#but i like it enough for a ~2hr study

[organiccats]

kneeling at your altar

[shameboree]

“ive never had a hyperfixation ever in my life” i say having been neurotically obsessed w prions and transmissible spongiform encephalopathies since i was actually for real 6 years old. i think about protein misfolding once a day at MINIMUM. blorbos come and go but prions are Literally forever

[slavic-roots-western-mind]

Backpack must-haves: College edition

Pens, laptop, notebooks, water, some cash and a charger with the odd mint or tictac chilling somewhere at the bottom of your bag.

Scrambling around, trying to find your ratty notebook, and then asking your impeccable, super organized neighbor for a pen 6 minutes after class has started only to be shushed by the person in front of you and having 10 heads swivel back and glare at you for interrupting their flow.

Sounds familiar? That was the state of my learning and my bag during my first week of uni, after which my itinerary was promptly overhauled and reorganized.

Question: If your backpack is messy and disorganized, how will that reflect on your studies in the long-run? Not great, so let's go through my back pack must-have's so that you have one less thing to stress about.

1. A pencil case with: 4x pens, 2x pencils, 1x sharpener, 1x eraser, 3x highlighters, 1x scissors, 1x small glue.

The amount and items vary, depending on your major and personal use, but an actual pencil case is a must have. It doesn't need to be flashy, or designer.

Even a plastic ziplock bag will do!

You just need a bag or a container to store your pens so that instead of scrambling at the bottom of your bag and hopelessly trying to find a working pen, you know exactly where everything is.

2. Electronics: 1x phone charger, 1x laptop with charger, headphones

One of the worst things that can happen is low batter, so come prepared! Bring along your phone and laptop charger (if you need your lapop that day) just in case.

3. Your beauty & health case

If you wear makeup regularly, you probably already have a small makeup bag with your products.

Other people, myself included should also have a smaller bag, but not just for makeup or makeup at all.

This case should have tampons, pads, a spare set of underwear and socks (you never know when the rain decides to go apocolyptic, and going back home in wet socks is unpleasant), gum, painkillers, any meds that you may need, deodorant, body spray, hand sanitizer, tissues, some emergency cash, lipbalm etc.

Once again, the actual contents may vary, but the point stands. Get a separate case or bag for your health products, so that instead of trying to juggle several items when going to the bathroom, you can just remove your case and go do your business quickly and easily.

When possible, streamline the process.

4. A full water bottle

Staying hydrated is a must, especially during the start of the school year. All the running around the campus, trying to remember in which buliding your classes are require enough liquids.

Early autumn tends to be quite hot in my region, and only starts to cool off in mid November, so my water bottle requires constant re-filling.

Your studies will thank you, as an over-heated, dehydrated student with a raging headache is rarely a productive student.

(Source: me and a few other uni students who chose coffee over water one time too many, and lived to tell the tale. Oh the regret. Anyway. Live and learn.)

5. Food

Who has time to wake up in the morning, cook a proper lunch, pack it neatly into your lunchbox, shower, get dressed, and make it in time for your morning class bright-eyed and energized?

Not many students, especially uni students commuting to class for 1-2hrs each day.

I should probably make a separate post about meal prep on a money and time budget (lmk if that'll be useful!), but the bottom line is this:

You need to eat, and the on campus cafe's usually charge an arm and a leg, so there are a few options available.

A. Cook overnight and bring leftovers and some snacks to tide you over with you. Snacks may include fruit, sandwiches, some chips etc. Small and light.

B. Live solely on pre-bought snacks. Works for some people, not so much for others. A good option, as long as the snacks have some substance (cheetos don't count! Think more like a fruit cup, or a chicken sandwhich).

C. Depending on your location, some campuses are located in a city, so a quick 10 min bus ride to a grocery store is likely to offer more variety and better lunch options. I

've certainly done that, and guess what? The daily bus ticket and my shawarma cost less than a fancy sandwhich so there's always that!

6. The stationary: Notebooks, textbooks, a planner

Your course may require you to use just one notebook, whereas you may go through 10 notebooks per term in a different class.

Look up the syllabus and email your lecturer in advance to know what material you will need.

Don't forget to include some extra notebooks for your own out-of-class studying. Using the same notebook can have varying results.

Personally, I don't need anyone else seeing my notebook filled with what appears to be incomprehensible scribblings and ramblings, when it's just me annotating my answers to practise questions.

You may like many people use an online planner, but nothing beats having an on paper entry. Besides, it's more convenient to use in those weak or no signal buildings, with wifi so weak that they shouldn't have bothered wiring the building.

7. The wallet

Campus ID, personal ID, card, cash, driver's license, health card, maybe a business card or two.

You never know when you might need any of these things, as things happen, especially on college campuses, so always carry around some cash and an ID of some sort.

[squeakygeeky]

Language Learning Check-In: June

Assuming I keep up with this I guess I'll make this a monthly thing. I've loved languages for a long time, but this was the first time in a while where I felt like it was my main hobby. I'm currently very into the idea of 'comprehensible input' which is where things are simplified enough and with enough context that you can understand what's going on, even if you can't understand most of the words, and you naturally start picking up both grammar and vocabulary from exposure. I finally quit Duolingo cold turkey.

Thai: I started seriously studying Thai at the end of last month, starting with learning the alphabet and then immediately abandoning that to do pure listening comprehension only. I've been averaging 2hrs a day, a pace I can probably stick to for the next two months since I can watch videos during work, but not after that. This is not counting time spent watching BL since in that case I'm focusing mainly on reading subtitles, although I'm sure it helps a little. The videos I'm watching have the format of two teachers asking each other basic questions ('Is this a fruit? Do you like to eat this?') with lots of repetition, hand gestures, and doodles to illustrate.

I feel like I've been learning so much but all I can quantify is the hours spent since it's not like I'm making vocab lists or taking tests, I'm just absorbing like a sponge. My favorite part is that it's pretty chill to be a sponge so it's still possible when I'm tired, and until this past week or so I was struggling a lot with my energy levels. I don't really have any fun language facts to share other than that sky blue is its own distinct color category, there's no overall blue in Thai.

Spanish: I'm actually part of an insanely multilingual friend group now and there are a lot of Spanish speakers. This includes the friend I've been calling 'Kdrama Friend' who is actually a Spaniard, although her mother tongue is Catalan, not Castilian. Then there's my Guatemalan neighbor of the Mysterious Doormat Beverage (left on my doormat, not consisting of doormats), and a few other women. Kdrama Friend can translate (and so can some of the others, they mostly speak more English than I speak Spanish) but it's a lot less awkward when she doesn't have to. I do struggle to follow group conversations a lot of times though, so I've been meaning to seriously work on my conversational skills and now I've actually started.

It's easier than with Thai in the sense that I don't have to have visual input, I can understand intermediate to advanced podcasts like the Duolingo podcast and even native podcasts, but it's harder in the sense that I don't feel any progress since my level was already pretty high and I'm just picking up the occasional new word. We'll see how I do at tomorrow's baby shower. To be honest I think a lot of my problems with conversation are more psychological than linguistic and exist even when I'm speaking English, I can just cope better then.

I found a podcast on fashion history which I was able to follow because I'm actually really interested in that. It's the whole comprehensible input thing, I know perfectly well what a toile is and have used them, but someone at my Spanish level who didn't know how to sew clothes might have been lost.

Working on Spanish doesn't feel that exciting but it's useful and important to me for heritage reasons. If you've ever read the Josefina American Girl books, that's exactly one side of my family and my grandma grew up speaking Spanish, but my dad's Spanish is almost nonexistent and I just learned in school.

Vietnamese: You all know I love this language and I've wanted to learn it for a while, but there aren't great resources for it and while I can absolutely pick up certain words and phrases, it still kind of...doesn't sound like a language a lot of the time. Thai already feels more understandable. I think the alphabet similarity is actually hurting me because if I look at a word the way it would sound with English pronunciation interferes too much, and there aren't any videos simple enough to feel comprehensible without any translation. So this is on the back burner.

Korean: Dropped for now, although I did find some comprehensible input videos in case I decide to try learning it later.

My problem is that I now want to learn all the languages, right now, and that is not how it works. Anyway, feel free to ask me about languages any time.

[chaos-has-theories]

4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42

(Numbers chosen at random, no idea what questions these correspond to)

Weirder asks

Thank you!! Took this as an opportunity to ramble at length. You have been warned.

4. Which cryptid being do you believe in?

Listen, it is complicated.

I was raised in a type of Christian Animism. I have vaguely dabbled in Paganism since I was thirteen and and researching for a presentation on witches (historical) and instead found witches (modern). If pressed, I would identify as agnostic. I study literature with a focus on folklore and took supplemental classes in science of religion and egyptology.

All of this only works if I sharpen my Alar like I am the zumil and the world my kolee, until my mind is the box that Mr. Schrödinger locked his kitten into.

What Cryptid do I believe in? All of them. None of them. The ghost that lives in the linen closet at [hotel name redacted]. Frau Perchta, who is Frau Holle, who is god, who is dead. Myself. "Apotheosis can happen to everyone, although.... the idea of being godlike may be attractive, being an actual god is less so." (London Review of Books, February 2022)

8. How many water bottles are in your room right now?

SO MANY. I always have one by my bed and one in my backpack, and I'm not sure if it counts but a glass carafe on my desk. But of course then there's my backup glass bottle, and the ~7 PET bottles in varying sizes that I keep with my bags for cases of "I want to bring an extra bottle for my friend" or for isotonic or energy drinks or JUST IN CASE, okay.

If I don't have a water bottle with me at all times, I simply die. It is what it is.

15. Are you a parent? (all answers qualify)

Well no, but actually yes. Technically speaking? Absolutely not and thank the stars for that. Right now and in a broader sense? Yeah, kind of.

Look, I have two younger siblings who are ~10 years younger than me. I feel very, very responsible for them. I am at all times trying to make up for the things my parents are doing wrong. Right now they are off hiking somewhere for a week, so my older sibling and me are taking care of the kids (who are solidly teenagers but shhhh). It means cooking and cleaning and helping my sib go to bed without getting lost in the sauce and being emotional support and doing the are you winning son and the did you remember to drink some water. It's exhausting and it's rewarding and I love them so much. They are SWEET and KIND and AMAZING and TALENTED and I feel like that statement alone qualifies me as an honorable parent. So there.

16. Can you drive?

Nope. I've been "meaning" to learn for a few years now, but what am I gonna do, get a car? Har har.

Sth sth speaking from a place of privilege (comfortable seat on functional public transportation): it just seems like a lot of hassle and money just to drive a handful of times a year. Maybe I'll learn someday. Maybe this summer. Maybe never.

23. How do you feel about chilly weather?

For various reasons my body at all times demands

- a tight underlayer, preferably with sleeves (for autism reasons, probably. Without pressure my skin will start screaming like a freshly unearthed mandrake)

- long trousers if possible (see above, though it used to also be dysphoria reasons)

- a loose layer (for dysphoria reasons)

- and a scarf (for neck tension reasons)

So all in all chilly just works better for me than hot. Spring is my beloved because it's cold enough for some layers and bright enough to chase off the demons.

42. An app you frequently use besides this godforsaken site?

Currently? IED. It's 3D minesweeper, programmed by a friend of a friend, downloaded via F-Droid.

I have been clocking in almost 2hrs per day since I downloaded last weekend. It's fun, but it isn't THAT fun. Huge sigh.

[meirimerens]

how much time per day or week do you think you spend making art (either drawing or writing)? you have such crazy creative output (in my opinion at least - i know its very different for everyone) and all of it is so wonderful!

THANK YOU.... I TRY TO MAKE THAT #GOODSTUFF... thank you for #enjoying... ok i've already mentioned this part in an ask somewhere but one of the reasons i seem to have a "crazy creative output" is because My Ass is unemployed right. i am that "the unemployed friend at 4PM on a monday" person. i'm also not studying, so i can truly dedicate my time to #mycraft, and even then i don't have the output i could have if i spent all the time i'm at my puter actually drawing or writing. i also hyperfixate in the Not Fun Way and my brain Will Not let me move on before i've finished task 1 and it's not very conducive to a productive #lifestyle, artistically or otherwise. i also mention this ^ because i have plans of actually going back to school next year and between studying + needing a job to pay rent my creative output i'm aware will likely Dwindle so. warning everyone rn.

i can't really make calculations per se but i'm on my puter/tablet for real like in the #creative mindset at least 5hrs a day. i'm on my puter/tablet for longer than that, but i also do bland stuff like read and write emails, try to keep my webbed sites updated, i watch movies and videos, i talk to friends, i go on unnecessary wikipedia deep dives for 2hrs at a time, i hoard pdfs for sport, i keep my eyes on multiple websites i need to to re-enroll in school, i worry about my future housing situation and as such scroll renting sites for hours etc. you can see what i mean when i say i don't have the creative output i could have; some people can finish a full image in 5hrs. but i'm too #scatterbrained for this. i truly think when i actually have commitments in my life (uni & work) i'll make better use of the spare hours i'll have left because they'll mean everything to me...

tldr a lot, but i don't actually focus enough in that Lot to have a truly impressive #yield, and i'm soon going to have to do things everyday which will make this crop yield dwindle... but such is life. thank you for sticking by so far... more to come. i prommy.

[rei-venus]

today's geography paper was. hm.

ok first of all they gave us FIVE pieces of foolscap paper and my entire class (including me) was staring at it like "what the actual fuck". until the teacher told us to check the question paper and we flipped through and we were all like "no fuCKING WONDER. AMAZING. SPLENDID."

and it was 47 marks total??? what the heck??? the usual is 30-35 and we looked at all the past year papers together and ?????

typhoons and hurricanes didn't come out. we were fucking scammed.

and i ended up using an example we didn't even learn in the case studies cuz I DIDNT MEMORISE ENOUGH AND DIDN'T EVEN HAVE NOTES FOR CRIMES AND VICES AND AKJSHDAJHSDK

anyways 2hrs of pain and torture is over my hand is so severely cramped and the skin between my thumb and pointer finger is still red and i can't even hold my pen properly

[lycocarpum]

I need to talk about how insane this is so if you wanna hear me rant about the state of the US college system, look no further

so i'm poor, right? i live on ~400 a month if I'm actually trying, but mostly I float by on taking care of my parents/grandparents and their properties in lieu of rent and sometimes for food. I've been doing this for over 20 years, it works, but i want out.

I started college immediately after getting my GED and have maintained a 4.0 to 3.9-ish GPA for the past three years. i am POOR, but i also live in a poor state, and our state has decided that everyone who's also poor and stupid can get a bachelors for no cost, as long as you don't already have one. you should still apply for grants to live on, but whatever tuition costs arent covered by your grants will be taken care of by the state! yippie!

Except hold on. full-time students arent eligible for food stamps, and the cost of living is 1k a month and RISING, esp near the campus itself. that's not counting gas, which is a necessity if you live anywhere but directly on campus, seeing as it's surrounded on all sides by insanely busy motorways.

so i get my college paid for by the state and i live 4+ hours away and take a 2hr bus ride to campus as often as i can get my crippled body onto it, whatever, i live in hell. but now i'm receiving predatory loan offers and UNAPPLIED FOR grants bc of my gpa, deposited directly into my account. this fucks up federal work-study and kicks me out of any programs i was trying to set up.

"why care about working though, your college is free" again, i'm poor, that is still not enough to live on. esp without food stamps.

but more importantly, good grades do not land you a job anywhere outside of the damn academic setting; I want to leave, and i need job experience under my belt to even stand a fighting chance of putting my higher education to any use. the fact that i have high grades should not immediately make me eligible for over 100k in predatory loans i have to cancel every year before they're applied to my account, and they should not bar me from getting relevant job experience.

extra "smart people" grants sound like good initiative on the surface (if you're insane) but they end up hurting absolutely everyone in this institution

[woodys-surf-shack]

Surf Log 002

Date: Thu 11th May 2023

Location: Highcliffe

Duration: 2hrs

Waves: 2-3+ ft

Journal: As my work day drew to a close I checked Magic Seaweed out of curiosity, and to my delight saw some decent swells were forecast. I couldn't pack up the car quick enough and I got to the beach as golden hour approached to find the area almost empty. Right as I was ready to jump into the waves, disaster struck - the zip on my wetsuit snapped off 🫠 My stomach sank and I spent about 10-15 minutes trying to fix it before realising it was a lost cause. Rather than go home I decided to risk and went in feeling a bit embarrassed and annoyed, with some of my back exposed.

Within minutes, however, those negative feelings dissolved. The waves were looking big, fast and choppy, and by some miracle, I actually caught the first wave I went for! As the wave carried me off I almost freaked out with excitement, but remembered I'd needed to stay calm if I wanted to ride it for as long as possible. So instead I focussed on balancing and counted in my head. I think I managed about 5 seconds in total. It doesn't seem like much when I write it down, but even just 5 seconds felt INCREDIBLE. I tried to turn a bit and pumped a little too.

For the next hour I caught some nice waves, but didn't manage to ride them for any longer than maybe 2 or 3 seconds before losing momentum or losing balance. I was also being weight down by my wetsuit, which kept filling with water through the broken zip. I wiped out a bunch. Super annoying. By the second hour I had foolishly exhausted myself, but I didn't want to go in, the waves and weather were just too lush. I was starting to feel a bit disorientated and I should have taken a break to drink some water and eat a snack.

Oh, and about halfway through my session another surfer paddled out. He was a middle-aged dude with his kids, who were playing on the beach as he surfed. How cool is that? We chatted a bit on the waves and I tried my best to give him space. Soon we got into a rhythm where we were taking the waves in turns. He was pretty sick, and I tried to study his riding, though he was mainly just riding the waves with a few nice little turns and stuff. I hope I can get to that level soon.

Side note: I fixed my wetsuit zip once I got home, thankfully.

Learnings:

If I'm surfing for longer than an hour I definitely need to take breaks more often. Having some water or coffee and a protein bar would have helped me out a bunch during this session.

Getting your back foot up first is essential.

Be careful with my wetsuit zip!

[coding-recap]

13/100 days of productivity (coding)

MAY 11, 2023 (Thurs)

Hallu hallu hallu (ref) so ayon nagral ulit me ng python 2hrs study siya anteh, or more so. so gumamit me ng datacamp ansd magadan sezzss, easy to gets naman for beginner talaga.

1. natutunan ko yung sa index slicing var[kasama si START: di kasama si END: STEPS], si index yung pang ilan sa sa string or list

2. I also learned yung sa mga ibat ibang functions, gaya ng .count, .replace etc... JUST REM: var.method

3. I ALSO LEARNED NUMPY BITCH IT IS A NUMBERICAL PYTHON

note: dapat di same ang file name mo sa module, para di mabobo si python. BOBO KA NA NGA, IPAPABOBO MO PA SI PYTHON DIBA, EDI LAHAT BOBO NA!

4. sa Numpy pwede mong icalculate yung mga nasa list ng mabilisan, na hindi kaya ng python list. need mo lang iconvert ang python list sa numpy array using np.array(var). np kasi pinaikli mo yung numpy as np.

5. more on calculation in array yung sa numpy so keri keri boom. Then pwede mo din malamaan yung boolean as nlong may conditional 

ex : np_light =(np_weight < 20) 

OUTPUT: TRUE OR FALSE

6. Then para makuha mo yung data ng boolean, like para malaman mo kung sino nagTRUE don sa conditions mo print this

ex print(np_weight[np_light]) remember dapat nasa loob yung pinagboolean mo teh [index] kasi to, na kung saan nakaplace ang isang VALUE

7. also pwede mo din maget ang index ng isang weight, by using this

ex: print(np_weight[50]) para makuha mo yung value na nasa index 50

pwede din to: print(np_weight[50:100]) para makuha mo yung value ng index from 50 to 100

OVERALL okay okay pa naman, pero nalilito me sa ibang part. Neverthless big step na ito. sabi nga ni TIna Huang “ Just learning enough, moving on and iterating(repeating)”

[r-ene]

update on surviving college with rene:

as of 09/12/22 - first month of the first semester as an overloaded-irregular-junior respiratory therapy student (no face-to-face classes yet). i have 11 things i've been doing so far and hopefully once things start getting chaotic (academically) + me being overwhelmed, i can remind myself of these less stressful times, and i hope it can be of help to you guys as well :)

my current schedule:

6 days a week of classes (~32 hrs/week) and as per my mom, sundays are my rest days (we had a talk about this yesterday and i felt very validated with how she told me i deserve to not do any academic related tasks on sundays because i study and do those for long hours most of the week even if i have no upcoming hw/quizzes/etc. and now I feel refreshed thanks to cleaning (its a stress reliever of mine) and working out in the morning, I slept for 7hrs like a baby hahaha) + currently not behind on tasks, but there's a pile of pdfs and presentations that i need to start making notes for to have an easy quiz and exam preparation

☕ planks and morning work out still does wonders with back pain from sitting in front of my desk for long hours

☕ water, coffee, power naps and supplements (bee pollen) are still my best friend. sometimes we add earl grey milk tea to the list, but only when i get enough time to make tapioca pearls

☕ study buddies !! still going strong with my friends from high school with this, haha. we have discord study sessions daily (but now we have a curfew of 12mn instead of studying throughout the night sometimes we reach 5am)

☕ minor subject notes and tasks are done within the day of the scheduled class day i have 3 minor subjects at the moment, not counting mandarin to the minors as its more of an extracurricular now, it has its own sched hahaha

☕ as soon as possible, make digital notes after every lecture as much as possible i like to get done with my notes within the week of the lecture as a review

☕ handwritten notes the day before, or two days before a quiz - really helps with memory retention. i like to only write down the important/key points from my digital notes so it won't take long as when i used to directly make handwritten notes last first semester. it took me a long time and eventually i gave up haha

☕ online and offline planner, tracker and checklist with notion and google docs (but i'm slowly going back to making use of notion more), I have pages with class directory together with the google meet links and notes per professor rules for the classes, countdown before exams, to-do lists and etc. at the same time, I have a dainty planner and checklist just in case I'm not on my gadgets

☕ eating well. important to note. i asked my mom and siblings to remind me to eat as it was a problem with me last year and so far, i have been eating well - sometimes cooking my own meals and eating during lectures if it coincides with meal time, and fortunately, none of our professors who requires us to have our cameras on minds if we eat. some even encourages we do so and not miss our meals :)

☕ using a timer i mentioned and posted photos of the timer i currently make use of to track my time per task/subject so i can oversee and control my work/study time and break times

☕ engaging in different hobbies and learning new skills newly acquired skill and hobby: doing digital floor plans - started with the floor plan to follow for the reorganization of my room and soon, i'll try to make floor plans for a complete house or so because i feel motivated after my floor plan was approved by my architect student friend, hahaha. anw this helps a lot with destressing. cannot emphasize the importance of hobbies in a busy life. (+ adding to this is teaching your dog new skills, adds happy points)

☕ sleeping as much as i can now, as there's not much happening in my classes yet aside from lectures and weekly quizzes ++, i don't wake up at 3 or 4am yet to study but instead, waking up 30mins to 2hrs before classes that starts after 8am and 30mins to 1hr before 7:30 am classes (because those days I don't usually work out in the morning... but i think i should...). anw, like today, my first class started at 9am and i woke up 8am after sleeping at 1am, hehehe we love sleep.

it's the end of lunch break and the end of this list, haha. best of luck to us !!

[perriwinklesblog]

(Check notes for responses and discussion)

Yo I have a question for Americans about finals etc.

So I’m 24. And exams have changed in Scotland since I was there but where I lived, we had exam leave where you wouldnt have classes and you just showed up to your exams.

My exams happened either in empty classrooms if the class was small enough or in the Barracks (army base) down the road from us if there were subjects that had multiple classes, like maths, English, modern studies, history etc. You had random adults who were paid invigilators that sat during your exam, rarely were your actual teachers in the room with you.

Hardly any exams were multiple choice, majority were essay based. Everything had to be a written out answer. They rarely lasted shorter than 1hr. Usually it was around 2hrs.

This was generally the same for me in undergrad. 2hrs, essays. No cheat sheets. (Tho some courses I know did allow this but that was only at uni level not in high school)

Now this year, a lot of course work has been online and exams have been cancelled, instead teachers have submitted grades along with evidence to support their decision.

But Ranboo was doing his finals on his computer.

How? Like how? Did he not have to write long answers for things? We’re there not things to alert when he clicked off the page or were there not online invidulators watching people? Also how did he get his results so quickly? We waited months.

I just, I don’t understand how he was able to do finals and play minecraft and get results so quickly.

I’m a clueless Scot about American examination process precovid and during Covid.

Someone explain please.

(Also Scotland has a different education system to England before anyone is confused. We don’t do gcse up here. Education and Health are devolved sectors which the Scottish government controls)

[coralstudiies]

hello everyone! I got an ask from an anon asking for tips on time management so i decided to type this out before school starts heheh…

poor time management and procrastination, unfortunately, plague just about all of us lol. people with a short attention span (like me) and who are pretty much always on their phone (me again) and who hate scheduling are the most susceptible to these.

over the years i struggled with time management(studying the night before the exam 🤙🏼) but! these are some tips that have helped me in scheduling, avoiding procrastination and improving time management.

1. Write it down

as always, we’re starting with BEFORE the actual task. write all tasks, assignments, projects and homework, test dates down somewhere (notebook preferably so that you dont lose it. it doesn’t have to be your bujo and you do not have to start a bujo for this specific reason!!!) and write the deadlines. this is subconscious pressure to do work once you get home. also, since you can see everything, it’s easier to schedule it out later

2. Use travel time

i cannot stress this enough!!!! sorry that it appears in all my tips posts but it truly is very useful. for short commutes, review the content you’ve learnt so that when you start on your homework, you’ve already got the hang of it. ie you dont struggle to understand the chapter and be put off from finishing your work because you hate it. long commutes can be used to complete work itself. i like to place some books and a file under my worksheet while i write (if i have a seat lol) or you can take this time to plan your time in greater detail

3. Actually plan your time

you dont have to fancy it up with like, brush pens and highlighters. just do something on google sheets or excel. divide the day into appropriate blocks of time.

for me, since i use a focus timer (50+10 or 100+20, rare cases i do 120 with a long break after that) i keep my days in 1hr blocks. so i’d block in about 1hour after i reach home to chill, clean up and so on, 2hrs for homework and the remaining time can be divided by hour/2hours to complete my work. you can tweak the timings to work for you but so far this one suits me pretty well.

4. NEVER RUSH YOUR HOMEWORK AND REVISION WHEN PLANNING!!!!

i repeat, never rush. because when you give only, say, one hour to review 3 chapters and you fail to do so within that time limit, you feel demoralised and hence, will not want to work more. this is a very common issue i believe. sometimes i would rush revise and when i couldnt stick to the timelines, i’ll feel so defeated that i’ll probably binge watch youtube to cure my self-pity LOL

give yourself an ample amount of time. Assign one or two hours a day as ‘delay time’ (this was my free time) so that you can catch up on anything that unfortunately, you couldn’t finish. Assign one day of the week to be the ‘delay day’ -- anything that you cant finish the week before, do it now. this means that you can still ‘save’ your plan even if it screwed up somewhere along the way. it works wonders, believe me! i used to have ‘delay hours’ after training where i would (ahem sadly) study from 2330-0030 if i needed to. while i was tired, i always got my work done.

5. Prioritise

this one needs no explanation. i usually choose which task to start on based on a combination of deadline+importance+graded/non-graded. i start early for graded assignments because they count towards my semester’s final grade and i want to hand up the best quality work i can. find a system which works for you! note: start project work and large assignments early.

you can assign simple tasks first to start the ball rolling, and proceed with harder tasks.

alternatively, if you’re at your prime focus, start with the hardest and scale down to the simple.

6. Make good use of holidays + Wake up early

ok i used to game a LOT and go to training a LOT (still happens now lol) during holidays but i wouldnt get any of my holiday work done.

do your holiday homework first. schedule your time well, and maybe stay home and resist the urge to go out for the first 5 days. finish all your work (again, schedule well) with breaks in between.

thereafter, schedule maybe 3-5 hours a day to revise. if you’re going out with friends, i’d suggest you wake up early to study because once you come home you’re usually dead tired HAHA

so how early is early?? during my o levels study break i would wake up at 0330 (yes, for real) but i slept at 2130 every night. so thats 6 hours of sleep wew but AT LEAST i was very productive. think about it this way: waking up early to study at 0330 makes you more productive than studying till 0330. you don’t have to wake up THIS early, but preferably early enough when the sky’s still dark so that you can fit in those extra hours. DO NOT sacrifice sleep. that’s why you can see i’m still sleeping my usual amount, albeit sleeping and waking earlier.

more perks of waking up early: its quiet outside, the air is cool, your mind gets into the ‘get shit done’ mode, and if you absolutely have to use your phone to search something up, your social media probably won’t be pinging. in other words, early mornings are actually a great time to study! remember to eat something though :>

7. Remove all distractions to prevent possible procrastination

YES i know this is the dreaded one. lock your phone somewhere inconvenient and put the key outside your room. or if you don’t lock it make sure your phone is far away from you as possible. please i know how deadly your phone can get so just put it away.

if you find yourself drifting away and looking at something else, remove that.

alternatively, change up your study environment. you don’t have to go to the library or something (you can if you want to). this is as simple as studying in a different part of the house. a new environment helps to ‘prick’ my mind and help me ignore distractions. i dont know if this is scientifically proven but oh well, worth a try.

8. 2-minute rule

this is something i picked up from @studyquill! it’s pretty helpful (although i was skeptical at first). Tell yourself you’re only going to work for 2 minutes, which helps you get into the workflow. chances are you’ll get so into it (ok not in an excited but rather in a determined way) that you don’t feel like stopping.

if you’ve had a long day and after 2 mins you still don’t get any momentum, just stop and take a 15 min break. that means you’re really too tired and there’s no point in forcing yourself to complete your work.

9. Use reminders

set reminders on your phone for the tasks you need to do. for example, if you’ve planned to start work at 1500, set the reminder to ring 5 minutes before so you have time to gather all your stuff and ready yourself to do work. no excuses!!

set reminders for your breaks as well! those are equally important.

10. Reward yourself

if everything you need to do is done, give yourself a pat on the back. have you been extremely productive? great, treat yourself to your favourite drink/snack. honestly i feel like many of our brains function on the ‘reward’ system. if we reward ourselves for a job well done, we’ll be more willing to complete tasks and stay on time in the future (the brain thinks there’s a reward coming)

remember to take care of your mental health as well! this is one good way to ensure you don’t end up mentally exhausted.

Apps to help with time management

1. Tide - focus timer, meditation, beautiful and calming soundtracks (my fav!)

2. Pendo - everything in one tbh, schedule, to-do list, journal etc. (my fav too!)

3. Forest - focus timer $$$ (free alternative: flora)

4. Donut Dog - focus timer

5. Todoist - minimalist to-do list

6. Minimalist - minimalist to-do list

7. Google Calender - your entire schedule

8. Todait - smart study planner

a quick search will bring out many more! note these are all available on iOS but i’m not sure about google play. you don’t need everything to be productive. i rely only on Tide, Pendo and my iPhone calender and reminders. It’s less about having many ‘tools’ and more about how you properly and wisely utilise them to boost your productivity and manage your time.

also i don't think pendo is very well-known?? so this is how its interface looks like for 'Notes':

it's pretty, simple and clean and there are several themes to choose from! i rly like it omg HAHA (not a promo)

alright that's all! hope it helped :>

[loveau]

reverse-idol!renjun

QUICK NOTE: I have decided to move my writing works from @kyulkyungs​, so new works will be posted here!

request: Hey I wanted to request a reversed idol au for Renjun 💖 But could the idol!reader please be shy? I really liked the way it turned out in the au for jaemin. Sorry for my bad English. ❤️(Your English is amazing!!!!! Of course I an do this! Sorry for the late :()

others: doyoung (part 2) | jaehyun (part 2) | jaemin (part 2) | haechan (part 2) | jisung

renjun was a pretty quiet kid himself and didn’t really seem to do much outside club activities and school work

he also seemed pretty casual about his interests too, not really seeming like a big fan of many things

that was until he met you...

he had lots of friends in the industry already, a large majority of them being trainees still

and he would coo over them when they came to school exhausted and sore

he likes to care for them and tell them that their efforts will not be in vain and they’ll make it

honestly he’s the mom friend to all of them alongside a disgruntled haechan who roughly shoves their trainee friends water bottles all the time but will be constantly peeking to see if they’re staying hydrated

helps his friends practice all the time and that’s how he’s a pretty good dancer

but tries to wrangle their friend jisung to helping his friends out instead because that kid can really move <.<

instead he’s usually fretting over helping his friends not die from dehydration and not wreck their limbs when they wildly sling them about

he understands that his friends get really stressed due to competition and ensuring they’re still up to par and improving their skills even though he’s not in the industry

he just wants to help as much as he can

even if trainee!jaemin is constantly complaining about sore feet and a scratchy throat just so he can get free massages and candy when he’s actually running the best out of the others >.>

this eventually leads to him deciding to visit jaemin and some of the other trainees to give them some of those finger sandwiches that both he and haechan made to make sure they ate

except haechan couldn’t make it due to him needing to clean up the kitchen before his mom came home to see the mess of a thousand crusts and vegetables and multiple lunch meat containers

so there he has, waddling up to the company building he kept hearing about with two large boxes of food in his arms

despite him having multiple friends in this company, renjun had never really set foot in the building and didn’t know what to do

especially when it seemed like everyone was hard at work, so nobody was around to help him really

until you came running around the corner, seemingly late for practice

you almost barreled into renjun and knocked him over, but luckily you were also fast enough to catch yourself and dodge him

except this lead to you almost tripping over your own feet and coming to a skidding stop and waving your arms to regain your balance so you don’t faceplant into the floor

when you finally stopped flailing around, you took a quick look at the guy in front of you

you thought he was kinda cute and he thought the same of you

‘wow........ they’re cute..... i bet their position is the visual’

‘oh....... thank.......you?’

dang....... did he just say that aloud?

he doesn’t have a chance to continue being embarrassed over his slip up when you ask him if he’s lost

all he can do is nod so that he’s not stumbling over his words

he has to do all he can to avoid your eyes and keep from turning redder than he is

but the thing is... if he looked up he’d know you were doing the same

and you asked him if he was lost because he looked like a fish out of water in the building

it was a wonder you didn’t fumble out your question especially after receiving such an unexpected compliment

you’re angrily cursing the ceo’s and managers in your head at giving you the center position... could they nOT SeE hOw SHy yoU WErE?!?!!?!?

you wait for the guy to say where he’s trying to get to because you still need to know but ALSO???? you?? don’t know??!?!? how to keep going?!?!!?

eventually renjun gets it and he says he was trying to meet up with some of his friends, you might know jaemin because he’s pretty popular among the other trainees

and instantly you perk up like oh yeah! i know him!!! so you’re prepared to take him when you see him kinda struggling with the boxes of food

you offer to take one and renjun almost denies you but when he looks at your face he can’t bring himself to say no

the tips of your ears had turned red as if asking to help was so hard (and it kinda was since you were so awkward about it!!)

and renjun slowly let you take one of the boxes, careful not to spill

as you took one, it started to tip and the both of you shot out to catch it in time

by doing so, there was double the security around the box, but also... his hand had smacked itself on top of yours

when you were all squared away you quickly waddled off to the direction of the practice room you knew jaemin was in and it took your entire being to not spontaneously combust

the trip there felt like an eternity, with the both of you waddling and awkwardly avoiding eye contact with each other

eventually the two of you made it to the room

it was very clear you were at the correct place too given the loud yelling and laughter from inside, a telltale sign that jaemin was up to his antics again

renjun propped the door open with his foot and everyone stopped screaming to study the situation, but upon seeing him and the food the screaming resumed at an increased volume

“FOOD??!?!?! FOOD YOU BROUGHT FOOD!!!!”

in an almost comical way, the trainees stopped screaming to calmly address you and say their hellos, to which you responded in kind

they got back to screaming and jumping around happily moments after

you took this as your chance to slip away and get to your own practice room, as your break was pretty much over... 10 minutes ago

by the time renjun notices you’re gone he asks the others about you

“oh them? they’re debuting soon, dunno if you’ve seen the promotions!”

“yeah, you talked about the new group a couple times”

“yep... so, you think they’re cute, right?”

renjun all but goes up in FLAMES at this and tries to deny whatever the others start to pick up on teasing him about now

he keeps waving them off and trying to get out of this embarrassing situation

“stop! i mean yeah i let it slip, but i doubt i’ll even see them again besides on stage”

jaemin and the others share sneaky looks to each other and renjun yells at them not to plot anything

you best believe that they are tho

but after he goes back home, renjun decides to look up some stuff about your upcoming group

and lo and behold there were so many teaser images of member reveals and the group concept out already

and when jaemin said you were debuting soon....... yeah..... it was sOON

apparently the debut was confirmed to be within the next two weeks

and when he saw those teaser photos.... wow!!!! wOw!!!!! WOW!!! you were so...............

cute

he then proceeded to spend the rest of the night binging all of the predebut practices, covers, and videos that there were

he also faintly remembers a commotion in town and he didn’t even realize that it was your group busking in the square until he saw the date

he remembered because he was panicking about almost forgetting a birthday gift for one of his friends and there was a huge crowd he couldn’t get past lmao

but one thing he realizes is that you do a lot of the talking in videos???

like you’ll be the one introducing what dance you guys are doing or doing the general hellos and descriptions of what’s going on

but if you aren’t you’re kind of...... distracting yourself from the camera by playing with one of your members?

it was so strange! he didn’t understand since you were the one normally in the spotlight but to see that you were kind of avoiding it??? why????

he has half a mind to straight up ask jaemin but he realizes it’s like 4am and he has to get up in 2hrs lOL

he gets as much sleep as he can but tbh he looks like a zombie when he strolls into the classroom the next morning

he’s desperately trying to stay awake the whole lesson and his friends are lowkey slapping him during the lesson to make sure he’s up so he doesn’t get caught

he manages to get like 10 mins between breaks and stuff so he gradually gets better throughout the day, but he’s still so exhausted

eventually lunch comes by and he’s debating staying up the whole time to hang out with his friends or rapidly eat lunch (or as much as he can) and then conk out

before he can make the choice there’s a snack thrown onto his desk that startles him enough to wake up more

when he looks up he sees...... oh, how the universe likes to play jokes on him

you stand there with a smile and motion for him to eat it

“i’ve been there plenty of times. eat up, you’ll need some more energy to get through the day”

“i didn’t know you go here”

you almost laugh at how that was his immediate response rather than a thank you, but what else can you expect from a confused and sleep deprived boy

normally you wouldn’t go out of your way to do this and go eat with your friends at some table where the attention could be anywhere but you

but since it was kind of empty where you were..... and he looked so tired

plus he was a friend of jaemin’s so there’s no harm in talking to him!!!! you are just a friend of his friend helping him out because you’re nice and totally not because you were shy and it was awkward the amount of time you were standing there!!!

you totally didn’t throw the snack at him because you were in a panic lowkey for standing there and didn’t know what else to do and totally didn’t want to awkwardly stumble up to him and ask him if he wanted a snack

you were about to run off because this is so awkward time to scream about this to your friends now!!11!!!!

bUT!!!!! he stops you by deciding to speak to you and you don’t want to be rude so you sort of fumble there like.....

‘i..... i do go here.... that’s why i know jaemin pretty well and help him out sometimes’ you reply in reference to his earlier question

he nods and opens the snack, which is when you think you can make your escape but NOPE

‘oh yeah, you’re debuting soon right?’

at this you’re a little more comfortable answering since you get asked the question a lot and are used to informing people about what’s going on

‘yeah, we debut in a couple weeks. have you seen the promotions?’

renjun nods again but he can’t bring himself to tell you the reason why he was tired was literally because he was learning everything about your group and the members and he was super curious about your presence on camera

he didn’t want to pry but he just noticed???? it was eating at him and he had you there

‘do you....... want to eat lunch with me?’ i bet he screamed like YES in his head for asking you because he wanted to ask you but also....... you big cute 👀

you shifted on your feet for a second and eventually agreed because what harm can it do? plus he seems nice?

the walk to get your lunch went by quickly because you didn’t want him to wait or think that you had decided to ditch him, and when you came back he hadn’t started eating yet

it was kind of cute to see that he had waited for you even though you knew he was probably dead tired and starving

the shuffle over to him was so awkward because you weren’t entirely sure what to do and instead opted for turning the desk in front of his around so you guys could have your own space to eat

by the time you got all settled and ready to eat you saw him still looking at you

‘oh, go ahead and eat. i wanna make sure you’re gonna eat and not skip on your meal. sorry if it felt like you were pressured to eat with me...’ renjun’s apology kind of just....... warms you up???

like the awkwardness is slowly melting away with his concern and kindness like ??!?!?!?!!

he just wants to make sure you’re eating and healthy before he eats even though he’s about to pass out in a couple minutes akfslnsfkjgn

but still that’s so...... sweET!

you started eating and shortly after you had taken the first bite he dug in as well

you didn’t really know what to say but you found that you couldn’t bring yourself to say anything because you noticed that the first thing he was eating was.....

the snack you had given him

you’re not sure entirely why but your heart does a mini skip seeing how happy he is???

it makes you lowkey clam up and now you dunno what to say at aLL AND OH NO YOUR FACE IS SO RED!

luckily he breaks the silence and comments how good the snack is and how it has that refreshing fruity taste

you’re about to reply back something mundane until he goes

“like you!”

aflknadfksng huh?

he slightly turns pink and averts his gaze real quick and he’s just oh oOPS did i say that out loud..... again?

except this time while you were steaming up a storm in your cheeks, he decided to pull out all his confidence and look right back in your eyes

and you hadn’t looked away because you were so shocked and sputtering and trying to make sure your food went down

he smiles and is like

“well........ i mean, you are really cute! you’re really nice to look at! you’re like a spring breeze”

and at this you are really surprised you haven’t combusted by now

the rest of lunch goes by smoothly and renjun tries to get to know you as best as he can 

it’s still pretty awkward since you’re not really sure what to do with him besides eat and reply to some pretty common questions.......

but you find yourself sitting with him the next day???

and the next, and another, and maybe a small hangout after school because he asked

for some reason you can’t say no even though your heart is hammering in your chest due to....... nervousness, yeah it’s that

the mood between the two of you is still around the same but you’re very slowly warming up!!!

your shy smiles and hiding behind your hair or hands is slowly molding into soft giggles and laughs

and renjun couldn’t be happier!!!! he actually really likes looking at your smile even if his stomach does little flips

after like a week or two of eating lunch together and slowly getting to know each other, you’re suddenly not at lunch?

he’s so confused because he saw you enter the school building and waved at you while you waved back and were with some of your other friends

he waited a couple more minutes but decided to go looking for you because you never said anything?

but of course he was also just assuming that you would eat lunch with him continuously and would keep eating with him

he knew you were shy but all of a sudden he had doubts that you were just eating with him so he wouldn’t get offended that you ate lunch with him once and then dipped

what if you didn’t like him at all?

was he too much? he did kind of blurt out he wanted to eat with you...

he almost tripped when he went out into the hall to search for you because he was so distracted

he caught himself and he saw... you sitting out there in the hall alone

there were no other passerby, all of the students having gone to the lunch area or wherever else

he was still so confused but all his doubts and fears about scaring you away were gone once he saw how troubled you looked even though a majority of it was covered by shock and confusion from him rushing out

you’re scrambling upwards to stand with him and wiping hastily at your face to cover up the panicked blush and whatever else until renjun grabs your hands and sits you back down

he sits with you in front of you and in the most comforting voice you’ve ever heard he asks “do you want to talk about it?”

you’re usually not used to discussing your doubts about debuting and training with others

but renjun seems so sure and supportive about this that you can’t help but open up to him?

he’s done this countless times with his other trainee friends so he knows the signs and it’s very clear on your face that you’re going through it

he waits patiently for you to tell him no since he doesn’t expect that you will open up so confidently

and you haven’t known him for long, at most you’re just new friends and he’s always the one initiating the conversation with you

but................

you find yourself nodding and taking a deep breath

if anything, renjun’s smile and silence making you that much more comfortable

maybe it’s just that he’s a familiar face?? yeah... probably

you’re still unsure of how to phrase the words correctly and worry that you’re making him impatient, but renjun shows no signs of this

eventually it just comes out as “i don’t want to be center”

you keep going that you feel so uncomfortable with all that attention and you don’t understand why you’re put into that role at all....

there’s a lot of pressure and more importantly a lot of eyes and judgement

you can’t even bring yourself to talk to someone new without turning into a tomato or staying silent a lot of the time and it makes you frustrated even more at your situation

all renjun does is ponder in silence and you begin to think that it was stupid opening up

but then he speaks

“i see where you’re coming from”

this comes somewhat as a shock to you

some trainees you’ve also talked to would agree with you and it made you feel so inadequate

or others would deny your words so readily and it made you wonder if their words were fake or not

the way renjun was telling you.... he seemed to do neither

“i haven’t seen you perform so i can’t really be the judge of that”

“do you want to watch a practice one day?”

the words came out of your mouth before you knew it and all of a sudden you wish you were a rock so you didn’t have to live this embarrassing life

“sure! i’m not sure if i’m allowed since i do mainly sneak in to give food to my other friends, but if you’ll allow me then i’ll happily come!”

you’re unable to retract your words because you’re such a stumbling mess over seeing how willingly he agreed and the prospect of him coming to watch and

oH NO WHAT WILL YOUR BANDMATES SAY

you manage to keep quiet about it for a couple days after it happened

you can’t even think about it without remembering how earnest he looked and then getting red because he’ll be there and oh GOLLY he’s there for YOU!!!

surprisingly your members don’t comment about how you mess up during the first couple of practices because all you can think of is renjun sitting rIGHT THERE IN THE CORNER

and it’s not bad at all either!!! it makes you...... excited??

after the first couple of mess ups and practices, you only start improving

and luckily it’s at that point in time does renjun drop in on a practice

you were taking a bathroom break and he had wandered in after getting guided by jaemin to your group’s room

and he had explained the whole thing to them and all of them immediately had the >:) face going on

by the time you got back they acted like everything was normal and you got into position for another runthrough until you saw........

hE’s THeRe in thE CorNER anD yOU’re Not HalLuCinAting!!!!!!!

he waves at you and the members nudge you because you’re supposed to be ready and oh no you can’t help it

you’re so conflicted about melting into a puddle or just performing because he’s here to watch BUT AT THE SAME TIME HE’S HERE TO WATCH!!!

you make the split second decision and decide to perform the dance just like you’re supposed to with the added effort of looking good because HELLO you have an audience!!!

his presence eventually melds away by the second chorus and you almost forget he’s there

it’s not scary to have him watch you either.... it’s like how you used to dance in front of your parents and you wanted to show them the new routine you just made up

you wanted to show him your talents proudly and have him see how good you were

once the song ends you’re panting and all of a sudden coming to the strange sound of clapping

you’re so used to the others panting or making comments or whining for another waterbreak or not wanting to do another dance

but once you remember that renjun is there you want to hide your face in your hands

because omg he’s watched you and you still don’t understand why you’re the center when you freeze up like this afterwards!

the only thing stopping you from running off is the look of pure awe in renjun’s eyes

it stuns you to see how much emotion is swirling in them and when he runs up to you excitedly you can see it that much clearer

“i see it now!”

you were expecting something like ‘that was amazing’ or ‘you did well!’ or something but!

huh???

the confusion is clear on your face and renjun wastes no time in explaining to you

“i get it! you’re the center”

the other members leave the room while you’re caught up with him to give you a moment of privacy, not wanting to disturb you and make you nervous with an audience watching

but you pay no mind to them and your attention remains on him

“i...... am the center, yes?”

you feel yourself get warm under his intense gaze but his grin lets you know he’s not scrutinizing you

“yeah! you’re the center and have every right to be!”

you look around to your members for help and only then do you realize that they have left

you can only imagine the looks on their faces and the teasing words that’ll come out later

“your energy is unmatched! everyone dances very well, but you have a certain stage presence that just outshines them!! no offense, but there’s clearly a difference between you and them. while they’ve worked very hard, it’s almost natural for you! my eyes could never leave you for a moment”

you suddenly feel warm and it’s not because of the embarrassed blush reaching your ears

it’s a warmness that spreads from your stomach outwards to the tips of your fingers and toes

you think you should be blushing at the sincerity of his words but your awed look mirrors your own

“do you know how much power you’d have on stage? you looked like you were in another world of your own!”

you think back to that moment and yes... it really did feel different

you’re so used to the nerves of performing and getting it all right in the practice room, but with him watching there it was different

“i think... having you there made me better”

his grin molds into an open mouthed state of shock

you wave your hands around before he can start assuming things but you’re pretty sure any of his assumptions would be right

“i just!!! i wanted to perform well and make sure my talent was known!!!!!! it’s NOT ANYTHING WEIRD AT ALL!!! it’s differeNT WITh AN AUDIENCE!”

renjun’s shocked face turns back into a grin

however this time it’s sly

had you known what was going on in his mind, you’d know he was all but ready to combust and internally scream

“if you want... i can continue sitting in on performances to get you more comfortable with an audience”

before you can agree he forces down the pounding in his chest and winks

“plus, i get to watch you destroy the show! i’ll try not to be too much when i look at how cute you are during the point dance”

[chwesolai]

Cafe Girl, Grocery Boy | CH.4

[masterlist]

A/N: Don’t hate me but your antagonists for this story are Jeonghan, Jun and Seokmin. We all need a little bad boy!svt in our lives but I love those boys so don’t paint me as a villain, ok, let’s continue.

-You- After my little venture with Seungcheol, my shift ended and I swapped out with Joshua leaving him with the newbies, “Don’t scare them again, Shua.”

“You say that as if I always scare them,” he scoffs at me as we switch aprons, “need anything before you head out?” “Eh, not right now but I’ll head back over here before my date.” “You got it, wait, a date??!” “Bye Joshua! Bye V! Bye Chan!” I wave bye and rush out before being bombarded with Joshua’s questions.

I fast walk to my car, yet having about an hour before my exam. So I sat there, just thinking. I’m really going on a date for the first time in forever today. College hasn’t been too kind to me when it comes to dating. I’ve either been too busy or just too in my head when a guy would ask me out. Joshua even tried asking me out the first year we met. It didn’t work out in our favor. We found it better to be best friends instead of romantic friends, ya know? And I’m not the out-going type. I live in shadows, I’m never the girl in the spotlight.

But Seungcheol makes me feel a different way. He’s different.

Why is he so different?

-Seungcheol- “What are you smiling for?” Jihoon finally finishes his exam and walks out of the lecture hall.

“Took you long enough and it’s nothing, just thinking about something.”

“Thinking about her?”

“How’d you know?” I sarcastically answer while handing Jihoon the bagel I got him from y/n.

“Lucky guess, and thank you, I’m STARVING!” Jihoon practically inhales the bagel and repeats again that he’s still hungry, “Come on, I’ll treat you, lover boy, let’s get ramen.”

“I’m just going to ignore the lover boy comment, I’ll drive.” We walk off campus into the parking lot and continue to talk about how easy the exam was since we actually studied for once until we’re stopped by a voice.

The unknown voice parks his motorcycle and reveals himself as he removes his helmet, “AY COUPS WOOZ!”

Oh dear god.

“Hey Jeonghan, what’s up?” Jihoon reacts coldly.

“Come on, Wooz, don’t be so cold. It’s really cool, seeing you guys again! Really! And by the way, the place is looking really great now since you guys left, I appreciate your decision.”

Our silence gives Jeonghan his answer to his insensitive comments, “Any who, I’m going to my econ exam now,” he scoffs, “and have fun at your crummy place, losers. Don’t miss you for a second.”

We don’t either, asshole. Jihoon and I left that disgusting frat house about a year ago and haven’t seen any of those vile guys in a long time. They were easily the smartest, richest and the worst guys on campus. Their frat consists of scaring freshman to death, having strict rules on what your grades and GPA should be, and molding guys into what they thought was a good looking guy. Jihoon and I came from upper-class families too, but we were like them. They were a different breed. They put me and Jihoon in their frat as a joke. They ridiculed us daily for our looks, they constantly played pranks on us and last year, Jihoon snapped, like full on hulked out on them. He trashed the whole house, ruined half of their rooms, with my help, of course, and we were out of there.

Those guys did do one good thing for me, they led me to get a job. I didn’t want to depend on my parent’s money like they did. They led me to provide for myself and Jihoon and we got our own apartment. They may be evil but they helped me grow.

ANYWAYS.

Jihoon and I drove off, rolling the windows down, blasting the new 88rising album and just relieved.

“I can’t wait for this break, oh my god.” Jihoon sighs as he rests his head on the edge of the car window. “Couldn’t agree more.” I turned up the music as we continued to talk about our exam and our mid term break plans. I hope she passes all her tests. She deserves it.

“So, any idea where you’re taking her tonight?” “Not sure just yet. There’s this new chicken place that opened up downtown and I’ve been meaning to go there. But I’m not sure if that’s even romantic.” “Well, if you make it romantic, it’ll be romantic, promise.” “Ok Mr. love-expert,” I laugh as Jihoon begins on and on about how I should go about the night, “I think I just go with the flow and see what happens, ya know?” “She’s a business major, Coups. She lives and breathes plans. You can’t just go with the flow!” “You never know? Your major never really defines who you are.” “But it gives a good insight though. Only the top percent even get to be business majors.” “Whatever, so how does this sound, I pick her up from her apartment, we go to the chicken place, talk for a bit, I bring her to my favorite dessert place and we walk around the park?” “Straight out of a drama, I love it,” Jihoon places his hand on my shoulder, “You’re turning into a man,” he sniffles. “Shut up,” I punched his arm as I parked the car in front of the ramen place.

-You-

[time: 4:30pm]

I finished a little bit earlier than a majority of my class and I handed in my paper and walked out of the hall, feeling accomplished. Then someone calls out, “y/l/n!”

“Yoon!”

“Hey lovely.” He wraps his arm around my shoulder and begins to walk out with me. “Hey loser,” I removed him off of me, “how’d you feel about that test?” “Exams are exams, y/n. They’re a piece of cake. How’d you feel?” “It was really easy, it was like she was trying to give us answers,” we both laugh as we kept talking about how inefficient our econ professor is, “She literally made the study guide verbatim for the test!” “I mean do we expect anything else out of her?” He chuckles as I stop in front of the vending machine, “that shit is full of sugars, y/n. That’s no good for you.” I put some coins in and type in the number for powerade, “And? What about it?” I say as I open the bottle, taking a big sip out.

He shakes his head at me and we continue to walk out. The rest of the walk was silent, minus the sound of clocks ticking, doors slamming, and little bits of conversations from the break rooms. I just looked ahead while I felt Jeonghan’s eyes burning through the side of my face. - “So, you doing anything tonight?” Jeonghan asks as we make it out of the lecture hall. “For once, yeah, I am. Why? What’s the main event tonight?” “Just a couple of us were planning on going for drinks and then going to the karaoke rooms. What are you doing?” “I got a date,” I looked at him all smug, we continued to walk to the parking lot. “Who is the lucky guy?” He said with resentment, regretting asking me where I was going. “I don’t think you know him.” “Trust me, I know everyone,” He rolls his eyes at him, “who is it?” “Seungcheol. The grocery boy I talk about,” I cross my arms at him, as he scoffs, “what now, Jeonghan?” “Nothing. You have fun tonight, y/n,” Jeonghan smirks and walks to his motorcycle, “tell Coups I say hi.” “Bye weirdo!” “Bye lovely!” He laughs as he puts his helmet on and drives off. Lovely. 

A nickname that’s only ever been said by him. Jeonghan’s been a friend for who knows how long at this point, and trust me, he’s asked me out numerous times throughout our schooling years. He’s attractive, just too much of an asshole for me. Our dads work together, both dominating South Korea’s economic industry. And we are the next in line for their spots, meaning we have nearly every class together. It’s annoying. But Jeonghan is a genius yet a meathead, it still boggles my mind. And he knows Seungcheol and calls him Coups?

Anyways, I find my car, and just sit in silence for 10 minutes. Then, I finally turn on my phone and check to see if I got any new notifications. * From 2hrs ago: (2) snap from shua* *From 5 mins ago: (4) iMessage from gyu*

Oh god, what did they do now?

I unlock my phone and decide to check my snaps from Joshua first. Just stupid picstures of them at work, making me smile a bit.

Then I scroll over to Mingyu’s text.

EMERGENCY! I KNOW UR PROBABLY TAKING AN EXAM BUT CALL ME ONCE U READ THIS! YOUR PARENTS STOPPED BY THE CAFE AND DIDN’T LOOK TOO HAPPY AND ARE LOOKING FOR U Y/N PLS CALL ME

“Oh shit,” I fumble with my seatbelt, buckle myself in and call Mingyu. “Y/N!!!!” “Jesus, Gyu calm down. Tell me what happened, I’m driving to the cafe right now.” “Ok! So! Your dad walked into the cafe, not making a scene and walked into the back and started calling out your name. But it was mine and Joshua’s shift so we were trying to explain to him you were in class, BUT THEN your mom comes in SCREAMING,” Mingyu begins to explain, nearly yelling as well. Telling me how my mom was furious at me for some reason, and kept on saying “where’s that boy? And how does she know him?” And my dad calmly got her out into their car and began to explain to him and Joshua why my mother was furious, “Your parents know about Seungcheol.” “Oh my god.” “I’m not even sure how they know Seungcheol, or how they know your relation with him. But they seemed really upset and good thing we covered for you because they think you have exams all day and shouldn’t disrupt your day,” Mingyu’s voice got quiet as I hear Joshua’s voice in the background, almost arguing with Mingyu, “Shut up, she’s on the phone right now.” “Why did you tell her! The two of them have a date tonight!” “I can hear you two.” I sigh over the phone, “I’m outside the cafe, I’ll be right in.”

I swear to god if Seungcheol’s parents are who I think they are, I’m going to end this. I really can’t have anything nice here.

[lycorogue]

Kyoru Week: Day 2 - Firsts

I’m gonna be honest, I wrote this in like 2hrs; it’s nearly 1am (so I missed the deadline for the 2nd day in a row), and so I haven’t really edited it. Sorry if there’s any typos. I’ll try to do a good polish/edit tomorrow when I’m awake again. :P 

UPDATE: K. It should be all edited now. ^_^ UPDATE #2: I forgot to mention that you can also read this story on AO3, on FFN, or on DA

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Experience It All

Spoilers: Story is post high school graduation Romance Level: Newly Dating Word Count: 1493 Summary: It's the first apartment Kyo ever owned. The first one he and TOHRU ever owned. And he becomes surprised as to how many more "firsts" they have to go.

Kyo was buzzing with nervous energy. The keys to their new place clinked against each other as he spun the ring around his index finger, catching the keys and then spinning them in the opposite direction. Spin clockwise. Catch. Clink. Spin counter-clockwise. Catch. Clink. Spin clockwise again.

“Is this it?” Tohru clung to Kyo's left arm. She had been taking in the quaintness of the village he had moved her to, but upon hearing the jingle of the keys, she focused on the building before them.

“It's gonna be small,” Kyo warned, not moving as he took in the apartment complex. “It's not going to be like Shigure's place, or your grandfather's.”

“That's okay. Mom and I used to have a small place. Besides, I'm sure it will be way bigger than a tent.” She giggled, and hugged Kyo's arm close.

She had spent months in that tent, alone in woods she didn't realize had belonged to the affluent Sohma family.

Months. Alone.

Kyo had never been alone. Not really. He had been neglected, sure, and might as well have been alone. Still, he always had an adult near by. When he was real young it was his mother. Then, after she died and Kyo was all but disowned by his father, Kazuma Sohma took him in. He had loved Kyo, and the boy took that love for granted. Worse. He didn't accept that it was real, not before he met Tohru. Even when Kyo was lost within himself - after failing to save Tohru's mother – he wasn't alone. Kazume spirited him away to recover and revive. Then it was Shigure's turn to watch over Kyo.

For someone who felt isolated and unloved, he always had a guiding hand. He was the adult now; almost. He wasn't living in someone else's house anymore. This was his place. He held keys for his home. He was the master of this place. He wasn't sure he was ready for that sort of responsibility. Why couldn't he be a stupid kid again?

“Kyo-kun?” Tohru's soft voice brought Kyo back to the present. “Are we not in the right place?”

“No. No we are. Sorry. I was just-” He looked up at their apartment front door. He could do this, right? He could run a household. He could work full time as an apprentice at the local dojo. He could provide for Tohru. He could keep her happy and safe here. He could even save up enough for her to take the train back to Tokyo a few times each year to visit everyone. He was a man now. He could do it.

“Come on.” Tohru tugged a bit on his hand. “Show me our new place! I can't wait to see.”

Chuckling at her eagerness helped ease him. She could always do that. No matter his mood, she could always bring him to center. With a huge grin, he sprinted ahead, dragging her behind him as he took the stairs two at a time. She squealed with excitement as she ran with him.

“Ready for our new place?”

“Kyo-kun.” It was her turn to sound a bit nervous. “This is the first time it will be just the two of us in a home.”

“I know.” He pulled her into a hug, still marveling at the fact that he could hold her in his arms; feel her head nestled against his chest. “I'm sorry. It may be a bit lonely since you don't have others to keep you company while I'm out.”

She pushed away from him and shook her head. “We have all of these neighbors. I'm sure I'll find plenty of company here.”

“I know you well enough to know that it will be impossible for any of these people to not love you as soon as they meet you.” He gave her a quick kiss on the lips before resting his forehead against hers. “I'm sure in no time you'll have our place bustling just as much like a convention center as Shigure's house.”

Kyo unlocked the front door, and slowly sung it open. It was such a simple little abode. From the front door he could see the little galley kitchen to the left, the three-square-meter living room straight ahead, and the double glass doors to the porch just beyond that. There were three doors to the right: a bathroom, and two closet-sized bedrooms. Kyo wasn't even sure if the Western-style bed Shigure had bought Tohru a few years back would fit in her cubbyhole. As it were, his futon was probably going to carpet his room.

“Kyo-kun?” Tohru tried to scrunch down to look under Kyo's arm. Then she stretched on to her tiptoes to try to see past his shoulder. As she bobbed and weaved, Kyo realized he was still in the doorway, and was now broad enough to block most of it.

“Sorry.” He blushed slightly, and scratched the back of his head. “I- I know that now isn't traditionally when I'm supposed to do it, but-” He gulped and tucked the keys into his front pants pocket. “Would you mind if I, ya know, carried you in?”

Tohru's hopping ceased. Instead, a grin slowly stretched across her face, and her whole body appeared lighter; not as weighed down by gravity as it should. Holding her hands, folded, against her chest, she emphatically nodded.

Smiling back, Kyo knelt so he could scoop up her knees. Lifting her into a bridal carry, Kyo carefully stepped her over the threshold of their home. Their first home. Theirs. Instead of putting her down on the other side of the door, he continued to carry her to the teeny living room, and swung her around in a large circle. Hooting with excitement.

“Look at it, Tohru! This is ours! Just ours!” Kyo stopped in the center of the room, and lowered Tohru to her feet. While he was still leaning down, she kissed him.

“I love it.”

“Come on.” He took her hand and pulled her through the apartment. “This is obviously the kitchen. I hope it will be big enough for you to cook, but if not I'll figure something out for you. We could even put the rice cooker right here, just outside the galley. I could put a little table here or something.” He then ran to the bathroom. “It's not much, but it has a shower, and there's a hot spring nearby if you wanted to occasionally soak in a tub instead.” He pushed passed her, and escorted her to the first of the bedrooms. “This one looks a bit small. It can be mine if you'd like.”

“Yours?”

Kyo was too excited to register her question as he escorted her to the second bedroom. “Yeah. This one looks large enough for your bed. This can be your bedroom.”

“Mine?”

“And look! There's a large enough window for you to climb through, and the back porch runs the full width of our place. You could easily reach a line through here, and that way you don't need to leave the warmth of your room to hang up clothes even in winter.”

“Kyo-kun-”

He hopped through the window with ease and looked up. “I can even access the roof easily from here if I really wanted to!”

“Kyo-kun!” Tohru's voice was loud, but still meek.

“Hmm? Sorry. You wanted something, Tohru?” Kyo climbed back inside, and scooped her hands up into his.

“You said 'my room' and 'your room'.”

“Yeah.”

“I- well-” Her thumbs raced across his fingers; nervous energy shooting out of her. “I was- I mean, since we-” Her face bypassed pink and went straight to crimson. “I'm sorry, I'm being too forward. Nevermind.”

Now it was Kyo's turn to match a beet.

“Tohru, were- were you- do you mean- Did you expect us to share a room?”

She squeaked and ripped her hands from his so she could hide behind them.

Kyo was going to live without a supervising adult for the first time in his life, and his girlfriend wanted to share a bedroom. Wasn't he a high school student just a couple of weeks ago? How did life go this fast?

He gently bopped the top of her head with his knuckles, startling her enough to drop her shield of fingers. Before her surprise subsided, he cupped her face. He again rested his forehead against hers before pecking a kiss on the tip of her nose.

“You do not have to ask me twice to share a room with you, Tohru. We can use the other one for something else. Storage, or a library, or a study-”

“Or a practice room for you?”

“We can do whatever you want with it.” He scooped her into another hug, his heart racing with excitement. After three years with this woman, he still had so many Firsts to go through. He couldn't wait to experience them all.