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roosterforme · 1 year ago

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Covering the Classics Part 11 | Bob Floyd x OC

Summary: When Anna hits rock bottom, she knows she needs to figure out how to put herself back together. But she also knows that leaving Kevin behind once and for all will require her to give up the only thing she wants from him. Maybe a shot at happiness with Bob would have been worth it.

Warnings: Fluff, angst, adult language, 18+

Length: 4400 words

Pairing: Robert "Bob" Floyd x Female OC (this story is part of the Beer Boy/Sugar and Jake/Jessica universe)

Covering the Classics masterlist. Check my masterlist for more!

If this wasn't rock bottom, Anna didn't want to know what was. She spent Sunday night laying on the floor next to her bed alternating between crying and hyperventilating. Apparently she couldn't do both at the same time, because her body kept giving each activity its full attention before switching again. When she finally started to fall asleep around three o'clock, her ribs were aching so much, she didn't see how she would be able to teach in a few hours. But it didn't matter. She wouldn't be going to campus anyway.

When she woke up at six, she crawled to her computer and emailed everyone in her classes, informing them that she would not be in today and to work through the syllabus independently until their next class with her. All of the other professors pulled this kind of thing all the time, but she still felt guilty which triggered more tears. If Kevin somehow cost her a full time tenure position along with her happiness, she didn't know what else she had that he could possibly take from her.

When she thought about Bob, it hurt so badly she had to run to the toilet. And when she thought about Advanced Calculus and Advanced Physics, it hurt almost just as much. She was in love with so many things in San Diego, but she'd dragged her past here along with her even if she didn't want to acknowledge that fact. She'd brought this dark shadow along that tainted everything and left her wondering if she could fix any of it at this point. If she could even figure out how to start.

As she hiccupped alone in her bathroom, she knew she needed to mentally backtrack to New Jersey for the first time in a long time before she could focus on San Diego. When she crawled back toward her bed, she located her phone and found the contact information for her lawyer's office. It was late enough on the east coast that someone answered after one ring, and soon Anna had to use her scratchy, raw voice to try to communicate.

"When will my divorce be final?" she managed to ask as she propped herself against the wall. She left herself hungry every day, and she was living in this tiny room simply so she could pay these people to help her sort out her life, but the response she got was not ideal.

"Ms. Webber... your husband still has three days left to comply, but he has not done so yet."

Anna wanted to scream, but her throat felt like it was constricting. Why wouldn't he just let her have the one thing she wanted? She wasn't asking for anything extra, just the thing she worked so hard to make her own. She didn't even care about all of the money. But he wouldn't let her have it. Even though she didn't want to fight for anything else in the house, he still wouldn't comply. He was making hundreds of thousands of dollars now, and she wanted none of it back, but he knew that her manuscript was the one thing meant something to her. He would happily drag this out until she had nothing left.

She knew she needed to wait it out. It was her fault she hadn't filed sooner. She let Kevin's words destroy her even when she knew he was sleeping with Alyssa. She let him convince her that she needed him for way too long. "What happens in three days?" she finally asked.

"If he doesn't comply, then you can restructure your end of the divorce agreement, and we can try again."

Anna knew what that meant for her, but she didn't know if she could pull the trigger. Restructure it? There was only one thing she could remove. Kevin would come out clean as a whistle, and she would lose everything she hadn't already.

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When Bob knocked on the door at seven in the morning after barely sleeping at all, Jessica looked concerned when she opened it, and Jake looked annoyed. "What's wrong?" she asked, reaching out and running her hand along his stubbled cheek. "Why haven't you shaved? Why do you look so upset?"

"Why are you even here?" Jake called from the kitchen where he was cooking breakfast in his uniform.

"I need to talk to you," Bob croaked, and Jessica pulled him inside and gently guided him toward the couch. She rubbed his back and didn't rush him as he sat there, and Jake even stopped turning to glare from in front of the waffle iron.

"Did you know Anna's married?"

Bob could tell by the sharp intake of breath and the way Jessica's hand came to a screeching halt on his back that she had no idea.

"She's what?"

"Married," he repeated without any feeling whatsoever. The handful of hours he'd spent around her were some of the best of his life, but he would have never let his friends try to push them together if he'd know. He should have let her keep him in the friend zone when she tried to let him know that's what she wanted. Mutual attraction be damned, she'd made marriage vows to someone else. He just wished he would have known.

"No," Jessica said adamantly. "How? She's got no rings, and she said she lives alone. She mentioned an ex before, but I'm virtually certain he's still in New Jersey. She... struggles with certain things, and if she was married, someone would be helping her make ends meet. I don't know where you came up with this, but no."

Bob took his glasses off and set them down on the arm of the couch while he ran his hands over his exhausted eyes. "Jessica. She told me she was."

"Well," his friend said as she wrapped her arm around his shoulders, "I'll ask her about it at lunchtime today. There must be some sort of miscommunication."

"I don't think so," he groaned softly. "We... slept together, and those were her parting words as she ran out of my house."

"You slept together?!" Jessica practically shrieked.

"It's about damn time!" Jake called from the kitchen, clanging his spatulas together and whooping loudly.

But Bob was shaking his head and staring at the floor through his slightly fuzzy vision. He had his phone in his hand all night, trying to decide if he should call or text her, wondering if she went home to climb into bed with her husband. Scared that this was the reason why she squeezed herself into her apartment door before closing it abruptly when he drove her home.

"I should have backed off when she friend zoned me the first time. I should have never believed that I could be with a woman like her." A woman that inspired the best poetry he'd ever written in his life. A woman who made him want everything.

It finally dawned on Bob that there might be an irate husband in his future, and he would just have to take whatever came his way. Because there wasn't a chance that Anna didn't have her spouse wrapped around her fingers. Even if she had a lapse of judgement when it came to Bob, Anna's husband would know how good he had it and want to fight for her. Bob would just have to take it on the chin.

When Jessica kissed his cheek and whispered, "I'll try to sort this out," he just nodded with his shoulders slumped and his elbows digging into his thighs. But there was nothing to sort out. Anna would never be his, and now he would have to pay the price for the way she told him she was married about an hour too late to take it all back. Honestly, he never thought accidentally sleeping with a married woman was something he would ever have to deal with in his wildest dreams, and now that he was forced to do it, he was getting pretty mad.

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Anna managed to give her Classics lecture on Tuesday morning with a sore throat after screaming into her pillow off and on for most of Monday afternoon. She hadn't eaten in days, and if anyone noticed her puffy, red eyes, they didn't mention it to her. She had quizzes to grade and reports to read, but when she went back to her office, the overwhelming scent of bread from the cafeteria made her gag.

There was a pack of peanuts in her desk along with a room temperature can of ginger ale, but she had no appetite yet. She was just in survival mode until she decided what to do when Kevin's time was up. Until she worked up the courage to talk to Bob and apologize.

He was the sweetest man she had ever known, and her lapse of judgement was going to cost her any chance with him in the future as well as her friendships. In fact, none of them were ever going to want to speak to her again, and that's what she deserved. If she would have just been honest with Bob, she wouldn't be in this mess. But San Diego was like a balm for her senses, making her feel normal where she knew she wasn't. Maybe Bob would have been willing to wait a few more months until she figured out her next steps. Maybe he would have accepted that she was legally separated from Kevin if her husband would just sign the fucking paperwork.

Tears were burning her eyes again just as someone knocked on her office door. She sat perfectly still, silently begging them to go away, praying that everyone would leave her alone until she could sneak out and go home later.

"Anna?"

She knew that voice so well, and she was shocked to find that it sounded more concerned than angry.

"It's just us," came the second voice, and without another thought, Anna was on her feet, wrenching the door open as she started to sob. "Oh, Anna," whispered Jessica as she collected her into her arms.

Anna stood in the middle of her tiny office and cried and cried in Jessica's arms while her other friend studiously locked the door and dimmed the lights before reaching for the box of tissues on the shelf. "Here," she whispered, and Anna accepted a wad of tissues from her.

She tried to mop at her face, but it was a lost cause. Jessica pushed the loose strands of her red hair back from her eyes as she said, "Anna, we're here for you, but I think we need to talk. For real."

"We have some... concerns."

Anna tried to take huge gulps of air into her burning lungs as she gasped, "I'm really not okay. I hurt Bob."

Her friends looked at each other before Jessica said, "I think it's time you backtracked a little bit. Maybe all the way back to New Jersey."

"I hated it there," she told them immediately, wiping at her eyes as she sat on the edge of her desk, bracing herself for the interrogation to come.

Advanced Calculus eyed her sympathetically before a look of steel locked in her gaze. "Are you married?"

Anna nodded slightly, cringing as she pictured Kevin's face. "Technically, yes."

"Anna!" Jessica exclaimed. "You slept with Bob!"

They knew. They knew everything. Bob told them, and they knew what she'd done. She cradled her forehead in her hands and said, "I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I hate Kevin. I don't think we were even married two years before he started cheating on me. I'm trying my best to divorce him, but he just won't fucking let me."

"What do you mean he won't let you?" Advanced Calculus asked, cutting off Jessica before she could screech again.

"He is ruining my life," Anna whispered, finally starting to feel more anger than anything else. "Like an idiot, I've let him ruin my life. I put him through medical school. I dropped out of Princeton to work two jobs to put my husband through medical school." Her voice faded into a soft yet harsh whisper. "Kevin promised he'd take care of me after that so I could finish my Ivy League PhD. But then he started cheating on me because I was always tired and boring and no fun. Because all I was doing was working to pay his tuition for four years straight while he fucked another medical student between classes. I caught them having sex in my car."

"No," both women gasped at the same time. But she just nodded as the memories she had tried so hard to keep at bay since she moved to California came roaring back.

"That's not a marriage," Jessica practically growled, reaching out for Anna's hand that she hadn't even been aware was shaking. "Not really."

"You're right," Anna agreed. "I'm a joke." She honestly felt like one. Images of Bob's face and the memory of his kind voice flooded her system. The way he looked at her and touched her felt like love. The things he wrote about her had her almost convinced he could love her back.

"You're not a joke, Anna," her friend told her. "You're a smart, capable woman who should have come to her friends months ago with all of this information."

"I hate Kevin!" Jessica shrieked before biting down on her own fingertips, and it was so comical, Anna might have laughed if she was in a better frame of mind.

"Yes," Advanced Calculus agreed. "Kevin sounds like an asshole. But you know who isn't an asshole? Bob. But right now, he kind of feels like one."

Anna closed her eyes as the tears started welling up faster. "I tried so hard. You have to believe me. But Bob is perfect. And he didn't think I was boring. But I wasn't planning on falling in love ever again."

"You love him?" Jessica snapped loudly. "You love him? Because Bob thinks you are in a loving marriage with your spouse!"

"Jessica, go sit in the desk chair and calm down," the other woman commanded, and Anna watched the petite, bespectacled blonde stomp around her desk. "Now, Anna, why didn't you explain this all to Bob before you rocked the man's whole world and then ran off into the night like Cinderella?"

"I freaked out," Anna whispered, swallowing hard. "He's the perfect man. He did everything exactly right, and he was exquisite." She looked down at the floor as she said, "I haven't been touched like that in years. Like I was worth something. I'm not even thirty yet, and my husband ditched me for someone else while actively bankrupting me." She was mortified by what she was telling them, but she couldn't stop herself now. "Kevin always said I should dye my hair, and he loved it when I wore makeup. But Bob... he likes my hair and my freckles. He likes the books I read. He thinks I'm smart." She felt her face warm up as she thought about his poems. "We had sex, and then he was looking at me, and he started talking about us. I can't be an us with someone when I can't shake Kevin."

Anna could practically feel Jessica freaking out in the chair behind her, but she kept her eyes on the floor. "If you need help with Kevin or money for a lawyer or something-" Jessica said, but Anna cut her off.

"No. I'm fine. But he's going to force me to decide if I'd rather have my freedom or my self worth. And right now, I can't decide what I want to let him get away with when he already took so much."

"Hey," her much calmer friend said softly, and Anna finally met her eyes. "We're here for you. Anything you need, okay? But I need you to promise you'll talk to Bob. The sooner the better." Then Anna watched her reach for her tie dye lunch box which she apparently brought in with her and pulled out one of her fancy containers. "Bradley made you some hummus, and I packed you crackers and veggies to go with it. Please make sure you're eating. And please talk to Bob. I need to go teach Differential Equations, but I'll text you later. Jess, you have Physics III in fifteen minutes."

Anna received two hugs that she barely returned, and when the two women were gone, she sank into her chair and managed to eat some of the hummus without gagging. Then she texted Bob, because if nothing else, she needed him to know how sorry she was for running out on him. How sorry she was for all of it.

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Anna wanted to talk to him on Thursday evening. Bob had to fight the urge to offer to pick her up on campus and save her from having to take an Uber to his house, especially after the few details that Jessica told him about her finances. She confirmed that Anna was married. She also promised him that there was no angry spouse waiting to jump him in the In 'N Out parking lot. She also told him that he needed to give Anna a chance to clear the air. So he agreed. He was free on Thursday. It wasn't like he'd been doing anything except going to work and coming straight home all week, even avoiding Suzanne as much as he could. And he wasn't going to break his promise to Jessica, even though Nat told him to delete Anna's number.

Bob sat in his living room, staring at his new bookshelf in disgust. He'd let himself fall into a fantasy where he imagined someday Anna's books would get mixed up with his on the shelves. Where all of her dog eared novels would live alongside his pristine ones. He'd been subconsciously thinking about it since he met her.

His insides were churning with anxiety. Part of him wanted to scream at her that none of this was fair to him, but the other part knew that no matter what, he still didn't want to see tears in her brown eyes. He couldn't let her take all of the blame for this anyway. He'd even told Jessica that she pushed a little too hard and that she shouldn't do that again in the future.

When there was a knock on his door, it was hard for him to stand up. How was he supposed to do this? He dragged himself across his living room to his front door and carefully opened it to find Anna with the saddest expression imaginable on her face. She looked somehow smaller and paler than she should. She looked like she hadn't slept. And that's when Bob realized he must look the same way to her.

"Hi," she whispered, brown eyes darting around his face nervously. She held out a small bouquet of blue flowers and the books she had borrowed in his direction, and Bob noticed her hands were shaking. "Um, I got these for you. They look like the flowers on the cover of the Whitman poems, and I thought of you when I saw them at the store."

"Anna," Bob groaned as he took them from her along with the books. He moved out of the doorway so she could come inside, and somehow he still couldn't decide if he was angry at her or not.

"I'm sorry," she gasped, turning to look at him once she was halfway across the room. There were several feet of space between them, but he could smell her hair. She was wearing the jeans she wore last time she went to the Hard Deck. He knew what that shirt felt like between his fingers. He could tell she was trying not to cry as she said, "I'm just really sorry."

"Why didn't you tell me you're married?" he snapped, unable to hold back. He knew his tone was harsh as he added, "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Because I should have been divorced by now!" she practically shouted, and Bob was instantly more soothed by that sentence than he should have been. "You think I want to be married to the worst man I know?" He had so many questions already, but something told him to just let her keep going. "That's why I'm here. In San Diego. He was supposed to sign the papers so I could get on with my ridiculous life, but he won't!" She sucked in a deep breath before she said, "And it's eating me alive knowing what I kept settling for when you exist! Knowing that I could have been with a man like you."

Her lips were moving like she was shivering, and her eyes were wide and watery. Red blotches covered her freckled cheeks, and Bob just knew she was going to panic again. She made a helpless noise and rushed forward, ready to run, but this time he caught her in his arms, the books and flowers falling to the floor. He let her struggle for a few seconds as she cried, but he held on tight.

"Anna," he said softly. "You can't keep running."

Her body slumped against his. She looked up at him as he held her, and a few seconds later, she let her cheek come to rest against his chest. She nodded against him as she whispered, "I don't really have anywhere to go anyway."

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Bob kept his distance while also somehow always being nearby. Anna knew he was probably expecting her to vanish again if he turned his back for too long, but she was too mentally and physically exhausted to move from his living room couch while he fixed some tea. It was getting dark outside, and it was nearly impossible to try to think about anything other than Sunday night when she felt truly free for the first time in years.

Similar thoughts must have been on Bob's mind, because he was still occasionally looking at her like he used to. Then his cheeks would turn pink, and he'd duck his head before showing her a completely neutral expression. She took the mug of tea he handed her and whispered, "Thank you," as he sat down as far away from her as he could. She cleared her throat as she looked into her drink and said, "You're one of the kindest, most generous people I've ever met." She forced her gaze to his face. "I'm sorry I took that for granted. And I'm sorry I wasn't honest with you and the ladies."

Bob nodded but didn't speak for a minute. His voice was as gentle as always as he eventually said, "I'd like it if we could talk."

"Yeah," she agreed softly now that she felt like the fight inside her was gone and the tears had finally dried up.

"Where's your husband?"

She pictured Kevin standing in the perfect kitchen in the beautiful house on the cul-de-sac. "In New Jersey."

"Right," Bob replied in a reassuring tone. "You said you should have been divorced by now, so does that mean you don't want to be married to him?"

"I hate him," she whispered, back to staring into her mug. "And I'm sure he hates me, too. No, I don't want to be married to him any longer."

"You're separated?" he asked softly.

Anna shrugged, wishing more than anything that she could scoot a little closer to Bob and feel his hand on hers. "Not legally. He won't sign anything."

"Right," Bob repeated again. "Would it be too much for me to ask what happened? Because I really don't understand. I'm trying, but I'm still so confused, Anna."

Her brain was screaming at her to start crying again, begging her to fall apart or hyperventilate, but she didn't even have the energy for it. She took one long sip of her perfect cup of tea before setting it aside and turning to look at him. Even now, he had sympathy in his eyes. Whether that was because he now knew she and Kevin weren't really together or because he was always this sweet, she couldn't say. But he was everything she wanted and would never have again.

"The short version is that I put him through medical school while he cheated on me. The long version is that he used up every bit of my money, let me work myself ragged, prevented me from finishing my PhD at Princeton, belittled me, and flaunted his extramarital relationship in my face. It was humiliating knowing he was cheating. It's humiliating eating sandwiches and peanuts for every meal now. But the worst thing is that he is holding my manuscript hostage, and no matter what I do, he won't let me have it back."

"Jesus, Anna," he gasped, making the slightest move like he wanted to reach for her before pulling back.

She slowly stood, and he looked up at her, trying to gauge what she was going to do, but she just looked down at him as she tucked her shaking hands behind her back. "You're perfect," she whispered. "You're Sky Writing. You're the handsome man from the bookstore who smells like tea and soap. You're Bob, the guy my friends knew I would fall in love with as soon as I met them." She took a step back, barely able to handle how he was looking at her like she still mattered. "But I don't know how to be an us with you. I know that's what you want, but I never wanted to fall like this again. I tried my best not to. I can't do this with Kevin's shadow behind me all the time. And I'm just really sorry I let it go as far as it did. Because now that I know so much about you...."

That's when the tears arrived, and that's also when Bob stood up. "Anna, I feel like-"

When he cut himself off, leaving the sentence hanging in the air for a few seconds, she took one long, last look at him and whispered, "I'm going to go." He didn't stop her from stepping over the flowers, walking out the door, and heading to the end of his street where she waited for a ride as the night air made her shiver, and her tear streaked cheeks finally started to dry again.

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Oh, they both fell for each other. I'm not sure if Bob feels better or worse now. Kevin is an absolute dick, and we will hear from him in the next chapter. Keep fighting, Anna. Thanks @beyondthesefourwalls

PART 12

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iamconstantine · 6 months ago

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arcane characters as college staff

Mel

History professor

Refers to all students by (honorific) (surname)

Nothing but praise on ratemyproffesor

“I didn’t like history until I took Professor Medarda’s class”

Doesn’t write scholarly articles, just giant ass books that she pumps out almost every year somehow

Quickly responds to emails. No response = its in the syllabus

“Is there any make up work I can do to get my grade up—“ Absolutely not

But if you go the writing center you can get extra credit

Every year her students ask for an extension on the final project and every year she gives a long and furious rant about how the project was visible online from Day 1 and they had all semester to work on it

She has a beautiful office that looks like a miniature library and she only sees students by appointment

Jayce

Physics professor

Is a prolific author but somehow can’t figure out how to set up the course online

Prints cheesy physics memes

Every zoom meeting begins with 1000 messages saying “professor Talis we can’t hear you your mic isn’t on” every. time.

you can come see him in his office any time, door’s always open

but his office is so messy you probably won’t be able to sit because he has a stack of papers on every chair

“Everyone got this question on the exam wrong so I’m going to give everyone credit because that means i didn’t teach it properly”

Always throws an end-of-year party at his place

Caitlyn

English Literature professor

would win best dressed of the staff, always shows up in the slacks-and-blazer fit

“To understand why the narrator wears red shoes, we need to take a look at the sociopolitical state of Edinburgh in 1864.”

if you reply to a discussion board post with just “I agree” you’re not getting credit and it isn’t up for discussion

Never reads contemporary fiction. The “newest” book she’s read is The Great Gatsby

“We’re not having a party but if you want to bring snacks and soda to the last day of class that’s fine”

Covers a lot of authors but it somehow always comes back to Emily Dickenson

Is that teacher that assigns 400-page books every week

Constantly publishing in lit journals (rumor has it she writes steamy open-door romance books under a pen-name but no one has confirmed this)

Ekko

Art professor

You have to actively screw up to get a bad grade with him

He wrote thousands of letters to the board until they caved and gave the class a proper kiln

“Write a three-page essay explaining why AI art is not art and insisting otherwise is spitting in the face of humankind. Double spaced. Due Friday 11:59”

Throws back coffee. Has a coffeemaker in the studio. Two of them.

“Hey guys some of you are submitting assignments at 2 in the morning. It can wait until the next day. Please get some sleep.”

He’s created awe-inspiring pieces but if you just wanna paint a frog wearing a hat he’ll say “that’s cool”

Says he knows who banksy is but will never tell

He gets way too deep in the zone. Once reached for his coffee cup while painting, drank paint water instead. Didn’t notice.

Jinx

Chemistry professor

If you email her the response will be “k” or “no” and nothing else

Waits until twenty minutes after the class begins to email everyone that class is canceled

Never wears a coat, goggles, or gloves. But will call out students if they don’t

takes 5 years to post grades

“Look I’m not remembering any names. Too many. If I’m talking to you I’ll just point”

Puts a meme on the projector every day. Mostly incomprehensible. Picture of a horse on an beach and it just says “Zimbabwe”

lowest score on ratemyprofessor

someone creates a website called ratemystudent and administration has no proof that it was her because technically the students with bad scores being the same students that get bad grades in her class can be coincidental

Viktor

Biomedical engineering professor

Only professor who still uses chalkboards

First day of class is first day of class. No reviewing the syllabus, turn to page 34 in your textbook.

Puts things in the syllabus to catch people who use ChatGPT. If you’re caught, you’re removed from his class. Immediately. You will not get to plead your case.

Most of his cited sources are himself

Literally begs students to thrift their textbooks online instead of buying them from the school. Provides free PDFs as often as he can.

He reads journals every day and will write personal letters to authors he disagrees with

If a student asks a particularly dumb question he’ll step out of the room for ten minutes to compose himself and then resume teaching like nothing happened

Not a professor, works at the on-campus gym and leads clubs

Constantly curses without batting an eye. Students will leave class with their very uptight professor then come to the soccer club where vi walks in like “sorry I’m late guys i had a motherfucker of a headache this morning”

Please don’t ask her about anything that isn’t club or sport related. If you ask for directions or how to get in contact with student services she’s got nothing

If she refs for a game and you’re on the opposing team you’d better watch yourself. She will rip you a new one if you break any rules. One time a player grabbed one of her member’s mask during a game and he left crying after Vi was done with him

Students run into her at the local hangouts a lot but it’s never awkward. just reminds you not to party too hard before the game tomorrow

Leads pretty much every club but dance. Wouldn’t admit it but she has no sense of rhythm and refuses to even do it as a student

You can call her coach or captain or just Vi, whatever you want. But if you call her Violet she’ll stare you down until you correct yourself

Heimerdinger

Anthropology professor

Spends the first day of class getting to know everyone. “We’re going to go around and give our names and a fun fact about ourselves!”

Gives the “Nacirema” assignment and can’t wait to tell everyone the catch

His classroom is filled with artifacts. Don’t ask about any of them because it will take up class time

If you can’t make it to class he sends really nice responses saying he understands, then checks in when you come back

The only thing that puts him in a bad mood is the “why do anthropologists study dinosaurs if anthropology is about people” question. He’s old and tired

Keeps thinking about retiring, keeps changing his mind

Silco

Political science professor

His classroom is bare and blank. No life. Just fluorescent lights and chairs.

Brags about how few people pass his class

Very strict on attendance. Too many absences and you’re out.

If the assignment is due at 11:59 and you turn it in at 12:00, it’s late

“I am quite interested to hear why you believe you are deserving of a higher grade when you’ve spent less than thirty minutes attending all of my classes combined. Please, continue.”

Will straight up roast other professors no problem. Encourages students to pass it along

He encourages debate but the only thing students debate about outside of class is whether he’s hot or creepy af

Final project is a choice between A) A ten-page essay on why there is no ethical consumption under capitalism, or B) a presentation on why the country is doomed

Vander

Education professor

Makes his own series of Crash Course-esque videos

Comes to class in jeans at best. Sweats, sometimes.

He has one coffee mug that says #1 Dad and he refuses to use anything else

He puts fun questions on his exams, like riddles. If no one gets it, he actually gets sad

Whenever he erases the whiteboard he always misses a spot. He’s that professor.

If he catches you plagiarizing, you get one pass before he reports it. But you have to come to his office so he can tell you how disappointed he is and how much potential you have

He gives a seminar about how worried he is for the future of education and the wellbeing of the next generation and everyone leaves feeling guilty. Everyone.

Make a pop culture reference in class and everything will grind to a halt so you can explain it to him. Visuals help.

Sevika

Librarian

If you play music in the library she’ll walk up to you and just go “are you joking”

Have a phone call on speaker and she’s hanging it up for you

There’s signs telling you to be quiet every three feet

If you see her outside of school no you didn’t

She’s in charge of leading classes on accessing academic databases and she fucking hates it

Somehow knows where every book is down to the shelf. She’ll tell you what you’re looking for before you can finish your sentence

technically she’s supposed to do a walkthrough before closing for the night but if you can’t read the library hours on the signs it’s your fault if you get locked in

#Arcane #vi arcane #caitlyn kiramman #viktor arcane #jayce talis #jinx arcane #silco #vander #heimerdinger #sevika #ekko #Mel medarda

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theygender · 3 months ago

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im going back to school in august do you have any advice on how to dyke it up in a collegiate manner. it’s been four years i dont remember what to do

My best advice:

Read the syllabus on the first day of class (even though it's boring 😔). Main things to look out for are: the best way to contact your professor, the course schedule (are you being taught by a sadist who made something due on day 1?), the class's late work policy, and how many points/what percentage of your grade each assignment is worth

Use this information to prioritize assignments. Assignments from classes that don't allow late work + assignments that are worth a lot of points are the ones with the highest priority

Done Is More Important Than Perfect!!! If you can't do something perfect, just get it done. Half ass it or turn it in incomplete if you need to, but turn it in. Scoring 50% is better for your grade than scoring 0%

Do your best to work ahead on lessons each week. I know it's hard. When all of your assignments are due at 11:59 PM on Sunday your brain will want so so badly to wait until Sunday to do all of them but that's how they get you. You will die

If you can find a way to break your lessons down into smaller pieces throughout the week it'll make things so much easier. Example from one of my current classes: watching one 15 minute video per day is WAY better than watching an hour and a half of videos in one sitting the same day your quiz is due

Trying not to put assignments off until the last minute can be hard, but at the very least you should try to start before tech support closes. Realizing that your shit is broken at 11:00 PM the day of is the worst feeling

Don't be afraid to contact your professor if you need to, most of them are glad to help. Make sure to check whether your question is answered in the syllabus first and include your course & section number in the email/message to make it easier for them to help you

On the other hand, if your professor is rude/intimidating when you reach out about issues just remember that you're both adults and you're paying them for a service. And if something is really wrong you can talk to their boss (the head of their department)

If you need to take notes and you don't know/remember how, look around online and find a note taking system that works for you. The Cornell notes method was helpful for me and it's really simple to do

If you have trouble sitting down to study/work, try the pomodoro method (25 min study + 5 min break) and some ambient music. Body doubling/"study with me" can also be helpful, and you can even find videos with all three of these combined. (My favorite are the video game ones. I am studying with Mr. Skyrim and we're doing pomodoros together)

Above all else, make sure to earn that degree in a dyke-honoring way 🫡 godspeed, soldier

#ask #dykebeckett #studyblr #college #adhd #(bc lets be honest thats the biggest issue for us here lol)#rambling

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aussiexlovexaffair · 2 months ago

Text

michael introduces american!reader to his highschool words: 1.8k! request fill: anon ask! tags: classmate!michael, american!reader tw: none! author’s note: FINALLY UPDATING AFTER SO LONG I’M SORRY I’VE BEEN SUFFERING FROM THE FIC WRITER CURSE listen to: “teenage dirtbag” covered by 5 seconds of summer

It was hard to be considered the most popular guy in school when most of the time, you spent your days with your head down and earbuds blasting at high volumes. In fact, it was impossible, especially for Michael in Year 11. With chunky bracelets, side-swept fringe, and light pink spots on his cheeks— even he had accepted the “loser” title he had been given by the other students.

That’s why he sat in the back of the classroom. He didn’t have to be the most eager to answer a question nor did he have to sit in front of kids that he knew were teasing him behind his back. He had the luxury of doodling on his notebook and zoning out, maybe occasionally leaning over to talk with his friends, Calum and Luke. Even his teacher, Mr. Williams, had taken pity on the boy and stopped cold-calling him during class.

But just as Michael felt himself fading into the background of his own life, his teacher started off the class period in a way that Michael never would have expected.

“If I may have your attention,” Mr. Williams clears his throat once, standing beside the doorway of the classroom. The students in the room don’t bother to listen to him. The stocky man repeats the action louder, “Your attention, please.” The chatter in the room seems to die down momentarily.

“For the past ten years, Norwest has not opened their doors to international exchange students due to lack of interest. However, this program— under the Dean’s instruction— has been reopened. Today, we welcome our newest addition to Norwest, straight from America, Ms. Y/N L/N.” Turning the knob on the door and pulling it open, he ushers you into the room. Twenty pairs of eyes follow your form carefully as you step to the front of the room.

”Until graduation, she will be continuing her education here alongside the rest of you. I hope you will show her around and assist her with anything she needs.” Mr. Williams eyes the pupils with skepticism. The students assembled themselves into cliques before their freshman year had even started. Joining any friend group this late into school is near impossible. A few snickers sound from around the room and the man sighs, looking for a vacant seat for you. “Pay them no mind, Ms. L/N. How about you go take a seat next to Mr. Clifford in the back. Ehm— Michael?” Michael’s head shoots up as soon as his last name is mentioned. Really? Now was the time that Mr. Williams decided to call on him? Part of him felt betrayed by the man. The teacher knew that Michael wasn’t the biggest fan of being the center of attention and he respected that until now, at the worst possible moment.

“Michael, will you make yourself known to the girl?...” Mr. Williams gives him an encouraging glance. Tentatively, he raises his hand a little for you to identify him. He doesn’t miss how some of his peers peek over at their friends with snide smiles. Meanwhile, all you can think about is getting out of the stuffy uniform you’re in and leaving the front of the classroom. Nothing makes you feel worse than a bunch of whispers you know are about you— well, besides the tag in the back of the collar of your shirt. The discomfort of the new uniform gives the situation a run for its money. Immediately, you nod and hurry off to the spare desk in the back.

The sound of Mr. Williams’ voice becomes a dull hum in the background of your mind as you settle into your seat. No padding on it, naturally. Placing your notebook on the desk in front of you and centering a pencil above it, you take a steadying breath. It being syllabus day, there wasn’t much for you to do besides get your bearings straight. Your eyes naturally wander over to the slumped figure beside you. In his left hand he hides his iPod, the wire of his earbud running up his sleeve and up to his ear as he rests his head against his hand. You have to admit, the set up is ingenious in its own way. You can see the little screen on it, though it’s hard to make out the song currently playing. Squinting, you eventually catch his attention.

“...What are you doing?”

The accusatory tone that the boy takes with you sends a wave of embarrassment down your spine. Taking a deep breath in, you nod down at the little device he’s holding. “Trying to see what you’re listening to.”

“Music.” The blond responds sharply, awkwardly looking back down at his paper.

His sass doesn’t impress you. With a light scoff, you roll your eyes. “Yeah— but like, the artist. I can see the album cover. It’s All Time Low. So what’s the song?”

His mind doesn’t register that you recognized the album cover at first, but when he does, his head whips around. They weren’t an underground band by any means, but nobody at the school ever admitted to listening to angsty music like that. That type of music was for losers like him. After a few confused blinks, Michael nods a bit. “Yeah, it’s uhm… it’s ‘Paint Your Wings’... from their album—.”

“Don’t Panic.” You finish the sentence for him. “Yeah, I know. I have that CD at home!..” Michael’s posture relaxes subconsciously at your words. He shifts in his uncomfortable desk to face you. A hint of amusement creeps its way into his eyes.

“No iPod?” His eyebrow lifts ever so slightly.

Your head shakes softly in response. “Mine broke a little bit ago. It’s a shame, I would’ve brought it with me here.”

A moment passes between you two, but Michael’s thoughts linger on your knowledge of the band. He had never really met a girl who was into the same music as he was, but the thought of you—an attractive girl nonetheless— having a similar taste to him was appealing in more ways than one. Testing the waters, he slides his chair over inconspicuously and nudges your foot with his own, placing an earbud in your palm.

The action is a surprise to you, but not an unwelcome one. You do your best to conceal the white wire as you slip it into your ear. Under the table, you can see his foot tapping along to the rhythm. A smile grows on your face and you draw your attention to your notebook, doodling in a similar fashion to Michael as the next song on the album begins.

The end of the lesson comes sooner than either of you expected and soon the bell pierces through the classroom. Chair legs scrape against the floor as students hurry out of them immediately. Following him out of the room, he pauses upon exiting and steps to the side to be out of the way of foot traffic.

“So, uhm… ” He steps up a bit and holds your gaze intently. “Do you have a guide?...” His tone, much like his body language, shows hesitance and the slightest bit of insecurity.

When you shake your head, he visibly relaxes. “No,” you laugh quietly. “They just gave me a schedule and told me to follow it.”

He takes a second to think it over before he makes an offer. “Yeah, no— they aren’t really the best with that... Well, uhm.. I don’t have many classes today. I could show you around if that sounds cool?” His thoughts chide him for his lack of social skills. If that sounds cool.. Michael, do you even hear yourself? You’re being so awkward about it, and you lied about your schedule too! You have a full schedule today! Michael cringes at himself and hopes you don’t notice.

Before his mental battle can further progress, you sling your bag over your shoulder and respond. “Really? Oh my god, that would actually be great!” Your words come out a bit louder than you intended and a few straggling students give you an odd look as a result.

Michael interrupts you before you can begin another sentence. “Yeah, yeah, it’s no problem! It’s just that.. things are a little different here, I guess. Like, we talk a bit quieter.” You get the hint and grimace in embarrassment.

Ouch.

“And we don’t usually button our uniforms all the way to the top..” His fingers find your collar and undo the top button for you slowly. The digits grace the skin underneath and subconsciously you suck in a sharp breath. “Sorry, ‘just thought you might need some help. You’ve got your hands full.”

Your eyes flicker down to your arms. You’re carrying your notebook in one hand and schedule tightly clenched in the other. God, I look like such a dork right now… “Thank you,” you begin breathlessly. His lips turn up at your praise and he pulls his hand back to fix his fringe.

“No problem.”

And then the bell rings. Passing period is over and now begins the next class period.

“Shit, am I late?” Your frantic eyes search the room for a clock and then shift back down to your schedule. English starts at 9:30. It’s currently 9:32.

“Uhm…” Michael looks at the clock and rubs the back of his neck. With a guilty sigh, he nods at your question. “Yeah, you’re late. But I am too, so.. I don’t know…” He decides to shoot his shot, hoping to score some time alone with you. “Do you maybe wanna leave? I dunno if you’re into the whole skipping thing– especially on your first day— but.. We could go somewhere.”

His nose crinkles at his lack of confidence. For a moment, your eyes remain trained to the clock on the wall. Going to class late would be a bad first impression on the teacher, but not showing up could be excusable. Maybe you got sick? First day nerves are killer, after all. Besides, this is an opportunity to make at least one good friend at a new school. After a bit of thinking, you eventually relent. “Anywhere in particular?”

His eyes widen a bit and he stands a little taller. You can tell by his reaction that he hadn’t expected you to accept the offer. “Yeah, uhm… we could go to the arcade in town. They’ve got a pretty wide variety of games and some killer french fries. Like, amazing.”

The giggle that falls from your lips reassures him that while subtle, the moves he’s making aren’t turning you away. “We could, but I’m warning you, I’m pretty good at games. I’ll probably beat you.”

Holy shit, you’re perfect.

His heart nearly leaps out of his chest as he watches you carry your things towards the exit. He follows behind you quickly, a bashful smile beginning to grow on his face. “I think I’m okay with that.”

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studentessa-socit · 7 months ago

Text

wen • 13/11/24

spent basically the whole day in the library studing mexican anthropology's history (additionally to our syllabus we have to study the history of an european anthropology and an extra-european one of our choice, I choose spanish anthropology and mexican anthropology)

I planned to take a yoga class but it's cancelled because the instructor is sick (so it's cozy night)

#studyblr #realistic studyblr #study blog #uni life #study inspiration #study motivation #studyspo #productivityboost #movies #hobbies #interstellar

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the-sick-habit · 20 days ago

Text

Statistically Speaking, I Think I'm Fucked

Modern AU | Ellie x Fem!Reader | College setting | On a journal

Eyes Without a Face by Billy Idol

Chp 1: "if I can swim in a pool then I can swim through college"

Saturday, August 16 07:43 PM Last day in bedroom…kinda

So basically, I’m gonna do this thing. I’m gonna FUCKING do this, and it’ll be fun and easy and it’ll be everything I ever dreamed of. Or whatever. If college is even something I actually dreamed of doing (news flash: it’s not).

Joel ordered pizza, said this all not-so-casually, “We can just eat one last time and watch your favorite movie. Is it still Curtis and Viper?”

First of all, YEAH Joel, still one of my favorite movies.

Second, I’m not DYING. He makes it so hard sometimes to act like me moving into the dorm isn’t such a big deal. It’s just fifteen minutes away. I’m literally twenty-three, I can handle it. It’s just one more empty room upstairs. Maybe then Tess will actually stay longer and not make some bullshit excuse about me being home.

Which was awkward every time she did it.

At first it was easier when Sarah was here, because she’d call them out. But Tess…not that she SCARES me or anything but when she looks at you like that? Eyes narrowed like she’s ready to aim for your head, and her eyebrows furrow a little while she does that. I can see how she makes Joel shut up.

Shit – pizza’s here.

Later, same ol’ later than my bedtime/11 ish

So it wasn’t that bad. Kinda feel bad for the way I wrote about Joel. He’s just a big softie that doesn’t know how to say he’ll miss me. And rather say things that sounds like I’m about to be blasted into space (wouldn’t that be nice?) and never return.

Dina texted me earlier when I was watching the movie with him. Didn’t look at it till now. Kinda wish I did, Joel would’ve gotten a kick out of it. She’s with Jessie and his family, out at their farm. Didn’t peg her for the type. Not that – yeah. Anyways.

It’s a horse wearing a cowboy hat in that 0.5x zoom that Dina always likes to take pictures in. It’s fucking cute. I’ll just show him tomorrow.

Sunday, August 17 Joel’s truck at the buck ass crack of dawn

I knew I should’ve waited to piss.

Now I’m in his truck, waiting for him to come out so we can go to Home Depot. He wanted to get some screws for the cabinet in the kitchen. The same one me and Sarah broke two months ago when she came to visit from Illinois. I’m honestly surprised that he just noticed, but Sarah and I did a pretty good job at stitching it up. Does he have any clue it was us?

Nah.

Told me he opened it to get his coffee mug (like a fuckin’ GIANT apparently). I asked him why he didn’t just use the ones that are in the garage. He had like, a gazillion of them. He just STARED at me like he was trying to decide what my pros and cons were.

Sorry for being practical and wanting to go back to sleep?

“Go get the truck started.” Was all he said before he walked away like I didn’t even have a say in what I do.

So yeah, sitting here, freezing my ass off. Listening to his old country music, somethin’ about should’ve been a cowboy or whatever. Fuck, I forgot my earbuds inside.

But not my journal?

Monday, August 18 0900, sitting in my own row GENERAL CHEM LECTURE

Well, this is it. Here in class. Waiting. Hoping I don’t get bored to death.

This girl keeps turning around to look at me from the front. Unless there’s someone behind me?? I just turned around and nope – oh she smiled. FUCK I JUST WAVED BACK, jesus christ, I should’ve just smiled why did I WAVE?!!?! It’s whatever, I don’t even know her. Why am I freaking out?

Joel insisted I start learning how to read military time, since, apparently that’s all they use in the medical field. Can’t believe I’m doing pre-med. Is this even me? Yeah!!! I’m totally capable, that quiz online told me so. And Joel seems to think I’d have a knack for it.

Shit – professors here.

Later, same 1345 in statistics

So far it’s not bad, we’re just going over the syllabus. Easiest class I’ll ever take apparently. THANK YOU GOD definitely needed that break.

Dina’s been texting me non-stop. She won’t stop freaking out about the nursing program shit. I’m so fucking glad I’m not in that, it sounds like torture. Something about a dosage exam.

She’s also getting upset that I haven’t answered her, but I literally texted her like a couple of hours ago. What am I gonna say to gun emojis and crying meme reaction pics??!!!

Later, same SAME DUMB ASS CLASS

GROUP PROJECT DUE AT THE END OF THE SEMESTER?!?!

That’s absolute bullshit!!!! Oh my FUCKING GOD.

Might as well just shoot my brains out with Tommy’s rifle!!!!!

Later, same same stupid class I guess

I just have to clarify in case someone reads that. I’d never do that.

Also, Dina texted me again to hang out after class. And honestly, I don’t feel like doing that. Shit, it’s just the first day, I have to CHILLAX while I can.

Plus, the Nintendo switch is calling my name. Breath of the Wild anyone? Whatever.

Super later, still the same day In my dorm (dormmate isn’t here yet, hope it’s not a fucking asshole)

I ended up hanging out with Dina, and we were just talking about our classes. What we’re doing, and all that jazz. It was actually kinda nice so I’m glad she insisted on coming over to my dorm. She wanted to check it out, since right now her and Jessie rented out an apartment a couple of blocks out of the campus. And his PARENTS are helping them.

That’s so nice isn’t it??? I mean, Joel’s also helping me but FUCK I don’t want him to, he’s already done so much by taking me in and including me in his life – now this?? I REALLY have to pass, I really have to go through with this so I can just stop –

Anyways. I did get a scholarship for this so I just need to get my grades up and that’s me basically helping him out with the rest.

I guess Jessie’s enjoying his classes so far. Weirdo.

But back to Dina, she was talking about what her professors were saying. And she had this look on her face, and I fucking knew it the second the spoke that it was one of those ideas that she already had me included in. She proposed a study group, which is something her professor encouraged everyone to do. Okay? I guess if y’all all wanna hold hands and cry.

And then she asked ME if I wanted to go.

Actually, she didn’t ask.

She’s MAKING me go. As if I didn’t have my hands full at this current moment!! “It’s on Thursday at five. I better see your ass there, Williams.” And then she walked out of my dorm like nothing. As if I was gonna do whatever she wanted me to do. I already have one guy doing that, don’t need to add someone else.

I have a missed call from Joel. But I don’t feel like calling back yet. It’s like eight, he’s probably sleeping right now. I’m just gonna play my switch a little bit.

Thursday, August 21 Cafeteria

I’m just waiting for Dina and Jessie right now. I have my lunch, just a sandwich and some chips. Groceries Joel helped me pick out on Sunday, when he was helping me move into my dorm. Damn, which reminds me, I have to tell him that he forgot to get milk for the house. Why does it feel like there’s so much shit to do????

FUCK FUCK it’s not a big deal but why does it feel like I’m in a sea, alone, with just a fucking door to lay on top of while the sun IS BEATING ME UP “Can you do it? Can you do it?”

Yeah I fucking can asshole!!! And I just KNOW Dina is gonna ask me if I’m gonna go to the study group today, but I really don’t feel like talking to anyone right now. I already spoke to Joel before I got to the cafeteria, and he asked me how school’s going.

This is literally the third time this week he called me to ask. It’s starting to get on my nerves. And I feel bad about it, but damn can’t the old man just let me do my shit? I’ll be fine, I always have been!!

Here comes Jessie. No Dina yet.

Friday, August 23 Dorm

Alright, so that wraps up the crazy first week of class. I talked to Dina about the study group. I mean, not that I WANTED to do it but seeing all my assignments listed down? There’s no fucking way I’m doing that on time without some help!!

I just have to admit it, I procrastinate like it’s my fucking job. And I CANNOT do that this semester, especially when my grades depend on how much help I get. I need to finish this, there’s no other way around it. DO IT ELLIE.

Dina had a grin on her face, too smug for her own good. I KNEW she was gonna do that, “We added another day. Twice a week. Monday and Thursday.” She said it so simple, but I already knew that she was doing a celebratory dance inside her head.

“Seriously, Els, come. It’ll help.” That’s what she said after, and she looked so serious then. It kind of fucked me up and hit me straight in the chest. Did she see?

No, she couldn’t have.

She had me write down my assignments on my calendar on my phone, put reminders on. The whole thing took like about an hour. Mostly ‘cause we were just fucking around. And then Jessie called her, so it took EVEN LONGER. Guy sounded out of breath—turns out he’s been running almost every day for ‘stress relief’.

“Since when did you start running?” I just HAD to ask, and I didn’t mean to sound surprised when I did. Okay, well, more than just surprised. (probably hurt his wittle feewings).

“Uh, since I needed an extra dose of dopamine after seeing you so DEPRESSED for a week.”

“Okay, dude, what the fuck!?”

But Dina interrupted the conversation before it could even go on. What an asshole!! But the thing is, really???!! Have I really been acting that way???? No I haven’t, I’ve just been super concentrated. And that’s it. There’s nothing more and nothing less to it. My assignments are on my phone, I’m in that study group now, and I’ll be fine. Everything’s good. I got things under control.

I guess I can call my old man this time.

Monday, August 26 Dorm, being pushed in two directions

UGHHHH should I go? I should, I REALLY should. It’s a couple of minutes past five, I don’t know if I should. Would being late be rude? It’s going to be rude. I’m going to walk in there and INTERRUPT A GOOD STUDYING SESSION.

Fuck it, I need to do it. I need to go. ‘Cause if I don’t, I’m going to FAIL.

Also my dorm mate is here. She’s chill. Talks to her boyfriend on the phone a lot. Puts on a lot of perfume and likes to listen to Sabrina Carpenter. Sarah also likes that singer. So I knew a couple of songs.

Fuck, I gotta go. She’s talking to her boyfriend again and I’m sick of hearing the word ‘babe’.

Same day, later Library and feeling stiff

I did walk in there as casually as I could, and I saw Dina and them almost instantly. The library was nice, open, the kind of place I’d like to be in when doing homework. Which was the plan.

I clocked like six people, including Jessie and Dina. They were REALLY focused, and of course when I went over to the table they all had to look up and just STARE. Except this one girl, she just glanced at me really quick and then looked back down at her laptop. She had her hair tied back in a ponytail. It was cute.

But then of COURSE as I put my backpack down by my seat –which happened to be next to Jessie and in front of this girl – Dina gave me SHIT.

“This is Ellie. Always late to stuff.” And she pointed her stupid pen at me. Like I was some kind of exhibit to fuckin’, I don’t know, POINT AT.

I just rolled my eyes at her and took out my shit from my backpack, trying not to feel FLUSTERED just because of this one chick in front of me. Which, by the way, I BARELY know her???

“Whatever, I’m here aren’t I?” I ended up saying back, and it wasn’t even like, cool, or anything. It sucked.

But she looked at me and gave me a smile. But it was one of those ‘hey-i-see-you-please-don’t-think-I’m-weird’. Unless I’m projecting?? Because I’m pretty damn sure that’s what that smile was about. And I smiled back at her before we went back to our respective positions. Studying and whatnot.

And then JESSIE HAD TO SAY SOMETHING TOO, ‘cause why not?!

I saw him shift in his seat a little next to me and said this with that stupid grin of his Dina insists makes her melt, “Don’t let her intimidate you, she’s scrambling as much as the rest of us.”

Okay, intimidate?! Why are we only talking to this ONE girl in front of me?? That’s when she told me her name, like she was sorry that this was even happening. Which, honestly, okay, made me feel a little better.

At least another person sees how UNFAIR they – shit, Dina is giving me that look. Gotta go and actually study.

Author's Notes: I'm literally nervous about posting this because I CARE SO MUCH. I was gonna say something else in the middle of posting this but I totally forgot. -- masterlist <- current chapter -> chp 2

#ellie williams x reader #tlou fanfiction #ellie williams fic #college au #modern au

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maxdibert · 2 months ago

Note

from what we know about what Snape was like as a student, I can totally see him being as annoying and know-it-all as Hermione was, and so to me his treatment of her is also some form of Recognition of the Self through the Other (derogatory). Imagine how torturous to realize you were a really annoying 11-year-old

also, she set his robes on fire that one time. I'd hold a grudge.

I don’t think he was like Hermione in the sense that Hermione is a very proactive and also extroverted person. She has no qualms about giving her opinion and speaking up whether she’s been asked to or not, whereas Severus is very introverted. I can’t imagine him interrupting his teachers when he was a child, especially in his early years. Let’s not forget that when he decided to improve and correct some potions in his book, he didn’t do it in an outward, extroverted way — he did it quietly, in his own book, without telling anyone.

I mean, I have no doubt that in private or with people he trusted, he was probably an insufferable know-it-all, but I don’t see him as someone who would externalize that outside of a circle where he felt safe. I think that, as an adult who has to deal with a bunch of kids and run a class and make sure they learn, he was thoroughly fed up with Hermione constantly monopolizing the lessons without being asked. Because that’s not good, it’s not okay.

I understand that younger readers or even kids reading the novels might not see it as a big deal, but from the perspective of a teacher or educator, having someone who never lets others answer, who always interrupts and disrupts the lessons, is not just a nuisance because it wrecks your classes, it’s also because it prevents the others from making progress. For the rest of the students who are there to learn, it’s very easy to rely on someone who always answers everything — they don’t have to worry about preparing the lesson or paying attention, because the class know-it-all will always be there to bail them out if they get asked something they don’t know.

And that’s really bad, because group participation should be encouraged. Students need to learn not only to stay on top of the syllabus, but also to get over their fear of speaking up and sharing their opinions. And if you’ve got someone like her who doesn’t allow any of that to happen, then she’s actually getting in the way of your work as an educator. So I’m sorry — I know Hermione’s blind fans love how smart she is, but the truth is that if I had someone like her under my supervision as a trainee, or if I were a teacher and had to deal with a student like her, I wouldn’t be able to stand her. She would drive me crazy — in fact, people like her already got on my nerves back when I was a student. So I don’t think there’s much mystery as to why Severus can’t stand her: it’s a mix of what I’ve said, plus the fact that she’s Harry’s friend and more than once has attacked him directly or been complicit in acts that were openly against him.

#severus snape #severus snape headcanon #snape headcanon #hermione granger #hermione granger headcanon #harry potter meta #meta #analysis

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dyadicjustice · 2 years ago

Note

can u do like a hazelxreader best friends to lovers

like they’ve both been secretly in love with each other and pining for years but were too scared to say anything (and maybe smut if u write that but if not that’s totally good)

ooooh let me see what magic i can work, bestie. aged up the characters to be in college, so rockbridge falls high is now rockbridge university. unfortunately no smut this time because i am awful at it 😅 but i hope you enjoy this little blurb instead

ao3 link for if u prefer to read there :)

At 11:30, Professor G's class let out without anyone having learned anything actually in the syllabus. But for you, there wasn’t much room in your mind for history lessons anyway. You were too distracted by Hazel sitting next to you, scrolling on Twitter and excitedly showing you every adorable cat meme she came across.

You’d known each other since the 3rd grade, and it was safe to say that some things never change— especially not your love for one another as best friends. At least until the end of Senior Year, when you’d started to realize that change was inevitable, and you’d fallen hard for her.

You’d been overcompensating these past couple months. You’d purposely try to fly under the radar, so she wouldn’t notice you pining or the countless lingering looks and lip biting. Desperation was heavy in your bones, settled deep in your core. So when you finally return to your shared dorm, she asks, “Seriously y/n, it seems like you’re not even here most days. What’s going on?”

You know you can’t lie to her. You can’t lie to those dazzling grey eyes, so warm and sweet and sincere. So you sigh and admit, “Are you ready to receive some potentially devastating information that could change the state of our friendship forever?”

She blinks and lets out a quiet chuckle, “Uh, no promises, weirdo. What’s up?”

“Hazel, I’m being serious. It’s like... important,” you whine.

She hikes an eyebrow at your nervous demeanor, taking a beat to take in your features. She’s suddenly fully aware you’re uncomfortable when you start to wring your hands a bit. To calm your fidgeting, she slips her hands in between them and intertwines your fingers. You feel her sweet gesture start to soothe you, like when puppies snuggle up to you to help you stop crying.

She whispers, “What’s wrong, bean?”

Your eyes start to water at the nickname. “You have to promise you won’t get upset”, you choke out.

She wraps her arms around your neck in a comforting embrace, and whispers in your ear, “I promise. You can tell me, only if you’re comfortable and ready.” And her considerate nature makes you want to cave and sob right then and there.

“I love you, Hazel. But, I also… I just… I’m in love with you.” You can’t even meet her eyes out of pure embarrassment. You feel her fingers snake beneath your chin, and she gently tugs until you’re looking into her eyes. She stares into yours, into your soul, really. She whispers, “y/f/n, I’ve been dreaming of hearing you say that for years.” You both giggle. You joke, “That’s such a fucking relief because I would’ve shat myself if you rejected me.”

“I could never reject you, bean! Thank you for being brave enough to tell me.” You can hear the smile in her voice. “But I am curious, when did you realize you felt that way?”

You sigh, “Honestly? I knew I was sure when we went to Senior Prom together, so 6 months maybe? But I also would say, I’d felt something since we were like 10. I just hadn’t realized how deep my love was back then.”

Hazel murmurs, “You made Prom Night so magical. You looked lovely. Not to mention, you just had this magnetism to you that had everybody staring. I was fighting the urge to kiss you the entire evening. It was hardest during the slow dance.”

You admit that you had felt similarly, explaining, “It was hardest for me to resist when you had that little bit of whipped cream stuck on your lip when we went to Denny’s after. I wiped it away with a napkin, but I wish I’d just gone for it.”

You stare up at her lovingly as a subtle silence emerges between you, your eyes scanning her features before dropping to her lips. Without saying a word, you crash your lips together. Hers taste like… well, like nothing and like everything at the same time. Just chapstick and love.

And it’s not your first time kissing a girl by any means, But you can already tell it’s your favorite after only ten seconds.

Hazel pulls away, breathless, “So just to be clear, what does this make you and me?” She smirks.

You hold her cheek with one hand and hook the other around the back of her neck, scratching the back of her head. Her jaw goes slack and her eyes flutter. You reply, “Horny, Hazel. It makes us really fucking horny.”

She smirks, “Maybe we should… do something about that. Your place or mine?” She dopily wiggles her eyebrows. It’s made even more ridiculous by the fact that your beds are just feet away from each other.

You shoot back, giggling, “Yours. I don’t wanna fuck up my sheets right now.”

She scoops you up bridal style and sets you down on her bed. Those months of pre-season training for rugby had made her insanely strong despite her short and lean figure.

She kisses your forehead and replies, “Whatever you wish, Your Majesty.”

#hazel callahan #hazel callahan x reader #bottoms (2023)#bottoms movie #bottoms 2023

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lawva-girl · 1 year ago

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Historically.. We don't mix.

Law x fem!Reader, College AU

Notes: the things that don't mix are history and stem majors!!! this came to me in a dream forever ago and ive been sitting on it since. This is only part one to... idk how many but yes! I have a loose outline, we can bet on 5 parts but thats a scary bet to make methinks. Enjoy :) also i apologize if the pov switching in the first bit is weird, i thought i was cooking and i kinda think its cute now so it is.

WC: 1976

The classroom was quiet, you were the only one there. Class officially started in 4 minutes. Right as you pulled out your phone to double check the room another person walked in. You assumed she was a student since she was about your age, at least she looked it. When the woman instead walked to the front of the class you realized she was the professor. Shoulder length black hair, with bangs trimmed right to her eyebrows. Wearing a white cowboy hat, which you thought was peculiar.

She removed the hat and set it on the desk, resting her bag in the seat.

She wrote on the board “Robin, overview of women in war” then she leaned against the desk and pulled out her phone.

You looked back at yours, 11:18. Two minutes until class began, and there was now roughly 15 people in the room. You sat in the second row back from the front, and you noticed only one person in the front row. He had a weird beanie on, dark hair, and pierced ears. You tried not to stare, since you knew he could glance back at any second.

“Okay everyone, I am Nico Robin. I’m your professor.” She smiled for the class, and continued, “this class should be very exciting, we get to learn about women like Joan of arc, who really was a delusional farm girl, and Molly Pitcher, a women who fought in the American revolution. The syllabus is online, you will need books by next class. The student store has them for 15 dollars, I won’t take any excuses.”

The professor paused, then opened her bag and pulled out the book, “it looks like this. It’s a small booklet of primary sources, mostly text and images, that we will take a deep dive into. Your grade this semester will be 40 percent exams, 25 percent homework, and finally 35 percent participation. Yes it is a lot, this class is modeled after my time researching, you cannot be a historian or teacher without being able to work as a group and communicate. I know it’s a challenge but try your best.”

A beat.

Law felt sick. He was not a talker, especially to people who were history majors. The men were always blood hungry, the women always poetic. This class would be rough, but if he could find one person bearable enough it might be okay. Sitting in the front seat, he couldn’t glance around to see his peers. While the professor was going on about the school's mandatory syllabus information, he took a quick look behind him, as if checking the clock.

No one was paying attention, and he glanced quickly around the class. There was only one person who looked back at him, meeting his eyes. Of course they looked away immediately, and so did he.

The professor finally finished and gave the students time to “meet their neighbors”. Law turned and found the one student who made eye contact with him.

“I’m Trafalgar Law, I’m a double major in history and biology.” He stated right to the girl, with no excitement in his voice, tone steady.

“My name is Dracule y/n, I’m a history major, and you are insane, Trafalgar.” She had a bit of sarcasm in her tone, which he took offense to. She was the fifth person to tell him that today.

“I’m not insane, I just like history and I want to be a doctor.”

“That’s cool I guess, I’ve never met a stem major I liked though. You guys are all so “history is just memorization and dates”, I can’t stand talking to ‘em.”

Law looked back at her and thought ‘I have never met a history major I liked either’. He decided on saying, “If you ask me historians are basically philosophers, you just think all day and pretend like the world changed.”

She made an obvious frown, putting her hands onto the table with a bit too much force. “Huh?!”

“History majors have two options, teach or research, both are dead end jobs that don’t help people. It’s simple.” He stated nonchalantly, like it was crazy to major in history.

“Well life isn’t all about jobs and helping people. It’s about living?” She looked him dead in the eyes before finishing with, “it’s not like the world collapses when doctors aren’t around.”

“Well it was nice talking, but I’m gonna chat to my other neighbors.” He said with a huff, he didn’t have to talk to you at all, in fact he hoped he wouldn’t have to again.

After about 10 more minutes, professor Robin spoke up again, “okay okay, since we don’t have textbooks yet I decided to make a fun assignment. I’m giving you your first and last handouts, you will need to fill them out before next class. Other than that, please look at the canvas page. Read over the syllabus and take my obligatory syllabus quiz. You are now free from this class.”

You walked out into the hall, and booked it to the student store. You told your only friend and sister, Perona, that you would meet her there.

Law, coincidentally, told Bepo the same thing. Bepo was his only friend, having grown up with the white haired bear.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Only 10 minutes after class had dismissed you arrived at the store, already spotting Perona’s pink pigtails.

“perona!” You whisper-screamed in her ear, trying to scare her.

“Ahhh y/n”, she sighed, clearly unaffected, “you know you’ll never scare me. Anyways, what is my cute depressed friend doing on Friday?”

You and her walked into the store, “studying... So I’m busy.” Giving her a quick smile before you two settled in the textbook section.

“You are so coming with me then! I’m going to the mall that’s next to campus, I’m already so bored of our dorm room decorations. If we go to 5below I can get way cuter stuff for us! You need to come since it’s your dorm too, so I won’t take no for an answer.”

“Perona you have really good taste in stuff, you should be fine on your own!” You put some enthusiasm behind your voice, to encourage her.

She frowned back at you, not buying into your typical antics. “If you don’t come then you won’t be leaving all weekend! You need to go outside y/n!”

“Perona!? Hi!” A voice from behind you called out to her, causing you to turn instantly.

“Bepo! What a coincidence! Do you have a picture of the textbook we need for thermodynamics?” Perona said, already stepping towards the bear.

“Of course! I have to be studious this year!”

The two of them found the text book, it costed a whopping $300 dollars, and was written by their professor.

“We can share, right Bepo? That way it’s only 150 dollars?” The both of them had a cloud over their heads as you watched the sad situation unfold. Peronas face was for sure one of desperation.

“Wait is there a digital version? It’s usually cheaper.” You suggested, reaching to pull out the info card.

“Bepo! I’ve been looking.” Whoever said that sounded quite angry, and familiar?

“I’m sorry Law! I saw my classmate and got excited… sorry” Bepo turned to face the man.

“You couldn’t have texted? just once?” Law replied, only just then looking at the two people who were with Bepo.

“Great this guy again.” You said with sarcasm dripping from your voice and turned to Perona, “we should leave, he hates me.”

“I don’t hate you. I don’t even know you.” Law said, pinching his nose.

“Whatever, do you have Bepo’s number Rona?” Calling her by her self appointed nickname always made her happy, right now you were hoping it would get her to leave with you to the history section.

“I don’t actually! Bepo! Here, put your number in!” She said with a smile, being way more friendly than usual. “I’m Perona by the way, how do you know my friend y/n?”

It was a simple question but the way he answered really bugged you, rattling off a “we have a class together”. He was looking down at his phone and didn’t even bother to look up when he answered. Hell he didn’t even bother to introduce himself!

“His name is Trafalgar by the way, we have women in war together.” You had a straight face, conveying how much it bothered you well.

“Awww how wonderful!” Perona had an enthusiastic tone but looked at you with a smirk like no other. “Would you be her friend? I’m the only one she has right now!”

You cursed your friend and her constant medling. She loved to stir the pot, and when you got upset she would always say “you are so cute when you’re mad though!” With her words to Law, he finally looked up.

He opened his mouth to speak, but was instantly interrupted.

“He only had one friend too!” Bepo handed back Perona’s phone, “it’s me!” He said with a big smile.

“He seems like he would have no trouble! My y/n is super awkward and shy!” Perona practically ignored you, as you had started to form words before she interrupted you.

“No no! He’s pretty judgmental so a lot of people stay away from him, he also thinks he’s smarter than everyone!” Bepo replied back, as if they were two parents gossiping about their kids.

“She thinks the same! Maybe they could be friends?” Perona and Bepo look at you and Law.

“I am smarter!” Both you and law said in unison. Immediately looking at each other with frustration.

“Don’t say what I say!” You said to law.

“How would I know what you were going to say? Do you even think?” Law argued back.

“Of course I do! Do you?” You couldn’t think of anything better…

“Good one. Bepo we’re leaving.”

“Rona we are leaving too! At least I don’t constantly speak in contractions…”

Law turned his head so you would hear, “you just said one too!”

You and Perona had already turned the corner, you quickly led her to the history section. You spared her no look, you figured you would talk about it once the two of you got back to the dorm. Once you reached the history section, you squatted down in front of the book you needed and saw there were 3 left. Grabbing one then standing. Just as you were about to go pay for the book, you heard him again.

“Are you following me Dracule? Typical.” He said, with a touch of sarcasm.

“Typical? We both know you don’t have anyone interested enough to follow you. Also, are you even thinking? We are in the same class so of course we would both need the same book.”

“Whatever, I’m getting my book and leaving.” He quickly bent over, grabbed a copy and was gone.

“No comeback!?” You said, just a bit too loud. You wanted him to hear you, so that he knew you knew he couldn’t come up with anything. Feeling a bit triumphant you turned to Perona, who was standing behind you with a smile.

“What now?”

“He’s cute y/n!”

“No chance. He’s mean, and a biology major!”

She scoffed, “there is always an exception to the rule! Like me!”

“Yes Rona, an exception. A single exception. There can’t be two exceptions.”

“Anything could happen! Plus if me and Bepo end up sharing a book you might be forced into hanging out with all of us! Who knows, maybe they also share a dorm!”

You sigh and look at her, she looks so happy at the prospect that you might have a friend, especially one that’s a guy. You settled, your good side winning out. “Fine. I’ll be open to it. Only if he is nicer.”

#trafalgar law x reader #one piece x reader #law x y/n #law x reader #trafalgar d law x reader #reader insert #eek im happy im finally getting around to posting this stuff #i really hope i finish this swiftly......#this is not beta read btw #forgive me if it has errors......

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amu-buddy · 2 years ago

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AMU Admission For the Students of Class 11 for Science or Diploma Engineering, Admission Form, Procedures, Dates, Eligibility Criteria, Cut Off Marks, Merit & Results 2024-25

Aligarh Muslim University School admission form for the students of class 11th for Science Stream ( PCM, PCB or PCMB ) or Diploma Engineering ( Civil, Electrical and Mechanical ). AMU admission for the students of class 11 for Science or Diploma Engineering. Admission to classes as detailed in this guide is open to Indian nationals and few seats are also earmarked for foreign nationals/children…

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#amu admission form #amu admission form 2024 class 11 last date #amu admission form class 11 #amu admission form class 11 2024 #amu admission requirements amu entrance date #amu class 11 admission form date #amu class 11 admission form last date #amu class 11 admission syllabus

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usafphantom2 · 3 months ago

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#TomcatTails

#TomcatTuesday

The Life of a RAG Student in El Centro or “Monkeys and Goats and Snakes, Oh My”

I know it may sound odd, but I wasn’t ALWAYS a Tomcat Pilot. I actually had to learn just like everyone else as RAG Student at Miramar back in the early 90’s. I know, I know, it’s hard to believe I was never a “natural”; I was more like the normal learning process of “monkey see, monkey do” most people need. There were some “naturals” out there but they were few and far between. Most of us knuckle-draggers just had to get in and do it.

I’ve talked previously about the phases that RAG students (Pilots and RIOs) go through. Well, one of my favorites was the air-to-ground syllabus that had just started up in the Tomcat RAG in the early 90s. I was at the VF-124 Gunfighters at NAS Miramar and restarting the RAG after a 11-month sideline time for a bad back/herniated disk and starting flying again. The back thing worked out pretty well. When I asked the Skipper if I could stay on as a RAG student, he said “Sure, why not? You haven’t f**ked up yet!” Yes, it was good to be in Fighters.

I can’t recall the class number; it might have been 9102 (second class of 1991 to crack that code) and we were trucking along. I’d redone my FAMs (familiarization) and had studied up for the Air-to-Ground syllabus where we would head to El Centro just over the hills (080° for 80nm) and fly out of there for about 10 days while our class got put through their paces in the air to ground environment. We’d be doing low levels around the Salton Sea, bomb dropping at the targets like Loom Lobby, Shade Tree, Inky Barley, and Kitty Baggage. Those strange names will bring back some serious memories for Naval Aviators. They were basically bullseyes in the desert with long run-in lines from a specific direction, and were normally at the terminus of an established low level route around the Salton Sea. You would fly the low level route (maybe 30-40 minutes) following a paper strip chart in your lap, get to the target area, and start a pop up maneuver (hard turn right 30° at 500 feet, pull vertical to 45° nose up, acquire target roll over onto it, establish the proper dive angle, and release your practice/inert bomb).

Bear in mind we’d done this same in Advanced Jet Training in the TA-4J Skyhawk so we knew the drill. The Tomcat RAG could then do some more advanced stuff for our det (larger weapons, section maneuvering down low, etc., etc.). All in all a great good time. My Dad was a Light Attack dude (A-1, A-4, A-7) so I’d always wanted to do the air-to-mud mission. Also, as you’d enter A/G phase you were a more senior student. Not that the Instructors wouldn’t give you max grief, but they realized that you’re eventually going to be part of the fleet so they started treating you a little bit more like a “Bubba”…..one of the team.

The following are a few of the most memorable stories and lessons learned on that detachment. And lesson one regards the responsibilities of “The Nugget”, the newest aviator in the squadron. I’ve mentioned Nuggets before and they are in a very unique position as the FNG (“F**king New Guy). First, they’ll probably actually get a nametag that says “FNG” on it. They’ll also be subject to a little mental harassment in the crucible of Fighters. Ya gotta have thick skin in a Fighter Ready Room, man or woman, and for the most part that skin thickening begins in the RAG.

The ”Strike Detachment” or “Strike Det” consist of a student class, a number of instructors, half a dozen jets, and a bunch of Maintainers to keep it all running (normally a 10-12 Maintainers to jet ratio). There are normally 3 launches per day in the early morning (“dawn patrol”), late morning, and early afternoon. The dawn patrol is normally a 5am brief for a 7am launch. And if you’ve got a 5am brief, the student gets there BEFORE the instructor who is going to get there at 4:30am. But as the Nugget, the students need to send a rep to get the daily morning donuts out in town. This is great Nugget training. How much time would YOU allot to drive to and from the nearest donut shop AND get to the Ready Room before all the instructors? Yes. One hour. The designated Nugget gets up and shits/showers/shaves to be ready to launch the rental van to Dunkin’ Donuts by 3:30am. Ouch.

What’s the big deal, right? A little early reveille, so what? Well, you need to not only pull all that off, but you have to get the RIGHT donuts. Two dozen of the CORRECT donuts better be on time, or you get to try it again the next day. How hard could it be? Apparently, pretty hard. What we learned after a few runs of this, the Nugget must purchase an acceptable ratio of glazed to chocolate covered (6/6), several Jellies (4), crullers and sugar twists (2/2), and a honeybun/fritter mix (2/1). So that makes 11. What we really learned was that the previous ratio was generally acceptable, but if you forgot the 12th important flavor, you were screwed. And that flavor? Monkey Butt. Yes, the all-important Monkey Butt donut.

What is a Monkey Butt, you ask? Well, it is a regular donut with pink frosting and sprinkles, very reminiscent of the ass of a Baboon. And if you came back without one, you had the donut duty the next day. I don’t know if this is still in the lexicon of Fighters, but for most of my career you could say “monkey butt” and everyone knew what you were talking about. Hey, we’re funny. Just ask us.

After a week or so of flying and the Instructor harassment package, our class decided to try and get back at them with some pranks. As are most good pranks, our plan was hatched on a Saturday night over WAY too many beers and a no-fly day the next day. We decided to get back at the instructors in what we thought was the funnies way possible. We kidnapped a sheep.

Said sheep was just outside the fence line in some very sheep like-pasture with very many little sheep-like beasts in a pen doing late night sheep things. We grabbed one up and went back to the base to the housing area. Sometimes one would stay in the BOQ rooms, much like a hotel. And sometimes at El Centro, we got to stay in base housing units that slept four people. My class had two houses, and right next to ours was an instructor house. Perfect. We snuck next door after we got back to our place, eased the instructors door open and deposited said sheep in the house, quietly closing the door after we left.

We didn’t really understand the impact until late the next morning. Apparently, the sheep had begun making loud sheep noises and the instructors, after chasing it around the house, caught it and put it in the back yard. Morning came, and they went to check on the sheep to make sure it was OK. And wouldn’t you know it, they shared a back yard with another house…..that belonged to the Base Commander. And there he was, bathrobe on, coffee in hand, eyeballing the instructors.

They gathered up the fuzzy little noise maker and banged on our door to take it back. “What?? Us??? OK, no sweat.” Sheepy was returned, but the owner wasn’t happy. He called the CO and wanted some kind of compensation. We all had to pass the hat for a hundred bucks to pay him, BUT also found out that the VF-124 CO was going to “come over the hill” to “discuss this with the class.” In the classic reprimand-while-trying-not-to-laugh moment, our CO told us to finish this det strong and stop f**king around. Message received.

And the flying around El Centro and the Salton Sea is absolutely glorious. Deserts, mountains, target ranges, trains you could thump at 100 feet, all that and more. One of my favorites was the VR-1257 that went counterclockwise around the Salton Sea staring at the southeast corner, and terminated at the Loom Lobby bombing range in Restricted Area 2510 to the west of El Centro. It was a nice long low level that had great terrain following, cool turn points, and some open desert to really get “into the weeds”. And at the end of it, you’d be on the run-in line for Loom Lobby and start a pop maneuver to the right, roll left and get your angle and speed established to drop inert Mk 76 blue practice bombs (“Smurfs”). Once there you could then “circle the wagons” and orbit over head to practice multiple deliveries for as many bombs as you had, normally 6 total.

Even more cool was in the Tomcat you graduated from the “Iron Sights” of the A-4 Skyhawk (basically stable cross hairs in your HUD) to the much more effective automatic bombing system of the Tomcat. In the A-4, you set the bombsight for your desired dive angle and speed, and then you HAD to fly that angle/speed and drop at the exactly right altitude. And if any of those were off (they always were), you had to make a correction of some sort in the last second. True manual bombing. But now the Tomcat had the AWG-15 panel that the RIO could set to the right type of bomb (aerodynamic characteristics), and it would give you a vertical bomb fall line (that accounted for wind), and symbology that told you exactly where to aim and when to drop. Yes, it was much older than today’s tech, but it was WAY more fun that manual bombing. I think I flew that route at least four times that Det and had a total blast.

And the BEST part of that route occurs northwest of the Salton Sea where it turns south near a very steep sided “knife edge mountain ridge” with the turn part on the very north end of that ridge. And what’s RIGHT at that turn point? This tall Park Ranger fire observation tower! It looks like its 60 feet tall and it’s a basically a small open-sided cabin at the very top of this mountain edge. Once you figure out it’s there, what do you THINK we’re going to do?? We’re going to “say hello to our Park Ranger friend” by wrapping the Tomcat around his tower at 460 knots in a climbing left turn to pass as close aboard him we could get. I don’t know if he was a big fan of that particular maneuver, but we sure enjoyed bringing it to him!! Oh, and right after that you had to look out for hang gliders. Heads up!

And that brings me to an event in my career that contains one of my most profound regrets for a lost opportunity in my entire career. You’ll know it when I get to it. As RAG students often did, we were trying to figure out what chances we could find for another practical joke or piece of high jinx to tweak our instructor’s noses. Turns out that we found a great opportunity, because the Ops Officer of the RAG was taking an instructor pilot on a IUT or “Instructor Under Training” strike hop to get him qualified to teach on the next strike det. Their flight was to fly the 1257 and eventually deliver 6 Smufs to Loom Lobby. “Hey, what if we drove out to the bombing range and mooned the Ops O when they were on the run-in line??” Yes, that’s how our brains worked back then. And yes, it begs a number of questions:

1. Can you actually drive out to the range? Dunno, there’s GOT to be dirt roads or something.

2. Will the rental van actually make it out there? Dunno. It’s a rental van, the fastest car on the road.

3. Isn’t there like some kind of safety observer that might see you? Who?

4. Might there be unexploded ordnance from years ago? Uhhh….maybe?

Fortunately, absolutely none of that crossed our minds and so the next day, off go four of us in search of Loom Lobby. It turns out that there ARE dirt roads out there AND the rental van handled them just FINE, thank you very much. And those roads lead to a pretty cool gate with some signs that said “DO NOT ENTER” and “DANGER” or some shit like that, but the gate wasn’t locked so we figured they were just there to scare us off.

There were some hard packed dirt roads, and we were doing our best navigating based on where the mountains were and where we thought the run-in line and bullseye were. Bear in mind, this is in the days before handheld GPS so we were just guessing. Turns out we guessed pretty good because we happened upon the halfway point of the run-in line where there was a strafing line at a 30° angle with a berm and banner on it at the far end.

We hopped out of the van, expecting that the Ops O would arrive in about 30 minutes so we had some time to look around. The strafing run-in line was cool because you could walk along it and at about the 1,000 foot mark from the berm, there were spent 20mm shells EVERYWHERE, scattered by the thousands as far as you could see. While the Tomcat kept the shells internal, the little A-4 Skyhawk gun would eject the expended shells. I don’t know how often the range was swept, but there must have been a few years’ worth of them.

Further along and closer to the berm, we saw the beginning of another expanse of expended ammo in the form of the blue training round bullets, again thousands of them. As we got to the berm, sure enough the banner was peppered with holes so I guess someone was doing some good work with the gun. We all picked up a few of each as one wouldn’t want to leave without a souvenir. By this time, we figured it was time to go start looking for the inbound Tomcat so we hiked back to the rental van and positioned it about 500 feet to the left of the Loom Lobby run-in line and at about what we thought was the 3-mile point where they’d start their pop-up maneuver, thinking there’s no way they’d miss seeing it.

Once there, we just waited for the inevitable. And sure enough, it showed up! The final turn onto the Loom Lobby run-in line is a 30° right turn just after a mountain range ends and the desert begins and there he was, haulin’ ass at 500 feet and approaching fast. We all scrambled to get our flight suits and drawers down and hunch over to moon them both before they started their pop maneuver. BOOOOSH!!!! They fly right over us but WAY lower than 500 feet so our expectation is that yes they saw us, and yes the let us know. He immediately starts his pop-up maneuver, a thing of beauty to see the Tomcat perform from the desert floor. Rolls left and pulls nose down to acquire the target, pickles and pulls off to enter the “circle the wagons” at 10,000 feet. They wrap up after five more passes and then come back from one more pass along the run-in line at 200 feet, passing over us and the rental car with a lot of smack on the jet (speed). Yes, they saw us.

Our next stop is, naturally, the bullseye to see what that looks like. We drive along the run-in line and then we can see the raised bullseye from a half mile away. We get close and realize there’s lots of twisted metal on the ground from all the Smurfs and we should probably walk the rest of the way. When we finally get in the area of the target, the first thing we notice is that we can see little white smoke trails coming up from the recently released Smurfs. They have a little smoke charge in the nose so you can see where they hit, and these were still slightly smoking. Brilliant idea number 2 of the day is “Let’s gather up Ops O’s bombs and take them back to him”, which we do. Six bent and twisted Smurfs, kinda warm, slightly smoking, acquired and put in the back of the rental van. Oh, and keep the window open, that stuff stinks.

We head back to the base, head to the squadron spaces on the flight line and find that Ops is back and debriefing, so we lay all the bent Smurfs in front of his assigned parking space. We found him after his debrief and he was rather interested in how we actually pulled that off, since it’s a restricted area. We said “the gate wasn’t locked”. Then he asked us if we’d called range schedules to see if anyone else was supposed to be in there when we were on our field trip. “Uhh….no. That probably would have been good.” All in all though, he thought it was pretty funny and gave us high marks at the Club that night.

So where is the profound regret from this story? When we were in the bullseye area of Loom Lobby, there were hundreds and hundreds of mangled Smurfs all over the area. Quite a few in the center pile of the bull, more so in the wider rings, and then a crap ton outside all the rings. My experience was only dropping Smurfs there so it was interesting to see quite a few heavy inert bombs. 500 pounders, 1000 pounders, even some weird looking stock that we couldn’t really place. And then I saw it, sitting majestically on the desert floor. An expended, absolutely pristine, no scratches or dents, set of deployed Snake Eye fins (minus the bomb, naturally; pictured).

Those fins are used to deploy bombs in a low-level environment so when you release the bomb, the fins pop out and rapidly decelerate the weapon to fall well behind you after you’ve escaped the bomb blast or “frag pattern” (fragmentation). They’re iconic in any air to ground pictures or footage from the Vietnam War and would be one of the best souvenirs you could ever have. And here sat a set, still olive drab, no scratches, dings or bends. Can you IMAGINE what a cool coffee table those would make? The Snake Eye fins upright, a 60” piece of round glass resting on top? That would be the coolest thing to grace a man’s home in the history of homes.

Did I think of that then? Nope. Did I think of it in about a week? Yep. Have I thought about it on occasion for 34 years since then? Unequivocally yes. Dammit. Ah, well. Opportunity lost.

@RSE_VB via X

#f 14 tomcat #grumman aviation #fighter interceptor #aircraft #navy #aviation #us navy #carrier aviation #anytime baby!#cold war aircraft

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