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hoodharlow · 3 years

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Mr. Hood [Teacher!Cal AU]: Chapter 2

Chapter 1

AN: So I made it to another chapter in this series. Buckle up folks bc it’s gonna get wild.

Requested?: no

Warnings: smut, petty remarks from calum

Word Count: 3600 words

"Mina, apurate. The meeting has already started." Odalis said impatiently to her daughter in the stall.

"Ya voy." Mina sang-song.

Odalis knew she should've made her go to the bathroom before leaving the bakery. Now she was late to the meeting for Mina's field trip. She wasn't sure how, but Aubrey roped her into being one of the chaperones. He was going to be, but because Johnathan got called to an emergency work trip, he cancelled.

Overall, she was dreading seeing the other moms. Most of them judged her because she was always working and never helped during fundraisers and all those other PTA activities. Odalis on the other hand didn't like them because one of them started a rumor that she's only Aubrey's surrogate and not really Mina's mom. Because it was completely reasonable for one fifteen year old to ask another fifteen year old to be their surrogate.

She just can't handle them being up her ass critiquing and giving her disapproving looks. Maybe the box of cheesecake brownies would make up for her tardiness. She knew those moms love her baking. They all conveniently act friendly towards her during Valentine’s day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

Mina walked out of the stall and gave her an unsatisfied look. She pointed at her chef's jacket and Dickie's pants. "Why didn't you freshen up? You can't meet Mr. Hood like that."

She’s been insisting Odalis meet her new teacher so she can date him because her teacher choked on his coffee when she presented her family tree to the class. That family tree project was cursed.

It was a month ago when she was barely coming home from her night with Calum that Aubrey called her to ask if she could watch Mina because he got called into work. The day was fine. She had a little spa day at home with her, and they watched the first three Shrek movies. After dinner, Odalis was fixing Mina's homework folder when she saw the family tree project. A lot of tears were shed that night, most my Odalis. By the time Aubrey picked her up, the project was finished.

"Why are you so adamant about me meeting Mr. Hood? You know what? I'm not getting into it, hurry up."

She stepped out of the bathroom and paced around until Mina came out. They made their way to her class. As predicted all the moms sent her daggers as she slipped in the classroom. She bumped into a tall figure making her drop the brownies. She silently cursed and apologized to the person as she scrambled to pick up the pieces.

"Just take a seat." the person said.

She immediately recognized the voice.

It was Calum's.

Odalis set the box on the table and took a seat next to Mina in the back.

"As I was saying," Calum continued, looking away from her and back to the other parents.

Odalis wanted the ground to split open and swallow her whole. Of course she would sleep with her kid's teacher.

Her phone silently lit up. It was a text from her friend Ashton.

That was quite an entrance. The message read.

She looked up and scanned the classroom. She spotted Ashton's bright smile. He waved at her and turned to wave at Mina who returned an enthusiastic wave to him. Her phone lit up once more.

You're chaperoning?!? I'm about to order a 'MILF of the Year' trophy.

Odalis rolled her eyes at his message and went back to pretending to follow along to what Calum was saying.

"He's so handsome. I wonder how he's still single." She heard the lady next to her whisper to another mom.

"I know. You can just tell he's good in bed." The other agreed.

Odalis tried paying attention to Calum and the whole itinerary for the day while those two debated which position Calum is best at, but she couldn’t. She itched to tell them that being on all fours while he takes it from behind is a religious experience. Especially when he's whispering sweet nothings in her ear.

She shifted in her small seat, hoping to get some sort of relief in between her thighs. As she watched him, she tried to distract herself from the more filthy thoughts that filled her mind but failed. He talked with his hands, which were not helping the situation at all. There was also his teacher's voice. He spoke more articulate and precise whereas at the bar he was more relaxed and carefree. He sounded so demanding, yet caring. She couldn't explain it, but just from watching him in front of the classroom she knew he belonged there.

About half an hour later, she noticed everyone got up. She followed suit, and walked over to Mina, who was in Ashton's arms. She glanced back at Calum as he smiled and nodded to whatever the swarm of moms told him.

"Mina, recoge tus cosas." Odalis told her.

Her daughter huffed and Ashton set her down. She went back to where she was coloring and picked up her book and crayons.

"What are you doing here?" Odalis asked Ashton, reaching over to give him a side hug.

"My mate's the teacher. He needed another chaperone for the trip." He explained. He leaned in close her ear. "You didn't hear from me, but he slept with one of the parents here. So I'm here to see that shitshow unfold."

"Oh god, I'd hate to be that parent." She laughed awkwardly.

***

"Fuck! Right there Cal! Yes!" Anya screamed, as Calum took her from behind. In a matter of seconds she was a moaning mess.

“Shit." Calum grunted.

He closed his eyes, hoping he finally would cum. But all he pictured was Nelly and not the girl in front of him. He frustratedly pulled out of Anya and dumped the condom in the trashcan next to his nightstand.

"Did you—"

"No." He snapped. He dropped his shoulders. "Sorry, I just have a lot of shit in my head right now."

"Don't worry about it. One good thing about you, is that you make sure I finish at least twice." she teased, making him playfully roll his eyes at her.

Calum pulled on his sweats and got out of bed. Thankfully, Anya knew when her time was up. She didn't mind much, it came with the territory. She knew that someone like Calum wasn't in the cards for her. She picked up her clothes and went to the bathroom.

He gently knocked on the bathroom door. “I’m going to go take Duke out. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes. Help yourself to anything.”

“Okay, I’m gonna hop in the shower real quick.” She responded.

He grabbed his hoodie and exited the room. Duke lifted his head from the couch. His tail wagged excitedly as he watched Calum get his leash. He hopped off the couch and hopped on the small bench under the key holder where the leash is.

After struggling to get the raincoat on Duke, Calum and him were on their way down. Once they reached the lobby, Duke gave him an annoyed look after seeing that here wasn’t any reason for him to be in the raincoat. They spent fifteen minutes wandering around the same tree until Duke decided he rather pee on the small flower garden bed. If Ashton saw him now, he’d drop dead.

They went back inside just as it poured. Calum pressed the elevator button and waited. He answered a text from his best friend sent him, asking if he was still coming over to his girlfriend's belated birthday party as he rode back up to his room. By the time he arrived at his apartment, Anya had left.

Calum checked his calendar when he put Duke’s leash back on the key holder. The day of the field trip approached faster than Calum anticipated. It was weighing heavily on shoulders that he couldn't fuck it up. While he was getting ready, Dr. Tellez, the principal and his boss, called him telling him that she was going to meet them at the museum for a bit.

He finished buttoning the last button of his shirt when his phone rang. He patted his pants, cursing that he couldn't find it. He threw all his clothes off the bed and patted the duvet, nothing. He got up and surveyed his room. He spotted it on his night stand.

He saw Crystal, Ashton's girlfriend and one of the other third grade teachers, on his phone. He'd been avoiding her and Ashton since the meeting. When they went to their friend's house, Ashton badgered Calum the whole ride there, wanting to know which parent he slept with. "'Lo?" He answered.

"Hey, my car is out of juice. Can you stop by Delicias and hook me up?" Crystal said through the other side.

Delicias was Odalis' bakery and there's no way in hell he was ever going there.

"Can't you ask Ashton?" He asked.

"I'd ask Ashton, but he rode with me. Odalis is here, but she looks busy and I don't want to annoy her."

Calum silently cursed and rubbed the top of his nose. "I'll be there in a bit."

"Thank you! I'll go make Ashton buy you coffee and breakfast. They make the best bagel sandwiches ever."

Calum bid her goodbye and threw himself on the bed. Duke jumped on the bed and nudged him.

"I know mate," he sighed. He pulled Duke and scratched behind his ears. "Today's gonna be a shit show."

In less than ten minutes he pulled up to Delicias and parked next to Crystal's car. She already had her car ready for Calum.

"Thank you so much." She said after a few minutes. She tested her car and instantly it roared to life. "Oh look, there's Ashton."

Calum looked up and made a face as Odalis and Mina were with him. Odalis was already looking at him when he met her eyes. She quickly averted her gaze and nodded to whatever her daughter was saying.

He still couldn't wrap it around his head that Odalis was Mina's mom. But it made sense, personality wise, and everything Mina told him about her made sense too. Which was why seeing her small cutout on Mina's family tree project was adding salt to his wound.

When he woke up the following morning, he was surprised to find her side empty. He knew their encounter was a one time thing, but he was hoping it would have ended later, after a quick round and breakfast. That day he holed up in his room. His friend Luke had come by around noon to drop Duke off. Calum told him what happened the night before only for Luke to call him a dumbass.

Calum ended up sleeping the rest of the day and was unprepared for the following day when Mina proudly presented her project. Of all people he was not expecting Odalis to be on there, not to mention his neighbor from a few doors down was also on the poster. Not only did he sleep with his student’s parents, but his neighbor's daughter. Mina just had to put Odalis' father on her poster as well.

"Hi, Mr. Hood!" Mina greeted him when they approached him and Crystal. Calum waved to her. She not so subtly pushed Odalis to the front. "This is my mom, Odalis."

"I didn't get a chance to introduce myself the other day at the meeting. I’m Mr. Hood." He told Odalis with his hand stretched out. “Nelly right?”

"It's Odalis actually." She corrected him.

"Oh sorry, you look like someone I met before with that name." He apologized sarcastically. She gave him a sardonic smile before rolling her eyes.

"I have to go back to work." She told Ashton, ignoring Calum's last comment. She leaned in and gave Ashton a side hug and waved to Crystal. She tucked her hair back. "Mina, let’s go back inside and wait for grandpa."

“You’re not going to the museum?” Crystal asked her.

“No,” Odalis shook her head, she quickly glanced at Ashton. “I got a last minute order from an annoying customer.”

After Odalis and Mina drove off, Ashton smacked Calum upside his head.

"You two fucked!" Ashton yelled at him.

"Wha-what are you talking about?" He stammered, rubbing where Ashton hit him.

"I've known Odalis for almost six years. You think I don't know about ‘Nelly’? I was the one that called the cops when the creep showed up here, and I later suggested that she go by a fake name."

"Ash—"

"Don't Ash me. She's like my little sister. I can't believe you fucked my little sister!"

"I didn't fucking know!"

"Ash, fucking calm down." Crystal said calmly. "Here have some tea and go wait in the car."

"Fine, but at the museum I'm paired up with you and not him." Ashton slammed the car door shut, emphasizing his anger toward Calum. Though once inside he happily sipped his prickly pear and hibiscus iced tea.

***

Calum hadn’t heard from Ashton in two days, which was long for Ashton. So he was surprised to hear from him when he got a text from him on Valentine’s Day morning, that he better show up for Crystal’s surprise birthday party later in the evening. He planned on responding that her party was about two months late, but he didn’t want to risk getting uninvited.

He slipped his leather jacket over his hoodie and was on his way out. In less than fifteen minutes he pulled up to Ashton’s condo. He was locking his car when a bright red blur hurried past him.

It was Odalis.

His eyes followed her as she stalked a few boxes with her bakery’s logo on top of a hand truck. She wore a short scarlet red satin dress with a bright red turtleneck sweater. She looked beautiful, plain and simple.

Calum was going to approach, but hid behind his car when someone walked up to her. He couldn’t see who it was, but from her laugh, he hated him. He grabbed Crystal’s present, a charcuterie set he ordered from Crate and Barrel. He slipped inside and made his way to Ashton’s yard. Grabbing a beer from the cooler behind the makeshift bar, he made his way to greet Crystal.

“Happy belated birthday, love.” He said, pulling her to hug.

“Thanks Cal!” She squealed. It was obvious she had a little bit too much to drink. She looked down at the wrapped box. “Is that for me? You got me a present?”

“Of course it’s your birthday party.” He smiled.

“You’re like the best co-worker, Cal.” She gave him another hug before taking the present and went to her friends. They all cheered as she showed off the box.

Calum finished off his beer and went over to Michael and his fiance, Hunter. He pulled Michael into a hug and gave Hunter a side hug. He didn’t miss a beat and congratulated them on their engagement. He told Hunter about how nervous Michael was a few weeks ago when he got the guys together to tell them about how he planned to propose. The trio chatted for a while. Ashton eventually joined them. The only person missing was Luke.

“Luke is absolutely smitten. He hasn’t left her side.” Hunter said, sipping some of her piña colada seltzer.

Calum turned back to where she was looking and found Luke talking to Odalis. He frowned seeing her smiling at Luke. Part of him wanted to go up to them, but he couldn't. Ashton would have his head for ruining Crystal's part and serve it in the charcuterie board he got Crystal.

"I'm gonna go get food." He told them.

"I moved all the food inside and just left the desserts buffet." Ashton told him.

Calum nodded and went into the kitchen. He grabbed a plate and served himself. He read through some emails from the PTA moms about the upcoming bake sale while he ate.

He went to the bathroom in Ashton's guest room. He heard the bedroom door close as he peed. A hushed voice filled the whole room. After finishing his business he waited a few more minutes until they hung up. He quickly flushed the toilet and washed his hands. His eyes met Odalis' when he exited the bathroom.

"Following me around I see." she said.

"I was taking a piss when you got inside. Maybe check if the room's being occupied before coming in, Nelly." He said, leaning against the door.

"It's Odalis." She corrected him.

"Could've fooled me— actually you did." he sarcastically laughed.

Odalis was quiet. After finding out he was Mina's teacher, she forced her dad to take her place as chaperone. She didn't know how to feel. Part of her wants the earth to swallow her whole, but the part of her feels relieved to see him. She missed him for some odd reason. There was something about him that attracted her to him.

"You okay?" Calum asked her. He waved his hand in front of her face when he noticed her zone out.

She blinked a few times and then met his gaze. Her eyes dropped to his lips. She longed to have his mouth on her. She spent nights just getting off at the thought of his kisses. How he kissed with so much determination, how he'd smiled on her lips when she moaned as he fucked her senseless.

Odalis got on her tippy toes and leaned in. It took Calum a second to kiss her back, he surprised that he was kissing her once more. Without breaking their kiss, he grabbed the back of her thighs and picked her up. Pushing her against the door, he locked it.

She pulled away and slipped off her sweater. Odalis pushed his jacket off him and helped him out of his hoodie and shirt. She slid her hands over his chest and up to his face. She couldn't believe he was in front of her.

Their kisses led them to the bed. The last few layers of clothes shed as they got reacquainted with their bodies.

"Can I have a taste?" Calum whispered in her ear. Odalis looked up at him with an unreadable expression. "I don't have to, of course. Whatever we do is up to you. If you just want to make out then we'll just make out. But if you want to have sex, fine by me. I want you to know that you're not obligated to do anything. We can stop and just act like—"

"Just be gentle." She said, stopping him from rambling.

"Wait, seriously?" His face lit up.

"Yes." she softly giggled.

Odalis wrapped her arms around him as she deepened the kiss. She let out a soft groan when Calum pulled away from her lips. She watched him kiss her body as he made his way down.

He looked up at her when he reached her dripping core.

"Ready?" he asked.

Odalis nodded her response, partly speechless that he was actually going to go down on her.

"Use your words, sweetheart."

"Yes."

Calum nodded and opened her legs to him. He kissed up her thigh, gently nipping her and repeated with her other leg. He smirked to himself, hearing how restless Odalis got.

She let out an inaudible gasp of pleasure when Calum licked her. She tried closing her legs, but Calum's grip on them kept her in place. He moaned at her taste and savored her, taking his time with his tongue. He pushed one of her legs to her chest, giving him better access to her.

"I'm gonna insert a finger in you, okay?" He asked.

"Yes, that's okay." She panted.

Calum continued to eat her out for what seemed an eternity, but Odalis wasn't complaining. He inserted another while he pressed his thumb on her clit. Odalis felt something build up in her. She felt pleasantly overwhelmed with Calum's fingers and tongue. Calum felt it too. He sped up his fingers and circled his thumb on her clit roughly.

"Calum!" She moaned out, not caring who heard her. Calum lapped up her release. He dropped her legs down and laid next to her.

Odalis didn't wait another second. She pulled him back on top of her and kissed him. They continued to kiss, teasing touches here and there, but nothing too intense for either of them. That is until Odalis thrusted her hips to meet his hips. They rolled around shuffling to get a condom from the drawer in the nightstand.

"Please, Cal, I want you so bad," she whined. He bit back a sarcastic remark and just gave her what she wanted. She gasped loudly as he slid into her without a warning.

Calum buried his face in her neck. With a few slow and deep thrusts he began to take her at that slow and deep pace. Her fingers clawed at his shoulders and back. His head was buried in her neck, praising her with sweet nothings.

“Cal, fuck,” she panted, gripping his biceps as she met his thrusts.

He pulled his hips back, pulling almost all the way out of her. He slammed into her without a warning and slowly retracted his cock once again. He continued to take her like that until she was a moaning mess. Calum slowly circled his thumb over her clit, nearing her to her climax. She clenched around him, his name was at the tip of her tongue. All she needed were a few thrusts. But then she felt empty. She opened her eyes and saw Calum getting up from the bed.

"You owe me a date, sweetheart."

Taglist: @another-lonely-heart @sunshinebabycal @calumscalm @karajaynetoday @cherryxwildflower @myloverboyash @idontneedanyone @findingliam-o @5-secondsofcolor @spicylftv @sexgodashton @2fangirl4u @fckingpernico @calpops

Special guests: @be-ready-when-i-say-go and @kindahoping4forever bc I named Michael and Ashton's significant others after them

#calum hood smut #calum hood fanfic #calum hood series #calum hood imagine #calum hood fanfiction #calum hood fan fiction #calum hood fan fic #teacher!cal series #teacher!Cal

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kxias · 7 years

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...so, yeah, don’t rlly know how the fuck i got accepted to be quite honest w you??? like that definitely sounded fake but yet here we are??? anyways, hi, i’m red (she/her pronouns please) i’m 19 and i live in the est timezone and i am so, so excited about this roleplay — like i said, highkey was not expecting to get accepted so it certainly came as a shock when i refreshed the main before leaving to grab dinner and saw my post? i’ve been dying to put this muse of mine into play for a month or so now but i really haven’t been able to find a group that i was Down for up until i saw this one ! i am a heaux for uni rps, an even bigger one for the greek life rps since i in a million years would never be able to join greek life (yay introvert!!) and while i wasn’t here first time around, i’m happy to be here now and writing w all you lovely people ; i’m working on getting her stats and wanted connections up so pls bear with me, classes started back today and i’m trying to sift thru all the junk of my online courses while attempting to enjoy my last moments of freedom but they’ll be up soon ! in the meantime, there’s a bit beneath the cut about my baby angel and a few ideas to tide you over, make the heart go red and i’ll pop in your ims for plots ! and yes, i do ramble like this all the time so Get Ready !!

tw: death, slight depression, mentions of verbal/emotional abuse

have you read the gossip blog lately ? apparently, a GIGI HADID lookalike was seen strolling across campus with their DANCE textbook. but nah, that’s just KAIA ZAMAN, the TWENTY year old JUNIOR, i’m sure you know HER. they’re mostly known as THE SANGUINE because they’re very SILVER-TONGUED and INTREPID but also RETICENT and GUILELESS.

so kaia was born and raised in chicago, illinois, the only child her parents ever had due to a few factors — one of which being that it was incredibly hard for her mother to carry a child + rushed into an emergency hysterectomy right after kaia’s birth, so she was their rainbow baby

her parents did everything in their power to make kaia as happy as they possibly could since she had been everything they’d wanted for so long, so whether it was letting her watch another cartoon before bed or enrolling her in dance classes at the age of three after a full-fledged obsession with the nutcracker reached its pique, they pretty much granted her any wish she could’ve possibly had

at age four, a few nights after christmas, kaia and her parents were on their way home from dinner, taking a road that was pretty notorious for collecting black ice in the winter and got into a really bad accident, and this cost her both of her parents

so in her father’s will + due to a lack of any other eligible family members, kaia was left in the custody of her uncle ( dad’s younger brother ) and it was...disastrous, to say the least; daniel had pretty much resigned to a life of forever being a bachelor and fucking around and now he had a four year old niece that he was expected to raise???

her uncle was a trashbag with a few shreds of decency (driven by guilt) in him — he wasn’t going to dump her into the foster system but he sure as hell didn’t want anything to do with her ! so in true trashbag fashion, he just decided to completely neglect her, pretend like she wasn’t there and hope she’d get the hint, and it took her a while to figure this out?? kaia was a sweet kid who went from having a shit ton of affection and love to being ignored and treated like she was a nuisance, and it fucked w her head at four years old

she wound up raising herself; all her uncle was good for was giving her a place to live, making sure she had clothes on her back and food in her stomach, and putting on an act when people gave a second glance their way. the only time he really wanted anything to do with her was when he could benefit her somehow, like keep one of his girlfriends around ( they all found kaia adorable and daniel ‘admirable’ for stepping up ) or when it came to the $$, her parents had left her a little but daniel pretty much absorbed it and took it for himself, to throw more parties or buy booze or play sugar daddy to one of his hookups?? like i said, trashbag

kaia and her uncle were roommates at best, and that was pushing it — she struggled a lot with the neglect internally, and her way of coping was to push it down, push it down, suppress with a smiling face and act like all was well. daniel was enough of a decent person to let her continue with the dance lessons which she absolutely adored, dance was her Everything, and by the time she hit high school, she started teaching classes at the studio she learned at in order to make some $$ that daniel wouldn’t take for his own

the older she got, the more she’d fight back a little against daniel and they had their fair share of fights ( which usually ended in daniel saying something to shut her down entirely and she’d scramble away ) but even despite that, sHE NEVER GAVE UP HOPE ON HIM...?? like, kaia always gave him the benefit of the doubt even though he’d proved himself time and time again thAT HE DIDN’T DESERVE IT

to her it was v black and white, she didn’t understand why tf he wouldn’t just get over himself and be a Family ( daniel is Where she gets her stubbornness tbh ) but despite having a little resent towards him, kaia never ever stopped hoping that he’d wake up one day and they’d start being a family and she still hasn’t bc optimist in the highest degree

when it came to college, kaia knew if she didn’t get out of chicago she was literally going to be sick, there was just smth about the loneliness there that made her skin crawl ( she also hates the winter now so she had to get as far away from snow as possible lmao ) and so she was like “alright i need a college on the west coast and w my dance major”, found crawford, and it was Settled

you ain’t getting my gossip blog secret out of me *wink*

anyways, now that the tragic backstory has been #unlocked...onto kaia

she’s the sanguine, which basically means bitch is a ball of sunshine, which she is — there’s no such thing as a stranger in her world, she likes constantly being surrounded by people ( bc she gotta make up for being lonely all those childhood years, thanks a ton dAN ) and making new friends and going out, she just loves people and people usually love her, she knows how to reel them in and keep them by her side, girlie will do Anything

she flat-out refuses to see the bad in people, even if it is staring her in the face, and this is where her stubborn nature comes in to play?? you can’t tell her anything, once her mind is set on something there is no hope of ever talking her out of it, she’s got to come to her senses on her own and even then it’s usually too late or she diminishes the impact of it?? she’s rash and got bad tunnel vision so it’s p clear where disaster lies w her

has the unhealthiest coping mechanisms on the history of the planet, tbh; she thinks the cure to everything is putting a smile on and acting like it’s not a problem and while that works when one fails a test, it doesn’t work w everything and she’s just forced so much pain and depression and anger down that it is Bound to come right back up at some point, so basically homegirl is a ticking time bomb

kaia’s also a people pleaser, she’d literally give you a kidney if you asked, which makes it easy for people to manipulate her?? and she doesn’t always see when she’s being manipulated either?? and won’t always stand up for herself when she’s being treated unfairly??? she just likes keeping the peace if at all possible

blurs the line a lot between doing things because she can and doing things because she feels an obligation to so she doesn’t let anyone down

ever since her parents died, she doesn’t like to give anything a second-guess — if she wants to do something, then she’s doing it, because it may not come back around again or she may not have the chance to. is the Definition of living in the moment, which is nice in theory, but kaia is v bad at compartmentalizing so it’s easy for her to get off track or ofc do things that will come back to bite her

dance is life, i’m not even gonna go into detail on it bc this is long enough already and like.....it’s just her whole world, ok, moving along

she wants everyone to let her in but she very rarely returns the favor, which is why i gave her the reticent trait?? she doesn’t tell people about her parents or her uncle, doesn’t let people see that iceberg of emotions underneath the surface, she acts like if it doesn’t exist then it doesn’t as far as anyone’s concerned???

girl is one of the greatest friends you could ever have but is a piece of work when you think about it, tbh, so that being said come love us !

and if you read this far: the reason this STUPID vine is my ooc tag is bc i have an ex named kyle who is a piece of trash and that vine is a p accurate description of how i feel about him.....plus it just makes me laugh ok going now

#「 •• 𝓸𝓯 𝓼𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓾𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓼 ; what the fuck is up red.#crwfrd.intro

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lilietsblog · 7 years

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Strike Witches episode 1: first impression

so im gonna try strike witches: the unknown anime i chose to not familiarize myself with the premise beyond 'something like fighter pilots i think?' that i picked up by osmosis

oh hey look a discarded doll. def war is hell vibes here

cant say im a fan of the visuals from the first several seconds, the color scheme and everything seems kinda bland? the only reason im making this observation is bc i had to pause to let it load tho

oh look Very Noticable CGI

(i have a headache and am vaguely nauseous and basically am Very Cranky as a result)

man, there aren't even characters yet. it's been almost two minuets and there still aren't people for me to relate too that's a crime by which i dont mean that literally but just 'this might not be the thing i want to watch right now'

oh hey monsters okay this is better than just straight up war is hell between humans omfg in 1939 subtle 'we wanna play with ww2 era toys but without bringing up the fact japan was on the side of nazi germany' i assume sure im onboard if thats the premise

magitech??? magitech!!!

that's. their legs. in those things. are they evoking Baba Yaga and her travels in a stupa bc thats okay panty shots i think imma quit at the end of this episode

oh i. just realized this is the movie that actually makes it a bit better and gives me more hope lets try the actual first episode first

ok the first shot is of the sky and not a discarded doll that's already better

holy shit whatever this video player is it allows to load external captions from pc or url. technology progresses at an incredible pace

i love that the fighter planes are clearly shown attacking the vortex first 9u9

opening has so many girls wearing shoes but no pants. im just. this entire device's entire point is clearly to fanservice that does not mean this is bad character-wise yet ofc. i watched and liked fucking rosario+vampire. this show has a chance yet. lets see what its got

the op song is nice its also very straightforward about aesthetic of this show being 'girls without pants in absolutely non-sexual situaitons' and i can respect that

and oh look it actually does start with characters interacting right after exposition that's what im talking about

okay so now might be a good time to mention that the first context i heard of strike witches was uh. misogynist porn. like the kind that doesnt go for 'look at these relatable characters being kinky' but for 'consider: what if powerful girls got hurt instead'. so thats the context in my brain and i want to fucking overwrite it

military uniforms+panties are definitely an aesthetic and im incredibly amused by it okay every single girl here doesnt wear pants sure that actually looks like a swimsuit rather than panties and thats nice

also they are characterizing the protagonist! like i know thats not much to ask for but im going into this straight off blogging about madoka and this is just such a relief! she is kind and brave and plucky and talks gently to a scared kitten and I love her also she Does Not Think Things Through shes like the typical shonen protagonist but a girl. im in

Yoshika her name is Yoshika

and her motivation is her dad but eh sure whatever I kind of like the touch of 'it was classified military information' not sure why

theres nothing about Yoshika that qualifies her other than her personality and magic powers huh

yep thats a swimsuit aww shes a healer!

I love that the military observers rush to help as soon as they see something is off theres work and then theres helping emergencies

oh!!!! her mom and grandma are around!!! and teaching her!!! im happy!!!

Yoshika why is all that a 'but' to 'you should learn to control your power' i dont think there was any subtext of 'you shouldnt even try' there? or was it? maybe i should just trust her for now

awww Yoshika actually doesn't want to go to war <3 but this woman thinks she will because she wants to help people and she'll help people the most there I I like this ;~; I'm so happy I like this I love Yoshika's 'fuck war' instinct I love her drive to help everyone and in fact the trope of magical healer almost killing themselves to help a patient (despite it being professionally inadvisable) is actually the thing i made my very first rp character sooo :> you know. stuff something is fishy about that letter. its no coincidence it was sent just now... I love Sakamoto and her A+ social skills HA HA HA HA HA also huh... she's not in on whatever's up with that letter

Yoshika so uh alright she'll take her without enlisting her huh interesting but uh what about school I guess military and witches can override all that and it kind of makes sense to me thematically

'Britannia' gee how familiar that name sounds and i dont mean geographically

so hm could Yoshika be a military doctor without actually enlisting? how do the formalities work there i like that Sakamoto doesnt question her dislike of all things military like its unexpected but mostly bc Sakamoto's got a one track mind that has a hard time expecting anything other than what she wants to happen and beyond that its like 'sure ok a conscientous objector got it' even though its weird how there would be conscientous objectors to fighting MONSTERS its not like theres an alternative to not fight I mean also clearly Yoshika is a kid and theres room left for that in other characters' treatment of her opinions and I love that they dont get Offended that she doesn't understand and Have Proper Respect well Sakamoto doesn't at least not sure about how other people will react

man that raccoon on the road sure was convenient though. like i first thought it was Sakamoto's deliberate tactic to gauge Yoshiko's powers. she was opening her eye to i guess do just that visually and then the raccoon appeared and it just felt very natural that one follows from the other? is this foreshadowing or are the writers of this anime just unfamiliar with the concept of 'subtle' i dont mind if its the latter tbh

(im writing a ton of reflection bc the episode broke after i tried to rewind a little and i decided to download it after all, and its doing that)

so far, this show seeems nicely straightforward and fast paced. like, really straightforward. yoshiko's introduction? saving a kitten. making a ww2 era anime without difficult shit? monsters attacked in 1939. motivations and revelations are handled with all the subtlety of a hammer to the face, from the raccoon to the letter. even fanservice has the same charming quality that makes me actually be okay with the entire point of their outfits being gratuitous panty shots. making sense and having pretense is for the weak. this anime knows what it wants to be and is going straight for that. i respect that approach

also its p clear that what it wants is to be character driven and its been Delivering on that since its only half episode one and i already Love two characters personally and also some supporting cast (Yoshiko's entire family)

and like you know that in some other show GASP MIGHT MY DAD BE STILL ALIVE would be a reveal saved for like. the halfway point. but here its literally the starting point spurring everything into action bc all other motivation was just too slow to get the character where she was supposed to go. good job yo

there's this trope where the main character doesn't want to go into the main conflict (Refusal of the Call)... and very often it's handled by either 1) letting them wallow until everything goes to shit showing how wrong they were or 2) immediately conveniently wrecking everything so they have no choice now I uh. am really glad this show went a different way if just joining the conflict isnt a good enough motivation GET A BETTER ONE and IT DOESNT HAVE TO BE ANGST (and it doesn't have to be romance, either!!! why are those two the only things writers seem to be able to think of jfc)

...okay I was more like two thirds through the episode rather than half but my points stand

okay so I think what just happened was Yoshiko realized the parallel between herself and her dad leaving and got scared and her response was to comfort other people and I love that <3

I love that Sakamoto doesn't have a doubt in her mind that Yoshiko isn't going to be useless and will definitely help and also comes to her to discuss this explicitly <3

man I love Sakamoto and her absolute lack of social graces and sense of when enough is enough

and the fact that Yoshiko is working chores now and seems to enjoy it too <3

and it's when it's established that she's part of the team that Sakamoto starts showing off <3 she clearly has a dedicated well thought out campaign of convincing Yoshiko going on and its borne out not of manipulation but of clear conviction that she is right and she just has to show the girl what she doesnt know yet <3

ahaha of course showing off worked <3

so I paused and imma make a bet with myself on whether Sakamoto is going to tell her 'if you liked that you can join' right now or leave that unsaid subtly my bet is that she is, bc subtlety is an entirely foreign concept to this wonderful human being, and if i lose im going to make my bed right now not even waiting for the end of the episode let's see

oh she starts with education huh, this is not widely known? i had no idea anyway lets see if she says the thing

I love that it's her dad and it's this kind thing of 'this is what he said he was going to do, and he did' <3

huh so that was slightly more subtlety than I expected, she offered her to try them rather than trying to recruit her directly so I lost the bet gotta go make the bed now

BAM DONE YAY GOOD SELF CARE

hey more main characters!!!! I love all of you already!!! you have personality and discuss things that make sense!!! including their outfits!!! I love them!!!! the parasol girl is my favorite but also the tiny girl and the red-haired girl they are all my favorites!!!

omfg a month of travel and half a day early Yoshiko gets impatient I love her

YOU ARE A NONCOMBATANT she said with the steely confidence of a commanding officer <3

I love so much that Sakamoto respects Yoshiko's boundaries re: fighting???

OMG THE ENDING SONG I LOVE IT

I love the upbeat and airy tone this show manages to have despite the premise??? like I had trepidations at the start bc I dislike doom&gloom-heaviness of 'war is hell' narratives and I'm not a WW2 affictionado. but instead of shiny boom boom toys and angst it's all character adorableness and so much sky??? even the lack of pants ends up feeling like freedom this is the anime we all deserve

#strike witches #anime #liliet watches strike witches

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liziworldthing-blog · 7 years

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1/6/17

I arrived at Baiyun airport about 2am on Friday morning, it took me over 24 hours to get here due to me wanting cheap ticket and also flight getting cancelled due to lots of smog in Beijing. I also had to pick up my luggages from Beijing and re-check in. It was really difficult to get from Terminal to Terminal to catch my rescheduled flight with two luggages. A mid-age man took my luggage and started walking me to my terminal. I was touched and thought he worked at the airport. However, after I reached my terminal, he asked for 20 dollars, stupid me was taken by surprise and asked “dollars or RMB?”, I was soooo tired. Later I realized, no matter what his answer was, it should have been RMB. I would never forget this encounter because I realize even if I am not at my 100%, I need to remain alert and clear-headed to do well in China. Ms Lin who I know from childhood picked me up from the airport with her husband and my dad and drove home.

The next morning, me and dad came to a dimsum place across the street to make sure I turn in my sexual harassment certificate for work (it’s very noisy although free wifi), I also contacted Martina to schedule for weekly check-in. Hopefully it all turns out ok and I don’t have to explain that I am in China. Later, we went to get a sim card for me, in China, you need a resident card/or passport to open one. $50 for 2G which is not bad, there’s also what is called an “idle hour” where some company offer extra data for hours used after 11pm. Researching for the best deal is prominent in china, we spent over an hour trying to find the best deal between mobile shops that are only a block away from each other. Attitudes of the servers are really bad and they would not disclose all the information, so it is up to someone to be inquisitive. Later, I was walking and twisted my ankle and didn’t think much about it and went to curl my hair at a local salon (from referral of the glasses place). They spent 3 hours on my hair and I intent to return to dye my hair the next day.

Dad and I scheduled to have dinner with mom’s best friend and her family at a fancy Chinese place. Very good food and super clean. They shared their trip in U.S with me very excitedly, and then we got on the topic of “what can Chinese residents invest in?”. According to her, policy can change within a day so it’s important to be extremely flexible. Stock market in china is shit and real estate policy changing all the time is making it a very volatile market. There were policies in which control people from buying too much, for example, if your first house is not paid off, you need to put 70% as down payment for your second house. Later, the real estate sank so the government revised it to 30%. These policies are all implemented within couple years. Also retirement age has suddenly extended from age 55 to 65 with no incremental steps (this is how we lead to investment). Later, they saw that I was crippled and went to the hospital with me. It’s a specialty hospital for bones, anything after closing time is considered Emergency. I pretended to be their daughter and used their healthcare. Employer healthcare works as a % of salary, so the daughter has about $300 every month to be reimbursed towards healthcare. Scan was about a couple hundred and exam was about $70. It’s open work space for the doctors, then they exam and write notes. However, everyone can access them, so sometimes people cut in line or put their medical papers on their desk so they would see them first. They sent me to get an X-ray, radiologist was rude and asked me to “put whatever hurts onto the table”. Devices were outdated and dirty. Afterwards, the doctor looks at the scan and prescribe. Sometimes, you can request them to prescribe you certain medicine. Interesting Chinese healthcare system experience.

1/9

I am on my way to Shanghai by taking the GaoTie (the fast train). Was told by He MingChong’s dad that he will be going to YiWu, which is a wholesaler paradise. However, he’s driving there which takes two days. He suggested that I take the train and spend time with Mabel in Shanghai and then meet up with him on the way back. Train takes only 8 hours.

Want to log some thoughts about yesterday’s meeting with Vidas CEO, he was explaining the idea he has for America. In china, most cabinet/kitchen models are showroom only with no storage in the back. In America, it’s the opposite. It’s like a cabinet supermarket. People go in to literally touch and feel the cabinets and then buy them to go. He explains that it Is backwards and can cause strains to cashflow due to storage fees and cabinets that aren’t sold for a long time. However, he cannot enter the SF market abruptly and ignoring the way of doing things right now. In America, most Chinese Americans rely on their ShiFu (the ones doing the manual work for the furnishing) and pick their furniture piece by piece – so he is looking for partners. His goal is to work with design consulting companies and have them work with Vidas designers. He wants to provide team services to high end customers who wants to customize their kitchen. I didn’t learn much about business, but I did learn some customs of talking business in China. You take them out for food, order expensive dishes, and then take them to your territory, and you “drink tea”. Drink tea is so prominent, even when I am at someone’s house, we are constantly being poured tea. Vidas CEO was very soft spoken and attentive, which is good to know that you don’t need to be aggressive to do business in China. However, when I asked about how he started, he was very hesitant. And just repeated the mission of Vidas. I guess giving very little information to others is a skill of its own- so is repetition to drive home the point when you have nothing else to talk about.

Wechat is a big thing in china. You use it to pay, use it to order tickets, and it’s linked to your bank account. So when I tried to buy tickets, I wasn’t able to do so, and had to ask someone. The train station itself is also very complicated, would need an hour of buffer time. There’s restaurants on the train and security check in for bags. It’s almost Chinese new year in china, which means lots of stealing because lots of non-mainlanders are trying to bring something back home. I was told not to sleep on the 8 hour train!

I went to visit He MingChong’s house. Real estate is another big thing in China. My dad told the story of how we were about to immigrate, so was gonna sell the house for 200k, however, now it’s worth over 2 million. The house He MingChong bought in 2005 was one million, now it’s 10 million. It’s a 3 story house in Pang Yu. Then we drove to ShunDe to eat fish. They catch the fish from the pond and slice them and hot pot it. We also went to a restaurant with Monogolian Bao, and bought some lamb skewers which were very good. You can see plenty of mountains running through China on the train, it’s quite untouched and pretty.

1/11/17

Bought my last minute ticket to Shanghai and took a 8 hour train ride and arrived at Shanghai. Mabel picked me up and we went for a dinner at a fusion Hongkongnese place in a fancy mall. I ordered an angel hair pasta and she ordered a duck risotto. Then we went to her place which is next to the Xing Hai Music school. Her neighbor is applying for the music school so you hear piano sometimes. Her place is small, but her room is quite tidy. We had good talks about life at night and about the despair we feel about the economy and guys in china. The next day, we had shanghai breakfast at a hole in the wall, and I sent her to her work at The Economist. I went to the famous temple and garden in Shanghai and took a walk next to the water and found a cute café to rest my feet. At night, we went into the wrong restaurant and had vegetarian food. We talked about her love life, and her fear of not liking it when she knows a guy likes her and that she can’t tell the difference between friendship and love.

I bid her goodbye at 7am this morning and took the train to Yi Wu, where I spent half the time resting my feet and half the other time browsing the wholesale goods. There are an incredible amount of merchandise from sporting goods (where I bought a pair of shoes) and accessories and toys, etc. There are 5 districts, I only had time for 2. Basic idea is you buy in bulk, sometimes small items wholesale at 1000 pc, and sometimes at a dozen. Drones can whole sale at 18 pcs, at 300rmb each. Later, I met up with He MingChong’s dad and his coworker, who has a stake in the company. He is running a second factory, where he shares his shares with his employees. We then went to visit the VP of a company who showed us the storage of bikes that he has in stock and went to eat dinner. Dinner conversations are good, and he is very knowledgable. Making “things” smart is a very common wish for the products, I guess tech is not caught up yet. Again, the reoccurring theme of service economy kept coming up. He was saying how with scooters, someone came to him and said he will change the batteries for the elderly using the disability mobiles. Also, it is confirmed that virtual business is no longer the hot market, and many are looking elsewhere. At night, I had talks with the dad and conversed about how everyone in Shanghai is a business man, but bc the environment in china doesn’t encourage it, everyone is trying to scam someone or escape tax.

1/14/17

First, I need to record about the last bits of the journey with He Ming Chong daddy’s journey. He was telling me about how from placing an order to getting a payment for an order usually takes up to 60 days. Between factories and factories, for example, if HeMingChong’s daddy gets an order from a client, they would start making the stuff without the client’s payment. However, in manufacturing, they would need to order from another manufacturer. Therefore, if the other manufacturer does not give them the stuff in time, they cannot turn over to the client. And even if they turn over the stuff to the client, the client would procrastinate in making the payment. (Bosses are happy when employees are able to drag it out in payment, perhaps due to cashflow?) Therefore, it’s extremely difficult for small manufacturers to function. Because they need to pay others to make stuff or spend money on making their own product, and then because the client doesn’t pay them yet, they might end up having to spend lots of time in the negatives. I asked what if the products malfunction, they say then the client will drag out the payment even longer. This is not a good practice, but it has been the standard of doing business in China.

The next day, I was able to get together ten-ish elementary school friends at Mann Café, a very cute, wooden furniture coffee place. The teacher also came. We had some conversations about what we are doing as a job. Some are doing design, some are doing 文工，some in marketing, some in event planning. There was this girl who wants to explore the world by going to Australia…however, I don’t think you can explore the world with a boyfriend. And also she did not plan on when yet, she just wants to “play”. I think that is a quite naïve and without purpose. At night, there was this other guy who joined us, he partnered with his ex-coworkers in opening a wig shop. Mostly retail model. A lot of the “bosses” in China have the same look. Slick black jacket, the habit of smoking, the low voice talking, the need to drink, the opening of the topics in a very casual way, the sit-back posture. Someone was telling me about how local Cantonese people are conservative compared to out of the province. The “foreigners” are more willing to take out a loan to start a business, whereas locals want to build a foundation and work a full time job to buy a house. However, once you buy a house, because the houses are so unaffordable, the chances of you doing other things are limited. Especially when the marriage age in china is so low. Your life is basically spent at one job, at one place, paying for one house, working for someone else’s dream at a very young age without having the options to explore. With millennials sharing the same type of “lifestyle” (eg. Only working at the same company for little more than a year), Chinese young working class have it very hard. I wonder where the young working classes look for inspirations? Foreign books? Foreign talk shows? What about their local resources. I went on a date with Wu Jiaoyang today at Grandma’s House at this shopping mall near my house, food was good and we chatted about her life at Chicago for two years, and how she wants to return. She studied Economy as a master student at Illinoise-Champagne. Same place that Jayson went for Psychology. She also informed me that personal statement business is popular, especially for students whose grades aren’t that good and family want to send them aboard to study, they won’t have the ability to write it themselves. If they contact some middle agency, it’s going to cost more. Later on, we went to a bookstore – I really enjoy the coffee shops here. Very nice.

1/24/17

I am at 海底捞 waiting for my number to be called, it’s been two hours. There are nails and snacks in front of the restaurant while you wait. I think it’s the service that people are buying in. I did something stupid earlier, when they led me in and gave me a table, it was a small table and I didn’t ask for a regular table for 6 people. I didn’t consider that there would be food and then there would be no space. I then later on asked for a bigger table, but they said there was none. Foreseeing consequences. I still need to work on it.

I went to Kayla’s wedding thing on 20th-23rd. It was quite a stressful time. Kerwin’s mom was the planner but was for some reason, very reluctant to share the logistics of the wedding – when asked, she would say just wait till rehearsal the next day. However, there was details that she was telling me that was unable to connect or don’t make sense. She was putting on a wedding that looks good on the surface but chaotic at the end. We didn’t have enough bridesmaid or groomsman until the very end. It was a very good looking wedding with traditional Chinese decorations and outfits. There were these VIP rooms that were filled with smokes and alcohol, guessing it was the government officials.

1/29/17

The next couple days when I come back, it was mostly seeing relatives. I also got to see my brother (elementary school friend) and his friends for the Escape Room and karaoke. It was lots of fun. The escape room wasn’t complicated or difficult, but it was just too many people and hard to get close to the clues. But it was huge and well decorated. My brother and his gf gave me a Pandora necklace, I was wayyy surprised. Even my blood related brother didn’t even care to do so. I went shopping with Auntie Jingjing the next day, and got a good idea of how much clothing costs here. I also went to play toy picking machine with another elementary school friend and got a lot of toys. I learned how to strategically pick toys. The business thoughts are less prominent now, I think I am a bit discouraged by the complication of doing business in China. I think I am also slowly discouraged by how troublesome Execly was, and limiting my imagination to very limited scope.

NOTES:

Shopping List for when I come back:

-couple bottles of wine and brand bag for Auntie Jing Jing and Bachong uncle

-running shoes for Brother and his gf

Ideas: dash cam, shoes, bras, university vlog

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