#and that nobody has even contacted the fired admins after over a week?? literally no communication

[the-king-of-lemons]

,,

[zeldahime]

cql college/job au xiyao edition

because these two have the potential to be the slowest of slow fucking burns and extremely excruciatingly painfully perfectly polite at all times

featuring: ta/student very-much-not-a-relationship, enough ust to set the entire humanities building on fire, corporate espionage, nie huaisang being the sneakiest and sweetest slytherin, background wangxian, nie mingjue being a boss, intense eye contact, let lan xichen say fuck, meng yao stress hours, WERE YOU ONLY PRETENDING TO BE DELICATE AND POOR, summer internship, background wangxian

it got uh. very long. so. 

meng yao starts working for nie enterprises when he’s 16 as a part-time janitor. he has two other part time jobs and is studying for his ged.

one day he solves some kind of problem that nie enterprises is having and nie mingjue likes this guy and promotes him to his personal assistant on the spot

nie huaisong is always flitting about his brother’s office etc, and they become friends and meng yao helps him with his homework.

when huaisong is getting ready to go to small posh private university, he will definitely need tutors. mingjue is happily persuaded into converting meng yao’s job into full-time huaisang babysitting tutoring, including paying for yao’s tuition and room and board to get a degree himself; his job is to make sure huaisang gets good grades and not in trouble. meng yao sees this for the golden ticket it is and very happily agrees. this is going to be the easiest job he’s ever had, and he’s got job security as long as huaisang doesn’t mess up too badly.

first day of classes, meng yao is 22 and looking around at the 30-odd 18-year-old trust fund babies with a sinking stomach telling him that he does not belong here.

this is a philosophy and ethics class like. in a literal ivory tower. this is possibly the last place he should be. 

and the most gorgeous man he’s ever seen in his life walks into the room with the professor. and he’s introduced as “and this is our TA, lan xichen.”

lan xichen smiles at the room with the kind of look that makes it feel like he’s making eye contact with everyone. and then he makes real eye contact with meng yao. “he’s attractive as hell,” they both think, and then think nothing of it.

but, it’s a small class. and it meets 3 times a week. and lan xichen shuts down someone who pokes at meng yao’s age, and meng yao asks questions perfectly tailored to making sure that huaisang and the other students actually understand the material. and by the end of week 2 they’re both saddled with an extremely unfortunate crush that they both need to get a handle on. for professionalism’s sake. they’re at work goddamn it.

and one day meng yao comes to office hours to ask a question that’s much more advanced than what they’re talking about in class, and in lan xichen’s tiny ta office talking about ethics, they are exceptionally and perfectly polite and appropriate and within the exact bounds of a ta-student relationship.

they are also both about to catch on fire.

this continues all school year, because it’s a two-part class. meng yao comes to office hours, and he and lan xichen are stringently appropriate the whole time, and at no point do they so much as brush fingers. they see each other every single day. 

huaisang thinks this is 1) absolutely hilarious and 2) the perfect distraction. he wingmans the hell out of meng yao in class, he third-wheels on office hours specifically to make it worse, and he arranges “chance” meetings between them outside of class. (he got some details about lan xichen’s daily schedule from wei wuxian, who he is eternally surprised is actually somehow getting information from lan wangji the silent wonder)

(he’s not getting it from lan wangji; lan xichen is wingmanning his little brother. the info wei wuxian is passing on is straight from the horse’s mouth.)

nie huaisang thinks he’s being very clever and sneaky in arranging his classes and portfolio to make it look like he’s just taking electives when he’s really planning on switching to a fine arts major at the last possible minute

he is being clever and sneaky, but meng yao knows what he’s doing anyway

meng yao is keeping that ball up in the air as long as he can though, because that’s a later-problem. 

in addition to falling in extremely professional love with his ta, his asshole dad has also come out of the woodwork and is trying to involve him in corporate espionage. which is less than super great. 

on the one side, asshole dad who hasn’t supported you in 22 years and didn’t care when your mother died when you were 16 and pushed you down the stairs because you had the audacity to ask for help, who will gladly frame you even if you don’t help. on the other hand, your boss, who has treated you well for a boss, but has explicitly told you your job depends on keeping his little brother as out-of-trouble as possible and who you don’t think will believe you

in this au, he’s solidly with the nie clan because: Golden Fucking Ticket, where the strings are “don’t let huaisang fuck up too bad,” and where “fuck up” means like. drunk driving or failing a class. he’ll probably even keep his job after huaisang’s art degree reveal. all dear old dad is offering is a jail sentence.

but he still needs to somehow convince jgs that he’s double-crossing nie enterprises without actually doing that, so that he doesn’t get framed for doing it.

it’s stressful.

lan xichen’s life isn’t roses and pearls either, though it’s not nearly as stressful as playing double-agent corporate espionage while also babysitting huaisang and getting a degree

lan xichen’s life is all about being the Dutiful Eldest Son so that lan wangji can have an inch of freedom

this includes becoming a corporate accountant (a job he’s bored just thinking about) and marrying a Good Girl From A Respectable Family (he is extremely gay), and eventually having 2.5 children and a white picket fence and a dog (he’s a cat person and doesn’t know what to do with children). he tells himself it’s all for lan wangji and it’s almost enough to make him want to do it.

being the ta for his thesis advisor’s philosophy and ethics class was supposed to be his Fun Indulgent Treat because he has no idea what “fun” or “indulgent” or “treat” mean

but now he’s in love with one of his students and that’s. not. good.

he’s all of 21 and he’s pretty sure he’s going to be blacklisted from all jobs for his entire life unless he manages, somehow, to keep anyone from knowing how entirely unprofessional he’s being. 

he is trying very hard to distract himself from his gayngst by helping wangji with his own. 18-year-olds can be so oblivious in love, he thinks, failing to see any irony at all.

he’s also been telling his bff mingjue about this extremely painful experience this entire time, under a pseudonym. if mingjue has to hear one more word about “Y”’s dimples, he’s going to scream and then he’s going to force Y into a closet with xichen and not let them out until they’ve solved this. he’s very tired.

at one point when he’s about to pass out from extreme eye contact, he gives meng yao his number so that he can “pass it to nie huaisang, in case he has any questions” and just. prays really hard that meng yao will text him after classes are over and he’s back to just being a grad student and they can be friends.

BUT. BEFORE HE HAS THE CHANCE. IN THAT TIME BETWEEN FINALS ENDING AND GRADES BEING TURNED IN.

lan xichen begins his summer internship at nie enterprises in accounting. and meng yao returns to fill in for an admin on her maternity leave. and they see each other in the break room. 

both of them: *internal gay screaming* Hi, what a coincidence, how are you doing? 

(boys, you are in different departments, nobody cares if you date as long as you don’t start fucking on the desks. they don’t know this because they’re young and very concerned with being Professional and with Career Advancement.)

they have Very Professional lunch together every day. and will buy each other coffee, Professionally. and it would be much more professional if they would just actually make out and then come to work like normal people instead of clearly wanting to make out every time they see each other and instead being Very Incredibly Professional with their words and actions.

mingjue clues in that this is Y. meng yao is Y. Oh my god, first i didn’t want to know that, second this is going to be so easy, and then i’ll never have to listen to xichen wax rhapsodic about his eyes again, he thinks.

he is incorrect. 

the harder he tries, the more vehemently perfect their professionalism becomes. which means he’s watching them have extremely intense eye contact at work and can’t actually say anything about it because, it’s just eye contact? what is he going to say? stop looking at people when delivering tps reports?

he also can’t say anything outright like “just. kiss. him.” because. he’s both of their Entire Boss. at the moment he’s xichen’s boss’s boss’s boss. he can’t do anything without probably violating sexual harassment laws.

mingjue is tired.

meanwhile the corporate espionage double-agent act is still ongoing and meng yao continues to be stressed

mingjue is alerted to meng yao “stealing” secrets and has a freak-out; he hasn’t slept in three days and he trusted meng yao and how could he? was this his plan all along WAS HE ONLY PRETENDING TO BE DELICATE AND POOR

xichen steps between them and insists there’s a reasonable explanation and jesus christ mingjue have you slept when was the last time you’ve eaten you look terrible let’s get you to bed and talk about this in the morning

(meng yao doesn’t realize that he’s clutched on to lan xichen’s suit until after he releases it and lan xichen is trying, very hard, to pretend that it didn’t happen because he won’t be able to think of anything else if it did)

xichen, immediately after mingjue is in huaisang’s care: i believe you, but what the fuck is happening, yao.

(if he wasn’t so rattled by the entire mingjue-reaming thing yao would be able to savor lan xichen saying fuck sooooo much better.)

(once yao explains it is a strain not to kiss him right then and there in that empty conference room but he deserves better than lan xichen, who can’t bring anything to the table and can’t even bring him home to eat at his table, because he is the Dutiful Eldest Son and his closet needs to be made of motherfuckin steel)

(huaisang knows exactly what the fuck is up and talks mingjue down, because meng yao is sneaky but he wasn’t counting on huaisang like. actually caring.) 

this is also the exact same day where lan wangji brings wei wuxian home for dinner and this goes. as well as might be expected. given Uncle hates everything about wei wuxian from his motorcycle to his leather to his attitude. but wangji is happy and he’s smiling and that’s why lan xichen is doing this. that’s why lan xichen is doing everything. 

the next day the 3-zun make a Plan to trap jgs and then get them audited by the irs, since if he’s doing shady espionage stuff he’s also almost certainly doing shady tax stuff (they’re right, he is)

after the internship is over, that very evening, lan xichen asks meng yao if he wants to “hang out, as friends”

oh, you thought this pining dysfunctional trainwreck was going to end here? buddy. lan xichen is in fucking narnia, he’s so deep in the closet, because he must be Dutiful.

they go on several not-a-dates doing Friend Things. and several study sessions where no studying is done. and eventually.

lan qiren: so when are you introducing me to your boyfriend? he seems like a good kid, nothing like that wei wuxian character

lan xichen.exe has stopped working

lan qiren: what, do you think i’m blind? he either is your boyfriend or he should be. good head on his shoulders. *returns to his newspaper*

turns out lan xichen’s self-sacrificial bargain with the universe was borne from a place of living in a heteropatriarchy and not actually from the reality of his uncle’s beliefs, who knew

(lan qiren loves his nephews and wants them to be happy. he also has eyes, in his head, that connect to his brain. he knew xichen was probably gay by the time the kid was 14, and started reading books with titles like “how to accept your gay son” in the living room. xichen assumed this was about wangji, because he also has eyes and wants his baby brother to be happy. wangji bringing a boy home was actually a big surprise to his uncle. this family does not actually talk to each other about things.)

anyway the next friend-not-a-date that he and yao go on, he asks yao on a real date.

he is bracing for rejection when yao kisses??? him???? for some reason?????

they make out &c. this is the boring part

they have a conversation about their feelings and discover that they’ve both been in love for a year a YEAR a fucking year. then they make out some more because lost time.

fin.

[filthy-reckless-rp]

Congratulations Katherine! Your beautiful character Mia Salazar has been accepted. I honestly cannot wait to see this princess-turned-pauper in action (how much is a banana? Like $15?). I love how her soft and sensitive kindness contrasts with the fact she keeps everyone at a distance although I’m sure many will try to #breakdownthosewalls. With hugs. And puppies. Also, whenever we see ‘private’ Gossip Girl stirs maniacally in the background. Your para sample also had us on the edge of our seats!! Someone give this gal her own Grey’s Anatomy spin-off, I’m just sayin’. *How To Save A Life plays in the background* Okay...enough from me.

Please send your account in ASAP! Remember to open your ask and submit. We also have a Whatsapp group for members; if you would like to be added just let us know!

---Admin P

OOC:

Name: Katherine

Age: 21

Gender / Preferred pronouns: She/Her

Where are you from? / Timezone: UTC+08:00

How active are you? (please describe in words): I have one (1) maybe two free days a week and I will for sure dedicate at least a couple hours of those two days in flooding the dash

How did you found out about us?: A little bird (Maya. It was Maya) told me about this safe haven.

Mia Salazar • 22 years old • Advanced Emergency Medical Technician • FC: Shay Mitchell • OC • TAKEN

Biography:

“I am the one thing in life I can control, I am inimitable, I am an original.”

Filipinos are required two talents: singing and dancing. And those who do not have those talents become doctors. This was the course that Mia Salazar’s life was set on. And considering that her parents owned just about half of all the pharmacies in the Philippines, it was one that was not only expected but demanded. Which is why she did exactly that – she focused in high school, got the grades, and when the opportunity came she even volunteered as a junior EMT for medical experience during summer of junior year. Which is where our story, and Mia’s life, derails. See, she didn’t expect to love the field. But she did. She didn’t expect to get entangled in the thrill of being a first responder, of being the one person that had to essentially bring a person back from the brink before they even set foot in the hospital. But she did.

You can imagine her parents’ chagrin when she, their only child, announced that she wanted to attend Cuny Borough of Manhattan after graduation to pursue a career in being a paramedic. ‘A community college?!’ you could practically hear her mother screech from atop their Upper East Side penthouse. Needless to say, they were not happy. In fact, they flat out refused to pay the tuition (regardless of the fact it cost less than the things you could find in their bathroom cupboard) and told her that they would not offer any support until she got her act straight and decided to be ‘a real physician’. This did not deter Mia. In fact, it was practically the taste of freedom that she’d been yearning for handed to her on a silver platter.

Fast forward four years after high school graduation, and you’ll find that Mia’s come a long way from being another one of Constance Billard’s privileged princesses. With the first half having been spent accumulating training hours and barely-above-minimum wage funds at the back of an ambulance, she’s now in her second year of an Associate’s Applied Science degree. The experience, as well as the recent years of Broke Life independence, has put a bit of a stern edge on her otherwise ‘nice girl’ reputation. The fact that it was her own determination and grit that got her to this point – not her parents’ money or influence – has given her a confidence that she never thought she could have. What does it even matter that to this day she honestly doesn’t know how much a banana is supposed to cost? It’s as exciting as it is terrifying, but Mia’s instilled a sort of attitude in herself that says she’s not done discovering her potential quite yet. Does she have what it takes to keep going with her ambitions and dreams? Or will she end up crashing and burning, just like every cliche former trust fund baby that finds both their funds and rebellious streaks running dry?

You know you love me,

xoxo –Gossip Girl

Wanted Connections:

(I’m gonna put some wanted connections that you guys can jump on if you want :) (pls))

- a high school friend(s) that lost contact and they’re v v bitter about it??

- best friend(s) that unconditionally supported her and she them??

- college friend(s) trying to show her the ropes of life as A Normal Person Who Has To Work To Live

- previous patient

- roommate(s) that live in a cozy but also cramped apartment

Character’s Bday: 22 November

3 Virtues and 3 flaws, explaining each:

Virtues:

Heroic: The first time Mia saw a burning car, she had no idea that her first instinct would be to run towards it. But it was and it turns out it wasn’t just a one time thing. There’s never any conscious decision to put herself into a situation to help others – she just does it. It’s not just physical dangers either; whether it be a fire, someone being rude to a customer service worker, or a classmate forgetting a #2 pencil on exam day. If she can help, even in the tiniest way, she doesn’t hesitate.

Adaptive: Mia lives for life’s curveballs. Not only is she good at thinking on her feet, but she enjoys it as well. New settings don’t intimidate her, nor does meeting new people or trying new things. She’s a firm believer in trial and error and knows full well that complaining or feeling sorry for yourself never helped anyone accomplish anything.

Soft: Outside of the ambulance, the rigid persona (dubbed her ‘saving lives’ personality) is quickly shed to reveal the sensitive creature that Mia Salazar truly is. She listens to RainyMood around the apartment. She sold practically ¾ths of her wardrobe to pay for rent and textbooks, leaving her with only a closet-full of comfy sweaters and durable jeans. And cuddles? Forget about it – there is nobody else in the entire universe that loves comforting human (or fur baby) contact than Mia does. It’s therapeutic, really; if giving free smiles and warm hugs makes even one person she likes smile, then she will be the person to offer them.

Flaws:

Private: Being nice isn’t the same thing as being open, and Mia exemplifies that clearly. Because of the nature of her work, she’s left with basically no social life. But then again that’s also something she almost prefers. Small talk is an unusual skill that she’s actually mastered (because sometimes keeping a person talking is the only way to distract them from the fact that they’re bleeding out in the middle of Lexington Ave.), but when it comes to revealing anything personal she’s quick to deflect. It just seems like a waste of time and energy opening up to someone, if all it takes is a busy work schedule and a few disappointments to make them move on.  

Impulsive: In hindsight, it probably would have been wiser for her to actually have a plan before abruptly taking her parents’ ultimatum, packing everything she could into a large Mulberry suitcase, and running off into the night. But she didn’t, and this trait is one that she unfortunately did not manage to grow out of. Because of her upbringing, consequences were never actually something she’s ever had to think more than two seconds about. And because of the literal life-and-death nature of her job, trusting her instincts is something that she’s been accustomed to do. So if Mia thinks it’s going to turn out okay (whether it be sprinting into a burning car or splurging on a new dress) she’ll do the thing now and regret the repercussions later.  

Work-a-holic: Having become one of the people that actually had to work for a living just put gasoline into the inferno that was already Mia’s determination. But more than that, she genuinely loves her job. It’s the first real thing that she’s accomplished, that she’s pushed herself to be good at, and it’s good work (no matter what her parents think). So she drops everything for it. Anniversaries, dinner plans, a baby (once, when a friend asked her to hold it but then her phone beeped with a call from the hospital and she rushed to get away). Nothing is more important to her.

Para Sample (A couple of paragraphs, in third person, as the character you’re applying for):

“BPM dropping to 50.”

Mia had to stop herself from snapping back, because, yeah, she already knew that. Her eyes had been glued to the damn monitor as soon as they’d hooked it up to the patient. 20BPM and it’ll be too late, 20BPM and it’ll be too late – she chanted the words to herself again and again as she quickly and expertly maneuvered around the gurney to grab all the supplies she needed. E 80th St. sped past the windows and the first rule she ever learned in the ambulance came racing back to her.

No matter what, never yell for the driver to go faster. It never helped anyone, and those 0.5 seconds could’ve been spent doing something useful.

“Move,” she said, not unkindly but firmly, to the EMR next to her. She recognized the look on his face – the way he hovered too close to the patient, how his eyes seemed to be processing both too many things and nothing at all. Mia could sympathize, but didn’t. She already knew that he wasn’t going to be of any help and right now was not the time to deal with that. “I need you to get the atropine for me. Hey. Can you do that?”

It took a moment, but his gaze eventually ripped away from the patient and their quickly collapsing lungs to focus on her. Slowly, he nodded and finally got out of her way.

It didn’t look good, but then again nothing ever did in here. Mia’s jaw tightened as she watched the way the young man struggled to breathe, how only one part of his chest rose and the other was covered by a blotchy shade of deep blue. “Broken ribs,” she muttered to herself, reaching for a mask. Eyes flicking down, she noticed the nametag taped over his breast pocket. “Hey, Andre. It’s okay, it’s going to be okay. I need to put this on you, alright? We’ll get you breathing better, just stay with me.”

Andre’s eyes, half open but clearly dazed, barely seemed to register her presence. “O2, now.” she demanded, placing the mask over his mouth and nose.

They hit a speedbump, the one she knew was on right on 3rd Avenue, and Mia blew out a breath. “We’re almost there, sweetie. Hang on.”

But then a beep sounded, rapidly followed by more, and her heart sank as the monitor showed 30BPM. On the gurney, Andre’s body gave an abrupt hitch. “Atropine!” Mia yelled, scooting aside as the EMR sunk a needle into the IV lined into Andre’s arm.

“He’s not getting any oxygen,” he said, hands now shaking as they both watched helplessly as the convulsions got worse. He lunged forward, getting into position for CPR, but she intercepted him.

“His ribs are broken, you could puncture a lung,” she snapped.

“Then how is he going to breathe?!”

And this, this was the hardest part of the job. There was always somebody asking that question, and in all her five years of experience she never knew how to answer it. She didn’t know how to tell them that the hardest part wasn’t after her shift, when all she could think about was everything she could’ve done. It wasn’t even having to tell their family waiting at the hospital that they didn’t make it.

The hardest part had always been right before she lost a patient. In those minutes and seconds where she had to watch as all her options vanished in thin air. When they were still alive, but she knew that she couldn’t save them.

They got to Lenox Hill ten minutes later. Which was more than enough time for her to compose herself and give the awaiting medical staff a full report.

Because the second hardest part of the job was the one nobody ever wanted  to talk about. The part where, right after you lose a patient, you’re not allowed to lose yourself. You have to shake it off, brush it away, because it was only halfway into the day and they just got another call about a fire up in East 95th. And Mia, with her five years of experience, was only now getting good at that.