more uni au hcs because i cannot be stopped (ignore how most of these things don’t actually have anything to do with college)
Collie:
Collie fell first and Gary fell harder. But Gary technically made the first move. Tried to kiss him, tripped and absolutely wiped out during fall of freshman year. Collie laughed at him.
He and Gary were actually surprisingly fast friends but they fought very frequently over stupid shit. Almost always Gary’s fault.
More bark than bite. Hasn’t been in many physical fights in his life because the threat of one usually dispels people’s aggression. He doesn’t like fighting.
He and Gary fucked on the first date.
He idolized his father growing up. Wanted to be just like him. He’s a teacher.
He’s a younger brother. A very annoying one at that.
Called his older sister when absolutely anything went wrong for the first five months of schooling. She was sick of him.
Two other siblings both younger, both girls. One is twelve and the other is eight.
Second best gpa in the group, Stebbins is first.
Only studies for finals and anything with math. He says he doesn’t need to. He doesn’t.
His roommate is Abe. He’s also Collie’s closest friend. The first to find out about him and Gary. Tried to talk him out of it for actual hours.
The only one in the group that has an entirely separate friend group. When he’s not with the main 8 he’s probably with Abe, Pearson, and Scramm.
His government name is Colin and people call him Collie because that’s what his older sister could pronounce after he was born. It stuck.
Gary:
Begrudgingly folds first when arguing with Collie every single time.
Sleeps best next to Collie, usually wakes up first.
He and Abe do not like eachother at all. It started because Gary stayed over one night, before he and Collie even got together, and in the morning Abe pointed out that he snores and Gary got way too defensive about it. They manage to be cordial for Collie’s sake. Sometimes.
He was Collie’s first experience with a guy. Very smug about it.
His math teachers loved him in school. He’d answer too many questions in one class and get really self conscious about it afterward though.
Loves his meemaw more than anyone else in his family. She was the first person who ever understood him. Surprisingly, Stebbins was the next.
Stebbins is his roommate and they waged absolute psy war on each other the first few months they lived together. Stebbins saw him in a way no one really had before and it made him sick. They got it together eventually. Not before Gary got mad and squeezed out all his toothpaste one night. Stebbins wasn’t even that mad. He was just kind of confused and ultimately landed on finding it funny.
His comfort movie is Scooby Doo (2002). He only watches it when he’s upset.
The first time he started hitting himself in front of Mcvries he threw something at him. It distracted him enough for him to stop. Which was the goal though it did end in a screaming fit. Mcvries still considers it an accomplishment.
Once he figured it out, he never really had an issue with himself being gay. It was all the other stuff about himself he didn’t like. His family was a different story.
The only person in his family he’s told is his mama in freshman year of high school. She acted like she didn’t hear him. (i’m thinking this is what triggered the spoon incident)
He’s never telling his father.
He and Collie’s relationship was secret for a while. Neither are very into pda and they just kinda forgot to tell anyone.
Has never won in a fair fight. He bites people.
First person in his family to go to college.
Pete:
He met Priscilla at the end of middle school when her family moved to Jersey. She’s originally from Texas.
They were perfect high school sweethearts until junior year. Pete was in Art Club and Poetry Club and she was in Swimming and Diving. They got homecoming royalty and everything.
That summer they tried to run away, book style, before Pete realized he was not built for that.
They barely last two months.
In this au the scar doesn’t happen then, and instead of suggesting they elope, Pete asks her to go back home. She does. She never stops resenting him for it.
Pris breaks up with him a week into senior year.
They’re back together 3 months later.
This cycle happens four more times and the scar happens the third time.
They don’t even really like eachother anymore they’re just in it to torture the other.
By this point they’ve already graduated and Pris is in school and Pete is taking a gap year to focus on his art.
They broke up again the night he got the scar and a month later Pete stopped painting and started writing.
His writing is ironically the thing that gets him excepted into The University of Maine.
The final time they saw eachother was essentially a one night stand a few days before Pete left. The scar had healed by then.
(let me be soooo clear Pete did not get the scar the same way he did in the book. It was a physical fight on both sides.) -> this is the actual hc for it from a previous part: Got the scar in a physical altercation with his ex girlfriend. Both swear up and down the other started it but neither can actually remember. It was not the last time they saw each other.
He left for Maine and met Ray at orientation about a week later.
On a lighter note, he had braces in middle school.
He fell first, Ray fell harder.
He and Ray got together so fast its not even funny. A month from when they met at most.
He does love Ray, but he hasn’t said it yet. He doesn’t want to spring it on him. Ray ends up saying it first before they both go home for winter break.
Ray:
A week after orientation Ray and Pete put in requests to switch from their current roommates to move in with eachother. It did not work until Pete started writing annoying ass long letters to the admissions office and they gave in so he’d leave them alone.
Jan is studying English and Ray is studying philosophy.
This is book canon but he taught her how to knit. Sometimes he gets a sweater in the mail and sometimes she gets a scarf.
Ginny Garraty was an almond mom. It came from a place of love but manifested itself horribly. She wanted him to be in a good position to get scouted but gave him so many issues that will need to be unpacked eventually.
She did not like Jan. But she’d take her over Jimmy so she said nothing.
Because of the negative impact of Ginny’s reaction Ray is not very well versed in any type of sex ed. He dissociated during the school classes and never asked his mom anything.
His favorite color is green. Pete was wearing green at orientation and it’s what made Ray talk to him. He says it was a sign.
Art:
sorry bakerson shippers i went with sunnybunny (stebbins and baker) for this au. they are roommates tho!
He and Stebbins play chess together and they both cheat every time in increasingly ridiculous ways. (Art has texted Hank to come over and threw pieces across the room while he distracted Stebbins)
Stebbins makes him tea. A Lot. Art is sick of tea. But he drinks it anyway.
Stebbins peels oranges for Art all the time and just expects him to know what it means. It works well enough.
He is also friends with Abe. Thats actually how he met Collie. The three of them hung out a few times before Collie joined the group.
He and Hank clicked immediately. They were very fast friends.
He likes bugs. His favorites are lightning bugs. He grew up with them and when they just stopped showing up one summer he was devastated. (seriously where did they go??)
Art makes jewelry. His mother taught him how.
Art is less poor in this au than in either canon. He was in a similar financial position to canon until he was 12 and his father and uncle hit it rich.
No one really knows how they did it.
Hank is trying to get him to stop smoking. It’s working slowly.
He gets up with the sun a lot.
Collie has to physically stop Abe from gambling with Art. He will cheat every time. Abe’s ego is too large for him to quit so now Collie just laughs at him.
Billy:
Fell for Art first and harder.
Horrible immune system. Always getting himself and Gary sick. It’s to the point where Gary hears him sneeze and immediately starts packing a bag to stay with someone else. (Collie)
Art takes care of him every time but he is very dramatic about it. Threatened to order a hazmat suit the third time Stebbins transferred a sickness to him.
Frequently pulls all-nighters. Multiple instances of Barko tiredly telling him to go the fuck to sleep at 3 in the morning when Stebbins’ computer light is bothering him.
He has stayed up multiple times for the sole purpose of bothering him.
Surprise surprise! He loves rabbits.
I’ve decided he’s from North Carolina. He has a red ford truck that he leaves at home over the summer.
Big infodumper once you actually get to know him.
Richard:
His roommate is Pearson! They get along really well. He’s in the newspaper with him and Gary.
He and Pearson write articles, Gary takes pictures and Richard considers the three of them the only ones qualified enough to be there. It is very annoying for everyone else.
He and Gary got closer when Richard was badgering him about his childhood and Gary told him about the time he almost drowned when he was younger. They had a “Jessica Gives Me a Chill Pill” moment. -> (Jessica has a forehead scar from the deep end of a pool. I ask Jessica what drowning feels like and she says not everything feels like something else.")
(i remembered the poem existed while working on the pinterest board and since i made Harkness a surfer i thought it would be cool for him to ask someone that. and gary’s the only one i could really see being in some type of position to drown. Maybe he grew out his hair to hide that scar?)
He and Pearson gossip together. Often. They have a separate anonymous school gossip blog because they’re messy.
i am a holson shipper!! so hcs for them
Gives Hank the silent treatment when they argue. Drives him crazy. It’s a bad habit and Richard knows it but it’s the type of thing he grew up watching his parents do.
He fell first and Hank fell harder. Hank confessed first.
They met when Hank was cramming for one of the first tests of the year in the library. Hank was reallyyy mean, realized 5 minutes later, and reluctantly apologized to a very confused Richard who hadn’t even really realized Hank had been being rude.
They were the last ones in the group to get together.
Hank:
He and Clementine briefly tried to do long distance and then realized that they just didn’t want to. She went to school in DC. They broke up 3 weeks after they left for school. They don’t talk but they still follow each other on social media.
He gets Richard flowers once a month. He always acts like it’s the first time and Hank has to stop him from crying in public. It’s really sweet though.
He and Barkovitch do NOT like each other. This does not change in any universe. Olson started it. When in a group setting they have to be kept away from each other.
He and Gary have fist fought before. Gary did bite him. Nobody won because they just rolled around on the ground for a while and Collie and Richard acted like they didn’t know them.
He’s the fastest person on the soccer team.
Has an ice box in the mini fridge in his dorm for Art’s nosebleeds. Hank will hold it on his nose for him.
ok!! that’s a wrap on this part of the uni au!! thank you for reading and this ended up much longer than i expected. i love them so much PLEASE ask me about them i have so much to say
