#not that cs is awful and i know any engineering course is hard but like ?????????? idk i just find it so funny

[protect-namine]

does the universe think its funny that I didn't get into materials engineering (my first degree choice) and ended up in cs. and now my little brother who is two years into his materials engineering degree says he's not happy there and wants to study cs instead

[artistic-writer]

Love Finds a Way : CS Jurassic World AU : Ch 3

Title: Love Finds a Way by @artistic-writer

Summary: Emma Swan is the Head of Operations for David Nolan’s exotic adventure park, Jurassic World.  She has a son, Henry, and is loved and respected by her colleagues. Her life was perfect until a new dinosaur the park created, Indominus Rex, decided to escape.  Oh, and her one night stand, Killian Jones - he’s there to help contain the asset. Just to complicate things even more.  Jurassic World AU.

Rating: M (for people getting eaten)

Also on: AO3 - FF

A/N: Chapter three is here! Beta’d by the lovely @resident-of-storybrooke because @kmomof4 can’t see everything first ;)

Taglist: @hollyethecurious @kmomof4 @resident-of-storybrooke@cocohook38 @sherlockianwhovian @searchingwardrobes @wordsmith-storyweaver @winterbaby89 @kymbersmith-90 @wellhellotragic @killianmesmalls @killian-whump @nonnyj @jennjenn615  

Want to be tagged/untagged? TELL ME HERE

——————————————————————————————

The drive out to where Killian Jones lived was something Emma never thought she would have to do again. He kept himself to himself for a reason, constantly tinkering with his boat engine, or his motorcycle, or some other contraption that had her kid so engrossed in the man. Henry loved him, but Emma suspected that because of his lack of a father figure, or any siblings, Henry was just latching onto the only man that paid him any attention. Or that’s what she hoped. The last thing she wanted was for her very smart, very cunning son to be parent trapping her with a man only she knew she had slept with.

And Killian. Of course, he knew too but had been the gentleman he always had promised he would be and never said a word to anyone. As far as anyone on the island was aware, they were colleagues who had only interacted because of Henry’s fascination with the man. Emma knew Graham suspected more, but he had never mentioned anything, probably afraid of losing his job. He was her employee after all, and even if she had caught him glancing a little too languidly in her direction from time to time, that was all he was to her.

The dirt track Emma was driving on opened up ahead, the stabilizing suspension of the SUV keeping her reasonably steady as she hit a few potholes in the road. She clicked her tongue against the back of her teeth, aggravated by Killian’s need to be so out of the way it made everyone else's life difficult to get to him. At least, when he did hang around with Henry, he did most of the ferrying back and forth, and she didn’t have to make this god awful journey each time.

Two huge Guanacaste trees partially blocked the view of Killian’s Airstream trailer, the panels of which were beaten a dented in places. Emma parked her car under the tree, its gnarled and twisted branches swaying in the humid Costa Rican breeze that swept in from the water next to where Killian called home. It was modest, Emma would give him that, and confusingly nothing like the cocky, arrogant demeanor he exuded to everyone. Maybe he was different than she had first thought, and maybe he was more than what everyone made him out to be. But Emma liked control, and that night they had spent together gave her enough pause to make sure she was gone the next morning.

She had never regretted anything so much in her entire life.

She turned off the engine and sat back in her seat, spying the man she had come to see instantly. He was, as usual, tinkering with his motorcycle, smudges of oil across his forehead and his hair almost wet with sweat. The heat of the day meant no training of his raptors apparently, and so she knew he would be here, elbow deep in some sort of grease. He didn’t look up as she watched him through the windscreen, reluctant to exit the air-conditioned vehicle.

“Just act professional,” Emma told herself with a deep breath, tugging the spring loaded handle of the door until it popped open and stepping out onto the hard, grass-covered ground. With one last look at herself in the reflection of the car door’s window, Emma smoothed her blonde locks from her face and tried to ignore the tingle in her stomach she always got when he was around.

Killian looked in her direction as she approached, his face lighting up for just a second before he remembered that a visit from the director of operations probably wasn't a good thing. He only ever saw Emma after hours when he hung out with Henry, so he knew this was a business visit. With a sigh, he resumed the mechanical fix he had begun on his beloved Triumph, watching his hands as they worked.

“What do you want now?” He called out as she approached. He shifted his weight on the upturned metal bucket he was perched on, angling his head for a better view of the bolt he was trying to tighten.

“Mr. Jones, I need you to come and assess something for me,” Emma began, stopping just short of his bike. He halted his repair, frowning as he looked in her direction and twisted the wrench in his hands. “For Nolan,” she corrected quickly, placing her hands in front of her body so as not to appear too threatening.

“Why are you calling me ‘Mr. Jones’?” He asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes at her, his lips curving into a teasing grin. He knew she had to keep this professional, just like she always tried to, only this time there was no Henry around to make sure she kept her hands to herself.

“Killian.” Emma relented, twisting her fingers together awkwardly. “If you’re not too busy.”

Killian let a laugh tumble from this throat. “I’m actually very busy, love,” he said flippantly, reaching beside himself for the bottle of water he kept nearby. It was a poor distraction, but he couldn’t keep looking at her without her son nearby to stop him from telling her how he really felt.

“We have an attraction-,” Emma sighed but he cut her off as soon as the words had left her mouth.

“Funny, I thought that but you were gone when I woke up.” Killian pushed himself to his feet, the sweat rolling down the divot on his spine under his shirt that was already tanned from the dirt of the day. The top three buttons were open to air his chest, and the chest hair Emma remembered so vividly poked out of the space. When he turned to face her, he caught Emma’s looking him up and down and smirked, running a finger over his lips.

“I’m talking about the dinosaurs, Mr. Jones. If you could just come and take a look-,” Emma babbled, her patience wearing thin. She needed to get away from him, but as he started to walk her way, the sway of his hip in his skin tight faded black jeans gave her cause to blush.

“Kil-lian,” he said firmly, accenting his name, the roll of his tongue something Emma remembered all too fondly between her legs. “You didn’t seem to have any trouble remembering my name that night,” Killian teased, watching her roll her eyes.

“We made a new species-,” Emma said flatly, ignoring his attempts at flattery.

Killian frowned, a sinking feeling in his gut making him suddenly queasy. “You just made a new dinosaur?”

“Well yeah, it’s kind of what we do here.” Emma batted away some annoying insects that had begun to assault her face, swatting the air with an annoying tut each time she missed the offending bugs. “The exhibit opens to the public in three weeks and Mr. Nolan wanted me to consult with you.”

Killian’s arm shot out and he caught the bug that had been buzzing around Emma, squashing it between his fingers with so much skill it made Emma pause and hold her breath for what he was about to do next. He brushed his fingers down his jeans, ridding them of the bug guts before giving her a coy smirk. “You want to consult here, or in my trailer?” He grinned, running his tongue along his teeth.

“You’re not funny,” Emma huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I’m a little bit funny,” Killian laughed, giving her a wink as he turned away from her. Emma let out the breath she had been holding, scared of what he might have done. He was standing so close she could feel the heat from his body, the sexual tension between them more than palpable, and the tone of his gravelly voice had suggested his joke was in fact, not even intended as such.

“We need you to evaluate the paddock for safety concerns. Vulnerabilities,” She clarified as he toyed with another wrench from the set on the rickety wooden bench behind him. He inspected the head of it, not really needing to because he knew it wasn’t the one he required, and then looked back up to her with the soulful blue eyes she would always get lost in as he ascended the steps to the deck surrounding his trailer.

“Why me?” He shrugged, entering a narrow doorway, the sound of metal wrenches rattling around.

Emma sighed. This was harder than she had anticipated. Maybe she should have just called him. “Mr. Nolan thinks, since you can control the raptors-”

“I don’t control the raptors,” Killian corrected her quickly as he exited the tiny shed type building. “We have a relationship, based on mutual respect.” He walked back along the deck towards where she was standing, tapping the wrench into his palm.

“Are we still talking about the raptors?” Emma asked slowly, looking down at her feet. She had never apologized for leaving someone alone in bed before, but it was clear she had hurt Killian. He shameless flirting was a ruse, even she could see that, hiding his true feelings for her that had clearly never gone away. “I’m sor-,” she began, but he cut her off.

“You want to control everything, and you run from what you can’t. That’s why I woke up alone,” He told her with a shrug, brushing past her as he twisted the head of the wrench in his hands. The sound of clicking was almost drowned out by Emma’s gasp.

“Excuse me?” Emma spat, aghast.

“Was I at least good?” He gave her a twisted grin, enjoying the way she blushed under his questioning.

“I’m not talking about this,” Emma shook her head, turning to head back to her car.

“Nevermind, I know I was,” Killian smiled boyishly, catching the glare in her eyes as she spun back to face him. He licked his lips as she stormed back towards him, reseating himself on the metal bucket that groaned under his weight. He loved her when she was fired up, secretly wishing he could it more often, but he would take this encounter for now.

“Look, can we just focus on the asset, please?” Emma ground out, her jaw a little clenched.

“The asset?” Killian cocked his head, standing to meet her once more. He pulled a rag from his back pocket, the fabric worn and full of holes, and proceeded to wipe at his hands. He was done working on his bike for today because clearly, again, the geniuses who ran the park were idiots. “Look, I get that you are in charge around here,” he started, rubbing at his hands a little too furiously as he once again walked towards her. “I get that you have to make a lot of difficult decisions, and it’s probably easier for you to think of these animals as just numbers on a spreadsheet. But they’re not, love. They’re alive.”

Killian was passionate about animals, he always had been, and always thought of himself as lucky to live in a time where a man could get up close and personal with dinosaurs. He had been honored to have been hand picked for his research program, really believing he would be doing good in the world, but had since learned that the people in control never wanted what was best for the animals they created. All they cared about was the income, profits, and losses.

“Yes, I am aware,” Emma told him sternly.

“Are you, though?” He quipped sarcastically. “You might have made them a laboratory, but they don’t know that. They are just thinking about food and fucking,” Killian said smoothly, accenting the last word as he let his gaze roam over Emma’s figure like she wasn’t even clothed. “You can relate to at least one of those things, right?”

“I’ll be in the car,” Emma shook her head, rolling her eyes at his antics. She stormed off towards the car once more, stopping to give him a disgusted face and waved her hand at him. “You might want to take a shower. They are very sensitive to smell.”

--

It was a quiet ride to the paddock, each sitting in complete silence on either side of the car. Killian felt weird, preferring his motorcycle to any other mode of transport, and idly watched the trees whip past the window outside. The paddock itself was not that far away from his trailer, on a more secluded part of the island where they often raised their new dinosaurs. Killian had heard the roars of this new creature lately but didn't recognize it as anything the park already had on show, and Emma had confirmed this with her earlier story.

He looked over to the driver’s seat, the concentration of Emma’s face reflected in how hard she was gripping the steering wheel. He watched her profile, as perfect as the night he had watched her sleep beside him, ignoring the pang of anger that crept into his gut feeling when he remembered he had never got to see that pretty profile in the sunrise. Emma was flighty, he knew that now, but he was absolutely sure she wouldn’t throw herself from a moving vehicle to escape him.

“Why do you hang around with my son?” Emma asked him suddenly as if reading his mind. She kept her eyes trained on the road before her so as not to hit any low hanging branches that might spell the end of their short journey.

“Henry?” Killian asked dumbly, enjoying the way she cast him a quick glance to affirm her question. “He’s a smart lad,” Killian said honestly, returning his own gaze to the side window. “He has the potential to be something great and if I can help him with that, then why not?”

“So, it’s not to get closer to his mother then?” Emma asked, a little hurt that his initial answer hadn’t included her.

“Certainly not,” Killian shook his head. “I might be many things, Swan, but I would never use Henry like that.” Killian looked back at her, unable to decipher the reason for her questioning from her profile alone. “Henry means too much to me. And besides,” he said with a smirk. “I don’t need an eight-year-old wingman.”

Emma let out a soft laugh, raising an eyebrow at him. “Are you sure? You haven’t dated since we, well, you know.”

Killian raised his own eyebrow back at her in response, toying with the patch of skin behind his ear. “And how would you know that, love?” Killian asked quickly, intrigued by her line of questioning more than irritated.

She gave him a soft smile. “Henry, of course.”

“Of course,” Killian agreed. “The lad does spend an awful lot of time with me. He would have noticed a girlfriend. That and he thinks we should-”

“How do you know that? What has he told you?” Emma slammed on the brakes, the car skidding to a stop on the gravel outside of the compound wall. Killian’s hand flew out against the dashboard, helping slow the motion of his body as it fought against the seat belt restraint. She turned to her head towards him and Killian could clearly see some panic in her eyes.

“Be friends,” Killian finished his interruption slowly, watching Emma’a body sag in the seat beside him. He smirked, his lips twitching into a smile that he was unable to hide as her cheeks flushed red and she let out a breath. “It’s alright, love,” Killian teased. “I won’t let anyone know you have a crush on me.”

He exited the car before Emma could answer, the slam of the door drowning out the sound of her huff. Emma followed him out, watching him as he took in the huge, concrete wall with a concerned stare. He shot her a look, one that said he was uncomfortable, even before she walked past him in full business mode and began her speech about the so-called ‘asset’.

“Every few years the park has to come up with a new attraction to invigorate the visitors and keep up numbers. Corporate felt that a genetic modification would give us the ‘wow’ factor back,” Emma said cheerily like she was pitching the idea to a new investor.

“They’re dinosaurs, a previously extinct creature. Is that not wow enough?” He followed her up some metal stairs, her heels clicking on the steps each time she took a step. Killian tried not to watch the way her hips moved in front of him, lagging behind a few steps in case any of the construction crew noticed.

Emma laughed, smiling to herself. “Not according to focus groups. This dinosaur makes us relevant again.”

“What’s it called?” Killian asked quickly, watching the steps where he feet fell on his ascent, desperately trying not to watch her arse.

“The Indominus Rex,” Emma said, reaching the top of the staircase. She heard him laugh, a deep, throaty rumble that made her turn to look at him. God, he was gorgeous when he smiled.

“The Indominus Rex? Who came up with that?” Killian lifted his gaze once more, tickled by the name and the expression on her face.

“We needed something scary but easy to pronounce. You should hear a four-year-old try to pronounce ‘Archaeornithomimus’. Emma reached for the keypad on the wall beside the door, keying in her high-level security code before swiping her keycard. The door slid open and she crossed the threshold, leaving it open for him to follow.

“You should hear you trying to pronounce it,” Killian grumbled. The name was ridiculous, too modern and laughable to be a real dinosaur, but as he followed her into the control room, it became abundantly clear what kind of creature they were dealing with.

The paddock was huge, covered in the tallest trees Killian had seen in any enclosure so far, clearly there to allow the dinosaur to hide. They were increasing each wall by at least five huge, six foot wide lengths of concrete, something Killian worried about down in his stomach. He approached the glass, peering out past his reflection into the seemingly empty enclosure, and it didn’t escape his notice that one of the panes of glass had managed to be cracked from the outside.

Whatever this dinosaur was, he was already worried about it.

“So, what’s this thing made of?” He asked casually, putting as much distance between him and Emma as he could. Watching her walk up some stairs in front of him had had an undesired effect, one he was trying to fix with distance. There were at least two huge window panes between them now, and he stood as close to the control room guard, Charlie, as he could.

“The base genome is a T Rex and the rest is classified,” Emma told him, turning to face him and bracing for the inevitable string of questions he would have. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and swallowed, catching his gaze.

“You people made a new dinosaur but you don’t even know what it is?” Killian’s words were interrupted by a nervous laugh, his hands finding his hips and his fingernails digging into the leather of his belt. Her response made him uneasy, his eyes scanning for any movement between the trees.

“It’s not my job to know,” Emma said firmly. “We get delivered finished assets and it’s my job to show them to the public. Charlie, can we get a cow in there, please?”

She was irritated, Killian could tell, but he had been given a job to assess the paddock, whether she liked it or not. Nolan trusted him, for whatever reason, and he knew it was eating her up inside that this was something he wanted him to address, not her. “How long has she been in here?”

Emma looked at him and gave a nonchalant shrug. “Since birth.”

“She’s never seen anything outside of this paddock?” Killian frowned, still scanning the enclosure where he saw absolutely nothing. There was a track between two electronic doors that had a huge footprint on it, but nothing else glaringly obvious to the existence of the dinosaur Emma described.

“It’s not exactly a dog. We can’t walk it,” she snapped.

“And you feed it by crane?” Killian asked, watching the slab of meat being lowered into the enclosure. He pointed to it briefly, before resting his hand back on his hip, the cogs turning in his mind.

“Look, If you have a problem with this assignment I can just tell Mr. Nolan you declined.” Emma mirrored his stance, hands on her hips and her expression fierce. Killian was not intimidated by her in the slightest, simply shrugging off her bravado with a shake of his head.

“No problem,” he told her. “Just, animals raised in isolation aren’t always the most functional.” His tone was almost a warning, his brow knitting together as his anxiety over not being able to see the creature manifested tenfold. There was half a cow in the enclosure. Something should have been interested in that by now.

“Your raptors were born in captivity,” Emma countered but Killian interrupted her before she had the chance to finish her full sentence.

“And they learned social skills from siblings. As a family unit. And I imprint on them when they are born, there’s trust,” he said defensively. He moved towards her, tearing his gaze away to make his point with another point at the crane above them. “The only positive relationship this dinosaur has is with that crane because she knows it means food.”

“So, we get her a friend,” Emma suggested and Killian shook his head before she had even finished her words.

“Probably not a good idea, love.” He was worried. Any creature raised in isolation would surely have some sort of cognitive issues, but it seemed the secret ingredient in the new dinosaur lent itself to more questions than answers. “Where is this thing anyway?” 

“It was just here. I was here less than two hours ago.” Emma stalked past him to the podium mounted display and tapped away at the screen. She pressed her finger to the screen quickly, the dull tapping sound filling the room as she initiated a thermal scan of the enclosure, all six sections flashing up as void of any heat signatures. “That’s impossible,” Emma sighed to herself, rescanning the paddock once more, the same six sections flashing red and an alert sounding, but this time more prominently on the screens behind Charlie.

“Oh, shit,” he said slowly, matching the ashen color of Emma’s face as their worst fears became reality.

“Have there always been claw marks there?” Killian called out across the room, turning to look at her slowly whilst deliberately pointing out of the side window. Emma paled, her heart pounding in her chest as she made her way to where he stood and saw the huge gauges in the concrete that insinuated the dinosaur had climbed the walls and escaped.

Surely someone would have seen her? Surely one of the construction crew would have noticed such a huge dinosaur climbing over the wall they were building. Unless they didn’t.

“Oh, shit,” Emma breathed on a hushed whisper, the hair on her arms prickling to life and making her skin tingle. She has an implant in her back. I can track her from the control room.”

Emma rushed back to the car, and called ahead to the control room, asking Ruby to get her a location of the Indominus Rex as she threw the car into drive and sped away from the compound. This was impossible. Never, in her entire time as Head of Ops, had Emma had an asset out of containment. There had to be a glitch in the system. The dinosaur had to be there, it just had to.

“I don’t get it,” Charlie said to Killian, standing next to him in the paddock. They had both made their way down to the enclosure to inspect the marks, Killian’s fingers lost in the deep grooves the Indominus had made with her claws. “That wall is forty feet high. You really think she could have climbed out?!”

“Depends,” Killian said sadly.

“Depends on what?” Charlie asked dumbly.

Something didn’t feel right to him. Killian was always one for gut feelings, and he trusted them implicitly. They had never let him down before, always helping him out of a scrape or two, but he couldn’t pin down the cause of the dread in the pit of his stomach. Something told him there was more to this dinosaur than he was being told, maybe more than Emma had been told. “On what kind of dinosaur they cooked up in that lab.”

“What the hell?” Ruby frowned, the phone pressed to her ear as she conversed with Emma. She was looking at her screen, the tracking device emitting a strong signal from inside of paddock 11.

“What?” Emma screeched, wishing her car went faster than it currently was. “Ruby, talk to me, what do you see?”

Ruby looked at Mary Margaret, confusion etched on both their faces as they watched the still dot on the screen radiating with a red, glowing line. “Uh...it’s in the cage.”

Emma blinked. “No, that’s impossible, I was just there.”

“Emma, I’m telling you, she is in the cage,” Ruby insisted, tapping a few buttons and switching to a live camera feed of the enclosure. What she saw stopped her heart dead. “Wait, why are there people in the paddock? Emma, there are people in there.”

Killian.

Emma gasped, her heart skipping a beat. “Get them out of there,” Emma said in a shaky, hushed voice. This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening. “Now!” Emma screamed down the phone, her voice ringing out in the control room intercom.

“Paddock 11, this is control. You need to evacuate the area immediately, do you copy? Paddock 11, please confirm, do you copy?” Mary Margaret’s voice was desperate, her fingers clutching the headset as she spoke, her words quicker than she would have liked as she tried to radio Charlie.

Charlie looked down at his hip mounted radio with a screwed up expression, tapping the device with a growl. “Damn radio signal. Control, this is paddock 11, repeat, over?”

Killian heard a rustle of leaves behind them and spun on his heels with wide eyes that scanned the area quickly. He had heard that sound before, from stalking raptors, and knew it never ended well for the prey. There was a slight movement in the grass, but no wind and Killian shot a glance back to the wall in front of them, sudden realization dawning on him as Mary Margaret’s panicked voice came through much clearer than before.

“It’s in the cage with you!” She screamed. “Get out, now!”

“Go, run!” Killian shouted, pushing against Charlie and the maintenance guy who had wandered in with them.

The three men ran, Charlie lagging behind because of an old leg injury that had left him with a slightly askew bone. It affected his gait and he knew he would never be able to outrun a dinosaur, so he turned and headed back towards the scratched up wall, hastily punching the numbers to open the gate into the keypad there.

The sound of broken trees echoed through the paddock as Killian and the other man skidded to a stop, the huge dinosaur that had managed to hide in plain sight, appearing before them. Killian took it in, the long legs and the curved claws so familiar and yet so distinguishable, he knew they could have only come from one species of dinosaur; Raptors. She roared softly, almost deafening both men with her high pitched growl, before giving chase, snatching up the engineer beside Killian in only two steps of her huge gait.

The gate was open, Charlie was long gone, but Killian knew it wouldn’t be for long. He fought the resistance of his thighs, pounding his boots into the dirt as he ran away from the Indominus, cursing his stupidity the entire time. He should have known the scientist in the lab would use Raptors, they were one of the smartest dinosaur species, and as he tried to ignore the sound of crunching bone behind him, Killian knew they had made a grave mistake.

“Close the gate!” David shouted firmly from behind Mary Margaret, watching the huge screen in front of him.

“We can’t lock him in there!” Ruby screeched, pointing to Killian on the monitor in front of her.

“Now, Ruby!” David commanded, barging her away from her workstation and tapping the huge, red touch button that would initiate the electronic cate closure. David looked up, instantly regretting his decision to end a man’s life, but the needs of many outweigh the few, and with over twenty-two thousand people at the park, David had to contain the animal anyway he could.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Killian chanted, his bones aching from how hard he was pushing his body to run for the now closing gate.

He made it through the gate just in time, but it hadn’t closed enough, the Indominus Rex trapping herself in the closing gap. She let out a high pitched roar, almost a cry as the automatic closing gate trap her between the concrete. The gate faltered, motors whirring and struggling to cope with the pressure Indominus was putting on them, and they completely gave out when, with another roar, she burst through the fence. Concrete crumbled away from the wall and Killian ran for the nearest cover he could find, sliding down onto the gravel and rolling under a construction crane.

The Indominus Rex roared again, sniffing the air around her, searching for her quarry. Charlie had made his way to a nearby truck and for some reason had decided to hide behind it rather than jump behind the steering wheel and escape the area. Killian froze, the gravel digging into his stomach as he watched the man kiss a crucifix he had been hiding under his shirt, tears falling silently down his face. Indominus roared again, flipping the truck with ease and leaving Charlie exposed to her attack, the man shooting Killian one last sorrowful glance before he was swallowed whole.

Killian rolled away from the scene to the middle of the crane, reaching behind himself and pulling out his hunting knife. His eyes scanned the underside of the vehicle, Emma’s words ringing in his head - ‘They are very sensitive to smell.’ Killian finally located what he was looking for, the fuel lines and pulled them free of the undercarriage, slicing through them with his blade and spraying the fuel all over his face. He held his breath, flicking the leaking pipeline over his shirt and jeans too, covering as much of his body as he could with the foul, metallic smelling liquid.

Indominus’ deep, booming roar caught his attention once again and Killian shot a glance out the side of his hiding place, her huge reptilian legs shaking the ground as she sunk down on all fours and eased closer to the crane. She was too large to see underneath but Killian knew she was trying to find him, trying to sense his scent under the machine, so he laid as still as he could, staring up at the underside of the crane.

A deep, vibrating sound came from the dinosaur, her nostrils flaring and her jaws open slightly to taste the air. Her teeth were covered in Charlie’s blood, drips running between the plates of her scales and Killian tried to ignore the rancid smell of her breath. He was like stone, too terrified to move from his spot, his eyes pinching closed as she moved her head towards the underside of the crane and attempted to make sense of what she could smell.

Killian turned his head away, his entire body beginning to quiver. Droplets of fuel covered his face and stung his eyes but he tried to ignore it. When Indominus let out a rumbling growl he jumped, trying not to make a sound against the gravel where he lay. Her warning growl got no response and with a frustrated roar, she moved on, her huge weight leaving ginormous footprints in the ground as she walked away. Killian lifted his head, the muscles in his neck straining as he watched the huge reptilian creature move off into the dense forest, a rattlesnake style shaking sound coming from deep in her throat as she did.

Killian let out an audible sigh, his head falling back onto the gravel, his heart pounding in his chest. “God damn it, Emma,” he growled to himself, half out of anger and half out of worry.

[hagiographically]

Could you talk more about Stanford stereotypes regarding literally anything (idk majors?) bc they way how you explain them is literally so funny/good

lmao aw ily, you can always come to me if u want my opinion related to anything stanford (stereotypes about dorms, sports teams, greek life, a cappella ??) because i have A Lot Of It - i only wish i was more integrated with the school cuz most of my opinions are hearsay instead of personal experience

major stereotypes….hmm thats hard cuz there are So Many majors but i can just go with the most common ones and group some together, etc

engineering:

aero/astro - small department full of space nerds, most of them are in SSI, drones, i personally consider them very brainy and if i were better at engineering i would be aero/astro cuz i think it’s the next frontier. there should definitely be more women in it for sure

bioe - my ex was bioe, they’re a bunch of nerds but they have good enough hearts. they care about curing diseases and shit

CS - oh boy. ohhhhhh boy. here we fuckin go. honestly CS is barely even a sterotype at stanford cuz its such a dominant culture…..the people who decide what stereotypes even are, are probably CS. it’s gotten to the point where if i meet someone and they aren’t CS it’s worth noting. it’s gotten to the point where, in my psych/literature/communications/education classes, i expect the other people to be CS. i have so many Opinions on CS Boys because CS Boys are such!!!!a!!!type!!!! (and different from just, a boy who does CS). they worship the trinity of google, facebook, and microsoft. their junior summer internship is at least one of these. they buy into all silicon valley startup culture and they love elon musk and talk about venture capital when its really not welcome. they love talking about how much work they have and how little they sleep. all INTJs. probably virgos. there is also a subgenre of CS boy who didnt come into stanford wanting to do CS and ended up switching because its easier to be a CS Boy at stanford. they criticize the culture all the time. to this you can say, “it’s all right, craig, i know you just want to make money.”

CME - people major in this when they dont love themselves

design - i personally think this major is fuckin cool and considered it before i realized physics was a pre-req. the d school is thought to be d for douchey though because their whole shtick is so ~ideate~ ~prototype~ ~We Are Quirky and Put Post-Its On Walls~ but i dug it as a frosh. they can be kinda condescending, but theyre by far the most interdisciplinary dept in the engineering major (although its also full of white men who think theyre hot shit cuz they can use photoshop)

EE - again for people who lack self love, its supposed to be so fuckin hard

MS&E - white frat boys who glorify jordan belfort

ME - similar to design. live at the PRL. stay up till ungodly hours carving wood. somehow this is enjoyable. also white male heavy

who knows how the f to categorize this:

education - if i could do stanford over i would major in this. usually very diverse, woke, often come from underprivileged backgrounds so they want to make it better for other people and reach communities that arent currently benefited (unlike silicon valley or wall street :) ) i respect them because they do what they love and not to make $ although if educational engineering were a thing im certain people would jump ship. it’s also not in the humanities dept so i feel like theyre Above the stanford hegemony and i love that

earthsys - i considered a minor in this. usually sweet, earth-friendly people. white but woke. possibly queer. granola loving hippies and maybe some frathletes who want an “easy” major but not sure (im not shitting on easy majors. i have one. love ‘em)

generally i like girls in any of the engineering depts because they are dealing with sexism and doing it. the boys are oftentimes extremely self-congratulatory and will usually say something dumb about the humanities. even the girls will hit you with the “oh i wish i could study that!” about any non-engineering discipline, and it’s implied that what they’re really saying is “but i care about my future too much!” 

humanities/sciences:

AAAS/chicanx studies/asian-american studies/CSRE - woke poc who use lots of buzzwords and say things like folx

art - the people who major in art are usually more quiet than you’d think. we have an Artsy Type at stanf that are kind of extra (theta chi/EBF types, also very woke QPOC) but i dont think theyre art majors for the most part. i barely know any actual art Majors. lots of engineers just do art on the side

bio - i love bio majors because they are sciency but also get shit on by engineers so we’re in solidarity. they are sweet and study all the time and just wanna make the world a better place. there’s also the pre-med kind of bio who i would hate if i were also pre med but since im not i just kind of admire and fear them

chem - i like chem people much more than i thought i would. again a very small major and they just live in lab and have varied non chem interests. this year i accidentally became friends with like 6 people from the chem fraternity and i was surprised how much i liked them

complit/english - i was this major! english in creative writing are usually chill, interesting people. complit and english in literature…….it’s a shakespeare circlejerk and they hit you with the Discourse. overly educated white people. avoid the boys specifically but the girls can also be incredibly self-satisfied. maybe 50/50. but if you take a creative writing class instead of a lit class, the CW kids are usually awesome

taps - our drama department. they’re nice, but extra and intimidating. (also stanford theater is…..okay….not really as good as they seem to think it is yikes that was mean but) however, like with english, take an introductory class and you’ll meet very cool non-taps majors.

econ - oftentimes wonderful people! outside of class that is

femgen - same people as the AAAS/CSRE crowd except whiter. queer girls with undercuts. upperclassmen are intimidating to many. everyone shares their opinion even when its not warranted. my honors is in this

film studies - this was almost my minor and if i werent CW i might have doubled in film and comm! i dont know any film majors but if they arent a cole sprouse im sure theyre fine (they are probably a cole sprouse)

german/italian/french/spanish language or studies - spot the person who studied abroad!

history - like english, can be cool, more likely pretentious

humbio - the other premeds! actually humbio gets shit on alllll the time for being easy or having a fluff major, bio majors think they’re soft. thus, i like them. their course catalog is awesome and its a huge major but all the scary pre meds are straight up bio and humbios are softer but in a good way its a lot of sweet girls

intl relations - one of my favorite majors. usually very down to earth, the best of the IR/poli-sci/pub-po trinity. however, they can also be self-congratulatory for being So Woke and also they love to educate you when You Didn’t Ask

linguistics - weird, diverse people. very small major. similar to anthro, my old major. i love small majors they always have cute dinners together

MCS - a hard fuckin major. not as “Look How Smart I Am” as a bad CS. mostly quiet and stay in and study their ass off

math - love to wax poetic about the beauty of math. fun when drunk. not when sober

philosophy/MTL/classics - avoid. classics can be okay if it overlaps with archaeology because theyre just a bunch of nerds and they get really excited and its cute. phil majors would rather just educate you about how free will is fake and youre like tim can you please just get out of the way we’re in the dining hall and you’re blocking the cornbread

physics - Avoid. they think all other sciences are lesser. women and POC are ok

poli-sci - hit or miss. generally pretty friendly. very talkative. fun to talk to about Not Politics

psych - the best major hehe. generally liberal and woke and often queer. however, non-psych people in psych classes can be a nightmare (unlike english, taps, etc) and problematic as fuck. also sometimes psych majors are extra (exhibit a: me)

pub policy - probably in student government. im biased against it, but go in with hesitation. student government is by and large not as effective as they seem to think (however, a “woke” person in pub po might be cool because they will campaign for sexual assault awareness and economic diversity and good stuff)

STS - ohhhhh man. probably the major that gets most shit on at stanford. i think engineers think it’s fake. (humbio, design, and STS get shit on the most i’d say, because they are interdisciplinary STEM majors, so engineers think that they’re for people who arent smart enough to do hard majors. whereas with english or IR, engineers know they couldnt do it because they havent written an essay since 2009, so they offer grudging respect) a frathlete major. i personally like it because i dig interdisciplinary shit, but i don’t dig frat boys or athletes so i avoid. some of their courses are great but it does seem kind of scrapped together as a major and i dont know how people outside of stan see it

sociology - a small major, seems cool. stigmatized but not by stanford because stanford students dont know it exists. “dont you mean psychology?” no

urban studies - skaters? who knows. i respect them tho. i think they care about….like….architecture? and city development? its a very niche thing and i feel like it’s pretty hip n happening

[anything-advice-blog]

Submission

Time-sensitive(?)

So, I’m a senior in high school, but I’m taking classes full time at a community college. My dad didn’t want me to take classes there full time since it wasn’t “academically rigorous” enough for him, but he eventually went through with it. One of his “conditions” was that I had to take a computer science class this semester. At first I was very excited, but after classes started I realized how much I didn’t like it. (Let me add that I’d like to be a history major and I'm taking the CS class designed for CS majors. My dad has been working in programming his entire career. He thinks that non-STEM majors will get you nowhere in life unless you go to grad school or medical school.) As this semester is drawing to a close, I tell him that I don’t wanna take CS II. He says that I have to and that I’m going to have to double major in CS if I major in history. (My sister majored in East Asian Studies and planned to go to med school, but did not. Did my dad force her go anyway? No.) If I don’t then he says he won’t pay my tuition. There was only one CS class that fit into my schedule for next semester and since it’s with a very popular teacher at night, it filled up before my paperwork to register was processed. There was another CS class that conflicted with two of my other classes. When I told my dad, he tells me to drop the other two classes. I didn’t. So now, all the CS classes are full and he’s telling me that if I don’t find a way into one of them, I’m going to be “severely punished”. (I highly doubt the punishment would be physical.) I went to the college administrators and they told me what I already know–they can’t get you into a class if it’s at capacity. I’m just at my wit’s end. I don’t know how many times I’ve told him how much I hate CS and how I’d like to take classes that I enjoy during my last semester of high school. I’ve told him over and over that I’d take a CS class when I actually go to college. Whenever I tell my friends about what’s going on they just say things like, “Are you gonna let him control your life?”, etc. I don’t think they get it? What am I supposed to do if he won’t pay for me to go to college? I don’t have any kind of college savings. I don’t have a job. I’m only 17 years old. I don’t wanna spend four years taking classes I hate. My mom hasn’t said anything about what’s going on, since she decided to “stay out of it”. I’m just tired of trying to plead my case. I’d take all my classes at my high school next semester if I could. I just want him to leave me alone. I just want my dad to support my decisions and let me live my life. I’m not asking for anything crazy. I just don’t wanna take a class next semester. I’ve never looked for easy As. I’ve been trying so hard to make my classes as academically challenging as I can so I can get into good schools. What should I do? No amount of talking gets through to him. What should I do?

– Class of 2017

_________________________________________________

Hey there love,

Before I give you any advice, I will say this. Parents care an awful lot, and especially when it comes to when they want their kids to succeed and have a good life. Many parents want their children to live a fulfilling and enriching lifestyle, wanting them only to live with good money, and a safe home, while being happy. That said, they can also be controlling because they’re scared that their baby girl or boy will suffer if they pursue something they love but something that doesn’t have an immediate stable foreseeable future and having only to work can be frightening.

First of all, I think it’s great that you’re pursuing something you love. It’s incredibly brave of you, and a great choice. Now you won’t have to worry about doing something you regret and hate for the rest of your life. Never give in to your parents’ wishes of wanting you to be a comp.sci major if it’s the last thing you want to do. However, I think your father wants you to follow in his footsteps for personal reasons such as fearing that history isn’t a good stable career, or maybe it’s because programming is all he’s ever known and knows that since he himself was a comp.sci major, he could help you in some way, and give you a safe future. You need to convince him that you’re growing up, and that whatever you do, you’ll be able to handle on your own. By sitting him down and tell him straight up that you understand that Comp.sci is what he wishes you pursue, it’s simply something that you can never see yourself doing, and be happy whilst at it. Then ask him if he wanted you to be unhappy. His answer would clearly be no. Despite him thinking it’s for your own good, this is your path, and your life. He clearly wants you to have a successful life, but if you’re not happy, it’s in vain. Make him see reason, by saying that history is something you have a passion for, and even though it may not be a “safe” STEM route, it’s something you chose, and won’t regret. By forcing you into comp.sci not only will it be bad for you psychologically, you won’t get much out of it either. Anyone knows that if you hate what you’re doing, you obviously won’t try as hard, and your results will show just that.

Since you can’t get a CS class this semester, take other classes to explore your other options. In the meantime, I think your father despite grudgingly you not taking his choices, he will still pay for your tuition. Why? You’re his daughter. He won’t cut you off just because you want to do something you like. There may also be a cultural aspect to it as well. My father was forced into being an engineer, despite wanting to go into business, and later on, as I grew up, I was expected to be an engineer as well like my other siblings. Now thinking about it, I had a similar situation like you. I was expected to be in a STEM major as well, and after thoroughly talking it out with my father, he let me do things on my own. Like it will be for you, it wasn’t easy. My own father was very angry especially because I didn’t follow something that had a generic safe path. My older sister was a doctor, and older brother had 3 degrees in engineering, accounting and law. As his 3rd kid, I wanted to pursue psychology and he thought that virtually had no job openings. He eventually realized that he couldn’t bend me to his will, and realized how old I was getting. I was no longer his little girl, and he realized it was pointless in directing me, because now I was able to see right and wrong. Still, he had a grudge for a long time, but it passed. It could be the same for you. No parent that cares strongly for their child’s education can hate them. He just worries too.

Try to get your mom on your side. Talk with her about your thoughts often, and when you get through to her, before long, she’ll start defending you and looking at it through your point of view. Remember, if the husband is the head, the wife is the neck. She’s the one behind the true decisions that is silently persuading the husband. Try to make her feel included in your choices, and try to get closer to her. She’ll be more inclined to listen to how you truly feel. Same goes for your sister.

However, if he still threatens to cut off your funds, start looking for scholarships. Even though it’s a hassle, and has incredibly annoying prerequisites, it’s too decrease the competition. Apply to all and any scholarship. Even if you don’t fit the requirements, do it just in case. Many scholarships end up going to waste, because no one applies for them. There are thousands of dollars that go down the drain because no one takes them, mainly because people think there’s too much people competing and give up. Heck, for jokes I applied to a scholarship for engineers, and ending up getting 500$ cause no one claimed it. Look for scholarships and bursaries. If you are coming of age, you can also look at student loans from your university/college as well as fundraising from your high school. Lastly, get a part time job. Find anything because it’ll help pay for expenses of any sort. I would recommend fast-food chains (bubble-tea stores aren’t fast food but they’re always hiring and its boba tea, what’s not to like amirite), or bookstores. They don’t require too many hours, and are usually flexible, giving you time for your schoolwork and breaks.

Maybe to try to get through to him, if you’re able, make him a deal. Deals are usually good ways to prevent conflict and can help satisfy both parties for a short or long time depending on the deal. If you can handle it, tell him that you are willing to take one or two comp. sci courses and will try to enjoy it, but in exchange, you want to be able to make your own career and post-secondary choices. Or anything you want to barter on. Make sure it’s advantageous to your side! He won’t really realize until last minute, and he won’t be able to do anything about it either.

Even though I hate to say this, don’t live for your dad. Or your mom, or anyone. It’s your life, and whatever you choose, at the end of the day, it’s you that’s stuck with the consequences or rewards. Your dad may force you, may threaten you, or even cut you off, but ultimately if you choose to go with his wishes, it’s you that faces the repercussions of it. Do anything and everything you can to defend your freedom as a growing adult. He needs to see that you have your own opinion and mindset for yourself. My dad used to always say this to me: “Whatever you do, do it for yourself, because ultimately, when everything else and everyone is gone, all you really have are your choices, and memories and what you did with them.” Learn that there will always be something or someone against your or in your way. Know that this is life, and pick your battles and try to just breathe and enjoy the rest of your high school life! You deserve it. Realize by the time you hit Uni, you’re in for the biggest rollercoaster of your life.

Really hopes this helps,

~Ella ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ