#Just found out that the lecturers can see how often youre on the uni learning website and i didnt do well on an exam because ive been ill -

[unabletomakedecisions]

[studyof-love-and-life]

Hi! I’m a first year uni student and I was wondering if you could help me out with something? It’s my second week and I’m already having trouble balancing my time. In general, how much time should I spend on each class outside of lectures a week? If it changes things I go to a decently prestigious school

[don’t feel pressured to respond if you don’t want to. I just saw your other advice posts and thought it was worth a shot :)]

Hi lovely! Figuring out time management was hard for me when I started undergrad, too. A general rule of thumb I've heard from professors is that for every credit/hour of class you have per week, you should spend 2-3 hours outside of lectures on that class. So in theory, for a 3 credit class you should spend 6-9 hours on it per week. However, I'd say that that isn't always the case! Sometimes you don't need that much time and sometimes you might need more, and I think that comes down to the class and professor more than the school (not the most helpful answer, I know, and I'm sorry for that)

I'm just going to brainstorm some general ideas below 💕

What are you studying? If you're in STEM, you might find yourself doing a lot of problem sets (my best friend was a math major and she was constantly doing work because each class would assign a certain amount of problems, and each would take a long time to do), and maybe some readings on top of that. She said that something that helped her was working with study groups can help keep you on track, and if you like them then it's even better because then you're hanging out with a friend too. She also set a cutoff time everyday where she would stop doing work so she could have a little time for herself

For me with linguistics, I had a LOT of readings to do for all my classes. Learning how to effectively skim texts and still understand the general point is a valuable skill, and it saves a lot of time! Most professors don't expect you to remember every single detail from readings, they often just want you to understand the argument and the general takeaway so you can apply it to the class (my point with asking what you're studying is that depending on the types of assignments, you might need different tips - even though I'd say my friend's tips can apply to anyone)

On a related note, lots of people take notes while reading. I had so many readings sometimes that I didn't have time for that, so if you're in a similar situation, instead of doing detailed reading notes, try reading your chapter/article, and then take a couple minutes to figure out your top 3 concepts from it that you think are most important and write those down with a quick blurb to refer to and what chapter/article the concept is from

Plan ahead and prioritize what you NEED to get done. Sometimes you won't get to everything, and you can't be too hard on yourself about it (which is easier said than done)

I've not tried this personally but I have some friends who set timers when they have multiple classes to study for. When the timer is up, they switch to the next class so they know they at least spent some time on it (it worked for them, maybe it would work for you! Again, I've not tried it)

As classes move forward and you have essays and projects come up, try to break them down into steps over multiple days/weeks. I've found doing that helps keep me from waiting until the last minute

I live by my planner. I tend to forget things if they're not written down, and it helps keep me organized as well (I write down my assignments in different colors based on what class they're for). I've found that if I can see everything I have to do it helps me prioritize and keep on track. Also it's silly but it really feels like you're getting things done when you get to cross things off, which can be oddly encouraging

Schedule in some time for yourself when you can. Part of balancing time in uni is making sure you're not being over worked. Join a club or make sure you have time to do something you enjoy, or even just time to relax :)

I hope this helps and I'm sorry I couldn't help more! Figuring out how to balance time can be pretty tailored to the individual and the classes being taken, but I hope any of these ideas are helpful! Also feel free to keep asking me things, or DM me if you want! You're going to do WONDERUL and AMAZING things ✨️

I'm also going to tag @peregrination-studies! She is my go-to studyblr buddy for if I need any tips or encouragement or a buddy to talk to 💛 check out her blog too (also hi grace! If you have anything you'd add, feel free but of course no pressure <3)

[atuats-sidechick]

5. Guilty pleasures?

7. Celebrity crush?

8. How many languages do you know?

25. What's a controversial opinion you have?

28. What is something you are sure you'd NEVER do?

Bonusss 🕺🕺: choose one question from the full list you want to anwser

asdfghjkl so many! thank you <3

5. Well, Tumblr and fandom for sure. I used to be obsessed with RPDR (a normal amount, no live shows, no hating on social, no harassment), but I guess I'm over it now. Hmnn I don't know if food counts, but I definitely have sushi way too often.

7. Never had one, BUT I did see a woman who looked just like Judith Butler once and I went crazy. I knew it wasn't her though, so I don't know if it counts.

8. I'd say I'm fluent in Portuguese and English. I can read French literature and philosophy and I've watched some philosophy lectures in French and kept up with the content. But if you put a gun to my head I cannot speak French. I can read internet Spanish, but it's only because it's so close to Portuguese. And that's it. I've tried learning German three times and simply gave up. I've taken Latin and Greek too but... just no.

25. I don't know if this is controversial on Tumblr (the gay, found family website), but I firmly believe that if your family doesn't respect you, you owe them nothing. I'm lucky to be very close with my parents and one of my aunts, but I've cut out basically everybody else and I'm quite happy about it.

28. I'm sure there are more serious answers to this, but HANG GLIDING. I used to take my dog to a beach where people do it daily and I could never.

17. Embarrassing memory: I was awarded a prize at uni and when I went to get it, I stumbled and fell on the stage. Love that for me.

[ist-das-kunst-oder-kann-das-weg]

Crazy shit is happening! 

Recently, I got a mail from the other big art museum with a link to a selection of the sources they have concerning my topic. It was all JPG scans of mostly letters and books. They even scanned all sides of the wrapper of each piece. In total, there were nearly 400 pictures. Woah. Crazy. After sorting it out, there are now about 160 pages of scanned book pages (some of which I was really interested in, yay!) and about 50 pages of scanned letters (holy shit!!!! wow! no way! 50 pages of letters!). After the first museum found another few pages to their original 5, I was really happy. While it feels really good to get answers from such institutions, I feel really intimidated now. I might have bitten off more than I can chew... I told my supervisor after our seminar and she is fucking thrilled and really looking forward to our next meeting. The other students also heard of my successful quest for the sources because I didn’t wait long enough for them leaving. But they also congratulated me for my topic. I am King. (Yes, I can be anxious and megalomanic at the same time.)

This morning, I saw I got an email by the uni from Denkmark. After I figured out my password for their application platform and opening the pdf, I had to refrain from starting to chant and dance in the middle of the lecture. I got accepted! (This moment was nearly overshadowed by my joy of giving a super simple solution to something the prof made sound rather complicated, lol.) To think, I will start studying in a different country in less than three months makes me a bit sick. While I am really looking forward to it, I know how much work I still need to do. My bachelor’s thesis alone would be hard enough for me (see above, so much to read, and then, there’s the math part... aaaaaah). But there’s also the seminar presentation, which has to be roughly done in exactly a week, because then I’ll meet my supervisor. And then there’s the two big exams, I just want to cry thinking of them. Also, I need to look into affordable flats. Whatever, everything will turn out alright (perhaps if I tell my self often enough, I start believing it).

Now, I need to start treating myself a bit nicer again. When I don’t sleep and eat enough, I’ll get sick (yeah, apparently all those people saying that were right) and I really don’t have time for that.

This evening, we’ll see the Rocky Horror Picture Show (not last week, got my calendar messed up). It’s like a field trip for our little film club. Before leave, I will have educated them a tiny little bit. I also asked someone after a lecture and Prof. S heard and his eyes lit up and he asked us whether it’s with people participating like they did and told of a few things they did. I was like “probably not, people here are way to uptight for that” and he had to laugh again (he is from Australia, I think). I think he would have liked to come, too. (He is the best guy, definitely not the best prof, but who else would tell you “If the tree starts to stink, you really should start learning for your exams”?)

Also, I am currently really into some of the songs of Rudolf - Affaire Mayerling. Even though the musical truly is “brutally kitschy”, it has some good songs. For example, I think Du bleibst bei mir, in this video sung by Wietske van Tongeren, is the best song sung in a musical by a woman (yes, I have a lot of musicals still to explore).

[goosegoblin]

Jess how the hell did u get a degree with ADHD, I'm dying (this is a little bit asking for advice but also a little bit just me feeling sorry for myself, do not stress over replying! Thanks for being a generally cool gal and writing so much about adhd in general)

I’m publishing this rather than private replying because I imagine others might have good advice- if you want me to delete it and send you the text privately, please just let me know <3

So! I hated uni! Like I really did not enjoy the vast majority of it! Granted, my ADHD was only recognised and treated in my final year- and I spent a good portion of that struggling badly with my emetophobia- but I didn’t really handle my MSc well either lmao, so I think it’s safe to say I’m the problem. I got fairly good grades and my qualifications, though, so I guess it worked out? My point is that I don’t feel I handled my ADHD well in the slightest, so I apologise that I can’t be more useful!

Still, some general advice I do have is:

- are you medicated/ in treatment? if not, make that a priority in whatever way you can

- reach out to your uni’s disability department or whatever the equivalent is and ask for an assessment to see what type of help is available to you. I got extra time on exams which wasn’t helpful in itself, but it meant that I was no longer subject to the whole ‘you cannot leave in the last thirty minutes’ rule which had previously caused me a great deal of stress. Additionally, I got to take the exam in a smaller side room that was much more casual, and I focused way better in there.

- try and do coursework/ studying in the library wherever possible. You are not a person who can work on coursework at home. I know that you will think ‘oh, but at home I can be comfy and relax, and I have my favourite playlists, and all my notes are there’- this is all true, but you are not a person who can work at home. You need the change of environment that working somewhere else forces on you to persuade your brain it is, in fact, Working Time

- don’t be afraid to ask for mitigating circumstances. I got them for both dissertations and it is the only reason I was able to hand anything in at all lmao. You will not believe how many students get them for mental health reasons- your course leaders will be super, super used to it.

- try and keep to a routine where you can? leave the house daily (hard right now, I know), eat the correct amount of Food in a day, drink water, exercise, socialise, etc. i know you know all this stuff but i feel obliged to say it anyway

- sometimes you will hear a voice saying ‘i can skip today’s lecture because it’s recorded/ i can catch up later’. that is the devil talking. you will never ‘catch up later’ and if it’s recorded on panopto or similar, you will never watch it. do not let the devil in.

- i made flashcards often using various apps (anki is popular; i used studyblue but these days they make it Very Clear they would like you to pay money for the full version) and i found them super helpful. sitting down to study is a Whole Thing, but going through flashcards while on the toilet or walking somewhere is way, way easier.

- no, you don’t need to buy another notebook.

- comparison is the thief of joy! yes, there will be people on your course who know the material inside out and backwards and talk about how they only spent nine hours in the library yesterday. who cares! that’s their life; you are living yours. also here is a secret: nobody who says they spent nine hours in the library actually did work for the entire nine hours. i promise you this.

- no, you do not need to buy more gel pens

- bring a fidget toy or similar to lectures if you can. i warned one of my lecturers in advance that i would be using it and i wish i’d done that more often bc that lady was cool as hell and it was v helpful

- i can only imagine how much rougher online learning must be making all of this. i am positive people have made good resources on how to deal with it, but just so you know, i know a lot of ADHD ppl really struggling with it. i don’t say this to freak you out, but more to let you know if you feel the same way, it is not your fault and you are not alone

i don’t know your course, but if it’s one where you can reasonably just opt to not learn certain things, that... is not always the worst idea. like, the way my final year exams worked is that we got given a series of essay questions and we picked 3 to write responses to. this meant there were entire areas of the course i could simply opt out of. obviously this is not the ideal way to do things, but if you’re running out of time and this one area of the course is just making you fuckin suicidal to think about, then deciding to just rule it out can work.

(shoutout to my first year biochem course when not a single person picked the microbiology question and our course leader posted a pissy forum message about it god bless)

anyway this is long and probably not helpful, but i love you and i am sorry you are struggling. i struggled too! people who say uni was the best time of their life are generally not dealing with the type of thing we deal with, and that’s okay. it’s okay for uni to not be the best time of your life. it’s okay to struggle. it doesn’t mean you can’t do well or that you don’t deserve to be there. hang in there, my friend, and message me any time- i am always happy to listen or help in any way i can xxxxxx

[ukiyoexo]

COFFEE ADDICT. — NMY

PAIRINGS — nct, nakamoto yuta x reader

GENRES — ghoul!yuta, tokyoghoul!au, student!reader, uni!au, fluff, angst

SYNOPSIS — yuta, the boy who sits two rows in front of you in biology class. yuta, the boy who has a secret he could never let you find out about. yuta, the boy with an undying craving for flesh and addiction to coffee. yuta, the boy who ends up saving you?

WARNINGS — violence, blood, idkkk

WORD COUNT — 1.5k+

TAG LIST — @uwu-yifan @peachjaem00 @heartyyjeno @guccichan @morkleeskneecaps

NOTE — ayyyy this is kinda messy but i wanna write more tokyo ghoul stuff because this was fun :)))

DEVILTALES — MASTERLIST

tokyo. the city that never sleeps. the city of big dreams and big problems — big ghoul problems.

you had heard plenty about the ghoul situation in tokyo before you had even applied to uni in the city. it was hard not to. not only was it printed in black bold lettering on the front of every newspaper after every attack, but you also found them incredibly fascinating. you were almost drawn to them, the mystery that surrounded them, the unknown.

but maybe that curiosity was always going to be your downfall.

since you had first moved to tokyo, there had been more attacks than you could count. the days between them descreasing each time. it was scary, of course, the stay at home orders and the many warnings to not go out at night increasing.

and you mostly followed them, but you would be lying if you said you weren’t partly intrigued.

♡ ♡ ♡

“afternoon class,” your professor welcomed you all, scribbling a topic on the slate board at the front of the class in large, scrawled white chalk. you had always loved biology, that’s why you chose it as your major. not only was interesting and you were constantly learning new things, but it just encouraged your aspirations to one day study the ghouls that ran the city. “today we’ll be learning about mutation.” he continued as you copied down the title.

you were good student, you paid intention in class and you got the work, often coming out with top grades. but recently you had been distracted by something, or more specifically someone.

the transfer from osaka that sat in front of the class and wore his cherry red hair in a ponytail was quite hard to miss. same went for his addiction to coffee, a cup from the same coffee shop downtown held in his hand every time he walked into lectures.

at first, you hadn’t payed much mind to him. you were working towards your dream and weren’t going to let some boy with bright hair distract you. but it was hard not to be intrigued — there was your undying curiosity again. sure, he was good looking, and looked like he had been carved by the gods or whatever, but that wasn’t what pulled you in.

he was different. the way he acted, the way he held himself, the aura that surrounded him. there was something different about him and you couldn’t quite place it, apart from the fact that he did quite literally only seem to live on the caffeine filled beverage.

class wraps up quickly, your attention only drawn to the boy a couple times. although you couldn’t help but notice how he seemed more invested in his note taking than normal.

at the end of this lecture, you’d normally head straight home to avoid the streets in the dark, but your biology had set an essay to be done with a rather tight turn around.

you could have, of course, organised your time to get it done another time. but it was one night, you would be fine, right? besides, a part of you was so fascinated by the beings that you almost wanted to see the things that stalked the city.

the library is quiet, most people not wanting to have to risk the journey home. yet it’s helpful, actually. you manage to plan and write most of your essay without much difficulty. but maybe that was because it was also on a topic you loved: ghouls.

you’re mid way through a sentence when you get a notification from your phone. a random text from your friend, some stupid meme, your attention drawn instead to the time that’s glaring back at you.

it was late, later than you had intended. and too late to really be out.

you pack up quickly after that, heading out of the library and making your way down the safest path home. you had your keys slid between your fingers, although you didn’t know how much use they would come to if an incident did occur.

the night is cold and black. an icy, darkness that seems to coat the city and leaves a shiver running down your line, chills prickling your skin. you continued down the street, making a sharp left turn. it’s a blind corner, one that you shouldn’t have taken, one that should have made you choose another route. but you had taken it anyway, maybe it your curiosity again that drew you to it.

you notice the blood first, a steady stream of thick red liquid trickling down the street, dripping it’s way down the drain. then the sound of ripping. meat tearing. flesh.

the gulp from your throat is audible, your eyes not even fully up as your feet begin to shuffle back, you don’t feel as intrigued or nearly as brave as before.

you try to escape, but it’s too late.

you see her eyes first. a fluorescent red surrounded by a black that matched the night sky. her hair a violet, bright shade that seemed to contrast the dark look on her face. a hungry look. “p- please- i won’t tell anyone i saw you- just-”

“just let you go? is that what you going to ask me, dear?” she inches closer and you wish you could run but your frozen, not only trapped by the crippling fear but by the ‘claws’ that extended from her body. “do you really want your last words to be pitiful begs?” her hand reaches to cup your neck, touch almost delicate. “i- i-”

“let her go rize.” your stammered words are interrupted by the voice of a man, his tone calm and steady. the woman shifts her attention away from you at his command but her hand remains gripping at your throat, tightening ever so slightly. “yuta?” she almost smiles.

the name is familiar yet you cant quite yet place why.

“i thought you didn’t hunt these pests anymore?” her face contorts into a pout, patronising the man who you still hadn’t caught a glimpse of. “i don’t.” he states and you can hear his teeth gritting. 

“and i thought your binge eater days were behind you?” he fires back, a bit more aggressively than before. 

rize’s head cocks at his words, body turning, hand dragging you with her. 

the way she smiles is so sickly and sweet, tongue poking out to wipe the reamining blood from her last victim from her lip. “you know her, don’t you?”

your gaze flickers up at her question, curious eyes scanning up the body of the man who had at least delayed your murder. his red hair catches your attention first, a vibrant shade that you recognise, although it’s no longer in a ponytail, instead framing his chiselled face. his jaw is clenched but his eyes are wide. “oh, did you not want her to know what you are?” she opens her hand, letting you fall to the ground. her claw instead coming to pin you to the ground. 

you had read about hers before,a rinkaku kagune, it’s strong and pushes hard against your chest until you’re gasping for air.

“you should have stopped when i told you to,” the boy who you had only known from biology spits back, and for some reason you can’t help but think how stupid you were for not piecing the clues together, the fact that you had only seen him consume coffee should have been enough for you to realise.

he was a ghoul.

and he was powerful. 

his kigune seems to glow in light of the moon, its a bikaku, one of the only one’s that can properly disarm a rinkaku. 

he strikes, hard, quick movements that leave the pressure on your chest weakening. rize attempts to strike back but he’s cut through half her kigune claws before she can even process fully what’s going on. you expect him to finish her off completely but he stops just there, “go before i kill you.” he grits and you scowl on her face twist. “you’ll see me again, yuta.” she mutters harshly, walking over to where her prior victim lay, picking up the body before leaving.

yuta seems to keep his cool as he makes his way over to you, extending a hand which you take with your own shaky one. his eyes meet your eyes and his whole demeanour seems to shift, “don’t tell anyone,” he states quietly, a stark contrast from his prior tone, “please.” 

you don’t get an opportunity to respond before he’s turned around again, he moves quickly, leaving you standing frozen with little time to thaw from your fearful state.

you don’t sleep much that night, mulling over what yuta had asked of you. you barely knew him, if at all, and how could you trust that he wasn’t just another senseless ghoul who killed the innocent people you saw in the newspaper. you want to keep his secret but it’s a big ask, and you don’t know if you can.

morning comes and it’s another biology class. you wonder if he’ll be there, how he’ll act. but you’ve already made up your mind nonetheless. 

you enter the classroom lightly later than normal, having taken a detour to the campus. yuta’s sat in his same spot at the front, and a small smile tugs at the corner of your lips when you see your saviour. your confident, making your way towards him. 

your hand slides a black coffee across his desk and he looks up with wide eyes, his gaze softening slightly when it meets your face but still just as confused. 

“your secret is safe with me.”

[pinkpetalwaterimagine]

On the edge... part 2 (Charlie Gillespie)

A/N: So here is part 2, hope you enjoy, and don’t hesitate to point out mistakes. 

Bonne lecture ❤️

Summary : Charlie wants to win you back but will it be enough for you to forgive ?

Word count : 2,2k

Part 1 

After two weeks of the two of you breaking up (?), Charlie still hasn’t wrapped his mind around the fact that he couldn’t go back to canada and take in his arms his girlfriend. He always thought the two of you were in for the long run. Not ready for marriage, but still. You have been together for two years ! He thought that you guys would hold more. But here he was, on the couch, staring as the ceiling as if you would appear from nowhere. 

Even if you left you were as miserable as him. Waking up everyday was a mission but you still managed to do your work, be focus on University. Even if your friends were worried because of your pale skin tone, usually your cheeks were always a bit red but it felt like all colors left your life when you left Charlie. 

You were reading in your bed when suddenly the door slammed open to reveal your best friend : « okay ! So I don’t know what happened with Charlie, you came back real sad. You don’t have to tell me, but it is paining us to see you in that state ! » Exclaimed the feisty girl. 

Instead of answering, you just rolled in your bed, groaning. « I don’t want to talk about it » you mumbled in your pillow. 

Just as she was about to speak, she was interrupted by your phone ringing. It was Owen. He had tried calling you everyday since the blown out Charlie and you had. Your friend was quicker than you and answered your phone. 

« Hey ! You can’t do that ! » you exclaimed. 

« Watch me » 

It’s not that you didn’t wanted to speak to Owen and Jeremy was probably with him but so Charlie. They live in the same apartment, of course he would be there. And you didn’t had the strength to confront your friends, if they were still your friends. You guess that their loyalty stands with Charlie. You had somehow got your life in order, you didn’t wanted one phone call throwing everything away. But here was your friend answering the FaceTime. 

« Hi Owen ! » 

Owen didn’t answer, he was a bit surprised that someone finally picked up the phone and he was more surprised that it wasn’t you that picked up. He didn’t knew your friends, sometimes seing them on your posts on Instagram, but nothing more. Hell, even Charlie didn’t knew all of them. 

« Uhm… Could I talk to Y/N ? » he asked unsure. 

« Yes of course ! But I’m going to hold the phone because I know that if I give it to her she is going to hang up on you, which is not very polite but you know… » 

« Y/N ! How are you sweetie ? » you were a bit taken aback, Owen is a nice person but he wasn’t one to give you those sweet nicknames. Maybe you looked far more bad than you thought. 

« I’m fine, I guess we could say. » you snatched your phone back from the hands of your friend. « I’m not going to hang up, you can go, don’t worry. » you said, and released a small sigh as she finally close the door behind her. Do those people learned about privacy ?

« How are you really doing though, no offense but you don’t look that good. » said Owen with a pout. He was really worried about you, you seemed in better shape than Charlie, but you still had bags under your eyes that at this point could be defined as luggages.

« Geez, thanks Owen, it’s always really nice talking to you! » you said with a laugh. It’s been a long time since you even chuckled, and a bright smile was on Owen’s face, seeing you interact that way with him after being gone from the face of the earth for two weeks. 

What you didn’t knew was that Charlie was sitting next to Owen. He always was whenever Owen tried to call you. Charlie had tried to call you but you never picked up and he figured you needed time away from him. Seeing your face through Owen’s screen brought a smile to his lips, he missed you. He knew from that moment that he had to get you back. He didn’t really care how, but he will try to do everything in his power to get you back. His brain didn’t register the conversation between the two of you, he was stuck on your face. He had a small smile dancing on is lips and when his friend ended the call he had found back that spark in his eyes. 

« Oh, you have an idea. I know this look. I don’t know if it will be a bright idea, but it’s something we can work with that » and for the first time in two weeks, Owen saw his friends coming back to life. He wasn’t wallowing in self-pity but instead he had that determined look. 

« We’re going to Canada baby ! » yelled Owen. They both packed quickly and were ready to take the next flight the next morning. Charlie realized how much of a friend was Owen. He was ready to leave with him on such short notice just to get back his girl. 

It was quite a nice day, you were walking around campus, your books under your arm, just breathing and soaking in the calm atmosphere surrounding you. And then you saw him. Standing next to a tree with his guitar in his hands. The first thought that crossed your mind was : how in the world did he know you would go by that way ? And the second one was that you felt like in High School Musical 3, but whatever. You didn’t feel strong enough to confront him. The scene of the fight kept playing in your mind. If you spoke to him you will be sobbing instead of real talking. You acted as if you didn’t see him and went in your dorm room. 

Charlie was caught off guard. He knew you saw him, but still you walked away like nothing happened. He thought that this romantic gesture would have made you listen to him at least. He wasn’t expecting you falling in his (huge) arms again but engaging in a conversation would have been nice. But Charlie wasn’t the kind of guy who gave up. He knew which door was yours. 

He took a deep breath and let his fist knock on your door. You weren’t dumb, you knew that it was him, who else ? You didn’t answer and stayed laying on your bed as if you didn’t move he will go away. It was not the case. 

« Y/N, could you open the door, I rather talk to you than this wooden board please. » he whispered as to not make a scene in the hallway and to show he was ready to talk and not scream like the last time you talked. 

For a minute you stayed frozen not really knowing what to do. And then you gave in, you knew that it was the first step to forgiveness and some people might think it is a dumb decision. But those only two weeks without him has been hard and you craved his touch, his scent, his smile, him. However you weren’t a fool, you knew that it wasn’t that hard, just barging in your dorm. You just wanted to listen to what he had to say, then you will make a decision. 

He entered the room slowly as if you were going to explode. He had his head hung low whereas you were standing straight your arms crossed to shield yourself from what he’s going to say. 

« I know that we had our fair share of screaming last time, just know that I’m not here to do that again, I don’t want to. » a silence fell between the two of you. You were waiting for what he had to say next. 

« Okay, uhm, these two weeks without you has been hell, I miss you. I know we are not together as much as we would like but we were good together. I miss your texts, I miss your smile, I miss everything about you from your witty remarks to the way you wear my sweatshirts when we are on the phone. I miss you and there’s no distancing myself from that. » he said silently, his hands were slightly shaking and his eyes was at the same time sad but still having a spark inside of them. 

You took a minute to take your breath before answering. You had to process everything he just said before saying yourself what you wanted and how you were feeling. 

« Charlie, you know that I love you, and there’s no doubt about this. But being away from you is really hard, and seeing you happy and joyful with Madison as well as with the cast. I want you to be happy don’t get me wrong it’s just that I feel like I’m left aside. I know that it’s normal because, obviously, I can’t be with you guys… I don’t know how to get out of that situation. You are not quitting your job, and I’m not quitting uni, so I really don’t know how to do this. » at the end of the sentence your voice broke down and the first tears began to slide down your cheeks. 

Charlie was quick to take your face between his hands, his thumbs wiping your tears. Tears were starting to form at the edge of Charlie’s eyes. 

« Hey, hey, look at me » you met his beautiful and deep blue/ green eyes. « I know we can get through this, I know that we can find a solution. And you know it, if you didn’t you wouldn’t have let me in. I know that you believe in us as much as I do. I believe in us. We can visit each other more ! And we just finished filming season one, that means I’m going to be home more often even if I have some other projects. I’m ready to make it work Y/N ! The only question is are you ? » 

For a few seconds you let his words sink in your brain, you thought about how much he made you happy, how much he has done for you and how much you have done for him. A relationship is made by two people, the two of you were ready to work through this difficult time. And at the end of the day, it was all that matter. 

Charlie was still looking into your eyes, trying to understand where you were. You pulled him by his neck and bring your lips closer, only a centimeter was in between. 

« I’m ready to work with you, I’m ready to fight for us, but only if you are too »you whispered. A bright smile appeared on his lips, he closed the gap between your lips. And you felt at home again with your lips on his, his hands on your waist. His Chest against yours. It was a slow kiss, happy to finally find yourselves in each other again. 

« I love you » his eyes were glossy, his lips puffed, he was a sight to behold. 

You put your lips on him again, this time more urgently, almost hungry for him. His phone rang, which stopped your make-out session. He took out his phone and seeing Owen’s face on the screen, he clicked the red button to focus on what really mattered. (Aka you) 

[sneezefiction]

intoxicated

Akaashi x Reader - Scenario

event request: “Congrats on 600!!! maybe i request 8. intoxicated with akaashi pls??🥺🥺🥺💕”

a/n: i’ve always been one to admire strangers from afar. sooo, i thought Akaashi might enjoy seeing your sweet face in a uni/campus setting. fluffy sweetness right here <333

warnings: maybe slightly suggestive (but hardly??)

wc: 1720

---

It all started with a glimpse.

His speculative, grey-blue eyes catching yours from across a full lecture hall. They flickered over, soaking you in at every class period. At first, you couldn’t help but wonder if he’d been looking right past you, but at the tilt of his head, you were sure that his eyes were set on you. A connection formed instantly, sending shivers straight down your spine, giving pause to every mental function.

It got to the point that you had to remind yourself to breathe whenever the pretty boy sent you a modest smile, leaving you a flushed mess.

Because never have you seen someone that captivating.

How at the flick of his ember hair, brushing a too-long piece away from his eyes, you heart would be pounding and skipping. The way he spun his pencil around on his fingers or rested a studious hand on his chin, squishing his face slightly. How his eyes squinted thoughtfully at the prompt of a tricky question, focusing on a specific object to concentrate, only glancing back up when he came to a satisfying conclusion.

You were spell-bound...  and you didn’t even know his name.

But you could dream. And dream you would.

About what his voice would sound like whispering softly to you, his lips brushing against your ear and jawline. Or in the morning with a raspier tinge, waking you up with the gentlest of tones, a hint of coffee lacing with yesterday’s cologne.

How his arms would feel wrapped around your core on a lazy Saturday, soaking in his warmth and sinking back into his secure hold, adjusting accommodatingly for your comfort. To have his eyes drink in every inch of your face, analyzing you instead of his notes for a change.

But for now, you reluctantly settle for distant glances and curious expressions. Separated by a lecture hall and busy class schedules.

That is until you show up to class, finding someone in the usually empty seat next to yours. 

Their back is toward you for a moment, so you take it as a chance to scan their appearance. You quickly note the clean outfit, brown boots and simple colors complete with a long, grey cardigan. If you were forced to sit next to some mysterious person, you’re glad they at least knew how to dress well.

But your entire body runs cold as a familiar face shifts toward the tapping of your light footsteps.

Soft, navy glasses with thin frames. The gentle features made up of soft cheekbones and a sharp, slim jawline. Those bewitching eyes that could outshine the profound shimmering of a deep-blue sea.

It’s him. The one you’ve been fascinated by for weeks. And he’s sitting right there.

“Hi.” The tone is soft and pleasant… inviting even. And his eyes, so warm.

His voice is silk, skimming the surface of your skin giving you chills. Your current infatuation is speaking to you. And it’s definitely no longer a dream.

You should probably start responding now,

“Oh, uh, hello!” You stammer out, a flush dancing across your cheeks.

He just smiles at your dazed response, aware of your confusion but unfazed by your reaction.

Dammit, act like a normal human, y/n, you scold yourself for just standing there, your hands shoved in your pockets. 

“I’m y/n. it’s nice to meet you!” You return the smile, but it hardly begins to reveal the exhilaration of being so close to him.

“I’m Akaashi. Do you care if I sit with you?”

Oh, you could sit on me, you think to yourself but shake the thought from your head swiftly.

And Akaashi… a pretty name for such a pretty face. He’s polite too. Maybe a little formal, but friendly.

“Oh, sure! It’s not like I’m saving it for anyone or anything like that…” You let out a breathy laugh as you set your bag down next to his backpack.

The bustling of the room before class starts covers for the awkward silence between you two. You do your best to calm your nerves. This was the last thing you’d expected from your day and you sure as hell never planned to make a move on him. Your interest was supposed to fade as the semester closed out. It was going to be a lovely thought. Just a nostalgic, intangible tale of stolen glances or a story to tell about a beautiful stranger and what could’ve been.

But Akaashi had other plans.

He wanted to feel you out. To understand why your eyes rested on his figure whenever you thought he couldn’t see you. Because, to Akaashi, you’re the enigma. 

A puzzle in need of solving, determining, and piecing together until a full picture is resolved. And he hasn’t been this intrigued by an individual since high school… so who’s to say he shouldn’t pursue his curiosity?

He took a leap of faith, deciding that you were also potentially interested, which is how he’s found himself seated next to you. And you’re way more attractive up close than he could’ve imagined. 

As the professor begins to ramble through some odd topic, Akaashi’s side glances begin.

The way your lips part as you try to listen to the lecture, beautiful eyes scanning your notes, and then flickering back to the PowerPoint on the projector screen has him shifting around in his seat, wishing he could hear the song of your voice through them.  He can tell that there’s so much more under your surface. Behind your shy smiles and the way your tuck strands of hair behind your ear. That there was already a lifetime of morals, beliefs, habits, experiences, and stories that you could share with him. There is only so much he could examine in the span of an hour… and it’s not often that he’s drawn away from his studies. But in all honesty, he’d much rather listen to you, falling in love with your mind instead of just your body and entrancing facial features. 

Akaashi craves to discover it all.

You bite your lip, attempting to concentrate on anything but the boy next to you… but it’s hard because he’s close enough that you can smell his complex cologne mixed with the chai latte sitting on his desk. You even find yourself leaning toward him, your body urging you to break the distance between you two. Throughout the class you have to control yourself, sitting up straight, keeping comments and conversation to a minimum, because forget about learning anything… you’re barely able to think without being submerged in his presence. 

When his arm intentionally brushes against yours as he reaches for another sip of his tea, you almost lose it. Infatuation or not, he was doing something to you.

You barely register that Akaashi has leaned in to whisper something to you, but when it does, goosebumps race down your arms.

“Y/n…”

Your name feels so good rolling off his tongue.

Heat spreads across your face, “Y- yes?”

Very smooth, y/n. Nice stutter, you cringe at yourself.

“After class, would you want to go over notes?” His suggestion, though innocent in nature, sounds far more alluring… and you can’t tell if it’s just your brain making up the sultry tone or if Akaashi just sounds this good.

“Ah, actually I would love to… where to?” You recover, leaning back as a small smile plasters itself onto your lips, trying not to make your excitement too obvious.

“My dorm?” A fleeting smirk crosses his face, but ghosts away to conceal his feelings.

Oh.

---

“Keiji, you’re tickling me.” You squirm, trying to tug your self out of his grasp.

“No, I’m not, you just happen to be ticklish.” He counters sleepily. His fingers continue to dance down your back, running in soothing circles and tracing curves.

You huff, but you stop struggling to get out of his arms.

As terrible as the dilapidated campus dorms were, you’ve never felt safer than when you were buried in a blanket, tucked under your boyfriend’s arm, staring up at the old, cracked ceiling. The tired building was so close to falling apart that it was almost laughable.

But you don’t seem bothered.

It’s hard to worry about it when you’re constantly drowning in the pools of his eyes. Under the influence of his grazing touches and strings of thought flowing from his pretty mouth. An enrapturing blend of sophistication and authentic thought.

You shift in his hold, your back no longer pressing to his chest, choosing to lay face-to-face instead. For a moment, you are met with sloping features and the most peaceful of expressions. A sweeping wave of adoration flows through your body. It’s a warm tightening in your chest followed by a heavy, contented exhalation. He’s an angel.

But soon, Akaashi’s eyes softly blink open, making your heart do little flips. You would never be able to get rid of the butterflies that fluttered their way into your heart. He moves straight to reading your mind, analyzing every quirk of your eyebrow, what kind of smile you were wearing, how long you held his gaze for.

It’s funny how he’d assumed that you would only distract him from that one class. Instead, you have him in a dizzying spiral, taking up all of his attention. Filling his whole heart. His eyes naturally sought you out in noisy rooms full of people. His soul ached and burned for you and your pillowy-soft voice whenever you weren’t around.

It’s undeniable. 

You’re intoxicating.

Placing butterfly kisses on his cheeks, you earn a soft, closed-mouth smile. It’s easy to drown in his mesmerizing stare, taking it in, processing what he’s feeling and thinking, you lose track of time and forget about the dingy dorm room. 

Because it didn’t matter where you were. A classroom? A house party? A burning building? His artistry and perfection would outshine the most interesting of discussions and the brightest of flames. He’d bled through the pages of your life, leaving beautiful strokes of ink containing hues brighter than you could’ve ever imagined. Dipping into your past and pressing his way into your future. 

And it’s clear.

Akaashi is intoxicating.

The feeling is perfectly mutual… and to think it all started with a simple infatuation with the prettiest boy in your lecture hall.

With a beautiful stranger.

A mere glance.

---

tags: @cherryonigiri, @yams046, @miss-rin, @shou-kunn, @senkuwu-chan, @super-noya, @stcrryskies, @holaaaf, @sugacookiies, @starboybokuto

(comment or send an ask to be added to my general tag list) 

[jeanmoreaux]

Hey there. I’m not quite sure what I want out of this but maybe it’s advice. I’m also in masters for psychology but I feel extremely lost. Our school has this mock board exam thing where it tests you on major subjects and I keep failing statistics. I only get 1 more chance before the school kicks me out because that’s the rule. I think it’s stupid it’s quite easy to get students removed like that after paying for coursework but anyway

I also don’t know where to look for opportunities to practice anything related to clinical psych or research as well, without any experience. Or to be an assistant. If you know of anything at all or not, no worries. I wanted to air this out

Your blog is one of my top favorites I’ve already found so many good recommendations so thank you

hi! thank you so much for you're lovely words about my blog they made me smile <3 and thank you for feeling comfortable enough to share some of your troubles with a fellow psych major in their masters. i am sorry to hear that you are struggling with statistics and finding practical learning opportunities —i can imagine how everything you're describing makes you feel lost and maybe a little bit afraid about the future (of your studies as well). i wish i could help you out in some way or make things easier for you, but i am not sure if my advice is worth very much (i am sure you already tried a lot of these things i am going to talk about).

when it comes to statistics i always found that consulting secondary sources to fill up the blanks in my lecture notes always helps. i would watch videos on the topic online or read chapters from books on my profs list of recommended further reading. i don't know how you're stats courses are structured, but my stats classes in my masters were all computer-based, i.e. we would have to write R syntax based and run our data through it and then interpret the output. so most of our courses were about understanding data structure based on a research question and then writing syntax to fit the research question and the data. it really helped me to talk to some friends who are really into math/statistics about these different models and focus on the methods and results sections of papers while reading them to gain an understanding of why they used a certain statistical model in their analysis.

when it comes to psych internships it really depends on the field where best to look for an assistant position. for example my uni has an online tool that lets alumni advertise internships. there is also an internship data base where you can look up all the clinics/businesses/companies other students interned at to get an idea of places in your vicinity that take interns. you can then simply phone these places and inquire about open spots in their internship program. i know the market is really competitive so it's hard to find an internship, but maybe one of your friends/acquaintances is working somewhere and can help you get a spot in their program. i learned that just asking people about internship opportunities often pays off. i got my current internship through a friend after i complained about not finding any internships in neuropsychology. she was just finishing up an internship at a place that was looking for someone new so she recommended me and i got the open spot. many of my friends have similar stories. if you want to get into research you can always ask one of your profs if they have open spots in their teams (or maybe your department even publishes a list of open spots on their website). a large number of the places that offer internships might not pay you tho (or only start paying you after some weeks/moths). that sucks and is definitely not fair, but it will help you gain practical experience or get a glimpse into a field you could see yourself working in. after your first internship it will also get easier to find another (paid) internship bc you already have some work experience. so yeah i think when looking for opportunities to gain some practical experience it's always an option to directly approaching clinics/hospitals/researches/fellow students/etc.

i am really sorry i can't be of more help.... i think when it comes to internships/apprenticeships or lecture contents there can be major differences between countries and chances are nothing i said here applies to your situation. even though i can't offer you the perfect solution to your struggles, i want you to know that empathise with your situation and i wishing you all the best for your studies!! you're not alone <3 if you ever need to just vent, pls know that my inbox and dm are always open! we psych students deserve to commiserate with each other... as a treat :')

[nouvellestudy]

Things I wish I had known before going to university!

Surviving (and thriving) while living alone

Your flatmates will not always be your lifelong friends and that is OK

You may get lucky with flatmates, but you may also get flatmates who hide in their rooms and leave their dishes for 2 weeks without washing them (I am not bitter what). If you get amazing flatmates then that is great but remember that you do not need to be best friends as long as you are civil, and you will find people more suited to you through other parts of uni life!

Be a good flatmate

Wash your dishes, do your part in cleaning of the communal areas and don’t use all your flatmates olive oil without replacing it. It may seem like common sense but you will discover that many people at uni don’t seem to mind living with flies floating around dirty dishes (again I am definitely not bitter)

1st semester will be overwhelming and that is also OK

Moving away from home and being alone in a foreign environment can be scary, especially if you are far away from home. I found that giving myself things to do really helped me tackle this as I was always busy or looking forward to something. Remember that feeling overwhelmed is normal and many others are feeling the same way too, you are definitely not alone!

Freshers flu is REAL

Lots of people from lots of different places = lots of new germs. I cannot give you any tips other than lemsip and paracetamol are lifesavers!

Take the time to get to know your new city

Use some of your free time to walk around your new surroundings. Maybe try to find a café to study in, or a beauty spot you have seen on Instagram. I also love going on day trips to surrounding areas as it lets you see and do things that you wouldn’t be able to do at home!

Learn how to budget and stick to it

This doesn’t need to be a complex system. My system is first factor in how much you need to cover the essentials (e.g. rent, power, water, alcohol) Then once you have paid everything you HAVE to pay for, set yourself an allowance of spending money and stick to it. I transfer myself this allowance into a separate bank account and use only this bank account for day to day spending. Review every so often whether you are setting yourself not enough or too much allowance and adjust, and then you are on your way to becoming a financially independent adult! It’s also good to have a little bit of back up money put aside for emergencies.

Learn how to cook, even if they are just basic recipes

It may be the student stereotype to live off pasta and pasta alone, but having a few basic recipes under your belt is really useful. Learn how to make things like curry, chilli and soup so you can make enough portions to freeze. Also always try to make enough servings for that day and the next day to save yourself time!

Keeping up with the coursework

Reference as you go, don’t leave it until last

It is so much easier to keep track of what sources you used and where you are referencing these in text if you do it as you go! If referencing structure is intimidating for you there are plenty of reference formatting systems online and on word to help you!

You don’t need to buy all the recommended reading books

Usually you will be able to find recommended reading online or in your university library, but if you have to buy a textbook always look for a cheaper alternative such as buying secondhand from students in the years above. Save your pennies for more exciting things than textbooks!

You don’t always have to do your reading but it certainly helps

I met people during my first year who did no reading and got by, but doing the recommended reading helps you to understand the concept more and means you will be more informed to contribute in classes. I always do reading and preparation for seminars and tutorials because you will be expected to contribute, but you can usually get away with not doing reading for a lecture, unless you have a lecturer who likes to quiz you rather than just talk at you. Do not let yourself get into the habit of not doing your reading though, fail to prepare = prepare to fail as they say.

 Aim to submit your work at least an hour before the deadline

Please please PLEASE do not be the person who submits your assignment minutes before it’s due. Try to submit the day before or at least a few hours before just in case the website crashes, your computer crashes etc. so you don’t get penalised for a late submission.

Go to classes (at least the majority of them)

I know how tempting it is to get a few extra hours sleep instead of going to that 9am lecture, but do not get in the habit of this or before you know it you’ll be going to no classes a week. Try to remember that you are in a privileged position to be receiving an education in the first place and take advantage of this! (also that you are likely paying a fortune for it so you might as well get your moneys worth).

Find the independent study method that works for you

University can be a steep learning curve as tutors expect you to do the majority of your learning independently. Learn how to prioritise your work and find the method of note-taking and consolidation of learning that works for you, as well as the place you work best (cafe, library, your bedroom). Work smarter not harder,  so find the most efficient method that helps you keep on top of your pile of (ever growing) coursework!

Make a list of all your deadlines and when these are due

Put this list above your desk and tick off deadlines as you meet them. I find this to be useful as you can see all the deadlines for the semester in one place! (and its also incredibly satisfying to tick stuff off a to do list)

Compromises are key

It may be the case that your essay due tomorrow that you haven’t started is more important than going to the pub with your friends. Make compromises with yourself – don’t go out on Wednesday if you need to finish an assignment but go out at the weekend when you can enjoy yourself and not have to worry about the assignment!

Social gatherings

Allow yourself to have fun!

You are paying to attend uni to get an education but you are also paying for the experience. Use your free time to do something you enjoy, whether that is going out for dinner, socialising with friends or even travelling.

On the flip side, allow yourself to say no

While it is important to push yourself out of your comfort zone at uni, it is also valuable to take some time for yourself if you feel you need it. Do not feel you have to be constantly busy and do things just because your friends are, downtime is just as important and sometimes you just need a night in with just yourself and Netflix!

Find something outside of uni to fill your time

Like I said before, uni is not just about academics. Joining a society or sports team can be a great way to meet new people and get involved in the university community. You could also start some volunteering if you feel that you have time. I started working with community youth group and I will definitely continue with this beyond first year! This lets you completely take your mind off uni for a while and also looks good on the CV!

Join group chats before you go to uni

If you take anything from this post DO THIS. Get on facebook and hunt down a freshers groupchat for your uni. These freshers chats often develop into smaller groupchats for your specific course or accommodation and this is an excellent way to make friends before you even get to uni! (also a great way to see where the parties are happening on campus)

These are just a few of the things I have learned and will obviously not apply to everyone, but I hope you are able to use this guide to learn something and help you feel more prepared! Going to university helps you to grow so much not only academically but also as a person, so try your best to make the most of it!

[romioneficfest]

In Another Universe

Title: In Another Universe

Prompt: Date Night

Tumblr name: 

Rating: T

Brief summary: (Modern-Day University AU) Hermione Granger, brightest young lady her age, completed her PhD in Linguistics at 25. Ron Weasley, a quantum physicist with a penchant for unkempt hair and loose ties… well, he’s getting there. However, Granger has agreed to spend a night out at a pub with him, and he’s going to try his hardest to woo her with what he knows she likes best: intelligence.

Tags: mentions of alcohol, the word “damn”

-

The pub was dim-lit, crowded, and stank of stale beer. Dr. Hermione Granger was horrified: in her impossibly neat, dry-cleaned pencil skirt and button-down, she stuck out like a sore thumb in a place she never thought she’d find herself on a Saturday night. The man across from her seemed right in his element: leaning back in his chair, his tie loose and shirt undone, a shock of unkempt red hair crowning him, it wouldn’t have surprised her if he’d swung his legs and placed his feet on the table.

Smirking at her, as if reveling in her discomfort, he waved a waitress over: “Gerda, dear! Would you please get me some bangers and mash and an IPA?”

Granger’s shock only grew: he was on first-name basis with the personnel? Gerda nodded and turned to Granger, who froze for a second before remembering she was supposed to order: “Yes, ah… I’ll have the fish and chips and a glass of water, please.”

Gerda nodded again, shooting Granger’s companion a wink as she marched toward the kitchen. He winked back before looking to Granger with a teasing smile: “Never took you for such a bore, but then again, you are wearing a pencil skirt to a pub…”

“Can it, Weasley,” Granger hissed. “You begged me to be here.”

“Where else would you be on a Saturday night? Library?” he teased her again, and she flushed. He toned it down: “I’m sorry— I mean, we can leave if you want to…”

“No, no, it’s okay,” Granger huffed, brushing a strand of hair from her face. “It’s good for me to… step out of my comfort zone.”

‘And that’s putting it kindly,’ thought Weasley, taking a sip from the dark brown bottle Gerda had set in front of him. He watched Granger awkwardly sip from her glass and, realizing how uncomfortable she must be, decided to shift the conversation somewhere more familiar. “So, A Winter’s Tale.”

“Excuse me?”

“A Winter’s Tale? Shakespeare? Is that where your name comes from?”

She smiled as she took the glass to her lips again, and her shoulders lost tension. “You’re familiar with it.”

“Well, I did secondary school.”

“Good try, Weasley, but the secondary school curriculum doesn’t usually include A Winter’s Tale in its Shakespeare section.”

Damn it, he thought; leave it to Granger to know the British literature curriculum. “Fine, I Googled it.”

“Well, that’s flattering,” Granger said, raising her eyebrows. “Took time to do your homework.”

“What can I say? When you get a date with the most beautiful PhD in the uni, you’d better know your stuff.”

She blushed again, and Weasley smiled to himself: he’d gotten past the first line of defense. He decided to keep going down the conversational path he knew she’d be comfortable with: “So, working on anything interesting lately?”

Her eyes sparkled, and she finally set her glass back on the table: “God, I’m so glad you asked. As a matter of fact, we’re working on cataloging a set of Celtic scrolls we found a couple months ago— it’s fascinating.” Weasley watched her light up as she talked passionately about her work: she was a wholly different person from the demure, reserved woman who had been sitting across from him just seconds ago. He almost didn’t notice his head resting on his hand as he watched her talk, staring at her, until she cleared her throat: “Am I boring you?”

“God, no, not at all,” he said hurriedly. “All the contrary, actually. Tell me more?”

“I think I’ve talked enough,” laughed Granger, and —Weasley noticed happily— she seemed a lot more open now, relaxed into her chair and smiling genuinely. “Your turn, Weasley. What are physicists up to these days?”

“Well— a lot, actually,” he said, and he felt the familiar flame that took over him whenever he broached the subject of his work. He wasn’t at the top of his field like Granger, and he knew the other physicists often complained about his work ethic, his mess, his lack of discipline. But, in his eyes, that didn’t matter: he felt such a furor when in the lab, chin-deep in what he most loved, that he didn’t know how they could expect him to busy himself with such trivial things like organizing his files. He felt that same ardor blossom in his chest now as he talked to Granger about it (though, as he looked at her turn all of his attention to him, his heart simmered with more than fervor for physics): “A few days ago, a 2016 NASA study from down in the South Pole resurfaced. It’s crazy— they recorded particle behavior that defies all of the earthly laws of physics. They think it may be evidence of a parallel universe, where time runs backward— I mean, it’s crazy, but we can’t help but be intrigued—”

“A parallel universe? Seriously?” Granger cut him off, leaning forward with her elbows on the table and staring intently at him. She seemed genuinely interested— something that greatly delighted Weasley. “How would that even work?”

“Well, there are two big possibilities,” Weasley began. He could tell Granger was accustomed to doing the lecturing, not the other way around, but she seemed to be enjoying it. “The first has to do with the Big Bang: there’s this theory that the universe is always expanding, and when it stops expanding somewhere, a Big Bang occurs and a universe is generated; however, expansion continues in other places, and whenever it stops there, a Big Bang occurs too and another universe pops into existence. I’m fonder of the second possibility myself, honestly…”

“Well, what is it?” Granger urged him, hooked by his explanation, her eyes ablaze with the wild spark she reserved for the parts of her work she liked the most.

“Well, uh—” said Weasley, having to regain his bearings after getting distracted by how excited she seemed. “It’s the 'many worlds’ theory. According to this one, every single possible outcome to every single possible situation (be it whether the Greeks win the Trojan War or whether you decide to brush your teeth tonight) actually happens, it just happens in a separate universe. That means there’s an infinite amount of universes out there.”

“You’re telling me out there is a universe where everything is the same, but I’m wearing red instead of blue?”

“Yep, and there’s also a universe out there where I’ve finally finished my PhD because I’ve stopped pondering silly things like multiverses and learned to clean up a file cabinet instead,” quipped Weasley, and —to his surprised delight— Granger laughed.

“You’re brilliant, you know that?” she told him, and the look in her eyes had changed, softened: she was now looking at him with intent curiosity, as if she was seeing him in a whole new light. “You don’t need a doctorate to know that. I bet all those stuffy physicists are just jealous.”

He couldn’t believe his ears— Hermione Granger, darling of academic convention, bashing the very scientists that embodied everything he thought she valued most. Maybe they weren’t so different after all. He felt his ears burning, a surefire sign he was blushing: “That’s high praise, coming from you.”

“You shouldn’t undermine yourself,” Granger said, swirling around the ice in her glass with a straw. “Like I said, you’re brilliant.” And she liked brilliance, she thought, noticing how flattering that half-undone shirt was on him.

A silence ensued as they both looked at each other, broken only when Gerda set down their plates. Hermione cleared her throat to diffuse the awkwardness of the broken spell, and took to her fish and chips with her fork and knife, attempting to return to casual conversation. “So, Ronald,” she said, startling him —she’d never called him by his first name before—, “tell me: in another universe, did I agree to go out with you sooner?”

“Oh, in more than one,” Weasley said nonchalantly, leaning back into his chair. “No matter the universe, you couldn’t help but be drawn to my magnetic personality and my striking good looks…” She laughed, and he smiled dimly before dropping the joking tone: “But, in all seriousness, Hermione Granger, I think we would’ve met in any universe.”

“Well, according to the 'many worlds’ theory, you do have to account for a universe in which we didn't—”

“Oh, technicalities,” he groaned, “I’m trying to be smooth here. But I’m serious.”

“In any universe?”

“In any universe. Even in one where we go to some barmy wizard school instead of uni and you’re the brightest witch our age and I’m a clumsy git who keeps screwing up whatever he points his wand at.”

She laughed fully now, throwing her head back and flashing him a full smile: “Ronald, that’s ridiculous.”

“But I’m serious,” Weasley said, daring to inch his hand closer to hers. Their fingertips touched, and she looked him straight in the eye. “In another universe, Granger, any universe, you’re the only girl I would’ve wanted to meet.”

[craftypeaceturtle]

My True Identity

Summary: Thomas has started university. His lessons haven’t started yet but he agreed to help out and do a YouTube channel about the student experience. And like the true student, he’s already having an identity crisis. 

Note: Not written to be overly shippy but read either way! This series is a little weird, no idea if it’ll translate well. The idea is just Sanders Sides retold. Feedback would be GREATLY appreciated!

Next Episode!

.

The kitchen was silent. Thomas was completely engulfed in darkness with only the faint glow from the streetlights outside. The floors were already speckled with dirt and the hob was decorated in fine splatters, he noted already knowing he couldn’t be bothered to clean it. They had only all moved in a week ago! But then again four teenagers trying to live independently would always be messy. He groaned loudly before burying his head in his arms. “Oh woah! Oh, Thomas! What are you doing!” Logan’s voice interrupted the stressed silence. 

“Hey...” Thomas muttered back and, without looking, wiggled his laptop mousepad. The screen blasted a harsh blue light against his defeated lump sitting on top of the kitchen stall. Logan paused at the door before actually walking up to him.

“That does not answer my question,” Logan sighed as he leaned against the work surface. Their quest for a glass of water for bed promptly forgotten. 

“I have no idea who I even am...” 

“Yes. Not many people do. The concept of identity is an ongoing struggle. To expect you to have all the answers at the age of 18 for the rest of your life is ridiculous.” They answered with a quiet smile, their shoulders drooped with tiredness but they already knew they were going to do whatever it takes to Thomas through this, “Why, can I ask, is this bothering you?” 

“This stupid YouTube thing I said I’d do,” Thomas actually sat up and explained once he saw Logan’s confusion, “The uni encourages students to creatively express their experience here and essentially promote the university by doing YouTube videos. I thought ‘hey that sounds fun’ and here I am! God, I don’t even know! I thought it’d be a fun idea to do a video about who I am and why I wanted to go to uni. And now I realise I’m not even sure I have a personality.”

“Ah. Well I’d love to help you. That’s a complicated topic when you truly delve into it and well... Believe it or not, I was quite the nerd in school and it’d be fun to help!” Logan smiled and sat themself next to Thomas’ dramatic form. 

“I’m sure that’s a surprise to no one,” Thomas muttered, sounding more harsh than he wanted to. But they were both too tired to really mention it. As he untangled himself and actually sat properly, another of his roommates burst through the kitchen door. 

“Greetings wonderful citizens and you nerds!” Roman winked as he fingergunned Logan, to their immense confusion.

Despite how open and chatty Roman was, they were all still fairly new to each other and some awkward tension flooded the kitchen as well. Already Thomas felt a little squirmy at Logan helping him but this was so much more embarrassing with the actual stereotypical jock flouncing around the kitchen. Not that Roman was bad or anything! Just... Thomas was a true introvert at heart. 

“Hi!” Logan squeaked while Thomas gave a weak salute.

“Now what are we muttering about at 1 in the morning! You’re disturbing my beauty sleep!”

“Oh sorry! We were um... it’s just the YouTube thing again... It’s not important, I’m so sorry!”

“Hey it’s okay! We’re students, what makes you think I was getting any sleep anyway!” 

“Well that just seems unhealthy, why would you del-”

“What’s going on kiddos!” Patton smiled with a giggle as he rose up from the other side of the table. Now, Logan and Roman positively shrieked while Thomas totally remained totally calm thank you very much. Patton was the only one that he had properly warmed up to. The kiddo thing got annoying but he knew that Patton didn’t mean it insultingly. He was the first to move in and so the first one to meet him. He immediately helped him unpack and sat with him when his parents finally left. While he wasn’t sure they had any real shared interest, Thomas was already clinging on to Patton. 

“I’m just trying to get a video done! It’s just a general about me thing and why I chose uni. I just need to have a sit down with myself, figure myself out and maybe come to a better understanding that we could all learn from,” Thomas said strongly, puffing out his chest with a plastic smile. 

“Well maybe they would know you if you’d post YouTube videos more often,” Roman snickered while Patton whooped, Thomas deflated with an embarrassed smile. 

“Hey I have posted! I’ve got two videos so far! That’s not bad for something I only started like two weeks ago.”

“Yeah but you’ve been stressing about it for every second of those two weeks. Plus, people don’t watch uni channels for the person. They just want to avoid going to the open days and find out about the campus,” Roman said while Logan frowned. 

“Wait, if all you’re looking to answer is general information about yourself then that’s easy! You just start with the basics. Introduce yourself,” Logan prompted.

“Well... I am Thomas Sanders. I go by he/him pronouns and am proudly gay. I’m taking English literature...” He trailed off. Feeling that same sense of dread and nothing slowly grip him again. Great, met these roommates only a week ago and he’s having a breakdown in front of them. 

“That’s a promising start! Topics like gender and romance can be a challenge in of themselves to figure out. You could try and answer some light hearted meaningless questions as well. Like... um, something like what’s your greatest fears?” Logan smiled as he twiddled his hands. 

“Oh! Rejection!” Roman gasped and clutched his chest while slowly sinking to his knees. 

“Spiders!” Patton shuddered.

“I always get nervous about the idea of what exactly is at the bottom of the ocean...” 

“Nope! Not doing that! I’m perfectly aware of my greatest fears. I know that’s fun and all, but I want to keep it fairly serious. Like, what are my flaws?” Thomas shrugged them all off, his shoulders tensing again. 

Logan now lit up completely. Pulling a notepad from nowhere (his pyjamas?), he flipped to a previous scribbled page and pointed out a checklist with a pen. “Oh we’re talking flaws. Well, I’ve noticed you procrastinate a lot! I mean, it’s only your first week... Lectures haven’t even started and you’re already behind. I mean why else would you be planning a video at one in the morning!” Logan panted as they spoke all in one breath but the determined shine in their eye refused to let them go without saying this. 

“Do you just... list all our flaws like that... or...” Roman mumbled.

“You can be pretty selfish with your food...” Patton looked away but his mischievous smile remained firm. 

“Really Patton? I’m like 90% sure that milk was expired!” Thomas huffed and threw his head back, his already scruffy hair whipping wildly. 

“Didn’t stop you from drinking from it...” Patton muttered again with his hands held out. As if Thomas couldn’t be sucking any more at university, it was only his first week and lessons hadn’t started yet! But here he was with flatmate drama, a breakdown at 1 in the morning and a growingly filthy flat. 

“You aren’t very adventurous either...” Roman interrupted before any room mate war was launched. He was hoping to at least get past the month mark before any wars. Not that that was saying much for him. 

“Okay, maybe this was a bad idea!” Thomas sighed and slumped back into his ball on top of the kitchen stall. Legs drawn up to his chest and head buried firmly. 

At that, all of the roommates froze. The kitchen seemed so much harsher without any of its lights on. If someone had closed the curtains then the only light would be the oven timer that was flashing the wrong time. They could all hear the faint slamming of doors and whoops from students outside. All of which were actually enjoying their fresher’s week and having fun outside. Patton felt a little mean for joking so much with him. Thomas was still a very new friend and he just criticised him when he clearly wasn’t doing good. Roman looked awkwardly around before busying himself by going to make toast while Logan kept fiddling away. Patton wished, not for the first time, that his parents were here. 

“Well, everyone has flaws. That’s what makes us human,” Patton smiled, hoping his tone made up for the weak childish message. 

“Of course. As long as you’re aware of them and working through them, then I’d even say that flaws are what keeps us improving and doing our best,” Logan happily took over. 

“Yeah! Plus, you have a lot of good in you.” 

“You value your friends above all else,” Roman butted in. It was awkward, but the eye contact and his gentle tone did a lot. Thomas found himself smiling on instinct. 

“You see the good in everyone!” Patton chirped, seemingly bursting from happiness before sending an expecting glance at Logan. Not that they needed it.

“You’re extremely passionate and stick through every project. I mean, look at this YouTube channel. You’ve committed to a project that you understood is difficult. You’re still powering through despite the adversity.”

“Well, that’s very nice, you guys,” Thomas replied, eyeing the clock as it ticked to half past. 

Thomas heaved a deep breath. The blank word document no longer seemed as intimidating but he could feel his standards tutting at the weak script he was thinking through. Yeah, this was all good stuff to talk about but how on earth was this going to connect with people. How was this going to even connect to university? 

“Oh but you should also talk more about why you are filming for the channel!” Patton squeaked, Thomas uncurled and looked on with a sceptical look, “I’m guessing you want this to be a bit more than an intro video. If you talk about why you’re running the channel then people will understand you and your content a lot better. Like, what positive impact did you hope to inevitably bring with this channel?” 

“Woah... Patton that was genuinely deep and exactly what I was lo-”

“Hey! We have the same glasses!” Patton suddenly lurched forward, pointing an accusing finger. Logan blinked sleepily.

“Yep...” 

“Okay well,” Thomas cleared his throat, “Being able to put out silly light hearted content into the world is kind of a good start, it makes me really happy to do that!” 

“Wait! This is supposed to be happy!” Roman gasped with the bread popping from the toaster soon after. Thomas wilted again under his withering gaze. 

“Just because the topic is serious, doesn’t mean the video has to be serious. I think I would’ve liked to watch a light hearted joking channel when I was looking at unis. Identity is a serious topic but I want to joke about it,” Thomas explained to the table, slowly drawing out of the crumbs a smiley face. Roman melted and turned back to his toast. 

“That’s easy! You don’t even need answers to make that video then. No one watching your videos knows who they are and if you’re making fun of yourself for not knowing, it shows that it’s kinda okay. Y’know to be unsure and stuff.”

“Self deprecating humour is very popular at the moment,” Logan reported. 

“Just as long as you don’t go too far with it! Make sure to keep it light hearted!” 

“Yeah...” Thomas had immediately perked up and starting clicking away at the keys. 

They all sat there for a couple of minutes. All of them taking pride in how quickly Thomas pulled himself together again. The words quickly filled the screen and Roman finally clicked on the light, despite all of them hissing tiredly. 

“See, you’ve got this,” Patton smiled once Thomas took another careful to pause to proof read. “You may not entirely know yourself yet but that’s okay. You know who you are at this moment, even if you just know you’re confused.”

“Yeah, I guess I do know myself better than I think,” Thomas laughed off. 

“Right, Tony?” Patton gasped with Roman and Logan whipping round. 

“Not my name.” Thomas didn’t flinch.

“Then what is it!” Patton collapsed on top of the table with a gritted guilt expression. 

“Thomas! I said it earlier in this conversation!” 

“It’s really late!” Patton winced, feeling extra guilty. 

“He does have a decent point, at the very least, I am going to sleep. Please try not to make much noise,” Logan waved before disappearing from the kitchen. 

Patton joined them shortly after while Roman and Thomas talked quietly. The project also sinking into his mind before he even realised. And now he has to make sure that Thomas even knows about proper lighting and ideal times of the day to record himself! Roman was already stealing his laptop to make amendments to the script while Thomas awkwardly laughed it off. 

[gellavonhamster]

good people

gen || Montgomery Montgomery & Bertrand Baudelaire || pre-canon 

ao3 link eng  || ao3 link rus

Monty Montgomery learned about the deaths of Count and Countess *** somewhere about two in the afternoon, in the lobby of the Biology Faculty of Gerald Durrell University of Natural Science. He didn’t know them personally, and that day he could not even recall their faces when reading an article about their deaths, just as many years later he could not – unfortunately – recall the face of their son, whom he did know personally back in the day and had met as often as not. At the same time, he could remember in detail the moment he heard they were dead – the hum of voices in the vast corridors of the faculty building, sunlight glistening on glass in the frames of photographs and newspaper clippings hanging on the walls, the sound of his own footsteps. He was descending the stairs, almost hopping like a kid because he had just managed to talk a teacher into letting him submit the report a day later, and consequently was in a splendid mood. Few things can compete with the joy that a student experiences when the deadline for a paper that still exists only as a title page gets postponed for a later date. Immersed in happy thoughts, he went down to the ground floor, and was just heading for the exit when he suddenly saw a crowd of students and teachers huddled together and discussing something animatedly. One of the students was holding a widely unfolded newspaper, and several people at once were reading something over his shoulder.            

“Must be a change of government or something,” Monty thought as he approached them. Frankly, the prospect of writing a paper in two days concerned him much more at that time than a hypothetical coup. 

“Ah, Montgomery!” shouted one of those reading the paper, Professor Stein of the Herpetology Department. Stein was always shouting: he had hearing problems. Now, on the other hand, a raised voice was more than appropriate, for too many people were talking at once.  

“Good afternoon, Professor,” Monty gave him a nod of greeting as he joined the group. Getting closer to the paper was impossible – the crowd was too thick. “What’s the news?”

“A murder, Montgomery! A crime story at its finest; the whole city is going insane! Come read.” At that, Professor grabbed him by the elbow and pushed him into the middle of the crowd, so that Monty found himself right behind the left shoulder of the guy with the newspaper.

He took a look at the page, found the piece everyone was reading, and grew cold.

“Poison darts! With snake venom!” Stein exclaimed. Monty winced as if in pain. The loud noises around him were distracting; he wanted to read carefully, turn each word round in his head, persuade himself it was not what he thought it was. Coincidences do happen sometimes, after all. “And where – at the opera! Right during the performance!”    

“Yeah,” someone to the right of the newspaper chimed in, “straight out of Gaston Leroy.”  

“Leroux,” Monty corrected mechanically. He was suddenly overcome with fierce and helpless anger. He stepped back. “I’m sorry, Professor, I really have to go.”  

Walking quickly, even quicker than back when he was urged on by the unwritten report, he headed for the door.

Well then, La Forza del Destino. Poison darts. Snake venom.  

And his flatmate, who went to the opera yesterday and didn’t come back home.  

 ***

 Bertrand asked him to procure the venom about a week ago.

It might have been Thursday, or maybe Friday. Monty was writing a term paper then, one that he could not set about writing earlier because he was busy doing other things, from the tasks assigned to him by VFD to attending the parties organized by other volunteers, which in some cases seemed as important to him, even vital at times. VFD gave him time to deal with the exam period, relieving him from participation in any missions for the nearest future – the pursuance of science was highly valued among their ranks. Many volunteers flaunted some academic degrees, but not many of them got those degrees officially, even if they deserved them objectively. Some Doctors and Masters among them didn’t even hold a certificate of Bachelor’s Degree. Fighting the fires, both literal and figurative, took up a lot of time and energy, leaving virtually none of it for attending the lectures or even distance education. However, the VFD members had connections – Had Connections even, capitalized – owing to which many of them got the opportunity to call themselves professors or academicians, although all their scientific contributions, sometimes absolutely groundbreaking, remained hidden from the general public.      

At the Biology Faculty, VFD Had some Connections as well, and if Monty wished so, he probably could obtain the Master’s or even Doctor’s Degree without much effort, but he had no such wish. He desired recognition and respect from the people outside the organization, desired to make discoveries that he could tell the whole world about – desired for everything to be fair. That was why he had spent the whole previous week in a kind of a time loop. Every day looked like the day before: writing, writing, writing, leafing through the sources frenziedly after another bookmark gets lost, sorting the materials collected in the expedition, drinking gallons of coffee, and occasionally sleeping. And feeding Maturin, of course. As to Monty himself, it was Bertrand who had been feeding him, which was very kind of him, because Monty couldn’t even afford the time to heat some ready-to-cook foods. Bertrand simply used to come into his room, not even knocking anymore so that not to distract him, put a plate of vegetable couscous or spaghetti bolognese or something in front of him, and leave before Monty noticed that plate. The dirty dishes he used to take away in the same manner, unnoticed. Monty had to yell “Thank you!” for the whole house to hear, to which Bertrand yelled back “You owe me!” from his room or from the kitchen. He was joking, and Monty knew that, but still planned at least to stand treat at the pub after the exams were over.      

That morning, Bertrand knocked on the door again – first came in, then knocked. That meant he needed Monty to pay attention to him.

“Hello, hello, hello!” Monty exclaimed, turning on the chair, immediately knocked one his books off the table, and bent to pick it up. “I am listening to you attentively, o dearest neighbour.”  

“You’re going to the uni tomorrow, aren’t you?” Bertrand asked.

Monty nodded. “Yeah, to submit this Frankenstein’s monster. Only the bibliography left to do.”

“You’re a hero,” Bertrand praised him. Monty thought so too, in all honesty. “Could you do something for me while you’re at it?”

“Buddy, I would’ve wasted away without you here over the last few days. What exactly do you need?”  

“I need,” Bertrand felt for something in the pocket of his trousers, took out some scrap of paper, and gave it to Monty, “a vial of venom of this snake.”  

Monty’s heart lurched. He skimmed the note.

“Oh,” he said. “No problem. There are a couple of excellent specimens of this species at the City Herpetological Centre.”

“I know,” Bertrand replied. “I thought of asking N or S, but I don’t know them well. I wouldn’t like to shoot my mouth off in front of the people I do not trust completely,” he sat down on the edge of Monty’s bed. “Not these days.”  

Monty noticed that Bertrand was trying not to meet his eyes.

“I see. Tomorrow it’ll be done.”  

“Thank you,” Bertrand smiled slightly, still not looking at Monty. Instead, he was looking at Maturin, the turtle, which was chewing on a salad leaf in its terrarium. The turtle was undoubtedly remarkable, but it wasn’t hard to see that Bertrand was rather looking through it than at it. Sooner or later that was bound to happen, Monty thought. Sooner or later, each volunteer had to do something… like that. Not necessarily related to deathly poisons and what very logically results from their use, but still something that made it difficult to look one’s friends in the eye. Like it was now difficult for Bertrand.

“Who?” Monty asked in a hushed voice. “I’m not asking about the name, I’m asking if you know that person. Or were you just given a description?”

“A description,” Bertrand echoed. He smiled again, wider and brighter, but still somewhat stiffly. “Don’t worry about me. I am not a child, I’ll handle this.”  

 ***

 “And so he did,” Monty thought as he was unlocking the door to his flat.

Bertrand was already home; there was no need to call their acquaintances or go to Kit’s place. When Monty entered, his flatmate was sitting at the kitchen table and rubbing his knuckles on one hand with the thumb of the other. His face was calm, without any trace of either tears or smile. It reminded Monty of the kind of “Closed” sign that people put on the shop doors on Sundays.      

“There you are,” Monty said, peeking into the kitchen. Bertrand gave a start and looked at him.

“Hi,” he said, and offered Monty a faint smile. It didn’t look too convincing. “How did the report thing go?”  

“They let me submit it later,” Monty told him. He didn’t know how to ask Bertrand about what was really vexing him, so he asked another question that was, in his opinion, appropriate in any situation. “Would you like some tea?”

“That would be nice, thank you.”

Monty went into the kitchen, took the teapot off the stove, shook it and made sure it was empty, filled it with water, ignited the burner, put the teapot on the stove. Having been in a hurry to check if Bertrand was home, he didn’t have time to take his shoes off, and was now stamping around the kitchen in outdoor shoes. “Gotta sweep the floor later,” he noted to himself. It came with experience – the skill of not forgetting about the dull everyday things like cleaning and cooking while your entire world was in a whirl and threatening to fall apart.    

“I saw the article in the newspaper,” he began as he took teacups from the dish drainer. Bertrand was still sitting at the table in silence, still rubbing his hands absentmindedly. “About the opera.”

“Yeah, I’ve already read it, too.”  

“You lied when you told me you didn’t know who the target was, didn’t you? When you asked me to get you the venom.”

“I did,” Bertrand agreed. He leaned back in his chair. It wasn’t hard to see by his eyes that he hadn’t caught even a minute of sleep last night. “Do we have any lemons for tea?”  

“Um?.. I think there must be some. Check the fridge. Why did you lie?”

“You had enough problems of your own. And you still do. I didn’t want you to worry about me as well,” Bertrand got up from the table, walked up to the fridge, and took out a bowl containing half a lemon. Having taken a knife and a board, he started cutting the lemon into very neat identical pieces. Everything Bertrand did was neat.  

“Yeah, you can want whatever you like,” Monty muttered. The teapot was still taking its time to boil, and just standing empty-handed and discussing the murder committed by his neighbour was unbearable, so he took a cloth and started cleaning the sink aggressively. That was not the first time he procured poisons required by other volunteers. Perhaps he hadn’t killed anyone himself – yet – but he suspected that in a sense he already was partially responsible for a number of deaths. It was scary, it was weighing down on him, it kept him up at night and made him drink and dance and party with a vengeance in the hope of forgetting himself – but that was him, and when it came to Bertrand, it was a hundred times more of a shame. Bertrand was a good person. Bertrand didn’t deserve to be turned into a murderer. Monty was hoping he could express that all in such a way as not to make it seem like his heart is aching not so much for his friend as for his own hurt feelings, but the right words just wouldn’t come.        

“You are one of the best people I know,” he finally began. Bertrand made a strange sound, something between a laugh and a sob. Monty turned and saw that he had already cut the leftover lemon and was now standing with an absent look on his face, clutching the knife. “Don’t hold the knife with the edge toward you. Fucking hell, B,” he raised his voice when Bertrand didn’t react. “Don’t hold the knife with the edge toward you, and put it down anyway!”      

The knife fell on the table with a thud. Bertrand closed his eyes, leaned on the tabletop with both hands, and lowered his head so that Monty couldn’t get a good look at his countenance.

“I keep remembering that he hit O several times when boozed up, back when O was a boy,” he spoke quietly. “He used to drink, you know – not every day, but he used to go on drinking sprees from time to time. O’s taking after him in that respect. I keep thinking back on it as if it makes an excuse for me, but it really doesn’t, you see? And she was innocent – I mean, the rational part of me gets that she wasn’t, I know who she and her husband used to finance and what they used to cover up, but all I can remember is that she was usually nice to O, and to B after she moved to the City too.” Now his voice was taut, his face burning with indignation, his former numbness gone without a trace. “How come this task was assigned to B, of all people? After they had basically accepted her as family?”        

Monty knew, personally and by repute, several Bs among their associates, but this time Bertrand didn’t have to specify who he was talking about.  

“I am angry they made you do this, you are angry they made her…”

“Because she didn’t deserve this,” Bertrand interrupted him. “Because she’s a good person.”

Monty realized that Bertrand was basically repeating word for word what he had been reflecting on earlier himself, and smiled sadly.  

“How willing we are to assure the others vehemently that they are good people,” he spoke. He was completely in agreement with Bertrand about Beatrice. She was not just fun, but also reliable, which was much more important. She looked after her own. She was vivid and loud and incredibly brave and incredibly loving, and Bertrand was right: she did not deserve this. “And never as willing to defend ourselves the same way. Perhaps that is where our hope lies? In our inability to turn a blind eye to our own faults?”    

Bertrand took off his glasses, inelegantly wiped off the tears that had broken out after all, and put the glasses on again.

“Monty,” he said gently, “you’re a good person too, you know that?”

Monty blinked, then blinked again, feeling that soon he might have to wipe off the tears too. Bertrand was one of the best people Monty knew, and he didn’t deserve to be turned into a murderer, and didn’t deserve to labour under such grave delusion about other people either – but the fact that someone still considered him a good person gave Monty confidence that despite all his wrongdoings, he still wasn’t a lost cause.  

He reached out and ruffled Bertrand’s hair.

“Sit down,” he told him. “The tea’s about to be ready.”

[imagine-that-100]

Drunk | Part 5 |

Description of Part 1: Matty Healy x Reader (Female) | When you come back home to Manchester from University, you get invited to a house party filled with your old friends from high school. You hadn’t seen most of them for 4 years and the house brings back some old memories of the parties you once attended. Getting drunk with old friends ends up being better than you imagined.

Word Count: 10.3k

A/N: Just want to say a huge thank you to @dot-writes and @murderousginger for the help you both gave me on this part. Literally couldn’t have done it without you so thank you very much. I do really really appreciate it. Hope you all enjoy the new part and are liking where the series is going its been fun to play about with this series and I’m looking forward to the next 5 parts. Love you all and thanks again for reading x

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

| MASTERLIST IN BIO | 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The whole weekend seemed to fly by so fast. You felt think the whole weekend had been put on fast forward because you didn’t get a moment to yourself all weekend.

If it wasn’t Matty taking up your time, it was the gossiping between you, Ava, and Stacy. You literally hadn’t stopped chatting about the boys all weekend and the juicy stuff that you found out about Adam and Ross was making you squeal.

They obviously made you give them the gossip on Matty, and you spared no expense. You told them everything they wanted to know. You’d been getting up to some kinky stuff again but that wasn’t really a surprise to anyone.

What was a surprise though was the fact that Matty had learned some new tricks that consumed your mind practically all the time you were around him. Every time he did anything with his hands, he had you hypnotised and he full well knew it. It was the same with his tongue.

He would keep running it over his bottom lip and you would fully stare at him doing it. After he did it every time a smirk would appear on his face and when your eyes would travel back up to his own you could see the humour in them. By the end of the weekend you could just tell that he was doing in on purpose.

The gig at the festival on the Saturday went better than the boys or you ever expected. They literally had new fans coming up to them afterwards asking if they had any CD’s or any mercy that they could buy.

They drew in a massive crowd as well, so the event organiser was pleased that he had agreed to let them headline. He even came up and thanked you for changing his mind and letting them perform.

After that you made the manager joke to George again and he apologised for not stealing your powers of persuasion earlier. The Saturday flashed by and before you knew it you were in bed again with Matty and that was how you spent a good portion of your weekend.

Just you and him doing unspeakable things to each other.

When the Sunday gig came along, they drew in a crowd for that too which the pub seemed to be thrilled by. They hadn’t expected it to be as busy as it was but the manager that you sort of knew seemed to be overjoyed.

Just before the gig she came up to them and thanked them all very genuinely for coming and performing. She told them that she hadn’t seen a crowd like it for someone performing in the bar before and that she definitely wanted them back at some point.

“She seems really nice” George said as he watched the manager go back over to the bar. 



“Yeah she is” You smiled.

“I don’t think they get big crowds in here often, so it probably means a lot to her” You said as Matty’s arm found its way back around your shoulder.

You were all sat around a large table that consisted of the band, you, Ava, Stacy, and a load of your other Uni friends. Most of them were the girls that you’d introduced them too on the Friday, but a few new ones came as well.

Your course buddy Josh caught your attention and you stood up to give him a tight hug. You loved Josh so much you literally didn’t know what you would do without him. He kept you sane.

“I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever” You grin when you throw your arms still around him.

Josh laughed as he kept his hands on your hips. “I swear it’s only been like… four days?” He questioned.

“Exactly, that’s forever” You laugh before hugging him again and he gave you a tight squeeze before picking you up and spinning you around.

You were a giggling mess when he put you back down and you had to cling to him to make sure you didn’t fall to the ground. You were still laughing when you looked around towards your table.

Josh’s hand remained around you as you ushered him over to the table so you could introduce him to the boys.

Whilst your attention had been on Josh though you didn’t see Matty watching the exchange with unamused eyes. You were his this weekend and he didn’t like that someone else had grabbed your attention as much as the guy you were hugging was.

When Matty averted his gaze from you, he looked back to his friends and they were all giving him the same amused look. They could all see he wasn’t impressed that someone had took your attention away and he told them all to, “Shut the fuck up” which made them all start chuckling.

“Guys this is Josh. Josh this is George, Ross, Adam, and Matty” You introduce him.

“Nice to meet you gu… Wait” Josh started but then stopped causing you to look at him.

He was looking at you with wide eyes and asked you “Matty Matty?” Before looking down at Matty with a smile.

You had no doubt Matty’s face would now have a huge smirk on it and when you looked at him you were right. Matty looked like the smug prick he was.

You pushed Josh away from you with an embarrassed smile and sat yourself back down in your seat. “Fuck off” You told him shaking your head before picking up your drink and chugging it as Josh started laughing clapping his hands.

Matty’s ego seemed to get the biggest boost because then he wrapped an arm around you again and asked with a smug grin, “Been telling people about me?”

“Fuck off” You seeth through your teeth and looked back towards josh who’d just come and crouched down beside you. He had his hands on your legs to keep himself balanced and he was still chuckling.

“I’ve heard a lot about you, mate” Josh grins and Matty started laughing.

“Anything I should be worried about?” Matty asked Josh but he kept his eyes on you and you couldn’t keep the smile off your face.

“Nah man, you definitely did better than me” Josh told him, and you burst out laughing at that and playfully shoved Josh off balance.

“Wait…” Matty paused before he questions, “You two…?” 

You chuckled at his reaction, nodding, “Yeah”

“Don’t worry it was like three years ago” Josh informs him as he gets himself up off the floor.

“And extremely we were both extremely drunk” You added before you glance at Matty’s face and snort. “Why do you look so shocked? You’re not the only person I’ve shagged, you know?”

“I’m not. I just didn’t expect you to be best friends with one” Matty said trying to defend himself.

“We were just drunk, and it sort of happened, didn’t it?” Josh chuckled thinking back to the night.

“Yeah it didn’t go very well. Remember when I literally died afterwards” You laughed, and Josh nodded laughing.

“Yeah and we didn’t know how to act in the lecture the next day. That was the most awkward day of my life” Josh chuckled, and you laughed nodding.

“Ah well. At least we can laugh now” Josh said, and you chuckled.

“Yeah. I’ll try not to be as drunk next time” You play, and Josh winked at you.

Matty fought the urge to remove his arm from around you. He couldn’t believe that you were talking about shagging someone else as his arm was around you.

You started giggling and look back to Matty. He didn’t look impressed. 

“You don’t need to get worked up about it, I’ll still shag you later” You told him and that only made his lip twitch up a bit.

“She all yours man. Imma go and try my luck with Lizzy again” Josh told you and you suppressed a laugh. “Have a good gig guys” He waved at them all before heading back over to the other side of the room.

After that Matty made it his mission to have you hang on to his every movement whilst you were sat next to him and whilst he performed. He knew how to play you and you were a sucker for him.

As he watched you from the stage, he found it difficult not to get excited as all the dirty things about how innocent you looked ran through his mind. You were watching him with your lip between your teeth and you kept your eyes on his body instead of his face.

He especially liked it when he thrusted into the crowd and you almost spat your drink out. He smirked at you and you pursed your lips watching the grin on his face.

That gig was possibly your favourite. It was an awesome way to close off a great weekend. A massive crowd supporting them and more really good sex when you got back to your flat.

You couldn’t ask for much more really.

On the Monday you were hesitant to see them go. You’d had such a good weekend and weren’t really ready for them to be going back.

But midday on the Monday you had to show your boys out. You went down to the car park with them and helped them carry their stuff music gear out.

And once they were all packed up, they all proceeded to hug you and say their goodbyes. George obviously got to you first and gave you a massive bear hug which you eagerly returned.

“Imma miss you” He said as you hugged yourself into his chest.

You chuckled and said “Imma miss you too… And you call me whenever you want. I’m never doing anything, and I’ve pretty much finished everything”

George reluctantly agreed that he would, and you moved on to hug Adam then Ross. When Ross let you go, he smiled down at you, “I’ll probably see you again in the next fortnight”

To say your face lit up would be an understatement. You were beyond happy. Over the weekend you’d seen Ross and Ava actually getting along with each other and chatting throughout the day so you had hope that there would be a spark there.

And the fact that he was coming back signified that there was one, so you were really happy for them. And you were happy you could see Ross more often than normal too.

“I’m so happy” You grin before giving him another hug.

And then there was only Matty left. His arms went around your waist and he pulled you into him. You thought it was going to be for a hug but no he kissed you.

As soon as his lips were on yours you didn’t want him to go. It had been great having him back and you loved the banter between you. It really was a shame you were in Leeds and he was in Manchester.

You felt his arms tighten around your waist as the kiss continued and you practically melted into him. The moment was definitely savoured but the both of you as you knew it wouldn’t be happening again for a while at least.

When you pulled away, he felt his arms around you and yours rested on his chest. You smiled at him whilst you looked into his brown eyes and he grinned back, “So, we starting this back up when you get back home?”

You grinned but attempted to keep your cool, “Maybe. Depends if I’m ready to settle down or not”

“So imma take that as a yes” Matty smiled and you rolled your eyes in jest. 

“Okay” 

When you said that Matty grinned at you and hugged you towards him for a hug. Your arms went around his neck and gave him a tight squeeze before letting him go.

“Let me know when you get back” Matty told you as he let go of you and headed back to the car.

You chuckled, “Shall do” and watched as he got in one of the two cars they brought. As they set off, they all waved at you and you started waving back.

George rolled down the passenger window and hung out of it screaming, “Bye” at you and you couldn’t stop yourself from giggling as you waved them off. 

Just as they were leaving you turned back to go back into your building and shook your head thinking of your crazy friends from back home.

~*~*~*~*~*~

2 months later, you’re in the middle of Wilmslow walking back home from the train station. You’d just about got back after doing a little bit of shopping in Manchester and planned to do fuck all with the rest of your day. That was until you saw one of your favourite people.

“George” You called. 

You noticed that he was walking slightly ahead of you with Jess.

He turn around and search for the voice that called him and when his eyes  fixed on you, a grin appeared on his face.

You smiled and waved at him and he waved you over to them. You walked towards him and he extended his arms out towards you.

You walked into them and gave him a quick hug. It was the middle of July now and you’d been home since the middle of June.

You’d brought all your stuff back from Leeds and only went back over once for your graduation a few weeks ago. But you hadn’t seen any of the band since which was a mild disappointment to you.

Once you let go of George you said your hellos to Jess and gave her a hug. You’d hadn’t seen her since before Christmas when you were at George’ studio with the boys and her a week after the first gig that you came to.

From what you could remember it was a really nice night and you got on really well with her.

“What are you doing out?” George asked curiously.

“I’ve just been shopping, just got back from Manchester. What about you?” You question them both with a smile.

“We’re just meeting the other lads in the pub for a pint” George told you taking a hold of Jess’ hand again. This made you smile, and you so desperately wanted that for yourself.

“Ah right nice one” You grin as you switch your shopping bags to your other hand because your other one was growing colder by the second because the blood couldn’t get to it.

“You should come join us. I could use the company” Jess says, making you smile. 



George looks down at Jess and possessively says, “She’s my friend you know” 

“Oh, I'm sorry can’t she be my friend too?” Jess asks, her gaze meeting his with raised eyebrows challenging him.

You smile at the situation and joke, “Don’t fight, there’s enough for me to go around” 

But then you start to feel like you’d be intruding. That and you really weren’t dressed to be out drinking, you looked a mess.

“But I should be getting home I don’t want to intrude on your afternoon” You start but then both their faces fall.

“No please come, I really can’t stand being there by myself with them lot. You know what they are like.” Jess pleads, “I can only handle them all on my own for so long” 

“Come on Y/N, I’ll get you a drink” George grinned, and you gave in.

“Only if you’re paying George” You chuckled, and you all started walking in the direction of the only fun place in Wilmslow.

There wasn’t really much around other than the cinema and the shops. So when you were all younger, you would descend onto this bar as soon as someone was 18. It was like a tradition at that point.

You hadn’t been in for years but when you got there it looked exactly the same. A load of memories flooded back to you about the whole place and you smiled at the thought. You really had missed home.

As you walked further into the bar, you saw the group sat around a large booth. In the booth was Ross, Adam, Matty and a girl you vaguely recognised.

From what you could remember she was nice, and it seemed like Matty had taken a liking to her because his arm was around her shoulder. You weren’t really shocked by it because after all it was Matty.

George and Jess got to the table first and George announced, “We picked up a stray on our way here”

You smiled at his comment and you saw the others look towards you. You saw Matty’s face look from the girl next to up to you and you saw his face turn from a smile into a sheepish grin. As if he’d done something wrong.

You were slightly confused by his reaction, but you elected to just send him a confused look before your attention diverted to Ross and Adam and a smile came to your face.

“Hey” Ross greets you with a smile, whilst shuffling round the table to let George and Jess in.

Adam followed his actions whilst asking, “Are you alright? Haven’t seen you in ages”

You smiled at him and sat down next to the girl Matty’s arm was around as it was the only seat available. You placed your bags on the floor and said, “Yeah I’m great thank you, are you guys okay?”

“Fantastic now I have a pint” Ross said before taking a sip.

You laughed at that and then asked Jess and George if they wanted a drink as the others seemed to have full drinks.

“Nah its fine I’ll grab them, what do you want?” George asked you, keeping himself stood up.

“It’s fine George, I don’t mind getting it. I was only joking” You tell him.

“It’s payday so shut up. What do you want?” He asked standing by the table waiting for your drink order.

“Dark Fruits please” You looked up to him graciously.

“Okay, be back in a minute” George announced before leaning down to Jess and kissing her on the cheek quickly before heading to the bar.

Your heart actually melted at the interaction and you wanted that for yourself desperately. You waited a moment as George walked away before you cooed, “That was the cutest shit I’ve ever seen”

Jess giggled at your comment and you couldn’t help but be honest and neither could the girl who was sat next to you. “You both really are the cutest” The familiar girl agreed, and you nodded along.

“Stop it” Jess blushed and both you and the girl laughed.

You turned to her and finally remembered that she was that it was Charlotte, a girl who you vaguely recognised from high school. “How are you doing Charlotte? I’ve not seen you in like four years”

She looked at you and noticed that something seemed to click in her eyes about who you were. 

“Oh my god. Y/N?” She asked and you nodded at her trying to hold back your laugh.

“I’m great thanks. You look amazing by the way!” She expressed with wide eyes.

You let out a little laugh and looked down at yourself. She was clearly talking about your weight-loss over the years because you currently looked like a tramp compared how you usually dressed.

You were wearing dark grey joggers with an oversized black t-shirt that was hanging off your shoulder letting your bra strap show through. You chuckled, “You should see me on a good day”

She chuckled at that and then thankfully George brought you drinks over. You thanked him as he placed it down in front of you and you quickly took a big gulp of it.

“So, Y/N/N, what are you up to now your free from education?” George asked, before taking a sip of his own drink.

“Nothing really. I’ve literally just been enjoying my freedom” You smile.

Ross asked, “Have you found a job or anything yet? You said you were looking around here, right?”

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Yeah, I managed to get a job at school” You told him with a smile.

“As in our high school?” Adam asked.

You nodded, “Yeah. I’m starting in September. Helping out with the councillor and the student welfare stuff”

“That’s amazing, well done” George said, and Jess also congratulated you.

“Can’t believe you’re going back to school” Adam grinned.

“I’m literally doing it for the holidays. Can’t wait to be paid for loads of holidays throughout the year” You joked and a few around the table laughed.

The conversation moved on and you were having a really nice afternoon with them. You felt like you hadn’t seen them in ages, and you weren’t surprised. You hadn’t actually seen them since they had all come to Leeds for the weekend.

You’d seen Ross the odd time he came back over to see Ava and you started questioning why you didn’t go for Ross instead of Matty. Ross was boyfriend material. Matty, however, was fuck boy material.

You’d only seen Matty once afterward they all came down for the gigs and that was a weird night. He’d randomly showed up at your flat practically banging the door down at 1am. You answered it scared shitless because you were the only one left in your flat and when you let him in, he practically dragged you to your bedroom.

You never got an explanation for it and when you woke up the next morning he was nowhere to be found. You would have thought you’d dreamt it all if it hadn’t been for the black hoodie that was left in the morning.

You decided not to make a big deal about it and didn’t even question him about it over text, you just let it be. And the fact that you didn’t hear anything when you came home you thought that he wasn’t interested anymore or that he’d found someone.

Which he clearly had, and you didn’t mind. In fact, you were happy for him. Or you were, until you found out some information.

“So how long have you guys been seeing each other then?” You turned to Charlotte and asked her.

You watched as she leant into him a bit more and you smiled at the interaction. She looked happy and Matty looking good in himself too.

“Since the middle of March, wasn’t it? So that’s like four months now” She told you and you had to force yourself to smile.

“Oh right, that’s nice” You said, but you were fucking fuming. 

You couldn’t believe that you’d done it again. You’d again been unknowingly a part of someone cheating on who they were seeing.

You looked from Charlotte around to the other boys. Matty was conveniently hiding behind Charlottes figure. Ross and Adam looked like they didn’t want to be there and when your eyes connected with George’s, his lips were pressed together, and he looked sheepish.

“You guys didn’t mention when you came to Leeds” You said in a very knowing tone but not for Charlotte to pick up on.

You watched as everyone then took an awkward sip of their drinks and nursed it for a while to avoid your question. 

“It was pretty fresh then wasn’t it? So, they probably forgot” Charlotte said trying to defend them.

“Yeah I’m sure it was a complete accident” You seethe before taking a sip of your own drink to stop yourself from getting annoyed. You didn’t want to be annoyed at the boys. You really liked them, so you tried your best to get over it.

You quickly brushed it off and after a few minutes you were carrying on like you knew nothing. You didn’t want to make it obvious for Charlotte’s sake, so you just put it past you.

And you were having a really good time. Catching up with them was always fun and so was hanging out with them.

However, you kept feeling Matty’s fingers trail up and down your arm. At first you thought that he must have been doing it by accident because his arm was over Charlottes shoulder.

But when you moved away his fingers found your arm again. You couldn’t believe it. He was literally sat with his arm around the girl he’s been seeing for 4 months apparently but was also teasing you.

You wanted to out him and tell him to stop but in front of Charlotte it would have been a bigger drama than you could handle right now. You moved away from him again and kept yourself at a distance so he couldn’t do it again.

Eventually you moved to the other side of the booth because he kept finding you some way or another. But then you moved across the table to ensure he would leave you alone.

However, the annoying twat started dragging his foot up and down your leg in an attempt to tease you. After a while you kicked him in the shin to get him to stop and you sent him a glare. He sent you a death glare back and you smiled because you knew you’d hurt him.

But whatever you did, he wouldn’t stop messing with you. You knew what he was doing. He was taunting you.

Everything he did caused you to focus on him. Each time you would glance his way and he would do something else that drew you in even more.

He kept moving his hands which was a part of him he knew you really liked. He knew from his gigs that you would focus on his hands playing the guitar and he knew you liked what he did with them when it was just the two of you alone.  

He would also bite his lip which drove you up the wall because you knew he was doing it to make you look at them. They looked so incredibly pillowy and pink you wanted nothing more than them to be on yours.

You mostly hated the way his mouth would hang open just enough for you to be able to see his tongue moving around his mouth. What was worse was the fact that he knew you were looking. Especially when he ran his tongue over his teeth.  

He caught you multiple times but that didn’t stop you from looking. If anything, you wanted him to have his arm around you again like he did back in Leeds.

You liked to be held in a secure grip and you liked that he knew how to play you. At the same time though, it really drove you up the wall. When all you really wanted was to be slammed against it. But your morals wouldn’t let you.

You were still annoyed that he’d used you back in Leeds when he had Charlotte here. Birthday or not, it shouldn’t have given him the excuse.

George dragged you outside to have a fag with him and Matty you reluctantly went out with them. You listened to them chat about a load of bullshit that wasn’t at all relevant and you didn’t need to listen to it. You just think George wanted you outside with him because he’d missed you.

George finished his fag first and headed back inside and you went to follow him. However, Matty hadn’t finished yet and caught you by your hand to keep you outside.

You took a step back to him but moved yourself out of his grip. 

“What?” You questioned him, not knowing what he wanted.

“I’m not done yet” He said blowing smoke out of his mouth and gesturing to the 1/4 of the cigarette he had left.

“And you need me why?” You bluntly asked.

“Company” Matty shrugged, as if it was obvious.

“Why didn’t you ask Charlotte?” You asked.

This seemed to humour Matty as his eyes brightened and he asked, “You jealous?”

“No, I’m not jealous. You’re with her so stop fucking touching me Matty. You can’t have it your way all the fucking time” You said in an annoyed tone.

You turned back to go inside but Matty grabbed your arm again pulling you back round to face him. You sent a glare at him when your eyes connected with his again.

“Y/N, come on” He said with a smirk, but you’d had enough.

“No,” You said firmly. “You are with her Matty and have been for four months apparently”

“It’s just sex” He said, like that made the situation any better.

“Yeah and she seems to think it’s exclusive sex but from both times you came to Leeds, it’s apparently not for you” You state, feeling like you were explaining a difficult situation to a child.

“Just stick to her Matty. I told you in Leeds I’m not fucking about anymore. So, keep your hands to yourself and leave me the fuck alone” You shake your head before storming back inside.

Thankfully you were able to take your seat in between Ross and Adam again before Matty sat back down a minute later. You both continued on like nothing had been said between you and you chatted like that for another half hour before Matty and Charlotte disappeared off somewhere.

You didn’t care though; in fact, you were quite relieved. At least you didn’t have to worry about him hitting on you when he wasn’t near you. After a conversation about nothing in particular you excused yourself and went to the bathroom.

You got yourself up and quickly went to the toilets, so you didn’t miss out on any conversation.  However, just as you were about to walk into a stall, you heard groaning from inside the one next to it. It sounded like a girl gasping for relief and your eyes widened at the realisation of what was happening.

You’d wondered why Matty and Charlotte had been gone so long. You didn’t expect her to be getting head in the bathroom.

You hastily turned around and headed back to your seat. Obviously trying not to look completely mortified.

Thankfully, no one seemed to notice, and the conversation flowed normally with the other boys. You forgot how much you’d missed them the past few months and you were so thankful that you were back, and you could see them more now.

You excused yourself to get yourself, George and Jess another drink at the bar and whilst you were there a cute guy started talking to you. He had hair like Ross’ and was really cute.

He was clean shaven though, but he had cute brown eyes. By the cute guy alone you were extremely thankful you decided to come to the pub with George.

“What’s your name by the way?” You asked him after you laughed at a joke, he just made about having to wait for drinks.

“Tom,” He smiled, asking, “And what’s your name?”

“Y/N” You introduce yourself brightly.

“Well it’s very nice to meet you Y/N. You’re so beautiful that you made me forget my pick up line” Tom flirted, and you giggled at how bad the pick up line actually was.

As your laughter continued, he asked, “I’m guessing from your reaction you’ve heard that one before?”

You giggled and nodded, “Yeahhh, but it was a good try though. I’m sure you could do better”

“Oh, a challenge. Okay then, let me think…” Tom trailed off and you grinned, waiting for him to think of a better one.

“I didn’t know angels could fly so low” He said with a cheeky smile and you chuckled shaking your head at how bad it was.

Tom’s eyes widened and he excitedly tried again, “No wait, let me start again…”

Tom cleared his throat before saying, “Hi, can I follow you home? Sorry that was a bit forward, but my Mum always told me to follow my dreams”

This one made you giggle even more, and you placed a hand on his arm. 

“Cute but not very original” You told him. 

You’d heard these lines a few times and you always laughed at how cheesy they were. It was cute that he was trying though.

“Ah well, I’ll just have to think of some more” Tom smiled, and you told him that he definitely should keep them coming.

After that though the conversation moved on slightly “You guys seem to be having a good time” Tom said with a smile nodding over to your group of friends.

You looked back over and saw your little group of friends laughing and chatting away. Matty and Charlotte still hadn’t returned yet but the rest of them seemed to be having a blast.

“Yeah I’ve just finished Uni so it’s like a mini school reunion for me” You smiled looking back over to your group of friends.

“Ah right that’s nice. What did you do your degree in?” Tom asked.

“Psychology” 

“Really? That’s cool. You must be clever then” Tom smiled, and you laughed at that.

“You’d be surprised” You chuckled.

And he carried on chatting to you about Uni for a while until you got your drinks and at that point he was flirting slightly, and you loved it. You flirted back a bit, but he was actually making you nervous. In a good way though.  

You watched as he picked up a menu and started looking through it. Tom absentmindedly asked you, whilst flicking through it, “I wonder what the tastiest thing in here is?” 

You were about to say that you’d never seen the menu before, but Tom continued on to say, “Ah I found it. It’s Me-n-U”

When the words left his mouth, you let out an amused giggle. You hadn’t expected that one, so you found it quite funny despite hearing it before.

“Wow, that was the worst one yet” You laughed, and Tom chuckled putting the menu back down.

“I can’t even think of my best one... This is an embarrassing day” Tom groaned in disappointment.

“Nah don’t be embarrassed, you’re doing well” You smiled to encourage him a little bit. 

You liked that he was funny and cute, and to be fair to him he really was doing well.

He was making you nervous in the best way possible. You just didn’t want to give too much away though.

“Well as much as I’d love to stay and chat, I will get killed if my friends don’t get their drinks” Only now realising you’d been gone a little while.

“You better go then. You’re too pretty to be getting killed” He joked, and you giggled.

“You’re cute. Let me know when you think of your best pick up line” You chuckled and said over your shoulder as you headed back to the table, “See you when I come back for another drink” 

When you sat back down, and Jess and George thanked you for the drinks. And when the couple came back over you acted like you knew nothing about what you overheard in the bathroom.

You didn’t want those noises in your mind or the thought of Matty doing that, because you knew how good he was. You didn’t need to be getting flustered talking to Adam and Ross.

After about 20 minutes of you all settling back into the conversation you looked up from the table and saw that Tom was walking towards your table, looking at you with a smile.

You immediately smiled back because he was so cute. 

“Hey, you alright?” You asked him with a pleasant smile. 

You were definitely glad you were speaking to the cutie again.

“Yeah, I’ve gotta head off but I was wondering if I could get your number?” Tom asked you with a grin.

You couldn’t help but send him a very happy grin back and you said, “Course you can”

At this point everyone on the table was deadly silent and all looking at the interaction between you and Tom. However, your eyes were fixed on him, so you didn’t even see the boys faces mask into curiosity and you didn’t see the anger that came to Matty’s face.

“We could go out for drinks or something if you want?” Tom asked confidently as you put your number in his phone and you loved it.

His confidence to come up to you in front of this group of people in particular was very attractive to you. Not many guys would ask a girl that in front of anyone, let alone a table full of her friends.

“I’d love that” You told him with a grin as you handed him his phone back, leaving the contact up.

“Awesome” He smiled brushing hands with yours as you gave it him.

“Oh, I thought of that line by the way…” Tom added, and you smiled brightly.

“Go on then” You said not being able to contain your smile. 

You definitely looked like the Cheshire cat you’d been smiling so much now.

“Okay, so I might not go down in history for being the guy with the best pick up lines, but I’ll go down on you” Tom flirts with a cheeky grin and a wink.

At that you let out a choked breath as your jaw practically dropped to the ground. You heard a gasp from the table and a few chuckles from the guys around you, but you couldn’t take your eyes off Tom.

“Holy shit, please do” You gasped before you could stop yourself. 

You felt hot and flustered and you literally wanted him to take you home there and then.

Tom let out a laugh at your reaction and chucked, “I’ll see you soon Y/N”

“I really hope so” You shouted back to him as he’d turned around to leave. 

You saw him turn back and smile at you and you couldn’t stop grinning.

You bit your lip as you watched him leave, admiring your view and you forgot where you were for a split second. You felt that your cheeks were hot, and you wanted to squeal.

You turned to look at the table and you put a hand over your mouth. You said through your fingers, “I’ve never been so turned on in my life” and the girls laughed at you when you said that.

Your jaw was still on the floor. You bit your lip to try and get a bit of self-respect back.

Jess laughed, “Go Y/N, he’s fucking fit”

“I know” You grinned at her and bit your tongue.

Ross let out a laugh and nudged you “You’ve gone all flustered”

You put your hands to your face still smiling trying to hide your embarrassment.

 “Ahh stop it” You chuckled and started fanning your face with your hands.

“He’s not that fit” Matty states and you sent him a look of disbelief. 

Tom was the best-looking guy you’d seen in Wilmslow for a long time.  

“He is” Charlotte corrects him, looking to Matty like he was stupid.

Matty shook his head. He was having none of it.

 “Nah. He looks like Ross”

“Yeah… And Ross is fucking fit” You said without a glimmer of hesitation.

Matty shook his head at you not believing you. “And when have you ever said that?” He asked pulling a face.

“Not that I’d tell you about, it but I’ve said you were all fit for years” You said shaking your head at him like he was stupid.

“But not George... George is my brother” You said before grinning at him.

Jess started giggling at that and George shook his head at you. “It’s lucky you finished that sentence, or you’d be getting a slap” He said, and you sent him a dirty look.

“You could try and slap me Hun. Ask dickhead Adam how one of my slaps feel and let me know if you want one” You said remembering Steve’s party.

After that though, you turned to Ross and saw a shocked expression, so you giggled. “Yeah. Sorry to just spring that on you” 

“It’s alright, this is just new information” Ross chuckled still looking slightly confused.

“Yeah I should have caught you before you came to Leeds and I set you up with Ava” You said with a hint of disappointment.

“Sorry Y/N/N, you should have said earlier” Ross smiled throwing an arm around you and hugging you towards him.

“If you’d said that line to me Ross, I’d have been begging at your feet” You chuckle,d not even lying.

“Well at least I know for next time” He joked, and you laughed.

“Ah it’s okay. I’ll have to just give Ross two-point O a go” You said with a grin.

After that you stayed for probably another half an hour until you had to head home. They all politely said their goodbyes and then Jess told you to let her know if the fitty (Tom) messaged you.

You started laughing about the whole situation again and joked, “I’ll let you know if he’s good in bed when I eventually get around to that”

This caused Jess and Charlotte to laugh but George choked on his drink and Ross and Adam looked mortified that you’d just said that. Matty looked moody which wasn’t really a change when the subject came to Tom.

Each time one of the girls brought him up he would try and move away from the subject or he sat there with a moody face.

“Y/N, you’re fucking disgusting” George told you after he stopped coughing.

“Awh George. You really think that girls don’t have the same disgusting chat you guys do about sex. That’s so cute” You said before ruffling his hair.

“I’ll see you guys soon” You said to the boys and then said to Jess, “And I’ll let you know all the dirty details over text because poor George obviously hasn’t had sex before and doesn’t want to hear about it”

George flipped you off as Jess started laughing saying how she couldn’t wait. You laugh and say “Cya” before leaving and heading home.

You had to go home and make sure your house was tidy because your mum had been gone for a week and was coming back later on that night. You’d got used to just tidying at your own pace back in Leeds, but your Mum didn’t go by the same standards.

She was only back to sleep tonight because in the morning she was being flown out somewhere for work, so you’d have the house to yourself again for the rest of the week. You guessed she just wanted to check in before going away again.

Once you got the house tidy, you decided that you would be spending the evening in bed. You’d not had a movie night in months and decided to treat yourself to doing nothing and just have a chilled night in.

Your mum had texted you saying that she would probably get in around 2:30am at which point you would probably have fallen asleep watching your films. She also let you know that she would be leaving around 8am and you told her honestly that you weren’t getting up to see her off.

You knew she wouldn’t mind; you were on your own most of the time now a days. It just gave you more incentive to find a relationship. Someone you could share your time with and not be alone 24/7.

The movie night started off with you watching Ferris Bueller’s Day Off as it was one of the old films that you really enjoyed watching now and again. After that you decided to put on American Pie as that was another classic film that everybody enjoyed watching.

You got about halfway through watching that when your doorbell rang. You pulled a face and paused the film. You hadn’t planned on Y/B/F, Caroline or Alisha coming around and they were the only friends you had so you were beyond confused at who was at your door.

Knowing your luck, it would probably your fucking annoying neighbours asking you to turn your TV down. However, it wasn’t them. It was someone you definitely weren’t expecting, and you were beyond confused as to why they were stood on your doorstep.

“Why are you here?” You asked sceptically when you answered the door.

Matty pushed past you into your house and turned back to you. 

“Can’t I just come and see a friend?” Matty asked with an innocent smile which you knew was fake.

“You could if I knew that’s what your intentions were, but I know you better than that... Get out” You tell him in a flat tone.

“Y/N like you said I’m seeing Charlotte, I’m just here to catch up with my friend” Matty said and you thought about it for a good second.

“Try anything and you will be thrown out” You warn closing your door and heading back upstairs to your room. “I’m watching films so do not interrupt please” 

You were halfway through the movie and you didn’t mind him joining you, as long as he wasn’t going to distract you from it. You loved American Pie and you hadn’t seen it for ages, so you actually wanted to watch it properly.

You heard him climb up the stair after you and once you’d entered your room you sat back down on your double bed. You didn’t wait for Matty to enter your room to un-pause your film you carried on as if he wasn’t there.

You saw from your peripheral vision as he closed the door behind him, and he dumped his jacket over the chair in your room. After that he sat down next to you on your bed and you continued to watch the end of the film.

You didn’t really talk to each other as the film ended. Matty didn’t need to ask what it was because he’s seen the film a thousand times. Everyone on earth had seen American Pie. It was such a good film; it was so funny.

At the sex scene part of the film you felt uncomfortable with Matty sat next to you. You really had expected him to make a move on you during that part of the film and you were pleasantly surprised when he just laughed along at the jokes.

When that one finished, you got up and looked at your shelves full of DVD’s, trying to find another good one to watch. You’d been looking for a minute when you heard Matty come up behind you and start looking too.

“Can we watch Pulp Fiction?” Matty excitedly asked, pulling the DVD from your shelf. You looked at him and smiled shaking your head.

“You interrupted my movie night, remember?” You said taking the DVD off him and putting it back in its place.

Matty sighed from behind you and pushed your shoulder before taking a seat at the end of your bed. You chuckled at his disappointment and carried on looking for another film.

“You better choose something good” Matty warns, watching you look at your shelves.

“I don’t own any bad films Matthew” You scold him.

“Well I can see The Notebook there, so you obviously do” Matty rolls his eyes and you let out an annoyed sigh.

“The Notebook is a great film, fuck off” You shake your head, still searching for a film.

Your eyes glanced across your shelves until a film that you hadn’t seen for ages stood out to you. You pulled it off the shelf and quickly headed over to the DVD player before Matty started complaining.

“What are you putting in there?” Matty asked you seriously as he watched you slot the DVD into the player.

You let out a laugh, “That’s what she said”

Your Y/E/C eyes connected to Matty’s brown ones and you could see the humour in them as he shook his head at you.

“Aren’t you meant to be twenty-two now? Very childish of you to still make those jokes” Matty tries to scorn you but the smile on his face told you that you’d actually made him laugh.

“Like you don’t make rude jokes” You chuckled, rolling your eyes at him.

“Have you seen this before?” You asked Matty curiously.

“You didn’t tell me what you put on” He said standing up to come and sit back down next to you.

“Stardust” You told him and clicked the ‘play movie’ button when the home screen came up.

You looked to Matty for an answer and he released a sigh, “Yeah it’s not too bad”

“It’s a great film” You confirmed, your eyes travelling back to the screen.

You both watched that film and chatted to each other throughout it. You found him quite fun to be around during a movie. He didn’t chat the whole way through, he just made the odd comment about a scene and you spoke about it for a minute or so before your attention returned to the film.

At one point you were both talking about how the two main characters were really attractive. You thought that Charlie Cox looked amazing in the film especially when he got the long hair and you did think that Claire Danes was really pretty, so you agreed with Matty on that one.

“Imagine being paid to kiss him. I wanna be an actress” You said just after the film finished and you were putting the DVD back in its box.

“What purely to kiss the guy?” Matty asked you with an amused grin.

“Hell yeah. I’d do it for free if I got to kiss him though” You chuckled. You actually would Charlie Cox was fit as fuck.

“Has that guy texted you yet?” Matty asked you curiously.

You smiled at that question, “Is that the only reason why you’ve come round? To check up on me?” You asked him, knowing full well that even if it was true, he would deny it.

“No” Matty bites back almost immediately.

“Just wondered” He added after a second, and he surprises you by adding, “He seemed to be very forward with you. I just wanted to make sure you were alright” 

“I can handle myself Matty. You of all people should know that” You said as you picked up the first Pirates of the Caribbean film.

“But thanks for caring” You added, not wanting to sound bitchy.

Once the DVD had started playing you sat yourself down next to Matty again saying, “To answer your question, no he hasn’t messaged yet. But I really hope he does”

“Why? He was a creep” Matty scolds.

“He wasn’t” You shook your head at him, defending Tom. You thought he was cute and funny.

“Oh yeah, the first thing he says to you is that he’d gunna go down on you and that's not the creepiest thing that's ever happened to you” Matty recited to you like you were stupid.

You shook your head looking at him. “That wasn’t the first thing he said to me. You weren’t there when I met him” You told him, and you just smiled when you saw Matty shaking his head and rolling his eyes at you.

“Whatever, you’re telling me if I came up to you back in December and said ‘I’ll go down on you’ you would have said yes? You would have slapped me harder than you slapped that dickhead” Matty said and you couldn’t help but giggle at how angry he was.

“Matty if you’d have said that line to me, I’d have let you do it in the bath in front of Y/B/F and probably in front of everyone else downstairs too” You told him honestly. 

You still couldn’t get over how hot Tom’s line was.

“You’d let me lick you out in front of all our friends? Y/N, you kinky bitch” Matty smirked, before making a V with his fingers and playfully darting his tongue out.

“Fuck off” You laughed, nudging him and trying to get the thought of him doing that to you out of your head. You’d almost forgot he’d done it to someone else previously that day.

After that, you played the film and you forgot how much you enjoyed watching Orlando Bloom and Johnny Depp in the same film. Matty seemed to be enjoying himself to and he made himself at home when he opened the sealed can of Dr Pepper that was on your bedside table.

You’d quite enjoyed your evening so far. Matty was surprisingly okay with you and you were both acting how you and your best friend did when you were bored. You had films on and chatted pure shit about random things that came to your heads during the boring bits.

You were having a really nice night in with him and he seemed to be enjoying your company too.

When you got halfway through Curse of the Black Pearl, your stomach started rumbling and you asked Matty if he wanted something to eat. He of course said yes so you said “Come on then” gesturing for him to follow you downstairs to get the food.

Matty scoffed, “I’m a guest. Shouldn’t you be getting me everything”

“Get up now or you’re getting nothing” You told him, and he got himself up with a sigh.

“You’re a real bitch, you know?” He shakes his head, following you down the stairs.

You chuckled at the comment whilst nodding your head. You really were.

As you both walked into the kitchen you heard Matty start humming the tune to the song American Pie and you smiled. You turned back to him and started singing along with him when it came to the chorus. 

“So bye bye, Miss American Pie…” You started but Matty stopped humming to it and smiled at you.

“I was hoping you’d know that song”

“Everyone knows that song” You told him, before adding, “It’s one of them songs I always want to dance to” 

You smiled at the brunette before turning towards the fridge and opening it to see if there were any treats inside.

“Come on then” You heard Matty say before he started singing the song himself. You felt his hand grasp yours and pull you too him as he sang, and he span you around.

You heard the fridge close as Matty made you dance around the kitchen with him and he made you giggle when he twirled you around again. You were both shuffling around your kitchen stupidly dancing as Matty sang you the chorus of the song.

You let out a loud laugh when he finished the chorus off and laughed into his shoulder. 

“That was funny” You murmured to him with a grin on your face. You never imagined dancing in your kitchen with anyone let alone Matty.

“Told you. Imma be a Rockstar and sing you that song on stage one day”

You rolled your eyes at that, “Don’t be silly. Your too self-absorbed to sing anyone else’s songs but your own”

Matty paused for a moment as if to give it some thought and then he nodded in agreement, “Yeah, you’re probably right”

“I know I’m right you don’t have to tell me” You chuckled.

“You are a fucking know it all, aren’t you?” Matty grinned as you put the song on your phone to listen to whilst you poured drinks for the both of you. 

You laughed nodding your head at him as you got some chocolate out of the fridge as well. You both started singing along to the song and Matty again started pulling you to him to dance. 

His hands held your and you moved together like you were 5 years old having to dance with someone you didn’t want to dance with. You did though it was quite a funny experience. He was just as bad at dancing as you.

“How are you doing that?” You asked in giggles looking down at his feet. 

He kept doing some weird moves that reminded you of Michael Jackson. Damn the boy had some moves.

“It’s dead easy” Matty chuckled repeating his movements and you just started giggling at how stupid he looked.

He made you try and do it as well, but you tripped over your own feet and out of embarrassment you hid your face in his chest. You were a giggling mess and you couldn’t stop laughing.

Matty was chuckling as well and you felt him put a hand on the back of your neck and he half hugged you with his other arm that was now around resting on your back.

When you felt him pull slightly on your hair you looked up at him still in giggles as you knew he wanted your attention. However, when you looked up at him his soft lips were on yours.

It was the most out of the blue kiss in the world. And that fact that it happened as you were overcome by laughter made your mind hazy. Like you couldn’t think for a solid minute.

You didn’t stop the kiss from happening when you really should have. It wasn’t like it had been before. It was a soft kiss that wasn’t rushed at all. You could feel the passion behind it.

It felt amazing and he almost made you forget about the events that had happened previously that day. Especially when he manoeuvred you, so you were sat on the kitchen counter with him in between your legs.

Your arms went around his neck to keep him there but as his tongue entered your mouth your sensed quickly returned back to you.

You pulled away from him and pushed him back slightly. 

“No” You shake your head.

“Yes baby” Matty softly encourages, before trying to kiss you again. 

His lips did catch yours once more and you were almost willing to break your rule. But you couldn’t.

You pushed him away again and held onto his shoulders to keep him back. You shake your head as you deny him, “No Matty” 

Matty looked at you with disappoint clear on his face as you continue, “If you think we’re doing this again, you can keep dreaming”

“I’m not being someone’s second best again” You told him, running a hand through your hair.

“What are you on about?” He asked looking at you curiously now, his hands now resting on your thighs.

“I could hear you going down on Charlotte in the bathroom like six hours ago. I’m not being the one you cheat on her with.” You told him.

“Y/N it’s not that deep. It’s only sex” Matty attempted but you shook your head.

“I don’t care. I’m not being that girl again” You told him honestly and you see something click in Matty’s head. 

You’d almost forgot that he saw you have a go at Kyle for using you to cheat on his girlfriend, but at least Matty would understand.

“Now” You started, jumping off the counter and opened the cupboard up and saw the large box of crips.

“What flavour crisps do you want?” You asked him routing to find yourself your favourite flavour.

When he didn’t reply you looked towards him and he was looking down at you with furrowed eyebrows. You sent a questioning look his way and he kept the same face.

“You’re not gunna chuck me out?” Matty asked, gesturing to the door looking confused.

“Believe it or not I was having a nice night with my friend. And I’d like to get back to the film” You smile, picking up your own crisps.

You glanced back to him and he was looking at you in disbelief. 

“What flavour do you want?” You asked again and that finally seemed to take Matty out of his trance.



“Cheese and Onion please” Matty told you and you quickly found one to throw at him.

He chuckled as he caught them, and you shut the cupboard door and headed back upstairs with your snacks in hand. After that you both ended up ordering a Dominos because you were both starving.

Once that came, you ate like pigs who hadn’t been fed for days. You put it down to the alcohol that you’d consumed earlier in the day because somehow every time you had a drink you always wanted fatty foods afterwards.

You ordered a large pizza each which you both devoured. You’d been having a really good night and whilst you were eating, you’d put on the other Pirates of the Caribbean films. Partly because they were masterpieces and funny. And partly because it was easier to stick to one franchise of films on a movie night.

By the third film it was getting late and your eyes had started to close slowly. Before you knew it, you’d fallen asleep and your head had dropped down onto Matty’s shoulder because you were sat up next to him. You didn’t do it on purpose it was just the way you’d fallen asleep.

Matty froze for a second. No one had fallen asleep on his shoulder before besides Louis when he was really young. He forgot what he was meant to do. He didn’t know whether to wake you up or just let you sleep.

After a small panic, he decided to let you sleep and tried to remain deadly still, so he didn’t wake you up. But before long Matty’s eyes started closing to and his head ended up resting against yours.

And that sleep was the most peaceful one Matty had had in a long long while.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Taglist: @the-girl-before @dot-writes @lololovestaylor @murderousginger @peachquestions @siwiecola @nostalgic1975 @fairyyyfloss @theycallmenefi @colette2194 @maroonmolly @sexycleopatra @mrsprescott @fullmoonremus @whenthe-smokeisinyoureyes

[toaliwithlove]

freshman year uni tips

grades are important, so don’t slack off. you’re not paying a fortune just to party and hang out with friends, so make sure you’re learning and keeping up with your schoolwork.

by the end of the year, you will have completely lost touch with many of your high school friends who you promised you would never stop talking to. and that’s okay. just chose wisely on who you drop.

make use of the library. it’s there for a reason. find a good study spot where no one can bother you, and whenever you get there, put your phone away and actually get shit done. leave the procrastinating for your dorm room.

no one will hold your hand in college. no one is going to tell you “take this, this, and this class” or “study one chapter a night and you’ll be good for the test.” you have to figure that shit out for yourself. in high school, you might have gotten away with studying for a test the night before, but if you do that in college, you will most likely not get the grade you were hoping for. unless you’re a genius, it’s just impossible. so make sure you start studying way before you think you need to.

if a party gets too loud and rowdy, do yourself a favour and get out of there before campus police shows up. it’s not worth the stress to have that be on your record. especially during lockdowns and restrictions.

do your laundry. take out your trash. make your room look nice. clean your bathroom. change your sheets

go to your professors’ office hours. i’ve found that most of the time, the professors are sitting in their office, just waiting for students to come see them during office hours. so if you’re struggling, go talk to them. and don’t wait around until the week before the final. the professor will be much more willing to help you out if you go see them near the beginning of the semester. never, ever, ever be ashamed to ask for help. each time i’ve asked a professor “how can i do better in your class?” they’ve been delighted to talk to me and figure out a plan to help me improve. also, you will most likely need a letter of recommendation from one of your professors at some point in your college career, and you don’t want to have to be that person sending an email to that professor you had three years ago that starts with “i’m sure you don’t remember me, but…” – how do you make a professor remember you? go to office hours!

i know you’re busy, but don’t forget to call your mom, dad, brother, sister, grandma, grandpa, best friends, – whatever. if there’s someone back home who cares about you, call them. and more often then you think you need to. don’t take them for granted. 

get involved in things. new things. 

be a nice person. hold the door open for people. smile at everyone you make eye contact with. talk to the person you sit next to in class, even if it is a 100+ person lecture. college is hard, and it can be very easy to feel lonely and lost. so just be nice to people. you never know whose day you’ll make. plus, it has its perks

[studylizziee]

Starting University

Having started uni last year, I can really relate to the anxieties/fears that people have towards the start of September. So I decided to make this post which is a compilation of tips and advice I’ve accumulated over my first year of university. I hope it’s helpful :)

What to bring

it’s a difficult thing to strike the right balance between bringing too much and too little, but my advice is to err on the side of too little, as you can always buy things you’ve missed once you arrive (the only exception imo being decorations for your room from home)

a doorstop is a must! when you’re moving in my literal number 1 tip is to have your door propped open virtually at all times - it makes such a difference because then people will just stop to have a chat, or wave and say hi as they go past, and it just sends a friendly vibe

things that will personalise your room and make it feel like your space. This was one of the biggest things that combated my homesickness, because I created a sort of safe space for myself. So for me this was cosy lighting with lots of lamps (I brought 2 in addition to the one my uni provided) and fairy lights, posters on the walls, books on the shelf, pictures of my friends, cushions and blankets, and lots of cute mugs 

in that vein, get some command strip hooks that you can stick onto the wall - I used small ones to put my fairy lights up and larger ones to hang my jackets on 

for posters and pictures for the wall, I used blu tack

keep the storage boxes that you use to move all your stuff in with (I put shoes in one, misc stuff in another), and drawer dividers are a really handy buy too (I used them to separate my underwear)

don’t forget important documents/ID like your passport and driving license. There’s usually quite a lot of admin when you first arrive so it’s important to have these kept safely with you

if you drink, bring some alcohol and a mixer you like for pres

a bumbag for nights out is pretty essential - it’ll keep your phone, ID, keys and money safe, as they’re difficult to steal from and far more secure than your pockets!

make sure you have a medicines bag stocked with paracetamol, plasters, antiseptic cream etc, because the last thing you want when you feel sick for the first time at uni is to have to go out and buy medicines

I brought earplugs because I like quiet when I’m trying to fall asleep, and halls of residence are not exactly known for that.. also, walls are thin

there are nowhere near enough coat hangers provided, so bring some from home

I also 100% recommend taking a bike to uni! I cycle everywhere around campus because it’s faster and good exercise, and I also sometimes cycle into town rather than getting the bus (& if you bring a bike, bring a helmet, front and back bike lights, and a D-lock! They’re worth investing in I promise)

lastly, I recommend that the first thing you do when moving in is to do a big food shop! I arrived on a Friday night and planned for my parents to take me food shopping on the Saturday, but I forgot I needed something to eat for dinner on Friday and ended up having a freebie pot noodle that was in my room...

What not to bring

shared items like a kettle, toaster, toastie maker, blender etc (until you’ve communicated with your flatmates)

before I came to uni, in august I think, a few of my flatmates and I made a group chat on facebook (unis normally make a fb page with your halls of residence and you can find your flatmates from there), and sorted out who’d bring shared items. It was really helpful because the last thing you want is 5 kettles taking up loads of space in the kitchen! 

if you’re not able to/don’t want to message your flatmates before arriving at uni, I still wouldn’t bring these items as you can buy them once you’re there if no one else has them (which is pretty unlikely)

a bin and desk chair - they’re provided

too many clothes/shoes: I know it feels like you’re going away for a really long time but try to think realistically about how many things you’ll actually wear. Instead focus on making sure you have lots of layers, and clothes for all weather possibilities

an iron - I literally never ironed once while at uni - and yes, that’s as a person whose course requires me to go on placements and look formal fairly regularly 

unless you’re an avid baker I wouldn’t bring baking equipment like scales/mixing bowl etc. I only had a measuring jug and a roasting tin, which was enough to make cookies ;)

Freshers

Ah, freshers. The most over-hyped week(s) in existence. As an introvert, it was an exhausting period of time for me. Although I had fun meeting people and at the events I went to, it left me drained, and I also felt pretty anxious a lot of the time, especially during the first week. To be honest, I didn’t enjoy the whole freshers experience because it was, frankly, pretty overwhelming. Just remember that freshers is not at all representative of the rest of your uni experience, and it’s okay if you don’t love it.

Meeting people/making friends

I was equally excited and nervous when I moved in, and I was particularly worried, as most people are, about making friends. The first thing to say is that everyone’s in the same boat. Everyone is anxious to be sociable and make friends, especially during freshers, so make the most of this time to start conversations and get chatting with people. Although don’t feel you need to make long-lasting friendships during freshers - often people find that their uni friends aren’t the people that they hung out with in freshers.

Don’t feel pressured to go to loads of parties/nights out if it’s not your scene; there are other ways of meeting people, the biggest one being societies. My biggest regret from first year is that I didn’t try enough societies - I did choir and went to one netball training session (rip) because I thought I didn’t have time for anything else. I wish I’d taken up more opportunities and tried more things, because it’s such a great way of meeting like-minded people (and people from other courses)! 

When to leave your parents

This is a difficult one, and I know this was one of the things causing me the most anxiety. I’d read somewhere that you should just say bye to your parents when they drop you off and get on with it, because you have to grow up now. The truth is, everyone is different and needs a different amount of time in order to say goodbye. For me, my parents helped me move in on the Friday, and stayed the night at a hotel while I went on my first night of freshers, a pub crawl. The next day they helped me with my food shop/buying other things I needed before they left in the afternoon. I know both people who spent the whole first weekend with their parents, not coming to any freshers events, and people who said goodbye the minute they walked into their flat. Neither choice is right or wrong - just think about what’s best for you. I knew I needed a bit more time but simultaneously wanted to be part of the big first night, and I found a happy compromise for me.

Dealing with homesickness

I was really homesick for, I’d say, the first 2 weeks. One of my big mistakes was that my dad came up a week after I’d moved in to bring my bike (don’t regret that bit, my bike is great), and it was actually more difficult saying bye that time around. It was wayy too soon. My advice is:

give it a bit of time before you see your family

facetime/call home regularly to start off with, and over time it will naturally become less often. For the first week, I facetimed my parents every night, and after that it was every 2-3 days, and by the end it was every one or two weeks

get busy! the absolute worst thing you can do is isolate yourself in your room doing nothing, because it gives you too much time to overthink. Especially for the first few weeks, keep yourself busy and take advantage of all the events on offer

Things to make sure you do during the first week or so:

Even though freshers is super busy, it’s important to make time to do some bits of admin

Register at your university’s GP/health centre

Find out where the student support service is/the telephone number you can reach them on

Get a phone number for maintenance of halls because you never know when something might go wrong (on literally my first night the shower didn’t work)

Find the library, cheapest food shop, launderette, and explore campus

The academic jump

The jump from school to university can be quite a considerable one. It’s not only harder content, but also a different way of learning from what you’re used to in school, with much more reliance on independent study. Don’t worry too much about the first term, because that tends to be a sort of re-cap where they bring everyone onto the same page. Use that time when the content is not as difficult to 1) have fun and do lots of non-academic things, and 2) attempt to develop your style of learning. People underestimate sometimes the fact that you have to learn how to learn. So try different things and see what works for you, so that by the time you start the ‘real work’ you’ll be a bit more prepared. Tips:

have a system - by second term I decided that my system was to make a summary, somewhat condensed document of notes for each week, which I filed in folders for each module. This works for my course, but what the system is doesn’t matter - the most important thing is to have a tangible goal of independent work (usually notes) that you want to achieve 

keep on top of things - I was sooo bad at this in first year, and have resolved to change things next year... I would do my set work for the week, but I didn’t do my weekly summary notes until the end of term and it was a mad rush. It would have saved me so much pain to do it as I went along

pay attention to feedback and learn from your mistakes

lecturers are an amazing resource and they love their subject, so if you have a question ask them! (either in person after a lecture/seminar or if that’s too much send an email)

make friends with your coursemates - you’re all in it together and it’s amazing how much you can learn from each other

BACK YOUR WORK UP! it doesn’t matter if it’s an external hard drive, dropbox or google drive as long as it’s somewhere! 

Cooking/Food

bring recipes or a cookbook - these are pretty essential for when you’ve run out of ideas (or if you haven’t done much cooking before!). My friend got me ‘The Hungry Student Vegetarian Cookbook’ which was great, as is ‘The Green Roasting Tin’. I especially loved the concept of the latter because it’s so simple - put everything in a roasting tin and bang it in the oven

cook in bulk! this is my number 1 tip. Put whatever you don’t eat in tupperware containers and freeze it - then, as my flatmate said, you have prepared your very own ready meals

most people have heard of the ‘fresher five’ (5kg put on in first year), but this can so be avoided by making sure you have your 5 a day, not having takeaways too often, and not overdoing it with alcohol

as I said, don’t get takeaways too often - it’s tempting, I know, but they’re mega expensive so you’re better off saving it either for when they’ve got a really good deal on, or as a special treat

consider eating less meat - any meat of a good quality is far more expensive than vegetables are! I’m vegetarian and slowly becoming more plant-based as I cut out dairy, and among its other benefits it’s so much cheaper

making meal plans can be really useful - you don’t have to have an elaborate chart, but when you do your weekly food shop, plan what you’re going to eat during the week. This also helps reduce your food waste

freeze your bread! I got this tip from @muststudy, who has a great post on cooking tips linked below, but this is such a good idea to stop your loaf going mouldy before you can eat it

cook with your flatmates/friends - around dinnertime was by far the most social time in my flat, as we all congregated in the kitchen to cook and have a chat. If you have similar tastes to a flatmate, consider shared cooking! My friend and I virtually took it in turns to cook for each other, or we’d cook a shared meal together, and it made what can become a chore a fun thing to do

General

There can be a pressure for uni to be ‘the best years of your life’, and to be having a great time 24/7. It might be like that for you, but don’t worry if it’s not - it’s perfectly normal to feel sad or lonely at times. I definitely did. If you feel that way, reach out to people and don’t keep things bottled up. Try to make the most of opportunities, and enjoy this exciting and novel period of time in your life :)

Useful posts / websites:

Budgeting: how to manage your money at university by The Complete University Guide

Cooking: essential cooking tips for uni students by @muststudy 

tips for starting university by @quilavastudy 

tips for freshers week by @dxmedstudent 

What to bring to university checklists: one, two, three