#lessons were so good! my first class got very into helping me design the assignment and it was v fun

[whentherewerebicycles]

today was an ELEVEN HOUR DAY god I just got home but it was so fulfilling and full of so many good human interactions!!!!

[neoculturetravesty]

We met in online class - Part 6

Image adapted from here.

Pairing: Renjun x Reader Genre: College AU, romance, some fluff, lots of angst in this part Warnings: Strong language, descriptions of stress and anxiety, fist fight Word Count: 7.7k

Navigation: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | You are on Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Last Part

A/N: Buckle up for some angst.

They say when it rains, it pours and Renjun was about to learn the true meaning of this expression.

Throughout his college life, Renjun had heard his share of praise from his professors who would tell him that he was gifted in a way not many artists were. But now that the career drives and job fairs had begun, Renjun learnt that at best, he was average. In the real world, he wasn’t ‘golden hands’ or gifted or anything like it--he was just one in a line of millions. Because in the bigger picture, Renjun’s competition was not just people in his school; he was competing with even better artists from even better universities that had even better skills and even better means. His design professor had very plainly told the class one day that out of all of them, maybe one or two would ‘make it’ in the real world, if they got lucky. So Renjun knew that if had to shut up anyone who ever doubted him, compete with the best and place anywhere solid by the time he graduated, he needed to land a stellar internship.

Not that his current internship was going any better. Renjun learnt that even small studios were a handful and that an internship basically meant being an errand boy. When he had taken on the job, he had fantasized about meeting exciting artists and maybe even helping the chief curate his best work yet. But more often than not, he found that he was sweeping the place down, and if he got lucky, he got to make a few calls to potential clients (who would yell at him before hanging up). 

And of course, like any self-respecting college that thrived on the student body’s mental health deterioration, the professors weren’t going any easier on the projects, even with the impending exams. 

On top of everything that was happening, Renjun had developed a constant tension in his neck and shoulders. Jaemin reckoned it was because Renjun was hunched over his paintings all the time as he followed the perfect lighting all over the apartment. You, on the other hand, reckoned it was because of all the stress.

“You’re just carrying a lot of anxiety on these gangster shoulders, Huang Renjun.” you had said as you kneaded your knuckles into his hurt one day as you brought him food. Lately, you had taken it upon yourself to make sure that Renjun was eating and staying hydrated through these pressure cooker times. Because when he was left to his own devices, eating would be pretty low on his priority list, simply because he did not have the time for meals. So you’d bring him a snack any time you saw him on campus, and when you didn’t see him, you’d get something delivered to him and if you couldn’t, you’d text him a reminder to eat. But as one would have it during end-of-semester madness, Renjun had received your food more than your company. Because truth be told, you were just as occupied.

Renjun hadn’t seen enough of you in what he was sure was now going to be a good two weeks running because you had way too much on your plate as well. Like Renjun, you too were swarmed by assignments and exams. But other than that, any time he did see you, you were ‘interview dressed’ for all the on-campus drives that were happening in your department. Renjun had come to wish you good luck on one of them and had seen how distracted you looked because apparently, you had pulled some all-nighters to prepare for this. Donghyuck had been the one to tell Renjun about this little bit. 

Because when you weren’t studying or giving interviews or working on projects, you were preparing to throw an end-of-semester party with Donghyuck. He had to admit, there had been moments where Renjun had been irritated that Donghyuck would know more about what was happening in your life than did he. But then again, who was to blame for that?

Renjun knew it was no one’s fault but his own. Because that’s the dumb precedent he had set from the very beginning--that he wouldn’t get too close. He was paying that price for it because somewhere along the way, you had begun to confide in Donghyuck more than in Renjun, though this development was gradual and subconscious. He supposed that since you had met him, some part of you had learnt that she was walking into a wall anytime things got deep with Renjun. And there are only so many times that people were willing to walk into walls before they learnt their lesson.

Renjun knew that you were always ready to provide emotional support. But he also saw that when you were the one that needed it, you were subconsciously turning to Donghyuck rather than to him. 

And because you weren’t doing so consciously, Renjun couldn’t even be upset with you. Who was he to be upset with you over it in the first place? He had spent all those weeks skillfully blocking you. So, just because he had changed his mind now didn’t mean that he could earn your vents right away. It would take some effort on his part and he acknowledged that.

But it wasn’t you hanging out with Donghyuck that bothered him. It was someone else.

Wong Hendery, it appeared, was always around you these days and for some reason, that really bothered Renjun. You had a lot of friends. You were just the kind of person who made friends wherever you went. His own friends were an example. Lately, any time he ran into his roommates in the living room or kitchen (since all of them were buried in work otherwise), they would inquire about you instead of him. You just made a lot of friends and that was a fact of life that Renjun lived with. And whilst so far, Renjun had been okay with all of them, he had no idea why seeing Wong Hendery around you made him feel some type of way. 

And in the strangest turn of events, he had even found himself subtly voicing this to you a couple of times. It had bothered him even more that you had never taken him seriously any time he brought it up. You had either been distracted or disinterested whenever this came up. Or perhaps you had very tactfully been avoiding the subject. You weren’t exactly the scheming type, so Renjun was sure it wasn’t that. All he knew was that at the end of it, he would just end up feeling stupid, because, well… it was a stupid, baseless feeling to have, whatever this was.

All in all, Renjun couldn’t tell what matter it was from the pillage that kept his mood sour these days. His failure in the job fairs, his increasing workload, the impending exams, his lackluster internship, or something else. He recognized that a big part of it had to do with not seeing you enough. He wasn’t going to be the idiot that denied that anymore. Since the party at your parent’s house, he hadn’t had a moment with you where it was just the two of you and you could talk about… well, the two of you. Not seeing you enough was making him sour, he knew that. However, not seeing you enough combined with the fact that Wong Hendery was around you all the time was probably pretty up there as a reason for his bad moods. 

The only upside in the end-of-semester times was that the damn virus seemed to be under control. Students could now more freely move about and a lot more cafes and parks had reopened. So, at the very least, Renjun could get a change of scenery whilst he painted or studied because he was getting tired of his apartment and the library and the damn studio. 

Today, he had just grabbed his things and sent you a very persuasive text, because really, enough was enough. Yes, you were both very busy. Yes, you didn’t have any time today. But you could at least give him one study date out in the sun, and finally, for the first time in two weeks, he had felt that happiness in his chest when you told him you’d come.

The two of you sat by the river as Renjun sketched and made notes and you typed away on your laptop. Your hair was done up in a bun and you wore the campus hoodie and you didn’t even look up from your work when Renjun leaned over to feed you some rice. It had made Renjun smile. You looked like every boy’s fantasy of a college girlfriend but thinking about it also made his heart a tiny bit heavy. Because after all this time, the two of you still hadn’t had that conversation. Come to think of it, the two of you hadn’t even kissed ever since that afternoon in the strawberry fields. And maybe it was the fact that he hadn’t sat with you like this in a couple of weeks, or maybe it was seeing you share your time with other people. But Renjun felt that he had to address the some elephant in the room sooner rather than later. Because he didn’t want a some relationship any longer. He wanted more.

“No one’s going to be happier than me when this semester is over.” you mutter as you chew onto whatever Renjun had fed you.

“You and me both. Let’s celebrate our freedom together when it ends.” Renjun suggests as he sits up to stretch his neck. 

“Done deal.” You look up from your laptop to give him a fist bump.

“Hey, I was thinking…” Renjun hesitates. “Let’s go somewhere together. After the semester is over.” He feels butterflies in his stomach even as he asks you that. And he knows why. Because this is the first time he’s asking you for a real date, where he wants to take you out for your company, no opportunistic strings attached. But also, he wants to take you away from everyone else where he would have all of your attention and he could finally tell you how he really feels.

You smile as you shuffle your notes. “Where do you wanna go?”

“Anywhere. We could go to the beach and go mudflat fishing. If that’s not your thing, we could go camping instead.”

You finally look at him and smile an undistracted, attentive smile. “I’d like that.”

Renjun looks at you softly as he returns your smile. “My exams end before yours. Let’s go right after your last exam.”

“Oh, I can’t go then.” You say, shaking your head quickly.

“Why?”

“Haechan and I are hosting the end-of-semester, remember?” you remind him and Renjun holds himself back before he could exhale over ‘Haechan and I’.

“Okay, how about the day after?” Renjun asks.

“I can’t go then, either. Hendery and I have to go visit the tower.” you tell him.

This time, Renjun can’t hold back. Because ‘Hendery and I’ was way, way worse than ‘Haechan and I’. Before he could stop himself, he finds himself commenting

“You’ve been spending a lot of time with Wong Hendery, huh?” he hadn’t meant for that hint of accusation to lace his tone, but it had come out that way.

“Ughhhh, tell me about it. He says he’d basically be happy never seeing me again once all of this is over.” you say as you steal his bowl of rice and begin stuffing your face. Renjun feels that irritation again because as always, you seem to be blowing this topic off. But for some reason, he doesn’t want to let it go today.

“I just don’t trust him.” Renjun says and he finds himself clenching his jaw a little.

You look at him from above the rice and smile amusedly. “Why though? He’s a cool dude.”

“I don’t know. There’s just something about him. I just… I don’t know, I guess it’s a guy’s instinct.” he says, and like anytime he has brought up this subject before, he’s feeling incredibly dumb.

You raise an eyebrow and look away from him. You don’t seem very impressed by the comment. “Nah, he’s super cool and all of that. You can meet him if you like.” you say in a tone that is way too nonchalant for Renjun’s liking. 

He had met him before, of course. But he didn’t know Wong Hendery even if he did know Wong Hendery. So how could he tell you that the man was bad news based on just a feeling? ‘He’s using you! Why don’t you see that he’s using you!’ Renjun wanted to yell at you. But he says something else. 

“Just, like… I don’t know. He just seems mysterious and unsharing.” Renjun tries to explain.

“So are you.”

There is a moment of silence as Renjun feels a sting and you look at him with no expression. 

You were right. 

Renjun hadn’t shared anything about himself with you. The things you knew about him was information you had probably collected through his friends. The only time he had really opened up to you was that one night in his room. Suddenly, more than irritation, he feels angry with himself. 

What a stupid, stupid, stupid idea it had been to set those dumbass rules with you. How had he expected it would pan out? How did he think he could use you as a means to an end, but not learn anything about you or give away anything about himself? He hadn’t thought this through at all. Then again, he hadn’t expected for it to go on this long; and he most certainly hadn’t expected that he would end up falling for you.

“I just… I don’t trust him around you.” Renjun admits and this time, he has the decency to sound a little ashamed.

“I know how to take care of myself, Renjun.” you tell him quietly.

Renjun looks away because for the first time since he’s known you, you’ve spoken to him that way. He wants to scream and pull his hair because no. You don’t. You don’t know how to take care of yourself. How could he tell you that you weren’t the best judge of character? How could he tell you that you allowed people around you to take advantage of you? 

‘It’s why you’re sitting here with me’ Renjun thinks with another sting. He knew Hendery was up to no good with you because he himself had been one of those people that used you for their own gain. He had used your kind heart and your willingness to see the good in people for his own stupid plan. The stupid, dumbass, flawed plan that he hadn’t thought through in the slightest. He had thought he had, because Renjun always assumed he was smarter than everyone in any room. That was probably his dumbest yet most defining trait; as kindheartedness was yours.

As if to add insult to injury, your phone rings and Wong Hendery’s name shines cockily onto your screen, mocking Renjun in all its glory.

“Hey, are you here?” you say as you pick up. You look around till you spot him and wave at him “Okay, coming!”

Renjun looks to where you had signaled and sees Hendery in his bigass car. He notices Renjun looking, waves at him and smiles. 

Renjun’s eyes close and he takes in a deep breath as you begin collecting your things. He doesn’t know why he’s being this way. He had been jealous before; he was an openly bitter person, that much he knew about himself. He despised every other asshole that did better than him. But this was a kind of jealousy he had never really experienced before. He wanted to protect you, but he also wanted to keep you… because now, he could feel you slipping away from him. 

“I’ll call you, okay? Make sure you eat dinner.” your voice sounds a little resigned and suddenly, Renjun feels his heart drop. It’s a strange feeling, but there it is in the pit of his stomach. Renjun realizes that the feeling really closely resembled fear. And it’s because you’re leaving like this. 

Had this been your first fight? Maybe it had. It hadn’t felt like a fight, because Renjun has fought with a lot of people before, and this was nothing like that. There was no screaming, no gaslighting, no accusations. But it was the tone you had taken with him. Like you were disappointed. Like you expected better. You had never taken that tone with him before. So as you stand up to walk away, Renjun grabs your hand. He looks up from where he sits.

“Hey…” his heart is sinking, he has this awful feeling in his chest and now he no longer knows what to say to keep you. So he brings your knuckles to his lips and presses into them for a few moments before he looks back at you. “Are we good?” He wants to kiss you, he wants to take you in his arms and kiss you and know that nothing has changed. But he knows that Wong Hendery is sitting right there and he doesn’t want you to think that he’s putting on a show of jealous, testosterone fueled possession. 

He watches as your face softens. You crouch so your face is levelled with his. You keep holding your bag that’s slung over your shoulder with one hand. With the other, you gently hold onto his cheek and lean in to press a soft kiss to his lips. 

“We’re good.” you say and you smile and then you lift back up to turn around.

Renjun watches unmoving as you walk away from him and drive off with Wong Hendery. He keeps watching till the car makes a turn and disappears from view.

Though you had told him that you were good, that sinking feeling hasn’t left his chest. Because Renjun realizes that what you had done had felt a lot like a goodbye kiss.

Renjun doesn’t get time to dwell on his aching heart too much, because soon after, exams begin. 

It is as if a lull had taken over the entire campus. Everyone around him had their heads down as they studied and slept and slept to study. Jeno and Jaemin had taken over the living room table as they crammed and kept each other awake through their all-nighters. Jisung would try to take some motivation from them but the boy had never been too fond of studying, so he’d end up asleep on the couch whilst Jeno and Jaemin took the floor. Even Donghyuck--who had insofar made it through college based on pure intelligence--could be seen bent over his notes in the library. For a week, each student on campus had a similar schedule; like someone had hit the pause button on everything else in life.

Perhaps it had been the exam stress. Perhaps it was everything that was happening culminating in Renjun’s mind, but that sinking feeling hadn’t completely dissipated from his chest. He had no way to explain what it was or why it was. But if Renjun had to describe it, it was as if a sixth sense was warning him. What the warning was about, he had no idea.

But as fate would have it, Renjun’s hardships were only beginning. Because right before his first exam, he had received a call from his mother. 

He had picked up because this had been maybe her third phone call to him this entire year. But two minutes into the call, Renjun wished he hadn’t. 

Questions were asked as if out of duty: if he was still in school, if he was still living with his friends, if he was looking for a job. And though Renjun hadn’t even asked for it--how she couldn’t send him money for the next couple of months because the Covid situation wasn’t doing any wonders for their restaurant. Although the conversation hadn’t even lasted a full 10 minutes, Renjun’s mind was fully fucked by the end of it. Why the fuck did she have to play with his head like this, just when he was about to go in for an exam? 

He shouldn’t have been surprised. His mother had a way of sensing any time her son was emotionally strained, because she would always show up right on time to add to his burden. This is how it had been most of his life. She would appear usually when Renjun was at his lowest and remind him that he was a useless fucker that nobody cared about. And because she was his mother, she knew exactly what buttons to press to positively fuck him over. 

Fuck this. None of it was fair. It wasn’t fair that she had called him after months and months. It wasn’t fair that she didn’t even want to know how he was doing. A global pandemic had turned the world upside down and she didn’t even want to know if her son was surviving through it. She just wanted to call to give him another reminder that she couldn’t take care of him. Fuck that. Fuck her. Fuck everything. Renjun didn’t need her or his father or anyone else ever again. Fuck all of it.

Renjun had hung up bitterly and that should’ve been the end of it. But for some reason, she had kept calling after that, which made Renjun throw his phone against a wall. Fuck that. She doesn’t get to call him to rub more salt to his wounds. He wasn’t going to give her that satisfaction.

It’s funny how when you’re truly feeling fucked, you tend to isolate yourself from the people who really care about you. And that’s what Renjun ended up doing following that phone call. Almost as if in self-sabotage, he started avoiding everyone and hid himself away. Because no way did anyone really need him, anyway. Renjun knew that even in his friend group, he was the one the others could do without.

Jeno and Jaemin had one another. They would babysit Jisung well enough, and when they didn’t, Jisung had Zhong Chenle. His housemates didn’t really need him, so hiding from them was easy. Lately, he had also stopped hanging out with Yangyang because he was afraid he’d run into Hendery. Lee Mark hadn’t really hung out with him ever since he joined the 127s. And Donghyuck… well, he had you. 

So even you could do without him. You had been doing just fine without him these past couple of weeks. You had still been bringing him snacks, even after that study date. But Renjun wondered if that was because of your bad, kind habit rather than anything else. Truth be told, Renjun didn’t want your snacks anymore. Because each time he got them, it reminded him that he was nothing special to you. He wasn’t any different to you than Jaemin or Jeno or Donghyuck. He was just another guy that you were kind to out of habit. Fuck that. He didn’t need your kindness, or anyone else’s. He was fine on his own.

But on the night after his last exam, he finally picked up the phone he had thrown and read his messages through his cracked phone screen. Just to see if someone missed him. As expected, no one did. But there were some messages from you.

‘Hey shoulder gangster, remember to put on pain patches before you sleep!’

‘I ordered some chicken for you guys, eat well and study well.’

‘Hey, I tried calling you. I had gotten you coffee, but I couldn’t find you so now hyuckie is drinking it.’

‘Ayo. I hope your exam went well. Sending some Chinese food over, so eat before you study!’

‘Hey, Jaemin told me your phone is busted. Idk if you’re gonna see this message, but just wanted to know you’re doing well.’

‘I tried to see you before you went in for your exam but Jeno said you had already left.’

‘Hey… I hope you’re not still upset with me. I’m gonna stop bothering you so we can both study, but I’ll come see you soon.’

‘Okay, I guess i’ll see you after exam week? Meet soon.’

That was the last of it. After that, you hadn’t sent him anything at all. Even you had stopped reaching out to him. 

It seemed that when it came down to it, no one would ever fight for Renjun. No one would want to find out why he was in hiding, or why he hadn’t replied. When worst came to worst, Renjun was always left to fend for himself. He was all alone in this world. 

Jeno and Jaemin would always know what the other was feeling without having to use the words. Neither of them had to explain to the other what was on their mind. They just… knew. When one was in trouble, the other would come running. When one was down, the other would pick him up. Neither had to ask; the other would just sense it and be there. Jisung and Chenle had a similar connection. 

But no one ever sensed Renjun’s heart. No one just knew when he was sad or upset or angry or in trouble. No one would pick him up because no one loved him enough to know his mind. No one had ever paid any real attention to him to know when he was struggling. No one had ever held his hand and taken him out of his despair. No one would even notice that he was in despair. Because he wasn’t anyone’s special anything. 

He had been hiding away for an entire week and no one had even noticed his absence. No one had called in to check on him. Because no one really needed him. Not his friends, not his family. Not even you.

They say when it rains, it pours, and Renjun was about to learn the true meaning of this phrase. Because just when he is about to put his phone away, he receives a text from his mother.

‘Renjun, I didn’t want to tell you this way. But you’re not picking up my calls. Come see me. Your father and I are getting a divorce.’

Renjun had never really been a big drinker. He’d drink some with the boys every now and then. But that was it. But tonight was an exception. Tonight, it was okay to turn to the drink. Tonight, he wanted to forget.

After the kind of day he had had, he thought that even his demons could give him a break. He felt drained. Like his mind was slowly giving up and his body was doing all the heavy lifting. Putting one foot in front of the other. Making him breathe in and out. Keeping his heart beating. It would be doing his mind a favor, drinking. His mind needed numbing, then maybe his body could follow.

He walks into the bar a broken man. And he wonders if that’s how all men are when they walk into bars. Maybe that’s why men who walk into bars make such good punchlines for jokes. He certainly felt like one. Because the people that should love him seemed to treat him like one. Who was he to think any better of himself?

He had made peace with the fact that his parents never wanted him. He had accepted that they were happy to get rid of him. Then why did he still expect their love every single time? What was it that made him go running to them any time they asked? Why had he expected that somehow visiting them would fix everything? 

Had he expected that they would sit him down and peacefully explain why they were parting ways? Of course, he hadn’t. Had he expected that his mother would cry and apologize for putting him through this? Of course, he hadn’t. Had he expected that his father would own up to his mistakes and call him his son? Of course, he hadn’t.

But he also hadn’t expected that neither of them would want anything to do with him after they parted ways. He hadn’t expected to be the collateral damage of a failed marriage that neither party was willing to own. He hadn’t expected to be summoned just so his parents could have a screaming match about whose son he’d be after they divorced. And that both would want to shift that burden to the other.

It suited them, Renjun thinks as he downs whatever the bartender had handed him. It would’ve been more unsettling to have made the trip to find something understanding and amiable. This was on-brand for them. This is how it had been since he was a child. They’d fight and Renjun would be collateral damage. This was the perfect ending to their twenty-one year old saga. Renjun had expected it.

So, why was he feeling like he had lost everything?

“Huang Renjun?” he hears a voice call out to him as if from miles away. Was he drowning? Then why did he feel like he couldn’t breathe? Why did the voices around him sound like they were coming from far away?

“Yoo Jimin.” Renjun finds himself automatically answering. He looks up and let’s his eyes focus and there he finds her. He smiles. Of course. Who else would’ve been the guest of honor in his pity party?

“What are you doing here?” she asks him and Renjun finds himself making a face.

“Drinking.” he says as he lifts up his shot glass.

“Did you follow me here?” she asks cryptically. Typical. Of course everything had to be about her.

“How would I know you’d be here?” Renjun says, looking away as he downs another shot.

“I told everyone at the party I was leaving to be here.” she says and her eyebrow is cocked as she comes closer.

“Party?” 

“Haechan’s party? All your friends were there. Weren’t you there?” she asks cautiously.

Ah, yes, the party. The end-of-semester party. Here he was, drinking his pain away. And his friends, the people who should be concerned about him were partying. It was all very fitting he supposed. This perfectly fit into everything in his life at this moment. Including the fact the Yoo Jimin had been the one to find him when he was at his lowest.

“I didn’t feel like a party.” Renjun replies.

Jimin scoffs. “Typical. Of course Huang Renjun thinks he’s above a party everyone would enjoy.”

Renjun doesn’t answer. It’s an annoying remark and part of him wonders why it is irking him so. His heart was burdened by bigger things. Perhaps his mind thought that being annoyed at Yoo Jimin was an easier emotion to address. This was an emotion he understood. It was an emotion he could process right away. So he turns to her and finds her sitting on the stool next to him.

“What are you doing here?” he asks, because really. Why is she here, talking to him, sitting next to him?

“Oh, don’t worry, Renjun. I’m only waiting for someone.” she says, rolling her eyes and flipping her hair.

“You can wait for someone over there.” Renjun points to a place far away with his glass.

“Okay, you don’t have to be an asshole. I just came in to see why you were drinking alone while all your friends are at that party.” she says and now more than agitation, Renjun feels anger.

“Why do you care if I drink alone, anyway? You’re the one that broke up with me.” he spits out.

“Renjun, seriously, what is your problem? I’m only trying to be nice to you. You don’t have to come for me like that.” Jimin’s eyebrows are high on her forehead as she matches Renjun’s tone.

“Well, thanks a lot, Yoo Jimin. Thank you for your gift of empathy, but I don’t really need it. Not after everything you did to me.”

“Renjun! Seriously, what is it that I did to you? What did I do to you?” she raises her voice in agitation.

“Well, other than abandoning me? Pretending that you were happy with me then pulling the rug from under my feet and breaking up with me? Not even waiting a month before moving on?” Renjun spits venom right back. Who did she think she was, coming here and speaking to him like that?

“Jesus Christ, Renjun. Would you listen to yourself? Does it ever occur to you that you could’ve been the asshole in this relationship? That maybe I broke up with you because you were the jerk?” Jimin’s face is contoured as she yells at him. It’s good that the bar is relatively full, otherwise this could’ve been a scene.

“I was nothing but nice to you. I treated you so well and you treated me like dirt!” Renjun hisses.

“Renjun, that’s your problem! You only see the faults in others and never in yourself! But you’re not ready for that conversation, so let’s not have it!” she yells and turns away from him, crossing her arms over her chest.

“No, no, by all means, let’s talk about it. Let’s talk about all the times I mistreated you, please.” Renjun mocks. He was already too used to being gaslighted by his parents. Jimin could join that club. This was already the worst day of his life. It couldn’t possibly get any worse.

“Renjun, this! This right here. You never respected me. You never treated me like an equal. With you, I always felt like some stupid, airheaded trophy. I always felt like everything I wanted was superficial and shallow and not worth anything!”

“And whose fault is that.” Renjun laughs darkly.

“Renjun, you can’t even see what you’re doing! You just think you’re so much better than everyone else! You think everyone around you is a degenerate and that you’re the smartest person to ever walk this earth. I can’t believe I let you treat me that way for so long.” Jimin’s hands go from balling into fists to animatedly helping her point. “Renjun, I wanted to be a model for the longest time. But I didn’t, because of you! Because every time I’d post a picture on my Instagram, you’d tell me it was because I love getting validation from strangers. Every time an agent reached out to me, you’d tell me how showing off my looks wasn’t going to be a long lasting career. You just never respected me or my aspirations. Because all of them were so beneath Mr. Intellectual.”

Renjun turns away. He pours himself another shot and downs it. He didn’t want a lecture. Who was she to show up like this and give him a lecture unprovoked? 

“If it weren’t for Jongin, I would’ve believed everything you ever said to me. That people would only like me for my looks. That what I wanted to do was superficial and shallow and that I would never amount to anything if I followed my heart.” she goes on and Renjun has had enough.

“Save it, Jimin. We’re broken up now, so what does it matter?” he doesn’t look at her. She could yell at him all she wanted. He wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of a reaction.

“I only came to you because I saw you drinking alone. And I know that’s not like you. I just wanted to see if you’re okay.” her voice has lowered significantly, but the agitation hasn’t left her tone. Renjun wonders if she has more to say, because he certainly doesn’t want to listen to any more.

“Well, that’s very kind of you, but I’m fine on my own.” he says coldly, still not looking at her.

Jimin sighs. “Renjun, when will you realize that the whole world isn’t out to get you? I know your family isn’t perfect. But you’ve got friends that care about you. You’ve got people around you that love you. If only you could stop being an asshole to them for one hot minute and see that.”

Renjun still doesn’t turn. Because she doesn’t know anything. She doesn’t know his life. She doesn’t know how alone he feels. She doesn’t know jackshit about what he goes through, what he has been going through. Who is she to comment on his life and stand there like that and lecture him? She didn’t know anything. Fuck her for making him feel like he was the asshole. The world was taking a giant dump on him, and she was making him feel like he was the asshole. Fuck that.

She grabs her purse and gets off the stool. “I’ve got to go now. I just hope you feel better. Whatever it is that you’re going through. Please don’t go through it alone, Renjun.” she says before she walks away.

Renjun feels a lump in his throat. How could he not go through it alone? Who was going to be by his side? No one. So what use were his tears? He wouldn’t let them fall. He swallows that lump away, and when it doesn’t work, he takes another shot. He didn’t want to be here anymore. He could just go home and sleep. Maybe that would work. The alcohol wasn’t numbing anything. It was just making him more bitter, but for more reasons than what he had come in with.

So he finds himself walking home. Putting one foot in front of the other. Breathing in and out. Keeping his heart beating.

He felt so alone. Was he the loneliest man in the world? He could bet money that he was. No one knew what he was going through. And that’s what made him feel most abandoned. But then again. Fuck that. He didn’t need anyone. What good were friends anyway? Friendships really meant nothing. Renjun finally realized that what he had were not friends, but connections. Because at the end of the day, that’s what this goddamn college life was all about. Making as many connections as you possibly could, so you could reap advantages from them later on life. All of his relationships were opportunistic. And realizing this was giving him the worst headache of his life. Like all the alcohol was thrumming in his head and blinding him.

He arrives at his doorstep, punches in his code, walks in and freezes at what he sees. 

Jeno, Jaemin, Jisung, Donghyuck, Zhong Chenle and you were all in the living room, drinking and eating and laughing. None of them had even noticed that Renjun had walked in. Because they were all too busy bellowing together. 

Suddenly, Renjun feels his blood boiling hot in his veins. How dare they. How dare they look like one big happy fucking family right in front of him. Renjun pushes back all emotions he’d been feeling and holds onto one: red hot burning anger. He heads in.

“Hey, hey! Look who’s finally back!” Donghyuck says mid-laughter as he finally notices him. “Come join us because Mark is passed out on your bed, by the way.” he laughs but his smile slowly fades as he watches Renjun’s expression. 

“You okay, man?” Jeno asks slowly.

The others slowly start reading his energy as well because his demeanor has gotten everyone’s attention. Renjun wants to pick a fight. He wants to fight with all of them for not being there for him. But he looks around for an easy target. Someone he can direct all his ruthless anger towards. And his eyes zero in on you.

“What are you doing here?” Renjun asks you urgently. Like you’ve done something wrong. 

“I just got you some food. We all thought we’d eat with you since you didn’t come to the party.” you say and you get up smiling and take Renjun’s wrist “Come, sit.”

But Renjun roughly snatches his hand away from your grip, making you look up suddenly. Your eyes are round, but you don’t look angry. You perhaps look shocked, but mostly concerned. And that makes Renjun want to hurt you more.

“You can’t just show up here unannounced. I didn’t invite you here.” Renjun spits at you.

“Hey man, easy. We invited her.” Donghyuck gets up and puts himself between the two of you. 

“Well, this is not your house, either! You can’t just invite her without asking me.” Renjun scowls at the boy.

“Renjun, I just got you some food. I just wanted to make sure you had eaten.” you say gently, stepping up from behind Donghyuck to speak to him.

“Y/N, you are not my girlfriend. So stop acting like it.” Renjun snaps and he finally watches the hurt he wanted to see on your face. He also sees Jisung’s scared expression and Jaemin’s disappointed one.

“I…” you begin “... I know… I just… I came here with the guys… I…” you begin, but Renjun yells again.

“You need to leave. You can’t just show up whenever you want.” Renjun continues and takes a step forward but Donghyuck holds a protective arm in front of you. Whoop-dee fucking doo. Now his friends thought he was some sort of a savage. 

“No, Y/N, you shouldn’t leave.” He says then turns to his friend. “Dude, what is your problem?” But Renjun keeps attacking you.

“These people are not your friends, okay? They are my friends. You’re crossing a line and you need to leave right now.” Renjun loves the reactions he’s getting. He loves that he has provoked every single person in the room. Because Jaemin has gotten up and taken your hand protectively whilst Jeno has joined Donghyuck in blocking you from his view.

“Hey, man. Easy.” Jeno warns. Jisung and Chenle watch this strange confrontation with worried looks on their faces, eyes darting between him and the others. Renjun can’t believe it. All his friends were protecting you. All of them. He was the fucking monster in this room, too. 

“Renjun, I just… I just came here to see you.” you say, but there’s no accusation in your tone. Just annoying, tiresome understanding. He fucking hates it and all his friends can see that he does.

After everything he had been through, after all his life was putting him through, he was the asshole, he was the monster once again. 

Well, then. If everyone thought him a monster, he should become it completely.

“Y/N.” Renjun laughs as he looks away. Then he looks at you with that sinister smile still on his face. “Y/N, the only reason I’ve kept you around for so long is because I wanted to get to your brother. So you can leave now.”

That did it. 

Because Donghyuck’s eyes have closed as he stands in front of you and Jeno’s eyes have widened. Jaemin just looks shocked as he holds onto your hand. As do Jisung and Chenle. But you.

Your face has hardened. He doesn’t see shock or disappointment or the kind of reaction that would’ve given him full satisfaction. He sees your stone face as you finally say something with a hint of venom in your tone.

“Well, in that case, Renjun, you’ve been wasting your time. Because I got you a slot with my brother right after our first date.”

Renjun stands speechless. 

He would’ve remained speechless if you hadn’t pushed past Jeno and him and headed straight for the door.

“Y/N!” Donghyuck calls out and goes after you. Renjun watches the others. Jaemin and Jisung have looked away and he sees nothing but pure disappointment on their faces. Jeno, on the other hand, is looking straight at him. Renjun looks back. Good. He wants everyone to hate him. This was exactly right. 

He hears Donghyuck barge back into the apartment as the door bangs shut behind him. 

“Dude what the fuck is wrong with you?!” He yells and Renjun finds himself shoving the boy, pushing him so he wasn’t in his space.

“What’s wrong with me? Please, Donghyuck. Don’t even pretend like you haven’t been using her the same way I’ve been. You’re not any better.” Renjun punctuates the last bit with another shove and Donghyuck grabs at his collar and roughly pulls him by it. Before it can escalate, Jeno and Jaemin rush forward to break the two of them apart. Jeno grabs onto Renjun, Jaemin onto Donghyuck, prying him off and creating some distance between the two. Jisung and Chenle look from the couch, mouths hanging open, visibly distressed.

“You didn’t have to do that, man. You didn’t have to be an asshole to her.” Donghyuck accuses as he tries to free himself from Jaemin’s grip and come face to face with Renjun again.

Renjun laughs bitterly. “Well, now that I have been, you can have her. Live your happy fucking life.” Renjun spits at him and he gets the reaction he was looking for because it makes Donghyuck lunge at him once again, making Jaemin tighten his grip and pull him back.

“What is wrong with you? You fucking asshole! Why do you think everyone’s out to get you? Stop acting like a little bitch and start acting like a man for once!” Donghyuck shouts and that does it. 

Renjun feels his headache blinding him. And yet, he doesn’t know how he frees himself from Jeno’s grip. But before he knows it, he has balled his hand into a fist and aimed it straight for Donghyuck’s face.

Copyright © 2021 NeoCultureTravesty. All rights reserved.

[ijustwant2write]

Subtle-Remus Lupin x Professor!Reader

(GIF credit to @shurley​)

Requested by anonymous: ‘hello! can i request professor remus lupin x professor reader where they are married but try to keep it in secret just to avoid gossip but eventually students get suspicious because of their closeness? thank you, love your work💕’

Characters: Remus Lupin X Professor!Reader, Severus Snape x Reader (platonic), Minerva Mcgonagall x Reader (platonic)

Meanings: (Y/N)=Your name 

(Y/L/N)=Your last name

Warnings: Fluff, gossiping, hiding relationship/feelings

                                      *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Please make sure your homework is completed and handed in to me at the beginning of tomorrows lesson. You’ve had a week to complete it, so I expect full pile on my desk.” I shouted over the hustle of the students packing away their things.

I hated having the last lesson of the day. No one was focused, they were tired from their other classes, and all they could think about was getting to the Great Hall for dinner; although I was exactly the same, I couldn’t wait for a good meal. Now alone, I started to tidy up my classroom, yawning when I realised how tired I was as well. Luckily, it was the end of the week, and this weekend I was chaperoning the students to Hogsmeade, meaning I could have some retail therapy. I heard the door open, thinking it was a student who had forgotten something, but I was pleasantly surprised when I saw my husband waltz in.

“Oh, hello you.” I smiled as I approached him.

“Hello you.” he leaned down to kiss me before glancing around the room.“Need any help before dinner?”

“No, not tonight. I’ve just got to put a few things away in my desk.”

I went back to tidying, making sure I wasn’t coming back to a mess after the weekend, and that everything was in its right place.

He perched on a student desk.“Are you still going to Hogsmeade this weekend?”

“Of course. I can’t wait.”

“Did you want to...did you want to go for a drink?”

“I don’t think we should be drinking whilst looking after the students Remus.”

“We won’t have anything alcoholic. Perhaps even a meal?”

“What if someone sees us?”

“How many students have we seen go into a restaurant on any trip, hm? And if they do, it’s a meal between friends!”

“You know, I don’t think that whole story about us being old friends worked.”

He suddenly looked panicked.“Why? Have the children been saying anything?”

“No. I can just see it in their faces.”

“You’re overthinking this. It’ll be fine. Let me treat you.” a charming smile spread across his face.

I rolled my eyes, giving in.“Alright. But I’ve got to pop round some of the shops first.”

He groaned.“So we’ll have time for a starter then?”

I scoffed a laugh at him, grabbing a nearby scroll to hit him with.“I might be going shopping for you, did you ever think of that? I am a very loving wife after all.”

He chuckled, shielding himself.“Alright, alright!”

“Plus, and as much as it pains me to say this, we’ll be apart for a while. That means students won’t see us together.”

“Unfortunately, you’re right. We haven’t been too careful as of late.”

“Saying that, should we head to dinner?”

I walked out of the classroom first, checking the corridors, and like always at this time, they were empty. We freely walked towards the Great Hall, daringly holding hands whilst we were still far away. But as it neared, we sadly looked at each other, having to let go. It broke my heart that we had to hide our marriage, we couldn’t even wear our wedding rings for fear of being questioned, and accidentally revealing a detail that was too specific towards each other. 

“You two might want to be more careful if you don’t want your secret out.” the monotone voice of Severus said behind us. How was he always so quiet?

Remus sighed.“Well, do you see any students?”

“I was able to sneak up on you,” we were at the entrance of the Great Hall now,“and with all this chatter amongst the students, I would take extra precaution. The gossip is starting to disrupt my lessons.”

He walked away from us, and we glanced at each other. Severus was horribly truthful about these kind of things. I was right. The students had their suspicions. 

“Remus, what are we going to do?”

We began walking towards the head table.“Relax, we’ll draw more attention to ourselves otherwise. Look, just forget about what he said. I’m sure it’s a group of first years thinking they’ve discovered something and have irritated him.”

Although he was attempting to comfort me, the dreadful feeling of all the students eyes on me was making me feel sick. It wasn’t that I was ashamed to be with Remus, I loved him with my whole heart, I couldn’t wait to be with him forever. When we both got a job at Hogwarts, we had had a long discussion beforehand. Obviously we were excited to have new jobs, until I thought back to a friend who also worked with her partner. They were open with it, and unfortunately, the students would gossip, make up rude stories and interfere, ask too many questions to get into their personal life. It was awful for them. It sounds like a bunch of children ‘bullying’ professors wouldn’t effect them, you should be able to handle children as a professor; but it really took a tole on them.

"Chin up dear," Minerva said as everyone started eating,"I'm sure this will all pass by."

"You might be right. But I can't help thinking...maybe everyone knows." I stated down at my plate.

"Would that really be so bad?"

"I just don't want them talking about us. I've seen it happen to my friends, and I know a lot of married couples aren't work together because of it."

"Perhaps you two will be different."

I sighed."How many times has someone said that?"

"But, don't they see you leaving the castle together?"

"We said that we live near each other so we share lifts to work. It was the only thing we could come up with."

There was empathy on her face."It will all be fine (Y/N), just you wait and see."

The next day had arrived, meaning it was time to chaperone the students to Hogsmeade. When we returned home last night, I had dropped the subject, knowing Remus was much calmer about all of this than I was. I would only cause a fuss, which would perhaps lead to a small argument between us; and I didn't want the tension there tomorrow, if anything came out of this trip, I wanted to enjoy my time with Remus.

"Are you sure I cannot accompany you on the way there?" Remus had asked as the children's permission slips were approved.

I nodded."I just think it's best to split up for a few hours, then we'll meet up at that restaurant, yeah?" 

"Alright, see you later." 

In any other circumstance, we would have shared a small kiss before leaving one another, but everyone was here. A small smile graced our lips as he walked away, though mine disappeared as soon as he turned around. Sighing to myself, I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to keep warm as my group was assigned to me. 

The students practically ran off as soon as we got there, leaving me alone to wander. Remus was no where to be seen, but we had a set time to meet up. For now, it was aimless wandering.

I couldn't stop checking my watch throughout the day. I was too excited to see my husband, have a dinner out together. Teaching was hard, it took up so much time. Although in the evenings Remus and I were together, we weren't actually together. We weren't present because we would probably be marking papers. And having to constantly remember to hide our love at work was tiring and infuriating. Passing some students in shops, I politely smiled, maybe asked if they were having a good day or making sure they stayed in line, before it was finally time to meet my husband. 

There was much more of a spring in my step as I made my way to the designated restaurant. Luckily the number of students got smaller as I strayed away from the main hustle and bustle of Hogsmeade, though they should be minding their own business anyway (that would have avoided this whole mess in the first place). I almost missed the place because it was so small. It was made out of old, dark brick, with a narrow but long window, made of old wooden panes. The door was also small, and I smiled at the thought of Remus ducking through it. 

It felt more like a cafe than a restaurant. Like the window, it was long and narrow, tables either side of the room, because if there were tables lining down the middle, no one would be able to move. Remus caught my attention by standing up from our table. 

"You look beautiful." he greeted, kissing me. 

I scoffed as I sat."You knew what I was wearing, we do live together."

"Doesn't mean you're not beautiful." 

I bashfully smiled."You're still able to make me blush after all these years."

"Good, I must be doing something right then."

The lunch together reminded me of old times. It was easy to forget about the stress that had been piled on top of our usual schedule in that moment. We laughed, started reminiscing on our lives when we met each other, it was as if we were catching up after not seeing each other for a long time. When we weren't eating, one of our hands was holding onto each other. I knew I had to cherish every moment, especially since it went by far too quickly. 

We found ourselves putting on our coats and scarves, taking a few seconds to just gaze at each other. Neither of us wanted to leave. We felt safe here, hidden away from any prying students. Our marriage shouldn't have been hidden, we loved each other, it was supposed to be shown. 

"Ready?" he asked. 

"Ready."

We quickly kissed each other before making our way to the door. Thanking a waitress as we passed by, I was about to open the door when something in the window caught my eye. My heart dropped as I spotted three children poking their heads up, watching us until they realised they had been caught. 

"Remus!" I snapped."We've been spotted."

He had his usual calm tone."We're just two friendly colleagues getting lunch, there's nothing wrong in that." 

"We don't know how long they've been there. What if they saw us kissing?!" 

"Very friendly colleagues?" 

I huffed as I opened the door, trying to see if the kids were still there. They had started running off in the distance, headed in the direction of our meeting point. We had to head back now, it was the end of the trip, and I was expecting a lot of hushed whispers as we arrived. 

"Professor (Y/L/N)?" a fourth year student approached me as we rounded up our groups for counting. 

Here we go. 

"Yes?" 

She seemed nervous, glancing back at her friends."Um...just so you know, we all think you and Professor Lupin make a really cute couple. Like, you two are probably the coolest professors we have."

I was shocked by her words."O-Oh. Thank you...that's a very nice thing to say." 

She just smiled before leaving to join her friends again. There had been no point lying to her, it was obvious to everyone. But that small opinion meant a lot to me. Perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad thing to put our marriage on display.

" You see?" Remus approached me."It's not as bad as you thought."

"No, I guess not. I just...I didn't want anything to effect us."

"You're my wife. I love you with all my being. A few gossiping children wouldn't change any of that."

He leaned in to kiss me again, but I giggled as I stopped him.

"What?"

"We may let them know about our marriage, but PDA from staff is still frowned upon." 

"Do you know how hard it is to resist you?" 

"Guess we'll have to make up for it when we're home."

[villainousshakespeare]

Learning a Lesson Chapter 1

Young Actor Tom Hiddleston/OFC

Rated E - Eventual Smut, Angst, Complicated Relationship - Teacher/Actor Posing as Student, Feels, Flirting, Fluff

Summary: It's your first day as a teacher and things are going well. That is, until a tall, gorgeous boy with blond curls and dramatic ways saunters into your last class. When he ignores all the swooning girls to flirt outrageously with you, it is secretly thrilling. Even more so is when he tries to steal a kiss after class ends. How long will you be able to keep your defenses up?

Up and Coming actor Tom is under cover in high school for  research for a movie, but the pretty drama teacher is making the long assignment so much more enjoyable!

This was inspired by a dream I had. I opted to turn the main character into a young teacher instead of a student, just due to my own neurosis. Will probably be in a bout 4 parts... we shall see...

@arch-venus25​, @caffiend-queen​ @ciaodarknessmyheart​ @frostbitten-written​ @just-the-hiddles​ @kellatron55​ @myoxisbroken​ @nonsensicalobsessions​ @poetic-fiasco​ @shiningloki​ @shae-annelore​ @thecutestlittlebunbunfairy​ @hiddlesholic​ @yespolkadotkitty​ @vodka-and-some-sass​ @wolfsmom1​ @tom-hlover​ @toozmanykids​

The day had been going surprisingly well, if Emily did say so herself. All of her classes had seemed engaged in the material to some extent, and no one jumped out at her as an obvious juvenile delinquent bent on disrupting things. Of course, it was the first day of the school year and things could change, but with just one class to go she was feeling pretty satisfied with herself.

That was all about to change.

It was her first official day as a teacher. She had student taught, of course, but this was different. These kids were hers to mold and teach. It helped that most of the morning classes had been freshmen and sophomores. She had always looked young for her age, and she had already been asked once for a hall pass that afternoon between classes. It was embarrassing, but hardly unexpected. Soon she hoped that everyone would realize that she was faculty and not, in fact, attending herself.

Her last class was the one she had been both dreading and excited about all day. Senior Elective - Drama. It was her one chance to teach the subject that she loved the most. American and World literature were fine, of course, but she was a theater geek at heart. Teaching students who chose to study some of the most important plays in history, what could be better? She just hoped that they didn't all tower over her and decide that she couldn't possibly be the boss of them at her age.

The first few students to enter gave her hope. Three girls, giggling together in hushed voices, entered the room. She sized them up instantly - smart, a bit nerdy, and certain to turn into stunners in a few years' time. They smiled shyly at her as one, and Emily grinned in return, instructing them to sit anywhere they liked. As the others trickled in,  began to breath easy. A few of the honor society kids, a couple who bore the stamp of musical theater unmistakably, and one or two who obviously were there simply because it sounded like an easy A that they could sleep through. Well, they would learn soon enough. Theater was a participatory activity in her mind. Still, the ten girls and three boys seated before her were hardly the type to strike fear into her heart, even if some of them did have several inches on her. She could do this!

The bell was still ringing when the door opened again and a tall, lanky boy backed in, calling jovially to some person still in the hallway. His voice was surprisingly deep, and contained a laughter that sounded infectious. Emily waited impatiently for him to conclude his conversation, foot tapping and lips pursed. When he finally turned around, she felt as though she had been punched in the gut.

He was certainly tall, easily topping 6 feet as he slouched against the door frame, insouciant smile on his face. A halo of wild, noodle like blonde curls framed his face, artlessly falling across his forehead in a manner designed to make one want to reach out and brush them back. His eyes, a stunning blue that ought to be illegal, were framed by obscenely long eyelashes and, if she were not mistaken, a light touch of eyeliner to make them all the worse. Cheekbones sharp enough to cut were hidden beneath just the right amount of residual baby fat to make him appear mischievous rather than outright dangerous, but she was not certain she should trust that assumption. A black t shirt and baggy black pants draped over his long, lean lines, accessorized with black and silver jewelry at his his wrist, waist, and neck, and a silver bar through the top of one ear.

Good lord above, her high school fantasy had just sauntered into the class she was supposed to be teaching! And Emily was not entirely sure that she had surrendered that fantasy as completely as she had hoped! Certainly her confidence, riding high just seconds before, was suddenly plummeting as the young stud slowly surveyed the class, enjoying the obvious attention his late entrance and stunning looks had provoked.

"Take a seat please, you're late," Emily said stridently, hating how forced her voice sounded.

"Apologies, I got turned around. Luckily some girls were nice enough to show me the way."

No doubt, she thought as he loped to the front of the class and sat in the desk immediately in front of her. And god almighty, was that an English accent? From the way most of the girls and two of the three boys in the class were twittering behind him she was certain she had heard correctly. He looked up at her with a cocksure smile on his face and she felt an absurd wave of embarrassment, as though he could read exactly what she had been thinking about him.

"So," he asked, extending his long legs out from under the desk until the toe of one booted foot almost touched hers, "when does the teacher get here?"

"I am the teacher," Emily tried to keep the consternation from her voice as she retreated behind her desk, hoping for some sort of barrier between her and the living temptation seated before her. Blindly she pointed to where "Miss Temple" was written on the chalk board, as though that would prove something.

"Impossible. You're far too young and attractive to be the teacher," he pronounced, openly giving her a once over as the rest of the class snickered.

Emily clenched her hands to keep from tugging down her skirt to make it longer. It hit a respectable length at just above her knee, but the way he looked speculatively at her legs she wished it hit the floor. Still, she was not about to let this smug little (or, well, not so little) popinjay rattle her.

"I am old enough. And you will find that there are no rules about a teacher's appearance," she told him. "But thank you all the same Mr -"

"Martinsson," he told you. "But you can call me Tom. And you are?"

"Very well, Tom," she sighed, ignoring the question. "Now, if I may begin the class?"

He waved his hand in a magnanimous gesture that left her unsure whether to laugh or roll her eyes or smack his smug, pretty face. She settled for turning on her heal and pulling her copy of The Complete Works of Shakespeare out of her tote bag, wishing she couldn't feel his eyes on her backside as she bent over. Pants. She would definitely be wearing pants from now on.

"Shakespeare?" one of the musical theater kids groaned. "I thought this class was going to be fun!"

"Kiss me Kate is Shakespeare," the aptly named Kate, one of the honors girls, shot back, "and so is West Side Story!"

"It's less boring with songs," the boy muttered, making most of the others laugh in agreement.

"Dude, Shakespeare isn't boring!" Emily's heretofore nemesis said, turning to look disgustedly at the poor boy behind him. "Not if you have a thought in your head, at any rate!"

"See," Kate preened, trying to catch Tom's eye as the other boy squirmed.

"It's just stuffy old men shouting made up words at each other," one of the suspected lazy kids argued.

"Not if you do it right!" Tom insisted.

Before Emily could think to move, he unfolded his body from beneath the little wooden desk and dropped to his knees on the floor directly in front of her and began speaking with dramatic flourish.

"Teach not thy lips such scorn, for they were made For kissing, lady, not for such contempt. If thy revengeful heart cannot forgive, Lo, here I lend thee this sharp-pointed sword; Which if thou please to hide in this true bosom."

As a gasp went through the class, Tom yanked up his shirt to bare a chest more well defined than she would have imagined. Not, of course, that she had any business imagining anything at all. He thrust a pencil into her hand and held it against the naked skin, continuing his soliloquy:

"And let the soul forth that adoreth thee, I lay it naked to the deadly stroke, And humbly beg the death upon my knee. Nay, do not pause; for I did kill King Henry, But 'twas thy beauty that provoked me. Nay, now dispatch; 'twas I that stabb'd young Edward, But 'twas thy heavenly face that set me on. Take up the sword again, or take up me."

Emily stared, mouth gaping at the young man on his knees before her, pressing her hand to his flesh, and felt a wild urge to pull him up and kiss him senseless. The raw passion that he had infused his words with echoed in the room, impossible to miss. The lines had been rushed, and he stumbled once over the wording, but there was no faulting the fervor with which they were delivered.

After a moment of silent awe, the class erupted in spontaneous applause as he smirked and pulled himself to his feet, bringing Emily's hand to his mouth to kiss it in a ridiculous show of stage chivalry that made the class giggle but sent electricity coursing through her body. She snatched her hand back took a step away from him as he turned to bow to his cheering classmates.

"Was that Romeo?" one of the girls asked fatuously.

"No," he said disdainfully. "Romeo was a twat too stupid to think through a plan or trust his woman. That was Richard the Third."

"And does she take him?" the girl asked giggling.

"Oh, she does alright," he said with a wink. "Then he uses her to secure his kingdom, kills her, and moves on the next princess. But still, you can feel his seduction in the words."

Emily watched the girl struggle to come to terms with that information and felt a pang of sympathy for her. She had the sense that this was a man, a boy she reminded herself, who often had that effect on people.

"That was, er, quite the performance Mr. Martinsson," she attempted to wrench the class back. "And I agree, Shakespeare is far from boring. We will not, however, be reading Richard III right now. I thought we would start with something a bit more light. Much Ado About Nothing. Now, if you would all take out your books, I will assign parts."

"I'm afraid I don't have a book," it was Tom, of course. "We didn't move here in time for me to pick one up from the library."

"Very well, you can use mine," she sighed, glad she knew all the characters from memory.

Tom got up again, Emily wondered if he was capable of sitting still, and walked around her desk. He towered over her as he crossed behind her, and his arm casually and quite inappropriately draped around her shoulders as he passed. She twitched to dislodge him, and he shot her a guilty but hardly repentant grin in response.

"The book, Mr. Martinsson," Emily all but hissed.

"Thanks," he said, hand grazing over hers as he lifted the big tome and walked back to the desk.

"Now," she said, struggling to push down the effect he had had on her when standing so close in her space, "who wants to be Beatrice, the female lead?"

All of the female hands shot up instantly. She could hardly blame them. There was only one choice to read Benedick, and everyone knew it. Briefly she considered casting him as Claudio, or better yet, Dogberry, just to spite them all. For some reason the thought of him flirting in verse with one of these cloying little girls made her irritable. For better or worse though, her love of the play won out over her misplaced jealousy. Tom was Benedick, and Jamie, a quiet, studious girl Emily liked on sight was Beatrice. A ripple of resentment made Jamie shrink back a bit, but Emily still thought she was pleased with being cast. Who wouldn't be?

"Mr. Martinsson," Emily said as the closing bell rang, signaling the end of the class and the day, "please stay behind. I would like a word with you."

Rather than looking at all put out, Tom's face broke into that smug smile she were beginning to realize was a habitual look for him. She waited for the mob of loitering girls to finally take the hint and reluctantly leave before shutting the door behind him and turning to see him perched on the edge of her desk.

"I was hoping you'd keep me," he said confidently. "I thought you might."

"Yes well," Emily found her mouth was dry and suddenly regretted closing the door. It would look foolish to open it again though, so she tried to pull herself together. "I think we need to talk about your behavior."

"My behavior?" he asked, looking amused.

"Yes, it was highly inappropriate for class," she scolded.

"What was? My pointing out that you were attractive?"

"Among other things. Flirting with me, kissing my hand," somehow when she listed his crimes they didn't sound nearly as bad as they had seemed at the time. If any other student had acted in such a way, she realized, she would have laughed it off and set them in their place. It was only because it was him, so attractive and utterly beyond her touch, that it was a problem.

"I apologize if I embarrassed you," he said, which wasn't really the point. "But you must know that you are very attractive. Very desirable. I would have to be blind not to notice it."

"Tom - I just said -"

"That it was inappropriate for class. We're not in class now. And you can't tell me you're not attracted to me as well. I can tell."

"That's not the point. You are a student. A child."

"I'm 18 last week," he corrected, sounding offended. "And you can't be older than 25. That's hardly enough of a difference to matter."

"There are plenty of attractive girls your own age," she said, hating them all.

"Stupid, vapid girls," he muttered.

"I'm your teacher," she said again, wondering who she was trying to convince.

"Then you don't want me to kiss you?" he asked, hopping off the desk and suddenly standing very close and towering over her.

"It's not appropriate," Emily gulped out, repeating herself.

"You didn't answer my question."

"Look, I'm not saying you're not attractive," she licked her lips and struggled to keep her thoughts together as he took another step towards he.

"You think I'm attractive?"

"You know you are, that is not the point."

"And what is the point?"

"The point is, it's wrong!"

"The point is, you want me to kiss you."

"Tom. Mr. Martinsson -"

"Tell me I'm wrong. Tell me, and I'll stop."

His hand had circled around her and was somehow at the back of her neck, forcing her to look up at him. He was enveloping her. His scent, his body heat, his bright, accented eyes, all clouded her mind and made it hard to think. His head was moving towards hers, and she knew it would be a kiss to make her toes curl.

"You're wrong," Emily gasped, closing her eyes and waiting for his lips to meet hers.

"Liar," he whispered, a mere breath away from her lips.

Dropping his hand, Tom stepped away and smiled down at her with something close to scorn in his eyes.

"I expected more from you," he told her. "I hope next time you can be honest with us both."

As she struggled to return her breathing to normal, he turned and walked out of the classroom, leaving Emily reeling.

***

"How'd it go?" his director Jonesy asked him again, making his teeth clench.

"As I said," he repeated. "Just the never ending tedium of high school. God, the U.S. version is even worse than ours was!"

"Beginning to regret asking for this?" Jonesy chuckled.

Tom considered it. He had been excited when he was cast in the new film being directed by an up and coming indie director. He was young, and what few jobs he had been given had been in period pieces of the waistcoat and ascot variety. Playing a troubled teenager in a gritty coming of age story was not something he wanted to let pass him by.

Still, considering that his own education had been at the posh British public school of Eton, proverbial School of Kings, he had been feeling ill prepared for the role. To rectify the problem, he had asked to be placed in an American school for a month. The first day had certainly been an eyeopener, that was certain.

"No," he said. "Regretting the homework though."

"I thought you were supposed to be a troubled kid," Jonesy laughed. "Blow it off!"

He agreed with a laugh, but knew it wasn't quite true. There was one assignment he planned to do to the best of his ability. Shakespeare deserved no less, and neither did she. Miss Temple of the lovely legs and expressive eyes.

He had thought her a student at first, and was disgusted with himself for how attracted he was to her. The pretty skirt was just short enough to show her knee, and the blouse hinted at enticing curves that he couldn't help noticing. When he realized she was in fact the teacher, and a Shakespeare teacher at that, he couldn't resist. He was supposed to be a dramatic kid, very well. He would use it to his advantage. It had almost killed him to flub the line near the end, but he didn't want to show his hand as an actor on the first day and ruin all the work the studio had done to arrange this for him.

He hadn't really expected her to respond to him. When she did, even though she tried to fight it, he could feel the electricity. He had not been so drawn to a woman in ages. Damn the stupid disguise!

He had wanted to kiss her desperately. Added a year to the age he was meant to be playing in an attempt to convince her it was not the worst idea in the world. He knew she had wanted it too. It was only his strict code that had made him pull back at the last minute. She said no, even if they both knew she didn't mean it. Very well, he would just have to try harder next time. It would lend some excitement to what had so far been a less than thrilling assignment. He would learn about American high school life, and she would be his sweet reward. It was only a matter of time.

[girlgrouptrash101]

Doyeon (Weki Meki) - Opposites Attract

Request: “Can I fulfill all our dreams and ask for a biker, rebellious Doyeon fluff with her girlfriend who’s a rule follower and how they got together? I hope that makes any sense but pls take this prompt in any way you want!”

Word Count: 4,059 Words

Warnings: nothing but fluff!

A/N: i know i’ve been inactive for a while, but i hope this scenario can make up for it a lil bit :’] 

p.s. stream crush for biker doyeon heheh (https://youtu.be/bT2AMc8hI6A)

- C

I.

The sun was beaming down upon you as you walked to school, your backpack weighed down with textbooks you needed for homework last night. You had all your buttons done up on your shirt, your uniform tie laying perfectly below your collar. It was clear you were proud to live up to your goody two shoes nickname, with immaculate grades and a pristine track record that has been kept that way ever since you stepped foot into high school.

After a few minutes more of walking, you found yourself approaching the school doors. Your best friend, Choi Yoojung, was sitting on the wall outside school waiting for you to arrive. She hopped down as soon as she saw you, walking over with her signature bright smile.

“Hey Yoo, how did you find the maths homework last night?” You asked as both of you headed towards the main entrance of the school.

“It was pretty easy, I got it done in about an hour, you?” Yoojung countered, your conversation carrying you all the way into the school until you reached your lockers. After taking your textbooks out of your bag, you grabbed your biology copy and workbook to prepare for your morning triple class. You quite enjoyed biology, finding it one of your easier subjects. The only thing you didn’t like about that class was the seating arrangements. Most notably, your benchmate, Kim Doyeon.

Doyeon was known by every student, teacher and staff member in the whole school. She was notorious for being a delinquent, your typical highschool rulebreaker who seemed to get off on making everyone else’s life a misery. Everyone could hear her coming whenever she arrived at school, her motorbike making enough noise to deafen the whole town. You could only hope that today she had chosen to skip class so you could be left alone to do your work.

However, it seemed all your hoping and wishing had changed nothing, as Doyeon found herself sauntering into the biology lab five minutes after class had started. She barely acknowledged the teacher as she headed towards you, a lazy smirk painted on her features that made you want to roll your eyes and blush all at the same time. It was unfair that she got to look so good, it made disliking her so much harder than you’d ever like to admit.

“What’s up princess?” She asked smugly, slouching down on the lab chair in her scruffy uniform and leather jacket. You did your best to ignore her, your hair falling down to cover your face as you tried to focus on the handout your teacher had given you earlier. It was hard to deny that your heart skipped a little at the pet name, but you shook off the feeling, knowing that she’d probably said the same thing to every other student in this building.

“Ignoring me already? That’s not very kind of you is it? I thought you were nicer than that, Y/N.” She pressed further, sitting sideways on her chair to face you.

“What’s wrong Doyeon, what do you want?” You replied coldly, not wanting to miss out on any more class time. You wished she would just turn back around, and stop staring at you with those deep brown eyes, or you’d be sure to forget about your work completely and give into her charming ways. Doyeon was about to flirt with you again when, thank god, your biology teacher interrupted your conversation.

“Hey, Y/N, Doyeon, keep it quiet back there!” Your teacher said sternly, giving you both a look before returning her attention back to the papers she had been marking since the beginning of the lesson. You were quick to shut your mouth, not used to being scolded by your teachers.

“I just want to talk to you Y/N, is that such a crime?” Doyeon pressed once again, paying no mind to the teacher, or the fact that she hadn’t answered a single question on her sheet. You did your best to try and focus on your work, putting up a cold front in an attempt to stop Doyeon from talking to you, or even worse, trying to make you fall for her. As much as you wanted to give into the taller girl, you knew it would only end in heartbreak. Her track record with relationships was notorious throughout the school, and you knew that you’d be no exception to her cruel ways.

“Doyeon, really, you don’t ever want to talk to anyone except your group of dumbass friends. All you want is to bother me, then forget my name as soon as you leave this class.” You finally huffed out in response, watching Doyeon’s smirk drop at your words. Instead of responding, she just lowered her head and turned away from you. A pang of guilt could be felt in your stomach, and you wondered if you actually hurt her feelings. The minutes sped past as you sat there, completely unfocused and figuring out how to apologize to the girl beside you. In all your worrying, you completely lost track of time, and soon, the class was over.

“Alright, I expect those worksheets should be done by now, if not, well there’s your homework tonight.” You looked down at your unfinished paper, groaning as you knew you’d be done if Doyeon hadn’t been bothering you in the first place.

“Aside from that sheet, your finals are coming up soon. Instead of your result being 100% based on a written exam, I’m designating 40% to be given on a project. Make note of who your bench partners are, because they’ve now become the key to you getting your full marks in this assignment.” Your heart dropped at her words as you heard a scoff from beside you, and you knew you’d really pissed Doyeon off earlier. You had to apologize and focus on getting a good grade in this project, and you could only hope that Doyeon would accept and help you with the workload.

“Well, looks like I’ll be doing pretty well in biology this year, doesn’t it princess?” Doyeon asked, the cocky smirk back on your lips. The kindness she had shown in her compliments had disappeared, as she spat out the pet name in a way that just felt so wrong. You sighed a little as you watched her leave, before grabbing her wrist in an attempt to make her stay for a second.

“Give me your sheet.” You asked her.

“What?”

“Just pass it here.” You sighed, taking her worksheet and using the pen on her desk to write down your number. 

“I’m sorry for what I said earlier, Doyeon, I didn’t mean to be insensitive. But, I know your reputation when it comes to school, and I’ll be damned if you think this project is being done by me alone. Text me when you’re free, you’re not getting out of this one.” And with that, you spun on your heel and left, not sparing a glance at the stunned girl sitting at her desk.

Doyeon was laughing to herself as you left, amused by your sudden bold actions. She couldn’t help but look down at the number written on your sheet, thinking about how cute you are when you’re annoyed. She hadn’t even been angry at you at all earlier, she just figured that acting upset would be the best way to get your attention, and she was so glad it worked.

------------

II.

Two days had passed without a word from Doyeon, so you found yourself at home alone, researching topics on your computer. You scrolled endlessly through websites, videos, anything to give you some inspiration on your topic. Almost an hour into your research, your phone pinged with a notification from an unknown number.

“What’s up, princess.” The message read. Your eyes rolled back in annoyance but your heart fluttered at her words. However, you were more annoyed than you were smitten, as the two of you were running out of time to get things done, and it was clear she didn’t care as much about her grade in biology as you did.

“Nice of you to finally text me, Doyeon.” You replied. 

“Well, it’s been a busy couple of days, you know. You’re just lucky I’m texting you now.” You couldn’t help but giggle at her reply, feeling the sarcasm coming right through the screen. 

“Whatever. When are you free?”

“I’m always free for you baby.” She responded almost immediately, making you freeze, unable to think of a reply to such a text. You decided to keep it short and sweet, not wanting to embarrass yourself in front of the charming girl, even if it was only over text.

“Tomorrow, after school. My place.” You responded, quickly turning off your phone, not wanting to wait for a reply that could leave you even more flustered than before.

You lay in bed that night, thinking of everything that could go wrong if Doyeon came to your house… If she even turned up in the first place, of course.

In an attempt to push back your worries, your mind started to wonder as you thought of the girl in question. You couldn’t help but allow yourself to picture her in her leather jacket, with her flowing, brunette hair and those brown doe eyes that always seemed to have a hint of joy in them no matter how grumpy she tried to come across. Even though you weren’t the biggest fan of the girl’s reputation and the stories you heard, you’d still be a fool to deny how attractive she was. Sometimes you tried to ignore those stories, and focus on how nice she was to you in biology, hoping that it wasn’t all a ploy just to break your heart like she did everyone else’s.

You fell asleep eventually, your mind on overdrive about the mysterious girl that you really wanted to get to know better, but you were just afraid to do so.

------------

III.

After another long day of gruelling classes, you found yourself sitting on the wall outside of school, waiting for Doyeon to show up. After a few more minutes of waiting and constantly checking your phone, you weren’t feeling confident that Doyeon was going to show. She struggled to make it to school usually, so you highly doubted that she’d make any effort to meet up after school hours to do more work. You decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and wait for ten more minutes, in case she was running late.

The minutes slowly ticked by, students pouring out of the school gates to head home for the evening, but none of them were Doyeon. You used your hands to lower yourself off the wall, your feet hitting the ground with a thud as you grabbed your backpack and slung it over your shoulders. You were just out of the school gates, heading home when a loud rumble started coming down the street. You turned to look behind you, seeing a familiar black motorbike heading your way. You scoffed as Doyeon pulled up beside you, dressed in all black, her leather jacket around her shoulders as usual. You merely watched as she parked her bike on the side of the road, pulling off her helmet and grinning at you.

“So nice of you to show up.” You deadpanned, making the tall girl laugh. She held out a spare helmet for you, motioning to get up on the bike with her. Your eyes widened at the thought, already adamantly shaking your head to say no.

“If you don’t hop on this bike right now, I’m not coming over and I’m not doing any of the project work.” She said simply, shrugging and holding the helmet out again for you to take. You crossed your arms, a frown set in your features as you looked the bike up and down, the fear making you swallow and look down at the ground. 

“Come on, Y/N, just hold on tight. I promise you’ll be okay.” As much as you didn’t want to admit it, the sincerity in her voice really did put your mind at ease. You released a sigh, holding out your hand and reluctantly taking the helmet. You fumbled with it for a bit, not really knowing how to put it on your head, until Doyeon noticed and called you over. She helped you onto the bike, turning around to fit the protective gear onto your head. Your breath hitched in your throat as she leaned in closer to adjust the helmet a bit, your eyes scanning her face. It was the first time you’d ever been this close to her, and it was safe to say you really didn’t mind the view.

You were snapped out of your trance by Doyeon knocking on your helmet, laughing as you scowled at her antics. 

“Hold on tight and don’t let go, okay?” She asked, looking back to see you nod once. You wrapped your arms around her waist, hugging tight out of fear. You gulped as you felt the bike moving, squashing yourself against Doyeon as much as you could. Your eyes were shut tight and your arms were like a vice grip around the taller girl’s waist. You could feel her laughing every time she felt your grip tighten, pulling her impossibly closer.

You had to yell the directions to your house over Doyeon’s shoulder, squealing every time she sped around a corner. Thankfully, you had reached your house a few minutes later, Doyeon pulling over in front of your gate.

“No one home?” She asked as she noticed the empty driveway, hopping off her bike before giving you a hand off the bike too. You explained that your parents were away at work, leaving you and Doyeon home alone all evening. You took the older girl’s hand and hopped off the bike, pulling off your helmet with your other hand. You both headed towards the front door, neither of you realising that you were still hand in hand as you went. After unlocking and stepping in the door, you stopped and looked down at your still intertwined hands. Doyeon noticed what was going on, shaking her hand out of your grip and awkwardly clearing her throat. A slight blush settled on her cheeks as you looked up, and you grinned at the intimidating girl’s sudden shy behaviour.

“Come on, my room is up here.” You kicked off your shoes, motioning for Doyeon to do the same, before following you upstairs. Doyeon stepped into your room after you launched yourself onto your bed, watching her take in her surroundings. You felt a little shy as she picked up a picture frame, a photo of you and your family being displayed on it.

“I really like your room Y/N, it’s very… you.” She said finally, before sitting down at the chair in front of your desk, spinning around on it while she waited for your response.

“And how would you know anything about me, Doyeon? I think I’ve seen you in class a total of four times this year?” You asked, a smirk gracing your lips. She simply turned to face you, her brow raised as she took in your comment.

“Believe it or not, I’m always in school, and I see much more than you’d know. I just don’t like biology.” You both laughed at her cheekiness, enjoying the unexpected comfortable silence that fell between you. Doyeon stared at you, your eyes meeting her gaze until you got flustered and looked down, clearing your throat out of nervousness.

“Uh, about the project, I did some research on topics if you wanna take a look..” You trailed off, watching as Doyeon came and sat beside you. You opened your laptop and pulled it onto your lap, the tall girl beside you leaning closer to see the screen.

“I think you should pick the topic, I trust your brain more than I trust mine. Just tell me what you need me to do, and I’ll get it done.” She replied, turning to smile at you. It was the first time you’ve ever gotten a real smile out of her, and it was so much nicer than the cocky smirks you’d become accustomed to. After picking a topic and assigning different parts of the project, both of you were working faster than you’d expected. Almost all of the project was done, and you just had to start putting together a presentation to give in front of your class.

“Doyeon, can I ask you something?”

“Mm, go ahead.”

“Why are you being nice to me?” You asked, sitting cross-legged on the floor as you leaned your head against the side of your bed. The taller girl was paying full attention now, turning to sit and face you.

“What do you mean? Have I been mean to you before Y/N?” She asked, her head cutely lilting to the side as her eyes showed nothing but genuine concern. You were honestly taken aback by the girl sitting in front of you, it seemed like a completely different person than you were used to.

“Well, not exactly I guess, but you’ve never had a proper conversation with me, and you always call me pet names in class and then go on and ignore me whenever you see me outside the biology lab.” You explained, looking straight into her big, brown eyes.

“Well, I guess we were just never in the same friend group outside of class, but I do apologize if I ever hurt your feelings, princess.” She laughed a bit at your reaction to the pet name, even though you didn’t really mind it.

“Come on Y/N, you know you love it when I call you that.” She continued, her tone a bit more serious than it had been before as she looked for your reaction to her words. You bit your lip slightly, trying to hide the blush that was threatening to creep up onto your cheeks.

“I mean… I guess I dont hate it…” You said finally, scratching the back of your neck and trying to look anywhere else except at the girl who was sitting across from you, chuffed to know that you didn’t really dislike her.

“This is a lot coming from the girl who tried to ignore me in class and called my friends dumbasses just a few days ago,” She piped up again, making you groan as you thought of what you had said back in the biology lab.

“I’m only gonna say this once, so listen up.” You said, half serious, half joking. “I’d like to apologise for what I said, and I’d also like to say sorry for judging you before I’d ever spent time with you. I’ve actually really enjoyed myself today, and I wasn’t expecting to. So… Thank you.” You finished, looking up to see a soft smile on Doyeon’s face.

You weren’t quite expecting her to crawl over beside you, nor were you expecting her to wrap an arm around your shoulder, but you can’t say you minded either of those actions. You stiffened a little at the unexpected contact, but you couldn’t help but lean closer into the girl’s side, feeling comfortable against her.

“Is this okay?” Doyeon asked, and your heart melted at her considerate words. You nodded, resting your hand on her thigh as you continued chatting away for the rest of the evening until Doyeon finally had to go. Both of you reluctantly got up, neither of you wanting to leave the other’s comfort and warmth. You walked her to the door, waiting for her to put her boots back on before she stepped out onto your porch.

“We can finish everything next week or whenever you h-”

Doyeon’s words were silenced by your lips on hers. You don’t know what came over you when you saw her standing there, the orange light of the sky framing her as the sun was setting in the distance. Your lips didn’t leave hers as she pulled you closer, both of you standing on her porch. Her hands gripped your waist tightly, her fingers squeezing you out of affection. After eventually pulling away in need of air, the two of you were shocked at what just happened.

“Sorry… I don’t really know why I did that…” You said,mumbling away to yourself as you tried to process what just happened.

“It’s okay, I… I liked it.” Doyeon said, her hand reaching out to grab your own. The blush on your cheeks was impossible to notice, even more so as Doyeon cupped your face with her free hand, pressing another soft kiss to your lips. 

“Listen, I’d love to stay, but It’s getting late and I really have to go. Can we meet up after school tomorrow to… talk?” Doyeon asked, rubbing her thumb gently over your knuckles. You looked up at her with a smile, nodding as she smiled back, her eyes crinkling with joy. She leaned down once more, kissing you softly, before kissing the top of your hand and stepping off your porch to get back on her bike. You watched with a small smile as she drove off, her hair flowing from the wind as she headed into the distance.

After shutting the door and running back upstairs, you leapt onto your bed like a little kid, jumping around as the butterflies in your stomach went crazy. You pulled out your phone to text Yoojung what had happened, and it was safe to say that there was an alarming amount of exclamation marks and random love emojis thrown into the text, more than you’d ever like to admit to using.

You stayed up most of the night thinking about what had just happened, and praying that Doyeon would really stick around. Heartbreak wasn’t something you were ready for at this stage in your life, but you were confident that the tall girl felt the same way about you as you did for her. It was truly hard to believe that the Doyeon you had known yesterday was the same girl you kissed on your front porch mere minutes ago. Love worked in mysterious ways, and it was clear that you and Doyeon were no exception to the strange workings of fate.

------------

IV.

“Can you believe that was a whole year ago, baby?” Doyeon asked, her arm around your shoulder. You were both laughing as you thought back to how awkward you’d been with each other. You couldn’t imagine life without Doyeon by your side now, the two of you were practically inseparable.

“Best year of my life though.” You finished, earning a kiss on the temple from your girlfriend at your sweet words. Doyeon had driven you both out to your secret spot on her bike, the two of you loving the privacy you had. It was just a small beach a little out of town, but not many people came here beside you two. You were sitting on the sand together as the sun set above the sea in front of you - the orange hues another reminder of the first kiss you two shared. The smile on your face could never be taken away, you felt like the happiest person in the world now that Doyeon was yours. This was love, it really was.

“I love you Y/N, thank you for brightening up my life when I really needed it.” You turned your head to face your girlfriend, your eyes closing as you saw she was already leaning in. Her kisses still brought butterflies to your tummy, and you could feel her smiling against your lips. You giggled as you pulled away, smitten and joyous, all thanks to the girl in front of you.

“I love you too Doyeon, so much.” You whispered out, pulling away from her lips slowly as you rested your head against her shoulder. This was true happiness, and you were never, ever going to let go of the girl beside you for as long as you could. Real love like this only comes around once in a lifetime, and it would be a crime for you to ever let something like this slip through your hands.

[alice-angel12x]

Riddle x Mouse!Reader

The reader is a mouse beast-man that is 7.5 inches tall in normal form.

It was odd going to a school completely designed for larger students, and it took a lot of convincing to get the crow man to let me attend the school.

The entrance ceremony was a little awkward cause the headmaster had to lift me to the mirror to be properly signed to a dorm. And wouldn't you know it, I was assigned to the Heartslabyul Dorm. I happily hopped down and climbed up to my seat, next to a redheaded boy. 

He looked so serious, yet he was shaking in his boots, so I thought I would lighten the mood.

--------

I made it and into Heartslabyul dorm no less.

"Hello there," Squeaked a voice. 

I looked around looking for the source, but only saw Trey and a space next to me.

"Down here," It squeaked again.

I looked down at the chair beside me to see a tiny Person with Mouse Ears and tail. They looked no bigger than a teacup, why is such a tiny student doing here.

"I'm Y/n Angera, What's your name?" Y/n squeaked with a cute smile.

I could feel my heart start to quicken and pound in my chest as I stared at this tiny person, But why, why do I feel this way.

"Are you okay, your cheeks are red," Y/n said in a curious.

"I-It's nothing, M-My name is Riddle Roseheart," I said as I tried to recompose myself.

"It's nice to meet You Riddle," Y/n said as they held out their tiny hand.

"Likewise, So where do you come from?" I asked as I gently shook his hand.

------------

"I come from Whisker Town," Y/n said squeaked proudly.

Riddle blushed at the tiny person's cuteness, as his heart fluttered in his chest. Riddle tried to compose himself as he looked away from Y/n while muttering something just loud enough for Y/n to hear.

"If you e-ever need help with something just ask, Okay," Riddle mumbled.

Y/n's eyes widened at the sudden offer, but They smiled none the less.

"Thank you, Riddle, that's very kind of you," Y/n squeaked.

"I-It's cause rule #543 of  Heartslabyul, help your fellow Dormmate. You should memorize all the rules," Riddle said with a snobby pout as his cheeks stayed a slight red. 

"well Thank you nonetheless, Riddle," Y/n smiled.

-------

From that day on Riddle would help Y/n around the school, From helping them get to classes, helping them upstairs, Studing, and other big people tasks. The two would enjoy their study sessions and tea parties together. 

"Y/n that tea cup is too tall and big for you. Your going to fall in," Riddle warned, as he watch the tiny mouse person try to drink from the cup.

"NO, no I got it," Y/n said as he leaned over the lip of the cup.

And just as Riddle warned, Y/n fell into the cup of hot tea. Riddle gasped as he quickly fished out his tiny friend. Y/n coughed up some tea as Riddel craddled them in his hands. Riddle could feel his heart race as Y/n continued to cough up tea, and slowly sit up in Riddles shacky hands..

"I told you not to do that!" Riddle scolded as his heart slowly calmed down.

"In know, but.." Y/n paused, " That was some pretty good tea,"

Trey who was also at the table chuckled slightly as Riddle's face turned red from frustration.

"You could have gotten horribly burned you.. you idiot," Riddle mummled as he put his mouse friend down on the table.

"Sorry Riddle. I didn't mean to scare you like that," Y/n apologized.

"it's fine just don't do that again," Riddle mummbed.

As Riddle spent more time with Y/n, he would notice a few students from their dorm would pick on his favorite tiny friend.

But when he brought it up with the dorm leader, he simply shrugged his shoulders and did nothing. This angered Riddle, as he challenged the Dorm head the next day and won. Making him the youngest dorm head ever.

At first, things were pretty good, Y/n was thankful that Riddle put a stop to the bullying, and it helped them to get along with the other Dormmates. 

But naturally, things slowly started to go downhill. Riddle started to become more and more uptight and strict as the months passed. At first, it wasn't so bad, but then it started to get intense.

When Y/n would be a few minutes late to lunch and drank lemon tea passed a certain time, it was an Instant scolding. If Y/n was fooling around with fellow dormmates st a tea party, is punished by forced to write a 2 paged apology. No one was spared from Riddle's punishment, not even his close friends. Y/n soon found it harder and harder to keep up with all the rules that Riddle enforces.

"Hey Y/n are you feeling okay," Trey asked as he helped his underclassmen up the stairs.

"I don't think I can keep up with Riddle and his rules. Just look at me! How can any think sending a 7-inch tall student, to feed 4 feet tall birds, is a good idea?!" Y/n ranted.

"Well Riddle is just trying to uphold tradition," Trey tried to defend.

"I was almost eaten by a bird yesterday, Trey," Y/n said with an unamused face.

"Well, let's just turn in the apology paper," Trey said not knowing how to respond to that comeback.

"I don't think I want to come back to Heartslabyul anymore," Y/n sighed.

"Y/n don't say stuff like that," Trey whispered.

Little did the two know, Riddle heard everything, and Y/n's words caused Riddle's heart to ache. But he quickly shoved those feeling down and locked his heart as he begrudgingly excepted his Tiny Dormmate apology essay.

------------

I can't show lenience towards anyone, rules are equal among everyone. If I have to feed the flamingos, everyone feeds the flamingos. I will show no favoritism to anyone, not even you...Y/n.

But it seemed that Y/n meant what they said, cause the next day was the next unbirthday And Y/n was no where to be seen.  They weren't hiding in the tea pots with the door mouses, or playing tricks on fellow Dormmates. They just vanished, but according to Trey he still sees them around and attending to his classes. They've been spending a lot more time with the nonmagic student Yuu and that trouble some first year, then...me.

No if they wishes to be a lazy traitor, fine. So be it. Yet Why do I feel like I've been abandoned?

------------

"are you sure you can beat Riddle, Ace?" I asked as I held onto his magic blocking collar.

"He sounds pretty strong," Yuu said with a worried tone.

"I can totally could take on that shorty," Ace said with a cocky smile.

"This won't end well," I sighed.

And It really didn't; Riddle was able to beat Ace in a second. Ace being Ace started to spout off about the unfairness of Riddle's reign, while starting a miny revolution in the process. Then everything went to hell. 

____

"Riddle , I challenge you to a duel for the Drom head stautes," Y/n squeaked as they hopped off Yuu's shoulder.

"Haha, A tiny thing like you, Face me?" Riddle laughed with a Cocky smile, " Your just as much as a rule breaker as that first-year, and you will always need the help of others just to do basic student activities. I'm so many leagues above you Y/n. You amount to nothing just like Ace," 

Y/n simple glared at the taller boy, but Riddles gaze didn't go noticed from Yuu. He could see some sort of anger and sadness trying to be covered up with pride and regalness. Y/n just glared as Riddle kept on monologing on and on about the rules.

"What sort of lessons were you taught that you can't even understand that?" Riddle smirked, " Your home town, Whisker Town must be tragic. I bet that you didn't even receive proper education before you step foot into this school. Truly Pathetic".

Y/n's eyes began to water at Riddle's words as they started to try hold back their tears of frustration and anger. With a battle cry Y/n dashed towards riddle as their body began to glow and grow.

Suddenley Y/n was Trey's height, as he ran and punched Riddle square in the nose. Everyone was still in shock at Y/n's spontaniouse growth, but Y/n slowly began to shrink and just bearly met Riddles hip .

"It looks like Mantaining that form drains to much of Y/n's energy," Crowley said as he observes his students.

"So Y/n has to limit his magic use, or else they'll get to tired?" Grim asked.

Suddenly an egg was thrown at Riddle, and everything escalated, as Riddle's overblot took control. With a swift hand movement everyone was wearing Riddle's magic blocking collar, and Y/n was forced back to their 7 inch tall body. The sky turned dark and rubble started to float up into the air as Riddle changed and turned into a monster.

"I am.....! I'm ALONE!! I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO IS ALWAYS RIGHT AND DON'T NEED ANYONE!!" Riddle cried out.

"R-Riddle," Y/n gasped at the transform class mate.

"I do not need anyone who defies me in my world. Or leaves me, I am the absoute ruler. My world itself submits to me!" Riddle laughed darkly as he grabbed Y/n by the tail," I will not tolerate any other answer except, "Yes, Lord Riddle."! 

Riddle tossed Y/n hard onto the ground and Y/n's world went dark.

------

"Y/n-san, Y/n-san are you okay?" A voice asked.

Y/n opened their eye's to find themselves in the infirmary, with their head ,left leg, and torso wrapped in banages. 

"Good, your alive. Thank goodness," Yuu sighed in relief.

"What... Happened to Riddle. Is he okay?" Y/n asked slowly.

"Yeah he's fine, You were out for 6 days. Oh and know that your awake, Riddle wanted me to invite you to the unbirthday tomorrow. He wanted to apologise to you," Yuu said.

"Well, umm..... It would rude to turn down an invitation," Y/n smiled wearily.

----------

Riddle sat nervesly at the main table as he waited for Y/n and Yuu's arrival. A tiny tea set and table was set up for them. 

Soon Y/n and Yuu arrived, as Yuu set Y/n down on the table. Y/n held their minature cruches at their side as they sat down at the tiny set up for them. The two sat in an awkward silence till Riddle cleared his throat to call Y/n's attention.

"I-I wanted to say sorry... For the things I said and for hurting you. I let myself get out of hand," Riddle apologized as  tears ran down his cheeks.

Suddenly Riddle felt a gentle hand wipe away his tears. He looked up to see Y/n, but about his height and was smiling down at him with a kind and soft look.

"I Forgive you Riddle, just please don't cry. It doesn't suite you," Y/n smiled as Riddle blushed slightly.

-----------

[dreaming-of-assclass]

Do you have any science project group headcanons like for groups like Nagisa, Kayano, Maehara, and Kataoka that were grouped for science class like in season 1 episode 5 (Assembly Time)

Oooooh! Love asks like these!!! 💚

And thanks to this post by the awesome @/greengargouille, we know all the canon groups!

Itona and Ritsu aren’t in official groups, so I put them in where I thought they’d fit in best!

1. Isogai, Mimura, Nakamura, Okano

Wow...I forgot that Nakamura and Okano were ever in the same group

But I love it because I HC their friendship to be a casual but hella fun one

Isogai and Mimura are old friends from last year! I imagine there’s slight awkwardness on Mimura’s side given that they’re in different friend groups now. But Isogai is very friendly and aware, so it passes pretty soon

Nakamura is one of the biggest causes of Isogai’s headaches lmao. But hey, at least they’re on the same wavelength academically.

POOR OKANO. SHE IS A JOCK SURROUNDED BY ACADEMICS.

Well at least she’s interested in science and it’s her best subject. She still feels bored unless they’re dealing with physics, then she’s completely on top of her game.

Nakamura and Okano are the chaotic half. Isogai and Mimura are the ones who wanna get shit done. Unless the girls manage to drag poor Mimura into doing dumb stuff

Have I ever told you guys that once in my Chemistry lab, one of my friends and I managed to break the sink faucet? Like we destroyed it lmfao

That is Nakamura and Mimura friendship energy ngl

Okano is one of Isogai’s most dependable close friends, but she also loves to annoy him for no reason sometimes.

So she’ll ask obvious questions with a smug smile, trying to watch his patience explode. But jokes on her because Isogai has an infinite amount of patience sadly

2. Kurahashi, Yada, Takebayashi, Kimura

They’re a...fairly productive group lmao

Tbh I don’t think Kurahashi is the type to really pay attention to any science outside of biology like me

So she’ll be a BEAST when it comes to that and get 100′s on everything. But like in chem and physics, she’s not as great

Yada is the best at design and organization, so she always takes that job. Making colorful presentation slides? She got it. Need to type up the final report in a google doc? Yep, she’s your girl

Kimura is a gremlin, like I always say. He’s the clown of the group lmfao and will spend more time stalling and messing around than doing actual work

He also tends to lowkey distract Kurahashi with unrelated convos. He tries to talk to Yada too, but she goes into girlboss mode and ignores him

Guys, everyone give it up for Takebayashi. King is hard carrying this entire group

He’s the one who stays the most focused but on occasion can be distracted by Kimura bringing up topics they’re both into, like certain comics or something.

Kurahashi and Yada also can get caught up in their own conversations since they’re besties. Also they will roast the boys all they want, if they feel like it.

All around, they’re kind of a mediocre group haha

3. Nagisa, Kayano, Maehara, Kataoka, Ritsu

Woah I LOVE this combination of students

I couldn’t help but add Ritsu here hehe. I also like the idea that she’s kind of attached to Kataoka in the beginning, considering all their moments together in canon.

Nagisa and Kataoka act like parent friends, as usual. They’re the ones who wanna work diligently and just get things done.

Maehara and Kayano are the more lenient ones haha. They’ll claim that they have low attention spans. Both Kayano and Maehara much prefer labs and getting to do cool science stuff, at least. 

Also!! It’s good that they’re in this group because they’re social types who can reach out to other groups and get help/answers from them ^^

Kataoka, sighing: “Well, Maehara, at least you have a talent for networking, I guess.”

Ritsu is in between the lenient side and the diligent side. She’s very good at science and can do her work very well!! But sometimes she gets swayed by Maehara and Kayano’s fun attitudes and doesn’t concentrate haha

Kayano keeps getting flustered whenever she’s sitting right besides Kataoka haha. Bonus points if their arms brush or she has to lean over her or something.

Also best believe there’s lots of Big-brother-Maehara and Little-brother-Nagisa moments

4. Kanzaki, Hazama, Yoshida, Muramatsu, Terasaka

So...this is basically just AU where Kanzaki joins the Disaster Squad lmfao

Hazama, Yoshida, Muramatsu, and Terasaka are already besties, we know this. They’re probably totally used to working together.

Enter Kanzaki. A newcomer.

Lmao I don’t think she’d be totally friendly at first. I think she’d be polite but distant, and barely speak up unless they were discussing.

Sgsjhakdj who thought putting the squad together was gonna lead to productivity, they’re probably gonna create so much chaos lmao

Something definitely explodes at least once.

They’re dealing with an acidic chemical and literally the whole class manages to not get burned, except for Terasaka. 

Yoshida voice: “dude you had ONE job”

After a couple classes, Kanzaki breaks out of her shell more and more, and she gets pretty chill with them.

She’s closest with Hazama, and they like to roast the boys at times. Also have random literature discussions that drive Terasaka crazy. “Can y’all not? Like this is literally physics class?”

The squad teasing Yoshida about his crush on Kanzaki whenever he blushes or stutters talking to her

Idk why but I really like the idea of a Kanzaki and Muramatsu friendship

5. Hayami, Okuda, Karma, Chiba, Okajima

AWKWARD

THIS IS SUCH AN ODD GROUP LMAO

My bestie Nao made a post on them before which I love

And yeah...I don’t have much to add lol.

Chiba and Karma definitely join forces to insult Okajima at some point

Okajima kind of constantly digs himself into a grave with stupid comments. He almost dies after pointing out how Karma and Hayami act like cats

Okuda doesn’t have to carry the group that much since they’re all fairly smart for the most part. But if you want verified answers, then yeah definitely check in with her

6. Sugino, Fuwa, Hara, Sugaya, Itona

I think this is a really cute and funny group

Sorry, couldn’t resist adding Itona mainly because Hara is in it, and I would love their interactions in a schoolwork-group setting

Tbh?? None of them are very sciency lmao, so they’re that one group you always see in irl class that are very lost. And they’re super vocal about how confused they are adjkhjda

Sugaya, yelling across the room: “Can someone help us? Please?”

Hara takes the reins as leader but more in like a “getting everyone organized and harmonious” way

Sugino takes the charge in the actual lesson work and lab stuff, but he really shouldn’t lmao. I love the boy, he’s a talented genius in so many ways, but he leads them to chaos

Fuwa surprisingly isn’t as vocal in these groups as she usually is. In fact, it’s a little concerning how quiet she- WAIT FUWA ARE YOU REALLY WRITING FANFICTION IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR LAB

#fuwagotexposed

Itona, as usual, is around to make blunt and sarcastic comments that are in no way helpful. If you voice this to him, he will insult your intelligence even more while still looking adorable

He especially comes at Sugino and Sugaya, who feel very attacked. Like?? WHAT DID I DO TO YOU ITONA?

I feel like...while the group descends into confused chaos, Itona just watches with blunt criticisms. Then in the very last seven minutes of class, he takes over and finishes the assignment with 100% accuracy

Sugaya: “YOU LITTLE BASTARD GENIUS-”

Sugino: “WHY DIDN’T YOU DO THIS EARLIER?”

[macchiatooru]

ᴬⁿ ᵃˡˡ⁻ⁿⁱᵍʰᵗᵉʳ ʷⁱᵗʰ ᵗʰᵉ ³ʳᵈ ᵍʸᵐ ˢqᵘᵃᵈ?

With Kenma? And Lev and Hinata? Absolute College AU vibes? Despite my doubts about the productivity, I definitely need this. It’s around 1AM as I type, and I literally have three papers to finish, with one due tomorrow. HAHAHAHAHA. (I wrote this note last night, so it’s not entirely applicable now, but well- I have to submit the second tomorrow and the third the following day... I hope HAHAHA)

Note: If you’re also up at such ungodly hours and want to add to this when you’re stuck with a paper too, or a lesson, or something, go ahead! If you want to modify something, don’t hesitate to say it!

The situation, for example, is that you’re writing a paper, and you don’t know how to continue it anymore. Luckily, you have enough options to kill the time until your brain is working properly again. The apartment―whoever owns it, maybe you guys were sharing or had connecting ones or were neighbors or whatnot―would literally look like, I don’t know, a convention? It’s like there are different stalls with different activities. Take your pick!

Tsukishima’s Corner:

I can imagine that he has this set-up in the far end of the living room where he has a table against the wall and a chair with a blanket on it

And he always has a drink with him, whether it’s a soda or an Iced Americano. (that just gave me Yoongi vibes ahhh my heart)

Of course, he has his headphones on. Not surprising.

He’s pretty calm when he does his schoolwork, and his focus is just wow

So, don’t expect him to pay attention to you that much. Again, not surprising.

If you have an actual question though, I think you can ask him!

He’ll help you out, but be wary of the sass and teasing.

It’s highly possible for him to annoy the shit out of you before you guys solve the problem, btw.

If you have chips with you, he’ll take some without asking permission smh but he’s so idufhsdbkfhda can you really say no?

You can get back at him by repetitively calling him “Tsukki”.

“Cut it out.”

“No can do, Tsu~ Kki!”

Emphasize! the! syllables! because he probably lowkey thinks it’s kinda cute

Unless he doesn’t and he throws the blanket at your face to shut you up

Don’t annoy him when he’s in a bad mood, okay?

He’ll really appreciate it if you give him space on those days

But he’ll also appreciate it so so so much if you’re the one who hands him his usual drink.

Despite being the person who could really rile you up the most

He’s actually nice... in his own way!

Lev and Hinata’s “Quiet” Pile of Pillows:

What am I even saying?

There’s nothing quiet about that part of the living room.

Lev and Hinata like studying in their “own kind of comfort”

And that is with their “study” blankets―they have separate ones for sleeping―on the floor and their pillows on top.

They study with the TV on

A series on Netflix is playing the entire time.

Nobody minds, really, because for some reason, most of you can study with some noise in the background. Those who can’t, however, just listen to music on their own.

They have hot or iced chocolate―depends on their mood―made either by you, Akaashi, or Kuroo.

You never asked Bokuto to do it again. Never again.

One time, he made the mistake of giving the “kids” coffee, and well, was that some night.

Lev and Hinata have common classes, so they work on some of their assignments together.

Expect them to be very excited when they get something right and very frustrated when they can’t understand what they’re doing.

Probably just a spot for you to take a quick break, maybe lie your head down on Lev’s favorite pillow to annoy him.

It’s not because he doesn’t want to share, but because you just took it right out of his lap.

They’ll be really happy kiddos if you join them! Please give these babies the attention they need.

Also, it helps to give them snacks to shut them up.

Bokuto’s Spot on the Couch:

That became his permanent spot after Akaashi sent him there because of that one time that big baby reaaally got on his nerves.

He has a pillow supporting his back as he leans against an armrest, legs stretched out in front of him and laptop on his, well, lap. HAHAHA sorry

He also likes working with the TV on, so it was a suitable place for him.

Bokuto’s drink would either be a can of soda or a protein shake.

Keep your phone on standby.

You have to take a pic of the pouty face he makes when he doesn’t get something.

He’s so cute he can have my heart-

“Akaashiiiii~ Why won’t you help me out?”

Akaashi would remind him that not only was he a year higher, but he also had a different major.

*cue Bo’s emo mode with matching droopy hair fml he’s literally so cute*

He gets distracted easily because he never puts his phone on silent

Probably chats with Konoha idk

Or gets carried away watching game highlights.

He already startled all of you a few times.

“OOOOOOOOOOOH. DAAAAAAAAAAAMN. THAT WAS SO GOOD.”

“Bokuto-san-”

If you choose to go to him, he can’t really help you with the paper you’re writing.

However, he gives THE BESTEST HUGS!

I think a lot of us agree that he’s a walking heater, so getting a hug from that beefy boi? Especially when it’s cold?

H E A V E N

Or that’s just me being biased, but is it really just me?

I love him.

Kuroo’s Kitchen Kounter:

Now, I’m definitely sure I’m being biased because- I mean- JUST-

One of the kitchen counters faces the common living area where everyone is spread out.

Imagine walking from wherever you were previously just staring at your laptop with that constant 132 words plastered on the corner of the screen and you’re well-aware that it has to be 2000 by tomorrow

And seeing business-related major Kuroo, sitting on a stool, immersed in his work, Excel sheets and documents being the only inhabitants of his laptop screen?

I’m literally giving myself away I-

He has glasses on and he’s tapping the end of his pen on his chin and at this point I’m hyperventilating

THE FACE HE MAKES WHEN HE CONCENTRATES

From time to time, he would swivel the stool around, take a sip of the black iced coffee he always brews at night, and eat whatever snack was available (e.g. chips, popcorn, sandwiches, instant noodles, sometimes asks Bokuto to make another protein shake, etc.)

He doesn’t really listen to music and can easily drown out the noise on his own because he concentrates so much.

You can always count on him to entertain you

Because despite the amount of focus he puts into his homework and problem sets, he also wants any excuse to tear his eyes of his screen.

He’s good at papers, so he can help you with that in the best way he can

Also asks if you would like to take a break and grab a snack with him

And can be a flirt if he’s in the mood, but when he’s tired, he has a soft and sleepy smile (except he’s not really sleepy because of the coffee, he’s just not putting that much effort)

Although he will annoy and provoke you while the two of you are on break

He’s the best person to cry to when you’re really stressed out.

I want him.

Akaashi’s Atelier:

He literally owns the dining table, his work neatly spread out.

I can almost imagine him studying architecture

But nah I guess he just really likes practicing how to capture anything and everything he can observe

And by capturing, I really mean that there’s a pile of photos there somewhere.

Afterwards, he draws them, paying attention to every detail.

He finishes schoolwork before any of you do.

His concentration surpasses that of Kuroo’s, no joke.

You can’t disturb him when he’s working on his academic requirements, so come back later when he’s sketching the hours away.

If you want to do your paper beside him though? Go.

His concentration is not only top tier but also contagious.

He’ll share the dining table, but only to you and, occasionally, Kuroo.

Bokuto? Only if he’s super emo.

Akaashi’s really nice!

He’ll initiate a conversation with you if you’re taking a break and he’s just on his sketchbook or experimenting with graphic design or something.

If you want to see a passionate but shy Akaashi, ask him what he’s working on.

I just know his eyes will literally light up.

He might be drinking tea, mint tea?

Water most of the time, but he always smells like mint and fresh laundry ahhh be still, my heart

Go to him if you really want to be productive and not get distracted by anything else because his eyes and the way he’s so into what he’s doing might actually be what distracts you

He is the epitome of grace under pressure, such a beautiful human being ha ha ha I wish

Kenma’s Den:

Well, what did you really expect?

Nah, kidding.

Kenma’s the only one in his room because he’s probably streaming.

His audience is mostly up at night, so yeah.

He definitely has ramen, chips, and soda

Which he’s willing to share with you as long as you don’t mess his game up don’t try I swear

Tbh, it’s actually really comforting to stay in his room especially when you’re really stressed out.

You can rest your eyes and take a quick nap.

He knows that he should wake you up after fifteen minutes, so don’t worry about sleeping through the night without finishing your paper.

He’s so sweet please

It’s so comforting to hear his fingers tapping away, a literal lullaby that gets you every time.

At some point, some people probably caught you slipping under his duvet IT WAS YOUR FIRST LOWKEY SCANDAL HAHAHAHAHA

Which lasted for just an hour because Kenma’s viewers knew him enough to know what his facial expressions meant

He definitely can’t help you with your paper. Such a busy boi.

But if he’s in the lobby that’s what you call it, right? of whatever game he’s playing, he’s willing to listen to your rants.

A quiet listener, but you know that he genuinely cares about you.

Massage his shoulders if you can! He likes that.

───── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *. ☪ .* :☆ﾟ. ─────

background photo by NeONBRAND on unsplash

[elianthvia]

7 Reasons Why I Quit

(only for a little bit)

It has, alas, been another few weeks since I posted. I have an excuse for my unpunctuality: I've been spinning non-stop like a top. The conclusion of the last Zoomester and the start of summer are to blame. I have seven partners in crime.

Culprit 1: Puppetry Workshop

Towards the end of the year, DTI (Design Thinking Initiative), in collaboration with the Theatre Shop, hosted an in-person puppetry workshop where a small number of people could participate per covid protocols. In-person events were few and far between this semester, so of course I rushed to sign up. The workshop ran for about 2 hours on three consecutive Mondays. We met in the theatre shop inside Mendenhall Center for Performing Arts.  

The first day we made shadow puppets (and mine was a bee); the second day we made hand puppets (mine was a ... cyclop ghost king?); the third day we made marionette or string puppets (I attempted to make a teru teru bōzu, but everyone thought it a ghost). I had a lot of fun trying different fabrics, re-learning how to use a bandsaw, and magically joining things together with the help of a hot glue gun. (Side note: Polymer chemistry is the magician behind the scene, and I will be learning more about the science of hot glue guns in the polymer class I am taking next semester!) The workshop was surprisingly not as popular as I anticipated, maybe because people were busy as the semester came to a close. The good news is that DTI will be running the workshop again in the fall so more people will get to participate.

(Is she a ghost or teru teru bōzu?)

Culprit 2: Spring Piano Recital

I did not expect to attend a live concert this semester, but I was invited to the spring piano recital as a "special guest." It is a habit I developed while working as a concert crew at Sage, to sit outside the Sweeney Concert Hall and listen to the rehearsals after I finished setting up the stage. That day I was going to do homework outside the concert hall while waiting for my performing friend to finish. The piano instructor spotted me and asked me if I wanted to join. Disbelieving in my good luck, I accepted the invite. About ten students were scattered in the almost empty concert that felt sad and lonesome, but soon music filled the air. I thoroughly enjoyed every performance. Lots of Chopin were played, but my favorite one is Rhapsody in Blue which just entered the public domain this year. All pieces are about or more than a century old, which is not a surprise, but refreshingly, there is a piece by a female composer, Amy Beach, whose granduncle co-founded Bates College. You can find the full program here.

Culprit 3: End of Classes

The end of classes was epitomized by professor-resembling pixels on our computer screens bidding us goodbye. Usually professors would plan something fun for the last day of classes, virtually as well. 

I remember last semester my Multivariable Calculus professor changed his virtual background to a wall of donuts, explaining that during the pre-pandemic times he used to bring a box of donuts for students on the last day. This semester in Mathematical Methods for Physicists and Engineers, we explored the applications of Fourier Transform by looking at the velocity of a star and detecting the number of planets around it. Our last Circuit Theory lab was in person, where we got to listen to a song/piece of our own choice through the low pass filter and the high pass filter pictured below. The professor handed out prizes (cool items she accumulated in conferences) to students to reward them for their participation in the pre-class trivia games. I received a mini glow moon. In addition, our circuits professor left out end-of-class fun packs with origami papers and stickers outside her office. Our last Organic Chemistry lab was also in-person, where each lab group presented their experiments and findings (through a projector rather than Zoom screen share!) My presentation group decided to dress up for this special occasion after a long year of virtual school. Lastly, for Organic Chemistry, we played organic chemistry jeopardy in our last lecture.

With all the professors wishing you a happy summer, you start daydreaming about the sunny beach and breezy wind. Oh wait, you still have final exams to take. All in three days!

Culprit 4: Final Examinations

This semester we had a three-day final exam study period (or reading period) when professors are not allowed to assign any homework or set deadlines. Right after the reading period is our final exams. Smith is known for its flexibility when it comes to exams thanks to its Honor Code system. Many exams are self-scheduled. Some are open-notes, and some are untimed. In a normal year, students go to Seelye Hall to print out and take the exams when they feel prepared. 

For the classes I am taking this semester, I had three hours to take my Math Methods final, a whole day to take the Circuits Theory final, and the entire finals period to take my Organic Chemistry I final. Besides the exams, I had several other writing assignments to turn in. I was very fatigued at the end of the semester, so even though I only had three exams, I struggled to muster up mental energy to study. To make things worse, I got my second Pfizer shot during the reading period and had a pretty bad reaction. As a result, I asked the class dean to give me an extension on an exam, which was generously granted, and I was gratefully less overwhelmed.

Culprit 5: SmithCycle

The finals are now over, but my vacation didn't start yet. I am staying on campus for a few extra weeks to work for SmithCycle. SmithCycle is a program that collects, sorts and redistributes gently used dorm items students donate in the move-out process at the end of each school year. It gives purpose to items of reusable value and creates a more sustainable campus. In the past week, we have collected hundreds of bags (no exaggerations!) of items. Besides clothes, books, school and dorm supplies, some of the unexpected items include coffee makers, brand new water filters, and a monitor. One of my coworkers commented that first-years shouldn't have to shop clothes hangers again while they were going through three boxes of donated hangers.

The winter clothes we collected are going to the International Students and Scholars Office. They have an event called Winter Clothes Closet every fall where international students "shop" for free to help them get accustomed to the New England weather. School supplies will be moved into the Common Goods Resources Center which CEEDS hopes to launch in Fall 2021 (very exciting!). I cannot plug SmithCycle enough. If you are an incoming first-year, visit the Common Goods Resources center before you head to Target! 

I have always been interested in sustainability and renewable energy and want to get more involved. When I saw the SmithCycle worker position posted on Workday, I immediately applied. Every SmithCycle worker's job varies. I am mainly responsible for washing and drying the linens and blankets. When waiting for the washer and dryer, I help with unloading the van that circulates between houses to pick up bags of donations. I also help with sorting. Pictured below is the inside of Scott Gym where all the items are currently stored.

Culprit 7: Summer Housing

As college transitions into summer, students who are staying on campus for some part of the summer had to move out of their spring housing assignment into their summer housing. I moved from Chapin, the house in central campus, to Capen, which is on the periphery of Smith. I know Chapin and Capen sound alike, but they are very different houses location-wise and personality-wise! To make up for its distance to the academic buildings, Capen House has its own garden, Capen Garden. The garden a gorgeous place many current Smithies are missing out on. There is a mini fountain, hedges, a garden temple, a plant arch, and a bizarre owl statue. Look at the last picture of the garden in this blog, and you will agree with me that the Paradise Pond is overrated.  

Built in 1825 and acquired by Smith in 1921, Capen House is named after Bessie Capen, the second woman to be admitted to MIT. She taught chemistry at Smith College. Fun fact: Bessie Capen was once the associate principal of the Mary A. Burnham School for Girls, now Stoneleigh-Burham School; I went there for horseback riding lessons during my first year at Smith. Small world, right?

Case Closed

Thanks for reading this long-ish explanation. I hope my tardiness in delivering this post may be justified by the causes above. To compensate, I will write about my other summer plans and updates in the next few weeks. Stay tuned! Meanwhile, enjoy your summer!

[milkybunbuns]

bodyguard - miraculous ladybug

w/c:1.1k

warnings: none

summary: In which an unordinary school girl finds herself being assigned to watch over Adrien Agreste by none other, the famous fashion designer, Gabriel Agreste after an agreement to help the super villian to get the ladybug miraculous and cat miraculous.

a/n: When I first drew up my idea of a humming bird Kwami, I thought I was really original until I found another humming bird kwami artwork on reddit and a humming bird miraculous story on A03. Also I lost inspiration and motivation for this so I just left it at where I lost motivation :p

Y/n, head over to the car, from now on, you’ll be attending Adrien’s school to make sure he is kept safe at all times”, Gabriel Agreste directed you, without looking up from his screen. You quickly saluted and slipped out of the room, scampering over to the car where Adrien’s body guard after school was waiting to drive you over. A few days ago, you were watching the news when a new villain called Hawkmoth had appeared on the screen, clearly after the miraculouses.

Honestly, at first you couldn’t care less, but it was no time until you wanted to help the so called Hawkmoth out, just for the adventures and fun, no ulterior motive since there was nothing in your life you weren’t satisfied with. And finally, after extensive research, you had found out who was Hawkmoth and he had gladly taken you up as an apprentice after a few tests to make sure you weren’t working for ladybug or cat noir. He presented you with your very own miraculous, the hummingbird miraculous, said to have come from one of the many destroyed miraculous boxes and could only be worn by those who were young. You vividly remember, as you had lifted the white box’s lid gently, Hawk moth’s eyes staring intensely at you, a burst of rainbow colours exploding and a kwami emerging. She had introduced herself as Colibri and after a basic run over of the powers that came with this, you were ready to start your apprenticeship.

“Everyone please settle down and welcome Y/n L/n”, Ms Bustier smiled gently as you stood stiffly in the center of the room. Adrien seemed to have no idea of you being his new body guard..

You waved, “Hello, I hope we can all be friends?”

“Of course, you’ll make plenty of friends in no time! Please take a seat at the back”, Ms Bustier looked down at her clipboard, a flash of realisation passing her eyes, “Oh! And Adrien, Mr.Agreste has requested for you to sit next to Y/n in order to continue attending school.” The said boy quickly got up and grabbed his tablet of the table, of course, not without giving his friend a sorry look. You could feel the burning gaze of two students, but you paid them no mind, they were coming from a girl with blue pigtails and one with a blond ponytail. As soon as the blue haired girl realised that you had caught her, she looked away in rage, but the blonde haired girl kept staring, until she finally got caught out by the teacher. “Nathaniel, please move down to Ivan or Nino.”

Adrien sat himself down beside you and attempted to interact with you, only for you to send a harsh glare his way and point at the board where Ms Bustier was busy explaining some literature work. “Pay attention Adrien, your father didn’t allow you to attend school only to mess around and not pay attention”, you frowned at him, to which he sheepishly smiled and got back with his work. For the rest of the lesson, he didn’t try to interact with you which was a good thing for you, and you were able to concentrate on the lesson. It wasn’t long before the bell had rung, signalling lunch. Everyone hastily rushed out of the classroom, but Adrien, who was taking his sweet time packing his bag and you could see the same blue haired girl peeking through the windows. The Dj looking guy was also waiting for Adrien.

“Yooo, dude, what’s up? I’m Nino, Adrien’s best friend!”, Nino grinned, raising his red cap with his fingers.

“It’s wonderful to meet you Nino, I’m Y/n, Adrien’s body guard.” The exchange was short, but by your few words he could tell you were almost just as stoic as Gabriel Agreste, or you just took your job seriously.

Here you were, embracing your new job, standing outside the bathroom waiting for Adrien. It was only then that the same blonde haired girl came strutting up to you, a girl scrambling to keep up with her behind her, carrying stacks of books. “Who do you think you are?”, with every word she jabbed at your chest, “Getting all close with my Adrikins”, she sneered, “don’t try steal him from me, not that you’ll be of any competition anyways. I mean look at your clothing style! That’s so out of trend, probably from some department store. Disgusting.” The other girl quickly nodded in agreement, poor her..

“I do know who I am. Adrien’s bodyguard and unless you would like him to be put in danger, leave me alone, or I can’t guarantee what will happen with you next darling”, you grinned mischievously, brushing past her shoulders gently as you leant towards her ear, examining the way beads of sweat trickled down her face.

“Ugh, whatever! Sabrina! Let’s go!”

“Ah yes Chloe!”, they strutted out of the room, more like Chloe strutting and Sabrina struggling to follow.

“Dumb kids...”, you muttered under your breath, spotting your kwami give you a disapproving look. The door creaked open, Adrien popping out, “hey? Everything good? I heard Chloe.”

“It’s wonderful to know that you associate her with trouble.”

“Wait! You got it wrong, it’s not like that!”

“Hmm, you sure?”, you bent over backwards, staring at him before bending back and dusting off imaginary dust on your hands. “We should get going Adrien, class is going to start in 5 minutes.”

“Alright”, he trailed after you and to both of your surprise, the court yard was empty. A notification came up on Adrien’ phone, the two of you leaning in to watch.

“Don’t be bemused, it’s just the news! Lady bug is at the Eiffel Tower, fighting what appears to be a very similar looking person to her. We advise that everyone should stay inside as we watch this fight unfold. Where is Chat Noir? Has he been captured? Stay tuned for more!”

“We’ve gotta get you to safety Adrien”, you quickly ushered him back into the locker room, opening up a random locker and shutting it on his face despite his protests.

“What about you!?”

“I’ll be fine, it’s my number 1 priority to keep you safe, now stay in there and I’ll come back to get you when it’s all over.”

With those words, you ignored his words, running into the bathroom to transform so you could help get rid of one of the pesky heroes to make the job for Antibug easier. Your kwami,  Colibri, was completely unaware of your evil intentions, thinking that you were going to help ladybug. Your h/c hair was let out as a white body suit adorned your body, rainbow coloured ribbons wrapped loosely around your arms and legs and a purple jewel in the middle. You also got a white face mask to hide your identity. Wasting no time, you jumped out of the window, using the ribbons on your arms to bring you towards the Eiffel Tower, along with the aid of your wings which were the same kind at your kwami’s.

[sparklyaxolotlstudent]

I got bored inspired today and decided to wite the Wackynette Story of “HawkMoth is” where Marinette does a presentation about why and how Lila is secretly Hawk Moth (Her assignment was to do tabloid news)

Also got inspired by @Rarity36 comic about the same thing, thank you!

semi salt, but not really.

-

Hawk Moth Is…

Or the Dangers of Assigning a Tabloid Report to Very Smart Students

The day started ordinary for the Class of Miss Bustier. Today lesson was on News and how they can be shared. To make the lesson a bit more fun, after they had covered all of them, the teacher had decided to assign each pair of student to investigate a current event and make a presentation in the style of said event. Lila immediately asked Alya to be her partner.

“Oh, we can dress up as journalists and make our presentation as something worth of a Newspaper!”

“But Miss Bustier” asked Marinette spoke up. “There are 15 of us, and the assignment is on pairs… one of us will be left on its own”

“Oh, don’t worry Marinette, I’m sure whoever that is can make a wonderful job on their own!” replied Lila with fake sweetness. Of course that with her claiming Alya, it was highly likely that Marinette would be left on her own. Marinette just glared at her. “Don’t get mad at me, I’m only joking!” Lila added with more fake sweetness. Alya giggled.

“I’ll be sure to make things fair. For starters, I’m making the pairs” she looked around the class, who groaned. “And I’m also assigning what kind of media will each do”

Miss Bustier took a small glass bowl from under her desk, along with a hat; both seemed to be filled with papers.

“Now, I’m going to take out your names from this bowl to make the pairs so everything is fair. No changes or substitutions are allowed, all pairs are final” she grabbed the hat. “And this hat has all the different media we saw, to make everything fair, it will be also random”

Marinette was one of the last chosen, and she was paired with Juleka, to work on a tabloid. Lila snickered, and Alya gave Marinette her condolences for having to work on “fake news”

At the end, only Adrien, Lila and Chloe were unpaired. Marinette felt a bit bad for hoping that Adrien would be on his own, but then a Christmas Miracle happened…

“Only three people…” Miss Bustier took one of the papers left “Adrien with” Marinette held her breath, as did the other two girls. “Huh… Markov? I don’t remember putting his name here…”

“No charges or substitutions allowed, all pairs are final” Markov played a recording of Miss Bustier. She just shrugged.

“Well, I did say that. Adrien, you’re with Markov. Lila and Chloe, you’re the last pair”

The two girls looked at each other, mouths agape. Even with Markov lacking a face, they could swear he was grinning at them.

“Good luck on your presentation” called Marinette to Lila and Chloe after the day was over.

Working with Juleka was a blast, even without taking in account that they also worked on her room, which meant Luka was present sometimes. They actually came to the realization that working on a tabloid would be easier than what their classmates had gotten, as it meant that they would only need to think on something current, and then lie their asses off in a sensationalistic way.

So of course they choose the most unbelievable thing they could, and went from there.

-

The day of the presentation came, with Chloe and Lila presenting something worth of a news show, and that was obviously made by professionals that Chloe’s dad paid. However, they forgot to cite their sources, so Miss Bustier had to take off some points of their grade.

“Marinette and Juleka are next, their theme is a tabloid”

The two girls stood up from their respective seats. Like Chloe and Lila before them, they were dressed in pantsuits that no doubt Marinette had designed, Juleka with her a dark purple that almost seemed black, with a textured fabric that looked like giant feathers, Marinette with a soft pink one that it took the others a double take to realize the blazer was simulating a skirt. Even Chloe seemed impressed.

“Yes, yes. Hello everyone, as you know, the Tabloid is a type of newspaper that is smaller, and covers more sensationalistic stories, celebrity gossip and such, most of their stories are dubious or outright fake.”

“They are famous in the states for reporting Bigfoot and UFOS, for example”

“So today, our news is the most unbelievable thing we could think of!”

Marinette pressed a button on her tablet, and the screen behind them appeared, it looked like the cover of a tabloid, with sensationalistic views talking about monster sightings, Andre the Ice cream man being secretly a spy, Luka being a vampire and other nonsense the girls could think of. The biggest font and the main news red “We discovered the identity of Hawk Moth!!!!”

“First of all, we want to thank Nathaniel for taking time of his own project to help us with the illustrations for ours”

“You’re welcome!” said the boy, who was also wearing a dark red suit, also designed by Marinette. Kim, his partner, was equally dressed, with his vest and pants being a weird shade of brown.

“Without further ado…”

“EXTRA, EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!” yelled both girl at the same time. Marinette pressed the tablet again, and the screen changed.

“Exclusive news, ladies and gentlemen! We have discovered the identity of Paris Number One Criminal! The one and only Hawk Moth!” Juleka said quickly in an excitable voice that everyone found uncharacteristically of her. Miss Bustier smiled, knowing that Marinette was being a good example for her.  Everyone gasped, forgetting it was tabloid news.

The next screen had a very cool illustration of someone transforming into Hawk Moth. Everyone immediately knew who it was meant to be.

“WHAT? Marinette!” Alya protested, surprising no one. Except maybe Lila. “That is slander! There is no way Lila is Hawk Moth!” she turned to their teacher. “Miss Bustier, you can’t possibly allow Marinette to continue!”

“Actually, it was my idea” said Juleka, much more meekly than before. Miss Bustier frowned and looked sternly at Alya.

“We are supposed to do a tabloid, so of course we are doing something bogus and ridiculous. Besides, Lila knows we are only joking” Marinette winked at the rest of the class, who all laughed making Lila furious

“They are right. Statistically speaking, tabloid news are very likely to be fake news, or greatly exaggerated ones.”

“Thank you Max” said Miss Bustier. “Girls, you may continue with your presentation”

“Thanks!” Marinette pressed another button, and it was Lila as Volpina. “As we all know, Lila was akumatized the first day she started class with us, and…”

“That proves she’s not Hawk Moth! She can’t be akumatized and be hawk moth at the same time!” Alya practically jumped out of her seat. Miss Bustier looked at her disappointed. Marinette looked at her, but ignored her comment.

“As we all know, the power of Volpina dealt with Illusions, and one of her illusions was, precisely, that of Hawk Moth appearing in plain sight”

“Now, you are wondering, why is that important?” several classmates nodded. “Because up to that point, we had only seen Hawk Moth’s head made of butterflies back on the Stone Heart incident, and we didn’t see the actual Hawk Moth until much later, on Heroes day” Marinette pressed a button, and an image of the head of Hawk Moth made of butterflies appeared, along with a blurry picture of hawk moth the day of Volpina, and another higher quality picture of Heroes Day, everything with their respective credits.

“So, I ask, how did Lila, AKA Volpina know how Hawk Moth looked, when no one else did?”

The class breaks in whispers. They seem to forget again that it is supposed to be fake news.

“But Hawk Moth is a guy! An adult man!”

“All the better to cover herself by pretending her alter ego to be of other gender and age. Something she can do as Volpina”

“And speaking of Volpina… do you know where she took that name from?” Most of the class shook their head. “Well, interesting fact! Adrien Abigail Agreste…”

“Please don’t use my middle name”

“Duly noted. Adrien Agreste brought a book from home the same day that Lila appeared…”

“Oh, and what did that book contained?”

“Excellent question Juleka! The book contained information on the Miraculous and their past holders, and it was actually the property of Adrien’s father, Mister Gabriel Abigail Agreste”

Adrien just head desked.

“And Lila grabbed the book for inspection. Adrien almost caught her, so she just threw the book on the thrash”

“That makes no sense, how would I know what it contained? Heck, how do you know?” Alya did notice that Lila had not denied that she had taken the book.

“My house is in front of the park. I saw you guys and thought I would approach and say hi.”

“Didn’t you say you were eavesdropping?”

“They were talking when I approached them, so technically, yeah.”

“Wait… you recovered the book from the thrash? You were the one to return it to my father?”

Marinette blushed a deep shade.

“What? You mean that part is real? Dupain-Cheng is the reason you returned to school?”

“Well, I’m not saying Lila did took my father’s book, but it disappeared after she showed interest in it”

“I can’t believe you’re accusing me of…”

“We’re not, this is a tabloid, remember?”

“And continuing, Lila going abroad after that…”

“AHA! If Lila wasn’t here, it means she couldn’t have attacked! Seh was too far away!” Alya again almost jumped from her seat.

“I would like to remind everyone that we all went to space thanks to an akuma”

“Swimming in space was the best”

“So, Lila going abroad and then returning coincides with the appearance of Mayura, which can only mean that she went to search for the Peacock Miraculous”

“Right and I’m Mayura too?”

“That’s info for another article”

Kim raised his hand.

“We’re not making another article”

Kim lowered his hand, disappointed.

“So, like we were saying, it’s highly suspicious that Lila joined the class with a 90% akumatization rate”

“Actually, it’s 87.5% akumatization rate if we count Miss Bustier”

“We counted the doubles”

“Ah”

“Why would someone join the Akuma Class, if not for gain intel about how to get more akumas”

“Not to mention the other teachers and students that have been akumatized too. Our school is a focal point for akumas… almost like the akumas came from inside the school!”

Everyone went quiet, looking at Lila with dread. Even if Marinette and Juleka were joking, they were raising very fair points. Lila seemed to be contemplating this.

“And we all have been akumatized at one time or another.” Juleka eyed Marinette. “Well, most of us. And some of us have witnessed other people becoming akumas. A common thread is that Hawk Moth knows exactly what the person wants due to his empathy powers. And Lila is a good friend who always knows what to say to make us feel better. Coincidence? Or an innate ability granted by her miraculous?!”

Lila was wide eyed looking at the two in the front. Everyone else was whispering again.

“Of course, one of the most common symptoms post akumatization is the loss of memory of what one does as an akuma. So it stands to reason that Lila might not know that she is, in fact, Hawk Moth, especially if she akumatizes herself each time so Hawk Moth takes over"

“Any questions?”

Literally everyone raised their hand. Even Miss Bustier and Markov, despite him not having hands.

“Great! That concludes our presentation.”

“Excellent job girls, you get full marks!”

Marinette and Juleka high fived each other, and went to take their respective seats. Everyone kept staring at Lila. Nathaniel slided away from Lila so much he actually fell from his seat, landing on his butt. Lila was staring at her feet, having a bit of an existential crisis

“Adrien and Markov, you’re next”

[cosplayswitzerlandaskblog]

Unlike last time Hetalia got a new season, the response has not been particularly positive, and I’m seeing a lot of twisted feelings towards the show and the fandom to a point where it seems long time content creators are stepping away from it. I know anyone still active who follows me either are or were fans of Hetalia, so it should be relevant for all y’all.

As a fan who never fell out of the show, I find the response sad though healthy, and even if I know I ghosted you all on tumblr (sorry) because of time constraints and mental health, I still make the occasional CMVs. Fact is, I do not let go of special interests very easily. It seems a lot of you all started watching the show at 10-14 years old, where I myself was a bit older – 17 – and had grown a bit more. Long story short, my Naruto phase was your Hetalia phase, and no, it’s not pretty. You’re young and stupid and don’t know much critical thinking and make mistakes, and you have to forgive yourself for those mistakes, especially when the content you consume is associated with the real world in a sensitive subject.

But after seeing all these posts explaining all the bad we see from Hetalia, I wanted to make a post explaining what I learned from it – all the good that can come with a show like this if you stay aware of perspective. I am not excusing all the bad that came with it, for WWII is a serious event in history that should never be forgotten nor made fun of, but here goes:

I went from a ‘war-is-cool’ history buff to one who truly delved in and learned the intricacies of history, being fascinated with the ‘hows’ and the ‘whys’ as well as getting an excuse to look at the histories of nations which I’d never otherwise be interested in, and I know a lot of other people in the fandom did the same. This is how history should be known, as that is how we can truly apply it to the real world.

I learned to separate people from their countries. To give an example that’ll hit close to much of tumblr, when I started Hetalia I hated Americans with a passion because of the road “you” had put the world on, and I considered all y’all dumb and bad as a cause of it. Getting that excuse to take an ACTUAL look at how your nation functioned and what communities truly hid behind the borders, I learned instead that your government is corrupt as shit, your society is rigged against you and you have been forced to stand by and watch as chaos happens. It got applied to the world as a whole, where I considered other nations being as dynamic as my own, with people both good and bad, and the actions of the nation is even less of a reflection of the people in the cases of corrupt democracies or dictatorships.

I separated from Colonial world views. I was never actively racist, brought up in a proper home, and already before Hetalia I fiercely protected the rights of Muslims who are often mistreated in my nation and tried to hear them out when possible. But I was a Westerner, and even if the nation I came from had barely participated in invasions, I had learned to consider my culture ‘correct’ and native and African cultures ‘primitive’. While the journey was long, a step wise process of realizing things like there was nothing inherently ethically wrong eating dogs or partially incubated duck eggs, only in how the animals were acquired, that cultural progress is heavily dependent on perspective and that fucking genocide of native peoples still happen in this damn century, Hetalia was the stepping stone which gave me the interest in other nations to expand my world view. I probably ain’t done here – I have a whole life of outside influences to unlearn – but I’m further than most people I know in my near surroundings, and I’ve even managed to move my parents who originally taught me to respect people of all kinds in the first place.

I learned Nazis were people. This is a conversation which often comes up here on tumblr, and the demonization Nazi Germany and its government directly allows actual Nazis and fascists like Richard Spencer a free pass because they look groomed and proper. Until then, I’d simply assumed no one was ‘stupid enough to be a Nazi’ because of the atrocities of WWII and therefore looked at the world naively. Realizing how little true support Nazis had during WWII and similarly anyone could end down that pungent rabbit hole, I became careful of what I excused on social media and allowed myself to doubt seemingly normal people if their behaviour was alarming – such as the police man who is supposed to be a damn ‘hero’ of society.

I learned how to deal with material sensitive to others. A common problem in the fandom has always been the cosplaying and portrayal of Nazis, especially at cons and the like, and in a similar vein – I did blackface once because of Hetalia. The horrible thing about this is that blackface is immensely common in Europe – at least my own country – and blackface frequently happens at schools during ‘international’ events, where whole classrooms are assigned to portray a designated country. A whole of two times – in 6th grade as well as 2nd grade of high school – I was exposed to blackface as my class was given an African nation to portray – Somalia the first time, Kenya the second. No one, adult, teen or child, are aware of the history of race imitation in my country, but by the second time I was supposed to participate in dressing up as an African tribe, I’d understood the issue – thanks to Hetalia. My friend group of white, privileged, European teens discussed what symbolism was appropriate at cons or in videos – could we wear the Iron Cross? The Nazi flag? What if we burned it during the video? These thoughts are not usually a part of the mind of European youth, and I consider that a grave problem which leads to people making fun of ‘triggers’, downplaying racial issues and the like.

It offered me a means to make history personal. The biggest struggle for good history teachers and the reason we are often made to read and write letters from the periods we study is to make it seem real and get a emotional connection to these past, lost peoples. Hetalia offered puppets for me to place into historical contexts to make them truly real – the main driver pushing me away from mere fascination of war, since I suddenly felt the horrors of warfare through the characters that I loved. Things like Elizabeth I’s court, the conquests of Rome, the dissolution of the Kalmar Union, the battlefield of Somme, the invasion of America, damn slavery becomes different when something you already know is a part of it and you can see them in there. Hearing of people of the past should in itself be enough, and for the closest parts of history (WWII and afterwards) it always was for me, but we are human. We cannot understand the size of a billion, and we struggle understanding the lives of those living centuries before us, unless we are offered context.

I’m not blind to the issues of the fandom or the show. I was here for ‘the r*pist, the pervert and the p*dophile’, I know of South Korean and Chinese issues with the show, and I heard the gassing joke in the show’s dub and got nauseous from discomfort and anger. I’ve always been in the fringe of the fandom due to my social disabilities, so I don’t know everything that happened, but I’ve seen many racist OCs and disrespecting of historical sites. It’s not pretty, but I will believe these people, who were likely young, likely learned in time. And I may have been able to learn these things by other means, but not in the same way, and not through personal interest and research that’s helped me become sceptical and analysing of the world around me.

At its core, Hetalia is about watching a normal, nerdy guy learn how to draw, using stereotypic country personifications mainly from the perspective of Japan. It’s natural he chooses Japan, since he’s Japanese, and WWII is unfortunately the automatic historical event for most common people to focus on – but Hetalia doesn’t even solely focus on that, but is an amalgamation of vaguely correct historical situations played out by the characters, and often it is with the intent of comedy rather than the grimness often associated with historical settings which allows a wider audience than merely history nerds.

What I want you all to do is learn from your mistakes and forgive your younger selves for not knowing better. Maybe reflect on what you got from the show, rather than what you lost. A new generation of young Hetalians is likely coming with the new season, and us old timers might be able to help them avoid pitfalls if we stay around to teach them. The best of the show is compassion towards the people of the world combined and love of history, as I believe Hima wanted it – the worst is Nazi apologetics and racial stereotyping. We decide in what direction we take it, and what lessons we bring into the future.

TL;DR: As a lot of media intended for older audiences, Hetalia is a show which has to be watched critically, which makes it dangerous for young people to watch unhinged, but it also opens up for interest in the world beyond the borders you live within. We should be aware of the issues and learn from them, but in and of itself the show has a lot of good to offer in learning compassion for other nations and cultural groups.

[patandpran]

Magic in the Moonlight - A Saratine/Harry Potter AU

Summary: Tine accidentally ends up with Sarawat, the anti-social but popular Griffyndor Seeker, as his Potions Partner. They venture into the Forbidden Forest together to retrieve some ingredients for a potion and find something more than magic under the moonlight.

Word count: 4300 (I know. I’m sorry)

It was the first day of official classes and Tine was late for Potions, as per usual, and he hoped that Fong had saved him a spot so that they could be partners for the term. He sped into the classroom at full tilt and the rest of the class looked back at him like he was completely insane.

“Tine Aekaranwong. How lovely of you to show your face.” The Professor addressed him dryly. “Please find a seat so that I can continue on with the lesson.”

Tine searched for Fong and saw that Ohm was sitting next to him. Fong gave him an apologetic look and Tine made a mental note to never trust Fong with something as important as seat saving. He scanned the rest of the classroom and saw only one open chair available next to the very last person he wanted to sit with: Sarawat.

They had been going to school together for six years and Tine was still terrified of his classmate. Sarawat was the Seeker for the Gryffindor team, had a fan club of students that worshipped the ground he walked on and Tine had never once seen a smile on Sarawat’s face. They had never actually had a conversation but Tine knew that it was going to be challenge to sit next to Sarawat without feeling on edge every minute he was in Potions class. Tine internally groaned and made his way to the table.

“Uh, hi.” Tine greeted as he sat down next to Sarawat.

Sarawat looked at Tine from the corner of his eye and then shifted his attention back to the Professor. Tine figured that was the best possible reaction he was going to get out his broody classmate so he left it at that.

“Your first task will be to collect natural ingredients from around the campus to concoct a Potion of your own design.” The Professor explained and Tine bit his lip with worry. As interesting as the assignment sounded, he was not especially good at Potions and ingredient knowledge so he hoped that Sarawat had some semblance of experience in the area.

“You have this class to decide what kind of Potion you would like to make so that you can start collecting your ingredients as soon as possible. This will be a practice of trial and error so I suggest that you use your time well.” The Professor droned on.“It will also likely require some work outside of class time so make sure that you arrange that with your partner before you leave class today. All right, get to it.”

Tine made a point of glaring back at Ohm and Fong who had already launched into an animated brainstorming session. They ignored his gaze but he grumbled nonetheless before turning back to face Sarawat.

“So….” Tine mused, pulling at a loose thread on his grey sweater to distract himself from how awkward the situation already was. “What should our Potion do? I guess that will determine the ingredients, right?”

“I’ll handle it.” Sarawat explained shortly. “I’ve seen how strong your Potions skills are and I don’t exactly want to cause any bodily harm to us or any classmates so just let me do the work.”

“Oh.” Tine muttered, surprised that Sarawat had ever paid him even more than a shred of attention, even though what he technically said was an insult. Tine continued, “But I can help! I’m pretty good at research so…. why don’t we at least decide what our Potion will do together? Otherwise the rest of this class is going to go by pretty slowly.”

“That’s fine.” Sarawat shared and pulled out some parchment, ink and a quill. “I prefer silence anyway.”

Tine watched as Sarawat began to scrawl some ideas down onto the parchment and prepare a rudimentary ingredient list based on some of the ideas that he had written down so far. Tine was shocked to see how easily this came to the Star Seeker. Tine had never been strong at academics himself but the fact that Sarawat was both good at sports and was strong in his classes just didn’t seem fair.

“I want to help. I don’t want you to do all the work and I just take credit. That doesn’t sit right with me.” Tine murmured earnestly and Sarawat paused his writing to lift his eyes to meet Tine’s.

“Okay.” Sarawat seemed to be surprised that Tine was protesting the arrangement. “What kind of Potion do you think we should make then?”

Tine mulled it over for a moment and recalled that Sarawat had quite the knack for music. This was a common interest that was shared by them, so Tine shared, “Why don’t we do something that can manipulate or alter the way that people experience music?”

Sarawat’s eyes widened in a way that made Tine wonder if he was surprised by the strength of his idea. Sarawat bit his lip momentarily before muttering, “Synesthesia… we could find ingredients that would stimulate other senses so that people could, in theory, ‘see’, ‘taste’, or ‘smell’ music.”

“Whoa. That sounds perfect.” Tine responded with a small smile as Sarawat began to flip through his Potions textbook, leafing through to likely start to think of some important ingredients.

Tine watched as Sarawat began to take notes before Sarawat paused and looked up at Tine with a glared, “Are you just going to sit there or are you going to make yourself useful? Look for any ingredients that alter state of mind or affect the senses.

“On it.” Tine answered and took out his own textbook.

It looked they were going to make a better team than originally anticipated and Tine couldn’t help but feel relieved by that.

++++++

“Can you pass me a pumpkin tart?” Fong asked Tine and Tine grabbed one absentmindedly and chucked it in his friend’s direction.

Tine and his friends were finishing up dinner in the Grand Hall when Tine realized how late it was getting. He was supposed to be meeting Sarawat at the edge of the Forbidden Forest in half an hour. They had spent the last few days compiling their list of ingredients and one of the flowers that they needed only bloomed in the Moonlight of a certain part of the Forbidden Forest. Sarawat had received special permission from the Groundskeeper to access the Forest afterhours as long as they kept their visit brief.

“Earth to Tine!” Ohm reached over and poked Tine in the head. “Fong just asked what you and Sarawat are doing for your potion assignment?”

“I promised I wouldn’t tell.” Tine explained and Fong and Ohm exchanged a suspicious look.

“You and Sarawat make promises now?” Fong asked, an eyebrow raised in accusation.

Tine pushed himself up from a seated position before wrapping his scarf tightly around his neck as it was likely to be a frigid evening. He had heard his friends and others whispering about he and Sarawat over the past few classes but he had chosen to ignore them. It was true that Sarawat connected with few others in classes aside from Man and Boss but he and Sarawat weren’t friends, they were just Potions partners.

“If you’re jealous, why don’t you just say that?” Tine countered sassily.

“We’re not jealous.” Ohm stated plainly. “Everyone just finds it a bit odd that you and Sarawat are chummy all of a sudden. Sarawat isn’t known to tolerate people very well. His Potions partner last year was Earn and even she barely got a word out of him!”

“Well, I guess I’m just a bit more charming than Earn.” Tine argued before pulling on his cloak.

“You’re really not.” Fong shared with a smirk and Ohm laughed in agreement. Fong continued, “Well, anyway, if he feeds you to the Centaurs tonight, remember that we tried to warn you.”

“Wat isn’t evil.” Tine shared before pulling out his wand. “He’s just always in a state of brooding.”

“Wat?” Ohm repeated incredulously, his eyes dancing with mischief. “Now you have a nickname for him?”

“I’m going to walk away now.” Tine turned quickly and made a dramatic exit, likely earning himself even more laughter from Ohm and Fong but he didn’t care.

It took him a few minutes to get down to the edge of the forest and it made him wish that he knew how to apparate without leaving a limb behind. He hadn’t quite mastered the skill yet and it wasn’t worth the risk, despite it maybe saving him a few minutes.

Sarawat was humming to himself and leaning against a tree as Tine approached him from behind. Tine listened to the melody for a moment, wishing he knew a spell to quiet his footsteps as Sarawat actually had a lovely voice. Sarawat stopped as soon as he heard Tine and turned around to face Tine with an indifferent look in his eyes.

“Sorry it took me so long. My friends were giving me a hard time.” Tine blurted out.

“About what?” Sarawat wondered and started off into the forest, obviously wanting Tine to follow in his wake.

“Uh, don’t worry about it.” Tine watched as Sarawat disappeared into the shadows of the edge of the forest.

There was a part of Tine that wished he was a Gryffindor like Sarawat, where he could boldly walk into a potentially dangerous situation without so much as a bat of an eye but his Hufflepuff-ness definitely got in the way.

“Sarawat?” Tine called out as he walked into the trees, searching for his classmate. He took out his wand and whispered, “Lumos.”

A small light flickered at the end of his wand and he spotted Sarawat a few paces ahead of him with an amused look on his face. “Scared of the dark, are we?”

“I’m just being safe.” Tine muttered as he caught up to Sarawat so they were walking side by side. “But actually, yah, a bit.”

“I’ve always thought it showed much more courage to share what you are afraid of rather than pretending you’re not scared of anything.” Sarawat explained as they ventured deeper into the forest.

After that, they walked in silence for a while and Tine wondered if Sarawat knew where they were going. He hoped to goodness that he knew that way back to the castle as Tine had no sense of where they were or where they had been even 10 seconds before. Tine was surprised to find the quiet so comfortable as he was much more used to listening to Ohm and Fong’s constant bickering and babbling.

“So how do we harvest the MoonLeaf?” Tine questioned, swinging his arms by his side to amuse himself.

“Looks like someone didn’t do the reading I told him to.” Sarawat sounded like he was attempting to scold Tine but Tine could see a small smile on his classmate’s lips.

“Sorry.” Tine chewed his lip in guilt. “I got caught up in a game of Wizard’s chess with Ohm before dinner.”

“It’s not a big deal.” Sarawat responded as they slowed their pace. “We’re here already. I guess you will just have to learn as we go.”

They had stopped at the edge of a meadow that was blanketed in moonlight. Tine concealed his wand as the light was bright enough that he could see everything and did not feel so afraid anymore. Although, that could have also been because of Sarawat’s presence.

The meadow was full of a plant that Tine had never seen before, although he had never paid much attention during Herbology classes to begin with. The plant was not especially tall but the top had silvery leaves that stretched toward the sky as if it were reaching for the moon itself.

“It’s beautiful.” Tine whispered, completely in awe.

“It’s definitely more beautiful at night.” Sarawat explained as he made his way toward a plant. “During the day, the leaves are closed and it looks like an average weed that no wizard would bother even looking at but as soon as the moon comes out, it shows its true form.”

“I guess it’s almost like a nocturnal plant.” Tine remarked as he followed behind Sarawat.

“Kind of.” Sarawat said as he knelt down near a cluster of the plants. “Although that would imply that the plant is awake when, in reality, it is just an involuntary response to the moonlight.”

“Are you sure you’re not supposed to be a Ravenclaw?” Tine rolled his eyes at Sarawat as Sarawat took out his own wand.

Sarawat ignored Tine’s comment and beckoned with his wand for Tine to come closer. Tine got down on Sarawat’s level as Sarawat pulled a leaf out gently to show him. “You can tell that it is mature because of the spots along the edges. We need quite a few but you have to be careful about removing them or the plant will shut on your hand and I can say from experience that it hurts.”

Tine watched in fascination as Sarawat slowly twisted the leaf away from the plant and removed it. Sarawat nodded to encourage Tine to try and Tine pulled one out after a few tries before placing it in the collection satchel that Sarawat had brought with them. Sarawat smiled encouragingly at Tine and Tine felt his heart race at the reaction.

They harvested in silence for a while before Tine asked, “So… you’ve done this before?”

“I sometimes help my Father collect ingredients for his medicinal Potions.” Sarawat explained. “He is a colleague of the Groundskeeper which is why we got permission to come out here tonight.”

“Oh.” Tine murmured. “I see. I figured that the Groundskeeper was a fan of the Gryffindor Quidditch team or something which is why you got special treatment.”

Sarawat prickled at this and Tine immediately felt guilty for saying it. He did not know how Sarawat felt about his undeniable popularity but, based on Sarawat’s reaction, he was not very fond of how people treated him because of it.

“Sorry.” Tine moved to a plant further away to give Sarawat some space. “I wasn’t thinking.”

“Clearly.” Sarawat spat and Tine saw a scowl on his partner’s face. “We don’t have to talk. Let’s just this over with.”

It was Tine’s turn to prickle. It seemed like Sarawat had actually been slightly warming up to him but his iciness had returned so quickly. Tine felt a huge wave of regret flow through him but he was not sure what to say to make up for his misstep. If only he a had a Timeturner to go back just a few seconds to fix his mistake.

“I really am sorry.” Tine shared and paused his work for a moment. “I am sure people think they know you all the time and while it is completely your right to keep to yourself, I am sorry for making assumptions about you when I don’t really know anything about you.”

“I don’t just close myself off for no good reason!” Sarawat snapped and stopped harvesting as well, dropping the collection satchel to the ground. “I don’t need to be everybody’s friend. People whisper about me no matter what I do. They make things up about me and paint me to be this mysterious and unapproachable person but… Merlin, when you sat down next to me, I was so relieved.”

“You were?” Tine was shocked by what Sarawat was saying.

“You don’t look at me like you’re scared of me or want something from me.” Sarawat hung his head so the moonlight danced off the strands of his dark hair that fell across his eyes. “You don’t change who you are in front of me and you just treat me as if I was anyone else.”

“Is that a good thing?” Tine was not quite sure where this was going but it seemed like Sarawat had something to say so Tine wanted him to feel safe to do so.

Sarawat seemed to be pondering this for a moment before he looked back at Tine again and answered, “I think so… It makes me feel like I can just be myself in front of you without worrying about what you’ll think of me.”

“Well, I have to admit, I was a bit intimidated by you at first but then I got to know you a bit and,  well, you’re certainly not how people perceive you to be.” Tine ran his hands over the dewy ground of the meadow as expressed his thoughts to Sarawat.

Sarawat cocked his head to the side like a curios puppy, “How so?”

“You give off this troubled hero vibe where it either makes people swoon or be scared of you. Like they can’t possibly measure up.” Tine continued, hoping he wasn’t being too critical of Sarawat but his classmate seemed to be listening so he kept on sharing, “But I think you’re actually just so worried about what people think that it makes it hard for you to connect or open up… When, really, you have nothing to worry about because you’re basically the smartest, most talented, most handsome guy at Hogwarts.”

“Most handsome?” Sarawat repeated, seemingly completely surprised by the adjective.

Tine threw a small tuft of grass at Sarawat, hoping to distract from the blush that was currently on his cheeks. “You’re already popular enough, don’t let that go to your head now too!”

“I’m jealous of you, you know.” Sarawat began to gently collect leaves again, his eyes focusing back on the work. Tine stilled at this, “How could you possibly be jealous of a nobody like me?”

“You have real friends, Tine. People like you, for you.” Sarawat’s tone of voice seemed to waver slightly, as if he was becoming nervous. “Aside from Man and Boss, people just follow me around for no good reason. But people actually want to be your friend. They see how fun, kind, and open you are and want to be around you because you’re a great person. Plus, you’ve got a great smile.”

“You’re just trying to compliment me back.” Tine chuckled awkwardly. “You don’t have to do that.”

Sarawat stopped again and looked to Tine. “I know I don’t have to… but I want to.”

Tine suddenly felt as if the trees around him were closing in on him. The dizziness took over and he grasped at something to hold onto but, in doing so, pulled at one of the Moon Leaf plants a little too violently, causing it to snap closed on his hand.

Sarawat moved quickly, pulled out his wand and cast, “Relashio!”

The plant quickly released it’s grip on Tine but the damage was done. Tine held his wrist and winced at the pain as small droplets of blood began to appear where the plant had made contact. Sarawat knelt down besides Tine and inspected the wound. It was not very big but it was painful.

“Episkey.” Sarawat whispered and Tine felt a surging of hot and cold take over his hand before the wound began to close.

“I told you to be careful.” Sarawat accused, even though he looked quite relieved.

Even though the wound was healed, Sarawat kept his grip on Tine’s hand and maintained the proximity between them. Tine’s breath returned to normal but the same dizziness that he had felt before returned.

“I…” Tine murmured as Sarawat steadied him by putting a hand on his lower back. “Sorry. I don’t do well with blood and well, uh, apparently I don’t do that well with compliments either.”

Something that looked like a small smile was tugging at the edges of Sarawat’s lips as he pocketed his wand with his free hand but kept hold of Tine’s with the other. “We have that in common. Is your hand feeling any better? I wasn’t kidding about the Moon Leaf. Even with the healing charm, it’s going to take a few days until the stinging goes away.”

“I’ll be fine.” Tine stared at Sarawat imploringly, wondering why he was so drawn to someone who had basically been a stranger up until a few days ago. “… I think we make a good pair. Despite the danger and bloodshed we encountered.”

“That’s just a typical Tuesday for me.” Sarawat mused with a low chuckle.

The sound of Sarawat’s laugh was infectious and Tine couldn’t help but join in. “Well, I guess you are a Gryffindor, after all. I would much rather stay by the fire in the Hufflepuff Common room than try to save the world every other week.”

“That sounds amazing.” Sarawat sat down next to Tine and hung his head back so he was looking up at the moon, still absentmindedly grasping Tine’s hand.

“I could try to sneak you in some time.” Tine shrugged, attempting to sound casual. “But I guess that wouldn’t exactly be discreet if a bunch of younger students were screaming about you being there but I’m sure we could figure it out…”

“It doesn’t have to be in the Common room. I just kind of meant the idea of just being able to relax with friends, kind of like we are right now.” Sarawat started to pull at some leaves again gently, although it seemed like a harder task to accomplish with only one hand.

Tine registered what Sarawat was saying and muttered, “You want to be friends with me?”

Sarawat slowly turned his gaze toward Tine and lifted their linked hands together. “I kind of figured that was clear by now.”

“Oh… I mean…” The pain in Tine’s hand was slowly dissipating because of the comfort he found in Sarawat’s touch.

“Sorry.” Sarawat stilled suddenly and pulled his hand away from Tine’s. “I didn’t mean to make you feel weird. We don’t have to be friends, I just thought…”

Tine interrupted Sarawat’s rambling by asking, “Who said I wanted you to let go of my hand?”

Tine then boldly reached for Sarawat’s hand and interlaced them again before looking up to see a shocked look on Sarawat’s face. Tine leaned in somewhat, hoping he was reading the situation right and whispered, “See, even Hufflepuffs can be brave.”

Sarawat studied Tine’s eyes at a closer proximity and noticed the moon’s reflection in them. He couldn't help but feel like, in that moment, he could trust Tine entirely. He had never felt the urge to be so close someone and it terrified him more than facing any sort of Magical Beast (and he had battled many). It felt as if this meadow had removed them from their own timeline and they now existed on some sort of alternate plane of their own where it was just the two of them, sharing space and enjoy each other’s company.

Without a second thought, Sarawat brought his lips to brush gently against Tine’s. The contact reminded him of the first time that he had felt magic coursing through his veins: explosive, exhilarating and terrifying - all contained within one feeling.

It took Tine a moment to embrace the reality of the situation but, considering they were in the middle of the Forbidden Forest, he was sure more bizarre things had occurred. If he were to tell anyone the story of his kiss with Sarawat, he was sure that they wouldn’t believe him for even a moment but he didn’t care. He was here and now with Sarawat and while there was a small part of Tine that wondered how the hell he had gotten there, he didn’t feel like questioning it in that very second. Instead, he indulged himself and deepened the kiss.

There was a sudden rustling from the edge of the meadow that sent Sarawat flying into action. Tine watched fondly as Sarawat jumped to his feet, wielding his wand and adopting a protective stance that Tine would be happy to watch on a loop forever based on how intensely handsome it made Sarawat look.

“Wat, I think it was just the wind.” Tine remarked, his head still reeling from their kiss.

Sarawat turned around, the end of his wand lit up with a Lumos charm. “You just called me Wat… I don’t mind it.”

Tine grinned at Sarawat’s response as Sarawat pocketed his wand and made his way back over to Tine. It seemed like Sarawat was going to say something but then he went back to collecting the Moon leaves, as if their kiss had never even happened in the first place. Tine understood the reaction but was also quite disappointed that whatever had gone on between them seemed to likely to stay only in the memory of the meadow.

Tine used his one free hand to start collecting the leaves again, wondering how he was going to be able to sit next to Sarawat every day for the rest of the year without thinking of that kiss. It was just going to have to be something he lived with.

“You know, I wish there was some sort of spell to help me figure this all out.” Sarawat shook his head and seemed to be kind of frustrated. “That all just happened so fast and…”

“We don’t have to have the answers now.” Tine stated plainly, relieved that Sarawat wasn’t just going to pretend nothing happened between them. “In fact, we slow down and take things at our own pace. What is clear is that we make a good team… a Hufflepuff and a Gryffindor… who would’ve known?”

“Potions Partners. That’s a good start.” A moonlit grin spread across Sarawat’s face and Tine felt his breath hitch. The sight was more magical than anything else Tine had ever seen in the Wizarding World.

Whatever this was, it was sure to be an adventure…

[salthaven]

Make a Change P15 (an Explanation and Summary)

Part Fifteen (An Explanation and Summary)

So, as I recently posted, I don’t plan to continue this story any longer. As much as I loved writing it, I also...fell out of love, I suppose. I just don’t have the time, passion, or motivation to try forcing myself to write it anymore, and it’s unfair to you guys to have to accept a sloppy second, something thrown onto a document for the sake of a word count and an update. I want to write stuff I’m proud of, and that just wasn’t happening with this story.

That said, one reader asked for a summary, so that they could get some closure. Luckily, I have some notes that I took as I planned the story and started writing it, and I thought you’d like to see some of them. This includes three things: 1. The schedules for most of the main characters 2. The heroes I was planning on bringing in and 3. All of the ideas I had for “Who on Earth will Marinette end up with?” (This was a doozy.) Along with this, I want to talk about other pairings I had in mind. 

With that all said, let’s hop right in!

The Schedules:

I really planned out their schedules, just so I could start figuring out who the Quantic Kids would be. I had a general idea in mind: Each student at Collège des Arts would have to take their four core classes (History, Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science), a language, and then their last period would be a two hour block that focused on their artistic talent. I set it up this way so that I could integrate the Quantic Kids into Marinette’s life. (Along with this, I made it so the whole school had lunch after fourth hour, so that the morning had four hours of classes, and the afternoon had three. I note this, because some schools separate lunches based on fourth hour, so that there is an A, B, and C lunch. I...did not feel like dealing with that, and I wasn’t sure how French schools do it but I doubt it’s like that.) 

Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s schedule: 

1. History (right next to Félix, later on stuck between him and Adrien) The original plan never had Adrien’s arrival, it was supposed to be a moment of comic relief where Marinette and Félix were just kind of half awake and barely conscious at any given time during first hour. This is why their history teacher, Mr. Marcel, was either wide awake or dead asleep. I thought it’d be a cute moment to show off the dynamics of their exhaustion or energy, depending on the day. I didn’t show this off nearly as much as planned, however, because I shifted my focus soon after.

2. Language Arts (with Allegra). A nice, calmer class seemed perfect for Marinette, who’d probably still be waking up. Allegra is calm and classy, so it only made sense to pair the two up for the second hour.

3. Science (Claude’s here!) Loud and exciting, just like their class seems to be, it was a perfect pairing. 

4. Math (with Allegra and Claude) I wanted to show off Allegra and Claude’s...chaotic dynamic. 

5. English (with Allan) Marinette wants to be a fashion designer, and she had to take a language, so she thought “hey, fashion is pretty big in America, let’s learn English”. (It was also the only class I could think of that she and Allan would take...more on that later.)

6. Fashion Design. Pretty self-explanatory.

Allegra: 

1. German. Allegra likes opera music, and wanted to mimic the sound of some German singers accurately. 

2. Language Arts (with Marinette, as mentioned above)

3. Science (a different teacher than Marinette and Claude, though. What a pity) (Also I apparently called it ‘physics’ in my notes and I just noticed.) 

4. Math (With Marinette and Claude)

5. History

6. Choir (She’s a singer.)

Claude Mercury:

1. English (It was for the theatre, but also for Shakespeare, but more accurately….for Shakespeare’s more inappropriate humor.) (and memes)

2. History

3. Science (with Marinette) (Lots of explosions and fires were planned)

4. Math (With Allegra and Marinette) 

5. Language Arts

6. Drama. He was just a simple thespian lad who wanted to have fun and make friends, what can I say?

Allan:

1. Math

2. Science

3. Language Arts

4. History

5. English (with Marinette) He likes hip hop and rap, and wanted to learn English rap, too. He, like Claude, also loves their memes, and I planned to have a few moments where he explained some to Marinette. 

6. Dance. Mainly hip hop, although the boy can break dance a little bit

Félix Agreste: 

1. History (with Marinette) He’s tired in the morning, but good at reciting dates. Again, had a lot more planned for this.

2. Math

3. Spanish. (“Come on, guys, it’s logical. It’s one of the most spoken languages in the world.” -Félix, probably.) I also planned for Félix to already know English. I wanted a cute chapter where he tutored Marinette, only for Claude to start dramatically monologuing because ‘why do you help her but never help me? The betrayal, Fe, the betrayal!’ 

4. Language Arts

5. Science

6. Music (he’s a piano boy in my heart) (maybe also good at violin) (a classy young man) 

Adrien Agreste:

1. History (with Marinette)

2. Language Arts (with Marinette)

3. Science (with Marinette)

4. Math (with Marinette)

5. Chinese (with Marin- oh, wait, we’re done with that!) This class, along with his next, is another reason Adrien relaxed so quickly at the school. By taking Chinese at school, he was able to convince his father to stop the at-home lessons, clearing up some of his schedule.

6. Music. Same as above, playing piano at school meant he didn’t have to do it at home so much.

The Heroes:

“But salthaven, you already introduced the heroes! Envision and Viperion, remember?” Haha, as if those were the only guys I had planned?

Yeah, I had more. Four more.

I wanted the Quantic Kids to be heroes. I had three of them for sure chosen, names and Miraculi assigned to them. (Allegra was my only problem child, but I’ll explain that below.)

The first was supposed to be Allegra. I was going to make her the Fox, with the name Mélodie. I’m pretty sure that was her original hero name, back during the PV stage of this show, and I wanted to pay an homage to her inspiration. But then Félix got it, because I didn’t end up giving him the Cat (yeah, I was really salty when I started this, and I was planning to go the same route that I do in my ao3 fic, Of Patience and Pettiness, and take away the Cat from Adrien to give to Félix.), as Adrien learned from his mistakes. So Allegra waits, and Envision springs to life with Viperion.

Next would be Allan. Miraculous: Bee. Name: Mellifury, based on Mellifura (aka the Africanized Killer Bee) + Fury. He was supposed to be an unexpected storm. A dancer, he uses rhythm in a way that throws off opponents. Uses the spinning top like it's another limb, throws the game way off when first introduced. 

Then we’d have Allegra. After a while, I decided that the Rabbit would be best suited for her. Messing with timelines is a tricky business, but Allegra has a knack for details and organization that would leave her cruising through her tasks with some practice. While it’s nothing musical, it would be fun to see. Name: Cottontail. 

Finally, after an interesting fight that would cause Nathalie to lose the Peacock...Claude would step in. Bold and flashy, the thespian knows how to strut his stuff. But again, he’s a thespian, and theatre kids know when it’s time to hide in the shadows and stay unseen and unheard. With dark blues that can hide in the name and stand out in the daylight, Claude would become Le Paon, turning the tide and becoming a major help for the team. [At first, he dealt with some sickness, but after a talk with Ladybug, who in turn talked to Fu, the Miraculous was fixed and Le Paon could fight as easily as the rest.] He’d use sentimentals wisely, although he’d have a bad habit of monologuing as he created them. 

The Ships:

The moment we’ve all been waiting for. Our first question: Who the hell was Marinette going to end up with? Well, that answer changed throughout the story.

The first choice: Félix. I wanted Marinette to move on from Agreste...and fall in love with Agreste. It humored me, and I was in love with a bunch of Felinette one shots at the time. (And, again, very salty towards Adrien at the moment.) 

But then I redeemed Adrien. No problem, I thought. Marinette could choose between one of the boys...and the other would date Luka! (I mean, did you see the Instagram picture of Luka and Adrien. Luka with either Agreste would be cute, just imagine the musical moments they could have together)

But then I Akumatized Juleka, and Luka was right there...and I made Marinette fall for all three guys. So I decided “Hey, she can just date all three!” And so that’s the final choice, because I’m apparently a sucker for poly ships. 

But I mentioned other ships, didn’t I? So let’s talk about those!

First: Luka with an OC. Yep, I was going to bring in a new girl. It was actually going to be one of my friends, due to a conversation we had that went as follows:

S.H. (Salthaven): So I’m thinking that I’m going to pair up Félix and Marinette. Thoughts?

F. (Friend): Okay, but what about Luka?

S.H.:  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

F.: Well then pair me up with him!

So I did. Or I was going to...but then poly ship idea happened. 

As mentioned above, I also considered Luka with either of the Agreste boys. Whoever Marinette didn’t date. Again, couldn’t happen because I went for that sweet poly route. 

Finally: Claude and Allegra. What can I say, they act like an old married couple in my mind!

And that’s everything! Once all the heroes were chosen, and romantic confessions set aside, the Miraculous Team was going to gear up and take down Hawkmoth once and for all. Fun times, the end, we all get a happy ending.

So I hope that makes up for my rather abrupt end to this story. Thank you all for the time you put in, reading my writings, and I hope you enjoy the other works I plan to create! Until next time. <3

[snusbandxknifewife]

College Theater AU

Hey guys! I’m back with the first chapter of a new fic. It’s small and mostly setup, but I promise it’ll get more involved in later chapters. Hope y’all like!

~~~~~

Chapter 1

“How goes your bio homework?” Jude’s best friend, Liliver, asks as she looks up from her assortment of turn-of-the-twentieth-century magazines.

Jude snorts, turning her computer to expose the fact that she has four different Chegg webpages pulled open. It’s only a week into sophomore year and the general education courses required of her were already kicking her ass.

“Why aren’t you doing your homework? I thought you had calc three this year,” she muses unhappily, going back to Chegg’s description of plant cells and cursing the fact she wasn’t in upper division yet. She wanted to do finance, not biology.

“I’m getting ideas for Katherine’s costumes,” she smiles, running her fingers over the delicate pages of the antique magazines. “I want to be ready when I get given my budget.”

“Don’t you need to know who’s playing Katherine before you start planning her costumes?” Jude raises a brow.

Liliver sends her a you’ve got to be kidding me look. “You’ll be Katherine, you dolt. You’ve been the lead girl in every musical you’ve tried out for.”

Jude tried to hide her self-satisfied smirk, but she knows Liliver isn’t wrong. She’s always been involved in performing arts, ever since she and her twin, Taryn, were adopted by her half-sister’s father.

Her adoptive father, Madoc, had a love of discipline and success drilled into him during his early days as a marine. It’s something he’d worked very hard to pass on to his children. Jude was the only one who really took his insistence to heart.

She’d been in dance class since her adoption. She started pointe in ballet and heels in tap a year before all her peers. She started taking voice lessons when she was eleven and she was the first person to try out for her high school’s production of Little Shop of Horrors, where she’d scored the roll of Audrey.

Now in college, Jude is the head of the the theater club. Her freshman year, she’d met Liliver—who went by the Bomb, due to her insistence on making costumes as complex as explosives—and the two had become fast friends. Bomb loved theater because she loved costuming, and she loved having money to sew stuff outside of her costume design classes.

“Have you found where you’re going to buy the newsboy caps?” Jude asks, steadfastly ignoring her homework for as long as possible.

Insmire College’s College Players had voted last semester and decided, almost universally, to perform Newsies for the fall semester. Jude was super excited, because she absolutely adored the story, but Bomb was kind of upset. She said that the costumes were all far too similar for her to really shine.

“I’ve been trolling Etsy and EBay,” she says as she flips the page of one of her magazines—bought from one of the local antique stores. “I’m more concerned about the jazz and tap shoes we’ll have to buy.”

“Not everyone will need new ones.”

“How many people do you know with tap shoes that look like Edwardian boots?” Liliver fixes her with a tired look and she just raises both hands in surrender.

“Well we’ll just have to see,” Jude shrugs. “I’ve talked to the dance team captain and the instructors for the dance classes at the gym. Maybe they’ll convince some students to try out.”

The issue with doing theater at a small college like Insmire is it’s difficult getting people to actually try out. Especially guys. And, given that the entire show is about newsboys, it’ll be problematic if only girls go out. While everyone involved knows Jude will be the main girl, nobody knows who is going to be playing Jack.

“Maybe we can convince Ghost to go out,” Bomb offers.

Both girls share a look before bursting out into cackling laughter that fills their shared dorm room. Ghost, their stage manager and good friend, is called Ghost because he is famous for hating being seen.

“Roach wants to be Davey,” Bomb says, trying and failing to keep her voice disinterested.

“Are you two a thing yet?” Jude calls her out, grinning as her friend hides her face behind a magazine and groans in embarrassment.

Liliver tries to ignore her and go back to her costume research, but more gentle ribbing eventually gets her to admit that they texted a lot over the summer break, but they aren’t official.

“He said we’re both invited to the Pike party after recruitment week.”

“I can’t believe your boyfriend’s in fucking Pike.” Jude can’t hide her disgust. Of all the people to be in Greek life, especially such a seedy fraternity. Although Roach did get his name from his weed dealing connections, so maybe they just use him for drugs.

She can respect the hustle, getting rich off of selling bad weed to entitled trust fund boys.

“He’s not my boyfriend!”

“Yet,” she snorts.

Liliver makes a face, sticking out her tongue.

Jude rolls her eyes and goes back to her biology homework, having officially reached the point where she’s just ready to plagiarize everything and call it a fucking day.

“Do you have a boyfriend?” Bomb asks and Jude has to stop herself from vomiting.

She and Bomb met when they became randomly assigned roommates freshman year. Originally, Jude had planned on rooming with her twin sister, but that all changed at the end of senior year, when Jude found out—on Valentine’s Day—that her boyfriend, Locke, was cheating on her. With Taryn. She swore off guys then and there, saying she’d just focus on her schooling and find a boyfriend later.

“No, and I don’t want one,” she announces with a frown. “Too much work and not worth the payout.”

Bomb purses her lips and fixes Jude with a look that Jude dutifully ignores. She’s not in the mood to get into her dislike of guys right now, not when biology was already putting her in a sour mood.

Her phone buzzes and Jude looks down to find a canvas message from their faculty advisor and director, asking her to confirm the tryout dates and making sure that she’ll be there to help him keep track of all the paperwork.

She responds quickly, saying she’ll make sure that she and Bomb are both there, Ghost might even be able to make it for the Friday tryout date.

They have tabling for the next three days for the Insmire club fair, then they have two more weeks to get the word out about tryouts. Fall semester tryouts are always the worst, because it’s difficult to get freshman to come to club meetings in the first week or so of college, but Jude is hopeful this year.

Tryouts are the first week of September. She’s got so much work to do before then, but she’s excited. She has way too much to focus on, she doesn’t need to worry about her sister or her ex, and she certainly doesn’t need to worry about finding a new guy.

She’ll be just fine.

~~~~~~~~~

Tag list: @cardan-greenbriar-tcp @hizqueen4life @slightlyrebelliouswriter23 @thewickedkings @aelin-queen-of-terrasen @cheekycheekycheeks @queen-of-glass @b00kworm @doingmyrainbow @andromeddea @jurdanhell

[noodlerel]

miya osamu as your best friend  (≧◡≦) ♡

    ➢   you met osamu through a baking class during the summer break of sixth grade. osamu was amazing at cooking but he wasn't really that confident in his skills in baking.

    ➢   you first thought he was almost just like every other guy in the class; forced by their mothers to join. but to your surprise, he was more skilled than anyone there. he took his work seriously and would get the most positive comments from the instructor.    

    ➢   the first time you guys interacted was when you were asked by the instructor to find a partner and bake a cake. the scenario given was of a one-year old having a Lego themed birthday party.

    ➢   after the directions and conditions were given, many people in the class immediately approached osamu and asked if they could be his partner. you were about to ask someone who lived by your block to be your partner, but before you could even stand, osamu had already made his way through the crowd of students and now stands before you.

    ➢   "u-uh, hey, uh.. i know we've never acknowledged each other before, m-much less talk but would you mind being my partner? the way y-you design is really amazing and you get the most recognition out of everyone when it comes to d-design. i uh,, figured if we could-"

    ➢   you noticed that the boy wasn't really good at socializing because he would often hesitate and stumble upon his words. so you interrupted him to save him the effort and embarrassment.

    ➢   "yeah sure!"

    ➢   you swore you could see the relief in his eyes as you cut him off.

    ➢   "i'm (l/n) (f/n). but my friends call me (n/n). you're miya osamu right?" you continued.

    ➢   "h-how did you know my name?"

    ➢   "oh! i consider you the best in class and look up to you. it's only common sense to remember names of your rivals, right?"

    ➢   before he could reply to your joke, the instructor spoke. "enough with the chit-chat children! i need to hear the sound of the oven timers, not your bickering."

    ➢   osamu was really cooperative and would ask advice from you from time to time. he really admired your designs and would always listen with much interest whenever you geeked out about the importance of understanding what the client wants or about the elements of decorating.

    ➢   you and osamu were the first group to finish your cake. with the remaining thirty minutes left, you got to know each other more. and what are the odds when you both figured out that you were going to attend the same middle school? with that, you both promised each other that you would stay in touch even if you guys would be assigned to different classes and sealed it with a pinky swear.

    ➢   the day ended with a smile as the instructor gave nothing but positive comments on the cake you both made. "wow what amazing balance this cake has!" the instructor exclaimed. "i have to tell you, the flavor is out of this world. a beautiful, elegant, classy, stunning and simply fabulous work of art all wrapped up in a birthday cake of a lifetime. if there was a real client, they would be more than satisfied with your work. and not only did you make it look stunning, it tasted superb! you gave me everything i asked for and more!"

    ➢   you and osamu exchanged smiles and an awkward handshake before completely parting ways.

    ➢   the day finally came where you entered the gates of inarizaki high. you immediately went to check if you were in the same class as osamu. you used your finger and scanned the paper posted on the board from top to bottom. before you could finish reading, someone from behind of you spoke up.

    ➢   "hey (y/n), i checked your name and you're in class 1-A," the person behind you sighs and continues. "while i'm in class 1-B."

    ➢   you turned your back to see osamu with disappointed look.

    ➢   "samu!" you screamed and enveloped him with a hug. "i thought you forgot about me! i kept on sending you letters but you won't write back."

    ➢   "i-i'm sorry.." he said, eyes glued to the floor. he then lifted his gaze to the wall in front of him. "i was busy with volleyball practice." he continued, without stuttering. if only you could've seen the look in his eyes when he mentioned volleyball. he didn't hesitate. he didn't second guess. he was confident.

    ➢   you immediately pulled away from the hug to see a blushing osamu that couldn't look you straight in the eye. "WHAT!? you play volleyball?"

    ➢   but then again, even though osamu was clearly confident in his skills in volleyball, he couldn't really be confident around you─the only friend he has─he couldn't help and feel cautious. he didn't want to lose his only friend. "y-yes.."

    ➢   "woah! that's so cool!" you didn't know much about the volleyball─much less know the technical terms of the players.

    ➢   "s-so.. do you wanna walk to cl-"

    ➢   "'SAMUUUUUU!!" a guy screamed from the right side of the hallway. both of you looked at the direction of the scream and saw a boy that LOOKED THE EXACT SAME WAY as osamu but with a brighter hair color.

    ➢   "oh uhm,, (y/n) this is my twin, atsumu."

    ➢   TWIN!? A TWIN!? osamu never mentioned a twin. and yet there they both were. personalities; not similar to any extent. but then, you noticed. his twin, atsumu was holding a volleyball on his right hand. ah, so there it was. a link to all the differences. they shared the same hobby. no, wait. hobby? no. it was slightly different from a hobby. slightly? no. it was VERY different from a hobby. when osamu told you he was busy with volleyball practice to reply to your letters, he didn't stutter. he didn't hesitate. his tone was confident, different from the way he usually spoke to you.

    ➢   "ohayou (y/n)-chan! 'samu has told me all about you." he beamed. "i didn't know this deadpan brother of mine had the word 'friend' in his vocabulary."

    ➢   "uhm (y/n) wait a minute.." osamu said as he drags his brother to the corner. you nod in response.

    ➢   when osamu talked to his brother, his tone and facial expression changed. it was more stern. more astringent. more tonic. "look. (y/n) is the ONLY friend i've ever made, okay? and YOU don't mess this up for me." osamu said sincerely. this was the first time atsumu has seen his brother this genuine for something─for someone rather─other than volleyball, cooking and their grandma.

    ➢   little did they both know, you were listening. you felt extremely happy. happy that osamu considered you as one of his friends.

    ➢   osamu didn't wait for his brother's reply and walked away. "i'll walk you to class (y/n)."

    ➢   and ever since that day, osamu would always visit your class to pick you up so you could eat lunch together. you would both eat lunch at inarizaki's rooftop. and every thursday, osamu would bring a meal he cooked especially for you. and every friday, you would bring something you baked especially for him. there are certain days where atsumu would join both of you on the rooftop and the twins serve as the taste tester for the experiments you would do with baking.

    ➢   you and osamu would hang out at your house during weekends, only because he didn't want atsumu to disrupt your bonding time. every other weekend would be osamu teaching you how to cook or you teaching him how to decorate.

    ➢   and the other weekends would be osamu practicing volleyball. he begged you not to watch their matches─let alone practices─but you would force him to bring you at least once a month. you got along with the members real well, which gave osamu more reason not to bring you.

    ➢   everytime you would forget to bring pads to school, osamu has got you covered. everytime you would have a hard time in understanding a lesson in school, osamu has got you covered. everytime you would feel down, osamu has got you covered. everytime you feel like the world is against you, osamu has got you covered. everytime you were in rock bottom, osamu has got you covered. and you were the same to him too. you were always there for him too. and he appreciated this. he would do anything─ANYTHING─not to lose the sibling dynamic and friendship you had.

    ➢   through the years, you've gotten to know osamu really well. you saw his first match for inarizaki. his first win. his first loss. his first bench. his first failing grade. his first girlfriend. his first heartbreak. his first call to the principal's office. and like you, he saw many of your firsts too. and you knew, the friendship you have won't go missing anytime soon.

THIS IS MY FIRST HEADCANON :D  GIVE THIS SOME LOVE PLEASE AAAHHHHHH