#out of all the brilliant and hard working phd students out there

[dooareyastudy]

supposed to be done with my TA work for the semester (that ended a whole month ago !!!) but i am NOT because the prof i work for lacks any sort of diligence

[noodyl-blasstal]

Blupjeans Week: Bet (day 2)

It's @blupjeansweek day 2. This follows on from yesterday's prompt. You can also read on Ao3

-

"It's going to be fine."

"Easy for you to say, you just casually revolutionised thermodynamics, you're gonna walk your viva." Barry could hear Lup rolling her eyes at that one, though he stayed resolutely focused on the raggedy copy of his thesis which was, at this point, 70% sticky notes. Could he read what any of them said because of how much they overlapped? Shut up.

"Natch, evocation is never going to be the same thanks to cha'girl's research, but that doesn't meant you're going to fail, Barold."

"No, they're just going to MPhil me out."

Lup sighed heavily. "Oh no, you worked hard and gained mastery in a subject, how terrible, what an embarrassment."

Barry did look up then, didn't she get it? He’d thought she’d get it. It was an embarrassment! She’d watched him put so much into this, the stupid well thumbed, badly bound paper stack represented four years of late nights, early mornings, cancelled plans, 3am anxiety… he thought she understood. She’d lived it with him, they were working for the key to the next level, if they gave him the wrong one what was even the point? "You think…?"

"I'm being flippant because that's not going to happen. Once again, I've read your work my guy, it's good, in fact, it’s great. In fact, right now, you’re arguing with established fact.” Barry grimaced as Lup spoke, but she ploughed on. “... you've already published three chapters of this thing in peer reviewed journals. 6/6 esteemed peer reviewers agree!"

"But they publish bad science all the tim…"

Lup cut him off. "Barry stop. You know you’ve done good science because a) I would have told you if you hadn’t, and b) peer reviewers might be lazy but you’re not. You know your submissions were solid, just look at the citations.”

“But…” She was right. But Barry still struggled, sure she hadn’t said anything incorrect, he knew he’d done solid work, but he also just knew that he’d fucked this up.

“...But what? But maybe they're idiots who can't recognise genius? They're gonna recognise it, Barry. It's impossible not to recognise how brilliant you are. That thesis is just you yelling “I’m Barry Bluejeans and I know what the fuck I’m talking about, pay me money about it.” Plus, publish a few more chapters and you can do PhD by publication without those losers to worry about anyway."

Barry didn’t even register the second part because Lup thought he was brilliant! Lup thought he was brilliant and she was telling him and he kept shutting her down instead of just being grateful about it. Maybe if he tried to accept the compliment. "Than…"

Lup started speaking at the same time. "In fact…" She paused to let him speak, but he shook his head and gestured to her, he could try being gracious another day. "... Okay, if you're sure." He nodded. "I think, Baraldo, that we should make a bet, you and I. I may as well profit from all this self doubt, so I bet you're gonna pass with no corrections."

Barry laughed bitterly. Whatever she was betting she'd be losing. "Lup, I'm going to fail."

Lup shoved his shoulder gently. "You're not and you know it. Be serious."

"Oh, like yours was serious?"

Lup's ears flicked back defensively. "Serious? Barry, c'mon. Obviously we all know cha’girl’s out here shaping the future of evocation, but you're doing magic within magic on all your spooktacular stuff. The chapter on spell wheels? I'd never considered it, and even if I had, I definitely would have taken at least 10 minutes longer than you to come up with something so elegant. You know what you're doing, I know what I'm doing, it's why we're such a great team."

They did make a great team. They’d met the first day of undergrad at orientation. Barry the lone mature student in a sea of babies, then Lup and Taako had appeared, and sure there was The Nerd Incident, but they cleared that pretty fast. They coincided in most classes, worked together in labs, and powered their way through a ridiculous amount of higher education together. There hadn’t been any question about it when the option of choosing housing came up, they lived together off campus and were joined by a rotating cast which had pretty much always featured Taako (well, until this year), but LupAndBarry, BarryAndLup? They were a constant, they worked. “We do work well together.” 

“You can say that again.” Lup glared at him as he opened his mouth to repeat it. “...And you know exactly how smart I am, right?” Lup asked. Barry could taste the trap-ness of this question, she was an angler fish and the question was a beautiful little light, he was going to answer it honestly and wholly and she was going to chomp him down with her big clever teeth.

“You’re incredible Lup, your research is amazing and you’re passionate and eloquent and so smart…” 

Lup’s teeth closed. “Then you know I know my shit well enough to know your shit’s good, so, what’s your bet?”

“I pass with major corrections?”

Lup raised an eyebrow. “Question, or an answer?”

“I pass with majors.”

“Fine. If you want to lose whatever you’re betting then be my guest, Bluejeans.”

“I don’t think I have anything you want.” Barry said, and he wasn’t sure, it was a ridiculous thought, but he could have sworn that Lup’s ears reddened at the tips. She coughed loudly, then almost shouted “Jeans.”

“What?”

Lup coughed again and spoke in a softer tone. “I get rights to your wardrobe. I know your jeans are comfier than mine.”

Barry hesitated. He’d already lost a good chunk of his shirts and sweaters to Lup. Not that he minded most of the time, he usually managed to steal his favourites back briefly on laundry day, but his jeans? He only had three pairs and they all served specific purposes in his life, he couldn't afford to sacrifice them, no matter how cute Lup would look in them. But, <;i>but</i>, there was no way he was actually going to pass without corrections, everyone at least got minors and Barry's supervisor definitely didn't think he'd even manage that. According to the available evidence, this seemed like a safe bet. "Deal!"

Lup grinned big and wide and dangerous . "GuyWhoJustLostHisJeansSaysWhat."

"What?" Barry asked.

Lup snickered. "Just asking what you wanted from me if your externals are somehow struck incapable of recognising brilliance?"

Oh... yeah, Barry had forgotten this part. Lup's brash overconfidence in his abilities had essentially signed her up to do whatever he wanted. He could stick her with dish duty for the next hundred years; make her actually use the dregs of her body wash before she moved onto the next one so the edge of the shower wasn't a terrifying pile of upside down barely balanced bottles; he could ask her to tell him whether there was an expiration date on their whole thing, whether the end of study meant different directions and fond memories, phone calls which dwindled as she remembered less and less… "You have to come home with me." He blurted out the thought before he could properly consider what he was asking. Was that too much? Oh it was probably too much. A trip home meant a road trip, motels, meeting his Mum. There was no way Marlena wouldn't pick up on exactly how he felt about Lup, not that she hadn’t already, but it was easier to lie on the phone. Plus, there was no way his Mum wouldn't love Lup too. How could anyone not? Then he’d only disappoint her when Lup moved on with her life and left him behind. Maybe he could back track, do the dishes thing instead…

"You have yourself a deal, Mr Bluejeans, may as well use that title one last time. Now, I have some outfits to plan, go eat the sandwich I made you, then I'll help with the last minute prep." Lup disappeared in the direction of Barry's room. 

Barry resigned himself to losing another few shirts while Lup investigated his wardrobe and obediently shuffled his way to the kitchen. It was definitely time to eat, he wasn't entirely sure when he last did… probably the last time Lup shoved food at him. He definitely had to thank her when this was over. 

-

"...And why did you decide on Necrostics?" Lup looked expectantly at Barry. 

"It was the most logical methodological approach as it incorporates acknowledgement of the agency held by constructs and the undead while also acknowledging the influence of social and summoning factors. I modified the approach to ensure it was appropriately controlling for the new spells I developed."

Lup clapped her hands delightedly. 

"It was that good an answer?" Barry asked.

"It's that good a wardrobe. I cannot wait to get my hands on it, Barold, you're gonna be living in your pants… although…" Lup narrowed her eyes. 

"Absolutely not, no!"

Lup shrugged. "You can't watch your stuff all the time, Barry. Cha'girl needs some new sleep shorts."

Barry felt his face flame at the thought of Lup sleeping in his clothes, Lup wanting to. "I'd better go now!" He said, too fast and too loud. "Gotta go get it over with."

Lup jumped up. "Cool, I'll grab my book and and few other bits and come with. There's some comfy chairs in the corridor with my name on them."

Oh. Lup was going to come with him. Lup was going to wait for him. "You don't have t…"

"I want to."

–

"Good luck Barold, you've got this." Lup hugged him firmly, he squeezed back. If he didn't let go he didn't have to go into the scary room. Can't defend your thesis if you’re in the middle of a hug, that’s just science. Lup pulled back slightly, then dipped her head to kiss him on the cheek.

Barry didn't have time to react before Lup pulled away and planted herself across the corridor chairs, head buried in her book.

"Are you ready, Mr Bluejeans?" A voice asked from the door behind him. All Barry could do was touch a hand to his cheek, turn, and nod. 

– 

"Congratulations again, Dr Bluejeans, this may be the most enjoyable viva I have ever taken part in." Said Dr Combish, opening the door for him. 

Barry was going to pass out. The adrenaline finally drained out of him, weeks, months of panic, gone. It was over. An outright pass? It was so rare, so ridiculously unlikely. He should be raring to celebrate, but mostly he just wanted to go home and sit very still in the dark. He stepped into the corridor, remembered to thank Dr Combish, and stared numbly at the door as it closed. What did he even do now? It was over. A whole chunk of his life was just… done. He had the keys to the next stage, had the fancy title, had everything he'd worked for and… and? 

"Hey Bear?" Lup nudged his arm gently. "How'd it go?" 

"I… I passed?" Said Barry. "Yeah. They. Well. I passed!" His voice broke momentarily, to say it was so surreal. "Lup! I passed!!!" He grabbed her into a hug. "I did it! We did it! Thank you, thank you thank you thank you!"

"Knew you could." Lup said thickly, hugging him back. They didn’t say anything for a while, just held on tight. “We… we should do something.” Said Lup, eventually. “Celebrate, you know.”

“We’ll celebrate together when you pass next week.” Barry didn’t even have to think about it. Whatever he could do, Lup could do better, there was no way she’d be correcting anything.

“Fine, but we’re getting pizza, from the good place.” Lup grabbed her backpack from the chairs.

Barry stared for a second. “You… you’re wearing my garden jeans. Lup!”

“And they look great on me. Told you I believed in you. Fair’s fair.” Lup winked, wiggled her butt, and grabbed his hand. “Now, let’s get you home, Baraldo. We need to ring Marlena and tell her, she’ll be having kittens.”

Barry couldn’t do anything but nod.

[swan-of-sunrise]

The Halcyon Hypothesis

Summary: A chance meeting on the New York subway between a stressed-out graduate student and a brilliant but dorky scientist takes a surprising turn in both of their lives.

Pairing: Bruce Banner X Reader

Word Count: 2.1k

Warnings/Disclaimers: None

A/N: Here’s another little one-shot I found hiding on an old flash drive! It’s officially dedicated to all you guys who’ve been struggling with finals and to all the other Bruce Banner fans out there lol thank you for reading, I hope you all enjoy!  

The Halcyon Hypothesis (Fanfiction Masterlist)

“Dammit!” (Y/N) swore under her breath as she edged her way into the extremely cramped train and tried not to lose grip on the large stack of notes in her arms. People funneled into the train behind her and in no time, she was crammed tightly into the train as the doors closed; if Professor Taylors hadn’t kept us after class, I’d be on an almost-deserted train right now with my own personal space, she thought with annoyance as the train began to move, but at least I can still cram a little studying in.

She planted her feet so the motions of the train wouldn’t cause her to lose balance and opened her notebook to her most recent notes. Sweat-covered passengers shifted around her as more and more people boarded at the next several stops, but she did her best to ignore them as she struggled to understand everything she’d hastily jotted down earlier. Burnout was hitting her hard as the fall semester drew to a close and her roommates were in the midst of a fight of epic proportions, so the only think keeping her going was the six cups of coffee she’d already had and the promise of another when she arrived back home. All of a sudden, the train slammed on its brakes harder than usual; most of the other passengers were holding onto hand straps but since (Y/N) wasn’t, the train’s jarring movement sent her stumbling into the man standing next to her. “Shit, sorry about that.”

“That’s okay. There’s an extra hand strap over here if you wanna use it.”

(Y/N) glanced up from her notes and momentarily forgot to speak when she caught sight of the man’s kindly smile and strangely-captivating eyes. “I’m fine, I’ve gotta hold my notes.”

The man nodded in understanding and she returned her focus to the scribbles on her page of notes. A few moments later, though, the man spoke again. “You mixed up a couple of your definitions.”

“Excuse me?”

He looked a little startled by her annoyed reply, but nevertheless he continued. “The, um, the definitions for adenosine triphosphate and adenylate cyclase at the top of your page should be swapped.”

Still slightly irritated that her studying was interrupted again, (Y/N) looked at the definitions he spoke of and to her surprise, the man was correct. “Well, I’ll be damned. Are you a biology expert or something?”

“You could say that. I, ah, actually have one of my PhD’s in it,” The man replied. Instead of acting smug about his apparent multiple doctorates, he seemed a little embarrassed to have mentioned them at all; he rubbed his neck awkwardly with his free hand and looked at everything in the train car but her as his ears flushed a vivid shade of pink.

His shyness is kinda cute, (Y/N) thought with a growing smile, her earlier annoyance long-gone. “That’s cool! I’m working on my master’s in biology right now and I can’t even imagine working on a doctorate; I’ve never been more stressed in my life. So stressed, apparently, that I can’t tell the difference between a nucleotide and an enzyme! It’s just that my professors won’t ease up on the workload and things are a little tense with my roommates so I don’t get much studying in at home, and-” She stopped her rambling and cringed internally; why the hell was she unloading all this onto a stranger on a train? “Sorry, I didn’t mean to go on a rant there. Stress, you know…”

“That’s okay, stress can make people do a lot of weird things.” The man’s eyes were unfocused, as if he was thinking about something else, but the strange look disappeared after a moment and was replaced with a bashful grin. “…If you want, I could look over your notes to make sure everything’s correct? Not that it’s not correct, of course! I’m sure it’s great, but, you know, just to be on the safe side…?”

“Um…sure, I guess. Thanks!” (Y/N) handed him her notebook and pencil and watched as he began flipping through the pages, scanning the information and used the pencil to make corrections when necessary. The train clinked and clanked along as he remained concentrated on his work, and (Y/N) took the opportunity to examine him a little. His dark curly hair was streaked with a few strands of grey, even though he appeared to be on the younger side. I’d probably have grey hair too if I had more than one doctorate, she thought with an inward chuckle before resuming her observations. He wore wire-framed glasses that had a tendency to slide down his nose, and she could clearly see the smile lines that surrounded his vivid green eyes. Just as she was debating whether or not she should try to give him her number or just simply ask for the handsome stranger’s name, he closed her notebook and looked up at her.

“Well, there were a couple of mistakes with some formulas but other than that, everything looks great! Not bad for a person who says they don’t know the difference between a nucleotide and an enzyme.” His teasing words and flirtatious smile caused her stomach to flutter.

“Thank you,” She took her notebook back and clutched it to her chest. “Now I’ve just gotta study all this and try to pass my final on Friday.”

“I’m sure you’ll do fine; your notes are very thorough and well-written, so you shouldn’t have any problem.”

“Easy for you to say, dude, you’ve probably got half-a-dozen PhD’s under your belt.” Her eyebrows rose when he gave her a sheepish look. “You’ve got more than that?”

The man shrugged as he shuffled his feet in embarrassment. “I’m not really the type to brag.” A silence fell over them for several moments until he spoke up again, his timid green eyes fixated on hers. “I, um, I just wanted to say that I think it’s wonderful you’re involved in the sciences…as a woman, I mean, because women haven’t always been encouraged into pursuing STEM careers but times are finally changing and I…well, I-I think it’s admirable.” He rubbed his neck awkwardly and he gave her a half smile that made her heart skip a beat. “You know, it’s like what Nichelle Nichols used to say: ‘Science is not a boy’s game, it’s not a girl’s game. It’s everyone’s game. It’s about where we are…’”

“‘…and where we’re going.’” (Y/N) smiled bashfully at the impressed look he was giving her and fiddled with the metal spiral holding her notebook together. “Lieutenant Uhura was my favorite Star Trek character when I was a kid. That’s sweet of you to say, Doctor…?”

“Bruce. My name’s Bruce.”

She shook his outstretched hand. “(Y/N).” Their eyes met and her breath hitched as she took in the intensity of his gaze, barely aware that their hands were still touching and that she could smell his intoxicating cedar cologne. The intensity of her courses that semester meant that she hadn’t had much time for romance but judging by the way she felt herself react to Bruce in the brief amount of time she’d known him, she could easily imagine herself charging headfirst back into the world of dating alongside the handsome scientist standing so close to her.

“Now approaching Grand Central Station!”

“This is me,” Bruce looked almost disappointed at the announcement but then his green eyes suddenly lit up; he scrambled to pull his wallet out and finally pulled out a business card as the train stopped and the doors opened. “Here’s my number, let me know how your test goes! It was really nice talking to you, (Y/N)!” With a small wave, he pushed through the packed train and out of sight.

“Bye Bruce,” (Y/N) mumbled dejectedly; she’d finally met a nice guy but he was gone as quickly as he came. But at least I have his number, she thought with a growing grin, her heart feeling lighter than it had in a long while. She looked down at the business card in her hand and nearly dropped it in surprise, for printed neatly on the card was the name Dr. Bruce Banner. “Holy shit! I had an Avenger look over my biology notes?!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So, let me get this straight: you met a beautiful woman on the subway the other day, bonded over your shared nerdy love of science and Star Trek, and even stared into each other’s eyes for a little bit like they do in those cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies…yet you didn’t bother to try and get her number? Geez, you’re rustier at all this than Capsicle!”

Pulling away from his microscope, Bruce took his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I already told you, Tony, I gave her my business card before I got off the train. If she wants to contact me, then she will and we can see where we go from there.”

Tony rolled his eyes and sighed as he spun his desk chair around in a circle. “Yeah, that’s just the way every woman dreams of being wooed. Ever hear of romance, Brucie?”

“Did you seriously just call me-?”

“If you knew her last name and where she went to school, then we could have J.A.R.V.I.S. track her down and then you could go down there and surprise her…” The billionaire’s face illuminated with a bright smile. “I’m talking flowers, chocolates, expensive dinner reservations, front-row tickets to Hamilton, the whole shebang. You could easily sweep this chick off her exhausted and stressed-out feet, dude, if only you’d just bothered to take a page out of your BFF’s book.”

Bruce snorted. “And conversely, have you ever heard of stalking in the fourth degree? Those tricks might work with Pepper but you’re you and I’m me, Tony, and I’m definitely not the kind of guy that women would want to be swept off their feet by. I can’t even remember when I last went on a date, it’s been so long-”

The muffled chiming of Bruce’s cellphone echoed throughout the laboratory and interrupted his protests; he unearthed the phone from beneath a pile of loose papers and frowned when he noticed a new text message from an unknown number, but his confusion quickly shifted to elation once he read the text.

Unknown: Hi Bruce, this is (Y/N) from the train. You’ll be pleased to know that I got an A on my final!

The gif of a cutely-animated Spock dancing around in circles on the bridge of the U.S.S. Enterprise made Bruce snort in amusement, and it was soon followed up by a second text.

Unknown: Would it be too forward to ask if I can buy you a coffee, to thank you again for double-checking my notes and brightening my day?

“It seems that I might’ve misjudged your mystery lady…” Tony admitted as he peered over Bruce’s shoulder at the cell phone in his hand, a small but genuine smile on his bearded face. “You know what the word ‘halcyon’ means? It indicates a period of time in the past that was idyllically happy and peaceful, but a funny thing about that word is that can also describe happiness in the general sense.” Bruce arched a brow and the billionaire shrugged. “Pepper’s got me listening to some philosophy podcasts, they’re weird but pretty good. My point is that your chance for halcyon isn’t gone, my Jolly Green friend; it’s quite literally in the palm of your hand, but you’ve gotta be the one to hold on tight to it.”

The billionaire clapped Bruce on the shoulder and whistled a show-tune as he left him alone in the laboratory. The scientist reveled in the lighthearted feeling that threatened to consume him, unable to recall the last instance he’d felt so pleased to receive a simple text; (Y/N) knew about the Other Guy and the life Bruce led as an Avenger, and yet she still reached out on her own volition and even invited him out for coffee. It was presumptive to assume she felt the same way about him, but he’d be naïve not to acknowledge the intensity that had been evident in her (Y/E/C) eyes when they shook hands on the train.

“It’s just a cup of coffee,” Bruce muttered to himself, nervously biting his lip as he stared down at his phone, his thumbs hovering over the keyboard in hesitation. “Not necessarily my halcyon…”

The scientist typed out his enthusiastic reply and he couldn’t help but smile again, his heart hammering away in his chest as he thought about all the data he’d need to collect to prove his halcyon hypothesis correct and how nice it would be to have a scientist as lovely as (Y/N) to conduct some experiments alongside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Aww, I love a happy ending! Bonus points to anyone who can guess which show-tune Tony was humming (Hint: It’s from an old film musical that people consider to be a Christmas movie lol). Thank you all so much for reading and commenting, and I hope that you have a wonderful holiday season!

Fanfiction Masterlist

Marvel Taglist: @brooke0297

All Works: @crowleysqueenofhell @momc95 @groovy-lady​

[stars-and-scars-recs]

Hi Mia! I read The Road Not Taken recently and it's left me with an obsession with famous Wolfstar. Do you happen to know of any fics where one (or both!) of them are famous? :)

Hello there!

This ask actually came through as I was working on this blog, so I'm getting to it right away. Here are some of my favourite famous wolfstar fics. As always, if I've missed anything out let me know and I can add it in. much love x

wading in waist-high water - colgatebluemintygel

Author: colgatebluemintygel Word Count: 82, 120 (9 Chapters) Rating: Explicit Alternate Universe: Great British Bake-Off, Muggle, Modern Summary: Remus is a PhD student and hobbyist baker who finds himself adrift following his father’s death. On a whim, he enters the Great British Bake Off and is swept up in a flurry of curdled custard, shrunken souffle, and under-proved dough. Remus expects to be challenged and to embarrass himself on public television. What he doesn’t account for are the friendships he develops with the other contestants and the deep connection he forms with his teenage crush, Sirius Black: charming ex-boy band member and Bake Off host.

or,

Sirius groans, dropping his head back into his hands. “It’s the dough,” he mumbles into the skin of his palms. “It’s the kneading. It’s his hands. They’re obscene.”

Lily laughs. “They are a bit, aren’t they?”

Commentary: I've decided to start off this list with one of my all time favourites. This fic just had such wholesome energy, I can't express to you how happy and comforted it makes me feel.

The Prom Date - xivz

Author: xivz Word Count: 45,281 (17 Chapters, Texting Fic) Rating: Explicit Alternate Universe: Modern, Muggle, Getting Together, Celebrity Summary: “You want to do something different this year? Do one of those promposal’s that are so popular. Ask out a celebrity. The worse they can do is say no.”

The real issue for Remus was that his celebrity crush said yes.

Commentary: One of the first fics I ever read, and I still love it to this day!

How It Was With You - @engie-ivy

Author: Engie_Ivy Word Count: 9,413 (3 Chapters) Rating: Teen and Up Audiences Alternate Universe: Modern, Muggle, Getting Back Together, Celebrity Summary: Tonight in Celebrity Insights: Marlene McKinnon sits down with Golden Boy Gilderoy Lockhart for an exclusive live interview! He will talk about his role in Mary McDonald’s highly anticipated film, and of course his relationship with his Oscar-winning co-star Remus Lupin! How did Gilderoy Lockhart come to be the man who finally made fan-favourite Remus Lupin get over Sirius Black? Find out by watching it live! Tonight, 20.00 pm.

The media is all over the drama between Famous Actor Remus Lupin, his new lover Famous Actor Gilderoy Lockhart, and his ex-lover Famous Musician Sirius Black! They just try to deal with the unwanted attention. Things turn out to not be what they seem.

Commentary: This one sounds like it's going to be angsty, and it is a little but only at the start, and then its a bunch of cute fluffy happiness, so don't worry!

The Player's Secret - WrappedUp

Author: WrappedUp Word Count: 51,568 (9 Chapters) Rating: Mature Alternate Universe: Modern, Muggle, Getting Together, Celebrity Summary: “So what’s he like? Full of it? Arrogant?”

“Yes,” he says, because he thinks that is a fair assessment. Sirius Black is full of it. He is arrogant. He’s also entitled and needy and smug. He’s talented, reckless, moody, selfish, childish, charming and sweet, and a million different other things Remus is trying to wrap his head around.

Sirius Black is hard work.

Remus Lupin is a successful documentary filmmaker who is assigned to make a fly-on-the-wall documentary featuring Sirius Black - one of the world's most brilliant footballers - as he competes in the European Championship.

All does not go smoothly.

A guide to changing the wheel and seducing a celebrity - @sknyy

Author: deadwizardskinnie Word Count: 5002 (oneshot) Rating: General Audiences Alternate Universe: Muggle, Modern, Celebrity Summary: About how Remus became a Twitter trend, changed the wheel and nearly had a heart attack in the middle of the class. But maybe in a different order.

Turn On My Charm - @bethansfandoms

Author: Bethanlovescoffee Word Count: 17,044 (11 Chapters) Rating: Teen and Up Audiences Alternate Universe: Muggle, Modern, Celebrity, Youtubers Summary: Sirius Black is a YouTube phenomenon. A YouTube phenomenon who develops a crush on his video editor.

Superstar - Tulipistired

Author: Tulipistired Word Count: 10,762 (2 Chapters) Rating: Explicit Alternate Universe: Muggle, Modern, Celebrity, Raising Teddy Summary: The new superstar Remus Lupin, met his son's art teacher and he was smitten. That's it, that's the story.

Hope you like them!

[phanfictioncatalogue]

University (6) Masterlist

part one, part two, part three, part four, part five

(and I spent all night) stuck on the puzzle (ao3) - carltzmann

Summary: It's Phil's first week of his final year of university, so really, he should be used to it by now. He should be able to behave normally when the cute guy down the hall is stepping out of the shower at the same time he's entering the bathroom.

Evidently not.

begin and never cease (ao3) - palomeheart

Summary: Dan is a grumpy second year law student living with reclusive, perpetual grad student named Phil. When the holiday season brings out a side of Phil that Dan’s never seen before, Meanwhile, when Phil finds out Dan hates all things festive, he makes it his goal to change Dan’s mind before Christmas. And also to find the perfect mince pie.

Change Will Come (ao3) - rainbowchristy

Summary: Dan’s a depressed university student. Phil’s just a cute coffee shop barista who writes notes on Dan’s hot chocolates.

Electrify My Heart (ao3) - counting2fifteen

Summary: Dan Howell picks his college major almost at random. Even after a gap year, he doesn’t know what he wants to do, so he supposes he might as well pick whatever will make him the most employable and impress the largest number of his relatives. Within his first semester, he knows he made a mistake and switches out. Except Dan’s major isn’t law. It’s computer science, and Phil is his TA.

Five Seconds (ao3) - starboydjh

Summary: Five seconds in a dusty university bookshop one night is all it takes to change Dan the work study master's student and Phil the PhD candidate’s lives for the better.

Flatmates (ao3) - intoapuddle

Summary: oh my god they were flatmates / the fuckboy!phil au we all deserve

give me all your hopeless hearts (ao3) - itsmyusualphannie (itsmyusualweeb)

Summary: Dan is a university student who doesn't believe in love, but when Valentine's Day rolls around, he feels himself suddenly falling for the boy who sits next to him in his writing 101 class. When they're assigned a project together, Dan has the brilliant idea to ask Phil out - for research!

“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,

And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.”

i don't know why (i can't keep my eyes off of you) (ao3) - orphan_account

Summary: Starting a new university is hard enough without Phil having to convince his best friend PJ he doesn't have a crush on their other flatmate, Dan. He definitely does not have a crush on Dan.

knowing the way (ao3) - watergator (orphan_account)

Summary: dan meets phil at a party

based on the line in BIG, "trust me, i've known a lot of straight guys until a couple of drinks, some deep conversation and lingering eye contact, and suddenly they just start leaning in."

light through an open door (ao3) - queerofcups

Summary: The only thing Dan’s trying to do is finish grad school and avoid talking about the very public crash and burn of his last relationship as much as possible. Meeting Phil, who’s working on his PhD in Philosophy, just like Dan’s ex was, is a coincidence. Now Dan’s just trying to finish grad school, avoid talking about his very public break up and try his hardest not to fall for a man who might hurt him the same way he’s been hurt before.

Pictures Of You (ao3) - CanDanAndPhilNot (enbycalhoun)

Summary: Punk Phil and (softish) Dan find out they are roommates after a couple stressful encounters.

Project with Phil (ao3) - Cuddlelester

Summary: Dan is an art student in his second year of college when he meets Phil, a film student in the same school. After getting paired for a project about queer expression they begin to grow close. Even though falling in love wasn't in the outline for the project, it had definitely happened.

robot in the dorms (ao3) - itsmyusualphannie (itsmyusualweeb)

Summary: dan goes to university in florida and meets his roommate phil. after a few months, and despite dan's facade of disinterest, he begins to actually like phil and his nerdy ways. the robot that phil designs doesn't help.

or: another "oh my god they were roommates" fic but COOLER because robots

snails kissing (ao3) - cloud-gays (wind_brewed)

Summary: Phil wants to be smooched and Dan wants to rescue snails.

Also called: Dan: the snail saviour; and Phil: the “maybe the real snails saved were the cuties we met along the way” guy.

snuggle up close, let me hold your pieces in place, even if just for a night (ao3) - natigail

Summary: It was just one thing after another really.

Broken down bus with a whole class of freshers.

Dingy hotel room that was cold as fuck.

No one wanting to share a room with Dan.

But then the TA Phil stepped up to the plate and defended Dan. Of course, it meant that the two of them ended up sharing a bed, and then the heater had to break. It's the perfect excuse for sharing body warmth and confessions.

Soft Speak with a Mean Streak (ao3) - Nefertiti1052 (Succubusphan)

Summary: Phil was a lonely film student; Dan was a mysterious new classmate he got stuck in with for a big project. It was only a matter of time and the right circumstances.

The Literal Other Half (ao3) - Nefertiti1052 (Succubusphan)

Summary: Dan arrives at Manchester University and feels a bit lost, luckily he gets an upperclassman as a tour guide and mentor of sorts. Coffee dates, friends and a lot of laughter finally enter his life - along with love.

This Could be the End of Everything (ao3) - rainbowchristy

Summary: Dan’s finally starting university, the phase of his life he’s been waiting for since he was a small child. His first real chance at freedom, away from his parents. Unfortunately, the universe has other plans for him.

time won't be enough, to make you fall in love (ao3) - orphan_account

Summary: phil lester's first year of university, and how he's oblivious to how much he and dan howell like each other

Unlocked Doors (ao3) - TearDrop1234

Summary: Prompt: a university getting together au

What Phil Saw (ao3) - counting2fifteen

Summary: After their first night together, Phil knows he made a mistake sleeping with one of his students. Dan disagrees, but he's too busy having a crisis about his major to press the issue too much.

Or, the conversation Dan and Phil had after their first night together in Electrify my Heart, from Phil's point of view.

When the Weather Breaks (ao3) - sierraadeux

Summary: Sitting across from Phil on that worn out velvet Starbucks sofa, sharing sickeningly sweet coffees and what they would like to think were hushed giggles, was the first time Dan felt a glimpse at what real love could feel like.

or

Perception checks, pining, and peppermint mochas.

with a bullet (ao3) - waveydnp

Summary: phil returns to his room after a party thrown by his housemates only to discover that there’s already someone in his bed

[peachetteprice]

I know for sure that you can't help all families from Gaza that want to be evacuated from here but at least you can help those who come across your life. You have no idea how mentally and emotionally tiring this is. Asking for help is not easy. But when thinking that the price is my family's life and getting out of here safely, it just pushes me more and more to do this until i reach my goal, be able to attend my university abroad and achieve my doctoral degree dream after awarding prestigious PhD fellowship. Please donate and share to support us standing at this hard time. https://gofund.me/d597b8e2

Due to the minimum allowed fund on the website (and the amount of money I own, which is embarrassingly not enough for a donation because I'm a student and I don't work), I can not donate, although I would really, really encourage anyone who has the money to do what I can't!

The least I can do is answer this to help spread the awareness that this user is trying to. I did check out their blog and the information on the GoFundMe, and it is, obviously, for a brilliant cause that deserves attention.

There should be no need to say this, and I'm ashamed that people still need to say it, but: Free Gaza.

[heliodorwrites]

An exhaustive fic progress report of all my current WIPs for those interested (edited because I forgot some):

Stranger Things fic:

nowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone - I actually have most of chapter 5 written and know how the chapter will end. I'm just stuck on the scene where Max goes over to Dustin's house. I'm still not sure how close to canon I want to play it. One day I'll rewatch Stranger Things and get back to this, but I think I need to practice writing mystery and action some more so I can really do justice to bringing my plans for this fic to life

The Dragon's Bride - So in the covid brain fog I forgot where this fic was going last year. I wasn't keeping detailed notes about it so I'm just kind of trying to recreate what I want to do with this before I post anything. I have been working on the second chapter though. Overall I want it to have soft Ghibli film romance vibes

JJBA fic:

Houses of the Holy - The orphanage chapter is so hard to write. Why did I think writing out Caesar's whole life story was a good idea??? He doesn't even meet Lisa Lisa until chapter 3! Making up backstory from scratch is haaaaard. My hubris knows no bounds.

had to fall in love - ah band au my beloved. I fucked up the timeline and haven't felt like fixing it yet. I might just pretend I meant to do that all along and just keep writing. Then I could fix all the dates and ages at the end. This fic is a hot mess but It's fun.

Wonders Never Cease - this sci fi au is even more of a hot mess. God I'm a disaster. Don't look at me.

Unpublished WIPs/ideas (also JJBA):

Hotel CA - Caejose pwp set in a world where vampires have overrun the world. Caesar is the leader of a little group of humans taking shelter in an old hotel with a crumbling sign. Joseph sneaks in to Caesar's suite disguised as a woman in the hopes of seducing Caesar into a false sense of security before he reveals his identity. Of course Caesar knows it's him immediately and is curious to see how far Joseph is willing to take his ruse.

Bring 'Em Back Alive - a post-PHF five-years-later fix it endgame Fugiomis fic where Fugo and Mista team up on a murder mystery mission in a Passione-run nightclub where the ghosts of their shared past are disturbed and they fall in love with each other. I'm having trouble juggling the OCs for this one. I think I have to write a more immediate post-PHF fic to establish the villains' motivation better. The playlist is already up on my fandom Spotify though I may change some of the songs around.

i wanna be a slut - this one is named after a Pansy Divison song. It's basically just modern no stands au poly!mista fic where not all Bucci gang is dating each other but Mista ends up either dating or friends with benefits with all of them. Not much angst just Mista gets to be happy and carefree and have a lot of love in his life.

idk what to call it yet I've been calling it figure drawing au or michelangelo nudes - Modern au, no stands. After Mista gets fired from his latest job because his manager hates him, Fugo offers to pay him in cash if he agrees to model for a project Fugo is working on. It's all so Pretty Woman that Mista kinda can't help but fall for Fugo, who is gorgeous and sensitive and brilliant, but Fugo is such a sad lil rich boy he can't imagine Mista wants him for anything more than his money. Mista's just so handsome and so good at living in the moment defying expectations to do whatever the fuck he wants; he's everything Fugo wishes he could be. I just want to write the Fumis romcom of my dreams where Fugo is a PhD student and polymath good at different forms of art and science and Mista's a himbo. I deserve this.

another college au draft where Mista and Narancia are roommates who don't realize they're pretty much dating. Giorno invites all his friends to a house party at his mudad's house. Narancia gets drunk and finally makes a move on Fugo, who gets offended Nara seems to be trying to cheat on Mista with him. Idk this one might never see the light of day tbh but you know I love the Torture Dance Trio so maybe

I do not have time to write all this. Knowing me I'll just come up with more ideas tho lol.

Edit: WAIT I FORGOT TWO OF MY DRAFTS

Phantasmagoria - Fugio gothic horror au where Fugo's parents give him to Dio for mentorship and Fugo quickly learns Dio doesn't actually practice law all that much and his house is fucked up. He meets a cute boy he only ever sees wandering the halls at night

Uh the draft is called Gothic Horror Pillar Men in my drafts but it's more of a bodice ripper type story. It's about Joseph being locked in his grandma's estate awaiting his upcoming marriage and interacting with the strange men who prowl the courtyard looking for something at night. Not sure if I'll ever finish this one but idk. The wedding rings play into it a lot but they're not poison in this au or like inserted into Joseph's body.

[random2908]

The thing to bear in mind is that while the NIF isn't any good at making power, it's brilliant at providing a situation close enough to an H bomb going off that you can validate your numerical models against it. It's a greenwashed MIC facility.

This is a take I've occasionally heard before. I have a lot of thoughts about it, and about the slightly tangential issue of funding and intellectual purity.

Yes, you're right. The NIF has been involved in H-bomb stuff in the past and probably will be again in the future. Let's get that out on the table where we can all see it first.

But that doesn't mean that that's what this project is about, necessarily. And even if it is, that doesn't mean that the results are unusable.

Because you'd be hard-pressed to find any physics lab in the entire US that you couldn't call a military-industrial complex facility in some capacity. My doctorate was basic experimental physics, just pushing knowledge forward, trying to get journal publications--typical university stuff. The professor wasn't even a US citizen! And neither were about 1/4 of the students. Nevertheless, the lab was funded by an NSF grant, an Air Force grant, an Army grant, and a Department of Energy grant. That's half military funding. Which of those paid your tuition and stipend depended on which project you were on and whether you were a US citizen, but any one of them might be buying your experimental equipment. For that matter, professors needed to get military money because they were only allowed to have one NSF grant at a time, and one grant can only support about two graduate students--you couldn't even hope to get tenure at an R1 school with only two graduate students.

Hell, my dad's PhD on, like, frog embryology was entirely funded by the Army back in the 1970s/80s. Why? The stated reason was that during the Cold War they had a program to pay for as many US citizens to get PhDs in science and science-adjacent fields as possible, and they couldn't care less what those people were actually researching. Who knows what they actually wanted, although I think they funded my dad before even knowing what he'd be studying. But in any case, there wasn't any obvious military use to my dad's research.

At my last job, the company's revenue came from NSF, various defense agencies, a major private defense contractor, and then maybe like 0.5% our own sales since we were just a startup. In total I think about 80-90% of our revenue came from the Department of Defense, one way or another; we were unambiguously MIC. But we were making safety-testing equipment and communications equipment. Of course the military cares about both those things, but it's not as though we had an exclusivity contract with them, and we were making it with civilian customers in mind.

So, yeah, nearly all science in the US exists within the MIC. And the reason for that is that Congress allocates a hell of a lot more money to the military than to science. The vast, vast majority of science, worldwide, is government-funded, even in private industry. (Maybe this is less true in pharma? I really don't know, but certainly more of it is government-funded than they like to let on.) So, in the US, if you want to do anything science-related--commercial or academic--sooner or later you're going to talking to the military.

But in the end, that means you can't necessarily judge science from where its funding is coming from. When I was getting my PhD, my attitude was, if the Air Force was paying for me and my lab partner to go to school, study basic science, and publish in academic journals--great! That was money they were spending on completely innocent work and the advancement of human knowledge instead of on drones. Congress may have misallocated the money by giving it to the DoD in the first place, but here it is, coming back to entirely civilian endeavors. That's a win, as far as I'm concerned.

It's different at the NIF because they do have a history of genuine weapons research. I absolutely agree with that, you can't say it's a fully innocent project. But given how entangled (no pun intended) literally all physics research is with the MIC--due entirely to Congressional funding priorities--I personally think we should take the win when there are potential civilian applications.

Also, write to Congress about allocating more science funding! Every little bit of extra funding helps in disentangling basic science from the MIC.

[everythingismadeofchaos]

I get that YouTube drama is some pretty weak shit to get interested in. I get that most of YouTube contains misinformation, often the people you hear from are not qualified to really promulgate the ideas that they are waving around like giant flags, that a lot of YouTube is just people disagreeing with each other and making responses to responses to responses to responses. Logical fallacies fly back and forth like cannonballs. One side accepts facts the other one doesn't.

But it's a hell of a gift that if I have a passing interest in something vaguely controversial among kooky people, like astronomy is to the flat Earthers, or like actual history is to the biblical literalists, or like evolutionary biology is to the young Earth creationists, I can get to know specific YouTubers with actual qualifications and come to trust them and learn an enormous amount a specific field of study while listening to the glorious evisceration of these grifting cretinous assholes. It is an absolute pleasure beyond belief to hear somebody like Paulogia casually and politely and calmly go through a Ken Ham video point by point pointing out every lie, every intentional misstatement, while a guest, represented by a cartoon on his show, often sporting credibility in the form of an advanced degree from an accredited University, casually teaches me real information about how the world actually works.

Science presenters on television used to work so hard. They had budgets far beyond what a guy in his basement in Canada has access to. And they produced great things, like Carl Sagan's Cosmos show or Connections, starring James Burke. Those things are marvelous and instructive pieces of art that give you a casual familiarity with interesting quirks of history or facts that you can read entire books about later but at the very least keep you informed as to what the current human understanding is as regards some specific field of study.

But Gutsick Gibbon keeps me entertained. It's not even a fair contest. It's like watching the Tampa Bay buccaneers play a game of American football against my 10-year-old nephew's baseball team. It's not even close. She's a PhD student arguing with a breatharian. But the drama is so fun. It's so satisfying to hear these posturing nitwits actively making stuff up and misinterpreting stuff they heard on one of these preposterous History Channel shows about aliens and the pyramids, carefully edited together with measured responses that teach me more about anatomy and human history than I learned watching a decade's worth of documentaries in my twenties.

Sci Man Dan. Gutsick Gibbon. Paulogia. HealthyGamerGG. Dan McClellan. The Green brothers, Hank and John. Stand-Up maths. The Millennial Gardner. Emma Thorne. Lindsay Nikole. Dami Lee. Sabine Hossenfelder. EV Nautilus. Yoga with Adriene, Oh God how could I forget someone who makes me feel 5 years younger if I pay enough attention to her. Rocky Kanaka ... I learned a little bit about dog psychology from my sister, who used to train dogs, and a little bit about it from my friend who used to rescue and foster dogs, but I learned a lot from Rocky Kanaka, and his videos are so positive and upbeat sometimes they make me cry a little bit. In a good way, I mean. There's so much stuff to learn. You have to fact check things, but all of these people are just giving me all of this knowledge for free. That's a brilliant thing and I treasure it. Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't! Learn new things and have a brilliant time at the same time! And I can listen while I'm driving around and doing nothing important anyway! I just can't watch like that obviously. But still! It's great! Anton Petrov! Sauti Reese! Good god, I've learned things from Sir Sic I'd never thought about before, and that guy is, well, a dumb. Edit: dear God, how could I forget about Angela Collier? And I'm sure there are other people I'm forgetting about.

I'm so pleased to be here you guys. Going to go cut the grass with my noise suppression earbuds. I love you all

[jcmarchi]

President Kornbluth welcomes the Class of 2028

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/president-kornbluth-welcomes-the-class-of-2028/

President Kornbluth welcomes the Class of 2028

Addressing MIT’s newest students and their families yesterday, President Sally Kornbluth and several alumni faculty offered some tips about how to thrive at the Institute.

“You belong here,” Kornbluth and others assured the audience, while emphasizing the many ways that the 1,102 members of the Class of 2028 are connected and interdependent.

“All of us together are responsible for the character of our community,” Kornbluth said.

The President’s Convocation took place under a tent on Kresge lawn, on a warm, sunny morning. Kornbluth introduced several of MIT’s senior leaders — Provost Cynthia Barnhart, Chancellor Melissa Nobles, Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate and Graduate Education Dan Hastings, Vice Chancellor for Student Life Suzy Nelson — and then offered some guidance of her own.

Kornbluth advised students to take advantage of MIT’s “unmissable opportunity,” the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program. She also encouraged students to try new activities and make time for fun, while also acknowledging that the MIT experience can be intense.

“But if you sometimes get frustrated or feel stuck,” Kornbluth said, “please know: We all do! And you don’t have to go it alone. It’s not always easy asking for help, but as everyone up here today will tell you, sometimes the only way to succeed in facing a big challenge or solving a tough problem is to admit there’s no way you can do it all yourself. You’re surrounded by a community of caring people. Please don’t be shy about asking for guidance or help.”

She urged students to care for each other even when disagreeing or having difficult conversations. “At MIT, the work we do is so important, and so hard, that it’s essential we treat each other with empathy and compassion, that we take care to express our own ideas with clarity and respect, and make room for sharply different points of view,” she said.

“Empathy and respect are central values here,” Kornbluth said. “And frankly, they are also skills — skills that we all have to practice, at every stage of life, because they turn out to be vital to every aspect of our success: as an institution, as a community, and as individual human beings.”

Kornbluth was joined by three MIT faculty who had also been students at the Institute.

Previous item Next item

Isaiah Smith Andrews PhD ’14, the Charles E. and Susan T. Harris Professor of Economics, described the MIT community’s commitment to making the world a better place through “concrete changes we can see, touch, and measure.”

He urged students to consider what they could do to make a better world, not just through new science and engineering advances, but also by figuring out how to ensure those advances benefit humanity. “You’re all here because you’ve excelled, and I know that you will excel here as well,” he said. “I challenge you to follow the MIT tradition and be more than just excellent: I challenge you to be good.”

Paula Hammond ’84, PhD ’93, Institute Professor and vice provost for faculty, recalled that before arriving at MIT, she was excited to join a community of people pursuing their interests in STEM with “true nerdy exuberance.” But, upon arriving, she was intimidated by some of the experiences of her peers. “I was sure I was an admissions mistake,” she said. However, she found her footing by connecting with other students and learning from them.

“You are all meant to be here. You’re all brilliant in a spectacularly diverse set of ways,” she said. “It’s exactly those differences that make MIT a place of excellence and a true foundry of learning and shared knowledge. Without the many perspectives that each of you are bringing here today we don’t learn about new ways to address old problems or how to adjust our lens to see new problems.”

Physics Professor Aram Harrow ’01, PhD ’05 reflected on how unpredictable an educational journey can be — and urged students to embrace that. Harrow wasn’t aware that his own field, quantum computing, even existed when he began college, but he became hooked after attending a seminar with a friend.

He acknowledged some contradictions within the guidance he gives to students: “You’ll notice that I’m saying sometimes you should be flexible and open to new experiences, and sometimes you should fanatically pursue your dreams. That’s why giving advice is hard,” he joked.

But he urged students to seriously consider studying topics they hadn’t expected to. “You never know what will happen,” he said.

[inkofamethyst]

March 1, 2024

Hard to believe spring break is so close.

Yesterday I met with my advisor with the main goal of having him help me flesh out my question and experimental methods for a project in a class I'm taking. I presented an idea based on data I knew I had access to and based on a past dissertation and he was like "Yeah, that's probably not an analysis that'd fly today. You're going to have to think more about your question and methods," which, I mean I was expecting some tweaking but not that. And so I was a bit stunned and he ultimately helped me through gave me the key to a method I could use for the class but like,,,,, I felt like he looked at me so expectantly in that moment and I just didn't know how to respond to what he was asking for and, honestly? it made me feel kind of dumb.

Let's talk about that.

So covid kind of sucked for me in a lot of ways, but if there was one positive thing that came out of covid it was an increased value in myself and a decreased urge to compare myself to others. When you only have you sitting in your room doing your work for months and months, not really interacting with anybody else, you become real focused on you. And I found that it was fine, actually. Far less stressful than when I'd been comparing myself to others all the time through middle and high school (and my first semester of college). I found value and satisfaction in being content with my own path. And it felt like a huge weight had been lifted.

However. Since I try so hard not to compare myself to others/immediately counter any comparisons with "well, there are reasons why they are there and why I am here", it becomes difficult to establish a baseline of performance. I know I'm not the most intelligent/brilliant in my cohort, and that's fine for me, I think. I'm younger and less experienced than they are, generally. But I also know that the expectations of PhD students here are, well, high? Like faculty are expecting a higher caliber of student, and that's just the truth. But I don't know if my.. shortcomings when it comes to ~thinking scientifically~ are expected or if I am sitting below expectations.

And I talked to my photo-friend about this last night (among other things, Leon Kennedy from Resident Evil being one of them (I've never played RE nor do I know who that man is but wowza what a showoff, what a hottie)) and it's like, it's not something I really want to ask my advisor because I don't think I could handle it if he went "yeah you've been a bit of a disappointing investment". Maybe I should ask the second year in my lab. I know she said she didn't feel like she was fully with it until the end of her first summer. Planning to put in a lot of hours to get there this summer, I think (maybe while doing three-day weekends tho, or taking a midweek day off? idk i'll ask my postdoc).

So that sucked. In all fairness I knew that the Asking a Question part of science was going to be the hardest for me to pick up. I mean this could also just be me putting thoughts into other people's heads which is something I've been known to do.

Anyway I also lost my phone today. Took a bus back from a class, and it slipped out of my womanly small pocket. Freaked out for a bit even though I knew it could realistically only be in one of two places (FindMy was off on the device for some reason?!?!?!), the bus or that previous classroom, but the bus and driver for that route was switched out between the time I got off and the next time it came 'round. Anyway I facetimed my mom on my ipad to let her know then went to my next class because it was a section I couldn't really miss, and then my mom emailed me that the transit dept had found it and was holding on to it for me because--get this--she'd called my phone earlier because I asked her to check if it would buzz in my bag. The transit office checked her number against my emergency numbers, saw they were the same, and called her to let her know they had it <3 Took a trip to pick it up after class and the people were so sweet :)

Insane how many issues losing it could've caused though. Love a happy ending!!!

Today I'm thankful I didn't fully lose my phone! Love these trousers but wish they had better pockets. This isn't the first time my phone has slipped out of them.

[mesfantomes-marie]

My Favourite TenRose Fics

Fanfiction is brilliant. There, I said it. After years of studying for my PhD in Linguistics and Phililogy, endless nights spent reading Calderón, Diderot and Dostoevsky, I still believe certain fanfiction should be praised and published. It should be remembered.

Quadrophobia by Howlcastle. The Doctor is split in 4 personalities, but not in a creepy James McAvoy kinda way, trust me. I love this, because of our beloved TenRose dynamic. It's well-written and laconic. Novel, Teen (there will be a lot of these in this post, since I'm not a big fan of explicitness in fiction, since it's hard to find something tasteful)

Wolf and the Butterfly by sparrowmarrow. When Rose begins to be plagued by ominous nightmares of the Doctor’s future, a future without her, they realize that something sinister may be lurking behind the exotic stalls of Opifex’s acclaimed market. Oh the Angst! With a happy ending, of course. The characterisation is SO GOOD, darn. Novel, All ages.

Breaking Vows by Molleyn. Ten and Rose accidentaly bump into a parallel version of Rose on parallel Earth at war. Basically, the Doc can't tell them apart and leaves the His Rose there, only to realise his terrible mistake and come back to her 3 months later. Will she ever forgive him? Beautifully written angst with a happy ending. Evil doppelgangers, love confessions and a smidge of well-written smut. Novel, Teen.

Effeuiller La Marguerite Part 2 by whollyuncertain. Angsty and original. Happy ending. Hurt/Comfort. Post ThatDamnedFireplaceEpisode I hate so much it took me 5 months to even CONSIDER reading fixits of. Short Story, Teen

TenToo/Rose

I think it's the best happy ending Rose could've ever gotten. Not gonna lie, it had been difficult and so many fics had dissapointed me in the past. 99% just go in the exact same direction of 10.5 being miserable and as far from 10 as possible. I don't like it. So these fics are the only ones where I feel like Tentoo is actually 'in character'.

Laddie, Lie Near Me by @abadplanwellexecuted. Beautiful. I am a big fan of this author, check out her work. Here, Tentoo is not OOC (what a surprise...) and Rose is not a total byotch to him (another surprise). Short story, Teen.

The Wind By Night by @tripwirealarm. A masterpiece! Told from His perspective, which is honestly refreshing. Angst with a happt ending. Novel, Adult.

AUs

Never been a fan of AU fics before, but I guess falling in love with this particular pairing means you all of a sudden become a fic addict and anything goes. Am I right?

A Place Where We Only Say Goodbye by @weezly14. I cried, but actually it was worth every single tear (cheesy, but heck! that's the way I feel about this masterpiece). So much insight, great character development. Coffeshop AU, novel, part of the Time Loop series, Teen. Did I mention it's slow burn? Gotta love 'em.

nothing happens until something moves by @lauraxxtennant. UniVerse. Professor!Ten / Student!Rose. I had a crush on my German Professor once, it was wonderful. Novel, tastefully Mature.

Sweetheart by @stoprobbersfic. UniVerse. TenRose, Oxford. Read this whilst listening to 'Dark of the Matinee' by Franz Ferdinand with a cuppa on a war mnight in early spring. Romaticize your life a bit. You will not regret it. Novel, part of a Series, tastefully Mature. Warning: mentions of a certain French individual.

A Sun Will Always Sing by @lixabiz. Tutor!Ten / Student!Rose. I guess I'm just a sucker for this particular trope, especially written by someone so talented. What a pleasure. Short story, Teen.

That Home I Find Outside Your Door by Queen of The Castle. Homeless!AU. Last, but definitely not least. This fic just left me speechless. The idea is bloody brilliant, keeps you on your toes 'til the very end. Angst with a happy ending, of course. 2-parter, Teen.

And a bit of a (unofficial) crossover. I love the Harry Potter series and especially the character of Barty Crouch Jr. Tennant in a long leather coat will haunt my dreams forever. So, there's this incredible fic, called Snakes' Nest by elmira777. Summary: When Rose Clifton, a pureblooded witch, had been abducted and forced to marry Barty Crouch Jr, it didn't even cross her mind that this was her chance to save the world. AU, takes place after Goblet of Fire. It's a Work In Progress, which sucks. BUT! And it's a big 'but'. It's so cool! Technically, it's not a HP/Doctor Who crossover, but I just can't help it. Rose here, Rose there. It somehow just works.

And you know what? The best thing about WIPs - you can use your imagination and finish them in your head. Novel, Teen.

[alrightberries]

honey, honey (how you thrill me)

request: i loved strawberries and cigarettes but levi just can’t catch a break :(( can we have a super fluffy modern au with boyfriend levi instead? thanks!

request: hi i’m new here and had read your fics. i love your take on levi’s character! Also that your writing is very great to read!😘 (tho that angst really made me cry HARD) if i may request umm... i want a levi x reader fic about them being like an old married couple but they’re not in a relationship ‘yet’ so like everyone ships them. Its a fluffy crack fic/ Reader is like “well you’re clean and I kinda lilke you so...” then levi be like “you’re tolerable and knows how to properly clean.” and then they really ended up married. It’s like the easiest transition from friends to lovers that one day they just said lets get married we act like it anyway whats new 😂. I want fluffs and laughs! Aot is angsty enough we need fluffs with our favorite characters!!

❈ pairing: levi ackerman x reader

❈ genre: fluff, semi-crack.  ❈ word count: 4.6k

❈ summary: modern au. In which you and Levi are both professors at the same university, and are painfully unaware that all the students and other staff members have a bet that’s been going on for years now. What’s it about? When you’ll both finally confess to each other and just date already.

❈ trigger warnings: profanity. mentions of sex

a/n: made it gender neutral as per usual. this was really fun to write! makes me think about writing fluff more often (pffft sure)

Trost University was home to many brilliant minds. It was a prestigious school with an acceptance rate of 600 out of 4000 yearly applicants, and producing the finest students; those of which would almost always graduate with high honors before starting a successful career of their choosing.

Its professors, undoubtedly, were of the finest quality as well. They were professional, extremely skilled, and highly trained. It was a workforce full of almost over qualified educators excelling in their respective fields, with master and PhD certificates framed on cubicle walls being the norm in the faculty room.

Erwin himself was proud to be a professor here. He started working as a high school teacher when he was still studying for his master’s degree, shifting from high school teachings to college teachings as years passed by, before eventually getting recognized and offered a job seven years ago by the prestigious school.

His friends— a loving and longterm couple who, as far as he knew, were high school sweethearts and still going strong today— had joined him on this journey as well. He’d known them since they were in college, all studying different fields but aiming for the same career of teaching.

The three of them shared a strong bond; a bond built on study groups, mutual dislike for crappy teachers, and a certain love for education. They were there for him, and he was there for them. He especially disliked it, however, when their relationship went through rough patches. He didn’t like picking sides, and listening to the same story being told from two different perspectives almost always made him want to grab Y/N and Levi’s heads and bash them together for how dumb they were acting.

But despite the differences and occasional fights, he wouldn’t hesitate to say that he trusted them with his life.

So Erwin, for the life of him, couldn’t figure out why he was just now finding out that the power couple he knew and loved wasn’t even a couple at all.

“So, wait.” He speaks, trying to be heard over the crowded cafeteria chatter. “You’re telling me... they’re not a longterm couple?”

“They’re not.” Moblit confirms easily. “Apparently, they’re not even dating.”

“Or so they claim.” Hange interjects. “Y/N and Levi have actual matching rings. Literally— I asked Levi about it once and he said Y/N was his fiancé.”

“But not romantically.” Moblit quickly adds on. “I was there too, he said not romantically.”

“Why would Levi propose to someone he’s not romantically interested in, huh?!” She counters back, a little louder than the brown haired man’s volume.

“I don’t know! Citizenship? Money? Sex—“

“They’re in love! You know they’re in love, you’re just denying it because you want to get in Y/N’s pants.” She huffs. “And because you’re about to lose the bet.”

Erwin’s eyebrows scrunch in confusion. “Bet? What bet?”

“Oh, you don’t know about the bet?” Hange asks. “It’s been going on for, like, five years now. The entire faculty’s in on it.” She begins to chow down on her soup, not offering more of an explanation. Moblit takes this as his cue to expand when he notices Erwin’s blank stare.

“Since you guys joined maybe... seven or so years ago? Everyone just assumed Y/N and Levi were a thing. Because of, y’know, the way they interact with each other. But then five years ago Hange and I asked them when their anniversary was so we could get them some wine, and both of them full on denied even being in a relationship.”

Hange nods, more than a spoonful of soup and a more than generous bite of bread in her mouth. “Yeah, but then I peaked at their faculty files—“

“Peaked at their faculty files?” Erwin murmurs, but he’s ignored.

“—and they have the same home address. They live together!”

“I can confirm that much, at least.” The blonde man answers thoughtfully. “They’ve been sharing a dorm since college but Y/N moved out at some point. They live together in Levi’s apartment now, though.”

“That doesn’t prove anything.” Says Moblit. “They could just be roommates and really good friends.”

“Well I’ll say!” Hange throws her hands in the air. “I caught Y/N sucking Levi’s dick at a party once. Must be one hell of a friendship they have, aye Moblit?”

Her elbow begins nudging the brunette beside her, and Erwin stares with amusement when Moblit starts getting irritated from the eccentric woman’s teasing.

“So what’s the wager?” Erwin asks.

The two professors stop their bickering and share an evil smile. Hange gestures for Erwin to come closer, as if she were about to tell him a secret, and he does just that.

“Whoever wins the bet gets a free meal from Shaw’s Bistro.”

Erwin’s eyes widen. Shaw’s Bistro; the classy high end restaurant with the fancy wine, fancier atmosphere, and the best Japanese Salted Salmon he’s ever had.

It was an expensive restaurant— even for someone with his salary. Erwin knew he could rarely ever eat there unless he wanted to run his bank account dry. And he concludes that this petty bet must be a Pretty Big Fucking Deal.

He squints his eyes. “I’m listening.”

Hange giggles as she continues. “Basically, you have to guess how long it’ll take for Y/N and Levi to finally admit they’re couple. But you can’t choose the same answer as other people in the bet, we can’t afford two winners. Literally.” She gestures to Moblit. “Unless you’re like dumb dumb over there who wagered they’ll never admit it because they’re not a couple—“

“They’re not!”

“—I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

Erwin nods his head, one hand on his chin in thought. He never did explicitly ask whether they were dating or not, he just assumed they were.

He carefully considers his options; be a snoop to his longterm friends and possibly break their trust for joining a foolish bet? Or Japanese Salted Salmon from Shaw’s Bistro?

Hange and Moblit look at him expectantly, smiling when he nods.

“Deal me in.”

The cafeteria was noisy when you walked in.

Students mingled amongst themselves, chatting idly about academics and gossip. Cutlery scraped against each other as people took bites of their meals. Your eyes scanned the crowd, spotting your friends sitting around their usual table and having what seemed to be a heated discussion.

You turned to look at the man beside you. “Did you bring your own lunch today?”

Levi nods as he lifts up a small black bag. “Always do. But I’ll stand next to you in the lunch line so you don’t look like a loner.”

That was Levi Speak for I’ll wait for you.

You smile. “Thanks.”

The brief silence between you is broken when you start talking about your students— how proud you were that Armin was tutoring some of the struggling students in his free time, how terrible Jean was at hiding his crush on Mikasa, how terrible Mikasa was at hiding her crush on Eren (“I don’t even think she’s trying to hide it. At this point, I’m convinced that Eren is either dumb or dense.”)

Levi nods along to your tales, seemingly uninterested and bored. But anyone who knew him well would know he was listening intently as you spoke, every word heard loud and clear and processing in his mind as soon as they left your lips. Occasionally, he would pipe in with his own comments (“Eren’s just dumb.”) but he didn’t engage too much, opting to let you speak and rant on.

Your talkativeness never got on his nerves, contrary to popular belief. He liked listening to your stories, listening to your voice, and seeing the little glint in your eyes when you start talking passionately about your students. He overall just liked being around you. You were cleaner than most people he knew. You were tolerable. Sometimes a pain in the ass, but still tolerable.

But what does get on his nerves, however, is being ‘secretly’ watched by his friends.

Once he’s sure you’re not looking, he turns his head in the direction of their table, murderous glare prominent on his face. Hange, Moblit, and Erwin quickly snap their heads down and pretend to eat, but Levi knew they were definitely staring.

“Oh crap, I forgot my free meal card.” He hears you mumble beside him. He hadn’t even realized you were already standing in front of the counter.

“Figures. You have the memory of a gold fish.” Levi comments off-handedly. 

He hands the cashier his free meal card and grabs your tray for you, and you silently took the coat that Levi had swung over his arm to carry with you instead. You knew he’d hate for it to get dirtied by any accidental soup splashing.

“So, what’s happening on your end of the gossip?” You ask, both making your way to your usual table with friends.

Levi shrugs. “The brats are doing well on their thesis. Their grammar is shit though; makes you wonder how they graduated high school.”

You snicker. “You say that now but tomorrow pull an all-nighter to help them study and revise.”

“You’re not one talk. You scheduled two different consultations between classes and three more after your shift.”

“I can’t help it, okay?! You know I have a soft spot for the kids from the 104th.”

Of course he did. He knew of your affection for that specific group of students— admittedly, he held a twinge of affection for them too.

They were part of the first class you ever taught in your entire teaching career. At the time, you both worked at some crappy school in the 104th district. And to see the kids now, all grown up and studying at a prestigious college, it made your heart swell. And Levi’s heart... well, suffice to say it cracked some of the ice around it.

“That soft spot of yours is making you lose sleep.” He scolds. “I’ll take some of the consultations off your hands. The lil shits deserve a teacher who isn’t half asleep.”

Again, that was Levi Speak for Don’t overwork yourself, let me help.

You jokingly slap his arm. “That’s rude!”

“I know.”

Your conversation is interrupted when you finally arrived at the table, Levi setting down your tray in front of you and you handing him back his coat as you sat down next to each other.

“Hey.” You greet your friends, and Levi silently unpacks his lunch. “What were you guys talking about? It looked pretty intense.”

“Oh, nothing, nothing.” Hange waved off. “Just the usual. Grading papers, grading lab experiments, grading essays. The usual.”

You nod, unconvinced but letting it slide. “I see.”

The table is once again filled with laughter and conversations. Banter was thrown around here and there, mostly between you, Hange, and Moblit as you debated about films and TV shows. Levi and Erwin stuck to light chatter, but it didn’t go unnoticed to the shorter man when Erwin’s eyes squinted as Levi placed his arm around the back of your chair like he always did, or when Hange tried to hide her squeal when he wiped some excess soup from the corner of your lips.

Something was up.

It was about ten minutes into lunch when your phone began to ring, a notification from a reminder app you downloaded. You picked up your phone and sighed as you read your schedule.

“Gotta go. I have a meeting in a few.” You mutter, beginning to clean up your tray and utensils; you were a little disappointed. You didn’t even get to finish your soup.

Levi eyes you and the way you kept glancing back and forth between your soup and the clock. He sighs before he speaks, “I’ll take care of your dishes and buy you lunch later. Just go.”

“No, no, I can— fuck!” You yell when the bowl of soup is accidentally knocked over, spilling over your jacket.

Levi silently offers you his handkerchief to clean yourself up. He starts using napkins to clean the table as well, before taking the coat he brought and giving it to you.

“Use this for now.”

You smile at him once again, taking your coat off and slipping on his as you stood up. “Thanks.”

He doesn’t flinch (or react for that matter) when you kiss his cheek before you left, only letting out a small hum of acknowledgement as you waved goodbye to your friends and made your way to the meeting.

Once you were out of view, Hange’s smile immediately drops in favor of too serious eyes as she starts interrogating Levi.

“Okay, cut the crap, Ackerman. How long have you—“

“Hange, no, we’ve talked about this.” Erwin tries to reason but his pleas fall on deaf ears as she continues.

“How long have you and Y/N been dating?”

Ah. So that’s what it was about.

Levi sighs and continues to chew on his bread. He unenthusiastically stares at the woman yelling at him, swallowing his meal before speaking, “I’ve told you before and I’ll tell you again: we’re not.”

“Bullshit!” She yells. “You guys are a disgusting old married couple who have two adopted children—“

“Dogs.” Levi corrects boredly, but just like everyone else at the table, he’s ignored as Hange continues her tirade.

“—have matching sweaters, do small bullshit for each other like paying for meals and lending your coats. And for god’s sake, they literally just kissed your cheek even though you hate human contact.”

She finishes her rant but Levi looks unphased. God, she wanted to punch his dumb and oblivious face so bad.

“Those are normal things normal friends do. I’m not surprised you wouldn’t know, four-eyes.” Says Levi, but Hange is unaffected and already used to his abrasive words.

Levi continues. “We don’t do anything beyond what’s considered friendship.”

Hange squints her eyes in suspicion. “Didn’t Y/N move into your apartment?”

“Yeah. Their landlord was shit.”

“Where I caught you having sex?”

“We’re fuck buddies and you don’t know how to knock.”

“But you introduced them to your mom as your fiancé?”

“I lied so she would stop bugging me about getting married.”

“You literally have a shared bank account and a shared retirement fund!”

“It’s easier to keep track of.”

“Damn it, Levi!”

Armin stares at the study guide in front of him, mind half processing the words and half... not. Quite frankly, he starts to wonder if the papers you’d given him were written in gibberish or some dead language no one spoke anymore.

You see him struggle to understand the sheet of paper in front of him, and sigh.

“Need a little help there, Armin?” You offer but he shakes his head. “I’m okay. I think I can understand this if I read through it more, it’s my friends I’m worried about.”

He glances beside him where the rest of his study group also stared the papers, each face painted with a unique mixture of confusion and dread.

You weren’t surprised, however. The readings for this module were quite complex, and the fact that your brightest students— Armin and Mikasa— were struggling with it made you feel a little bit hopeless for the rest of your class. Truth be told, even though you taught this topic countless of times, you weren’t entirely sure how to simplify it without leaving out too much information.

“Okay, how about this, we could—“ A soft knock interrupts your sentence, and you stare at the students in front of you to remember if you were expecting any more. It seemed like everyone was here, however, so you weren’t sure who was at the door.

“It’s me.” Came Levi’s voice, almost like he heard your inner monolgue.

“Come in!” You called out, focus shifting back to the paper in front of you as you heard the door open and close.

Okay, so I guess I could take this part and summarize it for them? Or would that still be too complicated? No, maybe I can—

“Ah, it’s that topic.” Levi mumurs, snapping you out of your thoughts. His face was directly next to yours as he stared intently at the papers you held. “No wonder you all look like you’re about to crap your pants.”

“Language, Levi. Not in front of the students.” You scold.

“They curse more than I do.”

“Still.”

He ignores your comment as he hands you a brown paper bag, pulling a chair out to sit next to you. He grabs the paper from your hands to look over the study guide you prepared, undoubtedly trying to figure out a way to simplify it as well.

“What’s this?” You ask, opening the paper bag.

“Bought you dinner.” He replies, eyes not leaving the paper in front of him. “I figured you’d forget again.”

As if on cue, your stomach suddenly starts feeling empty. It was impossible that you were hungry, though. You just had lunch. And after lunch you had some meetings to attend to, a couple classes, some last minute consultations, and— okay. Maybe it’d been a couple hours since lunch, but it couldn’t be that bad. A brief glance at the clock confirms that—

“Holy shit, it’s almost 8pm.”

“Language, Y/N. Not in front of the students.”

“Kiss my ass.”

“Gladly.”

The students in front of you let out a loud groan, faces over exaggeratedly contorted in disgust at your and Levi’s conversation.

Levi glimpses up at them and raises his eyebrow in question, while you jokingly roll your eyes.

“Alright, I think we should continue our consultation another time.” You said, beginning to pack up your teaching materials as the students did the same. “It’s getting late and curfew’s at 8pm. I’d better not see any of you outside the dorms.”

You knew you would though. It’s Friday night, there’s a bar across the street, and they’re teenagers. What could possibly go wrong?

You turn to Levi and hand him the keys. “You go ahead to the car, I’ll finish packing up.”

“It’s alright, I’ll wait for you in the hallway.” Levi takes the car keys as he stands up, walking out the door once again and leaving you alone with your students.

As you began to arrange your papers and clear the table, you start to remind them, “Okay, so we can discuss chapters—“

“Are you and Professor Ackerman dating?” Eren asks curiously, earning a shove from Jean and a silent threat to shut up, dumbass.

You chuckle. “No, Eren. We’re not.”

He gives you a doubtful look, one which you only return with a curious face.

“What’s with that look?” You ask, and he shrugs.

“You should date him— ow, what?!” He speaks, getting shoved by both Reiner and Jean this time before Mikasa pulls them off of him. You pause from your task.

“Okay, I’ll humor you. Why should I date him?”

The students share a look, daring each other to respond to your bold question. A few tense moments pass by and you smugly continue packing your papers. Yeah, you figured no one would—

“He’s nicer when he’s with you.” To your surprise, it was Mikasa who answers.

Unsure how to answer but still wanting to remain professional, you nod your head without looking up from your task. “Duly noted. Now go on, I know you have parties to attend to. I won’t hold you here much longer.”

The students laughed as they said their goodbyes; you held the door open for them until everyone was out before you left as well, shutting down the lights and locking the room once more.

A warm hand makes its way to the small of your back, and you smile.

“Hey.” Levi greets.

“Hey.” You repeat. “You read to go?”

“Yeah.”

“Wanna share my dinner when we get back home?”

“...yeah.”

He takes the stack of paper from your arms, his free hand reaching out for your own. You walked down the hallway in relative silence, interlocked hands swinging slightly from every step.

From the opposite corner of the hallway, the students’ prying eyes observe the small interaction; the two professors remained completely unaware that they were being watched.

“Told you they were a thing.” Ymir gloats, and the group snickers as Reiner irritatedly hands her some money.

Something was wrong.

If there was one thing Erwin knew from the nearly two decade long friendship he shared with you and Levi, it was when something was wrong.

It didn’t go unnoticed to him when Levi didn’t open your side of the car door as he usually would when you arrived at the parking lot; when he made a beeline for his cubicle in the faculty instead of helping you get settled first; when you didn’t make a fresh pot of tea for him before classes started; when your small sweet gestures throughout the day were kept to a minimal; and most importantly, when neither you nor Levi wore your matching gold rings.

The faculty was nearly empty, save for himself, Hange, Moblit, and the two people who were having a lover’s quarrel. The entire day went by without seeing you two walk side by side like you usually would, and Erwin was pretty sure Levi’s permanent frown somehow got deeper.

Yeah. Something was horribly wrong.

“Pssst.” Erwin hears from the desk next to his. He turns around and is met with Hange and Moblit’s curious gazes.

“The hell happened to those two? Trouble in paradise?” Hange asks, eyeing Y/N and Levi’s grouchy faces and refusal to acknowledge each others’ existence as they each packed their things. She adds on, “Are they getting divorced?” Only to be reminded by Moblit that “They’re not dating.”

Erwin shrugs, answering Hange’s question. “No idea.”

Moblit chimes in, “I heard Petra tried asking Levi out yesterday and now Y/N is jealous.” 

She scoffs. “Y/N isn’t the jealous type. Besides, Petra’s part of the bet so that means she thinks they’re going to get together.”

“I’m part of the bet and I don’t think they’re going to get together.” Moblit points out. “And Petra stares at Levi the way Levi stares at Y/N.”

“Full of disdain and irritation?” Hange asks.

“No,” Erwin finally interjects. “Full of love and admiration.”

“Can the three of you creeps keep your mouths shut?” Hange, Erwin, and Moblit’s heads snapped to the direction of the voice, eyes meeting a pissed off Levi with a pissed off Y/N beside him. It seems like their hushed whispering wasn’t so hushed at all. 

“When you gossip about our private life the least you could do is wait until we’ve left the room.” You gritted.

“No, it wasn’t-” Hange tries to defend herself but is cut off by Levi, “We already heard you talking. Now out with it before I change my mind about letting this slide.”

The three guilty professors sigh, sharing a look before Erwin decides to come clean. “We’re concerned for you.” He starts. “You’ve been ignoring each other the entire day and whatever this fight is, it’s the worst one I’ve seen you have.”

You sigh. “Listen, it’s not that we don’t appreciate your concern, it’s just that-”

“-it’s just that it’s none of your goddamn business.” Levi interjects and you immediately glare at his rudeness. 

“Shut it, Levi. I don’t have time for your bull.”

“And I don’t have time for your petty lies.”

The three watched as you and Levi begin to quarrel, sharp words and irritated glares thrown around with each passing second. Your voices overlapped with each other as Erwin tried to make sense of what it was you were even fighting about, some words about betrayal in the highest degree and ruining a good thing and a relationship built on lies being the few words he understands. 

Finally, he has enough.

“Stop.” Erwin says loudly but firmly. The two of you pause from your bickering him and stare at him incredulously; he continues to speak, “We’re not teenagers anymore, we’re grown adults. I’m getting tired of playing mediator whenever you fight but if I have to do it again so you stop yelling, then I will.” 

He sighs. “Now what the hell are you two fighting about?”

“Y/N started it.” “Levi started it.” You say at the same time, and Erwin feels a headache coming but decides to ignore it.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

The two of you stare at each other angrily, almost daring the other to back down. This goes on for a few seconds before Levi finally sighs and speaks.

“Y/N thinks lemon scented detergent is better than lavender scented detergent.”

Hange and Moblit snicker but quickly shut up when Erwin gives them a look. He wasn’t even surprised that a fight as small and menial as this would be the fight that tears his favorite power couple apart.

“It is and you know it.” You reply defiantly and Levi groans in frustration, hand holding his head in disbelief as he quietly mutters, “I can’t believe I’m marrying someone who thinks lemon is better than lavender.”

At that, Hange’s ears perk up. “You’re getting married?!” She screams, and the two of you look at her in confusion, fight suddenly forgotten.

“Yeah, next week.” You reply wearily. “We emailed you the invites.”

If Erwin thought your bickering was loud, then the squeal that Hange let out was nothing short of deafening as she suddenly lunges at the couple, forcing them into a group hug as she cheers, “I knew it! I fucking knew it! You are together.”

Levi scoffs. “Don’t be silly, it’s for tax purposes. Apparently the bank won’t approve the loan for our new house unless we’re legally wed; something about tax fraud.”

“House?” Moblit echoes. “Don’t you already live together?”

You nod. “Yeah, but we figured the kids-”

“Dogs.” Levi corrects.

“-deserve a yard to run around in. Our apartment’s getting too cramped for the four of us.”

“Don’t ruin this for me!” Hange yells. “I have a wedding to plan.”

Levi sighs. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, four-eyes. There isn’t going to be a ceremony. We’re going to a court house to get our marriage license approved. That’s it.”

“And we invited you and Erwin to be our witnesses.” You explained. “There isn’t going to be a celebration but we’re going to host a small dinner party for close friends and family.We’d greatly appreciate it if you can RSVP to the emails within the week so we know how much food to prepare.”

The three professors nod, each exchanging pleasant smiles. It wasn’t the wedding invite they were hoping to receive but it was still a wedding invite nonetheless, and they weren’t about to burst your bubble.

“Hold on a second,” Erwin mutters, suddenly remembering one detail. “Where are your rings?” He gestures to your ringless hands.

“We had them engraved with our initials. Makes things more believable.” Levi answers. “If you’re done with the dumb questions, we’ll go ahead now.” 

He doesn’t wait for them to answer as he holds your hand in his, walking you out of the faculty room and into the hallway as he pretends not to notice his friends giggling like teenagers at the information you just shared.

“So...” You start, giving him a warm smile as you squeezed his hand. “Do you think they’re catching on?”

Levi lets out a rare smile, eyes softening as he looks at you. “No. They’re too dumb to know we’re actually together. They’ll eat up whatever bullshit explanation we come up with.”

“Okay, but remind me again why we have to keep pretending like we’re not actually together and not actually getting married next week?”

He brings your hand up to his lips, kissing your knuckles affectionately before placing his hand on the small of your back.

“Does it bother you that they don’t know?” He asks, and you hum as you think it through. “No. It’s actually really entertaining.” You laugh. “But why don’t you want them to know?”

He shrugs, pulling you closer to him. “That’s what they get for placing stupid bets.”

alrightberries © 2020. do not modify or repost.

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[your-brilliant-lady-m]

Part 5 - Basic Concepts of Miraculous Ladybug: Guardians

Helloooo! Did you think I was done? No!

My PhD thesis chapters were approved last week, so have some celebratory meta. I haven't seen the latest Season 4 episodes, so do forgive me for not being up to date.

Welcome to the next part of my analysis of the basic concepts of Miraculous Ladybug. Today we are talking about Master Fu, Order of the Guardians and how little everything here makes sense. I highly recommend reading previous parts to fully understand this one, but I'll try to quote most parts of earlier posts.

Order of the Guardians

Order is an international and ancient organisation (New York Special showed us the guardian from North America and he was dressed like Su Han). Presumably, Miraculous jewels were created by these people. Guardians are responsible for the preservation of jewels and knowledge about them. They also distribute Miraculouses to worthy people around the world to combat mostly magical threats, but sometimes jewels are used against normal threats too. It's implied that Master Fu used Miraculouses during WW2 when he was in Paris. Perhaps he performed some spywork with Marianne, but the magical nature of his interferences was discovered and he was forced to flee, before returning to France many decades later.

Why does the Order need so many people to take care of a 3 Miracle Boxes? If its only purpose is to preserve knowledge, keep magical secrets and distribute Miraculous jewels then wouldn't it be more logical to have Master-Apprentice system? It's much easier to keep magic knowledge a secret and train a few people in martial arts than doing the same in the self-sufficient temple full of people, keeping in mind that a good part of them are teenagers and children, who are bad at keeping secrets. Also a single person can travel around the world much easier to give out Miraculouses. Imagine that we have a few active guardians traveling the world with Boxes. What do other people at the temple do in the meantime? They teach the next generation about the powers of each Miraculous and Mirakung Fu, but besides that?

Master-Apprentice system gives us more personal conflict between Fu and his mentor and makes his relationship with Marinette and Adrien more nuanced. In this scenario Fu accidentally caused the death of his Master at 14 because he wasn't careful. It makes sense for him to take on only 1 or 2 students if this is how things were done with Miraculous Guardians. This Wang Fu is very cautious and protective, he spent the majority of his life afraid of hurting someone else and never took an apprentice as a result. But now he is ready to try again, since he is not getting any younger and he likes these 2 kids. He wants them to succeed. Maybe Master Fu, becomes the father figure for Adrien in this situation and a guide for Marinette. Just think about it. This way writers avoid the need to develop all these extra characters (Su Han) and traditions related to the Order. All inconsistencies I mentioned before and later in this post are gone now! Hell, even memory loss and the changing of the Miracle Box shape could make more sense. We also raise the stakes post-amnesia, if it happens of course (the whole Season 3 finale didn't make sense, so stay tuned for my next meta). Marinette and Adrien are on their own now, there's no one who can give them answers. It's very fun scenario, which has potential to be brilliant. Any thoughts on that?

The existence of Order of the Guardians is not quite a secret, at least it wasn't in XIX century China. Master Fu in "Feast" says that guardianship was considered "a great honor". It implies that people who lived close to the temple of the Order knew about Miraculouses and what exactly guardians did for the greater good.

The existence of other Miracle Boxes around the world makes sense from a real-life perspective. Writers have the ability to create many stories set in the same universe and use them for merchandise and an almost unlimited amount of content. Judging by the unholy amount of specials in production, this is exactly what the creators are going to do. It probably won't go down well, but who knows?

However, it doesn't work in our main story. The main conflict is Paris-centred. Gabriel's motivations revolve around Emilie's resurrection and Season 4 gives us more reasons to suspect that Adrien's mom wasn't as wonderful as everyone says. Hawkmoth still remains the main villain of the show and most likely it's going to stay that way. There's no point in moving the main story to different places for the sake of introducing more Miracle Boxes from around the world. Ladybug and Chat Noir aren't needed to fight something halfway across the world unless Hawkmoth also changes locations.

LB and CN are centrepieces of this franchise. They brought success and money to ZAG. Creators constantly need to remind the audience that this new piece of media with new characters who will never be mentioned again is connected to Miraculous Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir. Writers have to come up with reasons to include our heroic duo into the story even if makes no sense.

New York Special had to introduce American Heroes whose names rarely come up in the fandom because people stopped caring about them or their stories shortly after the release of the Special. I barely saw any content dedicated to them. In order to bring LB and CN into the story, you have to include Hawkmoth too. Gabriel suddenly needs to get his hands on the Eagle Miraculous and goes to USA. Marinette and Adrien suddenly have a class trip to New York. Unfortunately, their presence in this story is required only to expand the world of Miraculous and attract fans of the show, so that they could keep an eye on new content related to newly introduced characters.

In the end, it's not their story. Events of the special don't affect main story of the show and the development of the love square is merely an illusion, because Adrien and Marinette are no closer than before. In season 4 LB and CN are growing apart and their test of trust in NY Special doesn't matter. Perhaps, some people don't see it that way and it's their right, but I find it hard to see NYS as a valid contribution to canon. I mean, even people in large portion of the fandom state in the tags on AO3 that "specials are not canon", "specials didn't happen" or "ignores both specials". It speaks volumes about continuity and preferences of your fandom.

Shanghai Special didn't give us more information about the Order, which is located in China, history of Miraculous jewels. We still don't know much about how Gabriel and Emilie found Peacock and Butterfly. Maybe, Marinette's family had connections to Miraculous jewels. Maybe, Adrien does some snooping and discovers research his parents made while Gabriel is away. All of these are relevant to the main story. However, we got something much different in the end.

Marinette chases Adrien across the globe and they make new friends. Fey becomes Ladydragon and now has a direct contact with Marinette through her uncle. Gabriel's desire to get his hands on the Prodigious comes out of nowhere. Apparently, he had been planning this trip for years, presumably even before Adrien was born. It probably happened at the same time as Agrestes found 2 Miraculouses. He bought bracelet-key (which is also a Miraculous apparently, but its Kwami is a Guardian of the Prodigious and they existed separately for a very long time - and let us not dwell on this mess) from some shady mafia boss, who can easily find out just who Gabriel really is (fashion designer billionaire) and use this information to blackmail him. This Special didn't answer important questions, but it gave us a new superhero character.

The real question is whether Miraculous as a project will survive long enough for writers to create content for every minor character they introduced in all specials. This is only a beginning after all.

Miraculous is not a global show and it can't be globalised in a way that makes sense, at least with Ladybug and Chat Noir in the centre of action. Case closed.

Mirakung Fu

I liked the idea of Mirakung Fu introduced in "Furious Fu". It makes sense and things rarely do in this show. Miraculous grants its holder superhuman strength, stamina, endurance and ability to fight. This means that essentially transformed heroes are guided by magic in combat. There's nothing personal in the way Miraculous holders fight. You can predict their moves and learn how to fight this magic guidance, which is what Su Han does.

However, if the holder has any special training, skills or knows any martial art in their civilian life then they become more dangerous opponents during transformation because now their fighting is a mix of magical moves and their personal knowledge, tricks and style. Therefore, Adrien and Kagami as skilful fencers have more chances of winning against someone who knows Mirakung Fu than Marinette, for example.

Memory loss

At the end of season 3, we find out several things:

apparently, now Miracle Box can change appearance to suit its guardian;

when Guardian passes down the Miracle Box to someone else, they lose memories not only about everything related to Miraculous, but also about pretty much everything in their life (Fu doesn't recognise Marianne, instead he experiences the love at first sight)

Master Fu trains Marinette to be the proper holder and next Guardian off-screen. He says that her training as the holder is complete in "Feast" and wants her to become the next Guardian. Fu told her lots of things, and yet, he never mentioned the fact that he would lose his memory after relinquishing the box, nor the fact that Marinette would lose her memory afterwards. She finds out about this from Wayzz after the battle with Miracle Queen and the letter that Master Fu gave her. That's not proper training! How on Earth do you forget to mention this memory loss? How?

Master Fu's amnesia is a convenient plot device that removes him from the narrative almost completely. That's mostly all there is to it. Why? Because it doesn't make sense.

Fu was around 7 or 8 when he started his training. The disaster at the temple happened when he was 14. He stated that his training was never complete, which means that he never passed any magical ritual, never swore an oath or was bound by some kind of spell that made him subjected to the rule of memory loss.

Miracle Boxes belonged to the order, not Fu. Their design reflected their country of origin because these Miraculous were made and kept in China. They were just standing there on the shelves not magically bound to anyone in particular. When Feast attacked, monks just tossed Wang Fu the miracle box and grimoire. No one at the temple lost their memory after Fu took the box with him (Su Han is the proof). Su Han not only remembers Fu and his mistake but everything that happened that fateful day as well. In "Furious Fu" Marinette explains Su Han that Master Fu lost his memory in the very first conversation they have. However, after Ladybug and Chat Noir fight Su Han on the roof and escape with the Miracle Box, the latter searches for Fu and attempts to take his staff from him. In this scene, Su Han acts like Fu knows very well what is going on and who he is.

Su Han should be aware of the memory loss rule as the Celestial Guardian. He remarks on the different shape of the Mother Miracle Box and calls her "incorrect", which means that Su Han should have been able to easily tell that previous Guardian lost his memory and the Miracle Box is now bound to someone else. But he doesn't say anything. Moreover, since Su Han is supposed to know about amnesia, he seemed awfully chill about forcing this 14-year-old girl in front of him to give up the box and her memories. Hell, Chat Noir wasn't on board with this. But we get zero reaction from Su Han.

During the first conversation between Marinette and Su Han, he doesn't ignore what she is trying to say, instead he actively comments on every word. Even if Su Han didn't listen when Marinette told him about Fu's memory loss, than he still should be able to understand that Fu doesn't recognise him, because of common sense and the "incorrect" shape of the box. But nothing of the sort happens. Because writers apparently forgot that "memory loss" is supposed to be known to everyone in the Order. On-screen it looks like Su Han is not aware of the "amnesia rule".

"Furious Fu" makes the concept of memory loss a plothole no matter how you look at it. Just like "Timetagger" and "Chat Blanc", as well as "Kwamibuster" this episode is not consistent within itself. It does not surprise me, however.

Grimoire and Guardian Staffs

Let's talk about the Miraculous Grimoire. Good things first.

There are no illustrations of Miraculouses in camouflage. Kwami can't read its contents, only guardians can. Certain elements are written in riddles as an additional precaution. The book contains only the information people have learned so far, which means that Miraculouses have more unexplored potential ("Mr. Pigeon 72"). It describes powers of each Miraculous, provides information about weapons, has instructions for potions that don't make sense (see previous parts).

Unfortunately, everything is about to go downhill from here.

Guardians are taught how to read the writing in this book. They can read it just like people learn to read texts in a different language. This means that one can read Grimoire like any other book (you don't need to consult some guide to decode each letter or word). Master Fu proclaimed Marinette an almost fully trained Guardian. He should have taught her how to read the Grimoire then (he doesn't know the code very well, but he knew enough to understand the general meaning and content of the book according to "Collector"). He didn't. We don't know why. He shows her powers of every Miraculous but doesn't teach her the code.

Master Fu knows that Grimoire now belongs to Gabriel Agreste. He knows that it's dangerous for someone else to have it. If they knew how to read the Grimoire, they could discover all secrets of Miraculouses and harm Ladybug, Chat Noir and other heroes. It's very important to keep the information about the code top secret because Fu is not the only one with the source material.

What does he do then? Master Fu proceeds to write a French translation of Grimoire for Marinette, a translation that he doesn't even need. He carries it with him at all times on a tablet (without any precautions) just like the Miracle box after "Feast". Naturally, it means that in "Miracle Queen", Gabriel and Nathalie easily managed to get their hands on the tablet and Miracle Box. It allows the plot to happen, sure. But it doesn't make any sense.

"Furious Fu" created another curious plot hole. It will probably be ignored, of course. Su Han has a staff with a magical compass that allows him to find any Miracle box, but not the Miraculous jewels for some reason. How does the staff work? Can it locate the box without the Miraculous? If yes, then it seems useless. What's the point in the ability to locate an empty box? If it can locate the box only with the Miraculous jewels inside, it implies that the staff can track the location of every Miraculous too. So, Su Han could just locate the Butterfly and Peacock without any problem. But he talks about reassigning Ladybug and Black Cat to adults and defeating Hawkmoth like locating the Butterfly is not possible. This situation makes the Guardian Staff a simple plot device that creates plot holes and its only purpose is to explain how Su Han found Marinette.

Also, I have a few more words to say about this. Master Fu had a Guardian Staff that was never mentioned before. I wonder why? That's because the staff didn't exist before "Furious Fu" was written. Writers just went: "Do you know what would be cool? If Fu's cane was really a secret Guardian Staff with a compass all along that he decided to keep even after he lost his memory? It would make people wonder whether Master Fu is faking amnesia, and everyone will definitely call him an awful mentor after this even though we kind of tried to make him a good and responsible person."

Fu didn't give it to Marinette and didn't mention it to her. Why? When he gave up his memory, he should have written about this in his letter at least. Why did he decide to keep it? He can't use it anyway now.

Please note how in the flashbacks Fu didn't take any staff with him when he escaped the temple. Su Han seemed to know how Fu's staff looked like. It means that Master Fu didn't make this staff himself, because it belonged to the Order.

Su Han wasn't even surprised that Marinette didn't have the staff as the current Guardian. Was she not supposed to have it? He never questioned the fact that the former Guardian without memories has the staff. Su Han actually returns this staff to Fu after he is deakumatized and Fu acts like they have never met before. Why did Su Han gave the staff back when he knows what it is and to whom it should belong (to him or to Marinette as the current Guardian)? The staff is useless in the hands of the civilian. Does Marianne know about its secret? We'll probably never find out, unfortunately.

Guardian Staff of Master Fu has a compass too and therefore this also makes it a plot device, just like Su Han's staff.

[razieltwelve]

I noticed that very few of your characters curse and when they do, it's either in calm&collected anger or in a sexy way. The gap between this and Erik IV cursing in official messages out of annoyance is hilarious.

You can't be a majestic rule all the time, and Erik IV was done with his plans getting interrupted all the time. Moreover, he was even more annoyed since the respective leaders of the Alliance and Federation basically said "they're closer to you, so they're your problem" and left him to deal with it.

All of that aside, Erik IV is fondly remember by historians for doing so much to increase the number of habitable worlds in the Empire. His final count of terraformed worlds at the time of his death was in excess of 10,000. That's a tremendous number, and he oversaw a raft of improvements and innovations that have been followed ever since, which allow for the far quicker terraforming of worlds on a much larger scale.

Terraforming was once under the auspices of the Department of Logistics. Under Erik IV, a new department was created. The Department of Settlement was specifically tasked with the acquisition or creation of more habitats suitable for settlement. However, members of the department have always referred to themselves by a different name.

Erik's Brilliant Bastard Brigade.

The name comes from one of his motivational speeches in which he said the following of the people working for him:

"Fuck the Department of Logistics. I don't need their help because I've got a brigade of the most most brilliant bastards who've ever lived working for me!"

The official letterhead of the Department of Settlement still uses that title during the reign of Averia VII. They are, to date, the only department that uses profanity on any of their official documents.

During Final Effect, the Department of Settlement is run by arguably the most badass cat in the galaxy. Fluffy (named after the legendary curmudgeon of a cat) is an uplifted cat who grew up on the streets after his family was killed in a Grimm attack and he fell through the cracks in the chaos that followed.

Rather than quit on life, Fluffy told life to get fucked and somehow clawed his way to survival before clawing his way to a scholarship at a local university. Despite still living on the street and having to scrounge around for scraps to get by and kill vermin to earn a living, Fluffy graduated with honours and was accepted at the University of Awesomeness on Lumina Prime.

Not content with kicking ass and taking names in his own star system, he proceeded to kick ass and take names on Lumina Prime becoming the first uplifted cat to ever rank in the top five of his degree. He subsequently undertook the Masters program before eventually acquiring a PhD after stepping over the mangled academic bodies of his fellow students.

Fluffy would get a job in the Department of Settlement where his take-no-prisoners, never-say-die, tell-the-world-to-get-fucked approach made him extremely popular and successful. He would eventually take over after his predecessor stepped down after decades of good service to fulfil a life long dream by become an award-winning potato farmer on a planet the department had terraformed.

As a head of a major department, Fluffy is authorised to sit on the Imperial Council that advises Averia VII. He's been extremely busy with the events in Final Effect since they're getting lots of new territory.

As an aside, his best friend on Averia VII's council is the Minister of Finance. Although the Minister of Finance is an elderly gent who was raised on one of the most well-to-do worlds as the scion of an exceptionally wealthy family, he was one of the first to vocally support Fluffy’s ascension to Minister of Settlement where many others were sceptical.

In his words:

"Our colleagues at the Department of Settlement have never been ones to tolerate mediocrity or nepotism. If Fluffy is considered qualified to be their leader, then I shall defer to their history of good judgement. Moreover, in the time that I have known him, Fluffy has proven to be exceptionally talented and hard working. I do not see a ruffian or a cat, as others have claimed. Instead, I see a loyal and upstanding citizen of the Empire who wishes only to serve it to the very best of his ability. I would be glad to have such an individual on my staff. A great citizen should be judged by their actions and not by their proclivity toward profanity. Fluffy's actions have made it clear that he is, indeed, a great citizen of the Empire and a tireless servant of the public, as all ministers should be."

Fluffy famously replied:

"You're pretty fucking awesome, old man. Let's go grab some booze."

Yeah. As you can imagine, those council meetings can get pretty interesting.

[singingaboutwishingx]

Hi! I don’t know if anons freak you out - I know they weird some people out. But if you’re up for it I would love the Teacher AU, everybody knows/mistaken for couple? Is it possible to have Josh x Donna AND Sam x Will? Thank you!

hey! anons are all good with me as long as y’all aren’t saying mean things haha.

20. teacher au + 63. everybody knows/mistaken for couple

so here’s the thing: everyone thinks josh and donna are dating, but for the love of god, cj, there’s nothing going on. they’re just so clearly in love. donna, the english/lit teacher and drama club advisor (and, yes, when her freshmen read romeo and juliet, she makes them get up and act out pivotal scenes), has been teaching here since she was straight out of undergrad, so she knows this school like the back of her hand. josh has only been here for a couple of years—after a twenty-year career in politics ended with a bang (and just... really not in a good way—the incident basically ended up with him blacklisted from washington), he went to get his teaching certification because he may no longer be able to affect change in the government, but he can help the kids for the future.

when josh first arrived, his classroom was right across from donna’s. she sort of took him under her wing, showing him the best staff bathroom and times when the teacher’s lounge was emptiest. in the month before school started, when they were preparing for the year, they ate lunch together in donna’s classroom every single day, sometimes with cj and sam and will, sometimes not.

the rumors really start flying when they both chaperone homecoming. josh got donna a corsage as a joke, seriously, sam, it doesn’t mean anything. (it wasn’t a joke. he had a huge crush on her.). by the end of the year, they’ve been asked by nearly every teacher, a few bold students, and even a couple of nosy parents if they’re dating, to which they parrot out the “no, we’re just good friends.” who are they kidding, though? they’re both so gone for each other, and it’s pretty obvious.

and so, on the last day of school, after the bell has rung and the halls have been deserted, josh knocks on donna’s doorframe as she packs up her books for the year. “can i come in?” he asks shyly.

“yeah, of course.” she waves him in, and he leans back against a desk in the front row. “so, your first year teaching. how do you feel?” she looks up at him with a smile that melts his heart.

“i won’t lie, it was really hard. i mean, you were on the receiving end of all my frantic eleven pm texts. that being said,” he pauses. “it was nice to have a friend. made things easier. and better.”

she stands up, placing a tote of books on her desk. “i’m really glad to hear that. will really is such a good friend, isn’t he?” she says, making both of them laugh. “you think you’ll stay?” she asks quietly.

“yeah,” he says. “yeah, i think i will.” josh hesitates. “there is one more thing i need your advice on this year, though.”

she grins at him. “shoot.”

“over this last year,” he starts, standing up and walking around her desk so they’re face-to-face. “there have been a lot of changes in my life. and one of them... is that i’ve started to have feelings for someone i work with. and we’re really good friends, and i don’t want to ruin what we have. what should i do?”

“well,” donna says, a hint of a smile playing on her lips, “maybe you... maybe you should just kiss her. and see if she kisses you back. i’m generally not big on surprising people with a first kiss, but i really don’t think she’ll be too surprised.”

“you know what i think?” he steps closer.

“what?”

“i think you,” he murmurs, snaking an arm around her waist, “give excellent advice.”

and when he kisses her, it’s perfect. it’s brief, chaste, but they don’t let each other go after.

“josh,” she runs her thumb along his cheekbone, “i think we might have to address some rumors we’ve been denying.”

“oh, who cares? they can find out when they find out.”

now, everybody thinks josh and donna are dating, but everybody (well, the teachers, at least) knows sam and will are dating. will, who teaches science and coaches the science olympiad, is a little awkward, but he has the gift of being really, really good at explaining physics. sam teaches junior/senior/ap english, and there are a LOT of pretty little liars jokes whispered amongst the students. he’d like to think of himself as more of a dead poets society kind of guy, though.

anyway, sam and will come in the same year, and they instantly hit it off. they’re still young and idealistic and in the closet to most of the people in their lives. they end up spending a lot of time together out of school. after a school-wide drama surrounding a sophomore’s coming out, will quietly admits to sam that he’s gay, and sam is like “oh, thank god. me, too.” they had both had an inkling that the other might not be straight, but they were both too afraid to talk about it (and their budding feelings for one another certainly didn’t push that conversation to the front).

it’s only a few months after that they admit their feelings and start dating. they have to keep it really, really quiet (they live in a somewhat progressive area, but two gay teachers dating each other? not ideal.). the only times they’ve ever actually gone out together, they’ve been out of the state. it’s really not that bad, though, because they would both prefer to stay in, anyway.

neither of them have ever said a word, but the rest of the staff knows. they know. during one of their lunches in donna’s classroom, cj casually mentions that she has a friend she could fix sam up with, and he just kind of clams up and spits out that he’s seeing someone. not anyone cj knows. just someone. sam doesn’t really like to talk about his love life, sorry. when she extends the offer to will, she gets a similarly vague, mildly panicked response. he’s also kind of seeing someone. it’s not super serious, but he’s not really looking at the moment. but thanks.

and so without sam and will having to have told cj, josh, and donna, they know. and after a few similar incidents with other teachers, the whispers start. no one dares say anything to their faces because they’re pretty sure will would quit out of embarrassment, and he’s the best science teacher they’ve got. they’re sure as hell not letting him go.

it’a not until a few years into their relationship that things take a turn. there’s a weeklong teacher conference in san francisco that summer, and it’s the perfect excuse for sam and will to take a trip. it’s almost intoxicating, honestly, to get in the same car without worrying who will see, to go out to dinner and hold hands across the table, to kiss on street corners without a care in the world.

they take a day’s detour through las vegas on their way back, and in a brilliant, fifth shot-idea, will turns to sam and simply says “let’s get married.” and thirty minutes later, they’re exchanging rings without thinking of the consequences. when they’re finally in the post-hangover stage, they decide they can just not wear the rings at school.

what they forget, however, is taxes, and when they have to file as “married”, people actually start talking to their faces. sam and will add weirdly shocked by the fact that so many people knew they were dating before, even though they were very bad at hiding it. they’re even more shocked by the fact that no one seems to care. no one is mad (mostly because they’ve all had years to adjust).

eventually, it gets out fully, and there’s somewhat of a scandal, mostly among conservative parents, but it’s shut down very quickly by principal mcgarry and superintendent bartlet (jess, i’m borrowing your brilliant idea). they put out a statement that essentially says “look, if you don’t like it, don’t send your kids here. we don’t know why anyone would want to take their kids away from a phd-level science teacher who has miraculously chosen to work here and a teacher who’s been cited as influential for a pulitzer prize nominee, but if you’re homophobic, we can’t do anything about it. teachers dating isn’t against the rules. suck it up.” after that, it blows over pretty quickly.

color palate/vibes: the gray of lockers, the bright secondary and tertiary colors of well-decorated classrooms. cute notes written on post-its in donna’s pretty terrible handwriting, snow days curled up in front of sam’s fireplace, being very, very careful not to look too long at the other in public (and failing miserably).

send me two tropes and a ship and i’ll tell you how i’d combine them into one story!