#in the wise words of my English teacher
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lookmomitsmytmblr · 2 months ago
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It seems like we're expected to not ship Donna and the Doctor because they are individually complex and interesting characters.
Throughout their time together, their interactions are built upon giving deeper insight on who they both are individually, rather than extensive shipping fodder or teasing about the nature of their relationship.
Donna doesn't save the Doctor at the end of The Runaway Bride because she was the only person in the world who could have. She saves him because that's who she is. She is kind, and compassionate, and empathetic, and there's no way she would have left him there.
It's not so much a grand commentary on the nature of their relationship, and how they are 'just so cosmically meant to be', as it is a moment for her to show us (the audience) who she is.
It's not because he already has some kind of undying love for her, he never would have listened to anyone else, or because he's willing to live only for her, or any of that.
It's that she's the kind of person who reaches out and cares even after a really rough day, when the spaceman is scaring her by drowning spider babies.
The moment is about who she is.
And they keep being allowed to be like this, where their interactions aren't relegated to being only about their relationship with each other. If anything the way they interact with each other is used like a launching point to deepen our connection to each character individually.
(Probably because we're not supposed to ship them lol. Okay definitely.)
I have to come back and elaborate on this with further specific Doctor/Donna when I get the braincell back from Bora Bora, but basically:
I love a fictional relationship where the writing is focused on deepening my understanding of and affection for each character individually, and then letting me come to the conclusion, based on an intimate understanding of each character's deepest convictions, insecurities, fears, and values that I want these two to be together.
The thing is, there is a wealth of writing out there that spends all of the character's screen time telling you to ship the characters, all too often at the expense of our investment in the characters as whole people outside of that relationship.
In my tastes, it is far more compelling and satisfying have the chance to fall in love with both characters individually without the writer feeling the need to bathe every moment of interaction in big flashing signs telling me: THEYRE EVERYTHING TO EACH OTHER!!! GET IT? LITERALLY NOTHING ELSE MATTERS!!!
It's so literary to me. Pride and Prejudice isn't iconic because Lizzy and Darcy spend every moment together, talking about each other, pontificating on the nature of their relationship and why a hypothetical reader should totally ship them.
They actually don't have a lot screen time (or page time) together.
It's iconic because we get to see who both characters are, what they value, how their failures affect them, why we should love them both.
And for the majority of readers, loving them both is enough to convince us to love them together. Why? Because we know them well enough to know they will be good together.
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madschiavelique · 11 days ago
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A Crown Of Ink : Chapter 5 - Temperance
summary : viktor and reader work together in the library (so much banter, it's insane), then maybe there's a small fight because a guy called viktor a cripple and that causes some issues
content warnings : mentions of blood but really not that much tbh
word count : 5,4k
author's note : you thought i was gone on this one huh ? WRONG. we're so back babies! i know it's been 2 years since i've touched this baby okay, but i'm back now! hopefully i will get more time to write about this lil guy bc i love this fic.
masterlist : 1 — 2 — 3 — 4 — 5
(not proofread, english is not my first language ✦)
taglist : @doctorho
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For the rest of the two long hours, Heimerdinger continued his lesson.
The class had come to an end, you silent, the class teeming with gossip. Professor Heimerdinger had distributed the subjects one by one to the students at the end of the lesson. He was a perfectly reasonable, friendly teacher who tried to make his pupils laugh at the expense of their historical knowledge.
When you had a lesson with him, you knew you were listening to a teacher who was wise enough to turn events and experiences into jokes to lighten the burden of his history lessons.
He was always on the lookout for questions and comments from the students, not hesitating for a moment as he gave the subjects to the groups one by one to point out the difficulties they might find and the pitfalls that might await them.
In short, Heimerdinger wanted his students to succeed, not to see a decline in the Piltover Academy's chances of success, which in the eyes of many seemed to be something to crow about rather than something to be ashamed of.
The very idea of being one of the few students to overcome these difficulties and succeed was, in your eyes, the greatest reward that could ever be given to you.
“Young folks,” he said, pointing to the two of you. “Come this way. I have reserved a subject especially for you.”
Heimerdinger didn't do things haphazardly. He gave students subjects that reflected them, or at least where he knew the results would be most interesting. You couldn't help but fear what he was up to.
When the students had dispersed, the tinkle of Viktor's cane sounded until he arrived at your side. You sighed audibly as you looked at him, crossing your arms over your chest as he gave you a winning smile.
He seemed to enjoy it when you got angry, and took great pleasure in teasing you constantly. Had he been a friend, you wouldn't have held it against him, even though your list of friends consisted mainly of Eris, Sky and Jayce. However, a friend wasn't supposed to be a problem for your success. There's only so much space in the academy for students who come out on top, and you weren't about to give yours away.
“Good,” he said at last as the last student passed through the doorway. “There's no need to point out that you two are the sharpest elements of this class, you're well enough aware of that, as is the rest of the school certainly.”
Your bickering and petty battles almost made the corridors of the school come alive again with the excitement of rumour and gossip partaking in your reputation.
“None of the fellow teachers in this establishment seem to have brought to the table, however, a possibility which seems to me to be the most interesting for both of you: teamwork.”
You arched an eyebrow, finding the reasoning profoundly moronic.
“Sir,” you couldn't help but point out, “this school is eliminatory. Why would you want to associate students who won't necessarily all have the chance to pass the exams?”
Heimerdinger chuckled, “I'm not doing it with the prospect of a pass or a gold medal waiting for you at the finish line, Miss.”
You tilted your chin up in a slight pout of surprise.
“You see, I'm not necessarily trying to prepare you for the exams, but for what will happen once they're over. Having a diploma is all very well on paper, but what counts most in the end will be what you achieve.”
“All right,” you admit, “but why put us in a pair like this?”
“It's quite simple,” he jumped up from his desk, trotting across the floor to stand in front of you, your eyes downcast on him. “In the working environment, you don't always find a shoe to fit. And when you don't have the power to dismiss your colleague just because you don't like them, you have to learn to sacrifice your temperament for the sake of the common good. Now, I'm not asking you to make sacrifices, that word is far too violent, but I am asking you to compromise.”
You exchanged a look with Viktor, your fists clenching until your knuckles were white. You'd already made enough compromises for one lifetime, and now you had to go on? He, for his part, didn't seem too bothered by the situation. How could he be so calm? So serene about the idea of cooperating?
“You don't always work with the person of your choice, and not always on the subjects you'd prefer. Oh, that's just it! Speaking of subjects…”
He stood on tiptoe, grabbing the last sheet of paper from his desk and holding it out to Viktor.
The latter, for once, frowned in pure confusion and even perhaps... irritation?
“The evolution of Zaun's power?”
Your eyes narrowed before shifting from Viktor to Heimerdinger, “Are you joking?”
“I do love to laugh young lady but the shortest jokes are the best. You both seem, for different reasons, to have an excellent knowledge of Zaun. Its political power, its evolution, and even the iconic figures who can make themselves forgotten in the shadows of its depths.”
You exhaled a shaky breath, trying to remain upright and not revolt on the spot. Heimerdinger seemed way too amused and happy of his little scheme.
“Any questions?”
Viktor read the subject and what you had to complete, “Do you have any books to recommend to us Professor?”
Heimerdinger's voice became a blur as your thoughts drifted like the Grey in Zaun. Every corner of this city was out to kill you, and even when you were out of it, it followed you like your shadow.
Were you ever going to get out of such a cycle, out of this city’s grasp ?
“Miss?”
The teacher's voice brought you back down to earth. Distracted, you simply offered a confused hum in question so that he would repeat his last words.
“Your assignment is due in a month. That gives you time to put your differences aside and find a way of working together. If you'll excuse me, my next class is coming up soon.”
He gestured towards the exit, and soon enough you found yourselves in the corridor. The momentary emptiness of the hall almost seemed to bring you back to reality.
You drew in a breath, meeting Viktor's gaze beside you. You couldn't afford to get a bad mark, especially not for a Heimerdinger course. He was one of the most renowned scientists in the country, with his own seat on the Piltover council. To produce mediocre work would be to end your career on the spot, and you were prepared to at least try to cooperate with someone like Viktor.
“Why are you not begging the teacher to put us both in different duos?” you asked while Viktor was still reading the subject content.
“Hm, I think it might be fun.” he said, not even glancing at you.
You scoffed, “You and me?” your trigger finger pointing back and forth between the two of you, “Together? Fun?”
His eyes dropped from the paper, scanning you with a changed interest.
“You'd rather go back in there and ask for a rematch like a loser?”
A muscle near your eye tensed for a moment.
He sighed, his eyes returning to the subject, “Admitting defeat takes strength.”
“So you think I'm weak ?”
But Viktor didn't seem to have the slightest interest in you at the moment.
You relaxed your shoulders, sighing. There was no point in trying to beat him, you weren't - on that subject at least - in competition.
“Can I see the subject?” you asked, reaching for the paper, but he removed it from your reach in an instant.
You frowned, this wasn't going to be easy.
“Do I disgust you?” he asked.
The question caught you off guard, your eyes blinking several times as you almost looked at him with fresh eyes.
If the question was purely physical, no, Viktor didn't disgust you. He was always accompanied at all times and in all places by that same invariable weariness that gave him a particular elegance. He had features common in Zaun, brown hair, amber eyes, and an accent that made some of the girls in your class drop like flies.
When it came to his character and personality though, it was another thing entirely.
“You annoy me,” you replied, managing to snatch the subject of his hand with enough agility that the gesture left him surprised, “but you don't disgust me.”
He remained silent for a moment. You could feel his eyes on you as yours fell on those of the subject.
“The only thing that disgusts me is your taste in pasta,” you confirmed.
He let out a little laugh, the kind that mixes humming and nose blowing, the kind you do when a remark makes you nostalgic.
“Friday, 5pm, library, don't be late.” he said simply, the clink of his cane echoing on the floor as he began to walk away.
As your eyes roamed over the page, you couldn't help but take in nothing of what was written. Your mind was stuck on him, on the trick Heimerdinger had just played on you.
He had just orchestrated a game that the whole school was going to bet on, the teachers were going to look at your situation in a new light, and in the worst case scenario, multiply the group work to put you both in pairs.
Your heart looped as you realised that this was undoubtedly another test. Heimerdinger was going to observe which of you was the best performer, the most pliable, the best at teamwork.
You had to be flawless, you had to.
Friday came earlier than you imagined, and you weren't looking forward to it in the least. You hadn't stopped thinking about it, finding yourself on numerous occasions distracted during your homework.
The card of the day you had drawn was Temperance, and the little booklet told you:
Alchemy. Mixing and harmonising opposing forces and concepts. Maintaining opposing ideas and encouraging complexity in life. Fusion produces evolution.
The archangel Gabriel, the angel messenger, is represented on the card. He wears the sign of the sun on his forehead. This is also the alchemist's symbol for gold. This card reflects the changing of the seasons and the adoption of new ideas. Temper in Latin is the act of repetition to invoke skill or to refine something, to make it sharper like a sword.
What a pain that was, and to think you'd have to endure this for a whole month of deep research and hours spent by his side working, together.
You dragged your feet as you made your way to the academy library.
It was a magnificent place, filled with the smell of varnished wood, old paper and dried ink. The ceiling was arched, the bookshelves forming real walls that separated the room like rows of pews in a church. If it hadn't been reserved for the academy's research students, it would surely have been on Piltover's list of monuments to visit.
There weren't many people there, apart from a small handful of students finishing their homework before basking in the arrival of the weekend. You were a good fifteen minutes early, and didn't see Viktor at all.
You were just about to put your bag and things down by a table and start your research, when a voice you wouldn't have preferred to hear at the time greeted you:
“Ah, there you are,” Viktor approached, coming out of one of the library corridors, “I just needed some help to get to the higher tomes.”
With his free hand, he held up a small stack of tomes, pressing them under his chin before placing them on a table with two or three other books already laid out.
You sighed, moving your things over to his table, “Have you been there for long already?”
“Why, do you care about me?” his cheeky grin made you roll your eyes.
“I think you overestimated my greatness. Which shelf?”
He said nothing, making his way to one of the shelves. You followed him. Fortunately, the women's uniforms at the academy had trousers. You wouldn't have known what to do if it had been otherwise and you'd ended up on a ladder above him.
“You know,” he began as you reached the meagre ladder to the upper shelves, “I've been looking forward to working with you.”
You arched an eyebrow, your hand gripping the ladder as you looked at him in confusion.
“Why?”
The two of you were only picking on each other, you were avoiding him like the plague, and you'd made it clear to him several times that your situation was that of a competition. So obviously you had a right to be surprised as to why he'd want to work with you.
He shrugged. “You were the top student before I came here, surely there must be a reason behind it.”
You expelled an abrupt puff from your lungs, your breath taken away by his insolence. You could only expect it after all.
You climbed a few steps up the ladder, looking for Zaun's historical tomes.
“Is that supposed to be a compliment, or am I to believe my working buddy seeks to diminish me to a fictive second rank?”
“We're in a library, alas, reality catches up to this fiction, miss number two.”
You clutched the volume in your hand, your nostrils flaring for a moment in anger. He knew how to annoy you, and you never seemed to find a single point on which you could reciprocate.
You held out the tomes one by one for him to take. “Guess I could work on a pet name for you too.”
“Be my guess.”
Once his arm was full, you took a few tomes in your hands before climbing down the ladder and walking towards the table. “And make you the honour of thinking of something to be done for you ? I'd rather lick sandpaper.”
He feigned disappointment, “So I do disgust you, this pains me.”
You set the pile of volumes down on the table, reaching into your bag to pull out paper and pens.
“Yeah well, You were supposed to pretend I didn't exist, not try to bother me to death. So I guess we're both disappointed.”
He took a seat, grabbing a volume and placing it in front of him. “So I bother you ?”
You sat down opposite him, imitating his gesture as you searched with interest for a tome to start with.
“What a transcending sense of observation you have.”
He brought both his hands up in front of him, resting his chin on the backs of his fingers.
“How do I bother you?”
You were starting to get annoyed by his questions. You had come here to work, not to chat.
“Your simple existence?” you replied, staring into his eyes.
He sighed, opening his book and noting on the page its title.
“As if yours wasn't proof that failure has a sense of humour.”
You said nothing, letting his comment wander in the air as you started your own research in silence, locating the chapter of interest to you in the table of contents.
“But seriously,” Viktor continued, “why do I bother you?”
You sighed, pinching the page you were on before shifting your eyes from the words on it to Viktor's curious amber gaze.
“You want an honest answer ?”
He nodded. You let go of the page, straightening up.
“You come into my life and wreck everything I've built brick by brick, wouldn't you be the slightest bit frustrated if that happened to you ?”
It was his turn to be silent this time. He seemed to look at you differently, as if, by some miracle perhaps, he'd just realised what was at stake for you in this situation.
He wasn't even touching the tip of the iceberg of why you'd come to the Academy, but for a moment he seemed to understand how important it could be for you.
Your eyes returned to your page, trying to find keywords to write down or information to record.
“You surpassed me in the exam, teachers love you, you make great friends…”
“Almost sounds like you're obsessed with me.”
Your lips parted, eyes wide as you looked at him as if he'd just slapped you, leaving your cheek and your thoughts with a warm tingle. You were so surprised that nothing came from your lips, which was beginning to be enough for a flash of mischief to cross Viktor's eyes and for the corner of his lips to form a sneer.
“I'm not.” You finally reply, trying to remain composed and not to stammer for anything in the world.
“Denial would've worked before the long vacant stare,” he says, advancing slightly on the table.
“Why do you have to be like that?”
“Like what?”
You humph, dropping back in your chair in despair.
“Better than me.”
He recoiled slightly, as if the remark was completely far-fetched and unfounded.
“There are thousands of people better than me, why do you have to focus on my poor self, hm? Did I barge in your territory?”
He had, unconsciously he truly had. It was you who was supposed to be first, otherwise the consequences would've been mentally dire.
“Take it this way,” he continued, “there's surely something you're better at than me.”
You couldn't think of much on the spot, especially not when there was a possibility of you making a list of things he topped you in. There was surely one thing though.
“Running.”
He opened his lips in surprise, a smile stretching across his face which he hid with his hand. You were already regretting what you'd just said.
“Jayce is going to be the first one hearing about this.”
“No it's-”
“So you're participating in a system made against disabilities.”
“I never-”
“Are you going to steal my crutch next in hopes of beating me to a race?”
“You're never going to drop this now are you ?”
“With such a statement ? Never.”
“Whatever let's just- let's just work.” you mumble, your cheeks flushing with embarrassment and shame as you desperately try to move on.
He gave one last chuckle before getting back to work. He seemed to be reading a tome on the history of the masters of Zaun.
“About Tytos, I still think you've got that wrong.” he said as he read another page from the tome.
“I think I'm going to smash your face in.” you replied calmly without looking at him.
“As if you could reach me.”
“You know what-” you began, raising your voice.
However, somebody shushed you in the room, restricting you to remaining calm.
“Raising your voice in a library? You'd have to be a stupid fool.”
“Trying to contradict me when even Heimerdinger considered my answer excellent is not the wisest either.”
“Heimerdinger would tell a snail that goes slightly faster than the norm it's excellent. But maybe your low self esteem is just common sense.”
“Maybe my self esteem will just leave this library right now.” you say, crossing your arms on the table.
“And leave me to pursue this matter on my own? That wouldn't be very serious, miss number two.”
You sighed, getting back to work. Your blood was boiling in your veins just from sitting at this table.
“None of the books mention Tytos.”
“Since when do you trust Piltover books on the accounts of the history of Zaun ?”
Touché. He raised his eyebrows as if it were the only relevant thing you could have said.
“You never said where you were from, in Zaun,” he remarked.
You tensed slightly. “Why do you want to know that ?”
“We're making an exposé on Zaun, we're both from there, might as well just know it,” he said, raising his eyes to yours.
You watched him for a moment, he didn't seem to want to make a joke of you once your answer was out of your mouth. But in any case, you weren't going to give it to him.
“You wouldn't know,” you replied simply as you jotted down another date.
‘I'm sure that I-”
“You don't want to know.’ you said firmly, the seriousness taking over your face to assure him that this was certainly not territory he wished to venture into.
He frowned, confused. He seemed deeply intrigued by you, and that made you uncomfortable. Never before in your life had anyone asked you so many questions about yourself in such a short space of time. And so here he was, shaking up every one of your pillars like a bowling ball knocking over pins.
This one, however, was not about to give way.
You looked at your watch for a moment, sighing.
“Let's work for one more hour. We'll make a plan and subparts of what we'll talk about at the end of it.”
This time Viktor seemed to get the message: silence. 
You couldn't help glancing at him from time to time. You noticed the way his long fingers flicked across the pages, the way his eyebrows furrowed as he read, the way he rested his cheek on the back of his hand with a sigh as he read a boring piece of writing. 
Or when he would click his pencil for a moment to write something down, and his handwriting would lie gracefully on the paper, scratching the grain of the paper.
It was not without surprise that, once the hour had passed, there was hardly anyone in the library but the two of you. 
When you explained your plan for the presentation to Viktor, he agreed, simply giving a few perfectly critical and serious remarks without condescending to him in any way.
“Good. I think this is a good time to stop for today,” you said as you stood up, taking a stack of books in your arms.
All in all, working with Viktor like this wasn't so bad, when it was done in silence. But as soon as either of you opened your lips to say anything, politeness left the room in great strides.
You put each tome away in its old place, both of you taking your things, and left the library. The academy wasn't closed yet, and some people still had classes or were hanging around in the corridors.
You walked side by side, your pace the same as Viktor's. All the students seemed to turn around as you passed, your duo seeming like a pair of circus animals. 
You glanced at Viktor, who didn't seem in the least affected by this.
However, a trio of students were watching you with evil, mocking eyes. You couldn't help but tense up, however, when the one who seemed as tall as he was stupid remarked: 
“Die already, cripple. You're slowing the traffic.”
Your shoulders tensed as you walked, expecting to do what you'd always had to do here despite the taunts: ignore and move on.
But Viktor wasn't going to listen to you like that.
“Thank you for your advice, I'll try euthanasia once you'll be able to count higher than the number of butterfingers you've got.”
A few chuckles echoed in the corridor at his reply, but the young man seemed to be boiling with hatred. It was as you passed in front of them that, in a cowardly move, he kicked Viktor's cane.
He lost his balance, falling face first to the ground as his cane fell beside him. The air stopped for a moment with the shock of the gesture, your eyes shifting from Viktor on the ground to the idiot who had just knocked him over. Students knelt down beside him immediately to help him.
“Oops, my foot slipped. Sorry.”
But nothing, of course, conveyed any regret at this behaviour.
He turned his back and walked off with his group of friends. Your blood ran cold.
Quickly, you grabbed Viktor's cane, which was still on the ground, and made it whistle through the air before it struck the back of the student's knees. It was his turn to shrivel up on the floor, and he immediately turned to you, his cheeks red with anger.
“Oops, my hand slipped,” you said, glancing at the crutch for a moment before returning to him. “Sorry.”
You turned back to Viktor, handing him his crutch. He looked at you with fried whiting eyes, deeply surprised by your gesture without moving a muscle.
“You fucking slut…” you heard behind you.
But as soon as you turned around, a sharp blow hit you in the cheek. The force of it knocked you back two steps, a metallic taste spreading through your mouth. You brought your fingers to your lips, hissing as you touched them, your bottom lip burning. Bringing your fingers back into line of sight, you found them bloodied.
You turned to the student, his face far too satisfied for your liking.
‘’What a brilliant idea,‘’ you breathed as, in one swift movement, you struck his crotch with the crutch.
He bent over instinctively, gasping for breath, before you punched him right in the nose. He fell, cowering on the ground like a miserable insect.
"What's going on here?" asked a stern voice.
Madame Agrane, one of your teachers, came into the corridor. Her eyes fell on Viktor on the floor, your lip split, the student on the ground surrounded by his two friends.
“Everyone in my office, now.”
You pressed a bag of ice cubes to your cheek, sitting next to Viktor who was clutching his crutch in his hands. As for the idiot, he kept grumbling and giving you nasty looks. You recognised him now, the student from the museum, the one that had called zaunites rats.
"Can someone explain to me what happened for you all to end up in such states?" questioned Agrane.
You were about to start but the idiot beat you to it.
"Madame Agrane, I was just minding my own business in the corridor when these two pupils came up to me! One was hitting me with his crutch while the other was punching me. I don't know what I've done to deserve this.' He exclaimed theatrically, Viktor and you looking at him like the most ridiculous being to ever be.
If there was one thing that helped your reputation, it was that you were known as serious students, who didn't fall into the category of those who would start a fight in the corridors for no particular reason.
"That is far from the truth," Viktor retorted calmly. "He insulted me, then made me fall, and then...’
He seemed to be hesitating over his words, or at least looking for the right term. He turned to you, letting his eyes drift for a moment to your split lip, and then back to Madame Agrane's gaze.
"... My friend protected me."
Friend? the word made you clench your jaw, inhaling. It was just a lie, just a word brought to the front to give your teacher sympathy. No, he certainly didn't mean it.
The teacher looked at you, seeming more convinced by your story than the other. Noticing this, the student couldn't help but plead his own case: 
"Madam, these two students come from Zaun. The blood of violence will always run in their veins."
Agrane seemed to give you a new look, as if you and Viktor were ready to pounce on her like two wolves.
"Is this a joke? You started all this," you said, offended.
"Beating you up would have brought greatness to Piltover." he replied.
"Oh, look at you, attempting greatness! Pity it's just an attempt." you sighed, pressing the ice pack a little closer to your cheek to put out the fire your anger was beginning to spread.
"Madam Agrane," he continued, turning to her, "you know what my patron will think about this. Imagine his reaction when he will hear how you have treated his favoured student?"
You had no idea who his patron could possibly have been, but she didn't hesitate for a second to say: 
"Miss, you'll get an hour's detention for your violent behaviour in the corridors. I hope I don't have to catch you again doing such barbaric acts."
Your eyes widened just as much as Viktor's.
"What?! But he's the one who-" you tried, pointing at the idiot who was smiling victoriously.
"There's no buts about it. The discussion is closed. You'll have your detention period this Monday."
"Madam, I think there's been a mistake." Viktor began.
"Do you want to be given detention too, young man?"
Viktor remained silent, sighing before lowering his eyes to the ground.
"Good, see you on Monday, then."
The fool stood up first, walking past you with a foolish grin on his face.
"Bet it feels just like home to be in prison by monday, hm?"
Your lip hemmed in disgust, your nose scrunching up.
"Try what you've done just once more, and I'll personally make sure you have no offspring."
He looked slightly frightened for a moment, then frowned like a child before leaving the room.
You sighed, standing up. You wanted to get out of here right away, away from the horrible feeling of injustice in your heart, away from the word ‘punishment’ burning into your skin.
Your free hand instinctively came to rest on your shoulder for comfort, and you stood up to get your things.
“You didn’t have to do this earlier, you know.” Viktor said.
You sighed, walking towards the door. “Whatever, what is done is done.”
"Hey," Viktor said, standing up behind you.
You didn't even turn to him.
"Thanks, I wasn't expecting that at all."
You waited for something, for anything that would come after what he had just said, but nothing came. Your turned to him.
"Is that all? No remarks about how I'd have been better off hitting him somewhere else, or stupid sarcasm about my action?"
He seemed surprised by your reaction, his face puzzled and almost saddened.
"We're not friends." you said, your face as cold as the ice pack on your cheek. "We're..."
But what were you apart from rivals? Two rivals working together to do a job that would rely on both of you, that wasn't really rivalry. It was camaraderie in a way, you were classmates, but friends?
You pursed your lips, a slight trickle of blood beading from them.
"See you next week."
Without further ado, you left the room. You walked down the corridors, the students staring at you like an alien. You were suffocating under all those sharp, curious, numerous stares. You pressed on, leaving the academy as quickly as possible.
Once outside, you took the first quiet alley you could find.
“Shit!” you swore, pressing your back against the first wall you could find.
You brought your hand up to your forehead, sighing until you almost felt your body slide down the wall, running your palm over your face in frustration and exhaustion.
You wanted to cry, the weight of everything feeling like it was zipping up on you like a body bag. You'd been stupid, acting on your emotions. You should have kept your head down, let the administration do its job, not invented a life of heroism trying to redress the balance that some fool had tipped.
You didn't even like Viktor, but you'd still jumped at the chance to do him justice. No, you didn't like Viktor any more than that.
But you respected him.
Could you be friends with him?
The question passed through your mind for a moment, but you ended up putting it out of your mind.
You let your head fall back against the wall. The thought of an hour's detention in your perfect record seemed to you like a thread sticking out of a beautiful dress, itching to be pulled on. You tried to console yourself, to come to terms with the fact that it was just another hour of extra study. But you couldn't help feeling heavy with pain.
Eventually you gathered up your things and walked home, hoping that the cool night air would help to quench the fire that was still boiling inside you. Winter was on your doorstep, and ready to complicate things.
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russo-woso · 10 days ago
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Hello , may i request arsenal/lionesses x teen reader who introduces her partner to her big sisters and the players are like not being able to accept that their baby teammate is growing and also giving a shovel talk to her partner and also telling them embarrassing stories of the reader... Just a cute fluffy blurb .
Thank you
Introduction || Arsenal x reader
“Hey everyone.” You said, appearing at the end of the table, a woman around the same age as you standing next to you, her hand around your waist.
“Y/N!” The team cheered, some of them getting up to hug you.
“This is Emma, Emma this is my team.” You introduced, Emma shaking hands with everyone.
You’d been dating Emma for around three months now and you thought it was time to finally introduce her to your ‘big sisters’.
You were only eighteen so it was a big thing to introduce her to the team.
You glared at Leah as Emma went to shake her hand.
Leah was like the big protective sister you never had.
Leah caught your eye, seeing the glare on your face before smiling up at Emma, shaking her hand.
“Nice to meet you, Emma.” Leah said
You mouthed a quick ‘thank you’ to her, before taking you and Emma took your seats, Emma in your left and alessia on your right.
“So, Emma, what do you do? Work wise.” Alessia asked, trying to start a conversation.
“I work part time for a small cafe around the corner from Colney. Hence how we met.” Emma responded with a smile.
“You said part time, you at uni?” Leah questioned, a serious tone evident in her voice.
“Yeah, I go to uni. I’m studying English to become an English teacher.”
“And you make sure you have to for our girl?” Leah asked, using the nickname the team had given you.
“Of course. I’ll always have time for her.” Emma said, connecting your hands under the table.
“Good. Emma, can we have a little chat?” Leah said, Emma tensing up at the idea.
“Le, no, she’s fine.”
“It’s okay, babe. We can have a chat.” Emma said, kissing your cheek and following Leah to the bar.
“You seem nice, Emma, but I just wanna set some ground rules. Y/N’s our girl. She joined Arsenal when she was sixteen. She was young and naive but she captured our hearts and became our little sister. So on behalf of the whole team, I’m telling you that if you ever break her heart, I’ll make your life miserable, deal?”
“Deal. I would never want to hurt Y/N. I really really like her.” Emma told Leah, heart eyes visible in her eyes as she looked at you.
“I can tell. And she does too. Which scares me, because I still see her as this sixteen year old that joined the team. I feel like I have to protect her.” Leah explained, Emma nodding along, understanding Leah’s words.
“I understand, Leah. I promise though, I’ll never hurt her.”
“I know you won’t, kid. You seem like a good one.” Leah patted her back, a genuine smile on her face. “Come on then.”
Emma sat back down at the table, squeezing your hand.
“Did she threaten to kill you if you hurt me?” You sighed, Emma grinning at Leah.
“Something like that.”
“Leah!” You exclaimed
“Right now more shouting. Time for stories! Emma, did you know that when Y/N first joined…” Katie began, your head dropping in embarrassment knowing exactly what she was gonna say.
“Here we go.”
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halfmoonaria · 10 months ago
Text
testify
pairing: cairo sweet x reader
summary: you expose cairo to the truth she's been trying to escape from.
words: 1.1k
warnings: language & parental issues
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"Cairo, What the fuck are you doing?"
Your voice was cold, sharp, and if it wasn't for Cairos focus on the pen moving in her notebook, she would've been startled. Your voice had never sounded so, angry.
Although Cairo couldn't help but let the rage within her continue to simmer and bubble.
"I'm completing my admissions essay." She stated simply, trying not to direct the anger towards you.
However, you had rage raising within you as well, and you had no plan on trying to control it. Her ignorance and lack of empathy was starting to piss you off, and you knew that she was aware of that.
"Don't act foolish Cairo." You spit, walking closer towards her ginormous bed, getting a closer look on the cigarette in her hand; a habit she had picked up to impress your current English teacher. "It doesn't suit you."
She didn't dare to look up, not until you brought up his name. "What are you doing to Mr. Miller?"
Cairo looked up at the mention of the teacher, and it was at that you noticed the trails of mascara stains under her eyes.
Her gaze didn't look regretful, it looked full of a burning desire for revenge.
"I'm testifying against him, infront of the school board." She stated simply, putting the notebook and pencil beside her to sit up, her legs hanging from the bedside.
"Why?" Your voice came out way more questioning than you had planned on. But you weren't stupid, you knew why Cairo was doing this, you had heard the full story from Winnie, and parts of it from Cairo herself.
Cairo was known by her friends to be vengeful, she always held a grudge towards people when she didn't get her way, like now. She didn't successfully seduce Mr. Miller, so now she's trying to fire him.
"He underestimated me. I overestimated him." She stood to her feet, slowly walking alongside the bed, like she was scared of you. Although you knew she wasn't, Cairo wasn't scared of anything; even when she should've been.
Her way of showing she had more power than the other person, had always been slowly walking towards them, deep eye contact with the person who she was trying to intimidate.
It never seemed to work with you.
"You're gonna ruin his life." You spoke, voice hard enough to shatter glass, the sentence and the harsh tone in your voice made Cairo stop, her jaw clenching. "And for what?"
Your voice came out as a whisper, but you didn't pay it any mind, since it seemed to make Cairo realize her mistakes. Which was extremely rare for her.
Cairo felt judged. She had never felt that particular type of feeling before, in fact, she never felt anything when people would scold her, nothing but the need for revenge.
Your eyes were looking at Cairo like she was depraved, twisted. Like she was disgusting to look at, she had never cared when anyone else did that. It was different with you tho. It felt like a sharp pain in the chest.
"To avenge your rejection?" Cairo looked back at you as you spoke, your voice basically echoing in her ears. "To punish him? Because he didn't want to fuck you?" You spit out.
"He wanted to fuck me, Y/n." She was quick to reply. Cairo had always been quick-witted, coming up with clever and snarky remarks before the sentence had the chance to be finished, but this time her words sounded more like she was trying to convince herself.
You raised your eyebrows, snorting with laughter at her quick remark, "Sure."
Cairo almost felt frightened when your figure began taking slow steps towards her. She didn't know why she was suddenly feeling so intimidated and afraid by you, was it the look in your eyes? Or the fact that Cairo knew how wise you could be with your words?
"But he didn't leave his wife for you."
The sentence made Cairos face drop, her proud smirk fell as quickly as it appeared, her lips were now quivering instead, a new layer of tears beginning to coat her irises.
She breathed in deeply, chest slowly rising, trying to contain herself from letting the tears fall freely.
"And you know why that is, Cairo?" You moved even further towards her, now standing close enough for her to hear you take a breath before continuing. "Because he loves her."
You spoke slowly, like Cairo was a child that couldn't understand what was said if it wasn't in the right pace. Cairo hated being treated like a child.
"He didn't love you." She wanted to speak, reply with words, something. However her mouth didn't dare to move, was it because you were right? She couldn't bring herself to think that was an actually option.
"He just liked that you gave him the attention his wife isn't."
Cairo no longer cared if you were correct, she was now trying her absolute hardest to not give in, to not let your echoing voice take over her head. It was difficult, to say the least.
"But you thought he loved you, right? Because he showed you the least bit of attention, and you felt lonely.." The fact that you didn't stutter once while speaking, made Cairo feel scared.
She had never seen this side of you.
"Or maybe you felt like his daughter?" You tilted your head slightly, watching as her jaw clenched.
"Did you crave the love from an older man because you haven't experienced it from your father?"
"Stop." Cairos voice was shaky, something she was surprised by hearing herself, her voice had never been shaky, not even when crying as a kid.
You smirked proudly, just like she had been doing just minutes before, which you had quickly wiped of just within seconds of talking.
"Go ahead and testify against him. But think twice about if it's really worth it." Your voice was hushed now, but still just as hard and sharp as it had been the first time you opened her mouth, she could feel your breath onto her cheeks, and she didn't doubt you could hear her quickly beating heart.
And at that, you turned on your heel, your hair basically hitting Cairo in the face on the way there. You left the room, leaving Cairo alone in the haunted bedroom.
The tears were now flowing down her face. Cairo had never cried because of something another individual had said before, let alone cried over something you did in general. But now she was, and it was embarrassing.
You were right.
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queenie-official · 3 months ago
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going with ani to the cafè for pumpkin spice latte only for him to be super nervous since we are so cool and he's some random engineering nerd ☝️🤓
‘Fall In Love With Me’
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main masterlist Word count: little over 3k
pairing: modern!Anakin skywalker x fem!reader
a/n: you sending this request in as soon as i mentioned wanting to write fall fics is iconic of you and i love you for it 💋
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“come on y/n, this is the only good thing about college! skipping without any repercussions” Honey continued to beg as you walked across campus.
“that’s easy to say when you're skipping a language class you’re already fluent in” you protest as she clings to your arm, pleading like a child.
“you don’t even care about French class, you just wanna ogle your little crush” she retorts before tugging on your arm as she comes to a stop forcing you to stop with her.
“okay that’s only half true, i like French class” you hardly believe your own lie as it tumbles out of your mouth. judging by Honey’s deadpanned expression she doesn’t believe it either.
“you were complaining just yesterday how the Teacher refuses to speak in any other language than French and you had no clue what was going on.” if only you didn’t vent to her about everything maybe then she wouldn’t be able to call you out on your bullshit.
“you’re gonna make me late” you sigh, slumping forward solemnly. she rolls her eyes not buying the act for a second.
“good, if you’re going to be late then it just makes even more sense for you to skip with me.” you let out a groan, gently pulling your arm out of her hold before starting to walk again. “you could at least talk to the guy if you’re gonna keep going just to look at him.”
“he’s too smart for me, i mean he’s a mechanical engineering major for gods sake” did he tell you that himself? no, you and Honey just did a little snooping through instagram after you got his full name and found out for yourselves.
“i have a friend who dated an engineering major and she told me they are not as smart as they think they are.” right but he was, he had all A’s it was a known fact around campus. Anakin Skywalker the college’s golden boy.
academic wise anyway, he didn’t socialize with anyone. you had guessed it was because he was much too focused on keeping his grades as good as they were, he had to if he wanted to keep his full ride scholarship… was it considered stalking if you got this information on a public platform?
“yea well Anakin’s different Honey” you can feel the look she’s giving you and you hate it. she jogs up in front of you now, forcing you to look her in the eyes.
“fine don’t skip but you have to talk to him, you’ve got the confidence and social skills to charm a snake y/n stop selling yourself short” you both stare at each other, a silent challenge that you always lose.
“alright!” you huff defeated and she cheers, throwing her arms up in victory before doing a celebratory dance.
“have fun talking to the boy of your dreams” she teases before spinning on her heel to walk in the opposite direction as you.
“have fun skipping spanish” you snort and she shouts back a quick ‘i will’ as you continue walking towards the building.
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your professor was the type of teacher to close the door as soon as class began. ’if you want to waste my time by being late, don't bother coming at all’ was the first thing she’d said at the beginning of the semester, it was the only sentence she’d said in english.
which is exactly why you speed walk past her right as she’s starting to head to the door, keeping your head low when you see the annoyed look on her face as you do. internally counting your lucky stars that you somehow managed to make it before she’d closed it.
Anakin was always one of the first people to arrive in class so it was no surprise he was already there when you get to take a proper look at your surroundings. he was sitting in his usual spot; last row, second to last seat from the aisle.
you take a deep breath mustering all the courage you have as you walk down the aisle past your usual spot and straight to one of the empty seats next to him. he stiffens, hands freezing mid type on his laptop before he forces himself to relax and continue like normal.
you spare a glance at his laptop screen, wondering if it was related to the class. maybe you had missed an entrance ticket or something. you’re met with a shit ton of equations that makes you want to do a double take, unable to even process what you’d just seen.
the sound of your professor starting the lesson pulls your attention before you can. not that you could even understand what she said, all of it going in one ear and out the other. still you pretend to listen, wanting to give it a little time before you possibly ruin this man’s whole mood.
you pretty much dissociate, resting your hand on your palm without a thought in your mind. it’s about thirty minutes later when everyone who didn’t already have their laptops open are pulling them out of their bags that you snap out of it, following their lead you take yours out before turning to Anakin.
kind of a perfect way to start a conversation if you think about it. “sorry, but do you know what we’re supposed to be doing?” you tilt your head slightly watching as it takes a second for it to click in his mind that you’re speaking to him.
“we have to go onto canvas and answer the newest discussion post and then we have to comment on two other people’s answers all in French” he says after clearing his throat, his voice a soft rumble that makes your heart flutter.
you smile warmly at him, a whispered “thank you“ rolling off of your tongue before you turn back to your laptop. you’re about to copy and paste the question into google translate when you realize you could use this as another excuse to talk to him. “don’t suppose you’ve got any clue what this is asking us?”
his attention is on you again, eyes flicker over your face with uncertainty before he looks at your screen “comment prépares-tu la journée?” he reads it out loud in an accent that rivals the professors “it’s basically a formal way of asking how you prepare for the day”
you nod thinking of your answer only to remember a second later you’d have to respond in French. you bite your lip fighting back the urge to ask another question, afraid that you may start to annoy him. you tap on the table lightly locked in an internal debate, and right when you’re about to cave and go back to your trusty friend google Anakin speaks up again.
“do you need help forming your answer in French?” you can’t help but laugh as you turn to him, a shy smile growing on your face.
“is it that obvious i’m struggling?” you joke at your own misery and he rubs the back of his neck, nervously chuckling.
”no, no i wouldn’t say that…” he trails off before finishing with “well maybe a little bit” which makes you snort and cover your mouth to make sure you don’t laugh too loudly.
“help would be much appreciated, thank you” he smiles, wiping his palms on his jeans before clearing his throat again.
“it’s no problem i already finished my work anyway, i was working on homework for another class” he says while closing his laptop “i’m Anakin by the way” he extends his hand and you're quick to shake it. his palms are clammy, his grip gentle yet firm.
he was definitely nervous, even more than you were which somehow helped fuel you with more confidence. “y/n, it’s nice to meet you” you greet back, releasing his hand and turning your laptop screen more towards him.
“it’s.. uh nice to meet you too” it’s almost funny how awkward he is, you’d expected the college golden boy to be more.. well suave. it was endearing though, and you wish you’d made the effort to talk to him sooner.
you tell Anakin your normal routine before leaving for the day and he translates it for you, at first you were the one typing it but when he saw you failing to spell out the words correctly he offered to just do that as well.
of course you agreed, sliding your laptop more towards him. he reaches forward immediately retyping what he’d told you, and you get a front row seat to watch his mind work. so casual and effortlessly translating each thing you told him onto the discussion post. you’d be lying if you said it wasn’t attractive.
thanks to Anakin’s help you’re able to get the discussion post done and comment on two other people’s posts in under 10 minutes, leaving you with nothing to do as the professor waits for everyone to finish before continuing the lesson.
“so do you usually finish all your work early and work on homework for other classes?” you ask wanting to spark conversation again before he gets the chance to reopen his laptop.
“yeah, French is kind of my first language- my mom had me speak both French and english growing up” he answers, shifting in his chair nervously. uncomfortable from the attention you were giving him. “so this is sort of.. my easy pass class, i just took it for the credits”
“i wanted this to be my easy class, and then the first day she spoke almost purely in French and i knew i was fucked- it’s a miracle i’m passing” that miracle was your usual seatmate who would always give you the answers.
“not to be rude but uh.. how are you passing?” you can tell he didn’t want to come off too blunt but there wasn’t really another way to put it that wasn’t beating around the bush.
“lots of google translate and help from peers” he laughs at how proudly you say that, and you can’t help but smile enjoying the sound of it.
“right, that makes a lot of sense” you raise your brow at that unable to resist the urge to mess with him.
“a lot of sense is crazy wording” you act offended and he instantly starts to panic, backtracking his statement while attempting to apologize. you can’t help the laugh that bubbles out of you making him freeze when he realizes you weren’t actually upset.
he doesn’t respond even as you apologize, simply shaking his head with a faint smile. he relaxes in his seat, a look on his face like he wanted to tease back but was still unsure.
once you’ve calmed down and chosen to ignore the looks you were getting from the people around you there’s a brief silence until your professor speaks up, calling everyone’s attention. all of the discussion posts must have been turned in as she now continues the lesson.
it’s not until the end of class that you and Anakin speak again, you turning to him as he packs his stuff away. “hey, we should hang out sometime” you suggest, rather bold for someone who was afraid to talk to him a little over an hour ago.
he whips his head towards you, completely caught off guard. “i- i…” he stutters, his brain trying desperately to catch up with the situation.
you wince worried you misread him, maybe you had actually offended him with your joke or perhaps he had no intentions or desire to talk with you after today.
when he sees you physically pull back he forces an answer out of himself in an almost panic. “no! well i mean yeah- i’d like that..” he squeezes his eyes shut cringing inwardly.
“you’re cute” you giggle, and he reddens. eyes snapping open as he tries to catch his breath, you’re too much for him. like taking a sip of coffee that has way too much sugar and cream in it.
“cute?” he repeats practically breathless, he swallows hard. looking down to his bag for a distraction, busying himself with zipping it closed.
“there’s a cafe i like to go to with my friend that we could go to together?” you offer while pulling your phone out of your pocket. readying it for him to put his number in as you sling your bag over your shoulder.
he hesitates for a moment before taking your phone; typing in his name and number, eyes flicking up to you every once in a while like he expected you to change your mind and tell him to stop.
“i’d love too” he finally responds, handing your phone back with his number officially saved into your contacts. you have to hold in a giddy squeal, doing your best to play it cool.
“great it’s a date!” you cheer singsongy, putting your phone back in your pocket. Anakin looks like he may pass out, every time he thinks you can’t surprise him more you do. “i’ll text you the details later tonight”
his mouth opens and closes, every possible response dying on his tongue. you give him the time he needs, brows knitted together in understanding.
he fakes a cough, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. “okay, i look forward to it” he says voice cracking slightly which he tries to play off with another fake cough, turning away from you and heading out of the classroom in a hurry.
as soon as he’s out of sight you let out the squeal you’d been holding in, jumping up and down before excitedly running out of the classroom to go find and tell Honey about what happened.
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you wait just outside of campus. rocking on your feet as the cold autumn breeze rushes past you making your nose cold, honestly you were far too happy to care.
i’d been two days since your interaction with Anakin and today was the day you’d both agreed to meet up after classes finished. the wait was agonizing but worth it, especially when you see Anakin heading towards you.
he had on a flannel overtop a gray shirt, hair tussled from the wind. palms sweaty which he tried to keep under control, alternating between wiping them on his jeans and trying to fix his hair.
he hasn’t noticed you yet, mumbling something to himself as he walked. you contemplate whether or not to say something, afraid you may startle him if you do but thankfully he finally looks up from the pavement eyes locking with yours. he stiffens mouth snapping shut before standing tall as he tries to look relaxed.
“y/n hey..” it was awkward for sure and you had to bite back a giggle not wanting to make him second guess himself.
“hey, you ready to go? it’s not too far a walk from here” you point behind you in the opposite direction from which he came. he nods, robotically coming to your side as you begin walking.
there’s a awkward silence between you both, Anakin wanting to talk to you but unsure where to start. “sooo…you like coffee?”
you laugh, unable to hold it back this time with how strained his question came out. “i do, it’s a college student's saving grace don’t you think” you half joke, after all there have been many times coffee has actually saved you from passing out and turning in a late assignment.
he smiles, relaxing with your easy going nature. “oh yeah, coffee the holy grail for all college students” he jokes back for the first time and you beam. “you said you go to this cafe with your friend?”
“yep, me and Honey go all the time. they’ve got the best coffee and baked goods. it’s also the perfect environment to do homework or study” you both round the corner of the sidewalk, walking a little ways down to the crosswalk.
“oh that reminds me i’ve been meaning to ask, what’s your major?” well if he was asking that then he had yet to see your instagram account since it was in your bio. good because you’re pretty sure there’s a photo of you from middle school still up on your page.
“i’m an art history major” his brows raise slightly at that, making you tilt your head curiously. “what’d you think i majored in?” he shrugs unsure what to say.
“i don’t know… maybe psychology” this time your brows raise and he laughs. “you seem like the type” your nose wrinkles unsure how to take that but you ultimately decide to brush it off when it was clear he didn’t mean it in a bad way. “why art history?”
“i wanna become an art teacher, i need a bachelors degree for that to happen and art history seemed like the most interesting.” you both slow to a stop as you arrive at the cafe; Anakin steps in front of you, opening the door and holding it for you.
”thanks” you smile, walking in and heading to the usual table in front of the big storefront window that you and Honey sit at, placing your backpack onto the back of the chair. Anakin follows your lead doing the same with his bag before you both get into line.
thankfully it was short, most students preferred the other cafe directly across the street from campus. “ooo they finally have the fall flavors on the menu” you chirp excitedly upon seeing the newly chalked on pumpkin spice latte on the menu.
“are they any good?” your jaw drops dramatically, turning your head slowly towards him in full theatrics.
“you’ve never had a pumpkin spice latte before!?” he smiles, laughing awkwardly while shaking his head no. “oh we’re gonna fix that right now” you don’t even let him respond before stepping in front of him once the person in front of you leaves the line, ordering two pumpkin spice lattes and apple cider donuts for the both of you.
you don’t let him pay either, brushing him off with a “if i’m the one indoctrinating you into fall culture then it’s only right i pay” he only relents when you add “you can pay next time” a content smile on his face at the prospect there was even going to be a next time.
the cashier hands you a bag with the Donuts as well as two disposable cups with your lattes which you take to the table you saved. animatedly sliding the cup over to him as you pull out the donuts placing them on napkins in front of you both. “come on try it, i bet you’re gonna love it”
“a lot of confidence for someone who doesn’t even know if i like sweets” your face falls not having even thought about that, he laughs instantly making you flush when you realize he was messing with you.
still you smile back, it was about time he got you back. really you were just happy he was even comfortable enough to do it. “alright enough teasing, chop chop Frenchie”
“what am i a dog” he snorts, brows creasing together when he laughs this time. it was hardy and from his chest and gods did it make you warm to have been able to pull that out of him. “okay, okay i’m doing it” he says after you nudge him under the table with your foot.
you wait with anticipation as he brings the cup to his mouth, taking a sip of the warm nutty pumpkin flavored drink. you lean in as he takes his time, one hundred percent keeping a straight face on purpose. “..well?”
he pulls the cup away making a show of smacking his lips together to ‘savor’ the flavor. “Anakin!” you groan and he chuckles, holding his hands up in defense before grabbing the cup again.
“you’re right, it’s delicious” you cheer at the success, and he just watches with a smile. taking another sip of his drink before taking a big bite out of the donut you'd given him. his eyes widening as he tries it. “oh this is a dangerous combination”
“addicting isn’t it?” he nods enthusiastically, practically wolfing down the donut in a few seconds and almost completely chugging the latte. “oh my gosh” you laugh, before taking a sip of your own. “it’s not going anywhere”
“not technically true, you said it yourself these are seasonal items” he says and then chugs the rest of his drink. you may have actually just sent this man on a path of addiction.
“well we’ll just have to make it a tradition to come here every fall then. just for the coffee and donuts” he smiles brightly, more than satisfied with your words.
“is the rest of their menu this good year round?” you nod and he leans back in his chair, fiddling with the napkin his donut had been on. he licks the bottom of his lip in thought, bitting the inside of his cheek to hide his nerves before he finally speaks. “well maybe we should make it a year round tradition”
you lean on your palm, absolutely crushing harder on him with each passing second. “year round dates? kind of sounds like you're asking me out” he practically falls out of his chair, choking on whatever sugar the apple cider donuts had left at the back of his throat.
“i-i…i mean..” he stammers and you start to worry you may accidentally be the death of him. “i’d like that a lot.. you know only if you’re into it too-“ he cuts himself off mumbling a ‘she brought it up of course she is’ to himself which makes you giggle.
“why don’t you ask me?” you wait for his answer, not even trying to give him a break. he’s still barely recovered from your initial tease, cheeks a bright red that he’s trying desperately to push down.
it takes him a moment, before he finally works up the courage to speak again. “would you wanna go out with me?” he’s quiet and you briefly contemplate dragging it out more, just to watch him squirm but the poor boy looked tormented enough so you finally grant him reprieve.
“i’d love to” he smiles, relaxing before laughing at himself and you join in. the two of you lost in a fit of giggles, that’s how it is the rest of the date. the two of you getting to know each other better and tossing jokes around.
the more comfortable Anakin becomes, the less awkward and shy he seems to act. no longer as nervous as he was when you first spoke to him.
the cold weather outside is the perfect contrast to the warm cozy bubble around you both that the cafe helped provide. the beginning of many moments to come.
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a/n: hope this okay!! im so used to writing Anakin as the more confident and collected one so this is a little different for me but it was so fun to write 😋😋
also how do we feel about Honey becoming a reoccurring character in my fics and oneshots? would you guys prefer me putting ‘y/f/n’ instead?
anyway hope you all enjoyed reading 🫶🏼🫶🏼 have a great day huns!! Xx<3
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orshii · 8 months ago
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Guilty Pleasure
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✟ Author: orshii
✟ Pairing: Choi San x female reader
✟ Word count: 4,6 k
✟ Warnings: cursing, suggestive
✟ Summary: You go back to your hometown for the summer vacation, not expecting the small town's priest to be a total eye candy. But he seems to be hiding dark secrets underneath his holy façade.
Will you find out the truth?
✟ A/N: *coughs in embarrassment* Uh so...I think I really went insane if I wrote this, there's no way back anymore haha. I really do feel guilty, but then I'm not, cause you'll see. *wink* To be honest I don't know what is this, I just got inspired in the church bruh-- I can't with myself, I'mma just go dig myself haha let's go. Anyways, enjoy I guess. Actually part 2 is out
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My day started off boring, as usual. It was a holiday, so I went back home to the town I grew up in to visit my parents and relatives. I really needed a little break from work and from the adult life, which came out of the blue. I didn't really have time to ponder in my life choices as I finished University. I moved away to a big city to start working as an English teacher. It was very new for me, and very tiring, so, I deserved a little break as the summer vacation finally came and I could come home to rest a little before returning to my chaotic, big city life.
We were sitting in church with my parents and my brother, Wooyoung, as it was Sunday. My parents were mostly religious, and so, I had no other choice but to tag along with them. I can’t say I'm not religious myself, it’s just that I tend to give in a lot of times to the vicious temptations, to the guilty pleasure that consumes me like venom. My brain gets consumed by vices, and it takes a lot of time to find the cure to treat myself with. I learned to believe in myself, instead of God, after I had too many disappointments in life. I prayed for help, but it never came my way. So, I have decided that I'm better off on my own, believing in my own strength and whatever hardships life throws at me I will be able to overcome on my own, instead of believing in a God and waiting for guidance and to be saved.
People started filling inside the church as silence settled upon the hall, the priest coming out to stand in front of the altar. It was the moment I suddenly forgot how to breathe. My mouth fell open as slowly I leaned towards Wooyoung.
"Okay, since when did our old and dusty priest become a young and handsome one?" I whispered to my brother, surprised. The last thing I could remember, as I came here ages ago, was our priest looking like a cute grandpa. This priest on the other hand, was the complete opposite of the lovely old man.
He was tall with his body hidden underneath his black long vestment, but even that couldn't hide his broad shoulders, which could be compared to mountains. Wait a minute…since when were priests buff?
Am I in another universe, suddenly? What am I seeing? Why is he so handsome with his black framed glass?
His black hair was whipped back carefully, little strands falling to his forehead. And his face?! Oh my God, literally, I have never seen more beautiful features likes his before. His jawline was as sharp as a knife, his cat-like eyes watching the people whom came here to hear his wise words, that came from his pretty, almost cherry red, lips. I was very enraptured by this man and I felt very guilty for checking him out for thousands of reasons; one, I was sitting in church and these thoughts were very inappropriate; second…he was a freaking priest, which implied that he was the most innocent human being on earth, he can't even look at girls, let alone do even as much as touch them. My eyes fell on his hands, which were holding the Bible, his palm spreading out underneath it with the veins on his hands showing. I couldn’t control my thoughts as I imagined his long fingers tracing down my neck, leaving goosebumps in its wake.
Wooyoung chuckled quietly, "He’s a newbie. Just got here a month ago, but everyone is all over him already." My brother's voice brought me back to reality as I shook my head to clear my mind of the embarrassing thoughts.
"My dearest brothers and sisters…" The priest started speaking, his low voice sending shivers through my body. The white rosary around his neck was on full display.
From then on, all I could see were his beautiful face and lips, which moved with each smoothly spoken word. I couldn't take my eyes off him; he was like a magnet and I was the iron being attracted to it. It was silent around me; all I could hear was my own quick heartbeat. Just until he started preaching. Suddenly, his soft voice reached my ears and everything just made sense.
"God is here to help you, even in times when you turn your back on him. He watches you still; he protects you still. But he can't protect you from everything. Bad things need to happen in your life so you learn from them, squeezing every lesson out of it so that you can stand up again with your head held high. People make mistakes, and that is what makes us human. Just imagine if God protected you from all bad things, not letting you make any mistake. You’d think that your life was perfect…" He paused so the people would consume what he’s said as he looked around, watching the people in front of him, who were looking up at him like he was God himself. As he was looking around, his eyes suddenly locked onto mine and watched me sharply. I couldn't breathe, "…but the reality is, no one can be perfect, because nothing is perfect. If everything were, life would be boring…we learn from the mistakes we make, because sometimes there's no one behind our back, just ourselves, to keep us going. This is the purpose of God. He gives you lectures in these alone times, so that you can learn how to be your own best friend, so you can love yourself before you love someone else. This is the reason we shall never turn our back to God, he gives us hope and brings us the light. Amen." His eyes were on mine all the while he spoke, and I was stunned. My heart raced like hell; those words felt like they were aimed right at my heart. It reminded me of my old self, who never loved herself, not even for a short period.
I was still mulling over the priest’s speech in my mind as we stood outside the church, when suddenly I saw him standing in front of my family, still holding the Holy Bible. He was smiling at my mother as if they knew each for ages, his dimples showing on both of his cheeks, his eyes turning into crescents. I seriously needed to get my shit together.
"Is she your daughter, who moved away, Mrs. Jung?" He looked at me curiously.
"Yes, she is. Come here." My mother motioned for me to get closer as if I was still twelve years old.
The priest came closer to shake my hand, "I don’t think we’ve met before; my name is Choi San. I'm the new priest." He said with a soft tone as his face beamed with nothing but kindness.
I shook his hand, "Nice to meet you, I'm Jung Y/N." I slightly smiled at him, feeling a little embarrassed due to the thoughts that went through my mind during his service.
We were staring at each other; his hands still haven’t released mine as if the both of us were stunned into sculptures. My mother's voice pulled us back to reality, and San nervously coughed into his palm. What was that?
"My daughter teaches English to little kids in the nearby big town, she just graduated a year ago." My mother said proudly, her palm patting my back with a smile.
"Oh, that is a very great job. It needs a lot of patience, I assume." He seemed genuinely interested.
"Ah, yes, it's a miracle when the kids sit in one place. It's demanding and tiring, but I like it." I smiled at him, trying to seem mature.
"Hang in there, you’ve got this. I can imagine you as a teacher, it fits you well, and I'm sure you are good at it." I didn’t know if I was simply imagining it, but his smile dissapeared for a second as he was glared at me with sharp eyes. I swear to God, he looked like an animal full of desire. And for priests, desire was the last thing they were allowed to feel.
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Days later I found myself sitting in a pub, next to San. I can't believe I'm saying this, but the night lead us somehow here, sitting at the bar and talking about anything and everything.  
The night started off with me going out with my childhood friends to drink something, because we have missed seeing each other. We went to a pub called Silver. The bar could be linked back to our childhood as a playground lay in its place instead back then, when we were mere kids. How fun life was, a place where we used to play as kids now was a place where we got drunk until we blacked out. At least my friends managed to do that, I was still hanging on. My friends had drunkenly rested their heads on the table where we initially sat at.
So, I had texted their husbands to ‘come collect their women’. They had come after them as all of my childhood friends had someone, except me. One of my friend’s told me that they were going to take me home. The night was wild, I could barely see, but somehow as I was looking around the bar, my jaw fell open as I saw someone. That someone being Choi San, the priest himself. He was sitting on a barstool, his back facing me. He was wearing a black turtleneck, broad shoulders on full display, which curved into a tiny waist. I was shocked over the fact that he was hiding a body like that under the black vestments. So, I told my friend that I would be staying for a little longer.
I had stumbled next to him as he sat by the bar, "Since when do priests drink alone in a pub?" I asked frowning, the words coming out of my mouth a bit slow. Giving him a closer look, the black turtleneck was tight against his thick neck, a silver necklace with a big cross reached between the middle of his pectorals, which were big. The black turtleneck he wore was tucked inside his elegant black pants. He looked like a God, but not a good one.
He looked at me a little surprised, his lips curving into a smile when he saw it was me,
"Is it set in stone that priests can't drink alone in a pub now?" One glass of whiskey was casually sitting between his fingers.
I frowned at that, feeling a little dizzy, "I mean…I guess not?"
He chuckled watching my face as I pouted at the realization, "You are cute." His smile never dissapeared.
I frowned again, analyzing his face, "Can priests say such things as well?" It was just weird; I spoke without thinking first.
San started to laugh at that loudly, his laugh was so soft it melted my heart. As he laughed, he raised his open palm up to his mouth, a golden ring decorating his index finger, his eyes formed into crescents as he looked like a cute cat, "So, do you think priests can't say anything at all? That they can't even look at cute girls like yourself?" He stopped laughing and leaned a little closer to my face, his voice low with bass.
My cheeks heat up from his closeness. What was he doing again? The man sitting in front of me was the world's biggest question mark, he acted very suspiciously. I leaned backwards, away from him as he looked at me with his sharp eyes, eyeing me up and down.
"Are you really a priest?" I folded my arms over my chest, looking at him suspiciously.
"Of course, I am." He smiled at me again with that adorable smile, which wasn't on his face mere seconds ago.
"You don’t act like it." I said leaning towards the counter to ask for some water from the barista.
"You didn't like my service on Sunday?" He asked, analyzing my face.
"I did, you said some wise words, I must admit." I said as I opened the water bottle to drink. As I drank, I felt his gaze fell on my neck, watching me as I gulped the water down. Chills ran through my body.
"C'mon, I'll take you home." He said, standing up.
"You were sipping whiskey minutes ago, are you crazy?" I said while looking up at him, as he stood next to me.
"Priests can drive while drinking, so come on, you are a bit drunk. I have to take care of the locals, as a priest." He said with a smile, his voice soft as a light breeze while he offered his hand for me to take.
I just looked at it, and after a few seconds of pondering, took it. He grabbed my hand firmly, and lead me out of the pub.
The summer night was a little cold, as clouds hid the stars above us, and the breeze sent shivers down my body.
"Are you cold?" San stopped, putting his hand on my back to caress it.
Okay, this was starting to get very weird. I just wanted to go home.
"I'm okay, just want to go home." I replied, trying to distance myself from him.
He silently led the way towards his car, which was an old black Dodge with some silver framing on the windows. Okay, he was a rich priest then, I guess.
The way towards my home was silent and a little uncomfortable. I just wanted to get away from this weird situation, away from him, because the longer I was with him, the stronger I wanted to give into the biggest sin trap. That being the realization that I started feeling attracted to a fucking priest.
When he stopped the car, I was ready to get out, but when I reached for the handle, it did not open. I looked at San frowning.
"Oh, sorry, it needs more pressure to open, this thing is as old as my grandpa." He slowly leaned towards me, reaching his hand out towards the handle. His face was close to my own, there wasn't even an inch between us. He cracked the door open, but his face remained close, and I was so stunned I couldn't move my limbs to get away from him. My heart was racing, I was terrified he might hear it. Then all I could see was him leaning closer, towards my cheeks, and he pecked it softly, like a feather.
"Good night, darling." He whispered into my ear. I could feel his hot breath against my cheek, which melted into my skin, not even letting my body process it. He leaned back in his seat and pretended like nothing had happened. I swear to God, I believed I imagined the whole scene.
When I came to my senses, I quickly scrambled out of the car and speed-walked towards my house, leaving him there without a word.
I might be going insane, but I just couldn't process what happened. This man was a whole mystery, there was no way a priest would act like this, at least not a real one.
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My suspicions started getting valid as on some days, when I was walking home from the summer school I was teaching at, I accidentally saw our precious priest in casual clothes, which was opposite of what a priest would wear. For example, I saw him one time in ripped jeans and leather jacket, was it what priests wore these days? He was always with some guys as they seemed to be doing some business. The first time I saw him, I wasn't sure if it was really San, but when I spotted him the second time as well, I was sure it was him. And I couldn't believe he fooled a whole fucking town with his sweet and innocent act of a priest, one everyone adored. But the truth was that he was a fucking menace, lying left and right, pretending to be someone he wasn’t. I didn't know what was going on, but I wanted to find out. There was no way I was going to let him continue fool the whole town. I wanted to get some evidence so that he would be kicked out and punished, so that he wouldn’t get any more innocent people into trouble.
So, I started following him around. I saw him on days when he completed his priest duties, visiting families, going to church, holding services. He did his job well, his acting was very convincing, everyone believed it. But during the night? He disguised himself very well, so that I wouldn’t really understand what was happening, but I knew he was meeting with some sort of gang on some nights, giving money over to them for something in exchange.
One evening, as I was following San through an alley, he had reached the end of it. He had just turned left, so I followed after him. But when I turned left as well, I couldn’t see him. I looked around, frowning as I wondered where he could have gone so fast, when suddenly, all I could feel was being pushed against the cold brick wall, fingers crawling around my neck, holding me still. I opened my eyes, which I had closed from the sudden impact. I came face to face with San's furious expression as he looked down at me. His hair fell into his eyes and they looked deadly, sharp.
"Had a good time following me, darling?" His voice was low, like a furious thunder. When he tilted his head, he looked like a psycho. His leather jacket had tightened around his biceps as he squeezed my throat. The same cross was still around his neck, just like at the pub.
"Who the fuck are you?!" I looked up at him, words hardly coming out of my mouth as his hand was still around my throat.
"Stop sticking your nose into everything, and just go home!" He raised his voice a little and loosened his hand just barely around my neck.
I took that as an opportunity, and grabbed his hand, just to tear it off my neck, "What the fuck San? Are you insane? Stop fucking fooling everyone, and get the fuck out of here!" I shouted at him; I was shacking from anger that boiled inside me.
"You have no idea what is going on, so please, just go home!" He started calming down a little as he looked behind his back from time to time. He was acting even more suspicious.
"Then tell me what this is. Cause I'm so fucking conf—" I was interrupted by an ear cracking breaking sound, followed by a loud engine.
"Fuck, they are here." San quickly grabbed my wrist and pulled me along, running out of the alley to his black Dodge, that was parked on the sidewalk, waiting for us patiently.
"What the fuck is happening?" I said as he opened the passenger seat's door, and pushed me down into the seat.
"Just sit in the car, Y/N, there's no time for questions. We have to get away from here." He closed the door with a loud thump and ran towards the other side of the car, just to sit behind the wheel and ignite the engine to life.
My heart thumped like crazy, I didn't understand what was happening. All I could see was San driving like a maniac, checking the side mirrors all the time as I saw a big black Jeep following after us madly. San geared up and pushed the gas pedal to the hilt, we were almost flying. The engine threatened to jump out of the bumper from the sudden speed. We were on the highway, a lot of cars around us, but San very quickly dodged all of them. We sped past them like lightning, just for San to suddenly swerve right and get us onto a lane leading away from the highway, then he swerved right again, then left. I lost the direction we were going in, all I could see was the black Jeep that chased us now having disappeared into the cold, and scary, night. San hadn’t stopped yet, he was driving us far away from our little town. I was terrified to speak up, I just knew this was going to be the end of me. All because I'm stupid and I can't sit on my ass and mind my own business. All because I just had to follow a fucking priest, who wasn't even a priest.
After having driven for half an hour in deafening silence, we finally stopped in front of a big mansion. I looked up at it through the windshield. So, this was going to be the location of my murder? I guess it would be fine, right? At least it's a nicer place to be killed at.
I couldn't look into San's eyes, but I felt him staring at me. My body was still a little shaky from the sudden adrenaline, I tried to calm down myself and accept my ridiculous fate.  
"Hey, Y/N?" San spoke up after minutes of being in the silent and dark car. I guess he was waiting for me to calm down, and for himself as well.
I still couldn't look into his eyes as tears flooded in my eyes, the adrenaline was gone and its demise left nothing behind but fear. I don’t know if I was ever this scared in my whole life before.
I felt San's hand touching mine, very carefully. He might’ve realized that I was terrified, so he didn’t want to scare me anymore, "Hey, look at me." His voice was sweet again, like candies.
I breathed in and out, closing my eyes, to somehow fight against my fear, and then slowly turned towards him. As I looked at him and he saw my teary eyes and terrified expression, his features softened into a worried expression.
"Fuck, Y/N, I won't hurt you! I'm so sorry, darling." He cupped my cheeks, tears appearing in his eyes as well. Upon seeing his worried expression, I somehow felt kind of relieved.
"Aren't you going to kill me?" I asked in a whisper looking, down at my hands in fear.
"Look at me, Y/N!" His fingers curled around my chin to lift my head up. I somehow managed to look into his eyes again, and the softness I saw in them made me relax a bit more, "Of course, I won't kill you, don't say foolish things. I could never hurt you."
He cupped my face again, caressing my cheeks, "I'm sorry if I scared you, darling."
"What is going on?" I whispered again as the words hardly came out of my mouth, having gone dry like a desert.
 "C'm here." He took my hand and pulled me towards himself, making me crawl over the center console and straddle his lap. His hands immediately held onto my waist and pulled me closer to himself.  I circled my arms around his neck carefully as he pulled me down to his chest and hugged me tightly. I took a deep breath of his sweet candy-like cologne, the skin of his neck warm.
"I'm sorry for scaring you. I just…there is a lot going on, and I lost my head for a second. Please, forgive me…" His hands ran up and down my spine, caressing it, leaving nothing but shivers in its wake. His body was a like a magnet, I couldn't detach myself from it, it felt impossible.
"Tell me what’s going on." I whispered into his neck weakly, closing my eyes.
"Well, I'm not a priest." He said, still caressing my back.
I scoffed, "Wow, shocking news."
"How did you figure it out?" His hand slowly traveled up to the hair on my nape, massaging my scalp as I felt my body temperature rise, comically thinking that I was going to slip right through his fingers from the warm touch.
"I saw you a few times with those people…" The way he started massaging my scalp became a little firmer, and a moan almost slipped through my lips "…doing some business, I assumed. So, I started following you."
"My darling couldn't stay away from me, huh?" His hand resting on my waist slowly slipped under my blouse, his hot fingers starting to trace my warm skin up and down. Suddenly, the fantasy I had in mind while watching him in church, during the service, fought its way to the forefront of my mind, it being his hands slowly tracing down the curves of my body. I would’ve never thought that it was really going to happen.
I slowly lifted my head up from his chest to look into his eyes, which left a fire in its wake. The chill I felt an hour ago was gone in seconds, and I have never felt hotter in my life before seeing the heated desire in his eyes, it could’ve burned me up whole.
"Why are you doing this?" I asked him, trying to get rid of the tension between us.
"That’s a very long story, darling." He leaned his forehead against mine and closed his eyes. He pulling me impossibly close to himself as he held my waist with both hands.
"The night is long now that you have kidnapped me." I whispered barely inches away from his lips as they were almost touching mine.
"Yeah?" He whispered back, his lips hovering over mine, ghosting against them. His hands ran up my warm body passionately, his nails digging into my skin roughly.
I hummed at that, as words couldn't escape my lips, his hands on my skin making my stomach drop. He breathed shakily against my lips and I felt his body getting hotter as he finally pressed his lips against mine hungrily. I kissed him back with greed, our lips moving in sync against each other, my dry lips now fully wetted with his saliva, which tasted like sweet candies. His right hand tangled into my hair, running his fingers through it and it made me moan against his lips. San took the opportunity to slip his tongue inside my mouth, discovering every inch of it as my tongue danced along his passionately. I grinded down against his crotch, and he let out a guttural groan at the stimulation. His hand on my waist slipped down to my ass, and he grabbed it harshly just to push me down against himself harder. We both let out a moan at the feeling, and we separated to get some air as I slowly started feeling dizzy from the lack of oxygen. His forehead pressed against mine as we both breathed heavily against each other's mouths.
"We should stop…" San whispered against my mouth, his lips touching mine as he kissed me again, now a little slower. He sucked on my lower lip to take it between his teeth, and bit it so hard that blood started to drop down my chin, seeping into the collar of my blouse. I winced from the sudden pain, making me grind down harder against him. I have long lost my sanity; I have lost against the sins that caged me in until I wasn't aware of anything at all around me.
"Why?" I asked weakly as we separated again.
"Because I want to fuck you properly, on a bed." He told me, sharp eyes boring into my own, almost as if I had no other choice but to obey him. My body shook from the desire I felt for San, and I really had no other choice but to obey his wishes and let him fuck me senseless, giving in to the guilty pleasures.   
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Part 2->
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cherryrikis · 1 month ago
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BETTER LUCK TOMORROW - introduction ! senior project
pairing : nishimura riki x reader
synopsis : after being in the wrong place at the wrong time, you (as well as your friends), were framed for the death of your brother and disappearance of your boyfriend. you all had no hope. no job, no money, none of you were even allowed to graduate. at least, until a stubborn kid on a dance scholarship suddenly acts as your savior, riki helps clear your name all for the sake of a school project.
this episode contains the following : 1.3k wc, brief swearing, mentions of death & mentions of murder/killing, lots of dialogue
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“as you all know, you have a major senior project due by the end of the year for part of your college interviews. this will be worth 90% of your grade and is not optional. any questions to far?” riki’s english teacher read off the whiteboard, before turning to face the class.
she cleared her throat loudly before continuing.
“late work will not be accepted, because you have until may 25 to get this project submitted. everyone should know which college they plan on attending, or applying to by now. a google slides format must be be at least 25 slides, and a word doc should be at least 10 pages.”
jungwon quoted the teacher, explaining to riki what’s expected of them after he realized riki hadn’t been paying attention.
“how the hell did you remember all she said? and- why are you even here.. you’re like, a freshman in college.” riki noticed, with a visible look of confusion on his face.
“sophomore, actually. and i’m here for volunteer work! we have finals too you know. i was telling you and sunoo about this last week, but it’s for my social thought class!-” jungwon explained with a smile, only for it to drop as he was cut off .“yeah yeah okay. so what kind of topic am i supposed to pick?” riki asked before crumpling up a random paper into a ball, tossing it in jungwons direction.
jungwon let out a sigh. “riki, you really need to do better. if you can’t improve how you act, that impact will show on my grade as well. and that won’t be good for either of us.” he said as he took the paper ball, unfolding it to reveal riki’s report card from last quarter. it wasn’t too bad really, mainly straight a and b minuses. but the biggest issue, was behavior and participation.
“how would your grade tanking be bad on me? i still have until fall before i start going to ucla.”
“i really don’t know how you got in.” jungwon shook his head.
“dance scholarship. duh.” “nishimura riki! you have 7 more minutes to determine your main topic. i recommend that you use your time more wisely.” the teacher called out from her desk.
“okay seriously, now we have to focus. what topics are you interested in?” jungwon asked, as he pulled his notebook out.
“well, i like dancing. i can research the history on different dance styles.” riki shrugged, loosely putting an idea out there.
“that’s actually not that bad, especially as a dance major. let’s sit on that idea for a bit in case anything else comes up. what else do you like?” jungwon hummed while briefly scribbling a few notes in.
“i don’t even get why i still have to do this stupid assignment when i already heard back from ucla. if anything it’s a waste of my time, because this only benefits the kids who haven’t heard back yet.” riki complained.
“well,” jungwon chuckled. “the start of the fall semester is still a while from now, anything can change by then. they’re still gonna be looking at your final report card and all that. this is just to determine that your slot in that school is ensured. i think the you from freshman year would be proud to see you improve.”
but of course, he wasn’t listening. riki was hyper focused on his computer. at least until the last sentence stuck out to him.
“say that again?” riki questioned, making sure he heard jungwon right.
“the you from three years ago would be proud if you improved?” he repeated an improvised version, with a raised brow.
riki chewed on the bottom of his pen, before hastily writing something down on jungwon’s notebook.
“you.. you want to solve heeseung and jay’s case..?” jungwon stuttered as he read the notes. “how is this even related to what i said? is it because you were a freshman when it happened?”
“do you really believe yn was capable of killing them? i mean honestly, won. we grew up with her. she was heeseung’s little sister.” riki insisted, ignoring jungwon’s previous questions.
“i couldn’t believe it either, because there was no way it could’ve been her. but there was a lot of evidence that said otherwise.” jungwon informed, moving the notebook back onto his desk.
“also, don’t get mad when i say this. but, do you think the reason why you’ve been so fixated on yn being innocent is because you never got over your crush on her from middle school?”
“hey! shut the fuck up dude.” riki hissed, slapping the older boy on the back of his head. “and she was someone we were close to, a 17 year old at the time. it just isn’t likely.”
“age doesn’t mean anything. 35% of murders in america were committed by people ranging between 17 and 21. and, 28% of murders are committed by a relative or acquaintance. chances are low but not zero.” a girl butt in from behind the them. riki whipped his head back to see who it was, only to wish he never turned around.
minji kim. a pain in the original friend groups ass since elementary school.
the two stared at her with two completely different expressions. riki looked minji up and down with a frown, while jungwon just blinked slowly with wide eyes.
“what? do you seriously not remember me?” she scoffed.
“no trust me, we do, minji.” riki huffed before turning back around.
“we’re just wondering how you know that, is all.” jungwon hummed.
“my brother is a police officer now. i’m sure if you didn’t know who he was, one of your other friends might.” she snickered.
minjae kim. he is minji’s brother and one of the officers who handled the heeseung-jay case, aka one of the officers responsible for the arrests of yn and a few others. riki would know, because he attended the court hearing.
“minji, what topic have you selected?” the teacher asked as she briefly looked up from the computer screen.
“i will be making a slideshow on the history of ballet.” she answered with a proud smile. oh how riki just wanted to wipe that look off her face.
“and.. finally. riki and jungwon?”
"me and jungwon will investigate the lee siblings case, from 3 years ago." and the teachers face fell.
"riki, i don't know if this is a good topic write on. you still have time to change your mind-"
"no. this is what i want to do. i want to solve the murder of heeseung lee, and the disappearance of jay park." riki cut off the teacher with determination.
and the class went silent.
"there's nothing to solve! yn lee killed her own brother, and her own boyfriend. case closed." minji said. but remember, her brother was one of the officers who testified against yn. of course, her opinion on the topic was just as biased as riki’s or jungwon’s could be.
"shut up minji, your brother got demoted for a reason. and, you didn't know yn." jungwon waved off.
"you may have known heeseung but that doesn't mean you know her. and i know enough about yn lee to see that shes a cold hearted killer." "enough!" the teacher interrupted.
"fine. riki and jungwon, you may pursue this case. but we have to set some boundaries. first off, you may use any public sources or personal connections. secondly, when contacting any sources like publishers or officers, do not push the limit. if they say certain answers to questions are confidential, then respect that. third and foremost, absolutely do NOT contact the lees or the parks. leave any involved families out of this, especially now that miss yn lee is out of juvie."
she teacher sighed in slight relief as she saw jungwon and riki nodding in agreement.
but what she didn’t see, was how their fingers were crossed behind their backs.
taglist ! @jiiyen @prettiestgirlontheplanet @hannicorpse @wonsboo @murazbae @stilesks @soobinbunnie5 @blvengene @r1kification @gyuvision @goldenmellow @ariluvssssss100 @who-tf-soddhi @mmurazz @jaemified @strawberrieswithchocolateo3o @heartheejake @hoonsdrnkdzd
not proofread
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medusapelagia · 5 months ago
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One. Big. Step.
written for @steddiemicrofic (Prompt: one | 1111 words) and @steddie-week (Day 2, Prompt: Touch Starved) Rating: Teen and Up Relationship: Steve/Eddie TW: none Words: 1111
The anticipation is what makes Eddie antsy. 
When someone starts to walk toward him, his heart starts beating faster and louder, his ears buzz, his breathing gets too accelerated (air hunger, as his mom used to call it), and he begins to sweat, profusely, leaving a dark damp stain under the armpit of his t-shirts, which is the main reason he always wears black t-shirts. Or t-shirts with black sleeves. 
When the person walking toward him is Steve the Hair Harrington, well, it's even worse. 
Eddie's tongue gets entangled in his mouth and when he's finally able to speak a few words, the ones that come from his mouth are either stupid or cruel. But even if Eddie hates himself for that, in some ways it works perfectly well because Steve freezes, a sad smile painted on his face, and mutters, "I'll see you around, Munson," before turning and leaving Eddie alone, which is exactly what he wants. Because Eddie the banished has only one big fear: being touched. 
It's a fear that comes from afar and even if Eddie is ashamed of it, it’s not something Eddie will overcome easily. 
In his entire life touch meant hurt. Every time Al Munson came home drunk, every time a policeman caught him stealing some food, every time a teacher dragged him to the principal office, their touch meant hurt. And pain. And blood.
Those people left a wound in Eddie’s soul; a wound he’s not sure it will ever heal.
It doesn't help that the only person he trusts is not very outgoing either.
Wayne never hurt him, but never tried to touch him either.
And now he’s untouchable.  
None in the Hellfire Club dares to hug him, not even Gareth, who has been his best friend since they were kids. To be honest, Gareth is his shield, the best one he could have ever asked for. He's the one who detects Eddie's anxiety and puts himself between the threat and his best friend and in Eddie’s opinion, that’s fucking metal. 
It doesn't matter if most of the time the threat is just a girl asking for a pen during English class or a boy getting too close to Eddie in the cafeteria. Gareth is there, ready to lend a pen or step between Eddie and the rest of the world.
Gareth is the person who knows Eddie intimately. He knows about his past, that he deals to make ends meet, and that there's a kind spirit hidden under the metal jewelry and the fake attitude. What Gareth doesn't know, it's that even if Eddie is scared of touch, he has finally met someone who makes him feel butterflies in his stomach and almost makes him wish for things he never thought were possible for him, like holding hands or even kissing. And that person is Steve Harrington.
Eddie knows that there's something between the two of them, a kind of opposite attraction they both feel, but how can he surrender to the pull he feels when even the idea of getting close to Steve makes him shit his pants?
"Maybe you should start gradually." Gareth wisely proposes when Eddie finally confesses his tribulation to him, "Choose someone you trust and ask him to touch you or something like that."
"Wouldn't that be weird? Like… Hi, can you hold my hand for a moment? Don't worry if I freak out, it's a normal reaction."
"You could start with Wayne." Gareth replies, gulping down his soda in the hot Indiana summer, "He knows you're weird."
"Why didn't I think of that? Hi Wayne, can you hug me? Yeah, I'm weird and I'm also gay and I need some physical contact before I try to hold hands with my crush. Very subtle and not suspicious at all. He won't kick me out of the trailer. No sir."
Gareth sighs, slouching on Eddie's broken couch, "You know he wouldn't. He had so many reasons to kick you out and he never did, but if you don't want to ask him, I get it. What if I volunteer?" Gareth asks, reaching out with one arm.
He gives Eddie the time to stop him or move away, but the metalhead swallows all his fears and gives him a little nod.
The contact between Gareth's calluses hand and Eddie's elbow it's not pleasurable, but it doesn't make him jump out of his skin either.
"You ok?"
Eddie nods, quietly, focusing on the feeling and identifying every single sensation. The warmth of Gareth's skin, the roughness of his hand, the steadiness of his arm. Eddie closes his eyes, takes a few deep breaths, and then he whispers, "Stop."
Gareth immediately releases his soft grip, his eyes pinned on Eddie, "Still ok?"
"Yeah. I got a bit overwhelmed." Eddie confesses, turning his attention towards a dog barking a few feet away. Noticing Eddie's attention the dog starts to pull at the chain even harder barking in his direction and Eddie wonders why a barking dog is less scary than a friendly touch.
"We could do a little exposure therapy if you want. Here at the trailer, where you're more comfortable and none can see us.”
With a snort, complaining in a low voice that exposure therapy seems even more complicated than dealing in a small town like Hawkins, Eddie begrudgingly agrees to do a few cuddling sessions, as Gareth mockingly calls them, every day after band practice.
Maybe it's not a lot, but sitting close to each other on the same bench, or brushing their fingers while sharing a joint seems to be really helping, and after a couple of months, when Dustin invites them to see a movie at Steve's place, for the first time Eddie seats on the couch, not on the bean bag as usual. Dustin stares at him open-mouthed, but a stern look from Gareth is all it takes to get his attention back on the screen.
When Steve gets back with a couple of bowls of popcorn, the only empty seat is the couch where Eddie is already making himself comfortable, putting his feet on the coffee table while yelling something against the movie director.
Turning toward Steve, Eddie simply asks "Aren't you going to sit?"
Steve gives the biggest bowl to Dustin and puts the small one in the middle of the couch, to keep some space between them, and when their fingers brush above the popcorn bowl and Eddie doesn't retreat, Steve gives him the best smile ever.
Maybe sitting on the same couch watching a movie with the kids isn't the most romantic thing ever, but it's a step. One. Big. Step.
permanent taglist: @katyawriteswhump
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rivisions · 2 years ago
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🎙️ little freak.
present mic x reader / hizashi yamada x reader.
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smut/nsfw themes. 18+ content.
sub!reader, dom!hizashi, voice kink, size kink, hair pulled, fingering, classroom sex. also kinda fluff.
working an inspection week at UA high seemed like a fun trip, but you had an obvious hard time keeping yourself energized.
it was hard to stay focused, theres was always some sort of explosion going off, thanks to katsuki.
you mainly worked alongside the teachers rather than the students though. and one always managed to catch your eye as being peculiarly different.
“and that’s why, my dear listeners, this new class is so important! they’ll spark an uproar fo’ sho!”
hizashi was in his own element, in a room recording his very own podcast. you actually listened to it before even coming to UA to inspect, it was kind of cool to see a behind the scenes.
hizashi noticed you stopped in the hallway after he stopped recording.
“sorry my dear! didn’t mean to be that loud!”
he noticed your name tag, noticed that you were there yesterday, and somehow got .. scared of that?
“sorry! apologies! i promise these walls are firm! built to stand and last! nothing but the best or nothing to worry about!”
you laughed, he was quite the entertainer.
“it’s okay, don’t worry. i actually thought it was kinda cool, since i listened to your talk show stuff before i even came here for this week”.
his eyes lit up and he nearly jumped out his own skin.
“you do? i knew i had such a trusting and loving fanbase!”
you laughed at the floor as you pushed your hair behind your ear. he was giddy, but managed to act so focused on you.
he ran behind you and got so close to your neck you could feel his heavy breathing from jumping everywhere.
“i guess my fanbase is pretty loyal, huh?”
your eyes nearly popped out your skull.
you thought, “i didn’t know he was.. like this.” and you weren’t complaining.
“well, of course, mr. mic.”
“oh please,” he moved closer to your ear, “call me hizashi.”
he laughed and walked down the hallway to aizawa’s room, probably to interrupt and cause a scene.
you’d never seen that side of him though. you weren’t going to argue with it though.
• • •
you came back to UA the next day, not really focusing too much on what you were supposed to be doing and rather on where hizashi was.
“there you are! i’ve been super stoked to showing you around!”
you knew that energetic announcer voice anywhere, and it was coming from behind you.
you tried to turn around, but hizashi ran up to put his hands on your shoulders and reintroduce himself to you. like you could forget him.
“i’d really love to show you around! specifically the nicer parts of course, since that’s what i want you to see.”
he started walking with you, arm wrapped around your neck, almost begging for you to be closer. but that’s just his personality anyway.
“i actually kind of finished all my work inspection wise. i’m not sure why they send me out here for a full week when i can finish in a day.”
“oh! you’re here all week? well you just have to come and sit in one of my suuuuper totally awesome lectures then!”
“what are you teaching here anyway? mathematics? public speaking?”
“i’m almost offended! i’m an english professor can’t you tell!” he looked almost distraught.
you laughed it off, “apologies, it actually kind of makes sense now, teaching the new heroes proper grammar and all.”
he turned to you while you were still walking, “oh trust me dear listener, i know how to use my words very well, do you?” , he whispered. it sent shivers down your core.
before you could get an answer out, he thankfully cut you off.
“just messin’ with ya! making sure you’re looking alive throughout my tour!”
you smiled at each other for a moment, and you looked around the building for the next 25 minutes with a grin thanks to hizashi’s colorful commentary.
•••
you ended your tour with him back into his classroom, and he backed you into his desk, kind of without noticing. he’s nearly 6’2 in those boots. but it was kind of hot.
he took his directional speaker off, and you didn’t expect him to look so different without it. but you kind of were digging it.
“now, is there anything else i haven’t shown you?”
you eventually sat completely on his desk as he seemed to take control over you without even knowing it.
“well you haven’t exactly told me what you can do, present mic.”
he got closer to you, and tilted your chin up with his gloved hand.
“it’s hizashi, love. i promise i don’t bite. unless you want me to.”
your face got tomato red, and hizashi noticed, taking note of it and huffed.
“my linguistics seem to have an effect on you dear.”
you grinned. “nothing but the good kind of effects, ‘zashi.”
without even thinking, your legs split, and he took action on that.
his hand slid under your skirt and on your inner thigh, rubbing circles.
you let out a high pitched whine as he got closer to your heat, but covered your mouth with your hand.
“hmm, guess my voice is pretty powerful.”
you just nodded, afraid that if you spoke it would come out as a moan.
he took your hand off your mouth, and got closer to your face.
“there is no need to hide that pretty little voice of yours. let it out my listener.”
your body listened to him apparently, as your head flew back and a moan escaped your body.
“that’s my girl.”
his thumb finally reached your clothed clit, as he pulled your panties aside and rubbed gentle circles on your clit. he was sending you over the moon with just his voice already, but this is so much better.
his index finger finally slid into you after what seemed like hours. he was pumping into you at a slow pace at first, but sped up as he laid farther into you.
eventually you both were nearly lying on his desk, as his fingers steadily pumped in and out of you.
your head fell backwards and hizashi didn’t waste any time, painting hickeys all over your neck.
your shirt eventually unbuttoned because of how hizashi was lying on you, and one of his hands made its way up to your boob.
he painted kisses all down your sternum, your body arched into him, as you slowly started to reach your climax.
“close aren’t’cha babe?”
your eyes squeezed shut as you nodded and let out a small “mhmm”.
“‘zashi! don’t sto-op!”, you whined as you came over his fingers, nearly staining his gloves.
“wanna flip over for me, hun?”
you grinned and flipped to where your boobs pressed against his desk. you could hear him undoing his belt, and gasped as his tip slid into your pussy.
“sorry, i know it’s gonna hurt, you just gotta go slow, okay?”
“no! no i’m okay, ke-ep going.. hmm.”
“didn’t know i was messin’ with a little freak, huh?”
you grinned back at him, but your head quickly shot back after he pushed his full length into you.
“ya good sweetheart?”
“mhmm! ple-ease more ‘zashi!”
“hold on baby, i don’t wanna hurt you,” he growled.
“promise you won’t, please?”
he rolled his eyes and grinned as his pace sped up, and his exposed chest that had unzipped was pressed against your back kept you warm.
your head kept falling on his desk and student’s papers kept getting stuck on your forehead and he noticed, so he pulled your hair back and wrapped it around his hand.
“nngh! oh god oh my god.”
“oh you like that, huh?”
he kept his pace, leaning into your ear, letting out deep huffs into your ear, sending shivers down your spine. he was speaking huskily and his hair was disheveled. those products didn’t keep well and his hair was falling over your back.
“you’re close, aren’t you?”
you nodded, letting out a couple long drawn breathy moans, hoping that suffice for an answer.
“fuck! fu-ck don’t stop ‘ashi!”
he didn’t, he just got closer and more intimately closer to you, painting more hickeys down your back.
he was groaning, whining almost, “never knew you were this- hmph- tight hun”
“oh?” you pretended to act shocked.
“mhmm! fu-uck, i’m”
he didn’t even get to finish his sentence before he was filling your insides. you both somehow synced your climaxes together, both of you filling the room with the sounds of your harmonic moans.
he was panting over you, and you basically molded yourself to the desk as he pulled out of you, cum dripping all over your clothes you threw on the floor.
“sorry my dear listener, i’ll get you cleaned up.”
he held your waist and flipped you around, and the bareness of the desk made you shiver.
he came leaned over you to grab a towel from a drawer out of his desk and cleaned both of you up and picked you up to carry you to sit in his lap in his desk chair.
you straddled him with your hands sitting on his shoulders, as his arms wrapped around your waist. he was pampering you with kisses everywhere, focusing on your forehead.
“you a-okay?”
“yeah, just still in the nude from the waist down though,” you both giggled.
he looked down and realized he never zipped his pants back up, “oh! where are my manners hun!”, and zipped them.
“sorry about that, i have an extra pair of sweatpants in my desk? if they fit ya?”
he opened the drawer and pulled them out as you stood up and put them on.
“thank you mic”.
“i like that one! aizawa doesn’t call me that anymore, so validating!”
you smiled into him, almost burying yourself into his arms.
“i’ll take note.”
“you’ve got to come up here more than just the rest of this week!”
“i think i’m planning on it.. i’ll miss you too bad.”
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malii-the-bonehead · 6 months ago
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The Other Woman pt1
its here ladies and gents its here.
Slow burn
Summary: Chris, a popular hockey player at school where Y/n went, found himself falling for the beautiful, shy girl. As time went on he found out who Y/n truly was as a person and ultimately, he had to make the choice, his girlfriend, or the other woman.
She was beautiful and he knew it. He knew because every chance he got, he would look in her direction. She sat so perfectly in 3rd hour history class, her back facing him. But he could imagine exactly what her face did. The way she focused so hard. So hard that she’d lick her lips too many times. The way her eyebrows furrowed when she didn't understand the lesson. Her long hair perched in a messy bun on top of her head. How her cheeks were always dusted with a light pink color. She was so, so beautiful. Not everyone would think that, but one adored her. Chris adored everything about her. She was so sweet and soft spoken and she was a little bit shy. He would listen to her talk when the teacher would ask a question and wonder how she got so wise and smart. He was proud of someone he never knew.
He thought about her a lot. And ofcourse, he was beautiful as well, but he didn’t think so. He thought he could never, ever be good enough for her. Chris thought he lacked the smarts and personality that she had. He thought he wasn’t worthy of her, and so many people, except himself, knew he was more than capable. Chris wasn’t exactly sure of how popular he was in school. Him on one side of the social status and her on the other.
Despite not many people knowing her, the ones who did were fond of Y/n. They had no reason to despise her. Everyone apart from Chris’ girlfriend. No one understood why, not even Chris. And Chris loved his girlfriend, but she wasn’t Y/n. The love he felt for Y/n was different from Clairisa, Chris’s girlfriend. She was beautiful too, super smart as well and always kind.  But there was something that drew Chris to the other woman. He didn’t have a clue what it was but it kept tugging at him. And it pained Chris to know that if Clairisa knew how he felt about Y/n, it would crush her. But that didn’t stop him. He just wanted to talk to her. To be close to her. He wanted to be her friend. That’s why he’s where he’s at right now, in front of Y/n's desk in their only shared class.
Y/n’s pov
I wrote on my paper, studying the last bit of information I could before the test. I didn't have time to study last night. Work kept me up til around midnight, and when I did finally arrive home, I had to clean the kitchen. It was always a mess when I got home. I regret not doing it after school, seeing how tired and stressed I was this morning. I scribbled down as much as I could. I found that I can memorize things quicker if I write it down a few times. God how I hated history. I was good at everything, math, science, English, and even French class, but history? Hell no. I sighed, closing my eyes and rubbing them with my fingers. I heard a slight tap on my desk in front of me. I moved my hands from my face and looked up slightly. It was a boy with brown hair and very blue eyes. I felt my face form a confused expression. I knew who he was, everyone did. Chris Sturniolo was kind of popular with the girls and he was very friendly with the majority of the guys at school as well. Most knew him because he played hockey, and damn was he good at it. 
Why is he at my desk? Class is about to start and he’s at my desk.
“Um, yes?” I asked, glancing over his face before shifting in my spot. His gaze was making me uncomfortable.
He looked at me for a few seconds, but it felt like so much longer. He looked like he wanted to get something off his mind but couldn’t form the words.
“Do you need something?” I questioned him once more. Then, as he was opening his mouth to say something, he closed it and walked away to his desk. I looked down at my hands on my lap. What was that about?
I glanced back slightly, him already looking at me. I quickly turned around, picking up my pencil and scribbling on my paper again, trying to hide my face from others that were filing into the room. I felt a blush slowly creep up my neck. Well that was embarrassing. The bell rang meaning class was starting. I closed my book as the teacher announced we had a test today and started going over the directions of what to do after we had finished.
The test wasn’t difficult at all. I was actually the second one to finish it. I knew I had gotten an A on it. Majority of it was common sense. After I turned the paper in to the teacher, I walked back to my desk. I glanced around the room, my eyes finding the top of Chris’s head. He had his head down, probably sleeping. Did he finish his test? Why is he sleeping right now? I shook my head slightly and sat back down at my desk. I opened my bag and grabbed my phone and headphones. I opened my music app and played my music, letting out a breath and sighing. I had work again today. From 4 to 11:30. That meant that when I got home I had to clean the house quickly, so I didn’t struggle like I did last night. I placed my head down softly, shutting my eyes and listening to the music playing through my headphones.
School was slow. Every class seemed to take forever. I think it was because I was so exhausted. Lunch was nice though. I normally go outside for lunch. I like to look at the sky, listen to my music and enjoy the quiet. Sometimes there would be the occasional person to say hello to me but today it was just my thoughts. I was grateful for that. I appreciated the 45 minutes of peace. I liked talking to people, but most of the time it was too much to deal with. Talking meant focusing, and lunch was the time that I didn’t need to focus, unless I was cramming information in my head because of an exam next hour. 
The last bell of the day rang, excusing students to go home and enjoy the rest of the day for themselves. I walked outside, to my car. A white  2017 Nissan Sentra. Nothing special, but I loved it. It was cozy and gave me good memories. Memories I’ll hold onto for the rest of my life. My dad got it for me on my 16th birthday a year and a half ago. That was probably the best birthday I’ve ever had.
I got in and shut the door, starting the car. I looked around, making sure it was safe to go. Slightly to my left, a little ways across the parking lot, I spotted Chris leaning against his girlfriend's car, his hands in his pockets. She was leaned up against him, talking about something I obviously couldn’t hear. 
She’s so pretty, I thought to myself. I’ve always admired her, always been jealous of her since the 4th grade. She’s so lucky to have a guy like Chris. She deserved him. He deserved her. I blinked slowly, realizing I was staring at them. She kissed him and walked around to the driver side of her car. He walked to the passenger side and they both got in, pulling out of the parking lot. I leaned back in my seat. I wonder what he needed earlier. I honestly forgot about it, even though the situation made me very uncomfortable. I hope he didn't think anything bad of me. I mean, why was he standing there just looking at me. Why didn’t he talk? What if he wanted something from me? What would he want? I have nothing to offer so why would Chris Sturniolo be at my desk? I put my head down, rubbing my eyes with my fingers, for what felt like the 10th time today. I lifted my head and drove out of the parking lot, going in the direction of my home.
You have more important things to worry about, Y/n. Get home and get ready for work. But, I still thought about those blue eyes looking into mine all the way home. 
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yeta-drewit · 8 days ago
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GUYS IM LITERALLY TWEAKING WHY DO PEOPLE NOT BELIEVE ENID IS INTENTIONALLY A QUEER ANALOGY?! MY GIRL WAS GOING TO BE SENT TO CONVERSION THERAPY THATS LIKE VERY MUCH ON THE NOSE. Like idk maybe I’m giving the show too much credit but I genuinely think it had to be on purpose, there is no way no one in the entire process of pre production went like “guys maybe we shouldn’t say that because it sounds like a gay allegory and that’s not what we are going for”.
Like I’m currently in a college English class and my teacher has me analyzing the smallest of shit so language is very important. I’m also a film major and I can tell you this type of things are not a quick process with small groups of people, this is a whole ass process. So excuse me when I don’t believe they didn’t notice what they were doing with Enid. I genuinely believe Enid IS a queer analogy and that it wasn’t just a coincidence. LANGUAGE IS IMPORTANT IN ANY MEDIA. And I feel is specially necessary in a show where characters are known for being unable to simply express what they mean, Wednesday is always saying shit between the lines. Like I feel like people forget that language and wording is not simple and meaningless, like guys the curtains being blue is meant to symbolize something. Everything within a show or a book is meticulously written to enhance a story and yeah maybe shitty media doesn’t do that but I have faith in the Wednesday show, SPECIALLY considering that cinematography wise the show is very good.
THIS WASN’T A SLIP UP THIS IS GENUINELY WHAT THE SHOW WANTED YOU TO THINK. They want you to understand Enid through the eyes of a queer analogy, you are meant to sympathize with this girl because she is going through the same misery as a lot of gay people. YOU ARE MEANT TO SEE HER STORY AND THINK OF QUEER PEOPLE.
Also the show in general has a lot of analogies and metaphors related to minorities, it wouldn’t be far fetched to think they also have queer analogies. Like for the universe sake guys we had Goody literally being an indigenous person during the genocide of colonialism. THERE WAS LITERALLY A RACIST PILGRIM. The whole outcast community in the show is meant to serve as an analogy for minorities. THE ADDAMS FAMILY ACROSS MEDIA HAS BEEN AN ANALOGY FOR BEING DIFFERENT IN A WHITE SUBURBAN CENTER SOCIETY. It’s not far fetched to think the queer community (A MINORITY) would also have some representation within the show.
Conclusion: Enid is very intentionally a queer analogy and I really hope the show would continue on this analogy even after she finally wolfs out (I’m a blood wolf believer, there is no way they won’t play around with the idea she literally transformed under a blood moon, cause if you pay attention there is no other werewolves in the scenes so they are either cheap or it was a curious detail that Enid is still not a “normal” wolf)
Okay side note after posting this I’ve realized that I’m missing one point and that is the fact the analogies aren’t good. I can admit the show Wednesday is not the best and quite frankly is far from it but I do believe it shouldn’t stop me from thinking of it more critically (or as critically as I can get). But I think my point still stands that it is a very obvious analogy and taking it as accidental is forgetting a part of Enids character.
Also yes I know Tim Burton is KNOWN for lacking diversity and he would likely not make a gay character but I feel people forget he is not the sole person in charge of this show, he can hate minorities all he wants but it takes only one person in that writing room to create the gaynesss that is Enid.
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unyandere · 8 months ago
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Yandere bully x reader who uses Socratic irony
Tw: use of Socratic Irony, gaslighting (?), bulling (attempts), Yanderish tendencies (but like not soo strong), bad English
I don’t wanna explain briefly Socratic Irony, so, if you want to understand what it is, who used it (spoiler: Socrates), how it works and how it was applied,… I’ll leave it to you to discover.
And for more unyandered Yanderes look at the MASTERPOST
He awaited for you at the entrance of the school, trying to think of a new insult.
He already picked on you for being a loner, a nerd, a creepy library person who always read stupid ancient books or something like that,… He didn’t have any more adjectives or ways of describing your “bad” traits.
Maybe he should have gotten more physical and more prone to “use” you for his needs… He shook his head, it was too soon. For now he’d have fun teasing you until you finally lost your temper giving him a reason to put you against a locker, make you feel his breath on your throat and hit you until you were a crying mess just because of him and him alone, maybe after that you would do everything he says, you would become his daring partner, would stay at home and do everything for him and never see anyone else,… Not like you had any friend with which you could cheat on him.
He saw you approaching the school with your bag and books, you had… what was that book? The bully tried to see the title from afar but he couldn’t make out the words, he only saw the author. Plato.
“Hey, what’cha got there idiot?” He said, approaching you and taking the book from your hands.
“Now now, while I am definitely not an expert in Idiotology , while you might be, I am not convinced by your theory” you answered.
“My… theory?” He repeated, confused.
“That I am an idiot. I don’t believe I fit into the characteristics needed in a person to be an idiot” you explain.
“Why?” He asks.
“Would you describe what an idiot is to me?” You demand.
“You are an idiot, the other students are idiots, most teachers in this school are idiots,… is that enough?” He answers, a bit annoyed.
“I’m sorry I didn’t make a precise question, I mean, what are the characteristics needed in a idiot” you explain.
“Uuuuh… Being stupid-“ he starts saying
“But what does being stupid mean? Is knowing things what makes people not stupid or is being wise what differentiates a stupid from a normal person? Would you say I’m stupid? We should know more or less the same amount of things since we go to the same school and we are in the same year” you say interrupting him
“I… Uuuh… W-whatever nerd” he mumbles perplexed
“What’s a nerd in your opinion?” You ask
“I… A nerd is a loser” he answers trying to make you shut up
“What does being a loser mean? Is staying alone a loser thing?” You continue to question, making him pretty much desperate.
“Uuuh… yeah, being a loner is a total nerd thing” he answers.
“But being able to stand a life of loneliness isn’t a brave choice? After all ermits get praised for living alone… Being able to stay alone means that someone is enough for themselves, which means they love themselves and loving ourselves isn’t the first step into loving others?” You continue to ask
“…I mean, kinda?” He answers unconvincingly.
“So doesn’t it mean that nerd are the ones who love the most?” You continue to ask.
“I… I guess” he answers.
“But aren’t lovers the happiest people on earth?” You ask.
He thinks at himself in love with you.
“I suppose” he answers.
“And aren’t happy people winning in their life?” You ask.
“Yeah, duh” he answers.
“So… couldn’t we say that nerds are winners and we should all aspire to become nerds since nerds reach happiness?” You ask.
He nods convinced.
Then he stops, realising in what he agreed.
“Wait… what?”
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crystallinecardinal · 6 months ago
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So I was thinking about Starlo and Chujin
Hi. I love overanalysis. It’s in my blog title as “lore enthusiast.” Most of this probably means nothing and was unintentional, but I’m like an English teacher when it comes to media I like and am scrounging for canon content— I will see something that might have capital I Implications if you think about it hard enough, and I will shake you by the shoulders and go “WHAT DOES IT MEAAAN”
Which brings me to Starlo and Chujin and a thing I noticed while looking through the Spriter’s Resource for Starlo references. Long rant and UTY spoilers below the cut.
I should start off by saying that Starlo and Chujin are similar, in a way. Both of them are nerds, although for different things. Both are said to be caring. Both dedicated their lives to their work. Both wanted to help monsterkind. Both loved Ceroba. Both had secrets.
These similarities have not gone unnoticed, I’ve found— both by the fandom and the devs of UTY.
(Transcript:
Sword: “It does make sense that, like, Chujin and Starlo are kinda similar, and Ceroba, yknow…. She has a type, I guess.”)
So it’s not a secret these two are similar, and it’s probably intentional to make them parallel each other.
But from there, we get to the meat of this post:
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These sprites.
This is where I dive into a lot of overanalysis— I’m giving that as a warning before I start. My point here though, is that these two sprites feel incredibly similar in a way where I speculate if it was intentional or not.
I’ll play devil’s advocate first, though. I’m an artist. I draw things, mostly characters and creatures. Sometimes you just have two pieces looking similar— not because you intended it that way, but because the blocking and composition was best that way.
For Starlo’s sprite, the answer feels simple. All of Starlo’s talk portraits are front facing, so this one doesn’t have a need to be any different. If it was, it may feel out of place amongst all the other sprites, especially because there isn’t a reason for him to have this sprite in particular face a different direction. He isn’t looking around, and isn’t averting his gaze. He’s being direct. The best way to convey that is with eye contact (or at least, implied eye contact) via a front facing sprite. Additionally, even if Starlo was averting his gaze, with how UT’s talk sprites work, there are better ways to convey that than changing the way his talk sprite faces.
Starlo’s character as himself also contributes to the way this sprite looks. It’s a direct contrast to the loud, boisterous North Star. This is the monster behind the persona— one who’s a lot less confident, one who thinks himself a ghost to the people around him. A “nobody farmer,” in his words. When trying to get this across, art-wise, the way Starlo’s talk sprites look as opposed to North Star’s talk sprites are a perfect fit! It’s in the subtle expressions versus animated expressions. This is even down to how Starlo’s glasses are drawn, not showing his eyes behind them, giving him a much more distant look.
As for Chujin’s sprite, the answer also feels fairly simple. The sprite pictured earlier was for his tapes, where it would make sense for most of his sprites to be front facing. He’s talking to the camera, it’s a video log. Being silhouetted also works here— it makes him more mysterious in a way.
That’s what I have to say if you look at it JUST from an art point. However, we like to be a little silly in this house (my blog), so I’m going to overanalyze the hell out of this.
So. The pose.
I’m probably going insane at this point. I’ve already explained the most likely reason for the poses being similar, and don’t get me wrong, that’s probably the main reason why. But also— note the eyes.
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According to the Spriter’s Resource, Chujin’s sprites usually have his eyes visible from behind his goggles.
But.
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There are exceptions.
I think the reason for this lies in the same reason we never see Starlo’s eyes behind his glasses after he takes the hat off. I explained this earlier when discussing the artistic reasoning behind these sprites— not seeing Starlo’s eyes makes him appear more distant, which highlights the part of his character that’s much less confident in himself. We go from seeing his eyes (or at least, the shape of them behind his glasses, this is a consistency with UTY sprites I can talk about later) to not at all.
This is what makes Chujin’s sprites so important to me.
We’re meant to like Chujin. At least, before we know the truth. We’re meant to think he was always a kindhearted man, a loving father and husband, and a good mentor. All the good things. It’s only as the game continues that you see the imperfections. By talking to Dina, you see he didn’t like the Wild East due to what it stood for, and you learn of the time he came into the saloon all disheveled, uncharacteristically asking for a drink, only mentioning he thought he “saw a ghost”. You learn in the Steamworks of his research, and how he wasn’t as good at robotics as he was made out to be.
That’s what makes Chujin flawed, though. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, none of these things will make a player dislike him. As said— we’re supposed to like Chujin. An opinion and a mysterious saloon visit isn’t the end of the world. We also grow to learn more and more about him, and he seems just like a kind man with a love for robotics (even if he struggled).
And then we learn of Ceroba’s plan. And we learn of something hidden in the abandoned Ketsukane Estate.
This is the first time in the Pacifist route that we actually SEE Chujin, first in a photo.
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Note the eyes.
We see Chujin’s eyes behind his goggles here! Once again— this is likely for the reason mentioned before. We’ve only been told mostly good things about Chujin so far! Here’s a photo of him and his family— how could this kind man be wrapped in anything suspicious?
Which then makes the sudden change in the tapes crucial.
We can no longer see his eyes— he’s grown distant, mysterious. This is the part of Chujin that he kept secret from even Ceroba, up until he was on his deathbed. It’s the part of him that isn’t necessarily the loving husband and father we know him as, but rather, this is the part of him that was a determined researcher on a mission. And therefore, Chujin goes from lively to cold.
I’m sure that last bit doesn’t ring any alarm bells at all.
Hey! Remember how I said Starlo and Chujin are similar in ways? This is where I get into that. I’m applauding you from behind my screen if you’re still reading.
I’m now going to talk about Starlo and Chujin as characters, as well as the parallels between the two sprites that started this analysis. For simplicity, I’ll break these into sections. Funky names for a funky reading experience, so I’m not just word dumping at you.
1) Got a secret, can you keep it?
Soooo. Chujin and Starlo’s secrets.
One of the first things that rings alarm bells for me is the situation in which both of the sprites I’m analyzing pop up in. Context is key. Specifically, both of the sprites are used when we’re learning the truth about each character.
For Starlo, we’re learning about who he really is, the monster behind the persona. He takes his hat off, reveals the monster underneath, and we get his new talk sprite. He’s finally stopping, for a second— taking a moment to break the act he’s been playing for YEARS. And he does it all to show Ceroba he’s still there underneath it all, as well as reveal to Clover who he really is. He’s at his most vulnerable state, revealing how he sees himself as a nobody, and a fraud.
For Chujin, we’re learning part of the truth of who he was, when he’s at his most morally dubious. We learn of his experiments, the ones he worked on and hid from his family until he was about to die— only then did he tell Ceroba. We also learn of his views and opinions, the reasoning behind them, and how he lied about his job at the Steamworks. He couldn’t bring himself to tell Ceroba he was fired, because he didn’t want her to think less of him.
So, the main points of this:
Starlo and Chujin both had their own secrets
Both of their secrets are revealed when these sprites are used
Both secrets reveal more about the characters’ identities
Both want to be seen in a good light
The main difference, I think, other than what the secrets entail themselves, are what they mean for each character.
2) Light and dark symbolism?? In MY overanalysis??? It’s more likely than you think
Chujin and Starlo’s secrets both weigh on them. Starlo doesn’t want to break character— he enjoys being North Star and wants to bring a smile to the faces of monsterkind. Chujin doesn’t want Ceroba to think any lesser of him for his mistakes.
Additionally, the reveal of their secrets marks two different things for their characters. For Starlo, it’s a step forward. For Chujin, it’s spiraling down.
This gets really fun considering these two sprites, and light and dark symbolism (not in the traditional good versus evil way).
Starlo’s in the light. He’s showing himself, he’s maturing. He’s being incredibly vulnerable for probably the first time in a LONG time, and finally breaking the persona. He’s working towards a better goal, accepting both North Star and Starlo as facets of himself, but it starts with taking off the hat. It starts with coming into the light, and letting the shadows fade away.
Chujin is silhouetted in darkness. As said previously, we only ever hear mostly good things about Chujin from those who were around him (barring Starlo, although that’s secondhand information, and by some extent, Dina). Martlet and Ceroba saw the best in him, a mentor and loving husband respectively. But as he rambles off to his tapes, shrouded in shadow and secrecy, we learn of what was happening behind the scenes: he reveals part of who he really was, and how much he hid away from those he loved, all away from the rose colored glasses.
3) “Your opinion is wrong” -Chujin, probably
To just point out more ways Chujin and Starlo parallel yet also contrast one another (which I will mention for the section after this as well): I think it goes without saying that Starlo and Chujin have opposite worldviews when it comes to humans.
Chujin believes the worst in humans, primarily due to the Snowdin Attack. He hates them— The War was when the blade was plunged into monsterkind’s flesh, and the Snowdin Attack was only a twist of the knife.
Starlo admires humans, maybe a bit too much for some monsters. He loves their stories, loves the idea of cowboys and Westerns, so much so he creates the Wild East with his posse.
This is what makes these two different, only strengthening the light/dark contrast. The ideas of hate and admiration fit well into that theme, don’t they?
Stick with me here. I promise this is going somewhere.
4) “Monsterkind’s Hero is a title soaked in blood.”
So, the aforementioned views of humans? This gets really fun when you apply it to the crux of Starlo and Chujin’s missions: to help monsterkind during their time underground.
Both want to be heroes, in a way. They both want to help. Of course, this is in different ways— but the main intention behind it is the same.
Chujin, as said, hates humans. He wants monsters to be brought to justice. After the Snowdin Attack, he decides that if he can’t help through Axis, then he’ll help another way. Thus starts Chujin’s dedication to his experiments, which he makes his work and eventually the rest of his life. All of it for a chance to help monsterkind when the time comes.
Starlo’s dedication to the Wild East is similar, in a way, yet directly contrasts Chujin. His admiration for humans and Westerns goes to the point he wants to provide monsterkind with their own “slice of the Surface.” He wants to see those around him smile— his own way of helping monsterkind when they’re still stuck underground.
My point here is that while they find different ways to accomplish their missions (and you can drag more light/dark symbolism out of this— Chujin hidden away in the shadows of the basement in the Ketsukane Estate versus Starlo out in the spotlight), both have so much dedication to it that it becomes their lives.
Chujin, although having a family he loved and cared for, let his experiments drive him onwards to the point it cost him his life. Starlo willingly gave up who he was to be North Star, letting the Wild East become his life.
5) Yes, and?
I could go on and on about more similarities and differences between Starlo and Chujin, but I feel like I’ve brought up what I need to for now.
Why bring all of this up in the first place, though? What’s the point of going on about these characters’ missions, or their secrets, or all the light and dark symbolism you could hypothetically draw from it?
Let me talk about those sprites again.
I’ve spent ages going on about Starlo and Chujin, and how they parallel, yet contrast each other. They’re foils, in a way. These similarities and differences are what make these two little sprites so interesting to me.
You could say it’s all because that’s what the scene needed at the time, and that statement likely has truth to it. I already talked about how. But the knowledge of the context of the scenes and these two characters is what makes me wonder if it all was done on purpose.
Chujin, shrouded in shadow, revealing a part of him kept secret from even those he loved most. His reasoning for his hatred for humans comes on full display, and he begins to formulate a mission, the same one his life would eventually fall to. If the royals won’t see how much he cares for monsterkind, he’ll show it himself.
Starlo, left in the Swealterstone’s light, revealing a part of him the Wild East knows nothing of. His mission starts to redefine itself, and it’s original intent becomes more clear. He only ever wanted to be someone. He only ever wanted to help. Maybe now, with the hat off, he can learn to make others happy, but not forget himself in the process.
A conclusion:
So. Do I think that these two sprites for Starlo and Chujin were intentionally made to parallel yet also contrast each other?
My answer is a big fat Maybe. I can’t be entirely sure.
Truth is, I’m not a UTY dev. I literally only discovered and got into this game a little over a month ago. I don’t know the true intent behind the spritework, I don’t know the conversations that happened behind the scenes. I am literally just A Guy ranting on the internet about a silly little fangame that I have brainrot over.
But! I do have a finalized game and commentary I can analyze, and knowing that some spritework details were intentional (the way that Chujin’s talk sprites face are made to match Ceroba and Kanako’s), I could see something like this being either intentional or a really fun coincidence. The type of thing the devs can look back on and realize “oh! That’s funny how I accidentally made that parallel. I didn’t mean to do that, but it works.”
I can only hope it was intentional. Chujin and Starlo are both incredibly interesting characters to me, especially in how they can be seen as foils. Something as minor as this I think just shows the love put into this game and these characters. UTY is just a great game overall, in my opinion.
But yeah! That’s my ramble, all because I was doing sprite studies and looking for references in the Spriter’s Resource for art. Hopefully I made at least some sense :)
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novlr · 6 months ago
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As a writer, who's first language is not English, how can I expand my vocabulary so I wouldn't be too repetitive?
I grew up in a bilingual household with a Mother whose first language isn’t English. She is a wonderful writer who creates brilliant and engaging resources for language teachers.
One of the big things she had to work on to get to that point was vocabulary. But not just the words; it was also the context and how to use those words properly. Ironically, we discovered that English as her second language was actually of benefit to her in this, as she had to be more thoughtful about the way she used language than a native speaker would be.
Like any language, the real trick is immersion. So here are some effective strategies for growing your vocabulary to bring more variety and nuance to your writing. There is always room to expand your lexicon and take your writing to the next level, whether you’re a native English speaker or not, and these tips might also help any writer who plans to write in a language other than English! So let’s explore some practical tips for building a rich and diverse vocabulary.
Why expanding your vocabulary matters
Before we dive into the strategies, let’s take a moment to understand why expanding your vocabulary is so important for creative writers:
A diverse vocabulary allows you to express ideas with greater precision and nuance.
It helps you avoid repetition and keeps your writing fresh and engaging.
A strong vocabulary can make your writing more memorable and impactful.
It demonstrates your mastery of the language and can help you stand out as a writer.
Expanding your vocabulary can improve your reading experiences.
It can give you the confidence to explore new genres and styles that you may have previously avoided.
Strategies for expanding your vocabulary
Read widely and consistently
One of the most effective ways to expand your vocabulary is to read extensively. By exposing yourself to a variety of genres, authors, and styles, you’ll encounter new words in context, which can help you understand their meanings and usage. Again, it’s about immersion. Surrounding yourself with language helps develop your understanding, and seeing words in different contexts will cement them as second nature.
Here are some tips for making the most of your reading:
Set aside dedicated reading time each week, even if it’s just for 20-30 minutes.
Choose books, articles, and other materials that challenge you and introduce new concepts and vocabulary.
Keep a dictionary or thesaurus nearby to look up unfamiliar words as you encounter them.
Take notes on new words and phrases that resonate with you, and try writing exercises to use them in context.
Consider joining a book club or discussion group to explore new genres and authors, and to engage in conversations about language and writing.
Don’t be afraid to tackle challenging texts; they often offer the greatest opportunities for growth.
Use word-of-the-day resources
Another great way to expand your vocabulary is to make a habit of learning new words each day. There are many online resources and apps that offer “word of the day” features, which can help you discover new words and their meanings. Some popular options include:
The New York Times
Merriam-Webster
Dictionary.com
Oxford English Dictionary
Britannica
Play word games and puzzles
Word games and puzzles can be a fun and engaging way to expand your vocabulary. When we were growing up, my mother would play these games with us when we brought them home from school, and she said they were a great help in improving her own vocabulary. They challenge you to think creatively about language, can introduce you to new words and concepts, and can be a fun thing to do with friends and family! Some popular options include:
Crossword puzzles
Scrabble or Words with Friends
Boggle
Word searches
Riddles
Games from websites like the New York Times
Use a thesaurus (but use it wisely)
A thesaurus can be a valuable tool for finding new words and phrases to use in your writing. However, it’s important to use it wisely and avoid simply replacing words with their synonyms without considering the context and connotation. Here are some tips for using a thesaurus effectively:
Find words that more precisely convey your intended meaning rather than just avoid repetition.
Consider the connotation and tone of the words you choose, and make sure they fit the context of your writing.
Don’t overuse obscure or overly complex words just for the sake of it. Clarity and readability should always be your top priorities.
Use a combination of a thesaurus and a dictionary to ensure you fully understand the meaning and usage of new words.
Practice writing with your new vocabulary
Finally, the best way to solidify your new vocabulary is to put it into practice in your writing. As you learn new words and phrases, make a conscious effort to incorporate them into your work. Here are some ideas for practising with your new vocabulary:
Set yourself a challenge to use a certain number of new words as a writing prompt.
Write short stories or poems that focus on a particular theme or concept inspired by a new word you’ve learned. Use your new vocabulary to explore it in depth.
Revise older pieces of writing and look for opportunities to replace overused words with more precise or evocative alternatives.
Keep a journal or notebook where you jot down new words and reflect on how and when you might use them in your writing. Write down contextual snippets. This can help you internalise their meanings and make them a more natural part of your vocabulary.
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mymanyfandomramblings · 1 year ago
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Gravity Falls School-Related Headcanons
Both Dipper and Mabel are good students, although Mabel does occasionally get in trouble for getting distracted/not sitting still/talking in class, however, they're both generally considered to be good kids.
Dipper generally excels in all of his academic subjects, however his favourite subjects are biology and ancient history. He's usually pretty quiet in class, except every now and again he says either the most unhinged or most badass thing ever and everyone is freshly reminded that yes, Dipper Pines is, in fact, in this class (this is heavily inspired by my best friend who is exactly like that). Dipper doesn't hate PhysEd as much as he used to pre-Gravity Falls, however he's still not a huge fan of it.
Mabel's best subjects are the artistic ones, and she is instantly beloved by all the art teachers. She does a ton of extracurriculars, partially because she has a bunch of interests, and also because she has a tendency to join clubs and such because her friends/guys she's interested in are in them, and she has participated to some degree in every school musical she's had the chance to take part in. The only class she really struggles with a lot is maths, because it's 'too boring and logic-y' for her to stay focused on, particularly if Dipper isn't there to help her. She's also a cheerleader, because of course she is.
Friendgroup wise, Mabel has a lot of friendgroups. She has friends from all of her various classes and extracurriculars, friends she knows from elementary school (I had a long mindblank whereupon I forgot the word for 'primary school' in the USA, just thought I should let you know), and of course, she has extrovert-adopted Dipper and his friends. Despite this whole army of friends, she doesn't have any particularly close friends in Piedmont, and if she's asked who her best friend is, she'll respond with Candy and Grenda, who remain the only people who can quite match her energy.
Dipper, meanwhile, has pretty much had the same one best friend, named Ethan DiMarcos, forever. The two of them have very similar interests (although Ethan can't quite match Dipper's enthusiasm for all things paranormal), and tend to keep to themselves much of the time, and have pretty much had each other's back. While I'm not a huge fan of the idea that Dipper has been relentlessly bullied his entire school career and has no friends, it is canon that he has been victim of some bullying, and he's certainly not popular. Post-Gravity Falls, I think he's actually able to stand up to the bullies a little better, and generally he and Ethan have each other's backs. They do have a third friend, Paige Li, who they only met at the beginning of high school, because she was trying to find other DD&MD fans. Paige has had a crush on Dipper for ages, but despite Ethan and Mabel trying to pull strings, nothing is likely ever to come from it. Speaking of Ethan and Mabel, they did date for about a month in ninth grade, which horrified Dipper, especially since he was put in the middle of it when they broke up, thankfully amicably.
Now, I have said plenty about the Pineses, let's talk about what the other characters are like in school:
Candy's best subjects are chemistry, physics and music, and manages to be an impressively good student, despite reading fanfiction in class.
Grenda isn't necessarily the greatest student in most classes, however, she's BRILLIANT at English. For all she lacks in verbally diplomatic skills, she's incredibly smooth on paper. Grenda also, unsurprisingly, is also very good at PhysEd.
Pacifica's best subject is mathematics, and unsurprisingly she excels particularly at any finance-related maths. She's also the star of the school's debate team, because she has the power to crush people in the grip of logic. She also refuses point-blank to join the cheer team, even though they really want her.
Gideon's true calling is the stage, so drama class is his best class, although he's a brilliant student at most subjects.
Wendy and her friends are decidedly not good students, as they're all more interested in having fun and causing trouble than doing work (except Thompson, of course). This results in them being decidedly not the teacher's favourites.
I think that's all I got for now, thanks for reading!
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rjalker · 3 months ago
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Sigh. If your conception of the Sphere is that he's God or a god you've also massively missed one of the main takeaways from the novel.
Awestruck at the sight of the mysteries of the earth, thus unveiled before my unworthy eye, I said to my Companion, "Behold, I am become as a God. For the wise men in our country say that to see all things, or as they express it, OMNIVIDENCE, is the attribute of God alone."
There was something of scorn in the voice of my Teacher as he made answer: "Is it so indeed? Then the very pick-pockets and cut-throats of my country are to be worshipped by your wise men as being Gods: for there is not one of them that does not see as much as you see now. But trust me, your wise men are wrong."
I. Then is omnividence the attribute of others besides Gods?
SPHERE. I do not know. But, if a pick-pocket or a cut-throat of our country can see everything that is in your country, surely that is no reason why the pick-pocket or cut-throat should be accepted by you as a God. This omnividence, as you call it—it is not a common word in Spaceland—does it make you more just, more merciful, less selfish, more loving? Not in the least. Then how does it make you more divine?
I. "More merciful, more loving!" But these are the qualities of women! And we know that a Circle is a higher Being than a Straight Line, in so far as knowledge and wisdom are more to be esteemed than mere affection.
SPHERE. It is not for me to classify human faculties according to merit. Yet many of the best and wisest in Spaceland think more of the affections than of the understanding, more of your despised Straight Lines than of your belauded Circles. But enough of this. Look yonder. Do you know that building?
____
He is explicitly not a god and scoffs at the idea that Spacelanders are gods or should be treated as such just because they're one dimension higher than Flatlanders. They're just regular people, just lik the narrator is just a regular person who found himself in Lineland. The only difference is that it seems the Sphere made a conscious, informed decision to visit Flatland, while the narrator visited Lineland by accident and had no idea what was going on.
you could also just make up your own original Spacelander if you want a 3D character who acts like they're a God to Flatlanders.
edit:
here's the translation into 2024 English if it's hard to understand the original:
Awestruck by the idea that the secrets of the earth itself were being revealed to me, a simple Square, I said to my Companion, “I have become a God! The wise men in my country have always said that to see all things, which they call Omnividence, is a power only a God can have!”
There was something like scorn in my Teacher’s voice as he answered me with, “Oh, is that so? Then the most criminal thieves and murderers from my country should be worshiped by your ‘wise men’ as Gods, because each of them can see as much as you do right now. But trust me, your ‘wise men’ are wrong.”
Me: Then, is Omnividence a power also given to those who aren’t Gods?
Sphere: I don’t know, but if a thief or a murder from my country can see everything in your country, obviously that’s not a good enough reason to accept them as a God. This ‘Omnividence’, as you call it, does it make you more upstanding, more merciful, less selfish, more loving? It doesn’t. So how does it make you more divine?”
Me: More merciful and loving?! These are the traits of Women! And we know that a Circle is a better Being than a Straight Line, we know that knowledge and wisdom are more important than ‘love’.
Sphere: It’s not my job to to tell you one type of person is better than another. But many of the best and brightest in Spaceland think that kindness and love are more important than knowledge. They are more like the Straight Lines you despise than the Circles you worship. But enough of this, look over there. Do you recognize that building?
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