#and i keep sending it to my instructor for feedback

[paint-music-with-me]

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[shjsnjkj]

Kinktober Masterlist '24

-`♡´- This masterlist is made by me and @luviwon, the sweetest girlie I know. We decided to split the list in half but you can also find some episodes we wrote together! I will post on the odd days while she will on the even ones. ♡ You can find @luviwon's masterlist here! -taglist is open I hope that everyone will love our work as we put a lot of effort into it. Make sure to reblog and leave feedback if you liked it! Sending lots of love! ૮₍ • ˕ - ₎ა♡₊˚

OCTOBER 1 --- LEE HEESEUNG' COME 2 ME

☆ boyfriend!heeseung x girlfriend!reader ; After a rough day at work, you finally stepped out of the office building, only to find yourself caught in a sudden downpour. That would've been no problem because you love rainy days, but you didn't have an umbrella, and your phone's battery died as well. You prayed that your boyfriend, Heeseung would pass by your workplace and pick you up, but you knew he was working late. But not today, he came to you with his new car. You were so happy to see him and couldn't wait to thank him for saving you tonight. “You know, I’m ready. Waiting for you every night. Entrusting myself to your touch”

OCTOBER 2 --- YANG JUNGWON' MY PERSONAL STYLIST

☆ stylist!jungwon x model!reader ; Jungwon always finds the most fashionable pieces of clothing for you to try out, but when one day he decides to wrap you up in his own hands, well that becomes your new favourite fit.

OCTOBER 3 --- PARK JONGSEONG' THE BOY NEXT DOOR

☆ bnd!jay x reader ; Thunderstorms, no electricity, no key to your apartment. The only thing you could do was to stay for the night at your neighbor, Jay's apartment.

OCTOBER 4 --- SIM JAEYUN' ANNIVERSARY BREEDING

☆ boyfriend!jake x girlfriend!reader ; Before you know it, you reach your 5th anniversary with your boyfriend, and before you feel it, he is 8inch deep inside you. but this time, he will leave a special present there for you.

OCTOBER 5 --- PARK SUNGHOON' MY SUMMER LOVE

☆ sunghoon x reader ; It was August 31st, and you were heading back home tomorrow because of school. Unfortunately, sleep didn't come easily. Your mind kept replaying all the memories you had with Sunghoon this summer, except for one. The one you'll be making tonight with the help of his camera. “Fly through the deep night to you. In the thick darkness, I will hold you again”

OCTOBER 6 --- KIM SUNOO' MUTUAL TOUCHING

☆ bestfriend!sunoo x reader ; Someone once said that having a sleepover with your boy best friend is not the smartest idea. you wondered why, until you returned to your bedroom to find Sunoo touching himself and ultimately agreeing to pleasure each other.

OCTOBER 7 --- PARK SUNGHOON' BEST FRIENDS, RIGHT?

☆ bestfriend!sunghoon x reader ; Jealousy. This was the first time you felt that emotion while seeing your childhood best friend, Sunghoon around girls except you. You hated to admit it, but you found out yourself craving his touch every time you saw him. Maybe today is the day, to be honest and open up to him.

OCTOBER 8 --- NISHIMURA RIKI' CLASSROOM HOOK UP

☆ classmate!niki x reader ; You really hated the physical education class, and so did your classmate niki. but skipping it together didn’t keep you from finding another way to burn some calories.

OCTOBER 9 --- SIM JAEYUN' MIDNIGHT FICTION

☆ roommate!jake x reader ; You have this little habit, of reading fanfictions before going to bed. Every night you'd dream about him touching you, heavily making out at the wall. But you never thought that this would come true tonight with your roommate Jake.

OCTOBER 10 --- PARK JONGSEONG' MY FITNESS INSTRUCTOR

☆ fitness instructor!jay x reader ; Wishing to get in shape for summer, you hired your own instructor to help you reach your goal. yet later one, your only fitness target turned into feeling him press hard against your ass while bending down to stretch your body.

OCTOBER 11 --- LEE HEESEUNG' FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS

☆ fwb!heeseung x reader ; “I’ll be alone tonight, do you wanna come over?” This was Heeseung's first time at your place. You were on your own at home, and he couldn't wait to touch you again after agreeing to this relationship. It was snowy outside, but inside your home all the windows became foggy that night due to the hot air between you two.

OCTOBER 12 --- KIM SUNOO' PHONE SEX

☆ dating app stranger!sunoo x dating app user!reader ; “lonely at night? don’t worry, ‘call a lover’ will bring you the company you need in just a couple of seconds”. out of curiosity, you downloaded the dating app mentioned in the ad, just to say goodbye to boredom. I mean, it’s not like you’ll end up moaning a stranger’s name tonight, right?

OCTOBER 13 --- SIM JAEYUN' STARRY NIGHT

☆ chrucrchboy!jake x reader ; “You and I under the moonlight. We bloom at night.” Jake and you have been friends since you relocated to the same area. You never imagined that this sweet guy you go to church with every Sunday would have these naughty fantasies about you, and no one else. After your birthday, he took you to a beautiful garden far from your home, where you could make love in secret, unheard.

OCTOBER 14 --- YANG JUNGWON' PORNSTAR COLLAB

☆ pornstar!jungwon x pornstar!reader ; Having been in the adult industry for only a year, you’re constantly surprised by what the directors come up with next. but who would have guessed that their latest surprise would be filming a scene with your favorite actor?

OCTOBER 15 --- LEE HEESEUNG' BIRTHDAY SEX

☆ boyfriend!heeseung x girlfriend!reader ; Heeseung’s 23th birthday. You decided to surprise your boyfriend with the members after their concert. He loved every single minute of it, especially the ones you two shared throughout the night. You didn’t hesitate and relaxed in the indoor jacuzzi with some champagne and strawberries covered in …

OCTOBER 16 --- SIM JAEYUN' POST-MATCH

☆ football captain!jake x cheerleader!reader ; When it comes to football, you know that for Jake a new victory means a following night out with the boys. this time, though, luck is not on their side and Jake’s frustration needs to be buried somewhere else. maybe inside you would be just the great spot for that.

OCTOBER 17 --- PARK JONGSEONG' LULLABY

☆ uncle!jay x niece!reader ; Going on a vacation with your uncle looked like a wonderful idea. But little did you know, you will share a bedroom with him.

OCTOBER 18 --- KIM SUNOO' FAMILY DINNER FINGERING

☆ fiancé!sunoo x reader ; It didn’t take long for everyone in your family to hear about your engagement, so they organised a dinner to celebrate the two of you. but truth be told, can sunoo really keep his hands away from you under the eyes of other people? or will he just not give a damn about it and let his fingers do their trick?

OCTOBER 19 --- PARK SUNGHOON' GLASSES

☆ boss!sunghoon x worker!reader ; “I can’t endure it anymore, come to me. Just a little bit closer.” Stealing glances with your boss wasn't the best idea, especially when you're working on an important project and you're supposed to give it your all. He didn't like the result, it was full of mistakes and you had to get yourself together, as he said. So you had to stay overtime. Nevertheless, you were not alone, Sunghoon stayed with you and helped you get yourself together in every way possible.

OCTOBER 20 --- YANG JUNGWON' BEACH SEX

☆ ex boyfriend!jungwon x ex girlfriend!reader ; Going on a trip with your highschool group of friends sounds all perfect until you find out your ex will be there too. And you feel annoyed about it, that until you end up on top of him with your swimming suit buried somewhere in the sand. “We don’t need to tell your new boyfriend about it, sweetheart”

OCTOBER 21 --- LEE HEESEUNG' DAD'S BEST FRIEND

☆ heesung x reader ; Heeseung was your favorite person when you were a little girl, but after moving to a new country, you slowly started to forget him through the ages. Forget all his beautiful features, the memories you shared with him, and the song he sang to you the last night you saw him. Receiving little kisses and sleeping with him wasn't the same as you remembered either.

OCTOBER 22 --- PARK JONGSEONG' BACKSTAGE SUPPORT

☆ idol!jay x girlfriend!reader ; Performing on stage is indeed stressful, so sometimes Jay just needs his antistress toy to calm down. that’s why you wait for him patiently in the backstage, just in case he needs to recharge in between performances.

OCTOBER 23 --- PARK SUNGHOON' MOONSTRUCK

☆ sunghoon x reader ; Your fiancé, your parents, and your loved ones are waiting for you to show up at the altar in that beautiful white dress. But you are not even in the same place with them. Right now you're with Sunghoon, hand in hand, melting into each other's touch with your engagement ring on the ground.

OCTOBER 24 --- YANG JUNGWON' MIRROR KINK

☆ boyfriend!jungwon x girlfriend!reader ; A new house brings new surprises, and the bedroom ceiling mirror is no exception. at first, you don’t give it too much thought —until you catch your boyfriend’s reflection in it, relentlessly pleasuring you.

OCTOBER 25 --- NISHIMURA RIKI' LIPS

☆ rival!niki x reader ; You and Niki were the best dancers in the whole school, but everyone knew that you were enemies. One day, someone spread a rumor that the two of you were secretly dating. As soon as you heard it, you ran to Niki and asked him what was going on. "I wouldn't mind if the rumors were true." -He said.

OCTOBER 26 --- KIM SUNOO' SHOWER SEX

☆ step brother!sunoo x reader ; “What about we just share this one today?” Sunoo whispers into your ear, slowly taking more of your personal space inside the shower cabin. “let’s just wash these sinful desires of ours away here for now.”

OCTOBER 27 --- NISHIMURA RIKI' ONE PLUS ONE EQUALS ORAL TIME

☆ rich boy!niki x tutor!reader ; as Niki's grades keep considerably going down, you are being in charge of bringing them back to an average score, giving him private lessons at his house. Niki's stubbornness, though, and his constant dirty lines to flirt with you, do not help at all. so coming to an agreement together, you offer a little bit of you to every right answer he gets. it goes without saying now that by the end of the day, he would have mastered the subject just as much as your body.

OCTOBER 28 --- MAKNAE LINE' DRINKING GAME

☆ boyfriend!niki x girlfriend!reader x best friends!sunwon ; One too many drinks lead to the raise of unexpected secret fantasies, and that's how a birthday party for Jungwon turns into a dirty race, fighting for who to fill your holes next. and you would think your boyfriend Niki could never allow that, but the growing bulge in his pants when Sunoo is fucking you from behind, well, says something totally different.

OCTOBER 29 --- HYUNG LINE' ACT LIKE AN ANGEL, DRESS LIKE CRAZY

☆ brother!niki x sister!reader x brother's friend group!hyung line ; You always captured the models and the million-dollar products from afar. To be honest, you always wanted to try on some jewelry or something luxurious after being done with your work. Tonight you not just tried on the gems, you felt them as close as possible. Not to mention you got the chance to admire the streets of Tokyo from above with the help of the two ambassadors of Cartier.

OCTOBER 30 --- PARK SUNGHOON & KIM SUNOO' PANORAMA

☆ ambassador!sunsun x photgrapher!reader ; You always captured the models and the million-dollar products from afar. To be honest, you always wanted to try on some jewelry or something luxurious after being done with your work. Tonight you not just tried on the gems, you felt them as close as possible. Not to mention you got the chance to admire the streets of Tokyo from above with the help of the two ambassadors of Cartier taking turns behind your back.

OCTOBER 31 --- ENHYPEN' DARK MOON

☆ enhypen x reader ; Holding a halloween party on an abandoned island does not sound like the greatest idea at first, but it gets so much better when you get the best prizes for simply being there. as they wish to fulfill your dirty desires, enhypen organises a small game of hide and seek for you. but this one is a little different, as the prize for finding each and everyone is feeling them deep inside you, one by one, taking over your body and treating you just like the sex doll you wished to be. be careful, though, as there might be scary traps on the way to your reward (even though you can confirm that the only scary thing would be chocking on anything else other than their cocks)

[petalruesimblr]

Hello everyone! This project was meant to be for my own personal use but I decided to share with the community. I'm not sure if anyone would find it useful but I mainly created this as a stepping stone to quickly advance in either the Inventor, Painter or Sculptor careers as well as complete the Descendant of da Vinci lifetime wish.

This is for Sims who wants to pursue their passion for the arts (sculpting, inventing and painting) but does not have enough funds to kickstart all three at the same time.

With this part-time, they get shorter working hours and a weekly stipend of at least §360‬/week, which can help with the bills at the start and improve the quality of their work as they increase their skills to sell their creations at a higher price.

If you are interested, click on ’Keep Reading’ below for more information and pictures of the YCA Program Educator Part-Time Career.

YCA Program Educator (Young Creative Artisans Program)

Download Link: Sim File Share |

🔔Updated on 05/03/2024 - added code to remove ’Retire’ option

Job Offer:

Join the Young Creative Artisans Program (YCA Program) and inspire the next generation of artistic minds! Whether you're an expert painter, a skilled sculptor, an inventive genius or just passionate about the arts, we welcome all applicants to be a part of our dynamic team. From fresh graduates to retired Sims, everyone has something valuable to contribute. Apply now and let your passion for creativity shine bright in the halls of our afterschool club!

Career Details:

Career Type: Part-Time Available for: Young Adults, Adults and Elders Available Languages: English Levels: 3 Rabbit Hole: School Work Days: M, T, W, F Work Hours: 1 - 4 PM Does it have Carpool? Yes Does it have Uniforms? Yes (same uniforms used for the Political career; Business casual, refer to pictures above) Version: 1.42 Packs Needed: The Sims 3, Ambitions (Sculpting and Inventing Skill) File Type: Package

Career Features:

The YCA Program was initially planned as a workshop hosted by the school and scheduled for weekends but it was changed to resemble more of an afterschool club. The active Sim will teach students and this change allows you to earn more during weekdays compared to the previous setup.

You don't need the Generations expansion pack; I have only set the time to coincide with the Afterschool Club, which usually starts at 2-4 PM but the Ambitions expansion pack is required for this to work.

I have created only three levels: Lecturer, Instructor and Coordinator, and also nine custom tones that focus on increasing all three skills in each level. All descriptions for the levels, tones and metrics as well as skills required, salary, uniforms and other details are provided on the pictures above.

Please note that the Gives Lecture tone in this career is different from the Education career and I already tried using the same tone EA used but I never received any bonus of §200/lecture when I tested it so it may not work for part-times.

📣This career was made with patch 1.42 and it should work for higher patches as long as you have the latest version of NRAAS Careers Mod. Please be advised that you will need NRAAS Careers Mod for this career to show up in the game, click here.

I’m not fluent in any other languages to translate so if anyone is interested in translating this career, please don’t hesitate to send me a message here or comment on this post and will let you know the details.

I have tested this career in my game, so far it is working and all scripts are showing up. All feedback is very welcome to help me learn and improve my skills so please let me know if you experience any problems on your end and I’ll do my best to sort it as soon as possible.

[krukel]

After @seokoilua posted about the My Life, My Music interview (a while ago, this post is partially from my drafts!) I went to relisten to it. And in general it is a very fun interview with a lot of insightful moments about their creation process (Ne Bi Smel in particular) and the mixing process for example. Their voices in general are very soft (in tone, not volume) especially when talking to each other and the vibe is 🥰 I wanted to highlights some of my favourite moments because I want more people to know about them:

2:35 - They talk a bit about doing many concerts in a row and Kris says: "At one point in the summer we had four consecutive days of concerts and the fourth day was already the wors-" (gets cut of by Bojan). Knowing they have now done 7 concerts in 6 days during the nordic tour this is a little funny and a little sad to hear :(

3:59 - Not necessarily a moment but the first song (chosen by Bojan) is Ni Panike by Masayah and I think more people should go listen to Masayah so I'm including it >:)

14:30 - Ne Bi Smel was first called "burning room" and, quoting Bojan, "it couldn't have been more of an Ed Sheeran song." It sounds like the rest was not initially impressed: "and when I brought it to the rehearsal room the boys were like, yeah, hm, yeah no. and I think Jure just started banging on the drums and the guys took on the guitars and started playing some riff."

15:35 - The host asks a question about something they said somewhere else and Bojan and Kris argue a bit about who said that in the first place. It's very cute and my favourite moment is Bojan whispering at the end "I don't think so" because of course he needs to get last word in

21:34 - Hater!Kris returns because apparently he sends "not to appealing" songs to the groupchat?

Kris (about Jet Black Diamonds): The first time that we heard them it was their first single Retro Anorak, and I remember sending over the video to the guys in the group chat and I was like "oh, this is interesting," because usually I send some really… not too- Host: Obscure Kris: No no. Not too appealing Slovenian songs, because- Bojan: Yeah, Kris does that Kris: to be honest there's loads of them and I keep kinda getting them recommended somehow on Facebook or I dunno, it's like a positive feedback loop

Honestly the most surprising thing to me about this is that in the year of our lord 2022 Kris still used Facebook actively enough to stumble across things like that

23:56 - Kris talks about forming Buržoazija and how his guitar instructor recommended Jan: "Jan at that point was really like- I didn't really understand what he was about, he was like an introverted guy, really, also listening to a lot of metal and I was like "okaaay? I guess we'll try?" and then we started to practice and really got along."

25:45 - Luka (Apokalipsa's guitar player) and Martin already knew how to play and Bojan didn't and that's how they decided that he should sing. Also their first performance (also up on youtube, baby Bojči is very cute) was two (2!!) weeks after they started practising together

28:49 - About creating outside of Slovenia

Host: Is there something specific that you haven't yet done that you are desperately keen to do, or is this gonna gently evolve? Bojan: I dunno about the desperately want to do, I guess one thing we "truly desperately want to do" is go out of Slovenia to create. To try a new space. So go to a studio somewhere outside of our borders and see if the mindflow is different there. That is the only thing I can think of right now. Maybe Kris has- Kris: In addition to that, I really wanna see us tour anywhere, anywhere outside of Slovenia" Host: You are beginning to get to the audience already a little bit, […], you can find opportunities Kris: Yes, yes, we are, don't worry about it. We just don't want to talk to much about it yet Bojan: Let's say we're gonna have another interview next year and we're gonna have so much to talk about

This was before Hamburg where they created Carpe Diem and before London and honestly I'm glad they're getting to experience that Erasmus+/semester abroad experience because it's something they really wanted to do and they seem to be enjoying it a lot

[schalotte]

it's so wild how you can have instructors on opposite ends of the Do They Give A Fuck spectrum like this one that i took a translation class with last year would let us send in voluntary homework and read it and send it back with notes within like a couple days and that's what made me LOVE that class even though in person we mostly just went over our assignments as a group which was boring as hell but that opportunity to work on our own and get feedback helped me so much. and i have another class with her this semester and i sent her an email a few days ago to tell her about a scheduling issue and she replied the same day and sent a follow-up today to let me know she resolved the issue. so sweet!!! meanwhile another instructor is my sworn enemy even though she's good in class because she's sooo unreliable and i actively avoided taking classes w her after my first semester because of this but last semester i had no other choice and just when i thought she might win me back (even though she was still cancelling classes left and right like nobody's business) she told me i could email her to ask about my grade and then never got back to me . GIRL ! i know she has 1 million students but i also don't understand why she keeps taking on more classes only to neglect them 50% of the time

[sleptwithinthesun]

ooh if you’re still taking tgm requests i’d love anything with rooster and allergies? possibly some sort of pollen allergy thing during an award ceremony for the team after their mission, where rooster demonstrates why he works best in a plane away from the ground, where all the plants are

i am taking requests just slow at writing them lol. college is kicking my ass and i am in SHAMBLES but!! happy to fill this one for you; 0.6K words. dunno if i stuck to the prompt completely but hope you like it anyway :D

Admiral Bates is in the middle of his speech when it starts.

Phoenix, being sat right next to him, is the first to notice. "Hey, man, are you alright?" she asks softly, nudging Rooster with her shoulder.

"Fine," he murmurs, knuckling at the underside of his nose and sniffling quietly. "Stop worrying."

"Who said I was worried?" she scoffs, turning her attention back to the ceremony. Their return to—and success at—TOPGUN has been a pivotal moment in all of their careers, and it's entirely because of Maverick that half of them are even here to seem him finally get promoted. The entire Dagger Squad's been invited, not that any of them would have missed it. Not for the world.

Phoenix is craning her neck to try and catch a glimpse of Maverick against all the brass collected at the front, including but absolutely not limited to other admirals and instructors who'd witnessed Mav's training sessions, when Rooster suddenly leans forward next to her, not quite managing to stifle a harsh sneeze. "hg'XXt!"

"Bless you," she murmurs, Hangman, Coyote, and a few others around them following suit. Rooster nods his thanks, sniffling again and turning his attention back towards the ceremony. It's not long, though, before he's cupping his hands around his face again, one of them pinching his nose shut, and sneezing.

"nXGt'uh!"

Phoenix runs a hand along his forearm and squeezes gently, silently asking for his attention. It takes a second before Rooster complies, but when he turns his gaze to Phoenix, she sucks in a harsh breath when she sees just how bad he looks.

His eyes are red and puffy, mouth slightly open so that he can breathe. Phoenix is unable to stop herself from pressing the pad of her thumb against his swollen sinuses, but pulls back when she hits a sensitive spot that sends Rooster back to his hands. "Christ, you dumbass, did you take anything?" she hisses, tugging at his wrist to try and stop him from stifling.

"Ndo," Rooster sighs, sniffling again. From behind them, Payback presses a wad of napkins into Phoenix's hand, letting her pass them over to Rooster. "Thoughtd I'd be fide, 's only supposed to be an hour or two." He accepts the napkins, blowing his nose quietly as Maverick steps onto the stage.

Phoenix shakes her head, much like a disappointed mother, just as the microphone begins to squeal with feedback. "Huh, I thought they would've figured out how to prevent that by now," Mav comments, giving the audience a smile before launching into his speech. It only lasts a few minutes, but throughout the whole thing, he still manages to give entirely too much credit to the Dagger Squad for the success of the mission when in reality, it was his methodology and training that kept them all alive. Also throughout the whole thing, Rooster struggles to keep his predicament quiet. Phoenix has always known that he works best in their planes, away from the ground where all the plants are, but it's never been as clearly illustrated to her as in this moment.

"I say this with love," she tells him during the applause for Maverick, voice covered by the noise, "shut the fuck up."

Rooster only groans and sneezes again. "h'hgXST! nXGT! XXT'SH!"

"That's it," Phoenix murmurs, pulling him to his feet as the rest of the Dagger Squad starts filtering into the aisle and towards the stage, followed by the majority of the attendees. "I'm taking you back to Mav's place; you can apologize to him for missing out when he gets home. But you need Benadryl, now."

"Nodt evend godda try dto argue," Rooster breathes, complying as she drags him back to the car. "Just drug me up."

And that's how, when Maverick gets home just over an hour later, he's met with a slightly loopy, still-allergic Rooster and an exasperated Phoenix who's still far too amused to really mean the apologies she's dishing out.

Because this? Maverick wouldn't give it up. Not for the world.

[waffleston]

Searching for a job worsened my hopelessness/depression.

I think companies should send me their resumes instead of the other way around.

I understand the concept of references, but, like, I think every boss I've ever had hated me on some level? Like, these places expect me to reach out to a guy I stopped working for three years ago and ask if I can use him as a reference? How do I even know if these people still work there? And at least at that specific job most of my coworkers were transphobes and part of the reason I expedited my departure was due to weirdness from them.

Networking is a thing I probably should've been doing. Instead I feel like I'm at the edge of a cliff and my only option is to just. Perish?

I tried talking to one of my current supervisors about job searching and references and got. Weird vibes in response. Probably overthinking it.

My work contract ends on the 15th. I don't even know how to interview. Every job I've gotten has been through being referred around but now I don't have that. I'm leaving the pleasant bubble of having bounced around jobs at one university for the past 7 years.

There's also the whole not being a student anymore thing which bothers me. I mean, I have an M.A. now so I've been here too long anyways.

I know I can bring my resume to a department and ask them for feedback but. I can't. Why won't my brain let me do it? I could even ask a coworker or something but I don't want to be a burden.

My recent work history suggests that I've been thrown into the "become an underpaid adjunct instructor in English" pipeline but I hate English, both the concept of it as a course as well as the language itself. I'd rather teach something else if I have to subject myself to being a poorly paid teacher again.

I feel like I'm incompatible with the world. I left engineering because of the bigotry, I left computer science because my supervisor successfully spooked me out of the field, and my linguistics program collapsed around me as I ended up in teaching. And that grocery store job I had to take to keep afloat over the summer managed to hit my triggers in just the right pattern to give me PTSD flashbacks about it.

I don't know if its possible for me to end up in a job where I don't hate existence. My brain doesn't work right.

[clemencetaught]

🍁 + what is professor patrick's grading style? uwu does he use a rubric? does he leave comments in the margins? is he strict about the 11:59 p.m. submission deadline, or does he give a little more leeway? if he's ever done online lectures, is he savvy with virtual meetings, or is he the "can u guys hear me" (no professor ur mic is muted,,,) kind of instructor?

*insert leaf puzzle here* ( leafy meta meme w/ @interxstitial )

send 🍁 + any question you’ve been curious to know about my muse(s)!

i'm assuming this is for verse one, so i'll put this question in that verse <3

you know those professors who genuinely love what they teach and want to spread that love to their students to the point that grades aren't nearly as important to him? yeah, so that's patrick. unfortunately, he has to give grades as mandated by the school so here we are :/ that being said, i would when he's grading while he is giving students feedback on their work when he grading he's not using a rubric as a basis so much as he's evaluating how much the student has grown overtime in his class. every student in this manner is coming from a different point so he always keeps this in mind when giving grades and feedback. one of the biggest things he wants his students to come away with is the ability to write well but also read well and in order to do that, students have to be able to make mistakes....what he'll usually do is give a preliminary grade when a paper is turned in, and then a week later give the papers back w/ feedback so students can make revisions and get a better grade.

i would say the only thing that he's strict is about is the deadline- of course if it is an emergency that would make a student unable to turn in their paper, he'll give a grace period, but for the most part, i do think patrick has a very good bullshit detector ( thanks hyuk ) so if he gets the sense that a student is trying to take advantage of him, he will knock them down a peg or two. i think the fact that at every point in his class from the feedback to the office hours to even the chance to revise papers, he gives students the chance to improve their grade and thereby their writing, he can be strict on the deadline bc he has other priorities he needs to juggle too- a student's inability or unwillingness to respect his time is not going to be a reason his life is thrown out of wack.

( that and all papers must be turned in double-spaced with times new roman font size 12- a student once turned in their paper in comic sans and while he didn't take points off for that, patrick would really prefer not to go through that painful experience again. )

that being said, i do think when he was starting out, he was a tad bit too lenient with his students esp. because he knows what it's like to be a student and therefore doesn't want his class to be too stressful on them when they already have like 4 others to juggle too...however, he found being too lenient often resulted in him having much less time to himself and so boundaries are very necessary- they're here to learn and grow, not to coast by after all.

[intlmains]

Alo moves review

Alo moves review how to#

Alo moves review Offline#

Alo moves review series#

No matter which I go with, I never have a bad workout with this app.Ĭhoose from over 1,600 yoga, fitness, mindfulness, and skills classes in the Alo Moves app to create your personalized week of workouts. Some days I chose both and others I chose one or neither. It clearly provides the reps to perform, and countdowns rest for you while providing a motivational quote from a fitness figure, athlete, or expert.Īt the end of whatever workout you choose, you have the option to add in a quick cardio and/or a quick shred finisher, both of which are roughly five minutes, and cap off your workout with a bang. I tell it what I want to work on, even down to the specific body part if I choose, and it provides me with a routine.Įven if you're not so familiar with working out, the app still offers plenty of videos for every single move that is easy to watch and follow. You also have the option for the workouts to be designated as body weight, which means they don't involve any additional equipment to complete.Īs a person who's well versed in strength training but doesn't always have time to program my own routines, I absolutely love this app. Simply choose your workout style (basic, classic, athlete, lean-X, cross shred, tone, or bulk), the duration of time you want to sweat (from 30-75 minutes), and this app provides you with different workouts to do every day. Who it's for: Beginners who want a simple user experience and unique workouts Pros: A new workout every day that's never the same, able to pinpoint specific parts of your bodyĬons: The app requires you to click through every workout move and rest period

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Questions, comments, and feedback? We would love to hear from you! Send us an email at and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.If you love working out but need help coming up with workouts or don't know how to program your own, you'll quickly appreciate the work Shred does for you. Sync your sessions with the Apple Health app for a complete picture of all your workouts. We’re in this together! Log your workouts and stay motivated with thousands of other users in our online community. Keep your practice fresh with the latest and greatest in yoga, fitness, and mindfulness. Get bored easily? We release new classes every week. Our team of expert instructors will inspire you to push past your peak, scale back when you need to, and take a moment for yourself.

Alo moves review Offline#

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[writingwithcolor]

Iam wanting to write a story about a girl who has asthma, a learning disability and is considered by society to be less than average. She is also a little over weight. When she has been given immortality other immortals shun her and want her dead. To escape from this she goes to a martial arts temple in China. She is also an American. I was wondering how I could incorporate both cultures in my story?

Overweight Chinese American girl with asthma & learning disability, martial arts, & China

Disclaimer: I’ve written this response assuming that the main character herself is Chinese or Chinese-American. 

Some stuff I’d like to discuss point-by-point:

Being an Asthmatic

Asthmatics don’t exactly have the best representation in media, so I’m worried about a non-Asthmatic writing a story where the main conflict is centered around the MC’s method of coping with ableism.

Especially considering how we’re portrayed as stereotypical nerds/geeks for not being absolute athletes (haha maybe because pushing ourselves that far will literally result in an asthma attack-)

I have a feeling that in addition to the point where Chinese people are already stereotyped as nerds, having her be asthmatic as well does mean you’ll have to be more careful in how you present her. We already have the whole “model minority, East Asian = nerd” thing going for us.

Being “overweight”

America’s definition of “overweight” looks different for all kinds of people! 

Someone who’s statistically considered “overweight” by American standards might pass as being “average” (in American standards once again) and vice-versa! The existence of the word actually insinuates the existence of an ideal weight-- pretty fatphobic.

If you mean to say that she’s fat, chubby, and/or plump, then do so. Don’t dance around the term just because it’s deemed ‘undesirable’ by our Eurocentric beauty standards. 

(Additionally, being chubby is associated with the nerd trope as well. More to watch out when developing her character.)

Mod Rune mentions the specific way you’ve phrased how as a result of her being overweight and asthmatic, she’s “considered by society to be less than average” and she’s shunned/wanted dead specifically for these two reasons.

Being disabled =/= incompetency or being less than an abled person. Once again, an OwnVoices situation would make sense; However I would still worry about infantilizing Asthmatic/chubby people this way.

The plot… oof.

I’m worried that your method of combating the already-delicate conflict (that she’s looking for a way to cope with her feelings of inadequacy induced by ableism/fatphobia), is pretty insulting. You specifically word her trip to China as an “escape” which I feel could have a much better reason-- your excuse as is sounds to lead into a story of “refinding myself at the home of my birth culture” or something like that- especially with the fact that she’ll be doing this at a martial arts temple. A very cultural aspect of China.

Martial Arts?

That being said; Even though a Chinese martial artist does feel rather stereotypical, it does help with asthma (source: me and Taekwondo)

Specifically, according to this study from NCBI on the correlation between asthmatic children and Taichichuan, results have shown that “12 weeks of Tai-Chi-Chuan could improve the pulmonary function, decrease airway inflammation, and improve quality of life in children with mild asthma”.

However Northern Shaolin, Hung Ga, Wing Chun, and other Chinese forms of martial arts could work as well! Please do research on the specific techniques and differentiate between them. Appropriating Chinese martial arts on top of the fact that it’s already rather tropey- very bad.

A different plot?

Perhaps don’t send her off to China to quote, "escape from how other [immortals shun her and want her dead]". 

I think a better motivation for this change in landscape would be “She wanted to train to get stronger and improve her health with how it was negatively impacted because of her asthma.” 

The thing with a lot of disabled people is that-- we don’t want to have to “keep up” with abled people. We don’t want to need to take all these extra measures just to be able to function ‘normally’ (or at least the one defined by society). I feel that the motives in your original plot panders to that idea that she must get stronger or else she’ll never be accepted by the other immortals. A Chinese-American asthmatic myself, I’d much rather see her self-worth measured through her own growth as an individual than how well she ‘fits in’ with non-asthmatics.

Marika mentions that people also often do martial arts for culturally-relevant exercise-- so this could also be a way for her to reconnect with her birth culture.

Sophia also mentions that being overweight has little on one’s skills as a martial artist; So it shouldn’t be used as an argument as to why someone shouldn’t be taking on a certain expertise. (Seconded, as someone who did kendo: some of the better kendoka were overweight and had more precision than I did --Jess)

Incorporating TCK Culture:

Look for stuff written by actual Chinese-American third-culture kids!

Every little part of life- from the stories parents tell their kids before bed to the kind of food we eat daily- is 100% influenced by both our caregivers and the community we live in. For me personally, we’d have hotpot dinners with other Asian families during the Lunar New Year and I’d typically be sent to Chinese school on Sundays as well. 

Mods Jess and Lesya touch up on some TCK elements in this ask as well! (Wanting to Learn More About Culture Because of Chinese Name) However your MC celebrates her cultures will also depend on how assimilated into America her family is.

Like I said earlier: look for materials that Chinese-American TCKs and immigrants have written! There’s no better way to learn about certain customs than getting them from the actual source.

My ending thoughts!

These are honestly traits that I’d love to see more, as an asthmatic Chinese-American myself who has done martial arts in the past, haha.

Be extra careful when a ton of your character’s traits are found in East Asian (Chinese) caricatures! Be sure to flesh her out as a three-dimensional character as this description that you’ve given us (regarding her conflict) makes me go >.>-- I don’t like it as is.

Give her motivations for herself that aren’t purely to conform to others (per the submissive Asian girl trope). Having a bullied Asian girl does feel like it plays into this, so please don’t have her measure her worth as an individual based off of the standards set by abled people!

Do tons of research on Chinese martial arts! Marika mentions huge points below that I want you to consider when giving her a specific speciality-- just saying “a martial arts temple” doesn’t cut it. 

(As always, any reader feedback/additions would be appreciated!)

~ Mod Emme

These are my thoughts as someone who has practiced various styles of Chinese martial arts. 

While the quality of the instructor and the student’s efforts are crucial, I think you need to be clear on the following:

The style of martial arts your character will be doing

Their physical limitations

The type of learning disability they have. 

Different fighting styles suit the limitations of different body types in different ways

A person who is overweight may find styles with explosive movements that put weight on vulnerable joints like the knees to be painful. Styles that favor stable stances may be more feasible than those that emphasize movements with lots of air time, crouching and jumping.

A person who is inflexible will need a style that encourages them to keep limber to avoid getting hurt.

A person with diminished lung capacity will need a style that safely challenges their endurance.

Different learning disabilities might make certain styles more or less difficult to learn

ADHD may favor fast fighting styles with complex move sets and a wide variety of weapons.

Issues associated with memory retention may make styles that emphasize sparring easier than those that focus on memorizing forms

Make no mistake, the culture of a style will be as much of a consideration for your character as the Chinese and American cultural influences. Do your research, and inquire with practitioners as to what styles would work well for your characters. 

The tumblr blog How to Fight Write would likely be a good resource on the physical logistics of different styles. 

- Marika

[mr-entj]

First off, I’d like to say thank you for your help. Starting off small and going one step at a time has been going well so far. I finished my resume and LinkedIn, now I’m finalizing case studies for my portfolio. Starting tomorrow I’ll be sending out applications.

In case you’re curious, I’ve decided that I’m actually not a researcher but more of a project management. I reviewed my roles in each project (research lead) and the feedback I got from my team and instructors. I was always chosen to speak with our stakeholders, do the presentations, formulate storytelling, and my team often looked to me to “keep them on track.” My ability to manage details while seeing the big picture was noted by my peers, and my instructors all agreed that I shined during our team projects. I think that I’ll be able to leverage design thinking into a PM role. If you have any advice on job hunting for this kind of role with my experience, or resources to develop as a PM, I’d be grateful. If it’s better to go into research, I’ll receive that feedback.

Some things we studied in class that I think will be useful:

Project management (agile, lean, waterfall), daily scrums, A/B testing, product management, managing clients and stakeholders, professional agreements, scoping and project planning, stakeholder interviews, service design, content strategy, and business analysis

To avoid confusion, be aware that Project Managers are called PjMs while Product Managers are called PMs. These are two different professions with different roles, responsibilities, and salary bands.

For resumes: Ensure your resume emphasizes ownership of projects from start to finish. Everything is project management so finding examples shouldn't be difficult. The most important thing to being hired as Project Manager is experience. Find it everywhere you go whether it's volunteer work, on-campus jobs, or internships to stack your resume.

For certifications: Look into the CAPM or PMP. Lean Six Sigma is also a recognized certification for process improvement which PjMs are often asked to do.

For skills: Be familiar with project management software like Microsoft Project, JIRA, Asana, and Google Workplace.

For job applications: Entry-level Project Management positions are called Associate Project Managers, Project Coordinators, Project Analysts, or Project Managers. Those are the roles to target if you have little to no work experience.

For job interviews: Be prepared to give examples of projects you've owned end to end (and how you managed them), projects that went well (and the result of that work), projects that didn't go well (and why), difficult stakeholders you worked with (and how you dealt with them), etc. Common project management interview questions can be found here.

Research is completely different from project management so decide on what you want to do, commit to it, and execute. Changing career paths frequently is like changing the direction of your car as you're driving-- when done too frequently-- you'll never reach a destination. Think carefully and decide, plan the journey, and go all in.

[noona-clock]

What’s Your Sign?: Capricorn

Genre: Dance Studio!AU

Pairing: Jaebum x You (Female!Reader)

Warnings: None

Words: 5,693

Author’s Note: Since I’m so fascinated by astrology, I decided to do a Zodiac series! I will be writing a one-shot fic for each sign featuring different members from different groups (and even an actor!). Each story will be posted on the 5th of the month during that sign’s season. Please reblog, comment, or send in an ask with your feedback! Thank you for your support 💜

It was clear he didn’t want to be here.

And by ‘he’ you meant the dark-haired guy in your dance lesson whose facial expression betrayed that he would rather be anywhere else and doing anything else right now.

But you were a dance instructor. You’d been teaching for almost five years by now, so you had seen your fair share of begrudging students.

(Though, if you were being completely honest with yourself, none of the begrudging students you’d had so far had been quite this handsome... but that is absolutely besides the point.)

As you introduced yourself to your new class and began to go over the basics, you mentally prepared yourself to spend a little extra time with him -- the handsome, begrudging student. You’d discovered that some one-on-one time with the dancers who didn’t actually want to be dancers went a long way in helping them get more comfortable and enjoy themselves.

Usually, people who had no desire to take your class were being forced by a third party -- for some reason or another -- and it was pretty clear why they had no desire to take your class: their dancing skills left a lot to be desired.

But, only a few minutes into your instructions, you were more than surprised and shocked to see that this guy actually had some natural talent.

A lot of it.

But he also didn’t have a partner, so that one-on-one time you’d prepared for was incredibly easy to manage.

After you’d told everyone to pair off and start practicing the basic waltz square you’d just shown them, you weaved your way through the parquet floor to him with a somewhat cautious smile on your face.

If he wasn’t thrilled to be in your class in the first place, it was safe to assume he wouldn’t be thrilled for you to be his partner, but... there wasn’t much you could do about it now!

“Hi,” you greeted softly when you approached. “I noticed there wasn’t a partner for you, so I’m happy to --”

“Sure,” he muttered.

Of course, his terse interruption made you pause, but you recovered quickly and simply smiled at him. You then stepped closer to him, resting one hand on his shoulder and extending your other arm out to the side so the two of you could get into a waltzing stance.

As soon as he’d slid one hand around your waist and took the other one, grasping your fingers firmly, you waited for him to lead into the four-step box formation.

...And you almost yelped with surprise when he did.

His hold on your waist and fingers quickly became even more firm, and he pushed you subtly but confidently backward, dancing with you smoothly.

You’re not sure why this surprised you so much.

But it did.

And that made you a little uneasy.

“So,” you breathed, clearing your throat quietly. “What’s your name?”

His gaze had been inconspicuously aimed at the floor, most likely watching his feet, but it shifted to look at you when you asked your question.

“Jaebum,” he answered without hesitation, though his voice was still very brusque.

“Nice to meet you,” you replied with a slight dip of your chin. “I’m Y/N.”

“Yes, I know,” he murmured. “You introduced yourself about five minutes ago.”

You raised your eyebrows, unsure if you were bewildered or offended by his incredibly impolite response.

Probably a bit of both.

“...Right,” you said. But you had to maintain your composure and civility, so you added, “What brings you here?”

Rather than answering quickly and succinctly like he had previously, Jaebum simply furrowed his brow at you.

“You just seem less than enthusiastic, so I was curious as to why you’re here in the first place,” you explained, figuring you could at least be honest to counteract his almost-rudeness.

His forehead smoothed out, and he tilted his head to signal that you did have a point.

“One of my best friends is getting married in a few months, and he wants the wedding party to do this... dance routine.”

“And you’re not too excited about it?”

Jaebum shook his head.

“Well, if it helps, you’re a really good dancer.”

Again, Jaebum furrowed his brow at you, shooting you a confused, sidelong glance. “I am?”

He sounded genuinely perplexed which made you genuinely perplexed. He really didn’t know? Had he never taken one single dance class before?

“Yeah,” you chuckled. “You’re a natural.”

And naturally gorgeous, you thought.

Oh my god, why did you think that?

Besides the fact that it was true, of course.

To distract yourself from that thought, you added, “You haven’t taken any sort of class before?”

“No, never.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” you replied with the tiniest smirk you could muster. “You’ve barely even looked at your feet this whole time, and you haven’t tripped me once.”

Of course, Jaebum instinctively looked down at his feet and almost immediately stumbled.

“See? Once you looked down and thought too much about it, you messed up. You’ve got instinct.”

An expression of clear discomfort flashed across his face, and rather than insisting that you knew what you were talking about, you simply kept silent. You were only planning on continuing this exercise for another minute or so, and you would rather not make him any more uncomfortable than he already clearly was.

But when that minute was up... you realized... that you didn’t want to stop dancing with him.

Oh, boy. 

A student who had made you feel uneasy twice in the first half-hour of class.

That was quite unprecedented.

And... very disturbing.

When the two of you got to a good stopping point, you murmured under your breath that it was time to move on.

Jaebum responded immediately, pausing his movements and loosening his hold on your hand and waist to allow you to step away.

“All right, great job,” you said, turning away to face the rest of the class and doing your best to avoid any sort of eye contact with Jaebum. “I know it may seem repetitive, but this is the foundation of a waltz. You need to be really familiar with these steps, know how to do them in your sleep, before you can move on.”

You had everyone go through the steps on their own while you played different music tracks, helping them find the four-count beat in each song and showing they could waltz to really any style of music.

All in all, it was a pretty typical class.

Except for Jaebum.

You had tried to get him -- and the way he’d briefly made you feel -- out of your mind, and while you had been mostly successful when you hadn’t been looking at him... you had been the opposite of successful when you had.

And once the hour was up, you found yourself doing something you truly hadn’t ever expected to do. The thought had never crossed your mind, yet you couldn’t stop your body from walking toward Jaebum, an anxious grin plastered on your lips.

“I was just --” you began, though you were quickly interrupted by a departing student who thanked you for a great class. “Oh, sure, you’re welcome.”

You pressed your lips together then, your gaze following the student and waiting for her to vanish through the studio door.

When she did, you looked back to Jaebum and saw that he was already looking at you, his gaze expectant. You jumped a little -- though, you weren’t quite sure why you were surprised that he was looking at you. You had been just about to say something to him.

After letting out a breathless chuckle, you inhaled sharply and continued on from earlier. “I was just wondering -- you said your friend is wanting to do some sort of routine? For his wedding?”

Jaebum nodded. “During the reception. The bridal party is all going to do a... ballroom dance... thing.”

“Do you know if the choreography is finished?”

“I believe so,” he answered, slightly lowering his brows.

You gulped.

“I -- I mean, I would be happy to help you learn it if you want to -- have the time. You could stay after class or come in whenever you’re free. I can shift things around if I need to, this job is pretty flexib --”

“Okay.”

And you were surprised yet again.

He had actually said yes? Even though you definitely sounded a bit like a bumbling idiot right now?

“Oh, good!” you said with a relieved sigh, your lips spreading into a grin.

“I can’t stay much longer today, but if you have time tomorrow?”

For some reason your instinct was to reply immediately -- in the positive, of course -- but you forced yourself to actually pull up your schedule in your head to look and make sure.

“I’m very free in the afternoon,” you told him after a few moments. “From after lunch until about four.”

Jaebum nodded tersely and said, “I can be here at two” before murmuring his thanks and heading toward the exit.

You stood there, in the same exact spot, for about five minutes after he left, mainly because you were dumbstruck. You had no idea why you’d done that, and you had no idea why you were so relieved (and excited) that he had accepted your offer.

You had literally never offered private lessons -- private free lessons! -- to a student before. Many students had requested them, absolutely, but you had never offered.

The only reason you could think of as to why you’d done this was because Jaebum was so... intriguing. He fit the stereotype almost exactly for the “Perfect Man.” Tall, dark, and handsome. Strong and silent.

...And did you mention handsome?

Very handsome.

But that was actually more of a reason not to give him private lessons. You wanted to spend more time with him, of course. But you shouldn’t.

You really, really, really shouldn’t.

Rather than wait in jittery anticipation for Jaebum to show up, you spent the first part of your day keeping as busy as you could.

You had two classes basically back-to-back in the morning, which definitely helped keep your mind off the perfectly handsome man arriving at the studio in the early afternoon. And once those classes finished, you took a lunch break and headed to a nearby deli for one of your favorite sandwiches.

Between lunch and Jaebum’s arrival time, you decided to clean the entire studio from top to bottom because that was just what you did when you were stressed or nervous: you cleaned.

A small cleaning crew visited the studio once a week to keep the floors and mirrors gleaming, of course, but it had been a little while since you’d wiped down your office and deep cleaned the reception area.

You dusted and vacuumed and scrubbed and decluttered and even rearranged some furniture just to change things up -- for almost two hours.

And it wasn’t until a quarter to two that you realized you’d made a rather large mistake.

Cleaning and rearranging furniture for two hours was hard work, and now -- fifteen minutes before Jaebum was set to arrive -- you found yourself exhausted and sweaty.

I mean, you were exhausted and sweaty a lot. Obviously. You were a dance teacher. 

But the exhausted and sweaty parts of your day were always at the end of class, after you’d done all the work, not at the beginning.

...And your classes typically did not involve an incredibly good-looking man whom you were nervous about spending time with.

After putting away the cleaning supplies in the closet, you quickly ran into the bathroom to splash some water on your face. You then headed into your office and dug around in your bag for the emergency vial of perfume you kept in there -- just in case.

Thank goodness you did because it really came in handy in this moment.

Just as you stepped out of your office and back into the studio, closing the door behind you, you heard the clack of footsteps on the dance floor.

“Hello?” a soft but deep voice called out.

You jumped a little, your gaze snapping over to the studio entrance and landing on Jaebum.

A quick glance to the clock above the mirrors showed you that he was almost ten minutes early -- and that only heightened your intrigue.

You loved a man who was early.

“Hi!” you blurted out suddenly, realizing you hadn’t yet answered him. “Hi, come on in. Welcome.”

Jaebum reached into his pocket as he walked over to you, retrieving his phone and tapping on the screen with a wrinkled forehead. “My friend sent me the video of the choreography,” he muttered, his eyes flashing up at you briefly over his phone screen.

“Oh, perfect,” you grinned. You came to a stop in front of him, resting your hands on your hips as you waited for him to find the video and show you.

“Here,” he mumbled before doing just that -- turning his phone around and showing you the video.

You leaned in, and only then did you realize this was a bad idea.

Obviously, watching something on a person’s phone meant you had to be standing rather close to that person, leaning in until your heads were almost touching.

And that’s exactly what was happening right now.

You were standing rather close to Jaebum, your heads almost touching.

And, boy, did he smell amazing.

It took almost every ounce of willpower in you to concentrate on the video and not on how amazing he smelled.

When the video finished, you took a step back, hoping you hadn’t backed away from him too obviously. If you were going to be learning this choreography together, you certainly didn’t want him to think you couldn’t stand being close to him. Because that wasn’t even true! 

It was just... difficult. In a good way. Kind of.

“That seems fairly straightforward,” you said, pushing all these thoughts out of your mind as best as you could.

“Yeah?” Jaebum asked, turning to look at you, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

“Absolutely. You want to give it a shot?”

He nodded and took off his jacket, hanging it up on the rack by the door before joining you in the middle of the dancefloor. He set up his phone against the mirror, and you began guiding him through the choreography, step-by-step.

Only a few minutes in, and Jaebum stopped you. “How... how do you know the routine already? We watched it once, and you’re not even referring back to the video.”

A frown curved your lips, and you lifted your shoulders into a shrug. “I... don’t know? I just remember it.”

“Seriously?” he asked with a soft chuckle of disbelief. “How?”

“I don’t know,” you repeated. “I’ve always been this way, with dance especially. I can just picture it in my mind.”

“So, you have a photographic memory.”

...How had you never realized that before?

“I guess so?” you chuckled. “I just never thought it was different than what anyone else could do.”

A half-smile tugged at Jaebum’s lips as he got back into the dancing position, and he murmured, “No. I absolutely cannot do that.”

“Well, then, it’s a good thing I’m the dance teacher,” you retorted, trying to suppress a smirk.

He laughed softly, and you ignored the fluttering in your heart.

You spent the next hour and a half going through the first part of the routine, and even though Jaebum claimed he wasn’t able to learn choreography like you did, he still caught on quickly.

“No, you’re honestly doing a great job,” you assured him after deciding to stop for the day. “I told you, you’re a natural dancer. You have instinct!”

Jaebum simply shook his head, but you saw the smile he was trying to hold back.

As he went back toward the door to retrieve his jacket, he glanced over his shoulder at you and said, “Are you free to keep going? Go over the rest of the routine?”

“Absolutely! I wouldn’t leave you hanging like that for a wedding.”

“What if it was a birthday party?”

“Yes, maybe.”

You heard Jaebum’s deep, low chuckle, and even though you’d just spent over an hour touching him and dancing with him and being extremely close to him, the sound of his laugh still sent a shiver down your spine.

What was this guy doing to you?

“What does your schedule look like?” he asked as he slipped his jacket back on.

“Oh, here -- let me write it down for you,” you said, taking a step toward your office.

“Or --” Jaebum blurted out.

You paused, raising your eyebrows and shifting your gaze to him.

“Or you could... just text it to me.” He still had his phone handy from playing the dance video on repeat during the lesson, and he held it up as to emphasize his suggestion.

“Oh!” you chirped. “Well -- I mean, yeah, sure. That -- that works.”

Jaebum opened his mouth to say something, but then he stopped himself. He narrowed his eyes slightly at you and said, “If I just tell it to you, will you remember it without having to write it down?”

Your eyes widened with minor panic. “...Yes?” you replied uncertainly even though you were absolutely certain you could do that.

He let out a soft, breathy chuckle and shook his head.

After he told you his phone number, he murmured his thanks for the lesson and then headed through the door without another word.

You waited approximately ten seconds before scrambling to your office, fishing your phone out of your bag, and quickly entering the number into your contacts.

You wouldn’t have forgotten it, but... still. You didn’t want to take any chances. It wasn’t every day that an incredibly attractive and fascinating guy gave you his phone number.

Not that you would use it for anything other than sending him your schedule.

But. Yeah.

Jaebum was absolutely incredibly attractive and fascinating.

Either Jaebum was not a busy man or he...

Well, you weren’t actually sure what the other most viable option was.

Because the only things you could think were that he just really wanted to learn this dance routine for the wedding reception... or he just really wanted to spend time with you.

And that was definitely just wishful thinking.

Either way, Jaebum was -- apparently -- able to fit in a private lesson whenever your schedule allowed.

Did he not work? Or was he taking a lot of time off for this? Or maybe his job allowed him to be flexible like yours did.

There were so many questions you wanted to ask him and so little courage you had to actually ask them.

When he came back two days after your first private lesson, you began the lesson with those questions still occupying your thoughts but ended it with another question on your mind entirely.

And, for some reason (seemingly everything about Jaebum was a mystery, I guess, including your reactions to him), you found the question tumbling from your lips as he was putting his jacket back on to leave.

You had just spent another hour and a half teaching him the second half of the choreography; another hour and a half touching and dancing with him. Maybe that had bolstered your courage enough?

“Why do you not want to do this?” you asked, tilting your head curiously. “The dance at the wedding.”

Jaebum paused for a moment before turning to face you. “I just... What -- what do you mean?”

You felt your cheeks warms, but you continued on. “You were just so... not happy to be in that first class, and... I don’t know. Whenever I bring it up, you get this look on your face.”

His eyebrows flew halfway up his forehead. “I do?”

“Yeah,” you chuckled.

He stood there just for a second before letting out a sigh and taking a few steps toward you. “To be honest, I’m not thrilled about having to dance in front of a room full of people I don’t really know.”

While you couldn’t exactly relate to the sentiment, you still understood what it was like to be scared to do something. Or, at the very least, be uncomfortable about it.

“You’re going to do a great job,” you assured him, your heart starting to skip a beat here and there as he got closer to you.

Seriously? You had just been dancing with him. Touching him. 

“I’m not saying I don’t trust you,” he said, shaking his head. “But... I’m just not... confident about it. And I don’t like that.”

Jaebum was such the epitome of the Strong and Silent type -- so far, at least -- that you couldn’t even imagine him not being fully confident in himself. And the way he danced definitely wasn’t something to be insecure about it!

“I don’t know,” he added with a roll of his eyes. “I just don’t see the point in doing a choreographed dance at a wedding.”

Okay, now that made you laugh.

“Because it’s fun,” you chuckled. “Receptions are basically just a big party, and most parties involve dancing, right?”

“Well, yeah,” he shrugged. “But they don’t have to. And you can dance without doing some full-fledged routine.”

“This is true,” you agreed, though it was mainly just to appease him.

“In my opinion, weddings should be about the marriage. The relationship. The vows you make. Not cutting a cake or a DJ playing viral songs no one really wants to hear.”

...Well. You couldn’t argue with him there.

“So, when it’s your turn to get married, you don’t even need to have a reception.”

And your heart was acting funny again. Thinking about Jaebum getting married both made you hopeful that it would be your wedding, as well, and upset that -- realistically -- it would not be. You were just his dance teacher, and he was only taking lessons until the wedding. It was highly unlikely he would come back to continue his education, and even though you had his phone number now... why would you ever have a reason to use it?

“Don’t worry,” he murmured. “I absolutely plan on eloping. Or only inviting my family and having just a small ceremony.”

“Ah, good. Now I know not to be offended when I don’t receive an invitation.”

Um... okay? Why? Had you just said that?

Thankfully, Jaebum simply smiled that tiny half-smile of his and let out a soft chuckle.

Was it weird that after spending time with Jaebum only three times you already knew his signature smile?

Despite the fact you had taught Jaebum the entire dance backwards and forwards and there was literally nothing else you could do to help him, he continued to request private lessons. He continued to show up whenever you had a free hour or two, no matter the time or day.

And while this behavior would usually suggest some sort of romantic feelings on his part, he also continued to be Strong and Silent.

He talked to you during your lessons, of course, but he was never talkative. He was always polite, but he wasn’t super... friendly.

So, in conclusion, you were still as mystified and confused by Jaebum as ever.

He didn’t like dancing but he was amazing at it.

He didn’t need you to teach him anymore but he still showed up at your studio.

You just wished you could peek into that brain of his -- just for a minute! -- to see what he was thinking.

And, because you were his teacher, you never felt comfortable asking why. Why was he still asking for lessons when he didn’t need them? Why was he always so guarded around you? Why did he never ask about your personal life?

I swear, if Jaebum ever asked if you had a boyfriend, your heart would absolutely combust.

Maybe one day you would ask him all those questions, but by then, he wouldn’t be coming to your classes any longer, and what would be the point?

Apparently, you were thinking too much about all of this because, all of a sudden, Jaebum’s voice broke through the haze in your mind.

“Y/N,” he said, his voice forceful enough to make it obvious it wasn’t the first time he’d said it.

“Sorry,” you replied hastily with a shake of your head. “Zoned out.”

“Did you hear what I said?” he asked as he stood by the coat rack, getting ready to put his jacket back on before he left with hardly a word.

That had become his routine after every class, and you had come to expect nothing different.

“Hmm? Oh -- no, sorry. What did you say?”

“I said the wedding is this weekend, so I won’t need to come back any more.”

...Oh.

That was not what you wanted to hear.

“Oh,” you replied, doing your best to sound... well, not upset about it. “Well, I know you’re going to do an amazing job --”

“I’m more nervous than I thought I would be,” he interrupted.

You froze, your mouth slightly hanging open and your unspoken words hanging from your lips.

But then you quickly pulled yourself together and said, “You are?”

He nodded tersely.

But he didn’t elaborate.

So, you bit. “...Why?”

“Because I know how to dance it with you, and what if it’s different with someone else as my partner?”

“I mean, yeah, it’ll be different,” you confirmed. “But you know the steps through and through. Even if the bridesmaid is a terrible dancer, you’ll be able to carry her through it, I promise.”

Jaebum let out a sigh and his head tilted forward, his chin practically touching his chest.

“You’ll be fi --”

“What I really wanted to say is that I wish it could be you and not someone else,” he said, interrupting you again in a quiet but strong voice.

...You stared at him.

And blinked.

“...Excuse me?”

Without hesitating, Jaebum strode over to you, only stopping when he was as close to you as he was while you’d danced.

You tilted your head to look up into his eyes, though yours were still too wide with shock to say anything.

“I... I feel more comfortable dancing with you than doing... anything else. And the reason I kept asking to come back even after you taught me the whole dance is because... I just wanted to be with you.”

Okay, you were fairly certain you were no longer breathing.

You certainly couldn’t speak at the moment, so it was very possible that your heart and lungs had just stopped working.

“You are... incredible,” he continued. “Confident and talented and kind and beautiful.”

You repeated the word ‘beautiful’, though you couldn’t even hear your own voice so you must have simply mouthed it.

...Was he really saying all this to you?

To you?

And since it was obvious you weren’t going to actually say anything yet, Jaebum continued.

“You’re why I haven’t stopped coming back. I only joined your class because my friend practically forced me; he’s one of my closest friends, and I would do anything for him, but I truly could not care less about this dumb wedding dance. I would have happily fumbled my way through it if you hadn’t been so... wonderful.”

Okay, at this point, you kind of felt like you were more shocked to hear this many words coming out of his mouth at once. You’d been teaching Jaebum for almost three months, and you were fairly certain he hadn’t said more than two sentences back-to-back.

And you, who normally had no trouble speaking, could only reply with a whispered, “...Really?”

Jaebum simply nodded, and you felt more at ease. A simple nod was much more in character.

But you had no idea what else to say because there was too much you wanted to say.

Apparently, your racing thoughts showed through on your face because Jaebum stopped waiting for you to say something. “I... don’t really want to invite you to be my date to the wedding since... I’m a groomsman and all. You would have to sit by yourself, and I don’t want to make you do that.”

Ah, so, he was thoughtful, too.

“So... maybe you’d like to meet up after the wedding? I mean, like, go out. Not meet up. Go out. On a... date.”

“Yes,” you replied, finally able to force some actual words out of your mouth. “Yes, I would love to. Please.”

And then, Jaebum’s lips curved into a smile.

A real smile.

A full-on, teeth-showing smile -- not the half-smile you’d gotten used to.

Your heart stopped.

I mean, it felt like it stopped.

And you were immensely glad he hadn’t smiled like this before because oh my god. You wouldn’t have been able to go on teaching him. You would’ve fainted.

Even now, you had to reach out and grab a hold of his arms to steady yourself.

But Jaebum must have thought you were going in for the hug, so took another step closer to you and slid his arms around your waist, pressing his fingers into the small of your back and enveloping you in his embrace.

It took you approximately .0001 seconds to melt into him, feeling the strong wall of his chest and the secure cage of his arms around you.

You’d danced with him countless times by now. His hands had held your waist for hours, and yet... You had never experienced this sensation before.

And you knew right then and there that you never wanted to live another day without experiencing it again.

OTHER SIGNS: ARIES, TAURUS, GEMINI, CANCER, LEO, VIRGO, LIBRA, SCORPIO, SAGITTARIUS, AQUARIUS, PISCES

[blossom-hwa]

Lina but what if Jibeom + atla au

casey but what if you just murdered me with a knife to the chest that'd hurt a little less ok in all seriousness though I love writing atla aus and it's been like a year since I wrote the last one so thank you for this request casey even if it did kill me inside <3

4 year anniversary drabble game: send me a Stray Kids/The Boyz/Golden Child/Ateez member + a prompt (check out the post for ideas) and I’ll write a drabble for you!

Until now I still couldn't figure out which specific element Jibeom would bend so I made him the Avatar. Sue me

this did not go in the direction I originally planned I'm so sorry

~

Title: Ash Maker

Pairing: Jibeom x gender neutral!reader

Word count: 954

Triggers: cursing, mentions of death (nothing graphic)

~

"Again."

Jibeom lies flat on his back, staring up at the sky. What he wouldn't give for one moment without your voice saying 'again' in cold monotone, forcing him to get up once more and try the stupid firebending exercises that he can't get right -

Your face appears above his, carefully wiped of any sign of emotion other than an arched eyebrow that he kind of wants to rip off your face. "Did you hear me?"

With a huff and a groan, Jibeom drags himself up. The sun blazes hot onto his skin, pouring even more sweat down his face as he reluctantly settles into position again. "Remember," you say, "control your -"

"Breathing," Jibeom snaps, cutting you off. "I know."

You don't say anything. Jibeom almost wishes you would. It's infuriating, the way you take everything he slings at you with that blank face that never seems to hold a single expression - it's like you want to confirm the belief that all firebenders are coldhearted murderers who burn and kill without a second thought, just like they burned his village to the ground -

He punches the air. Too late, he remembers that his breath has to be even in order for him to have a chance at success. A sizzle of fire wisps out of his knuckles and fizzes out into smoke.

Another failure.

Jibeom lowers his hands. Squeezes his eyes shut. Takes a deep breath, in, out, in, out -

"Again."

That's it.

"Will you shut up for a minute?" he snarls, opening his eyes. "All you ever have to say is again, again - do you have any actual fucking feedback that isn't just do it again?"

"Breathe." It's infuriating how calm you look, even in the face of Jibeom's anger. For someone who bends fire, you're really cold as ice. "You have to control your breathing. Firebending doesn't come from the body, it comes from the spirit, which is controlled by your breath -"

"I know," Jibeom snaps. "You say that all the fucking time."

The raised eyebrow moves higher, somehow. Jibeom's fists clench. "If you know, then why aren't you putting it into practice?"

"Putting it into practice like you ash makers practiced murdering my entire village?"

The eyebrow lowers. Your face goes blank, carefully blank, so carefully blank that Jibeom immediately knows you're hiding some unknown emotion behind that calm mask, something as deep as the grief Jibeom carries for everyone that he lost.

When you look at him, instinctively, Jibeom knows he's crossed a line. "What did you call me?"

The words linger on his tongue. Ash maker. But though he said it so easily a moment ago, the term now sticks on his tongue, unwilling to leave his throat.

He doesn't need to say it, anyway. You both know what he said.

"Ash maker." A wave of fury and something else that looks too familiar for Jibeom to properly process it crosses your face but you squeeze your eyes shut, schooling your features back into an indifferent mask. It's unnerving, how easily you do it. "You called me an ash maker."

He stays silent.

You scoff brief, quiet. It carries across the field like an arrow hissing through the air. "Fine. I'm an ash maker." The cold, blank expression on your face scares Jibeom even more than that wave of pure fury. "I'm just a fucking ash maker. Doesn't matter that I was born in the colonies. Doesn't matter that I could've been a damn earthbender if Guanyin had decided it so. Doesn't matter that I watched my earthbender dad die at the hands of Fire Nation soldiers and I have to live with the fact that I bend the same element that killed him."

Jibeom's breath sticks in his throat. He didn't know. He didn't know - he wouldn't have said it if he knew -

You might have, the horrible voice in the back of his head says. You still might have.

The worst thing is, the voice might be right.

You step forward. Jibeom wants to move back, but his feet root him to the ground. "You know what, though?" you snarl, and for a moment, a whirlwind of grief and anger flickers in your eyes. "You know what? At least I'm not an adult whining about having to learn another stupid element even though the fate of the world relies on it. At least I'm not ignoring what my teacher has been saying over and over again out of spite and anger." You take another step, planting yourself right in his face. "And at least I've had the decency to only ever call you by your name, not something meant for those who meaninglessly take lives, Avatar." You spit the title like it's dirt in your mouth. "Because, as infuriating as you are, I know you're not a murderer."

Your expression turns cold again as you step backward, leaving Jibeom in his own space once more. He thinks he should maybe feel relieved, but it doesn't make him feel any better. "I'm done," you say, voice clipped. "We're too different. I can't teach you. You keep seeing me as a murderer. I understand that, as much as you seem to think otherwise. It's a little hard not to when I have to watch myself bend every day." Your lips thin. "But until you figure that out, I can't teach you. Find yourself another firebending instructor who you don't think is an ash maker. And do it fast." You turn around. "There's too much at stake for little old murderer me to get in the way."

Jibeom can only watch your back disappear into the distance as you walk away.

[captainsolare]

Happy early birthday and one year anniversary Sol! I’m so excited for you and I like the idea for this event. I hope it’s okay if I send a request 😊

Im going to pick Zora fluff this time, and can you roll 2 times for AU, 4 times for dialogue prompt, and 2 times for the trope? Thanks 💖

A/N: Thanks Cindy! I hope you enjoy this! Camp Counselor Zora was interesting to write :)

Zora Fluff + Camp Counselor AU! + why do we keep running into each other? + "You might catch cold if you're not careful."

The assembly tent was uncomfortably humid as you waited with your group for the camp director to make his appearance, various conversations buzzed around you creating a low hum in the air. Your eyes scanned the room, sizing up the counselors you’d be working with for the next 6 weeks. There were several scattered around, mostly boys, but there were a few girls as well.

Your eyes landed on a flash of red in the corner of the structure and as you squinted, the shape of a man came into focus. You don’t know how you didn’t notice him before, with his bright red hair and borderline ridiculous outfit; how anyone could stand this heat with all that leather on let alone deal with children while wearing it was beyond you.

“Excuse me Counselor Y/N,” a small voice near your feet captured your attention. You smiled, looking down at the girl in front of you, “What’s up?” The girl exhaled loudly, “How much longer do we have to wait?” Frowning you glanced at your watch, and then at the stage at the front of the room, “I’m not sure, hopefully not long. How about we play a game with our group?”

You led your group through a series of camp songs until there was a tap on the microphone, sending painful feedback through the speakers.

“Uh, sorry about that, I’m not good with all this techy stuff.”

Your shoulders instantly relaxed, Camp Director Yami was finally here.

“Hello, campers!” His voice boomed over the speakers, “Welcome to Camp Black Bull. Who’s ready for a good time?” The counselors and children whooped and hollered but it seemed not enough for Yami, who cupped a hand behind his ear.

“I said, who’s ready to have a good time?”

You cupped your hands around your mouth to yell louder, the sounds around you reverberated through you, and you felt excitement rush through you, this was going to be a good week. Yami laid out all of the ground rules, the campers should listen to their counselors, and if they had a problem, find the nearest counselor to sort it out. After a few more camp songs, Yami made the announcement that you all were due back here after lunch for more group activities.

Yami left and you glanced at your clipboard to get the day’s agenda, you wouldn’t be going to archery until 10:30 and it was only 10 now, which left you 30 minutes to fill with camp songs and games. You left the tent with your kids in tow to find the perfect spot to sit and go over the agenda for the day until it was time for archery. You spotted an area through the trees, it would be perfect for what you had planned, but you had no sooner stepped into the clearing when at the same time a group led by the boy with red hair you’d seen earlier also stepped in from the opposite side.

You frowned, “I’m sorry but I think we were here first.” The boy raised an eyebrow, “No I don’t think so, I’m pretty sure we ended up here at the same time. But there’s not enough space for both groups here.” You ran your tongue over your teeth, feeling your annoyance grow already just from the cocky look on his face, his nametag read ‘Zora.’. “Fine, we’ll settle this with a game of rock paper scissors.” You said, tucking your clipboard between your knees.

“Best of 3?” He asked. You nodded and he dropped his clipboard on the ground near his feet. You faced each other, tension palpable in the air.

“Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!” You had rock and he had scissors, but you grew too cocky from your early win. It ended in a defeat, he beat you with rock and paper. You begrudgingly shook his hand to show good sportsmanship and he smiled, showing a mouth full of sharp teeth. “Good game, see you around Y/N.”

You led your campers to a nearby picnic table and you sat, going over the agenda of the day. “Alright, we have Archery in about 10 minutes, and then we’ll go to lunch, then it’s back to the assembly tent for some games, and then we have canoeing this afternoon.”

10 minutes passed quickly and you made your way to the archery field, brightening when you saw that your friend Vanessa’s group had archery the same time yours did. “Hey you!” You waved. She perked up when she saw you, a smile lighting up her face. “Hey friends, this is my friend Miss Vanessa!”

“Hi Vanessa!” Your kids said, waving to her. The archery instructor, a man named Klaus, soon captured the group’s attention and took over. As he explained what the kids would be doing, you realized how thirsty you were. Sadly your water bottle was empty so you tapped Vanessa, asking her to keep an eye on your campers while you went to the water station.

You started filling up your bottle, not wanting to leave Vanessa with 20 campers for too long, and you heard the crunching of leaves. You rose and saw Zora standing there, water bottle in hand. “Hello again.” He said, fingers raising in a quick wave. “Hello to you too.”

Archery passed relatively uneventfully, except for some of the kids deciding that finding bugs and giving them to you was infinitely more interesting than watching their friends shoot arrows. Vanessa and yourself led the kids to lunch after you both explained that bugs were not presents.

You made sure your kids were settled in line before you grabbed a tray. The way the lunchroom was set up, you would need two counselors per table, but Vanessa had already been commandeered by Grey tugging on her arm. She flashed you an apologetic look but you waved her off, heading for a table near the back of the room. You set your tray down at the same time as Zora, who sat on the opposite end of the table. It was hard not to feel like he was following you, you knew he wasn’t, and that it was just a coincidence, but it was maddening the way you kept running into each other.

Your groups seemingly didn’t have the same schedule, but you still saw him everywhere. Why do we keep running into each other? During the after-lunch assembly, you took a moment to pull Vanessa off to the side. “What do you know about Zora?” You asked, eyes flicking over him from across the room. Vanessa shrugged, “Not a lot, he’s kind of cagey and keeps to himself. Why?” You frowned, watching as he led his kids through a group activity. “No reason.” Vanessa got a thoughtful look on her face and then started to giggle.

“Oh I see, you think he’s cute don’t you?”

“What?” You protested, face suddenly very hot, “I do not!”

Vanessa’s smile grew wider as she watched you panic, “Okay, whatever you say.”

The lake lapped at your feet as you helped your campers into their life jackets. Noelle, the instructor in charge of canoeing cleared her throat, “Now, it’s important that you keep these on, the lake isn’t very deep but drowning is still a dangerous possibility and we need to be safe so we can have fun okay? Now get into pairs since there will need to be 2 campers per canoe.” A familiar head of red hair jogged up, campers in tow.

“Sorry I’m late Noelle, several of my kids took a while to change.”

Noelle waved him off, “Whatever Zora, just get them ready, Y/N’s group is already about to head out on the water.”

After you loaded your kids into their respective canoes and helped them push off, you paced on the dock, unsure of what to do except for supervising. Zora cleared his throat, holding up two life jackets. “Want to share a canoe?” You bit your lip, considering his request, your eyes flicked to Noelle and she nodded, stating that she could handle any water emergencies. “Sure.” You took the life jacket from him gingerly. You set your backpack by the lifeguard stand and put the lifejacket on so it sat snug around you. Zora was taller than you, so you’d need to be in the front.

You sat in the canoe and Zora pushed off, rocking the boat as he jumped into it. You paddled along quietly, save for saying hello to a few of your campers. A few of the girls giggled and began singing, “Y/N and Zora sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g.” You yelled out a protest, cheeks warming at the thought; you’d known this man for exactly a day and your campers were already trying to get you together. You tried to push the thoughts out of your mind, there was no way you liked him, no matter what Vanessa said.

Suddenly a giant piece of what looked like driftwood smashed into the boat, sending you rocking. “Where did that come from?” You asked, turning over your shoulder to look at Zora.

“No idea,” He shrugged, “This is a lake so there shouldn’t be a current here.”

The boat was bumped a second time, this time from underneath and you were sent into the air. You yelled in surprise as you saw what had capsized your boat, it was a giant dolphin! You landed in the water with a splash, the cold water making you gasp. You swam to the dock and were pulled out by a pair of strong arms. Zora ran to a nearby supply shed and emerged with two fluffy towels; as you sat shivering on the dock he gently wrapped one of them around your shoulders.

“Th-thank you.” You stuttered through your chattering teeth. As you glanced at him you noticed his shirt was off, for such a slender guy he was muscular and you couldn’t help but stare. He noticed you staring and chuckled, “Wanna take a photo? It’ll last longer.”

You sputtered at his words, cheeks heating up enough to make you forget how cold you were. At your panicked expression, he chuckled once more, wrapping his towel around his shoulders, “I’m just joking.”

You didn’t have time to respond because Noelle jogged up with a concerned look on her face, “Hey you two, are you alright?” You both nodded, “What about the children?”

Noelle nodded, “All present and accounted for. I’ll take care of them, why don’t you change? You might catch cold if you’re not careful.”

You and Zora headed for the staff cabin, shoes squeaking uncomfortably on the dirt. After taking a quick but blessedly warm shower, you emerged out of one of the bathrooms with fresh clothes on. Zora emerged from the other bathroom a few moments later.

“Who knew there was a dolphin in there?” He said with a laugh, toweling off his hair. You smiled, “I know right? Maybe we should go talk to Yami about it.”

His mouth twitched, “Something tells me he already knows.” You made the short trek back to the lake and found Yami being chewed out by Noelle.

“Someone could have gotten hurt, Yami! What were you thinking, putting a freshwater dolphin in here?”

Yami rubbed the back of his head, “It’s my pet! I needed a place to put it.”

You escorted your kids back to the assembly tent and took a quick breather outside. Zora joined you with a quick wave, “Crazy day huh?”

You nodded with a slight chuckle, “I can see it now, headlines in the newspaper, ‘2 camp counselors launched into air by pet dolphin.’

You both laughed before settling back into comfortable silence once more.

Zora cleared his throat, “Say, Y/N?”

“Hmm?”

“Would you want to… Maybe grab a bite this weekend, my treat?”

You blinked at his words, but decided that it couldn’t hurt, after all, maybe having a near-death experience together had brought you closer.

“Sure, why not?”

And so began a beautiful friendship, and perhaps more.

[laurenmm62017]

When You Find Your Answers, I'll Be There Chapter 2

https://archiveofourown.org/works/31111016

Here's the 2nd chapter! I don't think I nailed Kallus' POV so i appreciate any feedback!

Alexsandr Kallus grew up on Coruscant, the most populous planet in the galaxy. He knew about soulmates before he was even able to walk. He was surrounded on all sides by people talking about soulmates.

He absolutely hated it.

He hated that all he can see are shades of grey just because he hasn’t met someone he’s supposed to spend the rest of his life with. He hated that it wasn’t even guaranteed that he and his soulmate would be romantic partners, but they could be simply platonic (which would be fine with him) or even hate each other (which he was less fine with). He hated that he might not even meet his soulmate AT ALL. He hated how all of his family, friends, classmates, and teachers always made such a big deal about soulmates.

He was so tired of it.

Alex was 11 when he was bullied for these views so much that he was cornered after school and beaten up so hard, his ribs were bruised for a solid month afterwards.

He decided then that he would enlist in the Grand Army of the Republic when he came of age. Everything was grey on those giant Venators anyways.

He never really thought about who his soulmate could be. He pushed himself to be as strong, fast, and smart as possible. He pushed himself so hard, he passed out due to exhaustion every night. During a particularly grueling sparring session, he had pushed so hard, that his partner grew enraged and broke his leg to get him to stop fighting. Pain lanced up and down his leg as he screamed and writhed on the ground. Their instructor calmly, almost too calmly, called to the medbay on campus for a stretcher. Alex never really forgot that look of apathy.

When Kallus was 20, The Galactic Civil War ended and the Empire rose to power, with Emperor Palpatine at the helm and his second in command Vader at his side. The Grand Army of the Republic became the Imperial Army, and he was recruited into the ranks as a Commander. It took a long time for ranks and respect to cement into place, but by the time he and his troops went on their first real mission to Onderon, a former base for major rebellions led by Saw Guerrera, he gained the respect of all under his command. He regarded them all as capable soldiers and friends in return.

The mission went south, of course. It turned out that Guerera’s troops hadn’t left the planet yet because they had blown up his company’s transports. Kallus had been knocked out in the first blast, and woke up on his back on the side of the road. He attempted to stand up, but he found that he couldn’t move a single muscle.

Then, slowly, a tall, dark grey Lasat menacingly prowled down the path of destruction, executing every one of the soldiers who were still showing signs of life.

John, Lina, Corbyn, their medic, Stim, everyone.

Kallus’ eyes were as wide as can be, as the Lasat slowly passed by his position.

‘Don’t notice me, don’t notice me, don’t noti-’ He frantically thought, but it was in vain.

The Lasat’s head whipped around to look at him, paralyzed on the ground.

“Well, well, looks like I found the commander of the group. That’s some fancy armor compared to the others, isn’t it?” He purred dangerously. Kallus tried to open his mouth, but found he still couldn’t move.

‘If you’re going to kill me, just get it over with.’ He glared up at the Lasat.

“Ooooooh, look at those eyes. Tell me, have you found your soulmate yet, Commander?” He snickered, leveling his weapon at him, some kind of modified electrostaff. “Tell you what? I’m feeling pretty generous tonight, so I’ll let you live. But I gotta make it look good. So what should I do.... Heh, I got it.”

The Lasat swung down on Kallus’ leg and it broke cleanly. Kallus still couldn’t move but the pain of the same leg that broke a few years ago was so excruciating, he passed out.

When he woke up, he was lying in a medical bed. His superior officer, Admiral Yularan, was sitting in a chair at his bedside.

“Good to see you awake, Commander. The medical droids tell me you’ll make a smooth recovery. Whenever you are able, I’d like a full report of what happened down there.”

“My men?”

Yularan shook his head sadly. “I’m sorry, my boy. You were the only one we found still alive.”

He looked up at the ceiling, anger, guilt, and fear flooded through him. He felt so helpless. He was caught off guard, and as a result, everyone was dead.

Because of him.

In that moment, on that uncomfortable medical bed, he vowed that this would never happen again.

Kallus was 26 years old when he was recruited into the Imperial Security Bureau on the recommendation of Admiral Yularan. He was trained to be ruthless, unforgiving, and as stoic as a rock. He was first assigned to Internal Affairs in order to keep loyalty to the Empire. He was very good at this job. Because he garnered the respect and loyalty or his coworkers and subordinates, many of them were rather to get in his favor by reporting any disloyalty or traitorous activity to him. He was one of the most successful Agents in ISB at this time. However, he was becoming restless just staying on Coruscant every single cycle. He wanted to get out in the field, and assist the Empire from out in the stars. He requested to be transferred to Investigations.

That was where he first encountered his soulmate.

His Lasat soulmate.

For kriff’s sake, how cruel could the universe be? A Lasat? The very one who slaughtered his first unit? One of the species he helped hunt to extinction. Surely this was a joke.

That first time he made eye contact with him, however, was admittedly magical. The way that color seemed to first saturate within the Lasat’s eyes, and spread to his soft-looking fur, and then to his surroundings made him pause for a moment. He was so captured in his eyes, it was like the galaxy paused just for this moment.

But reality came back as a blaster bolt nearly caught him in the shoulder and he ducked back to cover.

In his free time, he learned the names of the colors of his soulmate. His eyes were bright green. He had light purple fur and dark purple stripes. His jumpsuit is dark green normally, as he rarely could disguise himself. He encountered his soulmate many more times in the span of a few months, but he was never able to capture him or his group of rebels.

And then they somehow crash landed together on that Geonosian ice moon.

~

Alexsandr sat on the ground, and watched his soulmate, Garazeb Orrelios, member of the Spectre crew, jog towards the Ghost and as his friends poured out of the ship to welcome him back.

He sighed and leaned back against the wall of the cave they had taken shelter in.

“When you find your answers, I’ll be there.”

That is what Zeb had said. But why in the galaxy would he try to find answers to questions he knows he won’t like the answers to?

For himself? For the galaxy? For Zeb?

He knew that no one in the Empire would run out and embrace him like Zeb’s teammates had. The most interaction he will have is with the medical team to fix his leg. He would simply send a report to a superior officer that he would make up.

Kallus was picked up by an Imperial shuttle long after the Ghost left the atmosphere. As he suspected, he is sent to medical, discharged after his leg is set, and sent back to his quarters. No one except Konstantine greeted him on the way back.

Alone in his quarters, he sat down heavily on his bed and stared at the grey floor, walls, bedsheets. It was as if he had never even found his soulmate at all. The only burst of color there was the small meteorite he smuggled back with him.

“It’s the same color as Zeb’s bo-rifle…” He thought, idly stroking his thumb along the crevices in the meteorite.

“I’m going to find my answers, Zeb.”

~

The next time he saw Zeb in person was right after his escape from the Chimera. He messed up. He got caught, and he caused a huge loss for the Rebellion. Would he really be welcomed into their ranks after everything he had done? He was genuinely not planning to ever join up with them. If he got caught, he figured he would never see the light of day again and he would die as Fulcrum.

He never expected Kanan Jarrus, of all people, to approach him after their first jump into hyperspace.

“Kanan.” He whispered, clutching his arm to his chest and shifting his weight to one leg. It still hurt even after the medical droid looked him over. “Thank you, for taking me in.”

Seeing Kanan this close, without his mask, Alexsandr could see why the Jedi usually wore his green face shield. The scars across his face were much lighter than the rest of his face, jagged and haunting. Kanan placed a hand on his shoulder gently.

“Thank you, for risking everything.”

“It wasn’t that hard. Once I found my answers, it was clear to me.”

“We’re glad to have you, Fulcrum.” Kanan smiled and dropped his hand back down. “Zeb is in the common room, if you want to speak with him. The debriefing is almost over.”

“Thank you. Kanan. And please. My name is Alexsandr.”

He smiled at Alexsandr. “Get in there, Alexsandr.” Then, he continued through the ship with the comfort of someone who has been in a place for a long time.

Alexsandr slowly limped up to the door of the common room, pausing for one moment before he opened the door. Inside was Hera Syndulla, General Dodonna, Sabine Wren, and in the far corner, his soulmate, Garazeb Orrelios. Their eyes met and for a moment, it seemed as if everything fell away. It didn’t matter that he just barely managed to escape from the Empire. It didn’t matter that he had been beaten down over and over. All that mattered was that he was safe here, caught in those sharp, bright green eyes.

Zeb motioned for Alexsandr to stand next to him, and he limped over as fast as he could. He leaned his weight against the wall  and Zeb placed his hand right next to his. He could feel the heat radiating off of Zeb, and in that moment, Alexsandr had never felt safer.

“So, did you find your answers?”

“I did.”

[wonder-womans-ex]

Curtain Call

Act one, scene one

Sirius finds him with his head in his hands, back against the brick wall of the information and technology building. He stops for a moment, wondering if he should go over there—ask what’s wrong, or offer assistance—then decides against it. 

He is Sirius Black, and Sirius Black does not help other people. 

Not anymore. 

So he continues on with his day. He walks past the crying boy into the theatre building, pausing by the bulletin board to pull a phone number slip from the bottom of a flyer that advertises free physics tutoring. It tears off at the area code. 

Great—just what this day needs. 

It gets significantly worse when he pushes through the stage door and bumps into Danya, who’s lurking behind the wings, black Abbey Road shirt blending in with the curtains. She smiles at him brightly. 

“Hi, Sirius,” she says. “I was just leaving. I could wait up, if you want—fancy getting lunch together?” 

There is exactly one good thing about Danya Lent, and that is the fact that she doesn’t giggle, or tuck her hair behind her ear, or look up at him through her eyelashes. She talks to him like he’s a regular person, not some sort of movie star. She’s not just attracted to his looks—she genuinely likes him. 

But Sirius just broke up with Remus. He’s not looking for a relationship. And Danya isn’t the kind of person he’d be interested in dating, anyway. She reminds him too much of James. 

“Sorry, Dan,” Sirius tells her, glancing towards where Professor Fischer is sitting at the piano centre stage. “I’ll probably be here for a while; I don’t want to keep you waiting.”

Make that two good things about her—she can take a hint. Danya just nods and grins. “All right. I’ll see you around, I guess!” 

And then she’s gone.

Sirius clears his throat before approaching the professor, startling the older man out of whatever trance he’s in. Fischer’s eyebrows shoot up comically when he sees Sirius, and he pats the spot next to him invitingly. 

Sirius steps forward, sliding onto the piano bench. He absentmindedly plucks a note—D#, he thinks, but it’s been years since he quit piano lessons—and waits. 

“I was quite impressed by your performance yesterday,” Fischer says, and Sirius’s heart sinks. Professor Fischer throws around words of praise like they’re buy-one-get-two-free, and ‘quite impressed’ does not fall high on the sliding scale of compliments. 

“Thank you, sir,” he says anyway, because he knows better than to say anything else. 

But apparently the professor isn’t done yet. “I had been wondering,” he begins, fingers dancing over the keys, yet never making a sound, “Whether you’d given any thought to that course I suggested.”

“What, the creative writing one?” Sirius’s voice, though he tries hard for it not to, gives away his surprise. He’d assumed that Fischer had been recommending the free creative writing seminar to everyone in his class, not him specifically. He’s never had a way with words—not ones that weren’t already scripted out for him, at least. 

“Yes, that one. It’s not like most of the courses we offer here—it’s led entirely by alumni of the university, and most of them are very good writers. I think it would be good for you.”

Now Sirius is intrigued. “In what way?”

“You’e an incredible actor, Mr. Black, but what you struggle with is finding the purpose behind the words.”

(Sirius thinks he has purpose down to a science, but he’s not about to say that to Professor Fischer.)

“Oh, sure, you know what the characters are feeling and why. You have a way with the people you play. But what you lack is the concept of an author.

“I’ve had an eye on you for a while, and what I’ve found is this: if Eloise is walking down the street, you know why she is walking down the street. But you do not know why the person writing the script made the conscious choice to have her walk down the street. You get so caught up in the fiction that you forget it is based in fact. Do you understand this?”

Professor Fischer’s accent gets more pronounced the more passionate he is, and right now he sounds as if he would be right at home on the streets of Berlin. Sirius nods slowly. 

“I think I get it,” he says. “I need to know what goes into the making of a story before I can make the story come alive.”

For this he gets a smile. “Four o’clock on Wednesdays in the Rogers lecture room. You’ll be there?” 

“Yeah. Yeah, I will.” 

***

And, sure enough, Wednesday afternoon finds Sirius standing in the middle of a hallway, wondering where the hell the Rogers lecture room is. He checks his watch—4 minutes to go. He’s glad he got there early, but at this rate, it won’t make much of a difference. 

He contemplates just leaving. He didn’t sign up for the class or anything (wait, was he supposed to?) and it’s not like there would be roll call or anything anyway. But he trusts Professor Fischer, and at least this seminar is something to do that isn’t scrolling through his old texts with Remus and crying. 

When someone bumps into him, he turns around. It’s a girl with shoulder-length auburn hair and a lip ring. Her eyes are green—piercingly so—and he opens his mouth and closes it again a few times trying to remember what he was going to say. 

At first, he thinks oh, fuck, we’re back to being flusted around pretty girls. Wonderful. But then he realizes that while she’s attractive, sure, from an objective point of view, he’s not really attracted to her. 

He’s actually a little bit scared of her. No, scratch that, very scared of her. Maybe it has something to do with the vicious glare she’s sending him. 

“Um,” he says, finally. “Sorry. Do you by any chance know where the Rogers lecture room is?”

She purses her lips and nods, striding past him further down the hall. After a moment, he follows her to the elevator and waits as she jabs aggressively at the up button. There’s a long, awkward silence while the elevator gets to their floor, broken only by the loud ding when it arrives. 

The ride up between floors is even more painful, if that’s possible. Sirius tries to occupy himself by looking at the ceiling, which is mirrored, so he looks at the wall instead. It’s patterned like a booth in some sort of high-class restaurant—greenish, with vaguely paisley-shaped blotches here and there. 

Finally, they arrive at a hallway identical to the one they came from. The walls are the same off-white; the floors have the same grey carpeting. If he didn’t know better, Sirius would say they hadn’t moved at all. 

The girl walks out, the soles of her pink high-tops squeaking until she’s out of the elevator and into the hall. She turns around. 

“Well, come on, then,” she tells him, voice not at all how he had expected. It’s the first time he’s heard her speak, and he’s surprised at the eastern accent. Nova Scotia, he guesses, or New Bruinswick. He nods wordlessly. 

He finds himself being led into a small lecture room—smaller than any he’s ever been in, anyway—with fifteen or so other students milling around, chatting and laughing. On the whiteboard at the front of the room, someone’s written Glendale A.L.L. Creative Writing Seminar. 

Looking left, then right, and finding that his red-haired saviour has vanished into the crowd, he sits down at the very back of the room. He has around thirty seconds of awkwardly waiting for something to happen before there’s a shout of “Sit down and shut up!” from somewhere near the front. 

When the smoke clears—or, if he abandons the metaphors, everyone else has chosen a seat and he can actually see who’s speaking—it turns out the person addressing the room is the same girl who led him there. She’s smiling, now, unlike when she was with him, and her hands are outstretched in front of her. 

“Hi, everyone! Welcome to the A.L.L., or Alumni-Led Lectures, creative writing seminar—free, because we know you’re university students and you therefore have no money.” This gets a ripple of laughter from the seated students, and her shoulders rise a little more. Sirius knows why; positive audience feedback does the same thing to him. “I’m Lily Evans, and I graduated from University of Glenrow last year with a bachelor’s in Engligh lit. I’m going to be your main instructor for the next few months. Here with me to help me out, because I wouldn’t be able to do it on my own, is my good friend John Lupin.”

A boy, tall and lanky, peels himself away from the wall and goes to stand beside her. She says something else, but Sirius doesn’t hear it, because his eyes are fixed on her companion and his ears are ringing. 

Whatever Lily says, that boy’s name isn’t John. 

It’s Remus. 

And he broke up with Sirius two weeks ago.