Looking at the clock, Tatenda realized there was absolutely no way she could finish her application before the submission deadline. And with that, the pressure was off - she was in freefail. With a huge sigh of relief, she kicked back and turned on the TV.

Stanislav had yet to collapse on the job, but he had pushed into the depletion zone on several uncomfortable occasions. It always came after several days of much stress and little sleep, and he could tell he was entering it when he found himself suffering from spontaneous waves of dizziness throughout the day.

It was proving to be a long day, but as the end approached Lotte realized with a start that the second half of last night’s pizza was still in her fridge. Knowing she wouldn’t have to worry about dinner and instead would be able to enjoy some effortless deliciousness provided a strong sense of cold pizza comfort.

Used to seeing movies with friends, Leandros didn’t realize until he walked out of the theater how lonely it would be to watch one alone. It was fine while the movie was going on, but now all he wanted to do was talk to someone about it, and surrounded only by strangers he was simply left rapporous.

Katerina had been with Easton for a long time - since high school. But lately she’d been wondering just how good their relationship actually was - she had no real basis for comparison. Was Easton holding her back? Was she settling? Should she be? She didn’t know, so she found herself spending more and more time hillgazing, considering cutting the cord and striking out alone.

Klara had been working late hours to finish her project. Now that it was time to present, she had a bit of a snorebuzz, and had to work extra hard to stop herself from snapping at the people asking questions that normally would not have annoyed her.

As much as Leon groused about busy days at work, they were in their way oddly relaxing. Freed from the tyranny of forethought and worrying about life’s other minutia, running from emergency to emergency provided liberfaltas and a clarity of purpose.

Dating and job hunting are both forays into compatibility markets. While you can do things to increase your marketability, fundamentally you still need to find an arrangement you’ll be happy with, and rejection says more about the mutual fit than about you yourself. The main difference is that while you may need a job to pay the bills, nobody strictly needs a significant other.

“Do you want some popcorn?” asked Gordy.
“What?” asked Taina.
“Want some popcorn? I made too much."
“Oh,” said Taina. “No thanks."
“See, I normally don’t make this much."
“Uh huh."
“I thought I was making less than this."
“Right. Well, thanks but no thanks."
“It looks so much smaller before it’s popped."
“Gordy, quit explavering - I get it. No thanks, I don’t want any.”

I know not all Giants fans are loud, annoying drunks. But whenever I took Caltrain on a game day, the train was crowded with people wearing Giants merch - and the more they were wearing, the louder, more annoying, and more drunk they tended to be. While I’m sure I’ve met many more pleasant fans without realizing it, it’s hard not to have a negative reaction to even just a Giants cap after all the stimaging by every Giants fan I realized I was meeting.

“Why do you guys make fun of Guillaume for being fat? You have plenty of heavier friends."
“The fat is just an insult rod. The truth is that Guillaume is an asshole. But there are more fat jokes than asshole jokes.”

Mingling at a dinner party, Jed found himself a few minutes into a conversation with an individual who didn’t let the fact that they were near-strangers stop him from sharing intimate details of his current relationship. Jed couldn’t fully stifle the quadin this made him feel, but resisted the urge to snap at his conversational partner or simply retreat and instead politely changed the subject.

When reaching the part of Sly 3 where the player is tasked with climbing a giant fox woman, Nela was unable to ignore a rising sense of arvire. She tried not to think about it too hard and just get through the level without feeling dirty.

After a particularly caustic argument with his officemate, Vimal found himself rescripting the argument, crafting different comebacks and looking for better ways to make his point.

Vilma had been trying for half an hour to start her latest article, and nothing she was coming up with seemed to work. Finally she decided to flucrepate, writing sentences that she knew were terrible but laid out the general flow of the ideas she wanted to focus on. She knew it would need a lot of editing, but at least it got the ball rolling.

Murron wanted to be a writer, and decided she’d write a thousand words every day. Trying to get through it after a hard day at the office was a serious challenge, as her brain felt like it was wrapped in cotton and even simple sentences were difficult and slow to craft. But she reasoned that the ability to push through the penlargos and write even when one was exhausted was what separated the writers from the wannabes, and she persevered.

Surveying the snacks in the office kitchen, Kristina marveled at the portion commitment anxiety in evidence - one person had apparently eaten a single Reeses cup and put the half-empty wrapper back with the others. Someone else - or perhaps the same person - had done similarly with an unresealable bottle of coconut water.

Lalia liked compliments well enough, but they didn’t have much impact on her self esteem. To feel good about herself, she had to regularly constructovalidate and see proof that her existence made the world a richer place.

As he studied for their impending exams, Abraham couldn’t help but feel a bit of myopinvy for the fun Sam was clearly having partying instead, but he knew their resultant grades would vindicate his choice.

Carla found her jacket to be a decently warm and comfortable substitute for a blanket when napping on the sofa, even if she did have to covertort under it and couldn’t stretch out the way she could in her bed.