#ph the speeches. the speeches. it was so fucking stressful

[boygirlctommy]

sketch from a screenshot from the green festival aftermath

[prorevenge]

The effect of faking an entire science experiment in a competitive science fair: A Case Study.

This happened about a week ago, so this was fairly recent. For background purposes, I am a senior in high school (17-18 years old). One of the classes I’m taking is a scientific research-based class, where you are given 5 months to look at academic research, determine a problem or a potential innovation that hasn’t been explored, and design an experiment based off so. We would carry out the experiment, and present our methods, data, conclusions, and next steps at a regional and state science fair. If our project was good enough, we would qualify for the Intel Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), which is a massive pre-College scientific research event. If you want to feel completely inferior in your knowledge about anything, that’s the no.1 place to be. All of these science fairs had scholarships, money, and places in ISEF for the taking.

Since the class was the culmination of a 4-year pathway, we had all grew pretty close w/ each other, despite having vastly different friend groups and interests. We held an impromptu Thanksgiving feast, secret Santa, and Valentine’s Day, loosely planned on our own time and money through Snapchat.

By the beginning of March, we’re all starting on putting everything together on a trifold poster. We all spent a decently unhealthy amount of time stressing about our experiments and posters. Coming out of it though, all of our projects looked great, with some of the material and experiments done being absolutely insane. To give a couple of non-identifying examples, one project was about detecting hypercardio myopathy through AI in a portable ultrasound machine, and another one was the about a pH levels and their effect on growth of compounds in tomatoes.

By that mid-March period, we had one person not turn in anything. For reference, we will call her Megan. Megan did not do anything up until the beginning of March, and then she just kinda magically pulled a poster out of her ass. We all just kinda ignored this, and we were mainly focused on getting our speech and presentation down because we were going in front of judges.

Cue the day of the regional science fair, or, basically the culmination of everything we’ve done. We’re all presenting our projects in front of a judge assigned to us. Despite spitting all over the my judge because I can’t do public speaking for my life, I get pretty good marks myself, not enough to be a finalist per se, but nice enough. By the time lunch is completed, 7 projects have been deemed as finalists, one of them being Megan’s. Another girl from our class, who we’ll call Carly, also qualified. Her project was on Metal Nitrates and their effect on powering Nano-Devices. This is where the open secret spills out amongst our group that Megan had faked her data and the consent forms that invoked the use of human subjects. Basically, her project was illegitimate. We decide to let it play out in the hopes that the group of “professional” judges would not seem her project worthy of any awards.

Megan ended up winning a $1,000 scholarship to a local community college, and an all-expenses trip to ISEF. I do not have any clue how she got past the finalist round, but apparently one of the judges said her project was impressively statistically significant. She completely isolated herself from the entire group immediately, preferring to hang out w/ her boyfriend, who helped her fake the project as well. Naturally, considering she stole money and a ISEF trip from Carly, and god knows who else (there were 300 students attending), we were all absolutely pissed (an understatement), and almost stopped mentioning it.

Up until this kid who we’ll call Spencer, created another group chat, adding everyone except for Megan. We were going back and forth for about 3 hours on what to do and how to inform our teacher, who had no clue about the entire situation.

Megan’s downfall was herself. She bragged to her friend, Marissa, about faking the data. The signatures on the consent forms were apparently fake and could be verified as so (this is illegal, so just don’t do it). She had not taken any other notes to illustrate she had actually done the experiment, heck, she hadn’t turned in a single thing related to the project. All it took to unravel the entire thing was for someone to tell our teacher.

And that’s exactly what happened. We had a group of people tell our teacher that next morning. It was either then, or ISEF, where they have an entire day dedicated to project CLEARANCE. I was gone for a tennis tournament that day, but apparently the environment in our class was very tense as everything was starting to unravel.

Cue Monday. I walk in, and it appears Megan is gone that day. Our teacher tells us that Megan was disqualified from all awards, and the ISEF placement was given to Carly. While, we were never given the full details, it appeared that Megan’s Project was deemed illegitimate by the entire Science Dept. and our principals, who looked over both Megan and Carly’s projects and notes.

So I’m now writing this after the state science fair. We had all put the drama behind us, and had a fan-fucking-tastic weekend. I myself got a first-place ribbon and a nice trophy for my own category, along w/ several others for their own categories. We also had someone qualify for a bunch of scholarships and a trip to an environmental conference. A few more got other awards. Overall, a hell of a good experience. We welcome back Megan to class tomorrow. All I’m hoping for is that she learned her lesson, but I’m not gonna bank on it.

(source) (story by pleasethrowmeacase)

[ugh-supersoldiers]

1+1=3 Part 2

MASTERLIST

Part one

Characters: Steve x reader, Bucky Barnes

Summary: Having a baby is supposed to be the most wonderful thing in the world, and now that you and Steve are ready to try, you’re on top of the world. But for some reason things aren’t going according to plan...

Warnings: sad!reader, swearing, some angst but like nah, fluff ending, budding dad!steve (is that even a warning?), SUPPORTIVE!BUCKY OMG, bad editting (sorry it’s late and I’m tired asf)

Words: 4040

A/N: So after multiple requests for a pt 2 of this one, it’s finally here! Sorry it took so long btw I’m prepping for college and ngl I’m super stressed

You sat patiently in a treatment room in the doctors office with your husband, Steve. After the night at the Barton’s where you decided you’d try for children, you both decided that the best course of action would be to get all of your ducks in a row, to make sure that everything checked out with you on a medical stand point.

You’d gone through all of the medical history lists, had the physical exams, discussed lifestyle choices, done the blood, urine and god knows how many other tests. 

Your practitioner had never met your husband before, and was utterly shocked to see Captain America accompanying you into the exam room. He was starstruck it seemed, and ordered a rush on all of the tests especially for you.

Steve was worried that a resulting baby from him might inherit some of his preserum illnesses, but the doctor assured you that since the serum physically changed his DNA, it would be impossible.

So you waited for the results of your tests, now out of the hospital gown and back in a soft cashmere sweater with Steve’s hand in yours, brushing his thumb over your knuckles.

“What if something’s wrong with me?” You asked, avoiding his gaze.

Steve knew how nervous you were that there might be some kind of issue with your body, something that could prevent you from getting pregnant or, heaven forbid, cause complications during the pregnancy.

“Hey, don’t think like that.” He knelt in front of your chair and tilted your chin so you’d look at him, “You’re perfect, there’s nothing wrong with you.”

You tried to hold back tears, and Steve was quick to wipe the few that fell down your cheeks. You were so scared that even the thought of something being wrong made you sick to your stomach. You’d wanted this for so long, and now Steve was taking a leave from the Avengers just so you could start a family, the mere idea of it not happening made you shake with fear.

A knock at the door caused Steve to stand up and greet the doctor with a smile.

“Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, the results from your testing is back now.” He said, setting the files down on the table.

“And?” You asked.

“Blood looks good, surface physical checks out, internal exam is good, and based on what I’ve heard about your medical history and lifestyle, you should be ready to go.”

You’d never been so relieved in your life.“So there’s nothing wrong?” You asked.

“Everything is just right.” He smiled before exiting the room.

Steve’s hand rested on your back as you stared at the cabinet in front of you, all of your worrying fading away.

“What did I tell you?” He asked.

You stood and hugged him tightly around the waist, pressing your face into his chest.

“Whoa.” He said with a small laugh, rubbing your back and resting his chin on your head.

“Let’s go home.” You said into his shirt and he agreed with you.

In the car, you couldn’t wipe the smile off of your face. All of your dreams of having children were going to come true with the green light you’d gotten from the doctor. You let out a sigh from the passenger’s seat and Steve looked over at you with a smile.

“You know, we could get started right away.”

You turned to him with an amused grin on your face, “What are you insinuating?” 

“Well, I mean we should be making sure we’re giving it our all, right? I’m just suggesting that we should start the process as soon as possible. Like right when we walk in the door.”

You bit your lip to keep a giggle from escaping, “Whatever you say, captain.”

For the next few months you and Steve were at it every spare second of the day. There was a stretch of about 36 hours where you only left the bedroom to eat of use the bathroom. Needless to say, you both enjoyed the ‘process’ a little too much, but you were looking forward to the end of it, when you were holding a positive pregnancy test in your hands.

It didn’t happen the first month, but you weren’t fazed, you knew that it was all about timing and that it was common for it to take a month or two. By the second, you were feeling a little less enthusiastic about your period’s arrival, but still remained hopeful. By the third, you were discouraged more than starry eyes and dreaming. By the fourth month, you burst into tears. By the fifth, Steve had to hold you while you cried into his arms for hours.

How could this have happened? You’d done everything right, you’d read the books, you’d done prenatal care, you’d been through every test that was recommended, for God’s sake you’d even tried the most obscure positions with Steve that were supposed to ‘stimulate conception’. 

“I don’t understand.” You wailed, throwing the negative pregnancy test in your hand onto the floor as Steve practically dragged you onto the bed to sit down.

“We’ve done everything, Steve, everything!�� Tear flowed down your cheeks at an uncontrollable rate.

“I know we have darling, I know.” He whispered, pulling you down onto his chest and holding you tightly.“Why won’t it just happen?” You pleaded, nuzzling into him for comfort.

“It will, I promise.” You couldn’t respond, your throat chocked up so tightly that you could only let out a sob before another wave of tears hit you.Steve cradled you tightly and kissed your forehead, and even though you didn’t see it, he shed a few tears too.

You woke with a feeling of guilt deep in the pit of your stomach and reached over to feel for Steve’s side of the bed, disappointed when you found it empty.

You sat up, pulling the covers off of your body and rubbing the sleep out of your eyes. Getting up, you glanced at yourself in the mirror. Your puffy eyes were a testament to how well you slept, the grimace on your brow far from a poker face.

You were miserable, plain and simple.

You thought that having the ‘baby’ talk with Steve would be the hard part, but now you were faced with a whole new challenge. You felt like a failure, a massive disappointment. Your body wasn’t allowing you to do the one thing that a woman’s body should do, and your husband had taken a backseat from his job saving the world just to do this.

“Fuck.” You whispered, combing a hand through your disheveled hair.

What have I done to deserve this? 

“Hey.” You turned around to see Steve standing in the doorway, a sad smile on his face.

“Hi.” You whispered back, avoiding his gaze.

“(Y/N)-” He began, but stopped when he saw you shaking your head.

“I don’t want to talk about it right now, okay?” You said, trying to keep yourself composed.

“I know,” He said, “I know, darling, I was actually just going to ask you if you wanted to try again?”

You felt sorrow invade you again, and you looked at him with a sadness in your eyes that he had never seen from you.

“What’s the point?”

Your words shattered him.

“What do you mean what’s the point?” He asked, marching over to you and grabbing you by the shoulders, “The point is that you and I are going to have a baby. That’s that, I don’t care how long it takes us, (Y/N). You’ve been wanting this for so long, and dammit so have I.” His eyes were searching yours for any hint of understanding, any tell at agreement.

You looked at him in bewilderment, his speech was so out of the ordinary for him. He rarely ever got this intense with you about something, so to have the scale tip like it had was something to be admired.

“I-I don’t know, Steve,” You whispered, “Maybe it’s just not meant to happen.”

“Don’t do that.” He said firmly, “Don’t you dare do that.”

“I’m trying to be realistic.”

“What’s being realistic ever gotten anyone? All being ‘realistic’ did for me was postpone the wonderful family that I could’ve had with my wife years ago.” His voice was shaking, “And I’m not going to wait a single second longer than I need to in order to give you what I know you’ve wanted for ages, (Y/N), I just won’t.”

You reached up to place your palm on his cheek, he let out a sigh of relief at your touch, leaning into your hand gently.

“Alright.” You said.

It now marked month six, and your hands were shaking as you set the two pregnancy tests side beside on the counter. 

Steve was at the compound going through the latest mission’s paperwork with the team, so you figured now would be a good time to take yet another pregnancy test.

When the first one came out positive you had to tell yourself that it could be a false positive, it could be a mistake, so you did another one just to be sure. Now, you stared anxiously at the wall waiting for the alarm on your phone to go off. It felt like trying to watch paint dry.

The harsh ding made you jump, and you ran to fetch the test from the top of the sink. You wrapped your hand around it, pressing it your chest for a moment and reminding yourself to not get your hopes up.

You took a deep breath and opened your hand to see a plus sign etched into the test.

It fell from your hands onto the floor with a soft clank, and you looked at the other test again to make sure you hadn’t grabbed the wrong one. Two plus signs, each test telling you the news that you’d been dying to hear. You were pregnant.

You sprang up to grab your phone, frantically dialing Bucky’s number.

“(Y/N)?” He answered, obviously unsure of why you’d be calling him.

“Buck!” You replied, unsure of what to even say to your husband’s best friend.

“Everything okay?” He asked.

“Yes- No! Uh, sort of?”

“Here, I’ll put Steve on the ph-”

“NO!” You shouted and you could tell he had to pull his ear away from the phone at your volume, “Not yet. Are you alone?”

“I can be. (Y/N), are you feeling alright?”

“God, I am so much better than alright.” You said, tears pooling in your eyes.

“Wait a second does that mean-”

“Shhh!” You said, “If you’re not alone don’t say it out loud, numskull!”

 “Sorry, sorry!” You heard a door click closed behind him, “Okay, alone.”

“I’m pregnant.”

There was silence on the other end until he piped up, “(Y/N), this is amazing.”

“Thank you. God, I know, it’s perfect.”

“He doesn’t know yet does he?” Bucky snickered.

“No, no he doesn’t. I’ll surprise him when he gets home, but I had to tell someone.” You said a giggle escaping your lips.

“So you called me?” He asked, clearly complimented.

“Of course I called you, you’re family.”

“Well now you’ve got me blushing.”

“Now keep your mouth shut until I tell Steve myself or I’ll poison your morning coffee.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Thank you for picking up.”

“Of course, (Y/N/N).”

“Love you, sweetiepie!”

With a groan at your embarrassing nickname he choked out an awkward and quick, “Iloveyoutoobye.”

You laughed when the line clicked into silence, and returned to the positive tests on the floor and sink. You let out a sigh, one of relief and of fulfillment.

It had all felt like a dream. Now in your second trimester, you and Steve were making preparations for the nursery.

“Steve!” You called out, your protruding belly making you waddle forward to the end of the stairs.

“Yes?” He popped his head out of the bathroom, a toothbrush hanging from his mouth.

“Would you mind throwing the kettle on for some tea?” You questioned him as you examined the rather confusing looking instructions for the pile of wood and screws that was supposedly going to become a crib at some point.

A knock at the door broke into Steve’s reply, so you padded to the front of your flat.

Opening up the door, you saw the smiling face of Bucky Barnes in front of you with a tray of coffee cups in one hand and a paper bag in the other.

“Buck!” You said happily.

“Hey, (Y/N),” He smiled, “You guys are probably super busy with the nursery today, but I wanted to drop you off something to eat.”

You thanked him and took the tray out of his hand, inviting him into your home with a large grin on your face.

“I got you some green tea, I read that drinking caffeine when you’re pregnant can dehydrate you.” Bucky said, shrugging his shoulders.

A huge grin spread across your face at his thoughtfulness, and you pulled him into a tight hug. 

Taken aback by your affection, Bucky hesitated but recovered and put his arms around you.

“You’re the sweetest.” You said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Well now I’m red in the face.” He laughed.

“(Y/N), who was at the- Oh, hey Bucky.” Steve smiled at his best friend.

“Bucky brought us breakfast.” You said.

“You’re goin’ soft, pal.” Steve chuckled.

“C’mon, punk, (Y/N) is pregnant with my best friend’s baby, the least I can do for you guys is bring over breakfast.” 

“Soft.” Steve teased, and you hit his arm.

“Thought of who the godparents are gonna be?” Bucky asked as he reached for one of the three cups and took a sip.

“Yes, actually.” You said, smiling at Steve.

“Yeah?” Bucky asked, nodding at you to continue.

“Well, the choice is sort of obvious.” Steve said happily and Bucky gave him a slightly confused look.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s you, Bucky.”

His eyebrows raised in disbelief at your words as he set his cup down. His head tilted to the side slightly as his mouth hung agape in shock. Bucky’s eyes sparkled with a look you hadn’t ever seen from him before.

“Are you serious?” He asked.

“Of course we are.” Steve said.

Bucky looked down as a grin invaded his face, you watched as he tried to contain the few tears that had collected in his eyes.

“Oh, Buck.” You laughed, wrapping him in another hug, “We love you a lot, you know, and so will the baby.”

He let out a watery laugh, “I know.” He said.

You felt a small shift in your tummy, and you knew exactly what it was upon the sensation.

“They’re kicking!” You said.

You reached forward and grabbed Bucky’s right hand, placing it gently on your belly so he could feel the baby’s movements. You had never seen the ex assassin so shocked in your life, his eyes wide as saucers as he stared at his hand on your stomach.

“Wow...” He mumbled.

“I think they like you already.” You smiled at him.

Bucky was quick to let the two of you get back at the nursery preparations, explaining he only wanted to drop off breakfast and coffee, he never intended to be involved in a sob fest. 

When you’d consumed the bagels that Bucky had purchased, you and Steve ventured back into the soon to be nursery and began the assembly of the crib.

Sleeping wasn’t fun when you were nearly at full term. Your belly barely let you walk around with your swollen ankles and feet, and sleep was a whole other issue. Any position felt less comfortable then the last.

34 weeks, that’s how long you’d been carrying the baby for. You could hardly believe you’d be full term in less than a month.

You and Steve had decided that you didn’t want to know the sex of the baby, figuring it would be more exciting to wait until your bundle of joy was delivered to find out. It was the classic “we don’t care as long as they’re healthy” sort of cliche.

You were lying away in bed, watching Steve sleep peacefully beside you, a protective hand placed on your tummy. You rubbed him arm gently, a sigh passing your lips as you longed for the blissful pull of sleep that Steve must be in, but you knew it wouldn’t come, not at least for a few more weeks.

It wasn’t until you felt a sharp pain in your abdomen that you realized you might get it sooner than you thought.

“Steve.” You croaked, sitting up and groaning.

He moaned out something under his breath, not fulling understanding what was happening.

“Steve.” You called again, this time he shifted, “Baby.” You said as another hit of pain came to you.

“I’m right here, darling.”

“No, I mean baby.” You nearly screamed the last word as a shock of another huge wave hit you.

Steve nearly shot out of bed at your words, going from relaxed husband Steve to Captain America in about a second flat.

He picked you up out of bed, your nightgown clinging to you as he raced you to the car, placing you in the passengers side as he hoped in and sped down the road to the nearest hospital.

Everything was a blur, you could barely make out the things going on around you. You were put into a hospital gown, and ushered into the delivery room right away.

Steve made a few phone calls and then came to be right by your side, doctors coming in to check on your contractions and your dilation. With every passing wave of pain, you felt the urge to pass out becoming stronger and stronger. 

You asked about an epidural, but were informed that you were fully dilated at this point.

“Looks like it’s gonna have to be natural.” You laughed dryly as sweat clung to your forehead.

“You can do this.” Steve said, kissing your head.

The doctor, who’s name you had absolutely forgotten by this point, got into position as nurses crowded around, waiting for their next move.

“Alright, (Y/N), we’re going to start pushing now.” He said calmly.

You nodded your head, trying to ignore the burning pain you knew you were about to feel.

“On three, alright?” The doctor asked, “One, two, three.”

The scream that ripped through your throat as you pushed must’ve deafened everyone in the room, but you couldn’t have cared less.

“Good, that’s really good.” The doctor said.

Steve held your hand tightly, trying to whisper encouragement into your ear in between pushes.

“I need one more really big push.” The doctor told you, instructing the nurses to prepare themselves.

A string of rather impressive curses left your mouth as you pushed as hard as you could. Relief flooded you when you felt something give.

Piercing, sharp cries entered the room as you heard the sound of your baby for the very first time.

“It’s a boy.” The doctor said, “Would you like to cut the cord?” He then asked, looking at Steve.

You watched as your husband’s hand left your firm grip, walking over to the end of the table.

Steve had always stepped up to the plate of fatherhood, and you knew that this was a rite of passage, a way for him to feel like he was really doing something.

His eyes couldn’t leave the newborn, his baby, his son. And as he physically detached him from you directly, he knew that he would do absolutely anything for the baby that the nurses were attending to. 

“A boy.” You mumbled as he made his way back to you, “Steve we had a boy.” 

Tears filled your eyes as they wrapped him up and brought him back to you, assuring you that he was healthy as they placed him in your arms.

You eyes were glued to the infant in front of you, his mouth opening as more cried entered your ears. You had never felt love like this for anything.

“Oh, Steve.” You whispered.

His reply was a kiss on your cheek as tears fell down your face.

“He’s perfect.” Steve said.

“Would you like to hold him?” You asked.

Steve was hesitant, but knew he wanted to hold his boy more than anything in the world, so you passed him over.

Holding him in his arms for the first time was the most beautiful thing Steve had ever experienced, and the most beautiful thing you’d ever seen.

He’d started to cry now, the sight of his son in front of him being too much to bear, but he found such joy in the overwhelming nature of it all.

When Bucky had gotten the call from Steve saying that you were in labor, he nearly tripped over his own feet trying to get out the door. He sped all the way there, not caring if he got a ticket, and once he arrived waited patiently in the waiting room. 

When the nurse came out telling him that you and Steve were inviting him in, he felt the colour drain from his face, but he walked into the room just the same.

He stepped in, his heart stopping at the scene in front of him. You were holding a baby in your arms, Steve sitting in a chair beside you, his arms around you and the baby.

“Bucky.” You breathed out.

“Hey.” He croaked.

“Come on.” Steve urged with a nod of his head, “You gotta meet your godchild after all.”

Bucky walked over to you and looked at the infant in your arms, smiling down at the boy happily. He’d stopped crying, a blissful expression of sleep now adorned on his brow. There was a tuff of blonde hair sticking out from his cap, his long eyelashes closed over his eyes. He looked so much like Steve.

“He’s beautiful.” Bucky whispered, “Does he have a name yet?”

You and Steve exchanged a knowing look, then you shifted your gaze back to Bucky.

“He does.” You said.

“Are you gonna tell me, or just leave me hangin’?” Bucky laughed.

“His name is James.”

Bucky’s heart jumped into his throat. His best friend and his wife had named the child they’d brought into the world after him.

He looked at Steve with an expression of disbelief.

“Hey, don’t look at me, it was (Y/N)’s idea.”

“(Y/N)...” Bucky whispered, looking at you briefly, then letting his eyes trail down to the baby again.

“You’re an amazing person, Bucky. I wanted this little guy to know that he was named after the single strongest human being I’ve ever met.” You told him honestly.

Steve smiled at Bucky happily, and all Bucky could do was thank you both for choosing him like this. He left the room with a grin that wouldn’t leave his face for weeks.

Still holding James in your arms, you sighed, a wave of exhaustion washing over you completely.

“You did so well.” Steve whispered.

“Mmm.” You mumbled.

A nurse came over to fetch the baby, telling you he’d be in the care unit while you caught a bit of shut eye. As much as you wanted to hold your son in your arms more, the voice of sleep was calling to you too sweetly now. 

Once you’d made sure James was safe in his cot, you felt Steve’s fingers run through your hair gently as he kissed your forehead, whispering in your ear over and over again how much he loved you and how proud he was of you.

All of those moments that you’d imagine what it would be like to have a baby paled in comparison to what you felt now. Your heart pumped with pure love, for your husband and child, you couldn’t even fathom how much your body held.

It was all falling into place, the life you and Steve had always wanted. 

Before you completely passed out, Steve whispered one last thing to you that set your sweet dreams in motion.

“You’re my hero, darling.”

(AND that’s it folks. While you’re here, please please please check out my new fic that’s I’ve been working on for over a year now. Click riiiiiiiight here for part one ilyilyily)