#why are math class doodles the best

[bluesiren111]

Abaddon doodles cuz I need more

[lutheban]

Why the hell do teachers need me to pay attention in every damn class? I'm not interrupting anything, i dont even fucking talk to anyone, I get good grades in most subjects and I can get behind the fucking content just fine just LET ME SLEEEEEEEP

LET ME AT LEAST DRAW GOD DAMN IT I SPEND MORE THAN 9 FUCKING HOURS IN HERE EVERYDAY THIS SHIT IS TIRING

[katszumi]

Studying with bakugo is almost NEVER studying with bakugo. The mf can yell at you to pay attention all he wants but a few seconds of it and you’re already back to yapping about the latest drama. Drawing little doodles on your paper (and a few on his) while you tell him about how kuroiro finally confessed to Komori from class 1b, and although he doesn’t like to admit it he’s paying more attention to your yapping then his studying. (Your the only person who can do that)

i hope i did your ask justice😔 this is the first one i’ve done, but thank you sm for requesting. and gosh, i love silly highschool romance sm REQUEST MORE PLS

sorta linked to this but can def be read as a standalone

“did you hear about kuroiro’s confession today?” you asked. you were laid on bakugou’s room floor, your notebook wide open with a few math equations along with a dozen of doodles.

you just asked him another silly question, one of the countless ones that you’ve already made in a hour.

bakugou already knew that you were a sociable person from the way you find a new person to talk to everyday, but he didn’t expect you to be this talkative.

truth be told, you’ve talked more than you have actually studied. which was the main reason why you had come to his room at nearly eight o’clock at night, close to his bedtime.

he only accepted the late study session was because the other reason for you to come was so he could speak with you privately. this was the best way he could do it secretly without being found out.

bakugou looked up from his textbook, directly at you. “no. not that i even care about that stuff anyway.”

your chin rested in the palm of your hand, silently drumming your fingers against your cheek.

“it’s hilarious though, cmon!” you pleaded with a small smile on your face.

“we’re supposed to be studying, y/n. did you forget that you didn’t exactly ace that test?” he rhetorically asked.

you pursed your lips together in a thin line, looking away from bakugou and back onto your textbook. you were dumb enough to even think you could gossip with bakugou.

he offered to help you study, not to bond more as friends clearly.

you picked up your pencil and began to write the equation that was written in the hardbook next to you.

hearing that there was no response from you, bakugou internally began to slightly panic. it was never like you to just shut up so easily. he couldn’t help but come to the conclusion that he came off too rude.

it’s not that he didn’t want to hear you speak, he just didn’t want to make his crush on you so obvious. he was trying so hard to be his normal self which was much harder towards you than he thought.

bakugou placed his textbook down, leaning back into the palm of his hands behind him. “what did that extra do?”

almost immediately, you released the pencil that was in your hand and made eye contact with the ruby eyed male in front of you. a smile tugged on your lips, one that bakugou couldn’t help but think was so fuckin’ cute.

“he made her a bouquet of mushrooms, because you know, her whole mushroom quirk thing. he tried to give it to her discreetly but someone walked past and made it a whole big deal.” you described. “honestly, i feel bad cause i think they’re both kinda shy. they probably didn’t want that attention.”

bakugou unknowingly listened to every word of yours, feeling himself being drawn into you. what was it about your voice that made it so compelling for him?

if it were anyone else like stupid shitty hair or raccoon eyes, he’d shut it down immediately, not caring about a single word they had to say about it.

but, he found it a little more difficult than usual to refuse when it came to you.

he snickered. “public confession? what a romcom move of him.”

you looked back down, noticing bakugou’s blank paper. out of boredom, you grasped onto his notebook. you started to doodle on the small square in the upper left corner; a couple of hearts, stars, dots to make it less bland.

“i think it was sweet. it’s hard to confess already, but to do it in front of an audience? takes guts honestly.”

bakugou watched you draw on his paper. he felt a little jump in his heart, some part of him liking the fact that you took initiative to add your own touch to something of his.

something so stupid. so small. but he couldn’t help but feel a tad giddy.

bakugou sat upright, gulping nothing but his own saliva. “is that something you would like?”

at first, bakugou curses at himself. why would he ask something like that? something that could definitely give away his small crush on you. but he remained his same stone-cold look.

you looked up at bakugou, noticing his eyes softening slightly before returning to their original position.

you thought about it long before responding. “nah. don’t think that’s something i’d really prefer. i’d like a simple confession with just the two of us.” you described.

it seemed a little weird to you that you were casually speaking of your own relationship preference with bakugou, but you tried your hardest not to think too much about it.

you assumed he was only trying to make small talk.

“good.” again, with bakugou’s one worded response. even though he didn’t add more to his sentence, his eyes lingered with yours. as if he was deciding something or carefully analyzing you. but it was a different look. not a competitive, angry look. but rather a tender look. one you have never seen bakugou wear, ever.

suddenly, he looked away, back onto his textbook. you seemingly didn’t mind considering the small tingle you were receiving in your face.

bakugou looked over his shoulder, begging to anyone even the gods above to remove the deep-set blush that was occurring on his face.

the male cleared his throat. “alright, let’s fuckin’ study. gossipin’ and yappin’ won’t help you get a better damn test score.” he chose the defensive route to move on.

you silently agreed with a nod. but, your mind goes back to the thought that you successfully just gossiped with the katsuki bakugou. the one that’s listed to only care about being the number one hero.

you bit the inside of your cheek to hide a smile as you tapped your pencil against your notebook.

just now, a kaleidoscope of butterflies slipped through the cracks of your stone wall, entering your stomach, and began to harvest a life within that had bakugou’s name branded on it.

[agirlwithglam]

Motivation: things to like about these subjects

Math:

Isn’t math kinda magical in a way? See, the thing about math is that it’s the same in every country! Every equation, no matter how hard or complex or long, can easily be broken down into much easier ones, (like simple adding, multiplying, dividing, or subtracting) Once you know what’s going on, it’s not really that hard. (+ take cute notes!!)

Science:

Ookay, honestly? Science is genuinely so interesting! How your body works, how plants create their own food, how the whole solar system was made/ operates, whether there’s other life out there, chemical reactions & experiments? If you actually tried to be fascinated by it, you’ll be surprised how incredible it all is! (+ take cute notes!!)

English:

Me personally, I loveee English. You can too by trying to romanticise it!

If you’re doing poetry, like what’s there not to like? Poetry is such a beautiful language, it’s a way of expression through gentleness.

Writing short stories? This is my favourite. You can write it about anything, the possibilities are endless! Doesn’t it excite you?

History

Don’t try to remember facts and dates of events, try to learn the story behind it. You’ll find that it actually becomes so much more interesting if you remember the story, the emotions, the plots of the event.

Romanticising: hot chocolate or some hot coffee, studying at home, hair in a messy bun, playing some classical music in the background.

(+ also in class when you’re taking notes, you can doodle pictures of the people (stick figures for me lol), how they’d feel like or events on the side to add a bit of fun to it)

And honestly, history is such ‘romance subject’ (like arts, music, literature, languages)

Geography

Become good at it. If you don’t already have an interest in geography, then what helped me was becoming good at it. Paying attention during lessons, taking cute notes, etc. becoming good at it made it so much easier and less scary

Languages

This is also what I’d call a “Romance language”. Also dont you want to learn new languages? So many people decide to learn languages later in their lives because they find out it helps you in one way or another, but in school they’re already teaching it to you in the BEST WAY! Also knowing and being able to speak more than 1 languages fluently makes you SO powerful bc then you can speak in more countries. And also imagine how impressed people would be?!

Music

Have fun with it! It mostly depends on what you are doing in your music lessons, but what you would normally be doing is learning/ practicing an instrument. Don’t be immature and play it at random times when the teacher is talking, but just have fun with it! Again, like i said earlier, so many people start to learn music so much later in their lives and here it is being handed to you on a silver platter. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT!

Art / art&design

Personally, I LOVE art!! It’s another “romance subject”. It’s a beautiful form of expression. Even though you may not be doing what you want to be doing, still have fun with it!! Be creative! And importantly: loosen up! Art, like beauty, is very very subjective. One person’s scribble can be another’s MASTERPIECE! So stop bring so worried with it being “correct”. Just have appreciation.

P.E (physical education/ sport)

I just don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t like PE. Like you don’t even have to learn anything, you just run around playing fun games. And as a bonus u get fit!

xoxo, vanilla

[yurinaa-world]

platonic dr ratio with child reader having a personality of madoka magica? the reader is a magical girl and dr ratio idk taking care of their clumsy behavior? i dont see anyone writing for platonic dr ratio and i really need a bit of comfort😭

write whenever you want or idk

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈: Dr. Ratio platonic! x Gender-neutral Reader

𝒮𝓎𝓃𝑜𝓅𝓈𝒾𝓈: with a student reader that has the personality of Madoka Magica

𝒲𝒶𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈: Fluff and spelling mistakes,

𝒱𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓉𝒶𝓈 𝑅𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜

He doesn’t like your clumsy behaviour at all. Please watch you run around during battle; it might be worse than looking at an idiot's face. You're unpaired and should think of a plan before you jump.

A lot of the time, he’ll have to fight alongside you since you’re illiterate and can’t figure out where the enemy's weak points are.

But don't think it’s the battlefield is the only place he’s going to teach you. Count the classroom also because now you’re officially his student, and he’ll ensure you’ll become the best. He’ll make you shine like the star you meant to be! But this means you're going to have to do math…You'd rather fight than do the math!

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

“Where do you think you’re going?” 

Your teacher, Dr. Ratio, immediately stopped you from leaving his class. You already know the problem since he’s 100% going to yell and lecture you for hours because of your poor grades. “Yes si..-" You swiftly turned back but went a little fast and fell right backwards. You were finding yourself on the floor while in a bit of pain.

“Enough with this Tomfoolery.” He sighs, watching you get from the ground. “Sorry, dr. ratio " “It’s Mr. Ratio to you.” “Sorry, Mr. What seems to be the problem?” You scratch the back of your neck, a little nervous. "The math test you did yesterday. Why, no earth, did you get 8 out of 20." 

You might have rushed it a little, so you get out there since you were the only one still doing the test. You didn't know it would be this bad! Now you'll have to do extra work. "really? but I tried my best!" Your words weren't convincing at all to him. "What? Are you trying your best to fail? It's as if you weren't even reading the paper and just doodling on it," he disappointed expression as he turned your test in his hands so you could look at it.

It's just a bunch of cats in black ink and nonsense answers to the questions. "From tomorrow, you're getting extra work," Dr. Ratio goes over to write in his book. You sigh, knowing this is going to happen. 

"come on, it was just a couple of mistakes!" 

"12 incorrect answers."

"I'll do better next! Please!" you clasped your hands together. Hoping he shows you a little mercy, but no, he will never show you any mercy. If you can learn it when he's being nice, he'll beat you instead.

 "you're right; I ensure you’ll get a perfect score.”

if you liked this, consider tipping me on ko-fi! it'd mean a lot!

[rowretro]

𝓜𝓻 𝓑𝓸𝔂𝓯𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓭

✧taglist:✧ @strxwbloody

✧warnings: toxic/yandere themes, violence

✧synopsis: Yandere Sunoo, is a young teacher at y/n's high school, the 2 only having a 3-4 year gap. He's so in love with her. She's sweet, cute, loving and sensitive, she's a goddamn pushover and she needs him. Sunoo watches you, he knows everything about you, where you live, what you like, how you feel.

And now he finally has you.... though you're not into him....

✧❁✧❁✧❁✧❁✧❁✧❁✧❁✧❁✧❁✧❁✧❁✧❁✧

You clutched onto your books, feeling judged as you walk down the hallways. Though the school board were ok with it, and Your parents were even willing to marry you off to Sunoo, there are no barriers for Sunoo. You even tried running away, how stupid of you. Your bruises and cuts were almost healed, thigh high socks hiding them from people's view.

You had to distance yourself from Jungwon too, not because of Yena and her group, who were thankfully expelled, but because of Sunoo. He gets so jealous on an insane level. You heard the locker slam shut, sighing as you knew who it was... Yang Jungwon. Things didn't exactly end the way you hoped they would.

You planned on drifting from him like most friends do, though it was hard, crying at home, missing the one close friend who was there for you no matter what. A boy you possibly had a crush on. You found out he had feelings for you too. However, you were with Sunoo and Won hid his love perfectly, but when you found out, Sunoo forced you to fall out with him, saying she only befriended him and acted nice to use him. She had no other choice but to do just that.

Jungwon gave you a dirty look before walking off. You stood by your locker feeling pretty hurt when you felt someone pat your shoulder. "Y/n, stop daydreaming and get to class... I don't like late comers" Sunoo said as the girl rolled her eyes when he wasn't looking. Sunoo smirked when heard the tapping of her platform heels not too far behind him.

The whole lesson, his eyes were on you. The other students too busy with their essays to even look at Sunoo. Not that he cared anyway. He loved watching you do normal things like studying. The way you sort of fiddle with hair or spin your pencil between your fingers, or doodle artistic little doodles around your work once you're done, waiting for the others to finish So you could start marking them.

"Why was Sungchan talking to you?!" Sunoo asked as you got in the car. "Huh? oh, he wanted me to help him with something" you simply answered as Sunoo stared at you intensely "help him with what?!" he asked, clearly annoyed. "Math homework. Don't worry I said no. He won't bother me anymore..." She added as the male narrowed his eyes at her, but smirked to himself hearing how she handled him.

Upon arriving home, the girl showered first, silently getting changed before going to the living room to do her homework while Sunoo marked some papers. "Sunoo... are clouds edible?" the girl suddenly asked as Sunoo frowned. "No... have you learned nothing in geography?" he asked as the girl shrugged. "I thought it would taste like marshmallows..." the girl mumbled with a pout.

"Y/n what is this?!" Sunoo asked as the girl blinked "test?" she said, blinking innocently as he glared at her, showing her paper and her bestfriend's paper "the same exact answers and you both failed what is this?" "Omg we have the same answers... makes sense we study together... and we took the same exam with the same questions" the girl said acting shocked as Sunoo sighed.

The girl sighed, lying upside down on the sofa, as she switched through the channels. "Sunoo... can I go out with my best friend?... I'm bored..." the girl asked as he stared at her in disbelief. "No. I'm not letting you go out. Last time you almost fucking ran away..." Sunoo pointed out as he squeezed one of her fresher wounds. "Did you learn nothing?...." he asked as the girl winced.

The girl gently pulled away as she sat normally, moving away from Sunoo. "Babe..." Sunoo called out as he sat beside "yes?" the girl asked as Sunoo turned to her "Do you love me?" he asked as the girl went silent. How the fuck could she? he hurt her, he gets dangerously jealous he fucking kidnapped her for the love of god. "yeah..." she said as Sunoo nodded.

"Then say it." He said "Say what?" "Say that you love me." he asked as the girl went silent. "Why you already know I love you right?" the girl asked, nervously chuckling as he stared at her. "You don't love me do you?..." he asked, silence trailing after. "I love you Sunoo..." she said, a forced sincere tone, with hidden venom and disgust. "How comes you never say it or kiss me or hug me or do what girlfriends do?!" he asked as the girl went silent.

"Because you're busy with school work and at school we can't fraternize..." she pointed out as the male nodded. "Hmm... I guess that checks out." he said, leaning over toward her, pulling her into his embrace and kissing her forehead not caring about the girl's unresponsiveness.

[madaqueue]

Practice Makes Perfect | Chapter 4

synopsis: you and yuji have been best friends basically as long as you can remember, and you made a promise to each other to stay friends and help each other be the best versions of yourselves for your future partners. but will things change when yuji finally starts looking for a relationship?

pairing: yuji itadori (18+) x f!reader

themes/content: modern college au (characters aged up to 18+). language, fluff, angst. some suggestive language at the end. 18+, MDNI

word count: 2.0k

a/n: RAAAAAA it’s getting real lmao

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Sitting towards the back of the room, you take note of the messy black hair and all black clothes. You walk over to him with a smile on your face. “Megumi?” you question.

The boy looks up from his notes and meets your eyes. “Oh, hey, Yuji’s friend. I didn’t know you were in this class,” he says, gesturing at the seat next to him and inviting you to sit.

“I could say the same to you,” you respond, setting down your backpack and getting settled next to him. You have never been this close to Megumi before, and notice his very subtle cologne that leaves a warm and almost smokey scent hanging in the air around him.

“I’m a biology major, so it kinda makes sense I’d have to be here,” he says, turning back towards his notes. You notice a small smirk forming on one side of his mouth as he does so.

As soon as you open your mouth to reply, your professor waltzes in at the front of the lecture hall, her heels softly clacking against the wood floor and the room falls quiet except for her voice. You and Megumi sit in silence for the rest of the class as you furiously scribble in your notes, trying to keep up with what Dr. Ieiri is lecturing on. Halfway into the class you glance over at Megumi’s notes and see he’s just…doodling? His page is full of drawings, from dogs to birds and frogs, covering the lined paper in front of him. He notices you staring and glances up at you out of the corner of his eye before turning his attention back to the paper. His drawing style suddenly shifts as he sketches a new shape. You watch him, mesmerized, as you realize he’s drawing…you?

Dr. Ieiri seems to end abruptly as she dismisses everyone, but you stay seated, waiting for Megumi to finish up his work. He tears the page out of his notebook and hands it to you without a word before putting everything on his desk into his backpack. You begin to pack up, unsure of what to say. After all, nobody has ever drawn you before - are you supposed to thank him? Should you give it back? In a panic, you stutter, “U-um, I’m going to go study at the library, if you want to come with me?”

Megumi glances up at you and softly responds, “Sure,” before tossing his backpack over his shoulder.

–

The two of you find a quiet table in the back corner of the library, dimly lit from the overhead lights and warm afternoon sun pooling in from a nearby window. You get started on your work quietly until Megumi clears his throat. “So, you never answered why you’re in Dr. Ieiri’s class,” he invites.

“Well, I’m an engineering major, but I’m still not sure what kind I want to be yet, so I have to take all these classes that are supposed to help me figure it out, and biology is one of them,” you explain. Megumi nods in response, before you continue, “I know I like to work with my hands, but I also like to think about problems before I have to solve them, which makes it hard to decide on a path. I know I don’t like computers, but I do love math. And I really didn’t expect to like Dr. Ieiri’s class as much as I do, so now I’m not sure,” you trail off. You pause for a moment, hoping you weren’t rambling. “You said you’re a bio major, right? Why’d you choose that? Also, I didn’t see you in her class last week, but we had definitely already met at Yuji’s, and you weren’t really paying attention today-” you stop yourself, realizing you were definitely rambling this time.

Megumi looks down. “Yeah I’m um…I’m actually retaking this class, so I kind of know it already.” You wait for him to continue. “Last fall my sister got really sick. Well, she got more sick, I guess. I had to take some time off to take care of her, so I ended up failing Dr. Ieiri’s class the first time I took it. I was gone last week because my sister was supposed to have this really big surgery and I wanted to be there for her, but they ended up postponing it, so I just stayed at the hospital with her for the rest of the week. She’s actually the reason I’m a bio major - I want to be a doctor so I can help people like her. It’s not fair what happened, and I want to make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else.” He stops, realizing his hands had formed into fists as he was talking. His body relaxes and he shrugs, trying to ease some of the weight from the information he had just shared with you.

“I think it’s really sweet that you care about your sister so much,” you say. “It sounds like she is really important to you.” Megumi nods, still not looking up from the table. Unsure what else to say, you reach a hand out to touch his shoulder, hoping it provides some comfort. He leans into your touch, resting his cheek on the top of your hand. The feeling of his hair brushing against your arm gives you the ever-familiar butterflies and you try not to visibly blush. The two of you stay like that for a moment, comfortable in the silence, before you hear your phone buzz in your pocket. Megumi lifts his head up so you can use your hand to answer it, and he slowly gets back to work as you pull your phone out and look at it.

Incoming call: “YuYu”

You smile at the nickname he put in your phone for you when he first gave you his number back in highschool. You answer it and hold the phone up to your ear.

“Hey! Sorry I keep calling you randomly, but I have a bit of an emergency. But, this time it’s a good emergency, I promise. Remember that date I was supposed to have tonight? Turns out she can’t go anymore, but I already have a reservation at this new sushi place I have been dying to try, and I knowwwww you love sushi,” he says, and you can practically hear his smile through the phone. “I already know you’re going to say yes, so I’ll meet you at your place at 6:00 and we can walk over together. Oh, and it’s kind of fancy but not too fancy, but don’t worry about it too much! Okay great, I’ll see you then!” he finishes before hanging up.

You didn’t even get a word in for that entire conversation, but it looks like you now have plans tonight. Glancing at your now unlocked phone screen, you realize it’s already almost 5:00. “Shit,” you mutter under your breath. “I’m sorry Megumi, but I have to go,” you say, turning your attention back to the boy across from you.

“No worries,” he says with a soft smile. “This was really nice, we should study again sometime. Here, let me give you my number.” He holds his hand out for your phone and you give it to him, watching him put in his contact information before handing it back to you. You collect your study materials and wave at him as you walk out of the library.

–

When you arrive at the restaurant, you are shocked by Yuji’s definition of “kind of fancy.” The place is absolutely gorgeous, with natural wood and stone forming high ceilings, small fountains and mini waterfalls creating a soothing ambiance as the water collects in a river that winds throughout the restaurant. You walk over small bridges that decorate the interior to reach your table, surrounded by plants that provide some natural privacy. You felt slightly out of place despite wearing your nicest dress and heels, especially compared to Yuji in his black slacks and sport coat. You have to admit, though, the boy does clean up nicely.

Without getting a chance to even look at the menu, Yuji orders for both of you when the server returns. You gently smack his arm from across the table. “Hey, why did you do that? How could you assume what I wanted?” you ask playfully.

“I told you, I know you,” he shrugs. “Besides, dinner is on me since I dragged you out here last-minute. There’s some stuff I’ve been wanting to try ever since this place opened, and I got some things you’ll like, too,” he explains through a toothy grin.

“How generous, getting me things I’ll actually like,” you smirk, rolling your eyes. “Speaking of ‘dragging me here,’ what happened with your date?” you ask, trying to hide any remnants of jealousy.

“Oh, she just had something come up with a friend, but we rescheduled for next week. Plus, after the last practice date kind of went to shit, I figured it would be nice to actually get used to this place before the real-deal,” he says nonchalantly.

For some reason, his words sting more than you expect. Referring to this girl as the real-deal means that he must think you’re less than her, less deserving of his time or energy or-

Your thoughts cut off as an enormous pile of food gets set down on your table. There seems to be everything from nigiri to sashimi and tempura, all of it looking mouth-wateringly good. Yuji thanks the server and immediately starts digging in. Your stomach growls involuntarily and you’re forced to push your thoughts aside as you take a bite.

“Oh, my god,” you practically groan through the rice. “This is insane.”

“Right?” Yuji agrees, his cheeks puffed out from being so full of food.

The two of you eat in silence, savoring the combination of flavors in front of you, until Yuji pulls his phone out of his pocket. He smiles down at it and starts typing a message, and you can almost feel your blood boil. In an attempt to defuse your emotions you glance down at your phone, which unlocks to the recent contact page with Megumi’s information open on it. What the hell you think, typing out a message to send to him.

You: “hey Megumi, thanks for hanging out today, it was really nice”

Your phone buzzes almost immediately.

Megumi: “If this is who I think it is, I agree. Are you free tomorrow? There’s a new cafe off campus that’s really cozy, and I have some exams next week I need to study for. I’d love to see you”

The message makes you feel warm inside - he would love to see you? Of course you have to say yes.

You: “i’m free, how’s 11:00 sound? meet at your place?”

He ‘love’ reacts your message, which you take as affirmation of your plans. You put your phone back into your purse and look back up to see Yuji still smiling down at his phone. “Hey, it’s rude to be on your phone at the table,” you tease, but it comes out more irritated than you intended.

“Sorry, Nobara just said something funny and-” he cuts off, looking up at you realizing he had never told you the name of the girl he actually had feelings for, even though you already knew from seeing her name on his phone this morning.

“Oh, so is this ‘Nobara’ the one you were supposed to take out tonight?” you ask slyly. Yuji just nods blankly, trying to read your facial expressions. “Well, she must be quite special then,” you respond, desperately attempting to shove down any lingering jealousy as you maintain eye contact. “I actually have a date tomorrow, too,” you continue, not looking away from him. He cocks his head to the side, waiting for you to continue and taking another huge bite from the dwindling pile of food between you. “Speaking of which, I actually was hoping to get some practice too��” you trail off. “I want to suck your cock.”

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[snickerzanddoodlez]

U got headcanons?

For Wordgirl? Yes, lots of headcanons!

-Wordgirl and Tobey are both autistic! A fairly common one, but I really like it. (An argument could be made for literally every Wordgirl character, but these are my big ones!)

Wordgirl is shown to have a lot of trouble with being too blunt, being unsure what to do in

For Wordgirl? Well, we see that she’s extremely fixated on both words themselves and Pretty Princess and Magic Pony Power Hour. 

She excels in language (which is due to her being Lexiconian, I’ll admit, but regardless) to the point where she isn’t allowed to compete in certain things anymore, while struggling severely in art related things. She also gets needlessly bothered by words being used incorrectly (any Learnerer episode is a good example of this), which is something I see exhibited by my sister a lot!

She *loves* collecting things for Pretty Princess, and in El Queso Mysterioso we see that she KNOWS IT WELL- even being able to identify the actor for “non-speaking toadstool 51” (or whatever it was) which is also very similar to my sister- she knows voice actors, episode numbers, etc like the back of her hand, it’s almost uncanny (and I mean that in the best way possible)

She’s also shown to have a “different” sense of humor in a way, often being the only one to laugh at her own jokes- and as well as this, she seems to have a hard time “people-ing” sometimes (especially in ways that other characters don’t). She seems to have a hard time holding back her reactions / being “tactful” at times, shown especially in the episode “Judging Butcher”- in my opinion, anyways.

I think the social things specifically could in some situations be defended by “well, Lexiconian culture is different!” but she barely grew up on Lexicon so I don’t think it works.

As far as Tobey, well, I over-analyze every scene he’s in- speaking or not- just because I love him that much, so uh…some of this is more background-y stuff!

In Tobey’s Playground Calamity, he’s shown to cover his ears when the rest of his class claps- “sensory overloads” are common in those on the spectrum and as someone who suffers from those, I absolutely relate 😭 

As well as this, in “Mobot Knows Best” he’s shown to be overwhelmed when Becky and Violet invade his personal space, which is normal, but he seems somewhat distressed / nervous as well as confused, which makes it seem a little different.

He’s also….extremely fixated on robots, which are certainly his special interest (“Special interests are frequently developed by individuals with autism spectrum disorder, expressed as an intense focus on specific topics.”). His room is shown to be entirely robot themed, and he’s always thinking about them, seemingly-

He, as well, seems to have issues socializing. In a scene from “Trustworthy Tobey”, when he’s shown borrowing a book from Tobey, he seems a bit…”tactless”, for lack of a better word(girl), and his bluntness doesn’t seem to be out of carelessness as much as ignorance.

He’s shown to be very blunt and kind of (heavy quotes here) “different”, so….them’s my two cents!

Kid Math is also autistic but I don’t feel the need to defend that one

-Beau canonically loves birdwatching, so I like to imagine he used to have a pet bird named “Chica”! (This is specifically because I once doodled the following stupid interaction:

Beau, holding up a bird: “And this is my pet bird Chica!”

Tommy: “Like from FNAF?”

Beau: “get out of my house”

-Tommy is Seymour Smooth’s son and has been sent onto May I Have a Word as a spy. Belle Stunning is his mother because the layers of drama that adds makes me laugh.

-Scoops’ favorite musical is Newsies.

-Tobey tried to force himself to just latch onto Victoria instead of Becky, which is part of why we see him hanging out with her so much in “Kid Math 1&2”, but he quickly realized that she didn’t like him and he didn’t even like her.

-Kid Math has a crush on Violet. Just look at their little interaction and the foot-kick he does in the Kid Math episodes after talking to her!

-Dr. Two-Brains loves the movie Ratatouille and cries every time he watches it. His Henchmen like the Barbie movies, and Dr. Two-Brains berates them for watching them (but secretly likes a few of them).

[0rb0t]

Don't mind me, just talking about Shadow as being on the autistic spectrum, and how his portrayal in the games and anime (before 2010s era) reflected this even if it was never outright stated.

(TIME FOR A CHARACTER ANALYSIS ABOUT SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG)

    When I was in high school, I struggled a lot in social situations, I'd go completely stiff and just watch people. I had a "resting bitch face", I never really could have conversations and seemed to just fixate on things. I'd make observations that irritated people. I'd ask "why" a lot. (Asking why or even asking 'obvious' questions seemed to make people think I was questioning their judgment, or that I was challenging them. But no, I just didn't understand and wanted clarification. I still run into this a lot and I wish people would stop assuming I have ulterior motives. I just wanna understand stuff better cause it doesn't connect for me. Even if it seems obvious. I'm the genius that asked my mom why she was crying at her dad's funeral when I was 11. It's not that I didn't understand why Grandpa was gone, I knew he passed away, but it hadn't really landed for me, and my brain registered my mom's sadness before it registered the why.)

    I didn't like small talk (still don't) and would rather every interaction have a specific purpose. You'd never catch me at a party and I didn't think drinking or drugs looked fun or interesting. The act of rebelling didn't interest me either. The few interests I did have were something I'd always go back to, and I couldn't function without them. (For me, drawing has always been a huge part of my life and if I didn't have a pencil or pen and paper, then I couldn't hear. I know, very weird. If I were doodling or just even had my sketchbook open, I could study a lot easier. In High school, my teachers started telling me to put the sketchbook away, and my grades plummeted because my attention did, too. Trying to tell them just kind of led to the same old "well everyone else can't doodle so you can't either". I wasn't in any of the special ed stuff because I guess I masked too well.)

    Sonic 06 and Sonic X have the same characterization for Shadow, especially in Japanese, and I think that's honestly the best he'd ever been-- he's quiet, he's reserved, he observes and he doesn't like to "waste time". Not because he's edgy, not because he's a jerk or too serious, but because he struggles in social situations and he's more introverted. He doesn't want to be the centre of attention, he doesn't enjoy any of that. Shadow also behaves like an adult, and I'm sure a ton of us on the spectrum have heard that before, that we're very mature for our age. In reality, we can't relate with our peers and have very fixated interests that don't really expand to other things. Limited interests and we just wanna do stuff tied to that. We know so much about that one thing or those things, but those things won't get you ahead in school. Unless you're LUCKY and your fixation is math, oy vey! (My fixation was etymology. I loved learning and knowing where words came from. Useful for 2 seconds in English class, quickly loses its usefulness in a skill-oriented world.)

    I don't even think he's naturally boastful, at least he wasn't since SA2 (when he was an antagonist), but Sonic brings out a competitive side in him. Sonic brings out the childhood-self that he lost to trauma and being sealed away. Shadow never got to be a normal kid/adult. He has always had expectations placed on him. I think Sonic really brings out a side of him that even surprises himself. It's why he will even say very often "What am I doing?" or "This is such a waste of time!" but he won't STOP… Because he's having fun and doesn't know how to describe his own feelings. Shadow's the type who'll say "I'm fine" no matter what state he's in when you ask if he's okay. My spouse is like this actually-- I can often tell when he's feeling down, but he doesn't know how to describe emotions beyond functional things like "i'm healthy" or "i'm unhealthy", so he'll say he's fine even if he's having a melancholy day. I struggle with understanding my emotional responses, but not necessarily identifying them. A lot of people on the spectrum do struggle with identifying their emotions beyond empirical things. "Do I feel sick? No? then I'm fine" Shadow is exactly like this. And because his expression is so neutral, sometimes intense, he gets mistaken as being angry or too serious. In reality, he's just standing there. He's not gonna expend energy smiling when he's got nothing to smile about. Why force yourself to emote for people? Especially if it feels unnatural.

    Another thing about Shadow being autistic is if he's got nothing to say, then he won't say it. If he wants to leave, he'll leave. Good luck stopping him! But for many actual people it's not an option to leave. We can't just teleport out or skate at lightning speeds like he can, so we have to just sit there and do little coping or self soothing methods to keep ourselves in the moment and calm. We don't often see Shadow stimming in traditionally understood ways, like lip biting or rubbing his arms or fidgeting with his fingers-- but he often stands with his arms crossed. This CAN BE a stim. Feeling the weight of your arms on top of each other, it allows for you to be aware of your own body. I fold my arms a lot in public, because I'm usually playing with the hem of my sleeves, or I'm rubbing my arms or squeezing them. Shadow doesn't seem to do any of that but he's rarely seen without his arms folded.

    When his arms aren't folded, he stands so still and just stares at people. He looks completely out of his element. He doesn't seem to have a relaxed stance--until the anime, where he's shown standing with his hand on his hip. Rouge also does this, leading to the popular headcanons that Shadow is unintentionally imitating Rouge-- his masking leads him to identify the most 'normal' person in the room and copy their behavior in order to blend in better. Unfortunately it rarely, in my experience, leads to people NOT thinking I'm weird. Sometimes I'll even start imitating speech patterns or accents and BOY. I don't even realize I'm doing it until it HAPPENS. So embarrassing. But Shadow absolutely imitates everyone around him. We can see him do this even as far back as Sonic Heroes--that scene where he's nodding or shaking his head to whatever Rouge is saying. The scene where Sonic starts getting competitive and Shadow starts kind of imitating his posture and his way of speaking to become competitive with them-- I don't even think he realizes he's doing it. But it also makes sense with his NAME.

    His name is Shadow. I think of Peter Pan, where Peter's Shadow can sometimes get away from him. Usually it does everything he does, but sometimes it gets away and does its own things, and Peter has to catch it. Wendy sews the shadow back on in Hook. I think Shadow's name is referencing that as well, that just like a shadow, he mimics those around him. He's watching over them, but also copying them. Learning to blend in.

    Another moment I adore is in SA2 (and Sonic X) when Amy Rose hugs him from behind. According to the 2010s era and early IDW, you'd have expected Shadow to push her away or yell DONT TOUCH ME or whatever. But no, he actually just goes REALLY RIGID and doesn't even say anything. It isn't until Amy realizes her mistake that Shadow turns around to look at her, smiling like 'What are you doing???' But in Sonic X, they changed this scene further into autistic territory--

    Shadow doesn't even TURN to her. He goes rigid, yes, and his eyes widen and he just stands there looking towards the audience like 8| He's completely OUT OF HIS ELEMENT. He prepared for the mission, NOT to deal with random people HUGGING HIM. He's probably not been hugged since Maria over 50 years ago. We don't even know if Maria hugged him much because Shadow has always seemed pretty touch-averse. I love GIVING hugs and I love receiving hugs but only from people I'm REALLY close to. I don't even like getting hugs from extended family. My spouse? VERY touch averse. He'll get hugs from me but hugging and touch are just not his thing. Shadow is not a huggy person, but he does tend to hold hands.

    We know he grabbed and held Maria's hand, running with her-- but we never actually saw that until Sonic X (2003) he can be seen running with her away from the military, and he's holding her hand as he leads her. In Shadow the Hedgehog, Maria often grabs Shadow's hand when telling him things. This is also a grounding method to bring the person into the moment. For me, I feel like I can focus better on what my spouse is saying to me when he holds my hand and it's crowded or busy. Even in our home, if he wants to tell me something, I recommend that he hold my hand or touch my arm so I can focus on him better. This happens with Shadow.

    Sonic doesn't tend to hold peoples' hands. In Sonic X he usually just picks people up, but we do see him grab Elise's arm in 06 and run with her. But holding hands? Not really his thing! Shadow does do it more often though. In Sonic X S3, in the episode, Molly's Dream, Shadow's immediate way of leading Molly away from danger is to grab and hold her hand. He even keeps holding her hand until she lets go. It speaks to me the sort of childlike behavior he may still be exhibiting, but not that I'm trying to say that autistic people are more like children. From my experience on the spectrum, I am more childish than my peers. I still react like a kid might to things, and I don't really think like an adult is expected to. I am mentally behind my peers as well, I think my emotional maturity is lower? But it's hard to measure that without a doctor. It's not just about laughing at fart jokes or knowing to pay bills, it's like, how I problem solve is more creatively aligned with kids than it is adults. This is both great and terrible, depending on the situation. A situation that requires math and stuff cannot be solved my way. A situation that involves encouraging kids to try again or be nice to each other, well it's very useful because I can communicate with them on their level (I was a teacher in South Korea for over half a decade, my brain was great for being a teacher but not great for other things).

    I think Shadow really gets misread as a mean guy a lot, but he really isn't. I also don't really enjoy the headcanons that imagine him as very outgoing and whimsical when he was on the ARK, and I especially don't like headcanons that infantilize him-- I really don't like headcanons where people infantilize autistic people. We've seen Shadow when he loses his memories a few times. In Heroes, but also in S3 of Sonic X-- his personality is still the same. He's still reserved, he's still quiet, he still struggles in social situations and prefers getting to the point rather than dilly-dallying. I'd argue that he was exactly like that before the incident on the ARK, too. It's just that the incident caused his inner peace to be destroyed. His precious person, Maria, was no longer around and he lost everything all at once. He doubled down on the one thing that made sense: Revenge. But even after all of that was sorted out, he's not gonna just magically be a different person. He's still reserved, he's still serious, he's still "get to the point". If he played FFXIV, he'd only focus on main quests, and never do side quests. He'd never spend money on cosmetics, probably. He's likely a person who values gameplay over story. If the game is broken or the mechanics aren't utilized well, that's probably more what he'd be fixated on than whether the story was good or not. He'd skip through dialogue because he reads fast, even if the dialogue is voiced (my spouse does this and it drives me nuts. SHADOW I BEG OF YOU PLEASE DO IT FOR ME, DISABLE THE VOICE ACTING IN OPTIONS SO I STOP HEARING THE FIRST UTTERANCE OF A WORD EVERY TIME U MASH THROUGH THE DIALOGUE)

    Trauma affects people in all kinds of ways. I don't think all autistic people are like Shadow, because autism is a spectrum and no two people present exactly the same, although there will be similarities. Shadow's trauma happened at a time where he barely knew himself already, so that's why it was so easy for him to fixate on revenge, and then he'd be content with dying afterwards because he figured he had nothing left to live for. Finding out he was wrong was the best thing that could have happened to him.

    I was really saddened when SEGA decided he was an edgelord who hated everything and had no friends because that's such a horrible read of this nuanced character. In my personal headcanons for Shadow, he's actually very into plants and flowers, because Maria loved the planet so much. And eventually he learns to love the planet because of nature. Shadow's never going to be a people person, in fact he probably still doesn't care much for people as a whole, but that doesn't mean he won't step up when they need his help. Which is why his line in Sonic 06 is still so poignant. "If the world chooses to become my enemy, then I'll fight like I always have." Basically, it really doesn't matter, I've made my choice, I know who I am now and I get to make those decisions. No one else will shake the foundations of who I am.

    And because he knows who he is, he doesn't feel the need to repeat it and boast about himself. He's confident, not arrogant. He can be smug and competitive, but that's playfulness, not cruelty. He's quiet and may just straight up walk away while someone is mid-sentence, but that's not because he's evil or intentionally being a jerk-- it's just how he is. He needs to work on it if he wants to have friends, but his friends already understand him very well. They know that he's like that, and from what we saw in The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, occasionally they forget it's not personal. I'm happy to see them admitting "oh no, I completely misjudged you, I'm so sorry!" because it's been way too long since we've heard the main cast apologize to Shadow for assuming he was a big jerk on purpose.

    Knowing the restrictions on how Shadow is written have been lifted, I'm really hoping we can get more of how he's meant to be, the reserved, socially awkward but well-meaning hedgehog we love. Autistic Shadow FTW!

    

(our experiences and headcanons

may differ, that's okay.)

[sashkapi]

Kindall headcanons?

Oh, you want me to become an unskipable cutscene? /j

Kskfkksf ok, I put some of them before they would start dating

1. Already said that but Kick does likes getting Kendall's attention, so he sometimes messes with her on purpose and then denies it as "well, I mess with her because I don't like her"

2. Kendall, who usually comes first to the school, opens windows in some classes. She tells teachers it's because she wants some fresh air, but also there's a certain someone who doesn't respect doors as an entrance point and she kinda doesn't like seeing him hurt.

3. Their bickering sometimes goes into such a ridiculous territories. Why on earth someone like them would get into a heated argument about koalas?

They want to talk to each other and are used to doing so that way, that's why.

4. Speaking of which, their bickering is also their way of flirting. If you don't pay attention you won't notice, but it is somewhat obvious.

5. While Kendall does get scary when she's angry, she also hates when in that state she is not taken seriously. Kick started pretending that he likes when she's mad to piss her off even more.

And then he actually started liking it.

6. Kendall once mentioned that a lot of science related problems could be used as stunt prep and Kick now has no problems with math/physics/geometry. She teases him about the fact that she is so good at academics that she basically tutored him without tutoring him at all.

7. Gunther and Mouth are the only two people that know that Kick and Kendall are crushing on each other. Gunther doesn't interviene because he respects Kick as his friend and is wary of Kendall. Mouth on the other hand? That prick enjoys the drama and Kendall kinda has a lot of incriminating info on his shady deals so he has to keep his mouth shut.

8. There are some detentions Kick got that were unexpectedly cut short. Guess who's doing is this.

9. Some of Rock Callahan's films are based on books. Whenever there's a trailer for a movie based on a book she red, Kendall would tease Kick about spoiling it (she does that to Gunther sometimes too)

10. Whenever Kick has a grandiose stunt to do that attracts a crowd, he (unconsciously) would look for Kendall in that crowd. Boy is in a denial, but he still wants to impress her the best way he knows how.

11. After some time Kick started calling Kendall "Kends" occasionally, which gets on her nerves. If she refuses to call him by his nickname - he will give her one.

12. Kick and Gunther have a "Stunt book" - a journal they use to write ideas that they can't execute right here and now or use it for calculating speed, angles, sizes for ramps ect. Both of them doodle in that journal too. Of course among Kick's doodles there's drawings of a certain bratty rule-loving girl. He erases them most of the time but Gunther already knows so Kick mostly does it to keep lying to himself about his growing fondness of said brat.

13. Since they do fight verbally a lot, they also do seriously hurt each other feelings sometimes. Whenever Kick is hurt he becomes cold and bitterly direct towards Kendall and doesn't engage in their fights if Kendall tries to initiate them. When Kendall is hurt she straight up ignores his existence and if she has to talk to him out of necessity - she becomes so overly polite that it's creepy.

14. Adding onto previous, the ways they "apologize": Kendall would genuinely ask Kick if he's ok/hurt physically even if it isn't obvious that he was doing anything dangerous and "somewhat" compliment him like "You have to think about your safety too, even if your stunts are breathtaking I guess", while Kick would ask her to help him a bit with academics even if he doesn't need it, like asking her how to memorize history dates and names quicker or what was the themes of the novel that they had to read for literature and genuinely thanking her when she (while being creepily polite) helps him. It's not the best way, but at this point they are just not ready to communicate properly.

15. Based on my "Kendall writes adventure/romance novels in secret" hc: she unconsciously tends to make male leads in her stories danger-loving and stoic-y. She herself actually haven't noticed.

16. Kick thinks Kendall is beautiful. The thing is: he doesn't realize that it's just him. He really thinks that she IS beautiful when in reality others think that she is just "okay" by beauty standards. This can lead to an exchanges like

Kick: Of course that bratty teacher's pet has pretty privilege >:(

Gunther: She does?

Kick: What do you mean? Look at her! She does!

Gunther:... no she doesn't?

Ok. I have to stop myself or I'll be here the whole day, but yeah

I have an ask in my inbox that will be sorta like part 2 for this ehehehehehe

[iwakuraz]

I really wanna post my drawings here more often and I have so many lain doodles so ? have this arilain!!! yay!

theres more stuff under the read more :>

^ignore how I just cannot take pictures of my art very well plsplspls ..

^^drawn in maths class but I don't really remember why ,, they're best friends ig or something like that

[blurglesmurfklaine]

omg I need to hear your thoughts on teachers!Javey because that makes my brain go BRRRRRRR

OKAY OKAY OKAY SO. I can already tell this is going to be long winded so. apologies.

To understand why Teachers!Javey has a grip on my two brain cells like a dog has on his chew toy, we must first understand the types of students they are.

---

Jack Kelly is never really the stereotypical "good" student. He's a ward of the state, probably has some sort of undiagnosed learning disability that all his teachers attributed to him being a poor student with lousy attendance. Reading and writing is difficult for him from an early age, and he's okay with math until they introduce fucking word problems--what is that about? Why are they putting reading in math?

Every teacher from first to fifth grade he has can see that when Jack speaks to his peers, he's intelligent. He's a natural born leader and trend setter amongst the students. It's such a shame he's wasting his potential. It's such a shame that he never finishes his exams on time, and chooses to waste time doodling in the margins instead. It's such a shame he's only ever at school half the time, the other half out and about doing God knows what.

It's such a shame that every single teacher he had for the first eleven years of his life just assumed his failure was a deliberate choice.

But he finds solace in arts and craft time in elementary, and then is delighted to find out he can have art class every single day, for an entire period in middle school.

Teachers get meaner in middle school. Jack's smart mouth gets smarter--or dumber, according to his seventh grade History teacher, who loudly announces that Jack has the lowest grade out of everyone in his class. Jack stops showing up to History after that, but manages to scrape by with a C by convincing this girl, Katherine, to do his work for him, and he'll finish her art project she needs to get her Fine Arts credit.

(They date for a while and ofc decide they're better off as friends)

He meets Miss Medda his freshman year of high school, because the counselors screwed up his schedule and put him in Theatre instead of Art for his elective class. He needs remedial English Language Arts and Reading classes, both of which are during the only Art classes his stupid school offers. But Miss Medda is kind, treats him with respect, and after Jack accidentally leaves his sketchbook behind, offers to let him do backdrops for her plays instead of having to act in them.

Jack really can't afford to make time for this kind of long-term project--he's got to walk his little brothers (who aren't... legally his brothers, but... it's easier to just call them his brothers) home from their school, and then helps them with their homework best he can because he's not going to let them struggle the way he does and Tony is starting to get in fights, which is really, really stressing Charlie out and--

Miss Medda offers to let them stay in the theatre while the younger kids work on their schoolwork and Jack on his paintings.

It's an excuse to stay away from the Refuge an hour longer. It's an offer Jack can't refuse.

It's Miss Medda who first suggests to Jack he might be dyslexic. Jack's never even heard that word before, but it sparks a light of hope in him. He's not stupid. He's just--wired differently.

A diagnosis is not easy to come by. Jack has no legal guardians who can request testing from the school on his behalf, and Mr. Snyder sure as hell isn't going to shell out the money to do it third party. Miss Medda says she's doing it to streamline the testing, but when Snyder calls him in to say she's requested to foster him, Race, and Charlie, it takes every ounce of Jack's willpower not to cry right then and there.

School was never easy for Jack, and it still isn't, but it's amazing how much easier it becomes when he's got something that resembles a home. A soft bed, with clean sheets. A diagnosis. A family.

College is a possibility. It becomes a reality when Medda helps him submit his application to NYU.

Even though he's an art major, he's got to take basics. A computer that can read his assignments to him helps get him through with flying colors.

Medda assures him he doesn't have to do this for her. He's not. He's doing it for the fourteen year old Jack who needed a teacher like Miss Medda--and now, one like him.

---

David Jacobs is the stereotypical "good" student. Math, Science, History--it all comes incredibly easy to him from a young age. But especially Reading and Writing.

He finishes assignments early for the sole purpose of having more free time in class that he uses to read. Six years in a row, he's the top reader in his entire district, even beating out kids in high school starting from the seventh grade.

Students adore him, teachers love him, and his parents are proud as they could be.

Most kids are impressed. Some think he's doing it to show off, but he does it because there's nothing else he'd rather be doing. No amount of parties or dances can measure up to the way the ending to Of Mice and Men broke his heart, or the way Jodi Picoult's Leaving Time put it back together.

He loves analyzing the worlds he's being sucked into, highlighting passages that make him feel a certain type of way, and analyzing them to understand what makes them so powerful. He loves the power authors give their readers--to escape this world, to find meaning in theirs.

When he gets accepted to Colombia, it just makes sense for him to be an English major.

And he loves every second of it.

He loves writing papers and sticking to the most outlandish interpretations of Kafka, joining the campus newspaper club--even all the terrible peer reviews he has to do. He adores it all.

And then he graduates.

Magna Cum Laude, of course.

And David's not really sure what to do.

And a few months of crashing on friends' couches until he can get something published turns into a year turns into eighteen months turns into "Don't sweat it, you'll find something," and "Hey, I know a guy at The World who'd love to have you write columns," and if one more person tells him about the twelve publishers who rejected Harry Potter, he is going to pop a vein.

And then he's working for a Tax Attorney's office as a secretary and he hates every stupid minute of it, but it pays the bills for about a year before the office downsizes due to an actual fucking pandemic and decides he's the first to go.

He crashes with Sarah until quarantine is over. Then he spends another year working odds-and-ends jobs to help her with rent because he is not a freeloader with an English degree, for fuck's sake.

Sarah sends him a listing for a teaching position at a district in Brooklyn. Alternative Certification paid for by the campus. Eleventh Grade English.

It's a steady income, and he has an entire year to get his teaching certificate.

David applies for the position, not expecting to even really be considered, but in this teacher shortage--all the school is looking for, really, is a warm body.

David accepts the job.

He's always been good at school.

---

There's a weird, lanky looking guy who comes into Jack's class unannounced, accompanied by the academic dean, who informs Jack (with absolutely no heads up) that Mr. Jacobs is their newest English teacher and needs three more hours of live Observations before he's allowed to begin his classes.

Jack is less than thrilled at being observed for the last half of the day, but Mr. Jacobs smiles awkwardly and waves and that’s the end of that. Jack is instantly endeared by this guy who is way in over his head.

The academic Dean leaves, and Mr. Jacobs retrieves a binder and notebook from his messenger bag. As Jack resumes his lesson, the newest teacher takes fastidious notes throughout.

Jack has to actively try not to smile when one of his students goes to Mr. Jacobs for help with a guided practice warm up sketch. Mr. Jacobs seems surprised, but easily answers the questions best he can.

At least this new guy seems to care.

---

At the end of the day, David gathers his things into his bag and heads towards Mr. Kelly, extending his hand. “Thanks so much for this, Mr. Kelly. I really appreciate it.”

“Call me Jack.” He takes David’s hand.

“David.”

“Nice to meet you, Davey.” David’s stomach does a funny little flip at the nickname. It rolls off of Jack’s tongue so casually, so easily, that David doesn’t even feel the need to correct him. “If ya have any other questions, lemme know.”

David digs a pen out of his front pocket and extends it to Jack. “No questions, but could I get your signature on my observations sheet?”

“‘Course.”

The pen passes between their hands and with it, a bolt of electricity David wonders if he’s imagining, but hopes he isn’t.

He is not ogling the muscles of Jack’s hands as they sign the papers, and he’s definitely not noticing the way Jack’s smock hugs his waist where it’s tied behind his back, or the way his rolled up sleeves seem to broaden his shoulders.

“I noticed you have pictures detailing the steps on each of your assignment packets,” David says, redirecting his train of thought towards something work-appropriate.

“Reading ain’t so easy for all kids.”

Jack says it like it’s the simplest explanation in the world, with a shrug and an inherent understanding of this demographic that David lacks.

He hands the pen back to David, along with the paperwork, now donning his signature is messy script letters.

“Thanks.”

“No problem. I’m down the hall.” David has never been particularly boy crazy, but even he is not immune to the charms of Jack’s radiant smile. “If you ever need anything, Davey.”

It’s an offer for mentorship, not a marriage proposal. And still, color rises to David’s cheeks, despite his best efforts to remain cool.

“I’ll uh, see you around.” The words come out high and strangled in his throat, eliciting the widening of Jack’s already knee-weakening, cocky, shit eating grin, but David still hopes there’s truth to them.

It’s clear he has a lot to learn from Jack.

---

Jack pops in to Davey’s room once during his own lunch, and is delighted to find out Pulitzer High’s newest addition has the same period off.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Davey is smart as a whip, he’s passionate, he’s organized (which comes in handy on a Teacher Work Day. Davey spends some time helping Jack organize supplies, and Jack hangs up art and decorations he’d made for Davey’s room).

He finds out that teaching wasn’t always in the plan for Davey, it was just something he sort of fell into. And still, Jack can see the effort he puts into his lesson plans, the quick way he’s learning the ropes and never makes the same mistake twice.

Jack knows teachers who’ve been doing this for years, and don’t have the dedication to self-improvement that Davey has.

And not that Jack is into the habit of checking out his coworkers, but Davey sure as hell ain’t ugly.

He's got a smile that makes you feel like a winner, if you've earned one from him, and he's surprisingly strong (as Jack found out on the aforementioned Teacher Work Day, his mind sputtering and stalling like a dying car when he saw Davey haul out three huge boxes of art supplies from his closet).

Lunch together becomes a regular thing. Which means Davey has words to say about Jack's typical lunch--or lack thereof. One day, Davey unceremoniously presents Jack with a Tupperware of latkes.

“Eat,” he orders.

Jack side eyes him. “I got lunch right here.”

“Cup-O-Noodles is not a meal.”

“Lunch doesn't have to be a meal.”

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"Oh, so you've never heard yourself speak?"

"Shut up and take the damn potatoes."

They're heavenly and damn delicious.

In return, Jack brings him a tub of spaghetti the next week.

"Eat," he mimics. Davey gives him a withering glance and Jack clarifies. "It's my ma's recipe. You won't regret it."

"Ah, so you can be a functioning adult," Davey teases. "You just choose not to."

Because Jack's got exactly two brain cells, and both of them are focused on Davey taking an uncharacteristically messy bite of the meal Jack's prepared for them, he says, offhandedly, "I choose to, for you."

Davey nearly coughs up his spaghetti, but doesn't mention it again.

Other than that, things at Pulitzer High are great. Quiet, even. Easy.

And then they get The Memo.

---

“I honestly don’t see what’s so bad about becoming a charter school.”

“Davey,” Jack hisses. Even though Jack seems upset, it doesn't stop the warmth in his stomach at hearing the nickname. “Davey, Davey, Davey. Charter schools get public funding, but they get to decide which kids stay and which kids go. Those signs that say 100% passing rates of standardized testing? It’s because they kick out anyone who can’t meet it. Including kids with LDs and 504 plans. It ain’t right.”

“Shit, I didn't know that. That's fuckin' awful."

"On top of that, you don't have to be certified to be hired."

"I'm not certified," Davey points out.

"Yeah, but you enrolled in one of them ACPs--so you will be. Charter schools don't require the year grace period because they don't require certification. Look, I'm not saying that every teacher in this country is perfect, or hell, even at this school. But it takes a lot of effort to get certified--even if it's not a perfect system--and I don't think it's something we should bypass. If Pulitzer goes Charter, Admin determines your hours, not the board. And kids with lower income households and undiagnosed LDs are gonna bear the brunt of these so-called higher standards. They'll fall right through the cracks, and ain't nothing we can do about it."

A tense silence falls between them, and Davey isn't quite sure how to respond. He doesn't disagree with anything Jack's said, now that he's informed, but he's at a loss regardless.

"I... Sorry, this sorta shit just gets me all worked up. I feel so... so stupidly helpless."

"No, no," Davey says quickly, reaching across the table to clasp Jack's hand in his. It comes automatically, before his brain has the good sense to cross it. Jack looks down at their twined hands, lips parted in what Davey thinks (hopes) might be a breathless gasp. "I get it."

Clearing his throat, he tears his hands away and tucks them beneath the table. He faces away, training his gaze to the creepy portrait of their school's namesake that's hung in the Teacher's Lounge and--

Shit.

Davey has an idea.

A big, stupid, risky idea.

A big, stupid, risky idea that might just be big and stupid and risky enough to impress Jack Kelly, who almost prides himself on being all those things.

"You know about Joseph Pulitzer?" Davey finally asks.

“Yeah, wasn’t he some big time publisher or something?”

“He was. He also tried raising newspaper prices for kids who made a living selling them.”

“Sounds like a real sweetie. Taking advantage of a buncha kids like that.”

“I mean, they did fight back. Gotta give them that credit.”

“They fought back? Against a giant like Pulitzer? How’d they manage that?”

“Well.” Davey turns to meet Jack’s gaze. “They went on strike.”

[my-silly-rabbit]

general blog stuff:

💜 hello! names gems! I'm 26 and have brain rot for this man. I'm sorry I'm like this. I have no excuse. it's the British accent and Mathew Lillard for me.

💜 please be nice. ik people aren't fond of Afton fans, I've had my good share of stinkers. he is a comfort character on top of a f/o so please just. if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all. 💜 i do regularly get high and post, if that makes you uncomfortable then please stay safe and don't interact with me. 💜 both me and my s/i, bonbon are non binary so please some assume shes cis despite being very fem presenting. her gender is my gender. (though i do go by he/him. but on this blog, idc if you call me bonbon and she/her. )

Strawpage: SEND ME DOODLES! PROSHIPPERS AND MINORS DNI details and other stuff bellow

tags:

💜🐇 = William

💛 🎈 = Bonbon

🍰 💃 = Ms. Afton

🧰🐻 = Henry (i might end up forgetting to even use these lol)

self-insert:

💜 name: Bonbon Benson

💜 age: 30+ (it changes around but always early to mid 30's)

gender/pronouns: nonbinary any but mainly she/her

Bio: as a child, bonbon wasn't very well cared for. her parents were poor and always fought. this caused Bonbon to hide away in themselves and try to not be a burden. they eventually developed a love for robotics and wanted to further that career but their homelife and mid to high-functioning autism made that difficult. her parents eventually divorced after the birth of her sibling, Molly, and stuff started to look a bit better. but that didn't last long.

bonbon couldn't manage to finish high school due to her anti-social behavior, lack of friends, poor home life, and poor grades in most classes outside of math and science.

She is 25+ now and still needs to get her GED but living with her distant dad and no friends, it's very hard to think. its not the best environment to do schoolwork. never was.

after the divorce, her mother gained a large sum of money and this caused her sibling to be rather spoiled, which their mother isn't fond of so to help her branch out, she let her have visits with Bonbon and their dad.....aka just bonbon.

(pic of molly. picrew link: here)

there are not many places a kid would enjoy in Hurricane, Utah. molly only wanted to go to the library but Bonbon felt like their little sister deserved someplace better. then she saw an ad for Freddy's. idk which Freddy's, they change with the timelines, vers of William etc but it's usually between Fred Bears and Freddy's JUST opening. early enough for Bonbon to still see William use the Springbonnie suit at least a few times before showcasing the band.

once they got there, bonbon fell in love. the lights, the games, the animatronics....everything. they never had anything like it as a child. they felt so happy just being able to see something so lively.....and yet it brought Molly no joy. She found it loud, crowded, and annoying.

bonbon couldn't understand. She was a kid??? why did she like it so much??? it infuriated Bonbon...but at least she wasn't alone.

after a few visits, the founders took notice of the hyper adult adoring their pizzeria with no child in sight (Molly stayed cooped in one of the booths the whole time). and William eventually started striking up conversations.

bonbon is a....hyper sort. easy to read and William found it refreshing. As much as she adores what he does, she isn't afraid to say how she feels. just barely a filter on this little lady.

idk what more to say lol. they become silly murder partners, bonding over how much kids take that adults also enjoy and their lost youths

either ms afton is a few years already dead or in their silly polycule.

[tartarusknight]

The King of the Freaks | Part 15

Ao3 Link | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16

CW for sexual harassment and dissociation/derealization 

On Monday, Steve felt nervous but also more sure of himself than ever before. But in a way, after breaking down in front of the guys, Steve wasn’t completely sure how to act anymore. He was used to making himself scarce so they wouldn’t feel like he was too much. But that first day back, instead of just smiling their way and continuing on in the morning, he stopped by Grant’s locker where all, minus Eddie, were standing. They had smiled at him brightly and he felt stupid for missing out on this for so long.

 “Hey Steve, so what are your plans for Thanksgiving?” Jeff questioned.

He couldn’t help but shrink into himself a little. “Uh, I don’t really celebrate. Not much of a feast when you eat alone.” He shrugged and tried to stay nonchalant about it.

Jeff tilted his head before nodding to himself, “Why don’t you join my family? I’ve got a huge family so honestly one more is nothing.” He said and Steve froze because he’s never really had this opportunity.

He could feel the desire to cry building up so he looked away from the group of guys, “Yeah. Yeah, that sounds nice.”

 An arm was thrown over his shoulder and he looked over to see Eddie who finally joined them. “Lucky man. Jeff’s gran makes the best pies,” Eddie grins and Steve can’t help but smile back. Hope was building every day with these people. He didn’t feel so lonely. He had thought this big break would’ve been lonely. But he’s already got a plan for one of the days.

 The bell rang and Eddie groaned, “I don’t wanna go to Mrs. Click’s. I’m 80% sure she hates me.” He whined and Steve laughed.

He wrapped his arm back around Eddie, “Come on. Stop being a big baby.” He decided, dragging Eddie off towards their shared class. Eddie groaned and tried to slow them but Steve easily overpowered him. Eddie didn’t stop complaining even as they reached the classroom.

 Steve ripped his bagel in half and handed one to Eddie. Eddie looked a little surprised but then he smiled. It made his dimples stand out and it was so dorky, but it made Steve smile right back. He sat in his spot next to Tammy Thompson who constantly checked him out and the girl behind him who drilled holes into the back of his head.

 Still, he was having a good day and it wasn’t slowing him down. During lunch, he actually sat down with the boys instead of just stopping by. And he was able to just joke around and have fun instead of hiding in the library or his car. He was slowly gaining his footing and it terrified him but also excited him. During the last class of the day, he had actually sat next to Eddie in class and Eddie had given him another of those big smiles that Steve was starting to think were perfect.

 Of course, he couldn’t just mess around with Eddie all class period though. He started on the math work as Eddie did the same. Steve seemed to lose track of his surroundings until Eddie groaned and slammed his head on the desk. Steve glanced over and noticed doodles on the worksheet but only the first couple of math problems were completed. Steve himself wasn’t great at math but it was easier than English. He didn’t have to worry about the numbers running all over the page like words would.

 “Do you want to work together?” He asked before he could stop himself. Eddie sat up so fast he would’ve toppled backward if Steve hadn't steadied his chair. “Jesus, calm down.” He huffed and took in Eddie’s shocked expression on his face. “What?”

Eddie blinked, “you want to work with me?”

Steve’s nose wrinkled at Eddie’s words. “What? I asked, didn’t I?”

Eddie's fingers tapped on the desk and the room was noisy, filled with students who didn’t care about actually working on their work. “Yeah, but… well- um, Steve this isn’t my first time taking this-”

Steve rolled his eyes, “so what?”

 It was like Eddie was shrinking back into himself. He looked small in a way Steve hadn’t noticed before. “I’m not going to be any help. I can’t focus for shit. I spend more time getting off task than working on my shit.” Eddie mutters and Steve hates how quiet he is.

He thinks of how Eddie had been open to Steve this past weekend. It makes the nonchalance tumble off his shoulders. “Eds, I just want to help. I’m not great at this shit but I think we might as well try to work to our strengths, right?” He offered and brought his paper over to him and tapped his pencil on Eddie’s paper. “We can try, right? I’ll keep you focused to the best of my abilities and you can try to make it make sense in my brain. Because your work on those two actually looks right and I have no clue what I’m doing.” He says quietly and Eddie blinks at him.

 Then he gets a determined look on his face and grabs his pen. Eddie’s thoughts were all over the place but he was still smarter than Steve could ever wish to be. He was able to explain the work like it was easy and while it helped Steve, he still struggled. Eddie stayed determined, like just the thought of helping Steve was able to keep him focused. But Steve still had to point Eddie back in the right direction a couple of times. It took a while but they were able to parse together the worksheet.

 While they were working, Steve noticed more than a few glances their way. Even the teacher seemed intrigued by them. He tried to ignore it. But he’s never been great at ignoring what others thought of him. It’s why he got to the top; it’s why he became King Steve. But he didn’t want to be a shallow asshole who only cared about everyone’s opinions. He wanted to be like Eddie, walking in his own skin and staying confident.

 Still, just because he wanted to stop being King Steve didn’t mean he could just stop caring. He shrunk into himself as they gossiped. “Do you think Harrington uses the freaks to look hotter?” One girl murmured to her friend; it made their friend laugh.

“I mean, why else would Steve Harrington be friends with Satan worshippers?” The one replied and Steve glanced over at Eddie who was chewing on the end of his pen. “Although rumor has it Nancy dumped him. So maybe he really is that much of a loser.”

 The first girl sighed as if it affected her personally. “Do you think people would still be jealous if I slept with him?”

“Probably everyone knows how good in bed he is.” She replied and Steve gripped his pencil tighter.

“Good, because I know a few of us want a taste before he graduates.” They giggled to themselves and Steve tried to ignore it. “You know everyone’s got a talent, he might not be special but he’s still got his looks and that tongue-”

 Steve jumped as Eddie kicked his desk hard enough that it tumbled to the ground in front of him with a bang. Everyone went quiet and he just shrugged, “Leg spasm.” He offered and Steve felt frozen in place as Eddie picked up his shit. The teacher didn’t even bother getting him in trouble, she just sighed and continued on with her day.

 Eddie calmly sat back down and acted like nothing happened. It made him so jealous. Eddie reached over and grabbed the collar of his vest to pull Steve over to whisper in his ear, “are you alright, sweetheart?”

Steve jerked like he was slapped and looked over at Eddie. “Uh, um, yeah?” He choked out and Eddie looked like he was trying to see straight into his soul. Steve couldn’t handle that. He stood up and handed in his worksheet before heading straight out of the classroom.

 He felt his hands shake and he could hear Eddie follow after him, but he couldn’t focus on that. “Stevie, Steve, slow down. It’s okay, you’re okay.” Eddie blocked his path and Steve’s hands gripped Eddie’s leather jacket. Eddie bit his lip and gently touched Steve’s arm, guiding them into the bathroom. Steve easily followed him but kept his grip on Eddie. “I’m right here, okay? Those girls are just uh, dickheads?” Eddie stumbled over his words and Steve glanced up at him.

“They want dick and head, Eddie,” Steve said dumbly.

 Eddie nodded and then sighed. He looked a little lost and Steve knew he was blowing this out of proportion. “But… Steve, isn’t that kind of a compliment? Like they didn’t phrase it right but-”

Steve feels the words like a plate to the head and it takes everything inside of him to avoid breaking apart at the seams. He took the emotions that started to bubble up and shoved them down. So far, they slip from his grasp and everything around him quietens until all he can do is focus on Eddie.

 He feels like he's buzzing with energy but unable to flip the right switch so it goes to the right place. It makes his brain feel like it's speeding up until his movements aren't able to keep up. Before he wasn’t even the one moving himself anymore. He was too far away to do anything but watch himself. Like he was a passenger in his own body. Like his words weren’t his. Like he wasn’t himself.

 “Yeah, Eddie. I mean, I’m Steve Harrington. I’ve got a reputation for a reason. I just don’t see the point of sitting around listening to gossip.” He said and it came out smoothly like it was the truth. Too perfect and so wrong in ways he can't express. The world is blurred around the edges and he's not really sure what's happening.

 “I mean some of the shit they were saying was absolute shit and I get-” Eddie was still talking but Steve wasn’t in the conversation anymore. He wasn’t sure where he was. It was familiar to a concussion but also so far away from it that just left him lost.

Still, he laughed and playfully shoved Eddie. It made Steve realize that at some point he had stopped clutching onto Eddie. “Dude, it’s fine. Honestly, that doesn’t even bother me. It’s a compliment, right?” He asked and something in Eddie’s expression wasn’t right.

 “Steve, I…” He trailed off like he wasn’t sure what to say. Steve felt like shit as he took a step back from Eddie.

He knew he was grinning but he didn’t understand how. “Eddie,” He leaned in close and confident in ways Steve hadn’t been since being King Steve. “I know I’m a slut. I know the things they say. Just because I haven’t been sleeping around doesn’t mean shit. I know what I’m good at,” he states and Eddie looks hurt. But before Eddie can do anything the bell rings and Steve slips out of the bathroom. He goes straight home and doesn’t bother talking to anyone else.

@zerokrox-blog @cyranx @adaed5 @the-redthread @lifeisnotsobadonceyoustopcaring @idontgetpaidenoughforthisshit @failedstarsandgoldenclouds  @bisexualdisastersworld @deadlydodos @anythingyouwanttobe @nburkhardtt @bestwifehaver @thehumblefigtree @megzdoodle @swimmingbirdrunningrock @mightbeasleep @bxlthazar @autumnal-dawn @chillichats @nonbinary-eddie-munson @the-daydreamer-in-the-corner @eddie-munson-is-my-wife @a-little-unsteddie @sharingisntkaren @a-huge-nerdy-nerd @0o-queendean-o0 @beckkthewreck @vi-an-te @vampireinthesun @newtstabber @dinosareawesome2137  @spicemallow @hellomynameismoo  @luthienstormblessed @briceslayed @angeldreamsoffanfic @dbquills @prideandsensibility @iwouldsail @ponfarrtimeatthevulcannightclub @spectrum-spectre @the-chilly-kat @yearningagain @loopsmd @starlight-archer @sleepy-time @goodolefashionedloverboi  @crazyshipper67  @sherrylyn628  @bidisastersworld  @v3lnys  @n0connections @pyrohonk  @cherixxx69 @theotalksalot @tailsfromthecrypt @ledleaf @grimmfitzz

(I can’t tag any more people I’m sorry!!! If you want to stay updated pls follow me or go onto Ao3 and subscribe to the story!)

[sweeeeeeeeeeets]

Master list (2024) :

★ -> happy/funny

† -> sad

♥ -> love

° -> neutral

♠ -> important

Art :

• doodles #1 (tried Out Perceptive and Room Doodles Awhile Back) (Feb 2 2024) °

• doodle #2 w/ love letter (Valentines special) (Feb 2 2024)♥

• doodle #3 (June 31st 2024) °

• doodle #4 (june 16 2024) °

• doodle #5 ('irl' oc) ★/°

• doodle #6 (July 19 2024) °

• doodle #7 (August 7th 2024) ★/°

• doodle #8 (August 9th 2024) ★/°

• doodle #9 (sep 14 2024) ★/°

• doodle #10 (Sep 14 2024) ★/°

• doodle #11 (Sep 16th 2024) ★/°

• doodle #12 [an oc, hope yall enjoy her.] (Nov 1st 2024) ★/°

• doodle #13 (Dec 3 2024) °

• doodle #14 (Dec 9th 2024) °

• _

Stories (short-stories not fanfic) :

• Why didn't I say I love you? (Apr 11 2024) ♥/†

• The villain I love (Nov 12 2024) ♥/†

• I miss him [Why didn't I say I love you? (Part 2)] (Nov 27 2024) ♥/†

• _

Letters :

• doodle #2 w/ love letter (Valentines special) (Feb 2 2024) ♥

• The Winter I remember (Nov 26 2024) °

• _

Fanfic :

- None yet -

Polls :

• Bored poll (part 1 of poll #1) (Apr 12 2024) °

• pizza poll (poll #2) (Apr 18 2024) °

• should I post something (poll #3)? (Nov 12 2024) °

• _

Imagine's :

• Imagine going into a fantasy land w/ your best friend. (Apr 12 2024) †/°

• Imagine if you were a porcelain doll (Nov 26 2024) °/†

• _

Random :

• Netflix Whatsapp post? (Feb 16 2024) °

• Reblog of Number/emails (important to know) (Apr 12 2024) ♠

• Minecraft Stuff (sep 20 2024) °

• Scam? Or real? (Nov 26 2024) °

• Highschool, Math class, Chats (Dec 29 2024) °/★

• Happy New years (2025) (Jan 1st 2025) °

• _

Wip ["wip" means -> work in progress, what it actually means (in this context) -> probably won't finish any of these] :

• Bridgerton inspired form of a letter (attempt) (Nov 27 2024) °

• oc animation (Dec 9th 2024) °

• _

Note (information) -> none of my reblogs are here, and if you wish to request something just be respectful, I dont do smut, I wont do disrespectful things to people or places. (The only exception to this rule is if a prompt shows someone being disrespectful and then someone else fighting for the right part of it/if it's meant for awareness or part of the plot/a preexisting (fictional character that is from a show, game, ect) character having already gone through it/part of the plot (like a flashback that makes a person) but they show growth or something). I dont wish to start conflict, you can request anything (under the guide lines) or just send something like a question or message. If its fanfiction, Ill try my best, it will most likely barely be anywhere near cannon, and if I dont know the characters well enough then it may end up sucking....The less details with the request, the less likely it'll be how you want it to be, I can interpret something very different then what you want with minimal information.

Another fun fact, you can find me on YouTube @ i-am-not-a-short-person.

If you feel like today isnt a day you want to be here, then take a breather, and break your routine. Do something that brings you joy. Its ok to miss a day of your normal routine to take a break and be happy. (⁠ﾉ⁠◕⁠ヮ⁠◕⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠*⁠.⁠✧

Hope you all have a lovely day/night, hugs for all ༼⁠ ⁠つ⁠ ⁠◕⁠‿⁠◕⁠ ⁠༽⁠つ

[bananna25]

Can You Hear Me?  1 - Birthday

When someone turns 17, they are able to find their soulmate. Soulmates can communicate telepathically and although they are not “required” to fall in love, 90% of them do. When your soulmate is younger than you, you simply won’t get a response. Same as if they’re dead, which if you think about it, kind of sucks. If your soulmate is in fact younger than you, then you’ll hear from them when they come of age. Might be months, years, decades if you're into that. Kidding. 

It’s been a week since you turned 17 and you still hadn’t tried to contact your soulmate yet. There were many reasons for this. Numero 1, you didn’t think you were ready for a relationship. Again, not all soulmates turn out to be lovers, and ironically, you wished yours would. If you weren’t ready, you didn’t want to blow it. Number 2, you really don’t like talking to people. Specifically strangers. Until you mastered the art of ordering a chicken sandwich on the phone, there was no way you would be contacting your soulmate. There’s a couple other reasons but those are the main two.

Mei’s been bothering you about it but you claimed it was because you were waiting for her to turn 17 so you could reach out together. “The least I could do as your best friend.” She knows that you’re worried about doing it alone, so she drops it. 

“The rest of the class period is for you to get a head start on the homework due in two days. Please use your time wisely,” Mr. Taguchi announced to the rest of the students. “I will leave the previous math problems on the board as examples. If you need help, come to my desk.”

You leaned your head against the window and gazed out the glass. It was the end of the day, the last thing you wanted to do was homework. While the class buzzed around you, you watched a couple of the 3rd years move around the courtyard collecting... soil samples? When you took a closer look, you recognized a familiar head of messy brown hair and couldn’t help but stare as he walked around. You snapped out of it when a girl with black hair bent down next to him, a little too close. 

"Are you okay?" Mei asked, tapping you on your head that was now buried in your hands. 

"Yea, I just hate it when a more attractive person has a crush on the same person I do," you groaned, looking up at her with a rather bored expression on your face.

"She's right," Inko added. "It's like performing in a talent show and finding out that Beyonce is going before you."

Somehow, the way she worded it made you feel even worse. ”Why would you say that?”

Yes, you had a crush on Oikawa Tooru. You’re not sure when it happened or why but you had grown a liking to him. He was definitely attractive and that might've had something to do with why you liked him. But the way he acted is what really caught your attention. Sure, he could be a jerk sometimes, all high and mighty, but then he would turn around and act like a complete cinnamon roll. His childish side was really cute. 

You spared a glance out the window again and saw Oikawa holding up one of the vials of soil and looking at it, a pout spread across his lips. Adorable.

As Inko and Mei talked back and forth about which anime was better and why, you doodled in your notebook, covering  old notes with ladybugs and cats. 

“What do you mean you haven’t watched Inuyashiki?” Inko gasped. “I recommended it to you months ago!”

“Yeah, along with 20 other things, it’s in my watchlist. I’ll get there eventually,” Mei grumbled and blew her bangs out of her face. “Bet you haven’t watched A World Only God Knows yet.”

“Actually I was planning on starting it today. You just reminded me.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“What about Avatar The Last Airbender? I told you to watch that one too.”

“That’s not an anime.”

“No, but you should still watch it.”

You colored in one of your cat’s faces, leaving the eyes and the inside of the ears white. A sudden chill ran down your spine and you turned around to see one of the kids behind you had opened a window. Even the slightest gust of wind gave you goosebumps and you returned to your drawings, shivering a little. 

Sounds from outside carried in and every now and then your eyes would flick to the window to catch a glimpse of Oikawa. You had never talked to him before, at least, not exchanged dialogue. You didn’t want to just go and strike up a conversation either. He was a handsome, popular 3rd year and you were a quiet 2nd year. You didn't talk to anybody, let alone the captain of the boys volleyball team. You kept to admiring him from afar, even if it could be annoying at times.

The 3rd years had all gathered around the teacher, probably about to head back inside. Oikawa was poking Iwaizumi in his side and clearly not paying attention to what the teacher was saying. Iwa would slightly push him but Oikawa came right back. 

Another gust of wind hit you and you put your pencil down. 

“I’mma get my jacket from my locker, I’ll be back,” you informed the bickering girls in front of you and went up to Mr. Taguchi to ask for a hall pass. He gave it to you and you headed straight for your locker. 

It was warmer in the halls, considering none of the windows had been opened, which was nice. Since the math classroom wasn’t far from your locker, you were able to get your jacket and head back quickly. 

While rewinding your steps, you looked out the window and noticed that the 3rd years weren’t there anymore. That could only mean…

You first noticed the teacher's head, rising from the staircase. Followed by the rest of his body and the students. They were on the opposite end of the hallway which meant that you needed to walk by all of them in order to get back to class. The thought of turning around and staying in the bathroom until they were gone, or just pretending like you forgot something in your locker passed through your head. But it was too late. You had made eye contact with the teacher. 

She smiled and you gave a small smile back, bowing slightly and keeping your head down to avoid looking at the students. You almost made it through when the sound of a girl laughing echoed through your ears and you looked up curious. It was a group of girls giggling about something on a phone. You were about to look down again when you caught a boy staring at you. He had really short, light brown hair and small eyes. You recognized him as the new 3rd year transfer that you had helped earlier that year. You had found him looking lost in the hallways and searching for the robotics room. You talked for a little while showing him the way and learned that his name was Hanamaki (I know he didn’t transfer originally but for the sake of the plot, let it be). 

The boy smiled and waved, you gave a small smile and waved back to not be rude. He then turned to one of the boys next to him and started chatting with him, the boy throwing a glance in your direction. Almost instantly, you moved your eyes elsewhere and noticed Oikawa a couple feet in front of you. He stood behind Iwaizumi with his head resting on his back, arms just swinging underneath him. His mouth was moving but you couldn’t hear a word he was saying. But it couldn’t have been that important since Iwa kept a straight face the entire time. 

As you were looking away, you noticed Iwa’s eyes flick to yours but you didn’t meet his gaze and instead hurriedly put your sweatshirt on. You zipped it up to your chin and put your hands in your pockets, glad to have finally made it past the herd of students and suddenly feeling the overwhelming desire to go home. 

***

The music club is a relatively quiet place. There are only 7 other people in the club besides you and Mei, but that makes practice much easier because there aren’t as many people hogging instruments. It is mostly independent too, which you appreciated. You entered the room and dropped your bags by the door. Mei was already there, along with another girl and boy. You hadn’t really had a full conversation with either of them, and you weren’t planning to. 

“Inko left these forms for the school camping trip before she went to the art room,” Mei approached you with a couple papers in hand. “Did you wanna go?”

“I don’t know. Sleeping in a tent with my classmates doesn’t exactly appeal to me.” You commented but took the permission slips anyway, briefly scanning them. The activities planned looked fun but not if you had to do them with strangers. “Are you going?”

“I might. If you or Inko will, I’ll go.”

Seems like she had the same idea in mind. “Inko probably will. Didn’t she go last year?”

“Yeah, she did. And she came back with a boyfriend.”

You giggled, remembering Inko and the boy she had dated for less than a week before dumping. “They didn’t last very long.”

Truthfully, he wasn’t a bad guy, you thought he was cute and he absolutely adored Inko, but she wasn’t having it. 

“What happened to him anyway?” you asked Mei and strode over to the empty piano bench. “I don’t think I’ve seen him at all this year.”

“I wanna say he moved cities…? But I dunno,” Mei followed you and leaned against the wall.

You pressed a couple of the keys, playing a quick melody. “When do I have to turn the permission slip in?” Not that asking would help, you'd forget it in an hour.

“A month. Just don’t forget. They don’t accept them late.”

You nodded and stole a glance at the guitar next to Mei. It was a newer addition to the club and you took it upon yourself to learn it, but it was a lot harder than the piano. Then again, the first instrument you learn always seems the easiest. 

“Did you want me to pass you that guitar?” Mei noticed you staring at the acoustic and gave it to you. “You’re really set on learning every instrument in this room, aren’t you?”

”Mmhm. But it's making my fingers sore..”

“You’ll get used to it once you build calluses. Maybe if you’re confident enough by the end of the year you can play in the competition.”

“You’re funny,” you said sarcastically. “That’s the other guy’s spotlight. I would never.”

Both of you threw a glance towards one of the other club members riffing away in the corner. For the past 2 years he has played as the electric guitarist in the music competition. Even if you did practice all year to perform, he would still be better. 

“Maybe he’ll get sick or mysteriously injured,” Mei offered.

You only shook your head and laughed. “Now Mei, let's not doom the poor child."

"But you said you would participate this year!"

"Yeah, I did. But I was planning on just submitting a song or something. I don't actually have to perform."

"But that's not the same…"

"Hey, if a spot opens up I'll volunteer… maybe," you set the field trip forms on the piano and laid the guitar across your lap. “Do you want to play a song with me?”

“As long as you don’t outshine my vocals again,” Mei sat across from you on a cajon and smacked it. "If you don't end up performing you better have written one bomb ass song."

***

Music club ended about the same time as volleyball practice. Because of that, you often see Oikawa everyday afterschool. The music room was farther away from the school entrance than the gym, so when you were walking to the subway station, you basically followed him for a block. To make it even better, you guys took the same train. Your station was 1 stop early, but you were still in the same car for at least 9. 

The doors closed behind you and you took the closest open seat, which happened to be across from Oikawa’s. You sat down without looking at him and pulled your backpack onto your lap, taking your earbuds out and putting one in your ear. The ride was at least 15 minutes and you wanted to be distracted from the crowds around you. 

A couple walked into the train, hand in hand, and for a split second, you were tempted to say something to your soulmate. There’s no way you could mess up a simple “hey” right? But as quickly as that thought came, you pushed it away. Absolutely not. You told Mei you were gonna wait for her and even though she doesn’t really care, you were gonna stay true to your word. 

Your stop came and you got up, glancing at Oikawa. He was slouching with his feet outstretched, sports bag beneath the seat, hood over his head and covering his chin. His phone was in his hands and he looked like he was in a very intense game. Your lips twitched at the sight and looked away before he noticed you staring. 

The doors opened and you got off. You looked back but with the other people crowding to get on, you couldn’t make him out. It’s okay, you’ll see him tomorrow anyway. 

***

A month flew by quickly. 

The deadline for the camping trip permission slip was today. Mei continued to hag you but said her parents wouldn’t let her go because she had too many missing assignments. The only way they would let her leave was by raising her grades, but knowing Mei, she didn't love camping nearly enough to commit to more school work. And if she wouldn't go, neither would you.

Today also happened to be Mei’s birthday and the first thing she asked was if you were ready to talk to your soulmate.You lied.

“Yeah, you?”

“Absolutely. On the count of three. Ready?”

Your eyes widened. You didn’t even get a minute of preparation. “W-wait! Gimme a couple seconds..”

She gave you the side eye. “You’ve had more than enough time. Were those past couple weeks not enough for you?”

“Yeah, yeah, just hold on,” you took a deep breath in and gripped the straps to your backpack. It’s only a big deal if you make it a big deal. And if you’re lucky, they’ll be younger than you and not respond. 

“...You good?”

You nodded. “One…”

“Two… three!”

Your mind went blank. What should you say? Suddenly, a simple “hi” wasn’t gonna cut it for you. You looked at Mei, she had her eyes closed. The first thing you say should be romantic, memorable. These would be the first words you would say to your soulmate ever. This was important, so why can't you think of anything?I can do this… You sucked in one more breath of air and closed your eyes. 

“OMG I heard him!!” Mei bounced up and down excitedly. “Did yours say anything?” 

You opened your eyes and looked at her. How did she do that so fast? “No, not yet..” That wasn’t completely a lie. 

“Aww that’s okay, maybe he’s not old enough. That gives you more time, right?” 

She’s right. But you didn’t need more time. Your adrenaline was already pumping and you just wanted to get it over with. And if you didn’t do it now, you would feel like a chicken. And that couldn’t happen. 

Mei grabbed your hand and started pulling you with her past the school gate. “You’ll never guess who my soulmate is. Oddly enough, I don’t think I’ve even met him properly yet.”

Screw this. Can you hear me?

…

…

Yes, I can hear you!

________________________

I’m going to attempt to keep a steady update flow but life happens so we’ll see