#many hours a week when i had no uni at times like 5× a week for 2 hours or sometimes even 4

[adore-gregor]

It's true sometimes others doubting you really is the best motivation :))

[martinluvrr]

FLATLINE | PAIGE BUECKERS

⋅˚₊‧ paige x fem!gf!reader

⋅˚₊‧ summary: y/n and paige experience what it means to be in a long distance relationship, but with the distance between them, can they overcome it?

⋅˚₊‧ warning : secret relationship, angst (kinda) ,long distance.

⋅˚₊‧ duayaps: first post🥳🥳🥳.

⋅˚₊‧ inspired by flatline by justin bieber.

⋅˚₊‧ nav ||

"I'LL MISS YOU" paige muttered against her neck.

"it'll go by before you know it" y/n said pulling away from the hug. When college applications started being filled, she took a big risk and applied for Politecnico di Milano, a fashion uni in Milan, Italy. She had already said goodbye to her parents, thinking that was the hardest goodbye she could imagine, but the tears in her eyes from saying goodbye to her girlfriend right now, told her she lied to herself a while ago.

Paige and y/n had always had a rocky side of their relationship, for one, it was a secret waiting to bomb the world, two, they always knew that long distance was going to be a thing for them. With Paige going to Uconn and Yn going to PDM, 'it was already doomed' said by most people. But overcoming the rocky side of their relationship, there was the fairytale side. The one where they in love, where they supported each other in everything, where they took each others first kisses, first everything. They were each other's lifelines in a way, they didn't go a day without speaking to each other.

They both hoped that these future 4 years, weren’t going to change their feelings of each other.

✩

Lately you've been busy, wondering if you miss me

Why did you go against me? I just wanna know

How come you act so different? Talk to me, I'll listen

All the love I'm giving, don't act like you don't know

“…leave a message after the tone” y/n sighed as she hung up the phone. It was 7am and her alarm had just gone off, Paige was most likely asleep. It’s 1am at Storrs.

If you put the time difference aside, they were doing well. Both of them spent at least 2 hours everyday on the phone and haven’t had an any problems yet.

But it’s only been 5 months. 7 months and 3 years to go.

Y/n was glad Paige settled in great, she got along with her teammates and had a great support system there. Paige became a media star, with that came many fans. While y/n wasn’t the jealous type, these fans were wild.

She opened her instagram app, and slowly started to scroll through stories. When she stopped, went stiff. “Oh” she muttered, her girlfriend’s teammate, Aaliyah, had posted a story with the Uconn women’s basketball team having fun ,at what she would guess, a bar. Paige is in the background , a girl sitting next to her, whiles shes on the phone. Y/n quickly checked when the story was posted,10minutes ago.

‘Okay so she could’ve just posted this when she came home’ y/n quickly assured herself. Paige wouldn’t just ignore her calls, especially on a night out, right?

As those thoughts filled her head, a notification sound came from her phone.

pb 👩🏼‍❤️‍💋‍👩🏽

gm baby. can’t talk, tired, going to bed.

y/n didn’t think anything, she couldn’t. She just typed ‘sweet dreams💗’ and hit send.

no i love you, no ily, not even an emoji.

‘Stop, don’t overthink this ,shes just tired’ she told herself. She shut her phone off and got out of bed, leaving her thoughts about P in her comfy bed.

:

It had been a month since the bar incident, and everything seemed normal, until a week ago.

Y/n just got out of work, a small intern job to help her graduate early. It was 6pm in Milan, and 12 in Storrs.On her way home, y/n called P.

The phone rang, 1,2,3 times before she hung up. Tried a gain, 1,2,3. User is busy.Paige had hung up on her, she didn’t think much of it. ‘She’s probs busy’.

That was 6 days ago.

While they exchange texts, no calls were made this week. Paige was busy, like really busy, But not busy ‘not go out with her friends for the 3rd time this week’ busy. Y/n got it, freshman year, new teammates, she had to have fun. She also knew that their relationship was on the down low. Even though she assured Paige that it was okay to tell her teammates, P reluctantly agreed. ‘I don’t know, i’ll see’ She muttered to y/n, 2 weeks ago on their normal facetime call.

Y/n didn’t want to think much of it, she didn’t want her overthinking to brew a fight. The last 2 years she was back home, her and paige had never gone a day without speaking to each other, but so what it stopped now?, it was common sometimes to not call. So she let it be, but Paiges text became more and more rare,more dry and definitely more weird.

But y/n knew, paige was just busy.

✩

Girl you always catch me at the bad time (Bad time)
When I know you probably think it's a lie (A lie)
I know I told you last time was the last time (Last time)
How could you pull the plug and leave me flatline?

On the other end of the phone. Y/n hit the red button, and ended the call. She hit her head on the wall behind her in frustration, thankful that the call wasn’t on facetime and Paige could see her sad face.

Y/n had called in sick at work so she could watch Paiges game in peace, her boss gave her an earful, because it was one of the more busier seasons in the fashion world, but she let her be ‘sick in bed’. She was proud of Paige, and was the happiest for her.

But the mood drifted when she heard the voice tell her they need her. ‘I need her too’ Y/n thought. This was the first time in a month that Y/n heard Paiges voice. Her heart clenched when she heard her sound weird, it sounded like she was frustrated. Frustrated with who though, with y/n?.

As time went quick, it felt like Paiges texts were more rare, and even more dry. And Y/n didn’t know if Paige was aware of the way she was acting, she also didn’t know if she should say anything, Paige was a freshman in college having fun, alone,without Y/n next to her.

If Y/n were to say anything, she didn’t want to seem like the bitchy jealous girlfriend that only wanted Paige to spend time with her, she just wanted Paige to spend some time with her.

It felt like their relationship was a bomb, and their time was running out quickly.

How could you pull the plug and leave me flatline? (Flatline)
Cause when I hit you, you don't even reply (Reply)
How could you pull the plug and leave me flatline?

✩

Not breathing, what is it I'm not seeing
Said she's leaving, damn I can't believe it
It's like my heart's bleeding knowing that you don't need me
Shut my heart down, now I don't know what Imma do now

“… i just need some space y/n” Paige said with frustration, a sigh coming after. Y/n’s heart dropped.

It all started an hour and a half ago.

Paige went out with her teammates after a late night practice, forgetting that y/n was waiting on her phone call that she promised she would do after practice.

After she came home, she was bombarded with messages from Y/n. 8 to be exact.

y/n💍

hey did you finish practice?

- 8:15PM

you ready?

- 8:18PM

paige?

- 8:20PM

paigeeeeeeee???

- 8:30PM

pbabyyyy

- 8:35PM

pls tell me u didn’t forget

- 8:45PM

paige are you fucking kidding me

- 9:45PM

it’s our anniversary

- 9:45PM

call me when you get home and make sure you’re not busy

- 9:50PM

And when she called, the yelling happened. It was the first fight they’ve had in a while. While Y/n finally exploded demanding to know what’s happening with her, Paige only had one thing to say.

“I think we should take a break”

“What?” Y/n whispered after a long pause.

“i’m not ready to be in a relationship Y/n/n, i’m still questioning what i want, and i don’t know if its you yet.” Paige said. “I’m sorry, i just need some space Y/n”

Y/n heart dropped, she didn’t know what to say or think. While Y/n knew that not everything lasted, Paige was a sure thing. Paige was her lifeline. What was she going to do?.

Y/n gulped and said the only thing she knew she could say “It’s okay”.

‘It’s okay?’ Paige was taken back. Had Y/n want to breakup before?, and then Paige shockingly felt hurt in her chest, her stomach slightly dropped. Why was she feeling like this? why isn’t she feeling relief?. This has been on Paiges mind for the past 3 months, wasn’t this the solution?

“Go be a superstar but don’t expect me to wait for you while you figure out what you want to do” Y/n said, her voice sweet. Not even a slight tone of bitterness.

Y/n still wasn’t able to move from her spot on the kitchen counter. Tears were streaming down her face, and before a sob sound could come, she hung up the phone. All Y/n knew was Paige, but know she didn’t even know that.

She had literally left her clueless, without her lifeline. now flatline.

✩

- 5 MONTHS LATER -

Paige stood there, watching from her afar.

“That’s her?” a croatian accent asked. She felt Nika sit beside her. “Yeah” Paige answered still in awe of her.

“She’s really pretty” Nika said. Paige nodded agreeing with her. She was wearing a flowy white short summer dress with cowboy boots.

It was Drews birthday today, and as the team had some off time, Drew invited them to his barbecue party. And the weekend before his birthday, he ran into Y/n. Of course the boy was oblivious to the breakup and while he asked still asked Paige for Y/n, she didn’t have the heart to tell him that they broke up.

So when Drew begged Y/n to come to his birthday party, Y/n didn’t know what else to say but yes. He could literally get whatever he wanted out of everyone.

At first, Y/n debated if she should just call Paiges stepmom and cancel, or she should just go and pray that Paige couldn’t make it.

Well, Paige had come. And so did the rest of the huskies. When Y/n saw them, she sighed. Although she was friends with Azzi, she didn’t know the rest of them, but by the look on their faces when she came in, she knew that Paige had told them her history.

Azzi, being the sweetheart she is, excitedly came running to Y/n and hugging her tight. The whole party they caught up with each other, with Azzi telling her about Uconn and Y/n telling her about studying abroad. For the past 30 minutes they’ve been talking, not once have either of them mentioned Paige.

Y/n turned, meeting Paiges eyes. The two of them made eye contact with each other again. Y/n then heard Azzi laughed, when she snapped her head to look at her friend. She saw a small teasing smile on her face. “Don’t even start” Y/n said, glaring at her. She got up and made her way to the other side of the backyard, where there was no Paige in sight.

“Y/n/n” she heard a child scream. Drew was suddenly hugging her legs. “Hi Drewsky” she laughed, beginning to tickle him. She felt the boy starting to laugh, and start to kick her hands away, while Paige and her were together, Drew became a big part in their relationship. Paiges parents often made Paige babysit Drew, and Y/n just tagged along. Through that time, Drew and Y/n became close, Y/n considered him as a baby brother. She would miss him.

“Paigeyy help me” Drew screamed laughing. Y/n became stiff, the hair behind her neck stood. She could feel her ex behind her as she let the little boy go and stand up.

Paige and Y/n stared at one another. Paige was thankful her teammates weren’t around right now, they would be on her ass all day after this.

“Hi” Y/n whispered, looking away from her and to the ground.

“Hey” Paige said back. “How’ve you been-“

“Paige please no small talk, what do you want?” Y/n cut her off. This was already awkward enough, no need to make it even more.

“Uh” Paige stuttered, a sigh coming after. “I missed you” Paige admitted. Y/n’s blood boiled, now she missed me?

Paige could sense Y/n anger, she placed a hand on Y/n elbow, tugging her from leaving. “Please just wait” Paige pleaded “I’m sorry, i just didn’t know what to do i kept having all of this kind of feelings and i know i was busy but i swear just one more chance-“

“Paige” y/n cut her off

“- and i’ll promise i’ll try harder-“ paige continued

“-stop-“ she tried to stop her

“please just give me one more chance”

“-okay” she agreed. Paiges eyes went wide, she didn’t think she would get her to agree that easy.

“I only needed you to apologize P, i only want you to make some time for me thats all. And if were really trying this again you have to be sure you want this because i don’t know if i can handle loosing you again” She said still looking at the ground.

Paiges heart dropped hearing her voice break. Although she knew how Y/n felt, Paige had been nothing but moody,grumpy and miserable these past few months. Seeing Y/n today, brought her hope that she had a second shot with her.

Y/n slowly picked up her head, and looked up at Paige. Paige was jaw dropping hot, and she knew that, her head couldn’t get any bigger by her ego.

Paige reached a hand towards her waist, pulling Y/n towards her. When she did, she slowly dropped a sweet kiss on her girlfriends lips, when she pulled away, her forehead dropped to Y/n’s.

She felt like she could finally breathe, her chest no longer hurt. She had her lifeline back.

✩

[seiwas]

sellie bee! for your game > touya + flicker?? (if you feel comfortable writing for him again, your touya from the shoto fic was so beloved to me) 💕

amber!! thanks for sending in a lil prompty 🥺 ofc i would write him again!! for you!! anything!!! 🥺 my touya from that fic is also so dear to me 🥺 i'm glad you like that little guy 🥺

help me get back into the writing groove! send me a character + any word and i'll write a short blurb about it!

contains: non-canon au, childhood friends

touya + flicker

there's a light by your bedside, one that flickers when its loose wire finds itself tangled around the leg of your bed frame. it doesn't happen all the time, but it's always bothered touya, ever since you were kids.

"fuyumi says that when lights go on and off like that they can go boom," he mimics an explosion with his hands, not quite knowing the term for it yet at 5.

(when you recall the memory, you realize that he must have meant a spark, not the flickering of lights.)

it bothers him so much that he figures out a way to fix it by age 10. he uses a small claw clip, a translucent gray plastic you've seen on his mother many times before. he clips the wire to your bed frame that way, keeping it in place.

it's a bandaid solution, because time creates cracks on the plastic, the metal spring falling apart despite being fused at the hinges.

(and again, looking back, you should have noticed that time had left its mark on touya the same way.)

the light flickers again.

"you'll have shitty eyes if you don't change it," he moves the wire aside until it stops. at 15, touya's become jaded. what once was a twinkling set of aquamarine is now a dull pair of teal, staring straight at you as he speaks.

you know it has something to do with his family, but you don't ask unless he talks about it.

(in hindsight, maybe you should've. because when touya runs away from home the following year, you only catch glimpses of him in the next ten years.)

he visits you at 17, taller and dressed darker than what you're used to. his hair is dyed a jet black, a few cuts and bruises scattering the expanse of his arms. he sees that your light is still flickering and fixes it like muscle memory, not once acknowledging the fact that it's been two years since he's seen you last.

"you can stay with me," you offer him, desperately.

he gives you a wry smile, "can i?"

and you know it's not really a question. you'll be heading off to college soon; there's no real place where you can keep him.

when you move into your dorm in the first year of uni, you leave your lamp behind but find that the lights in your shared bathroom flicker just as bad. it makes you think of him, in the lonely hours especially.

you're surprised when you bump into him at age 20, near campus, barely recognizing him at all. for a brief moment, you see the same shock mirrored on his face, but it disappears when you blink, and when you say his name, "touya—"

"dabi," he corrects you.

it's at 22, when you move into your own apartment and bring the same light from your childhood bedroom, that you find your thoughts floating back to him once more.

you offered right before graduating, the last time you saw him―told him you'd be moving into a new place and he could stay with you there. no one would know about it, no one would bother him.

but touya is a flight risk, appearing in and out of your life like the flickering of your bedside light. you outstretch your hand and he bats it away instinctively, withdrawing from you until he feels like you won't bring it up again.

you do though, every time. the next year, the year after that, when you're both 25. you look for him more consciously now, finding that he's always somehow nearby―by the potted flowers on your windowsill that remain alive despite week-long work trips; by paid for cups of coffee in cafes, the doors whooshing shut as you look for who it could possibly be from.

you've known touya for almost all of your life, and giving up on him isn't an option at all. your heart can't take it, the same way you can't bring yourself to fix your bedside light, its flickering an odd source of hope that he might one day be so fed up, he'll have to come and fix it himself.

and then he'd have to stay―to keep the flickering at bay. to keep the light working. one day.

[jamsandsuch]

advice for first year uni students from a uni senior

the roommate(s) will always be more important than the room

+ for roommates, SET. CLEANING. EXPECTATIONS. EARLY. don't wait until you're uncomfortable with how much mess is in the kitchen for you to start thinking if you should bring it up or not. set standards and make them clear.

put your key on a lanyard and hang it from your doorknob when you’re at home so you don’t forget it on the way out

if your dorm has a shared laundry room, set your timer for when your laundry finishes ~5 mins early to give you time to walk from your room to the laundry - especially during weekends/evenings/finals people wont have the patience to wait for you - even if your load just finished

If you have noodle arms like me, buy yourself one of those collapsible grocery carts you drag behind you like a luggage - best purchase i've ever made

Or if you're lazy, order online - but order on a free day because even if you schedule a time they're always gonna come stupid early and you dont want any frozen items to get spoiled or have your groceries stolen

DONT BUY ANY TEXTBOOKS/MATERIALS UNTIL THE FIRST WEEK/CLASSES ARE OVER. sometimes you’ll have early access to the booklist or syllabus and go ahead and start buying textbooks, but increasingly often you’ll buy the materials and show up to class just to find your prof has uploaded scanned copies of everything. *save your money*, wait!

BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS - look at your class schedule and walk around campus to find each classroom. you will probably get lost on day 1 and so will many other students so this will save you a lot of walking around bumping into other lost first years

trust me after a few weeks you won’t be waking up for that 8am class. i know you did it 5 days a week in high school, but there’s a reason uni students are allergic to morning classes. know your natural energy/attention levels and take advantage of the freedom to build your schedule around your energy fluctuations

compress/stack your class schedule as much as possible. if you absolutely do need breaks, make them at least 1.5-2 hours long or you probably wont get anything productive done and minimize these long breaks as much as you can so you can just get your day over with sooner

work smarter, not harder - when school starts note each course’s assessment type by quizzes/finals/essays. if i ever have a course thats just essays, i only do lecture notes + write my own annotations about readings rather than taking notes on them which saves time i can dedicate to textbook notetaking for courses with frequent quizzes + finals

if your school has benefits/discounts/insurance - know what it is and USE IT.

most clubs wont be like high school where there are regular meetings you attend. unless youre in the exec team the membership fee you pay/when you sign up for membership it’s just for access to their events when they happen. if you want to be involved in a club in a way thats as involved as high school, look at their social media pages for hiring.

+ as someone who has had to hire before - if you’re nervous, literally just do it. i was in an exec position for our student union services and once only had like 3 applicants to pick from

if you want to be noticed by a professor, sit in the front row. and always answer/ask questions - it doesn’t matter if you said anything of substance or not, they will remember that you contributed

that and also always make the point to say hello and goodbye! eventually (in my experience) if you come early enough and are just waiting for class to start, a conversation will happen - make these regular enough and you could have an important connection!

disclaimer: of course, not all of this might be something that resonates with you/possible for your course or school, so in the words of my cousin - take what resonates

+ anyone else is free to add on!!

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

aita for asking my mum to clean out the kitty litter trays even though its usually my chore

i drove to doctors and work this morning, i worked 8.30 till 5 she worked 8.30 til 4 and drove home after her shift ended to pick up my dance clothes for me (i only didnt have them because i had to stay late at work since 3 people went home sick).

my friend cancelled on me for dance tryouts so i spend the afternoon crying and eventually choose to go anyway because i was excited for hiphop but by this point my head is pounding.

i get out of work, she drives me to dance and goes to get macdonalds while she waits for me to get out. halfway through dance they mention we are not even doing hiphop today not until next week (u have to pay for the tryouts btw)

i get out 7.40ish. on the drive home im thinking "fuck its almost 8 i havent done any uni study, (i have 2 lectures, a quiz and like 8 readings that need to be done today and tomorrow), i havent spent any time with our cats or cleaned their litter trays yet."

for reference we have new cats and are introducing them into a house with a dog so rn we have them in one room and let them out occassionally while putting the dog out back, while i clean out the litter trays and top them up every day, once a week we empty them completely and clean them out

so we get home and i say "would it be too much to ask if you could please do the litter trays tonight" i try to explain that i have a headache and ive still got a lot of uni homework to do and i havent spent any time with the cats so i'd play with them for a bit while she cleans the trays and then do my homework

immeadiately she starts yelling at me that shes tired, she hasnt been home from work all day, she did it last time, shes done so many favours for me already today and blah blah blah.

the way i see it, first, i clean the kitty litter trays every day and vacuum their room. she has literally never done this, she emptied out and washed a tray last week because i was sick and got home from work and passed out. i (a learner btw so im very stressed when i drive) drove us to her appt and then to work, i worked more hours than her today, i danced all night with a headache, i also have not been home all day, after being cancelled on and then them not even doing the type of dance i wanted to do and i still have to do uni work tonight so i dont think im the selfish one here.

but sitting in my cats room while they eat their dinner i can hear her storm about and slam doors because shes so mad at me but i dont understand am i in the wrong here?

also literally as i am writing this she comes out and goes "tell me when youve finished dinner so i can let the cats out. and DONT leave it too late" while my food is literally cooking as we fucking speak jfc.

i have a bit of a diary where i write when mum is mad at me because if i mention to her that she upset me it never goes well so i write it down to safely let those feelings out and as i was writing this one i just needed some clarity i really cant fathom any reason for her to be mad except egocentrism so perhaps an unbias outsider can shed light?

What are these acronyms?

[thoughts-44]

recording my progress!! @adambja instant manifesting & dream life tapes. (may be a bit unorganised😭)

day 1

- i was unsure about which degree to choose for uni (between psychology/medicine), not hours later i received personal advice from a doctor!

- feeling more secure & feel less struggle with maladaptive daydreaming (lifelong addiction), feeling more calm and neutral about circumstances

day 2

- multiple dreams, weirrddd dreams😭😭 , but i perceived myself with my desired body so ig thats a good sign. i notice myself becoming more productive and present, less double-minded and more confident. i understand the law better and feel less victimised by my reality.

- more followers + interactions on social media accounts

- feeling more in control of my body

day 3

- before i went to bed i commanded my subconscious to let me enter the void, minutes later i entered it but only realised after i left

- someone told me they had the same exact dream i had?? dk what that means but its never happened to me before😭

- refraining from maladaptive daydreaming more and more which is a good sign as it prevents me from staying present!

- believing my affirmations more, feeling more attractive/confident

- was supposed to meet my friends today but i couldnt be asked😭😭 so i manifested the cancellation of it🙈

- more interaction on social media accounts

day 4 - didnt listen but

- feeling more magnetic/ getting stares/ random ppl offering to help me

- staying present

day 5

- my mum telling me abt loass concepts which is unusual to me as shes a heavily religious woman

- my sister recovering from her blood infection

- a bit silly but no ads when reading episode 😂

- again feeling more in control of myself

- more interaction on social media

day 6

- lucid dreamt + had weird vivid dreams

- less/no wavering when manifesting

- some instant manifestations (personal)

day 7

- weird vivid dreams, feel relaxed

- kinda fell into the habit of maladaptive daydreaming again (for multiple hours🙈) but not discouraged

day 8

- weird dreams

- sister got discharged from the hospital early (instant manifestation)

- received money (instant)

day 9

- more instant manifestations

- vivid dreams are becoming the norm & nearly lucid dreamt today

- someone told me they saw me as my future self being a famous psychiatrist in their dream (i assume its confirmation to pursue my desired course at uni)

day 10,11,12 - forgot to update🙈

day 13

not rlly tape related but i saw kaytranada, lancey, victoria monet, tems and thundercat at a festival!!! had a great time honestly and got a lot of compliments + free drinks 😉

day 14

- old ibsf who i havent spoken to in like 5 years broke no-contact

day 15

- was supposed to go out > got the event cancelled

day 16,17 - no major updates

day 18

- sister released from hospital again

day 19

- major clarifying dreams

haven’t updated in the past few weeks bc ive been busy with school starting again but this tape has revealed many things to me! normally i struggle to notice my autopilot thoughts (mirroring negative circumstances) but since listening i’ve been more in control of myself; to counteract them i think in my favour = as a result i materialise things instantly.

but from now on ill only update if something v significant pops up 😊

[sl33py-day]

A good title

Tw: Stalking and talks about what to do with a dead body.

Teyvat university, a very popular college that is hard to get into. Luckily for you your aunt goes there and got you in somehow. Don’t know how but she did. You’ve been in Teyvat Uni for a week or two and noticed a few things.

The Mondstadt building was the green colored one. That was also surrounded by many flowers. But had many short people and a dorm leader who drinks……weed wine. The Liyue building was a gold like color that many others thought only the richest people could be there. But alas they had a dorm leader who doesn’t want to be dorm leader. The Inazuma building was purple but was know to be the strictest building of all the dorms. It always seems like they’re at war with the dorm leader. Sometimes people would walk in the building just to see people behind cardboard walls with nerf guns. The Sumeru one was really pretty it was green also but the only difference was the Sumeru building had more flowers then Mondstadt. They were known to have the smartest people in all of Teyvat University.

That’s what you noticed about the buildings the students however. All you can say about them is there’s a verity of different personalities. Like a short purple haired dog and a pair of twins that were separated but found each other on a bus. 

The twins were your friends along with a few others. You walked out of your dorm to see a very smiley Aether. As soon as you opened the door he jumped on you to hug you. 

“Good morning Aether. How are you doing?” You ask as he got off so you could grab you bag. He started to say how Lumine was getting on him about eating her donuts. You nodded as you walk down the dorm hallway. 

“When I told her it was probably Paimon she said Paimon doesn’t eat that kind of donuts!” He slightly yelled in annoyance about his adoptive sister paimon who’s 5 years old. You know paimon goes to the Teyvat daycare across the street and visits the twins every so often. Which is cute to you because she’s all happy when she sees you. 

As you two talked your phone went off with a loud sound. Taking the loud device out of your bag you saw that the caller ID has been the same one that has called you for sometime. You know you should’ve blocked the number but you kept forgetting. The weird thing about the calls is it happens every month.

“Hm? Who’s that?” Aether asks as he tries to see who it was. Quickly putting the phone back away so you could face Aether. You smiled softly at him which caused a small blush to appear on his face. 

“It’s nothing, just a spam call.” He just nodded. The two of you were getting close to the main building where the classes took place. While you two were walking someone called out to you. 

“Hey! Aether! Y/n!” A loud feminine voice called out causing you both to turn around. You saw your three friends. Venti, the dorm leader of Mondstadt, Kazuha, one of the people who doesn’t go to war in Inazuma, and albedo, who is another person from mondstadt. 

“Hello! You two ready for class?” You ask not noticing that Aether went deadly quiet. He stood behind you so you wouldn’t see his glare at Kazuha. After all of you were done talking it was class time. 

It was now lunch time and you had an hour to spar. Deciding that you were gonna go talk with Kazuha. Fun Fact! You had developed a crush on him. It’s a sad thing that you didn’t realize a few other peoples crush on you though. 

So you called Kazuha an told him if he wanted to hang out with you. He said yes and you were really happy. 

During the hangout with the quiet boy a few others joined in. Those being Venti, Aether, Xiao and Amber. While you were talking with the five you got a call from the same number from this morning. Suddenly you got an idea. 

“Hey guys,” you called out causing everyone to be quiet. “Do you want to traumatize a random scammer?” Everyone’s eyes sparkled with that idea but Xiao quickly asked “How are we going to do that?”

“Pretend where in a cult! The Demonic core cult! Imma call the scammer who’s been calling me while you guys pretend to have killed somebody.” After you said that they all agreed and with that you began to start the call. 

“Hello, thank you for calling the Demon core cult. Sadly you called at the wrong time.” You spoke with a gentle voice while the phone was on speaker. 

“Did you hide the body?” Aether asked Venti who was drinking some apple juice. “No, I thought Sam did.” He said while looking at Xiao. The teal haired man looked at him in shock. 

“Of course I didn’t hid the body! The corpse is still here!” Xiao yelled at Venti who shrugged in response. 

“We can ask Milly to do it.” Aether spoke up and every one looked at amber who was trying not to laugh. 

“Nah, Milly is taking a break for a while.” Venti spoke up still drink apple juice. 

“SO WHOS GONNA HIDE THE BODY! I KNEW SACRIFICING SOMEONE RIGHT NOW WAS A BAD IDEA!” Aether yelled out in fake anger. Kazuha decided to talk with a quiet voice. 

“Hey boss, what should we do with the dead body?” Kazuha asked you while everyone was screaming in the background about what to do with the fake dead body.

“Get Jermey he’s the one that does it anyways. So sorry but you called at the wrong time Good Bye!” With that you ended the call then the group became silent. Only to burst in laughter seconds later. Even Xiao was smiling a little. 

The caller though? He’s not one bit surprised he knew that would be something you would do. He’s been following you for a while now only getting the idea to call you after he got your number. 

He’s happy that you answered and not ignored the call. But very annoyed that there were other people with you and not you alone. 

Maybe he would get the courage to finally talk to you. You guys do have the same math class. 

[babycherrycola]

I’m finally in the 70s!!!

I should’ve posted an update sooner, but life got in the way.

I’ve started doing a plan that’s been working absolute wonders for me, so I’m gonna share it with you :)

Firstly I’ll start by explaining what I used to struggle with. I used to really struggle with eating small portions. I’m a volume eater and I like having hearty meals, not just stuffing myself with low cal vegetables. I was never satisfied with portion control and calorie counting was just way too exhausting.

My second issue laid in the fact that I was never home for lunch or dinner and I ate out a lot as a result. I tried taking lunches to uni, but they all got soggy and gross by the time I wanted to actually eat them so I hated doing it. Even if I ate that lunch, I’d still feel unsatisfied and crave sugary snacks.

I also had a non-diet related problem regarding my schedule which was that I never had the time or energy to study outside of lectures. I was always rushing to get out the door in the morning and the near 4 hour total daily commute to school drained all the energy I had by the end of the day. Plus I got home at around 7-8 if I was lucky.

My new diet and schedule fixed all of those issues.

1. I started going to sleep at around 9-11 pm and waking up at 5-7 am depending on the day. This gave me plenty of time to get in my 7-8 hours and also have time to study in the morning BEFORE school. I’m definitely a morning person now that I’ve gotten into a comfortable rhythm.

2. I only eat one meal per day. I KNOW HOW THAT SOUNDS, but hear me out. I don’t restrict myself and I eat a lot of food in that one meal. I fill a big plate like so: 40% vegetables, 40% hearty high protein meal like curry or stroganoff (that I love) and 20% bread/ crackers / carbs. At the end of the meal I feel fully satisfied and energized.

3. I drink a LOT of water, tea and coffee throughout the day. I was never a tea or coffee person and I never remembered to drink water, but mow that I get hungry at around 3-4 pm and my stomach starts craving something warm, I drink a ridiculous amount of liquids. It’s really made a difference in my metabolism and I’m actually starting to like tea.

4. Don’t just sit around all day. Get a little bit of movement in. I don’t have the energy to work out on days when I know I have to study a lot, but I am planning on scheduling 2 gym days per week on days when my schedule is light. My campus is big so I do a lot of walking anyway.

5. Track your progress. I know it’s not recommended that you weigh yourself every day, but weighing myself keeps me motivated and in tune with my body on a daily basis. I have a hard time actually knowing what I look like and how big I am so having a number confirm my progress is reassuring.

6. I don’t do this every day. I eat one meal per day six days a week, but on Mondays I know it’s not realistic for me to only have one meal because my schedule is so hectic. I’m realistic about what I can handle, so if I know that a practically 24 hour fast on top of a busy day will make me cranky and fatigued, I don’t do it. Set realistic expectations for yourself and accept the consequences of them.

7. Last but not least, Have a solid reason for why you’re doing this. For me, I have multiple reasons. Number one is to prove to myself that after letting myself down so many times and quitting on so many weight loss journeys, I can actually do it. I’m doing this to teach myself discipline. I’m doing this for my health, since I am insulin resistant and fasting helps make you more insulin sensitive. I’m also doing this to feel prettier and fit into the clothes I want to wear. Keep in mind that the pain of hard work is better than the pain of disappointment. It’s a myth that a magic product or procedure will make you lose weight painlessly, weight loss is not easy for a human body and it will take resilience to lose it and keep it off. But it will be worth it if you’re doing it for the right reasons.

Let me know if you guys want to see what I eat for my one meal a day!!!

[cheolhub]

UR INVITED 2 CHEOLHUB'S 1ST BDAY BASH!

ABOUT THE EVENT ☾⋆｡𖦹 °✩

HELLOOOOO! ok first of all, no one comment on my header (unless ur complimenting it 😊), i dropped my art minor after 3 months bc i lack artistic skill and i’ve made it very clear here. NEXT, it’s not MY birthday but cheolhub will officially be a YEAR old on the 26th of august & i wanted to celebrate with a lil sleepover event :> i've had so many ups and downs while running this blog and have almost abandoned it more times than i can count, so i just want to say CHEERS to cheolhub (aka sar aka me) for making it this far <3 i am eternally grateful for every kind message, every piece of feedback, and everyone who has been supporting me and my silly lil blog. i love u guys sm and would’ve been long gone without you T^T <3 i hope you'll join the celebration!! -3- and if this flops, you’ll never hear from me again /j /j /j

i knowww it’s early, but i start uni classes again next week (my last semester, yay 😻) and i wanna have time to do an event T-T

SLEEPOVER DATES ☾⋆｡𖦹 °✩

this event runs for about two weeks! from sunday, august 13th to sunday, august 27th. any asks sent after august 27th will be deleted!

please note that i’ll still be working on asks (if i have any left) even after the event is closed.

EVENTS ☾⋆｡𖦹 °✩

！★﹕ᶻ﹐LET'S EAT﹒

☆︎ who's hungry? 👹🍽 request a short (less than 1k) drabble and you shall receive. i will be writing the first 5-10 requests due to my busy uni schedule :3 — choose a prompt (or two) from this prompt list + a member from seventeen, txt or the boyz! [closed] (ik the list isnt numbered, so just copy + paste ur preferred prompt(s) ><)

★︎ mtl for seventeen and txt! [open]

☆︎ hard hours for any group i write for! [refer to my guidelines to see who i write for] [open]

！★﹕ᶻ﹐ TIME 4 SELF CARE﹒[open]

★︎ let's do the things that make us happy! what makes us happier than being delusional and horny? you guessed it! being shipped with a hottie 😻 — this is the SHIP GAME + i’ll give you a silly little trope to kickstart ur epic romance

☆︎ OR opt for a personalized moodboards or playlists based off the vibes you give off! (mutuals can get both a moodboard and playlist if they’d like bc i would diy for all of u -3- just say u want both so i know<3333)

note: anonymous senders, please send me a few bits of info like your mbti, ult group and/or bias (does not have to be a group i stan!), star sign (big three if you know it), favorite color, etc. basically anything you want to share + one of the options above. mutuals can ask for any of the above, but providing info is totally optional!!

！★﹕ᶻ﹐WANNA PLAY A GAME?﹒[open]

☆︎ q&a!

ask me anything! favorite movie, how i got into writing, what i do when i’m not writing, why i only ult leaders etc. but please nothing too personal!

★︎ my opinions on literally ANYTHING!

☆︎ ask me for fic recs or give me fic recs!

★︎ fuck, marry, kiss (not kill bc i do not condone violence… not on here at least /lh)

☆︎ would you rather

note: you can send as many of these as you’d like :p i like answering them <3

RULES ☾⋆｡𖦹 °✩

everything for this event will be tagged under #[ birthday bash ! ] you can block the tag to avoid seeing the posts!

please make sure to get your ask in within the time frame (aug 13th-27th)

minors, please please please do not interact!

be respectful and patient! — the drabbles, mtls & hard hours may take longer for me to get through, but i’ll try my absolute hardest to get them done in a timely manner <3

when sending an ask, be sure to mention the event so i can differentiate between those and my regular asks :)

have fun! ⭐️⭐️

[kaiwewi]

Sharing is Caring

[Masterlist: Sharing is Caring]

Synopsis: Hero is missing time. But today's date isn't the only thing that seems a little off.

Hero stared at the date on their calendar app and ...

January 11th.

No. That couldn’t be right.

Frowning, they closed the app and checked the Internet instead, for surely their phone must be broken. There was absolutely no way this could be correct. Last week, when they’d completely lost track of time and thought they were ‘missing’ 2 days, had been one thing … but getting the dates mixed up a second time so soon after?

Sure, uni could be exhausting and during project weeks and over the holidays when there were no regular schedules one might even become engrossed enough as to forget which weekday it was. Their all-nighters and messed up sleeping schedule could easily blur the lines between days. And in their final year, they were no stranger to working unhealthy hours. But even they weren’t this bad at time management.

They went on Google and typed ‘today’s date’ into the search bar.

Wednesday, January 11th glared up at them from the phone screen.

It just didn’t add up. How could it be January 11th when yesterday had been the 7th? How could it be Wednesday when yesterday had been Saturday?

Yesterday had definitely been a Saturday.

What the hell had happened to Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday?

There was no way they could have slept through 3 entire days and not felt like crap upon waking.

Somehow, they’d lost 3 days.

Or rather, 5 days, if they counted the other 2 days from last week which they could have sworn they’d somehow skipped until they’d dismissed the incident – because, well, they’d just been so overworked and tired out. Confused mix-ups and silly little miscalculations in their schedule had seemed so much more straightforward an explanation than time skips or memory gaps.

Now, nothing made any sense anymore.

They reached for their diary among the many books on their shelf, and it shouldn't be sitting between Good Omens and Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl, because that was not where they’d put it!

Actually… nothing was quite where and how it should be. Yes, the differences were subtle and on any other day they might not have noticed them at all – but they were there.

In fact, now that they were searching, they found tiny incongruities scattered about their entire one-room apartment: an absence of dust on the spines of their books; a neater alignment of the folds of their curtain; the placement of their pencil case now more towards the middle of their desk rather than the right corner; the emptied waste bin; the milk in their fridge being a different brand; the sink being devoid of the unwashed dishes they’d lazily left there yesterday ….

Or, not yesterday, apparently.

Not even their own body had been spared the tiny inconspicuous changes: a look in the bathroom mirror revealed that their hair, though tousled from sleep, seemed to have been washed very recently – it certainly hadn’t gone unwashed since Thursday. The face staring back at them was missing the dark circles beneath its eyes which they’d grown so accustomed to lately. It almost seemed like, for the first time in weeks, they’d awoken well-rested, full of energy, and with no bodily discomfort whatsoever.

Under other circumstances, it would have been bliss. And yet … this was no reason to rejoice.

This was a nightmare.

Back at their desk, they picked up the journal again.

“Dear Diary,” they wrote in a shaking hand.

“I think I’m totally going nuts ….”

[Part 2]

———

For my other stories, visit my [MASTERLIST] ♥

[my-castles-crumbling]

Hellos team anon here!

So I'm never home on the weekends because I'm off seeing my father.. and even if I've bitten off more than I can chew it shouldn't be more than I can chew

I'm too childish for a highschooler and I need to stop being a kid and I know it's just my trauma and developmental issues that's caused that but I need to grow up now and actually learn to be teenager if that makes sense?

I feel like I just need to figure out how to chew it rather than chew less

I kinda wish I didn't have to see my dad on the weekends because then I'd actually have time to do things and I also wish I actually had friends or just wish I didn't know myself super well because that kinda thing seems to scare people off

We had our first Saturday rehearsal recently though and I was super happy about that

This is a little messy but it's midnight and I should really go to sleep, the weekends are really starting to boost my phone usage and it's annoying me like a month ago my daily average was between 2 and 3 hours but the weekends have been slowly boosting it to 5 - 7 and on the weekends I'm on it all day

My mother currently believes I'm going to be one of those failure to launch people because to her I'm not doing enough but I also agree that I'm not doing enough

But I don't think I'd be a failure to launch because I'm not doing enough but because since I was born I was constantly in a traumatic situation until highschool so I don't know

I don't think I could ever manage being an adult

We don't have any money I don't have many friends and a lot of them aren't great friendships either

I want to leave the house and go outside because I like the outside but that's how they'll find me

So I can't do outside

I love too far from any friends that I kinda have

I'm a techie so I can't be friends with the actors by law almost and then my agoraphobia won't let me approach the few actors I think are really cool and want to talk to because they always have other actors around them

I've never done well in school and now I suddenly need to and I cant

I can't go to uni because it's too much money so I can't give myself another year

I'm younger than all my peers by a year and the schools wouldn't let my mother hold me back when I was struggling

Last time I did well in school was 3rd grade

This is now more so me complaining that anything

I'm not reading through this I'm just sending cause it's time to get ready for another week of no sleep and since rehearsal is now a thing guaranteed meal times unlike anytime else and also guaranteed social time because I'm a extrovert I just struggle sometimes because of situations I've been put through so I don't have to wait alone after school for hours anymore until the show is over but I'm looking at trying to take an ASM role next semester so I have more rehearsals I get to go to

Hopefully I can become friends with the one actor that I really want to become friends with [he has a lot of friends but I try] and maybe with some of the others too

This is a complete mess lol

Hi!

Honestly, it sounds like you're being super hard on yourself. Yes, you need to find strategies to succeed, but shitting on yourself isn't going to help anyone, you know? You clearly care, and that's a huge part of the problem for some people.

Have you tried reaching out to a teacher and seeing if they have suggestions for strategies? Honestly, it sucks so much that schools don't teach you HOW to school. Maybe a trusted teacher can help with that?

[whispering-ways]

could u do a uni professor aizawa and a student reader where she goes to a cafe that’s not well known sometimes and orders something and sits in the corner and  just breaks down once in a while late at night (the cafe is 24/7). And on one of those nights her professor (aizawa) comes in and takes to her and tells her to let it all out on him and pretend she doesn’t know him. 

⋆ ⸌♡ comfort coffee ♡ ⸍⋆

summary: you're a college student studying biochemistry at a cafe. one night things just get too stressful for you and you breakdown. luckily, your professor, Aizawa is here to comfort you.

pairing: shouta aizawa x student!reader (but the fic is pretty non-romantic)

warnings: nothing really, just a story :)

notes: thank you sm for this ask! it was so nice to write this fic after having finals for my summer classes :) hope you like it!

Finals season is by far the worst time of the year. There’s nothing like a couple of finals that will have you rethinking your entire major or career. You absolutely loved biochemistry. You dreamed about pursuing a career in biochemical research since you were 14 and you were elated when you got into one of the top biochem programs in your state.

But you never realized how much work it’d entail. Between doing classes, being a part of clubs, and volunteering, handling everything on your plate could really wear you thin. Finals definitely didn’t help the stress. The end of the semester brought many sleepless nights as you stayed awake for hours studying. 

It took you some time to get used to how frustrating the season could really be, but once you found a routine, it was just a matter of going through the motions. Freshman year was definitely the most difficult final season since you still weren’t used to campus.

You planned on just studying for a couple of days in the library, but you found it started getting packed weeks before the professors even started talking about finals in their classes. It always seemed like every study room, every booth, and every chair had someone already studying in it. It was just too crowded of an atmosphere to study in. Your dorm wasn’t an option either given your loud roommates; you loved them, but you had to stay focused. 

A solution finally came to you via a late-night stroll to get some coffee a few minutes away from your residence hall. You were actually planning to go to the convenience store, but when you saw the sign that said free coffee after 5 visits, you decided to go to the neighboring cafe instead. It was open 24 hours and had a calm serene environment. No crowds, no loud roommates, just soft piano music playing in the background.

You ordered a latte and sat down to take in the peace and quiet. It seemed to be the only relaxing part of campus this time of year. When your name was called out, you got up to go get your drink before asking the barista whether you could study here at a cafe for a while. She went to the back to ask the owner before confirming you could, so you went back and got all your books and laptop as soon as you could and got straight to work.

After a couple of hours though, the stress of it all was definitely getting to you. Soon after, you started to cry. Now to anyone looking in from the outside, it seemed like you’d hit your breaking point. But you had always been pretty sensitive; crying to relieve some stress was just part of your nature. At first, the barista was worried and came over to comfort you, but you assured her that it was just a way of calming yourself down. After a quick cry, you felt a lot more settled and got right back to work.

Every semester, it was like clockwork, you’d come in to study from time to time in the cafe, and during finals, you’d have your usual cry. All the baristas and even the owner got used to it at this point and just gave you your space to let your stress out. However, your junior year final season was looking to be your hardest season yet.

You were doing a lot more now: your classes, working in a research lab, on the board for a club, and looking towards applying to grad school. Again, you loved working towards your career in biochemistry, but it was just so much to handle. You knew being an adult would bring this on, but you severely underestimated how much responsibility it’d truly entail. Everything was just hitting you all at once.

As usual, you went to the cafe to study, but as you stepped into the building, you were already feeling defeated. Studying for your classes didn’t help. The more you progressed through college, the harder and more concentrated your classes became, making it far more stressful than the last two years combined.

You broke down once again, but this time your breakdown wasn’t just a quick cry. You looked a mess, trying to wipe your tears on the cafe napkins, which wasn’t helping at concealing your sniffles. You couldn’t help yourself though, you just had never been so completely beaten down in your entire academic life. You tried not to think about how you’d look to others right now; I mean after all, it’s not like anyone would come in to get a coffee at 2 AM, right?

Well, you were proven wrong the second you saw your professor, Aizawa, step through the door. Plus, it’s not like you were a forgettable student either. Aizawa was an integral faculty member of the biochem department and most classes in your degree involved having him as a professor.

Over the semesters, you’d formed a good rapport with him through office hours and you respected not only him as a teacher but his research and work within the field as well. No need to say that you were absolutely mortified to see him here at the cafe; no student would want their professor to see them in the state you were a currently in. 

To your relief, he didn’t seem to notice you in the corner of the cafe as he ordered his drink. He ended up sitting facing away from you, which you considered a miracle. You tried your best to duck behind the screen of your computer so Aizawa couldn’t see you and calm yourself down as quickly as you could. Fortunately for you, you spotted a pair of earbuds in his ears, so you assumed that he wouldn’t be able to hear you. 

Aizawa was pretty tired himself. He had tons of assignments to grade since the semester was wrapping up; something about the final week of classes made students want to submit all their late assignments at once although he had already stated in the syllabus he doesn’t take late work. If that wasn’t exhausting enough, he also had dozens of emails pouring in from students asking to round their grades, review topics with him, and ask him for recommendations even though he had no clue who they even were. He needed a coffee break and thankfully, he knew one cafe was open now. He grabbed a coat and headed downtown. 

It’s not like he hadn’t been before; this cafe was one of his most favorite spots on campus. He loved quiet and the cafe was completely serene. Plus, when you rarely got more than 5 hours of sleep, cafes like these were a godsend. As he walked in, he noticed there was someone else at the cafe, but they seemed to be working so he paid them no mind. He soon his drink, sat down, and pulled out his laptop, ready to power through his work. He let out a relaxed sigh, taking in the silence.

The silence didn’t last for long though. He had earphones and was planning on listening to some music as he worked, but before he could play anything he noticed a soft sniffling sound coming from the other side of the cafe. He paid no mind to it and thought the music would drown the noise out, Unfortunately, that didn’t help as he heard the sniffles continue in the background. At first, he decided to just ignore it, but after 15 minutes, his patience disappeared and his annoyance grew. 

Was it partially rude to get mad at someone who was upset? Maybe. But did Aizawa care? No. He’s spent so many sleepless nights and he didn’t think that asking for one peaceful one was too much to ask.

He got up to give whoever it was a piece of his mind, and maybe a pack of tissues to go along with it, slamming his laptop shut and stuffing it into his backpack. He marched straight over to the table and was about to throw the tissues down on the table before he saw exactly who was making all that noise.

Sitting right in front of him was one of his favorite students. She was in many of his classes and frequented his office hours at least once a week. He knew it was a bit controversial to have favorite students, but he just truly appreciated the drive and passion you had for biochem.

All his annoyance and frustration melted away and were replaced with concern. Aizawa knew you as a sharp, quick-to-learn, positive student. The student in front of him now looked beaten and broken down, like frustration had taken complete control of you. “Y/n? Are you okay?” he tentatively, holding out the tissues in his hands.

You looked up, shame washing over you. You couldn’t believe Aizawa had heard you crying and walked over to talk to you. Mortifying couldn’t even begin to describe how you felt. You knew you looked an absolute mess and you just hated the fact that he saw you like this. Before you mustered up the words to tell him you were doing just fine, you burst into tears. It’s like someone asking whether things were alright was the straw that broke the camel’s back. 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, things are gonna be fine, what’s wrong?” Aizawa asked, sitting down next to you in the booth you were in. “Just talk to me about it, I’m here to listen.”

“I can’t t-talk about i-it, i-it’s really n-n-nothing, plus it’s a-al-already so un-unprofessional to cry like t-this to you,” you replied, your cries turning into sobs.

“Listen to me, just pretend I’m not your professor for now, pretend that I’m just your friend or a random stranger, whatever makes you feel better. I’m just concerned for you as a person is all. Just vent to me and I promise I won’t judge you at all okay?” Aizawa said looking at you kindly.

You took a deep breath, “It’s just that... I’ve just been really struggling with all the things I have to do this year. Biochem used to be my passion and it still is for the most part. But this semester things just feel overwhelming. I can’t help but feel frustrated when I have to worry about so many things like work, volunteering, clubs, etc. It just makes me feel like I’m drowning and regardless what I do, I just can’t seem to keep up, you know?”

Aizawa nodded understandingly, giving you space to continue. “It’s not like it’s about time management or procrastination; I make sure to space out my work. But it still ends up being too much. It’s like I’m constantly juggling tasks and I’m one mistake away from fumbling everything.”

You kept pouring your heart out as Aizawa remained silent, his nods encouraging you to continue talking. And although you didn’t think it would help in any way when you first started out, you had to admit that venting to him definitely felt like a weight being lifted from your shoulders. You’d of course vented like this to your friends before, but it was different this time - Aizawa truly understood you. It just felt refreshing to talk to someone who already understood the science field, understood what you were going through.

Finally, as you wrapped up your vent, you wiped away your tears and took another deep breath to calm yourself. You couldn’t help but wonder if Aizawa was now silently judging you, but you tried your best to push that thought aside. You’d already bared your soul to him anyways so what did it matter?

He handed you a tissue and leaned towards you slightly, his voice calmer than you’d ever heard him be. “I completely understand you,” he began. “Biochem, and science in general, can be incredibly demanding and strenuous. I’ve felt the same pressure throughout my career and it’s easy to get overwhelmed, especially when someone as as driven as you are.”

His words resonated deeply with you, and you nodded, feeling slightly reassured. “Remember that you’re doing enough. You’re doing the best you can and that’s all anyone can ask of you. That’s all that matters. You’re one of the most resilient and hard-working students I’ve seen.”

A small smile tugged at the corners of your lips as his words sank in; it was exactly what you needed to hear. “Taking care of yourself is crucial,” Aizawa continued.  “I know it’s tempting to want to do everything and try to chase that high of finishing everything you set out to do, but you have to remember to take care of yourself first. You can’t do everything and that’s okay. You’re your own first priority.

His advice stuck a chord with you; you knew you needed balance, but hearing it straight from one of your most respected professors made you think about it in a different light. “Thank you,” you say, your voice sincere. “I really needed to hear that.”

Aizawa’s eyes softened and he leaned back. “You’re an amazing student,” he said. “I have no doubt that you’ll overcome these challenges and achieve whatever you set your mind to. I’m here to support you every step of the way.” 

He gave you a warm smile, but his kind words were more than enough to brighten your night up. It wasn’t like you hadn’t heard a similar spiel before from your parents or loved ones, but it was just different coming from a professor you respected so much. It felt validating to know that your teacher thought you were capable.

It just meant a lot to you that he’d take time out of his night to comfort you. “Thank you for that, I appreciate it. It just feels good to talk it out with someone who understands my situation you know? ”you said. “I’m just sorry that you had to spend so much time consoling me when you came here to work.”

“It’s not a problem at all Y/n! Besides I’m not just gonna sit and ignore one of my favorite students when she’s having a tough time. Don’t repeat that favorite student bit to anyone though, I’m technically not supposed to have those,” Aizawa said, getting up from his spot and picking up all the tissues you’d used alongside your empty coffee cup. “Just focus on doing your work and more importantly catching a break!”

“I promise I’ll take a break soon, thank you again for comforting me,” you said, pulling out a notebook from your bag to get started on some practice problems. 

He put all the tissues and your cup in the trash before grabbing his belongings and saying “Again, not a problem, and stop by my office anytime you feel down like this again and you want to talk it out. My door is always open.”

You watched him walk out the door and you were left with a peaceful smile on your face. It’s been a long time since you’ve felt relieved like this. It was just so good to know you had someone like Aizawa in your corner. Soon after, you ordered another coffee so that you could get back to work. As you got into the groove of studying, you felt confident about your finals and you remembered what Aizawa said to you every time you even felt a slight tinge of disappointment.

That confidence definitely reflected in your grades a week later when you saw that you made nothing less than a 90 on all five finals. You had never been happier in your life. It was just so relieving to see all your hard work had finally paid off. Whether the respect you had for him or just because it was Aizawa, his words meant the world to you. As you continued to work towards your degree, you made sure to always talk things out with Aizawa whenever things were getting tough. Finally, you’d found a way to calm yourself down and over time, you slowly started assuring yourself on your own. 

Semesters went by and even though you didn’t come into his office to talk about stress, you still visited Aizawa just to talk. He never failed to be the perfect mentor to you, even when he was grumpy from sleep deprivation. As the semesters went by, you actually got the opportunity to work in his lab as his assistant.

You were finally accomplishing your dream and you loved every minute of it. There were just no words that could describe how thankful you were to have met Aizawa and taken his classes. If someone had told you that you’d be accomplishing your dream because of a breakdown in a cafe, you would’ve never believed it. But here you were regardless, being the best that you could be.

[aandvarchaeology]

How-To Presentation

Imagine this: It's the first year of university. You, a bright-eyed and bushy tailed freshman, riding on the high of having declared your major and successfully defending it in the face of well-meaning relatives ("Oh, I did Archaeology for a few semesters when I was at uni, before I came to my senses. Are you sure you don't want to be a business major? Or maybe pre-law, you were always so good at arguing - ") have just sat down in your very first seminar. The professor walks in, spends an hour going over the syllabus, and then announces that to pass the class, everyone will have to hold a 30 min presentation on a pre-determined topic. You can feel your stomach sinking somewhere below your knees. A cold chill grips you. You hate public speaking and the longest you've ever had to talk in front of the class in high school was 10 minutes. What do you do now??!

Well, you click on the read more.

Step 1: Don't panic. Let's get an overview of your topic and make a plan.

WHEN TO DO THIS: Same week as you got your presentation topic

First things first, as soon as you get your presentation topic and your deadline, even if that deadline is 8 weeks from now, IMMEDIATELY hop on your computer and get yourself some literature. There are some topics that are so well-researched and well-published you can walk into any library and immediately find 12 sources, and then there are topics that you have to special order books that went out of print in 1945 for. You do not know what kind of topic your topic is until you go to the library, and special ordering books takes time, sometimes A LOT of time. FINDING these books also takes a lot of time. So always make sure you HAVE the time to do this! A good starting point to have ist 2-5 books (depending on availability) with your presentation topic directly in the title.

If you have absolutely no idea whatsoever what your topic even IS, go to Wikipedia. DO NOT use Wikipedia as a source. You're going to read the article, find out what your topic is about, and then go to the list of sources at the bottom and get THOSE from the library. If you can't find anything other than those, or if your topic doesn't HAVE a Wikipedia article, go see your professor during their office hours. Do this NOW, not two weeks before the presentation. If your professor is sick, write them an e-mail NOW and go ask your TA. You need to make sure they can see you did your best to find stuff early on - if something goes wrong, profs are a lot more likely to give you extra credit or be extra nice with your grade if you have a paper trail proving you tried to resolve any issues you had early on. They won't be able to help you anymore two days before the presentation.

As soon as you have your 2-5 books, you sit down and just flip through them. Skim whatever catches your eye, look at pictures and graphs, read the table of contents. This is going to give you an idea on how much you actually have to stress about your research. Are all your books really old and super thin? Bad sign. Did you immediately find tons of books published in the last 10 years and those bitches THICC? You can probably relax a little. Then, as you're skimming, you're going to form a very rough idea what your topic is about. Things to look out for are:

How complex is your topic? The broader and less specific, the more research you're likely to have to do (example: If your topic is "The late middle ages", good luck. If your topic is "Burg Eltz during the late middle ages" you're going to have it a lot easier.)

What time period are you in? Always know your backround!

What is the state of research? Look out for things that should be there but aren't!

Is there some kind of controversy going on? Do some sources contradict each other?

Now you know a little bit about your topic, and can plan for the following things:

How many more sources are you going to need?

How long until you have those sources in your actual hands or on your actual computer?

How much research are you going to have to put into this?

Step 2: Initial research and structure

WHEN TO DO THIS: Within the week you got your hands on your sources.

If you've completed Step 1, your should have an initial list of sources. Pick the most general of those babies, turn to a relevant chapter, and get excerpting.

Q: How do I find the most general source?

A: The most general source is the one that goes into least detail while giving the broadest range of information. A good place to start are dictionary entries (make sure you're using a dictionary relevant to you subject, not the Encyclopedia Britannica...) or books with something like "introduction to..." or "overview of..." in the title. When in doubt, look at the table of contents!

If you're presenting to something very Basic™ at the beginning of your university career, your professor or TA will most likely have provided you with a list of "basic literature" for your course or subject. Look to these. If your topic is more complex, a good way to determine if a source is what you're looking for is reading the introduction chapter of your book and seeing if you recognise things you need.

Q: How do I indentify a relevant chapter?

A: Use your logic. If your presentation topic is late medieval castles, and your book covers castles of all time periods, you don't need the chapters talking about early- and high medieval castles, or post-medieval fortresses. DO NOT read the whole book. Skip everything you don't need. If you're reading a relevant chapter and the author starts talking about things you don't need to know, flip ahead until they do.

Q: What is excerpting?

A: This.

Image description in alt text.

You're going to write down the title of your source and you're immediately going to write that down in the citation style it has to be in for your presentation. Highlight it to make it easier to find later. Then you're going to write down all relevant information and the page number you found it on, and everything you're too lazy to summarize in your own words you're going to copy down directly in quotation marks. The quotation marks are important - you need to know when to say you're quoting someone directly in your presentation. I know this looks like a fuck ton of work, and it is. But it's going to do these things for you that make it absolutely worth it:

You're going to remember A LOT more of the information

You're going to be able to bring the book back to the library on time (pro tip: Also immediately scan relevant pictures)

You're going to be able to just copy-paste the already correctly cited title into your list of sources

When you're writing your presentation notes you're not going to have to flip through the whole book in search of the one bit of information you vaguely remember. You can just print out your document, highlight what you need, and have it there in one look.

In my experience, doing excerpts saves you about three to five days of work, spares you an unholy amount of frustration, and makes it A LOT easier to not accidentally plagiarize because you wrote down something and forgot it was a word-for-word quote.

As soon as you worked through your general source(s), you can structure your presentation. For Archaeology presentations, there is a general formula you can usually follow that looks roughly like this:

1. Introduction

2. Main Part: Your Topic Goes Here

2.1 History of research for your topic

2.2 General information: What time is your topic in, what are important monuments or finds, what is your topic exactly

2.3 All the information you have if your topic is very narrow (a certain type of pot, a single monument, whatever) or one or more examples if your topic is very broad (a prehistoric culture, a type of wide-spread monument, a time period)

3. Conclusion. This is the place to either summarize, bring in your own opinion, or go into detail about a controversy surrounding your topic

Find out how you want to structure your presentation (maybe this isn't the way to do it! Adjust to your topic!) and what examples you want to show. If this part is giving you trouble, e-mail your TA or your professor or visit them during office hourse. Again, do this IN TIME. The earlier, the better, AT LEAST two weeks before your presentation, better WAY before that.

If you find you need to special order sources from your library, now is the time to do that. If you're smart, you might want to make a list of all sources you can find that could be relevant to your topic while you're at it.

Step 3: The whole body of research

WHEN TO DO THIS: Depends on the length of your presentation and the complexity of your research. A minimum of 2 weeks before you have to present for a 25-30 min presentation. The busier your schedule, the more sources you have, and the longer your presentation should be, the earlier.

So, now that you know how you're going to structure your presentation, you know what you need to research and what to leave out. Go through your initial list of sources and determine if they are still relevant, now that you know what you're looking for. Identify what informations that you want to put in your presentation are missing from your sources, and find sources that are about them. If you were really smart you already did this after you structured your presentation and now just have to pick books out of a list.

As soon as you have your sources, work through them by excerpting just like you did with your overview literature. Do this from most to least relevant source, in case you misjudged your speed and have to leave out a source. Make sure to always note your page number and immediately copy out relevant graphics!

Step 4: Your presentation slides

WHEN TO DO THIS: The week before your presentation. If you don't want to spend a whole day on this start around 5-4 days before your deadline at the latest and do a few slides at a time.

If your prof gave you a guide for PowerPoint presentations - find that. Use that. Copy the structure of your presentation that you made in Step 2, add your pictures that you already copied out into your excerpting document, and cite them according to the style your professor wants them to be in. If you already did this in your excerpting document like I told you to, this should just be a matter of copy and paste. Don't forget to add your list of sources at the end!

This is also the step where we start thinking about time. A good rule of thumb is that you should have one slide in your presentation for every two minutes of talking. I like to add a few more, because I also always have a title slide, a structure slide, and a list of sources slide, and I don't spend 2 minutes on "Hello everybody, my topic is [x]!".

As soon as you have your slides in about the number you think you need, talk through your presentation OUT LOUD and time yourself. Just say what you remember. If you're more than 5 minutes under target, you need one more slide for every two minutes you're under. If you're more than 2-3 minutes over target, consider what information is actually important to your topic, and try again, leaving everything out everything not relevant, until you land within 2-3 minutes of your target time.

Step 5: Presentation notes and practicing

WHEN TO DO THIS: The day before your presentation at the latest, better 2-3 days before. Your brain is better at memorizing things if you're not stressed out of your mind!

Now that you're reasonably sure you're on your target, time wise, it's time to make your presentation notes. This is a matter of personal style, and you've got to figure out what works best for you. For me, I need a lot of visual cues, so I usually print out my presentations (or sketch the slides if my printer is acting up again) and add the information next to the slide it's on. I also like to add cues like "show structure x" in a different colour to remind myself to engage with my audience, like so:

Image description in alt text of first image.

But maybe this doesn't work for you! Maybe you like to write out your whole presentation word-for-word. Maybe you like note cards. Maybe you like to use the presentation mode on PowerPoint to add your notes directly into the document. It doesn't matter what you do, as long as it makes you feel safe presenting and you can reliably remember all your information.

Whatever method you use, make sure to write down all your information. In Step 4 we talked through what we remembered from our research. Now is the time to grab our excerpt documents and make sure all our information is factually correct and that you didn't leave out anything. This will usually add around 5 minutes to your speaking time.

When you have your presentation notes, you're gonna practice your presentation a few times. This is, again, a matter of personal style. Some people just need to read through it once, and they've got it down pat. If you're inexperienced in giving presentations, I recommend talking through your whole PowerPoint using your notes at least one or two times. If you want, you can use a mirror to also practice gestures, or memorize the whole text. No matter what you do, the goal is to automate a little bit. Your body remembers things it's practiced. If you talk through your presentation a few times, it'll be much easier to manage presentation anxiety, because you likely won't have a blackout in front of the class - you'll just go into autopilot and say exactly what you practiced.

Another important aspect of this step is, again, time. This is the time to really fine tune your landing. If you know you tend to talk a lot faster in front of an audience, practice so that you're 2-5 min over your target time. If you know you tend to talk a lot slower, pick a point about halfway through your presentation and memorize what minute you're supposed to be at when you reach it. Look at the clock occasionally during your presentation. If you reach your marker and it's later than its supposed to be, speed up. You can also practice talking faster.

And now all there is to do is present! Good luck - not that you need it, with your excellent preparation!

[thetrashqueeeen]

The thing that’s pissing me off about this Faith Becoming a Doctor storyline is nothing to do with Faith and everything to do with how IT IS NOT THAT EASY! I have looked into training as a doctor and had to give up on it because it is logistically impossible for most working class people and casualty could have made a point here!

Right so first things first, there is no conversion degree for healthcare professionals- they just have to do the same graduate entry medical course as every other degree educated person. This degree is 4 years and only offered by a handful of medical schools in the country so let’s pretend Holby Medical School is one of these universities and just suspend our disbelief- moving on

Before she can even apply she would have to take this test called the GAMSAT which is absolutely ridiculous and now don’t get me wrong I think you should prove that you are academically capable of completing a degree before you start it but the GAMSAT is not doing that. For starters, it’s not a pass or fail, you’re ranked by percentile compared to other people who took it, so you don’t just have to prove you CAN do it, you also have to be better than everyone else who tries. Furthermore, the questions aren’t marked like the exams we took in school; or even uni. The entire paper is marked, and then the amount of marks a question is worth is decided based on how many people got it right. For example, a question 90% of people got right would be worth 1 point, but if that same question was only gotten right by 1% of people, it would be worth 10 points, so there is very little way to intelligently work for a better score. It’s also been proven by research that the correlation between GAMSAT percentile and completion of medical degree, academic attainment and retention by the NHS is not statistically significant. There are 2 sitting a year and you have to do them at the specified time and place, making it very hard for someone working shifts (like Faith) to get that test done. To add insult to injury, it is £250 PER ATTEMPT and you have pay for practice exams. Let’s not even get into how Faith is supposed to study for a test that is 5 hours long and 1 section reading comprehension, 1 section essay questions and then a third section which is UNDERGRADUATE level biology and chemistry and A2 level physics with no practice material all while working full time and being a single mother.

Secondly- the course is not entirely funded by student finance. Each year is 9.5k and only about 60% of this is covered by student finance. The other 40% ish is covered by an NHS bursary- except for the first year. This means you need to come up with about 3.8k (from memory) in tuition fees to sit the first year. Your NHS bursary doesn’t kick in until you pass first year and go into year 2. Faith will be paid more than a ‘regular’ nurse, but 4 grand is not a small sum of money and would be hard for her to pull together.

Finally- this is not a course that is offered part time (if they keep her in this show and pretend that she’s doing it part time or, even worse, as evening classes, I am going to LOSE MY MIND) and it’s very, very hard to have a part time job because of the heavy work load and eventual placement shifts. My fist degree was a BA and I had a job the whole time, but I also had low contact hours and no placements to do. There are no bursaries for living costs that I could find and there is no way you could live off a student finance maint loan, if they even offer you one, especially when you’re supporting 2 kids. Faith would not only need to live somewhere with a university that offered GEM, pay for and do well in the GAMSAT and have 4k to pay tuition her first year, she would also have to be able to stop working for 4 whole years.

This is not something she would do over the course of a few weeks, she would be worrying about funding, about living, about the kids and having a menty b about the GAMSAT. casualty could make a really good point here about how someone who would succeed as a doctor, and has committed her entire working life thus far to the NHS, financially could not afford to retrain. Instead I’m sure they are going to take the ‘night classes’ route and I am, in fact, going to LOSE MY MIND

[theretirementstory]

02/06/2024. 😱 it’s June already! Looking back 5 years when I visited this beautiful old house with Monique, in Rosnay-l’Hopital. Did they really have the red carpet out for us? It was a glorious day, we had had a BBQ in Monique’s garden, a little snooze then a visit to the house.

Fast forward to this day last year and it was the day I came home from hospital after spending 4 weeks in there. I am not ashamed to say I cried, when I saw my town, my house and my garden, it was all that had kept me going those long four weeks.

However, I am home now, the gardener came on Tuesday and cut the grass which has made a big difference to the garden. My cherry tree, which was laden with cherries, have all been snaffled up by the birds while we were waiting for them to ripen. The birds have kindly left the stones and stalks still attached to the branches. Oh well, I guess what you never have, you never miss! The hellebore has another couple of flowers on and the rose bushes are budding so more roses soon.

I was in Paris at the hospital on Monday, a very tiring journey there and back 6.5 hours in total but at least I was only at the hospital for 2.5 hours. Tomorrow I am there again this time for a CT scan and possibly a transfusion or transfusions. I was also in hospital at Troyes for the day on Friday as the results of my blood tests showed my levels to be very very low and two transfusions were needed. As a consequence I have to relax this weekend (whatever that means).

Being unable to drive for two months, as well as being so fatigued that I couldn’t even make it round the supermarket, I have had my neighbour doing the supermarket shopping and Anie went and purchased my fruit and vegetables. It’s wonderful that these people really don’t mind helping me out.

Although I could use the cleaning lady to do my upstairs, I couldn’t cope with her chuntering. Normally her days are Monday and Thursday and it looks as if these are going to be my days for the hospital so it’s no use asking her to come. I will just make do or as Monique has volunteered I may take her up on it. She also volunteered to come and tidy my borders.

I have an English friend (lives in France) coming to visit on Tuesday. I would like to make something to eat but don’t think I have the energy, so it may just be cake and biscuits and a drink.

“The Trainee Solicitor” started his Uni course on Thursday. It seemed to go well. He decided to “let the train take the strain” and although it means leaving home early in the morning it does mean that he can work, eat and drink while travelling. The course is for six weeks the number of days vary week on week but once it’s done, it’s done!

“The Reconnect Navigator” has had a pretty trying week, some weeks can be like that so let’s hope that next week is less “trying”. It was her Grandads birthday yesterday, so it was all round to his house for a party. Let’s hope there are not too many headaches this morning 😊.

My gorgeous grandchildren have had a wonderful break in Buxton, Derbyshire with their Mummy and their Grandad who was over from Canada. They are now spending the weekend with “The Photographer”. They are pretty tired from their adventures, where they saw penguins, wallabies and lots of different animals. “The Photographer” was out on the election canvassing trail on Thursday, he was doing photos for his friend who is standing for Parliamentary MP locally.

“The Jetsetter” has her feet planted on terra firma for a little while longer. A friend was doing a charity bike ride so she and “The Photographer” went to see them finish the ride, of course photographs were involved. Although the week involved a Bank Holiday it appears as if it was a busy week all the same.

I know I seem to be stuck in the 1970’s for a lot of my music but that’s how it goes and then when you realise that these tunes are almost 50 years old it’s a bit scary. Anyway here are two more this week.

The first is by ELO from their 1976 album “A New World Record” it’s “So Fine”.

The second has not been so easy to think of so many songs buzz through my head.

So I am choosing “Stay With Me Till Dawn” by Judie Tzuke from 1979.

Lots to do today, preparing for tomorrow morning’s journey to Paris. The taxi is coming for me at 5:30am, keep your fingers crossed that it is only a short visit to the hospital but somehow I doubt it!

Wishing you all a good week until next week.

The garden looking lush and green.

Prends soin de toi.

[fairycosmos]

Can you and your followers let me know if I'm be dramatic by being upset about this? Sorry for how long this is and for it being worded like a reddit AITA post.

A very close friend (as in I've known her for 5 years, we lived together during uni, etc etc) and I made plans back in like January to see a musical in August and we already bought tickets (which are expensive) and I've been openly very excited about it because it's a musical I've wanted to see for a while. Then, in May, she met this guy (now her boyfriend) and after a few weeks of knowing/casually hanging out with him, he asked her to go with him on a trip the same weekend we were planning to see the musical. And she agreed. Now, despite the fact that I've easily been her closest friend throughout uni (and I literally would always cook for her and clean after her without reciprocation) she has deliberately avoided telling me about any details regarding her relationship and also didn't tell me about the fact that she's bailing on our plans. She told another Mutual Friend and told her to not tell me because she wanted to break the news herself. But that Mutual Friend did end up telling me because one day I was ranting about how she's been keeping me out of the loop of her new relationship and barely speaking to me. So I knew for a month now that she's bailing on these plans and was just waiting for her to openly tell me. Then yesterday she accidentally revealed it without realizing in a group chat, and when I asked her privately she didn't even say sorry she just said that she completely forgot and got the dates mixed up. Which I know isn't true.

On top of that, two weeks ago was my birthday, and around like 7pm, I told Mutual Friend that this friend hadn't wished me yet. And she got really upset about it but I didn't want to make it into a big deal. And then that friend ended up wishing me at 11:30pm and said she was at training all day at work, which I knew was bs because who trains for 12 straight hours and because I literally saw on Twitter that she had tweeted multiple times earlier that day so she had access to her phone. But I let it slide. And yesterday, Mutual Friend revealed to me that she actually had to remind this friend that it was my birthday because she was afraid the day would pass by without her wishing me and didn't want my feelings getting hurt. Am I crazy for letting all this upset me? I'm happy that she's found a boyfriend but she's literally been icing me out since then. It's normally very difficult for me to get my feelings hurt and I feel so dramatic being this upset about a birthday wish and a cancelled plan but idk. I want to confront her about it but I've been told that I should just keep my distance for a while.

hey i don't think you're an asshole for this - something that did cross my mind is that maybe ur friend is in a sort of controlling or unhealthy relationship with this person? just based on how shes been isolated from you, someone who is rly close to her, and how distant she's been since getting with the guy. ofc that's a very worrying and nuanced situation to have to confront and that's a big assumption on my part -it truly may not be the case, and even if it is, obviously as an outsider looking in obviously there's only so much you can do to try to get through to her. butttt if right now it just seems like she's gotten into a new relationship and put your friendship with her entirely on the backburner with no explanation, then i think your feelings of anger and hurt are entirely understandable. i've honestly been there myself so many times like when girlfriends get boyfriends and suddenly you're basically invisible to them. it's sooo discouraging and hurtful and you feel like a freak for being sad about it but still you're sad about it. and while obviously people's priorities change when they get into a relationship, it's not ok to neglect all of your friendships just bc you're seeing someone, you know? i completely see why you're upset and i don't think you need to feel like you've done something wrong for simply questioning her recent behaviour. especially when it comes to that expensive gig!!! she should've had the respect to come to you herself about that if she was cancelling, point blank. i would be pretty pissed myself in ur shoes. it's obviously entirely up to you where you go from here, and i guess i can't answer that part for you as i don't know the ins and outs of your circumstances + dynamic with her -- but whatever you need to do to ensure you have your own best interests at heart here is alright. whether it's taking time or talking to her or a mixture of both. and btw this is just my singular perspective ofc so maybe im wrong or missing something. sending so um grain of salt and all that, but yeah that's how i see it. sending a huge hug your way. x