#anyway my coworker was like 'it's cool they aren't in my space'

[safyresky]

Hmm. Very large group in the study space today. Very annoying. Had to tell them to put away a woter bottle and they are currently in an employee only space.

[octoling-wearing-gauges]

Favorite fictional ship, and reasons?

LMAOO I'm sure you already know but I'll answer anyway.

Lars and Sadie, these two have literally shaved years off my lifespan, I'm convinced. The funny part is I wasn't even all that interested in them on my first watch of SU. Some time later on they spontaneously became a hyperfixation and I still have no clue why they infected my brain out of nowhere, but here we are. I've essentially been Steven every watch since during all 20 minutes of their screentime.

As for my reasons for liking them, it's complicated. They're SUPER messy and I'm not gonna pretend they aren't. Even as a ride or die larsadie fan I don't necessarily hate the fact that they didn't end up together from a writing/realistic standpoint. They were too toxic in the beginning to be anything beyond FWBs at best despite their mutual feelings for each other.

Post-arcs I feel like they did have a lot of potential to still work out and be much healthier. But at that point I think Sadie had already moved on while Lars was in space, ironically on his way back to her, which may not have happened if Lars had just been honest about what he wanted with her. I of course love Shep as nonbinary representation and for the fact that they make Sadie happy, but I also think that ultimately Sugar's idea with Lars and Sadie was to contribute to the theme of the series as a whole. With life comes change, and learning to accept it whether we like it or not. Steven was sorta supposed to represent the viewers in a way with the introduction of Sadie's new love interest in Future, and his little meltdown over Lars and Sadie having drifted apart, his two friends that he was sure would get married someday. The silver lining being Lars' true love for Sadie in that, even though he's sad it wasn't him, he's glad that Sadie could be happy, showing his growth as a person too. He himself even found happiness in space with the Off Colors.

One could argue they were doomed since the end of Island Adventure though. If not for Sadie's TOTALLY NOT COOL actions, they might've been able to come out of that as a couple. Alternatively, maybe they weren't endgame the second Lars died on Homeworld. Sometimes immortal/mortal couples are a little too sad, which could've been the reason they "couldn't reconnect" as they told Steven. Or maybe Lars would've never kept Sadie for himself, as he genuinely thinks he doesn't deserve her.

Either way, I'll stop rambling and just say, gosh they're cute and check all the boxes for my favorite ships! I love them both so much and them being best friends secretly in love AND coworkers is just ugggghh. Even the angst/tragedy of them makes me love them even more. I'll always wish they worked out but I can get my kicks in fanon. What little we did get in a few episodes is more than a lot of people get with their favorite fictional couples, lmfao (my favorite one is Horror Club :))

BONUS!! to stay on topic w my blog rn I loooooove Greg/Rose. They are TOO precious just look at em!!!!!

[iguessitsjustme]

I needed to come back. I'm feeling chatty. I understand your circumstances now and I can accept that maybe that's what's right for you. And you're right. No one wants to sit with high schoolers, even some of the high schoolers I suspect. ( that was me in high school in case you couldn't tell) But you see, eating for me is almost a religious experience. And even when I had to do it at work, it had to feel like a completely separate event so I could enjoy it. And migraines bring out the worst in me so I can relate to the whole snapping heads. You do realize that the whole secrecy always makes it sound like your work in for some secret organization right? It's makes you sound super cool. (and if you are indeed a secret agent, I won't tell) Anyways, I'll stop bugging you now. I hope no more migraines assault you this week. 🌻

Oooh yay I love chatting! You're welcome to come chat with my anytime. One thing about me is that I never shut up.

What kills me about the high schoolers is that I work in an office building. It just shares a space with a high school. So I'm in a high rise full of professional offices and the cafe is just..high school. It's an office cafe and yet. And my job involves talking to high schoolers on a daily basis so sitting at my desk weirdly gives me more of a break than eating in the cafe would lol.

I would also like to point out that I am constantly eating at my desk regardless of if I'm on lunch or not. I've lost count of the times that my manager has told me he appreciates my dedication to snacks. My coworkers constantly raid my snack bucket (and I encourage them to take the snacks so they aren't just stealing my snacks).

I don't work for some secret organization, but I don't like posting where I work online and if I told you what the weirdness from today, it would kind of be a give away. I also work with a lot of student information and there is actually some stuff that I can't say because of that. I don't mess around when it comes to PII and especially PII that I'm in charge of. I have sent some very pointed emails to colleges telling them that no, I can't just send student PII over email and they need to pick up the phone and call if they need that information. Also the amount of people that just send their ssns over email gives me such anxiety.

[marcholasmoth]

OSRR: 3139

an actual picture of me that i did today at work:

my last brain cell is trying his best to keep the office together while all of his coworkers are on vacation in aruba. they have unlimited vacation time, but at least one person has to be in the office at any given time. this poor little guy hasn't gotten a day off in at least a month.

time to give it a rest, yknow?

anyway, today was another long day. i didn't have to stay until 7, thankfully, but it was appointment after appointment after appointment, and i still didn't get myself lunch because i couldn't figure out what i wanted. but thankfully dad thought ahead and we went for indian food directly after work, so i was happy to eat my food.

while at dinner with my dad, i was telling him about my day and how i told some jokes and how i talked to a student about my strengths and stuff and how those aren't exactly things you can put in a résumé. and i pulled up my phone and i pulled up a website to tell my dad about the position that i would probably ultimately have, as an interagency liaison or something, and i did some searches to find a position like that, but something else came up.

the thing that came up was the perfect job description.

i was so excited. i even managed to do what i said i was gonna in my excitement, and i pulled up the posting, went through the duties and highlighted important basics of the tasks, edited my résumé to reflect it, wrote a cover letter, and sent them all off to my brother to look at so i can submit it tomorrow. it's the perfect position. it's not too far and i'm happy to drive the hour to get there, and the pay scale is good and im honestly really excited about it.

yeah.

i'm in bed now though. i'm tired. i didn't get to talk to joel today, but i know he's busy until april at this point, so i don't wanna bug him too much, although once i'm able to drive i'm gonna exist in his space again because i miss him and existing in each other's space is something we do well. so that's good.

and i think i made another friend. she's the student i worked with yesterday evening and i worked with her again and she's really cool. we get along really well and i'm really happy about it. she's about my age and im happy to have people around me who are also in their 30s and it's kinda cool to be an adult.

i also bought shoes today that would be work appropriate. gotta get those insoles first.

[leejeann]

Guys the books on my shelf that I wrote my songs bookmark and off-kilter about are actually finally getting a new home, the metaphor is real holy shit

(bit of rambly personal context below the cut if anyone wants it, it also adds context to both songs. Idk if I've ever actually explained them much)

Okay SO several years ago I came across a box set of the mortal instrument series for like really cheap (I think I paid $5 for the full box set still in the plastic). It was the favorite series of a long-time friend that I was growing apart from and I hated that we were growing apart, so even though I mostly bought it on a whim some part of me thought maybe I'd get into the series and maybe it'd finally give me something to talk about that she'd actually hold a conversation about.

Anyway I never did read any of them and she left me on read when I showed her so I doubt it would have mattered anyway. Fast forward several years and we don't really talk at all now and I have no interest in the series at all tbh. But like that's a whole ass book series I wasn't just going to throw away. I didn't know anyone who'd want it, she already owned all of them and my other bookworm friend didn't seem like he'd be interested. I also didn't feel like trying to sell it online, and low-key some part of me still thought maybe I'd read them. So they've been collecting dust for years instead

(cue me writing bookmark a couple years after I got it when I halfway accepted that I was never actually going to read them and it wouldn't have mattered. The entire metaphor in "there's a bookmark in the one you never finished on my shelf. I can't bring myself to take it out" is actually just about the books themselves and me not wanting to get rid of them, just in case it ever could matter)

Anyway-anyway! Today I finally got an idea! I asked my coworker, who reads an impressive amount and seems to like that genre, if she knew the series. And she does! She's read the first book but hasn't ever bought the rest since she hasn't had the shelf space. She has really wanted to get into it though.

So I was like hmm okay cool so want a box set? And she very enthusiastically was like "yes absolutely do I need to pay you?? Or are you sure you don't want to try and sell that online???" And I was like no please just take them I spent like $5 on it and I Do Not care lmao

I get to carry a box set of books the 2-mile walk to work tomorrow (she'd probably pick them up from my house if I asked but tbh I don't mind) but my guys the metaphor in off-kilter is partially real now. I can finally get rid of them with the bonus of knowing someone else gets to really enjoy them instead

The fact that we aren't friends anymore still really gets to me sometimes for a few reasons I don't feel like getting into, and that probably won't stop anytime soon, but I'm going to let myself be a little melodramatic and pretend this is some small amount of closure, as a treat. The ghost in off-kilter is still hanging around but maybe it'll be less visible, idk I'm being overly poetic at this point, also as a treat

(I was halfway through typing this and got a doordash notif that my food was picked up and girl help the driver's name was that old friend's name wtf lol. It wasn't actually her but still caught me off guard seeing "[redacted] picked up your order and is on the way :-)" pop up when it did lmaooo)

[yelloskello]

wait no i have more actually, was re-reading this post and kinda honed in on "go talk to somebody who you have nothing in common with other than existing in the same space", because i'm noticing younger generations might be getting some distorted ideas regarding commonality with others.

Namely, online rhetoric has taught them that if you're not within like... a 5-6 year window of each others' ages, if you're in different life stages according to the Oldschool Hallmarks of Adulthood (having a house, kids, a long term partner, etc) y'all can't possibly have anything in common with each other and thus why would you ever spend time together. In some cases it's even suggested that it's Weird and Gross to hang out with people of different ages.

But age groups aren't a monolith? People have varying life experiences and interests?

I've been hanging out with people in significantly different stages of life since I was a teenager. I played tabletop games and MMO's with people 5, 10, 20, 30 years older than me - hell, i'm currently in a game with two women twice my age. I've made friends with old women at community college and punky lil zoomers who frequent the same local game store. I've had cool conversations about hobbies i'm not even a part of with old men at cookouts. I've been seated at events with people who have nothing in common with me at all - and then we find out we both get really competitive playing bingo, and they tell me a little about their dreams in life, and it's a really lovely time.

I have a ton in common with my coworker who's in their early-mid-twenties, while i'm in my early 30's. We're both on tumblr (god I hope they don't see this; if they do, hi, i'm talking about you, love you) and follow the same goofy-ass internet drama and animated TV shows. I also have a lot in common with another coworker, who's a solid 15 years older than me, who I talk to about neil gaiman and terry pratchett and supernatural. On top of those shared interests, we all have similar senses of humor and shared values... And I only just found out that younger coworker has always felt alienated from everybody else because they perceive themselves as so much younger and inexperienced, forgetting all the commonalities in favor of focusing on how some of us are parents with houses.

Anyways all this to say online rhetoric can teach younger folks to walk into life already feeling isolated. I promise you, you probably have a lot more in common with people you Don't Have Anything In Common With than you think.

i’m being so serious when i say some of you need to get off the internet and go out and interact with people face to face. being constantly and only online has turned some of you into deeply mean and unlikeable people because you’ve forgotten that you are talking to other human beings. and the worst part is that you treat it like it’s something to be proud of.

[sylverstorms]

Bela x Maiden ----Songbird Ch. 6

Ch.1 Ch.2 Ch.3 Ch.4 Ch.5

You aren't exactly avoiding Bela since the... 'incident', per se.

You just happen to not linger in the spaces you know she frequents. You've maybe made a few adjustments to your shifts to make sure there will be no awkward run-ins. Judging by the fact you haven't heard so much as the sound of her voice in a week, she's not eager to see you, either.

You're not foolish enough to expect her to be, anyway.

Miss 'Superior Species' has made it abundantly clear how she feels about your kind. Curiosity is one thing to justify that kiss but judging by the steely distance she exuded after it, there won't be a repeat performance. She probably stooped low enough for this century.

It's not like you care. You tell yourself you don't, when your lonely thoughts begin to stray towards her smooth lips and the cool, invigorating feel of her body fitted against yours.

Because what is Bela to you, really, other than a pretty distraction from the nightmare you're trapped in?

If you stop to rationalize your situation –something you don't often tend to do, as it reveals ugly aspects of things you'd usually rather not see— she's just a coping mechanism. Nothing more.

Considering the circumstances that brought you together and your glaring power imbalance, it is too naive to think anything genuine could ever develop between the two of you.

It's not like one of them could ever actually care about one of us. You muse bitterly, on your way to taking over the night shift.

A strange sound stops you just before you round the corner into the next long corridor.

It's a laugh; a voice you've heard before, yet hued so startlingly different you almost mistake it for someone else's. One careful peek confirms that it is, indeed, Cassandra's, though for how warm and soft it rings, it may as well be an impostor you see, dressed in the garb of the Dimitrescus.

Naturally, you are not eager to step out before the most sinister of the sisters, even if right now she looks anything but. Adjacent to her, your eyes catch the maid you're going to be relieving of duty soon, the beautiful raven-haired one that the rest of the human staff keeps gossiping about.

All cruel, mean things, of course, from 'Cassandra's favorite toy' to 'the sadist's bitch' and everything in-between. None of them are ever said to her face, though and you are starting to see why.

Because the brunette Dimitrescu is reaching forward to take her hand with gentleness you would never think she had the capacity for, drawing her closer to press a soft kiss to her lips, then nuzzling into her neck like a deadly, oversized cat.

“You coming on a hunt with me tonight, darling?”

The way she talks to her, the way she so obviously melts into Alexia's embrace, that isn't how one behaves around a plaything or a pet. If anything, Cassandra, the bloodied monster haunting your nightmares, suddenly looks normal before your eyes, a girl your age in love.

And that image throws you for a loop.

“Sleep is for the weak, anyway.” Alexia chuckles. “Honey, if you don't let me go the maid who's coming to take over my shift will see us. And I know you don't want that.”

Cassandra pulls back with a huff, long fingers trailing across Alexia's jawline. “I'll see you later.” she says and the sound of buzzing flies signals her leave.

You wait a few solid minutes before finally turning the corner, walking forward to greet your coworker as if your entire worldview hasn't just been shaken out of orbit.

...

The castle is eerily quiet on your wing tonight.

It's just you, your trusty duster and the ample moonlight that streams in through the light curtains. You sing songs in your head to keep sad thoughts away, though you're smarter than to do so out loud and attract unwanted visitors.

Any Dimitrescu, at this point, falls under that category.

You are mid-way through your shift yet tired as though you've been through the entire thing several times over. Perhaps your sleepless nights have to do with it. Perhaps a certain blonde not-quite-vampire has to do with them.

It's startling how every time you allow yourself to really think of Bela, it's like you summon her.

You've learned to recognize her footsteps, by now. Regal and authoritative, heavier than Daniela's and Cassandra's, not nearly as thunderous as her mother's heels.

As with most of your problems, you make a point not to look at her and hope that maybe she'll go away.

No such luck.

“Songbird.” she calls, when it's clear you won't turn to her of your own volition.

Bold of her to assume this will make you any warmer in your greeting. “Yes, Lady Bela?” You don't face her. Instead, you continue to scrub the already clean floor with a furious passion.

A huff comes from behind you. “Rhiannon, don't force me into something neither of us will like.”

Oh, she makes that sound like a fatal warning, alright. Only, she doesn't know you very well. When you're mad at someone and you don't want to see their stupid –in her case unfairly beautiful— fucking face, not even valid death threats have much of an effect.

You can either kill me so I stop suffering over the family I've left behind already, or you can shove your warning up your—

“Have it your way.” Bela says.

One millisecond later, you feel a dizzying rush of air, a strong arm grabbing your waist and hear the buzzing of hundreds of flies.

The next thing you register –when your stomach stops free-falling— is the harsh impact with cushions.

You realize you're on a couch, in a room rather than the hallway you were previously mopping, thrown onto it like a sack of potatoes. With an irritated mutant staring you down through flashing yellow eyes, at that.

Your waist is already starting to hurt. What the fuck, you assh-

“It's not like there's a universe where I don't get my way, so why can't you just listen?” Bela demands, low and one step away from hissing.

You stand up despite the protest of your muscles and the height difference between you, eyes locked with hers. “Well, I was listening.” Somehow, you're equal parts caustic and a polite maid.

Bela runs a hand through her blonde hair, almost as if that's the alternative to squeezing your throat till it breaks for your general audacity.

If you die here, you'll die happy you at least got through to her impassive shell.

“Look. I understand that you are angry about the other night.” she begins and boy, is that an understatement. “And normally I wouldn't give a damn, but the whole... incident is bothering me, too.” And she has nobody else to talk to about it because evidently no one from her family can know.

How magnanimous of you, you narrow your eyes at her.

“Nothing needs to be said, Lady Bela.” you sigh, more parts tired than angry, this time.

Rage is toxic to hold onto for too long and looking at her now you're pretty sure she won't even see why you're feeling what you're feeling, so this conversation is just pointless. God, this woman and you exist on two different worlds...

“Stop with the 'Lady Bela', it's getting on my nerves.” she says, voice lower than earlier.

“Bela.” you call, quiet. Her tension seems to ease a tad, at that. “I already know.”

“Do you?” she asks, doubtful and cold.

“Yes. We're not even on the same book, on many things, let alone the same page. I didn't think that kiss meant anything to you and we can call it an adrenaline-induced irrationality on my part. Nobody is going to know, if that's what's troubling you.”

Bela shifts her weight, uneasy. “...that's good.” she agrees. “The whole thing was a mistake.”

That shouldn't sting as much as it does, but you brace through it. You don't really have another choice.

She looks stunning under the moonlight, by the way. The uselessly into her part of you adds. There's just something about her hair and the way her eyes glow—

“Yes.” you nod, to hide the fact you're distracted. Why are you suddenly growing hotter, remembering the taste of her lips? “It was a mistake.”

“Big mistake.” she adds.

“Massive.” You chew on your lower lip, a nervous habit.

Bela's smokey eyes follow the motion as though she wishes she were the one biting that very same spot.

And...

The next second she is, balmy lips over your own, firm yet gentle hands resting on your side and bicep. You think that counts as solid enough permission to reach up and caress her neck, weave your fingers through her hair, like you've wanted for a while now. The silken strands feel as amazing as they look. Like the rest of her.

Bela is more assertive this time, taking the lead, dipping her tongue into your mouth when you eagerly part it for her.

The distance between you vanishes. She lets out a low sound, between a sigh and moan, when your nails drag against her nape. A tingle of fire has started from your lips and rolled lower, bellow your stomach.

Bela's fingers press harder into your skin as you nibble on her lower lip. She loosens her hold only when you break apart for air. Words cannot describe how hot it is to see her doubting her control over her strength.

And knowing you've caused it...

“Everything okay?” you ask, the words a faint whisper against her skin as you press little kisses down the corner of her mouth, across her nice jawline. She smells so wonderful, you just want to hug her and forget everything else.

“It would be easy to break away from you if it was just okay.” She says, breathless by your ear.

Her hands on your back, strong, secure, make you wish they were lower, but you don't think either of you is prepared for more right now, despite how ready your body always seems to get for her.

“So... nice chat.” you say, because if she keeps testing her lips and the edge of her fangs like that on your skin you won't be responsible for what happens next.

You can feel Bela roll her eyes as she draws the slightest bit back, enough to lock gazes with you.

“I should get back to work.” you breathe, hesitant.

“Mhm.” Bela nods, but she's already moving her tantalizing mouth on the corner of yours again.

Well.

On the other hand, work can wait for a few minutes.

Or a few more than a few.

[fizzingwizard]

of course I had a two and a half week vacation in march, right when moominvalley season release was allegedly gonna happen... and it never did...

then on the VERY LAST DAY of my break, "hey guys! guess what show releases tomorrow!" like WHAT x'D

it's april 1st and the season's out and it was my first day back at wooooork aaaaaahhh x'D

being an adult sucks hahahahaha

but its not like i can watch it anyway lol im not in the uk. gotta wait till i find it somewhere >_>;

and being back at work was pretty good, random stuff under the cut

got my new class list and i do indeed have the student i was dreading... fingers crossed there but the rest of the group is already so cute and i cant wait to teach them. who knows, maybe the difficult kid will have matured a lot over the last month...

also met new coworker who is cool. and the atmosphere was a lot lighter than it usually is on first term days. we even got new computers which i am suuuuper excited about, the old ones were so. crappy. just the worst computers you can imagine. took ten min just to turn on and another ten to load a single webpage. if you had a fifteen minute break you were screwed. even if you had thirty min you could accomplish next to nothing. it was such a pain because we generally only get breaks (by which I mean prep time) in 15 or 30 min blocks and we have an INORDINATE amount of paperwork. my dude we teach pre-k! why this endless slog through paperwork xD the struggle is real

but now we got shiny new computers and it comes as a total shock! but a pleasant one. less pleasant was the company trying to stick me with our electric piano. we have one but it broke because of being wheeled around to different classrooms, and apparently the only solution anyone can come up with is "keep it in fizz's classroom instead of in the hall." one: how on EARTH does that stop it getting broken since it will still need to be wheeled around from room to room?? and two: where in my teeny tiny classroom do you want me to put a whole ass piano with wires and breakable bits?? first of all every corner of our room is being used, we already do not have enough storage space or enough space for the number of 1-3 year old kids which is upwards of 30. my room stores all the nap cots for two classes. then even if we figure somethign out, there is no way the kids are not going to accidentally break that piano no matter how hard we try to steer them away. i mean even if the kids are good, the pianos gonna get paint on it from crafts. i swear that it will even if we cover it. i am always finding paint and stickers in the most random of places. and last but not least, my classroom is also a nap room (hence the cots). we aren't allowed to even have water bottles on the shelves in case there's an earthquake and the things on shelves fall and hit the sleeping kids. but you want us to put a piano in there? a piano is less dangerous in an earthquake than a water bottle????

lit i told my coteachers "i will fight this." lol i was boiling over. i am not having that piano in my room. if there is no place to put it where it won't break, then either the company needs to pay for repairs when they happen (which so far is not even once a year, yet they actually rejected the maintenance application the first time we sent it -__-), or they need to not have a piano at all. "but the music teacher needs it" yes im sure she does but thats got nothing to do with me! i didnt decide my 2s need to take music lessons! thats the companies choice! that they knowingly made for their busiest school with the largest class size and teeny tiny rooms with absolutely no storage space at all! the company knows all that and yet they're just like "You guys figure it out." Well ok, im figuring it out. the piano can stay where it was last year and get moved around like usual. there is zero benefit to putting it in my room, it only makes HO feel better about spending money on the maintenance (for now - just wait till next time it breaks 9_9). on top of that it would adversely affect my class which is the number one thing i care about here. im fortunate in that our team leader agreed with me and actually went to bat over this even harder than i did. still not sure whats gonna happen but i do intend to block that piano coming in my room unless someone comes up with a reeeeally good idea for how we're gonna fit it in tetris-style without causing problems.

but otherwise a good day, lol

[iwaqchan-archive]

-author's note; this is my first piece for the wap chronicles collab, hopefully you guys like it, i haven't written anything proper in ages so i rlly dk how this turned out, but i guess...enjoy? also i really tried making my list for the collab for characters that are rather underrated and don't have a lot of content on this site, so this is for everyone with crushes on the extra side characters that never get any love and attention, i feel your pain!!

pairing: yosetsu awase x gn! reader

word count: 589 words

type of content: one shot, smut

main kink: licking

other kinks: food play mention, public sex if you squint

warnings: cussing, nsfw content, awful writing

requests: open (currently on hiatus)

reminder: i don't write nsfw, kinktober is an exception!

wanna be on my taglists?

taglist; @tsukkissimp @kingtamakimurder @tooloudarts @kurinhimenezu @quirkless-fics @in-the-end-im-still-trash @mo0o0milk @jibakuganjas @qkuroos @bnhabadass @crazythypoon @nobodyw8s4evr @theotakumama

"We'll get caught if you aren't quiet, Yosetsu.", you sighed just as his hands tightened their hold on your hips, harshly pressing you against the cool surface of the closet door. In all honesty, fooling around with your coworker in an empty janitor's closet during work hours most likely wasn't the smartest idea you ever had, but it sure was one of the more enjoyable one's.

"Maybe if you weren't so impatient, we wouldn't need to fuck in some goddamn closet, and i wouldn't need to hold back."

"Do you kiss your mother with that dirty mouth of yours?", you chuckled, nimble fingers hurriedly working on unbuttoning his uniform

Yosetsu merely grunted in response, opting to silence you with a firm press of his lips against yours. In retaliation, your hand slid inside the waistband of his boxers, gingerly stroking his semi-hard cock, while your other hand moved under his shirt, gliding over his well-defined muscles.

A sharp set of teeth bit into the delicate skin of your lower lip, pulling on it in an almost abusive manner before letting go entirely.

"Why do you always have to be such a tease? Do you enjoy making me frustrated?", he questioned, his hands yanking down your own pants while he awaited your response. With a small laugh, you let your head fall into the crook of his neck, the hand that was still inside his boxers picked up the pace, stroking him more rapidly now.

"You should know the answer to that by now.", he could feel the smile on your lips pressing into the side of his neck, suddenly he felt a wet sensation travelling up his skin, something he had become awfully familiar with over the last couple of years.

Any coherent thought he might have had practically vanished from his mind, the only thing remaining was the need to put you in your place, one way or another.

"Do that again!" he all but demanded through gritted teeth, pushing you further against the door of the cramped room. You obliged eagerly, not that you had any mind to defy him anyway.

Hastily, you pulled down the last piece of fabric from his body, hands winding into his coal coloured hair as you licked another strip from the column of his throat to where his neck and jaw met. His rough hands gripped one of your thighs, placing it high up on his hips before starting to slowly grind against you.

An involuntary moan escaped you after a particularly rough grind, his chapped lips momentarily attaching themselves to the column of your throat, sucking an angry looking mark into the tender flesh.

The two of you kept going like this for a little while, groping at each other while humping like a pair of overly excited teenagers, it reminded you a lot of your highschool days.

Suddenly, a shrill sound blared through the room, signaling the end of your lunch break. Reluctantly, you pulled away from each other, and quickly got dressed; not wanting to risk getting caught by your boss, again.

“Wanna finish this at my place, after our shift?”, you asked, trying to smooth out your hair as best as you could in a dark storage room.

“Sure, you got some honey at home?,” –he turned to you, his hand moving to open the closet door, as you stared at him in utter confusion– “So i can lick it off of you later, duh.”

With one last wink, he left the room, leaving you to gawk at the now empty space in front of you.

[insomniac-arrest]

Alright, I feel a bit guilty about responding to this in a glib manner. It occurred to me that our culture has shifted so rapidly and deeply that kids born in the 00s and beyond that don't have the same Queer Survival Instinct as those of us born in even the 90s.

So yes, I taught in S. Korea (Busan in particular) and it was a wonderful experience, but I did experience homophobia and hid my sexuality. I expected to do this so it wasn't really like, a surprise or affront for me, but I'm not really sure if the younger generation knows how to hide?

I assume you want to teach in South Korea as well, such as in the Hagwons or in the government program EPIK which I taught in. I'll give you a few tips for living and working there.

You should note, I lived in a generally conservative part of the country and Korea is no way a monolith. I met plenty of gay Koreans and while their experiences were different from my own in many ways, they were also similar. The usual is true: We are more similar than we are different and people are the same and different everywhere you go. Plenty of Koreans aren't homophobic and it's a constantly changing country, in flux, more so than others I'd say.

HOWEVER, I am going to urge you to air on the side of caution. I had such a good time living in Korea, totally worth it, but I knew what I was getting into. Here are some things:

1. Never come out to your coworkers even they seem cool or you two are close. One of my friends knew someone who came out to his co-teacher who he was good friends with, he was fired the next day (for unrelated reasons, but he Knew Why). There are no LGBT+ worker protections and you better bet your bottom dollar parents won't have someone gay teaching their kids.

2. Don't go to pride in your home city. If your kids recognize you and say something then you'll get fired (again). I went to a couple pride parades (Seoul, Daejeon, another), but not the one in Busan for this reason. The counter-protests are pretty damn big against Pride parades and there are usually a good number of kids there holding up signs.

3. Cover your bases: if you want to talk about your girlfriend change it to a boyfriend or vice versa, use expected pronouns, feel free to visit gay spaces, they're fun and I made a lot of wonderful friends there, but keep your eyes open. I kissed a girl in a (straight) club and got yelled at and stuff thrown at me, so yeah, watch out.

As for gender stuff, you'll catch on to how people dress pretty quickly. To the western-eye, style will seem a lot more gender-neutral, which is cool! I actually got my hair cut real short there and no one batted an eye. Girls wear more baggy clothing and gym shoes are more common, of course, if you're a woman you won't want to wear low-cut shirts (you have to cover the collarbone unless you want people staring), but your shorts can be as short as you like.

Korean boys also might hit on you if you're a gal, but it was super easy to get them to leave me alone if I wanted to. Say what you will about American directness, but all I had to do was make an "X" with my arms and they left like smoke. This might work on American boys too, but in general flirting is different there and being direct will get you everywhere.

Gender expression is different too, one of my favorite things was that the boys got to be way more touchy with their friends. Old men, young men, little boys, would hold hands as they walked together and were just much physically closer. As an aside, straight couple culture also blew my mind, like straight-up took me aback, but that's a whole other thing.

Anyway, those are some of my advice, in general, just be smart. Keep your eyes open, ears perked, use your brain; nothing bad will happen to you! But it doesn't hurt to be cautious too.

Did you experience homophobia in Korea/have to hide your sexuality?

Yeah