#my other classes i need to put work into. like asap

[k00sblogger]

Summary: When you score a job as a maid after being fired, you're surprised to find out exactly what your new job consists of.

Warning: Unprotected sex, dirty talk, oral sex, overstimulation, pwp.

Pairing: boss!jimin x fem!reader

A/n: no part 2, sorry pookies

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"Y/n.." janae whispers, softly rubbing your back in an attempt to console you as you sob into your hands.

Today sucked, no better way to put it. You'd been working as a bartender for a long time now, the perfect job to make some cash while you complete culinary school.

Amongst the students in your class you were the only one not working as a server in some upscale restaurant, but you liked it despite what your peers said. The busy atmosphere, having to be quick with the drinks, it was all enjoyable to you.

All good things come to a end clearly. You'd never had the greatest relationship with your manager, but you wouldn't have expected him to fire you for showing up late once.

For fucks sake you were the perfect employee and the moment you slip up he fires you, it just didn't feel right. Nonetheless, you were too upset and wore down to look into deeper into it.

At least not tonight.

"Why don't you come work with me?" janae's soft voice rips you out of your troubled thoughts. The proposition can't help but make you laugh.

"As a maid? No thanks." you didn't mean to be rude, and in no way were you hating on what she did for work. You just didn't think the job was for you- you barely liked cleaning your own apartment so why the hell would you clean someone else's?

"Do you want a job or not?" she says, blunter than ever. The realization makes you groan and sit up in your bed. You didn't have forever to look for a job, so maybe her offer is what you need.

"Fine." you utter, making a mental note to go on a intense job hunt so you can quit this maid shit as soon as possible.

Janae smiles and begins grabbing her belongings, slipping her jacket over her arms and slinging her purse over her shoulder. "Well, i gotta get goin but i'll make a few calls and let you know about it."

You nod, giving her a soft smile to let her know your thankful that she's willing to go out of her way to do this for you.

She sees herself out after that- and you flop back down on your bed, getting comfortable under the satin sheets. You close your eyes feeling anxious, not really knowing what you've gotten yourself into.

You didn't have time to worry though, you needed a job and thankfully- you might just have one already.

______________________________________________________

THE NEXT DAY:

"So good news!" janae announces, swinging your door open and prancing in. You crawl out of bed with a scowl, rubbing at your tired eyes.

"Remind me why i gave you a house key again." you mutter, and she laughs at the comment as she flings some papers onto your nightstand. "So look, my boss referred me to a friend of his.." she says, getting straight to the point.

The announcement makes you raise your eyebrows, setting your hands on your hips as you listen to her. "They live near each other and he says the guys been looking for a maid."

You sigh, you weren't fond of the whole maid idea anyway but now the only option is working for a guy neither of you know?

"So now i'll be alone, perfect." you respond rather sarcastically.

Janae takes a seat on the bed, tapping the papers she threw down. "Look i know it's not what you wanted but why not give it a try? Taehyung wouldn't recommend one of my friends to just anybody."

She sounds so assuring you suppose that you might as well give it a shot. "What's that?" you ask, glancing at the papers under her hand.

"Oh! A copy of his contract." she says, eagerly handing it over to you. You take it from her hands, scanning over it without actually reading. "He wants an interview with you asap, he's looking to hire someone on the spot."

Holy shit, that was.. perfect.

"Don't forget it to read that beforehand- i gotta go!" she says, standing to her feet and rushing out of the house without another word.

You don't bat in eye at it, assuming she's running late for work as always. Punctuality was definitely not her strong point, but clearly it's not too big of a deal for her boss.

You set the papers down again, beginning to get ready with a huge smile on your face.

Maybe things weren't so bad.

....two days later

*knock knock knock* You stand at the tall door of the mystery man's mansion, hair combed to perfection and clothes ironed to perfection.

You had janae send you his contact and you'd messaged him about a interview time but that was about it- so you didn't really know who exactly you were meeting.

You look up with hopeful eyes as the door opens, and your shocked to see someone who looks to be.. your age? You weren't sure why you expected it to be some old prick.. guess you judged a bit too quick.

"Hi- I'm y/n." you say with confidence, extending your pretty hand for a handshake. He takes it with a smile, giving a firm shake before he steps to the side to allow you into his home.

"Names Mr. Park- but you could call me jimin." he says, and you nod- glad that you can finally see who you'll be working for.

"I perfer mr. park" you say with a smile, it just seems more professional. He nods and walks you over to his offices, pulling out your chair so you can take a seat.

"So, i heard you lost your job?" holy fuck, you were gonna kill janae. She didn't have to tell her boss the extent of everything.

"Yeah..uh- yeah.." your voice trails off and the silence is intense and awkward to say the least, terrible way for him to start the damn interview.

"No worries." he says, chuckling as he takes a seat in the chair across from mine. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want." his voice is soft and warm, easing the tension in an instant.

You thank him, and from then on the conversation just flows. He asks you about your interests, availability, your specialties, and after he's finished you feel that it went pretty well.

"So have you went over the contract?" ...of course you didn't. You were at fault for this, janae had given it to you two days ago and you suppose you just forgot about it.

Obviously, there's no way you were telling him that after the interview had gone perfectly fine. You were almost sure that you'd got the job.

"Of course- i just.. i left my copy at home." Lie. You hadn't read any bit of that contract, it was just so long- you didn't feel like it.

"It's all good, i have a copy you can sign." he digs through a drawer behind his desk, searching for a moment before placing the paper in front of you along with a pen.

"Thank you, sir." you mutter, signing the paper immediately. You still couldn't be bothered to look at it- especially not after you told him you read it all.

"Alright." he says, a smile on his face as he takes the paper from your hands and places it into a file folder. "The jobs all yours, glad to have you."

He extends his hand this time, and you shake it with pleasure. "Great, ehm- when's my first day?"

"Tomorrow, 8AM sharp." well you damn sure weren't expecting so soon, but you weren't doing much else so it was no problem.

"Perfect, see you then." he sees you out to your car, assuring you get into the car and drive off safe before he walks back into his house.

Nothing like your old boss you think, but you like it.

______________________________________________________

THE FOLLOWING DAY:

You groan as you finally lift from the floor, throwing the wet towel to the side as you take a short break. You'd arrived at eight am just as he asked, and it was 12 now.

You wondered how he expected you to clean this whole place on your own, after all it was no where near small. You'd been here for hours already and hadn't even finished the bottom floor.

If he wanted this done in a timely manner he definitely was gonna have to get some more help around here.

Luckily, he wouldn't be home today. You could clean on your first day in complete and utter silen-

The door creaks open before you can even finish your thought, and there he is in all his glory. You mean that literallt by the way, he's adorned in different types of jewelry and a nice suit that was probably from a luxury brand you'd never even heard of.

"Y/n." he says, greeting you quietly as he sets down the bag in his hand near the front door. So much for cleaning up the clutter there.

"Hi-" is all you say, giving him a soft smile as you continue wiping down the counters. You couldn't let his presence here distract you, this was already taking you a long time being alone.

"Everything going okay?" he asks, waltzing into the kitchen like he owns the place. (He does)

"Yeah, i haven't gotten to the upstairs yet but i will soon-" you say, biting the inside of you cheek anxiously. Hopefully he didn't think you were moving too slow, this was hard work for one person.

"It's all good." he mutters, grabbing a coffee cup out of the cupboard next to you. You divert your attention back to cleaning, this time focusing on the stove

The crumbs left in the little crevices make you roll your eyes. No wonder this guy needed a maid, he clearly couldn't clean to save his damn life.

You walk around him to open the cabinet under the sink, bending down carefully aware of the skirt you put on. It wasn't the best thing to wear to clean but you were in a rush this morning.

"You're not in dress code." you hear his deep voice behind you, and stand up to turn and face him. His eyebrows are raised and both of his hands are resting on the freshly cleaned countertop.

"Dress code?" you question with an awkward laugh, but your smile disappears when you see he's not finding anything funny. In fact, he's staring at you blankly, without a word.

"Um, we didn't speak about a dress code." you say, and you know you're right. You remember the conversation very well, and he never mentioned anything about what you should wear.

You just assumed you could wear what you pleased.

"It was on the contract." he says, crossing his arms as he stares at you. You curse yourself for lying, why didn't you just tell him you didn't read his contract??

Whatever whatever, this is your time to come clean.

"Oh yes- i..i just forgot!"

he doesn't reply.

"I'm sorry."

he still doesn't say anything.

"Do you want me to go?"

he's making you feel stupid.

"Mr.park?"

He finally lets out a sigh and moves closer to you, scanning over your outfit. "Bend over."

You weren't sure you heard him right. "What?" you say, not sure of what he's asking if you. And so he repeats himself- "Bend over, y/n."

You turn around and try to look over your shoulder, convinced there's something on your back maybe. "Is there something there?" you ask, innocent as ever.

"No, i wanna fuck you." he says it casually, as if he was asking you to get him a cup of coffe. Your eyes widen, practically buldging out of your head in shock. How fucking inappropriate could he be?

"Are you insane?" you rebuttal, looking at him as if he was crazy. Shit he was in your opinion, it's your first day and he's already coming onto you like some man whore.

He begins to laugh at you, making your face scrunch up into an annoyed glare. What the fuck was so funny? Who the hell laughs after being rejected?

"You didn't read my contract." he announces, and now you're confused. You didn't read it, obviously- but how would he know that?

"I did it just-" he raises his hand, cutting you off without having to speak. "You didn't, because if you did you wouldn't be so fucking shocked right now."

He walks away from you afterward, and you stand in the kitchen dumbfounded as you watch him go into his office and come back out in a matter of minutes.

He returns with a file folder in hand, the same folder he stuffed the contract you signed into. The same contract that you payed no attention to and sure as hell didn't read.

He flings it onto the counter, the same way you did when janae first handed it to you. You desperately wished you would've just read it as soon as she handed it to you.

"Read it." he demands, it wasn't a question. You oblige him, moving closer and beginning to read the very first page. It's not long before you come across the dress code.

•must wear the uniform provided

•must look presentable daily

"The uniform was left on the couch." he mentions, and you nod in embarrassment.

He gestures for you to continue reading, and you do so. Nothing seems to weird, that is until you reach the end of the rules and requirements portion.

•must be willing to engage in sexual activities with exmployer at any time they're on the clock.

"The fuck is this?" you say, immediately looking at him in concern. "This isn't what i signed up for." you protest.

"It is, though." he says, in a much calmer tone then yours. This was nothing to him, he's probably had loads of girls in the past do this for him. Whatever this even was.

"So you just wanna have sex with me." you say, throwing the papers back down to the counter as you pinch the bridge of your nose in frustration.

"No, you're still here to clean." he says, grabbing the papers and placing it back into the folder. "But- i want to have sex with you as well."

His straight forwardness makes you squirm, something about being so open about the matter was weird for you. "I can't do this." you mutter, this wasn't what you needed.

"You tricked me."

You wanted a real job, not this.

"Look, im not gonna force you to do this." he announces, picking the folder up and shaking it in front of your face. "If you want, i'll rip this contract up and you can leave now."

You stay silent, listening to him speak as you think about your options here.

"But, i also know you need the money. I won't make you stay here, but if you do it'll be by my rules." he's stern with his words, and you know he means it.

"There's no point of you being here if you don't meet my requirements, y/n."

You understand him very well, but you don't know what to do. You didn't know if you wanted to stay, or if you wanted to go home and continue looking for a job with no hope.

Which was right? You didn't know.

He grunts as he adjusts his suit, fixing the tie around his neck. "Do you want to be here, or not?"

You think for a while, not wanting to answer too quickly. You need to be sure about this, and you keep telling yourself if this isn't what you want, then you need to go home.

But somehow, you still find yourself muttering a quiet. "I want to be here."

"Are you sure?" he asks you, and this is your chance to say you're not- but you don't. "I'm sure."

You were sure.

He nods and licks his lips. "Keep cleaning."

You take a deep breath & do as your told, grabbing the windex and spraying the huge mirror. He's making you anxious with the way he's watching you, and you wished he'd leave again.

You're tearing off a paper towel when he moves closer behind you, now close enough that his back is touching yours.

"Sir-" he shushes you, rubbing up and down the part of your thighs that he can see. "You agreed didn't you? I wanna start right away." he mutters it into your ear, and it makes your heart pound.

This was a bit early wasn't it? Can't he just give it a couple days first? You're new here for fucks sake.

"While i'm cleaning?" you ask, and it almost comes out as a whimper. It was shameful how it only took him rubbing your leg to get you all squeamish around him.

"Just pretend i'm not here.." he whispers, slipping his fingers under the hem of your dress to pull it down. He lets them fall to your ankles, and you struggle to keep wiping the mirror as he takes in the sight of your underwear.

You chose a matching set today, not on purpose- you just wanted to feel nice. The choice payed off nevertheless.

"I can't.." you whimper out, titling your head down and away from the mirror. "You can" he contrasts, sticking his hand into the purple thong you were wearing.

"Tell me how your days been." he mumbles it ever so casually, acting as if your clit isn't at the mercy of his fingertips at this very moment.

He was toying with you, flicking the bundle of nerves ever so slightly and placing little kisses on your neck.

"I-It's been good." you force yourself to whimper out a response, your body liking this treatment though your mind is telling you that you should've already grabbed your belongings and left as soon as you found out what this job consisted of.

"More, what'd you do?" he asks, and you can hear the jingling of his belt as he fumbled to get it off.

He moves hastily, soon rubbing his bare cock against your folds. "I..I prepared your dinner, it's in the fridge." you respond, hand refusing to move to continue wiping the glass.

"That's good, what'd you make me?" a gasp falls from your lips as he forces his way into your tight hole. He takes a sharp inhale too, the feeling of you wrapped around him a bit more than he himself could handle.

"Please.." jesus you don't even know what your begging for, all you can think about right now is the way he feels inside of you.

"Please what?" he counters, gripping your shoulder as tight as he could to fuck you back onto his dick. "Got me so hard, knew exactly what i wanted to do to you when you showed up in my office."

Something about that made you smile. Talking during sex wasn't something you were particularly used to but you damn sure liked it.

His dick slides in and out of you with ease, slipping out every so often due to how wet he's got you. It's not long before he's fucking into you without much care in the world.

He knew you were enjoying it though, feeling how you clamped down on him even tighter the rougher he got with you.

His hand pulls at your hair, wrapping it around his hand and tugging it as if it was some leash. "Such a pretty pussy, all mine now-"

You try your best to hear him over your little whimpers and moans, only growing louder when he moves his hand under you to play with your clit again.

His fingers are wet, and your almost sure he spit on them before playing with you. "Sir-" you rasp out, growing warm with the way his chest was pressed to your back.

"Hm?" is he all he manages to get out, too concentrated on your lower half. His eyes never left your ass, obsessed with the way it jiggled each time he thrusted into you.

He slaps it once just for his own pleaure.

And then a few more times when he hears you moan at the first.

"G-Gonna cum!" you're sweating now, still trying your best to fuck yourself against him to finally get yourself to the orgasm you've been waiting for.

He lets you do the work for just a moment, watching your pretty body work itself on him. "Just like that- cum for me.." his voice trails off on its own, and he bites his lip hard in a attempt to not let out a groan.

When you feel his hand reach around to press down on your lower stomach, you explode. You're left squirming under him all over again, squeezing his cock tight enough to make him pull out before he can cum inside of you.

He gets himself off after that. Staring at your used cunt as he jerks himself off to release. The spurts of his cum land all over your lower back, and you don't stand up properly until he's all finished.

"Wait, shit- bend over again." he says, and you comply without question.

He onto his knees behind you, bringing his hands up to take a nice handful of your ass cheeks. He licks his lips before he licks off anything left behind.

Clean up what you mess up right?

He lets out a loud grunt, repeatedly licking over your clit even when there's nothing left.

"Stop- fuck! stop!" you cry out, not ready for him to give you another, at least not yet. You reach your hand behind you in a attempt to push him away but you fail miserably, getting nothing but a harsh smack to your ass.

He only stops when you begin to thrash, and pulls away before you get too overstimulated.

"Turn around." he mutters, pulling up his pants as you breathlessly turns to face him. As soon as you get the slightest glimpse of his face, he brings his lips straight to yours.

His lips are softer than you expected, and the way he kisses is much different than the way he fucks. You lick your lips when he pulls away, giving him a shy smile like he wasn't inside of you less than five minutes ago.

"Thanks?" you mutter, not sure what to say. What do you say after getting fucked by a guy you'd only just met? Its strictly business you suppose, but still.

"No need for thanks." he says, kissing your cheek like a boyfriend would his girlfriend.

"I'll have a check for you by tomorrow yeah? Finish up just the downstairs and you're good to go for today."

Was that it? He just fucks you and sees himself out just like that? You weren't sure what you expected, but it damn sure wasn't that.

...

That same night your on the phone with janae, twiddling your fingers as she rants about her day- but you're too busy thinking about your own.

Should you tell her?

"Ah fuck stop touching that!- sorry y'know how my nephew is." she laughs. "How was your first day at work by the way?"

Holy fuck, the long awaited question. "It was good.. really good." you say, deciding then and there you should probably keep the details to yourself.

"I figured so, i had a late shift and my boss told me mr.park seemed to be in a good mood today." you smile to yourself at the comment, and find yourself wondering if it was because of you.

"Oh really?" you ask, trying to make yourself sound surprised.

"Mhm- and speaking of that.. i have good news!" her voice suddenly amps up and you raise your eyebrows though she can't see you. "Oh yeah? What's that?"

"Well, y'know how i mentioned my boss was moving away?"

you nod.

"So, he did me a couple favors and he said mr. park would be happy to have me! We'd be doing the same job!"

your smile drops instantly, what the fuck.

"Twins!! Aren't you happy?" she asks you, excited as ever.

"I've gotta go janae."

(requested by @parkjiminspersonalhoe )

[the---hermit]

21|02|2025

This last few articles I am working on are way longer than the others, so I am moving a bit slower. The one I finished today took me two whole days, and I am fairly sure it will be more or less the same with the other two I have left. I have not decided yet whether tomorrow I will start working on one of those, or if I will be focusing on the notes and materials of the class I am currently taking. I might decide last minute depending on my energy levels. One thing is for sure, and that is that I need to start putting a bit of work in that as well. I have a few notes to fix, I have to copy the notes my classmate shared with me, and I'd also like to take a general look at the materials the professor has been sharing with us. I am sure that once I'll be done with the materials for the exam I am taking in March, I'll be able to stay on top of the workload much better, but I'd also like to start asap. But overall I cannot say I am not satisfied with what I have accomplished in the past two weeks.

11/50 days of productivity:

read frist thing in the morning

downloaded more materials for the class I am currently taking

finished working on the last non mandatory chapter for my spaces of knowledge class (I only have two more mandatory articles left, and I am pretty sure I'll have to work on them both in multiple days because they are long)

Irish on duolingo

March set up on my bullet journal

reorganized all my pens, highlighters and markers

📖: Walking Practice by Dolki Min

🎧: Re:Carmilla, tmagp s1 (I am taking notes this time, I am connecting things, they'll probably be wrong in the end but i am connecting things)

[ros3ybabe]

March 29, 2025 🎀

Last night, I was decently productive to the point where I was actually proud of what I was able to accomplish. It was a nice feeling. I'm still grappling with the thoughts of what to do in regards to continuing my education, if I go the community college (Medical Assisting) route or continue with my university (Nutrition and Dietetics), despite the possible financial issues I'll be facing.

What I Accomplished Yesterday (March 28th) ✨️

did a hydrating face mask (it was amazing)

washed and put away a load of laundry

paid my rent

wrote out some chapter 8 notes + chapter 8 vocabulary notes for health and exercise psychology

wrote out a solid chunk of my chapter 9 notes for exercise physiology (need to finish chapter 9 and start chapter 10 asap, but that's what I get for being 2 chapters behind)

journaled about some stuff going on in my head (mostly the continuing education stuff that's been plaguing my thoughts)

studied/did schoolwork for a total of 122 minutes

looked at potential classes I could take + other options for switching to the community college here in town

Yesterday was definitely a decent day in terms of stuff I was able to get done, but I also know I slacked off A LOT. More than I am comfortable with having slacked off. I'm slowly getting back into my school grind mindset, especially with the semester coming to an end soon. I really want to get my grades back up where I need them to be and end the semester on a high note, with a good GPA and a sense of pride in knowing I tried.

Todo Today (March 29th) 🌷

work on (and finish) chapter 9 notes for exercise physiology ✏️

begin chapter 10 notes for exercise physiology ✏️

complete assignment chapter 9.1 for exercise physiology 💻

complete assignment chapter 9.2 for exercise physiology 💻

order necessities from the store 🧻

work 9am to 3pm ☕️

daily journaling 📖

read 1 chapter of Attached 📚

wash dishes 🫧 (the sink is full, and I don't like it)

tidy up around my bedroom 🧹

night time skincare + shower 🚿

make my to-do list for tomorrow ✨️

My goal is to get all of this done today, and I have a strong feeling I'll be successful as long as I keep my head in the game and remember that I have priorities and things need to get done. If I don't do the things, then the things don't get done, and I can't have that.

🎶 Song of the Day: Is This Love - XG

👑 Quote of the Day: What if it all works out?

til next time lovelies 🩷

[pinkacademiaprincess]

Any guide on Elle woods / hermione / rory coz I had no study motivation 😮‍💨

“she’s like a real life rory gilmore…”

fictional study icons guide, part 1: rory gilmore

ty for the ask! i’m gonna make this multiple parts, next will be elle woods, i never read/ watched harry potter tho so idk about hermione 🫣 but if y’all want me to do other characters, feel free to send ideas!

know your goals

rory had a clear idea of what she wanted for herself: to go to harvard & to become a journalist. when school & studying starts to feel tedious or difficult, having a strong “why” will keep you going. maybe you want to get into a certain school, you have a dream career path, or you want to become extra knowledgeable. never lose sight of your goal - surround yourself with reminders of it. rory had harvard memorabilia hanging in her room as a constant reminder of what she was working towards. you can create a vision board online, print pictures & hang them in your room, put notes up on your mirrors & walls. remember that classes, tests, & assignments are all leading you to a greater goal. studying is a means to an end and you deserve the best ending!

study a lot

rory prioritized her studies and spent a lot of her free time on schoolwork. the easiest way to succeed is to put in the time. don’t cut corners when it comes to your education - do your homework and assignments diligently, go through assigned readings & videos carefully, & if the teacher gives you optional/additional work, do it. remember tho, it’s important to study smarter, not harder. the most beneficial thing you can do is spend as much time as possible utilizing study methods that work for you. don’t waste time on study methods that aren’t effective for you. you can search my older posts for info about study styles or google learning styles & use that to help determine your best approach to schoolwork.

conquer challenges asap

when rory first started going to chilton, she unexpectedly got a bad grade on one of her first essays. she could have sat there and made excuses, felt sorry for herself and blamed the school/ teachers, but instead she worked extra hard to improve and overcome that poor grade. in the end she was valedictorian, showing that she was able to rise to the challenge and ultimately succeed. if you find yourself struggling with schoolwork, please take initiative asap and get whatever help you need. utilize all your resources - teachers, classmates, youtube video explanations, khan academy, tutors (if possible) - do not allow a dip in performance to be your norm. try to get to the bottom of why you’re struggling and then take care of whatever’s causing it. if you let yourself succumb to the struggle - telling yourself it’s because of bad teachers, the content is too hard, etc. - the only person who is gonna suffer in the long run is you. be proactive and take charge of your education.

take breaks

while rory did spend a lot of her time studying, it didn’t rule her whole life. she still made time for friends, family, and fun activities. life is about balance, and you don’t want to burn yourself out by spending every waking moment on school. take breaks for fun, to spend time with loved ones, to get fresh air & be active. give your mind breaks so that you can stay in top shape. that being said, make sure you strike a balance. don’t let your social life get in the way of your academics, but don’t let studying stop you from living life.

read a lot!

when i think of rory, i think of reading. she always has her nose in a book! she not only reads, but she reads books that are thought-provoking and intellectual - classics, non-fiction, and so on. reading is a wonderful hobby and it can also be a way to expand your mind. challenge yourself by reading books that are somewhat difficult to challenge yourself to read closely & dissect the content. find classics that genuinely interest you or non fiction on topics you enjoy. combine the fun of reading with the desire for intellectual growth. by reading more difficult books you can improve your vocabulary, build you reading comprehension skills, become better at analyzing literary devices, and overall become a more interesting person.

that’s all! have a great school year & best of luck with your studies! 🩷

[levi501ackerman]

Object of Affection | Levi x Reader Fluff

masterlist

Summary: Some may think Levi is whipped or your servant. But acts of service is how Levi shows his love

Word Count: 1.9k

Megans's Note: song correlated: Ridin' by ASAP Rocky ft. Lana Del Rey. btw whenever I say song correlated I dont mean it with the intention to offer to listen to it while reading. It was just the song that inspired the idea or that was on loop while writing. posted: 4/18/24. I'm really glad AOT has sparked me to write again. I need more practice lol. Enjoy.

Eren, Jean, and Armin were the first of your friends to be sitting at breakfast in the dining hall. Sasha was in one of the lines to get food. It was a sunny day and a few ODM drills were available for whoever wanted the practice. Some other classes were going on as well. It was a general casual day for the scouts. For some scout units, there was food preparation for future expeditions, but for you and your friends, you did not have much on the agenda. 

“I think I’m going to do some drills today,” Eren said. “Are you going to join us?” He asked Armin who usually went to Erwin’s office.

“Yeah, I can. I finished the little project with Commander Erwin.” He said then took a bite of his bread. Sasha hurried to the table to sit down. Her plate had a bigger portion than everyone else at the table. “It is a nice day outside too.”

More people started entering the dining area. The morning crowd of scouts was starting to pick up. Jean noticed you and Levi walked through the door.

“Y/N’s coming. Maybe she’ll practice with us,” Jean said. The table noticed Levi say something to you and then you smiled and started going towards them. 

“I don’t know she’s been spending a lot of time with Hange and Moblit doing research and testing theories,” Eren said. 

“Morning guys!” Sasha brightly greeted the table. The line for breakfast was moving a little slower with the incoming scouts. Everyone acknowledged Sasha.

“Sasha, are you going to do drills today? We’re all going to.” Armin asked invitingly. 

“Yeah, and I think Y/N was thinking about it too,” Sasha said. You approached the table and smiled at your friends. 

“Are you not going to eat?” Jean asked.

“Levi’s getting my food.” You said. They look over to see Levi's arms crossed standing in line with the scouts. 

“Why don’t you get your food yourself?” Eren asked

“Levi knows I don’t like standing in lines so he just said he’ll start getting my food.” You said. Jean and Eren laughed. 

“Wow if only I could have the captain serve me food.” Jean joked and you rolled your eyes with a smile on your face.

“He’s not serving me, he just knows I don’t like standing in lines so he offered to get my food from now on.”

“What if he gets you the wrong food?” Eren asked.

“Well Levi knows what I like,” you said. 

“We’re going to do drills today, you should come,” Armin said. Most of your free time has been spent with Hange and Moblit. You looked up to Hange and she liked you. You enjoyed working with her and in general learning more about the titans. 

“Yeah, I’ll come.” You said and your friends were elated you were joining them. “Ugh wait! I forgot my belt and some straps in my room.” You rolled your eyes. “It’s such a nice day out for drills too. Hopefully, it won’t get hotter.”

A few minutes later, Levi put a plate of breakfast in front of you. He softly smiled.

“Do you want water or tea?” Levi asked.

“Water please.” You said and then he walked away. 

“Yeah sounds like a server to me,” Jean said.

“Stop it, Jean. He’s not serving me. When you get a girlfriend you’ll understand that you’ll want to help her and make her feel like she doesn’t need to worry about anything.” You said back.

“I feel sorry for whoever decides to date you, Jean,” Sasha said with a full mouth and you both giggled.

“Whatever I am a catch,” Jean said. Levi came back with water for you and some tea for himself. 

“I have a meeting I’m going to go to now,” Levi said to you. The table greeted Captain Levi and he acknowledged them normally. 

“I’m going to do drills today with my friends.” You said to him. 

“Nice weather for that today.”

“Yeah, but, I left my belt in my room—”

“I can go get it.” Levi offered.

“Thank you that would be really helpful.” You said and he left for his meeting. 

“Y/N’s has him whipped,” Jean said. 

Truly you did. Levi wanted to help you in any way he could. On the last expedition, he made sure you had your own food to take of yourself. Levi always triple-checked that your gear was in top shape. If you mentioned something was sore, he would offer his best to massage you. If you mentioned anything that inconvenienced you he would do his best to find a way to fix it for you. You once mentioned that the drawer to your nightstand kept getting stuck halfway when pulling it out and you would have to tug hard to get it to keep pulling out. Later that day he took apart your nightstand to fix the sliding drawer. All of a sudden it was working and you didn’t think about it anymore. You didn’t even know Levi fixed it until a week later. 

Once, when you and Levi passed by a stationary shop, you mentioned how you have been journaling since you were young. You had eight journals and mentioned a slight fear that they would end up getting damaged or burned in a fire. You treasured your journals that were filled with your memories. He later got you a small perfect-sized fire box that you could keep your journals safe in. 

You and Sasha met up with Mikasa and decided to be grouped for the drills. It was getting a little warmer than expected. But there was still a slight breeze. You three started stretching and getting your gear together. Then you noticed Levi walking up to you with the belt and straps you needed. 

“I got the belt you needed,” Levi said and your heart fluttered. It was so sweet how helpful he’s always been. 

“Thank you,” You said. 

“You look really pretty,” He said and you blushed a little.

“I’m about to get really sweaty.” You laughed.

“It’s starting to get hotter.” He said squinting and looking up at the sky. “Show the dummy titans no mercy.” He said and you smiled while watching him walk off. 

“You two are so freaking cute!” Sasha said making you blush more. “I’m so excited for when I get a boyfriend and we can go on double dates!” That did excite you and you smiled.

“I can’t wait to meet the guy who deserves you.” You said while putting on your belt and straps. “A guy that’s sweet.”

“I think you need someone who loves meat just as much as you do,” Mikasa said. “Or someone who can cook—” Sasha squealed.

“Oh my god that would be perfect!” 

“That would be the perfect guy for you,” you said.

“You guys want to compete for the most kills?” Jean called out in the distance. Connie was now with him, Eren, and Armin. 

“Mikasa is going to win! Back out now while you can!” You yelled back. The drills began. “Mikasa you should give him a head start!” You said and Sasha laughed. Though it was spring and getting greener outside the temperature got hot while everyone was doing drills. It was an unexpected rise. You pulled at your shirt trying to get ventilation whenever you had the time to do so. The heat made everyone work harder because flying in the air gave everyone a slight breeze. After the drills, everyone was sweating. It was a good workout but people were getting tired quicker because of the heat. When walking back to your stuff Sasha was giving Jean crap about Mikasa beating him. It wasn’t a surprise but the competition did make Jean work harder. Jean was a great scout and even gave you some helpful pointers with the ODM gear. Out of everyone doing the drills, he got the second-highest kill count right behind Mikasa. As you approached your stuff you noticed three water bottles that were perspiring because of the heat. 

“Is this not where we put our stuff?” Sasha asked. But then she saw her bag and Mikasa saw her stuff. 

“Whose water bottles are these?” Mikasa asked. You noticed the drenched little note under the water bottle closest to your stuff. The note read: I noticed you guys didn’t have water. Stay hydrated. 

“They’re from Levi. He got us water because he saw we didn’t have any.” You said and Sasha started chugging hers.

“That’s considerate of him,” Mikasa said and the three of you started chugging the cold water. 

“Thanks, Levi it hit the spot!” Sasha said and crinkled her empty bottle. 

“I need to change, I’m so sweaty and probably smell bad.” You said. Many scouts who did drills all had the same idea to take cold rinse-off showers. No one was expecting a spike in the temperature. When you got back to your room with Sasha. You noticed another water bottle and a note near your bed. It was from Levi again. Come to my office for dinner. You smiled and told Sasha. Your heart fluttered because he was so sweet and no one else saw this side of him. He used to be so shy in front of you and you used to think he didn’t like you. Levi would be his normal self to everyone but then he would be quiet in front of you. It made you feel insecure until Hange exposed Levi. She and Moblit told you that Levi talked a lot about you and wanted to get to know you. Hange may have been the one to tell you that Levi thought you were pretty. Which gave you the confidence to approach him.

In the evening you went to Levi’s room, and you were ready for some alone time. When you knocked on the door, Levi opened it pretty quickly. He shut the door behind you and embraced you in a big hug. He smelled nice and then you noticed the smell of his office. 

“Sit down I made us some soup.” He said. “I saw they had that bean mixture you don’t like for dinner.” Your heart fluttered and the soup smelled good. The smell made you hungrier than you were before. “I got some bread and mashed potatoes though to fill you up more. You need the energy from being outside most of the day.” He said.

“Thank you, Levi,” You said grateful for how thoughtful he is. It was so nice how much he tried to help you or thought of ways to make your life easier. 

“Anything for you, Y/N,” He said and you two began eating. The soup was satisfying and Levi getting bread for it was a good idea. Honestly, Levi did a lot for you because he cared for you so much. He had little to no dating experience before you and he did not want to do anything to make you feel like he didn’t respect you. Levi has always been considerate of you since you started getting close and dating. He would listen you to and remember little things about you. You felt cared for and though you and Levi haven’t told one another that you loved each other. You already knew.

masterlist

[chaichaiiskai]

Need male reader smut asap pls maybe dubcon

hero hunter! garou x hero! male! reader x hero! stinger

notes: started rewatching opm with my lil' brother and got a cold, cold reminder of just how hot the characters are so y'know I had to write something...

warnings: dubcon, forced cuckolding, mlm, male reader, amab reader, garou is so mean and condescending, violence, mention of harming the reader, humiliation, public sex, degradation, alleys are dirty, quid pro quo. you're responsible for the shit you read so don't come and fuckin' bitch at me 'cause you're bein' stupid. this is meant for those who will enjoy readin' this, not you. move along.

STINGER never had a day off, but that was simply the life of a hero, especially during the recent rise of the monster association and monsters in general. The same thing went for you, never did you expect to be in the same profession as your future partner, but here you were. Despite your differences in ranking, you could care less, you weren't interested in the combat parts of hero work, you were a healer and restorer which proved to be useful in its own way. The hero association often called on you for healing other heroes, civilians, etc. You were also called for restoring destruction in the city, proving you to be quite a valuable being, but you never allowed yourself to do anything you didn't deem fair.

With the recent rise of the so-called 'hero hunter' you've been busier than ever, patrolling, restoring, healing, and all the fix-ins, nothing out of the ordinary. Though, today, the last thing you'd expected was to run into your boyfriend while out on your job. Funny, I know, since you're both heroes but this didn't happen as commonly as one would think.

"Hey good looking, what are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be back at home?" Stinger asked as he approached you. You were both smack dab in a neighborhood that still had a bit of people roaming around, it looked relatively safe. Rolling your eyes at his comment, you waved his words off while responding. "Same as you, the association wanted me to patrol around to heal and restore if necessary, they called me as soon as you left. So far nothing's needed much fixing."

The Class A hero grinned and rested his weapon on his shoulder as he continued to engage in comfortable conversation with you, occasionally waving at a few fans here and there who acknowledged him. You talked more like friends than lovers when you were out in public, well, except for Stinger's blatant flirting.

And then it happened.

You'd both made the mistake of letting your guards down and you would be forced to pay the price.

One second you were laughing and joking, and the next second you watch as Stinger is swatted away from you and into a nearby building like a mere mosquito, followed by the panicked screaming of the citizens around you. Everything moves slowly around you as you're frozen in place, a look of fear mingled with shock spread across your features.

"Two heroes standing leisurely around, speaking to one another like there's no immediate danger around them. Tch."

The assaulter speaks from directly in front of you, looking down at you with a grin on his face. The surrounding citizens run away from the scene, eager to preserve their lives. And in no time, it's just you, the hero hunter, and Stinger, who's just peeled himself from the dent in the building, his injuries were obvious but he wasn't Class A for no reason. He shouts at you. "Y/N! Hurry up and run!" He screams in urgency at you, knowing you did not like physical confrontation. His sudden shout seemed to trigger you into moving again as you speedily jumped back away from the one they called Garou, staring at him as you put distance between the two of you.

Immediately, Stinger gets between the two of you and holds up his spear, giving Garou a grin of his own as he gets into position for battle. "So you're the hero hunter, huh? I'll admit, you did catch me off guard but that won't happen again! I'll take you down in a pinch!" He exclaimed and charged forward at superhuman speed, using his Bamboo Shoot with great efficiency despite the bleeding heavily from his head. You watched as the two of them engaged in battle, your heart racing, egging your boyfriend on in your mind.

You should have run away like he said, but you couldn't, not with him injured like this, you would just remain in the area and heal him when you were given the chance. For now, you took to running away, ducking down into a nearby alley to watch the fight, crossing your fingers in hopes that this would end quickly in Stinger's favor.

It looked that way for a while, you could feel yourself becoming more and more relieved by the second, watching as Garou struggled against Stinger's attack, the human who called himself a monster didn't seem to be doing too well, having injuries of his own.

Stinger soon had Garou cornered, ready to further injure him to keep him from doing anymore damage, his signature grin still in place as blood continued to steadily run from his head and into his eyes.

"It's over now. Hurry up and surrender, hero hunter. You've lost."

He said, continuing to hold eye contact with Garou. The hero hunter held no smile, clearly injured as well but also seemed to be thinking deeply about something. It looked like he would be losing this battle, however, you knew that Stinger had the flaw of celebrating too early, and that was the case in this scenario.

"Oh? I'm not so sure."

Garou's words, despite him being yards away from you, sent a chill down your spine and you almost yelled for Stinger to watch out, but it was too late. The hero hunter moved even faster than before and you can't stop yourself from crying out in worry as he knocks Stinger unconscious with just a singular move, strong enough to send him barreling towards you. It was almost like Garou had planned this.

Stinger hit the ground, his body rolling across the concrete until he skidded to a stop in front of you, looking lifeless and mangled, his spear laying somewhere unknown. His eyes were closed and he laid on his stomach in front of you. With a shaken hand, you stared to reach out for him. You could heal him, he'd be okay. He HAD to be okay!

But that was too easy.

You were just mere centimeters from touching his back and activating your healing but you were dragged away, feeling as the back of your head was grabbed and your face was slammed into the ground with enough force to make you dizzy. You nearly vomited from the pain alone but were able to quickly heal yourself. The position you were in was humiliating, hunched over on your knees, hands pressed on the dirty alley in an attempt to support your body to keep it from having too much contact with the uncertainies of grossness. Garou continued to hold the back of your head, and you were unable to see him but he seemed pleased, grinning from ear to ear.

"Who knew the association had just a weak hero in their ranks, Restore." He said, saying your hero name with nothing but venom. This was how you were going to die, this was how you were going to die.

You couldn't even stop yourself from trembling in fear, droplets of tears escaping your eyes as the fell onto the ground beneath you. Biting back a sniffle, you decided to plea the best you could, your voice trembling with each word.

"Plea... please. You can do whatever- whatever you want with me. Just... just let me heal him, please." You begged, not even concerned about yourself at this point, you just wanted Stinger to be okay.

There was silence behind you, too long, too quiet. It was starting to eat you alive, you wanted him to say something. And before you could plead again, you heard him chuckle dryly before he spoke.

"So. It is true. The hero Stinger and hero Restore are 'loving' boyfriends. How comedic. Almost brings tears to my eyes." He paused, seeming to think of what could possibly done next. And the next time he spoke, you could hear the smile in his tone of voice.

"Okay. I'll let you heal him, but you've gotta do something for me in return, yeah?" You then felt a presence lean over you, slender fingers moving from your head to around your neck and gripping at your chin. Soon, his breath was felt on the side of your face, devilish eyes peering at you as he continued to grin, forcing you to crane your neck to look him in the eye as he continued offering his 'deal'. Looking into his eyes was proving to be difficult, his gaze shook you to your core with how cold he looked at you. But before he added onto the deal, he couldn't help but to laugh and insult you.

"Wow. Look at you! You're seriously cryin'? That's cute. Almost makes me feel bad about what's gonna happen next, but that power of yours will help you so I won't feel too bad. We gotta deal or not, Restore?" His eyes looked from yours and then to Stinger's unconscious body, observing the hero.

"Better hurry up. He might not make it."

He then turned your face, allowing you to see what he was seeing. Stinger looked to be breathing shallowly, further solidifying your growing fear. You had no time to refuse or hesitate. What was the worse thing he could do? You still had your powers, you were practically indestructible despite not having much strength.

"Okay! Okay! Do whatever you want!" You exclaimed, shutting your eyes, not wanting to look at your injured boyfriend any longer. Everything would be okay, you can handle this, you've been beaten up before, this was nothing new.

Garou didn't move from where he was for a few seconds but then he did, moving his hand from your face. You were expecting him to move you into a better position to beat your ass but that was far from the truth.

A yelp of surprise came from you when he suddenly used one of his hands to express his brute strength, ripping through the ass of your hero costume and your underwear. The sudden cold air hit your exposed rear and the underside of your sack, your eyes widening when you were starting to come to a realization about what was about to occur. But you couldn't move.

No.

You agreed to this.

Just like before, you were frozen, unable to move. The only thing that moved was Garou's hand, rustling with something, obviously his belt and loose-fitting pants. You had ample time to escape him when he suddenly let go of you to spit in his hand and wet his cock, but no, you didn't move an inch. How could you? He was faster than you, and who was to say that if you had disobeyed him he'd let you or Stinger live.

You weren't allowed to ponder for long when he suddenly pushed the head into you. You'd already been stretched out from the earlier morning's escapade with Stinger. He was able to push into you with both ease and just a little of bullying, he was thicker than Stinger but you somehow managed to keep taking him with ease. It was embarrassing, and of course he had to comment on it.

"I already knew I'd be getting sloppy seconds, but not to this extent. You two must fuck like animals."

His words cause you to shudder and he pushes into you further, stretching you out in a way that makes you confused. As he's burying himself into you, you bite your tongue until it bleeds to stop from moaning in pleasure and pain, closing your eyes as you drop your head in indignity.

Garou doesn't give you the chance to hide from your embarassment, his arm wrapping around your neck, forcing it against his bicep as he puts you in a loose headlock, forcing your face up as he remains buried deep inside you. His head moves back to beside yours and the intimate position your in fills you with a fresh sense of shame, almost as much as his cock was filling you.

"Ever since I read about you and your powers, I wondered just how indestructible you are. I wondered what would happen if I beat you over and over and over again. Would your powers be able to keep up? How fast can you heal? And then, I started noticing other things about you. I hate heroes and everything that they stand for but you're not a hero, are you? Just some overpowered nurse. I prefer that title instead of 'hero' for you." His words made your brows furrow, thoroughly confused by what he was getting at, though you did feel a sting of hurt from his belittling. Suddenly, he pulled out of you about halfway and then slammed back in, catching you off guard for the umpteenth time as you were lurched forward, choking when your windwipe hit against his muscled bicep, an involuntary whimper soon following.

"You're attractive, no doubt. But you're so weak—" He pulled back his hips and then pistoned them forward, fucking into you with animosity, emphasizing his insulting words with each thrust.

"Fragile."

"Useless."

"Breakable."

"Cowardly."

Each hit has you further confused, unable to keep your soft moans underwraps.

His words hurt, but why were you squeezing around him with each word? Why was your dick harder than a rock? Why didn't you want him to stop?

Easily, Garou catches on but nothing can prepare you when he suddenly turns his head to whisper in your ear, his warm breath causing goosebumps to blossom all over you, cock twitching in delirium.

"Oh? You like that, huh? You like hearing the truth about how useless you are? You should be ashamed of yourself. What if your poor boyfriend woke up and saw you gettin' off to this? Bet you'd like that too, huh?"

Apparently you did, seeing how you immediately clenched around him as soon as he finished speaking. Was this just your body's natural response?

You hear yourself moaning as he pounds into you from behind, skin slapping against skin at such an insane speed that you're starting to see specks of light in your vision. Your freehand moves to grip onto Garou's forearm, mainly to ground yourself, and you can barely breathe from the sheer pleasure of being fucked with such hatred and disdain. The dick is so good that you can't even keep your powers under control, healing the human who calls himself a monster without even realizing. You've healed someone during sex before many times, mostly Stinger, but not to this extent.

Eyes fluttering and rolling into the back of your head with each delicious stroke that makes direct contact with the button inside you that makes you forget your own name, you fail to notice the slight stir of the unconscious man in front of you. Garou doesn't though, in fact, he only goes faster, grinning at the realization. You should consider yourself lucky that he's still holding you in place with his arm, the headlock was saving your life in more than a few ways.

As you're getting your back blown out by the infamous hero hunter, Stinger, whom you were trying to heal just a few minutes ago, opened his eyes. Ableit he did so slowly, he blinked, attempting to have his vision adjust as familiar noises graced his ears. The sight that soon appears in front of him has him in pure shock, he hasn't an idea on how he should react. He wasn't prepared for it.

"Pleasure for you to join us, Stinger. Like whatcha see?" Garou questioned, not faltering in a single thrust. "

This must be a nightmare. That's what Stinger forces himself to think, watching in horror as his enemy has his way with you, and you seem to be enjoying yourself. But no, that can't be, this is just how the body naturally responds to sex. You didn't want this— you couldn't want this. Stinger wanted to move, but he couldn't, he was completely paralyzed, forced to watch you be repeatedly deflowered by a maniac with an insatiable need to cut down each and every hero.

Noticing his struggle, Garou only becomes more smug, but you still haven't seemed to caught onto the mess being created, more focused on creating a mess in your pants. "Aye, Restore, look who's joined the party? He doesn't look too happy. Aww, I think he's hurt." You can barely understand English right now, let alone whatever he was talking about, how could anyone have such power? But against better judgement, you blinked, trying to recollect your fuzzy brain as his words sunk in. And to your mortification, when you managed to fully open your eyes without them rolling around in your skull, you met the hurt gaze of Stinger.

Immediately, you attempted to speak, wanting to tell him why you were doing this, but you were cut off by the sound of your own moan when Garou pulled back and slammed into you with more force than before. Your mouth hung open, unable to keep itself closed, and you started to drool, eyes closing yet again as you forgot yourself.

Stinger watched and listened to everything in front of him, no words coming from him as he tried to take this all in in strides. Was he dreaming?

"Hah— think I'll use you... as a dumpster." Garou murmured, giving you no option when he suddenly started to speed up even faster, turning your poor brain into mush, drool dribbling onto the sleeve of his shirt. A few more seconds of this and you were forced to take his sticky, hot load, copious amounts of the human monster's cum spilling into you as he pushes as deeply as possible into you as he can manage, completely stopping his movements.

Once he's done, he releases you and pulls back, you fall forward, realizing that he'd been holding you up the entire time with his strength alone. And what you'd feared previously came true as you laid on your belly amongst the filth of the alley.

The hero hunter stands, pulling up his pants and redoing his belt, afterwards, he wipes his forehead of sweat. "Thanks for healin' me, Restore. I'll have to come back and find you when I get injured again. But don't worry, I'll pay you again. Later, 'heroes.'"

Garou then chuckled before seemingly disappearing with speed you'd never seen before.

Seconds, no— minutes later, what had happened sunk in and you felt shame like no other. His cum was still dribbling out of your ass when you finally regained the strength to lift yourself onto your hands and knees, avoiding Stinger's watchful gaze all together as you stared at the ground in disbelief. You'd done the unthinkable.. but, you quickly remembered your goal, slowly crawling forward to where your boyfriend remained laying. Shakily, you reached out and pressed your knuckles against his face, not wanting your dirty palms to come in contact with his skin, and activated your powers, healing him instantaneously.

Once he could feel his body again, Stinger immediately moved to sit on his knees in front of you. He spoke, but you couldn't hear a word he said as you leaned forward, the crown of your skull pressing against his chest. He stopped speaking and slowly started to rub your back in comfort as you sniffled, hoping that he could forgive you..but, then you noticed something strange.

Your eyes widened.

To your complete shock, Stinger's suit of bandages did a horrendous job of hiding how he truly felt about what happened to you.

Was he... hard?

[taasgirl]

say something pt 2.

summary: although playing for the same club, pedri and y/n cannot stand the thought of being around each other. enemies to lovers for all my slow burn girlies out there - i got u

a/n: not proofread and all in english + more installments coming soon!!

read part one here!

We were sat just above the bench, watching over one of the men's games. We had to do this regularly, to show our club spirit or something. The men, however, barely ever came to our games. I swear they only came for our Champions League Final and were out of the stadium when the ninety minutes were up.

“You’d think that such an expensive team would be good.” Ingrid was not impressed with the team playing. Her face had disgust written all over it and was really not afraid to show it.

“Don’t be mean. Not everyone can be as good as us.” Salma bolstered a smile, rubbing my leg aggressively. Rolling my eyes, I kept my focus on the game in front of me. It was a tight game. Real Betis were really putting up a fight, and I couldn't help but ogle at Hector Bellerin. He was genuinely so beautiful.

"Enjoying the game Y/N?" Salma asked, making the girls around us laugh. "Yeah funny Sal."

By the time the game had ended it was a 2-1 win for Betis, a real shock to almost everyone. The boys were fuming.

We walked down to the field, players from both of teams were still there. Making my way through with the girls, I heard my name called out. "Y/N! Wait up!" I turned around, running over with a cheesy smile was Hector. Hector Bellerin.

We followed each other on Instagram, and occasionally left friendly comments, but we had never spoken before. "How you doing?" I could hear his awkward English accent. "I'm doing pretty well. Congrats on the win you guys deserved it." He smiled.

"Ah, thank you. None of us were really expecting it." We spoke for another few minutes until he was called over by his coach.

"I'll see you around, I hope that next time you watch me play, you're in a Betis jersey." Smirking, he ran back to his team while I followed the girls into the tunnel.

When I caught up with Salma she couldn't look at me. "Already cheating on class boy with a footballer." She sarcastically sighed. "I always knew you were destined to be a wag." I lightly shoved her until I felt a push on my back.

"Get the fuck out of the way." Pedri spat at me. "Talking to the fucking opposition. If you want to fuck him so badly do it after the game." He pushed the changeroom door open, following closely behind him was Gavi and Ferran who looked at me sympathetically.

"Come on don't listen to him. Let's get home." Salma's hand found my shoulder pulling me close into her. "I'm happy to sleep over at Mapi's if you want to bring a certain someone over." God I hope she never changes.

"Girl there's no way I'm inviting him over. Let him celebrate the win." I smiled at her and she looked confused. "I wasn't talking about Hector." She stuck her tongue at as we walked to the parking lot.

I couldn't stop thinking about what Pedri had said to me that night. It almost shocked me how I didn't slap him. And although I wanted to hate him for it, a part of me hoped he didn't mean it. A part of me wanted it to just be a spur-of-the-moment comment which he would regret.

"Y/N are you okay?" Alex lightly tapped me. "Huh? Oh yeah, I'm just um tired." I focused back at my teacher. School was kicking my ass, I received my assessment schedule and these last few weeks were my last moments of peace before I locked in.

Once class was over I hurried myself as usual to the door. I had to get to training asap and I couldn't afford to be late. Again.

"Need a ride?" Alex caught up to me. There was no way I would decline, I was gonna be late. "Yes please, I need to get to work." We hoped in his car and he drove me to the grounds.

"I really enjoyed hanging out with you the other day. If it's alright with you, I'd like to come to one of your games?" I laughed but quickly refrained myself. "Oh um yeah. I can try and hook you up with some tickets if you wanna bring people."

We drove through the back streets of Barcelona until we got to where I needed to be. "Do you need me to pick you up? I'm happy to hang around for a while." He pulled up kerbside. "Yeah you'd be waiting for a very long time. It's all good, Salma drives me home." He'd met Salma a few times after we'd hookup as he tried to escape my room.

"But seriously, thank you so much. You don't understand how much easier you just made my life." I leaned over and pecked him on the cheek before I left the car.

"The fuck is that?" I recognised the voice immediately, B-lining for the buildings' entrance. "Oh ok yeah very mature, just ignore me." I waved to reception as I walked down to the changerooms.

"Was that your boyfriend? Or just another guy you hook up with." I snapped at him "He's a classmate." I continued walking down the hall. "So, tell me, did you sleep with Hector." That was it.

I turned to face him and slapped him across the face. Hard. A red mark coloured his cheeks. Realising what I had down, I regretted it immediately. "Oh my god Pedri I'm so sorry." I placed my hand on his cheek. "Holy fuck I don't know what came over me." Firstly, he looked at me disappointed, then he smirked. "So I'll take it that you didn't sleep with him." I walked right past him.

"Is something up with you Y/N?" Lucy said in my ear while marking me during training. I looked at her puzzled. "You're a lot more, I don't know. You're very tense." I scoffed. No wonder I was tense, I was literally studying for my degree while playing professional football.

"Well a few of us are going to go out tonight if you wanted to join? Girls only type of thing." Actually, I liked that idea. I needed time to just chill. Preferably away from home.

"Yeah actually I'd like that. You'll send me the address?" She agreed and soon enough we were back to tackling each other.

Once training had finished, Ona and I walked to the gym. She was still recovering from an ankle injury and wanted someone to give her motivation during the workout. As we entered the gym, sets of eyes laid straight onto us.

The men's team.

I looked at her, displeased to be trapped in a room filled with sweaty men, however, she didn't seem to care too much. "I think I'm gonna get deodorant poisoning if I'm in here any longer." She dragged me over to a machine.

I took a walk around the gym, trying to find the spot with the best reception. "Fancy seeing you around." Pedri called out to me.

I didn't look at him. No bother in giving him the time of day. "Okay then." He turned back to his group, they were making fun of his failed attempt at grabbing my attention.

"Y/N can you come over here for a sec?" Gavi called out to me. I was less than willing to walk over to a slightly intimidating group of boys, but I didn't want to give Pablo the same response that I gave Pedri.

Walking over, I could feel the eyes of the boys on me. "How you been baby?" I smiled at him. He's always been affectionate towards me, but this was artificial in a way. He was trying to make someone jealous. "You going out tonight?" I nodded. "Clubbing downtown." He looked impressed. "Going with Salma? I can try and ask around for that girl to be there."

"I'm so happy that you're finally going out with me. It's been what, four months?" Salma put on one of her sexiest outfits. I told her that the girl from before would be there, to that she immediately went looking for the hottest thing she owned.

"Yeah well you're obviously not planning on hanging out with me." Since she had gone out the other night, she couldn't stop talking about this girl she met.

We got picked up in a cab and made our way downtown. Upon entering the club we realised it wasn't exactly how we had pictured it. It wasn't so much a 'casual' club as it was a 'celebrity' club.

I recognised majority of the people as other footballers and internally rolled my eyes at the idea of spending time with some stuck up male footballer. Like Pedri for example.

When we found Lucy and a few of the other girls, we took a seat at the bar and ordered a round of shots. It had been a while since I had drunk alcohol, but I promised myself that I wouldn't drink too much. And I was usually good at keeping to my word, so I limited myself to three drinks.

"Y/N, Salma's been telling me about this guy you've been seeing." Ona said, taking a shot in full. "I hope he's hot at least." I looked at Salma unimpressed, she loved telling people about my life, to the point where even the physios knew who Alex was. "He's just a classmate, I mean like we've hooked up a few times but I'm not really into him."

The girls and I chatted for at least twenty minuets before suggesting we move to the dance floor. The DJ was playing mostly Bad Bunny with a few western songs, and soon enough the alcohol hit me, and I was in my groove. I was dancing with so many different people, and I could've sworn I had accidentally grinded up on Jude Bellingham before Ingrid came over to me, telling that someone was looking for me.

I followed in the direction of where she had pointed and found myself on the outside of the floor, but next to a tall man. "Hola Y/N." Hector bent down to give me a kiss on the cheek. "Hola."

"I really think we should hang out some day." I blushed at his words. "I'd like that. Maybe you could come to one of my games? Hang up your pride and wear the jersey of your old club." I nudged him playfully as he sarcastically shook his head. "Let's dance." He pulled me by the hand into the centre of the floor.

He held my hips as we swayed together, feeling the music and each other. "I though you'd be a better dancer Y/N." I looked up at him confused. "I'm only joking Carino. You look beautiful." I dug my head into his chest as we danced.

Now did I want to hook up with him? No, not really. But you can't hate a girl for giving into some attention. "Hector." He looked at me, almost freezing. "Does Pedri hate me?" He laughed. A guttural laugh.

"I'm not sure. Why?" I sighed. "He's just been a real dickhead lately. Always up in my personal businesses and constantly trying to piss me off." Hector smiled at me. "Yeah I don't think he hates you." He continued, "If it makes you feel any better, I think he actually likes you. I mean at least when I was at Barca he wouldn't shut up about this new prodigy." Ok now I was intrigued. "Go on."

"Well I mean he would always hang around at training to watch you play. To me at least I found it a little creepy, but I think it all stemmed from a crush." Yeah what the fuck.

"There's no way. Like he actually despises me." Hector shrugged as we came to a full stop of dancing. "Well maybe something's changed, but trust me, he likes you. Or used to I don't know."

I literally did not know what to think. So Pedri has been a fan all along??? Interesting…

After leaving Hector for the bathroom I felt a presence behind me as I walked down the corridor. Turning around nonchalantly, I came face to face with Pedri. Of fucking course he’d be here.

"Having fun?" He was holding a glass of what looked like water. Of course he didn't drink. "Yeah it's chill." I went to turn around when he grabbed my shoulder. "Sorry if I've been a dick, I've just, I don't know. Sorry." He was smiling at me. Smiling.

"Oh, um yeah okay you're all good." Before I could make my way back to the bathroom, his hands clasped my face, pulling me in for a kiss.

My brain wanted to push him away, but my body wanted more of him. I kissed him back passionately before he pulled away, hands still on my cheek. "Holy shit, I'm so sorry." He looked at me for no more than a second before walking back out.

He just kissed me. I kissed him. Pedri. Fucking Pedri.

"Y/N you're on, get up." Jonatan called for me, I was cozy on the bench watching my team struggle against Wolfsburg in a tight Champions League group stage match.

I hopped out of my seat and walked over to him. "I need you to turn this around. It's looking sloppy out there." He pointed to the field, everyone was tired, and Wolfsburg would break the deadlock soon enough if no stepped up. "I need a goal. I need you to be the captain out there, ok?" I nodded.

It was going to be tough. A thousand things were running through my head. Pedri was one of them, and I knew he was in the crowd. Alex too. God why do I do this to myself.

As I walked over to the fourth official, I could hear the crowd begin to get louder. I knew I was popular amongst the Barca fans, but hearing how excited they were to see me come on, gave me a new type of confidence.

I ran onto the pitch after I was subbed on, and genuinely put my heart into it. I had a few shots, although none were good enough to get past the keeper.

I built up with Keira, and finally had a chance to bury the game. I struck the ball with my laces from a few meters outside the box. I watched it curl into the top right of the goal and the crowd erupted.

I ran to the corner post where I did a knee slide, and was followed closely behind my teammates. Everyone was cheering.

The whistle blew after an agonizingly long fifteen minutes and the stadium erupted once more. We had slid past into a comfortable 1-0 win and I was absolutely buzzing. Jonatan pulled me in for a hug, and soon enough I was being thrown in the air by my teammates.

We did a lap of the field, taking photos and thanking the fans for supporting us. I had given my jersey to a young fan, in exchange for a bag of Haribos which were delicious.

When we had reached the bench and tunnel, I made direct eye contact with Pedri. It wasn't short either. He was still in the stands, in a full Barca tracksuit, looking down at me. And then he smiled.

I smiled back at him before I almost got practically tackled. Alex lifted me off the ground, and spun my around. "You did so well." He placed me back on the ground and leaned in for a kiss, I pulled back. "Oh, thanks Alex." I looked back into the crowd to where Pedri was standing, but I couldn't see him anymore.

"Please let me take you out tonight. I have us booked in for a beautiful Italian restaurant." I physically cringed. I don't know why I have such conflicting feeling towards Alex.

"Sorry Alex, but I've got recovery and stuff. I'd love to go another day." Lieeeeee. He looked down to the ground. "Yeah uh you're all good. Well done today." He smiled cowardly and grazed my arm before walking away.

"Rejected lover boy once again?" Salma came up to me, linking her arm through mine. I hadn't yet told her about Pedri. At first I didn't even see why I should, but I really needed to tell somebody.

"I feel like I'm leading him on, but I seriously do not wanna be his girlfriend or whatever he thinks we are." We walked into the tunnel and I was pulled into an interview.

"Y/N, that was a spectacular performance. However, many fans are confused as to why you weren't in the starting line up. Can you give us some insight into that?"

"Yeah well I wasn't training to me best standards in all honesty." The journalist nodded, signalling for me to continue. "Here at Barca everyone's replaceable. If you're not performing, someone else takes your place. It's the nature of this club. It's one of the reasons why I love it so much."

"How'd it feel to get a goal? It was a real tight game there, and you seemed to loosen it all up.

"I never take scoring for granted. It's a feeling I chase. As much as I love dribbling or assisting, or even tackling, nothing brings me as much joy as scoring does."

The interview continued for another couple of minutes before I made my way to a presumably empty changeroom.

Walking in, it was exactly what I guessed. I had a shower and changed into comfy clothes. Salma was driving us home, so she was probably waiting for me somewhere. I opened the door to leave the changeroom when I was met with a group. The group being Gavi, Pedri, and Salma.

Immediately, I made eye contact with Pedri who looked away. "Come on sissy, let's get home." We began walking in twos, Salma and I, Pedri and Gavi.

"You two were on fire today. There's surely a Ballon D'or coming your way Y/N." Gavi patted my back from behind, to which I turned around and smiled. "Thanks Pablo." Salma directed most of the conversation, Pedri barely spoke. Something was up with him.

"Pepi and I were so pissed when we couldn't see you on the starting lineup." Gavi said, making Pedri blush. "He started freaking out, thought you were injured and everything." I smiled to myself. It was cute I couldn't even lie.

"That's not true." His cheeks turned a darker shade of pink. He was embarrassed and it was adorable.

"Salma I need to tell you something." She jumped over the couch and sat next to me. "Spill." She then handed me a bowl of chocolate covered strawberries.

"Ok. So I may have kissed Pedri. No he kissed me. But I kissed him back." Her jaw dropped, and jumped straight up, dancing around me. "I called it! I fucking knew it!" I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah well you can calm it down because I think he hates me again." She sat down immediately. "Well you know how Alex came down?" She nodded. "Well I guess Pedri must've seen because he's been giving me the cold shoulder. He didn't even speak to me while we were all walking."

"So do you want me to set you two up?" I smacked her. "Don't you fucking dare."

omg guys sorry this took so long. lmk if you wanna be tagged in the next part and send me reqs!!

PART THREE HEREEEE

[7-penguins-eat-icecream]

aventurine going undercover at veritas prime uni fic idea

OK LETS BUCKLE UP. THIS FIC IDEA HAS BEEN CONSUMING ME FOR SO LONG BUT I HAVE NO IDEA WHEN I CAN START THIS GUY (trying to finish my current fic before committing to this guy) so i just need to lay this plot bunny into the world lol

Main idea: there is an internal issue going on at Veritas Prime, the uni Dr Ratio works at, which is lowkey stressing him out. I think it would be a matter similar to the Ruan Mei and Dr Ratio quest in that it could be a kinda structural issue that Dr Ratio cannot solve as an insider because it would spook the culprits too much (i'm thinking of a baby cult or smth like that, similar to the banana memetic thingy in HSR too). As you can tell, this issue is just a vehicle to put Aventio into Situations. I'm just creating a problem at this point hah

Either way, Aventurine gets pulled into this of his own free will after seeing how stressed his situationship has been recently

They decide that Aventurine, as a great actor and an outsider to VPUni, could go undercover as a student there, especially as the second semester is starting so he could easily pose as a mid-year transfer student from another uni (international student? Or rather interastral student lol. I forgot the words bruh).

Now a potential problem (for Aventurine's emotional state hahahah): Aventurine cannot conceivably pose as one of Dr R's students because their accidental sexual tension would be so potent that rumors would spring up ASAP. Put these two guys together and EVERYONE will know that there's something going on between them

and like i need aventurine to make friends with his peers... this man NEEDS friends i am not kidding. also aventurine could occasionally trauma dump (only the most out of context stuff, e.g. yh i nearly died a couple of months but its whateverrr, and maybe yh i once homoerotically pulled a gun on myself and made a stranger watch. we're in a situationship now ahaha) and maybe get some support from people who aren't Ratio? like maybe it would be easier to share his feelings if he isn't viewed as a stoneheart who knows.

and ofc a bit of emotional turmoil because he gets imposter syndrome 😍

And maybe he would go by kakavasha, as he initially thinks that the past/his name is dead to him, so it wouldn't affect him much 👀however, he later realises that he actually quite likes being referred to as that (or the angstier route: he hates it). So why would he even choose Kakavasha in the first place? Well honestly a) I can't think of another name b) neither can aventurine

so like what would aventurine even be studying whilst undercover? honestly like he COULD become a finance bro and study economics or whatever... but hear me out. What about philosophy?? Not only was penacony's story very deeply intrenched in each of the cast's respective philosophy, I feel like aventurine may choose it because Dr R has a phd in it,, he wants to be at lteast a bit closer to the man because he is down BAD for him (on the other side, i think ratio would be quite pleased that aventurine chose that lol)

-> also like i've never studied philosophy but the vibes i get from it is that HOW you present your respective argument is probably more important than the argument itself?? Like i just think that Aventurine IS very cunning and would probably do well in an argument especially if he managed to pick up some stuff from Ratio as well lol (if someone knows what happens in philosophy classes pls let me know if this is even remotely correct)

also i think a really interesting thing to explore would be all the different sides of Ratio,, like the students would place him on such a massive pedastal and aventurine would be forced to review his relationship and finally see just how much Ratio actually cares for him ಥ_ಥ

i have no more thoughts about this fic idea, but at the end ofc aventio get together

-> maybe the friends that Aventurine pick up accidentally see them get together and are like: omg is that Kakavasha's situationship...? Wait does that mean he pulled a gun on our teacher on the first meeting???

If you've read this far thanks for reading!! hope it amused you

Part two!

[namjhyun]

DRAMA REVIEW | Study Group (2025)

Study Group is likely to be remember as one of the best dramas that South Korea release in 2025. I am not kidding. The entire premise and the situations these kids face in school it's outlandish but the narrative it's told in such a fun way, the viewer gets hooked immediately.

Our lead, Gamin, is a nice person. He doesn't have problems at home, he doesn't struggle financially and it's, overall, a happy and healthy teen. His only real problem is that he sucks at studying and needs real help ASAP because no matter how hard he tries, he never achieves his goal of going up in the school's ranks. This is obviously an issue because he dreams of going to University. He has always dreamt of creating a Study Group. A community of peers with his same goal to better themselves and grow as people, and that's what he sets out to do in high school. If only it was that easy…. Gamin and his friends have to fight tooth and nail in order to study.

This kdrama is all heart and style, which I love. The story is compelling, the script cohesive and coherent, putting an emphasis on the the characters' development as teens learning to be good people as they grow into adults. The viewer gets to see the kids go through growing pains, laugh and cry with them.

The camera work and special effects are outstanding, creating some of the best action scenes you will see this year, and going on hand with the incredible performances delivered by the cast. Nothing is amiss in this production, and I would go as far as to put it among other great kdramas like MOVING and Weak Hero Class 1.

My one, tiny complain would be that I wish we would have find out more about our main antagonist and another mysterious character, but the ending of this kdrama leaves room for a possible second season. So, considering the big hit this kdrama has become domestically and internationally, I would not be surprised if that's exactly why there wasn't more information about them. Either way, I had a really good time with Study Group and I highly recommend it.

[rom-e-o]

I'm gonna leave this up to you since you're the expert. Our Scrooge characters, what fractions do you see each being in the Dragon Age universe? And which games would you put them in?

In addition to the WIPS, I confess, I have been mulling this over very, very seriously in my brain, haha. There are so many considerations, and because Dragon Age is a brutal universe, no faction/class is safe. At all.

BUT, here goes what I think the vibes for each of our characters. I'm going to lean into Veilguard factions since, honestly, those are some pretty defined factions (or they include the most clear-cut factions across the franchise, like Grey Wardens.)

The Twins: Mages from the Circle of Magi. I don't think any of the Veilguard factions really ... suit them, in my mind? Rather, I see both Wolfy and Adonis being arcane advisors or accountants to powerful nobles in countries like Antiva or Orlais that got their start by surviving the Circle of Magi. Now, being human mages, if they were from Ferelden (which I think fits them), that means their lovely father would have put them into a Circle. Fereldens don't like mages. This ain't Nevarra - if you can use magic, you're damaged goods. If your kid shows magic, you throw them into a Circle ASAP. There are multiple Circles, but each is a hold where mages are kept hidden away by Templars until a mage survives their 'Harrowing' (basically calling forth a demon.) Each mage must resist possession to basically earnt he right to exist. If you fail, execution or Tranquility (lobotomy). Perhaps Fan was also a Mage. Perhaps she failed her Harrowing. I see the Twins being part of the Kirkwall Circle, AKA ... the worst one. Cruel. Back-breaking. Soul-crushing. Definitely would inspire their cutthroat attitude to scraping by and surviving. Perhaps that's how they meet Marley (corrupt Templar? Nevarran Seeker allied with the Templars?). He offers them an out. Also, mages can choose to shapeshift, so Wolfy still gets a Wolf form (he probably falls into Morrigan or Solas-style of magic using) while Adonis leans a little more classic (Dorian, Vivienne, etc.)

Bess: MOURN WATCH. I mean, with her spirit-whispering and spirit-sight? It's a perfect fit for her! Considering Marley's fate as a ghost, it makes me wonder if he had connections to it as well. Besides, the Mourn Watch is also a faction that is most closely aligned with medicine, and considering Bess' expertise in other universes, MW again feels like the best choice for her. She would be a dynamo at it, being able to sense and see rogue spirits in the Necropolis before many others. I also do see Bess being a mage (Emmrich-style, of course). Earth or necrotic magic feels fitting, which means she can command a massive amount of energy, but needs gear that assists with cooldowns that would leave her drained and vulnerable.

Connie: Okay, I originally said Shadow Dragon for Con ... I'm changing my answer, lol. She's a Crow. A fire mage Crow (a Phoenix, one might say.) Theresea and Arthur having their own Crow house and adopting Connie fits PERFECTLY with how the houses work. Now, Arthur and TeTe would lean much more into stealth and diplomacy than ... well, knives. They definitely have a Robin Hood vibe more than an assassin vibe. Then, they find Connie. They raise her, and as a result, she kind of gets pulled in. Is Connie slashing throats on the reg? No, but she is one charming lady. She may be terrible at stealth, but can she put on some lingerie and get a corrupt prince to drink some strangely bitter wine? Absolutely. And if she must use lethal force, that's what her fire magic is for. All the black hides ash well, let's just say.

Addie: I see her being a rogue/archer in the Shadow Dragons. that totally fits her reporter profession, too. What better way to expose and report on the atrocities of blood magic and slavery in Tevinter than to be part of the organization that works underground to expose it. She's definitely sneaky and careful, and I could see her being a dang good scout of spymaster as well. Want to know if there are traps? Send in the eagle-eyed informant to get the scoop.

Tom: This man is a Veil Jumper. Tinkering, inventing, making everything from dancing toys for kids to unlocking the ancient potential of weapons and artifacts older than time itself? Yeah, that fits the bill for him. I actually see him being Ferelden-born, then traveling to Tevinter, being scrappy enough to survive Arlathan forest, and boom, she's scooped up. And he loves it! Man would be a whiz with machinery and extremely cunning - enough to get out of a pinch with Venatori if they showed up (then send an arrow into their chests, then looting their corpses.) "Thank you very much!" Yeah, I see him as an archer. And he and Addie can bond over slaughtering Venatori together. He captures them, she interrogates them. Date night. <3

Gal: I mean, a Lord of Fortune warrior, of course! Literally a dragon-hunting/protecting pirate that sails the sea? It's perfect. Plus, all the uniforms are fashioned to literally show muscles. EXTRA perfect. I see her specializing in two-handed weapons (double swords). Blue would make for an adorable and amazing Assan-type ally.

Jake: Also a Lord of Fortune. Definitely leaned heavily into the dragon hunter profession first, before ultimately switching. I could see him being more like a Robin Hood-esque character with Maisie, traveling the seas and swashbuckling across continents. A see him being a rogue, fighting kind of Varric-style by implementing a combo of bladework and traps/acrobatics to trick the enemy and disorient them. then, Gal goes in for the finishing blow.

Harry (adding for that lore though): Grey Warden, warrior. He inherits magic use from his mom, and decides to use it for good! The ultimate sacrifice, he thinks. Plus, the grey Warden are basically Second Chance Incorp. If you're a mage or Templar seeking amnesty, the Wardens will take you in, no judgement. But the end price is hefty. The Twins would HATE this decision, and think him an pure-hearted and naive idiot for joining and throwing his life away.

Bonus: Orin: Soparati. Tevinter-born civilian, no magical talent. No special class because, well, he has no ambition. I could also see him being a Viddathari with the Qun (AKA a human that accepts Qunari religion/social system). And he really wouldn't give a shit about the Qun, but he does love their opinions on mages (he hates that he wasn't born a mage, so he's got to siphon that energy out somehow). All mages under the Qun have their mouths sewn shut, tongues cut off, and they're controlled with a cattlerod. They are chained up and have no autonomy, until they need to go kill something. Then he marries Connie, a mage assasin. Hm. Wonder what that's about. Anywaaaaay. (Also, someone can be a member of the qunari race, but not be a member of the Qun. Taash, Iron Bull if you make him Tal-Vashoth (break his pact), etc.)

[moss-lovingtransmasc]

Hello everyone!!

I'm writing a cherik fanfic and posting my work for the first time somewhere - when I finish it I'll put it on ao3, but for now I'll post sections of it here! Advice, comments, etc. are very much appreciated! (Also my writing style might change between sections/ chapters bc I'm still learning what my style is, just a heads up. :)

(modern AU, college/uni AU, no powers, alternate meeting)

-Monday-

Charles woke up to the sound of his phone beeping. 

The morning sun and late summer air spread through his room from his open window. 

Bird calls echoed from the tree outside.

Groggily, he reached over to his nightstand to turn off the alarm. 

7:30 AM

It was the beginning of his fourth year at Queen Mary University, and by the end of this year he was going to get his Bachelor’s degree in Biology. He checks his university app to look at what his new schedule is. He had Cellular Biology and Calculus III today. Then, he checked his reminders for the day. 

-Do laundry on Tuesday

-Finish graduation project for bio - due second semester

-Fill in empty class period for first semester (ASAP)

-Get groceries

-Pick up anxiety meds for Hank from pharmacy (Wednesday)

Fuck. He forgot to talk with his counselor about that free space in his schedule. 

--

In the middle of his second period, Charles checks his schedule again- and finds he doesn’t have enough time after his last class to talk to Ms. Frost. So when his second class ended, Charles spedwalk to his counselor’s office. 

Ms. Frost’s office was at the end of the hall in the East Wing. He always had a feeling that she didn’t like him very much. Or anyone for that matter. Every time he saw her, she always seemed cold, and occasionally just outright rude to students. Like she was always tired of them. Why the hell did she become a college counselor?

Arriving at Ms. Frost’s office, two faint voices inside got his attention. 

“You can go fuck off for all I care”

“What- What did you just say to me?!”

“You heard me Summers - now get out…Please.”

“Alright I’ll fuck off then…” Scott replied under his breath as Charles heard footsteps towards the door. 

The door swung open, and he caught a glimpse of a pissed off guy leaving the office. His face had looked slightly familiar, and Charles vaguely remembered seeing him pass in the halls on the way to some of his classes.

Grabbing the door knob and stepping inside, Charles saw Ms. Frost at her desk, looking down at some student files.

“Hello! Uh, I’m here about an additional class credit I need for graduation.”

“Okay. Sit down” She replied curtly, opening her laptop and clacking on the keyboard. 

He took the single office chair across from her desk and sat down. A beat of silence passed as Ms. Frost got the student registry up. Charles looked around her office in the meantime. 

It wasn't very cluttered like some other school staff’s offices were. She did have a few decorations and knick-knacks scattered around. Silver little objects on her bookshelves, posh-looking white and diamond decorations on the walls, the light blue picture frames that held her degrees and documents that she was required to hang up. Now that he’s thinking about it, her name really matches up with her room. 

“Name, year and major?”

His head snapped up as he heard Ms. Frost’s voice.

“Charles Francis Xavier - 4th year Genetics Major”

She gave him a look that probably silently judged why he said his middle name. He wasn't quite sure why he did either. As far as he knew of, there wasn't another Xavier in the Science department.

“Lets see…You need one credit left of a creative class, since you've taken almost all of the possible science classes here…”

Oh God no. Charles had never had an interest in drawing, painting, or any other art form, and to be honest, he was never good at it anyways. “Please don't make me take a class with painting or something - I'm terrible at it.”

 “Alright- Well, there is a metalworking class- which happens to be the only class that fits your preferences and your schedule, so I’d recommend that.” 

When did the university have a metalworking class? Sounded interesting enough…

“Uh- sure. I’ll take that. Thank you”

“Okay, I'll sign you up for it then. The next class is tomorrow.” 

“Alright Thank you Ms. Frost!” 

“Bye.” Charles heard her say - in a slightly annoyed tone - as he opened the door to leave. 

That went surprisingly well.

He really shouldn’t have put it off until the first day though…

-Tuesday-

It occurred to him that his new metalworking class might not be that great, or that popular at the very least if they had late scheduling available.  

Oh well - he just needed to graduate and then he could explore genetics outside the restraints of school. First, he had his favorite class of the day: Study of Human Evolution III. He had taken the intro course his first year and loved every minute of it. 

He found it fascinating how thousands of millions of years on Earth had changed tiny single-celled organisms to the conscious and complex beings humans are today. Capable of thought, capable of studying themselves and building societies. Yet still so animal - having base human instincts ingrained into their genetic make up. 

After that class though, he had his first day of metalworking - in room 109B. 

He was not looking forward to this. 

--

As he walked down the art hallways, he eventually recognized the room number. 

Opening the door and peering inside, to his surprise, he found that the class was almost completely full. All except for one seat at a large workshop table in the back of the class. 

Charles stepped inside and walked over, hearing the bell ring seconds after. 

Oh shit he was almost late. 

Charles was almost never late, being the top student in most of his classes, he prided himself on being punctual. He just had some trouble navigating the art hallways, was all, never stepping foot in them before. He had to admit that it was a little embarrassing, studying here for the past three years…

He sat down on the stool, looking at the tall student next to him. He looked about his age, if not a little bit older looking. Not by much though.  

“Hello! I’m Charles.” Introducing himself and offering a smile.

… 

The guy next to him didn't say anything, just smiled politely at him. 

Charles just assumed didn’t like much conversation. 

The professor started introducing himself and his students to the class, mentioning something about the syllabus. Charles normally would have paid more attention if it was any other class, and if it was any other person next to him. 

Charles didn’t normally stare at people this much, even people who he was attracted to, but for some reason he couldn’t stop looking at the guy next to him. As secretly as he could of course, looking at him through the corner of his left eye while facing the front of the class. He knew his face from some of his classes last year, and his Cellular Biology class yesterday. He was usually too interested in the subject matter to talk with anyone, and this guy was quiet and always sitting in the back. 

Besides that, he was just a very handsome man. His strong facial structure, his slightly stern eyebrows. His black turtleneck sweater complimented his neck and captured his figure so well.

“Erik Eisenhardt?” 

“Here.”

Erik then. That was his name. 

Charles listened to the rest of the roll call but didn't hear his name. The roster might not have been updated yet. He made a mental note to talk to the professor at the end of class. 

They first learned about basic safety measures of metalworking, like the protective equipment, hazards, and mentioned a safety contract. He also introduced the class to the tools they had at the stations, what they were going to be using most often, along with techniques like cutting and welding. 

“And remember, metalworking can be a very useful skill to know for trade jobs, but it can also be an art form. And since you all aren't in trade school, I’m going to assume you all joined for the art aspect of it, which is what we’ll be focusing on anyways.” 

The professor stood up and handed out the contracts to each table. 

“Here’s the safety contract I need you all to sign if you still wish to continue. I’ll need it by next class, so I’ll give you all some time to read it today. And please don’t be shy -  feel free to ask any questions.”

As he got to Charles’ table, he realized that he didn’t hear the professor’s name. There was a chalkboard at the front, but it was blank. 

“Hey - Erik was it? Did you catch the professor’s name?”

“Professor Azazel I think.”

“Thank you”

They didn't talk to each other for the rest of class. 

--

As the period came to an end, Charles went up to the front of the room to talk to Prof. Azazel. 

“Hello Professor! I believe that my name isn’t on the list yet? I registered for this class yesterday, but I just wanted to let you know that I was present today.”

“Okay, I’ll mark you down. Next time though, tell me during roll call.”

“Will do! Have a good rest of your day.” 

As Charles went back to grab his laptop bag, he saw that Erik left a small spiral notebook. Picking it up, he decided to return it in his Cellular Bio class tomorrow.

[carmenpeach]

think im frustrated with idk a lot of things obviously but one thing is that i feel my final ceramic pieces from college are (except for a few) just kinda mediocre. like theyre fine in their own right and im happy with the results i guess but i have a few like outstanding sculptures and the rest were "oh fuck i need to finish this asap fuck" and how i didnt get to finish my last projects cause of the pandemic closing down the campus :( just a kinda unsatisfying end to my college art time in a great studio. granted not that i got to focus on my art cause the professor uhg what a cunt we were supposed to like have free reign over our i think 3 or 4 sculptures for our body of work cause it was the advanced class. but the guy was like "wah put your shit on hold and make fucking teapots for my teapot show to make me look good! do them before your other projects that are also due!" so all i made really were the teapots -_- one came out good it was more abstracted and the other just looked like shit i think i just broke it to pieces. man other than that i made my -_- personal self portrait about schizophrenia and got hardcore shunned idk why i thought ppl would actually be chill. not really mad over that anymore but it still just sucked. i ended up finishing the painting on that like 3ish years ago but never posted it anywhere. might relay that anecdote later of my odd journey lugging that thang around but perhaps another day. anyways as i was saying sucks how my final pieces for college were just "something kinda mediocre and way below my standards cause i need to hurry up and make something" oh well

[mlfywsly]

My Best Friend...

Summary: You were friends with Harry. You both had a crush on eachother but no one wanted to say anything, until this happens...

Pairing: Harry Greene x OC!Fem

Warnings: Strong language

A/N: I'm actually going to use this to my Wattpad story, but I was literally needing to write this asap 😭

I got up pretty early that day and sighted. There was not even a week since school started again and I was sick of that. I went to the bathroom to brush my hair and put my uniform on. I went downstairs and have breakfast.

"Hey, Livia" Nick greeted me "You ready for school?"

"Honestly no. But what can we do?"

"True"

I took my bag and we started walking to school. I meet my friends at a table and started talking.

"So... how's everything going with Harry?" Imogen asked

I looked at her and shrugged.

"It's like... everyday. Why?"

"He didn't declare to you yet?"

"Oh my God"

I sighted tired.

"Don't start again, please... it's like 7 a.m., i don't wanna die yet"

"C'mon, you're overreacting" Sahar said "But you know, it's pretty obvious you both fancy each other"

"I do not!" I blushed

"You said it yourself. You like him"

"Well, of course I like him but he just d-"

"Hey"

I screamed. I turned around and saw Harry.

"Shove off, man, you scared me!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to"

He sat next to me.

"So, how you doing?"

"Pretty great until you came in" I smiled

"Rude"

I laughed.

"Should we leave?" Imogen said smiling

"Oh, no, I'm sorry" Harry got up "So... um... well..."

I looked at him confused. He shaked his head.

"See you in class"

He leaved.

"That was... weird" I said "Anyway, I wanna die because I have history today... it's not fair"

"Is not it the only class you and Harry shared?"

"Yeah..."

Sahar made a sarcastic sound.

"I would be jumping if I were you then"

"Pipe down"

She started laughing and we went to class. After the break, I went to my history class and sat on my desk. Harry came in and sat next to me.

"Hey"

"Hi"

"So... I'm sorry about what happened later, I mean..."

"Don't worry" I said fixing his tie

He blushed.

"Oh, um... great"

"You're acting weird recently" I looked at him concerned "You know you can count on me, Har, what's wrong?"

"I'm alright, don't worry" he smiled "It's just that... being a teenager is so fucking hard, I'm so confused about myself"

"Why?" I laughed "Do you like a boy or something? It's totally fine if you do"

"No, God. I mean, yes, I like someone. But not a guy"

"So what's the deal?"

"The deal is that I shouldn't be having this feelings about her" he sighted sad "She was like my little sister, you know? I didn't though that I would end up falling in love with her"

"Well, that's love blondie. You never expect to fall in love with someone you didn't expect to"

"Yeah... I guess you're right... but it's so complicated everything, I just..."

He looked at me and I rested my head on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Harry. Everything is going to be fine, promise. And if it's not... you will move on soon. That's how teen love works..."

"How am I supposed to move on, Livia? I don't want to, but I love her since a while ago. A long while ago"

I sighted

"Guess we're feeling the same right now..." I whispered

"What?"

"You know how hard love is? At least it is so hard to me. I'm always falling in love with boys that don't even care about me or that don't even know I exist. Even if we have like... the minimum contact it was like everything to me, it makes me happy for the rest of the day. And if he's my friend I'm literally the happiest girl ever. But it's also hard, because sometimes they just see me like her little sister, or like a very good friend and I can spend nights and days crying and crying and crying. And if they're not my friends I try to do my best but it's never enough. And we end up always like... them talking shit about me and bummed me out. Always. So i'm kind of sick of love, but at the same time it's the only thing that makes me be alive"

He didn't say anything. He just kept looking at me. I sighted and focus on my books.

"It's kind of weird to me to think how... everything changed between us. I mean..."

I looked at him

"We used to hate each other... I would never though about talking to you anytime I was upset and I would never though about vent to you..."

I looked down. It's pretty obvious that wasn't going to happen... we were so different and we hated each other...

"Yeah... you're right. I would never though about telling you stuff I won't tell nobody... it's weird but... you're actually my biggest support since what happened with my dad..."

He smiled. We didn't talk again until the class was over.

"By the way... do you mind coming to my home today after school? I mean, just so we can do history together"

I picked my bag and looked at him. I smiled.

"Sure! I will text you"

"Great! I have to go, see you"

He gave me a kiss on my forehead and leave. I smiled to myself. After school I went home with Nick and we ate. Around 5 p.m. I picked my bag and went downstairs.

"Where are you going?" Nick asked

"I'm going to Harry's to do history"

"Oh, lovely. I will walk you"

We leaved home and started walking to Harry's house. When we arrived, Nick knocked on the door. The door was opened by a sleepy Harry, with his pyjama and his messy hair. God, I love him...

"Nick, mate! How you doing?"

"Pretty fine. You're kind of a sleepy beauty, aren't you?"

"Pipe down, man. I'm tired as fuck"

"Right, right... well. I just went to accompany Livia so... I'm going back. Have fun"

"Shove off"

I got in and he closed the door.

"I'm sorry" he said rubbing his eyes "I fall asleep, actually"

"Don't worry, you're kind of cute with your messy hair"

He blushed.

"Yeah, well..."

I smiled and we went to his dorm. We lay down on the floor and we started doing history. I groaned.

"Man, I hate history so much, it's not even funny"

"Hey!" Harry smiled "What's wrong? I can help you"

"I don't understand anything. And when I say anything it's ANYTHING"

He laughed.

"Give me that, I will help you"

We started doing homework together but I swear he didn't stop looking at me. I looked at him and smiled.

"What?"

He looked down and lick his lips. I blushed, that was actually hot... He looked at me with his bright eyes and I felt like dying. I can't stop myself for feeling that. He started to lean in and I didn't even think of going back. Our lips finally touched and it was magical. He kissed me softly and then pulled out. He looked at me completely red.

"Uh, oh my God, I'm so sorry, I-"

"Don't worry..." I comforted him "It's okay"

"Shit. I didn't mean to..."

I looked down and we finished homework. I got back home and I sighted with sadness. The next days everything between us were so akward.

"What happened with Harry?" Imogen asked one day while we were leaving school "He used to came and greet you at morning but now you barely talk..."

"I don't wanna talk about that..."

"Did he do something? If he did I swear to God I will-"

"No, Sahar, he didn't do anything. It's just... well, something very akward happened between us and... well... it's weird"

I went home without saying anything. The next day it was the same. Harry didn't even look at me. I was entering to school when suddenly someone grabbed me and push me into a wall inside an empty room.

"What the hell are y-"

He shutted me out kissing me so hard. I opened my eyes but slowly kiss him back. His hands started going down from my back to my hips. I put my arms around his neck and we deepened the kiss. He moved his hands to my tights and I wrapped my legs around his wrist. He moaned and I bite his lip. We pulled out slowly, but his lips were at inches from mines.

"I'm sorry..." he said trying to breath "I... honestly I wanted to do this since the prom dance"

"You're messing with me"

"I'm not! I'm in love with you, Livia. I swear to God I am"

"Since when?"

"Since I know you. You're the most enchanting girl I have ever met... and since we became friends I fell harder for you every single second"

I didn't know what to say. I was in shock. He started to step aside.

"It's alright if you do-"

I took him by his cheeks and kissed him so hard. It took him by surprise but he grab my wrist and pulled me closer to him while he deepened the kiss. I wrapped my hands on his hair and I started stroking his hair. He introduce his tongue on my mouth and we started making out like two crazy teenagers in love. 'Cause it was what we were, two teenagers crazy for each other.

Masterlist

[rigelmejo]

Thoughts after 9 years of learning Japanese

As you all know, this is going to include rambling. This is not a record of all the things I've done, and the recommendations contained are what I wish my past self would have done - they do not necessarily apply to you. Everyone is going to have their own path that works best, their own mistakes, and what helps me may not apply to everyone.

First mistake I made:

Severely underestimating how much time it would take to learn to do stuff in Japanese. FSI estimates put Japanese as taking 3520 hours (88 weeks at 40 hours a week) for English speakers to learn to around an upper intermediate/B2 level. I did not know that when I started studying Japanese. I didn't even think about looking up an estimate of how many hours I'd need to study to reach my goals, until 4 years into learning.

So I spent 3 years studying 15 minutes a day on average. And then wondered why I was still a beginner. So after 3 years, I'd studied around ~273.75 hours. No wonder I was still a beginner!

I was studying Japanese, while also studying French (for 30 minutes to 2 hours a day some months, average was probably .5 hours a day), and while also studying Russian one of those years (for 1-4 hours per day the year I focused on it - I needed to understand daily conversations ASAP). So Japanese was getting neglected, I had no time to spare for it. Even though out of all the languages I was studying, it probably required the MOST hours to hit progress milestones. With French, progress went 'slow' because I was only studying .5 hours a day, but in 2 years I'd studied 365 hours and had decent reading skills (A2-B1, not sure but wikipedia and news became readable), and I could just keep reading in regular life to maintain and improve my French from there. Russian I stopped studying once I no longer needed it in my daily life.

Finally, after 3 years, of just trying to study the same 300 kanji... I decided to change my study plan. As part of that, I also increased my study time per day for a while, so my study hours started going UP. That probably would have helped no matter what else I did. I just needed a LOT more study hours dedicated to Japanese. No matter what else I did.

If I could go back, I would tell past me that whatever I planned to do to study Japanese, to do it 1+ hour daily. Ideally, as many hours as I could be motivated to do it. 15 minutes was way too little study time per day to see big milestones of progress like hitting A2, B1, B2 skill competence etc. (Or the JLPT equivalents N5, N4, N3, N2, N1).

Second mistake I made:

Being a PERFECTIONIST. Being a perfectionist is not very compatible with learning a language - when learning a language includes imperfect understanding of materials for native speakers for YEARS, and making mistakes in the language for YEARS as you learn how to express yourself better. We made mistakes in our native languages for at least 10 years! For many of us, we made mistakes for 20+ years and still need grammar help sometimes when writing essays or other things. Learning a language is signing up to do it all again, with another language, which we will never be perfect at either. Learning a language is not compatible with perfectionism.

In a way, once I learned being a perfectionist about my study was holding me back, it made: language study way more fun and rewarding, and also helped me practice NOT being a perfectionist. Which was really healthy for me, and freeing, and such a positive in my life that I kept the hobby of studying languages. Because it was SO good for my mental health to embrace making mistakes, and embrace imperfection as the path to improving at the things I wanted to do.

Why was I a perfectionist those first 3 years?

I had taken a Japanese 1 class the first few months of learning Japanese seriously - an excellent class. We did 6 chapters of Genki 1. A class was good for me, in that it FORCED ME TO MOVE FORWARD. I had to move onto the next chapter's grammar and words, I had to practice speaking and writing, I had to accept some level of 'imperfect understanding' to keep up with the fast pace of the class - since I only had so much time in the day to study. If you, like me, tend to be perfectionist? I highly recommend taking classes if possible, that progressively teach more, so you are forced to progress through the material and forced to challenge yourself regularly. So if there's a Japanese series of courses available to you? Then taking the classes as they teach from N5 gradually to N2-1 material, will push you to simply make forward progress.

An added benefit of classes: even if you barely study because of your own motivation, the class will FORCE you to study Japanese at least ~7 hours a week. So with semesters of ~15 weeks, that's 105 hours a semester, and at 2 semesters a year that is 840 hours after 4 years of college classes. More, if you took summer classes or did any independent study OUTSIDE of class, which may put you over 1000 hours after 4 years. Which is going to put you a lot closer to the goals you have, compared to the measly few hundred hours I had after 3 years.

Basically, if you have perfectionist tendencies OR you don't tend to make time for study much, classes will MAKE you overcome those tendencies to a degree.

After 1 semester, I didn't take any more classes. Realistically, I probably could have finished Genki 1 in another few months, then started Genki 2 and finished it in a year, then started Tobira and finished that in another 1-2 years, and reached an N3 level in Japanese in 3-4 years. I did not do that. I spent the next 2.5 years going over Genki 1 over and over, and going over the 300 basic kanji in a book I found, over and over. My perfectionism insisting I perfectly memorized ALL words, ALL grammar, and could use it WELL before moving on. So I held myself back.

So if I could go back and talk to my past self, I'd tell them to pace my study similar to a class. To ignore the urge to fully memorize and be perfect, and push myself through a textbook chapter every 1-2 weeks like my Japanese class had been paced.

If I had just done that, I could have been N4 level in a year (~A2 level, upper beginner). From there, I could have been N3 in another year (B1, lower intermediate), and from there I could have started enjoying media made for Japanese native speakers after 2 years! But that's not what happened lol.

So finally, after 3 years of basically barely studying (15 minutes a day) and re-studying the same absolute beginner materials (Genki 1 and 300 kanji) I decided something needed to change. I had to do something, I wanted to read manga and play video games in Japanese.

Third mistake I made:

Not realizing the importance of specific goals. I went on to waste another year, so year 3-4, studying things that were not directly useful to me.

By specific goals I mean: knowing specifically what you WANT TO DO in the language, and making a study plan to specifically WORK TOWARD THAT GOAL.

An example would be: I want to read Ranma 1/2 manga in Japanese. Specific study plan for that goal: opening up Ranma 1/2 manga and looking up every unknown word and grammar point. OR, for a more general study plan, learning 2000 common words that are bound to come up in most materials, reading a grammar guide summary like Tae Kim's Grammar Guide, and then trying to read Ranma 1/2 manga and look up key unknown words.

So year 3, I looked up what other people were doing to learn Japanese on their own. I learned a lot of people used Heisig's Remember the Kanji book to learn kanji, to make kanji understandable before they started learning Japanese more. I learned a lot of people made mnemonics stories and posted them online - which was good, because I got RTK and struggled to come up with my own mnemonic stories - so I looked up mnemonic stories other people made and read them. I learned a lot of people used anki, so I started using anki. My brain is NOT compatible with anki, long term. I learned that lol. For short periods of a few weeks, I'd manage to study 200-500 hanzi, then I'd forget about the app for a few weeks or months, then come back and have to RESTART since I had to review every anki card again. And again, my perfectionism was holding me back and insisting I 'keep studying' the hanzi in RTK until I perfectly remembered them. And thus, I wasted another year.

Year 4, I could recognize maybe ~500 kanji by meaning, but did not know any actual words. Such as words written with kanji combinations, and what the kanji were actually pronounced like in different words. So I still felt like I knew nothing useful.

Finally, I reflected on how on earth I'd learned to read in French before. I remembered 'oh yeah, I looked up specifically 'how to learn to read in a language' and then followed the advice I found. So basically, with French I had MADE A SPECIFIC STUDY PLAN FOR A SPECIFIC GOAL.

I decided to do the same for Japanese, and this was the first time I made major progress. I looked up 'how to learn to read Japanese' (a goal I will keep setting, in Chinese later, as learning to read is super important to me apparently). I found a few articles of people sharing what they did, and then I stumbled upon Nukemarine's Let's Learn Japanese (LLJ) Memrise user-made course (it used to be called Standard Guide to Japanese Literacy SGJL). The course was perfect. It was free, it included kanji with mnemonics stories, AND words, AND words in sentence examples, AND grammar points, and audio for everything. It was made to build up someone's ability to read in Japanese, and included 6000 common words and all grammar in Tae Kim's Grammar Guide. It was perfect for a perfectionist like me - I could just work through it and know I was working toward my goal, who could not focus with a bunch of resources - it was one single resource with everything I needed in one place in a specific order I could follow. I had a specific study plan, FINALLY, to learn to read Japanese - to learn to DO something in Japanese. Something specific I wanted to do, that would motivate me to study a lot (which I needed), and all I had to do was follow the courses in order.

(And reflecting now, I probably also would have done well to just stick to Textbooks... as well made ones also would've provided the things I needed, in one place. A big mistake I made was not realizing Genki 1 was only Beginner 1 and would not even take me to Upper Beginner 2/Lower Intermediate. Most language textbooks, especially mass produced ones like Teach Yourself and Assimil, usually get a student to A2/Lower Intermediate. So I had assumed Genki 1 was the same... in reality Genki textbooks are WAY slower paced than other language textbooks, providing ~1700 words after Genki volume 1 AND volume 2 textbooks, whereas many other beginner textbooks tend to provide ~2000 words in 1 volume. If I had known earlier Genki 1 had so little information to learn, I would've gone through it faster).

So anyway. I find Nukemarine's LLJ Memrise courses in year 4, and cram study them. I get hyperfocused, and get through 4 of the course sections in 6 months. I learn at this point in my life, that for me, if I prioritize NEW items and simply skip reviews unless I have spare time for them, the knowledge on the items still sticks fairly well. And my perfectionism rears its ugly head when I start doing reviews, and getting obsessed with doing reviews over new-items, and then get stuck in a cycle of trying to continue reviewing until I'm perfect. So I started prioritizing learning/studying NEW items, and only doing Reviews if I had spare time. It made a huge difference for me, and I'd continue following this pattern in future study.

In 6 months, I'd gone through 4 course sections, and I was feeling motivated! I'd studied 1000 kanji, 2000 words, and a lot of grammar! I started wanting to TRY my goals. So I started picking up manga, and trying to read them, and looking up any key unknown words that I needed to understand to follow the main idea. This was similar to what I'd done way back when learning to read French. It worked!

It was going great! I read Yotsubato volume 1, Ranma 1/2 volume 1, Neon Genesis Evangelion volume 1, School Rumble vol 1, and a couple other easy manga I owned. So the next 6 months of year 4 I was enjoying actually DOING my goals. I was reading manga, looking key unknown words up. I tried playing Kingdom Hearts 2 and Persona 3 a few times in Japanese that year, and over time the games became easier to play. At first, it was exhausting, too hard, and then eventually I seemed to have 'permanently remembered' a lot of common words and the games were still 'exhausting' to focus on for more than a few hours but I could understand enough to play and look up key unknown words and follow the main idea. I have really fond memories of playing the opening of Kingdom Hearts 2 in Japanese, and understanding enough to compare it to the English localization, and noticing they used 'kimi' as 'you' instead of 'anata.'

What I learned from that whole of year 4 was: if I had just set that specific goal (to read), and made a study plan to specifically do it, then I could've been doing those things at the end of year 1!

Lessons learned and applied to Chinese:

By year 5, I could play some games I wanted to in Japanese and look up key unknown words, and I was satisfied. I felt that if I wanted to improve my Japanese some more, I could just read/play a lot of Japanese and look up words, for a period of time.

I watched Guardian chinese drama. I fell in love with it. I found out it was based on the novel Zhenhun by priest. At the time, the novel was not fully translated.

I decided I wanted to learn Chinese. I managed to avoid so many of the mistakes I'd made before with Japanese. I had a clear goal: read Zhenhun ASAP. I had a clear study plan: do what worked in French and Japanese, to learn to read ASAP. I had a much better idea of what I needed: structured study materials to work through, focused on common words and grammar points ASAP, prioritizing learning new things over reviews, and getting to PRACTICING reading as soon as possible. As once I started reading, that would motivate me and allow me to keep learning, mainly by just continuing to read. Just like it had with French, and eventually with Japanese.

I also dedicated 1-2 hours daily to Chinese, since I wanted to make fast progress. This was more time than I ever spent on French daily, and I was aware by that point that a language like Chinese was going to take me more hours to reach each progress milestone than a language like French. Because I was studying Chinese 4 times more time than French daily, I actually reached progress milestones in Chinese in around the same amount of months it had taken for French.

So by 3 months I could read Graded Readers in Chinese, by 6 months I could read higher unique character count Graded Readers in Chinese (1000-3000 unique hanzi), and by 6 months to a year I was reading webnovels and looking up key unknown words in Pleco. The whole year 1 of studying Chinese, I kept trying to read Zhenhun every once in a while, to remind myself of my goal and to see my incremental improvement. Also in year 1 I found Silent Reading/Modu and fell in love, it was also not fully translated. I spent a lot of time reading Modu in mtlnovel.com, the first time I read Traditional Characters, and tried to compare them to the English MTL and tried to understand the chapters. Since the only option was MTL, and I knew there were errors in the MTL, so I looked up key words in Chinese and compared to the MTL to try and understand what the chapters actually said. I think I read 20 chapters in mtlnovel.com in Chinese of Modu that year. Then eventually E Danglars made their lovely English translation of Modu, and I was so happy, and read that instead.

Year 2 of learning Chinese, I really focused on learning to Extensively Read - be able to read without looking up words, and guess unknown words from context. Year 2 I read Xiao Wang Zi in a paper book, which was challenging and took 2 weeks but I did it. I found Heavenly Path Notion Site and their recommendations, and read their recommendations for Beginners both intensively (to look up lots of words and learn them ASAP) and extensively (to build reading stamina and speed). I read a lot of webnovels, and fanfictions, and some manhua that year. I watched some cdramas only in Chinese, no English subs. It was going great, I was spending 1-2 hours on Chinese still.

Year 3 of learning Chinese, I took a break. My goal had been to read, and I could now do that if I intensively read by looking up key unknown words for anything I wanted to read. I could also extensively read some things, and I knew from experience now that as I kept extensively reading things, over time what I could extensively read would increase. So I had no pressing reason to improve my Chinese, to study regularly, and I stopped.

I got back into learning Japanese! So now we are in year 7 since I started learning Japanese. I took 2 years off, while I'd been entirely focused on Chinese.

I went back to reading Japanese, and found that thanks to Chinese hanzi-near-cognates in meaning, I could read WAY MORE without looking things up than I used to be able to. I could watch Japanese lets plays if I turned the Japanese captions on, I could read most manga I owned and understand the main idea without looking up any words, I could play my Japanese video games and read the text 'roughly' with the help of the hanzi-near-cognates. I could watch some Japanese shows, if I had the Japanese subs on, and follow the main idea without looking up any words.

Apparently what it took for me to learn kanji, was to learn Chinese hanzi instead - which had been a much easier quicker process for me lol. It took months to learn 1000 hanzi in Chinese, whereas Japanese it had taken me 4 years to learn 1000 kanji! I think the phonetic component of hanzi made them much easier for me, and they clicked easier in my brain, and I still struggle with remembering kanji pronunciations...

So anyway. That floored me. Suddenly realizing, even if I bought a Japanese eBook, I could kind of read it for the main idea! Even if I looked up no words. I had learned more grammar over the years in Japanese than expected, since the hiragana parts of grammar were somewhat understandable too.

Year 7 of Japanese: I really focused on LISTENING to Japanese. Because my weak spot was that I did NOT know many hiragana only words, and I did not know the pronunciation of many kanji words, and I was kind of 'coasting' and able to read what I wanted with my Chinese hanzi knowledge.

I found japaneseaudiolessons.com, and it really helped my ability to parse spoken Japanese faster. My perfectionist tendencies kicked in though, and I ended up reviewing more than moving forward to the next lesson.

I found Japanese Glossika, the old CD courses at a library, and tried to use them too - again, perfectionism kicked in and I did more reviewing than learning new things.

I learned about the 'relistening study method' recommended by a youtuber: relisten to something 5-20 times, and it will improve your listening skills. So I tried out what they said. I had found 'condensed audio' files of some japanese anime I'd seen and games I'd played, so I relistened to them several times. It helped my listening skills for sure.

I also applied the 'relistening' strategy to Chinese, to Zhenhun audiobook and Guardian show condensed audio files, it also worked great.

I realized I had a major weak spot in Listening Skills, and wanted to improve it in all languages.

I think at some point I also took a break to study Spanish, and specifically to study French pronunciation in comparison to Spanish, because I kept confusing Spanish and French reading materials. So I did that for some summer, and really differentiated the sounds of Spanish and French in my mind. Incidentally, since I was trying out a lot of Spanish learning materials for fun - I enjoy checking out learning materials and trying them out - I ended up able to read Spanish non-fiction books by the end of that period. Yes, reading motivates me intensely. I'd found a Linguistics textbook in Spanish at a yard sale and wanted to read it, so I learned enough Spanish to understand it in a year. I had also found The Nature Method textbooks like Le Francais Par Le Methode Nature, and Poco a Poco, and was trying them out.

Year 7 I also learned about the Listening Reading Method of studying, which fascinated me, and I tested it out with Chinese, French, and Japanese. I mostly did it with Chinese, as I most wanted to improve my listening skills in Chinese. And since it also helped with reading skills, it pushed my Chinese reading skills up a bit more. But the Listening Reading Method was really intensive, so I only ended up doing it for around 30 hours (instead of the ~300+ hours per book it recommends). I picked up some of the parts I liked of the LR Method and still do them now - specifically listening to audio AS I read when possible, and relistening to audiobook chapters several times when I have time. But the full LR Method was too much work for me, took too much focus, and it wasn't compatible with the way I like to do things.

I figured I might try Listening Reading Method out again later with Japanese, if and when I felt like it. Or at least the parts of it I ended up continuing to do - like reading along with audio, and relistening to audio many times.

Year 8 of Japanese: Still working on listening skills, this was 2024, as you know I worked through all of the NEW Japanese Glossika app course. It was a disappointment. I don't think it actually taught more than 3000 words, even though it's labelled as having 5,000+ words - I think many of the 'words' are just different forms of the same verb counted as multiple words. I spent 128 hours on it, so more study time than I'd spent on Japanese in years, but as many hours as there are days in the year.

In Year 8 of Japanese, I'd been studying Chinese for 4 years, and aside from reading webnovels once in a while, I wasn't doing much with Chinese.

Year 9 of Japanese: I have learned a lot about what study activities work for me and which ones don't. I clearly know my weak spots I need to learn: I need to learn KANJI WORD PRONUNCIATIONS and spoken Japanese better, so that I can read the actual Japanese words instead of leaning on hanzi-knowledge, and so I can understand Japanese when I hear it.

My study plans for the future for Japanese (so this year 9 and onward):

Work on listening skills. I will be doing this with Comprehensible Input Lessons (like cijapanese.com), Learner Podcasts (like Nihongo Con Tepper and Japanese with Shun), listening to condensed audio of shows/games, keep watching Japanese lets plays, and just continuing to Play Video Games in Japanese and Watch Japanese shows with only Japanese Subs. I think I know around N3 amounts of vocabulary now, and more if you count words I could quickly pick up after seeing the Chinese hanzi in a subtitle of a show or reading-while-listening. Goals: I would like to understand spoken Japanese better so that I can enjoy jdramas that haven't been subbed, Japanese audio dramas, and Japanese audiobooks.

Work on reading skills, later: Continue reading Tadoku graded readers (free), the graded readers on this free site jgrpg-sakura.com, the japanese reading materials on my.wasabi-jpn.com. I will eventually pay for and use Satori Reader app some time I am hyperfocusing on reading, and read as much as I can on that app, then start practicing reading more with novels+TTS (like the Japanese ebooks I have on Kindle), and reading my paper Japanese novels.

I am not even N4 if I take a mock grammar test, so I'm sure my production skills are nonexistent and very poor. But I do know a decent amount of words which I think is around N3 level, I understand a lot more than I did years ago, and I can do a lot in Japanese that I want to do (especially if I look up key unknown words). To be fair, I think I've still barely studied Japanese ~1000 hours over the years, so just studying/doing MORE hours of Japanese will result in progress. From here on I am satisfied with my future study plans. If the Chinese Listening Experiment continues going as well as it's been going, I may apply things I learn from that study plan, to my study plans for Japanese.

Summary:

My mistakes were not realizing how many hours to reach progress milestones in Japanese was going to take, being a perfectionist and prioritizing reviews over learning new material frequently, and not setting specific goals and making specific study plans for those goals until years had passed.

If you're anything like me I suggest: plan to study regularly for a decent amount of time to work toward ~3520 hours in an amount of years you'd like to reach N2 or N1 by (or whatever your goal level of understanding is), if you have perfectionist tendencies then formal CLASSES may be helpful to push you forward or being self-aware you tend to not focus on new stuff enough and purposely force yourself to regularly frequently move onto studying NEW STUFF, and set specific goals of things you want to do IN the language and make a specific study plan to work towards those goals.

[shrimpalbuspotter]

I am so sorry for lack of posts on my end as of recent... stuff has been hectic lately and I've always put my wellbeing ahead of my social-media life so I don't wanna rush myself into posting/fixing up drafts/writing fics since I know they won't be very coherent.

In the meanwhile, things I am working on and which will be out as soon as I am out of this slump are:

- "Marauders era Snape centric fic", quite low on my priority list since I have like 5 other much more important things I need to write for my classes and I just don't have the energy to also go home and write in my free time

- "In defense of Albus 'Severus' Potter", have been working on this any time I can, probably my top priority since it something I'm very passionate about but it'll take a while to be out since again, not alot of spare time and also I'm trying to pull up as much stuff as I can to add to it

- "Cursed Child band fic", lowest on the priority list solely because its not really planned and I don't have many ideas for it besides the main plot.

- "Dark Lord Albus Severus", I've written half of my answers for both asks I've gotten on this specific topic but plan to erase one and just link it to the other post. I just keep forgetting to be fair It's pretty low down in drafts...

- "Why Scorpius is a Slytherin and not a Ravenclaw" ok it came to me just last night and I had so many ideas and want it out ASAP. probably will be my next post!

And um... that's it! I don't know why I felt the need to make this post but usually when I blank an account link this it means I've made another one for another media I enjoy more now. This isn't what happened here!!! I still love Harry Potter!!! And to my 3 other accounts, I'm so sorry

[apomaro-mellow]

Dimension Hopping Part 5

If I had a nickel for every time I wrote Eddie kidnapping Steve and his parents didn't care, I'd have two nickels.

Eddie adjusted his long brown coat as he looked up to the sky. He could see the trails above of the rails like they were a cage. People touted the Transplanetary Railway like a sign of progress. And it certainly was for the fat cats able to line their pockets with stock money.

"All aboard! All passengers bound for Portales Station, the Sonoran Rings, and Mars via Flagstaff!"

Eddie boarded the train, tipping his hat down to keep a low profile in the car with the other working class passengers until the conductor got the vessel going. He gripped the arm of his seat as he felt the initial lurch of launch but soon stars were passing by with the smoothness of Mercurian butter.

He checked his watch. It was just about the time for his crew to be ready. Eddie got up and moved to one of the fancier cars. He definitely looked out of place to anyone who looked. Thankfully, rich people tended not to notice his kind until they needed something. Eddie looked for a certain face. One he had memorized while planning this heist. It was different from all the others. He and his gang were used to sneaking aboard, asking for all their jewels and coins and then going ghost.

This time it was more personal.

He didn't see who he was looking for at first, but just as he was going to move to the next car, in he came, drink in his hand, with a leisured look on his face. Perfect.

Eddie took his bandana out of his pocket and tied it to his face. Then came right up to the young man, not giving him time to react as he got behind, put an arm around his waist and held a gun to the air.

"Ladies and gentlemen! May I have your attention please?" He knocked a man's wrist with his gun wielding hand, knocking a glass to the floor to get the car quiet. "No, your eyes are not deceiving you. It is I, Back Alley Al Munson. Now I'm gonna make off with your lil prince here and I'd like y'all to let us go quietly. All I want is to hold court with his daddy. So someone make sure the Harringtons get a telegraph asap."

Eddie grinned beneath his face covering when he felt the man in his arms try to struggle. He put a firm hand on his lower belly. The prissy upper crust weren't much in a physical fight but still, he didn't want to bruise that pretty face.

"Settle down, sweetheart. We'll get you back to your manor soon. Just follow my lead."

Eddie nudged him forward with his hips, forcing him to start walking. His target, none other than Steve "the heir" Harrington, looked to all the other passengers in disbelief.

"Is no one going to stop him!? For god's sakes, someone help me!"

Eddie chuckled and took him to the emergency exit door. "Allow me to provide assistance." He jammed his fist on the button, opening up the car to the vacuum of space. Everyone's emergency seatbelts activated as they screamed bloody murder. Steve screamed too when he was suddenly sucked out into space. Eddie went easily right after him, grabbing for Steve as they floated. Eddie counted the seconds.

1...

2...

3-

He let out an exhale as something warm washed over them, pulling them in a new direction. The weightlessness of space was replaced by a solid feeling under them. Steve pushed him off and Eddie let him. He took off his bandana and beamed.

"Told you it would work!"

"Eddie you son of a bitch!"

Steve watched as a trio of men came to them and hugged his kidnapper deep.

"Eddie? I thought you were Al Munson? Isn't he the leader of the Corroded Coffin gang?"

Eddie smirked. "My old man's name is good for something. Helps people take you more seriously if they think you're the scourge of the West Quadrant and not just his scrappy son. Jeffy my man, you did awesome with that tractor beam hat trick."

"Just don't make me do it again", Jeff wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Next time, let's splurge for the helmets."

"What do you all want from me?", Steve said as he stood and took in his surroundings. It looked like he was in the cargo hold of a shipping vessel. A very, very small one. There were crates everywhere, both open and sealed shut.

"Nothing you can give us", Eddie said. "But your pa is kickin' up dirt where he shouldn't. There's way too much land in the Harrington name and now he wants our town."

"Your town?"

"A little place on Earth. Maybe you know it? You stuffed shirts hightailed it out of there the moment you terraformed Mars though." And other places after that. Earth was considered the backwater town of their solar system. Hand been for decades.

"Why would my family be interested in Earth?", Steve asked.

"Hell if we know. We just want him to step off", one of Eddie's members, with a mop of curly hair said.

"You're wasting your time", Steve protested as they started to haul him off somewhere. He got to see more of the ship. It looked like it had been around for a long time. He was taken to a room and thrown inside. Steve had never been in a place with four walls this close together. All the room really had was what looked like an operating table coming out of the wall. Steve felt the thing cushion and realized it was probably supposed to be a bed. He let out a sigh and sat on it.

He had to think of a way out of here.

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

"What do you think he meant by that?", Jeff asked.

The gang was sitting in the bridge. Eddie had taken his coat off and was simply in a shirt and dusty jeans. He was twirling his hat around. "Gareth, Grant? Care to weigh in on Jeff's question?"

The other two were playing cards. "I think he meant by Harrington saying we're wasting our time", Grant said.

Eddie thought about it. Steve "the heir" Harrington. Known as such because his father, Silas Harrington, had significant ownership holdings on several planets, their moons, and even the space stations surrounding them. He had also started diversifying and investing stock in the railways. All that meant was that when he was gone, Steve stood to inherit the universe. The wealth of the Harringtons rivaled that of the last remaining monarchies. Taking their precious son had to put a fire in their belly.

But Steve saying it was a waste of time rubbed him the wrong way. He got up and went to the mess to whip up something for them all to eat. He opened up a sealed pack of jerky, tossed some frozen biscuits to the reactor and boiled up some mashed potato powder. He plated it up and served his hard working crew, then thought about Steve. He was drinking when Steve had taken him, so he'd probably eaten already. And going a day or two without food wouldn't kill him.

Against his will, Eddie thought about the days he'd been hungry. When his dad went off on a score, leaving him alone with the barest of essentials. With a huff, he carried a plate to Steve.

"Hope you're decent", Eddie said. He used a free hand to open the door, prepared with a knife in his back pocket in case his captive got brave.

To his surprise, Steve was lounging on the cot. Eddie felt a bit too close to a servant delivering a meal to a passenger, not a hostage. He tried to ignore the curve of Steve's hip.

"Food, for his majesty", Eddie said, putting on an exaggerated voice.

Steve scrunched up his nose as he looked at it and Eddie felt a little satisfaction and giving this spoiled man a bit of ruffage he wasn't used to.

"It probably doesn't compare to the feasts you have in your ivory tower, princess." He held it out to Steve, who sat up to take it in his lap.

"Not a princess. And no, we don't really eat this where I come from." He picked up the jerky. "Is this food or building material?"

"Both. It builds character", Eddie grinned. "Where are you from anyway?"

"Venus", Steve answered before taking a bite of the jerky, struggling with it a bit.

Eddie whistled. Venus, known for its floating cities and beautiful people. Figures Steve would be from there. "I bet you've never even touched real earth." If Eddie's mother, rest her soul, was to be believed, then her sweet baby Theodore had been born right in the wheat fields. As close to the earth as you could get.

He and Steve couldn't be any more different. He put his hands on his hips, watching Steve chew on the jerky for a moment more before going towards the door.

"Well, you'll get plenty of chances to get well acquainted with all of mankind's roots. We should be home in a few hours."

Part 7

Tag Team

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