#The single “defining” book of my life

[drowxiv]

Fandom peeps to get to know better

tagged by @cosmicharm & @ornerykarakul

tagging: @lilbittymonster, @beanmom-blogs, @houserosaire, @il-mhegs & anyone else who wants to do it! I usually don't talk about myself here, but since multiple people tagged me I figure I can divulge some information. None of this is super personal anyway.

three ships I like:

Link/Sheik (Zelda Ocarina of Time) Funfact: I have a handmade hardcover copy of an ancient M/M Link/Sheik fanfic.

Osha/Qimir (Star Wars: Acolyte)

Illidan/Maieve (World of Warcraft)

Side note: I'm a flexible shipper, so these three are my fav but in the case of Link and Illidan especially, I ship them with so many other characters within their respective IPs. first ship ever: Heero & Duo (Gundam Wing) & I have a photo of my High school locker to prove it.

last song you heard: Bastille - Pompeii

favorite childhood book: Catwings by Ursula K. Le Guin illustrated by S. D. Schindler.

currently reading: Rogue Elves of Ardani by Nina K. Westra

currently watching: Yeah not gonna lie my current obsession is watching the Game Grumps play through Danganronpa.

currently consuming: Firehouse Hook & Ladder sub, no tomatoes.

currently craving: Executive function & Inspiration

[aardvaark]

im so glad that we never get a clear picture of sophie’s background in leverage & i hope we never do. however i also really like making up various, often conflicting backstories for her in my head. perhaps they’re all backstories for an alias of hers, ones she laid to rest back in season two.

[mermaidsirennikita]

saw the "who's your most underrated Kleypas hero" question getting bandied about (again) today, and I must say, the only answers I'll accept are:

--John McKenna/Again the Magic (I'd argue that AtM is not the DEEP CUT newer Kleypas readers think it is; before I read it, it was definitely upheld as a classic of hers, but people who want the softer boys she writes in the Ravenels... may not like this one; however, McKenna fucks RIDICULOUS lbr)

--Alex, Lord Raiford/Then Came You (yes... he calls her a bitch.... and I'll be real this made me love him more... he carried her over his shoulder outta Craven's and bought her a bear I'm VERY confident in this choice)

--Kev Merripen/Seduce Me at Sunrise (thought he'd kill Win with his massive dick, tied her up and took her to his fuck cottage, is Heathcliff if Heathcliff wasn't horrible basically)

--Leo Hathaway/Married by Morning (fun bout wounded king, "haha" in the streets and "oh shit" in the sheets, notable for making Catherine ask him to touch her pussy in explicit and specific language)

[itsalwaysdark]

my tags on that went on for so long i had to go back and edit them to fit tag limit and i still had to delete a bunch of them. Its the autism it literally is

[yoonyia]

she asked me what my worst fall was, I replied with a simple answer

"we're falling into space, the worst fall is when we all hit the everything and die."

she smiled at the truth, or maybe she thought it was a joke, I don't think hurtling to our deaths is very amusing but shes the one running a country so who's to judge her. Not the 25 year old lady she was roommates with when she herself was 13 that's for sure, but then again who else could this girl talk to?

I asked miss Cousi questions. It was mostly stupid nonsensical questions. Something along the lines of 'how have you been?' and 'what is your opinion about intergalatic warfare?'. She cares about none of it, so her answers do not matter. I listen, I smile and I nod but I am not paying attention, unless she puts effort into her answers she will not get a reply out of me. What does falling into space and hitting the everything even mean? I was referring to injuries, why can't she understand that? I know she's not dim she reccorded the highest test scores in the entire history of the program, she's doing this to mess with me isn't she. She assumes I already know every experience that has ever happened to her, which I'm starting to think isn't far from the truth, she lives such a boring life its hard to even monitor without the system clawing for useless mandated signals. Just because it has been 6 months of her life and 20 years of mine doesn't mean she can't have done things I don't know about! She hasn't changed at all, I don't know why I assumed she would. It is human nature to assume you are the center of the universe and time and change revolves around you and you only, but weren't we chosen to live on this colony because we had no such misgivings? What was the test to get us on that rusty broken ship for anyways? Too many questions, what is she even talking about now, what question did I even ask, why can't you talk about something other then xenobiology, you're talking to a politician not a fellow member of the pampered art of looking at mold in plastic trays. She's exhausting, I regret every trying to talk to her out of pity, she needs no pity, she wouldn't have cared if she came back and everyone she knew was dead and english wasn't used anymore. I'm going to bed Cousi, (you don't deserve honorifics) I hope I never have to hear from you again.

[critterbitter]

re: your thoughts on legendaries (which is very cool and based) what’s your take on the differences between legends:arceus giratina and platinum giratina, especially since you defined them as hating the world? specifically the bit where giratina (at least seemingly) actively defended the world from cyrus trying to destroy it, after trying to do the same thing with volo’s help centuries prior?

Weird ghost worm upon yee (AND MORE ART BELOW CUT!)

Anyways, here’s my mad ramblings about Giratina and Arceus’s backstory.

Tldr: Giratina’s a conglomerate of angry souls scorned by Arceus.

(Here’s the playlist. It’s all about worms.)

How it Started.

The original one has chosen favorites over the passage of time. Heroes, legends, protagonists…

Arceus intervenes for those it loves, and the consequences of a god touching the mortal world is devastating in its entirety. One act of divine intervention causes entire civilizations to collapse. One whispered suggestion drives an entire legacy insane.

So Arceus, paralyzed by its love for the mortal world, acts very little, learning from its mistakes. Apathy soaks through every motion. And thus is the way of the world.

But people love the Originator. Religions are born from Arceus’s rare deeds, and generation on generation taught its benevolence. Imagine spending your entire life chasing after that golden light. Imagine knowing its real and there, and it loves you.

Imagine begging it for help, and seeing it turn away when you need it most.

I think those people would feel very abandoned indeed, if they spent their lives worshipping, and receiving no response at all.

Giratina is born from the abandoned, the lost, and the angry. They’re a hundred thousand souls who’s adoration turned to spite. They’re an entity who demands for Arceus to look at them, so they can finally rest.

Arcues can not look at them in full, because if it does Giratina will fade.

(Scio, beloved. For I can not let you go.)

So the Original One banishes the Unwanted Beast into the distortion world, and Giratina seethes, and starves, and screams.

(Here are two truths about the Beast Between Dimensions—

1. Some part of them still loves Arceus. Arceus is their anchor, after all— the sole reason why they exist, why they are. But Arceus can not love it back in a way that matters, and that hurts.

2. Giratina is made of a thousand voices. Some of these voices remember that there’s a world above. They miss it.)

Why Giratina attacked Hisui in PLA:

PLA Giratina’s not a new god, but they’re very, very bitter and barely coherent on a good day. Volo serves as a conduct to help unite the broiling mass of ghosts against Arceus, and thus Giratina’s hatred overcomes any flickering affections they have for the land.

It doesn’t help that Arceus intervened for Hisui, sending Akari to directly stop Volo from summoning Giratina.

(As for Volo, well.

Imagine being a child who was thrown into the future due to Palkia and Dialga’s fits, who learned his people (his world) no longer exist beyond a shadow in the history books and a single, bitter lore keeper.

Volo doesn’t remember his original culture beyond vague imprints and singing praises to Sinnoh, but he knew he was loved, and he knew his family is dust four hundred years in the past. There’s a special sort of rage in him that echoes Giratinas.)

(Why did you abandon my people, Arceus? What kind of god are you, to leave those who love you so callously behind?)

(Maybe some part of Giratina recognizes Volo, beyond a feeling of kinship.

Maybe some part of Giratina grieves because it recognized the child Volo was.)

When Volo gets his pound of flesh, (when he realizes Arceus is not beholden to him, that the inherent alien morality Arceus holds is not a personal slight), Giratina will finally rest.

Anyways what I’m trying to say is: Arceus is never a person, but a nebulous embodiment of the connection shared between pokemon and humans. It tries to experience what it’s supposed to embody, but millennia of watching people be and cease has given it choice paralysis, apathy, and a hoarding issue. If something lasts forever next to it? Good.

Giratina was once a person. (Correction, a LOT of persons.) They don’t think very linearly either, but they have context on mortal matters and are thus the more benevolent and malicious of the two. One day, time will smooth them into something like Arceus. We can only hope the two keep each other in check.

THE DIFFERENCE OF LEGENDS ARCEUS GIRATINA VS PLATINUM PEARL GIRATINA

If the ancient version of giratina is an angry conglomerate of ghosts scorned by Arceus, the modern iteration of Giratina’s a creature that’s more settled in its skin and more assured in its duties. Giratina still has beef with Arceus, but they unionized into one being who’s love of the mortal world has triumphed over its ancestral grudge. One might even postulate they have shifted their anchor from Sinnoh the god, to Sinnoh the place.

((We call this character developement. Good for you, weird ghost worm!))

(((FULL DISCLOSURE, VOLO BEING FROM THE PAST IS INSPIRED FROM FOXFALL. You know. The fic that got me into this fandom. Please give it some love.)))

[vexwerewolf]

I’m suddenly getting swathes of Lancer hate across my feed… Has something happened in the fandom? “Union is ______ how could they paint them as even remotely good. They allow _____, and I hate the devs they are ______. The whole thing is just 40k with communist veneer”.

Like am I taking crazy pills…? I thought that all of the problems were literally like right there on the tin “we are a utopia in progress! We will obtain it by any means possible even if it means being everything we say we are not/fighting against. As the player you decide what is right. How much will you ignore for someone else’s idea of utopia?” Like doesn’t it mean all the tools to actually change are there and that is the HOPE aspect of all of this?

(Sorry if this in incoherent grammar is a weak point and I pulled something in my back simply standing up. Now I am sad and crook backed in spasmodic pain)

This isn't an argument I feel super enthusiastic about stepping into, because it gets the most annoying sort of people in your mentions eager to maliciously misrepresent what you say.

However, yeah, there are some pretty terrible readings of Union floating around. I'd invoke "media literacy" because think that a lot of this comes from people not really holistically engaging with the fictional future history of Lancer, but also from a sort of dogmatic purism that requires future societies to be flawless, else they're irredeemable.

It is important to note that ThirdComm is the direct descendant of two highly imperfect societies. FirstComm was formed as a response to the Three Great Traumas of discovering the Massif Vaults (and thus that they were the inheritors of a fallen world), the wars over the Massif Vaults, and the discovery of the lost colonies, all of which collectively showed humanity how close it had come to total extinction.

FirstComm decided that it had a responsibility to ensure that humanity never risked extinction again. It manifested this by trying to colonize every habitable planet it could find, pumping out ship after ship to seed the cosmos with as much human life as it possibly could. This led to problems when it encountered civilizations like the Karrakin Federation and the Aun, who had been carrying humanity's torch just fine by themselves, thank you very much.

SecComm was an Anthrochauvinist fascist state. The book defines it thusly:

We can see a lot of Anthrochauvinist historical romanticism in the mech naming schemes of Harrison Armory, SSC and IPS-N - the fact that Harrison Armory names its mechs after great military leaders of pre-Fall Earth history, IPS-N does the same with naval figures, and SSC uses the names of Earth animals. Even the GMS Everest is named for a mountain on Earth. It's very Cradle-centric.

Anthrochauvinism was, to be clear, largely just an excuse for colonialism and hegemony. Atrocities could easily be justified under by stating that whoever they're being committed against were a threat to the Continuance of Humanity - a term that SecComm got to define.

It's also at this point that we have to zoom in from broad sociopolitical points to address one very specific piece of history: the New Prosperity Agreement. This was signed to prevent the outbreak of a Second Union-Karrakin War, and mandated that the Karrakin Houses would maintain privileged levels of autonomy within Union, and that they would be granted colonial rights to the entire Dawnline Shore. This agreement, struck in 3007u, basically defines much of the current political situation today.

ThirdComm was a final and inevitable reaction to the atrocities, abuses and excesses of SecComm. The unspeakable horrors of Hercynia were the spark, but I need to stress how little Hercynia actually mattered in the larger Revolution - at the start of NRfaW, it's explicitly stated that almost nobody in the galaxy even knows where it is, let alone what happened there. The Revolution was a generalized response to SecComm's tyranny, with no single rallying cry.

The Revolution might also have failed entirely, but for a critical error by Harrison Armory: pissing off the Karrakin Trade Baronies. After getting kicked off Cradle, the Anthrochauvinist Party organised a fleet at Ras Shamra to try and retake Cradle. Simultaneously, however, they were attempting to secure protectorate agreements to steal worlds in the Dawnline Shore out from under the KTB. Putting these two together and making five, the KTB assumed that the fleet was pointed at Karrakis, and started the First Interest War.

The First Interest War initially favoured the KTB. They smashed the fleet above Ras Shamra and simultaneously conquered the moon of Creighton in the Dawnline Shore. However, they underestimated just how ruthless Harrison I was - he "retook" Creighton by relativistic bombardment, and then conquered four of the 12 worlds of the Dawnline Shore with mechanised chassis, a technology the KTB had not adopted and had no counter for.

To prevent further loss of life, Union was eventually forced to broker a peace agreement that saw Harrison I handing himself over to Union justice in return for Harrison Armory's continued sovereignty, and the KTB joining Union as a full member state.

So, with that historical context out of the way, let me get to the second part of this absurd essay I'm writing.

Third Committee Union isn't a civilization that arose from whole cloth. It's shaped by five thousand years of Union history, six thousand years of post-Fall history, and six thousand years of pre-Fall history before that. It is, ultimately, an extremely well-thought-out and well-worldbuilt fictional polity, in that all of its imperfections come from traceable root causes in its history.

Why does ThirdComm permit the abuses of the KTB? Because to stop them, it would likely have to go to war, and such a war would butcher billions. Worse, to do so, it would probably have to ally with Harrison Armory and make horrific concessions.

Why does ThirdComm permit the expansionism and cryptochauvinism of the Armory? Because to stop them, it would likely have to go to war, and such a war would butcher billions. Worse, to do so, it would probably have to ally with the KTB and make horrific concessions.

Nobody in CentComm likes that Harrison Armory are empire-building expansionists. Nobody in CentComm likes that the KTB has a hereditary nobility and enforces blockades against planets that rebel against it. The problem is that ThirdComm is, in historical terms, still relatively new. They've been around five hundred years, and compared to the 1600 years that SecComm was around and the 2800 years FirstComm existed for, that's not very much.

ThirdComm is attempting to decouple itself from the Cradle-first politics of its predecessor, and to amend the many, many atrocities committed in the name of Humanity. It is not easy to do any of these things. SecComm was defined almost entirely by the fact that if it didn't like what you were doing, it would send in the military as a first response. Every time ThirdComm chooses to do the same, its legitimacy erodes, because the mission of ThirdComm is to prove that diverse, vibrant and compassionate human civilization can exist without devolving into war and bloodshed. ThirdComm always tries diplomacy as a first response because if it doesn't, millions of people could die.

[slytherinslut0]

MATTHEO RIDDLE- Beg For Me

Chapter One. Info: You and Mattheo have been butting heads for months, since you were assigned as his tutor, and one day during a session full of tense bickering, he has enough.

(This will essentially be a toxic book where we are Thèos fucktoy. No love here, very minimal fluff.)

Tags: Sub/Dom, Toxic Behaviour, Sub!Reader, Dom!Mattheo, Blackmail, Praise Kink, Begging, DubCon, CNC.

FIND THE REST OF THE CHAPTERS HERE.

You were a good girl, and an exemplary student. One who consistently demonstrated exceptional discipline and commitment. Your dedication to academics was unwavering, as you diligently followed the rules and guidelines, never straying from the prescribed path.

Your singular focus was on nurturing your intellectual curiosity, and you showed no interest in indulging in activities that might distract you from your educational pursuits. Your life was calm, quiet, and focused.

Until, one day everything fucking changed.

———

In the enchanted realm of Hogwarts, there resided a studious and exceptionally bright seventh-year Ravenclaw witch, known for her unwavering dedication to academics and her steadfast commitment to the noble pursuit of knowledge. This young sorceress, a paragon of virtue, refrained from the temptations that often lured her peers, steering clear of parties, alcohol, and the haze of smoke that veiled the Ravenclaw common room during clandestine gatherings.

Her life was meticulously ordered, her goals sharply defined. But the universe had a curious sense of humor, for it threw her into an unexpected affiliation with the most notorious bad boy in Slytherin:

Mattheo fucking Riddle.

He, the embodiment of rebellion, was a stark contrast to her pristine existence. Mattheo's reputation preceded him: a Slytherin troublemaker, one who was almost always found in the midst of chaos. His devil-may-care attitude was a challenge to authority, and there was not one singular individual that could tie him down.

Yet, fate had woven their paths together, forcing the astute young witch to confront the complexity of human nature, unraveling layers of his defiance while simultaneously testing the boundaries of her own steadfast resolve.

And that witch; that poor fucking witch--well, that was you.

———

"Please, Riddle...if you'd take a seat," you ran your tongue along the backside of your teeth, straightening your posture in your chair as you tried to contain your irritation. "...I must express my desire to commence our endeavors prior to the conclusion of the academic term."

"Eager, are we?" Mattheo sneered, sauntering toward the desk painfully fucking slow. "You know, Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither is mastery. I'll sit when I'm fuckin' ready to sit."

His voice was low, the sadistic drawl of his tone making your bones ignite with fury. Gods, he certainly fucking loved testing you.

"And I won't tell you again...call me Mattheo."

You inhaled a sharp breath, flattening out your blue uniform skirt against your thighs as you bit your tongue hard enough to make it bleed.

"Rome may not have been built in a day, but it certainly collapsed in one--now, I won't ask again, Riddle..." you looked up, meeting his dark obsidian eyes, fighting back a sadistic smirk of your own as he narrowed his gaze in challenge. "Take. A. Seat."

The words were clipped behind your teeth with an obvious urgency that shut Mattheo up for a few seconds, the gears turning inside his head as he contemplated how he could one up your little jab--a constant occurrence that seemed to happen every single fucking time you met with him.

At this point, your tutor sessions were an easy seventy percent bickering with the remaining thirty being a half-assed session of one-sided discussion where he mostly offers you fleeting blank stares while zoning you out. You hated that you'd agreed to this, but you knew you needed to get on (and remain on) Professor Dumbledores good side if you wanted a career here at the school after you graduated--and you were so fucking hungry for it you'd do almost anything to solidify your fate.

Even if it meant surrendering your sanity to the hands of Mattheo fucking Riddle.

You chose not to let him, of all individuals, tarnish your path. Your reputation, fragile as it may have been, resembled a tinderbox, and he was the combustible element, ready to erupt at any given moment. This resolve became your steadfast anchor, shaping the direction of your choices.

"You know," Mattheo said as he finally slumped down into the chair across from you, his tousled brown hair falling effortlessly over his forehead. "I was under the impression that the brilliant Ravenclaws such as yourself valued intellect over impulsive haste..." he tilted his head, his gaze scanning every movement of your body as you stared at him. "It was my understanding that impatience was more of a Gryffindor trait."

Your fingers trembled with palpable irritation, yet you understood the imperative need to suppress it. You couldn't afford to reveal just how deeply he affected you, realizing that acknowledging it would subject you to endless taunts and jibes, a fate you were determined to avoid at any cost. This restraint became your shield in moments such as these.

"You wish to discuss house values, Riddle?" You tilted your head, straightening out your posture once again. "Because I, in complete honesty, was under the impression that Slytherins were known for their resourcefulness...your reluctance to cooperate suggests a rather curious lack of ambition."

Mattheo narrowed his eyes, his expression growing icier. "Resourcefulness doesn't mean blindly following every stupid instruction thrown at you, and ambition means choosing the battles worth fighting, not wasting time on pathetic, trivial matters."

With a subtle smirk, he leaned back, hooking his arm on the back of his chair as he eyed your discomfort--seemingly undisturbed by your challenge--and you chewed on the inside of your cheek, somehow knowing he wasn't finished.

And of course, he wasn't. "If you really believe this seemingly-stubborn insistence on when or if I sit reflects a lack of ambition, you clearly misunderstand the depths of Slytherin cunning. We pick our battles wisely, and right now, this isn't one of them."

Your blood pressure surged, the crimson currents in your veins reaching their boiling point. Months of enduring relentless bickering and one-upmanship had pushed you to the edge--this man may be an utter degenerate but he certainly knows how to use his mouth when it matters. You could no longer bear the weight of this incessant game, and in a fleeting moment of frustration, you finally succumbed to the pressure.

You knew this was your breaking point.

"I'm just trying to fucking help you." You said, before you even realized you had. You hardly ever cussed, never out loud--that is. "If you don't want to be here, then get out. I promise you, you won't be hurting my feelings if you do."

He huffed, leaning forward and crossing his hands together on top of the desk as he wet his stupidly plush lips, a devilish grin swallowing his cheeks while he revelled in the fact he'd so clearly fucking won. Yet again.

"No," he said. "I don't think I will."

You clucked your tongue, irritated even further at his response, gaze narrowing ever-so-slightly before you rolled your eyes--brushing off his suffocating arrogance and pulling your textbook out of your bag, slamming it down on top of the desk between your bodies.

"The Grimoire of Arcane Relics?" Mattheo read the title out loud, voice laced with a confused, almost offended undertone. "We don't cover this until the middle of second term..."

You cocked an eyebrow. "And?"

"Seems a bit...hasty, to shove this down my throat so early on," his voice carried a sadistic drawl that nearly made you leap across the desk and choke him unconscious. This man knew how to fucking test you. "Would it not be far more beneficial to proceed in the order the books are taught?"

You drew in another swift breath, the fabric of your navy robes clinging to your form, trembling fingers smoothing out any wrinkles on your button-up blouse as you adjusted it.

"I was unaware..." you said, not bothering to look up. "...that the individual I'd be tutoring this term was in fact a professor, and not a seventh year student..." you glimpsed him now, offering him merely but a slight tilt of your head as you watched his jaw tense. "...I must have been ill-informed, do pardon my ignorance."

"A moment of self-awareness? What a fucking breakthrough for you, Raven...pity it took you so long." He was clasping his hands together on top of the desk with enough force to involuntarily crack his knuckles. "Maybe there's hope for you yet, though I wouldn't hold my fucking breath."

"Please don't," you said, teeth gritting. "We wouldn't want to deprive your already-oxygen-starved brain of any more, now would we? It needs all the help it can get."

Mattheo's gaze sharpened, his lips curving into a teasing smirk, highlighting the scars that adorned them. The effect he had on you was undeniable, a sensation you longed to dismiss more than anything. However, with every passing moment in his presence, resisting the pull of attraction became an increasingly futile endeavour--yes, he was suffocatingly arrogant, but Gods, he was fucking attractive.

And he knew it.

"Quite the fucking mouth on you, I'll admit..." he dropped his voice to a low whisper, so deep it practically rattled your bones as it vibrated through you. "Never met a Ravenclaw with such an attitude problem...maybe I could tutor you on how to fix that issue, once we're done here, of course."

Your stomach twisted, heat spreading through your veins like wildfire. Curse him and his painstakingly arrogant charm. Curse him to bloody hell.

"It'd be a cold day in hell before I take any sort of guidance from you, Riddle..." you whispered, your voice accidentally reverberating as a seductive pitch. "And even then, I'd probably still refrain."

"You don't know when to shut the fuck up, do you?..." his eyes darkened, an evil mischief crawling its way through his irises. "What would daddy Dumbledore think about the way you're speaking to me, huh?"

Your heart stalled. "I-"

Your words faltered as Mattheo stood up, moving leisurely like a predatory creature circling its prey, until he was right beside you. His eyes, sharp as daggers, bored into your skull, and he loomed over you, a sadistic smirk twisting his lips into a cruel curve. The sight sent a shiver down your spine, knotting your stomach with an unsettling mix of fear and desire.

He placed a singular hand on your desk, leaning down closer to your level. "Perhaps I pay him a little visit...perhaps I tell him that you've been missing lessons, that you've been extremely unprofessional...perhaps I somehow fail my next exam...perhaps-"

"Okay, okay!" You panicked, cutting him off. "You've made your point, Riddle...I'm sorry, okay?" The words were fucking painful as you forced them past your teeth, and you swallowed your ego, looking up at him with wide, innocent eyes. "Let's just get this over with, please?"

Mattheo huffed, gratified by how effortlessly his threats appeared to compel your submission. The gears turned in his head as he grasped the extent of the power he truly wielded over you. He fully understood that your entire post-graduate career almost certainly depended on his decisions, and he was eagerly anticipating taking action.

"I like the way you say please..." his voice was breathless, his dark eyes consumed by something you couldn't really identify as he slumped down in the chair directly next to you, his sight never once leaving yours. "Do it again."

Your body tensed, immobilized as he inched closer, his penetrating eyes scrutinizing your features with intense focus. It was no secret that Mattheo had been oblivious to your existence until he was placed under your guidance--despite being the most popular Slytherin student in the school, you, a practically invisible Ravenclaw, were easy to overlook. It had taken him over three weeks to even remember your name, a fact he never bothered to acknowledge, let alone use.

But within that time frame, within the time you'd been tutoring him; as much as he drove you mentally fucking insane, you couldn't deny that every time he'd show up for lessons with torn knuckles, cut lips and alcohol radiating from his breath--you couldn't help but to feel something in the pit of your stomach.

Whether that sensation was disgust, arousal, or sheer terror, you couldn't quite pinpoint. It was a feeling that whispered in your veins, urging you to surrender to the dominance he held over you. It screamed for you to let him have his way without resistance, because just as he commanded your obedience, he wielded the same control over the entire damn school. The prospect of defying him felt like a dangerous game you weren't willing to play.

"Riddle-"

He tilted his head, his face dangerously close to yours now, his eyes peering into your soul as he stared. As he wet his lips, his breath turning shallow, you felt a feeling brewing in the pit of your stomach, and one between your thighs as well.

"I said, do it again." His voice was a mere breath as it left his lips, his eyes studying you as though you were a page of a textbook. Not that he'd ever read one of those. "Go on, Raven...beg for me..."

Your breath hitched, and you involuntarily clutched the edges of the wooden chair between your fingers with an indescribable force. You didn't want to admit it--not to Mattheo, not to anyone really--but you were a virgin. You'd never even kissed a boy; your entire life was devoted to your studies...so this...this was extremely fucking new to you.

When you remained silent, Mattheo's eyes darkened even further, turning a shade of obsidian so intense they put even the stormiest midnight skies to shame.

"You want me to keep your perfect little reputation intact, hm?" He breathed, leaning closer. "You want me to help you stay on Dumbledores good side?"

Your throat was more arid than the desert, and you nodded, unable to blink--unable to peel your fucking eyes off of him.

"Then do as I say..." he murmured, a large battered hand finding purchase on your thigh, your entire body involuntarily flinching at the foreign contact. "I want to hear you, Raven."

You stared down at his hand resting lazily over the fabric of your blue uniform skirt--it's massive size swallowing up almost the entirety of your thigh, calloused palm catching on the pleats as it slid upwards, agonizingly slowly--and when he paused, stretching his fingers around the diameter of your thigh the best he could, fingers digging into your flesh as he squeezed; you gasped, involuntarily, and he huffed--bringing his lips dangerously close to your ear.

"One more chance..." he purred, and you could practically hear the smirk on his lips. "You won't like what'll happen-"

"Please!" You snapped, squeezing your thighs together out of pure desperation. "Please, Mattheo...please, let's just get this over with..."

"Mm." He hummed in satisfaction, slowly pulling his hand off of you. "That's fucking right..." he murmured, warm breath tickling your ear. "Nothing is sweeter than your submission, Raven."

You swallowed, not daring to look at him, nodding your head frantically in response as he pulled away, slumping back in the chair--not once peeling his eyes off of you, spreading his legs way-too-fucking wide as he made himself comfortable--he was silent, now, watching your chest rise and fall with each shallow breath, watching the way you squirmed in your chair at his sudden dominance--a dominance that had an effect on you that you couldn't even begin to describe.

And then, before you could even realize what was happening, Mattheo leaned back in, his fingers gripping your jaw and tilting your face towards his--and as you meet his dark, intoxicating eyes, your lungs stalled, entire body shrinking in your seat as he stared at you with such intensity that you felt like he could see right through you.

"From now on, I'm in charge here," he murmured, his voice low and dangerous. "Understand?"

You swallowed the lump of anxiety in your throat, and watched his darkened amber eyes as they glanced over your lips, lingering there for far too long, before returning back up to meet your gaze--something swimming in his irises that made your stomach twist.

When you were silent, he tilted his head, cocking an eyebrow. "Use your words, Raven..."

"Yes." You squeaked, voice barely audible. "I understand."

He hummed, a devilish smirk crawling across his lips, fingers digging into your jaw with added pressure as he pulled you closer, lips so close you'd touch with a deep enough breath.

"Understand, what?" He breathed, eyes dipping over your lips yet again. "Say my fucking name."

"Mattheo..." you couldn't breathe, couldn't move, could only obey his words as though he was controlling you like a puppet on strings. "I understand, Mattheo."

He huffed, smirking. "Good girl, Raven..." his voice was a mere breath as it left his lips, his full lashes fluttering as he blinked, meeting your eyes. "You learn so quickly...I should have done this months ago..."

When he pulled back, slowly releasing you, air slowly returned to your lungs; not enough to rid the dizziness from your brain but just enough to keep you conscious. Mattheo turned toward the desk now, as though nothing even happened, gesturing for you to start the lesson.

And somehow, you did.

—————-

Chapter two->

[p0orbaby]

Teddy Picker

summary: three’s a crowd might be an understatement

warnings: none

a/n: based on this request !

word count: 1k

-

Your bedroom is a war zone, but instead of landmines, it’s littered with plushies. Innocent, wide-eyed plushies. Each one has a name, a backstory, and possibly a retirement plan, because you take this stuff seriously. There’s Mr. Fluffington, the bear who "survived" your university years, Miss Whiskers, a cat with a questionable amount of fur left after years of cuddling, and God knows how many others.

Leah’s in bed, wedged between a life-size llama and a squishy avocado. She’s trying to read, but there’s a giraffe’s neck poking her in the eye, and a penguin is wedged under her knee in a way that defies the laws of physics. The woman’s practically sweating from the effort of not losing it.

“It’s like sleeping in a zoo,” she says, not for the first time. You’re not sure if she’s talking to you, herself, or Mr. Snuggles, the elephant who’s somehow become the unofficial leader of the bed plushies. “Except none of these animals breathe, and they all look like they’re judging me”

She’s not wrong. They do have that creepy, glassy-eyed stare going on. It’s the kind of gaze that says, “I’m cute, but if you fall asleep, I might just steal your soul”

You, of course, are oblivious to this. You’re flitting around the room, busy finding space for the latest addition—a bright pink octopus with a smile so wide it’s borderline unhinged. You plop it down right in the middle of the bed, where it immediately claims dominion over the blankets. Leah watches this, her jaw tightening like she’s about to have a full-blown existential crisis.

“Babe, I love you,” she starts, the tone you’ve come to recognize as the precursor to a very serious, possibly relationship-defining conversation. “But we’re running out of bed”

“We have a king-size bed,” you point out helpfully, like the size of the bed has anything to do with the impending suffocation she’s feeling.

“And yet, somehow, I’m sleeping in the fetal position on the edge of a cliff,” Leah retorts, kicking at a plushie that’s taken up residence near her foot. “Why is there a taco in our bed? We don’t even eat tacos in bed”

“It’s not just a taco,” you correct her, as if this explains everything. “It’s Señor Taco, and he represents my love of Mexican cuisine”

Leah blinks. Slowly. Like she’s buffering and trying really, really hard not to crash.

“And why is Señor Taco touching my leg?”

“He’s being friendly?”

“I swear to God, if one more inanimate object gets near my leg…”

“Look,” you say, climbing into the plushie mountain, where you promptly disappear like it’s some kind of portal to a magical, fluffy realm. You poke your head out, like a meerkat surveying the savannah. “They’re just… comforting”

Leah sighs, closing her book, or at least trying to, but it’s hard when the pages are partially obscured by a duck with a beanie. “I’m sure they are, but it’s like sleeping in a furnace. Do you know how much heat these things trap? I woke up last night thinking I was being smothered by a goddamn Build-A-Bear”

You laugh because, honestly, the mental image is hilarious, but Leah looks dead serious. She probably had a near-death experience with a rogue teddy bear last night, and here you are, making fun of her.

“We can get rid of some,” you offer, half-heartedly, because you both know you’re lying. You’re not getting rid of a single plushie. Not Mr. Fluffington, not Señor Taco, and definitely not the avocado, which you’ve started using as a neck pillow.

“Uh-huh,” Leah says, unconvinced. “And which one of these childhood relics are you going to sacrifice to save our relationship?”

You look around, as if there’s even the slightest chance you’ll willingly part with any of them. “What about the avocado?”

Leah perks up. “Really?”

“No, I was kidding. Avocados are healthy”

Leah groans, pushing the giraffe away from her face. “At this point, I’m pretty sure I’m allergic to plushies”

“They’re hypoallergenic,” you assure her, because you googled that once in a fit of paranoia after you brought home Mr. Snuggles and Leah sneezed for three days straight. She’s giving you a look now, one that says she’s rethinking every single decision she’s made since meeting you.

“Just… maybe… one night?” she pleads, voice softening, appealing to your nonexistent sense of reason. “One night without the army of stuffed animals?”

“Where would they sleep?”

“Anywhere but here. In the living room, in a wardrobe, in a goddamn plushie cemetery for all I care”

You pretend to think it over. “But then they’ll be lonely”

Leah throws her head back on the pillow and stares at the ceiling, contemplating the chain of events that have led her to this moment. “I think you’re confusing your feelings with theirs”

“Maybe,” you admit, settling in next to her, your body flush against hers, although there’s really only so much of Leah you can touch because Señor Taco’s taking up most of the space between you. You snuggle into her shoulder, despite the llama’s best efforts to wedge itself between you.

Leah wraps an arm around you, half-heartedly, more out of habit than actual affection at this point. “One night,” she whispers, like she’s making some sort of solemn vow. “One night where I’m not suffocating under a pile of polyester and fake fur”

You hum in response, already half-asleep, because honestly, plushies are the best. They’re soft, they don’t talk back, and they definitely don’t complain about how hot it is in the bed. They’re perfect, and Leah should really be more appreciative of the cute little ecosystem you’ve built here.

As you drift off, Leah’s already strategizing. She’s probably planning a plushie heist, one where she sneaks out of bed in the dead of night and smuggles Mr. Snuggles and his plushie gang out of the room and into some faraway closet.

But for now, you’re both stuck. You in your plushie paradise, and Leah in her plushie purgatory.

It’s a good thing you love each other because honestly, if there’s anything that’s going to test this relationship, it’s Señor Taco and his posse of cuddly, suffocating friends.

[bugsbenefit]

who's getting books and who isn't?

tells you a lot actually

in lieu of us getting a Dustin companion book soon i'm doubling down on my point about how insanely telling these books are about where the story is going. especially if you look as who is getting books. and i'm saying this both about El and Will (where it's already kind of obvious why s5 is important for them) as well as Mike (where it's also kind of obvious why s5 is important for his character but it hasn't reached mainstream awareness yet apparently lmao)

as of now Lucas, Max, and Dustin (about to come out), as well as Robin and Eddie, and even Hopper and Terry have one. and they all explore things outside of the main canon by doubling down on what filmed canon already established and adding a bit more layers since they have the time to focus on a single character (like exploring racism and how Lucas deals with it in his book, something the show doesn't dwell on, or exploring Robin's queerness, taking place before the events of s3)

and the focus these books have makes sense since they're mostly written by commissioned writers. so obviously they want to skirt any topics that delve too much into plot heavy areas where the writers a) wouldn't know where the story is going or b) even if they got notes, you don't want important lore drops that impact the later story dropped in companion books

in short we're getting extra story's about no spoilery topics the main story doesn't have time to/want to explore

which makes it all the more interesting we're already getting books about someone like Robin when you know if you asked fans what povs they'd like to see someone like El would rank significantly higher if you trust favourite character rankings. but for some reason El, Mike, and Will have never gotten one

and some of these reasons are just really obvious, especially when it comes to El and Will

1) they obviously can't just drop a book on El yet. on one hand, because her backstory with the lab is a major plot point of the show and they can't spoil it in a book (even if they tried excluding it, writing 200ish pages for a character who can't remember what happened before they turned like 8 is one of those things that would be kind of hard to avoid coming up). even post s4 there's still so many questions about her past and time at the lab, they just shouldn't give unlimited access to her inner monologue about it yet. and on the other hand, El finding her place in the world is quite literally one of her characters main recurring motives, even a companion book as innocuous as "El tries out hobbies" would be exploring something we'd kind of want to see on screen since it'd be a resolution to her character growth and not a fun side quest

2) they also just can't drop a book on Will. the fact that we never found out what actually happened to Will in the UD is already reason enough, the show clearly wants to explore it on screen later on. (now even more obvious since there's already confirmed s1 UD Will in the s5 official teasers). you really can't write a book from someone's pov who's main trauma and life changing moment is something you don't want to get into yet. just doesn't work

there's plot points the show obviously saved for later so both Will and El are pretty unfit as book topics

but with Mike that doesn't actually apply in the same obvious way. Mike not getting a book despite being the leader of the party, having the most on screen defined dynamics with the other kids, and being part of the shows "main" ship would be really odd. like. Really odd. on paper he'd probably be one of the first choices for an easy book protagonist for a fun party side quest. of course unless one of the two book deal breaker reasons applies also:

they can't give his pov because giving his unfiltered inner monologue would spoil s5

they want to explore something relevant to his character themselves on screen and it's not fit for a companion book

but again, in comparison to Will and El where the why is really obvious Mike sticks out because we don't officially know what he's got going on yet. he has no mysterious absence where we don't know what happened to him like with Will and no open ended origin story like with El

it just makes it a bit funnier to me how many people are still fundamentally unconvinced Mike has something going on that's important for the outcome of s5. post s2 the show tries to get some distance from Mike's head and he's joined the club of main characters who don't get books alongside major canon event magnets El and Will. and yeah, obviously you wouldn't want a book from the characters pov who's feelings and sexuality you're actively hiding. it's also a bit of a no brainer you don't want a companion work going into how he's not been doing so great over the past few years because the reasons for that are kind of relevant to the main story. Mike feeling guilty for El dying all the way in s1 is something that might be more fit to bring up in show when their relationship is being addressed instead of in side material

but all in all? the fact that out of all the kids El, Mike, and Will are the only ones who don't get secondary material yet is probably the biggest give away that the three of them are who s5 is planning to give the most insight on even all the in show build up aside. they're being skipped as book povs despite existing public interest and seeming like conventionally easy picks for book side stories

in the current economy around shows franchises, going against what'd be a good marketing decision is always a dead giveaway something is going on

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hm..im kinda shy about asking this, because maybe it's just an english language thing that i don't get (it's not my first language lol) but ive always wondered what the difference between "prefect" and "housewarden" was,, like, wouldn't the mc/yuu technically also be a housewarden, since they're the only one running ramshackle? aaa sorry if it's a bit of a silly question lol, but i just don't understand the difference,,, thank you, and i love your work very much!! 🩷🩷

So to clarify, Yuu is called 監督生 (“kantoku-sei/kantoukusei”), which roughly translates into “prefect”. Dorm leaders (or housewardens, as they are called in EN) are called 寮長 (“ryōchō”), which refers to “dormitory managers/leaders/superintendents”. The two positions are treated very differently in-game (and generally, prefect is NOT the same as a dorm leader), but it may be different in real life depending on the institution you’re looking at for comparison.

As I've mentioned in this post, I see dorm leaders as NRC's version of RAs (resident advisors/assistants). They’re students who work with school administration to oversee and to conduct activities for their respective dorm buildings/residence halls […] Similarly, the dorm leaders in TWST have certain responsibilities but are also granted power within their own dorm as well as certain privileges which extend beyond that. Common duties of a RA (I'll list some examples from TWST) include, but are not limited to:

Organizing and overseeing student educational programs and dorm activities (Riddle helps his students study to avoid failing, including Cater in Riddle's Dorm Uniform vignettes; he states that not a single Heartslabyul student has dropped out since he has become dorm leader. Various activities are orchestrated by dorm leaders, such as unbirthday parties, renting out their dorm for events, throwing banquets, etc.)

Planning accommodations for students and conducting new student orientations (dorm leaders canonically assign rooms to their dorm members, the prologue shows the dorm leaders escorting newly sorted freshmen to their dorms and showing them around, etc.)

Cleaning up and conducting monthly facility inspections (under the instruction of the dorm leader, members help with setting up and cleaning after events)

Enforcing rules and regulations, reporting incidents and recommending or enacting disciplinary actions as needed, and resolving conflicts between students in the dorm (most obviously seen with Riddle collaring students in the main story, but we've also seen other instances like Leona and Idia dealing with unruly mob students from their own dorms, each in their respective Dorm Uniform vignettes)

Acting as a liaison or representative between the school and students, or between the school and the community (Vil and Riddle especially stress the importance of their dorm members keeping in line, as it reflects poorly on them as the leaders if their students do not behave)

As you can see, many of the duties of a RA are carried out by TWST's dorm leaders. It is these responsibilities that define what a "dorm leader" is. A prefect is described by the Oxford Dictionary as “a senior student authorized to enforce discipline”. The definition implies that a prefect has fewer responsibilities and power than a RA (ie a dorm leader). We see this lack of responsibilities and power reflected in Yuu (who, again, is often called "prefect" in characters' voiced lines place of their name). For example, Yuu is NOT present in dorm leader meetings and does not participate in planning committees for events such as the cultural festival of book 5 or the interdorm tournament of book 2.

It is likely that Yuu is not acknowledged in the same capacity as a dorm leader for various reasons:

Yuu is not a full student (Grim is their "other half) and lacks magical capabilities at a school that is known for training mages. They are also not from Twisted Wonderland. Therefore, they are not a good "representative" of NRC.

Ramshackle is no longer considered a dormitory since it has fallen into disrepair; even if it was still considered a dormitory, Yuu has no students to watch over since the Ramshackle Ghosts are not students and Grim only counts as half of a student.

Since Ramshackle is not a dorm anymore, it likely does not receive funding for dorm-wide activities, maintenance, etc. Yuu has very few resources to do anything.

Yuu does not command any real authority through their title alone (which largely has to do with their status as a non-mage + otherworldliness and the “illegitimate” nature of their dorm); even the main cast has to be shown their merits through actions before Yuu earns a modicum of their respect.

If we put it like that, Yuu's only formal prefect responsibilities are to basically to keep Grim out of trouble and do whatever odd jobs Crowley saddles them with. I guess you can also say that Yuu "enforces discipline" on the NRC students when they get out of hand, but this depends on your interpretation of what Yuu does in the main story. In my opinion, Yuu does very little to actually "enforce discipline" and often relies on other students to do the heavy lifting for them; Yuu is just the one initially sniffing out the root of the problems.

It should also be noted that while the formal definition of "prefect" refers to a "senior" student, Yuu is considered a first-year student along with Grim. Seniority does not play a role here. (Although please keep in mind that being a "first year" does not necessarily mean Yuu is 16 by default; there are exceptions to the age = grade thing.)

In summary, dorm leaders are presented in TWST as generally "higher up" on the food chain compared to a prefect. They have more powers and tasks to carry out; the prefect, by comparison, does not. Most likely, Yuu was granted the title of "prefect" so that the characters have a generic thing to call them that is different from "dorm leader" but is also not their name (since players could change this); this is common for many joseimuke games.

[velchronica]

blue lock boys’ perfect matches ( part i ) ♬~*.°₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ bllk

charas: isagi, bachira, chigiri, kunigami, reo (seperate, aged up/pro, fem!reader)

୨୧ * my personal hcs on who the bllk boys would fall in love with, how they’d meet and some scenarios unique to their relationships * just for fun -> nothing serious ໒꒰ྀིᵔ ᵕ ᵔ ꒱ྀི১ * (part one/???)

isagi yoichi! ˖♡ ࣪‧♫ ₊˚໒꒱⋆✩

୨୧ * i feel like isagi would probably be the type who falls in love with the sports journalist interviewing him 😭 he’s such a football nerd & he’d defo suit someone who understands his passion, esp on a technical level. he defo rambles and borderline mansplains his tactics and plays to a sports journalist!s/o, but i also think he’s good at finding a decent work-life balance, so sports isn’t everything in your relationship.

୨୧ * isagi’s ability to separate his professional life aka his football ego/persona from his sweet irl personality would make him a green flag bf, bc he defo puts in as much effort into his relationship as he does football. he loves football, but he also loves his s/o just as much, if not slightly more, so while football is a prominent part in both your lives, it isn’t necessarily the defining factor in your relationship.

୨୧ * i also think isagi would date someone driven towards their own career, even if it’s not journalism. he defo would LOVE you in sporty clothing or leggings that show off ur thighs cos he has a canonical thing for those lmao. oh AND he’s the type who’s quite good with kids but has a level of awkwardness with them still, so watching his s/o struggle to interact with them would set him up for a laugh (w/ no ill intent, ofc). but if you’re really good with kids, no problem, because he’ll just watch you with sparkling eyes full of awe, heart swelling with unbridled affection.

୨୧ * he would defo be the perfect bf if you’re a picky eater cos he’ll find ways to work with your preferences but also encourage you to try new foods. the gentlemen who whisks you out everywhere to try new cuisine at nice restaurants and sneakily pays mid-meal during a ‘bathroom break’ so that when you attempt to pull your card out afterwards, he can simply smile and shake his head. goddamnit isagi. his argument is that growing up average and then getting propelled into wealth and fame means that he jumps at every opportunity to spoil you and show you off. you’re beautiful inside and out and he won’t treat you like anything less than a goddess.

bachira meguru! ˖♡ ࣪‧♫ ₊˚໒꒱⋆✩

୨୧ * bachira’s ideal s/o is either someone who loves retro 70s clothing, an indie band kid, or both combined. i feel like bachira’s goofy ass would go well with someone sweet, but not quite as hyperactive as himself. his ideal s/o is definitely either a bookworm or a guitarist, with no in between. he’s defo such a gremlin with you, either interrupting your peaceful reading sessions by being clingy and demanding cuddles, or asking you to play his favourite songs instead of the things you’re meant to be practicing.

୨୧ * bachira would go to every single one of guitarist!s/o’s gigs. he loves you so much, after all! you can hear his holler of your name over the crowds cheers as the speakers blare and your strings come to life. he’s not a memorisation-strong kind of guy, but he definitely knows all the lyrics to your favourite songs, and the lyrics to your originals, too. he has two versions of each one of your albums, one for the cd and one to add to the house-of-cd-cases-turned-shrine he has assembled somewhere in your apartment.

୨୧ * whereas with bookworm!s/o, bachira got his mom to teach him how to paint so that he could do those viral page-edge paintings. on your birthday, he gifts you hardback copies of your favourite books with intricate fore-edge paintings to match. if your favourite book has a movie or tv show adaption that you love, he definitely painted your favourite scene. although he’s not an avid reader, bachira will listen to your attempts to summarise a recently-read novel, even if he’s not quite following by halfway through.

୨୧ * he also only sporadically posts on his socials, but when he does, it’s usually random shitposts or spam posts of the two of you together. maybe at a gig or at a bookstore, but they’re all ‘artistically’ blurry. still, both of your smiles are clearly visible despite the lack of phone camera focus.

chigiri hyoma! ˖♡ ࣪‧♫ ₊˚໒꒱⋆✩

୨୧ * if you tell me this man wouldn’t date a a fashion magazine editor!s/o, you’re lying. he’s such a princess, and i can just imagine him as being a passionate fashionista as well, so i think he’d suit someone with a similar love for and knowledge of style. bring this man to fashion week please. actually, he probably met you there. he defo also impulse buys designer, whether it’s bags, clothes or just a pair of shades. he’s a diva like that /hj

୨୧ * shopping is a battle to the death between the two of you on which store to go in next. there’s not enough hours in the working day to account for your retail therapy sessions, given how long the two of you spend browsing the aisles together. at some point you panic, wondering where you’ve misplaced $500 of clothes, until your boyfriend rolls his eyes and shakes the bags he’s holding. you don’t even remember giving him the bags.

୨୧ * the two of you definitely rate and critique met gala outfits together. contrary to what most may believe, it is a NEED, not a want. when someone comes wandering onto the red carpet dressed in this year’s fashion monstrosity, just know that the two of you will be referencing it for days if not weeks, because really, how could anyone have the guts to go out wearing that?

୨୧ * just hope that you’re good with hair, because this fussy princess isn’t going to let you within ten feet of his if you have a brush in hand and you aren’t. his hair is his prized possession for all that he does the bare minimum to look as dazzling as he does, and chigiri would rather not ruin it. but if you’re good at elaborate and pretty hairdos, just know that his winding down comfort time is letting you try out new styles, strands of pink dancing over one another as they’re weaved into place by your fingers.

kunigami rensuke! ˖♡ ࣪‧♫ ₊˚໒꒱⋆✩

୨୧ * kunigami’s so highschool sweethearts-coded. maybe you started dating before blue lock and persevered through his change in persona, knowing full well that his kind and hardworking self was still present under the gruff, cold exterior. maybe he pined after you hopelessly for years until stumbling upon you years later. either way, he’s been madly in love with you since your high school days, and don’t think he’ll ever stop.

୨୧ * but like oh my god, this man would SO date a kindergarten (or elementary school) teacher!s/o. someone who is doting and good with kids, but is also hardworking and knows how to reward people efforts or work on their lack thereof. maybe it’s his superhero agenda but i think early years teachers are heroes in themselves, teaching young children valuable life lessons and basic skills and subjects, and therefore i think kunigami would really suit a teacher!s/o.

୨୧ * bring this man to meet your students and give them an assembly on how taking care of themselves plus hard work are the keys to fulfilling their dreams. the way these kids would be screaming because their sweet, humble teacher is dating football phenomenon kunigami rensuke, and he’s here to tell them that alcohol and nicotine addictions aren’t healthy. plus, eat your greens, kids. you’ll become a superhero in no time.

୨୧ * kunigami is either hopeless at cooking, five star michelin-worthy malewife chef material, or, the most boring option, the most mid chef of all time. ‘mid’ as in, he can put together a decent meal but nothing mindblowing, only occasionally tries to cook something new. i like to think that as the middle child, his older sister is a lost cause when it came to cooking, and his younger sister is quite the closet gourmet, so he knows how to cook pretty damn well. just know that after a long day, if he’s home earlier than you, you can expect an array of delectable dishes and the most delicious feast you can imagine waiting for you.

mikage reo! ˖♡ ࣪‧♫ ₊˚໒꒱⋆✩

୨୧ * i feel like reo would date someone who is far from having grown up well-off, maybe someone who grew up with difficult domestic circumstances, someone who’s fought tooth and nail to reach where they are today. for this reason, i feel like he’d date a corporate ceo!s/o. he admires how you’re both self-assured and self-made, and how your success bloomed from your own efforts and skill. to reo, who’s grown up with privilege and wealth without ever really having to try before he found football, he can’t help but find your work ethic and resilience attractive. they say confidence is attractive, after all.

୨୧ * he loves to spoil you, but he definitely doesn’t buy your love. while a good portion of his gifts to you do involve a waving of his black card, and are often designer, he also likes the authenticity of doing something for you. after all, with all the money in the world, he worries material goods may seem like half-assed presents that can’t even convey half of his feelings towards you. especially a ceo!s/o, because he’d hate for you to feel belittled by his love just because he was born into money. that won’t do at all! so now reo invests a lot of his spare time learning to do things himself, so that he can then do those things for you.

୨୧ * one of those things was pottery. prior to the two of you moving in together, he had been taking classes on ceramics and pottery so that he could surprise you with his hand-crafted and painted dining set. plates, mugs, bowls—each of them were painted with motifs relevant to places you’d been together. from the tropical beaches of bali, to the mountain views of peru and even the most famous italian vineyards—every plate was painted to bear some resemblance to the backgrounds of photos you’d taken at these locations. after all, reo is quite the globetrotter, because he loves going on adventures with you.

୨୧ * but sometimes the best days are days when you can laze about together. listen, reo’s always been the type of guy to never have a moment of rest. he always had so many things to do, because he was so good at everything that people usually required more of him. not that it was impossible for him, but it did mean a lot of his life was always scheduled out, busy and hectic. that’s why reo relishes in the moments where can relax in your arms, away from prying eyes, the paparazzi, the outside world—he loves how you can make a day full of nothing everything to him.

© velchronica 2024

[sex-storytime]

Rachel's Cherry

The first few months of college were a blur of new experiences, friends, and concerns. Here I was just an eighteen year old virgin intent on keeping my purity until the right person came along. But as months passed I not only saw more sexual sights and things done at parties and in dorm rooms but on the lawns of the campus and at pledging events. I became more and more distracted and increasingly curious about my sexual thoughts that just wouldn't go away. In fact that's about all I could think about.

As a virgin I still feared the experience and wondered constantly what it would be like the first time, how would it feel, would it hurt, would I enjoy it? And most importantly, would I be able to have an orgasm. Then there was a question of whether or not I should let the guy cum inside me. What would that feel like when he did? And lastly birth control, which should I use?

I had been experimenting with masturbation for quite a while now so that I could feel the pleasure, but not having to worry about all the risks so deeply instilled in me from my parents and others. But my eyes and brain both began to wander, whenever I would notice a good-looking guy in my classes. And, I would wonder how big his cock was when it was hard and how he was in bed. Then I would think they were just out to get laid like my mom always told me they were. Or, I would think that just maybe there should be more to the first time I gave my cherry than have a young stud taking his pleasure, and then brag to his friends that he had fucked a virgin. Little did I know just how the course of my life would change and lead me into a totally new and surprising erotic direction.

I met Jeff at the part time job I took in order to earn some money to pay for school. Actually he was my mentor while I was an intern at his company. The college thinks that life experiences are just as important as standard book knowledge. Therefore, each student completes an internship no matter what his or her major may be.

Jeff was friendly as well as business like from the start, and showed me quite a few things about the job I was to perform. He had this nature about him and I didn't feel the usual shyness when talking with new people that I usually had. He was thirty-five, newly single, with brown hair streaked with gray and deep blue eyes that sparkled when he smiled. He also has an impressive athletic build with wide shoulders, which tapered to a narrow waist and well defined yet smooth stomach. We worked together a few days a week and the occasional weekend during the busy months. I looked forward to spending my time with him.

I definitely had a crush on him. I let my eyes linger on him… I flirted with him neievely and felt embarrassed with myself after each lost opportunity. My blossoming sexual mind began to visualise touching his body and being held in his tender embrace. It was the highlight of my week when I found that we would be working alone, just the two of us. Just he and I alone in the big office most of the time right next to each other. I started to cherish our days together and felt I could talk with him honestly and seriously about anything. Besides helping me learn the world of finance he was starting to seem like an old friend who I could really open up to about anything. And I did. I told him all about my life and… my non-existent sex life… and that I was a virgin.

He told me about his past, his love life, his ex… but he never once made any moves on me. He respected me. He was my teacher and I was his student… that was how our relationship was supposed to be. On Fridays we decided to go out for something to eat since work ended later than usual. The cafeteria had long since closed and this was a much better alternative than a frozen dinner from the microwave in my dorm. We both went home to shower, and change. In the shower I began to think about Jeff and couldn't help but fantasise about his cock as I rubbed my pussy picturing holding me tight making love to me.

I smiled and decided that I would shave my pussy. My roommate had told me shaving makes oral sex from a man's tongue feel so much better. Not that I felt I would get any oral sex from Jeff! He had made his position quite clear… but a girl can dream. Once I had a smooth pussy, I dressed thinking that later I would come home and get myself off while I dreamed of Jeff's tongue on my clit.

After I finished shaving I dried off and dressed in white lace bra and bikini panties. I put on my shortest skirt, which accentuated the gentle curves of my hips and revealed my legs emerging from a little higher than mid thigh. I pulled my tight tank top over my head to show my 32B breasts pressing hard against the material. I blushed as I saw my nipples against the material and I imagined Jeff's hands and mouth cupping, licking and caressing each one. With a sigh I came back to reality and realised my panties had become damp with my wetness.

"What am I thinking, Jeff is older and probably doesn't even think of me other than as an intern at work or a young friend. But I bet unlike the one track minds of guys my age, he must really know how to please a woman before fucking her."

I smiled and thought of his blue eyes looking passionately into his he made love to my body before he fucked me long and hard. A man like him carried just as much about a woman's orgasm as his own. I quickly finished getting ready and tried to push the sexual thoughts from my mind. I headed to the restaurant to meet up with him, and pretended that this was going to be our first real date.

I was late to the restaurant and saw Jef, waiting patiently outside. He smiled when he saw me. I found myself running towards him and he gathered me in his embrace. I gazed up at his handsome face, his beautiful blue eyes, his lips, god, his full soft lips, and he rested his hand on my waist. Our look, his hand, I felt myself filling with adrenalin, felt the sudden simmer of arousal. He sort of moved to me, but didn't quite, so, I was the one, I moved my head to his and leaned in and we kissed. It was lovely, just amazing. He tasted different to the other boys, but nice. We were so soft, so gently, our lips barely touching, the tip of his soft tongue touching mine. And then I felt his hand on my ass, gently touching me there, cupping me through my skirt.

I felt my small nipple become stiff, and sensed myself become wet between my legs. I am not sure I had felt this before, in this context, he kissed me, his hand was on my ass, so soft, and I felt a sudden dampness in my vagina. It was so arousing, to feel this, to feel my young body reacting. I rested my hand on his thigh, I didn't know quite what to do, I mean, I knew what I could do, I didn't know quite how far I wanted to take this, but, well, I moved my hand upward, up along his firm thigh, and I put my hand on his cass as I pressed myself into him…, and felt his penis, through his jeans… it felt hard.

"You look beautiful tonight, Rachel," he said, as his gaze traveled from my head to my feet and back up again lingering for just for a moment on my hips and the curves of my breasts. He guided me into the restaurant, placing a gentle touch of his hand to the small of my back. He even pulled the chair out for me! As we waited for our food to arrive we made small talk about work and my classes.

I noticed him looking at me as if he wanted to say something. "What is it?" I asked, feeling for the first time a hint of shyness.

"Rachel, I know you told me you are a virgin but I was wondering… Are you looking for… a relationship?”

“Are you?” I blurted out, flustered.

“Yes…”

“I have spent the last few months… trying to get your attention.”

“I noticed.” He seemed embarrassed. “You are so young… sexy… why me?”

“Because you are my dream guy I suppose. You are the man I have been dreaming of since I became a teenager… a sweet prince… older… wiser…”

“You-you like that?” He stumbled.

“Oh yes… I guess I am attracted to older men.” I replied honestly.

There was a few minutes of silence while we ate our food. I could almost see the gears of his mind working, trying to find the right words. This was my opportunity.

“I want you Jeff, and I know you want me.”

“You do… I do?”

“That kiss was more than just a kiss between friends… and… I felt how hard you were when we hugged…” 

“But how can we make this work, I mean-”

“I want you. I want to be with you. Why don’t you take me home tonight?” I bravely said and waited for his response. 

“But you’re a virgin!” Jeff whispered.

“And tomorrow I wont be.” I really was going to go through with this. I never felt so scared.

“Do you want to lose your virginity… to me? Tonight?"

I blushed blood red and nodded. I smiled. He miled. He bent forward and whispered, as his breath became warm in my ear "Do you know what you have been doing to me these weeks we have been working together? I mean the way you walk and press your body against my arm when we are studying something, or the way you sit and cross and recross your legs? Do you know you have been driving me crazy?"

I was shocked and showed it. I tried to speak but finally just shook my head no.

He held my hand and moved even closer to my face and ear. As he talked his voice gave me chills. I shivered from it. He smiled and took both of my hands and held them tight and said: "Well then I'll have to tell you… I want you too. You’re so pretty and tonight you just look… incredible. Yes, you turned me on. My cock is hard and swollen with blood with a big purple head everyday when you leave work, Rachel.”

“Then take me to your bed… make love to me, Jeff?”

“I want to make love to you. I mean I want to be your first! I want us to go all the way tonight. yes, come back to my place tonight, don't go back home alone. Come home with me Rachel and let me make love to you, let me teach you and give you the pleasure of sex, complete sex."

I must have been three shades of red now and started to actually shake inside because I wanted him too. Only I didn't know how bad he wanted me. He added as he captured the tip of my ear between his teeth and bit gently: "This will change thins between us… are you ready for that? Do you really want me to be the one who takes your virginity?”

“Yes… show you how great sex can be."

His eyes were now looking directly into mine. He came closer and lightly kissed me. My hands trembled as I tensed under his first seduction. He reached under the table and touched my smooth upper thigh just at the edge of my skirt. As he continued to look deeply into my eyes. I sat there looking at his handsome face and not saying anything. I felt his hand move up under the hem of my skirt and slide down between my thighs. He was stroking my right inner leg making me hotter and full of sexual need. No, I was burning up inside. Luckily we were seated in a secluded corner of the restaurant because he began to move his hand slowly higher still up my leg. I didn't stop him or say a word.

His eyes twinkled devilishly as he looked into my eyes and as he kissed me again I felt his tongue slip into my mouth and his hand touching the corner of my panty leg no more than an inch from my pussy. I squeezed my legs together, capturing his hand on the smoothness of the upper end of my inner thigh. When he covered my panty, cupping my pussy, my first reaction was to moan but then I remembered and said to myself: "My god if he touches my naked pussy he'll know I shaved myself for him!" And suddenly, I desperately wanted him to touch me there.

I looked away from him, to the guy next to me as we ate, when I felt his hand on my knee. I stopped breathing for a second. I didn't look at you or acknowledge your touch but secretly willed you to continue. He must have read my mind because he gently slid his fingers over my mound. My breathing quickened but I still kept my head turned to my left. His fingers fanned out and began to creep toward my pantie clad slit. I clear my throat and shyly looked into his amazing eyes. His lust was burning there.

I unthinkingly parted my legs for him, and hisfingers found the elastic of my panties. My clit was so swollen now, and I ached for his touch, but we were sitting at a large table, from the right angle we could be seen. I was dying to release the moans and screams I was holding back, and he continued to tease me under the table, silently and yet urgently. Oh god, what was I going to do?

His talented finger finger slips inside my panties… but goes no further as I squirmed and wiggled as gently as I could. Damn him for teasing me like this - but oh don't stop!

No one noticed us - amazing since I felt like I was wearing a big sign that sid 'fuck me now'. I was extremely horny for him, but it would be another couple of hours or so before we could be alone. Jeff knew exactly what to do, but he held back because we were right in the middle of the dinner.

"Rachel, are you alright?" 

My voice was nowhere to be found. My throat was dry and I was dying to be fucked; but I was also too afraid to speak; Jeff knew what I wanted and needed.

As I was thinking it, Jeff ran a hand under my panty elastic and over my freshly shaven pussy. As his fingers went under my panties and over my bald pussy he smiled at me and said: "Oh my God, Rachel! A virgin who shaves! I like it and I want to see it."

I jumped when his fingers located my slit and I reached for his hand. I moaned the word: "No. No Jeff, not here. Not in the restaurant please! Wait until we get in your car?"

As I held his hand on my pussy, for some reason I didn't move it. I simply held it against my wet cunt and pressed slightly. Then he whispered, "I can’t wait… Open you legs wider for me Rachel. Open them."

I don't know why I did but I did. I opened my thighs wide and Jeff began to stroke up and down my smooth shaved pussy. I knew he could feel my wetness but I didn't care, I let him! To disguise our closeness I leaned into him and kissed him. I kept my thighs open and held his hand directly on my pussy as my tongue danced at his lips and he stroked me so softly and gently. The first person other than myself to ever touch me there was now doing it in a crowded restaurant and I loved it. I moaned softly as I sucked on his tongue and he made love to my virgin pussy.

As I closed my eyes I moaned his name. He kissed me a little harder as he rubbed three of his fingers up and down my entire wet slit. Then as I sighed I felt one of his fingers move into the entrance of my hole. As it entered my hole slowly, I didn't say no this time. I opened my thighs wider still. I moaned again. He had his entire hand now under the smooth fabric of my bikini panties; thighs spread wide open and letting him caress the smooth skin and hole between my legs.

As Jeff separated the folds of my pussy lips his finger began to enter my virgin pussy hole I just tried to speak, but only sighed the word, "Oh Jeff! Oh fuck your hand feels like magic! Oh fuck Jeff I am going to cum!" But, I didn't stop him!

I had to fight to stifle a moan as he entered me slowly but steady with that one finger. As he pushed and pumped it into me I pushed against it. Then he followed the first finger with another one. It felt so big going in. I opened my legs wider yet and moaned his name again. He put his arm around me and pulled me closer to him. As we kissed and let our tongues fight; Jeff continued to drive me crazy with his two fingers inside my pussy as he made love to it under the table. My brain was racing! "Was this really happening?" I thought as my mind raced and his hand and fingers explored deeper and deeper inside me. I could feel him bumping up against my hem.

"Jeff" I gasped as he continued exploring my pussy and pushing deeper into my hole. "Jeff, I'm a virgin. I wasn't kidding!" I whispered.

"I know, and if you will relax a little and let me, Rachel, I plan on making you a little less virginal after tonight. I can show you what sex is all about. How it can feel so good when you reach a mind-blowing orgasm from someone who really wants to guide you into the world of intercourse and have it be enjoyable and pleasant. Oh Rachel, it feels so much better when you have an orgasm from someone else giving it to you. I'll be gentle and loving and make you enjoy it."

I smiled and said, "I know Jeff, but I'm so scared."

He told me about using his tongue and his fingers and his hands and finally his cock. He whispered in my ear how I would go wild when he licked my pussy. He smiled and said that it would be even better since I had shaved down there.

I said, " Oh Jeff it's not that I don't want to be with you, it's that I'm frightened. Frightened it will hurt me so bad. Well… That's what I’ve heard… about a girl's first time."

Jeff continued to tell me, "I will also show you how to give a man the pleasure he needs before I finally take that barrier away and show you what it's like to have a man's cock buried deep inside of you."

He explained seductively in my ear about the thrill of oral sex and what it would do to me as my body felt the stirrings of passion and lust from someone else touching it for the first time. "I want to… but I'm scared Jeff." I said as I trembled and tears welled up in my eyes.

"You might be scared but your body gives you away Rachel. It tells me you want to continue," he said as his fingers were brought out of my panties first to let me see the wetness, my wetness. And, secondly he showed me his fingers as he put them to his mouth and licked them clean. I heard him moan this time.

"We will do this together. Take small steps. I’m not some young guy desperate for a conquest… I will be gentle, loving and easy. I will pleasure you, on your terms. I will go down on you, Rachel… have you enjoy oral sex. Then we will only proceed when you tell me you are ready," he said as he wiped a tear tenderly off my cheek and kissed me again.

“Thank you, Jeff. That’s what I need… your experience… your love.”

"Do you know what I mean when I say I will lick and suck your pussy first so you will be very wet and very, very aroused, aroused enough to accept me?" he finished as he took my hands in his and squeezed them.

I said: "I . . . I think so, Jeff. But I don't know."

He said: "Would you like to come home with me now and try?"

I said: "Yes." I don't know why I said yes. Maybe it was my time and he was the one. Maybe it was the touch of this man. Maybe it was my growing need. It was a need that seemed to get worse every day. But whatever the reason, I said yes. And we sat looking at each other holding hands.

The waiter soon came by and he told the man to package it up since we both had to leave. We both had other things on our minds as Jeff held his arm around my body as we walked to his car. He opened the door for me and I slid in. His eyes watched my legs open a little as I got in. He shut the door and soon after we were pulling into the complex where he lived. We held each other as we walked to his door. I told him again that I was so scared. I knew he could feel me shaking with it.

Immediately upon entering and locking the door Jeff pulled me to him and kissed me hard, thrusting his tongue into my mouth. I accepted it and sucked on it as I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back. He held me as I bent my back pressing against him. My tongue began exploring and tasting the inside of his mouth and then his entered mine. He asked me, "Are you glad you came?"

I shook my head yes. He said, "Then tell me. Tell me how you feel."

I tried to look him in the eye but didn't make it. I told him, "I'm glad I'm here with you, it's very exciting, but I'm also very scared.”

He smiled and said, "I'm very glad you're here too, Rachel. Please don't be scared. I'm going to be very gentle with you. And I promise you will love everything we do starting with the feeling of oral sex and everything else that goes with it. But first you should get familiar with a man’s body and let me get acquainted with yours. OK?"

I smiled and nodded. Jeff slowly began running his hands all over my body as he began removing pieces of my clothing. He told me if I had any questions I should ask him and I should also explore his body with my hands and eyes. I didn't stop him but watched his fingers first unbutton my blouse. As it slid it off my shoulders as we both watched it fall to the floor. He kissed me again and after kissing down my neck and into my cleavage he told me: "Rachel! You are so beautiful! You look stunning."

His hands reached up and cupped my breasts for only a moment before his mouth came down and sucked my nipple on the outside of my bra. I held his head with my hands holding his mouth over one of my breasts. I sighed and said, "Oh Jeff!"

I stood before the man I had chosen in just my bra and skirt. Jeff smiled at me as his eyes held my eyes. I felt him run his hands down my sides and then up under my skirt over each of my thighs all the way to the top of my panties. He had my skirt up to my panties and was teasing me a little as his hands swept over my vulva and stomach up under my skirt. I jumped and reached for his hand. He moved his hands off my pussy and I started to relax. Then we both heard the snap and zipper being undone on my skirt. He looked at me and said, "Rachel, do you want to take this off?" 

I said, "Yes, yes I think so Jeff.

He said, "No Rachel, yes or no. Do you want me to take your skirt off?"

I said, "Yes I want you to take off my clothes," and as he pushed it down over my hips I wiggled out of the short tight skirt. When it hit the floor, he held my hand as I stepped out of it. As he undressed me, I now stood there not moving just watching him as he stepped back and looked at my body. I was standing before him now in only my bra and tiny bikini panties.

"Wow Rachel, your body is so beautiful and very sexy. I never realised how beautiful it was… you hid this so well why we worked. You are unbelievably lovely… gorgeous…" Jeff almost moaned the words as he pulled me to him and again rubbed my body against his as held me tight.

I felt the bulge of his cock hard in his pants against my naked thigh as we pressed together. He pressed his hips against me and began to rotate his bulge against my pussy. He smiled down at me and kissed my neck as he whispered in my ear, "Now it's your turn. Take my clothes off. Unzip me and release my cock for me Rachel. I'm getting so hard it hurts. Take it out and hold it, touch it, look at it, see what you have been doing to me all these weeks!"

I hesitated only for a moment. But, he took my hand and placed it on the outside of his trousers. I could feel his cock jumping and throbbing. He placed my other hand on his zipper and told me, "Take it out for me Rachel please? Show me you want this, don’t be scared to follow your instincts."

I looked down at his bulge and slowly unzipped his fly. He told me in a whisper: "Now take it out Rachel and feel it, look at it. See for yourself how hard it is. You should look at it and know about it. I will tell you all about my cock and explain what everything is once you release it. Take it out now Rachel and let me show you how hard I am for you…"

I sighed deeply and as my hands shook with excitement, I reached into his pants and took out his penis. It was beautiful! I looked so hard and thick and long. It throbbed in my hand like it was beating. In fact it was the first erect male cock I had ever seen in the flesh. As I unbelted his trousers and they opened more, it emerged completely from his boxers. I could feel its heat and its hardness with the skin around the hardness so soft. As I took the shaft in my hand I began to stroke it and squeeze it listening to him tell me what to do. I looked up at his face and smiled as he told me, "See it won't bite you. But, do you see how hard it is Rachel? You make it that way. When I see you, and stand next to you and we brush against each other while we work, I get hard like this for you everyday. Rachel… you make me so horny."

I caressed every inch of his 7-inch cock and the large set of balls that hung under it. Teasing the head with my nails rubbing gently across it and under the fat mushroom cock head, I pumping the shaft making him moan. Then my hands moving down the shaft as I worked on my first very, very hard cock doing everything Jeff told me to do. When a drop of pre-cum exited the hole in the cock head, Jeff told me all about it and how it got there. He told me to take my finger and wipe it off and then taste it. I did and it wasn't nasty like I was sure it would be. In fact it had almost not taste, maybe a little sweet. After a few minutes, Jeff said, "Oh fuck, Rachel that feels so good… But if we don't stop I'm going to cum and I don't want to, not yet, not like this anyway. There will be time for that in a little while. I didn't want to orgasm yet, I want you to have a few before you give me my own."

He was thinking of giving me several orgasms? I had waited so long for this! He gently pushed me back and my knees hit the edge of the large bed. As I fell back he stripped off the rest of his clothes and moved up next to me and began to kiss my neck and shoulders.

I watched as his fingers moved to my bra and unhooked the front clasp. I was going to try to cover myself, but didn't. He slowly pulled it open and then off my arms. He removed it completely and freeing my breasts. Then he stopped to look at them. I felt funny letting him see them but he kissed me and as his hand cupped one he said, "Oh Rachel, your tits are perfect."

I know I don't have huge breasts but I think they are adequate. They sit up high and they're firm with long pink nipples. Jeff smiled as he saw my nipples sticking out hard already. He used his finger to flick over them making them jump and bounce like a rubber band when he released them. With one of his hands he softly cupped a breast and squeezed it while his mouth and tongue moved over the other one and worked on it. He pushed the two together so that he could lick and suck both nipples at the same time. He licked up between my cleavage and kissed me again as his hands worked on my tits.

I kissed him and as he told me, "I can't believe how beautiful you are Rachel… you don’t need to do this… with me… if you are still a virgin. I already feel like a very lucky man being here with you tonight. You make me so hot and so hard!"

He then moved back down between my tits and again made love to my breasts for a long time. As I ran my hands through his hair and across his back I told him, "This is further than I have ever gone before Jeff. I want to be here… with you. Please be gentle with me."

He looked up at me and said, "If you’re sure?”

I nodded as he lavished his attention on my little titties.

“I will make your first time a good one. I’m honoured."

Fuck I loved it what his mouth was doing. His wonderful mouth was sucking and licking and sucking and licking all over my tits and nipples. Over and over again he sucked them making my nipples as hard as small rocks. He even bit them gently. I just laid back and moaned and moaned and moaned.

He looked up into my eyes and said, "Are you ready, Rachel?"

I softly said the word, "Yes…"

As I was saying it, he was moving his lips down my body and kissed my stomach and around the bottom of my breasts. He licked under them making me wiggle. "That tickles", I told him.

He licked around my stomach and into the belly button hole. I giggled again as I let my hands slide down still holding his head gently.

Further down he kissed. My body was moving from the feeling of his lips and tongue on it. Then he licked over the top of my bikini panties. As I felt him hooking two fingers in the waistband on each side of them, he started pulling them down my hips. He said, "Lift Rachel, lift up so I can get these off."

Now I was starting to worry again. My mom had always told me that once a lady lets a man take off her panties, she has no more defenses. She has more or less decided to give herself to the man taking them off. Why I did, I don't know for sure, but when I heard him tell me to lift, I did.

I lifted my ass up about a foot off the bed so he could remove my panties. They were very wet between my legs and stuck a little against my pussy. I looked at him and started trembling like a newborn kitten as he removed the panty off of each leg. He kissed each of them as he removed the panty off each of my feet. Then he looked directly at me as he put my panties to his face and inhaled deeply. He moaned as he dropped the panties on the bed. Jeff then came up and kissed me as I felt his hands move my legs apart. He said, "Now little one, don't be scared. It will be OK Rachel, I promise. You will love this I guarantee it. Now open your legs wide for me. OK?"

As I watched him I separated my legs and he said, "Hmmm a virgin with a shaved pussy! You look so beautiful Rachel. So lovely! You look good enough to eat and that's what I am going to do." He smiled at me as his hand slowly rubbed the smooth skin all around my pussy and he said, "Maybe you're not as innocent as I first thought?"

I smiled shyly and tried to close my thighs in embarrassment only to have him hold them apart. "I have a surprise for you" he said, as he reached for something on the side table.

I soon saw that it was strips of silk fabric, which he used to tie my wrists and bind them securely to the underside of the bed somehow. But what was more surprising was that I didn't protest at all. I just looked at him helplessly watching him do it. He was going to tie me up and deep down inside my brain… I knew I wanted this! I wanted to be bound! I wanted to be held tight so I couldn't resist. I was just going to let him have his way with me now. I had resolved to do this and I really felt I would never go through with it unless I was forced a little somehow. But! I didn't protest at all as he moved between my spread legs

As he moved around between them, I opened my thighs wider for him. He used his hands to gently but forcefully pushed them open even more. "Trust me" he said as his face lowered and he kissed first the skin of my inner thighs and around and up over my stomach again and back down to my inner thigh.

Then as I moaned loudly, I arched my back and closed my eyes as he finally began to lick my pussy. It was wonderful, unbelievable. His lips gave me a shock that went into and over my entire body. He was my mentor, my teacher and he was licking my pussy, my shaved virgin pussy! I had never felt anything like it before. It was a feeling, which can't be described by words. You have to experience having your pussy licked for yourself ladies. But please! Experience it! If you haven't had it done yet, get someone to do it to you. Trust me, you won't forget it and you'll thank me for telling you. A pussy was made for licking first before fucking. If your man isn't doing that, find another man.

Jeff's mouth and tongue drove me wild within seconds. "Oh Jeff, OH SHIT! OH FUCK!! I CAN'T TAKE IT!! AHHHH!!!!!!!" I screamed at just the first few touches of his smooth soft tongue against my naked pussy.

But he didn't stop. He relentlessly licked and sucked my pussy while I thrashed and moaned under his mouth. My hips were now rocking my pussy into his face as he sucked and licked me. He would lick from the top of my slit to the very bottom, and then used his fingers as he pushed back the hood of skin over my clit and he began to softly suck my clit into his mouth. I screamed with rapture!

At the same time he massaged my virgin hole with his fingers. I buck my hips up pushing against his face feeling myself lose all control. He had me! I was gone and the pleasure was driving me higher and higher. All I wanted now was more, more stimulation. He didn't disappoint me.

He raised up off of me then to look at my wet pussy so close to his face. He rested his head on one of my thighs so that he could watch his fingers play with my clit which was now sticking out from its covering and getting harder and harder under his touch. He applied the gentlest pressure around it without touching it directly for a time. I was pumping my pussy trying to fuck his face. I whispered, "Touch it Jeff. Touch my clit baby! OH FUCK! Jeff I'm going to cum! TOUCH IT!!"

Then he pressed directly on my clit, then released the pressure for a second before applying it again. As he pressed again the electric pulses seemed to travel from my clit all over my body. I tensed as his finger once again pressed and released again and as his other hand and fingers massaged and slightly entered my virgin hole.

Jeff said, "Don't worry Rachel you will cum hard many times before I fuck that little virgin hole."

He licked and sucked me teasing me and kept me from that final step that would make me cum! He spent so much time pleasing my body I was drifting and drifting in a world of bliss. And then, he finally let the orgasm I wanted, and which had been so close all along, to finally overtake my mind, body and soul. As he sucked directly on my clit I arched my back and moaned as tears sprang to my eyes, "Oh yes Jeff! I'M CUMMING, OH YES I'M CUMMING! OH FUCK YES! NOW! OH FUCK!!! OH FUCK!! OH YES! JeffNNNN!! I'M CUMMINGG AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!" And I did! I had back to back orgasms!

I screamed as he continued to suck me even harder. I felt the strange sensation of muscles tightening uncontrollably inside of me and then contracting and as I felt my cum almost running out me, he still continued to eat my pussy. I felt like I was peeing but I knew I wasn't. My orgasm seemed to go on and on and on as Jeff continued to love and stimulate my pussy and body with his fingers, mouth and tongue.

I had my ass elevated up off the bed and as he sucked, my body was fucking on his face. I was cumming and someone else for the first time was getting me off. It was my first time and I fucking loved it! I knew right then that I had to have more of this, a lot more. I don't know how long he continued to work on me but slowly I began to come down from my first real set of orgasms given by another person.

I watched Jeff untie my bindings, and helped me up allowing me to come into the embrace of his arms. We sat facing each other and my legs were over his. I could see his enormous cock inches from my wet and opened pussy. I signed and said, "Oh Jeff, that was so wonderful!"

As he held me stroking my hair and kissing me tenderly, all inhibitions I had were gone. I was his and only wanted to show him the joy and pleasure I had felt. I kept looking down seeing his hard cock throbbing with his excitement. I kissed him briefly before saying, "My turn. Tell me and show me how to do you with my mouth."

And I lowered my face between his legs now and let my mouth and tongue taste his cock. As he leaned back on his elbows I looked at him and asked, "What do I do first?"

It was another first for me tonight. Jeff's cock was the first one I had ever touched and now I was going to taste it. First I licked the tip and then I sucked the tip into my mouth and continued to suck more and more of his long hard shaft in my mouth. As I pumped his cock in and out of my mouth he gave me direction. I pressed my lips against my teeth and pressed my mouth gently around his cock as I fucked his cock with my mouth. As I did, I got so excited that I felt a wild need to cum again. So I reached between my legs and started to rub my pussy with three fingers.

I moaned and as I sucked him and parted my thighs as I began to finger myself. He saw what I was doing and moved my fingers away and started to finger my pussy with his hand and fingers. "Oh FUCK Jeff… that feels so good. You have such a delicate touch!” I moaned between sucking his cock.

As I continued to suck his cock he was pushing more and more into my mouth. I now felt the tip of the cock head touch the back of my throat as my lips stretched around the fullness. He said, "Do you want to try and take it down your throat?"

As he fingered my pussy, I tried to take his cock head down my throat but choked too much and we stopped trying. I made a mental note to learn how to do that since it was something this wonderful gentle man seemed to like and wanted. He pulled it out all the way and told me, "Lick it right here."

He showed me that part of his shaft just under the mushroom head, on the underside of his cock that is the most sensitive. I did as he instructed and he then told me to feel his balls too. That they had to be handled gently but were a big part of his sex organ and should be sucked and licked too!

I had one hand holding his cock up towards the ceiling as I licked the underside of his cock and the one hand squeezed his balls lightly. I ran my hand up the shaft now and rubbed the pre cum dripping out the hole in the cock head over the tip and around the head. Then I licked the cock head.

He moaned and said, "Suck me Rachel! Fuck, you’re amazing. Harder suck it harder!"

As he held my head with both of his hands now he pushed my mouth down over his cock and I began sucking it again harder as he began to pump himself in and out of my mouth faster and faster. He continued pumping until he groaned "MMMM!! YES BABE! YES! OH FUCK!! SUCK IT! I'M GOING TO CUM! I'M GOING TO CUMMING! I'm GOING TO AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! FUCK YES!!!!!!!"

I looked up into his eyes and could see the lust in them. He held my head and told me quickly as he pumped fast, "I'm going to cum in your mouth Rachel…”

“I want you to, Jeff,” I panted.

“Try and swallow it."

I nodded my head obediently with his cock still in my mouth getting thicker and harder. I continued to suck him and his moans were louder this time and I was sure he was nearing his own orgasm. I had never swallowed a guy's cum, or even let someone cum in my mouth for that matter, but I knew that I wanted to swallow his load. Just as I completed that thought I heard him groan. I felt his cock swell in my mouth, followed by hot jets of cum shooting out onto my tongue and into the back of my throat. The feeling was strange, but I found it quite easy to swallow his load. He continued to cum, so I kept swallowing every last drop that came out. As more and more cum filled my mouth I couldn't take it fast enough. His seed filled my mouth quicker than I could swallow. 

I pulled my lips off his fat cock head gasping for air. His hand covered my hand. He was jerking my hand up and down as fast as he could go. I squeezed his hard shaft as I pulled my mouth off his cock head! The last few shots of Jeff's cum splashed on my chest and ran down over my chin and tits toward my stomach.

I continued pumping his cock until the cum stopped. I lowered myself again to lick the tip clean, not enjoying the taste as much as I did before. I would have to acquire this new taste so I could take more and please him. But, I knew I would take his cum whenever he wanted me to suck him off.

Surprisingly, his cock didn't soften but seemed ready for more. Gently Jeff lay me back on the bed and spread my legs very wide again. "I will be as gentle as possible Rachel, but I need to be inside you…", he said as he began rubbing my clit and slit once more with his hard cock head. I knew this was it! This was when I would stop being a virgin! He was now going to fuck me… pop my cherry… take my virginity from me.

"Oh Jeff! I'm ready, I'm so wet… I’m so ready… you won't hurt me.”

He stopped.

“But it will hurt…”

“Please? Just fuck me!" I pleaded. I wanted it so bad and now I had the one man who I felt would take my cherry as gently as he could. As I spread my legs wide he held my legs wide with my knees bent. He told me to guide his cock into my pussy hole. I did. I moved his hard cock head to my opening and told him, "I need this… I need you… I give my virginity to you."

This was probably a very bad idea. He wasn’t even wearing a condom. I wrestled with that thought for about one second, then his cock settled between my legs, the length of his shaft pressing against my wet folds, his hands on my hips.

Oh fuck he felt good. So soft yet firm, so wide and warm. Ooh, my whole body tingled. Nothing else felt like this.

He groaned and rubbed his shaft on me, bathing his cock in my slick folds. "Oh fuck that feels good," he breathed.

"Mmmmph," I agreed. I should probably tell him to stop before this got any further, but maybe just a few more seconds.

Then the tip of his cock pressed at my entrance. I froze. He felt so big. My body vibrated with the need to feel him inside me, to swallow his cock into my depths, and feel him stroke my insides like he had been stroking my opening.

He had gone just as still. I heard him swallow right before he pushed.

His cock gently parted my lips and, with barely any resistance, began to slide into me.

My mind finally caught up with the situation. "Jeff, no! Stop!" I yelped even as my inner walls clenched around him. I tried to pull away, but his hands held my hips firmly in place.

He grunted but stopped with his cock just past my entrance. It felt amazing, so warm and big and hard. My body wanted more.

"S-sorry," he mumbled but didn't move.

I didn't want him to. Or rather, I wanted him to move in both directions at once, part of my mind screaming for him to get out and the other begging for him to plunge all the way in. Instead, I lay there, frozen in indecision.

He pushed again.

"No! Jeff! Please stop!" Just the tip was one thing, but if he buried himself inside me, I wouldn't be a virgin anymore.

He groaned and pulled back out, just resting the tip at my entrance again. "Sorry! You feel so good, so warm and tight. Sorry..."

I relaxed, my heart beating too fast. But it was ok, this was fine. He wasn't even inside me, just touching me.

After a few seconds, he swirled the bulbous tip around my slick folds, glided between my lips to my clit and back again. I moaned. He had felt so amazing inside me. Maybe... maybe just the tip was fine. It wasn't really fucking.

When his rounded head settled at my opening, I pushed, just a little. That bulbous head slowly stretched my outer folds until the tip was lodged just inside my wet walls. It felt amazing. The first cock inside me. A little thrill of pleasure rushed through me. It was just the tip, it barely counted, but still so good. I shuddered.

I mumbled, "J-just the tip, ok? No more. Ok? That's it. It feels good..."

He'd gone very still, as though he was surprised I'd say anything like that. I should be surprised too. I think somewhere, some tiny part of me was panicking, but I couldn't hear it.

He swallowed again and nodded jerkily. "O-ok. You feel good too."

His voice was strained. The slight danger that he might get carried away sent a jolt of warmth to my pussy, and I clamped down on him. My thighs quivered trying not to push again, to capture just one more inch.

No sex. Just the tip. No sex. Oh my God, but my body wanted all of it.

He groaned and nudged at my wet flesh, slipping an inch of his hard shaft into me.

"Ah! No!" I squealed but didn't move. He was panting into my hair, his body tense. He didn't move either.

"Jeff, just the tip!" I panted and bit my lip. I couldn't make myself pull away, my pussy clenching around him.

"Oh. Um. Nnh." He stopped but didn't move.

We held ourselves there, lust rolling over both of us, waiting for something to give. He didn't wait long, shifting as he oh-so-slowly withdrew his cock back to my entrance, then gently forced my lips to swallow that round tip again, savoring every moment.

"Jeff..." God, it felt good but I couldn't let him fuck me.

He groaned and stopped again. I could hear his deep breaths, feel how tightly his fingers were digging into my hips as he tried to hold back.

"Y-you should stop now," I mumbled. My pussy was squeezing him. Oh wow, it felt nice and big, stretching me so beautifully. I wanted more, I wanted to be filled up.

I'm not sure if he heard me. He was probably busy fighting his urge to ram his cock all the way in and give me a good, hard fucking.

I shivered at how wonderful that sounded.

My pussy kept pulsing on his shaft, trying to hold him in no matter how much I should be pushing him out. He could probably feel me throbbing around him.

He pulled out again and I sighed as he held still with just the bulbous tip kissing my pussy lips. He stayed there and panted for a minute.

I couldn't help myself. His round knob felt so good sitting there between my parted folds, so tempting. I wiggled a little, felt that large head pop in again. Just the tip. Oooh. I squeezed it, imagining it sliding in further and further. Oh...

He tensed. I was too busy concentrating on how good his cock felt inside me to realize that his hands on my hips had shifted, that the bed had moved as he repositioned, and now he was ready to piston into me. He held still as long as he could.

"It’s time, Rachel... I’m going to... put it all the way inside you now," he said as he shuffled away.

My lust-filled brain took a second to register what he said.

“I know how much this means to you…” he panted as he jerked himself back to full hardness while lustfully staring at my young body. “Turn around with your face down and your ass in the air”. I felt my pussy prepare itself as I assumed tis new position on the bed. I wanted this older man more than I wanted anything in my life. I would do anything he asked of me.

His hands followed the flowing curves of my ass, over my hips then up my waist to my breasts, hanging now from my chest, just brushing against the bed sheets, sending shivers down my spine. One hand explored my neck, my ear, my hair… while the other reached around to tweak and tease my hard nipples before moving down and carefully prising apart my smoothly waxed folds. One finger rested on my hard clit without moving, but he pulled it away after feeling how my pussy was dripping with wanton lust for him. 

He suddenly bent his knees upward and between mine, spreading my legs wide open around him. My breath caught in my chest as he slowly but surely edged forward until the large shiny head of his cock was pressed between my puffy pussy lips. Tiny movements rubbed the tip of his shaft against my clit and I moaned with frustration and desperate desire for my big strong boyfriend. When I made the sound his hand quickly covered my mouth and he stuffed three fingers in, pulling my jaw downward and making me pant as he realigned his hot thick cock with my vagina and slid forward to penetrate his gasping girlfriend deeply.

He rubbed the tip of his magnificent cock in my juices and then gently pushed the head between my swollen labia moving it past the inner lips and inside my hole. I watched as it inched its way into me. He stopped often to see if I was OK before going any further. As he met the barrier, he backed off and asked, "Ready?"

I moaned yes and he thrust forward and broke my cherry. I bit my lip as a sharp pain hit me followed by waves of unbelievable excitement. As I whimpered slightly he asked, "Are you OK Rachel?"

I said, "Yes… I want this… take me!"

He smiled and told me, "The worst is over Rachel. Now we can make love. Now I can show you what you have been missing all these years."

As he told me that, he had pushed all of his manhood deep inside me and held his cock almost completely still inside me. As he buried it all the way now I moaned from the thrill, which had taken over the little pain. Oh God he was all the way inside of me. I looked into his eyes and told him, "Ohhhhhh fuuuuuuck… oh you feel so good inside me."

Slowly but without pausing he pushed forward until the whole length of his organ was buried in my hot pussy, with my pink and swollen outer lips forced wide open and my tight little hole stretched obscenely around the base of his veiny shaft. I knew as he sank into me that he was forcing his penis up through the remnants of my hymen. He paused there, enjoying the erotic view and the physical sensations of his young girlfriend splayed open and stuffed full in front of him, his cock in her pussy and fingers in her mouth, as she groaned with pleasure at being taken like this.

After a delicious pause, I felt him slowly withdraw his cock from my pussy and the veins and ridges of his shaft massaged my inner walls. Just as I was about to whimper at the sudden empty feeling, he reversed the motion and sank back into my vaginal canal, which rippled around his shaft. He nuzzled his face in the back of my neck and kissed my back tenderly, but there was no let-up in his accelerating acquisition of my tight young pussy. My boyfriend held me tightly as he continued to enter me and then withdraw again, over and over, our sweaty skin making quiet noises as we rubbed together.

At its deepest point of penetration, his penis completely filled and stretched my young vagina and nudged against my cervix at the end. I had never had a lover before him but, as his large testicles pressed rhythmically against my most intimate skin, I counted myself very lucky to have found someone to be my first who had such a large and satisfying member.

With one hand I reached back to stroke his face and feel his soft hair as he continued to make me his own in the most natural and primal way. His movements were getting much faster and there was a growing urge deep in my belly as his veiny organ rubbed against the moist walls of my pussy. It felt so right to be cradled in his arms as he took possession of my body, and my arousal was dribbling down from our intertwined genitalia to moisten his testicles and my squeezable little arse cheeks.

He reached around and found my hard clitoris with two fingers, rolling it between them as he thrust his swollen organ into me and kissed my neck. I somehow knew this was a sign he was reaching his climax and he wanted me to cum before him. I pushed his hand away and arched my back as much as I could, which changed the angle of my pussy and allowed him more room to penetrate me with increasing speed and force. He grunted softly with each insertion and I mimicked his movements with my own arse in order to maximise the depth and force of his cock's invasion.

As I pushed my hips up to meet him he began to move his beautiful, lovely, sexy fantastic cock in and out of my vagina. Oh fuck everything he told me was true. It felt so wonderful. Much better than masturbation ever did. Much better than oral sex did too. This is what my pussy was designed for; to take a man's cock then take possession of a man's precious seed. As he pumped away I rocked my hips trying to match his movements and give him the same feeling! Oh fuck. So this was what fucking was, pure rapture, pure passion and pure lust! I felt the need to rock my body and fuck him as hard as he was fucking me. MY need and lust had never been higher. I screamed. "OH fuck yes Jeff fuck me faster! Harder fuck me harder!"

Soon I was completely filled with his cock every two seconds he would slam it into me again, and again and again as my juices flowed and it became easier for him to pump and pump in and out of me. I arched my back and lifted my hips as he pumped into me. I wrapped my legs around him and squeezed his body as my pussy squeezed his shaft internally. As I rocked my hips in time with his thrusts, we both began moving closer and closer towards an orgasm.

Oh Fuck, how I enjoyed the feeling of my first cock, his cock, so hard, so long and so dam thick inside of me. When I felt another orgasm approaching I screamed out with my joy and arched my ass up as hard as I could. I used my hips to rotate on his cock as the muscles of my pussy automatically clenched around his shaft milking it. My orgasm had taken control of my body and was fucking him hard and fast!

I squealed with overwhelming pleasure and shut my eyes as my vaginal canal clenched and squeezed around my boyfriend's thick penis and an orgasm spread from my genitals throughout my tingling body. The pleasure inundated my whole body and I wriggled and shivered in his arms as he brought me to climax and held me tight in his arms the whole time.

After a few more thrusts, Jeff was on the brink of orgasm and I grasped his hand tightly against my soft flesh, opening my legs and pushing my ass into the air to allow the deepest penetration of my pussy so far. After two more movements of his hips, Jeff grabbed my waist and pressed down, impaling me onto his throbbing organ as he began to ejaculate powerfully into the depths of my vaginal canal.

He moaned in relief as his semen spurted into my pussy, streaming into my deepest parts and filling me up, marking me as his willing and grateful partner. Jeff’s member kept on pulsing out thick creamy cum and his hands made marks in the soft skin of my thighs as he continued to press me down onto him so that every drop of semen was propelled into my eager young pussy. Will ejaculated such a volume of semen that it completely flooded my vagina and started to leak out around the root of his thick cock, mixing with the sweat and my own sexual fluids on my smooth bald pussy lips. I sighed in ecstasy as my pussy brimmed with the frothy ejaculate of my muscular boyfriend and I relaxed against his chest.

Jeff repeated my name, over and over again, like a ritualistic chant. It sounded so sexy. I could feel his warm thick cum fill me and overflow as he pumped himself gently in and out of me. I cried out my lover's name in reply as we slammed our bodies together again and again and again as the sexal bliss took me to a place of warmth and wonder. We held our bodies tight against each other as we rocked together finishing cumming. Jeff slumped on top  of me, still pressing his penis down to the very bottom of my vagina, seemingly satisfied with the generous load he had pumped into my tight young body. 

Finally, our joint climaxes began to drift away. We held each other for a very long time in the afterglow of our union…my first time. Being taken sexually for the first time by my powerful mate had made me unbelievably sexually aroused and even more completely in love with him. I could not wait to explore this new dominant side of my boyfriend's personality and hoped he would exercise his physical superiority over me again and again.

Later after taking a shower and holding each other close we finally got around to eating that dinner we took home. He made me sit with him nude and I didn't care at all now that he could see my tits or pussy. I would have bent over and showed him my tiny little ass hole if he would have asked me! I was truly his to do with as he felt. I would do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. This was the beginning of a mutually satisfying sex life for one young woman who was previously pure and completely inexperienced. It was this older man who had shown her the way. I knew he wanted more of me and I certainly wanted all of him.

[saintsenara]

honestly is there a single competent teacher at Hogwarts? Any teacher I can think of with more than 10 lines of dialogue is a pedagogical disaster. Very shippable disasters though, for which I am grateful because your page has made me giggle all week.

maybe Sprout.

honestly, anon? no.

that school is a basket case and the older i get the more my sympathy for cornelius fudge increases. imagine getting the call where dumbledore says "heyyyyy... so, i hired what i thought was an ex-auror who was retired from the service because of serious ptsd, gave him no teacher training, let him perform illegal curses on children for fun, and then it turns out he was an escaped convict trying to resurrect the dark lord all along. lmao."

i'd have devoted myself to trying to discredit him too.

and so, for fun and profit, i think it's only fair for us to establish an official competency ranking of the teaching staff at hogwarts during the period 1991-1998... points on for having a basic grasp of the material, points off for anyone who nearly dies in your class.

1. wilhelmina grubbly-plank, care of magical creatures

genuinely, professor grubbly-plank is the only person we meet in all seven books who seems to be an uncomplicatedly good teacher. she's got a series of well-defined lesson plans which feature a mixture of guided and independent study and which work in a tangible way towards exams, she has clear authority in the classroom but is never unreasonable or cruel, she's demonstrably able to lead a practical class which involves wild animals which might behave dangerously or unpredictably without there ever being any concerns about student safety, she takes an active pastoral role [such as when she helps heal hedwig's injured wing, reassuring harry enormously], she's collegial [she shares her lessons plans with hagrid in goblet of fire, and she refuses to criticise his teaching to umbridge], and she's admired by all of her pupils except harry [who is nonetheless begrudgingly forced to admit that she's incredibly good at her job].

plus, her aesthetic is iconic.

=2. filius flitwick, charms; pomona sprout, herbology

in joint second place, we have these two.

both sprout and flitwick spend canon seeming to be pretty good at their jobs - they have interesting lesson plans which seem to balance theoretical and practical work well and which prepare their pupils properly for exams, their pupils like them and enjoy their lessons, they're both excellent at the pastoral side of their jobs [sprout's gentle encouragement of neville is really lovely], and they're adored by their colleagues.

they lose marks for lax classroom discipline. harry, ron, and hermione are constantly yapping away in both charms and herbology - with harry and ron frequently failing to understand what they're supposed to be learning because they were too busy have a chat.

=4. remus lupin, defence against the dark arts; septima vector, arithmancy

two teachers here who earn their placement on the list by having one pupil who considers them life-alteringly inspiring.

for lupin, this is dean thomas - whose constant state of readiness to throw hands to defend his honour is one of his greatest character traits. for vector, it's hermione.

obviously, they're both well-qualified, well-prepared, engaging, and [at least in lupin's case, but i can't see why it wouldn't also be the case for vector] well-regarded by their colleagues.

they don't rank higher because lupin loses marks for endangering his students by not disclosing his knowledge that the presumed-to-be-a-death-eater sirius has a means of entering hogwarts without detection [i understand why he does this from a characterisation point of view, but it's inexcusable from a safeguarding one] and because vector teaches an elective subject which is implied to only attract bright, engaged pupils - and therefore has an easier time in the classroom than someone trying to get a student like crabbe through their exams.

5. minerva mcgonagall, transfiguration

in comes minnie mac at number five.

unsurprisingly, her solid curriculum, excellent classroom discipline, high-regard among her colleagues and pupils, support of student extracurricular activities, and investment in helping her pupils pursue the careers they want all give her points.

she loses marks, however, for the fact that she is so casually disdainful of pupils who aren't instinctively good at her subject - which suggests that she doesn't know how to adapt her material so it can be understood by every student she teaches. like dumbledore, she seems to have an identifiable favouritism for brilliant students - who she seems to permit to get away with much more than students she considers average or dull - which probably doesn't endear her to anyone who doesn't get that treatment.

on her pastoral approach, though, i don't think that it matters too much that she's not particularly nurturing - even though she's a head of house. she seems to be good at responding to genuine distress and managing genuine crises with empathy, and the "pull yourself together" vibes she takes in response to more trivial dramas is because she's a presbyterian scotswoman.

6. severus snape, potions & defence against the dark arts

the one on this list that i imagine will be controversial...

because snape is a dick in the classroom - not denying that - but he's also, in terms of his pupils' exam performance, clearly the most successful teacher in the entire school. he can fill his newt-level classes despite only admitting those with outstanding grades, and he expects every pupil he teaches to pass owl-level potions and seems not to be disappointed. hermione reveals that he does teach the theory of potions and the discipline's wider application - harry and ron just don't listen - and that she thinks his lessons are interesting.

snape loses marks - obviously - for his general vibe, although i think he should be allowed some leeway for his dickhead behaviour since potions is clearly a subject in which not paying attention and not being able to follow instructions properly is dangerous [hence why i've been a trevor hater since day one].

i suppose he should also be allowed some leeway because it's a genre requirement for a school story to have a theatrically evil teacher. but he's not getting it - since he clearly enjoys the role so much.

7. horace slughorn, potions

marks on for encouraging independent thinking and for clearly being able to hold a classroom's attention. marks off for not learning the names of pupils he's indifferent to, getting his favourite pupils drunk, and for having no follow-up questions to "hello, sir. i'd like to commit some murders."

8. charity burbage, muggle studies

entirely because i think it's genuinely admirable - and, indeed, far more admirable than the fact that the order of the phoenix all happily keep working for the state following voldemort's takeover - that she publishes an article in the daily prophet, to which her real name is attached, explicitly refuting blood-supremacist rhetoric when she must know that a blood-supremacist government is about to come into power.

marks off because the fact that even wizards who've taken her class appear to know fuck all about muggle society means that she can't be particularly good at her job.

9. firenze, divination

marks on because his pupils love him, marks off because that's a tremendously low bar to clear given... trelawney.

him telling his classes that divination is a bullshit, made-up subject is iconic, though.

10. "alastor moody", defence against the dark arts

i think it's genuinely impressive that he manages to go from being imprisoned under the imperius curse for a decade straight into planning a full year's lesson plans [which his pupils love] and doesn't have a breakdown.

marks off because of literally everything else.

=11. all the miscellaneous teachers: aurora sinistra, astronomy; silvanus kettleburn, care of magical creatures; bathsheba babbling, ancient runes

they seem fine.

14. rolanda hooch, flying

full respect to her for managing to wangle a full-time salary out of an annual workload made up of teaching one lesson [badly] and refereeing six quidditch matches.

15. quirinus quirrell, defence against the dark arts

all the proof those of us who hate professor riddle stories need that voldemort would have been a dogshit teacher, if he can't even get his meat-puppet to inspire a room full of eager eleven-year-olds in a subject which is about the coolest ways possible to kill people.

=16. cuthbert binns, history of magic; sybill trelawney, divination

they're terrible, obviously, but the fact that they remain in their jobs despite being so clearly incompetent is entirely dumbledore's fault. are you not giving the staff performance reviews, albus? come on now.

18. dolores umbridge, defence against the dark arts

umbridge deserves to be in prison, but she did at least bother to plan out a curriculum.

=19. gilderoy lockhart, defence against the dark arts; rubeus hagrid, care of magical creatures

both victims of dumbledore's "lol this will be so funny" era of hiring practices. both deservedly regarded as completely fucking incompetent by all but one defiant brownnoser. both possessing jazzy taste in textbooks.

21. amycus carrow, defence against the dark arts

he beats his sister simply because his pupils do appear to know how to perform the unforgivable curses correctly.

22. alecto carrow, muggle studies

literally nothing positive can be said.

[gazorninplat]

As much as I love Disco Elysium, I think I was not prepared for Sacred and Terrible Air. Of course, I was expecting to know more about the world of Elysium as a whole, and Robert Kurvitz is a very good writer, but the thesis of the novel (and how it makes its points) flash-banged me.

Disco Elysium this is not, and it wasn’t supposed to be, but I think I can understand better now what the team at ZA/UM was getting at with this specific setting, and these specific narrative angles. Kinda messy, because it’s been a week since I finished it, but here are some things I’d like to highlight: 

1. The pedophilia. I surely wasn’t expecting this to be such a central theme of the novel, but a lot of its main points revolve around it. The most interesting use of this, as a narrative device, is how the girlfriend of Jesper basically accuses him of being a pedophile because he cannot relate to the adults around him. He’s still obsessed with a girl he met when he was 13 years old, and fetishizes a scrunchie he stole from her bag two decades ago. Yeah, I guess Jesper, well into his thirties, is still in love with a 13 year old girl. His girlfriend is almost half his age, and they started dating when she was 15 years old and a lingerie model (!). Zigi mentions how pedophilia was a bougie disease, and well… That idea went right into my thought cabinet (I call it “Bougie Babies for Sale).

Still processing it.

Now, let’s go back to the rest of the main characters. With all this in mind, a pedophilic overtone covers their interest in these four missing girls, but Jasper is the only one who acts on it, sort of. Khan remains in a sort of arrested development (he still uses a shirt he had when he was 13), foregoing normal adult relationships, and Tereesz joins the police as an investigator with the idea of still finding them some day (essentially letting these eternally prepubescent girls define his entire existence), leading him to a very dark path. I wonder if the brutality they afford to the “actual” pedophiles in the story (Vidkun Hird and the Linoleum Salesman) comes from the realization that they are not that different?

2. Obviously, though, this fetishization of the Lund sisters is also a fetishization of the past. The novel states it in the first few pages; they disappeared twenty years ago, in a time that most conservative people remember as the “good old days”. Basically their version of the American Fifties. Now, being obsessed with the past is a running theme in both SaTA and DE, but the angle here is different.

I already said it: the past is not remembered, is fetishized with an almost sexual yearning by a lot of the male characters of the book. They want to be consumed by it (and lucky them! It will) and do nothing more than serve it. It reminds me of a poem by Yamil Nardil Sadek, which, translated to the best of my ability, goes like: 

She awaits me

sitting on the bed,

wearing leather,

and armed to the teeth,

the Memory.

Yeah, that sums up Sacred and Terrible Air pretty well. Everyone is being consumed by the past, bite by bite, and enjoying it. Vidkun Hird, by the mythologized version of his tribe’s history; Sarjan Ambartsumjan, by a miniature ship model that requires constant, devoted thought or else it will disappear, the three main characters by the memory of that summer with the Lund girls. Even the Linoleum Salesman is being haunted and consumed, of sorts, by his sickness and dementia that only sometimes let him take a peek of the past. Beyond that, there are very few characters that do not spend time being followed by relentless ghosts. Literally, in the case of Zigi. Which brings me to…

3. The Pale. It was a really cool concept in Disco Elysium, and it’s an existential nightmare in Sacred and Terrible Air. It always was, really. But here it lets you take a look into it in a way that’s applicable in real life. The Pale is a metaphor for many things, but actually for a single one: A world where our current Capitalist reality facilitates both apathy and yearning for better days, often idealized in our collective pasts.

My favorite scene, one that was incredibly puzzling but so obvious in retrospect, is a beautiful speech by the ghost (?) of Ignus Nilsen to Zigi. I will just paste it here:

“I said terrible things, yes! I stood on a white horse, in a blizzard, and gave speeches. In the mountains, on the construction site… I swung my sword, with silver sunbeams on the hilt. And all around me fluttered white flags, crests of crowned horns made with silver thread, a pentagon between the prongs of the horns, the branches raised to heaven. Everyone who came here with me became happy, Zigi! Communism is powerful! Believe in Communism, it’s a burst of enthusiasm! I promise! It’s beautiful when you believe in a person, but without it…!”

“Without it, there is nothing.”

“Nothing. It was a blizzard, but it was bright, it was morning. Communism is white, it sparkles! Communism is the morning, it is a jubilation!” 

The Pale begins to recede dangerously around the entroponaut.

The fucking Pale recedes with talk of Communism! At first it might appear a little heavy handed (yeah, Communism, by itself, could save the world). But then I got into how Communism could be a solution to the antipathy and chronic nostalgia that sustain Capitalism, and then it hit me. Nilsen, a literal ghost from the past, is talking about a future that could have been. That he wanted to accomplish. That people, probably, can still achieve. The Pale is not eternal, it can be pushed back. Because the Pale seems to subsist on the past, it abhors any talk of the future. A better future. That’s how we solve things, and for a central thesis, is not bad at all.

With that being said, and because I’m just rambling here while pretending I’m working, there are also some things that I just didn’t understand, but maybe it was because of the translation. The original novel is written in a very poetic style, and some of that is still here, but I still need to untangle…

1. The Man. It is said that the day the Lund girls disappeared, they were joined by a mysterious Man that nobody seemed to remember correctly. A character even suspects that she was remembering wrong. Now, the Pale erases people and memories retroactively, so maybe it had something to do with it, but… Who was that? Is there any theory about that Man, or I just missed something? Some scenes and narrations were tough to parse for me (my primary language is not English).

2. Was Malin Lund pregnant? That flash with the fetus was sudden and weird.

3. What was the significance of the three meat piroshkis? They mention that it was unusual that the girls bought them (and if you do the math, you can realize early on that they were not planning to get back home. That purchase didn’t leave them enough money for the bus fare back), but that’s it. Were they for the Man? Also, the narration mentions that Lund girls’ picnic basket contained “the kind of things girls like to eat”, so maybe they were planning to see the boys and bring them the kind of things boys eat? I’m overthinking that? The chapter actually titled “Three Meat Piroshkis” just left me even more confused.

4. I don’t understand how Khan’s pen works at all. The one he brought to the school reunion. That was the part I re-read the most. Anyway, even with that, I loved Sacred and Terrible Air. Definitely one of the most enthralling reads I had, with or without the background of Disco Elysium. I’d still like an official translation that could potentially solve the issues I had, but for now, a Top 10 Book for me.

Go for it now.

[avelera]

It makes me sad when I see posts by people who are enjoying the Interview with the Vampire show but say they've decided not to even try to read the books.

To be clear, it's fine to just not want to read the books, there's plenty of reasons the books might not be everyone's bag, and one reason is that people might just want to enjoy the show without spoilers or the source material muddling the experience.

But I just want to clarify a few points that people might be hung up on with regards to reading the books in case they've decided not to on false premises:

Anne Rice was not homophobic or otherwise anti-sex or against queer relationships for her characters - those are lies, lies, and damned lies. Anne Rice was a queer writer before being queer-- much less writing about it--was cool (to say the least). She more or less defined herself as nonbinary before there was terminology for it, her son is gay, and she left the Catholic Church the second time because they wouldn't accept him (even though the Catholic Church had basically become her life at that point after her husband died, which is a long complicated story). She also wrote tons of erotica, specifically bdsm erotica, which was also very queer. She would not be horrified by the queerness of the show.

Anne Rice was anti-fanfic - Yes, she was. Yes, she was one of the most aggressive authors against fanfic (though she softened later). But just to be clear, she had a legal reason for it. I was one of the people most heartbroken in the early '00s by her aggressive take down of fanfic over the years but even then, I always understood why she did it, she reasonably believed she had to be aggressive in order to defend her copyright. You can dislike her for it but she wasn't just hating on fanfic for the sake of it, the early internet was extremely muddy when it came to the legality around fanfic and copyright and as an early adopter of the internet, she was very concerned on that front specifically.

The books are not poorly written/not fun to read - Look, your mileage may obviously vary, and many have found flaws in her writing (IWTV in particular is probably the slowest read of the bunch) but Anne Rice wasn't a NYT Bestseller on basically every single one of her books for no reason. Her style is easy to read, fun, engaging, and often darkly beautiful and deeply empathetic. She basically defined the modern vampire genre and modern supernatural gothic romance for the last 50 years, I mean she dominated the genre. Don't take an out of context excerpt of the opening of The Vampire Lestat sounding like "My Immortal" as an indication of anything. (The whole point of that intro is that Lestat is supposed to sound like a self-obsessed drama queen in the opening pages, that's the conceit of the book and introduces him as a self-centered unreliable narrator, which she then plays with to great effect. It's actually rather deftly handled how she introduced Lestat as a POV character with that introduction. As a writer, I will defend that introduction as actually genius.)

Anne Rice wasn't perfect, to say the least. And the books might not be everyone's cup of tea, she was often dealing with transgressive topics and probably held many ideas or presented many concepts decades ago that would be side-eyed today.

But they're bestsellers for a reason and she's an era-defining author for a reason. The show is doing some interesting stuff with modernizing and deconstructing the books but the rich material they have to do it with comes from the books.

At the very least, I suggest trying out "The Vampire Lestat" and then "Queen of the Damned" which I think are two of her best and will go a long way to informing how audiences view the show and what's coming next.