#but YEAH i met with hs students to discuss what they wanted to see as part of this project and they wanted a dragon + desert stuff like

[keymintt]

some public art illustrations for a change! these were printed on vinyl for the sides and top of a traffic cabinet !!

[captainjimothycarter]

Drabble idea: Steve and Peggy meet each other when they get assigned as lab partners in college.

So I uh never did something in college or HS that needed lab partners sooo this might be lacking. This might not be what you expected.

--

“You like him,” Angie giggled behind her blueberry muffin. Her eyes were bright with the glee of a new topic to gossip on for that hour.

Peggy, for her sake, rolled her eyes as she stabbed at a piece of chicken with her fork and waved it threateningly in front of her roommate’s face. “We are lab partners. That’s it. Mr. Gregg, just thought it was a good idea to pair us together to be lab partners for this upcoming project. That’s it.” 

“Aw, c’mon, Pegs. You don’t see what I do. You go googley-eyes on him!”

“I do not.” 

“You talk about him all the time.”

“Because he’s in four of my six classes so I see him ninety percent of the week. It doesn’t mean I have some school-girl crush on him.”

“And,” Angie continued, promptly ignoring Peggy’s rebuttal. “You sit next to each other in class, even French. Face it, Pegs, you have a grade-A crush and it’s nothing to be ashamed about. It’s adorable.”

Peggy had no response as she bitterly shoved the chicken into her mouth for one reason - Angie was right and she hated how right she was.

--

“Whose the girl?” Sam asked Steve on his second day of classes after he’d waited for the blonde outside the room.

Steve peered up from the last-minute notes he was reviewing, watching Peggy walk by him after meeting her roommate. “Oh, uh, Peggy.”

“Peggy, huh? You sure spending lots of time lookin’ at her.” Sam was teasing, he could hear it dripping in his voice and Steve hated it. This would of course find its way back to Bucky to tease him about during his weekly phone call while out of state in the military.

“Sam, stop it. We’re just friends, ain’t nothing to it.”

“Sure, buddy, whatever you say but sooner or later it’s turnin’ into something else. I can see it happening. Just make sure I’m the best man at your wedding.”

“Please, you know that spots reserved for Bucky when I wound up marrying my easel.”

Because who’s gonna want to marry a 5’4, asthmatic, 92-pound guy that can’t even see straight without glasses? Not that Steve minded, he was happy alone and with friendships, but sometimes that loneliness did catch up to you.

And damn Sam to hell and back for being right.

A month and a half later, as Peggy walked away after promising to email him the extra credit assignment for Art History, Steve was fully aware that he had a crush on her.

And it was pathetic.

--

“So,” Bucky sighed over the phone three months later. “Sam says you got a date with your lil’ crush tonight.”

He was going to kill Sam. “No, I have a lab assignment with Peggy tonight. It’s not a date. And she’s not a crush.”

“Even over a thousand miles away, Rogers, I can tell you’re lying. Sam, are his ears turning pink?”

Goddamnit, Steve regrets putting Bucky on speaker. Or even introducing Sam and Bucky. 

“Yeah, man. Bright shades of pink, oh his cheeks too. And his neck - hey you’re a full-body blusher. Pegs is gonna love that!”

As the boys laughed, Steve drew the hood of his jacket over his head and grumbled, shoving his books into his bag. “You two are idiots. I’m going to Peggy’s, don’t wait up.”

Before Bucky could respond, he hung up on him and then three minutes later sent him a text about how he missed him and how Sam really seems into him.

That’ll shut him up.

--

Eight o’clock on the dot. Don’t you dare be late.

That’s what Peggy had told the asthmatic blonde when they met up after Astrology 101 to discuss the lab. Steve would be coming over to her place, they would go over their notes, the assignment, and then head down to the lab at their scheduled time.

It was not a date, no matter what she told Angie. This was not a date. This was just two friends, no two co-students, acquaintances getting together to complete an assignment. 

So who cared if she couldn’t stop thinking about him? Or if she wondered at times if his lips looked as soft as they felt. Or worried about him when he wasn’t in class or late and looked so flushed and yet relieved when he saw her there. Or the time she skipped class because her period cramps were too much and Steve looked so relieved to see her the next day. 

She thought about that look in his eyes often and hated how it gave her goosebumps, she hated how it made her stomach clench and butterflies to form. She tried to talk to Michael about it, but the man was just as hard to get ahold of and when he wasn’t, he teased her as all big brothers did.

Then proclaimed if she fell for a Yank, he was gonna revoke her English rights.

The prat.

8 o’clock and no Steve.

Peggy thought about calling him, a little worried because he wasn’t the type to be late. She decided to wait until half an hour. Half an hour and if Steve wasn’t’ here, she’d call him. Luckily, she didn’t have to because at 8:18 Steve showed up, face flushed, wheezing, and his hair sticking up in all directions.

“Oh you poor thing,” was the first thing out of her mouth, the worry and anxiety melting off of her. She should be mad that he was late or mad that she thought he stood her up, but she was just relieved. “Are you okay? What happened?” 

Taking him by the arm, she leads him inside and straight on her couch, bustling off to the kitchen to get him a glass of water and a snack cake. The guy looked peckish.

“Oh, I…” He shouldn’t like the fact she was doting over him, in fact, he should hate it, but by her doting, over him, it meant she was touching him and he liked that. “I had an asthma attack.”

It sounded like it took everything in him just to admit that and Peggy tried to ignore how that kicked-puppy look tugged on her heart. Steve hated pity and she wasn’t pitying him, she was worried. There was a difference.

“I’m okay now,” he continued, sipping on the water. “I guess I just got worked up and kinda lost and…” His thin shoulders shrugged as if to brush the fact he has a medical emergency off. “I’m sorry I’m late.”

“You’re sorry?” The words came from her before she could help it. He was sorry for what? Having a medical emergency? 

It didn’t do any good when Steve flinched at her accusing tone.

“Steven, by no means should you be sorry. Yes, I was worried but you’re here now and you’re okay. It’s behind us. Do you still want to go to the lab? I could just reschedule us.”

“If we reschedule now it might take us two weeks to get a spot and we’ll be crunched for time.” He looked genuinely worried, eyes wide. “I’ll be fine. We can head over now.”

There was little argument from Peggy on that end. Steve was right, if they rescheduled then it could take them a while but that’s not what sold the deal. The fact she got more time with him as of right now was better than waiting.

--

“How’d you get lost?” Peggy asked, driving a stoic Steve from his thoughts as they braved the cold air after spending three and a half hours in the lab. It was now officially Saturday, meaning they could sleep in. Angie wasn’t home and wouldn’t be home until noon tomorrow, so she was looking forward to peace and quiet. 

Steve drew his scarf tighter around his face, looking up at her with cocked eyebrows. It was going to snow, he could feel it in his aching bones. “Oh. Uh, when I get an asthma attack I get...disorientated. Everything looked the same, I didn’t wanna call for help cause I was fine.”

Peggy couldn’t help herself in rolling her eyes. “I think we both have a different definitions of fine, Mr. Rogers. You are certainly not fine. I can still hear you wheezing and you had a hard time concentrating on the measurements tonight.”

She frowned as she watched him pat his pockets, obviously searching for something. “You okay, Steve?”

“My inhaler! I thought I had it on me, but I think I left it in your dorm. I-I’ll be fine without it, I can get it in the morning.”

“Steven Grant Rogers, you are not waiting until morning to get a life-saving device because of...what? You don’t want to be seen in my dorm? It’s co-ed, I can assure you that it’s fine!”

“I just don’t...want...people to assume or-or get you in trouble. Or...or…” His cheeks were heating up bright pink, Peggy found she adored the color on his cheeks.

“Or…” She clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth, her hand snatching out to grab at a lamp post to keep from falling on a section of ice. It was already starting to snow around them, the ground cold enough to make it stick.

Steve cursed as he wrapped his arms around her chest, preventing her from falling. Both of their faces flushed, Steve’s more than Peggy’s at this point. The second they both were stable, he let go and took an unnecessary step away from her.

“Thank you,” she breathed, clearing her throat. “I think that decides that Steve, you’re staying with me tonight. Don’t worry, Angie is out tonight with her gal. I’m not risking you out in this storm.”

There was no point in arguing with Peggy, Steve knew this by now. He’s seen her debate lesser and greater minds than his in class and absolutely destroy them. Besides, part of him liked this idea, staying with her for the night. Maybe if he got enough courage he could ask her out, tell her how he felt or something. 

If he was anything like Bucky, he knew what he’d do. He’d whoo her and kiss her. But he wasn’t Bucky or Sam. He had no social skills with girls but he liked Peggy. 

“Home sweet home,” Peggy sighed when they were finally inside, their wet clothed stripped off and drying on the heater now. She sat Steve on the couch and bundled him in a bunch of blankets, coming back from the kitchen with two steaming cups of hot chocolate.

Sitting on the couch, she wiggled under the pile of blankets, not to much of Steve’s protest. Her thigh was touching his at this point. “Oh, you’re warm,” she breathed, sounding surprised. 

“Amazingly,” Steve laughed, rolling his eyes. “I think it’s the third cup of hot chocolate you’re forcing in me.”

He yawned as he said this, his face was suddenly drawn in a show of how exhausted he was. He looked so adorable when he yawned, his nose wrinkled up. He still had a smudge of ink on his forehead from when he was rubbing his brow in frustration.

“I’ve always said hot chocolate is good for the soul. Much better than any tea you have here.” Tapping on her laptop screen, she was happy to get Netflix up and hit the next episode on Chopped. 

Steve didn’t even make it to the second round of the episode, unsure of who was sent home for an overcooked risotto or missed basket ingredient. He was asleep, slumping into Peggy.

He was quite warm, Peggy noted, easing Steve down to her lap. He was warm and looked so adorable when asleep. That walk and asthma attack must’ve taken a lot of out of him, regardless of what he told her. At least he was resting now in her arms.

This isn’t where Peggy thought she’d end up tonight, but it’s a place she’d glad to be.

[catwlw-archive]

I was tagged by the wonderful @chapstick-in-my-pocket

Rules: answer 80ish questions and tag 20 people (lol we’ll see)

Last:

Drink: diet coke

Phone Call: um. the last phone call i’ve had? personally? according to my phone it was with my aunt on the eighth

Text Message: to my friend, we’re discussing a url and I just sent “That’s very true” and “It’s really cute” in separate messages but whatever

Time You Cried: really, really cried last night, watching the season finale of a show and watching certain characters face near death experiences and then being cliff-hangered until this fall :’) but i teared up earlier watching a youtube video

Kissed Someone and Regretted It: i don’t really regret kissing anyone. i mean. i only have one ex at the moment, and. if you asked me a few months ago, i would’ve been hellbent on how much i regretted that entire relationship, but i’m at some sort of peace with it now.

Been Cheated On: nah.

Lost Someone Special: um, i guess i’ve lost friends in the last few years? my ex broke up with me almost a year ago? my great-aunt passed away a year and some ago.

Been Depressed: a few years ago.

Gotten Drunk and Thrown Up: never, i’m underage and ain’t about that life tbh

Favourite Colours:

1. green

2. grey

3. black

In the Last Year Have You…:

Made New Friends: yes

Fallen Out of Love: yes

Laughed Until You Cried: of course

Found Out Someone Was Talking Behind Your Back: no? i don’t think so.

Met Someone Who Changed Your life: yeah

Found Out Who Your True Friends Are: yep

General Things and Stuff:

How Many Facebook Friends Do You Have: n/a, i don’t have a fb

Pets: 2

Ever Wanted to Change Your Name: nah, it’s pretty

What Did You Do For Your Last Birthday: um. nothing fancy. went to school as normal. got a few gifts and some money. had cake. that was it, really.

Time You Woke Up Today: 7AM

What Were You Doing at Midnight Last Night: sleeping for once

What You Can’t Wait For: next week so i can finish exams and be done with high school (and then i can’t wait for the beginning of june to get everything officially completed in my college prep, and then july for orientation and my student starter kit, and then august first for my start date!!)

What Are You Listening to: currently the typing of my keys, whirring of my laptop, and ticking of three clocks in the room i’m in. music wise, i’m about to be playing my music on shuffle.

Ever Talked to a Person Named Tom: yeah

Something That Gets on Your Nerves: people watching you/knowing you’re about to do something and “”””joking”””” that you should be doing it

Most Visited Site: i’m not counting tumblr/gmail/youtube because i usually rely on the apps, but website wise would be my hs login page/my courses

Hair Colour: dirty/dishwater blonde that’s gotten darker (but isn’t quite light brown)

Long or Short Hair: it’s short right now

Crush: yes, i think. i’ve mentioned her a few times

What Do You Like About Yourself: my sincerity

Any Piercings: single piercings in my ears

Blood Type: tbh, no clue

Nicknames: i mean sadie’s technically a nickname but i claimed it myself and literally no one calls me it

Relationship Status: single

Sign: virgo (i’m on the borderline of virgo and libra)

Pronouns: she/her

Favourite Show on the Telly: i’ve suddenly realized this is british. uhhh, i really, really enjoy this is us

Tattoos: no. i was promised when i was like six or seven that my sixteenth birthday gift would be one, but we got poor lol. haven’t gotten it yet bc we’re still poor.

Left or Right Handed: right

Have You Ever Had Surgery: if you count removing tonsils, then yes

Do You Want Piercings: mm a second set of holes in my ears would be nice, or up on the cartilage edge (idk the names of piercings sorry)

Sports: lol no

Favourite Holiday: umm, don’t really have one. christmas and thanksgiving are nice because of the food, though,,

Trainers: british speak for trainers is like sneakers/tennis shoes, so uh?? yes i love sneakers and i wear regular tennis shoes sometimes??

Favourtie Dish: one of my favorite meals is pasta chicken salad so that

Favourite Drink: besides water (bc gotta stay hydrated even tho i suck at it), diet coke

About to Watch: a youtube video

What I’m Waiting For: a reply to an email i sent to a teacher

What I Want: besides sleep, to be happy and content

Do You Want to Get Married: possibly, idk

Career: i’m going to be going to school to be a teacher so!!

Which is Better:

Hugs or Kisses: hmm, i think i was asked this a lil while ago and i think i answered with both

Lips or Eyes: eyes

Shorter or Taller: personally taller but i wouldn’t mind shorter idk

Older or Younger: um i think older bc i’ve always been the younger but i wouldn’t mind either way as long as it’s not a big gap?

Arms or Stomach: arms

Troublemaker or Hesitant: i guess troublemaker because i’m generally hesitant and gotta have some variation yknow?

Have You Ever: no jk

Kissed a Stranger: nah

Drank Hard Liquor: nope

Turned Someone Down: yes?

Sex on a First Date: no

Broken Someone’s Heart: yeah

Had Your Heart Broken: yep

Experienced Love at First Sight: ehh, attraction, not love

Believed in Santa Clause: yes

Believe in Angels: yes

Miscellaneous:

Eye Colour: blue

Best Friend’s Name: gabby

Favourite Movie: the first movie that came to my mind was tangled because i remembered reblogging a post and tagging it with something like “if i ever don’t call tangled one of my favorite if not my favorite disney movie then something is wrong”

Favourite Actor/Actress: i don’t? really have one? i don’t think?

Favourite Cartoon: the last time i watched a cartoon was years ago and it was multiple and it was basically cartoon network every so often playing the amazing world of gumball, regular show, we bare bears and adventure time and i enjoyed all of them?? but i don’t think anything can really beat the classics tom and jerry and looney toons

Favourite Teacher’s Name: in the last four years (my hs), i’ve had really three favorite teachers - a spieker, vermaire, and a grondin. they have all been and will continue to be lovely teachers - and i also had a college instructor for a class earlier this year, and her name is elyse, and she was the absolute best. i miss her.

also tagging anyone who wants to do this lol!!

[realtalk-princeton]

@maybach I would also love to hear your thoughts on Brown vs. Princeton, whenever you have time! Brown was one of my top choices (I was waitlisted), so it would be interesting for me to hear why you chose Princeton :)

Through the years of college, for sure, I’ve had moments where I was like “man, this is so damn hard! Wouldn’t it be great if I just went to Brown.” I’d be blazing like there’s no tomorrow, talking about memes in class instead of this difficult literature, and man everybody’s just shooting the breeze and going with the flow. I remember specifically actually about a year ago, I was so exhausted and because of our old break system, I still had finals after a break. I had no personal time, I was struggling in class, and then it just all was hitting me while I was taking a super late train out of Grand Central. I mean, it’s hard not to sometimes daydream of it. “If I was at Brown, I’m pretty confident I’d have a 4.0 with less effort. Pretty certain I would have had increased physical intimacy and perhaps maintained some relationships better.” This is all assuming I didn’t get addicted to certain drugs though, which IS a real possibility lol. And let me say that I’m really not trying to sound arrogant and promote a bad culture of comparison. I don’t think I’m the smartest person on this campus or people at Brown are dumb, it’s just not a comparable system. I also have to talk candidly about myself to answer these questions.

 But you know, after all, I just said, I still don’t regret Princeton and if I went back, I’d do it again 100 times out of 100. It’s so easy to dislike where you are and see the outside as amazing. Also about a year ago, I hung out at Brown for a while and started to get to know some people pretty good. Like I said before, my family and family friends are all this group of super educated freaks at times. My cousin goes to Wharton, another cousin graduated from Columbia, another got into Yale, another goes to Williams and her bf that I’ve known since I was seven goes to Harvard. So as you can imagine, we all meet up during certain times and also have periods where everyone visits one person and we take turns. One of my cousin’s really close friends and his gf are at Brown, so I went one year. Totally opened my mind and made me realize that my pipe dream really was just a dream. For sure, I would not have adapted as well to the culture, which is militantly liberal, hipster capital, and chooses sentiment over facts. Just look at Brown’s blog (Fuck yeah Brown University! )lol! It tells you everything you need to know about the difference between us. It’s as disorganized, inconsistent, puerile, and vulgar as a large majority of the student body (joking to a certain extent). And I apologize in advance to the extremely modest and vanilla Brown students. They do exist, and I don’t want to stereotype too much. But, it’s clear that the culture was not as much for me. Social events revolve around weed, there’s no other way to say it. Sometimes even harder things. When I was at a party, a student joked to me “if you ain’t choking, you ain’t smoking.” One of my cousin’s friends from HS who is an athlete and used to be more seriously Muslim actually got addicted to coke and asked him for help. These, are extreme examples, but all I’m trying to say is that the social scene is for sure this uber hippie progressive clusterf..k (their words not mine) that I didn’t realize was not for me. Their event “Sex, Power, God” would NEVER happen here lol. The girl I know is pretty liberal too and even for them it’s not enough! It’s almost militant in many ways and the student body can be really immature about dissenting views that doesn’t occur here. 

Lastly, this is going to be controversial, but I think it’s true and I’m going to say it’s another reason why I don’t regret not choosing Brown (among many reasons not even the ones just listed). It’s pretty clear to me the intellectual depth and academic system generally promote a “jack of all trades” type attitude to learning. And when a person adopts that mindset, there are certain negatives associated with it. As I’ve stated previously, I hang out with kids from SO MANY elite schools. And by and large, they are pretty similar. For sure though, I can put my hand on my heart and attest that at least in modern times (perhaps not older Brown alumni), the depth of discussions with Princeton students is on average, much deeper than Brown students. By this I mean, that Princeton students generally have much stronger critical thinking and analytical skills and have accumulated vast amounts of knowledge in a variety of intellectual disciplines that creates for truly great minds in my opinion. It’s shocking the difference of conversations on average I have with Princeton vs. Brown students. Princeton students, on average, have so much to add to any discussion and their ability to pump out intellectual horsepower is amazing. At Brown, the level of critical thinking is just shallow for so many people and it’s entirely driven by sentiment and feeling rather than fact and analysis. When I talk about politics with Princeton students, most people don’t like Trump. duh lol. But most of them have damn good reasoning to why and can specifically point to numerous policy issues and back up what they say with logic. It’s an engaging atmosphere. That’s not to say we don’t have shallow-minded people here, but at Brown, give me a break. They know more about memes than their actual classes and every political discussion is usually vulgar, ad hominem and contributes little. These aren’t even “dumb” people. One can be highly intelligent, but lack knowledge and critical thinking skills. They don’t learn a lot of the times lol and don’t truly accumulate information beyond a surface level. It’s shocking to me for example how much better our language development is in a shorter period of time when I’ve talked to Brown students abroad. Their expressive and “yolo” culture means that they randomly take classes all over the place that sure they might put work into, but it’s nothing compared to Princeton. “I took a class on hindu sex positions and its relation to oppressive social constructs.” Alright, but how does that help you to develop critical thinking skills?  Are you actually going to remember much of anything you just talked about? How has your coursework changed the way you look at the world and think about certain issues in a constructive fashion? The answer to all of these questions is “not much.” For sure, some Brown students are not like this at all, but I’m talking about averages here and what is promoted. 

But lol, I’ll end on this because I just bashed them a ton. I will say one thing that Brown for sure beats us in. Their academic system and structure promote much more adventure and confidence in their students. The average Brown student is FAR less concerned with prestige and they approach the world in a much more honest and open way that I actually admire. I met this girl who majored in chemistry but had no idea what to do after college. But that’s the thing, that’s totally alright! She went backpacking through Uzbekistan, took time to figure out life, and just went with her instincts instead of following like a herd. In the end, yeah she makes way less money than the average Princeton student and did end up settling down in NYC, but that freedom, that “I can do anything even if it’s totally crazy and I know nothing about it” attitude of Brown is actually helpful in some ways. Dare I say, it makes for happier alumni? At Princeton, people often are just out for the money, they follow a career path because they know it’s been done before and are scared to actually find themselves for who they truly are and do what may allow them to lead more purposeful lives. Brown shatters much of this with that shallow education system again lol. Well it’s not really that shallow. But the point is that if you spent the last 4 years learning completely random things that they barely remember (except for your major) and lived a life of expression and like a hippie, that can be good in some ways. They’re ready to face the world and lead in a way that suits them, not a pre-defined system.