#Educator-Student Dialogue

[delicatelysublimeforester]

SDG Week Canada 2024: Celebrating Sustainable Development Goals and Indigenous Achievement Week

[tender-rosiey]

oh em gosh imagine gojo with an s/o who's basically as obsessed and in love with him as he is with us <33 and every1 is just like 😒ugh get a room

back and forth — gojo satoru x f!reader

a/n: equally being obsessed with each other>>> also check out @novelbear her prompts are out of their world! I used some of the dialogue prompts hehe

you would like to say that you’re immune to satoru’s charms, but then you would be a liar.

sometimes you, sure, can say no, but most of the time you indulge him. he uses his pretty face and even prettier words to get his way. it does reassure you that you have the same effect on him. actually, he can never say no to you.

he once sat with himself to think that maybe he is spoiling you, and he needs to stop, but then you entered the room beaming, smooching his face and asking to go to that one café that opened recently.

satoru’s original plan was to do the paperwork yaga has been yelling to him about, but how can he say no to you? so with a grin, he locked arms with you and the both of you skipped to the café.

so yeah, you’re both so down horrendous for each other and neither of you can deny it.

it’s terrible for everyone around you.

the way the both of you are screaming each other’s name from a mile away and running towards each other like you're in some romance movie. the hug is even more dramatic than the running, somehow.

the balant display of affection makes the students all roll their eyes.

one time, you called satoru from home and you had a call that lasted for an hour or so. eventually, you had to hang up since satoru had a class to teach. however, these goodbyes take even longer than the call itself.

“I love you, ‘toru!”

“I love you, my pretty angel!”

“I love you more, my lovely husband!”

“I love you even more, my divine wifey!”

and it continued like that forever. the students almost lost hope to get any education that day, but satoru finally said, “okay, pretty, I have to go now.”

they beam as they hear your voice replying with a sweet ‘okay!’, but they quickly deflated when satoru relaxed back and said, “but you have to hang up first.”

of course, what followed was a ‘no, you hang up first!’.

one and after another and nobara had enough before snatching satoru’s phone and instead speaking to you, “okay, y/n-sensei, we all love you, but we need this guy to teach us something so bye!”

satoru spent the entire day pouting.

another thing is how the both of you take pictures of the other while they are unaware. at first, you would think there is nothing wrong with it, and there isn’t.

but both of you love to fawn about the other in front of your students or friends.

satoru rambles with the most passionate and energetic fangirling ever to nanami, an audience that’s about to jump off a building, and you, who refuses to believe his beauty, ramble to shoko who’s about to finish 4 packs of cigarettes.

in general, satoru is a lot more brazen with his show of affection. for example, the way he shamelessly stares at you like he is memorizing your every feature.

sometimes, his hands wander to your face to gently caress it, then his lips follow, pressing a peck to every part of your face, drawing constellations of love. he then pulls back with a smile, “you’re really pretty, y’know?”

he always says what’s on his mind, and he is the type of lover to help you challenge your limits. he pays the people around him no mind as he pulls you in the rain with a grin, saying, “come on, dance with me!”

and you do your best. you’re both clumsy in your steps and you’re swaying more than dancing. satoru’s infinity is off and you’re both soaked.

still, satoru thinks you’ve never looked prettier, and you think his eyes never shone brighter.

there are times when words escape you before you think about them like that one time satoru was in a mini rush to go on a mission and forgot to give you a goodbye kiss. before he dashed out the door, you held him by the shirt and frowned, “my kiss?”

despite his blindfold, shock was evident on his face. he recovered quickly though. with a chuckle, he murmured a soft, “right sorry, wifey,” and kissed you passionately. he pulled back slightly, “am I forgiven?”

you nodded lightly and kissed his cheek, “yup; now go, mister strongest sorcerer.”

“I prefer my lovely husband, but that will do as well.”

he likes to tease you too. it’s in his nature, something he does with everyone he knows. of course, there is some teasing reserved especially for you.

satoru also loves hearing you sing his praises or verbalize your love for him. like that one time you were going on a mission and murmured an ‘I love you’ to his lips, but he quickly stopped you and said, “what did you say, pretty?”

you looked at him confused, “I said I love you,” you poke his cheek, “you heard me.”

he laughed, pulling you close and pressing a kiss to your neck, “I know; I just wanted you to say it again.”

you wanted to roll your eyes, but instead, you cupped his face, pulled him down, and started smothering him with kisses. you pressed a kiss to his cheek, “I love you,” then the other one, “I adore you,” his forehead, “I am infatuated with you,” his eyelids, “I can’t imagine a day without you.”

a big wide grin was plastered on satoru’s face and his cheeks were painted a very faint hue of red. you chuckled at his expression, “was that enough?”

he enveloped you in a big hug, resting his face on yours, “one more time, please?”

for you, you see satoru in a several things in your daily life. you see him in the blue sky above you. you see him in the glass of the bakery you pass by. you see him in the white cat that always walks by your side near the school.

you also hear him in the some of the songs you listen to, and you don’t hesitate to let him know.

one time when you were stargazing on the roofs of the school, playing your playlist since the time before it was satoru’s turn. a specific song started playing and it made you smile, before you spoke up, “y’know, satoru.”

he hums and you continue, “this song reminds me of you.”

you don’t hear a response, so you turn to look at him, “it’s actually one of my favori—satoru? satoru, are you tearing up?!” you laugh, leaning close to him, and he looks away.

“nope!”

behind closed doors, and with great distances separating the both of you, you never fail to call the other to feel their presence even through a phone. it’s practically a ritual for you and satoru to video call whenever one is out on a mission.

you can talk for hours and hours on end or relish in the silence, comforted by the fact that you can see each other.

satoru always insists on them, saying that he sleeps better when he see you. you share the same sentiment, so there’s no surprise that you both always fall asleep on call.

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[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Just asking, uhh, how many subjects seem to be in nrc? because it seems like a lot but at the same time is like no one talks about it (or maybe I'm just a little bit crazy about this nonsense...)

We don't have an exact number of subjects offered at NRC. However, I'd imagine that NRC offers a wide selection so that students can choose to study or specialize in the kinds of magic they are most interested in. Judging by the generous spread of industries mentioned in book 7 for fourth year internships, it'd make sense that NRC would have many courses to prepare students for various career paths after graduation. The subjects are not usually mentioned in main stories and events (where the bulk of dialogue would be), as academics are (ironically) not that relevant to the plot. In fact, it's actually in the vignettes where we often hear about the more obscure subjects, hear clarification on what certain classes involve, and other details.

The subjects we explicitly know about right now are:

Alchemy

Ancient Curses or Incantations/Ancient Magic

Animal Linguistics (it's not clear if this is separated by anime type such as Cat or Mouse being in separate variants of this subject)

Art (as in, visual arts)

Astrology

Abbreviated Spellcasting in Ancient and Modern Magic: Changes and Comparisons (an elective; have to choose between this or Poison Refining)

Biology (might be considered part of the magic science courses rather than biology being its own class)

Chemistry (might be considered part of the Potions courses rather than chemistry being its own class)

Defense Magic/Protection

Flying/Flight (might be considered a part of P.E.)

History of Magic (implied to be taught in segments; there is History of Magic I for first years, History of Magic II which covers new material for second years, etc.)

Magical Analysis/Enigmics

Master Chef/Culinary Crucibles (an elective)

Mathematics (not specified; not sure if this is its own separate course or if it is just integrated into other coursework)

Music/Musicology

P.E./Physical Education

Poison Making/Poison Refining (an elective; have to choose between this or Abbreviated Spellcasting in Ancient and Modern Magic: Changes and Comparisons)

Potions or Magical Pharmacology/Potionology

Practical Magic

Summoning

Swimming (might be considered part of P.E.)

Technomantic Engineering/Magic Energy Engineering

[poetrylesbian]

I haven't seen much discussion of the student encampments for Palestine in Australia, so I thought I would share this joint statement from 11 student solidarity encampments (including one at my uni) that was published in Overland Literary Magazine (bold sections my own):

This is a statement by the Palestine solidarity encampments at University of Sydney, University of Adelaide, University of Queensland, Curtin University, Monash University, RMIT University, Deakin University, University of Tasmania, Latrobe University, Australian National University, and University of Wollongong.

We have established peaceful protest encampments on unceded Aboriginal land to stand with the people of Gaza against the bombings, invasion and occupation by Israeli forces. Our struggle is for them, and our encampments are for them. We are horrified at the brutality that is being brought down upon Palestinians. We cannot sit by while it unfolds. To do so would be a moral travesty. We believe in the possibility of a world without war, but that belief demands action.

Our demands are simple. We call on our universities to disclose all of their ties with Israel, divest from those ties, and sign on to the international Boycott Divestment & Sanctions statement. In particular, we are deeply disturbed by the partnerships that many of our universities hold with weapons companies. We are peace activists. We firmly believe that universities should be institutions of education and learning, and should not have any connection to the weapons industry that brings death and destruction to our world.

We condemn the physical attacks against numerous encampments by supporters of Israel. This has included fireworks being shot at tents at the University of Adelaide and repeated violent attacks on the Monash encampment in the night. We condemn the physical attacks against numerous encampments by supporters of Israel. We similarly condemn racist attacks on Muslim students by supporters of Israel.

We are aware that people in Gaza know about our camps. We have seen photos with the names of Australian universities written on tents and held up on signs in the war zone.

Internationally, governments and institutions have attempted to isolate the Palestinians. Our encampments strive to show those in Gaza that they do not walk alone. We want to show that young people in this country are with our brothers and sisters in Gaza. We stand with them, we breathe with them, we share their sorrows, we raise their flag.

Our encampments are acts of nonviolent protest. We believe firmly in freedom of speech and expression, and oppose any and all attempts by university administrations to shut down encampments or discipline any of those involved. We make decisions democratically through camp meetings made up of any and all participants who wish to attend. We reject all forms of racism and discrimination including Islamophobia, antisemitism, sexism, transphobia and homophobia. Opposition to the state of Israel and to Zionism as an ideology is not antisemitism. Many of the student leaders of our protests are Jewish. We stand alongside Jewish people against discrimination, and we see ourselves as standing on the shoulders of a long line of Jewish pro-Palestine and anti-war activists. We welcome Jewish participants in the encampments. We are grateful to all those who have supported our camps by visiting, donating supplies, or sending messages.

We call for university management teams to meet with us and answer our demands, but we refuse to meet with them behind closed doors or carry out secret negotiations. We insist that any process of dialogue with the university be open to all those participating in the encampments, as well as any other staff or students who wish to attend.

We end this statement with the words of the late historian Howard Zinn:

"To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness."

We reject passivity, cynicism, pessimism and lethargy. We replace them with hope, determination and civil disobedience. Together, we are capable of more than we think. Our protests form one small link in the historical chain of activism against war and racism.

Recently the universities have been trying harder and harder to shut down these camps, so I really urge my fellow Australians to support them and their goals.

[srvbryn]

Luke Castellan. Detention

Not set in riordanverse & highschool au!Luke; MASTERLIST

Luke Castellan X f!reader

Summary: "Well, well, look who's joined the detention club" Luke gets detention — He misplaced his history textbook, and what's better than stealing borrowing it from the library?

Warning: teenagers acting like teenagers, not a lot of dialogues, they have houses like the one in Harry Potter lol (only mentioned once) & Reader house is not mentioned, this is a bit boring

The detention room felt confined, with time moving at a snail's pace. Luke sat there, tracing imaginary patterns on the desk, the minutes ticking away like a never-ending countdown.

Just when he thought he was alone with the hum of Mr. D and the ticking of the clock, the door creaked open, and in walked (Name), a smirk on her lips.

"Well, well, look who's joined the detention club," Luke teased.

(Name) rolled her eyes and took the seat next to him. "Figured I'd keep you company. Detention is always more fun with a partner in crime, right?"

Luke couldn't help but chuckle — "Partner in crime, huh? I like the sound of that."

As the minutes passed, the two of them had whispered conversations, exchanged notes, and made light of the situation.

(Name) couldn't resist making fun of Luke's situation.

"So, what's the grand crime that got you in here, Luke?" she asked with a sly grin.

A few hours ago — LUKE CASTELLAN

Luke's risky textbook stealing borrowing scheme involved a well-thought-out strategy that, avoided the school administration's watchful gaze.

He may or may not have misplaced his textbook accidentally.. hahaha

However, this time, it was a classic case of overconfidence that led to his downfall.

Luke decided to carry out his plan during the school assembly, when most teachers were busy with maintaining the wandering student body under control.

Confident that he could slip in and out like a shadow, he ventured into the classroom, only to find himself face-to-face with the one teacher who had decided to stay behind to organize some papers.

As he reached for the textbook, Mr. Chiron looked up from his work and caught Luke in the act. The moment was frozen, and an uneasy silence filled the room.

Luke's grin faded into a sheepish smile as he tried to come up with a plausible excuse.

Mr. Chiron raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Luke Castellan, what exactly are you doing in here during the assembly?"

Luke scratched the back of his head, attempting to feign innocence. "Oh, you know, just wanted to get a head start on some reading. Education waits for no one, right?"

"Nice try, Mr. Castellan. I don't recall giving you permission to access the library during the assembly. Detention it is."

And that's how Luke's textbook borrowing adventure came to an abrupt halt, leading him to the very detention that (Name) chose to join.

Luke leaned in, a gleam in his eyes. "I may have liberally borrowed some textbooks without asking. The school administration didn't appreciate my innovative approach to study materials."

(Name) burst into laughter, earning them a stern look from Mr. D. "Classic Hermes house move. Couldn't just check out a classroom book like the rest of us, huh?"

"Where's the fun in that?" he replied, a playful glint in his eyes. "Besides, I thought it added a touch of rebellion to my academic pursuits."

The two of them continued to jokes, causing the otherwise boring detention surprisingly pleasant.

The more they chatted, the more (Name) realized there was more to Luke than his rebellious exterior.

They even swapped a few sarcastic comments about the school's absurd rules. (No phones allowed, must wear a tie all the time, don't run in the hallways (the usual))

The teacher on duty, Mr. D, sat at his desk, buried in paperwork (surprisingly) unaware.

Luke discreetly crumpled a piece of paper and passed it to (Name) with a glint in his eyes.

They exchanged a knowing look, silently agreeing on their next move. (Name), with a suppressed giggle, aimed the paper at the back of Mr. D's head and let it fly.

The paper landed with a soft thud, catching the teacher's attention. He turned around, narrowing his eyes at the seemingly innocent duo.

"Alright, who did that?" Mr. D demanded, scanning the room.

Luke and (Name) exchanged innocent glances, attempting to suppress their laughter. Mr. Anderson sighed, suspecting he was dealing with a pair of children.

As Mr. D returned to his paperwork, the both of them couldn't resist another attempt at amusement.

This time, Luke folded the paper into an aeroplane. With a quick motion, he launched it at Mr. D, causing it to glide gracefully through the air.

The paper airplane did a loop-de-loop before landing on Mr. D's desk, right in front of him. He looked up, a mix of irritation and bemusement on his face.

"Alright, that's enough. We're in detention, not a paper competition," he scolded, shaking his head.

Luke and (Name) exchanged a glance, barely containing their laughter.

As the final minutes of detention passed, Mr. D kept an eye on them, suspecting that more antics were on the way.

Luke and (Name), however, had already shared enough laughs to make their time in detention enjoyable.

Luke couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment as the clock ticked down to the end of their detention.

He glanced at (Name), a genuine smile playing on his lips. "Same time tomorrow, partner?"

(Name) raised an eyebrow, a smirk forming. "Only if you promise not to get caught every time."

Luke chuckled. "Deal."

[rattusn0rvegicus]

Sometimes, when talking about the current psychiatric system, we get lost in anger and don’t look towards alternatives and what a better tomorrow might look like. Here’s some cool mental health/psychiatry reform things that I think are neat (Somewhat US centric bc that’s where I live). Lots of them focus on psychosis, because I think psychosis is a sorely ignored subject in mental health activism.

US Peer Respite Directory - A list of voluntary, community-based, non-clinical crisis support group-home like environments that are staffed by people with lived experience of mental illness and/or lived experiences in the psychiatric system.

Students With Psychosis - A nonprofit that empowers students with psychosis through virtual programming, support groups, etc. They’re run by the amazing Cecilia McGough, an advocate with schizophrenia.

Hearing Voices Network - A network of support groups for people who hear voices, see visions, and have other extreme experiences. Focused on supporting individuals without judgement and giving them a place to explore their experiences and grow from them.

Open Dialogue - An psychosocial approach to psychiatric services that focuses on treating clients with respect, shared decision-making, dialogue between client, providers, and family (if the client wants family involved), and more minimal use of medication.

CommonGround software - A software developed by Dr. Pat Deegan that allows clients to communicate their needs to their providers more efficiently to support shared-decision making. Dr. Deegan has a lived experience of being diagnosed with schizophrenia and believes in personal medicine and med empowerment.

Project LETS - A radical approach to peer support and healing that has a disability justice centered approach, giving people with lived experience a voice and focusing on mutual aid. They provide peer mental health advocates, self-harm prevention, and more.

Integrative Psychiatry - A holistic form of psychiatry that focuses on nutrition, exercise, therapy, and psychosocial factors, where medication is just an aspect of treatment. US database of integrative psychiatrists here.

Soteria Houses - Community homes with peer support that provide residents with personal power, responsibilities, and “being with” residents, that focus on a humane and person-centered approach.

Relating to Voices Using Compassion Focused Therapy - A self-help book by Drs. Eleanor Longden and Charlie Heriot Maitland about managing distressing voices and building a respectful, cooperative relationship with them. Views voices as potential allies in emotional problem-solving rather than enemies.

Clubhouse International - A non-profit organization that gives people with mental illness opportunities for friendship, employment, housing, educational, and medical services all in one place. It was founded by a group of friends who survived a psychiatric hospital together.

Psychosis Research Unit - A group of psychology researchers who are doing research on and developing psychotherapeutic techniques for coping with and managing psychosis, such as CBT for psychosis and Talking with Voices therapy.

[hussyknee]

it’s rare to find a sinhalese person (online atleast) who is supportive of tamil self-determination. genuine question: among leftist circles in sri lanka, how common is such a stance?

I don't know whether I'm a reliable source to answer this question because I'm very jaded about this in general. A couple of days ago, someone on the Sri Lanka Reddit started up discourse about Maitreyi Ramakrishnan's choice to reject identifying with the country that tried to genocide her people, which I'm still chewing wire about. I'm a very isolated person with a very small social circle of like-minded leftist friends. They're mostly not SinBud and anti SinBud nonsense, but none of them are Tamil and I'm the one who really convinced them about Eelam I think. The people I learned from, who are out there doing the work of building inter-ethnic dialogue and overturning Sinhalese propaganda, might have a more hopeful view.

Thing is, there's no one "leftist" faction here because "left" doesn't mean the same thing as it does in the West. The Rajapaksas' party SLPP is socialist, a legacy of their ancestor the SLFP who was the party aligned with the USSR. They and their voters and their saffron terror acolytes (Buddhist priesthood) are all for public infrastructure they can rob blind and central government they can use to crush minorities, and build on the nationalist fervour of genocidal Sinhalese Buddhism that's served both major parties independence. There's quasi-communists, descendants of the ethnonationalist Marxist JVP that rose in opposition to the class corruption of ethnonationalist USSR-aligned socialist SLFP and enthonationalist US-aligned neoliberal UNP. They've since distanced themselves from their ethnic myopia, possibly due to suffering much of the same state terrorism as minorities via militarisation and policies like the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act. They're the most vocal about the abolition of the executive presidency, the defunding of military and police, and restructuring and executing the long-mismanaged socialist infrastructure. These are usually the working class and university students, but their base has been growing in other demographics too, since we "held our noses and voted" for the Yahapalana government in 2015 and it ended up fucking us over. But despite their sympathy with the suffering of Tamils and Muslims and favouring the devolution of power, most still cling to the idea that Sinhalese majoritarianism is a fair result of democracy.

The kind of pro-LGBT, anti-racist, feminist liberals that would pass muster with the western left otoh, are a minority of urban, English-speaking professionals. Their panacea for enthofascism is voting for the neoliberal party, whose idea of reducing corruption and increasing efficiency is privatizing everything, are against racism because it's bad for tourism, and coasts on the promise of never actively feeding ethnosupremacy, even if they won't do anything about it either. Both these groups hate each other but are equally deeply uncomfortable with if not entirely resistant to the idea that the North and East are Tamil lands colonized by the Sinhalese. Both groups are aware of the corruption and complicity of the Buddhist priesthood and are prepared to do exactly nothing about it.

What I'm trying to say is that Sinhalese Buddhist ethnosupremacy is baked in to the Sri Lankan political fabric. "Left" means jack shit when it comes to whether Tamils have rights, in much the same way that the western left agrees on everything except Palestine. It's a political no man's land everyone tries not to look at.

The fundamental problem is that Sinhalese people who know enough about 1958, 1983, or the full scope of genocide perpetrated against Tamils during the last push of the war, let alone all 26 years of it, are very much in the minority. It takes a particular education to understand that "Sri Lanka" is a post-colonial invention that took over from "Ceylon", which was nothing but a construct for the ease of British administration. As far as I know, this education is confined to activist organizations and whoever followed my sociology program. So my kind of anarchist leftism that calls the war a Tamil genocide with their whole chest and the priesthood saffron terrorists and recognises Eelam is, afaik, vanishingly small.

To be honest, I never really questioned the propaganda and narrative we've been spoon fed myself until I went to Canada when I was 23 to complete my anthro degree (became disabled and dropped out after). One thing that struck me was how racist the Sinhalese diaspora was. I was raised SinBud, my school didn't admit any non-Sinhalese, half my uncles were in the military, but these people that had left the country decades ago still hated Tamils and Muslims in a way that nobody else I knew did. I wondered whether this was what it had been like when it had all started; whether this hatred that seemed to have been preserved in amber was a true taste of what had ignited Black July. Suddenly the attitude of the Tamil diaspora towards the Sri Lankan government and Sinhalese people didn't seem so unreasonable.

Then, later in the same uni term, I went to an art exhibition of a white artist who travelled the world collecting information about their genocides and made art about them, and found a painting depicting Sri Lankan Tamils in 2008. Promptly had a meltdown. Went to the lady and told her tearfully that it was all propaganda, we didn't really hate Tamils, not even my uncles in the army hated Tamils, it was a war, the LTTE had terrorized us for my whole lifetime. Bless the woman, she didn't fight me, just let me cry at her and patted my hand and pretended to take me seriously. This made it easier for me to really think about what I knew once I'd stopped wailing and stamping. It prompted a years-long self-interrogation and fact finding that made me unearth how much brainwashing had been done to us by everyone, from our families to our school textbooks to news media. It's like the air we breathed was propaganda. And I still didn't know a fraction of what life had been like for Tamils (or Muslims) and the scope of atrocities perpetrated by the Sinhalese until I began my Society and Culture degree at the Open University when I was 30. The first year textbooks were only broadstrokes facts, but at last I found out about Gnananth Obeysekera, Prageeth Jeganathan, Stanley Thambaiya, Malithi DeAlwis. Their work on nation-making, ethnicity, historical revisionism, genocide and ethnic conflict and state terrorism...everything I should have been taught as a child. The chapters on the rapes and murders and shelling and war crimes and IDP camps were..indescribable. That was what properly radicalised me about Tamil self-sovereignty, because there's clearly no possible way the Tamil people will ever be safe and safeguarded under a Sinhalese majoritarian government.

I had to drop out of that programme too because of my health. But during the mass protests against the government in 2022, I learned even more about Tamil indigeneity, the extent of JR Jayawardena's crimes, and the persecution of Marxists and victims of the '71 and '89 insurrections. So much of the protests and their encampments were directed and galvanized by social media, that organised online and in-person lectures, teach-outs, and live discussions that anyone and everyone could attend right alongside the protests. I've never seen that kind of truly democratized, free, egalitarian civic education and discourse before. That was the very first time I saw academics, survivors, refugees and human rights activists being given a respectful platform, the masses hearing firsthand accounts from people of the North and East and witnesses of Black July. April to July 2022 was a truly golden bubble of time where I saw people finally start listening, believing, and challenging all their convictions. It was the closest we ever came to realising the hope that things could be different; that we could, as a society, understand how Sinhalese ethnosupremacy had been the black rot killing this country from the first, stop being racist Sinhala-first cunts and actually hold any of these murderers accountable.

Teach us to hope, I guess.

But I suppose it's no small thing that I learned about the Tamil resistance and struggle and taught all my friends about it. I'm sure they're informing their own circles in small ways too. These tendrils are hard to see, but they exist and grow. Especially with the fall of the Rajapaksas and their Bhaiyya contingent, more people can see ethnosupremacy for the grift that it is, and the younger generations are less defensive, more willing to listen and eager for justice and change. So I guess the answer is: not very common, but less uncommon than it used to be.

[aprilthearcher]

that boyish look [roman roy x reader]

a/n: this is almost exclusively dialogue, but it seemed to be the only thing i could manage to write, so here it is. not my gif! also, i know nothing about student debt because in my country most universities are free, so..

more roman &lt;3

“I can’t go out with you, Roman��.

He rolls his eyes after letting out a frustrated — exaggerated — sigh escape from his lips. His relaxed body thrown on your green, velvet couch is the complete opposite of your tense figure. Hunched almost entirely on top of your books, your dominant hand occupied with a blue pen while the other holds up the weight of your head, you cannot help but feel envy towards the man who’s been nagging at you for the last fifteen minutes. You should be the one relaxing on that sofa — which cost you a fortune, may you add —, free from responsibilities; instead, enjoying himself on your couch is the COO of the country’s most important company.

“Come on,” he whines for what seems like the tenth time — it probably is the tenth time —.  “Can’t you leave that for another time?”

“I have an exam next Thursday, Roman. And another one the next day. I told you that.”

“It’s not like exams are that important.” He makes a gesture with his hands that shows how little he cares for your education, or for education in general. “Not more important than me, at least.”

“I’m not you, Roman. My father is not the owner of a millionaire conglomerate that controls half the media of this country.”

He opens up his mouth, surely ready to respond to what you’ve just said with something particularly witty but to which you don’t have the patience to hear, so you cut him off.

“And… if I don’t finish with my master’s degree in Business Law then my time as Gerri’s little lawyer puppet is done, and if my time is done here then…”

You raise your eyebrows at him, pulling a face that tells him “figure it out”.

“Then… you’ll be free from your slave?” Roman laughs at the annoyed way in which you roll your eyes at him and bite your lips in an attempt to stop you from cursing him. He is, after all, the son of the owner of a millionaire conglomerate that… you can guess the rest. He is also, in some way, your boss — which you definitely forget from time to time after being witness to the idiocy that falls out of his mouth and the way he acts on a daily basis —. He’s basically a short child that’s supposed to be an adult. Though, you kinda like his childish side. It’s refreshing compared to the constant humorless faces you see at the office. 

“No, Roman. Then… If I lose my internship, you’ll never see me again because I wouldn’t be of use anymore.”

His feet are on the ground as he gets into a sitting position, his right hand fiddling with the cufflinks of his white shirt while you see him lifting up his gaze towards you, still hunched over your desk. Piles of books of different sizes, though none of them smaller than the freaking bible you would guess, cover the right side of it; you can see Roman from the free space on the left. 

“Oh, please, (Y/N), you’ll always be of use to the company. If Gerri doesn’t want you anymore because you failed your master’s or whatever, then you can always become my assistant.” He says as if he’d just resolved all your issues, there’s a big smile on his face, his eyebrows are raised and his arms are extended while his hands try to copy the “jazz hands” movement. At least that’s what you think he’s trying to imitate. 

“No offense, Roman, but bringing you coffee every morning is not my dream job.”

“It’s every respectable woman’s dream job.”

“Sure, Rome.”

You annotate another characteristic concerning the law of succession as you feel Roman circling around the room. His shoes squeak against the wooden floor and you are one hundred percent sure he’s doing that on purpose. There’s no way his shoes worth probably thousands make that much noise.

Taking a deep breath that does nothing to increase your thinning patience, you glance at him. He has his hands on his trousers’ pockets as he waltzes looking at the walls.

“Why are you here again, Roman? Aren’t COO’s supposed to be really busy?”

“Actually… I only use that excuse when I don’t wanna deal with anyone’s cranky mood.” He shrugs his shoulders. “And, I came here so we could do something fun, but you and your lawyer-y books are so boring.” 

“Well, my boring books and I will get you out of a mess one day, and you’ll have to thank me. And it won’t be cheap. I should probably charge you my whole school debt.”

“Done.”

“What?”

“You want me to take care of your debt so you can stop studying for one second and we can go out to do something, anything!? Done.”

[howlingday]

Just need to cross our fingers they don't try and write Sun they way they did in the After the Fall book. I haven't read it, but I've heard how they treat Sun in that book. He's not my favorite character, but I don't want to read something that borderline bashes someone who's supposed to be a well loved character.

"You did a bad thing that's bad." That summarizes the dialogue involving Sun.

OH, BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

spoilspoilspoilspoilspoilspoilspoilspoilspoilspoil

----------------------------------------------

So, not only do they make Sun out to be the bad guy for leaving his team behind on multiple occasions, BUT they also make him out to be a total dickhead towards TRAUMA VICTIMS! Yeah, so, students continuing their education at Shade and were right there watching the deaths of dozens if not hundreds of people, including their own teammates, Sun and a bunch of other Shade students bash on the survivors, calling them "The Beacon Brigade" as an insult.

In his defense, it's part of the culture of Vacuo. Due to the harsh environment of the desert surrounding the towns and cities, be it because of the Grimm or the sandstorms or the sinkholes, the people of Vacuo are semi-nomadic, with the exception being major cities like Shade and Oscuro Academy cities. As a result, the people of Vacuo have developed a "take what you need" and "survival of the fittest" complex where the only people who matter are the ones who are still alive and useful. Got a blind child like Fox? Leave him to the Grimm. Did your whole family die in a sinkhole? Get over it and move on.

So Sun stands up in the middle of the meeting with all these poor kids suffering from trauma and says, "This whole thing is stupid! You all need to get over it!"

Imagine standing up in the middle of support group for soldiers, because, let's face it, that's what Huntsmen and Huntresses are, and telling them to just "get over it."

Vacuo is a fucking shitpit and Sun pulling this shit makes him a garbage character. CRWBY literally said "fuck this monkey man".

GOD I AM SO DONE WITH THESE FUCKING BOOKS!

[auressea]

https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/national-day-truth-reconciliation.html

Mental health supports available

Former residential school students can call 1-866-925-4419 for emotional crisis referral services and information on other health supports from the Government of Canada.

Indigenous peoples across Canada can also go to The Hope for Wellness Help Line 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for counselling and crisis intervention.

Call the toll-free Help Line at 1-855-242-3310 or connect to the online chat (Please use Google Chrome).

Truth and Reconciliation Week

This bilingual educational program is open to all schools across Canada. All sessions will be held virtually, allowing classroom participation from across the country and the involvement of Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. From September 25-30, 2023, registration is required.

@allthecanadianpolitics

[pink-evilette]

The Black Yearbook by Adraint Khadafhi Bereal

When photographer Adraint Bereal graduated from the University of Texas, he self-published an impressive volume of portraits, personal statements, and interviews that explored UT’s campus culture and offered an intimate look at the lives of Black students matriculating within a majority white space.

Rather than dwelling on the monolith of trauma often associated with Black narratives, Bereal is dedicated to using honest dialogue to share stories of true joy and triumph amidst the hardships, prejudices, and internal struggles.

The Black Yearbook reframes society’s stereotypical perception of higher education by representing and celebrating the wide range of Black experiences on campuses

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hi!! Quick question, out of pure curiosity... Are there literally only three teachers in NRC???

I certainly hope not 😭

NRC has a student population of ~800, and judging by the homeroom class sizes (20-30ish?) and numbers (A through E), there has to be more than just Crewel for sciences, Trein for humanities, and Vargas for physical education. If it’s just those 3, that means they each take on 266 or 267 students at one time, and while that may work for very general introductory classes for freshmen, it’s not as feasible for highly specialized upperclassmen courses. Those 3 may just be the “leaders” of their respective departments, sort of like department chairs at colleges.

There’s so many elective classes and homerooms with instructors that are unaccounted for… (Like, Crewel teaches Advanced Poison Making, but who here is teaching Music, Lucius?!) It’s just not logistically possible; there have to be supervising homeroom teachers for the different grade levels and classes because Crewel can’t be ALL of the homeroom teachers in multiple rooms at once.

We do know that a team of ghost chefs teach the Master Chef course, so maybe it’s possible that ghosts help fill in for other teaching positions?? Ghosts also help out with other jobs around campus, such as being delivery people and handing out Vargas Badges during the boys’ training camp. Alternatively, it’s probably just a game limitation. It would be too taxing for the devs to make and implement a number of staff characters that is proportional to how many students NRC actually has so they have to default to reusing the ones that look unique.

I find it odd that we don’t have generic mob teachers or ever hear dialogue from someone labeled a “NRC teacher” though 💦 so maybe it really is ghosts doing everything else… It keeps Crowley’s costs low since ghosts don’t need things like food 😭

[duskymrel]

Bbygirl, you got show the rest of the list pls🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

I wanna see how awful it can be.

Of course babygirl <3

Didn't feel like taking screenshots so I copied and pasted have fun suffering 😇

May I present, this stupid ass article of most popular TWST character, ranked:

"Disney Twisted Wonderland is a popular multimedia project created by Disney Interactive and Square Enix. It is set in a parallel world known as the “Nightmare World,” where various characters inspired by classic Disney villains are reinterpreted as students of prestigious magic schools. The project includes a mobile game, an anime series, and various merchandise.

One of the key elements of the project’s success is its cast of captivating and unique characters, each with their own distinct personalities, backgrounds, and powers. Fans have developed a deep attachment to these characters and have come to have their own personal favorites. Whether it’s because of their charming personalities, intriguing backstories, or impressive abilities, the characters of Disney Twisted Wonderland have become beloved by fans around the world.

1. Yuu:

Disney Twisted Wonderland is a Japanese mobile game and anime series with “Yuu” as its main character. In Japan, the game was released in 2020, and the anime adaptation followed in January of 2021.

In “Disney Twisted Wonderland,” a human named Yuu is propelled into a parallel universe populated by Disney villains. He studies magic at the Night Raven College in this world, where he meets various Disney villains while honing his magical skills. Yuu is portrayed as a determined and compassionate person who is determined to learn the truth about how he came to be in this alternate world and to aid those in need.

The series’ viewers have responded favorably to the character, praising his upbeat demeanor and continual development.

2. Riddle Rosehearts:

“Riddle Rosehearts” is a character from the Disney franchise’s mobile game “Disney Twisted Wonderland.”. In “Disney Twisted Wonderland,” a dark fantasy role-playing game, players can explore the magical world and go on adventures with well-known Disney villains by their sides.

One of the game’s characters, Riddle Rosehearts, is portrayed as resembling the Mad Hatter. He is well-known for his mischievous, unpredictable personality, love of tea, and knack for riddles. He is a member of the Night Raven College, one of the main educational institutions that players can enroll in, and he works as a professor there.

Players in the game can engage in dialogue with Riddle-like characters, go on missions, go to school, and fight. The game has a complex narrative where players can make decisions that influence the course of the plot and forge bonds with the characters.

You might find “Disney Twisted Wonderland” to be a fun experience if you like dark fantasy, Disney Villains, or mobile RPG games.

3. Leona Kingscholar:

The Disney mobile game “Twisted Wonderland,” a dark fantasy role-playing game that is a part of the Disney Villains series, features the character “Leona Kingscholar.”. In Japan and a few other countries, the game has been available since its release in 2020.

Players take on the role of students at Night Raven College where they interact with Disney villains who have been reimagined as characters. One of the students, Leona Kingscholar, is a self-assured, endearing person with a quick wit. She is a playable character with a distinct backstory that players can investigate.

In the role-playing game Twisted Wonderland, players can customize their characters and engage in battles. Players have praised it for its captivating plot, endearing characters, and exciting battles. This game might appeal to you if you like Disney and dark fantasy.

4. Azul Ashengrotto:

Character named “Azul Ashengrotto” appears in the Disney “Darkened Kingdom” video game series called “Twisted Wonderland” for mobile devices. The game, a narrative-driven role-playing game with characters modeled after vintage Disney villains, was released in Japan in 2020.

In “Twisted Wonderland,” players experience the journey of a transfer student who is suddenly thrust into the Darkened Kingdom, where they are required to enroll in the prestigious Night Raven College and unravel its mysteries. One of the seven main characters in the game is Azul Ashengrotto, also referred to as the “Dormouse” of the Spade dorm. He has a sharp tongue, a sarcastic sense of humor, and a sweet tooth.

You can find more details about “Twisted Wonderland” and its characters on the show’s official website or on fan-run wikis and forums.

5. Kalim Al-Asim:

The anime and mobile game “Twisted Wonderland,” which is a part of the Disney series of games, have a connection to “Kalim Al-Asim” and “Disney Twisted Wonderland.”.

The multimedia project “Twisted Wonderland” consists of an anime and a smartphone game. The main character, a transfer student, enrolls in the prestigious Night Raven College, a school for apprentice villains, after being transported to an alternate dimension known as the “Wonder Land” in the anime adaptation, which follows the game’s plot.

In “Twisted Wonderland,” Kalim Al-Asim appears as one of the characters. He can control fire and is a part of Night Raven College’s Torch Division. He frequently smokes a hookah and has a self-assured, flirtatious personality.

Both the video game and the anime have a cast of Disney villains-inspired characters, each with their own distinct personality and set of skills. Players can advance through the story, interact with the characters, and engage in combat by collecting cards that feature the characters.

Overall, “Disney Twisted Wonderland” is a humorous and imaginative take on the traditional Disney Villains that is geared toward anime and mobile game fans."

Here's the link if anyone's curious

[forevamark]

preview! time lapse (l.mk)

remember when i said ‘would be posted tomorrow.’..? 

... and that was months ago? well i lied. LOL life has been rough lately. but here’s the preview of what i’ve been working on very very slowly.

genuinely, trying to post by next week i swear this time yall hehe

Pairing: mark lee x fem!reader

Tags: pre idol debut to idol au, christmas and new years time line, slice of life moments, college student reader, substantial plot leading to smut, very dialogue heavy, angsty moments, slow burn, relationship struggle, lovers to exes to lovers

Intended for 18+ readers, minors do not interact.

Preview Word Count : 2k+

Projected Word Count: 10k+

Summary: Mark has always had the dream of becoming a big music star, meanwhile your aspirations lied with academics and coexisting with Mark. Mark struggles with telling reader that he will be leaving for Korea to pursue his music career very soon, in fear of losing what they have.

warnings are under the tab.

Warnings: cursing/swearing, teasing, oral male receiving, unprotected sex (wrap it up ya’ll!), breeding kink, possessive domination, spanking, slight choking, praise

not really edited- so sorry.

--

“What do you think about this?” Mark asked as he sat above you strumming on his guitar. You were sat on the floor between his legs focused on your eight page paper.

“In a sec,” you reply while wrapping up the sentence you were on.

“Take a break…” Mark whined trying to pry the laptop from your speedy fingers.

“Mark, it’s due in two days. I will listen in a sec.”

“Mhmm.” He sulked, leaning back into the sofa continuing his chord progression.

Days like this were stressful- due to the plethora of assignments that piled on- but soothing in a way. Your schedules never aligned this often, but Mark was so entirely enamored with you he’d do anything to spend his free time just being with you. 

“I can’t believe it’s been three hours and I only have my thesis done,” you sighed while resting your head on his knee.

“You got this,” he replies while running a hand soothingly through your hair while the other wrote something down on the notepad next to him, “I believe in you.”

“Do you need anything to help you focus? Am I being too loud?” he asks while going to the kitchen and lighting your favorite candle, “I can make you a snack?”

“Do you mind getting me some fruit? I feel like I need some brain food.” You asked while cracking your knuckles and continuing to type away.

Mark nods and walks back over, handing you a cut persimmon with the skin peeled off. He always knew what you needed before even saying it out loud.

Humming in appreciation you immediately start chewing on the sliced fruit.

Eyeing him from the corner you see him looking out of your apartment window. It was raining hard outside, Mark’s favorite. 

“Anything else you need to work on?” you ask. He shrugs his shoulders. 

“Not much else, I want your opinion on what I have then I’ll see what I can add from there. Don’t worry though,” he turns to look at you with a small smile, “I can wait.”

Mark has always been supportive of your dreams and aspirations. It was a shock when he told you he wouldn’t be joining you at university, but rather pursuing music instead. Although an adjustment, you supported him and he rooted for you. It seemed to be working out, he passed the first two rounds of auditions for a big music company and it looked like things were finally looking up for him. 

Some days you wouldn’t see him at all, and some days he picked you up from class and would stay glued to your side. He claims that he ‘soaked up inspiration from you’ hence the constant quality time and skinship. He knew you were working hard, pursuing a higher education was so important to you and your family, and he wanted to be present every step of the way. 

Unbeknownst to you, Mark also had a dark cloud overlooking him just like the city in front of him. He hasn’t yet told you that he passed the third and final round of auditions for his company and would be slated to move to Korea before the end of the year to begin his training. He couldn’t bear to break the news to you, not yet. Not when you were so close to finishing one of your hardest semesters yet.

“I think I can pull you away from that screen now y/n,” he says while tugging you away from the black and white screen.

“Hey! I’m not finished yet! I thought you said you could wait” you pouted trying to get loose.

“You’ve been working non stop, you aren’t being as productive anymore.” He chuckles while slotting you to the seat across from him.

“Hi.” he smiles at you.

“Hi.” you respond back.

There’s a moment of silence shared between you two. The only sound being the soft pitter patter from outside hitting the patio. Mark stares at you lovingly, you can tell something is wrong but you can’t find the words to ask him just yet, too entranced by the current hold he has on you.

“So, the song, yeah?” you finally whisper aloud. 

“Hold on,” he replies, licking his lips and searching every inch of your face, memorizing this very moment to inspire him for what he’s about to play.

“What’s the hold up? Don’t get stage fright in front of me now Lee,” you lightly say while giggling.

“I, I just want to make you proud, okay?” he finally says with sad eyes.

“You always will, Mark.”

Guilt washed over Mark. Things were great, perfect even. But he just had to aspire for more. He should be satisfied with what he has now, he’s close to home, a stable music career here in Canada, and most importantly, you. But just like you, he had the moon but he wanted every damn star in the galaxy. He didn’t want change, but nothing could satiate the hunger for something more. He was leaving, because he knew that this life, now, isn’t enough.

“Okay.” he takes a moment to gather himself, taking in some deep breaks and shaking his nerves out through his hands.

“Let’s hear it!” you shuffle sitting up straight in your chair.

Mark lets out one final breath before starting a low strum on his guitar. Flashes of memories over the course of your relationship flashes before his eyes. Your first snow day in Canada when you couldn’t get the ice off of your windshield, to the countless nights of watching reruns of Glee in your small shared apartment. 

He hits the chorus for the first time, opening his eyes to look around the room, unable to look at you just yet. Pictures of you two littered the walls, filled with your smiling and laughing faces. 

Mark mumbles small noises of nonsense to fill in the parts he doesn’t know what to put in between, sometimes trying out some lyrics at the top of his head. He shakes his head and chuckles when words don’t rhyme or quite fit, in return you share a smile enjoying him delving into his craft.

It’s something about the way that Mark is able to lose himself completely, in his own little world and for brief moments you’re able to enter his mind, envisioning every note in a flow of synesthesia. He’s able to create color and landscape through sound, and what’s crazier is that he doesn’t even realize the extent of his art.

“And… I guess that’s it. What’d you think?” He asks as he lets out a final strum. The warmness of his music is still palpable in the room, despite the cold and dark weather that demands to be let inside. 

You take another moment staring at the man in front of you. Mark bit his fingers in anticipation. His large white tee hung loosely on his shoulders, his ripped jeans bounced waiting for your feedback.

Everything is perfect.

Nothing can take this moment away from you two. 

No words could exactly encapsulate how you felt so you decide to throw your arm around him. 

Mark lets out a sigh of relief as he sets his guitar to the side, “so I guess you liked it?” then reciprocated by pulling you into his lap.

“I loved it, Mark. I can’t wait to hear it all together, I really liked that chord progression, I can definitely hear it on the radio one day,” you mutter into his shirt.

The pitter patter of rain outside was accompanied by the soft whimpers from the man whose chin sat upon your head.

“I’m always going to be here for you y/n,” he jaggedly says.

You two sat in each other's embrace for what seemed like eternity. 

“Let me show you something,” he says, breaking the silence and adjusting your position to where your back was flush against him.

Mark sat the guitar in your hands, “Let’s start from the top, yeah?”

That night Mark taught you the song on his guitar, sometimes you filled in lyrics that felt right.

“They know we got the chemistry…” Mark sings.

“Love how your body feels on me, when you get back let me get that…” you finish with a small laugh.

“Yo!” he jumps up, lifting your laughing frame into the air, “That’s a bar!”

“Are you jealous that I may be a better rapper than you?” you giggle back.

“You’re coming for my career, babygirl!”

—

Six more hours.

Six more hours until this paper is due, and you’re almost done with this last page. 

Six more hours until the hell that was this semester is finally done.

Six more hours until you can crawl into bed with Mark and take a long deserved nap.

“Almost there baby,” Mark says while massaging your shoulders.

“I got this,” you say while typing furiously.

“Hell yeah you do.”

Your train of thought was interrupted by Mark’s ringtone going off from behind you.

“I’ll be right back, when I come back you better have this paragraph done!”

Sending him a stiff salute you continued to trudge on as he stepped into your bedroom and closed the door.

“Mark! What’s going on my man! Happy holidays!” his new manager cheered into the phone.

“It’s going well, just spending some time with family and friends while I can,” he replies while laying down on your bed and grabbing a stuffed My Melody to hold against him.

“Well, I’m glad you have been enjoying your last moments of freedom while you can. Speaking of which, I do have an early Christmas present for you!”

“Awesome! What is it?” 

“Well, the company wants you to start as soon as possible. I played them your audition and they think you can finish your training in less than a year!”

“That’s amazing!” Mark shoots up and runs his hands through his hair, “when do I fly out? Next year I hope?”

“Mark, I did say Christmas present didn’t I? You’ll leave the day after the 25th. I bought you some more time to spend with your family, but you’ll be spending the new year here, in Korea!”

Mark felt his heart drop. That was in two weeks. 

Two weeks to eat all the food he can.

Two weeks to brush up on dancing.

Two weeks to say goodbye to his family.

Two weeks to erase all traces from his friend groups’ antics.

Two weeks till he has to leave you.

“Uh… two weeks… wow that’s really soon.” 

“Absolutely! Now rest up Mark, this year is going to be the craziest experience of your life!”

His manager kept going on about the potential future he had coming for him. But Mark couldn’t seem to focus on all the new found information. Slowly feeling the aroma of you envelope him fully, being surrounded by you everywhere, it was suffocating. 

How is he going to tell you?

“I finished it!” he heard your jumps of triumph in the distance, echoing all the way to the pits of his empty stomach, “I’m finally done with this God awful semester! One more year till graduation!”

You burst through the door interrupting Mark’s pensive state, wrapping yourself into him.

“You okay babe?” you realize pulling away slowly, eyeing his sweating frame, “you look a bit sick, want me to make you some ramen?”

“Oh no I’m fine, just fine really,” he shallowly laughs pulling himself away from you and moving to turn on the fan, “just got a little warm is all.”

“Who called?” you asked before flopping on the bed and sighing, “was it your manager? Did you get the job?”

“Uh yeah…” he shuffled, not meeting your eyes, “It was my manager, he had some good news…”

“Oh my God, did you pass?” you pounced on him awaiting the news.

“Uh… yeah, I did.” he lied.

“Markie!” you showered him in kisses and tight squeezes, your love for him unfaltering, “When do you leave?”

“Not for another year,” he smiled, not looking at you.

“Hopefully you’ll still be here for my graduation…” you sighed, “but nonetheless I’m glad I get to keep you to myself for a bit longer.

---

anddd that’s it for now! see yall in a week! any and all comments appreciated, and as always, tag list is open! 

xoxo, eva <3

[oreotoreads]

EVERYTHING IS NOT WHAT IT SEEMS

PART 4: MOTH TO A FLAME ⏤ read other parts: PREVIOUS | NEXT | MASTERLIST

pairing: jake x fem!reader / jay x fem!reader

WC: around 5.4k!

summary: your handsome one night stand that blew your mind turns out to be the silent guy at work that you didn’t even realize his existence.

warnings: angst, jake being an asshole, explicit language, cursing, mentions of cheating & trauma. bad parenting. making out, smut, revenge, jealousy. sunghoon & sooha (yes sooha) mentioned. (some themes about family & relationships must be disturbing so read at your own risk and if it's too much, don't, take care of yourself first)

a/n: here to make all the hoes CRY. enjoy reading... i would love to receive feedback especially about this part, since we probably have one last chapter to go after this one, we are coming to an end!

jake had the worst nightmare that night, the night where the girl he liked so much wasn’t sleeping next to him, and wasn't cuddling into his side in her sleep without realizing it. you did tell him you even miss him in your sleep, the connection you had was so pure and obvious, both of you didn’t care about how many days you spent together. you liked each other.

but what jake dreamed that night was just another alert from making him move on, with all the other fucked up things going on his life with his family and his job. he woke up with sweat dripping from his forehead, he hated seeing them haunting him even in his sleep. he wanted them gone. 

he wanted his past gone.

he is just a child, so young to understand anything that is happening around him yet, he remembers his father giving him expensive toys even when it’s not special days. he remembers playing with his toys all alone by himself, he remembers wanting to share his happiness with the people who gifted it to him, but they are not around. 

when the pattern keeps happening and jake grows to be older, he realizes gifts are actually a bad thing, because his parents kept disappearing every time he received one. he remembers his mother giving him the toy car and tells him they will be away for a while, leaving him alone in the house with few nannies and workers, he stays in his room and plays with the car, making noises and dialogues on his own, until one day he broke down and cried. 

jake doesn’t understand why he is crying, as a child it seems so weird to him that he had the urge to cry when no one was taking his toys away from him or when he wasn’t on the ground hurting his knee. but he still cries, because he feels like a burden in his own home, feeling unwanted by his parents by the bribes they give him as toys. 

he grows up to be rebel kid, he doesn’t want to share his toys with people, or doesn’t love his friends when they see them with their parents, because his parents are never present at any meeting at the school or playground, he is always accompanied by his nanny or the driver who takes him to school every morning. this makes jake an even angrier kid, he keeps causing problem at the school and his parents solve the problem by sending him to australia to study middle school and the rest of his education, instead of doing what they have to do, giving their son the love he deserves. 

jake is definitely a problem through his school years and he keeps being a problem until he becomes an college student. he gets his revenge on his parents his own way, spending all the money they sent him for school on parties, alcohol, renting sports cars and sometimes even drugs. he is the epitome of the bad boy, he gets along with girls a lot and hooks up with them, being a heartbreaker. because, he never received love, how can he understand if someone happened to love him?

in the second year of college he meets his friend group, koreans just like him, one is born and raised in america but he decided to study in australia. 

jay, sunghoon and sooha. the only girl amongst them. 

their friendship and their bond gets stronger everyday, they are inseparable at this point. they do all the maniac stupid shit with jake and they have the time of their lives until one of them starts catching feelings. 

jake falls hard for sooha, to her antics and the way she lives life so freely without being scared, the way she sits next to him in the sports cars he rents as he drive, he knows she was meant for him and had to be his. jake is not wrong about his feelings, one day at a party sooha pulls him into a room, and kisses him passionately, jake wonders if she is drunk but she is sober. he lets her do whatever she wants to him, being a slave to her words and actions as she sits prettily on his dick and kisses her way down to his chest. he doesn’t believe this is all real. 

the girl he liked, liked him back. 

jake gets all love drunk around her, giving her his everything in every way. he is willing to give his life for her if she asks for him to. sooha, really loves jake too, she loves when his boyfriend spends the nights in her dorm, even when he had his huge place that is definitely shouldn’t be called a student house, jake goes and pushes himself next to hers single person bed, to be able to wrap her around in his arms, to be able to kiss her in her sleep and make her feel loved. 

sooha appreciates jake but when he was sick one day and couldn't make it to the school, sunghoon crosses her way, pulling her into the boy’s locker room. sooha gets scared that something happened to jake, he is his best friend after all. but she gots puzzled when sunghoon kisses her, but she doesn’t push him back, instead she kisses him back, enjoying his lips on hers and his crotch against hers as he pushes him to the locker and pulls her skirt apart to fuck his best friend’s girl. 

jay, who was out of class, is on the phone with jake and asking him what kind of ramen he should bring to him today because he is sick, wants to have a little sweat in the gym before he goes back to their place. only to see his best friends betraying his other best friend. 

he screams sunghoon’s name, pulling them apart and sooha cries, falls onto her knees in front of jay, begging for him to not tell jake anything and swears it is a one time things. jay makes a mistake and believes them, but never being close to them as he used to be. everytime they hang out together, he looks at sunghoon with despise and jake is clueless as he has his girl on his lap, unaware of everything as he kisses her lips. 

saying it’s a one time thing to jay, she lies, she tells jake she will be studying because her classes are getting harder and declines his offers to hang out, instead she goes out with sunghoon and shamelessly goes to jake’s place afterwards cause the dorm is not letting her in such late hours. she wakes up jake and cuddles next to him, jay understands she was with sunghoon but can’t say anything to his friend. 

one day, when sooha was with him only at a late time at night, she goes to use the bathroom and forgets her phone on jake’s bed. he loves his girlfriend and trusts her but he can’t help but grab it, figuring out the password. 

he sees loads of messages and sexts and even pictures being sent to another guy, he feels like he can’t breathe and he falls onto his knees, before jay realizes and rushes into his room, seeing his friend crying he immediately understands. 

when sooha comes out from the bathroom, she meets with jake’s red eyes, with her phone in his hand, and jay behind jake, obviously told him everything that he didn’t know until this time. 

with that, sooha and sunghoon disappears from their life, along with jake’s trust to be able to love again and his belief about being lovable. he returns to himself, a darkness surrounds his aura and he becomes the person he was 3 years ago, he poisons himself to not going to love anyone again. 

he wasn’t going to let his heart break into pieces again. 

*

your day started ‘amazingly’ when you were woken up by an arm slapping over your face, making you moan in pain but the owner of the arm was still in dreamland even with the noise you made. 

“oh my god.” you rolled your eyes, trying to forget about the pain with his smack on your face, you tried to lift his arm off your face. “jay, can you please wake up? you are suffocating me!” you yelled at him in whisper tone, the boy finally fluttering his eyelids to wake up from his sleep. he saw your blurry face in his vision, and then his arm on your neck as his cheek was squished to his pillow, he hopped up quickly once he realized he looked extremely stupid, probably salivating on his pillow. 

“oh my god, y/n, hey!” he scratched the back of his neck as you kept laying down, staring at him in confusion. when you see a pink tint getting all over his cheeks, you couldn’t help but giggle. 

he covered his face immediately when you unexpectedly started laughing at him, “god, there are nicer ways of saying i look bad when i wake up.”

you rolled over and put your hands over his, pulling them down to look at his morning face, which was way far away from bed, he looked adorable. 

“what?” he shyly smiled, when you stared at him, he remembered your stare in jake’s room too which made him all excited. you looked stunning even when you just woken up and your hair all messy, he doesn't remember seeing someone prettier than you. he coughed to gather his thoughts and not actually zone out at your pretty face.

“do you wanna take a shower or anything?” 

you stumbled in your own place, that just doesn’t feel right so you just nodded your head. “i’m good, thanks.” 

“do you wanna go grab some coffee then?” he asked this time, getting up from the bed before you, “that i can’t say no to.” 

*

in the coffee shop, jay made you sit in a quiet place, especially away from noisy students as he grabbed both of you your coffees. he smiled when he put yours down in front of you. 

“you drink it the same way jake does.” he commented before he seated himself across you. 

“he does?” you smiled bitterly. 

jay only nodded before he took a sip from his coffee. he wanted to talk to you but he doesn’t know how your relationship was with jake, so he couldn’t pick his words in his mind cleverly. he was also scared of hurting you or making you cry. 

“so… this situation with jake…started at work, right?” 

you nodded your head to sides, “no.” 

jay raised his eyebrows, “then where?” 

you sipped from your coffee as you shrugged, “at the club of his hotel.” 

jay tapped his chin with his fingers as he watched outside and thinked for a moment. “must have been weird seeing him there like that.” 

you copied him as you turned your face to the glass window of the coffee shop, watching the outside, “why would it be weird?” you smiled half, remembering the first time you ever saw jake. 

jay squinted his eyes, getting weirded out at your reply. 

“i don’t know? you are the one fucking your boss.” 

with the words that came out from jay’s mouth, you blinked a few times. your heart started racing in an irregular pace, and your palms were getting sweaty with every second that has passed in the silence. the words were processing in your mind, they were replaying all over when you sat there, shocked at jay’s comment. 

“y/n?” he waved his hand above your face to get your attention. 

“i am fucking who?” 

jay gulped loudly, looking away from you in panic, as he mumbled, “… you didn’t know…” 

“i didn’t know what, jay?” you raised your voice, looking at his eyes furiously, he never thought a woman like you could have such intimidating eyes. 

“i thought you knew, fuck.” he put his head in his palms, rubbing his temples as he thinked of a way to get out of this and save his friend’s secret that he just slipped out from his mouth. 

“tell me everything, now.” your tone was demanding and very serious, god help the man who would not listen to you, he had to spill everything to you and he knew it. 

“he is sim jaeyun…” 

sim jaeyun… son of mr. sim, the founder of the company you worked for, you kept hearing rumors about his son coming for his throne but he kept him from the media a secret. the only thing everyone knew was jaeyun was going to take over the company soon and it was announced a month ago.

the day when jake started working in the company. 

“but… he is, you know he is working as a rookie engineer right?” you ask jay in shock, not understanding what was exactly on jake’s mind when he had the chance to rule an empire that all belonged to him. 

jay let out a sigh, “he never wanted it, but his dad is making decisions on his own. i remember him saying he accepted to work there only with one condition and … fuck, now i understand what he meant.” jay let out a whine, feeling guilty for telling you all this. 

“jay, i am so lost…” you mumbled, wanting him to give you a solid explanation of what was going on. 

“believe me, it’s better if he tells you everything on his own.” 

you got up from your chair, leaving the half empty coffee cup on the table. “i will go find out myself then.” 

when you were about to turn around and walk away to leave jay all alone there, he grabbed your wrist and turned you to himself, your breath hitching in your throat when his face was dangerously close to yours. 

“if anything goes wrong, i am here.” 

you gulped loudly, only being able to nod your head in tiny movements before you slowly get out of his grip and run to the front door to get a taxi. 

jay felt like a douchebag, sitting back to his place, he felt like sunghoon… but did jake know your worth? was jake aware of he was going to hurt the most beautiful thing he ever seen? he grounded himself by telling he is not sunghoon, he destroyed something beautiful that jake had. 

jay was just saving something beautiful from jake’s hands, someone he couldn’t ignore his feelings for. 

*

being in the elevator to room 515, you felt your heart was being squeezed in someone’s hands, you were confused and all over the place. you knew jake kept a secret but this was a really big one and he literally didn’t even bother to tell you before he fucked you? 

you weren’t his co-worker, you were his employee. 

you understood he was maybe running away from the possibility of you turning out to be a gold digger or telling his secret to everyone but still, you thought your relationship was better than this. 

you furiously banged on his door, your hand hurting from the forceful fists you were throwing. it only took few seconds until jake appeared in front of you, last thing he was expecting was to see you after his fucked up and tasteless sleep. 

“y/n, why are you here?” he stared at you, annoyed and confused, but you pushed him from his chest to inside and closed the door behind yourself. 

“did you enjoy your cinderella story you played, sim jaeyun?” 

he blinked a few times, hearing his real name spilling from your lips, he never thought he would hear it from you. 

“did you enjoy fucking your employee when i thought you were just a miserable tech guy at work?!” you spat your words against his face, not holding back anything from the immense anger that pumped through your veins. 

“did you enjoy playing the best of both worlds? is this how you get girls? you act like you are no one, then you break the news to them?” 

he got closer to you with anger shooting from his eyes, you wanted to take a step back because you were lowkey scared. “what the fuck are you on about?”

you tried to look brave and grounded, “i know who you are, i know your secret, jaeyun. or wait, is this your real name or is there going to be another one again?” 

“stop calling me jaeyun, y/n.” he hissed, talking between his teeth as his one hand grabbed your arm, “how did you find out about me?” 

his hold on your arm was soft, you know he would never hurt you. but you still wanted his hands off you after feeling like played once again by him. 

“jay.” you mumbled, which made jake go into hysterical laughter, each following the other with more force, you thought he was going crazy. “jay?” he licked his lips, staring at your eyes. 

“did you run to jay the moment you understood you won’t get fucked by me?” he smirked, not breaking eye contact. 

“how dare you say that?” your voice sounded hurt, what did he think you exactly were? did he think you were a girl who only sleeps around with men because you wanted to satisfy yourself? was he blind enough to not see how miserably in love you were with him. 

“you are wearing the same clothes… seems like you had fun with him.” 

you didn’t answer him, or begged him to confess your innocence, you just stared at him with empty and pathetic eyes. 

“did he fuck you like i did?” he talked in despise, “did you cry from pleasure thinking you got lucky for being dumped by me—

you slapped him, not taking any of his bullshit, your eyes welled up with tears,  rolling down from your cheeks as you saw his cheek getting red from your hand. meanwhile jake, was already regretting his words, the words that came out from his mouth with all the hate he had towards his past. he knew you weren’t sooha, and jay wasn’t sunghoon, but he felt like it was the same thing happening all over again. 

“do you remember when i said, i will make you regret losing me?” you talked silently, your voice barely audible. you looked up and stared at his eyes, which was filled with tears and getting red. 

“i didn’t fuck your best friend, and i don’t know what makes you think i am that low…” you got closer to him, gripping his chin between your fingers, “but now watch me become the woman you think i am in your head.” 

you pushed him away from his face, he stumbled and fell to his bed, you heard a sob coming from his throat that he tried to deny so badly. 

he sat there, watching you slip from his hands, what did he expect when he was the one to tell you to leave him alone. why he thought you would stay and beg for his love when you were the most beautiful thing ever. 

you weren’t sooha, you were better. 

and you deserved better, someone like jay. 

he didn’t open his mouth, he didn’t dare to say one word to you when you opened the door and looked at him one last time with pity eyes. he looked at the woman he knew he loved and thinked about his friend who he probably will lose forever after this, and it was all because of him, he couldn’t get mad at jay for liking you. 

“i hope one day you’ll find someone who makes you feel loved, jake.” 

*

on your way to jay, you sobbed in the cab you were in, you were going to become a woman you never were, and you hated it, but your mind and heart burned with the urge to get revenge on jake, to make him feel as devastated as you felt. 

jay was waiting for you in his house he owned, not his parents' one, he sent you the address the moment he heard you on the phone, obviously crying. 

you got out of the cab after handing the man extra money for listening to your ugly crying on the way and you walked up to the residence that jay apparently stayed in. the receptionist led you to the elevator and the ride seemed like forever as you went up to the top floor where the penthouses were located at. 

even though you weren’t one, you did felt like a gold digger, between jake’s fancy hotel suite that he rented for an indefinite time and jay’s single boy crib that probably costed millions. you took a deep breath, when you saw him staring at you with soft eyes, waiting for you in front of his door, god knows for how many minutes now. 

you start walking towards him, your steps getting faster each time as you get closer to jay, he gets nervous and lift his body up from where he was leaning against, your arms wrap around his neck and your lips crash into his, as his hands were still in his pockets, his lips not moving against yours as he was in shock of your mouth contacting his. 

you break the kiss, and look at him with teary eyes, he was taller than jake so you had to tilt your head back a little more to stare at his eyes. 

“do you remember when you said, if anything goes wrong…” he cut your words to continue himself,

 “i am here for you, y/n.” 

you smiled, as he leaned down to kiss you, connecting your lips in a soft yet forceful kiss, feeling your pink puffy lips against his as he kissed you. his hands held you from your waist, pulling you inside gently and his one hand closed his front door, leaning his back to it, for you to lean into his chest. your knee found his place between his legs, trying to feel him as you pushed it upwards a little, eliciting a deep moan from his throat before you took off your coat and let it down to the floor. 

his hold on your waist tightened, as he pushed your body closer to his, he snaked his arms around your waist and held you close, leaning down to kiss your neck. you tilted your head to the side to give him more space, his soft lips felt so good against your skin, you bit your lips as he gently sucked your skin. 

you pulled him from his t-shirt from the door he was leaning against, tangling your fingers into his hair to kiss him again, when his strong arms were like a belt around your waist. the kiss got way heated than the previous one, his tongue caressing yours as you let him in your mouth, saliva dripping down your chip from how hard he was kissing you. 

he leaded you to his living room, laying your back on the couch, as he got on top between your legs, kissing down your chest as he opened the buttons of your shirt, moving along as new skin got exposed to his eyes. you whined, feeling his lips at your stomach because he blew some air between kisses, which tickled you. he smiled, going upwards with his lips, attaching them to your collarbones as he got you out from your shirt. 

you felt jay’s teeth digging into your bone, which you reacted with a pained moan, immediately making him look up at you and putting his both hands on your cheek to caress your skin. “did i hurt you?” he asked worriedly, which made your heart warm at how soft he was being to you. 

“no.” you pulled him from his neck to your lips, enjoying the taste of him in your mouth for a while, as he kissed you back passionately. “i want it to hurt.” you moaned between kisses, leaving him dazed on top of you. 

what you wanted from jay was nothing new to him, it wasn’t the first time a girl asked him to hurt them but when it was you, how was he able to hurt you? you seemed so fragile and beautiful… only if he knew how jake treated you in bed, maybe he would have changed his mind. 

“y/n… i—, i don’t know if i can.” he whispered against your lips, feeling not enough for you. 

you cried out of frustration, your hands tugging on the hairs on the nape of his neck as you pressed kisses on his mouth randomly, “please, jay, i need you to hurt me so bad, please…” 

he swallowed hard, taking in your request, being conflicted about what to do. he didn’t know if you were asking him to feel good, or you were looking for someone else in jay, … looking for his best friend. 

“you don’t need to be hurt to feel loved.” he kissed your cheekbone, and then under your ear. “let me love you right tonight, y/n.” 

you cried at the words you wished to hear from jake that was spilling from jay’s mouth, you only nodded, hugging him again as you connected your lips to kiss. your tears were wetting his cheeks, he hated that you were crying but he wanted to prove you that you were worth loving and fighting for. 

jay got rid of his shirt and let it fall to the floor before he leaned back in, his fingers fiddling behind your back and unhooking your bra easily. he slid the stripes down your shoulders, kissing your skin as he got rid of the tiny bit of clothing before he pressed his chest to yours, your bare body connecting to his warm skin. he latched his lips to your neck again, when your legs curled around his waist, letting out moans to his tongue licking your skin so deliciously. 

his crotch was rubbing against yours, he was obviously getting worked up from all the kissing and you appreciated him for letting you take your frustration out of him. you didn’t know if he really liked you or not, but you didn’t even care at this point. you wanted to hurt jake and the way you were doing it was something he couldn’t believe that it was happening again. 

jay’s fingers gripped on your skirt, pulling it down slowly from your legs, your panties are on and wet, you thanked yourself for not taking jake’s words seriously and going to his place without wearing one. he hooked his finger to the strip of the material, caressing the side of your hip lovingly, as he kissed the corner of your lip. 

“are you sure about this?” 

the thing is, you wanted jake to cry. you wanted him to cry for you and you wanted him to regret losing you. and the way he reacted to the possibility of jay and you fucking riled him up so badly, you saw it with your own eyes. you stared at his eyes, not knowing how to answer him. 

*

jake sat uncomfortably on the expensive couch her mother owned in their living room which is the same room he spent his childhood all alone, playing with his pricy toys they gifted him before they left. he scanned his parents’ and rolled his eyes at their stare on him, already getting bored of being in their presence. 

“what do you want from me?” he said with no emotion to his words, already wanting to go to his place, he already had too much in his mind, he couldn’t deal with them right now. his dad cleared his throat, he wanted to yell and scream at his son like he always did but he tried to be softer since the situation was more serious than the previous ones.

“jaeyun, i saw your tickets.” his father talked, obviously he was tracking his son’s every move since he came back to korea. jaeyun’s dad only wanted one thing, and that was jaeyun to take over the company and live his life as a retired man. jaeyun remembered himself as a kid, their parents talking about how they had a son, only to leave their empire to once they get older. he was just a tool for them, to keep their name live forever, they shared blood and name, but they didn’t shared anything else. 

“yeah, i am leaving.” he shrugged, his mom shedding tears because her son was leaving again which jaeyun knew was all fake and part of her manipulations.

“why are you crying?” jaeyun tsked, looking at his mother. “did you realize you have a son now?” 

her mouth opened with a loud gasp, her eyes crunching up at his words, “jaeyun, don’t say that.” she cried louder, going up to her son but he turned his face away, not accepting her touch. 

“son, i built this empire for you.” his father talked, even now he was sitting far away from him. they never acted like his actual parents, they always sat far away from him, even when they ate dinner. there was always distance between them. 

“sell it to someone else then, i don’t want it.” 

“how dare you say that, you little—“ he raised his voice to him but his mother calmed him down, patting his shoulders to relax him. 

“i found a new job in milan, and i am leaving. want it or not, you will never see me again.” he got up from his chair, walking himself to the front door of their house. 

“i will help you with one thing though, you can use my name as the ceo if you want, just hire someone else instead.” he smirked, “wouldn’t want people to boo a 60 year old guy for lying.” 

he stood up, wanting to yell but his mother made him sit down, calming him once again. she turned around and looked at his son’s smug smile at the door. 

“leave, jaeyun.” she talked, just like what he expected before he got into his sports car and drove back to the hotel. he blasted his favorite songs in the highest volume possible, screaming and shouting, feeling free. 

he stopped somewhere near han river, take in the city lights, and people walking around and cycling, as he silently sat on a corner that no one can notice. he pulled his knees to his chest, like he did in his childhood when he was alone and watched happy people around him. 

couples who shared ice creams, family’s laughing with their kids, students still in their uniforms walking around. life seemed so easy watching them, he wanted to cry at his own. 

why everything had to be so complicated for him? 

he got in his car after sitting there for a while, taking a last memory picture of the city he was born in. he never wanted to come back here again. only thing beautiful in this city was you, and you were not his. he had nothing to do with seoul anymore. 

he drove back to his hotel and parked his car where he usually does, he was going to leave his suite that costed millions to his dad tomorrow. he was ready to go to milan and earn his own money and start a new life, he wished you were in it. 

when he entered the lobby and saw the familiar faces of the lobby guy smiling at him like he always does and the receptionist girl. he was going to walk to the elevator when he saw a similar silhouette sitting on one of the fancy couches that was located in the lobby.  

his heart raced faster and pounded louder than it ever did, when he saw you sitting, your head between your hands as you curled up. 

“y/n?” his voice sounded weak, like he wasn’t the one throwing hateful words towards you and making you cry. he hated himself for making you cry so badly. 

you lifted your head from your knees, your eyes red and puffy from crying, your mascara smudged to your cheeks. he stared down at you, not understanding a thing why you were here, and how to react to you being there. 

“i need you jake.” you talked, wiping away your tear as you stood up from the chair you were sitting on. 

“because i fell in love with you.”

.

.

.

to be continued.

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[mangatxt]

any advice on how to improve writing style/get ideas for fics and dialogue? i’m forever in love with the way you write. it flows well, and the dialogue is super authentic and funny. i’m trying to get back into writing after a couple years of being crushed by the american secondary education system, so any tips would be much appreciated.

keep it up with the good work! i look forward to continue reading :))

Holy moly, this is a super kind ask. I'm so happy to know that you enjoy my work. Thank you for sending this!

As for the meat of this ask -- I'll do my best! I'll offer some reflections and then link some resources I've personally found helpful! I apologize for the length of this answer. This ask gave me a lot to think about, and brevity is my weakness as a writer.

I answer this with a few caveats:

I'm not an expert. I'm just loud.

I teach writing for a living, but I don't teach creative writing specifically. I do, by nature of my job, have more time for reading and writing than I did as a full-time student or corporate employee. That alone makes a huge difference. Everyone goes at their own pace, and it's hard to be creative without time, especially when you're starting out or getting back into writing after a break.

I write humor, so I'll discuss that primarily. While writing has rules that generally yield better results, comedy works often because it violates those established rules. Like many writing teachers, I have fully internalized the touted "canon" of Strunk & White's Elements of Style and George Orwell's Remedy of Six Rules. But sometimes, adverbs are funny. So I'll write an adverb, say "fuck you George Orwell," and, scandalously, call it a day.

If you want to deconstruct and consequently ruin comedy forever, start with Theories of Humor and then, to extend your suffering, hit the footnotes.

Humor writing is culturally dependent. You won't make everyone laugh. You'll flop. You'll embarrass yourself. You have to be willing to risk being unfunny. So it goes.

You can always publish anonymously on AO3 if it helps you start. Or for any reason. You can change your mind and claim it back to your account. Or you can abandon it entirely. I've done it plenty. Sometimes, it's what you need to do to draw up the nerve to put yourself out there, and that's completely fine.

Reflections

My first personal rule is that I write stories for myself, fic or original. If someone else likes it, that's a bonus. I write what I want to read. That factors into my overall writing style too. I write how I'd want someone else to write it for me. Even if someone's written it before, which is often the case with fic writing and popular tropes, I might want to hear it in another way. See: The Two Cakes Principle.

My second personal rule is that I write something every day. Even if it's a little bit. Even if it's all trash. Anything's better than nothing. Write without editing. Write without your spell checker on, even. (As they say "write drunk, edit sober" -- I don't drink much, so for me that means "write at 3AM, edit at not 3AM"). The more you play around with words and practice your voice, the easier it will get. Part of this is honing the muscle or whatever, but part of this is also gaining familiarity with structure that will make writing forever easier. How do journalists crank out stories everyday? There's a structure to newspaper and magazine articles that makes it easier to plug in the words and go. You'll find your own in creative writing too. Plus, the more you write, the easier it is to let go of things (aka kill your darlings). (Killed darlings go in your bits folder.)

My third personal rule is that I write every idea down, no matter how vague or ridiculous, because I might be able to use it later. I never want to lose things. I use my phone notes for this. They're full of silly ideas -- funny things I overhead at the library, out-of-context conversations I imagine Reigen and Dimple having, Wikipedia articles that I liked, funny plot concepts, etc. The other day, I wrote down, "The gang carbon-dates Dimple." I dunno where I'm going with that, but I like the idea. I write a lot of my plot ideas in IASIP title card style. It's more fun that way. Always prioritize having fun.

One last personal rule is that the mechanical act of writing has a purpose. You're rarely writing for the purpose of writing well, right? Most of the time, in class or at work, I'm writing for the purpose of being understood by my audience, and therefore, I do whatever I must to make my message better understood, even at the expense of "good writing." Here's a silly example: I've learned the hard way that some of my co-workers can't fucking read. So instead of paragraphs, I write emails in bullet points with bold and underlined text. At the expense of prose, the message is more likely received, and that's the goal.

This example might be on the nose, but it applies in some way to everything I write. When I write fic, I have to have a purpose. Maybe I'm trying to make myself laugh. Maybe I'm trying to explore some theme or feeling. Maybe I'm trying to correct canon. Maybe I'm trying to speculate how the conman will handle a Situation. Whatever that end is, I find the writing comes easier when I focus on the end more than the process of writing. It helps me stay focused, when I remember that writing's just the tool. I hope that makes sense.

Developing a writing style or a narrative voice depends on the writer. I'm an amalgamation of what I've read and watched and enjoyed, combined with formal writing education and my own personal narration. I hate to be the person who says "read a lot to write more!" I hate it so so so much, but...it's true. (That said, it doesn't have to be the classics. I get inspiration from there, sure, but I also get inspiration from sitcoms and crossword clues and the inane HOA emails my landlord forwards to me. "Honored neighbors, we are ecstatic to announce fire alarm testing next week..." Like, I'm sorry? That's a work of art I've filed away for later.)

For fics, some of the way I write is homage to the original creator. I consider this a plus, not a requirement. ONE writes satire. He's foremost a humorist. Most of his works are genre deconstructions. Like most shonen mangaka, he writes shorter narrative arcs that sum to (or in his case, reflect across) the overall narrative arc of the work. He's also pretty cringe/over-the-top with wordplay and cultural references (pop and traditional). When I try to reflect elements of his style in my own work, I find his characters easier to work with. For me, it's hard to write something fully comedic or fully serious with MP100 characters. The alternation between comedy and tragedy in MP100 works because it plays on emotional investment in the characters and subversion of expectations.

That said, I'm going to have to add something controversial: as a fic writer, how much you adhere to the original work doesn't fucking matter. (See my first rule -- write what you want to read.) Fic writing is meant to be transformative. The amount that you should care about canon depends on what you're trying to accomplish. My advice is to play fast and loose as much as you want. Unfollow and block the "he wouldn't fucking say that" people if it helps you write. I do, because they're annoying. Characterization is a product of audience internalization. Further, every work is for someone. Most importantly, you're doing this for fun, not pay or obligation. Sure, maybe ONE wouldn't write Reigen saying a particular line, but ONE also writes homophobic stereotypes into his works. No matter what you do, by definition of writing a fan work, you're gonna stray from canon. It's not holy word. Don't waste your finite man hours stressed about it.

Moving on to discussion of "get ideas" -- I mentioned I write every idea down. I try to stick with ideas I know fairly well off the bat, because it's easiest to write what you know. In absence of that, I find more inspiration in the research into an idea. Much of the action in TPC was heavily inspired by George Santos's many misdeeds, which I read in the news or on Wikipedia.

If I can distill the idea into a premise, it informs my narrative voice in a given work. Write what you know applies to premise as much as character perspective. You're always going to have an easier time writing a character you relate to or you encounter in real life and know quite well. You might consider this to get started. Personally, I find Reigen and Mezato easiest to write, because I relate to them the most. I find Serizawa and Shigeo more difficult to write, because I have more trouble relating to their life experiences. On the other hand, I find Roshuuto easy to write, because his brand of villainy is more familiar to me.

There's this notion of plotting vs pantsing. A plotter outlines every facet of their work before doing any writing. A pantser makes it up as they go (read: "by the seat of their pants"). Figuring out which one you are will enable you to write more comfortably.

Personally, I'm somewhere in the middle of that spectrum. For MP100, I always know where a work will end when I start. In TPC, the second scene I ever wrote was the epilogue. For me, the middle is what's more up in the air. In my experience, it's very difficult to be a total pantser and write comedic multi-chapter works, unless you write the whole thing before you post. It's not impossible, but in my opinion, humor relies on callbacks and repetition so much that you risk writing yourself into a wall if you're not careful. In general, I don't start formally "fic writing" without an overarching premise, but the premise might be as simple as: "Against everyone's better judgment, Reigen runs for union president. It blows up in his face."

This was my original outline for TPC before I even wrote chapter one:

I had the overarching narrative and the rough timeline for the mini-arcs in mind when I started. A lot of it ended up changing or shifting. I had a few themes I wanted to cover and comedic elements I wanted to set up. But when it came down to more specific mini-arc narrative details, I either plotted later or got away with pantsing it entirely.

Sometimes as I write chapters, I get stuck on individual scenes. Maybe I'm struggling to write scenery, or I haven't figured out a character interaction, or the dialogue isn't flowing the way I'd like. To deal with that, I have trained myself to write out of narrative order as needed. I write the scenes I'm most excited about first, and then I come back and fill in the rest of the connective tissue. This is easier in Scrivener, which is what I use to write, but you can set up any word processor to do this. Even within scenes, I sometimes skip parts that I need to think about for longer. Sometimes, I don't even finish sentences.

I'll write something like:

"Apparently you're quite popular on a particular Mobbit sub," he tells Reigen. Reigen's not sure he wants to know which one. "It was r/<SOMETHING FUNNY>. Did you know they hit a million subscribers this week? I think you helped."

And then in the middle of the night or in the shower or at the grocery store or whenever I think of "<SOMETHING FUNNY>", I fill it in later. When I edit, I make sure I clear out any remaining "<>." I do what I can, and then Future Ani does the rest. *handshake emoji*

For comedy writing, there are rules I follow that I'll link later on. While I've been inspired by a lot of other humor novelists or essayists, I also take a lot of inspiration from TV and standup.

I took a screenwriting class in college -- and while I didn't get the knack of screenwriting (B-, unlucky), I did learn a lot about plot progression, dramatic irony, show-not-tell, rule of threes, and scene setting. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but I found it helpful. You can see some of that inspiration manifest, for example, in that many of my fics have cold opens. I've always liked that comedic structure for drawing in the reader while establishing an overarching theme for the chapter. I do a lot of scene-switching and flashbacks as well. Scene-setting in comedy often involves juxtaposition -- e.g. "what if we put the weirdest loner from 7th division in a highly-collaborative corporate setting?". You're subverting expectations, and this is where you break the rules. Sometimes, comedy is about using the funniest word or word combination possible to describe something.

On that note, take some tips from poetry too. Alliteration, repetition, synecdoche, a lot of poetic devices work well here, because, like poetry, comedy writing depends on build-up and timing. Rules are best broken when it's rare and unexpected. It's way funnier and impactful when a character who never swears drops an f-bomb when they've finally had enough. Here's another example: in general, you should avoid epithets in fic writing, but it's all about being judicious with your timing. I can call Reigen "the union's esteemed president" instead of his name in a scene in Executive Privilege, because I juxtapose it with him doing something less-than-esteemed.

Perhaps less obviously, the TV influence manifests in the way I write dialogue too -- shorter and generally interleaved between the characters. While I read everything I write out loud during editing to check flow, I especially focus on tightening up dialogue. I don't always get it right, but I try to make sure that every word in a piece of dialogue has to have a purpose: either characterization or timing, in that order. Serizawa uses a lot of "I think" or "In my opinion." Reigen...does not do that. And Dimple is a master of the last word in the form of a pithy quip. If I plan my scenes to use that characterization to support the comedic timing I'm shooting for, it works all the better. (e.g. -- let Reigen babble on like an expert about something he doesn't actually know anything about, let Serizawa think on it for a while and come to a conclusion that puts Reigen on the spot, let Reigen backtrack, and then let Dimple add his jab at the end. And scene.)

Aaand that's a lot of reflection. Probably too much reflection. These are some considerations that have helped me over time, so I hope others might find it helpful too. Getting started is tough, and it's often terrifying to put your work out there (and somehow, even more terrifying to put a GDoc in front of a beta reader, I haven't a clue why but it's true for me!). But once you start, I promise it gets easier! You'll build yourself a foundation and continue to pick up things you like, discard things you don't like, and grow from there.

Thanks again for sending this ask. It means a lot to me. Happy to continue the conversation and field other people's thoughts on any of this! Like I said, this is a reflection on my process, but everyone develops their own unique approach to writing over time. Mine changes over time too. Above all, I hope you can heal from the crush of the education system, find enjoyment in writing again, and discover the style and process that works for you <3

Resources (AKA things I personally have bookmarked):

general writing (in addition to Strunk&White, Orwell, and others mentioned earlier):

how to get out of a writing slump (this fixed me once)

masterlist of general writing resources

another big ass masterlist

resources for describing places

masterlist of facial expressions

how to write an inciting incident

i found this recently: cultural differences writing work set in japan

i also follow writing prompt blogs, nanowrimo, character and relationship week blogs, etc. prompts can be a great way to start and build community with other writers!

comedic writing:

basic tips on writing humor

comedic devices

comedic genre

i can't find the link for this BUT: humor and comedy is not inherently less complex or wise or valuable than non-comedic work. writing is writing and fics are fics, whether they make the reader laugh, cry, or both.