watch me thrive

camila "cam" rivas. freshman. science is cool.

[camilaxrivas-blog]

What about everything we've been through?

Sing along time! My sister’s watched that movie so many times; I know all the words.

[gottakeepmovinon-blog1]

“I know, right? Like it’s real stupid. I mean, a lot of internet challenges are. Like the Cinnamon Challenge, which could actually kill you. Or the Flour Challenge, or some 100 Layer Challenges. Least the Ice Bucket Challenge had a cause behind it and was harmless fun, jeez.”

[camilaxrivas-blog]

“Maybe people just feel as though, if they’re going to consume an unsafe and rather revolting amount of food, they should make sure the world sees. But when other people emulate it, then that’s just... a very bad idea. Fortunately for you, I plan on making a normal amount of eggs so there will be no challenges this morning.”

[jossio-deactivated20191206]

“Oh… Huh. That’s real cool.” Jack said lamely, not sure how to respond. It was interesting to learn, yeah, but he couldn’t exactly say why he was looking into evolution. Jesus, he’d sound like a complete head case.

“Yeah, exactly.“ Jack replied with a small, tentative smile. “I just wish I had more time to explore around.”

[camilaxrivas-blog]

Realizing she’d been rambling on about something scientific yet again, Camila just nodded enthusiastically, letting the subject drop before she said anything more. “Classes and homework don’t really facilitate much exploring time. But if you have to go out and take photos, at least that give you a chance, right?”

[camilaxrivas-blog]

❣- What calms your muse down?

With her brain generally at least fourteen steps ahead of her, Camila needs a lot of focus to relax sometimes. Speaking with her family always helps, and so she has a scheduled weekly call with at least one relative. Occasionally she’ll cook a meal or read a novel as a distraction. She also started doing yoga recently, and has found that very helpful, since it’s both a great relaxation technique and a way to challenge herself.

[rewindingleila]

“The coasts are what’s really important anyway. I hope you know Colorado, though – oh my God, I just realized how extra embarrassing it is that I barely remember the four corners when I live in one of them, pretend I didn’t just point out my own flaws.”

[camilaxrivas-blog]

“I do know Colorado! It’s the state on the other side of Utah from Nevada, so that one I can remember. Hey, I won’t judge. You’ve already beat me in the American geographical challenge. Plus, New York City is a tiny speck in the actual state, and all of the states around it are tiny. And there are those two that look the same except one’s upside down.”

[gottakeepmovinon-blog1]

“Oooh, never had spicy eggs before, so this’ll be a learning experience,” Blake rubbed her palms together in anticipation, licking her lips as if she’d already tasted the forthcoming food. “Okay so the California Reaper challenge is basically a challenge where you gotta eat the California Reaper. Self-explanatory, really. But like, apparently it’s the hottest chilli pepper in the world and for some reason that makes people go ‘I GOTTA GET ME SOME O’ DAT!’ and again, like why? It just sounds like some bizarre torture method.”

[camilaxrivas-blog]

“Hopefully a positive learning experience,” she pointed out as she headed toward the cabinet to get out a few more supplies. Though Camila’s cooking usually received quite positive reviews, so she wasn’t worried. “That... seems very unwise. I love spicy foods, but they’re meant to be flavorful and delicious. Not painful. It sounds more like something a not so great friend would try to sneak into your meal; I can’t imagine electing to simply eat a flaming hot chili plain like that.” She couldn’t help but cringe a little at the prospect.

[camilaxrivas-blog]

♯

♯- Something that gets your muse angry

Aside from an insult to her family, there are two main topics that rile up Camila:

Ignorant or rude comments about Mexicans, since she is very proud of her origins. She will fight people (verbally) if they try to broach their opinions with poor backing.

An assertion that STEM subjects are really better reserved for men (though an implication of any kind that men are better than women will at least earn someone a less than pleasant look from her).

[camilaxrivas-blog]

☮

☮- How much your muse worries about appearance?

Most of the time, Camila’s not very worried about how she looks. She tries to make sure her clothes match and her hair is brushed, but that’s about it.

With her younger sister frequently complimented for her prettiness, Camila happily defers to Luisa as the loveliest of the Rivas children. She does not really expect anyone to comment on her appearance, and thus aims to gain recognition almost solely for her brilliance, especially since she feels she earns those.

However, when she needs to dress up for an event or make an important presentation, she puts immense care into her appearance, laboring over the entire process to an extreme compared to a daily routine. When she’s simply headed to class, it’s the last thing that matters. Yet when Camila needs to do something more, she uses somewhat of a ‘go big or go home’ mentality.

[camilaxrivas-blog]

‽

‽- Something your muse has problem in understanding

While she has an incredibly high level of intelligence, Camila remains clueless on many topics, both ones she’s tried to comprehend and those she’s simply avoided.

One major example is iambic pentameter. Despite having studied it in high school, and finding the concept relatively sensible, she cannot for the life of her manage to construct a sentence of her own in such a rhythm. In conjunction with this, Camila really struggles to wrap her head around how to write poems, and is always impressed by people who do so quite liberally.

Another place she finds herself lacking any real sort of understanding, albeit here without having ever put in an effort to do so, is with the minions from Despicable Me. Having never watched the film, she doesn’t get the appeal of small yellow blobs waddling around and speaking in babbles. She would never speak against anyone’s appreciation for them; it simply makes no sense to her.

[shittyrpstartersforpp]

SEND ONE FOR A HEADCANON I HAVE FOR MY MUSE

❤- What does your muse look forwards on their soulmate?

❥- Can often/easily can your muse get heartbroken?

❣- What calms your muse down?

ღ- Sexuality?

⌚- Does your muse worry about time?

❅- Favorite time of the year?

✿- Does your muse like the nature in general?

✞- Does your muse have any kinds of religion?

✍- Can your muse write? How well/How bad?

✎- Can your muse draw? How well/How Bad?

☁- What kind of weather does your muse consider the best one

ツ- Can your muse speak any other language other than their main one?

∞- Does your muse believes in afterlife?

✺- Something your muse finds pretty

✆- What your muse’s phone gallery is filled with?

❦- What is your muse’s favorite fruit?

❧- What is your muse’s favorite kind of food?

‽- Something your muse has problem in understanding

☺- Something that makes your muse happy

☹- Something that makes your muse sad/upset

✉- How often does your muse text?

⌨- How often does your muse use the computer?

♫- What is your muse’s taste in music?

♯- Something that gets your muse angry

⋆- Your muse’s future dream and why

☮- How much your muse worries about appearance?

[rewindingleila]

“Unless I were like planning a US road trip – that might be fun, maybe we should all do that one summer. Like, a geography field trip. Is Idaho the long skinny one, or is that Iowa?”

[camilaxrivas-blog]

“A road trip sounds like a lot of fun. Think of how much you would get to see! All of the different landscapes; that would be fantastic. Oh, I am totally the wrong person to ask. I’ve never tried to memorize the states! I can get like... California and Florida.”

[rewindingleila]

“We did, oh my God. Memorize and label. At least when I was younger and I just learned a song with all their names I didn’t have to know where things actually were. If I’m lucky now I’d remember like which four states are in the four corners; other than that the middle is a huge mess to me.”

[camilaxrivas-blog]

“That sounds... very tedious. Not because it’s a lot of work, but just how futile memorizing all of that seems for the future. Songs can make for useful mnemonic devices, so that does sound helpful. Yeah, I can pinpoint Nevada but which one’s Wyoming? I always mix it up with Montana.”

[rewindingleila]

“Maybe it’s Maryland’s next door neighbor? Or is that Pennsylvania? Or both? Ugh, teachers think they’re so clever when we memorize this stuff in seventh grade but then it’s all right out of your brain when it’s done. Last week I wasin a restaurant with all these state license plates and I like, couldn’t even remember the middle of the song that lists all fifty, it was pathetic.”

[camilaxrivas-blog]

“Did you really have to memorize every single state? There are too many of them to remember! Oh, well if you have a song for them, then that would certainly help. Now I feel like I’m slacking as an American resident and I need to review my geography.”

[jossio-deactivated20191206]

“Yeah… I guess so. But, doesn’t evolution take millions of years? How can you observe it now?” He asked, confused. It was difficult for him to connect the dots with all these things, particularly when he was kind of a production of evolution. At least, that’s what he assumed… It wasn’t as though he could just read a book about this sort of thing.

“Definitely. If you get the chance, going to North Woods of Central Park is really nice.“ Jack replied. “I definitely like the city. People say it never sleeps, but it’s cool to find the quiet parts of the city.”

[camilaxrivas-blog]

“The process of human evolution does, but watching the evolution of microorganisms, which is much faster, can give us a great look into how the evolution of larger beings goes or could have gone,” she explained, trying her best to keep the description simple. Camila wasn’t always as good with explanations as she was with the actual research.

She nodded, taking a mental note of the places he suggested with an appreciative smile. “In a way, finding quiet spots feels extra wonderful in the city since there seem to be none at first glance. And it’s nice to get away from campus sometimes.”

[gottakeepmovinon-blog1]

“Dude, I love spice when there’s flavor behind it. But like, when it’s just spice and nothing then why? That’s why I don’t get this whole California Reaper challenge thing people seem to be doing, why hurt yourself like that? Like, why? That being said though, some of those videos are hilarious.”

[camilaxrivas-blog]

“Spice always has to be there for the flavor, not just to make things hot. And if you’re in favor of it, then I’m going to make these eggs more exciting. What’s the California Reaper challenge? Are people just eating spices for no reason?”

[sentientphotoscanner-blog]

Penelope smiled instead of acknowledging the others dismissal. While it was true in a way, she was grateful nonetheless. She nodded at the girls question with a thoughtful look at the ceiling. ‘‘Yeah.’‘ Was the first thing she said absent-mindedly. ‘‘Although I have to confess that old feelings aren’t easy either.’‘ She didn’t want to know her own meaning behind those words. Hopefully Camila didn’t want to know either. 

[camilaxrivas-blog]

“Maybe just no feelings are easy,” she offered, her expression a mixture of happy and hopelessly unsure. For Camila, her love of research had always come second to her family, but before everything else. Tucking away potential feelings had always been her quick solve, though she knew that likely couldn’t last forever. “Then again, if life were simple, it’d be very boring. Having more to discover is the best part.”

[jossio-deactivated20191206]

Jack looked over at her, incredibly impressed. The thought of studying something like that made his head hurt, much less actually studying it. “Damn. That’s intense. But, uh, how does it contribute to evolution?”

He shrugged. “I’m from the suburbs, so mostly ponds, hills, some forest here and there. Get out far enough and there’s a whole lot of forest. It’s pretty nice, yeah. Nothing quite like it.” Jack said with a small smile. He considered himself more of a city photographer, but he loved the peace of the outdoors.

[camilaxrivas-blog]

She shrugged, yet kept smiling a little, always happy when thinking about her favorite fields of study. “In order to track the process of evolution, we can look at how microorganisms grow. After all, the first form of life on this planet was a single-celled microorganism, and they evolve at an incredible pace. Does that make sense?”

“Everything on campus and around it is so fast and busy. It’s great, but there’s something so lovely about finding a quiet spot.” Camila felt like she should probably scour out more of the campus so she could find a place to tuck herself away aside from the lab. “Ponds and hills seem wonderful right now. Though the city’s already grown on me.”