#i have As in 4/5 classes (have a B in english unfortunately Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[neurodiversebones]

Hi Soleil!!!!

1. What happened to the bracket? Are you ok???

2. You-coded tags

1. the bracket Will be back-- unfortunately i have an Evil Brain and have been kicking my own ass lately (eating disorder and depression ,,, not fun !) on top of the fact that im just finishing up my first semester of university !! i am crazy busy rn but will be dome my first semester as of the 17th and will start posting again then 🙏

2. SO ME CODED

[shiraishi--kanade]

;; i wanna hear about some of your 30+ proseka ocs!! if you wanna talk about them 👀

I'm hesitant, because I barely have any accurate artwork of them (and what I do have isn't drawn by me, actually), but it would be kind of hypocritical and silly for me to shy away from the question after that post, so...

In total I have about 30 proseka ocs and they keep on multiplying, but here's my focus for the time being.

[ yeah, I don't have a fancy logo or anything like this. I'm not at all a visual artist, unfortunately ]

Kawaakari Orchestra, or KWKO for stort, is a unit of 6 classical musicians that participate in chamber music/classical music competition on a national level in Japan; however, there's a twist - the competition is specifically designed to modernize and revolutionise the approach to how classical music is presented to the general public, so there's a lot of non-traditional elements both during performances and in between them.

In short, this is not what they signed up for (with some of the members even being picked up somewhat involuntarily), and the competition is fierce and nobody is having fun on the journey to victory - but also self-exploration, healing and mending their relationship with their lives and each other.

More info under the cut!

Their sekai is Conservatory Sekai, which is similar to Leo/need's school set up but instead of empty classrooms there are empty lecture halls and practice rooms; one main practice room which is very spacious and open and several smaller, more private ones. All the Virtual Singers are the same as in canon and all play the same instruments the cast does.

There are also two new schools for all OCs to attend because I wanted more creative freedom over that!

Meeting the sillies!

[surname - name. Keep in mind that picrew designs can be inaccurate to various degrees. All follow proseka wiki template!]

Unit leader/2nd Violin: Saitsu Maki

Gender: Female

Birthday: June 1st (♊)

School: Miyaji Girls Academy (1-A)

Committee: Library

Club: Undecided

Part-time job: None

Hobbies: Travelling, Meeting new People, Reading

Speciality: Photographic memory; English

Favourite food: Soba noodles

Least favourite food: Anything spicy

Dislikes: Insects

1st Violin: Kozaki Karin

Gender: Female

Birthday: August 4th (♌)

School: Miyaji Girls Academy (1-A)

Committee: Class Representative

Club: Go

Part-time job: Bookshop

Hobbies: Strategy games

Speciality: Time management

Favourite food: Shiitake fried rice

Least favourite food: Eggs

Dislikes: Idleness

Piano: Shimizu Kairi

Gender: Male

Birthday: March 11 (♓)

School: Hakkei High School (1-C)

Committee: Disciplinary

Club: Chamber Music

Part-time job: None

Hobbies: Collecting Stationery, Journaling

Speciality: Aesthetic Notetaking

Favourite food: White tayaki

Least favourite food: Prawns

Dislikes: Crowded places

Cello: Ekuro Suzuka

Gender: Female

Birthday: November 21 (♏)

School: Miyaji Girls Academy (1-B)

Committee: Health

Club: Photography

Part-time job: Freelance photographer

Hobbies: Arts & Crafts; Baking

Speciality: First Aid & Nursing

Favourite food: Panna cotta, Blueberry sauce

Least favourite food: Salads

Dislikes: Hospitals

[sorry for the very bad quality for the next two ones, I can't afford making a neka.cc account right now. Maybe Someday!]

Viola: Kaedehara Akari

Gender: Female

Birthday: September 30 (♎)

School: Hakkei High School (2-D)

Committee: Greening

Club: Gardening

Part-time job: None

Hobbies: Going on morning walks, Tending to her potted plants

Speciality: Flower language

Favourite food: Pizza

Least favourite food: Tomatoes

Dislikes: Viola

Flute: Fujisaki Reishi

Gender: Male

Birthday: December 28 (♑)

School: Hakkei High School (2-A)

Committee: Beauticarion

Club: None

Part-time job: None

Hobbies: Composing music, Shopping

Speciality: Music theory; Calligraphy

Favourite food: French fries, Instant noodles

Least favourite food: Pickled foods

Dislikes: Criticism

picrews/neka cc used: 1-2, 3, 4, 5, 6

~~~

Some very important infographics to understand the dynamics of the group (4koma cutouts courtesy of @the-one-that-weeps):

They have a lot stuff going on, and so far I've planned a series for the that goes over from the main story up to their World Link event; but a lot of this is still Subject To Change and WIP, of course. So this is all I'm going to say so far in order to keep things interesting if I do happen to write about them at some point.

Hope you all like them, even if they're surface level, they mean the world to me. If you have proseka fan oc, this is the cue for you to talk about them as well. Let's re-populate the tag. Cringe culture is dead. Fan Units is where it's at.

[angieloveshua]

“188男团 novels.” | Angie reviews novels that she read in Spanish because she was too lazy to translate her reactions to English, pt. 1.

🫧 —Alpha Predator. | 5/5 ☆.

No carrd, unfortunately.

Alpha Predator is the latest 188男团 novel of the series, and by so far, my absolute favourite. The story follows Shen Dai, an B rate omega, who agrees to marry off on behalf of his half-brother to pay off his father's debts. Little did he know that his meant-to-be husband was Qu Moyu, the heir of the Xingzhou Group, his boss, and the man who saved him from an embarrassing situation years ago. Shen Dai knows that the best option for him is to see this marriage as a financial exchange, but he can't help falling in love with the handsome yet ruthless Qu Moyu.

This novel is an ABO classic, but who doesn't love classics? I do. I love Alpha Predator, and I read the whole book in four days. I must mention that Suida knows how to draft addictive novels. I devour this one, and I miss the feeling I got while reading it.

Before reading the novel, I saw someone ranking Qu Moyu as the scummiest gong of all the series, even worse than Shao Qun, and I was scared. What could have this man do to be worse than Shao Qun? When I finished the novel, I couldn't disagree more.

Although I am well aware that what Qu Moyu did was atrocious, to say the least, I understand why he did all of that. He was raised to always value rationality and benefits above everything, even his own feelings. And guess what? I'm weak. I never hated him. I adore how he addressed all what he did, he reflects about it (and I put this in italics because I feel like most of the love interests don't regret their mistakes and just try not to do that badly again), and he works hard to be a better husband, father, and man. In conclusion: I'm biased. Qu Moyu best 188男团 gong. 💜

Before going to the next novel, let me at these two bullet points:

The ABO. It was extremely interesting to see how alphas and omegas were divided into classes according to their pheromone level and how it played a key role in the protagonists' lives. The scenes where pheromones came into place were /screams.

The romance. QuShen is the best 188 couple, beat it.

🫧 —Winner Takes All. | 4/5 ☆.

carrd.

Winner Takes All is the first 188男团 novel I read, and I would also recommend it to be your first one if you want to get into the 188男团 world. The pace is easy to follow, and Zhao Jinxin is one of the least scummy gongs of the series.

The book's MC is Li Shuo, who is dearly loved within the fandom and had played the second love interest in other novels (Sissy, for example), and we see how he falls in love with 🥁 his enemy's cousin, Zhao Jinxin. Really, one of the greatest sins Zhao Jinxin has committed is to be Shao Qun's cousin (and this isn't even his fault, you see).

Li Shuo and Zhao Jinxin have good chemistry. They have a lot of interests in common and their families are friends. One could say it's a match made in heaven and that nothing could go wrong... right?

Well, well, well, let me tell you that I was so heartbroken that I had to listen to Bad Bunny songs to not cry. But don't worry! It's a HE.

🫧 —Additional Inheritance. | 3/5 ☆.

No carrd, unfortunately.

Additional Inheritance («Maldita herencia», Damned Inheritance in Spanish) is Luo Yi's and Wen Xiaohui's story. Everything starts when Wen Xiaohui receives her adoptive jiejie's suicide notice —but not only that, her jiejie left him a considerable amount of inheritance along with her only child, a fifteen-year-old boy named Luo Yi, who has a high IQ and is considered matured for his age.

For this novel, I remembered I posted a tweet with a theory of what could ruined Luo Yi's and Wen Xiaohui's happiness. My moots called me ‘witch,’ and for one moment in my life, I hated being right.

To say I was shocked was the least. I texted, let's say, six of my friends and told them what was going because I couldn't believe my eyes. How could he...?!

And so, yes, I can't say that I hate Luo Yi, but I also can't say that I love him. I don't want to post a spoiler here, but, hey, I was reading a little in my graduation party and I didn't know what to do with my feelings.

As for the plot, I enjoyed how Wen Xiaohui escalated in the fashion world (I like to call it that way) and I felt proud of myself for understanding the finance part (my financial market course is so useful, hehehe).

So, these were the 188男团 I've read so far and a little of what I think. I plan to read Yet You're In Love With an Idiot and Professional Body Double, so the next post of 188男团 will be of them. I hope you enjoy the reviews and give a try to any of these novels if they attracted your attention (READ ALPHA PREDATOR). Angie's off.

[hydr0generati0n]

15 questions 15 mutuals!

Thanks for tagging me @rosie-b ! I hope the world doesn’t implode if I do this wrong

1. Are you named after anyone?

No! I happen to have an incredibly uncommon name with a very unique spelling.

2. When was the last time you cried?

Oh darn, I really wish I could remember it’s been too long. I like crying a lot, it’s so cleansing. Unfortunately my emotions are weaved into each other like a tapestry.

3. Do you have kids?

Not yet. I want to adopt but I’m not in the right mental state and worried I might not break the generational trauma. So for now I have my stuffed animals that I consider my children.

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Ah, I was taught by the greatest and studied with them as well. But I keep my powers a secret… unless it would be really funny.

5. What sports have you / are you playing?

I have been swimming since I was propagated. I always wanted to play other sports too but bc I grew up poor there wasn’t any space for that. Now however I go swimming all the time!

6. What’s the first thing you notice about someone?

Attitude, three or four seconds of speech and a little body language and I already think I have your personality pegged.

7. What’s your eye colour?

Green - orange

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

Both? Depends on what I’m in the mood for. As long as I feel something.

9. Any special talents?

Uhhhh, I can burp breathing in and out? I can hold off stimming for a really long time (after that I explode). I give good head. I make the best pancakes in the tri-state area

10. Where were you born?

The Netherlands

11. What are your hobbies?

Cooking, swimming, drawing, fantasy world escapism. And I love writing too.

12. Do you have pets?

Unfortunately my room mate is very allergic. But I’m thinking about getting a white Lizard and calling her blizzard.

13. How tall are you?

184 cm. I think that’s 6 feet for you Americans

14. Favourite subject in school?

English, French, PE and music were definitely the most fun. I also love cooking class but I don’t think that’s a universal experience.

15. Dream job?

Author or creative design. Somewhere where I can blast my creative powers into a beam and get paid six figures for it

Now to the invitees!

@poorschilpad @chaoticneutralcunt @jimmawww

@loiswasadevil @clivussy @wabble-bee @thiscuntkills @echolesseternal @bi-times-two and anyone else interested ^-^

[blankingbloom]

5/26/24

Dear Angelica (aka future me),

Hey! How are you? Before I start my thousands of questions, let me first say, congratulations on graduating and finishing your senior year of high school!!! this must be a bittersweet moment for you, as I am experiencing this at the moment as a junior watching the grades above me graduate and do senior activities. Graduating is a once in a lifetime moment, not everybody gets to graduate due to unfortunate circumstances, but congratulations! Thank you so much for staying strong, the k-12 system is literally horrible lol. I just wanted to say, I (17 year old Angelica) will forever be within you. I am you, but I want you to have no regrets or wising to be me because “life was so carefree” 💀💀 naw it’s not I’m suffering rn lmfao I have 3 summer classes, a job to juggle and volunteer opportunities to catch up on and college apps 😿 whomp whomp. I so desperately want to be you right now! It may feel insufferable at the moment and you feel lots of bittersweet feelings and loneliness being unleashed from hell (prison) (kleinisd) (kleinhigh); you should know that there is a whole chapter ahead of you and you’ve achieved a milestone! When something ends, a new opportunity arises. I hope you’ll feel better soon, knowing how I feel now will probably affect you 10x deeper (you’ll understand). Highschool for me was no fun adventure; I was barely sociable, barely any friends (like a few ofc I’m not a loser), I felt like I wasn’t on track to be my genuine real self anytime soon, but you have the opportunity to change that through college. I need you to be stronger for me until we get our masters in compsci 💀. Be an academic weapon once more for us plz!! I know you want that so bad. I know our experience wasn’t the best, especially during covid and certain situations, but there is a whole life ahead of us, that is depending on our actions. I trust us to keep it up! BTW Im missing a ton of the 2023 seniors, I can’t believe that it’s real. It low key hurt seeing everyone I had classes with especially in financial math, english, photography, and a&p graduate. It’s so bittersweet it low key hurt my feelings, especially seeing everyone I grew up with who were a grade above me. I don’t want to forget them at all, I want to remember who they are! I never peaked in high school, but I’m never going to see these people again, unless it’s by a rare chance someday, I doubt they would recognize me. I guess I just grew attached. Anyways, I have some questions LOL.

1. What is our plan after graduating Highschool? What college are we going to?

2. Did we end up submitting any of our SAT/ACT scores?

3. What’s your favorite song currently?

4. Are we still dating Ben?

5. Did we make any new friends?

6. What is your college essay about?

7. What made us stronger?

8. How was senior year? Was it any easier taking AP classes? Do we understand pre-calc?

9. Do we still want to take comp sci?

10. What happened to your H‑E‑B job?

11. Did we get any stoles/cords for graduation or not?

12. What was our final Highschool GPA?

13. What’s our class schedule?

14. What do we look like now? Do I still have short hair? Do I still look gay?

15. Can we crochet with greater experience?

16. What’s your biggest worry?

17. Are you happy?

Thank you for reading this!! Respond to my questions soon. Goodbye! I will always be within you.

Sincerely, Angelica

____________________________________________________________

REPLY:

Hi Baby Angelica!

Since you're from the past, I have so so so much to catch you up on. Time flies by when you're consistently stressed out. But don't worry! I will answer your millions of questions first! Then we can actually discuss :)

1. What is our plan after graduating Highschool? What college are we going to?

A: We are doing Computer Engineering! After hours and hours of research, I wanted you to have opportunities in both the computer science and electrical engineering fields. I want you to have a lot of pathways so you can have tons of money and opportunities! We are going to UT Dallas. We got CAPPED from UT Austin and UW-Seattle was way out of our budget sadly. Maybe someday my love :(

2. Did we end up submitting any of our SAT/ACT scores?

A: Hell no, they were too low LMFAO

3. What’s your favorite song currently?

A: Talk by Beabadoobee, Antihero by Taylor Swift, any MSI song

4. Are we still dating Ben?

A: Yes <3

5. Did we make any new friends?

A: YES! We aren't friends with.. those girl(s) anymore. They were bad for you. WE HAVE MORE GENUINE AND KIND FRIENDS!! There is a whole world out there waiting for you. I love my friends.

6. What is your college essay about?

A: Bugs. In the UT Austin essays, we wrote about photography, allergies, tamagotchis, etc.

7. What made us stronger?

A: Learning to adapt, spreading love, reading people, putting ourselves in uncomfortable situations in order to grow. Being with likeminded people!

8. How was senior year? Was it any easier taking AP classes? Do we understand pre-calc?

A: PRE CAL WAS MY MOST HATED SUBJECT. It is so fricking hard I dont think I ever understood the concepts. The AP Classes had lots of work in it but you managed your time fine and it was never that serious anyways (except AP 2D art) that sucked a lot. Senior year was shit im not even gonna lie. I didn't even attend like 98% of the events LOL. Fuck no I am not going back!

9. Do we still want to take comp sci?'

A: Computer Engineering babe dont sweat it

10. What happened to your H‑E‑B job?

A: OUR LAST DAY WAS TODAYYYYYYYY

11. Did we get any stoles/cords for graduation or not?

A: One stole for NHS, one stole for DUDU CREDIT!

12. What was our final Highschool GPA?

A: 4.6/6.0 LMFAOOO

13. What’s our class schedule?

A: -1st period: Late Arrival (Used to be Photography 4)

A: -2nd: AP Art History

A: -3rd: Photojournalism/Office Aide

A: -4th: AP Psychology/Interpersonal Studies

A: -5th: AP 2D Art

A: -6th: AP Pre-Cal (idk how u survived but girl... never again)

A: -7th: Early Release

14. What do we look like now? Do I still have short hair? Do I still look gay?

A: You got the short hair back and we still look gay asf. We have new pink glasses though and they're see through! We still have bangs. Shit load of stretch marks though smh. Im like 115 pounds now.

15. Can we crochet with greater experience?

A: fuck no

16. What’s your biggest worry?

A: If my roommates will like me, I'll feel lonelier, money, If ill be smart enough for college, if my friends now will still want to hang out with me :(

17. Are you happy?

A: I could be happier but I am okay! Not stressed right now :)

[pointnumbersixteen]

Random Notes from a 3:30AM Re-Watch of the First Third of S3E1: the Bone Plot

1) “Helloooo. Where’s she been hiding?” I enjoy this line because it implies that Julian is so lost in the sauce that A: he failed to notice the planning for an arrival of a costumed documentary film team while all of the upstairs ghosts (save Humphrey, being neglected again, of course) are there and watching, perfectly aware...

2) and B: he considers it entirely possible that he just totally failed to notice/find an additional Ghost in the house for the nearly 30 years he’s been there. 

3) “Maggie’s leadership style.” First, bwahahahahaha. That line makes me grin every time I hear it. Second, Julian, my guy, why would there a be a presenter in Tudor dress there to do a documentary on ‘80s politics? How squiffy is he, exactly? 

4) Also: while I appreciate that they make it clear that Julian didn’t stoop low enough to be a fan of Thatcher, I don’t know enough about UK politics to know whether the alternative to Thatcher, if you were conservative, was better or worse. Thoughts?

5) Alison, ghosts, c’mon y’all... this lady is dressed up in a Tudor costume and talking about Queen Elizabeth and a plot against her, while you all live with a decapitated Tudor era ghost. Why did it have to be spelled out before y’all put two and two together? Do they just forget Humphrey exists when he’s not around? ...Because that would explain more than it doesn’t, actually. 

6) Plenty of people have already said this, but I absolutely adore the presenter reacting to the bee and Pat laughing and going ‘one for the bloopers’ as a callback to their Horrible History bloopers. 

7) Have we ever been shown the alleged gatehouse that the B&B is gonna be in now? Because it gets mentioned every now and then but I don’t recall ever seeing it, even though we’ve seen plenty of shots of the house and driving up the driveway and such. Is there a big fancy building in one of these shots that I’ve just totally overlooked or is the gatehouse an imaginary building that we as viewers are just pretending exists? I consider both options equally possible and will be content with either, I’d just like to be sure.

8) “Are you mad?” “Context?” I love this bit of exchange between Mike and Alison, because it implies the answer to that question is sometimes probably yes and I’m like, same, Alison, same. 

9) “Bitches! Bitches!” That line will never get old to me.  

10) As a person who really enjoys the idea of linguistics but is entirely incapable of communicating in real time in a foreign language, I feel Humphrey and his sad mangled French on a spiritual level. As a member of the upper class, he almost certainly studied it at some point, as it was part of the standard education of the times... but I get it, I took six years of Spanish and can’t speak more than a few very basic sentences that I have memorized. Extemporaneous speaking just doesn’t work. I can read and write okay but in person... nope. But then, I can’t even do pretend accents or impressions or anything like that. Nothing comes out. My voice box puts out unreliable shitty working class midwestern English or nothing. Is that weird? I might be getting off topic.    

11) I spend a lot of this episode wanting to hit Pat with a broom, which is unfortunate, because I usually love Pat.

12)  Also, that Barclay noticed the documentary early enough to plan to gate crash it- he was apparently told by Jan from the shop, who also knew- just enforces point number 1.

13) I’m glad we finally cleared up Julian’s cause of death this season and that it turned out it was the least sticky of all possible options.

14) “They’ll ask about the top! [Giggle.] That’s a fact!” I kinda feel like Obi did the ‘Butt Hoe’ thing on purpose now. On the one hand, kind of serves Mike right for pressing a friend to make him a custom tee shirt in a few hours... but on the other hand, I’m don’t think poor Alison deserved to be caught in the crossfire of that one.  

15) “That’s offensive to at least five different religions.” “There are only three in it.” I kind of want to hear what exactly the priest painted gold, now. 

16) Also, Fanny and Cap’s commentary on Pat’s joke and Pat’s response: “Give over. It’s just a harmless bit of fun,” makes me think that -while I do love his character- if he existed in real life, he’d probably be one of those casually offensive baby boomers that are insufferable. 

[slugtranslation-hypmic]

What're your thoughts on everyone's MC names? Or maybe your ratings out of 10?

This is going to be a roasting session because I do not have high opinions of any of them.

Buster Bros - B.B., M. B., and L. B. These all get one bullet point because they are pretty much the same thing. Therefore their score will be cut into thirds for each Bro. Unfortunately, that score is not going to be high because the creativity level on this set of names is just about negative. A lot of the MC names are based on kanji readings or other things in Japanese that I’m sure I would find incredibly clever if I didn’t understand English. Unfortunately, I do, so characters named “First Son”, “Second Son”, and “Third Son” going by “Big Brother”, “Middle Brother”, and “Little Brother” utterly fail to impress me. Rating: 1 out of 10 (1/3 out of 10 for each)

Samatoki - Mr. Hardcore Oh, he’s trying. Samatoki feels like one of those people who tries so hard to prove how badass and tough he is while I’m loudly yelling from the sideline, “You’re doing great, sweetie! Tell your little friends we have Capri Suns and fruit snacks when you’re done with your playdate!” A perfect man child. Rating: Nemu’s secondhand embarrassment out of 10

Juuto - 45 Rabbit This one feels really impersonal. The 45 is from one of the Yokohama telephone area codes (afaik) and the rabbit is from the kanji for rabbit in his name. It doesn’t tell me anything about Juuto’s personality, though. I feel like MTC probably all had animal names once upon a time before they realized that “bush warbler” (Riou) and “horse” (Samatoki) aren’t exactly the most intimidating of titles. I mean... it’s okay. Could be worse. Rating: 4 out of 10

Riou - Crazy M This one confuses the hell out of me. Why, out of the entire cast, did they give the title “crazy” to the character who most strongly resembles a grandma? I also find it bizarre that they chose to honor the “M” from his middle name, but I think the writers at Hypmic are so titillated by the concept of middle names that they don’t know how to handle them responsibly. Rating: ??? out of 10

Ramuda - Easy R I really dislike this one for no good reason, but it does imply the existence of a “Hard R” which is very useful for making infantile jokes. Rating: 69 out of 10

Gentarou - Phantom This one isn’t bad. I think it’s a bit of an odd choice in English, but I completely understand where it comes from in Japanese. I’m assuming they wanted the word 幻影 which means an illusion or a vision. It fits with his whole theme and Fling Posse’s theme as a whole, so I’ll give it to them. Rating: 8 out of 10

Dice - Dead or Alive Outside of an 80′s British pop band, I have no idea what this name is supposed to make me think of. Perhaps it’s foreshadowing for the dark turn the FP storyline takes later on...? This is another odd one. I’d like to imagine that Dice and Riou came up with their MC names together while absolutely hammered, and when their teammates went, “Really?” they were at that point too hungover to think of anything better. Rating: ??? out of 10

Jakurai - illDoc When I was first doing the job interview for my current job a few years back, I had to listen as my now-boss, a white, old, upper-middle class, absolutely disillusioned about everything old codger, called himself “the OG” to my face. “It means Old Guy,” he told me. I smiled and nodded, because I wanted money, and in the meantime I wondered who the fuck called him an “original gangster” and then never properly explained what it meant. This is the exact same way I feel about this name, but Jakurai doesn’t pay me, so I can say whatever the hell I want about his tenuous grasp of slang. Rating: God no out of 10

Hifumi - GIGOLO Appropriately for Hifumi, I am of two minds about this. On the one hand, I hate it. On the other hand, Hifumi’s name is written as “1 2 3″ in kanji, and “jigoro” is pronounced as “4 5 6″, so that is very clever. Rating: 7 out of 8

Doppo - DOPPO I hate this one so much. I seriously wonder if this is a leftover relic from very early planning sessions where Gentarou was a part of Matenrou or something. (I say this because “Doppo” would be fine for an author character, as many classical authors are referred to by their given names. But it makes no sense for an office worker.) I have no idea what the point of this is. He didn’t even try. I headcanon that Hifumi wrote it down on their DRB entry forms as “Doppo-chin”, Doppo saw it last minute, and barely had the time to change it or come up with anything better. Rating: 0 out of 10

Sasara - Tragic Comedy This is a nice little reference to Sasara’s backstory and his inner monologue. It’s cute, if a little ham-fisted. Rating: 7 out of 10

Roshou - Wisdom Ugggggh. This is the most math teacher thing I have ever heard. I can imagine no less than three of my coworkers trying to choose some variation of this name if we were tasked to give ourselves MC names. He lives on teacher Facebook. I just know it. Rating: C- out of 10

Rei - Mastermind I think this is too on-the-nose to be clever, but I do really like the in-universe implications of him very casually calling himself that in public. Just throwing out to the world that he can make Chuuouku do whatever he wants. That’s a power move, and I respect that. Rating: 9 out of 10

Kuukou - Evil Monk Like Gentarou’s, I can tell what they were going for, but they kind of missed the mark in English. Kuukou is sometimes called a “bad monk”, but I think that’s more because he’s bad at being a monk in some respects (like not swearing every five minutes). It’s appropriately stupid for him, though, and I love it. Rating: 10 out of 10

Juushi - 14th Moon Someone really likes the number 14, huh. Rating: 14 out of 100

Hitoya - Heaven & Hell This is literally his name. He stuck an “and” between his surname and his given name and called it a day. Are you kidding me? I know lawyers are too busy to waste a lot of time on shit, but come on. You did not even try. This is so lazy it doesn’t even deserve a rating.

[ex-punch22s]

crying on my ds 😢

MUN INFO

name/alias: peyton age: 20 pronouns: she/they timezone: cst / gmt-5 discord: peyton#2067 but i don’t rly like using it </3 little trivia fact: i really like snoopy and woodstock

CHARACTER INFO

character name: ma ilseong alias: primarily MOUSE, also known as ‘il’ or ‘miles’. will not tell anybody his name is ilseong, will also never be caught using his actual english name (isaiah). bday/age: october 4, 1998 / 23 zodiac sign: libra sun, pisces rising, aries moon so you know he’s Unwell position: promoter 2 info links: file / bio / pinterest

QUICK INFO

korean-american military brat, born in some little ass cornfield town in indiana but started moving around when he was what? seven?

kind of a shy kid which mostly stemmed from (a) being treated weird for being the only asian kid in his otherwise all white first grade glass and (b) the overwhelming experience of moving from indiana to south korea, apparently the motherland but uhhh he couldn’t speak a word of korean ‘cause mom and dad didn’t think it was important to teach him.

so his first experience with korea Fucking Sucked! and then he moved away without any good memories, kept moving every two years ‘cause of dad’s job and i’d love to say that it got easier but it never really did? he started dating when he was real young ‘cause he thought if he could become a popular girl’s boo thing, maybe the rest of the class would like him too idk he was really fucking lame back then (still is) / spent more time gaming than anything else, didn’t really hang out with anyone outside of school (not even his damn girlfriends) so his social skills were underdeveloped / eventually learned how to be funny tho!

ummm an important thing to note i guess is that he’s the typical only-child-used-as-the-therapist trope in which his parents acted like they were happy most of the time (when dad wasn’t screaming his head off over minor inconveniences and mom wasn’t crying in the bathroom but you knowww!) but then every now and then they’d say some really dark shit to him so he had this very hesitant view of life from early on? more observant than he seems, very “well this ain’t gonna be good but as long as i come out alive i guess it’s fine!” type mentality but also he walks on eggshells and can’t admit when he’s wrong which ties back in with his crazy ass parents.

also more intelligent than he seems. was a promising student in elementary & middle school (which is even crazier when you take into consideration that he was being dragged across the globe & feeling like a damn tourist everywhere he went) but then he moved back to sk his freshman year of high school and i meannn... his grades were alright that first year, but they plummeted sophomore year and stayed at the ground through graduation. unfortunately no one seemed to really give enough of a fuck to realize how bad his grades were (’cause at this point mom & dad were too busy fighting over whether or not they were gonna get divorced to look at mouse, the product of #lostlove for more than 30secs) & his teachers had actual KOREAN korean students to worry about helping get into sky schools so mouse was left in the dust.

whatever though! he was having a good time hanging out at shows, scrubbing x’s off his hands in the bathroom, chatting with bands and pretty people who would hardly give him the time of the day! started making himself known in the scene in late 2015/early 2016 even tho he could still barely speak korean and he had a damn curfew and he’s stuck around ever since.

parents moved back to indiana in 2017 but mouse stayed and they didn’t fight to change his mind ‘cause at that point they were all kind of sick of each other anyway idk it’s sad and sometimes mouse wishes things had turned out different or that HE’D been different so maybe they woulda loved him more (obviously he isn’t this much of a victim, it’s just his insecure mentality) but what can you do! he was 18 fighting to find a job that would take him with like... no experience, not fluently speaking korean, still young as hell and he kept bitching about it every chance he got so idk eventually (in 2020) someone finally offered him a job in the scene? fitting because he talks up the bands like crazy, without a doubt you’ll find 15-20 people at any show who say some shit like “i’m here ‘cause of mouse! i thought he was working for the band omg is he not? he’s really just some guy?”

and like he’s happy with his job... he really is... but i’m not gonna lie: he sucks at it. he doesn’t pay performers on time, sometimes he gets the lineup all fucked up and he’ll accidentally have ctrl opening for the here and now, he owes pretty much everyone in the scene money (non-musicians included!), he never gets everything that’s asked for on a band’s rider, sometimes he books decent shows in really shitty venues, ummm one time he booked one hell of a show but then completely forgot to... promote it...

nonetheless, he still has a job? i think it’s because he can be a lot, but he’s the kind of guy who grows on people. even if he pisses everyone off, there’s still an understanding that he IS trying his best to do well & he’s got heart, you know... very passionate, very forward, very determined and he’s still gonna be having a good time through it all! besides, even if he’s not much else, at least he’s consistent <333

as for his personality, he’s the most insufferable punk you’ll ever meet, probably. the type to craft intricate lies for pocket money, the type to put his foot down and say “you know you love me” while never ever saying it back, the type to agree to be the designated sober friend and then get drunker than anybody else, the type to flirt endlessly while not even being smooth (“are we about to kiss right now?” / “god, you want me soooo bad”) and immediately ditch if his flirting ever actually works, simultaneously the type to hook up once and then call confessing his love the next day just to swear he never said SHIT the day after that, the type to prioritize money over (most) friendships, the type to steal your drinks at the bar and promise to buy you another one (he never will), the type to not take anything seriously ‘cause life’s just one big joke anyway. as for the rest... idk, we’ll figure it out together!

CONNECTIONS

001 — a dwindling friendship in which your character is too damn nice for their own good and mouse is never fully appeased. they’ve got to love him with all the shit they’ve tolerated over the months (years, even), but there’s sure to come a time when ‘you know you love me’ / ‘why else would i be doing this?’ will grow old. * maybe he owes them tons of money too idk

002 — the perpetual victim. even when mouse gets back into the swing of things and manages to get everybody paid on time, somehow, your character’s always the one left empty-handed. they’re currently on some kind of point-making ‘strike’ in which they refuse to play a show organized by him until he not only pays them what he owes, but also comes through with all of the rider items he’s shorted them on. fair enough.

003 — your character actually fell for all of mouse’s recycled smooth-talking and almost hooked up with him, but the second they stepped into his apartment, his crazy ass dog bit their calf. the bite “barely scratched the surface!” (as mouse puts it, not wanting this to be made into a big issue) but uhhh now your character wants him to pay their medical bills? AND they’re not interested anymore? man, this is so fucked up!

004 — best friends, but only as long as the gig lasts. maybe they lack chemistry outside of clubs, maybe they’re just too damn different to care to find the time, but as long as they’ve got a live backtrack, no one else could compare. (in other words: bumming drinks and cigarettes off each other, dancing at the back of the crowd, walking each other home. knowing everything and nothing about each other at the same time.)

005 — damn this is kind of a reach but maybe a (slightly) older woman whom he runs crying to every time a minor inconvenience surfaces: a bug in his apartment (“how do i kill it? should i kill it, or is that wrong? god, i don’t want to touch it!”), a pack of instant noodles (“can’t you cook them for me?”), pocket money shortages (“c’mon, i’ll pay you back, you know i will!”). think it’d be fun if your character’s tired of him but tolerates him all the same, maternal instincts and all.

006 — tough love distant friend type? your character was one of the first people that mouse introduced himself to way back when & considering how they’ve watched him grow from an awkward, aggressively-people-pleasing sixteen year old to this insufferable punk who can’t help but push his luck, they feel somewhat responsible for him. they have good advice to offer, but too bad mouse always lets their words go in one ear and out the other.

007 — friends with potential to be more if mouse would stop fucking around on dating apps and indulging in hookup culture? aka he’s into your character but he’d rather sit just a little too close to them at the bar and make sardonic jokes all night than ever address the elephant in the room ‘cause god forbid (a) they don’t like him back and his ego has to take a hit or (b) he has to 🤢  actually work on self-improvement??? 🤢  the vibes: windbreaker & baby boy by choker, blood bank by bon iver, 911 / mr lonely by tyler the creator depending on the direction it’s taken in 

other — random people he owes money to / the one person who wants to kick his ass on everybody else’s behalf so yk at this point it’s just a matter of time / a couple people he talks big to on social media and/or dating apps but ignores irl / the one musician bestie he’s always side-stage for and especially always helping pack up at the end of the gig / someone somewhat new to the scene who’s already been screwed over by him and doesn’t understand why people like him or why he has a job LMAOOO maybe they can scrap it out by the merch table???

[clumsyclifford]

ok hello i absolutely love all ur fics, you’ve just got a certain quality in ur writing that is just… mmm. yeah so anyway, do you have any advice on how to improve or just how to write?? (especially fic cause personally i struggle with that more than original stuff??)

hello!! that is very kind of you to say thank you <3

advice on how to write. oh boy. oh man. well i can try. i will do my best. i will also try to be brief but we all know how that song goes

update from having finished answering this: alright. okay. this is not only long, but decidedly english teacher-y. i’m sorry that i am the way that i am. this is what you get for asking a leo for writing advice. am i joking? maybe. maybe not. anyway. this post got away from me in a big way so here’s a read more. warning: LONG post under the cut.

1. study your characters. for RPF like the band stuff i write, that literally means watching interviews, watching them perform, seeing how they interact with each other, picking up on their mannerisms (behavior) - what they do with their hands, if they repeat themselves or stutter when they talk, the quality of their voice when they're talking about different things, and so on. also keep track of things they mention a lot in interviews especially about each other - for example jack has mentioned before that alex has an annoying habit of twirling his hair when he zones out. that kind of thing. IMPORTANT NOTE!: you don’t have to use all of this information. just like studying for anything, you collect all the information you can and then you parse through it and use whatever you think will contribute or be relevant to your story.

2. remember that characters are people. or at least they’re representing people, which is an important distinction (see #3). still, considering that your characters are people can be a helpful way to get out of your head. see, characters are supposed to be archetypical, and fulfill a role, and say certain things in certain ways and never really deviate from that. but people are highly unpredictable and behave in random ways for random reasons and have thought processes that are unfathomable. people will just do fuckin’ whatever. if you’re worried that your characters aren’t behaving in a believable way, keep in mind that you’re trying to make your characters represent people, and people’s behavior is justifiable any number of ways. people just do shit.

3. remember that characters are not people. sike! no but seriously, this is just as important to remember. unfortunately, no matter how hard you try, characters are never going to be people. that’s a good thing for stories, though. characters can pick up on nuance in senses that people can’t - they can distinguish between different facial expressions, different smells, different sounds - BUT ONLY INSOFAR AS IT MOVES THE STORY ALONG. in other ways, characters are ridiculously oblivious. you can use this to your advantage. in fact, a lot of the time, you have to. if your character notices right away that someone is flirting with him, then you can’t write a 30k slow burn, for example. characters don’t do that thing humans do where they go “what?” but then halfway through the re-explanation they register what’s been said. pretty much everything characters say has meaning. (by this i don’t mean semantic meaning, i mean significance - characters don’t really just say “what?” because they didn’t hear what someone said, they say “what?” because they can’t believe it or they don’t understand it or they refuse to understand it. characters never seem to run into the didn’t-hear-them problem. must be nice.)

characters can do whatever you want or need them to do, because you’re in charge of them. (sometimes this doesn’t feel true - mine do all kinds of shit and i just have go “well alright then” - but it is true.) they are gears in a story. you decide when and how they turn.

4. dialogue is your friend. i am super super biased here, because i looove writing dialogue. if you talk to sam about this i’m sure she would say that description and narration are the ways to go. but you came to me, so i get to say that dialogue is god. i don’t want to say that dialogue is the only method of communication (i know nonverbal communication is real), but dialogue is the fastest and most effective method of communication, and by extension, the most effective way to advance relationships between characters. now. obviously there are exceptions. if characters are kissing, they’re probably not doing a lot of talking. if they’re trying to be undercover or discreet, they’re more likely to rely on gestures and facial expressions than speaking. if you’re writing a very peaceful scene, you might not want to undercut it by adding a lot of chit-chat. but i maintain that dialogue is the best way to move a story along, for a few reasons. 

first, at least for me, too much description is just tiring. depending on how skillful the writer is (sam), i can read a fair amount before i hit my limit, but unlike in mean girls, the limit DOES exist. you don’t want to over-describe the world (see #5). second, i find that dialogue is a really really good indicator of a person’s character. this is especially true and relevant in fanfiction, which is a lot more character-driven than original fiction in many ways. also, in a sec i’m gonna talk about showing [not/and] telling, which is every english teacher’s bitch, but dialogue is a really good way of showing who a person is and also a good way to establish facts about the universe. you could just narrate and be like “Jack hated waking up early,” and that works and in many cases it’s perfectly legit. but you could also do something like this:

“What the fuck,” Jack mumbled, still half asleep. “You better have a really fucking good reason to be waking me up this early. Like someone better have fucking died.”

and sometimes that’s just a more fun way to say it. (for the record you can also show AND tell here! there’s no reason why you can’t have this line of dialogue and then a line in the narration confirming how very much jack is not a morning person!)

the last reason why i am particularly fond of dialogue is because i am also particularly fond of communication, which is a preference thing. let’s face it, guys: characters aren’t gonna communicate if they’re not literally actually talking to each other. dialogue means talking to each other. talking to each other means solving problems, fixing (or creating) conflicts, understanding each other better. i love communication, ergo, i love dialogue. And You Should Too. 

5. describe the world, but don’t over-describe. i opened this fic earlier and it was like “jack was excited to wake up to go to his first class at the university of baltimore” and i just. i was like is this really relevant. do i really need to know this. and i never found out because i closed the fic but in my defense it was on wattpad and i had only opened it out of curiosity. look. there are three ways to use details in fic. (a) introduce them right away (b) introduce them when they become relevant or (c) don’t introduce them at all. let me give you some examples. 

(a) say your character A (i’m using jack because i’m used to him) wakes up. he’s in his room in his house off-campus. character B (rian) walks into the room. this might be a good time to explain that rian is his housemate. to that point: “show not tell” is a good rule, but sometimes “show and tell” is just as good. e.g.: 

Rian walks in, holding Jack’s Green Day shirt and looking irritated. That’s really nothing new; Rian looks irritated at Jack roughly once a day. Being housemates for a year will do that to a friendship.

boom, now you’ve let everyone know they live together without throwing it in their face, and you’ve also told everyone that these two guys are friends and have been friends for at least a year but probably longer. you showed it by having rian walking in holding jack’s shirt - usual housemate behavior - but you also told it in a subtle way that established the relationship and some kind of history between these two. well done.

(b) sometimes you want a certain detail to make an impact. this is the kind of thing you hold onto and don’t specify, and in certain cases you leave the reader wondering, “well what about x?” and then when you finally explain x they go ohhhhhhhhhh. yknow. the italicized oh. consider the following:

(A)

“Alex is in my bio class,” Rian says, referring to Jack’s ex-boyfriend of last year.

Jack frowns. “So? Why should I care?”

“He’s my lab partner,” Rian says. “I have to spend a lot of time with him.”

“I don’t care what you and Alex do,” Jack says. “But you should know he sucks at bio.”

Rian gives Jack a look. “First of all, that’s not true, he’s incredibly smart. And second, I’m telling you as a courtesy, because I thought you might not want your ex-boyfriend hanging around our house after he broke your fucking heart.”

(B)

“Alex is in my bio class,” Rian says.

Jack frowns. “So? Why should I care?”

“He’s my lab partner,” Rian says. “I have to spend a lot of time with him.”

“I don’t care what you and Alex do,” Jack says. “But you should know he sucks at bio.”

Rian gives Jack a look. “First of all, that’s not true, he’s incredibly smart. And second, I’m telling you as a courtesy, because I thought you might not want your ex-boyfriend hanging around our house after he broke your fucking heart.”

the only difference between these two excerpts (which i just wrote lol they’re not from anything real) is that the second one doesn’t explain who alex is right away. that makes it way more interesting when rian reveals who alex is a few lines later. magic.

(c) take this college au that we’ve established here. where does it take place, you ask? easy answer: it doesn’t matter. you don’t need to say what school they’re at. this will make your job easier, because then no one can fact check you, and it also means you don’t have to decide what school they’re at. but even if you do decide, it’s not usually necessary to say. believe me, you can go thousands of words without ever needing to specify what school they’re at. you know why? because it doesn’t matter. and no one cares. and as soon as you specify in canon that they’re at a particular school, you are bound to be accurate to everything that school does, and that makes your job way more difficult than it needs to be. as hazel once said, work smarter, not harder. 

6. adverbs are also your friend. (yknow, words that describe verbs, typically ending in -ly, like “loudly” or “angrily” or “smoothly”.) ESPECIALLY when it comes to dialogue tags. (dialogue tags are the things you add to dialogue to say who’s talking and how they’re talking - like “he said” or “he whispered” or “he earnestly explained” or whatever). a lot of the writing advice you’ll see nowadays will usually guide you away from overusing dialogue tags other than the classic “says/said” and i STRONGLY concur with that advice. things like yelled, cried, mumbled, snapped - these are very good in moderation, when you’re really trying to emphasize the way a person is speaking. the more you use them, the less impact they have. in most cases, a simple “he said [adverb]” will do. instead of “he snapped” consider “he said curtly/sharply/coldly.” instead of “he mumbled” consider “he said quietly/clumsily/softly.” I WANT TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT THESE ARE NOT DIRECT SYNONYMS. every word has a nuanced and slightly different meaning and that is the BEAUTY of the english language!!!! all i’m saying is that in many cases, a verb can be replaced with an adverb to achieve roughly the same effect, without making the reader feel like they’re scanning a thesaurus.

and speaking of a thesaurus: it’s not cheating to use outside resources like thesaurus.com to help you come up with words. i fuckin love thesaurus.com. i use that shit all the time for everything. i use it when i’m writing emails. i used it just now to write that last paragraph. thesaurus.com is your BEST friend.

7. grammar. (and spelling but that’s really a given.) unfortunately if i tried to teach you all of the essential rules of grammar this post would exceed tumblr’s previously-nonexistent word count limit. so i’m not gonna teach you any of them. this is just a general point to suggest that if/when you’re writing, have someone you trust, with a good grasp of grammar, look over it. of course it doesn’t have to be perfect or AP style or anything like that. readers will overlook a certain amount of grammar mistakes and every reader has a different threshold. but in general, as a grammar geek and former journalism editor-in-chief, i have a duty to my grammurai code to preach the importance of grammar in writing. good grammar does not necessarily mean good writing and vice versa, bad grammar does not necessarily mean bad writing, but bad grammar makes good writing a lot harder to read, and in some cases will even obscure your actual meaning. so please, have someone read it. for the record this is me offering up my services. i am very good at fixing grammar. i have lots of weaknesses in writing but grammar is one of my strengths. please prioritize grammar. thank you for coming to my ted talk.

***

okay so now that i’ve said all of this shit and pretended to be an expert and embodied everyone’s tenth grade english teacher, let me add one very important disclaimer:

none of this is always relevant.* writing is an art, not a science. you are never going to be following all of the rules, all of the time. you shouldn’t. it’s good to know the basics of constructing a plot, establishing a character, showing and/not telling, moving the story along. but a lot of this advice is really subjective and heavily influenced by my writing experience and habits and tendencies and preferences, and those are simply not generalizable to the world. i am a sample size of one and science dictates that that means my results cannot be statistically significant. i am just some guy. earlier i said you don’t want to over-describe the world. but maybe you do! maybe you’re really into worldbuilding and you want people to know what they’re getting into. maybe you’re like sam, and you just don’t feel as confident in your dialogue skills but you love painting word pictures. i said that adverbs are your friend, but maybe you just prefer to use verbs. maybe you don’t want ANY dialogue tags and you want the reader to interpret the dialogue based on context and content. i said that characters aren’t people and they won’t behave like people, but maybe you’re trying to write hyper-realistic characters. maybe you’re just going for believability over narrative. WHATEVER. the point is, rules are made to be broken. no one is going to have The Answer for How To Write Good because there isn’t just one answer. every single writing rule has exceptions and you can be that exception as many times as you want.

*except grammar. grammar is fucking always relevant.

i hope any of this advice was helpful to you, even though i english teacher-ed the fuck out of it. and for what it’s worth, i approached this as if you were a relatively novice writer, but i know absolutely jack shit about your writing prowess and experience and habits. so maybe you already know all of this and none of what i’ve said is helpful at all. if you have a more specific problem, i would be happy to try and help. if you’re hoping for more specific feedback, i’d have to read something of yours first - but again, happy to try and help. i don’t know if you can tell but i loooove writing and english and grammar and all of this shit and it would be my honor. i have now spoken so long that james madison himself is begging me to shut up so i’ll stop here but thank you for coming by and giving me the opportunity to expatiate a shit ton. and GOOD LUCK i forgot the most important advice of writing which is HAVE FUN LOVE WHAT YOU WRITE AND WRITE WHAT YOU LOVE OKAY BYE

[morethanwords0475]

February TC Challenge

1. Do you have more platonic or romantic feelings for them?

Definitely more romantic (oops), but I am more than content just being friends with him - if we can even get to that.

2. Have they ever physically touched you?

We’ve accidentally touched hands/fingers while giving stuff to each other, and there was once when we were standing side by side his arm leaned against mine gently (there wasn’t a lot of space around us), I kind of froze but he didn’t move away for a short while.

3. Would you ever plan to pursue them when you graduate? (And when you’re legal)

T is leaving before I graduate so… even if he didn’t, I’ll be studying abroad and likely never see him again after graduation anyway. Even if I stayed, I would never jeopardise his marriage or hurt S in any way.

4. Do you know their birthday/zodiac sign?

I know both, he’s a Taurus.

5. Do you know their favourite colour?

Hmm I actually don’t, and it feels weird to ask lol. Gonna guess blue but maybe I'm just projecting.

6. What do they teach?

English (and sometimes PE for some reason).

7. Do you think you’re their favourite student?

Sakjsdhajda I hope so? There’s definitely another girl in our year whom he really likes as well, but I would say we are his top two favourites, at least in our year group.

8. Are they tall, short, or average height?

He’s pretty tall, less so than some of our other male teachers or even male students, but tall enough.

9. Do they have any pets?

He and S have a dog together, I’ve bumped into them when they were walking her before, she’s adorable.

10. Do you ever plan to confess your feelings to them? (Careful with this one, they could possibly lose their job or get you in trouble)

I wanted to confess after I graduate and now that is off the table, so maybe on the last day I would just be like "hey I really admire you and you have had a very profound and positive impact on my life" or whatever. I’m also contemplating giving him some poems I wrote for him which would make it obvious, but by the time he reads them he would probably be long gone.

11. Do you know any of their talents?

Sports is definitely one, maybe also writing. Nothing artsy or musical unfortunately haha

12. How often do you think of them?

Like every other waking second (not quite, but basically yeah). I definitely think of him a lot more at home and less in other classes.

13. Have you told anybody irl about your crush?

I’ve told my closest friends, they’re all really supportive and I love that they put up with me constantly gushing about him.

14. Be honest: Do you think you’re in love?

I mean, what is love? What does it mean to be in love? 🤯 Lmao I don’t think I’m yet qualified to tell, but I have certainly never loved anyone else (past TCs or people my age) as much, or in the same way, as I love T.

15. Do they motivate you to come to school?

Yes ma’am he certainly does. I mean I do enjoy going to school for other reasons - being around people like friends and platonic TCs, academic validation, etc., but T is the predominant motivator.

16. Have you ever seen them cry?

No, I have dreamed of it once though. Ngl I kind of want to see him cry some time, but I would also punch anyone who dares make him upset like that ✌️

17. What kind of dynamic do you guys have?

Ooo it’s difficult to say, it feels like we are both very professional with each other most of the time, but since we interact so much - mostly because I’m a clingy b*tch - I feel more at ease with him now and I think he acts that way as well. I’ve got to say it feels weird when we’re online, but I guess everything does.

18. Have they ever caught you staring?

So so many times lmao I have lost count. Can you blame me though he is so pretty 😭

19. What was the most embarrassing thing you’ve done in front of them? (All of us have done some pretty embarrassing stuff, let’s be honest.)

I once put a piece of chocolate on his desk but got caught, like he didn’t say anything but he definitely saw me do it. Thankfully this was over two years ago, yet it does not make me cringe over it any less whenever I think about it help.

20. Do they make you feel safe/loved?

Safe - yes, at least I never feel uncomfortable around him except if I'm nervous about something. Loved - depends, sometimes he could act a bit cold towards me and I’d overthink it for the next century and a half, but our dynamic has improved a lot so that I feel more loved by him now (loved as in as a good student of course).

21. Have they ever rendered you speechless?

I lose my ability to speak properly when I’m with him so often, and on occasions when he does say something nice or out of the ordinary - like admitting to leaving in the summer - I tend to not be able to come up with anything in return.

22. Are they a good teacher?

Yes!!! It’s basically common knowledge that T is the best English teacher in our school, and he has been for years with the coming and going of numerous other English teachers. I really do not know how we would continue through the course when he is gone.

23. Is there something they do that gives you the ick?

I have never fully grasped what people mean by 'the ick', but I often dislike him never meeting his own deadlines, such as telling us we would get results back by a certain day and that day just ends up getting postponed again and again. I get that he is busy but he does this with so many things, saying he would do something by a specific time and not doing it, it makes me think he just doesn’t care as much about us or about me.

24. Are you guys close?

Ahhh I often wonder about this as well, and I would say yes? Before we went online I would talk to him almost every day, although always about school work, and we saw each other every day. Especially with him mentoring my essay now we also have occasional meetings and I have another excuse to talk to him. He is the type to not get super close with students, so I’m proud of where I have gotten with him.

25. Have you ever looked for their initial in those stupid TikToks that eight year olds make? (If you don’t have TikTok: do other students like your TC?)

I don’t have TikTok but now I’m intrigued- anyway, most people in his class really like him as a teacher, people not in his class may be a bit scared of him, and I don’t think anyone feels the way I do - fortunately >>

26. Have you ever dreamed about them?

Very often. Even if I can’t remember a dream in the morning I would feel as if his presence is still lingering in my mind.

27. Do you see yourself in a relationship with them?

I do fantasise about it sometimes (not ashamed), but realistically, we would never work out in a romantic relationship, probably even if he wasn’t married and all that.

28. Have you ever cried in front of them?

Nope, but I feel like it’s gonna happen one day. As messed up as it sounds, a part of me wants to know how he would react.

[splicejunction]

Please tell me about shatterstar's Childhood

oh my god anon okay I’m assuming in context of what I’ve recently posted you want like... my version of events rather than what’s canon but just in case I hope you know that there’s basically zero canon material that actually describes his childhood/young adulthood beyond “I was a warrior born” or whatever the fuck. if you want to know about that idk go on the fucken... marvel wiki page or something

also--I hate that I have to put this out here and I doubt anyone would actually do this but just in case--I have spent like 1 million hours thinking about this because I have brain disorders and it is very close to my heart so please do not A) use this in fics, etc without letting me know/getting my permission in advance or B) reblog this post

anyways. this is a can of worms so I’m going to do a cheeky lil

first we have to get something out of the way: I hate the “shatterstar’s his own grandpa” paradox. I am sorry if this angers people but it makes me mad so I ignore it. the reason it bothers me is because it means alison blaire essentially married her grandson, which is A) weird and B) bad from a genetics perspective.

in my version of canon ‘star IS the biological child of longshot and dazzler but longshot wasn’t cloned using ‘star’s DNA because..... oh god... another whole separate post can be made about this but... in my head, on mojoworld the way genetic engineering works is not really the same as it is here. here genetic engineering generally means taking an existing genome and inserting or deleting genes. this is how they make, for example, animals that glow, or confer pesticide resistance to plants.

but on mojoworld I think the way they genetically engineer is more like... the way we mechanically engineer. like the entire organism is built from the ground up. there’s a master genetic blueprint which is essentially the “minimal genome” required for a functioning humanoid. this was created by study of Earth humans by arize and the other genetic engineers. they can then go in and customize by adding elements to the genome that code for the signals/building blocks that control things like height, strength, hair color, eye color, having hollow bones etc. so in my head longshot was sort of... designed with ‘star as the inspiration, but not directly cloned. that wouldn’t even make sense anyways because A) different hair color and B) LONGSHOT HAS 3 FINGERS ON EACH HAND and shatterstar has 4!! thats NOT HOW CLONES WOULD WORK!!!!

(side note, the concept of a minimal functional genome is a real thing in biology! some scientists have taken a bacterium that already has a small genome and reduced it to the minimum size required for viability. here is a wikipedia article on it and here is the original paper (DOI: 10.1126/science.286.5447.2165) which I can explain in more detail because I took a class on synthetic biology which this technically falls under and I had to read this paper very closely).

fuck I’ve written 4 paragraphs and not even talked about his childhood yet. I am so sorry. anyways. so the way I think they raise the gladiators on mojoworld is they create them in batches of 5 to 10 identical copies of a certain “model”, place each copy in a different “class” with a set of 2-3 mentors/teachers, and train them to fight until they are 13 or 14. until this time the only names they have are the names that identify the “model”--like for shatterstar that would be gaveedra-seven where the model identifier is “gaveedra” and he is (in the lore that I have come up with) the 7th of 8 total.

the reason they create multiples and put them in different classes is each mentor is going to have a slightly different style of teaching which is going to work better for some and worse for others, so it allows them to have more mass production while increasing the chances of creating a truly great champion. it’s classic nature versus nurture--the genetic engineers create your nature, but you don’t end up exactly the same as others of your model. maybe you get an edge, maybe you don’t.

another thing that happens is different mentors believe in different ways of raising the kids in their care. shatterstar specifically was raised in a class where there was absolutely zero emotional development at all and no attachments allowed beyond fighting alliances. that’s not the case in all classes, and it also had the effect of making him somewhat of an outsider even within the other gladiators as he got older.

at 13 or 14--and yes I realize this is very fucked up but dude its fucking mojoworld idk what you expected--they start participating in fights. the first ones aren’t to the death and they’re as teams and they’re not usually televised they’re more like high school sports games that are attended by scouts (here, they’re “sponsors”--I think that’s a canonical term but I honestly can’t remember) and if you get sponsored you leave your class and join a new “team” that’s really just a bunch of people who all have the same sponsorship. this is where things can get interesting because they’ve all been raised with slightly different fighting styles but more importantly, slightly different degrees of Personhood.

also at this point I should mention that by this time, there are usually only 2, maybe 3 of each model left. either they died or were recognized as not having talent so they were sent to eventually fulfill other roles in the network. in ‘star’s case there was just him and gaveedra-five. once you get to the stage where you’re sponsored and you’re actually fighting to the death one of the first people you’ll fight is any remaining members of your model group.

by the time you’re the only one left of your group, you’re also eligible to earn a stage name. this usually happens if you have a particularly epic fight with a lot of viewers, you win and the commentators will typically say something like “Let’s give this crowd a real name to cheer!” and they’ll have a few candidate names and they’ll kind of just pick one. AUGH I actually have this scene written out in story form but its too long so I think I’ll save it.... :) 

after you get a name you also get a cool outfit and usually some kind of mark or tattoo that serves as a brand. this brings me to another important point--shatterstar inherited the X-gene from alison and therefore he IS a mutant. his mutation is the swords vibration thing and the glowing eye. the star mark is a tattoo and teleportation is benjamin russell’s mutation (how he fits into all this is... for another post). basically after he got his name the costuming department guys were like “hey your eye glows, you look like the Legendary Warrior of Old, Longshot, we’re gonna pattern your look after him” so they gave him the star tattoo and the outfit that’s literally inverse colors of longshot’s.

also this brings me to another aside: you’re probably wondering “if he’s the biological kid of longshot and alison how are there 8 gaveedras?” when the genetic engineers got a hold on him as a baby they were like Sick! free baby! free genetic material! thats our job done for us! so they cloned him (in the traditional sense) and made 7 copies. this was also to kind of conceal his identity as technically being from outside mojoworld, which would make him stick out and thus be a target. they DID edit out the x-gene in the other gaveedra models though. this wasn’t a problem for ‘star because his mutation didn’t manifest until he was already sponsored.

I think that’s .... pretty much it for macroscopic lore on what it was like to be a kid gladiator on mojoworld. now let me give you some Tidbits of his life specifically:

like I said he was raised in a particularly cold and ruthless class. the mentors that raised him are like well-known by everyone to produce some of the best warriors but also there’s discourse on mojoworld because some people say perfectly emotionless killing machines aren’t as fun to watch. when he was sponsored there were 4-5 others in the same sponsorship and they were like Theres Something Wrong With You LOL

they speak earth languages on mojoworld because they’re imitating the broadcasts they (the spineless ones) used to hear from earth. however, most of the lower-class as well as almost all arena fighters and other television personalities speak cadre or other languages which are native to the planet. the stage names are all vaguely in english, but the gladiators don’t really understand them at first.

shatterstar got his name before he got the glowing eye, and when he learned what stars are, and saw his eye as a little star, he was like wow :) this is Me :) which is why that name is so important to him. it’s also one of the first things that wholly belonged to him.

(you can’t see stars on mojoworld because of light pollution and also because it’s a pocket dimension and there just aren’t that many stars to see)

I hate to bring up the s**ley miniseries but I do think it would be interesting to have him have a sort of ... mentor/first friend, similar to the concept of gringrave but they were NOT in a relationship. it was more like... another kid who was a year or so older than him got a soft spot for him and helped him not be so clueless. she didn’t make as much progress as xforce did, obviously. but they were.... something like friends.

unfortunately she was used by spiral to get shatterstar to murder the first rebel guy who tried to get him out of there. then she got switched sponsors (this can happen) and he had to kill her, and he was like well I will simply never develop any kind of attachment to anyone ever again.

he almost didn’t make it out of the first training session with his sponsorship group (this is semi-canon--there’s a reference when he’s teaching terry to swordfight to almost not surviving the first time he was in a gladiator class or whatever it was).

the closest he ever came to losing was the day he got the name. that’s why the crowds loved it so much.

the double-bladed sword was a gimmick weapon but when he got his mutation they realized it works way better if there’s resonance between two parallel blades so they redesigned it as an actual weapon.

(forgot this but I feel like I should include it) at 17 he escaped the arenas and joined the cadre alliance. two years later he came to earth and joined xforce.

I think that’s going to have to be it for now because it’s literally almost midnight and I have work tomorrow and I did NOT intend to stay up this late but I did. thank you for this opportunity anon :) feel free to ask me any other questions and also I realize a lot of this probably makes no fucking sense and that’s because I am not a writer or anything I’m just a biochemist with brain problems that cause me to obsess over stupid shit

[nyullm2020]

How to Crush Law School Exams as an LL.M.

Hello again!

It’s been a minute. I’ve just had a well-deserved break after finishing my finals, where I managed to get a bit of sun in Florida and Puerto Rico.

It’s been a running start into my final semester of the LL.M. - and I can’t quite believe how fast this has all gone. I have a lot of content ideas coming up about everything I will be doing this semester, including juggling my internship at the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office, a Research Assistantship with an NYU Law Professor, the March Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE) for the Bar, a full load of classes, and job hunting/networking - but first things first. I wanted to reflect on last semester’s exams, final papers and overall grades, and think about what I did well, and what I would change!

What are American law school exams like?

I’ll start by giving you an idea of the format of exams to give you an idea of the general approach, and hopefully take away some of the anxieties you as a future LL.M. might have.

There is no uniform exam or grading type for each and every course. American law school professors have a lot of discretion about how they will structure and assess their courses - including what mode of exam you will take (multiple choice, short answers, long problem question responses, policy-based essays, etc), or a final paper, and whether and to what extent class participation counts toward the grade. My assessments ran the gamut. In one class, I had a group assignment worth 30%, a 5,000 word final paper worth 60%, and 10% class participation, and in two others my final exam was worth 100%, with the professor’s discretion to slightly boost your grade based on your overall participation and contribution to the class. My Constitutional Interpretation seminar was 50% class participation, and 50% based on regular pieces of written work we handed in, including a final paper of 2,000 words.

Exams typically last between 2-4 hours, while take-homes take 3-8 hours (I haven’t had a take-home yet, but I will have a 12 hour take-home this semester). We all took our exams from home with a special software (Exam4 or the law school’s own exam software, THESS). Both my exams this semester allowed students to use any notes they wanted, and you could access the internet as well. The main problem with doing that is running out of time! So creating an organized outline of your notes and brainstorming essay ideas ahead of time is pretty crucial.

How do Professors grade? And what is a good grade?

Professors seem to have pretty broad discretion when it comes to grading - and definitely so when I think about Australian law school professors, who grade ‘blindly’ and never know who is behind the student number unless they look it up later, or are awarding prizes for the top students. The possible grades at NYU range from an F to an A+, as follows:

A+, 4.333; A, 4.000; A-, 3.667; B+, 3.333; B, 3.000; B-, 2.667; C, 2.000; D, 1.000 and F, 0.000.

No more than 2% of students can get an A+ in a given class, with a target of 1%. I am proud to say I was the only A+ student in one of my classes - yay! A huge personal achievement for me, and so I will brag a little here because I don’t want to be lame and brag in real life!

About 10% of people get As, and another 20% get A-s, and about 26% of people get B grades (B+, B, or B-). B- and C grades are actually pretty rare, so in all likelihood you will likely end up with an A or B grade of some sort!

It’s kind of hard to work out what ‘good’ grades/a strong GPA are for job applications, but from what I’ve gleaned, in an ideal world you would have all A level grades, or maybe one B+. Personally, my grades were an A+, 2 A- grades and a B+. This gave me a GPA of around 3.8, which is definitely decent for job applications. 

Your chances to get the high grades will depend a big deal on your competition - in the core doctrinal courses (like Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Evidence, Corporations Law, and so on) and in classes of the really famous professors, JD competition is intense. I definitely didn’t make it easy for myself with my classes, and I was usually the only, or one of two, LLMs, along with pretty ambitious JDs (often from elite undergrad schools) aiming for judicial clerkships or other prestigious jobs. Many LLMs have usually been working hard enough back home, and work hard enough to get decent grades, but leave enough time to relax and enjoy themselves. I would say my approach was mixed - I knew I needed to work hard enough to get good grades to make me a strong candidate for job applications in the US, but I also had plenty of fun. 😄 Just less fun around exam time!

On reflection, my top tips for doing well in your classes and exams would be:

1) Play to your strengths

At the time you select your classes, you’ll be able to see what the format of the assessment is - long paper, exam, practical assessments (like in a clinic or simulation course), etc. My top advice would be to think about your strengths when picking classes. 

I have always been much better at hand-in assignments, and my one A+ grade was from handing in a long paper. My lowest grade (a B+) was from a very time-pressured exam that I wasn’t happy with how I handled the timing. So - if you know you are much better at one type of assessment, make sure you are considering this when picking classes to pave the way for great grades, especially if you are relying on your grades for finding a new job or for a JSD application.

2) Understand your professor’s idiosyncratic preferences

When it comes to law school exams, the key to succeeding is really knowing who’s grading them. Some professors prefer you to be ‘quick and dirty’ and to really jump into the key issues and answers, while others prefer a more formalistic recitation of the rules and then a close application of the rules to the facts. Pay attention to how they explain what they want, pore over any model answers and exam keys they give you, be familiar with the way they write problems, and ideally hunt down past students’ papers with comments or overall feedback from the professor (if you know anyone that took the class before).

3) Make study enjoyable and social

Even in these COVID times, I really benefited from spending time at the library studying with LL.M. friends, and broke up study sessions with coffee hangs, lunches, and going to see the Christmas lights. Your friends will keep you sane and motivated, so don’t hide yourself away for the whole month or more!

Friends! A well-deserved dinner break in December a week or two before finals.

4) Argue both sides of legal issues you spot

This is something that is really emphasized by NYU professors. A good lawyer can, when identifying a legal issue, show how it is a weak point in a plaintiff’s claim or in a defendant’s defense, and then demonstrate how both sides could argue their case. The best answers don’t ‘fence sit’, but come to a reasoned judgment/prediction about which side of the argument is stronger.

5) Be precise and concise

You should try not to include unrelated material in your answer as this could backfire if your professor believes you struggle to separate relevant material from irrelevant material. One of my professors was clear ahead of time and said he did not appreciate an ‘info dump’ and graded accordingly, but I think this is true of all professors.

6) Be *really* aware of your timing

I can’t stress this enough. Effective time management is imperative on law school exams. My Evidence exam was so unbelievably time-pressured (27 short-answer questions in 3 hours = less than 7 minutes per question to read a few sentences-long question and answer it), and I did not handle this as well as I could have, affecting my grade. Make sure to be really aware of this and try to be strict with yourself so you don’t leave any questions untouched.

7) Remember public policy concerns

After applying the legal rules to the issues presented in your fact pattern, if time allows, include a sentence or two about the policy implications of your conclusions, or how your chosen approach fits best with the policy rationale underpinning the legal rule. This is something that is valued more in US law schools than my law school back home. Not critical, but definitely something that could boost your grade a little!

8) Just try your best, and don’t be too hard on yourself

We have all worked hard to be here, and we put a lot of pressure on ourselves. English might not be your first language, you might struggle with exams, or it might just not be the best day you’ve ever had. If you find yourself in the unfortunate position of either not understanding the issues presented in a question, or not remembering the rules related to such issues, just do your best to write the best possible answer in the time limit. 

Good luck, and let me know if you have any questions!

[basia2002ib]

Profile & summary of my CAS

Learning outcomes

All in all I can say I achieved all learning outcomes. 

1. I identified own strengths and developed areas for growth. I got involved in activities that based on my prevailing skills but opened new ways to develop. Language can be deepened without limits; although I have got a certified C2 level in German I can still develop my skills and I continued to do so throughout my CAS.

2. I have undertaken a range of challenges, for instance passing a C2 exam in German seemed outlandish at first but then I got used to the idea and focused all my efforts to pursuing this goal. And I did it, even though it might seem abstract. I wanted to challenge myself to spice up my life a little bit and grow personally from the process. Now I can see a difference - my German language skills developed to such degree that when I am reading literature in German now I see an immense difference - now I can easily spot nuances and extract the deep meaning.

3. I initiated and planned CAS experiences thoroughly. I am a pragmatic person who tends to stick to the plan because it gives direction. CAS stages came naturally to me, I did not have to force them because they are inherent parts of planning process. My intellectual challenges undertaken in German - 2 competition and one language certificate required detailed planning for adequate preparation. Also my internship in the foundation required planning and time-management skills as I had to combine it with my various initiatives and rigorous IB programme. CAS stages were useful to plan my CAS project as well - I was in MUN staff, which means I coorganized WawMUN 2019.

4. Commitment and perseverance are prerequisite for success. I understand it therefore in every action I take these factors resonate. Otherwise I would accomplish my goals such as honours in German, I would not be able to play volleyball in the first-line up or I would not fulfill my demanding duties throughout my internship effectively. These are only examples of actions where I used my commitment and perseverance to succeed.

5. I saw benefits of working collaboratively during the WawMUN 2019 conference, which I organized as my CAS project but also in my internship in the foundation and my service as a student goverment vice president. In the student government we need to rely on one another and have each other’s back. We do share responsibilities to make sure nothing is neglected. We help each other and in case of emergency may replace one another either during a debate or while discussing issues with the head mistress. Throughout my internship I served as an assistant therefore I needed to adjust to the current responsibilities. I was instructed by more experienced employees all the way and assigned tasks. WawMUN conference is the biggest MUN in Poland therefore the organization process is complicated and required the division of tasks. If we did not trust each other and if we did not share responsibilities, the effect would not be so spectacular. The results showed the benefits of the team work from its best side.

6. I engaged with issues of gloabl significance throughout my CAS project which was co-organizing the MUN conference. Practising debating skills is crucial in today’s world and new generations of politicians have a chance to challenge their capabilities on the conference. The topics discussed in individual commitees touched upon issues of global significance. It is great to give my peers a chance to gain skills, delve into controversial subjects and defend their position. Some of them would probably pursue politics further in life; MUN conferences are truly inspirational in this respect.

7. One of the ethical issues I adressed during my activity as a student government vice president was the animal consumption. To relieve the environment, make my own step to reduce cruelty against animals, at least at the local level, I negotiated with the canteen supervisor to introduce vegan food. Unfortunately it was not possible to serve vegan dinners because of technical diffuculties but vegan sandwiches appeared in the canteen soon after our proposal. This is the way to satisfy needs of people on a plant-based diet but also a way to promote environmentally friendly food, with no associated cruelty.

Creativity

I love literature and foreign languages. Throughout my CAS, I combine this two effectively to follow both of my passions simultaneously. I read and write a lot in German and do far beyond what is required in my school. My goals in German are wide-ranging and not confined to my German B classes, but I challenged myslef to take part in competition and to read German literature. Once I have read “The Sorrows of Young Werther”, “Faust”, “The Visit”, “The Trial” in original and it commenced my relationship with German literature. I was captivated by it to such extent that I made a German classic “The Magic Mountain” the center of my Extended Essay. I also chose “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka to use in my oral exam. Thomas Mann and Franz Kafka are one of my favourite writers of all time and they allow me to trace different nuances of German language. Close analysis of these works of art should involve in my opinion delving into the original work. A valuable experience might be to compare it with the translation, which I did throughout my independent study.

My tangible achievements in German (the evidence for my skills) were: a C2 certificate in German, a disitinction in the translation contest “Juvenes Translatores” organized by the European Commision and a finalist title in the National German Olympiad. I reached my aforementioned goals in 2020. They involved CAS stages. 1. I investigated the area I wanted to deepen my skills in and specific aims I wanted to pursue and these were competitions in German. 2. I prepared my strategy, researched the most respectable competitions and exams I wanted to take part in, signed up for them and planned preparation which was necessary because of huge amounts of school work and limited free time. 3. I took specific action, exposed myself to the language days before the exam and throughout multiple months I was doing practice papers, reading and watching a lot. 4. I realized that by pursuing my passion in German and going beyond the curriculum I freed myself and could really delve into the language. The experience provided me with the sense of purpose - my life was not only concerned with my Diploma syllabus but I could get acquainted with literature and recognized the power of translation in terms of its strong influence on the reception of foreign texts. 

From then onward I worked to maintain my German on the same high level. I should not take it for granted - I am not a native speaker. My accomplishements required huge amounts of work and also talent but might disappear if not cared for properly.

Activity

In the course of my CAS journey I have been active in many disciplines. Sport is one of my few ways to unwind and stop stressing about reality. I think that the limited possibilities to practice sport were one of the major obstacles during the pandemic. I was deprived of my only way to switch off and relax. Before the pandemic I used to swim and play volleyball in a school team every week plus I attended 3 Physical Education classes per week. Now my prefered activities are not possible to pursue because of lockdown which entailed school, sport halls and swimming pool closures. Moreover I am concerned with the virus. At the start of 2020 we managed to take the fouth place in district-wide volleyball competition. My team and I wanted to improve next year but the pandemic unexpectedly shattered my plans. I am grateful, however, for having been given a chance to represent my school in the first line-up. Moreover, I would attend volleyball practice every Saturday.

My PE classes give me a chance to play volleyball, football or do fitness. I enjoy almost every activity that is physically demanding. And I am also great in sport which boosts my motivation. Beyond school, I used to exert myself a lot in swimming and have difficulties to find enjoyment in it. However, I am a really good swimmer and it strengthens my determination, improves posture and health.

Throughout the pandemic, I have been practising sport independently, as it is an extremely important part of my life. However, in the first lockdown in the spring I used to overexert myself doing long and intensive workouts every day on an empty stomach to the point when I got health problems. I had to give it up and switched to another physical activity, less demanding but equally fun: walking. Never before have I taken walks so often as during the pandemic. Now, in the winter lockdown I also go for a walk sometimes.

Service

I began my CAS journey in 2019 with giving tutoring to a primary school student from a underprivileged background. Teaching subjects I am comfortable in (English and German) and his improved grades were reasons for my satisfaction. It required a lot of patience and perseverance as it was extremely difficult to teach him something because firstly he lacked motivation and secondly he had difficulties memorizing. This made it a huge challenge but turned out to be rewarding.

The second half of my first IB year (2020) I sacrificed for my internship (voluntary work) in a foundation.  My scope of activity consisted in the cooperation with the Fundraising Director and the Spokeswoman of the foundation; I had duties related to fundraising and media such as: preparing summaries of the reports from humanitarian missions for fairs in Dubai, translating posts for English social media profiles, collecting data for media reports, translating official requests for the sponsorship, gathering contact details of potential sponsors i.e. big companies and Presidents of the biggest Polish cities, monitoring press mentions.

Throughout 2020 I have also been fulfilling duties of the student government vice president. My team was elected in February 2020 and until now (beginning of 2021) I hold this position. I resolve current problems with the head mistress, co-organize and participate in events e.g. open days, control social media, coordinate logistics. In March we attended an event for student governments across Warsaw. I also tried to organize the Physics conference with my 2 friends in my school but it was cancelled last-minute due to imposed school closure, one week before it was scheduled to take place. Everything had been arranged with lecturers and we had to cancel feeling miserable.

My wide range of CAS activities - other examples

Apart from my core activities which I described, I got involved in numerous other CAS experienced described on this blog. One of the most enriching ones was my participation in the process of creation of a book. I wrote my own essay to a book published this month by my former class teacher. I entitled my work: “School is people: about sparking authenticity and breaking patterns”. I also cooked a lot and published some of my recipes on the blog, wrote to my school newspaper, took part in environmental protests, wrote some poems, some diary entry, practiced Frech, including writing, took many beautiful photos on my trips abroad,... 

I also co-organized WawMUN2019 conference as my CAS project.

[purplesurveys]

1011

1. Five facts about your current relationship OR five facts about your single life.

a) I haven’t been truly single in...around 6 years, so it’s been a bit of an adjustment.

b) It was my last day as an intern yesterday (but they hired me, so I’m staying after all, haha) and since I’ve felt like I gained a family in the last two months, I thought it would be okay to give professionalism a break and share what had actually been going on with me on my first day on the job, aka when the breakup was still fresh and I was still figuring out how to function all over again. It unsurprisingly surprised everyone and my superior said something like, “Omg it’s the [company name] curse; it’s so strong it broke you guys up before you even got hired” which got a laugh out of me.

c) I’m not interested in seeing other people.

d) Probably wouldn’t be, for a long time. My trust has been irreparably broken.

e) Seeing couples in public has now become annoying. I’m happy for them, but it’s still annoying.

2. Five facts about a past relationship.

a) I’ve known her since kindergarten, but we didn’t become friends till 7th grade and didn’t start dating until junior year of high school.

b) We were legal with her family and her parents loved me and I them. On the other hand, I was never able to come out to my family because she broke up with me before I could be able to do so.

c) She introduced me to vaping.

d) We were never able to truly travel together, which we always planned to do after graduating. The farthest we reached was Batangas.

e) She never knew where she wanted to eat whenever we were out, so I was mostly the one who decided which restaurant we were going to have lunch or dinner in.

3. Five facts about your mother.

a) She has always worked in hotels, which is great because it has always allowed us to get room and buffet discounts, heh.

b) Her family (aka my grandparents, her, and my uncles) struggled financially for a little bit when my grandpa lost his job when she was in college. When her friends would go to fast-food restaurants, my mom would always decline, saying she had schoolwork to finish. In reality she just couldn’t afford anything, and the only money she held was for public transport.

c) She is a little childish considering her age, and I cannot stand her petty tantrums. She was childish even when I was a kid, and I believe my emotional well-being suffered because of that.

d) She has a high pain tolerance and the only time I’ve seen her struggle was when she was getting a tattoo on the back of her shoulder.

e) She is also extremely religious and it especially grinds my gears when she gets hypocritical about it, which is just about all the time.

4. Five facts about your father.

a) He has only ever dated my mom.

b) He grew up extremely poor and at some point his parents actually stopped being able to afford his tuition. Instead of being kicked out, a few nuns who served in the school paid my grandparents a visit and told them my dad would be given a scholarship since he had good grades and it would have been a waste if he got expelled.

c) He was a dancer in high school, knows how to play the guitar, and he also apparently knows how to draw very well. There’s a lot I don’t know about him, considering he has worked abroad my whole life.

d) He breaks or loses his reading glasses once every few months. I know which parent I definitely take after.

e) I have never seen him cry.

5. Five facts about your sibling. If you have more than one, pick one. Or do them all!

a) She had problems crying in school until she was in around 2nd or 3rd grade.

b) She’s in college and is currently taking up digital filmmaking.

c) She’s the biggest introvert I know. I’ve never seen her be willing to do anything silly; not even with her friends.

d) She can’t handle spicy food.

e) Her main interests have shifted from Harry Potter, to One Direction, to 5SOS, and now K-pop. I believe she’s into Seventeen the most.

6. Five facts about your town.

a) The upper part of the city offers amazing views of the Metro Manila skyline, which has recently made the place a kinda popular nightlife destination.

b) There’s a lot of hidden gem restaurants here but because most people spend more time complaining about how far my city is and how difficult it is to get to than actually just making the damn ride over here, the restaurants stay hidden and uncrowded. Their loss.

c) Used to be massively underdeveloped for most of my childhood and teenage years. Now there are several malls and I can easily go to a McDonald’s, Burger King, and Starbucks right outside our village.

d) Because you basically have to drive through a mountain to get to the upper part of the city, it’s not the safest highway and fatal crashes are unfortunately common.

e) The city is known for its suman, except I hate Filipino rice cakes and this actually doesn’t do anything for me.

7. Five facts about your house.

a)  It used to have a balcony until we had that transformed into another bedroom. So technically it is still a balcony; it just hasn’t had that purpose for a while now.

b) My mom used a little cheat in our dining room and installed a huge wall mirror. Most people visiting for the first time always note how much larger it made the room (and thus the house) look.

c) I live in a neighborhood where the houses are of the same model and look (think the Squidville episode from Spongebob). That said, balconies are included in all properties. When my parents decided to renovate ours and turn it into a room, so many houses slowly followed suit as well. It was amusing to see it unfold, knowing the idea undoubtedly originated from us. It was like a revolution.

d) We don’t have a gate, which irritates me to no end because it allows noisy neighborhood kids to just march and run around our property. Sometimes they even make it to our carport and backyard, ugh. :(

e) Speaking of backyard, the landscaping for it used to be a pebble mosaic designed to look like a swan. But over the years the quality deteriorated, so my parents to opted to have the pebbles crushed into tiny rocks and embedded onto the ground. I don’t exactly know what this technique is called, but yeah.

8. Five facts about your niece or nephew. If you have more than one, pick one. Or do them all! Skip if you don’t have one. I don’t have any, but I do have a godson so I’m going with him as I don’t want to leave any section blank.

a) He was born sometime in December. I honestly don’t remember when, loooooool. Worst godmother ever.

b) He’s actually one of my first cousins, but I guess my aunt saw something in me and wanted me to be his godson. I’ve been a terrible one, though; I’ve never bought him gifts or money or anything – to be fair, I was made a ninang when I was like, 14 or 15 lmao.  But I can definitely make up for it now that I’m starting to earn my own money.

c) He’s the calmer, sweeter version of his older brother. His kuya was a pretty naughty kid when he was his age.

d) He mainly speaks English, as how most younger parents raise their kids these days. He understands Filipino of course, but he mostly communicates in English.

e) The last time I saw him, he was in the middle of a ridiculously adorable interviewing phase where he’d approach anyone in the family and start asking them a series of questions: what’s your favorite color? What food can’t you live without? What’s your favorite subject in school? Would you rather win $1 million dollars or know how to fly? It typically got exhausting after the 25th question, but it was so cute nonetheless. None of us have any idea where it came from.

9. Five facts about your education.

a) I went to a private, all-girls, Catholic school from kinder up to high school, and then moved to a public, co-educational, non-sectarian university for college. It was the very epitome of culture shock, lemme tell ya.

b) Some classes I had in my first school that might be uncommon in others have included penmanship (because my school has its own brand of cursive), environmental education, and I don’t remember what this next class was called anymore but we were basically taught how to write professionally? Like how to write cover letters and resumés and all.

c) My first school is extremely homophobic and went so far as to ‘hire’ spies  tasked to check up on who’s been in same-sex relationships, list them all down, and report them to the guidance office so that they can be called one by one and be interrogated, and for the most part, pressured to come out. I don’t know if they still do this, but the younger batches are definitely more vocal and woke now thanks to social media and I doubt those practices would still fly today.

d) My university education was a breath of fresh air. Suddenly people were wearing sleeveless tops, mobs and rallies were a common sight to me, and my instructors were now atheist and not shoving Catholicism and Jesus and salvation down my throat. I loved every single day of it.

e) The most interesting class I took in college was a course called Pornography in Electronic Media, under the broadcast communication department. Getting to tell people I take a class where we sit down to watch porn was such a fucking ride.

10. Five facts about your job.

a) I got hired last Wednesday, but I had been interning for the company for around two months before they extended the offer.

b) I’m pretty much gonna be doing the same things I did as an intern, except I’m now accountable for any boo-boos I make HAHAHAHA. Also, I’m gonna be paid a lot more, obviously, which is sweet. I really thought we interns were severely underpaid considering the work that we help with on a daily basis.

c) My role is going to be with another department which is a little scary because it means the things I learned with the department I actually interned at will be pretty much useless. I’ll be starting from scratch again, but I’m still excited.

d) It’s a work-from-home situation, which is a relief for me because I don’t have to wake up early and I don’t have to face traffic. 

e) My job interview for the position was actually a bit of a bomb because I absolutely fumbled with and messed up the first question I was asked; and since first impressions matter, I really thought I lost the gig from the very start of the interview. I made up for it as the interview continued and fortunately was able to break the ice and build a rapport with the team members who spoke with me, and I guess I did enough for them to want to take me in anyway.

For those who are curious, I blanked the fuck out when they asked “Tell me something about yourself that isn’t in your resumé.” Slowest 15 seconds of my life.

[f107group2]

Time to Flex these Mussels

They say we are what we eat. Bodybuilders must've eaten a lot of mussels then.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia  

    Subkingdom: Bilateria  

        Infrakingdom: Protostomia  

          Superphylum: Lophozoa  

              Phylum: Mollusca   

                Class: Bivalvia                   

                   Subclass: Pteriomorphia 

                      Order: Mytiloida  

                          Family: Mytilidae  

                            Genus: Mytilus  

                                Species: Mytilus edulis (Linnaeus, 1758) – edible blue mussel, blue mussel (ITIS 2020)

Hanging out with the English

Photo by Guillermo D’Elia (2016)

Just chillin in the northern part of the globe, the Mytilus edulis occurs in the northeast and northwest of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly in Scotland and the British Isles in high intertidal and subtidal zones from estuaries to oceanic waters (CABI 2020; FAO 2020).

Open Sesame: Unraveling the Insides

Photo by DesignPics 

Photo by Rainer Zenz

The main parts of the mussel are its shell and its foot. The shell has 3 layers namely: nacre (mother of pearl) which is continuously secreted by the mantle, prismatic layer, and periostracum which protects the prismatic layer from abrasion. The blue mussel’s shell color is blue, usually purple, and sometimes brown. Its shell is smooth and equivalve (valves of equal shape and size) with concentric lines starting from the hinge. Its hinge line has no teeth but it has 3-12 crenulations under the umbones (Oli 2016).

Photo from: Eggermont et al

Internally, its intestine is continuous to the anus where waste is excreted from the excurrent siphon. It has 2 pairs of gills, each pair resides on each shell valve. Other internal organs include the hepatopancreas, kidney, gonad, and a 2-chambered heart. Its nervous system consists of ganglia or nerve centers because it has no brain or head in their body. Its foot is protruded outside the shell for locomotion and anchoring to substrates (Oli 2016). 

Check out the video below to further know about its anatomy.

Hold On Tahong!

Wonder how mussels are able to anchor themselves?

Interestingly, in the foot of mussels are byssal glands that produce byssal threads. These threads are strong and silky fibers made from proteins and are responsible for anchoring the organism to a substrate. With this, the industrial and medical areas have studied this “glue” which offered on how to create artificial tendons (Kenedy 2019).

Life (and Production Cycle)

Photo from: Science Learning Hub (top), FAO (bottom) 

A bed, not the type you’d sleep on, but reproduction can still happen 👀

As adults, blue mussels are typically found in dense mussel beds. They are broadcast spawners meaning that both have a separate male and female sex and they cast their gametes (sperm and eggs) into the water at the same time and fertilization takes place in the environment. See this video below in which a blue mussel releases its sperm in the water.

The larvae then undergo a series of metamorphosis from planktonic trochophore to veliger until such time it attaches to algae and after some time, joins other mussels.

Since this species is capable of being cultured, instead of settlement on filamentous algae in the wild, they are attached to the ropes and bamboo rafts for the initial settlement during aquaculture and they no longer need a secondary settlement because they are already with other mussels. 

Photo from: GNS Science 

Ecology

If a blue mussels were to submit a resume, it will surely get accepted. Why? They are very versatile!

Blue mussels are capable of withstanding wide fluctuations in salinity, desiccation, temperature, and oxygen tension (FAO 2020). These abilities enable it to occupy a variety of microhabitats and expand its zonation range from high intertidal to subtidal regions, from estuaries to the ocean waters. It can survive in countries with climatic conditions such as mild, subtropical to frequently frozen habitats because they are both euryhaline and eurythermal (FAO 2020)

What’s the Menu to Being the Menu Real Quick

Mussels are often on the seafood restaurants’ menu. But what is on the mussel’s menu? 

They are filter feeders and so any detritus and plankton in the water columns that happen to drift near them can be pulled towards the organism through ciliary actions. Unfortunately, they are not only on the seafood restaurants’ menu but a lot of aquatic organisms also feed on them as well - from sea stars, sea anemones, snails, crabs, fishes,  to diving ducks, northwestern crow, gulls, and sea otters. Maybe their versatility also has its downsides and this is mainly being exposed to a lot of predators.

Photo from: Ruth Foster

However, without mussels that filter the water to take out toxins, algae and debris, the water will not be as clean, and without clean water, fish will have less oxygen causing them to die. Furthermore, they help concentrate the nutrients on lake bottoms and river-beds for other aquatic plants and animals.

Watch this video to see how mussels can help in improving the water quality in terms of turbidity:

Mytilus edulis @ 18: Welcome to Legality

Photo from: British Antarctic Survey 

Most cultured mussels are produced in less than 2 years but in the wild, blue mussels can live up to 18-24 years (FAO 2020), hence its shell growth over the years is a powerful indicator for environmental changes (British Antarctic Survey 2018).

A new study headed by Leca Telesca from University of Cambridge, claims that they have developed a method to accurately describe which specific traits change when facing specific environmental conditions regardless of age, species and other potentially confounding factors (British Antarctic Survey 2018). This is an important feature to track environmental stressors throughout the years.

Connecting with my Hooman

Have you ever tasted a tahong? Umm.. the blue tahong? Cos I haven’t. But they say that the blue tahong’s meat is excellent compared to the green-lipped tahong.  What about you? What KINDS of tahong have you eaten?  👀  

Centuries of Blue Entrée

Mytilus edulis has long been utilized and exploited even way back 6000 BC as scraps of shells were found as kitchen middens (FAO 2020). Blue mussels are harvested as a food source both from the wild and as farmed sources from commercial aquaculture. Blue mussels are a very important food source, especially to the coastal communities. 

DANGER: Toxic Shellfish Ahead

Despite its popularity as a food source, Diarrhetic Shellfish Poisoning (DSP) and Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) pose a serious threat to the consumers that often leads to long-term industry closures and human health problems (FAO 2020) These poisonings are caused by harmful algal toxins consumed by the mussel.

Aiding the Economy

Blue mussel is an economically important species in the northwest Atlantic and temperate zones both imported and exported in the U.S. domestic fish market. With exported 2,018,000 lbs ($3.86 million) of all mussel species both wild and farmed harvest in 2013-2014 (The Safina Center 2017).

In the Philippines, the volume of farmed mussels continues to increase with 18, 774 metric tons to 26, 302 metric tons harvested last 2016 and 2018 respectively. (psa.gov.ph)  

Interestingly, blue mussels are not that common compared to green mussels in the Philippines! Hmm… No wonder I haven’t eaten one yet!

Fun Facts Time ! ! !

Yes... We know this is your most awaited... 

1. It was just an accident! 

The introduction of the blue mussel in the Philippines is possibly accidental due to shipping activities according to Philstar.com.

2. It’s an engineer! Yep, mussels are!

 Unlike you. . . they’re an ecosystem engineer.

Mussels are considered to be an ecosystem engineer as they can alter their environments for the better. They filter particles and make the water clean that positively affect their ecosystem and everything else that lives within the ecosystem. 

3. Colorful Comparison

The mantles of lady mussels are orange while gents’ are creamy white. 

4. Sorry SpongeBob We Must Side With Plankton

Mussels feed entirely on plankton. To do this they can filter up to 65 litres of water a day.

5. Gandang Natural! Finger Comb!

Chitin from shellfish such as in mussel is used to make “chitosan” which is found in moisturizers, hair-care products, and medical applications such as wound dressings and as a protective coat for wheat seeds.

 6. Mussels do fish!   …What?

Some species of mussels have to “go fishing” in order to get fish nearby to release their larvae for attachment as their life cycle includes fish as a host. Their mussel larvae attach themselves to the gills of fish, where they develop into juvenile mussels before detaching into the stream or river. To attract fish, mussels have developed very ornate lures that resemble small prey fish (Purdue University).

Check out these videos on how these mussel Lampsilis sp. attract fish.

 Reference:

British Atlantic Survey (2018). Blue mussel shape is a powerful indicator for environmental change. Retrieved October 14, 2020, Available from: https://phys.org/news/2018-02-blue-mussel-powerful-indicator-environmental.html

CABI. (2020). Mytilus edulis (common blue mussel). Retrieved October 15, 2020. Available from:https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/73755#:~:text=trossulus%20occurs%20in%20the%20north,native%20(Wonham%2C%202004). 

Entrepinoys Atbp. Business Ideas Philippines. (2012). Mussel Culture (Tahong). Retrieved October 14, 2020 from  https://ep.franphil.com/mussel-culture-tahong/

FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization). (2020). Mytilus edulis (Linnaeus 1758). Retrieved October 14, 2020. Available from: http://www.fao.org/fishery/culturedspecies/Mytilus_edulis/en#:~:text=Blue%20mussels%20are%20widely%20distributed,%2C%20temperature%2C%20and%20oxygen%20tension. 

ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System). (2020). Mytilus edulis (Linnaeus 1758). Retrieved October 14, 2020. Available from:https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=79454#null 

Kenedy J. (2019). What Is a Byssal Thread?. Retrieved October 14, 2020. Available from: https://www.thoughtco.com/byssal-byssus-threads-2291697 

Oli NA. (2016). Biology of Mussels and Camps. Retrieved October 14, 2020. Available from: https://www.slideshare.net/Nazmuloli52/biology-of-mussels-camps 

Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Fisheries Statistics. Retrieved October 14, 2020 from  https://psa.gov.ph/sites/default/files/Fisheries%20Statistics%20of%20the%20Philippines%2C%202016-2018.pdf

Philstar (The Philippines Star). (2015). Blue mussels reach Pangasinan coast. Retrieved October 14, 2020 from https://www.philstar.com/business/science-and-environment/2015/12/30/1537711/blue-mussels-reach-pangasinan-coast

Purdue University. (n.d.). Heart of the Tippy. Retrieved October 14, 2020 from https://www.purdue.edu/extension/mussels/more-about-mussels/

The Safina Center. (2017).  Blue Mussel Mytilus edulis.  Retrieved October 14, 2020 from https://seafood.ocean.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Mussels-Blue-US-Atlantic

THAT’S IT FOLKS. BYE!

[luvdsc]

hey!! it’s 🧋 anon!! i hope you’re doing well! thank you!! ive got 11 more exams this coming week so i’m a lil 🥲 and then 3 more maybe the week after? exactly! i was so paranoid in the exam like “am i suddenly smart or a grade a idiot?” but it’s comforting to know that others feel the same about tests in general 😅. i’m learning python! i know there are better languages but ehhhh it’s just high school sjdnndn. and thank you about my bias choice sjsjndn. oh no not the 10th floor 😭 i’ve heard horror stories 🤧 i just can’t get over how sweet, funny and gentle he seemed in the jolly interview 🥺. thank you!! for letting me claim 🧋! and i wish i could say the same about not knowing that it was released but i’ve legit been checking since pre-quarantine for a boba emoji bc emojipedia said it would be coming out 😭 i had to start claiming it soon bc i’m NOT letting someone take it from me 😠 (but also! look how cute these are: 🦤🦭🐻‍❄️🐈‍⬛ ). as for my regular boba order, i’m still a lil new to the boba world bc i first (finally) tried it like 2 weeks before quarantine 😭. so everytime i go to this boba place (which is hardly ever for obvious reasons) i try to get something different! bc it all seems so cool!! the place i go to has popping bubbles in different flavours! so i always try to get a different drink with different popping bubbles and regular boba. i think my favourite so far is any drink (maybe mango?) with apple popping bubbles and boba!! but i’ve also been making boba at home for agessss and i usually just make regular tea or green tea with it! 💗

awww 😭 thank you ma’am sksndjdj. i mean, you do give off very motherly energy so i’ll happily accept being a baby 🥺 awww you think my accent is cute? ms cat i’m blushing 😭🥺 oof yeah the exams are not fun™️. but like you said, it does kinda prepare us for them more but the stresssssss is 🥲😭 okay so i’ll answer these in order if that’s okay?

do you still have class going on in between these exams? i assume you mean specifically when we have exams? so unfortunately yeah😭 it depends on the teacher as to wether they’ll let us revise in lesson or if we have to do regular work

do the gcse’s determine your college field of study afterwards? kinda? i mean, colleges have a minimum enterance requrement for courses. although it varies course to course, it’s usually somewhere around the 4-5 (high c-low b) mark. but you can do any course you want at college as long as you have passes in most subjects (usually an emphasis on core subjects (english, maths and science)). (so like, if you didn’t do history in high school, but you wanted to do it in college, then you could do the course as long as you meet the courses’ gcse grade requirements).

is college different from uni? yeah! college is for 2 years and straight after high school. in england you legally have to be in education until you’re 18, so all education is free until then, meaning that college is free! (unless you want to go back to do something else later in life). uni is after college and is optional. that’s where you get things like a bachelor’s, masters and doctoral degree. usually it’s for 3 years although it can vary and you have to pay! we have a student loan system too!

don’t worry about the questions! i enjoy the differences too sjdbbdd. and oooo! here, high school is 11-16/year 7-11, then college is (usually) 16-18/year 12-13 (although we don’t tend to refer to them by years) and uni is (usually) 19-22! (although you tend to go back to that for higher qualifications).

ansnsekndj i’m sorry ms cat 😭 and for me college will start in september of next year! we finish year 11 really early compared to the other years (usually we finish in july (my birthday month!!) but in year 11 we finish the day our last exam happens! which is usually around the end of may to the start of june!) so the holiday is the longest we’ll ever have 😭. that’s one of the reasons i envy americans because the summer breaks are SO long 😭 here, they’re 6 weeks sksndn.

i hope i answered all of your questions ms cat! ily! 🐈‍⬛💗~🧋

hi, lovebug!!! 💓 i’m going to put my answers under the cut since they got pretty long 🤧

i’m doing good!! i got soo much sleep over the weekend and am well rested, so this means tomorrow’s 6 am meeting won’t be too bad 🤧 YOU HAVE ELEVEN EXAMS THIS WEEK???? what on earth 😭 that’s like 2 per day and one day has 3 aksjlhflajkdfaskdjf why don’t they spread them out??? and three more the following week 💀💀 this sounds absolutely brutal, i’m so sorry, lovebug. have you been studying for all of them? LOL yeah, i feel like something is wrong if i can just breeze through a test akjdlhsflask python is a good start and easy to understand! honestly, most codes are pretty similar tbh, so once you get a good grasp of one, it’s easy to learn the other ones :’) do you enjoy cs? 💕 aldskjfaslk yeah, jaehyun does seem like the perfect boyfriend, doesn’t he? 🤧💘 LOL i heard there would be a boba emoji, but i didn’t know if it was true or not, but woooo it’s good to know it’s finally here!! 🥳 and omg the dodo bird and seal emojis 🥺💗 those are all sooo cute!!! aslhfdlkjasd first time trying boba, i just gasped out loud 😦 i’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed it once you tried it though! 💜 omg the popping bubbles are really yummy! and i LOVE mango!!! 🤩 that’s one of my favorite fruits :’) same with apple!! omg you’re making boba at home asdjhfas i’m so jealous 🤧 i haven’t had any boba ever since quarantine started in march 😭 aaaah i loooove green tea and black tea ones :’) have you tried the cheese boba tea before? i thought it wasn’t going to be that good, but i was pleasantly surprised with the taste, like it wasn’t that bad actually. cloud tea is also really nice, too ☁️💞

akjashdlfkja you are the absolute cutest omg 🥺💖 the british accent is sooo nice like wow, you can just be reading me your grocery lists and i’m like 🤩 amazing, perfect, wonderful, never been done before. meanwhile, i’m here with some kind of american valley girl accent LOL 🤧 you shouldn’t be having that much stress at 15 what the heck 😭 i wish they would cut down on the number of exams for you because having 11 in one week is not okay at all ): and oh my goodness, thank you sooo much for giving me such thorough answers to all my questions, honey bee 🥺💛💛✨

ah, we also have classes going on during exams too, so i can relate unfortunately. it really sucks when the teachers continue to teach new material, instead of helping you prepare for the big exams /:

ooo i see!! i think it’s really cool that colleges actually show minimum requirements for acceptance. here, there’s no set criteria at all, so it’s kind of a shot in the dark. they do post the averages of past students’ grades/scores and whatnot, so we have a vague idea of what each school wants, but some schools are weird af, like my friend with a lower gpa and less extracurriculars got into stanford university, meanwhile my one friend who won essentially the youth’s version of the nobel prize and was even acknowledged by obama during his presidency was waitlisted 😬

oh wow, i wish it was like that here :o education is so expensive in the US, like student debt is the norm. do you still have general education classes in college, or is this where you can choose a specific field of study? and university is only 3 years oh my gosh wow, only three years of tuition to pay!! the US could never /: it’s like 70k/year for private universities, 5k-15k/year for public schools in state, and 15k-35k/year for public schools if you’re out of state 💀

the words “college” and “university” are pretty much interchangeable here in the US, so that’s really cool to know! years 6-8 / ages 11-13 (i think that’s the age range?) is considered middle school here, so it’s interesting to see that some of those years are considered high school for you :o

ooo ok, that’s when my school years ended too back in high school! i ended in may and started school again in august. but in uni, i started in september and ended mid june :’) ah yes, our summers are around 2-3 months, and i really miss having that now that i’m out of school 😭 only 6 weeks??? that’s so short omg i’m so sorry ): do you have anything fun planned for your summer? also, do you have prom there? 💕

thank you soooo so much, sweetpea, you answered all of my questions so nicely, and i appreciate you so much 💝💝 ily too, and i hope you have a good week ahead, angel!!! 💖🌷