#it's a b but it's a great math score for me! ;D

[britishchick09]

i made a bunch of notes for today's math test since i bombed the first one...

and i got an 83%!!! :D

[bchanslvr]

hey! can i please request some fluff with harry potter? it can be anything you want! 💘

strawberry shortcake [hp x fem!reader]

word count — 2k (2, 954)

warnings — kissing, anxiety? overal no warnings

summary — you get a bad score and your loving boyfriend comes to the rescue to comfort you.

a/n — thank you for the request!! i couldn't think of an idea so i just came up with one from my own life. basically i had this test that i failed so my math grade from a b to a d.. and so i thought why not just use that and your request to create a fluffy harry x reader where he comforts the reader after a bad grade. i hope you enjoy. also i think i'd like to start writing on here again. and i swear i'll actually do ideas that you guys send me so please send any interesting ideas for me to do. also i tried to check for all grammar errors but im only human after all <3

you felt like your eyes were going to bulge out of your head when you saw your history of magic score. god save me, you thought.

you were stupid. you had a week to study, yet like you always do, you procrastinated and studied for 15 minutes before going to sleep.

and of course the material didn't stick in your head, so you got a poor score on the test. gosh not even poor, it was a tragedy. 13/45? come on. your grade was going to be a disaster. especially so close to break and finals. what were you going to do about it?

your mind was racing a million miles per hour thinking of anything that can help, but you kept running into obstacles.

how about i go during my free time for tutoring? you thought. yes that'll be great! oh wait. i need to go on my plant in herbology. scratch that. how about i beg for a retake? oh who am i kidding? he hates me he'll never let me re-take. maybe i can tell him a sob story, and then he'll have to be sympathetic and help in some way. i know he doesn't do extra credit but-

"hey y/n" harry said walking over to you with his messanger bag in hand.

you stood there frozen for a minute before looking up to say "oh.. hi harry..".

and well, harry could be oblivious sometimes. well, most of the time, but he saw the apathetic look on your face, and he just knew something was wrong. he was smart enough to know he couldn't ask you head on so he said,

"listen, y/n, i see something bothering you, so do you think you would want to go to hosmead after school with me to help you feel better? after all that's what i'm hear for" harry said.

"um... well... i... oh, forget it; yes, I'll come. meet me near the willow tree at 5 and we'll head there. maybe it will clear my mind. thank you again, harry," you said with a wide grin because at least you had someone who cared about you.

"no problem sugar, try to keep your head up till the rest of the day. ill see you later!!" harry said before winking at you and leaving the classroom.

you simply smiled back at him and began packing up your stuff to head out to your next class which was at the oppostie of the end of the school so you had to hurry before you were late.

the rest of the day passed by in such a blur. you didn't pay attention in any of your classes and just sat there in your seat like a statue. you almost ended up falling asleep in charms, but your partner bumped your elbow in time before professor flitchwick came by your seat and harassed you.

you couldn't wait to go to hogsmead with harry. you were having a terrible week, so you really needed this.

so you got to your dorm, did the usual stuff. put away your things, took a long shower, spent more than 10 minutes figuring out what you were going to wear, and just barely ran to the tree on time.

lucky for you, harry was just arriving as well, so you weren't late.

"hi sweetheart! im glad you made it" harry said after giving you a peck kiss on your cheek.

you felt your cheeks heat up, and pshh, whatttt that's just because of how cold it is outside since it's the beginning of november. totally not because of harry's gesture.

you still couldn't believe you scored with the pride of the school. everything that happened between meeting him and dating him was golden. you once believed that love would be black and white, but it's golden.

anyways you need to stop going back to the past and try to stay in the present more.

".. so i was just thinking we'd hit up the leaky cauldron and get a drink and then we can go anywhere you like. like if you have any errands to run. we could do that."

you smiled at him and said, "yes, butterbeer sounds great. "

he smiled back at you and intertwined his fingers with yours.

you tightened your grip on his hand, and smiled to yourself. walking hand in hand to hogsmead.

you guys window shopped until you got to the leaky cauldron. harry being close with the bartender, got to get booth seats and two butterbeers for free cause it was "long over due".

you sat opposite of each other. playing tootsie and giggling at each other's stories about random things like first years.

you stayed there until your drinks were long over, and you guys just talked about whats going on in your lives.

and all too soon it started getting darker, so you had to start leaving. harry gave the bartender a big tip after he once again intertwined his fingers with yours.

you arms swang together as you shuffled closer to stay warm.

kicking the snow on the ground and living carefree.

walking and talking all the way till he reached your dorm door.

 "so.. this is it for today. tomorrow we can go somewhere else, okay? so i guess it's good night love, sleep well-" he started before being interrupted.

"but i want you to stay!" you said, pouting.

"what?" he said, confused.

"yes, harry you heard me, i want you to stay." you said adamentally.

"but what about the enchantments?" he asked.

"oh don't worry hermione got those removed for all of us a long long time ago when she started dating ron"

"your kidding. you absolutey joking with me right?" he said looking ludocrus.

"no honey, im being 100% serious right now" you said smirking at his dumb expression. 

"and nobody told me???? i wanted to sleep next to you the entire time, but i though the enchantments were going to block me. why didn't you say anything?" he said, now being the one who was pouting.

"i don't know why my love. and i'm so sorry; can we cuddle now?" you asked. eye lashes fluttering at him so pretty he just had to give in.

"oh alright, i forgive you" he said smiling.

"yay!" you said as you dragged him by the hand and onto your bed. he would've still be mad at you but how can he be when he sees those eyes of yours that just stare at him full of love, every single minute of your day?

"...and then eat and-hello? harry? HARRY! are you even listening?" you asked, snapping your fingers in front of his face to catch his attention

"oh! woops i'm sorry dove, i got lost in your eyes"

"oh please" you asked, blushing.

"no love, i'm being totally serious right now. they're my favorite part about you. they tell me everything i need to know before it even comes out of your mouth," he said, bringing his hand to caress your right cheek in a loving manner.

"well- i-" you sputter, trying to think of something to say.

"shut up"  he says, in a demanding manner.

he pushed you onto the bed, so that your back was against it and he was on top of you. he was smirking and checking you out as you layed there.

and, to be honest, it made you.. feel things. warm cheeks and a fluttery feeling inside

you loved harry, he was a wonderful man. but God, he was so slow.

he never got any "action" in the love department before you. which you enjoyed because you liked the thought that you would be his first everything.

so far, nothing more than a heavy make-out session with some clothes off has happened. and you would never ever push him or force him to satisfy you until he comes to you.

and you'd wait as long as he made you but he was so dense sometimes.

like now. he doesn't even know the things he does to your insides as he looks at you like that.

"well are you gonna do something or just stare at me like that?" you ask.

he smiled and pressed his lips against yours. his soft velvety lips that have been bitten and chewed on were perfect against yours.

you ran your fingers through the side of his hair and pulled him close till he was one against your boobs.

his hand traveled to your neck, holding you until you had to break apart to breathe.

you giggled at his dazed expression and then pushed him over and straddled him so now you were on top.

now it was his turn to chuckle as he looked up at you with those gorgeous green eyes.

sparkling admised the red curtains and your bed sheets.

you couldn't help it as you smashed his lips into yours once again. it was safe to say you were completely mad for him as he grabbed your waist closer to him.

his hands roamed all over your body. squeezing and pinching and holding any part of your body he could reach. his hands werecoming over to squeeze your ass when-

"Y/N!!! Y?N?? WHERE ARE YOU I NEED TO TELL YOU THAT ME AND RON ARE- ohhhh..." hermione said as she barged into your shared dorm.

you broke apart so fast you must of his hit his head with your chin. ron stood behind hermione shell-shocked and she stood there with the doorknob in her hand speechless.

"im so sorry y/n oh my gosh. i can stay in ron's dorm tonight. don't worry about it. i-uhm have fun you two?.. hahaha bye."

and they slammed the door after that and you could hear them running away frantically. trying to erase the memory of each of their best friends getting it on.

you just sat there on his lap not knowing what just happened and he broke out in a loud laugh. that kind of contagious laugh that cheers everyone up.

you joined him in it and rolled him over so you were both lying on your sides facing each other.

"the l0ook on ron's face i- cant-t"

soon enough the laughing simmidered down and you both just stared at each other.

he was thinking of how lucky he was to have you when you interrupted his train of thought to say: "i actually have the matching pajama set that you got us for christmas last year remember? we couldn't wear it because we were so busy. why don't we wear it now?" you inquired.

"oh yeah! i remember! that's a great idea y/n!" he said, grabbing your cheeks in both hands, squishing them together "my baby's a genius isn't she" he baby talked to you and made you smile and laugh till your jaws hurt.

he then went to get the clothes for you. before yelling about how the girls dormitory had more room than the boys to which you giggled at from where you were on the bed. he then finally brought them back to your bed.

it wasn't anything much it had a snowman and snowflake print on the pants in a velvety soft material, and a ringer tee that said "oh deer"

you went into the bathroom to change happily. thinking about how you still went somewhere else to change even though it has been almost a year of dating him. you were still scared of him seeing you all barren like that and he didn't mind.

but if he was to say, he wouldn't mind you looking like that.

he cleared his throat and looked around to distract his thoughts of you before you showed up dressed looking the most perfect holiday angel.

he couldn't help but blush slightly as you sauntered over with a goofy smile on your face. he didn't like that it rendered his muscles into jello and his stomach to jump around like it did.

"come on now don't make me wait!" you said, giggling and jumping onto your side of the bed.

he smiled at you before joining next to you on the bed. he made himself more comfortable before he thought of something.

"do you want to go down for dinner love?" he asked

"hmphhh, i frogot about that. ughhhhhh do we have toooooo?? m' to comfortable." you said, pulling your blanket higher over you and melting into harry's side and the pillow.

he chuckled again, "that's just what i was about to say. don't worry i have it all sorted out"

he clapped twice before winky the elf walked out of thin air and bowed down to harry.

"hi there winky, how have you been?" harry asked genuinely.

"i've been good sir. how has master harry potter been?"

"i've been good. listen now, i have a request. can you bring us our dinner to our bed? i don't know if it's allowed but me and my girlfriend here don't want to walk down to dinner. can you do that?"

"sure winky can bring food for master harry potter and his girlfriend! winky would be delighted to be of service!"

"thank you winky i know i can count on you. could you also bring us two glasses of water and any dessert you have?"

"yes sir i'll be back here as soon as i can!"

and just like that she disappeared again leaving you guys in silence.

"well well well... look at you, with your own personal elf huh? what will hermione think?"

"shut up, winky actually likes to work and i'm just helping her to be in service" he said, and with that he pinched you.

"oww!! harry!! i know i was just teasing you. and you know actually in my house when you clap two times you either turn on or off a light not make an elf appear"

"oh yeah well-"

winky appeared out of thin air again with a tray in her hands

"here you are sir and sir's girlfriend. for your dessert like you asked i brought you somthing we had left over, strawberry shortcakes!! is this okay for master harry potter?" she asked.

harry grabbed it from her hand and placed in the middle of the bed.

"it's perfect winky thank you. you are dismissed now. "thank you sir. if there is anything else you would like me to do winky will be glad to service you again!"

she disappeared out of the thin air she came from.

"alright then dig in my love" he said.

"thank you harry, you're a dear" you say.

he blushed at the nickname but ate nonetheless. until you got to the dessert, you guys sat in a comfortable silence. but just when you were about to dig in on the cake both of your utensils clinked as they were reaching for the cake at the same time.

you looked at each other and laughed. "how about we do this? i know this might be a little cringe but i can feed you and you can feed me"

"ah yes be romantic in our bed with pajamas on, sure let's" harry said chuckling.

you shook your head with a smile and grabbed a piece on your fork, his mouth wide open and waiting. you gently pushed it into his mouth and brought it back out.

then it was his turn to dip his fork into the cheesecake and feed it to you like that. that kept altering until the cake was done. when it was done and about to be cleaned up you observed a small piece of frosting hanging on his chin.

you smiled to your self before putting your thumb into your mouth to collect wetness before wiping away the smudge.

he seemed surprised at first and then finally came to his senses.

he grabbed your wrist when it was just about to leave and pulled you closer. you look at him startled before he smashed his lips onto you once again. he pressed himself against you and warmed you up from the inside.

he tasted like strawberries and smelled like the leftover smell of a fireplace that's been extingushed.

you closed your eyes and gave in to his ministrations. allowing him to place you on your back on your bed again and kiss you like no tomorrow. you were panting as you broke apart.

that went on for a few more minutes till the high went off and he seemed embarrassed of what he did.

"harry. darling. don't worry. i liked it. if you hadn't started it, i would've" you said, caressing his arm.

he seemed to be reassured in your words and smiled at you. he put the tray away for the elfs to get in the morning along with your clothes to be washed.

you both set yourself comfortable and snuggled into the warm covers.

you wanted to face him but your back demanded to be faced the other way. you swore you had a back problem, and you were not even twenty!! so you faced your back to his face. thought he didn't mind. he actually preferred it this way because he could put his leg on top of you pull you closer to his chest.

you could feel his breath down your neck and his hand inching over your stomach lacing with yours. his face hidden among your soft hair.

you layed there content and belly full with the love of your life and delicious food. your bad score from the morning is a faint memory in the back of your mind. you can worry about that when exams come but for now life was good.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

harry taglist - i have no one to tag right now except the people i already know like works, because i made a new taglist which is in my navigation so if you'd like to be tagged in future works check it out! anyways @elleblxck @ronsbadidea @ladyvesuvia @heythereangels @hmupotter @toms-diary

[kassies-take]

A Tutor!

A/n: Another Supercorp daughter story. I should really be doing my homework... I’ve thought about it and I’m doing this.

Warning: Insecurity 

Supercorp, Lena Luthor x Reader, Kara Danvers x Reader

Word Count: 2090

Lena Luthor-Danvers was someone you could rely on to go to when anything was wrong. Lena Luthor however was not going to be happy when she gets home from work.

You ran a hand through your hair and hid in your arms. On the paper was the bleeding ink of a D.

To be fair, you didn’t care about math. But being a daughter to a Luthor and a daughter to a Kryptonian, who learned calculus in the 3rd grade, it was supposed to be easy. You didn’t understand, you spent countless hours with your nose in the book, countless hours working and writing problems step by step, and countless hours in Mr. Pierce’s office hours. How could you get a D? A D- for that matter.

The other kids were working on their homework when you were called to Mr. Pierce’s desk.

“(Y/n), is everything alright? I know you’ve been going to office hours, and staying after class to finish your homework, but your test scores say otherwise.”

“I don’t know, I’m trying I really am. But no matter what I do, I don’t seem to get it. Math and many other things.” You mumbled the last part.

“Maybe it’s the way you’re trying to learn it. You could have your mo-“

“No!” You blurted out as all eyes focused on you.

“Regardless, you’re going to have to have one of your parents sign off on the test.”

“Yeah, it’s in the syllabus that I have to have a parent sign off on my tests till they become better. Gradually.”

“Until then I want you to change your method of studying. Maybe get a tutor.”

You winced at the idea. You had nothing against tutors, in fact you admire their patience but it was the principal of the matter. Luthors don’t need tutors, you just work harder.

The moment you got home you spent your time looking for the perfect tutor. The ones who weren’t just doing it for money, but actually wanting to help. You gave up trying to find someone to tutor you with the constant Luthor voice in your head.

You pulled out the test again to look through the mistakes. You had a terrible migraine and you flipped through the sheets angrily. You got to the last paper and pulled a post-it note off the paper to read it carefully:

I’ll be happy to tutor you - (Y/C/n)

This can not be happening. You turned the post-it note around and saw their number. You immediately pulled out your phone and contemplated on what to text them. Your thumbs hovered over the keyboard and the backspace key was pressed multiple times. It took an hour or so to send your message, they agreed to meet with you at your place every Wednesday afterschool.

Tutor, check. All you had to do now was tell your parents. Your leg shook nervously as you chewed on your fingernail, a habit you got from Lena. The balcony door clicked and beeped, Kara preferred the balcony entrance over the front door. You were relieved it was Ieiu and not your mom. Only that didn’t end well as chills were sent through your spine, at your mother’s voice and you hid part of your test under your laptop.

“Hey, little one!” Kara held you tightly in her arms.

“Hi Ieiu. Hi mom.” You hugged Lena as Kara went into the kitchen for a bottle of water and Lena’s wine.

“Oh, you’re looking to tutor someone?” Lena questioned before she pulled away and grabbed her wine glass from Kara’s hand. ��That’ll look great on your college app, especially with MIT,” Lena took a sip from her glass. 

“Mom...” Kara caught your heartbeat speeding up.

“Little one are you okay?” 

Lena turned towards Kara when she began to speak and frowned back towards you. 

“Is everything alright?”

You couldn’t tell your parents. Luckily neither of your parents could read your mind, but at the same time you wished they could, it would be a lot easier than saying what you have to say. 

If I break, my family will shatter. Our family is measured by who I become. To my parents a good daughter is educated, remains “super.” It’s easier expected than done. It hurts the most when I’m doing my absolute best and it still isn’t enough. 

Lena and Kara both raised you to be a strong fighter. They didn’t explicitly send you to boarding school, or expected you to save the day. But all the implications are there, of being a Luthor and a Super.

 Striving to meet these expectations is like climbing out of quicksand: the harder I try to get to the top, the more I’m sucked back down.

Because Mom and Ieiu are constantly saving the day, they were preoccupied with raising the perfect daughter. They think they are keeping you safe. They never think about how lonely you were. They were oblivious of the nightmares you had from trying to fit in to the Super and Luthor box. 

You’re Kara’s girl. You’re just another Luthor. At least we know this one won’t be a psychopathic lunatic. You’re not a Luthor and you’re not a super. You can go to any college you want, MIT is a really good option. You could do so much better. 

“STOP!” You shook your head trying to get rid of the flooding thoughts that spilled through the dam of your eyelids.

No one dared to move, you didn’t need super hearing to hear a pin drop. 

“I’m the one who needs a tutor! I’m sorry I’m not a Luthor, or a Danvers, or Zor-El, or a super. I’m sorry I am nothing! I’m not going to NCU and I doubt I’ll get into MIT. okay? I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” 

“Baby,” Lena took a step forward. “We raised you to be a strong fighter, not to be a Luthor.” 

“You didn’t but everyone out there does! No matter what I do, I am evaluated on the fact that one I am a Luthor and two I am a Danvers! There’s a constant scale. I’m either one or the other! The world has expectations of who I should be and could care less of what I become, because to them my future is already written to them!” You stormed towards your room and slammed the door shut. 

Both Lena and Kara flinched with the door close shut. Lena let a shaky sigh before she hid her face in her hands and slouched on the couch. The couch dipped beside her and a strong arm wrapped around her. 

“She’s going to be okay. She’s strong,” Kara whispered and rested her chin on Lena’s head. 

“I failed her Kara.”

“No you didn’t.”

“The moment we knew I was carrying her, this was all I feared. Becoming my mother.”

“You are not your mother, (Y/n) was raised from a home with love and acceptance.” 

“How can you say that when she is clearly trying to fill up her cup with water from every single person except hers. She was so afraid of failing that she had to get a tutor. A tutor! What kind of mother lets her kids fail at something she excels at?” Tears began to flow from Lena’s eyes.

“A mother who lets her kid try to do it on her own. A mother so talented that she tries to be like you.”

“I spent all these years trying to make sure I was not Lillian, and here I am. What you resist will persist.”

“Look Lena, the things in our life are not always going to be the way we want it to be. The only thing we can do now is accept it and move on. Make it better. Our daughter needs a tutor, and that is not so much your fault as it is mine. We will get through this together.”

“El Mayarah” Lena whispered. 

They stayed like that in each others arms till Lena was rid of tears. 

“Lets go see our baby girl.” Kara suggested. 

Lena sat up and wiped her tears with her fingertips when her foot accidentally grazed over the mouse pad and the tabs closed. She moved to recover the tabs when her eye caught a folder labeled “edits” on the snow covered desktop background with Lena and you throwing snowballs at Kara. 

The folder opened with many short films, videos, and clips. Lena clicked on one titled “Aunt Lena and Aunt Kara MUST watch” hidden in a file of its own.

“Hey cuz,” It was a footage of you at your desk. “Are you still working on that edit?”

“It’s a new edit, with the same clips.”

“Why?”

“I can’t show it to anyone unless it is perfect.”

‘‘You know there is no right or wrong way you could edit something right?”

“It has to be perfect so no one could demean it.”

“You can’t please everyone.”

“No, but I can please my parents. 

The camera panned to Alex’s and Kelly’s son, Lucas.

“Aunt Kara, Aunt Lena if you’re watching this I think (Y/n) might need a little reassurance that she doesn’t need to try too hard for you. She told me that she was under a lot of pressure from everyone.” 

The video ended and Kara and Lena made a B-Line towards your room.  

“Little one?” Kara pushes the door open.

You laid on your stomach, under a pile of blankets and a pillow over your head.

Lena crouched beside your bed and removed the pillow over your head. You groaned and tried to move the blankets over your head.

“No. Look at me.”

You reluctantly turned around to face the emerald green and ocean eyes.

“Little one, just because you need a tutor does not mean we love you any less. In fact I’m happy that you’re getting one, it means you’re not willing to fail. That’s super enough. It might not feel like it and I understand that. You had a question about yourself and you deserved to try and answer it. You’re not a Luthor, you’re not a Super. You are (Y/n) Alura Luthor-Danvers. We love you for who you are and not who you will become.” Kara kisses your forehead.

“Baby, I never meant for the Luthor name to be any trouble for you. And I’m sorry you felt as if you couldn’t come to us about this, or about anything. A part of me, actually the whole part of me believes this wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t give you the Luthors name. But I don’t regret ever having you because you’re the best thing I ever made. I am so sorry you feel this way and you won’t ever be alone.”

“I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed with myself. I just try so hard, but I don’t get anywhere.” You sighed.

“You know life is about making mistakes, learning from them, and growing as a person. We’re going to love you no matter what. You’re going to be accepted here, because you’re safe and in an environment where you have a Super and a Luthor protecting you.” Kara smiled.

You smiled back before the two gave kisses to your forehead and cheek.

“Okay now move over,” Lena removed the first layer of blankets. “Oh,” she said before removing another. “How many blankets do you have?”

“It’s cold!”

Lena moved the last layer and snuggled towards you.

“Make room for me I want to cuddle too.”

“The bed is not big enough!” Your voice was muffled by the blankets.

“There’s always room to cuddle!” Kara opened her arms wide and prepared to jump.

“No no!”

“Kara, if you jump you’re staying on the couch!” Lena glared.

“What happened to you jump, I jump?” Kara pouted.

“I didn’t jump.”

“Get in puppy Ieiu,” you held up the layers of blankets as Kara’s eyes lit up before she crawled under the blankets.

After a while the silence was broken. “So (Y/C/n) is going to tutor you?” Lena smirked.

“Mom,” you groaned.

“What, I need to make sure they won’t distract you.”

“The only thing that is going to be distracting is you and Ieiu.”

“That wasn’t gonna happen, but thanks for the tip.” Lena smiled.

“If it’s like that, (Y/C/n) has to with stand three punches from me.” Kara beamed.

“What? I’m being tutored not going out on a date. Mom please tell Ieiu that that is ridiculous because she has super strength!”

[dndaddyissues]

im new to DMing, and while i seem to have gotten the hang of most things well, im super confused when it comes to running battles (especially when theyre my own monsters) how do i balance a battle? how do i tell how many enemies/how much health per enemy = fair for certain amounts of players? is there a chart or resource somewhere you know of, or is it all intuition? (bonus question: how long should normal and boss encounters last irl time wise?) thanks so much!

thanks for sending me this question! this answer is particularly huge… you have been warned. 

as usual, here’s the tl;dr:

- for an easy to moderate challenge, have the same (or fewer) number of enemies as there are players;

- for an advanced challenge, outnumber the players;

- lower your enemies’ AC to something that your players can hit 60-70% of the time;

- in exchange, buff your enemies’ HP;

- feel free to fudge hit points whenever you want;

- utilize the “minions” mechanic from 4th edition;

- for boss battles, introduce special bonus actions, reactions, and villain actions;

- combat usually lasts 3-4 rounds: plan accordingly;

- ask yourself: why is this combat happening? what narrative/dramatic and character stakes can i introduce?;

- and have fun!

i want to preface my answer by saying that i don’t enjoy easy combat – unless played for laughs/comedy, or used to foreshadow something plotwise (like a goblin scout’s death alerting the goblin horde at large), i hardly ever throw an easy combat encounter at my party.

so, the following advice is given with challenging the players in mind – either moderately, immensely, or impossibly. i guess i’m just a big sucker for jim murphy/matt colville-style DO OR DIE challenges. otherwise, what’s the point?

another preface: this answer is given in the spirit of avoiding the “slog” – the combat encounter where it feels like baddies and PCs are just stepping up to the plate, whacking at each other, and stepping back down. that’s boring. and boring combat is the worst. sometimes it’s unavoidable – we all have our off days, nothing wrong about that – but the less that it happens, the more fun that everyone has! right?

now, on to the answer itself!

first of all, i’ve already written an answer to an ask a little while back about combat that might be useful to you. click here to read about how to make more action-oriented monsters, especially for boss battles and random encounters that you want to feel significant and deadly.

second of all, here’s the 5e CR encounter calculator i used to use all the time. it’s extremely intuitive and has toggles for number of players, level of players, monster CR/EXP, and how difficult encounters would be rated (easy, medium, hard, deadly). 

third of all, i never use that calculator anymore.

over the course of the 2.5 years i’ve spent DMing 5th edition, there are three main things i’ve learned that can drastically increase, or decrease, the difficulty of a combat encounter. they are: # of baddies, armor class, and # of hit points.

regarding # of baddies. due to how the action economy in 5e plays out, the more creatures there are on either side of a combat, the bigger the advantage that side has. it’s just kind of how it works. so, an easy way to bump up the difficulty: throw more monsters at the players than there are players.

the one soft exception is boss battles. personally, i fucking LOVE having just ONE, super badass, super hard to kill, hardcore boss that the party gets to face down during crucial turning points in the campaign. it makes me feel like i’m running fucking Dracula in Netflix’s Castlevania against some lovable and deadly dumbasses. it’s great. it’s fun. it’s thrilling. to make bosses as challenging (and therefore rewarding) as possible, i highly recommend reading the ask i linked earlier in this reply. (click here for the link again.)

now, i say it’s a soft exception because i like giving my bosses minions. i basically utilize the 4th edition (i think?) “minion” mechanic where the AC, bonus to hit, and damage of all minion creatures are the same as regular versions of the creature. the only difference is, they have 1 HP. 

this can give the PCs the awesome feeling of wading through waves and waves of minions – say, dozens of zombies, as an evil lich cackles upon their raised stone dais 80 feet away. i don’t utilize this too often because then it can feel tiring to the party. but done sparingly, and with narrative stakes, it can be quite thrilling! (that maxim is also true for basically any kind of combat encounter in D&D.)

regarding armor class. obviously, the higher the armor class, the harder the challenge. if you can’t hit the damn thing obviously you can’t kill it. i personally like to pitch the AC of my enemies a liiittle bit lower, to increase my PCs’ probability of hitting. the exact number of the armor class will depend on your players’ level.

as a super general guide for players at level 3, 10-13 is easy, 14-15 is moderate, 16-17 is challenging (heavily favoring 17), and 18+ is very challenging/almost impossible. 

just so you know, i generally set my enemies’ ACs for a level 3 party to be 13 for less important creatures, and 14 for more important creatures. i’d probably set the AC to be 15 or 16 for a mini-boss, and 16 or 17 (if i’m feeling cruel lol) for a boss.

obviously, this scales as your party levels up, finds magical items, and gains special features and boons. i would scale the difficulty by 1 when they hit level 4 and get an ability score improvement, and then by 1 every 2 levels or so.

in other words, at level 4, i’d consider an AC of 11-14 to be easy, 15-16 as moderate, 17-18 as challenging (heavily favoring 18), and 19+ as very challenging/almost impossible. and by the time your party is levels 12-16, AC can often feel like it doesn’t freaking matter anymore because they’ll be able to hit, like, fucking everything. anyway.

there’s some nitty gritty mathematics about this if you like to get granular. this is a good video about dice math, armor class, and calculating advantage mathematically if that sort of thing interests you.

regarding # of hit points. honestly, i fudge this most times. because i like to scale my AC on the lower end, in exchange, i make my creatures fucking FAT. like, i’ll look at their stat block in the monster manual, and add 30-50% to what they already have. sometimes i’ll straight up double or even triple it.

for example, the spectator normally has 39 hit points, but i gave my spectator ~100, because it was a miniboss. i did, however, keep its armor class at 14 because that meant my players, at 3rd level, would be able to hit it 60-70% of the time. this strategy of mine tends to work out, because my players are usually able to dish out a LOT of damage per round. (we have a barb, a fighter, and a warlock in the party lol.)

something i did in the spectator fight, that i wish i didn’t do, was stay faithful to the number of hit points it had. the barbarian ended up killing it with a rather anticlimactic attack. i know for certain that my warlock, which was next in the initiative order, had this SUPER cool and character-relevant attack planned. what i would do differently, is keep the spectator alive just long enough for my warlock to do their cool fucking move, and have that move kill the monster.

and now for the big takeaway. combat, for me, is all about giving my players a chance to shine, be badass, utilize their class abilities, and be creative. just like any other aspect of d&d, such as roleplaying and exploration, combat is an exercise in collaborative storytelling (for me, at least).

i rarely introduce combat that doesn’t tie into an A plot, a B plot, or a side quest that the PCs are chasing. i don’t have anything against random encounters – in fact, i ran some RE’s in the second-most recent session – but what makes combat fun for me as a DM is the fact that it advances story, and potentially deepens the players’ understanding of their character.

so, before you throw your players into a combat situation, ask yourself: why? how can i make this narratively dramatic – and not just a slogfest?

bonus answer: most combat encounters will struggle to last beyond three, maybe four, rounds. especially if there are an equal or fewer baddies to the player characters. however, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. in fact, if combat went on for five, six, seven rounds, it can begin to feel like… well.. a slog.

so make the most out of your three, four rounds, and make each combat encounter unique! how about an environmental challenge? slippery ground, swinging axes, pools of lava, a sudden earthquake, a portcullis dividing the party, water filling the room.

or roleplay/plot-related challenges? maybe there’s a circle of mages attempting to summon a demon that are protected by enchanted suits of armor that the PCs need to hack through. maybe there are hostages. maybe there’s a powerful magical artifact that the baddies and PCs both want, and the challenge in the combat lies in who can most deftly and efficiently maneuver through the clockwork maze protecting the raised dais the item resides upon.

[laboratorium2d]

Children's Animated Series, As Graded by a Parent Who Has Watched Far Too Many of Them

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic: The brony thing is legitimately weird, but this is legitimately a great show. The combination of epic-fantasy plots with a deep dive on friendship is a winner (and has also been deeply influential on kids' television). It also makes the obligatory pro-social messages feel earned, rather than an afterthought. The characters are charming, the writing sparkles, and the animation is still distinctive. Endlessly watchable, which is a good thing when your kid wants to watch endlessly. Fake holidays: Nightmare Night, Hearth's Warming Eve, Hearts and Hooves Day. Grade: A+

Avatar: I was fifteen years too old for this when it was on TV, so I didn't understand what the fuss was about. Now I do. It's epic but not grandiose, funny but not dumb, and morally deep without giving into plot gravity. The world-building, the writing, the animation, the voice-acting, the fight scenes, the side characters: everything works, and everything is pulling in the same direction. (The sequel series, The Legend of Korra, is more of the same, with an interestingly updated setting and better music.) If your kids are like mine, they'll want to talk about everything, and so will you. I guess binge-watching is a family thing now. Grade: A+

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power: This show is so gay. However gay you expect it to be, it's ten times gayer. It's also pro-diversity along every axis you can imagine, including body-type. It's completely awesome. It captures the uncannily compelling techno-fantasy atmosphere of the original, and it has characters with the same names, but otherwise it's a total gut rehab. The character studies at its core are compelling, even as the overall plot and action hold a young child's interest. It takes lots of anime animation tropes and tones them down to the verge of naturalism, which I wouldn't have thought would work, but totally does. Grade: A-

Wild Kratts: The big kid was learning biology from this show almost from before she could talk. "Giraffe. Long neck. Eat leaves." The premise of the show is genius: animated versions of veteran kids' wildlife-show hosts Chris and Martin Kratt have suits that give them "creature powers," and they travel around the world having adventures with animals. The science is legit and it's presented entertainingly. And the characters are winners, especially the creature-suit inventor Aviva Corcovado and the colorful villains. The only thing consistently annoying about this show is that it can be shouty. Everyone is Just! So! Excited! About! Animals! Grade: A-.

Phineas and Ferb: The Arrested Development of kids' animation, Phineas and Ferb is impossibly dense with overlapping plots, brick jokes, and a large army of recurring minor characters. Every episode features an original song, some of which are genuinely brilliant ("Squirrels in My Pants" is a household favorite). It is also a wholly, completely sweet-hearted show. Even the antagonists -- Candace and Dr. Doofenshmirtz -- are sympathetic, charming, fully-realized, and allowed to grow and be happy in ways that a lesser version of this show would never even have realized was a possibility. The allegretto pacing and intricate writing keep the show consistently fresh. New Disney at its best. Grade: A-

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom: From the same team who brought you Peppa Pig, but even drier underneath its treacly trappings. The comedic timing is straight out of classic British sketch comedy. The voice actors are clearly in on the joke, which if anything makes the show more fun to listen to than to watch. B+

Dinosaur Train: Sometimes high concepts work. The show 100% owns its message: dinosaur physiology is a diversity metaphor, presented with just the right degree of insistence. The characters are sketched with grace and sympathy, and the science is pitched just right for its target audience. Over the years, the show (like all railfans) has gotten increasingly obsessed with its train equipment: the aquacar, the submarine, the ... zeppelin. The songs are surprisingly catchy, too: our favorite is probably the Dinosaur Train Zeppelin song, which, yes, is a Led Zeppelin pastiche. Grade: B+

Odd Squad: This one really grew on me. If all you've seen is short clips, it just seems like everyone is shouting about math all the time. But the show overall is delightfully goofy, with a real sense of how to string along a running gag, and some genuinely talented child actors. Grade: B+

Creative Galaxy: Despite being a total Daniel Tiger rip-off, down to the animation style, the obligatory song in every episode, and the live-action codas, this one is actually kind of nice. The art projects are well-chosen both to interest kids and also to actually be doable. Fake holidays: Heart Day. Grade: B

Peppa Pig: It took me a long time to appreciate this show's arch sense of humor. Everyone's pretensions and ambitions are punctured; embarrassing mistakes and small indignities await adults at every turn. Once you realize that the show is making fun of most of its characters but loves them anyway, it's much more bearable. Grade: B

Curious George: Entirely forgettable, with two mildly redeeming qualities. George himself is as charming as always, and the jazzy musical score is pleasant. Grade: B-

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir: It took me a while to understand what this show was doing. It's very, very French. Grade: C+

Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood: Even my kids recognize that Daniel Tiger is needy and whiny. The show inadvertently teaches kids what to be afraid of and how to misbehave. There is also something deeply wrong with the economy of the Neighborhood: everyone seems to have multiple jobs and the public transit system runs on magic. On the plus side, the potty song has come in handy as a reminder: when you have to go potty, stop and go right away. Fake holidays: Love Day, Snowflake Day, Dress Up Day. Grade: C+

Ready Jet Go: I suppose there's some science in here somewhere, I guess. Grade: C+

Tumble Leaf: Reviewers might call this one "gentle," by which they mean "boring." The animation is lovely and the music is calming. But what's the point? Grade: C+

PAW Patrol: Unbelievably, incredibly formulaic. For example: have you noticed that they get in their trucks at exactly the same point halfway through each episode? Just Canadian enough to be noticeably off, but also rah-rah in a George W. Bush-administration kind of way. Sometimes I imagine grown-up versions of the pups. Chase regularly engages in police brutality, Rubble has a drinking problem, and Marshall has joined the alt-right. Grade: C

Nature Cat: Nature Cat is annoying and his friends are worse. I'm not clear on what they're supposed to be learning. And the theme song manages to be both unmemorable and an earworm. Make it stop! Grade: C

Super Why: More like Super Why Does This Exist, amirite? The whole show is oddly paced: I find the story-within-a-story structure confusing and can only wonder how much of it kids actually get. Having each character deal with a different aspect of literacy leaves the show's educational content unfocused. And the Super Letters are like the world's lamest game of Wheel of Fortune. Plus the song is an earworm, and not in a good way. Grade: C

Sofia the First: Empty Disney calories, this show is the reductio ad absurdum of Disney's democratization of the idea of "princess." The plotting, the writing, and the music are technically proficient. The cel-shading effects that give 3D animation the luminosity of 2D hand drawn are lovely. The messages are perfectly innocuous. But the heart of the show is a giant gaping void. Fake holidays: Wassailia. Grade: C

Lion Guard: More empty Disney calories, like Sofia the First but with more obnoxious characters. Inexplicably real holiday: Christmas. Grade: C-

Peg + Cat: All I can remember is that the show is inexplicably drawn on graph paper, and they have a BIG BIG PROBLEM every few seconds. When people complain about STEM, and I remember that this show exists, I have to admit that they have a point. Grade: C-

Martha Speaks: The AV Club's term for this kind of show is "least essential." Even by the standards of kids' shows, the premise makes no sense. Nobody here, human or canine, is remotely sympathetic. And the plot comes to a screeching halt every time it's time for a new vocabulary word. Grade: C-

WordWorld: I have so many questions about this show. If everything is made out of words, what about the ground? The sky? Windows? And what are the letters in the words made of? What is going on with the accents? And who greenlit three seasons of this garbage? Grade: D+

The Adventures of Puss in Boots: This is a weird, weird show. And not in a good way. Grade: D+

Trolls: The Beat Goes On: Quite possibly the most misanthropic kids show currently streaming anywhere. The combination of grimdark setting and hackneyed uplifting plot tropes is somewhere between unsettling and child abuse. Poppy is a walking illustration of emotional labor; Branch has severe PTSD. The show treats both of these as laughable quirks. And I am never going to get used to the Auto-Tune. Grade: D+

Kung-Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny: Pretty much your standard DreamWorks animation. This is not a good thing. Grade: D

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie: The animation and voice-acting are innocuous. But building an entire show around the "if X, then Y" formula led to some disastrous choices. The show taught my big kid how to say things like, "If I see a rock, I just have to bring it home with me." It takes a special kind of kids show to affirmatively instill bad habits. Grade: D-

The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (2018): An absolute travesty in every possible way. The remake is the direct opposite of everything the original represented: crude instead of clever, manic instead of playful, and mean instead of goofy. Grade: F-

[kittyprincessofcats]

GPF Torino - Day 2

I'm going to continue what I did yesterday and write down my thoughts of the day before going to sleep. Small warning: While I feel better now compared to earlier, I'm still heartbroken about Rika, so if I sound sad/angry/bitter in this post, that's why.

- We watched the Ladies, Pairs and Men's practices this morning, which was amazing. I'm honestly enjoying the practices more than the actual competiton. Maybe because there's no stupid judges and no points to worry and stress about during the practices. I can just lean back and enjoy the skating.

- Yuzuru went for the 4A in practice 3 times. One the one hand it was pretty epic to see those attempts. But on the other hand, he fell pretty hard of all of them, and I don't want him to injure himself before the free skate.

- Nothing to do with the GPF, but we went to eat Sushi for lunch and it was delicious.

- Here's my story of trying to deliver my cat plushie to Rika: I asked one of the security guys where the gift boxes for skaters are (because the website said there'd be some, and because it's hard to throw a plush toy from all the way up there. I also wrote letters to Rika and Yuzu and you can't really throw those on the ice.) The man told me it's not allowed to throw stuff from all the way up there anyway, but he didn't know anything about the gift boxes and just told me to "ask downstairs". I went to one of the organizers downstairs and asked. She didn't know either and went to get her collegue. The collegue asked if I speak Italian. I don't. They finally told me that there is no gift boxes, but that I could leave the toy with them and put Rika's name on it and they'd give it to whoever's responsible for delivering fan presents. I left it with them and now I can only hope it'll actually get to Rika. I guess I'll have to look for that plush cat in her Instagram present photos later :D

- Junior Ladies: As someone who's neither a big fan of Kamila nor of Alysa, I'd say that based just on these skates the placements were fair. I also have to say that both of them impressed me with their performanes here. The one placement I don't agree with is Daria's bronze medal - I'd have given that to Ksenia.

- Funny moment:

Alysa: *jumps "4Lz" in the warmup*

My dad: How many rotations were that?

Me: The judges will say 4.

My dad: I counted like... 3 and a bit?

Me: Yup, that's about right.

My dad: Good, I thought my eyes were deceiving me.

- Though one thing I have to say is that I did kind of start rooting for Alysa halfway through just because there was some really obnoxious Russian fans sitting close to us. They screamed like crazy at the Russian skaters, didn't bother clapping for anyone else, one man was shouting things all the time, and the only time they cheered for Alysa was when the announcer said the words "second place". And that wasn't a "Well done, second place is a great achievement" cheer, it was a "Yay, we're glad you're not in first" cheer. And later I felt like Alysa was kind of left on her own during the victory ceremony while the two Russian girls had each other (kind of like Rika at the NHK ceremony). So yeah, I felt pretty bad for Alysa here.

- I don't understand much about Ice Dance tbh, but P/C were really fun to watch. My dad keeps calling him "giraffe man" because of his long neck.

- Ladies SP: a.k.a. the moment my mood went from good to absolutely awful :( I don't even want to say much more, I'm just really sad. The free is where Trusova is planning 5 quads and Shcherbakova 3, so the short really is where Rika should have placed ahead of them to have a chance at a medal. I kept doing the maths in my head and even if she skates a clean free now, it's not going to be enough for anything more than 5th unless some others make mistakes (which is also thanks to Shcherbakova and Zagitova being overscored here).

- And just to be clear: I don't hold this against Rika at all. She's injured, jetlagged and nervous and I saw how much better she was in practice. Anyone who says anything rude about her will catch these hands.

- Also the scoring was awful again. No edge calls from what I've heard. Even with this performance Rika should have been ahead of Trusova and arguably Tennell as well. Scores for Shcherbakova and Zagitova were too high. Alyona Kostornaia was amazing - I'd have given her a few points less, but only 1 or 2.

- This honestly made me way sadder than Yuzu yesterday. Mostly because 1) Yuzu has already achieved everything and has nothing left to prove, 2) Everyone and their mom is a Yuzu stan so it's not like he's lacking fan support, and 3) ... I'll honestly admit that I'm a Rika stan first and a Fanyu second.

- After Yuma Kagiyama and Haein Lee yesterday, I asked if my faves placing last in the SP was going to be a trend - guess I shouldn't have said that.

- One thing that made it better, though: I loved seeing all the fan support for Rika! From what I could hear while cheering myself, the cheers for her weren't any quieter than the ones for the 3A. And she got so many presents thrown on the ice! That was really lovely to see.

- Sweet moment:

Me: I wish there was other Rika fans sitting next to me.

My dad: Hey! I'm right here!

- My dad brought his huge camera and he's taking pictures of all the skaters. He's at over 6000 pictures now. When we get home, I'll delete the bad ones and post the really nice ones here.

- The two girls sitting next to us saw some of my dad's pictures and asked if he has any of Yuzu. He sent them over 15 pictures from practice. Which would have been cute and all if this hadn't been right after the Ladies short and if I hadn't been sitting between them feeling like crying.

- I tried to enjoy pairs after that, and I kind of did. I'm happy for Sui/Han, though their performance was far from what they're able to do. I'm thrilled for Peng/Jin - that's my two favourite Pairs of the competition winning gold and silver, so that's nice.

- The Ladies FS is last tomorrow, and I genuinely suggested just leaving after Rika's performance - because I really don't care about the ET girl showdown. Obviously Kostornaia is better than the other 3 and should win hands down, but I'm not invested enough in even that to sit through the outrageous scores the others are sure to get. But my dad thought it would be rude to just leave - as if the skaters will notice 2 people more or less in the audience.

- The men's practice is at 7AM tomorrow and whoever made that decision is my enemy. I hope I'll be able to get up that early, since I'd really love to be there for practice on Yuzuru's b-day, but I might oversleep :/

- Even though my BiB nails didn't seem to have helped, I'll still do IAoP nail polish tomorrow.

- I'm starting to think that Rika should go for the 4S. Not like she has anything left to lose now. Except, of course, if risking a quad could make her injury worse - in that case I wouldn't do it and just focus on making it through the comp without worsening her condition.

[jackredfieldwasmyjacob]

EDUCATION SYSTEM IN SPAIN

I thought now that Skam España has been renewed for s3 and s4 it would be a great time to see how education system in Spain works, so you can get an idea of how academic life of the characters is gonna develop from now on. 

First of all, here is a bit of a recap I made of how it works if you don’t wanna read the whole thing

Skam España cast has just finished 1º Bachillerato, which means they have only a year left before going to University.

I’m gonna talk more in detail about all of the grades and stuff now, but as a quick disclaimer, I went to a private school so I didn’t get to go to High School, and some things may differ with public schools, although I’m pretty sure most things stay the same. Also, I’m only gonna talk about Madrid, as each Autonomous Community (here is a recap of all of them) has different subjects and study plans. 

So, let’s start

First of all, I’m gonna say a few things about private schools. Basically, you have to pay to get there, which is a big difference with public schools, where education is free up until Bachillerato, and just because it is optional, not mandatory. Also all of the 12 grades are in the same building, and teachers are always the same, I have heard than in public schools the teachers rotate between the schools, so they don’t spend much years in one single school or high school. And finally, we have to wear a uniform (in my school it was only up to Bachillerato, I don’t know if that also happen with other private schools). They are more simple and less formal than british ones, here is the uniform I had to wear, as an example:

(red in primary, green in secondary)

Ok, now, about school system in general, you normally have one class and the different teachers rotate depending on the subject, but as you get older, and specially in Bachillerato, the students are the ones who change class depending on the subject, not the other way round. These classes in public schools are only typically 2, A and B, or at least that’s what I heard. In my school there were up to E. 

Grading goes from 0 to 10, with a 5 you pass. But also teachers would use another grading system, that appears in the grades you get at the end of the year, that goes like this:

Matrícula de Honor: It’s the highest score, that is, a 10. They are usually limited to 1 or 2 in all of the students.

Sobresaliente: An A, or a 9.

Notable: B, or an 8-7.

Bien: A C or a 6.

Aprobado: A D or a 5.

Suspenso: An F or less than a 5.

Okay, so let’s start to detail the system per se:

PRIMARY:

In Spanish is called “primaria”, and it goes from 6 to 12 year old. Before it you can go to kindergarten, but it’s not mandatory. In the first four years you only have one teacher that teaches you everything, and then in the last two years you start dividing your subjects in Spanish, English, Maths, Social Sciences and Nature Sciences. Also, you had Physical Education, and in my school you also had to choose 2 other sports (I chose Dance and first Football / Soccer, then Karate). And we also had Music, when we “played” the flute, and we could choose between Religion (of course, Catholicism, although Spain is technically an “AcOnFeSiOnAl StAtE”, in reality, if you are religious you are expected to be catholic) or Alternative to Religion, the one I went to, that I still don’t know what was for, in primary we usually read books, and in Secondary and Bachillerato we watched films. As far as big events go during that time, probably the biggest would be Communion in 4th grade, I didn’t do it, but I got invited to one, and it’s pretty big. Also, you normally stay with the same classmates for the 6 grades, at least that’s what it was for me.

When you end primary, if you go to a public school, you then have to search for a High School, to start the ESO.

SECONDARY:

In Spanish High School life is divided in Secondary or ESO, which is compulsory and thus, free in public schools, and Bachillerato. ESO means “Educación Secundaria Obligatoria” (”Mandatory Secondary Education”) and it’s a hellholle, kinda like Middle School. From this moment on, you start switching class every year, and subjects start getting wilder. Starting first and second of ESO, you start with kinda the same subjects as in primary, although Social Sciences now becomes History and Geography, and Natural Sciences Biology and Geology. You can choose a 3rd language to learn now (in my school you could choose it in 5th of primary, but in public high schools is in 1st of ESO), between German or French. I chose French. You also have new subjects, like Technology and Arts. In 3rd of ESO you discover what Physics and Chemistry is like, and then, at the end of the year, you have to make the first choice in your life, that will affect your Bachillerato later if you decide to do it. Basically, you have to choose between two main branches: Sciences or Letters. That means, in 4th of ESO you start having optative subjects. Some of that optatives are, for Sciences, Technical Drawing, IT, Biology & Geology, and Physics & Chemistry; for Letters, Latin, Greek, Classical Studies, Literature, and Economics. My school was really shitty for those of us who wanted to study Letters, so we didn’t have all the optatives, and I ended choosing Latin, Classical Studies and IT. Also, in 4th of ESO you start learning Philosophy. At the end of 4th of ESO, nowadays people take a special exam called Reválida (I didn’t take it because it wasn’t implemented yet, God I feel old) that you have to pass in order to pass the ESO. 

After 4th you can stop attending school, and study an FP or “Formación Profesional” (Vocational Training), or just start working all together. But, if you want to go to University, you HAVE to go to Bachillerato, a two years course preparation for the Spanish University Entrance Exam, “Selectividad”.

BACHILLERATO & SELECTIVIDAD:

So, Bachillerato is composed of two years, from 16-18, and there are various types of “bachilleratos” you could get into, depending on your interests. Note that the types of “bachilleratos” change from school to school and from Autonomous Community to Autonomous Community, so I’m just gonna note the ones that I know about: 

-Biosanitary Bachillerato (to study medicine, pharmacy and stuff like that)

-Technical Bachillerato (to study an engineering)

-Social Sciences Bachillerato (normally associated to study law or business)

-Humanites Bachillerato (to study philology, history, philosophy, etc)

-Arts Bachillerato (to study Arts and Fine Arts)

-Dramatic Arts Bachillerato (to study acting and stuff like that)

I can’t talk about all of them, because in my school there were very limited, so I’m gonna talk about the one I did, mostly a Humanities Bachillerato, with some subjects of Social Sciences too. If you want to know more about other bachilleratos, please let me know.

So, in First of Bachillerato my subjects were:

Spanish, English, Philosophy, PE (all four mandatory), Modern History, Economics, Latin, French, Alternative to Religion

Second of Bachillerato is the hardest grade, as every subject has a dictated scheme they have to follow for Selectividad, and all year teachers are talking about Selectividad and how hard it is, it gets pretty stressful. I had:

Spanish, English, Philosophy, History (all four mandatory), Geography, History of Arts, Latin, World Literature

And, after 12 years of studying, finally it comes, the final exam before university: SELECTIVIDAD.

When I did it, 3 years ago, it’s abbreviation was PAU (never forget the best thing ever gave us, #PAU2015, and the word “preocuPAU” that we spammed all over our social media while studying), now it’s called EVAU for some reason. But don’t worry, for what my sister has told me, it’s basically the same as when I did it. And also, remember, I’m talking about Madrid, specially in Selectividad Autonomous Communities tend to differ a lot, so this is only in Madrid. 

So, it happens on the first week of June, it starts on a tuesday and it lasts 3 or 4 days, depending if you have exams that are in the same day at the same hour or not. 

The exam is divided in two parts, the General Phase and the Specific Phase. The General Phase is out of 10 and it lasts for all of your life. The Specific Phase can up the score up to 14, adding 4 points with 2 exams, depending in what subjects you chose, as some subjects add 2 points and other 1, depending on the career you want to get into. All degrees have what we call a “nota de corte” (”cut score”), the minimum score you have to get to get into that degree. Note that the “cut score” varies from University to university. 

So, on the first day it’s always the same, you have 3 exams, all of the General Phase, and mandatory: Second Language, Spanish, and then you have to choose between Philosophy or History. In the other two days, you have to choose another of your subjects to be in the General Phase, and then the other two (or three, although they only count the two highest scores) exams of the Specific Phase.

University is 4 years of undergraduate minimum, adding up to 5 years if you are studying two degrees in one, and 6 for medicine students. Then, graduate, “master”, is another 1 year minimum.

I have all my Selectividad exams here, so I thought I could post a bit more in-depth about them so you can see what we study here!

History of Spain (General Phase):

They always give you an option A and option B in all exams. It seems I did Option B here.

So it’s divided in 3 parts. In the first, there are 6 short questions and I had to answer 4. They were about: The Visigoth Kingdom; The Crisis of the 11th Century in Al-Andalus, the Taifas Kingdoms and North-African Empires; the Discovery of America; and the Crisis of 1640. 

The second part was a graphic of the results of the 1977 General Elections, and I had to link it with the Transition of Democracy after Franco’s death.

Finally, the third part consisted of a Text Commentary, it was about the Vergara Agreement and then I had to talk about the Carlism movement during Isabel II (Elizabeth II) reign.

English (General Phase):

We had a text, about the saying “No Fear, No Surprise, No Hesitation”, and the rest of the exam was based around it. There were 5 questions, the first one was a TRUE or FALSE one based on statements from the text. In the second we had to answer some questions related to the text using evidence from said text. In the third one, we had to find words in the text that meant what the question said, and in the fourth one we had to complete sentences using the correct form of a word they gave to us in brackets. Finally, in the fifth question we had to write 100 to 150 words about what we were most afraid of.

Spanish (General Phase):

Note that this was by far the hardest exam. I forgot mentioning that all exams were 1h 30 min long, no longer. And this exam was the longest by far.

First of all there was a text, in this case it was an article of a famous Spanish newspaper (”El País”), about kids during summer visiting monuments. Then we had 7 questions about it. The first one was a full Text Commentary, and the second a summary of it. The third one was an argumentative text in favour of against child punishments as means of education. 

The fourth one was to analyze syntactically a sentence, it would translate like this: “There are a lot of cases of thug-parents that start a ruffle”. The fifth one was to analyze morphologically the word “uncountables”.

The sixth and seventh questions were about literature. The sixth one was about the Spanish novels from 1975 to the end of the 20th Century, and the seventh was to tell something about the 18th or 19th Century book we had to read (we had to read that year four or five books for Selectividad, I think I talked in the end about “El Sí de las Niñas”, from Moratín).

World Literature (General Phase):

There were two parts, a long question, and a text commentary. The long question was about the prose during the Renaissance, specially about Bocaccio. The text commentary was on Coleridge’s poem, “Kubla Khan”.

Geography (Specific Phase):

This was also one of the hardest exams, nobody wanted to do Geography at my school because they were scared of Selectividad. It consisted in 4 parts. In the first part, we had to define 6 concepts, they gave us 8 and we had to choose. I defined “rural exodus”, “moraine”, “fishery”, “AVE”, “aging index”, and “continental platform”.

The second part was a long question, I had to talk about the natural movements in the Spanish population. 

For the third part, they gave us a photo of a landscape with a town in it, and we had to talk in detail about it, talking about the landscape, the usage, the economy, etc.

For the last part, they gave us a map of Spain, with a line crossing the country. We had to name each province it passed by, and also to talk about each geographical feature it passed by.

Latin (Specific Phase):

They gave us a text about the victory of Scipio against the carthaginians (Eutr. 3, 23, 1) and 5 questions about it. The first one was to translate it, the second one to analyze morphologically the words “equitibus”, “ingenti” and “appellari”. In the third question, we had to say the type of sentence of one of the text, to analyze syntactically another sentence, and to write down two subjects that appeared in the text. In the forth one, we had to write a Spanish word derived from “multus” and from “evado”, and also to explain the phonetic changes the word “triumphum” suffered while transforming to the Spanish word “triunfo”. Finally, the fifth question was about literature, we had to write two writings of Ovid.

History of Art (Specific Phase):

There were 4 questions. The first one was a long one, in which I had to talk in detail about Romanic Painting in Spain. In the second question I had to analyze a photo they gave me of a work of art, in this case it was about Rodin’s sculpture, “The Thinker”. In the third question I had to define or talk about 4 concepts or characters, they gave us 6 and we had to choose. I defined Scopas, Fauvism, Muqarnas, and Pylon. Lastly, in the last question I had to write 4 Renaissance architects, with their most famous works.

And finally, I just remember I forgot to tell you about the school calendar! So, as quickly as I can, know that school goes from September to June, final exams are usually at the end of May, and then people who have failed have a second chance on June. And throughout the year, we have Christmas Holidays (from December 22 or 23 until January 6 or 7) and Easter (it changes every year). 

Hope you liked it, let me know if you need anything :)

[un-incredibleviolet]

Data Deletion || Vi + Dash

Timeline: uhhh months ago like...March-ish?

@theincredibledash​

tw: panic attack

DASH:

Okay. Okay. This was it. Dash had been given his mission by Ashlé B. Much like before with Ashley A and Mei, he was going to do it, even if he was having a few second thoughts about it. He needed to prove something. What it was, he wasn’t so sure, but he had to, okay?

 It was easy enough to do. Vi left her laptop unguarded when he got up for a snack. The perfect window of opportunity for him to speed (quietly!) into her room and wreck her schoolwork. When he heard the soft footsteps of his sister fade to the kitchen, he was in her room before she could blink. His heart pounded loud in his ears as he clicked around for the right files. Violet was pretty organized, so it wasn’t too hard to find. 

 English paper? Gone. History notes? Bye bye. Math homework? Adiós! And of course, he had to clear all those files from the recycling bin. His stomach lurched a little. This was going to devastate her. As much as he didn’t care and wanted her to go up in academic flames, she was still his sister. He couldn’t delete everything.

 Before permanent deletion, he put a few files back. But just a few of the newest ones. Barely started anyway. Not like they would have been hard to make again. Just as he thought he heard Violet’s footsteps returning, he was done, and speeding out of her room and back into his. 

 VIOLET:

 With a yawn, Violet walked back into her room from grabbing a bottle of water and a snack and settled in to finish her homework and commit her history notes to memory. Only like a couple months of secondary, then hell was over. She almost preferred to be the freak with the dead best friend to whatever the hell this was.

 Violet went to the file explorer and double clicked on My Documents to work on her English p-- Oh? It...was...gone? No, that can’t be right, she’d just gotten to the fifth page of it during lunch today, it was almost done! It can’t be gone!

 How the hell—?

 Did she save it to the wrong folder?

 She looked under History Notes but- huh? They were all gone too? All of her sub folders of history notes by month, gone. 

 “No, no, no, no!” Violet said, her voice growing louder and more frantic with each ‘no’ as she clicked in and out of folders looking for files that she just knew were gone even though they’d been there not one moment earlier. 

 How. How, how, how?

 Violet practically threw her laptop away from her as she felt her chest just squeeze, squeeze, squeeze itself tight and her lungs did not manage to get enough - if any - air. Time seemed to stop, only to come back as she sat hyperventilating and her eyes watered.

 DASH:

Dash wanted to plug his ears when he heard the frantic clicking and eventual shouts from his sister. It turned his stomach in a way he hadn't felt in a long time. It reminded him of when Vi's friend had died. Right before the move. Her gasps and sputters for air he knew was a panic attack. He sat uncomfortably with the sound ringing in his ears before he couldn't take it anymore.

 He popped off of his bed and sped to Violet's room, standing in the doorway silently for a moment. "Vi? Is everything okay?" he asked tentatively, his voice only a little louder than her gasps.

 VIOLET:

 Violet only barely registered her brother’s presence and that was only because he spoke up. She couldn’t quite form words or even coherent thoughts. If Violet could think coherent thoughts she maybe would have put two and two together because here’s the thing. Dash left no evidence behind but Violet knew about her brother’s powers-- obviously! -- and if the files were there not even three minutes ago and suddenly gone, and your brother has superspeed powers, it was the obvious assumption.

 It was lucky for Dash that Violet’s brain was just a constant loop of ‘no, no, no, no.’

 Is everything okay? He’d asked. What kind of question was that? Yes, of course, the panic attack means everything is great!

 “No. no, I- D-Dash my w-work, m-m-m-my-” and she couldn’t get more words out, all she could do was point at her laptop as she cried and tried to remember how to breathe.

 DASH:

Oh shit. Where were Mom and Dad when he wanted to get out of an uncomfortable situation like this? His stomach twisted into knot after knot after knot. What a killer blow he had dealt to his own sister. Why did he always let his hot head make all the decisions for him to pay for in stomach aches later? Ashlé B better appreciate this. 

 His face scrunched in concern and confusion. Had to play dumb of course. But not too dumb. “Your…. Your work? Your schoolwork?” He raised his brows with a feigned understanding. “Are you sure you didn’t accidentally delete it? Did you check the recycling bin?”

 VIOLET:

 Holding back a biting ‘of course I checked the recycling bin!!!’ was difficult but she did manage it. It wasn’t Dash’s fault after all that she’d been careless enough to- to- well, she didn’t know what, but it must be her fault. She must have hit some secret combination of keys to do this and it must be all her fault that the one thing she could reliably do right was now all fucked up.

 “Y-yes! Yes, I ch-checked and it’s all g-gone, everything’s...,” Violet trailed off, sniffling. “My c-college application essays, the l-letters of recommendation people wrote me that I saved because they’re nice to read and pretend I’m not garbage sometimes, and-and-and -”

 Violet couldn’t talk anymore, just sobbed harder. She had the older files backed up on flash drives but the most recent files she’d yet to transfer over. And the recent shit was what mattered.

 DASH:

Dash was quiet. Frozen. He couldn’t help because he had made the destruction. This was all his fault and now he had to act like he could do something to change it. Eventually, he moved to hug Violet. It’s all he could do. Be a shoulder to cry on.

 Why did this have to be so gut wrenching? Why did he have to care so much? It would be easier if his sister’s tears didn’t feel like they were searing holes into his chest. If he were cold and unfeeling, this would be easy. 

 “I wish I could- I don’t know what I can-” he started, not knowing how to navigate his sentence, finally just mumbling, “I-I’m sorry, Vi.”

 VIOLET:

 “Wh-what do you have to be sorry f-for?” Violet sniffled, burying her face in her little brother’s shoulder. Though, he’d been taller than her for ages now, she was the little one these days. “N-not like you’re the id-idiot who can’t keep their sh-shit together.”

 “I d-don’t understand.”

 How did this happen? She was so organized, she backed up and clearly labeled her files as if her life depended on it because in a way it did. Her family wasn’t Appalachian Mountain town poor, but they weren’t wealthy either. Violet knew that she was the highest achieving academically of her siblings and as such it was mostly up to her to score scholarships and make her college tuition cheaper, so her parents could contribute more out of pocket for her brothers.

 It wasn’t just her future that rested on her shoulders and on those files, it was Dash’s and JJ’s, too! And she was somehow stupid enough to ruin it!

[thisguyatthemovies]

A year at the movies

I watched 262 movies in 2018. That’s right. A 2 in front of a 6 in front of a 2. That’s 262 movies I had never seen before (not all were new releases). While certain that real, paid movie critics watch many more than that, 262 is still a lot of movies. Assuming an average of 90 minutes per film (some I watched were shorts, but this will make the math easier), that’s nearly 17 full days of watching movies last year.

That total is a testament to, a. a love of movies, b. a period of unemployment in 2018, c. a lack of a social life, d. an utter lack of a dating life. One must spend their time somehow, and for a year it was spent watching movies.

The year in movies kicked off in grand style with Best Picture winner “The Shape of Water,” a tale of forbidden love (between a woman and a fish-like creature) set in early 1960s Baltimore. It finished strong, too, with “Carol,” a story of forbidden love (between two women) set in early 1950s New York. Movies about oppression set long ago but still relevant today make pretty good bookends, don’t you think?

In between there were 260 movies of varying quality, from a couple of my favorite films of this year, “You Were Never Really Here” and “Annihilation,” to the worst 2018 movie I saw, the ill-advised “Slender Man.”

Along the way, I learned a few things about movies and watching movies. Here are thoughts:

·        Watching movies at home is convenient and far more affordable (especially DVDs free from the local library), and you don’t have to deal with rude neighbors at the theater. But home viewing is difficult because of distractions. The point at which a movie was starting to lose me was apparent whenever I started reaching for the cellphone. It’s much easier to focus in a theater setting, assuming you aren’t one of those people sneaking peeks at their phone. And you shouldn’t be one of those people.

·        Speaking of theaters, they had better figure out a way to get young people (especially young adults) to show up. That demographic still will turn out for anything Marvel or “Star Wars,” and for the better horror movies. Disney still knows how to get parents to bring very young moviegoers to the cineplex. But anything else, and you are looking at age 50 and up, especially if the movie in question is “artsy.” I know this because of all the times I heard someone repeating dialogue that was loud in the first place for someone who had trouble hearing at my favorite art-house theater. The culprit for the aging audience is probably that old standby, “too many other entertainment options.” And Netflix, which claims 45 million watched one of their recent original movies, though industry experts are skeptical of that figure.

·        Movies do not need to be more than 90 minutes long, with few exceptions. At a time when we can get just about any information nearly instantaneously, committing two or more hours to a film seems like a lifetime. Perhaps it is the former newspaper copy editor in me speaking when I say that few movies I saw would not be better being cut by at least 10 percent. Of course, I don’t have studios and producers and scene-hungry actors to keep happy. Here’s another idea that might help theaters: Why don’t we have movies that check in around 45 minutes – longer than a short but about half the length of a feature? Theaters could show them at a reduced admission price but still could cash in at the concession stand. And audiences with shorter attention spans could enjoy a movie and then quickly get on with their lives.

·        Not all the movies I watched were new, and one of the great joys of seeing so many new-to-me films was discovering ones missed on the first go-round. Some that come to mind are the Clint Eastwood western “The Unforgiven,” because it led me to many great neo-westerns; the trilogy of “Before” movies (“Before Sunrise,” “Before Sunset” and “Before Midnight”), because there is something magical about watching the ups and downs of a romance play out in near-real time; the “Trip” trilogy (“The Trip,” “The Trip to Italy,” “The Trip to Spain”), because there is something magical about a buddy road trip movie that is largely ad-libbed and blurs the line between documentary and narrative; and “Badlands,” because it is fun to see how good Terrence Malik was before he started making movies that are a series of upscale perfume commercials.

·        Many indie rom-com-drams were watched, and here’s the difference between them and traditional rom-coms: The men in traditional romance movies are wealthy and ridiculously handsome beyond any woman’s wildest dreams, they have their own private jets or yachts, and yet they don’t seem to work, leaving them plenty of time to attend to their ridiculously beautiful partner’s feelings and cravings for luxury. In indie romance movies, the man wears scraggly T-shirts, works in a record or book store if he works at all, smokes a lot of pot and is full of angst, and the young hipster girl who is similarly angsty would find this charming if she wasn’t trying to figure out her romantic feelings for another girl.

·        The great movies have all the ingredients (exceptional performances and direction, beautiful cinematography, clever writing, a memorable score), manage to help us find something inside ourselves emotionally, and entertain as well as teach us something about society and/or the human condition. Such movies are few and far between. But when you find one, it’s an experience like few others.

[drabglam]

tagged by @cinequeen

here goes nothing... i tag @mexicanheaux @artwerkkked @turnthatcherry @lilbitchaquaria @xan-xus @former-ghost @bubblepoopswamp

you’re supposed to tag 9 ppl but i am not that popular!! :D

bold what applies to you

I am 5'7 or taller

I wear glasses/contact lenses

I have at least one tattoo

I have at least one piercing

I have blonde hair

My abs are somewhat defined

I have or had braces

I love meeting new people

People tell me I’m funny

Helping people with their problems is a big priority to me

I enjoy physical challenges (as long as hiking counts then hell yes)

I enjoy mental challenges

I’m playfully rude to people I know well

I started to say something ironically, now I can’t stop saying it (so many things, mostly drag queen lingo)

There is something I would change about my personality

I can play an instrument

I can sing well

I can do 30 push-ups without stopping

I’m a fast runner

I have a good memory

I’m good at doing Maths in my head

I can hold my breath underwater for over a minute

I have beaten at least two people in an arm wrestle

I know how to cook at least three meals from scratch (yos queen. sometimes i eyeball the measurements and it’s still poppin)

I can throw a punch

I enjoy sports

I have learned a new song in the past week (i’m always discovering new music and i wrote a few verses last week)

I’ve gone running at least once a week in summer

I work out at least once a week (I walk at least a mile every day baybee)

I have drawn something in the last month (i’ve been drawing my drag chara lately and stuff for my MMORPG ;-)

I enjoy writing (the pastime but not the physical act. cramp city b**ch)

I have done martial arts (Hapkido, Korean martial art)

I have had my first kiss

I have had alcohol

I have scored a winning goal in sports

I have watched an entire season of a TV show in one sitting (I probably watched The Good Place in one sitting. and plenty of Kimmy Schmidt and other netflix originals)

I have been to an overnight event (yeah unfortunately lol)

I have been in a taxi (i have but maybe not a yellow cab which would be great)

I have been in a hospital/er in the past year

I have beaten a video game in one day (no but i would love to!!!)

I have visited another country (Mexico, Argentina and France)

I have been to one of my favourite band’s concerts (Panic! At the Disco, the Hush Sound, Florence, Andrew Bird, Azealia Banks, Black Keys, Yeah Yeah Yeahs... the list goes on.)

I have at least one person I consider a best friend

I live close to my school

My parents are still together

I have at least one sibling

I live in the US

There is snow right now where I live

I have hung out with friends in the past month

I have a smartphone

I have at least 15 CDs (i have too many CDs but i listen to them all if you can believe it)

I share my room with somebody

I have a crush on a celebrity (amg that snack from Special? the main guy? he’s cute)

I have a crush on someone I know

I have been in at least three relationships

I have asked someone out or admitted my feelings to them

I get crushes easily

I have had a crush for over a year

I have been in a relationship for more than a year

I have had feelings for a friend

I have break danced

I know a person called Jamie (my uncle is named Jamie!)

I have had a teacher with a last name hard to pronounce (sondgeroth. or was it sondegroth? the placement of the letters is tricky)

I have dyed my hair (i dye my hair 25/8 lololol my fave color i’ve done is yellow)

I am listening to a song on repeat right now

I have punched someone in the past week

I have known someone who has gone to jail (does it count if it’s me)

I have broken a bone (i rode my bike too fast down a hill, crashed in a ditch and broke my cheekbone. i broke my acual fAce y’all)

I have eaten a waffle today

I know what to do with my life (finally. music is starting to look like a real possibility)

I speak at least 2 languages

(not fluently, unfortunately.)

I have made a new friend in the last year

[hazyheel]

Wrestlemania 35 Review

The pre-show started with the Cruiserweight Championship, Buddy Murphy vs. Tony Nese, and the two started out fast and violently. Murphy got split open somewhere around his eye early on in the match, after he slipped off the turnbuckle. The two exchanged heavy strikes in the match, and Nese seemed to have the advantage for much of the match. At one point, Nese hit a springboard moonsault to Murphy, who was hanging between the ropes. Nese even hit a reverse rana to Murphy, and Murphy really landed right on his head. The two again began to exchange combinations of strikes, each countering the final hit into a combo of their own. Nese even hit a package piledriver for a near fall, and then a 450 splash for a near fall. Nese went for the running Knese, but Murphy intercepted with a bicycle knee and Murphy’s Law, but Nese got his foot on the ropes. Murphy went for the running knese as well, but Nese got the interception with a superkick, before hitting a german suplex into the corner, and then the running Knese for a big win.

Grade: B+. Really good way to open up the show. I was shocked at how much offense Nese scored, almost a burial of Murphy, but I think that it will play into the story. I was pleasantly surprised to see Nese win the match, I really wasn’t sure if it would play out well, but it looked super good and by the end of the match, it felt like Nese’s time. Congratulations to him, I look forward to his title reign.

It didn’t take long for them to jump into the women’s battle royal. No Lacy Evans, so I was automatically wrong about this match. Asuka had a staredown with Nikki Cross, reminiscent of their feud in NXT a few years ago. Ember Moon hit a cool looking eclipse over the top rope to eliminate Naomi, and must’ve hit 3 before getting eliminated. For some reason, Sarah Logan and Lana hugged, before the rest of the riot squad destroyed Lana. The Riott Squad completely destroyed their opponents throughout the match, until Dana Brooke eliminated both Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan. Final four were Asuka, Sonya Deville and Sarah Logan, but Carmella was on the outside hiding on the outside. Deville, Asuka and Logan had an awesome sequence together, and Logan eliminated both of them, only for Carmella to come in. The two fought, and Logan even held on to the middle rope to stay in, until Carmella got the win with a superkick. 

Grade: A-, because I like to be positive. I am not normally a fan of battle royals, but this one was really good. There were a lot of interweaving stories, everyone got time to shine, and it told a fun tale. Lots of creative eliminations, and really non stop action. They really stole the pre-show today. 

Next up was the Raw Tag Team Championship match, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder vs. The Revival. Dawson and Hawkins started the match out, but it seemed like the challengers were pretty outclassed. Ryder was beaten down for most of the math, with the Revival destroying any limb they could get their hands on. Hawkins eventually got the hot tog, and absolutely lit up the champions. Ryder went for a suplex to Wilder out of the ring, but both men ended up tumbling out of the ring. There was then a flurry of offense on the outside, with Hawkins nailing a spear on Wilder, and then getting hit with a nasty brainbuster from Dawson. Dawson dragged him back into the ring, and Hawkins looked to be out. Dawson tried to bring him up for some sort of move, but Hawkins got a rollup for a shocking win.

Grade: B+. Another really good match. Started out slow, but it really picked up by the end of the match, with a flurry of offense during his hot tag. All hope seemed lost when the Revival nailed their big moves on the outside, but Hawkins finally pulled off a win. It was a good payoff to such a long story, and I was into it. So happy for Hawkins to pull it off, and to win a belt at the same time is just a cherry on top.

Then right into the Andre the Giant memorial Battle Royal. Che and Jost made their entrance, looking absolutely lost being in the ring with these guys. The two comedians immediately hid underneath the ring. A fun elimination from Andrade, as he monkey flipped Kalisto over the top rope. Luke Harper tried to vertical suplex Ali out of the ring, but Braun hit a big boot to eliminate them both. Ali took a terrible bump as a result. In the final three, Jost and Che actually got in the ring, and Jost attempted to get Braun to talk to a therapist, but Braun, of course, beat up the therapist. Che tried to run, but Braun got in a punch to take him out. He then threw Jost a a pile of superstars on the outside.

Grade: C-. When all was said and done, this was a silly comedy match, and it was actually pretty fun and funny. Just some stupid action, Jost and Che were funny in their attempts to eliminate Braun, and considering that Che and Jost didn’t actually get eliminations, nor did they really fight anyone, it went better than these types of matches normally go. Celebrity stuff is always iffy, but this went well.

Before anything started, Alexa Bliss came out for a promo. She said that she was going to give herself a Wrestlemania moment, and she snapped her fingers and Hulk Hogan came out. He cut the stereotypical Hogan promo. Then they posed together. Kinda cute. But then Paul Heyman marched out to the ring, and cut a promo in the ring. He said that Lesnar would not be leaving for Las Vegas right after the match is over.

So, we opened the main card with Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins for the universal Championship. Lesnar had a special entrance video, where a sword destroyed Lesnar’s beast skull. Lesnar started the match with a stiff knee to the stomach. beating him down outside, and hitting the F5 quickly. Lesnar threw him around ringside, over the announce table and into a commentator. The match officially began, and Seth was drilled with several german suplexes. Seth shoved the Lesnar into the ref, and then nailed a low blow. He was then able to hit the curb stomp three times, and got the win.

Grade: D+. The beatdown was fun, but there wasn’t much to this match. Rollins hitting the low blow felt odd from an underdog babyface. It was an exciting moment, but I bet these two could’ve had a great match. It’s also odd that this match came on first. It just felt like an odd victory to open the show. Although, I am pretty happy about the outcome.

Next up was Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles. It didn’t take long for Orton to start cheating, hitting a thumb to the eye early on. Orton just kept trying to hit the RKO, but Styles wiggled out of it each time. At one point, AJ faked going for a phenomenal forearm and orton went for the RKO, obviously missed and Styles nailed a 450 splash. AJ was desperate in his attempts to avoid the RKO, but did take one after a rollup, for a near fall. AJ hit a big phenomenal forearm to the outside. He then hit a Phenomenal Forearm in the ring for the win.

Grade: B. Not as fast of a match as I thought it would be, but still pretty good. They worked together quite well, and the story of AJ desperately attempting to avoid the RKO was good, and it made the near fall even more convincing. Shocked to see that Styles went over, but still happy to see one of my favorites go over. I hope these guys wrestle again, because I think they can do better.

Lacy Evans did a catwalk. Then there was the Smackdown tag team Championship match, Usos vs. Aleister Black and Ricochet vs. Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev vs. The Bar. The action was very fast, with a flurry of offense from everyone and many quick tags. Cesaro had a huge swing on Ricochet for about a minute before locking in the sharpshooter, before an Uso broke them up. Rusev and Nakamura actually did really well as a tag team, better than I thought they would, putting together some hard hitting striking combinations.  There was then a huge ass tower of doom, but Ricochet flipped out of it. Ricochet went up for the 630 senton on Sheamus, with Black covering him, but everyone broke it up. There was a big finisher fest, with Ricochet selling a brogue kick like he was shot. The usos then hit sheamus with three superkicks and a double splash for the win.

Grade: B+. A lot faster than I assumed it would be. This match really reminded me how good the bar, Nakamura and Rusev all are. They have been in some less than flattering matches lately, but this one was really good. Everyone got in tag moves, showing that all of these teams will work well in the tag division. I am bummed that Black and Ricochet didn’t win, but hopefully they can go on to feud with the Usos sooner rather than later.

Next match was Miz vs. Shane McMahon in a Falls Count Anywhere match. Shane started out by running away, but quickly got the advantage via cheap shots. At one point, Shane was going to elbow Miz through an announce table, but his dad (yay) got in the way. Shane and Mr. Miz squared off in the ring, with Shane utterly destroying Mr. Miz, only for the Miz to run in and take down shane. They began to brawl through the crowd, near the LED pillars, and into the stands. They even started destroyed the announce tables in the crowds, and Miz hit him so hard with a moniter that he fell over a railing and about a 6 foot fall. Miz then hit the Skull Crushing Finale on a platform for the cameras, for a near fall. They battled even higher, with Miz superplexing shane through a platform, and it completely caved it in. Shane was able to get the arm over Miz for the win.

Grade: B+. A wild, brawl, with some big spots, and every bit of soap opera crap. That superplex will be shown in video packages for years to come. It was good clean fun, and although I wasn’t too pleased with Miz losing, but given the spot, it was just a coincidence that Shane got the pin. It wasn’t too serious, nor did I think it would be. If they had more weapon spots, then maybe this would’ve been higher. But still, I thought it was really good.

Into the Women’s Tag Team Championship match, the Boss N’ Hug Connection took on the Divas of Doom, The IIconics and Nia Jax and Tamina.  The IIconics quickly established that they would only tag in if they were in the advantage. Pheonix and Natalya hit a hart attack on Billie Cay for a near fall. Jax and Tamina were taken out pretty early, only to come back in and absolutely destroy the IIconics. Banks and Bayley were lying in the corners, and Jax and Tamina went up for splashes, but Phoenix took Jax out. Bayley nailed an elbow drop to Natalya, followed by a splash from Banks for a near fall. Phoenix nailed Bayley with a super glam slam, but the IIconics threw her out of the ring and made the pin to win the belts.

Grade: D. Decent action, but it was a little short for the speed of it all. I think that they definitely should have gone with a standard tag match if Bayley and Sasha were gonna get pinned anyway. The super Glam Slam was a memorable moment, and I think it was in character for the IIconics to steal the pin. Maybe I am just upset that Bayley and Sasha lost the belts without having a real classic match for the belts. Maybe they will get them back in the future, but the IIconics will probably make for some very entertaining TV in the next few weeks.

And for the WWE championship, Kofi Kingston took on Daniel Bryan. The crowd was fully behind Kingston right from the beginning of the match. Bryan did what he could to keep the match on the mat, but he was also able to go at a fast pace with Kingston. Bryan attempted to work over Kingston’s leg. At one point, Kofi went for a springboard splash to the outside, but Bryan dodged it and sent him careening into the table. Kofi went for several double stomps throughout the match, but Bryan had it scouted at one point, picked him out of the air, and locked in a lion tamer. At one point, Kingston Nailed the SOS, only for Bryan to counter it into a Lebell Lock, raining down elbows into the ribs. Eventually, Bryan just kept kicking Kingston in the chest and sides, until Kingston screamed at him telling him to keep hitting him, and the two dueled with kicks until Kingston hit an inverted suplex for a near fall. Kingston then followed Bryan to the outside, but Rowan got in his way. Kingston hit Rowan with a trouble in paradise, and then Big E and Xavier Woods nailed him with the midnight hour. Back in the ring, there was a great near fall as Kofi was hit with the running knee. In his frustration, Bryan stomped on Kingstons face and head, before locking in the lebell lock once again. Kofi fought out of it, and returned the favor with stomps as the crowd cheered along. Kofi then hit the Trouble in Paradise for the win, finally gaining the WWE Championship after 11 years. After the match, Kofi celebrated with his kids and even a new shirt.

Grade: A. This match was absolutely awesome. The suspense was awesome, the selling from everyone was great, and Daniel Bryan’s work as a despicable heel made the match so much more fun. It felt like Kofi wouldn’t win due to how Bryan kept countering everything kofi threw at him at first. Kofi played a great underdog, and even the knew day on the outside kept the crowd hyped up. Kofi totally deserved this win, and I think he will be a fantastic WWE Champion. I can’t wait.

Backstage, Alexa Bliss talked to Colin Jost and Michael Che backstage, with some trainers. Bliss said that Strowman is a nice guy. They all argued, before Bliss said they were in good hands, before Scott Hall and Kevin Nash were revealed as their doctors.

Next was Rey Mysterio vs. Samoa Joe. They started out quick, with Joe beating his ass quickly. Mysterio did hit the 619, but Joe quickly choked him out for the win. Not gonna grade this one.

Then it was Drew McIntyre vs. Roman Reigns. The two squared up in the beginning of the match, before absolutely destroying each other with punches. McIntyre had most of Roman’s moves scouted, such as countering the drive by with a vertical suplex. Throughout the match, McIntyre got into Reigns’ head by telling him that he broke the Shield, and destroyed his brothers. That only fired up Roman. He then unleashed a fury of great offense, followed by several superman punches and then a spear for the win.

Grade: B-. Good match, but not nearly enough time. They could’ve put on a classic together, but since the story was Roman as an underdog, he couldn’t get in as much offense. But I think that these guys could do a lot better, and I am bummed that they didn’t get time to really put on an awesome match.

Then, Elias had his concert. First playing drums on the tron, then piano on the tron, then the guitar in the ring. He was his own band. What a fun little segment. He was about to start his full song, but he was interrupted by some older baseball footage. Cena then came out in his old Thuganomic persona. He even had a huge scowl on his face. He announced that he was about to turn heel, and that Elias’ music sucks more than his own movies. There was too much to talk about in this “promo,” but he hit the five knuckle shuffle and hit the FU and left.

Grade: C. What the flying fuck was that? I think it was good, but I really don’t know. I’ll call it down the middle, because it was funny, but probably a burial of Elias. I don’t know, I just don’t know.

Into the No Holds Barred Match of the night, Batista vs. Triple H. Batista entered with an enterage of bodyguards in a nice van, while Trips entered on a Mad Max type car. Shawn Michaels was on commentary, which I assumed would factor into things. Two went at each other with absolute fury, it was a visceral match, very much like a street fight. It wasn’t long before Trips began choking Batista with a chain, also whipping him. He then stretched Batista’s fingers with pliers, and even pinned him down with a chair and ripped out his nose ring. It was disgusting, I don’t know how they did it. Batista attempted several times to put Trips through a table, but it did not work. They continued to beat each other down with weapons and stiff shots. Batista went to batista bomb Trips through an announce table, but Trips back body dropped him instead, but the table didn’t break. What is with these tables? Trips then hit a huge running spear through another announce table, which thankfully broke. Trips finally got a sledgehammer from under the ring, but as he went to attack Batista, Batista speared him for a near fall. Batista then brought Trips up for a batista bomb for another good near fall. As Batista went for a superplex onto the steel steps in the ring, but Trips countered with a powerbomb onto the stairs, and then the pedigree for a near fall. Eventually, Flair came out to give Trips a sledgehammer, then distracting Batista so that Trips gets a sledge shot and another pedigree for the win.

Grade: B-. Shockingly decent. I flip flopped on this match a lot in the build up, thinking it could suck or be great. It was actually good, but really nothing more. The weapon shots were stiff, and it had a very ruthless aggression feel. Very fun, and I am not very shocked with the outcome. I thought Batista would win, but I understand if Trips doesn’t want to retire yet. Pretty good match, nothing more.

Now, Kurt Angle’s farewell match, against Baron Corbin. For some reason, they kept saying that Corbin was “Wrestlemania’s favorite son.” I don’t know why that is, but it is certainly incorrect. The two had a pretty decent match, and Corbin sold pretty well for angle. Corbin hit a big deep six for a near fall. Angle hit the angle slam for a near fall, but then he took the straps down and locked in the ankle lock for a submission sequence. Angle even went for a moonsault, but he missed, allowing Corbin to hit the end of days for the win. The crowd was piiiiiiiiissed. But Corbin quickly left the ring, and Angle cut a goodbye promo, asking them to play his music one last time, the crowd chanted you suck, and people cried. They even cut to a sign that said you never sucked, and I teared up.

Grade: B. The match wasn’t good, but with respect to angle, and the emotion of his retirement, I will cut it some slack. Corbin sold a lot, and made Kurt look good. And although I was shocked at the outcome, it was the right call. Corbin gets a huge boost from that. But anyway, thank you Kurt, we will never forget you. You suck will never mean the same thing again thanks to you.

And we moved swiftly into the intercontinental title match, Bobby Lashley against the Demon Finn Balor. Lashley came out with weird, yellow contacts in. But of the two entrances, Balor’s was definitely better. He was on a huge pillar surrounded in smoke, with body paint that resembled a pharaoh, I think. The bell rang, and Balor started off in a much more aggressive manor than he normally does. However, Lashley quickly fought back, hitting huge suplexes and lariats. Lio Rush was super scared the entire time, running away from Balor at any point. Lashley even hit a spear through the ropes, followed by another in the ring for a near fall. Balor even hit a huge powerbomb, followed by the Coup de Gras for the win.

Grade: B+. Short but sweet. I never thought that I would give this match a good grade, but this match made me realize what makes a good, or great match: back and forth. WWE matches are often very one sided, but this had swinging momentum, and that is what made it so good. So these guys can put on a good match, they just aren’t often given the chance to. I really liked this match, and I wish they would do more like it. Good stuff to both of these guys.

They had a bit of a dance break with R-Truth and Carmella. Good times, they are funny.

And in the main event, possibly the most important Wrestlemania main event ever, Becky Lynch, Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair fought for the Raw and Smackdown Women’s Championships. Charlotte arrived in the arena via helicopter, with people rolling out the red carpet for her. Rousey had live music for her entrance, smiling at the Joan Jet and the Blackhearts, but turning all business when she stormed down the ramp. Becky didn’t get anything special, but the fan support for her was huge. Rousey wasn’t holding anything back in this match, delivering the stiffest kicks I have ever seen from a man or woman in all of wrestling. Lynch and Flair exchanged very stiff strikes in the middle of the ring, each going for the other’s submission. Flair and Lynch tried to powerbomb Rousey out of the ring, but she latched on a (bad looking) armbar on Flair between the ropes. Becky then nailed a basement dropkick to Rousey, still hanging, sending her tumbling to the floor. Charlotte went for a moonsault early on, only for Lynch to reverse it into a disarmer, only for Rousey to break it up quickly. Rousey attempted a double armbar, but Lynch and Flair worked together hitting three double powerbombs before Rousey fell. At one point, Lynch loced in the disarmer through the ropes, before Flair broke it up. Flair then hit a huge avalanche spanish fly on Lynch for a near fall. Rousey’s leg was absolutely destroyed throughout the match, with Flair even locking in the figure four on the ringpost for a time. Flair almost locked in the figure 8, but Lynch broke it up with a flying senton. Becky then introduced a table, but Rousey flipped it, saying “tables are for bitches.” Charlotte nailed a double spear for a pair of near falls. Flair then set up a table in the corner, attempting to double spear the opponents through it, but they countered with a flip into the table. In the finish, Rousey attempted to hit Lynch with the pipers pit, but Lynch countered into a crucifix cover, for the win. The pin was iffy, but no big deal.

Grade: A-. Non stop action once again. These women went at it as fast as they could, and it was really great. This was not one of those triple threat matches where people were constantly resting on the outside. They were always in the ring, with hard hitting sequences and awesome moves. I thought the finish was a bit anticlimactic, but considering how the show went so far overtime, I am not surprised that this is what they went with. They really did do great in the main event, and I am happy to see Becky with the belts that she so rightfully deserves.

Overall Grade: B

Pros: Cruiserweight Championship; women’s battle royal; raw tag team championship; Styles vs. Orton; smackdown tag team championship; falls count anywhere; WWE Championship; Intercontinental Championship; Women’s Championship

Cons: Men’s battle royal; Universal championship match; Women’s tag team championship; Cena promo (i think); matches were very short

[katzuyas]

I’ve been tagged in so many things over the past couple of weeks that I honestly don’t even have much more bookmark space left in my browser RIP so I finally decided to do all of it at once, hence the title and the rest of this longass post under the cut

bc there’s a lot of the tag games down there and tagging a million people would be annoying, I’m gonna tag 10 of you to grab a dice and roll it to figure out which meme you’re tagged for ^u^)b if you roll the same number twice, count that meme as the start from which to count and roll again! I hope you like this idea, but it’s only a suggestion so feel free to do whatever you want tbh?

@sweet-vitya, @gabzjones, @and-then-yoi-happened, @etherealalchemist, @joeys-piano, @quadruplyyours, @yuliaplisetskaya, @dreaming-fireflies, @teekettle, @iwritebetterthanispeak, @chessala

enjoy, if you want! 💕💕

tagged by @endlesscloudsoftime, thank you for the tag!!

rules: answer 20 questions, then tag 20 bloggers that you want to get to know better.

1. Name: kat

2. Nicknames: same tbh

3. Height: 170cm

4. Orientation: who knows who cares (it’s pan)

5. Nationality: polish

6. Favorite fruit: mango, cherries, I love watermelon too but the seeds piss me off too much to fully enjoy it

7. Favorite season: anything that doesn’t make me sweat off my skin but isn’t also freezing my toes is more than fine with me ^u^)b

8. Favorite plant: I don’t think I have any favs here

9. Favorite scent: I have this yankee candle ‘sweet candies’ and I can just DIE wrapped in that scent holy sheet (when it comes to perfume tho I’m a sucker for the original chloe, but I also love calvin klein’s euphoria bc it’s just Fresh)

10. Favorite color: any pastel really

11. Favorite animal: MY SWEET PUPPER HINA (so yes, dogs)

12. Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate: coffee sometimes, TEA AND GREEN TEA AND VANILLA CHAI!!!!!!, hot chocolate is a nope

13. Average sleep hours: I always try for 8h bc otherwise I’m a zombie, but it doesn’t always work out so... I’m a part-time zombie anyway lmao

14. Dog or cat person: ISN’T THE PIC PROOF ENOUGH THAT I LOVE MY FURRY DOGGO SON

15. Favorite fictional character: victor nikiforov. that’s it. that’s all. we can all go home now

16. Number of blankets you sleep with: 1 + a duvet bc I like being cosy

17. Dream trip: japan, always. but another one would be a trip to the harry potter universal store or the noble collection store I guess

18. Blog created: who even remembers this pffff (somewhen in august 2011 I think)

19. Number of followers: I’m just gonna say it’s a four number figure ;3c

20. Random fact: I’m currently rewatching lord of the rings and procrastinating writing so YES I’M A NERD AND A BAD PERSON AHAHA //sweats

tagged by @story-kat -- thanks love, I actually really like these so it was great fun to do 💕

Rules: using only song titles from one artist/band, cleverly answer the questions and then tag people

artist/band: one ok rock

what is your gender: stuck in the middle

how do you feel: jaded

if you could go anywhere: start again

favorite mode of transportation: mighty long fall

your best friend: wherever you are

favorite time of day: taking off

if your life was a tv show: liar

relationship status: hard to love

your fear: bombs away

tagged by @endlesscloudsoftime, thanks again!! ahaha I feel like I’ll be saying this a lot today, but you spoil me /)u(\

Rules: tag 9 people you want to know better or just because you feel like it.

Relationship status: taken ;3c

Favorite color: any pastels, really

Last song I listened to: still the lord of the rings ost

Last movie I watched: lord of the rings lol two towers ^u^)b

Top 3 tv shows: game of thrones (bc I love my fantasy shit), rein (bc I love my history shit), and american housewife (bc I love laughing and this show is Hilarious with the capital H)

Top 3 characters: victor nikiforov bc I adore him, hinata shouyou bc he’s my sunshine son and I gotta mention miyuki kazuya bc his smirks still keep me awake at night 😍😍😍

What I’m currently reading: honestly? my own writes bc I have no time for anything other than editing orz

tagged by @themayflynans and @endlesscloudsoftime, thank you both!! 💕

A - Age: 26

B - Birthplace: poland

C - Current time: 11:50am

D - Drink you last had: just some coke

E - Easiest person to talk to: nowadays it’s gotta be @saniika and @and-then-yoi-happened bc I know I can be as salty and upset as I feel when I talk to them and that it’s alright to just let it all out which is something I wish for everyone to have 💕

F - Favourite song: don’t have one tbh

G - Grossest memory: back in elementary school my class was in warsaw to see the big zoo there and one of the chimpanzees just projectile shat all over our teacher and it was simultaneously the most awesome and the fucking WORST bc she smelled like shit the whole trip back home ugh

H - Horror yes or horror no: depends on what kind of horror but generally? meh

I - In love?: no idea tbh but definitely comfortable in my relationship

J - Jealous of people?: you’ve no idea. jelly and bitter.

L - Love at first sight or should i walk by again?: walk by and actually tell me you’re interested bc I’m a blind pan who is easily confused

M - Middle name: magdalena ;3c

N - Number of siblings: 0

O - One wish: Been keeping Salty’s answers here - yes, to learn to love myself.

P - Person you called last: my mom lol she’s the only one I call, really

Q - Question you are always asked: "so when will you start looking for a job?”

R - Reason to smile: VICTUURI!!!!!!!!!!!!!

S - Song you sang last: oh man I don’t even remember, I don’t really sing out loud

T - Time you woke up: these days? 6:30am

U - Underwear colour: sea green-blue, turquoise?

V - Vacation destination: I’m going to japan next year to see ice adolescence even if it kills me

W - Worst habit: biting the inside of my cheeks bloody

X - X-rays: my hand when I had a small accident playing badminton, my jaw for my braces

Y - Your favourite food: PIZZA HELLO

Z - Zodiac sign: gemini ;3c

tagged by @theexitgarden and @endlesscloudsoftime, bless you both and thank you for thinking of the old me 💕 

1st RULE: Tag 9 people you want to get to know better:

we’ll be skipping this one bc of reasons //sweats

2nd RULE: BOLD the statements that are true.

APPEARANCE: - I am 5'7 or taller - I wear glasses - I have at least one tattoo -I have at least one piercing - I have blonde hair - I have brown eyes - I have short hair - My abs are at least somewhat defined - I have or had braces

PERSONALITY: - I love meeting new people - People tell me I am funny - Helping others with their problems is a big priority of mine - I enjoy physical challenges - I enjoy mental challenges - I am playfully rude to people I know - I started saying something ironically and now I can’t stop saying it - There is something I would change about my personality

ABILITY: - I can sing well - I can play an instrument - I can do over 30 pushups without stopping - I am a fast runner - I can draw well - I have a good memory- I am good at doing math in my head - I can hold my breath underwater for over a minute - I have beaten at least 2 people arm wrestling - I can make at least 3 recipes from scratch - I know how to throw a proper punch

HOBBIES: - I enjoy sports - I’m on a sports team at my school or somewhere else - I’m in a orchestra or choir at my school or somewhere else - I have learned a new song in the past week - I exercise at least once a week - I have gone for runs at least once a week in warmer months - I have drawn something in the past month - I enjoy writing - Fandoms are my #1 priority- I do some form of Martial arts

EXPERIENCES: - I have had my first kiss - I have had alcohol - I have scored a winning point in a sport - I have watched an entire TV series in one sitting - I have been at an overnight event - I have been in a taxi - I have been in the hospital or ER in the past year - I have beaten a video game in one day - I have visited another country - I have been to one of my favorite bands concert

MY LIFE: - I have one person that I consider to be my Best Friend - I live close to my school/work - My parents are still together - I have at least one sibling- I live in the United States - There is snow where I live right now - I have hung out with a friend in the past month - I have a smartphone - I own at least 15 CDs - I share my room with someone

RELATIONSHIPS: - I am in a relationship - I have a crush on a celebrity - I have a crush on someone I know - I’ve been in at least 3 relationships - I have never been in a relationship - I have admitted my feelings to a crush - I get crushes easily - I have had a crush for over a year - I have been in a relationship for over a year - I have had feelings for a friend

RANDOM: - I have break-danced - I know a person named Jamie - I have had a teacher that has a name that is hard to pronounce - I have dyed my hair - I’m listening to a song on repeat right now - I have punched someone in the past week - I know someone who has gone to jail - I have broken a bone - I have eaten a waffle today - I know what I want to do in life - I speak at least two languages - I have made a new friend in the past year

tagged by @story-kat and @endlesscloudsoftime (astea m’dude ur tagging me in everything and I love you for it)

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE SONG(S) TO SING?

I will most often hum or mouth lyrics when I’m writing and my brain gets distracted so it usually is some sort of acoustic cover of a rather popular song, like despacito? lol WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE FLOWER/TREE/PLANT?

I don’t have one tbh FAVOURITE COLOURS?

anything pastel!! WHAT DO YOU ALWAYS DOODLE?

I don’t anymore but it used to be some random squigglies??

HOW DO YOU TAKE YOUR COFFEE/TEA?

2.5 teaspoon of sugar into both + 1/4 milk/cream into the coffee and 1/4 cold water into the tea FAVOURITE CANDLE SCENT?

SWEET CANDIES FROM YANKEE CANDLE. BURY ME IN THIS. SUNRISE OR SUNSET?

sunrise bc I don’t even see sunsets anymore (I’m asleep then lol) WHAT PERFUME DO YOU WEAR?

the original chloe is what I like most but I would die for dior’s j’adore, it’s so nice 😍😍😍 in the summer I’m wearing masaki’s fluo tho bc it’s sweet and summery

WHAT’S YOUR GO-TO DANCE MOVE WHEN YOU’RE ALONE?

butt wiggling? maybe? idk man I never really thought about it? lol FAVOURITE QUOTE?

“Because people don’t have wings, we look for other ways to fly.” -- somehow this one always sticks with me bc it’s so beautiful and vivid that you’d never say it’s from a japanese cartoon lmao

FAVOURITE SELF CARE ROUTINE(S)?

sleeping, kicking back and watching some dumb movie that won’t make me think of anything but how dumb it is

FUZZY SOCKS OR HOUSE SLIPPERS?

both? I like fuzzy socks in winter but in summer I go barefoot but sometimes u gotta have something between your skin and the floor so = slippers WHAT COLOUR ARE YOUR EYES?

brown

WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE EYE COLOUR ON OTHERS?

I don’t honestly care but blue eyes when they’re very light creep me out somehow FAVOURITE SEASON? WHY?

don’t have one but as long as it’s not too hot or too cold I’m good NECK, CHEEK, OR NOSE KISSES?

depends on what you want to achieve? neck kisses will have me melting, cheek kisses smile and nose kisses giggle and possibly blush so YEA THERE’S THAT

WHAT DOES YOUR HAPPY PLACE LOOK LIKE?

it’s my room. that’s it. this is my happy place

FAVOURITE BREED OF DOG?

ANY DOGGO IS A GOOD DOGGO AS LONG AS IT’S NOT THOSE SMOL ONES WHO BITE UR ANKLES FOR NO REASON DO YOU EVER WANT TO BE MARRIED?

idk, I mean yes I’d like to be married one day but I’m not really in any hurry to get there? CURSIVE OR PRINT?

I don’t honestly care

FAVOURITE WEATHER?

cloudy but not too cold

tagged by @story-kat, thanks for the tag babe!!

Rules: bold what you prefer and tag 10 people.

coffee or tea

early bird or night owl

chocolate or vanilla

spring or fall

silver or gold (BOTH! BOTH IS GOOD)

pop or alternative

freckles or dimples

snakes or sharks

mountains or fields

thunderstorm or lightning

Egyptian or Greek mythology

ivory or scarlet

flute or lyre

eyes or lips

witch or fairy

opal or diamond

butterflies or honeybees

macaroons or eclairs

typewritten or handwritten letters

secret garden or secret library

rooftop or balcony

spicy or mild

opera or ballet

London or Paris

Vincent van Gogh or Claude Monet

denim or leather

potions or spells

ocean or desert

mermaid or siren

masquerade ball or cocktail party

tagged by @endlesscloudsoftime, thanks for this omg I actually wanted to do this one!! 💕💕

THE AO3 TAG GAME:

WHAT IS YOUR TOTAL WORD COUNT ON AO3?

869 938! holy sheet I’m so close to 1mil???? wowowow o.O

HOW OFTEN DO YOU WRITE?

I try to write every day, but these days (with renovations going on and my sleeping schedule all fucked up) it’s really hard to find the time and focus to do it orz

DO YOU HAVE A ROUTINE FOR WRITING?

I actually do! or I did when I was still regularly writing lol it was something like this: cracking open an energy drink, lighting up my fav scented candle, booting up itunes and my writing playlist and generally just spending 5-6h just writing 💕  

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE KINKS/TROPES/PAIRING?

kinks: pet play, public or semi-public play, voyeurism, doggy style, also actually BOTTOM VITYA,      

tropes: reverse au, time travel, famous aus,

pairing: victuuri. no seconds. we die like man and only stan one (1) gay ship

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE FIC OF YOURS?

I don’t necessarily have an absolute fav but a fic that I still remember fondly and am beyond sad that got little to no attention is: if there’s a will, there’s a way bc I worked my ass off for it and I love every bit of it so? give it a read if you want to?

YOUR FIC WITH THE MOST KUDOS?

dazzle me with gold which will be getting an update this weekend ;3c

ANYTHING YOU DON’T LIKE ABOUT YOUR WRITING?

recently? everything. I’m just broken and idk how to fix it bc I can’t even find a good moment to try so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

NOW SOMETHING YOU DO LIKE (ABOUT YOUR WRITING)?

how sweet and soft everything is when I’m in a good mood bc victuuri deserves this kind of love and I’m so happy writing it for them 🙏🙏🙏

tagged by @amaanogawa, thanks so much ems!!!

1) How many works in progress to do you currently have in progress?

one actual wip and like... 5 more that just sit and wait their turn? //sweats

2) Do you/would you write fan fiction?

rip that’s all I write too... tbh I used to write original fiction before but I find myself much less constricted by fanfic? I can explore the characters here more than I can in original fiction where worldbuilding takes most effort

3) Do you prefer paper books or ebooks?

oh definitely paper! if I could I’d buy printed out fanfic too!

4) When did you start writing?

I was about 12 I think? it all started with harry potter, like everything else has, and I regret not a second of it!

5) Do you have someone you trust that you share your work with?

sometimes when i get very excited about what i’m writing i’ll tell my fandom friends about the specific AU that i’m writing about but in terms of reading the full length fic, i don’t have anyone that i let read before anyone else. it’ll be on ao3 for everyone at the same time.

6) Where is your favourite place to write?

my desk, my pc. I can write on my phone but I like to edit as I go and it’s hard to do on the phone.

7) Favourite childhood book?

do I even need to say it? harry potter

8) Writing for fun or writing for publication?

for fun, but with the aim of possible future publication maybe?

9) Pen and paper or computer?

always computer. i have only recently begun writing fics on my phone because i’ve been traveling a lot and i don’t always have my laptop on my person, but it’s still much more comfortable to sit down and type on a proper keyboard.

10) Have you ever taken any writing classes?

at my uni, yes. and it completely sucked bc they didn’t teach anything, just had us write random shit for 3 years so eh

11) What inspires you to write?

everything? like, any random thing or thought I’m instantly trying to weave into my writing, turn it into a prompt. every new experience is just a basis for me to write on.

but if you’re asking WHY I write: I don’t even know, I’ve never thought about it? it’s kind of like asking why I breathe ahaha I just do? it’s a part of me? idk man idk

tagged by @themayflynans, thanks for this love!!

7/7/7 tag

The rules are as follows: Go to page 7 of your WIP, go to the seventh line, share seven sentences, and tag 7 more writer-bloggers to continue the challenge.

oh wow ok this is a difficult one bc I don’t think I even have a wip 7 pages long //sweats let me see... aha, okay, I found one! from back in march when I asked people to send me over some numbers for one of those writing memes and @theexitgarden I believe (??) sent me the prompt “I don’t think anyone could be as lovely as you” for victuuri and I kind of got a blind!victor au from it?? wELP here’s the fragment of it:

His music is vibrant in a way that he couldn't play on his piano alone and the clap of the blades that he can hear from the speakers of his TV makes him only more certain – this boy, Yuuri Katsuki, is skating to the sound of Victor's soul as if it's his own.

He never notices the tears that well up in his eyes until they roll down his cheeks and Makkachin presses against his side, whimpering in concern. Victor runs a trembling hand through her soft fur and takes a deep breath. And then, he decides.

"Yasha," he says when his former coach, his father in all but blood picks up Victor’s call. "I want to do this."

And he does it.

tagged by @endlesscloudsoftime again, boy you spoil me ahaha

1. Which fictional character would be the most boring to meet in real life?

I have no idea tbh bc even the characters I don’t like wouldn’t be exactly boring, so??? I honestly don’t know

2. What problem or situation did TV / movies make you think would be common, but when you grew up you found out it wasn’t? (i’m lowkey taking a jab at hsm because thanks Disney for making me think high school would be awesome)

hooking up with people ALL THE TIME when you’re in your 20s bc wtf what a bold-faced lie omg

3. What would be on the gag reel of your life?

"how many times can kat click her tongue at random strangers who piss her off by breathing the same air?” and a manip of all the eyerolls I do bc let me tell you... THERE’S A LOT

4. What does “infinite” mean to you?

my love for victor nikiforov

5. If your life was a movie, what songs would be on the soundtrack?

definitely lots of acoustic vibes and harry potter tunes and I can bet your ass that I’d have the yeah yeah yeah ost from yoi bc it’s such a banger and I LOVE IT but also dramatic classical violin and piano bc they pull on my heart and I am weak

6. What item would be your top choice to make into a horcrux?

honestly? my phone probably. I don’t necessarily have other things close to me that I’d use with enough heart to be of any significance to me

7. Who would play you in a movie about your life?

??? no idea lol I’d love for it to be katherine mcnamara bc 1) we share names, 2) her red hair is gorgeous and I’m a redhead, 3) SHE is gorgeous and I’d love to be portrayed by someone that hot 😍😍😍

8. Most relatable scene from any book/movie/anime/etc.?

yuuri’s little gasp when he first saw victor skating bc HARD SAME MY SWEET SON HARD SAME

9. If you were shrunk down and somehow got stuck in a blender, how would you get out?

I’d jump from side to side of it to try and rock it a bit and see if I can flip it over and get out that way? idk man what is this question lol

10. Would you count manga as a piece of literature? Why or why not?

ofc I would? honestly, some manga have even better storylines than written fiction why WOULDN’T it be counted as a piece of literature

11. compliment yourself. (joey, you’re just to freaking good to at making up questions).

oh man... //sweats umm??? good job me on not breaking down yet bc the renovations keep being awful and you’re handling it well?? maybe lol

tagged by @theexitgarden, thanks love, once more!

RULES: Choose any three fandoms (in random order) and answer the questions, then tag 10 people you want to know better.

Three Fandoms:

Yuri!!! on Ice

Ace of Diamond

Haikyuu!!

The First Character You Loved:

victor. he’s voiced by suwajun, do I really need to say more?

miyuki!! gosh I do love my asshole sons snarky and mean

hinata bc he’s a ray of sunshine and I even named my doggo after him 💕

The Character You Never Expected To Love So Much:

I gotta copy you garden bc chris took me by surprise too! my love for him started from that little sad look he gave us in the kiss and cry and it blossomed beautifully over time ahhh

sanada omg?? he is literally baseball kuroo so I was not expecting it but I fully embraced it lmao

iwaizumi bc I’m not one to like the mothering types but he’s??? actually so kind and sweet under all that harsh Manly facade it’s so cute

The Character You Relate To The Most:

victor, I’d say, or so I like to think

honestly? miyuki. just look at my url lol

oikawa, probably...

The Character You’d Slap:

I wouldn’t actually, but yurio deserves a good kick on the butt

um??? kataoka? bc TF U MEAN U DON’T KNOW WHO THE ACE SHOULD BE WE KNEW IT FROM THE FIRST CHAPTER YOU DUMBASS

early tsukki bc he’s could use it tbqh

Three Favorite Characters (in order of preference):

victor, yuuri, chris

miyuki, eijun, mei

hinata, kuroo, oikawa

A Character You Liked At First, But Don’t Anymore:

no one like that in yoi tbh, my love is only growing

kataoka lol

umm???? idk

A Character You Didn’t Like At First But Do Now:

seung-gil, I’d say. he grew on me lol

raichi, I guess??

to say tsukki, I’d have to actually like him now but it’s more difficult than that bc I didn’t like him at first but now can tolerate him so?? does it count?

Three OTPs:

victuuri, phichimetti, and the third would be very problematic bc I honestly don’t ship anything else in yoi?

miyusawa, chrisawa, sanasawa

KUROHINA YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND, oihina, bokuhina

tagged by @sleep-furiously, thanks for the tag, love!!

post five facts about myself ❤

I have a sweet doggo who is the light of my life 💕

I write good shit sometimes

I believe I have good taste

I’m a snark machine when certain buttons are pressed

patience levels run at 0%

wow ok this was A LOT to go through and it took me like 3h to do this holy sheet but at least I had fun and now I have my firefox bookmark free so that’s awesome ahhh!! thanks so much again to everyone for the tags, you guys are amazing and I’m lucky to have you 💕💕💕💕

[panipuriprincess]

Overview of everything for the days I lowkey missed:

Thursday 12.17

- dragged my D to an A in Spanish

- bagged way better scores than expected on my math tests and got an overall grade I was ok w

- bio test didn't go too great, but God really pulled thru for me and I got an overall grade I was ok w again

- my world geo teacher passed out lil candy canes for us aw.

- cute green blazer moment

- was in so much physical pain everywhere but powered thru without a painkiller yuh

- also didn't eat all day even while being in pain

- had dinner tho bc my parents took us out

Friday 12.17

- last day of the semester B !!

- girlbossed, gatekept and gaslit 💖

- v cute turtleneck fleece coat moment

- got a gift from this guy

- got a truck towed LMAO

- saw my bbs

- got Arab food yuh

- a girl in my AP lit class offered me this cute lil cookie lol

- a guy started playing "star shopping" on a guitar in one of my classrooms and it was so beautiful

- gave my 1st year teacher a card and he was so happy aw

- gave my ap lit and bio teacher a card and they were just as glad too

- got good marks 👌

Saturday 12.18

- shadowed my homegirl dr. afreen !!

- visited some family and had a whole conversation about India with one of the elders and my heart was made 💓

- got $15 lol

- had Arab food again there

- made a Palestinian Kanye fan friend whose tryna do dental lol

- new ggg💖 plan made for tmr

Gonna sleep now maybe, bye I love you

[financiallymint]

Student guide: Cryptocurrencies

Yep – it’s finally time to talk about cryptocurrencies.

It’s the new craze: people are losing a ton of money, some are making too much money and most have no idea what it’s all about. Cryptocurrencies have been all the hype in the past few years, and it’s important to be on the right end of it. How can you make sure that happens? By knowing. This lil’ guide will get you one step closer to that.

What we’ll be talking about today:

What are cryptocurrencies

The cool benefits

How people make the ££

How to get started in college

WTF are crypto

Cryptocurrencies are funny. No one, not even the banks or the governments, really know how to deal with these weird digital currencies. Some countries are banning it, some are encouraging it and some are too scared to touch it. It’s bloody awesome in my opinion. But why is it so confusing? Why are countries and the rest so dazzled by this new digital currency? To understand the why I’m going to start with explaining the what. What do crypto exactly consist of?

I’m not going to go into huge detail, simply because I am no expert and you honestly don’t need to know every single intricacy. But we’ll do a basic overview of what digital currencies do and some nice resources to expand on at the end.

We can start by explaining the process behind Bitcoin, the first big cryptocurrency. Understanding Bitcoin will help understand the rest of them.

Bitcoin has two different processes: mining and transactions. The mining process is completed by huge computers requiring big amounts of computing and electricity power – mostly done in places like China and Iceland. These big computers do complicated calculations to try and find the right combination for a specific algorithm, called a hash. It’s based on cryptography (surprise surprise): the computer is looking for that specific key to unlock a problem, and as the problems get more complicated, the more electricity, time and energy required to solve it.

Once they find that specific combination, they unlock the hash and are one up on the blockchain. And every time they solve a problem, they earn a certain amount of Bitcoin. The interesting thing is, it’s all a race: the person with the most powerful computer is the one who can go through as many combinations as possible and find the key to the hash, and therefore are the one most likely to solve the algorithm quickly. The first person to solve the problem earns some Bitcoin.

But what if their key to the hash is wrong? To make sure that doesn’t happen, the key must be verified before moving onto the next hash. Computer A says the combination is 6566. Before using that combination to unlock the hash, computer B, C and D (obviously way more in real life) need to verify it. They verify and confirm the combination and bam, computer A gets their Bitcoin. Which is why everyone says a Bitcoin is basically a chain of verifications (blockchain): one problem being resolved and verified after the next.

To make sure the keys are verified, computer B, C and D are rewarded with a bit of bitcoin every time they confirm a hash, encouraging miners to complete verifications.

The transactions

The transactions are the other essential part to the crypto mania. We now have a bitcoin, but we have to give it value and purpose: make it useable and make it transferable from one person to another.

The awesomeness of crypto really appears when we start doing transactions. Daisy wants to give Jimmy a bitcoin. She has an online crypto wallet that only she can access with a unique password, called an address. She goes to an online platform like Coinbase, puts in her address and sends over the bitcoin. But before Jimmy can receive the bitcoin, the transaction needs to be verified to make sure that her bitcoins are legit and do actually resolve the algorithms. The transaction hops onto the blockchain and will be verified by other miners (who’ll be awarded a small amount of bitcoin).

What makes cryptocurrencies different to a normal currency is that these digital coins are not secured by people or trust, they’re secured by maths, by cryptography. The only way Jimmy will ever get his bitcoin is if the key is verified and can solve the algorithm. No one can fake the algorithm or the key, since it’s all down to those huge computers up in China, Iceland, etc. As you can imagine, not having someone control your crypto has some pretty sweet benefits.

Some cool benefits

Hopefully you understand bitcoin and therefore crypto a bit better now. It’s hard to get your head round it, but I find that the more research you do and the more you hear about, the easier it is to understand. Here are some cool benefits:

Anonymity: Since there are so many combinations and encrypted transactions involved, it’s hard to connect the address to a real life person. This is a great benefit if you’re a drug dealer or up on the black market.

Global and fast: You can be anywhere on the world and at any time, all you need is a wifi connection. The confirmation of your transaction takes a few minutes, and you get your bitcoin. This is very beneficial to people who are trying to send money back to their home country and don’t want to pay high fees or wait for months.

Secure: As we’ve discussed before, crypto is all about confirming transactions, so no one can ‘pretend’ to send themselves bitcoin. The strong cryptography and the big numbers make it impossible to hack. Only the owner will ever know the address to their crypto wallet and this changes every time they make a transaction (so you really don’t want to give out your address to anyone). Once the key is verified and on the blockchain, it’s made permanent. The transaction can never be reversed and no one can touch it. If Jimmy sends you 2 bitcoins, you get 2 bitcoins whether you like it or not.

Control: No bank is telling you how much you should own or how you should use it. No one will take your crypto away unless they know your address. You get to control how to use your crypto and it’s pretty hard to track down who used them and for what (which is why countries like China are banning it). Also anyone can have a bitcoin – no matter what your credit score is or how much you owe someone, your bitcoins are still yours and won’t be locked down or taken from you.

The weak points are the currency exchanges: the platforms such as Coinbase and Bitfinex exchanging cryptocurrencies for dollars/euros etc. If you put your money on the exchange and it gets hacked… not good news. This is why it’s always good to have a crypto wallet and not to leave your money on the platforms. This happened to companies such as Coincheck and Mt Gox. Nasty stuff.

How people make money

So now onto the big question: how does one make the dough?

There are several ways, both directly and indirectly. I’m not including things such as ‘write about bitcoin’ or ‘work for a cryptocurrency company’ since mate, that’s kinda obvious. Here are some ways you can earn ££ with ฿฿.

Mining: Go to Iceland, set up a huge ton of computers and mine some crypto. Realistic? Not really. Expensive hardware and high electricity costs mean only big corporations can afford to do the mining. Back in 2010 you could mine bitcoin from your own home computer, but now it’s not a realistic way of earning money. Was just putting out there.

Trading: Crypto’s value is extremely volatile on the market. This means it goes up and down like crazy and is hard to predict. But if you get lucky – you could buy low and sell high. This is similar to stock trading, only much more volatile and risky. You sign up to a platform such as Coinbaseor Plus500, buy a bit of a bitcoin at a low price and then try and sell it at a higher price. Your  best option is to do this with day trading.

Buy and Hodl: This is basically long-term trading. In the stock market it’s called value investingand it’s also something people do with gold: buy and wait till the price goes up. People who bought and held $100 in 2009 would have gained around $17,004. 76 (the memes call it hodling). Some predict the value will rise even more… some predict it’s going to crash and everyone will lose their money. Who knows?

Invest in blockchain ETFs: This is the most attractive option to someone like me: doesn’t want to get their hands too dirty but still wants in on the craze. It’s basically investing into a specific ETF that tracks companies involved in cryptocurrencies. An example is a platform called Reality Shares. Their funds track companies which are working with cryptocurrencies such as Intel, Microsoft and Barclays. So you’re not touching the crypto itself, but investing in the companies that deal with crypto. Pretty sweet.

Here are some of the companies included in Reality Shares’ ETF fund:

Lending: Same as with normal currencies (called fiat currencies), but instead of lending ££ or $$ you’re lending crypto. You lend 1 bitcoin to an individual or a company and they’ll pay you back after a certain amount of time with a certain interest. It is pretty high risk considering the volatility of the market, but could interesting. Platforms such as Salt Lending and ETH Lend do this.

How to get started in college

Aha! My favourite section of all: how to get started as a student. If you’re like me, you’re don’t have a ton of money lying around but still want to get in on the crypto craze. Here are some simple steps.

1- Start with the stock market

Crypto is volatile. Crypto is risky. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you really want to treat crypto as an experiment. Meaning only invest with money you can afford to lose. And if you’re a college student, chances are you don’t have much of that. Before even touching cryptocurrencies, learn about the stock market. Educate yourself and start investing in index funds: a safe and secure way to get a good return on investments. You’ll see that many things in the crypto world are identical to the stock market, so starting with the safer option will still be getting you onto the crypto track. Check out my How to get started with investing in college guide.

2- Learn!

You’ve invested in the stock market and now believe you’re ready for the digital world. But before we take any action, we need to be sure we know what we’re doing. As the much loved Warren Buffet said, never invest in something you don’t understand. Sign up to newspapers like the Financial Times, newsletters like CryptoWeekly and some crypto demo platforms like Plus500 or Bitfinex. Ask people around you and see what others have done. Look at the money making methods listed above, which ones appeal to you the most? From there, do some research and see what you need to know before getting started.

3- Experiment

Woohoo! Time for the action. Once again: only experiment with money you can afford to lose(that’s why it’s called experiment money duh). What are you trying to gain from crypto? Do you want to earn some money? Invest in the long term? Do some day trading? With those answers in mind, sign up to the corresponding platform and do some experimenting.

I personally got started in day trading: I put in a bit of money into my Plus500 account and bought some Ethereum, Litecoin and IOTA. The problem was that I didn’t have any goals in mind – I just wanted to see what would happen. So surprise surprise, I lost a good £90. Annoying, but at least I was ready for it.

Start with something small like £100, and then try out new things as you gain more confidence. This is why I love the demo accounts, first you try it with fake money, learn how the platform works and see if it’s worth an investment. Then you decide whether to put your own money in.

Crypto is risky – but that’s what makes it fun and so intriguing. If you’re a college student and enjoy doing money experiments, now’s the time to do it. Learn as much as you can and experiment with a bit of extra money. It’ll go a long way to understand what both the stock market and crypto market is all about; you’ll be ready for the next crash. Banks are getting uncomfortable, countries are tightening regulations and investors are going crazy. Now’s the time to learn all you can about the magical digital currency.

Some cool resources

Best online crypto trading platforms

Blockchain ETFs: Reality Shares, Amplify

Crypto lending platforms

Newsletters: CryptoWeekly, thebitdaily

Awesome cryptocurrency blogs and websites:

Coindesk

Bitcoin Magazine

Crypto Bobby

Read more like this over at Financially Mint

[wordnerdworld]

Reading that math post got me thinking about my own history with math....

I did not like math in school. It was my weakest subject. Memorizing times-tables was boring. Flipping fractions upside down for no reason was pointless. I could correctly apply formulas but only in very limited contexts. I can remember retaking tests for the first time in algebra. I struggled on through geometry and trigonometry and got D’s for the first time in AB Calculus (and I think maybe a 2 on the AP exam). I withdrew from Calc BC and was put in Intro Humanities instead.

(Hilariously, my pre-calculus teacher once gave me a certificate for being one of the top-scoring students in his class. It was meant for a classmate who had the same first name. An Asian man unable to distinguish between two similar, brown-haired white girls. I love the irony.)

Because I wasn’t good at math, that’s the reason I wasn’t good in physics and chemistry and biology either, I was told. I shouldn’t try to be a doctor or an astronaut or a builder or a scientist because you have to be good at math to do those things. "Girls just aren’t good at math,” was a message that definitely got passed on to me.

But I knew girls who were very, very good at math, so clearly I was the problem instead. Or maybe they were somehow more masculine? The salutatorian of my graduating class was a girl and the way people--adults and fellow students--tended to masculinize her and deny her femininity was....oddly apparent to me even as as fairly clueless teenager. Apparently a girl good in a masculine subject like math has to be sexless.

In college I had to take a math course and a non-lab science.

I took Elementary Probability and Statistics and...I actually got a B+! And I remember liking the class. The professor was funny, and the worst thing about it was the fact that it was at 8:00am so I was usually half-asleep. But I liked it because...it made sense. At least, it made more sense than calculus ever had. Likely because the professor made it all about gambling. What are the odds of getting these exact cards in poker? Was a question I could wrap my head around.

Rotating shapes around an axis and cutting slices out of them...????(<---literally my recollection of what calc is all about)

And the science course I took was called Great Ideas in Physics, but was better known as “non-math physics” or physics for non-science students. The professor was funny and I remember chatting with him after class one day and he emailed me a problem to solve. Something about calculating the speed of a moon orbiting a planet. I don’t think I ever emailed him back. I didn’t want him to know I couldn’t solve the problem because there was math in it.

I hated math because I was bad at it (especially in comparison to my reading/verbal skills). And I was taught that some people are just innately bad at math. It isn’t “their subject.” Nothing to be done about it. But I’ve slowly come to realize...I’m probably *not* bad at math. There’s no innate reason why I couldn’t have been good at it.

I was just never given a chance to learn it in a way that made sense to me.

[studyari]

26 trying to become an engineer. (2nd attempt)

Hello everyone :-)

Today I’ve been feeling pretty down and thought, well, I may as well do something that might get my mind off of my mood. I thought, “hey maybe I’ll share my story on tumblr.” So, here I am spiraling.

This is not my main blog but I did notice that over the years it was hard to find blogs that were active. Somehow, I came across the ‘studyblr’ community and couldn’t believe how many people were currently using this platform in that way. I’m starting school in the fall so I thought it would be a cool idea to also make one, and maybe it would keep me motivated! We will see. I have a good feeling because there are already sooo many amazing resources and advice tips. It’s very reassuring.

I guess I should start my story off with a few details about who I am and the type of life I had before coming to this point. My name is Ari and I love learning but I never had the vision or drive to look forward into the future very much. I did not concern myself with the responsibilities of adulthood when I was in high school. During that time, I wasn’t really focused on anything in particular. I didn’t sign up for the AP Classes, I didn’t see myself going to college, and the classes I wanted to take, I never was able to get in (my school already had overcapacity classes and it was the oldest high school in my city picture the not having enough books, packed classes, and old and worn learning materials). I really wanted to get into horticulture and signed up for it 3 years straight to no avail. Even though I lacked the competitive spirit and drive, I still had high enough standards for myself to try my best in school even if I didn’t know exactly why I was doing it. I did well and my class rank, I found out was #3. I only found out because the teacher I worked for would tell me “hey you’re really close to having to give a speech” to that I was like HUH? I also was way too shy to even think about that so I just kind of brushed it off. But to this day, I wonder what I could have accomplished if I had the same goals my peers had. 

My counselor nominated me for a scholarship to which I was surprised but I applied to the school (the only school I applied to) and wrote my essay. I did this because I was honored someone actually thought of me. The school could only put up one person per scholarship per university. I’m sure she put me up because of my math scores if I’m being honest. 

By that time I had decided to go into the military, because some guy from the Navy came and talked to our class. I thought, I’m sure I could do that? I was basically doing the things I needed to do my senior year so that after I graduated I could have a job. But unexpectedly, the teacher that I worked for pulled me aside one day and asked me what my plans for the future were. I told him I’m most likely joining the military and that I applied to a university but there’s no way I could pay for it. I already had received a letter that I was denied the scholarship. He sincerely looked at me and told me that I could do anything with my life and that going into the military is great but that I could join that whenever. He told me “not everyone gets to go to college.” I shrugged because I didn’t feel like I was in control of any of that. But then he did something while I was in his computer lab and it was near the end of the school year. He had called up the university I applied to and asked them about my application…. He did that for me. And after getting off the phone with them he told me the lady said “she’ll be very happy.” Although not disclosing any details. For some reason the small gesture moved me and I’m pretty sure that was the moment that I started believing that I could actually accomplish things. I started being able to think about the things I wanted out of life. I could make the decisions of what I want to be, not some recruiter. 

It wasn’t until I got my acceptance letter stating that I had received a full ride scholarship that it all became real. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t think I would ever go to college but now I have a way?

Fast forward to my freshman year of college. I was 17. It was in a new city, I was on my own for the first time in my life, I had met a lot of new people, and I was a first year engineering student hoping to graduate in electrical engineering and I was proud of it. I had felt like I had already accomplished so much just off the fact I was accepted into that program. However, reality started to sink in quick. School was HARD, the classes were HUGE 200 students in most of my classes. I procrastinated, stayed up too late, was not understanding my homework, and failing my tests. I felt like a failure and I failed Chemistry I that year. The next semester, I hoped things would be better but in fact it was much worse. I was horrible and completely lost in my computer engineering course and couldn’t create a working program for the life of me, I couldn’t even create a FLOWCHART. Because of the class size I was deathly afraid to raise my hand and just ask a question. I just kept my mouth shut hoping for the best, for a miracle really. I struggled in Calc 2 and especially in Physics I. I didn’t fail any of the classes but with the grades I received it felt no different. I received D-’s for two of my classes and I felt hopeless. I felt dumb. I thought I need to figure something out, because my scholarship covers 4 years for me. I can’t afford to retake a class I just can’t.

And during that summer I transferred out. I told my mom about my experience and she didn’t have much sympathy for me. Just heard things like “well if it was me, I would have made an A”. I tried explaining to her how hard and difficult it was but I didn’t receive any emotional support that day. In my eyes I thought I tried my best. Honestly, that interaction just furthered my belief into thinking yeahhh it is my fault. I just can’t do it. 

I was in this space where I didn’t know what I wanted to do anymore and it scared me. I talked with an advisor and she helped me make a schedule to explore more majors. I explored art, math, and environmental tech. I ended up completely dropping Calc 3 because I was making like 20% on my first test *sigh*. But I did well enough in my gen eds. I truly thought school wasn’t for me. And keep in mind I also was working the entire time through college and it would take me an hour to walk there and an hour to walk back to my dorm. I really needed money T_T. My priorities were all mixed up back then. I also was dating someone who was very very bad for me. He was a cheater, never wanted to see me, and I would miss classes just because we were arguing. I ended up losing a lot of friends because of my terrible relationship as I was spending all my time on him and not on other aspects of my life. I broke up with him my junior year of college.

After that I found myself really focusing hard on my grades, wanting A’s, wanting to do well. I told myself the difference between an A and a B is just effort. My senior year I was working as well as taking 21 credit hours a semester just to graduate. I actually had to submit paperwork to be allowed to take that many hours per semester. I had little time to myself really and I would sleep on the benches outside in between classes. I was so tired my entire senior year but I know for the first time I was doing my absolute best to graduate. I needed to graduate AND do well.  I ended up graduating in environmental tech which is under the college of forestry at my university. So it was very different than what I started off in. I was proud for a little until I moved back home.

When I got back home I couldn’t find a job in my field. I would get interviews and I would get ‘almost’ hired but I would be rejected last minute. It’s either a hiring freeze, simple rejection, or the ‘you need a car’ to work here. But I didn’t have a car, I didn’t have job to get the car and so what I did was say Fuck IT. I got a job as a cashier making $7.25 an hour at a donut shop. I could hardly save money because my family would always ask me for some. I ended up talking to a recruiter and I was about to join the military for real as I’m from a military town and jobs that weren’t the hospital or military were virtually nonexistent. That’s what I planned to do and I remember writing on my calendar in my room to “save $400” before I left. And that was a goal looking back now, made me realize how much I was struggling in that environment. 

I left. And I joined the military. I knew that I could get a free education and housing so that’s why I did it. It wasn’t a very good reason but I’m so glad that’s what I did. I grew up so much while I was there. I earned an electronics degree while I was there. In fact we went over the same exact things I learned in computer engineering, but this time I could understand and it came easy to me.  Learned a new skill. Learned social skills. Learned how to stand up for people. Learned how to manage others and really really show them that I cared. I got my first car, got my first apartment, and I learned what it meant to live comfortably and securely, even if work itself was more stressful than anything I’ve ever known. I accomplished a lot in the four years I spent there, I met so many people that are now all over the world, I have a network, and I even met my current boyfriend.  

I am now 26. Those four years I spent in the military allowed me to think about my future and what I wanted to do. I am still trying to be an engineer. I think I gave up too easily when I was 17 and I was not in the right mindset. I didn’t think I was as smart as everyone else around me. I didn’t think I deserved to be there. But I was wrong. I did deserve to be there. Now that I’m older I understand I was going through a lot of things and had very little support and I didn’t believe in myself enough. I believe we can do anything we set our minds to, because it’s about effort. This is where my new journey begins.

I’m 26 years old and I don’t think it’s too late. I’m going to be starting my nano-engineering courses in the fall and retaking chem and physics. And I will do well no matter what it takes. I’ve been talking to someone at the university here and they say that I have a good chance at getting into their Materials Science and Engineering M.S. program. Me, someone without an engineering B.S. This is where I’d like to update my story. And hopefully someone out there can relate or share their journey as well. It’s been hard understanding that I am deserving to be here and to ask questions and actually succeed. I’m not giving up this time. No way. The things you love and are passionate about will always come back to you.