#it’s hard to balance being both a parent and a teacher

[fabuloustrash05]

2012 Splinter was more of a Sensai than a father.

Rise Splinter was more of a father than a Sensai.

Both Splinters absolutely love their sons, but their choices in how they decided to raise their sons backfired in some ways when it comes to the Turtles’ lives and what they would eventually face in their respected series.

[cordeliawhohung]

OMG i just saw your !MafiaGhost on how they met but can you do how !MafiaJohnPrice met with the reader? (if you haven't already and have the time of course. 😊💕.)

mafia!John Price x fem!Reader

John Price has always walked a different path in life than people like you. And yet, despite your status, he learns that the two of you are more alike than he thought. Or maybe it's just wishful thinking.

mafia!141 masterlist

warnings: vague mentions of death and violence, infidelity, crude language, hurt/comfort, unhealthy relationship dynamics

wc: 4.3k

an: sorry this took me a bit to answer! as you can see i got carried away. also, as we're headed into the new year, i'd just like to take a moment to say thank you to everyone who's been supporting my works! i recently hit 1k followers, and i cannot thank you guys enough for your lovely comments <3 i hope you all enjoy :)

“You see that girl right there? You stay away from her. She’s nothing but trouble.” 

Those were the first words John’s father ever said about you. He used one long, crooked finger to point you out in the crowd of other students who mingled about the room with their parents. Everyone had gathered in the school gymnasium for the science fair where all Year 8 students had projects and posters set up on rickety fold tables. Voices echoed endlessly off of the hard floor and walls that it was almost overwhelming.

Really, he didn’t agree with his father about you being trouble. You were plenty kind, and well liked by students and teachers alike due to your kindness and intellect. A proper student, one that everyone else in the school strived to be. There were times where your words bit harder than most would have liked, but John just saw that as you telling things the way they were. He liked that about you. Admired you, even. But then he saw the real reason why his father said those words. 

The man who accompanied you oozed authority and power, both in his stance and the way he walked. People regarded him like he was the King of England himself both in how they spoke to him and stepped around him like he could part a crowd with just a single glance. Most importantly, this man was your father, and he donned a uniform fit for only the chief of police himself. His father never liked police officers very much. They always made things difficult when it came to running the family business. 

It wasn’t until Year 11 that he actually talked to you. Or, more like you talked to him. By some terrible twist of fate, his maths teacher sat the two of you together in the small, double seated desks that laid in perfect lines around the entirety of the room. He learned that you liked to doodle in the corner of your paper during lectures, and had a tendency to tap your pencil against the desk while taking exams. He liked the way your eyebrows knitted together in concentration, and how soft your voice was when whispering answers to the table next to you. 

He didn’t have time to think about you often, not that he should have. John Price was unfortunate enough to come from a family that had a long line of brutal patriarchs that often conditioned equally as cruel heirs. Once he turned sixteen he was forced to go along with his father during his work escapades where he very quickly learned how to clean up bodies without dirtying himself. He often showed up at school with various cuts and bruises, and with heavy bags under his eyes. Balancing the life of a killer and a student was tiring work. 

“Red color corrector will hide the bruise on your eye.” 

It took John a moment to realize you were talking to him, and even then he still didn’t fully believe it until he looked over and saw you staring at him. You were leaned forward over your desk with your hand lazily propping up your head while you waited for him to answer. His pencil halted in its dance across his work as he brought his full attention your way. 

“Color corrector?” he repeated. 

“Yeah, you know. Green hides red marks from acne, orange hides dark circles, red for… very dark circles,” you said, tilting your head at him. “I’ve got some in my bag, if you’d like. Though, you’d have to find your own shade of foundation.” 

Your bluntness and slight humor towards the shiner on his eye had him chuckling, which only made the smile on your face grow into a smirk. 

“You sound like an expert,” he noticed. 

“I am,” you quipped before grinning. Carefully, you reached a hand up to the collar of your uniform and pulled down, exposing the side of your neck and some of your collar bone. There were several, small and faint hickies that he probably wouldn’t have noticed if it wasn’t for you pointing them out. “A girl’s gotta have her fun.” 

John liked your humor. And maybe there was something a little comforting knowing that someone like you was getting into trouble, too. Albeit, significantly less violent trouble than him, but that was for the best anyway. Maybe it gave him hope that someone like you and someone like him could actually have something in common. That he could resemble something that was normal.

A few years passed, and John began to drift from you bit by bit. You ended up graduating at the top of the class which earned you several offers from the most prestigious schools across the country, and it was all anyone talked about. Great things awaited you with opportunities to see distant lands, meet new people, and live a good and honest life. 

As for John, his father died when he was twenty-three. Murdered, to be exact, and in a manner eerily similar to the way his mother had been. Cold, calculated, and ruthless, his fathers existence had been snuffed out by a single bullet where his blood stained the pillow that covered his face. 

The torch had been passed down, and its handle was still bloody. 

Over the years he grew rigid and battle hardened in the business of violence. He earned plenty of scars, and built upon his fathers empire until it was twice as big and infinitely more dangerous. It was the only thing his father had ever managed to teach him; how to be dangerous. Everyone who once thought the Price’s were people to fuck with learned very quickly that the new Don had nothing to lose but his own life; one that he didn’t care all too much about. 

The only thing he held close to him was the ghosts of his past, which was why he found himself standing in line at the florist’s shop. Even while running a quick errand, his phone vibrated in his pocket non-stop from merciless amounts of emails flooding his inbox. Mostly updates about certain events within the family that he attempted to lazily check as the woman in front of him spoke sweetly to the shopkeeper. Her voice was so soft, so comforting, so… familiar?

He didn’t realize it was you in front of him until you turned to leave with a small bouquet of flowers in your hands. Even after all those years he could recognize the features of your face like it was second nature. The shopkeeper spoke to him and asked him what she could do to help him, but her words didn’t even register in his mind. His feet moved on their own accord, and your name slipped out of his lips before he could do anything to stop it. 

Once you turned around to face him he found that the air had been knocked completely out of his lungs. It had been years since he had seen you, and you had changed so much; grown into your features, and turned into a beautiful woman that left him speechless. However, you didn’t regard him with the same dreamy gaze; instead, you stood there and stared at him as you awkwardly adjusted the flowers in your arms. 

“Yes?” you asked tensely. 

You didn’t recognize him. Of course, it made sense. He had grown significantly taller, his facial hair was full and thick, and for once he wasn’t sporting a shiner. His clothes were also significantly nicer, as he seemed to have grown fond of business casual as of late. If anything, your confusion was more humorous than anything else because he should have seen it coming. 

“John, John Price,” he said as if he was introducing himself for the first time. 

There was something about the way your eyes lit up at his name that had him feeling warmer than he had in a long while. A precious grin broke out on your lips as you took a step closer to him and laughed in the way someone does when they’ve figured out the answer to a riddle, and it was too contagious for John to not chuckle with you. 

“I didn’t recognize you!” you exclaimed, still giggling. “God, it’s been years! Staying out of trouble, I hope?” 

“Getting in just enough to keep things interesting,” he countered. 

It was like no time had passed at all. You were still that star pupil that you were all those years ago, and he could still hear your pencil tapping on your desk clear as day. It felt unreal. 

“What’s the occasion?” he then asked, gesturing to the flowers you held. 

“Oh,” you said, as if surprised. “Well, it’s, uhm, the anniversary of my dad’s passing.” 

The chief of police? Your father? That man who always held himself so powerfully had been shoved into the cold, unforgiving earth? When he was a kid that man had always seemed indestructible. Then again, so did every other adult when you’re at that age. 

“I’m sorry to hear that, I hadn’t heard,” he quickly apologized. 

Despite the terrible awkwardness of the conversation, you still smiled. “It’s alright. Was a while ago now, anyway. But, uh, what about you?” you asked, gesturing towards him and his empty arms. 

“Mum’s birthday,” he answered simply. 

His response made you smile something small and bittersweet. “How sweet of you. I bet she’ll love them.” 

“Yes, they’ll make for good decoration.” 

Something settled between the two of you; something that had never been there before. Not while you were children; not when you grew up together. Whatever it was, it was unfamiliar, and much too suffocating, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to welcome it or not. 

“Well, I ought to get going,” you excused politely. “Got a few more errands to run. But it was really good seeing you again, John.” 

This was the part where he should have said goodbye. Wished you farewell just for you to vanish and most likely never see him again. If he was a smart man, John would have done just that, and instead he found his hand diving into his pocket before he could stop it. He grabbed a pen and stole one of the shop's business cards off of the counter where he quickly scribbled down something in the negative space before holding it out for you to take. 

“Here. I’m certain you get this a lot, but if you need anything, anything at all, I’ll be there,” he assured you. 

To his surprise, you took the card without hesitation where your eyes quickly scanned his rushed handwriting while you thanked him. As you held the card in front of you, something caught John’s attention. There was a metallic glint on your finger, one so bright that it nearly blinded him, and he realized you wore a large, gaudy ring. It was something given to you in poor taste, surely. Something that attempted to steal the spotlight of your beauty rather than compliment it. 

“Did you get married?” he asked in what he told himself was curiosity. 

You paused for a moment as you glanced at the ring on your finger. With such a large and obnoxious gem on a thin band, he was surprised it hadn’t snapped off. 

“Oh, not yet. Just engaged,” you said in an odd tone. As if you couldn’t stand to look at the ring any longer, you shoved the card into your pocket before smiling at him. “Thank you, again.” 

He tried to forget about you after that. Tried to forget about that ring on your finger and the way your voice changed when you mentioned your engagement. But it was so easy to worry about you; to care about you. Even after all those years you were still just as sweet and well spoken, but he was still John Price. Now the Don of the most lethal mafia in the country, he shouldn’t have been around anyone like you. You were the chief of police’s daughter, the girl who graduated top of his class in school and went to university; trouble. Nothing but trouble. 

So he kept to his own work. Ran his club on the south end of the city, washed the blood out of his shirt, and spent his nights sipping brandy that was too expensive and well crafted for a man like him. But then he thought about the dress that you’d wear, how you would do your hair, what song you’d want to have your first dance to… it was moments like that when he was glad that he had given you his number rather than the other way around. He was even more glad that you hadn’t made an effort to reach out to him. It was better that way.

“You alright, boss?” 

Those three words tore John right out of his thoughts and slammed him right back down to earth. Back to the thundering bass that shook the walls around him in the nightclub, back to real life and the man who sat at the desk in front of him, typing away on the computer. 

“Tired,” John replied simply. 

“You’re always tired,” the man countered. He paused his typing at the computer and ran a hand over his hair, which he had styled into a slightly grown out mohawk. “Even then you never space out this bad.” 

Whatever Soap, his electronics specialist, was trying to get at, John certainly wasn’t in the mood for it. Sighing, he leaned back further in his seat while he stared at the man with a tense expression. “Do you have the intel or not?” 

A small chuckle came from the corner of the office where another man sat, seemingly bored as he typed away on his phone. “Way to piss the man off.”

“Aye, I’ll turn that phone of yours into a fancy brick if you don’t watch your tone, Garrick.” 

The two men chuckled at each other’s teasing just in time for John’s own phone to go off. Not expecting a call, John ripped the device out of his pocket and stared at the unrecognized caller ID with his thumb hovering over the decline button. But he hesitated. It had been months since he had given you his number, and yet a small part of him worried you might have been on the other line. 

When he stood from his chair, it caught the other two men in the room off guard, but they stayed silent as they watched John accept the call and raise the phone to his ear. 

“Hello?” he answered. 

All he got in response was a sob. 

By the time John had found you, all of your tears had run dry and a brutal fury filled the empty space. It wasn’t terribly late at night, but it was plenty dark enough that the park you had run off to looked eerie and uninviting in the dim halogen lights. Knees bouncing with anxiety, you sat on a park bench and bit into your bottom lip as you watched John approach from the street. 

For as much effort as he put into looking calm on the outside, it did absolutely nothing to settle the nerves fraying within him. Hearing you cry, hearing you beg for him to come get you scared him more than he cared to admit. Really, he was rather proud of himself for keeping as level headed as he did, even after he saw the tear stains on your cheeks. 

It didn’t take long to coax what happened out of you, in fact, it nearly erupted out of you. That fiance of yours had proved to be less honest than he liked to paint himself as, and as the two of you sat on that park bench in the middle of the night you gave him every excruciating detail. How he had been acting strange for a few months, how he used to show you off and then suddenly wanted to keep you locked away. A part of you knew what was really happening, and yet you told yourself you were crazy until you had walked in on your fiance fucking his mistress in your shared bed. 

“Four fucking years, John,” you said, trying not to grit your teeth too hard that they cracked. “Four years of being with this man just for him to do that? He moved me into his flat, wanted me to quit my job because he said he wanted to take care of me. I have nothing. I don’t have my own place, I hardly have my own money, I was an idiot and gave up everything because he asked me to and I was stupid enough to believe him.” 

By that point in your rant your knees were bouncing so fast your entire body vibrated. Terrified you’d disintegrate in front of him, John reached a careful hand out and brushed it against your shoulder. Though you didn’t say anything about it, or even look at him differently, your muscles seemed to relax some. 

“I could’ve been great,” you continued as your voice began to break. “I was able to go to any school in this country, I got my degree, I could’ve kept at work and been… something. And I didn’t need to. Not really. There was never anything I was trying to prove to anyone. I could’ve had a few kids with that white picket fence and stayed home to care for them.  I would’ve been completely happy living that trophy wife life if it meant I was loved. But I wasn’t. I’m not, and that fucking hurts because I know I’m worth so much more than this.”

More tears fell from your eyes after that, and it didn’t take much prompting from John before you crumbled against his side. When was the last time someone had held you like that? Wrapped their arms around you and held you close? When was the last time someone comforted you and actually meant it and not just in some sort of twisted expectation of devotion? Something in you told you that you should have felt shame for blatantly sobbing on a man in such a public space at an hour like that. Another part of you didn’t really care. 

It took a lot of convincing to get you to stay at his place. Eyes refusing to look at him when you gave him excuse after excuse, it was obvious that you didn’t want to burden him anymore than you already had. So you told him you could stay with your mom, or even get a hotel if that wouldn’t work, but John simply wouldn’t hear it. 

Eventually you were in the living room of his house. An actual house. Not an apartment or flat in the city, but something kind and quaint in the higher end of town. He had a real lawn and backyard that was perfectly manicured, and everything on the inside of the house was much too perfect and clean. It was something straight out of the catalogs you’d see in magazines or on HGTV.

First order of business was a shower, and though it felt strange changing into John’s clothes, you would have done anything to wipe the stench of your cheating fiance off of you. And maybe it was because of the spite that boiled inside of you, but you found that you liked the way John’s clothes smelled significantly more than you ever liked your ex’s. Second was getting you food, and though you had told John you weren’t hungry, the scent of his buffalo chicken was too good to pass up. 

It was near midnight by the time you went to bed, and John had made sure everything was set up for you in the guest room before he meandered back down to the kitchen to clean up. There was still plenty of work that needed to be finished that night back with the boys. He took comfort in knowing that you’d be safe in his house, at least, and well out of reach of that terrible excuse of a man. 

When John finished cleaning things up in the kitchen, it took him a moment to notice the incessant buzzing sound that plagued the room. Like rattling glass, it made his ears quiver just listening to it, and he quickly scavenged the countertops until he found your phone resting on the island in the center of the room. Flashing lights illuminated the screen as your ex’s caller ID and photo popped up. He caught the tail end of the call, and the screen faded back to your lock screen where it claimed to have received 27 missed calls, as well as 84 unread text messages. 

Where the fuck are you?

Answer your fucking phone.

Baby please.

Answer me.

Stop being a fucking bitch.

Goddamn skank.

Come on, honey it means nothing.

Are you seriously making this a big deal?

Come home before I drag you home.

I’m not fucking around.

You’re pissing me off. 

Before leaving the house to head back to the nightclub, John swiped up your phone and hid it in his pocket, along with that god awful ring you didn’t care to wear anymore. 

In the morning you woke up in a bed that wasn’t yours with clothes that didn’t fit you, yet you had never felt so comfortable in your entire life. It had been a long while since you last felt like you belonged; since you felt comfortable in your own skin. Still, you couldn’t stay there forever and you forced yourself up off of the mattress as you snuck your way to the living room. You were greeted by several large boxes that sat stacked neatly in the furthest corner of the room, and once again John was in the kitchen making food. He still wore the same clothes he had the night before, and they looked terribly disheveled, yet he still continued on anyway. 

“Mornin’,” he greeted as he looked up from his pan where several eggs sizzled away. “Sleep alright?” 

Still groggy, you approached the island where you lazily leaned against it. “Yeah. Looks like you didn’t get any, though.” 

John chuckled, something tired yet still hearty at the same time. “Perceptive.” 

“Always have been.” 

John quickly finished up the eggs and began to dish out the food onto plates. While you waited, your fingers lazily ran over the counter top where they collided with your phone, and it took everything in you to hold back a sigh. Looking down at it, you pressed the home button where the screen lit up, expecting to see several messages from your ex, and yet there was nothing. You stood there perplexed and wondered if the man had really let you just run away from him, until you noticed something else missing. 

“Have you seen my ring?” you questioned as John slid a plate of food your way. 

“Your ex took it back,” John answered simply. He stood on the other side of the island for a moment before he turned around and started cleaning up the mess of ingredients and dishes that littered the counter. “I also managed to retrieve all your personal items. They’re stacked in the living room when you’re ready to look through them.” 

Mouth open in surprise, you glanced back into the living room and eyed the stack of boxes before looking back at John with a raised eyebrow. “How… how’d you manage all that?” 

Perhaps he should have hesitated before answering. Thought of something to say other than the truth. Instead, John didn’t miss a beat in answering you as he continued cleaning. 

“He sent you a few messages last night and I saw his name pop up on your phone. Didn’t realize you were engaged to the mayor’s son,” he explained. “I have some contacts who were able to get me an audience with him. I figured it would be easier for me to grab your items than you doing it yourself. Save you the trouble, at least. He shouldn’t be bugging you again.” 

For the longest time, you didn’t know what to say. There were a few glaringly obvious holes in his explanation, namely why there weren’t any notifications on your phone. If he had only glanced at it, they would have still been there, and yet they had been cleared. Then there was the fact your ex was too self centered to ever have an audience with anyone he didn’t actively seek out. Perhaps even stranger, you weren’t at all surprised. Maybe you were a little taken aback at everything he had done for you, but not at the methods he used to get it done. Because you had known John’s secret from the very beginning. After all, you had been the chief’s daughter. 

“John,” you said, voice soft and even. 

Drying his hands off on a small towel, he turned around to finally face you where he was surprised to find you smiling. And god, you were stunning, so much so that all he could do was stand there and wait for you to continue. 

“I’m glad I ran into you at the flower shop,” you finished. “Thank you. For everything.” 

It wasn’t what he expected you to say, and still he mimicked your smile, although it was much more tired than yours had been. Life was strange. Nothing had ever gone as planned in John’s life, and yet there was you. Through all the years and the shit and the struggles, you had found your way back into his life, and for some strange reason, he found himself hoping you’d stick around this time, no matter how much trouble you caused. 

“Any time, darling.” 

don't let me in with no intention to keep me jesus christ, don't be kind to me honey, don't feed me, i will come back

[inkskinned]

one of the things about having an unstable parent is that it can so easily ruin your future. you want to get out, but getting out takes having agency. it takes the resume and the grades and the stellar community service history.

but you have to choose your battles. you know if you sign up for an after-school activity, it'll be okay for a while, so long as the activity is parent-approved and god-fearing. over time, like all things, it will become an argument (i can't keep carting your ass to these things) or a weapon (talk to me like that again, see if you get to go to practice). sometimes, if you love the thing, it's worth it. but you also know better than to love something: that's how they get you. if you ever actually want something, it will always be the center of their attention. they will never stop threatening you with it. telling you of course i'm a good parent, i came to all of those stupid events.

you learn to balance yourself perfectly. you can either have a social life or you can have hobbies. both of these things will be under constant scrutiny. you spend too much time with her, you should be at home with family is equally paired with you're acting like this because you're addicted to what's on that goddamn screen. you cannot ever actually win, so everything falls within a barter system that you calculate before entering: do you want to learn how to drive? if so, you'll need to give up asking for a new laptop, even though yours died. maybe you can work on a computer at the library. of course, that would mean you'd be allowed to go to the library, which would mean something else has to bleed. nothing ever actually comes free.

and that bitter, horrible irony: you could be literally following their orders and it still isn't pretty. they tell you to get a job; they hate that your job keeps you late and gives you access to actual money. they tell you to do better in school; they say no child of mine needs a tutor. they want you to stop being so morose, don't you know there are people who are really suffering - but they revile the idea you might actually need therapy.

you didn't survive that fall the way other people would. you've seen other people scramble and get their way out, however they could. maybe you were made too-soft: the answer didn't come to you easily. it wasn't quick. it was brutal and nasty. some people even asked you why didn't you just work hard and escape during school? and you felt your head spinning. why didn't you? (they control your financial aid. they control your loan status. they love having that kind of thing). maybe in another life you got diagnosed sooner and got the meds you needed to actually focus and got attention from the right teachers who helped you clear hurdles to get up out of here - but for now? here?

the effort of trying. the effort of not-dying. that kind of effort was absolutely agonizing.

[northopalshore]

Zendaya birth chart analysis

•❃°•°❀°•°❃••❃°•°❀°•°❃••❃°•°❀°•°❃••❃°•°

Additional asteroids mentioned: Fama (408), Adorea (268), Charisma (627), Aura (1488), Fan (151590), Juno (3), Great Attractor, Part of Fortune

In this post, I will be writing down and explaining some aspects & placements in her natal birth chart to better understand her character as well as fame indicators in her chart.

Aquarius (7° libra) 1st house

Aquarius risings tend to have longer body proportions. Slender, and unique something you notice about her immediately is her height, her hair colour, accessories & her forehead. Their heads may seem a bit larger in proportion to their body i.e bigger forehead, wider face. Their personality will stand out in the crowd as they are not afraid to be themselves in any given situation.

ex: I had an aquarius rising friend back in high school she would be giggling uncontrollably even during assembly to herself for some joke she had in her mind. Zendaya has always stood out in terms of personality. Back when she used to make videos on Vine everybody loved her lip syncing to Beyoncé's "YONCE" but she was just excited to hear her favourite song playing randomly on the radio & decided to post the video. It was just her, being her.

With the libra degree though, it brings a lot of balance into her appearance. Not to mention she's extremely beautiful! Not everyone will agree with her ideas and that's alright to her. She's not the type to judge others for their opinion.

Saturn (5° leo) retrograde in 2nd house

This is can be seen in the chart of someone who didn't grow up with a lot of money. Both of her parents are teachers (work with children as leo rules the 5th house 5° 5 see? ). She'll have to work very hard to earn money. With saturn in retrograde and with the leo degree she always had the ability to gain a lot of money through her talents in the acting/ performing field. She has worked in the entertainment industry for YEARS before gaining mainstream recognition. And from a very young age (since then gaining a massive amount of money through acting) She found financial stability through her talents. Since her second house is in pisces, I think she probably has dreamt of affording all the best things in life and has never stopped working towards it. Her career also started off catering to children aka the younger audiences acting in family friends/kid shows.

Moon (7° libra) in her 3rd house

She has a very close harmonious relationships with her siblings. She could feel like she can never live without them as they are a source of comfort. She'll tend to rationalize her emotions, always trying to tinker with logic and how she feels. She'll find herself looking at her feelings from an outside perspective often. She was also close to her mother during early school years ( her went to the elementary school her mother taught at: Fruitvale Elementary School in Oakland) Most of her siblings will be much younger than her.

Taurus 4th house

She grew up in a very harmonious household. Very safe, loved and cared for by her parents. She didn't move homes/ left her birth place meaning her childhood was spent where she was born. There were no arguments or fighting that took place in her home aside from maybe "Who ate my snack?? I was saving that for later!"

Venus (24° pisces) in the 6th house

She could feel like her childhood was very work centric. However, given that this is Venus I believe she really enjoyed working in a sense. She was passionate about it. It may have caused a lot of fatigue, trauma & anxiety even as a child, but she this was what she truly passionate about regardless. A perfectionist placement in terms of beauty, art, talents.

Mars (25° aries) in Cancer 6th house

Similar to venus. She focuses a lot of her energy into working towards her dream. She worked with a lot of female figures, with friends & family ( also a lot of her early gigs involved family sitcoms ) she usually feels very safe at work. She knows she is always working with people that she can trust. She is also a perfectionist. She feels that everything she does must be perfect. Combined with her venus she'll take her acting very seriously, she will not feel satisfied until her performance meets her ideals.

Aura (23° aquarius) in Gemini 5th house

People are very drawn to her unique, genuine energy. She's seen as this fun loving, talkative, passionate, sometimes very stubborn person that everyone wants to be around. She exudes this rebellious magnetism. People feel like she's always doing something different in comparison to other actors for example. They'll see her as more of a friend than a celebrity. People feel like they will never be bored with her, she's always doing something exciting!

edit: there was a previous typo 23° aries instead of aquarius. It's fine now.

Fan (21° Sagittarius) in Leo 7th house

Her fans love her for her talents, she attracts fans from all over the world and people of different cultures & ethnicities. Her fans will also be very invested in her love life i.e love to see her in relationships. They genuinely want her to be happy in her love life. Her spouse/partner could also ber her biggest fan!

Fama conjunct Saturn

It took her time to gain a following, but when she does gain fame it will stay. You will see her name written down as one of the most prominent stars in Hollywood.

Fama retrograde in 2nd house

Same as conjunct saturn honestly.

Fama trine pluto

Explosive fame. It took her a while to get into mainstream media but when she did she changed the game. Her career has shifted into a more mature state as she's now taking more adult roles in her career.

Part of fortune (4° cancer) in Libra 8th house

She'll have a lot of luck in rebirth & transformation. She might be very lucky in high stakes situations. She's likely to live a long and healthy life. She'll perform better in adult or taboo roles, gaining more abundance through those roles. She'll be able to take on more emotional roles with complex character relationships. (i.e her roles in Euphoria & Challengers gained a massive amount of attention)

Mercury (3° Gemini) in Libra 8th house

She could love to talk about taboo subjects. She's not afraid to point out the things that hurt her, or things that bother her close relationships. She will be the person to talk to them through hard times. She's a loyal friend and whatever secret you tell her she's taking them to the grave.

Pluto (0° the purest form) in the Sagittarius 10th house

She will be very attractive. Whatever she does the spotlight will be on her. The public will either love her to death or hate her with every bone in their body. She will garner the attention of people worldwide. People in her field can be very jealous of her magnetism. She'll easily gain power and recognition throughout her career. A revolutionary, a trendsetter, what more can I say?

Adorea(11° aquarius) in Sagittarius 10th house

The public will adore her for her ability to stay authentic and genuine. She is also loved through the internet, the media. People will adore her in videos or anytime she's on screen.

Great Attractor(13° aries) in 10th house

She is a force to be reckoned with in her career. The great attractor being in the 10th house is one of the most powerful, magnetic and influential placements a person could have. She will be loved by the public, she will always attract attention throughout her career. People loving, adoring, praising & wanting to follow you. Ex-USA president Barack Obama has this placement too!

Chiron (14° taurus) in 8th house

People will look to her for comfort. She has the ability to heal other people with her presence. She may have had some uncomfortable experience with physical touch, or is generally uncomfortable with people she isn't close with touching her. I don't want to get too deep into this placement but she definitely has some trauma surrounding the 8th house.

Chiron trine ascendant

She might have had some insecurities concerning her looks in the past, people might have bullied her for the way she presented herself or just her appearance in general. However this placement also allows her to overcome those easily. This also gives her the ability to express complex, gut-wrenching emotions of her face. Great for acting. She's able to showcase the characters soul.

Pluto conjunct MC (26° taurus)

This usually means her image will be very public. You'll see her face & her body everywhere. Her career involves a lot of photos being taken for magazine covers, interviews and whatnot.

Jupiter (7° libra) retrograde in Capricorn 11th house

This means she will get a lot of luck with friends, and social media. She will be very popular online. Since it is in retrograde however, there was a delay in achieving that big blow up on the internet ( compared to when she started her career).

Neptune (25°aries) retrograde in Capricorn 12th house

This placement can be seen in individuals with prominent or severe mental health issues/ trauma. She can feel very depressed at times, feeling alone, feeling detached from people around her, feeling shunned. The aries degree indicates that this has started to develop from a young age. She was very shy when she was younger. Her parents even had to attend a class on raising introverted children. I've read multiple articles addressing her openness on talking about her trauma. "She felt that stress that came with being a child actor, feeling anxious and always delivering out of fear that people will lose interest. "

Uranus (1° aries) retrograde in Aquarius 12th house

This is very similar to neptune, in a sense that this stems during early childhood. She felt very alienated from the rest of her peers. She could be insecure about her personality, or her uniqueness. She doesn't feel like she truly belongs.

Sun trine Jupiter

She has a very big personality. People will notice her wherever she goes. Popular & beautiful. Taller/bigger than the average height/ people notice her height.

Saturn trine uranus

Her internet presence will be very long lasting.

Venus opposite uranus

She's the type of person who'll want to express her fashion through unconventional means. Lady gaga has venus trine uranus I keep thinking about her iconic meat dress lol. Since it is opposite in Zendaya's chart, it's more like a double negative in a way. You have Uranus but also you're going against Uranus. Which means she'll love to dress up in a unique uniform type of way.

ex: in every opening/event she goes to she will always match her outfit with her character/the theme of the movie. Extra in a tame way so to speak whereas Mother Monster, well.. is anything but tame.

Charisma sextile MC

She is seen as someone very charismatic throughout her career.

Zendaya's birth chart:

•❃°•°❀°•°❃••❃°•°❀°•°❃••❃°•°❀°•°❃••❃°•°

***disclaimer: entertainment purposes only, reader discretion is advised***

Thank you for reading ♡

@northopalshore

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for telling mom to stop giving me unhealthy food and then refusing to say "I love you" back?

I (16, FtM) am autistic, for the longest time I struggled with eating different types of foods, in fact, i only started eating vegetables when I was 16 because my nutritionist told me to. Since I have memory, i've been teased by my weight, all my life. It led me to make decisions i'm not very proud of (like getting groomed at 8-9 years old), because of my low self esteem.

I've gone to the nutritionist a total of 2 times in my life, but in my opinion i should've gone more but my parents didn't seem to think the same. Both of those times the doctors told me I was a little overweight. They didn't tell me i was obese or morbidly obese which thank god because I would've broken down and kms (not really but even thinking of getting told that makes me anxious).

They did tell me to start eating more food other than fried food and other type of stuff. After the meeting, my parents started scolding me for embarrassing them in front of the doctor, but all i did was being brutally honest with her! I told her how my parents keep buying flavored water which has at least 2 stamps in it (The government makes it so that companies have to put stamps on their products saying what's exactly in it), so the only source of natural water is the one we boil ourselves, which i drink every time i do exercise. And also how the dinner mom makes is sausages and french fries, it's quick and easy. This last week I've eating that dinner two times and on the weekend i ate fast food for lunch, on Saturday and Sunday which means TWICE. By the end I was so worried i might have to double my exercise next week (so now) to balance it off. I felt really fat on monday so uh not a good feeling.

For my part, I've had this discussion with my P.E teacher, and she agreed to make me play basketball more so i can both exercise at home and more at school other than P.E class. I've also done the effort of eating vegetables (which due to my autism it was very hard at first but I've gotten the hang of it!) And doing more exercise at school.

But even when mom agreed to start feeding me more healthy foods, it's like she gave up. She's gone back to giving me the same lazy foods that are filled with cholesterol and grease, and every time i eat those it makes me feel worried. Tonight was one of those dinners and all i want is to get it out of my system (literally).

I told mom she can't keep feeding me like this if she wants me to lose weight, and she responds by saying "but what can we feed you? You don't eat anything else" which? Fucking excuse me? WHAT DO YOU THINK I'VE BEEN DOING FOR THE PAST MONTHS??? She always says that, it's like whenever i eat entire salads she fucking ignores me or something! It makes me feel so angry, fuck my efforts i guess???

I got more angry, but she's my mom, so i decided to shut up. Since i was getting ready to bed once i got comfortable she told me "I love you", which is a normal habit we have every time i go to bed. She says "i love you" i say it back. But this time I didn't, and she just sighed and closed the door.

Right now i'm really mad at her, but i recognize that maybe not saying "I love you" back was a bit too much, but if i have to stop saying it at all for her to understand I want to lose weight, then so be it. If she doesn't want to recognize im the only one doing the effort, whatever. I'm thinking of starting to refuse her food to make myself clear.

What are these acronyms?

[thequietkid-moonie]

Their child experience their first crush

[ HEADCANONS ] [ Reaper & Aguri, Umi & Kousuke, Adam & Eve, Loid & Yor, Usagi & Mamoru ]

[ Assassination Classroom ] [ Gakuen Babysitters ] [ Shuumatsu no Valkyrie ] [ Spy x Family ] [ Sailor Moon ]

What a cute prompt!!! I loved writing it!! Enjoyed a lot writing ever single word!!

I grew curious and ask my mother how she deal with this and even when my sister and I are so diferent the experience wasn't that diferent! Honestly was so interesting to heard her opinion!

Reaper & Aguri

Reaper and Aguri are really loving parents, both of them want to show all their love and support and actually are a really close family, they balance each other, while Agury want to be clingy and totally affectionate, even babying you a little, Reaper takes a role to be a little stric and a good mentor in life

Both want to share a lot of moments, and, as much as they want to keep you as their baby both are well aware that you have to grow and do your own life, and even when they are looking forward to see you grow, you experiencing your first love will definetly hit them hard

Both are really smart, while Aguri may notice the hints because she is a teacher and has a little sister, Reaper is extremely observant and knows a lot about human behavior, but both will have really diferent reactions, while Aguri is incredibly happy and excited, wanting to show you all her support and want to know all the details, Reaper isn't happy at all! Not that he is mad at you, of course, is something completely normal and he had tell himself that he would happy when you find someone to love (just as he had done with Aguri), but the truth is that the moment he notices it all his maturity and role as a good father is throw away from the window, he only wants his little baby back

Reaper will be the kind of father that feels like your lover is trying to steal you away form him but at the same time he feels incredibly happy for seeing you so happy, is so contradictory that is giving him headache. However, he is smart enough to know that it isn't right for him to act from those feelings, he just puts a smile and acts as if it doesn't bother him all while Aguri is asking you for all the details

Even if you prefer to don't say anything about it there is no way to hide it because both will find out and both want to know about your crush! And at some point Kaede will get to know too and she will be the one to came and give you some peace, stoping Aguri and Reaper from asking (if they were being pushy, but if you were willing to share the information she will be there to heard you too)

All of them will make a big deal out of it, Aguri is incredibly happy for her baby and is wishing you the best (while giving you some weird advices about romance), Reaper says that is alright but deep down he is trying to judge the person you like to see if they are worthy of being your partner (don't be surprised if he comes to pick you up from school more often), Kaede acts as if this is one of the greatest events, as determinated as her more important works, and be the one who gave you an actual useful advice

It could be embarrasing and a complete mess, specially because is the first time you develop a crush in someone, but at the end they only want the best for you

Umi & Kousuke

Umi and Kousuke Mamizuka are really loving and supporting parents, they may be busy most of the time but they always try to be there for you (specially in hard times, they are always there), the Mamizuka family is really close and loving

Umi is a teacher, she knows to identify when you need her and when you need time for yourself, so is more than obvious that she'll know when her precious child develop a crush for someone for the first time, she sees it all the time on school, and she couldn't be happier to see her baby grow up!

Choosing to tell them or not is up to you, but Umi soon or later will start to ask you about it, even if you decide to don't say anything she will start to ask indirectly, a little teasing honestly. Changes of your behavior like being more distracted or noticibly more happy or even blushy by school will be noticed by Takuma and Kazuma (they are rather clingy and affectionate with you, so if they will notice even if they don't understand it) and they will also start pointing it out and asking you with their innocent but cheerful expressions (Umi will just laugh at it, specially if you try to come up with a excuse)

Kousuke will be the last one to know because he is always busy, and is more likely that he will know by the others, even if you wanted to tell him is more likely that Umi will tell him that their precious child is in love once she is sure about it, and Kousuke will make a really big deal out of it! It isn't that he is overprotective, but he will be in tears while talking about how his precious little baby is growing so fast and soon you'll probably just go away and make your life (even if that is far from happening yet), honestly he is being a little over dramatic, acting as if you were about to get married soon

It could be embarrasing his behavior because even if you talk about it directly he may or may not try to sneak to see who is the one trying to steal his baby, and will end up envolving Takuma and Kazuma too because he wasn't able to shut up and end up telling them that you love someone, he end up explaining as if you were already in a relationship with that person, what will lead the twins to ask you if you are really in love, and if you go to the same school (that is probably, since Umi works there) they will sneak out of the nursery if they have the opportunity (or just see you around) and start asking you about your lover, what will lead the other kids to ask too (and Usaida will be teasing you, not even try to save you from the embarrasment)

If they actually make you pass an embarrassing moment or just upsed you they will deeply apologize (Kousuke wil be dramatic as always), at the end is Umi who will make everyone calm down and just wish you luck with your first love, willing to give you advice but telling you that you shouldn't feel frustrated if things doesn't work, just enjoy it! (and at the end, Kousuke, Takuma and Kazuma will show their support too, but they won't be as calm as Umi)

Adam & Eve

Adam and Even loves their family dearly, they want to protect their kids but loves them in their freedom, both want for their precious childs to discover the world from themselfs but are always close to whenever they need them, honestly the entire family develop a really wholesome enviroment, united but still free

Honestly, the fact that you are experiencing your first love can easily go unnoticed for a while if you don't say anything, Adam and Even will notice the little changes on your behavior (like being flustered, more shy or even excited to be somewhere) but won't say anything, or at least not to you, they will talk about it and will be Adam who suggest to let you be for now and wait until you feel ready to talk about it, in the mean time they will just keep an eye on you in case is something bad

Soon or later Cain and Abel will notice the little changes too, but they won't be as discreet as their parents, asking you right away about it or probably at your parents, at first they will try to push you to talk about it in a joking manner, and maybe even teasing you about you probably having a crush on someone, it would depend on your reactions, but at the end they will get the answer they wanted and they won't be too happy about it

Is a big contrast because while Adam and Even are taking the news more calmly and just trying to calm your brothers, is Cain and Abel who are taking the news more dramatically, no matter if you are older or younger than them, even if you were the middle child they had grew quite atached at you, they consider you not only as a sibling but also as a best friend, it always had been only the three of you against the world and suddenly some stranger wants to take you away from them! (thats actually not true, is just them being overdramatic)

Adam and Eve will try to calm them down and stop them from making a scene by assuring them that all of you will always be a family no matter what happen, but what Cain and Abel said will end up bugging Eve a little, later she will try to talk about it with Adam, what if that person really tries to take you away form all of you

At the end Adam and Even will want to talk to you about it, wanting to know how the person you like is (and who is, if you are willing to tell them), they want to respect your privacy but they are also eager to know (you still are their baby after all), and even if they don't say it both want to make sure the person you like is someone good for you

Eve and Adam will try to give you advices about love and relasionships, about how it has to be give and recive equally, their advices are actually really good, Cain and Abel will promise to be some kind of bodyguards, promising to don't let that stranger breakeyou precious heart

Loid & Yor

Even when the Forget seem like the perfect family is because Loid and Yor always tries their best to play as a family, and Anya helps a lot too to keep the family enviroment!

Even when both are always looking after the family is Loid the more self-aware of everything that happens with his family (or at least tries to, he just want to ensure the peace for all of you), so it won't take him much time to notice the little hints on your behavior that you had just developed a crush on someone, he may don't want to asume it is a crush right away because he is pretty much cluesest when it comes to it (or at least with more real and deep relasionships) or even nervously in denial, but as time pass the more obvious it becomes for him and he almost panics

As much as Loid wants to repeat himself that all of this is just for his mision is undeniable how much he cares for his family, he wants to ensure your peace and happiness and you having a crush in someone is something he can't control and that makes him nervous! It triggers a little bit his protective side

There is no way Anya will not know, it would be a little confusing for her since now your mind is plagged with thoughts of someone and nervousness, still it doesn't take her much time to undestand it and, honestly, she'll find this funny only because of the reaction of your parents, she isn't interested on any kind of romance right now but she cares for you and wants to support you (even when she doesn't know how to do it or how important this may be to you)

If you don't say anything it would take Yor a long time to realice it, and she is so naive at times that she may just asume that you are being bullied at school, what lead her to be worry about you, leaving her to choose between ask you right away or try to find out who is bothering you

At some point Yor will also tell Loid that you are being bullied, what will lead him to explain that you just have your first crush (a little awkward since he isn't used to things feel so personal), both will be awkward and nervous about it the whole thing, wanting to protect you and support you but not knowing how to do it, and if you decide to don't say anything about it it would make things even more difficult to them, leading them to try to make weird plans to get information about who is your crush and to see if is someone worthy. In the other hand, if you do say them they'll try to show your support and give some advices, Loid's advaces are the most useful only because he know all of that for his job, but deep down he is being extremely careful with what he says, wanting nothing but to ensure your safety

Honestly, Anya could be of a lot of help here, innocently trying to bring the topic somehow if you or your parents decide to don't say anything (because is had started to stress her a little)

Usagi & Mamoru

Usagi and Mamoru tried to be good parents and be always there for you, but if they already lead Crystal Tokyo it would be a little more difficult for them to be always there, however they always tries their hardest to at least let you know they are there for you, as well the Sailor Scouts are always there for you and treat you as family

All of them are really caring and try to look after you and Chibi Usagi, so there are high chances that when you develop a crush for the first time you went to at least one of them for advice, or even for help to try to undestand your feelings, and even if you decide to don't to tell them anything at some point at least one of them will notice your strange behavior (probably Minako, Makoto or even Usagi)

It isn't that they want to embarrased you or anything but once one of them get to know then you having your first crush it quickly become the biggest ghossip among the sailor scouts, if one of the sailor scouts know first they will talk about it a lot before even telling Usagi, but if is Usagi or Mamoru who get to know first then Usagi will be ranting about it, between wanting to tease you and ask you all the details and crying because her little baby had grow so fast! In the mean time Mamoru is trying to calm her down, but he also think that it would be good to talk about it with you

All of the sailor scouts are debating about it, trying to come up with a plan with how to help you, well, half of them don't think is the best idea to intervene if you haven't asked for help

Soon or later Usagi, Makoto and Minako start trying to ask you about it with little discretion, they are usually protective and watch over you but now they are a little more clingly just in hopes to see who your crush is (and try to get a glance of how you act with them), at the end is Mamoru and the other senshi who are more respectful and does support you and give you advice in a more mature way, wishing you the best

As well, you'll have Chibi Usagi's support, no matter if you are older or younger is probably that she grows attached to you since in Crystal Tokyo she used to be more lonely, so, if you don't mind, she will grow a little clingy with you (just like she is with Plut), she will be bothered if you decided to don't tell her and gets to know because of the other sailor scouts, but at the end she will be the first one asking you about it, she will be really interested and will tell you her own veredict about your crush, telling you if is a good or bad person for you (she is being a little prideful and playful, but at the end she wants the best for you)

However, no matter if they all are pretty cheerful about this whole situation everyone wants the best for you and will cheerish for you, actually giving you some useful advices, however there are also high chances that they will end up embarrasing you by trying to help (hopefuly not in front of your crush), also, some of them will try to watch carefuly your crush to make sure they don't want to take advantage of you because of your title

[breedbun]

` ` and here he is, the love of my life. ` ` - me, probably.

warnings; none, this is part 1! :)

desc; hi guys!!!! this is self indulgent because it was my birthday at the end of last month so i deserve to write about my favourite icy blue man!! js a sweet preschool teacher reader, who adores children and teaches english, science, and art. kaeya, just dropping klee off.. in turn, wants to put kids in reader!.. i mean, reader did say he liked the idea of having kids. (⁠｡⁠•̀⁠ᴗ⁠-⁠)⁠✧ too bad y'all gotta wait!! *winky wink*

(edits/notes; 00:59 — 13:59 — 14:17 (i slept) this is inspired by an oc of mine btw i felt like being silly )

These past few weeks, you've been tasked with caring for the "terrorist of Mondstadt" by Acting Grandmaster Jean herself — Klee. As bad as people exaggerated her to be, you knew Klee absolutely loves you, even tolerating the fact you disallow her to bomb random things. You don't know why she loves you so much, but you're obviously not complaining at all, hah..

In the daycare you manage, you tuck Klee in for nap time, and ruffle her fluffy blonde hair gently. You let out a sigh of relief, because finally getting Klee to actually sleep was one hell of a task. Your fingers slide behind your waist, wrapping around the apron knot you tied. You grabbed two loose fabrics sticking out, and pulled on it hard. Once you tightened your apron, it was now time to prepare the snacks for the children once they woke up.. and then the activities, as well as outdoor free play. You've sure got a lot on your plate, but you're the true miracle of this daycare.. you're the only one who can herd every kid under control within minutes.

You sped up, walking past small mattresses with sleepy children, to a few large boxes at the back of the room, grabbing the one on top. Spinning on your heel, you struggled slightly to maintain both balance and speed as you rushed out the nap room. Closing the door with your foot, you then speed-walked to the many colourful tables and chairs with scribbles here and there. Opening the box, you start distributing all the snacks, and you can hear a few of your colleagues behind you scurrying over, attempting to aid you.

Everything took a while to prepare, but within nap time, you thankfully had at least 15 minutes left to relax. Usually it'd be 5 minutes or less, but you've got more hands today due to the new interns. Of course, you sat down in a short chair as you reached for your already half empty water bottle.

Though there were a few hiccups throughout the rest of the afternoon till the evening, you made it through the day with happy children and happy parents as always! You personally escorted Klee to the unlocked childproof gate, told her to grab her bag and stuff from her allocated tray. While you waited for her to pack some things, you glanced over at the parents in curiosity. Besides the loud giggling and chattering currently filling the room, you find a strangely familiar figure standing not so far from you. Blue hair, eye patch, tanned skin.. Right! That's Kaeya, the Calvary Captain. He had quite the reputation, both good and bad.. though, you've worked with him during your previous job, and you briefly know what type of person he is. Your thoughts are interrupted by Klee's tackle against your legs, and you nearly fall over, if not for the counter you held onto beside. You simply place your free hand on Klee's head, laughing as you try to find balance.

"Klee, is that your uncle Kaeya?" You speak endearingly, as you look up from her and up to that blue-haired man. Kaeya seemed to make eye contact with you, and you look away for the sake of your dignity. Sure, he was handsome, but you don't think he's into guys.. He's pretty popular among the ladies, too.

Klee ran over to Kaeya, babbling about her day while you follow behind slowly. Kaeya seemed almost surprised, but he had a smile on his face as he knelt down to listen to Klee with full attention on her. His gaze shifted to you every so often, you could tell, but you quietly walked away and hid yourself behind the counter. He watches you momentarily, before Klee starts dragging him away. Kaeya finally takes his eyes off you, and his mind swirls with you while he attempts to keep his mind on bringing Kee home.

What a strange man, what a charming man. Blue hair, an eye patch, and pretty eyes. You swore you saw a vision too.

@breedbun • kaeya's no.1 fan+husband fr

[talesofadragon]

𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐌𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐝𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

Synopsis: Steve Rogers was blue: serene, profound, magnetic. He exuded clarity and grace as a SHIELD Prize laureate and Chairman of the Arts and Culture Department at Stark University—until a moment in time disrupted his sense of balance. 

He had always admired her from afar, tracing the contours of her soul in shades of blue that mirrored his own. But the silver lining her irises was painted by silhouettes darker than he had known. When her secrets became too hard to shroud, and her colors dissolved into Steve’s essence, his composed demeanor cracked, revealing a primal, possessive side. 

For her, Steve was ready to walk through the unforgiving shadows. Because even in its darkness, blue bleeds depth and devotion—everything Steve feels for her and her little girl.

Pairing: Professor!Steve Rogers x Student!Reader/Mum!Reader

Warnings: Age Gap (14 years. Both are adults), teacher/student dynamic, abusive relationship, gaslighting, emotional manipulation, terrible partner, co-parenting. 

｡˚ ☁ Part One

As an Art Professor, Steve Rogers struggles more and more to capture the beauty he's always longed for. The demands of his role and the impassiveness of his students only intensify his struggle. But there's one silver lining in all his discordance: his favorite student, Y/N.

｡˚ ☁ Part Two

Steve has come to understand that beauty often arises from pain. As the echoes of Y/N's past begin to surface, he considers it nothing short of blasphemy to remain idle without extending his help.

｡˚ ☁ Part Three

There's something profoundly heartfelt about Y/N and her daughter. They're the portrait Steve has always longed to behold—the kind of magic no artist could ever capture. He’ll be damned if he ever lets their vibrant hues fade away.

｡˚ ☁ Part Four

Steve had resigned himself to being the perpetual third wheel—Tony and Pepper, Clint and Laura, Bucky and Natasha. But with Y/N and Nyla, it felt different. It was almost as if he was meant to be part of their world.

｡˚ ☁ Part Five || Coming Soon

[redcoralpot]

Smudged (3) Rodrick Heffley X M! Reader

Anddd it's here!

Warnings: Mentioned eating disorder otherwise not specified.

Summary: You were busy enough in life, too busy for what school planned to throw at you; at everyone. A boy you know well seemed to come up with an idea to manage that.

Word Count: 2.7K

-

A white pillowcase smashed against a mess of blonde hair, “Get up.”

Heather’s eyes scrunched up, her first action of the day being to glare at you with an unreasonable amount of venom. The sky outside was just starting to shine through the blinds in her bedroom, clashing against the pink theme of it all. She was never quite the morning person, but frankly, waking her and Holly up was simply your duty; it has been since it was just the two of you.

“School’s been in for two weeks, you should be used to this by now,” you snickered, backing away from the bed.

“Get out of my room!”

That was the only warning you got before she initiated her revenge, sending the poor, soft pillow flying once again. You balanced onto your toes as you shut the door as quickly as you could; the only proof that the object hit the target was the loud thump on the thin wood, “Be careful not to mess up your precious cotton pillowcases!”

“They’re satin, you freak,” Heather yelled, echoing in the hallway you retreated down.

Holly’s room was the second farthest away from yours, only being beat by your parents’. The only thing that separated it from the rest of the house was a tie-dyed sheet; her choice, of course. With careful fingers, you peeked inside, seeing your little sister shifting and groaning in her blankets.

Softly, “It’s time to wake up, I got your favorite cereal downstairs.”

She shot up, staring at you with wide eyes, “Really?”

“Of course I did! Not a day goes by where I don’t spoil my favorite little sister, now does it?”

You disappeared back behind the sheets when she scrambled out of bed, eager to get dressed. The stairs groaned underneath your covered feet, almost as if they were as unenthusiastic about the day as you were. Both of your parents leave for work earlier than most now that Holly was old enough to be left alone with her older siblings, but because Heather rendered herself helpless in the morning, the role of caretaker was left to you. 

All three of you have to leave for school at seven, so you wake your siblings up to greet the morning at six o’clock sharp, no more, no less. You as yourself get up an hour earlier in order to gather your own things, pack lunches, pack Holly’s bag, and have time for yourself. It was exhausting, always, but it was worth it to see the two of them shine.

The kitchen was adjacent to the dining room, with warm lighting to start the morning off in the right mood. You dug your fingers into the cardboard seal on the cereal before popping open the plastic bag inside, not bothering to use scissors. It never spilled everywhere, after all. As you heard Holly’s light footsteps swirling down the stairs, you shook a serving into a ceramic bowl, setting it beside a cup of milk on the usual table. Heather never ate breakfast, and no matter how hard you tried, she insisted that she needed to skip in order to keep up with her dream body. If you pushed it, she snapped.

When Holly finally appeared and slid into her seat, you sat in a chair beside her, “How’re classes going? I heard this is the year you finally start switching classrooms for periods.”

“They’re going good, I guess.” She sighed, pouring the milk into her breakfast, “My teacher for English already handed out the project prompts for this year, but I don’t wanna do it.”

“Wait, wait, what the hell? Already?”

“You haven’t gotten yours yet?”

“No, not in my school. Isn’t it against the rules to get a head start?”

“It was only a day before you, so I don’t think so,” she grumbled, mouth full.

“Well, it should be.”

“Nobody’s started working on it yet.”

You threw your hands up in the air, laughing, “Still!”

Over the oven, the clock blinked at you. You ruffled Holly’s hair, while she turned her head towards you, adorned with a milky mustache, “We have to get going soon, your stuff’s leaning on the door.”

She jumped out of her chair, running to the bottom of the stairs to call upwards, “Heather! We gotta go!”

“I just need five more minutes to finish getting ready,” Heather replied, half silenced by the sound of the bowls settling into the sink.

“Nuh-uh, we have to go now!”

Holly shuffled her shoes on, sitting down to tie them neatly. Your twin hurried down the stairs, squishing past the other girl on the way down, flipping her hair behind her back. She opened the door, and shivered as the early chill seeped into her bones. Heather grabbed her bag alongside Holly’s, practically throwing it in the car before placing her own down in the backseat. You double checked the oven, lights, and sinks, before shoving Holly out the door and locking it behind you. Heather called shotgun, therefore Holly had to squish herself in between everyone’s backpacks. The car started with a weak, stumbling roar, and you were on your way.

The world was only just starting to wake up in a blur outside the windows as the voice of a young woman sang throughout your vehicle, interrupted with the occasional tapping of Heather texting her friends. She never stopped keeping up with her social life, it seemed. However, while everyone else was lost in thought, one thing stuck in your mind.

“Hey, did you get your prompt?” you said, glancing at the girl beside you.

Heather did not even look up from her screen, “Duh. You haven’t?”

“Ugh.”

“So… that’s a no.”

As you pulled into the parking lot of the school, lined behind an endless row of cars, she smacked you in the arm, “Why are you in the drop-off line? I’m driving the girls to the mall after school today, I told you last night.”

“Okay, okay,” you hissed, turning the wheel, “you didn’t have to hit me!”

“Don’t get a spot too far from the school, either!”

Your car slowed to a stop and powered off, as you slipped the key out and handed it to Heather, “I’ll kill you if you lose that– now both of you, shoo! Get out!”

Its doors were slammed shut, and it locked with a beep. You leaned against the hood of the vehicle, watching carefully as your two sisters entered the school. It was a plain-looking building, which the school pathetically attempted to fix with a few colorful flower bushes. The air around you was silent, as quiet as a parking lot could be, and you turned to walk the rest of the way to your school building. Yet, before you could step any farther, a white van screeched past. Deafening music screamed out; it was distorted from how roughly the driver was maneuvering potholes. Oh, how bad you felt for the passengers, did the driver even have a license? You shook your head, glad that you had the sense to keep an eye on your sisters.

The school you went to was not far away, simply a few buildings down the opposite side of the street. Due to their close proximity, they were always competing in everything; from student count, finances, even to awards. So much so that they had devised a competition to be held between the schools each year to contribute to the state curriculum. It was annual, of course, and every single one of the projects made would be showcased and judged based on a variety of categories. Whichever school gets on the podium the most, well, you get the point. That doesn’t mean it’s not a pain in the ass, however.

The day went quicker than usual, with you patiently awaiting the class of which you would get your prompt and category; English. You were set on it enough that even Daniel noticed, poking and picking at you the entire day, finding time to do it in the hallways when you did not have classes together. He reached his hand back towards you, fingers making a crude attempt at stealing your eraser.

You slapped it away as the bell rang, the seats in the classroom filled, “What’re you doing?”

“Lightening the mood, ever heard of it?” he whispered back, craning his neck to look at you.

Students around the two of you were passing papers back, the teacher’s eyes glaring holes into Daniel’s head. He squeaked, taking his prompt, and proceeded to throw the slip of paper behind him. It fluttered in the air, and came to a rest on the top of your nose. He earned two more holes being burned into him as it slid gracefully off of the tip. For revenge, you leaned forward, your hand hovering over a stray lock of Daniel’s hair. He had opened his own paper, shoulders scrunched, and you yanked the strand in favor of reading it.

He yelped while you raised an eyebrow, “Tree vandalism, huh?”

“What the fuck, dude,” More groans arose from the class around you, “what did I do?”

“You know what you did.”

“Ms. Kawiti already avenged you with whatever this is, please do tell me what tree vandalism is!” He rolled his eyes.

“Well, what’s the category?”

“Environmental Science– I hate that class, you don’t understand.”

You slouched against your desktop, “Loser. I bet they chose that on purpose.”

“If you’re so confident, why don’t you open yours?”

“I was getting to it!”

Daniel scooched his chair around, almost unheard in the chatter-filled room, when you thumbed the slip open. Percussion; musical. Ah, yes, now you could understand the reaction of everyone else. It felt like the administration grouped together all of the staff to give all of the students the worst prompts imaginable, even the janitor. Even God himself knows that the janitor hates them all, rightfully. Perhaps this was his plan to avenge himself and any of the past janitors as well, after a decade of working there. Perhaps you could plead for mercy, even as the class around you fell silent.

He squinted his eyes, attempting to read it upside down, “That isn’t too bad, unlike something someone got.”

“Since when can you read like that?”

“Since now,” Daniel said.

You scoffed, crumpling the paper and tossing it in your bag, “I don’t even know anything about percussion.”

“Well, the whole point is to research a topic, so,” he waved his own, “Google it, go to the library, pay the music teacher a visit for the first time this year. At least you get to have fun with yours!”

“Yeah, true, I won’t be stuck studying trees.” At that, Daniel stuck up his middle finger, scowling. 

A singular finger tapped his shoulder, a ring adorning it. You hid a smile behind your hand as Daniel slowly turned, getting tenser with each second that passed. His eyes followed the figure upward, until they finally met her own. Ms. Kawiti, in all her glory, stood firm in front of his desk with pursed lips; an action that gave you a better look of the tattoo of which ran down the bottom of her lips to her chin.

“Class was dismissed five minutes ago, boys. And Mr. Ivanov, if I see that behavior in my classroom again, I won’t hesitate to give you detention.”

Daniel shrunk in his seat, “Yes, ma’am, understood.”

She strolled to the front of the classroom, and busied herself with a stack of papers. He wasted no time shoving his materials into his backpack, heaving it onto his shoulder, and most likely busting the door hinges with how fast he ran out. You allowed yourself to remove your hand from your mouth, snickering. As you got up to follow your friend, the teacher looked up from her papers with a certain twinkle in her eye.

“Remember that working with another student is prohibited; have a nice day.” As you slipped out of the classroom at last.

Daniel was waiting for you outside, and trailed behind you as you appeared. He grabbed a string on your bag, per usual, in order to not lose you in the waves of students crashing into the both of you. You pulled him along, leading him to the quickly emptying rows of lockers in the hallway. This is where the pressure on your backpack stopped, and Daniel slammed open his door. The lock holding yours open clicked under your fingers, allowing you to dump the contents of your bag inside while its pins shook. 

He loudly asked, “Is it just me, or is she horribly strict?”

“Every teacher is strict to you, dude, you just hate school.” You hissed, “If anything, Ms. Kawiti is the least strict teacher that we’ve ever had.”

“She did let me off with a warning for flipping you off instead of detention.”

You smacked his back, “You’re one lucky man, Daniel. She won’t let you off that easily next time.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.”

He zipped up his bag, hitting you with it as he tugged it on. You made a face at him, only to see him smirking at you, before darting down the hall and towards the two large exit doors. Your jaw tightened, teeth grinding against one another. Even as you chased him from a distance, you could hear his cackles only getting louder as you started to close it, reaching out a hand to grab him by the collar. Daniel knew he couldn’t outrun you; he never once had beaten you in mandatory track practices in middle school, much less now. He lasted a grand total of thirty-two seconds before you seized him by the back of his neck, a mere foot from the doors. 

“You lost.”

Daniel cursed, “I have a heavier bag than you, of course I did!”

“Excuses, excuses.” You flicked his nose before setting him on the ground outside of the building, joining him shortly. The last thing you wanted was to pay a visit to the principal’s office simply because a teacher saw you playing. 

As you slid down the railing, accompanying the boy jumping down the stairs, he said, “Where’s your car? Aren’t you driving home today?”

“Nah, man. Heather wanted to take the girls and Holly out to the mall.”

“I could drive you home, if you want.”

You huffed, “No thanks, wouldn’t wanna be a bother.”

Daniel held his hands high in the air, backing away towards his car, “If you say so.”

“See you tomorrow, tell me how the research goes.”

“You better text me when you get home, don’t make me wait until math in the morning to see if you got kidnapped!” he yelled, slamming his door shut and peeking out the window.

Instead of answering, you stuck out your tongue at him as the engine roared. Really, you could have sworn he flipped you off again before pulling out of the lot, speeding off until you would be able to see him the next day. You chuckled, shifting the weight of your bag onto your other shoulder, starting onto your journey home. Heather and Holly should both be out of school by now, despite the fact that your school releases earlier than theirs, and should be on their way to the mall. You can’t steal the car back now, can you?

That is all you could think about as you crossed the street, running across the sections where cars were lined, peering at the entrance in hopes of seeing your siblings. Instead, you could only see a puff of brown hair hurtling towards you before a body hit you, an arm curling around your neck and spinning you around. You hurled over, trying to throw the person off of you, not wanting to take Daniel’s words seriously. A grunt and a smack rang out as he hit the floor; you stumbled a few steps back. 

A cough, “What was that for?” Rodrick spluttered.

You exhaled in a hurry, “Oh my god, it’s you.”

“Of course it’s me, who else would it be?”

“A kidnapper,” you responded dumbly.

He rolled onto his hands and knees, shaking as he staggered onto his feet once again, “Damn, I just wanted to say hi.”

“What part of hi requires you to jump on me?”

“The friendly part, duh.”

You stayed silent, looking at him with furrowed eyebrows. He seemed to pick up on your mood, scratching the back of his neck, his voice still hoarse from the fall. 

“I need you to do a favor for me.”

-

[menaceoffandoms]

Fuck it: collage AUs lego monkie kid

Mk is an art student who worked really hard to get a scholarship into the school. Yin and Jin are both in the same course as him, he corrected them about art theory once and they've never let it go so now they torment him in class, and everyone else for that matter. Wukong is there teacher and he is servery under qualified but he dose his best. Mk still works and lives at Pigsy's noodles, which in this is a hot spot for students cause of its close proximity to the uni. Balancing school and a job is a nightmare but he's trying his best.

Mei is in a business/marketing course, she wanted to do something more fun but her parents wanted her to do it, but she's actually really good at it especially whenever they do social media stuff. Princess Iron Fan is her teacher and the Demon accountant is her class mate. Mei and Red Son are roommates, they start off hating eachother but slowly become friends. When Mei finds out PIF is Red's mum she's begs her for baby photos, much to Red's embarrassment. Red Son is on an engineering course and Sandy is his teacher. Mei is a streamer with a pretty large following and she's currently saving for a new parts for her motorbike, which Red will likely end up replacing for her.

Tang is a history teacher at the school. He never shows up to class without a bowl of noodles. The scorpion demon is in his class and has a crush on him, but for obvious reason he's not at all interested! Tangs one love is noodles and noodle making Pigsy's.

Macaque is like a drama teacher or something like that, Mk likes to sit in on his seminars sometimes, and he's made a name for himself as the schools cryptid. He never seems to leave and always shows up in random places, a lot of people think he secretly lives in his classroom. He likes to scare and mess with Wukong a lot, they hate eachother but it's so over the top everyone either thinks there dating or wants them to kiss already.

Bai He is just a kid so she doesn't attend the collage, but she's seen around there a lot. Her pearents are probbaly teachers there, or maybe Macaque is her dad in this who knows, but for awhile some students thought she was a ghost haunting the school.

LBD and the Major either used to be teachers but got fired, or they both work at the school and are the most hated teachers there. LBD would teach law and the Major would do something similar, maybe criminology? Could throw a curve ball and have him teach psychology, that could be funny.

There's too many characters for me to be bothered to list rn so uhhhhh Nuwa is probably head of the school, any gods or celestial warriors are teachers, most demons are probbaly students unless they served a big part in the show (like syntax is probbaly the IT teacher) anddddd if it's not obvious I've never been to a university so I am very unqualified to do anything with this, I'm just having fun.

That being said if anyone dose want to do more with these concepts, go ahead, could be fun

[ifwebefriends]

My Child Lebensborn review/thoughts/rambles

So the other day, I played a game called My Child Lebensborn and I just have a lot of thoughts and feelings about it. It’s kinda intense with its themes and story (TW below) so if you’re in a good headspace right now, I really think that you should play it or watch a let’s play on YouTube. It’s like 4-5 hours long. The game is on most consoles as well as android and iOS. It costs $3 and a part of that goes to the Children Born of War Project so while I’m usually pro-piracy, this is one game that I really think you should not pirate. I played the iOS version which you can download here.

The game is described as a “dark tamagotchi” where you play a struggling single parent in 1951-1952 Norway and care for your young adoptive child (either the male Klaus or female Karin, you choose). Klaus/Karin is a “Lebensborn,” an Aryan child born out of wedlock of a German soldier and a Norwegian woman during the occupation of Norway in WWII. You have to balance caring for the child both mentally and physically, work, investigating the child’s origins, and keeping up with local news. A lot happens to the child over the course of the game that you can’t do anything to prevent, you can only impact how the child sees the situation and how they may react to it. It’s a really good and educational game about an aspect of war that I wasn’t really familiar with until now and while it’s not really the most “fun,” it’s a very fulfilling and engaging experience.

The story is basically entirely told through text and mostly happens to the child outside of the home so most of the disturbing stuff happens off-screen but it’s still heavily referred to and feels like a punch to the gut.

If you have a hard stomach and think you can handle it, stop reading this post now and go play it as I’m about to give trigger warnings that could spoil the game and then go into my personal thoughts about it.

Trigger warning for: references to war, bullying, assault, poverty, abandonment, references to Nazism, attempted murder, being forcibly tied up, being urinated on, ethnic discrimination, cruel family members, cruel teachers, and child sexual assault.

Direct Spoilers below

So I don’t think I ever want kids IRL but the way that Karin had MY WHOLE HEART and I wanted to be the best parent ever for her 🥺 like that is my DAUGHTER and you WILL NOT TOUCH HER

Karin baby you deserved so much better I’m sorry I could only do so much for you 🥺🥺🥺

AHHH I DIDN’T BUY THE FOX TOY IN TIME IT WAS GONE BEFORE I HAD THE MONEY FOR IT FUCK

I wish I had chewed out the grandparents more during that visit with them fuck them

The bullying was so fucking cruel like what the hell that’s a child who didn’t ask to be born under these circumstances have some compassion!!!!!!

The way that I clocked almost IMMEDIATELY that Karin was sexually assaulted since she didn’t want to be touched (I don’t know where I learned the warning signs but I did)

I wish there was an option to fucking murder Mr. Solheim

I choose to believe that Karin and the parent ended up somewhere good where people were more tolerant, I have to believe that

I chose to investigate the parents as much as possible, be as honest with Karin as I could, and tried to keep some hope and cautious optimism alive in Karin while still being sensitive to her feelings and not forcing her when she didn’t feel like doing something and I was very satisfied with how things turned out, she trusted me fully by the end

I wish that Karin was more trusting of others by the end but I don’t know how much control I had over that

Here are my chapter complete endcards to further describe the choices I made:

Image ID in ALT Text

[jungkookstatts]

Nepenthe - University Superstar Drabble 3

Nepenthe - [N]. Something that can make you forget grief or suffering

[Summary]: Jungkook’s life has always been a polarizing battle. It has been pushed and pulled from a constant fight about which should take control: his heart, or his brain? He could never balance it all, the overwhelming emotions too much to even out all by himself. But when he met you…all of that disappeared. When he met you, he felt both organs rest, allowing him to embrace all that is life, and all that is you.

[Theme]: Jock!Jk, LacrossePlayer!JK x TeacherIntern!Y/N, Friends(?)ToLovers!AU, EnimeisToLovers!AU, Inside the mind of Jeon Jungkook

[Rating]: 18+ for mentions of the deed, fluff (so many tingling feelings), a slight hint of cheating (if you'll call it that [I feel like everyone has a different boundary with what they associate as cheating, so I'll put this here and leave it for you to decide])

[Word Count]: 1,545

[A/n]: Not me setting my expectations for men to the highest standard with this drabble. Read with caution.

[Masterlist]

Jungkook was the quiet boy. He always kept to himself, just bunny smiles and wide eyes as he went about his younger years.

The boy was good. Never had to flip his green card to yellow or red in his life — minus the one time he accidentally hurt a girl's feelings in the second grade for calling her pigtails uneven.

He never missed a day of class, never once received a grade lower than a C+, and never got involved in drama or fights.

Every day was a blessing when he was growing up. His parents taught him well, giving their son their best heretic traits of pure goodness to Jungkook to go about his life with. He was giving and generous with his friends, even more so to strangers. Always giving up his favorite things to make someone feel better or sacrificing his time to spend a little extra with someone who needed him near. Beyond humble and caring he was, always the teacher’s favorite student.

But that was Jungkook. He was the good boy. Until he came face-to-face with puberty.

Junior High was dreadful. That goodness he went about life in started to not make sense. He was angry and breaking out in pimples and his voice started cracking with every breath he took. In what world would holding goodness be okay when the growing pains in his shin provoked him to quit the soccer team?

It was a mess. He was a mess.

And he was so unbelievably horny.

It was embarrassing how horny he was.

In the eighth grade, he was chosen to be the class speaker at his graduation ceremony. However, as he stood up there, all he could think about was whether or not the crowd could see the massive boner he waist-banding under his belt buckle. It was as if he was sporting a hard-on with every breath he took, and suddenly he realized that his right hand became much stronger than his left.

The next two years couldn’t have gone by any quicker, because soon Jungkook was the most popular kid in his high school. His sophomore year was by far the easiest with the way he was climbing up in popularity.

Jungkook was in every upper math class, honors, and AP course a person could possibly have the opportunity to fit into one semester. Despite being in classes with total nerds and questionable individuals, the minute he exited his upper-level courses, he was bombarded with the cheerleading team sticking their boobs in his face and his own friends fighting to ask him when he had the next day off practice to hang out together.

He would have guessed it was from his final stages of puberty. Finally, that crack in his voice was gone, and the pains in his bones were starting to fade. Besides, he was pulling so many women, he started getting tested every week just to make sure that he wasn’t overdoing it with how much sex he was having.

By his senior year of high school, he was one of the tallest, most athletic kids in the class. And, as if no one was expecting it at all, he was elected his high school's prom king.

Through it all, Jungkook still didn’t find much reason to apologize. It was a strange word coming from his lips. He had always respected others enough to the point where it was rare that he really did anything wrong. Not because he was a person who didn’t have any negative thoughts or who didn’t indulge in negative actions. But Jungkook was always good at blending. If he wanted to do something bad, he did it with others. If he had negative thoughts, he pretended he didn’t. Big walls and big problems formed from his very own defense mechanism to never have to run into upsetting someone else from his presence.

His “jockiness” formed with his first girlfriend, Park Haneul. She was quite the opposite of Jungkook. If she had a problem, she’d say it right then and there with no warning or build-up to coat any of her insults. She also constantly had a problem with Jungkook, which made it really hard for him to understand why. He felt like he was doing all the right things — he listened to her, let her cry on his shoulder, hugged her when she was feeling down, made her tea when she was angry, gave up almost all his time for her, took her out on the over-ly expensive dates she demanded as a “make-up” technique. He did it all, and yet there were still fights and a dissatisfied girlfriend by the end of the day.

When he finally got fed up after being yelled at and told that he wasn’t being a good boyfriend, he figured he needed to say that he was sorry to make it right. However, it was really hard for him to muster the words to apologize.

Instead? He coated himself with the biggest percentage of confidence within himself that he could bring out.

And, well.

It worked.

His relationship with Haneul began to feel like a ride in a Rolls-Royce. Not a singular bump in the road or crack in the windshield could be felt. His relationship with her was smooth sailing. However, just because he couldn’t feel the bumps in the road or the cracks in the windshield, doesn’t mean they weren’t there.

Three years rolled by, and he couldn’t do it anymore. There was no "pop", no drive that made him feel this overwhelming sense of love he knew he was supposed to feel when she told him she loved him. It wasn't fair to either of them, and he couldn't take it anymore. Not when he realized that he wasn’t feeling anything when he looked into her eyes. Not when he looked in yours and felt the life of passion you lived through them.

He wanted that. He wanted to hold your face and stare into your eyes until he could learn how it felt to feel like you did. He wanted to be near you; to watch that fire in your eyes teach him how to live as you warmed his soul while doing so.

And so, he left in search of your fire. He searched and searched and searched until he found it in a coffee shop, covered in his coffee. With just a bat of your eyes, you became a nepenthe to him. Years of pining and tensity he spent while trying to find you lifted, and that desire to join you in life came back.

It was a strong desire for Jungkook to be everything to you. To be the reason you light up in flames and laugh until your stomach hurts and to be the person you run to when you need to feel safe. He wanted to do everything to you that you did to him. And he soon found himself in a crossfire between who he was in elementary school and who he was in high school. A heart of humility and good, so full of passion and warmth, competing with his defensive brain who so brutally reminded him of all the walls he built in order to protect that special heart of his.

It took reality to break his wall. While your aura warmed him, it also warmed everyone else. And you were in high demand to light aflame to whoever captured it first.

But the fact angered Jungkook. You’re not to be captured. You’re to be spread, just like a fire naturally would. And if he had to spend the rest of his life protecting your flame from those who dared misunderstood it, then he was going to do it with everything he had.

The intimacy of being understood was what made him fall in love with you. Though you slowly began melting his candle into the pores of your heart, that look in your eyes sped up the process. It was as if you held him hostage as you nodded your head, telling him that you understood, telling him that you loved him. Euphoria ripped through his body, that feeling of falling in love for the first time was excessive, almost abnormal as it took over his soul.

You single-handedly made him forget all of his grief — years of suffering he spent trying to balance himself and figure out who he was and what he wanted to feel in life. You gave him joy on a silver platter, handing it to him as if you didn't just find his true self protected behind all those walls.

It was then that he realized that you’re gonna be where all his paths end. You've embraced his weakness and helped him strengthen into this foreign body he knows is himself but better. That weak, confused boy at the center of thick walls and defense mechanisms and hurtful words stands with you by his side. He’s made it a mission to go about his new life, walking with you with the intent be everything to you that you are to him. This is the start and end of all lines. He does not want more. He just wants you. Only you, and you alone.

----

[End. Do not copy. Original work of @jungkookstatts , 2023] 

[just-another-author-i-guess]

Judd's childhood headcanons?

You betcha 🤭

Tags: idk like mentions of violence and such, Judd being a pyromaniac from a very young age, dead bugs?

Author's note: if we don’t get a baby judd episode in the new season I will riot (,:

Judd childhood hc's

Word count: 1,2K

Both of his parents were absolutely over the moon when he was born

Imagine being an only child in the Birch household, like ngl that sounds pretty sweet

He had their attention aaalll to himself, and he thoroughly enjoyed it 

He was quite an active child too, not like hyper but always doing something he was definitely not supposed to do, so he needed either one of his parents to watch him constantly anyways

I feel like he was a pretty “normal” child until Leah was born, sure he was a bit harder to watch than average 2-year-olds but it wasn’t to like a concerning degree or anything

That was until Leah was born

Suddenly having to deal with a new sister, unleashed little monster-gremlin Judd

Not even like five minutes after she was born, when he got to see her in the hospital, did he call her ugly and bald

He probably had an identity crisis when his dad told him he looked like that too

Anyways, Elliot was really empathic towards him, even though he was definitely becoming a bit of a spoiled brat

Like, he sat him down and was like “I know it’s hard for you to get a new sister, but think about how much she’s going to look up to you, blah blah..”

Judd did not listen

So for the next few years, his mission became causing as much trouble for everyone around him as possible and then finding a way to blame it on Leah

Obviously, no one believed that an infant thrashed the house and set fire to a bunch of ants in the backyard

(It was hard to believe toddler Judd even managed to do it lmfao)

That’s another thing, like he wouldn’t hurt big animals, like cats, dogs, raccoons, ect cause he likes those

But he’s definitely responsible for the bug population in town drastically decreasing lol

He would be that type of little kid who burns ants, crushes snails and squeezes bugs to death

I was reading IT right, and patrick apparently has a whole pencil case filled with dead flies AND WHY IS THAT SO JUDD

I could see him bringing that into kindergarten, and when it’s art time he pulls it out and shows the teacher’s kinda proudly and they’re all like 😧✋

This was how he ended in therapy, too

Diane getting a call like “Yeah, uh, your son has a pencil case full of dead bugs and he’s scaring everyone pls come pick him up”

She wasn’t even mad, bc if you’ve seen my other headcannons, yk it would just be even more confirmation that Judd definitely inherited a lot of things from her

He was definitely a very stab-happy kid too

I’m talking deliberately sharpening his pencils to a point and using them as weapons 

I can see him having a slingshot too, he would sit somewhere his dad couldn’t see and just shoot rocks at him

Poor Elliot, Judd’s abuse and gremlin behaviours definitely affected him the most

Diane could actually get angry so Judd didn’t dare mess too much with her, and Leah was just a baby so her reactions were usually pretty boring

She didn’t even care when Judd showed her the dead flies smh 🫤

So Elliot was the only good target 

Judd was very, very annoyed though, at how he never really got angry, like he’d always just praise Judd for his creativity 

If he’s too mean to his dad, Diane will also get mad at him lol

So it’s about finding a balance yk 

But back to the therapy thing

I don’t really think Judd got diagnosed with anything, besides being a creepy ass kid 

If being creepy is a mental illness, count me in too idc

But like, there’s nothing inherently wrong with him, he just really enjoys causing trouble

So the only thing the therapist recommended was stricter parenting

As both him and Leah got older, his plans of getting rid of her became more thought out as well

There’s that one scene where Nick is a newborn and Judd tries to set fire to Leah’s hair

That is definitely a recurring thing, like he realised if he truly wanted to get rid of Leah he’d have to try something,,, more effective than leaving her random places and trying to get his parents to hate her

So setting her hair on fire seemed like a good idea

I don’t think he grasped the idea that she could actually die, but like if her hair burned off she would be ugly and their parents wouldn’t like her anymore yk? Something like that

Where did a six year old get lighters?? I would like to fucking know 

This was also around the time he started to realise, that maybe murder and thrashing the house all the time was not a good idea

Diane probably had a talking to him, and was like “Now you’ve got a new brother, you can’t be trying to set his crib on fire or anything, you’re too old for that now”

That made him switch out his lighter for scissors and that was when is Chucky arc properly started

He cut a b i g chunk of Leah’s hair off while she slept, he cut up a lot of his dad’s clothes and tried to stab multiple of his teachers 

Like, one of his teachers would go on to have Leah and Nick later, and would always tell them the story of how much of a menace Judd was and show them their scissor scars

Judd was definitely very spoiled too, he used to act kinda like Nick when he was younger 

Little man’s thought he was king of the kindergarten fr 

Probably carried over into his first years at school too, like 1st to 5th grade Judd was not much different 

Omg,, he was a biter too

Like I can see Diane getting mad at him and hoisting him up by his shirt or something, to carry him to his room, but he would just try to bite her the whole time

The same with his teachers, you touch him, you get bitten

I can see him getting into a lot of fights with other boys at school too, either for making fun of him or his dad 

Elliot came to pick him up one day and was like singing a little goofy song or whatever, and the other kids wouldn’t stop making fun of him 

(Aw, that’s so cute, little Judd secretly defending his dad’s honour at school)

Bc he definitely wouldn’t tell his parents the real reason he got into a fight 

Also, if anyone was bullying Leah in the schoolyard, Judd would straight up just spawn

His spidey senses was tingling fr 

But he wouldn’t (And still won’t) hesitate to knock anyone who’s mean to his sister the fuck out 

I feel like he’d also secretly slip something delicious he got in his lunchbox into Leah’s

Like, if she had a bad day at school and Judd so happened to have a candy bar (probably stolen lets be honest) He would make it suddenly appear in Leah’s lunch box and act all oblivious about it

That’s another thing, Judd was straight up just born w/o a moral compass

Even as a kid, he didn’t really see stealing, violence, ect as wrong

Well it all depends who he’s stealing from or beating up or whatever 

But yk, Diane was (and is probably still) like that lol

Tags: @dlfvrr , @bxbyyyjocelyn

(Lemme know if you want to be tagged!)

[silvergolddraco28]

Open Roleplay - Shadow of the Golden Sun

Yandere/Dark Macaque x Sun Wukong

Cannon Divergent timeline. Starts right after Mk meets Macaque and begins training with the Shadow Monkey.

1

A brown-eyed teenager dressed in a mostly plain white shirt, red jeans, black sneakers, and a bright orange jacket with a smiling monkey logo on the back stood on a rooftop holding a red and gold staff in his hands with mild confusion and wonder spreading across his face. He blinked as he looked over the black furred, amber eyed, tanned skinned, seven foot tall humanoid monkey dressed in a half yellow shirt that left his right side bare, paired with an armored skirt and maroon pants with a pair of black boots. “You're not Monkey King.” The teen stated blinking at the crouching simian effortlessly balanced on a round pipe with his tail swaying like a cat’s.

The simian chuckled with amusement on his face. “Yeah, I get confused for him a lot. Not many monkey demons especially when none have seen the Great Sage in person. Monkie Kid I’d assume?” The simian asked standing to his full height while crossing his arms in a relaxed pose.

The teen gave a sheepish look at the taller simian. ‘Dang, this guy must be at least a foot taller than Monkey King. Why does every demon I meet gotta be taller than me?!’ the teen mentally laminated. “Yeah, Mk is fine though.” the teen replied.

The black monkey chuckled again with a smirk on his face. “Macaque, Six Earred Macaque.” The simian, Macaque, introduced himself to the teen. “With that out of the way I better get going, see you around Kid.”

Macaque turned letting the scarf-like cape wrapped around his shoulders flutter behind him before the ten reached out to grab the edge of the cape. “Wait! Can you show me how you did that move to send that kaiju away?!” the teen asked immediately letting go of the scarf-like cape as the hard gaze directed towards him. ‘Okay, he doesn't like his scarf being touched.’ Mk noted as the hard gaze relaxed.

“I don’t know there Bud. You already have one teacher, you really need another that’s probably not as good as the Great Sage himself?” Macaque questioned the teen hands behind his back as he watched the teen think.

Mk nodded without hesitation. “He might be ‘teaching’ me but it's all just useless junk and a complete waste of time. I want to learn how to fight and how to master my powers not swing a hammer all day long into a wall!” Mk ranted about the crappy method the Great Sage was using to teach Mk.

Macaque smirked and for a moment purple and blue power shined in his eyes. “If you think you can keep up Kid I have no complaints but I've been told I'm a hard taskmaster to please.” He held out a hand to the young teen. “I’ll teach you until you can effectively hold your own against the Great Sage. Does that sound like a deal?”

Mk grinned and grasped the hand that was held out. “You got a deal.” Mk spoke before a ‘sinister’ feeling of power crawled up his arm from Macaque holding his hand. He felt power unlike Monkey King’s enter his body and slowly *twist* both his body and mind. Macaque simply watched the teen still holding his hand in a firm grip react to his magic flooding the teen’s body which began to shrink and change. By the end of the little show, a small dark chocolate-brown humanoid monkey cub sat in a pool of clothes waving twin tails while blinking large golden eyes up at Macaque before looking around in pure wonder showing off six lotus petal ears colored a deep blue with specks of white and gold.

A wicked grin spread on the black simian’s face. “So… you see him as our cub, Peaches?” Macaque hummed picking up the curious cub. Mk chirped instinctively grasping the simian’s tunic and fur wagging his little twin tails while imprinting the black simian as a parent.

And that's all I have so far… I'm much better at writing Wukong and Mk then I am Macaque.

[mdhwrites]

You know they are often described as the same character, but why was Amity more interesting than Hunter if they both follow the same pattern (which is just the redemption arc)

I was seeing endless possibilities for Amity's character to go anywhere after S1 there was just too much on the plate that was catching your eye but not all of it, so to keep your interest going.

Hunter just feels too set in stone for some reason. Nothing outside the golden guard or Caleb would have had the same charm.

If Amity was set to become a teacher you would wonder why and how. If Hunter was doing the same you may be like "ok, cool"...

I think that did happen in the final episode too, many questioned why Amity chose to be.. some abomination engineer?

Not many batted an eye on why Hunter chose palismen carving, it just happened and they accepted it.

This ask is rather "why did this thing work for that one but not for this one as well?"

So this has to come down with something that TOH did eventually stop understanding but was strong in the first season: The difference between internal and external motivation.

Now, of course, Amity's motivations will become entirely external and this will be what effectively murders her character but to begin with, she is extremely internally motivated. It takes until Understanding Willow to hear about her parents whatsoever. Hell, before then, we get the twins being sent to meet up with Amity with a packed lunch made by their mom that she forgot, implying a potentially good, normal home life early on. Her external influences in general seem to be fairly low except for setting what the end goal is: Head of the EC.

But that's just an extension of the internal motivation of "Be the best." Be the best student. Be the best witch. Be the best Blight. Be the best EVERYTHING. She early on seems to have a genuine problem of obsessing over every failure and as a 'gifted' student back in high school, I relate with that EXTREMELY HARD. She is ready to attack herself for every failure, see every setback as the worst thing to happen to her and be ruthless with those who get in the way of her goals. This extreme mindset is unhealthy but it lets you know her priorities so even a more balanced Amity is still going to care about studying, about the future and get upset at herself when she can't solve something. She just, you know, won't murder someone over it.

These internal influences tell us a lot about her. We get a very vivid base for a character to work from because we understand what underpins her own desires. This makes it so that even if you swap the setting, you know how Amity will behave dependent on these core principles. If she's suddenly Spider-woman, she's going to work herself to death and be traumatized the first time she fails and loses someone. Not someone close to her: ANYONE. Make her a big sister in Rapture and you can bet your ass that she drains a hundred times the splicer corpses than an average little sister does in a day and she will NEVER stop tracking her prey if the order is given to kill. The context of where she is or what she's doing is reinforced by those internal desires that are mutable across different elements.

This also makes expanding and complicating those internal desires interesting! After all, getting an explanation for why she considers perfection so important can genuinely highlight where she might have mistepped so as to become so extreme. For an example from my own work: Azu is inspired by Amity but is genuine nobility. Her words carry consequences and one slip of the tongue can unmake a person or trap her with favors she didn't mean to imply. She lives in such constant fear of this though, influenced by the disinheriting of her sister and brother as well as just a well meaning but too strict mother as a well as a king who will likely kill her if she exhibits too much personal pride, that if she has no need to talk to you... she doesn't. She is silent to most and careful with the words she says otherwise. Always on edge because she hasn't had anyone teach her that you can relax, not that she ever entirely would because her base character cares about success too much, and so those external elements become exciting because they feed into the internal and help deepen and expand on the character as a whole.

This is also why the scapegoating form of redemption in TOH is so... boring. And usually extremely flawed, even when at its best. By saying everything a character has done or believed was because of someone else, you lose those base character traits and TOH never replaces them. If we believe Odalia is the ONLY reason she cares about success, and only really see her striving for perfection again with being Luz's girlfriend, but otherwise discarding her future, studying, etc. like that, her strive for being the best is no longer really a part of her. She cares about Luz's perfect girlfriend because of the external influence of fear that Luz might leave her otherwise but what internal mechanism in her makes her fear that so much? Why is she willing to abandon so much for one person? Why is it that Amity's entire life besides Luz is so easily abandoned by her?

This is what makes her transform into a generic love interest. Even Eclipse Lake, which is a natural progression for her, in the long run feels like a trope. After all, it's common for someone who has a crush to have an episode where a misunderstanding causes them to break down and question if the one they love even likes them, let alone reciprocates their feelings. The only difference is that Amity and Luz are already together. After this, she'll never show that same fervor again and not care about being the best at anything for herself but only ever for someone else. She does NOTHING without it being to impress her father, basic survival, or because Luz approves of it and that's when a character stops feeling like they have an internal life and their own person hood and starts just becoming a doll on the screen that you can feel the writer manipulating.

This is the position Hunter STARTS in. Frankly, it's also the position Willow starts in to some extent. Both of them will change how they act and behave for the sake of an episode with minor characteristics that make recognizably them, kind of, but otherwise they don't seem to have internal cares. The closest Hunter ever comes to having something is that he actually is a people pleaser, unlike Luz. Except... Also not because he constantly breaks Belos' laws, his orders, etc. like that. A real people pleaser would kill Flapjack and turn him in. We never actually get a reason as to why Hunter keeps Flapjack besides the fact that he's actually Caleb and if your reasoning is purely because they're not actually their own character, that is a fucking problem.

But seriously: How do we ever know how Hunter will react to something? Everything Hunter does is influenced externally. Looking into wild magic? Only because it will make a cure for my uncle. Have my own palisman? Well, if I kill it, Luz will be pissed at me and I guess I care about that for some reason. Go recruit for the EC? Only because that's how Darius says I'll get my cape back. Free the people I just recruited? Only because it made Willow sad. Break free of the EC and my uncle? Only because otherwise I would straight up die, not because my own personal beliefs clash with my uncle's.

It's why I don't find Hunter compelling, even trying to strip him down to brass tacks or use the most interesting sides of him because I'm not sure there any sides of him. This also infects most of the cast as they become just generally good people because their actions are so... basic. There's no flavor to them because very few of these characters have a core as the series goes on. A way to summarize them and pitch them to others besides "Good person who does X magic." The most personality they have is their toolkit and while Batman's utility belt is neat, it's BATMAN and his personality and how he personally tackles issues, personal and otherwise, that bring us to the story.

And TOH over and over again seems to think losing your personality is the only way to have character growth as it repeats the loop over and over again. First Amity, then Hunter, and then the Collector even, shown off by his immediate recoiling into not knowing what FUCKING DEATH IS just so he can be a little guy.

A basic, good person with no personal desires, cares, motivations, ethos, etc. except to do whatever will make Luz everyone happy. Real deep and compelling characters in the end that way, aren't they?

=========

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead, If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

[talesofadragon]

𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐌𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐝𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞

Synopsis: Steve Rogers was blue: serene, profound, magnetic. He exuded clarity and grace as a SHIELD Prize laureate and Chairman of the Arts and Culture Department at Stark University—until a moment in time disrupted his sense of balance. 

He had always admired her from afar, tracing the contours of her soul in shades of blue that mirrored his own. But the silver lining her irises was painted by silhouettes darker than he had known. When her secrets became too hard to shroud, and her colors dissolved into Steve’s essence, his composed demeanor cracked, revealing a primal, possessive side. 

For her, Steve was ready to walk through the unforgiving shadows. Because even in its darkness, blue bleeds depth and devotion—everything Steve feels for her and her little girl.

Pairing: Professor!Steve Rogers x Student!Reader/Mum!Reader

Warnings: Age Gap (14 years. Both are adults), teacher/student dynamic, abusive relationship, gaslighting, emotional manipulation, terrible partner, co-parenting. 

Genre: Angst | Fluff | Emotional Hurt/Comfort | Slow Burn | Age Gap | Teacher/Student

Part III - 4.4K Words

All Masterlists | Paint Me Midnight Blue Masterlist

𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐏𝐋𝐄-𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐃 his credentials before logging into the online platform. He had always been meticulous, exceedingly determined to overcome headwinds that stood in his way. Yet, technology was one of those pesky challenges that seemed determined to thwart him. Whenever he thought he finally got the hang of it, the insidious alien would be one step ahead, either pulling a new update from under its sleeve or decisively crashing and glitching—outright mocking him every single time.

Maybe it was because he was an artist. And artists often clashed with that treacherous leech, mixing like oil and water. But today, Steve hoped for a touch of mercy from his computer since Y/N had agreed to attend the class virtually.

Under normal circumstances, this class was offered on-site. But this was one of those rare instances where Steve had the upper hand and could bend the rules to his advantage. After all, what was the point of being Chairman of the Arts and Culture Department if he couldn’t make a few exceptions? As long as he agreed to teach this one class online, no one could contest it. No one would even know.

Steve had logged into the virtual classroom with a sense of accomplishment, feeling as content as Bob Ross on The Joy of Painting. With ten minutes to spare before the class began, it was no surprise to find Y/N’s profile in the virtual waiting room.

He cleared his throat and hovered his cursor over the “admit” button. Steve expected Y/N’s face to pop up—her image pristine as always. Or, if she decided to turn her camera off, then he anticipated the soft cadence of her “good morning” filtering through his laptop’s speakers. Instead, his camera framed large, midnight-blue eyes—two luminous gems reminiscent of precious jewels and full of innocent wonder.

“Hi!!” Nyla, the owner of those sparkling eyes Steve remembered from their day at the park, greeted him with a wide, radiant smile. She waved energetically, her face nearly pressed against the screen of the device Y/N was using for the online session. 

“Well, hello there, Little Princess."

Steve’s smile grew wider, genuinely delighted as he watched Nyla’s giggles cause tiny tremors in her small frame. Nyla was perched on a wooden chair. Steve saw a cozy kitchen with sage green walls and charming white cabinets behind her.

“I’m not a princess,” the little girl said with a shy smile, her elbows resting on a round wooden table and her little hands propping up her cheeks. “I’m Nyla.”

Steve gasped dramatically, covering his mouth with his hand in mock surprise. This elicited another burst of giggles from the toddler.

“No! How can a young girl with such beauty and cuteness be anything but a princess? That’s outrageous. I refuse to believe it.”

“But it’s true! I don’t live in a castle. I don’t even have a crown.”

Steve hummed thoughtfully, examining her through the screen. He tilted his head and peered intently at her head. “Well, I don’t see a crown on your head,” he pointed out, pretending to scrutinize her for hidden regalia. “But I’m not falling for that. Cinderella didn’t have a crown at first, neither did Belle, Ariel, or Snow White,” he listed, catching Nyla’s rapt attention with each name. Something good came out of his friendship with Tony Stark, the owner of this university, and the father of young Morgan Stark, who was currently in a Pocahontas phase.

Nyla listened intently, her blue eyes sparkling with admiration. “You know almost all of them! Are you a prince?”

Steve’s lips twitched, tugging to the side to draw a grin on his face. “I don’t live in a castle,” he quipped. “I don’t even have a crown.”

“Silly you! Princes don’t always wear crowns!”

“Well, if that’s the case, then maybe princesses don’t always wear crowns either. So, I’m sure you must be a princess in disguise.”

Steve mock bowed, his hand resting over his heart in a dramatic gesture. It had been a long while since he had a carefree conversation, away from the weight of responsibilities, meetings, and deadlines. He had missed this—living in a bubble of make-believe, adrift from the real world. 

Wasn’t this how art was born? Wasn’t creativity a child of uninhibited imagination, meandering along endless fields of wild inventiveness?

Nyla shifted, her lips parting and her hand raising in the air. As she began to speak, ready to continue their delightful chat, another voice suddenly emanated from Steve’s speakers—belonging to someone much older than the toddler.

“Ny! Sweetheart, how many times have I told you? Don’t lean on the table while standing on the chair. You could hurt yourself.”

As Y/N rushed into view on Steve’s laptop, she wrapped Nyla in her arms, gently lifting her off the table and settling her back into the chair. With her back turned to the screen, she was oblivious to the camera, which gave Steve a clear and unobstructed view of her backside.

Pink swept across Steve’s cheeks, his throat suddenly feeling dry. Though he was raised as a gentleman, the first half of the term could not negate his genesis and nature. In other words, his natural instincts prevailed, drawing his eyes to Y/N’s ass no matter his best efforts at looking away.

In his defense, Y/N was wearing purple pajamas—her long-sleeved top tucked into bottoms that were either unusually snug or simply accentuated her curves remarkably well. It wasn’t just her striking eyes that commanded attention; her silhouette, subtly framed by the tight fabric, held a magnetic allure all its own.

What the hell are you on, Rogers? Get a grip, you fucking moron! You sound like a horny teenager.

 “Uh… good morning, Miss Y/L/N.”

Y/N jumped at the unexpected greeting, almost knocking over whatever was on the table in her haste to turn around. Steve couldn’t blame her; even he cringed at how restrained and awkward he sounded.

“Professor Rogers!” Y/N exclaimed, gripping the table for dear life. Her mouth moved, but no sound came out, at least not loud enough to be picked up by the speakers. She glanced between him and her daughter. “I-I… uh. How long have you been on the call?”

“Not long. About five minutes.”

“Five minutes?”

“Yes.” Steve cleared his throat, trying to hide his amusement at Y/N’s fluster. He craned his neck, his eyes returning to Nyla. “I had wonderful company.”

Y/N followed his gaze, turning her attention to her daughter. Steve wondered if she did that partly to hide the growing blush on her cheeks.

“I didn’t touch anything,” Nyla asserted, anticipating her mother’s question. “The screen was blank, then it just popped up!” She raised her hands next to her face, all ten fingers spread wide for dramatic effect. “I was just taking a look.”

Nyla’s innocence and cuteness seemed to ease Y/N’s demeanor. The older woman’s shoulders relaxed as she gently stroked Nyla’s hair. She kissed her cheek and whispered something in her ear. Nyla nodded understandingly, then jumped off the chair. She gave Steve a shy smile before scurrying away to sit right next to Y/N.

“I apologize, Professor. I realized I had forgotten my glasses, so I went to fetch them. I didn’t think you’d be on the call this early, or I would have taken the time to mute myself and turn off the camera.”

As Steve watched Y/N put on her glasses with a slight blush, the lenses accentuated the sparkle in her eyes, making them look even more captivating. They fit her well.

“There’s nothing to apologize for, Miss Y/L/N. I’m about to begin the session. Feel free to keep your camera on if you like. And if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Noted, Professor. Thank you.”

As his students filled the classroom, Steve began explaining the next chapter in their course: Neo-Expressionism. While contemporary art aimed to advance creative ideas and styles, it did so by building on the palettes of its predecessors. This movement marked a return to figurative painting and emotional intensity with a contemporary twist and a more confrontational approach to presentation.

As an introduction to this style, Steve wanted to keep it light, especially since almost half of the students seemed distracted, too lost in their thoughts. He glanced at Y/N, surprised to see that while she had muted herself, she still kept her camera on.

From his peripheral vision, he saw her jotting down notes. Nyla appeared engrossed as well, pushing her chair closer to where Y/N sat. Y/N, in turn, fondly gazed at her daughter, bending down to gently scoop her into her arms and place her in the chair.

Booping Nyla’s nose and tickling her stomach, Y/N reached to the side to bring the coloring books and pencil case closer. She observed her daughter coloring while her little feet enthusiastically kicked in the air with delight.

Steve’s heart swelled, and he sounded overly enthusiastic when he featured Riding with Death by Jean-Michel Basquiat, but it wasn’t like any of his students were paying much attention. He fielded occasional questions from the crowd as he showcased works by Anselm Kiefer and Georg Baselitz next.

His laptop pinged. Of course, Y/N would be the only one engaged enough to ask thoughtful questions, even when she wasn’t physically present.

Y/N Y/L/N: What are the defining features of Neo-Expressionist art, and how do they differ from earlier Expressionism?

Steve smiled unabashedly, his expression clear on the camera as he mouthed one word: “smart.”

He straightened up and spent ten minutes explaining the differences between the two movements.

“Neo-Expressionism, meaning New-Expressionism, infused the earlier epoch with a new sense of purpose. While early Expressionism emerged in the early twentieth century as a response to societal conflicts and World War I, Neo-Expressionism thrived in the late twentieth century, challenging conceptual art and minimalism. In essence, Neo-Expressionism rebelled against these movements to create more vivid and visceral art, both literally and figuratively.”

The rest of the class continued in this vein, with Y/N being the main instigator of his artistic discourse. Even when other students raised their hands, Steve had to stifle a groan, suspecting their questions would pale in comparison to Y/N’s.

Not that he was favoring her over his other students—except that he was. So far, she was the only one who hadn’t made him question his decision to pursue academia as his next career step.

“Alright, this concludes today’s class. Please sign your names on the attendance sheet on your way out. You can email me any questions you have about this chapter so far or visit my office during the allocated office hours,” Steve announced, as eager students signed their names and left his class.

Smiling at each student as they passed, Steve began to pack his things, placing his books and notebook into his satchel. After flinging the bag around his neck, he picked up his laptop, keeping it open to avoid interrupting the call with Y/N. She was still on mute, with no sound coming from her end, but her camera remained on, showing her pursed lips as she jotted down more notes in her book.

It was a long walk to Steve’s office. When he opened the door and stepped inside, he let out a long exhale of relief. After setting his satchel aside and placing his laptop on his desk, he sank into the comfort of his snug office chair. The chair's wheels whirred as it skidded across the tiled floor. Steve adjusted the laptop and flashed Y/N a bright smile.

“Do you have any more questions, Miss Y/L/N?”

Y/N looked up, her gaze disoriented. She blinked twice at the screen, clearly startled by the end of the class. She had been so engrossed in her notes that she hadn’t expected the session to be over.

“Oh… uh, Professor Rogers. No, that’s okay. I can come by your office another time to ask.”

Steve chuckled softly, his amusement evident. Y/N’s cheeks flushed a deeper shade of pink.

“We are, or rather, I am already in my office, Miss Y/L/N,” Steve said with a smirk. “It’s office hours now, so feel free to ask me any questions you might have. No matter how many questions you’ve scribbled in the margins of your notebook.”

Y/N let out a small laugh, her head dipping to hide her lightheartedness. Nyla glanced at her mother, her blue eyes darting between Steve and Y/N. Seeing her mother searching for a question, Nyla seized the opportunity. She leaned closer to the screen, her small frame angled towards it as she asked, “Did they use crayons or watercolors during New Expressy-m?” She had the most serious expression plastered on her teeny tiny face, ears perked up and eager to hear the response. 

Y/N’s hands flew to cover her mouth, probably in an attempt to mask her amusement. But even though Steve and Y/N wore matching grins, their hearts easily melted at the innocence and cuteness of that question. 

“They used a lot of tools, Little Princess,” Steve replied, noticing Y/N’s interest in the nickname he used for her daughter. “Mainly acrylic paint. But who’s to say they didn’t use coloring pencils or watercolors?”

 Nyla bobbed her head understandingly, taking in everything Steve said. She tapped her index finger against the side of her mouth, her gaze steady but her thoughts whirling around her little head. “Are ac-lilic paints the big girl paints Mama uses sometimes? 

Steve swiftly caught Y/N’s nod while his focus remained uninterruptedly on Nyla. “Yes, that’s correct.”

“Are artists only artists because they paint and draw?”

“No. Art is versatile. It means that it doesn’t have one form. Anyone can be an artist. And it looks like you are one! Are you a secret artist, too, Little Princess? My, my. Can I sneak a peek at those coloring books you have? 

The most radiant smile decorated Nyla’s face. The toddler excitedly squealed, reaching for her coloring books. One was already open, displaying a half-completed image of a ballerina. Nyla gripped her book tightly, proudly displaying her work for Steve to see. 

Instead of the soft pink and light colors that usually accompanied a ballerina’s image, the tutu was a vibrant shade of purple, and the ballerina’s hair decorated her face in a halo of wild embers—orange and phoenix red shadows hung like an autumn crown atop her head. 

“This is…wow. I’m speechless.”

Y/N snorted, unable to rein in her expression at the double meaning behind the phrase. She covered it with a cough, distracting her daughter with a hand around her waist. 

Nyla, for her part, did not seem to understand or suspect any subliminal implication. She jabbed her finger across the page, tracing the purple tutu, reminiscent of Maleficent’s envenomed magic. 

“You said that art in New Express-ym is vibrant,” Nyla explained the reasoning behind her technique, emphasizing the “i” in vibrant. “I made the bal-rina in their style. Is it pretty?”

“No, it’s not,” Steve replied. In the split second it took him to continue, he noticed two things. The first was the tremor of Nyla’s lips and the silver mist in her night-sky irises. The second, equally striking, was Y/N’s clenched jaw and acrimonious eyes. But Steve was undeterred as he said, “It’s glorious. Why aren’t you a student in my class, Miss Nyla? You’d give your mother a run for her money!”

Nyla laughed. Her euphonious and soothing sound filled his ears and spread through every corner of his office. She bounced up and down in her seat, her excitement sparkling like iridescent fairy lights on a cozy summer night. She hugged her coloring book tighter and beamed at her mother. Y/N was also smiling, a transparent sheen threatening to become visibly emotional in her eyes.

She cleared her throat, though whether to stop herself from crying or to clear her airways, Steve couldn’t tell.

“Ny, didn’t you promise to read me the new story you were learning the other day?”

Gasping, Nyla nodded eagerly. She opened her mouth to respond but then turned back to the screen. “What’s your name?”

“Steve, Little Princess,” Steve answered with a soft smile.

Nyla mimicked his expression, then turned her attention back to her mother. “Can Steve stay to listen?”

Precious. So freaking precious.

Unfortunately, Steve could not. For various reasons, none of which were due to the one Y/N mentioned. She carefully peeled the coloring book from her daughter’s hands, her fingers intertwining with Nyla’s tiny ones. “Ny,” she said softly, like the whispers of a spring breeze caressing flower petals after a long absence. “Professor Rogers has to get back to class.”

“But–”

Y/N gently lifted her daughter into her arms, placed her on her lap, and kissed the crown of her head. “We’ll have to say goodbye for now,” she said softly, brushing her daughter’s hair aside and rocking her as she spoke. “I’ll tell Professor Rogers all about the story when I see him.”

“You promise?” Nyla’s irises gleamed with hope, her little pinky extended towards Y/N.

Y/N’s pinky wrapped around hers. It amazed Steve how Nyla’s hand was even smaller than Y/N’s. “Pinky, double sugar-coated promise.”

Nyla surged forward, giving Y/N a wet kiss on her cheek. Her bright eyes met Steve’s, her happiness radiating even through the distance between them. “Bye, bye, Steve!”

“Bye, Little Princess. Thank you for your time. See you soon, Miss Y/L/N.”

“See you soon, Professor Rogers. And thank you, truly.”

The screen turned black faster than Steve had anticipated, the silence both loud and deafening in his empty office. For the first time in a while, the quiet was a welcome reprieve. In the solitude, ideas swirled and emotions flared in the back of his mind. He reached for his sketchbook and grabbed the charcoals from his desk. With vibrant, bold strokes, he sketched with abandon, letting his emotions flow freely as he tried to give form to love and laughter.

“Come in,” Steve’s voice resonated through his office, cutting through the rhythmic scratching of his pencil on yellow paper. The dark lines shaping the silhouettes were an extension of his focus, his thoughts too absorbed in the image to stray.

He heard the door creak open, followed by the soft click of heels on the floor. Steve lifted his gaze from the sketch, an expression of mild disinterest clouding his eyes. “Miss Y/L/N,” he greeted, almost awkwardly, as he noticed her standing at the door. He quickly closed the sketchbook, his feet shuffling as they found solid ground. “Why are you still standing? Please, take a seat.”

Y/N nodded politely, settling into the chair opposite Steve. She waited for him to make himself comfortable, his sketchbook set aside and his hands intertwined on the desk. “Professor Rogers,” Y/N began, her voice soft, “I won’t take up much of your time. I wanted to thank you—for the last session, I mean.”

It had been two days since Y/N had attended the online class. He had seen her today, but she had arrived later than usual. Technically, she had been on time, but the room was already crowded, leaving no chance for a private conversation. Not that he expected one. He was just glad she made it.

“There’s no need to thank me, Miss Y/L/N. Your dedication didn’t waver even virtually, and for that, I must thank you for taking the class so seriously.”

Y/N’s cheeks flushed with a delicate pink, deepening as her eyes met Steve’s. “That’s too kind of you, Professor. You’ve always been so thoughtful and accommodating to your students’ needs. And in that regard, I also wanted to apologize.”

“Apologize?” Steve’s eyebrows furrowed in surprise. “Apologize for what?”

“For our earlier interaction in your office,” Y/N clarified. Steve didn’t press further, but she noticed his confusion. Inhaling deeply, Y/N straightened her posture. “Earlier this semester, you wanted to adjust my grades. I reacted… rather aggressively to your offer. And I’m terribly—”

“If anyone should be apologizing for this situation, Miss Y/L/N, it certainly isn’t you. I’m the one who’s sorry.”

Steve’s voice was firm and precise. Y/N’s fingers nervously picked at the skin on her hands. “Professor?” she responded, unsure of how to proceed.

Steve stretched his fingers, almost as if he was reaching for her hand. A second too long, his brain caught up to his actions. Briskly, his fingers retracted, curling inside his palm and under his thumb.

"You’re not just the best student in my class; you’re the best I’ve ever had the pleasure of teaching," Steve said earnestly, observing Y/N’s newfound shyness. "What I saw at the park and during Wednesday’s session only strengthened my belief in your abilities and character. However, I realize my actions might have overstepped. I want you to know that favoritism was never my aim, and your impressive achievements have earned you every bit of recognition and success in my class.”

Y/N blinked, her gaze fixed on Steve. Her tongue flicked out to moisten her lips as she absorbed his words. She nodded slowly, the only sign she acknowledged his sentiments.

Steve waited for her response, giving her space to process his words. To his surprise, Y/N delivered the last thing he expected. “I will be dropping out of your class.”

Steve’s posture stiffened, his eyes widening. “What?”

Y/N tightened her grip on her bag, her purse in her lap seemingly more interesting than the professor before her.

“As you know, I…have a special situation. Not that I’m seeking or ever sought special treatment! Besides you and Professor Barnes, the university’s administration office is the only one aware of Nyla. I wouldn’t have disclosed it if the records didn’t require it.”

“Is everything alright with your daughter, Miss Y/L/N?”

 Y/N sighed heavily, and it was then that Steve noticed the strain on her shoulders. 

“I am Nyla’s primary, or to be more specific, only caretaker, Professor Rogers,” Y/N shared. Though her tone held no remorse and accepted no shame, yet there was a layer of hesitance there. “She’s my first priority. My life revolves around her and so does everything I do. I take morning classes to accommodate my kindergarten schedule. But, unfortunately, Nyla has been facing issues with them.”

“What kind of issues?” Steve blurted out before he could restrain himself. He opened his mouth again, to apologize for his slip, but Y/N continued.  

“The children there have been horrible to her due to…certain reasons. And with her mother being a twenty-two-year-old college student, the administration isn’t taking my concerns seriously.” 

Steve’s heart ached under the weight of her words. Almost instinctively, he let his hand move to Y/N’s side, his fingertips brushing against hers with a feather-light touch. Her breath caught, and her eyes locked onto the contact, a flicker of surprise and vulnerability crossing her face. He made no attempt to move closer, his fingers lingering in place—barely making contact but reaching out with a silent offer of understanding and support. 

Y/N’s delicate fingers trembled slightly against his, a subtle tremor that spoke volumes. Steve felt a shiver run down his spine. He blamed it on the nerve endings beneath his fingertips.

“And what happens now?” Steve asked. 

“I pulled her out,” Y/N replied sheepishly, her dejection evident in the tremor of her voice. “I tried to fix it as much as I could. But it looks like the only solution is to homeschool Nyla for the rest of the term. It’s too late to enroll her anywhere else.”

“And you’re taking an extra semester off to tend to her needs?”

“Yes,” Y/N affirmed without hesitation.

“Miss Y/L/N.” Steve bit the inside of his cheek, his tone almost like a reprimand. “Y/N,” he added, surprising himself by using her first name and drawing a look of surprise from her. Steve lowered his head slightly to meet her gaze, offering a warm, sincere smile that reflected his admiration and empathy. “You are truly admirable. One day, your daughter will look back on what you’ve done for her and feel immense pride in having you as her mother.”

Y/N’s tears began to flow, cascading gently down her cheeks. Seeing her vulnerability struck something deep within Steve. He hesitated, feeling a pang of helplessness as he observed her from across the desk. Acting on impulse rather than thought, he reached out with the lightest touch, catching a single tear as it glistened on the edge of her cheek.  He brushed it away with a tender stroke, his fingers gliding across her face like delicate butterfly kisses on a silky canvas.

Y/N’s downcast eyes raised, two gemstones hidden behind a glassy frame. Devastatingly beautiful, Steve’s mind murmured. A classical masterpiece.

“As your professor, and as someone who cares about your well-being, I cannot allow this to happen.”

“But–”

“No, buts, Y/N. There must be a way. Why don’t you enroll her in the university’s early childhood center?”

The mention of the center made Y/N pause, but she remained unconvinced. “It’s expensive, Professor.”

“It’s free for faculty and staff,” Steve countered promptly.

“But I’m neither faculty nor staff.”

Dammit! Steve had forgotten that detail. His mind raced with possibilities, frustrated by the unfairness of the situation. Perhaps it was his hero complex, his altruism as Bucky had pointed out, or maybe just a reminder of his own past. But Steve was determined to help Y/N—especially because she was Y/N.

He withdrew his hand, already missing her warmth. If only she had worked at the university. He didn’t want to involve Tony or even Hill; Y/N didn’t need additional scrutiny or accusations of favoritism. But there had to be something he could do!

 His eyes fell on his files and closed sketchbook. Was this really the right time to be overwhelmed by paperwork?

‘You really need an assistant to help you file through all these papers,’ Bucky’s words twirled in his head. 

And then it clicked! He didn’t trust anyone with his material. But Y/N wasn’t anyone. 

He smiled widely, his joy contrasting with Y/N’s solemnity. “Miss Y/L/N,” Steve said, hope lacing his voice. “What if I told you I might have a solution?”

Requested by @crazyunsexycool

At this point, this series depicts the love Steve is starting to have for Nyla. Isn't she the freaking cutest?! I mean, if this melts your heart, then you're definitely not ready for what chapters 4 and 5 will be bringing!

Let me know how you're feeling about this series so far!

All the love,

Sab.