#Sunday is dedicated to my online class

[starlightkun]

dr_magic2303 ❧ teaser [renjun]

❧ teaser word count: 960 | full fic: 18.3k ❧ warnings: just cursing for the teaser ❧ genre: fluff, humor, one heavy makeout scene but no actual smut, 0.1 seconds of angst if you can even call it that, academic rivals to lovers, modern magical creatures au, college au, siren reader, human renjun ft. siren ten, same universe as strawberry sunday ❧ extra info: this work is set in the same universe as strawberry sunday but can be read as a standalone! there is no continuing plotline between fics in this universe, they simply take place in the same world/magic system and may have overlapping characters (neos may pop up in more than one work!) ❧ author’s note: y’all. get ready for this one. no spoilers but spoilers renjun and reader r both crazy (academically) and nobody should be subjected to them except each other. like they both look at the other and think “i could fix them but whatever the fuck is wrong with them is infinitely funnier to me” but they’re both Wrong. they could not fix each other. anyway as always i had way too much fun writing this that it went over my projected word count and i hope y’all have a lot of fun reading it too <33

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ explore the strawberry sunday universe more here!

Pulling your lips into an alluring smirk, you nodded, “You’re right. It doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to figure out that—”

“A fucking what?” He cut you off, his face scrunching up as he blinked at you in confusion.

“Obviously it’s going to be one of us two, since we’re the two best students in the program.”

“Well, yes.” He nodded, seeming to let go of what had presumably been another one of your jumbled human malaphors. You admittedly hadn’t been living among humans for terribly long, and for some reason their idioms just didn’t stick in your brain very well.

“I mean, we not only are dedicated to the field itself and the content we study in class, but the program too. We probably know everybody in it, professors and students, right? Between the two of us?”

Renjun considered this for a moment. “Yeah, probably. We’ve both taken on a lot of SI and tutor opportunities for lower-level classes.”

“Right. So, you know those forums the school has on the online class platform? The general message boards?”

“Yes. Why?”

“I’m going to need you to sit tight with me on this until I finish talking, okay?” You pointed at him sternly. He nodded slowly. “Good. Back in the fall, about the end of September, I was on the message boards, just browsing around killing time. I was in the Tips & Advice section and saw this post. It was a gryphon who was losing feathers on one specific spot on her wing, and she didn’t know why. The witch she went to didn’t why, nobody could figure it out. I was about to reply asking if it was her left or right, when I saw that somebody else already had. It was her left, and she’s a lefty. The same person replied again, asking if she sleeps with her wings out or not. She sleeps with them out. It turns out she was stress-preening in her sleep. Username: dr_magic2303. A couple weeks later, same message board, Tips & Advice, a human is suddenly producing dark purple goop from his feet but it’s so slippery he can’t even leave to go see a doctor or a witch and he was typing the post from his bathroom. Within an hour, this Dr. Magic is back telling him someone’s put an aether ooze hex on him, and to sit down and scoot on his butt to the kitchen and gather up all these ingredients for a cleansing foot bath. And if he doesn’t have them, then he’ll have to butt-scoot his way to an apothecary or call one who does home deliveries. Now people are posting on there specifically asking Dr. Magic to come heal all their magical aches and pains.”

Renjun stared at you, unblinking. The pen had gone still in his hand.

You breathed in, continuing, “I tracked this Dr. Magic all the way back to their first post in the first week of fall semester of this year. Now, I’ve been trying to figure out who they are on my own, and I’ve made a lot of progress on who they aren’t. But I’m going to lose access to those message boards once we graduate at the end of the semester. I know Dr. Magic has to be an MCS major, there’s no way they would be able to have to breadth, depth, and flexibility of knowledge by just Googling this stuff. And you and me, Renjun, I know we can do this. Not only do we know MCS, but we know the department, the people in it. It has to be us.”

He was still staring at you, mouth slightly agape. Then, his whole demeanor shifted. He dropped his leg so that both his feet were on the ground, and he resumed spinning the pen.

“Okay. I’ll help you.” He nodded thoughtfully. “If you’ll do something for me.”

“Do what?” You straightened up.

“I’ll tell you after we find Dr. Magic.”

You crossed your arms. “No, tell me now or no deal.”

“I tell you after, but you can still say no then if you don’t want to do it.” He bargained.

“That just sounds even more concerning, Renjun. Tell me now or I’ll do it myself.”

“I’m hurt. What happened to ‘it has to be us?’”

“I’m a siren, I know how to sweet talk. Don’t take it personally.” You snorted. “Now, what do you want from me?”

“You’re a siren,” he echoed plainly, as if that were all the explanation you needed.

“And you’re a genius.” You retorted. “Tell me now or I walk out.”

“I... want to experience siren venom. For science.”

Oh, you could kiss him right now, no deal necessary. He was meeting your gaze head-on, a slightly unhinged glint in his eye. Not a hint of fear, just a craving for new experiences, unbridled curiosity. Yeah, he was a bit crazy, you were realizing four years on, and you wanted him.

“You’re insane.”

He leaned back in his seat, putting his hands up in front of him in an ‘I-don’t-care’ gesture, “If you don’t want to find Dr. Magic—”

“I didn’t say no, I said you’re insane,” you corrected him with a grin, dragging your eyes up and down his form as he sat so confidently, negotiating with a siren like it was any average Tuesday for him.

“So do we have a deal?” He set his pen down and held a hand out to you.

“You help me find Dr. Magic, then I’ll spit in your mouth.” You momentarily thought about the disparity in division of labor on that, but decided not to point it out aloud. Easiest handshake of your life. “Deal.”

You wanted to eat him alive.

⤷ blog masterlist  ⤷ anthology masterlist

[ateenagegirlwithtoomuchtime]

•°♡ my guide to a good sunday ♡°•

I like my sundays cozy and productive so if you're the same this guide may be a good start!

1. Workout. I usually like something chill on sundays like pilates. There are lots of classes online so you dont have to do anything fancy just put on a feel good outfit and get moving. This helps you get that first glimpse of prodyctivness and may inspire you to continue using that energy through out the day.

2. Self care. This is good to do every day but maybe do something a lil extra like a face mask. Take an everything shower, do your nails. Whatever it is that makes you feel good, do that.

3. Complete a few things off your to do list. There is no expectation to do anything on sundays but it is always nice to start your week in advance. Itll give you more time during the week to do whatever you want.

4. Plan the rest of the week. This is self explanatory but by doing this. Itll make it much easier to keep on track.

5. Do a hobby. Dedicate time to do whatever you want to do. Read or bake something. Whatever makes you happy, make sure to do that.

What are some of your favourite things to do on a Sunday?

[socksgrowssocks]

March Monthly Character Challenge: Peter Parker / Spiderman

(Not created by me) Playlist for the month

Info: Monthly Character Challenge is a productivity challenge based on trial-ing the lifestyles of your favorite characters. Every month a different character is picked and a routine is built around their fictional lives. The point is to slowly improve and become like the people you idolize.

March Monthly Character: Starting out with my favorite superhero, Spiderman, because he was my inspiration for the whole “embodying a character” thing. I’ll firstly say I actually don’t read comics and therefore don’t know much about him outside of his MCU version / fanon version. However, I don’t think it really matters since Peter Parker’s always been a good role model. With that said, I can’t fully copy his routine since he’s a teenager in high school and I’m already in university.

Themed Habitica spread

Here’s what I’ll be focusing on:

Extended school day - Peter is in class most of his day. I only take 3 hrs of class per day/5 days a week so I’ll be studying at home for a MINIMUM of 3 hrs everyday, to emulate the New York school day (Googled). I’ll be logging the hours per week so that’s 15 hrs outside of class.

Self-studies - Using a post made by @atnuka-ironspiderson, I’m mirroring the subjects he studies by adding 2 hrs of Portuguese (since he knows Spanish/I’m native) per week. I volunteer at a museum so that'll be my Academic Decathlon.

Hobbies / Interests - Not going to lie, I like looking at fanon content where Peter is an online gremlin. However, taking into account his beat up phone and the hobbies he’s spoken about (building Lego, reading books, watching old movies and building computers) I’m not sure he spends a lot of time scrolling. The aim for me is to replace scrolling time by reviewing Economic and Finance articles that interest me, watching movies I’ve been putting off and curving my fanfiction reading to published literature. I might post a list of what I get through in February at the end of the month. I'm also learning coding so that's 2 hrs per week.

Extracurriculars - He got an actual Stark internship so I assume he dedicates part of his day to workshopping with Tony Stark. I’ll try and replicate this by working on a personal research project for 3 hrs a week.

Being Spiderman - He spends his nights dressed up as the arachnid superhero of New York. I can’t do that otherwise I’ll be a zombie during the day + no superpowers. Therefore, I’m just going to stick to my morning Sunday - Tuesday - Thursday workout. I’ll make a post about what workout videos I used during the month + the equipment used.

Bugle photography - Peter mixes his photography gig with being spiderman. I can't do that... but I'll still try to log 10 hrs of data entry with the family business.

UPDATE: Schedule review

[janrich321]

A WEEK OF SEM-BREAK AS A REGSAY

As a student that is dedicated to his studies also needs a break, especially after exams. According to the DepEd Order No 32 series of 2023, a mid-year beak for the current schoolyear 2023-2024 is scheduled on January 23-26 and on January 29-30. The given break was a blast, I got to do whatever I want like playing online games, gala with friends and spending a lot of time with my family. I also did some advanced reviews on the subjects and practiced on the recently concluded event namely “SCHOOL BASED PRESS CONFERENCE” where almost Regsay joined and competed, starting from Grade 7 to Grade 12 (the final year ate’s and kuya’s). By the way, I participated in column writing for the individual activity and collaborative desktop publishing for the group contest on the second day of the event which Saturday.

On the second day, I slept a lot (as in a lot) and I just played video games. But then something came in y mind (like what if’s) that if I want to improve my grades, my memorization skills, and especially improve my stock knowledge and also knowledge about the subjects especially the hard ones for me for the upcoming 3rd quarter, I need to study. So I kicked my butt of and started finding my sisters notes and Power Point then reviewed for hour, I also created some articles and searched lectures and the latest topics that the proctors might give us on the day of the contest that may help me enhance my Column Writing skills. I have found out that one of the latest topics that we might encounter are the presidential rivalry od president Marcos\Duterte and about the lotto schemes.

While I was reviewing, I realized that it was already Saturday, time is so fast right? So, I quickly prepared my things to bring on our boarding place which is near to our school.

On a special Sunday, my mom told us to get ready and called my family to go attend the mass at Saint Paul the Apostle Parish at 9:00 am near to Cabagan Square Park and then after the mass we headed to Xentro Mall, Cabagan for the advance celebration of my sister’s birthday which is de on Monday where we have classes. To be exact, her birthday really is on February 5 and adding to that it is her Chapter 15! We celebrated at Mang Inasal where we ate a lot the we also y some extra grocery for our boarding house and for our home too.

Then I came back to what I left which is practicing and reviewing like crazy. I slept over midnight because it is so near and I’m hoping that I’m one of the qualifiers.

On the last day of our Mid-Year Break I am very excited and nervous at the same time. I cannot wait to attend our School Based Press Conference. Also, my mom left first because they are also preparing for their class resumption and school-based press conference.

A week of Sem-Break is enough for me, because I’m a regsay who is an achiever and I am putting my studies first. I’m ready to sacrifice everything for the better future and for a high grade; and lastly, I always remember to value our future and remember that “Education is not a preaparation for life: education is life itself” by John Dewey. Also “the key to life is to develop internal moral, emotional G.P.S that can tell you which way to go” quoted by Oprah.

[silvanoir]

Recorded in my car, in the rain and wind on Sunday, with the windsheild wipers going... so sorry for the audio quality, and sorry for how many times I said "y'know", used an online audio trimmer to cut some of the "y'knows" out (which is why there are some odd "jumps"), I'm not a professional sound person, in either talking or editing. But I didn't want to try to re-record, because the emotions were true in this one.

A BIGGER APOLOGY to the one this 4 minutes is dedicated to. A stranger in my Literature class in Art school in either 2000 or 2001. I have thought of this moment so many times and my failure to say or do anything.

[friendlilycoach]

🌟 Middle Eastern founders, how many international business deals have you lost because of weak business English skills? Let's count together. 🌍💔

❤️ I never had a stable relationship because I didn't invest time and effort in it. 😔

👀 I kept track of the men who came into my life and left. 🚶‍♂️💨

💡 At first, I thought it was their fault, but then I realised I wasn't ready to commit to a relationship. 💔

🤔 Similarly, in business, we might blame others for our lack of success, but sometimes the problem is within ourselves. 🚫

⏰ If you've lost more than two international business deals due to weak business English skills, it's time to think about whether you're ready to put in the time and effort to improve this important aspect of your business. 🌟💬

🙄 As a smart business owner, don't you think it's important to do things that will help you make more money? 💰

😫 How long are you willing to be frustrated despite working hard to get more business deals and expand internationally? 🤷‍♂️

🗣️ Let's talk about you. 👉

🌍 When will you be ready to dedicate time to getting more business deals and expanding your business internationally with strong business English skills? 🤝

🤝 If you're okay with losing many business deals due to weak business English skills, that's okay; your decisions are important. 🤝👌

🌟 However, if you're not okay with being frustrated and losing international business deals because of weak business English skills, it's time for you to make a change. 🚀

📈 P.S. Understand business conversations easily. DM: "EASY." ✉️

🔥 P.P.S. Middle Eastern founders, get free secret tips to improve your business English skills. Tap the link below. 👇💡

🔴• Middle Eastern business owners, get 100% FREE business English tips on how to improve your business English skills.

Please enter your full name and email address

https://www.friendlilycoach.com/free-resources

🔴• Ready to communicate confidently in English during meetings?

Join the 5-day English Communication program for Middle East business owners for £50/$64.

DM "5-Day".

🔴• Need more free time, error-free business documents, business contracts & 100% privacy?

Premium English proofreading and editing of your important business documents.

12 hours delivery. Review, Edit, Rewrite & Proofread your business documents.

250 words ➡ £250.

DM "Proofread".

🔴• Join 1-on-1 VIP English Coaching Programs For Middle Eastern Business Owners.

✅ Duration: 8 months.

Step-by-step English coaching programs to help Middle Eastern business owners get more business deals and expand their business internationally with improved business English skills within eight months.

DM "1-on-1".

🔴• Business English Podcast.

(Available on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Angbami, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, and Jiosaavn).

• Join me every Sunday on Clubhouse.

Time: Egypt 8 PM - 8:30 PM

KSA | Qatar | Kuwait | Bahrain |

Jordan | Iraq 9 PM - 9:30 PM

Iran 9:30 PM - 10 PM

UAE | Oman | Lebanon

10 PM - 10:30 PM

• Support Me.

[umichenginabroad]

Sorrento Week 4: Ischia and a Farm Tour

Ciao!

I’m back with another blog post. After finishing my first physics exam and second food and culture exam, on Monday and Tuesday respectively, I traveled to the small island of Ischia with some of my friends on Wednesday. Ischia is an island known for its mineral rich thermal baths and a popular vacation destination for Italians. The roundtrip tickets were 50 euros and we bought them online ahead of time as there are only 2 ferries between Sorrento and Ischia every day. 

A fun mosaic made of shells (left) and the beautiful streets of Ischia (right)

Getting to Ischia was similar to Capri in that we had to claim the tickets at the ticket office and chaotically wait behind a line on the pier before chaotically boarding the boat. One difference was that the ferry stopped in Procida before continuing on to Ischia and eventually going to Capri. After disembarking from the ferry, we walked 40 minutes to Castello Aragonese d'Ischia which is a 15th century castle built on a small, rocky island near Ischia.

Various views as we approached the castle

Once there, we paid the entry fee of 10 euros and began exploring the castle . The views were absolutely breathtaking both before we got there and while we were walking around. It’s so insane to think that people once lived here. As it was super hot and the climb was exhausting, I ended up leaving my friends to go and explore the castle on my own. I loved exploring the various parts of the complex from several different churches dedicated to various saints to breathtaking views and exciting ruins. I’ve always loved history so getting to explore ruins has been one of my favorite things about my study abroad experience. I highly recommend visiting the castle if you get the chance because it seriously took my breath away.

Various views from around the castle complex including the crypt, various gardens, and the battlements.

After exploring the castle, I met up with my friends at a restaurant before heading to a beach. It was a nice change of scenery and I enjoyed admiring the castle from the beach. I also got some gelato (mango and chocolate) afterwards because it was so hot outside. We then meandered through town back to the port and got on the ferry back to Sorrento after waiting because it was delayed. If you're ever in the area, I highly recommend visiting Ischia (we didn't even make it to the thermal baths) was because it’s far more tranquil and less touristy than Capri and Sorrento. It was a nice change of pace and generally felt more calm and authentically Italian as it’s a huge vacation destination for Italians. Plus, as mentioned before, the castle and its views were absolutely stunning.

Thursday meant that it was time for another field trip! This time the History of Italian Food and Culture and History of the Mafia classes went to the Ponterè farm in northern Campania (the region of Italy where Naples is located). After the long, 2hr bus ride we finally got to the farm where we got to learn about the history of the area and mozzarella production in the region. We then got to see the adult buffalo in the fields as well as try and feed some baby ones before eating a delicious lunch and touring the milking room. It was so cool to learn more about how my favorite type of cheese is made, eat an amazing lunch, and see a more rural part of Italy! Plus I couldn’t believe how big the Buffalo were.

Various photos from around the farm including the milking room, baby buffalo, and a buffalo relaxing in the muddy pool (which fun fact protects their skin from the sun)

I spent Friday through Sunday in Rome, but as this blog post is getting long, I’ll be back soon with a blog post about our weekend trip to Rome so stay tuned!

Arrivederci!

Reganne Watts Aerospace Engineering Engineering in Sorrento, Italy

[anoddreindeer]

went to see a play called Orlando last Sunday, and had some Thoughts:tm:

First off, I’ve never read the book the play was based on; I went to see it purely because I felt like I needed to get out of the house more and one of my online friends was in it. Orlando the play is based on Orlando the book by Virginia Woolf. Like I said, I’ve never read it or any of her books but maybe that gives context for other people.

Second, the theater was tiny. I’ve-been-in-bigger-locker-rooms kinda tiny. There were five actors all together, three pieces of movable flooring things on wheels that were moved by the five actors at various points in the play, a box, and a stool. One actor played Orlando, and the other four were literally every other character including the Chorus providing narration to the audience.

Honestly, it didn’t suffer much from being pared down. All the actors were on point, and the only thing they could’ve maybe used a little help for were the scene transitions when they had to move the big pieces.

So the play was in five acts, each act supposing to cover an Age of Orlando’s life. The Elizabethan Era through the 20th century, though I forget the exact Act titles. Basically, each Act spanned about 100 years and the whole thing ended in the 1970s or 80s (I couldn’t tell).

Anyway, it was good and I had a good time but like. People go to plays to get something out of them, I guess? So I applied what analytics skills I remembered from English class and got a couple of observations:

1. Orlando starts the play as a young man. The first two Acts are dedicated to that portion of his life, with the Queen taking him to adorn her Court and making him some kind of nobility - a duke, I think, though it wasn’t exactly clear. The exact rank probably isn’t important, just what he was doing at Court.

He dallies with the Queen, and then branches out to dally with the rest of the Court as well. The Queen catches him at his other dalliances by seeing him reflected in her mirror while he was macking on a serving-maid. She attacks and shatters the mirror, but apparently doesn’t expel Orlando from Court because the next little while has Orlando dallying with various ladies of the Court. The mirror’s interesting, because we never see Consequences happen to Orlando for this particular bit of knavery, only to his reflection; Plato’s Allegory, anyone?

There’s a whole bunch of romance fluff that is shattered when Orlando meets Sasha - a Russian noblewoman who spends a lot of time remembering how wonderful Russia is and not very much time on anything else. She also hits a recurring theme; when the play opens, Orlando is trying to write a poem but only has one line: “The grass is green.” Sasha also is called green; green, green eyes, green dress, green green green.

Green is the color of life and growing things, of hope and the future in its positive aspect. In its negative aspect, green is the color of jealousy and decay, of the loss of ruins to time as the forest covers them over.

In this case, green starts positive as Sasha takes Orlando astonishing places and seems to have great promise for the future. In a bit of narrative foreshadowing, however, they pass by a performance of Othello right at the point where Othello is strangling his wife in a fit of jealous rage. File that away for later.

But not much later, because Sasha cheats on Orlando with a Russian sailor and ends up going back to Russia with the sailor. Green again, this time in the negative aspect; Orlando goes back to his ducal(?) estate to work on his poem.

The poem’s another touchpoint, of a sort. Whenever Orlando is overset, and at least once an Act, Orlando would go back and try to write more on his poem. “The grass is green. The grass is...green.” Green again, in its positive aspect. And writing it always takes place under an oak tree - possibly THE oak tree, though once again that isn’t very clear and probably doesn’t matter (the fact that it could be the same oak tree, not the fact it is an oak tree, a tree known for its longetivity). There’s probably more symbolism in oak trees but I can’t be bothered to look it up.

Orlando then ends up on the sharp end of an unwanted courtship, and runs away to Constantinople (not Istanbul). At the end of the second Act, in Constantinople, Orlando metamorphoses into a woman.

One of the themes for the play seems to be gender, expression, their intersection, and societal expectations. At no point after Act 2 does Orlando wish she was a man again because she dislikes the way she is. She does make complaint that things were easier as a man because of the difference in societal expectation, including that she was disinherited from her ducal lands because women couldn’t be Dukes, that she was expected to be quiet and demure - though even at that point she notes that when she was a man she had enforced those expectations on the women she had known at that point.

Then of course societal pressures encourage her to get married; the play has it that her finger aches for a wedding ring or whatever, but I’m pretty sure that it’s just growing to a point in her life where she wanted a single person to spend it with, rather than the dalliances that had marked her boy/teenagerhood.

She ends up finding a guy whom she likes because of what society at the time would call feminine qualities - ie emotional intelligence, a love of soppy romances, and a couple other things I can’t remember off the top of my head - and who likes her because of her “masculine qualities” - an ability to speak her mind, etc. So they get married and he goes off sailing the seas to make money and she tends house.

The last act is the shortest, and Orlando spends a lot of it thinking about days gone by. The specters of the Queen and of Sasha make their way around the stage, and Orlando ends the play by settling down under the oak tree and writing what is, apparently, one hell of a poem.

So we have a through-line of green, oak trees, poetry, gender expressions, and societal expectations. The Chorus doesn’t speak in rhyming verse - maybe in iambic pentameter or something, I can’t tell that as easy as I hear rhyme schemes - but it does narrate a lot of what’s going on. The grass in green, Sasha is green, the fair shores of England are green, the ducal estates are green.

I dunno, I just feel like I have a lot of goddamn puzzle pieces and no picture to show for it. Fucking frustrating.

[fahadventure]

This article is for those, who are struggling every now and then for mastering anything or learning skills, be that something related to sport, music, art or even academics. These are few of the learning skills examples, however, any professional person might find the forthcoming tips quite silly and redundant, but I’m hopeful that my guidelines might bring some lights for the bright amateurs, who are hopelessly roaming around to find the sparkle and potential in them. So, let’s start the art! And you can find the same article in my Blogger website here.

1. Breaking down your goals with target: Running a marathon or even 10 km at stretch on the first day, for anyone can be challenging, but if the same person is told to run 1 km per hour or day with periodical rests and complete the rest of the 9km in the similar fashion, same thing will become much easier for him/her and achievable in shorter time overall. Remember that, it’s very important to have an efficient mindset like this, instead of losing confidence in the beginning to complete a goal. I followed this strict rule, before dancing for the first time, in one of my friend's wedding ceremony. I will tell you more about the technique of learning dance moves at home in one of my next articles.

Right now, I try to cover and upload a song each Thursday every week, so that my passion keeps alive and the songs remain somewhere organized. Generally, on Saturday, I think of the songs I want to play. On Sunday I explore YouTube videos to find the easiest & somewhat ear-soothing versions and shortlist one or two. On Monday I try to master any 1 minute part of guitarplay, that I wish to learn, probably within 1-2 hours at night. On Tuesday, I listen to the song thoroughly so that I can also sing in the same way. Finally and mostly on Wednesday, I try to play guitar and sing simultaneously and if everything seems alright, I film it on the same day so that I can upload on Thursday. So, my 1 minute YouTube short, is actually a result of 6 consecutive nights of thinking and practicing part by part!

2. Dedication and consistency: These 2 things are simply among the most important factors here to learn anything. You must spare some of your time, energy, passion in the form of dedication for mastering anything. After that, just have some consistent, regular practice of those things which will also build your discipline in that particular field as a wise man said: "Practice makes a man perfect!" Learning life skills in school and learning life skills through sports can be termed as inter-related if given proper opportunity to them.

I have achieved few of the very well known degrees and certificates from school, college, universities, online, offline, companies, done sketching, extra and co-curricular activities, sports like cricket and football, excelled in those and I think I did most of these out of curiosity, transformed those into my passions and just kept on practicing on a regular basis. Another thing which is very important to my life is working out and since 2017, I have been executing the practice consistently each week. I’ve been following the similar pattern for learning language online too since the pandemic, during 2020.

3. Maintaining Confidence: Now that your have worked on your targets and consistency, the only thing that might stop you from reaching your goals could be the lack of confidence. A lot of top-professionals have excelled in their field on & off, but didn't lose their temper and confidence as they knew how heavily it would affect their performance. One way of doing it is just enjoy whatever you do and don't think of others, take breaks where necessary and move on again. You will be soon well on your way of succeeding! The reason why it is also called, Form is temporary but class is permanent.

Learning life skills for adults can be of different types but those can be learnt at early age too. I remember learning debating and public speaking just by following the same rule. I used to be nervous initially, looking at the audience and expressing my thoughts but soon I worked on it, turned my weakness into strength and got back stronger to win many more awards later! One secret: I follow the same pattern while playing FIFA 23 with my friends!🤫 I don't win a lot though, but I surely do enjoy how I play and I do get the appreciations for my gameplay.

That's all for today folks on learning skills and some learning skills examples! Learning life skills can be done through sports, music or any other medium and applicable for adults in companies or even in school. I will try to write down more about the factors and skills separately in my next few articles. And you can find the same article in my Blogger website here. Till then, have a look at my YouTube video on learning and let me know if you find these useful!

#learningskills #learningskillsexamples #learninglifeskillsforadults #learninglifeskillsinschool #learninglifeskillsthroughsports #learningdancemovesathome #learningmusictheory #learningsketchupfree

HAPPY LEARNING!

[theamazingannie]

Bought myself a planner and some colored pens so this semester better fucking go well

[bulletnotestudies]

✨ how to deal with failure: a brief guide for the completely done and utterly fed up student ✨

first of all, recognise - and i don’t mean just read, internalise it - that failing is okay. you’re not dumb, you’re not unworthy of taking the class, you might’ve not even necessarily had the wrong approach; you did, however, in any case, have bad luck. and that can be changed. it absolutely can be changed and you do have the time to adjust your studying so you can make up for the misstep. it’s gon be okay buttercup <3

1. vent to a friend/sb you’re close with

i personally attacked my bestie, talked to a few other ppl, and it helped get some of the frustration out. it’s also important you learn to speak to yourself how you would to a friend - you certainly wouldn’t tell them they’re a failure and won’t come back from this, would you? what you actively tell yourself shapes your subconscious thoughts.

2. catch up on the self care you’ve neglected when studying

get a long shower to wash the exam off, eat your meals slowly, get enough sleep (!), clean your room (unburden The Chair™ - srsly, do your laundry - and vacuum, change your bedsheets perhaps?)

3. make a study plan for the retake

be sure to make it realistic and flexible so you don’t end up inducing more stress (helpful posts: 1 2 3 4 (not mine)), try to finish all the topics at least 3 days before the exam so you can spend the last days refreshing your knowledge and preparing mentally instead of cramming.

4. reflect (critically) on your studying so far

is there anything you can do to get more out of your time? quality over quantity is super important when it comes to revision; try implementing more active recall into your study sessions (some posts you can consult on this topic: 1 2 3 (not mine), what is active recall?) and spacing them out more; try to avoid cramming as it increases your stress levels and isn’t as affective with committing information to memory. also, if you asses you could use some help, reach out! ask a friend, get in touch with your professor, seek advice online… getting help = showing readiness for improvement = mature and very welcome!

5. schedule self-care time

when you’re making your study plan, remember to also think of your mental and physical health ● you can space out little acts of self care throughout the week (i.e. take a bubble bath every sunday, schedule a weekly video call with your best friend, allot time to spend with your s/o, do a quick workout every day,…) ● or have a ‘mental health day’ for a whole day each week (i.e. on saturdays, only do things you enjoy - spend the day reading/drawing/binging netflix/baking/…); i personally like to space my self care throughout the week and go for a walk with my best friend every two weeks or so. i’m not kidding, schedule your ‘me’ time into your planner. write. it. down.

6. sleep

i’ve mentioned it already but it’s so important it deserves it’s own bullet point - remember to also take good care of your brain. it is, after all, the organ working the hardest here. a whole day of studying, doing chores, talking to people, etc. has your synapses firing away like crazy, so sleeping is vital for them to recover and come back stronger the next day. give them time to cool down, process the information you’ve gathered throughout the day and store it somewhere you can access it later. seriously. an important note here: there isn’t a single amount of sleep that is optimal for everyone - some people work best on 6 hours of sleep, some can’t go on less than 9. dedicate yourself to figuring out what works best for you and learn to plan your wake up time. ● option no. 1: get into the habit of going to sleep and waking up every. day. at. the. same. time. - a good routine is even more vital in these times when time doesn’t even matter bc we literally don’t go anywhere ever. ● option no. 2: if your uni/work schedule doesn’t allow you to establish a daily routine, try using sleepyti.me to calculate when you should wake up to feel most refreshed :)

hopefully these points can serve as a base/reference for your academic rebound <3 i wrote them up after straight up skipping the grieving-this-is-unfair phase of failure and just being left with a slightly-pissed-but-definitely-fed-up-with-this-class feeling. it dawned on me that i surely can’t be the only one facing this, so i decided to share this and hopefully help you guys out as well:) keep in mind: your worth has zero correlation with your grades, you’re a bad bitch and will not stop bc life tried to knock u down - here’s a quote i like: when life knocks you down, calmly get back up and very politely say, “you hit like a bitch”. after that, u can follow these steps and flourish x

[merulanoir]

Sundays are still weird.

I'm not working today, but by now I have settled into the rhythm that observing Shabbos has; I stop working sometime in the Friday afternoon, I rest and do nice things over Shabbos, and then start my week on Sunday by reorienting myself. Our conversion classes take place on Sundays, so that sets a good tone.

Sundays are weird because I'm no longer so stressed about school/work, so now the weird day has breathing room. As I've been recovering from my top surgery I've been reading a lot, and my current goal is to spend less time online and dedicate more of those hours to audio books and knitting.

As expected, work became kind of insane immediately, but filling the hours is pleasant. Turns out I like hectic stuff when I don't have to be in constant pain or feel like my brain is screaming nonstop. I really like the people I work with, and jumping from school environment to actually using skills feels good.

Life's pretty good atm. My gender marker finally changed, so now I just need to get my passport and driver's license sorted, and then I'm done with everything on my Must Do Transition List. Feels weird to think about this huge clump as something that is now mostly in the past tense or in the maintenance category.

Oh and I'm finally hovering on the border of no longer being obese. Water weight does its thing but soon I'll just be overweight, and that's hella motivating. I have a long way to go until I'm at a healthy weight, but I'll get there.

[jeannereames]

This is probably a very stupid question, but how did the Ancient Greeks measure time (in terms of years and months) ? What was their calendar like? What year would Alexander have viewed himself to be living in?

I love these sorts of daily-life details, so I may have got a little carried away…. Before I get into the weeds, however, I want to make everyone aware of a reference resource:

E. J. Bickerman, Chronology of the Ancient World. Thames & Hudson, 1968.

Yeah, it’s old now, but Bickerman spent most of his career on dating puzzles, and I don’t think there’s anything recent to match it. When I first was told about it years ago in my historiography class, I practically bounced off the walls. (My fellow grad students thought I’d lost my mind.)

I’m not sure of the best way to address this query—topically or geographically—but I’ll go with topically. I’ll also say upfront that I’m unfamiliar with Egypt, so they’re not much mentioned. Also, if you want more details on any particular system (Roman, Athenian, Babylonian, Jewish), there are plenty of online resources.

Long-count Calendar

How to number years across a span? Regnal years was most common in antiquity: year 1, year 2, year 3 of ___ king. Also, king lists detailed how long ___ ruled. The Ancient Near East (ANE) excelled at chronologies; we have some that go back to Sumer. That’s pre-Bronze Age. The span of some reigns can be deeply problematic (e.g., mythical), but we have the lists. Fun note, Neo-Assyrians named years by its major military campaign. Tells us a lot about them, no?

What about places without kings? Greece, Rome, Carthage?

The Greeks had several systems, internal and panhellenic. Internal systems often dated by the name of a prominent city magistrate. In Athens, that was the eponymous archon, in Sparta, the eponymous ephor, etc. The panhellenic system used Olympic years. In Dancing with the Lion, if you look at date plates before sections, that’s what I used. It’s a 4-year system, so, “In the year of the 97th Olympiad,” “In the first year of the 97th Olympiad,” “In the second year…,” and “In the third year…,” then we’re to “In the year of the 98th Olympiad…” In modern annotation it’s Ol. 97.1, Ol. 97.2, Ol. 97.3, Ol. 97.4. From (our year) 776 BCE down into the Roman Imperial era, the Olympics made useful anchor dating for the eastern Mediterranean (Magna Graecia).

Rome had its own system: two in fact. It counted years by both consuls, but also AUC = ab urba condita … “from the founding of the city.” Carthage used a similar system involving their two senior Judges for their senate.

When it came to “world histories,” authors such as Diodoros Siculus used several systems: Olympiad, Athenian archon, and Roman consuls. It gets a bit unwieldy, but is about as universal as we have for the Med until Christianity took over everything.

Yearly Calendars

Much of the ancient world used lunar (354 days), not solar (356 days) calendars. Yes, they knew a lunar year didn’t line up with the solar, and they used “intercalation” to fix it, avoiding summer festivals being celebrated in winter. Either a 13th month was needed every 3 years, or they added a few days to months here and there, making a “lunisolar” calendar. We have an intercalated day in our own calendar: Feb. 29th in Leap Year. To fix a calendar, however, an “anchor” is needed. This anchor is usually a solstice or equinox, which may (or may not) correspond to their New Year.

Our modern (Western) world places New Year’s in the dead of winter. But many pre-modern calendars put it in spring. Makes sense: life renews, it’s a new year. The Babylonian New Year was decided by the spring equinox—first new moon after—which pattern affected most of the ANE.

The Hebrew New Year (Rosh Hashana) is in autumn, but their first month (Nisan) is in spring. (They also have a New Year for Trees! Tú bish'vat. How cool is that?) Wanna know when your Jewish friends are having a holiday? Use Hebcal, the gold standard.

MANY ancient cultures have more than one calendar running at a time. So do we. Working in the uni, I have the “normal” year, but also the “academic” year to keep up with.

Despite the dominance of certain early systems like Babylon, counting the new year was specific to a region and people, and their religious traditions. No single Greek new year tradition existed. Both Delos and Athens used the first new moon after the summer equinox: early July. The Macedonian calendar seems to as well, so Alexander was born in the first month of the year. Other city states were different. I’ve forgotten most but do remember Sparta’s is in autumn because their new year almost falls on my birthday.

Remember, although we today talk about “ancient Greece” as if it were a country—it wasn’t. There was a landmass called Hellas, but each city-state was independent, and had its own laws, gov’t, coinage, and religious cult. Too often “Greek” winds up being conflated with “Athenian,” because we happen to have the most evidence from ancient Athens. But both Athens and Sparta were weirdos. Corinth, Thebes, Argos, Mytilene, Cos, Eretria, Miletus…all were a lot more typically Greek in their gov’t systems, etc. There were also 3 (or 4) different branches of Greek: Ionic-Attic, Doric, and Aeolic. When we talk about reading the “ancient Greek” language today, most people mean Attic Greek, or even Koine Greek (Hellenistic era common Greek).

That means every city-state had its own calendar, connected to its own festivals.

In fact, most city-states had several: sacred, civic, etc. Athens had a 12-month lunar calendar for festivals, but a 10-month civic calendar corresponding to the 10 tribes for Assembly business. Originally, they had only 4 tribes, not 10, so political changes meant calendar changes.

In each city-state, month names were derived from the major festival for that month. We have the complete month names for only a few: Athens is one and (fortunately for me) Macedon is another (specifically Ptolemaic, but it’s likely the same as the Argead). Below “Ancient Greek Month” REALLY means “Athenian month,” which annoys the hell out of those of us who don’t consider Athens the be-all and end-all of Greek history!

Because their months were lunar, they bisect our months, e.g., July/Aug = Athenian Hekatombian or Macedonian Loos [Alexander’s birthmonth], Jan/Feb = Athenian Gamelion or Macedonian Peritios [probably the month that gave Alexander’s favorite hound his name: Peritos]. Likewise, as the Athenian new year began in midsummer, dating ancient events also bisects. You’ll see 342/1 to designate the year from July of 342 BCE to June of 341.

As mentioned, most places used lunar months as the most basic time-keeping, but the moon isn’t the only way to make a “month.” Rome originally had 10 months of 30/31 days, adding 2 later, which is why our 12 months have Romanesque names.

Just remember: NO UNIVERSAL SYSTEM for months.

What About Weeks?

A seven-day week is borrowed from the Jews via Christianity. Both Jews and Egyptians had a dedicated day of rest. (For Egypt, the 10th day.) In most places, however, days off were festival related. Every month had festivals, which might last from half a day to several days in a row. You worked…took off for a festival…then you worked. No regular day of rest. (For the modern weekend? Thank unions and the Labor Movement!)

How did others subdivide a month? Athenian months were c. 30 days, divided into 10s: 1-10, 11-20, 10-1. Yup, the last is backwards. But dating also counted waxing and waning moons. So the new moon began a month, the 7th of the month would be the 7th waxing moon, the 24th the 6th waning moon. This is the Athenian system. Other city-states are less clear, but probably similar.

Romans had kalens (1st), nones (7th), and ides (15th). Nundinae (market days) means 9th, but were really the 8th day. The 7-day week is late Imperial and, again, owes to Christian take-over of Jewish weeks.

Most systems had “auspicious” and “inauspicious” days for religious activities, civic activities, and business activities. Don’t start anything on an inauspicious day! (These were manipulated, especially in Rome, but that’s a whole different discussion.) The closest modern equivalent I can think of is Mercury Retrograde. 😊 Although in modern Greece, signing a contract on a Tuesday morning is bad juju, or May 29th. Constantinople fell on a Tuesday morning May 29th, 1453. We might, in America, consider 9/11. Who wants to open a business on 9/11?

The Horai (The Hours)

When did the day begin? Again, the ANE and Med are different. In the ANE, day typically began at sunset. So yes, that’s why the Jewish shabbat starts at sunset on Friday and lasts till sunset on Saturday. (If you didn’t know, the Jewish “day of rest” isn’t Sunday, but Saturday.)

For Greece and Rome, et al., day began at dawn. Each day was then evenly divided between day and night, so there was no standard length of an hour. It depended on the time of year. Each half had twelve hours, subdivided into 4 groups of triads. Originally in Greece it seems there were only 9, not twelve, but they increased to match the lunar months. The division of 4 groups of triads also yielded the 4 seasons of 3 months each. Hora was initially a season, not an hour.

In any case, dawn was always the first hour, noon the 6th, sunset the 12th. Same deal for night (twilight, midnight, pre-dawn).

This is great for military and civic purposes, but most people tended to refer to daytime divisions more generally: dawn, midday, etc. And there was nothing like minutes or seconds. That’s totally modern. Closest, they might come would be to count “breaths.”

The gnomon (sundial) was the chief way to measure hours, as it matched longer or shorter days. But it’s kinda hard to use a sundial at night, or on a cloudy day, or inside. Night hours were approximate.

The water clock (klepsudra) was first popularized in Greece in courts and the Assembly (to time speeches), but spread to other use, for inside or on shady days. Yet water clocks are unwieldy to carry around.

The Romans did have portable sundials (below), but again…needs the SUN. Btw, I should add that sundials aren’t only a Greco-Roman thing. The Chinese had them too. By contrast, the sand-clock or hourglass is a medieval invention. Won’t find them in the ancient world.

[oftenderweapons]

Hold Me Close – Yoongi

Pairing: Yoongi x reader (nicknamed Kitten)

Wordcount: 1.1k (to be edited)

Genre: fluff, a tiny bit of angst, established relationship, idol!AU

Rating: GP (general public)

Hello gingerbread folks! I’m just stopping by to dedicate this small thingie to @nervous-moon​, who needed some Yoongi fluff tonight. 

I’m re-editing this small drabble and adding an audio track (that you can find here - OUT SOON). The plot is very basic: Kitten is studying for a masterclass, staying up too late and taking poor care of herself. Yoongi, devoted and worried, tries to make sure she doesn’t overwork herself. As he realises she’s not in bed yet, he goes looking for her and the two have a late night heart to heart. 

I really felt like writing something relieving and comforting, so here I am. 

It’s pure fluff. A tiny bit of angst, but a reasonable amount. Just lots of cuddles. 

-------------------------------------------

You looked at the clock. 

3.17 am. 

You pushed yourself through one more chapter. 

Just one more, you told yourself, staring at the pages on your laptop. You drank some more water to keep yourself from yawning. 

In the last few months you had been taking extra classes that explored the latest innovations in terms of copyright and authorship, focusing especially on online contents and music platforms. 

Yoongi had encouraged you into doing so, supporting you through the whole process, including he selections, the studying, and the fact that you were still working while taking the classes. 

He was basically a substitute parent, making sure that you slept a reasonable amount of hours, that you had proper breakfast, that you kept yourself hydrated and that you took your vitamins and your sleeping pills. He had a hawk eye, always spotting small details like when you left food in your lunch box, when you went too long without taking a shower and when the black circles under your eyes became too deep. Sometimes he noticed you rubbing your eyes as they were too dry from all the hours spent at the computer screen, which always made him magically appear like a fairy, pushing your chin back and helping you put eyedrops on your burning irises. 

That night, you were so caught up in your handbook, Tchaikovsky playing in your earbuds, that you didn’t notice the soft sound of Yoongi’s feet padding towards you. 

You jerked around as soon as you felt his fingertip poking your shoulder. 

He took off your earbud. “It’s three a.m., Kitten, for god’s sake.” He murmured with his gravelly voice, 

You bit your lip nervously before justifying yourself. “I just wanted to finish this chapter.”

He exhaled in disappointment. “Three a.m. Stop saying ‘just one more chapter’.” He cupped your cheek as he scolded you fondly. 

“Tomorrow is Sunday. I’m cramming so I can sleep in and spend some time with you.” You explained, wrapping your hand around his wrist. 

“Okay.” He said, sitting on the sofa, beside you, laying down on his side and placing his joined hands between his knees, his head on your lap. 

You simply moved your laptop aside as you kept reading, your hand naturally diving into his hair and carding the locks. You changed your background music to Chopin’s Nocturnes and lowered the volume, slipping one earbud into his ear. 

His face nuzzled against your belly while your hand moved down, rubbing his back. You kept your writing hand free, just to scribble down some notes as you read the penultimate paragraph. You had to read it again. 

You were reaching your breaking point, your head so full that you could barely stuff anything more in there.

Distractedly, your hand climbed up, towards Yoongi’s neck, cupping his jaw while your thumb drew small circles on his cheekbone, his eyelids fluttering once you stopped to focus on writing the keywords to the last paragraph. 

You didn’t think there was anything worth noticing. With tiredness weaving through every fiber of your being, you closed your notebook and pushed your laptop close, being as quiet as possible. Yoongi wrapped his arms around your waist as you bend forward, placing your supplies on the coffee table. 

“There’s something I haven’t told you.” He murmured quietly while his fingertips moved under your shirt and traced the outline of your lower vertebrae. 

Your eyes closed at the sensation. So warm. So tender. So familiar. 

“We’ve received the new schedule today.” He said, while your palm slipped to his tummy, rubbing small circles on the fluffy fleece of his pyjamas shirt. You let your fingers slide under the hem of the garment, meeting the warm, smooth skin underneath and the endearing softness of his tummy.

“I won’t be home for our first anniversary.” He said, opening his eyes and looking up at you. 

“Japan, again?” You asked gently, trying to be as understanding as possible. 

“New York.” He replied, huffing out a loud breath. “Two weeks.”

“Then, we’ll celebrate once you’re back. It’s not a big deal.” You concluded, moving your hand back to his shoulders, placing your thumb and forefinger on the tendons at the base of his nape and pressing down with the right amount of pressure, massaging Yoongi’s tense neck. 

“Sometimes I ask myself what would happen if I had children.” He mused, joining your free hand with his, his thumb drawing gentle lines on your palm. “Would I be there the moment my woman is giving birth to our child? Or would I be on the other side of the world, too far to hold her hand, to touch her face as she goes through that kind of pain, to move her hair away from her face?”

Your hand moved to his forehead while he rolled on his back, looking at you. “Would I be able to hear her curse me, snarl at me, saying she’s not ever letting me close to her, just to forgive me as soon as she has our child in her arms?” Yoongi moved your joined hands to his lips, kissing one knuckle at a time. 

“Would I be able to run the tip of my pinkie along all of my baby’s features, just to see what is mine and what is their mother’s?” He wondered quietly.

You barely held back a sob. 

You had never wanted babies, but you were already seeing yourself in a hospital room, a white, soft bundle in your arms and Yoongi sitting at your side, completely charmed by the tiny human you were holding on your chest, feeding with your own breast. 

“No matter where you will be, I’m sure you’ll be an excellent partner, and an excellent father.” You replied, rubbing his belly and caressing his face, catching a fugitive tear with your thumb, drawing his delicate features with the tip of your fingers. 

His lovely button nose, and the fairylike arch that connected it with his brow. His eyebrows, his hairline. His barely-there cheekbones, and the bitable plumpness of his cheeks. His cupid bow. The minuscule mole beside his nose. His subtle eyelashes. The shape of his cute, elvish ears. 

He yawned and you felt him relax completely. “We should go to bed, kitty cat.” You told him. 

He nodded, but stayed still. 

It took you a bit to convince him, but finally he stood up and walked to the bedroom while you switched off the lights in the living room, following him shortly after.

Once in the bedroom, you slipped under the covers, thanking the universe that you had already done your nightly routine and you were ready for bed. 

Yoongi offered you his back and you spooned him, one of your arms venturing under his sleeping shirt, the other sliding under his head, pillowing it while your fingers toyed with his chocolate locks. 

His hand joined yours on his belly, capturing your fingers with his. “I love you, Kitten. You already are the perfect partner.” He said, before yawning. 

“I love you too, Yoongles.” 

[botwstoriesandsuch]

casual anon checkup how you doin

Let’s see, well we just breached 4am, and the sense of urgency to complete some school work has finally kicked in. I got my laptop propped up on the kitchen counter, and I just finished making some houseblend coffee that I loaded with milo powder for “health” purposes. Gotta finish up this AP Stat quiz while pretending I have some semblance of what the hell is going on in the class that I don’t pay attention to. I got my fancy bluetooth headphones that I connect with the wire anyway because I don’t like using up the battery, and I’ve had this acoustic cover of Solitary Warrior Revali looped for a few minutes now--I need those soft vibes to distract me from my thoughts about how the only reason I’ve been so sluggish with my work overall is probably due to years of ingrained perfectionism and inability to adapt my standards to the currently circumstances of the world along with my slightly declining mental health so you know--music’s nice. 

Oh! And my dad got me this electric coaster (as pretentious as that sounds, I know. Leave me and my not-cold drinks alone ok) for the holidays and it matches with my favourite mug that I’m drinking from right now so, it’s the little things :3 Plus, not to derail myself from my school life intentionally, I’ve been working on this sheet music for one of my songs for a few weeks now and it’s starting to actually sounds pretty decent so yaay!! Probably won’t share it for a long time though...I’ve really been only working on it on and off again when I have “free time” [which may or may not just be my online class gym period hey you can’t prove anything to the cops]

Uhhh what else can I shove in here...”How you doin” pfft, I don’t really know how to make this ask funny or entertaining. Well I’ve nearly finished up this zine piece about the Royal Tech Lab so that’s fun (shameless plug for the Memorabillia Zine) aaand, I’m picking my kalimba again to learn Mipha’s theme. About time, cause I have to record shit for the [REDACTED] project I’m working on >:) heh. Oh fucking SHIT now that I think about it I have like three different secret projects I’m working on huh...haven’t even finish the script for that damn au...OK what it, right, “how am I doing” well, I’m doing everything and nothing currently, if that makes any sense. Your possible regrets about sending this to me aside, it feels good to just lay everything on a plate, shit out a post, and then never talk or acknowledge it ever again. It’s like birds, you know how they just take a ten pound shit in the mourning and never look back? (That way they don’t need to go during the rest of the day) That’s what this is, just a giant load of bullshit that I’m gonna set out at 5am and then never look at again. 

You know as unhealthy as it sounds I really do dedicate a lot of time to this blog and this fandom. I mean sure not all of it (arguably any of it) is productive, but hey it’s something. The fuck else am I gonna do with my time...you wake up, you slam your keyboard awake to show up to online class, you take a nap, you spend a few hours keeping up the cishetallo gifted student appearance to your parents and then spend the rest of your time finding enough serotonin on the internet to make your brain work. Hell if I’ve talked to another human being in real life all year. Even my parents just kinda talk about the news and “how was class” during dinner which lasts like 10 minutes. My dad just kinda pisses off to work as soon as breakfast is made, and my mom just kinda stays in her office until everyone’s back and she makes dinner. Wait, that’s a lie, she does talk to me on Sunday mornings when she informs me of how I’ve ruined her day before church. So you know I do prefer it that way anyhow, why the hell would I want to talk with them when I got perfectly entertaining internet companions. What’s a “what scholarship programs are you doing?” to a *checks notifications*, “why are Rito fingers like that if they molt to they just lose the ability to--” god fucking dammit...

So! What were we saying--how am I doing? Welp. Guess it’s up for interpretation cause I sure as hell don’t know the answer to that. The hell would you do with the answer anyway. Pity points, praise points? I don’t particularly care for either. God I just realized you introduced yourself as “casual anon,” HA....apologies this is the opposite of casual isn’t it. Or, well maybe it isn’t. I’m the one just having a nice little chitchat with myself as I sip through my mug o’ caffeine. I might have to add a keep reading bar to this so I don’t blog up the dash, but also that would be ironically humorous to see for such a stupidly small question huh. Idk, contrary to popular belief I don’t have a spine so I’m probably not gonna unload all this shit on my followers like that out of the blue. Hell I’d be surprised if I actually posted this. Then again...5am and vibin with bad decision making.....plus the sentiment of putting something out to be seen is always nice.

You ever watch Bojack Horseman? Fantastic show, it’s just on a whole ‘nother level when it comes to writing. And yeah, I probably should have been watching it in the first place, BUT.............yeah ok there’s real excuse I probably shouldn’t be watching it/have watched it. But there’s this one episode in Season 4 I think? It’s where Bojack gives a eulogy for his mother’s funeral and the entire episode is just that, it’s just this giant monologue of him giving his eulogy. And that episode always facinated me because it is probably the most interesting episode in the entire show and one of my favourites, and like...how did they do that?? How did they make twenty minutes of talking so engaging and entertaining? I mean, yeah, I could probably analyze the pacing and structure to find the answer, and hell if I’ve watch my share of youtube video essays on the subject. But like, just the entire concept that someone had the idea to make 20 minutes of talking an entire episode....that’s just insane (forgive the language). 

It’s one thing to want to talk about yourself for a long time and be interesting, but to pour all kinds of energy to make some made-up fictional character talk about THEMselves for a long period of time...is that sad? Or maybe it’s respectable. /to make an audience care more about something that’s not real rather than you. Well, perhaps that’s selfish thinking. 

Oh! You know what, I just got this super nice message from someone the other day about a Raybands giveaway. Obviously, I’m not in the need for sunglasses during this day and age so I kindly declined and ignore the offer, but it got me thinking: how liked to you have to be in order to sway someone to clicking a random link. Like I’m talking about your friends or something, but like, if you opened your door oneday and Mr. Rogers was there selling clementines, would you buy them? Or if Lin Manuel Miranda offered you a vaccum, would you buy it? What’s the standard of known niceness that constitutes to you complying with what they’re asking? I sure would like to know....not for manipulation purposes but just for...idk, just having that tangibility of something. 

Ah well, fuck me gently with a chainsaw how am i doing. Well I’ll tell you what I’m doing, I’m procrastinating. Procrastinating on work and wips and conversations and dilemmas. You don’t fail all the shots you don’t take afterall *wink wink* aaand for legal reasons that was a joke. Idk, you tell me how I’m doing, fuck if I know. According to this empty mug, I’m doing well, but I also will be doing a piss in the bathroom probably.

[sif-the-tsunami]

Ropes and Roses: part 2

Summary: Elizabeth Rosehill is a talented dance instructor and a force of nature that beguiles her famous student. Event in her life, however, have led her to search for more creative ways for her to keep herself afloat. What will she do to keep her dreams secure and what will it mean for her blossoming relationship.

Warnings: I promise that we are getting to some fun stuff, this one is mostly flirtation, fluff, and some feminine bisexual chaos.

A/N: I love some bisexual chaos. let me know what you think.

@achaoticaugust @thelastsock @viking-raider let me know what you think?

Word count: ~1600

Henry looked around the studio after placing the yoga mats down. The light tan wood floors creaked softly under his footsteps, the walls coated with a light blue paint made the space feel calm and inviting, he thought to himself that the color combination reminded him of a day at the beach. One wall was covered with mirrors, the other had a rack with more yoga mats, brightly colored jingly hip scarves, and photos taken of various dancers. Elizabeth walked back into the room wearing a soft gray shirt over the curve hugging leggings and tank top she was wearing for the previous class.

“So, Greg told me this morning that they had not fully finished the plans for the dance scene, and he was willing to take my input. I have reviewed some of your fight scene footage, I think I have a good idea of where we can start. And I’m not going to lie, with your strength, I bet you would be a lot of fun to swing dance with. Now, lets get warmed up.” She began.

She kicked off her shoes and sat down on the mat, her movement was almost fluid. He watched her black painted fingernails run through her hair, the soft curls bounced gently as she leaned her head to left slightly. Henry joined her on the floor. For the next twenty minutes he mirrored her stretches as best as he could. With every new stretch, Elizabeth would praise him for his effort. Every “good job!” she exclaimed would perk him up. He would do yoga with her every day if it meant he could hear his new teacher shower him with praise.

During the stretches, they chatted about hobbies. Something about her demeanor made him open up more easily. She teased him for still playing WoW, but he playfully jabbed, “Oh I’m sorry who all plays Elder Scroll Online still?”

“Yeah, okay, that’s fair.”

The last position they did required them to have their legs spread apart and trying to lean forward enough to drop their elbows on the floor. It was pretty clear to Henry he wouldn’t be able to make it down that far. He could feel a tightness in his lower back that was keeping him from going too far forward.

“You don’t need to go as far as me, just as far as you can. Do your best, Henry. Take a nice deep breath in with your mouth, hold it for a five count, and exhale with your nose.” She said, her voice like velvet. “You are doing a really good job, keep up the effort. I’m willing to bet that if you kept doing stretches like this, in about four months, you could probably get your elbows down like this.”

He looked at Elizabeth’s large brown eyes, trying hard not to check out her body and immediately regretting wearing his dark blue track pants. She moved upright as smooth as ever. He couldn’t stop himself from thinking that she was showing off for him. He knew women would occasionally bend over backwards to impress him, and often it would work. It allowed him to be very picky with his romantic liaisons. She was up before he was, and reached out a hand to help him. With that gesture, he snapped out of his train of thought.

The dance instructor did everything she could to evoke any form of dance from Henry’s body. It was like trying to juice a rock. “So I think what we are going to try to accomplish is a basic tango. You get to look strong and imposing, your partner gets to look hella sexy. Win-win, right?” She said, trying to sound optimistic.

“It’s not too late, you can tell Greg that I should just be really great at Chess.” He teased.

“Don’t you tempt me, Mr Cavill. I might just do that.” She laughed for the first time in front of him. “So I have plans for the next couple nights, but if you want to really try to improve, I can get a partner for you to practice with on Sunday night. We would have to wait until after the school’s fall recital. But I can give you a couple hours.”

“Do you think I could actually get better.”

After a pause, and a long drink from her bottle of water, she responded as diplomatically as possible, “Well, Mr Cavill, if you don’t mind my honesty? You can’t get much worse.”

“Ouch. Ow. You hurt all two of my feelings.” He feigned insult. She raised a single eyebrow and saw right through him. Oh no, he thought, she knows I’m an absolute marshmallow.

“Uh huh, all two of your feelings. Right. So, Sunday night?” She giggled a little.

“Oh yeah, I’ll be here.” They then said their farewells, and left the studio for the night. Henry made his way home to a very excited Kal. He might still hate dancing but he enjoyed his time with Elizabeth. What was it about her that made him want to please her? Her whole face lit up when she smiles, her laugh was like music. 

That night he dreamed of the teacher, and wondered just how flexible she actually was.

***

Sunday night was an absolute joy for Elizabeth. She loved watching the little kids tap dance, the couples showing off their waltz, and the group of women who show off their tribal routine. Before the last dance, she noticed that her newest student tiptoed into a spot in the back. She was actually kind of excited to let him see what she could do. Being a very thorough researcher, she knew he would be able to learn a basic routine, especially given the amount of fight choreography he had mastered. She would be able to make the connection from his brain to his body. He might not enjoy it, but she appreciated the level of dedication that he had shown in the past and was willing to put forth for her.

Between performances, the families with littles mingled and left the studio. The group of belly dancers sat on one side of the room, the couples from the ballroom dancing stayed to another side. Henry stayed in the corner by himself, hiding in an open room with a baseball cap and a hoodie.

Elizabeth came out from the back wearing black pants, a black suit jacket and a sparkly silver bralette. Her hair pulled back in a tight ponytail. Her partner, Genevieve, wore a formfitting red dress with lovely long blonde curls. She had agreed to perform this particular dance months ago and the anticipation was palpable. Inspired by the Frieda Kahlo movie, they had always wanted to perform a two woman tango. Elizabeth and Genevieve moved together like lovers deeply enthralled with each other. The music was sensual, but not nearly as sensual as they were. The two never broke eye contact until the very end of the dance. For a brief moment, she flashed her big brown eyes at Henry. His eyes were the size of dinner plates and he gulped hard. Good, she thought, I still got it.

Genevieve and Elizabeth hugged as the students applauded their display. They wrapped up the showcase, some more mingling and gradually the other adults left. Henry stayed to himself while waiting for his teacher to be ready.

“So, Mr Cavill, what did you think?”

“That was… oh my god, so... Wow… I don’t know if I can make a coherent sentence right now.”

“Thank you, that was exactly what I was going for. Henry, this is Gennie, she will be your partner tonight.” Elizabeth removed her jacket and pulled on a black tank top to get ready for their practice. She saw him sneak a peek at her changing, looking at the roses tattooed all over the right side of her torso. Gennie and Henry shook hands to begin their time together. Elizabeth was right, they were a good pair.

Their evening was well spent, Genevieve was a gracious partner. They had great chemistry together, Elizabeth was even able to take a short video to show to Gregory. She noticed that when the connection was made by Henry his whole body language changed. He loved to be told how great he was doing. The visible pleasure made her want to keep praising him. Before the evening class was done, Elizabeth also figured out what would make her pupil begin to laugh, and the more he relaxed the more he gave her. They became a great team, and a genuine friendship was beginning to form between the two.

***

Over the next few weeks, Henry and Elizabeth would continue their lessons. Over one lunch with his friends, the actor spent more than half of their time together telling the group of the instructor. He couldn’t stop himself from singing her praises. When someone suggested that he was developing a crush on her, he laughed to himself and denied it.

“Come on, Hank, you keep telling us how funny and cute she is. When you are done working together, ask her out.” Jillian suggested.

Jillian’s husband Jeremy asked Henry to describe the woman he had been talking about.

“Short, curly hair, she has some pink streaks in her hair, brown eyes, she kind of looks a little like a sort of retro pin-up model. She has a tattoo of flowers on her rib cage. I think she’s pretty.”

“American you said?”

“Yeah, from Southern California.”

“Huh, how about that.” Jeremy said vaguely. The questions seemed a little out of character for him but maybe he was actually interested in who she was. Henry tried not to overthink it, but it sat wrong with him the rest of the day.