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save-the-spiral · 4 years

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PLS PLS LIST THE SWAPS!! TELL ME ABOUT THE SIBLINGS AND ALSO HIFUMI BECAUSE I LOVE HIM (IF YOU WANT!) I will also send more questions in the morning too, excited to see what you’ve been working on!!

OK OK OK !!!!! AHH! So, before assigning talents, I swapped the pools, so for the first game, I use the talents from the second game, and vis versa! For some i listed gender, sexuality, or neurodivergencies, though this isn’t all of them, and I haven’t developed them all to the same level!

This is SO long. I didn’t even bother mentioning things like my plans for the killing games. (I have DR1 planned out in full, but only parts of DR2 and the v3 anime)

THANK YOU FOR THE ASK MY HEART SKIPPED A BEAT IN HAPPINESS WHEN I SAW I HAD NEW ASK NOTIFS!!

LIST:

Trigger Happy Havoc (first game)

Kyoko Kirigiri- Ultimate Luckster- Mastermind (: Sometimes lesbians can be evil okay! was trained as a detective like everyone in her family and didn’t get the ultimate :) she’s definitely not mad about that :) her luck cycle depends on how far she plans things ahead. her good luck is when she’s spontaneous! She hates when ‘normal’ people are accepted by ultimates.

Makoto Naegi- Photographer (Mostly wildlife and nature photography, with Sayaka helping him for some animal photography (: trans and bi <3 One of sayaka’s birds nests in his hair like all the time)

Kiyotaka Ishimaru- Ultimate Swordsman (AUTISTIC ICON, has trained in kendo since he was a kid, then was essentially given away to the Fujisaki clan by his very stressed dad. Semiverbal, rarely speaks.)

Chihiro Fujisaki- Ultimate Yakuza (Taka is her bodyguard! His family is in debt to hers, the Fujisaki clan is the most powerful in Japan. trans icon, of course, dates Sayaka! Very direct, though she’s far more delicate and polite when talking to taka, her best friend)

Sakura Oogami- Ultimate Nurse (Works as an EMT- her clan still is in martial arts, so she’s still very buff, she assists in injuries at the family dojo. Autistic Icon)

Asahina Aoi- Ultimate Gamer (ULTIMATE ADHD. streams and has a ton of fun, will ramble while breaking records, demigirl who loves her girlfriend sakura :)

Mukuro Ikusaba- Ultimate Chef (Works best with ‘cheap’ food, and making them taste good. a byproduct of growing up on the streets with junko, and junko being bored of the same old food they dug out of the trash. now works closely with junko for her teams’ nutritional needs! autistic and sapphic.)

Junko Enoshima- Ultimate Team Manager (there are SO many sports she can never get bored, and the professional scene is always changing! prefers coaching womens’ teams, because being an ultimate brings them more publicity and usually higher pay :)

Mondo Oowada- Ultimate Prince (OH MY BOY. trans adhd icon. now the crown prince of Novoselic, with a reagent in his place until he comes of age. His service dog Chuck is a maltese and an absolute sweetheart. Chihiro takes him under her wing to teach leadership. also dates taka later OF COURSE, though they’re poly and I may add more ppl to their relationship later.)

Celestia Ludenburg- Ultimate Musician (specializes in violin, most strings, though she can play any instrument. grew up poor, dedicated herself to an instrument and persona to cope)

Byakuya Togami- Ultimate Musician (Yep. two musicians. two catty trans gay icons about to throw down. they HATE each other and grew up as rivals. specialize in classical, they literally tore a professional orchestra full of grown adults apart trying to make them side with who was the best musician. they’re so good that they’re matched, and Hope’s Peak accepts them as one student and combined ultimate. they room together. they fight. Literally if one of them gets expelled, the other does too, so they’re STUCK. eventually they become literally inseparable and insufferable together like the WORST siblings. I love them.)

Sayaka Maizono- Breeder (animal handler) (Specializes in birds!!!!!! has songbirds on her shoulders all the time. will give unsettling animal facts without realizing they’re unsettling. sends her songbirds to serenade chihiro when they start dating <3)

Yasuhiro Hagakure- Gymnast (you see this tall goof who acts like an older brother to everyone and wonder HOW he’s a gymnast. he’s completely different in competitions, though still lighthearted. becomes a big brother figure to mukuro and junko especially <3 also trans bc i say so.)

Leon Kuwata- Traditional Dancer (he just. kinda hates it. it takes SO much work and effort but he takes to it naturally. his cousin kanon is NOT like in canon, instead she’s helpful. he’d literally rather be doing anything else. doesn’t know how to do anything like... basic either. can’t cook. cant do his own laundry. everything was dedicated to traditional japanese dancing before he attended HPA.)

Toko Fukawa- Engineer (writes schematics and is very good at it. gets VERY upset when her plans go wrong. her notes are orderly and perfect. host for their system!)

Syo- Mechanic (a factive of genocider syo, NOT an actual killer. she’s a protector mainly, and also is more adept at hands on skills when it comes to fixing things, her hands are less shaky. Her notes are a disaster and she does it to spite Toko.)

Hifumi Yamada- (???) (reserve course) Protagonist! My BOY. HIFUMI IS GOOD OKAY. He’s autistic and loves anime and gaming! he’s not particularly ultimate-leveled at them, or anything else! Attending Hope’s Peak as a reserve course student! At one point he joins the student council as a reserve course representative even if he’s only a freshman :) He’s also a moderator in Hina’s livestream chat, under the username of JusticeHammer, fastest ban hammer this side of the internet. He's internet friends with hina and sakura, and doesn’t realize Oh We Go To the same SCHOOL until he bumps into them. and realizes hina doesnt know what he looks like. but sakura does. its hilarious. he’s aroace, and during the year they’re locked in HPA, is in a queer platonic partnership with Hina and Sakura, while they’re dating each other. it’s great.)

Goodbye Despair! (second game)

Peko Pekoyama- Lucky student (ohohoh. her luck relies on her conviction. if she has doubts her bad luck strikes HARD. trans!, was taken in by Fuyuhiko’s family when she was a baby, grew up as just another kid in the family. They all expected Fuyu to go off to HPA on his own and then BOOM acceptance letter)

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu- Programmer (He. gets so angry while coding. He has an array of rubber ducks to talk to and work through his coding issues with. trans of course. Very protective of Peko when people say she doesn’t have a ‘real’ ultimate. ADHD and Autistic)

Sonia Nevermind- Writer (Literary Girl) (Her family immigrated to Japan when she was young! She writes a lot of serial killer novels, murder mysteries and horror and all that! Trans and bi :)

Gundham Tanaka- Detective (YEAH my guy is a detective. still talks Like That. Trans and bi and he and Sonia were kinda-dating (t4t autistic power couple in the making) when things started happening. He spends some time with his cool older sister who he looks up to a LOT. He and Sonia talk through things together a lot, they both have those red string walls, one for murder cases, another for a fictional plot lmao.)

Mahiru Koizumi- Moral Compass (my GIRL. autistic. Her morals rely a lot on people taking responsibility and being reliable, and she ends up having to work through some biases she didn’t realize she had when she arrived at HPA. Is still protective of Hiyoko, though that protectiveness is spread a bit thinner to extend to the rest of the class.)

Hiyoko Saionji- Clairvoyant!!! (HI YES I COULD TALK ABOUT HER FOR DAYS. Has actual visions in dreams and when she suddenly faints, but doesn’t really realize they’re uhh Real Visions for a WHILE. uses her status as an ultimate clairvoyant to trick and bully kids when in school for a LONG time, though her homelife wasn’t great with her grandmother trying to find ways to make her visions more consistent. SHES ALSO 12 WHEN SHE JOINS THE 77TH CLASS. she’s just so advanced in academics and her ultimate is so interesting hope’s peak cant HELP but scout her early. she has SO many issues guys no one appreciates hiyoko enough, autistic gifted kid hiyoko my beloved.)

Akane Owari- Gambler (started gambling to help out her family and Got Good at it. is very very conscious of money and food like all the time. Runs the hope’s peak betting pools once she arrives. these ultimates bet on a lot of things. she ALWAYS wins. until she doesnt!!!)

Mikan Tsumiki- Martial Artist (ohhhh Mikan. Still anxious and clumsy (though not like THAT in canon) and literally no one looks at her and thinks Oh The ULTIMATE martial artist?? it isn’t until you see her in the ring that you understand. She started learning self defense as a kid because her (bad) parents essentially said she had to rely on and protect herself and no one else would help.)

Kazuichi Souda- Pop Idol (OH TRANS ICON? he’s nervous and paranoid about Everything still, though now it’s like. oh the entire world is always watching my every move this is Okay (: has the brightest neon album eras. he literally keeps up a like. weird chad persona when interacting with people because he’s masking how hard he’s constantly just internally screaming.)

Nagito Komaeda- Soldier (AHAHAH my mans got issues problems disorder he’s a messssss, this trans guy, this absolute gay. this boy leveled a city of thousands of people with his own hands and some bombs. Still has medical issues, but most of his like. treatments and medicine is hold hostage as long as he stays in line. believes the ends justify the means and anyone who dies to him is obviously weak, because look at him! he’s weak, but that doesn’t matter because he doesn’t have to be the strongest, he just has to be stronger than the weakest scum.)

Chiaki Nanami- Heir (OOF. Agender, uses any pronouns. Doesn’t really. enjoy being the heir. grew up with Byakuya in the same circles. she treats the economy and stock market and stuff like games. enjoys gaming but isn’t good at them. collects so many things. has halls full of collections. Her parents stopped controlling her once she was able to prove she had more money than them and could literally bankrupt them if she wanted.)

Hajime Hinata- Baseball Star (Chiaki’s best friend, his family was upper middle class until he hit it BIG as a baseball star. wants to do BIG things and wants to attend hope’s peak more than anything!! Doesn’t really think of baseball as his THING, just a means to an end! trans :)

Teruteru Hanamura- Biker Gang Leader (started with shaking down some jerks who didn’t pay their food and drink tabs at his mama’s restaurant. now he RUNS their tiny town. His siblings are essentially gang mascots, he works hard to keep them out of trouble (while bringing them to like. meetings where he ends up beating a dude almost to death. its fine). most of what he does it to get more money to keep the restaurant afloat and care for his mama with her health conditions.)

Nekomaru Nidai- Fashionista (the drama. the CHAOS. most people are like ohhh we can never understand this artistic genius when he’s literally just. vibing and has ADHD and a love for coffee. Works a lot on accessible clothing lines for disabled people! Also he and Kazuichi work together sometimes, Nekomaru is good at calming Kaz down and seeing like, the root of whatever problem and making it better. ALSO A TRANS ICON and just flaunts it.)

Imposter- In the hope’s peak days they are impersonating Ryota Mitarai, as a part of the 77th class. In the Killing Game they impersonate Mondo Oowada as the Ultimate Prince. They’re doin’ their best.

Ibuki Mioda- (???) (Izuru Kamakura) Protagonist! Gundham Tanaka’s older sister (though they’re in the same school year). Nonbinary and using just. an array of pronouns alongside she/her, and jokingly fights with gundham for neopronouns like MOM said it’s MY TURN on the rawrself pronouns. She attends the reserve course to stay at her brother’s side. She dresses loudly and acts even louder because !!! she wants to stand out!! in the middle of this drab reserve course hell!! but when things go down, she wants to be someone, to be worthy of being her amazing brother’s big sister. so she accepts some offers.

NON-KILLING GAME:

Ryota Mitarai- Ultimate Analyst (stays in his room. He’s terrified of the outside world but fascinated by it. watches hope’s peak academy through security feeds, picking up on little details. he just wants to understand things but never looks at the big picture.)

Chisa Yukizome- Ultimate Boxer (Homeroom teacher!! She’s working really hard and believes in everyone! Some are intimidated by talent, but she’s never hurt anyone outside of the ring! Dating Kyosuke)

Juzo Sakakura- Ultimate Student Council President (Has anger issues, though his work at reigning them in assisted in becoming an Ultimate. Was responsible for security and the Hope’s Peak student council. Dating Kyosuke)

Kyosuke Munakata- Ultimate Housekeeper (Meticulous, works himself to the BONE even if he’s good enough to not have to do that. Is working on establishing another Hope’s Peak! Dating Chisa and Jozu!!!)

Seiko Kimura- Ultimate Blacksmith (GIVE MY GIRL KNIVES!! She’s an anxious gal, always wearing a facemask that filters the air in her forge because she has some respiratory problems. she prefers making more decorative pieces like an artist, but sometimes can create utilitarian pieces or tools to fit specific needs. Still a doormat)

Ruruka Ando- Ultimate Pharmacist (She constantly asks Seiko for new tools for her developments in medicine, saying its all for the advancement of humanity, so Seiko denying any request is SELFISH, though she never thinks to make anything for seiko’s health issues. Dating Izayoi. Specializes in medicine for mental health. Not Doing Great :)

Sonosuke Izayoi- Ultimate Confectioner (He loves sweets. LOVES them. Creates things that look plain, ordinary. but taste so GOOD you CRY and maybe ascend for a little bit. sometimes Ando makes cool new drugs to put in the sweets, who knows! It’s a mystery! He always has like. a huge refrigerated case of fresh cakes, and constantly has a lollipop in his own specialty recipe in his mouth.)

#ask #former-champion #danganronpa #danganronpa trigger happy havoc #super danganronpa 2 #I could tag every character but consider this: ITS 3 AM IT TOOK ME OVER AN HOUR TO WRITE THIS #not wizzy #dangan ronpa

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spaceskam · 5 years

Text

I’m Not Afraid of Anything

Summary: 6 times Alex is strong and 1 time Michael has to be strong for him

warnings: violence, anxiety, homophobic language

ao3

.1.

Michael couldn’t help but smile as Alex moaned into his mouth.

He wasn’t used to this just yet, it still felt surreal. One day Alex was asking him to tutor him in biology, the next he was being kissed senseless against the wall in the shed behind his house. He’d never even kissed a human before Alex. Now he couldn’t get enough.

“What time did you tell your mom you’d be home?” Alex asked softly, his nose bumping Michael’s before he kissed his cheek and moved to his jaw.

“Um,” Michael whispered, his eyes fluttering closed to the feeling of Alex’s lips on his skin, “F-five, I think. Could probably, uh, um, push it to five-thirty.”

“Mmm, good,” Alex said, a lazy smirk on his face as he flipped them over so Michael was on top. Heat rose to his cheeks. Alex usually took the lead, usually stayed on top. But, when Alex’s hands pressed against his ass and pulled his hips impossibly close, he got the memo.

It was so weird. His entire life he’d been told to be careful with humans. When the Antarians had fled their wartorn planet in the 40s, they’d landed on Earth to a different kind of chaos. Michael didn’t know too much about how it got to a safe-ish integration, but he’d seen enough 50s and 60s propaganda films on ‘How to Treat Our Antar Friends’. It was enough to know it wasn’t an entirely positive transition.

While there was no longer forced segregation, it still seemed to happen on its own. Michael’s neighborhood didn’t have a single human‒Alex’s didn’t have a single Antarian. Workplaces were hell. Antarians got paid less, they got passed on promotions, they had to fight their way to the top. Michael’s mother, as high as her position was being deputy city manager, had warned him of that. In the schools, most classes conveniently didn’t mix if they didn’t have to and most of the time they didn’t even communicate with their species. Well, unless it was to be rude. Michael understood that better than anyone.

It was virtually impossible to keep what species you were a secret. It was displayed on every legal document, including your license. Antarian children in elementary and middle school had “special time” where they would be taken for two hours a day and given what could only be described as group therapy. No matter how their powers manifested, no matter if they had never been violent a day in their life, they were still given group lectures about why they shouldn’t hurt people and how they should treat humans. Once they were in high school, that transformed into a required four years of Ability Training instead of normal electives in high school.

Michael was lucky. His mother started training him the minute his powers started to manifest as a baby. After she bitched at the school for unfair treatment, he was able to test out after freshman year, leaving him able to take actual electives like music.

Which is how he met Alex.

“Alex?” Michael whispered, melting into the feather-light kisses fluttering across his jaw and his neck and his shoulder. Alex’s hand mindlessly slipped between them and unbuttoned Michael’s jeans.

“Yeah, baby?” Alex asked, his hand dipping into Michael’s boxers. It may or may not have completely destroyed his train of thought, his head bowing against Alex’s collarbone.

Eventually, he got his thoughts back, though it took much more effort than he wanted to admit.

“Are you sure you don’t mind that I’m an alien?” he breathed out and Alex froze beneath him. He very quickly pulled his head back to see Alex staring at him with nothing short of amusement.

“Michael.” His tone was so sweet and so soft that Michael almost missed how condescending it was. “My hand literally down your pants right now. Do you think it would be there if I had a problem?”

Michael felt his cheeks flush and he shifted a little bit which was genuinely a horrible idea due to the fact that Alex’s hand was still wrapped around him.

“I just don’t want you to get trouble,” he whispered. While it wasn’t illegal for aliens and humans to be together, it was relatively frowned upon and it also wasn’t exactly fun to be openly queer either. They’d have double targets on their backs. Alex didn’t deserve that.

“God, you’re gorgeous,” Alex said, completely ignoring his words as he went to kiss his neck. Michael reluctantly pulled away.

“But what about your dad?” Michael asked. He knew Alex’s dad was the worst. He was an outspoken advocate for Antarians not being allowed in the same school as humans or even on TV. He didn’t want his children to be exposed to them. Yet, Alex didn’t seem to share that sentiment.

Alex pulled away, looking at him with those penetrating eyes that made his stomach swoop and tie in a million knots. They were eyes that could kill, but eyes that made him feel more welcome and adored than anything else in the world.

“You’re worth the risk,” Alex said like it was easy. Michael let out a slow breath of air, taking in his words. His sweet, adoring words. You’re worth the risk.

Michael tried to move in for a kiss, but Alex’s hand grabbed his jaw and stopped him.

“Am I?” Alex demanded, his voice deep and hushed and making Michael’s head spin. The grip on his jaw got a little gentler, his calloused thumb rubbing across his cheek.

“Yes.”

He couldn’t say no if he wanted to.

.2.

“Is there a reason you’re hitting someone who is too nice to hit back?”

Michael had never been more thankful to see Alex than he was at that moment. Wyatt Long had him pinned to the locker, his forearm wedged beneath his chin. His lip was already split after the rude welcoming of a fist to the face the moment he, Max, and Isobel went their separate ways.

“What? And you are?” Wyatt asked, pulling away and letting Michael crumple to the ground. He watched up with a new kind of fear as Wyatt neared Alex. Though this happened relatively regularly and Alex had swooped in to save not only him but a handful of other Antarians from human assholes, it always made Michael nervous. He knew Alex didn’t care, but he had enough scars and bruises that doused his skin. He didn’t like seeing more.

“Oh, c’mon, you know I am. How many times do I have to send you to the nurse before you learn your lesson? It’s honestly pretty sad,” Alex said, smirking as his shoulders squared. Michael wanted to get to his feet, to stand up for himself, but he didn’t have it in him. Alex was brave and he wasn’t. The end.

“Are you gay or somethin’?” Wyatt accused. Alex licked his bottom lip as he took a step closer.

“Why, you interested?”

Michael watched in horror as Wyatt shoved Alex away and Alex responded by decking him in the face. He scrambled to his feet and out of the way just in time for Alex to slam Wyatt into the lockers, a carbon copy of how Wyatt had just had him.

“Learn your fuckin’ place, Long,” Alex said in a sweet tone, shaking his head before he offered one last push and stepped away. Wyatt kept glaring but never tried anything as Alex picked up Michael’s bag off the ground and led the way.

“Alex, he could’ve hurt you,” Michael grumbled as he followed him to the music room. A few people gave them glances, but none stayed too long. The moment Alex glared their way, they’d look away. Michael had a lot of feelings about that.

“I’d like to see him try. I grew up with three brothers who regularly beat the shit out of me. I’m not gonna stop ‘til I win, especially when it’s that asshole. You should’ve heard what he said to Maria the other day. Like, he’s, like, a next-level racist and homophobe and xenophobe. Let me hit him a couple of times,” Alex insisted, closing the door to the music room after him.

“I just… I don’t want you doing that stuff because of me,” Michael said, crossing his arms over his chest. Alex smiled, nearing him and gently touching the cut on Michael’s lip.

“I know you don’t like it, but I don’t like seeing you hurt. I know you, I know you just take what he gives. And that’s so fucking strong of you to do, it’s ballsy, but… he deserves to get hit. You don’t,” Alex explained, moving to give him a kiss that stung a little but still felt nice. Alex’s kisses were always nice. “But, hey, look, if you want me to stop, then I will. Seriously. As much as I hate it, I will.”

“No, you don’t have to completely stop helping me. Just… just don’t instigate him more, please?” Michael asked, letting his hands rest against Alex’s chest. They’d be alone in the room for at least 5 more minutes, he could touch for just a second.

“Done,” Alex agreed, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek before pulling him into a hug. Michael melted into his grasp. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“You’re telekinetic. I’ve seen you in action. You could literally crush him. Why don’t you do anything?” Alex asked, twirling a curl around his finger. Michael breathed slowly, hugging him a little tighter.

“And give them a reason to hate me even more? No thanks,” he grumbled. Alex laughed and squeezed him.

In some ways, Alex felt a little like his idol. He was so strong and didn’t care about what anyone said. He didn’t have many friends, but Michael knew all the Antarians in the school liked him. He took everything in stride. He was amazing. He was a hero.

And somehow he wanted Michael.

.3.

“What’s wrong with you?” Isobel asked, swatting Michael’s hand away from his mouth so he’d stop chewing on his nails. He barely even looked at her.

Instead, his eyes were trained on Alex’s locker which had the words ‘alien fag’ written across it in bright red paint.

Alex hadn’t gotten to school yet, but Michael was dreading it. He couldn’t predict how he would react to it. Maybe he would laugh or maybe he’d be pissed. It was just something that a little too close to home. No one was supposed to know about them, but this…

“Oh, yeah, his locker. It’s so stupid how people think being nice is some big crime,” she scoffed, shaking her head. Michael curled into himself even more.

“But… but what if‒” Michael cut himself off, groaning as his head tilted back against the lockers. Isobel slammed hers closed, turning to him with a smirk.

“Why? You think that’s about you?” she laughed. Michael felt his cheeks flush and he was instantly reminded of the night before when Alex had snuck in through his window after his parents had gone to sleep. It was definitely about him even if they didn’t know it was about him. He didn’t know how he was supposed to continue keeping it a secret when everyone would be giving him glances. “No offense, Michael, but Alex wouldn’t go after someone like you. He’s, like, a badass. He would only go after badasses and, I love you, but you’re a baby.”

“Yeah, no, you’re right. Definitely. He-he definitely would never, ever hook up with me. Ever. Absolutely. And, and I would never even want to. I mean, he’s so, like, not my type?” Michael fumbled out, his cheeks burning hotter with each word. Isobel’s eyebrows pulled together, but then her lips parted slowly as her eyes widened.

”No,” she gasped, swatting at his arm all over again, “Oh my God! Michael!”

“He’s here,” Michael said once he spotted Alex, hoping to drop the conversation. Maybe she’d forget it. He hoped so.

Alex walked down the hall with Liz and Maria, the trio laughing until they weren’t. It died down when the locker came into view. Michael tried his best to become one with the lockers when Alex took a step closer, touching the paint. He couldn’t see his face and he was slightly more than terrified to see it. Especially when his friends looked at each other with nervous eyes.

“Michael, come on, what the fuck have you been hiding?” Isobel urged, pulling on his sleeve like a toddler. His eyes were on Alex.

Alex who opened the locker and got his books like it wasn’t a big deal.

“Alex, are you okay?” Maria asked him, reaching out to touch his arm. He turned around with an amused smile on his face.

“I’m fine. They have no creativity, it’s honestly sad,” he said simply, linking arms with them and proudly making his way down the hall. He gave Michael a wink when he passed. Jesus Christ.

“Michael,” Isobel whined.

“I-I gotta go to class,” he said, slipping away from her. He couldn’t understand why Alex took it that easy. Shouldn’t he have been insulted? Or at least scared? What would happen if someone found out about them because of this? He seemed to not be taking it seriously.

Michael pulled out his phone and quickly sent a text his way.

M: are you actually okay? What if someone finds out?

A: I'm fine dont worry no ones gonna know. See you after school? ;) xx

.4.

Michael knew Alex well. They spent most of their time together and Michael had learned just how ballsy he could be. Alex was bold and unapologetically himself. He existed somewhere between “I don’t care what you think of me” and “well if you’re going to talk, I might as well give you something to talk about”. He was an instigator at his core. So Michael really shouldn’t have been surprised when, after a weekend of barely hearing from him, Alex strolled into school sporting t-shirt with alien fag written across it in the colors of the rainbow.

“Holy shit,” Isobel gasped and Michael instantly used her as a shield as the halls parted like the Red Sea to make way for Alex Manes. For the first time since Alex approached him the first time, Michael was scared of him.

Alex didn’t deserve the ostracization that came with being with him, but Michael didn’t deserve to be forced into it either. It was one thing if it was a mutual decision or if it was an accident. This was neither. This was Alex parading proudly what people already suspected when people knew how many times he’d come to Michael’s rescue. This was too close.

Panic built in his chest.

“Izzy, Izzy, get me out of here,” he begged, squeezing her shoulder desperately. She barely had to give him a second glance before she gripped his hand and swept him away.

It seemed to get harder and harder to breathe, even when they exited the building and fast-walked to make it to the back of the gym before he got too bad. The moment they made it there, he sat on the ground and put his hands on his head. Isobel sat in front of him, holding his knees as they breathed in and out in time together.

“I take it he did not consult you before doing that?” she asked quietly once he regulated his breathing again. Michael shook his head.

“No. I don’t know why he does stuff like that. I-I get that he doesn’t care and that’s cool and all, I like that about him, but that… that affects me. I’m not ready to tell anyone yet,” he murmured, pulling his knees close.

“So you admit that you’re banging Alex Manes?” Isobel teased. Michael glared her way. “Sorry, sorry. Maybe you should talk to him about it.”

“And say what? ‘Hey, you’re really confident and, while that makes me want to fuck you, when you’re overconfident about me, it makes me want to die in a hole’?” Michael scoffed, but from her lack of reaction, she expected him to say just that. “I can’t say that!”

“Why not? It’s honest.”

“Honesty is just gonna get me dumped,” he grumbled. Isobel gave him a sad little smile, squeezing his knee gently.

They were only able to get a few extra seconds of silence before Alex rounded the corner, smiling easily when he caught Michael’s eyes. He spared Isobel a hesitant look before nearing them with that confident swagger that was making Michael feel nauseous.

“There you are,” he grinned, sitting beside him. Michael closed his eyes and bowed his head. “Everything okay?”

“I’m gonna leave you two to talk,” Isobel said, patting his leg and kissing the top of his head before she stood and left. He stupidly wished she hadn’t.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Alex asked softly once Isobel was gone, wrapping his arm around Michael’s shoulders. What was he supposed to say? He wasn’t Alex, he wasn’t confident. How was he supposed to tell him that he wanted him to stop being so much of himself? “You… you don’t like the shirt, right? I’m sorry, I’ll change.”

How did he say that’s not all?

“Okay, thank you,” Michael whispered instead, still not lifting his head.

Alex waited a minute before grabbing his chin and forcing him to look at him. It made it that much harder. Alex was beautiful and had a demanding presence. How was he supposed to hurt his feelings when he looked like that?

“Alright, tell me what’s wrong.”

“Nothing.”

“Oh, so we’re lying now? I thought we were all about honesty,” Alex scoffed, narrowing his eyes at him. Michael gulped, familiar tears welling up in his eyes. He was such a baby. Alex was so cool and he was… “Michael, talk to me, seriously.”

“I don’t like when you do stuff like that without talking to me. I-It’s gonna make people start finding out about us and I’m not ready for that. I’m not ready for people to know. At least not people who are going to make it their goal to hate me more. You-you scare me sometimes, when you do stuff like that. I like when you’re confident. I just… don’t like it when it puts me in a bad situation,” Michael grumbled, looking everywhere except for his face. Alex’s grip loosened before it dropped.

Michael hesitantly looked at him to see him looking almost confused. Go figure the one time he actually admits when something bothers him, it goes bad. It’ll always go bad, that’s how life works. Everything goes bad.

“I’m sorry I made you feel like that,” Alex said softly, mirroring Michael’s position against the wall. Again, his breathing started to pick up and his bottom lip quivered involuntarily.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you, I just-”

“No, no, hey, I’m sorry. I’ll talk to you more before I do shit. That’s what a relationship is, right? Talking it out, talking before we do things. And I know that we aren’t public and we don’t plan to be widely open until, like, way later, so I shouldn’t have done this. It just pisses me off when people think it’s wrong to be anything other than what they are. I mean, I love you, Michael. You’re not an insult. I wanted to throw it in their face,” Alex explained.

Michael sniffled, “You love me?” Alex rolled his eyes, but gave a sweet smile.

“You’re getting off-topic. We’re gonna talk more, right?”

“Right,” Michael agreed, nodding and feeling a little bit lighter than he had when the day started. The two stared at each other for a moment before meeting halfway in a hug.

Alex gave great hugs and it was easy to melt into it. He considered asking to skip class for the day, but decided it against it. His mom would never let him live that down if she found out he skipped. So, instead, Michael hugged him tighter and then let him go so he could take his shirt off and replace it with the jacket tucked in his bag.

“I love you too, by the way,” Michael said as they stood up. Alex grinned and leaned in for a kiss.

“I’m glad.”

.5.

“Stop it.”

“Stop what?”

Michael looked over to Alex’s innocent little smile. He had his feet in Michael’s lap which usually wouldn’t be a problem, but he was doing a lot more than just innocently using him as a footrest.

“I have a biology test tomorrow and you are distracting me,” Michael said, watching Alex furrow his eyebrows in confusion even as he pressed his foot harder between Michael’s thighs. He worked hard to keep silent, dropping his book to move his hands to Alex’s foot. “Also, my parents are downstairs.”

“Sounds like a whole flight of stairs between them and us,” Alex said, moving his foot to pull the chair towards his place on the bed.

“Alex,” he breathed slowly, finding it harder and harder to resist. Why did he have to be so hot? “Seriously, I have a test. And so do you. We… you came over to study.” Michael tried, he really did, but the closer Alex came, the more his excuses seemed shitty in comparison to him.

“I mean,” Alex breathed, leaning forward and placing a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth, “I can leave. I just wanted to spend some… special time with my boyfriend.”

“Alex,” Michael whined, helplessly gravitating from the chair and to the bed. Alex wasted no time, pulling him into the little twin-sized bed and moving him so he was trapped between the wall and Alex’s body. He couldn’t say he could complain.

Alex’s kisses had quickly become some of Michael’s favorites. He’d had a few kisses here and there, one of them being with Isobel which was actually revolting, but he had never had anything like Alex. All of his were deep and slow and used tongue which was fun. Alex was the first person he’d ever really wanted to touch and be touched by‒and it always felt like a blessing when it actually happened. He couldn’t think of a nicer, gentler, or prettier person to lose his virginity to.

“Did you lock the door?” Alex whispered, his leg hooking over Michael’s hip and his fingers sliding lower.

“Um, no,” Michael breathed, his whole body heating up as he chose to be confident for once and slid his hand down Alex’s jeans first. He immediately checked to make sure it was okay and saw Alex smirking, so he grabbed him.

“You should probably lock the door if you’re gonna do that, baby,” he said hotly, a shaky breath following immediately after. He was making a whole lot of eye contact and it was making Michael’s head spin.

“You want me to get up?”

“I was thinking my telekinetic boyfriend could, uh, lock the door with his mind,” Alex suggested. Michael smiled, giving him a slow kiss as he tilted his head to secure the lock.

Except it didn’t budge.

He tried it a couple more times and when it still seemed to be fighting him, he pulled away from Alex to look over at it. He used the hand that wasn’t in Alex’s jeans to give it a little more concentration to flip the lock and it did. But immediately unlocked again.

“What the‒”

“Here’s your clean clothes, Michael, and I told you to keep the door unlocked.”

Michael nearly pushed Alex off the bed when his mother, Mara, let herself into the room. She stood in the doorway, a far too motherly look on her face and her hand firmly on her hip. Michael sat up, trying to make himself look presentable while Alex mainly focused on catching his breath even though he was clearly about two seconds away from laughing. Michael thought about actually pushing him off the bed this time.

“Looks like a lot of studying going on here,” she said, gesturing between the two of them before the books that were on the floor floated neatly to his dresser.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Guerin,” Alex said, lifting himself off the bed and walking over to her with his hand outstretched. Michael’s head hit the wall and he considered jumping out the window. “I’m Alex, Alex Manes.”

Mara blinked a few times before sharply turning her gaze to Michael. “Manes? As in Jesse Manes?” Michael sunk back to the bed with a groan.

“Uh, yes, ma’am.”

“And you’re dating my son? An Antarian?”

“Mom!” Michael begged, looking to her in desperation. Still, Alex was all smiles.

“Yes, ma’am. But, you know, I can assure you I don’t exactly subscribe to my father’s politics. Not even just with the ‘no alien’ rule, but, you know, the ‘no queer’ rule. He’s actually kind of the worst, so,” he laughed, turning his stupidly beautiful smile on Michael.

“Well, Alex, would you like to stay for dinner? That is, if my son can understand what an unlocked door means,” Mara said, giving him a tight smile. Alex had the audacity to laugh.

“I would love to stay for dinner, thank you. And we’ll even leave the door open instead, if you’d like,” he said and it took a lot not to pelt him with pillows. She smiled.

“I like you. I like this one, Michael,” Mara said, opening the door wide before walking out and leaving the boys alone. Michael immediately shoved his face into the pillow, groaning loudly. Not only did she ruin a really great moment, but Alex was just way too okay with it.

“Why are you freaking out? It’s not like we were naked. And I think we covered up what was happening pretty elegantly,” Alex teased, not-so-sweetly swatting him on the stomach. Michael moved the pillow to glare at him. “What?”

“Remember when I said sometimes your ballsy-ness is annoying? This is one of those times,” Michael grumbled, letting Alex laugh and pull his head into his lap.

“Michael, baby, have you looked at me?” Alex asked and he nodded slowly, “Your mother just came in on you not only making out with a guy, but one who has piercings and makeup and a lot of black. On top of the fact that I’m human. And I’m my father’s son. So it was either that or let your mother hate me for the rest of our relationship.”

“Why do you have to be right all the damn time?”

.6.

“Tell your mom thanks for lunch because holy shit.”

Michael watched with a smile as Alex shoveled his mother’s leftovers into his mouth as they sat behind the gym. He was a little too aware of Alex’s food situation. His father would get so much and it was first come first serve with five grown-ass men in the house. He’d gotten into a habit of food hoarding, but even then, sometimes he didn’t get enough. Ever since dinner where Michael had to begrudgingly explain to his parents that he was bisexual, he’d been asking his mother to make lunch for two.

“She will probably say you’re welcome.”

After the whole coming out scene, they told him that he didn’t have to, that they put it together which made it even more embarrassing. He was endlessly reassured that no one cared about that, but that they did care about his safety. Michael’s parents gave them both a long talk about being careful because they were dealing with a couple of different layers of stupidity. It was over an hour of discussing how they planned to handle it if people found out and, if the time came, how they planned to make it public. There was even a lot of reassuring that they cared about not only Michael’s safety but Alex’s as well. It was long and weird, but oddly cathartic and while Michael came out of it feeling a little flustered, Alex was very visibly in one of the best moods he’d ever seen. He had at least 30 texts of Alex gushing over how much he loved his parents. He came over nearly every day now.

“Did I tell you I got an interview?” Alex said, smiling even with a mouthful of food. “Get this, it’s at the UFO Emporium.” Michael snorted.

“Alex, that place is such bullshit. They’ve tried to get it shut down like seven times,” he chuckled. The place opened the year after the crash and started out as a place for humans to learn about Antar. However, it really wasn’t accurate and it became the subject of controversy from the moment Antarians started becoming a permanent fixture on Earth. That being said, it still hadn’t closed. Michael went there with Isobel and Max a few times purely for the laughs. “Why do you want to work there?”

“It’ll get my dad off my dick about getting a job. Might as well get a job at a place that literally has, like, no customers,” Alex shrugged, wiggling his eyebrows at Michael, “You can hang out all the time.”

“Alex!”

Both boys whipped their heads around to see Liz Ortecho headed their way with a smile. Michael could feel the panic in him rising at the sight of her. He knew she was nice and that Max had the world’s biggest crush on her, but he didn’t know what she knew about him and Alex. He still wasn’t ready for everyone in the world to know, but it would be fair for one of Alex’s friends to know since Isobel knew. It was a mess. He was a mess.

“Hey, Liz,” Alex said. She plopped down in front of them in a weirdly graceful way. Michael remembered Max mentioning she was a dancer. “You stalking me or something?”

She rolled her eyes dramatically. “No, but Maria isn’t here today and I didn’t want to eat lunch alone and I know you come back here to eat for some reason, so I came to find you,” Liz paused, eyeing Michael with intrigue, “Well, now I know the reason, but can I still stay?”

Alex turned to Michael and asked him silently if she could as if Michael could ever be rude enough to say no. Even if he wanted to say no, he wouldn’t have been able to.

“I don’t mind,” Michael said. She grinned so bright that it became exceptionally clear why Max was so infatuated with her.

“Yay! Hi, I’m Liz,” she introduced, holding her hand out to him. Michael hesitantly shook it. Alex snorted.

“Michael.”

“I know, Alex talks about you,” she said. Michael felt his face flush and turned to Alex who didn’t look embarrassed at all. Did he ever get embarrassed? Did he ever get scared?

“Nothing to worry about,” Alex chuckled, reaching out to wipe a crumb off the corner of Michael’s lips. Michael’s eyes widened. “Relax.”

When Michael looked back towards Liz, she was still smiling as she ate her food. She didn’t seem to think any of this was weird, but she didn’t seem to be curious either. She took it as if this was just a thing that happened.

“Max talks about you too,” Michael said softly. Her eyebrows raised at that and her cheeks got a little red.

Okay, maybe she wasn’t anything to be scared of.

.+1.

“I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.”

Michael’s giggle rippled through the air as Alex smothered him in kisses. While Alex usually came over to his house now, it was basically impossible to do anything other than the most G-rated kisses because of his mother always being around. They wanted something more than that and their options had been either driving out to the desert or coming to the shed. They’d chosen the shed because they didn’t want to suffer the 30-minute drive.

Alex let his hand slide down the front of Michael’s bare chest, breathing heavily with the biggest smile against Michael’s neck. It was heavenly. Even when he pulled away and they had to get dressed so Michael wouldn’t miss curfew, they couldn’t stop smiling. They hadn’t properly hooked up in a few weeks and, fuck, it felt good to just feel Alex again. He was so ready for a lifetime of that.

Or maybe that wouldn’t happen.

The door flew open right after Michael buttoned up his jeans. He was still standing shirtless as Jesse Manes stood in the doorway. When he looked at Alex, he was frozen. There was fear in his eyes and all over his face. It was something Michael had never seen before and, honestly, it was the most terrifying thing in the world. Alex was always strong and calm. Alex wasn’t ever scared.

Except Alex was scared now and Michael didn’t know how to help him.

“I can’t believe this,” Mr. Manes said, taking a step into the shed, “Under my roof.”

Michael kept looking between Mr. Manes and Alex. He was waiting for Alex to say something, to argue, to fight back like he always did. Alex didn’t budge.

It happened fast. Mr. Manes had Alex pinned to the wall by his throat. Alex was crying and shaking his head and begging him to stop. Michael was overwhelmed with hearing Alex so upset, hearing Alex cry a ’Dad, please’ with no sign of it actually working. None of this made sense.

But Michael had a decision to make. He could either be the coward he always was and just let this happen, or he could finally be confident and strong. He’d seen Alex do it a million times when he needed him and now Alex needed him. Alex needed him to be strong.

So he would be.

“Don’t touch him!” Michael shouted, moving forward and pushing Mr. Manes off of Alex. Except, what could that do, really?

He grabbed Michael by the arm and, in one fell swoop, grabbed a hammer and swung it back. The claw end buried into Michael’s bones, pinning him to the table he was leaning against. His scream mixed with the sound of Alex’s, blurring into nothingness. He couldn’t see, he couldn’t hear, he just hurt.

“I don’t want to see this in my house again, do you understand me?” Mr. Manes said. Alex was sobbing.

“Yes, sir.”

Michael was trying to breathe, trying not to focus on the fact his entire left arm was going numb from pain. He needed acetone. No, he needed his mom.

“Oh my God,” Alex choked when he got closer. Michael was taking in shallow breaths as he lifted his head enough to get a look at his hand. The claw was buried in his hand, hooking just enough to the table beneath it. Holy fuck. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Michael, oh my God.”

“Can you call my mom?” Michael whispered out, unable to take his eyes off his hand. How is that possible? How can one man have enough strength to break through all his bones and muscles? How could someone do that?

“I-I need to get you out of here first, your mom can’t come onto my dad’s property,” Alex sniffled, still crying so hard that it was hard to understand him. Michael wanted to be annoyed that he was the one keeping calm when he was pinned to a table, but he kept reminding himself that Alex had done it for him a ton of times. He could do it for Alex.

He could be strong for Alex.

“Okay,” Michael whispered out, closing his eyes and thought hard about his mom. He called to her, telling her that he needed her. It would take her 15 minutes to get to him, he just needed to get to the curb.

“Michael, I’m so sorry,” Alex cried. He wasn’t touching him, he was staying away. Michael tried to look at him.

“I’m okay,” he said and Alex let out a whine, covering his face. This was hard. How did Alex stay so strong all the time? Michael gulped, taking another heavy breath before he looked at his hand again.

Slowly, he worked the tip of the claw out of the table. It hurt like a bitch and he wanted to scream, but he figured that would just scare Alex and he didn’t want that. Once he got it out, he stood up with the hammer still buried in his hand. He brought it to his chest, hoping to minimize the blood and the pain.

“Alex,” he said calmly. It had to be the adrenaline. “Alex, c’mon, let’s go.”

When Alex moved his hands, his face was dotted with Michael’s blood. He focused on his breath and grabbed the back of Alex’s neck, pressing his forehead to his. Alex choked out another sob.

“C’mon. It’s gonna be okay. My mom’s coming.”

They went to the curb and waited. Michael managed to keep up his confidence for Alex until his mom arrived and the full force of the pain really hit. It suddenly made a little more sense of how Alex was able to keep his cool all the other times he’d seen him do it. He could handle anything that wasn’t his father.

So that just meant that Michael could handle that part for him.

#malex #malex fic #malex au #roswell new mexico #roswell new mexico fic #rnm #rnm fic #michael guerin #michael guerin fic #alex manes #alex manes fic #my fic #verse: on earth

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purplesurveys · 4 years

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774

How many times a day do you talk on the phone with your significant other?: I just answered this on another survey lol. Idk it really depends how long or short our conversations are so there’s no one definite number of times, but generally I talk to her throughout the day. If we’re both busy, talking in the morning and before turning in for bed would be enough as well.

Other than English, what was the last language spoken to you?: Filipino.

What math level are you currently taking/did you last take in school?: I’m taking up a journalism degree so there’s very little math required for me to take. The one and only math class I had was Math 1 in freshman year and it was so basic we didn’t even take up actual math – it was a class on the history of math lmao.

Who was the last person to ask you for relationship advice?: Kate. I haven’t checked up on her and the guy, actually. Last time she went to me she seemed stressed and I never heard a rant from her after that, so I dunno if they fixed stuff or just broke up altogether.

Do you have a sleeping problem?: No, I sleep just fine.

Have you ever taken a survey with a friend, listing both answers?: Nooooooo no no hard pass. I wouldn’t want my friends to know I do surveys.

Where would you order your favorite burger from?: Pound’s burgers are so good. I stopped looking for other burgers once I got to try theirs.

Who have you been hanging out with most often these days?: Myself...and by default Kimi, who follows me literally anywhere.

Do you know a guy who has hair longer than yours?: Yes.

What color was the last cup you drank out of?: It was just a clear glass.

If you’re in school, what do you do to fill in time between classes?: I go to our org lounge, which is a place in the college we call Skywalk since it’s a walkway on the second floor connecting two buildings. There’s always stuff to do or people to hang out with there, so it’s my favorite place to go to and kill time.

Do you have friends in your classes? Not always. I wasn’t one of those people who needed to enroll in every class with a friend. I just walk into my classes to do my acads, submit shit, and finish off the class with a good grade. It’s cool if I spot a friend, but otherwise it’s not my priority.

When did you last encounter someone you disliked? Today and generally daily, pretty much.

Ever been to a real haunted house?: I don’t think so. Though when we went to Laurice’s house she told us that the house in front of theirs is abandoned – and it did look creepy lol – so we just assumed it was haunted. A couple of the boys went in to check it out but the rest of us just stayed at Laurice’s.

Where was the last place you got lost?: Probs the last time I went to BGC. That place has so many fancy schmancy traffic rules of its own and so many one-way streets and stoplights that anyone who isn’t from there can easily get lost.

What windows are open on your desktop right now?: I have a Try Guys video paused on YouTube, the Google Doc file for my thesis, the Google Forms file for my thesis questionnaire’s results, and a digital copy of the book I’m currently reading.

When was the last time you had cheesecake?: The other day I had ube cheesecake. It was supposed to be my dad’s Mother’s Day gift for my mom, but I asked for some heheh.

When you last shed tears, was it because of a person?: Technically? I cried from of a song, but it also kinda reminded me of a person.

Which music artists were at the last concert you attended?: Paramore <3

What was the last thing you discussed through text messages?: I spent my last peso texting Gabie we had no internet at home for the night so I won’t be able to talk to her, and that I’ll try again the next day.

How many songs are on your iPod/MP3 player?: I don’t keep one anymore. Technically, any songs I wanna listen to are accessible to me on Spotify now. Though it’s safe to guess that my iPod probably reached a peak of 500+ songs.

Other than yours, whose house did you last fall asleep at?: Gabie’s, most likely.

Have you ever had a significant other whose parents didn’t like you?: I don’t think so. I get very insecure about this every so often given that we’re in a same-sex relationship and that I don’t always have the money to woo her parents and buy them pasalubong, but Gabie always reassures me her parents are more than alright with me. And there’s zero reason not to believe her when I do meet up with her parents as they’re very lovely people, so I guess it’s all good in the hood.

What’s so unique about your computer?: The stickers I’ve placed on my laptop case are probably the most unique about it.

How was life for you six months ago?: November was mostly uneventful for me. I think I was still mostly reeling over Nacho’s death.

How much is gas in your area?: I dunno, I never check lol. There’s been a series of rollbacks since March because of the virus, but this week my dad mentioned something about a price hike so it might be starting to come up again.

What’s something interesting you learned in the past week?: A bunch. I just got into a YouTube channel called Oversimplified which posts hilarious narratives of historical events (mostly wars) complete with doodles to make them easier to follow. Yesterday I learned about the Battle of Hastings which would also apparently become very influential when it came to the English language, so it was pretty cool to learn it was more than just a physical war.

Do you know what you plan to do for your next birthday?: Out-of-town trip or an overseas one altogether. Either sounds ideal.

Was the last book you read for fun or assignment related?: For leisure.

#survey #surveys

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gotatext · 5 years

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hello, it’s swamp witch nora again…. i couldn’t stay away.... hitting u with a tiny baby boy who is also terrible (sometimes). musical softboi who loves karl marx and hates children dying in cobalt mines to make smart phones. as is tradition, here’s the pinterest board, have a peruse. fyi sorry for those of u who have read this intro a thousand times i literally.... can never b bothred to change it n i think thats really sexy of me x

CHARLIE PLUMMER / DEMI-BOY — don’t look now, but is that rory bergström i see? the 23 year old music student is in their junior year and he is a rochester alum. i hear they can be whimsical, impassioned, self-indulgent and nitpicky, so maybe keep that in mind. i bet he / they will make a name for themselves living in griffin street. ( nora. 24. gmt. she/her. )

aesthetics.

bed hair from a permanent state of slumber, calloused fingertips from strumming bass into the early hours and djing into the blacklit night, self-help books thumbed once and thrown beneath your bed, battered copies of choose your own adventure books, spliffs passed half-arsed across rooftops while light pollution obscures low-hanging stars, marxist literature in stacks against your bedroom walls, a burner phone twice-shattered and a stash of replacement sim cards.

tw ocd, anxiety, drugs

half-swedish, half-british. the swedish is on his mother’s side. he’s bilingual but thinks in english. only really speaks swedish around his mother. only child, and kinda put a lot of pressure on himself to be the perfect kid when he was young, but his parents are honestly, quite decent? and just want him to have a nice life, they don’t care if he isn’t successful or rich or anything, they’re honestly rather solid. (wow imagine having nice parents, a first for all my characters, im literally this meme)

grew up in peckham, a suburb of london. growing up, his mum was a model / actress / waitress who later retrained as a speech therapist and his dad worked in her majesty’s service at buckingham palace. his dad wasn’t allowed to tell his family what his job entailed but rory suspects it’s probably very boring and just involves a lot of…. logistics n security.

was bullied a lot at school. [cole sprouse voice] he didn’t fit in and he didn’t want to fit in. unironically wore a trenchcoat to school every day of his life. spent most of his lunchtimes in the library because it was his safe space. as a result he knows…. loads of useless information because 30% of his school years were spent reading anthologies on space and the vikings etc. would be good on a game show. obsessively recorded every episode of university challenge as a child.

middle-class and lowkey quite wealthy but rarely talks about money, one of those well-off people who still wears really old shitty shoes and only spends money if they absolutely have to

virgin who can’t drive

into star wars, not into the big bang theory. feminist. can’t watch horror movies

favourite film is where the wild things are. also loves the florida project. thinks kids are the sweetest thing and can’t wait to be a dad to some

has been musical for as long as they can remember. first picked up guitar because he thought it would make this girl esther who he was in love with like him, but he just ended up falling in love with music instead.

formulated several different bands as a kid but ultimately had to give it up cos he was quite controlling and got fixated on making a certain sound so it wasn’t really fun for the others. got into electronic music because it was something he could do basically on his own and keep tweaking until he got it perfect

always drumming their fingers or strumming invisible guitar strings. tends to avoid parties bc he has quite has specific tastes when it comes to music and doesn’t like listening to r&b for eight hours while people throw up into plastic cups.

a techno connoisseur. has been making electronic music since he was about twelve.

after his parents divorce, when he was fourteen, rory & his mother moved to run-down suburban neighbourhood, pittsfield, massachussets.

big into photography. he mostly uses a canon 35mm camera, but occasionally uses disposable ones when he wants that more rustic feel.

moving to the states, their photography became more focused on suburban neighborhoods and are often quite dark and cinematic (think gregory crewsden). here are some shots of pittsfield i really like which rory has on his wall [1] [2] [3]

falls in love 12 times a day. never had a girlfriend or boyfriend. gets sweaty when someone cute looks at him. flirting?? what?? would prefer to idealise them from a distance

gender??? hm. rory don’t really know where they fit yet, sometimes he feels like a guy and sometimes they dont feel like anything at all!! slippin out of his physical form into the spirit realm! isn’t really bothered, cos they think it’s a social construct anyway. uses he/they pronouns interchangeably, but currently feels like ‘he’ is more fitting. won’t necessarily pull anyone up on it cos he knows having an identity that’s constantly…. in flux.. can be annoying for others … and doesn’t want to be a burden even tho it isn’t at all?? rory internalises guilt

everything is socially constructed. mirrors let you move through time. the whole thing’s a metaphor. he thinks he’s got free will but really he’s trapped in a maze. in a system. all he can do is consume. people think it’s a happy game. it’s not a happy game — it’s a fucking nightmare world, and the worst thing is, it’s real and we live in it!!!!

has ocd. tries to let it affect his life as little as possible, but obviously it’s incredibly hard to control a compulsive disorder. was teased for it at school when other kids started to notice. he was obsessed with the number five, would wash his hands five times, count stairs i groups of five, he could only use the corridors in one direction and always had to keep his hands busy. it manifests itself in hyper-fixations (trains when he was a child – specifically steam engines – then later he became obsessed with space and the patterns of constellations, and now he’s obsessed with synthesizers) and repetitive behaviours like counting stairs. doesn’t really affect his social life at all, he can jst get a bit locked-on n hyper-focused sometimes.

has insomnia. barely ever sleeps. finds it hard to switch off from work / writing / gaming / whatever’s preoccupying him in that moment. he’s always awake at 5am and quite often sleeps in through classes but still gets really good grades because he’s very good at his course. rarely attends classes. prefers to work independently. doesn’t really trust his tutors are intelligent enough to be teaching him, and is particularly suspicious of the lockwood tutors. a music snob tbh

occasionally deals weed n pills when strapped for cash, but only 2 ppl he knows, and on a very small scale grass-roots level!! (so its ok???) rollerskates around campus dealing cos they dnt have a car. we love to see it

aesthetics: bed hair from a permanent state of slumber, calloused fingertips from strumming bass into the early hours and drumming into blacklit night, self-help books thumbed once and thrown beneath your bed, watching vine compilations until your eyes turn square, battered copies of choose your own adventure books, spliffs passed half-arsed across rooftops while light pollution obscures low-hanging stars

likes: techno, the webpage cats on synthesizers in space, allen ginsberg, vintage gramophones, floating points, lcd soundsystem, marijuana, soft dogs that let you pet them, late-night strolls talking about the universe, independent films, cigarettes, herbal tea, gallows humour, long showers, brown eyes, tchaikovsky, dr. seuss, constellations, photography, late night jazz, vintage game boys and girls who could rip his still-beating heart out of his chest and use it as an ashtray. dislikes: weddings, funerals, formality, button-up shirts that people actually button-up, bananas, hot coffee, social media, people who watch and play sports, rap music – especially of the misogynistic variety, indie wankers in wire-framed glasses that play ed sheeran songs at open mic nights.

plot ! with ! me ! i’d say all the usual “exes fwb hookups spiel” but rory… has never hooked up with anyone… i feel like a deer in the headlights of love……. so give me

study buddies,

people who are also into techno and are music snobs about it,

people who love all kinds of music,

people who are in bands that maybe rory’s recorded and produced stuff for,

people he actually jams with (he plays bass and synth),

unrequited crushes!!

actually i think rory had sex w delilah in the last version of this rp so if u want a hook up plot its possible just unlikely. they’d hav 2 be the driving force i reckon cos rory doesn’t really act on impulses like desire or anythin.... jst bottles that shit up !!! but yea we could do a spicy hook up plot maybs, depending on the person

someone they met at a knitting club in freshman year and have remained friends with despite no longer going to it

people rory knows from open mic nights and gigs

library girlfriends / boyfriends that he stares at longingly while paging through leatherbound volumes

gamers !!! social recluses !!! hermits !!

people he deals weed to on his rollerskates (why r all my characters obsessed with rollerskates)

skaters. rory is really shit at skateboarding. like really shit. help the smol

#tw drugs #tw ocd #tw anxiety #HUNTINGTONINTRO

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thisnerdsadventures · 6 years

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semester update

oh hi friends im still alive, if you can believe it

remember that checkerboard schedule from the beginning of the year? well that got filled up

well i accidentally signed up for too much so i’ve been working 15 hours a day for around 6 days a week and i’m tired! :D

fun things i’ve done hm ok

went to DC for an onsite! last year i also went, and visited the white house and washington monument. this year i went shopping around georgetown area. did i get the job this year you ask? no!

went to NYC for an onsite! third time i’ve been to new york in my three years of college - also got to actually work in the new york public library this time, in one of the reading rooms people take touristy pictures of. Also went to chelsea market, saw a friend, and got very fresh noodles, which were very fresh. did i get the job you ask? stay tuned!

held fall formal - ended up being 200 people in a room that probably shouldn’t hold 200 people, but it turned out well somehow! also a freshman came up to me afterwards and thanked me for the job well done and social chair is often a thankless job and i have lots of feelings about this :’)

here’s a list of really insane work things that i’ve done

this past weekend I worked 20 hours on the same pset and wrote almost 2k lines of code (for reference, i wrote around 4k lines of code for my internship. my whole summer internship.) sometimes it be like that

i had 6 interviews in the past week and a half, which is....you guessed it....really horrible!

worked from 6pm to 3am on the same class one night. was i tilted? yes!

went from drinking coffee a couple times a week to almost twice a day

and finally, here’s how my life went to shit this semester (Bc there’s always a point where your life really derails each semester, and you never see it coming)

so i looked at my calendar and i wasn’t studying/prepping for interviews/psetting in waking hours for approximately three hours last week! one hour was spent exercising, one was spent watching netflix, and the other hour was spent crying!

well to be honest, the week before that was also bad. i think M-Th I just didn’t take a break and then Friday I took the night off

ok so apparently acocrding to my calendar, the last time i actually had my shit together was October 8th. ok thats fine!

this semester, a two week span of 8 interviews, one exam, and a mess in one of my classes was ultimately what derailed my life (the mess being a really hard unsolvable pset, having to write a completely new section in the class notes, writing an NIH style project proposal, present it, and review three others in the span of around a couple weeks with some to no prior warning or erratic rescheduling of each and every single one of these assignments)

so i ended up dropping a class (a 6 unit one) to save myself, and hopefully it starts working soon. also imposter syndrome has been real (has never been this bad before), and unhelpful replies to my “im really really tired and stressed i cannot make it to x” texts have (surprisingly!) increased my stress, and now i just want to sleep. good news is i haven’t completely dropped all of my extracurriculars like i always end up doing, but my urop has really dropped off the radar, but as i said before i’ve averaged around 3 free hours a week for the past month, so oops

i had a thought to just cancel all my other interviews, but im literally taking 3 classes, and i’m having trouble figuring out why my semester has just been really bad so far. in new ways from last semester, my technical confidence and personal confidence have really been tested and are pretty low at the current moment. This past week feels like I’ve just been told from all sides of the table that whatever I put out on a personal and technical level hasn’t been good enough, in every single class and from the company I just interviewed with. Working nonstop with no end in sight and being told its not good enough is really rough guys

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placetobenation · 5 years

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Hello college football fans! This coming weekend is the last slate of games to be played before the first CFP rankings come out next Tuesday. Bama? Geaux Tigers? Boomer Sooner? THE Ohio State University? Let’s deep dive into this past weekend’s action and see who’s in…and who’s out!

LOGAN:

Big Upset in the Little Apple: On Saturday when it came to the game between Oklahoma and Kansas State, everyone was saying that the Wildcats would likely hang with the Sooners but the talent would take over in the end. While the game was close at the half, the Wildcats were able to bust the game wide open in the 3rd quarter and early 4th by building a 25 point lead. This proved to be just too much for Jalen Hurts and the Sooners to overcome, though they came close. This is a devastating loss for the Sooners as they will need to win and out and likely need quite a bit of help to reach the playoffs.

LSU Escapes Ahead of Huge Showdown: While it could’ve been easy for LSU to look ahead to their huge clash with Alabama on November, you can do that any week in the SEC. LSU welcomed in their fellow Tigers from Auburn to Death Valley. This ended up being an incredible defensive battle, as both offenses struggled mightily to get much going most of the day. Bo Nix, who hasn’t played a particularly bad game so far despite being a freshman, finally had a not so good game. Joe Burrow, while not playing up to the level he’s been at all season, made the plays when LSU needed him the most. LSU were moved into the top spot on the poll and set a 1 vs 2 matchup against Alabama, in what could be the game of the year.

Minnesota Rolls Before First Real Test: Maybe the most overlooked undefeated team left in the country is the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Since entering Big 10 play, they haven’t necessarily played the top level teams so far but they have dominated those they have played on both sides of the ball. This week they were able to take care of Maryland by the score of 52-10. Next week they will welcome Nittany Lions of Penn State, in what will be a huge prove it game for the Gophers. Win that game (or at least keep it close) and you will be considered amongst the contenders in the Big Ten, but lose this game and you may just prove that feasted off of weak competition.

Mack Brown Takes All Time Wins Record: Before Mack Brown returned to coach this season with the North Carolina Tar Heels, he would’ve been considered amongst the greatest coaches of all time. Well now he has another accolade to add to his already impressive resume, as on Saturday he became North Carolina’s all time winningest coach. He achieved most of these wins in his previous stint with Tar Heels. No one expected the Heels to be much of anything this season, as it would likely take Brown a couple of years to get them to ACC contending levels. While 4-4 overall may not look too impressive, they are are currently tied at the top of the Coastal Division with next week’s opponent Virginia. Win that game and they’ll be in the driver’s seat to play in the ACC championship game.

Alabama Asserts Dominance Before Big Clash: Alabama welcomed the Arkansas Razorbacks to Tuscaloosa on Saturday. While the Razorbacks were never going to hang with the Tide, this game was more interesting to see how the Tide would fair without starting QB. The Tide needed to lean on the running game and the defense to help along backup QB Mac Jones, just to make things easier for him. Well they were able to establish both of those things early and often, while Jones didn’t struggle at all to the tune of 3 TDs. Like I said above with LSU, it’s important to build as much momentum as possible going into a titanic clash such as their game on November 9th. Hopefully for the Tide, Tua will be back and ready to go when the Tigers come to Tuscaloosa for the game of the year.

SCOTT: Embarrassment in Ann Arbor: What the hell happened? Notre Dame has played so well the past three years with some big wins and big moments. However, Saturday’s 45-14 loss in rainy Ann Arbor against Michigan was head scratching. Michigan got its big win that Jim Harbaugh needed but more importantly, what the fuck ND? I mean I know it was raining and all but it felt like nobody wanted to be there. Ian Book was throwing like he never picked a football up and the defense was literally on its heels all night. IT WAS JUST RAIN. ND has so much more talent that Michigan, it’s just mind boggling. Well, their playoff chances are gone. Now perhaps they can make a Big 6 bowl if BK better prepares them than he did Saturday. That was torturous to watch. Notre Dame is home this week to Virginia Tech, while the Wolverines are at Maryland. Oh, and Urban Meyer IS NOT coaching at Notre Dame. Too much baggage.

Buckeyes win big: Wisconsin was clipped at Illinois last week, but perhaps they would rebound and give Ohio State a game at the Horseshoe. Well…they didn’t. JK Dobbins rushed for 163 yards and 2 TD and played turnover free ball in a 38-7 rout. They, like the next team I’ll talk about…feel disrespected because they don’t play in the precious SEC. Well all eyes from Columbus to Clemson will be watching in a couple of weeks to see if the committee will bump the LSU/Alabama loser out of the Top 4. The Buckeyes will play angry, just like…

Clemson keeps winning angry: Sure Trevor Lawrence may not be having the best season statistically that he had a year ago. But, the committee should be looking at wins and losses, not how many interceptions the QB has. Lawrence threw 3 TD, Travis Etienne had another 3 TD as Clemson destroyed Boston College 59-7. The defending National Champions are tired of being bullied by pollsters and sportswriters, they should still be #1. So Dabo & the Tigers are going to continue mercilessly pummeling teams until the champs get the respect they deserve. They’ll also be looking forward to LSU/Alabama. According to this humble correspondent…Clemson can beat both of them. Boy do I feel bad for Wofford this week. Take the check guys…just take the check.

Oregon wins a shootout: Heisman hopeful Justin Herbert had a pedestrian game for the Oregon Ducks (21-30, 222 yards) and Oregon was locked in a 17-17 fight with Washington State at the half. A fun second half ensued, which ended with Camden Lewis’ 26 yard FG with a minute to play and a 37-35 Ducks victory. Herbert really didn’t have to do much as CJ Verdell rushed for 257 yards and 3 TD. At 7-1 Oregon is the class of the Pac-12 as they head to the Coliseum this week to play USC.

Academies Update: Army dropped their fourth straight game to fall to 3-5, losing 34-29 to San Jose State. Air Force is 6-2 after a 31-7 home win over Utah State. They play each other this week in Colorado Springs. If Army wins, the Army/Navy game will decide the CIC trophy since Air Force already lost to Navy. Speaking of the Middies, they won a fun 41-38 back and forth battle with Tulane on a last second FG by Bijon Nichols. They’re now 6-1 and this week will face UConn in a Friday night tussle at Renschler.

The first World Title match of the year is next weekend with LSU/Alabama, but there are still some great battles this weekend on the eve of the first CFP rankings. Here’s your viewing schedule! All games EST on Saturday unless noted:

3:30pm: #8 Georgia vs. #6 Florida in Jacksonville

4pm: #9 Utah at Washington

7:30pm: #15 SMU at #24 Memphis

8pm: #7 Oregon at USC

#IFTTT #Place to Be Nation

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flyingcookierambles · 6 years

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a ramble about my class scheduling issues bluh

so basically im a very very indecisive slow person. a ramble about college class scheduling and a hole that i dug myself into and then out of. somehow.

my academic advisor at my college gave me some advice to take this intro to programming class so i could use databases and stuff bc i told her i want to do lab work. now, the problem is that this class was at the same time as my japanese class, which is a language that im super interested about learning (cuz im a weeb and brought light novels that i cant read to try an support the authors after reading the fan translations i just wanna get my moneys worth lol my family has friends in jpn and id just like to read their facebook posts lol).

i asked my friends about it and my one friend, an accounting major, said that she will be taking the class too. my other friend, also an accounting major, said that she previously took it and that the teacher was really nice and knew what she was doing but wasn’t that good at explaining things. given my previous high school experience learning java (which this college class will teach), where my class was basically a bunch of dudes and i was this like shy freshman girl who didnt really know anyone + the teacher was an unhelpful and rude dudebro, i was like, hey ill take a well meaning nice female teacher any day.

at this point, i was also talking to my friends and other japanese class classmates about this problem, that i would have to give up the class i wanted. now, my advisor used to work at another nearby college that is highly regarded as a school for basically geniuses + it also had a japanese language class. and many more. because it is like 100% cooler than my school and also bigger.

but anyways, my teacher said that she would ask her former coworkers about who teaches the japanese class so i could go there and take an assessment test and maybe cross register. so i was like cool and so i went and it turns out that of course the other college for basically geniuses had a different more vigorous curriculum so i wasnt like super good at the assessment.

anyways i ended up like totally embarrassing myself in front of this dude. i could read some things + there was some furigana but i knew most of the kanji that came up in the sample text that the teacher of the other school had me read, but my class really didnt focus much on katakana so i looked like an idiot when trying to sound out the word festival. the teacher did tell me tho that my learning was strange (knowing kanji/previously took chinese for ~5 years, but didnt know the words to drive a car or katakana) so i was maybe between what their version of beginner 1 and beginner 2 was. now, i wasn’t exactly expecting to pass this test when i came in to his office but i was just really disappointed in myself i guess and embarrassed and stuff?

plus the big problem was that i kinda told most of my friends about this assessment meeting, including the teacher of my school’s intermediate class that i would have to give up. logically i would just tell them that i simply didnt pass and would have to give up the class to take the programming class. however, the programming class was full. all 40 seats. so i decided to hold onto my class schedule position in the language class but then i realized oh wait i told people about the programming class too...

so it’d be like awkward to show up to the language class when the school year starts and everyone is just like hey i thought you went to that programming class. and id be like it was full because i didnt immediately drop this class when i should have back in april because im an indecisive person.

i just kinda sat on it for the past three months of summer, hoping that when the school year starts i can just email the teacher and ask if she’s accepting one more person. honestly tho the seat limit is probs more about the amount of computers in the library computer lab but it wont hurt to try right? but also then it was july (now august) and i was like super hesitant to email this teacher because its summer and its been like three months since school ended.

so i kinda resigned myself to my fate of having to go to school in late august and being like “yoooo im here bc im an idiot with 0 confidence to sign up for things.”

but then

yesterday i decided to just check the school site for the schedules and classes this upcoming year and i saw that the seat availability had gone from 40/40 to 39/40. i quickly signed up. im so glad now i dont have to look like an idiot when i go back! still kinda like totally bummed that i have to give up learning intermediate japanese tho. i want my $25 moneys worth of the books i brought lol

but also i guess its like totally a miracle that this happened. i guess someone decided to leave after hearing the teacher wasn’t good at explaining or that the class is a bit hard (ah i really volunteered for more suffering than usual huh).

i also wonder if i can take intermediate chinese twice since the people in the chinese beginner class were so interested that they decided to make intermediate chinese a thing againnn! basically during freshman year first semester i took intermediate chinese bc i took chinese in high school for 4 years. it was p fun and my older classmates were nice. altho the class empathized speaking more than in my high school class + the teacher was from taiwan and used traditional characters + my older classmates apparently went to taiwan during the summer together with the other chinese teacher. so it was a bit hard to compete with them. but my classmate said i was p good with recognizing hanzi so thats like the only thing im good at i guess lol. i still kinda want to improve my speaking altho honestly the 4 tones are kinda hard when youre like literally kinda deaf. (curse you genetics. curse you cochlea.) i feel tho that like having classmates this time that i 1) actually know 2) are actually my age and not college seniors 3) also are working on their tones bc they just got into chinese too would be i guess a bit more encouraging. also, its mai-laoshi! shes seems like super nice. the other teacher was actually from another school and i feel like she didnt like me as much since i couldnt speak very well.

hmm but like..really..taking the same class twice..i wonder if such a thing is ok?

not only that but also even if i do join the chinese class i would basically be learning the same thing over again (altho also i kinda forget it so maybe ill be on the same level as my classmates lol). but then like if next semester i dont have the same time conflicts then i would have to choose between taking intermediate chinese part 2 or intermediate japanese part 2 (the intermediate teacher said that if i self study to keep up with my classmates she’d let me in next semester (even tho im bad at self study i kinda want to try this lol)). aararhahofnagkhtirekagnhieoghoeoag hiaeohgieahgiah

what a dilemma.

#gummytruck rambles #school junk #bluh

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junker-town · 7 years

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Iowa State hasn’t had this much upside since Seneca Wallace was in town

Matt Campbell’s Cyclones should be on the verge of several fun years.

This preview originally published May 12 and has since been updated.

In its own way, Iowa State might be the most consistent program in the country. When the Cyclones reach a certain level, whatever that level is, they stay there for a while.

From 1990-93, that meant winning either three or four games each year. From 2001-05, that meant winning exactly seven games four times in five years. From 2009-12: 7-6, 5-7, 6-7, 6-7. And from 2013 to the present: 3-9, 2-10, 3-9, 3-9.

Hell, this was even the case back in ISU’s heyday under Earle Bruce. ISU won four games in each of his first three years, then won exactly eight in each of the next three.

This might be good news, as the most recent four-year term has expired. It’s time to establish something new. And in reading the tea leaves from last season, that something might be pretty good.

Mind you, ISU went just 3-9 last year. At first glance, it could seem like any of the three seasons before. But if you were paying attention midseason, you saw a team with upside far greater than we’ve grown accustomed to.

Yes, ISU did lose to Northern Iowa in the opener, then by a combined 83-23 to Iowa and TCU. And despite otherwise solid play in the Big 12, the Cyclones did lose to Texas and West Virginia by a combined 76-25. That’ll drag your ratings down.

Still, the flashes were noteworthy. The Cyclones held Texas Tech to 10 points and 4.4 yards per play, led Baylor by 14 points in the fourth quarter, led Oklahoma State by 10 in the fourth quarter in Stillwater, played Oklahoma even over the final 46 minutes of a 10-point loss, and nearly charged back to beat Kansas State via dramatic comeback. And once Jacob Park took over the quarterback job over the last five games, ISU averaged 33 points per game and 6.9 yards per play.

It was all about flashes and moments, and not actual results, but that’s par for the course for a program that has had a lot more moments than runs. It’s been more than a century since ISU won a conference title, and in the history of the AP poll, the Cyclones have finished in the top 25 just twice — in 1976 under Bruce and in 2000 under McCarney.

Led by the tantalizing Seneca Wallace, ISU reached ninth in the polls in 2002 but cratered to 7-7. They reached 11th in 1981 and finished 5-5-1. They reached 12th in 1972 and finished 5-6-1. This is a program that tends to collapse, and it was literal in those OSU and Baylor games.

There’s nothing saying Campbell changes that; it is difficult to overcome a program’s entire history in your first year or two. But I like what I see here.

Despite the duds, Iowa State finished 48th in Off. S&P+, the Cyclones’ highest offensive ranking since 2006. And they did so with part-time uncertainty at quarterback, a slumping running back, and a freshman No. 2 receiver, and their best lineman out for the season with injury. The defense fell to 95th in Def. S&P+ but was rock solid in the middle of the season. Special teams was excellent.

Overall, ISU finished 64th in S&P+, its best ranking since 2012, the last bowl season. And then Campbell signed what was easily ISU’s best recruiting class in recent memory. It’s all relative, of course — per the 247Sports Composite, the Cyclones’ haul ranked 52nd overall and seventh in the Big 12. But in his last five years, predecessor Paul Rhoads’ average rank was in the 60s and was either last or second-to-last in the conference. Campbell improved that in 2016, then did it again in 2017.

This fall, ISU should have its best offense since Wallace was quarterback. The defense is a massive question and will rely on JUCO transfers (albeit well-touted ones) up front. It might not come around enough for the Cyclones to surge to a bowl bid. But we should see enough upside to think that the next three- or four-year term for ISU will be a much happier one.

2016 in review

2016 Iowa State statistical profile.

Under Rhoads, ISU’s average overall S&P+ ranking was 71st; that Campbell topped that in his first year is impressive, but 64th isn’t dramatic overachievement. The word for the day, however, is “upside,” and after a dreadful start, Iowa State showed top-50 upside for about two-thirds of the season.

First 3 games (0-3): Avg. percentile performance: 25% (18% offense, 27% defense) | Avg. yards per play: Opp 5.8, ISU 4.6 (minus-1.2) | Avg. score: Opp 36, ISU 14

Next 4 games (1-3): Avg. percentile performance: 48% (53% offense, 42% defense) | Avg. yards per play: Opp 6.1, ISU 5.6 (minus-0.5) | Avg. score: ISU 31, Opp 30

Next 4 games (2-2): Avg. percentile performance: 68% (65% offense, 60% defense) | Avg. yards per play: ISU 6.8, Opp 5.4 (plus-1.4) | Avg. score: ISU 37, Opp 25

Now, there are 12 games in a season, not 11, and the last was a 49-19 home loss against West Virginia, a game closer than the score suggests — it was 28-19 with ISU driving late in the third quarter — but one that still undid some of the happy feelings from the 66-10 win over Texas Tech the week before.

Still, the trajectory was clear. ISU showed potential in the middle of the season but couldn’t hold onto leads against Baylor and OSU and briefly cratered against Texas. But Park took the job beginning with the Kansas State game, and ISU played at a top-40 level for most of the next month. That’s something to build on.

Offense

Full advanced stats glossary.

Just imagine what this offense might have been capable of with the Mike Warren of 2015.

Warren was just about the sole bright spot of Rhoads’ last year. As a freshman, he had a sustained breakout, averaging 137 rushing yards per game over a nine-game period and cranking out 245 against Texas Tech, 195 against Kansas State, and 175 against Kansas. He combined decent efficiency (38 percent of his carries gained at least five yards, slightly beneath the national average) with high-end explosiveness.

Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images

Mike Warren

2016 saw quite the sophomore slump. Warren dealt with a high ankle sprain and got called out by Campbell in the media for not practicing hard enough. His efficiency dropped a little, and his explosiveness vanished. He carried 19 times for 103 yards against San Jose State but otherwise averaged just 4 yards per carry. Over the final four games, as ISU’s offense was surging, he carried 10 times for 29 yards. Meanwhile, a new pair of freshmen — David Montgomery and Kene Nwangwu — combined to carry 82 times for 481 yards.

Rumors swirled about Warren and a potential transfer; he nipped that in the bud. He said and did all the right things in the spring, and while Nwangwu is dealing with the effects of a torn Achilles and might not be able to contribute this fall, the thought of a Warren-Montgomery tandem, in which both are playing to their capabilities at the same time, is thrilling.

Lord knows the Cyclones don’t need too much from the run game to have a good offense, not with this passing game.

When Park seized control of the quarterback job from Joel Lanning, ISU’s ceiling got higher. Lanning is an excellent athlete, averaged 6.2 yards per carry (not including sacks), and had his moments in the passing game — he was behind the wheel for most of the Baylor and OSU games, after all. But the combination of Park’s emergence and the surge from Montgomery and Nwangwu made ISU devastating down the stretch. Park takes far fewer sacks, and in wins over Kansas and Texas Tech, he completed a combined 34 of 54 passes for 490 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception.

He benefited from Allen Lazard growing further into his four-star status. A rare ISU blue-chipper, Lazard improved his success rate from 52 to 55 percent in 2016 and maintained a solid average of 14.7 yards per catch. And his connection with Park was strong. He averaged about five catches for about 64 yards per game through the first seven games of the year, then bumped that to 7 for 114 over the last five.

The Park-to-Lazard combo is exciting, but so is the fact that most of the rest of the receiving corps returns. That includes Deshaunte Jones, who caught 37 balls at 9.9 yards per target as a freshman slot receiver. Throw in 6’4 JUCO transfer Matthew Eaton, and you’ve got a pretty scary passing game. And if we see more of 2015 Warren than 2016 Warren, you’ve got maybe the most high-ceiling ISU offense in 15 years.

There might be some question marks up front, though. Of last year’s 60 combined starts, those responsible for 49 of them are gone, which is scary considering that, especially with Park at QB, “not moving backwards” was maybe ISU’s biggest strength. Despite blocking for a struggling Warren and two freshmen, ISU still ranked 12th in allowing only a 15.5 percent stuff rate (run stops at or behind the line), and Park had only a five percent sack rate, good for a QB averaging 13.5 yards per completion (and therefore looking downfield a decent amount).

There’s hope, though. Tackle Jake Campos, a two-year starter and former four-star recruit, missed last season with a broken leg but should be full strength. He and sophomore Julian Good-Jones are keepers, and hopes are high for Michigan grad transfer David Dawson [update: Dawson has since left the team]. In terms of pure recruiting rankings, this might be the most highly-touted unit on the team. It just needs to prove itself a bit.

Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images

Jacob Park

Defense

Iowa State was pretty good at not allowing big plays, especially against the pass.

There. That’s the list of things that the Cyclones did well defensively.

And hey, there are worse things in the world than big-play prevention. But they were also one of the least efficient defenses in the country and easily the least efficient in the Big 12, not including the black hole of defenselessness known as Texas Tech.

There’s a positive and a negative spin for this.

The positive: the secondary returns almost intact, and two of three linebackers are back. The odds of the Cyclones again being excellent at big-play prevention are strong. Plus, hey, the line already stunk last year, so the fact that it’s undergoing massive turnover probably won’t hurt much!

The less positive spin: ISU gave up at least 34 points six times last year, dragged down by a horrendous run defense (105th in Rushing S&P+, 125th in rushing success rate), and it’s hard to predict improvement with the turnover up front.

There’s definitely hope, though. Five of last year’s top seven tacklers on the line are gone, but the best pass rusher of the group (sophomore JaQuan Bailey) returns, and if at least two of three JUCO transfers — tackles Kamilo Tongamoa and Ray Lima, end Matt Leo — play at a Big 12 level, then maybe there’s enough here to engineer improvement. Lord knows the bar isn’t very high.

Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images

JaQuan Bailey (19) and D’Andre Payne (1)

With competence up front, the middle and back of the defense could thrive. Junior linebackers Willie Harvey and Reggan Northrup combined for 11 tackles for loss and four sacks, and incoming freshman linebacker O’Rien Vance was one of the stars of the February signing haul. And the secondary could indeed be exciting.

Cornerbacks Brian Peavy and D’Andre Payne combined for seven tackles for loss and 19 passes defensed last year as sophomores, and safeties Kamari Cotton-Moya, Evrett Edwards, and Mike Johnson were key in the big-play prevention efforts. Defensive backs made quite a few plays despite the woeful run defense keeping opponents in comfortable downs and distances and despite a lack of pass rush on rare passing downs. Give them just a little bit of help, and this becomes one of the Big 12’s better pass defenses. But that’s a big ask.

Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images

Brian Peavy

Special Teams

A good special teams unit can make the difference in close games, but in ISU’s case, a good special teams unit simply made games closer. The Cyclones ranked sixth in Special Teams S&P+, thanks both to excellent place-kicking from Cole Netten and the simple lack of predominant weakness.

Trever Ryan was a little bit too all-or-nothing in punt returns, but he indeed had a few “alls.” Meanwhile, Colin Downing’s punts were mostly unreturnable, Chris Francis’ kickoffs found the end zone 52 percent of the time, and Nwangwu was an excellent kick returner.

There will probably be a drop off this year. Netten is gone, and Nwangwu is hurt. Francis, Downing, and Ryan return, and Oregon State transfer Garrett Owens offers a new place-kicking option. But No. 6 is awfully high — we’ll say this is more like a top-40 unit this year.

2017 outlook

2017 Schedule & Projection Factors

Date Opponent Proj. S&P+ Rk Proj. Margin Win Probability 31-Aug Northern Iowa NR 20.5 88% 9-Sep Iowa 48 1.6 54% 23-Sep at Akron 122 16.5 83% 30-Sep Texas 16 -8.8 30% 7-Oct at Oklahoma 5 -21.9 10% 14-Oct Kansas 107 17.1 84% 21-Oct at Texas Tech 66 -1.3 47% 28-Oct TCU 21 -7.0 34% 4-Nov at West Virginia 69 0.3 51% 11-Nov Oklahoma State 22 -6.8 35% 18-Nov at Baylor 28 -8.1 32% 25-Nov at Kansas State 35 -6.5 35%

Projected S&P+ Rk 57 Proj. Off. / Def. Rk 32 / 83 Projected wins 5.8 Five-Year S&P+ Rk -0.9 (71) 2- and 5-Year Recruiting Rk 49 / 57 2016 TO Margin / Adj. TO Margin* -3 / -2.8 2016 TO Luck/Game -0.1 Returning Production (Off. / Def.) 75% (86%, 65%) 2016 Second-order wins (difference) 4.2 (-1.2)

Iowa State has a potentially strong quarterback, it’s highest-ceiling skill corps in ages, and a line with decent experience and massive potential.

The defense’s strengths will be as strong or stronger, and its weaknesses probably won’t be weaker.

ISU lost four one-possession games last year, and put together top-50 level play for about two-thirds of last season.

I like where this is headed, in other words. The run defense could hold Iowa State back, but the Cyclones’ stats hinted at a team with far greater upside than the 3-9 record suggested, and with a top-60 S&P+ projection, it is conceivable that they threaten for a bowl bid. S&P+ forecasts 5.8 wins with three likely victories and three to five relative tossups.

I said in last year’s preview that, “I like the Campbell hire, and I assume he will have ISU steadily in the 5-7 to 8-4 range. He will sign top-50 recruiting classes and put a top-60 product on the field.“ If ISU plays at a certain level for three to four years at a time, expect these next three to four years to be awfully fun.

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samanthasroberts · 7 years

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Betches Love This College: The University Of Georgia

College is the best four years (five if you play your cards right) of any betchs life. No no. That wasnt a question. So in honor of college admissions season being like now, were bringing back Betches Love This College. That way, you can pick where to go to school based on important shit like parties and drinking rather than grades and what you want to be when you grow up. Youre welcome in advance.

In terms of where to apply, everyone knows Manhattanites go Ivy League (and Emory), while West Coasters love the Arizona schools. But what about Southern betches? Where tf do they go? The University of Georgia, thats where. UGA has all the cool shit Southern schools are known for like gorgeous people, insane Greek life, an awesome-ish football team, etc., but its also really hard to get into these days so you cant be a total hillbilly and go there. Sorry Alabama, maybe next year. So heres what you need to know.

The People

Greeks: Given that UGA is a massive Southern university, its not exactly groundbreaking that Greek life is no fucking joke. In terms of whos who, you can put them into two categories: old row and new row. Your old row sororities (ADPi, KKG, Theta, XO and Phi Mu) pretty much have the Atlanta private schools on lock, plus rich Texas and North Carolina girls. So unless youre one of those or the worlds hottest legacy, youre not getting in. But dont fret, public school betches. There are a handful of new row sororities that are just as good if not better. KD, ZTA and AOPi are definitely the best.

For the fraternities, theyre exactly what youd expect. Super fratty and douchey. Look out for pledges the first few weeks of school. Theyll be the guys walking around campus in suits who look like they want to fucking kill themselves. Poor kids. Before your 4-5 years are up, youll definitely want to be asked on Old South because who doesnt want to get wasted in an antebellum dress? So make nice with the KAs.

Orientation Leaders: You know the girl in high school who was the head cheerleader, volleyball captain, class president, valedictorian and still managed to volunteer at the local nursing home on the weekends? Yeah, this is what she becomes in college. There are guy OLs too, but that didnt work with my analogy. Every year, 12 people are picked from the entire 30,000+ person student body to help the freshman figure shit out before move-in day. If Taylor Swift had gone to UGA, she probs would have been an OL. Seems like the type.

Hipsters: Besides that Travelocity commercial and being the worlds greatest college town, Athens is a pretty artsy place. Most importantly, it has a kick-ass music scene, so what does that mean? Hipsters be flocking so they can see musicians before they go mainstream. They leave town during home games, hate the Greeks and smoke a lot. Theyre probs photojournalism or lit majors and arent involved in anything on campus because thats for the stereotypical norm. Fucking duh.

Athletes: If youre not one of first three, youre most likely a student athlete. Football players are easy to spot because theyre the massive, Nike-clad guys who ride around campus on red vespas. Have you ever seen a linebacker on a scooter? Its a sight. But tbh, no one really gives a shit about seeing football players. Too common. The athletes to be on the lookout for are the Gymdogs, UGAs badass gymnasts, and Olympians. UGA had like 30 people compete in Rio and they won 10 medals. Thats more than most countries. Pretty fucking impressive. If you see any of the gold medalists, be sure to get that shit on your Snapchat story.

Where To Live

Freshmen: All UGA freshman are required to live in the dorms. Just a heads up, these arent the dorms of Buckingham fucking Palace you see on Pinterest. The box my Tori Burch riding boots came in is bigger than these. But suck it up. Its just a year. In terms of the best dorms to live in, the high-rises are the only way to go. There are a shit ton of other dorms around campus that are nicer, but only weirdos live in those and they arent as fun. Youre here to get shitfaced and meet people, not for the Ritz Carlton-esque amenities.

Sophomores: Assuming you go Greek, and I feel like most of yall reading this will, you move into the sorority house your second year. UGA sorority houses are mansions and can house about 60 girls so hopefully you dont need much alone time. The upsides? You have a chef who cooks all your meals, maids and maintenance people to fix things, and theres always something fun going on. The downsides? No alcohol in the house, no boys upstairs and if you eat all three meals everyday youll get fat.

Upperclassmen: If freshman and sophomore year wasnt enough to get the batshit crazy out of your system, you move to Georgia Heights. This place isnt disgusting like a frat house or anything, its just in the middle of downtown where all the bars and restaurants are so if you live here, youll end up going out every single night. Rent is high because the location is fire and the apartments are super nice. If youre more of a chill upperclassman, you and your friends should rent house in Five Points. Theyre close to Milledge (Greek row) and the stadium so theyre perfect for hosting tailgates and wine nights.

Nightlife

Pauleys: Every night out starts at Pauleys, a crepe bar that serves a billion different beers on tap and insanely cheap bottles of wine. Tbh, no one really goes there to eat, although at least one person at the table will order the chips and Terrapin beer cheese dip or a Nutella banana crepe. The real gem is the Manmosa, which is just a mimosa plus vodka. Aka a regular betch mimosa.

Bourbon: Its technical name is Bourbon Street, but dont call it that or youll look like a newb. This is the closest thing to a freshman bar Athens has. Why no real freshman bar? Because the only places that are 18+ are sketchy af and no one goes there. Im not going to go into the deets about what you need to have in your wallet to get into these 21 and up bars before youre actually of age because I dont want to be liable for your law-breaking ass, but I think youre picking up what Im putting down. If not, talk to your big. Shell hook you up. Back to Bourbon. Its a total shit show because freshman who cant handle their liquor take over the place. But its a rite of passage and its always rated one of the top college bars in the U.S. so if youre in Athens because youre a student or just in town for a game, you have to go there.

College Ave: Along this stretch of downtown are three bars you need to know: Sandbar, City and Silver Dollar. These used to be considered upperclassmen spots, but now you can find pretty much anyone there. Because there are so many bars in Athens (80 in one square mile for all you mathematicians), no one just stays put in one place the whole night because that would be boring. Since these are literally all right next door to each other, theyre super easy to bounce in between when you need a change of pace. These are the places to see and be seen.

Creature Comforts: Besides being one of the best breweries in the whole damn country, Creature Comforts downtown address makes it the perfect spot to pregame a night out or day drink instead of going to class.

Big Events

Shower Cap: In the spring, all the fraternities host huge parties so everyone can cope with the fact that football season is over. Literally every frat has one, but SAEs Shower Cap is the biggest and best of them all. Tbh, I have no idea why were all so obsessed with it. Its just like hundreds, maybe thousands, of blackout people on a fraternity house lawn, but its amazing. Theres always a band and the people watching will give you life.

Twilight: Every year, Athens hosts this crazy bike race called Twilight in the middle of downtown. Three reasons why everyone loves it: 1) This isnt like you and your first grade bestie seeing who can get to the bottom of the hill first. This race is some Lance Armstrong level shit. 2) Its always right before finals week so everyone gets drunk af because theyre actually gonna have to study soon. 3) Open. Container.

Georgia-Florida: All of football season at UGA is a big event, but theres nothing bigger than GAFLA. The school literally plans fall break around it because they know everyone would still bail on class if they didnt. Every year, the game is played in Jacksonville, Fla., but instead of staying close to the stadium, UGA students stay a few hours away in St. Simons. Why? Because its bullshit that its in Florida every year, and Georgians want to keep their tax dollars in state. Im not even kidding. Thats the real reason. The Friday before the game, the entire student body takes over a stretch of beach aka Frat Beach and has a massive cluster fuck of a party. The residents of SSI hate it. The university hates it. But despite their many attempts, theres nothing they can do to stop it.

Drawbacks

Every August, youll think its UGAs year for football and that this team will go all the way. Every October, your hopes and dreams will be shattered. Just go ahead and prepare yourself for football heartbreak.

Parking is a fucking nightmare, the bus drivers are absolute savages, and regardless of which direction youre walking, its miraculously always uphill. So getting around campus is a bitch. But if you take the walking route, youll have a killer ass.

Source: http://allofbeer.com/2017/05/30/betches-love-this-college-the-university-of-georgia/

from All of Beer https://allofbeer.wordpress.com/2017/05/30/betches-love-this-college-the-university-of-georgia/

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campuslately · 7 years

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Kanye West left college to pursue his passion in 1996. He attended American Academy of Art briefly and Chicago State University where he majored in English. His mother Donda West worked as a professor at the time. Can you imagine that conversation the nerve he had to work up to tell his mother he was dropping out of college? Many of us have contemplated the same thought, be it quitting college to follow your dreams or quitting your job to do it. That experience did its part in helping to define Kanye West and his music at that time. But what also shaped his early music was #Collegelife, #GreekLife, and #BlackCollegiateLife which in return helped to shape a generation and a culture. Kanye West first album “The College Dropout” was one of the first albums to talk about black collegiate life and greek life on a national level. Walk down memory lane with us as CampusLATELY names Kanye West “The Black Collegiate Wordsmith.”

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10 Reasons We Fell For Kanye West!

1.)He took the job he didn’t want to get closer to the job he did want. He saw producing for other artists merely as his entry point into the music business. Roc-A-Fella chief Damon Dash signed him in 2002 with the idea that he’d produce a compilation album for the label’s roster of talent, which at the time included acts like Cam’ron, Beanie Sigel and the Young Gunz, among others.

2.)Everyone who contributed to his first album was an underdog “at that time.” Kanye West pulled “his people” and a lot of his friends he grew up with in Chicago to help him create “The College Dropout” (GLC, Coodie, Chike, Really Doe, Olskool Ice-Gre, JB Marshall).

3.)He is a Poet!