#(ok. not in those 30 seconds or so. still. FIRST COMP!)

[tsarinajissa]

QUEEN SHIT

[writefightandflightclub]

We’d better run (Santi x GN reader)

Author’s note: There’s not a lot to it. Just a quick little Santi blurb, with a cosy NYE trope - that man needs someone to kiss at midnight. Bonus trope of meddling friends. 😀

Rating: 18+ to be safe. It’s mature but not explicit. (Steam but no smut.)

Warnings: alcohol consumption + tipsy squad. Making-out. Swearing.

GIF: by @ithinkwehitametaphor​

Song inspo: Kiss U Right Now (thanks @wowjeena for sending this in an ask- hope it’s ok to tag you!)

The atmosphere was jubilant, and your squad was equally so. This crummy dive bar felt like heaven, even as the aroma of bad beer spiked in your nostrils, and as you danced with your soles sticking to the claggy floor.

You all drew some stares - amidst the other people on the dance floor dressed in their best party ensembles, you had crashed in wearing a baseball cap and a ratty old band t-shirt, four burly men in tow. A series of juvenile whoops (and even a howl from Benny) had announced your arrival as you crashed through the double doors.

“Run! We’d better run!” you had called earlier.

With only a matter of minutes remaining until midnight, you had inspired the boys to sprint several blocks from Frankie’s place. You had refused - at the last minute- to stay in on NYE, and had insisted you wanted to dance. Really dance, without worrying about smashing the TV in Frankie’s cramped living room as your arms flailed. Santi had backed you up, insisting he wanted to leave too, to find someone to kiss at midnight. So, you had all legged it -pausing only momentarily for Frankie to dry heave over a wall- and you had arrived with breaths still sawing in and out of your lungs, sweat sheening your faces as you all eagerly swarmed the dance floor.

Just like on the battlefield, collectively, you were a force, the whole throng noticeably shrinking back from your energy, and being pushed imperceptibly to the margins of the floor to make room for you, as if your happiness was so big it crowded everything else out besides those in your bubble.

Even in your tipsy state, you clocked the sudden interest in your group as the newest arrivals to the bar, patrons’ eyes roving over your figures in gratitude for some fresh prey this evening. You had no doubt Santi wasn’t the only one in search of a kiss at midnight - there appeared to be plenty of people on the prowl, in fact. You noticed a few women settle their gaze on Santi in particular as he bust his over-the-top moves, replete with plenty of thrusting and hip wiggling. His knees would hurt tomorrow, but that ass doesn’t quit.

What can you say? He knows his assets, and he knows how to work them.

Even so, as they eye him, you cannot find it in you to be jealous, and it doesn’t occur to you to try to covet the attentions of your long-time crush. Instead, laughter freely spills out of you as the boys spin you between each of them, chaotically ricocheting you across the dance floor, and before long you can barely even dance from laughing.

In the midst of it all you have a mushy moment, surveying the faces of your friends -your best friends- all of your eyes creased and hearts smoothed with happiness. You laugh even as Frankie doubles over from exertion, and especially as Benny strips his t-shirt off, circling it above his head to welcome screams from the crowd, acting like some ostentatious small town rock star. Will is sober as all hell but still getting into it, and making sure to video the whole thing on his cell; no doubt so he can make you all cringe as you massage your sore temples in the morning and he looks on - fresh as a daisy.

Your eyes fall to Santi next, gaze locking with his for the briefest of moments, and this is happy too, watching your friend boogie... except, the happiness you feel when your eyes land on him hits different. Hits deeper. Santi always hits different, even if you’re too stubborn and too afraid to admit it.

You pick up where you had left off with him over at Frankie’s, after the pilot had predictably started busting out the Fleetwood Mac tunes. You and Santi try desperately to outdo each other’s moves, each taking it a notch higher and becoming more and more ridiculous, until you barely recognise the movements your body is making. You reckon you are making history, and dancing moves previously undocumented on Earth.

As you move, you are being crushed closer and closer together by the throng which gradually encloses around you once more. In this tighter space, your hands fleetingly find each other’s bodies. Your hands fall on his shoulders to steady yourself when the crowd jostles you. His hand finds yours to twirl you, or your hands settle on his chest or at his waist. You care not that he is clammy with sweat beneath his t-shirt, noting only that he feels warm and sturdy under your touch. Still, you are careful not to linger, and you quickly snap your touch away, as comfortable as it feels to be in contact with him. As right as it feels.

The whole bar seems to buzz around the two of you, causing you to brim over with a warm, fuzzy feeling which you feel from your core to the tips of your fingers. It is the sense of memories being forged, you think - of a night to remember in the making.

You continue to ricochet chaotically around the dance floor with your buddies, as you are torn from one dance to the next, the loud and jubilant rock music pounding through your chest from the speakers, and collectively you seem to gravitate towards it as it pulses you deeper and deeper into the throng.

You are hot, you are sweating -your t-shirt clinging to your torso now- and your legs ache. Your throat stings from belting out the lyrics, but you are desperately and furiously happy.

In moments, more shots are passed around by Frankie, and you clink glasses, half of the amber liquid spilling on to your top as someone dances into you, and the other half burning pleasantly down your centre. Santi’s eyes snag on yours again for another fleeting moment, and you could swear his gaze burns pleasantly down to your centre too.

“30 seconds!” the bar back shouts via the PA system, and a cheer erupts all through the room, a multitude of hands being propelled into the air at once, as if the crowd is one heaving entity, and you all jump and yell and sing until you feel like you can’t anymore, but you do anyway.

“Kiss me!” Santi yells, his eyebrows raised, and his stance wide, his arms raised up until his body creates an “x” shape. “Some fucker had better kiss me when the ball drops,” he announces, loud enough to be heard over the music.

“Pope - your balls should have dropped already, man,” Will laughs, and then you are laughing with him, slapping him on the shoulder and creasing forward in mirth, your face and cheeks and jaw already aching with joy.

“Ten!”

You gasp as the word erupts through the bar, the countdown commencing, and you throw your arms up again, screaming out in excitement.

“Somebody fuckin’ kiss me!” Santi yells, louder this time, more urgently, looking around the room, and you catch a series of micro-expressions unfold, as if in slow motion. You notice the group of women by the bar teeter on the edge of responding to his call- a curl of lips, a tick of an eyebrow, a half-hungry stare and red-lipsticked mouth sucking on a straw. You see Benny, too, about to give Santi more then he bargained for if he doesn’t shut up.

Meanwhile, you simply keep dancing.

“Five!” the voice calls, over the blasting music.

Still, you keep dancing, as if it’s essential. As if the motion itself will propel you into the new year.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Frankie is spinning you and thrusting you directly into Santi’s arms. You fall forwards, thrown off balance, grabbing on to his shoulders to regain your footing, and his hands fly around your waist to steady you, his smile wide and disarming. You dip your head to laugh into his shoulder, still singing along to the song.

“One! Happy new year!”

And, as rousing cheers sound out all around you, suddenly it is Santi crowding everything else out. He grins and grabs your face in his hands, pulling your lips to his for an innocent and celebratory smack on the lips, knocking both the caps from your heads simultaneously. They lie discarded on the floor, soon trampled out of sight; forgotten as Santi plants his kiss. His stubble is alarmingly rough against you, his lips still tainted with the taste of tequila and tang of salt and lime. He’s warm. He’s so warm.He feels so... right.

Suddenly, for the first time in hours, you are no longer laughing. Suddenly, everything no longer seems quite as funny. All of the buzz and the motion and the noise seems to halt around you. There is only Santi. There are only his surprised brown eyes meeting yours, his fingers coming up to his lips as if to understand the sensation he just experienced zip through him, more intense than the burn of tequila, thrumming through him more urgently than the pulse of the music. A happiness deeper than all of the revelry surrounding him.

You note the way your fingers have gradually fisted into his damp t-shirt, as if to pull him closer. You note the way you can’t tear your gaze away from his lips. The way your blood rushes in your ears.

You are torn away from each other quickly, however, snatching you from this intimate, all-encompassing circle and back into the room, Will rushes in to lift Santi by the waist and spin him around, Benny dives in to offer to you an enclosing, shirtless, back-slapping hug which you’re sure rattles your bones. You are even caught up by strangers who embrace you in glee and hope. The atmosphere is electric, and still, it is nothing like the jolt which hit you when Santi’s lips met yours.

Next, your arms find Frankie’s in the crowd and you tug him to you, squeezing him in a heartfelt, urgent hug, grins splitting your faces in two.

The rounds done, and a sudden wave of adrenaline pulling you from your kiss-drunk stupor, you yell a victorious “Happy new year, mother fuckers!”, completely oblivious to Santi’s plight.

That is, until you follow Frankie’s nod and see Santi standing there in the crowd, entirely still as the world blurs around him. He appears entirely fixated on you.

You can’t explain why those familiar eyes of his suddenly give you jitters quite like this, your legs turning to jelly beneath you where previously you were convinced you could have danced until dawn.

So, this time, when Frankie encouragingly pushes you into Santi with soft eyes and a knowing curl of his lips, it hits a little different. You fall into him, clinging on to his shoulders for dear life. His eyes search yours.

“Kiss me,” Santi says earnestly, and this time he is not yelling the words, or urgently seeking some hasty gratification before midnight. He is taking his time with them, these words well-considered and purposeful on his lips. He is not yelling; however, somehow the words seem ten times louder than they did before.

“The ball already dropped, Santi,” you say, voice trembling, just like your legs.

“Damn right. The ball has finally dropped,” Frankie snickers from beside you, referencing the sudden awakening of your feelings, or Santi’s, or both of yours, perhaps. But you both ignore Frankie. There is no-one else in the world right now. Everything else in this crummy dive bar fades to black. So, instead, Santi pulls you closer, your warm bodies chest-to-chest, and his broad, firm hands snaking up and up and up to find your hair.

“Yeah. I know,” he says gently yet smugly, his eyes fixed on your mouth, his pink tongue darting out as if to tempt you. “Kiss me again.”

You gulp, feeling weaker by the moment. “Right here, in front of everybody?”

The corner of Santi’s tempting mouth turns up into a smile, his eyes brewing with a ferocious heat.

“Let them watch,” he purrs sinfully, and a whimper falls from your lips, Santi’s strong hands the only thing keeping you upright -you could swear- as they wrap at your back and clasp you close to him.

At his suggestion, you practically fall on to his lips as if it was pre-destined, and his tongue is plundering your mouth instantly, the taste of him searing all the way down to the pit of you like a shot of fire. He is a potent spirit - the taste of tequila on his tongue as he delves into you, the tang of sweat on his lips like salt, and the bitter rasp of his stubble against your mouth and cheek as you open up to devour him, and willingly have him devour you.

Your sweaty, eager bodies press firmly together, and you fingers travel up; up and up from his shoulders... over the scar at the nape of his neck, over the bobbled chain he wears, over his prickled undercut and into his dark, grizzled curls.

Santi arches his body even more keenly against you, crushing you to him, letting you feel every contour of him. That muscled thigh settled in between yours and his hips thrust towards you, a burgeoning promise pressing up against your core. His shapely chest and the softness of his stomach meeting yours. It feels so good to touch like this, and you desperately hope this touch will not be so fleeting as the last.

As if fearing the same, Santi’s kiss grows, heavy and urgent. Dog tags are crushed up in the space between you too, and the heat of his broad hands press at your back and your neck, the bite of his watch strap cooling on your hot skin as he kisses you like that, right here in front of everybody.

You can’t get enough of him. You want to drink every drop of him down.He’s rough and hot and yet smooth like caramel.

Eagerly, your hands claw into his hair and you instinctively give a gentle tug on his curls. When Santi delivers a gruff, delicious moan into your open mouth in return, he sends a liquid heat all the way down to your core, more potent than the burn of any spirit.

You are drunk on him.

He tastes good.

He feels good.

He tastes good enough, hot enough, satisfying enough that you whimper as he pulls away from you, the both of you panting, foreheads briefly resting against one another as your chests and breaths heave in the tight space between you. And yet, you are still pawing at each other, still unable to satiate yourselves. Needing more.

“Happy new year,” he exhales, with a gentle smirk, and yet words will not come to you yet.

Not until your next thought occurs to you.

“Mmm-hmm. Which of these motherfuckers lives the closest?” you ask urgently, with a sideward nod of your head towards the slack-jawed squad beside you.

Santi’s eyebrow ticks up at you with interest. “Why, you wanna..?”

“Yes,” you state breathily, your voice a husk, pleased he is instantly catching your drift.

“Benny! Keys! Now!” Santi yells urgently, as keen as you are to enact your vision, and his tone is commanding enough that Benny obeys instantly.

Santi palms the keys as they’re thrown and his hand trails down your arm like a lick of flame, coming to clasp your hand firmly in his.

“Wanna get out of here, honey?” he asks, and you smile. You smile until your face aches. You are desperately and furiously happy, and there is nowhere else you would rather go.

In fact, you are very keen to start the new year as you mean to go on. With Santi buried deep in you. His hot, bare, sturdy body entwined with yours - wrapped around you. Kissing you, his tongue surging into you. Loving you, you hope.

“Get out of here, Pope?” you ask with a wink, and he looks at you as if you’re the most stunning sight he’s ever seen, even as your old shirt clings to the contours of you, dampened with sweat. “I think we’d better run, love.”

Then, you each look at the other with a happy, hungry stare, before turning on your heels and legging it out of there, leaving everything else in your wake.

Your happiness crowds everything else out.

Santi crowds everything else out.

Everything else in the crummy dive bar fades to black.

The other boys watch you go, Frankie all-together pleased with his meddling, and happy for his two dear friends. Meanwhile, the repurcussions of Benny’s actions in handing over his keys are just about dawning on him.

“They’re gonna fuck all over my house, aren’t they?”

“Yep,” Frankie responds, slapping him on the back and delivering a throaty, unsympathetic chuckle.

“Maybe you’d better find somewhere else to stay, brother.” Will winks, and Benny shrugs, a confident, undaunted smile inching over his face. In fact, he responds with Santi’s tactic, edging out into the centre of the floor, strutting like the prize fighter he is, and yelling “Somebody kiss me!”

Will and Frankie stand on the sidelines, sharing a gruff chuckle as they watch all of this unfold, until Will nods towards the doorway, where you and Santi exited moments ago. “Do you think they’ll regret that tomorrow?” he worries, his brow furrowing as a less than stable Frankie leans up against his side.

Frankie’s lips curl-up into a smile, and he shakes his head. “Honestly, I only think they’ll regret not doing it sooner.”

You and Santi would probably agree with that sentiment too.

Wholeheartedly, in fact.

Happy new year, motherfuckers.

As for what happened after you left the bar, let’s just say... you definitely started as you mean to go on.

And Santi can go on and on... and then some.

[unrelenting-jazz-hands]

He picked the wrong seat.

(This is something that’s been floating in my head. I love college!AUs and I’m just happy to be here. I like the idea of Levi studying to be a social worker and Hange being a behavioural Neuropsychology prof/researcher. plus Hange would have rats... this fic is just a place for her to have rats and rat friends.)

He didn’t know it when he first sat down on the couch, but he should have known it when a woman in maroon sweatpants staggered up to his couch.

She placed the tower of books and papers she was carrying onto the couch with a grunt that let on how heavy the pile had been. She shook out her arms before sitting on the other side of newly formed blockade. Levi glanced her way and leaned over to throw a scowl, to make sure she knew the disruption was not appreciated.

But she just sat quietly and read. So, he didn’t move, he figured it would be fine. He should have moved.

And she just sat quietly and read. So, he didn’t move, he figured it would be fine. He should have moved.

"Hange! Hey, Hange! There you are, why didn't you answer your phone?" A young man jogged over to the woman sitting on the couch next to Levi.

Levi's scowl deepened, and he glanced at his watch, not for the first time in the last 15 minutes. His own class finished over an hour ago, but Isabel's lecture wouldn't be finished for another 45 minutes. It was getting late, and as the air grew colder, the nights were getting darker. He didn't like the idea of her walking home alone at this time of night. Furlan thought he was being dramatic, they weren’t on Understreet anymore.

The kid approached the couch and dropped his bag unceremoniously at her feet. He looked a little older than Isabel. Fuck, he was dreading the day she introduces some dumb boyfriend to him.

The woman slowly looked up and seemed more startled than she should have been to see the kid in front of her. She blinked and looked at her watch.

"Oh, it's 6:45 already? Hey Jean! Sorry, I lost track of time." One of her hands was still on the stack of books that was starting to lean just a little too much for Levi's comfort.

He shifted away and glanced around the room. The atrium was busy and noisy. There wouldn't be anywhere else to sit this side of campus on a gloomy September night. The choices were to either sit here or to stand somewhere like a weirdo. He grumbled to himself and looked back down at his notes.

Jean shrugged, "All good, Hange. But, where's your phone? You didn't see my messages?"

Hange looked down at the report in her hand as though she expected herself to be holding the phone. "Oh... I thought I had it." She attempted to pat down her jacket pockets (of which there were far too many) and then tried to use her foot to move her bag towards her.

Glancing up at the kid with a slight frown, "what's up? Why? Did something happen at the lab?"

"No," Jean said with smile, "Armin was just asking what time he should tell his tutorial the kick-off party starts. And then just to say that the slides for the lecture tomorrow look good."

Levi watched out of the corner of his eyes as Jean bent down to help the woman check her bag for her phone and mumbled, "We really should get you a case you can clip to your belt or something…"

"A-ha!" Hange raised a fist clenched around a flip phone, and then suddenly, she was holding it with two hands.

Her pile of books had had enough and was about to topple over when Levi's arms shot out to steady the tower before it collapsed on the brunette. She hadn't even noticed.

He didn't mean to catch the books before they fell. He really hadn't planned on moving at all; the books weren't even falling his way. It was her own damn fault if she didn't notice. But, his body was just too used to moving quickly to catch pictures, mugs, and lamps before they could reach the floor. It wasn't a coincidence that they didn't have many breakables in the apartment, what with the way Isabel was constantly twirling around and Furlan's sleepwalking.

When Hange did notice, a few seconds later, she let out a startled yelp and attempted to use her whole body to steady her library.

"Shit, no! That's making it worse," Levi said, not bothering to hide his annoyance. He steadied the pile again and kept his arms holding it up for a while longer before shooting a glare to the airhead next to him.

"Sorry, sorry!" Hange said with a laugh. She grinned at him from around the books, "thanks a bunch, though! Wild reflexes!"

He rolled his eyes, "You just weren't paying attention."

She raised an eyebrow and cracked a grin, "what? Were you staring at me?"

Levi felt his cheeks go warm and diverted his gaze from the woman's laughing eyes.

"No, I wasn't," he said curtly, "I was just sitting in the fucking danger zone."

He made sure the books were steadied before he picked up his notebook again.

The kid in front of them coughed and shifted around uncomfortably. "Thanks, man," he said while giving Levi a quick once over. "If those textbooks go down, all the paper she's stuffed into them would have ended up everywhere. It took hours to match the notes up to their text pages again."

Jean reached over and started restacking Hange's stuff on the floor while she held on. She still looked like she found the whole thing much too funny for Levi's liking. He decided not to look her way.

"You should really organize your shit better," Levi mumbled, keeping his eyes on his paper.

Hange leaned her head back against the couch, "aww, man... that's what everyone says. I've tried, guys! It just never lasts." She let out an exasperated sigh.

Jean muttered something too quiet for Levi to catch, but Hange nudged him with her foot and shot him a look.

"Well, enjoy carting around half the library then..." Levi shot her way and that, he hoped, was their last interaction.

Hange looked down at Levi's open binder, which was neatly labelled and visibly well organized.

She let out a small "huh," before turning her attention to the kid again.

"Alright, Jean! Well, the kick-off party starts at 8:30 at the Wallflower. I'll head over after my lectures and locking up the lab." She frowned, "wait, why wouldn't people join? Puppy therapy is always super busy."

Jean sighed and leaned his head to the side, "yeah, but Hange. I mean, the hype just isn't the same with rats. Plus, the lab is intense and the hours for the regular meetings are kind of random."

Levi frowned at his notes. What the fuck? Fucking weirdo...

Hange sighed, "yeah, you're right." Then shot him a bright grin, "But! I swear I'm about to get a big grant to really kick it all up a notch! We're really getting somewhere, and we can maybe take on a few more assistants next semester to help with all the data entry that's going to need to happen!" She was basically bouncing.

She paused and looked around the room quickly before returning her fiery gaze back to Jean, who was looking a little frazzled.

"And get this, Jean Boy, I've been working on something with Moblit. I can't get into it right now, but it could be really big if it all goes according to plan. Like really big!" She was bouncing again. Her hand gestures were getting more exaggerated and much too close to Levi's personal space. He decided to just lean away and scowl instead of getting dragged into another conversation.

Jean narrowed his eyes, "Wait, like big for you and research nerds or big as in normal people big."

Hange grabbed his hands, "like brand new wing big. Like the Rat Pack Club goes on vacation big."

Levi was still looking at his notes. He had to admit he was starting to be a little more curious than he was annoyed. She was trying to whisper but wasn't doing a very good job at it. God, it was like she didn't know how to be quiet.

"Wait, so this is something you're working on with Dr. Berner? I thought you were still heartbroken from him switching labs," Jean asked while trying to take his hands back. "Is he back?"

Hange shook her head, and her smile dimmed a little, "no, my ride or die still over at the Medical Imaging Lab in the comp sci building." She perked up and continued on, "But! It may have worked out for us in the end!"

Jean looked a little less tired now, "huh... well, when can you tell us about it? Who knows about it?"

Hange let out a low chuckle, "uh, well, don't tell anyone. It started as just a little side project for Moblit, Nanaba, Nifa, and me. We didn't expect it to really go anywhere. So keep it to yourself, for now, I'll let y'all know when I can."

Jean nodded. He looked determined and, suddenly, a lot younger than he had a minute ago. He gave a mock salute, "you got it, Doc!"

Hange mirrored his salute and gave him a wink. "Awesome, ok! Oh, also, did you have any questions about tomorrow's lecture?"

Jean shrugged and shook his head, "nah, I looked it over, and it's pretty chill. Cog Psyc was a fun course."

Levi glanced up and looked at the top right corner of his notes. Intro to Cognitive Psychology.

"And that's exactly the vibe we want this semester! Fun!" Hange exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.

"Yeah… ok, fun. I can do that," Jean mumbled. "I'll tell Armin," he said as he turned to go. The kid waved lazily over his shoulder, "See ya tomorrow, Hange!"

"Get home safe, Jean! Tell Sasha and Connie I say hello," Hange waved to the back of the kid's head before leaning back and slouching down.

"Rat Pack Club goes on vacation. Ha! Take that monkey brain," Hange muttered with a smile. She closed her eyes like she getting ready to take a long nap in the middle of the atrium, which was getting less busy as time went by.

"Oh!" She exclaimed and shot up and turned to face Levi with a much-too-bright smile, "I forgot to introduce myself!"

She stuck out a hand that was covered in ink smudged. Levi felt the corner of his lips fall and held back a snarky comment; he really was trying to be less pissy, as Isabel put it. He sighed and reached out to shake her hand. He had hand sanitizer in his pocket.

"I'm Zoe Hange, but please call me Hange! Nice to meet you, and thanks for saving my books!"

Levi nodded, "Levi." He went to take his hand back, but the weirdo was still shaking it.

"You're taking Psyc 221 tomorrow, right? That's awesome. I hope you're ready for a heckin' good semester, Levi!" Hange was still shaking his hand.

"Yeah. Yeah, it sounds great," Levi mumbled as he jerked his hand away from her grip.

"Is this your first semester here? Transfer student? Do you live on campus? What courses are you taking?" Hange kept going as though he looked happy to be there instead of inching away and gathering his papers to leave.

"Second semester here, transferred from Wallrose College," Levi muttered. He didn't want to admit it, but Hange's enthusiasm was putting him on edge. What the fuck was she on?

Hange nodded enthusiastically, "That's great! Welcome, and if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask! I'll be your lecturer for PSYC 221. My lab's down in the Neuro wing, so feel free to stop by if you have any questions!" She pointed down the hall that had a staircase at the end of it. "I always really enjoy having some older students," she continued, "at least someone to make eye contact with when the kids make a reference I don't know." Hange smiled at him before rummaging through her pocket and proceeding to hand him a business card. He didn't want to take it, but he also didn't want to piss off his professor. Fuck it, whatever.

"I know what you mean. My younger sister is always trying to get me to do these stupid fucking dances for TikTok or whatever the fuck," Levi grumbled out as he looked over the card. His eyes flicked upwards to meet hers.

"rat_attack2000@maria.edu?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. He didn't let it leak into his voice, but, shit… She had to be a few years younger than he was, and she was a professor and director of a research lab. He didn't want to say he was impressed, but he was. But she was also a fucking weirdo.

Hange nodded and smiled widely. She reached back into her pocket, grabbed the card back from Levi, and scrawled something down with the newly retrieved pen. The pen was labelled, pocket pen.

"Yeah! It's the email address for the club I started with some students. My research lab has been doing some behavioural studies with rats, and it's hard not to fall for their little paws and their little eyes. So, every now and then, we get together and hang out and chill with some rats. This Friday, we are having our kick-off party. You should stop by!"

Hange handed him the card back. It had a time, a date, and an address.

"This is more of a social gathering at a bar near campus, not really a regular meeting. It's mostly just a bunch of research assistants and a few of us old folk having some drinks," Hange shrugged, still smiling. She wasn't done, "the usual meetings are chilling with the rats and throwing around ideas. Sometimes the students pitch us some experiments, and then we give them feedback."

Levi didn't think he would go. To the meetings or the party tomorrow. Hell, he knew for sure he wasn't going to go. Still, he nodded and muttered out a half-assed, "sure."

"Plus! The kids don't stay too long at the parties. They eventually head out after a few drinks to the next destination to get trashed where their profs can't see them. So it's only rowdy for a little while. It's been a while since I made it to the second location. I'm not that old, but I'm not that young anymore." She laughed lightly, and Levi was caught off guard by how pretty the sound was.

"I can't Fridays," Levi said as he pocketed the card, "I work Friday afternoons."

Hange nodded, "It's 8:30 to late-thirty, so stop on by if you want! Or if you know someone who'd-"

She was cut off by someone dropping their bag onto Levi's lap.

"What the fuck?" He started, looking up with a scowl. Of fucking course it was Isabel. He looked at his phone and saw 5 missed calls.

"Dude, what's the point of having a phone if you never answer it," Isabel said with a little more sass than Levi was used to. His brow furrowed. He'd ask about that later.

"Don't be a shit," he said gruffly, but still more gently than his usual tone. She made him worry like that. "My phone was on silent."

"Hi! You must be Levi's sister! He mentioned he had a younger sister." Hange stood up and grabbed Isabel's hand with a smile, "I'm Hange. I'll be your brother's professor starting tomorrow. Should I be keeping an eye on him? I feel like he's going to give me a hard time." Hange gave Isabel a wink and a smirk, which the younger girl returned. She looked a little less tense than she had a minute ago.

"Pfft, Nah. He's pretty bland." Isabel replied and shook Hange's hand with significantly more enthusiasm than Levi had. "I'm Isabel. Thanks for engaging with Mr. Grumpy here. He usually just sits there like a weirdo."

Levi stood up and thrust Isabel's bag back into her arms, "Ok, time to go." He turned on his heel and started walking away at a brisk pace.

Hange shouted out, "bye, Levi! See ya tomorrow!"

Levi waved over his shoulder but stopped when he didn't hear Isabel following behind him.

Isabel was still standing next to Hange, who was staring at her pile of books. He groaned and made his way back to the couch as Hange leaned down and tried to pick up the stack.

He placed a hand on Isabel's shoulder and attempted to steer her away.

"Isabel let's go," Levi said.

The young lady shook her head, "Nah. I'm catching a ride with some friends. We're gonna go get some food before heading home! So don't worry about me!" Isabel gave him a look and gestured towards Hange, still mapping out a game plan. Levi pretended not to notice her look and shot her a glare of his own.

"Isabel. Dammit, why did you tell me that before I stayed till the end of your classes?"

Hange let out a chortle and glanced up at them, "Ha! Classic. Have fun, kid!"

"Well, since you don't need to worry about me," Isabel said sweetly, "you're free right now. Hange, let Levi help you with this!" She shoulder-checked Levi and stuck out her tongue at him with a grin.

"I'm sure she's fine," Levi said.

"Oh, man! I would so appreciate it!" Hange all but yelled, standing up suddenly. Her head smashed right into Levi's chin, making them both groan and bring their hands up to their respective injuries.

"Dammit, four-eyes. Be fucking careful," Levi growled. He shot Isabel a look, but it didn't stop her giggling. He was losing his edge.

"Ok, bye! I have my phone, and it won't be on silent!" She waved and hurried off in the direction of the exit. There was a group of girls who waved, laughing, before walking off together. Levi let out an exasperated sigh, but he was happy to see she was making friends. She deserved it.

Groaning, he looked back down. Hange… was just sitting on the floor, next to her pile of books. No, she wasn't just sitting there. She was reading a book.

"Yo, four-eyes. You want help or not."

"Hmm?" She looked up as though unsure of who was talking to her. She blinked her big, brown eyes and then smiled. Her lips formed a little oh, and though she only just remembered where she was. "Oh, yes! Sorry, I got side-tracked there for a minute. How's your chin! I'm really sorry about that!"

She stood and reached out to touch Levi's face.

He took a step back, "You were just touching the floor. I don't want you touching my face!" He felt his cheeks warm up a bit and shifted his gaze. He picked up most of the stupid, fucking books.

She chuckled and reached down to pick up the rest. She looked at him with a grin and replied, "that's a fair point, Shorty."

"Shorty?" Levi all but dropped the books. "Whatever, Four-eyes," he said and stormed away.

He heard some undignified sputtering as she tried to think of a comeback. He smirked. Good, she should feel bad.

"You just called me Four-eyes? What, I can't call you Shorty?"

"Not when I'm doing you a favour," he shot back. " And after you try to break my face!"

"No! Come back, Shor- Levi! I mean... I mean, come help me, Levi," she sounded whiney. He wasn't sure if he liked that sound.

He turned around and saw her trying to pick up the stack again. He let out a sigh and dragged his feet back to the fucking weirdo, again.

"Oh my fucking god… Why do you even have this many books with you?" He said gruffly as he took an armful of the offending items.

"Research!" Hange exclaimed as though it was obvious. She started to walking away at a surprisingly fast pace.

"What the fuck, slow down, weirdo," Levi said. In-fucking-credible.

"Well, come on then!" Hange said, glancing over her shoulder. "My office isn't too far away."

It sure felt like it was, though.

After winding their way through the halls and then down several sets of stairs, Hange finally unlocked a door and turned on the lights of her office. It was absolutely filled with books, with stacks of papers covering every surface. She shuffled into the room, stepping over a few plastic boxes, and placed her cargo on her chair. It was the only surface that had any space. Hange motioned for Levi to hand her his share, which she placed on the ground, next to the chair.

"Fuck, Hange. How the hell do you ever find anything?" Levi said, unable to hide the growing frustration from his tone. He didn't like clutter, and he really didn't like this room. "This is a fucking mess."

"Oh, it's not that bad! I can find what I need eventually!" She waved her hand and flicked off the lights. Hange picked up two plastic boxes, letting out a small grunt as she did so.

"Alright! Let's head out. Close the door, would you?" She nodded to the open door.

"What's in the boxes?" Levi asked, shutting the door. He had no idea why he was still here. Why was he still here, talking to this lunatic. God, he shuttered thinking of the stacks of paper in that little office.

"Oh, just old notebooks that I need to shred, some speakers I need to donate, and then a lot of rat food to bring to the shelter."

He had forgotten about the rats.

He looked over at the tall, lanky woman. She was obviously struggling. Shit.

"Give me those," he muttered as he took the boxes from her.

She let out an audible sigh as she shook out her arms, "oof, thanks a bunch! Ok, it's over this way!"

Levi glanced her way, "what is?"

"My apartment!"

He felt weird about this. He didn't know this person. Well, he did, or he would know her. Tomorrow, anyways. It still felt weird. He wasn't sure he really knew why. He nodded silently and followed her.

He paused when he looked down.

"Are you wearing fucking crocs?"

[bigdanteague3]

I was just going to sit back and wait for you to tell a story before I did anything else.  A little tit for tat lol.  But I have time so I thought I’d continue the Amber story.  The short, curvy virgin cheerleader who dry humped me in the bathroom and titty fucked me through her tee shirt.  We had just gotten to the part where she broke her leg and our after school groping sessions had ended because she didn’t stay for cheer practice anymore.

She came back to school a few days later on crutches.  Hobbling down the halls.  In Spanish class, I told her I would miss seeing her after school.  She told me we should study together after school.  That her mom didn’t get home until 5:30.  And she was home alone every afternoon for 2.5 hours.  I smiled and asked if we could study that afternoon.  She said she really needed to study for the upcoming test....but to wait until 3:30 to give her time to clean up the house.  I told her I wouldn’t be late.  She had another girl who picked her up and took her home from school since she couldn’t drive.  I saw them leave from parking lot together and waited 10 minutes before leaving.  I stopped and bought gum and killed a little time.  I passed the house at 3:25 and there was no signs of life.  I came back at 3:29 and parked.  Knocked on door.....no answer.  I knew it was the right house.  I knocked again.  I turned the door and it was unlocked.  Walked in and it was so quiet I could hear the fridge running.  Hello?   Hello?  Definitely her house because I see her picture above the television.

Walk down the hallway and look in bedroom one.  Nothing, not even a bed.  Two more bedrooms at end of hall.  Check the one on right...and yes.  This is it. 

Amber is sitting on the bed, feet on the floor, waiting for me.  She was just wearing a black bra and black panties.  And the big blue cast.  I just stood there for a minute.  She smiled.  I smiled.  Her boobs were about to bust out of that bra.  I don’t remember saying anything...almost positive I didn’t.  I walked the 5 steps to her bed and kneeled in front of her.  We just kissed for a while. My hands up and down her back.  Kissing her neck.  Kissing her chest....I start unhooking the bra and I pull back to watch it come off and to see those titties spill out.  I squeezed them together and licked and sucked.  She’s enjoying it.  I lift her ass up off the bed enough to slip her panties down a little.  Left them on the floor.  Everything before now had been in complete darkness so this was the first time we could see anything.  She had trimmed her hair down real short and I ran my fingers over it.  Gently probing her pussy...didn’t just want to jam a finger in there.  Slid it in real slow...she was dripping wet.  I start kissing her again as I finger her slowly.  She’s moaning.....I ask her if it feels good.  She nods yes and starts trying to take my shirt off.  So I pull my finger out of that tight little pussy and let her.  My shirt comes off.  I stand up so my waist is in her face.  I want her to take the pants off herself.  She works the button, pulls the zipper and yanks them down.  Now my boxers are the only thing left.  I’m waiting for her to set me free.  She puts both hands and pulls them down slowly....my dick was so hard...the boxers forced it down as she pulled.  Her eyes watching as more and more was exposed.  When they finally cleared the head, my dick popped back up and bounced.  She giggled and stroked me. 

There was a stereo next to the bed....she leaned over and pushed play and Red Light Special by TLC started playing.  She’s touching me and I slip a finger back inside her.  Her hands were soft.  I ask her if she’s ready....and she wordlessly slides back on the bed.....gets in the center and spreads wide.  I follow her and take one last look at her spread eagle...inviting me to fuck her.  With that big cast I knew we wouldn’t have a variety of positions...so I got on my knees and put the head of my cock right on her pussy lips.  I didn’t go in yet.  I just rubbed around the outside.  Savoring that last second.  Leaning forward so I’m more over her.....I slip just the head inside and kiss her.  I wanted my mouth on hers as I filled her little pussy up.  Inch by inch by inch....I feel her pussy wrapped tight around me...when I’m as far as I can go...I ask her if she’s ok.  She just tells me to go slow.

So I fuck her slow.  When I pull back I make sure to just leave the head inside, then I lower back inside her.  Again and again...I don’t know what song was playing by now but I could hear her start to pant a little over the music....so I knew everything was good so far.  I felt like with her eagerness I might be able to slip a little dirty talk in there....as I’m still fucking her slowly and gently.  But very deeply.......I push all the way inside her...buried inside her balls deep...I hold it here and kiss her.  I asked her if she liked it?  Yes.  It feels good inside you?  Yes.  Do you like my dick inside you?  Yes. 

As I pull back she grabs my hips and starts showing me how fast to go.  Just a steady rocking.  I’m not pounding away.......I tell her how good she feels.  I tell her how good she looks.  She’s moaning now....just a steady noise.  It seemed pretty authentic...not a performance.  She’s grabbing my ass and pulling me in and pushing me out.  She tells me not to cum inside her....I promise her I won’t.  She said, “I want to see you cum”........This pushes me closer to the edge, I’m driving deep on every stroke...giving her everything I have.  I’m watching her big titties jiggle every time I go in.  Her moaning has gotten louder and there’s an occasional fuck me thrown in.

I tell her I’m getting ready to cum soon...can’t last much longer.  I didn’t ask her...I just told her that I wanted to cum on her titties.  I pull out and get above her...so my knees are on each side of her waist.  I squat a little so that my balls and ass are basically on her stomach.....I’m stroking it for her while she watches with a lot of interest.  I tell her to hold her tits together....she’s a good girl and does as she’s told.......as I feel myself start to pop I lean into them and just fucking unload.  A couple of big streams come out and land right on her boobs.....several smaller streams and drops fly everywhere.  Her chest, her neck, her cheek, her bed.  It was a mess.  But she loved it.  She was still holding her boobs together and looking down at the cum.  I was still stroking a little and wondered how she would react if I smeared the cum around on her with my dick.  I put the head right on her nipples and smeared it around a little.  She loved it.  She had like 2 big drops on her chin but I kissed her anyway and laid down beside her.  It was only a little after 4 so no need to rush home.

I laid beside her and caught my breath...we kissed and she rubbed my dick and balls.  Apparently she wanted more?  I wasn’t in a hurry to leave...so I laid there and enjoyed the attention.  She’s fondling me and rubbing my balls with one hand and my dick with the other.  She tries to roll over and get in position to suck on me but it was hard with the cast and the pain.  Any weight was uncomfortable.  So I told her I could help if she wanted to me to.  She told me she wanted to suck it but couldn’t get there.

I got her on her back again and straddled her again.  This time right below her neck.  I was already getting hard again, but not all the way yet.  I just laid it on her lips and let her do what she wanted.  She opened her mouth and it just fell in.  I fed it to her nice and slow.  She was propped up a little on the pillows...her mouth wide open.  Tasting her own pussy and my cum....it didn’t take long for me to get fully hard again.  My dick is in her mouth and she’s trying her best...I tell her to get it really clean for me....so she’s licking and sucking and she’s rubbing my balls with her hands...

You want me to fuck you again?  I asked her while she had about 4 inches of throbbing dick on her tongue.  She nods yes.  Mumbles the word yes as best she can.....so I pull out of her mouth and go down.  Before fucking her I wanted to taste her...so I lean down and slide my tongue inside....still wet....I swirl a few times and spread her legs out wide i tell her how good she looked.....saw her cute little ass....I lick her pussy for a minute before starting round 2.

Round 2 was a lot like first round.  I fucked her deep....I gave her a little more dirty talk.....she was returning it....telling me how good her pussy felt....I liked it when she’d tell me how much she liked my dick, it was flattering....we fucked a little harder.  More firmly I guess.....I thought it was super fucking hot that her titties, neck and chin were still covered in cum.....she was groaning, moaning, grabbing my ass and holding me deep inside her.....’I like it right here’ she said.  I’m rocking inside her slowly....she’s rubbing my ass...her tiny hands squeezing me....round 2 lasted a little longer.  But not much.  With her talking dirty and the titties jiggling and her pussy being so wet and me being able to still taste it on my lips.....it was hard to hold back.  She was really starting to relax and open up.....all smiles and kisses...I’d kiss her every few minutes...my tongue inside her mouth as she grabs my ass and tells me to ‘give me your dick’......she moans and tells me she wants me to cum in her mouth.....I tell her I’m close

When I pull out I almost cum too soon....so I hurry and get close to her mouth.  She opens her mouth up wide and I put the head right on her.  I kinda hoped she meant to suck me off but there was barely any time.  I stroked it once and busted on her lips and tongue.  There was still a lot considering this was the second load I had given her.  She was eager for it too.  She swallowed every drop and licked my dick clean again. 

I didn’t care that she had just swallowed a mouthful of my cum...that she had it all over her face....I wanted to kiss her.  I held her arms down on the bed above her head and kissed her.  I didn’t really taste anything....when we stopped kissing I looked at her and remembered how she looked when I came in.  Hair all perfect...bra and panties and looking nice.  She was a virgin then.  Now I looked down at her completely naked and sprawled out on the bed...covered in 2 huge loads of cum drying on her body.  She had been fucked and she liked it. 

We fucked non-stop for about a year.  She never wanted to be official.  She was happy just getting my dick in her regularly.  Should I have officially dated her?  Like to movies?  In hindsight, maybe?  I didn’t want to disrespect her but I’m not positive she wanted more. And this beginning part was at the end of a miserable relationship and I wasn’t eager to just jump into another serious thing. We would hang out all the time, fuck hard and that was good enough for her.  I guess.  People knew, it wasn’t a secret.  As far as I know she didn’t fuck anybody else during that year.  I did.  After this first encounter, she was 100% enthusiastic...lapdances, loved cum, sex in lots of different places, she got good at blowjobs....I’ll give you brief updates in the future on some of the things we did. 

She was a good girl who was always eager to please. Like a good girl should. None of the things were as hot as what you did to me.  You are always to gold standard.  Just thought you may want to hear some other stories.   Try to give me a story pretty soon....one about me, maybe?  Tit for tat?

[imagodwithnodess]

Dance Partner- Park Jisung pt.1

pairing: reader x jisung

genre: fluff

warnings: strong language 

summary: You are the top of multiple categories at the idol school did you attend. Being of a darker skin tone and from America you obviously make yourself work harder than everyone else. Which results in you skyrocketing past you're very jealous arch nemesis. Getting the guy of your dreams and becoming a part of one of the most popular friend groups in the school. You do all of this with nothing but your winning personality and raw talents. With those friends, you proved your Worth to everyone including the people who doubt you.

(Thursday)

“Hey, freak!” I hear from behind me as I close my locker. I know exactly who it is, I turn on my heels to swiftly “hello ladies and gents, how can I help you on the fine day” I say smiling. This is pretty normal to see 6 people blocking my way. “you know what's in 2 weeks? I think you know why we're here” said...well pretty much my arch nemesis, Hwijin.

“Well if my calendar is correct, it's two weeks till the competition,” I say faking a thoughtful look. I go to an idol school. There are competitions every 2 months. You have to have like five songs that you can sing on a dime here, otherwise, you probably will be able to make it. The competitions are really big deal because you get them on your resume and your school record. As a student hear the huge thing.

“That's right y/n, so if you don't drop out of the comp by next Friday w-” she was cut off by the bell ringing “good talk! I think we covered a lot of ground today!” I push off my locker with my foot and shove passed them starting to run. “YOUR LUCKY I HAVE STUFF TO DO OR I WOULD KICK YOUR ASS,” Hwijin says while I'm running “YOU AND I BOTH KNOW THATS BULL SHIT,” I say as I push the door to the school open.

These things are pretty normal since...well let's be Frank, I'm an American on the darker side at a Korean school. Sure, it's an English school and I speak Korean, but that doesn't change the fact that I look like a piece of chocolate in a bowl of white rice. In this school they train you to be an idol, it's also a place idols can get there education, if they want.

I run outside to the parking lot. I put my hand over my eyes to see if I can find a particular car. I search for many 10 or 20 seconds before finding the car of my older sister. “Hey y/s/n!” I say getting in the car. “Hey boo” she says turning down the super junior she had playing. “You excited for the comp in 2 weeks?” She says as she starts driving “yup!” I say bouncing up and down in my seat. “You know what your gonna sing?” “Yeah, I dally” “by Hyolyn!?” she says surprised “mmhmm,” I say nodding slowly and smiling “are you dancing also?” she says smiling “mmmmmhhhhhmm,” I say drawing it out this time. “Omg yes, y/n!!” She says excitedly. I laugh thinking about excited I am about it.

~Friday~ 

“Hey, Mrs. H” I say walking into the my teacher's office “hello y/n!” She says getting up from her desk “ok so I'm not feeling well*fake cough* and I don't think I will be back until-” “next Monday?” She says chuckling “you know my immune system so well” I point the finger guns at her. She chuckles and reaches into her desk pulling out a stack of papers. “All of next week's homework my dear,” she says handing them to me “ good luck on next week's competition,” she says patting me on the shoulder “thanks Mrs. H!” I say putting the papers in my bookbag and heading to my locker for everything else I need.

“Hey! y/n” I hear from behind me. I turn to see who's calling my name. I see a guy, looks to be around my age maybe older “hi, I'm Jeno, Lee Jeno" he holds out his hand so I can shake it “hi Jeno, I'm..well how do you know my name?” I say shaking his hand and looking slightly puzzled. “I'm in your history class, I sit in the back though so you may have not seen me, I know your name, well cuz of the “y/n and Hwijin” thing,” he says putting air quotes around y/n and Hwijin part. “Oohh, okay that makes sense, how can I help you,” I say smiling “well my friend wants to ask you something but he's too scared too, his name is jisung” my eyes widen a but “park jisung, " I say baffled. He nods his head excitedly “is afraid to talk….to me” I say still baffled, Jeno nods his head excitedly once more. “About what?” I say chuckling as i close my locker. “Well he wants you to dance with us, Since we're down a person, our friend Mark graduated last year and he was a big part, jisung thought it would be cool if you danced and sang with us” my eyes light up “I would love too!” I say hugging him. “ wait but if you just asked me, why do I need to talk to jisung?” I ask leaning against my locker “well he….we just want him to talk to you directly” I squint my eyes at him “mkey” he laughs at my expression “gimmie your phone” I reach into my pocket and give it to him, unlocking it beforehand. “Wacha doin,"i say after a few seconds “I'm putting my name in your phone, are you free next week?” He says giving me my phone back “Yeah but I won't be in school all next week, I won't be back until after the comp, I always try to catch up on volunteering, when I'm out of school. And since we're all so busy I have a lot of volunteering to do” I say chuckling at the last part. “well text me, ok?” he asks in a tone that makes me think he believes I won't text him back. “I will promise,” I say walking away. I'm fascinated to hear what jisung has to say.

~next day~

I just got out of the theaters with my sister a couple of her friends, and a couple of mine. When I get a text from Jeno

Jeno😋

Hey!😁

Y/n

Hey, what's up my man🤗

Jeno😋

What are you doing Tuesday night?

Y/n

that night I volunteered to help out at school, since I'm not in school this week I'm helping grade papers and clean up the school, kinda like detention but I can listen to music, practice, and I'm getting paid, like 30 bucks🤣

Jeno😋

I wasn't with it up until you said you get paid😂 but I'm asking because we told just jisung that we were going to meet up somewhere on Tuesday night. The thing is he's actually meeting up with you. the plan is that he's going to meet up with one of us and then they are going to take him Wherever You Are, and then he'll have to talk to you. He's too nice not to😂😂

Y/n

That seems a tad cruel...but hey I'm not one to pass up a  scheme🤣. I'm down

Jeno😋

Ok good, you and he will get along great!

Y/n

I hope so! Otherwise, this will be really awkward🤣

Jeno😋

Trust me y/n👌

Y/n

Ok, I trust you😊

By the time our text conversation, I'm in the car with my sister and our friends. I close my phone and smile to myself. “Oooo, what are YoU smiling about” my friend Amanda says. “Just the competition”

I say laughing.

~Tuesday~

I get to the school and put in the password for the student workers door since it's a pretty big place the School hires student workers. We don't get paid much, but it goes toward our grades and things like that.

I put in my headphones and put dally on repeat. I work for 6 hours at a time, it's about 6 right now so I clock in and get to work, I know jeamin is bringing jisung at some point but i have preformed and fucked up so many times embarrassment isn't in my vocab anymore.

*time skip*

It's about 8 and I'm currently in the chem lab. i take a break to practice a bit pushing the tables back. The dance is a little teasing but still appropriate. I get to the chorus and start dancing my heart out, making sure I got this choreo and the singing, I take out my headphones at this point. Because dancing with those in is a nightmare. I put my phone on the table. And start performing for no one.

I hear the door open but at this point its 30 more seconds to the song so I decided to simply carry on until the song was over.

I turn around sweating and smile at jaemin, we met Monday to discuss the plan so that i would be more comfortable “hi min!” I say skipping over to him jumping in him, hugging strongly “heeeeyyyy!” he says laughing. “ Wheres jisung?” I ask looking around him “ he saw you dancing and when you were done he ran, he's probably in the caf trying to calm himself down and try to make his face less red” he says chuckling at the last part. “Okey, let's go then, oh wait, how did you do on your English test today!”I ask hoping he did well “well, I kinda got a C-.....this is a weird question but, isn't English your first language?” He asks scratching the back of his head “indeed it is my boy, would you like a new English tutor?” I ask knowing the answer “holy shit yes! That would be awesome.. we could all use a tutor really especially jisung" he says laughing as he laughs it makes my crack up as well.

After laughing for a while we made our way the caf. I see jisung sitting through the window the giant cafeteria and I start to open the door. Jaemin stops me by putting his hand on my shoulder. “ I'm gonna go, introduce yourself and just let the rest flow, you got this” he says knowing how nervous I am. I turn to him and hug him before nodding my head and putting my hand on the handle of the door. I open it and Jisungs head snaps around he smiles and gets and walking towards me. As he walks closer i see how much taller than me he is. “Hi" i say sticking out my hand “I'm y/n, y/n y/l/n” he shakes it while laughing “I know, it's really cool to meet you, I'm jisung park” I laugh as well “I know, and same” we bring our hands down and there's an awkward silence “so, what do you do now” I think for a second or 2 “well you could help me work while we talk, get to know each other” I realize how dumb and boring that sounds “actually let's not, you probably don't want to wo-”  “no no, I love that idea" he says smiling putting his hands on my shoulders reassuring me. I blush but thanks to my complexion he can't see it. “Cool! Let's go!” I say grabbing his hand and running where I put my cleaning stuff. We clean and talk for a while laughing and enjoying each others company. We find out that we both love memes and video game, guaranteeing that references will be made. As we are mopping one of the bigger classrooms jisung stops and looks at me. “What's up,” I say giggling at his expression. “Can I ask you a personal question?” He says leaning on the mop “sure!” I say stopping my actions and walking over to him, giving him my full attention “what's it like being in this school and being..uh” he stops trying to choose the right words. “darker than almost everyone within 500 miles?” I say laughing “yeah," he says chuckling “well it's not all bad, most people are pretty excepting, most people don't even mention it, but you do have certain people who, well are uncomfortable with me being around, but everyone goes through that” he nods his head. At this point, he is sitting at a desk and I'm sitting on said desk. “But I still meet people like, Jeno, jaemin, and you, I have met Renjun and Chenle couple times, we have some of the same classes, they have talked to me a bit about comps and stuff, haechen is in like 2 of my classes, people like you guys make me feel at home” I say looking straight in front of me.  “Ok last question I promise, “ he says putting his hands up “k, what's up?” I ask looking at him “what's with the “y/n and Hwijin” thing, I have heard it a couple of times, but I'm confused,” I sigh “iit's a long story, you sure you want to hear it?” He perks up “oh my God yes” I giggle at this “ok so Hwijin had been the top singer, dancer, and rapper, for our grade  she wanted to be a part of you guys friend group so bad, she worked pretty hard on it” I explain “our friend group?” He asks “yeah, every one of you is the top of a male category, or in the top three of the entire School. So naturally, she wanted to be in your friend group. Also I think she has a huge crush on Jeno” he scrunched his nose “them together would be so gross" he cringes “I know right!?”we both shudder “anyways” I continue “ when I got here two years ago, I knew that I had to work 10 times as hard and 20 times as good in order to be called equal to everyone else. So I worked harder than I ever had before for the first competition that I did hear” he nods understanding “ normally I would just dance, or just sing, or just rap. But in my first competition, I knew that I would have to do all 3 in order to be as good as everyone else, the thing that I didn't count on is winning the first competition that I ever did hear. Apparently, it took Hwijin  5 whole times to just be in the top three” he raises his eyebrows impressed. “ about six months after that I won my second competition. I had done about 2 in between but this time I stepped my game up, singing an American Korean mashup that I made myself, dancing to it, and rapping to it. That secured me being the top of all three of those categories in our grade sections, with that everybody started wondering not if, but when I was going to end up being friends with you guys” he insists stunned that all of this was happening and he didn't even know. “ so basically I dethroned her.” I laughed causing jisung to start laughing as well. He stops and looks at me with a serious expression “I need to ask you something else” he says “sure” I say also getting serious “ so I don't know if you want to do this, but our lead rapper, and Lead all around really. She graduated last year. And we need another person.” I smile knowing what he's about to say “ I was wondering if you would want to perform with us?” He says almost so quiet that I can't hear him. “I would love that,” I say getting up and holding out my hand. He gets up as well and I engulf him in the biggest hug I can conjure. I pull back to see Jisung’s face red as a tomato. “Sorry,” I say starting to back up. “No!-” jisung says pulling me back into a hug. “You give really good hugs,” he says, “thanks," I say embracing his tall frame. “Why do you always take a week off before comps?” I pull away and smile “Plain Jane and her goons always come after me about a week for competitions. To try to mess me up, so that I won't be able to perform” his eyes widen “are you serious!?” He says concerned “yeah, it's no biggie though, I'm used to it," I say shrugging “ well one thing's for sure, she will never be able to do that again,” he says petting my curly hair. I smile and we go back to cleaning. We finish up and it's time to go home. “I had a lot of fun tonight"i say clocking out  “me too, I know we just met but i feel like i’ve known you for ages” i smile at his words “i feel the same” i say walking to the door, “what are you doing anything on thursday” I open the door and realize he just asked me out “umm no I'm not actually why?” I say still with my back turned to him not wanting him to see my giddiness. “Well...uh..I.. just thought umm..” he stutters and fumbles over his words. I turn and hold his face in the palm of my hands. I just met him but I feel so close to him already “this is nice"he chuckles leaning into my hand. He sighs and takes my hands “uhh, wow this is so much harder then I wanted it to be” I giggle and reassure him. “How about this, we can go to the movies with the boys and we'll sit by ourselves and we can call it auuhh, hangout. That way you don't have to say anything"i smile at him “that sounds really nice,” he chuckles once again. I pull his forehead down and get on my tip toes, I kiss him on the forehead. “Okey, text me" I say running to the car where my sister is. “I will!”he says walking towards a the only other car in the parking lot. The window rolls down to reveal jeno is driving. “Hi jeno!!!"i yell across the parking lot “hi y/n!!!”he yells back. I hop in the car. My phone buzzes as I talk to my sister

Jisung😍😜

Hey, I'm really excited about Thursday!

I laugh at the name he put for himself

Y/n

Me too!

I smile to myself. This will be fun.

~Thursday~

I Wake up normally at about 6 knowing I don't have school I do a lot of the homework I have until about 3. I then spend the rest of the day up until that reading, playing video games, and looking at memes. I get a text from jeno

Jeno😋

Hey! Are you ready to leave, we'll be there at like 10

Y/n

Yeah, I'll be ready by then👌

Jeno😋

Kk, see ya!

I close my phone and head to the bathroom, i do my usual makeup, and usual hair routine, then go and pick my favorite “to the movies” outfit. After that i walk out of my room sitting on the couch. My sister and her partner are at work so i'm home alone. My phone buzzes

Jeno😋

Come outside!

I pick up my bag and run out of the door locking it, then running down a flight of stairs to get to the parking lot. I look around and see a car of rowdy boys. I smile and jog over to the car opening the passenger seat door. “Hey guys!” i say getting into jenos moms van, he borrows it when all the boys want to travel together. “Heey” jeamin says “how are you?” renjun asks “other then the fact that the comp is this week and i'm practically shitting bricks..i'm good!” you say making them laugh “hey i can help you practice if you want” you hear from the back knowing it's jisung “omg that would be great! I need a fresh pair of eyes on the routine to tell me if anything wrong i say turning around to face them “oh jisung would looove to be a fresh pair of eyes for you” chenle says jisung blushes and i quickly turn to the road ahead as jaemin is about to say something i plug in my phone to the aux and start playing music. “Ohhhh shit i love this song!!” i hear heachen say making my smirk at my genius save. I start dancing and having fun as well. We all sing to the lyrics and know all of the words. I see jeno shaking his head as i annoyingly sing to him, making him laugh. We get to the theater and i force jeno not to turn off the car as we park wanting to finish dancing to the song. I hop out as well as everyone else that was in the car dancing the choreography to shine by pentagon. I laugh as the song ends and take my phone off the aux cord.  All 7 of us walk to the ticket counter. Jeno walks up “hi can i get 7 for aquaman, umm 2 kids 5 adults” we all look at each other wondering who it's going to be that gets the kid tickets. He turns around and everyone looks at my and jisung us being the youngest\. He jives one to jisung then passes straight over me and gives the other to chenle. “What!? I'm older than her!” he says pointing at me “well physically..but she has more brain cells than the 2 of you combined” he says walking away making me almost fall to the ground in laughter. “The funny *wheeze* the funny thing is *gasp* i have like 4!!*laughing even harder* SO HOW MANY DO YOU HAVE!” i say dying with laughter making everyone else laugh just as hard. After that we make our way to concessions buying loads of snacks. “Ok so the movie doesn't start for a while so we can just sit out here and chill. We find a bench and about four of us sit down, i keep standing along with a couple of others dancing to the music in my heart slightly. Jisung starts dancing with me. “Hey y/n, i have an idea” jeamin says “shoot” i say telling him to go ahead. “Come to school tomorrow, we can protect you, i'm sure everyone want to see you before the comp “i cant” i simply say as i keep dancing. “Oh come on what's the worst that could happen” jeno says “i don't think you guys understand,” i say pausing my movements “she has damn near broken my jaw not allowing me to sing. She has sprained my ankle so that i can dance….” i pause and inhale and exhale “she almost broke my vocal cords” i say making them grow quite realizing how serious this is. I shake my head continuing. “She’s normally all talk, all bark no bite. But the week before comps puts her in this weird thing. Her moms a teacher so she has access to the roster. She probably knows that i haven't backed down. She WiLL come after me. I'm not putting you guys through that” i say smiling at them “well if you that uncomfortable..we will come over tomorrow night!” chenle says brightening the mood “i would love that!” i say jumping up and down making them smile. We talk more and go in when it's time.

I remember that this is a date and whisper to jisung as we are walking in “how are we going to get alone, without it being super obvious” “i got this.” he whispers back  “hey y/n and i have already seen this so we're going to sit somewhere else so that we don't disrupt with commentary” he says and starts walking. We find a place and sit down high fiving one another. We whisper extremely quite so that we don't ruin the movie for anyone. “What's your favorite part?” he whispers “the last 20 minutes of the movie” i say chuckling “saame” he says dapping me up. “Can i ask you something..outside?” he says “yeah sure” i say putting my stuff down.

Jisung holds my hand as he leads me to the hall. He turns to me “do you trust me” he aks seriously i star chuckling “jisung we ju-” “do you...trust me” he says stepping closer holding my waist. I nod my head yes “then believe me when i say this. Hwijin, will NEVER have the chance to even touch you EVER again. You gut that, i won't allow it” he says putting his forehead on mine i close my eyes feeling tears build up behind them, he cares so much, i can see the pain in his eyes as he thinks about what's happened to me in the past “your better then her, you always have been and you always will be, you don't have to be scared anymore” i wrap my arms around his neck and bury my face in his shoulder “thank you” i whisper “y/n, will you be my dance partner” i giggle and pull away. I wipe my tears and look at him in the eyes. “Yes. 100% yes” i say hugging him tighter. I pull away “i-” i'm cut off by a kiss, i have kissed someone before but this, this feels electric like a bolt of lightning struck, in a good way. He pulls away with his eyes still closed, smiling. He opens them and hugs me once more “wait so you're telling me, i can call you my boyfriend?” he blushes and nods his head. “And i'm extremely proud to call you my girlfriend y/f/n” he says putting his chin on the top of my head. “Omg i don't think anything could ruin my week...or year for that matter,” i say making him laugh. We walk back into the theater hand in hand and sit back down. I lay my head on his shoulder as he intertwines our fingers, making me smile even more. I put my chin on his shoulder looking up at him “if you want me to come to school tomorrow i will, now that i have a knight in shining armor” i whisper “i would love that y/n” he says kissing my forehead. We turn to the movie and keep watching and whispering to each other. The movie ends and we walk to where everyone else is keeping from holding hands until we were ready to tell everyone. “Omg that movie was so good!” heachan says. “Yeah this theater is really nice to, it's a little further but it's worth it” jaemin says “yeah, this was the best movie experience ever!” renjun says as they continue talking “funny he should say that” jisung leans over to whisper. “I was literally just thinking that” i whisper back. “So i have convinced y/n to go to school tomorrow!” jisung says to the boys. All of them are really excited, they know the fear of being bullied they all were once, then one by one mark protected them and took them under his wing.

We walk out of the theater and they drop me home i thank them and say good my goodbyes. Jisung and i try to keep our distance for now so that it won't be obvious. i unlock the door to my sister's apartment and slide down it. Thoughts of jisung and the competition swirled my mind, “holy shit” i whisper. It was all i could muster.

[survivormetaverse]

Episode 2 - "Fuck I’m on the cursed tribe" ~Moth

a lil sad to see my girl, Bri, go, but that just makes us one person closer to the goal >:3

dennis is very sneaky. we all had a tribe call and he said he'd come later but he was actually doing the hunt challenge. like that's totally fair, it's just even afterward he acted as if he was not really focusing on it either. im going to play the game assuming he has something, just in case.

GAME AND GAME SHOW ARE DIFFERENT DSJKLFHASJDJFH no but this was hella fun pls let's do it again

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX3Fs7lDDQk&list=PLrsCGcojtF16jvLW49C4855pUlLWI9pnn

Dhsjdjsjskksks. First tribal done. We just finished the taboo challenge ... A good bonding experience with my tribe. However, I have a feeling we lost. 😂😂😂😂😂😂 The fact that I was the guesser. Rip. 

I filmed confessionals but my internet got disconnected hahaha so that's neat. Hopefully there will be youtube videos here soon, but new update Jodi and I are in alliances with Dennis and brayden separately which I think would be hilarious if they were also in am alliance together. And it will be funny it my internet is still out for the challenge tomorrow since I'm the guesser 😆 whoops

So this is the beginning of round 2 and here are my thoughts. Might purposely not be helpful in the taboo challenge lol but i have to do it in a way that doesn't show im throwing it? tbh i say this now but when i start playing the urge to win comes in ugh but i just wanna vote one of these people out. I also took a stroll through the wiki page for this org and i love that some of these people (esp brayden and amy) have played before and their stats are there like yassss give me ammunition yassss!!!! anywho i dont care if we win or lose tomorrow i think i set myself up nicely within the tribe and i still really dont think any of these people won the hunt challenge on my tribe but again who knowssss. if we lose the logic would probably be go for josh or ginny aka the least active people buttt i dont think so like i don't wanna go the boring route. i need to keep josh close to get to merge with him we have friends on the other tribeeeeeee so i need them to survive and i need him and i to survive till we swap or merge to link up. im also trying to win a hunt challenge but my god y'all have me fucked up!!!!!!!!! i guess we shall see what happens tomorrowwwwww

It was nice sitting the challenge out, I'm busy tomorrow and the fact that they could complete it is good for me. Also, if we lose, nobody can blame me for the loss. Only drawback is it appears to me some people can be getting close by bonding over funny things in a game. I have to go back and see who may be close, I don't think I'm next on the chopping block, but I'm definitely not in control. To me, I do not need to be number one on this tribe, I just need to survive the next tribal and hopefully make it to the swap at 14 or 15.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wm_dmPuwzzI&list=PLrsCGcojtF16jvLW49C4855pUlLWI9pnn&index=2 anotha one dj khaled

HEY SO KIND OF A LOT OF DEVELOPMENTS TO MY GAME we didn't lose first challenge!! thats great. whatever. no tribal. I've been trying to connect with fellow tribemates but overall we're all pretty quiet. I did have a small 30 minute call with Jay where we kinda connected on somewhat of a game level. I kinda get the vibe that he may not fully trust me or he might see my as a threat, but I want to work with him. I also really like Anastasia and Elle, I think I can connect with them more on a more genuine level. Perfect scenario for me would be setting up a trio alliance of Me + Elle + Anastasia, and then having Jay on the side as my actual #1. idk if I can pull that off, but that was my plan heading into round 2 BUT. AS ROUND 2 STARTED, MY GAY ASS WON THE HUNT CHALLENGE. AMAZING. idk HOW I managed it because like?? I finished and found the hidden link within like 20 minutes? Statistically very unlikely BUT I'm so glad I did it. I WON A SAFETY WITHOUT POWER. It's kinda like a hidden immunity idol, except slightly worse because I can't actually partake in tribal at all. we went ahead and competed in the Taboo challenge last night and boy it was kinda rough. We lost a LOTTA points because we kept accidentally saying forbidden words (I lost us 2 points, woops). But we ended up with a semi decent score. Elle did an amazing job guessing. I really hope we can pull this out. SO YEAH SORRY THATS KIND OF A LOT. OVERALL I FEEL LIKE IM IN A DECENT POSITION, WAY BETTER NOW THAT I HAVE A SWP. I wanna further my position in the game with some allies now. That's my next biggest goal. toodles!!!

So I've figured out that Amy is a comp beast based on us discussing our old seasons and how she did in those: she always talks down her abilities because she's worried she's being painted as a big challenge threat, but I don't think she realizes that doesn't matter to me at all. Ultimately, I think she needed to be at tonight's challenge more than me, so I decided it's ok to sit out since I'm sitting out only because somebody has to, not because I don't want to play. In tribal challenges, it means she'll help keep us winning tribal immunity, and further down the line, if anything, I'll be using her as my "Ken" and if she wins everything, it'll keep immunity away from people I want out. 

I think I did much better in Taboo than I did in endurance, so I'm happy about that. Hopefully my performance this round can help me redeem myself with my tribemates.

Today in the fools tribe: no one is talking 

Holy crap we won yet again this is such a great feeling just like last season :)

Fuck I’m on the cursed tribe this round This time I think I’m on the majority alliance, which is a great place to be. So hopefully everything goes as planned tomorrow 

https://youtu.be/fszNKUHjB_8

So! We did the Taboo challenge and got second place, probs wouldve got first if we didnt get deductions but also we did so good so whatever 😂. I definitely kinda pushed for us to do the challenge last night bc it's Dylan's birthday and I didn't want to have to like, be anywhere specifically today 😅. But yeah we did super good and now I'm gonna go talk to ppl bc I've been gone all day lol

Bye I hate it here. 

~

SO. Here’s the rundown: We lost. Again. Pushing for Shaad to go. Moth, Jared, and Danny all agree with him going. So far I’m getting good vibes with everyone. Danny says he gets along with Jared well and doesn’t talk to Moth that much. Plus, Jared, Moth and I have that little alliance. Jared and I also get along well. Worried for Moth as she doesn’t seem to message a lot. This tribal... I’m feeling safe. I might even make an alliance with Jared, Danny and I. Worst case scenario for next challenge we lose and Moth goes. 

Yay we won again! Anyways, Dennis messaged me tonight talking about how everybody else knows each other from playing Stings games before. He said he checked the series wiki and got freaked out and told me that we're two newbies amongst vets. While he's telling the truth, I'm actually not too panicked because 1) I actually checked out the wiki before he told me about it and 2) I have pretty decent relationship with Amy to incentivize her to keep me around. I worked tightly with Amy for the specific reason that I knew she'll have others to work with, and for her to keep me as a loyal number. I also know that she was runner up of another series and she already recognizes the target on her, so I doubt she wants to risk me putting a bigger one. WOW FOR ONCE I'M NOT THE FLAMING TARGET I LIKE THIS 

Round 1 updates: https://youtu.be/5nhSsLNcnZ0 https://youtu.be/S5-0Yw93wc0

~

Round two rambles: https://youtu.be/CuwgF9IVmUM

So, tbh I've done some research about some previous seasons and I noticed Moth and Jessica have played together before. Moth still has not talked to me but Jessica has been overly friendly. I know they have a group message with Jared and I know he can be the split vote between what happens in our tribal tomorrow. Jared claims he has voted for Moth but we will truly see tomorrow. But honestly, if he chooses us, then Jessica is next unless the tribe swap or merge has happened.

~

Also with that research, I've peeped there's other connections in other tribes from previous games so this is gonna be interesting.

~

I chose Jared to work with mostly because I see he can play strategy.

Fools tribe is bad at playing games. And its perfect for me because I am safe but i am wishing for drama bcs its fun. rn we are doing small talk and being so nice to each other. I think we will form an alliance officially soon but i am too awkward or like i dont know how to say it or bring it up.

WHY! DOES! MY! TRIBE! KEEP! WINNING!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am trying to go the fuck to tribal council but noooo we have to beast all the other tribes yet again. Like a swap is probably coming soon and with my fuckin luck I am gonna get swap screwed like they are gonna look at me from the phantoms and be like yeahhhh theyve been winning lets get his ass out. i would love to lose this next one so the sees look stronger. if phantoms go to tribal I know I''m safe (anything can happen but I set myself up well), and thats all I care about. Jodi and I started to really talk about the vets who are playing this season, and we just realized that we're the only newbies on our tribe. like wow. The fantasy would be to get to merge and have a numbers advantage of newbies against these vets, or make the vets eat their own idk. Lots of thinkin lots of thinkinnnnn. I have been strolling through the wiki page some more and mapping out potential connections from previous seasons. The casting directors work hard but i work harder

https://youtu.be/gsDJIiGiqHE

https://youtu.be/V1ku4_-w0SY

Roses are red We’re on day six Fools tribe worse at challenges than a bag of dead bricks

That im one of the strongest competitors on my tribe, Dennis feels like he is on the outs, but that connects us so i can pull him in as an ally.

It’s been a tricky round 

~~~

Edgic:

Power Rankings:

Phantom

Jodi: Jodi remains at the top of the tribe for much of the same reason as last round. Now, she is even in two alliances with no one wanting to come for her nor do they see her as playing both alliances. Hopefully Jodi’s quick alliance making and constant worrying will help strengthen her defenses in the later rounds to come when people will be looking at her more closely.

Amy: Amy is still playing that stellar UTR game. No one seems to register her as a threat despite their access to the wiki and her performance in the challenge. Her social game is just too strong. Additionally, her greater willingness to work with Dennis than Jodi’s willingness to work with him may provide some good allies for Amy if she ever wants to distance herself from Jodi.

Brayden: Brayden rises in the rankings from last round as he has become more closely aligned with Amy and Jodi. The trio seem to see themselves as the only “active” ones on their tribe and are very quick to bond. Additionally, unlike Dennis, Brayden is not viewed with suspicion by either Jodi or Amy. They definitely feel more like a core alliance than they did with Dennis. Furthermore, Brayden is poised to get the people he wants gone out of this game. He is targeting Josh and Dennis which are good targets, especially the latter. All it takes is for Brayden to push a little for Dennis and I am sure the two girls will take the bait. Finally, Brayden’s connection with Ginnifer is very beneficial since he seems to be the only one willing to work with her at the moment. This gives him a very easy ally and Ginnifer doesn’t have much of a choice besides working closely with him. It is certainly an easy number for Brayden if he ever wanted to backstab Jodi or Amy in the future.

Josh: What lands Josh here is that he performed well in the challenge and is easy to like. Interacting with Josh on calls is always a pleasure. However, by not being part of that main trio, he is in danger of being voted out on a whim. Despite that, he seems to be, in my eyes, the least likely out of the bottom 3 to be voted out. Additionally, there is paranoia around people’s “experience” with ORGs surrounding these bottom 3 from others (despite the fact that the top 3 is composed of 2 people with ORG experience). Josh gets this heat the least.

Dennis: Dennis is in real danger if this tribe goes to tribal council. If Brayden pushes hard enough, Jodi can be easily swayed into turning on Dennis. He needs to back off with the strategy talk and just be more social. What saves him from last is that he is in that alliance with Jodi and Amy. This might make Jodi hesitant about targeting Dennis so soon as she may see him as a number. Additionally, Amy does seem keen on keeping Dennis around for a little while which would help his longevity. Hopefully Dennis can realize people’s perceptions of him before it is too late considering that he gives great confessionals and is one of my favorite players this season.

Ginnifer: Ginnifer may be on the bottom, but she definitely has a chance at avoiding being voted out. Most talk around Ginny is about how she is hard to socialize with, but I am sure, when the strategic game starts becoming more important, she can navigate out of this position. After all, she does have Brayden advocating for her which can definitely help. She would need to push for Dennis if she wants to survive until the swap at this point.

Fools

Jared: He takes the number 1 spot on this tribe as he is working with both “sides.” He is serving as the perfect double agent for Danny and Shaad. Additionally, he is making the smart move of getting rid of an obvious duo wherein he was the third wheel of that alliance. He has a great strategic mind on his shoulders, but is it too early for him to show that off? Regardless, he has earned this top spot by avoiding the target cleanly and betraying his allies perfectly. Jared is definitely a contender for the winner spot as he has shown some excellent gameplay these past two rounds.

Danny: Danny has done well in avoiding the target this round as well. He seems to be more sociable and active than Shaad which is the main reason that he is not the one getting Jessica’s and Moth’s vote. Additionally, he was the one that brought Jessica’s and Moth’s pre-existing relationship to Jared’s attention which caused this flip to happen in the first place. Finally, Danny made an excellent move by pairing himself with Jared as this duo could be something fearsome to go up against in the future. The cards are being laid out for a force to be reckoned with and I am excited to see what Danny will do in the future.

Shaad: It is hard to tell if Shaad did anything himself to avoid being voted out, but, regardless, he did something right by aligning with Danny and Jared instead of ratting to Jessica and Moth. In fact, even if he does rat, he will still land himself at number 3. He is not going to get voted out here, and has an established alliance moving forward. And now that he is putting more focus on the game, I am happily anticipating what he can accomplish now.

Jessica: Jessica is being blindsided tonight. However, at the very least, she is not the one going. Her performance in challenges have helped her avoid the target for the time being. Here we can see that the boys weren’t inactive, they were just inactive with her which spells doom for Jessica if this tribe goes to tribal council again. Unfortunately, the boys found out about her prior connection with Moth. The only thing Jessica could have done was to distance herself from Moth at the beginning of the game, but that seemed unlikely since people were inactive with her. I hope Jessica is able to survive until a swap because it would be devastating to see her go so early.

Moth: There is nothing Moth did that landed them here. It was just an unfortunate circumstance wherein they are targeted because of a prior connection. Additionally, I doubt Moth is going to see this coming.

S.E.E.S.

Colin: With an advantage in his hands and him being the most popular bachelor on his tribe, Colin is quick to make allies and his allies like it that way. It feels as if everyone wants to ally with Colin. His activity in the earlier stages of the game have definitely born fruit.

Elle: Similar to Colin, everyone wants to work with Elle. Her social game is just that strong. Nothing much else to say besides what I said before, but the challenge definitely helped raise Elle’s standings in the tribe.

Anastasia: Similar to last round. Nothing much to say.

Jay: He is keeping out of the spotlight which is good.

Babs: No developments. Still viewed in the same way though has noticeably been less unhinged in the tribe chat.

Jennifer: Still the same as last time: seemingly inactive and might be targeted for it.

[lardo4lyfe]

11 Questions

Hey friends! Tagged  by @slightlyflammable to do the eleven questions thing! Thanks for the tag :D  

The rules are: ✰ post the rules ✰ answer the questions given to you by the tagger ✰ write eleven questions of your own ✰ tag eleven people questions…

Now here are the questions…

1. If you were a mermaid/man, what color would your tail be?  A dark black/purple iridescent. Like you can’t tell there’s purple in it unless you look closely. That real good 15-yo goth shit. 

2. What were you obsessed with as a child? the approval of authority figures lol. No but really I went through a phase where I *LOVED* giraffes. Giraffe print everything. Also Harry Potter. 

3. What book/novel/comic will you always recommend to others? Ancillary Justice and the rest of the trilogy. That series kept me thinking in a way I haven’t in a long time. 

4. If you could transform into an animal which one would it be? The goddamned fastest falcon. Peregrine - those raptors that frickin dive bomb at two hundred and forty fucking miles per hour. 

5. What time do you try and go to bed at normally? And what time do you end up going to bed at? I’m usually in bed by 11 and asleep by 11:30. 

6. Whats a subject you wish you were good at? lol comp sci then I wouldn’t be worried about having a career/good job lol (don’t be an adult it’s stressful) lol I’m the worst, this got long so it’s under a readmore hahahaha I”m so vain

7. What is a piece of advice you got that will always stick with you? This column of Dear Sugar has always stayed with me. It was foundational for how I think about relationships. As someone who’s in a wonderful long-term relationship, I still believe that every day you spend with a person is a day you choose to be with them. Any relationship can change, because a relationship is two or more people and people change. This probably sounds depressing if you’re the kind of person who worries about the amount of control they have over their own life, but it’s actually really freeing. I’ve been with my partner for six years and every day of our relationship is a day we both wake up and say “yes, I love this person and I want to be with them.” Every day we spend together is a choice, and I’m so glad we choose to spend it together. And it could happen that one day one of us chooses to leave. But that’s the beauty of love, it’s precious and there’s no guarantees and you choose to give your heart to someone anyway.  From the column: “But there was in me an awful thing, from almost the very beginning: a tiny clear voice that would not, not matter what I did, stop saying go. Go, even though you love him. Go, even though he’s kind and faithful and dear to you. Go, even though he’s your best friend and you’re his. Go, even though you can’t imagine your life without him.Go, even though he adores you and your leaving will devastate him. Go, even though your friends will be disappointed or surprised or pissed off or all three. Go, even though you once said you would stay. Go, even though you’re afraid of being alone. Go, even though you’re sure no one will ever love you as well as he does. Go, even though there is nowhere to go. Go, even though you don’t know exactly why you can’t stay. Go, because you want to. Because wanting to leave is enough.“

8. Book/movie/tv show you were scared of as a child but have read/watched now? haha no I’m a big scaredy cat when it comes to horror, so it’s either in my comfort zone or it’s not. There’s nothing I was afraid of as a kid that I”m not still scared of now. (That said, I was a pretty fearless kid - that grew into your average-fear-level adult.)

9. How many siblings do you have if any? One younger brother. You know what’s weird? When both you and your brother are fully adults and your friends start finding your brother hot. Like yes, on the one hand he’s also an adult and like, it’s not actually that big of an age difference between you two, and if your friend dated someone your brother’s age it would be /fine./ Maybe a little on the young side, but not unheard of. But on the other hand HE’S YOUR LITTLE BROTHER. AAAAAH. 

10. Fairy lights or no? Yes :)))) I have this lovely front porch that has windows all around and we have multi-colored lights out there. At night it’s super cozy and lovely. And in the daytime it’s bright and sunny and there are a bunch of plants out there. It’s my favorite room. Just sucks in the winter when it’s freezing out there. 

11. Did you say “I love you” first to someone or someone said it to you? (not including family members) Both times someone else said it first. The first time my camp boyfriend said it to me at the end of the summer and I didn’t say it back. The second time my current partner said it to me after we were rather drunk and he had run into his ex and she had yelled at both of us. We were sitting in the kitchen at 2am trying to sober up/cheer up after that and we were both a mess and he’s just like “I love you.” And I didn’t say it back that night but I said it in the morning, because I just knew. WOW OK. Feel free to come in my inbox and chat about any of these - or anything else really. Anyway, here are 11 questions!  1. Dream vacation? 2. You’re throwing together a celebrity dinner party - who’s on the guest list? (or fictional characters, historical figures, whatever)  3. Are you excited for the olympics? 4. What’s your opinion on astrology? 5. Would you rather go on a date with a scientologist or a libertarian?  6. What’s in your perfect care package? 7. Best Halloween costume? 8. Musical instrument? 9. Favorite climate/season? 10. Funniest/worst date story?  11. Any goals for 2018? tagging: @fynneyseas @bluegrasshole @bubblegum-blue @dinosaurswearingdior @inthebackoftheimpala @pongpalace @hockeybros

[trentteti]

The March LSAT Is Canceled. Now What?

Today, LSAC made the probably difficult, definitely inconvenient-for-many-law-school-hopefuls, but, in our decidedly non-expert opinion, inevitable and socially responsible decision to cancel the March 30 LSAT. You can read their statement here.

First, what this means for you, logistically, if you signed up to take the March LSAT and didn’t already take up LSAC’s offer to reschedule your LSAT for free: You’ve been automatically enrolled in the next LSAT to be held in the “community” where you were registered to take the March exam. If you’d like to change your test date or location, LSAC encourages you to reach out to their Candidate Services team at LSACinfo@LSAC.org, or (215) 968-1001. I’d try to carve out some time to contact them — this decision affected thousands of people, so, as with seemingly every grocery and drug store right now, I’d expect long queues.

Second, what it means for you if you’re planning on taking the LSAT in April or later: LSAC hasn’t decided to cancel the April or June LSATs yet. The registration for April LSAT is closed, but you can still register for the June LSAT (until April 24, 2020). But of course, these might be canceled as well. Experts can’t yet really say how long this era of social distancing will last, so any prediction about whether these exams will be held is pure speculation. But those who were planning to take these LSATs should consider a contingency plan in case these exams also get canceled. LSAC, for one, is considering some contingency plans: they note that they’re considering if remote-testing or other alternatives that might be viable for future test dates.

Finally, for those who were planning to use their March LSAT scores to apply in the 2019-20 law school admissions cycle, this is a tough break. But LSAC also notes that they are working with law schools to adjust deadlines in light of the March cancellation. As an applicant, it wouldn’t hurt to reach out to the schools you planned on applying to, to let them know that you’re interested in applying still, and to see if there’s anything you can do to apply during this cycle.

Now What?

OK, so those were LSAC’s decisions. Now what should you do, if you were planning on taking the March LSAT? What should you do if you’re planning on taking an April LSAT that may or may not be held? I’ll give you the same advice that was given to me before I started studying for the bar: “Take it seriously, but pace yourself; it’s going to be a long process.”

Studying for the LSAT is going to be a bit more of a marathon for you than you might have initially considered. What was originally going to be a two-, four-, or six-month process is going to be extended by at least a month. Perhaps longer. In some ways, this is a — now, any word I could possibly use here is going to feel wrong and insensitive and inappropriate considering the magnitude of a global pandemic, so please forgive me for the word choice — an opportunity to get more study time in. To master important concepts like the common fallacies and scenarios and author’s attitude. To do many extra practice exams, and review those exams thoroughly. Luckily, there are plenty of studying resources to prepare for the LSAT. From prep courses to private tutors and LSAT prep online classes, there are options suited for everyone’s schedules.

You should definitely do all of those things (from the safety and curve-flattening sequestration of your own home, of course)! For most of those who were studying for the March LSAT, this extra month will likely be best spent doing a few things. First, try nailing down the LSAT concepts (especially those important concepts like diagramming and identifying common fallacies in Logical Reasoning, making scenarios and “playing the numbers” for Logic Games, and understanding the structure of a passage and the author’s opinions in Reading Comp) so that you can achieve the accuracy your target score would require when doing the LSAT untimed.

After you do this, start to ease yourself into test speed by doing small, timed practice sets of Logical Reasoning questions, games, or passages. Start with the time you need to finish the set and maintain your accuracy. Then reduce the time you give yourself to complete another set of LR questions, games, or passages. If you can finish those within the allotted time and still maintain your hard-won accuracy, reduce the time given once again. Eventually, you want to work your way down, slowly and incrementally, to finishing the Logical Reasoning practice sets with an average of 1 minute and 30 seconds per question, and the Logic Games and Reading Comp practice sets with an average of 8 minutes and 30 seconds per passage or game. In this process, if your accuracy ever dips below the threshold needed for your target score, you’re going too fast. Try to get more practice with slightly more time allotted.

But when you can maintain your accuracy at those speeds — and only when you can do that — then you can start taking practice exams. But be judicious with how many exams you take. Practice exams are great for a few things: getting experienced working at “test speed,” building mental endurance, experimenting with testing strategies. Above all, they’re great at telling you what your strengths and weaknesses are as a test taker. But, paradoxically enough, they’re pretty bad at actually improving the score you get at the end of the exam. Careful review of the exam — tips here — and untimed practice between the exam will help boost your score. Two exams per week is our recommendation.

But, Please, Stay Well

Those are our purely LSAT-related recommendations for those suddenly given an extra month of study time. But to take off the proverbial instructor hat for just a moment, I want you all to remember that studying for the LSAT is a long, arduous, and stressful process, even under the best of times. And, friends, I’m not sure these are the best of times. We’re all getting adjusted to this hopefully brief period of social distancing together, and we’re all going to feel the emotional and mental toll of this abrupt change to our everyday lives. This is not the time to overstress yourself by going too hard into your LSAT study plan.

You know your ability to tolerate stress better than anyone, so I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to tell you how to regulate your study schedule. But I will say this: be honest with what you can take on right now. Listen to your body, and monitor other signals of overstress. And if right now you have serious financial or health concerns, please, please, please tend to those first. The LSAT and law school will still be there when you’re ready.

I’ll also say this: if you’ve already gone through an LSAT course, or have otherwise have acquired a solid foundation of LSAT-related skills, strategies, and experience, studying for the LSAT for a couple of hours a day, five or six days per week, is sufficient. Don’t feel like you have to put in six-hour days of studying every day. That really ups the risk that you’ll burn out before test day (especially if test day gets pushed back from April to later). So free up some time each day to engage — responsibly — in activities that bring you happiness. Practice self-care. Get plenty of sleep. These are the things that can help keep you healthy and relatively happy during these trying times; these also happen to be the things that will make you a smarter, sharper test taker.

So please stay well — physically, mentally, emotionally — to everyone who just had their test date changed. We all got some extra time to prepare for the LSAT. Let’s use that time wisely.

The March LSAT Is Canceled. Now What? was originally published on Blueprint LSAT Blog

[survivor-kuwait]

Episode 3 - "I can feel my fangs coming in...tail growing...literally about to snake someone tonight and idk who it should be." - Owen

Out of all the people to take out 9-1.... you take out Beastman? Like when Nehemiah- THE PERSON WHO WAS ALREADY VOTED OUT- was there? Like what kind of fucking logic is that? Seriously, had you all used your heads and actually THINK- that should've been the 9-1 vote... Not for Beastman. Literally livid right now, and while I love the immunity of the safe zone, I do not want to tempt fate and throw this next challenge. I am here for myself, and any agenda that I have of wanting this asshole of a player gone- needs to wait or I need to have others do it for me. Praying that it is the latter over the former.

Well, I’m sad that Matt B. Was voted out. I felt that I could have worked with him in the game. Now there is still 10 complete signs and Nehe (Pisces) in the game. We need to win the oasis atleast so we can talk to people because not being able to communicate with anyone else is really gunna hurt us. I rather be in the oasis than warzone. This next immunity looks like we have a chance to win but it is gunna be lucked bases and if anyone wants us to be in the warzone. Hopefully no one does and we can slip into the top 5 now? and hopefully top 3.

Matt will never read this but it's okay, I wanted to type out my reasoning as to why I was chill with him being voted out. 1. I'm trying to play a game that's a little more selfish and a little less selfless to see if I can catch lightning in a bottle and get a TS win. 2. I really liked Matt and had things gone differently I would have been all about a long term alliance, that being said if I'm going to work with someone I need them to be able to keep their name off the unanimous block. He didn't talk to anyone at all til it was too late. I need an ally that if I things gets sticky for me then they need to he able to have pull to help me out of it. 3. This is a long game and we only have quick snippets of time to make connections and I'm not about to throw my vote to spare someone's feelings and get 8 other people start to think I'm swishy washy. They need to believe they can call upon me if they need to. Sorry about the 9-1 vote, but it's a game and we have a long way left to go.

Only remaining Matt! And boy do I feel powerful. However, I feel worse than ever regarding the challenge, it’s just extremely complex and it requires myself and Adrien to put a lot more effort than we are putting in. It’s hard because with only two people there’s no one else to rely on but ourselves, and honestly it’s consistently easier just to defect to him so at least something gets done.

I am getting really worried. My partner hasnt been on today and hasnt really help with the challenge. Im sooo worried that we are going to lose. I was just meh about it so i dont even fucken know if the list will be good and the target list is like my own thoughts even if i told Renee it was random.orged. I just wish no one wants to target us and we are atleast in top 5. 

Well we lost immunity. It sucks. But I get to talk to Madison again and also Stephen which is good because I can try and like solidify something with them. Timmy is here too so I can try and work with him but we do have org history with each other. I just hope Renee and I arent targeted this round.

Most likely gonna stick with doodle and nehe this round, it was either nip that alliance immediately or ride it till its time to flip, flipping now would just antagonise everyone.

I feel like I’m doing well socially but thats on my side. I dont know how people are perceive me. 🤷‍♂️ I hope that I’ll be good for tonight. Timmy and I talked last night and it was really good. It was more of life than game. I enjoyed it. I really want to work with Timmy, hopefully its mutual.

Narrowly avoided tribal this round, probably thanks to Cancer and Virgo making their entire list for the challenge "do nothing". I'm not sure if they threw it on purpose or if that was some type of strategy to keep signs from being mad at them, either way it's a damn challenge, people can get over it. Especially when you can target a sign that has consistently been on the top on challenges in Capricorn. I don't care, I'm not going to tribal, in other news, I landed another hit in battleshits. I need to get that ship sunk before someone else happens to find it as well, if I can grab another advantage that's one more someone else can't use against me.

I want to get Stevie out. I don’t think it’s going to happen but i want to try. I would go for Owen but people tend to tell Owen things if he name is mentioned because he just has that personality. I don’t think Stevie would have those connections and it would be nice to limit that tribe since they went to the Oasis twice already (I think that’s what it’s called). I just need to look back to see if he is already the weak link on the tribe because then it might be better to keep him but honestly I’d still rather see him go. So I’ll try to get people on board for some plan.

I uh threw out a name out to Timmy. I really feel like we can actually work together in this game my target as of now is Stevie. He’s really nice person but havent really talked to him outside of the warzone chat. Timmy had the same idea so hopefully it could be an easy vote tonight. Timmy seems on board so he could get his partner Trace. Doodle amd Stephen want to work with me and Renee so we’ll have their votes too. I need to talk to madison but hopefully they would want to do Stevie too. Leaving both Capricorns on the outs which sucks cuz i like Owen.

This vote is getting closer and closer. I’m slightly getting more nervous. Its being very calm and quiet again. Stevie is still the target for me so we’ll see how that goes. I’m just worried that there would be messy scrambling the last hr or 30 minutes that would switch targets but right now it feels like Timmy is on board for Stevie and hopefully Stephen would be too.

for the first time, I spend the day in the Oasis. Winning 3rd place is a blessing and for it to be on this challenge, an even bigger one (not seen as a comp threat, can pretend we tried to flop but not make it obvious to the Pact). I am glad that I get to socialize with Willow a bit again. And hopefully I can socialize w Matt and Adrian a bit too. Cullan is lowkey dry and idk if he likes me at all but idk why he wouldn't. Tonight, the people I like are facing tribal council. Owen, Madison and Jacob cannot go home but Renee could! I hope some miracle pulls through and that b*tch is sent packing. I did not come for her in any way shape or form in immunity bc I want to be able to disingenuously rebuild w her if we make it onto the same tribe or we both make it to merge. Renee's ass did NOTHING BUT GRAB AND SRATCH ME HOWEVER. FUCKING BITHCHCISOAFHISHFSKLHGSHGKLS I DIDN'T EVEN LOOK UNTIL NOW. I HOPE OWEN LOOKED AT RESULTS AND IS ON THE SAME WAVELENGTHS AND GETS THAT BITCH OUTTA HERE.  Kait and Thomas also grabbed/scratched but nowhere near as much as Renee's dumbass did. She's an idiot, she has no game. I'm getting her ass out the fucking second I have a chance. Does she not remember how easy it was to get rid of her the moment I wanted to in Kanto? forget you, go home, goodbye! I mean, this is embarrassing. You threw every wrench you could at me yet still I am top 3 and I do nothing to you and still you are in the bottom 6. anyway, prayer circle for renee to go back to the fissure where she came from.

....

Okay soooo i did something bad LMAO I told Nehe I wanted to work with him and then I told madison/Jacob I wanted to work with them and then I told Timmy/trace I wanted to work with them hehe so my plan was to vote Stephen/Taylor or maybe go for renee but..... Nehe wants to vote anyone BUT Stephen taylor/ and madison+trace both don’t want to do maynor/renee.... fuck my life 

So basically I have to either turn on Nehe which would kinda suck or somehow convince madison and jacob to do renee or maynor but I feel like they might even go for Nehe and ughhh how did I put myself between this ALREADY My horoscope was right I am dying today

...

I can feel my fangs coming in...tail growing...literally about to snake someone tonight and Idk who it should be. I THINK that right now it’s: Timmy/Trace/Madison going for Taylor, Nehe/Stephen/Taylor going for Renee, Maynor going for Stevie. I have no clue what renee and jacob want. Theoretically if stevie and I vote for renee it could be 5-4-2 if renee did stevie but I also think that madison could try to get renee to do taylor.... ugh. I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to lie to Nehe, he was the one who told me that Maynor wanted Stevie out. But I can’t screw over madison/Jacob/Trace/Timmy.... Maybe I could vote renee but Stevie could vote taylor,???? And then I tell madison and jacob that Stevie did renee? But I tell Nehe that I did renee??? Idk this is all just too complicated and some people like Stevie and jacob won’t ANSWR ME

Jshdia I am dying how messy this vote is getting. The names that have been thrown out are Renee, Doodle, Stephen, and Stevie. Hopefully we can have the votes stay on Stevie but im worried about Renee. I just hope Im safe tbh. It is a single games after all.

...

I am dying right now. Its either gunna be doodle or stevie tonight. Me and Renee are hearing mix signals. Ugh I just hope it isnt me or Renee going. It would totally suck if i leave and it would be bad if Renee left. Its gunna be a crazy tribal thats for sure.

Ok so today has been interesting. It's been such a back and forth between Taylor and Stevie going but at this point it's going to be Taylor. I know I said I wanted Stevie earlier, but honestly it's not me going so I don't care too much tbh. Stevie's name has already gone around once now so it's not going to be too difficult to bring it up again in the future. I'm just hoping for a twist tonight honestly. Something needs to change about this game.

Ooo i dont know if anyone caught that in the warzone chat but Stevie posted he was pushing for Taylor then removed it. I was dying if this was an accident. 😂 but im just crossing my fingers that its Stevie tonight. Doodle seems like they wants to work with me so I want to keep them around.

I ACTUALLY CANNOT HANDLE THIS RN DSAKFJHFSKJD UIGHHHHHHHHHHHH okay so madison tells me jacob and timmy want stevie out and then shes like "wait maybe not" and im like ok and she's like "taylor it is" NNNN OK SO FUCK JACOB AND TIMMY FOR CONSIDERING STEVIE BEHIND MY BACK?????? now I feel extra bad for betraying nehe... but stevie wants to do taylor 100% and renee is seeming to do taylor too? idk if I should just vote taylor and do damage control with nehe/stephen or ifi  should vote renee and try to pin it on stevie idek anymore. im worried ppl are being sketch with me and voting me??? but I think if they were votin for me they wouldnt be trying to tell madison stevie or taylor or all this. and idk if taylor/stephen are rlly doing renee like nehe says....or if theyre doing stevie with maynor???? ugh idk. and renee I have no clue about this is just too much but whatever ill make up my mind when tribal comes and pray it isnt me

The Oasis was nice as a change of pace from the warzone definitely!! Sad I missed the movie tho

one good thing about the warzone.... i dont have to deal with nehe yelling at me tonight

I had a really good time at Oasis! It feels good to succeed at something and I’m glad I got to talk to new people, but it also really reminded me that there is so much game left to be played and so many new alliances that need to be made. Thor Ragnarok was good but I was literally waiting for Chris Hemsworth to yell an idol clue or something... and now there’s a swap so I can shit my pants about that

...

Pants have been shat. This war zone thing AND being on a tribe with any of the 3 people I’ve talked to is freaking me out like sauerkraut. I just gotta keep showing up enough for these challenges!

Haha i am dying. Both times o switched my target. This one tho might have not beed good but i think it was because me being able to adapt is part of this game and willing to sacrifce someone is 🤷‍♂️. Now lets hope i can get something out of this search i have hit 3 slots with tonight at 11:11pm will be my 4th hit. Cross your fingers for me. This swap is good and bad. But i just need to stay away from the bottom 5.

Lmfao. I swap with the one person that i don't want to associate myself with, like at all. which means that my road to getting 15th is already settled. which i literally hate because i do not want to do anything with Nehe and he has the audacity of messaging me: "we good or nah?" like.... you do the fucking math. you screwed me over and you ask that? like ofc we're not good. like im gonna make it my mission to screw you and your allies that you have made over the course of the past 4 rounds. you are a fucking little snake and im here with a vendetta. and that is to get you OUT!

Honestly Nehemiah is so full of shit. Him telling me the move is Renee when he knows there are no numbers there. I want his ass OUT

[theliberaltony]

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

Welcome to FiveThirtyEight’s weekly politics chat. The transcript below has been lightly edited.

micah (Micah Cohen, managing editor): Hey, everyone! Our politics editor, Sarah Frostenson, is on vacation this week, so you’re stuck with me as your chat moderator. (Don’t bother complaining — I’ll edit any and all complaints out.)

For today, we’re going to debate what the best historical comparison is for most of the major Democratic presidential candidates. This was inspired by a few recent articles along the lines of “[INSERT 2020 Candidate] Is The [Insert Past Candidate] Of 2020.” (See here and here, for example).

So let’s just work our way down the polling charts, beginning with the leader:

Sound good?

geoffrey.skelley (Geoffrey Skelley, elections analyst): Yes, sounds like a lot of fun

julia_azari (Julia Azari, political science professor at Marquette University and FiveThirtyEight contributor): Yes!

Do we have any ground rules? I thought through some historical comparisons who weren’t nominees, though I’m prepared to stay with winners.

nrakich (Nathaniel Rakich, elections analyst): NO. RULES.

This is electoral Thunderdome.

micah: Yeah, they don’t have to be nominees.

julia_azari: Excellent.

micah: OK, let’s start with former Vice President Joe Biden.

Friend-of-the-site David Byler over at The Washington Post compared him with Mitt Romney. Anyone wanna make that case — or another?

geoffrey.skelley: The Romney comparison is quite apt, but for me, Walter Mondale sticks out as another good comparison. In 1984, he was a former VP running as the front-runner but had a challenging time winning the nomination against Gary Hart and Jesse Jackson. He had to go all the way to the convention to clinch it, which maybe could happen this time too …

nrakich: I’m a David Byler stan, and I thought his analysis was right on the nose. Like Romney, Biden is a strong, but not dominant, polling leader. Like there was among Republicans in 2012, there appears to be a healthy appetite among Democrats in 2020 for a nominee who isn’t the polling front-runner. (In 2012, that manifested itself in how seemingly every candidate, from Rick Perry to Herman Cain, had a “moment” or a period in which they surged in the polls. That looks like it could happen among Democrats in 2020, too — Pete Buttigieg may have already had his “moment.”)

But ultimately, in 2012, the GOP went with the “safe” choice in Romney. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Democrats in 2020 ultimately went with the “safe” choice in Biden, too.

julia_azari: I have a few for Biden: Harry Truman, Theodore Roosevelt, James Blaine.

micah: OK, so the Mondale and Romney comparisons are relatively good for Biden — they both won.

Julia, wanna tell us more about those others?

julia_azari: Yeah, I second being both a Byler fan, and I liked the Romney analysis. And Jonathan Bernstein’s bit about Mondale this morning.

None of mine are quite right, but I think they offer different ways to think about Biden. I thought of Truman and Roosevelt because of the vice presidency angle, first off. For the Truman comparison, I guess part of it was that people sort of struggled to pin down his exact commitments and beliefs. Was he Southern? Aligned with Northerners? Truly liberal on civil rights? Just being strategic?

micah: Yeah, Biden has a bit of that going on. What exactly is his pitch? Well, it’s hard to say.

julia_azari: And I see some of that lack of a clear platform in Biden’s candidacy, and he also has a similar sort of potential path to victory to Truman in the nomination process, where there are factions opposed but he still pulls it out.

OK, just one thing about Roosevelt — he and Biden had/have “wild card” reputations.

geoffrey.skelley: I’m really here for the James Blaine comparison.

nrakich: Both have the initials JB, Geoffrey. #illuminati

julia_azari: Blaine sought the Republican nomination when the party was pretty divided on process issues — civil service reform and how to treat the South post-Reconstruction, for example. And Blaine sorta tried to carve a middle course as the leader of a group that wanted to seek out the party middle ground on this stuff.

micah: At the risk of stepping on a piece Geoff is working on: Are there historical comps for Biden in terms of the polling — near-universal name recognition, really good favorable ratings, clear-but-not-overwhelming horse-race leader — who failed to win the nomination?

geoffrey.skelley: Ed Muskie comes to mind. He is interesting because he won the New Hampshire primary in 1972 — and the Iowa caucuses, though Iowa wasn’t a big deal quite yet — but still lost the nomination in part because he failed to meet the new expectations game by not doing as well as anticipated. It was also the first race after changes had been made to the nomination process, so everyone was adjusting to the new rules that broadened participation — like requiring state parties to advertise delegate selection events in advance — and the new realities of campaigning for primary and caucus votes and delegates, rather than focusing as much on backroom support.

nrakich: I think Hillary Clinton in 2008 is the bad-case comp for Biden.

julia_azari: Hillary Clinton in 2008.

micah: Jinx!

geoffrey.skelley: Yes, also a good one.

nrakich: She was a universally known name, closely tied to the previous Democratic administration, started off with polling numbers in the 30s. But she struggled to amass majority support, and the rest of the party coalesced around Barack Obama.

I’m not sure I buy that there’s an anti-Biden majority out there, for reasons discussed in last week’s chat. But that’s at least a plausible path to a Biden loss.

micah: On Clinton, it sorta seemed like a candidate better-suited to the moment came along (Obama). That does seem like a danger for Biden.

nrakich: Yep, that could certainly be the case in 2020. Although I think “better-suited to the moment” is kind of a retrospective label — i.e., we don’t know that until it happens, and then it seems obvious.

micah: Yeah. Obama was also … a once-in-a-generation political talent.

The Muskie vs. Clinton bad-case comps are interesting in terms of how it could go wrong for him.

OK, anything else on Biden?

…

Next up: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders!

julia_azari: Al Smith (the Democratic nominee in 1928).

Smith is probably best-known for being the first Catholic nominee, and there’s a bit of a parallel since Sanders would be the first Jewish nominee (and the first nonreligious nominee, but we can debate that another time).

But the more important point, IMO, is that he represented a pretty distinct facet of the party. He was “wet” (anti-Prohibition), and there was very much disagreement on that issue. He was also connected to old-style machine politics as the party was moving in a different direction.

Sanders is obviously not a machine politician, but what I mean is that he’s very much tied to a particular wing/perspective in the party.

geoffrey.skelley: George McGovern in 1972 is an obvious choice. McGovern was seen as too liberal by many in his party, won his party’s nomination despite narrowly losing the national primary vote, and had extremely committed supporters who helped him win a bunch of delegates from caucus-convention states (which won’t be as open to Sanders, with many caucus states moving to primaries in 2020).

nrakich: I was gonna say Eugene McCarthy in 1968. He was an activisty (at the time, that meant anti-war) candidate who put a stronger-than-expected shock into the establishment (which went ahead and picked the last Democratic VP, Hubert Humphrey, at the convention anyway).

I mean, doesn’t this (from an NPR retrospective on McCarthy in 2005) sound like Sanders in 2016?

“Humphrey won the Democratic presidential nomination, leaving Eugene McCarthy to pick up a bullhorn outside the Hilton Hotel in Chicago to speak to his youthful admirers and supporters.”

But actually, on that score, I kinda think that the best comp for Bernie in 2020 is … Bernie in 2016. He’s kind of his own political animal.

micah: I’ve been surprised by how much Sanders has stuck to the script he followed in 2016.

nrakich: Right. It’s almost the same campaign.

micah: Anyway, one major theme here seems to be the (so far, at least) factional nature of Sanders’s bid.

nrakich: He’s an unprecedented figure in many ways. Openly (Democratic) socialist. Independent trying to win a party’s nomination. Has that ever happened before, Julia? At least in a major way?

julia_azari: Not in a major way.

geoffrey.skelley: Wendell Willkie, the Republican nominee in 1940, might be a weirdly apt comparison in terms of coming from outside the party establishment.

julia_azari: I mean, Eisenhower was drafted by both parties.

The idea of an independent coming in and imposing themselves on a party establishment — it’s hard to exaggerate how much parties used to be designed to prevent that. I wrote a piece about it in late 2015 that I’ll dig up.

nrakich: I don’t think it’s the same as Willkie or Eisenhower, though. Sanders is an elected independent. Those guys joined a political party when they decided to enter politics.

julia_azari: No, not the same at all. Eisenhower is also a unique figure, but that’s another chat. Micah’s going to kill me.

micah: This is what we’re here for! LOL

What’s the best-case comp for Sanders?

julia_azari: I mean, Smith won the nomination …

nrakich: So did McGovern. But neither became president.

julia_azari: President Trump?

(ducks away from everyone on Twitter)

(and all my students)

(and about half my friends)

micah: It is Trump, right?

julia_azari: I think so.

geoffrey.skelley: Trump is an excellent pick for best case. Capture party, win nomination and win the presidency.

nrakich: Yep, and take advantage of a divided establishment to do so.

geoffrey.skelley: Yeah, the Democratic establishment is not necessarily that divided right now. But if Biden fades in the polls, you could see even more of a struggle to coalesce around one candidate with such a crowded field full of big names.

julia_azari: I’ll get to this later in a much different context, but the last person who made people go, “holy shit, really that person?” and then became president was Ronald Reagan. Both because he was seen as extreme by some and unserious by some. But he won a national majority in the popular vote twice.

nrakich:

micah: Wait, so it’s Sanders as Reagan?

I

that!!!

You also have the ran and lost and ran again angle. And people took him (Reagan and Sanders) more seriously the second time.

julia_azari: And the conflict between party factions that revolves around extremes and ideology: The Smith comparison is about a very specific issue position and faction; on the other hand, moderates thought Reagan was too extreme, and moderates think Sanders is too extreme.

micah: OK, coming up next: California Sen. Kamala Harris!

geoffrey.skelley: Let me just go ahead and jump in with Marco Rubio in 2016. Seems strong on paper but never pans out.

julia_azari: I got two for Harris: James K. Polk and FDR. And, yeah, both sorta follow the same logic as Rubio.

geoffrey.skelley: Re: FDR — Harris is going to come back a lot stronger in about 12 years if she doesn’t win this time? Just thinking of his vice presidential bid in 1920.

julia_azari: Polk: No one’s favorite. Good politician. Affiliation with last big name Democrat (Andrew Jackson — Polk was in the House then; for Harris, I’m thinking about her connection with Obama). Had appeal for different factions of the party.

And like FDR, Harris has established herself as a solid liberal within the party. But also like FDR, she has a pragmatic side.

micah: How much does Harris being the first major, major black woman to emerge make historical comparisons more tricky?

nrakich: But she’s not the first major potentially boundary-breaking candidate.

In that vein, my best-case scenario for Harris is Obama in 2008. Unites a diverse coalition, is seen as symbolically turning the page on the incumbent Republican president, pretty strong orator.

My bad-case scenario for Harris is kind of a weird one: Mike Huckabee in 2008. Kind of a happy warrior, wins a bunch of Southern states but can’t quite seal the deal.

julia_azari: That’s a solid comparison too, I think.

BTW, I said on television that I thought Huckabee would be the 2008 Republican nominee.

micah: Do you have a link to that?!

julia_azari: No.

micah: lol

NEXT!!!!!

Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

julia_azari: So this is where I was going to make the Reagan comparison.

nrakich: I’m bullish on Warren’s chances, so my first comp for her is a pretty good one: John McCain in 2008. He trailed in the polls for much of 2007 but remained a respected and well-liked figure in the party (as Warren is), so he was well-positioned. Once voting started, people went for a name they trusted.

geoffrey.skelley: John Kerry in 2004? Not really the out-and-out leader through much of the year before, also from Massachusetts, but then wins Iowa and New Hampshire and runs away with the nomination.

nrakich: That was going to be my second choice, Geoffrey! (I am probably too bullish on Warren.)

julia_azari: OK, so someone who is sort of the carrier of a major message within the party, who reflects concentrated beliefs among party activists and core voters and is met with some skepticism by moderates in the establishment … I have another one that’s gonna get me so much hate mail: Sen. Robert Taft, who ran for the Republican nomination in 1952 as a conservative Republican against Eisenhower.

geoffrey.skelley: Oh, Bob Taft — that’s good.

julia_azari: I spent some time with his papers at the Library of Congress this spring, and I found a ton of letters/telegrams to Taft and his campaign managers that were like, “I love your ideas and commitment, but I doubt you’re electable.”

nrakich: That’s amazing, Julia.

geoffrey.skelley: Warren could be “Ms. Democrat” in the same way that Taft was “Mr. Republican.”

micah: OK, so best case for Warren is Reagan or McCain. Worst is Taft? Or maybe Sanders in 2016?

Wait — Julia, did you mean Reagan in 1976 or in 1980?

nrakich: Depends how it works out!

julia_azari: I guess either one? That’s not helpful, I realize, but I think the dynamics are similar.

In 1980, you had an unpopular incumbent from the other party, which is maybe a more clear comparison for 2020. And in 1976, the Democrats were challenging an incumbent under weird circumstances. (It was right after Watergate.)

micah: Next!!! This should be an interesting one: Beto O’Rourke.

geoffrey.skelley: I tried to find decent presidential primary performances by House or former House members, and here’s what I came up with: Mo Udall.

julia_azari: All my O’Rourke comparisons suck.

nrakich: I have always thought O’Rourke was too funny to be president.

geoffrey.skelley: Udall probably would’ve been a solid bet to go viral in the mid-1970s.

nrakich: Best Udall quote (which may not be appropriate for a chat): “I have learned the difference between a cactus and a caucus. On a cactus, the pricks are on the outside.”

julia_azari: How about JFK or George W. Bush? OK, you are minimally qualified, good at articulating certain ideas and rich. And that’s enough to unify a party even if it leaves certain factions seething and/or unsatisfied.

nrakich: Yeah, JFK is definitely the best-case comp for O’Rourke.

One that I was toying with was John Edwards in 2008. Young, attractive candidate with lots of buzz from his previous election.

micah: That’s our headline: Beto Is Either JFK Or Mo Udall.

OK, we’re picking up the pace!

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

geoffrey.skelley: Well, the worst case for Buttigieg is Larry Agran, but I think we can all agree that Buttigieg is doing a lot better than the Irvine, California, mayor ever did in the 1992 Democratic primary.

julia_azari: I already wrote my Buttigieg take: “Is Pete Buttigieg the next Jimmy Carter?”

His “we can transcend politics” outsider schtick is pure Carter. I have the hate mail to prove it.

nrakich: Yeah, I think Julia’s Carter comparison nails it.

micah: Julia, that might be the most poli-sci dek ever: “He sounds a lot more disjunctive than transformative.”

geoffrey.skelley: Carter is certainly the best-case scenario for Buttigieg ��� President Pete.

nrakich: What about Newt Gingrich in 2012? He tried to be the intellectual in that race — remember how he kept bragging about being a historian? Plus, Gingrich had a “moment”/bump, like Buttigieg has already had.

julia_azari: Yeah that’s a good one — although Gingrich had a deep history in the party while Buttigieg is a newcomer.

But all of these comparisons break down on scrutiny, so don’t mind me.

geoffrey.skelley: Gingrich also polled as high as 35 percent during his surge in late 2011, while Buttigieg has been lucky to break 10 percent. But I can see it.

micah: There also may be a 2012 Michele Bachmann comparison to make. Maybe not her or Gingrich specifically, but the surged-and-went-nowhere path is certainly possible for Buttigieg.

geoffrey.skelley: With a strong play in Iowa that fell flat by the end.

micah: Cory Booker!

The most optimistic comparison, which our colleage Perry made in Booker’s theory of the case, is Obama. As Perry wrote,

“A charismatic, liberal-but-not-super-liberal black man is running for president. He has degrees from two of America’s most prestigious universities. He was a community organizer before serving in elected office. He was touted very early in his career as the potential first black president. He served a stint in local government before becoming one of the very few African-Americans ever elected to the U.S. Senate. And he is running on a message of optimism.”

geoffrey.skelley: That’s sort of the best-case situation for him.

nrakich: But maybe it should be someone less famous from a previous election, given that Booker is not polling super great.

julia_azari: Yeah. Like I kinda keep thinking of Hubert Humphrey’s presidential bids. Pre-1968. Or like peripheral presidential eligibility, not even really bids, I guess.

micah: Here’s a weird one: John Kasich in 2016. At least in the positive tone and that he may not really catch on.

nrakich: Maybe Mo Udall works here too. Booker is funny!

geoffrey.skelley: That feels pretty Kasich-esque.

Henry “Scoop” Jackson crossed my mind as a Democratic senator who seemed to have a lot of potential but struggled to take off in both the 1972 and 1976 presidential races. Though Jackson won the Massachusetts and New York primaries in 1976 but didn’t win the nomination.

nrakich: Can we end with a lightning round with some of the lower-tier candidates??

micah: Why doesn’t everyone give everyone else they did?

nrakich:

Tulsi Gabbard: Dennis Kucinich in 2004. Stays in the race a long time promoting a “peace” platform, wins a decent chunk (~15 percent) in late primaries.

John Delaney: Chris Dodd in 2008. Goes all in on an early-state strategy, practically moves to Iowa and gets nothing to show for it.

Mike Gravel: Mike Gravel in 2008.

geoffrey.skelley: Chris Dodd is a great comp for Delaney. Dodd moved his family to Iowa and enrolled his kids in school there.

julia_azari: Haha. I wore myself out with the historical stuff and didn’t get to the bottom of my list.

geoffrey.skelley:

John Hickenlooper or Steve Bullock could be Bruce Babbitt in 1988. Western governor who didn’t take off.

Amy Klobuchar as Paul Simon — the Illinois senator, not the singer — in 1988. Midwestern, had potential but never shot to the lead.

Jay Inslee as Bill Richardson in 2008. Lot of federal experience, western governor.

And maybe my favorite — Bill de Blasio as John Lindsay, another liberal New York mayor who ran for president. Honestly, that’d be an OK outcome for de Blasio. Lindsay actually did well in a few contests in 1972 — second place in the early Arizona caucus, for example — and I have to say that it’s hard to see de Blasio winning much of anything right now.

julia_azari: Those are good.

micah: OK, to close: Which comp are you most confident in? (Or just proud of/think is fun?)

julia_azari: The Sanders-Reagan one came out of the blue, and I kind of like it. And also Buttigieg-Carter, if I can flog my piece on my other blog again.

geoffrey.skelley: I think Mondale-Biden and Sanders-McGovern comparisons are pretty reasonable, though it’s very early. I’m a fan of Nathaniel’s Kucinich-Gabbard comp — makes a lot of sense. Iconoclastic types.

Also Dodd-Delaney. That one made me laugh the most.

nrakich: I can’t choose between my children, Micah.

micah: CHOOSE, NATHANIEL!

nrakich: I like the Buttigieg-Carter comparison, except I don’t really think he’ll end up winning the nomination. I think the most likely scenario to come true right now is Biden-Romney, to be honest. (Well done, David!)

[getseriouser]

20 THOUGHTS: Sinking Beers Dee Steven May-o

ONCE the treacherous venue of despair and disappointment, there’s a warm, generous glow hanging over the Tribunal in 2019.

Many have suffered the hand dealt by Chrisso or an errant match-day report, yet the little master, the son of God, joined a lengthening list this season by too getting off his charge tonight.

Secretly Chrisso is having a shocker and on this occasion the umpire should really not have reported Gaz in the first place.

But how good’s the tribunal? Funny world, who would have thought that we’d get to a point where the tribunal is as good as The Footy Show is bad.

Onto the stuff that matters.

  1.       David King makes note that there’s a pack of three who have separated themselves to this point and I tend to agree – Geelong, Collingwood and Western Sydney (they can reclaim the ‘Greater’ bit when they wing a flag, stupid name). Cats have beaten the Pies, the Giants beat the Cats, they all seem pretty up there without yet any major fail, however the Giants and Pies have had bad losses to the Eagles, so where are they in this group? Not close, for reasons that will be apparent in a thought or two.

2.       So why are the Cats so good? It’s not immense talent, they’re not the GWS, but then again nor were Collingwood last year. And that’s where the similarities lie: its not the sum of the parts but the difficulty they pose as an opponent. Their mix is not so much unorthodox but they are had to play against, their matchups down forward are not typical and their midfield mix is gritty, yet clean. Eventually they’ll be worked out and come back to the pack, or yep see 2018 Collingwood.

3.       Mark Robinson, the lite’n’easy ambassador you won’t see, got himself a nice kabana in his tracksuit pants watching Andrew Gaff on the weekend. Now Robbo, if you were reading last weeks column you’d know that’s a waste of time. Yes he got 33 touches, but in a game that the Suns were right in with a chance of winning with five minutes to go. If 30+ from Gaff keeps the Gold Coast competitive, I’ll pass Robbo.

4.       Alright, West Coast, they’re not with the aforementioned three clubs and showing quite clearly why. The Eagles had 14 players over 100 games on Saturday night, Gold Coast had 17 under, but over at Optus the visitors looked on for ever such a long time in that game. Their game plan is so risky thats the thing, the same style that saluted last year for the flag had them fall into the eight just 12 months earlier remember, its fraught.

5.       Essendon got their pants pulled down Sunday but still like them, I think the form from the Melbourne game to Anzac Day is far more representative, and with a lot of sides showing question marks it will just take a good month or two for the Dons to get into the eight and stick.

6.       North, oh they had a win, ‘are they back?’. No, it was North vs. Carlton, no-one is a real winner there, the Roos still have big problems and the Blues are showing isolated glimpses, first half against Hawthorn for example. Like the Blues more than the Kangas though, for say 2020, to be fair.

7.       Chad Wingard marks that ball, which wasn’t a lolly, goes back and kicks it he is the recruit of the year. He doesn’t and the knives come for him. Relax, Clarko said he hasn’t got a great side in 2019 and Wingard’s a month into a new club. Fickle.

8.       Jordan Lewis, gotta say it, 13 touches and only one tackle in defense, Christian Petracca, 11 touches and two tackles. What do you call people on the bus who aren’t the driver?...

9.       Don’t worry about Port on Friday, Pies had 12 players with over 100 games experience, the Power had 11 plays under 50 games. Were never a chance, so to get it close at stages is a credit to their potential.

10.   Aaron Naughton was a gun backman as a junior but flukishly ends up forward in the big league and looks a jet. Do you roll the dice again and put twice-failed Josh Schache down back potentially to try and salvage that?

11.   Good to see a Coleman that might be attached to a decent total, Jeremy Cameron’s on track for 80+ and if the Giants can stay top four looking slick, he could just, maybe just, nudge the ton. Until he gets suspended by routine some time in the winter.

12.   Nat Fyfe is still the best player in the comp and I won’t change on that, but the Bont is creeping up on him. Let’s roll some stats: second to Cripps for clearances but top five for metres gained and top ten for inside 50s and score involvements. $11 for the Brownlow at the moment, not bad. Congilio holding at $15 – value.

13.   Couple last random footy ones - Jack Steven, most rumours are untrue and hope the stuff on him at the moment is the same, but seems there might be a bit involved with relationships down there at Moorabbin causing more harm than good, fingers crossed its all ok.

14.   We did up front say there’s a leading three, but another reminder, Pies didnt make the 8 until Round 10 last season and the Crows were 3rd at the end of Round Seven - bit to play out.

15.   We have the inaugural (I think?) mid-season draft in 3 weeks, total random new event and could make a difference, stay woke, should be a very interesting scenario.

16.   State of Origin will start to ramp up, Dermie picked his Big V team, NRL's game 1 is next month so standby for the annual series of 'what if articles down south' – but Derm's opening paragraph shows why it should still be important to us in 2019, "Most of my football paraphernalia has gone to charity auctions, but I still have my first Big V jumper and refuse to part with it.”

17.    Be careful - especially those who are fans of the Borough, or the Seagulls particularly. The push for a consolidated AFL reserves competition continues, or something that definitively isolates the Melbourne-based seconds into its own comp, where the VFL currently serves six of those reserves teams, with four aligned clubs and then only four remaining standalones. When it happens, Port, Williamstown, Coburg and Frankston, well two of those may be able to survive, for whatever is next but for the other two, and the old Box Hill, the totally bastardised Preston turned Northern Bullants, then what? Does a new post-AFL VFA reemerge, or has there been too much fondling and interference to see something salvageable possible? Something very sad is on the horizon I fear..

18.    Why do we care about Prince Harry’s kid with the chick from Suits? I see people from regional England travelled miles just to what, stand near a random, monarchical residence to ‘celebrate’ the seventh in line to a throne? Its 2019, the only throne people care about is the Iron one at King’s Landing, not the one old Deustchland Libby sits on with her racist Greek cadaver husband looking to cause another road accident nearby. I’m not that fussed with its impact but if becoming a republic gets rid of half this nonsense, sign me up.

19.    Ben Simmons, averaging 10 points and 5 assists a game playing 38 minutes in the Eastern Semi’s against Toronto, hmm..... if Simmons doesn't contribute to the scoreboard does he even exist?

20.   And now our friends over in India. The cricket scheduling - ridiclous - last season 'dictated' no Gabba test, and no Perth as the first test, so totally made us change our schedule to suit their requests, as the visiting team. Now, next season, making us travel over there, literally only a few days after our Sydney test to play three one dayers, to then come back home to finish off our domestic season. Utterly insane, surely we could use our safe word by now, or is the gimp mask to tight to our face to make any sound? ‘Whipped’ in the Websters’ dictionary simple states “adjective - see ‘Cricket Australia’”.

[thisnerdsadventures]

April checkin and semester update!

Hi everyone its the middle of April, and boy am I toasted from the two and a half weeks post-spring break

Here’s what happened!

my friends and I went to hackDartmouth, where we made a web app that helps you plan trips. I would say it’s still pretty under development, though this time around, the alpha does indeed work on its own! For those who are interested - here’s the git repo, we used a react on top of ruby on rails. we would not recommend this choice for future projects. we also pulled an all nighter! and ate many snacks

the weather finally turned up to around 50s or 60s, so CPW was pleasantly nice for once. Here’s some pics of CPW 

The first picture is from Activities Midway, where we showed prefrosh a bit about our club (Quidditch), and we made butterbeer for the occasion. The second picture is from fondue in McCormick, where we spend an hour or two cutting fruit two days prior in preparation. The third picture is from hot pot at EC, and I got to meet up with a friend from high school and hang out w her a bit. The fourth picture is from a Quidditch event where we actually ran through some drills and played a scrimmage with some prefrosh. And lastly, the picture on the right is of this floppy balloon thing they had in front of Maseeh for the weekend,

like this, but then someone pulled a hack and took it to the top of the lobby 7 dome. so that was a thing

i think this years cpw was a lot of fun, or at least I got to go to a lot of events this year and it felt more fun with like actual friends who were prefrosh this year. anyways, a rundown of the Wednesday (pre-CPW) - Saturday craziness (at least my schedule):

Wednesday

butterbeer prep @5pm

lab meeting @6 - 7:30pm

psetting at pi phi @8-9:30pm

dorm IM basketball!!! but we lost crie @10pm

panic clean and laundry (the entire dorm was up doing this at 1am with me i swear to god)

Thursday

archery @11am! Yes im in archery now. the dude said i was a natural soOoOooOO your girl can shoot straight into a circle and look like a PRO

recitation at 12pm

dorm tours at 3 - 5pm, which was super fun! even though my whole tour was just parents asking questions about how rooms are distributed to freshmen. it was unexpectedly tiring though, I literally finished and nearly collapsed in my room afterwards

met the prefrosh I was hosting for the weekend! I walked her to Simmons and she met up with some random people that I think she got to hang out with for the weekend

psetted for like two hours until my friend got in from Logan, and she brought me Porto’s! And then I hung out with her til nearly midnight

Friday

Camped out in the lobby til noon, and talked to some prefrosh and parents. Gave a surprise tour

Class at 1pm

Ran Quidditch practice at 3pm til 5pm ish

met up with a friend from BU at 6pm for dinner! Took her around cpw events until 10pm [including smores, fondue, root beer floats, and then just chatting in the GLR]

went with my friend and her prefrosh and her prefrosh’s friends to frat parties til midnight

watched jane the virgin with her til 1am

Saturday

woke up late, and ran over to the student center and Z to set up Quidditch for activities midway at 12:30, stayed til 2:30pm

dunked my friend in the dunk tank at maseeh after being cruelly mocked for a while

helped run our signature event at 7pm, and hunted down random prefrosh with glow sticks to try to get them into the building, stayed til 10:30pm

was sad because all the other volunteers left me alone outside, so texted a friend and we watched the perfect date in the kitchen until 1am [6/10, imo]

anyways, the takeaway from this is to thank your local CPW chairs and club exec committees for running the 700+ events because this ^^ was highkey exhausting but super fun anyways

super excited for the next couple days because we have a basketball game tomorrow, our exec quarter zips are coming in tomorrow, and i’m seeing les mis on friday! its also my first musical, so im super psyched :D

semester update!!!

6.858 its actually a pretty chill class, the labs are ok for me, and the readings are on the tougher side for me, but still really interesting content! and i managed to pay attention for the full 80 minutes today and understand >90% of the lecture, so i’m feeling pretty good about myself today

6.033 - ehhhh ok i have a lot of opinions but i feel like a lot of people are in this class, so im not about to go off on this platform lol but i really do like the papers we read (we read MapReduce from Google and CDNs from Akamai, to point out two papers I liked) and i like discussing them in class. never thought i’d actually enjoy discussions (i get horrible anxiety speaking in section), but its actually not too bad somehow.

electronic music comp I - i guess its interesting, we made feedback compositions and convolution projects, which I’ll upload to soundcloud once the semester ends, so I can show yall

interactive music systems: yall i really cannot express how cool this class is every single day, like im still in shock i get to take a class with one of the creators of guitar hero (i tell everyone i know this, and theyre all like whaaaaaa). the other day we coded a guitar hero like game! It’s pretty much just a lot of coding, but also thinking about things you wouldn’t normally think about, like how to build a note scheduler, or how graphics actually work

[snsmissionaries]

4/9/19 -- Sister Nicole Ritman, Spain, Madrid Mission

The Longest "Short" Week of my Mission 😞

Subject Line: Since we had last Pday on Wednesday, I figured it would feel nice to have a short week until the next Pday only a few days later on Monday. Wrong. Somehow H Brumble and I had a week that felt even LONGER than normal even though it was technically shorter than normal.

 ¡Hola a Todos!

 It's only been a few days since I wrote you all last and H Brumble and I have worked super hard and have nothing to show for it. You're probably reading this imagine I'm saying that in a bitter voice, but I'm not even angry. I'm not even annoyed. One thing the mission teaches you is that you can be disappointed without getting frustrated. It gives you a broader perspective that we may not see the obvious results of our labor, but there are still blessings that come that we might not see the relation to. For example, we all know that if missionaries talk to more people, they find more people. But sometimes none of those people talk back. But that doesn't mean we weren't blessed for that effort. Maybe we were sent blessings like seeing new gorgeous parts of our area, getting sick before you had to travel but then feeling well enough to go at the last minute, getting to comfort a crying woman on the phone even though you couldn't go and see her, or actually having an eating cita not cancel like all the others and being able to get to know the family. (None of the above examples are hypothetical and all have happened recently). We may not be able to see those blessings as a direct result of the work we put in before, and the truth is there are probably way more variables that go into it, but the truth is the Lord can bless us in different ways than are obvious to find the cause and effect. This probably made no sense, but these are just some of the things I've been learning lately.

 Also I am learning that first you have to tell the Lord you are WILL-ing to do anything for Him before He reveals you what his actual WILL is. Why would he tell you His will if He knows you'll only do what He wants if it's what you wanted to do in the first place? In a word: Sacrifice

 As for the actual week, I can't think of any events of grand importance, but we did happen upon a gorgeous park and tried to snap a few photos to add quotes to something and maybe put on our shared area Facebook account. I'll attach some of the photos because I haven't really sent many photos of the pretty part of Villalba yet. Villalba is part of Spain's "Sierra" (yes it is a word but it is also the name of the area) and we have gorgeous mountains and pine trees but the mountains are never as gorgeous in. my pictures than in person. You will just have to Google it or take my word for it 😉

 Today we hit Madrid hard and zipped around and saw everything in the super classical art museum Prado and almost everything in the wacky modern art museum Reina Sofía. It was cool seeing my inspirations like Remembrant, Goya, Salvador Dahli, Pablo Picasso, Alexander Calder, Juan Miró, Diego Rivera etc. My pick of the Prado this time (I went before in the CCM) would have to be a really realistic marble satue of Mars and Venus in the Prado that was just very sweet even thought they're usually portrayed pretty dramatically. The artist really got the gaze even thought they didn't even have pupils, which was interesting. It was in one of the main parts with a bunch of other famous works, but it totally stole the show. (Unfortunately it was just a re-creation and the original is in Buckingham Palace). My pick of the Reina Sofía would have to be the Alexander Calder's (one of my personal favorite artists ever since I read "The Calder Game" and saw his work in the Phoenix Museum) ever-turning mobile of simple yet uniquely Calder shapes and colors. It was near Picasso's "Guernica", which was also a marvel to behold. Somehow Picasso knows how to show light with using only a few grey and white shades. The Reina Sofía also had a lot of videos and picture series of performance art from the 40s-60s which was pretty cool because it was like giving their art a second life. I also really connected with this one random artist I don't remember the name of because all his abstract paintings look like the shapes I doodle on the edge of my paper when I'm either bored or stressed sometimes. I just felt like the same patterns were in our souls. Art is literally a spiritual experience for me because I get it tune with the creative vibe and feel like I can just connect to the Human Experience so much better. I just feel like I have lived more than just my own life when I go to an art collection and see so many different places and people and experiences from different periods of time.

 Anyways sorry I didn't have actual experiences to write this week-I just kinda gave the thoughts that churn around in my head to an audience.

 Os quiero, 

Hermana Ritman 

 Villalba Week 3: https://photos.app.goo.gl/SVjdkFrcjM2yV7bN7

 Contact Information

email: nicole.ritman@missionary.org

 Sister Nicole Ritman

Madrid Spain Mission

Avenida de Tenerife, 11

28703 San Sebastian de los Reyes

Madrid, Espana

#WeWorkin'Grindin' #💯% #Neva Stop #💪💥🛴 #Romans3:16 #Gettin'gains #GiveitAllto God🙏

Subject Line: A while before I left my mission I remember laughing at all those memes that made fun of how student athletes tweet. This week's subject line is inspired by those memes because we really did hit the grind. 

 ¡Hola a Todos!

 I will start out this weeks email with a random anecdote. 

 So we were coming back from the church one night to go home and we were on a busy (well busy for a small town like Villalba) Street and right outside of a super market when this very old Spanish man stops us. He stopped us and started talking about how he's been to America and how he knows about the church and everything. We're just listening politely and then he grabs by tag and reads "Hermana Britman". I tell him with an R but he keeps insisting he sees a B and keeps pulling it closer to read it. I'm just standing awkwardly as my comp watches. The he huddles by me where my comp can't really see and says "Ritman I have something for you". I watch him reach in his pocket and take out something long a pointy and glinty. It was a knife! A surge of panic shocked my body. Every Safety Zone video we'd watched flashed through my mind. I wondered if I'd broken some sort of rule to end up in this situation. Then he started going for my hair! He wouldn't kill me, but still-my precious hair! But then I realized it was one of those excessively large hair clips and he stuck it in my hair with his shaky hand. It was actually really cute because like five times he showed H Brumble "Mira! Que bonita!" The situation went from potentialky fatal to absolutely adorable.

 So this Saturday our zone decided to do a finding marathon. We didn't set any citas and we decided to find in a bunch of different ways. We started out the day Facebook contacting like madwomen and then we went to have mediodía. Usually we eat lunch but we ended up doing our special zone fast later than planned so we were just going to take a break. But then we had a last-minute cita. It was one of those lessons where they talk too much and you have a headache at the end but it's OK because we were on a roll. We immediately went out knocking doors (in Spanglish toquing puertas). It's not the most effective but we did it for variety's sake. Then we did something I never have in my entire mission before: pan carta. Basically it's a big poster and you just stand in one spot and try to contact EVERYONE THAT WALKS BY. Any speck of fear I had about contacting was gone. I mean I didn't think I was afraid of it, but I was fearless on a different level. Usually you do pan carta with other missionaries but it was just H Brumble and I and we went into a finding frenzy. We were determined to hand out every Spanish Libro de Mormón we had (an entire package orders worth). And one in Arabic. I talked to do many people my speech started coming out as stutters. I am not exaggerating. We did this for hours. We gave out so many tarjetas with our info our fingers turned blue from the ink and we tallied the amounts of Libros we gave out and phone numbers we got of our wrists and at the end of the day we took a picture. After we handed out all our books, we packed up and did some traditional en camino Street contacting. Some days in the work are about quality, but some days are about quantity just to stretch yourself and Saturday was definitely one of those days. Since we worked through lunch and started early because we didn't want to exercise while fasting, it was officially the longest hardest workday of my mission. I highly doubt I'll ever do that again. Needless to say, our zone absolutely destroyed all our goals because of it which made the mission destroy our goals too.

 At the end of the day we were too tired to cook and didn't have anything good in the fridge plus we were STARVING so we ordered Papa John's and then sushi and downed an entire family size Aquarius (kinda like Gatorade) ourselves.

 Last night we stayed the night in Madrid because we had to get H Brumble's residency card this morning. We thought it'd take three hours but it took 30 minutes lol. We got permission to go to the center of Madrid to pass the time. Like a good greenie breaker, I filled in the holes of H Brumble's cultural experience that didn't quite happen in training. I look her to the classic Chocolatier San Gines for chocolate with churros and porras and then one of the main Plazas who's name I am forgetting rn but it's right next to Puerta del Sol. Then we went and tried fancy cheese, salchichón and dried fruit from this open air market and wandered our way back to Sol where we rode the metro to the end of the line.

 There, the office Elders picked us and other Hermanas up the van and we all went to the mission home for zone Pday. I hadn't been back since my first day in the mission and it was kinda surreal being here halfway through. We played around the world ping pong, darts, volleyball, badminton, Frisbee etc. And then we ate Papa John's, salad and had two types of cake for Presidente and Hermana Kennett (senior couple) birthdays. Now we're all chilling in the home writing and calling our families.

 It's been a good week and we had a few mini adventures I didn't write about but I will send photos of.

 Os quiero, 

Hermana Ritman 

 Villalba Week 4: https://photos.app.goo.gl/XF4wbWxEKDgxtcss9

 Contact Information

email: nicole.ritman@missionary.org

 Sister Nicole Ritman

Madrid Spain Mission

Avenida de Tenerife, 11

28703 San Sebastian de los Reyes

Madrid, Espana

[survivormanhattanbeach]

Day 9: Immunity Challenge Results

For this round, we had music videos, and the players have been working VERY hard over the last 48 hours to submit their videos, but FIRST let’s meet our judges:

Jess, Asya, Jones, Alyssa and Nicole!!!! #Feminism

Jess’ Intro:

Hey guys! my name is Jess or as some people like to call me "Alyssa's Shadow". I'm excited for my wig to be snatched with your videos! Good luck and DON'T fuck it up.

Asya’s Intro:

Stream Wasteland, Baby! by Hozier

Jones’ Intro: 

my wig

Alyssa’s Intro:

Hey y'all! It's me ya girl. I just realized it's actually really cool that I'm judging cuz I just won the last TS season wowza! Okay anyway I'm a really harsh judge so blow me away or everyone is getting 0s thx xoxo mwah

Nicole’s Intro:

Hi everyone! My name is Nicole! I decided to give Johnny the full liberty of writing my intro and he’s going to have a blast with it!! I like long walks on the beach except when it’s hot outside, making fun of Jared’s fake eye patch and being a LEGEND and winning a high quality Tumblr Survivor season @micahel​ SOOOOOOOOO let’s get some good videos in YAW YEET

And now for the videos:

Pennekamp Dragons:

“Sometimes our home is able to shape who we are. Not everyone lives the same, and because of that we are all different, but that’s okay. We all have pride in who we are, and where we live gives us that pride.”

Jess: Creativity: 7.5 Comments: Honestly this was a super cute idea. Ryan can I come over?! From the “Cribs theme” to the “milk shake” (such a waste BTW).... y’all BROUGHT IT. General Cohesiveness: 6 Honestly if there wasn’t that one dude with this camera vertically this would have been FLAWLESS. Although he has cute kids so I won't take off too many points here. Humor/Enjoyability: 7 I kind of wished EVERYONE brought it in the humour category BUT this shit was ENJOYABLE to watch. Relation to Theme: 8 You guys killed the theme. I felt at home. Total Score: 28.5/40

Asya: Creativity: 6/10. Cohesiveness: 1/10. Everyone had something different going on with the only theme being you were in houses. Humor: 5/10. Relation to theme: 2/10. The song wasn’t the absolute best for hometown pride. I saw the outside of one persons house. Idk.  Total Score: 14/40

Jones: Creativity - 8/10 - Y'all had a shit ton of fun with this video and i'm so happy about it. You guys really killed it in the creativity portion, but I feel some of the tribe brought more to the table than the rest. Isaac I hope you didn't burn your house down. General Cohesiveness of Video - 7/10 - For the most part it's pretty cohesive except for the people who shot vertically, but besides that y'all did good Humor/Enjoyability - 7/10 - again, it felt like y'all had a good time, and it shows. I loved everything from Ryan's MTV spoof to Isaac deepthroating a banana. AND MARK YOUR KIDS ARE SO CUTE OMG Relation to Theme (Hometown Pride) - 8/10 - tbh of the three tribes, I feel like you guys shined the most when it came to theme. Great job!! Total Score: 30/40

Alyssa: Creativity: 6/10 General Cohesiveness: 8/10 Humor/Enjoyability: 8/10 Relation to Theme: 9/10 Okay I ADORED this video. The children? Wholesome. The dog stuffed animal on Fire? A huge ass mood. Pouring a drink on your head? Yes. I just felt like this tribe had an A M A Z I N G, really fucking fun time doing this challenge and to me that’s what this challenge is A L L about. Excellent job guys!!! Total Score: 31/40

Nicole: Creativity: 6/10. That was fun but I am confusion Cohesiveness: 7/10. I'll say what I said to the other judges: I love you all but...it kind of felt like I was watching a bunch of single parents not know what to do when their kids were at school.  Humor: 8/10- Isaac are you okay... Relation to theme: 7/10. I mean...I get it. The cribs thing made more sense. The kids were cute but nobody was singing except for two of you so wyd. Total Score: 28/40

Overall Score: 131.5/200

Robinson Riptides:

“This season of Tumblr Survivor is set in Manhattan Beach, California, so what better way to celebrate it than with this song? Even though Katy sings about all of California, specific cities like L.A. and the neighborhoods in it are given a shoutout, which fit the hometown pride theme as it’s geared towards L.A. in general. As the song describes, it’s a fun place to be and those who live there have a lot of pride in it.”

Jess: Creativity: 4. Nothing was super creative about this video? Also.. who still has their Christmas Tree up in MARCH?! General Cohesiveness: 5 Honestly, there was SOME cohesion here but not enough to “WOW” me. Humor/Enjoyability: 5.5 Jake.. you stole the show here. I enjoyed your parts the MOST and you brought it. I REALLY hope your ass doesn’t get a cold though. Relation to Theme: 6 Honestly you guys did amazing in that category. Jake you really committed to the THEME and it SHOWED. Total Score: 20.5/40

Asya: Creativity: 2/10. Nothing really jumped out at me. Cohesiveness: 5/10. There wasn’t much to go off of but for the most part everyone had the same instinct to just lip sync. Humor: 4/10. Some of it was maybe a little accidental I think. Relation to theme: 7/10. The song choice made sense even tho almost everyone was surrounded by show. There were shots that took place outside and near what I assume are like places of business so that’s cool.  Total Score: 18/40

Jones: Creativity - 4/10 - Jake (and Andreas I think?) are the only ones that really stole the show for me tbh. They had a lot of fun with it but I don't feel like everyone else brought it. General Cohesiveness of Video - 5/10 - you guys are pretty cohesive in terms of camera work. But some of the parts when you guys are lip syncing is off. but also I feel like there was a lot of uneven editing? Towards the end it was like,, only Jake. No one else showed up as much as he did. Humor/Enjoyability - 5/10 - Jake please get a jacket. I loved what you did but holy shit are you ok? Andreas and Jake were the ones that really like,, brought humor to this tbh. Relation to Theme (Hometown Pride) - 5/10 - The only person to really work in the theme of the video was, again, Jake. everything else just felt like a regular lip sync. I love y'all but this made me upsetti spaghetti. Total Score: 19/40

Alyssa: Creativity: 6/10 General Cohesiveness: 5/10 Humor/Enjoyability: 6/10 Relation to Theme: 1/10 Alright guys... I love y’all to fucking DEATH. BUt— editing, I felt like I was staring at some people straight up for 30 seconds, which isn’t the way of the music video challenge. Also I had to hit you guys hard with relation to theme. Maybe it was part of the humor, but obviously none of y’all are from California. It just doesn’t fit the theme I’m sorry loves!! Total Score: 18/40

Nicole: Creativity: 5/10. It was alright in the creativity department, I kind of hate this song but...I won't hold it against you. Cohesiveness: 4/10. You all seemed kind of uh...unenthused to be there. Humor: 3/10. I think I was more confused than amused.....honestly.  Relation to theme: 7/10. Yes. Total Score: 19/40

Overall Score: 94.5/200

Pacific Panthers:

“This was the editors first time editing a video so please don’t judge too harshly for that. The one vertical shot was shot horizontal but it got fucked up somehow. Thanks for watching!”

Jess: Creativity: 5 Comments: Y’all had some dance moves? Creativity wise? There wasn’t too much there? General Cohesiveness: 7 Honestly, I think out of all 3 groups it seems like MOST of your tribe particpated comp which is AMAZING. This video kind of flowed well. It was CUTE. Humor/Enjoyability: 6.5 I enjoyed the humour in this! It was super enjoyable to watch. Dani twirls, someone falling, a sword? What more can you ask for in the humour department? Relation to Theme: 6.5 I mean.. the song did say “home”. I liked the touch with the calendar. I’m not too sure anything else really jumped out really. Total Score: 25/40

Asya: Creativity: 4/10. I thought the opening with the calendar was really neat but that was about it.  Cohesiveness: 7/10. All of you had matching enthusiasm and that’s good enough for me.  Humor: 4/10.  Relation to theme: 7/10. I liked that song choice a lot. The part where someone was out on the sidewalk of like a strip mall was really cute and more of what I wanted to see in this.  Total Score: 22/40

Jones: Creativity - 6/10 - y'all this was so cute. I really appreciated it. but again it's one of those things where I feel like more could be done. The song is very cute btw <3 General Cohesiveness of Video - 8/10 - pretty cohesive tbh!! not a lot was like,, done wrong or anything lmao. and whoever did the editing did a good job for the first time!! Humor/Enjoyability - 7/10 - Y'ALL AGAIN THIS WAS SO CUTE from the calender stuff to just the general dancing and having fun, I really appreciated it :D Relation to Theme (Hometown Pride) - 6/10 - y'all I really appreciated this, but there wasn't much of a theme? I know Dan brought a lot for a theme and whatnot, but it was an overall v cute video with not much of a theme. Total Score: 27/40

Alyssa: Creativity: 5/10  General Cohesiveness: 7/10 Humor/Enjoyability: 4/10 Relation to Theme: 6/10  Okay friends SO. I ADORE the song choice. Love ending the video with that iconic fall. The song choice was amazing but having watched Pennekamp’s video.... y’all just don’t match up, I’m sorry! I was so excited when this first started for some bomb ass editing but wound up disappointed with what was actually produced. Love y’all and best of luck!!! Total Score: 22/40

Nicole: Creativity: 5/10. I mean...it was a little creative. You seemed to put in a bit of effort bc you added some small slides of other things besides yourselves. Nice guitar too. There was definitely more effort put in by two of you than others. Cohesiveness: 4/10. The vertical video really annoyed me I'm not gonna lie, like if it was vertical and they were turned the right way it it would annoy me less BUT because you guys did all that editing and then couldn't even flip the video the right way...makes me very upsetti spaghetti. Humor: 5/10- It wasn't funny at all but I don't think that's what you were shooting for. SINCE it was in the criteria, it should have been funnier though. Relation to theme: 6/10. You guys said the word home and showed a calendar. I assume the snapchat was you "at home". But there was nothing than that. Total Score: 20/40

Overall Score: 116/200 +5 for Reward = 121/200

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

Which means Congratulations Pennekamp and Pacific! You guys are BOTH safe from tribal council. As for Robinson, you have nothing but a date with Trace and Johnny at tribal council tomorrow night, where one of you will become the third person voted out of Tumblr Survivor: Manhattan Beach! Tribal Council will take place tomorrow night, Monday, March 11th at 10pm EST. We will see you there!

[racingtoaredlight]

WAY TOO SOON!™ post all-star games, pre-combine 2019 NFL 1st round mock draft

You can see the existential disappointment on Nick Bosa’s face and he’s not wrong.

Mock drafts are the worst. The earlier they are, the dumber they are.

The way things currently stack up all of the online pundits and such are posting mock drafts featuring a bunch of players they don’t even like and working with the worthless rule that they can’t propose trades. Why bother with that? It’s all such a flight of fancy, anyway. Just go all in.

From where we are right now, Nick Bosa is the obvious #1 pick and nobody really loves any of the QBs. I’d still put money on a QB going #1 overall after somebody makes a terrible seeming trade with Arizona.

1. OAKLAND RAIDERS - Drew Lock, QB, Missouri

My going theory here is that the Raiders are insanely stupid. Drew Lock is not the top QB on a lot of draft boards right now and he’s definitely not the top player. Also the Raiders have the third highest paid QB in the league on their current roster. Might as well swing for the fences on a zero-win season heading into Las Vegas. The presumption here is that Derek Carr gets jettisoned and they trade all three of their first-round picks for Lock.

2. SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS - Nick Bosa, EDGE, Ohio State

If Bosa is there at #2 the 49ers have to pull the trigger. I think he’s a little over-valued, especially given the depth at the position but I also thought his brother was going to suck so don’t get the idea I know what I’m talking about.

3. NEW YORK JETS - Jawaan Taylor, OT, Florida

This is counting on Taylor doing extremely well at the Combine. And the Jets continuing a long and storied history of making weird draft picks.

4. NEW YORK GIANTS - Dwayne Haskins, QB, Ohio State

No clue what to expect from Haskins after he gets drafted. His arm is OK, his athleticism is OK, his decision-making is pretty good, his accuracy/placement is good. There just isn’t enough body of work to really project anything for him but I want the Cardinals to keep moving down and the mock drafts with like 8 defensive line/edge guys going in the top 10 look insane to me.

5. TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS - Josh Allen, EDGE, Kentucky

IDEAL FIT! Really, this would be pretty great for the Bucs but who knows with Bruce Arians in place.

6. ARIZONA CARDINALS - DK Metcalf, WR, Mississippi

Metcalf’s athletic comps are gonna be ridiculous. Get ready for a bunch of people to compare him to Calvin Johnson. Maybe he’s really that good but the odds aren’t in favor of producing at that level for anybody.

7. DENVER BRONCOS - Daniel Jones, QB, Duke

This makes sense because the Jaguars are incapable of actually moving on from Blake Bortles no matter how obvious it is that they need to and the Broncos love having bad quarterbacks.

8. DETROIT LIONS - Quinnen Williams, DT, Alabama

The RTARLsman finally comes off the board! I don’t know what the Lions need or want. I know Matt Patricia sucks as a person and as a coach.

9. BUFFALO BILLS - Ed Oliver, DT, Houston

Don’t let Ian Zeirlein gaslight you, he absolutely said there are teams that would move Oliver to linebacker. That’s idiotic. Oliver is going to be undersized for an interior DL but he’s got enough strength and quickness to make up for the 15 or so lbs he would need to be optimal. Interior rush is going to win the Rams a Super Bowl tomorrow and Oliver is a killer in the passing game. The Bills roster kind of sucks so they can go a million directions sensibly but in my heart I still think Oliver is the best player in this draft.

10. JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS - Greedy Williams, CB, LSU

A really dumb thing that’s almost sure to happen this offseason is the Jags trading away Jalen Ramsey. Williams reminds me more of fellow LSU alum Marcus Peters as a player but that’s not necessarily terrible.

11. CINCINNATI BENGALS - Jonah Williams, OT, Alabama

The Bengals really sucked on the interior of the line in 2018 but it’s pretty early to cut bait on Billy Price and #11. They also suck out loud at QB and LB but need/supply make a tackle seem like a better pick.

12. GREEN BAY PACKERS - Jachai Polite, EDGE, Florida

Clelin Ferrell and Brian Burns are rated higher by most draft media right now but Polite is going to test out of this world and Brian Burns is going to weigh like 208 lbs. Ferrell is probably going to make a more immediate impact than Polite but tremendous upside is always an enticement.

13. MIAMI DOLPHINS - Clelin Ferrell, EDGE, Clemson

Last year at this time the Dolphins pass rush group looked pretty good and now they’re talking about cutting all of those guys. Ferrell isn’t insanely athletic but he’s not a stiff, either. He got better every year at Clemson and getting him at #13 seems like a pretty good deal.

14. ATLANTA FALCONS - Christian Wilkins, DL, Clemson

The dream for the Falcons is to have Ed Oliver fall this far but Christian Wilkins might actually fit their team better, anyway.

15. WASHINGTON - Jeffrey Simmons, DL, Mississippi State

Not the biggest area of need for Washington but a perfect culture fit.

16. CAROLINA PANTHERS - Mack Wilson, LB, Alabama

On the one hand this seems like a good trade target for a team that wants to move up but on the other hand there are only 4 good players in this draft and once the QBs are gone, who’s trading up?

17. CLEVELAND BROWNS - Byron Murphy, CB, Washington

The Browns are shockingly low on glaring needs. Another CB opposite Denzel Ward makes sense to me but Murphy might actually be too similar to last year’s #4 overall pick. I love DeAndre Baker but the buzz is that he’s a lot smaller than listed and also going to run somewhere close to a 4.6. Bryce Hall really fucked up returning to school.

18. MINNESOTA VIKINGS - Cody Ford, OT, Oklahoma

Ford may very well fall victim to poor testing like his former teammate Orlando Brown, Jr., but Brown looked pretty good as a NFL rookie and Ford won’t be that bad at the Combine. There are probably 15 good players in this draft but most of them are boring. Ford is in that camp.

19. SEATTLE SEAHAWKS - Chris Lindstrom, OL, Boston College

The Seahawks are dutybound to make things weird at the draft. Lindstrom seems like the kind of bad OL that the Seahawks love and nobody else is going to take him in the first round so I’m projecting them to move up to take him.

20. PITTSBURGH STEELERS - Brian Burns, EDGE, Florida State

Also deadset on fucking things up for no reason in the draft, this would actually count as a safe pick for the Steelers. It doesn’t address an area of need and Burns is a really weird player because of his weight but he’s athletic and tall and nobody else will have him rated higher than the second round.

21. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES - Dalton Risner, OT, Kansas State

Other players I considered: Montez Sweat, Nasir Adderley, Rashan Gary. Risner is possibly the best OL in the draft and might be long gone by #21 but if he’s there he’s the best player at a position of relative need.

22. INDIANAPOLIS COLTS - Joshua Jacobs, RB, Alabama

This is not at all a need pick and it’s probably not at all realistic but I think Jacobs gives the offense so much more dimension than anybody else available can give them. He’s like Marlon Mack but actually good (sorry, GG) and he honestly can add as much to the passing game as any of the WRs. At least for the Colts.

23. TENNESSEE TITANS - Montez Sweat, EDGE, Mississippi State

Sweat is going to be a really boring NFL player. That’s perfect for the league’s most forgettable franchise.

24. BALTIMORE RAVENS - Nasir Adderley, S, Delaware

The Ravens need some youth in the defensive backfield and Adderley could be an off-brand version of Derwin James. Admittedly, at this time last year I thought James was going to suck but in my defense I’d watched how FSU used him and figured that was related to his abilities.

25. ARIZONA CARDINALS - Yodney Cajuste, OT, West Virginia

There is no shortage of needs on the Cardinals roster but they need to have at least a few offensive linemen that could start for a really good high school team.

26. HOUSTON TEXANS - David Edwards, OT, Wisconsin

A lot of NFL teams have bad offensive line situations and there are a bunch of decent OL prospects this year. But not so many that you can wait on them. WR is absolutely loaded this year but there are so many of them that teams can wait for them. The Texans don’t particularly need WRs. I’m not sure why this is where I chose to write about this.

27. ARIZONA CARDINALS - Dexter Lawrence, DL, Clemson

Again, the Cardinals need everything. Lawrence has his detractors and he kind of needs a great Combine but the potential is sky high.

28. SAN DIEGO CHARGERS - Kyler Murray, QB, Oklahoma

The odds of making a bunch of money is better for Murray in the NFL than in MLB but the odds that he’s about as good in the NFL as Johnny Manziel are still pretty high. The only reason to risk a first round pick on him rather than a second or third is that you’ll need at least 5 seasons before you stop worrying that he’ll actually die from being hit. Murray is tiny. He would be the smallest QB in the league in about 50 years. For all his arm talent and poise he was getting about 9 seconds per play at Oklahoma before he faced pressure. He won’t get 3 seconds on an average NFL play. But the Chargers need to start planning for a post-Rivers world and their head coach’s natural proclivities are more towards a run-based scheme. Worth a shot, maybe?

29. KANSAS CITY CHIEFS - Darrell Henderson, RB, Memphis

This is a dream pick for me more than an honest guess. To be honest, they could probably get Henderson towards the end of the second round. I just love the fit of Henderson in Andy Reid’s offense too much to not mention it.

30. GREEN BAY PACKERS - Kelvin Harmon, WR, North Carolina State

I thought of going ahead with a second EDGE defender and giving them Zach Allen and the Packers have shown a willingness to double up on positions in the draft but then I thought about how good this group of WRs is and how weird it would be to go through the whole first round with only one going off the board.

31. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS - Zach Allen, EDGE, Boston College

I don’t know if this makes sense for the Pats or not but Allen is built like Chris Jones and could be a fun weapon for Belichick.

32. LOS ANGELES RAMS - Sheldrick Redwine, S, Miami

Redwine mostly played safety at The U but his athletic profile might have him playing more CB at the next level. The Rams high priced defensive backfield mostly sucks and they could use help all over back there so I’m making the home pick to end the first round and giving them one of the more versatile backs in the draft.

[glowingobsidian]

About the recent hot and unusual DEFI's side-to-side battle

This year's currency circle serves as a packed with thrills and excitement. First, Bitcoin broke ten thousand dollars at the start of the year, which attracted countless visitors to wave the flag and shout, as though one hundred thousand dollars were before them. Then in March, once the global assets collapsed, the currency circle also staged A "Desperate Diving" directly caused many people to "leave the currency circle completely"; then it began to have good and the bad, plus some projects also fought straight back. After months of tossing, it developed to the current currency circle. Kind of situation. Today, the currency circle is calm on the surface, in fact it has already been undercurrents. Some main-stream coins have quietly given up positions, plus some projects have grown to be the focus of much attention.

There is absolutely no doubt that the absolute most eye-catching items in those two months are the DEFI projects. Maybe you can still find people who don't understand DEFI. All things considered, in the currency circle, irrespective of how fast you are, there are several slower than you. Lots of people just pay attention to a name and know it but do not know why. Moreover, I will explain demonstrably to every one in the vernacular, after which discuss comprehensive, some of the current status of DEFI, and what the future of DEFI might appear to be. 1 . Talk about DEFI in an easy-to-understand way Routine, first may be the literal interpretation of the name: DE is Decentralized, FI is Finance, together it is the abbreviation of DEFI (Decentralized Finance), needless to say, it's also called Open Finance.

DEFI actually identifies a decentralized protocol used to create an open economic climate, which aims allowing anyone in the world to conduct financial activities any time, anywhere. Wait one minute, it would appear that this explanation is too large, can you say something which every one can understand? can. DEFI would be to directly replace individuals with code automation in financial activities by way of a one-stop operation, not forgetting the efficiency improvement, but also directly eliminates the "sickness" of human operation.

DEFI applications include decentralized exchanges, derivatives, payments, digital assets, as well as other types. However , Belden might be a logic. The core would be to replace the role of people in financial activities with smart contract codes. Decentralized exchanges are DEX, payment may be the Lightning Network, and digital assets are like some DEFI. Stable coins... Derivatives really are a bit special, and I will explain them later. 2. The recent madness of DEFI The thought of DEFI was actually proposed since 2018, however when it certainly shined, it had been recently. Why? Due to skyrocketing! In the past, the absolute most famous DEFI project was the stablecoin project like MAKERDAO, as well as other projects were ostensibly dormant. However , recently this token about the concept of DEFI has been constantly rising and rising! It looks like there is no ceiling. The first to ever bear the brunt may be the foreign super-hot project compound. Its token comp used to increase tenfold in one single day. Within a fortnight following its launch on June 16, the first price of 0. 08 ETH (approximately US$18. 5) Completely forward, the best rise to 381. 89 US dollars, the best increase is close to 20 times.

Moreover, because of the crazy rise as well as other facets, compound successfully realized the login to coinbase, because coinbase's currency selection and listing will always be very strict, meaning that DEFI has completely established the image of "tall" abroad. This has triggered a spiral increase in users. Until recently, the amount of compound locked (in fact, the mortgaged assets) has reached significantly more than 700 million US dollars.

Still another representative token of DEFI, LEND, has also increased by nearly 30 times from the bottom of the year for this, that has caused a lot of tickling insiders...

Along with COMP and LEND, the decentralized DEFI project's tokens BNT, KNC, LINK, LRC, REP, REN, and so forth have all increased by significantly more than BTC and ETH this year. The information are the following:

A great many other DEFI projects will also be surging, such as for example SNX, IDEX, DMG, and so forth, which may have also caused a lot of enthusiasm in the currency circle. Based on the ranking of DEFI projects by. defipulse, it could be seen that the DEFI projects of decentralized lending take into account 1 / 2 of the most effective ten, and the residual decentralized exchanges, payments, assets, and so forth also occupy a location.

For some time, individuals from all walks of life were excited about DEFI, and began to search for DEFI projects every-where, wanting to just take the opportunity to produce a fortune. Recently, a trading platform Hufu (HOO. com) just stepped on the wind, and the united states directly launched the comp for the first time, and gained the popularity of DEFI. It has gained a lot of traffic, after which it is continuously increasing. There are many DEFI projects, and it may be considered extremely popular for a while. Its founder reviewed the current situation and create a DeFi special development fund, which is used to guide the stable development of blockchain decentralized finance, and it may be regarded as a relatively beneficial contribution to DEFI. Some friends may not know Hufu. In fact , this exchange can be an old brand. It started as a wallet after which transformed in to an exchange. The volume of spot transactions and the amount of spot transactions far exceed those of second-line trading platforms; platform lending and custody The business is promoting smoothly. The existing loan amount 's almost 100 million U. S. dollars, and the monthly turnover of custodial merchants has exceeded 20, 000 BTC. I've tried many innovative products before to attract traffic, like the auction of algo and IEO of nervos, and so forth This time the particular capture of DEFI seems unintentional. In fact , one minute on stage, 10 years of work off stage, the project is condensed behind it. Follow the team's efforts. Additionally , Hufu's boss Wang Ruixi is also a particularly interesting person. The stranger has some personal relationships with him. He also wrote articles about him "The Past of the Tiger”. Hahaha, I will perhaps not expand it anymore, otherwise I am afraid someone will run. To the contrary, I thought it had been a hard job for the tiger talisman.

Although the domestic exchanges were a bit slower, each of them swept up immediately. In accordance with CoinMarketCap data, the Comp token is currently on line on significantly more than 40 centralized exchanges in China. Among them, some trading platforms have also launched Comp contract trading, allowing users to go short; the derivatives exchange FTX has brought a step further, in addition to the COMP contract, the DeFi index quarterly contract, perpetual contract and leveraged tokens are simultaneously launched, allowing users to The whole DeFi field is short. And some perhaps not especially well-known projects, such as for example Tron-based synthetic asset platform OKS, have now been successively grabbed by a few exchanges. This situation is really surprising. Other DEFI-related projects have now been queued up on the schedules of some exchanges, and when the time is right, they are going to roar to the market. What's a lot more funny is that some projects such as for example Dforce. Even though their token DF has been launched on many exchanges, their team actually did not intervene. Anyone in charge reluctantly claimed: “Most of these went directly without contact, some ahead of time. Say hello (listed currency). " This sort of "strong upper" is apparently an unspoken rule in the crypto market, plus some exchanges use "help you to advertise" being an excuse for prevarication. All in all, throughout June, the currency circle was ostensibly immersed in the warmth brought by some DEFI projects, and also the broader market was affected to a certain degree. It really is no exaggeration to say that days gone by June can nearly be called "DEFI Month. " And DEFI established fact to every one in the currency circle, and after it has changed into a spot for hype, the test of DEFI has just begun. 3. Problems faced by DEFI You said that DEFI is really hot, is it roaring or perhaps not? Now needless to say it is roaring! All things considered, the current currency circle is really difficult, and any direction that can bring heat to the currency circle is precious.

I must say that it's a bit enchanting that DEFI is blowing in a gust of wind. Even though every thing is correct, all things considered, in the currency circle, every thing is good so long as it rises, but DEFI still has some inherent problems. If these problems can't If resolved, development may belong to chaos.

To start with, DEFI is usually to be built in line with the prosperity of the currency circle. Even though it emphasizes that it's "decentralized finance", decentralization is only an application, and the core vocabulary is finance. Since the saying goes, "If there is no skin, Mao will soon be attached. "? When the currency circle is not actually undergoing an essential bull market, the prosperity of DEFI actually ensures that the currency circle is currently in serious involution... how will you say? This means that DEFI's current rise actually has its limits. When the limit is estimated, whoever is left will be able to be satisfied with peace. This sort of thing can just only be achieved beautifully by big capital; Secondly, DEFI it self is not perfect, which will be associated with the innate attributes of smart contracts. The larger the complexity of something, the larger the likelihood of problems. If something goes wrong with some DEFI projects, it isn't a trivial problem. Consider N money, as the code bugs are locked up and cannot be removed. It's so sour... ahem, besides, there is a invest the currency circle. The milk may be the mother. How many hackers are staring at the smart contract, every single day they've been gearing around make some make money from it. The decentralized DEFI system Uniswap, LENDF and CODEX have had serious problems... As for the specific details, I will write articles later. Again, in short, it is actually risky to deposit profit the DEFI system... Once more, once the forest grows up, you will find all kinds of birds. DEFI's limelight will immediately generate a lot of followers. If you want to hurry up on hot projects, copy codes, and participate in fraud, all things considered, the currency circle, unless you hurry up I am afraid I can not even eat the hot shit when I start. The ecology of DEFI might be confused. However , this is a stubborn disease inherent in the currency circle, and it will not just eventually DEFI. Any hot currency circle looks like this. They are also some of the derivatives of DEFI stated earlier, which are now "alternative capital disks". This sort of DEFI is really embarrassing. Participants should needless to say try not to lose their assets in vain due to these rat shit. Finally, the threshold of DEFI has to be further lowered. In these days, many people participating in DEFI are only residing at the idea of buying on the trading platform. The actual participants in DEFI are now some senior capital veterans and wool parties. They eat both of the earnings of DEFI, and earn interest and currency profits. They're stupefyingly stable, and there's some residue left. Fans let retail investors take over. DEFI has yet to further simplify the complexity, to ensure that ordinary people can participate more easily, otherwise, they are going to always be smashed, even the strong sheep won't be able to hold it. I wrote a lot of DEFI's faults in a scattered way. Isn't there many people who suddenly felt fear? Can there be the next for DEFI? Don't worry, let us look down. Fourth, the future of DEFI In fact , the view of DEFI varies from person to person. All things considered, your honey, your arsenic, any new thing is developed with controversy. And in the currency circle, I am perhaps not afraid of controversy at all. The more intense the argument, the better. I am perhaps not afraid to getting people's heads in to dog's heads. I am afraid of obscurity... As for some of the problems stated earlier, they've been inevitable pains in growth.

Everyone else should grasp one thing, that's, so long as the currency circle continues to produce, the future of DEFI will become increasingly more space. The development of the currency circle is truly a means of continuous siphoning of the real economy, and DEFI is really a method to optimize and re-allocate the assets that enter the currency circle after the siphon is completed. As for if to buy tokens with the idea of DEFI will become rich, it is a topic where the benevolent sees the benevolent and the wise sees the wisdom. All things considered, the currency people care about if the tokens will rise. If the hero is simply on the basis of the rise, that is certainly Very incorrect. The popularity of DEFI will surely perhaps not continue to be so high. All things considered, this wave of DEFI's popularity is drawn from abroad. The loan of comp, namely mining, makes many foreigners feel fresh, however when it is put in China, the old leeks are typical This behavior has been bombed by mining, therefore the attitude must be a lot more plain, smiled slightly, never smoked, but satirized the foreigner who had never seen the world. In my opinion that with the passing of time, foreigners can also remember it.

The next step is to check forward to if the bull market is coming. If there is an outstanding bull market in the future, DEFI is still invaluable. Whether it's decentralized lending or decentralized exchanges and DEFI-based stablecoins, it might be in the currency Min hand is available in handy. If it certainly becomes a booster for the bull market, this gameplay of DEFI is really incalculable. If you want to study or ambush DEFI tokens, you could as well head to Hoo. com. So , the question is, when will the bull market in the currency circle come? Waiting on line, really anxious...