#shes just bad in general. the curriculum for that class is the same for every prof so she gets the slides like sent to her and you can tell

[zemnarihah]

my design prof is such a cunt she literally docked ppl points for taking notes in notebooks instead of their sketchbook like WHO CARES

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

About Meghan not being sporty vs Kate being sporty. 

I was very surprised to find that Meghan isn’t sporty at all considering she attended private school. 

In the UK, private schools practically force their their pupils to participate in sporting activities which means that Kate was always going to have some level of sporting skills or interest and the fact that she turned out to be so good at sports AND has an interest in it is a bonus.

Ditto interest in Art, Music and a whole host of activities that are not available to state educated pupils.

I suppose I don’t understand the American private system or the entire education system because in UK you can always tell someone who is privately educated because they’ll have rudimentary knowledge and or skill at all these things that are treated as exceptional in Kate. 

Our state schools are hit and miss. The good ones try to ape private school education and the bad ones are just holding cells for children who will more than likely be failed by the school and spit them out uneducated in anything. 

That said, when I first heard that Meghan was dating Harold, and learnt that she was friends with establishment people in Canada, I assumed that she’d acquired these skills because why would a person go to such great lengths to enter a world very different from yourself, and remain determinedly ignorant about it especially the ways that would make you comfortable in that world. 

I honestly thought her private school education would be a great help in helping her assimilate into that world. 

*******

So how education generally works here in the US is that we have core classes in math, history/social studies, English/literature, and science. The rest is all elective - art, drama, music, choir, band, computer class, physical education*, foreign languages. The number of electives vary per age/school year. They also depend on what your state/school district’s curriculum requirements are.

Most schools will have some kind of mandatory elective, usually PE and a foreign langauge. Others might require more, others less. 

This is the same curriculum between state/public schools, private schools, and homeschooling. Usually the difference between the type of schooling is in what electives are on offer or the material that’s within each subject or how much itme is spent on each subject. For instance, a religious private school (such as Immaculate Heart, which Meghan attended) might require a class on religion or have a daily chapel. And in my school district, my school schedule was seven classes on an A/B schedule but my cousins in another state had school schedules of 8 class periods every day.

Now PE. A few things about PE that might surprise non-Americans:

PE does not focus on one single sport or physical activity. Its primary focus is to teach physical fitness to children with a goal of helping them find a recreational activity that they like.

PE is also not just PE. For many schools, it’s where we get instruction on driver’s ed and health and nutrition. In my school district, PE was also where we were taught “family life” (aka sex ed and puberty. Yes, it was as weird as you think.)

Depending on your state or district requirements, PE can become an optional elective. In my school district, PE was mandatory through tenth grade/age 15. For eleventh and twelfth grades (ages 16-17), it was optional.

Up until about 2010ish, PE was based on military fitness requirements. There was a presidential mandate, called the Presidential Fitness Test, that basically groomed schoolchildren to perform to military fitness standards so we could be recruited for the military. 

Now most schools do have sports programs and sports teams, but they’re extracurriculars, and predominantly after-school. It’s not mandatory and school sports typically begin around seventh grade/age 12. Until then, most kids are playing sports in recreation or youth leagues, which has caused school teams to be “professional”-like in that the only way to make it onto the school team is to have several years’ experience in rec league. If you’re new to the sport, just playing to have fun, or playing to learn it, you’re not going to make the team. That’s what rec league is for.

Which sounds different from how you’ve described what sports/athletics are like in the UK. It sounds like your schools not only give time for students to learn and practice sports, they also make some kind of specific athletics mandatory. Of course it makes sense that Kate would have some level of sport skill. 

Whereas here in the US, we have a more generalized approach to education, including athletics and fitness. So to me, it makes perfect sense for Meghan to not have any athletic ability or any interest/skill in sport - she did the basic PE that a lot of us did and filled up her extracurriculars with theater. It’s pretty normal for us.

(Like I played softball, but I wasn’t good enough to be on the school team so after aging out of the rec league at age 14, I did band, a book club, and peer tutoring for extracurriculars.)

[balletandbow]

Never in my life will I tell anyone else that their feelings or experience with homeschooling are incorrect or invalid or wrong. What I will say is that homeschooling can be and is done right, and that I think I was lucky enough to experience it myself.

My mother was a kindergarten teacher before she had kids, and worked as a nanny once I was born so she could stay with me more. By the time I was ready for kindergarten (my birthday is in August, I was barely 5) we were living in the middle of nowhere and I would have had an hour round trip bus ride every day. Our state had few laws prohibiting homeschooling, and this was literally what my mom's degree was in, so she just taught me.

We moved a couple years later, and by the time we hit the upper years of my mom's ed degree we had enrolled in the local school district's homeschooling supervision program. Every year my mother made a list of the curriculum she had chosen for me (and eventually my two brothers) and turned it in to a certified teacher who was assigned to supervise us. We did pretty much anything you can think of. English was separated into reading and writing (so many different books and so many essays oh my god), math (with a textbook fear not), history (my mom pulled out weird Manifest Destiny books out and added extra books from indigenous authors), science (I got my iPod taken away for pretending to do my work when I didn't lmao), and so many field trips and fun things that are so much easier to do when most kids are in school.

We participated in the weekly class that the supervision program offered starting when I was in 5th grade. Every Wednesday afternoon we would spend 3 hours with other homeschooled kids, doing theatre, art, or some kind of history or science project depending on the time of year. The middle and high school groups put on a full play in a semester every year. A few other kids and I who were supervised by the same teacher formed a little club and made our parents let us meet up a second time a week and we got to help make the play sets and generally were little nerds.

In middle school I started taking classes at our public middle school. I was there for math because my supervising teacher had me take a placement test when my mom decided to change math curriculums and they had decided I was ready for Algebra a little early. I also went for choir, because I liked to sing. I ended up taking math at the public school all the way through high school because our district had an advanced math track that let me take Algebra 2, Pre calc, and Calc AB in 3 years and I liked math too much to say no to that. I also took 4 years of Spanish, AP Lang, chemistry, art, theater, and lots of choir.

I had friends at school and I had friends at my homeschool stuff. I got to do a year of history curriculum learning about the early day of the Christian church. My freshman year of high school the writing part of my English curriculum was literally to write a novel. It sounds crazy looking back on it but it was so much fun, and I learned literally so much, which was indeed the point.

When the pandemic hit in the spring of my junior year our public schools all closed for the year. We kept homeschooling. I took all my senior year public school classes from our basement. It was hard, but not all that different than what I did with my other subjects. I started college in the fall of 2021 and discovered that it's really very similar to what I had already been doing. Go learn from the professor. Do your work on your own time. Come back, get feedback, and do it again.

I move in for my senior year of college in a week. There's a lot of discussions about pretty much every aspect of education happening in the world, from the pandemic to asynchronous classes to homeschooling and indoctrination to free lunches. There's a lot of bad homeschoolers out there, and there's a lot of kids who were never taught what they needed to learn to be successful adults. This is just what me and my family did. It definitely shaped me as a person, but as I'm getting older it's becoming less important to my life, which to me signals that my parents and various teachers did a good job.

[aconcernedgp]

Minorities and "Hating Teachers"

If you're in a minority, it's easy to see the logic behind hating teachers i think. like. I'm very autistic, i went to a public school and, from all of the people who i went to that school with, i was not the only one who had issues with teachers.

My friend and I had a year 2 (First Grade) Teacher who would come to school drunk and get kids to do potentially dangerous things for the sake of convenience. my best friend at the time got bullied out of school by him, constantly talking about how he "needed to catch up" in learning and making comments about how bad at school he was.

By the end of year 3 (Second Grade) going into year 4 (Third Grade) I was beginning to get bullied by my peers for my, then unknown, autism. I actually had a Teaching Assistant specifically for me and another kid who had a developmental disability because i would get picked on and it would cause me to have a meltdown. I straight up threw a chair at one of my bullies one time because he bit me. At the time it was only ever labelled as "Anger Issues", something i then proceeded to internalize. And my year 4 teacher, the ever-so-fitting Mrs. Burden, decided that instead of trying to figure out why this was happening, she would just give me detention. I was 8 years old and i was being made to stay behind for an hour at school. and this happened upwards of forty times. of the approximately 140 days i was being taught by her, she gave me 40 detentions. I left that school by February.

This is what i mean when i say i think it's easy to see the logic behind hating teachers if you're in a minority. because if you're a part of a minority group, be it disabled people who got bullied by teachers for not meeting the same standard as able classmates, queer people who got socially rejected and whom teachers refused to help, women who got treated differently by teachers in an uncomfortable way, or people of a cultural or racial minority group where teachers said or did something racist or xenophobic, the common denominator is that you've had issues with teachers, statistically more often than people who are not in that minority.

But there's a reason i said "see the logic behind hating teachers" and not "hate teachers", and that's because, as with anything, teaching is a really vast field. teaching is at its most bare bones, giving information to someone and showing them how to use it. do you know how many people have done a form of teaching before?

At the same time as this i recognise that when people say they "hate teachers" they mean school teachers. people who teach a standard curriculum to students or pupils. and while, yeah, i understand that too, some teachers are specifically not bad.

Between the ages of 9 and 11, at the new school i went to, I got a new teacher. her name was Mrs. Neale and she was possibly the best I've ever had. I had her for both Year 5 (Fourth Grade) and Year 6 (Fifth Grade), and i didn't know this until a year ago but she specifically requested to teach my class in year 6 at the end of year 5 because since i had arrived there, my general mood and happiness had increased so much that she specifically wanted to keep that going until the end of primary school. At the same time as this, I got assigned to a councilor (who i didn't realise was a councilor until like 5 years later) who i saw every friday and she helped me learn to calm myself down when i needed it, but she also told me that it's okay for me to be angry.

I've had pretty shit teachers. Most of my teachers have been pretty shit. it's okay to detest them them for hurting you when you were just a kid. but I can't in good faith say that you should hate all teachers, because no matter who you are or were as a child, there are teachers who would have made your life a bit more bearable if you were learning from them.

[sanstropfremir]

Why are the theatre/film schools like that? 💀💀💀

In mine most profs were complete idiots. One of them, a well know actor and the president of the Academy at that time, did absolutely nothing in class. He bailed most of the time due to “shootings” and the few days he came we practically did nothing, just some chats with him about his job. To grade us he asked us to write in a paper what we thought we deserved. I kid you not.

Another one, who was a tv producer, was most likely very mentally ill and undiagnosed cause he would have the most random shitty ideas that we had to comply with and a lot of mood-swings. The day of the final exam he came 40 mins late because he was smoking week in front of the back door and then proceeded to give us the weirdest exam ever that kept us a minimum of 3 hours there. We had to make a plan of how to shoot an event and he kept adding snipers, famous people and animals to the mix.

There was one that I deeply hated cause we had 3 classes with him that were practically the same. He was more on the sociology side but did not know at all how to be a professor. His classes consisted of spiting facts and giving 10+ random bibliography per day. I learned nothing and I still have murderous waves every time someone mentions his name.

There was a couple who were married and had the sane vibe of old and way to classical. They were harmless until the end, when we learned that they blocked A LOT OF THINGS to make the space and curriculum better. Like, requesting funding to take a paid intern for their research lab of 3d shit, choosing the one (a friend of mine), signing the contract and then NEVER DO ANYTHING NOR SPEAK WITH THE CHOSEN PERSON. She had to go crying to the dean for a response and even then they were not held accountable. The school employed her as a paid intern in another department to make up for it but the rest never got resolved.

Other profs were alright, just very weird characters. The screenwriter prof was a very funny man but deeply depressed and had us all worried at first hour on Mondays (his Very Bad Day).

And on top of that was The Building™️. You see, ours was made by a very famous architect and it won several awards. Every couple of weeks we had someone taking photos of it. However, it’s the most impractical building ever because it was built as at a museum and not a school. The chairs are absolutely demential. So uncomfortable and very easily breakable BUT they cannot be replaced until 20-30 years from now because they signed a contract with the architect that said so. There is one (or two if your lucky) power plug per class but millions on the corridors. The bathrooms stalls are so narrow that if you want to enter with a bag/backpack you cannot close the door. In fact, some of those doors barely close without anyone inside. The editing rooms have gigantic windows where you cannot block the light so you can’t see shit on the computers. Well, windows are a thing in general. Classrooms have them but only one of them can be open partially with a button and let me tell you it does not help to ventilate properly 🙊. And the doors, boi, most of them had the handle broken so someone was always at risk of getting trapped there. You taught that they would fix this but it’s been more than 6 years since I finished and it’s still the same. There’s a twitter account that posts the shenanigans that are going on and most shit is the same.

So yeah, wild shit is always happening I guess 🤷🏻‍♀️

✨🎥 anon

literally all film/theatre schools are same shit different channel slkdfjsldkjflskdjflskdjflsdjflsdkjf oh i feel you for all of this. most of our profs did actually know what they were talking about thank god, but a lot of them were old bastions and hadn't worked professionally in AGES so they were sooooo out of date to how the scene actually operated in the modern era. we had a couple of real characters and one of which was the director for my thesis show, who was five foot zero inches and thin as a twig, wore leather pants frequently and called everyone 'lovey'. and like i previously said, was somewhere between 65 and 85 and nobody could tell bc she occasionally went to switzerland to have some crazy type of botox done to her face. we did have potentially maybe two sexual abusers?? i never got confirmation on any of it bc it was kept sooo tightly under wraps but in one case i'm not sure if there was any evidence brought forward (he was just a regular abuser though, that guy fucking SUCKED), and the other guy i only found out about from a former student bc the whole thing got swept under the rug bc his wife ALSO worked in the department. also the whole staff was like. so racist. the year after i left one of the shows that went up to committee for season suggestion was a show written in the 70s that had a bunch of racial slurs in it (and no people of colour in the script) and almost the entire student body put a petition up to remove it from selection but the director wouldn't stand down so they did it anyways 💀💀💀 i was fucking glad i was out of that hellhole by that time.

and oh my god the building architecture.....never before have i been so glad that there's no famous architects from anywhere near my hometown bc fuckin YIKES. we had a designated separate building from the rest of campus that was built in the 80s specifically for the theatre department, so we rarely left bc all the rehearsal rooms + class rooms were all in there with the theatres. and almost no non-theatre students came in bc there was only one 'theatre' class that a non-registered theatre major could take, and that was a public speaking class, so every time that class happened once a week we'd all give eyeballs to the lost looking business and sciences majors coming in. also there were signs on like every door that said 'no non theatre personnel beyond this point' (bc the building also had the box office and held audiences for when the shows were running) so anyone who was lost always looked extra lost. plus the whole thing was a huge maze bc there were upper level catwalks and corridors that connected the grid + fly systems between the two theatres, so the techies sometimes would go up to the upper levels and not come down for the entire day.

oh and there was a tradition where if you had sex in the building you would mark the spot with a black 'x'. in my first year we did a show with a big coffin as one of the setpieces and on one of the last nights of the run two of the actors fucked in it

[from-seas-to-skies]

The Teacher / Bakugou x Reader ♕︎

warnings: NSFW, teacher/student relationship, oral sex, spitting, sir kink, slut shaming, somewhat brat taming, age difference, unprotected sex

words: 5,772

(a/n): Bakugou is 30 in this; reader is younger (college age)

-

Tick, tock. Tick, tock.

One, two, three, four… How long was it going to take until class ended again?

Looking up from your notebook, you stare up at the clock, the large, monotonous face seemingly glaring straight back at you. You don’t know how it happens, but time always moves so slow when it comes to your calculus class. Frankly, you’d rather ditch the class altogether, but if you wanted to graduate from college, you had to pass. Curse stupid curriculums and all that shit.

However, despite absolutely dreading having to stare at numbers for a solid hour and a half, there is a plus side to taking this dreaded class. In fact, it’s the very reason why you signed up for it in the first place. You’ve heard so many wonderful things about it, all from girls and guys alike, and you knew you had to see it up close and personal – rather, you had to see him.

Professor Bakugou.

Age thirty, drives a Land Rover, and, most importantly, single.

He’s about as dreamy as they come; a complete and utter Dreamboat Annie, absolutely huge in both height and stature, intelligent, and handsome. He’s only been a professor for a few years, but it’s been made apparent to the school that he’s worth it. Not only are his teaching methods and lectures incredible, but he’s turned out some of the highest grades your college has even seen. That itself is impress, and, combined with the hype of how hot he is, it’s no wonder people rush to take his classes.

So, when it came time for class schedules to come out, you were excited, needless to say. Despite having a general disliking to math in the first place, you figured this one guy could be what it takes to turn that idea around. Oh, but that was before you first laid your eyes on him.

Shit, you had heard that he was attractive – godly, even – but this? You weren’t expecting this. His biceps alone could crack a watermelon, and his sharp jawline could easily cut diamonds. It sounds cliché, that’s true, but you have no other way of putting it. Words did not do this man any justice.

At first, his constant yelling and crude demeanor were a total turn off. Professor Bakugou was essentially the teacher version of Gordon Ramsay, and you weren’t entirely sure if you liked that or not. However, as time continued, you actually grew accustomed to it. In fact, if he didn’t yell at least once during the class, you’d immediately figured he was having a bad day.

That’s when the thoughts began. Call it infatuation, a mindless crush, whatever, but you wanted Professor Bakugou. Your eyes soon began to watch his large hands flex while he wrote on the board rather than the content itself. You’d watch his forearms flex while he turned the page in his textbook, prominent veins inviting you for a better look. How you longed to touch him, to grab his sturdy shoulders or pull his wild hair. He always looked so good, clothes tailored to fit his muscular frame perfectly.

You’d fantasize about the most random of scenarios, each of them usually ending up with him bending you over his desk at the front of the room. You liked colder days the best, especially since Professor Bakugou had the habit of wearing form-fitting sweaters that outlined his massive pecs or the swell of his arms. You wanted to make him feel better, to sit underneath the desk and suck him off while he taught the rest of the class. Those narrow hips had to be strong, and you’d be damned if you never got to experience their power at least once.

It’s almost as if Professor Bakugou had cast a spell over all of his students. Nearly all of them gushed about how great he was; and, if you were in the proper company, they exchanged fantasies or proclamations about how fucking gorgeous he was. You’d usually grow bitter at these types of conversations. It was a crush, for fuck’s sake. There was no need to get all pouty like some problematic schoolgirl.

Still, the thoughts wouldn’t go away, not when he taught, not when he yelled. His booming voice became a part of your wicked fantasies, wondering how it’d sound to hear him grunting your name or commanding you to spread his legs for him. Again and again, you told yourself that it was fine, that people develop crushes on their teachers all the time. It was only in the dead of night that you’d have your hand stuffed down your pants and mouth moaning his name into a pillow was when you regretted it. It was a phase, nothing more.

And yet, over two months into the semester, and these thoughts still won’t go away. The constant ticking of the clock brings you back down to Earth, your eyes focusing on the problems before you. Swallowing thickly, you loosen your hand, now just noticing how hard you’ve begun to clench your pencil. Your insides feel oddly warm, that pleasant, heavy feeling sitting behind your belly button. Dammit, you mentally curse, this is not the time to be getting distracted.

Tick, tock. Tick, tock.

If only class could end sooner.

“Right,” Professor Bakugou suddenly says from his desk, “this Friday, I’m holding a study session for the upcoming exam on Monday. There’s only going to be a limited number of seats available, so if you wanna join, here’s your chance.” With his words, he holds a blank sheet of notebook paper up, a rather bored expression on his face.

He must be tired, you think, unconsciously biting your bottom lip. But why?

Around you, students shuffle to the front of the class, waiting for a chance to scribble their names onto the paper. Some seem a bit more excited than others, obviously arching their backs or flipping their hair over their shoulders. With a scoff, you look back down to your work. Did they really think they could catch his attention like that? Yeah, so he doesn’t show off a ring on his finger, but it’s pretty likely that he has people throwing themselves at him all the time. Besides, Professor Bakugou is a strict guy; there’s no way he’d engage in a relationship with a student.

You really shouldn’t be getting your hopes up. It’s pointless to pine after your teacher like that, especially with the risks that come along with getting involved with each other. Still, you can’t help but feel bitter. Professor Bakugou is a god that walks amongst men, so how could you not want somebody like him?

“Alright, that’s all for today. Class dismissed,” Professor Bakugou calls out. Dammit, you spaced out again. Maybe you should get that checked out?

With a sigh, you stuff your belongings into your backpack and draw to a stand. You wish it would be spring already; trudging through snow and ice is never fun, and the fact that your dorm is basically on the other side of campus makes it even more rough. Pulling your coat on and slinging your backpack over your shoulders, you make way towards the classroom door, completely unaware of a set of eyes watching your every move.

-

“Man, this is impossible,” your best friend, Ashido Mina, groans. “I’m going to bomb this exam for sure!” Sprawled out on her stomach, she squirms on the floor, her face scrunching with her displeasure.

You, on the other hand, sit cross-legged across from her. Notebooks and math textbooks surround the two of you, your laptop and calculator at the ready. Bags of chips and pretzels sit to the side, along with abandoned coffee cups and empty water bottles. Professor Bakugou’s exams were notorious for being hard, but at the same time, if you payed attention in class and studied, you’d succeed. The thing is, though, that neither you nor Mina are the best when it comes to math.

“I thought you went to his study session?” you ask, glancing up from your own notebook.

Flashing you a pout, Mina nervously runs a hand through her fluffy hair. “Well, yeah, but you know how it goes! A secluded area with Professor Bakugou! It’s like a dream come true! It was hard to focus when he’s leaning over your shoulder like that…”

Rolling your eyes, you puff in amusement. “Really? Mina, you know what will happen if you fail this test.”

“Yeah, yeah, but come on! You can’t blame me! You would’ve done the exact same thing!”

“I don’t think so.”

“Oh yes you would’ve!” Mina exclaims, pointing an accusing finger your way. “Don’t pretend like you don’t ogle Professor Bakugou during class! He’s one hell of a hunk, isn’t he? I never knew college professors could be so hot!” she gushes, a giggle following her words. “And that study session – oh my god, I nearly thought I was going to heart attack when he helped me solve this one problem. He’s so warm and he smells great!”

You cock an eyebrow at her. “You were smelling our teacher?”

At that, Mina blows a raspberry and waves a dismissive hand. “I’m not Kaminari, sweetheart. I have class. Besides, Professor Bakugou smells like caramel. Can you believe it? I wonder if he uses cologne or feminine soap.”

Caramel, eh? Now that’s something you can get behind.

“You want him to fuck you, right?”

Wait, what?

Narrowing your gaze at her, your brows knit closely together. “What kind of question is that?”

Mina rolls her eyes. “What, like you don’t think about it? Practically everyone on this campus has thought about it at some point or another? I mean, hello! He’s totally Daddy material. I’ve heard that he goes to the gym sometimes here on campus – turns out he’s huge.”

Huge. Of course this is what Mina chooses to focus on. You wish you had a spray bottle to squirt at her horny ass.

“And I don’t mean muscle wise,” Mina continues, a mischievous expression coming to her face. “I bet he tastes like candy.”

“Mina.”

“Why yes, Mr. Bakugou sir! I’ll gladly suck your fat cock for an A!”

“Mina.”

“His ass is really nice, too. I wouldn’t mind pegging him-“

“MINA.”

“What?”

You smack your forehead and groan as your hand trails down your face. “Are you going to study or not? I don’t know about you, but I’d rather graduate than work at McDonald’s for the rest of my life.”

Mina purses her lips at you in an excessive pout. “You’re such a fun sponge, holy shit. I think you need a good dicking down by Professor Bakugou. Maybe then you’d stop staring after him all the time during class.”

Your face heats up at her words, but there’s no way you’re owning up to that. Okay, so yeah, maybe getting fucked by him would be a dream come true, but you’re more realistic than that. “And you’re not concerned at all that he’s our teacher? You know, like he could lose his job and you could be expelled? That doesn’t bother you? At all?”

Mina shrugs. “Meh.”

“Woooow…. You really are shameless.”

“Hey, you win some, you lose some. If I could get that man to put a ring on my finger, then I’d be okay with it.”

“Yeah, because you definitely want to bring your math professor home. Uh huh, great one. Tell me how that goes.”

With a grunt, Mina rolls over and sits up. “Whatever, man. I’m hungry, so I’m going to go down to the dining hall. Wanna come with?”

Glancing at the alarm clock sitting on your nightstand, you see that it’s only 5:15. True, you could get a bite to eat, but you’d rather stay back and finish a few more problems. “I think I’ll join up with you later,” you tell Mina.

She nods her head and offers you a small smile. “Suit yourself, sweetheart. I’ll see you later.” Gathering up her things, she unceremoniously shoves them into her backpack and salutes you with a goodbye. After she pulls the door shut behind her, you turn back to the task at hand.

It shouldn’t be this hard to solve these last couple of problems, but your brain is really starting to feel the struggle. A dull ache is already forming between your eyeballs, and you truly wonder if you’re going to make it through this or not. Maybe you should take a break, or at least give your eyes a rest. Still, that little stubborn streak in you tells you to carry on. You only have a few more problems left, and you’re so close to finally finishing!

As you set to work, the digits on your alarm clock change as time drags on. Okay, so maybe you’re demanding too much of yourself. Your brain is absolutely fried, and your headache is spreading. Glancing back up at the clock, luminous green lines glare a 5:31. Jeez, it’s only been sixteen minutes since you last checked, yet it seems as though hours have passed. You really want to finish this study session, but the last problem is throwing you in for a loop.

You’ve already scoured your notes and the textbook for how to go about the problem, but your mind is drawing up with a blank. It has to be because you’re tired, right? It’s not that hard… Or is it?

“Dammit,” you mutter, sitting back and pressing your palms flat against the floor. Again, you look at the clock. Frankly, you don’t want to spend all night pouring over this, and you don’t want to skip dinner, either. You know for a fact that Mina will beat your ass for skipping out on food. “Screw it.”

Scrambling off the floor, you throw a thick coat on and slide on your sneakers. Professor Bakugou sometimes has the habit of frequenting his office during the weekends (or so you’ve heard), and you desperately need to know how to solve this problem. Chances are something similar will be on the exam, and you want to get as good of a grade as possible. Plus, if he is there…

You swallow thickly. Now is not the time to let Mina’s previous words get to you.

And so, with your notebook tucked underneath an arm, you take off.

It’s a damned shame that his office is practically on the other side of campus, but you figure it wouldn’t be too bad to get your body moving after spending so much time hunched over. Now that you think about, you could just email him, but you’re not sure how quick he’d respond. This is a dire moment. Okay, maybe not, but still. Maybe you want to see Professor Bakugou. Maybe.

You’re thankful when you finally enter the building, free of the flurries of snow and the seeping chill. Stomping your feet free from snow, you look around, creeped out yet fascinated by the silent, empty halls. You doubt very many people are here besides lingering staff and the janitors. One could only hope that Professor Bakugou is frequenting his office.

As you draw closer and closer to his office, your footsteps bounce off the walls, reminding you of how alone you are. There’s a fifty/fifty chance that he’s even going to be in his office, yet your heart pounds frantically in your chest. If he isn’t there, you’ll just simply turn around and stalk back to your dorm and hope for the best. If he is there, well, you’re not entirely sure what you should say.

He’s your teacher, dammit. It shouldn’t be this hard going up to him and asking him for help. It’s literally his job to help students out; nothing more, nothing less. Still, Mina’s words ring throughout your mind. It’s just a crush, you remind yourself. Stop getting so worked up about it.

There it is, just straight up ahead – Professor Bakugou’s office.

Like the other offices lining the hall, it’s made from a heavy wood, a frosted window place in the top half with Professor Bakugou’s name printed on it. A simple door like this shouldn’t intimidate you so much, but yet it does. All you have to do is knock on it, wait for a possible response, and then go from there. However, now that you’re in front of it, you somewhat hope he’s not there. Your palms are growing clammy and your throat feels fuzzy.

“Here goes nothing,” you tell yourself, reaching up and rapping on the door.

For a moment, nothing happens. Perhaps Lady Luck has decided to spare some mercy on you, after all. Releasing a pent-up breath you didn’t know you were even holding, you prepare to step back and walk away, but then a muffled come in sounds through the door.

Oh, shit.

You wince as your cowardice floods you with a renewed force. There’s no way you can just leave now, not if you want Professor Bakugou potentially chasing you down. Taking in a deep breath, you turn the brass knob and poke your head inside. “Uh, Professor Bakugou?”

Oh, shit.

There he is, sitting behind an oak desk, hunched down over a stack of papers. He holds up a single finger, a signal for you to give him a moment. Immediately, your eyes skim over his exposed forearms, skim over the tight black turtleneck that fits him like a glove. Rolled sleeves, watch on wrist, and a pair of glasses perched on his nose, he’s just dripping with classy sexiness.

The steady tick tock, tick tock fills the otherwise silent room. It grates on your already wired nerves, mocks you for just standing there, waiting. You can’t help but glance at its face – 5:49. It’s already dark out, winter’s everlasting darkness sapping the Earth’s light. Stepping fully inside the room, you gently shut the door behind you, not wanting to interrupt his train of thought.

After another moment or so, he finally clicks his pen closed, tosses it onto the desk, and leans back in his chair. “Oi – what do you want?”

Removing your notebook from underneath your arm, you hold it out for him to take. “I was… I was wondering if you could explain how to work out this problem?”

Quirking an eyebrow, Professor Bakugou sits upright and glances at what you’ve written. “We discussed this during the study session on Friday.” His eyes dart up to yours. “I’m surprised you weren’t there.”

Is he singling you out right now? It feels like he’s singling you out right now. But wait, doesn’t that also mean that he noticed you not being there? He’s just saying that to say it, right? …Right?

“There was a lot on my mind,” you say softly.

Professor Bakugou sighs. “Alright, come here.” Maybe it’s the gruffness of his voice, but the simple command nearly has you whimpering on the spot. Jesus, you need to get your act together!

“Of course, sir,” you reply, the title subconsciously rolling off your tongue. Skirting around the desk, you come to his side, unaware of him shifting in his seat.

“It’s really not that hard if you put your damned brain to use,” he grunts, picking his pen back up. You notice how the tendons in his hand flex with the subtle movement; actually, now that you’re up close in personal, you can clearly see the veins racing up his forearms, the sheen of blond hairs.

Warmth seems to radiate off of him, just like how Mina said. You wonder if he gets hot easily, or if that’s just the way he is. Either way, you shimmy the slightest bit closer to him, eager to ward off the chill that still clings to you from the outside. He goes into great detail about how to go through each step surrounding the problem; you lean over his shoulder as he goes through the steps, the heat emanating from his skin drawing you in more and more. With each breath, the scent of caramel floods your senses. You’re almost half tempted to press your nose to his nape and get a better smell, but that’d just be creepy. Plus, even if you did that, Professor Bakugou could probably pick you up and literally throw you out of his office.

Still, despite knowing the risk, your mind takes off, just like it usually does whenever you’re in his presence. It would just be so easy to squeeze his thick arms, to run your fingers through his thick blonde hair. Maybe you could push the collar of his turtleneck down, expose his neck and bite the pulse. It’s almost ridiculous just how big he is, how easily he could overpower you. A familiar warmth floods your system, encasing your insides and clutching onto your heart. This is bad – very, very bad.

“Oi, what the hell are you staring at?” Professor Bakugou barks.

Snapping yourself back to attention, you notice him staring at you, his glasses now off his handsome face. If possible, he’s even more attractive up close; thick lashes, full lips, a slight gleam in his eyes that demand power and control. He almost looks entirely different like this, face lax instead of fixed with a scowl. Good lord, you really are whipped for him.

“Oh, um, sorry,” you ramble, eyes going wide. “It’s just that your hair looks really… fluffy…?”

“…Hah?”

You quickly avert your eyes. “Nevermind…”

“You know,” Professor Bakugou starts, voice low, “you stare at me a lot during class, too. You’re not very subtle.”

You wince at his words. “I… I’m not sure what you’re talking about-“

Rolling his eyes, he scoffs and tosses down his pen. “You’re not majoring in theatre, are you? Because you suck at acting.” He flashes you a cocky smirk when you look back to him. “Just admit it – you like what you see, don’t ya? Can’t say I blame you.”

Okay, wow, cocky much. Yeah, sure, he’s an absolute babe, but wouldn’t you think he’d be a bit more… modest?

Now it’s your turn to scoff. “Didn’t know my math professor thought so highly of himself.”

“Tch. Looks like you got a damn mouth on you, after all. Well, if you’re done undressing me with your eyes, do you want to learn how to do this problem or not? I don’t like repeating myself, but I’ll let it slide just this once since I like you.”

Wait, wait, hold up. Did he just say he likes you?

“You’re a good student,” Professor Bakugou continues. “Even if you do focus on me more than my lecture.”

Is this how the conversation was supposed to play out? Because damn you’re nearly shaking, and you still have your coat on. He knows too much, dammit. He’s known this entire time and he’s playing you.

“And yet you could’ve easily told me to stop,” you shoot right back, sick of being prosecuted like this. Sure, it might be a bad idea to pick a fight with a teacher, but this is outside of classroom hours; and, frankly, he can kiss your ass. Crude demeanor or not, you’re not about to let this man push you around.

“Who said I wanted you to stop?”

No. There’s no way he just said that. This big-headed narcissist is relishing in this, isn’t he? Bastard.

“Hate to break it to you, Professor, but almost everyone stares at you like that,” you tell him. You realize you just admitted it to the accusation, but there’s no point in defending it anymore.

“Like I give a shit about the others? Really? You’re gonna talk about them?” He scoffs his amusement and leans back in his chair, thick arms crossing over his chest. “Did you come here to ask me questions about the exam or did you just want to be with me all by yourself?”

You hesitate. Is that really the reason you came here tonight? The whole way here you debated this yourself, Mina’s words circling around your head. No, you’re smarter than this. It’s a bad idea to get involved with a teacher – it’s wrong.

“I’m not going to lie or deny the truth,” Professor Bakugou continues, his voice dropping to an uncharacteristically low pitch. “I’m also not stupid. You’re just as scared as me, aren’t you? Of the repercussions.”

Your mouth falls agape. What is he going on about…?

Slowly, Professor Bakugou sits back up, his face getting dangerously close to yours. Hot breath fans over the bottom half of your face. His eyes are heavily lidded, his lashes kissing his cheeks. “I’m not going to force anything on you,” he murmurs. “Tell me to stop and I will.”

Oh my god.

Unable to resist the close proximity anymore, you shoot forward, your hands landing on the arms of the chair; Professor Bakugou’s lips are softer than you anticipated, but in no way is he gentle. Right away he’s clutching the back of your neck, dragging you forward so you’re settled on his lap. The arms of the chair pinch into your thighs at the tight fit, but you could care less. You’re on Professor Bakugou’s lap, you have his tongue in your mouth, his hands landing on your ass and kneading the flesh.

“Fuck, I’ve been wanting to do this forever,” he growls, his hands slipping under your shirt and gliding over your lower back. You arch into his touch, a breathless moan slipping past your lips.

“We shouldn’t be doing this,” you pant.

“I know.”

Fuck, it’s all so good, his tongue licking the inside of your mouth and hands unbuttoning your jeans. A startled noise erupts from your throat as a large hand slides into the front of your pants, cupping your crotch. You buck into his touch, all sense dissipating from your thoughts as you fervently grind into his heated palm. There’s a clutter of paper and office supplies as they hit the floor. Before you know it, you’re rising from the chair, your ass landing on the wooden desk instead.

“Fuck, you’re so fucking hot,” Professor Bakugou grits. Your ass is barely on the desk by the time he’s done dragging you forward, your jeans aggressively getting yanked off, your underwear following suit. Your thighs instinctively snap shut at the cold air making contact with your bared skin, but strong hands pry them apart, fingertips kneading into the flesh. “I wanna make you cum with my tongue.”

“Wai- Ah! Fuck!” you cry out, your fingers clutching onto the edge of the desk as his head ducks down, his mouth latching onto your sex. Until now, you weren’t even aware that you were dripping with arousal. Sinful noises spill from between your legs as Professor Bakugou fucks you with his mouth, his lips wrapping around your most sensitive parts.

“God, you’re such a slut.”

Smack.

You cry out as he brings a hand down on the innermost part of your thigh; your nerves quake, your blood pumps wildly through your veins. Again, he slaps your thigh, a growl tearing itself from his chest as he looks up, his eyes catching yours.

“Say it.”

Smack.

“I – I’m a slut,” you babble, tongue feeling heavy in your mouth.

Smack.

“What was that?”

“I said I’m a slut!” you exclaim, voice cracking.

“I expect you to refer to me properly,” he says darkly, his pupils dilating to the point where you could barely see his irises. “Got it?”

“Yes, sir.”

A single smirk is thrown your way before his mouth is back on you, his tongue lapping up your arousal. His moves are quick, sensual. It’s clear he’s experienced, and you don’t blame him. Just look at him for Christ’s sake. The man is basically sex on legs, all nicely wrapped up in a turtleneck sweater and a simple pair of slacks. The pleasure only heightens as his fingers come into play, prodding at your hole; the tips just barely push past the muscle, leaving you moaning even louder and clutching harder on the desk. Your fingernails scratch the surface, the lacquer coming off.

“Tasty little brat, aren’t ya?” he drawls. Your entire body jolts as he spits on your sex. “I could get used to doing this.”

“Please, sir,” you plead, desperation filling your voice. You want his mouth back on you. You want to cum. “Please, it feels so good…”

Professor Bakugou clicks his tongue. “Shit, you’re even obedient. How nice.” He redoubles his efforts, then, wet noises filling the room along with your heavy breathing.

“Shit, shit, oh my god,” you babble, your body tensing. Still, his tongue digs in just right and there goes your sanity, flying out the window as you cum.

A deep chuckle fills your ears as Professor Bakugou sucks it down; drawing away, he flashes you his tongue, your arousal coating his tongue before he makes a show of swallowing the last bit of it. Wiping his mouth off with the back of his hand, he draws to a stand. The tent in his slacks is obvious, the front of it darker than the rest. Your insides squeeze around nothing, the idea of making him get like that making you feel hotter than before.

You’re hypnotized as he pulls his hands away. His movements are slow and methodical, the clink of his belt echoing throughout the room. Swallowing thickly, you bite your lip as he leisurely undoes his belt and slacks. Blood rushes through your ears, your mind a complete mess. You feel dizzy with want, with the need to sink your teeth into the swell of his pectoral, to claw the plains of his back.

All the air is sucked from your lungs when he finally pulls his cock out, the head flushed a deep red. Your eyes trail over the prominent veins, the fat bead of precum pushing its way out the tip. Fuck, he’s huge, both in length and girth. Whoever told Mina that he was big wasn’t lying. Your legs subconsciously spread even wider, a silent plead for him to fill you up and fuck you raw.

“Tell me you want this,” he husks. He does the honor of unzipping your coat and slipping it off your shoulders before easing you onto your back. The cold from the wood permeates through your shirt, brings a new wave of goosebumps to your flesh.

“Only if you tell me the same thing,” you croak. “Do you fuck all of your students who walk in through that door?”

“No,” Professor Bakugou blatantly says, and you can tell he’s being earnest. “It’s wrong of me to think so, but I’ve been wanting to do something with you since I saw you. It sounds like some sappy bullshit, but it’s the truth. I was too much of a pussy to ask you out for a coffee.”

Something about hearing him confess his feelings to you sets your heart alight. A slight smile tugs at your lips. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

“Tch. And you’re a fucking brat.”

Hunching over you, a large hand plants itself by your head while the other guides his cock to your awaiting hole. A shaky breath passes through your mouth as he pushes himself in; the stretch burns, his thick cock filling you up in a way that you didn’t even know was possible.

“Fuck, you’re tight,” he breathes. “Look at you, sucking in my cock like that. What a good little slut. I bet you’ve been waiting for this, haven’t you? I bet you touched yourself while thinking about this very moment, about me fucking you on my desk like this.” A surprised squeak bursts from your throat as he grabs your legs and throws him over his shoulders, effectively bending you in half. “Gotta fuck you nice and deep, right? Because that’s how a slut like you likes it.”

Like this, with your knees almost touching your ears, the tip of his cock hits your soft spot. A pathetic whimper comes from you as he grinds his cock into you, his eyes carefully watching your erotic expressions, figuring out what you like best.

Before long, he’s fucking into with vigor, his hips moving restlessly. His cock pounds into you mercilessly, the slap of skin against skin mixing with your cries. His mouth is at your throat, teeth skimming your jugular before he latches onto your thundering pulse. You helplessly claw at his shoulders, your fingers bunching into the fabric of his shirt. You’re so fucking full, your velvety walls clamping around his cock selfishly. A blend of curses and yes, fuck, you fucking slut fill your ears; he’s panting hard, a slight chuckle breaking through every once in a while.

“Fucking let everyone know who’s fucking you this good,” he grits. “Jesus, look at the mess you’re making…”

“Professor Bakugou!” you whine. “Your cock feels so good… Fuck, fuck, oh my god, yes-“

“Katsuki. My name is Katsuki.”

Katuski.

The name rolls around your brain like a loose bolt. It settles on the tip of your tongue, just waiting to be let out.

It’s when you cum that you shout his name, your walls tightening around him harshly while your nails dig into the meat of his shoulders. A load groan rumbles from the depths of his chest as he follows suit shortly after, his hips moving erratically as his cum splashes against your insides.

The both of you are sweating, panting messes by the time he finally pulls out. You whimper as you clench around nothing, the emptiness a bit too much to bear. Surprisingly, Professor Bakugou – no, Katsuki – is gentle as he cleans you up, his free hand rubbing your side. Swallowing your pride, you clear your throat.

His eyes flick up, land on yours. “What.”

“Do you…” You worry your bottom lip. “Do you want to get coffee sometime?”

Katsuki snorts. “Wow, got a real fucking charmer here, don’t I? How about you come to my place instead and I make you a proper dinner. You didn’t eat yet, did you?”

As if on cue, your stomach growls. Well, you did deny Mina’s offer for dinner, after all. You smile nervously and give him a shrug.

Chest swelling (with pride, you assume), Katsuki flashes you a cocky smile. “I’m a damn good cook, brat. I’ll cook a meal that will have you weak in the knees.”

“Maybe… Maybe you could finally show me how to do that problem?” you offer.

He rolls his eyes. “Will you finally pay attention this time or will I have to pound it into your brain?”

[bitter-sweet-coffee]

i don't normally talk about work on main but virtual teaching is fucking great because kids just wanna play video games and draw, which are my two sole personality traits!!! unfortunately none of my students are avid sonic fans (hehe yet) but this is fine!

when kahoots get stale we play math obbys (thanks to one prior student of mine forcing me to play roblox bc she wants to be a pro gamer like her dad. and yes, she was in love with my setup and kept insisting i do a collab stream with her. god i love these kids) and between our kahoots (anything from animal/minecraft trivia to social studies test prep) and this i am SET. i literally get paid to ramble and play video games with hilarious and intelligent kids, from the comfort of my own home, on my terms.

and don't get me wrong, it isn't always fun. i spend a lot of time working on ieps and making custom worksheets and activities for each student because this isn't like teaching where you can follow a formula or set curriculum. good tutoring is about finding what your students are passionate about, and trying to use it to reignite their love for learning.

the hardest part of 1-1 education is figuring out why a student doesn't understand something. why is the 13 year old still unable to spell? why is the 7 year old afraid to read out loud when they can use 4 syllable words without an issue? why is the 9 year old still forgetting to carry the 1 when adding? it usually comes down to phonetics, operations, and practice, but you can't just say "they'll get it eventually" to a guardian who is paying you to speed up this process.

on that note, most of my students are hurting tbh, even the ones with loving family members who will do anything for these kids. maybe they're in too many activities, have constantly shifting home lives, their fun hobbies are pushed aside, they don't have friends, too many siblings, etc... and it's sort of my job to listen. a kid who isn't sure of themselves needs someone to listen and care about their thoughts, offering a no-judgement and consequence-free environment. they need someone who can give them work outside of classes that fuses their education and interests.

scratch that last point actually: EVERYONE needs projects that fuse their education and interests, that's the fucking point of learning.

it isn't just a brain development thing, it's the core of humanity itself: we ask and learn because we're curious and want to know. what happens when entire generations of humans lose that spark? well, no one is searching so there's nothing to find or expand on, and that's honestly so depressing. education should always be fun, no?

anyways, i think tutoring should be the standard for everyone in education (from pre-k to post-secondary). it should be an integral part of learning, and while it might be hard to have a teacher for every student, structuring things like big lectures or classes for general knowledge, with ieps curated towards individuals that fuse their interests and natural talents with this base level curriculum would make everyone a fuckton happier and just... better

i love my job. not just because i get to play silly games and doodle on worksheets for a paycheque, but because when i finally break through that nervous barrier that kids have, and they trust me enough to talk about what they love, and know i won't get mad at them for rambling or showing me their stuffies or pets because i do the same, they're ok with learning. they are ok with not getting a question right because there's no consequences with me. no bad mark, no extra homework, just different worksheets in class and maybe a new game for us to try out. i had students who would barely say 3 words who will now spend 90% of the class rambling. if there's no rush for either me or the family, i'll spend an extra 15 minutes drawing or playing a game with my student because they did enough work to earn a break, but we ran out of time

(and for the record i don't charge for going overtime, even though it's so easy to make extra money that way. even if they forgot about the session completely, i don't mark it as a no-show i just move it on the hub calendar even though i'd get paid extra. i don't feel like financially punishing a family for missing a day when they're already doing above and beyond for their kids. i also slept through a session once when i first started and even though the mom was super chill about it, the guilt haunts me lmao)

this is a very scattered vent/announcement because there are really strong paint varnish fumes in my house and i didn't sleep because of all the noise between the workers and my dog (construction) but i felt like saying this all. oh! and here's my lil roblox avi:

aint he cute???? yes i made infinite shut up this is a sonic blog and he's my babie so if you ever see "infinite" running around in a math obby it's me and i'm working dhmu 😎

[eroticcannibal]

Common myths and misconceptions about home education

So in case anyone has somehow missed it, I have recently become a Big supporter of home education in a very lefty way, which has meant I have had to challenge a lot of views I have previously held about home education and that I know a lot of other lefties hold too. I am of the opinion that embracing home education, not as a last resort, but as the primary form of education for as many children as possible, is a vital part of achieving the required shifts in society needed to meet the goals of most leftists. So I am taking it on myself to convince you all that it is a very good thing, and also to clear up some misconceptions people have about home education that may make them feel they are unable to do it.

(A note, I am from the UK and shall be using UK terminology and specifics regarding law, policy and other such things will be from a UK perspective. I shall be using the term home education, as that is the legal term in the UK and is distinct from home schooling, which is the term for what school children have been doing during the pandemic.)

And I would also like to extend a quick thanks to Education Otherwise and the mods at Home education and your local authority for teaching me A LOT.

Have any questions about anything I’ve not covered here? Just let me know!

1. “Home education is illegal.”

- Sadly, home education is illegal or restricted to the point of inaccessibility in most of the world. From the research I have done, it seems that only the US and the UK have reasonable laws around home education (if I am using a very broad definition of reasonable, it is still not great). I do hope I can change this section soon, and I would *heavily* encourage people to campaign for the right to home educate post pandemic, perhaps cite any benefits learning at home has provided to children, perhaps???

2. “Home education is a tool used by religious fundamentalists to brainwash children!”

- This is a view many hold, and for good reason. For many of us, when we think of home education, we think of christian fundamentalists in the deep south of America, pulling their children out of school to avoid the liberal agenda. The truth is, anything can be used as a tool of indoctrination. This can happen in home education, and it can happen and has happened in schools too. In my own communities we have had instances of schools being a site of religious radicalization of children. The reality is this is far too complex and deep an issue to be solved by deeming any particular form of education as “bad”. I am not an expert on how best to deal with such issues, but I do feel that things like outreach and building a healthy community with otherwise more isolated religious groups would be a better way to address these issues.

3. “You need to have x qualification to home educate.”

- Again, a reasonable view to hold, given that state run and private education does require educators to hold certain qualifications, but in practice it quickly becomes evident the same does not necessarily have to apply with home education. Educational qualifications are very much focused on delivering an education in a classroom, which is a far cry from home education. During our home education of our child, my partner, who is a qualified SEN TA, has struggled far more than I have with educating our SEN child, despite the fact I hold no qualifications.

We live in amazing times when it comes to education. There are many things that parents and communities have to teach a child, and there are many things a child can teach to themself if given the tools to do so. You can even learn together! Their are endless resources available, books and games and documentaries, and even home education groups and private tutors if you feel that is the right fit for your child. You don’t need a piece of paper for your child to spend a day with their nose buried in a book, or to help the neighbor with his vegetable patch, or to cuddle up on the sofa while watching Planet Earth.

4. “You are required to follow the national curriculum.”

- This does vary by country (that allows home education). As a general rule, the stricter a country is about who can home educate, the stricter they are about what must be taught. In the UK, you are not required to follow the national curriculum. Education must be “efficient” and suited to the child’s “age, aptitude and ability”, and LAs do require that english and maths are covered. Other than that, you are allowed to tailor the content of education to the child and their interests. We have recently dropped geography for now and are only just picking up history again. It has also given us the freedom to focus on areas our child needs that would not be covered in mainstream education, such as anxiety management, trauma processing, self care and hygiene.

5. “Home education looks like school/is just filling out workbooks/etc”

- The thing you will always hear from experienced home educators when you begin home education is “home education doesn’t need to be school at home”. Much like you can tailor the content of the learning to the child, you can also tailor the delivery to the child. Some child need structure, timetable, instructions. Some need freedom and to bounce between topics. Some need to have an hour learning maths and only maths, some need to go dig up your garden “for science”. Some want to learn every day, some will need extended breaks.

Learning happens all the time, from the moment they wake to the moment they sleep. As an example, at home we have some workbooks, as both me and my child have ADHD and need someone to go “ok learn this” rather than us having to work out for ourselves what we need to cover for core subjects like english and maths. For the rest of most days my child is left to their own devices to binge youtube and netflix and work on their art. We try and go for a woodland walk every few days, where we have Deep Discussions about all kinds of topics, and we are also working on growing edible plants and baking cakes from around the world. We are more hands-off at the moment, due to the current bout of anxiety, but when that settles again we will get back to history themed crafts and STEM activities. Post-pandemic, we will be signing our kid up for swimming classes and “after school” clubs, and looking at sending them down to my mum for the home ed groups where she lives, like the forest school. A lot of home education outside of a pandemic is in groups and community based, or will make use of libraries and museums and other public learning opportunities. Frequently very little will happen at home.

In fact many home educators will advise new families to “deschool” for a while before jumping in to learning. This is a period where you “get school out of your system”, and just exist. Learning does not have to be intentional, you will be surprised how much you can achieve by just having fun.

6. “Home education is expensive.”

- It can be, ask my bank account. However, it is perfectly possible to deliver a quality education with little to no money. I’m not saying it’s easy, but it’s doable. Their are many online resources for free (check out oak academy), and libraries have plenty available too. Even paid resources can be very cheap if you know where to look. (psst, if your kid thrives with worksheets and powerpoints, get yourself a twinkl subscription, download everything you need for a year then cancel it.)

(This does not apply to exams. Get saving!)

7. “Home educated children are not properly socialised.”

- This is only really true during the pandemic. The rest of the time, home educated children are free to socialise whenever they want, with whoever they want, in whatever setting they choose. Socialisation while home educating is in the opinions of many of a higher quality, as they are not limited to groups of a similar age and background. Many home educating families form groups for their children to socialise together too. For ND children especially, socialising while home educated can be far less stressful and far more fulfilling than in school.

8. “Home educated children won’t get qualifications.”

- Just plain not true. Arranging qualifications can be costly and time consuming, but it is possible and regularly done. Some children may return to school or college to access exams for free, and I have heard of a handful of cases where individuals were able to secure prestigious university places without any qualifications. Home education also allows for more freedom with how exams and qualifications are approached, for example, many home educated children will pick one GCSE to focus on at a time, rather than covering numerous topics over 2 years and having exams for all of them at once like children in school will.

9. “Home education is a safeguarding risk/is used to cover up abuse/home educated children are not seen.”

- In the UK at least, home education is not considered a safeguarding risk, no matter what authorities may tell you, nor are home educated “not seen”. They still visit medical professionals, they still engage with their communities.

Now I shall add the relevant paper here should I find it again, but the idea that home education is used to cover up abuse to a statistically significant degree, or that home educated children are at more risk of abuse, is false. Home educating families do face a significantly higher risk of social services involvement than other families, but far less abuse is found in comparison to other families. It is also worth considering, when talking about social services involvement, that many families pursue home education due to failures by schools regarding a child’s vulnerabilities. In most cases, especially the Big Ones, where a home educated child is abused, the child was already known to authorities as a victim of abuse, therefore home educating did nothing to hide said abuse.

Children are also routinely abused in schools, which is another common reason for home educating.

10. “Home education has to be monitored or approved.”

- Depends on the country, I know in Japan home education is monitored by schools, however in the UK, monitoring is not lawful. Local authorities may make informal enquiries to ensure a suitable education is being facilitated (keep EVERYTHING in writing and please go straight to “home education and your local authority” group on FB for advice, you WILL need it!). In England, if your child is in mainstream education, you can deregister at will, from a special school will require LA approval. In Scotland deregistering requires LA approval. (Again, head to the aforementioned group for advice).

11. “You can’t work/get an education while home educating”

- It is hard to balance work, education and educating your child, but it is possible, people do it every day. Obviously, having at least one parent free to educate unhindered at all times is an ideal situation, but in the real world it often does not work that way. Parents may have to home educate regardless of their other commitments if a child truly needs to escape the school system. Many parents work or learn from home, and sometimes it is even possible to combine these activities with home education. Professional artists and crafters can pass down their skills while working, distance learners can invite their children to sit in on lectures. The really great thing about home education is it is flexible. Do you have a whole day of meetings? Let the kid play minecraft all day! Going to be in the office all day? Drop the kid off at the local forest school or something else they can do all day. Drop them with the grandparents to help with the gardening!

12. “Home educated are behind/achieve less than school children.”

- Their is no evidence that home education is of a lower quality than school education. Many children are home educated specifically because the school environment was detrimental to their education, and thrive with home education. Plenty of children are able to learn more simply by having 1-to-1 attention, without the distraction of an entire class. And others may well be “behind”, and are educated at home because of their specific needs that mean they will never thrive in an academic setting, so they are allowed to focus on learning skills that will allow them to live independently.

[tundrainafrica]

Title: Division of Labor (1/?)

Summary:  

"The past years, we have noticed a lot of our fresh high school graduates knew nothing about responsibilities the that awaited them outside high school and even college. Many students do not master budgeting, taxes, household planning, loans and we hope to raise a generation who can navigate the adult world without the consequences of bad decisions they are bound to make going in blindly..."

Paradis High school starts a program incorporating adulting into their curriculum and Hange and Levi are paired together.

Note: From request of @a-golden-hearted-snk-fan. See this link for the request

Other Chapters: 2 3 4

Link to cross-postings: AO3

"Homemaking is strategy. It's like going to war but you are going to war every single day in your household. Yes, the difficult battles come and go! But you always need to be ready! You need to consider time! Resources! The division of labor!"

The division of labor.

Years of school had jaded Levi enough to know that although all groupworks were a division of labor, they were never really a fair one.

Levi was looking forward to a homemaking class, completely aware that his passions lay there. The realization that he had to cooperate with someone and entrust half his grade on that person, almost completely destroyed the excitement he initially held for the subject.

He looked around him to see his classmates were as confused about the new project Mr. Shadis was prattling on about. Home Economics had a solid reputation as the most useless class offered. Most people in their school had plans of going to college in his school and no one really asked in college entrance exams what the difference of baking soda and baking flour is.

They were in their 3rd year of high school though and their homeroom teacher Keith Shadis dropped a bomb, a very important yet painful fact in front of them. That year, their home economics class was going to be incorporated into every subject and their performance was going to play a huge part in determining their grade average at the end of the year.

Levi had no problem having his cleaning skills or cooking skills tested. In fact, he was sure his school performance would get a great pick up from whatever they were going to be doing in that class.

But really? I need to do it with a partner?  

A small bag was being passed around the class. Levi looked around him to see that everyone had pulled a piece of paper from the bag. He dug deep into it (for good luck) and pulled out the first one he could grab at the bottom.

Levi opened the paper to see the number seven messily scrawled on the paper. What does this mean? Levi couldn't help but note that seven was a lucky number, and a superstitious side within him was optimistic for a moment.

“Who got number seven?”

Suddenly the room was in chaos as people stood from their seats and said their names out loud. Levi stayed frozen on his seat. He had recognized the owner of the other number seven from the other side of the room.

Her voice was too loud, piercing and distinct. Of course it would be distinct, he had been her classmate for years and had been a victim of her tirades always in class, about taxonomies, photosynthesis and research projects. Everyone else had found her amazing, had called her a genius if not eccentric. Levi on the other hand had been unimpressed, too unimpressed that avoiding her seemed like the best option.

Levi had tried to keep himself a fair distance away from her since with the impression she gave most people at first glance, Levi had concluded a long time ago that they would just not get along as close friends. Would he have preferred any other partner? Most likely.

“Here…” Levi muttered, as he raised his hand half way up.

“Levi! So I guess it’s going to be you and me the whole year huh?”

Levi choked. “The whole year?”

“Didn’t you hear Mr. Shadis, this is a year long project." Hange grinned.  "Well, at least we’re both working with a friend.”

At the least, Levi had tried to keep himself a fair distance away. He and Hange had known each other for years, having gone to the same grade school, middle school and high school. It was unavoidable that he had had to work together with her multiple times. They had a long and unavoidable history. Oddly though, that was enough for Hange to assume that they were friends.  

Levi was quick to dismiss her rapid assumptions on her closeness with people based on history, as his thoughts flew to what could be the start of a professional relationship between them. They were going to work together for a whole year after all.

Hange was not a bad groupmate. In fact, she was studious and grade conscious enough to produce quality outputs. That was the only point that Levi could bring to the table as he felt that itch of what could have been dread inside him as Hange settled on the seat next to him.

Shadis only confirmed Hange’s statement and the fear within Levi. “Be friendly, or at the least civil. You will be working with your partner for the whole school year.”

Levi briefly side glanced to the empty seat next to him. For a second he held on to a glimmer of hope that his actual partner was sitting next to him and the interaction with Hange had been a misunderstanding on his end or a bad dream, maybe the groupmate she referred to as a friend was someone else. Within a few seconds, he had ended up looking back at Hange in defeat and he had started to accept the bleak situation set up in front of him.

Shadis narrowed his eyes. “Mind you, this project holds a huge chunk of your grade for every single subject. Don’t take this project for granted if you want to graduate.

                                       Division of Labor                                                            

“We started this project to help you juniors prepare for the real world. The past years, we have noticed a lot of our fresh high school graduates knew nothing about responsibilities that awaited them outside high school and even college. Many students do not master budgeting, taxes, household planning, loans and we hope to raise a generation who can navigate the adult world without the consequences of bad decisions you are bound to make going in blindly....”

It was their academics coordinator Erwin who had explained the whole project to them, an adult simulation project which required them to make decisions in a simulated setting on top of school work.

And the first topic that came into question was occupation. There was not much to decide upon though, the teachers had used the results of their career test to determine the occupations they would be taking up. The results were written out on papers distributed to everyone in the class with the mean wage which they were to be planning their lives around.

"Computer programmer?" Levi raised his eyebrows at the paper in front of him.

“You have the option to work with the two incomes as a couple or you can choose to have one person work while the other stays at home. Note, both options will have consequences.”

There were murmurs among their classmates. The only conversation Levi could pick up was that between Eren and MIkasa.

"Mikasa… you got doctor. What else would you want?" To her right, Eren looked nervous as if the fate of their project was on the line with Mikasa's question. It probably was.

"I just think someone should stay at home and manage the house. I'll work freelance," Mikasa said.

"I'll manage the house!”

Mikasa shook her head. "I don't want you to have to give up your dreams for this." Her expression was so serious, for a second Levi had forgotten that this was a school project.

Erwin smiled. "That's a good way to look at things Mikasa." He turned to the class. "You have the option to build on a one income household if you feel that's best."

"What do you think Levi?" Hange asked.

Working with two incomes seemed like the logical option. Note, both options will have consequences. The way Erwin had said it made it seem like both decisions were going to be bad either way.  Levi shrugged. If he was going to make potentially bad decisions, might as well do what he would have done in real life. "I'll stay at home." He didn't like the idea of working as a computer programmer anyway.

"That works,” Hange said, her eyes fixed on the paper in front of her.

From his angle, Levi could see Hange fiddling with her phone under the table. “You seem confident about us working with just your income. What job did you get?”

Hange slid the paper towards Levi face up. Freelance Researcher: $3,788/month.

Levi had know idea how much his own uncle made but $3,788 a month seemed like a decent amount to make a month. He looked to Hange who had already started doing her own research under the table and taking notes.

Erwin had started writing on the board the next few steps. Buy a house. Design the house. Have a kid...

“Wait, do we have to have a kid?” It was Connie who had popped the question a majority of the class had wanted to ask.

Erwin looked back at them and smiled. “That’s a good question.”

Levi could not help but notice a glimpse of sadism in that smile.

[mrsmaddiebobaddie]

MCYT High School Teacher AU

I don’t know if this has already been done but with student teaching on the brain this was invading my subconscious.

Phil: Principal

The most chill admin you’d ever find (He kind of has to be with the staff at the school)

Will let most things slide if you ask nicely

Has a quiet space in his office for students to take a moment to calm down after acting out. He’ll offer them candy and talk through the situation with them. 

Started out as a counselor at the school, so he still holds a similar mentality when it come to talking with students and staff. 

Always takes the side of his staff. The district is usually in the wrong anyway.

He knows the teachers are the experts, screw whatever requirements the state has, he lets them run their classrooms whichever way is best for the students’ learning

Technoblade:  Literature & Composition

One of the most engaging teachers at the school

Most students love him because he’s real and he’ll tell it like it is. 

Has a coffee machine in his room. It’s rare that he’s not holding a mug in his hand while he teaches

Has high expectations for his students

Rarely gets angry. Even when he’s upset he still comes across as calm.

Usually stays at the school late making sure to give the best possible feedback on papers and reports. He genuinely wants each kid to learn something from his class.

Tommy: Speech and Debate

It’s only his second year of teaching

The students would run the classroom if not for Tommy basically being a student himself

There’s a strong chance his class will be off topic at any given point. It’s always an adventure walking past his door, you never know what you’ll hear

Somehow still gets high scores on average from his students

Keeps students after class when he notices them struggling with school or life in general to talk with them. The conversations are always beneficial.

Will 100% fall asleep during professional development meetings.

Karl: Biology

Tries to act hip, fails most of the time.

Always has the most energy in his lessons, finds unique ways to teach the concepts other than slides and worksheets.

Usually the first one in the building each morning

Will give students different options for final projects so they can chose the best method of showing their evidence of learning. 

Gets lower scores than he should on observations because he doesn’t do well under the pressure. One year Phil didn’t announce when he’d be coming in and watched from the door to give a more accurate review. 

Wears a sweatshirt to class more often than he should

Quackity: Spanish 

Hands on learning whenever possible

Uses the home ec. room to make authentic Mexican dishes with his students when they cover the food and restaurant unit

Will just forget that the kids don’t speak Spanish fluently and ramble on until someone interrupts him.

Slow grader, you get your scores when you get them.

Known to be a bit chaotic with his teaching style, it works for some kids but he does need to reteach certain sections every now and then

One time a kid feel asleep in his class so he had all the other students leave and they had class outside to freak the kid out (They were right outside the classroom window, he could still see the sleeper, he told Phil)

Skeppy: Algebra

Like’s his job, pretty much your average teacher

Can’t stand freshmen, but tolerates them since that’s half the students he has. He prefers teaching advanced algebra to upper classmen

His lessons are always formatted the same, starting with a lesson on how to do that days math, with the remainder of the period being free work time

Holds math challenges with his class and gives out prizes. It’s usually candy, though one time he gave out cash. He made his kids promise not to say a word about it. 

Very good at teaching the same math concepts in different ways to help struggling learners

Always one minute away from being late for first period, but makes it just in time every morning.

Dream: Health/Football and Assistant Basketball Coach

Took the teaching job mainly to coach sports

Still cares about making connections with his students, he uses his class to teach life skills and promote positive social and mental health.

If any of his players are in his class he will pick on them. He has no mercy.

Dreads sex education because no one can be mature about it. He gets revenge by making the students film a “how to say no to sex” video with someone in the class.

His wheeze laugh is iconic. You can hear it from down the hall.

If you meet with him and are honest when you’re struggling, he’ll work with you to pass his class. He isn’t going to ruin your GPA over a project on the negative effects of smoking.

Wilbur: History & Geography/Theater 

The teacher who sits on his desk when he lectures

Is very sarcastic with his students, but knows who can take the teasing and makes sure not to make anyone feel uncomfortable.

Prefers class discussion over solo work time, he likes hearing student’s perspectives and ideas.

Turtlenecks

One of the teachers most likely to be the crush of teenage girls. 

Not afraid to mark you down for sloppy work. You use a black ink pen and draw precise lines when turning in maps and graphs or you redo it.

Speaks in musical references 

George: Physics

The chillest teacher by far

Due dates? Don’t worry, he’ll accept an assignment literally months after it was supposed to be turned in

Makes difficult topics seems simple when he describes them

He doesn’t really care if you have your phone out in class as long as you’re paying attention and learning the material

The students straight up call him George, he doesn’t seem to care

Placing near the top for the most crushed on teacher

King of multiple choice questions

Eret: Economics & Government

Makes any student in his class feel welcome

One of few teachers who can lecture the entire period without students falling asleep. He always has interesting stories

Let’s kids chose where they sit

Freshmen are always caught off guard by his voice when they hear him for the first time

Spends too much of his own money on supplies for his students and classroom (Honestly most teachers have to spend their own money on necessary supplies, he just goes about and beyond.)

There’s always a group of students who eat lunch in his classroom 

The Union Rep at their school, will fight tooth and nail for the staff members

Tubbo: Band Director

Super cheerful whenever he’s teaching

He rarely has any free time before or after school because he has so many one-on-one lessons and meetings with students

Likes to have practice outside when the weather is nice

Does his best to make his students feel comfortable and relaxed whenever he does performance based assessments. 

He’s also a new teacher, but you honestly wouldn’t be able to tell

He will be in tik toks if you ask him to, and he’s familiar with all the pop culture trends

Let’s the students chose a song to play at the last band concert. Some years have been less chaotic than others, the worst (or best, depending on who you ask) being when the students voted to play Deja Vu from Initial D.

Fundy: Computer Science/Coding 

Begins each class with a cheesy computer joke. Every class.

Everyone knows you can’t get anything past him technology wise. He can see that headphone in your ear from across the room.

Isn’t afraid to assign extra work when students are disrupting class

Once took up an entire class period showing his students how he coded different difficulties in Minecraft. He wasn’t ashamed to admit that he plays the game in his spare time. 

About half the students in his class aren’t really interested in computers, they just want to have him as a teacher since everyone says he’s cool.

Known to hack school computers to bypass restrictions

Sucker for pizza parties. Has at least one per semester  

Sapnap: PE/Basketball Coach

Hella competitive 

Abuses his power of having a whistle. Someone should really take it away from him

Gyms shorts every day. Even in the winter. Sometimes he wears sweats, but never jeans.

Doesn’t let anyone sit out of activities

Tries to set up fun tournaments for each activity they do, makes sure to balance the teams so no one has too much of an upper hand.

He’s usually the teacher who mans detention, he tries to make it as positive as it can be though.

Keeps extra sets of gym clothes to give to students who forgot or can’t afford to buy them

Schlatt: Calculus and Stats/Business  

You either love him or are terrified of him

One of the only teachers who can have an “aggressive” teaching style and still connect with students

You will learn something from his class, he makes sure of it. 

Doesn’t accept late work unless you have a really good reason why you couldn’t turn it in

Wears a tie every day

If another teacher needs a last minute sub during his prep period he’ll cover them. Doesn’t matter what subject, he can wing it

He was the reason the school started offering business studies as an elective due to some vague threats towards the district

Niki: Art/German

Teaching voice is so soft

You can’t tell whether or not she’s giving you constructive criticism because everything she says sounds so positive 

Let’s her students lead learning for the most part, she will cover topics that most interest them while still trying to hit the district required standards (luckily teaching electives gives her a bit more freedom with her curriculum)

Her classroom always smells lovely

Will bring in homemade goodies each Friday for the staff room

Holds art galleries at the end of each semester to show off the arts since they often go unappreciated. It has turned out to be a super popular event for students and staff.

Bad: Special Education

This man has endless patience. It’s crazy

Even after the longest days when none of the students are cooperating, he still has a smile on his face

If he hears cursing in the halls he will call you out in front of everyone. Teachers included. 

Makes sure to keep a list of all his students favorites so he can surprise them with gifts on their birthdays or around holidays

He works closely with the other teachers to make sure his kids can be as involved in general education as possible.

Always wears something fun, be it a tie, socks, shirt, or even a full outfit. His students love seeing what new wacky garment he’ll be wearing that day. 

More Head Cannons

If someone brings food for the staff room Tommy WILL take it. Sometimes he’ll come back for seconds, there will be none left by the end of the day. He’s not as bad as Skeppy though, who will literally pack it up to take home for later.

For the past few months the staff members have been receiving anonymous email chains with photoshopped pictures of each other. Everyone was sure Fundy was behind it, Eret thought he saw him teaching his students how to use the program by editing their favorite teachers into stupid situations (they’ve all been school appropriate of course). Fundy did in fact start it, but now so many other teachers have joined in that it can’t be traced back to one person anymore.

All the teachers love going to sporting events. They’ll join in with the student section to cheer on the teams. If they know there’s a kid who doesn’t have family that will come to watch them they’ll make shirts with that players number to show support for them.

Wilbur, Niki, and Tubbo work together on musicals. Niki does the sets and costuming, Wilbur directs, and Tubbo leads the pit. There are plenty of long nights during tech week that devolve into chaos (especially when Niki isn’t there)

Spirit week is very intense, to say the least. The teachers are assigned a grade to be advisors to, and they get into it. For the duration of the week they practically become rivals with whoever isn’t in their assigned grade. They’ll pull pranks on each other constantly, especially when the students can see. It’s all playful of course, but it gets the kids more excited about spirit week when they can support their teachers and watch the amicable rivalries carry out.

Technoblade once joked that he knew every detail about every classic novel. His students took this as a challenge, and tried to find the most obscure and specific trivia questions they could ask him. He has yet to be stumped.

Dream and Sapnap had a running streak of about four weeks where they made everything into a competition. Who could enter their grades into the computer fastest? How many cups of coffee did they drink that day? Who got to school first that morning? There was a tally board in the staff room and the teachers had a betting pool going. Phil finally ended it when they accidently broke the school’s copier trying to see who could scan the most documents in five minutes. Dream was ahead by three points, Sapnap never lived it down.

In service days are incredibly boring, so the staff tries to make those days a bit more entertaining. They order in pizza or sandwiches for lunch. Since there aren’t any kids in the school they’ll do everything they’re no supposed to, like racing office chairs down the hallways and blasting non-school-appropriate music in their classrooms.

Wilbur accidentally started a black market of sorts when he took all the new whiteboard pens from the supply closest. He used this to his advantage, getting people to do him favors in return for the good supplies. When Dream found out he not-so-jokingly threatened to slowly steal everything from Wilbur’s classroom until he released the pens. The next day the closet was replenished once more

Quackity and Tommy are co-emcees for the school assemblies. They hold class competitions between the grades, including spirit chants and ridiculous games. Think minute to win it style, but way crazier. Everyone gets super into it, the upperclassmen usually win. The two have good chemistry and a fun energy.

George has a unit where students make bottle rockets and launch them outside on the soccer field. And every year Karl brings his class out to watch claiming that “it’s science, I teach science, I’ll have them write a paragraph about what they learned”. Really he just wants to watch rockets go brrr

For Schlatt’s birthday one year, Wilbur and Techno printed off shirts with his face on it for all the staff to wear. Schlatt was super confused when he came into work and all his colleagues were walking around with his face plastered across their chest. He got back at Wilbur for it by putting salt in his coffee for a week straight, but Techno never got his comeuppance. It’s debatable whether Schlatt just didn’t know he was in on it, or if he knew better than to mess with Techno.

Lesson planning and curriculum building is quite the process. Some departments can stay on task better than others. Schlatt and Skeppy get in, plan out the term, and get out. The math department has everything on lock. Social studies are also pretty good at getting pre-planning done. They tend to spend most of their time having discussions that aren’t necessarily related to the tasks at hand though. The English department is a mess. It’s really Tommy who’s a mess, he just projects that onto everyone else. Karl and George work well together to map out science curriculum. Even though teachers who teach electives aren’t required to collaborate with each other, they still get together and bounce ideas off each other and get feedback.

I have plenty more if people want a second part. I also only listed the MCYTs that I’ve watched enough to know their personalities at least a little bit, but if you wanted to see another person I may expand the staff list!

[dissoluteways]

positions

❧

Chapter I

PAIRING: Hyuk/OC RATING: PG  WARNINGS: Office AU.  WORDCOUNT: 5010

Notes: This is the enourmous fic I’ve been writing for MONTHS, and i am not joking. First of all: this is chaptered, it’s gonna probably be 4 chapters only. I’ve already written 99% of it, I’ll porbably be posting every chapter once a week or so, depending on how i feel. Second of all, there is no warning for this one, there is not even a kiss in this first chapter. And i guess the only warning would be that, this is boss/employee relationship? But everyone if over 20 here so. If it still bothers you, don’t read it. Now yes, go ahead and enjoy c:

❧

“Since you told me you were looking for a new assistant, I hope you don’t mind I told someone I know about the job.” Hakyeon told her, while he was visiting her office during lunch time. They would usually eat out, that day it was raining though.

“Oh, that’s cool, I don’t actually have that many applicants though, but I look forward to meeting him.”

Hakyeon smiled at her, while eating a cherry tomato.

Moments like that made it seem like being an editor in a magazine was easy. Hakyeon was a genius though; he was a manager in marketing and he was amazing at that, mainly because he was so social and charming. She could never do what he did. 

Her job, in the meantime, was being a beauty editor. When there wasn't a deadline or if there weren’t any kind of issues running around that day, it was certainly a dream job. The amount of products she got from PR and the events she could attend were ideal. It was tiring at times but she wouldn’t change it. She enjoyed the process of dolling herself up. 

But she really needed extra help. It has been a month without an assistant, and she finally understood why she even needed one in the first place.

“His name is Han Sanghyuk. Just be nice to him, okay, he has never worked in a magazine before,” Hakyeon informed her, taking back his things and getting ready to walk out to go back to his own office. 

It wasn’t going to be the first time she interviewed a young boy for the job.

Though actually meeting and interviewing people she didn’t know was boring if she was honest. They were mostly young girls with no prior jobs, but who were eager to work and get into fashion. They were cute, they reminded her a bit of herself when she was just starting. And there were a couple of people with actually impressive curriculums, some of which were even older than she was (it made her feel slightly uncomfortable that they would have to work for her).

She almost forgot Hakyeon told her someone he knew was going to be there for the job until she was about to save all the résumés and close the door, and she almost bumped into a boy just outside her office.

“Oh, sorry!” She had to stare up to actually see his face, and she couldn’t help but point out his height. “Wow, you’re really tall.”

“Thank you, I guess.” He seemed kind of awkward, and nervous.

“Are you here for the model job? That’s actually on the other side of the corridor.”

“No, I’m actually for the assistant job.” He handed her two pieces of paper. It was a really short curriculum.

“Oh… Oh, okay, come on in.”

She walked in before him, and looked at him when she sat down in her chair. He had the face of a baby, with cheeks she could pinch, and hair she could fluff. And she had the need of booping his nose. Her heart was actually jumping inside her chest. 

By the way he was frowning and looking at her curiously, she noticed she had been staring for maybe way too long. 

“Sorry, sorry… Can you tell me your name?”

“Han Sanghyuk.”

“Oh, you’re Hakyeon’s friend, right?”

“‘Friend’ would imply we are the same age,” He pointed out.

“Yeah, how old are you? Do you even have the right age to start working, it seems to me that you should be in high school. If it weren’t for how tall you are.”

“I’m almost 24,” He smiled at her. Her heart jumped once again. 

“You’re a baby,” She said without thinking. He started chuckling and she couldn’t help but smile. “Tell me about your previous jobs.”

“I had mostly summer jobs, at fast food restaurants, as a shop assistant, and as usher in local cinemas.” She must have pulled some kind of face, and she felt bad because he got nervous again and she noticed. “I know it’s not impressive, but I’m almost done with my university studies, and I’m eager to learn.”

“Well you’re the last person I’m interviewing, and I’m going to think about it before hiring anyone. I’ll let you know, alright?” She smiled at him reassuringly. 

He bowed slightly before standing up. His face might scream baby, but the rest of his body was big for sure, and he really seemed like a man. She tried not to stare at him once he walked out the door.

She had been set on the idea of hiring someone with experience, but she didn’t know then. Sanghyuk was just so cute and handsome. And it wasn’t part of the requirement for the job, but she couldn’t help it; it would be nice to have such a cute face waiting for her every time she arrived at her office.

And she even had to look at his picture every time she checked his resumé. Damn it. 

When it was time to leave for her place, she stopped by Hakyeon’s office, ready to talk about that issue with him. He was gay, he would understand.

“How could you not tell me Sanghyuk was so cute?” 

“Hello to you too,” He was closing his office, ready to leave as well, and he seemed a bit taken aback by her question. “What are you talking about?”

“Sanghyuk. You sent him to my office and didn’t tell me he was cute and tall and handsome. I wasn’t ready.” She knew she sounded way more stressed than she actually was. But had she been a few years younger, she would have definitely made a move on him. 

Hakyeon smiled at her in a knowing way, and she glared at him.

“When I bet with Taekwoon if you would like him or not, I didn’t expect to be right, but I guess I just made fifty bucks.”

She hit him on the shoulder not too hard, but strong enough to hurt him.

“I wanted someone with experience, but now I just want him,” She whined, walking alongside him to the main entrance. “What do I do?”

“Well, I know for a fact that Sanghyuk is really hardworking, I assure you he won’t blow it, he really wants to learn.” 

She sighed. At least that was something.

“But you can’t sleep with him, it wouldn’t look good that you’re sleeping with someone below you.”

“What if he’s on top?”

Hakyeon glared at her, and she grinned at her own clever choice of words. 

“How do you even know him, by the way? He’s five years younger than us.”

“You remember I give dance classes, right? He’s one of my students there.”

Interesting. He must have been bendy then. That was going to be a much harder choice to make.

She didn’t really want to overthink it too much. Sanghyuk was hardworking, Hakyeon said, and he wanted to learn and was almost done with his studies. Maybe this was his chance. Maybe he would be a great assistant. And she could also admire him from up close in the meantime. That was really just a plus.

When she called him back a couple of days later, she was, once again, taken aback by how cute he was. And how tall as well. She wore heels every day and still only reached his shoulder.

“So your job is mostly following me around and basically helping me with whatever I need for the magazine.” She explained to him after Sanghyuk had signed his contract, ready to start his first day. “I’m a beauty editor, so I deal with makeup products and creams and skin care. You have to help me with that.”

Sanghyuk was nodding enthusiastically to everything she was saying, and making sounds like he understood, with wide open eyes. 

“If you have any doubts you can ask me, since it’s your first time working for a magazine, I’ll try to help you.” She smiled at him soothingly. He returned the smile, and her heart melted in her chest. She wanted to pinch his cheeks. “We have to check the new PR products for the next edition, so let’s get going.”

Sanghyuk followed her without questions. 

“Oh, by the way,” She turned to Sanghyuk, who was walking right behind her. She blushed a little when he suddenly looked up at her face; his eyes were seriously a little more south than that before. “You’re supposed to write down the things we might need or the ones we might use from the products.”

“Oh, alright,” Sanghyuk took out his phone.

There was a serious generation gap if the last assistant she had still used notepads for those things.

When they got to the PR room, Sanghyuk actually made a cute surprised sound, she couldn’t help but giggle. 

“All this for makeup?” He asked her in a low voice.

“No,” She laughed, walking to the section where they got the new products, “This is also for skin care products.”

Sanghyuk wasn’t probably impressed by the difference, but he was going to learn while he was there.

Checking the PR products was fun if it wasn’t for the new guy that started sending them in. She didn’t remember his name, she didn’t care at all, mainly he has been asking her out for a while and it was annoying to say no every time. It was borderline harassment at that point. Out of all the gay guys out there that delivered beauty products, she had to get the one that was straight and annoying.

And there he was, unpacking brand new boxes right at the end of the room. She sighed loudly before approaching, Sanghyuk still right behind her.

“What’s new today?” She asked, very aware her voice was cold and detached.

“The usual brands send in the same stuff,” The delivery guy replied, dropping big boxes on the table by her side. “There’s a new makeup line from Revlon as well. But maybe we should talk more about that at night.”

She closed her eyes right after he had winked at her. Breathing in, she ignored his advance and checked the label on each box instead, trying to focus on what she was going to work with instead.

“Come on, for how long are you going to ignore me?”

“Sanghyuk, can you write down all the labels of these boxes?” She suddenly turned to him. His eyebrows were surprisingly furrowed, but he nodded immediately. She then turned and faced the delivery guy once again. “Please, I already said no. Every time you asked, actually.”

“I know girls like to play hard to get. And you’re quite the catch.” He smirked. She felt like puking.

“I’ll go check the skin care products.” She sighed, facing Sanghyuk. “Find me once you’re done.”

Walking away, she tried inhaling and exhaling to calm herself down. After months of the same routine, it was frustrating to have to deal with the same dumbass every week. 

“You have to write on a file all the products that we recorded today, then send it to me.” Once they were done with the PR unboxing and labelling, they went back to her office, as she explained to him what the rest of his day should be. “I might get a call from other departments today, like marketing, so you should pick up the phone every time.”

“Noted.” Sanghyuk agreed without question. 

She looked at him over her shoulder when they got to her office. He was writing everything down on his phone. It was adorable.

After a few days, Sanghyuk quickly adapted to working as an assistant. He was far more organized and mindful than she expected, she was happily surprised. At least she didn’t feel bad about hiring him just for his looks; turned out he’s an excellent worker. 

The only con of having him there, was still the fact that her crush on him hadn’t faded away. If anything, it grew bigger. His hard work and the way he applied himself to the task at hand only made him more attractive; suddenly he didn’t seem so young anymore. 

On monday morning, exactly a week after she hired him, she caught herself staring at him from her seat behind her desk. She could see him from there, his desk almost across from hers in the other room. If he were to lean back on his chair, she wouldn’t see him, but he was writing on the computer so she could easily stare at his face. She still had the need to boop his nose. 

That was the day they had to go again to check the new PR products. Sighing loudly, she got up and walked out.

“It’s PR day, let’s go, Sanghyuk.”

“Alright, boss.” 

He got the habit of calling her boss. It was cute; she loved it.

She was still dreading going to PR. Whenever she thought about it, it was still the reason she didn’t like going to work on mondays. It was taking a toll on her overall mental health, making her anxious and nervous. 

Trying to somehow conceal it, she breathed in deeply as she walked into the PR room, Sanghyuk still following right behind. 

“Hello, sugar.” It was the same delivery guy, and she felt sick when those words came out of his mouth.

“Please don’t call me that.” 

“Still saying no to my invitation?” 

He was smirking again, so she turned and faced Sanghyuk. It surprised her to see the look on his face, between annoyance and exasperation, his eyebrows once again furrowed. 

“Um, could you please write down all the stuff we got, Sanghyuk?” 

“Sure.” His expression softened a little, as he got out his phone and started taking pictures of the boxes’ label.

“Want to go out after this, darling?” The guy kept making advances; she really didn’t want to stand that in that moment.  

“I’ll wait for you outside.” She tapped Sanghyuk on the shoulder and walked away quickly.

It was incredibly frustrating having to deal with that. Especially because she loved her job. She had to deal with men her whole life; like every woman did, she knew that. It was upsetting there certainly wasn’t a way out of this.

While waiting for Sanghyuk, Hakyeon walked past, which helped her get her mind out of upsetting thoughts. 

“Hey!” He greeted, patting her shoulder. “How’s it going?”

“Fine.” She cleared her throat, just as Hakyeon looked inside the PR room.

“Shouldn’t you be in there, with Sanghyuk? Guiding him?” He sounded concerned.

“Yeah, I guess.” She looked inside as well. Sanghyuk was working hard as always, looking at the label of each box, and checking inside to see if everything was good. The delivery guy was still leaving some boxes on a table, and they seemed to be exchanging words. “It’s that guy again.”

“He keeps bothering you?” Hakyeon turned to her, worried. “I wish you would report him to Human Resources.”

“No, that’s such a mess. Besides, they would probably fire him if they decide to believe what I say about him.” She kept looking at Sanghyuk, not really wanting to face Hakyeon and his well-meaning concern. 

“Um…” He looked at Sanghyuk as well, following her gaze. “How is Sanghyuk doing?”

“He’s great!” The expression on her face must have changed drastically, she could tell by the look on Hakyeon’s own face. “He’s really good at learning, and so organized. I adore him.”

“I can tell. You look smitten with him.”

“I’m afraid so.”

“You know you can’t-”

“I know, Hakyeon!” She replied, irritated. It’s not like she was going to try anything. “Don’t worry, I’m not thinking about doing anything about it.”

“Hey, Hyogi!” Hakyeon smiled brightly once Sanghyuk approached the exit. 

“Hyung,” Sanghyuk looked embarrassed at the nickname, but still smiled softly. “What’s up?”

“She was telling me that you’re really hardworking. She likes you.”

She turned her head abruptly to glare at him. What the heck was he saying? What the heck was he going to say?

“Yeah…” Sanghyuk looked at her for a split second before turning his gaze back at Hakyeon. “Yeah, I really like it here.”

“Great!” Hakyeon smiled, knowingly. She wondered what was going through his head, wishing he would leave just in case he decided to say anything else. “I should get going now, I’ll see you at lunch.”

Hakyeon patted her shoulder again before walking away down the corridor. She sighed loudly, relieved. 

“I guess I’m doing a good job if you like me.” Sanghyuk commented, casually. 

“Yeah… Yeah, I mean… organizational skills are a turn on.” Those words came out of her mouth long before she could think about it, and she couldn’t help how hard she face-palmed herself. 

“Really?” He looked surprised, raising an eyebrow, while he looked down at her.

“Yeah. Let’s get going now.” She started walking immediately so as not to face him, knowing very well she was blushing.

She promised Hakyeon not to do anything about her crush on Sanghyuk, somehow that task was more difficult than she thought it was going to be as time went by. It was weird because she never really asked a guy out. But now that she wanted to, she shouldn’t. 

It was logical the company would have a policy against dating coworkers. It was to avoid harassment and any kind of abuse in power. But it was so hard to do it when Sanghyuk was just so cute and big. 

It was particularly bad for her heart when one day she walked into her office after lunch, to find Sanghyuk wearing one of those sleeveless shirts that were so cut anyone could see his chest. He was bent over, looking for something inside his sports bag, and a lot of skin was showing through. He was all sweaty as well; he had been working out and she couldn’t help but gasp loudly at the whole picture as soon as she saw him.

“Sorry, boss,” He apologized, quickly grabbing a hoodie. “I was going to take a shower and change before you got back from lunch.”

“It’s alright.” Her voice was small and breathless, and she was holding her hand to her chest like she was about to have a heart attack. 

“Are you feeling okay?” He asked, looking concerned, putting the hoodie aside as he got closer to her to check her out.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” She backed up, trying to put some distance. He looked confused, and she felt a little guilty for pulling away like that. “I just… I had a bad bagel for lunch.”

That seemed to be enough for him, since he nodded before grabbing his bag and his hoodie and leaving right after. She sighed loudly, covering her face. 

It was embarrassing stuff like that startled her since she was a grown woman, but Sanghyuk had that effect on her, apparently. And she had even seen him with that shirt. He was no longer that adorable, suddenly.

Sanghyuk, on the other hand, didn’t actually seem that interested in her. Other than the fact that sometimes she was wearing a too tight skirt, he looked at her a little longer than usual. But then again, even Hakyeon did that. So many men around her did that, it certainly didn’t mean anything to her. Somehow, that created a barrier that made her feel safer. She had to get over her crush, since obviously, nothing was going to happen between them.

“So you think he doesn’t like you?” Taekwoon, Hakyeon’s boyfriend, asked her one night. 

It was later that week, on friday. The three of them were having dinner after both her and Hakyeon left their work building. It’s been a while since she met up with both of them, and she really missed Taekwoon. 

“He probably likes me as his boss,” She replied, almost bored, leaning her head on one hand. She took a bite of the apple crumble she asked for dessert before elaborating. “He’s always nice to me, but then again he’s nice to everyone. I’m happy with just getting along with him.”

“But you’d like to get a piece of that.”

She almost choked with a piece of apple when those words left Taekwoon’s mouth. His expression was completely deadpan, made him look completely serious when he said that, but the absurdity of those words were kind of funny. Hakyeon was sitting right next to him, and he looked at him with wide eyes, as he tried not to even smile.

“Are you really asking me that?” She wiped her mouth carefully, at the same time trying to hide her blushing face.

“I guess we already know the answer then.” Said Hakyeon, casually.

“I don’t- I mean-” She pursed her lips. Her face was positively on fire. “Yeah, I would.”

“Do you want help?” Hakyeon asked, completely serious.

“Yeah, I’d like help ordering another apple crumble.” 

“No, dummy,” Hakyeon hit her gently on the arm. “Help with Hyogi.”

She blinked, until she realized what he was implying.

“No way. No fucking way.” She glared at him. 

There’s no way Cha Hakyeon was meddling into this. He wasn’t so subtle in any way. He might even spoil the good, professional relationship she had with Sanghyuk. 

“But I have good inside information, I could-”

“Don’t you fucking dare, Hakyeon!” She tried to keep her voice down, but certainly failed. “Didn’t you also say that he was my assistant and it was inappropriate?” 

“That was before you fell in love with him.” He said, matter-of-factly. “I thought maybe you just wanted to sleep with him.”

Her face flushed harder than before.

“And I figured, after your last experience with younger men, maybe you wouldn’t fall this time…” His voice was small, like he didn’t know if he should be commenting on that.

She bit her lip. It’s true, her previous relationship was with a younger man, only three years younger, but turned out he was mentally ten years younger. And she had a hard time with all his partying and going out with other girls. She didn’t want to compare though. She didn’t really know Sanghyuk that much.

“I still don’t want you to butt in on this.”

She knew Hakyeon was not going to pay any attention to her and still will try to somehow help her with Sanghyuk. She really wished he didn’t.

When she was walking home, she passed by a couple of opened bars and restaurants. Luckily she lived near the work building, around eight blocks, so she never had to take the subway or anything. That area was also around the nightlife district, so it was always full of bars and little clubs, open until early in the morning.

She wasn’t really expecting to run into Sanghyuk right there.

He was coming out of a bar, with his phone on his hand, and the same bag he carried when he went to work every day. And still wearing the same clothes he wore that day earlier.

“Sanghyuk!” 

He quickly turned, following the sound of her voice. He had to look down, and she almost blushed. The height difference was really one of her weaknesses. 

“Boss,” He smiled brightly. She could melt right there.

“You don’t have to call me that, we are not at work anymore.” She smiled back at him, genuinely.

“Alright, noona.” He grinned, youthful.

Oh, no. This was bad. 

“What are you doing here?” Sanghyuk asked, curious.

“I just had dinner with Hakyeon and his boyfriend.” She approached him a little more. The street was rather busy, and people were passing by in a rush. 

“You know Taekwoon-hyung?” He looked surprised, for some reason.

“Yeah, of course, I met them both in college.” She eyed him, trying hard not to make it look like she was actually checking him out. Which she was. “How do you know him?”

“He goes to Hakyeon-hyung’ studio sometimes. They are rather gross.”

“Gross?” She laughed. She knew what he meant but still wanted the information.

“Yeah, Taekwoon-hyung is kinda shy, but Hakyeon-hyung isn’t, so there's a lot of PDA.” He pulled a face full of disgust. It was incredibly funny. And cute. 

“Yeah, I know what you mean. I take it as a comedy show every time I get to watch them be around each other.” She giggled. Hakyeon was really overbearing, and somehow Taekwoon fell in love with him, when he’s the exact opposite. Though she noticed Taekwoon started taking the certain qualities that had nothing to do with him at the beginning, like the clinginess. It was endearing.

“Yeah, it’s fun to watch them.” Sanghyuk agreed, mimicking her giggle.

“So what are you doing here?” She asked, starry-eyed. 

“I work here.” He pointed to the bar he was just coming out from. “I only do it on Friday and Saturday nights though. Rather work at the magazine than here, to be honest.”

She tried not to sigh loudly. 

“That’s great, glad you like working with me.”

He flashed her a smile. She almost gasped. 

“Are you going somewhere?” He asked.

“Just home.” 

“By yourself? Are you taking the subway? Or the train?”

She blinked at the amount of questions he was suddenly asking. 

“No, I’m just walking there.” His eyebrows furrowed slightly, not the way he did it those last few times she saw him doing that, but just a little to make him look concerned. “It’s just some blocks away from here.”

“I’ll walk with you.” Sanghyuk looked completely serious. And she really liked that. But she wasn’t going to let him do something that was slightly inappropriate; she was his boss after all.

“It’s really okay, I walk home every night.”

He looked even more serious, if not pissed. She swallowed; she knew she was going to start blushing at any moment.

“I can walk you to your place, noona.” He wasn’t asking; it was a statement. 

She swallowed again before nodding.

She couldn’t say no. Not after that. She was only human after all, and with his face, completely serious and slightly annoyed at the fact that she walked home alone every time, she wouldn’t turn him down.

“So you have two jobs,” She commented, once they started walking in her direction. Sanghyuk followed along, right by her side. “Do you have time to study?”

“I use every free time I have left for studying.” He replied, while making way for both of them among the crowd.

It was friday night after all, but with Sanghyuk, he was so tall and big, people moved to the side in a second. She was amazed.

“I used to work all weekend as well, but I just want to focus on finishing my major now, so I just work friday and saturday nights.” 

“You never told me what you were majoring in.”

“Music.” He looked at her and smiled cheerfully. “I want to be a composer one day.”

Oh, that was cute again.

“You seem to be working hard for that,” She smiled back at him, sincerely. “I’m sure you are going to be a great composer.”

Sanghyuk beamed with complacency. Her heart skipped a beat.

Talking to him wasn’t any different than talking to Hakyeon or Taekwoon. She didn’t actually notice their age difference. He seemed mature for his age. Especially because of all the jobs he had and everything he studied, he didn’t seem the type of guy who went out to parties. He didn’t even seem to have time to have friends. 

He asked her about her life later on. Which was uneventful, she didn’t really have much to comment on. She sometimes hung out with Hakyeon, sometimes with other friends from high school. She hadn't had a date in almost two years. She refused to. But she didn’t tell him that. 

“This is where I live.” She signalled to the building that was across the street, about six blocks from where they met. 

“I’ll walk you there.” He said without any sign of doubt.

“Okay.” Sanghyuk wasn’t looking at her, only focusing on checking if any car was coming from either side, and she was glad because her face was flushing.

They crossed the street, walking a few feets until they reached the building’s entrance. She turned to face him; he was looking at the building, checking it out, with his mouth half-opened. The building was slightly fancy, it looked very well kept, and might as well be new. Her income allowed her to pay for it, and she was content.

“Thank you for walking me here, Sanghyuk.” She smiled at him and bowed slightly, as a thank you.

“It’s alright,” He returned her smile, bowing as well. “I’ll see you on monday, noona.”

“Can you text me when you get home?” She asked, genuinely worried.

He blinked at her, taken aback. He was big and certainly didn’t seem like a child, but she was still worried. She didn’t exactly know where he lived. 

“Sure.” He smiled once more, before waving and walking away, towards the same direction they came from.

She hid under the entrance, and watched him walk away. She couldn’t see past the driveway. Hopefully he lived nearby.

Around twenty minutes later, she got a text from Sanghyuk, telling her he got home safely, and saying he hoped to see her on monday. She sighed loudly, hoping to see him next week as well.

She told herself that night that it was really dumb to fall in love with her assistant; yet at the same time, she didn’t really care. She was letting herself fall, on purpose. It was probably the idea she had that maybe this guy wasn’t so bad. All her impressions of him were good. He didn’t seem to have anything bad going on. The only con was that he didn’t seem interested in a relationship. 

Decided to not overthinking it anymore, she tried to rest the weekend, and just let things flow.

[alexiessan]

Never alone - Chapter Fifteen - Soulmate AU

AO3

Previous - Here - Next

Master List

Paris, this far, was ok. It wasn’t the first time he went to Paris, but the other times were always for business, where he accompanied his father. He never got to really explore the city as he wanted.

Damian liked art and history in general, and Paris had a lot to offer in those areas. So, when he finally got there and didn’t have to attend meetings with his father, or even just wait for him somewhere, he scouted the city.

He visited museums, went to art galleries, went to see monuments and less known areas of the city.

At night, he would see Marinette.

Damian was happy that Dick was with him. If he were alone in the France Capital, he would have been bored very quickly.

The only downside was that he didn’t have all his pets with him. He was only allowed to take Alfred the cat with him, while Titus was to remain in Gotham.

He wouldn’t have minded taking Titus for a walk several times a day, honestly. he understood that living in an apartment rather than a manor provided less freedom for the dog, but the apartment — one on the very last story of an old Parisian building — was more of a penthouse than an apartment.

Titus would have had a lot of space there too.

He was happy that he at least got his cat with him, but he missed his dog every day.

Then, before he could blink, it was time for him to go back to school.

To Françoise-Dupont.

At first, he stayed in the shadows, observing the people that would be his future classmates.

He watched as Marinette hugged her friends, happy to be in the same class with them once again.

As he watched her, he wondered how it was possible to have so many friends around as his girlfriend did.

Then, he was in class, introducing himself to his new classmates. He could feel Marinette’s gaze on him as he spoke and watched as she turned around immediately after he stopped speaking, probably feeling that he wouldn’t add anything to his introduction.

He listened as the professor — Mr. Boulleau, was it? — asked his soulmate to show him around the school at lunch, since she was the previous class rep.

He listened as he talked about their last year of Lycée, what was expected of them, what they should expect. He talked about the curriculum and other things that Damian didn’t bother to listen to.

And then, finally, it was lunch. As everyone left, the youngest Wayne took his time to put his things away, until he was alone with Marinette.

“Hey, you’re Damian Wayne, right? Tim Drake’s younger brother?”

He nodded and she smiled at him. One of those smiles he loved so much.

“I knew it! I don’t know if you remember, but we met briefly a little more than a year ago.”

“I remember. You were my brother’s intern for the student’s career program. He talked a lot about you. Still does.”

He looked at her, noticing how she was observing him. He felt like she was looking right through his soul, and when she was done with her analysis, she smiled smugly at him.

“I’m glad to hear that,” she answered as if there wasn’t a long silence between his words and his answer. “He didn’t tell me that you would transfer here though. Had I known, I would have reached out to you sooner, so you could get settle better at school.”

He gave her a small smile then, and something in her eyes hardened.

“Thanks, but it’s ok, really.”

She raised an eyebrow and smirked at him.

“Should we go, then, Robin?”

He groaned then.

“Damn you, Marinette. I had a plan to reveal myself to you!”

She laughed and took his arm in hers.

“Too bad!”

She smiled at him, a soft smile that he could die for and kissed him.

“I’m glad I finally get to know all of you.”

She paused for a little while.

“Damian.”

It was as if she was testing the name on her tongue. She was so used to call him by his hero’s name, it probably was weird for her to call him anything else.

“Damian,” she said again, laughing.

This time, it was him that kissed her.

He wasn’t prepared for the feelings he would get from her saying his name.

As she took Damian for a tour around the school, Marinette was still processing.

Damian, Tim’s younger brother, was Robin, her soulmate and boyfriend.

She hadn’t connected the dots right away when he talked in class and she wanted to smack herself for not doing so. She had looked at him, took him in and didn’t observe him more once she recognized him as the Wayne Enterprises’ co-CEO’s youngest brother.

She had focused on that alone and only thought about calling Tim after that.

But when she got to be alone with him, something in the way she talked stroke her as familiar. And she couldn’t help but compare it to Robin, even if it wasn’t conscious. And then, it was his eyes. Not the color, as yes, it was the same as Robin’s, but she knew other people with this shade of green too. No, it was the depth of his eyes. How she could see an old and broken soul behind the jade. In the end, it was his smile that really sold him, and she couldn’t keep it to herself.

As she took his hand and show him the art room — she knew how much he liked to draw, so she knew he would spend a lot of time in this room — she couldn’t keep the smile off her face. Something as small and normal as taking his hand in public made her so incredibly happy. She felt like they were a real couple now. Not that their relationship wasn’t real before, but there was something about making it public that made it more real than ever.

After the tour was over, they decided to have lunch at a little cozy restaurant near the school, where they could talk about other matters.

Like, now that she knew his identity, she could tell her parents and friends about finding her soulmate.

They needed a cover story, as she couldn’t tell them that they met more than a year ago. No, she would have to tell them that they looked at each other right in the eyes during lunch break. As they were already wearing their contacts, they could tell they took advantage of lunchtime to buy contacts, as they were more comfortable not showcasing their soul mark.

It wasn’t unusual for a pair of soulmates to hide their soul mark. It was considered private and very few people were comfortable showing it for anyone to see.

So, at least, they were good on that.

She would tell her parents tonight and told him she would try to convince them to meet him at a later date. Her parents, happy for their daughter, would insist on meeting him as soon as possible, but she knew Damian would be uncomfortable with that, so she reassured him and told her that she would make them promise to wait until he was ready to meet them.

She would tell her friends the next day, before school, or after, depending on how the day went. She apologized to him in advance, since he would probably get a lot of hovering from her friends. She stated that she was free to tell them to back off if he didn’t like it.

All in all, it was a very good first day of school.

At the end of the day, Marinette was feeling happier than ever before. Damian had kissed her goodbye, away from prying eyes, with a promise that he would take her to school in the morning, ignoring her when she told him that she literally lived across the school, and didn’t need to.

The fact that he wanted to warmed her heart.

At dinner, her parents noticed that she was smiling more than usual.

“How was your day sweetie?” asked her mother.

“It was very good! The class is pretty much the same as last year. I’m sitting next to Claude this year, though. Alya asked me if I were alright with her sitting next to Nino.”

Tom smiled at his daughter. “You’re a very good friend.”

“Nah, I’m just happy that she knows that she can just talk to me about these things. I hope it will be alright for those two… Anyway, Allan and Allegra are sitting in front of us, but I promise I won’t chat during classes!” She promised, laughing nervously.

“As long as you have good grades and you behave in class Marinette, we don’t mind you sitting near your friends in class.”

“Yeah, I know. Lila is back in my class though.”

“If she gives you any trouble this year, you tell us right away. We don’t want a repeat of what happened back in middle school.” scowled her mother.

“I don’t think she will be a problem,” admitted the young girl. “Everyone knows she’s lying, and Lila knows it too. Lying doesn’t benefit her anymore since no one would believe her, so she stopped with her nonsense. It will be alright.”

Her mother stroked her cheek affectionately and the Eurasian girl leaned into Sabine’s hand. “If you say so, sweetie.”

She smiled softly at her parents before her beaming smile came back on her smile.

“I didn’t tell you the best, though!”

“Oh, what is it?” laughed Tom, happy to see his daughter so excited.

“There is a new student in our class. He’s an exchanged student from America. From Gotham, more specifically. His name is Damian Wayne but he goes by Grayson as to not attract attention.”

Since Sabine and Tom his soulmate’s parents, Damian told her she could tell them his real identity. The fewer persons they lied to, the better. Especially since Marinette hated lying so much. First, she had to lie about being Ladybug, making excuses about her tardiness and absences, then, she had to lie about her soulmate, hiding his very existence, and now, she had to lie about the way they met.

The designer had hated Lila because she was a liar, but she felt like a hypocrite, herself being a liar.

“Oh, Tim’s brother, right?”

“Yeah!”

Her parents knew that she kept contact with Tim, he helped her a lot with her project and was just a good friend in general, even if he was six years older than her. Her parents even talked to him a little when she was on a video call with him.

“And, uh… At lunch, I had to show him around the school, and I looked at him right in the eyes for the first time. You know, I’ve told you when we met that he wouldn’t meet my eyes?” Her parents nodded. “And, yeah, this time he did and… Well…” She bit her bottom lip nervously. “His left eye and my left eye changed colors… He’s my soulmate, Maman, Papa.”

She heard her parents gasp as she took her contact off, showing them her green left eye.

She could see her mother’s eyes filled with tears while her father was already crying.

“Oh, Marinette, sweetie.” They hugged her so tight that the black-haired girl had trouble breathing, but she didn’t say a word. “We’re so happy for you! Your soulmate!” They released her. “Oh, tell us! Is it a platonic or romantic bond?”

“Romantic,” breathed the girl with two eye colors.

“Your one true love,” breathed Sabine, kissing her daughter’s cheek. “I’m so happy for you sweetie.”

“We need to meet him!” stated Tom. “We’ll invite him to dinner, and I’ll make his favorite meal, you need to ask him what he likes, Marinette! And I’ll make this new recipe I’m working on for dessert and-”

“Papa,” the baker’s daughter softly interrupted. “We should wait a little before we invite him, alright?”

The man calmed down. “Yes, of course, we’ll meet him when he’s ready.”

The fashion designer hugged the both of them, thankful for her parents.  

Tag List: 

@bigpicklebananatree @animegirlweeb @crazylittlemunchkin @northernbluetongue @cutechip @justafanwarrior @iloontjeboontje @resignedcatservant @maribat-is-lifeblood @i-like-fairytail-and-stuff @toodaloo-kangaroo @mikantsume @dast218 @amayakans @zestyzealot @lunarwolfspn @corabeth11 @marinettepotterandplagg @olynix @aestheticnpoetic​ @hot-neighbour-nextdoor @thehufflepuffranger-blog

Tag I’m not sure worked:

@thehufflepuffranger-blog 

[wastefulreverie]

ignorance is bliss || my babysitter’s a vampire

It doesn't take much observation to realize that there is something inherently wrong with Whitechapel High. Although the curriculum is standard and the sports teams are mediocre at best, the problem with Whitechapel goes deeper than just surface high school issues. There is something supernatural at the heart of the school — really, at the heart of the town. Students disappear frequently, but the enrollment rates compensate for the shrinking student population. It's easy to ignore, to write off as just 'kids moving away'.

Nonetheless, no one escapes Whitechapel. The town draws people in like moths to a flame; wings catching in the fire like intricate, paper ornaments. If you make it out at all, you never leave the same.

Most people try not to acknowledge it. Ignorance is bliss, right? Just focus on finals and let the supernatural crisis work itself out. College applications are just around the corner. Plus, the homecoming dance is a once in a lifetime experience. No point in stressing over something you can't control, after all.

The only kids that don't seem to get the memo are those two Freshmen, Ethan Morgan and Benny Weir, and Whitechapel's three resident vampires (who are not as subtle as they like to think they are). Rather than keeping their heads down like the rest of the student body that intends to survive long enough to graduate, they throw themselves into the clutches of danger. Apparently, they're under the impression that they are the final line of defense against Whitechapel and oblivion.

It's both admirable and suicidal.

In general, it is an unspoken rule not to fraternize with them. Honestly, they aren't all that bad, but friendship with the 'supernatural gang' always goes south. Their adventures against the paranormal are dangerous, and sometimes, they themselves are dangerous. Consequently, it's astounding that the five of them have survived this long. Not many students come out on top after so many brushes with the supernatural.

Most of them just vanish.

That blonde, sophomore girl from biology class? She left class one day and never returned. She'd been talking with her boyfriend about a voice she'd been hearing for the past few weeks — apparently, it had told her about a secret door behind the second-floor bathrooms. It was like an earworm, hissing on and on about bathrooms. What a poor soul, poor girl.

It's only been a week and most students can't even remember her name. Whitechapel emanates numbness; sooner or later, most students won't even remember she existed at all. It's probably better that way. The less attention paid to the paranormal, the less likely that it'll catch up with you.

Maybe that's the difference between regular students and the 'supernatural gang'. Maybe they feel drawn to protect the school because they can remember better than most students. Living in Whitechapel is like living in a fog, you know that there's something out there but you can't quite discern what. Instead, you can only see what's in front of you. But Whitechapel's unsung heroes can see it all. Likely because they too are a part of the fog.

From what most students can tell, Ethan and Benny aren't normal. That's a given, of course, but they must have some sort of supernatural affinity. Sometimes when Ethan touches people, he seizes up. He's prone to disassociate afterward, which even some of his teachers have noticed. Moreover, Benny has a knack for muttering odd phrases under his breath, usually Latin. His locker has no shortage of old, deteriorating books and luminescent, neon vials.

It would almost be cool if they weren't surrounded by death (and Rory Keaner — even for a vampire, that kid is unnerving). Sure, going on adventures and saving the town every week sounds nice and all, but at what cost? The mass majority of Whitechapel students are ordinary, and well, if you're ordinary you don't stand a chance against the paranormal. That's a given fact.

If living in ignorance is the only surefire way to make it out unscathed, then so be it. Keep your head down, let your brain fill with a gentle fog, and let the supernatural work itself out. All in all, be careful not to take a step out of place.

Chances are… the paranormal has its eyes on you too.

[meichenxi]

Huhu 😊 20, 29 and 31 please. You always have so much interesting stuff to say :D

Heyyy! Thanks Karo :D

20) Do you live in a region where there is a particular language or dialect? What one(s)? Can you speak it? Would you like to?

I have an INTERESTING family situation and move around a lot, so there’s a couple of different answers to this. My mother’s family is from North Uist and are all speakers of Gaelic. Not Irish, Scottish Gaelic - two related but different languages. I was actively discouraged from learning it as a child (which...I’ve definitely talked about in posts before) but I really, really want to learn it properly now I have more experience learning languages on my own. The difficulty is that the community is very defensive (I mean - understandably so) and so finding someone to speak Gaelic or include you in any way is difficult. I do have family there, but I’ve always been the ‘English’ girl, so they’re in no hurry to change that. 

My girlfriend speaks Irish very well, so I’ve actually decided to tackle that before I start on Gaelic, because a) she can help me and we can have conversation practice together, b) projects with friends are fun and free, and c) there are significantly more resources for Irish since it’s on the school curriculum than for Gaelic. I haven’t learnt a Celtic language apart from Old Irish before, so one will help the other a lot. 

Otherwise - my family speaks Scots, which I can understand but not speak very well. My father lives in Devon, and in the south of England generally there is, technically speaking, a movement to revive Cornish which could be very fun to get involved with. Cornish is a Celtic language too, but much more similar to Welsh and Breton than Manx, Gaelic or Irish, and definitely not mutually intelligible with the second group. It went extinct a couple of hundred years ago (a typical case - English speaking members of the clergy were shipped out, education was in English etc etc...) but there’s been a fairly impressive revival in circles of interest. I’d really love to learn that just for fun, but it can wait for now. Both Irish and Gaelic are further up the list than that!

29) What do you like learning the most? (vocabulary, grammar, writing skills, oral skills… Whatever you can think of!)

Grammar!! I love learning grammar. Grammar is wonderful. Grammar is the lifeblood of the gods. If I could just read grammars, I would. I can tell you literally everything about Japanese grammar (it’s just SO COOL) but can only say ‘I don’t speak Japanese’ ‘Yes, it’s very cold’ and ‘My name is Melissa and I don’t understand’. Same goes for lots of other languages. It’s by far the most fun part for me. I like learning tables, I like figuring out how head-final languages work. I detest vocab learning; vocabulary should just magically appear in my brain. 

31) What frequent mistakes do you make in your language learning? Any bad habits?

I used to be quite a perfectionist, especially when I was learning German. Now I'm much happier to make an idiot of myself, but I still sweat approximately enough to fill a football stadium every time I talk to a language teacher. My biggest mistakes now are definitely not spending enough time learning vocabulary, and trying to ‘jump ahead’ to the interesting parts when I’m not really there yet, not really ready. And then I get discouraged because I can’t understand any of the example sentences because I haven’t learnt basic vocabulary...

In languages that are quite similar to languages I already know, the main problem is that I don’t focus enough of the simple things. I make this mistake every single time. Just because I can understand a program or novel in Dutch doesn’t mean I don’t need to learn about basic plurals!!! It leads to a really irritating situation (which is entirely my own fault) where I get bored with the ‘basics’, except I need to learn them because I can’t form actual sentences without just accidentally speaking German...and I don’t want to take classes because I don’t want to be stuck with like ‘Where is the book? It’s on the table’. Which means I don’t get teaching at all. And therefore stay at a high level of comprehension, but very low level of active ability. 

Also, numbers. Related to the above. I HATE learning numbers in every language and often put it off as . I have read a whole book in Dutch but still can’t count to 100. 

What about you? 

[robbyrobinson]

OWL HOUSE X CTHULHU MYTHOS: GODS AWAKEN (Pt. XV 

The next day, Hexside opened its doors to begin the school day. Willow was once again at her locker and was withdrawing some of her class books. Gus walked down the hallway and casually glared at the other students. Seeing Willow, he galloped over to her.  

“Morning, Willow,” he said.

Willow smiled. “Good morning.”  

Before he could say anything further, Gus glanced around as if looking for something. “Hey, where’s Luz?” He looked over at the popular clique of girls. “Come to think of it, where’s Amity?”  

“I think it was Eda who got into contact with me about some kind of experiment the two were doing. She said that they would be gone for at least a day or two at worse.”  

Gus’ eyebrow raised in curiosity. “The two of them doing an experiment together?”  

Given how he knew about Amity having feelings for the human girl, one side of him couldn’t help but wonder if she was perhaps experimenting around with chemicals to create the ultimate love potion to give to Luz. He quickly shook that idea from his mind. Sure, one could not deny that Amity was head over heels for Luz, but she wasn’t the type of witch who would play with someone’s free will in that fashion. Even if it pained her for Luz to be seemingly ignorant of her feelings, it would equally pain her to force her to love her.  

Skara and the popular girls caught sight of the two and walked over to them. Typically, seeing the popular kids approaching the “misfits” of the school’s social system would otherwise be a bad omen (befitting the Social Darwinism of the world), but Willow and Gus greeted them with little anxiety.

“Hey, guys,” Skara said, “you guys doing good?”  

“Yes, we are,” Willow said, “we saw your performance on Penstagram last night, it was really good.”  

“Aw, thanks!” Skara proclaimed. “The girls and I were going to go camping out and we thought if you’d like to come?”  

Willow scratched her chin in deep thought. “I could use the occasion to better my talents.”  

It was a bizarre sight. At best, the popular clique of girls would voluntarily grace the two with quick glances, but now, they were having civil conversations with them. It started shortly after the Banshees won against Luz and her friends, but they were graceful enough to compliment Luz and Willow for their teamwork. They would have loved having them on their team too, but Boscha, as the team leader, quickly shut that down. But with the three-eyed girl having been missing for roughly a few weeks, that created enough of a schism that they ingratiated themselves with Luz and the others. With Boscha out of the picture, the girls revealed themselves as not sharing the same malice. One could say that they would be total sweethearts to the trio of misfits if Boscha did not exist.  

“So, you will come?” Skara asked.  

“I will keep it mind,” Willow replied, “but I appreciate the offer.”  

Principal Bump sat at his desk troubled. He tapped his bony fingers on his desk in an effort of figuring out what he could do. He had broken out in a cold sweat with the hairs on his arms and legs sticking up. Starting a few weeks ago, Bump could sense something amiss in the Boiling Isles. An indescribable, inhumane calamity was about to happen, but he was uncertain when it would come. He found himself gawking at the clock on the wall in a daze.  

“Calm down, old man,” he said to himself, “maybe in the few hundred years I may’ve misinterpreted the signs.”  

He picked himself out of his chair and opened the door to his office. Goggling around, things continued to appear to be of order at the school. Relieved, Principal Bump stepped out of the door and trudged down the hall. He ended up seeing the Abomination Teacher talking with another teacher.  

“Aw, Principal Bump! What is the occasion?”  

“Oh, nothing,” Principal Bump answered, “I was actually on my way to the library.”  

Principal Bump turned to leave. “You seem to have a lot on your mind.”  

Principal Bump chuckled and placed his hand behind the back of his head. “Oh, it’s just about this year’s curriculum is all.”  

The Abomination Teacher glared at him. “What about it?”  

Principal Bump staggered for answers. “Uh...something about the...lunch choices?” He picked up the pace without staring at the teacher again. “I’ll announce it later.”  

The Abomination Teacher shrugged and head his way down the opposite side of the hall. Principal Bump arrived in the library already seeing that a few students were there to study or conduct research. He advanced towards the chief librarian’s desk. The librarian was an aged turtle with glasses and chains to keep them from falling down.  

“Ah, Principal Bump,” she said, “what brings you here?”  

He had a stern look on his face. “I am sure that you know why I am here.”  

As she was a turtle, the reptile took longer time to digest the brevity of the situation and slowly pushed herself out of her chair. “Follow me.”  

Principal Bump groaned to himself, but he decided to follow the ancient beast anyway. The librarian wobbled on her short, stubby legs and clutched her cane to keep herself from falling on the ground. One instance, she fell on her back and remained in that defenseless state for a whole day. “Is your week going good?”  

“Oh, it is,” Principal Bump lied, “just that I feel that some horrible force of evil is going to arrive at any minute as we speak.”  

“Right, I completely understand,” the turtle replied, “steamed roots gives me gas.”  

The turtle neared a book case and paused for a moment. Her heavy beak opened and closed. The loose skin on her arm vibrated when she reached for one of the books. Her claws withdrew a book, and she slid it out between two other books.  

“Oh, would you look at that?” she asked “it’s the story of Otabin. Have you ever read it?”  

Principal Bump face palmed. “Yes, I have; 65 years ago.” He stomped his foot impatiently. “Please, just hurry.”  

“I’m going as far as I can,” she interjected.  

Once the book was removed from its shelf, the ground shook. The middle of the case descended to reveal a secret door behind it. The turtle librarian lifted her finger in the air and swirled it. Fire formed above her finger to which she cast it into the entrance. The fire was that of a living creature with a mind of its own. It danced in the darkness of the secret room and jumped onto a series of torches. It gracefully plopped itself over the tops of the torches and lit them.  

“Oh, I remember that it was lunch time,” the turtle librarian announced, “I’m going to head back; if you need anything, call me.”  

“I will, thank you kindly,” Principal Bump replied. “Having steamed cabbage again?”  

The librarian chuckled. “It either eats me or I eat it.”  

She turned around to reveal the faded colors on the back of her shell. Much like Bump, she was an old soul in the Boiling Isles. So old enough, in fact, the library was built over her. The library was her home; she was familiar with every scrap of information native to the demon realm but ironically was unfamiliar with what happened outside of her sanctuary.  

Principal Bump followed the lit torches down the hidden room. Cobwebs lined the wall and floors of the ancient halls. Taking a left, Principal Bump came upon a room containing ancient objects and artifacts. Spears and clubs. Torture devices such as ones designed to rip off fingernails or iron maidens. Even the bones of prehistoric anomalies alongside cases of animals forever asleep in jars filled with an entombing substance. Claws and teeth on shelves and basilisks and bowls meant to collect the contaminated blood of the victims of the basilisk’s deadly bite.  

“I see that the turtle didn’t tidy this place up in years,” Principal Bump noted.  

He skewered the room for the item of his inquiry. In the right side of the room was a desk made out of a petrified wood. Curious, he walked over and sat down on the chair. The splinters were poking into Principal Bump’s rear. He bit his tongue to keep from hissing. He sat there for a few seconds to allow the pain to fizzle out. Opening a drawer, Principal Bump allowed a slight smirk. He reached his hand into the drawer to obtain the object.  

It was a book of indescribable size. The cover of the book possessed a bumpy, leather texture of some unknown material. Principal Bump held it with both of his hands and took a deep breath. “The Necronomicon; I never thought in my lifetime that I would face this book again.”  

The Necronomicon; an ancient, dreaded piece of literature detailing information that no one – not mankind, or witch kind – should know. Information of the gods of old and where they once trekked and where they will once more. Spells of how to raise the dead and of essential salts. This book, baptized in a dark, malevolent evil, was one of a few copies of the original iteration of the book that was made thousands of years ago by the savior of the Boiling Isles when she sensed that Nyarlathotep could likely return to the Isles to bring it back to its days of chaos.  

He slipped the book into his cloak’s pocket and turned to leave the macabre room. He had feared the worst: the very idea that someone or something managed to find his copy of the Necronomicon and intend on using it for their own nefarious purposes unsettled him greatly. As far as he was concerned, he could have sworn that other copies of the decrepit texts were purged during the time of the Savage Ages. The hooded figure had appointed several disciples with taking copies of the Necronomicon and distributing them to the furthest regions of the Boiling Isles. Generation after generation, witches passed down the task of protecting a copy of the book and taught the next generation of the dark magic.

As Principal Bump traversed down the hall, the school day was about to begin. Once more, everything seemed to be running smoothly, but something about it was growing unsettling. Everything was going too perfectly. Principal Bump’s trudging ceased to a stop.  

Voom. Voom...voom..

A tremor shook the foundations of the school threatening to collapse. Cracks formed on the ceiling. Powdery balls sprinkled down accompanied by larger chunks of the ceiling caving in. Debris fell from the ceiling in the direction of some of the students.  

“Look out!” Principal Bump yelled.  

He swirled his finger and a green aura came out of his fingertip. Before the debris could fall on a group of students, he caught it with a shield made of the same aura. “Get out from under it before I lose grip of it!”  

The students obeyed and fled. With them gone, Principal Bump dropped the piece of the ceiling, shattering it on the floor. At first relieved, from the corner of his eye, series of cracks formed on the ceiling. He repeated the magical spell, temporarily using it as a glue to hold the ceiling for as long as his elderly body could muster.  

“Where did that quake come from?” Gus yelled.

“I have no idea,” Willow replied, “we may have to evacuate the school to avoid being buried alive.”  

A blast of magic blew the entrance of the school off its hinges. The figure was initially unrecognizable from the thick smoke, but some students could vaguely make out who it was.”  

“Hello, all! Your star has arrived!”  

That voice. That bossy, demanding, condescending voice. The type of voice that would pierce your brain and throw you through the wringer. The smoke clearing away only made it more evident who it was.  

“Boscha?” Skara announced. “Girl, where have you been?”  

Boscha staggered herself into the school with her crutches. “Yeah, it’s me.”  

She locked her three eyes on Willow. “Hello again, half-a-witch.”  

Unnerved by the deathly coldness of her words, Willow spoke up. “Now Boscha, I want you to know that I had no intention of breaking your leg.”  

Boscha held one of her crutches up and pointed it at her. “I don’t need any explanation from the likes of you.”  

Willow noticed someone standing beside Boscha, a man she did not recognize. A tall man, roughly around six feet, and short black hair and a finely groomed mustache. He wore a classy uniform comprised of a dark black color. He had a vastness to him, most assuredly originating from his eyes. He struck Willow as a man who was always inquisitive and knowledgeable. He held out his hand to the three-eyed girl.  

“Wait, dear protégé, remember what I told you.”  

Boscha glared at him. “But you promised me that you’d help me get revenge on Willow.”  

“There will come a time for that, I assure you, but may I remind you that we are here for one thing in particular?”  

Boscha sighed. “Fine.”  

Principal Bump took out a whistle and blew it. Within minutes, the guards arrived to detain the two. Principal Bump then ran in the opposite direction to avoid confrontation. The tall man chuckled in his monotonous tone and walked forward. He moved around gracefully like a swan his feet barely touching the ground. He hummed a tune to himself when the first guard made a grab at him. The man lifted his finger to the ceiling and without the guard having time to respond, he levitated the man and held him in the air for a few seconds.  

“I apologize for the abruptness of my arrival, but I have an important date with your principal, so...”  

He snapped his fingers and pitched the guard towards the lockers. The lockers shifted and contorted by the time the guard hit them. Instead of a hard metal, they were replaced with a clay-like substance. He sank deeper into the wet, squishy goo until only his chest and face stuck out. The man snapped his fingers again and returned the texture of the lockers to their metallic selves. The guard grunted and pulled but he was deeply wedged in the lockers.  

He continued his uninterrupted waltz down the halls casually lifting the guards into the air and smashing them together to make them unconscious. The tall man continued to chuckle in the likeness of a hyena whilst carelessly pummeling legions of guards and tossing them into a pile. Making his way down the hall, he turned to look at his apprentice.  

“Make sure that no one leaves until I have received what I wanted.” He could see that Principal Bump boarded himself in his office. “This could take a while.”  

Boscha nodded and held her crutch out to direct the students. She forces them to huddle in the halls and demands them to sit. “I have been gone for a long time, you know.”  

She eyed her classmates to see if they would respond. “I cannot even begin to think this is the same school; I have been away for a long time, but with my mentor’s help, I can bring the school back to its glory days.”  

She noticed her rival and walked over to her to get down on her level. “Don’t think that the moment he allows me to enact my revenge that I will go easy on you.”  

“What is it that you are suggesting, Boscha?” Willow asked. The half-witch spoke in a tone of utter defiance mixed in with annoyance. In some ways, she practically celebrated when she first heard that Boscha was missing. In fact, rumors had spread claiming that she was eaten by some monster. She knew it was too good to be true, but at the least she was having a field day of believing that she was free from her harassment.  

“Much like how Amity did a duel with round eyes at that convention, I want to challenge you to a witches duel,” Boscha explained, “the loser becomes the punching bag for the rest of their lives.”  

Willow rolled her eyes clearly not wanting to humor Boscha’s challenge. “If I win, will you not only leave me and my friends alone, but be forced to accept defeat?”  

Boscha snickered in her typical superior way. “It’s not like you’d win, but if you want to die slower, it is a fair idea.”  

Willow extended her hand so they could finalize the deal, but Boscha pulled out her purple scroll and browsed it. “My teacher always complained that I am rotting by brain by looking at my account, but his old butt doesn’t know a thing about how the Isles changed.”  

She looked through the posts. “How is Amity?”  

“She is with Luz now,” Willow mentioned passively, “they are doing...some odd experiment.”  

“What does that human trash have that I don’t?” Boscha asked. She did not really anticipate an answer as it was more of a rhetorical rambling on her part. “Amity had gotten soft because of hanging out with you losers.”

Willow shrugged. “I don’t know...maybe because Luz is nice to her?”  

Boscha ignored her response and paused on a picture. She brought the scroll down to Willow’s eye level. It was a picture of Skara and the others attending Cat’s birthday party. Willow, Luz, and Gus were there. “How in Titan’s name did you lame-os get invited anyway?”  

“Skara invited us,” Gus said.  

The three-eyed girls looked at Skara with scorn. “You’re friends with these losers now?”  

Skara shook her head. “They’re not losers, they’re pretty cool.”  

Skara took her bag and slipped out a flower that had a face similar to hers. “Willow made this for me.”  

Boscha grabbed the flower and set it on fire. “You are sacrificing your social life for this nonsense!?” She face palmed and took a deep breath. “What else happened while I was away?”  

Principal Bump cowered behind his desk but he also had a vase in his hand. He held it firmly between his hands. “I order you to leave the school at once!”  

The man chuckled from outside the door. “So you are expelling me, old man?”  

“I am warning you, if you don’t leave, I’ll...I’ll...”  

The tall, lanky man was already standing in the room.  

“Now, enough tomfoolery and let’s get to business.”  

He sat in a chair paralleled with Principal Bump’s desk and held his hands up in a dipping motion. He intertwined his fingers before placing his chin on top. He stared at Principal Bump in a mockingly affectionate expression. “It’s been...how many years now, Mr. Bump?”  

Mr. Bump did not say anything at first due to the dread causing his stomach to churn loudly. “What do you want, Nyarlathotep?”  

Nyarlathotep chuckled in his deep voice. “My dear man, you of all people should have known already that I would be back.”  

“If it is the Necronomicon you are seeking,” Principal Bump started, “I will have you know that the one page detailing the incantation to release your powers – page 217 – had been removed from every copy of the Necronomicon including the one that I was assigned with protecting.”  

Nyarlathotep leaned back in his chair, gripping his chest. “You wound me immeasurably, old boy. But I must be the bearer of bad news.” He seized Principal Bump’s mug and drank the hot contents inside of it before speaking again. “I am well aware that you are hiding a secret from me.”  

Principal Bump leaned forward. “Oh? Pray tell me what it is.”  

“Since my return, I have been studying up on a few archives of the Isles,” Nyarlathotep explained, “and I discovered a lovely little monster.”  

“I don’t like where this is going,” Principal Bump stated.  

Nyarlathotep grinned. “Precisely; I am sure you are familiar with Grometheus the Fear Bringer?”  

Principal Bump tensed up. That terrible, blob abomination that every year they had to elect a Grom Queen to fight against it. An entity that could masquerade as the worst fears of its victims with the threat of its release spelling devastation for the denizens of the Boiling Isles. Months back, Grometheus was already bested. For Nyarlathotep to threaten to unleash this unholy beast, Bump shook his head.  

“You can’t be serious?”  

Nyarlathotep kept his grin pasted on his face. “I am afraid, old boy, that I am not bluffing.”  

Principal Bump stammered. “But that beast could probably kill everyone on the Isles if you do such a thing.”  

He clasped his hands together in a praying motion. “Please, Crawling Chaos, do not; please do not harm any of the students.”  

Nyarlathotep gasped. “Oh, you worry your silly little head there, good sir; not one hair on their precious little heads will be disheveled.”  

Principal Bump sighed in relief.  

“As I am sure you can see, I am a fairly busy man,” Nyarlathotep explained, “we are both men in this scenario; I have been around making deals, biding time and drinking apple blood, the usual rendezvous.”  

He leaned in again to stare at Principal Bump. “We are both reasonable; let me cut to the chase: I know that you have some ally on the Earth realm, and I would hope that you’d enlighten me on their whereabouts?”  

“But I have made an oath years ago to protect the Necronomicon.”  

Nyarlathotep raised an eyebrow. “I will present you with two events: either Grometheus is free to stretch his legs again and ravage and sow endless nightmares on you and your students; or subsequently, there lies a world where I receive the information I desire and you and your students will be safe and they will further their education unharmed.”  

Principal Bump scratched his chin. “And I can trust you at your word?”  

Nyarlathotep nodded. “Of course; shall we shake on it?”  

Wary, Principal Bump extended his right hand and shook Nyarlathotep’s. Unbeknownst to him, Nyarlathotep had crossed the fingers of his other hand.  

Boscha waited impatiently for her master’s return. He walked out with his smile even wider than before. She trudged towards him with her crutches. “What is the plan?”  

“Once Miss Blight arrives with the Necronomicon containing the incantation for my powers, everything will change on the Isles.”  

Boscha smiled. “So you’re going to rule the Isles again?”  

Boscha’s smile dropped when she heard what her mentor said next.  

“No; this world had grown ungrateful of the sacrifices I had given for them in order for them to perform magic. This world will be wiped clean and from there shall come a blank slate. From there, I will create a group of people who will have no inclination of resistance for they will not know about the insolence of the old generation. They shall become my people and I will become their god.”  

Boscha almost fell backward. “But what about me?”  

Nyarlathotep pet her shoulder. “You will be by my side as my acolyte. We shall watch together as this world dies and is blown away like dust in the wind.”  

Boscha looked down to think. “But you promised me that I could get my revenge.”  

Nyarlathotep held his hand up. “You can still have it; this world’s destruction will be imminent, but I do love a good duel.”  

As they existed through the gaping hole that used to be the entrance, Nyarlathotep turned to face his protégé. “Did you keep the debris from falling?”  

“Well, thanks to some of the power you gave me, sure,” Boscha replied, “but would it be better to just have it fall?”  

“Boscha, Boscha, that would be wasting time that you could have preparing for your fight. But, please, do create a mirror field around the school. We wouldn’t want to have anyone potentially foiling our plans.”  

The three-eyed girl nodded and held her hands out. Glass began to form around the outer portion of Hexside. Before long, the glass completely encased the school. One of the students ran towards the entrance only to bounce off the glass. “We’re stuck!”  

Nyarlathotep chuckled. “That is how it felt to be trapped in glass for thousands of years; it gives you such displeasure.”  

Boscha looked at the school. “Why this?”  

“Much like observing a mouse in a vivarium to study, the students and faculty will be trapped, desperately searching for a way out of their maze, but all points lead to a dead end.”  

With that, the two made a leave for Belos’ empire.

[wicked-cupcake]

A Safeguarded Meal

Characters: Lucifer, Beelzebub, Cadence (oc)

Words: 2855

Summary: He’d only asked for her to cook in his stead, had offered a reward in turn. But he isn’t sure what to do with the kindness he gets in return.

Notes: I really like a lot of the text chats in the game and think they’re fun jumping off points for ficlets. And since this is the only one I’ve managed to finish, I figured it was high time to post some writing again.

Could you not be on dinner duty more?

Look at this amazing meal you’re missing because you chose to work!

Too bad you can’t enjoy this hot off the stove~

“Tch,” Lucifer muttered, putting his phone away as he walked toward the front doors of the house. There were more messages from his brothers, that he wasn’t going to bother reading since he had no doubt they all pertained to the dinner he’d missed. He’d had his phone muted, except for emergency contacts, while he worked, wanting to get through as much of it as he could, and he’d only turned them back on while on the way home.

He regretted it now that he’d been flooded with texts and images of the meal Cadence had made in his stead.

Some of them he knew were innocent enough, honest praise that they were glad that he’d picked Cadence to make the meal. But the majority of them he knew it was pokes at him not being able to enjoy it.

Pushing open the front door, he heard the little scurrying of feet as the little D’s scattered from the entrance way before it was nothing but silence. He stood there, one hand on the closed door, and listened. Normally he didn’t like it when the house was this quiet. It generally meant that his brothers weren’t here. Had some of them taken advantage of him coming home late to sneak out? He wouldn’t put it past Mammon and none of the others were going to bother trying to stop him. Cadence could have if she’d ordered him to and actually meant it, but so far as he could tell she was avoiding doing that.

What was the point of making pacts if she wasn’t going to try to command the demons she had at her disposal?

Lucifer shook his head. He’d figured out fast that trying to guess what was going on in Cadence’s head was a waste of his time. There was simply no way he would get it right. It was best if he just continued keeping tabs on her and tried to control the damage as much as he could.

His mouth twisted as his stomach cramped. He hadn’t bothered with food while he was working, using the work as a distraction from the hunger. There was no distracting himself now. Especially not with the reminder of the meal he had missed.

Nothing to do about it but eat. Hopefully Beel had been sated enough that he could find something in the kitchen to throw together for his own dinner. He was sure there would be food but whether or not it was going to be actually decent was still left to be seen.

Lucifer paused as he reached the kitchen. The door was open and he had a clear view in at the table. And the two people seated across from each other at it. Beel wasn’t a surprise. Even with dinner long over, he had come back for more. But what was Cadence doing here?

He watched for a moment, trying to figure it out. The pair of them weren’t talking, his brother eating and her reading a book in front of her. She had her chin propped in her hand as she lazily turned the pages. If all she wanted to do was read, why hadn’t she stayed in her room? The kitchen wasn’t exactly the best place for it.

He frowned as he stepped into the kitchen. “What are you two doing?”

Cadence looked up and Beel tossed him a glance. “Welcome back,” she said quietly.

His brother echoed the greeting, albeit with a little more mumbling as he was still eating.

“That wasn’t an answer,” Lucifer said dryly. “I can see what Beel’s doing but why are you here?”

Cadence hummed softly and he watched as she pushed a covered dish in his direction. “Guarding this.”

Lucifer’s frown deepened. “What is that?”

“Your dinner,” Beel said before she could. “Caden said we had to save you a plate since you weren’t there to have it with us. Mammon thought it was a dumb idea so I came in here to help her keep it safe.”

He blinked slowly, looking at the pair of them. They were guarding his dinner?

“I just figured, if you had to stay to keep working, you wouldn’t take time to eat,” Cadence said, lifting the cover off to reveal a plate of food identical to the one his brothers had sent. “I thought it would be nice for you to come home to a meal that you didn’t have to make.”

He’d only asked her to cover his dinner shift, had promised to make it up to her when she’d agreed so easily, but what was he supposed to do about this? As sharp as she could be, it was easy to forget that she did things simply to ‘be nice’. The concept of someone else doing something for his family without any thought of how they could benefit from it was still foreign enough to catch him off guard. But he’d never forget the puzzled look she’d given him the first time he’d asked what her price was.

“Price for what? Being nice? Lucifer, I know you’re demons but is it really that hard to understand that I don’t want anything back?”

Yes, it is, Cadence, he thought, moving into the room. He chose to ignore the smile that bloomed on her face as he shrugged out of his coat and settled on the stool beside hers. But he still saw it.

“It’s really good, Lucifer. You’re lucky Caden made so much of it because everyone had seconds,” Beel said, pushing off his chair to head toward the fridge. “She even got me to put a spell on the plate to keep it warm for you so it would taste the same as what we had. Do you want something to drink?”

What was the point of going to so much effort if she didn’t want something in return? She’d already made several pacts with his brothers, had gotten a dinner out of him for the abyssal way he’d treated her, and still she did this? He slanted a look at Cadence and saw that she’d returned to her book. “Does the chef have any recommendations?”

“It’s meant to go with a white wine,” she said without looking up.

“Did you serve that to the others as well?”

Cadence snorted. “No. I let them do what they wanted. I know better than to put alcohol on the table with them.”

Most likely because once they had a glass or two, some of them would try to get her to drink as well. Demonic alcohol and humans did not always mix well and he was glad that she was taking his warnings into account. “White wine then.”

She flashed him a faint smile but her focus was clearly on her book.

He didn’t look away from her immediately. He had been tired of looking at names when he’d finally chosen hers to be the second exchange student. With Solomon being the other, he’d figured a nice, normal human would be a good thing to have as a counterpoint. But Cadence had shown him that there was no normal where humans were concerned. 

Starting on his meal before it went cold, Lucifer nodded at Beel as he set the wine glass down in front of him and took his seat again. But his gaze was drawn to the book. It only took reading a few lines over her shoulder to realise that it was part of the curriculum. For next month. “Getting a head start?” he asked mildly.

She hummed. “Everything has a bad habit of going sideways in this place. I figured if I had the time to read, I might as well.”

“And this month’s?”

“Already done and synopsis written so I won’t forget.”

He got regular reports from the faculty on how the exchange students were faring with their classes and they’d all said the same thing about her. Cadence took her studies seriously, even if they were completely new to her because they were rooted in the Devildom, and was doing very well in all of her classes. She wasn’t afraid to ask questions no matter how simple they seemed and he’d seen her when she was studying in the music room. She was determined when it came to school and he….

Lucifer paused before the next bite. And he what? Was proud? He had no reason to be proud of her, she wasn’t family. Yes, he’d chosen her to be here but that didn’t mean anything. She was under his care so her successes would reflect well on him. But he knew himself well enough to know it wasn’t that and that he didn’t want to think about what it could be.

The silence in the kitchen wasn’t oppressive as it fell completely over them; in fact it was quite the opposite. Beel was always good company and Cadence’s quiet presence was oddly comforting. Other humans he’d been around had loud and annoying auras, so much poured into it because of how shortly they lived. Yet Cadence was a silent, blank spot beside him. Everyone had noticed it that first time they’d ‘lost’ her. She didn’t give off an aura that was easy to find and it made him wonder all over again just how ‘normal’ she was. Asmo claimed she had deeper magic than Solomon but she hadn’t done anything to give them that impression. There wasn’t anything that should have set her apart from any other human on the street and yet she had snared four of his brothers already. 

Sipping at his wine, he looked at her again. She was making notes on a small pad of paper beside her as she read, her handwriting crisp and clean even though he knew she was only going to rewrite them. Who was this little human that could move his brothers the way she had? Who was this little human that fascinated him-

Lucifer slammed that thought down before it fully formed. That was simply asking for trouble he did not want or need. She was only going to be here for a year. He wasn’t so foolish to think that there would be anymore than that and she was….

Cadence sighed suddenly and stretched. “I’m going to finish this in my room,” she said, packing up her things. “I hope you liked the meal, Lucifer.”

“It is well done, Cadence.” It was just as good as every meal she had prepared for them so far. Better somehow. “Give some thought to what I said.”

The corner of her mouth kicked up in her crooked half smile and she looked at Beel. “Thanks for helping me,” she said.

“Do you want to take some custard with you?”

She laughed and shook her head. “I learned my lesson with you and custard but thank you. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

Beel said his goodbyes and Lucifer nodded. But he froze in his seat as her hand slid along his arm as she passed him. One stroke, from shoulder to elbow, with just enough pressure for him to feel it. He barely moved but his gaze shifted, following her out the door. What was that? Why had she done that?

He’d seen her absently touch his brothers, small presses of her hand to them. He’d seen all of them light up every time she’d done it. But she’d never done it to him. He didn’t spend as much time with her and he kept his respectable distance. He didn’t give her much of an opportunity to get close. He hadn’t wanted the same kind of familiar intimacy that touch suggested. All that and more ran through his head when he saw her do it to anyone else but not him.

So why did he suddenly feel like he’d been missing out on something?

“Do you not like it?”

Lucifer looked to see Beel giving him a confused look. “I already said that it was good. I wasn’t lying. Cadence is a good cook.”

Beel shook his head, his mouth pulling down in a puzzled frown. “No not that.”

Lucifer returned his brother’s frown. “Then what?”

“Her touching you. You got this funny look on your face when she did it. Kind of like you ate something that didn’t taste the way you expected?”

Of course Beel would relate it back to food. But he hadn’t realised his brother had been watching or that he had made any type of face in response to her touch. How did he answer that though? He already had enough lies and secrets on his plate where his brothers were concerned; he didn’t want to add to it.

Beel sighed and went back to his meal. “She does it a lot,” he said around a bite. “Have you noticed? I think it’s because she’s warming up to us. Properly. She’s kinda like you.”

Lucifer snorted. “How is Cadence remotely like me?”

“She doesn’t really let people in. Or she does but it’s just on the surface. No one really knows a lot about her, she’s good at deflecting the conversation, and-” Beel paused, dark eyes flicked up to Lucifer before back down.

“And?” he prompted when his brother didn’t continue.

“People are scared of her because they don’t understand her,” he muttered.

“People are scared of me because of who I am, Beel, and they should be.”

“Also because they don’t understand you,” he insisted. “You’re not scary all the time.”

He wanted to ask how Cadence was even remotely scary when she was barely over five feet tall, but he’d heard the story of what had happened with the lack of coffee one morning. She had snapped as hard as Satan and put a certain kind of fear into his brothers that he admired.

“And she’s lonely.”

Lucifer paused in eating to look at his brother. Beel had said it so quietly, as if the words had slipped out unbidden. But was it because it applied to Cadence or that his brother thought it applied to him? “I’m not lonely. I have all of you and Lord Diavolo,” Lucifer assured his brother.

The look Beel gave him cut into him. “You don’t really let us in either, Lucifer. Not anymore.”

There was nothing he could say to that.

Beel gave him a smile and shrugged. “I think you two would get along really well if you spent more time together,” he said, finishing what was on his plate.

“We all live in the same house.”

“Yeah, but you don’t do things with her. You really should. She’s actually fun when she opens up and she’s really good at cooking. She made me these cookies the other day that had this frosting on them that tasted like candy. She won’t tell me how she did it but she promised to make more.”

Lucifer smiled faintly. Of course she was winning Beel over further with her cooking. But listening to Beel talk about her made him realise that he was right. He did barely spend any time with her. What time he had had mostly been spent either apologising or explaining things to her. Or threatening to end her life.

His mouth flattened before he smoothed his expression out. The whole point of this exchange program was to build bridges between the realms. How were they supposed to do that when he wasn’t building anything with the student living under the same roof as him? But what was there to do? The one time he’d taken her shopping he’d seen how much she’d balked at what he’d spent for her. “What is she even interested in?” he mused.

“Lots of things. Satan said he took her to an art showing at the museum and she loved it. She plays games with Levi. Her and Mammon are devouring every series Levi gives them. Asmo takes her shopping and we go looking for new places to eat. She really liked that horror movie night we had too.”

All things very keyed to his brothers or them as a group, but what of his interests would line up with hers? Rolling his wine glass between his hands, he thought about it before smiling. Opening night was coming soon. Perhaps he could interest her in another dinner and a show this time. She was always holed up in the music room to do her homework and had started actually playing music for them to hear so they knew she was in there. Perhaps….

“Are you going to finish your meal?”

Lucifer gave Beel a dry look. “I’m not going to waste the effort that went into keeping it safe.”

“Could always ask her to cook it again for you. Or something else. She said she’d make cheesy omelettes again on her next breakfast shift.”

She’d definitely won Beel over...and he wasn’t opposed to having more of her cooking.