#all of my classes decided to make something due mon/tues/weds after the break

[upsidedownknight]

i need a fucking break

[andromedahawking]

OC Bullshit AKA: Group Project Part 1

Maria hated group projects. With a passion. Every time, she ended up pulling all the weight while everyone else skived off.

This time, though, she seemed to have joined a group that shared her pain.

The project was daunting: a full rundown of the 2056 election, primaries and general, due in one month. Five people in the group: Adrien Cranston, Hannah Chase, herself, Tatjana Mekall, and Xander York. By her logic, that was one person for each primary and one for the general, if they wanted to divvy it up that way. Although, none of them were exactly equally weighted—she knew for a fact that the Progressive primary had been a beast that election.

She had been the one to set up the group chat after class that day, already gearing up for another hellish month of dealing with four useless partners and doing the heavy lifting all the way—but this time was different.

Tuesday 2 October 2084, 17:47

MT Hey guys, Maria here. This’ll be a big project, we should schedule time to get together soon to work on it.

XY Hey! Agreed, we should meet ASAP.

If we can get this done early that would be ideal, I have big stuff in English Week 4.

AC I’m free every Monday, Wednesday and Friday after 16. Free all weekends, but Tues/Thurs are no-gos.

TM I’m in Xander’s English too, Week 4 is a major due date so finishing this quick is a really big priority.

MT I’m free past 16:30 on weekdays. Not free until 16 on weekends.

XY I’m free every day after 17.

HC I’m busy Mon Tues and Weds, free after 17 otherwise.

TM I’m free until 20 on weekends, free after 16 on weekdays.

MT So Friday and weekends after 17 work best for everyone?

AC Yeah that works

XY Can do.

TM Yup.

HC That’ll work.

MT Okay. Let’s meet up Friday at 17:30.

AC Meeting point?

HC Does everyone know Lac de la Lune?

XY Yeah I’ve heard of it.

AC Are you kidding I love that place Let’s do it

TM That’s in Walnut Creek, right?

That works for me.

MT Yeah, it’s in Walnut Creek near the Millenial Cinema on Locust.

So, Lac de la Lune at 17:30?

AC Let’s do it

HC That’s good

XY Yes

TM Yeah

MT Alright. It’s set.

See you guys there.

Bonus points to Hannah for suggesting Lac de la Lune. They served the best drinks there. Maria had arrived at 17, not wanting to be late, and got a booth for them. She’d brought her laptop and her textbook with her, and promptly supplemented that with a White Russian. Alcohol made History go down more smoothly.

17:10 gave her the first pleasant surprise of the day: Adrien arrived with all his materials.

“Afternoon,” he said with a wave, sitting down opposite her. “I’m glad you got a booth, I always liked them better.”

“History requires a cushy seat and strong drinks,” she said, smiling crookedly.

“God, relatable…” he groaned. “I look at the project outline and I feel my soul die in my chest.”

“Have you seen the Wikipedia article on the 2056 election?” she asked. “It makes me wanna die. It’s a nightmare.”

“I have,” he said. “I also wanted to die when I saw it. It’s so long.”

“And that’s just the Wikipedia article,” she said. “There’s so much stuff about this whole thing, you could write an entire textbook about it.”

“Someone probably has.” Adrien picked up a menu. “I don’t know what I want to eat…”

“Pick a drink first, that’s my advice.”

“I already know what I want to drink, that’s easy. Food is a lock I can never pick.”

“Burger. You can’t go wrong with a burger.”

“True, but…” He bit his lip. “Burgers weigh me down. I need something lighter.”

“Pizza? You can get it thin-crust and plain.”

“Ooooo. Oo, yeah, that sounds good. I’ll do that.”

The others trickled in early as well. It was 17:20 by the time Xander came in and completed the group. Everybody was actually prepared. It was amazing to see: all five of them, laptops and books at the ready, eager to get this damn thing done swiftly and painlessly.

“Okay, so, first of all,” Hannah began, “we need to figure out how to break this up. It goes from about June 2055 to January 2057. There’s the four primaries, then the general and everything between that and the inauguration.”

“We shouldn’t do one primary or the general apiece,” Xander said. “The Pros and Dems' primaries are a huge mess compared to the Reps and Cons.”

“Yeah, Mazer and Birch were locked in way before Hanover or Scott,” Maria nodded. “We’d be better off going by subjects or something.”

“We also have to remember the 29th Amendment,” Tatjana said.

“Oh, fuck, you’re right,” Maria groaned. “The proportional voting totally changed the dynamic.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Adrien agreed. “And there’s also the VAP Automatic Registration Act.”

“Okay,” Hannah said. “So we can break it up into five groups of subjects, like, um, election changes and things like that… uh, debates, other things.”

“Yeah, that oughta work better,” Xander said.

“Cool,” Maria said. “Let’s do it.”

-

They made some decent headway before their meals came, but it was to be expected that once it was time to eat, work ground to a halt.

“My favourite part of the whole thing is how she was president for two terms, and now she’s a Senator,” Xander laughed. “Like, there’s nothing in the Constitution that says you can’t be a Senator after you’re President! We have two former Presidents as Senators right now!”

“It’s so fucking weird, man,” Maria sighed. “The government is a shitshow.”

“I mean, to be fair, Mazer is a pretty darn good Senator,” Adrien said. “Even if she is a Republican.”

“Don’t you know?” Tatjana said with fake disgust. “Labels are fake. Politics are a lie.”

“Yeah, haven’t you heard of RINOs before?” Hannah giggled. “She used to be a Progressive.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, I know,” Adrien said, taking a big bite of pizza. “But still, she’s the only Republican I ever voted for.”

“Oh, so you’re one of those people?” Hannah asked. “You vote along party lines?”

“Not always! I cross the aisle sometimes.”

“Fuckin’ weirdo,” Maria said. “Be a good little Democrat and stay in line.”

“I’m a Progressive, thank you very much.”

“Same here,” Tatjana said. “I don’t matter, though, since I’m first-gen.”

“What, your parents are immigrants?” Xander asked.

“Mm-hm. They immigrated from Germany back in the 40s.”

“Oh yeah, so you’re locked in, basically,” Adrien said.

“Pretty much,” Tatjana said, grinning widely. “I’m a good girl. I vote Progressive.”

“I’m not that far gone,” Maria said. “I stick with the Democrats.”

“Establishment hack!” Hannah gasped dramatically.

“California corrupted you, didn’t it?!” Xander said. “The conservatives got to you!”

“Oh my god, is being a Democrat really being a conservative?” Maria laughed. “I thought there were two other parties that had that base covered!”

“All Democrats are conservatives in disguise,” Adrien deadpanned with a thick Southern drawl. “Don’t y’all get that? If you ain’t Progressive you ain’t American.”

“Oh good, can we get rid of Washington and Oregon, then?”

“Only if we toss in Wisconsin.”

“I can live with that.”

“What? You can’t do that!” Xander said. “That messes up the borders!”

“Look at this noob,” Tatjana said. “He thinks borders are something to be honoured!”

“Toss Wisconsin to the dogs, borders be damned!” Hannah said. “And I’m speaking as a Minnesotan, we’d be better off!”

“Well, of course you want them gone, then!” Maria said. “You have state rivalry in play!”

“Duh!” Hannah took a big sip of her drink. “It’s in my blood!”

“Okay, we obviously need to pro-con getting rid of Wisconsin,” Adrien said. “On one hand, it makes Minnestoa happy; on the other, it fucks up the borders, as Xander pointed out.”

“Wisconsin is good for industry,” Maria said. “I say that cancels out the wingnuts.”

“Well, by that logic, Montana should be counted as an asset too,” Hannah said.

“I mean, they have Teller City!” Maria said. “Teller City does some amazing stuff for robotics.”

“Okay, but that’s only industry,” Adrien said. “What about other things? What does Wisconsin add or subtract from the nation?”

“They have the cheeseheads,” Hannah said.

“We can enjoy cheese memes just as fine without Wisconsin,” Tatjana said. “They can leave and still make dumb memes.”

“You’re right. Memes are a constant,” Adrien said.

“I think we should get rid of Wisconsin,” Maria said. “50 states is a nicer number.”

“Yeah, but 51 divides into 17, and 17 is cool,” Xander said.

“I think we should nix Wisconsin on the grounds that they beat the 49ers last season,” Tatjana said.

“An excellent position,” Adrien said. “You know what? It’s decided. Wisconsin is expelled from the Union. Fifty states again.”

“I’ll drink to that!” Maria said.

“And good riddance!” Hannah cheered.