#hosting and being around people to study for the biggest exams of my life!! ever fucking mind that people here because some BITCH wanted

[rooksnooks]

Thank fucking god that the human body is 60% liquid because if there wasn't an explanation for how you could cut me open and find burning magma in there I would just die

[astra-galaxie]

🧸👽💝💔🎭🖕😭 for fili savage please, i'll remember to send reese's as a thank you(just keep it away from fili, trust me, we don't want our favorite giant going down)

I know I’ve said this before (at least I think I have), but I always find it funny how a last-minute OC becomes one of my most beloved ones! And I love Fili, too, so I’ll always expect him to be a request when I do one of these prompts!😊

(Don’t worry, Fili will be safe from the chocolate since those Reese’s will go straight into my stomach!😉)

🧸 A headcanon about their childhood

As a child, Fili didn’t have many friends, at least not many friends who weren't also his cousins. Due to being larger than the other kids in his classes, his obsession with plants, and being hospitalized on and off, no one tried being his friend. He did have one really good friend, a best friend, as he loved calling them. Sadly, they didn’t live in Ireland, but the two met when Fili’s friend was visiting Ireland with their family, and they became pen pals. Fili always looked forward to getting their letters and replying to them. The two are still friends to this day, and after Fili moved to the US, they were able to meet again.

👽 A headcanon about a weird quirk of there

He loves singing Irish folk songs. Sometimes, it's just humming, but if he really gets into it, he’ll start singing softly. Fili usually does it when he gets lost in his work, but also to fill the silence around him. Occasionally, he’ll forget the full lyrics, so he’ll just repeat the same line over and over. But it makes him happy so others don’t mind listening to repeats.

💝 A headcanon about their love language

Fili’s love language is acts of affection. He loves doing little things that make people happy and vice versa, even if it's simply cleaning the dish. However, his other way of showing love is through gift-giving, specifically flowers. He loves growing people’s favourite flower(s) and watching people’s happiness when they receive them. He always gives his Starlight new flowers for the special vase in their kitchen, and it's never without a beautiful bouquet.

💔 An angsty headcanon

Fili never thought he would find love. One of his biggest dreams was to find someone to spend the rest of his life with and to start a family with them. And while he did have some good relationships during his early twenties, none ever lasted. Something always brought the relationships to an end, and Fili began to believe he was destined to be alone… But then he met his Starlight, and it was as if the (pun intended) stars had finally aligned, and fate decided it was time for him to meet his soulmate. Eventually, his family would grow, and Fili couldn't be happier. He wishes he could tell his past self not to worry and that everything would work out when the time was right.

🎭 A headcanon about what they lie about

Fili is a very honest man and doesn’t lie much (except about being a Mage, but that’s for obvious reasons). However, one secret he will NEVER admit is that he lied to his parents in high school to attend a party. While they were out of town for the weekend, Fili lied and said he stayed home and studied for exams when they asked him what he did while they were gone. Fili vowed never to tell them that he went to the party since they didn’t like the classmate who hosted it, and besides, he didn’t have fun and left early anyway. Hopefully, they never find out the truth…

🖕 A headcanon relating to anger

While very much a “gentle giant,” Fili can get angry when the situation warrants it or if someone pushes him to anger. His anger is often represented as cold and intimidating as he tries not to yell or get violent. He knows his size is already threatening to others, and even if he’s angry, he doesn’t want to traumatize anyone. But that doesn't mean he won't use it to his advantage when he wants to. If you anger him enough and try to threaten him, Fili WILL put you in your place and make sure you know never to mess with him, his family, or his friends again.

(And he doesn't even need to use magic to do that, but it does help get his point across easier!)

😭 A headcanon about the worst thing that happened to them.

When he was captured by SOMBRA and put under the control of the inhibitor chip, Fili was almost always aware of what was happening around him and what his body was being forced to do. Watching SOMBRA experiment on him, force him to fight their recruits, and being in constant pain caused Fili to start dissociating as a way to try and cope with everything. Even after being rescued, he still dissociates due to his trauma, but thankfully, not as often or for as long.

And that’s a wrap on this batch of Fili headcanons! I know many of my readers are excited for his return in The Conspiracy, so hopefully, this will help with the waiting!

[alternativewinxcontinuity]

Margarita

Home World: Eraklyon (Born in Isis) | (Father is from the lagoon planet: Laugos)

Purview: Fairy of Pearls (Fairy of that which is hidden by 'beauty' or gilded, has a manifest preference for pearls)

Hair Colour: black with an iridescent sheen (purple and blue)

Eye colour: amber-brown

Skin: peachy-beige  

Height: 5 foot something (in heels)

Personality Key Words: polite, accommodating, five-seconds-from-feral, sharp/prickly

Hobbies: diving for treasure (sometimes treasure is a handful of pearls, sometimes it's getting to see a fun looking fish)

Favourite Foods: has a secret love for soft, stuffed fruit-buns

Pixie: N/A

Mother and Early Life:

Margarita comes from a mixed background, born to a single mother in Isis after a brief affair which her mother, Sabbia, believed to be the start of a long lasting relationship, Margarita has always felt the weight of her mother's expectations and desire for a better life for them both.

Their family line has had only weak fairies, and those have been spread out over the generations. Sabbia, was the first fairy of any real strength but her familial duty kept her home bound and helping with the old inn their family runs instead of learning more than the basics about her powers.

During a treaty summit roughly 16-18 years pre-series, the inn hosted the King of Laugos and his entourage, and Margarita was conceived, but Sabbia was left behind when the party returned to their own world.

Her mother pushed Margarita to embrace all the chances Sabbia had missed in her youth, and become the best fairy Margarita could be.

(And also with the hope Margarita's father would acknowledge her existence.)

Unfortunately for Margarita, this push for excellence hits unhealthy levels of obsession for her mother, something Margarita is aware of, but she doesn't feel like she can get out of her current circumstances without throwing everything her mother has ever sacrificed for Margarita back in her face. (And she believes she has nowhere to go.)

Margarita plans to get a well paying job that will allow her to take care of her mother and repay everything Sabbia has ever done for her, but one that will also take her away from her mother frequently. (Academically, logically, Margarita knows she shouldn't have to pay her mother back for doing the basic motherly steps of raising her own child, but beyond just feeling beholden to her mother, Margarita has some genuine affection for Sabbia which makes it difficult to keep an emotional distance.)

As a result of Sabbia's drive for Margarita's success, Margarita had very little social life as a young child which left Margarita feeling forever out of step with her peers, only her experience helping at the inn gave her the (customer service) ability to interact with others in a way that makes her seem personable.

Her academic achievements meant Margarita was always at the top of her class and often somewhat ahead, which helped her to secure scholarships to Eraklyon's premier school to study magic.

Which is where she met Diaspro.

*

Academia and Diaspro:

The two young women have been fighting each other for the top spot in everything since they first took the same exam.  Despite driving one another ever harder, they recognise a kindred spirit, both of them throwing away their own desires (not that they’ve ever really had the chance to figure out what those are exactly) to strive for unobtainable perfection.

They share a mutual, if grudging respect for one another, and any time another student comes close to replacing them at the top of the score boards, they close ranks and study together. (“If someone's going to beat me, it had better be you! I won't lose to some nobody!”)

The high stress of always having to maintain perfect grades and be friendly (if not friends) with everyone is extremely taxing, and Margarita often feels like she's on the edge of a complete meltdown.

*

Biological Quirks:

As a fairy from a long line of strong fairies associated with the elemental idea of earth and stone, Diaspro has a higher than average natural strength which Margarita will never match.

As someone who has a parent from Laugos, Margarita's body has a more efficient respiratory and cardio vascular system which allows her to run for longer and endure less hospitable air qualities better. (and dive for longer without spell assistance.)

Of course, Margarita can't shake off being thrown through a brick wall as easily as Diaspro.

And there's a down side to Laugossian heritage.

Laugos is called the Lagoon planet, it is covered primarily by lagoons and shoals, the surface water in most areas is often only 50 - 100 metres deep, though there are some sections of ocean which are said to be dozens of kilometres deep. (The furthest down most people go is 5 kilometres, which is half the depth of the Marianas Trench on Earth.)

The people of Laugos live in the shallows of the ocean, in crystalline under water cities, their eyes are adapted for extreme glare and constant shifting of light.

Margarita's eyes aren't able to handle the light like a pure-blooded Laugosian would, but her eyes aren't Eraklyon standard either, and occasionally she wears glasses or contacts to regulate her eyes' photo-sensitivity.

*

During the Series:

Margarita has never been Sky's biggest fan, finding out about the events of the Day of the Royals had her ready to commit treason and beat him to death with his own arm, but she decided Diaspro need a sympathetic shoulder more.

*

After Diaspro was kidnapped from her own palace while attending her princess duties, Margarita told Diaspro that she'd developed a theory:

M: “Weird things have been happening to you in the past few years, and it always seems to be while you're off doing your princess things, and therefore I miss them. I propose, you stop going places with out me, because I am clearly the anchor your life revolves around, nothing bizarre has ever happened to you around me, so for your own safety...”

D: *starts laughing and doesn't stop for several minutes* “Yeah, sure, that's how I get my life back on track”

M: “Well if you're going to be sarcastic, see if I ever help you again.”

D: “No! Come back! I need you to help me make 'Queen Consorting for Dummies'.”

M: “... what for?”

D: “urgh, Bloom. Sky's dating her, probably wants to marry her, which means she needs to know everything I know, and she has far less time to learn it in.”

M: “Your making her a cheat guide for Consort studies? Really? Her?”

D: “Sure, why not right? It's my duty as the Heir of Isis to ensure Eraklyon is in the best capable hands, which means making her hands any kind of capable. It's just duty. It's not like she ruined my life, stole my purpose and destroyed my entire sense of identity!!”

M: “... I don't know exactly when I became the calm, stable one in this relationship, but I hate it.”

*

Shortly before Valtor broke out of the Omega Dimension, Margarita received a summons from her father requesting her help.

Prince Litore, the heir to the throne had been injured and cursed in an attack by an ancient sea witch who had suddenly crawled out of the depths of Laugos's ocean, from a place called “koiláda tou thanátou”, (lit. “Death Valley”) the deepest chasm in the ocean floor which few have ever gone into, and which none have ever returned until now.

Margarita was called because her father had known of her existence, but never planned to acknowledge her, until the witch returned. Their ancestor had been a Guardian Fairy who'd defeated the witch before locking the tool she'd used away so it couldn't be misused, and only a fairy of her bloodline could free it.

Margarita is, of course, the only known fairy of her bloodline currently alive available. And naturally the Prince can’t be un-cursed until the witch has been defeated, so she absolutely has to do that while she’s there retrieving the witch-be-gone-device anyway.

By the time she's finished and able to return to Eraklyon, Diaspro has already been banished.

(Which makes Margarita laugh in hysterics, because she's just gotten herself perma-banned from Laugos for punching the king in the face after he acted like they'd done her a favour for calling her, rather than her doing Laugos and the royal family a favour by showing up and risking her life to save them.)

Margarita agrees that she could see how people would think so, but she's 100% certain Diaspro did not roofie prince Sky of her own free will. Not that Margarita can ever prove it one way or the other because the Eraklyon Royal guards stonewall her attempts to investigate.

*

Margarita's Father:

You may have guessed, Margarita's father is the King of Laugos.

Unlike with her mother, Margarita has no mixed feelings about her father and thinks he's 100% a piece of garbage (and not even the classy kind you're supposed to recycle).

She's also 78% certain she has more siblings than Prince Litore, who she thinks is arrogant and naïve, but not a complete loss if he can get his head out of his ass.

[morethanithoughtofficialblog]

Chapter 9: How am I even supposed to be feeling right now?

In which a certain skeleton realizes he’s smarter than he thinks.

*Sans's POV*

It's been like two weeks since (Y/N) stayed at the Dreemurr's house with everyone else. I take that day as a reference because a lot of things have happened.

One of them, my new home... that feels really tense.

Our parents decided to live with us so we all can have a better relationship with each other (well, it was actually Arial's idea), and I just let it be. Now I fucking regret it, 'cause I remembered that Gaster is a stupid asshole. He just criticizes everything I say, I do, or I've ever done with my life. It's fucking annoying to hear he has "such a disappointment of a son" every two seconds and poor, innocent, Paps trying to dismiss his bullshit.

Arial, being in love with the doc like if they just started dating, never said a word defending me. But, in order to look like a good person, she doesn't defend her perfect husband.

Go on- defend that piece of crap, Mom.

Honestly, Papyrus and I could have been perfectly well on our own, just like we were in the Underground. He's now fifteen, and I am twenty-two; isn't it too late to try to bond a connection?! They should have tried when Papy was just a kid and I was a fucking depressed teenager, trying to sustain my brother and the place we lived.

Oh, did I mention I was the one who paid everything? They didn't put a single freaking cent! I did all on my own, I even got a lot of trouble to persuade one human into buying my old house. And all for this?! Now I can't even get on my house and smile to my little brother without being judged...

Ah...

I really miss those times.

When I would get out of school or of... "work", and meet the smiley face of my brother. That smile is what keeps me from ending it all. I just can't leave him behind with that fucking couple of irresponsible parents while I'm burning in hell.

I just can't.

Today, though, we are out of that uncomfortable place and back on the Dreemurr's house. It's really big, and, I must admit, better than anything I could ever afford. Toriel insisted that we shouldn't lose our friendship, therefore, everyone must go. And so there I was going, trying to resist the urge to punch Gaster on the face and then go to my bed and cry while I fall asleep...

That was too specific.

When I arrived, boom! Surprise surprise! (Y/N) was there, freaking out in the middle of an argument, hosted by Undyne and Mettaton.

Poor girl.

Papyrus did whatever it was on my mind, and intervened. The dispute ended quickly, thanks to Papyrus's innocence not wanted to be ruined. My death glare also helped but, hey- Papy did almost everything, so he gets the credit.

(Y/N) let out a sigh of relief, then awkwardly muttered a 'thank you'. She anxiously looked over at the four of us, then waved shyly before disappearing into the kitchen with Tori.

She... is certainly something. I don't think I've ever seen anyone this nervous before.

Maybe she has problems socializing, but that would make no sense. But now that I remember, she indeed was anxious whenever we went for a meeting with her.

Or whenever we hang out.

...

Actually, I think she's nervous about the mere fact of being around us. We must be a huge group of weirdos to her, while in her head she's planning an excuse for how to escape.

"Ah, well..." she interrupted, gaining everyone's attention "I have the results for, uh, your access in our education systems. I believe I, well, have everything specified in your documents, so... yeah... do you, eh, want me to give them to you...?"

Silence. And then, a grateful and unexpected squeak, courtesy of Toriel.

"Oh! That's just wonderful! Thank you so much!"

"Ah, it's... nothing" (Y/N) answered, with a seemingly usual hint of anxiety in her voice.

Then she grabbed a shitton of folders and started to giving them to us. I took mine nervously and remembered all the times I studied really hard for school. I remembered, also, every book I read and how I ended up learning French.

I just hope it wasn't for nothing.

I took a deep breath, now remembering the exam we had to do in an office, like if it was a diagnostic test. It wasn't that hard but, what if I failed? I swear to God that if I need to do high school again, I will kill myself.

I opened it slowly, almost closing my eyes in fear. A panic attack started to take over my body, and I must have shown it since (Y/N) was giving me a concerned look.

"Sans, are you okay?" She whispered softly, making me relax just a bit. Then her eyes lighted up a little as if she now understood "Don't worry, you did well. In fact, you did perfectly!"

Gaining more confidence from her small smile, I opened it quickly and checked the first page. Then I stood in shock, my mind going numb and my mouth opening slightly.

...

College.

I can go to college.

To fucking university, like a normal person at my age would.

I looked at her and noticed she was almost smirking by my reaction. Then she gave me the biggest smile she could and a thumbs up.

And, I swear to God, I felt amazing.

I checked the other papers, and I was becoming even happier. Texts said that I was a mastermind, that I could even get a huge scholarship in an important university if I wanted to. My redaction skills were noted as perfect, which made my nonexistent heart skip a beat. My science knowledge was amusing, and math, oh lord, had really high notes.

At the end of the documents, I noticed a little post-it. I looked at it curiously and started reading it as soon as I grabbed it in my hands:

<<Hi Sans!

You did really well on basically everything! You should be proud!

If you are interested in going to a university any time sooner, I recommend you to check out Ebott University. It's one of the best schools in the country, and I think you have the capacity to join! Hell, even have a great scholarship there!

No pressure, though. It's just a suggestion, after all!

I just wanted to congratulate your excellent results, and to tell you that you can do it! You looked really stressed after giving your test, so I thought I should tell you this: you'll do just fine, Sans. Have more confidence in yourself, alright? If not for you, at least for your brother, who I see that it is really important to you.

I wish you the best of lucks, my friend!

(Y/N) (L/N)>>

I didn't know how to react. The only thing I know I did it's that I smiled all the time, and felt like this was just a happy dream about me being successful in life. I just couldn't believe that all my effort did work.

I glanced at her and saw that Papyrus was chatting excitedly about his future. He proclaimed that he would do his best in order to "make her effort count". I smiled, noticing that, after a long time, I shared the same enthusiasm as Papyrus.

I must have been staring because Paps waved at me energetically while she just let out a happy sigh.  

"BROTHER! I AM FIT TO THE HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL!" he exclaimed, making me smile even more. "I'LL FINALLY BE ABLE TO LEARN NEW THINGS, SANS!"

With Papyrus in school, I think I can work for a better future in the midtime.

After such a long time.

Everyone else was also excited, confirmed by Gaster's small and hypocritical smile.

He probably did better than I did.

I looked over his paper and saw it; he could instantly go for the scientist role in any place...

And I have to study.

My smile twitched a little but quickly forgot my dismay by a big hug from my brother. Oh lord, what I would do without him?

I wOUld prObaBLy k!ll mYsEl-

Calm down, Sans.

You've got this.

I returned to my old and casual smile, relaxing a bit. We're out of the Underground now- it's my chance to finally do what I want. And what I want to do right now...

It's to buy another book.

...

Nerd.

A lot of people are actually surprised when they hear I love reading, especially the classics. I must seem so relaxed and chill for them, then. Which it's good since that's my favorite side of me, but... maybe keeping this reading obsession out of view it's dragging me down. It would be better to find someone to share these things with...

But who?

I snapped back into reality and shrugged it off. I can't lose my cool.

I just can't.

Eventually, I caught up into the conversation everyone was being part of. As expected, the topics were related to the future and how are we going to make our dreams come true. (Y/N), however, was just smiling there, trying to fit in silently. But, obviously, she felt excluded every time she tried to gain the courage to say something.

She doesn't seem to be up for conversations, either. When Toriel asked her a few things, she stuttered and played with her fingers. I have no idea how I managed to understand everything she said, but somehow I could. Still, I feel sorry for her. She probably doesn't want to be here.

I wonder why she helped us, though. She hasn't asked for money just yet, and she tries her best to don't be rude at all. She apologizes a lot and freaks out whenever someone acts to be offended or sad. Whenever there is an argument, she probably has a mental breakdown and tries her best to don't surpass some limits or to let the problem go any further. The mere look of her face is the purest description of anxiety I've ever seen...

Maybe she suffers, indeed, anxiety...

But you just can't ask her, can you?

...

Of course not.

It would be stupid to arrive at her side and immediately ask "hey girl, do you have anxiety???".

She would stop talking to me, and considering that we'll see each other more in the future, I just can't go on and make our friendship awkward.

...

Wait- friendship?! You don't even know her that much!!!

...

But she indeed called me in the post-it as a friend.

My skull was starting to hurt, and curiously, it's been for a problem that isn't mine. I must admit, though; anxious or not anxious, (Y/N) seems to be really nice. And she's like, smart as fuck.

Or that's how I see her, who knows.

"HUMAN!" Papyrus exclaimed, snapping me back to reality... again. "WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS SO NERVOUS TO TALK TO US? WE WON'T HURT YOU!"

Oh shi-

"Ah, eh... I, em, don't know...? It's just, ah... eh..."

Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit

"It's just, em... I... how do I explain, em... ah..."

Tell her something, you fucking asshole!!!!!!!

"ah, kid. you don't need to say it if you don't want to. i bet everyone will understand"

She just looked at me nervously, like if she was asking for reassurance. I nodded my head slowly and gave her a thumbs-up, trying to calm her down. She took a deep breath and smiled, a hint of confidence gleaming in her eyes.

Wait, is she going to say it? Why-

"Well, em, Papyrus" she started, shaking her hands in order to calm down "I suffer from something called... anxiety. I was diagnosed some months ago, actually".

Oh, so I was right?

How sad, she's so nice to suffer from something like that.

Wait, so that means she-

"wait, so you are enjoying your time here? for real?"

"Oh, of course!" she responded immediately, smiling nervously at my statement. I'm such an asshole "I actually was starting to miss getting out of my crappy apartment to socialize with other people! I'm... not the best at it, though. I do suck at making new friends and- shitidontevenknowifyouguysconsidermeasafriendimsosorry"

Was she for real? It's difficult to see this girl as someone not loved or wanted. I mean, I must admit she's pretty and, besides, she's super nice and patient. I'm starting to see that she didn't do this for money, but because that's her nature. A kind girl, not standing social injustices. Her words and her personality now make sense- she's just that different to others that she finds it difficult to have real friends.

"HUMAN! I'M DELIGHTED TO HEAR YOU WANT TO BE FRIENDS WITH US! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ACCEPT YOUR OFFER AND I'LL BE THE COOLEST FRIEND YOU'LL HAVE!"

I should probably tell her the same.

...

I'm rooting to be friends with this girl, I just can't dismiss the fact she wants some company.

But aren't I judging her too quickly?

...

She looks lonely for real, though.

I mean, I do have Papyrus, but she seems to have no one at her side. And that just fucking sucks. I don't think anyone deserves to be so lonely and so misunderstood. I don't even understand how she has dealt with it! I don't think I'll ever be able to be alone with my mind. I would have probably killed myself as a teenager and not been here.    

"hey kid, you've been really nice and, well, a real light of hope to all of us. i don't think anyone here wouldn't like to be your friend. or well, at least i don't, y' know?"

She smiled and seemed a lot more relaxed, as everyone else nodded at my words. I could see she felt more accepted, which made me feel better. It's stupid, isn't it? I feel good because I included someone that deserved to be included since the beginning.

"Oh, I know!" Frisk raised her finger in the sky, gaining all of our attention "We should do a huge sleepover party in order to commemorate our new friend, (Y/N)!"

Papyrus gasped with lights in his eyes, clearly excited about this new idea. (Y/N), though... she looked like she was freaking out a lot. I put one of my hands on her shoulder, trying to tranquilize her, and incredibly she did. She gave me a small smile and mouthed an "I'll be ok", which made me smile as well.

As much as I must hate humanity, I think she's an exception.

But I really don't know

"BUT FIRST!" Papy screamed, bringing with himself a ton of wood pieces and a hammer. Then he locked the door completely and put a padlock that I don't know where it came from. "THERE! NOW NO ONE CAN ESCAPE THE PARTY! NYEH HEH HEH!"

I swear to God, almost everyone had a heart attack at that moment. And (Y/N), of course, seemed like she was dead for a moment.

Before we could react, a bunch of blankets and pillows were all over the couch, and my brother was already connecting the Wii and the Xbox. Undyne was bringing chips from the cabinet (without any permission, by the way), and the kid was getting some board games.

This is gonna be a long night.

(Y/N), without anything else to do, offered herself to help. But since she was "the guest", the official planners of this sleepover didn't let her. And since I wasn't going to help, we ended up sitting on the couch, talking about... well, anything.

"is there any way we can help with, uh, your anxiety?" I asked her, trying to feel more, well, accessible...?

"Well, um... I think I'll be ok. As long as I'm not dragged into a huge party with unknown people... which it's not totally happening, haha..." she paused, then she glanced at me in horror "Right?!"

"considering mettaton, uh..." I stopped, knowing I fucked up "...maybe?"

I shrugged at her with a small and nervous smile and her eyes widened a lot. I felt horrible, but I just couldn't lie to her. If she's gonna continue here with us, Mettaton's personality will need some... moderations? And honestly, I don't think he'll ever moderate that slutty character he has created, that it's the dirtiest version of himself.

She sighed though, realizing that, no matter how much she wanted things to be different, she couldn't change them. Or could she?

"It's okay, I guess" she started with a deep breath, like if this was something difficult to her "I mean, I just declared that I have anxiety, whichistilldontunderstandwhyidid, but that doesn't mean people should be different around me or take pity on me. The world just doesn't work like that, and that's fine! So I think there's no way to help my little ol' problem... except medicine, of course"

"oh, so you already went to the doctor then?"

"Yeah... but I constantly forget to take the, uh... pills..."

Wow, so she doesn't even care that much? Or it's just that she cares more about work? Probably the second, but it doesn't really matter. (Y/N) has anxiety and she isn't dealing with it the proper way, but I'm no one to tell her, well, anything about it. I haven't been responsible for ages, I'm not gonna tell this girl any advice about responsibility.

Not today.

Not ever.

"EVERYONE! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAS SETTLED THE GAME!" Papy shouted, shutting up all my thoughts about this kid. Thank God.

"oh really, and what is it bro?" I asked, sounding as lazy as usual and hiding my real self with a smile. It always works.

"TODAY, BROTHER!" he posed heroically "WE ARE PLAYING A POPULAR HUMAN GAME THAT REQUIRES STRATEGY AND GOOD THINKING!"

Huh?

"WE ARE PLAYING..." (notice the dramatic suspense)

"...MONOPOLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Is this the part where I shout in happiness or where I scream in horror?

[flyswhumpcenter]

Bad Things Happen Bingo! The event where you send me I give myself self-indulgent requests according to this marvelous card!

Ya hipster back with his niche fandoms again, hell yeah. (The mods at BHTB must be tired of my bs, really). Not gonna lie, I went all out on this one, it’s like 4K-word long tf?? I guess exams have just been making all my insp flood in one swoop lmao.

Bullet Time

Summary: A shooting that shouldn't have happened. A bullet which hit the wrong person. Friends getting scared, a nurse crying. Blood pouring in droplets on everything it touches. In the midst of it all: Angie, her feelings and what could be her biggest sin. Perhaps she did kill a man today.

Fandom: Trauma Center Ships: Derek/Angie, implied Greg/Cybil

Wordcount: 4.4K words

Event hosted by @badthingshappenbingo

AO3 version available here.

Drip, drip, drip.

Standing there was a nurse, frozen, when everything unfolded right before her eyes. Her body, whose reflexes were usually as sharp if not sharper than a brand-new high-end scalpel’s blade, had given up on her, refusing to move when she should have been able to do something. The moments right before repeated on loop in her mind, racing, the intense beating of her heart resonating from the top of her skull to the ends of her toes.

 Drop by drop, blood fell to the ground, having poured in a splash in a moment, then settled to just flow from its hole, gently, rapidly, drip drip drip. A part of it had tainted her uniform, making the colour go from a pastel, reassuring pink to a menacing crimson, hair dressed on her arms and legs. It continued dripping along in deafening metronome-like rhythm, drip drip drip, slowly making its way through her nerves, eating away at her sanity. Still paralyzed, she was unable to do anything about it, drip drip drip.

A red puddle was forming at the feet of the person in front of her, blue uniform left untouched from the back, drop by drop. Tears formed inside her eyes, threatening to exit as her sight blurred beyond recognition, preventing her from further hurting herself like that when she was still immobile and defenceless, as if the world was going to come for her throat next and that she’d be dead before she’d be able to realize that. Drip, drip, drip.

 This someone in front of her, the shield with his arms stretched in front of her like the statue of a protective deity of an old city, gagged, desperate for air. He dropped to his knees, more blood pouring on the ground in raspy coughing fits, making her face the muzzle of Nemesis staring at her eyes with fury burning inside their irises and reddened sclerae. A shiver went down her back, making her tremble in either anticipation or rage, her legs tensed and her arms finally moving, fingers operational, waiting for the next move she’d decide to make.

 In the desperation of a situation gone out of her control, in the back alley, stood a young woman who happened to be a nurse with more than a simple licence. As if the sound of her colleague gagging had made her break out of her trance, she made her first real move, sidestepping in a hope, using the darkness to her advantage, grabbing the man with the gun from behind and making him fall to the ground in a single swoop.

The weapon fell in a metallic click on the strangled sidewalk, letting go of its other bullet, piercing the nightly air and flying to the sky at an unbelievable speed. She had seen bullets before, she wasn’t scared anymore. The man was unconscious, maybe dead, but that was beyond her care or attention. For the first real time in her life, it felt like a death that’d have been deserved and, even if it made her a murderer, then she’d be a justified one. There was no mercy for those who brought death upon innocent lives.

 In a swift move of her right hand, she typed a very familiar three-unit phone number, fingers moving almost on their own. Her voice, her words, her gestures were all automatisms: she barely listened to what the other people told her unless it was vital information, a way to estimate how messed up the situation really was. Her own former colleagues felt like they were all robots she was speaking to because she was behaving like one, like a machine not to collapse under the weight of her own anxiety flaring in her chest, the incessant beating of her pounding heart and the fears she was overcome with. The voices were familiar and foreign all the same, a hiccup escaped her lips, and the phone almost slipped out of her hands as she fell to her knees.

 The tears exited her eyes, rolled onto her cheeks, fell to the ground.

Drip, drip, drip.

  It was a calm evening at Hope Hospital, glad to see there barely were any activity in the emergency department on that night. Desert corridors, nurses going home or arriving for the nightly shift, goodbyes and hellos, good nights and good evenings exchanged. A serenity out of the ordinary which, truly, should have made him much more alert because, as it stood, every calm has a storm following it.

Truth be told, Greg wanted to go home, especially when the shift he shared with Cybil was nearing its end. Did he arrange their shifts to match out of pure personal pleasure and medical efficiency? Yes. Did he regret it, even as he glanced at the clock either for it to turn to midnight or for something to jump at them? No. Perhaps he was as infatuated in his anaesthetist as his latest, former student was in his nurse the last time he saw the two of them around.

 As such, Cybil and he were simply enjoying a nice conversation on how life was, allowing himself to disclose a few embarrassing childhood stories about Sidney to someone who had worked with his brother before at Caduceus. It felt nice to have a breath of fresh air, once in a while, so he avoided glancing at the clock or his watch too much and profited from the tranquillity surrounding them, hoping to maybe tell Cybil how pretty she was again and how much he enjoyed talking to her and… Yeah. Definitely infatuated, the diagnosis was obvious enough.

Cybil didn’t seem like she was too upset about the calm either. The stories about the day where Sidney, the Sidney Kasal who always said he’d never lose a fight because he had never lost any argument in his life from the crib to obtaining his high-ranked chair at Caduceus USA, messed up on something and was panicked about what their parents would say made her smirk, then laughed, until they were unable to stop giggling like little mischievous kids around the cherished coffee table of their staff room.

 The storm soon enough came back, though, as it always did in the life of head surgeon Greg Kasal.

 Amanda Marsh, their latest recruit whom had joined them after Angie Thompson’s departure for Caduceus, burst the door of the staff room open, eyes gone wide, beads of sweat on her forehead and temples, limbs trembling. This didn’t immediately faze either specialist: young nurses usually were easy to impress, even Angie had been overwhelmed when she had had a patient flatline on her before. However, this meant going back to work soon, so he got up from his chair to face her.

“Dr Kasal, Dr Myers, we… We have a patient in!!” she yelled, on top of her lungs, despite being otherwise breathless (or so it seemed, he supposed).

Greg and Cybil exchanged glances, before looking back at her.

“We’ll get ready, bring us to them, okay?”

 Amanda nodded and the three of them left for the emergency wing of the hospital. Storms had different sizes, from the small whirlwind to the ferocious typhoon nobody escaped from on its tracks. Secretly, considering this was the end of the shift and that the length of the day was starting to take a slightly toll on him, Greg quietly hoped this would be one of the smaller storms, that it’d be an easy job he couldn’t mess up. Was this asking too much from a world where GUILT had been eradicated?

Yes.

 “Here’s the chart, Dr Kasal! Please make it quick, the patient is in a critical condition!” she gave him the papers he needed before running away into the operating room.

“I’ll join her,” Cybil told him as she had gotten her scrubs on. “You study that, I’m going to make them sleep.”

“Got it, I’m on my way.”

 The chart on a chair as he prepped himself for the last surgery of the day, the one before his workmate came for the shift, he quickly read through it. The patient was a twenty-seven-year-old man, relatively tall and slim, otherwise with no specific condition. He had taken a bullet to the left lung, possibly having a rib or two damaged from it entered his body, where it had stayed. He finished getting ready when the topic of heavy blood loss and internal haemorrhage came on, prompting him to operate as soon as possible.

 Once in the operating room, the grimmer face of Cybil and Amanda’s nervousness didn’t make it any easier to convince himself this was going to be an easy end of the day, despite how simplistic removing a bullet was compared to treating GUILT. An IV was inserted into the patient’s wrist, monitored by the nurse, vitals displayed on a screen at 40. Not good, of course, but nothing he couldn’t fix. He kept his cool and put the chart away.

“Amanda, I’ll need you to keep an eye on the vitals along with his pulse, pressure and blood levels. Cybil, you know what you have to do. Let’s save him, I know we can do this.”

 Greg, as self-assured as ever, picked up his scalpel and gel before, out of habit and maybe tradition, was about to look at the patient’s face to mentally tell them to hang on, that it was going to be alright and that they’d soon be out of trouble when he remembered something. He’d fix it quicker than the bullet damaged the lung tissue, but before, he had to ask something to be done.

“Cybil, turn his head on his side, he may cough up blood as we proceed.”

He watched as she did so, silently. Before their eyes could connect again, however, Greg realized who he was dealing with, tools almost slipping out of fingers. The metal touching the floor was never heard, but the tension grew into white noise.

“Oh, God, not you of all people…” escaped from his lips.

Amanda seemed confused, but her inquiries for a reply weren’t met by either specialist in the OR.

 He’d have the check the name on the charts before operating, next time. He was ready to deal with a bullet removal, but the patient turned out to be a rotten surprise. Yet, remembered what he had told Derek when he had himself been infected with Tetarti, he breathed in, breathed out and mentally slapped himself. Never let your friendship slow down your surgical skills. Never let your personal feelings hinder your performances. Never let yourself get emotional when you’re needed in the OR.

Dr Kasal would save this young man; he swore to himself as he disinfected the body for a thoracotomy. He’d never lose a patient, ever. Not like this, not in these circumstances.

  The ER’s waiting room was empty at this hour of the night, making Angie desperate for a distraction as she waited for something, anything to be announced, to happen. She had never been very patient when she was unable to help, to be active and proactive and change the world one gesture at a time. Reduced to the role of the concerned relative, friend or loved one, she didn’t feel right to be there when she had the knowledge and skills to do something about it.

Instead, all she had to look at was her phone whose battery was dwindling down faster than the time went by and her hands, her bloodied hands she hadn’t taken the time to wash before coming here and sitting in this room. She could only hope the good Dr Kasal was the one operating, the safest hands she could think of in this hospital, perhaps in this city to deal with this when Caduceus would have been too far away.

 She needed to be moving if she didn’t want to go insane, so she got up and decided to head for the restrooms. She’d be able to wash her hands covered in dried dark red, turning to brown the more time passed, a reminder that her clothes were bloodstained and that she’d never feel clean again after going through this, after watching this unfold before her eyes. She’d physically be cleansed, but it’d be a whole other story mentally.

As she rubbed the red away from her hands with force and what she had left of her vigour, Angie looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was dishevelled, her eyes reddened by all the crying, her body was still trembling, she looked like a maniac who had just killed a man and was getting away with it despite her intentions.

Thing was, she had killed a man.

 They were walking in an alley to retrieve a parcel Angie had missed by having to go to work earlier than usual to make up for Sienna having the flu when she heard a somewhat familiar sound: that of a firearm getting readied to shoot. Instantly, she turned around while Derek, not having the sharper attention she had to tiny noises, didn’t for a few moments, only to be faced by a man and his gun pointed directly at her.

“We were just trying to fix humankind,” he said in that monotonous voice of the people whose anger has confused them so much that they’re only empty shells of who they used to be, “why did you stop us?”

“Put that weapon away immediately!”

“Why should I? You’re guilty as charged, Dr Stiles, Nurse Thompson.”

 As Angie walked through the familiar corridors of Hope Hospital again, bittersweet memories came back to her. She thought of her former colleagues, how much she’d have hoped to cross either Dr Kasal or Dr Myers and ask them how their relationship had been doing, how badly she wanted to hug someone and cry on their shoulder because she was scared, if not terrified, if not shaking with worry. She should’ve been reassured to be there, but clearly, she was the complete opposite.

 The trigger was pulled before she could do anything about it, her speech interrupted before it could even get out of her mouth. She was tempted to close her eyes and let the bullet heading towards her take her life, “let me kill the lady first so she doesn’t have to witness your demise, Sinner Stiles,” but even her eyelids stood frozen as the shot was fired.

Little did she know Derek was rushing to her at an unnatural but known speed, shoving her out of the bullet’s way, only discovering the deed had been done when she was on the ground, palms and knees hurting from the brutal fall, and red flashing before her eyes and onto her clothes.

 In the end, Angie came back to the waiting room, pacing because sitting truly made her inactive, passive, useless. She wasn’t a waste, she wasn’t going to let herself waste away when perhaps, just perhaps, Derek needed her sooner or later. The tears were about to fall again as the events once again repeated in her mind, tearing apart her defences, showing herself she was far more vulnerable and weaker than she wanted herself to be, than she displayed herself to be to others.

 She couldn’t be able to describe what she felt like when she jumped on the guy, disarmed him with a slap on the wrist and threw him to the ground. There was anger, of course, deep-rooted anger which had blazed through the different stages of intensity to become an unstoppable, unsatisfied want to see him disappear in suffering before her eyes, a desire to see him burn in Hell until the end of eternity, the wish to give justice to her dearest friend. Yet, there was something else, lingering somewhere, hindering at her need to destroy and pulverize until nothing was left of the murder attempt: sadness, concern, guilt.

Was she at fault for Derek getting shot in her stead? Yes. No. Maybe. Yes, but no, but yes, but no… The cycle of guilt looped endlessly because she didn’t understand his decision. She was too heartbroken to rationally think about said decision.

 She pulled out her phone, its battery in its last quarter. She had no charger on her, nothing to distract herself anymore, as if she could physically bring herself not to think of the situation. She was the reason why events had taken such a drastic, tragic turn: if she had been in control, if she had reacted properly and quickly enough, if she had been the heroine she had always wanted to be and become, she’d have stopped the dude before it was too late, before anyone got injured, before anyone risked losing their lives to stupid hatred and misplaced ideologies.

 Angie, despite her distressed state, cradled him in her arms, the other man unconscious and laying there with no clear sign of being alive or dead. Everything about Derek screamed vulnerability: his pulse was weak, his breathing was feeble, his eyes couldn’t properly focus on her. She could tell he was trying to reassure her, but every time he spoke, he coughed up blood, and every time he tried holding her hand to show her he was going to be fine, he squeezed his eyes in pain.

Her reflexes weren’t lost in the panic of the situation, much to her relief. Pressing a hand against the wound to apply pressure to what must have been both an internal and external haemorrhage, she made sure to see if he was still conscious, if he could still reply properly and react to his environment. Time was slow, its course confusing, and she cursed herself for not having first-aid material on her when she had barebone training in it.

 Eventually, exhausted by her tears and her fears, Angie sat down on a chair, never to move from it again. Even if she had cried over and over again in the last hour or so, she still wanted to weep like a child, to call a friend and vent to them about how scared she was of the future, of his future, of how much she messed up on that one. What an idiot she was! And yet, and yet…And yet, Derek had done his best to reassure her, as if she wasn’t the reason why he had gotten shot…

 She was a mess, lost in the tempest of emotions, unable to muster up enough courage to look strong and cool-headed. Instead, she was… absolutely useless to Derek, whose use of the Healing Touch had weakened to begin with. She should have been comforting him, but instead…

“H-hey, Angie… Don’t cry…”

He was the one trying to make her feel better, despite her mistakes, despite his condition going downhill faster than it had unfolded.

“B-but… You got shot, Derek! I… I’m so sorry!!”

He put a weak, febrile hand on her shoulder, drenched in his blood and printing onto her dress.

“I’ll be fine, I… I’m sure of it… Please, don’t cry…”

His voice was hoarse, struggling to speak out as he coughed up a bit more blood mixed with what she could assume was saliva. Sitting against a wall, face to face with her, she felt like she needed to protect him, but had already failed to do so…

“I… Ha!”

 She yelped when she saw his already faint grasp on her shoulder weaken even more and his eyes, already half-shut in pain and exhaustion, close further. She was losing him. As long as he was awake, he was alive, but if he passed out, he could pass away and she’d be too sorrowful to notice it and apply the few reanimation techniques she knew. She couldn’t lose him, not even let him faint on her.

“Derek, please, stay with me!” Her voice hiccupped with yet another wave of sobs. “Help is coming, please, just… Stay awake!”

Too late: he probably wasn’t hearing her anymore. His eyes closed soon afterwards, leaving her alone with the silence, her tears and a breathing so weak it could vanish for a yes or a no.

“I… I’m sorry…”

 …all she could do was wait and hope that Derek would have the strength and will to pull through it; so she slumped her shoulders and closed her eyes. There was no use in getting panicked…

 “…Angela Thompson?”

An unfamiliar voice got her out of her thoughts, causing her to jump on her chair. Facing her was a young woman around her age, whom she didn’t recall ever seeing before, presumably her substitute.

“Yes?”

Then she realized what it meant. The lack of an expression she could decipher on the nurse, presumably stuck in anxieties, scared her beyond what she could even express with words and medical terminology.

“How’s Derek?!”

  …

Everything felt… numb. Drowned sounds, muffled visuals, numbed sense of touch. Where was he? The ceiling, white, was no indication. It was blurry, everything was a blur actually, and his mind was completely blanking out. What had happened? What did he do last? Did it explain why he was there, where he was, how he had gotten there?

Did he ever wake up this confused, or was it one of these cases where he had passed out and didn’t realize it?

 His whole body was made out of the heaviest metal, limbs unresponsive and heavy, eyes half-opened and whose lids were made out of titanium. He didn’t have his glasses on, he was sure of it: otherwise, his vision would have focused much earlier than that and left him waiting for far less time. Instead, heh… Where were his glasses, actually? Were they gone, were they near, did he still have a sense of space or dimension?

He looked around, as his neck was the first place of his body to remember how to function properly. More blur, obviously, but he could vaguely distinguish a few things, including the presence of someone to his right and a red square… thing to his left. Safe to assume he was in a bed and that someone was sitting in a chair next to said bed, so he was in a hospital.

Wait, hospital?!

 It came back to him in a flash. The former Delphi member, the gun, using his gift to push Angie out of the way, the pain, the blood, and her tears. Everything came back, albeit these memories were still rendered imprecise and vague by the fact he had passed out and had just woken up. Goddammit… He had survived that, though, he was sure he was a goner and that he’d never get the occasion to tell Angie goodbye.

Not that he had wanted to do that on purpose. It was just a need he felt, to say her farewell before joining back his father. Alas, fortunately, Dad would have to wait: he had survived one more day, one more day and so much more lives he could save with these hands of his… soon enough.

 A very welcome voice came to his ears

“Searching for these, Derek?”

His glasses magically appeared on his face, gently, without forcing themselves. Only a couple of people could have the delicateness needed to do so… and even then, it was a bit surprising.

“Angie…?”

His voice sounded as well as he looked and felt like, which meant terrible and cottony. Not exactly how he wanted to show up after getting close to death yet again.

“That’s me, Dr Stiles. How you’re feeling?”

“Huh… Had better days for sure…”

 Now that his vision was clear, he took the time to look at her, to indulge in looking at her again to be exact. She was smiling, as beautiful as ever, even if he could somewhat tell she had been crying (well, he knew that, so it made this observation easier to make). He wished he hadn’t made her get so concerned, from him he’d assume, but alas… It was too late to go back on that. What had been done, was done. No need to dwell on the past, despite the regrets…

“You scared us so much, you can’t even imagine!” She began by scolding him and, if his chest didn’t feel so sore, maybe he’d have laughed it off as usual. He was used to it, it was almost a daily thing for them. Friendly banter, in a way.

“Ha… Sorry for that, I… I jumped in there…”

 Angie looked on the side, cheeks reddened. She muffled a hiccup.

“Why… Why did you do that, Derek? I, I mean, I’m grateful, but… That was stupid and you know it!”

He couldn’t exactly blame her for being upset about what had happened in the alley. He hadn’t explained himself very clearly when he was too busy keeping his airways free.

“I… saw that it was heading for your heart… You wouldn’t have survived that, so… I thought… It’d be better if I took it because I wasn’t going to immediately die from it…”

He attempted to smile to her, to reassure her again (too late, Derek, you dumbass).

“So, in all… I say it was worth it. I wouldn’t have stood losing you to that guy…”

She looked speechless, for once. All she did in response to his words, his poorly-chosen but true words, was to squeeze his hand.

“Me… Me neither, so… Never do that again okay?”

“Not a chance…”

 He allowed himself a light laugh.

“As a surgeon, I outta now… What are my injuries, Ms Thompson…?”

Angie looked utterly baffled at this, if not offended, but she still cleared her throat and, in the end, let a smirk show on her face.

“A bullet to the left lung, internal and external bleeding, a damaged rib. Don’t worry, it didn’t break, your lung isn’t punctured. And it better has stayed that way!”

“Agreed there… Would have been a pain… Literally so.”

“Do I need to consider you making terrible medical puns a good step towards your recovery, Derek?”

“Yes.”

 The silence settling in the room was light, almost soothing. Not that he didn’t want to tell her about all the things he had thought when he was sure he was going to meet his demise in a dark, dirty corner of Angeles Bay, quite the opposite in fact; he just was too tired to tell them.

They were both alive, that was what mattered, all that mattered. He’d have to thank his surgeon as soon as he’d see them, but that could wait. His professionalism could wait, he was sure Caduceus wouldn’t blame him for taking a day off, especially when his assistant nurse was so adamant in keeping him safe and watching over him. It’d be… all fine.

[english104]

Catfishing

Catfishing is a deceptive activity where a person creates a sockpuppet presence or fake identity on a social networking service, usually targeting a specific victim for abuse or fraud. The practice may be used for financial gain, to compromise a victim in some way, or simply as forms of trolling or wish fulfillment.

Students reflect on their catfishing experiences during COVID-19

Sierra Mihu just wanted something to pass the time.

The fourth-year biological sciences major felt bored during the pandemic, so she decided to download Bumble. This way, she’d combat her boredom and meet new people at the same time.

Then she met Brian, 24, from Lancaster. She swiped right and messaged him.

“He messaged back, and he was really nice,” Mihu said. “The next day, he messaged me and went out of his way to ask me how my exam was that day. He gave me compliments and was really nice.”

It seemed that Mihu had found a nice guy – someone she felt good talking to. After the two of them talked for a while, Brian asked for her Snapchat. Feeling comfortable enough, Mihu gave it to him.

It was all downhill from there.

“He said, ‘Do you want to see what I look like?’ in the messaging part of Snap,” Mihu said. “I didn’t really know what he meant by that, but I said ‘sure.’ He continued to send me a collection of photos of him, but it didn’t have his face in it.”

The pictures were risque shots of Brian, unclothed. This was Mihu’s first red flag that something might not be right.

“I was uncomfortable that he even did that because it didn’t seem like him,” Mihu said. “It didn't seem like this nice guy who would ask about my day and who would compliment me and have a good conversation.”

Then, Brian asked for photos of Mihu in exchange. She trusted her gut on this one and told him “no” – point-blank saying she didn’t trust him. He tried to prove to her that he was who he said he was by sending a mirror selfie.

Immediately, Mihu consulted with her roommates to show them the sketchy photo. There was a border around the picture, like Brian had taken a photo of another photo. She told Brian that she still was unsure, and he blew up.

“He got so angry,” Mihu said. “He was like, ‘What do you mean you don’t know that it’s me? I sent you a Snap; there’s no way I could be fake,’ pretty much gaslighting me, making me feel like the bad guy. Then he said ‘This always happens,’ which was another red flag.”

He tried to convince Mihu that his outburst was due to trust issues, saying the last woman he talked to saved his photos, then blocked him. Mihu was still nervous, citing human trafficking as one of her main concerns, and refused to send him photos.

Their conversations soon became awkward. Brian played the victim card and complained that Mihu thought he was ugly. Mihu ended up blocking him on Snapchat.

The next day, she was watching the MTV show Catfish – unrelated to her situation – and the host of the show did a reverse image search. Mihu was inspired.

“I was like, ‘You know what? Just out of curiosity, I’m going to do this image search, and the literal first result was a Twitter page of the exact same photo,’” Mihu said.

It turned out Brian was posing as a model from a different country. Mihu was catfished, or lured into a relationship from a fictional persona online.

Just last year, Americans lost $201 million to romance scammers, with Ohio having the No. 9 slot of most victims. The FTC reported that romance scams increased by 40% last year, up from $143 million in 2018.

Catfishing has been a growing epidemic during the coronavirus. In a study from SocialCatfish.com, a record 26.6 million people are using data apps in 2020, which is an 18.4% increase from 2019. Additionally, 31% of users said they are spending more time on dating apps.

But it’s not just dating where people are getting scammed. Reese Little, an Athens resident, lost around $40 from an online “bathing suit sale” that was offering a $5 sale. Then, the sale charged her twice for $20 for a membership that was hidden in the fine print.

“I was so mad,” Little said. “I can’t do anything about it. I couldn’t get a hold of the people, and I didn’t have the money to pay for a membership. That’s why I did the sale in the first place because it was only $5.”

Similarly scammed, Christos Ioannou, a sophomore at Capital University, wanted to build his Twitter presence by procuring the handle @Christos, which had been snagged by a Greek Spanish web developer well over a decade ago.

The man with the handle approached Ioannou to set up a trade: $100 for the handle. After setting up a GoFundMe, receiving several Venmos and contributing $20 of his own, Ioannou sent the man money.

The man promptly stopped responding, and that’s when Ioannou realized he was scammed. With the help of his mom and his bank, he was able to get his money back and refund everyone who donated, all within a week or so.

“At the end of it, I felt like a schmuck because there were so many red flags that I should have seen,” Ioannou said. “I fell hook, line and sinker.”

Mihu, Little and Ioannou believe the coronavirus pandemic has played a large role in the increase of catfishing and Internet scams.

“Ever since March, I’ve been much more terminally online,” Ioannou said. “I think it’s one of those things where, now that so many more people are not forced to be online, but a lot more of our social interactions are through social media, it makes it tougher. Not to mention catfishing specifically ... just thinking about all the people who are that starved for contact, I have to imagine that it’s gone up significantly.”

The Risks of Using Cat Fishing Dating Services

For people who do everything on the computer, from browsing websites to paying bills online, using social media and websites to look for love is a unique alternative to a real-life dating search. Well, now there is a new trend on the Internet that is out there circulating but it is not as new on the Internet world as you might think. This trend is called catfishing.

Catfishing on the Internet should not be taken too lightly. Catfishing can be found on online dating websites and it can happen in person too if you’re not careful in noticing the signs.  These online dating websites are a, “playground for identity thieves, hackers and other nasty people.”

What is a catfish?  “A catfish – or someone online who’s pretending to be someone they are not.” This is something to think about long and hard before anyone makes the decision of trusting these dating websites.

Mellissa Ferrari, who wrote the article called, “What Is Catfishing And How Can We Protect Ourselves” states, “Some catfish do so because they don’t wish to reveal something they see as potentially negative about themselves, and some do it just for the fun of it.” Ferrari mentions in her article, that catfishes are looking to, “coerce someone into doing something they wouldn’t normally do – like give money or send intimate photos – or are trying to gather enough information to commit fraud identity.”

https://thebannercsi.com/2019/03/06/the-risks-of-using-cat-fishing-dating-services/

What is catfishing and how can we protect ourselves?

What is catfishing on the internet

The term ‘catfishing’ is used to describe when someone has created a fake online identity with the intent to pursue someone romantically under false pretences.

Why do people catfish?

Some catfish because they don’t wish to reveal something they see as potentially negative about themselves, and some do it just for the fun of it.

Unfortunately, others have more alarming agendas, such as wanting to coerce someone into doing something they wouldn’t normally do. For example, to give money, send intimate photos, or are trying to gather enough information to commit fraud identity.

How can catfishing make you feel?

Even if the catfishing is not particularly sinister, it can still be extremely hurtful and frustrating when you’ve invested time in someone online, only for them not to be who you thought they were. It can also make some women feel very vulnerable and impact their ability to trust anyone again, especially if they have already suffered a traumatic break up.

Catfishing is a somewhat scary concept, however don’t let it stop you from using dating apps and sites. You just need to protect yourself.

Tips to avoid being a victim of catfishing

Never use the Internet for online dating while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Block anyone suspicious.

Don’t leave it weeks, but take time to get to know someone and check that things ‘add up’ before meeting-up in real life.

Do a background check – Google a potential date if you have enough details. You can also use searches created for potential dates as well, thanks to the increase of online dating apps.

Look for red flags, such as spelling mistakes and bad grammar on a profile when someone has stated they are college or university educated.

Be wary if they mention recent traumatic life events (such as the death of a partner or child) as many will fake stories such as these to make you feel you feel sorry for them and therefore be more trusting.

One of the biggest indicators of catfishing is when a person makes excuses to not meet you, won’t do a video call and even avoids all conversation about when to meet up. If they’re putting off a face-to face-date it could mean they have something to hide.

If a profile photo looks like a Hollywood movie star or model and appears too good to be true, use Google images to check the profile photo. If it comes up on another site that makes you feel suspicious, or it’s out rightly a magazine cover model, you are potentially being catfished. You can also use Catfish reverse image search apps.

Always remember, if it’s too good to be true it probably is.

And then there’s kittenfishing

Another thing to be mindful of is kittenfishing. It’s quite likely you’re even guilty of this yourself!

A much lighter version of catfishing, it is when someone embellishes or improves their profile to make themselves more appealing online – such as using a photo from ten years ago, adjusting their age or lying about their education or profession.

Generally, people who kittenfish aren’t meaning to be harmful. The reason for it is to present the best version of themselves they possibly can to increase their odds of meeting someone. This doesn’t make it any less annoying though when you meet them in person.

And if you are tempted to kittenfish yourself, just remember that at some point potential dates and future partners will uncover the ‘real you’. Therefore, a true reflection of who you really are is always best.

https://beanstalkmums.com.au/catfishing-can-protect/

#Risks #CatFishing #DatingServices

[lattetudes]

hey!!! i was wondering, how come you study in france? i'm fairly new to your blog and i love your posts, i would like to hear more about your experience regarding studying in france in your situation!! and if you have any anecdotes about that that you would like to share!!

hi! firstly, thank you so much! it really means a lot to me. (seriously, i have the biggest smile on my face). i’m so sorry for the late response, i was moving (: 

send me another ask if you’d like to know more! this is a little long - 

the how 

french has been in my life for a long time. i think i was first enrolled in an international program (where they taught it) when i was twelve - not even a couple months later, i left to visit france for the first time to visit my mom.

she went to france (in 2011) to get her master’s degree in linguistics. 

my brother (2013) and sister (2011) went with her. (i, however, didn’t join her until the the summer before what would have been my freshman year. was that something i regret? yes.) 

so for three years, i visited them (and when i wasn’t, i lived alone with my dad, who worked a lot to support an apartment in france and in the united states).

 when i fourteen, i visited paris for two weeks with my class as part of an exchange program. 

it was chic, it was this entirely new universe i’d never seen before. i’d never felt more different, and i think that was a good thing. the cafés, the music, the pathways where hemingway walked -  it’s this sort of unconquerable way of living that makes up Paris’s charm – something that cannot be calculated into a ranking. 

it’s truly beautiful. and when i was asked if i wanted to go to poitiers, three hours away from paris (my last chance) for freshman year, i took it. i made the mistake of staying for friends - i couldn’t go through life wondering what if. i didn’t want to regret anything, you know? i knew i wasn’t going to be at the top of the class, not at first. 

only, it didn’t end up being one year. i would end up staying there for my entire career as a lycéenne. 

the apartments the apartments my family stays in are very small, with exception to our last one 

our first one was the size of a shoebox. i’m not kidding when the kitchen and the bedroom were in the same space. (the bed was a fold out couch). 

i don’t remember our second apartment very well. i think it was next to an indian restaurant - it did have two bedrooms, making it easier to stay in when i visited my family. 

the third was located in a small complex with a small parking space. 

the fourth, i don’t remember at all (: 

the fifth apartment is located above a sephora, about two minutes from the central square. we spent about three-four years here (renting), and it even had a loft space on the third floor. an artist, an attorney, and many other people with different stories lived there with us. i remember when the police showed up, twice. another story for another time (: i’ve got so many memories here, which makes it even harder to leave. it means a lot to me. i love it here: it’s empty now, save for a computer (the one i’m writing on right now), a desk, wifi, and a printer. our lease is up by the end of the month (: 

the sixth, next to a park and a café, where the neighbors play their music just a little too loud (: it’s different for sure. we just moved here, the rooms are fill with boxes and nothing is unpacked yet - hopefully, it will feel like home soon.

i spend christmas and the summers in the united states, in the house where i grew up until i was fourteen. 

since i live in a small city, i walk by almost all the apartments i’ve visited / lived in everyday. it’s surreal for sure - i get to see where i’ve started and where i’m going to be. 

france! 

i live in a city where you know everyone, and everyone knows you. 

there’s music almost always playing in the street. 

some people will judge you because of your nationality: it’s okay and you learn to deal with it. 

a lot of people like to do manifestations (they like to protest) here.

shops are everywhere - all of them are small town french stores and they’re super chic and very inexpensive. 

the cafés are great, very lovely and the food is above average

breakfast isn’t a big deal. croissants, orange juice, little bread and cheese, coffee..

i don’t like croissants (: or i didn’t, i’ve started to like them after four years. 

bacon isn’t bacon. 

in central square, they’ll have parties / an event in correspondance with the season

at christmas, central square is transformed into santa’s village: skating, hot cocoa, waffles, churros, cute scarves and hats, hazelnut coffee, that type of thing (:

most restaurants close at 2pm and re-open around seven. 

the bagel shop knows me and my order because i go there everyday. 

the quiches are amazing, if you like quiches. 

cobblestone streets.

sundays are quiet, almost everything is closed. 

where i live, it’s true: the french dress to impress. 

smoking is a thing - it’s not unusual, and everyone does it (not me), teachers included. 

i once saw one of the social economics teachers smoking with his students and taking instagram photos.

he was one of the newer professors. he left to get some life experience 

the language: studying in french

freshman year, it was hard. i didn’t have many friends, i was just learning the language, and most of all: i was lonely. 

everyone spoke so fast. i was completely out of my depth. to make matters more difficult, i suffer from social anxiety: which made talking a struggle i have to live with. 

by the end of my first year, my comprehension of french was excellent. 

when studying in another language, it may get a little bit overwhelming, but you have to really acknowledge what you don’t understand: is it the concept, the idea, or vocabulary?

there is a trick to learning languages that can shorten the journey to fluency from decades to mere months. there’s also something most teachers won’t even tell students for fear they would never start, but in fact, is vital that you know. hint: complete linguistic immersion is everything (:

4% of students embarking on language courses in schools achieve a basic level of fluency after three years. this is what happened to me, and i realized this as soon as i got here: basic was a generous way of describing my level back then. 

one of the biggest reasons cited for abandoning is that students don’t feel any sense of progression. a student with an A* will visit france and find they can’t even have a basic conversation. (me, my first year)

i felt like giving up becuase i had the wrong expectations set. 

it takes 600+ hours of study & practice to reach fluency in french

from february (which is way too late to start studying for the bac), i studied for a minimum of three - four hours every single day. 

be realistic about what you can achieve so you won’t get demotivated.

immersing yourself as deeply as possible in the subject allows you to rack up the hours as quickly as possible. 

memory fades unless it’s the language is used.

low-intensity studies (high school french) are ineffective because their intensity is so low that you end up forgetting a large percentage of what you learn. 

it’s not until B1/B2 that the light comes out and it starts to feel really good speaking French.

i took the B1 in tenth grade, my second year. i passed with like an 85 percent. it does get better. 

It’s really worth while registering to take DELF exams - tests that mesure  your linguistic ‘level’. 

i hadn’t heard of the DELF until i got to lycée. don’t be me!

i felt lost for the better part of a year. 

repetition is vital to learning. 

sleep is vital to memory. i still have problems with this, given the fact it still takes me a while to complete all my work. 

my lycée, or high school

is amazing. it’s made out of glass, shaped like a pyramid, and is relatively new compared to most of my city. 

we have french, spanish, russian, and chinese students (i’m the only american) who study here!

it’s right next to this mall, auchan, where everyone goes when they don’t have class.

a mini-café is managed by the MDL (student council) on the first floor.

you can get coffee, tea, cookies, chocolate, or crèpes there (on some days). it seriously helps with the long hours in the library

we have soundproof music rooms: pianos, music, drums.. 

on sunny days, groups of us will sit outside on the grass and just talk. we form circles and listen to people play music and sing. 

a lot of people smoke / hang out near the observatory (which is shaped like a flower). hasn’t been used in years. 

for the most part, the teachers are very good. 

for our last history class, we cried because the professor was leaving.

he baked us brownies and brought some drinks and it was one of the saddest moments of première (eleventh grade).

last year, we visited paris for two days. one night, the whole class united in a hotel room - we told ghost stories until 2am.

in spring, we host a festival: dancing, handball, singing contests, etc.

one day, my class dressed up as the x - men. 

french literature class is one of the hardest classes i’ve ever had to take. 

international week (where every student comes from around the globe to visit): i went to a party with some romanian students and drank beer for the very first time.

i can drink legally, now that i’m eighteen. 

drinking isn’t a big deal here, not where i live.

on tuesdays and wednesdays, my classes end at 12pm. 

three days out of a school week, i go to school at nine thirty in the morning.

mondays and fridays, i end at five thirty.

i have to take the bus for forty five minutes everyday.

ACFs on thursdays: classes created by students which are validated by a jury at the end of the year. i did fashion couture class this year and dance class last year.

if you guys have any more asks about my lycée, i’d love to answer them! 

[camploah]

The moment when Pearl Mackie understood just how big her new role as Doctor Who’s latest companion was came early in filming. “There was a scene in episode three that was so awesome – in the sense that I was awestruck by the scale of the set – that it was really humbling. I stood there looking at it, thinking, ‘Oh. Wow. This is a very big show.’ When you see it from the inside, that’s when you realise how massive it is.”

She’s not wrong ��� Doctor Who is, as 29-year-old Mackie puts it, “properly, globally huge”. The most successful science fiction series in television history, this tale of a history-haunted time lord and his adventures across the universe with various sidekicks has progressed far beyond its days as children’s tea-time entertainment. In 2013 the 50th anniversary special broke viewing records around the world after being aired in 94 countries simultaneously while the current Doctor, Peter Capaldi, began his stint by undertaking a rock star-style world tour with then companion Jenna Coleman, taking in Cardiff, London, Seoul, Sydney, New York, Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro. At each stop they were greeted by queues of fans, many of them in costume. There were Weeping Angels and Daleks, Cybermen and companions, and a whole host of Doctors, from every stage of this very British institution’s lengthy career.

Yet even institutions need a shot in the arm once in a while, and it’s this that the upbeat, enthusiastic Mackie, with her mobile features, frequent hand gesticulations and firm opinions, promises to bring to the series. Her part as new companion Bill Potts is “quite chatty, a bit mouthy, sometimes says the wrong thing… She questions things that haven’t been questioned in a really long time, which is fun.” Bill will also be openly gay. “It shouldn’t be a big deal in the 21st century. It’s about time, isn’t it?”

As is Mackie herself. Playing Bill is her first major role after a career as a jobbing actor consisting of a lot of repertory theatre, a year-long stint in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in London’s West End (“No, I wasn’t there when the roof fell in, that’s what everyone asks…”) and an afternoon’s work on daytime soap Doctors. “This is by far the biggest thing I have ever done, which is amazing,” she admits, laughing. “And also a bit mental.”

If it fazes her, then she’s hiding it well. At the photo shoot for this piece she gamely tries on outfit after outfit of streetwear, looking like a small but ferocious superhero, the type of no-nonsense heroine who’s as at home with a snappy retort as a swift roundhouse kick, and the perfect companion for Capaldi’s madcap incarnation of the Doctor. Afterwards in the studio next door she proves entertaining, relaxed company, happy to talk about everything from her love of old musicals (“These days they can seem quite alien, but I grew up with them – Singin’ in the Rain is one of my favourite films”) to seeing Angela Davis talk at the Southbank Centre (“She was so much more amazing than I ever imagined she would be”) and why another Davis, Viola, is her role model. (“I heard her speak after a screening of Fences and it was so empowering,” she says.)

Rather than hiding from the maelstrom to come, Mackie appears keen to embrace it, talking cheerfully about the fun she has had filming, how amazing Capaldi is (“You watch him doing stuff and you think, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, that looks good’ and then you see it on camera and you’re like ‘woaahhh’”), how much she enjoyed a recent Doctor Who convention and, most of all, how great the fans are.

“There was a guy who dressed up as me on Facebook within two hours of my part being announced. I thought: ‘This. Is. Brilliant.’ The whole fandom is amazing. There’s a pair of little kids who literally made my life. I was sitting at home on a Saturday feeling sleepy and I saw them online dressed as Bill. They’re so, so cute. I want to meet them.”

It wasn’t just the high levels of adorability that touched Mackie. “When I was little there weren’t that many people who looked like me on TV, so it’s great to have two little kids thinking: ‘OK, she looks like me so I’m going to dress up as her, and I don’t need a different kind of face make-up, I don’t need to straighten my hair.’”

She spent much of her own childhood searching for a similar jolt of recognition. “When Alicia Keys came out that was a big thing for me because she was mixed race as well,” she says. “There were a lot of people I liked on screen, like Judi Dench, she’s wicked, but that’s very different to having someone where you think, ‘She looks like me, maybe I could do that.’”

An only child, Mackie grew up in Brixton, south London, with her mother, an artist and health professional, now retired. It was a loving, supportive childhood, and one with its own claim to television history: her grandfather, Philip Mackie, wrote the screenplay for The Naked Civil Servant, “although he died the year before I was born,” she says, “so I never got to talk acting with him, but apparently he said to my mum and her sisters: ‘Don’t be an actress…’”

Undeterred by this piece of family wisdom, Mackie bombarded her mother with acting requests. “I wanted to act from the age of five – my mum was like, ‘OK, just go to school.’ Then when I was 14 I wanted to go to the Brit School and Mum said, ‘OK, maybe stay at this school, do drama and do your GCSEs.’ Her advice was to take the exams and have a back-up: ‘If you still want to do it after uni, great.’ She’s very sensible.” Despite that, Mackie never seriously considered another career. She studied drama at Bristol University before landing a place on the Bristol Old Vic’s prestigious two-year foundation course and admits she was lucky her mother was so supportive. “I moved back home after I graduated from Bristol Old Vic and I’m really lucky I could do that as it allowed me to work in repertory theatre for no money – it would have been a very different story otherwise.”

Is she concerned about being branded a companion for life? “There is that worry, but the other companions have gone on to do incredible things and, if anything, it’s just a wonderful way of getting yourself out there. There are elements of [she puts on a very daffy voice]: ‘Doctor, what’s this?’ But what’s great about the show is that the heart of it, the relationship between the Doctor and his companion, is very real.”

She’s aware though that any series of this magnitude comes with a downside. “I know not everyone is going to love Bill, and why should they?” she says. “But I do, and hopefully there won’t be too much unpleasant stuff. If there is, I just won’t listen to it.”

She is similarly sanguine about her own social media presence. She maintains a vigorous Twitter account which doesn’t shy away from tweets of a political bent, referencing Black Lives Matter and talking about both Trump and Brexit.

“The thing is, it’s all the same stuff I used to tweet – I’ve just got more people following me,” she says. “It’s quite weird to me when people say: ‘I think you should only tweet about you and not political issues.’ Fair enough, but I’m not only going to tweet about Doctor Who because essentially that’s just my job. I’m not a brand. I’ve had an entire life before that and I’ve got my own mind. It’s also…” She breaks off before adding seriously: “I just think you can’t not have an opinion about the current state of the world and if I’ve got a slight platform to raise awareness about things, then that’s a great thing to use it for.”

Bill is a world away from recent companions – “a very normal girl from a very normal existence” – with none of the complicated back story that dominated Karen Gillen and Jenna Coleman’s runs on the show. Instead, this new companion sounds closer to those from the show’s original run: wide-eyed, practical, up for an adventure and free of torment. “The great thing about Bill is that she wants to know how stuff works and is also excited about what’s happening, and I think that opens up the show for people who may not have watched before or for a while,” says Mackie. “You’re not being dropped into the middle of this complicated storyline, you can just go on the journey with Bill.”

She hopes her tight group of friends from her south London schooldays will be among those who take that journey. “The first episode actually airs on my best mate’s birthday… luckily she was like: ‘Great, we can watch it and then go out.’ Which was cool because I didn’t want to suggest on her birthday that [she drops her voice in a parody of a serious actor]: ‘This is my show and we must all sit down and watch reverentially in silence.’”

In fact, she expects the opposite will be true, and that’s fine. “I kind of hope they all take the piss a little bit. The funniest thing was when I first got the part. We’re all on this WhatsApp group and my cousin wrote: ‘Oh my God, it’s so exciting that you’re going to be in Inspector Morse.’ I was like, ‘What? Really?’ Everyone took the piss for days.”

[courtingstars]

Notes for Storming the Castle, Chapter 4

Hello again, my dear AkaFuri readers! These notes are kind of long since I rambled on and on about Disney movies because I’m me. (And now after this chapter everyone knows why I put Disney movies in the Ao3 tags! //laughs)

So we’ll start with the Disney stuff, then I mention a few things about Akashi’s sexuality in the fic, and then the usual cultural notes. (Plus the real-life inspiration for the last scene!) Also as a reminder, I have a Pinterest board with photos that helped inspire the first half of the story.

(Cut for me being an incurable Disney nerd, plus notes about sexuality, love hotels, Japanese convenience stores, and other things!)

On The Disney Movies

I should probably feel bad about putting so many Disney references in a fic. //laughs (I’ve been Disney obsessed since I was little, and I wish I could pretend I grew out of it, but I really, really didn’t). But it seemed like a fitting way to bring up the lighter side of fairy tales, since that’s a major theme in the story.

It’s also worth mentioning that Disney stuff is a popular obsession in Japan! There’s Tokyo Disneyland, tons of great Disney stores, you get the idea. I’ve also seen a few Japanese dubs of the movies, which are excellent. <3

I didn’t plan to go into so much detail, but I wanted to try to make the movie references as accessible as I could. And if you haven’t seen the films, I do recommend them because I am a sappy dork. I chose them to match the story, and hopefully to create some interesting parallels to both Akashi and Furihata.

So first, The Little Mermaid! Random fact: This was the first movie I ever saw in a theater. (Also one of my first memories! I was three.) The songs are great, and it’s an interesting take on the fairy tale. But mostly I just thought it would be kind of funny that Furihata would like a movie about a redhead who has issues with a super-strict father and a hard time fitting in with normal humans, because of course you would Furi. (I mean Ariel was basically the reason all of us 90’s kids were in love with supernaturally red hair, right...? No? Just me? //shutting up now)

(… I would absolutely read a fic about merman Akashi trying to comb his hair with a fork though, I don’t know how that would even be in character BUT I’D READ IT. XD)

And if you haven’t seen the film before or want a trip down memory lane, here are some YouTube clips of parts I mentioned in the fic! The opening, Fathoms Below, has beautiful atmosphere. Part of Your World is Ariel’s most famous song, and I pretty much ripped off the reprise of the song in Akashi’s dream sequence so let’s all crack up together about that visual, haha. I think Poor Unfortunate Souls is one of the best villain songs ever, and of course Kiss The Girl is famous and adorable (and you can see how it ends if you didn’t already know, or you forgot!).

As for Cinderella, it’s so iconic that I feel like I don’t really have to say much about it... I did briefly mention the scene with Cinderella getting ready in the morning, which is pretty well-known (also I want you all to really imagine Akashi and Furihata watching a movie where the mice all sing in those tiny high voices together), but the main thing I wanted to link is the fairy godmother’s song! It is precious and iconic and absolute NONSENSE and I will now always think of Akashi cracking up when I watch it. //laughs I also quoted the song with Cinderella and her prince, So This Is Love, which has gorgeous scenery.

And last but not least, Beauty and the Beast! For some reason I’ve had in mind for a VERY long time that Akashi only saw this Disney movie when he was a kid. (I wrote a really silly GoM fic about my headcanons for all their favorite Disney movies back in 2015, but never got around to posting it. //laughs). In any case, hopefully I made it obvious enough in the chapter why I think it’s an Akashi sort of story. (Because of course in an AkaFuri fic Akashi’s Disney crush would be a book-loving brunette who’s off in their own little world, right? Pfft.) Also, full warning, this chapter won’t be the last time I include a painfully obvious homage to this movie… I apologize in advance. xD

Anyway, one of my favorite parts is the prologue! That chiming music is so epic, and the art is breathtaking. And of course Belle’s opening song in the village is brilliant. Those two clips show off the scenery well, which ties in closely to why I referenced it in the fic. The song Something There is a great example of the way the romance develops. And I could ramble on and on, but those were the main things I referenced, so that’s probably sufficient. //laughs

… Okay and also can we just agree that all happy-ending kisses should end in a magical firework explosion? Yes? Yes. (I may or may not be planning to write a scene kind of like it for, um, a certain fic that isn’t this one… And now everyone will know my not-so-secret influences. //cough)

And if you happen to be in a Disney mood now, I’ll also link a countdown I found of the top 20 best Disney endings, which includes almost all of my favorite Disney films/some sadly underrated ones! (My personal favorites will always be #13 and #7, but I could not agree more about the top five rankings, because I am a Disney Renaissance kid. <3)

On Akashi’s Sexuality in the Series

I mentioned this a while ago, but now might be a good time to mention it again! In my AkaFuri series, Akashi is on the asexual spectrum, but I haven’t used the specific term for his identity in the fic. Partly because this fic takes place when those terms were even less commonly known (back in 2010, which is only a few years after I first came across AVEN, so the idea would have been even less familiar in Japan), and partly because he hasn’t fully discovered this about himself yet.

One of the reasons I started writing this series was that I wanted to try to capture how it feels when you haven’t completely figured out your sexuality yet. That was pretty normal among my friends and I when we were sixteen, for a lot of different reasons. (Furihata will be having a similar experience in the series too, which I’ll get into later!) Anyway, I’ll be exploring these issues in more detail in the next fic in the series, but since this chapter does mention some of the feelings Akashi has been struggling with, I thought it would be good to clarify.

On College Kids in Japan in Relationships

I had a lot of fun writing the scene where Furihata’s brother sneaks back into the house, and since it loosely references an aspect of modern Japanese culture, I should probably mention that here…

It’s not too uncommon for university students in Japan—and other young people in their twenties—to still live with their families. Which means that for the ones in relationships, it can be hard to find some (ahem) private time, especially since living spaces are often crowded and PDAs are discouraged. So it’s very normal for young people in Japan to go out to places like love hotels with their significant others…

… And that’s basically what I was implying, when it comes to where Furihata’s brother snuck off to. //laughs That’s also the context of Furihata’s mother’s lecture, and I tried to capture some of the Japanese norms about sex there as well. It’s tricky to explain how they differ from Western norms, because they’re not more “conservative” or “liberal” exactly, just different. (And they vary a lot depending on the person and what generation they’re from!)

But basically, to sum up, I was hoping to convey that Furihata’s mother isn’t upset about what Furihata’s brother is doing per se, it’s more that she’s worried about him being responsible and “appropriate” while he’s doing it. My impression is that it’s unusual that a parent would broach the subject like she does--but hopefully it’s clear that this is a part of her character. Similar to how she dealt with events in Chapter Three. (And that’s also why a character like Akashi is very embarrassed to have overheard it, poor kid. xD)

Also! For those of you who are 18+, if you want to learn more about the cultural context of love hotels in Asian countries, and what they’re like (answer: epic) I love this comic that sums it up. (The comic isn’t explicit, BUT it’s hosted on a webcomic site—that I personally love—that features 18+ comics about sex ed and sex toy reviews. So please be aware, the ads and some of the site’s illustrations are explicit! And very inclusive, sex-positive and awesome.)

On Elementary School Uniforms

I also wanted to briefly mention one of the cultural tropes in Furihata’s family photos! Japanese elementary students wear bright yellow hats when they walk to school, as a way to make them more visible to prevent accidents.

On Conbinis

This is basically just a note to say that I love Japanese convenience stores. //laughs They’re everywhere, everyone uses them, and the major chains are extremely competitive. So they’re often open around the clock, their services are amazing, and their food is delicious.

Also, here’s a random fact! Kit Kats are hugely popular in Japan, and they have all kinds of unusual and regional flavors, including green tea and wasabi and sweet potato. (Yes, really.) The trend started because of a pun in Japanese that made them a popular good-luck gift to give to exam students. Now they’re so well loved that they even have fancy chocolatier stores that sell ultra-fancy Kit Kats because… Because Japan, that’s why. XD

(Also when I post this chapter, I’m rewarding myself by ordering some hojicha Kit Kats from Amazon, because roasted tea flavored Kit Kats from Kyoto are you serious of course I want that in my mouth.)

On the Inspiration for the Walk with Furi’s Dad

I also wanted to make sure I mentioned one of my biggest inspirations for this fic! Which is that when my sister studied abroad in Japan, she stayed with an amazing host family near Hiroshima.

I’ll never forget all her stories about what it was like, but my #1 favorite is that she was awake one morning and her host dad invited her to come on a walk with him… At which point he put the family cat in a harness and they went out and walked the cat. (Maybe that’s more common in some countries, but at least in the U.S., I don’t know anyone who walks a cat? XD) She tells the story a million times better than I do, but the gist of it is that they wandered around this ultra-tiny parking lot for a few minutes and he showed her the strawberries in their garden and it was adorable and a little strange and the best thing ever. <3

I didn’t have Furihata’s dad walk a cat in the fic, sadly enough! (I decided it would be kind of distracting… Also, the Furihatas don’t technically have a cat in canon. //laughs) But I did put a cat in at the end. Partly because everything’s a metaphor, the metaphors are out of control, someone save me from myself. But mostly because I wanted to include a nod to my sister’s host dad and his family, and how much they influenced this story, by being so welcoming to her when she was so far from home. <3

[itendswhereitallbegan]

The biggest question on most prospective applicants minds is: which college should I apply to? There is no correct answer to this question and there is no point trying to “beat the system” by applying to what you think is a less popular college (more tips on how to choose an Oxford college here). Christ Church is one of the most famous (and definitely most touristy) colleges at Oxford but I’m guessing most people don’t know much about it apart from the fact that it’s the “Harry Potter” college. After four lovely years at Christ Church, I thought I’d share some of the other perks of attending this college that you won’t find out until you get here.

Free Cake

I thought I’d start with the most important. When I arrived at Christ Church we used to receive a free cake every term. That’s three free cakes a year. Unfortunately, it has now been reduced to one free cake per year but free cake is still free cake so you can’t complain really. All you have to do is email the cake rep with your choice of cake (yes, we have a cake rep) and within a week your selected cake will appear in your pigeon hole. Magic.

Free Bops*

Ok so this is sort of a lie because since a certain newsworthy incident involving a flamethrower a couple of years ago, Christ Church bops are no longer completely free for students. There is now a charge of £1 for 3 drinks at bops but that’s hardly going to break the bank. Plus, knowing just how much vodka goes into each and every one of those drinks (about 80% vodka, 20% mixer), you can’t complain. It’s completely and utterly disgusting but you’ll grow to love it if you end up at Oxford.

*Bops are fancy dress parties that occur twice a term at Christ Church. They’re a large part of life at Oxford University and every college will hold their own throughout the term.  

A Beautiful (and Enormous) Library

One of my absolute favourite parts of Christ Church is the library. The building is absolutely gigantic and it’s full of books both old and new. On the lower levels you’ll find the East and the West Wing, one of which has a dark, traditional feel whilst the other is white, bright and airy. Upstairs you’ll find ancient books dating back centuries. You’re not allowed to access these books without special permission and if you step an inch too close to them you’ll set an alarm off. The upper floor isn’t used much but when you’re in your final year, you can go up there to study in the peace and quiet.

The library is both large and well stocked. For some subjects, such as Classics, you’ll rarely have to leave ChCh library to find the books you need for your essays. For others, you may have to find some at your faculty libraries but a large number will be at Christ Church. What’s great is that as of last year, they’ve also started stocking up on lots of the latest fiction reads so you’ll find all the nominees for the Man Booker prize, Bailey’s Prize etc. on the shelves too! Most colleges don’t have a general fiction section so this is really cool.

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Dine in the Harry Potter Hall EVERY Night

If you’ve been following me for a while you’ll probably know that one of my main reasons for applying to Christ Church is that numerous Harry Potter film scenes were shot here. I am a HUGE Potter fan so I have no shame in admitting this. One of the most magical parts of going to Christ Church is that every evening you climb the steps (used in the Harry Potter films) to get to the Hall (which the Great Hall is modelled on). I basically spent the four years of my degree pretending that I was a Hogwarts student and I loved every second of it.

Fun story: To celebrate Halloween in 2016, Christ Church hosted a Harry Potter dinner for charity. We all dressed up as witches and wizards and the hall was decorated to be more festive. Dumbledore gave us the welcome speech before we began the feast and at the end, Quirrel ran in screaming “Troll in the Dungeon”. Hands down one of my favourite ChCh memories EVER.

Read about all the different Harry Potter locations at Oxford University here.

Cheap Food

Ok so the food at Christ Church is nothing to shout about. I’d say the quality of food is definitely something that Christ Church could improve on in comparison to other colleges, but they more than make up for this with super low, student-friendly prices. Once you’re on the meal plan, you’re signed up for a three course dinner each evening for only £146 per term. With 8 week terms, that works out at roughly £2.50 per meal. That’s right, £2.50 for a three course meal. In the Harry Potter Hall. Every night.

Peck Sets

A huge perk of attending Christ Church is that you’re guaranteed accommodation for all three or four years of your degree. During that time, the option of living in a “Peck Set” is made available to you if you’re lucky enough to rank highly in the room ballot. Unfortunately, I was not. I was placed at number 82. Fortunately, one of my best friends was ranked number 6 in the ballot and he pulled me up the ballot, landing us both one of the best Peck Sets in college. A Peck Set consists of three rooms: one living room and two bedrooms. The bedrooms contain a sink, a bed, a wardrobe etc. and in the living room there are at least two large sofas, two large desks and a fridge.

The great thing about Peck Sets is that each and every one is slightly different. Some still have dark mahogany walls, others have been painted white. Some have old fireplaces, large bookshelves, decorative mirrors and more. My Peck Set was definitely the grandest accommodation I’ll ever live in in my life and as all students at Christ Church pay the same amount for accommodation no matter which block you get put in, it’s a real bargain!

If you look at the picture below, our room can be found behind the two long windows on the far left. Our room was straight opposite the library which is a blessing at Christ Church because the library is so god damn beautiful.

Generous Grants

Whilst many applicants who come from poorer backgrounds are put off applying to the grander, richer colleges because they assume they’re full of “posh” people, what they often don’t realise is that these are the colleges with the most resources and grants to help people. Christ Church has many generous grants and also offers rewards based on great exam results. There are travel grants, sports grants, yearly bonuses for scholars and more. Being a literature student, my favourite has to be the book grant which gives you £240 to spend during your time at university.

It’s also worth noting that a new initiative has just come into place at Christ Church as they try to broaden diversity at the college. Four new scholarships have just been announced to help those from disadvantaged backgrounds as well as summer bursaries to help these children carry out internships. There will also be new subsidies for accommodation and food, making living at Christ Church (which is already cheaper than at many other colleges), even cheaper. Find out more about these initiatives here.

Beautiful grounds

Christ Church has some magnificent architecture but what is possibly even more lovely are the Meadows just outside and the Masters Gardens inside. The Meadows will lead you down to the boathouses and the river where rowing competitions occur or you can do a lap round the whole thing and end up back at Christ Church. When you’re walking around the Meadows it’s easy to forget that you’re in the middle of a city so it’s lovely to have this peaceful haven right outside your door!

There are also a number of smaller gardens inside Christ Church which are open to the students during the summer. Here, you can play croquet with your friends, kick a ball around, read a book, sunbathe – it’s like your own personal (and very beautiful) park.

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Location

Christ Church is located very centrally in Oxford and it’s proximity to Tesco, Pret, itsu, Jericho Coffee Traders etc. is worth noting. My boyfriend went to LMH which is notorious (alongside St Hugh’s) for being incredibly far out of the centre (in Oxford terms that’s still only a 25 minute walk!), and I can’t even begin to explain how frustrating it is when you want to dash to the shops or when you’re coming home from the club at 3am. Oxford is a walking city so I’d highly recommend picking a college that is fairly central so you can get everywhere quickly and easily.

Pizza Artisan 

An artisan pizza van, suitably named, Pizza Artisan, stops outside Christ Church every. single. evening. It’s genuinely the best pizza in town and the hour long queues are all the proof you need. These pizzas are hand made and cooked in the van so it’s always fresh and hot when it gets to you. There are loads of different options available and it caters for vegetarians and vegans too!

Side note: there’s also a kebab van for when you get back to college after Parkend at 3am.

So there you have it, 10 good reasons to apply to Christ Church, Oxford. I could make an even longer list but I think I’ve already written quite enough! A couple of other ChCh highlights include: the pet tortoise, the Dean’s dog, the best Oxford balls and the best guest dinners. I absolutely loved my time at Christ Church and would highly recommend applying but at the end of the day college choice is a very personal thing. Check out this post for more tips on how to choose the best college for you. As always, if you have any questions about Christ Church or life at Oxford University, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

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Find out more about Christ Church on the website here.

For more posts about my time at Oxford University, check out the following:

8 Do’s and Dont’s When Choosing an Oxford College

How Many Books Did I Read For My French Degree At Oxford University?

What is it like to study French at Oxford University?

The Harry Potter Tour of Oxford University

3 TV Shows To Prepare You For Life at Oxford University

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10 REASONS TO APPLY TO CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD UNIVERSITY The biggest question on most prospective applicants minds is: which college should I apply to? There is no correct answer to this question and there is no point trying to "beat the system" by applying to what you think is a less popular college (more tips on how to choose an Oxford college…