#and our teacher helps us fill in the gaps

[fungusqueen]

I'm only 9 days away from a 1,000 day streak on Duolingo, and I want to do something to celebrate but I'm not sure what. Also, I haven't had Spanish class in two weeks because of the holiday and in those two weeks I've witnessed some really evil shit that I want to learn how to talk about in Spanish so I need to learn some new words I've never had to learn before this, so that I can maybe tell my teacher about it

[selkies-world]

Language resources

(Duolingo alternatives)

For those who no longer use or trust Duolingo, I've put together a list of resources - apps, learning methods, programmes, etc - with a list of whether or not they are free, and my personal experience with their success at teaching a language. I have also included new ones that I haven't tried yet but which I have researched; for these, I have included a rating of how much hope I have for them panning out in the future.

[I grew up bilingual & went to a multicultural school that had a student body consisting of children from refugee families who spoke little to no English. The school prioritised teaching the entire student body the minority languages, and finding a bridge language we could all learn together to fill in any gaps in communication. Due to this, I spent the last 4 years of primary school learning new languages with the rest of the student body.

We would have a school-wide lesson for 1 hour once a week - usually with a child or staff member fluent in that language leading the lesson at the front of the gym with a microphone so we could hear the correct pronunciation in time with reading the native spelling & English phonetics on the projector screen at the front of the hall. We were expected to use this language in the corridors when we spoke with teachers or staff members and when we passed by other students regardless of what their or our native languages were. As far as fluency went, we were expected to be able to recognise and say greetings and goodbyes, enquire to each others well-being, know how to ask for assistance, how to ask for medical help for various things, how to ask where the bathroom was, to give and receive directions around the entire school, as well as colours, names of things found around the school, make small talk about our activities of the day and our family, and why we were out of class - all with relative ease & mutual understanding.

We changed language after every break, so it was roughly 8 hours of lessons in each language, before we would start again with a new one.

Alongside this, the older students in the school (final 3 years, aged 9 - 11/12) would learn French 3+ hours a week for those 3 years so their writing, reading and speaking standards were acceptable for the beginning of high school. In 1 of these years, we also studied both of our native languages for the first time, for 6 weeks each.

I left traditional schooling at 11, and while I was home-schooled I taught myself Italian, Russian, and Latin from scratch, along with relearning my preferred native language, and 2 forms of sign - I used Makaton as a young child and in school as I have a form of mutism, but as a teen I realised I associated this language with the severe trauma I experienced at school, and so suffered from flashbacks and dissociative episodes when I used it. This, along with medical concerns, led to me learning BSL, and then SSE. Today, I use a combination of English, SSE and my native language in everyday settings. I have a mental block for learning French due to it being heavily associated with my trauma.

I am saying all this not for sympathy, but so that you can see firstly how much I enjoy and value learning languages, and in order to show my experience levels with learning languages. I've used, tried, and tested all of the learning methods I will be talking about in this post. I have either used or done a lot of research into the apps and programmes discussed in this post.

And yes, I have prioritised ones that teach endangered languages, indigenous languages and languages that aren't often included in language media such as Hebrew, various forms of Arabic, Navajo, Gaelic, and others. I have also included ones that teach and / or document sign languages and sign communication systems.]

Please note that the following lists are arranged in no particular order. They are not ranked best to worst or by any other X to Y ratio. They are simply ranked according to how I remembered, tested, or found each of them.

Apps

1: Fluyo.

Rating for hope / faith: ☆☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆

Effectiveness: n/a

Cost: unknown

Status: not yet publicly available

Please note that while Fluyo is not yet available, its Kickstarter page is flourishing, its app is in development, and the developer is a man of colour who has continued to devote himself to this app and its development despite rising health concerns, developing a life-changing disabling condition, and numerous set-backs. His YouTube channel is very educational, and he has also written a book on language-learning. If you would like to know more, you can learn about him here. Fluyo is set up like a computer game with multiple cute characters who are interactive rather than stationary, and I genuinely have high hopes for it once it is released.

2: Babble

Personal experience: ☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free trial for the first lesson, but a paid subscription is required for any further lessons

Status: available to download

3: Language Drops

Personal experience: ☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆

Cost: free for some lessons, but a paid account is required for access to all lessons

Status: available to download

4: Fluent forever

Hope for: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆☆

Cost: free access to basic lessons to build your confidence with the language, but a paid subscription is required for unlimited access

Status: available to download

5: Lingopie

Hope for: ☆☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆☆

Cost: free trial for 7 days, but a paid subscription is required after that for continued use of the app

Status: available to download

6: Fluenday

Hope for: ☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free

Status: available to download

7: Language flower

Hope for: ☆

Languages available: ☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆

Cost: free, as far as I can tell

Status: available to download

8: Sign BSL / Daniel Mitchell

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free

Status: available to download

Please note that Daniel Mitchel offers a BSL version of this, along with an ASL version.

9: Bright BSL / sign lab

Personal experience: ☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness:☆☆☆☆

Cost: free for some lessons + premium for all other lessons

Status: available to download

Please note that Sign Lab offers this app for the following sign languages: BSL (Bright BSL), ASL (ASL Bloom), LSF (Pause LSF / Langue des Signes, yoDGS, Libras (LibrasLab), Italian Sign Language (MeLISegno), and Toleio: Norsk Tegnspråk.

10: BSL zone

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free

Status: available to download

11: Reverso context

Personal experience: ☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free

Status: available to download

This is less for learning a language, more for quick reference / fact-checking a translation.

12: Pimsleur

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free 7 day trial, but a paid subscription is required for continued use

Status: available to download

13: Memrise

Personal experience: ☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free for introductory levels, with a premium option to unlock majority of lessons

Status: available to download

14: Busluu

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆☆

Cost: Free, with a premium option to download lessons, more repetition, and extra lessons

Status: available to download

15: Hello Talk

Hope for: ☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆

Cost: free

Status: available to download

16: Rosetta Stone

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆☆

Cost: monthly subscription is required

Status: available to download

17: Lingo Deer

Personal experience: ☆

Languages available: ☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free, with a premium option for all lessons beyond Basics 1

Status: available to download

18: Beelinguapp

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆☆

Cost: free trial, but a subscription is required for total access

Status: available to download

19: Lingvist

Personal experience: ☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆ (though it does have an option to suggest other languages for them to add, and which language you would like to learn from, and they'll email you when / if that language becomes available)

Effectiveness: unknown

Cost: free

Status: available to download

[Please note this one is not photosensitive friendly or seizure friendly. I had to close the app as soon as I opened it due to the design on their opening page, and even when I reopened it and clicked straight through, their colour scheme was still upsetting to my senses.]

20: Lingvano

Hope for: ☆☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free for a few lessons, but for access to all lessons, a paid subscription is required

Status: available to download

21: Duocards

Personal experience: ☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free, but a more advanced version is available for premium accounts

Status: available to download

22: Chatterbug

Hope for: ☆☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free with limited access, but a paid version is available

Status: available to download

23: Mango languages learning

Hope for: ☆☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free trial, with a premium account required for further access

Status: available to download

24: EdX

Hope for: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost:

Status: available to download

Please note that EdX is an app which houses courses on multiple subjects, not specifically a language-learning app.

25: Mondly Languages

Personal experience: ☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆

Cost: free, though it does repeatedly offer you a subscription account for an experience catered to you and your interests

Status: available to download

Please note this one may be triggering to those who are photosensitive or whose senses are upset by rapid moving gifs. There is a crown in the top right-hand corner which vibrates very quickly.

26: Speakly

Hope for: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free trial, with a subscription account required for further use

Status: available to download

27: Pocket sign

Hope for: ☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free, as far as I can tell

Status: available to download

28: Lingo legend language learning

Hope for: ☆☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free, though I think there may be a premium option either available but unmentioned, or in the works

Status: available to download

Please note that this app offers you the chance to vote for which languages should be added to its interface, so they can prioritise which ones to fund.

29: INC sign language app

Hope for: ☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free

Status: available to download

For those with religious trauma, please note that INC stands for Iglesia Ni Cristo, and the INC Sign Language App "is a project of the Christian Society for the Deaf under the Christian Family Organizations Office of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ)". While it does not appear to prioritise religious content, the content does feature people dressed in suits as if for attending a church sermon.

30: My signing time

Hope for: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆☆

Cost: 14 day free trial, and a subscription is required after this point

Status: available to download

Please note that this one is aimed at babies / toddlers & families.

32: Falou

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free, with a premium option if you want to learn more than 1 language & unlock additional courses in your chosen language

Status: available to download

33: Earworms

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆☆

Cost: free for the demo, then after that, the lessons are broken into two "volumes" to buy individually, or 1 bonus-pack which contains both to buy once at a slightly reduced cost.

Status: available to download

Please note that Earworms used to be available as CD lessons, which is when I first used them. The CDs were in Volumes and were more expensive than all costs on this app. I used them 10 years ago and still remember what I learned despite not getting to use the language very often, so I can guarantee their method is very effective.

34: Qlango

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆☆

Cost: free, with a premium option for the final 3 levels

Status: available to download

Please note that this one is laid out more like a semi-immersive lesson plan rather than a game. However, it is currently my favourite one.

Other resources

1: Signing hands (YouTube)

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆

Cost: free

Status: available to watch

2: Military style

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆☆

Cost: n/a

Status: available to begin for free, though it will be difficult for you to find an environment that allows you to experience this authentically. If you would like to learn more about what the military style is, I will speak about it further below.

3: Textbooks / Reading materials

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free, or otherwise up to you (what you are willing / able to spend on it)

Status: available to start whenever you feel like it

You can find numerous language-learning resources listed at the end of this post. I also recommend buying an up-to-date dictionary and thesaurus in your chosen language, and studying it. Study the grammar noted in the front, and then actually read the dictionary. It will seem strange, but it will benefit you in the long-run. Make notes as you go, highlight and colour some things in as you see fit.

Learning methods

1: Immersion

Over and over again, we are told that immersion is the best, most effective way to learn a language. This is because this is how we often think children learn languages - and we're partly right about that.

Immersion is the process of immersing yourself in the chosen language, with one single choice: learn the language, or suffer.

If our brains have to choose between struggling to pronounce a few words while gesturing to something we want and clinging onto sounds we hear like trying to hold onto a wet otter, or not getting what we want, we're going to choose to sound & look like an idiot, pointing and saying basic sounds, even if trying to remember the reply is like trying to remember Pi.

With enough time, though, we pick the language up remarkably well when we have no choice but to pick it up. This is the method which has us mimicking accents and gestures and expressions in order to best gain what we want: to express ourselves, our needs and our desires.

However, immersion is often critiqued because unless you have the means to fly to the country that speaks your desired language and live there with 0 influence from your native language for 6+ months... Well, you're not fully immersed, are you? Language apps try to give you an immersive experience, but you can always put your phone down. Depending on where you were educated, you may have had an immersive language class, where you had to learn the language or not be able to join in and so failed by default.

Good ways to mimic immersion are: finding radio channels in your chosen language and watching TV shows in your chosen language without subtitles, and listening to music in your chosen language.

2: Flashcards

Flashcards often tend to be a popular way to test your memory and retention of a particular subject. However, using them to begin learning a language can lead to a loss of motivation.

If you are creating the flashcards yourself, I would recommend creating them in 2 sets: 1 which is the traditional flashcard (your first language OR a picture on one side, and the translation on the other side), and 1 which has twice as many, with only 1 side being used. This second set should be designed like playing cards - the word or picture on one side, and a plain back.

This second set can be used when you're wanting to boost your motivation or confidence - arrange the cards face down, and begin playing the children's game of Pairs. Another option would be Snap.

When you return to using the traditional flashcards, you'll have a better foundation to build on if you've taught yourself to see these as fun, and taught your brain to associate these cards with quickfire responses - such as are brought to the surface during childrens' cards games.

3: Stickers

This is a method which seems obvious once it's pointed out, but seems confusing if you've never done it before.

Simply put, using stickers is when you create or buy stickers with the translation of everyday objects, words and phrases in your chosen language, and put them up around your house. "Door" goes on the door. "Cupboard" goes on the outside of a cupboard, "bread" goes on the inside. "Fridge" goes on the fridge door. "Milk" goes behind the milk so you see it every time you pick the milk up. "Lightswitch" goes above / under the lightswitch. Etc etc etc.

This is a memory retention technique used for multiple scenarios. Nurseries and schools may sometimes have the Makaton sign for something shown in a large diagram stuck to the walls / surfaces. Carehomes may have the names & purposes of objects stuck to the surfaces / objects in the dominant language, for the residents with memory issues or communication barriers.

While this is a good technique for quickfire memory boosts, it can be a slow way to learn a language from scraps, and is better suited for when you are semi-familiar with the written form of the language you are learning. It is also a good way to get everyone involved, as everyone in the home will be interacting with the stickers.

4: Forced conversation

This one is controversial, but can be very effective if it is approached with an open mind, clear communication and previously-agreed upon rules and lines.

The method of forced conversation is exactly what it sounds like: it is when you are engaged in a conversation in your target language, in which the person whom you are conversing with refuses to speak your original language. However, no matter how poor your language skills are, or how uncomfortable you get, they do not stop the conversation, and you do not let to leave the situation until they are satisfied you have communicated well enough, and have understood them. This will usually be "proven" by them giving you instructions, asking a specific question, or requesting you do something for them - if you follow the action through, you have understood them, if you try to give a vague answer and do not do the task, you have not understood them, and the interaction is forced to continue. Again.

This method is controversial because it is not immediately inclusive or welcoming for those who are shy, have anxiety, any form of Mutism, or who have a neurodiversiry or learning disability which impacts their communication. In formal situations, it is often these people who fall behind or get put off from learning a language if forced conversations are the only method they have the option of.

However, if there are adaptions made and accommodation previously discussed and provided, this can still be a viable method which is inclusive to all.

If the person speaking your target language is previously informed of your communication issues or complications, and are instructed in how to accommodate you (ie: Do they need to point at something, or use picture cards as prompts? Do you prefer using picture cards? Do you get distracted if they use hand gestures? Do you need fidget toys provided? Will it be easier for you if you are not forced to maintain eye contact? Will it be better for you if one or both of you are moving around rather than sitting down directly across from each other? Do the lights need to be altered in your environment to make the sensory experience less overwhelming? Do you use noise cancelling headphones? Do you focus better if there is music on in the background? Are there certain tones of voice or volume levels that need to be avoided? Does constantly changing body language stress you out? Do you have a stutter or speech impediment that may impact your pronunciation? Etc.)

Accomodaring these issues, and coming up with a signal to take a break (ie, if you have issues telling the difference between "I am angry at you personally" and "I am tired today" in vocal tones and facial expressions, will you get upset if you think the person is angry at you for not knowing their language? If so, do you need a signal to take a break so you can clearly communicate your stress, and they can give you an answer in your original language and clarify anything which is upsetting or confusing you, before continuing the conversation in your target language?) or to speak in simpler terms? Is their one subject you can talk about particularly well (a hyperfixation) which they can use in the conversation to help you engage?

All of these accommodations may seem intimidating, but if all those involved are aware of these accommodations going into the conversation, it can make the interaction much more positive and productive.

Forced conversation uses the same logic as immersion: if your brain has to choose between looking / sounding like an idiot who stumbles over words, or a very uncomfortable situation which lasts longer each time you make a mistake, your brain will choose to look like an idiot in order to achieve what it wants.

5: Repetition

Repetition is a very common method of learning a language, though it is often criticised for being ineffective.

It is when a phrase or word is said by one party, and repeated by another. If the second party does not pronounce it correctly, the first party repeats it again. This continues until the second party gets it correct. Then the pattern is repeated with another phrase / word. Once a certain number of words have been said correctly by the second party, the first party will return to the start and repeat the process again, with the second party having to say the phrases / words correctly multiple times before being able to move onto the next. The entire process continues in this loop until the second party is saying things correctly with ease.

This method is part of what makes up both immersion, flashcards and military style methods for language learning. It can also be used with textbook learning.

However, it is often critiqued because once the second party is away from the first party and left to their own devices, their confidence in their previous pronunciation will falter, and when they return to the lesson or need to use the language again, they'll be at a lower level of achievement than they were when they left. It is also very tedious, and can become boring.

6: Music

When I spoke about immersion, I briefly mentioned music. I also said that we assume children learn language via immersion. However, as adults we often overlook something else which plays a crucial role in teaching children language: music.

Children learn language, rhythm, speech patterns, and turn-of-phrase via songs, rhymes, riddles, fables, tongue-twisters, and music.

This is why it can be priceless to learn songs in your chosen language. Lullabies. Nursery rhymes. Children's songs. Pop songs that are ridiculed as being too simple or written without talent. Theme tunes from children's shows. Traditional rhymes and tongue-twisters. Most of these can be found via a long time on YouTube.

Music works in a unique way, worming its way into our minds. Our brains are hardwired to recognise and remember patterns - and music is made up of patterns. This is why we get songs stuck in our heads for no reason. Being able to use this to your advantage to learn or remember a new language can be an amazing experience.

7: Subtitles and language swap

This is a method which can be useful when you are learning more than one language, but are more familiar with one than the other.

It is where you watch / listen to a certain media in 1 language, while reading the subtitles / lyrics in another language. This way, the language you are more familiar with / fluent in will fill the gaps of understanding the less familiar one.

You can then challenge yourself by removing one language (muting the media & only reading the subtitles, or removing the subtitles and only listening to the provided audio) and seeing how well you follow along / understand.

This can also be used with your target language and your original language.

8: Writing it down

This is another form of repetitive learning which can be useful when studying / retaining for an exam, but can also be useful when you are first learning the written-to-verbal patterns of a language.

One method is longterm recall: this is where you write down short notes, words & phrases in your target language 1+ hour after engaging with your learning resources. This tests how much you retained. It is a physical show of how much you have actually learned.

Another method is short term recall & build-up: this is where you choose a single word / phrase, and write it as lines (Ducks are green and brown. Ducks are green and brown. Ducks are green and brown. Ducks are-) until your page is full. Then go back to the start and write over the top of your own writing, staying as close to your original marks as possible. Repeating this pattern multiple times until your page rips or the words become close to unreadable tricks your brain into focusing morenon your handwriting than on the language - as such, you will start to see the phrase / word as a pattern to follow, and it is then left to your subconscious mind to retain it while your conscious mind prioritises hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills.

9: Textbook

If you're more academically inclined, you may prefer a textbook method of study. This is the style used in most night classes and / or some traditional education classes.

Textbook methods have everything arranged by date and time, and learning goals are broken down & laid out according to a set calender: by x, you will have learned this amount, by y, you will have learned this amount, so on so forty until the final set date when you will be "fluent" or a certain level of reasonably fluent.

Most of the time with this method, you will be following guidelines, activities and lesson plans previously arranged in a chosen textbook, and that textbook will be your sole or primary resource.

10: Bilingual books (page by page)

Using page-by-page bilingual books can be confusing and is often overlooked in regards to adult education - however, it can be somewhat interesting to try.

On one page, the text will be written in your original language - on the opposite page, the same text will be repeated in your target language. Seeing the two side-by-side allows you to read your target language and instantly refer back to your original language if you get stuck on a word or phrase.

There is another form of bilingual books often given to children: line-by-line. These feature the image / picture, with the original text written clearly and simply, usually no more than 1 or 2 sentences per page. Directly underneath them will be the translated text written in a different font.

11: Same story / movie, different language

While this can be a fun method, it isn't always the most beneficial if you're looking for accuracy - however, it can be useful if you're wanting to test yourself.

It uses a similar logic to the subtitles & language swap method: you put on a movie you are familiar with, but you put it on in your target language with 0 subtitles. This allows you to engage with the language while using the familiar movie / story as a bridge.

12: Military Style

This is perhaps the most effective technique to use of you have a set amount of time to reach a specified level of understanding / fluency in a language. However, it is also one of the most difficult to fully replicate yourself.

Military style is a form of forced immersion combined with forced conversation and repetitive loops, but with reward and punishment techniques to make you prioritise learning the language over your own comfort zone / personal boundaries.

An example of this style would be party 1 having party 2 engage in forced conversation in front of an audience, then having them repeat a phrase they got wrong over and over until they get it right - all in front of the audience, with a rule set which forbids party 2 from sitting down or disengaging the interaction until they have finished the task. Nobody in the audience is allowed to help party 2. Party 1 continues to push party 2 outside of their comfort zone by having them continue the conversation, repeating any mistakes until they are corrected, and the conversation does not end until it is completed.

After that, party 2 has to do 100 push-ups while repeating the phrase they got wrong the most - and they have to pronounce it correctly while doing the push-ups. Any mistakes, and they go back to 1, regardless of if they were at 7 or 98.

This combined punishment of mild public humiliation and physically pushing their body beyond its limits makes the brain see learning the language as the solution to ending this treatment - as such, party 2 will be far less likely to repeat those mistakes again.

Alongside this, there is forced immersion, in the sense that nobody is allowed to speak their original language in any context or to anyone - they must use the target language or be ignored at best or ridiculed at worst.

Understandably, this method is difficult to replicate on your own or outside of the army.

However, there are some tokens which can be taken from it: notably forced repetition & physical exercise.

Set yourself a challenge using any of the previously mentioned learning methods or apps. Keep note of your mistakes.

At the end of the challenge (say 30 minutes of learning) count up all your mistakes. Now do a push-up / squat / pull-up / sit-up / etc for each mistake you made while repeating the phrase out loud. If you stall too long on making a connection in your mind or stumble over the sounds, start counting from 1 again. Repeat this until you're continuously getting the mistakes correct.

At the end, go back to your lesson and repeat it. Did you get less mistakes?

Thoughts & considerations when it comes to learning a language - for language savants and novices alike

"If you don't use it, you lose it" is probably one of the most hated phrases in terms of learning anything new - and especially in terms of learning a language. I think a better expression would be "If you don't make room for it, you won't keep it".

If you don't make time to learn a language, you won't learn it.

If you don't challenge yourself to reach a certain standard, you won't achieve any standard.

If you don't make the effort to retain the new information, you'll forget it.

When you learn a new language, you have to make room for it in your mind. You have to be willing to make mistakes and continue, knowing you're not doing it perfectly. You have to be willing to make it a priority, even if nobody else in your life sees it as one. You have to be willing to be frustrated and tired and bored. You have to be willing to get every single thing wrong and try again. You have to be willing to be uncomfortable with the new sounds you're making and you have to be willing to be patient while your brain digs out a new burrow of tunnels and connections which didn't previously exist.

If you genuinely want to learn a new language, you have to make room for it in your mind and life. Even when sometimes it's a tight fit.

Resources, as promised

Reading, writing & textbook materials:

Book 1

Book 2

Book 3

Book 4

Book 5

Structured notebook 1

Structured notebook 2

Structured notebook 3

Something worth checking out 1

Other things to invest in:

A dictionary in your target language

Picture cards

Flashcards

Stickers

Books in your target language

Children's books in your target language

Nursery rhyme books in your target language

Magazine subscriptions in your target language on a topic you find fascinating

Newspapers in your target language

Poetry in your target language

1 paid language learning app - a lot of the time, you get what you pay for. Not always, but usually.

Notebooks, stationary, etc

Headphones / earplugs

Media in your target language

[lunajay33]

Just a Taste🖤

•🕷️💋•

Summary: Reader knew lusting after him was wrong, him being her gym teacher and all but when she comes across him again when the world ends she can’t resist

Pairing: Negan Smith x f!reader

Warning: Age Gap, 18+

•Masterlist•

I know it’s wrong but god I want him so badly, sure he’s my gym teacher but a girl knows how to appreciate an attractive man, the way he’d smirk when I’d sass him back or the way he’d help me with warm up stretches, pushing his body so close to mine I’ve become addicted to his cologne , but what could I do he’s my gym teacher, sure I’m 18 but a girl can dream

The day of my graduation I finally found the courage to approach Negan, walking right up to him behind the bleachers as it was an outside celebration, a cigarette lit as he huffed out a cloud of smoke, I never was one for the smell but being around him I couldn’t get enough now

“Hey angel, shouldn’t you be celebrating with the others?” He smirked as I stood next to him

“Hmmm I’d rather be here with you Mr.Smith” I said batting my lashes seeing his smirk widen making my knees weak

“Is that so baby girl? I’m sure you don’t wanna waste your time with an old man like me, what the guys your age don’t satisfy ya?” He asks as he blows smoke in my face

“Mmm no one makes me feel the things you do”

“Holy shit darling you’re one hell of a minx, never seen this side of ya before but god is it refreshing” I took the cigarette from his hand taking a slow drag feeling the smoke envelope my lungs

“Maybe you deserve a little graduation gift don’t you think Angel?” His lips mere inches from mine as he sucked in the smoke I breathed out

“I think I do, I’ve been so good” right as our lips were about to touch screams and chaos erupted all around us

Pulling apart I notice blood all around people ripping the flesh of my fellow classmates and some people that were still lingering around from the graduation, I felt a tight grip around my waist pushing me in the opposite direction of all this mayhem

“What is happening Mr.Smith?” I asked running with him right next to me

“Don’t know sweetheart but we gotta get the hell outta here”

We got close to his truck when a group of walkers got in our way splitting us up, having to run in separate directions, I tried getting back to him but neither of us could risk it with the amount of chompers around

“STAY ALIVE! ILL FIND YA SUNSHINE” he screamed as we got pushed further and further apart

I ran and just kept running until I got back home, my family was gone they didn’t even wait for me, the realization dawned on me that I had to do this alone, so I gathered a bag and filled it with clothes, the food that was left over in the pantry and getting anything that could be used as a weapon in the garage

I changed into some more appropriate clothes for this crazy situation that this town has found itself in god knows where else

“Okay you’ve got this, all you’ve got to do is survive just survive somehow” I tried encouraging myself as I slung my bag over my back and drove off out of town having no clue where I was heading

Gas ran out quick leaving me to wonder on foot through the Georgia woods thinking it would be safer than the roads, after 2 months of wandering having to fend for myself, running scarce of food and killing and walkers that came near leaving me exhausted and covered in blood

Finally I came to a break in the trees leading to an open field with a farm house in the middle, not a walker in sight, I sighed in relief feeling like I’ve finally found a break even just for a little while, I got to the house noticing tents set up, still early in the morning the people set up here must still be sleeping

“Who the hell are ya?” I heard a gruff voice behind me, I turned frightened noticing a man with a cross bow pointed at me, he had scruffy hair and a scowl

“Oh umm I’m sorry I’ve just been walking and I came across this place I just wanted a break, I was gonna ask…..I just need rest even just for today please” he looked me up and down before lowering his bow, his expression softening

“Come on I’ll show ya around”

Thankfully that day it wasn’t a one day rest and the group embraced me as one of their own, Daryl became like an older brother teaching me how to hunt, always watching over me, Maggie always went out of her way to check up on me and she’s become like a sister, I got along with everyone else as well but Daryl and Maggie meant the most to me

When the farm fell Daryl saved me from being torn apart, the 9 months on the road after that looking for a new home they always made sure I got a bit of extra food

Finally we found the prison and we had a while of peace, sitting on the railing of the watch tower looking out over the yard when Daryl came and sat next to me

“Ya okay?”

“Yeah just thinking about stuff”

“Like what?”

“The day everything happened it was my graduation day, it felt like my life was just starting and I had my whole life ahead of me, I even had a guy I finally got the courage to confess to in a way, I was so excited and god I had wanted him for so long and just like that it was ripped away from me, I still hear the last words he said to me before we were pulled apart, he said he’d find me” I sighed feeling the weight of what could have been weighing down on me, I still think of Negan all the time, the way he’d wear a black top showing off his tattoos that always had me clenching my legs in class, how his arms would flex when he’d help me stretch, or when the smell of cigarette would come my way I remember taking his and feeling his lips brush against mine

“Don’t give up peach, he might still be out there, I’ll make sure ya have a future”

“Thanks Daryl”

When the prison fell I was lucky to escape with Tyrese and Judith and the two little girls until we came across Carol, with carols help we saved the group from the cannibals, reuniting with my new family, the we were on the road again until we got saved yet again and found a new home in Alexandria, everything was going well, Maggie was pregnant, we had a home that was safe with food, I always wanted to help the group with what ever problem arises but Maggie and Daryl kept me out of it, always saying I should stay in Alexandria and help things run smoothly

So when the group came back bloodied and empty of emotion I was confused

“What happened where Daryl? Where’s Maggie is she okay?” I asked Michonne as she seemed to be the most put together of the group

“We shouldn’t have left you in the dark, we’ve been up against another group they cornered us they….they killed Abraham and Glenn, they took Daryl, Maggie is at hilltop hiding out and getting the help she needs with the baby” my world felt like it was crashing down

“What? No this can’t be true, we need to get Daryl back”

“There’s nothing we can do”

A few days went by when that group that took some of my family away arrived in the streets and Alexandria

I ran out of the house seeing Daryl in ratty clothes standing at the gates, I looked next to him and it was him…..Negan was talking to Rick my heart started pumping fast and I gasped catching the attention of him, his smirk he had dropped as the attention of everyone around was now on us, he dropped his bat to the ground and before I knew it I was running to him jumping in his arms feeling his strong arms wrap around me and squeeze me tight

“I told you I’d find you sunshine” he stated he still smelled of cigarette and that cologne that had me want him to finally take me right here right now

He set me down back on the ground squeezing my waist as I ran my hand along his cheek

“I’ve been looking for you, ever since that day, god I’ve craved your lips, your touch, I ain’t letting you go again Angel”

“Y/n? What are you doing?” I heard Rick ask from behind me

“Oh she’s mine done Ricky, been waiting to have her, should’ve never let you go that day”

“Y/n he killed Glenn and Abraham he’s the one that imprisoned Daryl” it dawned on me that this was the leader of the group that took people away from my family

I looked over at Daryl seeing how hurt he was

“Negan can I talk to you in private please” he placed his hand on my lower back and led me away from the clashing groups

“What is it baby?”

“This is my family, they’ve done so much for me, Daryl has saved me and protected me more times than I can count, if it wasn’t for him I would be long dead, and I wanna be with you, god do I wanna be with you but I need you to let him go, please I mean you still have to give me my graduation gift” I said smirking as I looped my fingers in the waist band of his jeans hearing him groan

“Fuck Angel I can’t believe I’m saying this but I’ll do it for you, he can go but you’re coming back with me, I’ve needed to feel you for too long, go say your goodbyes” he smirked as he slapped my ass as I walked back towards the entrance

“Daryl I’m so sorry I didn’t know, he’s going to let you go” he finally looked at me and pulled me into his arms

“Ain’t yer fault ya knew none of this, I can’t say I’m happy about this being the guy that ya told me about, but ya gotta do what makes ya happy, I’ll talk to the others” he said as he pushed me off back towards Negan

“I’ll see you soon Daryl”

Getting back to the sanctuary Negan showed me around until we got back to his own room, it was nice, the nicest room I’ve seen since before everything happened

“I can’t wait anymore Negan, I need you, please. I need you to fuck me” I whined as I felt him close behind me his hands brushing down my hips

“Whatever you want baby” he groaned into my ear as he started unbuttoning my jeans pulling them down as I was quick to rip off my shirt leaving me in my black lace panties and bra

“Damn look at that body” he said pushing be back down onto the bed, quick to rid himself of his own clothes, even more tattoos on his chest that had me desperate for more

“Like what ya see baby”

“God yes, please just touch me” he smirked as he started leaving sloppy hickeys down my neck to my chest, licking down my stomach to my panties, my heart was pounding, my head was buzzing

He pulled my panties down so slowly I whined my pussy aching from need

“Look at how wet you are baby and all for me, just a little taste first” he said before he licked up my pussy slowly at first before he started eating me out like he was a starved man, running my hand through his salt and pepper hair screaming his name as that pressure started building

“Fuck fuck I’m so close don’t stop” pulling away as I felt that pressure fade

“No please let me cum”

“Oh you’ll be coming angel, all night long” he laughed as he ran his cock up and down my slit jumping when he’d smack my sensitive clit

“Fuck I don’t think you’re gonna fit” he was huge, thick and long it had my mouth watering

“Oh it’ll fit and I’m gonna fuck this pretty little pussy raw” he said as he slowly pushed in feeling him stretch and fill me up to the brim it was overwhelming but god was it everything I’ve fantasized about

Hovering over me he was biting his lip his face scrunched in pleasure

“So tight, so know how long I’ve wanted this little pussy baby, to bend you over those bleachers and just fuck the attitude out of you” he said as he started thrusting getting faster and faster hitting all the right spots, quickly circling my clit

“Oh fuck I’ve wanted you for so long, god you fuck me so good” his cologne enveloping my senses, hearing him groan into my ear, feeling his cool rings run across my burning skin, everything I’ve dreamed of finally happening feeling that pressure build and build

“Fuck Negan I’m gonna cum please let me cum”

“Cum baby, cum on my cock, be a good girl come on” he said slapping my clit again pushing me over the edge

“OH FUCK” I screamed every nerve burning with desire, my sight clouded with stars, feeling his hot cum shoot inside me

“That’s it sunshine, let it go” his thrusts slowing until he finally pulled out making whine at the empty feeling

“Wow that was……mind blowing”

“We ain’t done yet baby, I’ve got years of fantasies to play out”

This was gonna be a long night

Taglist: @pretty-circa006 @somethingabouttheft @elliesr1fle @gigi0190 @livlaughlove03 @sst4r-g1rll @trishpish-blog @bewitchedbymadness

[slut4satoru-blog]

Parent-Teacher Conference—Toji Fushiguro-Zenin. +18 CONTENT MINORS DNI

*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ

a singledad!Toji fic to fill my empty heart. i’m a slut for toji and i hope you guys are too. making this a 3 part series! please enjoyyyyyyy. 💜

content warnings: f!reader, AFAB, tiny kabedon, height difference, healthy age gap (6 years), trying my best to keep body descriptions to a minimum, hickeys, sex toys, marking, jealousy, slight possessiveness, oral (f!receiving), tiddie sucking <3, fingering, edging, public use of sex toy, pet names, and whatever else might had slipped my mind.

word count: 2.2k

*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ

It’s been a busy 2 weeks with the PT conference being tomorrow. I have 0 time for myself. There’s two places I’m always at, either at school teaching my students or at home grading and preparing student reports. The end of the 10 weeks is always a mess. At least I teach High School, and my kids are so good they help me with the stuff.

There’s always a few students from each class that volunteer to help organize and store papers and that has helped me for sure. Like whenever Nobara, Yuuji and Megumi from my 10th grade class stay after school every Tuesday to help me out. They really are the best and I 100% could not survive without them. Talking about the kids, Megumi is really special. I’ve literally taught him since middle school, and it’s kind of funny because when I first started teaching him he would accidentally call me “mom” sometimes, his cute little face always made me smile. I remember when his mother passed away and I attended the service, it was the first time I saw his dad.

Toji Fushiguro, what a sight to remember. He was one of those people I knew I would never forget about. Year after year, conference after conference Toji and I’s friendship grew closer. Of course, always formal since he is my student’s dad. But there’s always a part of me that dreams of it being more than just that. The way he would slightly touch my hand with his fingers, acting as if nothing happened. Whenever he says “Hello” and puts his hand on my waist as he brings me in for a hug. I swear, one time that man was as hard as a rock and he just acted so normally. His tall, muscular build haunted me in my dreams.

Every single night, I would dream about him ravaging me in different positions. The way he would eat me out, fuck me senseless. I would imagine how he could roughly handle me and just how good he would feel inside of me, leaving me clenching around my fingers as I tried to satiate the need for his cock. However, every single morning I had to remind myself that it would never change. At least that’s what I always thought.

I decided to get up 1 hour earlier and get myself ready. Since today we had no class and I wasn't going to deal with any cooking, I wouldn’t have to wear my go-to chef uniform. Rummaging through my clothes, I decided to wear a simple emerald green and black pants suit, along with some 2 inch closed platforms. Also, I took the opportunity to wear some makeup and style my hair since I rarely got the chance to do so in school.

Once I arrived at the Jujutsu Technical School campus I quickly went up to finish setting up my lab to greet the parents and guardians of my students. For each parent student teacher conference I would have the kids make something for their families so they could snack as they picked up the grades for the quarter and discuss some details with me. They all decided to make some cake pops and they looked adorable. Some are movie themed, others by colors and even by aesthetics. Kids these days, am I right? When I finished everything I decided to sit patiently at my desk and wait for all of the parents to arrive.

Not to my surprise, Toji arrived first. I could sense his presence even with me being against the door. His sultry, silky and sinful voice decided to greet me. “Hey there Ms. _____. It’s been too long since our last encounter.” I turned my seat around to face him, getting startled as he was way closer than I anticipated. His hand went for my arm, sliding one finger over my bare hands. “Hi Sir, it’s a pleasure to see you get here so early. As you know, Gumi’s sweets are at the left corner of the table. You can grab the cake pops he made you and Sumi this time. He worked really hard on them.”

He looked at the table, walked up to it and got his and Tsumiki’s bag and returned to my desk. He shoved the sweets in his pocket and plopped his hands to either side of my desk. Trapping me in to smell his fresh, clean cologne. “I was thinking of doing some experiments. What do you think? Megumi tells me about everything you guys do in this class. And, it gets me thinking. Are you as fun in bed as you are in the classroom? I’m sorry Ms. ____ but I know I’m not the only one that feels this tension.”

He stopped for a second, eyed me up and down. Taking one of his hands and moving it to my chin as he lifted it up to continue his sermon. “I‘ve seen the way you look at me. How your thighs clench whenever I tease you. I’m not blind you know? And you’re not hiding it now either.” He took his eyes off of mine and dragged them across my body. I could feel his intense stare burning through the fabric. Starting a fire in my core that would soon become too hot to control.

“Sir, this isn’t right… Anyone can come up now and see us like this. I work here, I don’t want to risk that for whatever my body feels like. I can deal with it later. This is wrong.” I tried to believe the words that came out of my mouth. We both knew i was lying about it not being right. We were both adults, he was only a few years older than me since he had Megumi at 16. We were only 6 years apart, so it wasn’t inmoral. However, there was something about this being too good to be true. I just couldn’t wrap my head around how things were happening.

“Can we try something? Please? I swear if you say no I won’t bother you after this.” He opened his black suitcase that he always brought to store all the papers us teachers would bring to the parents. Once it was open, he pulled out a weirdly shaped pink toy. I’ve seen this before, it’s called a love sense. He saw the way my eyes lit up to the toy and asked. “I figure you’re familiar with this, right? I promise I’ll behave if you’re a good girl.”

I stood up and walked up to the door. Looking at the empty hallways since the pt conference was 30 minutes away. “Am i really about to do this…?” I whispered to myself as I closed my lab’s room and locked it. I went to Toji, sat on top of my desk and responded. “I’ll allow this… experiment. But you have to promise not to go too far. This is my job, and I’m not willing to lose it because I moaned while talking about bread.” He laughed at my remarks and sighed beautifully, standing between my legs and wrapping me in his arms. I could feel his cinnamony breath near my lips as he spoke. “Don’t worry darling, this thing is nothing compared to what I want to do to you. Consider this preparation for what comes next.”

Without saying more, he leaned in to kiss me almost as if he was afraid of ruining whatever it is that we had these past years. His hands diligently went under my satin shirt, taking it out of the pants to grope my tits. “They’re so soft, I could drown here.” He whispered in your ears as he lifted the shirt up completely to suck on them, leaving cute little markings all along them. “Just wait till you see my ass.” I playfully dared him, ruffling one of my hands through his soft, black hair as i left one of my hands on the desk for support. Throwing my head back as he sucked my nipples with such expertise. It really felt like he was french kissing me there.

“Oh, please don’t stop. This feels so good.” I whined at him as I started feeling new sensations, I had never before felt so sensitive on my breasts. Maybe because of my lack of sex partners. It had been such a bad experience with none of my other flings getting me to orgasm. So frustrating I ended up stopping all together. I could feel his grin across my nipple as he slowly popped it as he let it go. “Time to see that ass babe, can’t wait any longer.”

He flipped me skillfully, carefully pulling down my pants & lingerie that I wore that day. “All wet for me baby? So nice and plump; you keep wrapping me up in your little finger, huh?” He took one of his hands and teasingly slid it across my slit. I shuddered; his cold, big fingers clashing against my hot plump core. He started to play with my arousal, slipping it up and down. Occasionally grazing above my clit as to piss me off. “Toji, please. We have 15 minutes until the parents arrive. Just fuck me already.”

“Fuck you? Oh no baby girl, you’ve got it all wrong. You see…” He stopped talking for a second, and I groaned when I felt his mouth on my clit. Skillfully eating me out like he had 1,000 years of experience. “My plan isn’t to fuck you now.” He planted another kiss on my cunt, tongue skimming all through my folds. “We‘ll talk about that later. ‘Kay sweetheart?”. With that he stopped, removing himself from my needy core and slipped the toy inside of me, filling me up instantly as a moan slipped through my teeth.

“Remember, this is connected to my phone. You better act nice if you want me to be nice.” He grinned like a man-whore and I enjoyed every single of it. He licked my thighs to “clean-up after himself” and then wiped it dry with some tissue I had laying around. After that, he walked to the chair in the back and waited for the classroom/lab to fill up with more parents.

“Hello, thank you all for attending today’s PT Conference. I’m Ms. _____ and as you all probably know by now, I’m your kid’s Culinary Arts elective course teacher….” I roughly explained the next 2 big projects the kids had to make. And how the Culinary Arts elective course was partnering up with the Science program to form a “Food Science” exhibition for the upcoming science fair. It was all going good. Actually, too good. I would eye up Toji every now and then but he was never looking at me, just looking at his phone. Mysteriously the vibrator was off for all of my speech. I was kind of glad, I didn't want to trip on my words or embarrass myself. However, things started to take a turn when parents started to ask to see me after class.

When Mr. Nanami, Yuuji’s foster dad, asked to see me after class. That was the moment I felt the vibration instantly turn on. It was slow, steady motions that started to relieve the tension I had going on. I said my goodbyes to all the parents, and when my lab was almost empty, since Toji refused to leave, Mr. Nanami went up to me. “Hey Ms.____ I was wondering if i could ask you something about Yuuji’s grades. You see, he’s having some trouble with math and since I know this course involves a lot of that i was wondering if you would be willing to tutor him. I would be paying, of course. It could be over at our home or we could meet up at some place of your choosing.”

I gave him a tiny smile, he was always so observant over Yuuji. “Of course! We can work something out. He always works my math out easily, I imagine it’s because I try my best to break everything down before giving it to them. Thanks for your concern on Yuuji. He’s a bright kid, he’s in good hands.” I put my hand on top of his to give him security, and in that instant I felt how the vibrator just jumped in velocity. It was hard, inconsistent and just random and all over the place. I contained myself from yelping and decided to shift in my seat instead. When I looked over at Toji there he was, man-spreading in all of his glory swiping his phone in different directions as he looked intensely at how my hand rested in top of Nanami’s.

Nanami ended the conversation shortly, handing me his business card that contained his contact information so we could set up the meetings and left quickly, not forgetting to wave at Toji at the end of the room. Toji stood up, and waved him a tiny goodbye as he walked towards me. Long, slow steps making small clacks across the marbled floor. He looked at his phone once more and swiped up, leaving the vibrator at the highest speed as I tried to shush the moans that escaped my mouth. Eventually giving in as i sat in my comfy chair.

“I told you I would behave if you were a good girl. But you just had to make me jealous, didn’t you?”

Masterlist

part 2, part 3

[ihatedtoadmit]

A biteful memory [1]

pairing: OT8 x fem!reader

genre: werewolf AU, fluff, crack

warnings: next to no self-confidence

word count: ~4.0k

summary: Your usual, boring days filled with learning are broken once a certain someone takes initiative, breaking this hellish cycle of yours.

↳ Masterlist ↳ Next chapter ↳ Previous chapter

All rights reserved. Please do not steal, repost or feed my work into AI. Thank you!

The lectures were boring, as usual.

Every single day I would wake up, my back cracking as I would get up from the horribly thin and uncomfortable dorm bed that housed countless questionable stains that were long ago crusted in there. Sometimes my roommate would still be there, snoring away, other times it would only be me in the small room, despite waking up extremely early for my biology classes. Blinking at the white, crumbing walls for a few seconds, I would sluggishly get ready and be at least a bit presentable. I didn’t really care about looking good, never did. Probably because I was the quiet loner in the class, and my resting bitch face didn’t exactly help with that whole situation. No matter, at least people didn’t really approach me and drain my already weak social batteries, something I was cursed with as an introvert. After glancing at myself in the mirror that was by the door, I would walk over to our lecture building, headphones tightly secured on my ears, giving me the only serotonin I would get for long hours. I would only take them off once I had been seated, necessary supplies like a notebook and several pens neatly laid out before me. Nobody would really sit near me, as I had usually taken a seat in the front -look, i had bad vision-, so after the teacher arrived and the class started, I would only pay attention and take notes, nobody there to distract me from it.

It was a hellish cycle I’d grown used to scarily fast.

Sometimes I wished it wasn’t like this, but then that anxious, shy voice in my head told me that it was better this way, that these so-called friends would only tire me out endlessly, rendering me worthless and unable to focus on my studies.

So I listened to it, not even trying to look a bit friendlier, not correcting the slight furrow of my brows or the downwards arch of my lips, even though I was thinking about happy things, like eating my favourite chocolate back at the dorms I could finally afford.

It was fine.

Truly, it was, right until he decided to approach me.

It started out subtle, his form settling down at the other side of the same row I sat in. There was no interaction, my mind forgetting about him the moment the class started. I couldn’t even be sure that when I had noticed him was the first moment he had sat in that row, his presence so faint and hidden from my focused mind.

But over the week, he sat closer and closer, shortening the gap between us 1 seat at a time. Whenever our eyes met, he would send me a little smile, somehow even looking sheepish in the process.

It was weird, but it was a free country, he could sit wherever he wanted to. So after a questioning glance thrown at his now closer and closer form, I mentally shrugged and ignored him, just like how I had done ever since he’d shown up.

But then a week later he stood next to me, his shorter stature shadowing my sight.

“Hey, is this seat free?” - his deep voice asked between his pearly whites that were on full display from his bright smile, nearly blinding my poor eyes.

I could only blink up at him as I sat there, confused. My finger raised by itself, pointing at my own body, brows deeply furrowed.

“Of course I’m talkin’ to ya, silly.” - he laughed, as if this whole situation was normal.

It really wasn’t normal at all, no. Never believe that for a single moment.

This man was one of the most popular in the entire university, his heavenly looks and velvety voice accompanied by the kindest, brightest of personalities that attracted everyone to him, like moths to a flame. It shouldn’t really surprise you when I say that his whole friend group was filled with similarly popular and sought-after guys, making me, a voluntary outcast, avoid them like the plague. I didn’t want drama like in one of those stupid, teenage shows made in america. I just wanted a quiet life, to get my stupid degree and leave, preferably quietly and without anyone noticing my presence through this long, hellish procedure.

But no, out of all the people to approach me, despite all my efforts to deter them mind you, it had to be fucking Lee Felix, a ladykiller and popular dude. What was this? Some kind of sick, twisted joke? A, a manga where the loner gets pitied and becomes friends with the most popular student? Was that it? The mere thought of it twisted my insides painfully, wishing it would never become reality.

And yet, after staying quiet for god knows how long, I nodded at him slowly, watching as he gleefully sat down to my left and set up his laptop, as usual, ready to take notes. I naively thought that was the end of our interaction, so I turned back to the front where the board sat, grabbing a pen and lightly playing with it in my hands as I waited for the lecture to start.

“I’m Felix by the way, nice to meet ya.”

Oh god, he was not done talking to me. With dread in my eyes, hidden away, I turned back towards him, pursing my lips and uttering my own name in a quiet whisper.

“You always sit here alone, so I thought this was a horrible seat, maybe cursed or something. But no, this is the perfect distance from the projector and board, AND you get to hear the teacher speak clearly. Why does no one else know this?” - he questioned and I could merely shrug my shoulders.

I really didn’t know the answer, I only sat there for some peace, besides all the reasons he just uttered. Overall, this whole situation was better for me, since I was left alone, so I was completely fine with it.

Then the teacher arrived, and thus, our 2 hour long suffering had begun.

It was weird.

I could clearly hear as his fingers gently glided over each button and the quiet clicking sound it emanated in response. I could feel the warmth seeping from his form, stronger when his arm almost brushed against mine. I could hear the quiet grumbles he made when he was annoyed at either the teacher or his own typos, his rhythmical button pressing turning slightly aggressive in return.

It was really weird.

I tried my best to ignore these and continue to write down my messy notes hastily, this particular teacher not giving us mercy by talking fast and giving out shitty powerpoint presentations for his lessons. Without your own notes, it was near impossible to understand them, let alone learn from them and pass the lesson. So I wrote and wrote, pages being quickly filled with blue ink, my mind consumed by the boring topic of statistics and equations in evolution ‘til the end of the lecture.

A groan took my attention as I let out a silent sigh, gently massaging my writing hand as it had started cramping the moment I’d put down my pen.

“This was more brutal than usual, I swear Mr. Dunkins is a sadist. Halfway in and I lost what he was talking about, because of course he had to talk at the speed of light.” - it was Felix, his voice a bit muffled as he dragged a hand over his pale, freckled face.

I nodded at him, completely agreeing. This teacher's lessons were some of the worst, and that was an accomplishment and a half in itself.

“Hey, would you mind comparing notes? I know I don’t have a lot about the second half of the lesson, but I still have the other half’s notes.” - he asked with a sheepish smile and doe eyes, making my own set of eyes widen and my mind stop.

I still couldn’t believe that he was talking to me, so casually at that. And now he wanted to compare notes? With me?? My mind blanked and before I could process anything, my mouth opened to provide an answer to his question.

“I uh…sure.”

“Yaaaaaaay, thank you so much! Are you free next period? I don’t have another lecture ‘til one, we could grab something to eat too.”

I was even more taken aback, as if that was possible. I couldn’t help but look around, waiting to spot someone hiding somewhere with a camera in their hand, filming the prank.

Because that was all this ever could be, no?

But I found nothing, the room was essentially empty, besides the few lingering students besides us two. The boy was still looking at me expectantly, his eyes shining as if the stars from his cheeks somehow crawled in there instead.

So I nodded at him mindlessly, because coincidentally, my lesson that would usually take up that time period was cancelled that day.

And that was how we met.

After that day, Felix would sit next to me in the few lessons we shared, him being in a different major than me. But that never deterred him; he always greeted me with a big wave and an even bigger smile from the door of the classroom, gaining not only my attention, but everyone else’s. No, without missing a day, a lecture, he excitedly sat next to me and started rambling about the game he’d played the previous day, about his friends and how one of them -Changbin, i believe- ate his food that he was craving all day.

He was a ball of sunshine, bright and infectious, not caring how I only hummed or nodded at his words usually, my own lips sealed in silence.

That was the exact reason why I’d avoided him before. Because while I could bask in his warmth these last few weeks freely, those who couldn’t set their hateful, jealous gazes on me.

It started with the staring, their eyes following me everywhere, even to my dorms. Then the messages appeared, sticky notes blinking up at me at the seats I always sat at in my lessons. They were childish, empty threats that I never took seriously. Thankfully, I never really left my stuff alone or in an unlocked locker anywhere, so they could never really take it further.

But those soul-piercing stares were starting to get to me after the second week, goosebumps never failing to accompany them. The intense images of those eyes settled into my gut, my marrow, burrowing there and whispering into my ear hurtful things, using my insecurities to their advantage.

I hated having attention on me, making this a living hell personally designed for me.

The only way out of it was clear: become a loner again and return to those bitter days of loneliness.

“You have a lesson after this, right? We can meet up after that, have a late lunch and hang out.” - Felix beamed at me as usual, making this so much harder for me.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I can make it today. I can send you my notes in chat though, so don’t worry.”

His reaction was immediate, the smile on his face slowly melting away, sadness taking over its place. He quickly tried to mask it, plastering on a fake smile, but his pain was obvious to my knowing eyes.

“No, it’s alright, we can meet up another time. Good luck on your remaining classes!” - he told me as I was walking away, wishing him the same in return.

And so, our time together followed this pattern, his smile not radiant anymore. No, there was a permanent sadness to it, to his warmth that turned colder. My heart ached, the guilt of being the reason for it eating away at me slowly, but surely. The worst part? The staring and bullying didn’t even truly stop, it only lightened up a little.

And after a whole week of this utterly useless circus?

I had enough.

“Lixie, do you want to hang out today?” - it was a simple question, barely audible as we were walking out on the hallway, but it created the wanted effect easily.

Felix’s form abruptly stopped, as if not believing what he’d heard. Then, the brightest, widest smile broke out on his face, his eyes lighting up with a myriad of stars. Unable to contain himself, he hugged me, causing me to stiffen up as I was not a fan of body contact -something the poor aussie had a hard time coming to terms with-.

“Yeah, of course! You could meet the others too, we planned to have a movie night since it’s friday anyway. Oh, it’s gonna be so much fun, you’ll see!” - he was rambling as he squeezed me to death, then suddenly holding me at an arm's length to look at my shocked expression. “What, no, Lixie, I don’t want to intrude. We can meet up another time then, really, I promise you.” “Oh come ooon, we’ve known each other for what, two, three months now? It’s damn time I introduce you to the others. They’ll love you!” “Lixie… you know I have social anxiety…”

His expression softened along with his hold on my shoulders, thumbs gently caressing the clothed skin underneath.

“I know, and I won’t force you. Just know that you really wouldn’t intrude on anything. Remember Jisung? He has anxiety too. And yet, in our presence, he turns into one of the loudest, funniest guy in our group. Something he has in common with you, you kno’.” - his smile was gentle, his dark eyes holding a warm shine in them as he looked up at me.

“You can have the scariest expression on your face, dressed in all black, but I know that under all that lies one of the kindest and funniest person I know. Just no one ever put in the effort to dig down deep enough to reveal it. I get to have you all to myself this way, so it’s their loss to be honest.” - I blinked down at him through my rapidly blurring sight, my jaw shut tight in an effort to not let my lips quiver.

But it was all useless, as a single tear cascaded down my face, more following it shortly after.

Felix panicked and started wiping them away, apologising for hurting me. But he didn’t.

“Damn it Lixie, I didn’t want to cry in the hallways, you big sap. If you compliment me one more time, I might even start wailing, so shush. Just shush.” - I murmured out as I suddenly hugged him, my bigger frame easily engulfing his tiny one.

He was stiff, caught off-guard by my sudden hug, which was understandable. I never initiated skin contact before, as touching people made me uncomfortable. But he burrowed himself so deep into my heart, I was fine with it. He was too important to me at this point, so much so that the hug not only failed to make me uncomfortable, no, instead it calmed me down as I just gently burrowed my face into his fluffy hair, inhaling his strawberry shampoo filled scent.

Felix didn’t hesitate much longer to hug me back, his cheeks pressing into my skin, no doubt from the smile he had formed.

“Now, let’s go, before someone decides to use this as blackmail against us.” - I muttered out, releasing him. “It would only take a glare from you and they would delete the evidence instantly, and you know it. But I agree. Let’s go, I’ll walk you to your dorm so you can grab some stuff for your stay at our place.” “Wait what-” “Don’t tell me you thought I would let you come back to your dorm at the dead of night, all alone? Besides, no bus would still drive around by then, and I don’t think you would like walking for hours, because I KNOW you wouldn't let us drive you back.” “...Is it too late to cancel?” “Yep, already messaged them all and they’re excited to meet you. So get your butt in gear, we’re going to get your things.” “I fucking hate you.” “Love you too!”

And he truly didn’t lie. He really escorted me to my room, made fun of me with my own roommate, who was surprised at first about the fact that the Lee Felix was in our room, but then she quickly got over it and even started teasing me. I wanted to dig a hole and hide in it, but alas, under the watchful eyes of Felix, I could only pack some necessary things into my bag, flustered to hell and back. Some clothes, a few notebooks to study from and some toiletries sat in their place firmly, urging me to nod at myself as the imaginary list of necessary items was now done.

Having packed everything, we bid our goodbye and left for the bus stop, chatting about everything and nothing, my mind at a different place. 

He was really excited about this whole thing, but I was just a nervous wreck inside. Judging from how he gently massaged one of my hands and spoke just about every silly topic you could imagine, just to take my attention away, he’d probably noticed the state I was in.

I appreciated it, more than he would ever know.

Sure, the people I was about to meet soon were Felix’s good friends -i mean, come on, they lived in a house together, all 8 of them-, so I really shouldn’t have been so nervous. But in reality, I was nervous exactly because of that. What if they hated me and Felix would start hating me too? What if they made him choose between them and me, essentially leaving me alone once more? What if th–

A gentle squeeze of my hand brought me out of my worsening train of thoughts.

“We need to walk for like 20 minutes from here. I would have normally asked for a ride, but my hyungs were all busy, sorry.” “It’s okay, a little walking never hurt anyone.”

So we walked, side by side, his hand never leaving mine as he gently swung them back and forth at his own pace. I listened to him ramble about an anime he’d started watching recently, reminding me of how I’d ignored him recently and missed out on all of his little stories. It ate me alive, the guilt squeezing my throat shut. Thus, I listened to him in silence, nodding sometimes to show that I was paying attention. And I truly was, carving his happy expression into my mind, the way he scrunched up his nose occasionally in happiness when he remembered something particularly funny.

I missed this.

Eventually, we reached an enormous family house, almost worthy of being called a mansion. Felix stopped in front of it, punching something into the dial on one of the fence columns, causing the gigantic steel gate to slowly swing open. Surely not… Surely, this wasn’t where they lived, right?

Oh my god, it was…

I befriended a rich person, holy fucking shit.

“I think some of them are already home, so you can meet them gradually.” - he said happily, but I was just mindlessly following him as he dragged me along, still not over the fact that I somehow ended up in this hilariously unreal situation.

And indeed, some of them were already there. Half-naked, that is, their shirts for some reason not on their body. I could only blink a few times as I processed this as they were just blinking back at our frozen forms that were just standing at the entrance.

“I better leave.” - I muttered out, my ears and cheeks probably heated as I quickly tore my gaze away, along with my hand from Felix’s hold. “Oh my fucking god, I told you she’s coming over and you couldn’t even put a fucking shirt on?! You better be decent by the time we come back, if she hasn’t run out of the city yet!” - Felix shouted so loudly, I could still hear him crystal clear, even though I was almost at the gates by then.

You see, their property was huge, a small garden dividing the house from the front gate, the greenery leading all the way around to the back, where laid an entire forest -or at least that was what i could say after only a glance-. Still, I ran to the front gate and decided to climb over the small, stone columns, not knowing how to open the steel barricade by myself. I heard Felix shouting my name, pleading with me to stop and go back as he hastily closed in on me, but I was too flustered to do that.

I was way too shy for this shit.

“Please don’t go, I swear they're better than this!” - Felix panted out, his hands latched onto one of my calves, most of my body already up on the top of the column.

I shook my head, causing him to tighten his grip and try to drag me down, my own grip on the stone construction tightening in return. He pleaded with me as we had this silly tug of war, none of us willing to let go.

Just as I was starting to feel sore and think about letting go, I heard a buzz and the quiet creaking of the gates as they opened, footsteps approaching us.

“Do I even want to know what’s happening?” - a male voice asked, gaining Felix’s attention and loosening his hold on me. “Hyune, just please help me get her into the house, she’s gonna injure herself even more at this rate!” - my friend cried out, all the while I shook his grip off of me, ready to finally climb over.

Well… only planned to, really.

Because the next thing I felt were hands gently gripping my sides, prying my weak hands away from the rough stone and slinging me over a shoulder.

“You better explain this to me, Lixie.” - the man, Hyune(?) said. “You know how I said I’ll bring a friend over today for our movie night?” - Felix answered, falling into step next to the taller man who had me in his unbreakable hold. “Yea, of course, you were the most excited I’ve seen you in a long while. Why?” “... that’s her.”

Silence enveloped us as the tall man abruptly stopped in his tracks.

“You mean to tell me that our guest here was trying desperately to escape already?” “It’s because of those idiots, Jisung and Changbin! They decided to flaunt around the house with no shirts on, even though I told them my friend was finally coming over!” “... I guess we should be thankful Chan’s still at work.” “Don’t even tell me, gods. I’m going to fucking choke them to death if they so much as look at her wrong.” - Felix growled out, surprising me as I’d only ever seen his soft, sunshine self. “Oh don’t worry, I don’t think they want to piss you off even more. Besides, we’ve all been curious about this certain friend of yours, who you always speak so highly of.”

Did they…forget I was there? Hello?? I could hear everything??? And what did he mean by that?? I was just an introvert weeb, what the actual fuck!

“Alright, here we are. Do you wanna check in first?” “Yea, hang on for a sec.” - and with that, Lixie opened the door and soon closed it.

“Alright, the coast is clear.”

I was gently let down from the tall man’s shoulder, who I could finally face and see normally.

Next chapter

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive

No mention of covid or long covid, but lots of mention of "cost to taxpayers" and "learning losses." I wonder what *specific* actions should be taken besides forcing sick people to stay in the classroom? Hmmst...

By Poppy Wood

Concerns that absence crisis provoked by the pandemic continues to disrupt learning

About 14,000 teachers in England called in sick every day last year, analysis has found.

Department for Education (DfE) data show that about 2.5 million school days were lost in 2022-23 as more than 326,000 teachers missed class owing to sickness.

Each teacher who took sick leave reported an average of eight days off work last year. It equates to almost 13,700 teachers calling in sick on any given day during the 190-day school year.

About 66.2 per cent of England’s teaching workforce were off school because of illness last year, according to the DfE’s school workforce statistics.

It marks a slight decrease on the 67.5 per cent of teachers who called in sick in 2021-22, but is still far above the pre-pandemic rate of 54.1 per cent.

The figures will raise concerns that an absence crisis provoked by the pandemic continues to disrupt learning, with the number of pupils missing school also significantly higher post-Covid.

In total, 7.8 million school days have been lost to sickness since in-person teaching resumed following the pandemic, according to analysis of DfE data by the TaxPayers’ Alliance.

Compared with the 2018-19 academic year – the year before the pandemic – an extra 461,500 teaching days were lost last year because of staff illness.

Joanna Marchong, investigations campaign manager of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Taxpayers will be shocked by the sheer number of sick days taken by teaching staff.

“Alongside their generous holiday entitlements, hundreds of thousands of teachers are frequently absent, leaving classrooms in disarray and forcing taxpayers to bear the significant costs of finding covers.

“Schools must tackle this issue if they want to deliver a consistent quality of education that is value for money for taxpayers.”

‘Deteriorating mental health’ While the Government does not collect statistics centrally on the reasons for teacher absence, experts have pointed to increased stress and deteriorating mental health.

In some secondary schools, as many as 166 teachers took sick leave at some point during the 2022-23 academic year, compounding financial pressures on already stretched school budgets.

Most teachers in England receive full sick pay for 25 working days off work in their first year in the profession, rising to 100 working days in their fourth and successive years of teaching.

The Telegraph revealed last week that teacher absences are forcing schools to spend billions on supply staff each year as headteachers scramble to plug gaps in the workforce.

In 2022-23, schools gave £1.2 billion of taxpayers’ cash towards expensive teacher supply agencies to fill vacancies and cover long-term sickness. It is almost double the £738 million spent on supply teachers in the year before the pandemic.

Labour has promised to allow teachers to complete more tasks from home in an attempt to make the profession more attractive. The Government is also exploring how to use artificial intelligence to reduce staff workloads, after almost one in 10 teachers quit the profession last year.

It is hoped the measures will help tackle the recruitment and retention crisis and stem the tide of staff calling in sick each day.

Daniel Kebede, the general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), called on the Government to improve teacher pay to prevent a growing exodus from the sector.

“We need to see a concerted effort by the Government to retain teachers in the profession. This will need changes to accountability so we have a collaborative and supportive system,” he said.

“This will also require action on closing the pay gap between teachers and other graduate professions, reducing workload and more flexible working in education”.

Mr Kebede blamed the rise in the teacher absence rate since the pandemic on “excessive teacher workload driven by a high-stakes assessment and accountability system”.

He warned this would continue to “leave many teachers burnt out, leading to stress, sickness and people leaving the profession” without urgent government action.

Labour has come under fire for bowing to pressure from education unions on above-inflation public sector pay deals and demands.

Last month, the NEU voted to accept the Government’s pay offer of a 5.5 per cent uplift for most teachers this year, but warned that it will push for a bigger hike next year.

It suggests the UK’s largest teaching union will continue to wield the threat of further strike action as it seeks long-term funding to address the retention crisis.

‘Severely absent’ pupils Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, has warned of a “dire” inheritance from the previous government as she faces calls for further funding from across the sector.

Schools are also struggling with dwindling pupil attendance levels since the pandemic, with Ms Phillipson warning recently that it was quickly becoming an “absence epidemic”.

More than one in 50 pupils in England are now missing at least half the school year, official figures show.

The proportion of children classed as “severely absent” – meaning they failed to show up for 50 per cent or more of classes – rose to 2.1 per cent in the autumn and spring terms of 2023-24.

It means that about 158,000 pupils were severely absent from school during those teaching periods, according to DfE data.

The DfE was approached for comment.

[moonyspupp]

The Biggest Of Hearts

Professor Remus Lupin X female! Reader

Fluff!

Lmk if I should make a pt 2

CW:slight student teacher relationship (reader is of age!) age gap, transformation

·.★·.·´¯`·.·★ ·.★·.·´¯`·.·★ ·.★·.·´¯`·.·★ ·.★·.·´¯`·.·★

It’s been quite some time since Remus Lupin became the new Defense against the Dark Arts professor. He was quite popular among the students and other professors, always being kind and helpful to those who needed it. Who wouldn’t like a teacher like that?Obviously a new teacher at hogwarts isn’t the biggest deal to everyone, but apparently in your last year to you it was.

During potions class you couldn’t keep your thoughts to yourself, questions that were begging to be answered.

Looking down, you tap your pencil impatiently on the edge of your Dark Arts textbook, lost in a trance of thought.

“Say, don’t you think about how weird it is that Professor Lupin always disappears at the end of the month?”

You ask your friend who was obviously trying to focus on class. She rolled her eyes looking just a tinge irritated at your question, “Who cares” she mutters still trying to focus, “You already know all the professors at hogwarts have been dealing with stuff (y/n), especially with that prisoner escaping, there’s no need to worry about them”

You let out a sigh, still not looking up “I guess you have a point, but isn’t it just a tad bit weird that it’s always the same number of days-”

“Shh!” My friend turns to me, “You’ll get us both in trouble if you keep yapping!” She whispered frantically.

Snape’s eyes peer to the both of us as he was walking around the classrooms, observing and making sure everyone was on task. He was the one who taught while Professor Lupin was away. We both look up to see him nearly staring into our souls over our desks.

“10 points from (H/N)” he says sharply before walking away from our desks

Your friend turns over and glares and me and goes back to doing her work. You stir in your seat slightly embarrassed, but your thoughts were still unanswered.

“Why was he always gone each month? Why was it always the same number of days? And why was he always so tired?”

Your thoughts continued to wander on, it truly was a mystery that no one was concerned about except you.

A few days of class passes by quickly, and once again Professor Lupin was back to teach. The halls of hogwarts was filled with chatter and gossip as usual; with the upcoming OWLs and NEWTs, there was still a lot to be done for you and your friend at this time.

The two of you found yourselves in the library trying to study. You take a seat at a table farthest from the entrance. As your friend puts down a big stack of textbooks next to you she couldn’t help but notice your quietness, the way you were looking down but not reading. “You’re not still thinking about Professor Lupin are you?” She asked with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

You shake back to reality at the sound of her voice, “How could you tell?” You let out a nervous laugh resting my chin on my hand. She shrugs “I dunno maybe it’s because he’s just came back and maybe because that’s all you ever talk about” she says laughing. You blush slightly and let out a sigh, “It’s just I get a little worried sometimes, he always comes back so tired” you mutter quietly. Your friend sits next to you and looks around to see if anyone was possibly going to listen to what she had to say next, she leans in and whispers to you,

“Everyone’s been saying he’s a werewolf, could you believe that?”

“What? How did that come up?” You asked shocked

“Shh! We can’t be talking about this out loud, gods (y/n) you need to learn how to whisper” she said rolling her eyes.

“But I think it was Hermione who said it was true, only during the full moon he leaves and comes back when the phase ends, and don’t you remember the boggart assignment we had? Lupin’s Boggart was the full moon” she said still in a whisper

Your eyes widen in surprise, it suddenly all made sense now, your mouth parted slightly as if you wanted to say something but nothing came out. Your friend heartily laughed at your reaction. “All rumors (y/n), perhaps things just line up too well but that doesn’t mean it’s true, so don’t dwell on it” she said smiling. You give her a nod, still what she said stuck with you for the rest of the study session. “A werewolf.? There’s no way..”You whisper to her as we begin to pack up to leave the library, “Yeah I don’t believe it either, who would let a werewolf teach at a school?” She scoffs. Your mind lingers on her words

The two of you walk back to your respective dorms, exchanging goodnights and such. Before sleeping, your last thoughts were indeed the possibilities of Lupin’s condition. You toss and turn, all you wanted was the truth, not some rumor by your peers. You hated when your professor left for days, you hated when Snape taught instead of him; everyone did. You missed how kind and helpful he was to you. You just wanted him to not leave you anymore.

The weeks pass quickly as your time was spent studying and testing, a very stressful week for professors and students alike. This time of the year always was the most difficult, but nevertheless you were glad to have Professor Lupin back. The rumors of the “werewolf” professor died down throughout the weeks.

The last exam of the month for your Dark Arts class was to write an essay about curses,jinxes, and spells of such. Quite an easy exam to everyone but you. Unfortunately after studying for every other class, you ended up neglecting your studies for this class, perhaps you were too distracted by his return? You were clueless about what the essay was asking for, for almost the entirety of the class you rested your head on your arm.

Professor Lupin looked around the classroom at all the students hunched over their exams, frantically writing their essays as the time was almost up. He walked around with a pleasant grin on his face, stopping where so often to have a look at a random students' work. He eventually made his way to your desk, looking over your essay with a thoughtful yet concerned look. You quickly caught on that he was right in front of you, looking at your nearly empty essay.

“Having trouble with the exam, are we?” He said we a smile

You jolt up , you feel your face turning red in embarrassment as all the eyes in the room turned to face you. You truly wanted to just die at the moment , not only embarrassing yourself in front of your classmates but to Lupin too. You nod, struggling to meet his gaze, “it’s just a little difficult sir” you mutter nervously wanting everyone’s eyes to mind their own business.

Professor Lupin's eyes softened slightly, the look on his face being one with sympathy and understanding. He leaned over your desk and spoke softly, trying to ease your embarrassment.

“There's no need to be embarrassed. We’ve all been there at some point. Have you not been studying?” He said his face still soft.

You shook your head.

At this point the entire class was looking at you and the professor, you look around to see their faces some filled with amusement, some with second hand embarrassment.

“You still have time, (y/n) try to get as much as you can done alright?” He said smiling as he continued to walk around to observe others.

“Merlin, that was so embarrassing..” you thought to yourself, your face was still hot and red. You managed to get a few more lines down, still no where near even half the page, you frantically tried to get a few more in before you heard the call for dismissal.

You let out a sigh knowing that whatever you wrote wasn’t even worth turning in. Your eyes looked around the classroom to find your friend who just gave you a smile of sympathy.

You were now the last one in the classroom, you begin to walk your way to Lupin’s desk to hand in your poorly written exam. You place it on his desk looking down at the floor to avoid any further embarrassment if that was even possible.

Professor Lupin looked a bit surprised after reading your paper, he called your name out before you left the class

“Wait, y/n before you go you said you didn’t study for this correct?” You turned around seeing his folded arms and a look of gentle concern.

You nod, wishing you could just run out the classroom but you respected Lupin too much to do that. You couldn’t help but notice he looked a little tired today as well, not wanting to make whatever was going on in his life harder you decided to address anything he needed to say.

“I see. That can certainly explain why you're having trouble with the essay.”

He leaned against his desk and looked down at you, with gentle and kind eyes.

“May I ask why you haven't been studying?”

“I’m sorry sir, I’ve just been busy with other classes, I’m really sorry I didn’t think I would fail the exam; will I still pas-“

Lupin smiles at you and holds up his hand, as if to stop your ramblings. His voice was sincere.

“It's quite alright. Don't worry. You won't fail the exam. It's evident that you've had a lot on your plate.” There’s a moment of brief silence until he spoke again.

“Tell you what (y/n), after you have dinner in the great hall come by my office and I’ll help you finish your exam.” He said giving you a tired but kind smile

You let out a big sigh of relief, “thank you so much sir!” you said with a big grin, even though your response may have been a normal one, your heart was nearly leaping out your chest at his kind gesture. You feel your face slightly flush once again, you make your way out of door as you hear him telling you to take care. You look back over your shoulder and smile.

Dinner comes and you find your friend in the great hall, telling her about what Lupin told you. She gave you a slight look of concern, “as long as you’re safe (y/n)” she said with a small frown. You reassured her and sat down for dinner, the fact you would had to see Lupin after made you excited yet nervous.

Later, that evening, after dinner, you find yourself wandering through the quiet halls to Professor Lupin's office. Feeling nervous because you would be the only one there your walking was a bit sluggish. The dim light from the torches cast shadows along the walls.

You reached his office, a seeing his closed door with a light shining from under the door. You knock lightly on the door and hear a warm and gentle voice call from within.

“Come in (y/n)“

You open the door and enter Professor Lupin’s office. It’s a cozy room filled with many papers, folders, and small trinkets here and there. You instantly felt safe and comfortable in there.

You look up to see Lupin is sitting behind his desk, a warm smile on his face. He gestures toward the chair in front of his desk, inviting you to take a seat.

“So, tell me (y/n) you said you've been busy with other classes, yes?” He said as he placed the incomplete exam in front of you.

You nod and take out your quill to write, he gives me a soft look and nods as well.

“Go ahead, If you have any questions or need help on anything, I’ll be here” he said smiling. You feel your face flush up a little bit again, you loved the way Lupin handled things, always made you feel safer. Remus smiles warmly, his eyes filled with a note of kindness and understanding. He watches as you bring out your quill and get ready to write. You wrote and wrote diligently, asking him question as needed, but yet your focus wasn’t entirely on the essay.

You look up and glance at Lupin every so often to see him grading papers, there was a certain charm seeing the way his brow furrowed trying to understand a student’s handwriting, or even the way cracked his knuckles after grading a set of papers, still he had the tired look on his face which slightly concerned you. You decide to take a small break,leaning back a bit on your chair you break the silence.

“You look tired professor is everything okay?” You asked with a look of concern.

he looked up from his papers at the sound of your voice. He smiled gently and nodded, but you could clearly see the obvious tiredness in his eyes.

“Ah, it’s nothing to worry about my dear. Just some late nights grading papers and preparing lesson plans.” He chuckled lightly, trying to play it off as nothing. But still the exhaustion was evident on his face.

You feel your heart skip a beat at the nickname, you nod and smile at him. He looks back down at his papers and rubs his forehead and shuts his eyes. “There’s no way THIS man is a werewolf..” you thought to yourself

“I suppose I have been a bit busy lately. But it’s all part of the job.” You see his glances back at you, your face returning to that concerned look. He gives you a reassuring smile, still trying to play off the tiredness he feels. You let out a soft sigh and a slight pout, “I care about you sir” you mutter quietly

For a moment, he is taken aback by your words. There’s a look of surprise in his weary eyes at your words. He looks at you, his expression softening. He pauses before replying, his voice a gentle whisper.

“You care about me? Why?”

“You’re my favorite teacher sir” you say letting out a small laugh along with a smile. “You’re a lot nicer than the rest, I doubt any other teacher would’ve let me finish an exam, shows that you care a lot.” You add on as you pick up your quill and continue to write.

You steal a glance at him and see his face soften at your words, a warm smile spreading. There’s a hint of surprise, but more noticeably, there’s a look of gratitude and happiness.

“Am I really your favorite teacher (y/n)?”

His voice was soft and gentle, you could even say there was a bit of vulnerability.

You look up from your paper and nod at him, giving him a sweet and reassuring smile.

“I always try my best to care for my students and their well-being.”

“I know sir, and thank you for being the way you are” you said kindly, finishing up my exam.

“You’re welcome, (y/n). It’s my pleasure. His smile widens at your words.

He reaches across the desk and takes the exam from you, glancing over it briefly with a kind expression. Then, he smiles once more and looks up at you.

“You did really well on this. I don’t see why you were so worried.”

You let out a shy laugh and thank him for it, you begin to pack up to leave his office, seeing that the time was already quite late. He watched as you packed your bag, a soft smile on his face.

You pick up your bag and begin to head for the office door.

“You’re a good student (y/n)” you heard him call out.

“Thank you sir, I really do try” you said turning back to face him then

He pauses for a moment, seeming to gather his thoughts.

“know that you can come to me anytime you need help or advice, (y/n). I know life as a student can be hard, with studies and classes. If you ever feel overwhelmed or need a friend, don’t hesitate to knock on my door.” his expression warm and sincere.

Your heart nearly rips out your chest at his reassurance, you subconsciously let out a big grin at him, Lupin sees the look on your face and lets out a small laugh. The tiredness on his face is briefly replaced with one of affection.

“Haven’t seen that smile in a while (y/n), you must be really happy yes?” He said in almost a playful teasing way crossing his arms.

Your eyes light up as you nod shyly, beginning to feel a mix of emotions in your stomach, something else mixed with way you cared about him, you just couldn’t quite put your finger on it.

You thank Lupin before wishing him a goodnight, leaving his office for the night as your exam was finished with his help. You sweetly smile after closing his door remembering how much he helped and reassured you tonight. For a few minutes you stood there to ponder. You can’t help but feel a hint of affection next to your admiration in your heart for him.

As you began to return to your dorm,making many steps away from the door, the thought occurred to you;

You didn’t write your name on the paper.

Panic set in immediately, knowing your paper would be impossible to find without a name, without a second thought you run back to his office door.

You stopped in tracks mere inches away from the door, you hear something beyond the door, beyond Lupins door. Faint and muffled, but unmistakable. It sounded like grunts and low, pained gasps. Something didn’t feel right, your heart began to pound a bit faster as you strain to hear more. Your ear pressed up against the door, your stomach dropped when you heard what sounded like a scream. “What the hell?” You thought to yourself, your mind raced back and forth whether or not to open the door, the only person in there being Lupin and god forbid something happen to him.

The noise stopped for a moment, but the silence that followed was somehow more scary. You could still hear ragged breaths coming from inside, but this time they were deeper, sharper, as if whatever was in there was panting hard. The silence only made you more anxious, and the thought of something happening to Professor Lupin horrified you. Going by the sounds inside the office, you realize going in there could risk your life but it didn’t matter, you just HAD to see what was going on, if Lupin was safe.

You decided to open the door

With a nervous turn of the door you open it.

You stood frozen at the door, shocked at the sight before you. Professor Lupin, your kind and gentle teacher looked like he was in serious distress, with his opined expression and his pale face. His eyes were still closed tightly, and it was clear he was hurting badly. The silent room seemed deafening as you watched him try to catch his breath, his hand tightening on the desk. The sight of him in such a state filled you with a mix of concern, worry and fear. As you stared at Lupin, you noticed something else. It was subtle, but there was a strange transformation happening to him. His face was beginning to contort, his features shifting as if he were about to transform.

You stood there, frozen in place as Professor Lupin began to transform into a Dog-like being right in front of your eyes. Your mind immediately referred back to the werewolf rumor, you stand shocked as you realize it was true. Your professor Lupin was indeed a werewolf.

Professor! You cried out with a shaky voice

He clenched his teeth struggling to look at you, trying to fight the transformation but failing. He looked up at you, the pain and anguish obvious in his eyes.

“ (y/n)… You need to get away… run, now…” His voice was miserable, a mix of begging and warning. He tried to push the words out, his voice cracking as the transformation took over more and more.

“No I can’t!” You screamed, tears beginning to well up in your eyes. Getting away would mean leaving him to suffer all alone and your heart couldn’t bear it.

Lupin’s face tenses at your words and your desperate tone. He can clearly see the tears in your eyes and the determination on your face.

“(y/n), please… you need to go. It’s not safe for you to be here, it-“ his voice is cut off as a strangled sound of pain escapes his lips. It looked like he was fighting a losing battle, at this point he was nearly finished with the transformation

“Sir where is your Wolfsbane potion?” You cry out knowing from books and potions class that it’ll ease his suffering

His body continues to shake, he points weakly to a small cabinet on the side of his office, his voice weak and shaking from the transformation. You spend no time rushing to the directed cabinet , your heart beating hard as you retrieved the potion. He looks up at you desperately as you approach, seeing the small vial of liquid in your hand.

“Professor please!” You beg as you try to get him to stay still for just a second so you can give it to him. After what feels like forever the vial is empty. You sit and huff at the panic inducing moment ending, sweat beads at your forehead as you still try to process the entire situation. Lupin, upon taking the potion was lying on the floor as a werewolf also breathing heavily. As the potion takes effect, Lupin’s breathing starts to slow and calm. A small sigh of relief leaves your lips as the signs of pain diminish.

You look down at him, seeing his werewolf state, his eyes, now yellow like the moon, open and look up at you, the pain replaced by a hint of shame and embarrassment. He begins to trudge away from you in an attempt to spare him from judgement. Even in this state, there were hints of your professor within this werewolf.

“No professor.. you don’t have to be afraid.” You call out softly to him.

The werewolf stops in its tracks with its ears perking slightly looking at you with sad eyes. In front of you all you saw was your professor looking vulnerable and scared. You could tell he was afraid of being judged in that state. You reach your hand out to the canine. He stares at you and hesitated to come any closer, obvious that he wasn’t sure what to do, he wanted to run away from it all, he never wanted to be seen this way especially by you.

Lupin truly did care for you more than most of his students. He acknowledged your determination and kindness for even things you didn’t understand. He admired your patience from afar as he was afraid of your potential reaction. He was afraid of being judged by everyone , but he was especially afraid if it came from someone he truly cared about or loved.

You lock eyes with Lupin and gave him a soft smile, “it’s okay professor, I’m not scared of you.” The werewolf approached you slowly, rubbing its nose against your hand curiously. He lets out a soft, guttural sound, almost a whine. He keeps his nose pressed against your hand seeking comfort and understanding from you. He leans into our touch slightly. The werewolf has a surprised and relieved look on his face. He’s shocked at the fact that you’re not scared or repulsed. After all the hate werewolves receive from the people. He’s not used to someone accepting him in this form. You gesture him to come closer near your lap. He hesitates for a moment, as if he’s not sure if it’s okay. His glowing eyes shoot back and forth looking nervous. You let out a small laugh and nod at him. Eventually he slowly but cautiously approaches you and crawls closer to your lap. His body was tense so he keeps his gaze on you. You pull him closer, his head now resting on your lap. His body is still tense, but there’s a bit of relief you could sense from him. You begin to softly pet the fur in between his ears to comfort him. The werewolf let’s out a soft, contented whine at the pets. His body relaxes at your touch,as he leans into your hand. His yellow eyes close partially, almost like he’s enjoying the feeling.

“You’re okay professor, I’m here for you, I really hope you can understand me” you coo

He turns his head slightly,seeming less guarded now, more accepting of your presence and affection. You feel his body relax further as you continue to pet his ears.

“You’re quite cute like this professor” you hum and tease playfully at him.

The werewolf’s ears perk up at your words, letting out a huff, you see his yellow narrowing slightly in a hint of a glare. It’s almost as if it’s a way of protesting being called "cute". But there’s also a hint of a playfulness in his eyes. He leans into your hand again.

A weary look on your face appears as you think about the fact this isn’t the first time Lupin went through this alone. You think about how lonely these nights are for him, and how he isolates himself because of his condition as he knows the public won’t ever accept him.

“I hope you know I see you any differently professor, I know times like this are hard and especially lonely, but I don’t think you’re a monster sir, you’re still my professor deep down and I can see that..” you mutter softly with your eyes closed

You hear what sounds almost like a huff of acknowledgment, as if he understands what you mean. You look down at him, he doesn't say anything of course, but there's a hint of gratitude on his wolf face. As of he's silently thanking you for your acceptance. He doesn't move away or try to evade your touch anymore. Instead, he leans into your hand again, as if seeking more comfort. You look down at him and see what looks to be perhaps a small teardrop under one of his eyes.

You press a soft kiss on his head, wanting to reassure him further, making sure he knows he’s safe with you. The werewolf freezes up. He admit seems a bit flustered by the your action. His ears perk up, and his yellow eyes widen slightly as he looks up at you. You let out a small laugh at his reaction and give him another one; this time on his nose. The werewolf gives a low whine of approval, you hold him close and let out a small sigh.

“I’ll be here with you during every full moon, so you don’t have to go through this alone anymore.” You mutter quietly.

He lets out a soft huff in response to your words. He looks up at you with a titled head, and there’s a hint of gratitude. As if It’s he can hardly believe what you’re saying, nevertheless you notice his body relaxing, relieved by the idea that he won’t have to go through these nights alone anymore. He leans closer to you, his head nuzzling your lap.

You softly smile at him, tired from tonight’s events you feel yourself growing tired as you continue to pet Lupin.

“We should get some sleep “ you say rubbing your eyes, “I’ll stay here with you sir” you mutter. You feel his eyes processing the emotions on your face as you speak. He notices the tiredness in your expression, and there’s a hint of concern in his eyes. He seems to understand that you’re exhausted from the night’s events and the strain of the situation. You can’t help but laugh seeing how alike Werewolf Lupin and Professor Lupin are. He lets out a soft grumble of satisfaction knowing you’ll stay there with him.

Both of your eyes close, the office is silent with the only noises being the occasional crackle of the fireplace. You continue to pet Lupin comforting him, as your bodies both relax further into a well deserved slumber. The warmth of Lupin and the fireplace, makes your heart feel even more tender for him. The affection you had for him further growing.

You’re first to wake, looking down you see Lupin sleeping on your lap peacefully back to his human self, his clothes still slightly torn and dirtied from last night’s transformation, nevertheless you still silently admire him, you let out a small sigh of contentment as you feel yourself drift back to sleep with him.

[autisticadvocacy]

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) condemns the United States Supreme Court ruling on two combined cases, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless v. Department of Commerce. The decision overturns a decades-old legal principle known as the Chevron Doctrine, which gives federal agencies the authority to reasonably interpret ambiguous laws when they create federal regulations. These regulations are made legally binding through a rulemaking process that is shaped by the public servants within federal agencies, the input of subject area experts across fields, and anyone who chooses to share their opinion. Instead, federal courts will now have the final say in circumstances where knowledge of highly specialized, complex, and technical issues is required. This ruling will weaken the regulatory authority of all federal agencies, including the Departments of Labor (DOL), Education (ED), Health and Human Services (HHS), the Social Security Administration (SSA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Federal agencies create regulations or rules that fill in the gaps of laws intended to protect disability rights, civil rights laws, housing, healthcare, and more. The overturning of Chevron and the deference it gives to the courts will have devastating impacts on all marginalized people, including disabled people and particularly disabled people of color. Often, these rules concern subjects well outside of the scope of legal training, including, as Marissa Ditkowsky noted, drug safety evidentiary standards, eligibility criteria for public benefits, the threshold for disability discrimination, or guidance around worker protections. This change will lead to inconsistent and conflicting adjudication across the country, driving avoidable litigation, confusion, and decisions that do not work well for the people they affect. These harms will fall disproportionately on marginalized people, including the disability community. As the American Cancer Society explained in its amicus brief, “The resulting uncertainty would be extraordinarily destabilizing, not just to the Medicare and Medicaid programs but also – given the size of these programs – to the operational and financial stability of the country’s health care system as a whole.” The same can be said for programs within DOL, ED, SSA, and many other federal agencies. This decision is also undemocratic, moving crucial decisions out of a process where the public has an opportunity to weigh in and into the purview of the courts.

This decision invites challenges to the forty years of legal precedents relying on Chevron. While these cases and the existing Code of Federal Regulations are not automatically overturned by Loper and Relentless, many will be challenged in the months and years to come. Future regulations are also under threat. Agencies may be less ambitious in fulfilling their mandates, protecting the public, and using taxpayers’ resources well in the face of increased risk that courts will undo their work. The endangered regulations include the Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Settings Rule, the final rule implementing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the final rule implementing Title IX of the Education Amendments, and the final rule regarding section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

ASAN echoes the demands of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT): “Congress should urgently enact Chevron deference into law by passing the Stop Corporate Capture Act (H.R. 1507), a comprehensive blueprint for modernizing, improving and strengthening the regulatory system. That would ensure public input into regulatory decisions, promote scientific integrity and restore our government’s ability to help the workers and consumers it is meant to serve.”

ASAN will fight to safeguard federal agencies’ ability to protect the people we serve. We will continue to do what we always have: defend the rights, health, services, safety, and well-being of all people with disabilities.

Here are statements on this issue from our allies:

Democracy Forward

National Health Law Program (NHeLP)

National Education Association (NEA)

American Federation of Teachers (AFT)

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) is a national grassroots disability rights organization run by and for autistic people. We believe that the goal of autism advocacy should be a world in which autistic people enjoy equal access, rights, and opportunities. ASAN works to make sure autistic people are included in policy-making, so that laws and policies meet our community’s needs. Our members and supporters include autistic adults and youth, cross-disability advocates, and non-autistic family members, professionals, educators, and friends.

[laxmiree]

[CN] MLQC’s Lucien Sharing Date English Translation

⚠️ SPOILER ALERT!! ⚠️

This post contains a detailed spoiler for a date that has not been released in EN yet! Feel free to notify me if there are any mistakes in the translation~

Perhaps it's an illusion, but after he removes his glasses, those eyes that have always been looking at me seem even deeper.

With my soft exclamation, the already close distance becomes even more intimate, not leaving any gap.

His lowered lashes tremble lightly, brushing against my cheeks like butterfly wings.

His hot breath lingers on the corner of my lips for a while before finally enveloping it eagerly.

special thanks to ivi (@ivioivioivi on twitter) for helping me with translating some abstract things here 🫶

✂———————–

—[Part 1]—

The lecture hall is almost full, filled with students from the Film and Television Department of Loveland University.

Due to my previous programs consistently ranking first in viewership, universities' Film and Television Department often use them as case studies.

However, it's the first time today that both the production team and I have been invited to campus to give a sharing session.

Even though I've attended many events and ceremonies, as a behind-the-scenes person, I still feel a bit nervous under so many attentive gazes.

MC: Hello students, I'm MC.

Noticing a subtle unease in my tone, I can't help but recall the solemn vow that I made last night.

—[Flashback Start]—

MC: As long as I step onto the same podium where Professor Lucien once stood, I'll surely have the same demeanor as you!

Seeing me confidently waving the speech notes, Lucien couldn't help but chuckle.

Lucien: I'm curious, in your eyes, what kind of demeanor do I have?

MC: Of course you're someone who is both patient and effortlessly competent, and able to make complex concepts lively and engaging. In short, you're simply the best teacher in the world!

He gently gazed at me for a moment and then pulled me into his arms.

Lucien: [chuckles] If this biased classmate really were my student, my evaluations would probably become the highest in the whole school.

MC: What! The original highest score wasn't yours?

My exaggerated tone amused him, and Lucien rubbed my hair.

Lucien: If the Great Producer keeps showering me with praise like this, I might not be able to resist feeling proud.

Lucien: After the poster for the sharing session was put up, many colleagues came to greet me because of this outstanding family member*.

(T/N: his colleagues refer to MC as XM/Lucien's family🥺)

MC: So it seems that the reason I agreed at that time was very correct~

Facing his curious gaze, I winked at him.

MC: Because that was the invitation sent by your school.

—[Flashback Ends]—

Looking down at the audience below once more, I steady my mind.

Just as I'm about to speak, I hear a familiar voice.

??: Sorry, teacher, I'm late. Can I still come in and listen now?

MC: Of course—

Unwittingly, I glance towards the classroom door, my eyes widen in surprise when I see Lucien.

The classroom buzzes with murmurs, as the students have also recognized him.

Lucien: Thank you, teacher. Sorry to interrupt everyone.

I stare dumbfoundedly as he approaches and calmly places a piece of paper on the podium.

Lucien: My late slip.

MC: Ah, okay…

Not until he steps down to find an empty seat do I notice that the completely blank late slip is covered with a sticky note-

-filled with a drawing of a little rabbit on the lectern talking eloquently, and in the audience seat, a little fox applauds with a smile on his eyes.

I can't help but look up at him, seeing that he has already found a seat and is quietly gazing at me.

The distance between us isn't close, but his gaze has already dispelled most of my unease.

So I collected myself and took out my speech notes.

MC: I originally wanted to chat with everyone, but our department head wouldn't allow it, so I had to prepare a speech.

A wave of friendly laughter ripples through the audience, completely easing my nerves.

Very soon, I smoothly finished speaking according to the notes.

MC: ...Actually, the birth of every successful case is influenced by many uncontrollable variables.

MC: Even if we as creators replicate the so-called “speak from experience”, it may not necessarily generate new successful cases.

MC: In the end, I think sharing some practical insights is better.

MC: I often feel that filming is similar to life, it's a process of establishing a stable relationship with the world.

MC: And some specific yet small orders will bring us a sense of certainty about life and becoming an important part of life.

MC: If you don't know what to shoot, you can look within your own world.

MC: Taking myself as an example, like... the flower shop that opens at 8 a.m. near my home. And also...

As I speak, I look at the audience, meeting head-on the gaze that has never shifted.

There is an itch in my heart, always wanting to express something. Before I know it, I've already put down the speech notes--

MC: [smiling softly] The light from my neighbor's house next door often stays on until 4 a.m.

✂———————–

—[Part 2]—

Amidst the continuous applause, Lucien beamingly applauds, bearing a striking resemblance to the little fox on the sticky note.

At this moment, the dean beside me suddenly leans in, lowering their voice as they speak.

Dean: MC, you delivered your speech too smoothly. Here's the bad news: there are still 20 minutes left before class ends.

MC: [sweating nervously] Ah? What should I do? Do you have anything else you want to say?

Seeing him shake his head, my brain starts to work at lightning speed, and suddenly, I think of something.

MC: Since we're out of things to say, we'll just have to let the students speak.

The next moment, a student stood up bewildered as we called their name.

Dean: Everyone, feel free to express your thoughts. Share your feelings after attending the sharing session.

Student A: Oh! I found Teacher MC's talk very interesting. I've also been pondering about some small "orders" just now.

Student A: Like the video call my mom makes every night and the taro ice cream that the school convenience store restocks every Thursday afternoon at three.

Laughter instantly fills the room, as if this were a well-known understanding among everyone.

Immediately, several students also raise their hands, eager to join the conversation.

Student B: When spring arrives, the peach blossoms on the campus will bloom the earliest.

Student C: There's an old librarian who likes to blow his beard, it turns out he's stuck on sudoku.

This time, everyone fell silent for a moment, emitting small gasps of surprise.

Student C: Because of the old man's habit of blowing his beard, I made a documentary about him... but the film lacked soul.

Student C: So I want to ask, how do you find something worth expressing?

I think for a moment before speaking earnestly.

MC: The best way I can think of is to ask yourself what you most want to express from your heart.

MC: Once you have the answer, you will discover that it may have just been sustaining the order you rely on the most to survive right now.*

MC: It's also the closest connection between you and this world—

MC: At that moment, many natural words or images will appear before you effortlessly.

(T/N: tbh it's really abstract even in CN LOL, but I take from it that perhaps what you want to express is already on the orders in your life all along? Keep this in mind until the last part)

I instinctively glance at Lucien and notice the corners of his eyes slowly curving.

Student C: Can you give an example?

MC: Um?

Perhaps the answer was too clear before my eyes, and in that moment, I hesitated instead.

As I realize, I've already missed the opportune moment for the best response, and I can't help but feel a bit embarrassed.

And the person in my line of sight seems to have chuckled, raising his hand.

Lucien: I'd like to share something too.

As soon as these words were spoken, students turned their curious gazes towards him, and I also waited nervously for his speech.

Lucien: I feel that, often, before finding the expression, perhaps it's the order itself that takes precedence in life.

Lucien: After you become aware of it, it has already brought about natural habits and rules.

Lucien: Therefore, for me, perhaps the modification and alteration of the order itself appear to be more special. The things born from it make people want to dig and explore deeper.

Lucien: For example, the hot milk that always appears when I write a paper, or the scolding I received for not sleeping, which seems to have started at some unknown point…

Even as I try to control my expression, I still feel my cheeks getting a little warm.

The instigator, however, seemed oblivious to my shyness, unabashedly casting an eager gaze my way.

Lucien: Teacher MC, if all the orders of life point to one person at the same time, then wouldn't her existence—

Lucien: Be tantamount to the closest connection between me and this world?

✂———————–

—[Part 3]—

The meeting ends, and after saying goodbye to my colleagues, I decide to take a walk around campus with Lucien.

I'm still immersed in the confession that only we knew a moment ago. Even my steps feel a bit light.

Lucien: You seem to have more talent for being a teacher than I imagined.

Lucien: If I had a teacher like you when I was studying, I would definitely sit in the front row every class.

Lucien: Would this teacher choose me as the class representative?

As he speaks seriously, I pretend to consider.

MC: Hmm... I'll think about it.

He nods thoughtfully, but a smile slowly appears in his eyes.

Lucien: So, to become the class representative, it seems I need to pay more attention to the teacher.

Lucien: [teasingly] Your face seems to have been flushed since I raised my hand to answer the question. Are you feeling uncomfortable?

Colliding with his narrowed smiling eyes, I blush and playfully poke his arm.

MC: Lucien!

Lucien: [chuckles] It seems that the teacher has already remembered my name.

Seeing his pretending-to-be-serious expression, I can't help but laugh.

Lucien: Moreover, it seems you set an example for me first.

I raise my puzzled gaze, then collide with his slightly teasing smiling eyes.

Lucien: After all, it was teacher MC who mentioned me first.

Lucien: It appears that I didn't realize I had become part of your order so long ago.

MC: ….!

I belatedly react, embarrassedly wanting to reach out and cover his mouth.

He chuckles softly and catches my hand, squeezing it into his palm.

Hand in hand, we walk through the campus, bathed in the gentle light filtering through the trees, softly resting upon us.

Occasionally, students pass by us, heading in the same direction.

The moment I curiously glance in that direction, he already grasps my hand, leading me towards it knowingly.

Ten minutes later, standing at the entrance of the convenience store, we look at the taro ice cream in each other's hands and laugh together.

Despite the slight chill in the air, I eagerly take a big bite, instantly filled with the soft, sweet flavor of taro.

MC: No wonder it can become an unspoken understanding among everyone, it's just too delicious!

Lucien also takes a bite of the ice cream, his eyes widening slightly.

Lucien: [gasps in a pleasant surprise] It's a bit cold... but indeed the taste exceeds imagination.

MC: But it seems quite popular on campus. You've never tried it before?

He shakes his head, then as if something catches his eye, he lifts his hand and gently rests it on the top of my head.

Lucien: Although there are indeed many beauties in this world that I have yet to discover…

Lucien: They always seem to be miraculously brought to me by you.

He opens his palm towards me, revealing a pale pink petal lying inside, probably the one he just picked from the top of my head.

I raise my head, and several peach blossoms hanging from the branches come into view.

Realizing that the scenes shared by the students seem to be coincidentally unfolding before us, I look at Lucien with some excitement.

MC: How about we go to the library again and see that old man who loves to do Sudoku?

Unfortunately, the one sitting at the librarian's desk in the reading room is a young girl.

MC: Looks like the old man isn't on duty today…

Sensing my gaze, the girl looks back at me with a puzzled expression.

I instinctively turn to the side, then immediately hear a muffled chuckle from above.

Lucien: [chuckles] Are you forgetting that you* have always had the right to come and go here?

MC: Right…

[T/N: Actually, Lucien teasingly refers to MC as 教师家属 (teacher’s family member) in that sentence. Anyway since he’s a teacher here, and she’s his ‘family member’ she has the right to just come to the library at any time. They can find him at another time together^^]

The familiar reading room, the season of peach blossoms blooming, and the person beside me with a smile, everything seems to be no different from two years ago.

[Reference to Impression Date!]

But unlike back then, the once quiet and empty reading room is now filled with students quietly reading. I can't help but lower my voice.

MC: I don't think I asked you last time, where do you like to sit when you read?

His indifferent gaze falls lightly on the sun-drenched tables and chairs without much emotion.

Lucien: I prefer to borrow books from the third-floor lending room and read them at home rather than here.

MC: Oh? I always thought you wouldn't be picky about reading environments.

Lucien: For me, the environment indeed has little impact on the reading experience.

Lucien: However, at home, there's always a little lady who will snuggle up next to me and read together.

He pauses for a moment, looking at me earnestly.

Lucien: It's hard not to develop a sense of dependence on the comforting environment you create.

✂———————–

—[Part 4]—

MC: Wow, it's "Essays in Love"!

Just as I stepped into the lending room, I paused in front of a somewhat familiar novel.

Lucien: Mm, compared to the story in the book, I'm more impressed by MC's "kidnapping”*.

[T/N: reference to Devotion Date where MC 'kidnaps' Lucien]

He holds my hand and leads me with a smile, I haven't even taken a few steps yet when another book catches my eye.

MC: "YOUR ATOMIC SELF"? You just read it recently during the check-in event!

Lucien: Yes, I returned it after finishing. If you want to read it, there's a new copy in the study that I just bought.

We walk hand in hand through the empty shelves, and every few steps, we come across familiar traces.

MC: Hehe, this book is one we read together.

Lucien: However, after flipping through a few pages, it seems like a girl fell asleep in my arms.

MC: [sweating] Haha, it's the kind of thing you can forget about.

Lucien: [teasingly] Oh? Looks like MC isn't too curious about what happens after she falls asleep.

His lips curled a bit, as if recalling something amusing.

MC: What is it?

Lucien: Actually... [chuckles] about half an hour after you fell asleep, I fell asleep too.

MC: Pfft! If even you fell asleep, then it must be the fault of the book.

Lucien: Though it's a bit impolite to say, the author's writing does lack logical coherence.

Seeing his slightly furrowed brow and troubled expression, I suddenly felt the urge to tease him, so I struggled to suppress a smile.

MC: But I think it's impressive in its own way.

Lucien: Hm?

MC: It can be used for hypnosis~ Next time if I find you refusing to sleep, I'll just read it aloud beside you, and you'll drift off in no time.

Seemingly taking it seriously, he even pondered for a moment before speaking.

Lucien: [chuckles] But the feasibility of this method is not very high.

MC: Why?

Lucien: After all, it seems like you'd get sleepy before managing to lull me to sleep.

Seeing him speak earnestly, but his eyes already betraying laughter, I can't help but laugh along with him.

The clock hanging on the wall quietly completes a full circle as we step into the innermost section of the document area.

Scholarly journals written in various languages are neatly arranged on the bookshelves, bringing together a vast ocean of wisdom.

Suddenly, I remembered something and looked at him with a hint of anticipation.

MC: I remember you recently published a paper in a core journal. Can we find it here too?

Lucien: Nowadays, many publications are distributed in electronic formats. I'm not sure if the library would have hard copies.

His gaze wanders through the dizzying array of titles for a long time, seemingly without finding anything.

So he walks over to the search computer, typing the journal's name on the keyboard, and after hitting the enter key, he squints a little at the screen.

Lucien: [chuckles] Found it.

MC: Huh? They have even the newest ones. Can I find the article you published earlier too?

Five minutes later, I find myself dazedly staring at the thick journals in my arms.

MC: Even though I know about every paper you've published, seeing them all together still makes me want to marvel at your brain…

MC: Can I absorb some of your wisdom by reading these articles?

Lucien: I don't think so.

With a lingering inflection, he leans down slightly and pecks my lips.

Lucien: [chuckles, then whispers] But maybe this way you can.

His earnest demeanor makes it impossible for me to suppress a smile.

MC: Hehe, with Professor Lucien sharing his wisdom with me, I'll definitely be able to read research papers with ease in the future!

As I speak, I flip through the pages and quickly find Lucien's article among them.

Unfamiliar foreign languages and complex technical terms occasionally trip me up as I read, but it doesn't stop me from carefully perusing the text bit by bit.

In his concise and clear theories, it feels like I can see every dull piece of data he recorded and every sleepless night he endured.

And there's also that curiosity that never extinguished, even after countless failed attempts.

Merely watching him moving forward fills me with immense pride.

Unconsciously, I reach the end of the paper, and suddenly, I feel as though I see my name flash before my eyes.

I calm myself and carefully read through the last section once again.

The next moment, as my gaze flicks over the acknowledgments section, I feel my heart skip a beat.

There, my own name actually appears-

And finally, I would like to thank my dear (y/n)-

--whose love and support has always been the driving force pushing me forward.

I stare at him in disbelief, but he just looks at me and smiles.

Having a faint idea of what's going on, I proceed to flip through several other journals.

Without exception, there's a line of acknowledgment dedicated to me after each of his articles.

An indescribable surge of emotions overwhelms me, leaving me momentarily speechless, but he instantly pulls me into his arms with a chuckle.

Lucien: [chuckles, then whispers] What to do.

Lucien: Seeing my little lady so surprised, it seems I can't easily showcase my research results in the future.

His pretended distress amuses me, and I lightly pat him on the shoulder.

MC: You know very well that I'm very happy.

He pulls me into his hug, his chin rubbing against the top of my head.

Lucien: [whispers softly] Um, of course I do.

Lucien: [x2] It's just that seeing you happy because of me, I can't help but feel happy too.

MC: You never mentioned it before.

He looks into my eyes as if trying to see into my heart.

Lucien: [x3] Just like eating and sleeping every day, I don't seem to feel that this is something necessary to mention specifically.

Lucien: [x4] Just as you appear in every corner of my life…

Lucien: [x5] I naturally think of you in the moment of completing an article, and naturally want to express thank you to you.

Lucien: [x6] This natural feeling…

Lucien: [x7]...is like when spring arrives, flowers will naturally bloom.

My heart feels like it's being gently tickled by his whispers, making me unable to resist any longer, so I stand on tiptoe and kiss him.

The next moment, he gently lifts me up, quietly closing the distance between us.

The gauze curtains sway, casting a touch of charm onto the light and shadow falling upon us.

Perhaps it's an illusion, but after he removes his glasses, those eyes that have always been looking at me seem even deeper.

I stare at his handsome features in a trance, unaware of the sudden strength supporting my lower back.

With my soft exclamation, the already close distance becomes even more intimate, not leaving any gap.

His lowered lashes tremble lightly, brushing against my cheeks like butterfly wings.

I have to close my eyes so that my heart doesn't beat too chaotically.

His hot breath lingers on the corner of my lips for a while before finally enveloping it eagerly.

The pleasant breath gradually penetrates my lips and mouth, and then spreads all over my body, making me completely surrender myself to him.

In my hazy consciousness, I faintly hear the sound of flowers blooming.

My next spring with him- really seems to have arrived.

[fictional-love-is-my-life]

Hi... I am so happy to see my request finally come true...

So here I am with another request and I have some particular theme in mind

Human optimus prime x reader. Optimus is an English teacher where the reader studies.

One day the reader finds a letter stuck in her book which she borrowed from the Library to find a beautiful poem (which optimus left accidentally). She decided to compliment that so she wrote something of her own...and returned it

And then she and that writer (optimus) started to talk anonymously through this type of letters eventually to find out about each and and confess falling for each in 2 line poem like

"roses are red,

voilet is blue

My heart beats so fast

When I think about u"

Fill the gap as u like...u can change it a bit as well

Thank you in advance if you are doing it

If not...it's fine also no biggie

Have a great day or night ❤️🩵💙

Hello hello! Thank you for this request and thank you for being so patient with me. I have finally finished it!

Human Optimus Prime English teacher x Female student Reader

This is set in a college, reader is at least 20+

~~~~~~

English has always been one of your favorite lessons. Something about it intrigued you, especially the poetry lessons. It may have helped that it was taught by your favorite teacher.

Mr. Prime stood at the front of the class, a poetry book in his hand. All eyes were on him as he spoke, talking about many of the techniques used by the author of said book.

The bell rang, indicating the end of class. Most of the class was happy and eager to leave. But the sound made you sad, you could have listened to Mr. Prime for another couple of hours. Yet you obeyed the bell since you had a few other classes to attend that day.

“Now, if anyone is interested in reading this, I do highly recommend it. You can find a copy in our own library here on campus.” Mr. Prime stated, then began saying his farewells to the students. You smiled at your favorite teacher, feeling a small burst of energy as he smiled back at you.

~

After finishing all your classes for the day, you headed to the library. It was late in the afternoon, making you doubt that the poetry book Mr. Prime suggested would still be there. But you thought you would check, just in case. To your surprise, it was still available. You reached out, grabbing the book. It was a little aged, the spine was worn and some of the pages were bent at the corner. That just meant it had been well-used and well-loved.

You checked out the book, tucking it away into your bag. You were going to look at it back in your dorm room, as you were starting to get hungry.

You grabbed food from the small café on campus, then headed to your dorm room. You were happy to have one of the rooms on the college grounds, it meant you never had to walk too far for anything whether it was classes or a quick meal.

Entering the small room, you tossed your bag and food onto the bed. You were done for the day, so you decided to change into more comfortable loungewear before climbing onto your bed. You pulled out your food, eating while you went through your bag.

You tugged the poetry book out, placing it in your lap and using one hand to open it. The moment the pages came loose, something fell out. It was a single piece of paper with writing on it. The handwriting was beautiful, neat, and well-written. It was a poem. You hummed in amusement, of course, it was a poem stuck inside a poetry book. It must have been left behind by the last person who checked the book out.

Curiosity got the best of you, so you began to read it.

You re-read the poem over and over at least 5 times. It was beautiful, soul-capturing, enlightening. The words stuck in your head on a constant loop. You knew it was just a random person's work, but the way the words were written, it felt as if it was a letter made just for you.

It was so inspiring that it made you want to write your own poem, in response to them.

You worked for hours, writing then scratching out the words and starting again. After going through at least ten pages of your notebook, you finally had something you felt was good enough. It wasn’t as good as the poem you just read, but it was still good.

~

A few days later you had finished the poetry book you took from the library. It was about time to return it. You picked it up, then spotted the poem that fell out of it sitting on your desk. Your own poem sat next to it. You wished you could find the author and tell them how much you loved their work, but you knew you’d never find out who wrote it.

Part of you wanted to keep the poem, but at the same time, you didn’t. It was so beautiful, that you felt it needed to be shared with the world. You grabbed a post-it, writing on it “This was beautiful”. Sticking the post-it on the mystery person's poem and put it back into the book. Your own poem caught your attention.

Before, you hadn’t been confident sharing your poems with other people. But the idea of sharing it with others anonymously didn’t seem so bad. You also thought it might be quite funny, giving the next person to check out the book two poems to read. You hoped someone would appreciate your work. You took another Post-it writing “Mine is not as good” and stuck it to your poem. You then placed it into the book behind the first.

You took the book back to the library, checked it back in, and placed it nicely onto the shelf. You felt happy and a little excited, you wondered who would get the book next and what they would think of it.

~

Once it was out of sight, you forgot about the poetry book. It only returned to your memory when you were in the library a couple of days later. Curious you made your way to the literary section; you dragged your finger across the books searching for it.

There it was, in the middle of the shelf. Its worn-out spine made your stomach flip in excitement. You wondered if there would be another addition to the poems, who it would be by, and what it would say. However, there was also the possibility that the poems would have been taken.

You picked up the book and opened its pages. The pages instantly opened themselves, revealing a single piece of paper. It was the same beautiful hand writing from the first poem, obviously from the same writer. Yet it was different. It was new!

You instantly started to read it, still standing in the middle of the library’s aisle. It started by quoting a line from your poem, then continued on its own, saying how much they loved your poem and how beautiful they thought it was. They wrote how they felt alone in their own poetic dreams, and that your words were like a song to their heart.

Your stomach fluttered as you read the poem, in complete disbelief that they liked your work. It made you ecstatic, your creative energy bursting. You had to respond and thank them for their words.

You rushed over to an empty table in the back of the library, pulling out your notebook. Scribbling away, you tried to put your emotions into words. You had to express how much their words meant to you. You finished the poem with a few lines about how much you enjoy poetry and how the act of writing poems gives you joy, like a fresh flower on a warm summer’s day. Once you were happy with your poem you tore out the page and stuck it into the poetry book.

This time you kept the mystery person's poem. Their words meant so much to you, so this time you were going to keep it to yourself. You gently put the poetry book back on the shelf and rushed out of the library. You thought about sticking around, waiting to see who would come to pick it up. But you also thought that might be quite creepy, so you just decided to leave.

That night you lay awake; your stomach filled with butterflies. You lay on your side, staring at your desk where the mystery person's poem sat. It’s words circling in your mind. You imagined who the author was, what they looked like, what they sounded like. You could hear their voice in your head as you read their words, and you wondered if they sounded the same in real life. You pondered if they were thinking about you as well.

~

The next morning you got up early. Even though you had barely slept you felt energized and excited. You rushed over to the library, getting to it before it even opened the doors. Tapping your foot impatiently you waited for the library staff to arrive. Eventually, they came, your heart pounding as they slowly unlocked the door, allowing you inside.

You rushed inside, beelining for the poetry section. You scanned over the shelves, then looked again. The book was gone. You felt a sting of disappointment, replaced a few seconds later by excitement. If it’s gone, it could mean the mystery person has it. Could they have already read your poem? Were they currently writing their own response? You couldn’t wait to find out.

Since the book was not there, you left the library and made your way to the food hall for breakfast.

Classes dragged by slowly, though it didn’t matter as you weren’t paying attention anyway. Your mind was on the mystery person, wondering what their next poem would say.

That same afternoon, you skipped over to the library, once more looking for the book. Yet again it was still gone. Obviously, they must be taking their time to return it. Either that or someone else took it.

You felt sadness and worry at the thought of someone else taking the book. It was your only way to communicate with the mysterious person and you couldn’t picture anyone else getting their hands or eyes on their poems. You sighed and left the library once more. You would just have to check the next day.

~

The following day, you had an early class, so you were unable to go straight to the library. You made your way after the second class, moving at a brisk pace.

You didn’t know if it was fate or just pure luck. But the book was there, waiting, calling your name. You grabbed it, instantly opening it to find a single page.

Your heart skipped. Giddy you took the book and checked it out. This had become something fun and special, so you were going to take the poem back to your room to read it. And once you had, you would take your time to create the most perfect reply.

~

You and the mystery author traded poetic letters for two weeks. Allowing each other at least a day to take the book home and write a response. They were constantly on your mind, their words and the possibilities of who they were. You were desperate to meet them, but you didn’t know how to initiate it or when, terrified you might scare them away by asking to meet.

Every other day you rushed to the library. Your face had become well known, and it became a little joke between the staff that you always took out the same book. You never minded though, any other time you would have thought it was also strange someone took out the same book every day. But you were too preoccupied with enjoying the situation. It was fun, exciting, and exhilarating to get secret poems from a mystery person.

You made your way to the library once more, waving to the library staff.

“Back again! No need to ask what for. You might as well just take it; we know you’ll bring it back.” An older lady laughed. You chuckled; she wasn’t wrong.

The book was there in the middle of the shelf. The paper on the spine was almost completely gone, showing how often it had been taken and handled over the past few weeks. You felt a bit bad for the poor old book. It had brought you so much happiness, so you decided to try being more delicate.

You gently took the book off the shelf and opened it.

Instead of the usual single page, there were two. One was the poem, and the other was a post it. You read the poem first.

"Roses are red,

Violets are blue

My heart beats fast

When I think about you"

Your stomach flipped. Heat spread across your face as a blush formed. They put into words exactly how you felt about them. You didn’t even know this person, but they had enraptured your heart entirely. You could feel the crush coming with each poem, but this just secured it. And by their poem, perhaps they had a crush on you as well.

Your mind swam with ideas of them, and their words that you almost forgot to read the post it. You finally remembered and looked at the small yellow paper.

“You are constantly on my mind, I must meet you if you would like to. I understand if you may not be ready. On Friday, at 5pm I will sit at the bench outside the library.”

Your heart pounds so hard in your chest that you thought it might explode. They wanted to meet you. You were excited, but also incredibly nervous. Were you ready? What if you went and they were disappointed? Or what if you were disappointed?

You shook the negative thoughts from your head. You had been thinking about meeting them for a while, now was your chance and you were not going to mess it up. You take the poem from the book, sticking it into your bag. From your own notebook, you tore out one page and wrote “I’ll be there”.

You stuck the torn page into the poem book and placed it back onto the shelf.

~

Friday came quicker than you were ready for. You sat in your English class, staring at the clock. Usually, your attention would have been solely on Mr. Prime. But today, you thought about 5pm and meeting the mystery poem author. Your heart raced with every second. You began to plan out your outfit in your head, mentally prepping what you would wear and how you would style your hair.

You were knocked out of your thoughts by your classmate and friend nudging you. You turned to her a little annoyed that she disturbed your train of thought.

“Does Mr. Prime seem different to you?” She asked.

For the first time in that period, you looked at your teacher. He had a huge smile on as he talked, his suit was neatly pressed and he had a flower in his pocket. He looked cute.

“I don’t know, he’s just happy.” You shrugged.

“Yeah but, different happy. Happier than we’ve ever seen him.”

“Is that a bad thing?” You asked.

“No.” Your friend muttered. “I was just saying…never mind.”

You immediately began daydreaming again, picturing how the meetup would go. You practiced what you would say and how you would act.

Soon the bell rang and you were able to rush out of the classroom. English had been your final lesson of the day, so you rushed back to your dorm room to try on all your clothes. You had to find the perfect attire for the meet and you only had a few hours to do so.

After going through half your closet, you finally found the perfect outfit. A cute and flowy dress, you styled your hair and accessories to match. Once you were fully dressed you checked the time on your phone. 4.15. Your heart skipped, a small pit of anxiousness sitting in your stomach.

You breathed in and out slowly, calming yourself. It was a big day, and you hoped nothing went wrong. You really hoped they showed.

You decided to leave, thinking there was no harm in getting there a little early. They may have thought the same thing and could have already been there. You made your way to the library, your heart beating hard as you came around the corner. Your eyes instantly locked onto the bench outside.

It was empty. Your heart dropped, and you quickly looked at the time. 4.40. You still had 20 minutes, so there was no reason to get too panicked. Just because you were early didn’t mean they were not going to show.

You sat down and waited patiently, scanning over all the people who walked past, wondering if they were the ones coming to meet you. Nervously you kept checking your phone, the anxious pit getting heavier as it got closer to 5pm.

Eventually your phone read 5.01pm.

Yet you continued to sit alone. You reassured yourself that sometimes people were late.

5.05

Maybe they were caught up with something.

5.10

Maybe they forgot and they were just now on their way.

5.15

Maybe they said a different day? You pulled the post-it out from your bag, reading it and re-reading it. It definitely said Friday at 5. Your heart felt heavy, your bottom lip wobbling as you tried hard not to cry.

5.30

How long were you supposed to wait? You felt awful. You didn’t want to leave in case they arrived, but you also didn’t want to stay for too long. The idea that they weren’t coming was too painful, and you were about to just go home and cry.

You checked your phone one last time. 5.36. You rubbed your eyes, trying to stop tears before they even formed.

The sound of running caught your attention, making you look up. Mr. Prime was running over to you, his dress shoes clacking against the pavement, his tie flying in the wind as he ran. He stopped just before you. He smiled and said your name.

“Hello, Mr. Prime.” You said, wondering why he was running to you. Have you forgotten something? Maybe you hadn’t given him any homework, though you didn’t think so.

For a few seconds, you just stared at each other. He looked down and saw the yellow post-it in your hand, then took a seat beside you.

“I’m sorry I’m late.” He said, his voice sounding a little ashamed. You were about to ask what he was late for when he continued talking. “One of the students was asking for help on their project and I could not get away. By the time I finally told them I had to go, it was already 5, and then I had to run over here from my office. I do apologize for keeping you waiting.”

He then pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket. It was your poem. Your mind finally clicked the pieces together. Your mind swirling with the realization that your English teacher was the mystery poet you had been talking to for the past few weeks. You tried to keep your excitement from bursting out. You had no idea what to say, all your preplanned conversations were gone. He sat there, smiling at you. His smile completely took your breath away. You had always thought he was cute, but sitting there now, finally revealed as your mystery poet, he was incredible.

“It’s ok.” Was all you could mutter.

“I’m so glad I got to read your work. It always brought a smile to my face and brightened my day. You’re a very talented poet.” Mr. Prime complimented.

“Me? You are much more talented. Your poems are so beautiful, Mr. Prime.” You replied.

“Please, call me Optimus.”

You nodded, repeating his name over in your head. He wasn’t who you expected. Never in a million years would you expect your professor to be your mystery crush. But you weren’t complaining, and you definitely weren’t disappointed. He was brilliant, and you were happy he was the mystery poet.

“I asked to meet here because I wasn’t sure where to take you or what you may like. As you were my mystery poet and I only knew so much from our exchanges.” He chuckled. Your heart fluttered when he called you ‘his’ mystery poet. “I’d like to take you to dinner if you’d like?”

“I would like that.” You grinned; your face hot from a fresh blush. Optimus suggested a nearby restaurant, one you were quite fond of. He then stood and offered you, his hand. You took it, linking your arm with his as you walked away from the library together.

The dinner was perfect, and conversation flowed easily between the two of you. You had so many similar interests, and your differences only complimented the other. After dinner Optimus took your arm once more and walked you back to your dorm, wanting to get you there safely. He paused halfway there, standing in a quiet part of the park.

“I wish to confess something, and you can tell me if I make you uncomfortable.” Optimus started. You guessed where he might be leading with the conversation, and you were very excited if you were right. “I have thoroughly enjoyed sharing poems with you. The experience was a joy, and I wished it could last forever. But the more we exchanged, the more my heart would flutter when I thought of you. I didn’t know who you were, yet your words made me feel like I did. I knew I had to meet the real you, so I could put a face to the beautiful words. And what I see now, is the words were just a reflection of their gorgeous author.”

Heat pulsed through your body from an extreme blush. He had such a way with words, written or spoken. You didn’t know how to respond, though you didn’t need to as he continued speaking.

“This may sound silly, as I only knew you through your words. But I had grown a little crush on you. And now, after meeting you in person, and enjoying the perfect night with you it has grown. I have fallen quite suddenly for you.” He confessed. His own blush was prominent on his face, even in the dim street light.

“I feel the same.” You burst out, not wanting him to be the only one to confess. You wanted to make sure it was known, so he wouldn’t feel uncomfortable being the only one to pour his heart out. “I feel the same and have for a while. I have loved sharing our poems, but I knew I had to meet you. I was scared to suggest it, worried I might scare you away. You asking to meet was one of the happiest days of my life.” You grinned happily, doing a little happy bounce as you talked.

Optimus giggled, his own smile lighting up his face.

“I am so glad.” He cheered. Optimus gently took your hands in his. They were warm and gave your hands a soft squeeze. “I would like to continue this, and start having more official dates.”

You felt as though you were going to explode from happiness. You wanted to dance and sing from joy, but you kept yourself calm and just squeezed his hands back.

“Yes, I would very much like that as well.”

For a few seconds, you stared at each other, still holding hands. Optimus looked as though he wanted to say something, but was a little nervous to do so. You had never seen him act nervous before, but you found it adorable.

“May I kiss you?” He finally asked.

“Yes.” You replied immediately.

Optimus leaned down. You raised yourself a little to meet him halfway, not wanting him to bend too far and hurt himself. The gap closed, and your lips met his. His lips were soft and warm and fit against yours perfectly as if they were made specifically just to kiss you.

You kissed for what felt like an eternity, though it was most likely just a minute. You didn’t want it to end, the feeling was so magical and soothing. Optimus was the first to pull away, a happy smile across his face.

“Accidently leaving my poem in that book, was the best thing I have ever done.” He commented. You giggled.

“Well, me taking your suggestion and picking the book up was the best thing I ever did.” You smiled.

“Oh, then suggesting the book was also the second-best thing I have done.” Optimus added. You laughed, Optimus chuckling along with you. “I shall get you back to your dorm now, as it is getting late. But I look forward to progressing our relationship.”

“As do I.”

Optimus leaned down to place one final kiss upon your lips, before walking you the rest of the way home.

[supermanshield]

superbat fic where theyre trying to wrangle everyones busy schedule? jl meetings, galas, someones birthday dinner, someones recital, theres a lot to account for lol

Oh anon, you know this is my favourite trope for superbat! <3 Thank you for the ask and sorry it took a while, but here it is. And I really let myself go, didn't count the words but it's way more than 100.

-------------------------------------

"Tonight?"

"I can't, Damian's teacher wants to speak to me. Again." Bruce sighed and flicked through the calendar on his phone. Almost every day was completely filled with appointments, meetings, league meetings, monitor duty, patrol time. Hmm... "How about Saturday morning?"

"I go running with Lois, you know that. And you probably won't be awake, anyway."

"You could just... start without me."

"Bruce!" The people at the table next to them looked up. Clark shut his mouth and sat back, embarrassed. Bruce went back to his phone. Clark still carried around a paper agenda, for some reason, and flicked through that.

"Saturday evening is Cass' ballet recital...."

"We definitely can't miss that," Clark confirmed. Bruce shook his head in agreement.

"Sunday you've got the annual Zenith Awards and Gala. Hmm."

Clark groaned. "I wouldn’t mind missing that one. Or sneak out during. I don't need to hear Luthor talk all evening."

"As one of the nominees? Clark, no. I'll be there to cheer you on, and protect you from the big bad Lex by talking over him."

Clark chuckled. "You're the best." His face lit up. "Oh. So after, we could sneak out together..."

"Won't do. It'll be too late by then.” He lowered his voice. “and I'll have to go straight to patrol."

"And Monday I've got a late monitor shift. Tuesday Dick's coming over for dinner, Wednesday..."

"Board meeting, you know that."

Clark nodded. "Right. Thursday I promised to help Jon... up north," he said, indicating the direction of the fortress with his eyebrows. He sat back, defeated, staring at his agenda. "So that's it, no time at all this week? Not even a little gap somewhere? I can be quick."

"And that's not always a good thing, Kent." Clark almost choked on his coffee. If he could. "And this is not even counting any..." Bruce looked over at the other table, lowered his volume so only Clark could hear. "Any of the unexpected things we deal with." Clark nodded solemnly, and leaned over the table closer to Bruce. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. Supervillains could visit, or break out, or natural disasters could occur. They were used to dropping everything at a moment's notice when they were needed. It was the rest of their lives that were so busy. 

"This was to be expected with four full-time jobs and 9 children between us," Bruce concluded, leaning over the table as well, meeting Clark halfway to put his glasses back on his face.

"I can't believe it's come to this already. We have to plan our sex time."

"If you call it sex time again, we might not have to plan it at all anymore, Clark."

Clark couldn't hold back a laugh at that. He brushed some hair out of Bruce's face. His mouth was curved in a genuine smile, a smirk he usually only saw in the bedroom. He still couldn't believe they had finally gotten together, and he was so happy with Bruce in his life, but it was hard sometimes, to keep meeting halfway and around their schedules, between battles and fights and missions, and daily life.

Bruce perked up suddenly, eyes opening wide. "Clark," he said. "What are we doing?"

Clark frowned. "A date? Just two regular guys on a date?"

"And what could we be doing."

A lightbulb came on in Clark's head, but he wasn't convinced yet. "Hey, a date is important too. I don't want our relationship to only consist of quickies in the broom closet."

"I agree," Bruce said hastily, and it warmed Clark's heart. "But we just established that you won't get any of me for at least a week, so I choose sex. Right now. We still have an hour." He stared intently into Clark’s eyes.

"Okay." Clark took a sip of the coffee that they were about to abandon, and held up one finger. "But only if you stay in bed with me after."

“Fine,” Bruce grumbled, but the skip in his heartbeat was unmistakable. 

Bruce paid for their coffees quickly, while Clark waited with his jacket by the door. As they left the little café, he could hear the couple that had sat next to them talking over their food.

“Ahh, young love,” the woman mused.

“Dear, those guys were at least in their forties.”

“You have no sense of romance, Derrick.” 

Clark smiled, jogging after Bruce into the alleyway to take him home.

[da-birb-writes-sometimes]

Hello bonjour!

I've been thinking something recently...

As a fellow Canadian (hey!) with some, uh, less than magnifique French language skills, I was wondering how you think our dear francophone Rook Hunt would behave around someone with "cereal box French" (that is, able to understand it, but cannot speak it)?

Would he speak the same amount of the language around you? Even more French? Would he offer to teach the language?

I'm curious as to what you think! :)

Bonjour! I too only have "cereal box French" about the same literacy as a third-grader. even though I have 8 years of classes under my belt, but that's the education system for ya. And also, yes, a fellow Canadian; always a pleasant surprise! But here are my thoughts!

Some of the French is what I remember plus a bit of Word Reference, and much to the dismay of every French teacher that I ever had, Google Translate to fill in the gaps.

Rook Hunt with a Reader Who Has "Cereal Box" French

Okay, so he would notice that, unlike the others, you seemed like you were following along with what he was saying. "Tu parles français, trickster?" He would ask, resting his chin on his hand, waiting for an answer.

"Un petit peu," you answered. "Honestly though, I can only read it. Speaking it? Well, it isn't great. I call it 'cereal box' French."

He would smile, "Well, reading is a start. And, if you want trickster, I could teach you."

If You Accept His Offer

He would be an amazing teacher and would go at your preferred pace. Having difficulty with that one phrase? He's patient and will help you. "Très bien! Bien travail, trickster! For that one word, I would recommend rolling the 'r' a bit more."

He would ask you if you wanted to improve your accent while speaking it, so it isn't a "baguette accent" as some would put it.

It would start small, such as asking, "Comment ça va?" and seeing how long you would be able to keep the conversation going. He would be proud if you just gave him a, "Ça va bien" or proceeded to say a bit more.

Would pass you notes just in français. "Lisez ceci plus tard, mon chou.~" You can decide whether or not you want to bring up him calling you his cabbage.

His use of French would increase as your skill does. Even though it may be fun that you understand what he's saying, he would much rather speak with you. It would be a nice change of pace since no one that he knows, outside of his own family of course, speaks the language. No, Rollo does not count.

Learning through cooking would also occur. Since you did, after all, call it 'cereal box' French. "Passe l'oeuf s'il te plait, trickster. Merci beaucoup!~"

If You Deny His Offer

He would still speak the same amount of French, but he won't push to teach you if you didn't want to. Maybe just a tad more, but not by much.

He would probably be a tad bit disappointed, but wouldn't show it. At least you know some of what he's saying, and that in itself is enough for him.

Would surprise you with some family recipes that were left in his care by his arrière grand-mère, seeing if you can understand the words by yourself before helping out if you have any difficulties.

Overall, I see Rook as being pleasantly surprised but also happy, regardless or not if the reader takes him up on his offer to teach them. But very relaxed on the subject, not pushing them if they didn't want to learn. Taking it at your own pace with a gentle hand. Also, you two would probably watch French soap operas and films, just saying.

And I'm so sorry if you, much like I did, had to sit through French class watching Téléfrançais. Also, I do love the Québécois Rook headcanon, but I do know it's very niche.

I hope that you enjoyed the little headcanons. Rook, please hold French classes for those of us who want to learn.

[sammycutiepie]

cursed love

chapter 2

pairing: suguru geto x fem!reader

word account: 5.2k

synopsis: When Yui returns after a year she finds that everything had changed, Suguru had changed, he had become a complete stranger. Promises were broken, like fragile threads left alone by the weight of disappointment. The darkness had invaded all love, cursing it forever.

Ten years later there was Yui in the hospital, after that idiot Gojo Satoru sent two first-year students on a mission that surpassed them in experience and skill.

“How is Maki-san?” Okkotsu Yuuta asked with that melancholic expression that characterized him, he always seemed as if he wanted to die.

Yui looked at her student and then at his curse, Rika, who hugged him protectively, wary of any threat that could put her loved one's life at risk. Yui smiled sideways, Okkotsu believed that Rika had cursed him when things had gone the other way, but she would not reveal that information, that was his turn as part of his canonical event.

"She's fine, Okkotsu, you don't need to worry." Yui wanted to pet his head, but Rika had her sights on her, and they certainly shouldn't make a spectacle of themselves at the hospital.

Yui raised her head and looked for Gojo, he was in the corner, playing with the water dispenser, looking as careless and childish as always.

“Why don't you get yourself some tea? It'll be good for you." Yui advised him, stabbing imaginary daggers into the stronger's head.

Okkotsu got the message and left his teachers alone.

“Will you ever stop endangering the lives of others?”

“They're fine, plus I was outside the curtain in case something went wrong.” Gojo repeated what he had already told the superiors.

“I know you did it to pressure Okkotsu to use his dominance over Rika.”

“And it worked, didn’t it?”

“That's not the point, Gojo. They are our students, they are under our care, they trust us, we are their role models. You should act like a responsible adult for once.”

Gojo had the feeling that he was talking to a sad version of Suguru, actually he had the theory that Yui had copied Suguru's personality to feel close to him, this in a desperate attempt to fill the emotional gaps that were left in the aftermath after his departure.

And everyone had noticed the big change in Hayashi Yui, she was no longer the sweet naive girl who with a smile or a silly joke brightened the day of others, now she was a cold and composed woman who distanced her emotions from the work environment. In fact, Gojo doubted she had a personal life outside of work. She seemed so alone and unavailable, and Gojo himself had tried countless times to change that, but Yui kept walking away, it was as if she was afraid of being abandoned like Suguru did to her.

“Can you skip the morality talk? It’s boring.” Gojo yawned shamelessly.

“Is that the kind of education that you give to the Zen'in boy?”

Yui knew that Gojo only cared for Fushiguro Megumi for selfish reasons, she was pretty sure he saw him as a replacement for Suguru.

Gojo lowered the blindfold that covered his eyes a little to give her a warning look, he didn't liked the tone she used.

“Don't talk about Megumi.”

“Amazing performance, I almost believe for a minute that you care about someone else besides yourself.” Yui spat out those words with venom.

It wasn't a surprise that Yui held a grudge against him because of Suguru, and Gojo didn't blame her, because he beat himself up every damn day of his miserable existence for not having saved his best friend.

“Please try to keep your personal problems with me separate from work, that's not very professional of you.”

Yui was hesitant to add one more thing, but after a few seconds she regretted it.

“I'll leave now that I know everyone is okay. Call me if any problem arises.”

❪∘∘∘❫

“I don't know if I'll be able to tomorrow, I'll probably have to help with the report and go inspect the primary school.” Yui let out a kind of frustrated groan, since thanks to Gojo's irresponsibility she had to sacrifice her day off.

She entered the apartment and left her coat on the coat rack, listening to the man on the line talk to her about the banalities of his day. When she turned on the lights she got paralyzed. Her ears rang and her lungs filled with cold air. She couldn't believe what her eyes were seeing, for a moment she thought she was hallucinating like in the first months, but after pinching her forearm she verified that what she had in front of her was real, very real.

"I'll call you later." She didn't even wait for a response to end the call.

"Welcome home."

Suguru.

Geto Suguru was there, sitting peacefully on her black leather couch.

He looked older and it was logical. His hair was longer and was no more tied up, it fell over his back like a cloak of a starless night. His facial features were hardened, leaving behind the freshness of coveted youth. He was wearing a golden rakusu with green checkered patterns, and underneath a blue yukata, he looked like a monk.

"What do you want?"

Yui knew that a normal person would react differently to finding her ex-boyfriend in what would be judicially considered a home invasion, however, as far as possible, she decided to take it calmly and seriously.

“I didn't know you smoked.” Suguru took the box of cigarettes he had found and threw it on the ground in a disapproving gesture. “Did Shoko give you her bad habit?”

"Stop talking." Yui whispered, her nails tearing the skin of her palms in an attempt to keep herself mentally composed.

“Aren't you happy to see me?” Suguru put on a rather ironic sad expression.

And that was all to unleash hell.

“Am I a joke to you?” Yui raised her voice, caring very little if her neighbors heard her.

"Why do you say that?"

Suguru was wearing out her patience with each new stupid question.

“How dare you show up here after ten years? Acting like nothing happened.” Yui looked at Suguru like he was crazy.

"I missed you."

Oh no, those words were dangerous, they unearthed feelings that Yui didn't want to deal with again.

Not this time. Yui wouldn't let him get under her skin.

"Liar." She spoke with contempt, a lot of contempt.

Suguru stood up and approached her, daring to wipe the tears from her face.

Damn, was she crying? Since when? Yui didn't recognized the feeling, because she had long since taken that privilege away from herself, the privilege of being vulnerable and sensitive.

And why did Suguru's touch feel so good?

It wasn't reasonable, it wasn't reasonable for her to let herself be touched by the man who destroyed her.

"I'm not lying. I miss you, Yui.” Suguru said with that calm voice that stole so many sighs from her back time. He leaned forward, with clear intentions of kissing her, but Yui was faster and broke the physical contact in time.

“Don't say my name so familiarly, you don't deserve that privilege.” She looked so broken as she cried, and it was all Suguru's fault.

“You're annoyed, I understand.” Suguru tried to sound sympathetic, but managed just the opposite.

"Annoyed?" Yui opened her eyes as wide as an owl. How did he have the nerve to say such nonsense?

She followed her intrusive thought and slapped him.

“I fucking hate you, every part of me hates your fucking self. I hate waking up every day and knowing that you breathes the same air as me. If it were possible to remove from my mind all the memories I have with you, I would do it without thinking about it. And if I could make one wish it would be to never have met you. So I feel more for you than just a simple annoyance, Geto Suguru.”

“Hate is a powerful feeling, it makes me happy to know that you feel that way about me.” Suguru caressed where he had been hit, the area was hot and burned a little, he laughed, admiring his girl's strength.

“Stop that behavior!” Yui screamed, pulling her hair and breathing heavily, she no longer knew what to do or what to feel, everything was becoming confusing and she didn't like that.

“What behavior?”

There was another stupid and unnecessary question.

“I'm furious and it drives me crazy to see you so calm when I'm a fucking mess of emotions!”

"You look flawless to me. "

Suguru took the time to observe the new version of Yui. She no longer had bangs and she didn't keep her hair long either; her current style consisted of a bob cut above her shoulders, not too short. Her fashion sense was also different, the pastel colors and baggy clothes had no longer existed, now she looked elegant and very classy, ​​the dress she was wearing might have looked simple, but you could clearly tell that the fabric was designer.

"I have changed." She said with her chin held high, satisfied with the person she had worked so hard to become.

“I can say it. You look stronger. I’m proud of you.” Once again, he smiled, as if that simple gesture couldn't turn Yui's world upside down.

Screw him, she didn't need his approval.

“I want to kill you.” She admitted without hesitation.

Suguru laughed very loudly, finding what Yui had just said extremely funny.

“And what's stopping you?” He didn't give in to the threat, on the contrary, he only provoked it further, Suguru had never been good at measuring danger, in fact, he was a little addicted to it.

It was only enough to move a few centimeters closer to destroy the sorceress's confidence.

"I don't know." She avoided eye contact.

"Come on, I know that you know." Suguru hummed, mocking her.

He took Yui's chin between his long fingers and forced her to look at him.

“Be honest, tell me what you feel.”

And as if it had enchanted her, Yui's tongue was unleashed to spread information like never before.

“My head tells me to finish you, to rip out your heart and crush it like you did mine. But my body doesn't obey, it's as if it were forbidden to do you any kind of harm. Have you cursed me?” That was the most logical reason Yui had found.

Suguru smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear, his index finger brushing against her earlobe and Yui felt her body burn with desire.

“And what is love but another curse?”

This time it was Yui who smiled, she had missed his deep poetic phrases.

Suguru put a hand on her waist and squeezed her tightly, Yui moaned and tightened her grip on his clothes. Their breathing was labored, the room was warm despite the heater. There was so much tension that it could be cutted with a pair of dull scissors.

“Would you consider me shameless if I admitted that I love having power over you?”

“I hate you… I hate you so much.” Yui buried her head in Suguru's worked pecs.

"I love you." Suguru hugged her and swayed their bodies from side to side.

Instead of feeling overjoyed, she felt fucking sad.

"Why are you doing this? Why are you doing this to me? Why do you come back now that I'm fine? It’s not fair, you don’t have the right to do this to me, you don’t.” She hit his chest without force.

"I wanted to see you." Suguru said it with shocking simplicity.

How could he express himself so easily? Did he not have pride or common sense like the others?

Yui pushed him just a little so she could see his face, she was crying again.

“You're a fucking cynical selfish piece of shit.”

Suguru was surprised, the Yui he knew wouldn't dare to curse so freely.

“You needed this as much as I did. And you’re not okay, you can’t pretend with me, not like you do with that man.” Suguru's voice wouldn't have sounded any different to other people, but to Yui who knew him well, it did, she could detect a ring of apathy and even annoyance.

“How do you know I'm seeing someone else?” She asked with narrowed eyes, wary beforehand.

Had he heard her phone call? No, it was impossible, she had shown no signs of closeness… So how?

“I've been away but I haven't missed anything in your life. I know what you do on a daily basis, the time you go to bed and get up, what you eat at each time, the number of kilometers you run each morning. When you come home from work and take off your shoes to dance to depressing songs from the eighties, and then you go to the kitchen, open your favorite bottle of white wine and spend the whole night drinking, alone and sad.”

Now that Suguru had described her routine out loud Yui realized that it sounded pitiful.

When had she herself become so pitiful?

“Have you been harassing me?” She laughed unamusedly.

“Could it really be considered harassment if the alleged victim was aware all the time?”

He was right.

Yui had always had that feeling of being watched, and now she knew it hadn't been paranoia.

“You knew as well as I did that this would happen, our reunion was written in the pages of destiny. That feeble attempt you are making to forget me will not work, Nanami Kento will never be able to take my place.”

Yui didn't know why she was suddenly upset, if it was because of Suguru's ego or because she was hearing the truth?

“You can refuse, you can push me and expel me from your life forever, you have the power to do so. So do it, tell me that you don't love me, tell me that you don't wake up at midnight screaming my name, tell me that you don't lie when you convince yourself that you're better off without me, tell me that that hurt heart doesn't continue beating just for me.”

"I can't." Yui sobbed, too shocked to think clearly.

"Why? Tell me why." Suguru was pushing her to her limits.

She then decided not to give any more thought and to be honest, to surrender to the arms of spontaneity and throw away the words that corrupted her from within.

“Because my soul still claims yours. The mornings are blue without your laughter in the background, the coffee no longer tastes like anything to me, and this house is just an empty place with nice furniture, it doesn't feel like it's mine and that's because… You are my only home.”

Suguru didn't wait any longer and connected their lips, and like old acquaintances they greeted each other energetically. The kiss was not premeditated and much less perfect, in fact, it had been a complete disaster, a mess of saliva and clicking, but oh… how good it felt. It was similar to the feeling of stepping on fresh sand on a summer day, or when a mother prepared her child's favorite meal, there was no greater reward for two inveterate lovers than the sweet taste of reunion.

“Are you going to leave me again?” Yui had to ask, she had to be sure, and her fear was reflected in the way she squeezed Suguru's wrist, refusing to let go, because she thought that if she stopped touching him at some point he would vanish like fog.

“No, not this time.” Suguru kissed her forehead and they both melted into a healing hug.

That night they met again, and again, and again. They discovered new sensations, smells that evoked forgotten memories, they entered a labyrinth of whispers and caresses, where each touch was a dance full of contained passion. The words had been suspended in the air, eclipsed by the symphony of muffled moans and intertwined sighs. These were two souls entangled in an eternal embrace, where there were no clocks or limits, only the burning and fleeting present that belonged to them in their own right.

Just for that night they forgot everything and everyone. That night it was just them. Suguru and Yui, a normal boy and a normal girl.

❪∘∘∘❫

Yaga, through a warning call, gathered all the sorcerers outside the school without giving an apparent explanation.

Yui was accompanied by Nanami, as well as other sorcerers such as Ino and Mei Mei, including the auxiliary assistants, with Ijichi being the head of these. Yui had always found Ijichi admirable, the way he always went out of his way to be helpful was worthy of respect.

Upon arriving at the place, the seriousness of the situation was understood. In front of them was Geto Suguru along with his henchmen, and the most worrying thing of all was that the first-year students were dangerously exposed and surrounded by them. However, luckily for everyone, Gojo was also there, so the risk gradually decreased, although of course, they should not let their guard down.

Yui internally wondered what Suguru intended to do.

And she got her answer quickly when she saw who he was hugging.

Okkotsu Yuuta.

She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, that was why he had stayed in her apartment yesterday, that was why he had looked for her, to get information from her about the rookie sorcerer, he wanted to get the Rika curse. In fact, Yui was sure that if she went home now she wouldn't find Okkotsu's file anywhere.

She had been tricked by Suguru, again.

Okkostu showed resistance to Suguru's deceptive tactics, and even though he smiled as if nothing had happened, Yui could see through him, because for a textbook manipulator like Geto Suguru, not gaining mental control over his target was fucking stressful and humiliating.

“And what did you hope to achieve by coming?” Gojo broke silence, asking the question that had those present intrigued.

“I declare war on you.” He said staring at Yui.

The first-grade sorceress felt a chill run down her spine. Wars only brought loss, death and destruction. Did Suguru really want that? Were his ideals so important? Was his grudge against the world of sorcery so important as to cause such a catastrophe?

“Everyone here, open your ears wide and pay attention. Next December 24, at dusk we will celebrate the night parade of the hundred demons. It will be made in the greatest crucibles of Curses: Shinjuku in Tokyo and the mecca of sorcery, Kyoto. We will release a thousand curses in every place. And of course, his orders will be to “massacre.” If you don't want all hell to break loose, then you're going to have to stop us. Let's curse each other freely.” Suguru smiled in the most sinister way.

Suguru, in his desire to exterminate humanity, would achieve the opposite; sorcerers were not exactly an abundant species, and a war between them would bring depopulation and ruin.

Yui knew that would only end one way.

A victory and a defeat.

And she was aware of something, and that was that she would not be a participant in that chaos.

Yui was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Gojo threaten Suguru not to let him go. Suguru invoked curses all over the place, revealing the difference of power.

Yui feared the worst and touched her necklace, ready to attack at any moment. But the truth is that she would not fight for the school, despite everything, she still felt the instinct to protect Suguru.

She felt like a traitor, and wasn't she?

What would the higher-ups do if they found out about her weakness for Geto Suguru?

Would they condemn her to death too? Would they consider her a threat to the world of wizardry?

"See you on the battlefield."

❪∘∘∘❫

While Yui was looking for the keys in her bag, she thought about the meeting they had had to strategize for December 24. When Yui confessed to Yaga that she had not the slightest interest in participating, he went crazy and even repeated to her on several occasions that he was very disappointed of her. Yui knew that her lack of responsibility as a sorceress would bring her consequences, or some kind of punishment, but she didn't care. She was tired and had no strength to fight, not against Suguru.

And as if she had summoned him, she found him again on her couch.

“Are you getting into the habit of coming into my house whenever you feel like it?” Yui walked to the kitchen and placed the purchases on the table.

“I thought you might be surprised to see me.” Suguru stood up from the furniture and stretched like a cat.

Yui took an apple and joined the raven-haired man in the living room.

“And I thought you already had all the information you needed about Okkotsu Yuuta.” She bit into the fruit of sin and raised an eyebrow as a form of sarcasm at what she had said.

“That wasn't my only goal in coming yesterday.” He even had the nerve to admit it, but Yui saw it better that way, she was tired of games and lies.

They suddenly fell silent, and even though it wasn't an awkward silence, Yui could sense the anxiety in Suguru, he had something on his mind that he was dying to let out.

“Aren't you going to ask me about what I said at school today? Don't you want explanations? Aren’t you curious?”

There was. Apparently, he hadn't changed as much as Yui thought.

The girl took one last bite of the apple and set it aside.

“Suguru, if I've learned anything it's not to overthink when it comes to you. If I try to understand you, I will be trapped in my common sense that tells me what is right and what is not, that way everything would be meaningless because we would never agree.”

“You have matured a lot.” Suguru looked proud, and Yui hated the emotion that came from being admired by that cruel man.

`Yes, and you weren't there to see it,' Yui piled that thought together with the rest of the complaints that she always kept silent about.

“You would never start a war you couldn't win. You have another plan.” And that wasn't even a question, there wasn't even a hint of uncertainty in her tone of voice, Yui was completely sure.

“Any asumptions?” He looked a little too excited for Yui's liking.

“I know that your main target is Okkotsu, or rather, Rika. You want to add it to your collection of curses.”

“You are so smart, what a waste of talent and power.” Suguru sighed, resting his face in his hands.

Yui knew where he was going with that hint, it was clear that Suguru wanted to recruit her into his kind of sect.

"Get to the point. I know you want to tell me your evil plan.” Yui was especially ironic, she was normalizing the matter in her own way, and that caused Suguru a kind of relief, he almost felt... normal.

"I'm going to kill Okkotsu Yuuta to obtain his cursed spirit."

Yui passed saliva down her parched throat. Shit, she had expected Suguru to be direct, but not this much.

“I thought that wasn't possible.” Yui had so many questions. "Explain yourself."

This made her feel like in the old days, Suguru had been a student who stood out for his ingenuity, and Yui, on the other hand, and due to her attention problems, did not grasp most of what they learned at school. So Suguru, every day after school, took the time to explain everything to her in detail, because he knew how to do it, he knew her better than anyone.

“Even though there is a link between them, I can kill the owner and absorb the curse. I know they won't bring Okkotsu into the fight, he's too valuable to put at risk, plus the superiors are afraid of his self-control. Like they did to you, remember?”

“The war is a distraction.” The sorceress came to a conclusion.

"Exactly."

“Do you think you can fool Gojo?”

“For a while, yes.” Suguru had already thought of all the possibilities and probabilities.

“And what makes you believe that I won't betray you and tell everyone about this?"

Suguru just smiled and replied a simple: “You won't.”

And Yui didn't know how to feel.

For a moment she fantasized about calling her uncle and summoning all the high-class sorcerers to inform them of Suguru Geto's location, so they could stop him once and for all and avoid the night of the hundred demons.

But how would Suguru react?

Would he look at her with disappointment?

Would he kill her?

Or maybe he would remind her once again that she was no longer his favorite spring?

"I trust you."

He shouldn't trust her, because she didn't even trust herself.

“Suguru… Why, what happened? When did you become what you are now?”

So many questions that kept her up at night.

Yui thought that Suguru wouldn't take her seriously and would just ignore her to talk about something else, but when she saw his crestfallen head she knew he was thinking about it.

Suguru didn't remember much about that time, and a large part of it was due to the defense mechanism he activated to make everything stop hurting, to not let himself be influenced by his feelings. And Suguru became so good at forgetting that he sometimes feared not knowing how to differentiate what he had experienced and what he had not.

What was reality?

He didn't know.

“After the last mission many things became clearer in my head, I began to see everything in a different way. My conception of the world took a random turn,” Suguru still remembered when all started, after his conversation with Yuki. “And it was not an easy process, I spent weeks without sleeping, without eating, without wanting to get out of bed. I was too lazy to breathe, and when I started to think about how I felt it always made me angry, just thinking that I lived in a corrupt world ruled by those monkeys.” Suguru gritted his teeth, his eyes showing an almost ridiculous contempt for the human race.

“You were depressed.” Yui's gaze softened, everything made sense now.

“If you want to give it a name.” Suguru shrugged, he didn't care about the past anymore. “I know that my measures have not been entirely peaceful, but they are sacrifices that I had to make to achieve a social good, a world without curses. I'm not a bad person."

Yui didn't know if he was saying it to her or to himself.

"I'm sorry." Suddenly, she wanted to cry.

"Why?" It had been a long time since Suguru showed real interest in something or someone, but it wasn't just anyone, it was Hayashi Yui, she was special, she always had been.

“For not being there when you needed me.” Yui wanted to hug him, but she didn't do it.

“It happened because it had to be that way.”

Yui wanted to travel back in time and right her wrongs. If only she had tried harder to channel her power she wouldn't have been away that year, she would have attended the mission too. Perhaps Tengen-sama's vessel would still be alive. Perhaps the one who would have fought with Fushiguro Toji would be Yui instead of Suguru. Maybe now everything would be different.

“Do you think there's still a chance for the two of us?” Suguru asked with a very serious expression.

That had caught Yui off guard, and it's not like she hadn't thought about it before, however, she had never come up with a solution. Was she willing to turn her back on everything she knew for Suguru? Or would she give up the love of her life just to stick to what was right?

"Don't know." That was the most sincere she could be.

Suguru was happy, it wasn't a “no” and that was enough.

“If everything goes well, I would like to invite you to dinner at the temple. I want you to meet my family, especially the twins, I think you would get along with them.”

Yui smiled sadly, for a moment she imagined the same scene, but in another context, a mundane context with mundane people, nothing related to the world of sorcery. And once again Yui found herself wishing she was normal.

“Suguru… be careful.” She whispered when she saw him walking slowly towards the door.

“I always am.”

A deja vu was present in the room.

“Don't worry, I know I will win.”

His ambition would be his downfall.

❪∘∘∘❫

It was the rainy morning of December 25, and Yui had not heard news about the incident nor had she bothered to, and this was because she was afraid of dealing with reality.

Her phone rang and Gojo Satoru's name turned off the screen.

Yui let the phone ring a few more times before answering it.

"Yeah?" She bit her nails as she looked out the window at the water droplets refracting against the glass.

“Suguru is dead.”

Thunder fell in the distance and the drizzle increased.

Yui sighed shakily and had to hold on to the nearest wall to avoid spilling onto the floor, at the moment her legs felt very heavy.

“Did you kill him?”

"I did what I have to do." Gojo responded curtly, choosing the right words so his actions wouldn't seem so serious.

“Did he suffer?” One eye blinked faster than the other.

"No. His last words were: look for me in every spring."

Yui removed the phone from her ear and covered her mouth so Gojo wouldn't hear her sobs. She imagined it perfectly, a bloody and messy Suguru with a sweet smile on his thin lips, eyes would probably be closed or looking at the sky. Suguru loved looking up at the sky, especially if it was sunsets.

And there would be no more sunsets for him.

When she composed herself she returned to the call, because she knew that Gojo was still on the line, waiting for her.

“Gojo Satoru, one day I will be the one to end your life. It is a promise". Yui meant it very seriously, and it wasn't something impulsive in the moment, it was something she felt she should do as a matter of honor and not revenge.

Gojo laughed unamusedly.

“I’ll be looking forward to it.”

He hung up and then... silence.

That day it rained heavily.

[adoptedmadrigal2]

School let's out in a week and everyone is excited, especially the oldest girls because they have summer camp.

Modern au

The week before...

Julieta was aware of the end of the school year for her girls. Isabela and Dolores were finishing their 5th grade year at the elementary school. Luisa was coming out of 3rd grade strong heading for 4th grade with her teacher recommending the gifted program; and sweet little Mirabel and Camilo had been with Julieta at home, preparing for kindergarten. Agustin had taught them how to count to 10 and Felix had started teaching them how to read. By the first day of school they'd know the alphabet well.

It was Monday afternoon, nine more days until she had five rambunctious children running around the house for a week before Isa and Lola headed to camp for 8 weeks. Luisa may join them but Julieta would ask what Luisa wanted before she bought supplies.

"Mami, can you sign this?" Isabela asked sitting at the breakfast bar, where she usually ate a snack and did her homework with Dolores every afternoon.

Pepa had been in the kitchen with Julieta and got a similar question from her own hija.

Julieta read the paper

" Dear parent or guardian,

As a part of the curriculum for all 5th grade students, teachers are going to be teaching age appropriate sex education during the last week of the school. We will teach these lessons to your child unless this form is returned opting your child out of these lessons.

We encourage parents to allow your child to take these lessons to ensure they understand the changes that will occur with the onset of puberty.

Please fill out the form below and have your child return to their teacher by Friday May 21"

Julieta looked at Pepa, who was looking at her.

"Let me find a pen," Julieta muttered as she went across the kitchen and grabbed Pepa yanking her into the entrance hall to talk in a hushed whisper.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking," Julieta whispered

"Yep, I mean do you remember our sex ed, we were told we were gonna bleed, and that we needed to wash our hair and use deodorant, and to never have sex," Pepa whispered

"Exactly, I don't want that for the girls, I want them to be properly educated on the matter, in a healthy way that explains all the details in an appropriate manner for their age," Julieta said to Pepa

"I have an idea. We'll let them go and ask what they learned so we can fill in the gaps and debunk myths." Pepa said

"Good idea," Julieta agreed signing the line that said she would allow Isa to attend the class.

Pepa signed Dolores's paper in the same spot and returned them to the children to turn in.

As the girls completed their homework Isabela piped up

"Are our bags ready for field day tomorrow?"

"No I wanted to have you girls here when I put them together," Julieta told.

"Ok," Isabela and Dolores said

"Go get your bags and head to the den. I'll get the rest of everything." Julieta told the girls, "oh and get Luisa down too her bag needs to be packed up,"

Julieta went through each checklist to make sure all three girls had what they needed.

Once she was sure, she looked at the calendar and checked what other events were going on that week. Nothing stood out save for the last day of school where all the 5th graders watched a video of their baby pictures and had a picnic out on the playground. Parents were invited and Julieta and Pepa agreed to go while Gus and Felix kept an eye on Mirabel and Camilo.

"Oh girls, we're going shopping after school tomorrow so you can get some new stuff for camp." Pepa informed watching as the girls excitedly jumped around.

"Go help Tia Pepa pack some orders while I make dinner," Julieta said referring to Pepa's small business selling handmade jewelry and other crafts.

The girls woke up the next day and immediately put on their swimsuits and over clothes to get ready for field day. Isabela chose to wear her navy blue one piece and Dolores wore her matching yellow one. They would likely play with water balloons or in the sprinklers. Their bags were filled with sunscreen, a towel, a extra change of clothes, a water bottle, their caps, sunglasses, extra shoes, and plenty of snacks.

Isabela and Dolores both went for their mesh running shoes great for traction on slippery surfaces and drying quickly if wet.

Once they were dressed the two eldest went to the kitchen to get breakfast and do each other's hair.

Julieta set out granola bars for them while she made everyone else eggs and sausages. She knew they were excited and would probably refuse a large breakfast. Reason for the snacks.

Dolores braided isabelas hair back and tied it into a ponytail. Sleek but durable throughout the day. Isa finished her granola bar and Dolores sat down to eat hers while Isabela did her hair. Isa styled her cousin's hair similar to hers but instead of braiding it into a ponytail she sectioned it off and braided three braids from the front of her hair back and then tied the braids into a ponytail with the other half of her hair that was left loose. It had a viking feel to it, which was something Dolores loved since she was really interested in vikings at the moment.

Luisa came down with her hair already done in two French braids on either side of her hair, Pepa not far behind with the little ones.

"I brought these two down to sleep on the couch and watch cartoons, they caught the stomach bug, both of them are sick." Pepa said

"poor bebés, I'll get some Popsicles from the garage freezer for them, if only my gift could heal viruses." Julieta said. Her gift was wonderful but a major oversight was making it only able to heal physical injury and life threatening diseases. The common cold or stomach bug couldn't be healed but someone who had a broken bone or cancer would be healed. Major oversight to her gift but reasonable in hindsight. The common cold at worst was a mild inconvenience where a broken bone at worse could be a potential fatality depending on how much damage is done to the nearby muscle or blood vessels.

The kids were sent to school and Julieta took care of the two littlest ones through the day.

By two that afternoon Pepa had emerged from her workshop.

"How are they?" Pepa asked seeing the two youngest on the sofa watching a movie.

"they're better, I gave them Popsicles to help soothe their throat and to try to help rehydrate them. I need to go get the kids and take the big girls to get their stuff for camp, they have new requirements now that they've moved up to the 10-12 year old cabins Luisa decided she wanted to go even after I explained she'd be in the 8-10 cabins without the girls." Julieta told

The cabins were based on birthdays so kids who would turn 10 during or after camp were in the 8-10 cabin. Kids who turn 10 before camp are sorted by month age. Kids who are younger than 10 years 6 months are in the 8-10 cabins. Kids older than that are in the 10-12 cabins.

"Go ahead Juli I got these two," Pepa said.

Julieta grabbed the lists for camp and went to pick up the kids.

She went through the car rider line for the girls and after they were picked up Julieta noticed that all three had done as she had asked and changed before dismissal. She smiled to herself then looked at them in the rearview.

"guess what we're doing?" Julieta asked

"camp supplies?" Isa said her memory immaculate.

"right on Isa, here's yours and Lola's list. Luisa here's yours." Julieta said letting the girls look over the list.

The only new additions to this list for Isabella and Dolores were long pants, a helmet, and pads/tampons.

Since Isa and Lola moved up, they get to do more activities, such as horseback riding, kayaking, and free lake time with their cabin group. They require the girls to bring a long pair of pants and a helmet for horseback riding. And since most of the girls in the 10-12 cabins are likely to get their first period at camp, the camp requires all girls to have either pads or tampons from age 10.

Luisa's list was very similar but instead of items like a helmet the camp requires younger campers especially first time campers to have some comforters since parents were not allowed to pick children up from camp until the last day unless it was an emergency. Isa and Dolores had settled well and didn't need the comforters Julieta had packed their first year going. She still packed their special teddy bears though, just in case. Something Julieta and Pepa had done with Isa and Lola before their first time at camp was they went and made bears at build a bear workshop. These bears had a sound box that had julieta and Pepa recorded saying 'I love you'

When they got to the strip mall Julieta explained to the girls. "We're buying camp stuff, nothing else ok. You girls are getting some new clothes. What we don't buy you pack from home, I'll pull your trunks out later tonight so you can start packing them." Julieta said looking at the older girls. "Luisa we'll buy you a trunk today for camp, I brought the cables to tie it down with,"

Luisa smiled and nodded, excited she could finally join her older sister and cousin at camp.

"you're gonna love camp Lu, it's so much fun getting to make new friends and do all the activities. When me and Lola went we met so many new people and they were all so nice, hopefully you get cabin 3. Miss amy was mine and Dolores 's counselor at camp, she will love you so much Lu. Not even lying she helped me and Lola so much our first year at camp." Isabela said

After their small talk, Julieta led the girls into the store.

Starting at the camping supplies and sports gear. Julieta let Isabela and Dolores choose their own helmets for horseback riding, and helped Luisa get some necessities.

"Do you know any activities you want to do?" Julieta asked.

"I want to do softball," Luisa said proudly. She had been a pitcher on her travel team for a year now and she wanted to continue with it.

"Ok, I'll put in the order for your camp uniform tonight. You need a mitt and glove, and you need new running shoes." Julieta said.

"can't I bring my cleats?" Luisa asked

"Only the older players wear cleats honey. If you stick with it you can bring your cleats a few years from now." Julieta explained.

After Isabela and Dolores got their helmets and gloves for horseback riding Julieta got all the girls a new sleeping bag since Isa and Lola had grown out of theirs and Luisa didn't have one.

Isabela chose a Bratz sleeping bag, Dolores decided on a Lisa Frank one, and Luisa proudly chose a Tinkerbell one.

After they had made their way through getting the girls all they needed for camp, Julieta tasked Isabela and Dolores with loading the car while she took Luisa next door for a durable trunk.

When they entered the shops Julieta led Luisa toward the large plastic trunks because they're the most durable and resistent. Plus they come in cool colors.

Luisa picked herself out a purple trunk and rolled it to the checkout with Julieta keeping an eye on her to make sure she wasn't struggling.

After paying for the trunk, Julieta hoisted herself up and strapped it to the top of the car for the 15 minute drive home.

When they arrived home Julieta immediately took the eldest girls' trunks out of the attic to let them pack. While she did that said eldest were taking all of their stuff inside and into the living room to sort out.

After the trunks were put in each room, Julieta came down to help the girls sort their items out.

The biggest things were clothes and toiletries and other necessary items like bug spray and sun screen.

Julieta sat and told the girls, "I bought all of you a new swimsuit, and you all got some new shorts and tank tops. Isa and Lola, you two pack four sets of pajamas. Lu I want you to pack five. I know sometimes you get a little extra picky. Everyone packs water shoes sandals and sneakers. You two will be fitted with boots for riding when you get there. Lu you need to get your softball helmet from the garage. I trust you three to make sure to pack everything you need and double check your list." Julieta said as she sorted the clothes to who they belonged to. Each of the girls got four new outfits for camp and a new bright swimsuit. Julieta only allowed her girls to wear neon swimsuits because they are easiest to see in the water. This year Isabela got a neon pink, Dolores got a neon green one, and Luisa got neon orange.

After everything has been sorted out Julieta instructed the girls to take them to their rooms and get ready for bed. Pepa had taken the littlest kids to bed an hour prior. Felix had just gotten home and Agustin was just pulling into the driveway. Julieta went upstairs and kissed her girls goodnight, all three of them tucked into bed with a content smile.

Their smiles let her smile as she climbed into bed with Agustin who was very cuddly and protective tonight.

All was well and now there was only 7 more days until the girls got out of school.

Super long but hope you enjoy ❤️

[waiting-on-a-dream]

Prisoner 010: Okura Mayumi - Trial 2

General info

Verdict: GUILTY

Physical changes: Mayumi's hair is often tied into a braid now, laid over her shoulder. Unlike the rest of the guilty prisoners, her face isn't pale and she hasn't developed any eyebags. Its likely that she hasn't been plagued by nightmares. Her longer restraints are the only aspect of her uniform that has changed.

Behavioral changes: She's become more reserved and quiet, mostly only talking to Haku as he practices playing the piano. She spends most of her time in her room nowadays, only leaving to ask other prisoners specific questions, as if interrogating them. She just wants to learn the truth about this time.

After talking for a while with Suzume, she now seems to harbor some ill feelings towards her. The air is tense whenever they're in a room together. They always seem to be one wrong move away from snapping at each other. The other prisoners have tried to ask about it, but they refuse to answer. They've been left to sort it out for now.

Trailer art: Mayumi faces you directly, preparing a syringe of medicine with a grim and determined expression. Behind her, two hospital doors with tiny bloody handprints on the frosted window, as if made by children. Blood pools from the gap beneath the doors.

Voicelines

– Second trial trailer

People like you...shouldn't have the right to live.

– Character voice trailer

Its okay. He can't hurt you anymore.

Cover info

Canon Milgram song cover: Purge march (The song ended up being more about Amane defending herself, but I think the guilty part still works for Mayumi.)

DECO*27 song cover: Poison apple (The lyrics and MV gave off her vibes, so I assigned this song to her. Simple as that.)

Non-DECO*27 vocaloid song cover: The world's filth (The lyrics are peak Mayumicore. The music? Not so much. BUT THE LYRICS!)

Music info

Song title: Ecosystem

Song preview: We have no use for you if you can't contribute anything. Everyone has a duty to society. What's your role? To die quietly. GUILTY. GUILTY. GUILTY.

At some point in our lives, we have to ask ourselves. "Am I the kind of person that stands by and does nothing?" So, what's the answer? Prayers do nothing for anyone. Act upon your greatest convictions!

MV description: Half of her MV is filled with slightly faded pastel colours like her first MV. Starting from the scene when she's in her room, most of the frames are dark and foreboding. The last scene is back to being pastel, but the colours are brighter.

The MV starts with a young Mayumi walking through what looks like a career fair. A baker hands out free samples to an an eager batch of children before directing their attention to the cookies baking a nearby oven. A man dressed as a firefighter helps a young boy to am a hose at the "fire" of a fake building. Mayumi looks around with interest, stopping in her tracks when something catches her eye. A group of girls watching intently as a nurse demonstrates bandaging a man's forearm. Intrigued, she heads over.

A montage of Mayumi sitting in class as her teacher points to a food web drawn on a board. A well-dressed man giving a presentation in a meeting. An architect drawing out the blue prints for a building. A taxi driver picking up a couple from the airport. Mayumi peers at a display of fossils from behind a case of glass. Her brother pops up beside her, dragging his plastic dinosaur toy across the glass. She quickly pulls him away.

The camera cuts to present Mayumi searching up information on her victim. His mugshot pops up, along with a list of his victims. She searches their names one by one. Mio. Nozomi. Kagome. Missing posters turn up for all of them.

The audio of a dialing ringtone mixes with the song. Mayumi raises her phone to her ear, presumably calling someone. An elderly woman answers, her face blurred out. Mayumi twirls a bottle of medicine in her hand as she talks. The woman starts to cry, screaming something into the phone. Mayumi waits for a moment before hanging up. The camera zooms out as she continues to sit by her computer desk in the dark room.

A group of girls gathered around another girl, crumpled to the ground while holding a hand to her bruised face. Men gambling at a casino. A drunkard stumbling out of a bar. A news reported talking about a murder that occurred last night, showing CCTV footage of someone getting stabbed outside an office building. Mayumi's victim on his bed. His heart beat slowing to a stop. The ECG flatlines.

The camera cuts to Mayumi sitting by the defendant's table in the courtroom. The judge is her as well, along with the jury. Everyone in the court room is her actually. Judge Mayumi asks the jury to declare their verdict. Jury Mayumi stands up to read from the slip of paper in her hand. She opens her mouth and the screen goes black before their verdict can be revealed. End.

Author's notes

The second picrew didn't have a pencil skirt option, so I have Mayumi white pants instead. She still wears the same uniform as she did in trial 1 though, picrews just don't always work out.

Picrews used: - https://picrew.me/ja/image_maker/1458900 - https://picrew.me/image_maker/1820833

[arunachauhan]

OVERCOMING COMMON CHALLENGES IN ESL INSTRUCTION

Teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) is a rewarding yet challenging profession. As educators, we encounter a diverse range of students, each with unique backgrounds, learning styles, and obstacles to overcome. The journey of an ESL teacher is often filled with moments of triumph and frustration, requiring a blend of creativity, patience, and empathy. In this article, we will explore some common challenges in ESL instruction and discuss strategies to overcome them, weaving in personal anecdotes and examples to provide a holistic perspective.

Language Barriers

One of the most obvious challenges in ESL instruction is the language barrier itself. Students come from various linguistic backgrounds, and their proficiency levels can vary significantly. For instance, I remember a student named Javier from Mexico who struggled with English grammar. Despite his enthusiasm and dedication, he found it difficult to grasp the nuances of verb tenses and sentence structures.

To address this, I incorporated visual aids and real-life contexts into my lessons. Instead of relying solely on textbook explanations, I used pictures, videos, and interactive activities to illustrate grammatical concepts. This multimodal approach helped Javier and other students better understand and retain the material. Additionally, I encouraged peer learning by pairing students with different strengths, fostering a collaborative learning environment where they could support each other.

Cultural Differences

Cultural differences can also pose significant challenges in ESL classrooms. Students bring their cultural norms, values, and communication styles, which can sometimes clash with those of their peers or the instructional methods. For example, in some cultures, students are taught to be passive learners, listening quietly and avoiding eye contact with the teacher. In contrast, Western educational systems often emphasize active participation and direct communication.

To bridge these cultural gaps, I made it a point to create an inclusive classroom atmosphere. I started by learning about my students' cultural backgrounds and incorporating elements of their cultures into my lessons. This not only made the students feel valued but also enriched the learning experience for everyone. I also set clear expectations for classroom behaviour and participation, explaining the reasons behind certain practices to ensure mutual understanding and respect.

Motivation and Engagement

Keeping students motivated and engaged is another common challenge in ESL instruction. Language learning can be a long and arduous process, and it's easy for students to become discouraged, especially when progress seems slow. I recall a time when one of my students, Aisha from Saudi Arabia, was on the verge of giving up. She struggled with pronunciation and felt embarrassed to speak in front of the class.

To reignite her motivation, I personalized her learning experience. I found out that Aisha loved cooking, so I incorporated cooking-related topics into our lessons. We discussed recipes, watched cooking shows, and even had a virtual cooking session where she demonstrated a traditional dish from her country. This approach not only made learning fun and relevant for Aisha but also boosted her confidence and willingness to participate.

Limited Resources

In many ESL programs, especially in underfunded schools or remote areas, limited resources can be a significant hurdle. Teachers may not have access to sufficient textbooks, technological tools, or even basic classroom supplies. I once taught in a rural community where we had to make do with outdated materials and a lack of internet access.

To overcome these limitations, I got creative with the resources at hand. I used recycled materials for teaching aids, such as flashcards made from old cardboard and markers. I also leveraged community resources, inviting local speakers to share their experiences and conducting outdoor activities to make lessons more engaging. Additionally, I utilized free online resources and encouraged students to practice English through accessible means, such as listening to English songs or watching English movies with subtitles.

Differentiating Instruction

Differentiating instruction to meet the diverse needs of students is another complex challenge. In any given ESL classroom, students' proficiency levels, learning speeds, and interests can vary widely. This requires teachers to be adept at designing lessons that cater to different abilities while ensuring that no student feels left behind.

I found success in using a differentiated instruction approach. I designed activities with varying levels of difficulty and provided choices for assignments, allowing students to select tasks that matched their skill levels and interests. For example, during a lesson on storytelling, advanced students could write and perform a short play, while beginners could create a simple storyboard with pictures and captions. This strategy not only accommodated individual learning needs but also fostered a sense of autonomy and ownership among students.

Emotional and Psychological Support

Language learning is not just an intellectual endeavour; it also involves emotional and psychological challenges. Students may experience anxiety, frustration, or low self-esteem, which can hinder their progress. I remember a student named Minh from Vietnam, who was extremely shy and rarely spoke in class. He often felt overwhelmed and anxious about making mistakes.

To support Minh and others like him, I focused on building a supportive and non-judgmental classroom environment. I implemented regular check-ins and one-on-one sessions to understand their concerns and provide encouragement. I also incorporated mindfulness and relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing exercises and positive affirmations, to help students manage their anxiety. Over time, Minh became more confident and began to participate more actively in class.

Conclusion

Overcoming common challenges in ESL instruction requires a multifaceted approach, combining creativity, empathy, and resilience. By addressing language barriers, cultural differences, motivation issues, resource limitations, the need for differentiated instruction, and providing emotional support, teachers can create a positive and effective learning environment. Personal stories, like those of Javier, Aisha, and Minh, highlight the importance of tailoring our methods to the unique needs of each student.

As educators, it’s essential to remain adaptable and open-minded, continuously seeking new strategies to enhance our teaching practices. By doing so, we can help our students not only learn a new language but also gain confidence and skills that will serve them well in all aspects of their lives. About Author :

Dr. Aruna Chauhan is a Certified Career Counselor and educator from Canada with 17 years of teaching, research, & counseling experience. She is also an author, having many publications in international journals and conferences. She talks about selecting a career path and the different aspects that affect a student’s judgment during his/her career choices.