#sure it’s one of those classes where it’s basically a lecture with not a lot of interaction

[sugargliderowl]

Running on 3 hours of sleep is not good for you especially when you’re older as someone who’s used to sleeping that much in middle and high school

[roscgcld]

hear me out🙏 frenemies to lovers with fratboy!sukuna that has rumors about him being some sort of sex god meanwhile hes a virgin, demisexual, and has the fattest crush on reader but of course readers too dense to notice so one day at a frat party maybe he does something that makes reader realize

RYOMEN SUKUNA || fratboy!au

note: *slams hand on table* i love it - give me 20 of those.

pronouns: afab, but really it's gender neutral for the most part

disclaimer: since I am in Europe, it's not underaged drinking - but do not that there is drinking/flat-party-esk vibes? (idk, don't know mich about frats hahaha)

ryomen sukuna masterlist |  buy me a coffee?  

college is daunting

but while college is for studies, it is also known for the parties

now obviously there was no requirement for you to drink to have fun, but it definitely helps - and with you being roomed with a very energetic group of housemates, on the odd day they catch you outside of your room, you are being dragged to a house party

and like any college, there is the most popular 'party animal' - and for your college, that is ryomen sukuna

riding on a football scholarship, and having been bid on by almost all the frat houses, sukuna was known to be the life of the party; being able to charm a wall if you left him in front of one long enough

There were endless rumours about which 'lucky' girl he slept with that week, what parties he was going to for the week, and the new drink combos he came up with

basically whatever he touched, turned into gold

and even if you wanted to avoid him, you physically can't - not when you two are in the same course and shared almost all of your classes together

it was hard to ignore the constant whispers in the crowded lecture hall you two share; half of these people aren't even in your degree, but they are hogging up all the seats

so unless you go in early, you are not getting the good seats

and it just had to be your luck that the only few seats that were free were right in front of sukuna's; which was at the very front of the classroom

that already annoys you, and it doesn't help that sukuna seems to take annoying you as a part of his to-do list

not only does he make sure to go out of his way to do any group project (which to be fair, bar from being hard to organise group meetings with him, he does his share of the work), he seems to always seek you out in any of your shared lectures

not only did it mean you had the glaring eyes of at least 10 people on you, but you could also hear the whispers and the somewhat passive-aggressive interactions with a few of your classmates

it also came with a lot of people trying to become your 'friend', as it seemed from the outside that you and sukuna are close friends

and because of this, you had tried to ignore sukuna for the most part - you weren't mean or cold, you were just cordial

but that seemed to not have deterred him; as he would run up to you after lectures or invite himself into your conversations with your roommates and friends

it is because of his persistence that it led to you two having somewhat of a friendship - where you found out that behind his outgoing and sometimes borderline arrogant personality, he was somewhat of a nerd who enjoys video games and comics, and goes home often to visit 'the brat' (aka, his baby brother)

your sudden closeness to the 'king of the campus' however meant attention - which meant personal invites to massive house parties

you were not much of a party person. sure, you enjoyed a good drink or two, but you prefer to stay in on the weekend

however, as if god hates you, the invite to this party was on a name basis - and guess whose name was printed on the invitation in big, bold letters?

so that is how you found yourself being shoved into your bathroom with an outfit that your roommate had found in your closet; with promises that she will be doing your makeup once you walk out

not long after you found yourself being welcomed into sukuna's frat house; where your friends immediately started to drag you around to see who had actually been invited

and if like magic, sukuna seemed to have spotted you from wherever he was and made his way towards you

"well look at what the cat's dragged in?" he called out to you teasingly with a smirk

you greeted him back, and you thought that was that - but he just seems to...follow you everywhere?

from you finding your friends (you made him open all your bottles), bringing you to meet his frat brothers and other friends, butting into your conversations with random people

it was like having a very clingy cat following you like a shadow

you have no idea why he does that so much; it was as if he was trying to scare everyone away and keep your attention entirely on him

eventually, though your friends got to drag you away to play some games that were being held, and that was how you found yourself in a circle of people playing suck and blow; where you pass the card to the next person with your lips. and if the card falls you had to take a drink

after you guys changed your seats, you found yourself sitting between two men; since it had to be girl-boy-girl

you don't know who the guy is by your left, but you are aware of the man on your right; you two shared the same classes and so wave or nod at each other when you make eye contact

and even though you can't see him, you can feel sakuna's eyes on you from behind you. which both reassures you, but also made your hair stand on the edge

soon though the game started, and your attention was soon occupied with the game as the card started to make its rounds around the table

the first few rounds were fun to watch; since the card only went past 3 to 4 people before it fell on the ground, with the two people laughing when they kissed before taking a sip from their drink

it took a while for you to get your first try of the game, and you managed to hand the card over to the next person perfectly, but it was when the second time the card returned to you that it fell a few seconds just before the other man got into position

it all happened in slow motion; one moment you were staring wide-eyed at the man beside you as he got closer to your face, and the next thing you knew a warm hand was pressed up against your lips and you were pulled into a solid mass

"don't even think about it, punk."

the group around you erupted in teasing cheers as you felt your face warm up from embarrassment; your eyes looking up at sukuna to see him giving the poor man a lethal look. his other hand gripping so tightly onto his bottle that you feared he was going to break it

before you can do anything though you are hoisted off your seat and lead off; spluttering through your shock as you try to catch up behind sakuna

eventually, you two came to a stop in a room, and it took you a few seconds to realise that you were in sukuna's room. who was staring down at you with an unreadable look on his face. "um-"

"just how dense are you ?"

you aren't really sure what he meant by that, and he must have seen the confusion on your face as he just rolled his eyes in annoyance

"you do know i like you, right? I've been trying to tell you for months now."

you didn't know what to say - so all you did was blink up at the frustrated man and slowly shook your head in response. you genuinely had no idea at all

"..i am in love with an idiot."

wanna read more?  >   ryomen sukuna masterlist |  buy me a coffee?

© roscgcld — all rights reserved to me, rose, the author and creator of these works. do not repost/translate/claim my work as yours on any platform

[breyito]

Distraction: High School AU

Snippet No.2:

(this one goes before the last one, by a fair amount of time)

Edwin’s been driving Charles insane the whole day. While usually they would exchange mocking looks as Ms. Night lectures them, the older boy has refused to look at him more than necessary. Which, outside their History Class, is zero. 

So, Edwin has been basically ignoring him all morning and Charles’ is at his wit’s end. Yeah, they had tried something a bit different yesterday, but it wasn’t completely new, and if Edwin had any complaints, Charles’ would have usually heard about them by now already.

(No, bad Charles! Not thinking about the pretty bratty boy on his knees while you’re in class.) 

He has been ignoring pretty much everybody, actually. Not answering teachers’ questions and not correcting them either. He’s wearing the black turtleneck that makes him look so fucking posh and polished, even if privately he’s nothing but. 

Fuck, Charles wants to get him alone. Needs to get him alone. 

Finally, finally, the lunch bell rings. Charles, who didn’t even bother taking his things out of his backpack for this class, jumps and catches up to the other boy. 

Simon is already getting to Edwin, a question on his lips. Monty is not far behind him, a worried frown on his too-perfect face.

Vultures, the whole lot of them. Charles thinks viciously. 

“Sorry, mate, I need him for our project.” he says, grabbing Edwin by the wrist and ignoring the soft shocked “Hpmh!” he lets out as he barely manages to catch his bag before being dragged away.

“Charles!” the other boy protests, but quietly. The athlete knows that Edwin is never quiet when he really objects to something, so he ignores it and keeps on going. Besides, there’s no tugging, Ed just lets him guide them to wherever the younger boy wants to go. 

‘Wherever’ turns out to be a supply closet in the music wing, which is always empty at this time (and is where Edwin is supposed to go after lunch anyways, so he can’t complain too much.) 

Charles opens the door and, checking there is enough room, gets them both inside in record time. He gets both their bags and drops them in a corner, ignoring Edwin’s soft protest.

The first thing he does when they’re alone is hug Edwin very strongly. The older boy tenses for a second, before slowly hugging back.

“Shit, you drove me up the wall all morning, babe.” He says into Edwin’s ear.

“I didn’t even speak to you, Charles.” Edwin protests quietly.

“Exactly! You didn’t speak to me, or joked with me or looked at me.” Charles complains, whining. 

Edwin huffs a laugh into the other boy’s shoulders.

“You were doing it on purpose then, ignoring me?” Charles asks teasingly, separating them enough to look at those pretty jewel eyes.

“Of course not.” Edwin says, hoarse, looking down. 

“Are you sure?” the athlete questions, cupping the older boy’s face firmly. “Sure you didn’t want to drive me crazy enough to kidnap you away from your friends and snog you silly?” Charles’ tone loses its playfulness at the memory of Simon and Monty just waiting to get Edwin’s attention all to themselves.

But the older boy shakes his head and looks away. Charles refuses to not have his eyes on him anymore.

“Look at me, darling.” Those wide green eyes take half an eternity to find his own, but that’s okay. “There we go, pretty boy.” 

Anticipating the protest Edwin always has against the term, Charles drowns it between their tongues.

“Mmmh” says Charles against his mouth. “You taste like honey.”

Edwin protests are muffled by Charles’ lips until the older boy pushes him away to liberate his mouth.

“Of course I taste like honey!” he whispers-shouts. “I’ve been downing honey drops by the bag, Charles!” he protests, hoarse.

“Oh?” the athlete hums distractedly, mouthing the edge of Edwin’s chin, following the purple bruises with gusto. “Why?”

“Why-what do you mean why!?” Edwin sounds indignant, despite stretching his head back to leave room for Charles’ explorations. “I have a debate competition tomorrow! With the state you left my throat in-”he bites his lips to shut himself up, but it’s far too late already. Charles obviously heard him, since he’s frozen still for a moment or two. 

Suddenly, Edwin is smashed against the door (which, fortunately for all involved, happens to be of quality and not open from the impact) and kissed with such ferocity that any thoughts he might have had fled his head entirely. His hands anchor themselves in Charles’ hair, even though he really should grasp something else to maintain his balance.

“Yeah?” asks Charles when they break apart, both heaving. “That’s why you were so quiet all day,” he whispers hotly in Edwin's ear “marked you all up from the inside?”

“Charl-” the older boy starts, scandalised. He tries to avoid the athlete’s gaze, to no avail. 

“Fucked you silent for a whole day, huh?” Charles interrupts. “Did it hurt, babe?”

Edwin can do nothing but swallow and remain silent. That is a mistake, since Charles’ gaze homes into the movement of his throat, eyes hungry. Slowly, he lifts one hand from its place on Edwin’s waist and brings it up, until the tips of his fingers are caressing the long, marked stretch of skin. The older boy shivers and swallows again, the phantom sensation of that hand holding him by the neck so firmly replaying in his mind.

“Can you still feel me inside, luv?” Charles’ whispers, like in a trance. His thumb is now tracing the faint bruised corners of Edwin’s mouth. Charles’ looks feverish as he gently puts his thumb in Edwin’s mouth, barely outlining his lower lip from the inside, feeling the fragile moist skin there. The older boy swallows again, and this time he can taste salt and skin and Charles, and that is probably what makes him lose his senses and actually answer.

“...yes.” he says, also in a whisper. Edwin feels himself gain courage and pulls at the hair he has in his hands so that Charles’ eyes lock with his own instead of remaining on his mouth. “As troublesome as it is, I can even say that I miss it.” he finishes, before kissing the pad of Charles’ finger and then his palm, green eyes still firmly on Charles’.

“Fuck.” the athlete curses with all his body, shivering. The just kissed hand grabs Edwin’s face and they kiss again and again, and again.

When they split apart, the older boy smiles at him mischievously. In two seconds, he pushes him gently but firmly, making Charles take two steps back; grabs his backpack and opens the door to then leave and close it.

“Goodbye, Charles.” singsongs Edwin, from the other side, before hurrying away, aware that the lunch hour is almost over. 

“....fuck.” mumbles the athlete, forehead making a thud as it hits the wood.

-----

(Listen, I swear by the life of me, I'm not this horny like, ever. Idk why these two have such a chokehold on me, I usually blush too much to write something this...sexually charged lmao.)

(yes, i added this on a reblog on the first post on accident. i won't delete it cause i'm not sure how. just forget it exists lol. anything i add to this au will be posted individually from now on)

[unstablenoodle]

Just graduated, and I’ve been dragging myself by my hair through the last 4 years. here’s advice if you’re new to college:

Basic advice:

Make friends in your lectures. You will know some of those people all four years, and some of them are better at this than you. You’re still capable, but there’s always a bigger fish and you should make that fish into a study buddy

Get a job at a food court/ campus restaurant. You get a free meal, which might be your only one for the day if you don’t have a meal plan. Work can also be a mental break from academics.

Abuse office hours. Annoy your TA. make them scared to see you. TA’s are tired grad students and you won’t have a formal relationship with them: they are students too.

Study advice:

Flash cards are for review and rote learning only. 15-30 minute power review sessions for things you already know. If you’re going over familiar shit, do it in short, repetitive bursts.

Be the bitch with annoying decorative notes. Make it a game, it’ll force you to look at the material more. I will say though, make sure you decorate with purpose.

Those friends you made in lecture? That’s where you get the big studying done. If you’re going for a higher 4 hour long study sesh, bring other people. They know things you don’t and vice versa, so you can fill in the gaps for each other. This type of studying is for unfamiliar or confusing material.

Big study sessions usually only happen a couple weeks out from exams at most. Before exams, your homework is your main means of studying.

Just go to the lecture. I don’t care if it’s at 7:30 am, go. Participation points could be the difference between a B and a C.

TI-84 graphing calculator

Pub chem

If a professor, for some ungodly reason, says you aren’t allowed to work on the homework with other people, fuck that guy.

Your $168.99 textbook is likely a free PDF online.

Date someone who fills in your gaps. I dated an engineer I met in a physics class and it worked beautifully.

Mental health (my advice on this is very specific):

Basic advice: drink water regularly, eat vegetables, exercise. You know all this.

Stay far, far away from any substance called a “study buddy” or something like that

Get a hobby. Actually. Something to do in your free time to keep you from going insane. I personally like knitting and drawing, but it can be anything. I’d say avoid something involving technology because it’s easy to fall into that for hours at a time. Do something that engages your hands and your brain. You might not be creative, but creativity is good for you. Your painting looks like shit? The benefits you have reaped from its creation are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Good job.

If you are having any kind of hallucination (visual, auditory, presence, etc.), seek professional help immediately. I have lived half my life with the feeling of eyes on me and the presence of people who aren’t actually there and never tried to fix it because I could “work around it.” Just go get help. Hallucinations can also be a symptom of neurological issues and physical illness.

OCD and disorders involving psychosis are aggravated by stress. Your classes will stress you out. Disorders like this are scary and debilitating, so you absolutely need to be in therapy, possibly on medication. They also tend to be episodic, so you may have periods of recovery where your life quality improves. Do NOT be fooled: you still need to be in therapy even if you feel good. Preventative measures are the best measures!!

Social:

Get a job. Work friends are funnier and way more entertaining than any other kind of friend

I recommend a group of 2-4 people you chill with regularly. Movie night with them once a week (barring exam weeks and extenuating circumstances)

Talk with your roommates at least occasionally. It’s no fun living with total strangers.

Do not start smoking cigarettes. A lot of people are repulsed by the smell and it clings to you.

Hygiene. Mainly you should smell good. You don’t have to go crazy with an expensive perfume/ cologne, but shower and always have a decent scent. Also try not to wear stained clothes.

Not sure how useful this is, but it’s the first thing I could think of. I’ll come back and edit if I think of more.

[0asisbliss]

Super slaughter

Warnings: Gore, murder, kidnapping, torture, etc. (Not to reader) This wasn’t present in this current chapter, but later on it will be included in the series. if you’re kinda sensitive to that kind of stuff I don’t request you read this.🤷🏽‍♀️

A/n: I had a lot of fun making this🙃

Parings: Yandere!Choso x Fem!Reader

It’s a massive massacre it’s super slaughter~

You had pretty much good life so far you got into college, and got a job. It’s good pay, and you have free time on the weekends. You didn’t have many friends though, and family lived out the country, so didn’t really talk to anyone much. Even though you had a couple of friends most of them were either busy, or just ignored you when you reached out to them.

You basically had no one if you had really thought about it. That’s until you met him anyway. He was kinda weird looking. Hair in to top ponytails and big black eyes staring back at you. No wonder he was talked about among the girls back at campus. Even though everyone thought he was handsome and good looking. Everyone had one thing in common when saying things about him. He. Was. Weird. Always having his head in a book, or just staring out in space. You might think it’s normal for people to do that. Maybe? But when he does it’s creepy. So when he approached you asking to hang out with him. You hesitate first, but you end up agreeing.

He then asks for your number to make a time and place for you two to go.

Choso’s cheeks flush a bright red thinking of you and him together. When his mind starts to wonder else where he shakes those thoughts out of his head. That’s when he wants to hear your sweet voice again.

You’re sitting on your bed doing absolutely nothing scrolling through instagram instead of doing your assignments that are due tomorrow. You can clearly see his caller id, but do really wanna talk to someone right now? You thought to yourself. Nonetheless you pick up the phone, and once you pick it up Choso’s eyes beam with glee, and happiness.

“Hi…” Choso say directly into the phone to make sure you hear him.

“Hello Choso how are you?”

“I’m doing fine. You smelled good today” Choso said this in a serious tone as if he really wants you to know. Everything seems fine until you realize you didn’t even see him today.

“Oh! Uh Choso I don’t remember seeing you today?”

“Don’t worry love I saw you.” You think about what to say for a moment before responding. You giggle a bit at his nickname for you.

“Well thank you Choso! You’re so sweet.”

She called me sweet I can’t believe she called me sweet!

Choso went quiet for a while not saying anything at all. You just wondered he went to go do something, and he’d be back.

The phone hung up. You thought nothing of it and went back to what you were doing even though the conversation was weird.

The next day once you get on campus you run by the campus cafe to get a quick coffee. Then you catch your friends. You two walk around to pass time before class starts. She goes with you to 1st period math.

Kacey and you have actually been friends since high school. You two eventually grew closer when you two talked about going to the same college together. If you could talk about anything to anyone it would be her. She had such a bright and funny personality when it came to life she was just in general a bubbly person.

When you two entered class you sat down in your seats. You two sat close to the teacher for better hearing since the class was fairly big. As you two got ready for lecture you two would always have small conversations.

“I hear that you’ve found someone!”

“Huh? What? No not really I’m actually not looking for anyone at the moment.” You said bluntly wondering why she would say something like that.

“Aren’t you in a relationship with the cute weirdo Choso?”

“No? Who said that?”

“Choso himself? That’s what he told me.” She shrugs getting her notes out.

“Oh no. We’re not dating, I’m just gonna assume he thought wrong and maybe talk to him about it.” You said in a positive tone.

After a couple hours pass and class is over you rush to find Choso. Hopefully to find him before he tell anyone else the false rumor of you two dating.Hopefully he won’t go crazy about it.

[nintendont2502]

cant find the original post but a while ago i impulsively decided to add all 32 sburb players (betas, alphas, alternians *and* beforans) to a random name generator and then randomly mix them up - characters kept their original first name and class, and took on the last name and aspect of whatever character they took the role of. this was just meant to be a funny 1am experiment so i could laugh at the cursed results

...yeah it has lore now. i cant stop thinking about it. help.

Beta Kids:

Gamz Egbert (Gamzee) - Bard of Breath. One of the most chill guys ever. Constantly zoned the hell out. Loves clowns :0) him and his dad bond over it. Hangs out with Kari a lot over vc, where it's basically just Kari talking at him uninterrupted (the kid needs it sometimes)

Kari Strider (Kankri) - Seer of Time. Gifted kid and he won't let you forget it. Permanently lives in a sweater vest even though he literally lives in Texas. Constantly annoyed by how childish and immature his older brother is. Lectures him a lot. Lectures his friends a lot. Has 'visions of his past lives' (aka occasional memories from his post-scratch/alternate timeline counterparts). Lectures his friends about how theyre real and valid whenever they make give him shit for it (which happens a lot). Dedicated pacifist - for now, anyway.

John Lalonde - Heir of Light. Golden child. Has an over-bearing mother that constantly pushes him into learning instruments/lanugages/skills, participating in competitions and events, winning award after award. Sure, he's... kinda sick of doing things all day every day, and he doesn't really want to do any of this, but... shouldn't he do it anyway? Even if just for his Mom? Hell, he can't really complain about it, right? He has such a good life! He goes horseback riding every sunday! Sure, it sucks that he doesn't have any free time that isn't controlled by his mother, but he can deal with it. It's fine.

(Things get even worse during the three year trip when Wuh Oh! Gender crisis time! Except he can’t be a girl because he was always meant to be his mom’s perfect son, and he’s already let her down once by letting her die, right? He can just… live with this. Its fine. It's not that bad. It's for her, after all.)

Roxy Harley - Rogue of Space. Grew up living on a small island somewhere in the Pacific that her grandfather 'won in a poker game' (aka probably scammed someone out of, knowing him) - or so he says, anyway. He also used to say he got Roxy the same way every time she asked where she came from! Haha very funny Roxy definitely loved hearing that and not a real response every time she asked where she came from and why she didn’t have any parents. That was great. Her grandfather died when she was fairly young, leaving her alone on the island with nothing left of him but the small inventions he left around the place to make life easier for her. She grows up learning how to maintain them, and although she tries becoming a great inventor like her grandfather, she just... doesn't have the skill. Hacking, on the other hand - shes great at that shit! She finally cracks her final goal - cracking into her grandfathers servers - just before her friend Gamz's 13th birthday, finding mostly boring shit - expenses, customer complaints, legal threats, budgets, etc. What's mildly more interesting to her, however, is the insane amount of money (if they lived on the mainland, they'd be fucking LOADED), and a .exe file for a really cool looking game, with a note from her grandfather congratulating her on finally getting in. And hey, would you look at that? Its multiplayer! And all her friends are free - even John, who through sheer coincidence found himself with a free weekend after his tutors came down with various mysterious illnesses and injuries. It's like the universe wants them to play the game or some shit! Haha wild

Alpha Kids:

Raph Crocker (Rufioh) - Rogue of Life. The living embodiment of all those business major memes. Dude is *dedicated* to the Crockercorp brand - he's determined that one day, he'll climb the ranks and become head of the company, and hopefully lead it just as well as his great-grandfather did. He unironically wears a suit everywhere, and seems committed to sounding like a 50 year old boardroom exec trapped in the body of a 16 year old - although it isn't hard to get him to crack. As much as he pretends he has no patience for his online friends and their constant stories of 'living on a remote island' or 'living in the post-apocalyptic future' (seriously guys, he isn't that gullible), he does genuinely care about them. Besides, when you're stuck in the house all day, there isn't much else to do.

Tuna Strider (Mituna) - Heir of Heart. Trans king. Exudes pure 'disney channel older brother' energy. Shithead (affectionate). Looks up to his Bro, a famous pacifist who resisted the Batterwitch's rule with a global peaceful protest... only to be killed the moment he became too much of a threat. Yyeah. Tuna has... some thoughts about how that should have gone down - most of them involving swords. Or guns. Or both. Maybe if his Bro had a sweet katana, the world wouldn't have been flooded! Although it's too late for his Bro, Tuna has decided to take up the fight in his stead by creating his own 'sick as fuck gun-sword' with whatever scrap metal he can find in the apartment (his Bro, for some reason, didn't think to leave him any useable weapons. cringe). He's got the sword part down great, but the gun... not so much.

Vris Lalonde (Vriska) - Thief of Void. The second half of the 't4t post apocalypse chaos squad', as Tuna calls them. Girl doxxes people for fun - what are they gonna do? Doxx her back? lmao good luck with that losers - closest youre gonna get is still 400 years off. Constantly daring her friends to do stupid shit and quote, 'stop being so fucking boringggg'. it usually works on tuna. sometimes on dave. she still hasnt gotten raph yet, but *one day*...

Dave English - Knight of Hope. smooth talking mile a minute inventor who *loves* trying to 'pitch' his latest invention to his friends. its become almost a game to them, where theyll take turns bidding increasingly ridiculous amounts for an umbrella that shoots seeds ('for easy planting in the rain yknow') or a beat-boxing robot ('i dont even need to explain this one just look at it man. cool as shit'). hell, even raph gets involved sometimes, usually turning it into a shark tank style negotiation. dave swears hes keeping a tally of how much everyone 'owes' him, and claims that one day hes settling that bill. his inventions are genuinely pretty impressive, especially considering his limited resources - being stuck alone on a remote island makes sourcing parts pretty hard. he probably wouldnt even need to jokingly scam his friends in order to jokingly sell his inventions - they jokingly sell themselves. he just thinks scamming people is fun.

Alternia Rapid Fire Round lets goo

Cronus Megido - Bard of Time. relentlessly flirts with anyone of a higher caste than him in the hopes that, if he can get into a quadrant with them, he'll have more protection than he would as just a solo rustblood. this strategy ultimately fails when he flirts with a particular Serket one too many times and gets killed for it. damn. oh well.

Sollux Nitram - so so tired of everyones shit. the only person that actually vaguely got along with Cronus (because he was the only person that Cronus didn't flirt with). just wants to play his pokemon in peace man stop dragging him into drama

Damara Captor - Witch of Doom. 'curses' people. seems weirdly unsurprised when those curses actually work. after cronus' death, a rumour went around that she was the one who caused it, and she absolutely wasnt denying that shit - now no one wants to fuck with her, and those that do? well, she still has her psiionics.

Meulin Vantas - Mage of Blood. Basically the only fucking thing holding this friendship group together. Despite all the complicated as shit relationships - the friendships, the exes, the mortal enemies, the attempted (and successful) murders - Meulin somehow manages to navigate the web of relationships and keep everyone relatively stable

Jaydee Leijon (Jade) - Witch of Heart. catgirl :33. Wishes she lived closer to everyone so she could see them 33: especially her moirail!! at least she still has her lusus to playfight with

Karkat Maryam - Knight of Space. basically a tboy vampire. Used to live in the caverns, but after he realised he was a dude, he began to feel uncomfortable with how oppressive and 'feminine' the caverns were. ran away. struggles with his identity - the contrast between the typical female jadeblood standards of being caring and nurturing, and the typical alternian female standards of being violent and aggressive, leave him stuck in the middle, unsure of what to do or who hes 'allowed' to be. swings wildly between being aggressive and letting himself care about his friends. he eventually figures out that gender stereotypes are bullshit and he can care abt his friends and still be a dude. hes still an asshole though <3

Eridan Pyrope - Prince of Mind. Incredibly committed to a strict moral code - which... no one can figure out. it seems to vary wildly depending on what suits him best at the specific moment. Used to roam Alternia looking for 'criminals' to 'improve' or, if that failed, 'bring to justice' with one Serket, but after an incident involving the loss of three eyes and one arm... they arent exactly on speaking terms.

Dyrrhk Serket (Dirk) - Prince of Light. i dont know how else to say it this mfer makes saw traps. he claims its to 'improve' people - by putting them through some specific trap, it... fixes a percieved issue? even if its an issue only he can see. and if they die in the trap? well, they should have just tried harder right. they probably deserved it. he isnt even doing this out of a desire to hurt people hes *genuinely* convinced that what hes doing is helping, and thinks that this is the best way to go about it. puts eridan through one one day, resulting in the loss of his vision, and after he (finally) figured out that 'huh maybe that wasnt a good idea', he... apologises. lmao just kidding that would be too reasonable - instead he mind controls one of his friends into putting *dyrrhk* into a trap of his own design, resulting in the loss of an eye and an arm. he seems genuinely convinced that this should make them even. everythings fine now, right? he scares me just on a conceptual level

Tavros Zahhak - Page of Void. hes basically a himbo im ngl. hes tall hes ripped hes clumsy and he cant help but draw attention to himself wherever he goes - attention he *hates*. moirails with jaydee. theyre cute <>

Latula Makara - Knight of Rage. clown... despite the usual purpleblood stereotypes, she doesnt really get angry all that often - most of the time, shes just vibing. but when she *does* get angry? its always for a reason. theres always a specific goal shes fulfilling through that anger (even if its just intimidating someone into doing something). i have the least thoughts about her but shes interesting

Jaiikk Ampora (Jake) - Page of Hope. Just a funny lil guy that likes playing pirates :) all the lowbloods he roleplays with definitely want to be there and don't feel coerced by being 'asked' by a literal violetblood :)) if people die during his 'games' well that sucks but he cant exacly stop playing because of a few small accidents right? ..yyeah. hes incredibly ignorant of his position in society and how that effects other people, even if (especially if) those consequences are deadly for others. after a certain point its just easier to not know whats going on than to face all the damage youve caused right. claims he loves the ocean and dreams of living in the depths. never goes into the ocean. hes a weird guy

Equius Peixes - Heir of Life. Future heir to the Alternian throne. Determined to lead Alternia into a new era of strength, no matter the methods to get there. moirails with Jaiikk (which absolutely doesnt help the whole 'Jaiikk accidentally pressuring lowbloods into doing things for him' thing. bro has scary dog privileges with the future emperor looming behind him at all times)

Even faster Beforus speed round because you cant legally make me think about them for more than five seconds

Porrim Megido - Maid of Time

Feferi Nitram - Witch of Breath

Rose Captor - Seer of Doom

Nepeta Vantas - Rogue of Blood

Kurloz Leijon - Prince of Heart

Aradia Maryam - Mage of Space

Aranea Pyrope - Sylph of Mind

Kanaya Serket - Sylph of Light

Jane Zahhak - Maid of Void

Meenah Makara - Thief of Rage

Terezi Ampora - Seer of Hope

Horuss Peixes - Page of Life

[lacewise]

Oh we’re doing that thing again where we pretend business degrees are useless so that way if (when) corporations commit serious crimes or influencers commit serious ethical violations we can all be like “lol they didn’t know anything business school only teaches two+2!”

Meanwhile the textbook lays out the exact scenario as what NOT to do in week 2. In a textbook that, weirdly, no businessperson ever cites. Despite it being almost universally taught in classrooms and lecture halls. Sure.

It’s almost like people are pretending there aren’t regulations to learn in hopes that they’ll go away…

And the general public making those jokes are falling for it…

But of course the jokesters you like would never lie to you so it must be something else! Surely they’ve learned nothing about the tax code to exploit loopholes! They definitely haven’t learned any dodgy marketing practices! They’d have to go to a class for that! And business schools only teach… 2+2.

Remember this: people on the internet will lie to you for money. Never believe anything without fact checking and ascertaining they don’t have a vested interest in lying.

If you believe this, you have fallen directly for a dodgy marketing tactic.

We can do this right now: think of every influencer you know in a research-heavy niche who is known for or suspected of cutting serious research corners. Now think of influencers you know that make jokes about how business degrees are useless. I suspect a pattern might be emerging.

Fashion merchandising, accounting, and marketing are all business majors. We literally have not finished the reckoning of how marketing uses psychology and sociology to manipulate people. Please, let’s pretend to be just a little bit serious. You are nodding along with “accounting majors? They don’t know how to do math!” (And keep in mind… we all have to take basic accounting classes. A lot of jokes made about business majors and business school are only specifically applicable to one type of MBA student.) Use your brains. Don’t let weirdos you don’t know making a living on the internet lie to you.

I just watched a YouTube video where everyone was laughing at the students and neither the host or the comments put together that teaching comprehensive business ethics is an avenue for teaching the more cynical students a roadmap on how to disregard ethics and get away with it. Why? Because the host implied either the students weren’t paying attention or the professor was lying about the coursework, and the audience believed him.

If you see someone doing this: click off the video. Immediately. They are not a trustworthy source of information.

[saigawrites]

Title : Genshin characters as highschool students.

Note : This will probably mostly relate to central asian students. Also, most of the interactions are platonic :) Characters that look older will be teachers cuz it's strange for me to imagine them as students😥

Tags : crack, fluff(?), headcanons.

Warnings : mentions of vaping, insulting, alcohol.

Characters : Xiao, Scaramouche, Childe, Zhongli, Venti, Kazuha.

Xiao is the type of student that follows the uniform rules strictly, a well-ironed shirt, a tie neatly sitting on top, with a good-looking blazer. Has good grades, kinda one of those lonely mysterious excellent students who look very pretty while literally putting no effort😭.

We have this thing where starting from 6 or 7th classes will have to go out patrolling on break time. Basically to watch and scold students if they run, misbehave or don't follow the dress code. So I imagine Xiao taking the patrol very seriously, like man would lecture you for a solid 10 minutes when you slightly quickened your pace in the halls💀. I swear, he would enjoy patrolling so much, he would continue to do it even when it's the other classes turn.

Scaramouche is the type of student who has beef with the whole school. With this behavior he would not survive our schools, man would get slandered on daily basis😰. You know, we have this type of insta acc's where you can send anonymous letters inside of your school, like confess to a crush from the other class, right? Scaramouche would literally get hate letters all of the time. Every second post on this account would be about him☠. Either ppl insulting the shit out of him, or defending him with their life, with his pretty privilege I think he would have at least some amount of fans.

In my opinion, scaramouche is those type of people who tried vaping once, didn't like it and started hating and dissing everyone around him who vapes.

Venti is the student who spends his break time in the toilets, vaping with his friends, maybe even drinking. Remembering there was a case in my school where some students hid some beer behind the toilet walls😶. Venti would try to do something like that too, for sure. Also I think he would be very interested in the drama around, involving himself in some conflicts accidentally.

Kazuha is the type of student who vapes, but hides it surprisingly well, the only person knowing being Venti. Generally has a good reputation in school, being a chill student that can get along with literally anyone. Could be one of the Scaramouche defenders, or could be not informed on the drama at all. The one who you always see in the art classroom, hanging out there with the art teacher, talking with your class about the meaning of life, philosophy, and all those other artsy things.

Childe is the PE teacher that never, and I mean NEVER, spares you. You have your PE uniform? Run 10 circles on the 500 metre length. Oh, you don't have your PE uniform? Do 500 squads in the uncomfortable school uniform and then don't have the permission to sit on any benches, you don't deserve them. He's the type of teacher who has the most useless lessons in school, but acts like they are the most important ones. Some ppl simp for him, and you can see why, but you still think it's kind of sus how he acts when his students compliment him🤨.

Zhongli is the sweet and kind history teacher, who puts a lot of effort in your studying and let's you draw things and write stories on your tests if you've done them early😭. Actually appreciates all of the goofy little drawings and stories and thinks of them as the warm memories. Also the one who always greets you whenever you see each other while passing, but somehow doesn't remember your name and always misses it😐.

I think I'll this one on here, let me know if should make a part 2!! This was very fun, and I honestly didn't expect to write that much😶.

[jextell2514]

Can I do your ask game again? 👀 I'm curious about Stardancer or Metacognition!!

Of course! I love getting asks! (Send another ask if you want me to continue this, or if you'd like to hear some more about Metacognition)

So, for Stardancer, the idea is basically that Betha meets Jarra before she meets Drago. Let's say that some Military scientists want to find out if the Handicapped could become workers on the Earth solar arrays. To that end, they set up a program where solar array workers come to science classes as specialist lecturers teaching about the Earth solar arrays and the work they do. Betha is one of these workers, and the science class she comes to happens to be Jarra's.

Her bullying science teacher doesn't like someone else barging into her classroom, and she certainly isn't going to change her teaching style for them, Military or not. So she singles out Jarra and starts being horrible and cruel, at which point Betha steps in, says that she's reporting the science teacher. They get into an argument, which Betha wins, and then Betha starts her lesson. The kids are all actually listening to her, mostly because they're a little in awe of her defeating their science teacher, but eventually Jarra raises her hand to ask a question.

Snippet time!

I looked at the class of students that I was telling about my job. They all seemed very attentive, excited even, though I had a feeling most of them were far more excited about the fact that I had threatened to report their bully of a teacher than the actual information. Then one of them, the defiant girl that had been singled out at the beginning of class, raised her hand. I came to a stopping point, paused, and pointed. "What's your question?" I asked, trying to come off as friendly.

"Why do we need to learn this if we can't leave Earth?" she said, a little bitter but not overly confrontational.

"Because the Military want even stupid apes like you to learn—"

"Shut up," I said. She shut up.

I turned back to the class. "To answer your question, we're not entirely sure that going into Earth orbit will trigger your immune system problem. It might, but the Military aren't actually sure yet."

I paused. The entire class seemed in awe at the prospect, but none of them moreso than the girl that had asked the question. She was looking at me like I was Adonis, and she was Major Kerr. "Strictly speaking, I'm not supposed to tell you the exact purpose behind this lesson, but..." The children all looked up at me pleadingly. "...I have a feeling some of you have already worked it out for yourselves. We'd like to find out if Earth orbit is safe for you, and possibly recruit some of you once you're older if it is, and that's easiest if you all have a base level of knowledge about us solar array workers."

****

After the class period ended, the girl—Jarra Reeath, based on a seating chart I had belatedly noticed at the front of the room—cornered me.

"Do you think I could be a solar array worker?" she demanded desperately.

Well, that was a loaded question. The best thing I knew to do with those was tell the truth. "Maybe," I said. "Even assuming it's safe for you to be in Earth orbit, it takes a lot of work. You need to be physically able, reasonably intelligent, and have a good amount of scientific knowledge." Jarra looked determined to overcome each of those obstacles, until the last one. Then, her face fell.

"I hate science," she said.

"It doesn't have to be your favorite subject to work on a solar array. But... I have a feeling you could be very good at science, with the right teacher."

Jarra looked towards the door. "She always says I'm stupid."

I snorted. "That woman is obviously a terrible teacher. I've not even met her for a day and I can see that." I paused. "Can I ask you for something?"

"What?"

"Prove her wrong for me, okay?" Then, I hesitated. Almost without thinking, I added, "And call me if you have any more questions," then gave her my mail address.

[meenawrites]

Lo'ak Modern AU

Guys... I cannot believe I wrote modern AUs for all the blorbos except Lo'ak omg. Criminal. Imma rectify that right now.

SO

Lo'ak definitely has some inferiority complex towards Neteyam especially but also Kiri to a certain extent, just in that both his older siblings are pretty successful in school in such and he feels like a bit of a screw-up in comparison.

He's the type where if he doesn't like something or want to do it, he just won't. Like it's incredibly difficult to make himself apply himself to something he has zero desire to do, and that shows in his schoolwork and general attitude.

He feels guilty towards Neteyam every time he gets lectured by Jake for something Lo'ak got them in trouble for in the first place, but loves that his brother looks out for him.

Lo'ak is smart, he just hates studying.

Spider is basically his best friend and the two combined are likely to get into WAY more trouble than either on their own. They kind of share one braincell together. And with Spider being the Anti-Bully of the school and Lo'ak being the way he is, they tend to get in trouble sometimes just for trying to defend someone (just going about it the wrong way).

Like I've mentioned before in my Spider Modern AU post, Spider definitely helps Lo'ak out with schoolwork. I think it would hurt his pride a lot if one of his older siblings were the ones to do it, but he feels like he and Spider are more equals so he doesn't mind getting school help from him. He insists on keeping it a secret though, but the two of them combined aren't super subtle, so Jake ends up finding out and just pretending in front of Lo'ak that he doesn't know while slipping Spider cash as payment basically for Spider tutoring his son (more on this in my Spider AU post).

I think Lo'ak would be on the basketball team. I don't know I feel like it just fits his vibe very well and he would be a star player. It's actually something he takes great pride in, and he's positively beaming every time his father shows up to one of his games and is cheering for him, just bursting with happiness.

Lo'ak's bedroom would be messy for sure. Like that organized chaos where he knows exactly where everything is but no one else can make heads or tails of anything. Probably has a basketball signed by his favorite player on display somewhere above the mess though. The type to have a bunch of posters scattered all over his walls – a combo of basketball and soccer posters, shounen anime posters, a few bands he's super into, and maybe a few pictures of him and Spider doing stupid shit.

Per @be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie 's post a while ago, Lo'ak definitely joins the cheer team to be closer to Tsireya. You'd think he'd be embarassed or something but he's so head over heels for her that he doesn't really care. It definitely helps that he's like surprisingly good at it, so people don't feel like they can actually poke fun at him for it.

Constantly gets into arguments with Aonung that Neteyam has to pull him away from. It's definitely escalated to physical though, but he's trying to tone it down at least for Tsireya. Helps a little that Aonung and Neteyam seem to be developing... something (Lo'ak be dense like that fr).

I think despite how extroverted Lo'ak is he wouldn't have a lot of very close friends outside of Spider and his siblings. Like maybe some people that are class friends or teammates, but he has a harder time letting someone actually get CLOSE close.

I don't know why I have this image of him really enjoying rock climbing/bouldering? Just feel like that would be a big hobby of his that Spider also shares.

Those are all my thoughts right now? But feel free to add on. I feel like I need to re-watch ATWOW to have more to say.

[fantastic-mr-corvid]

maybe not a trope strictly speaking but college au? who would be who? what would they study/teach/be like?

OOH tyy! so fun to think about...

I'm thinking of all of them as non-students, partly bc Elena, Cecio and Dina have all been to uni. under the read more bc i went for everyone

Muro would be an engineering technician. I love him but hes not getting anywhere near a degree let alone a phd even if we make it modern day. Cherry would teach engineering [more the maths and physics area but also more general] and they would have a legendary rivalry. Muro has been widely accepted into the group of professors/lecturers and is 'totally just friends' with Elena 😉

Elena would teach art history :) specifically with a focus on non european & modern american art history. Everyone jokes that she should also be a fashion professor given the clothes she designs and makes to wear but she teaches art history not art itself for the same reason of not turning her creative passion so directly into her work.

Tesoro... he either teaches english literature or psychology. or sports if he wants to keep up the jock mask. Media analysis [& wider literature and language classes] he lovess breaking down what pieces of media say and imply and how effectively they do so. his students joke that his lessons double as english 101 because of his love of english language media, but he makes sure to look at Italian classics & contemporary media as well. Him & Elena have a friendly rivalry where they debate the boundaries of their two subjects.

Conficcare teaches nursing/caring and i pity the poor people who end up in his classes and as trainees in the hypothetical university hospital nearby. Hes a decent teacher, just also a fucking nightmare of one. Contrary to expectations, if you want to calm him down just drag Muro over, not Tesoro his boyfriend.

Dina teaches... data analysis and security! also ethics. some of her students may complain how much she stresses ethics but the world is better when those students give up on the degree. She crosses over to teach the programming side of engineering as she has to deal with her wife Cherry enough she understands engineers

Cecio teaches law! He avoids the rest of them [Bar Rametta] like the plague bc being co-workers with basically your family is awkwardd but hes a decent professor and also goes heavy on how the law should protect and not be abused

Rametta teaches gender studies, though shes much more focused on research than the rest, because growing up around Muro, her brother, Tesoro, Elena ect, as well as being trans herself, made her think about the complexities of gender and their intersection with race and class and sexuality a whole fucking lot. Everyone is banned from her lectures bc it would get obvious how a lot of what she learned started from observing them.

Mura would be a politics professor and be a walking mystery who sometimes has a little to much insight into politics and is a legendarily brutal professor to have

Georgie would teach agriculture! he would be a sweetheart of a lecturer<3 doing plenty of research into conservation and how to update farming methods to be ore long term sustainable

[sevicia]

Writer Guy's only "friend" who sucks majorly. Notes under da cut. Heart.

Firstly ☝️ he's heavily inspired by the experience of having someone follow you around even after you have told them very explicitly to stop doing so. Writer Guy will look him dead in the eye and say "I don't care about anything you have to say. Leave me alone, you annoy the shit outta me", and he'll just go "Bro you're always so funny LOL I'm probably the only one that gets ur sense of humor. Anyways, about my new podcast idea..."

This guy's deal is that he's obsessed with others' perception of him. He's an aspiring influencer and can't decide between being a youtuber, a streamer, or having a podcast. He's into crypto and defends NFTs like it's his job.

He met Writer Guy in college and has stuck to him like a leech ever since, even though they only had a few classes together. His reasoning was that Writer Guy seemed like the lone-wolf type and thus would attract attention with his ~mysterious~ charm, when in reality he was so boring that no one really paid him any mind. If you ask any of their ex-classmates, you'll find that no one really remembers either of them.

He spends a lot of time in r/shortguys and gets frustrated that he can't relate to the whole "women only ever pay attention to tall guys and we manlets are all martyrs" thing cause he's never even tried to get with a girl (he will lie about this). He's gay as hell but in almost complete denial. Genuinely believes stuff like "it's not gay with the socks on".

Unserious images that remind me of him:

I also gotta mention that his role in Mary and Writer Guy's story is very, very minimal, and that he never actually meets Mary. His story is a typical yaoi one where he falls in love with some guy and has one of those cliché "I'm not gay... why do I feel like this towards another man ?!?!!" moments. I chose to do it this way cuz I think it's funny as fuck to have him experience a romcom type thing while Writer Guy is basically Spongebob in the Silent Hill corridor.

I admit I'm not 100% sold on his hair, but it's brown for sure. Why? It just makes sense.

Some design notes including the other two:

Writer Guy is generally apathetic and would be considered boring at a surface level by 99,9% of the population. He teaches philosophy (ethics, specifically) at the college Mary attends, though they weren't aware of each other before The Events. His lectures are notoriously boring and many of his students sleep thru class or just skip them completely, but he passes them all anyways.

He's a writer in his spare time and writes trashy extreme horror on his (anonymous) blog, which is how Mary becomes aware of him. Stuff happens, his superiors (who are at best ambivalent towards him) find out about his hobby, he gets fired and doesn't care enough to defend himself or to raise any concerns about the school's attitude towards its teachers' private lives.

I also forgot to include his "On" design in the above pic, so here, a comparison:

I'm very obviously still figuring out how to draw him, but the drawing on the right is what he looks like at work. Just plain dorky and someone you would not look twice at.

I would also talk about his relationship with Mary, but for that I'd need to talk about Mary first, which I can't do rn cuz this post is already long enough and it's nearing 3 AM and she makes me absolutely BONKERS insane to the point I barely even know where to start when I wanna talk about her.

She's the only OC I have ever made a playlist for. I wish she was someone else's character so I could look at her without having to do the work myself.

A little fun fact about her is she used to dye her hair black before The Events. All I got for you rn.

OK that's all from me. For neoww...... Muah!

[onyanjune]

male yandere x gn reader

cw: blink and miss it sussy business at the end. typical yan behaviour? i actually consider this to be mild yan so nothing much really.

notes: actually had a lot of fun coming up with the idea but writing was a chore in itself. enjoy!

Yandere academic rival who you obsessed over. Despite being an infamous staple of the multiple parties those popular kids held and constantly seen spending his free time at the basketball court, he still managed to effortlessly glide through exams and remain among the high achievers who were in a league of their own. You didn’t even have a valid excuse to get mad at him since he actively participated in classes, asking questions beyond the lecture notes and burning you with his intellectual curiosity.

He also annoyed you to no end, constantly teasing you and bumping into you and your things. He was one of the worst combinations of a stereotypical high school jock and nerd, if that was even possible. Before you knew it, a ghost of him made a home in the back of your mind, reminding you of his stupid antics, his stupid laugh and his stupid face that always beamed when he saw you. How he’d laugh at your reactions and try to make up for it by sharing his manhwa recommendations, and how he’d lean on you while queuing behind you for lunch.

To crush him and get rid of your obsession once and for all, you needed to beat him in the only way you could and the only way it mattered here. Academically.

The obsession soon infiltrated your subconscious, where his ghost would visit you in your sleep until nebulous shifting images of his crying face and his humbled figure below yours morphed from nightmares into guilty pleasures.

Yan academic rival who obsessed over you, who craved your attention and tried to evoke any type of reaction he could get out of you, unaware that he already plagued your mind. His favourite pastime, not that he would ever admit it, was finding ways to piss you off. He would shut down your laptop while you were in the middle of watching online lectures and tickle your intrigue with nonsensical fun facts that he made up. Watching your otherwise stoic rbf shift slightly as your eyes light up in undeniable curiosity then fall into its characteristic piercing glare upon realising that he was spouting bullshit would never get old to him.

It was just his luck that while fooling around with some friends in between tutorials, he knocked your bottle over for the third time. Of course he’s been keeping count! He’s been faithfully immortalising every single moment he’s interacted with you and your things after all. What kind of lover would he be if he didn’t?

Everyone immediately stilled at the distinct metallic sound of your flask hitting the ground. You looked up from your notes and straight into his eyes, ignoring the audience who waited with bated breath. He remembered how you appeared right in front of his face, it was the first time you had ever come that close to him and in any other situation he would already be sporting his signature charismatic smile at the proximity. You then screamed.

It made his day. Hell, his entire month. You never raised your voice at anyone in school, never shouted at games and matches nor screamed playfully with friends. He had been your first. Not to mention the way you looked at him, as if he was the only person in the entire universe. That had to mean something- no. He had to mean something to you, right? He had to be closer to you than anyone else was!

Everyone saw it, it was basically a public declaration of your feelings for him, oh he loved the attention you gave him so much that he almost came in his pants right there and then. It was unfortunate that he was in such shock and ecstasy that he couldn’t muster up a response before you left the room. But not to worry! He’ll make sure that you thoroughly understand his overwhelming affection just as well ♡.

y’all have no idea how much i wanna explore their dynamic but i also wanted to keep this as a drabble sigh. if i’m feeling extra self-indulgent i may write a pt 2. i imagine that mc is gonna become yan for the yan lol. yk that one scene of isagi realising that he’s into dacryphilia? mc’s gonna have that with yan rival. jkjk… unless-

[lacenvs3000w24]

evolution & everything happens for a reason.

Okay, so pretty much everyone since Darwin has heard about evolution by natural selection. BUT this does nothing to change the fact that it’s still such an interesting and exciting topic!! I’m not going to drone on about the theory of evolution - no, Charles did that for us. Instead, I really want to talk about how having some knowledge of that theory makes my time in nature that much more magical. In this way, I hope to bring the three guiding facets of interpretation together - education, recreation, and inspiration (Beck et al., 2018).

(Side note; I bought a copy of “On the origin of species” when I got accepted to UofG, and still have not managed to make my way through it. No hate to Darwin, but I think we could’ve taken some notes from this class to make that read a bit more engaging - jokes, of course. If any of you have read it in its entirety, I’d love to hear your thoughts…is it worth the read? did he include anything that would be deemed a “hot take” in our modern day?).

In biological studies, we come back to evolution all the time, and we blame it for nearly everything. At this point, I’ve learned the more mechanistic view of evolution, the misconceptions about it, and where we see it in ourselves and the rest of the biological world.

And yeah, makes sense, right?

But for me, it all really clicked last semester in my Animal Behaviour class, which pulled a lot of ideas from economics, cost and benefit, and the prisoner’s dilemma (cue loud groan). I know, I know, booooring.

But honestly, it really put it all into perspective for me –  the grandiose concepts of evolution finally had a really solid foundation, such that the story of any natural sight I see is clearer in my mind.

Like, okay, why do parents take care of their young?

Silly question, right? But really think about it for a sec. Well, we know that offspring are genetically related to their parents – if a parent doesn’t take care of their young, the young (and the parent’s genes, and even potentially the act of providing for young) does not persist.

We also know that in some species, one parent (mother or father) puts way more energy into raising the young than the other parent does. Again, why? If they’re both equally related, why isn’t this behaviour equal between the two?

There are a lot of “it depends” here, but one example is that the mother can be 100% sure that those babies are hers, while the father can’t be quite as sure – what if the mama snuck off with another fellow and those kids don’t have any of the “father’s” genes?

Basically, to hedge his bets, the father doesn’t spend his energy on raising young, and instead spends it looking for other potential partners.

who woulda thought that evolution would explain why there's so much drama and gambling in the natural world??

A Friend in Need (1903) by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge

My other favourite example has to do with food caching behaviour in red squirrels vs. grey squirrels. Grey squirrels hide food all over the place, spreading out their cache. Red squirrels make one big stockpile. So, if a grey squirrel defends its caches, it wastes a ton of energy, almost for nothing. It physically couldn’t manage to guard all its nuts at once, so defending one cache leaves an opportunity for other caches to be robbed.

A red squirrel, though, benefits a lot from defending its cache. If it does, it stands a much higher chance of keeping itself fed through the winter, and if it doesn’t, it has lost all of the eggs from its single basket. This explains why red squirrels are the angry little guys they are – they aren’t just evil little devils who’ve escaped from hell. Instead, they just got out of their econ lecture!

Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/12144772@N06/1700328393

So, while it might seem that going through the mild pains of learning the theory and its economic/math-y/mechanistic intricacies would make nature as a whole feel less magical, I think it does the exact opposite. I feel like knowing these connections paints a really bright hue on my view of nature. “Why is that thing the way it is?” is such a cool, whimsical question to get caught up in, and I love it.

We've been educated, we've had some fun looking at some silly animal examples, and hopefully there was a hint of inspiration in here too!

Mother Nature really said “everything happens for a reason” and I think that’s super neat.

Anyone else have an "evolution epiphany" moment to share?

References

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018). Chapter 3: Values to Individuals and Society. In Interpreting Cultural and Natural Heritage for a Better World (pp. 41-56). Sagamore Publishing.

[awideplace]

so i’m not sure what to do.. basically i’m taking this class and this girl sits next to me. we’ve kind of become friends in the sense that we’ve sat next to each other all semester.. but she’s kind of a “debbie downer,” she will complain, and sometimes doesn’t really pay attention during class (she will text a lot). i’m the complete opposite, i strive to work hard and do my best, as well as trying not to be a negative person. we had to sign up for classes next semester and she wanted to sign up for the same class as me and she did. it’s not like i don’t like her, but i’m not a huge fan of what type of student she is. i’m struggling because i know she will want to sit together again and this new class also has a lab and i don’t want to be lab partners with someone who isn’t going to help, pay attention or put in the work. we are both adults trying to further our education (i’m in my 20s and she’s in her 30s). i feel like it would be awkward if i just didn’t sit next to her, but should i say something to her? i’m fine sitting next to her during lecture, it’s just the lab part that i’m unsure of.

I hear you, she probably gravitates towards your work ethic and positivity. I would just let her know you're cool to sit with her for lectures, but for the new semester you're going to pair up with another lab partner so you have a new challenge to be partnered with someone new for this next semester. This is one of those situations in which if you were closer friends you could try to encourage her to be more positive and/or not text so much during this class (that can be a distraction to other students), but I think this friendship is too casual for that kind of interaction it seems. She may also be going through things in her own personal life (I.E., thus being negative/checking out on her phone) so I'd be careful to not hurt her feelings depending on where she is at. If she does happen to ask if everything's okay, you can gently mention that sometimes she can complain a bit much when you're trying to make the most of this time in school and she doesn't put as much effort into the work, and these things get hard when partnered with someone for lab work, but you're happy to sit with her during lectures. So keeping it simple, true, and concise is hopefully the best way to go! :)

[crinkled-emotions]

ok ok ok here we go. Lemme set the stage... Hangman is late to class (which nEVER happens right?? jk yes it does). He comes running, literally running and frantically eating his microwaved breakfast, into the classroom right as Maverick starts lecturing. Then Pete is like "kk fam we're doing aerobatics maneuvers today so suit up ASAP." Hangman tries to scarf down his food, Bad Idea #1, then go up in the jet and do all sorts of crazy shit, Bad Idea #2.

BOOM. TUMMYACHE.

(I have had too much coffee this morning but tbh I regret nothing)

......w*termelon s*gar

*sobs* watermelon... s*gar... I'm fine.

I asked Hangman what he thought about this and dude pretended to be dead and I was like well damn that's a vibe but also- dude, the world's not gonna end... or is it?

Anyway it's nearly midnight but my little brain says you didn't work today use your noggin for something useful and here we go!!

No listen I'm thinking of that one story about the jet, and the puke, and it all- I won't share the whole thing. It's on youtube. Sorry Glen lmao. (time stamped link!)

-

Despite being in the US Navy, where scheduling was key, things tended to be a little up in the air a majority of the time. The Daggers had come to rely on some very basic facts that would get them through everything mildly unstable or the rapid changes in their day to day lives;

The first, Rooster was the mother hen of their group and according to Maverick, he got it from his dad. For a man who had once upon a time almost punched Hangman for making a comment about his two fathers, he was incredibly docile a majority of the time and tended to have advice or a hug for those who needed it.

Phoenix always started the day by throwing an arm over Bob's shoulders at breakfast and stealing his hashbrown from his plate at breakfast because she wasn't quite hungry enough for a full meal but she was indeed hungry enough to eat them every morning. He'd started asking for extra in the queue and the kitchen staff found it hilarious.

Payback and Fanboy, once an inseparable duo, had now roped Bob in with them and the three of them spent a lot of time tossing a football around or talking about something nerdy. Bob preferred Red Dwarf to Star Trek and apparently Fanboy had never heard of Red Dwarf so they were watching that in their spare time. Payback, ever the supportive pilot, always made the drinks and snacks for their viewing sessions.

Lastly, Hangman was never late. Ever. Not even to a doctor's appointment on the other side of base, or to a gathering at Maverick's a few weeks back when he had a dentist appointment right before. Rooster asked him about it once, the first time they went through TOPGUN, and Hangman had shrugged, claiming he'd been raised that being late was never a good look.

-

Yawning, Maverick stood near the lecturn and reached for his paperwork, grimacing.

"Why are we still doing roll call? What are we, twelve?"

"Thirteen, actually Mav, I think I'm getting my first chest hair," Rooster deadpanned which earned snorts of laughter. Maverick sighed, leaning on said lecturn and grimacing.

"Bradley, please, now is not the time to be talking about your delayed-"

"-I'm sorry I'm late, sir. I had to- never mind."

Hangman came rushing into the room, some kind of microwaveable burrito in his hand as he took his seat at the front of the room. Maverick watched him for a moment, shock written on his face, and then he cleared his throat.

"Don't worry about it, I hadn't said anything important yet. Uh, okay, so if the email didn't send last night, a recap of what we're doing today-"

"-what email?" Phoenix asked, confusion on her face, and Maverick blinked for a moment.

"I can't tell if you're fucking with me or I didn't send it right."

He looked to Bob for support but Bob shrugged, staying silent.

"Alright then... I guess we'll go over it. This morning we're getting straight into hops, we're fixing some manoeuvres I wasn't so sure of last week, and then the rest of today we should be- Bagman, you wanna give yourself a moment to breathe before you choke on that poor burrito? What'd it do to you?"

Maverick had been watching Hangman out of the corner of his eye since he came in, surprised to find him scarfing down his breakfast. The younger aviator blushed, tentatively putting down his burrito.

"Sorry, sir."

"Mmhmm. Okay guys, off you go, get your pre-flight checks done and let me know if you need anything. Bradley we'll talk about your sass later."

"Sure thing, Mav."

-

Honestly, the breakfast burrito hadn't even had time to settle as Hangman scrambled into his flight suit. He could hear Bob struggling with his zippers as usual and glanced over his shoulder at Rooster, who was humming along to whatever song was in his head.

"Hey, mom, you wanna help Baby on Board into his baby grow?"

"Suck a fat one, Bagman, I don't see you getting into yours so easy," Bob replied dryly, yet he extended his arms for Rooster to help him. Rooster huffed at Hangman, but chose not to respond. Hangman grimaced, feeling his stomach cramp, and put his ass back on the bench for a moment to recover.

"Oh shit, you're gonna blow chunks before the hop?" Payback scoffed as he rounded the corner from his locker, heading to the exit. To Hangman's surprise he was actually talking to Fanboy, who was bent over the sink and not looking so hot.

"Man, those fuckin' 'ritos, I swear to god I get sick every time I eat them."

Hangman's body temperature suddenly dropped and he shivered, swivelling toward the sinks in the locker room.

"Hey, Fanboy, what did you mean?"

"I was super hungry this morning but I got to breakfast late enough that there were only burritos left."

Oh, fuck.

-

"Okay, split into two teams. Coyote, I want you to spend some time working with Rooster today, you and Hangman are completely in sync but you and Rooster seem to be ever so slightly out."

"Yes sir," Coyote replied easily, navigating back toward Rooster's jet.

"Hangman, today I really want you to focus on communicating with... everyone, really."

His stomach was cramping again, and he could feel bile building in his throat. He swallowed it down, one eye on the air and the controls while he frantically searched for the puke bags. He'd just restocked them, he was sure-

"You got that, Hangman?"

He didn't have it, but he agreed anyway.

"Yes sir, I got it. Hey, do I get bonus points for taking out Rooster?"

"Sure, why not."

"What- hey! Mav!" Rooster protested. The Daggers could hear Maverick laughing.

"It'd be nice for you to be quiet for five minutes, so sure, you two compete against each other first. The first person to get tone wins, we'll wait over here."

"Fight's on!" Rooster called, clipping his mask on properly. Hangman furrowed his brows, chasing him through the clouds. They were matched neck-for-neck, but then Rooster pulled the move Maverick had taught him and let Hangman pull up to his tail, trying to get tone. Right at the last second he pulled up and settled behind Hangman, tone sounding immediately.

"God damn it," Hangman hissed whilst the others cheered. He could hear Rooster laughing through the comms and swore, ripping his mask off to catch his breath.

"Alright you two, knock it off. Hangman, sounds like you just earned yourself 200 push ups."

The rest of the Daggers cackled. Hangman winced, pinching the bridge of his nose as his stomach grumbled.

Oh, hell, seriously-

"Alright, everyone invert, we're going to-"

His stomach cramped and then he felt the bile rising again, but this time it was coming up. Reaching for where the sick bags were supposed to be he found nothing and cursed himself, one hand navigating his jet while the other covered his mouth just in case.

"Who is that gagging? Is everyone good?" Maverick asked. When the other Daggers called back that they were okay, Maverick cleared his throat.

"Hangman, I think you should go back to base, yeah? Get back on solid ground."

"S-sir, I- Mav-"

Too late.

-

"Guys, I'm so- fuck- I'm so sorry."

"It's not the worse we've seen, but your jet is out of commission for the rest of today at least."

The ground crew peered into Jake's jet, matching grimaces on both of their faces at the splashes of puke all over the controls and his seat. He was still sitting on the wing, a bucket in his arms as Maverick watched from the ground. His hands were on his hips and his aviators were staying over his eyes, but neither of these things hid the concern on his face.

"How long have you been feeling sick?" Maverick asked, shielding his face from the sun with his hand.

"Uh, think it was the breakfast burrito. Fanboy wasn't so hot either."

He buried himself back in the bucket, puking up what little he had left. Maverick grimaced, watching the rest of the Daggers coming over from where they'd all abruptly landed to see what was going on.

"Did anyone else eat the breakfast burrito?" Maverick asked them. When they all shook their heads, he facepalmed.

"You're all excused. Jake, get down from there, I'll take you home."

"Mav I'm not going anywhere until the wing stops spinning."

"Fair enough. Scoot to the edge, you can pretty much slide on to Rooster's shoulders."

"Hey-"

"-what-"

"-shut up you two, just work together for once. Rooster, go and stand by the wing."

"Yes sir," Rooster huffed, Payback going over to give him a hand. Hangman passed the bucket down to Coyote who seemed mildly disgusted and then scooted to the end of the wing. He managed to slide down, wrapping his arms around Rooster's neck. Rooster caught his legs but then proceeded to pretend to drop him. It was enough to rekindle the nausea and Hangman buried his head into Rooster's shirt. In seconds it was damp and he couldn't believe he'd just puked on his frenemy. He was never going to live this down.

-