking into a steady jog.

He started out fairly okay. After all, Jisung had typically made healthy choices in life. It wasn’t that he didn’t work out. It wasn’t that he didn’t have stamina. It just wasn’t enough.

His course consisted of a lap around the [distance] campus. This early in the morning, Jisung was confident that no one would even be up to see him. The only people who would be awake are the suckers who had an 8 a.m. class. At that point, they’re usually too dead inside to even pay attention to him. He was off to a good start, pacing himself properly in order not to exhaust his stamina.

The cool air was nice against his skin as he ran. With the sun rising steadily, his surroundings shined with a golden glint. Jisung did enjoy the in morning jogs. Unfortunately, he wasn’t always awake at this time of the morning. Jisung was not exactly known for being a morning person after all.

He was about halfway around his course when he met her. He was just passing the neighboring town’s park when his brown eyes caught sight of a dog across the road. He supposed he had forgotten about people walking their dogs until it was too late to turn back. However, the girl who was walking the dog really caught Jisung’s attention.

She was captivating. Her hair color switched between two different colors depending on the angle of the rays of the sun. [eye color] eyes laughed lovingly at her dog as he pranced around in front of her. Her lips were curled into a smile as if she genuinely seemed to enjoy life. She seemed so at peace and content with life that Jisung couldn’t help but stare. He knew it was a little bit creepy, especially at 7:43 in the morning, but he just couldn’t focus on anything but her. He didn’t even notice he’d slow down his pace significantly to look at her for a little bit longer (again, he promised he was NOT a creep).

Was she his age? She looked it. Did she go to the same Uni? Hopefully.

As Jisung kept pondering over the unanswered questions, the girl finally noticed the intense stare that wouldn’t leave her alone. She turned to his direction.

The moment that their eyes met, Jisung felt his heart leap in his chest. She was looking at him; she was actually looking at him. She was just as gorgeous as he thought he was.

Jisung must have had some expression on his face because the girl started laughing at him. Jisung managed an awkward smile back. He was never this nervous around other girls who were only inches apart from him, but this girl walking on the other side of the road made him feel like he was about to have a heart attack. And then she waved. Jisung raised a shaking hand to wave back at her, but he felt himself fall before he was able to stop himself.

The next thing he remembered was staring up at the sky. His earphones had fallen out, so he was able to hear the bark of a dog coming closer to him. He shut his eyes as his mind registered the pain signals his body was sending.

“Are you okay?” a worried voice asked.

Hearing an unknown voice, Jisung slowly opened his eyes to see the girl of his dreams observing him with a concerned expression.

“Wow, you’re amazing,” Jisung mumbled.

“What?”

“…amazingly kind,” Jisung covered up to the best of his abilities with a small chuckle. He cleared his throat as the girl helped him sit up. He tried to act as natural as possible. “I guess this means I’ve fallen for you.”

“Well…” the girl started, clearly not wanting to explain. She was looking at something a little ways ahead of them. Her dog sat patiently beside her. “You fell for something.”

She bit her bottom lip (something Jisung found absolutely adorable) as she refrained herself from laughing. It was only then that Jisung had the mind to look at what she was looking at.

It was dog poop. Jisung had slipped and fallen because of dog poop. He could still see the streak his shoes made.

The embarrassment ran to his cheeks as his expression changed into one of terror. That was enough to ruin the girl’s failed attempt at not laughing. Although her laugh was beautiful and made Jisung wonder if that was the sound he would hear upon entering heaven, he wanted nothing more than to run away. He couldn’t look at her straight in the eyes.

“So, uh,” Jisung began although he didn’t exactly know where to go from there. “I’m probably just gonna go home and clean this.” Anything to get out of this situation.

“I’m so sorry,” the girl laughed apologetically. “I really shouldn’t be laughing.”

Jisung rose to his feet. “Oh, no, no, no. It’s okay. I would be laughing too if I were in your shoes. But the problem is that I’m in mine, and mine have dog poop on them so…”

Her laugh at his joke almost made the entire thing worth it. Almost.

“I’m just gonna go then,” Jisung forced a laugh before setting back on his course. He debated taking his shoe off, but then he would be walking around without any form of defense. He wasn’t sure which one was worse.

The girl waved goodbye to him, her dog happily standing on his four feet. She was smiling—at least that was good. Jisung decided to go back to the dorms as quickly as possible with as little damage as possible. Curse morning runs.

Jisung avoided working out for a few days after the incident. Instead, he poured more of his time into the studio that he shared with Changbin and Chan, two of his friends. The three of them often collaborated on songs. Their ultimate goal after Jisung (as the youngest) graduated was to form a trio of producers. While he enjoyed their company, his mind kept wandering back to the beautiful girl he had seen that one morning at 7:45 that morning. He didn’t even catch her name. Maybe that’s why he found himself walking one Friday morning in the park where he had met her.

He figured he could play it off as an 8 a.m. class on Friday, but he supposed he dressed a little too nicely for that. Most students with a morning class were dressed is sweat everything; Jisung elected to dress in a crewneck sweatshirt, his best pair of jeans, and his new Converse. Casual, but not sweatpants. Sweatpants were the epitome of indifference.

He tried to look as casual as possible, sticking his earphones in without actually listening to anything. His active eyes constantly glancing around at the area around him, he also occasionally checked his watch as naturally as possible. The time was 7:30, a little bit earlier than the last time he had met her, but he had faith that he would meet her again. Maybe her dog would do him a favor and insist on being taken out early.

He heard her before he saw her.

“Whoa, Milkshake, slow down!”

He assumed Milkshake was the name of her dog. Preparing himself mentally, he relaxed his muscles down to a casual stroll. He slowly put his hand into his pocket and began to whistle. He heard her angelic laugh as she approached him, his heart skipping a beat.

“What’s gotten into you, girl?” the girl laughed.

He felt the dog sniff around his feet, prompting him to a halt. The girl stared at the dog for a second longer before glancing up at the person that her animal had stopped. Judging by the enlightened expression on her face, she seemed to have remembered him.

“You’re the guy who slipped on dog poop,” the girl recalled. After realizing what she said and seeing Jisung chuckled awkwardly, she tried to play it off. “And the funny guy! I wish I could’ve talked to you longer before.”

That definitely managed to make him feel better.

“I’m guessing you have a class since you’re not dressed to run?”

Jisung cleared his throat, removing his earphones to hang them around his neck. “Oh yeah, I’ve got this dumb 8 a.m. class on Fridays. It kinda sucks.”

The girl hummed. “So, I’ve heard. I was careful not to take any.”

“Oh, so do you go here too?” Jisung asked, possibly a little too excitedly. He yelled at himself in his head.

The girl nodded with a smile. She didn’t seem to mind. “Yeah, but I live really close by, so I just live off campus. It’s cheaper on my family that way too since they don’t have to pay for room and boarding.”

Jisung tried not to let his excitement get to his face as the two began to walk side-by-side together. It was so natural too, Milkshake trotting ahead of them. Jisung was careful not have any more mishaps.

“Oh, I’m [name], by the way,” she introduced herself. “[name] [last name].”

“Jisung Han,” replied Jisung.

“You know, if you’re heading to a class, I can walk with you. If you’re okay with that, of course. I would be out walking Milkshake anyway, so, if you don’t mind the company, I’d love to keep talking.”

The nervousness was starting to set in again. The effect she had on him was really no joke. His palms were beginning to feel clammy, so he rubbed them against the side of his jeans as nonchalantly as possible. He wasn’t sure if the lump in his throat would make his voice crack or make him cry. He couldn’t maintain eye contact with her for too long in case he wouldn’t be able to look anywhere else again. He would be tempted to only look at her. How could one person be so perfect to him?

“Yeah, I’d love some company!” Jisung exclaimed, attempting a smile. It felt forced, but did it look it?

“Great! So, where are we headed?”

“Uh…” Considering the fact that Jisung was actually not on his way to an 8 a.m. class, the question required more thought than most. “The Math and Science building.”

He was doing this to himself.

“Oh, really? What are you studying?”

“…biochemistry.”

Jisung, a producer, knew next to nothing about biochemistry. He had no idea what possessed him to say that. He wanted to blame it on the way that she was making him feel, but, instead, he knew it was because of his own stupidity.

“That is so cool, Jisung!”

And suddenly, his mind was only filled with thoughts of her.

“I’m an English major myself. I’m not really one for mathematics and sciences, but I’ve always wanted to be good at them,” she continued, not noticing Jisung’s struggle to keep his lies alive.

He forced a laugh. If he explained the truth now, it would be simpler. “It’s kind of tough, but I enjoy the work.” He really was just trying to screw himself over at this point.

The two continued talking about themselves and their hobbies, their likes and their dislikes, anything that managed to come up. They discovered that they did not have many mutual friends, but, after sharing a couple of funny stories about their different friend groups, both of them agreed that they would definitely need their close friends to meet each other. The walk to the Math and Science building seemed too short, but [name] and Jisung were both too talkative to end it there. They exchanged phone numbers to keep in touch with each other and soon found themselves falling into a routine every Friday morning. As much as Jisung wanted to become closer to her, he hated lying to her.

“Chan, what do I do?” Jisung cried one day when he, Chan, and Changbin were all chilling in a studio together.

Legs dangling off of the edge, Jisung was lying on the couch in the back of the studio as Chan was tweaking Changbin’s rap demo. The rapper had only stepped back into the studio room as Jisung started his complaining. Jisung kicked defiantly.

“I didn’t mean to lie to her, but one thing lead to another, and, now, I’m knee-deep in lies. But there’s something about this girl. She’s different from any other girl. It’s like every crush I’ve ever had up until her was just leading me to her. She makes me so nervous, and I forget what I’m trying to say when I’m trying to say it. But she’s so kind and lets me take my time. And she’s absolutely gorgeous too with the most adorable laugh which really doesn’t help because I find myself staring at her, and that’s considered creepy. The last thing I want to do is creep her out, and—“

“Chan, please tell him whatever he wants to hear so he’ll shut up,” Changbin hissed, resting his head on his palm as he sat down on the free side of the couch. He was clearly exhausted from long nights of studying and producing. They all were.

Jisung pouted but turned to the oldest nonetheless. Chan, on the other hand, released an exasperated sigh. “I mean, Jisung, what else is there to do but just tell her the truth? Just explain everything to her. From what you’ve told us about her, she sounds like she’d understand.”

“I know…” Jisung mumbled with a huff. “I’m just scared and embarrassed, I guess. Scared because I don’t want her to hate me, and embarrassed for lying in the first place.” He released another sigh, beating himself up mentally. “I didn’t mean to lie. I just get so nervous around her.”

Changbin shifted his head to look at his friend. Jisung looked miserable, staring up at the ceiling with his arms going in every direction. His legs kicked rhythmically against the side of the couch in an attempt to amuse himself. Every ten seconds, his face would contort into a distinct expression of terror or sadness. Changbin could only guess his thoughts.

“Well, it hurts to see you like this. So, if you don’t tell her, Chan and I always can.”

“No!” Jisung shot up with a start. “Telling her myself is bad enough. I’m not about to let my friends tell her in my place.”

“Then, get your act together and tell her!” Changbin barked, making a move to kick the younger boy off the couch. He didn’t actually, but Jisung moved to defend himself.

Jisung looked to Chan for support but found none. He huffed once more, sitting up straight. The time was coming. He’d have to tell her eventually.

“Jisung!”

[name] calling out his name made Jisung’s heart skip a beat. He began to panic. It wasn’t Friday. On second thought, he wasn’t anywhere near the park. He was walking back to the cafeteria from the studio. Jisung had never turned around quicker.

“[name]…!” Jisung returned with as much feigned enthusiasm as he could. His lie was falling apart in front of him (although that was kind of what he needed??). “Wha-What are you doing here? I thought the English department normally stayed on the east side of campus.”

“Well, I was in the area, visiting my roommate, and I figured I’d stop by and see you.”

She smiled. Why was she smiling?

“Uh… so, how’d you know I’d be here?”

[name] motioned towards the same building that Jisung had just walked out of, the one that houses all of the studios that all musically-inclined majors used.

“My roommate is a Commercial Music major,” [name] admitted.

Wait.

“So, I’ve kinda known who you were since we met. You, Changbin, and Chan are pretty popular among the female student body after all.”

Jisung felt like he was facing his first exam in high school. He could not wrap his mind around what exactly was going on or how popular he really was.

“But-But-But—“

“So, I know you’re a Composition major, I know you don’t have an 8 a.m. class for biochemistry, and I know that you lied to me about everything.”

“Not everything!” Jisung exclaimed in a panic. She raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue. “I, uh, meant it when I said I fell for you.”

When [name] crossed her arms over her chest, Jisung knew he wouldn’t have much time to explain, but he had to tell her the truth.

“Okay, the truth is… I’m really not good around girls. I mean, I don’t think I was terrible. I didn’t flirt nearly as much as Minho, but that’s not the point. I’m nervous around girls, and then I met you, and that nervousness hit me like a truck because you’re so different than any other girl I met. The first time we met, I was so embarrassed, but I wanted to see you again. So, I thought of an excuse to be there around the park without looking like a crazy stalker—I’m not a stalker, I promise—but I was traumatized because of the, um, incident from last time. So, I figured the safest way to casually run into you again would be if I had an 8 a.m. class in that area, but none of my classes are over there, so, one thing led to another, and I’m so sorry that I lied. I’m not trying to justify my lying, but to explain, I was so nervous around you. And then, the more I got to know you, I started developing feelings for you, but I didn’t want you to hate me for lying to you. I really didn’t mean any harm.”

[name] stared at him for a good minute, silently taking in Jisung’s confession. Underneath her intense gaze, Jisung felt a lump form in his throat. The heartbeat in his chest sounded louder with every second that passed. He wanted to look away from her [eye color] eyes, but he felt that, if he did, she’d be gone. That was the last thing he wanted.

“Is there anything else that you lied about? I mean, how do I know you didn’t lie about half of the other stuff we would talk about?”

“No!” Jisung insisted. “Everything else I said was true. I really do love cheesecake, but I’m thinking I’m falling in love with chocolate more. I really do need glasses, but I prefer contacts although I always feel like I’m going to poke my eye. And yes, I really do shriek every time. I really do have trypophobia, but I enjoy general horror like jump scares in movies and haunted houses. The list could go on, but I’m sure you don’t want to listen to me talk, so the last thing I’ll mention is that I really do want to spend time with you and get to know you more because I like you.”

He couldn’t stop the words before they had come out. His eyes widened. He supposed that was out in the open.

It was the first time he’d gotten a surprised reaction out of [name], but it vanished in an instant. She smiled at him, the same angelic smile that he had seen weeks ago. Maybe she didn’t hate him.

“Well, I’m glad because I like you too, Jisung,” [name] confessed with a small giggle. She clicked her tongue. “Although, I’ve kind of had a crush on you since before we met.”

“What? How?”

“Like I said, the three of you producers are pretty popular on campus! And I’ve seen you working hard in the studio when I would visit my roommate. I thought you were pretty cute. Next thing I know, you’re waving to me when you’re on a run, and then you’re tripping over dog poop. I suppose I have known this entire time that you were lying about your major, but I’m glad it was just due to nervousness. I didn’t think it could be anything else, but I wanted you to be the one to tell me yourself.”

Jisung wasn’t sure what to say at this point. He just stared at her with brown eyes widened ever so slightly. He took in everything about her, searching for any indication of how he should react. The amused smirk on her lips made his heart flutter. Her [eye color] eyes shimmered with mischief. While she stood in a defensive position, she didn’t seem angry at the slightest.

“Are you sure you’re not an Acting major?” Jisung finally asked with a small laugh.

Her bright giggle filled the air around them as she relaxed her stance. “No, I’m an English major.”

“So,” Jisung cleared his throat. Now or never, Jisung. “What does a Music Composition Major have to do to get a date with an English major?”

[name] hummed, pretending to ponder. Or maybe she was genuinely thinking. Jisung couldn’t tell. “Well, you’ve already slipped on dog poop for me… so, let’s say we’re equal.”

“Dinner tonight?”

When she smiled bashfully, Jisung knew that he was hooked.

“Pick me up at 7.”

Maybe Jisung was still afraid to go on runs, but he couldn’t help but be grateful because it allowed him to meet [name].

#stray kids imagine #stray kids imagines #stray kids jisung #stray kids jisung imagine #stray kids han #stray kids han imagine #stray kids fluff #han jisung x reader #college au #stray kids #han jisung #jisung imagines #jisung imagine #jisung fluff

514 notes · View notes

fizzingwizard · 4 years

Text

Lately I’ve been obsessively playing Sims 4. I have a habit of ignoring it for months, then binge playing in a week. Especially if a new expansion pack comes out. I just got University and it’s... kinda meh so far. But I think I’m just in the wrong mood for it. A few years ago when I was all nostalgic for uni I’d have eaten it up, I think. Maybe I’ll be feeling it more another time. Am happy to finally have in-the-wall showers though! That alone was worth $40, lmao.

Another thing to factor in... when I sent my Sim to the university, they asked me to pick my course load and I gave her 3 classes plus an elective. Almost gave her four, but then was like, “I should wait till I know how much free time she’ll have.” So... when I was in college, I maxed out on course credits every semester and then took electives for 0 credits on top of that. It was hard - especially junior year - but I did it. I really wasn’t expecting my Sim to struggle with just 4 classes, but I failed to take into account how rapidly Sims get tired. They can’t pull all-nighters the same way I could when I was 20, lol. And things like eating and going to the toilet take an hour lol. My Sim’s always late to class because even though she has a bicycle, half the time she just doesn’t use it, and the other half she’s prompted to leave for class too late to make it on time. I started just putting her in front of the building once I knew where her classes were held xP

So, that is, I think I made going to uni unnecessarily difficult for my Sim, and therefore made it less fun for me. She spends all her time in class, studying, or doing homework - there’s no time at all for anything else. I feel burnt out and I’m not even a student anymore x’D

Also her clingy boyfriend who’s supposed to be freelancing at their apartment in San Myshuno keeps randomly popping up or begging her for dates. The first day alone he showed up and sent four different invites. Like, omg, dude. Chill - he has none. He has both the Romantic and the Jealous trait though so I guess he can’t help it. He was an NPC that happened to take my fancy so I snagged him. I like him for the most part but boy is he an annoying boyfriend!

OK, but the real reason I started obsessing over Sims again wasn’t for University, but for Realms of Magic. I love the magic packs in the Sims and was hoping for something Harry Potter-esque. It’s... well, it’s okay. The world is kind of pretty, but not very interactive, and the magic-user Sims who show up there are all really normal looking. At least the three Sages are more interesting but... they show up at my spellcaster Sim’s house in Sulani to do normal things, dressed in ridiculous yet normal outfits (at least that makes them seem like wizards trying and failing to pass as muggles though, lol).

But yeah, I was hoping for more. I reached Virtuoso really fast. Dueling was mostly the same graphics every time. There was nothing I could do to improve my chances of winning, like learn a specific powerful spell or potion... Even leveling up doesn’t really help - what helps is getting enough Talent points to buy a spellcaster perk that gives you an advantage in duels. But that just means leveling up and leveling up and leveling up. So you do the same three or four interactions over and over again. Even potion making was a bust because they give you free samples of the potions when you learn them, and then you can use the duplication spell on them, and then you can get the perk that ensures they’ll be successful, so... why even bother making them!

Mostly what I would have liked is a much larger range of spells. Especially practical ones. The spell my Virtuoso level spellcaster uses the most? Scruberoo. So no one in his household ever needs to take showers, lol. But Scruberoo doesn’t work on laundry :/ They are using a washtub because they’re semi-off-the-grid so it’d be a nice way to speed things up. But sometimes the washtub glitches or something? and doesn’t result in clean clothes even if the water had been replaced first. In that case, I let my spellcaster Zipzap the thing lol. Because it makes me happy.

I also wish spells could be extended. Like, my Sim has a big garden, so when I want to use Floralial, I have to individually select each plant, pick magic, pick spells, and then pick Floralial... it’s dull.

All that being said... I still enjoy Realms of Magic. Since making my sim a Spellcaster, I’ve played him a lot. I love Practical Magic. I love that after making my Sim’s cat his familiar, she now sparkles as she prances around :D I find it charming that I can make a cauldron-full of chili out of thin air. (Now I know how the Weasleys kept themselves fed.) I love the new magical decor (clothing is so-so). The other magic seems fun but since my Sim is a good guy, I don’t get to use them much. Sims in Sulani sometimes just show up in your house and make themselves at home, and one time a guy got stuck in a pathfinding mishap, so to get him out I had my Spellcaster Morphiate him into a dead fish or something. But then I couldn’t move the dead fish... Somehow when he returned to normal, he was able to get out of the house though. Anyway, I’m planning to make an evil spellcaster so I can go around gleefully Inferniating everyone.

But the best part of all is Transportalate or whatever it’s called. I know with cheats you can just click and teleport, but he does this on his own, sometimes over stupidly small distances, and it comes with cool lighting effects. Me gusta. I love knowing that if his bladder bar’s in the red, he won’t pee himself on his way to the toilet because he’ll get there instantaneously, not in 15 Sim minutes X’D Am just wishing I could give this ability to my Nightcrawler Sim without making him a spellcaster.

My spellcaster is my Fai Sim, btw. =D And Mokona is his familiar (a white cat). The looks on Syaoran, Sakura, and Kurogane’s faces when he Scruberoos them all are priceless. (I’d use the Delicioso spell more too but Fai has level 10 in Cooking, Baking, and Gourmet Cooking X’D)

#sims #sims 4

2 notes · View notes

cheshiresense · 5 years

Note

Hey, speaking of the Aizen/Ichigo time travel notfic, I just want to say I really love the way y ou write Aizen when he isn't just the villain. Like I don't even know why Im surprised, it's /you/, your characterization is always amazing. Do you think you can write a few more snippets or hcs with him and Ichigo? Maybe some interactions or convesations between them? No pressure ofc, thank you for everything youv'e already blessed us with!

Lol thank you! That’s good to hear, I always find flat characters painful to read so I do my best to round them out whenever I can. Aizen was a new one for me, this is the first time I’ve explored his character beyond - as you say - just the villain of the story that’s been defeated or needs defeating.

Here’s two more short scenes in this ’verse. I actually really like this AU, which surprises me because before this, I didn’t have any interest in writing Aizen at all.

Pinglist: @yoshifics @bewarethemandragora @runeofluna @selenedreamwalker @hypnos28 @verticallychallengedintrovert @fandommaniac2401 @lovingempress @cynthia-of-the-wallflowers @shadowsofmoonracer @pairp @warriorofbooks @charlottedabookworm @lyra689 @sheyrenawyrsabane @sora-the-empress @xadriannax @yumeniai @arrysa @lirial89-fanfiction @skysong246 @caiahat @grimreaper19 @arosethornbyanyothername @mtkiseki @kaminoko-x @nesskyru @tatarako @parklena42 @zibeth-a @aerdnanocte @timegrenades @healingmichiko @shiko-rae @soraofmelody @fandoms-make-the-world-go-round @north-peach @yannilicious @wolfsrainrules @franticchanges @tremendouslyminiaturequeen @moon6shadow-main @naramyon @presumenothing @miralifox @nonbinary-hawke @dejunco @yuzukimist @raz-ia @13oddballbooks

[Dinner]

Sousuke generously reserves a table for two at the sushi restaurant a block down from the Academy. He only has to wait ten minutes before Ichigo slouches into the seat opposite his, looking like every student who’s ever pulled three all-nighters in a row rushing for exams.

Sousuke arches an eyebrow. “I did not think the course load you are taking would be difficult for you.”

Ichigo shoots a glare at him but doesn’t seem to have the energy to hold it for longer than a few seconds before he’s slumping again and reaching for the menu instead.

“The course load is fine,” Ichigo tells him irritably. “But one of my teachers used to be Thirteenth Division and has some stupid grudge against Kaien because Ukitake-san passed him over for lieutenant even though he had a longer tenure than Kaien or something. So he’s taking it out on me by giving me extra assignments out of the blue every week. Says I’ll fail his class if I don’t do them.” He waves a dismissive hand. “I kinda wanna call his bluff, but it’s whatever, I just wanna graduate as soon as possible, and I can deal with a case of asshole. It was just a little tougher lately cuz of midterms but today was my last one anyway.”

Sousuke studies him for a careful moment. “You could mention it to your cousin. I am sure Shiba Kaien would jump to your defense, especially when he is involved.”

“Yeah, and that’s exactly why I’m not gonna tell him,” Ichigo scowls. “He’ll go charging in and kick up a huge fuss and definitely go overboard defending my honour or some shit. He’ll probably get Hisakawa fired, which I don’t really care about, but he’ll also draw a crapload of attention, and I don’t want anybody tossing words like nepotism and favouritism around. You told me yourself the Twelfth doesn’t seem to have many big clan members, and it’s not exactly a shock that Kisuke chooses people for his Division according to their intelligence. I don’t want him thinking I’m coasting by on my clan’s reputation or something, and that’s exactly what will happen if I get Kaien to step in for me for every little thing.” He pointedly sticks his menu up between them. “Now can we order already? I literally haven’t eaten anything but instant ramen in a week. I’m getting everything here since you’re paying.”

“Oh I am, am I?” Sousuke enquires dryly.

“I’m poor, deal with it.”

“I am fairly certain your clan would shower you with money if you mention that you need it,” Sousuke points out. “And nobody else would even know if you are so concerned about reputation.”

Ichigo grimaces even as he glances around to catch the waiter’s eye. “Kaien’s already giving me a stipend every month cuz I’m family but I wanna save that for an apartment when I graduate. Besides, I don’t like asking people for money.”

Sousuke gives him a flatly droll look. “And yet.”

Ichigo meets his gaze without hesitation, a smirk curling at his lips, one that teeters between gruff amusement and a reckless sort of mockery. “Consider it payment for creeping on me when I was a kid and then dragging me into a war. You almost killed me multiple times; sushi’s the least you owe me, bastard.”

They pause for a minute to place their respective orders, and neither of them speaks until the waiter is out of earshot again.

“I wonder,” Sousuke murmurs, eyeing Ichigo thoughtfully. “If you blame Urahara Kisuke for ‘dragging you into a war’ as much as you blame me.”

Ichigo snaps his chopsticks and then jabs them at him. “Kisuke apologized. You didn’t.”

“And I never will,” Sousuke agrees, because he won’t, not with any kind of sincerity, and he’s noticed that Ichigo has a knack for picking out that sort of thing. Sousuke isn’t sorry. Perhaps his ambitions and plans gave the boy very little choice in the matter, but at the end of the day, it was still Kurosaki Ichigo who chose to fight instead of bow or run away, and Sousuke can respect him enough as a former formidable enemy to give credit where it’s due.

Ichigo made his choices, just as Sousuke made his own, and they’ll both live with them just the same, good and bad.

“No,” Ichigo acknowledges easily, and Sousuke knows no one else who can say that in this situation with no anger or bitterness, just a resigned sort of acceptance as if he made his peace with this truth a long time ago. Instead, he only points his chopsticks at Sousuke again. “But that’s why you have to pay for my sushi and Kisuke doesn’t.”

Sousuke watches him for a moment longer and idly wonders if he’ll ever understand the kind of person Kurosaki Ichigo is. One day, perhaps, but at least in the meantime, he won’t be bored.

He inclines his head just as the first of their dishes arrive.

“As you say,” He acquiesces, and Ichigo flashes a grin like he’s won something important. Oddly enough, it amuses Sousuke more than anything else. But there are worse things than amusement, and for now, he lets it be.

Well, he lets that be anyway. Ichigo is a… puzzle that Sousuke probably won’t tire of putting together for a good while yet, and that suits him just fine.

On the other hand…

He steps quietly into the classroom, shutting the door behind him. The click makes the man sitting behind the desk at the front look up. “Aizen-fukutaichou? This is… unexpected. Did we have a meeting I forgot about?”

Hisakawa’s confusion is understandable. As far as Sousuke can remember, in both timelines, he’s never spoken to the other Shinigami. Hisakawa was insignificant before - sub-par intellect and mediocre strength, not good for anything but canon fodder, which Aizen had plenty of Hollows for - and he’s just as insignificant now. It’s just that he’s also making a nuisance of himself this time around, which is unfortunate for him.

“Hisakawa-sensei,” Sousuke greets with a pleasant smile as he approaches. “We do not, as far as I am aware. I simply wished to speak to you about one of our mutual students.”

“Oh, well, of course,” Hisakawa frowns quizzically. “Which student are you talking about? Is it a schedule conflict? Those should’ve been ironed out months ago though.”

Sousuke supposes the man gets points for touching on the only problem a student attending both their classes could have. Hisakawa teaches history - a core class - while Sousuke only teaches calligraphy as an elective. They don’t have much else in common.

Then again, if schedule conflicts were ironed out months ago, it obviously can’t be that, and there’s no point bringing it up. Sousuke takes it back. Hisakawa is still just as much of a waste of space as Sousuke has always believed him to be. Honestly, the hiring standards these days. If this was Shiba Kaien’s competition for the lieutenant seat, no wonder Ukitake refused to fill the position with anyone else even if it meant waiting a decade for the Shiba Clan Head to accept.

“No, it is nothing of that sort,” Sousuke agrees. “But it has come to my attention that Shiba Ichigo-kun has been receiving quite a number of… extracurricular assignments from you.”

Hisakawa immediately bristles, and a sneer slashes itself across his face. “Oh, he’s been complaining, has he?”

“He has mentioned it to me,” Sousuke says mildly.

Hisakawa snorts. “I wasn’t aware Shibas even knew calligraphy existed,” He mutters snidely before saying, louder and more patronizing, “You shouldn’t listen to him, Aizen-fukutaichou. You know how Shibas can be, they’re always exaggerating. I’m not giving Shiba more work than he needs. His history marks could use some work, and I’m trying to help. I hear he wants to graduate in a year, and he can’t do that if he fails a core class.”

Sousuke hums a considering note. “He is in danger of failing? How strange. Shiba-kun takes after his cousin, does he not? Another prodigy.”

Hisakawa’s sneer only grows more pronounced. “They give that title to any clan kid these days, it doesn’t mean anything. Trust me, Shiba’s history marks alone will probably see him here next year, especially if he’s going around whining about not getting special treatment.”

Sousuke raises an eyebrow. “I admit, I am rather surprised by that. You see, I have read some of Shiba-kun’s history papers.” He hasn’t had much of a choice. For whatever reason, Ichigo likes working in his office, and he has the strangest tendency to paper his work all over the floor. And paperwork gets boring, and Ichigo’s thought process can be… interesting, even on the most mundane topics. “I am no expert on the subject of course, but from what I could tell, his work is always thoroughly researched and well-written. Perhaps you should take another look.”

Hisakawa’s face turns steadily red, and he pushes to his feet even as he accuses, “So you think just because he has a clan backing him, he should get special treatment too! I thought better of you, Aizen-fukutaichou.”

Sousuke has to suppress a chuckle but amusement slips into his expression anyway, because Hisakawa’s features darken to something downright hostile. “His marks will stay the same. In fact, I might fail him just on principle! I didn’t think Shiba was a coward too, sending another teacher to beg a better grade out of me just because he can’t handle my class.”

Sousuke stares him down for a long unblinking moment, until Hisakawa is almost twitching from the tension stretched between them. Only when the man opens his mouth again, no doubt to splutter out something belligerent, does Sousuke sigh and drop a hand to his Zanpakutou.

“Well, I did try,” He muses, mostly to himself.

He draws his blade. Hisakawa stares and doesn’t even make a move for his own Zanpakutou. What a fool.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?”

“Normally,” Sousuke explains courteously. “I would not bother stepping in on behalf of a student, especially when that student would - I dare say - be rather cross with me should he find out. But we have plans to carry out, and I will not allow something so trivial to hinder them.”

Hisakawa gawps at him. How unsightly.

“You need not worry,” Sousuke adds. “You will not remember a thing.”

Finally, Hisakawa reaches for his Zanpakutou, the first blush of alarm rising in his features. “Wait, have you gone insane, Aizen? What do you think attacking me is even going to do? I- I won’t be threatened-!”

“Shatter,” Sousuke cuts him off, smiling benignly even as his reiatsu swells around them. “Kyouka Suigetsu.”

And Hisakawa’s expression goes slack as the hynosis takes hold, slithering into the deepest recesses of his mind.

“You should be honoured,” Sousuke murmurs. “This will be some of my finest work. After all, anything less and Ichigo-kun might notice. And I would rather not be scolded again.”

(This Is A Time Skip But Also Does Tumblr Not Know How To Center Shit)

[Sight]

Sousuke glances up as a shadow passes through his window before returning to his paperwork. “Shouldn’t you be working?”

A disgruntled noise answers him. “Kis- Urahara-taichou is neck-deep in a new experiment; he’s not gonna notice I’m missing for days, never mind one afternoon.”

“And you decided to come visit me?” Sousuke can’t help but find that amusing, considering their past. “How thoughtful.”

He pauses when Ichigo doesn’t snipe something back, as is fairly standard these days. He looks up. Ichigo isn’t even looking in his direction. Instead, he’s still perched on the windowsill, and his gaze is slanted to one shadowed corner above the bookshelf across the room.

“…Ichigo-kun?”

Ichigo blinks, then turns to him and hops down into the office. “Hey, so, I figured it out,” He says abruptly. His eyes flit around the room again, and Sousuke notices the way they dart from shadow to shadow before finally focusing on him again. “The seeing into their little shadow world thing.”

Sousuke straightens. “Oh?”

“Yeah,” Ichigo lifts a hand, and pale blue light sparks off his fingertips.

Sousuke stares. How fascinating. He doesn’t think he’s ever seen any other Quincy wield reishi so casually.

“I think I can make it so you can see them too,” Ichigo continues. “I’m gonna have to… fiddle with your eyesight a bit though.”

Sousuke pins him with an assessing look before slowly reaching up to take off his glasses. “If you end up blinding me, I will stab you before you make it out of this room.”

Ichigo rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, whatever, but I’m not gonna do that. Now hold still and close your eyes.”

It takes effort not to flinch, much to Sousuke’s irritation. But the grip he still has around his writing brush tightens anyway when cool fingers touch his eyelids.

It barely feels like anything. There’s a tingle that itches a little, but it’s there and gone within seconds, leaving only an odd chill behind, not unlike getting a cold gust of wind to the face during winter. Ichigo withdraws, and Sousuke opens his eyes.

Nothing looks different. He doesn’t actually need glasses to begin with so everything is clear. He cocks a questioning look at Ichigo, who shakes his head.

“Wait for it,” He murmurs, taking a seat on the edge of Sousuke’s desk and absently shuffling through the top file in the inbox. “They’re not always spying on everyone. But you’re a person of interest to them, you know that, so I think they check in on you pretty often.” He pauses, and his gaze slides across the room before he focuses on the file in his hands again. “Here he comes. Don’t let him see you watching him.”

Sousuke follows his brief line of sight, just in time to see a very familiar blond head bob into view in the shadow cast by the couch set against the wall. It isn’t a very big shadow, a foot high at most, so Sousuke only gets to see the face and part of his neck and a little of the high white collar of his uniform, but it��s enough.

The next second, he’s reaching for one of his books and flipping it open like that was why he looked up from his paperwork at all. But now that he can see that he’s being watched, can sense it even, and so blatantly too, the urge to simply get up and run the Quincy through for his gall is tempting. Only the knowledge that he can’t at the moment stays his hand.

Can he hear us? Sousuke scrawls on a spare piece of paper.

“No,” Ichigo mutters back. “I tested it. It’s like a soundproofed window. I mean, it is now.” He smirks triumphantly out of sight of the Quincy. “Before I figured it out, it was like one of those one-way mirrors. Now we can see them too. But we can’t hear them, and they can’t hear us. They might know how to lip-read though, so be careful anyway.”

Well, obviously. Giving the game away this early would be foolish.

Sousuke watches through his periphery as the Quincy gives them both a last cursory blank look before his head moves out of the shadow and disappears again.

“Jugram Haschwalth,” Sousuke murmurs, surveying his office before turning his attention to Ichigo. “And they can see through every shadow in Soul Society?”

“As far as I can tell, yeah,” Ichigo scowls darkly. “They’re a bunch of regular Peeping Toms.” He grins for a moment, all teeth. “You would’ve made great friends.”

Sousuke narrows a reprimanding look at him. Ichigo just grins wider, not at all repentant, but he doesn’t push further either.

“What should we do now?” He asks instead. “I’m still working on figuring out a way to get through, but at least we can see them. Do we just keep doing what we’re doing and try not to draw their attention?”

“Yes,” Sousuke decides. “But also, mark down who they look in on most, who they consider to be the biggest threats, and who they’ve overlooked but can be threats to them.” He puts his glasses back on. “How long will I be able to see them?”

Ichigo shrugs. “Eh, not sure. You’re my first guinea pig.” Sousuke sighs. At least Ichigo looks a little sheepish now. “We can do a few tests over the weekend or something when I don’t have work. I probably should get back now.”

“I thought you said Urahara wouldn’t notice,” Sousuke says sardonically.

“He won’t,” Ichigo confirms. “But Hiyori will. She’s yelling at the science department at the moment though, and that always takes at least an hour, so I figured I’d take the chance to come show you this-” He waves a hand in the direction of the shadow Jugram was in. “-since I finally got it down this morning.”

Sousuke glances lingeringly at him. You could have waited, he almost says, but the words don’t come in the end, and a moment later, Ichigo is halfway out the window again.

“Anyway, see ya later,” He calls back briskly. “I finally got my first paycheck yesterday so I bought groceries. If you want free dinner, swing ’round my place and I’ll feed you. And we can talk more about the Peeping Toms.”

And then he’s gone in a rush of Shunpo, leaving Sousuke to stare after him, feeling strangely wrong-footed.

But then, Ichigo has a habit of leaving him that way.

Sousuke sighs again, puts it out of his mind, and gets back to work, firmly ignoring the blond-haired spy that sidles back into his office via the shadow in one corner of the ceiling this time.

But he can’t wait until Ichigo figures out a way to get through. He’s chopping the head off of this one personally.

#bleach #myscrap #ichigo & aizen time travel verse #kurosaki ichigo #aizen sousuke #msg #anonymous #headcanon

582 notes · View notes

taylorscottbarnett · 5 years

Text

People always want quick change

However they never really understand how that works, and US Civics classes should really do a lot better job on HOW our institutions work, and the history of them, rather than just things like “Checks and Balances / Separation of Powers”. Because change rarely happens quickly in America -- and that’s by design. The US House if Representatives (without gerrymandering), is designed to reflect quick changing attitudes of a populace. It’s why we have elections every two years. So at least one chamber of Congress can keep up with the changing attitudes of America. It’s also why Representatives have always been directly elected -- and why they are representative of how large a population is. Large, heavily populated states, {like Virginia), thought that they deserved more say, because they had, well more people. The US Senate is -- by design, slow. Agonizingly slow. It was originally designed to be the State’s representatives in the Federal Government, chosen by the people. While large states held outsized influence in the House (like Virginia at the start of the United States), it’s co-equal counterparts in the Senate were designed to be the US State’s representation in the Federal Government, and a place where small states, (like New Jersey), wanted a check on Virginia's power. They didn’t want their larger neighbors to just run over smaller states and do whatever they wanted in the Federal Government. Connecticut Compromise, that created our federal government did both. This however led to more issues. Northern states that relied heavily on manufacturing rather than slave labor for its economy didn’t want the south to have outsized influence in Congress due to slaves being counted as population, even though they had no rights.

Those very things still define our congress today, more than any other -- although the roles are reversed -- with many southern and western states having less population (and more conservative populations at that) compared to densely packed eastern and western states. The US House, even when gerrymandered a particular party’s advantage, still can be changed if popular will is strong enough. (Meaning you debated your case, and enough people found you to be a good choice). Recent examples being the election of 2006 and 2008, where outrage over Bush and Republicans over the Iraq war and the economy overthrew Republicans flipped the US Senate to Democratic Control in 2008, by ushering in 6 new Democratic Senators and flipped the House by sending 31 Democrats to the chamber. Keep in mind, those very same issues, sent more Republicans to Congress the year before in 2004. (4 Senators and 3 Representatives) Outrage over the recession’s strains on the economy, and the Affordable Care Act, flipped the House back to Republicans in 2010, and very nearly the US Senate -- (however this was stemmed by just two votes counting Biden’s tie-breaking vote). The Senate took voters anger and took the kettle off the burner. In 2012, Voters again didn’t like what Mitt Romney and Speaker John Boehner (the leader of the Republican resistance in Congress) were selling. The states sent two more Democrats to Washington. Emboldening Democrats and Obama’s power, while chipping away at Republicans resistance by decreasing their majority by 8. This also had the effect of increasing Democratic control in the South, as a lot of those elected to the House came from southern states -- and they nearly solidified the parties power in the North East -- they replaced the only two Republican senators up for election with Democrats -- and every state north-east of New York fell into Democratic hands. Yet once more in the 2014 Midterms Republicans finally took control of the US Senate, and more than wiped out Democratic gains in the House. They held more seats in the US House in 2014 -- Republicans gained their largest majority in the House since 1928. And in 2016, Republicans finally took back the White House, giving them control over all of the Federal Government, for the first time since 2004 -- and in the entire 00′s decade Republicans only held that trifecta from 2002-2004, one election cycle. Even with that gain, they still lost 2 seats in the Senate, and 6 in the House. Public outrage at the party in power again exploded last year -- and unlike 2010, it was with a good economy and Democrats running -- and winning -- on healthcare, a bitter irony for Republicans who ran against a bad economy and against Democrats on Healthcare in 2010. The very same issue that swept Republicans into power in 2010, cleared them out 8 years later -- not only that, but the thing they’d been rallying against for over a decade, The Affordable Care Act expanded and they failed to establish huge victories in the Senate -- while in the last two midterms they had drastic winnings. (Fun fact, because of how the US Senate Elections are staggered to slow down party -- and idea -- turnover, the very election that increased Democratic power in the Senate in 2012, increased Republican power in 2018.) More on that fun fact, the very seats that Democrats held onto in 2012 were lost in 2018. The net seat turnover was even the same. Democrats picked up 2 seats in 2012, and with the very same seats up for grabs in 2018 Republicans flipped 2. It took 6 years to flip those seats. Six. Years.

My point in this history recap? Lots of Gen-z voters will come of voting age by the time of 2020. A generation that outnumbers my own, that makes up 25% of the U.S. population.

Change takes time. Change takes effort. Change takes fortitude to not get discouraged when everything doesn’t work out like you’d imagined. We got the House. Flipped a lot of states. We retook chambers and governorships everyone predicted we’d lost for decades -- and over the last eight years, we’ve come closer than we’ve ever been to single-payer healthcare. But that dream won't come in 2020. It likely won't come in 2022, or 2024, or 2026 either. And if Republicans get to nominate another SCOTUS justice or two it won't come for a generation or longer. Don’t get distracted if you find what’s accomplished from the Democratic party to be less than you wanted.

Obamacare wasn’t single-payer. It had conservative and liberal parts. It progressed. Huge progress in a century-long fight to get a single-payer healthcare plan passed in US. States that led the resistance against the ACA and Medicaid expansion have almost all addopted it. Expanding access to millions of families. People voted in referedums to expand it. States that lead the Tea-Party to power have addopted it. A few holdouts remain, and god-knows my own govenor has tried everything he can to weaken it in Kentucky. However, not one state has repealled the expansion. Not one. It’s taken damn near a decade since it was passed, but we are up to 37 states (and D.C.). That’s huge. We have progress on healthcare Republicans tried for over a decade to destroy. It survived court challenges, it survived over 50 repeal votes in the US House. It survived Republicans controlling Congress and the White House. It’s survived SCOTUS multiple times. And Republicans KNEW this would happen. That’s why they fought it so hard. They KNEW if the Affordable Care Act was passed and implmented, they’d never be able to repeal it. They KNEW they didn’t have a workable option that would cover people and lower premiums. They knew The ACA was Obama’s legacy and it would be as lasting as Medicare and Medicad are LBJ’s legacy -- hell they helped cement it by calling it Obamacare -- a label Democrats used to run from, that they even embrace now. This is what change looks like in America. It’s slow. It’s frustrating. It’s kinda crazy. But change -- lasting change, is incremental and takes time, effort, fighting and defending your progress. Remember that EVERY election. Remember that you don’t have to agree with everything a Democrat says. You can dissagree and still agree on lots of things. Remember that progress in Congress takes more than just deep blue states. You have to compromise with purple states and red states to get things done. That might mean you don’t get everything you want. That’s ok. Just keep moving forward. That is America. That’s the very core of our DNA. We keep moving forward no matter what, and no matter how long it takes, we fight until our country does what’s right.

#democrats #progressives #politics #conservatives #liberals #obama #trump

11 notes · View notes

skelenyxx · 5 years

Text

3 - Antics ~WOR

"You better hang on if you're taggin' along cause we'll be doin this 'till 6 in the mornin'. Nothin' wrong with goin' all night long. Tough to put the brakes on, doesn't matter when you'd rather get up, and go out. Me and all my friends. We drink up, we fall down and then we do it all again. Just sittin around, hangin out this afternoon." ~ This Afternoon - Nickelback

.•*•.•*•.•*•.

*Andy's POV*

I walked through the double doors of the office out into the school yard. The lunch bell had already rung, so many students were bustling about carrying books or trays of food. I used to be like that once, and the thought actually made me shudder a bit. Yikes.

I set out across the grass heading towards the cement area where the tables were. A few students stopped what they were doing to gape at me as I passed them, as if they hadn't already done enough of that at the assembly this morning. "Fag," muttered a big guy in a football jersey as I passed him. I turned and flipped him off. Fuck haters, that's all I have to say.

I continued walking until I reached the tables on the white cement. I scanned the tables, looking for the girl who set up this whole thing; Katrina. I finally spotted her, sitting alone at one of the far tables with her nose in a book. Her long, straight, dark blonde hair was blowing around in the breeze and glinting like gold. She had on a brown leather jacket and had the sleeves pulled up over her hands. She was also wearing tight blue jeans and grey boots. She definitely didn't look like the typical, stereotypical girl who would experience bullying. She was pretty, in a sort of goody-two-shoes way.

I plopped myself down in the seat across from her. She looked up, eyes wide.

"Hey." I said, a smile playing on my lips.

"H-Hey," she stuttered nervously. She looked down at her feet, redness creeping up her neck.

"You're Katrina right?" I knew she was, but I felt like asking anyway.

"Yeah," she smiled thinly at me.

"I'm Andy. Andy Biersack," I told her.

She smiled. "I know who you are," she replied. "I'm a fan."

"Oh. So you listen to us?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," she chuckled. "You guys are my favorite band."

"Oh really?" I smirked. She nodded. "So what are you reading?" I inquired, looking at the book in her hands.

"Well, um-" she began but was cut off by a high pitched voice.

"Katrina!" the voice exclaimed, sounding sort of pissed off. I turned around to see the same snobby blonde girl from the assembly marching towards us. I heard Katrina sigh, sounding kind of annoyed.

"So, this is your idea of a fun experiment?" she asked when she reached us. "By bringing these emo fags to our school?" She put her hands on her hips and glared at me.

I was about to say something back, but Katrina shot a look at me telling me to stay silent. I clamped my mouth shut, watching the exchange.

"Savannah, just leave us alone," Katrina snapped. "They are not emo fags. They are real people who are living out their dreams, which is more than you can say about yourself."

Savannah scoffed at her and stalked off, walking right past Ashley who was walking towards us with Jake, Jinxx, and CC in tow.

"Hey Andy," Ashley said when he got to us, sitting down next to me on the bench. Everyone else followed suit by sitting at the surrounding benches. "We were wondering where you wandered off to. You're Katrina right?" He looked at Katrina.

"Y-Yeah," she stuttered in reply, redness creeping to her face yet again.

"Well, I'm Ashley, this is-"

"She knows who we are," I cut him off with a small chuckle. "We're her favorite band." I smirked and her blushing got even darker, which I didn't even think was possible.

"Oooooooo. So the goody-two-shoes listens to Rock music, huh?" CC asked looking at Katrina who was sitting next to him.

"I am not a goody-two-shoes!" She gasped, glaring at CC.

"Oh please!" Ashley laughed. "Everything about you screams good girl, from your hair to your make up to your shoes. I'm sure you probably have straight A's and I bet you don't even cuss."

"I do to cuss!" she replied with a laugh.

"Then say 'fuck.'"

She looked him dead in the eyes. And opened her mouth, before closing it again, somewhat resembling a fish out of water.

"Goody goody!" Ashley exclaimed.

"Am not!"

"Yes you are!"

"Not!"

"Are!"

"Not!"

"Are!"

"Not!"

"You soooooooo are."

She sighed in defeat. "You know what? It doesn't matter 'cause I could still kick your ass either way." A devilish grin curled on her lips, her blue eyes glinting.

Jake gasped. "Oooooooo the goody-two-shoes cussed!" He laughed. Katrina just stuck her tongue out at him.

"Oh you're mature," Jinxx joked. Katrina laughed an airy, light-hearted laugh, one that made us all smile and laugh with her. All except for Ashley, who rose from his seat and walked over to Katrina, looking somewhat serious.

"So, you think you could kick my ass?" he asked, looking down at her. Her laughter died, along with ours.

She smiled. "Yeah, I probably could."

Ash sighed and picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder like a potato sack and began walking off with her.

"PUT ME DOWN PURDY!" She yelled, making us all laugh. She tried unsuccessfully to hit him and kick him, but just ended up making her self tired. Ashley just laughed at her. So did we. Since Ashley's back was to us as he walked off with her, Katrina was facing us. She glared at us, causing us to laugh even harder.

"I'm serious Ash. Put me down. People are looking at us like we're crazy!" she exclaimed.

"I don't care," he replied. They were about twenty feet away from us now and Ash was starting to turn around to bring her back.

As they got closer Katrina looked over her shoulder at us. "You guys better not be staring at my ass."

"You don't have anything to stare at," I replied.

"Hey!"

"Just kidding!"

"Why are you looking?!"

I threw my hands up in defeat. I wasn't going to win this battle.

"Put me down," she whined with a laugh and tried once again to free herself from his grasp, still failing miserably. I rolled my eyes, still shaking with laughter.

They finally reached us and Ashley put her back down on the bench next to CC. She tried to look angry, but couldn't contain her smile and ended up laughing with us.

When we were finally out of breath and the laughter died, Jake turned to Katrina and asked, "So, how long have you been listening to our music?"

"Since 9th grade," she responded. "My best friend was in love with you guys and was constantly trying to get me to listen to you. At the time, I was completely against it. You guys, no offense, kinda scared me with the looks. I judged you by the way you portrayed yourselves and I didn't want to like you guys. But after a few months of her constantly nagging me, my curiosity got the better of me. I looked you up on Pandora, and as soon as I heard the first song, something just, just clicked. The message behind the music, the style, everything, it just fit." She sighed. "All of my previous thoughts about you guys just disappeared. I fell in love with everything about you guys, and as I listened to more and more of your music, the more and more I realized who I really was. I had been hiding who I was the entire time and as I listened to your guys' message, I changed. I became less worried about what other people thought and more about what I thought. Due to that though, I've kinda butted heads with the majority of the popular kids here. But I honestly don't care. They can think what they want." She smiled thinly when she finished.

"Wow," Jinxx started. "That's awesome Katrina. I'm glad we were able to help you."

"Yeah, sorry to get all serious on you guys, but your music literally changed my life. It was the beginning of my love for Rock and it helped make me the stubborn, out-speaker I am today." She smiled again.

I had heard story after story about how our music had changed fans' lives, but hearing this story form her was just different. She had given up the potential of popularity and people accepting her for our music. We helped her find herself and she was proud of it. I was happy for that. I mean, I'm sure I'd probably heard fan stories like this one a million times before, but it's never really hit me like Katrina's story did. She just seemed so innocent.

"What was the first song you heard?" Ash asked her.

"Believe it or not, God Bless You." She grinned a cheesy grin.

"Really?" I questioned. God Bless You is one of our more heavy rock songs. She nodded in response. "Is it your favorite too?"

"No, In The End and Carolyn are my favorites."

"Good choices," Jake told her.

"So what classes do you guys have?" She asked us all as she checked her phone for the time. I did the same. We had five minutes until lunch was over. Oh joy.

"All of the classes you have," Jinxx replied, pulling out his schedule and scowling at it. "First period, Economics. Second period, Advanced Choir. Third period, AP English 12. Fourth period, Spanish II. Fifth period, Algebra II. Sixth period, P.E. And seventh period, Biology. May I ask why you have things like AP English and then you have low classes like Biology which should've been taken in your like Sophomore year?" He actually looked quite confused.

"That's because I don't actually take those classes, I'm a Teacher's Aid in them. The only classes I actually take are Advanced Choir, AP English, and P.E. Since I started taking summer courses, I've pretty much maxed out all of my educational classes. It was either be a T.A. or take electives like welding and stuff. Not my thing really so yeah... How come you guys are taking all of the classes I am?"

"You are the one who set this up. We figured that we'd get to know you better." Ashley told her, smirking at her for some unknown reason. She shrugged.

"So how come you guys are wearing your war paint?" She asked us. "I'd heard you had stopped doing it."

"We have. We just thought it'd be funny to see people's reactions to it," I laughed. "Needless to say, it had the desired affect."

She chuckled. "Yeah, it did."

I heard the bell ring, signally it was time to start heading to fifth period, which, according to Jinxx, was Algebra II. Joy... I'd passed that class once before, and I hadn't liked it much then. I doubt I will now. I was snapped from my day dreaming by Katrina's voice.

"So since I'm the only one her that knows how to get to class," she said as she stood up and began to gather her books from the ground. "Does this make me your chauffeur?"

"Yeah, I guess it does," I said as I too rose from my seat.

"Okay then," she replied cheerfully as she hooked her arm through CC's and mine. "Shall we?"

This should be fun...

6 notes · View notes

surveys-at-your-service · 5 years

Text

Survey #177

“i get pretty just to fuck my face up.”

What’s your favorite flavor of ice pop? Strawberry or watermelon. Do you like animal print? What’s your favorite print? Not particularly, but I suppose jaguar. What do you think of foot tattoos? Surprisingly, not a big fan. It's gotta be cute, well-placed, and small. Did your senior class in high school have a class trip? Where did you go? Maybe? I don't remember. What do you normally order at Dunkin Donuts? Chocolate frosted. What do you drink with dinner? It varies. Can be soda, water, milk... Peanuts or sunflower seeds? I don't like either. What is your favorite grocery store to shop at, and how often do you shop for groceries? Sam's Club totally has the best deals, but I don't make the shopping calls here. Who is your favorite character from the last movie you watched? Uhhh the super paranoid lady whose actress is a legend. Where did you have your first kiss? What about your last kiss? His bed; airport. What is the last thing you spoke to your father about? Phone bill. Who do you feel you have the most in common with? Sara. Who in your life causes you the most stress or negative feelings? Myself. Have you ever apologized to someone, but didn’t mean it? I'm sure at some point. What is the one thing that you can’t resist? Reese's, I sometimes cannooooot tell myself no to a Mtn. Dew Voltage, wanting to pet an animal even if it's dangerous, and uhhh I'm sure there's more. Have you ever done another person's homework for money? No. If you could play any piece of music on an instrument, what would it be? Teach me the ending piece from WKM on the piano so I could ruin myself further than just listening to it already does. Have you ever treated someone like they were nothing? I don't believe so. If you could ask 5 questions and get an exact answer, what would you ask? Oh yikes, deep one. Um... 1.) what is the cure for cancer, 2.) cure for Alzheimer's/dementia, 3.) cure for HIV/AIDS, 4.) how can/is it even possible to obtain world peace, and 5.) will I be stable in the future are what come to mind first. Does it frighten you when animals get into fights? I GET VERY SCARED FOR THE ANIMALS. When you were little did you touch just about everything in the store? YUP YUP YUP. Do you ever leave your drinks out in the open at a party? N/A, but I absolutely would not. Ever suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder? Yes. Who is someone you’ll always hate? No one I personally know. How many people do you trust 100 percent? Just one. I would include Mom, but I know she lies about Dad. Do you think you could survive a month of solitary confinement? NO, I really think I'd lose it and kill myself. Do you often start books, yet never finish them? I don't read, but I'd do that if I didn't like it. When was the last time you felt abandoned by someone? Idr. Does the sight of blood gross you out? No. Have you ever gone through a red light? No. Do you fail to stop for stop signs, sometimes? No. What is your favorite eye color in the opposite sex? Blue. When you are sad, do you cheer yourself up, or look to others? It depends, but I usually begin with the former. During which year of your life were you the most unhappy? 2016 can been damned by God themselves. Have you ever seen a bluejay in person? Yes. Have you ever eaten grass/leaves? Probably as a kid. Do you typically like green-colored candies? Yeah! Apple flavor is the bomb.com. Who is the most energetic and happy person you know of? Ryder, my nephew. Who makes you smile the most often? Sara Jane. :') How do you express your happiness? I'm louder, more talkative, goofier. When was the last time you did a good deed? Uhhh idk. It's a tiny thing, but I suppose you could count me getting my old man bub with arthritis up on the bed when he wanted up. What songs make you happy? Lots... Do you like to sing? Sometimes, but I'm not good at it. Where is somewhere that holds fond memories for you? Ummm the little pond behind the community college where we took our first prom photos. That whole day was just extremely magical, and passing it is a severe PTSD trigger so if for whatever reason we're driving past there, Mom goes around it. I did pass it a few months back when I was taking pictures of flowers around the college and I was okay, probably because I didn't even glance at it. What do you think of the gothic stereotype? # A E S T H E T I C Have you ever encountered a black widow? Yup. What scares you, more than anything else? Ending up alone/losing all those I love. Has an animal ever peed on you? Lol yeah... Pet rodents have multiple times when getting them accustomed to being held, a puppy probably has, and Venus (my snake) did once after I held her for like an hour, aha. Couldn't be mad at that angel, she was obviously so comfy. What would make a cool substitute color for the sun? Pink. Is purple a good color for a car? Sure. Do you prefer green or purple/red grapes? Purple; crisper. What is something you like that is sour? Warheads. What was the spiciest thing you’ve ever eaten? Some hot wings at BWW with one of the hottest sauces. When was the last time you had a real deep chat? Idk, I'm sure something with Sara. Who did you last see on webcam? I've no idea. Have you ever discovered something gross in your food at McDonalds? No. What’s your favorite flavor of Ramen? I only like the spicy chicken Yakisoba ones. Have you ever spent the night in jail? No. Name a really popular television show you never got into: Ha, a lot. Game of Thrones, for one, but I'd be willing to give it a second chance via more episodes and a different attitude and actually kinda want to. Sara, add that to our list. Do you listen to any unsigned bands/singers? Who? No, I don't believe so. I need to start listening to my old friend's band, though, because I really want to support them; they work so hard and are very serious about taking their band somewhere. Nova Mortis if you're interested and like heavy metal. What do you find really interesting? THE PARANORMAL, for one. Genetics, psychology, fossils, abandoned buildings and shacks, natural selection and evolution, outer space, differences in languages and cultures, and so much more. Who is your favorite video game character? Spyro! What kind of pictures do you post on Facebook/Instagram/Snapchat most frequently? I like never post pictures, but selfies on FB, then I have two photography Instagrams. Do you remember the first person you felt sexually attracted to? Seriously, Jason. Have you ever been on vacation with a significant other? No. Is there anything on your bucket list that you’re hoping to cross off soon? A lot of things, but. Probably won't be soon as many include travel. Of all of your friends’ significant others, who do you get along with best? And least? Sam's wife Kieley is an absolute doll; least, idk. What would your life be like if you had married your first love? HAHAHAHAHA I REEEEEAAAAALLY DON'T WANT TO PICTURE THAT KNOWING NOW HE DIDN'T/DOESN'T BELIEVE IN ME AND CAN'T COMMUNICATE FOR SHIT. What is the most difficult or time-consuming thing you’ve ever cooked? Would you make it again? N/A Have you ever had a platonic friend that everyone insisted you should be in a relationship with? Girt, hardcore. Eventually did, but we know how that went. Is there anything about a person’s sexual past that might stop you from wanting to date them? Yup: if they've assaulted someone, prostitution is involved, casual flings/one-night stands have happened, being/have been a porn star, cheated before. If someone asked your closest friends/family members what career path might suit you best, what do you think they would say? Like, everyone will answer that question with "vet." Have you ever considered “unplugging”/taking a significant period of time away from technology? lol nope I doubt I'd last a day with no technology. Do you use a photo editor? Lightroom, Photoshop, sometimes PhotoScape. Is your dad overweight? Quite the opposite. Ever been honked at? Yeah. Which do you prefer, doctor or dentist? Dentist; I'm never nervous for them. Name two things you put whipped cream on? I haaaate whipped cream. Texture thing. Favorite thing you’ve ever painted? Two meerkats grooming, done on a huge thing of burlap. What’s your favorite type of sushi? Never tried, never will. Have you ever had an ulcer? No. What’s the name of the most recent baby a friend has had? Scarlett. Have you ever taken medication to help you fall asleep faster? Yup. I had a long insomnia streak where I physically couldn't sleep without Melatonin. What is your current favorite song? I'm hooked on "The Bottom is a Rock" by Mother Mother rn. If you had to move to another country, where would you move? Canada. Do you have a balcony? No. Are you jealous of anyone, even mildly? If so, who? Yeah, my sisters, as well as some real successful friends. Have you ever done a craft you saw in a magazine? No. Have you ever made a recipe you found in a magazine? No. Who is a singer that has given you chills? Celine Dion, Loreena McKennitt, Sebastian Bach, David Draiman, and Amy Lee off the top of my head. What act would you perform in a talent show? I wouldn't, I got nothin'. What area are you the most gifted in, do you think? Um... writing, I guess? Which style of wedding dress is your favorite? BALLGOWN BITCH Do you enjoy editing videos? Ye! Do you enjoy editing photos? Yup. Who do you think is the most attractive actor? I see u Jason Momoa. Have you ever been caught doing something REAL embarrassing by your parents? I don't believe so. Do you believe in reincarnation? No. Do you have any of your neighbors as friends on Facebook? No. When was the last time you thought about sex, or sexual things? Ummm within the past few days probably, at least briefly? Are there any flowers planted outside your house? We have a tall bush that sprouts big, pink flowers, if that counts. Does anyone in your family smoke? Dad. What was the very first election you voted in? I haven't yet. Do you have a drone? No. Are you the type that’s too ashamed to ask for or use directions? No, rather too shy. Were you tired when you woke up this morning? YEAH. I slept like shit and had to get up early for a VR assessment. You overhear two people gossiping about you; what do you do? I feel like I'd say something sarcastic to them. Or be more mature about it and ask why. Or cry. Are you proud of who you are? Eh, only in certain areas... Is your vision good? I can barely read the line below the big "E." So no lmao. Are you a legal adult? Yeah but idk how. Has anyone ever called you a flirt? No. What was the last compliment your received? The assessment lady at VR loved my hair. Do you know any sign language? No. Who was the last person to give you a gift? Sara, on our anniversary. Do you trust the media? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA BITCH NO. If you could kill off one species of animal, which would it be? Can gnats like????? not???????? Idk if they have a single useful function????????? What kind of cookies are your favorite? Chocolate chip. Who’d you last say I love you to? My mom. What’s the most overpaid job in your opinion? I'm not educated on this enough to give you an informed answer. What’s the last thing you wrote down? Working out a math problem during the assessment. When’s the last time you didn’t sleep in your own bed? Over a month ago. When’s the last time you heard a gunshot? Idk. Who’d you get mad at last? Myself. What’s the last thing that annoyed you? Bentley wouldn't listen. When’s the last time you gave someone advice? I think yesterday? Do you think you’re lucky, unlucky, or neither? Neither. Who did you last disappoint? Myself. Do you enjoy learning? Of course!!!! I mean there're subjects I have no interest in and don't enjoy, but learning as a whole is great. People say you learn something new every day, so what did you learn today? Well it was nothing big, but that I could return Miku before she got hurt since Mitsu didn't appreciate a new "buddy." Yes or no: eyebrow piercings? They can look super badass or awful depending on your face and eyebrow thickness imo. When I say The Beatles, what is the first song that comes to mind? "Yellow Submarine" even tho I hate that song???? In your opinion, what is the very worst type of weather? Hot and humid, especially with no breeze. Just no. You can only listen to 1 band for the rest of your life, who do you pick? DON'T MAKE ME. What is something that you had to learn the hard way? DON'T. THINK. A RELATIONSHIP. IS WITHOUT A SINGLE CHANCE. OF. SOMEONE. LEAVING. EVEN. IN THE MOST "SECURE" ONES. When was the last time you felt like your heart was actually breaking? Ahhhh I'm not sure. Either something with Mom or Sara. Who was the last person you cried in front of? Mom. If your ex called you right now, would you answer? I don't have his number, so I wouldn't answer. Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with? Sara. Do you want your tongue pierced? It is. 10/10 recommend for cute factor, but 0/10 for the healing process and pain asjfawiwo. Mine's through the very tip of my tongue and because that area is so sensitive, it was so painful that I became immediately nauseous. Pain didn't entirely vanish for almost two weeks. BUT I have zero regrets, so worth it. Is there something that happened in your past you hate talking about? Yeah. What’s one thing in your life that you wish you could change? Financial position. Have you ever been in a perfect relationship? Ha, don't ever believe those exist. Do you still talk to the person who broke your heart the most? Nope. Have you ever done something sexual that you regret? Ummm I don't believe so. Well, I don't know if I'd take back going all the way or whatever the fuck that was, maybe I would. idk Ever had a person who was obsessed with you so much that it scared you? No. Can you drive, and if you can, do you like it? I'm capable, but I don't enjoy it at all. Have you ever said anything to the last person you kissed that you regret? Yeah, being in a shit mood and/or being impulsive with my words. Do you like french fries? Who the FUCK sayin no to this. Have you ever ate so much you puked? No. Do you care about what others think of your physical appearance? To some degree/in certain aspects. Would you rather eat cookies or brownies? Probs brownies. Have you ever played a drinking game? Which ones? No. Are you good with managing your finances? I don't. Not in that position yet. What is the closest pizza place to your house? Domino's. Do you have any silly nicknames or pet names? Hmmmm no. Are you any good at drawing? Some things. Is there anything unusual about your house? No. Can you maintain a text conversation or do you run out of things to say? I think I'm good at keeping *text* convos going, surprisingly. Do you find it hard to talk to strangers, even people who work in stores? YEAH!!!!!!! Have you ever tasted goat’s milk? No. Did you ever take classes for a musical instrument when you were younger? Yup. Band member all through middle school, stopped after my junior year of HS. Do you snore when you sleep? No, but I talk a loooot. Who is the first person who broke your heart? Dad. Do you know anyone who has fought in a war? Jason's dad was in the Navy. What religion are you? Theist, which basically just entails me believing there's a god/goddess/some sorta beginning deity, but hell if I know anything about them. I make my own guesses. Who is the last person you gave a ride to, and where did you take them? I don't have a license or my own car. What is the last thing you untruthfully denied? Hm. I'm not sure. Have you ever ridden on a real train? No. Name ONE good memory about your last ex? He's absolutely hilarious and I miss hanging out more! Would you consider yourself dishonest? Not gonna bullshit and claim I never am, but in general, no. Do you tend to let people break through your walls easily? HAHA YEAH RIGHT. What are you superstitious about? Nothing. What is the coolest thing you can do? Oh boy, hell if I know. I know from experience people are often surprised how even skittish animals/pets seem to be drawn to me; does that count? Is there anyone you want to hook up with that you haven’t? Not my thing.

#survey #quiz #questions #random

3 notes · View notes