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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jun 8, 2012 7:05:35 GMT -5
It was a good thing that he didn't realise how she really felt about the situation, for Joshua was stubborn as a mule and could be pretty argumentative and set in his own ways most times. Instead he was thankfully oblivious as Skye mentioned levelling Maple Hollow and he laughed at the mental image that ensued. "Yeah, the residents would probably thank me for... y'know, not doing shit like that." He'd never done the volcano thing yet but he knew that he'd like to. The only problem was the fact that it harmed the environment. "Hey," he said, as the thought came to mind, "I wonder how many eruptions have been caused by elementals?" He knew that not every eruption was the fault of a Fire messing about with their powers but he could bet that it happened sometimes. Freak sandstorms were probably often Winds fucking about with the deserts, rockslides the result of an Earth's mountain accident. It was fun to think about the elemental world in comparison to that of the humans, have all the extra knowledge. He remembered Nell saying something about Tesla probably being a Thunder and chuckled to himself at the memory. "Oh, yeah, they were definitely draining," he remembered. "I had mine second-to-last but there was a break between the two so it was alright." He'd always either slept or ate or done something to recover his energy. "I have another Endurance course next year, a harder one. Think it's before lunch, which'll be helpful." He really didn't want to be staggering around the school like a zombie all exhausted from the class. There was only so much stamina draining a guy could take before he slumped from the effort. Still, Josh was resilient. People didn't often faint in college unless they were stupid about the over-use of their powers.
He didn't think that she was being smart-assed or anything like that, he trusted Skye not to be, and so Joshua merely gave her his expectant attention and waited for her to continue. He nodded when she did, agreeing without waiting for her to finish, then only opened his mouth to speak after she had. He was not a rude person and didn't like to butt into people's conversations. It wasn't a polite thing to do, especially with your friends. "I guess that's true, yeah. But then you'd better find yourself a job wherever you go so you have money to come visit, yeah?" He was teasing, now, his gray eyes sparkling with the humour. He could obviously afford to take a trip out to visit Skye wherever she ended up living himself and so that wasn't an honest concern. He was joking to show her that he didn't think the indecision was a bad thing or anything like that and that he understood what she meant. His choices when it came to where he lived had really been made for him. He'd lived in his own apartment when his parents had booted him out the first time, moved back in with them, then moved in with Nell when his father pitched a fit about her, then inherited the mansion. So he'd been all set. "I'll probably be here most of my life. I mean, not that I'm complaining, it just seems to be shaping up that way." He might need to travel a bit for his work, though not too much he hoped, but he wanted to stay in Maple Hollow where his family were. "Unless Nell decides she wants to move." Then they'd discuss it, he supposed, weigh their options. But he had a couple more years yet since Nell was still in college a couple more years even when he would be graduating at the end of next.
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Post by SKYE JESSICA FORD on Jun 10, 2012 1:18:34 GMT -5
Well, if there were a volcanic eruption in the surrounding area, it'd probably destroy the Academy as well, so Skye was pretty sure she'd be against that. It was where she spent most of her time, after all, considering she had classes and her dorm was there and it was often too much of a bother to head into town unless she had a specific purpose. (Well, sometimes she just felt like heading into the Hollow, but hey, random desire was still sort of a purpose.) Yeah... Obviously, an eruption wouldn't be that great wherever she was in the area, actually. "Yeah, if you could only tell them," she said, smiling kind of wryly. Not everyone could get a job that required or even allowed them to use their element for. Most didn't. Considering how secretive everyone had to be, actually, most people lived fairly normal lives all things considered, and they were scattered even, now that Maple Hollow wasn't even a kind of safe haven any longer. Hell, both her parents were elementals, but they were all the way over in Ottawa. Wherever people were, she wasn't sure there were too many people left who would be able to cause eruptions, which probably made Josh one of the few with the potential. She wondered how many of the older elementals kept their powers in actual practice. Her parents did only sparingly. "Probably a goodly amount," she said, "though I guess we'd have no way of knowing unless they decided to tell all of us... but that's probably too risky." She had no idea how they'd go about getting that kind of news around. It wasn't exactly like they went around having conventions or anything like that. No... She doubted they were dumb enough to try doing something like that.
She just nodded at first, kind of remembering how hellish that class had been. The memories weren't as vivid as she might have thought otherwise, though -- she'd probably just been exhausted all the time during those. She remembered the relatively easy first class pretty well. "Breaks are always good. I'd probably have just fallen asleep in the next class after or something..." Her professor would have been pretty unamused, she was guessing. She was tempted to ask why on Earth he'd take a harder Endurance class, but the answer was pretty obvious, honestly, considering this was Josh. "You'll come out of it better than before, though," she said with a thoughtful expression. "Better than one of those things where you come out of it thinking you never actually learnt anything." In the end, it was actually worth it, but while she'd actually been in the class, Skye would have probably given quite a bit not to have to do it anymore. She didn't have the same discipline Josh had, though. "Damn, there goes my plan of not working and just sitting around all day." She tried to look disappointed, but still smiled. "I guess I could sacrifice that to come visit you. I guess." She gave him a look as if she were considering a visit not to be worth it at all, but he probably knew better. So many of her friends would probably be staying behind in Maple Hollow, honestly, that it might just be... awful and disappointing to never return, if she did leave. That much wasn't even a guarantee. "You already have been here all your life, though. And it's not a half-bad place to be... Though that's true, I guess you'd have to talk about that if it came up." Skye didn't really know Nell, though. She couldn't have said whether this would be likely or not.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jun 10, 2012 8:15:39 GMT -5
Joshua made a brief face at the thought of falling asleep in class, clearly not liking the idea himself. Josh hated missing classes or even portions of classes because he always felt like there would be something of profound importance that he had missed out on and he fretted over whether anything mentioned would be on the exam. It was the reason he always tried to force himself up and out of bed to classes even if he wasn't feeling his greatest, provided it wasn't contagious or obnoxious of course. He hated to be that guy coughing and sneezing in the back of the class. Just no. "Yeah, that's true. Always did hate those pointless classes, or the ones with bad professors." No matter how much you enjoyed a subject, certain teachers and professors could make or break the subject. Some of them went so far as to give inaccurate information and those were always the most infuriating types. It made him wonder how they'd ever been licensed to teach. Most of the college professors were thankfully more reliable than a few of his high school teachers had been. "I hope the exams for it aren't too tough, though. Usually they try to make those exams at the end of the day after lunch, though, so it's fair to everyone." The faculty understood that their students didn't want to be snoozing through the rest of their exams or be completely unprepared for the endurance exams. They provided a fair warning to come well-rested and with a full stomach as well as to get some rest afterwards to prevent any negative side-effects. Endurance testing was some pretty serious stuff. Probably one of the most dangerous classes.
He laughed when Skye acted as if it was an effort to think about visiting him, knowing that she was joking. That was the good thing about being friends with someone for as long as he'd known Skye. He might not have had a fail-safe judgement of when she was joking and when she wasn't but he could make a much more accurate guess than a lot of people. He was sure it worked the same in reverse. "Well, that's exactly the point," he said, shrugging. "I grew up here, I went to school here, why should I leave?" It was the reason that Joshua figured it was safe to assume he was going to be in Maple Hollow for the rest of his life, raising his family in the same city where he himself had grown up. Every time he thought about having a family in the future, he thought of the fact that he didn't know Nell's plans for that and there was a sweeping unease and awkwardness in his chest and stomach. He ignored it each time including now and focused on the conversation. He'd talk to her about it eventually, he just needed to find the right time to bring it up. They were still young, they had plenty of time to discuss their future outside of college. "I think I'll at least be stuck here for the next like, decade or so, depending on whether I get into UMH." UMH was, most creatively, the University of Maple Hollow. And it had a medical school. Exactly why he was aiming for it was obvious—it was in his city, he would be close to Nell and Annabel, he could live at home instead of having to stay in a dormitory. It was ideal. Still, he'd adapt if he didn't get in. "Are you going to graduate school or anything?" They were seniors, he wondered if she'd thought about it.
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Post by SKYE JESSICA FORD on Jun 16, 2012 13:59:20 GMT -5
Skye recalled earlier classes with absolutely horrible teachers and professors, and found herself pretty damn relieved that this past year her professors had all been pretty decent. Some were always better than others for various reasons, she found, but she'd be pretty willing to tolerate another year of the same professors. Naturally, this probably wouldn't be the case. She didn't know how some people had gotten teaching jobs, but they should probably quit for everyone's sakes. "Definitely sucks. I think my worst by far was twelfth grade English." She even kind of liked English, or at least enjoyed parts of it, but the teacher had kind of ruined all of that. That was okay. She hoped that her Senior year professors would be better, though it would be difficult to be worse. "Yeah, otherwise it probably wouldn't be so great for any exams you have afterward," she said, thinking of how awful that would be. "They usually try to put elemental exams a bit away from regular class exams anyway, don't they?" She thought so, but maybe she was just lucky to have always gotten it that way in her exam schedule, and she had never really cared to ask about other people's unless she wanted specifically to make plans. Those couple of weeks of their lives were totally their business anyway, because she'd have exams at the same time.
She thought it was interesting at least, this whole idea of permanence that Josh seemed to have in his life -- and she didn't mean that sarcastically or ironically at all. Maple Hollow wasn't that big, and at this point someone who'd been here for as long as Josh had to be able to pretty much call the entire city his home. Okay, well, maybe he wouldn't exactly want to pinpoint some of the more crass downtown areas as a "home", but it was the principle! Skye wondered where it would be for her, the Hollow or Ottawa... and it was all confusing and ridiculous. "No reason at all," she agreed. "And you already really have a place of your own, a job... and it's a nice place to be. Definitely not a bad place to be." Actually, he had two jobs, she supposed, but she didn't bother correcting herself. His future education was probably important too, of course, since Joshua was very adamant on getting into medical school, and she could see no reason why UMH wouldn't accept him. He had higher marks than just about anyone she knew, probably. "What about after UMH?" she asked out of curiosity, probably just as confident if not more than he was about his ability to get into the school. "I'm not sure," she answered, a little uncertainly. "No plans for it yet but if I do it wouldn't be right away. I think I've had enough of school for a while." She smiled sheepishly, knowing that Joshua probably wouldn't share the sentiment.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jun 18, 2012 0:48:14 GMT -5
English had neither been a strong nor a weak point for Joshua. It had simply been there, existing. He'd done very well at it like all of his other subjects through a combination of studying and smarts but he'd never been the most poetic kind of guy. He could write short stories if it was required for class but they took a lot of work and planning and he did not enjoy it quite so much as others seemed to. He could not invent his own worlds and creatures. "Most of my gym teachers, though a lot of that was my fault. And one of my bio professors last year was a dick." He said the word with force as if emphasising it could somehow let Skye know what was up with the man. He hesitated, then admitted, "He's got a bit of an alliance grudge against me." He did not mention that his professor was a Thunder elemental because Skye was a Thunder and that might be a tad awkward. He did like Skye and they had been friends for what seemed like forever, even if he wasn't very open toward her, but most of her element viewed him as a traitor. An outcast. Someone to be loathed. He tried to keep the alliances out of conversations with Skye to save them the uncomfortable tension but he figured that saying this would be okay since he wasn't blaming her for it or anything. He didn't even blame Nell and she was the reason so many Thunders and Fires hated him. "What'd your English teacher do?" He was curious, if she was willing to share that was. There was always the reassurance with Joshua that he was not going to pry too much and that it was safe to avoid telling him things if you didn't want to. This didn't seem like too big a deal, though, so he left it as is.
He nodded. Had it been intentional? He figured that it was since it had happened every year since high school and he was about to enter his eighth year at the Academy. If it was a coincidence it was a very large one. "Last, usually. So you're not snoring through the others." He grinned at the thought. If not last they put it between exams with a large enough gap that one could catch a nap or eat something to gain their strength and focus back before they attempted a less physical test. He did enjoy his powers but he had to say that those exams were his least favourite. He wasn't going into an elementally related career but it was required that a student of an elemental college take some core elemental classes. It made sense. "Definitely don't want to give up this place," he said, shaking his head. "If anyone wants to move they're gonna have to do some convincing." He would consider anything Annabel or Nell pitched to him but even Joshua didn't want to break his bank account by looking for another mansion in a new area. He supposed he could move to a big house instead of having so much space but he liked the space. He enjoyed the grandeur of it all. "Nah, it's not bad at all. A job, a house, a car, a place to go for school." It was convenient and safe and he liked it that way. He didn't like change too much even if he was an adaptable personality. He could get used to new things if he was shoved into foreign situations but it didn't mean that he grew to love them. Merely got accustomed to the dislike enough to manage it.
He did like that Skye didn't challenge his ability to get into medical school, or at least the school that he wanted. Nothing was set in stone but Joshua liked to convince himself that it was so that he didn't constantly have to fret over it. He was intelligent and hard-working so he could accomplish his goals, right? Right. "Well, after UMH I'll probably stay here and look for a job," he laughed. "I think knowing the area and connections would help." He did not want to rely too heavily on his connections or anything like that but a lot of people at the hospital knew him and there would be a chance that some of them would still know him when he was graduated from medical school and ready to try and make some sort of mark on the world. "Not to say I can't make it somewhere else, it just might happen faster in an area where I'm trusted." Realistic, that's what he was trying to be. He wished he could say with full confidence that he could become a brilliant doctor anywhere in the world simply because he was Joshua Dale but confidence did not mean he was too cocky. There were limits. "I considered taking a break but I knew I'd go stir crazy if I did that." He had contemplated a year off in which he'd focus more on studying than school so that he could get a really good headstart but then he'd reconsidered and realised that a life without school would mean a whole lot of time feeling lost and uncertain of what to do with himself. "I'm guessing graduate school isn't as necessary for what you want to do? I'm stuck with it, but..." Not every career demanded a graduate degree and so maybe Skye could avoid it altogether and still do alright.
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Post by SKYE JESSICA FORD on Jun 24, 2012 0:40:50 GMT -5
Skye had never been a huge fan of gym class either, though it wasn't for a lack of fitness or anything. Actually, she liked to consider herself a pretty healthy and fit person, thanks, though she didn't actually have time or anything to go to the gym these days. Still, there was always something about the class itself that grated on her nerves, probably other people's competitive attitudes or being forced to play stupid sports and games that she'd never liked. Luckily for Skye it wasn't quite as mandatory or anything anymore, and she'd dropped all kinds of gym classes the second she'd been able to. "Ah," she said in comprehension, though, when Josh mentioned this alliance grudge. This could mean... a few things, actually. It could be a Water or Earth professor who hated Fires regardless of their actual stance on the alliances. More likely, though, it was a Fire or Thunder who hadn't yet outgrown this entire prejudice thing, and hated him for being a traitor. That was kind of sad, honestly, that a grown man wasn't able to let something let that go, but she didn't say this aloud, though she didn't think Josh was likely to disagree with her in this particular case. "Sorry to hear that. It can get a little... petty." It was an institution she understood, at least to an extent, but that didn't make it any easier to stomach in cases like these, not being really able to see the people she was close to. "And nothing quite as bad, he was just sort of an awful teacher. He had pretty high expectations but never actually explained what he wanted, that kind of thing." She liked when teachers laid things out plainly. With subjects like English, it was sort of ridiculous.
She wasn't as much of a scholar as Joshua was, not by far, but she did take the things that hse did do pretty seriously, and even for subjects she couldn't stand, Skye at least tried. Admittedly, it was a little hard to try all the time, especially when for certain classes she really honestly couldn't give less of a fuck, but Skye had made it to the end of her Junior year of college, and it was honestly too late to quit now. It was too late to even consider quitting now, too late to even try going into an exam ill-preparedly. To be fair, though, she didn't invest quite as much time as she was sure Joshua did into things like these. The way he managed to balance everything was kind of frightening. "Yeah, that's true. Lucky thing, too, could you imagine doing that and then having to go write an essay in an hour or something?" It sounded awful. She didn't like essays in the first place (why, oh why was she a political science major?) but the prospect of doing one for an exam while she was already half-asleep from an elemental exam was enough to make her cry. Fortunately, the Academy seemed to take this into consideration. "Do you think they'd want to move, though?" she asked, out of curiosity more than anything else, but she didn't want him to feel obligated to answer the question. She didn't really know Annabel or Nell all that well, after all, so it might make it a bit awkward. "Yeah, right now and in the future too," she said with a nod, referring to the entire medicine thing at UMH. "I guess it doesn't make much sense to just uproot and start all over again in a new city or anything, no." She envied that kind of stability. It would only be a few months, really, before she started having to make those types of decisions.
Connections would definitely help in an area like that, Skye thought, but then again Josh was planning on becoming a doctor, if she wasn't very much mistaken. They were normally in high demand whatever connections they had. Of course, having that kind of thing would probably help. "Well... I guess you've really spent a lifetime building up a relatively good reputation here for that kind of thing," she said kind of pensively, thinking this over. Obviously he couldn't have been volunteering at the hospital or the retirement home, certainly, for too long, but it had been a while now. That would probably speak volumes when he was seeking a job later. Plus... there was also Josh's father. "Yeah, that's definitely true. Not what you know, it's who you know... and such." She didn't really know anybody, now that she thought about it -- nobody that she could really count on for that kind of thing, but then again Skye didn't have much of a career path yet. This was sort of the thing about going to get an education without having a plan beyond that. She didn't really regret it. Still, maybe working for Patricia in the upcoming year would be helpful in that aspect. "Well, you never know what could happen. Could always do something really interesting in that year off... I see your point, though." She wouldn't mind time off from studying quite as much as he did, but it would be weird not having something to do for such a long period of time. "Well, that's... all up in the air," she said, waving a hand as if to dismiss the thought easily. She at least hoped that she would (still) have a job by the time she graduated, but nothing was set in stone for Skye.
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