#But I was in the middle of an explanation so obviously the PE teacher got mad at me but like

[dragoninahumancostume]

I have no idea what the adults in my life have done to me that made me hate them so badly but I literally can't trust them. Over 18? Yeah fuck off and don't talk to me. You're a danger to me having a good day. GET OUT.

[marinetteplztakeabreak]

okay now that we’re in the middle of a hiatus and the fandom is mostly calmed down

I’m one of the very few people who’s actually hoping for a Lila redemption arc? I don’t want her to be friends with Adrien or Marinette or anyone she’s really really hurt, but she is still like 14 and we don’t know her full story and I honestly want to see her grow and be a person and make some actual friends and get some hobbies. Again, I think she’s burned the bridge with a few characters, but that doesn’t mean she can’t ever be friends with anyone else

and anyway, my ideal takedown/ redemption arc for Lila is one where she unknowingly lies about having several disabilities that other students in the class actually do have

BUT I don’t want it in a “oh actually, Lila, you dumb fool, I have real medically diagnosed tinnitus, so I know that’s not how it works, haha everyone look at Lila the stupid liar” kind of way

I want them to be like stupid levels of understanding and try to bond with her

(detailed explanation of my Lila arc under the cut, obviously don’t read if you’re uncomfortable with the idea of Lila being redeemed)

Lila is like “oh... actually... I can’t participate in the PE final... I have scoliosis... that I just found out about right now” and Juleka is like “oh! I have scoliosis too!” and Lila is panicking because she’s about to be called a fraud, but instead Juleka just happily sits with her for the entire PE final and rambles about stuff and is super happy to have a bench buddy

Alix mentions that she has tinnitus and Lila is like “wait what? why aren’t you in front of the class?” and Alix is like “oh, for me it’s kind of a waves thing? on good days, I can hear her from anywhere in the classroom, and on bad days, nothing can really help me hear? so Ms. Bustier just gives me lecture notes that I can read and it works for me.” And Lila is completely expecting to be called a fraud but Alix is just like “it’s super cool that it does help you, though! everyone’s different! If you ever want to compare notes about what helps, you can text me!”

Lila starts to say the beginning of a well practiced and overly researched speech about how she can’t go on a field trip because she has a super rare medical condition and Max just pulls her aside and is like “hey, I know it can be scary and you feel like you have to justify yourself, but you really don’t have to give super personal information all the time. It’s totally fine if you are comfortable, but really, I know from personal experience that Ms Bustier and this class are super understanding. You can just say ‘personal reasons’ or something and we’ll all leave you alone. You’re allowed to have privacy.” and Lila is like “huh”

this is getting long but basically, eventually she talks to someone in the class with ADHD or anxiety, I’m going to say Alya for now, so she literally catches Lila lying about knowing some celebrity, and instead of being angry or judgemental she’e super discreet about it, she pulls her aside like “hey, I know it feels hard to make friends, but I promise you, people do think you’re interesting as you are, and we care more about you than the people you know.” and she doesn’t even call Lila out for lying? she’s literally just like “u dont have to know celebrities”

and then Lila actually finds out that there’s at least one actual compulsive liar in the class. And, if you didn’t know, Lila’s not an actual compulsive liar, and I’m not going to get into a rant about that now but... She lies on purpose, and tells planned lies with an agenda, whereas compulsive liars don’t usually plan to lie or have a reason for lying. So anyway, Lila gets actually caught lying, and someone, lets just say Nino for the sake of picking a character, is like “hey i know its hard but you do still have to apologize, even if you did your best, you still messed up and you’ve got to own up to it. I believe you that you’re trying to be better but you can’t just use mental illness as an excuse.” and Lila pulls out the fake tears and is like “you don’t understand-” and Nino is (not in a rude way, just trying to be kind) like “I can’t understand you exactly, no, but I literally did have a problem with compulsive lying and I have a therapist, so if you want to talk about it I probably understand more than you know” and Lila is like “oh.”

and anyway, Lila’s arc doesn’t come through someone she’s harassed trying to defend her, and it doesn’t come from her being traumatized into being nice, it just comes from her classmates treating her like a human person, and doing their best to understand her while also actually finding ways to make things accessible to her so she stops being able to get out of things. And then it turns to “hey Lila, just so you know, you don’t HAVE to give explanations for not wanting to go places, you can just SAY if you’re uncomfortable.” and she starts getting called out on it a little bit more, but in a friendly way. Her classmates are just like “Lila please just tell us what you want, I don’t need your medical history, I’m not going to do a background check, just, say you want to borrow a jacket and I’ll let you borrow it. I literally have an extra hoodie”

But simultaneously, everyone with a disability “in common” with her starts latching on to her and opening up, and they actually hold her accountable for listening to their needs. And Lila, who already has the mindset of “oh u are legally required to help Disabled Person or everyone will hate you,” which is literally the basis of half of her plans, is now surrounded by classmates who are asking for her help with reading things because they’re dyslexic, or asking her to grab a textbook from across the room, and asking her if she has any heating pads, and, well, Mylene actually bought her some heating pads when she was faking having cramps earlier, so she might as well lend those out so that she can get more credit with her classmates

And it’s not because she *cares* obviously, she’s just doing it to get them to rely on her, and to get on their good side

and then she’s invited to join the disabled students activism club, and it would look suspicious if she didn’t join, so she agrees, and then whoops, she is now working to do actual charity work-- because it’s really nice to have such solid evidence for her claims, and some charity work that she can actually point to solid evidence for if she ever gets called out-- and honestly it is pretty stupid that its so hard to get accommodations on tests for students with anxiety, because aren’t those the students who are the most afraid to talk to the teachers-- not that Lila cares. And it’s super dumb that no one even knows proper etiquette for helping people in wheelchairs,, and people keep Leaving Things in the Hallways that make it too narrow, and-- Lila doesn’t care at all though, and she definitely doesn’t care about her “friends” in the club because they’re not her friends, and she totally does not cry when she finds out that most of them are literally self-diagnosed, and then it turns out that Mylene was actually wrong, and she probably doesn’t have Lyme disease like she thought, and no one judges her or treats her any different? they’re all just like “oh thats great! glad you could keep getting new information!”

and Lila realizes that literally no one will be mad if it turns out she doesn’t have any disabilities. Except also, she’s starting to become more and more sure that she Does have several things wrong with her, because apparently it’s Not Normal to feel constantly on guard when she’s around other people, and apparently it’s Not Normal to just have days where you literally cannot drag yourself out of bed in the morning and then get hit with terror that if you tell anyone about how numb you feel they’ll immediately think you’re unworthy as a human being, and she’s like, oh, huh, i should  look into that

and anyway Lila doesn’t even try to be a good person at first she just wakes up one day and is like “what the heck when did i get actual friends and passions and hobbies,, i did not sign up for this” but she does start making an effort to be worthy of them and she ends up growing a whole ton once she’s given a support system

and anyway i know lots of people are uncomfy with Lila and that’s fine, but i’m continuously a sucker for “evil devil child is actually a pretty decent human being once their basic needs are met and they feel safe” trope

[elamarth-calmagol]

Story time: I convinced over a hundred seventh graders that my classroom was haunted

I'm going to tell you the story as the kids experienced it first and then put the explanation of what was really going on behind the break, so you can decide whether or not you want to read it. Everything that described here did actually happen, it just... wasn’t paranormal.

TW: obviously, this involves adult teachers trying to convince kids of the existence of the paranormal and not telling the truth about what was actually happening. It also involves a completely fake story about child abuse and death.

So I taught seventh grade math for a year at a hundred-year-old school. (Seventh grade is age 12-13.) My building was actually from the eighties and only had two classrooms. I had a very wide, shallow room with two closets. I used Kahoot a lot for class, which is an online quiz site where you can have a class take an educational or fun quiz on their phones or computers. To join a Kahoot game, you have to put in a code. You also have to be in the room during the quiz (or you did at the time, anyway), since that's the only place the questions or answers show up. On your device, you just choose the color that corresponds to the answer.

We had lunch in the middle of fourth period. So one day, after I had finished eating and before the kids came back, I set up a math Kahoot game on the board to be ready for them. Then, I bent down to fix something on the printer. As I did that, I thought I saw a person out of the corner of my eye, someone standing in the middle of the classroom, looking at the board. That was weird, I thought, but I had some loose hair on that side, and it was probably that mixed with a backpack or desk. But about a minute later, I looked up and saw that someone had joined my Kahoot game, calling themselves "Jay ;)"

So my windows are closed meaning it wasn’t someone walking by, and I had just seen what I thought was someone looking at the board, so that's a heck of a coincidence. Obviously, I told my kids as soon as they got back. After school, I told my friend the agriculture teacher, who had a portable classroom and garden behind my building. He said that was weird because of a story he'd heard about one of the previous agriculture teachers. Apparently there's a hole under my classroom running to the agriculture yard, and the teacher used to send kids down there to get stuff he had stored in it. But one day, he locked a kid in there and left him over the weekend, and he died.

Obviously this would have been all over the news if it was real, but it was creepy to hear that, especially right after my experience, and the hole did exist (I saw it). He said that the PE teacher had also told him that someone had drowned in the swimming pool in the basement of the main building back when it was a high school. That must have happened several decades ago, so it was more believable that I might not find any evidence, but still.

After that, the Kahoot ghost showed up a lot more often. See, when I made kids play Kahoot as teams, I told them they had to have their table number somewhere in their team name. So in first period, table six was empty. And I'm getting "Team 1" and "two the top" or whatever, and then I get "6 feet under", with the three team members named:

Let_Me_Out

Let_Me_Out

Let_Me_Out

Honestly, I burst out laughing when I saw it. But there was no team six in the classroom, and no team had more than one person on an electronic device, so who was that?  Nobody seemed to know.

Then, it started happening more, at least once in every class over the span of two months. When it was a team game, we'd get "7 not in heaven" or "5 not alive" or "6 feet under" again. In individual games, we'd just get Let_Me_Out. It was always written exactly that way, with the capitals and underscores: the few times it wasn't, it would turn out one of the kids was secretly doing it. But I could never find who it was when it was written properly. I'd actually sometimes check if people had Kahoot open on two tabs. A lot of kids accused me of doing it, since I sometimes used my phone in class for other stuff, and I’d have to show them I didn’t have Kahoot anywhere on my phone.

I learned from one of the kids that actually people can join public games randomly because they can show up on some page somewhere as they start, so after that I did private games whenever I was able to, but it would happen on those as well, so that wasn’t the explanation.  Also, there were times when the mystery player actually WON THE GAME. Like I said, you can't get questions right unless you can see the game questions, and those only show up in the classroom.  You can’t do it as a random person over the internet.  Not to mention that it was obviously the same person every time.  Some random person wouldn’t be so interested in our games.  It was as if the person was in the classroom with us, but I couldn’t track them down.

Also, in sixth period, we actually heard knocking from the closets several times. The kids would knock back and it would respond. I think it might have happened in another period a couple times as well, but it was fourth and sixth that got the most weirdness happening over this time period. Then, the agriculture teacher finally told his kids about the story of the dead student, and of course they got even more creeped out. It actually turned into a problem because of kids screaming and even threatening to leave the room when Let_Me_Out appeared.

Then we got to Halloween. Of course I was going to do a festive Kahoot game. I made it myself and added spooky pictures and questions about the Kahoot ghost between the math questions. Which, yeah, is tempting fate, but honestly I've never believed in ghosts, and someone spying on our Kahoot games wasn't very convincing to me (would YOU do that if you were a ghost?). I should also mention that there were often 1-2 other adults in my class because several classes were inclusion-style, with special education students mixed with regular program students, and they never seemed to care. They never even really reacted.

I don't remember if anything happened the first three periods, because honestly what happened fourth period wiped out the rest of the day in my head. Like I said, fourth period was always one of the most active times. It was the end of class and I pulled up the game. I was standing by my desk while everyone was joining, and up pops "6 feet under" with all the spaces for the member names saying Let_Me_Out. But the moment it showed up, right when I saw it, there was BANGING UNDER MY FEET. Three LOUD knocks on the floor. RIGHT UNDER MY FEET.

I swear to you I jumped halfway across the room. One of the kids, who had been one of the most jumpy, ran straight out into the hallway, and everyone (except the other teachers, who I think were laughing a bit) was screaming and yelling.

I don’t know if we even managed to play that game.  But honestly, it really didn't happen again after that. I guess the ghost, or whoever was pretending to be the ghost, got the attention he wanted. But the banging is going to stick in my head forever.

There is a notable epilogue. I was already going to write this, but before I got around to it, I got a text message from that girl who ran out of the room and her best friend, who was also in fourth period. Apparently they got a wrong number and it turned out to be me. All the wanted to talk about was the haunted classroom. She said that she struggled not to ask to be switched out of my class. If it was true that they got my number by accident, it was another heck of a coincidence.

So here's the truth.

The creepy stuff about “Jay ;)” and me thinking I saw a ghost really happened. I went and told the agriculture teacher after school. His response was "That's amazing, it fits so well with this story I was coming up with..."

He was friends with the PE teacher who had made up the fake story about the kid drowning, and then he'd seen the hole and come up with the kid trapped in the hole story. He had everything planned out. He'd already started dropping hints, like an ominous "We don't talk about that" when people asked about the hole. He even wanted to change the Wikipedia page for our school to mention the story, but editing Wikipedia is a lot harder than it used to be.

He had a bunch of other plans, like putting fake blood in a ceiling tile, that we never got to. I thought we'd get in trouble. So what did we end up doing? Well, we both regularly used our phones during class for an online classroom management system, and he'd also take photos to send parents. Nobody paid attention to me using my phone. I'd even sneak in a minute of games occasionally and they wouldn’t catch on. None of the kids EVER questioned me using my phone for a few seconds every time I started a Kahoot game. I'd text him the code and what team to be (if it was teams), and if he had time, he'd join the game. After a while, I started texting him the answers ahead of time, and that's how he'd sometimes win the game.

How did he manage the banging on the floor without someone noticing? Well, he had lunch at the end of fourth period, so all his kids were gone for twenty-five minutes. That's why fourth period always had the most stuff happening (that and the Jay thing randomly happening then). He took a hammer and went into the hole. Keep in mind that we hadn't done a dry run and I didn't even know exactly how the hole matched up with the furniture in my room, so I was surprised at how loud it was, and my reaction was genuine. It happening precisely when the name showed up on the screen and directly under my feet was a total coincidence.

I think he told a few of the kids at least part of what was going on, but he must have sworn them to secrecy or something because they never mentioned it. I really wanted to tell the kids the truth at the end of the year to teach them something about being skeptical, but he was considering doing it to the kids next year, so I didn't. Also, I had decided that I'd probably admit it if anyone came up with the correct explanation of what was happening, but nobody did, they just kept blaming me or “hackers”. I'm not sure whether the other teachers in the room knew what was going on or just decided "I'm not getting involved in whatever this crazy teacher is doing". But they never told me to quit, or asked how I was doing it.

Wait! What about the closet knocking? Well, that wasn't so much of a secret. One of the kids was doing it by reaching around to the second closet while everyone was gathered around the first. I don't know how he did it so well, because I only ever saw him once. I was completely baffled at first, but the kids told me who it was. By the way, it was super creepy to hear.

I still don’t know how those two kids got my phone number.  Maybe there is an explanation that they haven’t admitted to yet.

[thesmellofstorms]

SKAM France fanfic part 1/2 (cross posted on AO3)

On Monday morning, Lucas felt on the verge of collapsing. His roommates and Manon had talked and laughed obnoxiously loudly until 2 am, and they had of course chosen to do so in the living room instead of going to a bar. So Lucas, who had been relegated to the couch, was unable to go to sleep while they were at it.

 He had tried a few times to get them to leave, pointing out that he had to go to school early in the morning, but his complaints had fallen on deaf ears. Manon had thrown a few apologetic looks his way during the night but Lucas, who had been watching videos on his phone trying not to fall asleep, had pretended not to notice. If she had been feeling so guilty for preventing him to go to “bed”, she could have said something to Mika and her cousin, even more so since it was the second night in a row they spent “reuniting”, as they nicely put it.

 As pathetic as it sounded, If he had not had the prospect of seeing Eliott that day, he was honestly not sure he would have been able to get up from the couch to get to class.

He was exhausted, and he hoped he would be able to hide it. He understood as soon as he joined his friends that it would be an impossible feat. Basil didn’t seem to notice anything was amiss, but Arthur was staring at him with concern and Yann asked him straight out.

 “Man, are you okay? You look half-dead.”

 “Well, thanks… that’s flattering.”

 Yann, the pure soul that he was, winced. “Sorry… but you kinda do. What happened?”

 “I didn’t get much sleep. I’ll be fine though”, Lucas informed.

 He didn’t feel like elaborating. He never really did. Plus, right now he had to spare what little energy he still had, and he was certain that evoking his roommates would make him angry and bitter.

 “Right…” Yann replied, before Basil started talking about Daphne again.

 Lucas rolled his eyes, but he was glad for the distraction. He didn’t want to be the centre of attention.

 *

 Eliott saw Lucas in the yard during break and went to him, since they had agreed by text that they would see each other at school.

 “Hey, dude!” He greeted, instantly regretting it when he saw Lucas’ face. He hadn’t said it to be petty. He had meant it as a joke, since Lucas and he were okay now after what had happened on Saturday night.

 Lucas obviously had not taken it the right way though. He had looked down at his feet like a scolded child, and he wasn’t saying anything.

 “Lucas, are you alright?” Eliott asked softly, putting a hand on his shoulder.

 Lucas finally looked back up, and Eliott had the sudden impression that someone was squeezing his heart in a vice grip. Lucas’ usually wide and attentive eyes had huge bags under them and there was such sadness in them that Eliott wanted to hug the other boy. Then again, he wanted that most of the time, but even more so now that Lucas looked so dejected.

 “What’s wrong?”

 Lucas had not answered his first question, and Eliott was getting worried. Well, more worried.

 “Nothing… nothing’s wrong. I only slept a few hours last night, I’m just tired. It’s no big deal.”

 Eliott could see right through Lucas’ lies. Sure, he seemed tired, but there was more to it. There had to be.

 “Why’s that?”

 “Well, I had to leave my room to Manon, and my roommates only left the couch at about 2 am so… They did that on Saturday too, and I couldn’t oversleep in the morning because Mika got up early… whatever”.

 “Damn, that sucks.”

 That was not a very helpful answer on Eliott’s part, but he was baffled by how Lucas’ roommates had treated him.

 “Tell me about it.” Lucas replied with a bitter edge in his voice. Eliott couldn’t blame him for that.

 “You can stay at mine tonight, if you want.” And tomorrow night, and as many nights as you want, Eliott then thought.

 Lucas’ mouth dropped and his blue eyes, despite their tiredness, widened.  However, he recovered a second later.

 “Are you sure? I mean, I wouldn’t want to be a bother.”

 “Don’t worry about that. My parents are barely home these days, anyway.”

 The smile Lucas offered had a certain kind of sadness to it. “Okay, then I’ll come. Thank you.”

 “You’re welcome. I’ll meet you at the bus stop. We can go to your place first, so you can get clothes and stuff.”

 Eliott wouldn’t have minded letting Lucas borrow some of his clothes, quite the contrary, but that was probably better left unsaid. Had the circumstances been different, he might have said it just to see Lucas get all flustered, but they were in the middle of the schoolyard, and he would cut him some slack.

 “Okay great, see you.”

 *

 After the break, Lucas couldn’t concentrate on any of his classes. It might have been partly because of the lack of sleep, but the main reason probably was that he couldn’t stop thinking about Eliott.

 He couldn’t help but be nervous about tonight. He was sure they were about to kiss on Saturday, before Manon interrupted them, and damn had he wanted that kiss! He would have come and got it himself if it weren’t for the fact Eliott was a lot taller than he was and therefore hard to reach.

 It was probably a bad idea, but Lucas didn’t know if he would be able to hold back. He had never wanted anyone so badly, and the way Eliott acted with him wasn’t helping anything. All the casual touches and the burning looks were driving him crazy, and it was nothing compared to some of the things he said, telling Lucas he was surprising, telling him about being attracted to men as well as women. How could Lucas keep his distance when Eliott looked and behaved the way he did?

 Lucas’ inattention went to such extent that he got hit in the head by a basketball in PE because he had not seen it coming.

 “Oh my God Lucas, I’m so sorry!” Alexia apologised immediately.

 She had not done things halfway. She had thrown so hard that Lucas had been sent to the floor and was now slightly out of it.

 “Are you okay?”

 She bent over him, guilt and concern written all over her face. Lucas wanted to scream in frustration. How many times would he be asked if he was alright in this godforsaken day?

 “Fine… don’t worry.” He finally answered, once he had recovered enough from the shock. 

 Alexia didn’t seem to be feeling better, though. She was grimacing while keeping her eyes fixed on him.

 “Shouldn’t you go to the infirmary?”

 “What? No, I’m fine.”

 He looked around him and noticed pretty much everyone was staring at him weirdly.

 “It’s just… you’ve got quite a mark, man.” Arthur informed.

 Lucas groaned. He had to be cursed, there was no other explanation.

 He excused himself to the teacher so he could go to the bathroom, where he found out he indeed had a huge red mark on his right cheekbone. This day really was awful. Lucas could only hope the mark would go away soon.

 He could tell it did NOT disappear as soon as Eliott put his eyes on him when he reached the bus stop.

 “God, what happened?” He asked, gently putting his thumb on Lucas’s cheek, right under the bruise.

 Goosebumps erupted on his skin from just this slight touch, and suddenly Lucas wasn’t so mad at this day anymore.

 “Basketball accident. Don’t worry, I bruise easily, it looks more serious than it is.” He reassured Eliott, causing his hand to drop from his face. Lucas was almost disappointed.

 They took the bus and went to Lucas’ first, as planned. No one was home, and Lucas let out a relieved sigh. He really didn’t want to see his roommates, permanent or temporary, right now.

 He was ready in under five minutes, taking his toothbrush and putting the first clothes he found in his travelling bag. They would be very crumpled in the morning, but Lucas couldn’t bring himself to care.

 While he was doing that, Eliott was scrutinising every inch of his bedroom, because he apparently was a curious bastard. It made Lucas a little self-conscious about the mess, but that probably wasn’t what Eliott was paying attention to. Lucas hoped he wasn’t blushing.

 They nearly missed the bus and had to run in order to get it. And, as soon as they got down, it started raining hard. Tough luck.

 Lucas’ eyes started burning, just as they did when he was about to cry. Weather was a stupid reason to cry, but he was so exhausted, and he had had too much. At least, the raindrops would hide his tears, he guessed. Thank God for small mercies.

 *

“Do you want us to find a shelter until it calms down?”

 “It could last all night.” Lucas replied.

 It was already dark outside, and with the heavy rain and feeble streetlights, Eliott couldn’t see Lucas very clearly, but he looked even worse for wear than he had in the morning, which was saying something.

 “Okay, let’s hurry then” He said, before taking Lucas’ hand and stringing him along.

 They walked quickly, but they were still drenched to the bone when they reached Eliott’s place.

 “You can have the bathroom first. You already know where it is.”

 Lucas nodded and then he was gone, nearly bolting down the hall. He was definitely acting weird, and not the kind of “weird” they liked.

 Eliott could hear sniffling from the bathroom, and he hesitated between asking Lucas if he was okay and pretending he hadn’t heard anything, which was probably what Lucas wanted if how quickly he had left was to be taken into account. He chose the first option anyway, because he couldn’t stand the idea of Lucas being in pain.

 Eliott knocked on the bathroom door.

 “Is everything fine?”

 “Er… yeah… sure, thanks.” Lucas answered in between pauses.

 He went out of the bathroom about five minutes later, looking somewhat composed. His eyes were red, but his expression was neutral. His clothes were another story though: the white T-shirt he had put on was so wet it was basically see-through.

 Eliott’s had to tear his eyes away from Lucas’ chest and tried to calm his wild heartbeat.

 “Fuck, the rain was really that bad… I can lend you some of my clothes if you want.” It seemed Eliott would see Lucas in his things in the end. At that point, it was destiny.

 “Nah… I mean, you’re already doing so much for me… I’ll make do with this.” Lucas passed a hand through his wet hair, making it messier than it already was, and Eliott had to bite his lip lest he embarrass himself by outright whimpering.

 “Don’t be dumb, it’s no bother. I’ll go get stuff.”

 He went to his room and found something similar to what Lucas was wearing, that is to say a T-shirt and sweatpants.

 When he handed them to Lucas, he expected him to go back to the bathroom, but to Eliott’s surprise he started stripping in front of him.

 Eliott was torn between looking away or watching every second of the impromptu strip-tease. Of course, he ended up going with the latter. If Lucas had wanted privacy, he wouldn’t have got half-naked right then and there, after all.

 Once he had put the dry clothes on, Lucas got down on one knee and proceeded to roll up the right pantleg, and then he did the same with the left one so he wouldn’t trip on the excess fabric.

 Eliott nearly died from the sight of Lucas in his own too big clothes. He looked even smaller and frailer than usual. The outfit, paired with his hair, which was all up in spikes, made him look so vulnerable that Eliott wanted to shield him in his arms and never let him go.

 “I look ridiculous, don’t I?” He asked with a dejected smile.

 “No…”

 Eliott had answered far more seriously than he had intended to, his eyes still focused intensely on Lucas. He said nothing in return.

 “Are you hungry?”

 Eliott asked, hoping to diffuse the tension.

 “Yes!”

 * 

 After dinner, they watched a movie on the couch, and Lucas had to resist the temptation of putting his head on Eliott’s shoulder and falling asleep there. The fact he was on Eliott’s left side helped. He didn’t think his bruised right cheek would survive the pressure of the other boy’s hard shoulder.

 He still fell asleep, though, since Eliott shook him awake at the end of the movie.

 “Sorry to wake you up, but it’s time to go to bed.”

 “Er… I can sleep on the couch if you want.”

 “Lucas, I didn’t save you from your couch to make you sleep on mine.”

 Eliott’s smile was teasing. Lucas cleared his throat.

 “Right… Thanks again.”

 Eliott winked at him. He winked! What a bastard…

 They went to Eliott’s room and Lucas decided that two could play this game.

 “I usually sleep in my underwear. Is it okay?”

 “Er… yes. Sure! I… I do too.” Eliott stammered.

 Ah! He wasn’t so smooth now, was he?

 Lucas took Eliott’s clothes off, and watched Eliott as he stripped too. He looked delectable. This night would be torture, but it would be worth it, even though Lucas was severely in lack of sleep already.

 They lied down and Eliott turned the light off.

 Lucas’ heart was beating so hard he was afraid it would beat out of his chest, and his whole body was shaking in anticipation. In anticipation of what, exactly, he didn’t know. Maybe nothing would happen… Or… maybe he could make something happen. He didn’t necessarily have to wait for Eliott to make the first step every time. It had served him right on Saturday.

 Feeling bold for once, Lucas placed his hand on Eliott’s naked chest before he had time to think it through. He could feel Eliott’s heart beating, and the fast pace of it made him smile in triumph.

 Eliott put his hand over his and started caressing the back of it with his thumb. Lucas’ smile dropped, then. Eliott would be the death of him.

 Their bodies were so close by then that Lucas could feel the heat radiating off Eliott. He wanted them to touch from head to toe, but he didn’t even have to move: Eliott did it for him.

 Suddenly, Lucas’ front was right against Eliott’s, with one of the latter’s legs between his own. Lucas surely wouldn’t sleep a wink in this position, which was disastrous, but not enough to win against the desire to stay like that forever.

 “Good night, Lucas.” Eliott whispered right next to his ear before kissing his temple slowly.

 Lucas nearly gasped but managed to somewhat keep his composure.

 “You too.” He whispered back, wondering how long Eliott would keep on being a tease.

 Lucas could have put an end to it right this instant by kissing Eliott, but he didn’t want to be the first to cave in, and the torture was so sweet Lucas wasn’t even sure he wanted to put an end to it.

 Surprisingly, sleep did overtake him at some point. Despite feeling deeply sexually frustrated, Lucas also felt safe and warm in Eliott’s arms. There was no better place to fall asleep in. 

[humble-althemist]

Billy’s a Bully, But (He’s Been There Too)

Written for week two of @flippyspoon ‘s Harringrove Playing-card Prompt Challenge. The cards I drew gave me the prompt: hurt/comfort with a letter or Billy’s earring, in the woods with Will.

We we also given the option for smut, so I may have thrown in some smut at the end.

Billy takes one last look at the note he found in his locker that morning, and steps out the front door of Hawkins' High.

Woods after fourth? You're right. If we don't talk this out...  -S

He glances over the parking lot, but Steve's Beemer is already gone. He considers ignoring the note one last time, but he knows there'd be explanations due then, and it'll be easier to just talk to Steve now and get it over with. After all, this talk had been his idea. Lighting a cigarette with one hand, Billy pulls out of the parking lot and into the road.

Steve is chain smoking on the hood of his car at their usual spot when Billy pulls up, and watches as he kills the engine and steps out of the Camaro. Billy approaches him casually and nods toward the cigarette in Steve's hand like any other day, asking for a hit even though he only just finished his own one. Steve holds it out for him reflexively, and Billy takes a long drag, holding his gaze the whole time.

Billy is the first to speak, after he's held the smoke in his lungs for a beat and exhaled it all through his nose and mouth.

"I'm sorry."

He's always been told never to start an argument that way, so he figures this was as good a way as any to show Steve that he wasn't here to fight. Still, the weakness of it makes the back of his shoulders ache. Steve frowns.

"For what?" he asks.

Billy shrugs.

"Nothing," he says. "Everything. I just thought I'd start there and we could move forward. I know I'm a shit... whatever we are. Friend. Enemy. Lover..."

"You're not my enemy."

Billy smiles, but it's tight. Worried.

"Good," he says. "That's a start."

Steve nods.

"Shall we?" he indicates the woods, slipping off the hood of his car and crushing the cigarette under his sneaker.

Billy follows.

They walk in silence for a while, just out of arm's reach, the crunch of fallen leaves and the first snow of the season filling the silence between them. Usually that in itself is a kind of foreplay, but today it just adds to the cold and the strain between them. Billy curses the part of him that always makes this happen. The part that can't accept a good thing for what it is and always has to assume the worst.

Steve likes getting off with you, he thinks to himself bitterly. Hell, he even stands your presence when you're not sucking his dick. Isn't that enough? It's certainly more than you deserve!

But it isn't enough. Now that he's had a taste, Billy can't just leave it at that. Can't feel safe with this, the safest boy he's ever fucking been with, until he knows for sure where they stand. Until he knows somehow that Steve isn't just going to leave him for some girl the first opportunity he gets.

Billy's so caught up in his thoughts he runs into Steve when the taller boy stops suddenly in his tracks.

"Hey. What--" but Steve shakes his head and nods toward the clearing ahead, frowning.

There's a kid there. Billy thinks he's seen him around before, one of Max's friends maybe. The one kids call "the freak." He's curled up on himself, backpack forgotten a few feet away. Crying. He doesn't see Steve or Billy, or doesn't give any indication if he does.

Billy tugs Steve's arm and nods back towards the woods behind them.

"Come on. Kid obviously needs some space," he says in an undertone.

But Steve frowns at him and shakes his head.

"I know this kid, Bill," he says back. "He doesn't just cry. He's a tough kid. Been through a lot."

Billy rolls his eyes as Steve turns back towards the freak and enters the clearing.

"Yeah, haven't we all," he mutters so Steve can't hear, but he follows anyway.

"Steve?" the kid sniffles when he hears footsteps approaching, looking up at the guy like he's Jesus come down to save him. Then his eyes flicker over to Billy and his frown deepens. "And... Max's brother? Isn't that the guy who beat you up all bloody during the--"

"Yeah, he is," Steve sighs. And that's probably something they ought to talk about too. Shit. "But he's cool now, I promise," he assures, going down into a squat to get on the kid's level. "He's got your same name, you know. William? He's a Billy instead of a Will, but..."

Billy rolls his eyes. How old does he think this kid is, that that kind of shit will endear him to someone he's no doubt heard plenty of well-deserved shit about from Max?

"My name isn't actually William. Just Will," Will counters softly, and Billy almost turns an appreciative grin on the kid but his gaze catches instead on something else. A letter fallen out of Will's backpack, a little tearstained and crumpled by shaking hands. He bends to pick it up.

"What're you doing?" Will's panicked voice cuts in as Billy takes the note in hand, still soft but a little sharper now. "Give that back! That's private!"

Billy flicks him a knowing grin and stands back up with the note.

"What is it? Rejected love letter? A bad grade?" he suggests, unfolding it.

Steve turns to look over at him disapprovingly, and it hurts but Billy wonders at how easy it is for him to turn and look at him like that. Like maybe that disgust was just under the surface all this time. He looks about to get up and take the letter forcibly, but unwilling to start another fight in front of one of his precious kids.

"Billy..." he entreats instead.

But Billy's eyes have already caught on one singular word, and now he's reading the letter whether he wants to or not.

Hey Freak,

Stop staring at my ass in PE. I know you're doing it. We all do. It's fucking gross.

Not even another fag would want you, Freak. And I'm not a fucking fagot.

If I catch you looking at me again we're gonna teach your girly ass a lesson in respect.

Maybe I'll even tell the teachers what a fag you are.

"Billy?" Steve's voice goes softer in response to the look of rage and disgust and residual hurt that must be surfacing on Billy's face, and he stands up next to the kid, who's still sitting with his knees pulled up to his chest on the ground. But Billy ignores him.

"Who wrote this?" he asks the kid instead, and his voice is iron. He can't blame the kid for flinching, but shit like this makes him feel like a little kid again, impotently angry. He wants to hit something, hard. Starting with the piece of shit who'd write a note like this to a kid like the one sitting so helplessly in front of him.

But Will just shakes his head. He doesn't know, or he isn't telling.

"Billy. What is it?" Steve asks, stepping closer and holding his hand out for the paper.

"Some fucking middle schooler thinks he's hot shit, and that blackmailing one of your kids is an option he can get away with," Billy bites out, letting him have the letter as he steps past him to kneel in front of Will.

The kid shrinks a little where he sits, new tears in his eyes as he looks away from the angry teenager in front of him. Billy tries to remind himself that his intimidation act is hurting more than helping in this situation, but it's a hard thing to turn off when it's something he's been perfecting for so many years.

"Hey," he says, turning Will's face toward him with as soft a voice as he can manage. "If you get any more of these you tell me, okay? I don't care when or where. You find me and you tell me."

Will frowns, turning back to Billy before he can stop himself, his eyes searching Billy's in confusion.

"Why...?" he croaks, unfurling slightly. The start of many questions he doesn't know quite how to ask.

"Because that kind of shit," he points forcefully back at the letter in Steve's hands, "is not okay. And if your teachers aren't gonna stand up for you then someone ought to. I wish I'd had someone around for me when I was your age. Even just someone to talk to or to threaten the assholes at school with when they pulled this shit and worse."

Steve crouches down beside him, but Will just frowns at Billy distrustfully, like he's just lost any credibility that coming here with Steve gave him.

"You're just saying that," he says, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. "Everybody says they know what it's like 'cause they've been bullied too. But who would pick on you? You're..." he gestures toward Billy's general stature, somewhat enhanced by the fact that he's taking up half Will's field of vision at this distance.

Billy huffs a laugh and shakes his head.

"Okay, ignore the seriously hard-earned muscle, the pointy earring, whatever, for half a second," he says. "Look at me. Lips, Eyelashes, hair... I'm not exactly tall either, and all that came in the past year or two. Will, fourteen-year-old me would've made you look positively mannish."

Will looks like he's considering this, lets his eyes track over what he can see of Billy, but he's still not convinced. Billy rolls his eyes.

"Steve, I'm gonna borrow your lips for a second, man. Sorry," he says quickly, giving the other boy some warning and plausible deniability if he chooses not to take this time to come out too. And then he's turning and pulling Steve into a soft, deep kiss by the front of his jacket. One that couldn't be construed as anything but flamingly homosexual. He even slips in a little tongue for good measure.

When he pulls away Steve still hasn't moved beneath him, but his eyes don't look angry either. Good. They can talk about it later if they need to, but it seems Steve understands what he's doing at least a little. Billy turns back to their protege and raises an eyebrow at him.

"Trust me now?" he asks.

"You're-- Gay?" he whispers. He looks a little star struck, poor kid. Billy realizes he may have just gave him something to jerk to for about the next three years. Whoops.

"Since the day I was born," he cops.

"And... Steve?" Will asks, turning worriedly to his older friend.

Steve smiles a little shyly back at Will and shrugs, then thinks better of it and nods. He doesn't meet Billy's eyes, but his cheeks are going that really endearing tinge of pink he gets when he's thinking of him.

"I don't know what I am really. I mean, I love-- I loved Nancy. But now... I really like being with this asshole too," he inclines his head toward Billy with such a sweet, stupid smile that Billy can't be offended at all. "I dunno. Maybe you can do both. What matters is that you're happy, I think."

Will smiles too.

"Are you happy?" he asks softly.

Steve bites his lip and shrugs.

"Not all the time," he admits, his soft eyes meeting Billy's for a moment. "You've gotta keep it a lot more private than I'm used to with girls, and that's... tiring. But..." he turns back to Will and nods. "Honestly, I don't think I've ever been happier." He says that last almost like it's a secret between he and Will. A whisper Billy isn't exactly not meant to hear.

Billy can't help but smile. God, he wants to kiss Steve right now. Kid audience be damned.

"And count me in for Billy's offer too, kid," he tells Will, holding up the note again. "This asshole doesn't know who he's messing with, writing shit like this to Will Byers. You're the toughest kid I know, and I know a lot of tough kids."

Will smiles and ducks his head shyly, his cheeks pinking just a little.

"Thanks Steve, and Billy. I'll let you know if he messes with me again. I promise," he bites his lip. "But..." he worries, "you won't tell the others, will you? I don't really want to deal with... Not yet."

"It'll be our secret," Billy agrees, standing.

Steve nods, and helps Will up to his feet, messing up his hair affectionately.

"You bet, Byers," he agrees. "D'you need a ride home?" he offers as Will goes to pick up his bag from the ground.

Will shakes his head.

"No, it's all right, I've got my bike," he points a few paces further on.

Billy can tell the kid wants to get out of their hair now just about as much as Billy wants him to. They all need a little space right about now. But Steve is still worried.

"Didn't your mom say no more riding your bike alone?" He sounds like he thinks he's the kid's father. Billy can't tell whether he finds that quality attractive or infuriating. Perhaps a bit of both.

"I'll be fine, Steve," Will rolls his eyes. "I'm not an invalid too, just a fag." He says the last almost like he's proud of it. Man, this kid bounces back fast.

Billy pulls Steve closer too him in anticipation of his trying to go after Will, and turns a kiss into his neck.

"Come on, Stevie, let the kid go home. We've still gotta talk about us. Remember?" he says, smiling into the kiss. Somehow the prospect isn't quite as scary now. Must've been a convincing pep-talk they just gave, to make a dent even on his own internalized shit.

Steve groans in the back of his throat, but moves a hand to hold him there as he waves at the retreating middleschooler.

"First can we talk about how fucking hot it is when you bother to be good with kids?" he suggests once Will is properly out of ear shot. "Where has inspirational mentor Billy been this whole time?"

Billy smirks, bringing his lips up to kiss Steve on the mouth.

"Hiding out with doting mother Steve, I guess," he teases.

Steve makes a sound like indignation.

"I am not a doting mother."

"Mm," Billy hums. "Yes you are. And I'm a regular motherfucker."

Steve's groaning laugh turns into just a groan as Billy pushes him back against the tree they were just sitting under, and palms him through his jeans.

"Sex now, talk later?" Billy suggests.

Steve nods quickly and pulls at Billy's shirt, untucking it just enough that he can run his hands up underneath.

Billy shudders at the shock of his cold hands but lets him do it, reveling in the praise of Steve never being able to keep his hands off Billy's body for long when they're alone. Let his father think he bulked up so he could stand up to him - and in some ways he did - but what Billy lives for is this feeling.

He opens Steve's jeans and tugs, bringing them down around his thighs so his half-hard cock slips out into the cold November air. Billy smirks and presses in close to speak against his ear.

"Someone's eager," he teases, hot breath playing over Steve's soft skin. The older boy shivers against him.

"I told you protective Billy was hot, didn't I?" he grunts as Billy slides a hand between them.

Billy raises an eyebrow and pulls back slightly at that.

"You said inspirational before," he points out with a mischievous grin. "Protective though, that's interesting."

Steve blushes and squirms. Turns his attention to opening up Billy's tight jeans for him.

"Shut up," he mumbles.

"D'you need protecting, baby?" Billy purrs, relishing the little moan this forces out of Steve. He leans in and takes his mouth again. Puts a hand on either side of him, trapping him against the tree. "I can do that," he says. "Be your fucking attack dog. Keep you safe from everything."

Steve lets out an affectionate laugh. Slides a hand out from under Billy's shirt once again to feel the pockets of his jean jacket.

"Please tell me you've got the stuff, fucking hell."

Billy smiles against his neck, giving it one last kiss before he pulls back and gets out a condom and a one-use packet of lube.

"How do you want it, baby?" he asks, opening both packets quickly and skillfully in one pull of his teeth.

Steve groans a little as he watches.

"Want you to fuck me," he says. "Like this. So I can see."

He pulls Billy back in softly by the hair and kisses him like it's the only way that he knows how to breathe. Billy groans and struggles to roll the condom over his cock one-handed.

"So hot when you're desperate for it, Harrington," he growls as he pulls away to see Steve pushing his pants further down his legs.

"Mm," Steve moans as Billy slips two fingers, coated with lube, back behind his balls. "Look who's talking," he grunts out, letting his eyes fall closed appreciatively as Billy slides the fingers inside him.

Billy watches him writhe for a while before slipping them out to add more lube and another finger. It isn't long before Steve is pushing him away completely and kicking his pants off the rest of the way. His shoes slip off with them, and Billy raises an eyebrow.

"You're gonna ruin your socks," he teases.

And it's worth it for the utterly filthy smile Steve gives him in return.

"If only there was someone here who could keep that from happening," he says, taking in Billy's still mostly-covered torso promisingly.

Billy tosses his jacket to the ground and presses back into Steve's space in one movement, lifting the slightly taller boy and chasing his mouth as he presses him up against the tree. Steve wraps his legs around him with a grin like he just won, the fucker.

"Fuck me," he says, and Billy should be annoyed he's giving orders like this when fucking obviously. But it's so hot that he doesn't care. Instead he carefully adjusts them both so he's lined up perfectly, and then presses up and... Oh.

Steve is so good at this angle. So greedy and open and warm and he's panting like Billy's already making him come. They've never done it face to face like this before. Too intimate for what they were trying to kid themselves into thinking they were. But this is amazing.

He leans in to kiss Steve, and presses deeper up inside him inadvertently. Steve clings to his back and moans.

"Fuck, Billy." His cock is leaking now between them, and Billy draws a finger across the tip teasingly, licking precome from his finger with a grin.

"Mm hold on tight, sweetheart," he threatens, and Steve's walls bear down on him.

Billy holds him by the hips tightly, and slides himself almost out. Steve's needy moan is cut short when Billy slams back in, and Billy has to brace himself before he does it again. This time he goes deeper. And as he builds up a rhythm with his hips, he finds the right angle so that Steve's shattered breathing is scattered with uncontrollable mewls.

Fuck, he's hot like this. Billy always knew Steve's sounds were intoxicating, but watching his face is just as good. Watching every wave of pleasure chase the wave before across his face, and he looks almost surprised by every one, like he never knew something could feel so good.

"Jesus, Steve," he grunts appreciatively. "I'm so close. So impossibly good, baby."

Steve arches his back and tightens his legs around Billy's ass, holding him deep inside as he suddenly stills and cries out.

"Oh, fuck!" and then he's coming hot and thick between their heaving stomachs, his ass tight around Billy and his face so perfect it sends him over the edge too.

It takes a moment once they've finished for Billy to glance up at Steve with a tired smile, and lean in for a sloppy, sex-giddy kiss that only lasts a second by virtue of the fact that Billy thinks he might pass out of he has to hold Steve up for much longer.

So he lets the older boy down softly, and hands him back his shoes before pulling the filthy condom off and tying it.

"You okay?" Steve asks, pulling his jeans up his thighs, and Billy's smile probably looks a little on the drunken side.

"I've never fucked someone so hard that I couldn't walk for a week," he quips, pulling his own jeans back up. And then, because Steve still looks doubtful. "That was fucking hot, Harrington."

Steve grins and leans in to kiss him on the cheek.

"Next time I wanna do it to you," he says in a low voice just against his ear, and Billy's knees nearly do buckle. Shit, when'd that become a thing he wanted?

He can't even respond when Steve pulls away from him, so he just nods like an idiot and bites his lip with anticipation.

This talk is gonna go a lot better than he expected.

This is on my ao3 @ficsandfuckery too, if you wanna leave me comments or see other stuff I write. 

[theatuss]

school rant YEET

AAAAAA Why does my school even employ teachers when all most of them do is just tell us to read a book and do our own research?! When the entire class (including those who like and are generally good at math) flunked the math test, it was apparently just our fault for not studying enough. Right, because why would a teacher ever be responsible for their students learning? And my art teacher! (AAAARGH) She gives the most basic lessons and then throw us students into an art assignment that we get our grades by, without actually teaching us anything!

Specifically now, for a “target group” assignment. At the beginning of the school year, we got to design a frontpage for fictional newspapers with different target groups. However, my teacher only went through a few examples of what some stereotypes are (low angles for men to make them look big, feminine things for women, blue and pink for young boys and girls) but then we were just expected to learn everything else on our own. We had to do our own research of what was most popular for our target group, and I get that it’s good to learn to do research. But! When one person gets “9 year old girl”, they have a lot of obvious examples and existing stereotypes, but if another student gets “ middle aged man, low income ”, what are they supposed to do? Try and look up every single detail of that group, from colours, interests, writing fonts to backgrounds and what will catch their eyes in a store? We haven’t been taught what they like, and without any proper explanation or examples, the students go in blind and have no idea what to look for! Obviously we were supposed to do just that, but then what’s the point in having a teacher there if she’s not going to teach us anything herself?

And now, she’s sent out a new assignment to those who wanted to raise their grade. Apparently me and half the class has asked for it. But we weren’t told what part of the previous assignment we were lacking in, so now we have to do it all over again and hope we do it right this time without getting any more information or explanation. I really can’t see why we’re asked to do any entirely new assignment instead of being told what our problems were and just continue on the old project.

Also, bonus! Our PE teacher doesn't want us to have a written test, instead he wants us to sit in a room and raise our hands if we know the answer to the questions being asked. He himself has stated that that method would leave silent students in the dark and unable to express how much they know about the subject. Not that it matters though, since he hasn’t actually taught us anything in the past 5 months!

So special shout outs to my Swedish and English teachers who are my only teachers who actually put in the effort to make sure their students are taught well!