#and i had been applying to work places since i was 16

[arts-i-enjoy]

AHHHHHH

[jo-harrington]

On-the-Job Training (A Store Manager Verse Story - Steve Harrington/Reader)

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Reader

Summary: Steve has a crush on the Dippin' Dots cashier.

Warnings/Themes: AU where the Upside Down doesn't terrorize Hawkins. Late Summer of 1985, Steve and Robin work at Scoops, Reader works at Dippin' Dots, Mutual Pining, Flirting, Enemies to Lovers(sort of?), Tie in with the Store Manager Verse

Note: Ok what started off as a silly little conversation about what flavor chapstick each ST character would use turned into this and I typically don't write Steve...but I had to give him some love.

Tagging my loves who were integral to that convo to thank them for inspiration especially Drac who started it all. This is for you bb. @dr-aculaaa @mopeymopeymouse @chestylarouxx @somnambulic-thing @fracturedarkness @br0ck-eddie

Technically slightly anachronistic because Dippin' Dots didn't open until 1988 but I'm a stickler for accuracy in the regular series. This is just a fun little do-dad.

You can find my masterlist here for more fics featuring pretty much exclusively Eddie Munson content but also a little Steve.

Please do not interact if you are not 18+.

Largely unedited; I didn't even re-read it. It's might suck. Enjoy!

---

"Ahoy! One U.S.S. Butterscotch!"

Steve never thought that this would be his future after graduation.

This summer he should have been living it up before he went away to college and made something of himself. Lifeguarding at the pool, going to all the parties, hanging out with his friends.

Instead, his life went to shit, Nancy Wheeler had broken up with him, he had gotten rejection letter after rejection letter from the schools he had applied to...and instead of working at the pool like he had every summer since he turned 16, he had a crappy job slinging ice cream at Scoops Ahoy of all places at the new StarCourt Mall.

"Thanks so much," the sweet lady who had placed the order smiled at him and handed the sundae to her son. "Look at that Frankie, your favorite." The little boy shot Steve a grin complete with his two front teeth missing and Steve melted a little bit.

Alright, it wasn't so bad. He got to make people smile, he got some spending money--which was nice since his dad had pretty much cut him off, although his mom was sneaking him some cash on the side.

"Look alive dingus," Robin called from the window separating the front of the ice cream parlor from the backroom. "Your schmoopsie poo is here."

"Shut up Rob!" Steve groaned through gritted teeth.

One of the perks of working at the mall was that he got to interact with people of all shapes and sizes and yeah...Steve had tried to use it as a means to get over Nancy. He'd had little hours-long crushes on fellow mall employees, customers, Robin--although working with her made that difficult--hell there was even a manager that had caught his eye towards the beginning of summer except he'd seen Eddie "The Freak" Munson of all people hanging around her.

Although after a few months of seeing Eddie around StarCourt not being a wastoid menace, Steve had to admit...well he wasn't that bad either.

The one who'd caught his eye the most though was you, and yeah...he'd developed an actual big little long-lasting crush.

You, who came around for a root-beer float most afternoons.

You, whose smile made his heart skip a little.

You in your pink polo, teal apron, and white visor with the words Dippin' Dots emblazoned on the front.

The enemy.

And you never let him forget it either.

Steve had been heart eyes over you the first time you had entered into Scoops territory to order your float. Undercover in casual summer clothes a week after the mall had opened. There was just something about you, your smile, your laugh.

Robin teased that he said that about everyone; Steve ignored her.

Then you opened your mouth and said the float was good but the service could have been better. That Steve should stop by Dippin' Dots sometime and see how it was really done.

Shots fired.

It really hurt at first. This was his first real job outside of the community pool, one he had been excited to get. He was really nice, tried his best; why didn't you think so?

"It's called flirting," Robin insisted. "God, you really suck, you know that? How can you ask people out willy nilly and then miss someone flirting with you right in front of your face? Flirt back next time."

So he did.

Every so often he'd mosey across the mall to your kiosk, order a small vanilla cup, and throw a little insult of his own your way. Usually something about how tiny balls of ice cream could never beat an actual scoop. Or about how you didn't count his change the right way, or that your visor was on crooked.

You wouldn't hesitate to get your own comment in. Especially about his choice in flavor.

"You work at an ice cream parlor and you order vanilla?" you questioned. "A hundred flavors to choose from at scoops; do you only get vanilla there too? Vanilla...is good but when you have variety? Order something exciting one day, and then we can talk business, Stevie."

Oof, it steamed him.

But not enough to stop playing the game.

And it left you both grinning so who was he to end the fun.

So when you showed up at Scoops today after not being around for a few days and your smile didn't reach your eyes like it usually did...Steve was suddenly overcome with...well he didn't really know.

"Ahoy, uh, sailor," he greeted and tried to put on his biggest award-winning, tip-earning smile.

"Ahoy," you replied weakly.

"Root beer float?" he asked, already heading over to the case to start scooping ice cream into a cup.

"Uh," you hesitated. "No, just...just a small vanilla cup today."

Steve froze and looked at you. Your shoulders were slumped, you had your visor in your hand, and you were pointedly avoiding eye contact with him.

What was...what was wrong with you?

Where was your fight? Where was your fire? Why, all of a sudden, was your game over?

"Hey, uhm," he coughed awkwardly. "Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, Steve," you nodded absently.

"You always get root beer."

"I just want vanilla today."

"The special is salted caramel? I can give you a sample if you're--"

"No, I just want vanilla," you cut him off and rolled your eyes. "You always get vanilla. Why is it a problem if I suddenly do? Vanilla is good too. Maybe vanilla is just...what we both want ok? Nothing else."

He was shocked. That wasn't playful annoyance in your voice; you were just...annoyed.

"Sure," he agreed. "Sure. One small vanilla coming right up."

He got your ice cream and rang you out, and as you were about to leave, he called after you.

"See you in a little while?" he asked.

"If you want." You waved goodbye and headed out of the ice cream parlor.

Steve turned and looked at Robin who simply rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"What just happened?" he asked.

"You're hopeless," she sighed and slammed the shutters on the window closed.

---

Steve roamed around the mall on his break.

Typically, he'd make his way to Dippin' Dots but...that just seemed like a waste of time today.

He'd fixated on your visit for the rest of his shift until his break, analyzing everything he said, everything he did. Everything that could have made you mad at him.

Once he got Robin out of her hiding spot in the back room, he monologued all of his thoughts to her.

She watched him pace back and forth, called him a dingus a few times, a loser a few other times, and then finally sent him on his break with some last words.

"I know you're hearing everything they're saying Steve," she began. "But are you really listening? You just keep...ordering vanilla."

"Uh. Yeah. That's the game."

"It's not a game you...ughhhhh! GO!" She pointed to the exit. "Before I throttle you."

Why couldn't she just tell him? What had he done?

In his rumination, he'd been chewing at his lips. A habit he had pretty much done his entire life when he got nervous.

Shit, and he'd left his chapstick in the car; it was hot, it probably melted by now.

That was one of the little ways you made his life a little better...through your teasing. You had told him, once, that his lips looked dry.

"Maybe invest in some chapstick or something."

He'd gone to Melvald's that same night that you told him and got a 3-pack of strawberry chapstick. All the while wondering if it meant you had been looking at his lips for a while or...

But it was...just another little jab right? Another little flirt? Another part of your game?

Still, he never knew when you might show up so the chapstick became a constant--something that soothed him even, gave him courage--and he always had a tube tucked into the pocket of his shorts, or on the register, or in the cupholder of his car. To swipe on if he knew he was about to see you...or hoped he was.

And now...he desperately needed it, needed his strawberry chapstick--needed you--and it was nowhere to be found.

Steve stopped in his tracks and looked at the stores around him.

WaldenBooks, Regis Salon, JH Camera Repair.

Claires.

Bingo.

He'd seen little kids with their play makeup and sparkly plastic jewelry post up in one of the booths at Scoops after they spent their allowance money at Claire's. He had to find strawberry chapstick there. He'd even take cherry. Something.

Anything.

Steve crossed into the pink-and-purple-and-pop-music-filled oasis to a melodic "Welcome In" from the employee helping a little girl by the ear piercing booth. And as out of place as he felt, he was immediately relieved to see a wall full of eyeshadow palettes and glitter hairspray.

He closed the distance and frantically searched the wall, but it was all novelty makeup. There was one package of Dr. Pepper lip smackers, but the package was half-ripped and the cap was missing; he was a little worried but he figured it was better than nothing.

He was about to snatch it off the hook when that voice sounded behind him.

"Did you need help finding anything?" He immediately turned on his heel to find the employee--the manager, Eddie Munson's girlfriend--standing there in a flourish of tulle and fluorescent colors. "Oh! That's a customer favorite...looks like it's damaged though, let me just..."

She reached out to take the package but Steve reacted instinctually. He quickly grabbed it and clutched it to his chest.

"I don't mind," he tried to reason. "I don't care if it's missing the cap."

"Listen, I can't sell it to you if it's damaged," the manager explained. "It's just not safe. Is there anything else I can help you find though?"

She reached for the package again but he held it back.

"I need this," Steve tried again.

"Oh...kay."

"Because I messed up and this...you know the cashier down at the Dippin' Dots kiosk? Well...I don't know...I pissed them off or something and I just need to...go down and talk to them and I can't."

"So the lip balm is a gift for them? To make amends?"

"No...it's for me because my lips are dry." Steve sighed. "I...ok I know it sounds crazy, but I swear. It's...they got me to start using chapstick because they said my lips were dry and it's this thing we do. We go back and forth and we tease each other.

"But they're mad at me now, and they didn't...I mean they ordered vanilla. They never order vanilla. They hate it when I order vanilla."

"Uh huh." The manager's eyes went a little soft. "I'm not...really following the logic...but I get it."

"You do?"

"You like each other. But you're just...going back and forth. And no one has really...admitted it," she observed. She suddenly burst into laughter and Steve cocked his head to one side in confusion. "Sorry, sorry...it's just...whatafuckincoincidence.

"So are you the one who's afraid of being rejected? Or...are they...or..."

Cue the record scratch in Steve's head.

Rejection.

All summer...all year actually...Steve had been faced with one rejection after another. First Nancy, then all of the college applications, his dad and now...all of the little fleeting mall crushes that he'd asked out that had said no.

Robin had even made a scoreboard that sat in the back whenever someone turned him down.

He thought all this time...he'd become immune to it. But with you...it was easier to think it was just a game than to possibly face the reality that if he asked you out...you'd say no and then the little game would be ruined. And his hopes would be dashed.

He didn't realize that all of his waffling could potentially be hurting you too.

"Why don't you," the manager continued when Steve hesitated to answer, "go down there and talk to them? Even if they're mad at you. Communication is very important. I'm sure if you explain everything, or even...just show that you're willing to bridge the gap, they'd be willing to listen. The worst they could say is no, but if they're already mad, you have nothing to lose. See if they'll give you a chance."

"So I...shouldn't order vanilla this time?" He looked up at her and asked, recalling your words.

Order something exciting, and then we can talk business.

The door had been open for him to ask you out this whole time.

And that's why you ordered vanilla earlier. Because Vanilla meant...meant that this...flirtation...this game...wasn't going anywhere. He hadn't made a move, so you didn't want to wait anymore.

God, he was so stupid.

"Uh, no...don't do that," the manager smiled kindly. She reached out for the broken lip balm and took it from him. "I'll just...damage this out."

"Wait...but my lips are still dry," Steve floundered. "I still need chapstick."

"Do you think there's gonna be some kissing happening?" the manager's eyes narrowed. "I said talk to them, not...plant one on them."

"I just need...something," he begged. "Strawberry...if you have it."

"I think we have strawberry flavored lip gloss by the register."

"I'll take it."

---

So there Steve was, in the concourse by JCPenney, patiently waiting in the line for Dippin' Dots with sticky, strawberry-flavored lips tinted a very nice shade of pink.

As soon as he had swiped the gloss on...as silly as he had felt...he had been reminded of you.

"Next!" your voice sounded every so often and the line got shorter and shorter, and Steve's courage got weaker and weaker. The Claire's manager had been right though...communication...the worst you could tell Steve was "no."

"Next!" You'd be just another tally on Robin's scoreboard. And she could call him a dingus again. She really enjoyed doing that. So some good would at least come from his failure.

"Next!" He'd also get...a cup of Dippin' Dots which...if he had to admit, he kinda enjoyed. He got all the Scoops ice cream he wanted for free but this was different. Ice Cream of the Future and all that. He sort of expected Henderson to come up with something like this, the little nerd; well, if he could never show his face here again, he'd ask the kids if they could figure out how to make some kind of futuristic ice cream for him.

"Ne--oh!" Steve finally got to the front of the line and saw your shocked face. He smiled and waved as he approached the register.

"Hey," he greeted. "I told you I'd see you around."

"You did," you said flatly and scrunched your nose. "So...the usual? Small vanilla cup?"

"Uh no..." Steve said hesitantly. You raised an eyebrow in question. "I uh...can I get a large..."

"Large vanilla?" You sniffed.

"Large Rainbow Ice," he recited after squinting at the menu board. "It's time for something new."

You stared at him silently and Steve couldn't help but doubt himself.

What if Rainbow Ice was the wrong answer? Should he have gone with Banana Split? Shit he should have just stuck with Strawberry. It was his favorite. Strawberry chapstick, strawberry gloss, strawberry ice cream. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"Yeah," you finally answered with a beaming smile and Steve's heart soared. "Yeah it is time for something new, isn't it?"

Next Part: Incremental Planning

[bro-atz]

Hey. Is it possible for you to write a stepfather!Yunho fic where he can't take it anymore and pounces on you one time? Seems like non con, but it's just because she's also been wanting him but is in denial? With a bit of plot?

in denial

in which: yunho is the stepfather you never wanted.

pair: stepfather!yunho/afab!reader

word count: 6k

content: raw sex??? (remember to wrap up irl pls), "forbidden" sex, "taboo sex"?, a lot of denial, secret sex, hate that turns into lust, consensual!

author’s note: i seriously had to rack my brain for this one bc omg anon what a complex request that also gives me a lot of creative freedom??? so much freedom that this is a p long piece HAHA i wish i could say more of it is reader x yunho doing the winkwonk but it’s so plot heavy 😔 nevertheless i hope this fulfilled your desires ❤️

tag list: @k-hotchoisan apply for the permanent taglist here! part one | part two

It’s not that you hated your mother, you just preferred your father over her. Your mother was pretty young when she had you (teen pregnancy, she was 16), so she was pretty immature as you got older. Your father was only two years older than your mother, but he was so much more mature than your mother, hence why you preferred him.

So, when your father ran away from home when you were 15, you were stuck with your pretty immature mother. You had no idea where your biological father went, so it’s not like you could have gone and stayed with him. No matter— you just had to deal with your mother for another three years, and then you would be able to get out of her house and never have to live with her after. Again, it’s not that you hated her, but you seriously couldn’t deal with her bullshit on a daily basis.

When you turned 16, though, your mother got remarried. So, at the age of 32, your mother married a different man, Yunho. But this man was barely a man. He was 10 years younger than your mother, which weirded you out a lot because you were closer to his age than he was to your mother’s age. So fucking weird. You hated it. Your mother knew him for a year before she locked him down, which meant he was just 21 when she first met him. You lost a lot of respect for your mother the day she married him.

Yunho, your stepfather, moved into your house. If only you were 18, then you wouldn’t have to live with the weird dynamic of your family, but you had two years until then.

When your mother went for work, you would be alone with your stepfather. Your mother had to go into the office, but your stepfather worked remotely, so he was always home. You hated being alone with the guy, so you would just camp out in your room until your mother got home. You grounded your own self whenever you got back from school. It sucked.

One day, when you got back from school, Yunho was in the living room. Usually, he was in his office, but that day, he was in the living room.

“Hey, Y/N. How was school?”

“Fine.”

You immediately started to walk towards your room, only for Yunho’s voice to stop you.

“We haven’t talked in a while! Come, sit here. Let’s talk.”

With a groan, you turned around and trudged over to the living room. You sat on the sofa furthest away from where that man was. “What did you want to talk about?” you asked rather coldly.

“I feel like we should get to know each other. We are family now, after all.”

“Okay, let’s get something straight,” you sat forward and stared him down. “I only have to be in this stupid house for another two years, and once I’m in college, I’m gone, so don’t even think about trying to be a proper “stepfather” and don’t expect me to call you that either. Legally, we may be a family, but that’s only on paper. Okay?”

Yunho pressed his lips together. He looked slightly disappointed, but he also looked as if he was anticipating this reaction from you. “I’d rather you didn’t call me stepfather, so that’s fine…”

“Also, why did you marry my mom in the first place?” you asked him point blank; since you were actually talking to him properly since the first time you met him, you thought you might as well ask him. “You’re so young. Fuck, you’re closer to my age than hers! What the fuck are you doing? Did you marry my mom for her money?”

“No! I really do like your mom! We had a genuine connection and…” Yunho trailed off.

“And what?”

“…Nothing. Nothing you would want to know.”

You took a moment to process what he told you, only to be immediately disgusted. You stood up and marched out of the living room, thankful that Yunho stopped before divulging his sex life with your mother.

Two more years with that man, and then you were done. You couldn’t wait.

In those two years, many things happened. You mother got pregnant (much to your dismay) and gave birth to a girl, your half-sister. You were very unhappy with the development of your mother’s relationship with your freakishly young stepfather when your half-sister was born, but you couldn’t help but have a soft spot for her— she always loved you and being in your arms. You were the only one who could get her to stop crying and go to sleep.

Then, you got accepted into your dream school hundreds of miles away from your hometown. You were so excited to go, and the final year of high school passed quickly.

During this time, you had very minimal interactions with Yunho. You only really talked to him when you had to, but that was maybe once every week. Then, when you went to college, you didn’t interact with him at all— or at least you thought you wouldn’t have to.

“But mom, I don’t want to—”

“I don’t give a shit! You are coming home for Thanksgiving, otherwise you can find a way to put yourself through school!”

You couldn’t believe that your education was being held against you to go home, and to be very honest, you would rather suck it up and just go home than work several jobs to pay for your tuition and dorm.

So, every Thanksgiving, every winter break, every spring break, and every other miscellaneous holiday that happened throughout the year, you were at home ignoring the hell out of Yunho and just focusing all of your energy on your younger sister who got bigger every single time you saw her. Your friends would always wish you luck when you had to prepare to head home for the holidays, and you would always be jealous and salty that your friend group went on vacations together during these breaks and would post the pictures online and on social media fully knowing that you were stuck at home with your mother, her husband, and your sister, who was the only person worth going back home for.

One year, however, you had enough. It was your final year of school, and you desperately wanted to go on a trip for spring break with your friend group. Your mother was hellbent on getting you home for that time, so the two of you spent a lot of winter break arguing about it.

“When I say I want you to come home, I mean it! There is no way you’re going on that trip because I am not paying for it!”

“Mom! I listened to you every single holiday for the past three years, and this is my last chance to go on a college trip with my college friends! Please!”

“I’m not saying you can’t go— go if you want! I’m not paying for it, so I know you won’t be able to afford it, so dream on because you are not going to go.”

Frustrated, you let out a huff and stormed upstairs to your room, slamming the door behind you. You sat on your bed and angrily beat up a pillow, trying to get out all of your anger so that you wouldn’t physically take it out on your mother. Someone knocked on your bedroom door lightly as you beat the shit out of the pillow.

“Sis, I’m not in the mood right now,” you said with a sigh, assuming that the person on the other side of the door was your younger sister.

The door opened— you forgot to lock it— and in walked Yunho. He would’ve been the last person you wanted to see had you not gotten into that argument with your mother. He closed the door behind him.

“Oh. What do you want?” you asked him flatly.

“May I?” Yunho pointed to your bed, asking if he could sit without explicitly stating it.

You didn’t want him to, but at that point you were exhausted. You nodded, allowing the man to sit.

“You want to go on that trip with your friends, right?”

“Did you not get that from the argument just now?”

“I did, but I just… I talked to your mom.”

“Okay, and?”

“I told her to let you go on the trip. I’ll give you the money that you need if she doesn’t.”

You stared at the man in complete confusion. Why was he doing you a favor when you made it very clear to him that you couldn’t stand his guts? Narrowing your eyes, you asked, “Are you serious?”

“Yes. You’re right— you never got to go on any trips with your friends, and I want you to be able to go before you graduate. College trips are always fun.”

“Well, you should definitely know since you literally just graduated,” you said, pointing out how freakishly young he is.

Yunho let out a light laugh. He nodded and continued, “Just let me know the expenses when they come, okay?”

You nodded. Yunho stood up to leave. Just as his hand was on the doorknob, you said, “Hey. Thanks.”

He turned and smiled at you, your heart suddenly fluttering. He had such a beautiful smile. Without a word, he left.

Thanks to Yunho, you were able to enjoy the rest of your college experience to the fullest. Whenever your mother refused to let you have a good time, you would tell Yunho, and he would help you out. It made you wonder why you couldn’t have given him a chance earlier.

Graduation rolled around, and you forgot that with graduation came your family to watch you graduate.  

Your friends knew that you didn’t like your stepfather, but they didn’t know why. Then, when they finally met him, they were shocked.

“Dude, your stepdad is so fucking hot,” one of your friends said.

“Why the fuck did you not want to go home for the past four years when that’s the view?!” another friend asked.

“Also how have you not pounced on him yet?” asked one other friend.

“First of all, shut up,” you slapped each one of your friends on the cheek lightly. “That’s gross. Second of all, he’s my stepfather, and that’s all he will ever be to me.”

“Say whatever you want, but the man is hot.”

“And he looks so young!”

“I mean… He is ten years younger than my mom, and he’s six years older than me,” you explained.

“What?!”

“Girl, he’s closer to your age than hers!”

“I know that…”

“You can totally hook up with him!”

“Stop,” you held your hand out and shook your head. “He’s married to my mom, guys, and that’s so weird for me to think about. Can we just not talk about it anymore?”

Your friends nodded, only for one friend to say under their breath, “But he’s still fine as fuck…”

“Shut the fuck up!”

Your mind was racing the rest of your graduation. What your friends said about your stepfather really stuck in your head— it was those kinds of thoughts that made you avoid Yunho like the plague in the first place. You didn’t want to think that way about the guy that your mother fell in love with. You were so in your own head that you didn’t realize your graduation was official until one of your friends’ hat hit you on the head on the way down.

After leaving the venue, you stood outside the doors and waited for your family. Your mother wanted to take pictures of you with your cap and gown in front of the stadium. Your friends waited nearby— they wanted to get a look of your stepfather again. You tried to shoo them away, but they refused to move.

“Y/N! My baby!” your mother cheered as she saw you. “You’re officially a college graduate! I’m so proud of you!”

Your mother hugged you, and you could only weakly smile. She kissed your cheek before immediately turning to your friends and asking, “Can one of you please take a picture of me and my daughter?”

One of your friends stepped up and took your mother’s phone to take pictures. At first, it was just you and your mother, then it was the entire family. You stood in between Yunho and your mother, your little sister standing right in front of you. You felt your heart start to race the closer Yunho stood to you, which freaked you out because you wouldn’t have been feeling this way had your friends not said anything about his looks.

“Okay, now just you and Yunho,” your mother told you.

“Wait, I—”

“Yes! Stand over there, Y/N!” your friend with the camera said as they pointed to an area slightly further away from them.

You shot your friend a glare before going to where they asked you to go. You seriously did not want to take this picture, but you didn’t want to make a scene in public. Yunho stood next to you as you positioned yourself. There was a slight gap between the two of you, prompting your friend to say, “Scoot closer together! You both look so awkward!”

You were so ready to kill your friend. Reluctantly, you took a step towards Yunho. He also took a step towards you at the same time, causing you to bump into him. Before you could stumble anywhere, his hand went around your waist. Butterflies erupted in your stomach when he hugged you lightly. His touch was so… Pleasant. You hated that you liked his touch, and you hated it even more when you wanted him to touch you more. He wasn’t getting touchy-feely at all, but that didn’t stop your libido from wanting more. You couldn’t help but think that it would be so nice if he could be more intimate, only for you to immediately reject the idea. You seriously needed your brain to shut up. Thinking about your stepfather in that sense was so weird, and you needed it to stop.

The second your friend took the picture, Yunho released you, and you could breathe once more. You didn’t even realize that you held your breath while he was holding you. After you took a couple pictures with your little sister, you immediately turned to your friends and slapped the backs of their heads. If it weren’t for them, you would not have thought about Yunho, your goddamn stepfather, in that way.

Luckily for you, you found a job right after graduating from college. It was in the big metropolitan city near your hometown, and while you could have made the commute daily, you decided to live in the city for a multitude of reasons, a huge one being the fact that you just didn’t want to live with your mother and her new family. It wasn’t that you hated them, but you wanted to be an adult, and living at home would not allow you to do that. Also, Yunho. You wanted to continue to avoid that man as long as you possibly could.

That being said, you did go home pretty frequently to eat your mother’s cooking (for free, and free food is always great), and you went to visit your half-sister because you liked being there for her. You babysitting her also allowed your mother and her husband to go out on dates, which meant it was mainly just you and your little sister at home. Not bad at all.

One day, you went home to run some errands. Your friends in your hometown wanted to meet up, you had to visit some of your old favorite stores, and you wanted to grab some food from your mother to bring back to your apartment in the city because the next week was going to be incredibly busy for you at work, and there was no chance you would be able to make yourself meals.

It was silent when you got home. You looked around to see if anyone was home, and you found someone, but it wasn’t who you wanted to see.

“Oh, Y/N, what brings you here?” Yunho greeted you from the living room.

He was sitting on the couch and just started playing a movie, which he paused as soon as you walked into the house.

“I’m just here to grab food because I have a busy week next week. Where’s mom and sis?”

“Your mom took her to the eye doctor to get her eyes checked because she’s been sitting too close to the TV lately.”

“Oh…”

You stood awkwardly in the kitchen, unsure of what to do with yourself. You had to wait for your mother to come home to make food, and you felt awkward just leaving the area and going to your room. You and Yunho had never been alone together, so ignoring him felt wrong.

“What’re you watching?” you asked Yunho after a long moment of silence.

“Orlando. Have you seen it?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Come watch with me, then. The movie barely started.”

You hesitantly made your way to the living room. You were going to sit in one of the arm chairs, but Yunho patted the space on the couch next to him. You joined him on the couch, enough empty space for God between the two of you.

As the movie played, you tried your best to watch the movie, but you couldn’t help but steal glances at Yunho’s side profile— he was heavily invested in the movie. You kept thinking about what your college friends said about him, and you finally admitted to yourself that, yes, Yunho, your stepfather, was indeed very attractive. You had to keep reminding yourself that he was your stepfather, and that the thoughts in your head were just wrong.

Then, the craziest thing happened. Yunho put his hand on your thigh. You immediately reclaimed your thigh and scooted away from him.

“What is— Why— When— What do you think you’re doing?!” you stuttered.

Yunho looked you dead in the eye, his serious face making your insides swell with heat. “Cut the crap, Y/N. You want me, don’t you?” he said with a low voice.

“Are you insane?!”

You continued to scoot backwards and lean away as Yunho approached you. Your head hit the pillow as Yunho pinned you down, his hands pressed on the couch on either side of you.

“You think I didn’t see you sneaking looks at me? Why do you keep looking at me instead of the movie, Y/N?”

“I mean— I don’t— How— Uh—”

“See, you can’t even answer me properly. You want me.”

Yunho ran his hand up your thigh, which you immediately slapped away while saying, “No, I don’t!

“Really?”

You tried to roll off the couch and away from Yunho, but his arm blocked your path. His hand firmly held onto your waist as you tried to wriggle out of his grasp.

“S-stop it…”

“Face it, Y/N. You want me just as much as I want you.”

Your eyes went wide. You had no idea what the man meant by that when he said it, and it freaked you out completely. Slightly panicking, you tried to push him away, but the second your hands touched his chest, he grabbed your wrists and pinned them above your head. You squirmed and tried desperately to get out of his grasp, but then he kissed you.

Yunho kissing you melted your brain. He was an amazing kisser. He kissed you intensely, his soft lips sucking sweetly on yours. You pushed yourself further into his kiss, your lips desperate for his. You had never kissed anyone so intensely in your entire life until that moment, and you only realized that fact after he finally broke away from you as you were completely out of breath the second he moved away. Your face was hot, and your eyes were bleary as every atom of your body yearned for him.

“See, I told you.”

“Fuck…”

Wordlessly, Yunho turned off the TV before turning back to you, his arms wrapping tightly around you. He lifted you off the couch, and you immediately wrapped your legs around his waist. You held onto his face and kissed him over and over and over again because you seriously could not get enough of him. When his hands supported your thighs instead of your torso, his grip on you got stronger, turning you on even more. The two were you were breathless as he carried you to his room and laid you down on the bed gently.

His lips were still connected with yours as he began to caress your body. He rolled the tips of his fingers over your clothed crotch, causing you to moan into his mouth.

“Fuck, that was so hot,” Yunho pulled away to comment. “You’re so fucking hot, Y/N.”

You had never heard the man utter a single profanity in the time you knew him, so him swearing was so unbelievably sexy to you to the point where your body trembled with excitement. You desperately needed him to do something about your throbbing pussy, but Yunho wanted to take things slow. He dragged his tongue along your neck before kissing your neck sloppily. While you didn’t think it was smart of him to leave a mark on your neck, you couldn’t help but want him to. Then again, it was fine if he left hickeys on you, but you definitely could not leave hickeys on him.

“God, I could just fuck you up,” Yunho whispered half to himself.

“Do it.”

“What?”

“Do it. Fuck me up, Yunho.”

Yunho stared at you, his eyes getting darker. He brought his face near yours and said with an incredibly sexy, low voice, “That’s the first time you’ve ever said my name, Y/N.”

He kissed you hungrily, making you hold onto his shoulders for dear life.

“I want you to say my name. I want you to scream and cry my name,” he uttered as he wrapped light fingers around your neck. “I want you to beg me to fuck you senseless. Will you do that for me?”

You responded with a light nod. Yunho kissed you harshly, his fingers pressing into your neck. You didn’t realize how much you would enjoy someone choking you while making out with you until then. Yunho was experienced, and he was using that experience to turn your brain into mush. You wanted him bad. Your hips moved restlessly as you felt the tension build between your legs, and you desperately needed a release. Your hand move down to rub yourself, but Yunho grabbed your hand before it could go there and held it above your head while he stopped kissing you. There was a slight smirk on his face as he noticed your restlessness.

“Yunho,” you said, your voice wavering.

“Yes, Y/N?”

“I— My pussy… Do something,” you nearly cried.

With a knowing smile, Yunho nodded and sat up. He pulled off his shirt— he grabbed the back of his collar to take it off, which you found to be incredibly hot— before helping you strip down. Your clothes were in a pile on the ground, leaving you laying on the bed completely naked. Your pussy was soaking wet by that time. Yunho gazed at your pussy, your throbbing, pink, fresh pussy, with sparkling eyes. He grazed his nails along your folds, your thighs trembling at his touch. But, he was taking his sweet time with you, and it was driving you crazy. You clutched the pillow under your head and groaned in frustration.

“Yunho, just fuck me please! I can’t take it anymore!”

“Mmm, for someone who’s been avoiding me, you sure do want me bad right now,” Yunho chuckled.

You were going to respond, but when you felt his fingers shove into, you let out a loud gasp and moan. You flung your head back into the pillow and let out cry after cry. You had to bite your lower lip and muffled your noises when Yunho started massaging your breast and sucking intensely on your nipple.

“F-fuck, I’m cumming,” you choked out as you felt your orgasm nearing.

“Yes, come for me, Y/N,” Yunho moved up to whisper in your ear, his fingers not letting up.

That was all you needed to hit euphoria. Your nails nearly tore through the pillowcase as your pussy convulsed. Your moan echoed in the room, and your eyes rolled to the back of your head. Sweet, sweet relief.

“Shit,” Yunho hissed as he removed his fingers. “You’re so incredibly sexy… I can’t hold back any longer.”

You were completely out of breath as the high of your orgasm slowly disappeared. Your eyes were bleary as you opened them to see Yunho’s faint shape get off the bed to remove his pants. Within seconds, Yunho was back on the bed, and he moved your legs, your knees in the air as your feet pressed into the mattress. He positioned himself and leaned his upper body down to dominate your lips. The second his lips locked with yours, he thrusted into you powerfully. You moaned into his mouth when his waist slammed against yours and when his tongue shoved its way into your mouth.

Yunho let out grunts of pleasure as he waist met yours repeatedly at a slow and steady pace. But, when you let go of the pillow to hold onto his shoulders, and when your nails dug into his skin, he inhaled sharply through his teeth and fucked you harder and faster. The entire bed squeaked and moved as his tempo increased, and you felt your brain and body melt with pleasure.

“Yunho! More!” you ended the kiss to whine.

And he delivered. He moved up, held your waist with a strong grip, and pulled you closer towards him as he lifted your waist. Him pounding the shit out of you felt so good that you couldn’t control yourself anymore. Tears filled your eyes as more moans and groans and cries spilled out of your mouth. His cock felt amazing inside you, and even though he was pile driving you into oblivion, you somehow still wanted more of him.

“I’m close,” Yunho bit out. “I’m going to cum inside, okay?”

That was probably the more you wanted. You nodded and pulled him down towards you once more, your mouth begging for his tongue. He groaned into your mouth as you felt his dick shudder and spurt within you, his cum filling and warming you up. When he pulled out, his cum leaked out of you, and you watched him stare at your pussy in delight.

You laid on the bed until your heart rate calmed down before pushing yourself up and saying, “I’m going to go clean myself up…”

You didn’t even wait for a reaction from Yunho. You scurried to the bathroom (trying desperately not to leak out on your way), and sat on the toilet to quickly clean yourself up. Shortly thereafter, you stood in front of the mirror and washed your hands. You looked at your reflection to see small, dark hickeys scattered across your chest. As you inspected the bruises on your skin, Yunho walked up behind you. He arms snaked around you and massaged your breasts as he pressed his dick against you.

“Yunho, what are you doing?” you asked carefully.

“I’m not done with you just yet,” Yunho said softly as he bit your earlobe.

“Uh, no. We’re done.”

You turned around and tried to push past him, but that didn’t work the first time, so how was it going to work again. Placing hands on the sink countertop on either side of you, Yunho trapped you. He leaned in towards you, and you leaned backwards to the best of your ability. You were so sure he was going to kiss you, but when his face stopped a mere couple of centimeters before yours, you stared at him in surprise.

“What, do you want me to stop now?” he asked you teasingly.

You felt his hard cock press against your stomach, and feeling how hard he was, not to mention seeing the amount of lust in his eyes, turned you on entirely. You swallowed hard and begrudgingly shook your head. You needed him again.

“That’s what I thought. Turn around. Bend over.”

With his hands guiding you, you did as he said. Your breasts pressed against the cool countertop, making you shiver. You didn’t have the time to be cold, though, because Yunho swiftly slid his dick into you, your entire body lurching forward.

“Oh, fuck!” you screamed as you felt Yunho’s pelvis slam against your buttocks quickly. “Y-yunho!”

“You like that, huh?” Yunho said with a grunt.

You moaned loudly in response. The two of you were breathing heavily, and the mirrors in the bathroom were starting to fog up. Suddenly, Yunho pulled out, making you cum almost instantly. Your legs trembled as you came, and they nearly gave out. However, before you could collapse to the ground, Yunho turned you around and sat you down on the countertop. He shoved his dick deep inside you, but he didn’t move quite yet.

“What is it?” you whispered as he looked you up and down.

“You’re stunning… So sexy,” Yunho answered as he brought his nose to brush against your jawline. “I could seriously just stare at you all day long.”

He peppered kisses along your jaw and neck, his hands running up and down your waist sensually. You wrapped your arms over his shoulders and held onto the back of his neck as he left more hickeys on your chest. When his hands went around you and hugged you towards him, you couldn’t help but press your fingers into his skin, making the man tremble.

Without a second to lose, Yunho lifted you up and fucked you by using his arms to raise and lower you onto his dick. You held onto him tightly, the fear of falling and feeling of his dick going deeper inside you exciting you. He pressed his lips against yours again, your tongue dancing with his briefly until he brought you down harshly on his penis.

“You’re hitting so deep, Yunho!”

“It’s because you’re taking me so well, Y/N. Your pussy was made for me.”

Your heart skipped a beat. Yunho saying something like that to you was unnatural, but it made you feel so good, so sexy.

Yunho carried you out of the bathroom. He pulled out, set you down so that you were standing, and stroked his dick several times. He pinned you up against the wall and brought your thigh up, your leg wrapping around him. His cock entered you again, and he resumed thrusting fast and hard.

Then, you both heard the front door open. Yunho covered your mouth— he did not intend to stop fucking you. You did you best to hold back your moans, but you were worried about the sound of his hips slapping against yours.

You heard footsteps head towards the door of the bedroom. Tears filled your eyes and started rolling down your cheeks as the fear of getting caught tensed your body entirely. You heard the doorknob jiggle as your mom tried to open the door, but the door did not open. Yunho had locked the door ages ago. So, she knocked on the door.

“Honey?”

“Yes, darling?” Yunho responded, his voice low, sensual, and almost a little groggy.

“What’s going on? Why is the bedroom door locked?”

“I’m taking a nap.”

“Oh… Okay. Have a good nap, then.” You heard your mom walk away from the door, only for her to quickly walk back. “I saw Y/N’s car outside. Is she here?”

“No, she stepped out. She said she would wait until you got back since she only really came to pick up food.”

Yunho’s hips hit yours even harder, the sound scaring you, but the force pleasuring you.

“Shoot, I have to go grocery shopping!” Come, sweetie,” your mom said to your sister— her household nickname was sweetie— and continued, “Let’s go grab some snacks for you and your sister!”

The second you heard the front door close and lock, Yunho removed his hand. You hiccuped and cried softly. Meanwhile, Yunho was still fucking you.

“That was so scary,” you cried. “Why didn’t you stop?!”

“You look way too fucking good right now. I can’t stop.”

Yunho thrusted so hard into you that your back hit the wall slightly, making you yelp. You continued to yelp as he fucked you without remorse.

“Fuck, Y/N. I’m so close.”

You sniffled and nodded, tears still blurring your vision. Yunho kissed you again, but rather than him eating you alive, his kiss was sweet this time around. He held your face and kissed you softly. With one final thrust, his cock throbbed and trembled inside you, his stickiness filling you up once more. Your hold on him relaxed, but you continued kissing him, his posh lips making you forget about why you were so scared in the first place. You remained in that position against the wall for a good several minutes, not wanting to lose the feeling of his long dick shoved in your tight pussy so quickly. If anything, you wanted him to fuck you more.

Which he did. A couple more times, actually.

You got cleaned up and donned all of your clothes. Before you could leave the bedroom, Yunho grabbed you and hugged you. He buried his nose in your hair and sighed deeply.

“Yunho, I have a question,” you told him as you leaned away from him.

“What is it?”

“Earlier, when you said that I wanted you as much as you wanted me, what did you mean by that?”

“You’re a beautiful young woman, Y/N. It’s hard for someone to not be attracted to you. I’ve honestly been wanting this to happen since you graduated.”

The realization of your relationship with the man hit you. It was in the back of your head the entire time he was fucking your brains out, but you only really remembered the nature of the relationship then and there. You pushed him away; and this time, he allowed it.

“We shouldn’t have done this, Yunho.”

There was a certain look on Yunho’s face, but you couldn’t quite put your finger on what it was or what he was thinking. The two of you maintained eye contact, and despite the fact that you knew very well that there was nothing that could ever happen between you and the man in front of you, your libido still lusted for him.

“I know that, but,” Yunho took a step towards you and wrapped one arm around your waist. “I’m glad we did.”

And with that, he kissed you one more time— it was sweet, hot, but nonintrusive. His hand moved up from your waist to your neck, his fingers moving to your scalp and holding you closer to him. You nearly whimpered when the kiss ended.

“You can stay in denial all you want,” Yunho told you. “But just know that I’ll be here in case you ever want to cross the line again.”

[study-like-you-mean-it]

2024 Goal Setting for People Who Used to be Studyblr Queens and are Now Just Muddling Through Adult Life

I know you, you know me. I've had this account since I was freshly 16 and I'm 23 (and a half) now, and I can guarantee there's loads of you in the same boat right now.

Where did I go? What did I do? I finished my Master's Degree and realised (with some trepidation) at the end of it that I'd achieved everything that was on my list of things to achieve ever, and I didn't really have a plan on what I was going to do, so for what may have been the first time in my life I just...winged it. Started measuring progress according to how I felt about it. And it worked! Lots of good has come out of it so let me suggest some goal setting approaches to help if you're in a similar position (and given the studyblr -> chaos pipeline I might suggest there's at least a few people this might help)

Point 1 - Don't set yourself academic goals

"But Study Like You Mean It, I always set academic goals!" I hear you say. I appreciate the irony of my username in relation to this. Point is, you're not in academia anymore. You need to stop goal setting like you're in academia, and the easiest way to do this is to stop setting academic goals.

"But I like the pursuit of knowledge!" I hear you counter. So do I, but if you've just come out of a hothouse academic setting, you *really* need to consider who you're goal setting for. Do you like the idea of being a polyglot by the end of the year? Sure, fine, whatever, but consider who you're goal setting for. Do you want to be a polyglot because you like the process of learning languages, or because you want to show to others that you know languages? It sounds silly, but you're not working to a grade anymore, and it's absolutely essential that you reflect on why you like doing academic things. This doesn't apply to everyone, but I would kick off the process of self-reflection on this (because you know the Studyblr types are most likely guilty of performative learning) by refusing to set yourself academic goals.

If you don't hit a yardstick, what's the worst that will happen?

(nothing- the answer is nothing and you need to start getting comfortable with that)

Point 2 - Set Process-Based Goals

Building on the last point, if you want to have achieved something by the end of the year, how can you frame it in a way that's definitely not you trying to put down a point to show to others that you've improved, and instead internalise your sense of progress? Maybe the goal you set is "by the end of the year, I want to feel like I understand internalised growth and progress", and you'll know at the end of the year when you self-reflect if you've succeeded in that.

Otherwise, set a process-based goal. If you want to get better at something, but know you're guilty of holding yourself to externalised yardsticks, set yourself a goal that's about the process rather than the result. Scary, I know. For example, say you want to start playing a sport. If you go in without a process-based goal, you could end up saying to yourself "I want to put myself in a position where I qualify for a team two leagues above by the end of the season," which is a SMART* goal, but incredibly determined by outside reflections on your own ability, and very end-result focused. There's a time and a place for goals like this, but if you're coming off a high-intensity academic environment, I would argue that it's not the right place. Instead, what about "I will show up every week and be positive about the fact that I'm not perfect"? It's about the learning process, and I think post-university a lot of people fall out of love with the actual learning process, and become too mired in results.

*specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound

Point 3 - What happens if you don't hit your goal?

I love asking this question to people who've come out of academic environments.

Literally what's going to happen if you can't meet the goal that you've set for yourself when you set an end-goal focused goal?

Nothing!!!!!

It's so freeing. Embrace it! There are no time bounds on learning, so enjoy the learning! There's no exam to pass, no professors to wow, no applications to get accepted. It's just you learning how to be you, and remembering why you love to get good at things!

Part 4 - Habits =/= Goals

This one maybe is a bit tricky to explain. It's the difference between "I'm going to get into the practice of reading on my commute when I can" and "I must finish 10 books this year by reading on my commute when I can". One of them is about introducing something new into your life because it makes you feel good, and the other one is about setting limits on that because you feel you need to control the way that you enjoy things (this comes from academia putting constraints on learning, etc.).

Be patient with yourself, for goodness' sakes. Get into the habit and enjoy the process, don't automatically find ways to be masochistic about it.

My Goal Setting Approach

Now I've clarified the kinds of goals to set in this new and scary world, I'll run through my approach to implement them. First thing to note is I like setting lots of goals, but then those all get broken into little habits that I can focus on in my day to day, as well as timeline-less tasks to accomplish when I've got the time free.

I start with areas I'd like to improve myself in (again, not as a discipline thing, but towards the vision that I might be a more rounded and enriched person because of it):

Personal - how can I become more introspective/calm/mindful?

Financial - how can I become more fiscally responsible now I'm an adult?

Social - how do I make time for others?

Work - what does progress at work over this year look like?

Sport - this can be replaced by whatever your main hobby is

Intellectual - how can I enrich myself and learn about things that I'm interested in?

I won't run through all of these, but I'll create some examples:

Domain: Financial - how can I become more fiscally responsible now I'm an adult?

General points on this: I can save more money, I can improve my credit score, I can pay off some loans

Habits: for the first, I can maybe aim to save 20% of my takehome, by putting 10% in at the start of the month, and trying to put 10% in at the end if I've got enough, and I can set up the timelineless task of opening a high interest-rate savings account for money that I don't need for emergency access; for the second, I can set the timelineless task of setting up a credit card, and get into the habit of paying for my groceries with it; for the third, I can sit down and look at how much of my takehome I can dedicate to this, and then get into the habit of paying off a sustainable amount

Now, I have the timelineless tasks fo getting a credit card, opening a new savings account, and sitting down and looking at my loans, and then I have the two habits of tucking bits of money away and paying off some loans. Note that there's nothing that's made it too urgent (which I admit is a privilege) and there's nothing that tells me I'm a bad person for not being able to do it. Another example:

Domain: intellectual - how can I enrich myself and learn about things that I'm interested in?

General points on this: I would like to read more broadly, I would like to improve my French, I would like to understand more about world events

Habits: for the first, I can read on my commute when I can get a seat on the train, as I have half an hour each way so I can use that time to read. I can set the timelineless task of exploring the kinds of books that I'd like to read; for the second, I can choose to consume more French media when I feel like I have the mental capacity. I also have to speak French at work, so I want to get into the habit of not cowarding out and switching to English (scary but doable); for the last, I can get into the habit of watching the evening news (so it's contained within a time slot and I'm not being overwhelmed by the 24h news cycle) and I can set the timelineless task of picking up a copy of a magazine like the economist once in a while to get a deeper understanding.

So the habits to get into are reading on my commute, choosing to speak more in French, and watching the news when I can; the tasks are maybe picking up a copy of a magazine and coming up with a reading list.

The whole point of this approach is it breaks your bigger goals into a timeline-free to-do list, and then a list of small habits that you can get into. The good news is that there's no punishment for failure! If I want to listen to the Bongo's Bingo Greatest Hits playlist on the train one morning instead of reading about the modern history of Cambodia, nobody's going to come along and tell me off for not being serious enough, or clever enough, or "academic" enough about my approach to life. The to-do list aspect I find immensely helpful, as often I struggle to write larger-level to-do lists when I'm in the middle of the year, because I don't have the same kind of clarity over the types of progress I want to make when I'm in the middle of things.

Anyway, I hope this is useful, and a good counterpoint to the mindset that everyone who's ever been near Studyblr has. Learning now is only for enjoyment, so enjoy that aspect! Live your life! Understand that the process of betterment is all about enriching your personal sphere and nothing about other people because (drumroll) literally nobody else cares! In a good way! Nobody cares that you've not mastered Polish in 3 weeks or read the entire academic output of Montaigne in a week! And it's cool if you have, but the person you are is more important, and freeing yourself from external yardsticks is so so crucial!

Love to anyone who read this far ♥

[ghostking4m]

Rejection Is Just Redirection

Luke Hughes x reader

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Listen, you didn’t really need college. You broke into the entertainment industry at 16, so college was just a plan b you put on the back burner. Being one of the most famous names and faces in the entire world, you easily had enough money to afford college, so why not give it a shot? After all, your boyfriend went to college, though he did kind of drop out to play hockey.

Once you made up your mind that you’d be going back to school, your next step what choosing your major and what schools to apply to. You write songs and sometimes write poems and books, so maybe English or journalism? Maybe Communications would help you answer some of the dodgy questions the paparazzi ask you. Heck, even political science or economics or business would be a good idea. They would allow you to make a difference in the world. Business sounds like a safe choice. You could do a lot with a business degree. Now to apply to schools.

So here’s the thing, you’re finally in a real relationship that you really don’t want to mess up. Staying in LA would allow you to go to school and continue working, so you could still be in the limelight when you want to be. USC and UCLA would be great choices for that and they’re extremely accredited schools. However, maybe Rutgers is the school you should choose, since it’s close to Luke. NYU might even be an interesting choice since it wouldn’t raise too many questions if you’re going to school in the city because you want to or if it’s because you want to be closer to your boyfriend. It has always been your dream school when you were a kid. Well, it’s decided then!

You honestly weren’t expecting the application and admissions process to be so complicated and grueling. It’s like the education system is trying to torture kids to see who would come out on top as the victor. College really is like the Hunger Games, isn’t it? You hadn’t the slightest idea of how to fill out your major requirement classes or send your high school transcript to the admissions office and your essays were mid at best. You’re a celebrity, it’s not like you needed to try all that hard to graduate high school since you did homeschooling since you were 16. Though, you gotta admit that the feeling of finally being done with the application process was a relief. It’s just a waiting game now for admissions decisions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“T-minus 2 hours until decisions come out. You nervous?” Luke asked as you guys were laying on the couch before he had to go to practice.

“A little, but it’s not the end of the world if I don’t get in. I mean, i’ve already got my career, so why would I worry about getting in so that I could work more to get a degree that would allow me to work even more? Why did i do this again?” you questioned back, joking with him. “If I don’t get in, I’ll just grab my bag and go back to LA and star in the highest grossing movie of the decade… again”

Luke laughed at your comment, despite hearing the quiet hesitation in your voice. He didn’t realize how much you actually wanted to get in. He didn’t know how much you wanted to prove that you’re more than just some face in gossip magazines or the most talked about name in the headlines. You wanted to be seen and treated like a person, someone who people respected because you worked just as hard as they did to get to the same place as them. You always advocated for equality for everyone and yet people always worshipped you and put you on a pedestal.

“Would that be such a bad thing?” he countered.

“I’m not sure yet. Part of me regrets applying, because I don’t want to get in for nepotism or for being famous, but I also want to get in, because I want to make everyone proud of me.” You replied.

It broke Luke’s heart a little to hear you talk about this in the way you are, because how could anyone not be proud of you and what you accomplished at such a young age? You had 6 Oscars, 4 Emmys, the most nominations at the Grammy’s this year, and you were named the most powerful person of the year by Time Magazine, Forbes Magazine, AND Vogue. You were a sensation that was still only just beginning. You had the entire world eating in the lam of your hand.

“Well, no matter what happens, I’m proud of you for trying. You don’t need college, but I applaud your efforts anyway. You could honestly be anything you want, be anyone you want, all you have to do is try and not everyone can do that.” He said, and his heart absolutely MELTED at the tiny smile you tried to hide by hiding your face further in his chest.

He heard you mumble the most adorable, embarrassed “Thanks” from his chest and he couldn’t help but giggle.

“Let’s not think about it for a while, please?” you asked, politely.

“Ok. We can just rewatch the movie where you play a real life version of one of the most famous dolls in the world.” He says, purposefully teasing you!!

“Oh God.” You laughed out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You held your breath as you opened the email concealing your admissions decisions. It felt as if the world was telling everyone to be quiet and listen.

“I got it.” You whispered as quietly as possible.

“You got in?!” Luke shouted, jumping nearly 7 feet high as he got up to look at you.

“No. I got the email that says if I got in or not.” You answered.

“Oh. Sorry for freaking out.” He looks away, slightly embarrassed. You give him a small look and smile full of adoration before turning back to your phone.

“Here goes nothing.” You say as you click on the email. “What? I don’t get it? Oh! I have to log into the admissions portal in order to see the decision.”

You click on the portal login link and enter your login id username and password, fingers slightly trembling with anticipation. Hesitantly, you click on the link that states “An update has been made about your decision.”

Taking a deep breath, you read a letter that says:

“Dear Y/n, Thank you for applying to New York University. We are humbled by the overwhelming interest in attending NYU and the outstanding quality of the applications we received this year. After careful consideration and thorough examination, it is with regret we must inform you were are unable to offer you admission for the Fall 2024 semester.”

“I didn’t get in.” You confessed barely loud enough for a mouse to hear.

Instantly, Luke had his arms around your shoulders and pulled you into his chest, fiercely protective. You were so disappointed that you weren’t even crying, almost as if you were expecting to be rejected.

“Whatever. Fuck them anyway. They didn’t deserve you to begin with. You belong somewhere like UMich or in an Ivy League school. You’re too good for them.” He tries to reassure you. “Look at it this way, you can continue doing what you love most and stay here with me. In the end, you learned something.”

“And what’s that?” you questioned him.

“Rejection is just redirection, that’s all. College wasn’t in the cards for you and life thinks you’re better off in the spotlight, making more money in a single year than those lousy admissions officers make in their entire lives. You were meant to be somebody great. You ARE somebody great and you’re becoming somebody even more perfect than I ever thought possible.”

His words struck a chord in your heart so deeply that you couldn’t help but hold on to him for dear life. You felt your eyes begin to prick with tears. As the first one fell out of your right eye, you knew automatically that they were tears of joy. Your heart swelled with pride and love for Luke as you laughed into his chest.

“Yeah. Fuck them. I don’t need them. I’m a star! You’re all I need.” You teased back. Deep down, you were incredibly disappointed, but Luke’s words of affirmation and love meant more to you than the rejection letter did. Nothing could beat that.

“That’s right, baby.” He laughed as he tighten his grip over you. He gently kissed the top of your head and repeated quiet “I love you’s” for at least 10 minutes.

“What time is it?” You asked.

“It’s…5:30.” He responded gently leaning over to turn on his phone to check. “Oh Shit! I’m gonna be late!”

“Go! Go! Go!” You laughed at him.

God, this boy. You thought, shaking your head. That’s MY boy.

[shanastoryteller]

Happy Holidays! More of wy as female mxy married to lz please!

a continuation of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

Jingyi has gotten roped into tea with Clan Leader Lan and Jin Guangyao by Sizhui, which he grumbles about but doesn't actually mind because Jin Guangyao never gives him that mildly disappointed look that he gives other people when they break the rules. Sizhui says it's because Clan Leader Lan thinks he's funny, which is true. He is funny.

There's a frantic knock at the door and Jin Guangyao frowns but says, "Enter."

The door is shoved open and a pale disciple blurts, "Hanguang Jun has beat Madame Lan and now she's with the healers!"

Everyone freezes and Sizhui's eyes go liquid and huge in a way Jingyi hates.

"Don't lie!" Jingyi snaps.

"I saw it," he says urgently. "He just left her there and she had to be carried away!"

Sizhui doesn't ask to be dismissed or even take the time to bow to his uncle and his uncle's - er, whatever they're supposed to call Jin Guangyao since the betrothal didn't work out. Instead he just bolts.

Since Jingyi isn't the heir to the clan, he gives a hasty bow and a "Sorry" before chasing after his best friend. This is probably cosmic retribution for all the times Sizhui has been the one chasing after him.

There are several disciples stationed outside of the healers. Lan Biyu steps in front of the door. "Young Master Lan, now is not the best time to-"

Sizhui glares. "She's my mother. Move!"

She stares at him, wide eyed, and even Jingyi is taken aback. He's never heard him talk like that, but than again none of them would ever be foolish enough to try and get between Sizhui and Hanguang Jun. It's time for them to learn the same care should be extended for Madame Lan.

Lan Biyu steps aside, head bowed.

Jingyi follows Sizhui inside, terrified at what they might find.

Those fears instantly collapsed. Lady Xuanyu is upright and cheerfully talking to healers with glowing hands. Jingyi flushes bright red and looks to the side, because she's only wearing her inner robe with the shoulders pulled down so healing paste can be applied to several dark bruises, which is perhaps why Lan Biyu was trying to keep them out in the first place.

Her bright attitude doesn't change the fact she's covered in bruises and blood, though.

"Hi boys," she says cheerfully, completely unconcerned with her state of undress. Which is one thing with Sizhui being her step son, but she definitely should kick Jingyi out at least.

"What happened?" Sizhui asks. "Did my father do this?"

She shrugs, winces, and gets glared at by the healers for disrupting their movements. "It was a group effort."

Sizhui has gone dangerously pale. Jingyi demands, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Hanguang Jun wouldn't really beat his wife, would he? He may not like her, but he doesn't even beat misbehaving disciples. He wouldn't hurt his weak wife who can't even defend herself. Right?

"We were sparring," she says. "He really gave me a workout!"

"It's not a spar if you can't fight back!" he insists.

One of the disciples along the wall snorts, sees everyone's eyes turn to her, and her cheeks flush.

Lady Xuanyu gives him a look, but says, "Unfortunately his core is strong enough that the bruises I gave him are probably already healed, but you'll just have to take my word for it."

"Was it really just a spar?" Sizhui asks quietly.

She blinks. "What else would it be?"

He doesn't answer.

"I ordered them to fight me," she continues, "so I can't really complain about your father joining it."

She what?

"Will someone please tell me what happened?" Jingyi asks plaintively.

Lan Fen does.

He stares, not even able to care about the impropriety of seeing her like this. "You're crazy."

"Jingyi!" several people shout while Sizhui finally seems to relax, his lips quirking up at the corners.

Lady Xuanyu erupts into peals of laughter, disrupting the healers work and causing several of them to send him an annoyed glare, since obviously they can't glare at Madame Lan.

[bethanydelleman]

Online Discourse, Redemption Arcs, and Jane Austen

There is a story in the Bible where Jesus is brought a woman who has cheated on her spouse. The officials ask Jesus what to do, he knows they are trying to trick him into breaking the law with mercy, so he says, "Go ahead, throw rocks at her until she dies, that's the law, BUT whoever has never done anything wrong throws the first stone." Eventually everyone leaves and Jesus forgives the woman.

This post I shared a while ago really makes me think of that story, because online commentary of characters seems to so often break into two groups:

People so unforgiving, so unwilling to allow a single misstep in a character that they would start throwing stones immediately

People who will twist themselves into knots to prove that everything the character did was justified (and since we have zero backstory for the unnamed woman in this story, it would be easy to give her a sympathetic one. She did it because of trauma!)

Let's apply this to Emma Woodhouse. At Box Hill, she mildly insults an older woman, it is a poorly timed and placed joke:

“Oh! very well,” exclaimed Miss Bates, “then I need not be uneasy. ‘Three things very dull indeed.’ That will just do for me, you know. I shall be sure to say three dull things as soon as ever I open my mouth, shan’t I? (looking round with the most good-humoured dependence on every body’s assent)—Do not you all think I shall?” Emma could not resist. “Ah! ma’am, but there may be a difficulty. Pardon me—but you will be limited as to number—only three at once.”

There are basically two reactions to this insult: BURN EMMA AT THE STAKE and Eh, not that bad. Now I think with this particular insult, it really wasn't that bad and we are told about the surrounding extenuating circumstances that caused Emma to slip up. However, I'm probably wrong because Emma does feel guilty and she does make amends. While she does not directly apologize, it's clear in the novel that what she did was a relationship repair.

What makes me feel like a crazy person is how many people throw first stones! How many people are SHOCKED by what Emma said and they could NEVER imagine insulting Miss Bates in such a cruel way! Get over yourself! I feel fairly certain that every human being on earth over 25 had insulted someone to the same level as Emma has insulted Miss Bates. That doesn't mean it is excusable, Emma should apologize and so should we, but I'm left amazed by how many people feel blameless in the face of this extremely human and relatable error.

And yes, it makes me wonder about forgiveness in their real lives. There are some things that I believe could be hard and fast "never forgive" rules, like your SO should never hit you, but people make mistakes. We should have room for forgiveness, we should understand circumstances. People get tired and sick and angry and overwhelmed and sometimes they screw up. It makes me wonder if this is an online persona effect, where we never show our negative sides, or is this a true opinion. Do people forget their own mistakes?

There also seems to be this idea that once someone has done something once, it's already a pattern even if the novel is full of counter-evidence. Emma is very polite throughout the novel, she endures people that annoy her a lot, she is endlessly accommodating with her father, but a single insult to Miss Bates and people start retroactively making her worse. When she visited that poor family she must have been insulting them! (Nope) Suddenly she becomes a villain through and through, instead of a normal girl who made a few mistakes.

That's not even getting into the real "villains" of Austen's works. The amount of people who tell me that Lydia (16), Henry Crawford (probably 24), Mary Crawford (22-24), Willoughby (25), and so on and so fourth ARE INCAPABLE OF CHANGE and will never improve. Like excuse me? Have you not changed and improved since you were 16-25? How early do you give up on people? Do you really think a young adult is fully formed?

Is this how you think of people in the real world too?

[beardedmrbean]

A restaurant partially owned by California Governor Gavin Newsom is recruiting for a $16-per-hour role, despite a new state law guaranteeing a minimum wage of $20 per hour for fast-food workers. The restaurant appears not to meet the threshold for the new minimum wage, a law that Newsom himself signed to much fanfare in September.

The Context

On April 1, the new law guaranteeing a minimum wage of $20 per hour for fast-food workers employed in large chains took effect across California, up from the previous minimum of $16.

The law was passed by Democrats in the state legislature last year but has come under fire from some Republicans who claim it will cost jobs. A wage of $20 per hour for a full-time worker results in an annual salary of $41,600.

The new law applies to those restaurants that are part of a chain of 60 or more venues nationwide and which offer limited or no table service.

What We Know

PlumpJack Café in Olympic Valley, California, is seeking a part-time busser to "assist the food server in the restaurant to ensure guest satisfaction during all aspects of the dining experience."

The advert, placed on job posting website ZipRecruiter, says that the employee will be paid $16 per hour and their duties will include clearing dishes from tables, the preparation of caffeinated drinks and decorating tables prior to customer arrival.

The café is owned by the PlumpJack Group, a company founded by Newsom which specializes in wine and high-end dining. Its website says that PlumpJack Group operates four bars or restaurants, placing it well below the threshold for the $20 per hour minimum wage to take effect.

Newsom placed his ownership interests in the PlumpJack Group into a blind trust in 2018, and has had no day-to-day involvement in the running of the company since assuming office in January 2019.

Newsweek has contacted Newsom and the PlumpJack Group for comment outside of normal working hours.

The official PlumpJack Group website states: "In 1992, Gavin Newsom opened his first business, PlumpJack Wines, combining his passion for wine and his driving entrepreneurial spirit.

"Over the next decade, the PlumpJack Group began to grow under his leadership to include many of the restaurants, wineries, and retail establishments in the current portfolio."

Views

Republican State Assembly member Joe Patterson shared screenshots of the PlumpJack Café, PlumpJack Group website referring to Newsom as its founder and the rental cost of two properties in the area on X, formerly Twitter.

He added: "I wonder why @CAgovernor @GavinNewson's food businesses don't pay $20/hour? Live job posting at $16/hr in Olympic Valley. It's very, very expensive to live there... but he doesn't do as he tells others and doesn't pay a living wage."

The increased minimum wage for fast-food workers more generally has been criticized by some Republicans who warn it will reduce the number of jobs.

Speaking to DailyMail.com, Rep. Doug LaMalfa from California said: "As if prices in California aren't high enough. Fast food prices are already rising, and employees are being replaced by self-checkout kiosks and soon robot cooks.

"Nearly everyone will be worse off: higher prices, fewer jobs, fewer eating options as places close, and fewer small businesses. Ultimately this new $20 minimum wage will affect nearly every job, with similar results."

In an earnings call at the end of October, McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski said that "there is going to be a wage impact for our California franchisees," which he added would have to be partially "worked through with higher pricing."

In February, Newsom denied a report by Bloomberg News that he pushed for a separate exception to the new minimum wage law that benefits a campaign donor. The law exempts restaurants that have on-site bakeries and sell bread as a standalone menu item.

As a result, Greg Flynn, a billionaire and Newsom donor, could save hundreds of thousands of dollars at his Panera Bread outlets in California, according to Bloomberg.

A spokesman denied any connection, saying: "This story is absurd."

In January, a baseline minimum wage of $16 came into effect across California.

[stvolanis]

Pretty Stars

PT .1

PT .2???

PAIRINGS: Elvis Presley x Rival! Rockstar! OC

WARNINGS: EATING DISORDERS, SUICIDAL THOUGHTS, EXPLOITATION, MENTIONS OF ABUSE, inaccurate time lines probably, this is more depressing than my other stories, age gap (OC is 19 and Elvis is 23), foul language, Elvis is an asshole but so is OC, typical rivalry things, enemies to lovers

NSFW WARNINGS: NONE, it will all be in part 2 if this does well :)

Don’t be shy, request something!!

˚ ꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ˚

Rosalee Marziel worked her ass off to get where she stood today, and she’d die before she let some stupid boy ruin it for her.

She’d lived in cities since she was a toddler, and growing up in such a hostile place causes you to realize that no one will help you but you. It took her losing her mother, her extended family, and a few boyfriends and flings to realize this. Once she had nothing, and was at rock bottom, of course she’d sign her life away. What more did she have to lose when everything was already lost?

The 1st amendment no longer felt like it applied to Rosalee. She was stripped bare of her former self, and instead embodied a new persona, Rose Marz. Rose Marz was confident, selfless, bold, and had no problems making a statement. She was a music, movie, and fashion icon all the way past France.

Truth was, she’d been groomed since she’d signed her life away when she was only 15. Groomed by the men around her who only wanted the greatest pleasures of life, and naive Rosalee Marziel was their ticket to that. ‘Wear less, and more of this’ they’d tell her as they held up skimpy playboy sets. She was 16. ‘More makeup, she’s aging.” They’d tell her makeup artists. She was 17. By the time she had reached 18, she’d corrected every little flaw they had pointed out. She spent hours covering acne scars, moles, and stretch marks.

She’d powder and cake herself in flawless natural makeup, which wasn’t so natural once you’d watch her apply a ton of it. She formed an eating disorder and lived off of eating Cesar salads with extra grilled chicken, and even then, she’d sometimes feel herself become sick. The smell, taste and feel of food made her vomit in her mouth. So, when she went to ball events, charity event, etc.; she’d stick to a glass of water and give tight lipped smiles when offered a plate of appetizers.

You’d think oranges were her favorite fruit, but she’d only eat them when she’d gain a pound or 2. Her stomach pains sometimes became unbearable, but beauty is pain, or at least that’s what her producers would tell her with money on their tongues. Sometimes she swore instead of feeling spit when they’d speak to her, she felt hard and cold coins. God forbid they found out she’d eaten that day, the comments would strike up.

The ones that formed her eating disorder in the first place. The ones that make her cry herself to sleep and curl into a ball. The ones that made her weep for her dead, junkie of a mother. The ones that made her throw up her insides till her stomach felt like it was trying to eat itself. And the ones that made her wanna not wake up the next day.

Roses first gig was a lousy bar her old manager booked for an hour. It’s one she’ll never forget, I mean, it’s what sparked her love for preforming in every sense of the word. On stage, she didn’t have to be the broken shell of a little girl, especially not when she heard people cheering her name. The rush of adrenaline shot into her veins was addicting and was a high she’d strive to chase any moment she could. In those first moments, she felt like her body was on fire, and the words slipping from her mouth held every ounce of raw emotion she would never normally say.

She had something other rising female preforms didn’t have, and that was a genuine love for music. They didn’t have the same spark in their eyes like she did. They weren’t passionate about the lyrics they wrote or sang. The only reason they were famous was because of their sex appeal.

Climbing the ranks in a male dominated industry wasn’t an easy task by any means, but Rose managed to do it. She sunk her perfectly manicured claws into their backs to rise herself to get to where she was today. Past Carl Perkins, past Johnny Cash, even past Jerry Lee Lewis. She was at the top of her game.

Showered in every luxury she could imagine. Queen worthy jewelry, the latest and hottest cars, 3 mansions and 10+ houses stationed all around America. Her favorite house was stationed all the way in Milan, Italy. She had an endless list of ‘friends’ and men throwing themselves at her feet for even a glance, but she wasn’t naive anymore. She could see right through them with the x-ray vision she swore to herself she had.

Hell, even the Kennedys loved her.

But none of it was ever enough. None of it made the throbbing pains in her head, chest, and stomach stop. It didn’t stop her from taking nearly lethal amounts of pills on her roughest days in hopes that just maybe she’ll find the courage to take a little more.

Rose was never satisfied with the life she had. And when they started throwing her in movies alongside people she didn’t care to know, she nearly lost herself. Rose? An actor? That couldn’t be right. She was a singer. But it’s what her fans wanted, which means it’s what her producers would make her do.

She was sure her fans adored her, and she was grateful that they did, but a small part of her detested them. A small part of her had wished she’d never became famous. If she knew this would be her at only 19 years old, she would’ve ran away from that man with a few papers and a pen all the way to across the globe. But she could never bring herself to hate the people who got her to where she is today.

They are the only reason she’s able to live the way she does, after all. Those little girls who look up to her, dreaming of being in her shoes and, wishing to be like her when they get older and cheering her on from crowds will always be the reason she continues to preform. But how badly she wanted to cradle them and tell them ‘careful what you wish for.’ Because she wishes someone had told her.

Though she was at the top of her game, there was still one large obstacle in the form of a southern man.

Elvis Presley.

No matter how many movies she starred in, or how many songs she made—no matter how many awards she won and was nominated for, he always somehow managed to beat her. Not to mention the constant comparison she was always faced with when I came to him. ‘Elvis does this better’ her manager would start. ‘So you need to do this’. He’d say.

I learned how to dance, and Elvis was the star of a dance musical called ‘Copacabana’ the next day. I mentioned i knew how to draw, and all the sudden Elvis’ art was plastered in museums. The list goes on and on of him trying to out-do her an coming out successful. Naturally, Rose wouldn’t care, but at the end of the day it was her having to hear her entire management team on her ass. One time her producer even phoned in about it.

It was a constant battle between the two and it seemed like an endless cat and mouse game. Not to mention Elvis throwing loads of shade at her when he was in the press a few weeks prior. Since then, anytime she’s been asked about their ongoing rivalry in the press, she’s said the upmost worst things about him. If it was any other A list celebrity, her manager would have her head, but it was the 2 most hottest people in America going head to head like bulls. Obviously it would make both parties become a more popular subject, and the more publicity, the better.

And now they want Elvis and Rose to preform together for a Valentines special? Hah, they must be crazy to think they wouldn’t claw each others throats out. Rose had never dared to protest against anything her producers and managers had planned for her—the last time she did she was beaten. But this—this is the one thing she wouldn’t go down without a fight for. After a good year and give or take a few months of going against each other, why would they now want them to make amends? The damage had already been done.

Rose was fortunate enough of never having to actually meet the man talking the upmost shit about her in person, till now.

As she sat in her dressing room, she could swear her makeup was sweating itself off, resulting in her panicking. Her eye makeup was dark and bold, and her lips were a faded cherry red. The dark mole above the corner of her lip just barely peeking through her pounds of foundation. Her hair was was naturally a brunette, but her main manager thought blonde would be a better look on her. So now she sat with her blonde hair teased and overly large, adorned in pink and red flowers to match the Valentines theme.

Rose felt her confidence begin to dwell as she thought of every possible terrible outcome this show could bring. Her brows furrowing as she applied setting powder aggressively while thinking of beating that stupid man, Elvis Presley, to a pulp if he tainted her imagine in any way, shape, or form.

A knock on her dressing room door brought her out of her thoughts. “Miss Rose, it’s almost time.” An annoying feminine voice said from behind the door. Rose huffed as she got up. “Alright, give me a moment.” She yelled back as she began to dress herself.

They’d chosen a white, tight fitted turtle neck long sleeved shirt for her to wear, paired with a short, light pink dress to go over it and a large white belt fit around her waist to seem more slim. The knee high white leather boots and different shades of pink and red heart earrings pulled the whole look together as she stared at herself in the long mirror in front of her.

She smoothed her hands down her dress as she took in a long breath of air before she finally found the courage to leave her dressing room.

When she stepped out, the narrow backstage hallways parted like the Red Sea at her entrance. Her manager, a short old man with the personality of a donkeys ass, stumbled his way over to her.

“Ah, Rose! There you are, come.” He said urgently as he tightly gripped her upper arm. Rose didn’t get a chance to respond, and instead winced as she was dragged along with him to wherever he was taking her. Their walk wasn’t long as they stopped at a tall man with his back turned to them.

“Mr. Presley.” Her manager coughed out, making his prescene known. Rose fought an eye roll. The man turned around and Rose swore her jaw could’ve dropped right then and there. The pictures and interviews did him no justice, as he was even more good looking in person, much to Roses dismay. Nonetheless, this god of a man was still her biggest rival and the only person stopped her from being deemed ‘queen of rock n roll’ on every cover of The Rolling Stone Magazine

Screw him and his charming smile. She hated his stupidly perfect hair—and she wanted to pull the little strand hanging out on the front out of his head. She wanted to punch him in his perfectly chiseled jaw, and same with his nose. She didn’t like the fact that he easily towered over her, even in heels, so she thought about kicking him in the back of his knees to bring him to the ground where she thought he belonged— below her.

Elvis on the other hand felt his breath get caught in his throat and her nearly dropped the cup of water held in his hand. There she stood, in all her terrorizing glory, was Rose Marz. But Elvis’ eyes couldn’t help but linger on the chubby fingers tightly wrapped around her arm, almost in a painful manner.

How could this little thing be his biggest competition? She was so small. So pretty. So- “fuck you.” So vulgar. That was the first thing she’d ever said to him, and he’d remember it for the rest of his life. He would’ve been offended if it wasn’t for the fact that she was so damn cute with her furrowed brows and pouty red lips.

Her managers face went pale as a ghost. “Aha!! She meant hello!” He nervously laughed as he glared at Rose through the corner of his eye. The small girl let out a huff. “Elvis.” She acknowledged, sizing him up with a quirked brow. He felt a chuckle rumble deep in his chest.

Rose turned her head downward to hide the blush creeping onto her cheeks at his intense gaze, even as he talked to her manager. “That’s quite alright, Mr.Smith. How ya doin, Rose?” He said in that southern draw that made all the girls’ head spin and panties drop. Now Rose understood why, but she would never admit it aloud.

“Terrible since I seen you.” She said with an eye roll. Elvis pursed his lips. “I’m real sorry ‘bout what I said in the press about ya.” He replied with a nervous chuckle. Roses head shot up at that. “Liar!” She called out with a pointer finger.

“Jesus, Rose! Can’t you act civilized for one damn moment?!” Her manager screamed in her face. Rose went beat red in embarrassment, her hands clenched into fists. The old fat man looked at her pointedly. “Excuse my behavior, Mr.Presley.” She said through clenched teeth and false smile.

Elvis pondered for a moment as he took in the situation before him, before coming to a conclusion. “Lemme take ya to dinner to make up for it, Rose.” He said. Something boyish was swirling in his eyes and a certain hope was in his small smile he sent her way. Rose opened her mouth to reject his offer, but it seemed her manager had other plans. “Yes, of course she’ll go!” He answered for her.

Elvis merely glanced down at the obnoxious fat man. “I’d like for her to answer.” He stated with a glare. Rose paused. No one had ever stood up for her like that. No one batted an eye when people would yell at her, grab her, or even beat her to a pulp. She didn’t know what to think—or even how to act.

Her mouth was hung agape as he awaited her answer. “I—uh, sure.” She responded—seemingly in a daze as she gazed up at the taller man. His eyes danced all across her face before stopping at the mole she tried so desperately to hide. “Tomorrow night.” He said before his eyes snapped up to meet hers again.

Rose, absent minded, merely nodded her head.

“You’re on in 5!” Someone shouted over the loud backstage ruckus. That caught Roses attention as she quickly smoothed herself out and took in a deep breath. Elvis reached his hand out towards her. “Shall we?” He asked with a smirk.

Rose rolled her eyes as she slapped his hand away. “Let’s just get this over with.” She replied as she turned quickly away from him.

But Elvis didn’t miss the blush on her cheeks.

˚ ꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ˚

this wasn’t proofread

[powderblueblood]

No.16: “if you don’t take care of yourself, then i will.” for Steve please

SENTENCE PROMPT TIME BABY

content warning: i don't actually know where this fits, but it feels a little conman!steve if you squint. there also might be a cum joke if you squint but i'm not sayin nothin for sure. mostly fluffy, a little sultry. hope you enjoy, nonny!

word count: 617

"One, two, cha-cha-cha, three, four, cha-cha-cha."

Steve's nose is nestled right behind your ear, his large palm resting right in the square of your back. He had descended on your place in a haze of low-voiced I wanted to see what you were up tos about an hour ago. You, for your part, had been elbow-deep in paperwork. Grad school won't apply for itself.

He took one look at your bloodshot eyes, bleary and half-closed from squinting at type and fixed you a Manhattan. Or as close as he could get to a Manhattan with your limited liquor supply-- which actually just ended up being an Old Fashioned, because who the hell keeps sweet vermouth on hand? But however he did it, however he shook it or stirred it, it was the best thing you'd let coat your tongue in ages.

Well. Since the last time you'd seen him.

The man knows a flavor profile.

One drink down, and you were sufficiently distracted enough from your pursuit of further learning that you let him convince you he could teach you how to dance. Despite your two left feet. Despite insisting you just have to finish one last thing. Despite not entirely understanding why he's here.

"Why are you here?" you murmur over his murmured instructions, feet only barely tripping over one another. You hadn't expected your voice to sound so sleepy.

You can feel his lips curl into a smile, right against your neck. A shock of warmth runs under your skin, so pronounced and pleasurable you swear he can feel it.

"To make sure you don't work too hard," he says, movements slowing to a sway. Good. That took a little less brainpower-- not that you had much to spare.

"'m not working hard enough, actually," you counter, eyelids drooping as his mouth presses ever closer to your skin. God, if he'd just pucker up, he'd be kissing you there, but Steve likes to linger. Likes to draw it out. Likes to make you ask.

"Bags under your eyes beg to differ."

"Hey--" you start, just as he reigns his neck back. You almost shiver from the absence of him. His gaze on you is heavy lidded, close and comfortable yet you crave him closer still.

"You are beautiful," he puts the point on, "but you are exhausted."

"I-- I am exhausted."

Steve runs his finger along your hairline; it's a gesture so intimate, given how little time you've known one another. Anyone else and you'd be wary, but he seems... genuine. An open book. No ulterior motive that you could possibly think of.

"And if you don't take care of yourself," he whispers, and before you know it, he's walking you backwards-- a languid step or two through your tiny apartment, towards your bedroom, "I will."

Nose to nose with him, you sigh. It's all you can manage, competing with the sensation of his hands on your hips, his breath warm on your mouth.

"Would you like that?" he asks, stopping against your doorframe. Steve's eyes have darkened some; he lobbies the ball into your court, so to speak. Say the word, and I'll go. Let you brew a pot of black coffee and get back to it.

He always gives you a chance to walk away.

You wonder why that is.

But he is, and you never thought this could be true of a person, irresistible.

Your hands, eager hands, rub over his shoulders. Your lips, eager lips, don't dare kiss him first. But God, you want to.

"Yes," you say, a whisper so high and fleeting that he'd miss it if he didn't catch it in his own mouth, "Yes, I'd like that."

[fatkish]

Hiii

Im new to ypur blog and i saw you write for dadzawa so i wanted to know of you could write a platonic Aizawa in which his daughter (she is like 16 years old) gets really sick and im the hospital she is dignostised with a weir or with out cure illness?

If this request makes you uncomftable feel free of ignor it 🩷🩷

Thanks 🩷🩷🩷

So this took some time because I had struggled to come up with an idea for what the illness would be. It might be kinda short so I hope you enjoy it. (Not Medically accurate)

Aizawa x Daughter Reader: Anemic

It was a mystery how you had gone so long without being affected by your Anemia. You had always seemed so healthy. Unlike the other kids in your class, you didn’t dream of becoming a hero. You dreamt of creating a bakery/cafe/coffee shop that was run at night to support people like your old man, Aizawa. You wanted to be able to be open at night and give nighttime Heroes a place to eat and get their coffee fix. You had entered into the business course at UA. You can’t imagine how happy your dad was that you weren’t going to become a hero and risk your life. Not that he means anything bad by it, he just doesn’t want to have to bury his own child.

It was during the first year’s sports festival that your condition came about and started to affect you. While your classmates in the business course were handling out and selling food in the stands, you were one of the students who were making the food. It was while you were chopping up ingredients for Takoyaki that you accidentally stabbed your wrist really deep. One of your classmates had been telling you the orders, while you were listening and not paying attention to your hands, that was when the accident occurred. The moment you realized what happened, your classmates tried to help you stop the bleeding.

While you struggled to stop the bleeding, your friends helped guide you to Recovery Girl’s office. While you and someone else held your wrist and applied pressure to the wound, another made sure to guide you guys. When you were halfway to her office, you started getting dizzy. There was a small blood trail that some people noticed which lead to the number 2 pro hero, Endeavor, to stumble upon your nearly unconscious form being supported by your peers. When he asked what happened, he realized you may have lost too much blood and decided to rush you too the nurse’s office himself.

When he open the door to Recovery Girl’s office, she immediately recognized you as Aizawa’s daughter. She quickly went to work on you and asked Endeavor to please find and Notify Eraserhead that his daughter had accidentally gotten hurt and that she’ll likely be in her office until after school. Endeavor begrudgingly accepted and went to tell Aizawa, but before he could leave, she asked him what his blood type was. When Recovery Girl discovered that you were anemic after looking into the reason for you to faint without having lost too much blood, she asked Endeavor if he would be willing to donate her some of his blood since they were same blood type (if you’re not then just pretend you are)

After being told about your anemia, Endeavor agreed seeing as it’s part of his job to help people. After giving some blood he left and ended up finding Aizawa in the hall during a break. When he told Aizawa, Recovery Girl’s message, Aizawa quickly thanked him and headed straight for her office. When he got there, Recovery girl sat him down and talked about your condition and what treatment options you had.

Since the underlying issue and cause for your anemia was your body’s low production of red blood cells, Aizawa had talked it over with you and decided that you would start taking vitamins and supplements with a change in diet to include the necessary proteins and minerals that are crucial for red blood cell production. After the sports festival, you and Aizawa went home and started cooking together as a means to spend time together and for him to make sure you took care of yourself.

[fourseasonscomeandgo]

1626.

Pairing: TWICE Nayeon x fem!reader.

Word Count: 4k

Genre: Fluff, Angst.

TW: Cursing, Alcohol, Cigarettes.

Clarifications: Non-Idol AU.

2011, April.

16 years old.

There was always this thing between you and being late everywhere. No one around you ever understood how someone so extremely meticulous had such a flaw.

And on that tuesday in april, as usual, you arrived at school fifteen minutes after the hour your first class started. But something differed from your messy routine. Despite the fact that you consistently arrive at this time, you had never witnessed any anomaly where another student coincided with you.

Until that tuesday in april.

You were walking along, calm. You were already late, two minutes or so wouldn't prevent a reprimand from the teachers. But this girl was running as if she was escaping from a dog that wanted to bite her. She looked so anxious and desperate that you instantly realized that it was, quite possibly, the first time she was late for school.

She stopped in front of the entrance, thinking about something, nervous. She was probably worried about being scolded. At that moment she noticed the presence of someone else.

You hadn't noticed that you had stopped to look at her, that you were no longer moving.

Four minutes more or four minutes less, you were still late.

At the time you couldn't tell why, but you wanted to help her.

She turned her head towards you, you both looked at each other somewhat embarrassed. That's when you first heard her voice.

"Do you think I'll be punished for coming at this hour?"

2014, November.

19 years old.

Nayeon. Im Nayeon.

That time you walked her to the classroom, so that she would be calmer, and as children who see everything simpler do, she started to see you as a friend.

She always saw everything simpler than you.

She began by greeting you in the hallways, talking to you if she saw you alone, accompanying you home since you lived far away. Until one day you realized that you were inseparable. Nayeon knew everything about you, and you knew everything about her.

And if your secrets are kept with one person, you go wherever that person is.

So you decided to take the entrance exam and apply to the same university. Hence, all year long you were having study meetings where you sometimes took mock tests.

On the calendar it read the third thursday in November. That was it. Possibly if this didn't work out and you ended up at different universities you would still see each other, but it would be more complicated. You just wanted to always be by each other's side.

"y/n" your friend mentioned your name with that restlessness that always bloomed inside her moments before something big happened.

You turned to look at her. Her brown hair slicked back, held back by a white headband, dressed in her perfectly groomed uniform, nothing out of place. Her eyes, her big brown eyes, crystallized, filled with tears.

You became alarmed, approaching her in strides, taking her face in your fingertips and lifting it so that your pupils found each other.

"What's wrong, Nayeonie?" You asked in alarm, with concern "It's okay, yes? We studied a lot, we prepared for this every second we could, you'll do well, you always do well, you're brillia-"

"Promise me you'll always be by my side." She asked desperately, cutting off your inspirational speech.

"Of course I will, Nayeon."

"No, y/n" she raised her hands towards yours to hold them "promise me that no matter what happens today or any time in our lives, you're not going to leave me, because I know I won't, and I've never been so afraid of losing someone."

Actually, no one was ever afraid of losing you before.

As you held each other, and your surprised eyes blended with her teary ones, the promise was already made. A friend is a light, the place you go when all you know is darkness. A friend is someone you can trust, who will always be there for you. And you are her best friend.

"I promise." You affirmed, smiling.

"Swear it for what's most important to you." She demanded in a somewhat threatening tone, standing on her tiptoes, pressing her index finger to your chest accusingly and with a defiant look.

"I swear on all the memories we have together," you repeated "I will never leave you."

2018, June.

22 years old.

If someone were to ask you for three warnings before talking to Nayeon for the first time, they would be:

Im Nayeon is very loud.

Im Nayeon requires a lot of attention.

Im Nayeon always gets what she wants.

You have proof for the last one. As she wanted to go to the same college as you, she got that.

You were in your third year of college life, on a friday. She had insisted that she wanted to come to this party thrown by some older kids.

The whole damn student body was on the sixth floor of the dorm building, going in and out of room 302.

Damn Korea and its lack of fraternities. Y'all could be at a huge house with the Kappa Kappa Somethings, not this.

You were sober. Since you're not good with alcohol you avoid drinking too much. Not that you like the bitter taste of it either.

You're used to sweet things in your life, like Coca Cola, your mother's orange cake, the scent of azaleas in your grandmother's backyard, and Nayeon.

For her, well, she was completely intoxicated. With cheap beer coursing through her veins.

When she got drunk it was impossible to stop her, her energy levels rose drastically. It made you happy to see her in such a state, she was the life of the party.

You were standing on the sidelines, but seeing your favorite person having so much fun, you felt you had to be part of the moment. Moving your body subtly to the sound of the music, marking the rhythm with every step you took, you slipped through the crowd, appearing next to Nayeon.

The moment she saw you, she began to dance with you. Her hands rested on your shoulders without stopping moving, giving you a glance at times, accompanied by that smile she has when she is secure of herself. With each beat you moved closer to each other. Her palms began to move up the expanse of your neck, resting on the back of your neck, causing you to wrap your arms around her waist to make the position less uncomfortable. Your faces so close that your noses delicately caressed the other's, you both knew the song that was playing and sang every word of it with vigor.

You looked at each other creating a tension between you that to be cut you would have to bring a chainsaw. You had always thought Nayeon was attractive, you're not blind, but you had never looked at her the way you were doing at that moment. You never wanted to kiss her the way you did while dancing at that party full of sweaty, stupid people.

Her eyes scanned every faction of yours, her hand slid from the back of your neck to your cheek. Your grip on her waist firming even more, if that was even possible. She finally stopped to look at your lips, like you look at a plate of food after you haven't had breakfast, lunch or even a snack. Like you look at the lips of the person you've most wanted to kiss since you were sixteen.

But you were not that person for Nayeon.

She moved quickly, turning on her heels, her back towards you. She continued dancing, but now with another friend she had made in a subject in her undergrad. You came back to reality, your mind again recognizing the place and situation you were in, and what had just happened.

You needed to go to the bathroom.

You walked away and after splashing a lot of water on your face and taking a couple of deep breaths, you went back to where the people were. You didn't know what to do, as going with Nayeon was not an option, and your other friends were nowhere in sight. You went to get a beer, your first of the night, and simply leaned against a wall to drink it.

You felt a hand on your shoulder and when you turned your head to see who it was, you found Mina, an exchange student from Japan that you usually sit with in one of your classes. She greeted you and stood chatting with you.

Mina was a shy girl, but she had always been comfortable with you. Nayeon says you have the vibe of a friendly and warm person, so people feel at ease around you.

You would never have thought that you would create such a nice atmosphere that Mina would dare to interrupt one of your sentences by kissing you. Holding onto your neck with a delicate touch and resting her weight on your hand laying on her back.

Breaking away, you gave her a shy little smile, and she gave you an equal one. But yours disappeared as soon as you looked to your side and found your best friend witnessing everything, with a serious expression. And then she simply walked away, leaving the party.

You didn't follow her. You don't know if you should have followed her, maybe you should've, but at that moment you just thought that it wasn't the right thing to do to Mina to just run after the person you had almost kissed before her.

A while later you accepted it, that friday you actually wanted to kiss Nayeon.

2018, December.

23 years old.

After that party, you two didn't speak to each other for two days, but you couldn't resist not being glued together all the time, so you eventually pretended that night never happened and that's surely the one thing you two could never deign to talk about.

Everything was fine for a while, and you never thought that you might have feelings for your friend. Even with the events of that night, it never crossed your mind. It wasn't until christmas of that same year that those doubts awoke in you.

Neither of you were able to spend the holidays with your family, so you decided to spend it together with a few other friends.

Nayeon had said she wanted to introduce someone to you.

And that's when it was.

At a table in a fairly cheap restaurant near campus, surrounded by the people you loved on christmas day. On a tuesday, just like the day you met.

It was then that you realized you had feelings for Nayeon. In the worst way anyone can find out they love someone.

When Nayeon introduced Hyunwoo that night, you gave him your three warnings about her, as if you were giving her away.

The next morning you began the most abrupt detoxification process anyone has ever undertaken.

The night before you realized that you loved her and at the same time that you had just lost her. That morning you'd have to start getting over her.

2021, March.

25 years old.

You're not good at organizing meetings, you've never been, Nayeon takes care of that. But at her engagement celebration, she couldn't be the one in charge of the plans.

Luckily there's Jihyo, who took care of everything, and you just had to send a message to a group chat.

Last night Hyunwoo proposed to your best friend and she accepted. So today, on a wednesday, at her apartment, all her friends gathered to congratulate her.

You weren't over her, how do you get over Im Nayeon, really? You knew everything about her, but not that, not what you needed to know most.

Every day since you realized what was going on inside you about her, the feeling only continued to increase, you found in every moment and action something new about Nayeon that you had noticed before, but now it made your heart race.

And you hated Hyunwoo for being all that was right for her. You hated him because he deserved her, and because he was what she deserved. You hated him because he was indeed going to marry her, and you have no argument to tell your friend not to.

The dinner continued quietly, you chatted about various topics, ate delicious food, had a good time, and above all, drank a lot. As always, not you. You were fresh, fully conscious.

Finally everyone left and only Nayeon and you were left to sleep at her place. You were preparing her bed, as she was in no condition to do it on her own, when you heard her footsteps. You turned around and she was leaning against the door frame. You gave her a smile and continued to put the sheets on. Only a few seconds passed before you felt her arms around your waist and the warmth of her body embrace you. You took a big breath of air to calm the wave of emotions that appeared at the contact, but you couldn't stop your skin from bristling when she kissed the back of your neck softly.

"Nayeon, what are you doing?"

"I love you." She suddenly blurted out.

"I love you too." You replied bringing your hand to one of hers to give her a small caress.

"No, y/n," She inhaled deeply and brought her head up to rest it on your shoulder "I love you." She repeated "As in I'm in love with you."

You've been waiting for years for that, those exact words that came from her lips. You've been waiting years for her to confirm that what you feel is reciprocated. But there you had it, what you've wanted for so long, and it feels sour, bitter. It feels wrong.

"I'll put a mattress down and then you can go to sleep, I'll find some comfortable clothes for you to wear." You took her arms, pulled them away from your torso and began to walk out of the room with quick steps.

"y/n" she called out to you, but you didn't stop "y/n!"

"What?" you stopped moving roughly.

"Aren't you going to say anything?"

"What do you want me to say, Nayeon?" You faced your body to hers "That I'm in love with you too, is that what you want to hear?" your tone was an angry and overwhelmed one "Yes, that's right, I'm in love with you too."

Something inside you felt lighter after saying those words. She finally knew, you had said it, you had let her know that you didn't just see her as your best friend. It felt liberating, but at the same time it felt bad.

"But it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter anymore." You brought your hands to your face, rubbing your temples out of frustration.

"It does matter, y/n, why wouldn't it?" She moved closer to you and tried to touch your face, but you wouldn't let her.

"Because this is not the time you should have told me." You explained, tears appeared "I've been in love with you for years, but I never told you because I felt it wasn't correct because you were with someone else, but then you go and just choose the day after you got engaged to tell me."

You looked into her eyes, those that could lead you to do the most stupid things for her, the ones that always told you the things she didn't know how to say in words, your home, your safe place, the source of your adoration for Nayeon. You looked into her eyes, for the first time, with disappointment.

"If you say you love me as I love you, I will give up everything, y/n, I have always been willing to give up everything for you."

Nayeon always saw everything simpler than you. Her solutions were always the obvious, what you would do based on what you desire, but you analyzed everything more thoroughly, counting the consequences and everything that could go west. At the time, perhaps, she saw you as the love of her life, but for you, in front of you, stood an unfortunate crush from which you would never emerge unscathed.

"Not like this, Nayeon." You shook your head "Not when you got engaged to someone else last night." She crossed her arms and turned away, as if she didn't want to listen to you anymore "Not when you could have told me this three years ago, but you're only doing it now because you feel like you're running out of time and it scares you." You knew her feelings were maybe honest, but not the reasons why she was letting them out "Not when you only seem to love me when you're drunk."

Finally she turned her face to you again and you could see that it was full of teardrops. Any other time you would have run to her, wiped away her crying, kissed her forehead, and done everything you could to make her feel well. Any other time, you would have given her everything she wanted. But that wednesday in march you decided to put yourself before her.

"I'd better go, I don't think it's the right thing for me to sleep here." You announced and left her room, heading for the living room, where you had your things.

She followed you without saying a word, used to the fact that the very act of existing made you weak before her and led you to do everything to please her. You took some of your belongings that were scattered in different places and then your backpack. When you were in front of the door, that's when she realized that you were serious, that this time you wouldn't do what she asked you.

"You promised me you would never leave me." She remembered in a vain attempt to stop you.

"I'm not leaving you, Nayeon, but we both need time away from each other."

2022, January.

26 years old.

Those chaotic moments before you get married bring out your true yearnings, and that's why so many people run away from their weddings.

It's also why you shouldn't get married, to never have that epiphany where you realize that the person waiting for you at the altar is the last thing you want in the world.

Nayeon had ten months, almost a year, to realize that it was you who should be waiting for her to join her for life. Instead she spent all that time arranging a wedding and convincing herself that you were just a whim, that she didn't really love you like she thought she did.

Right there, she was moments away from walking down the aisle, and it all came crashing into her head, a long list of everything she denied all that time.

First of all, she loved you, more than she had ever loved anyone, more than she ever loved Hyunwoo. She has loved you for years.

Second, you loved her too.

Third, she wanted to spend the rest of her life with you and not Hyunwoo.

Fourth, she would have to give Hyunwoo a very big and expensive gift to apologize for this.

Fifth, she was not getting married that saturday in january.

Sixth, she wasted a year convincing you to be the maid of honor at the wedding of the love of your life. Geez.

And finally, seventh, she spent atrocities on a wedding she was about to ditch.

Nayeon stood up suddenly, startling the stylist who was arranging her hair. With an expression of despair in her eyes.

"y/n" she muttered, the poor hairstylist not understanding what she was talking about "y/n!" she repeated shouting this time, alerting everyone in the room "I need to find y/n" she explained.

"Nayeon, it's only a few minutes away, y/n must be positioning herself with the other bridesmaids." Replied her mother who was with her.

She ran out of the room she was in, even with how hard it was to run in her wedding dress. She reached where the bridesmaids were, which luckily was not a place visible to those present at the celebration, as they hadn't taken their place yet.

"Nayeon?" spoke Chaeyoung alerted upon seeing the bride, drawing the attention of all the others "What the fuck are you doing here!?" She asked in a whisper-yell.

"y/n" she repeated breathlessly "call y/n" she demanded.

"y/n is not here, she went out." Jeongyeon warned.

"What do you mean she went out? Where did she go? It's my wedding day and she dares to do whatever the hell she wants" She spoke confused and exhausted.

"She went to the backyard." Added the same girl.

Her friends were about to start asking her questions, but they couldn't, because the moment she knew where y/n was, the girl started running again, as fast as she could.

She really wasn't very fast.

She came outside and saw you, you were standing on the side of the fountain, watching the water fall, smoking. You were the most ethereal thing she had ever seen in her life and she instantly thought about how she never stopped to appreciate your beauty since knowing she loved you.

"y/n" She said for like the eleventh time that day, to which you looked at her.

"What are you doing here? The ceremony is about to start." You threw away your cigarette and walked toward her swiftly.

"It's not like you're where you need to be either." She alluded that you weren't getting ready with her other friends "Let's go."

She took your hand, directing you towards a gate at the back of the place that led to the street.

"What are you doing?" You asked as you stopped her.

"Let's go." She grabbed you again and tried to walk.

"Nayeon, stop it, what are you doing?" You reiterated.

"We're going to be happy together for the rest of our lives." She explained simply, holding you again.

"Nayeon." You took a step back, letting out a sigh.

"No." She stopped you now "Nayeon nothing." She said seriously "I'm not drunk, or delirious. Is this an impulse? Yes, it is, but it's the most honest impulse I've had in my twenty-six years of life."

She took a few steps toward you and put her hand behind your head, causing you to bend down a little, so that you could rest your forehead with hers.

"I love you, quite possibly since our third year of college." She confessed "When I told you the first time I let you go, I understood your point of view, I understood I did things wrong," she assumed "this time maybe I'm doing things wrong again, but I'm not going to let you reject me and leave like that time."

She raised her other arm to throw it softly, in an adoring way around your neck so she could catch you in a kiss, your first kiss. You didn't deny it, you didn't pull away, there was no point in doing that. You discovered that her lips were another of your weaknesses, of which all included her.

"y/n" she said yet again once the kiss was broken "we're going to leave this wedding, we're going to make sweet love, and then you're going to help me figure out how to apologize to Hyunwoo." You laughed, somewhat bitterly, as you felt bad for the man "And after that we're going to love each other forever, yes?"

"Yes."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

—O—O—

the image of nayeon running around with her wedding dress out of breath is actually so pathetic😭

—ica.

[codesandstuffs]

Mcyt Yuri Week - Day 2: Au

(link to ao3 version here, made for @mcyt-yuri-week 2023!!)

<File Retrieved...> <Loading...>

OFFICIAL COMPLAINT SUBMITTED AT: 07-08-2023 16:12 SUMBITTED BY: Z

B,

I regret to inform you that the agent you have assigned as our department head is unsuitable for the job. She is tardy, impolite, disorganised and underqualified. It is my recommendation that she is returned to whichever previous role she had.

Since joining, she has requested a copy of each of our current mission directories as well as halting all operations until paperwork was signed and resigned multiple times. Apparently, this is something my colleagues have also experienced, indicated she has issues with organisation.

For several weeks, she has also become increasingly inconsistent either which meetings she will attend and how late she arrives to them. This makes it very difficult for the rest of the department. I find timekeeping to be an essential quality in this field - is this really something we can compromise on as someone in the position of a department lead?

Another issue I have observed is the lack of professionalism she shows in the workplace. Even from her first day here, she has addressed all of us with a casualness that is inappropriate in the field, and on some occasions made jokes in poor taste, on subjects such as firing us or reassigning missions on a whim. While I understand being friendly with your department - one of my colleagues has recently taken up regular pub visits with her, for example - there is a certain level of respect expected in the workplace.

If you are unsure yet of the validity of my concerns, I might suggest a review of her work and brief investigation into her performance so far.

I'm sure you understand that all of these complaints come from a place of concern rather than one of malice. I truly do only want the best for our agency. It simply seems that our new department lead does not.

Z

<End Of File>

(fic below cut!!)

"Are you fucking kidding me?" shouted a voice from the next room over, and Cleo groaned into their pasta. "What is she doing? She lost my file again?"

Yeah, her morning was going great. Thanks for asking.

Not that the groaning from next door was about her, obviously. They weren't the sort of person who would misplace important files, nor the sort of person who would allow people to yell things down the corridor about them in third person. No - this was about Pearl, their new department lead and new boss, and quite possibly the worst agent Cleo had ever had the displeasure of meeting.

And frankly, Cleo empathised with the person from the next room over. She, too, had been told many a time that Pearl had lost something or the other of hers.

But the topic of Pearl felt even more sore today, on account of Cleo losing her closest ally in her petition against their new boss.

Just last week, she and Gem had been discussing ways they could remove their boss from her position, and now Gem was hanging out with Pearl after work. When had those two even become friends? Cleo certainly hadn't seen it coming, and she literally lived with Gem.

Whatever. She had work to do. She had important operations to oversee. She had charges now, people to manage as they began their first few missions as agents and learnt how to apply all their training in the actual agency. That was important. Gem and Pearl being chummy was not.

Cleo huffed and ate another fork full of pasta, aggressively flicking the page over.

It was fine. Everything was fine.

-

A week later, Cleo finally received their very first punctual report from Pearl. This was something new - it was almost tradition already that Pearl would somehow manage to turn everything in at least a little late. Gem was sitting next to them when their fax began printing out the report and - as she was closer - picked it up to read the header.

"Oh, it's from Pearl!" she said, already smiling brightly. "She did say she was getting a new fax machine, look how crisp this font is!"

"That's my fax machine's good quality, not hers, thanks," Cleo muttered. She stopped typing and turned to Gem. "What's it about? Last week's approval? My mentee's been waiting for days for that one."

"It's the weekly report." Gem glanced through it, eyes widening. "The one due by the end of today."

"Wait- what?"

"It's on time," Gem said, almost in wonder.

Cleo stared at her, then snatched the paper so she could see for herself. Indeed, the report was actually perfectly on time. If anything, it was early.

"This has got to be a prank," they frowned, squinting up at their door to see if someone was about to jump through the door and shout 'surprise!' or something. "Do you think she got kidnapped? Are we dealing with an imposter?"

"I think she's just gotten better at it," said Gem, wearing that enthusiastic smile again. "I told her she should try to get things done on time, even if it's not entirely perfect."

"So now I have to worry about the reports being wrong as well?"

"Cleo!" Gem scolded. "Pearl is a lot better than you're giving her credit for. Just because she's not triple checking everything anymore doesn't mean it's not still going to be accurate!"

"And why was she triple checking everything, then, unless she was pretty sure she was doing something wrong?"

"She's just nervous. Give her time."

Cleo rolled her eyes. "Of course you’d say that, she’s your newest best friend.”

“My newest -?” Gem paused and cocked her head. “Are you jealous?”

“I am not jealous,” Cleo said firmly, but Gem was already grinning and shaking her head.

“I would never replace you, Cleo! We’re just hanging out - no best friends being replaced or anything of the sort, so don’t you worry.”

“I wasn’t worried,” Cleo deadpanned. “I just think she’s incompetent.”

Gem’s mouth fell open.

“Off the record, of course,” Cleo added as an afterthought, though they were pretty confident Gem wouldn’t be gossiping about this behind their back. For all her traitorous Pearl-befriending, she was a reliable friend. “I just don’t think she makes a good boss. If she needs time to improve, maybe she should do that before being given an important role.”

“Cleo,” Gem said gently, apparently having recovered from her shock for the most part. “It’s not - alright, I’m not supposed to tell anyone this, but…” She glanced behind her to check there was nobody in the doorway, before lowering her voice and continuing, “Pearl wasn’t in this agency at all until recently. She was working in a small team halfway across the world, with some of the same goals as us but none of our resources and organisation.”

“Alright. Sounds like yet another reason that she shouldn’t be given this job straight away.”

“No, no, let me explain better: she managed the whole team on her own. She’s got the skills to lead this department, she just has to get used to the structure of our agency, and we just have to give her that time.”

Then Gem paused. She checked the doorway again, before leaning a little closer and dropping her voice into a whisper.

“Our agency and her team were working together for a mission a few months ago, but it went wrong. Really, really wrong,” she emphasised. “Pearl is the only one left of her team. It’s been rough on her these past few months, but our agency wanted to give her a place to carry on her work, and -” Gem shrugged. “They think she can do the job. Even B does, actually - sent her own personal approval.”

Well then. That was… news. And maybe it did explain a little of Pearl’s behaviour, though it didn’t change Cleo’s mind all that much.

“I’m sorry that happened to her old team, but I still don’t think she makes a good head for our department,” she said. “There are people better prepared for the role.”

“She can do this, we just have to be patient,” Gem insisted.

“There isn’t space for being sentimental here.” Cleo turned back to her keyboard and tried to find her place on the document on the screen before her. “Sorry, Gem. I’ll try and be nice, I guess, but I’m not going to just wait for her to be good enough.”

Next to her, Gem sighed, but didn’t press the issue. The room was blessed with peaceful quiet, and Cleo found that it was a lot easier to work without the distraction of having to talk about Pearl.

-

When Cleo finally bumped into Pearl for the first time after hearing her background - her tragic backstory -  from Gem, she was tempted to speak up and apologise about her team. It was only polite. Cleo may not have liked Pearl, but she wasn’t that heartless.

But then she remembered that she had only been told that story in confidence, and ended up fumbling her greeting entirely.

“Pearl! I heard - I mean, I think that - well,” they said, and then stared at Pearl expectantly, as if they were waiting for an answer.

Pearl blinked back at her in bewilderment. “Sorry?”

“Thanks for the weekly report,” Cleo tried instead. “It was on time and everything. So - thanks. For that. Good job, I guess, that one time.”

“Oh!” Pearl’s face broke out into a huge smile. “Thank you! I mean, you’re welcome - no, I mean - what do I mean?”

“I don’t know.” Cleo was not giving her any help.

“One thing is for sure,” Pearl pushed on anyway. “I’m going to work on getting more things done on time. I think I’m getting the hang of it already, actually! I’m going to be on time for my next meeting, it’s at nine but I left a few minutes early so I can -”

She stopped in horror, before glancing at her watch and gasping.

“Oh no, I’m going to be late, shoot! Sorry, Cleo, I - we can catch up later! Bye!”

And with that, in a whirlwind of coat and paper, Pearl was off down the corridor again, frantic as ever but somehow seeming far less malicious than she’d seemed to Cleo before.

Now, where did that change of heart come from?

[stem-sister-scuffle]

STEM SISTER SCUFFLE: ROUND 2 MASHUP 2

Honey Lemon (Big Hero 6) vs Ema Skye (Ace Attorney)

Honey Lemon is a Chemist!

Ema Skye is a Forensic Scientist!

Why you should vote for each contestant:

Honey Lemon:

"She applies her science into being a kickass superhero"

"She's so nice and enthusiastic about science. She's funny :)"

"She loves chemistry and wants to make the world a better place through it! She’s always optimistic and upbeat no matter what!!! Cute girlies in STEM!!!!!"

"her excitement for science is so palpable it’s my favorite part of the movie. she’s ECSTATIC about the elements and making chemical reactions just to see what happens!! not to mention she’s smart as FUCK! she created chemical formulas on the fly as she fights bad guys. CHEMISTRY is her superpower. she’s cute hehe"

"Her name is Honey Lemon. That's the cutest name I've ever heard. She's also described as having an innate talent in Chemistry, as well as a groundbreaking chemist. In her hero gear she has a Chem-Purse, which has a typepad of the periodic table which she can press on to make into a dense ball of any element she wishes, and during active battle she can calculate and input chemical formulas at incredible speeds without even having to look at it. Girlboss behaviour!! She also made a 400 pound ball of tungsten carbide turn into DUST before she became a hero when she was only a university student. She's not even a girlboss anymore she's a girlCEO. I had the BIGGEST crush on her when I was young. My Bi awakening. I love her so much you don't even know 💛"

Ema Skye:

"I love her a lot and she's very important to me. We get to see her story from being a high school student who's really into science, to becoming a detective, to then finally passing her forensics exam and becoming a forensic scientist like she always wanted. I cosplayed her before"

"Ema has been interested in forensics ever since she was a kid. She's extremely passionate about it. She works very hard and despite bumps along the way she does manage to achieve her dreams/career goal and get into forensic science. She is amazing and I love her enthusiasm and I love her :D When she was like 16 she personally had her own spray bottle(s) of luminol testing fluid, what a dork (in the best way!). Forensic science is practically her whole life. What an inspiration. The first thing on her wiki page is the quote "Yes! Isn't it amazing? Ah, the power of science. It's my life." Bless."

"this girl is so silly. Her favorite thing is luminol. You have an ace attorney pfp you know her. She is my favorite ever. She calls Klavier Gavin a "glimmerous fop" (accurate description). She wears a lab coat over her school uniform. She brings snacks to crime scenes.i love her your honor"

"shes like every enthusiastic autism girl with a science special interest who then gors to college and gets a job and is tired and a mean lesbian but still is a freak about forensics. i love her"

"SHE WORKED SO HARD TO GO INTO FORENSICS. SHE HELPS EVERYONE DO FORENSICS. SHE THEN FAILS WHEN IT COUNTS AND BECOMES BITTER BUT GETS OUT OF THOSE FEELINGS LATER ON. I love her dearly she's so silly and fun when she needs to be, and I think her failure is fascinating but I'm SOOOOO GLAD she was able to become a forensic scientist in the end :)"

"Showed up and gave Apollo random forensics supplies at just the right time. Not sure if this was authorized. Does not Mayte though she can do anything she wants. C’mon man you know her you know why she’s the best you get me right"

"She's fun and good at science and has pink lenses in her glasses and I like her a lot"

"She is so excited to be using her fun little toys to solve crimes."

"She’s a gosh darn professional in a house of fops. Is passionate about her work and was inspired partially by a murder case she was involved in as a witness. She’s really cute and really quirky, and ya girl knows how to snack. She accessorizes really well. I cosplayed as her once and found myself more and more impressed with her style choices as I was putting it together. We stan a fashionable yet practical STEM queen."

"she is literally everythingggg to me. she has wanted to be a forensic scientist since she was 16 y/o and introduces forensic investigation mechanics to the series like luminol and dusting for fingerprints. when she does not get her dream job, she becomes depressed and bitter, only cheering up when she talks about forensic science. later on, when she attains the job, she is much happier! science is her entire life and her career and she is tremendously autistic about it. also she's such a girlboss i love her <3 ema must go through btw. she is the ultimate woman in stem"

"Ema Skye has been interested in forensics for many years due to case that occurred when she was younger. Even though she didn't pass the test to become one at first she had still continued trying till she made it. She always lights up at the mention of anything revolving sciene. She gets so happy when she's able to work with her forensic tools and investigate the crime scene <33"

"Teaches Phoenix wright about forensics"

"she wears a cool lab coat and I don't really know what else to put here but she's neat"

"she is so autistic about forensic science. she goes against the police rules to take fingerprints. she infodumps to anyone who will listen about forensic science. ema is so special to me and I love her very much"

"Ema is a girlboss! She started using forensics and scientific investigation to help solve murders when she was just 15 years old. she autistic and bisexual bc I say so :)"

"Literally the only character in universe that uses hard evidence in trials."

"The skyentific detective…."

"Its literally her personality ok. Just listen to her theme(s). I just love her"

"She is literally me <33 I love her. I need to see her grow up happy and healthy and i need to tell my friends and family about her."

"Wants to be a scientific investigator and solve crimes scientifically, forced to be a cop. Goes from teen with a weird hobby to reluctant cop to everything she ever wanted and I am so proud"

"She’s just a little weirdo. And she keeps trying to be a forensic scientist, but she has to finish high school first. She solved the murder her sister was accused of "

"Forensic science fascinates her. She sure is a woman jn stem. I am sorry I am very tired i dn what to write"

"I need to actually finish AA but it’s her. You probably have more submissions with better reasoning but I like her vibes from what I did play."

"She's got all sorts of cool gadgets which utilize the DS touchscreen"

[compacflt]

okay "normie median Biden voter ice" got me. That's funny. But also so true! It prob took him a bit to vote dem too (though I believe that Ice would have never voted for Trump). Would love to hear more thoughts on Ice and Mav's politics. Also the list of who they would have voted for if you're willing to share.

i do worry that posting my extremely in-depth headcanons about some of this stuff will have the JKR “wizard shit” effect on my writing and ruin it a little, but ask and ye shall receive

copy-pasted straight from my list of “unhinged compacflt!top gun headcanons” that ive been keeping since september: on ice & mav's politics

16. Since their friendship began, Ice has always told Maverick who to vote for, since Maverick doesn't care enough to pay attention to national politics. They are begrudging ConservaDems (conservative political views, would vote conservative every election if Republicans weren’t actively sending them to war/actively promoting fascism). Ice’s voting record (and after 1988, Mav’s too) 1980-2020—note that he has always considered himself an “educated moderate”: 1980: Reagan. 1984: Reagan. 1988: Bush. 1992: Bush. 1996: Clinton (reaction to aftermath of PGW. Doesn’t care that Clinton enacted DADT because “I’m not [redacted], so it doesn’t apply to me”). 2000: Gore (refusal to vote for another Bush). 2004: Kerry (Mav votes Bush this year out of spite as he and Ice are going through their break-up). 2008: McCain (Navy loyalty). 2012: Obama (liked him as a person/worked closely with him, didn’t like his policies so much). 2016: Clinton (no other alternative). 2020: Biden (actually liked/previously worked with Biden, and now actively married to another man and therefore had to make some liberal concessions). 2024-onwards they will vote for any Democrat as long as they aren’t a “socialist.”

17. Also, Maverick didn’t vote in 2016. Partially because in my universe the TGM mission takes place that November, very near the election, and he has bigger fish to fry (something Ice will later take him to task for), and partially because I genuinely think he wouldn’t be able to stomach either mainstream candidate and probably would’ve voted for Libertarian Gary Johnson, which might have torn his relationship with Ice to shreds a few days before schedule. “Are you fucking kidding me? Johnson? Pete, this moron’s moronic party wants to abolish the driver’s license—” / “—Yeah, and then I could ride your sweet wheels with no problem whatsoever—maybe he’ll abolish pilots’ licenses, too, I’d like to see that—” / “If you vote for Gary fucking Johnson, I will very happily stop footing the bill for your piece-of-shit airplane, and you can see how useful your pilot’s license is then—” / So Mav didn’t vote in 2016. 

35. In terms of what he Tweets: I do foresee, post-retirement, Ice basically becoming a neoliberal military intellectual type on Twitter a la Mark Hertling (look him up on Twitter). Bio: “Retired @SECNAV. Advisor @WhiteHouse and @VoteVets. Contributing writer @TheAtlantic. Interested in geopolitics & modern warfare. Aviator, husband, Padres fan. [American flag emoji]” Only posts pictures of himself and Maverick at three specific annual events: 1. their wedding anniversary (“36 years with this fool and he’s still surprised to find out that I like the F-5 better than the A-4 #happyanniversary”), 2. every EAA Airventure (huge airplane convention), 3. San Francisco’s Fleet Week (which of course they MUST attend, they even headline it in 2018). Informative, analytical, highly-respected. Maybe goes on CNN or NBC all the time to talk about civil-military relations shit (aversion to FOX since the start of the Iraq War). Gonna say he had like four really viral threads about Russia and Ukraine in April or May and so has 300k followers or something like that. He has a personal website that links back to his Twitter and every essay he writes for international publications, with a pretty braggadocious bio (something along the lines of “Tom Kazansky has directly almost started global nuclear war twice in his life, and in the thirty-year gap in between, sold the Swiss half their entire goddamn Air Force and directed an entire Fleet during the Iraq War”). Lots of tweets like “Military aviation hot take: Compared to the F-22, the F-35 is a waste of money. Source: husband with 400+ hours of F-35 experience.” / “[Quote tweet of Russian Foreign Minister boasting about Su-57 production lines] Oh, so you guys finally figured out how to make more than one every other year?” / “Analysis of the failure of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine, from an ex-US Pacific Fleet Commander’s perspective: a short [thread emoji] [This thread gets 26k likes and 4k retweets]” / “This weekend my husband & I flew in to @EAA Oshkosh #OSH19 & took home first place for best P-51. Not to brag, but.” (A reply to this tweet: “Sir, you really know how to bury the lede that your husband is Adm. Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell. I had to look it up on Wikipedia.” / @TKazansky: “What, was it not obvious? Who else could it have been?”) Also, I see him writing a whole bunch of op-eds for international political magazines a la Tom Nichols (look him up on Twitter too). Writing analyses of recent geopolitical/military events for the New York Times, the New Yorker, the Bulwark, the Navy Times, the Atlantic, Bellingcat, etc. Not so much focused on domestic issues (but VoteVets [socially progressive vets’ group] board member, and ardently pro-democracy, yay!). He’s a smart guy.

37. This is not a headcanon, just kind of a… a real-life implication. My Ice was Deputy Commander of Third Fleet in 2003, meaning he’d have been there in command of the USS Abraham Lincoln when President Bush gave his “Mission Accomplished” speech aboard that ship in May less than 2 months after the initial American invasion of Iraq. Very premature & embarrassing. Ice would’ve been in direct contact with Bush/Cheney/NSC bureaucrats many, many times during the war. I genuinely believe this is what pushed him over the edge into firm liberal territory.