#i misspelled like 10 words in this doodle

[jascurka]

Most if not all people feel like this sometimes and we all do all kinds of embarrassing things without thinking first. So what if we just shrugged it off collectively, don't you think we would all be fine?

#i drew this because my brain was going all kys kys kys jump outta the window NOW because of this one cringe thing I did recently #i misspelled like 10 words in this doodle #i dont know how to tag this uhhh #my art #sketches #comic

[fuckyeah-dragrace]

Under the Willow

Part 2 of the highschool au! First I’d like to give the biggest thank you to @thecollectionsof for helping me get this out to all of you! They’re amazing so please, give them some love!

——

Daya ran from the dance room as fast as her feet would take her.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Why did she kiss her? Now she surely doesn’t have a chance with Jasmine, the one girl she’s liked for… however long it’s been. Tears blurred her vision as she made it outside of the school, ducking behind to the park just past the school. She found a big willow tree and crashed onto the ground, her heart racing and her breaths coming short and erratic. She leaned back against the weathered bark as her mind wouldn’t let her not relive that moment; how soft Jasmine’s lips were against her own chapped ones, how she felt her lean into her, how desperately her own hands wanted to find purchase on Jasmine’s waist but didn’t.

Her hands traced the scratched pattern on the tree until her fingers found an etched out portion in the wood. She followed the smooth line as her fingers traced a little heart. She scoffed, even a tree was taunting her. Her nails dragged to the center of the heart, finding more carvings. She followed the lines before her hand felt as if it were on fire, finger trembling as full on tears started streaming down her cheeks.

D + J

Her hand fell from the tree and covered her mouth as she choked back a sob into her palm. She remembers when she carved that, she’d always remember that day.

She was maybe 10 years old and was waiting for Jasmine under the tree. She sulked until that perfect blonde ponytail came into view. She smiled until she realized that Jasmine’s normally bright green eyes were red and puffy.

“Jazzy? Hey, what’s wrong?” Jasmine couldn’t contain herself anymore. She flung herself into Daya's arms and started to cry into her shoulder. She held her tight and rubbed her back as her cries turned to quiet hiccups.

“I’m going away for the summer.”

“What?” Daya pulled away to look at Jasmine.

“It’s some preppy dance camp. I don’t even want to go but my moms making me.”

“How long is it?” Jasmine wiped her eyes.

“The whole summer.” Daya's eyes widened.

“But we were going to spend all of it together.” She did her best to conceal the wobble of her voice but failed as Jasmine smiled sadly.

“I know and I’m really really sorry. But I have the address so maybe we can send letters?” Daya nodded, holding onto Jasmine tight. Jasmine rested her head on Daya's shoulder. “Di, will you forget me?”

“No,” she said softly as she wiped away a stray tear from Jasmine’s cheek. “You’re my best friend, Jasmine. I’d never forget you.” She pulled out the dull craft knife she’d stolen from her sister two weeks ago but had never gotten the chance to use. “Here, I have an idea.”

They carved their initials into the tree that day, leaving behind a symbol of their friendship.

Jasmine left within that same week, Daya helping with everything she could. She still remembers how tightly they hugged and how she tried to follow the car as Jasmine got further and further away from her. They wrote to each other often, detailing every little thing from their summers and how much they’d missed each other. Daya treasured those letters and would reread them over and over again when she missed Jasmine, tracing over the loopy script and smiling at the crossed out words she misspelled, ignoring the slight flutter of her heart whenever she’d write her name and doodle a little heart next to it. Summer finally ended and Daya and Jasmine were together again in the same class but a new girl had joined them, someone Jasmine knew from her summer camp.

Camden.

They would talk about dance all the time and they even had little jokes between them. Soon it was Jasmine and Camden talking with Daya sitting with them, not adding anything to the conversation. She would try and talk to Jasmine but she’d always be with Camden and the betrayal hurt worse than she could’ve ever imagined. Her worst fear came true.

She had been forgotten, and it killed her. Her heart was hurting in an unimaginable way and she wanted Jasmine to feel the same, to see what she did to her. She stopped talking to her all together. Her seat was changed away from Jasmine’s table, she never played with her at recess, she wouldn’t smile back in the halls. Jasmine had broken her heart, shattering it into pieces Daya couldn’t piece back together and she wanted her to know it.

She remembers how awful their fight was. It was after school under this same tree, a perfect day where the shade and sun made the most perfect spot to sit in and summer starting to creep in again. They’d screamed at each other, throwing words like stones and shattering whatever friendship they’d had.

“I wish you never came back! I wish we were never friends!” She shouted at Jasmine, her ten year old frame vibrating all the hurt and anger that she had tried to keep from bubbling inside her. She remembers how scared Jasmine looked, how wide her eyes were as Daya raved like a maniac, how her hands were shaking at her side, how she didn’t realize she was crying until Daya grabbed her things and struck one last hit to her once best friend, destroying any chance of the pair mending their ties together.

I hate you.

Daya’s stomach twisted at how horrible she was to Jasmine all those years ago. She was gripping the wood chips and dirt as she cried hot angry tears, berating her younger self for how stupid she was. Yes, she was hurting but she had no right to let anyone else feel how she did, especially Jasmine. Her Jasmine.

“Way to go, Betty.” She mumbled to herself, wiping her eyes on her shoulder. She rested her head against her knees and was ready for another wave of tears but was instead met with the familiar sound of feet hitting grass. The footsteps got closer and closer until they stopped right by Daya. She lifted her head and saw Jasmine standing in front of her. Her cheeks were pink and her eyes seemed worried. Daya scoffed, rubbing her eyes.

“What do you want, Kennedie? Come to kick me while I’m down?” She laughed darkly, a sad and reserved smile lifting her lips as she waited for her slaughter.

“I wanted to finish our talk. Can we?” she asked, seeming genuine with no malice hidden behind her concern filled eyes. Daya paused and looked at her, really looked at her. She saw a turmoil behind her eyes and she hated that she was probably the cause of it. She moved a little, giving some room in the dirt for Jasmine to sit. Once she joined her on the ground, Daya started to fidget with her sleeves, hoping that this would go quickly and she could hide in her life of shame and misery.

“Go ahead, tell me that you hate me and never want to see me again.”

“I don’t, Daya.” She brought her hand closer to the taller girls, but didn't make contact. “I could never hate you.”

Daya looked at her and she could feel that undeniable urge inside to reach out and touch Jasmine fill her chest. She brought her hand closer and felt their pinkies brush, noticing a quick quirk of Jasmine's lips at the contact.

“Jasmine, I’m sorry I shouldn’t have kissed you. That was-”

“Amazing.” She whispered in response. Daya's heart and world nearly turned over. She saw that same quiet smile she fell in love with grace Jasmine’s gorgeous lips.

“Really?” She nodded. Daya could feel her lips draw into a smile as hope filled her. She had a chance. She had a chance.

“It felt amazing, Daya.” She smiled at her. “Better than I’d ever imagined.”

“You imagined that?” Jasmine nodded

“Yeah. It’s a little embarrassing.” She laughed sheepishly, looking at the dirt in front of her. “I’m surprised you haven’t caught me staring at you in English yet. June always catches me and laughs.” She smiled and hugged her knees towards her chest.

Daya had never seen a more beautiful sight in front of her eyes, thinking she was looking at a priceless painting right now. Jasmine’s golden hair falling perfectly to frame her face, the light dusting of pink on her cheeks and nose—either from running here or from being so close to her, Daya wasn’t sure. She brought herself even closer.

Daya brought her hand on top of Jasmine’s and laced their fingers together. Jasmine’s breath hitched as she looked back at Daya, her beautiful green eyes finding those hypnotizing blue ones.

Silence settled around them as they watched the clouds above them and the branches swaying in the gentle breeze. Daya looked back at Jasmine and felt those broken shards of her heart come and meld together again, finally finding their place and beating as one.

Jasmine blushed again and Daya smiled. “Would you want to—”-“ before she could even finish, those oh-so-kissable lips were pressed against hers again. Her eyes widened for a moment before Jasmine pulled away quickly, her blush redder than ever.

“Sorry,.” she stuttered. “I just wanted to show you instead of messing it up with words.” Daya smiled and tucked a stray strand of hair behind Jasmine’s ear. “And your chapstick tastes good.” Daya barked a laugh that seemed to rattle the branches and leaves of the old tree. She sighed and brought an arm around Jasmine, pulling her flush against her side. They were stiff for a beat before Jasmine leaned her head against Daya's shoulder, seeming to relax at the feeling of Daya against her.

“Anyways, before I was rudely interrupted,” Jasmine giggled and moved even closer to her, feeling how Daya's breath hitchedstuttered for a brief moment before continuing. “I was going to ask if you wanted to try this. Us.”

“I’d love nothing more.” Now Daya was really smiling like an idiot.

“Yeah?”

Jasmine turned to look at her and Daya never thought she could look so beautiful. She nodded. “Yeah.”

Daya's warm hand came up from the ground and cradled Jasmine's cheek, feeling how soft her skin was against her palm. Her thumb brushed over the growing blush and smiled warmly at her. Daya could feel Jasmine’s warm breath as she slowly leaned in and their lips brushed against each other before finally meeting. She could feel Jasmine push forward gently against her and she smiled into the kiss.

“I could do this all day.” Jasmine mumbled after they pulled away for air. She leaned in for another kiss and Daya laughed. Her pale arms wrapped around Daya's neck as she pulled away and connected their foreheads.

“I’m so happy I found you again,.” she admitted quietly, a little tear slipping down her cheek. Jasmine wiped the tear away and pecked her cheek.

“Not going anywhere.” Her hand came and cradled Daya’s cheek before kissing her again, more comfort and reassurance shared between their lips as Daya smiled against her lips, hands resting now on Jasmine’s waist and feeling how at peace she was. They pulled away breathless and smiling as Jasmine rested against her chest, content in one another’s embrace.

“Neither am I. I’m all yours, Jas.” She smiled as they sat together, watching the sky change, enjoying each other and what else was to come their way.

#rpdr season 14 #jasmine kennedie #daya betty #jasya #highschool au #GUYS #OML I LOVE THIS SM #again thank you Gi for all your help!

[hoppips]

end of the year art meme... i don't think i've posted one to tumblr in a few years but this is the place for more long form posts so i'm doing some retrospection. it's rambly and kind of corny engage at your own discretion LMAO

(2013 and 2018 art summaries, for the 10 and 5 year marks)

please don't look at my cringe teenage interests too hard (or the fact that i apparently had a misspelled url in 2013 lmaoo) but it's crazy to think about how i've been doing this for 10 years now... the past few years in particular have been uniquely challenging for me. without getting into it, my personal situation was basically constantly unstable. i spent most of my energy just trying to get by, and unsurprisingly my relationship with art suffered as a result of the perpetual lack of spoons i had. there was actually a point in late 2019/ early 2020 where i thought about giving up on art entirely. i was art blocked out of my mind and i hated everything i was drawing, picking it apart to pieces before i could let myself just enjoy making anything. the turning point for me was probably some time around april 2020 when i was finally starting to somewhat emerge from some of the issues in my personal life. funny how being stressed might make it hard to create, huh.

but to be honest, it's not even that things got uh, much better. not for a while, anyway. it wasn't until this year actually that things are... normal-ish (knocking on wood that it stays this way). but i'd still point to that time in 2020 being a turning point for my art at least, because that's when i finally started to draw to make things i wanted to make. especially when i was younger i was kind of obsessed with needing to get better as fast as possible. i thought a lot about trying to make my art look "better" rather than like.. i don't know... just making it? as cheesy as it is, this is something i owe ffxiv so much for because like, just genuinely, i got so obsessed with my wols and the characters i liked in that game that i wanted to draw them all the time. it's the closest i'd felt to being a kid doodling pokemon in my math notebook.

i'd be lying if i said my relationship with my art is perfect, or even *good*, right now. i still have a tendency to critique it much more harshly than is probably good for me, especially now that it's my only source of income. there's a lot of technical skill i lack. i'm a great combo of self-taught and lazy so i only know what i've taught myself and i'm allergic to actually doing studies lol. in the moment it was really easy for me to get in my own head about the quality of my work, especially now that my disposable income basically depended entirely on what i made from commissions. but i realized i can say i really had a lot of fun with my art this year. so, i'm pretty fucking proud of what i made (also to be fair! i think it all slaps! let me toot my own horn, its christmas) i don't really have anything concrete to say to close this off, this is just me rambling to myself. i don't really do this kind of thing often, but one of my regrets is that i didn't journal much in the past so i don't have many concrete records of things to look back on.

if i'm looking at this in a few years, or to whoever might be reading this right now, i suppose if anything i want to say it doesn't really matter how good or bad what you make is, as long as you had fun. i know its saccharine, and you'll just have to forgive me for the sentiment. but i suppose i think sometimes about how the word amateur technically means doing something for the love of it. and that's enough, really. i love my weird little guys (gender neutral), why else would i spend hours drawing them. love is how you survive the horrors, and that can be love for a dead ghost man from an mmorpg.

anyway a nap is calling for me now, i fought back against stew induced food coma for this. peace and love on planet earth.

#improvement meme #personal

[factual-fantasy]

.....Guys..

Guys I cant cope with this, its too adorable.

I.. dude like.. for real.. like..

Transformers.. are made of metal.. and magnets.. stick to metallll...

...duuuude... I have so many cute headcannons now that I feel like my head is going to explode..

Imagine Miko.. She saves up her money and buys this sheet magnet one day right? She draws these cute little pictures, cuts them out, glues them to the magnet and cuts the magnet sheet to make her own personalized magnets.

She started with Bulkhead. She would discretely place the magnets on the back of his legs as high up as she could reach. He’s a bit clueless, cant actually see them unless he deliberately looks for them and cant feel them. So he has like 15 magnets stuck to his legs but he doesn’t know at all.

Miko manages to stick about 3 on Bumblebee before he started getting suspicious.

She gave some to Raf and Jack and they joined in.

The kids ended up turning it onto a game. They tried to see who could get the most magnets on different bots. Ratchet being worth the most points.

All three kids got about two magnets each on Optimus which was really hard to do because they had to somewhat climb on him and hope he didn’t move. Optimus knew from the very beginning exactly what they were doing and when they were doing it to him, but he thought it was adorable so pretended to be oblivious and stand extra still whenever he felt one of them climbing up on his pedes. Plus, Optimus was worth a lot of points in the game so he didn’t to make one of them lose because he caught them in the act.

Miko made one with a giant cute Bumblebee on it and put it on, well, duh, Bumblebee’s leg. He was later seen with a face full of pride and the magnet on his chest plate. 

Miko and Raf spent the night at Jacks house and Miko brought all her magnet gear. They took a sick day and spent all their time making magnets. They went to the base that weekend with these big heavy backpacks that were obviously filled with magnets. Every member of team Prime that knew about the magnet stuff pretended to be very busy and distracted that day.

Miko made a giant magnet that had a blushing Shrek on it and stuck it to Ratchet’s foot. He hasn’t noticed yet and she got over 1000 points for it.

Raf was placed on Ratchets shoulder at one point or another, and this absolute mad lad manages to stick a bright pink one with a flower on it right on the side of Ratchet’s head where he cant see or feel it. But of course all the other bots could see it clear as day and never said anything. Raf got 5000 points for getting a girly magnet on Ratchet’s head.

Arcee was the hardest to sneak up on, absolutely nobody could get a magnet on her. She was worth 6000 points because of the difficulty. At first she didn’t want one.. but then Bulkhead, and Bumblebee were gushing about how cute and creative the magnets were and how much they loved them. Arcee got a bit jealous, now she wants a pretty Miko magnet too..

But she cant just like, ask for one. So one day she pretended to be exhausted all day and constantly distracted and working on stuff. But as soon as a magnet mysteriously appeared on her ankle she suddenly had all the energy in the world and had a particular prep in her step. She now pretends to be tired when ever she wants another magnet.

Jack somehow managed to sneak a laugh/crying emoji magnet on the back of Smokescreens head. He still hasn’t noticed this particular magnet and keeps wondering why everyone keeps laughing literally behind his back.

When Wheeljack was around, Miko tried to sneak a magnet on him while he was sitting down with Bulkhead. But there’s no sneaking up on Jackie, so he instantly noticed her and was like, “The frag you doin??” And Bulkhead just whispered, “Duuuude you’re not supposed to notice.” Wheeljack kept the magnet because it said “foxy grandpa” on it, he doesn’t know what it means but he thought it sounded funny.

When Ratchet finally noticed the like, almost 10 magnets on his legs he was annoyed at first......

..But they’re so cute, and Miko worked so hard on them and they have little faces on them.. And it just.. It makes Miko so darn happy and giggly when she sees he still hasn’t noticed them yet. So he pretends to be the most oblivious of them all, letting the kids stick tons of magnets to him.

He gets to about 40 magnets before Optimus kind’a nudges him and goes, “I can no longer tell if you are actually oblivious to all the magnets, my friend.” And Ratchet just goes, “Don’t tell the kids I know, I don’t want to spoil their fun.” Optimus just nods and says, “Of course, would you do the same for me? I do not wish to spoil their game, I am still worth very many points.”

It genuinely took Ratchet forever to notice the pink flower magnet though. He didn’t remember putting Raf on his shoulder that one time and never thought that Raf would actually do something like that. He eventually noticed it when he saw that whenever anyone looked at him their faces would just light up.

.......................He left that one there and pretended to not notice it because it made Optimus genuinely smile every, single, time, he looked at it.

One time Ratchet was called out to a mission with about 40 magnets stuck to his legs, he returned with only about 16 and had a crushed expression on his face. He was in a horrible mood after that mission, despite how well it went. Later the remaining 16 magnets disappeared too, Miko thought Ratchet had finally discovered them and just threw them out. She sheepishly went up to him and asked him if that was true.

Ratchet looked appalled and said, “Absolutely not! Why would I throw them out??” He brought his left arm down and flipped up his armored plating to reveal the 16 remaining magnets all neatly organized and stuck to the underside of the plate. “I didn’t want to lose any more of them, they wont get lost or damaged here.” Safe to say Miko didn’t think Ratchet cared and teared up a little.

At one point Miko made special jumbo magnets for each member of team prime. Optimus got a bright red one that was covered in blue glitter, it said “BOOS MAN” in big gold letters. She misspelled boss.. Arcee’s was baby blue with the word “QUEEN” poorly spelled in cursive with hot pink marker. Bumblebees was a bright yellow one with black stripes that had the word “STINGER” written on it, but you cant really tell because the words were also black. Ratchet had a white one that had an orange cross on it and had the words “Best Medic” written very carefully and neatly with black sharpie. Bulkhead’s was the biggest one, it was a bright green one that said “My Best Friend” on it. It had a tiny doodle of Miko and Bulk’s faces on it too.

Optimus smiled at his, said it was lovely and hid it some where to keep it safe, but occasionally he could be seen wearing it around the base. Same thing with Arcee, she said she loved it and wore it occasionally. Bumblebee wore his with pride on his chest plate around the base but took it off before he went on missions. Ratchet cried in private over his and hid it somewhere, occasionally on a good day the magnet could be spotted on his left chest plate. Bulkhead also cried a bit but not in private. He put it on his chest plate and said he’d treasure it forever.

Miko eventually ran out of magnets and money, so Agent Fowler came in clutch and got her like a 15 foot heavy duty magnet sheet and these mega big scissors so she could keep making them.

Ultra Magnus told Wheeljack to take the “foxy grandpa” magnet off his shoulder pad because it was “distracting”. Wheeljack looked at Ultra Magnus, then at Miko, then at Ultra Magnus. He said okay and took the magnet off his shoulder and slapped it right on his forehead.

Miko laughed so hard she nearly passed out. Ultra Magus said to take it off and Wheeljack was like “make me you coward”.

Wheeljack asked specifically for biggest, most ugly and obnoxious Magnet she had. Miko returned with a diner plate sized baked Berry Benson magnet that she didn’t have the chance to use. Wheeljack put it on his shoulder pad where it could best be seen and refused to take it off JUST to make the kids laugh and annoy Ultra Magnus.

I would keep going but honestly this post is getting too long and if I try to keep going my brain is going to melt from the cuteness.

♡(ಥ﹏ಥ)♡

#transformers prime #tfp headcannons

[miss-mossball]

Taiga! >:0

oooo thank u very much Ros! <3

01. Full name: Taiga Bell Neve 02. Best friend: Taiga doesn’t make many super close friends outside her siblings and cousins, but finds kinmanship in her fellow bunnies everywhere she goes. As much of a lone wolf as she thinks she is, theres no denying her desire for a sense of community 03. Sexuality: Bisexual, mostly leaning towards women 04. Favorite color: A deep shade of red you could match with both sunflowers and snow 05. Relationship status: depends on the AU, I think, i dont use Taiga as much as I’d like tooo 06. Ideal mate: Someone who can make her laugh and have fun, share jokes with and generally be chill with her sarcastic sense of humor. 07. Turn-ons: Furry or not, its a typical thing for the bunnibs to be easily melted when their tails are played with. If you can get to it without Taiga kicking the shit out of you, good luck? 08. Favorite food: Chocolate-covered pretzels and Cherry + blue raspberry slushies 09. Crushes: @ros-doodles ‘ Esmeralda(im sorry if i misspelled that) + @duck-roulette‘s Suzy <3 10. Favorite music: Alternative, rock, all the edgy emo stuff from the early 2000′s 11. Biggest fear: Abandonment, driving her friends away 12. Biggest fantasy: Being able to one day pay Hail in full for the cottage he’s been letting her and her twin brother live in, maybe go travelling... Just have a generally laid-back and content life 13. Bad habits: swearing between words like stutters, being too hard on herself for feeling anything shes ‘not meant to’, being a bit lazy otherwise 14. Biggest regret: every mistake shes ever made that comes to haunt at 4 am 15. Best kept secrets: that she, turns out... was born from Parents. Ew.  Also, not really a secret, but not many people know she and Buck were twins, they tend to mistake him and their cousin Bunny to be twins instead 16. Last thought: “Hmmmb want mcdonald...............s” 17. Worst romantic experience: “Not romantic, but once there was a guy who wanted to vore my little bunny blob self....” 18. Biggest insecurity: she’s desperate to not be seen as ‘weak’ in any way. Has an overbite and naturally resting bitch-face 19. Weapon of choice: Anything hard and handy :v she has an axe for chopping wood she wouldnt mind using 20. Role Model: herself!!! >8U.....Hail, who she sees as a father to her

#my ocs #taiga neve #personas #ask meme #hmmmb a lot of this could apply to either furry taiga or human/lapin taiga so it works right??

[afairytale]

10 Questions Tag

Rules: answer 10 questions and ask 10 new ones.

Thank you to @readingbooksinisrael for tagging me!🥰🥰

1. What is your favorite subgenre (fairy tale retellings, comedy of manners, alternative history, etc.)?

oh definitely fairy tale retellings! can’t stop reading them :-)

2. Do you prefer writing poetry or prose?

poetry!! even though i have been writing more prose lately

3. What’s your favorite book from where you live (interpret this as broadly or as small as you want to)?

i can only think of divergent being a book i read from the chicago area, so divergent it is! but only the first book

4. Do you watch any reality tv?

i watch big brother but that’s a game show so i’m not sure if that counts

5. Who is your favorite “sidekick” (from Robin to Ron and Hermione)?

dick grayson robin for sure! but mostly him as nightwing and not a sidekick

6. Do you prefer warm or cold colours?

warm colors!!!!

7. What is your favorite type of art to do?

this is hard cuz i love so many but top three are writing, jewlery making, and doodling!

8. What was your favorite school subject?

math! but spanish and french as a tied and close second

9. Do you like writing book reviews?

yes! but i‘m only just starting

10. What’s a short story I should read?

Red Rapunzel: A Twisted Fairytale by Ingrid. It’s very short and i love it. https://voyageofthemind.com/2020/07/17/red-rapunzel-a-twisted-fairytale/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

Tagging @literaturelove @parisianfaerie @probableereading @mynameisgoliath @owl-vision @thebookbud @sputniklabyrinth @blogthebooklover @aliteraryprincess & @fairytalebookreviews-blog to answer my 10 questions if they want!

1. What word do you always misspell?

2. What is your favorite book cover?

3. What is your most hated book and why?

4. What’s your favorite snack when you’re stressed out?

5. What do you draw when you doodle (faces, hearts, random lines, etc.)?

6. If you could invent a crossover animal (like a cat dog) and have it be your pet, what would it be?

7. When you hang out with friends, do you lead the conversation or pipe in when you want to?

8. Did you/do you name your stuffed animals?

9. What tv show or movie could you watch over and over again?

10. If money, family, logistics, language, etc. wasn’t an issue at all, where is your dream place to live?

[ask-the-skeksis-and-mystics]

So/var hcs? For the soul?

I will always oblige with some So/Var!

- They took forever getting together because So is very egotistical and Var went through a long period of confusing love and loyalty.

- Var likes to think of himself as strong and stoic, but he is an open book emotion wise (it's the snorts that give it away)

- In private, if he knows that Var is in a bad mood (sad snort), So will inquire about it as nonchalantly as possible.

- So tries to act like he doesn't care much about Var, but the one time the General got really sick, he was a complete and total mess the whole time (which he still denies)

- Var secretly loves romance, but fears he will be seen as weak if he indulges in it too much. So knows this and makes them have "obligatory date nights" at least once a weak (Vars favorite day)

- Var also secretly loves sweets and there is always a mysterious package of crawlies and sweet cake outside his bedroom door after dinner.

- Var loves scratches, especially on his head.

- So loves giving scratches (he will also deny this)

- So doesn't play favorites. Except with Var. Var is his favorite.

- Var is actually able to read, but is severely dyslexic, so it's especially hard for him. So knows this (but Var doesn't know that he knows) and will often read aloud if he is reading and Var is around.

- So is noticeably much angrier whenever Var is away from the Castle.

- They have a shared bedchamber, as well as separate ones. They didn't use it a whole bunch until So started getting nightmares. He finds comfort having Var with him during those times.

- Var loves to compliment So, but he always asks for permission before doing so.

- So absolutely uses his authority as Emperor to let Var get off the hook for things that would get other Skeksis punished (not that Var does much to warrant punishment)

- Var gives lovely shoulder massages... But only for So.

- Var will drop whatever he is doing if he hears So call for him (no matter where he is in the Castle)

- He once burst through a wall of the Castle cause he got too impatient to find the door. So was a mix of angry and impressed.

- So is one for more subtle compliments, but sometimes he will give Var a very blunt compliment (Ex: "you look lovely today, General.")

- Fun fact: blunt compliments (especially from the Emperor) make Var very, very flustered.

- So absolutely hates seeing Var sad and if he so much as hears a sad snort, he will be on an escapade to deal with whatever made his General sad.

- Once, Var was sad that his favorite helmet got ruined in battle and the next day, So had 10 exact replicas of that helmet built and gifted to Var.

- Var sometimes sends So his favorite flowers or jewels and the note (in Vars messy handwriting) always read that it's from a "secret admirer" with a cute little message written out as well (the note is misspelled every time)

- So absolutely knows its Var, but says nothing. He has a giant dresser filled with just the little notes Var has left him over the trine.

- So will always make it bluntly known whenever he is displeased with Var (any angry feelings don't last long because So cracks the moment he hears a sad snort)

- They fight on occassion (mainly So), but they are quick to make up as neither like seeing the other upset.

- Var has a tendency to copy (to a degree) those that he respects. So sometimes tricks Var into complimenting himself.

- Since his experiments with the Darkening, So gets injured and sick easier than before. Var helps him out a lot even before he learns of the experiments.

- One of the few times Var started a fight is when he learned of the Darkening experiments. So eased up on them for a while, but didn't fully stop them.

- Var is the only Skeksis that So trusts wholeheartedly and, only once, has even confided how much he truly trusts and cares for the General.

- Var isn't the best with words, so he tends to stick to physical affection and gifts.

- So loves whenever Var tries his best with words, no matter how bad it sounds.

- If So makes even half a mention as to something he wants, Var immediately starts searching for it.

(Also, I haven't been drawing much, so heres a little doodle!)

#the dark crystal #skeksis ask #skekvar #skekso #shipping ask

[mynameisgoliath]

10 question tag

Rules: answer 10 questions and ask 10 new ones.

Thank you to @afairytale​ for tagging me! I’m actually the same person as @readingbooksinisrael​ but it’s different questions, so!

1. What word do you always misspell?

Invitation. I pronounce it with an /n/ between the second i and first t so I always add that.

2. What is your favorite book cover?

Favorite is hard but I’ve been loving Bigger Than A Bread Box recently.

3. What is your most hated book and why?

Giving me a chance to rant is dangerous.

It doesn’t matter what the title is because I don’t remember but I read it for literature class and it has about 10/200 pages of plot and the mc has no personality (he doesn’t even have a name he has so little personality) and the single female character who is not old is just there to be attractive and then fridged. And it’s implied that their teacher is attracted to her.

4. What’s your favorite snack when you’re stressed out?

Chocholate chip cookies.

5. What do you draw when you doodle (faces, hearts, random lines, etc.)?

Circles.

6. If you could invent a crossover animal (like a cat dog) and have it be your pet, what would it be?

Ooh, good one. Uh, I think a falcon carp could be interesting.

7. When you hang out with friends, do you lead the conversation or pipe in when you want to?

Pipe in.

8. Did you/do you name your stuffed animals?

No, or when I do it’s still basically no (lion named Leona, bear named Dov Ber, etc...)

9. What tv show or movie could you watch over and over again?

B99 probably? I’m not really a fan of watching stuff.

10. If money, family, logistics, language, etc. wasn’t an issue at all, where is your dream place to live?

Next to the Bell Park in Jerusalem.

Tagging: @mo-is-writing​ @miss-sweetpotato​ @jewishicequeen​ @lemonadeandlanguages​ @arabskaya-devushka​ (if you want)

1. If you have pets what are their nicknames?

2. What’s your favorite carb? Alternatively, your favorite meat?

3. What fairytale would you most like to adapt? Book/movie/tv?

4. What was your favorite game as a kid?

5. What city that you’ve never been to would you most like to spend a day?

6. Pick a character. Now cast the worst idea you can think of to play them in their biographical movie.

7. Do you listen to music on spotify, youtube, vinyl, something else? Why?

8. Would you rather be too hot or too cold?

9. How much patience do you have for tropes?

10. What is the cutest word (in any language) in your opinion?

#tag games #about me

[actualkomodo]

Wasn’t tagged by anyone but nabbed this meme from @niomemizune​!

Transcription under the cut.

1. your username: actualkomodo

2. your character's name: Cuinn!

3. the race you'd fantasia to if you had to: Viera--I did for a while but loved Xaela too much.

4. your starting city and grand company: Gridania, Maelstrom

5. your least favourite job: 🚫 BLU 🚫

6. a minion you'd want in real life: I already have a birb minion (or I am his...). Tender Lamb or Mameshiba. amaro?????

7. where you would like a new housing area: ...the steppe mayhaps...

8. an npc whose clothes you'd wear: if it wasn’t out of the ordinary and maybe if I had use for it--full body plate or scale armour. ♥♥ S-Sidurgu? Or DRG gear. More practically, any of the steppe robes (Kha probably) or Hussar (Hilda).

9. a song you warmed up to after multiple listens: I don’t think this is applicable... I’ve liked songs less over time. Maybe “Bedlam’s Brink”... because of tfw I HAVE QUESTIONS??

10. your favourite dye colour: ink blue, rolanberry/dalamud red and mole brown

11. your favourite gold saucer activity: SELLING MY SPARE CARDS!

12. your least favourite zone: I don’t mind West Than as much as I did in ARR. IDK, Idyllshire, Eulmore, and Crystarium? They’re inconvenient or confusing. Don’t like Eulmore’s music, either.

13. five words you associate with "ffxiv": crystals, raid, mechanics, shadowbringers (?), friends/allies/interaction

14. write a message for the devs OR doodle the character of the person you got this meme from!: sorry for my chicken scratch. it’s actually [misspelled in image] not as bad as usual. vwv [see doodle above]

#|memed #|meme: handwriting #ooc #|mun #I've actually wanted to draw niome for a long time and this just screamed opportunity #so here I am #not tagging anyone cuz I don't want them to have to draw cuinn flaksdfdklf

[amithasan2019]

15 Google Secret Information, It Has Not Been Published Anywhere Before

In today's age of information technology, it seems that there is no one who has not heard of Google. However, in the jungles of the Amazon may be found among the aborigines or! Today I bring you some different information from Google that I may not know! Google was founded on September 4, 1997 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin. After failing to increase Google's popularity for several years since its inception, they decided to save Google at one point.

But before that, in 2004, Google made the search engine public. After the success of Google continues the trend. Google currently has its own headquarters in the United States. At first Google was only used as a search engine but now we can enjoy many such things including Google Maps, Gmail or Google Email, Google Translate, Google Drive, Google Chrome, Google Calendar, Google Plus and video sharing web site YouTube. Now let us know some information about Google that you may not know. Here is some information about Google:

1. Backbone

You know what Google was named Backrub! This is because the founders first built this Google feature to analyze the back site of a website and verify its importance on Google. After running this backup for about a year, they chose Google as the new name.

2. GOOGOL

The name Google or google is derived from the mathematical term googol. Larry Page and Sergey Brin were inspired by the mathematical term googol as they explored various ideas to find new names for Google. googol is a term made up of 1 and then 100. They could not reach google directly from googol. They first chose the word googol-plex from googol but later decided that the name would be gogol. However, since the domain name gogol was already sold, they chose the same word google as the name of the site.

3. I'm Feeling Lucky

After visiting Google's site you will notice that their site is always an Im feeling lucky! The name contains a button. Google had to spend 110 million a year for this feature. But now Google has brought this feature in the search box. Now you will notice that as soon as you type something in the Google search box, Google will suggest the next possible word for you! This is the new version of im feeling lucky feature!

4. The founders of Google were not happy with the addition of Google to the dictionary!

who is the real owner of google

In 2007, Oxford added the word "google" to the English dictionary, but the founders of Google were not happy about it. Because the Google name contains English misspellings. Also when the word Google comes into the dictionary everyone will start using this word and the value of their company will decrease. Which was later proven wrong.

5. Most Valuable Brand

In 2017, Google surpassed the popular tech giant Apple and established itself as the most valued brand in the world! Apple has been the world's most valued brand since 2011, but Google has taken over this year.

6. The first doodle

If we notice that on any particular day, the Google logo on the Google search page is specially arranged according to that day. These are called doodles. Google currently has over two thousand doodles. Did you know that Google's first doodle was Barney Man! Larry Page and Sergey Brin received their first Google Doodle inspiration from the 1998 Barney Man Festival.

7. Agreement with NASA

Google signs a technology deal with NASA. Google had many private jet planes that needed their own runways to land. So Google buys a plane runway of its own in Silicon Valley, USA, in exchange for NASA's 1.4 million a year and NASA's data collection using Google's drones. Google also signed another deal with NASA in 2008 to buy 42 acres of land to build Google's new Googleplex for 40 years.

8. Wrong quality

The word Google domain itself is a misspelling of the word GOOGOL! So Google has bought about 1400 domains that match its name so that even if the user enters the wrong address, the user will come to Google's page. Such as gogle.com gooogle.com etc. 9. Goat hire

Google hires about 200 goats a week to keep the land at Google's headquarters clean. Google is an environmentally friendly company. So Google takes the help of these goats to keep the places around their headquarters naturally clean and tidy. The goats keep the lands fertile and clean by eating all kinds of weeds and other plants along with the grass from the land.

10. 2.3 million per second

Around 2.3 million Google searches are done every second in the world. Understand how much Google's bandwidth and hosting power is needed! According to a report at the end of 2016, more than 100 billion Google searches are done every month. And more than 2 trillion searches are done every year.

11. Stanford Rules

Stanford University retains ownership of patent rights to Google's PageRank algorithm. According to the original rules of Stanford, if any of its students starts or discovers something commercial while studying at Stanford, then the owner of the patent rights will not be the student but Stanford University. Google's main driving force is the PageRask algorithm. However, Google has taken exclusive access to the PageRask algorithm through a 1.8 million share deal with Stanford.

12. 2.8 billion fine

In January 2016, Google was fined nearly ৭ 2.6 billion for violating antitrust laws. European Union regulators filed the fine. According to their data, Google broke the antitrust law by placing separate feature results on its search page for several shopping malls in Europe.

This is one of the biggest fines in this age of information technology. However, this ৭ 2.8 billion carries only 2.5% of Google's 2016 revenue! However, Google has appealed to the court and the matter is now pending in court. Earlier, Intel had a record as the highest fine. In 2009, Intel was fined about ২ 1.2 billion in antitrust lawsuits.

13. Strange and unique

You will notice that on Google site you can choose from many languages. There you can use the unique and weird languages ​​of the world including Bengali, English, Hindi, Tamil as Google language.

14. One million dollar bet

In 1999, the founders of Google went to big companies like Yahoo, ALtavista, Exicite to save Google. But they weren't able to sell Google to them for just ১ 1 million.

Later, in 2004, they again offered Yahoo 5 million to buy Google, but the company did not accept the offer. At present, in 2018, the net value of Google has exceeded 100 billion US dollars!

15. Early Angel Investor

Jeff Beazes, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Amazon.com, the world's largest online shopping retailer, was one of Google's first investors! Google's first angel investor is Andy Bechtolsheim, co-founder of  Sun Microsystems . He invested ০০ 100,000 in Google in 1997 when Google did not even form an incorporation. In the same year, Bezof considered Google a profitable project and invested 25 250,000 in 1998. I saw him invest a few more people in the Google project and saved the activities of Google at that time.

via Blogger https://ift.tt/3fuYBNL

#Blogger #Featured #News #slider

[themjinterviews-blog]

18. who's the one you call mr. macho?...the head honcho...swift fists like Cu-macho.

Do people ever misspell your name? It’s pretty easy to spell. People always leave out the “e” in Jaye, though.

How often do you wear leggings? Always! I live in a truck, leggings are a staple of practicality and comfort.

What was the last thing that bothered you? I was trying to make music/beats with my headphones in and my dude turns on the stereo obnoxiously loud. Like helllllooooo??

Who is the nicest person you’ve ever met? Honestly not sure. Probably this lady Betsy. She helps everyone who crosses her path and needs help.

How about the meanest? I don’t know. Haven’t met anybody I’d consider genuinely mean. It's my understanding that most people who do or say hurtful things to others are usually inexibicably hurting themselves.

When was your last haircut? Wanna say….like, September or early October?

Do you enjoy making surveys or taking them? Both!

When you make surveys, do you use song lyrics as titles? 9/10 of the time, yeah.

If so, which band do you prefer to use song lyrics from? Almost exclusively out-of-context rap lyrics that have nothing to do with the survey content. I look like a typical, run of the mill white bitch and appreciate the minor irony.

Is this band your favorite band? I actually do like rap, but the lyrics aren’t necessarily chosen because they’re my favorites. I usually opt for something recognizable to readers.

If I gave you a goldfish, what would you name it? Percy seems like a good name.

Have you ever had Crinkles? Like crinkle-cut fries?

Do you prefer sugar cookies or peanut butter cookies? Deffff. sugar cookies.

Chocolate chip cookies or Oreos? Oreos. Unless the chocolate chip cookies in question are homemade.

Do you consider yourself a dork? (In a good way) Yeah. I’m pretty dorky, not in like a band camp way, but I like word puns, LOTR & Harry Potter, some other random obscure things.

What is on your mouse pad? Not applicable.

How do you get to school in the mornings? (ex: train, bus) I’m 30. I don’t.

Have you ever skipped class? When? Very rarely. I didn’t mind class. I usually just doodled and wrote notes to friends or worked on my fan-fictions. I essentially mentally skipped class every day, honestly, even though I was physically present.

What was your reaction to Michael Jackson’s death? I was out of the loop about it. I didn’t know much about Mikey J other than a few songs and the media hype. It’s never cool when anybody dies unexpectedly like that.

Have you ever had a crush on somebody who was gay? I mean, not to my knowledge. I guess I have no way of knowing if they came out later in life or something.

Who was the last person to say ‘I love you’? My momma.

Is the person above your boyfriend/girlfriend, parent, friend, etc.? My parental figure.

What is your favorite candy? Gummi candies.

Do you prefer fruits or vegetables? Really depends. I feel like I prefer veggies but I do love fruit too.

Do you use the same screen name for every site? I stick with Mockingjaye. It’s what I use on my allpoetry site and try and keep anything associated with writing consistent.

Do you ever use email? Just to email food order lists to my boss.

How often do you check your Facebook/Myspace? Multiple times a day. I don’t have much to do in the truck sometimes.

Has anyone asked you out this year? Yes'm.

If so, did you say yes or no? - Of course. It was already implied we were together anyway.

How many school dances have you had this year? Ummm. O. I’m old as fuck. It’d be creepy if I just attended random-ass school dances.

Did you go with a date, a group of friends, or by yourself? I always went stag to proms and dances. I guess technically I went with friends but I hated dancing so usually wound up hangin' solo.

At parties, do you get shy or are you the life of the party? Neither. I find my niche of people I’m comfortable chatting and hanging out with. Or I’m the weirdo who finds and drunkenly chills with the hosts pet the entire time.

Do you use Photo Booth? Donno what that is.

What makeup do you wear? (mascara, eyeshadow, etc.) All of the above. I miss MAC makeup.

Are you a girly girl, a tomboy, or somewhat in between?Ehhh…between.

Who causes the most trouble in your family? I guess me? I don’t *try* to.

When was the last time your parents told you they loved you? My mom tells me an extraordinarily excessive amount, my dad tells me a normal amount.

What do you usually eat for breakfast? Whatever looks good. Cereal is always my go-to.

Who was the last person to yell at you? I don’t even know.

Why did they yell at you? Brandon gets annoyed when I’m messy and lose things but he doesn’t yell at me.

When was the last time you played dress up? Beats me, yo.

Do you own a pair of Crocs? Ew.

When was the last time you ate at McDonalds? The other day. There’s always McD's at the truck stops.

[pokemonmasterpaulo]

Row On (Part 2)

[Rusty]

I wave yellow fliers as people pass by. “Join Crew!” I shout over them. A few people jump back in fear, while others grab the fliers tentatively.

While waiting for his friends to finish talking with Coach, a sophomore stands in front of the Tri-fold poster board and examines the whole thing with a huge smile on his face. He moves closer to read the captions under the photos, then trace the bubble letterings of “UMBC CREW” I had glued on top of the board. I’m really hoping he doesn’t see some of the misspelled words I had forgot to correct while finishing the board this morning.

“I can’t believe you guys actually raced against schools like Harvard and Yale.” He exclaims with wonder. “What’s it like?”

I let out a hearty laugh and scratch the back of my head. “I haven’t done that yet. I just joined the club last semester!”

He silently mouths the word “wow” before thanking me again and walking away with his friends. They disappear in the middle of the room, into a crowd of cautious students checking out the different club sports offered here at UMBC. Over twenty gray tables replace the Ping-Pong and pool tables that usually lives here in the spacious Game Room, forming a large U-shaped chain of rectangles. Fortunately for us, the Crew table sits near the main entrance to this room, so people will see us as they come in. I can hear even more noise blaring from the entrance as other clubs and groups do their best to recruit new members for the semester all throughout the Commons building.

A warm feeling wells up from my chest, and I put my hand over my heart. What if that Sophomore and everyone else show up, then end up liking Crew, just like me? I want everyone who signs up today to feel the same thing that I did when I first joined the club.

“You okay?” I hear Coach Marco ask. I see him sitting down behind our table. I’ve never seen him wear anything that looks professional, but today he’s wearing a blue checkered button-up shirt with a blue and gray striped tie that he loosened up just a bit. He even shaved the depression beard that lived on his face for a while now.

I grin as I put my hand down. “Yeah, I just I couldn’t imagine Involvement Fest happening indoors, but somehow they managed to pull it off. Plus,” I lift up the sign-up sheet. “It’s only been 10 minutes, but we already have fourteen people interested! Isn’t this great?”

Coach furrows his thick eyebrows for a moment but gives me a reassuring smile. “You’re right, and I think most of that came from your friendly attitude.”

“Yeah, you’re doing really well as our wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man.” Tucker replies. He stands next to the Tri-Fold, only wearing a pair of tight-fitting compression shorts while holding an oar with each hand. For some reason, his body has an eerie sheen under the fluorescent lights. “I mean, it’s not your fault. You’ve never raced. You barely know anything about rowing.” Tucker winks at a passing Freshman from my dorm, who immediately walks away from the table.

Coach rolls his eyes. “Leave him alone. And didn’t I tell you to put a shirt on? We’re gonna get in trouble if they see you like that.”

Tucker shrugs. “We won’t get in trouble; I’m only lightly-oiled.”

“Then, is there anything else that I can do to help?” I ask hopefully. Coach turns to me with a concerned look. “I want to pull my weight with keeping this club going.”

Tucker leans in towards Coach. “He should have said ‘Keeping this club afloat’ instead.”

Coach mutters. “Yeah, it would have been an awesome pun — I do have something for you to do!” He raises his voice so suddenly that I jump back just a bit. “You can help Dietrich and Mike bring some ergs from the RAC. They should be heading back now, but they’ll need help carrying it up here.”

“Consider it done!” I skip past the tables and make my way to the entrance of the Game Room. People immediately step aside as I get near them; I don’t blame them, because seeing someone as tall as I am skipping towards them would probably be scary.

It’s even louder outside the Game Room. The next hallway on the right leads to the “Student Orgs” space where I think all of UMBC’s Greek Life has set up tables. Banners and signs decorated in Greek letters line the hallway and well-dressed upperclassman walk past me. I could hear K-Pop blasting from speakers from the lower levels of the building. Involvement Fest truly has taken over the Commons today.

After almost slipping twice on the main stairs of the building, I hear someone scream “RUSSELL RAPTOR!” somewhere nearby. Before I even turn around, I could hear Liza running towards me from the side. I bend my knees just a bit and catch her just as I turn around. She always smells like lemons and oranges, so I could feel my sinuses clear up immediately.

“LIZA LLAMA!” I shout back at her. We let go of each other and take a few steps back. She wears her small red coat over her Hello Kitty t-shirt, making her look even younger than she is. She seems to be traveling light today; I know she has classes but she doesn’t have a backpack or books on her. “Where’s your— Oh.” I look behind her and see Jeremy Cazares carrying a black shoulder bag and a pink umbrella. “That’s not nice, Liza Llama. My roommate is not your butler.”

Liza and I start cackling. She grabs her bag and umbrella from Jeremy and thanks him before the three of us walk towards the lower level exit of the Commons.

“Wanna come to class with us?” Liza asks, pulling on my sleeve. “It’s just Calc 3, it’s not too bad! There’s a bunch of other Freshmen like us there so you won’t stick out!”

“Rusty’s in Pre-Calc this semester!” Jeremy chuckles, punching me on the shoulder. “And have you seen this man? He sticks out wherever he goes!”

“Well, he can just doodle on my notes!” Liza grabs her umbrella as I open the glass door for both of them. “You still owe me a drawing, remember?”

Drops of water hit my face as we leave the Commons. I completely forgot that it was raining outside. The Quad, a square patch of grass between four buildings, is the spot where Involvement Fest was held last semester. I guess it’s a good thing that they brought everything inside this time. Even the concrete trail that cuts diagonally through the Quad looks drenched in the rain. The sound of rain at least replaces the noise of Involvement Fest out here.

We pause, hesitating to walk into the cold rain. Liza hands me her umbrella. “You’re the tallest. You hold it.” With a flourish, I open up the umbrella and shield both me and Liza. She moves closer to me, hugging me just above my waist and pushing her face right below my sternum.

“Wow.” Jeremy remarks, zipping up his jacket and raising the hood over his head. “I can never get used to this. The height difference is seriously unnatural.” Liza and I look at each other. I’m just about 7’1, so the difference is probably insane to see when I’m at least 2 feet taller than her.

Half-way across the Quad, I spot Dietrich and Mike pulling four rowing machines out the backdoor of the gym. I wave at the two of them as I say goodbye to Liza and Jeremy.

“I’ll visit you later after my lecture!” Liza shouts as we begin to walk our separate ways. “I have to show you a cute puppy video that I saw last night!”

I keep waving my arms at Liza and Jeremy until I’m almost face to face with Dietrich and Mike. They’re wearing waterproof jackets, but their exposed heads are now wet thanks to the rain. I greet them both of them as we bump fists.

“Hey there, big guy. Here to lend a hand with these ergs?” Mike hands me one of the two rowing machines he has and we push them towards the Commons. Saran wrap covers the long rowing machines, shielding it surprisingly well from the rain. The tiny wheels in the front squeak as we go over puddles of water. “And you should just call him ‘Diet,’ you know. We’re all friends here. Marco is the only person who calls him by his name.”

“Speaking of friends…” Diet says, keeping his voice low. He effortlessly pushes two ergs at once next to me. Small drops of water begin to stick to his glasses, but I guess he can’t do anything about it. “That girl you were talking to…”

“Yeah, I was just telling Diet about it too!” Mike howls, pride beaming from his face. “I had no idea you had game, bro. Are you going out with her?”

I feel my face get hot as I laugh. “I haven’t asked her out, but I do have a thing for her.” Mike grabs me with his free arm and pulls me in for a hugs.

“My man, Rusty!” Mike releases me. “Just make sure to always ask for consent and always wear protection—-”

“That girl is a coxswain for Varsity.” Diet cuts in monotonously.

After a short pause, Mike turns to me. “Forget everything that I just said. Don’t date her.”

“Wha–?” My jaw hangs open.

“It’s a curse.” Diet explains, turning to me. “Dating a teammate is always a bad idea.”

“Why?” I ask, suddenly feeling concerned. “I mean, we’re not technically in the same team. She’s with the Women’s team, and we’re basically just a club, aren’t we?”

“We practice around the same time and place, though.” Diet continues as we reach the lower entrance of the Commons. He pushes the blue button on the side of the entrance, causing the doors to open automatically. “You’ve seen what happened to Marco and Lily. I’m just hoping it stays pretty tame between them.”

“But… but why is there a rule against it though?” I ask again, pushing the erg through the door and into the building. The suffocating roar of Involvement Fest surrounds me again. “I’ve been in a couple of sports teams before Crew, and I’ve never heard of that rule.”

“The reason, my friend…” Mike replies, heading towards the elevators on the right side of the lower lobby. “… is very simple to explain.”

Diet tries to suppress his laughter. “This theory again?”

“It’s a solid theory, don’t laugh.” Mike hisses, pushing the call button. The fire in his eyes matches his hair. He pulls out a pocket knife and slices up the Saran wrap on the ergs. “You see, Rusty. Everyone in crew is a little crazy. With the amount of time we train and how close we get during practice, a few people are bound to like each other. And if you combine one kind of crazy with another…”

The elevator makes a loud DING! as it reaches the bottom floor. Once it opens, Diet and Mike pushes two ergs in, struggling to make both fit inside. They twist and turn the ergs until they lift up one end and rested it above the elevator entrance.

“Uhhh can you wait out there for a bit?” Diet asks, squeezing his bulky body into the elevator. “We’ll get those ergs once we bring these out on the top floor.” He turns to Mike as the door closes, who is scrunched up in the corner to make space. “Mike… Is it just me, or are these ergs stuck?”

I throw away the plastic wrap and wait a full minute before the door opens again. This time, it’s just Mike with the ergs, still stuck in the same positions.

“Don’t worry, we’re okay.” He says quickly, breathing very heavily like he’s been lifting something. I can’t tell if he’s sweating or if he’s just wet from the rain. “Diet’s already called for help, we’ll get out of here in no time!”

“Can’t I just carry the ergs up to the Game Room?” I ask, testing the weight of one of the ergs by lifting it off the ground.

“No!” Mike exclaims. His voice makes the walls of the elevator vibrate as the door begins to close again. “Just wait here! We’ll fix this!”

Once the door shuts, I push both ergs to the stairs then turn them around so my back is facing the steps. Slowly I get on the first step and walk backwards, pulling the machines up with me. The wheels on the front of the ergs make it easy to bring up each step. They’re not as heavy as they looks, but the length, shape, and front-heavy design of the ergs make them awkward to pull up like this. I continue to breathe calmly and go up the first set of stairs carefully.

I smirk as I conquer this first challenge and set my sights on the next set. As I push the ergs on the first level I realize that I’m still a little annoyed. I just want to help out the club. There are less than 10 of us right now and every little bit should make a difference. But now, something simple like carrying these weird-looking workout machines need to be delegated to the veterans of the club. I have one semester of rowing under my belt already! I can do this!

I eventually reach the last set of stairs, but I stop and try to control my breathing. As I prepare to pull the ergs again then ascend, I feel more determined and confident about being useful to this club. I have the ergs that Coach is looking for. I’m saving the day, even if they underestimated me. And one of these days, I’ll ask out Liza to dinner and—

My right foot slips on the next step. I land on my butt and drop both ergs on the stairs, slipping further and further down.

“SHIT!”

I jump back up on my feet and reach for the ergs, but I slip on another step. I lose balance and found myself diving closer and closer to the base of the staircase.

The ergs crash first. Parts fly in all directions. I close my eyes and brace for impact.

#crew #rowing #story #chapter #fiction