#us admission consultants

[ankitkumar7794]

Germany Study Visa Consultants | IMA

Looking for education consultants for germany study abroad consultants. We are german education consultants providing guidance germany study abroad consultants.

[vidhyamacademy]

Best Abroad Education Consultants in Delhi - Vidhyam Academy

Deciding to pursue higher Education Abroad is an exciting and Life-changing Journey. The prospect of studying in a foreign country opens up a plethora of opportunities for personal and academic growth. However, the process of applying to universities Abroad can be daunting and complex, making it essential to seek guidance from expert education consultants. Among the numerous options available, Vidhyam Academy stands out as one of the Best Abroad Education Consultants in Delhi. In this comprehensive guide, we will delve into the key reasons that make Vidhyam Academy a top choice for aspiring international students. Get Free Counseling with Vidhyam Academy Today.

The Importance of Abroad Education Consultants

Before diving into Vidhyam Academy's merits, let's understand the significance of education consultants in the abroad application process. Navigating the complexities of different countries' education systems, admission requirements, and visa procedures can be overwhelming. A competent education consultant can provide invaluable assistance to students by streamlining the entire process, increasing the chances of securing admission to their dream universities.

Vidhyam Academy: A Trusted Name in Abroad Education Consultancy

Established with the vision of guiding Indian students towards their overseas education aspirations, Vidhyam Academy has earned a reputation as a leading consultancy firm. Their team of experienced counselors and mentors understand the nuances of international education and ensure that students receive personalized guidance tailored to their unique goals.

Services Offered by Vidhyam Academy

One of the aspects that sets Vidhyam Academy apart from other consultants is its comprehensive range of services. From initial counseling and university selection to visa assistance and pre-departure guidance, the academy offers end-to-end support to aspiring students. We will explore each of these services in detail to provide readers with a clear understanding of what to expect when partnering with Vidhyam Academy.

The Role of Counseling in Abroad Education

Counseling is the cornerstone of any successful abroad education application process. Vidhyam Academy's expert counselors invest time in understanding each student's background, interests, and academic achievements. By doing so, they can suggest suitable courses and universities that align with the student's aspirations.

University Selection Process

Choosing the right university is a crucial decision that can significantly impact a student's academic and professional future. Vidhyam Academy employs a meticulous approach to help students select the most suitable universities based on their preferences, course availability, and financial considerations.

Admission Assistance

Navigating the admission process can be challenging, especially for competitive universities. Vidhyam Academy's team assists students in preparing and organizing all the necessary documents, crafting compelling essays, and ensuring that their application stands out among thousands of others.

Visa Guidance and Documentation

Securing a student visa is a critical step in the Abroad Education journey. Vidhyam Academy's experts are well-versed with the visa application procedures of different countries and guide students through the documentation and interview process.

Pre-Departure Support

Moving to a new country for education can be both thrilling and intimidating. Vidhyam Academy offers pre-departure orientations that equip students with essential information about the destination country, cultural nuances, and tips for a smooth transition.

Why Choose Vidhyam Academy

Vidhyam Academy has emerged as one of the Best Abroad Education Consultants in Delhi due to its commitment to providing exceptional guidance and support to students. Their comprehensive range of services, experienced counselors, and successful track record make them a trusted choice for aspiring international students. If you are planning to pursue higher Education Abroad, collaborating with Vidhyam Academy can be a transformative step towards achieving your dreams.

In case you need more details Call Now at +91-8447186261 or, visit: www.vidhyamacademy.com

[gyancareer]

gyancareer

[mokshconsultant]

Medicine Course in USA

In 2023, the United States boasts approximately 9.5 lakh active physicians, with individuals of Indian origin constituting around 8.5% of the entire physician community. India notably emerges as the most significant contributor of International Medical Graduates to the U.S. in terms of absolute numbers. It is crucial to note that the journey of the majority of these Indian doctors involves Residency rather than pursuing an MD program in the U.S.

Embarking on a Medical education in the United States presents a formidable challenge. However, for those with an unwavering passion and a readiness to invest significant effort, the journey proves to be rewarding. Upon completion, graduates acquire the skills necessary to aid the needy, profoundly impacting lives—a pursuit that justifies the toil and perseverance.

For aspiring Medical students who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents, gaining admission to a U.S. Medical school poses a substantial challenge. International students who relish aiding others and seek new and challenging experiences may contemplate pursuing Medical studies in the U.S. Despite the rigorous and lengthy path, the gratification lies in the potential to secure a stable, well-paying job that commands pride.

[educationalconsultancy-admexp]

[eluniversity]

Consult Us For International Student Admission

 At EL University, our education is valued very highly and this is reflected in the quality of teaching and in the courses. Consult For International Student Admission or to know more, visit our website:

http://www.eluniversity.co.za/international-students/

[ybklix]

stressed out

★ pairing: dr!chrisbang x fem!uni student reader

✦summary: Your session with Dr. Bang gets interesting when he kindly decides to relieve the stress you're carrying from the last days of university before the summer break, without knowing that all the tension in your body is due to the great desire you have for him.

✭ content - tags - warnings: MDNI 18+ , smut, oral sex, cunnilingus, fingering, unprotected sex, slightly dirty talk and praise kink, use of nicknames.

word count: 7.7k

—masterlist—

a/n: yk me, a little story that leads to smut.

It was your last day at the university, one more semester finished. You were so close to free yourself from that heavy semester at the university, but somehow you didn't feel so free at all, you were still worried about getting good grades, you knew you would pass everything without difficulty but you were a little demanding with your grades, so you were nervous, and you left your last class a little crestfallen, something that the rest of the students celebrated non-stop, you sighed, you had heard in the distance of the infinity of parties planned, the perfect vacations of the rest, but you could only think about packing all your things without worrying and your mother who would be waiting for you outside the university to spend the summer at home.

Despite being a bit stressed and upset about the soon to be released grades, you had dressed up to finish a cycle feeling cute; you had a nice outfit and your makeup intact so you thought about calling your friends to hang out for a while, who had skipped the last class downplaying it and self-assigning them the break, you checked your group chat and read that they would be in the coffee shop across the building if you wanted to join them... but in the midst of the campus and student chaos, you realized it was Friday. Friday. Of which usually aren't just those days for you. You knew so well what day it was in the morning so you picked the perfect outfit for it, but between the stress and caos of being the last day, you became unaware of the rest of your activities.

Every Friday, at least since this semester, since for a long time it used to be Wednesdays, you had counselor sessions with Dr. Bang, an overworked psychiatrist with four jobs at once, director of a mental institution, his own consulting room, professor and simply student counselor, Bang didn't want to take the big job of being a therapist for the students but upon detecting any alarming problem he was well within his rights to ask the student for professional help, with their cooperation and consent, clearly. You met Dr. Bang just at the worst time of your life, but the timing was perfect, he managed to break you out of a hole that seemed to have no way out.

You had a very painful loss just before finishing high school that altered your mental health completely, your father passed away and a month later you finished your high school studies, so that did not affect so much your streak of student excellence, by that time you had everything ready for admission to any university of excellence for which you applied. Until the university you always dreamed of accepted you and in a short time you were dealing with grief and the pressure and stress of a new place and environment, you moved away from home promising your mother to continue being a good student, but you were in a deep depression and had recurrent anxiety attacks, terrified that you were not good enough, which complicated your studies… and more when without thinking, you planned and considered leaned for health sciences, pushing you to the limit. You were so embarrassed because all your life academically you were a complete overachiever and suddenly you couldn't cope with college, you felt more awful, a total disappointment; so with a mediocre grades -for you- you passed the first semester and continued the next one, this time committing to do your best and going to therapy, plus your mom noticed the obvious alarming signs the few times she saw you during your winter break, she understood the magnitude of things and offered you to take a break, but you were not like that, you couldn't take it or you would feel things would get worse. You switched dorm buildings and that's when you met him… in one of the study halls near your building, one random Wednesday afternoon when you decided to study, 'Counselor Dr. Bang', engraved on the plaque on that door at the end of the hallway… it sort of caught your attention, you thought if counselors in high school was the same as in college and that if anything... he could give you more of a vocational orientation than a psychologist; since you had tried everything, your old study method, countless other techniques, going to study in groups with your smug classmates with superiority complex, but nothing worked for you to retain important information, you thought that maybe you needed someone mature who could guide you.

After that day, you tried to get together to study again in a group, exactly in the room of that building and out of mere curiosity you asked what in particular does 'Dr. Bang', to which you remember perfectly that suddenly all their eyes were focused on you, “Oh, he's also a psychiatrist, he helps a lot, from what I've heard”, you remember their answers.

You then asked how come you could get close to his help, but you were surprised by the sudden exaltation of one girl out of the other 3 in the group.

“Girl, don't go see Dr. Bang, he's mine” you remembered that time your classmate started joking. The others laughed however you found it strange.

“I'm not kidding, I'll finish med school and marry him,” the girl continued.

Another of your girl classmates replied, “Good luck with that. I don't think he would settle for just a girl finishing med school… I mean he has been working here for a while and he's never been known to have a single affair with a student or a recent graduate, you don't even know for sure if he has a wife or kids, he's very private. But I do hear he's important in every job he has.”

“For him I'll find the damn cure for cancer if that's what he wants…wait, when is he going to be our professor?”

“Mmm, I guess until senior…”

“I can't wait” replied the girl excitedly for Bang.

“I honestly don't think you'll make it until senior” added another girl there amused.

One guy rolled his eyes as he overheard the conversation and called for your attention to forget the little twisted comments, “He's really nice, you can go with him anytime, but… to have recurring sessions with him, I think you need to validate that you're really fucked up, since he has a pretty busy schedule.” You nodded, paying attention to him.

“Next week I'll prove I'm a psycho to see him all the time” the girl joked again.

That afternoon the other guys simply laughed, but in you a seed of curiosity had been planted and…. you didn't want to be rude, but their study group was not helpful to you and was not bearing fruit at all, so the next day you went to the mental health department of your university and requested meetings with Dr. Bang, while presenting your long history of appointments with your therapist and your difficulty with learning, so initially the manager suggested you go directly to a female counselor, to make you feel more comfortable... so you didn't have the slightest problem, however he mentioned that he would tell Dr. Bang, as he cleared each of his students beforehand and on Monday you received an email confirming your schedule with Bang on Wednesday afternoons.

And since then your adventure began in late February two years ago. It wasn't until you finally got in and met him that you understood all of your classmate's comments, he was an incredibly attractive and intelligent man. Bang was about to quit after considering working long enough as a counselor, he wanted to focus on less work and prioritize the ones he considered more important… as well as organize and relocate his social life, he wanted to focus on making a life, meeting a woman to marry since his last relationship lasted but was unsuccessful, one of the few things Bang was unsuccessful at was love, Bang was beginning to give up on the search for a relationship, and even considered devoting himself completely to his work and studying another specialty. To cope with the loneliness he used to have casual sex with naïve, young, pretty nurses that made them lose their sanity, but he never took anything seriously, until he met you. You made him stay and he didn't want to admit it, until recently.

Bang saw you, so helpless and vulnerable… and he found something in you that he had never felt before. He saw himself in you, an overachiever. Bang in his early days also had his problems that had caused him to lose focus on what he fought so hard to achieve. Listen to your story was like listening himself.

And so two years went by, he taught you absolutely everything he knew, having study sessions which motivated you and your meetings were reflected in your good grades… however, Bang's admirers found it a little strange that after so long he never officially discharged you, so they began to speculate small rumors that did not pass away from your classmates, but he couldn't, you both enjoyed each other's company so much. So just at the beginning of the year, he decided to move your typical Wednesdays to Fridays, when he usually did not attend the university, but he did it exclusively for you, plus being almost the weekend, students did not resort so much to the study hall, making your visits more discreet.

After so long, the two of you created a purely professional union… until recently, last year before your winter break, when the little flirtations finally began, the complicit glances, the double entendre comments, the slight friction when sitting so close to each other and… for the first time, this year, his touch towards you. He was always there, a year after your meetings you confessed to him your deepest sadness and the reason why your mental health and ability to concentrate were affected, to which he saw you as he had never seen you before, so bad and down, so that every anniversary of your father's death you made a small comment which Bang immediately comforted you and made you feel good, until a little over a month ago, you were more than sad, you were stressed in some way, you lived with the burden of knowing that your mother was sad and lonely, you wanted to focus completely on the university and you still had the pain of the departure of that someone, so Bang slowly persuaded you to tell him exactly how you felt and… slowly and gently he began to massage your shoulders, an act that surprised you but helped too much, you hadn't had contact or that kind of attention in years as you were too busy at school and suddenly the pressure of his fingers on your tense muscles felt so good; after massaging you, he said a little awkward and with a nervous chuckle if that was okay with you, so you couldn't agree more. And his massages continued, but the next time you felt it differently, maybe because you were ovulating and you really liked Dr. Bang, but from then on you left his office feeling aroused.

With him everything was easier for you, you felt that it was unfair to others, but you were still incredibly lucky to have him, every week he would sit with you and help you study every single complicated topics of extremely important subjects, he was your individual tutor, you admired him more and more, he was a know-it-all. Then you got to know more about his personality a little bit… he was quite kind and tender, a little bit strange, nervous and rambled too much with what he wanted to say but, he helped you so much that now you stood out among the whole student body and you even felt that you changed your habits, suddenly you were more tidy and… you would occasionally listen to his favorite music to feel close to him, even though you weren't, when you left that office you didn't see him again until your next session, you rarely saw him walking around the campus, but, it was enough time together that, you got to know each other so well as you slowly let out slight details about yourselves.

You didn't know if he would be there, you had no fixed thing to communicate on other than e-mail and it wasn't something that young people your age regularly use as a purpose of communication… you just waited for him to open the door, you were hesitant to knock… you had both said goodbye last time with a “see you next week” but you had completely forgotten that it would be the last day of school. The study room was a mess, more students celebrating and behaving childishly while you stood outside of your mature counselor's door, wanting to see him one last time before you went home, you knew Bang wouldn't be able to try anything with you so you don't want to waste energy trying to flirt but… seeing him was enough for you, living in the delusion of a life together kept you a little human and not just an academic machine.

You knocked on his door softly, with the same pattern of knocks you unconsciously put together over the years, two knocks, one second and the third knock. Your hopes didn't even manage to dampen, as he opened the door immediately and your nerves escalated out of all proportion. He smiled at you as he saw you, forming two soft dimples below his mouth, there you were, in front of him waiting for your session with him. You looked up to get a better look at him, Dr. Christopher Bang, looking so breathtaking and masculine, you wanted to let out a sigh but didn't let yourself do it. Bang stepped aside to let you pass and closed the door behind you.

You observed the place, his office decorated in gothic architecture just like the rest of the university, full of wood and bookshelves and, in his chair behind his desk, you noticed his medical gown overlapping on the back of it, you assumed he must have come from the hospital, Chris was wearing dark cloth pants, perfectly ironed white button down shirt, tight to his muscular body and a thin black tie. Just when you couldn't find him more attractive, it was only enough for you to turn to see him again, to make your heart race and your breathing become heavy, sometimes you wondered if for him it was visible the effects he had on you, after all he was the studied doctor.

“Welcome” he said softly.

You walked into the small living room area in his office, into his leather couches, the light was very bright from his large window behind his desk and in front of his living room.

“Hi” you replied, smiling lively.

Chris placed his hands behind his back and walked over to you.

“I thought you weren't coming today, weren't you supposed to be at some party celebrating your last day of school?” he teased you a little.

He always joked that you weren't the party type of girl, you liked to get drunk once in a while but a party full of sweaty college kids wasn't a fun or hygienic option for you, Chris found it adorable.

You let out a giggle and turned your whole body to face him.

“I couldn't miss my last session with you, Dr. Bang” you commented seductively to which Chris swallowed nervously, he was so turned on when you suddenly got that way but as an adult, he had to concentrate.

But even pretending to be flirtatious you couldn't hide your slight grimace at being stressed, your head hurt a little, and uselessly you thought that being with Chris would take the pain away eventually. He knew you so well that, his slight nervousness at being excited changed in a second to concern.

“Everything okay?” he changed his tone and softened the movement of his eyebrows.

You opened your eyes in surprise as he recognized something happening and sketched a smile. You sighed and walked a few steps to the elongated couch and plopped down.

“Yeah… just… same old same old, I'm worried about my grades” you replied worriedly.

Chris let out a chuckle, he couldn't believe the obsessive little monster he had turned you into, you were twenty one years old and you should be worrying about more banal things like… the launching of some celebrity's new makeup line, since makeup was one of the things you were interested in besides being the best.

“You'll do fine” he spoke sweetly to you. Chris was about to approach you but had another idea, heading to his little liquor area. “Well… if you won't go party with guys your own age, then I'll party with you, here's to another successful semester” you heard him say behind you followed by a sound of glass clinking softly.

You turned your body to see him pouring alcohol into two glasses. Your nerves escalated further, it was the first time you would have that kind of activity.

“What is it?” you asked curiously as you watched him attractively approach you with the two glasses ready.

Chris smiled sideways in amusement and sat down next to you, handing you your glass.

“Whiskey, but drink it slow, sweetie.”

You blushed immediately upon hearing him call you that, he gently raised his glass in toast and you clinked your glass with his. Chris didn't drink from his drink until you did, which surprised you. He watched you intently as you brought the glass to your mouth.

“Like this, slowly, and then quickly…” he said in concentration.

You watched him as you did it and found it so appealing, however you closed your eyes tightly grimacing in disgust as you felt the alcohol burn your throat, which distracted you completely. He let out a chuckle as he saw your expression and quickly drank his without difficulty, just a slightly grimacing with his mouth.

“It's a bit strong for many people” Chris added.

“It was for me” you replied pushing the glass away and setting it down on the small table in front of you.

“Are you stressed?” he said suddenly, trying to make conversation.

You nodded softly, running your tongue around your mouth trying to forget the taste of alcohol.

“You know I am… I'm really nervous about the grades, I think they'll be posted tomorrow.”

“Will you be here in the city for tomorrow?” he asked to which you softly shook your head, Chris didn't like that, he could see you every day… but you were a student and practically his patient, it was completely unethical. “And what will you do once you're back in your hometown?”

You smiled at him.

“I don't know, it'll be boring, I'll look for a job, I'll try to be useful.”

Chris looked you straight in the eye and blurted out without thinking.

“My consulting room needs a receptionist… I mean, it's a job and…. you can keep learning.”

He lied, but he could fire his receptionist without thinking if you took him up on the offer. You looked at him puzzled more however you didn't remark your expression so well.

“Dr. Bang… Sorry, I don't have anywhere to stay in the city” you confessed apologetically, not knowing what to say.

Bang lowered his gaze to the glass and his long fingers intertwined in it, he was dying to tell you that that wasn't a problem, you could stay with him as long as you wanted… but once again he had to set limits.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, sorry. Still the offer is well standing.”

“Thank you.”

“Feeling a little more relaxed already?” he asked again, you nodded. “You know… I still remember my last day of the semester when I was twenty-one, there was this party at Delta Psi fraternity… it was a little… weird, I hope things have changed now” he counted animatedly.

You frowned, ready to hear more of his anecdote and founding sweet that he wanted to distract you, but a loud knock on his door followed by noise from outside startled you. Chris sighed in annoyance.

“Will you excuse me?” he stood up, holding his tie and headed for his door.

You stirred in your seat, he looked so fine pissed off and backwards as he walked to the door. Once again you were beginning to tense up, but this time from sexual frustration.

“Can you please stop making noise? You are in college, behave accordingly, or go outside and make noise you want” exclaimed Chris, scolding those outside, he turned to you “Sorry… the noise.”

Chris locked the door as a reflex and sat down again next to you, this time closer to you, you were about to ask him and tell him to resume his anecdote, but you lost yourself in the closeness of his face, and you analyzed the harmony of it, his dark hair, his straight eyebrows, sharp and small eyes, his prominent and attractive nose in combination with his full pink lips; you tensed again and your heart beat got stronger. Chris admired you too, from your perfectly detailed face with makeup, even the nice outfit you were wearing, Bang licked his lips… feeling the tension and a myriad of dirty thoughts crossing his mind and everything he would do to you, if only he would put his morals aside. Chris recalled his vivid memories of being twenty-one… the gentleness and sweetness that girls that age tasted… Chris closed his eyes and gently turned his head away from you, trying to clear each of those thoughts. Of the anatomy of your pussy prostrate on his cock, of you in genupectoral position with the vulnerability of your ass and needy pussy at his mercy.

Fuck, Chris thought, for the first time in all your encounters -and in his entire career- he was getting hard, they were just innocent little flirtations… but just not today, today his body was betraying him as it never had before. Chris cleared his throat and reacted in seconds, he didn't want you to suspect something was wrong so… just this time he decided to put his morals aside and pay attention to his human needs and carnal desires. He was going to fuck you so good that would make you get a fucking apartment just to do it with him every day.

“I'm glad you're okay but…” he said slowly sitting back up and bringing his hands to your weak shoulders, “I still feel you a little tense.”

You almost sighed at his sudden touch, but it was true, your muscles were stiff from being so excited and unable to do anything; Chris wasn't an idiot, this was just a excuse to touch you but he got a big surprise to really find you stressed. But for you more than stress it was frustration.

Chris kept squeezing your muscles until he squeezed a little too hard, causing you to moan; that was it, that alone was enough for Chris to fully sexually arouse him, he was hard and, if it wasn't because you were so focused on yourself not to screw up and not look like a horny mess, you would notice that Bang was in the same situation as you.

“You're so stressed, honey, look at you” he spoke in a thick voice of which surprised you.

You had your eyes closed in embarrassment and it occurred to you to open them as you heard him a little different… concentrating to Chris looking at you with dark eyes of pure desire, weakening your body more in seconds, you saw his strong arms near your shoulders and…. unconsciously you looked down, finally discovering his prominent erection that surprised you at how big it looked. He was as aroused as you were.

“Fuck, y/n, you're so tense… I can feel it… all over your body…” he spoke again excitedly, making your attention focus on him.

You saw him bite his lip and started to lower his hands squeezing your arms.

“Are you stressed, sweetie?” he asked again, until his hands reached your thighs squeezing them.

“Yes” you moaned.

“You’re so tense, I can feel it… more in this place” Bang said squeezing your thigh and directing his fingers to your already wet pussy, “Let me make you feel good, babygirl” he moaned.

Your body jolted as you felt his hands gently spread your legs apart and brush his fingertips across your panties. You couldn't process that he had finally decided to cross that line, but it felt so good. You always wore only underwear under your skirt on purpose for Dr. Bang.

“Relax, relax, make yourself comfortable, babygirl” he spoke softly in his therapist voice combined with desire, making you lean your back against the back of the couch, “Spread your legs, let me make you feel good, are you okay with that?” he raised his eyebrows waiting for an answer.

“Y-yes” you gasped again.

Bang smiled sideways and quickly got down on his knees between your legs, he gently lifted your skirt and admired the fabric of your wet underwear from the situation.

“I'm going to take all the stress off you, okay babygirl?”

You nodded, completely blinded by desire as you watched your chest rise and fall heavily. Chris began to stroke your clitoris over the thin white fabric of your underwear, making you explode in pleasure with his fine touch, he squeezed your entrance and labia, gently stimulating them. You bit your lip trying not to gasp loudly, finally he pulled the fabric aside and looked with estimation at your entrance lubricating itself, so helpless and needy as he opened your folds, making you let out a high pitched whimper.

Chis licked his lips again hungrily, he had never seen another pussy as appetizing and juicy as yours, he was dying to taste it but wanted to focus on your pleasure. He slid down your panties, leaving you bare of your bottom part and you gasped as you felt the cool air brush against your throbbing, exposed pussy.

“Let me make you feel good” he repeated, stroking the length of your folds and labia, “Feels good?”

You nodded again with difficulty, you were beginning to tremble with overstimulation, Bang began stroking your clitoris again, leading to your body, satisfaction and little twitches. You saw his hand play with your pussy from your angle and how he smiled with satisfaction, the sensations were getting stronger and newer for you that you were feeling desperate and so good at the same time.

“Just relax your body, let yourself go, babygirl” he whispered in a low, lustful voice. “I'm going to stick two fingers in you, okay?”

“Yes” you said again this time more yielding, trying to relax your stiff body a bit more, at the same time struggling to keep your legs open as you had no fixed support to leave them on.

Chris again pulled your folds apart to get a better view of your soaking wet little entrance, making you shudder, he gently brushed your entrance and watched your every reaction, so excited and fighting your instincts, then he realized that seeing your pussy was not enough, he wanted to see all of you and touch every corner of your body. Chris stopped touching your pussy for a moment to which you felt as if something was missing. You saw him, his gaze conveyed desire, yet he didn't leave his gentle and sweet countenance.

“But first, babygirl, let your whole body calm down, go on, undress for me.”

You slowly sat up and toke off your blouse as you stared at him while he looked at you expectantly.

“That's it, good girl, undress. I'll do the same, alright?” you bit your lip and heat came to your ears and stomach as you heard him tell you good girl, unsure what he meant after that, you finally took off your bra as well.

Dr. Bang bit his lips at the sight of your bare chest and admired the shape of your tits with nerve and desire, you smiled slightly in satisfaction knowing you had him so turned on too and understood everything when you watched his hand go to his belt, all your attention focused on his deft long fingers unbuckling his belt and then opening the button of his pants, slowly sliding the zipper all the way down, and finding with his tight black boxer and his protruding hard bulge with little drops of precum, suddenly your mouth felt so lonely, you wanted to make him feel good too but didn't know how to say such boldness and, as anxiety consumed you, he finally pulled down his underwear relieving of his big wiggling and growing cock all by itself. You had never felt so eager for a cock this much in your life, you wanted to taste the softness of his red swollen tip coated in his precum and feel every pumping vein of his length. You thought his cock was so attractive and clean looking, just like the bearer of it.

Chris gasped at finally having his cock free, yet he would feel freedom and at the same time captivity when his member is buried deep inside you making you feel good. Only then would he be free, when your muscles completely relax and you overflow your sweet orgasm on him. He smiled mischievously as he saw you not taking your eyes off his cock, Bang knew clearly that he was well endowed and could hurt your tight sensitive hole if he didn't do it carefully, after all he knew perfectly well the anatomy of both sexes and knew the sensations of a big intruder inside a woman's vagina. Chris didn't want to take you and fuck you wildly, his whole life and career was based on discipline and dedication, so he wanted you to enjoy every second of what the sexual act entailed, besides he loved to help you in every possible way, you were always very well behaved with him, you innocently followed his little flirting game but never dared to throw yourself on him, he had to reward you somehow for your good behavior.

Bang came up to your face and looked tenderly into your eyes.

“Can I kiss you?” he asked softly and gently.

You looked into his eyes and then at his full lips in a second and, without even answering him, you joined your lips with his; you found it incredibly tender and ironic how he could ask you such a thing when he had literally seen and touched your pussy just a few minutes ago, plus you looked so docile and submissive, it was clear that you were willing to whatever he wanted to do with you right now, you were so vulnerable. Chris took your face with his left hand which was slightly clean of your fluids, trying not to let his fingers fall completely on your face and gently pulled you away from his lips for your impulsive action, he gave you small sweet sounding kisses, feeling every particle of your organ, enjoying every second as he always dreamed of feeling them and then he kissed you passionately, so intense and united that you felt the pressure of his nose on your face, and made you open your mouth wider to boldly explore your cavity, and feeling your tongue, managing to elicit from both of you heavier gasps and breaths. With his right hand he caressed your neck a little and moved it down to your breasts and nipples, you were so excited and sensitive that you were afraid of cumming at any moment. His nimble hand continued down to caress your pussy again, this time making you moan between the intimate act you were both sharing and leaving you breathless, so he pulled away from you, now moving his mouth caresses down your neck to your sensitive tits, kissing, licking and sucking them delicately while his left hand was in charge of feeling the other one. His hot kisses moved down with his hand, as he kissed your abdomen, his hand squeezed your waist and his grip stopped at your left thigh, until his lips reached your mons pubis where he finally pulled away from you a little after kissing you gently.

Chris happily watched your expression of pleasure, your eyebrows down and your slightly open mouth; his thumb took care of stimulating the sensitive spot of your clitoris as he gently rubbed, once again, along your labia and without warning and with agility, he inserted two of his long digits that you had previously allowed, into your tight entrance, to which you whimpered in shock and pleasure.

Chris could take no more, his cock throbbed more and more with increasing intensity, but he had to hold out a little longer, as he knew that female pleasure could last longer and had to be carefully worked into it. He skillfully fucked your insides, exploring and feeling his fingers slide into the softness of your walls as you gasped with pleasure, harder and harder.

“Shhh, just keep a little quiet, okay, babygirl? I won't stop and I'll keep making you feel good until you cum” he whispered to you.

You pressed your lips together and bit them hard, just emitting gasps full of air coming from the strength in your chest. He was right, you had forgotten all about it once he started touching you, there were people outside his office… and a large window next to you, yet you were on a second floor and between his large desk obstructing the view, you couldn't see clearly.

Chris continued to turn you on and take such good care of your pussy while his fingers were in you; you felt on cloud nine but every now and then you thought if he would let you taste his cock or if you would feel it inside you today, you needed him so bad, your pussy throbbed just thinking about it.

“One more finger, okay?” gasped Chris inserting his ring finger before you could even answer him.

You whimpered again trembling a little in pain, you wanted him to fuck you all at once, you felt incredibly tense and excited that you were no longer thinking straight, but Chris just wanted to get you ready before he was inside you.

“Fuck my fingers, babygirl, c'mon, move on them” he groaned, looking at his fingers stuck in your pussy, then looking at you while you felt his hot breath near your cunt.

You brought your left hand near your mouth trying not to moan so loudly and started to move your hips enjoying his fingers inside you.

“Fuck” you whispered excitedly feeling his bony fingers moving and touching your internal organ.

“Good girl, you're doing it so good, fucking my fingers so well, you're such a good girl, are you enjoying it, sweetie?”

You gasped in response unable to formulate words. Chris smiled proudly, bit his lower lip and inhaled air between his teeth watching the obscenity of his hand at your entrance and your sweet fluids escaping.

“Fuck, you're so fucking wet, look at you. I'm gonna make you feel so good babygirl, I'm gonna taste you” he warned you almost in a whimper.

With his free hand he positioned your tired legs on his broad strong shoulders, bringing his face close to your pussy and, leaning a little closer, he pulled out his thick hot tongue running it all over your wet vulva making you explode, closer and closer to your orgasm. Chris gently sucked on your labia and withdrew his fingers from your entrance splashing some of your liquid on his chin.

“Mmm you taste so fucking good, babygirl, what the fuck, so good” he whispered.

Suddenly Chris found himself lost deep in your pussy, he was so loaded of you and he was enjoying it too much, giving you off little vibrations as he tasted you with his hot 'mmh', making your legs tremble, you were so close to orgasm finally. He continued, placing little kisses on your clit and with the tip of his tongue stimulating you quickly in a series of motions, you were so desperate you didn't know where to rest your hands calmly, so you directed your right hand to his head, stroking his hair for the first time. Chris caught your gaze instantly as he felt your hand in his hair and he stared at you as he tasted your clitoris and with one finger gently penetrated your entrance.

You broke eye contact with him as you again felt his tongue and lips run down the length of your folds, you closed your eyes in pleasure and shook your head ready for your orgasm that was slowly contracting in your body. Bang continued, never leaving your sensitive spot once he withdrew his tongue of it, his fingers now caressing it as he was lost in the glorious slurping sound of his mouth in your pussy, until he reached your entrance, parting your folds for better access of his tongue, making you scream, he was eating you out so well you wanted to cry.

You couldn't hold it in any longer and finally released all the tension, climaxing in his mouth as you held back your gasp biting down hard on your lip. Chris pulled away and watched in detail your glistening fluids slide out and your hole throb, he smiled and took it upon himself to clean you, running his tongue one last time before standing up. Cleaning himself around his mouth too, licking his lips.

“I'm gonna fuck you, now, alright?” he moaned, his cock was still hard and needy and his precum droplets ached to come out as he was holding back his orgasm.

You saw his sex, so foreplayed and red; you began to get excited and lubricated yourself again by the obscenity of his cock. Chris accommodated your body, putting your head on the couch cushion and doing his best to make you very comfortable and positioned his body over you, he spread your legs a little more and you saw his tender but intimidating expression of concentration as he inserted his cock into your hole. Bang was a doctor with a specialty, he knew fucking well he was about to have unprotected sex, but he was so lost between desire that, feeling your insides with his fingers and tongue was not enough, his sensitive and swollen cock had to feel it on its own to check how good you feel, thus bare, he wanted all his discharge in you, your vagina unrecognizing his sperm and, he seeing it struggling to squirt the unknown cum, he wanted to fill you completely for being so good with him and studying so hard, you deserved it, finally a great break. And you, always so dedicated, were more than willing to feel Dr. Bang's raw cock inside you.

You gasped and shuddered as you felt his cock enter you, Bang gasped at the sensation of your hole slowly opening to make way for his cock, it was huge, you knew it and you were feeling it, but you still wanted every inch of him in you. Chris had inserted half of his hard limb and you were already gasping with pain and pleasure.

“God, you're so tight, so fucking tight, I want to fuck your pussy so bad” Chirs spluttered panting and excited, bringing out the vein in his neck and forehead.

And slowly, he entered into you fully until you felt his balls gently rubbing against your pussy, you let out a stifled little whimper, even inside you, you could feel his large size and you noticed him bulging in a soft lump in your belly. Chris began to slowly penetrate you, his whole cock inside you, thrusting his hips; you whimpered at the sensation and held yourself entwining your arms around his back still wearing his shirt, feeling the tingle of his tie as it fell and brushed against your chest. He moved his body closer, brought your foreheads together for a moment, staring at you as he kept ramming your pussy hard and sweetly kissed your lips, pulled away from you and positioned his head in the hollow of your neck, feeling and hearing his hot, light moans, turning you on more and, when you thought you were completely sexually satisfied, you felt his hand caress your clit, causing you to reflexively close your legs, squeezing his broad lower torso. Your pussy was so sensitive to every movement and stroke of Chris's cock, you felt his thrusts change a little as you were mindful of the sensation of his cock sliding through your core, you sighed, you were so stressed that you couldn't moan so loudly at the feel of his big dick. The sound of both wet sexes colliding was so obscene, both of you completely devoted to each other.

“You feel so good, fuck, y/n. Moan for me softly.”

Chris loved the feeling of your tight walls squeezing his cock, and your small orifice dilating adapting to his size, after minutes of the incredible sensation, Chris could feel your second climax close; but only this time he would 'punish' you, as he also fantasized about you fucking him yourself, he wanted to see you so overwhelmed jumping on his cock; so he suddenly pulled out of you causing a small mess of your fluids.

“I want you to fuck me babygirl, sit on my cock please” he asked you demanding but soft.

You bit your bottom lip as you watched Chris sit up, you stood up and, quickly Bang found the zipper of your skirt, unzipping it and making it fall gracefully, finally leaving you naked, which made him lick his lips lusting after you; you spread your legs and positioned yourself over his lap, you took his wide hard cock with your left hand to guide it to your entrance as you held onto his shoulder. Chris smiled admiring your flushed cheeks and your face of concentration, until you both gasped once feeling joined; first you slid his glans and then you let yourself fall completely on his cock, squeezing down to your cervix, you were one hundred percent sure that your poor vaginal canal was no match for Chris's cock length, who you looked at and also had a moaning expression on him, you admired again his closeness, every small and almost non-existent pore of his well-kept face and the roughness and manliness of the texture of his neck, you also wished to see him completely naked so you awkwardly played with his tie trying to take it off.

“Do you want to unbutton my shirt, sweetheart?” he said tenderly noticing your actions.

You nodded encouragingly, “Yes, Dr. Bang.”

Chris was turned on by you speaking to him formally, making his cock throb more of which you resented inside and let out a moan. He loosened his tie, tossed it aside and helped you unbutton his shirt faster, exposing his muscular, hard-working body.

“Move for me, ahh, that's right, good girl.”

You began to stir yourself on his cock, moving with it all the way to his testicles sweetly squeezed by your weight, as you held onto his marked pecs and gradually lifted your body to keep a rhythm to the frantic bouncing on his cock. You eagerly and between gasps felt his cock rise and fall up and down the tract inside you, trying to take it all, making you sweat a little from your exertion. Chris squeezed your waist tightly, helping to propel you forward.

“Oh that's it, fuck me, you're doing excellent, good girl, fuck, taking so well my cock” he whimpered as his eyes were fixed on your tits moving and his cock burying into your tight pussy.

His words turned you on more and encouraging you to keep going. Accelerating your squats more and more, causing Chris to widen his eyes in surprise, increasing the intensity of his heartbeat and suffocating his cock more.

“Fu-fuck, I-i'm gonna cum inside of you, I'm gonna fill your pussy like the good girl you are.”

Chris let go himself completely, he had held back his orgasm long enough so followed by shuddering whimpers, he ejaculated inside you, feeling his warm shot of cum; you were so close too, which he could predict so he continued to praise you softly.

“Keep it up, beautiful, cum on my cock, come on, you can do it.”

You buried your nails a little into his chest and cum, spilling your second orgasm down the length of his cock, making both of you a mess, your combined fluids slipping and sliding down his balls and lightly onto his thighs. You both tried to catch your breath. Chris remained holding you tightly around your waist so that you stayed right there and so on top of him, he didn't want to give up the feel of your core in him, he wanted a little of cockwarming in you.

“Wow… that” Chris tried to say, slowly coming back to his senses, realizing he had finally fucked you, reality suddenly hit him, you were still sitting on his cock and over his lap with your cheeks red and your babyhair slightly tousled and glistening in a minimal layer of sweat from your exertion, he let out his typical nervous chuckle, “…that was wonderful. You know… anytime you need help relaxing, we can do it whenever you want. Maybe next time you can do all the noise you want.”

You stared into his eyes perplexed that he had just implied that from now on, you could fuck anytime you wanted.

“But you'll leave tomorrow, right?” he spoke again.

You nodded disappointed, he was right, you had to go back to your hometown tomorrow; you sighed and hugged him gently, leaning your head on his shoulder, tired and breathing in his scent, thinking you didn't want to leave him, your summer would be boring anyway, you needed him, the feeling of his cock inside you, filling you up felt so good, you were going to miss him. You've never had your stress taken away like that before.

----

dividers by chilumitos ପ(๑•ᴗ•๑)ଓ ♡

[official-linguistics-post]

frequently asked questions

PLEASE check these items before you send an ask!

icon...

it's the old logo for the speech analysis software praat.

pronouns?

they/them!

why can't i find your ask box?

it's probably temporarily closed so i can pretend i didn't accidentally start a semi-popular blog.

where can i start learning about linguistics?

i recommend crash course linguistics as a good entry point. for more thorough coverage, essentials of linguistics is an open access textbook.

how do i major in linguistics? how do i get a graduate degree in linguistics?

go to a school that has a major or graduate program in linguistics. then do well in classes. sorry, y'all, i'm not an admissions consultant.

how many languages do you know?

english, arguably. possibly more. no i will not specify further.

thoughts on...

chat/bro being pronouns? they're not. fourth person pronouns? don't exist in english. conlangs? not my area.

can you answer my really specific question?

i try not to act authoritative about topics i'm not actually an authority on—which is most of linguistics. i can offer my educated thoughts, but please don't use me as a formal source (unless you've magically hit on the single minuscule topic i know like the back of my hand, in which case i'll swear you to secrecy and then send you my citations).

what's your subfield?

i generally cite it as being historical linguistics, but that's kind of just my umbrella: under that my primary research has touched on morphology, sociolinguistics, and epigraphy.

are you [insert real person]?

statistically, no!

are you really a linguist?

i have a BA, MA, and PhD in linguistics/linguistic anthropology.

you're a loser.

you don't know the half of it!

[dreamdolldeveloper]

back to basics

mostly free resources to help you learn the basics that i've gathered for myself so far that i think are cool

everyday

gcfglobal - about the internet, online safety and for kids, life skills like applying for jobs, career planning, resume writing, online learning, today's skills like 3d printing, photoshop, smartphone basics, microsoft office apps, and mac friendly. they have core skills like reading, math, science, language learning - some topics are sparse so hopefully they keep adding things on. great site to start off on learning.

handsonbanking - learn about finances. after highschool, credit, banking, investing, money management, debt, goal setting, loans, cars, small businesses, military, insurance, retirement, etc.

bbc - learning for all ages. primary to adult. arts, history, science, math, reading, english, french, all the way to functional and vocational skills for adults as well, great site!

education.ket - workplace essential skills

general education

mathsgenie - GCSE revision, grade 1-9, math stages 1-14, provides more resources! completely free.

khan academy - pre-k to college, life skills, test prep (sats, mcat, etc), get ready courses, AP, partner courses like NASA, etc. so much more!

aleks - k-12 + higher ed learning program. adapts to each student.

biology4kids - learn biology

cosmos4kids - learn astronomy basics

chem4kids - learn chemistry

physics4kids - learn physics

numbernut - math basics (arithmetic, fractions and decimals, roots and exponents, prealgebra)

education.ket - primary to adult. includes highschool equivalent test prep, the core skills. they have a free resource library and they sell workbooks. they have one on work-life essentials (high demand career sectors + soft skills)

youtube channels

the organic chemistry tutor

khanacademy

crashcourse

tabletclassmath

2minmaths

kevinmathscience

professor leonard

greenemath

mathantics

3blue1brown

literacy

readworks - reading comprehension, build background knowledge, grow your vocabulary, strengthen strategic reading

chompchomp - grammar knowledge

tutors

not the "free resource" part of this post but sometimes we forget we can be tutored especially as an adult. just because we don't have formal education does not mean we can't get 1:1 teaching! please do you research and don't be afraid to try out different tutors. and remember you're not dumb just because someone's teaching style doesn't match up with your learning style.

cambridge coaching - medical school, mba and business, law school, graduate, college academics, high school and college process, middle school and high school admissions

preply - language tutoring. affordable!

revolutionprep - math, science, english, history, computer science (ap, html/css, java, python c++), foreign languages (german, korean, french, italian, spanish, japanese, chinese, esl)

varsity tutors - k-5 subjects, ap, test prep, languages, math, science & engineering, coding, homeschool, college essays, essay editing, etc

chegg - biology, business, engineering/computer science, math, homework help, textbook support, rent and buying books

learn to be - k-12 subjects

for languages

lingq - app. created by steve kaufmann, a polygot (fluent in 20+ languages) an amazing language learning platform that compiles content in 20+ languages like podcasts, graded readers, story times, vlogs, radio, books, the feature to put in your own books! immersion, comprehensible input.

flexiclasses - option to study abroad, resources to learn, mandarin, cantonese, japanese, vietnamese, korean, italian, russian, taiwanese hokkien, shanghainese.

fluentin3months - bootcamp, consultation available, languages: spanish, french, korean, german, chinese, japanese, russian, italian.

fluenz - spanish immersion both online and in person - intensive.

pimsleur - not tutoring** online learning using apps and their method. up to 50 languages, free trial available.

incase time has passed since i last posted this, check on the original post (not the reblogs) to see if i updated link or added new resources. i think i want to add laguage resources at some point too but until then, happy learning!!

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved on our archive (Thousands of reports, sources, and resources! Daily updates!)

By Robert Stevens

A COVID wave fuelled by the XEC variant is leading to hospitalisations throughout Britain.

According to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), the admission rate for patients testing positive for XEC stood at 4.5 per 100,000 people in the week to October 6—up significantly from 3.7 a week earlier. UKHSA described the spread as “alarming”.

Last week, Dr. Jamie Lopez Bernal, consultant epidemiologist at the UKHSA, noted of the spread of the new variant in Britain: “Our surveillance shows that where Covid cases are sequenced, around one in 10 are the ‘XEC’ lineage.”

The XEC variant, a combination of the KS.1.1 and KP.3.3 variants, was detected and recorded in Germany in June and has been found in at least 29 countries—including in at least 13 European nations and the 24 states within United States. According to a New Scientist article published last month, “The earliest cases of the variant occurred in Italy in May. However, these samples weren’t uploaded to an international database that tracks SARS-CoV-2 variants, called the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID), until September.”

The number of confirmed cases of XEC internationally exceeds 600 according to GISAID. This is likely an underestimation. Bhanu Bhatnagar at the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe noted that “not all countries consistently report data to GISAID, so the XEC variant is likely to be present in more countries”.

Another source, containing data up to September 28—the Outbreak.info genomic reports: scalable and dynamic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 variants and mutations—reports that there have been 1,115 XEC cases detected worldwide.

Within Europe, XEC was initially most widespread in France, accounting for around 21 percent of confirmed COVID samples. In Germany, it accounted for 15 percent of samples and 8 percent of sequenced samples, according to an assessment from Professor Francois Balloux at the University College London, cited in the New Scientist.

Within weeks of those comments the spread of XEC has been rapid. Just in Germany, it currently accounts for 43 percent of infections and is therefore predominant. Virologists estimate that XEC has around twice the growth advantage of KP.3.1.1 and will be the dominant variant in winter.

A number of articles have cited the comments made to the LA Times by Eric Topol, the Director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in California. Topol warns that XEC is “just getting started”, “and that’s going to take many weeks, a couple months, before it really takes hold and starts to cause a wave. XEC is definitely taking charge. That does appear to be the next variant.”

A report in the Independent published Tuesday noted of the make-up of XEC, and its two parent subvariants: “KS.1.1 is a type of what’s commonly called a FLiRT variant. It is characterised by mutations in the building block molecules phenylalanine (F) altered to leucine (L), and arginine (R) to threonine (T) on the spike protein that the virus uses to attach to human cells.

“The second omicron subvariant KP.3.3 belongs to the category FLuQE where the amino acid glutamine (Q) is mutated to glutamic acid (E) on the spike protein, making its binding to human cells more effective.”

Covid cases are on the rise across the UK, with recent data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) indicating a 21.6 percent increase in cases in England within a week.

There is no doubt that the spread of XEC virus contributed to an increase in COVID cases and deaths in Britain. In the week to September 25, there were 2,797 reported cases—an increase of 530 from the previous week. In the week to September 20 there was a 50 percent increase in COVID-related deaths in England, with 134 fatalities reported.

According to the latest data, the North East of England is witnessing the highest rate of people being hospitalised, with 8.12 people per 100,000 requiring treatment.

Virologist Dr. Stephen Griffin of the University of Leeds has been an active communicator of the science and statistics of the virus on various public platforms and social media since the start of the pandemic. He was active in various UK government committees during the height of the COVID-19. In March 2022, he gave an interview to the World Socialist Web Site.

This week Griffin spoke to the i newspaper on the continuing danger of allowing the untrammelled spread of XEC and COVID in general. “The problem with COVID is that it evolves so quickly,” he said.

He warned, “We can either increase our immunity by making better vaccines or increasing our vaccine coverage, or we can slow the virus down with interventions, such as improving indoor air quality. But we’re not doing those things.”

“Its evolutionary rate is something like three or four times faster than that of the fastest seasonal flu. So you’ve got this constant change in the virus, which accelerates the number of susceptible people.

“It’s creating its own new pool of susceptibles every time it changes to something that’s ‘immune evasive’. Every one of these subvariants is distinct enough that a whole swathe of people are no longer immune to it and it can infect them. That’s why you see this constant undulatory pattern which doesn’t look seasonal at all.”

There are no mitigations in place in Britain, as is the case internationally, to stop the spread of this virus. Advice for those with COVID symptoms is to stay at home and limit contact with others for just five days. The National Health Service advises, “You can go back to your normal activities when you feel better or do not have a high temperature”, despite the fact that the person may well still be infectious. Families are advised that children with symptoms such as a runny nose, sore throat, or mild cough can still “go to school or childcare' if they feel well enough.

The detection and rapid spread of new variants disproves the lies of governments that the pandemic is long over and COVID-19 should be treated no differently to influenza.

Deaths due to COVID in the UK rose above 244,000 by the end of September. It is only a matter of time before an even deadlier variant emerges. Last month, Sir Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, told the ongoing public inquiry into COVID-19 “We have to assume a future pandemic on this scale [the global pandemic which began in 2020] will occur… That’s a certainty.”

[i-am-aprl]

According to CNN, students across the political spectrum have been rejecting offers from Columbia University due to the school’s handling of on-campus protests. Admissions consultancies across the US have also reported high school students taking Columbia off of their college lists for next year. Columbia remains at the epicenter of student demonstrations, with over 100 students arrested and a return to online classes.

The university declined to officially comment to journalists on how the protests are impacting its fall enrollment.

How do you think current events will or should impact Columbia in the future? Has recent news from Columbia impacted your college list?

[ankitkumar7794]

USA Study Visa Consultants | IMA

IMA, a study in USA consultants is very expert in our domain. They are having more than 13 years of experience with satisfactory results. Their main motto is to give as much information regarding us admission consultants, so they are providing counseling services free of cost.

[vidhyamacademy]

Vidhyam Academy: Your Gateway to Excellence in MCA Education in Delhi

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Entrance exams play a crucial role in securing admission to top MCA colleges in Delhi. Vidhyam Academy Consultancy offers expert guidance and coaching for various entrance exams, such as NIMCET, Delhi University MCA Entrance Exam, and IPU CET. Their experienced faculty provides comprehensive study materials, conducts mock tests, and offers valuable tips and strategies to help you excel in these exams. With their guidance, you can boost your chances of securing a seat in your dream MCA college.

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[suddencolds]

insatiable appetite [1/?]

sooo... this is one of the thirstiest things i have written—and also one of the only times i've written a character with the kink, ever T.T warnings in advance for mess, character getting sneezed on, implied contagion, possible ooc-ness, & me writing this entirely with my d instead of my head

ivan and till are from al//ien sta//ge (a very fun watch which will only take 30 mins out of your life; i really recommend it!!). that said, this fic takes place in a modern au setting, so feel free to read it without any prior context :)

special thanks to @6pmsoup for sending me a very cute alnst doodle of these two which altered my brain chemistry permanently

—

Summary: Till shows up to a dinner outing with a brewing cold. Ivan suffers. (est. relationship, kink!Ivan, ~2k words)

—

For all Till tries to hide it, Ivan can tell immediately.

There’s this: Ivan has been paying attention to Till for most of his life. A full decade before they’d gotten together officially, and some more—this is how long Ivan has had to observe his tells. Always from the sidelines, always with a detached air of indifference that, in reality, was anything but.

All the signs are there the night before. Till, turning up the thermostat a couple degrees higher than he usually keeps it. Spending a little too long in the shower and using up almost all of the hot water. Clearing his throat one too many times in the morning before Ivan leaves for work, his smile distracted, the rasp of his voice nearly indistinguishable—but only nearly.

Now, Till is here for dinner—it’s a dinner they’ve had plans for a couple weeks now, at one of the nicer restaurants downtown, in celebration of Till’s recent promotion. Ivan had booked the reservation a couple weeks in advance.

When Till arrives, stepping out of a taxi cab, he’s wearing a scarf, even though the weather is too warm for it. Ivan steps up to meet him. 

“Sorry I’m late,” Till says. “Traffic here was the worst I’ve ever seen it, swear to god.”

“Was it cold outside today?” Ivan asks, a little pointedly, tilting his head towards his scarf.

Till looks at him, his expression unreadable. Then he nods. “Colder than usual, for this time of year.”

“Strange,” Ivan says, just to be difficult. “But the weather forecast says it’s the same temperature today as yesterday.” 

“It’s probably just windier today,” Till says, readjusting his scarf around his neck. His face is a little flushed.

“Your voice sounds a little off, though.”

Till clears his throat with a scowl. “You must be imagining it,” he says. “It always sounds like this.”

No admission, then. That’s fine. Ivan will get the truth out of him at some point. He lets Till guide him into the restaurant.

It’s a nice restaurant—worth the hassle of the reservation, Ivan thinks. Each table is set with flowers arranged tastefully in long glass vases, empty wine glasses turned on their heads. The server—who leads them to their table in a small, private booth—is wearing a suit.

It’s a shame, really. Ivan has a feeling that he won’t be able to pay attention to any of that tonight.

They sit. Ivan looks down at the menu, picks out something at random in a matter of seconds. Truthfully, he can hardly think of anything less worth his attention right now. He turns his attention to Till instead—Till, who’s seated directly across from him, the scarf still around his neck, obscuring the lower half of his face. 

Till sniffles, reaching down to turn the page, and oh. The sniffle is terribly liquid—has he been sniffling like that all afternoon? Perhaps it’s a good thing that they work at different offices—Till at a law firm, Ivan as a senior manager at a consulting company—because Ivan certainly doesn’t think he’d be able to get any work done with Till sniffling like that. 

It’s not two minutes later that Till is reaching up to wipe his nose against the back of one knuckle. All in all, it’s discreet. Just a quick brush of the fingers against his nose, which is still hidden under the scarf. Though, the look of sheer ticklishness that passes over his features for a brief moment there is...

“What are you thinking of ordering?” Ivan asks.

“I can’t decide,” Till answers. He turns the page again. “It’s between the ribeye steak and the… snf! The pork belly. Is this the kind of place that skimps on the portion sizes?”

“Not from their Yelp reviews,” Ivan says. “You know, if you really can’t decide, I can flip a coin.”

“I’ll pick,” Till says. “Why? Hungry already?”

He looks up, now. His eyes are a little watery. There’s a faint flush over the bridge of his nose. Ivan thinks that if he reached out and touched him, he’d probably be running warm. The thought is almost unbearable.

“Your taxi did take forever to arrive,” Ivan says, by way of explanation. 

“Did you really wait that long?”

He looks uncertain, for a moment. Ivan says, “Not at all. But you know, I’m always impatient when it comes to you.”

Till rolls his eyes, but it’s fond. “There was a meeting that ran late. I wasn’t avoiding you.”

“Is that also a part of your new position?” “I guess so, yeah.”

“I can see why they were eager to promote you, then,” Ivan says. “How productive can late afternoon meetings be, anyways?”

Till snorts. “Not that important. It definitely could have been an email instead. I was about ready to doze off.”

He sniffles again. “Okay. I think I know what I want.” The way he says know betrays the slightest hint of congestion. 

“At long last,” Ivan says, just to be a little bit of an ass. “I’ll call over the waiter.”

He flags their waiter down, waits for Till to order first.

“A spiced apple cider,” Till adds on, at the end, with the slightest of coughs. “Hot, if you can.”

That’s new, too. Till seldom orders hot drinks at restaurants, though he’ll drink tea without complaint if it’s offered. Perhaps his throat hurts, then, from the cold that has clearly started to settle in his system. Subtle, still, but Ivan is familiar with colds like this. He knows it will probably only be a few hours before this deceptively “small” cold turns into…

Ivan orders, too, and thanks the waiter, who leaves with a curt nod. When he looks back over to Till, there’s a… strange something to Till’s expression, a slight distractedness. Irritation.

Ivan swallows hard. He should look away. 

He should, but then, Till’s breath hitches. He pulls the scarf higher over his face preemptively, as if he anticipates having something to have to cover for. The sharp intake of breath that follows is breathy, though Ivan can hear Till’s voice in it. He should really look away.

Instead, he takes the scene in, painstakingly, little by little, as Till’s shoulders jerk forwards. As Till presses a hand to the scarf, presses the fabric closer to his face, to muffle a sneeze into his fingertips:

“hhH-Ih!! hiHH-’IESCHH-eew-!”

God. It sounds utterly miserable, the harsh release of it scraping against his throat, the spray tearing into his scarf. It’s the kind of cold sneeze that is undeniably telling: this is going to be one hell of a cold. It’s not very quiet, either, even muffled into the fabric.

For more reasons than one, Ivan is glad they’re in a private corner of the restaurant, not somewhere more public.

“Bless you,” he offers, once he can trust himself to speak. It’s a good thing that Till is too distracted to look up at him right now. Ivan isn’t sure he can keep what he’s feeling off of his face.

Truthfully, he isn’t sure he’s going to be able to endure a whole night of this.

The problem here is that Till—Till, of all people; Till, who Ivan has been pathetically in love with for almost as long as he can remember—has no idea about Ivan’s… relatively niche interests. That is to say, he has no idea what effect it has on Ivan when he does that.

“Thanks,” Till says, a little stuffily. He sniffles again, lowering his hand. 

Ivan can’t help it. He knows he shouldn’t pursue this line of questioning, but he can feel his self-control dwindling by the second. “Don’t you think it would be better to take off your scarf, now that we’re inside?”

Till freezes. “Y-You know what,” he says evasively. “It’s pretty cold in here.”

Ivan tilts his head in question. “And just how do you plan on eating like that?”

“I’ll take it off when our food comes.”

“I can ask the waiter to turn the temperature up, if it’s a problem,” Ivan says. 

“It’s not a problem.”

Ivan rises from his seat. Till watches him, perplexed, as he heads to the opposite side of the table, where Till is seated.

When he gets there, he stops. Stands, unmoving, so he can study Till from above. 

“What are you—”

Ivan reaches out, settles his palm across Till’s forehead. As expected, it’s warm. Not quite feverish, which is a good sign, but warm enough to be notable. 

“Just how long were you intending to hide this?”

Till stares back at him, wide-eyed. “Hide what?”

Shouldn’t it be obvious? “The fact that you have a cold.”

“I didn’t think it was worth mentioning,” Till says, slowly.

“Hmm.” Ivan drops his hand to his side. He is a little concerned, now. “We could’ve called a rain check.”

This time Till really does roll his eyes. “For the reservation we planned weeks ahead?” he sniffles again. “That just sounds completely and utterly unnecessary. Are you the type of person to call things off just over a little cold?” 

Ivan leans over, tugs down the edge of Till’s scarf. Till bats his hand away just a moment too late, cups his other hand over his face to shield his face from view. For a moment, he looks faintly mortified.

Then his expression settles into something more disgruntled. “What are you doing?” he hisses.

So uncooperative. “Let me see,” Ivan says. Slowly, gently, he pries Till’s hands away from his face, and then—because the restaurant is dimly lit—tilts Till’s face up slightly so that it catches more of the overhead light. 

Till’s nose is redder than usual. He’s probably been rubbing it all afternoon, if the redness that percolates into his cheeks is any indication. There’s  a damp, liquid sheen on the underside of his nose.

“What’s there to see?” Till says, a little crossly.

“Your face, since you’ve been so intent on hiding it under that scarf,” Ivan says, leaning in to get a better look.

Till scowls at him, but there’s no heat to it. “You see my face every day.”

“On the contrary, I don’t see it nearly enough,” Ivan says. “And you hardly ever get sick. Is it so wrong for me to be concerned?”

Without looking, he reaches behind him with one hand to grab a couple cocktail napkins. The other hand he keeps held up to Till’s cheek. 

But then, Till’s breath hitches. “Wait,” he says. Panic flashes through his face. “Ivan, move, I—”

Oh. Well, seeing as there’s no way he’ll be able to get the napkins over in time, it looks like he’ll have to improvise. If Till wants to cover, Ivan can help with that. He moves his hand to cup it loosely over Till’s mouth. Not a second too late, it seems. Till jerks forward unceremoniously, his nose twitching, his eyes squeezing shut.

“hHheh-! HHh’EIITShHh’yYiew!” he gasps sharply. Two? “Hh-! hHiiH’DSSCSSHh-IIew!”  

The jolt of the sneezes is practically electrifying—all of that force, brought to an abrupt halt behind Ivan’s waiting palm. He feels the expulsion of air against his skin, the warmth of Till’s breath, feels the slight dampness behind his hand as the spray mists over his fingertips.

Ivan swallows, hard. Thank god it’s so dark here, otherwise Till might notice what this is doing to him. 

“Bless you,” he says, withdrawing his hand at last to wipe it on one of the cloth napkins. It comes out slightly raspier than he intends it to, though perhaps it’s a miracle that he’s still able to talk at all. “Some cold, hmm?” Belatedly, he hands Till the stack of napkins.

Till practically snatches them from him, turns aside to blow his nose wetly into the top few. The way he sniffles afterwards suggests that his nose is still very much running. 

“Do you have no self preservation? It’s as if you want to catch this,” Till says, drawing back with another sniffle.

Oh, Ivan thinks, fighting back a shiver. That would be far from the worst thing.

[summer-nights19]

Omertá part 4

Romeo Scorpius Lucci x fem reader

Part 3

After a long morning of uninterruptedly running around the casino to serve drinks, clean the floor and deal cards, the last thing you really wanted to do was act as Romeo's mule and travel across campus to deliver things to his clients, so you were less than thrilled when some Sinostra student came up to you with a small plastic bag full of weed and told you to drop off at Vagastrom.

"Give this to Leo Kurosagi, first year,"

You took the bag and hid it under your blazer, careful not to open the seal.

"Will that be my tasks done for today after this ?"

The guy frowned at you as if you'd somehow asked something offensive, but he replied anyway.

"Fico wants you to meet him in his office right after you finish,"

You nodded, holding back a groan. One meeting with Romeo had been more than enough for the whole week, and, despite his admission that you could be useful that morning, you were pretty sure he found you just as unbearable as you did him.

Deciding there was no point in prolonging the inevitable, you consulted the campus map you carried around everywhere and walked off in the direction of the Vagastrom students' favourite hang out spot.

***

The pit was a staple hang out spot for Vagastrom students, or so you'd heard. On most days, the entire house would gather around it for hours on end to watch men beating each other up and bet on the outcome. Standing there surrounded by a cacophony of shouts and jeers as the smell of blood and sweat flooded into your nose, it was hard to understand the appeal. As you were scanning the faces in crowd, your eyes fell on a short, lean guy with cat yellow eyes. He was wearing headphones and talking to a much taller guy in a bandana as they both kept half an eye on what was happening in the pit.

Bingo.

Rolling back your shoulders, you started shoving your way through the massive crowd to reach Leo. A few guys grunted in annoyance as you pushed past them, but you assumed that the majority were used to it - this didn't exactly look like the kind of environment in which health and safety was prioritized. He caught your eye just as you were approaching him, his eyebrows raising when he saw the colour of the accents on your uniform. When you finally reached him, he held out his hand expectantly

"Here to deliver on behalf of Ro-Ro ?"

You gave him a side eye. Just how many stupid nicknames did Romeo have ?

"Yes, I'm here for your order," you kept your voice even, making it clear you wouldn't move until he handed you the money. After a few seconds of standing there and staring at each other, Leo rolled his eyes, the hint of a smirk on his lips as he reached inside his pocket.

"He's one step ahead of me by now. Looks like the new recruits know to wait for payment before they hand anything over,"

Trying not to sigh, you watched Leo pull out a wad of cash and toss it at you. With the rise of the Internet, a lot of criminal organisations had moved onto using digital cash, but many still preferred physical as it made laundering the money a lot easier. Apparently, your new "boss" belonged to this second category.

As you counted the crumpled banknotes, you wondered how many times this exact transaction had happened in the history of your family alone. How many times had men and women desperate for money or owing your father a "favour" wondered into a dodgy location to transport the "goods" your father sold to their buyers, all so he wouldn't have to get his own hands dirty or risk his own skin ? Romeo claiming to be different was laughable for that reason alone.

With a swift movement, you took out the weed, not bothering to conceal your actions too much. Everyone around you was completely engrossed by the cage fight, and these didn't exactly seem like the types to report sales of "illicit substances" to the staff. Not wanting to spend a minute longer than you had to in that place, you gave Leo a curt nod, stuffed the money inside your blazer and walked away.

After a long walk around the bitterly cold campus, you finally got to Romeo's office for the impromptu meeting he'd scheduled. You raised an eyebrow at the goon standing in front if the door, not waning to waste any time.

"You have business with Fico ? He's not back yet, but he said to go in and wait for him. He said to clean his office while you're at it,"

You crossed your arms, glaring at the guy in front of you.

"The fuck does he think I am ? His maid ?"

Romeo's goon met your gaze, a teasing smirk on his lips. Underlings always enjoyed having someone below them to boss around.

"Don't make things difficult for yourself, L/N. Just get in there and start cleaning,"

Clenching your fists, you pushed past the guy and opened the door to Romeo's office. If he thought you were going to clean his space for him just because he'd ordered you to, he was beyond deluded, but this situation had presented you with a nice opportunity to investigate.

Romeo's office was massive and decorated somewhat ostentatiously. Did he really need a fountain on his wall ? Now that you were looking at it more closely, it did seem a little suspicious, but that would have to wait. The main object of interest was the large mahogany desk at the centre of the room. Sorting your way through neatly stacked piles of documents, you skim read for anything of interest - any dirt or blackmail you could use to manipulate events in your favour even slightly - before your eyes fell on a locked drawer. Taking a hairpin out of your pocket and prying it open, you smirked to yourself. If Romeo had something to hide, you might very well find it in there. After a few tries at picking the lock, you finally managed to open the drawer. The inside was almost empty, save for an ornate black rosary and a crumpled piece of paper. You took the paper in your hand and unfolded it carefully. It had a picture of the Virgin Mary, along with words you'd long forgotten.

"Ave, o Maria, piena di grazia,

il Signore è con te.

Tu sei benedetta fra le donne

e benedetto è il frutto del tuo seno, Gesù.

Santa Maria, Madre di Dio,

prega per noi peccatori,

adesso e nell'ora della nostra morte.

Amen." *

To say you were surprised would be an understatement. While a lot of people in your circles at least made an effort to appear to be men of faith in public, Romeo hadn't struck you as the type - quite the opposite in fact.

A familiar voice from just outside the door broke the silence, which caused you to slam the drawer shut and place the key back in. As you heard the doorknob turn, you started going through the piles of documents on the desk, pretending to sort through them.

"You've done a catastrophic job at cleaning, BB. This room is messier than when I left it,"

You looked up from the desk and rolled your eyes at him.

"Clean it yourself then. Or don't get me to do fifty things in one day,"

Romeo sat down in one of his plush armchairs, fully returning your glare.

"You're lucky I even gave you this opportunity, so don't complain ! If you don't watch your mouth-"

"Remember Mr Lucci, you need me just as much as I need you,"

Romeo sighed, scowling at you, but he couldn't bring himself to deny it.

"On another note, don't make me deliver anything to Vagastrom again. Being in a room with that many sweaty, shouty men isn't something I particularly enjoy,"

"You're in no position to be making demands, L/N. You'll deliver where I need you to deliver,"

"Can't I go to Frostheim next time ? I'm sure some of their rich asses buy cocaine or something,"

"You'll go there if I need you to go there ! Now shut the fuck up before you make me reconsider promoting you,"

"Promote me ?" You stopped leaning back on the chair, your eyes widening slightly.

"Yes. I believe you did a satisfactory enough job today to fully take on the role of my assistant starting tomorrow. Of course, you'll still have to follow all of my orders," Romeo smirked at you as he said that, and you sighed and kept your face blank. He was clearly enjoying the power trip, but this was what you had signed up for. Now, if you did a good enough job of increasing his profits, you wouldn't have to worry about that bounty anymore.

You held out your hand, and he shook it firmly, holding on for a second longer than strictly necessary.

"Sounds good to me, Mr Lucci,"

* AN: the prayer above is called a Hail Mary (Ave Maria) and is commonly recited in the Catholic faith

Masterlist

[mariacallous]

Earlier this month I complimented a friend on her new Bottega Jodie bag. She had recently got a promotion at work, and is now a senior manager at a respectable record label earning six figures. The bag was a celebratory gift, she told me, only it wasn’t Bottega—it was a dupe.

As someone who has a closet full of designer labels—and who could certainly afford to buy the real thing—her admission surprised me. My face must have given that away. “It’s real Italian leather,” she quickly followed up, “and their website says they manufacture in the same factories as some luxury brands. You couldn’t tell the difference, so why would I spend thousands more for basically the same thing?”

It’s a question many have been asking since dupe culture went supernova over the last few years. A shorthand for duplicate, dupes are cheaper alternatives that are basically the same as the real thing. Think of it as a cousin to counterfeit culture, but instead of being a cheap knock-off that infringes on a brand’s trademark, they’re uncannily similar imitations—promising the same qualities of the product at a fraction of the cost.

It’s not just my friend who loves them either. Roughly one-third of all US adults have intentionally bought a dupe, according to Morning Consult, with that figure rising to almost half for Gen Z shoppers and 44% for millennials. In the UK, research by Mintel shows 47% of consumers are now open to buying luxury lookalikes in 2024, compared to just 12% in 2016.

“The shame of buying these things has gone,” says Alice Sherwood, author of Authenticity: Reclaiming Reality in a Counterfeit Culture. “Luxury prices have skyrocketed while the trend cycle has rapidly accelerated. People no longer want to spend upwards of £4000 on the latest ‘It’ bag that might be out of vogue within a year.”

Add their proliferation on social media into that mix, and the dupe culture has been normalised in ways that “knock-offs” from Canal Street never were, she says.

Just one scroll on TikTok would affirm this. At the time of writing over 260,000 posts have been made under the #dupes hashtag, with the majority featuring creators sharing their best dupe finds across fashion, beauty, lifestyle and homeware. Most of the time they’re from fast fashion retailers like Shein, Amazon and Temu, but more recently, a new crop of companies have been dominating dupe culture by offering quite a different proposition.

Low-Price Luxury

Take my friend’s new favourite brand, Quince. According to their website their mission is “to create products of equal or greater quality than the leading luxury brands at a much lower price”. To do so they’ve sourced factories used by “well-known luxury brands” to manufacture their goods, but by cutting out the middlemen and hefty markup, they can sell them at far more affordable prices.

They’re not the only ones. Leather goods manufacturer Sitoy Group Holdings regularly uploads videos on social media showcasing how the quality of its $100 handbags is almost identical to those sold for upwards of $1000, all the while advertising that they use the same production lines used by Prada, Tumi and Michael Kors. Then there's Chicjoc, one of the largest Chinese fashion apparel brands on Taobao and Tmall, claiming it uses the same fabric manufacturers as those used by the likes of Chanel, Valentino and Louis Vuitton.

This shift towards high-quality dupes puts luxury brands in a difficult position. For decades, they’ve justified their high prices with the promise of superior craftsmanship and materials. They've even poked fun at these imitations. But when brands are offering near-identical goods allegedly manufactured in the same factory as luxury brands for much, much less, that justification starts to crumble.

Another brand that has gained significant traction online this year is Los Angeles-based premium basics brand, Italic, with many consumers on Reddit expressing their satisfaction with the quality of the products. “Most of our products take 5–10 sample runs and 6–18 months, sometimes even longer,” says Italic CEO Jeremy Cai. “Our sourcing process involves rigorous vetting and ongoing quality controls, including factory certifications, samples, and production quality.”

This meticulous approach stands in stark contrast to what many might expect. Italic contacts 20-30 potential suppliers, evaluates 5-7 factories, and ultimately works with just 1-2 of them for any given product category, visiting each factory on-site.

The key difference between Italic and the high-profile brands using the same factories, Cai explains, is in the pricing: “Most of our factories' clients sell for 2-4x more than our SRPs (Suggested Retail Prices), often much higher.” By cutting out the markup typically associated with luxury goods, Italic offers high-quality products at a more accessible price point.

Cai is quick to point out that Italic does not market itself as a “dupe” brand. However, that hasn’t stopped consumers from drawing comparisons to more expensive luxury labels. In contrast, competitor Quince leans into dupe culture, positioning itself more overtly as a challenger to high-end brands. On Quince's website, woven intrecciato handbags, which resemble Bottega Veneta's iconic designs, are showcased alongside price comparisons to their luxury counterparts.

Quince also frequently analyses luxury competitors’ best-selling items to identify opportunities for replication. “Data collection is crucial in our product development process,” says a Quince spokesperson. “Our team uses a variety of sources, including Google Trends, social media, and customer feedback, to understand the market and ensure we’re delivering what people want.”

Quince’s strategy is built on the belief that luxury can—and should—be more accessible. “Our founding team, with years of experience in luxury and DTC (direct-to-consumer) retail, knew that competitors add a 40–60% markup on similar products,” continues the spokesperson. “As costs in the luxury market become more transparent, consumers are less willing to accept these inflated prices.”

To that end, Quince works globally to source manufacturing partners that share their commitment to transparency, while innovating to keep costs down. Every product page on their site includes detailed information about materials, country of origin, and certifications for working conditions along the supply chain.

Luxury brands, on the other hand, have traditionally kept their manufacturing processes shrouded in secrecy. William Lasry, founder of Glass Factory, is working to change that.

Lasry travels the globe, visiting and spotlighting factories with superior craftsmanship and ethical practices across his social media platforms. While not all brands are doing their very best, he is sceptical about some companies' supposed connections to luxury factories, pointing out that these dupe brands frequently exploit this ambiguity for marketing purposes.

“There are many instances where a factory will produce a sample for a luxury brand,” Lasry explains. “Luxury brands often request samples from hundreds of factories, but in many cases, nothing materialises beyond the sample stage. The factory might then turn around and claim, ‘We’ve made samples for Gucci,’ even though no production deal was ever finalised.”

Petros Analytis, head of research at Glass Factory, agrees that it’s hard to draw the line. “Unless they let us come into the factories and see for ourselves, it’s hard to ascertain.”

Premium Tax

While transparency might be slowly improving, one thing the luxury market has always clung onto is its appeal. Conglomerates like LVMH and Kering built empires on the foundation of an alluring narrative—one that combines centuries of heritage with modern-day prestige. By blending Old World craftsmanship with the new-age glamour of celebrity culture, they made handbags, shoes, and clothing a gateway to an elite, exclusive world.

For a long time consumers were happy to pay big bucks to belong in this world. Perhaps unknowingly, they were buying not just a product but an experience. The true value of a designer label wasn't simply measured by the stitching or material, but by the feeling it evoked—the confidence boost, the social status, the feeling of exclusivity. “It’s a real skill to make a handbag into an object desired by millions of women, one that has so much meaning and can do so much for your self-confidence,” notes Sherwood.

Yet, behind the curtain of glamour, the reality of some products was very different. While consumers believed they were buying the pinnacle of luxury, what they were often getting was a product only marginally superior to midrange alternatives—and occasionally no better at all. The excessively high margins were less a reflection of quality and more a tax on the brands' appeal.

“They are the architects of their own problems,” continues Sherwood. “By making so much of their products not about the tangible product, but about the intangible aspects of the brands - those sexy ads, the celebs who carry your products, the stores, the glossy ads, the slogans, the heritage backstory, all that stuff that isn’t actually the product itself.”

In turn they’ve created an enormous gap between what consumers are actually paying for and the real value of the product. As these companies have increasingly pursued the ultra-wealthy, they’ve left a gap in the market that other brands, eager to capitalise, are starting to fill. “They know that the prices at the very top of luxury are too high to reflect the actual value,” Sherwood says. “But have turned these notable silhouettes and styles into desirable items that a dupe brand can free ride off of.”

Then, recently, the veneer began to crack even further. In March, Italian luxury brand Loro Piana became embroiled in scandal after an investigation revealed the material behind their $9,000 sweaters was sourced by low-paid workers in Peru. Just a few months later, in July, Italian prosecutors alleged sweatshop-like conditions in factories supplying certain products for high-end labels such as Dior and Armani. The revelations triggered outrage among consumers, many of whom had long trusted these brands to uphold the highest standards of craftsmanship and ethics.

Across online forums like the r/handbag subreddit, once-loyal customers voiced their disillusionment. For many, these scandals revealed that the luxury brands they idolised were not living up to their promises. Both Loro Piana and Dior have denied the allegations. However, The Business of Fashion revealed that Milan's public prosecutor said in a court document that they had found “an illegal practice so entrenched and proven [that it could] be considered part of a broader business policy exclusively aimed at increasing profit.” Neither company has been charged in relation to the probe.

Such reputational damage couldn’t have come at a worse time for luxury brands. Coupled with the rise of dupe culture, these scandals are forcing consumers to rethink their relationship with high-end goods. If craftsmanship is no longer exceptional, and ethical practices are called into question, what exactly are people paying for when they buy luxury?

Rebuilding the Dream

Recent sales figures underline just how far demand for luxury mega-brands has fallen from its post-pandemic highs. In July, some of the industry’s biggest players reported disappointing revenues for the second consecutive quarter. LVMH, the world’s leading luxury conglomerate, missed sales estimates, while Gucci’s parent company Kering, experienced a decline of 11%. Other major brands like Richemont and Burberry also reported disappointing figures, with first-quarter sales plummeting by a staggering 20%.

At the heart of luxury’s current struggles is the erosion of the very dream that once propelled the industry. The disconnect between the marketing mythology and the reality of production has left consumers feeling disillusioned, meaning the days of blindly paying a premium for a logo may be at risk.

The democratisation of information and consumer power through social media has played a huge part in this. Platforms like TikTok and Reddit are filled with conversations that challenge the industry's value proposition, which has made it so much harder for luxury brands to control their narrative.

To regain their position, Brittany Steiger, principal analyst of retail & eCommerce at Mintel says they will need to focus on what once made them so desirable—authenticity, superior craftsmanship, and a narrative of prestige that feels both aspirational and attainable. Some experts suggest that embracing more transparent practices and truly living up to their ethical and quality promises could also be the way forward. Brands that fail to do so, may find themselves increasingly irrelevant in a world where high-quality dupes continue to gain ground.

It’s clear that the old model of luxury has been disrupted, and it’s no longer just about price anymore. In the battle between heritage and value, consumers are asking more questions—and luxury brands must have better answers. And if they don’t, there’s a whole industry on the sidelines who do.