#but my point is now that i get better grades good one's a C is a massive disappointment for me 😅

[adore-gregor]

my perception of grades totally changed since i started uni

[st4rymoon]

✭ 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 ✭

𝟏𝟖+ | 𝐒𝐦𝐮𝐭 | 𝐀𝐜𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐑𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐬 | 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫-𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭

𝐌𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐎'𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐱 𝐅𝐞𝐦 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: a long read btw, arguing, impact play, academic rivals, slow burn, rough sex, hate sex, language, p in v, make out sesh, unprotected sex, annoying Miguel, reader has some anger issues on the low, breath play, teasing, sexual tension, semi-mean dom, after care

・Part two! Part Three!

“WHAT?” You yelled, both your professor and Miguel looking at you in shock after your professor asked you for a one on one with the both of you.

You could scoff at the way Miguel’s lips curled up into a satisfied smile “Well you and Miguel are my best students, so it would only make sense for the both of you to do a presentation together. I can only imagine the things the both of you will come up with!” Your annoyingly sweet professor clapped.

“ wouldn’t it be better if both of us did our own? We coul-“ You tried to negotiate “Ah ah! I said group project! Now Miguel, do you have anything to say about this? Any complaints like this one over here?”

You sighed as Miguel spoke “Nope, I’d be happy to work with someone in the same range as me” he cockily spoke “Very funny, now since we’ve got this all sorted, go and talk” she smiled, shooing you and Miguel out of the classroom.

You scoffed as you pushed past Miguel “Aww come on sweetheart, you hate me that much?” He cooed following close behind you.

“Shut it” you huffed. Getting paired with Miguel was possibly the worst thing to happen since your high school prom. Miguel was the bane of your existence since the first year of college.

Of course, his good looks and brains were attractive but sooner or later you realized he was going to be a pain in your ass for the next few months of class. You met him in your first biology class, everything was going well until the first exam of the class.

Your professor said the class average was low B’s and high C’s but out of the whole class, two people got perfect scores. Could you guess who the two were?

You and Miguel.

Both of you looked at each other from across the class with the same look in your eyes saying ‘Someone beat me?’. Of course, you both got the same 100% grade but both of you were so used to being the only one on top of the class that this was more than just a score. But your egos.

You both were fully aware to not be in each other's way, only seeing each other when studying at the same place or in class. All was going well for the next 2 exams, but the 3rd one came and you couldn’t believe it.

You got a 98% and Miguel has a perfect 100%. You could see him smile at the results and you hated the professor right now. Why the hell would he show the class? It’s embarrassing, to say the least.

Miguel gave you a wink as you looked his way ever so slightly. Bursting out of the class, you could feel him behind you “2 points down” he chuckled. You wish you would’ve punched him.

And ever since then, he’s made it his life mission to ruin your day. You never got anything other than 100% again, you busted your ass studying just so he couldn’t rub it in.

“I’ll make sure you can’t get us two points down” Miguel hummed as he kept up at your pace. You could feel your blood boiling, god he’s such an asshole. “I’ll email you if I need help” you scoffed.

“Can I get your number? I won’t get the email since my inbox is always spamming” Miguel lied with a smile “fine” you muttered out your number and walked off before he could stop you.

‘Real classy, I wasn’t done talking’ popped up on your screen “Well I am” you messaged back. You were well aware it was Miguel and you didn’t need him to piss you off more than usual.

The second you stepped into your apartment you let out a relieved sigh. Oh, how you missed this place in these insufferable hours. You put on some comfy panties and an oversized hoodie.

You were laid in your living room, soft carpet under you as you finished up some of the slides for your presentation. The knock at your door was the last thing you needed, you groaned in agony as you hated the thought of getting up from your warm spot.

The knocking grew and so did your patience’s “IM COMING!” You yelled. You pulled the door open and lo and behold, Miguel. “For fuck sake man” you whined.

“Glad to see you too!” He smiled as he pushed past you with books in hand. Miguel was born with the talent of hiding his emotions, that talent was most useful here.

He took a deep breath as you opened the door. Your pretty thighs glowing under the baggy hoodie, hair a slight mess and the satisfying look of anger on your face could’ve made him harm.

“Excuse you” you hissed.

He plotted down next to your things and got straight to work. You stood in shock, did he just walk in like this was his house? “Well go ahead and get comfortable” you mocked as you slammed the door in annoyance.

“I am” he sighed as he stretched and leaned onto your couch.

The both of you bickered and sneered at each other the whole time you both worked but even then, the quality was always top-notch.

He didn’t like the way you formatted the information and you didn’t like how he took up a whole slide for a few sentences but both of you compromised. After a few hours, things were less tense, and both of you got used to each other.

“So what do you plan on doing with your major?” You asked, legs crossed and some candy in your mouth as you questioned him “Biochemist” he nodded “It’s always been a passion of mine”

“You sure do have the brains for it” you chuckled. “You don’t with the 98%” he teased. You rolled your eyes, your mood now soured as you remembered his shenanigans.

“Don’t start” you scoff as you get up to get some drinks “Hey hey I’m joking” he laughs, his hand stopping you from leaving as he holds your wrist “I know Sherlock, I’m going to get some drinks for us” you mutter with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah,” he laughed awkwardly, his eyes watching as you grabbed two glasses of water. “So what about you?” Miguel asked “What are you doing with a chemistry major”

“Probably chemical engineering, I’m not sure yet” You shrugged as you handed him the cup. He nodded and watched you sit next to him. Miguel scooted a little closer making you stiffen, sure he was a pain in the ass but he’s sadly one of the most gorgeous guys you’ve seen.

You tried to ignore your thoughts each time he’d stretch and groan, his moans making you think about how he’d sound if it were from pleasure. He’d be vocal you thought.

“Let’s watch something on the TV” you awkwardly smiled as you grabbed the remote and turned on your TV, you laid on your stomach, forgetting you only had panties and a hoodie.

Miguel’s eyes watched you kick your feet up, your glowy legs looking perfect as you looked through whatever you were putting on.

He noticed the pink panties you had on, his tongue instinctively licking his bottom lip as he thought about how good you’d look on top of him. He can imagine it, tits in his face and pussy sleeving his cock as he fucked you full.

He was going to give himself a boner if he kept it up. He focused his eyes on the screen and sighed in relief as you sat back up. You put on your favorite show and sat next to Miguel “We’re almost done with the assignment which is good, how about a few more minutes of break and we get back to work?” You smiled. “Sure”

You felt his hand move behind you, his arm resting above the couch as he let out yet again another ‘stretch’ while his eyes looked at you through his peripheral, you chuckled. How cliche.

You smiled as you decided to make your cliche move. It was obvious there was tension between you two, whether that be anger or sexual, it didn’t matter. “Let me get more gummies” you hummed as you turned to the table beside you and arched your back slightly, an audible moan coming from behind you as your ass was on perfect display.

You sat back beside him, gummies in hand and an innocent look on your face as you offered him some. He scoffed, shaking his head and looking back at the TV. Your eyes widened as you noticed the thick bulge straining against his pants.

“Eyes up” Miguel cockily cooed as he watched your eyes closely. “I- I wasn’t-“You made a pathetic attempt to save yourself but he cut you off “Uh huh uh huh, I know” he mocked.

He smiled down at you with accomplishment, he finally made you shut up for once. “Not going to give me a snarky comeback?” He cooed. “Shut up already God, stop it” you hissed, your eyes rolling as you moved away from him.

“No no” Miguel’s voice made you shiver as his hand held your thigh “I’m playing” he pouted as he glared down at you. You could punch him right but instead, you did something you thought you’d never do.

You pushed him on the couch and slammed your lips on his. Miguel’s hands immediately wrapped around your waist, a loud moan spilling into your mouth as he finally tasted you.

It seemed like Miguel was waiting for you to do this, his hands ran up your thighs hungrily before he flipped you onto your back. You gasped as he spread your legs around his waist.

His behemoth of a body spread your legs wide as he buried his face into the crook of your neck. You tangled your fingers into his hair as both of you hungrily kissed each other.

The kisses were messy and rough, teeth nipping at skin and tongues lapping at each other like two animals in heat. None of you even said a word, just heavy breaths, moans, and pure lust.

Suddenly Miguel pulled back from your lips, his eyes glaring into yours as he hovered above you. You could feel yourself getting ready for some snarky comment as you watched his lips curve into a smile.

“You kissed me first”

You groaned as you pushed him off, his hands still on your hips as he flipped you back onto his lap “hey I’m not complaining, It’s just funny since I piss you of so much” he sighed. His palm moved up to your jaw, face brushing against his hand as you took in his warmth.

He watched you lean into his palm like a cat, his body heating up as he realized how small you look in his lap. Your thighs small compared to his but still plump and pretty.

“Can I kiss you again” you shyly asked slightly afraid that he’s reject. “You don’t have to ask me, just do it” Miguel hummed as he pulled you into a kiss.

The kisses were now more sensual and soft, both of you now grinding into each other. His hand curled onto the back of your neck; the other palm pinned behind your spine.

You were glued onto his chest as Miguel’s warmth filled your senses. You’ve never been so warm in your life, the feeling making you tingly as he held you as close as possible. It felt like nothing in the world could hurt you, you felt safe.

“Please” you whispered onto his lips. He tried to not make you mad but he loved seeing you angry “Please what?” He taunts, his lips hovering over your jaw and neck but never touching you.

“Mig don’t tease” you whined as you hit his chest lightly “I’m not, I just don’t know what you’re saying please for” his arms clinging around your waist as he takes in your sweet scent.

You decided to play your games “I want you inside me mig, want to show you how much I need you” you cooed, your hand running down his abdomen and stopping just above his bulge. His breath hitched at your words, he didn’t know if you were fucking with him or not.

“Oh yeah?” Miguel watched you with focused eyes, his hands running up the sides of your thighs and squeezing your ass “You want me to fuck some manners into you? That loud fucking mouth of yours is always pissing me off” he cooed.

Loud fucking mouth? Your hand went up to smack his face in anger but he caught your wrist before you could “Don’t even try it muñeca.” He sternly said “You won’t like what comes with that”

You angrily kissed him as he pressed you flush against his aching cock, his hands pull the baggy hoodie off your body leaving you in your matching panties and bra.

“Fuck” he whispered, hands on your waist as he took in the view he’s been dreaming of since the day he met you. The amount of times he’d imagine fucking your mouth until you shut up was concerning.

You pulled his shirt off in need, throwing it behind you as you ran your hands up his thick muscular chest. He hummed at your soft hands running up his skin.

“Sit up for me?” He mumbled against your skin as he kicked off his sweats. He smiled at how obediently you did as he said “You look prettier when you do as I say” Miguel mocked.

You could care less about his words as his calloused hands pulled your panties off in need “Just shut up and fuck me” you panted. Miguel smiled as he felt your lips pepper all over his jaw and onto his lips, he could see you were just as eager for him as he was for you.

“Beg” he blurted. You ignored him as you rubbed his cock between your folds, both of you letting out moans as you felt each other's warmth. Miguel seethed, arms pinning you up to his chest “Listen”

You hated that you got turned on by the fact that he now had you restricted with just one hand as the other held your jaw up “you want the guy you despise to fuck you? You tell me you hate me every time you see me but look so eager to fuck me”

You were tired of his teasing, you let out a desperate whine, you could see his cock spring up and his tip leaking precum. But like always, Miguel likes to rile you up.

“Beg” he repeated. “Please mig please, just stop teasing ok” you cried. “All you needed to listen to was this?” He purred, hands moving onto your hips as he thrusts into you.

Miguel let out a gruntled moan as he felt your warm wet walls hug him tight, his head falling back onto the couch as he finally felt your pussy squeeze him.

He watched your eyes squeeze shut while you let out the prettiest moans “f- fuck!” You cried, the stretch making you clench even tighter around him as he held you down to his lap.

His cock was fully buried inside you in one go, he’s the biggest you’ve had in every way. It was overwhelming feeling how full you were, you could feel his curves and the tip of his cock nudging at your cervix.

“Breath chula, r- relax” he sighed. Your nails dug into his shoulders as you nodded, you took a deep breath allowing you to make it easier for him to move. “That’s it” he hummed onto your shoulder.

It only took Miguel a few seconds for him to start fucking you onto his lap, your body shaping into his hands, allowing him to use your pussy like a flesh light.

“O- Mig mi-“ you whined out, you couldn’t explain what you were feeling. Your whole body was tingling in pleasure as he rammed into you with pure force. Maybe you did piss him off a lot.

“What? You c- can’t take it? Such a big fucking mouth but can’t take my dick?” He seethed. You let out a pathetic whine at his words, your mind completely fogged in pleasure as you took all of him.

Miguel’s eyes couldn’t leave your pussy, his eyebrows scrunched and his mouth agar as he watched your pussy struggling to take his size. He hissed as you pushed him onto the couch, using his shoulders for support as you bounced onto his lap.

Your pretty moans filled his ears as you took control. Miguel let you take control for a bit, he loved watching how eager you rode him. Your body bounces on his lap, wet sounds of skin slapping echoing into the room.

“Making such a fucking mess” he huffed with a smile on his face, although he was loving this, he wanted to see you completely vulnerable. He thought maybe he was a little sick for wanting to see someone who hated him so much completely ruined under him but he loved it.

You gasped as Miguel lifted you onto the ground, your back hit the soft carpet under you as he stayed buried inside you. “Gotta fuck that stupid little attitude out honey, always disrespecting me. You’re the only one who tries to push my buttons. I love it” he cooed.

Miguel’s calloused hands bend your legs to the side, giving him full access to your tight cunt. “Go- god shi- fuck!” Miguel panted, he was a complete fucking mess.

Sure Miguel’s fucked a few people in his life, but he had no idea if it was just the thought of fucking the life out of you or how perfect your body was for him. He convinced himself it was both.

You clawed and scratched at his chest, your eyes full of tears as he brutally pounded into your “m- Mig I-“You were even more fucked out than him. How couldn’t you?

You had no clue where he got his stamina from, it felt like he’d been fucking you for hours. “Can’t believe you tried to slap me, should I return the favor?” Miguel hissed.

You nodded to his surprise “Please” you whined. “You want me to hit you?” He was surprised by your plead. He knew you’d be a freak in the sheets but you were always so aggressive with him that he expected you to hit him for even suggesting it.

“You’re always a pain in my ass but you just want to be taken care of huh?… What? You need me to pound your pretty pussy out for you to treat me with some respect?”

You nodded eagerly, if you were being honest you couldn’t even take in his words. Your pussy clenched and throbbed around his fat cock in agony but you were taken by surprise when a slap landed on your face “Use your words” he hissed.

Almost immediately you cried “Yes yes! Miguel please I nee- need it, f- fuck ah!”

Miguel chuckled, his hips angled a bit higher which allowed him to hit the perfect stop. His hand flew around your throat, his hips pounding you onto the floor as he let out animalistic moans.

“M- Mig- ah fff- fuckk!” You cried. The restriction of your breathing mixed with his rough pounds caused orgasm hit you hard as your pussy throbbed around him, the tip of his cock nudging at your sweet spot continuously.

Miguel’s eyes rolled back as he felt your nails claw at his arms, your small hand wrapped around his wrist as he fucked you balls deep. His cock plunged into your messy cunt as his balls slapped onto you. “That’s I- that’s-“ he hissed.

He thought about pulling out for both of your sakes but he’d rather just buy you a plan B. “C- can I- inside?” He seethed his eyes burning into yours as you bounced to his thrusts.

You couldn’t get a word out but your legs wrapping around his waist and your nails digging into his back to pull him closer gave him the answer. His lips crashed onto yours as he spilled inside you, his moans spilling into your mouth as his fingers dug into your hips.

He’s never had an orgasm that hard, he was sweating and out of breath as he stilled inside you. The both of you cling onto each other in fear of either of you leaving but that was on the last of your minds.

Miguel lay beside you, his arms pulling you into his as he pressed a kiss onto your forehead. “Was I too rough?” He questioned with concern as he now fully took in how fucked out you looked. “No, it was perfect” you weakly muttered as you nuzzled into his chest.

Miguel sighed in relief as your sweaty body was pinned into his. “Where’s your bedroom?” He hummed as he began to lift you into his arms “left” you sighed as he carried you into your bedroom.

“Let me clean us up and then we can rest yeah? Unless you want me to leav-“

You cut him off before he couldn’t finish “Don’t leave. Please?.” You hummed a bit worried you sounded a little pathetic.

“Wasn’t planning on it love”

[smoft-demons]

hey hey! I really like your writing :) I have a request for the brothers:

gn!mc who has trouble sleeping alone bc of nightmares. they can very rarely sleep but are great at hiding it, because they don’t want to bother anybody. they never notice because mc always sleeps fine during sleepovers??? until eventually the lack of sleep gets to them too much and it becomes too noticeable. how do they respond when mc (reluctantly) reveals the truth?

thank you and have a lovely day ❤️

Good prompt! I like this one :)

(This one took a good few hours! Hope you like it!)

MC has nightmares when they sleep alone

_______

Lucifer:

‘…something’s amiss with our human.’ Lucifer thinks.

He’s been observing them lately. Since he cracked down on his brothers sneaking into their room at night—in order to give the poor human a break, so they may rest well and have time to study for the upcoming wave of tests—they’ve been… sluggish. More forgetful. Their assignments are coming back notably worse. He was irritated at first, but when he brought them into his office to confront them about it, he couldn’t ignore how… off they seemed.

Lucifer sets his irritation with their slipping standards aside, in favour of concern. He is above petty reactions, he decides. No, he is reasonable enough to see that there must be a cause for this.

“MC. I did not call you here to berate you. I am not angry with you. Something is obviously wrong. Please, I cannot help you until you tell me what it is.”

You’re not sure if it’s the jarringly unmasked concern in his eyes, or the rising feeling of guilt for stressing him out more than usual that finally cracks your resolve.

Whatever it is, you confide in him. You tell him that you’ve not been sleeping well. He pries the reason out of you, by pointing out his observations about the timing.

Begrudgingly, you admit to having nightmares when you try to sleep alone.

Outwardly, he remains businesslike and practical as always. In his mind, he’s facepalming. In retrospect, the signs are all there! How did he not notice??

He feels just a bit sorry, too. In his attempt to help you, he directly made everything worse. What a great job he’s done…

Then he snaps out of it and steels himself. There’s no use dwelling on that! He can fix this. Very, very easily!

“I see. Then, sleep in my room tonight. I will ensure no nightmares bother you. Once you’ve recovered enough to learn again, I will help you bring your grades back up to your usual standard. Is this satisfactory?”

He refuses to hear any guilt from you about imposing, or taking up his time, or being a burden.

“I am choosing to carry you, MC. There’s no burden.”

From that point on, you’re always welcome in his bed. On the rare occasion that he isn’t home and none of his brothers can sleep over with you, he lends you his coat to sleep under. The familiar scent of him that clings to it is better than nothing.

_______

Mammon:

…Okay, at this point, he HAS to pry. Mammon is one of the first to notice that you’ve not exactly been well lately. You’re being unusually scatterbrained, clumsy, and spacey. You don’t have any energy. It’s obvious to him that there’s a sleep issue! He’s more observant than he looks, ya know!

Now that he thinks of it, these traits are not THAT out of character for you. They’re not usually this bad though!

…shit, does that mean you’re usually sleep deprived? That’s not good. Well! You’re HIS human, and he loves you lots and takes your well being very seriously, as much as he hates to say it out loud. So, he commits himself to figuring this out!

Evening comes. Mammon follows you into the hall leading towards your room. You bash your hip against a wall corner and almost fall to the floor as you dizzily stumble, trying to catch yourself. Mammon grabs you to steady you. Yeah, at this point he has to pry.

“Be careful, human! Seriously, you’d break all your lil toothpick bones without the great Mammon around to protect ya! What’s up with that, huh?”

You trust him of course, but… you’re embarrassed. You don’t want to tell him.

He clicks his tongue impatiently. You don’t say anything. He grabs you by the shoulders and steers you into his room. He pushes you down to sit on his bed.

“C’mon, MC. Talk to me. Your first man is here to help!”

“…”

“…please?”

Now, that… almost does it. You feel bad for being stubborn. You know he’s worried, and chaotic as he can be, he’s proven himself as a very good guardian demon time and time again. You take a deep breath, gathering your resolve.

You take just a bit too long. Mammon groans.

“I’m very annoying, yknow. I’ll get it outta ya somehow!”

Mammon pokes your cheeks, gently shakes you, tugs lightly at your hair, as he demands that you talk to him.

“Tell me, tell me tell me tell me tell me, c’mooooon humaaan, tell me!”

‘Oh, fucking fine!’ You think. You confide in him.

He’s mildly tempted to be like, ‘was that really so hard,’ but he won’t. He’s far more concerned than annoyed with you. He feels bad about all the super late nights out he’s been having lately. He wants to always be there for you! Him having missed something like this has him mentally kicking his own ass.

Mammon puts all that aside for now, though. He roots around in a drawer to get two pairs of his old, worn and comfy sweatpants, plus an old tshirt, faded and worn soft from use. He throws the shirt and one of the sweatpants at you

“Go brush your teeth and change, then come right back. We’re having an early night.”

When you return, he locks his door, then puts you back in his bed. He’s changed into the other pair of sweatpants. Mammon wraps himself around you as much as he can, as if to bodily shield you from the nightmares, then pulls his blanket over both of you.

“Sleep, human. No nightmares’ll DARE mess with you now. Not while I’m here. I’ll protect ya.”

Having him so close to you feels like home. Nothing else has ever felt so safe. You sleep deeply, for hours longer than you have in a while.

(Mammon is never letting you sleep alone again)

_______

Levi:

As much as Levi doesn’t want to bother you, he’s getting worried. You’re performing WAY worse at your video games than usual! You’re missing so many inputs! He knows your usual skill level, this game should be a relaxing walk in the park for you! He’s too worried to even make fun of you!

“Ok, that’s it! I can’t take it anymore! What happened to you, normie?? Are you sick?? Do you… not want to play with me? What’s happening??”

He’s worked himself into a panic. You know he’s sensitive enough right now to take it personally if you don’t confide in him. So fine! You’ll talk!

You’ll talk… auuugh, you can’t get the words out! You’re too self conscious about it. Fuck it. You take your DDD out of your pocket and send him a text.

>not been sleeping well. Nightmares. So tired, can’t pretend anymore! >:( Nothing personal, promise!

Levi reads the text. He chews the inside of his cheek for a long moment, thinking. Then he snaps to attention, looking at you with intense determination.

“We can’t have that! I need my player two in optimal condition! There’s no other way for us to win at any games!”

Levi resorts to his old faithful: relaxing slice of life anime! He makes a big pile of pillows and blankets on the floor, arranging them into an MC-and-Levi sized nest. It’s late enough into the evening that it’s reasonable enough to try to put you to sleep.

If just the anime and the blankets and the being in his room isn’t enough to knock you out, he’ll shyly inch over to you to hold your hand. Blushing and looking away from you because he’s shy, but he’ll do it.

If you ask him—or just look sad and cute enough—he’ll even curl up behind you in the blanket-nest and hold you. Levi won’t have ANYTHING hurting his Henry, not if he can do anything about it!

He doesn’t mind holding you all night like this. The fact that you’re asleep helps, he’s not shy when you’re not perceiving him. The anime he’s still watching is helping too. It’s a good distraction.

_______

Satan:

As soon as he started to get the feeling something was wrong with you, he began watching you intently. He’s sharp, so he would have caught this very early on.

He can’t help but have a little fun with this investigation at first, thinking of it as detective work.

Soon though, he gets concerned. You’re irritable, you’re not retaining information or remembering small things as well, you’re clumsier and less generally aware… all dangerous things to be in this realm.

He doesn’t need you to tell him what’s wrong. He puts it together himself. He knows you sleep just fine with him, he knows you seem well rested after sleepovers with any of his brothers too. Clearly it’s not general insomnia. He also knows that the usual frequent sleepovers haven’t been happening for a while now.

When he confronts you, he doesn’t start with asking questions. He lays out all the evidence he’s collected and states his guesses as to the cause.

He tells you he has concluded it’s most likely to be any of these causes: loneliness, separation anxiety, touch deprivation, nightmares, stress-induced insomnia. He asks you to tell him which it is, if it’s more than one, if it’s something else?

He’s so clinical about it, you pretty much forget to be self conscious. All you have to do is confirm that it’s nightmares and they only happen when you sleep alone.

“Thank you for trusting me,” he says, regardless of how little you’ve actually told him. “You’re more than welcome to sleep over with me any time. You don’t even have to ask. Just tell me that you’re sleeping over.”

That evening, he leads you into his room. He lies on his back, book in hand, and beckons you to lie on top of him.

He guides your head to rest in the crook of his neck. He balances his book against your shoulders, holding it with one hand. The other wraps around your waist, his thumb rubbing your side soothingly, and he begins to read aloud to you.

His voice and his warmth soothe you to sleep. Not a single nightmare dares touch you.

Asmo:

The first thing Asmo notices is the darkened circles under your eyes.

“Oh, my darling! Your skin!” He gasps, genuinely horrified. “Come, we can do better than that. Let your Asmo take care of you~”

As he often does, Asmo brings you to his room for a spa day. Evening. Night. It’s late.

He smooths moisturizer into your skin, using all the appropriate human-safe products for revitalizing you when you’re tired. He gets a helpful mask on you, then one for him too. As you wait for it to dry, he asks you what’s up.

“Can’t sleep, lovely? You know, if you’re restless I can always tire you out~”

You roll your eyes and elbow him lightly. You expected nothing less from Asmo. Knowing him as well as you do, it’s more endearing than bothersome. You know he’s showing you that he cares.

“Offer’s always open, darling!” He giggles. “But, is there anything else I could do for you? Need to get something off your chest? Or just some good company, hmm?”

Asmo’s really sweet. It’s easy to open up to him—or, as easy as opening up gets. He massages your hand in silence as you gather your resolve to confide in him.

He listens sympathetically. Nodding and humming encouragingly at all the right points as you speak. Squeezing your hand when you need support. Just… being the emotionally intelligent sweetheart that Asmo always is with you.

“You’re welcome to sleep here, love. Nothing you don’t want will happen, of course. Now, let me wash that mask off you, then we can snuggle if you like.”

He washes off the mask, touching you very tenderly as he does. He takes his time gently washing the product off your face, stroking your cheek with his thumb affectionately. He gives you a little forehead kiss when your face is clean as his thanks for trusting him.

He lets you lead on how much contact you want. He really just wants to help. He’s happiest if you choose to cuddle with him, but he’s totally chill with just holding your hand, or even just lying next to you. He’s awesome like that.

No matter what you choose, the familiar perfume of Asmo’s room and the reassuring rhythm of his breathing lulls you to sleep. It feels safe.

You sleep really well. Asmo really is the best.

Beel:

Beel understands nightmares. He gets them too. He spots the signs easily, familiar as they are to him.

All he has to do is spot the haunted look in your eyes when he sees you before breakfast. Very distracted he usually is at that time, yes, but he loves you. He pays attention to you. He notices it pretty quick.

He can’t help but wonder why you haven’t approached him about it. Hasn’t he demonstrated to you that nightmares in particular are a thing he’s safe for you to confide in about? He’s not going to take it personally, but he IS going to worry.

He keeps an ear trained on your room whenever he goes into the kitchen at night. Carefully listening for any signs of distress.

After a few nights of this, he gives into his impulse and goes to check on you after his midnight snack. He brings you something he knows you like.

He’s not surprised to find you awake.

“Hey.” He says through a mouthful of his own food. “Want a snack?” He comes in to put it in your hands as soon as you acknowledge him.

The two of you eat together, sitting quietly on your bed side by side. Beel’s careful not to drop any crumbs.

You remain quiet even after all traces of snacks are eliminated.

“Nightmares?” Beel asks gently, looking at you with those irresistible soft worried puppy eyes he does. You can’t lie to him. You’re not a monster!

You nod. He hums sympathetically, looking genuinely saddened on your behalf. He gets it.

“Want a hug?” He offers

You press yourself into his side. He wraps one very big arm around you, and you melt into him like warm mozzarella. His solid presence is reassuring. You feel so safe with him. You’re already starting to drift as he rubs your shoulder with one large thumb.

“Would it help if I stay?” Beel murmurs to you.

You nod again.

So Beel picks you up, settling himself in your bed with you and arranging you comfortably in his arms.

He starts softly stroking your hair. Trying to help you relax more.

“Thanks for letting me help you.” Beel says earnestly. It’s obvious that he really means it. He’s grateful you’re trusting him with this. He’s very happy that you’re accepting his comfort, because he wants nothing more than to help you and protect you.

He’s good at that. Being comforting. Helpful and protective—that’s Beel.

You drift off peacefully, with nothing on your mind except the sleep-blurred sentiment of feeling grateful for him, too.

Belphie:

Without question, Belphie is the first one to notice that you’re having nightmares. Sleep is his main thing!

You only get to have one bad night before he steps in. He drags you up to the attic to nap with you right after school. No nightmares happen, of course, because you’re not sleeping alone. Belphie congratulates himself on a job well done!

…wait. Again?? He finds himself aware that you’re having another nightmare that night, hours later when you’re trying to sleep by yourself. Fuck sake.

He goes to your room. You snap awake at the disturbance. Without a word, he pours himself into your bed, draping across you like a clingy cat and going right back to sleep.

Bit rude. But this is helpful. You go back to sleep too, and have no nightmares. Good job, Belphie.

Then the next night, it happens again!! Mildly vexed at the persistent issue, he does the same thing as last night.

The next evening, he doesn’t let you go to bed alone to begin with. He goes with you, staying just aware enough that he can snipe your nightmares before they get a chance to terrorize you—but… none happen? Huh. Wild. Okay.

The next night, he finally asks you what the deal is. You hesitate to tell him. Belphie has no qualms about annoying the information out of you, if his initial blunt concern isn’t enough to get you to talk. If you don’t crack, he’ll try tickling you until you talk to him. If you STILL don’t crack, he’ll sic Beel and his concerned puppy eyes on you. No one can resist Beel’s concerned puppy eyes. Especially not when it’s BOTH twins looking at you like that!

Resistance is futile. You reluctantly tell him that you have nightmares only when you sleep alone.

He mentally slaps himself. Obviously!

He was prepared to use any of his avatar of sloth abilities necessary to cure you of your nightmares—and he still is—but he’s happy (and secretly endeared) to learn that the cure is nothing more than his presence. Less work for him! Less work, AND a good excuse to steal you away for naps all the time! Two of his favourite things!

Belphie is never letting you sleep alone again. No, you’ll either be together in your room, together in his and Beel’s room, or together in the attic.

He’ll make an exception for sleepovers with his other brothers too if you miss them. You’re so lucky he loves you.

[hansensgirl]

summary. | Your professor knows just how to get his star student to eat out of his hand.

prompts. | Andy Barber + Professor + “You want something from me? You gotta ask nicely.” (credits to @celestianstars for inspiring this prompt) + Abuse of power, requested by Anonymous.

pairing. | dark!professor!Andy Barber x fem!reader.

warnings. | NON/DUBCON, abuse of power, power imbalance, professor/student relationship, male oral (mentioned/alluded to), overachiever reader, kind of mean!andy, lying, deceit, and more. 18+ MINORS DNI!

author’s note. | this is a part of my Dark Concepts (2023) request form. thank you for taking part in this event! please enjoy and don’t forget to reblog. MINORS DNI, 18+ ONLY! taglist: @hansensfics

You stare down at the paper you spent many sleepless nights working on with tears in your eyes. The letters turn into grey blurs. 

You always knew Professor Barber was a hard-ass, but you never thought you’d bear the brunt of his harsh grading. You felt you were getting by well this semester, never bothering him with questions unless absolutely necessary. He hated his job—everyone knew that from his heavy sighs and grimaces. And now, you feel like he’s taking it out on you, even though you’re just a part of the sea of faces that’ll forget about him once exams are over.

You sit on the bench outside his office, early for your appointment with him. You scheduled it in a frenzy, and he replied just as quickly as when you hit ‘send.’ That didn’t puzzle you since you had woken up very early that morning, and you know that professors sleep odd hours.

He must be less than excited to meet with you. Every faculty member seems to be a burning thread, fraying at the ends.

The door opens, and Professor Barber clears his voice, snapping you out of your stupor. You look up at him with glassy eyes, and he nods his head, allowing you to enter his office.

You catch a whiff of his cologne as you walk past the older man. There’s even a hint of coffee, perhaps from a spill. 

“Good evening, Professor Barber,” you start, a thoroughly rehearsed speech on the tip of your tongue. You’re a perfectionist when it comes to your grades—the only thing that gives you purpose at this point. “Good evening…?” he returns, waiting for you to give him your name.

You do exactly that, and he repeats it. “Please, call me Andy,” he insists, so you do. 

“You wanted to talk about your paper?” he asks, shutting the door behind him. You swear you can hear the lock click, but you doubt Andy would do that. “Yes. I just… I worked so hard on it and thought I did good…” you trail off, unable to finish your sentence.

You can’t fail this class—you don’t need another flaw to worry about. You doubt you’d get a spot in next year, anyway. Not until the weak ones give up halfway through the semester.

“You want to know why I gave you that mark?” Andy asks, hands clasped with his elbows resting on the chair. You nod your head. “Well, it’s alright, really. Not what I was looking for at all. It’s weak in too many spots. I can see right through your points,” he explains as though it were obvious.

The criticism stings, but you take it. 

“C– Can I rewrite it? Please?” you plead, finally looking up at him. “Or I can do an extra?” you offer, but the click of his tongue makes you want to cry again.

“I don’t give out second chances. You know that, don’t you? You’re a smart girl,” Andy says before sighing. “I suppose I could let you try again, though. You’ll do better, right?” he asks, standing up again.

He seems restless—you are, too. Your leg bounces from nervousness. 

“Of course—thank you, Professor,” you smile, ready for his next instructions. You’ll take anything he gives you if that upsetting grade is forever erased. He smiles down at you, a sight you’ve never seen before. 

Suddenly, though, you hear the clinking of a belt. You snap your head to look at where the sound came from, greeted by his crotch right in your face. Andy stands to your right, and dread fills you. “You want me to fix your grade, yeah?” the professor asks, but you don’t answer. You’re too scared.

You can’t fight him, can’t escape. If you did, who would you tell? You have a higher chance of getting in trouble than him. 

Andy cups your cheek with his left hand as he pulls down his fly with the other, freeing his thick cock from the confines of his boxers. He’s so hard that he’s a flushed red colour, with veins and a leaky tip. 

“You want something from me? You gotta ask nicely,” he tells you, voice as rough as when he speaks to the delinquents of your class. You watch him with tears in your eyes and accede, mouth opening for your professor to use you.

“See? I always knew you were a smart girl. You just needed a little push.” 

[lucerothings1]

I need an A professor please

Ryan Reynolds x male reader smut

Warnings: gay sex, top Ryan, bottom reader, professor and student, sex on top of desk, oral, riding, ass eating.

Summary: you failed your final so you try to ask for some extra credit.

He you where sitting on your bed overlooking your grades as you had seen you had received an F on your latest test. If it where any other test maybe you wouldn’t have been as shocked but since this one was the test that determined if you would pass or not your senior year of college.

As you walked to your professors room you where met with a full class of students so you had waited in one of the seats since the class was soon to be finished. “All right so that’s it for today go ahead and please listen to me the school year is about to finish don’t think thats a reason for your grades to start to slip you can all go now” your professor said as the rest for the young adults where running to the door to leave.

“Hello Mr. Y/L/N what can I be of a service” “ Hey Mr.Reynolds um I was wondering why I got a F on my latest test is it a glitch or joke” you said back as the last student ran through the door closing it on his way out “Oh that yeah um no glitch or joke” “wait so your telling me I got an F how” “Well I’ve seen your work and I thought you could’ve done a lot better”

“Well can I redo it” “Sadly no” the professor said back quickly “Um can I do any extra credit” “ There is no extra credit to give sorry Y/n but there’s no way for you to pass my class” he said back as you looked down a your feet.

At this point you had been filled with frustration as you looked up at Mr. Reynolds as you gazed at him as your eyes moved towards his crotch as you could see what you thought to his bulge as a idea ran up to your brain. “So I think I thought of something I can do professor” you said as you walked towards him.

“Whatever your thinking of don’t do it M/n” he said as you both could now feel each other breath on your faces as you got a hold of his tie pulling him into your lips as you started to feel his crotch threw his pants as you felt him get hard. “Go close the door” he said in a demanding tone as you obeyed and closed the door as he had took a seat on his chair as you walked back and sat on his lap as you kissed him again.

As you had now reached down as to start to unbuckle his belt as you kissed down his chin and neck as you soon went down on your knees as you removed his belt and unbuttoned his pant as you pulled them down with his boxers ad you saw his large 11 inch hard on as it sprung out fitting you in the face as you got ahold of it at its base as you locked your sight on to his as he looked at you as well as you begun to place his tip inside your warm mouth.

“Oh fuck” you heard him moan out quietly as you begun to go more down on him as you placed your tongue on the under side of his member sending him into more of a frenzy. Oh fuuck, that’s good” he moaned out as you pulled off him and hit his cock on your tongue keeping your eyes locked on his. “So you think this might work as credit professor” you said yeah I can see a C in your future unless you really what an A” he said as you pushed him whole into your mouth causing you to gag on him.

“Oh fuck stop” he said pulling you off as he breathed heavily “What you haven’t even cummed” “No I’m saving that for a different hole sweetheart” he said as you both smirked as you pulled of his pants and shoes completely and and he worked on his shirt as you begun to undress your self soon you where now both naked as he gestured to you to sit on his lap as he licked and spit on to his palm as he pulled your ass cheeks apart to reveal your entrance to him as he started making circles around your hole.

As you spit on to your hand and began to stoke at his member making sure to keep it wet and slick as he soon got ahold of his cock aligning it up to your entrance as he begun to tease you hole with his tip as he pushed it and got a hold of your waist as you sat on top of hims until he was completely snide now “Oh fuck your big” you moaned out “ yeah fuck baby you gotta hot ass” he said heavily as you begun to rock your hips on him as you soon begun to jump up and down as he hand his tight grip on your waist as you placed your hands on to his chair.

“Oh fuck sweetheart yeah that it come here” he said as he pulled you into him as he now rocked in and out his cock as he begun to thrust in and out roughly Oh fuck I’m fitting your prostate aren’t I” he said as all you could do was nod in agreement as he picked you up still inside you as he placed you on top of his desk throwing everything that was on top on to the floor as you opened up your legs as he got ahold of your thighs now thrusting even deeper inside you.

“OH FUCK YEAH SIR” you yelled out as he covered your mouth with on of his hands as the other went down as he begun to stroke your aching dick “Shhh baby don’t yell unless you wanna get caught now do you” “N-no sir” you stuttered out as he nodded back and took off his hand as he continued to fuck you.

“Oh fuck yeah sweetie take my cock” he said into your ear as you felt his thrust to get sloppy meaning he was close. “Oh fuck I’m gonna cum” “fuck me to sir” you both moaned as he fucked you threw your highs and he continued to stroke you as you felt him explode inside your walls as you cummed on your chest and his hand as he gave his final thrust as he knelt down as you felt his tongue on your entrance a story got ahold of the desk as you felt your self get hard as you quickly stroked yourself again as you cummed now twice as he got back up.

“Open your mouth” he said as he also licked up your chest and collected your cum on his lips ad he kissed you as you could taste his cum and your in his mouth.

Well M/n I think you’ll be happy to hear that you now have an A+ in my class your passing” he said as you smiled and pushed him back into a kiss as you both could not pull off each other as you both got cleaned up and put your clothes on again “Um my dorm is on the second floor if you’d like to you know continue this” you suggested ”I’m flattered but I would rather much enjoy you in my bed I live a couple minutes away and I’d actually like to hear you scream my name as I fuck you dumb and even though as much as I love hearing you call me sir my names Ryan so please call me that next time I’m inside you unless I say so” he said into your ear.

As for that night I didn’t have much sleep and neither did Ryan as for he called early in the morning and he said he found make it to work since he had awoken sick although in reality he had fucked you all nigh and day as he both would walk around naked his home the whole day.

Authors note:

Y’all I’m so sorry I haven’t been active I’ve been busy with work and my boss has been a pain in my ass so sorry I’m gonna try to attack my request and drafts soon but for now enjoy Mr. Ryan Reynolds

[sideeve]

synopsis ; after being pestered for weeks about going to ted’s party, you finally stepped out of your comfort zone. notes ; evil!ted , i only used pictures of keanu ooc bc i couldn’t find a good one , s*x , i tried making this have an 80’s feeling , that’s about it 🫠 , reader’s race . ethnicity . hair type or color is not specified

“you’re such a buzzkill. you’re wearing jean shorts and a spaghetti top to ted’s party.” sophie scoffs, applying her red bright lipstick that you advised her not to wear while holding her handheld mirror.

“you know i don’t like going out to parties. they always get ruined by the police.” you shrug.

your friends were not helping your anxiety in any way. they were picking fun at how you dressed, put on your makeup, the way you did your hair. it wasn’t your fault that you weren’t a quick-curl barbie.

“can we just get this over with? i wanna go home.” you stand up, crossing your arms. “yeah, daniel should be here in a minute.”

ah yes. daniel. the boy you’ve tried telling sophie that he wasn’t the one. he’s hit on you many times. sometimes even in front of her. groped you. the whole 9 yards. but she was to in love to see how much of a bad man he is.

you roll your eyes, waiting for this whole night to be over.

“there’s ted!” sophie squeals, pointing at the party host. he was talking to some jocks that go to your school. all with bad rep.

the house was full and trashed. you could barely make it to the couch without being pushed or sandwiched in between someone.

“someone having a bad time?” ted leans over the couch, whisper ling in your ear.

this wasn’t your first encounter with him. once, you and him and a project together. but of course, you did all the work and only got half credit.

you were real picky about your grades and now that ted logan came in and screwed it all up, you tried avoiding him.

“you just love bothering me, huh?” you cross your arms and your leg. “you didn’t get enough when you screwed up my grade?” he scoffs, “it was a C. get over it.” he jumps over the couch, sitting next to you.

“what are you doing here anyways? you don’t like going out from what i heard.” he rests his arm behind you, watching the party go on. “my friends basically forced me to get out.” you sigh.

“good,” he snickers. “your face was always stuffed in a book.” “oh shut up. you’re mad because you have a 4th grade reading level.” you tease.

the both of you turned your head to each other at the same time, laughing.

you don’t remember what happened in the in between. but now ted was naked and shedding off your clothes. “i knew you were hot under those clothes.” he chuckles, taking a nipple into his mouth and swiping the pad of his thumb on the other, making you shiver.

“fuck, ted.” your back arches. his teeth slightly nibble at your bud, “ted.” you smack his head, making him laugh. “i was having fun.” “not while chewing on my tit.”

he softly laughs, crawling on top of you. “we should’ve done this sooner.” he kisses your collarbone while sliding in you. “you better pull out, ted.” you wince, adjusting to size.

he hissed at how tightly you clenched around him. “fuck, baby. you might cut my dick off.” he laughs as his hips start thrusting in you. one hand was placed on your waist and the other was holding your hand beside your head.

for some reason, the thrusts felt…passionate. like he’s been needing this from you. “yes, yes.” you chant, coaxing him to go faster. “fuck yes.” your eyes were screwed shut.

he rested his head in the crook of your neck, suppressing his moans and grunts as the tip of his cock kissed your walls. “you feel like heaven.” he kisses behind your ear

your toes were curled. legs were shaking. you could barely talk. all signs of how close your orgasm was. “that’s right , baby. come.” he gave one more sharp thrust before the knot in your stomach broke.

he grunts before pulling out and flipping you on your stomach in one quick motion. “te-” his cock was pushed into you again but he was pounding into you.

his grip on your hips were sure to leave bruises tomorrow. the wind was knocked out of you. only pants and grunts slipped from ted’s mouth. “fuck yes.” he bit his lip. “fuck, baby.” his hip snapped before he pulled out, spilling his seed on your back.

“je-jesus.” he pants out, flopping beside you. “your nut is on my back.” you point out. “so?” he shrugs, not understanding why you seem upset. “how am i gonna get it off?!”

he chuckles at how concerned you are then kisses your cheek. “i’ll clean it up tomorrow.”

taglist ;; @iovesia

[annie-creates]

Stupid test mark

Pairing: Lady Lesso x reader (platonic)

Genre: fluff

Words: 800

Note: This request probably took me longer than it shoud have but I hope you'll still like it. Thank you so much for trusting me with it.

The school year was nearing it’s end, which meant the professors put twice as much pressure on you. You could hardly count all the assignments and tests in the last few weeks. You wanted to do good, even better since you studied at the school of evil and it’s students were notoriously known for bad grades and behavior. You wanted to get all the best marks and shove it down the good students’ throats. Your striving was deemed half useless by the grade you got in deadly potions class however. You did your best to study and prepare for the exam, but apparently your best still wasn’t good enough to get at least a C+.

It was all you could think about when you read your books long into the night or absentmindedly rummaged through the food on your plate. Even your skin got paler than usual thanks to the lack of sleep and nutrition. Something the Evers picked on you for. As you went from one class to another, you could hardly pay attention being too concerned with what other grades and classes you could screw up in. You didn’t want your overall mark to drop even more, yet every time you tried to focus on your studies the C- was right in front of your eyes, mocking you and reminding you that you failed and will never be good enough again.

“Y/l/n!” Lady Lesso slammed her cane into your table startling you. “Would you mind paying attention in my class!?”

“I… I’m sorry miss.” You were too intimidated to even look her in the eyes, opting to point your sight into the table instead.

“Eyes on the blackboard.” She warned you, not in the mood to have to reprimand you again.

You did what she said, keeping your eyes on the lecture even through the stinging feeling in them. The last thing you wanted was to disappoint your dean. You already felt like a failure, you didn’t need anyone else to think so about you too. You wanted people to be proud of you, to say “this Never made it in life”. You wanted to be adored and admired, not made fun of and picked on. This all swirled in your mind so loudly you didn’t even notice the ring bell announcing the end of class.

“Y/n?” Lady Lesso called out to you with a noticeably lighter tone. “You seem to be quite unpresent today. Mind enlightening me on why that is?”

“I’m sorry, I just have a lot on my mind. I didn’t want to get distracted in your class.” You tried to avoid any confrontation.

“Nonsense. You are one of my best students and you always pay attention, what got you so unfocused?” Lesso pressed you a bit.

“Well… I got a really bad grade from my potions exam. I studied really hard, but turns out my best isn’t good enough. I’m a failure.” You admitted avoiding her sight.

“Oh my. Do you think I’m bad at my job?” The dean challenged you with a pointed look.

“Uh, what? No, of course not!” How could she think that based on what you said?

“Then where do you get the audacity to say that the best of my Nevers is a failure?” she folded her hands over her chest.

“Um… I… I don’t…” you were at a complete loss of words.

“Don’t you ever think about saying such bullshit again.” Lesso put a comforting hand on your shoulder.

“I’m sorry.” You apologize for like a third time in the last five minutes.

“You are one of the most talented Nevers I’ve seen in a long time. You could be the reason Evil strikes a win once again. I know that’s a lot of pressure for a young mind like yours, but I wouldn’t be saying it if I wasn’t convinced you can handle it.” Lady Lesso declared with a deep look straight into your eyes.

“I… thank you Lady Lesso.” You didn’t really know what to say to all the expectations she had from you, but you hoped to live up to them.

“There’s no need to thank me. You have great things ahead of you, things some stupid test mark can’t take away.” She winked at you, building your confidence up. “Now, I want you to forget about some foolish potions class and focus on the things you have coming up. I have no doubt you’ll be graduating this year on the top of your class with the progress you’ve made.”

“I will. Thank you.” You nod with a sincere smile and leave her class much more enthusiastic.

If Lady Lesso thought you are the one to do great things in life, who were you to say otherwise? She surely must know what she’s talking about.

[bordysbae]

1. "you're my tutor? absolutely not." with OP please!!!

“it’s a date”

owen power x reader

🦋 BORDYSBAE’S 500 CELLY

— ୨୧ —

math. the subject that you hate, and apparently also hates you just as much. the C- that’s sitting in the grade book is haunting you. so, you do the best thing possible. and that’s ask your professor if he’s aware of any math tutors. he sends you the number of one of his students, but forgets to tell you just exactly who the person is.

as you walk into the library, that’s where you see the douchebag hockey player, owen power. you’ve spoken to him a few times, but never have they been very pleasant conversations. he stole your nice pen from you, he’s always begging you for a piece of paper, and he’s also almost always chuckling with his friend in class. owen and his friend sit a couple rows behind you, and they’re such a bother. sure, you can move seats easily, but you mentally claimed that one at the start of the semester. you also refuse to give him the pleasure of seeing you move seats.

“you’re my tutor? absolutely not,” you scoff and turn on your heel, but suddenly a large hand finds it’s way upon your shoulder. you turn around, and see owen towering over you. his brown eyes are looking down at you through the glass lenses resting upon his nasal bridge.

“woah, what was that all about?” owen chuckles slightly.

“no offense, owen, but you’re not really my favorite person. i don’t really want you to see how bad i am at math and laugh in my face with your idiot friends, so i’m just gonna find someone else to tutor me. thanks though,” you falsely smile. you turn around again, leaving owen utterly shocked.

“y/n hold on!” he shouts, immediately realizing he’s in the library after he does so. you turn around and look up at the boy once again.

“yes owen?” you groan.

“just give me a chance please? i hardly even know you, so let me prove to you i’m not this douchebag you think i am,” he smiles hopefully.

you realize what’s on the line here, and agree. you’re only doing this because your grade needs to rise, and definitely not because you have a soft spot for boys with glasses.

you sit across from him at the table, and tell him about the assignments you need help with. before you even realize it, an hour passes by, and owen’s actually a really good tutor. you’re actually starting to understand, so you both decide to take a break for a few minutes. you look up from your scratch paper, and that’s when you see owen already looking at you. “still think i’m such a douche?” he teasingly asks.

you roll your eyes, “no. but you better not go report back to your friends how dumb i am then go and hold it against me,” you say pointing a finger at him.

he lets out a laugh, “i won’t don’t worry. but you’re not even dumb, y/n. you’re learning so quickly i’m impressed. i don’t even think we need a second session, but i wouldn’t mind one,” he shyly says while fidgeting with his fingers.

your eyes widen, “w-what? did you just- ask me out?” you stutter, very taken back by his words.

“um yeah, is that okay? you can say no, it’s just that i’ve thought you were really cute for awhile now,” he nervously smiles.

“of course i’ll go out with you owen. and i’m sorry for assuming you were some asshole hockey player,” you chuckle.

“well how about on saturday i pick you up and we get coffee? maybe then i can return your pen that i stole, and prove i’m not the stereotypical hockey guy,” he cheesily grins.

you gasp at his words, “you still have that pen?! and you remembered?!”

“i was actually planning on giving it back to you the next time we had class, but i totally forgot. it’s been sitting on my desk ever since,” he says with a bashful blush on his cheeks.

“well then, i guess you’ll have to give me it on saturday. it’s a date.”

[izzywantscheesecake]

end of the semester

Pairing: Roommate!Hobie x RoommateGN!Reader🕸🕷🎸 Fandom: Into/Across/Beyond the Spiderverse Quick Synopsis: Your final grade in a class was poor, so Hobie is there to give you a pep talk. Tags: Drabble, Use of Y/N, no specific physical description of the reader (besides maybe slight height mention?), reader can be male/female or none, Hobie and reader can be read as a platonic or romantic pairing, Fluff, Comfort, very slight use of british slang, kind of self indulgent.

It was a chilly Tuesday afternoon, the perfect day to use whatever was in the fridge to make something instead of ordering food like Hobie was doing for the past week.

He grabbed lettuce, already cooked leftover chicken, tomatoes, carrots, and cucumbers and placed everything to the side while he got started on cutting the latter.

It had been a good minute since he washed the veggies and began cutting, but his pace started to get slower and slower.

Something felt off. He just knew it.

Suddenly, the front door swung open, and there you walked in, hands covering your eyes as you let out the loudest groan known to man. 

In an instant, you grabbed onto your bag barely attached to your arm, and threw it towards the side of the ottoman, where it landed and fell over, exposing your pencils to the carpet.

You then kicked off your shoes and plopped yourself face first onto one of the couch pillows.

Hobie redirected his focus from the salad he was making to your pretty depressed state. “What happened to you?”

“I’m dead.”

“Alright, ‘Dead,’ can you explain what’s going on with my roommate right now?”

“Ha ha.” You lifted yourself up from the pillow, with the emotion ‘upset’ practically plastered onto your face like gum on pavement. “Grades were put in today.”

“I know, haven’t checked mine yet. Just trying to enjoy the last meal of my day before it all turns to shit,” Hobie chuckled, pouring his cut cucumbers into the bowl with a knife.

“Yeah.”

“I’m assuming you checked yours?”

“Mhm, I did great in everything, you know, the standard A minuses and A pluses, but..” You paused.

“But?”

“..I did great in everything but calculus.”

“What'd ya get?” 

“C.”

Hobie went silent for a few seconds, before giving you a short round of applause.

“Not bad. At least it wasn’t an F.”

“I know, but..”

“But what?”

“I’m just disappointed ‘cause I worked so hard this semester. I took notes, spoke to teachers, bought extra material and even got a tutor at some point. All that just for a C. Maybe I should’ve studied longer, crammed more..”

You hadn’t even noticed Hobie move from his position and begin to walk towards you as you rambled.

When you snapped back to reality and saw his loud and obnoxious pajama pants standing in front of you, you paused. He kneeled down to match your height, and put both of his hands on your shoulders.

“Listen, Y/N. I know you’ve worked hard, I’ve seen it, but this is way more trivial than you think.”

“I-”

“I know a C isn’t usually considered the best grade and all, but.. It’s calculus. You got stuck with this class. Some people go through the entire four years of schooling without doing calculus, me planning to be one of them. I think the fact you passed this semester with an okay grade and even better grades on everything else is incredible.”

You stayed silent as he searched your eyes, waiting for any type of reaction.

“I’m just saying, don’t beat yourself up about this, love. It’s just one C in a sea of A’s.”

You smiled at him. “I guess that’s true.”

“Bloody right it is.”

He stood up, and walked back towards the mini-kitchen.

“Any road, pop on your PJ’s and find something for us to watch. We’re gonna need a good laugh before we see how I did.”

A/N: can you tell i'm about to fail my classes and this is my last ditch effort in creating happiness before shit hits the fan

[katiekatdragon27]

To my other followers: I am so sorry.

To my two new followers: *comes out with silver platter* Here! Eat uuuuupppp~~~~

This! *slams fists on table then slams face on table* This GODFORSAKEN MOVIE HAS ALTERED MY BRAIN CHEMISTRY I'M NOT JOKING.

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT KIND OF "RECLAIMING MY CHILDHOOD TRAUMA" MINDEST MY BRAIN WAS ON BUT THE OBSESSION WITH THIS PIECE IF MEDIA IS ACTUALLY SCARING ME-

Most stuff below. Lots of rambling.

So. Flatland. It's a good book, and an amazing f*cking movie. I love this goddamned movie so much bro. It's not even like a "good" good movie I just really like it for no reason.

Some lore I have with this book, since I want to talk about it.

I watched this movie the first time when I was in 6th grade. It scared me so bad that I had nightmares about it for a week. I hated the style of the 2D world and was so scared about the amount of murder that I psychologically blocked it all out.

Now in the present (as an adult in college), my friend brought up the movie for us to watch during a movie night. I was way more excited to watch it than I thought I would be (cuz of my previous encounter with it and wanting to "reclaim" the movie), but we only got 4 minutes in before my other friends got bored and decided to watch something else. I sorta dropped it for a bit after that before @/goosesartblog posted their ONE - Flatland crossover and 10000 emotions flew over me. I then proceeded to watch it with my siblings, who also did not care about the movie.

Now, it has become a lifestyle of watching it every single day. Every. Single. Day. It's bad. I can't stop.

And it's on YouTube for free.

AND the book is on YouTube as an audiobook AND the actual PDF book is just there to read.

PLEASE. I NEED PEOPLE TO NOT BE NORMAL WITH ME.

Anyways, actual relevant doodles. These characters are A. Sphere (the objectively best character idgaf) and Carlton Cube(?). I saw something about them being John-locked and thought it was really funny. Also, I saw a meme about the two getting Starbucks or smth during the week I lingered, so here lol.

Some more doodles of concept stuff. Actual A. Square art and some style testing, Hex doodle, and more A. Sphere bc I love him so much. His ass is gay idk if you think I'm wrong just look at him.

Silly little idea I had about if Spherious *(the sphere from the other Flatland movie) and A. Sphere were in the same universe. It's unlikely, but I think Spherious would be the Messiah of 2000 and A. Sphere is the Messiah of 3000. They met at some point where their lives overlapped, and Spherious tried to give A. Sphere advice, to which he was completely ignored. A. Sphere's a bratty teen here and Spherious is a grandpa. They treat their apostles very differently.

Another silly idea I had was that when A. Sphere "died", he was actually picked up by a 4D being named A. Tesseract. He stays with her until the war is over in his dimension, and he is able to see A. Square one last time during his hallucination (that's why A. Sphere's innards are seen). Also also, A. Sphere learns how to treat people better b/c of A. Tesseract and the 4th dimensions' more liberal views on expression and gender. Development for the stupid shiny solid.

Thank you for looking at this mindless rambling. If anyone knows of more Flatland media, please send it to me I'm starving. Expect more, and have a great day :)

[misschanadlerbong]

Chapter 9 - Part 1

Summary: Y/N was not doing so well in her studies so she seeks Clay Jensen's help, but things get a bit heated.

Warnings: make-out

Pairing: Clay Jensen x Reader

Word Count: 2k

< Previous | Next >

The last term of your senior year was going fairly well. The tension between Zach and you were at ease and you both were back to being good sports teammates there was no denying the fact that you guys made the best team.

You found it hard to believe, but it had been a long since you acknowledged that life sucked. But life’s a bitch whenever you feel too happy it bites you in the back.

You got called in by your history teacher and it seemed like you weren’t doing good with your grades, and you needed grades to get into a good college.

“But I’ll have my sports scholarship, so why worry about the grades?” you argued.

“Ms. Y/L/N I understand that you have a sports scholarship but that does not mean that I will be happy to see such low grades in your history test. Y/N you did so well in the first term despite being caught up in sports. I want you to improve your scores as they were. There should always be a backup plan. Let us hope to see a spike in your grades in end-term tests.” The teacher suggested.

To be honest the truth was that you were so caught up with your encounter with Bryce and your breakup with Zach that you almost forgot that you had school to be good at. You made it seem so easy that you could handle it all but, you were just seventeen and you couldn’t handle it all too well. Those sleepless nights of overthinking, thinking how you could have done it differently, what would have happened if you didn’t end up with Bryce in that filthy clubhouse, spending a lot of time in the bathroom crying and the list goes on.

You possessed this power where you can be cheerful and happy from the outside without anyone letting know what’s going on the inside. You never liked the idea of burdening other people with your problems.

Now, you had to move on. Those incidents were not worth anything to put your grades at stake. You decided to ask Clay for help as to who can be a better tutor than the smartest student in the class himself.

The school day ended, and you were going into the parking lot with Jessica where Tony was waiting for you in his car to drop you home. While walking in the hallway towards the gate you came across Clay Jensen. “Jess, you wait for me outside, I gotta talk to Clay about something.” You told Jessica.

“Yeah, I’ll be right outside with Tony.” She spoke.

“Hello, Mr. Nerd.” You greeted Clay.

“Oh, hi! You can see me?” said Clay sarcastically.

You rolled your eyes in embarrassment and said innocently “Okay, I have been a bit busy lately. It’s not like I ghosted you or something we still met at the locker often.”

“Yeah, right right right. You kiss me and then for a month I am just a guy whose locker is neighbors with yours.” You could hear the teasing in his words. He didn’t sound mad he was just being savage which was not unlikely of him.

You sighed heavily, “That is not the point Clay, come on. I need your help. Please listen to me?”

You made your pretty please face which no one has ever been able to deny.

“Yeah, tell me. I was just kidding. Sometimes it feels nice to not be the one getting roasted by Ms. Y/N. Anyway, tell me how I could help you ma’am?” He crossed his arms and was ready to listen attentively.

“I kinda need you to tutor me in History and Maths. I missed a few classes, life’s been pretty rocky, so I wasn’t paying attention. Could you maybe help me?”

“Ah, now I wonder why I got attention from Ms. Y/N/L/N and suddenly I exist for her, of course, it is because you need my help. I get it yeah.” He teased yet again.

“Okay, enough with this sassy treatment Clay, you are lucky I need help from you otherwise I don’t take this shit from anyone. I get it I used you and I am sorry. I am. Please?” you said making your pretty please face again.

“I got homework to do so I might not be able to…”

You cut him off and said “Okay Clay, I have tried to be nice but you’re on the Student Honour Board and you must help every student seeking help. Earlier I asked you as a friend but now I am asking you to perform your duty as a peer. Otherwise, I don’t think so you deserve to be on the Student Board.”

“Damn, you got me. I was just fooling around. I’ll help you. It will be my honor. We can meet at Monéts in an hour.” Finally, he agreed to help.

“No not in an hour, I gotta go home and eat something quickly and come back for practice. How about at 6?” you suggested.

“Oh okay, at 6. But it’ll have to be at my place then. That café turns loud till the evening.”

“Done! Thank you so much, Clay. You are the best.”

You kissed his left cheek in a friendly way which left Clay blushing and staring at the floor with his right hand behind his neck as you walked away.

After practicing you took a quick shower and put on your boyfriend-fit jeans with a black graphic tee on the top and grabbed your leather jacket on your way out. You told your mom that you were going to study at Clay’s place which was the only reason why she would permit you to go to a boy’s place. To study.

On your way to the Jensen’s, you stopped by Monéts to buy a couple of drinks for Clay and yourself. You knocked on the door gently and Clay did not even take a minute to open it seemed like he was eagerly waiting for you.

“Hey Hoodie! See what I brought along with me.”

“Hey Y/N, aren’t we supposed to study?” He inquired.

“Okay, Jensen sue me for needing caffeine while studying.” Sarcasm flows with your words.

“Let me that that.” He offered to take your jacket like a gentleman.

With that, he led the way, and you followed him to the round dining table in the kitchen. You placed the drinks on the table and took out your books. Clay peeped into the drinks curiously, wondering what I could have brought.

You made his work easy by giving him his drink and taking yours, “Here, Hot Chocolate for you and Triple Mocha for me.”

“How come I don’t get coffee?” he asked.

“Simple. Because you don’t drink it.” You answered.

He looked surprised by the fact that you knew that information about him. He further inquired “How’d you know that?”

You tried to make it seem normal as you said “I uh… might have read your fan fiction about Alien Killer Robots and Percy is not a Coffee guy either so I gathered that you won’t be too because you resonate with Percy a lot. You are just like him, brave, courageous, empathetic, and compassionate.”

“You read my fiction???... But didn’t you say that you have no interest in Aline Killer Robots and they creep you out?”

Damn this man had many questions, “Okay, I thought of giving it a try you know starting with the fiction, so I am ready for the real thing. And to be honest I must admit, great writing. You made me fall for the whole Alien concept and I might even borrow those comics you recommend to me earlier.”

You could see the pride on Clay’s face, he was so happy that you called him Percy. You knew he was his favorite character, and he would fight anyone who does not like him.

You both sat down on the wooden chairs and Clay started with American history. It seemed like the house had no one except you two until you heard the door being opened by someone.

“Clay, I am home.” The woman spoke.

That someone was Clay’s mom, Lainie Jensen. She was surprised to see an unexpected guest, but she was so sweet. She instantly brought a huge welcoming smile to her face.

Clay looked a little awkward as he was not expecting either of his parent too early.

“Mom, I thought you were working.”

“Hello to you too Clay. I brought the work home. By the way, who is this beautiful girl?” asked her mom in the sweetest way you could imagine. You always liked when people appreciated you.

Before Clay could say anything, you stretched your hand for a handshake and said “Y/N, Y/Ln. It is so nice to meet you Mrs, Jensen.”

“Oh, so she is the famous Y/N I have heard so much about.” She gasped.

Clay got all awkward again and said, “Not so much about you, you know just a little bit. It’s part of their helicopter parenting where I have to tell them about my day and all. Mom if you would please excuse us, we have to do some studying.”

Clay grabbed all the books, and you picked up your backpack along with the drinks and he led the way toward a narrow staircase. We did not even climb three steps when his mom called for him again.

“Clay, honey, please remember to keep the door open 3 inches”

You tried your best not to laugh but could not help it and let out a small giggle. Clay got embarrassed as he looked at you and then at his mom and said, “Stop humiliating me in front of my friends, mom.” He climbed the stairs in frustration and opened the door for you to his bedroom.

He had a small bedroom but not so small to accommodate a couch in one corner of the room and a queen size bed in the other corner attached to the wall. His study table was just beside the window giving the perfect street view. His walls were dominated by posters of various things this Alien Killer Robots and The Arcade Fire. As he closed the door leaving three inches open as instructed by his mom your eyes fell upon this beautiful doodle of tapes. His bedroom was aesthetically grey which you found soothing and cozy.

Over the span of an hour, you both shifted from the couch to the study table, to the bed and finally, you both settled down on the floor resting your backs on the other side of the bed. Clay was sitting on the side closer to the door and you were sitting near his nightstand.

“So Civil War happened in which year?” asked Clay taking my test.

“1851?” you answered.

“No, Y/N it’s 61”

You groaned in frustration “Why can’t Damon Salvatore be my history tutor? Like he lived the history, he was even part of the war.”

“Don’t you think Damon’s toxic?” asked Clay and jealousy was visible on his face.

You cross-questioned him “Don’t you think Katherine’s a bitch?”

“Yeah, but she’s hot.” Said Clay making an argument.

You patted Clay’s cheek and said with sympathy “Thank you so much for proving my point, Clay.” It didn’t take long for Clay to realize what you meant, and you both laughed loudly.

But suddenly there was an unexpected silence in the room. You felt some kind of tension between the two of you, something that was never experienced between the two of you. It was like a silence that spoke a magnitude of language. You felt a force that was drawing you towards Clay. You took deep breaths and cupped Clay’s face with one hand moving him closer to you. You looked into his eyes and he gave a slight nod.

You leaned in to kiss Clay. Luckily, he started kissing back and you both sunk into the kiss. You still held his face by his jawline keeping him closer and moved towards him decreasing the gap between you two, meanwhile, Clay slid one of his legs to shut the door without breaking the kiss.

You were so impressed by this act; he did this so effortlessly. As you sunk more into the kiss it was getting hot until the door flung open and you stopped abruptly.

A/N: Damn! I wonder who could that be? it's sus. I promise there's a part 2 to it so stay tuned.

Shower your love by liking and commenting on the post. Refrain from copying, plagiarism, or posting on any other platform.

THANK YOU!!!

P.S.: I also upload on Wattpad @immafreakingmoonstone, feel free to check out my account :)

[bitletsanddrabbles]

Bring Back 'Good Enough'

When I was in school, my parents insisted that I get at least 'C's in school. If I fell below that, we'd work harder on homework and such, but I don't think I ever had to. As long as I got 'C's, that was 'satisfactory'. That was 'average'. That was good enough. And so I got 'C's in the subjects I didn't have a natural aptitude for (see: math) and got 'A's in the subjects I did (see: Art & English) and 'B's in between.

I remember the first time one of my friends told me she had to get straight 'A's or she'd lose privileges. Want an allowance? Straight 'A's. Want to go out with friends? Straight 'A's. I couldn't believe it. No one was perfect all the time. No one was perfect in every subject. I was in elementary school at the time, and I understood this. Why couldn't adults? It was later made clear to me that the logic here was that 'student' was your job and you had to do the work to get your pay. I didn't quite buy it, but what did I know? I was ten. Student was the only job I'd ever had.

My first roommate out of college was a good friend from high school who had always been an A-B student. Normally she got straight 'A's, but occasionally something would bump her down one grade. She was fine with that. Then she got to uni. Finals week stressed her out to the point she got stress hives. When she got her first ever 'D' she almost had an anxiety attack. Almost. She was just strong enough to close her eyes, take a deep breath and say "Fuck it, a D is passing! I don't need this for my major anyway!"

The two of us worked at JoAnn Fabric when we graduated. Neither of us realized that the working world had gone from "get a degree and they'll train you to do anything" to "do a million internships so you have the two to five years experience required for an entry level job" while we were in school. We weren't overjoyed by the discovery, but we were both too burnt out on school to go back and funny thing - all of the internships we could find were for students. So we sold craft stuff and every once in awhile a random customer would be asked to take a phone survey. The options were Highly Dissatisfied, Dissatisfied, Neither Satisfied or Dissatisfied, Satisfied, and Highly Satisfied. Once a month, we'd get a district report card showing what results all of the local stores had received. I remember one month we had 25% Neither Satisfied or Dissatisfied, 50% Satisfied, and 25% Highly Satisfied. I was so proud! No other store in the district had a 75% satisfaction rating! One store even had a Highly Dissatisfied, but not us!

...we got raked across the coals for being the worst store in the district. Why? Because even the store with a Highly Dissatisfied had managed to get more than 25% Highly Satisfied. What was wrong with us? I protested. Who's going to give a 'Highly Satisfied' when they come in for a spool of thread and find it easily? That's just basic satisfaction. Just because we hadn't been in a position to jump through hoops for as many people didn't mean we were worse.

No one listened to me. I had coworkers - women old enough to be my mother - hang their shaking heads and say "I can't believe we only got 25% Highly Satisfied".

And that's when I realized what sort of a world the parents who raised their kids as straight 'A' students because 'that was their job' had created: a world with no 'good enough'. A world where satisfactory wasn't satisfactory. A world with only 'the best' and 'better than the best', and yeah, I was younger than the adults, the people in charge, but I was also a bloody English major. The only math I'd excelled at - ever - was logic. My mother was a chemist who had taught me how a basic 'if than' statement worked.

I KNEW THAT THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS 'BETTER THAN THE BEST'.

Without so much as putting the Sorting Hat on our heads, we had all sorted Sparklypoo and now our hair was coming in mouse brown at the roots because there can only be one 'best'.

What's more, now I had a job other than 'student'. Now I actually earned a wage and funny thing: I was a straight 'A' worker, but I got paid as much as the 'D's. Alright, I had better opportunities for advancement, in theory. Except that there wasn't any room for advancement. Similarly, I had a better shot at a better job, but all of the better jobs wanted 2-5 years experience for an entry level position and I couldn't do that without going back to school. Now, I did eventually get out of there and get jobs that paid better, but where they better? At JoAnn I got to play with yarn all day and teach people how to cast on. At the pest control company I got to deal with customers trying to rip me off or claiming (not always inaccurately) that our technicians had ripped them off. I got sent to do a job that wasn't mine, stuck in a truck with people who had sometimes been hired that day. My boss tried to retroactively implement rules and threaten to fire you for breaking them. It still didn't give me sleep issues, stress hives, and anxiety that made it feel like I was having a heart attack like the legal litigation outsourcing company.

So no, they weren't better. They were, in fact, much worse, but each of my friends' parents would have approved of them and considered them higher grade jobs than retail. After all, JoAnn had no health insurance while the outsourcing company had shitty health insurance that took $100 out of each pay check and left me with the same taxable income as the pest control outfit despite making $2 an hour more on paper. Clearly an improvement.

And now I'm back in retail and I'm still a straight 'A' worker struggling to take up the slack from the 'D' workers who earn the same amount as me (assuming that we have the same seniority). And yeah, I have a better shot at management than anyone else, but I don't want to be a manager, so there's that. And people look at me and go "What? You have a degree? What are you doing here? You could get a good job!"

And I say that I have a good job. It may not be the best (it is retail, after all), but I am making more money than I have anywhere else. My benefits are good. I like my coworkers. The commute is under 20 minutes. My managers are fighting to keep me in my current position and schedule, despite some pressure to change things.

I will never have a perfect job, but for now at least, this one is good enough. And the straight 'A' parents would be horrified about that, but you know what?

The first successful suicide attempt my Dad ever went to as a Fire Department Chaplin was a teenage boy who thought he'd got a 'B' on a test.

I survived long enough to have a good enough job.

We need to learn to be satisfied with 'good enough' and only move on when that's not satisfactory anymore.

[janetbrown711]

A Better (not) Son or Daughter

MK has been acting like a "goody two shoes" at school and it really starts to get on Mei's nerves until she finally reaches her breaking point

tw for the besties fighting, minor fantasy racism, and anxious mental breakdowns

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 8.5 Part 9 Part 10 Part 10.5 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15

Ao3 Link

Mei wasn’t liking how MK was acting at school as of late.

There was just something… weird about it– something wrong about it.

Like how during math class, he started not glancing at Mei’s answers, or at lunch he’d keep quiet, or how during PE he just started laughing along to Qiang’s stupid jokes– and on top of all that she could actively see him hiding or stopping his numerous little fidgets he did during the day.

It was weird!

Of course the teachers didn’t seem to notice the negative behavior, even praising him for “being more focused” which was totally weird because if Mei knew one thing it was that her best friend struggled with focusing just as much as she did (if not more). Of course, his grades were still not the greatest, but he was starting to get C+s and B-s, which made Pigsy proud.

MK really liked making Pigsy proud, so at least he was happy, but… but still. It was weird, and Mei didn’t like it.

What probably frustrated her the most was how she couldn’t even talk about it without sounding crazy or jealous. Like– “Wow Mei, way to be happy that your best friend is getting good grades and is getting your guardian’s approval. You’re such a good friend.”

But it was off! It was weird! It was so very not normal. Annoyingly so.

She wondered if perhaps Qiang was blackmailing him or something, or if it had to do with the whole “Career Day” thing since she noticed the behavior had started right after winter break. Maybe it had to do with Pigsy saying he now “trusted them enough to not need him to drop them off”, which was a lie if Mei ever heard one, but even then she couldn't say why that'd make MK change his behavior. Plus, MK was completely unresponsive to her questioning, especially if it was during class, so Mei was left to wonder all on her own.

Yippee.

“If you keep twisting those noodles you’re going to take the whole bowl, kid,” Pigsy commented with a chuckle.

“Oh! Sorry, Piggy,” Mei apologized, immediately releasing the poor sesame noodles back into the bowl.

“You got a test today or something? Your face is as scrunched as my ma’s playing mahjong,” He laughed a little more, but this time more at the memory than her.

“No, I’m just… thinkin’,” She glanced at MK, who was eating peacefully with his legs swinging (unlike how they’d be at school).

MK suddenly stopped though, looking at her and pointing out, “Uh, yeah we do. We have a history test,” with a mouth full of noodles.

“MK, don’t talk with your mouth full, please,” Pigsy massaged his forehead.

MK laughed and nodded before swallowing. “We have a history test today.”

Right. One of the last ones before school ends. A last ditch effort for Mei to get her grades up, but she wasn’t all that hopeful.

Pigsy glanced at Mei. “Did you know that?”

“Kinda,” She admitted, looking down at her bowl and poking it with her chopsticks.

“You study for it at all?” He then asked.

Mei shrugged. Unless the history had dragons actively involved, she wasn’t interested. And the unit right now was just on some dead chairman guy they were all supposed to really care about, but Mei’s dad had never liked him much, so she didn’t either… whatever his name was.

“Gotta study for these things if you want your grades to go up, kiddo,” Pigsy pointed out while washing some of the dishes from breakfast.

“I know, I know,” Mei lowered her head, picking up a single seed and trying to squish it between her chopsticks. “History’s just kinda… boring.”

“Yeesh, don’t let Tang hear that,” Pigsy joked but Mei could only crack a weak smile.

Pigsy sighed, turning off the sinking and looking at her. “Just try your best, kid. That's all you can do.”

Mei wasn’t really sure she could do her best right now… Heck, she hadn’t really been doing her best since before her parents died. After all, if she were doing her best, she'd be perfect and if she’d been perfect, her parents would still be here.

“Okay,” she said instead, since it made Pigsy happier to think she agreed.

He smiled at her softly, ruffling her hair before going off to grab his keys while Mei shoved a few more bites before throwing the rest in the trash and rinsing out the bowl, which MK copied.

“I can let you copy off of my test if you want, Mei,” Her friend suggested, smiling all innocently.

Mei couldn’t help but roll her eyes with an aggressive huff, making MK step back and give her a weird look, but Mei moved on before it could be acknowledged with words.

She went into her room, shoving a few loose papers into her bag without care just as Pigsy called asking if they were ready to go.

Mei zipped up her bag, giving a glance to the shrine to her parents in the corner of her room. “Yeah! Just gimme a sec!”

Her parents were looking at her with a perfectly neutral expression, their stance and position perfectly neutral towards each other. At least, that’s what it looked like at first, but Mei remembered that photo shoot. It was for a big promotion at her Mama’s company and she had spent hours making sure Mei looked absolutely perfect. In fact, if she focused really hard on her Mama’s dark eyes, she could see her not quite looking at the camera, but at Mei with this look of… expectation. And hope, maybe.

Or maybe she was just paranoid from staring at dead people instead of getting ready for school.

Mei sighed, shoving a water bottle and pencil case into the sidepockets of her backpack.

She shouldn’t be feeling this way. It had been seven months. Her parents loved her. Or love her, if there’s some kind of afterlife or if ghosts are real. But either way, there was love. Mei was loved. It was cool.

Mei ran out of the room and joined her guardian and MK by the door.

“You two ready for today?” Pigsy asked, hand on the doorknob.

“Yes sir, Mr. Pigsy,” MK gave a big, bright-eyed grin.

“As I’ll ever be,” Mei bit her cheek, and with that the three of them were off.

.o0o.

Drop-offs were more like a ding-dong-ditch these days, with Pigsy making sure to step off the subway with them and make sure they got to the stairs okay before watching them disappear, and only then would be begin waiting for his next train (which Mei only knew because sometimes they’d go back down and watch him). If anything, it told Mei he was totally lying about trusting them, but she knew not to confront him since adults were usually sensitive about those things.

It didn’t make the walk to school from the station any easier though, and Mei tried kicking a pebble all the way to make up for being kind of annoyed at MK for no real reason.

“I– um… I could also help you study before class starts… if you want,” MK suggested, and Mei kicked the pebble harder.

“I’m fine. I don’t need help,” She focused really hard on a second kick that sent it across the crosswalk right before a car drove by.

“That’s true, you are really smart,” MK smiled at her but she ignored it, looking both ways before crossing the street, which MK quickly followed.

Mei continued kicking the rock.

“The test is also stuff I mostly knew from my old school– which means you must really, really know it if you’ve been here for so long,” MK continued trying to be all light hearted and stuff, but it just made Mei’s skin crawl, and for once in her life, she was relieved when they arrived at the school.

Instead of leaving the rock, she picked it up and put it in her skirt pocket.

Mei then looked around the yard, seeing some kids playing hopscotch, others doing homework, and a few playing a trading card game. However, Mei couldn’t have been less interested in any of that and so just made her way to Miss Yang’s classroom, which MK scurried to follow like a lost little duck.

Mei greeted the teacher with nothing more than a curt bow before going to her desk, immediately taking out a pencil from her bag and drawing on a crack in the wood.

“Mei, you’re going to get in trouble for drawing on the desks again,” MK whispered, glancing at Miss Yang, but she was busy on her computer.

“Yeah, yeah,” Mei huffed her bangs out of her eyes.

“Mei, Pigsy really wouldn’t like it if–”

“Why do you care so much about what he thinks now, hm? You’re like some little goody-two-shoes– makes me feel sick,” Mei rolled her eyes and scribbled harder.

MK didn’t speak for the rest of the morning period.

Math breezed by uneventfully, with MK volunteering and getting answers wrong like he always did, and Mei trying to not let that annoy her. Reading was boring, science was alright, and then it was time for the history test.

Mei groaned as the “pass-er out-er” handed her her paper, and a part of her thought about writing an insult, folding it into a paper airplane and sending it her teacher’s way, but the fact that Pigsy and MK would be disappointed in her? It was a bit much.

Well, MK’s whole thing felt like “a bit much” to be honest. Like– since when did he expect things from her? Why was he always wanting her to be on her “best behavior”? Since when was he the leader here?

She thought again of her parent’s photo and felt her face get hot with shame as she looked down at her paper. She was immediately bombarded with dates and questions she couldn’t remember if she tried, which only made her face get hotter and hotter. She glanced at MK, who seemed laser focused on the top question about Mao Zhedong’s birthday, and she looked away before he could look back.

Well… at least the test was multiple choice, so she had a 25% chance of getting right by guessing, so Mei filled out random answers before flipping her paper over and resting her head, waiting for the “pass-er out-er” to become the “take-er away-er”.

After five or so minutes, MK coughed, and when Mei looked he was sliding his paper towards her. Mei glared at him, which just made him look confused which made her get more annoyed, and so Mei just closed her eyes once more.

It was another five or so minutes before their tests were taken away and they were dismissed for PE, which also went by uneventfully– until it was yard time.

Mei was still angry by the time they were released outside, and MK was still following her around because despite all that, she was all he had and he knew it.

And, well… that kind of went the other way around too.

But Mei wasn't in the mood for MK today, getting in line for tetherball, a game MK hated, and tapping her foot impatiently as she watched.

“Uh– Mei? I-I don't really… like this game, can we do something else?” MK asked, looking at the other students with unease.

“It's not always about you, MK,” Mei said bitterly, making MK frown.

“Well– yeah, I know, it's just– can't we play something else? Like jump rope or wall ball or something?” MK offered.

“Nope. Tetherball. You. Me,” Mei squinted at the red ball as class athlete, Kija, managed to successfully wrap it all the way around the pole, beating his opponent. Another boy rose up to the challenge, making Mei next.

“You and me? That means you'd have to beat Kija,” MK pointed out.

Mei scoffed. “I've beaten him before, I'll be fine.”

“If you say so,” MK eyed her a bit, but she didn't take her eyes off the ball, watching as Kija and the other boy went back and forth, back and forth, before Kija used both hands to shoot the ball at impossible heights for the average student to fight and he won yet again.

Mei smirked as she stepped up to the plate. “You ready to dance, Kija?”

Kija laughed. “You only won because the whistle blew.”

“Keep telling yourself that and maybe you'll finally get an award for being a ball hog,” Mei cracked her knuckles and Kija growled and served.

The two of them went back and forth, with Mei attempting an angle shot, but Kija managed to snag the chain since he was a bit taller than her. Thankfully though the chain was metal and in stopping her move his wrist was weakened, meaning Mei could go in for a fast ball. If he didn't recover in time, victory would be hers.

Kids watched in awe as Mei hit the ball with overwhelming speed and precision, and she laughed as Kija missed again and again until right at the last possible moment he managed to recover and struck back.

Some kids booed as Mei growled in frustration, hitting the ball as quick as she could, determined to teach this punk a lesson and wipe that stupid smug look off his face.

There was a bit of back and forth, with Mei getting dangerously close to losing her lead here and there but she remained vigilant. After five minutes of intense competition, she managed to wind the ball all the way around the pole and all the kids watching cheered in her honor.

“I don't hear any whistles this time, Kija,” Mei smirked and crossed her arms.

Kija growled. “You're gonna regret that, pony girl,” He threatened, shoving her before storming away to play some other game.

Mei rolled her eyes, taking Kija's place and taking the ball as MK hesitated to step to the plate.

“C'mon, MK, we don't have all day,” she rolled her eyes.

“I– do I really have to, Mei? Seeing you win was fun enough, but I don't really–”

“Just shut up and play, MK,” Mei glared, and MK stood upright in alarm.

She didn’t even give him time to relax before she served, hitting the ball with all the rage and aggression in her heart, causing MK duck and cover his head.

“C’mon, MK, stop being such a coward!” Mei glared, hitting the ball again.

“Mei, stop!” MK shouted at her.

Mei knew she should. That she was freaking MK out and it wasn’t nice. That Pigsy might actually get mad at her if he knew. But her anger felt like a flame in her chest, and she hit the ball again.

“Woah, she’s really going for it.”

“Is she glowing?”

“Why doesn’t Xiaotian fight back?”

“She is glowing! Woah!”

“Someone take a picture!”

Kids were gawking all around Mei, but she was still too angry to pay any attention to the green aura surrounding her and making her heart pound. This time when the ball came her way, Mei grabbed it point blank and let it go before grabbing MK’s collar and dragging him across the play yard until she reached the gate and shoved him against it.

“What the heck is wrong with you, MK?! You’re acting like a crazy person!” Mei shouted at him.

“Me?!” MK was completely lost. “You’re the one attacking me a-and acting like I’m an evil clone or something!”

“You’re the one who’s all obsessed with being all goody-two-shoes-y and getting good grades and not fighting back! What happened?!” Mei twisted his collar tighter and her free hand curled into a fist.

“Mei, stop! Please!” MK noticed and started to cry. “I-I just wanna be good f-for Pigsy! Promise!”

“Stop lying! There’s more, there has to be,” Mei shook him and dared to raise her fist, making MK clench his eyes shut.

“I-I-I’m not lying, Mei, I would never lie to you!” MK sobbed, sending waves of guilt crashing through Mei, but she remained in a fighting stance.

“What’s different, MK?! Hm? All studious, all perfect, thinking that’ll make him happy,” She growled and MK opened his eyes to look confused.

“H-huh? I-I’m not– I’m not perfect, I just wanna be good ‘cuz–” MK glanced around at the other students, before looking back at Mei and deciding to whisper. “‘Cuz Pigsy, he– Qiang’s Dad– he threatened we’d be kicked out, a-and he said things, mean things, about his past a-and he cried, a-and I don’ wanna lose him too, Mei, I don’ wanna,” MK couldn’t speak anymore, choking on his sobs, and Mei let go of his collar, allowing him to sink to the ground.

Mei’s anger evaporated in an instant, only leaving her with an empty, panicked feeling as her chest rose and fell at a feverish pace and kids started whispering around her again.

“Aw man, she stopped glowing…”

“What happened? Did she beat him?”

“Gross! She looks like a demon!”

“I wanted them to fight!”

“This was so lame.”

“Their dad is that pig demon? No wonder.”

“Boo! I wanted to see her punch him!”

Mei stumbled back, finally noticing the hot tears streaming down her face. She looked down at her best friend, who brought his knees to his chest and just kept crying and crying and rocking back and forth. “MK– I– we aren’t–”

Just then she remembered Pigsy’s words all those months ago and it echoed in her mind like a broken record.

“If we slip up like this– get into one too many fights, or get the cops called too often– then you’ll probably never, ever see me or MK ever again.”

A soft “no…” escaped her lips and she fell to her knees, getting dirt all over her knee-high socks.

“I-I– I didn’t mean– I-I just– Y-you were– but now– M’so sorry MK, m’so, so sorry,” Mei began to weep and buried her head in her hands. “I-I ruined it– I-I ruin everything– M’so sorry.”

Mei continued to sob, but briefly stopped when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her. She startled at first, until she realized it was MK, and hugged him back, crying into his shoulder.

“I-I don’ wanna lose Piggy either, MK– m’so sorry,” She sniffled and tried to explain herself.

“I-it’s okay– I just– w-we can’t be mean, you know? W-we need to be nice and happy for Piggy,” MK hugged her a little tighter, and she could tell he was shaking too.

“I– yeah, we– we can be good for ‘im, right? We can be good kids, I know we can,” Mei tried to smile but her bottom lip wobbled beyond her control so she squeezed MK tighter as he nodded in silent agreement.

She felt like such an idiot. What was she doing getting all mad at MK for? What did she hope to accomplish by threatening to punch him? She was supposed to be smarter than this, Pigsy already told her what would happen if she got too rowdy. She was supposed to have listened, but she never listened. That’s why her house burned down and that’s why her parents were dead, she could never just listen–

They’d probably get called to the office again. And then it’d be over– it’d be one fight too many and Mei would never see MK or Pigsy or Mr. Tang ever again and be dragged to the bottom of the ocean to be with her weird mystical uncle or whatever.

“M’so sorry, MK, I didn’t mean to, m’so sorry,” Mei repeated so quietly she wasn’t sure he could hear over his own crying.

The pair of them stayed huddled by the fence crying until the whistle blew and the two of them wiped their faces and clothes as best they could and headed back to their classroom, praying to every god or star in the heavens that they wouldn’t get called up and everything would be okay.

But, no. As soon as everyone was back in their seats and ready for their science class, there was a phone call and Mei and MK were sent down.

Mei kept her face stoic and unreadable, like she had practiced back with her parents despite wanting to cry. MK wasn’t nearly as lucky though, since he had never practiced so his tears just streamed down in a hot mess and all Mei could do was hold his hand and urge him onward until they were waiting in the familiar chairs that should’ve had a plaque with their names on it by now.

They weren’t called in for a while, so Mei kept her eyes on the old clock as it ticked seconds away at an agonizing pace while holding MK’s hand.

After a while though, she whispered, “M’so sorry, MK… I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“I know, Mei, I know.”

Mei clenched her eyes shut and took a shaky breath. “I’ll miss you.”

MK could only squeeze her hand and cry more.

After seven minutes, MK was called in first, though he almost refused to go in without Mei. They didn’t have a choice though, and the two were separated.

Mei buried her head in her hands and stayed that way until it was her turn, only catching a glimpse of her best friend before heading in.

“Miss Long, I can’t say it’s a pleasure to see you again this time,” Headmaster Jiangxi folded his hands and placed them on the table.

“...Are you gonna call Pigsy?” Mei asked, taking her seat.

“It is school policy, Mei. You of all people should be very aware of th–”

“I didn’t mean to–!” Mei interrupted. “It wasn’t even a fight really, I was just– I was so mad– I’d never really hurt MK, not with what I know now– please don’t tell CPS and have us separated or Piggy arrested or expel us, please, please, please, please,” Mei got on her knees and begged, clearly startling the man.

“Miss Long, there’s no need for kowtowing, please,” He urged and Mei took her seat again, face red and hot.

Headmaster Jiangxi took a long breath. “Miss Long, we were never going to expel you or Mr. Qi over this–”

“R-really? What about Mr. T–” Mei slapped a hand over her mouth.

“‘Mr.’ who?” The man looked at her with a hint of concern.

Mei lowered her eyes. “MK told me about something… Mr. Tao said…”

“Ah…” The headmaster glanced at his computer with unease. “I had a feeling something like that would occur. I meant to send an email to dissuade him from presenting, but…” he shook his head. “No matter now, there’s no need for Mr. Tao to know. You said it yourself, it never turned into a fight, did it?”

Mei shook her head. “I just got really, really mad– some kids even said I was glowing, but I didn’t mean to! I swear, I was never gonna actually hurt MK, I just– I was so mad…”

Headmaster Jiangxi nodded to himself as she spoke, typing a few things into his computer and clicking some others. “Am I correct in assuming you’re very familiar with the school’s policy on bullying and violence?”

“Yeah, I remember breaking Qiang’s nose,” Mei confirmed, trying not to smile at the memory.

“In normal circumstances, the two of you would be given lunch detention for a week, on top of a phone call home, but seeing as there was no actual fighting between the two of you and all has already been resolved I see no need for this to go on any records– so long as you swear to be on your best behavior for the rest of the school year, understood Miss Long?” Headmaster Jiangxi gave her a look and Mei’s jaw dropped.

“I– yes sir! I promise! I’ll be the best darn kid in this whole academy, I won’t let you down, I promise,” Mei couldn’t help but beam.

“Don’t get too excited yet, Miss Long. We still have more to discuss,” He reminded, and Mei forced herself to sit back and tried to take a breath, though couldn’t stop her legs from swinging happily.

She waited as he typed a few more things, clicked a dozen more, typed a bit more, and took another breath.

“Your… ‘glowing’... is that something you can control?” He asked.

“Oh, um… I mean it really only happens when I’m really, really scared or angry. I’m just surprised my ‘inner dragon’ didn’t make an appearance too, haha,” She tried to laugh, but Headmaster Jiangxi clearly didn’t find it funny.

“Right… Well, rumors like that are going to be hard to quell, Miss Long, especially with your guardian situation,” He explained.

“But it’s because I’m a dragon, not because I’m a demon. I’m not going to hurt anyone,” Mei frowned.

“I know, Miss Long, but– well– you have brought harm to students in the past–”

“Qiang deserved it,” She muttered.

Her principal gave her a look. “I’m not saying he didn’t, but what I am saying is that I recommend you get this anger of yours under control before it grows beyond my control, understood?”

Mei slowly nodded. “Yeah, I think I get it.”

“You’re a smart girl, Miss Long. You can go on to do many great and important things like your parents always dreamed; you just have to make the right choices,” The man smiled at her softly, and Mei felt her stomach drop.

“R-right, yes. I can– I will. I promise,” Mei stood and bowed.

“I’m glad we could come to an understanding, Miss Long. Your family has always been good to this academy and it would be a shame for us to part,” He nodded at her.

“Yes sir, I understand,” Mei nodded back, fiddling with her skirt. “Am I free to go, sir?”

The headmaster nodded once again. “Have a good day, Miss Long.”

“You too, Headmaster Jiangxi,” Mei meant it as she bowed yet again and stepped back into the outside world.

Well that was strange. But hey, Mei would take what she could get, especially if it meant they weren’t going to be separated after all.

Mei said a quick prayer to her ancestors as a “thank you”, and hurried back to class.

.o0o.

The rest of the day was as Headmaster Jiangxi had warned. Students whispered and kept looking back at MK and Mei– especially stupid Qiang– but Mei was okay because she and MK weren’t going anywhere and that meant there was nothing they could do to hurt her.

During the cleaning period, MK and Mei stayed by each other's sides and swept the classroom in complete silence, which got them a compliment from Miss Yang. It was equally strange for the both of them, but it was a strange day.

Both of them were flooded with relief when the bell finally rang and they were free to board the city bus and ride to Pigsy’s Noodles.

“So… what did Headmaster Jiangxi say to you?” Mei asked, adjusting her backpack as she looked out the window.

“He had a lot of questions I couldn’t answer for a while because I… just kinda kept crying and begging not to be taken away, haha,” MK admitted, messing with the carpeted seating. “He said he wouldn’t call Piggy though, and after that I was able to explain how you were just having a bad day and you didn’t even hurt me and we’re okay now, you know?”

“Ahhh, yeah that explains it,” Mei pieced together. “I was wondering why he was so mellow about the whole thing. I guess I owe you one.”

MK laughed a little. “Maybe… but I’m just glad we’re okay and Pigsy’s okay too.”

“Yeah, me too…” Mei looked down. “I… I really messed up. I don’t know why I got so angry, I just– I don’t know… I guess some part of me thinks Pigsy likes you more than me and you switching to act all good and quiet kinda threw me, m’sorry,” she confessed.

“Hey, it’s okay,” MK smiled and held her hand. “I’m not mad at you or anything, I really should’ve said something sooner about Mr. Tao, but… yeah,” he laughed a little, which Mei copied.

“Still friends?” Mei asked, offering her hand to shake.

“The bestest,” MK shook it and the two of them smiled and laughed the rest of the bus ride before arriving at the familiar noodle shop.

“Hey, you two,” Pigsy smiled as they walked in, drying off a glass with a rag like everything was perfectly fine. “How’d the test go?”

“Oh, right– that did happen today,” Mei completely forgot about everything before recess.

Pigsy raised an eyebrow. “Busy day?”

MK and Mei exchanged a look. “You… could say that.”

This, of course, just made Pigsy even more confused.

“Why? What happened? Some kids get into a fight or something?” Pigsy guessed, moving on to drying off a bowl.

Mei shook her head. “Not really, but it did get kinda close.”

“Yeah, but everything’s okay now and no one really got hurt,” MK smiled at her.

“Ah, I see,” Pigsy nodded to himself. “I gotta say, it is kind of refreshing to hear about kids getting into fights that aren’t you two,” He laughed a little.

“I beat Kija in tetherball–!” Mei blurted out, immediately diverting the conversation.

“Really? That’s impressive, kiddo. Congrats,” Pigsy gave her a smile before going to put the bowl and cup away.

“Smooth,” MK whispered and Mei rolled her eyes, pushing him a little.

It wasn’t long after that that Mr. Tang came back from a long day of studying, and soon the conversation became all about him and the Monkey King– not that Mei minded by any means.

Because this was normal for them. This was right for them.

Things were so right and normal right now and Mei wouldn’t give that up for the world.

[disneylanddilettante]

Your response to my poll made me realize another question: what even is considered a theme nowadays?

Like, the Disneyland Railroad certainly feels themed, but at the same time lacks a lot of things generally associated with a themed ride now--deep lore, specific characters, IP connection, etc. Likewise other "environmental" type rides like the Rivers of America attractions and the Peoplemover. Is detailed ambient environment enough for a theme?

I feel like the IP-mania of current parks has really affected the concept of a "themed attraction", as now there seems to be the expectation that a ride connects to a larger story rather than being an experience on its own. There also simultaneously seems to be an "E tickets only" mindset where it's about putting everything into one or two star attractions while cutting out anything more "environmental" or "ambient" (I'm thinking especially of the cut Bantha Peoplemover for Galaxy's Edge).

I was curious if you had any thoughts on that front.

To me, the themes in a theme park revolve around setting and mood. As narrative art forms go, theme park rides aren't good at delivering a plot centered on complex characters--they just don't have the time for that. But because riders are there, physically present in the scenes, they're gangbusters at delivering emotional beats and sensory immersion*. I think it's a pity that the OG Imagineers used words like "storytelling" to convey this sense of design, because now everyone misunderstands it to mean that a themed ride should have a specific plot, and none of the OG Imagineers are present any longer to correct them.

I'm old enough to remember when all the really top-notch attractions revolved around original themes and film IP was at "C-ticket"** or lower. You didn't go to Disneyland because there was a hot new ride based on a hot new movie--you went because it was Disneyland and there were all these amazing and unique rides under one roof, so to speak. I cannot figure out when and how and why the public's expectations shifted so that they thought the place ought to begin and end with film IP. I know Eisner made that lame soundbite about "turning movies into rides" sometime in the 80s, but did that drive the expectations or was he responding to something that was already in the air?

*I'm honestly getting kinda tired of this word, especially insofar as it implies it is entirely the theme park's responsibility to facilitate your suspension of disbelief and if you have to engage your own imagination to that end at any point, it's not "immersive" enough. I'm using it slightly differently in the sentence though so that's okay.

**We need better terminology for grading attractions. The ticket books haven't been used in over 40 years and the letter grades of given attractions were never fixed.

[viktheviking1]

Blitz and Stolas sat at the only table in the room, forced there together by fate, destiny, and some f**ker who thought it'd be funny. They hadn't really spoken since they ended the full moon arrangement, and suddenly they were stuck here together, locked in a room.

“You know, I- Aw, sh*t!” Blitz knocked over the candelabra on the table and a small fire began on the tablecloth. Much to Stolas's delight, Blitz tore off his coat and was right about to start pounding the candelabra to put out the fire, when suddenly an arm scooped it out of the way, and sprayed the table with a fire extinguisher, getting the foam all over Blitz in the process.

"Woah, there! That was a close one!" A robo fizz in a suit came out of nowhere. "My apologies, gentleman. Let me fix that for you."

"Oh c****t on a stick, not another one of you f**kers." Blitz said as the robot effortlessly replaced the tablecloth, candelabra, and menus, putting the ruined ones on a cart beside them.

The robot grinned disturbingly wide, “Now, now. I am entirely my own bot, so whatever experiences you have had in the past, should not apply to me. So, are we ready to order?”

Blitz, still standing from his seat, jabbed a finger at the faux fizzarolli, “You listen here, you low-grade piece of scrap, you had better turn right back around, tell whoever the f**k your master is to let us out, or I will tear off your arms, tie them together, and shove them up-”

The robot backed up in response, putting it’s hands in front of him as a blockade, “Woah there, buddy! R-relax! No need to-”

“Hang on, just a g**d*mn minute!” Blitz grabbed it by the collar, and pinched it’s cheek, “Fizza-f**king-rolli, you trapped us in here?!”

“I-I-I assure you, sir, a-a-as realistic as I was made to seem, I am only a replica of the real thing.” The ‘robot’ began to sweat.

“Sticking to the lie, huh? Tell me, are you s*xbots ticklish?” Blitz said as he went for Fizz’s sides.

He let out a high pitched squeak and fell to the ground, Blitz followed, still tickling his waist, “Okay! O-okay! I give up! F**k!” He said between laughs.

Stolas looked between the two men feeling confused, and maybe just a twinge jealous.

“Good. Now let us out. You will have some explaining to do later, but right now I just want to get Loona back home before it gets dark.” Blitz stopped tickling Fizz, but still straddled him.

“Oh come on! We had this whole thing planned. At least stay and chat with your birdie over dinner.” Fizz urged.

Blitz let out an exasperated sigh, “No, Fizz. I am not staying here for one more minute with that pretentious owl. Okay? Enough of your bullsh*t.”

“Oh, you wanna talk about bullsh*t? How come we set up this whole romantic atmosphere for you guys and all you can do is sit in silence? You guys are both dying to talk about your feelings, but you say nothing!” Fizz slithered out from under him and sat up.

“My g** Fizz you really don’t know when to mind your own business, do you? There are no-" Blitz's sighed, his face blushed a little as he looked at the ground. Then remembering who's fault all this was, got back at it, "No feelings to talk about, okay?!” Blitz grabbed the jester by the shirt and shook him a little, his bells jingling, “You can lock us in a gaudy *ss room, with all the f**king candles you could fit in one of your boyfriend’s condoms, but nothing is going to convince me to go out with a binge drinking, kinky *ss doormat who can’t call someone daddy without thinking of his own neglectful father and is weirdly clingy with his daughter 'cause she's the only good thing in his life-”

“Blitz, I’m pretty sure you just described yourself.” Fizz pointed out, but Blitz ignored him.

“I mean, what did you expect?! For me to burst out into song, proclaiming my undying love?! Get real. Even if we started dating, it wouldn't be long before he realizes that I’m just a pathetic excuse of a demon, and he’ll regret all the sacrifices he would've had to make for to be with me. In the end, I’ll just end up ruining someone else’s life! It always ends the same! Just like you said, I will die alone!" He was crying, head down, tears dripping onto Fizz’s shirt, which he was still clutching onto.

Fizz watched the tears stream down his face, "I never said tha-"

"It doesn't matter, Fizz. Nothing matters. And there's nothing you can say or do will convince me to tell him how I feel.”

“. . . I think you just did.” Fizz said, and they both looked over to Stolas’s direction, but found him gone, a portal left open by the table, “Ah, f**k!”

“He could’ve made one of those the whole time!” Blitz stood up and shouted.

“That’s not the point, idiot! He probably left after hearing all the sh*t you said about him.” Fizz went up to him and smacked his shoulder.

“. . . Ah, f*ck.” Blitz covered his face with both his hands, and dragged them down, so done with himself.

Fizz sighed, “You dumb*ss.”

Read More of The Pompous and the Prick: a Stolasxblitz fanfiction here. Chapter 15 is out now!

[ectopuppy]

which ben 10 series do u like best??!! im a sucker for the original series bc of nostalgia personally, but they are all good in their own ways

this is an impossible question to answer so im just gonna talk about why i love each series im sorry and thank you anon for gifting me this opportunity to ramble about The Hyperfixation (tm) o7

This is going under a cut btw. It's a little under 3000 words of unedited thoughts so like, just a heads up lmao

Why is the Original Series Good?

So first! Before I get into it! I overall just fucking love Ben 10 conceptually in general! I've always loved aliens and sci-fi and superheroes so you can imagine how excited I was to stumble onto this show airing on teletoon when I was just a tiny Kiki.

The OS has a lot going for it, but the big one is, of course, the nostalgia factor. Iconic as fuck! Fun theme song! Max is there! Yay!!

The BEST character in the OS is Max and I WILL die on that hill. Even as a kid I fucking loved him. Ben and Gwen are fun characters, but Max is the much needed reprieve from them constantly bickering. (Which is one thing I'm glad there's a lot less of in later series.)

Ben is a compelling hero, and the OS is an amazing START POINT for him. While he does have character growth in the OS, I would not be THIS obsessed with him if the OS was the only Ben 10 media that existed. He's a kid. A bit of a brat, but always TRYING to do the right thing. Which he's not always great at considering he's, you know, 10, but he really does try.

Something a lot of people seem to brush past when talking about Ben is that at the beginning of the series he was actively friendless and being bullied at school. I feel like that's a huge factor in why the Omnitrix is so important to his identity in later series. (or even in the Xylene episode when he finds out the Omnitrix was supposed to be for Max) He really didn't have much going for him before that. Being a hero is very likely one of the first times he's felt like he belongs somewhere, you know? Anyway..

Gwen is also very fun in the OS. UAF filed down her teeth just a little too much in my opinion. A lot of her personality in the OS is her THINKING she's sooo much more mature than Ben despite also being a fucking grade schooler. (They are literally the EXACT same age, right down to sharing a birthday.) She's is just as immature as Ben, no matter how much she thinks she isn't. It's just that her smug "I know better." attitude doesn't cause outfacing issues as often as Ben being impulsive and a little self centred.

The OS also benefits from being the "spaghetti on the wall" series. Things just kinda worked however the writers wanted at the moment. Big point here: Magic got to just be magic. (I have made a whole ass post RE: Anodite Gwen so I wont get into it here, but I like the retcon. That statement does not conflict with the above.) Gwen getting fed up being sidelined and going "Fuck it I'm learning magic." is so good and I love it.

I feel like it is impossible to not like the OS in some form, because it's the Original Series. Everything that happens later can only have happened BECAUSE of the OS. Is it my favourite series? No. But it's charming and silly and fun and I love it. c:

Why is Alien Force Good?

Alien Force is a tonal downshift for the series. The era it was made in was the era of Gritty Cartoons for Cool Boys, and it shows. Now, this is not a bad thing to ME, but I know a lot of people don't like the heavier atmosphere of Alien Force, especially in its opening arc. Like... episode 1 (or 2 not sure, but it's in the premiere) of AF has a dude straight up just fucking die, which is kinda. A lot. I can see where people are coming from.

HOWEVER.

Personally, I love the entire DNAlien arc, and it's use as a coming of age story for Ben. A big part of AF is Ben realizing that he needs to grow up. In the OS he was a kid. Max was the leader and the beacon of morality. In AF Max is MIA from episode 1. Gwen is more mature, and has mellowed out a lot, but she just isn't a leader. Kevin should never be put in charge of other people, so he's out. So it's Ben. He has to step up and lead, because there IS nobody else.

But, also the show is not gloomy! It has it's moments, and I get why people might watch the premiere and think "Hmm, too dark.", but AF is silly as hell. I will point to the Alien X episode as my basis here. It's smack in the middle of the DNAlien arc, and it's dumb as hell. Again, I have made a whole ass post about this, but the gist is: I love Alien X being a god being with the ability to do LITERALLY anything, but Ben gets so frustrated that he refuses to use it unless the universe is actively collapsing. (Also, the incurseans are there, and they are never not silly lmao)

But to me, the best thing AF did for the series was give it structure. The OS was extremely episodic, but the front half of AF is held together with a tight plot line. The back half not so much, but it does have a lot going for it character wise. Case in point:

Let's talk about Kevin. c:

Kevin was always a fun villain in the OS. Any time he showed up I knew we were in for a fun time, so him becoming part of the main cast (As a hero and friend no less!) in AF was a major selling point to me personally. Unlike with Gwen, I feel like they sanded him down just enough. He's still kinda sleazy and a bit of a shithead, but now he's trying to do better.

I'm aware the explanation for this behaviour is that the Omnitrix energy he absorbed in the OS drove him crazy or whatever, but that's not something we get up front if memory serves. He really does seem like he naturally just grew up and realized acting how he did when he was 11 wasn't exactly getting him anywhere good.

Kevin's arc in the back half of AF plays really well with Ben's arc. Ben is at an all time high after saving the universe, while Kevin gets mutated again and has a really shitty time. Ben getting humbled while Kevin gains confidence just works really well in tandem, I think, and they end AF on somewhat equal footing.

AF also gives us some of my favourite side characters so I really love it on those grounds alone tbh. Mostly talking about Paradox here, but also Albedo, and The Plumber's Kids (especially Alan I love him he's so baby <3), and Sandra. God, I love Ben's hippy dippy granola mom so much it fits him so well.

I could make a whole fucking post about Paradox to be honest, and this post is already insanely long so I'll be brief here. He made it a billion times easier for the writers to play with timeline bullshit without having to sneak retcons past the audience every time. He's also just insanely fun. Silly Time Man. I loves him!!

I also really love Julie and Omniverse did her so fucking dirty, but that's a whole thing and I'm sure I'll get into it when I get there in my rewatch so I'll save it.

Again, I don't know that I would say AF is my favourite series, but I will say AF DOES happen to have my favourite EPISODE of the entire continuity though. "Con of Rath" is the best Ben 10 episode and I will fight you on this one.

I'm about to pivot into Ultimate and seeing as I haven't gotten there in my rewatch I am going to have less to say about it (and Omniverse) since they aren't fresh in my mind and I don't want to be spouting half remembered nonsense or go dig through the wiki to fact check (and spoil myself on things I don't remember). I know this post is stupid long, bear with me a bit longer.)

Why is Ultimate Alien Good?

Every new series of Ben 10 does something to change the status quo in some way. In AF it was aging up the characters and relegating Max to side character status. Omniverse does much the same, giving Ben a new partner and pushing Gwen and Kevin aside. Ultimate changes things in a different way, though, and I'm NOT talking about Ultimate forms.

Ultimate's big shake up is actually the name of it's first episode: "Fame".

Now, in this house we love a secret identity, lemme get that out up top. For Ben, though? The fame works. He never really honestly HAD a secret identity the same way most superheroes do. He'd always just kinda done his thing, and had it work out. All of his villains knew who he was. (To the point that "Hit 'Em Where They Live" kinda makes no fucking sense? Zombozo is dumb as shit so like maybe he didn't? But Charmcaster DEFINITELY did, and Ben was famous OFF earth already? It's whatever, but like ',:| ya'know.)

The important thing about making him famous is that it gives him a new avenue for character growth. As in my dude needs to get his fucking act together good god. Like, it's Ben, when it comes down to it he buckles down and does the right thing, but fuck man. This is a character trait that will haunt the rest of the series. There are episodes of OMNI that focus on Ben needing to get his head on straight wrt being famous.

It circles back to my point from earlier, though. Ben was NOT popular before "Fame". His friends included: Kevin, Gwen, and Julie. That's it. He's on a soccer team (At least at the beginning of AF I feel like it never comes up later.), but he never talks about his teammates. That one bully whose name escapes me is on okay terms with him after "The Gauntlet", but I wouldn't call them friends. But after his identity is leaked suddenly everybody likes him. He's gone from absolute nobody to celebrity overnight. Of course he would love this.

This is also an extension of one of Ben's core character traits: He NEEDS to be a hero. Actually he needs to be THE hero, because that is his entire self identity. It comes across (both in universe and from a meta standpoint) as Ben being conceited and selfish, but underneath it is really just a sad little boy who is clinging desperately to the ONE thing he's ever been that people liked. The Hero.

If Ben isn't the hero then who is he? He clearly doesn't know as of the AF finale. He loses the Omnitrix and completely breaks down. Even though he's an expert tactician and a damn good leader, he doesn't even know who he is without the Omnitrix.

Azmuth of all people is the one to tell him to get his head out of his ass. I don't think any other character could have done it, though. Azmuth does not care about Ben's feelings, but he's also someone who (whether he likes it or not) sees ALL of Ben's worth. Max or Gwen would be too soft and Kevin's words wouldn't hold the same weight. Azmuth is someone Ben looks up to while also being someone who won't pull his punches. If he's telling Ben he can do something it has to be true, you know?

That aside, lets talk about the "Ultimate" in "Ultimate Alien".

The Ultimatrix is... weird. It's interesting, don't get me wrong, but it is so completely and clearly just a marketing gimmick. The Ultimatrix can be as cool as it wants, it is not making it out of this series alive. Also, everything I find interesting about the Ultimatrix gets dropped. The first episode has Ben be apprehensive about using the Ultimate forms, but then it's just never brought up ever again for some reason.

Also this shit:

WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN????? WHY IS IT NEVER TALKED ABOUT? 😭

It all just feels so fucking meaningless knowing the Finished Omnitrix is going to replace it. Like, Albedo made this peice of shit. So even if I hadn't watched parts of Omniverse first I would have put together that Azmuth would inevitably replace it, right? But it doesn't really matter I guess. That's my personal gripe with Ultimate forms, though, so I wanted to get it out here. Ultimate's does give us "The Ultimate Sacrifice" which is an episode I remember enjoying though, so its not a complete wash.

The thing with Ultimate as a series it that it's really just Alien force... 2!! to the extent that fans refer to them as a collective. "Ultimate Alien Force" Like, my header up there ^^^ was "Why is Ultimate Alien Force Good?" when I first started writing the AF part, and I only changed it so I had a smooth transition to talk about "Fame". They are so intrinsically linked in my brain that I didn't even blink lumping them into one. It makes it hard to find fault in Ultimate when I love so much of the things introduced in AF that carry over, you know?

Now onto the one I was soooo close to saying was my favourite:

Why is Omniverse good?

Omniverse is very, very special to me. I did not watch UAF as a kid. It started airing just as I was hitting my "I'm too old for cartoons" phase, so I just.. never watched it. I wouldn't have ever really gotten into Ben 10 as much as I have if not for someone talking about how much they liked Omniverse on my timeline when it was airing. I watched a large chunk of Omni before doubling back to watch all of the OS (Which I had only seen bits of growing up.) and then UAF.

I fucking love Omniverse and a big reason is:

Him 👆 💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

I would kill and die for Rook Blonko.

He is mine moste beloved boy. My babygirl. My right hand arm etc.

But beyond The Boy 💖 Omniverse has a lot going for it. It's another tonal shift for the series, this time back to the more innocent and silly tone of the OS. Like I said, I like the tone in UAF, but Omniverse is just so bright and charming it's hard not to enjoy it.

The art style is also very fun in Omni and matches that lighter tone really well. (There are some stylistic choices I'm not personally big on, but it's whatever.) Where UAF had scaled back a lot of designs to give off a pretty generically American Comic Book style, Omniverse lets characters look interesting again! I'm thinkng specifically about Animo and Charmcaster here (Charmcaster's UAF design is so boring. Omniverse puts her back in her cool robe/tunic thing from the OS.), but in general the characters in Omni just have more interesting designs than they did in UAF. Like, Paradox isn't just Guy in Labcoat in Omni lol

I also think the ten episode arc structure does Omniverse a lot of favours. It gets to have the fun silly episodic nature of the OS while also holding onto the structure AF gave the series.

Beyond that, based on my memory of the series (which I have not watched since it finished airing so it's not exactly perfect) I don't really have much more I can say about Omni. It's fun, and has good characters and plot lines. It's just a really good entry and was a solid ending to wrap up the whole four series continuity.

And so, finally, I can wrap up this fuck off long post.

Like I said up top, I can't definitively say which series is my favourite. They all have their own strengths and weaknesses, and are good in their own ways. If pressed, I would probably say "Um... Omniverse maybe?", but I love the OS and UAF so so much it's not a confident answer. (having not watched Omni in a hot minute also doesn't help lmao)

Thank you for reading my big dumb post. If you got all the way to the end, I love you. I mean, if you stopped reading it I also love you, but if you managed to get through all, uh, 2800ish words of this post without tapping out, you are on the top shelf. <3

I'd love to hear your thoughts, or answer more specific questions if you have them!