#id make good money with even just a bachelors degree

[m00ngbin]

I'm trying to pick a major that I would be the most interested in just because it would make my life so much easier and right now I have like three ideas and they all have a million problems

[scourgefrontiers]

before i head to bed i have one last ramble post to make here we go

so for years ive had this on and off idea of becoming a teacher, specifically an art teacher. ive always loved art Obviously but ive also really always enjoyed sharing my knowledge of art with other people. i think being a teacher fits me to some degree yeah?

the thing is im not sure if its..a good? idea? to step into a new career path at this point of my life. i mean like not bc of age, im only 26 lol, but because ive worked So Hard to be some sort of animation industry professional, for Years, that it feels like almost a waste of time if i just change career paths like that? and i know thats not a very healthy way to think about it but thats where im at

in addition you apparently have to have a bachelor's degree and let me tell you. i do Not want to go to college, especially when im not 100% sold on the idea of being a teacher. if theres some way for me to get a teaching certificate license without having to go through a wholeass four year college course then great i'll consider it but right now this is more of a fleeting dream than anything else u_u

the reason im thinking about all this is b/c like..idk. being a small, small artist online is hard. i enjoy it 90% of the time! i love drawing cartoons for people and making them happy while making money at the same time. its fun. but i make Not A Lot of money, and every single month i get stressed right around this time b/c i usually dont have enough for rent yet. it usually works out, ive only had to have help a couple times (this month will..probably be included in that unfortunately), but overall i enjoy what i do. that being said, i long for a job/career that i can rely on to get me by more smoothly than this, yknow?

i want to buy my wife a bigger space. id love a house one day. id love a car. id love to buy little luxuries from time to time. like i used to buy my favorite db figs every now and then but i havent done that for two years. i rarely buy little treats like that for myself anymore bc 1) we dont have the space and 2) i feel like rent and food are more important and i have to spend my money on important things now. we barely even have enough to go to conventions or take vacations to a beach for two days out of the year. it's rough out here [note: i do not regret moving out when i did btw. i needed to for growth and boy have i grown like its insane, i love the person i am now. im just saying i do struggle a lot still with other things]

anyway yeah. i dont like to think about Giving Up my current aspirations of becoming some popular artist and making a living doing what i do right now (just more comfortably). but im starting to feel like if i want to improve our quality of life im gonna have to do that u_u idk

[shurisasthmaticgf]

22 year old with a bachelors degree here to tell you to enjoy your youth and keep finding hobbies and know that even after high school you can still have fun and enjoy life and do the things you love. i spent my time in university doing all of my favorite things and graduated highly decorated with over 10 honors.

and when you get to university PLEASE i absolutely beg of you to go out and have fun and do things to make you happy because i worked 3 jobs on top of extracurriculars and a full course load. i worked myself to the bone bc i had the same idea that i needed to work nonstop to be successful when i graduated. and here i am unemployed with a degree from a good school taking time to recover from the mental gymnastics that was university and the shit family stuff i’m dealing with rn. all of that to say regardless if i worked to burnout like i did or if i just coasted by id end up in this exact same place right now.

you will work until you retire and there might be SLIGHTLY less time to do stuff like hang out with friends or something just bc you’ll end up going separate ways but stay in touch anyways. growing up doesn’t mean your life begins to suck and become this boring ass conveyor belt of work eat sleep repeat unless you allow your life to become that

and i hope as you get older you continue writing or reading or just continue to have something your passionate about it because that will bring joy and a small escape to the shitshow that the real world can be sometimes but know that making money while still being happy and having hobbies outside of work is attainable

find joy and happiness now so when you hit adulthood you aren’t searching for it, you’ll already know where it is ��🏽

it feels so weird being a very young f1 ao3 writer cz i literally be complimenting another writer’s work and then when i look in their tumblr bio they’re literally twice my age 😭😭 how can you write rpf (esp f1 or motorsport in general) as a grown adult it just sounds so weird?? like i’m sorry but i do not see myself even TOUCHING ao3 after my 20th birthday..

[mariacallous]

how do you keep going, with all the shit we're in?

My short response is "Consider the alternative".

My longer response is:

My first s*i*ide attempt was when I was 14, and I've had other attempts over the years, and I've been dealing with depression for about as long, and I suppressed and fought my identity for about 20 years. I've been rejected from probably about 200-300 jobs in the last 3 years. I've worked for low pay for a public health department and the department of human services in a state that doesn't prioritize either, and I've done welfare eligibility and navigation in a state that struggles with both. My career has involved working with the literal most vulnerable and marginalized populations (until now, for better or worse). I'm on my third attempt at a masters degree (with the debt to prove it) and having to restart my capstone project and figure out how to complete it, and I didn't get my bachelors until I was 25, after having to start and stop my academics. I didn't see my family face-to-face for about 4 years before finally having enough money and stability to visit for a week in December...of 2019. Until today I had maybe $20 in my bank account for the last week and a half to two weeks probably because of bills and still dealing with stuff from moving. I'm waiting to get the news that I'm being evicted from my apartment in Minnesota. I need to re-establish care with providers now that I've moved and try to make sure I don't run out of medications before then. I can't look in the mirror too long or I want to punch it and myself.

BUT

I'm in a place I've been wanting to be for years, in an apartment I like, in a job that, while not perfect, pays pretty well and provides me with flexibility and opportunities for growth and which will work well with my grad program. I've been on hormones for almost 3 years now and I'm reaching the point where I can make even more progress. I have several friends who care about me and support me, and there's even more people who think like me and want the same kinds of things I do, and who are working to make changes. I have several interests and hobbies which make me happy and which allow me to think and enjoy things and which add to my life. I've got plans to get a dog and to take advantage of the area where I live and do more.

Progress is neither linear nor quick, and we're looking at some very deep and very dark circumstances on almost every level. And it can feel, and probably is, incredibly overwhelming. It's easy to focus on that overwhelming darkness, and to be sapped of energy and strength and the desire to keep moving forward, to keep trying. It's easy to be cynical and strive for aloofness and superciliousness, to try to use that and the darkness as an armor.

But that is a disservice to both ourselves and individuals, to whatever issues or causes we believe in, and to the people who are working and pushing and fighting. It ignores that we are all, to a certain extent, in similar circumstances, and it ignores that there are things to seek out and hold onto and hold up, things that puncture and brighten the overwhelming darkness, that there's still progress and positive things happening, even if not as big or as quick or as widespread as we'd like.

Plus, as I've said before, I'm stubborn. I don't intend to make things easy - not for death, not for the darkness, not for people committed to both and to those being critical and removed and aloof. And I think more people need to be stubborn in that sense.

This doesn't meant to bulldoze and barrel through each day, mostly because that's unrealistic and unhealthy. Focus and conserve your strength - some days just getting out of bed and going through the motions is the best you can do, and that's still a victory.

I keep going because I know that there's good out there and good on the horizon, and that nothing I wanted or liked ever happened or came to me because I stopped.

I keep going because I refuse to just stay mired in the shit.

[system-of-a-feather]

Fuck studying Imma ramble cause I'm over it. The first midterm for birds class and ID is supposed to be relatively easy and if it is fuck it I don't need to study, if its not, then fuck it this was the "hardest part of birds" for me so I'll just do better on the next one. My levels of shits has gone down so much with how over school I am and since working with the subsystem and realizing everyone is really over it. I have ONE last class and I can not be asked (technically two but I'm taking the other P/NP so I don't have to worry about the grade so long as I get a C- which is easy)

But honestly, our system has spent the first twenty-two years of our life being put on high pressure to keep everything perfect of the capitalistic grindset with a metaphorical knife to our throat if we so much as slip up. And this is not meant to be a brag, because I say this with exhaustion due to just how much mental illness, splitting, and pain we put into this, but we have actually managed to keep a REALLY clean and perfect track record. We have over a year of formal research experience, two years worth between two seperate labs. We have a year of clinical experience. We've maintained a perfectly clean record in terms of legal shit. We've maintained off of all addictive substances (save for caffeine). We've "gotten a good grade in healing and recovery". We've built so many skills and properly learned to self care some. We make money. We have a really good healthy long term relationship. We have some really strong healthy stable friends. We have healthy positively fulfilling hobbies. We are on our way to a career path we love and we are a very strong candidate for our ideal career.

We have worked so fucking endlessly and tore ourselves apart regularly (literally I guess) to keep this up because we could never get ourselves to fucking stop and we are so so so close to what our whole system thinks is the first time in our entire lives that we can actually take a breather and fucking just LIVE.

Running the mid to late December we are finally graduated with our Bachelors degree and we can join the work force and spend two years just fucking living before going into gradschool. I've had some classmates give me a weird look and judge cause my "gap year" is still me fully working a full time job and that is "self care" but it really really really fucking is for us.

Now that I'm writing this I'm definitely blurred, possibly temp-fused with Data - actually almost certainly temp-fused with Data. But we are so so so so so fucking just hoping that we are right that this is finally fucking live and not be in this fucking hellhole of a miserable life.

Like I (Data side) would be so fucking happy to just let this all fucking go and just fuse into the rest of the subsystem properly because we really really don't need to be holding onto our life with as tight of a grip as I / we do but until we finish this last quarter, this last year, it was absolutely non negotiable. I'm praying to whatever god I don't believe in that I am right and that my brain will let us just have two fucking seconds of life.

I don't really even know what that would look like - WE don't even know what that would look like. Having two years where the only thing on our "progress list" is just working and not having to worry about tests or skill building. There's even a chance we might end up moving across the country and live near our best bro and bring our fiance over when he can make it.

It's so incomprehensible to actually be able to just do things without it having to be a check mark in a grand miserable scheme of making sure everything is perfect and done right and that we have entire control and awareness over our progress win life. It's so incomprehensible to have so few variables to keep track of to make sure we won't be miserable the rest of our lives. It's so incomprehensible to actually be able to live and ugh.

I'm so fucking tired and burnt out on living like this. It's been 22 years. We've given enough and once we secure a job for those two years, we have officially reached the bare minimum stability that our brain can finally permit us to have the first breather we had since we came out of the fucking womb right?

My "book" says in theory yes and I pray that it is not a false hope and a lie. I've been trudging through this past month or two with the energy given from the idea that if I get this last bit done right, I can theoretically be fucking free because I succeeded. If I do, then I will cry and be more than glad to fuse which is hopefully the plan.

("also lol Riku -> Data-Riku temp-fuse -> Data caught live in ramble" -Riku back there)

I'm exhausted as shit but currently it's optimistic and hopeful positive exhaustion. I hope in the next half year that I'm not an isolated part and our system has healed enough that I don't have to be a seperate part and we (as a whole) do not have to feel the need to have someone as chronically obsessive-compulsive driven. I'd love that, both for myself (since I would have achieved the ability to let some of it go) and for the whole.

Crossing my fingers.

-Data / Riku / Data-Riku Fusion

[thedistrictroleplay]

ID: 

Name | Nickname | Age:  Nicholas Scott Vanderbilt | Nick | 30 Birthday | Astrology:  March 17, 1991 | Pisces sun,  Pronouns | Sexual identity:  He/him | heterosexual  Birthplace | Raised: Tuxedo Park, NY | New York City, NY Residence: Upper Northwest  Occupation: Attorney, Assistant Law Professor at Georgetown Faceclaim: Scott Eastwood 

TRIGGER WARNINGS: drug mention tw

TIMELINE: 

March 17, 1991- Nicholas is born as the 2nd son of Patrick and Elaine Vanderbilt.  He joins older brother Peter, and will later be hounded by brother Christopher, as an extension of the New York Vanderbilt legacy of politicians. 

Summer 2003-2008 -  Nick is sent to summer camp, along with Peter, to Camp Walt Whitman in New Hampshire.  When Christopher turns twelve, he also joins the annual tradition. 

August 2008-June 2009- Nick long-distance dates Aly Acosta, whom he met at Camp Walt Whitman

June 2009- graduates high from St. Judes Prep in NYC and is Princeton bound.  Nick and Aly amicably break up before going their separate ways to college.

August 2009-June 2013- attends Princeton University, ultimately graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Politics, with political economy emphasis.  

September 2014- starts at Columbia Law school, alongside Aly who has moved to NYC to attend business school at Columbia.  Nick plays hard and works harder, graduating #2 in his class.

sometime in 2015-  Nick and Aly blackout and wake up married, courtesy of Nick’s fast-talking, lying his ass off to a judge who is friends with his family.

June 2016- Aly graduates and immediately begins traveling everywhere for work.  Nick applies for an international dual-degree program that moves him to Paris for his last year of law school. 

August 2016-October 2017- Nick lives and studies in Paris, both degrees conferred in October when he returns to the United States.

February 2018- takes the NYC bar exam. 

March 2018-July 2018- UN internship in Vienna as legal affairs intern. 

July 2018-January 2021- Ambassadorship in Belize.  He checks out a little early after Aly’s abuela dies and he’s traveling back and forth; his attention is too divided and he knows it. 

January 2021- moves to D.C. for international trade attorney job.  Also begins working at as part-time assistant professor at Georgetown and, over the spring, settles into a home in the area. 

BIOGRAPHY: 

Nicholas Scott Vanderbilt, Nick to most, was born the second son of Patrick and Elaine “Lainey” Vanderbilt on the luckiest day in the land, two days late and establishing that he would do what he please and when he damn well wanted. The last name Vanderbilt, no matter the spelling, conjures an image. They’re practically a brand. Young Nicholas and his brothers, as well as his extensive network of cousins, were raised to enhance and support that image. It could be argued his grandfather, William, was a cult leader raising young men to take over the world. Every Vanderbilt son was pressured to be the best, to seek their interests as long as their interests were both academic and high-end, and to pursue a political career. Their last name opened those doors, whether it was a prep school Model UN, the right university, or a job. All they had to do was follow their grandfather’s every instruction and the world would be theirs. It was their birthright, after all.  At least, that’s what they threw out there into time and space.  Nick didn’t exactly agree, preferring to exploit those opportunities with hard work and clear-cut goals -- but he absolutely benefitted from the system and knew from an early age how to selectively keep his mouth shut and manipulate outcomes. 

He wasn’t the typical middle child, acting out for attention. He did what was expected of him, but he always did it his way. He could talk his way into and out of trouble, and his energy left his parents exhausted. Just kidding, he wasn’t raised by his parents.  They checked in, but he was raised by an army of well-educated and well-paid nannies and tutors. He was always smart enough to excel, always duty-bound enough to show up, and always rebellious enough to do it on his own terms. He grew to have a taste for expensive things, too pretentious to do low-class drugs or drive basic cars, but also with a few quirks. He didn’t quite have the temptations or shortcomings of his brothers – the constant need for women and the trouble they brought with them when any woman would do, the friends who lived off his money for their good time, the artistic side that barely masked an identity crisis. Instead, he was selectively social, even though it gave him the reputation of being an unequivocal snob, preferring indie bands and concerts, craft beer in off-the-beaten-path bars to escape haranguing of Page Six and other such nonsense, and other “hipster bullshit” according to his younger brother. He didn’t care. He wasn’t sure anyone had anything to offer him anyway.  Maybe there was something to the ‘snobby’ part of his reputation.  As he grew, he realized there was something to the ‘asshole’ part, too, and he never really felt like apologizing for it, so he didn’t. 

His educational dossier reads like something in a leather-bound tome, planned out by his grandfather from the moment Nicholas blessed the world with his presence. The only exception is he went to Princeton for his undergraduate, instead of following the family footsteps to New Haven. Mostly, he did it for the sake of being different, not because he cared what the piece of paper said. He had bigger aspirations but made his mark by being slightly different than some of his cousins with their sights on Congress or being Governor. He still did all of his undergrad in politics, emphasis on political economy, and then went to law school at Columbia. While the name didn’t hurt anything, he was confident he got in based on the strength of his academic resume, and he graduated near the top of his class only because he let someone else have that likely last, shining accomplishment in their lives. He doesn’t even remember the woman’s name and he definitely didn’t sleep with her. Or did he? He won’t tell one way or the other, because his parents messed up when they didn’t make discretion part of his middle name. Part of his success was his selective ability to do what he wanted under the radar. His brothers and cousins were just a little too obvious with their exploits, and Nicholas was determined to be smarter and better than them.

Take, for example, the time he got married during year 2, while profoundly drunk in Atlantic City, to a girl from Miami he’d met at a bougie send-away summer camp.  He had attended the camp every year from age twelve to age seventeen, and she was there the whole time.  They had continued to date through their senior year of high school, in spite of the distance.  In addition to liking her, he also liked the privacy of dating someone who didn’t live in the surprisingly-claustrophobic New York world.   Either way, she wasn’t an unknown quantity by any means and his parents and grandparents liked her well enough, even if her mother was a bit much and bit too new-money-ambitious in her efforts to prove herself.  With the wedding, the real problem was he used his silver tongue to lie to a judge, who blessed the wedding without a waiting period. It left him in a rough spot professionally, because he couldn’t get a divorce and admit to the lies without it being political suicide before he’d even graduated from law school.  Aly had ambitions of her own and they split again, like they had during high school but different, and mostly went their own ways. She was young and wild, and he was all over Europe finishing a dual degree in something that was a mouthful to set him up for a career at the UN or as an ambassador, so they only connected sometimes.  They’d had a youthful pact to marry each other at forty if they hadn’t married other people anyway, and not bothering with a divorce kept them away from the messy need for a prenup that hadn’t happened.

HIs parents thought the split went through years ago, fast enough Amy Acosta couldn’t start to model the Vanderbilt family jewels, and they’re very mistaken.  However, he’s always been good at hiding where his heart truly lies, playing off emotions, sounding flip and sarcastic when things get tough. They think he’s back in the States to move forward, long past the one youthful indiscretion where they have only minimal details. The next planned step in the Vanderbilt legacy is marriage and children. After all, what is a legacy if it is not continued?  Now that Nick isn’t just pushing thirty, but is actually there, it’s time for him to turn his attention there, at least in their estimation.  It’s on him to continue their legacy because God only knows his brothers, take your pick of an artist or a consummate playboy, are never going to give his parents and grandfather anything to be proud of.

So it’s up to him. After quietly supporting Aly through some hard times, quitting his hard-won job in the embassy in Belize was easy. After his family’s not-so-subtle attempts to force him home to settle down, moving to the District was easy, because he can still progress his career. He doesn’t want to be around the Vanderbilts any more than he has to these days anyway, so New York wasn’t an option.  And, you know, maybe becoming an esteemed law professor or legal scholar isn’t the worst idea.  It allows a certain amount of flexibility and conjures up a whole new image, even if it’s one he hasn’t considered before.   

Nick is written by M.

[radramblog]

The pre-exam ritual

There’s something to be said for what you do the night before an exam.

You’ve got to find the right way to clear your mind, make sure you won’t get distracted on the day of.

This is somewhat difficult when you have ADHD.

You’ve got to do whatever possible to get a good night’s sleep, so you aren’t sick and tired to the point of affecting your performance.

This is somewhat difficult when you’re an insomniac.

You’ve got to conquer your anxiety, be confident in the knowledge that, as my mum puts it, you’ve “put in the hard yards”, and that you’re ready for anything.

This is somewhat difficult when you are plagued with depression.

I was going to link a meme I saw of the clear best way to deal with this scenario, but it’s a bit lewder than I’d remembered it being, and even if it didn’t get blammed by tumblr I’d rather not have this become a horny post. Just imagine an anime girl saying “masturbate and go to sleep”.

The joke doesn’t work as well, explained like that.

But when you get down to this point, there’s only so much you can do. Unless you’re planning on taking a dive out of a car, injuring yourself to the point of getting a special consideration, you aren’t able to delay it. When it gets this late at night, you’re not going to retain any information, so there’s no point studying. If you haven’t got your affairs in order- a rather grim way of putting it I suppose- then it’s probably too late for you at this point.

My exam is open-book, so I’ve printed 23 pages of typed notes and the research paper I talked about last time. It’s clipped together (couldn’t find a stapler anywhere, did find several boxes of staples but no actual staples), labelled for convenience, and sitting in a file. I’ve got a zip-lock bag of pens, pencils, erasers, etc., along with my student ID because they need to look at a 6-year-old picture from before I grew my hair out to make sure it’s actually me. It’s a zip-loc bag, you see, because it has to be transparent, because people ruined it for everyone. I have a water bottle in the fridge, I have replaced the battery in my calculator, I have fuelled my car.

Everything’s ready, except for me.

I’m so fucking paranoid about failing this. This is- theoretically, the last assessment I need for my Masters degree. Every other unit I’ve been doing extremely well in, but this exam is for the one I haven’t really. My average is disappointing at best, and the exam is worth a full 50% of the mark.

I failed an exam at the end of 2018. Chemistry 3004, I believe. Because that was the last exam of my Bachelors, and my mark was almost a pass, they gave me a second chance. Standard policy.

Failed that one too.

2019 was probably the worst year of my life, because I had to sit around on my arse depressed for 6 months doing sweet fuckall with no motivation, because they didn’t offer Chemistry 3004 in first semester, and I couldn’t do any other unit to finish the degree off.

By contrast, 2020- despite the hellscape unfolding on the rest of the world- was excellent for me academically. I struggled, but it paid off, my GPA has been higher than it ever was in undergrad. I don’t know how it happened, whether something suddenly clicked and my work was better, or whether they just marked easier now that they had even more of my money.

It’s the fear of having 2021 be 2019 part two that’s driving me tomorrow. For everyone else, 2021 being an extension of 2020 is the reality they hate to live in. But for me? It has to happen.

I’m not sitting on my ass that long again- at least, not until I choose to.

[sherwoodkiller-a]

                when    jason    dean    was    sixteen    ,        he    moved    to    gilbert    ,        arizona    .        it    was    hot    and    shitty    and    humid    as    fuck    ,        making    it    hard    to    wear    his    trench    coat    at    any    given    time    .        it’s    been    three    years    since    the    death    of    marissa    dean    ,        his    mother    ,        and    two    months    since    he    legally    changed    his    name    from    jaimie    dean    to    jason    dean    .

                by    the    time    big    bud    and    jason    moved    to    gilbert    ,        it    was    only    a    month    until    finals    before    summer    break    .        unfortunately    ,        jason    still    had    to    attend    classes    and    then    do    the    finals    ,        even    if    he    would    only    be    attending    the    school    for    this    time    .        after    all    ,        he    wouldn’t    be    returning    in    the    fall    .

                insert    chemistry    class    ,        and    one    benjamin    knott    .

                he’s    one    of    ,        if    not    the    most    ,        beautiful    boys    jason’s    ever    seen    .        untamed    light    brown    hair    ,        circular    glasses    that    are    a    little    bit    too    small    for    his    face    ,        brilliant    brown    eyes    .        he    wore    ridiculous    patterned    shirts    ,        too    bright    and    loud    for    jason’s    taste    ,        but    he    wore    them    well    .        right    off    the    bat    ,        he    offered    to    help    catch    jason    up    to    speed    .        and    ,        though    jason    knew    what    he    was    doing    ,        he    couldn’t    say    no    to    him    .

                everyday    after    school    was    spent    in    the    library    ,        benji    catching    him    up    on    pre    -    calculus    ,        with    jason    pretending    not    to    know    what    the    fuck    he    was    doing    so    they    could    spend    more    time    together    .        to    this    day    ,        he    has    no    idea    if    benji    knew    that    jason    was    bullshitting    about    being    bad    at    math        ––––        all    he    remembers    is    benji’s    face    lighting    up    when    jason    presents    him    with    a    97    on    the    final    ,        saying    it    was    all    because    he    learned    from    the    best    .        when    summer    eventually    came    ,        they’d    go    to    each    other’s    houses    .        well    ,        they    mostly    went    to    jason’s    .        big    bud    was    normally    out    on    site    during    the    day    ,        meaning    the    house    they    rented    was    mostly    empty    .        days    were    spent    playing    the    original    legend    of    zelda    and    castlevania    ,        fucking    around    arizona    ,        taking    day    trips    into    phoenix    and    fucking    around    metrocentre    .

                nights    were    just    as    killer    ,        though    .        most    of    the    day    trips    turned    to    crashing    there    ,        sneaking    into    long    wong’s    on    mill    with    fake    ids    that    barely    got    them    in    ,        letting    benji    convince    him    to    roller    skate    ,        and    when    jason    confessed    he    didn’t    know    how    ,        showing    him    by    holding    his    hands    and    keeping    him    steady    .        the    night    benji    taught    jason    how    to    roller    skate    ,        an    hour    outside    of    the    homes    they    were    supposed    to    be    at    ,        where    nobody    knew    who    they    were    ,        jason    kissed    him    for    the    first    time    ,        surrounded    by    neon    lights    and    horrible    disco    music    and    gaggles    of    people    .

                from    then    on    ,        they    weren’t    just    benji    and    jason    ,        they    were    benji    AND    jason    .        you    couldn’t    find    one    without    the    other    .        benji    was    there    when    jason    bought    his    motorcycle    ,        held    onto    him    tightly    from    the    back    of    it    as    jason    took    sharp    turns    and    laughed    so    loud    it    was    like    he    was    finally    free    .

                benji    was    jason’s    first    everything    .        first    kiss    ,        first    boyfriend    ,        first    panic    of    having    to    jump    out    of    a    window    at    seven    am    half    dressed    because    benji’s    father    was    approaching    the    door    and    jason    was    most    definitely    not    allowed    to    stay    the    night    .    and    ,        for    three    months    ,        that    was    what    benji    was    to    jason        ––––        everything    .

                but    ,        when    august    was    coming    to    an    end    ,        and    the    courts    had    finally    ,        finally    given    big    bud    dean    the    green    light    for    tearing    down    an    abandoned    warehouse    where    they    used    to    ship    out    hay    to    the    rest    of    the    country    ,        they    knew    there    wasn’t    a    way    to    keep    their    relationship    alive    .        it    wasn’t    to    say    that    they    didn’t    love    each    other    ,        because    they    did    .        they    were    young    and    in    love    .        but    keeping    a    gay    long    distance    relationship    steady    in    the    eighties    ,        when    one    person    moves    around    no    less    than    six    times    a    year        ?        it    wasn’t    salvageable    .        on    august    29th    ,        the    two    of    them    bought    castlevania    ii    :    simon’s    quest    ,        finished    it    the    same    day    .        they    went    to    phoenix    that    night    ,        got    high    and    went    rollerskating    ,        made    out    in    one    of    the    booths    where    no    one    could    see    them    ,        then    made    it    back    to    gilbert    at    two    am    .        benji    helped    him    finish    packing    his    clothes    .

                 well    ,        except    one    thing    .        a    trench    coat    ,        not    his    signature    black    one    ,        but    a    light    blue    one    ,        not    as    heavy    ,        very    lightweight    .        perfect    for    arizona    heat    .        jason    made    sure    he    left    that    one    behind    ,        snuck    it    into    benji’s    overnight    bag    with    a    smile    and    a    turquoise    necklace    in    the    left    pocket    .

                they    locked    eyes    as    the    car    pulled    away    from    the    rental    house    ,        jason’s    motorbike    in    the    trunk    ,        but    his    eyes    staring    out    the    passenger    mirror    ,        so    he    could    look    at    benji    as    they    drove    off    .        neither    of    them    cried    ,        no    ,        most    of    the    tears    were    saved    for    the    night    before    and    for    when    both    of    them    were    alone    .        it    was    an    amicable    break    up        ––––        a    breakup    that    let    them    still    have    a    piece    of    each    other’s    hearts    .        the    next    place    is    las    vegas    ,        for    a    little    while    ,        jason    debates    on    taking    his    bike    and    driving    the    five    hours    back    south    just    to    kiss    benji    one    last    time    .        but    the    day    he    decides    he’s    going    to    do    it    ,        big    bud    says    it’s    time    to    move    again    ,        and    then    they    go    to    boston    ,        then    miami    ,        seattle    ,        evansville    ,        sherwood    .

                it    would    take    four    years    for    the    two    of    them    to    be    reunited    again    .        veronica    and    jason    are    living    in    a    small    city    in    connecticut    called    meriden    .        it’s    the    perfect    halfway    point    between    their    schools        ––––        jason    was    going    to    columbia    university    for    music    ,        and    veronica    was    going    to    harvard    for    ancient    studies    and    an    education    degree    .        it    worked    out    nice    .        neither    of    you    necessarily    liked    connecticut        (    when    your    dad’s    business    was    stable    ,        you    lived    in    hartford    ,        so    it    wasn’t    horribly    unfamiliar    ,        but    it    brought    bad    memories    )    ,        and    you    both    decided    that    new    york    would    be    where    you    would    move    after    veronica    graduated    ,        since    she    would    be    doing    so    early    .

                but    the    point    is    ,        jason    went    to    college    in    new    york    ,        and    he    loved    it    .        for    the    first    time    in    his    life    ,        he    had    real    ,        genuine    friends    .        veronica    called    jason    ,        sebastian    ,        and    carey    the    terrible    trio    ,        because    they    were    just    that    .        always    fucking    around    ,        causing    chaos    because    why    not        ?        carey    was    fucking    batshit    ,        a    total    asshole    and    loud    as    fuck    ,        the    biggest    prankster    jason    had    ever    meant    .        sebastian    was    dry    humor    and    really    good    timing    ,        the    muscle    ,        an    absolute    giant    but    one    of    the    softest    people    he    had    ever    met    .        friends    ,        true    ,        genuine    friends    .

                columbia    is    where    jason    finds    benjamin    knott    again    ,        still    wearing    those    obnoxiously    loud    dress    shirts    ,        still    with    glasses    that    are    a    little    bit    too    bit    .        still    just    as    gorgeous    as    he    remembers    him    .        when    they    locked    eyes    ,        for    the    first    time    in    four    years    ,        they    both    cried    .        they    skipped    both    of    their    next    classes    ,        hanging    out    ,        hugging    each    other    so    fiercely    that    jason    was    afraid    one    of    them    might    get    hurt    .        against    all    odds    ,        they    were    in    each    others    lives    again    ,        and    this    time    ,        they    weren’t    going    to    let    each    other    go    .

                and    ,        really    ,        they    couldn’t    .        they    had    a    bond    that    couldn’t    be    broken    ,        and    it    only    grew    as    time    went    on    .        jason’s    friend    group    expanded    from    three    to    eight    in    a    matter    of    about    a    week    ,        including    himself    .        they    called    themselves    the    bachelor    party    ,        because    veronica    told    the    other    seven    about    how    sad    jason    was    at    the    idea    of    not    having    any    friends    so    he    couldn’t    have    his    own    bachelor    party    one    day    .        thus    ,        the    bachelor    party    was    born    .

                benji    is    jason’s    best    man    at    his    and    veronica’s    wedding    .        his    speech    brought    tears    to    everyone’s    eyes    ,        including    his    own    .        it    was    heart    wrenchingly    beautiful    ,        the    way    he    talked    about    the    boy    with    an    ash    covered    heart    ,        the    boy    he    knew    when    he    was    young    ,        and    who    that    boy    ended    up    becoming    .

                veronica    and    jason    couldn’t    have    children    naturally    .        as    a    trans    man    ,        it    would’ve    been    impossible    .        but    veronica    wasn’t    short    on    either    money    or    time    .        science    was    what    lead    them    to    have    their    first    born    daughter    ,        athena    celeste    sawyer    -    dean    .        the    day    that    she    was    born    ,        jason    got    two    new    members    into    his    family    .        his    daughter    ,        and    benji    ,        athena’s    god    father    .        the    two    of    them    were    linked    ,        forever    .        when    jason’s    son    ,        julian    gordon    sawyer    -    dean    ,        was    born    three    years    later    ,        benji    became    his    god    father    ,        too    .        and    when    benji    and    his    husband    ,        michael    bloomfield    ,        adopted    their    daughter    ,        bridget    ,        jason    became    her    god    father    .

                in    a    way    ,        benji    and    jason    are    definitely    soulmates    .        just    ,        maybe    not    in    a    traditional    way    .        everyone    can    have    multiple    .        veronica    is    the    love    of    jason’s    life    ,        the    reason    he    gets    out    of    bed    ,        his    holy    grail    .        but    benji    was    jason’s    first    love    .        and    without    him    ,        jason    wouldn’t    have    been    able    to    love    veronica    ,        or    anyone    .        he    put    the    foundation    down    for    jason    to    be    able    to    heal    ,        and    that’s    the    best    thing    he    could    have    ever    done    for    him    .

[ayakashibackstreet]

for the oc asks 20. Do they have any titles? How did they earn them? and 31. Does this character ever put somebody else’s needs before their own? Who do they do this for? How often do they do this?

93 fun OC asks because why not

Ahh, thank you sm, Bunni!! Since you didn’t specify characters, I was going to answer these for everyone but I got a little bit frustrated somewhere down the line, so this is how much I got, haha :P

20. Do they have anytitles? How did they earn them?

Finfe

She was born into aroyal family as the second child of the ruler of Esear – as such,the moment she was born, she gained the title of Princess of Esear.After the death of her older brother, she gained the title of Jauna –she was very young at the time and, as she herself says, ‘was notsupposed to be have it’, hence her rule was short lived before shewas dethroned. As a member of the Elehandro family, she was referredto as the Pink Rose.

Axciss

He’s Finfe’solder brother! As such, he was initially the Prince and later Jaunaof Esear; he also wielded the title of the White Rose. He’sconsidered to have been a quite revolutionary ruler, having been notonly for opening the country to foreigners once again but also havingpassed multiple reforms to make the lives of poor people easier. Hewas heavily criticised amongst members of the nobility for ‘wastinghis family’s funds on frivolities’ - the frivolities being simplyredistributing the money to his poorest subjects. He wasn’t able todo all he wanted to do due to his assassination.

As he comes back tothe realm of the living (‘on parole’, as he puts it himself), hecan’t exactly get himself involved in politics too much – he’sa dead man, after all. He joins the Exorcist Association under a fakename and with time gains the title of a Travelling Exorcist (he’stotally not doing it to avenge his father btw). He’s sometimesstill using his title of the White Rose in interactions with thosewho are aware of the existence of the Sould Realm or believe that hesimply faked his death. The moment it becomes clear that he is, infact, Axciss Elehandro, he’s going to use that title for all it’sworth.

Angus

Not many peoplebelieve him when he says he has a Bachelor’s degree, but he does!He finished Electronics Engineering, with pretty good grades, too.Going to college was a pain but he was sure it’d help him find abetter job and support his family better. Things didn’t work outand the closest he’s ever come to working in his field of study wasa salesman at an electronics store. He usually doesn’t even botherstating he’s technically a Bachelor of Science – he’s stilljust Angus and since employers didn’t seem to care an awful much,he grew to not care, either. Except for being very salty about it.

Loareth

They technicallyare an Exorcist but they lost their ID years ago and as such, theycannot actually function as a member of the Association. They don’tcare about that title much these days – after all, nothing comeswith it if they can’t fulfill his responsibilities to it. As such,if asked, they’d say the only title they can ever hold is maybe‘mister’.

Lea

Ifasked, she’d probably just answer ‘I’m only 18!’, smile andget on with her day. Inside, she’d get lowkey stressed out, asshe’d realise her mum wanted her to be in college already and shetechnically didn’t finish high school because she ran away.

Venicus

Ashe was born a noble, back when his family was alive, he’d be called‘young master’ by his family’s servants. As all of his otherfamily members died in the Purge, he could technically be addressedas Viscount Garrenia – hovewer, that’s assuming his family namewasn’tommitted from most recent records (it was)and that Esear currently still has nobles in the first place (itdoesn’t).

Despitethat, Axciss keeps referring to him as Lord or Viscount – he feelslike, at least in some way, it restores Veni’s family their status,makes it clear that what happened to them was a disgrace. Venidoesn’t really know how he feels about it – he treats it halfwayas a morbid reminder that he’s the only Bermirras still alive, aswell as an invitation for revenge. To be fair, that second one is notentirely unwanted on Axci’s part – he wants to make sure thedumbass murder boy still has something that he’s ‘left undone’so that he doesn’t do something stupid to himself.

Semyon

Hewas a peasant in his youth and a working class man in his adulthood,all the way up to the modern era. Despite most demons getting adegree or two (or more – they have a lot of time on their handsafter all), he didn’t bother getting a single one – he was toopreoccupied mourning his wife, as well as attempting to start asocialist revolution back in his country. He didn’t exactly getvery far with that, nor has the mourning calmed his nerves.

Tobe fair, Sema overall finds the concept of titles utterly stupid anduseless and even if he had one, he probably wouldn’t use it unlessit was funny. He won’t address others with their titles unless it’sfunny, either.

Mari

Shefinished Edgewood – however,while the academy is very much prestigious, it doesn’t give out anytitles relating to the primary field of study. The idea is that auramastery is not something that can be classified very easily withinthe academic system. In her resume, she’d probably just write downshe finished the Advanced Course. Still, at the same time, she wasparticipating in Edgewood’s art and language-related classes,eventually working her way up to a Bachelor of Arts title at the endof it all. She didn’t use that degree once. She just did it becauseshe kind of always wanted to.

Laterin life, she joined the Exorcist Association but as time went on, shestarted feeling like the job reminds her of her hometown way too much– as such, she basically quit and has been a mostly inactive membersince. Before that, she held the title of a Hunter Exorcist(capturing demons for the Association’s scientists). She, unlikeLolo, still has her ID and uses it now and then to access theAssociation’s databases. You never know what info might come inhandy.

Caroline

Carolinehasn’t held a title in her life – the Assassin Guild didn’treally give out titles – and she doesn’t really care too much.She finds them kind of pointless. If someone wants to be referred towith them, though, they probably will – they won’t understand whyexactly anyone would want that though.

Phil

She’shad her fair share of people calling her ‘sir’ due to herfather’s position as a baron. He doesn’t care though – he hatesthe very concept of nobility and bringing up his noble upbringing torefer to him with reverence of any kind willmake him sick. If you’re doing it to establish that he had it easyin his childhood though, he’ll concede and probably join inpointing out what a priviledged brat he was. They never use titles torefer to people.

Mergen

She’scurrently, in secret, doing online college courses. She’s partiallydoing it for the title, actually – she wants to be a Bachelor sodamn much… being self-taught is nice and all, but she envies thosewith academic titles after their names. Other than that, she doesn’thave any titles.

31.Does this character ever put somebody else’s needs before theirown? Who do they do this for? How often do they do this?

Finfe

She’sbad at taking care of her own needs. She’s never entirely sure whatshe wants, nor what she needs – still, she wants others, especiallyher friends, to feel good. Honestly, if you’ve been nice to Finfeat least, like, twice, she’ll probably want to do something for youso damn badly. If you’re her friend, she’ll move mountains foryou. Her biggest problem would be emotional support though – she’shorrible with words, so she feels she can’t help people much inthis regard. Honestly, she should take a bit more care of her ownneeds.

Axciss

Ifyou’re a member of hisfamily, he’ll literally die for you – no exaggeration, heliterally died protectingFinfe inher assassinationattempt. Hehimself, however, is uncertain just how much of it is due to puttingothers’ needs above his own and how much is it actually a need ofhis ina way. He still blames himself for what happened to his parents andthinks he has a debt to be payed towards his family. At the sametime, he’s afraid he’s doing any of it to simply calm down hisown conscience. He ends up basically putting his family (and Angus –he’s a friend close enough to be considered family) above his ownneeds but in such a way as to try to sabotage himself – trying topush them away at the same time, for example. As for how often…well, whenever the opportunity rises. Usually in regard to big eventsand important things, though. He’s the kind of guy who’llsacrifice his well-being for his loved ones and yet finds the conceptof, for example, helping out with baking, to be completelyridiculous. He doeswant to spoil his sister though. He doesn’t let himself, since hereasons it’s selfish in a weird way. smh, how annyoing -.-Honestly, in this regard, Axciss is very confusing, so it’s toughto answer.

Angus

Angusis always happy to help out – he wouldn’t mind staying up toexplain some maths to someone, even if it meant he wouldn’t getenough sleep. You’re a college friend of his and you’ve had abeer together? Probably won’t hurt asking Angus for help once theneed arises. He, however, doesn’t like being taken advantage of, soif you constantly ask for help and you’re not there when heasksyoufor help? Yeah, wouldn’t count on him letting that slide too manytimes, even if you apologise. He’ll probably be very upfront aboutit, too.

Ifyou have a slightly deeper connection with him (ie. you’re goodfriends, ex. Axciss, Finfe, Ethan etc.), he’ll be willing to helpyou out with bigger things and won’t mind getting hurt to do so.He’s protective of his loved ones – unlike Axciss, however,there’s a line he won’t cross. He wouldn’t be able to sacrificehis life for someone, at least not when he’s fully aware it were tohappen – not 100% sure if he wouldn’t do it in a heat of themoment though. If it were a desperate enough situation, he’d lookfor a third option.

Honestly,he puts others’ needs above his own quite often in those smallways. He makes sure to keep it balanced however, since he believesyou can’t help others well enough if you’re exhausted yourself.Basically, Angus is a very valid boy.

Once again, thank you for the ask!! Have a great day, I love you

[shittyfandomimagines]

Money is a Bitch

Angsty Fluff

Word count: 2,189

GIF creds to owner

“Have you seen my wallet?” Shawn peeked his head in as I was jotting down some notes. I lift my head up to see his face, he looked worried.

“No babe, I haven’t. Do you want me to help you look?” I ask as I put my book down beside me. “Yeah only for a few minutes, I know you need to study.” He flashes a smile through his panic. I get off the bed and head straight for the closet. I sift through the drawers to make sure he didn’t put there or lay it on top.

I go to our shared bathroom that was connected to our room, I clean up the countertop to make sure it wasn’t overlooked. I check the drawers and I even looked through the pockets of all the clothes that were placed in the hamper.

When I come out of the bathroom I see him going through his bedside table, he was huffing loudly, I could easily tell that he was panicking. I sit beside him on the bed and rub circles on his back. “It’s okay Shawn, just take a deep breath,” I tell him and he tries to.

“I’m panicking y/n. It has all of my cards, cash, and ID. I can’t let anyone get a hold of it.” He seemed in pain as he said it, I knew it was bad but I can’t imagine someone just losing their wallet.

“How long has it been gone?” I ask and he tugs on his curls harshly. “Well, I noticed that I couldn’t find it the other day but I didn’t really need it because I kept some cash around the house.” He admits and I nod along, have you checked your bank statements?” I ask and he nods. “No activity yet.” He says and I smile slightly.

“That’s good though! If no one is using the money of a well-known musician, then it can’t possibly be stolen.” I try to be optimistic but I could tell that he wasn’t buying it. “And if it is, they can take all my information too. Might as well move out of the house because they’d have the address too.” He was honestly catastrophizing, he was just assuming the worst.

“Babe, it’s going to be okay. I can help you go look downstairs.” I soothe and he shakes his head. “You need to study for your psychology final.” He states as he leans over to kiss my cheek. “Are you sure?” I ask and he nods, we both stand up. “You’ve got this,” I say as I tugged at his shirt a little. “Thanks, you too.” He kisses my cheek once more before walking out of the room.

I go back to writing down notes on my notecards, I really didn’t see me passing this exam. I really fucking need it to be done with this semester, I was so close to being done with my bachelor degree. I spent 4 years taking many classes of different phases psychology and even internships. I’m so fucking worried that if I fail this then I’ll have to retake this class and not have my graduation this year.

I write down more things about how vital educational psychology is for the school systems and for parents, I skip through the pages to find a quote from John Dewey, who was someone who first educated people about this line of study.

——

When I finished my notecards, I put them on a ring so I could flip through them easier. I started asking myself the questions and then try to answer them. The more I looked at the notecards, the more uneducated I felt.

“Shawn, can you bring me my other stack of notecards from my purse?” I yell and I hear him affirm that he would. I continued to study for my final as I waited for Shawn, it was taking longer than usual. “Babe?” I call out because it shouldn’t have taken too long. When there was no reply, I decided to get off of the bed.

When I walked down the long hall, I could see Shawn staring into my purse. “Shawn, they should be right on top,” I say as I get closer, I noticed that his fists were balled up, his jaw was clenched tightly. “Shawn?” I ask as I come up right beside him. “Did you seriously lie to me about my wallet?” He asks and I furrow my brows. “No! Of course not!” I was offended that he even asked.

“Then why the fuck is it in your purse?” He asks angrily and I shrug, I honestly didn’t remember because my thoughts have solely been focused on my exams.

“I don’t know Shawn! Why does it matter and why are you so angry?” I cross my arms and he just fucking laughed, he was so beyond pissed. “Because isn’t it convenient that it’s in your purse of all places?” He chuckles and I knew where he was going with all of this.

“I obviously didn’t take any of your money Shawn, I don’t need your money. You’ve already said that you had no activity on the cards.” I was trying to defend myself but I could tell that he wasn’t buying it because of how red he was in the face, his usually understanding mind was being distorted with anger.

“Yet, there wasn’t any activity yet. You probably needed to pay off all your college debt, I mean it’s almost time for your graduation anyways.” He sneers and I couldn’t even fucking believe him. “You’re seriously accusing me of trying to use your money to pay my bills? Wow Shawn, wow.” I shake my head and step back.

It hurt to think that he believed I would stoop so low as to use his money behind his back. I hardly ever asked for anything, I mean the last thing I remember that I asked for was a package of Reese’s from a gas station like last week.

“Well I mean it’s not the first time I’ve come across a gold digger.” He crosses his arms and I felt like I had been throat punched. I knew in my mind (after all of the classes I’ve taken) that he was only reacting because we both didn’t know why it was there and he was already anxious over it. However, in my heart, I felt like he was serious over the fact that I could do this to him. We’ve been together for 2 years and we never had to deal with this.

“Shawn, do you know where that bag came from? Walmart. Do you know where your wallet came from? Gucci. Wanna know where I got this shirt? Goodwill. Do you know where your clothes came from? Because I sure as hell don’t, I don’t familiarize myself with expensive brands. If I wanted something expensive I would’ve asked you 2 years ago.” I scoff and he just seemed annoyed still.

He picks up the wallet to check it out, there was obviously some cash in there because the wallet was bulging. Him even checking it sent me into overdrive.

“For your information, I hardly have debt because I was smart and went to a cheaper college. I did my homework over it, I applied for any scholarship that I was applicable for. And the fact,” my voice became grainy and it cut out because of the knot in my throat,

“The fact that you just assumed I stole money or would’ve even tried to says a lot about you, Shawn. I am not ashamed of myself at all because I know I didn’t take it, I’m ashamed of you.” I let the tears surface and I grab the notecards from my purse. I run back to our room quickly.

I shut the door and lock it, I didn’t want him even talking to me until we’re both calmed down. I knew from many sit-ins from my previous internship at a couples therapy that the most damage was created from anger.

—-

I told myself I was going to study and not be distracted from Shawn’s accusations, but I was. I was hurt and I felt betrayed in a way, I would have never stooped so low if I were the rich one. I just hated the fact that I didn’t know why it was in my purse, I had no memory of it and I feel like I should.

I know Shawn is untrustworthy when it comes to meeting new people, he has always been afraid that no one wants him for his true self, but his money. I never wanted his money and to be honest, I didn’t even know Shawn was famous when we met. I didn’t listen to pop music and I was hardly on social media because I was a full-time college student, had 2 jobs, and was doing internships.

I just felt myself sigh and I finally closed my book, I shoved the notecards into my bedside table and picked up my mess. I needed to talk to him, I needed to be validated and make sure he knew I was trustworthy.

“Shawn?” I ask as I come down the hall, he was sitting on the couch. The tv was on but the volume was so quiet. He jumps slightly and then turns to look back at me. He stands up quickly and I had my hands clasped together, I have never felt more awkward.

I could tell by his body language that he was sorry and that he didn’t know how to approach the situation.

“I didn’t take your money or steal your wallet. I don’t know how it got there.” I was being truthful and he nods. “I went back to check my bank statements, I used it the night we went to the hockey game. Then I remembered how I asked you to put in your purse because it was hurting the way I was sitting.” He explains, once he said it I remembered that night because I was wishing that my wallet was thick enough to hurt me when I sat down.

I chuckled a little at the memory and he looked relieved to see me laughing. “I remember that now, but why would you just assume I was trying to steal your money?” I ask and he just looks to the ground.

“I’m sorry, really. I know we’ve been together for 2 years but I never know anyone’s intentions anymore. I lose friends and I’ve lost old girlfriends over it, I just don’t want you to be one of them.” He admits and I can see that he was hurt to even mention it.

“Shawn, I have never and will never ask for money. I don’t want you to feel obligated to buy me things because you’re my boyfriend, I’m literally in love with you for a different reason.” I tell him and he seemed intrigued. “What is the reason?” He asks and I smirk.

“Obviously it’s for your body.” I joke and he just laughs as he shakes his head. “I can’t deal with you.” He says and I reach out for his hand.

“In all seriousness, I love you because you’re the best guy I have ever dated. You’re funny and so adorable. You give the best massages and you always hug me tightly. You let me wear your non-expensive shirts, you always compliment me, you never make me feel unloved. You hurt my feelings earlier but I didn’t feel like you weren’t in love with me, you just made me feel like I was using you. I never would do that to you.” I rub his forearm and he nods.

“I should’ve of never accused you of that, I mean you literally only ask for cheap things like candy. I mean you wouldn’t even let me pay our bill for our first date. I’m sorry I hurt your feelings and I should’ve just listened to you.” He admitted and I nod, I put my arms around his waist and push him into a hug.

“I don’t like fighting with you because I have been in the psychology classes for a long time,” I tell him and he pulls out of the hug. “I know and I’m sorry I’m such a grumpy asshole a lot.” He pecks my lips quickly and I nod.

He was running one hand through my hair and one against my jawline. “You’re not a grumpy asshole all the time. I mean you go through your man-period but I love you anyways.” I joke and he just rolled his eyes. He kisses my lips again and I smile.

“Do we need to study for the test?” He asks and I nod quickly. “Please,” I reply and he takes hold of my hand to drag me down the hall. “Can you just pay off my teacher?” I joke and he just shakes his head.

“The money joke won’t end now, will it?” He asks and I shake my head.

“Nope, you played yourself.”

In case anyone wants to know, I’m in the process of making a masterlist. I was gonna do it this afternoon but I had a dr appointment, so I’ll take care of it soon!

[golden-van-fleet]

Your Song

Summary: Gwilym has loved you for a long time and will continue to.

Word Count: ~2.2k

A/N: Hi! I needed to write about Gwilym. I’m not sure about the format? Also on mobile for this one. Enjoy!

It’s a little bit funny, this feeling inside

I’m not one of those who can easily hide

Despite Gwilym being an actor, his fatal flaw was his inability to hide what was on his mind. The entire world knew how he felt about you, except for, well, you. It made his stomach turn, to see you with a man that wasn’t him, holding his hand, kissing his cheek, calling him “babe”. He hoped, wished, and prayed desperately to be that man.

I don’t have much money, but boy if I did

I’d buy a big house where we both could live

He knew you wanted a big house in the countryside. It’d been your dream for as long as either of you could remember. In fact, it was the first thing he bought with his paycheck from Bohemian Rhapsody. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t dream of the two of you living there like Allie and Noah in The Notebook. He didn’t want to buy your love, per se, but if he could afford what you wanted, he wanted to be able to spoil you. For only being your best friend, he treated you a hell of a lot better than that boyfriend of yours ever could. Any of them, really.

And it wasn’t lost on you. You’d lost a couple boyfriends because they felt they couldn’t compete with Gwilym, and they couldn’t. Gwilym was over the top for you and only for you. When he bought the house, you were stunned. He constantly had you over, one of the guest rooms unofficially becoming your room. You’d been by his side before the fame and the fortune, it was only fair in his eyes that you were still there after it.

If I was a sculptor, but then again, no

Or a man who makes potions in a traveling show

I know it’s not much but it’s the best I can do

My gift is my song and this one’s for you

Every performance he did as Brian May was with you in mind. Gwilym was willing to go to the ends of the earth to prove that he was worthy of your love, to prove to you that he was the one you needed. He knew, rationally, you never needed a man to be happy or to succeed. He also knew, selfishly, that he was the one for you. This was a man willing to bend over backwards for you at any given moment, knowing you would do the same.

And you can tell everybody that this is your song

It may be quite simple but now that it’s done

I hope you don’t mind,

I hope you don’t mind that I put down in words

How wonderful life is, now you’re in the world

The day you met was a day he’d never forget. Your eyes piercing back into his own, a stare that sent a delicious shiver down his spine. It wasn’t a malicious stare, it was one of amusement. You were working at a local coffee shop while finishing your bachelor’s degree around the same time Gwilym began filming one of many up and coming projects. He’d come in with an agenda, a man on a mission, but when his eyes met yours, he babbled like an infant. You were so kind, you didn’t make fun of him, you smiled a little and let him compose himself.

Ever since that day, he made a point to visit you at work, seated at one of the tables in the corner as long as he could be without disturbing you, your coworkers, or the other patrons. You found it sweet, and your heart ached to get to know him.

So you did. He’d been to your apartment more times than the members of your family had over the course of the next year. It was around that year mark Gwilym realized he couldn’t live without you. It was also around the time you’d started your string of terrible boyfriends.

Gwilym couldn’t thank you enough for changing his quality of life. You breathed a life into everything that he’d never been able to find. Life by your side was beautiful. You never let him dwell on the bad, and as hard as it could be to find the good sometimes, he always tried. If not for his sake, then for yours.

I sat on the roof, and kicked off the moss

Well, a few of the verses, well they’ve got me quite cross

He had to tell you. He couldn’t say it to your face, but he couldn’t not say it to your face. He wrote letter after letter, page after page, hoping that something, anything would encapsulate his feelings about you. Late night after late night, he failed to document exactly what he wanted to say. He didn’t want to plan out what he wanted to say, but he needed it to be everything he’d had on his mind for years.

When you showed up at his door during one of those late nights, he told himself as soon as he opened the door he’d tell you. What he didn’t expect was to see you sobbing, throwing yourself at him. He caught you before you could hit the floor, catching a glimpse of you before you buried your face into his shoulder. Your eyes were puffy and swollen with tears, your face red and stained with tear tracks. It absolutely broke his heart.

“He broke up with me,” you whimpered. “Almost two years, I thought I was going to marry this man, and then suddenly I’m not good enough?”

But if only you knew how good enough you were. Gwilym saw the sun rise and set within you. You were the very center of his universe. He couldn’t tell you now, you’d just had your heart broken. He could try, in vain, to tell you how wonderful he found you and about the total joy you brought to his life, but his dark secret would have to wait a little longer.

You climbed out onto the roof outside the guest room window, the full moon hanging bright above your head. There was a gentle, almost imperceptible breeze floating through the summer night. This was your favorite part of the house. It was your hideaway, wrapped around the back of the house with a full view of the river in the background. It felt as though time stood still when you were there. You found yourself lost in the peacefulness of it all until Gwilym squeezed himself through the window frame to sit with you.

“He thought you and I had something going on on the side. I told him that you were my best friend, that you always would be, that without you there is no me. And he was jealous.” You sniffled, the tears of sadness now transformed to tears of resentment. “But maybe he had a reason to be jealous. You’re all I need in my life.”

Gwilym was nothing short of stunned. That was the first time in his life that he was utterly lost for words.

“I- I can’t be your rebound, Y/N. I’ve loved you for far too long to let myself be who builds you up for someone else to tear back down. You mean too much to me for that.” He felt a tear slip down his cheek. His heart was on the line. As much as he wanted to be with you immediately, to hold you in his arms and never let go, he couldn’t. Not right now.

“I’m not saying I want to jump from him to you. But I did a lot of thinking on the drive over here. You’ve always been there for me. You’ve been this support, this rock, and I can’t help but feel I’ve taken it for granted. And for that, I’m so sorry. I know the way you look at me when I’m not looking because I look at you the same way. I always have. And maybe I was too afraid of ruining what we had built up so beautifully. Rome wasn’t built in a day, but they were laying bricks every hour, and that’s what we did. We’re still doing it. So if you’ll let me, I’d like to keep building it, I want to know that it’s not going to go away after tonight.”

He forced himself to look at you, your eyes burning with unshed tears. It would never go away. It couldn’t.

But the sun’s been quite kind while I wrote this song

It’s for people like you that keep it turned on

Over the course of the following months, your relationship bloomed into the blossom it was destined to be. The dark cloud that hung over Gwilym’s head had finally given way to the warm rays of the sun, and he embraced them fully. Loving you was diving head first into a pool that had no bottom. There was always a new depth to be reached, and when he thought he’d reached his capacity, there was always more.

You noticed the change, welcomed it, and encouraged it. Gwilym was finally back to the man he was when you first met. The man that you thought you were going to fall in love with. However, you’d hung that up when he brought over one of his girlfriends, unannounced, to your flat the night you were going to tell him how you felt. It crushed you, but you couldn’t tell him that. To know that now, it wouldn’t happen again, he was yours? It was heaven in and of itself.

So excuse me forgetting, but these things I do

You see I've forgotten if they're green or they're blue

Anyway the thing is what I really mean

Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen

He had to ask you to marry him. He made up his mind before the two of you had even been together six months. It took half a lifetime, or so he thought, to get with you in the first place. Hell, you’d moved in together after two months together, what difference would it make?

He found himself in the same position he was years and years prior, back in that tiny coffee shop. Your eyes were focused intently on his, your smile kind and your hand relaxed in his. Gwilym was in his element, at home, alone, with you. And there, in the comfort of your shared bed, he was going to ask you to be his wife, and he couldn’t choke the words out. All he could do was present you with the ring first.

“Marry me. Please,” he added, softening what sounded like a demand.

“Easily,” you smiled, pulling his face towards yours and locking your lips into a breathless kiss. “I would marry you a million times over.”

He found himself in the same predicament when it came to your vows.

“I’m not usually one to forget what I’m saying before I say it, but you look so beautiful I can’t help myself,” he began, chuckling as he bashfully wiped away a tear. “I had this whole thing planned about how you were the one for me and I knew from the moment I met you, but even to this day you render me speechless. So forgive me if I cut this a bit short, but I’d really love to call you my wife sooner rather than later.”

And you can tell everybody this is your song

It may be quite simple, but now that it's done

I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind that I put down in words

How wonderful life is while you're in the world

When your daughter was born with your bright, beautiful eyes, Gwilym cried more than he ever thought he would. He was so gentle with her, so gentle with you… You couldn’t love him more if you tried.

Despite having your eyes, your daughter was Gwilym’s clone. She had her father wrapped around her tiny little finger from the first cry she let out the day she was born. Gwilym immediately switched into protective dad mode, refusing to let her go without a fight. Unless she was going to you, of course. But even that took a little convincing.

One night, about three weeks after she was born, Gwilym got up in the middle of the night to tend to her. He took the wailing newborn out of her bassinet in your bedroom to the rocking chair in what would be her nursery.

“Alright, love, it’s okay.” He’d done everything he could think of to soothe her and nothing was working, and the last thing he wanted to do was wake you. He unbuttoned the front of her onesie, placing the newborn over his heart. He’d been told to try skin to skin bonding whenever he could, and by some miracle, it calmed her down.

Gwilym didn’t realize he was humming until he started to sing lyrics to a song he didn’t realize he knew.

I hope you don't mind,

I hope you don't mind that I put down in words

How wonderful life is while you're in the world

Your song had had its share of wrong notes and tweaked lyrics. It conveyed a full spectrum of emotions, highlighting the ups and the downs that came with life and love. Your song was unique, and Gwilym was blessed to share it with you.

[drferox]

Vet school fees - Melbourne

@onyxia99 said: Hey! I’m in Yr 12 this year, I’ve had my heart set on becoming a vet for a long time. Looking at the DVM at UniMelb, which costs 250k, while fee help only covers 150k, I’m wondering if you know how payment for it would work, if I dont get a gov. subsidised place? Would I have to cough up 100k+ after completing the bachelor of science? Haven’t been able to find much online and teachers haven’t been much help. Really worried about my chances of doing the course at that price. Cheers

I’d be worried about paying that back at that price too. It’s going to saddle you with $250k debt straight out of the gate, which is at least half the price of a house around Melbourne, when the average new graduate vet wage is around $45k per year and an experienced one is more like $70-80k. Paying off $250k would be extremely difficult without a cash gift from a wealthy benefactor. But because vet degrees are in such high demand by students, there will be someone desperate enough to pay this, whether or not it’s a good idea.

Certainly you wouldn’t be the only student who’s has to turn down a full-fee paying place and keep waiting for a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP, the government supported ones), because the CSPs are much cheaper with the government footing a percentage of the bill, and you can then put the rest on Fee-HELP. (Fee-HELP is basically an inflation-only government loan only for higher education, which is paid out of your tax withheld. You just pay more tax until it’s paid off, for the Americans in the audience)

If you are in a full-fee position, you essentially need to make sure your semester fees are paid by the census date in each semester. That’s a day about three weeks in where everybody has to be committed to their subjects. So you’d need to be paying a chunk of that $250k every 6 months, which is a huge ask. There is little flexibility and the finance department at Unimelb can be very slow to do anything.

So you pay your semester’s fees per semester, and most people would have to take out a private loan to do that.

There’s a few details I can’t quite remember about Fee-HELP though. I’m pretty sure that $150k loan is the lifetime maximum for students in the medical fields, so if you’ve already put a science degree onto Fee-HELP you haven’t still got the total $150k you can use. And I’m not sure if full-fee students even qualify for Fee-HELP in the first place, so you may be completely on your own with that $250k.

$250k is a lot of money and will take a long time to repay. My loans were closer to $40k and it’s taken me about ten years to pay them all down, and that’s on a CSP. $250k could take your entire working career and if I had to make these decisions again, knowing what I know now, I don’t think I’d accept a full-fee place, but would rather wait the extra year and try again for a CPS.

Good luck with whatever way you decide to do.

[justalittleofyourlove-fic]

Can we have a drabble of Xander and Ryder when Xander is away at college and Ryder calls her for help?

This one got kind of long... I hope enjoy!!

And yes, there are pictures at the end for you.

Staring in the mirror, pulling a deep breath through her nose, Xander Woods was preparing herself for the day. Her first day of her PhD program!

After attending Stanford for her bachelor and masters degrees, she’d moved back to the east coast for the final leg of her academic career. New York City, and Columbia University, was her home for the next couple of years.

“Are you really nervous?” Kelley, her fiancée, stood behind her. She slowly wrapped her arms around Xander’s waist, her chin resting on her shoulder. “I’ve only seen you nervous like… 3 times in all the years I’ve known you!”

“5 years ago, nearly to the day, when we met,” Xander said with a soft smile. Her eyes shifted to meet Kelley’s grey eyes in the mirror.

“A few months after that, before your first lacrosse match,” Kelley added with a smirk.

Rolling her eyes, Xander turned in her arms. “Of course I was nervous! How was I suppose to know I’d meet an amazing Scottish girl at university. One who would actually love me as much as I love her! I’d just asked you to be my girlfriend and you were about to see me play a game everyone said I was the best - ”

Kelley leaned into her, silencing her rant before she could really kick it into high gear. Xander hummed and settled more fully against the counter behind her, pulling Kelley with her.

“You’re going to do great, babe. I know it. Your students will love you!” Kelley whispered against her lips when they separated.

“The third time you saw me nervous was the day I proposed.” Xander replied. She sighed and pressed her forehead to Kelley’s. “I have students. Who look up to me! Love, I’m not a role model!”

Another kiss and an eye roll followed. “Xan. Ryder looks up to you.”

“That’s different! She’s my little sister!”

“Oh, Xander. No. Most 15 year old girls don’t want anything to do with their parents or their big sisters. They’re moody and snarky and tired and stressed over boys.” Kelley’s hands moved up and down Xander’s back as she spoke, smooth lines and wandering circles meant to calm her down.

“I think we both know Ryder Griffin-Woods is going to be a lady killer. No boys for her,” Xander said with a chuckle. “I don’t know if I’m happy about the no boys or worried for all the teenage girls back in Polis.”

Kelley giggles with her. Then she pressed another short kiss to Xander’s lips. “Good luck today, babe. I can’t wait to hear all about it!”

**********************

It was just over a week later when Xander’s phone rang in the middle of the night. Kelley only groaned and rolled over, away from the light and sound.

Xander pulled herself up onto her elbow, fumbling for the bright screen on her nightstand.

Ryder Die: FaceTime Call

Glancing at the time, Xander’s heart began to race. She sat up in the bed, pulling the sheet up over her naked chest as she settled against the headboard.

“Ryder?” She said as she accepted the call. “It’s 1:30 in the morning. Are you okay? Are Moms okay? Clio - ”

“I need your help.” Ryder said.

The tone was more serious than Xander had ever heard her baby sister. She could barely make out her blue eyes on the screen, it was so dark.

Leaning over, Xander flipped on her bedside light.

“Ryder. What’s wrong?”

“It was an accident! I didn’t mean to… I don’t even know how we ended up here!” Ryder spoke quickly. Her words tumbled together and the pitch shifted to panic. “Moms are going to kill me, Xander! I was just trying to impress this new girl, her name is Sammie and she’s just so pretty and funny and she can surf! She came over and we practiced on the wave pool Uncle Linc and Declan built for me and then - ”

“Ryder!” Xander interrupted her rant loudly. Kelley shifted beside her, looking over her shoulder.

Her little sister blinked a few times. Tears sparkles as they fell down her cheeks. “Xander?”

Sitting up, Kelley reached for her shirt and slipped it on. She wiggles her fingers at Xander, wanting the phone. Xander handed it over without arguing.

“Ryder, honey. What’s going on? Are you safe?” Kelley asked.

The teenager only sniffles and nodded. Xander breathes a sigh of relief as she slid out of bed and grabbed the sweatpants Kelley had tossed across the room earlier in the evening. She pulled on an old hoodie, one of Clarke’s from her days playing softball at UCLA, before climbing back into bed.

“Take a deep breath,” Kelley instructed. Xander didn’t know if she was talking to her or her sister, but she took a deep breath anyway. “Where are you?”

“Brooklyn,” Ryder replied. Her voice was barely over a whisper. “I think…”

Xander stiffened. She held her hand out for her phone and shook her head at Kelley’s warning look.

“Ryder Griffin-Woods!” She hissed as soon as she could see her sister again.

“I know! I know! I’m sorry!” Ryder said as quickly as she could.

Xander was already sliding out of bed again. She set her phone down, shaking her head when Kelley reaches for it. Instead she pulled off her sweats and hoodie and grabbed her jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt. Pulling on some fresh underwear and a bra, Xander sighed.

“Where?” She asked as she buttoned her jeans.

“A diner. On Metropolitan Avenue.” Ryder sniffled and mumbled the words.

Kelley has joined Xander in getting dressed. She pulled her shirt over her head as Xander picked the phone back up.

“Are you okay? You’re safe?” Xander asked.

“I’m fine. There’s a few cops in here. One of them saw me crying and bought me some fries.” Ryder held one up and smiled weakly. She bit into it and smiled. “They’re really good.”

Xander chuckled and shook her head. “We’ll be there soon. 30 minutes, tops! Do not move!”

“I won’t!” Ryder promised. “Thanks, Xan!”

Tapping the screen to end the call, Xander sighed. She glanced at Kelley.

“C’mon, babe. Let’s go rescue your sister.”

“You don’t have to go,” Xander replied. “I can go get her and we’ll be back in an hour.”

With a shake of her head, Kelley held up Xander’s leather jacket for her to slide her arms into. She kissed her neck and smiled at the sigh her fiancée let out.

“You should probably call your moms. Make sure they know Ryder is safe.”

“I’m sure they think she’s at a friends house.” Xander replied.

“Then you should call them and let them know she isn’t.”

Xander laced her fingers with Kelley’s tugging her out of their bedroom and toward the front door. “You want me to sell out my sister?”

“If you don’t tell her, what happens when Ryder does?”

She took a moment to consider that. She loved being a big sister. She’d taken to the role naturally. Ryder was her little Kork 2.0 and Xander adored her for it.

“We’ll call them once we’ve got Ryder back here.” Xander decided. She shrugged at Kelley’s arched brow. “There’s no point in them worrying about her now. She’s safe and we’re on our way to get her. We’ll wake them up once we’re all safely back home.”

***********************

It was 32 minutes. Xander and Kelley walked into the diner hand-in-hand to find Ryder curled up in one of the booths.

“She’s been out since she got off the phone with you.” The waitress, Roni, said when they slid into the empty bench opposite her.

“Ryder,” Xander said loudly.

The teenager jumped and clutched at her jacket.

“Oh! Xander!” She said tiredly. She yawned and stretched. “I was so scared!”

“Why didn’t you just come to the apartment?” Kelley asked.

Ryder shrugged and dropped her chin to chest.

“Answer the question.” Xander said.

“I don’t have any money with me.” Ryder admitted.

With an eye roll, Xander slid out of the seat again and approached the waitress. The cops had paid for Ryder’s fries and her hot chocolate but left before Ryder ordered a grilled cheese.

Once the bill was settled, Xander handed her jacket to Ryder since she shivered when they stepped into the cool autumn air.

“Ryder?” Xander said, nudging her sister with her shoulder. At the blue-eyed glance that answered, Xander continued, “I am very happy you called me. You know I’ll always have your back. Always.”

“But?”

“We’re calling Mom and Mama as soon as we get back to the apartment.”

Sighing, Ryder nodded. “I kind of figured you were going to say that. I was going to call them in the first place but… you were closer. I didn’t think they’d want to get on the train tonight.”

“Well yeah,” Kelley laughed and draped an arm around Ryder’s shoulders. “But those 3 or 4 hours on the train are nothing compared to the month or so you’ll be grounded.”

Ryder smirked at the ground. “I didn’t take the train. We flew.”

Xander stopped in her tracks. Then she laughed. “I don’t want to know. I want plausible deniability. But you have to know you’ll be grounded until your birthday!”

And PICTURES!!

Xander and Kelley!!

And teenage Ryder!

[blackpink]

Good to see you dont "fuck up" much today as you said, dont beat yourself up in the little things as everyone makes mistakes. So how comes you want to get into 20th century fox? I got no clue how a business or marketing degree works and what jobs they apply to

thank you hehe!

20cf has some really great movies and they also did the marketing for deadpool which really blew my mind. i love the strategy they used i even did a presentation on it for uni bc i was so impressed, plus they are near my city so that would be convenient as well. in general i think movie and tv show marketing is so so interesting and also diversified &id just love to work in this field bc its something i would be passionate about! 

the problem with having a marketing degree is that you have A TON of competition and getting a good job is tough you have to stand out, thats one of the main reason i decided to go with this big international company instead of the small one that offered me more money and better conditions in general. i need the big company on my resume so that i have higher chances getting a good job once im done with my degree. 

plus i dont plan on getting a masters degree right away because i just cant continue living like this with no money on my bank account, its been too long lmao so instead i want to work right after my bachelors and save up and maybe make my masters in the future while working a full-time job.

[thedistrictroleplay]

ID:

Name | Nickname | Age:  Bennett Ryan Brody | Ben | 29 Birthday | Astrology:  September 30, 1991 | Libra sun,  Gemini moon Birthplace | Raised: San Diego, CA | San Diego, CA Residence:  Downtown Occupation:  Football coach   Faceclaim:  Casey Deidrick

TRIGGER WARNINGS: teen pregnancy tw, drugs tw, infidelity tw, overdose tw, divorce tw

TIMELINE:

1991- Ben is born in San Diego, to Ryan and Johanna Brody.

1996 - Ben’s sister, Tana is born and is almost instantly his favorite person in the world. 

1998- starts playing tackle football, which might be his only real lifelong love affair.

2006- discovers girls.  It will also be a lifelong love affair, though the names and faces change. 

2007- starts dating Hailey Braddock and they’re instantly the ‘it’ couple at school. 

February 2008 - Hailey is pregnant.  In July, she decides to keep the baby. 

December 2008- Andrew Braddock Brody is born.

March 2009- Ben and Hailey both get into University of Miami.  They can live in on-campus housing if they’re married, so that’s what happens.  Their parents combine to help pay for a nanny for Drew. 

July 2009- Ben, Hailey, and Drew move to Miami. 

late 2010-sometime in 2011 - affair with Aly.

September 2011- Goes back to San Diego for the first time since he moved to attend Collette Morris’ funeral.  Sleeps with Evie.  This will be important later. 

October 2011- Ben suffers a career-ending knee injury during a home game in Miami. 

October 2011-January 2013- Mostly sidelined, Ben is forced to find other ways to keep his grades up.  With the loss of scholarship, and subsequent openness about not wanting to be pre-med, his dad will only continue to pay for college under specific conditions.

September 2013 - having been delayed and needing to slow school during his recovery, Ben graduates at the end of summer semester with a B.S. in Exercise Physiology and a minor in English/Creative Writing.

June 2014- graduates from the accelerated program with a M.S.Ed in Applied Physiology with the goal of becoming a football coach.  Things aren’t going particularly well in his marriage, but they front well enough he doesn’t have to pay his dad back (yet.) 

Summer 2014-Winter 2015- Coaching internships are long hours and take a further toll on his marriage.  He’s traveling while Hailey opts to stay put. 

2016-2018- works in a variety of positions, mostly menial, for the Dolphins.

sometime in 2020 - Ben asks for a divorce and lands an assistant coaching gig in Washington DC that seems like a good idea since his sister and Evie both live there. o        

BIOGRAPHY:  

While Ben’s family was wealthy even before he was born, he wasn’t exactly a golden child.  His parents, Ryan and Johanna, really only had a child at all because of the social expectation to do so in their close-knit inner circle.  From the beginning, Ben was trotted out for his intelligence and athleticism -- and that was it.  When those things weren’t useful as a reflection for his parents, he was relegated to the care of nannies.  That made it all the more shocking the Brodys also had a daughter, Tana, but Ben wasn’t about to complain.  In spite of the age difference and the later difference in interests, he really did love his little sister from the start.   That’s not to say they didn’t pick on each other or play practical jokes on each other, because of course those things happened.  But the other things that happened included Ben getting his driver’s license specifically so he could transport Tana where she needed to go once their parents stopped hiring nannies.  Though they had the resources to make it easy, Ben was ultimately the one who made sure they both got what they needed.  He never stopped working for his parents’ attention, sometimes in stupid or destructive and dangerous ways, but all those attempts were in vain.  Even when Ben was a standout quarterback in a crowded field, his parents couldn’t have cared less.

The girls, the criminal mischief, the drugs -- it all settled down when he started dating Hailey Braddock during his junior year of high school.  A year younger, Hailey was still part of the crowd they’d been lumped into, one of the popular jocks and cheerleaders, and they had grown up on the same street anyway.  Ben had tutored her, she had helped him, and their proximity became a friendship and became a romance.  They tried to keep it under the radar, only Tana and Hailey’s family knowing for months, but eventually it got out as these things do, and it also wasn’t long before Hailey was pregnant.  

Ben knew instantly he didn’t want children, definitely not in high school and probably not at all.  Hailey felt differently, though, and they walked the steps through all the options before she ultimately decided to keep the baby.  He was there walking with her, but he was a silent and withdrawn participant, bound more by obligation and feelings for Hailey more than anything else.   By the time her decision was made, her group of friends had rallied around and both families were supportive and helpful -- at least for her.  Ben switched positions in football to one that was more likely to yield a scholarship to ‘anywhere but here’ university, and otherwise isolated and distanced himself from everyone and everything. 

Their son was born in December of Ben’s senior year, and while he’d never describe it as love at first sight, he refused to be as miserable as his own dad.  Through hard work and a lot of juggling, he accepted a scholarship at University of Miami to play football, because Hailey had also busted her ass to graduate a year early, and that’s where she also got in.  He quietly turned down Stanford, his school of choice, and moved across the country.  Before they left, Ben and Hailey got married for non-glamorous purposes like housing, insurance, and streamlined custody agreements. 

College was just as hard as high school, if not worse considering they had an infant in tow.  It wasn’t until Hailey and Drew had gone home for a long weekend, her mother’s birthday party, that Ben even acted remotely like a college student.  He went to a party, drank, and it was all downhill from there, his old habits and patterns kicking in and leading him to a one-night stand.  Instead of remorse, Ben felt something for the first time in years.  That something led him to chase a relationship with Aly Acosta for over a year, ending in metaphorical flames when she found out the truth.  He was just coming to terms with that, and other infidelities and feelings, when he suffered a career-ending knee injury his junior year of college.  It was another devastating blow to his fragile self-esteem and he sunk into a deep depression during his year of recovery.  Through a long and arduous process, Ben decided to become a football coach.  The school was faster, with an accelerated Masters’ program available to him thanks to his bachelor’s degree concentration, and it would definitely make more money than the creative writing idea he’d flirted with briefly and kind of loved for a moment when he was too immobile to do anything else.  The job itself led to more travel, more disconnect.  It became too easy to lie and cheat, to wear masks and play games, and actual feelings for another person took him completely off-guard.  After his parents’ 35th anniversary celebration, a gala he definitely didn’t want to attend but was obligated to anyway, it was time to admit to himself and the world that he’d failed at everything.  It was time for him to start over, more or less.  Somehow, though, square one is not the easiest place either. 

Ben is written by M.

[nmxone-blog]

Personal Biz plan Student name: Fatma Adel Student ID: H00303055 Course: LSS: Innovation and Entrepreneurship   CRN: 15978 Submitted to: Tridib Chatterji

My name is Fatma Adel. Every person in this world has a dream, but I have a lot of dreams. When I was a kid, my dream is to be a Doctor, and as the time goes by, I have other dreams, sometimes I want to be a president, an army, pilot and other interesting dreams. But now I have grown up, now I know what I want to be. To many people the future is unknown, but to me, I plan my future in setting goals to achieve them in the future. It is true that the long run is thought and no one granites what is going to happen in the future, however, someone should have a good plan and strategy for the long run and do their best to create their dreams return true and also achieve their goals.

Now, I have almost finished my studies at university. I will obtain a Bachelor of Applied Science. For now I’m planning to achieve my bachelor degree and later on I will Continue my masters in Corporate Communication. I have other experiences in other majors, for example video production and this can help me start my own business while studying and earn some money. After I graduate, I want to find a job where I can apply what I have studied on corporate communication. I want to work in one of the best companies which is Government of Dubai Media office. I want to be the staff manager or manager at least. I prefer working aboard because it gives me challenge to work over there, plus they will pay me higher than work in the main office.

All great things have small beginnings and to accomplish these things you must plan and believe that you can do it not only act. All of this is just the beginning of my dreams. After I work for 4 or 5 years, I will have a lot of money by that time, I will quit my job and start a bigger business or I can expand my business. I will buy 3 or 4 shops and run my shops and have another business such as a coffee shop or restaurant and anything that have a good prospect. By that way I will make more money comparing them I work in the company.

Every person should not wait for an opportunity, they should create it. There are a lot of quotes that motivated me in this life, so I always read these quotes so I don’t stop dreaming. “Some people dream of success, while other people get up every morning and make it happen” Wayne Huizenga. This quote is one of the best quotes I have read in my entire life and its motives me every morning to get up and work to create my dreams.

I always ask myself what did I do in the past years? Did I learn anything? Did I teach people anything? What I’ve done? As a person I love helping people and to get help from people so I always give people, whatever information I have so they gain from me and I also gain from them even though I know a lot but I still need to learn more things in this life. I always read books and do research to know more about everything so in the future, I don’t get confused and to be a person with Knowledge who knows a lot about life. Most of the times I do my researches about people who open new business and how do they expand it. Mostly I read about positive people who never despair so I get motivated and work on my dreams.

After graduating from university I’m going to open a small coffee shop. To open a successful coffee shop, one of the first serious steps I’ll take toward opening the coffee shop is to create a business plan, most of people think that this is hard but it isn’t and should not be a hard one. A business plan no longer needs to be a long document that takes weeks to write and research. It’s not something that people need to print, bind professionally, and then stick on a shelf.  business planning should be a simple, ongoing process that helps you discover your ideal business strategy. It’s a lot less about putting together a document, and more about frequently reviewing your strategy and financials so you can respond quickly to challenges and opportunities. Then I should take time to find the right location to open my coffee shop on. I want a place which is centrally located, a place where people already gather, and a space that’s conducive to my vision. Then I’ll design my coffee shop based on how I want customers to have space to form a line, employees to have the materials they need within reach to quickly make coffee, and a seating area that’s comfortable.

Then I will hire an accountant that is really good so she helps me accomplish my business goals. Accountants build up both financial and business acumen throughout their careers, and they’re often willing to share their knowledge with clients. After that I should get local help for funding because startup funds for a coffee shop can be difficult, I will be talking with friends and family about investing my coffee shop first and I will present a solid business plan to then and ask them to invest in my business. Then I will be saving money for my own expenses and every person while opening a business should know that all of your time and energy will be devoted to your new business, a business that potentially won’t be profitable for around six months, even if you start bringing in revenue immediately. After completing all the steps of opening a new business I will start marketing before opening my coffee shop because if I start marketing the day I open, I will be already behind. On opening day, I want people excited to come in. I will actually need to start marketing several months before the opening. for example; dropping off free coffee to local businesses with a flyer that promotes the opening day, creating a presence on social media. It’s free advertising, giving away coffee samples at a few local events before opening, doing a small direct mail campaign that sends coupons to local residents and many other creative ways.

After I run my business, I am going to marry the best husband in this world. I will start to make a family and I already planned to have 2 children which are a boy and a girl. I will live in a big house which having a garden outside or maybe a pool so my children can play inside my yard because, if my children play outside, it will be a little risky. I just don’t want anything bad to happen to my family. I want to take my family to Makkah for ’umrah’ or ‘hajji’.  I think that is all I can say about my dreams. It is just a simple dream for a simple lady like me.

"six-word memoir” Her beautiful mind kept her distant.