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forbidden-sunlight · 17 days

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yandere!ceo with villainess!reader [part three]

warnings: mentions of infidelity, non-consensual surveillance, delusional and obsessive thoughts, workplace toxicity, verbal abuse or harassment

There might be potential triggers in this piece. If you do not feel comfortable with reading it, please hit the 'back' button on your phone or laptop and find something much more pleasant to read than a potential series of unfortunate events. You are responsible for your own Internet consumption.

Reblog to support content creators ❤️

Hey guys and welcome back to part three of this series, created in collaboration with the talented @deathmetalunicorn1! I know a lot of people have asked for this next segment, and it is finished after a lot of edits and two rough drafts back-to-back!

Just so everyone knows, I am going to be focused on another project starting in June, so please be patient in the meantime and do not flood my inbox with requests or asks as to when the finale of this series will be posted.

Now that this little announcement is out of the way, sit back, relax, and enjoy the show :)

Part One

Part Two

You could not wait to have your first sip of caffeinated bliss since seven o’clock this morning when you left for the office. The presentation was almost finished, all it needed were a few more checks on some references after a much-needed lunch break. The catering company had texted you that the foodstuff had already been delivered to your department as soon as you walked inside the coffee shop. You were about to send a review for their business when a notification on another app popped it. The purple app with a clapperboard icon that only you could see because it was directly connected to Being X. This was how you received the viewer ratings for each episode so far. But…why were the results for this episode already in? Shouldn’t it have happened until later?

Swallowing the lump in your throat, your shaking pointer finger tapped it. A creme-colored screen appeared with the words congratulations, congratulations, congratulations written in bold cursive lettering. Beneath it were numbers. Stats about the ratings.

You quickly scanned them, seeing that today’s episodes had exceeded the requirements to move forward with the next segment and not a reset with negative comments from the audience or a sarcastic message from Being X to have better luck next time on the fifth loop and a smiling emoji at the end. But why and how did this even happen when you just arrived on the set?

“YEO JUNG-HWA, HOW COULD TALK TO ME LIKE THAT?! YOU’RE EMBARRASSING ME!”

Ah. You would recognize that voice anywhere. Hyeung Mun-Hee. Of course she is having a clandestine with the male lead instead of answering her phone to come into work and help out with the project after her lover pushed the deadline to Monday morning instead of next month. But raising her voice in public, and from what it sounds like, she’s actually arguing with him? Well seeing the two main actors in this drama world having a spat when their chemistry is supposed to be flawless and the epitome of true love would rank in high ratings. If they saw the villainess catching her fiance in the act of seeing another woman behind her back and pouring hot coffee over the female lead’s head, the act wouldn’t reap even half of these glowing online comments that keep popping up every few minutes.

“I have an order for Park ready?”

The universe is smiling down on you today.

You thanked the barista profusely as he carefully handed you one of the coffee holders, asking if you’d like help with carrying everything to your car. You gladly took up on his offer, secretly slipping a tip into his hand afterwards before heading back to the office.

By four o’clock, the quarterly income statements were triple-checked and emailed off to Yeo Jung-Hwa. Tomorrow’s workload included the inspection of the company’s financial software, and the firewalls with the head of the IT Department.

All the more reason to be lazy for the rest of your Saturday, curling up in some blankets and comfy clothes, watching a cooking show to pass the time until Caretaker Lee knocked your door, informing you that dinner was ready. You immediately followed her downstairs to the dining room, seeing everyone else in the Park family waiting for you with warm smiles.

The evening’s dish was bibimbap, a bowl consisting of meat, vegetables, and white rice. The side dishes with sliced green onions and kimchi. Small talk was exchanged between glasses of wine and bites of Caretaker Lee’s delicious meal.

Your younger brother wasn’t quite ready to have alcohol yet despite his claims that he is of age to drink. Your mother shared a funny story she heard about at the salon. Your father rarely said a word during dinner, but the loving gaze in his eyes told you everything you needed to know. Sometimes you hoped that all of it was real….but having too much hope will only make someone go insane. And you had no intention of being trapped in this hellhole for another loop. Being X? Fuck you.

The rest of the weekend went by in the blink of an eye. Everything went well, and you attached a copy of the inspection reports in another email to the male lead before finally falling asleep at almost midnight.

You couldn’t be blamed for being a bit cranky on Monday morning after arriving at the office with a large to-go mug of coffee in hand. At least you hoped so. You were not in the mood for any drama, and your team seemed to pick up on the vibes very quickly, diving into their tasks and only asking you questions if it was absolutely necessary.

For someone who skipped out on work this past weekend, Hyeung Mun-Hee looked like shit. She kept looking at her phone more often than usual with a crazed look in her eyes, biting her thumbnail until it bled. Wow. Okay, the fight with the male lead definitely bothered her a lot. Maybe it’s because it was the first argument she ever had with him?

You did not know and did not have the energy to care. You preferred to channel it into being productive and as polite as possible, especially when your face popped up on the online meeting with all the other heads, including Yeo Jung-Hwa. To your surprise, he had nothing but high praise for your team, promising to bestow a proper reward for their hard work.

Funny how he didn’t mention Hyeung Mun-Hee at all or accused you of stealing the credit since he knew she wasn’t in the office helping with crunching numbers and running tests on the software.

The male lead is actually not being a total dumbass in a time loop. What are the odds of that actually happening?

Regardless, the day ended on a pleasant note and you decided to treat yourself to a pastry on the way back home. But as you waited in the drive thru, your phone binged with a text notification while you were scrolling through some reels for knitting ideas. It was from Yeo Jung-Hwa. He wanted you to join him for dinner on Friday evening. If it didn’t work for you, he is available on Saturday afternoon for lunch.

The place would be entirely up to you. You know his preferences, so he isn’t too worried that you would make a mistake. At this point you weren’t sure if he’s complimenting your powers of observation or it was some backhanded insult.

No matter how much you wanted to delete the message and pretend that you never received it, refusing the male lead’s invitation is also a bad idea because you were stuck playing the role of Park Seo-yun, his fiancée who is supposed to be head over heels in love with him. If the real one were here instead of you, she would immediately jump at the chance to reclaim his affection before her engagement could be annulled.

The car behind yours honked and you saw that the drive thru was clear. You quickly drove up to it, placing your order in, then headed to the window. A few minutes later you had your treat in hand but you didn’t take a left and merged with the traffic heading towards home. Instead you parked your vehicle in the adjacent lot and glanced down at the text again. You didn’t want to sound like a teenage girl, and responding in a cold, professional tone would probably piss him off or lower the audience ratings. After some deliberation, you decided to settle for the following message:

All right, if that’s what you want. How about the Lotus Pavilion? I heard it’s really good but haven’t had the chance to go there. What do you think? 🌸 😊

The Lotus Pavilion is a five-star restaurant that not only boasts of a fine dining experience for the wealthy to enjoy at their behest, it’s also where Yeo Jung-Hwa frequently visit during the drama with the excuse that it is close to the male lead’s home, which is complete bullshit because Park Seo-yun in the original script got kicked out of their VIP list for inappropriate behavior; what really happened is that she caused a scene after catching Yeo Jung-Hwa and Hyeung Mun-Hee sitting together, calling them out on their affair, and the establishment wanted no connection to such a scandal.

Since you got booted from there in the previous loops, why not see what this place has to offer for this world’s villainess who hasn’t caught on to her fiancé’s philandering behavior yet?

It would be interesting if anyone realized that the male lead’s usual companion wasn’t with him that night~.

Yeo Jung-Hwa was simultaneously startled and ashamed to see the name of the restaurant you had wanted to go to. The Lotus Pavilion? It wasn’t too bad, but he knew you wouldn’t like the elitism atmosphere at all. You preferred to relax in a cozy cafe or indulge in the home-cooked meals that your housekeeper made. He knows you so well, yet why would you want to go here of all places? That was where he took Hyeung Mun-Hee all of the time! His eyes widened in realization. Wait. Is it possible that you have been aware of his affair with that woman for this entire time, and you chose not to say a word about it because you were afraid it would affect his reputation just as much as yours? Or that he would call off the engagement so that he could marry Hyeung Mun-Hee?

If he were still an idiot, then yes he would have. But he has changed for the better, and all because he had been suspicious of your behavior. Now he understands that there is more to you than meets the eye and why you’ve chosen to hide your true self from everyone. The business world can be a cruel and unforgiving place to thrive professionally; kindness and generosity in a leader were all well and good, but noblesse oblige did not snuff out the competitors or pay the employees their hard-earned paychecks.

You possesed intelligence, ambition, integrity, and a strong work ethic. All of the qualities needed in a team leader as well as someone who is to be married into his family in the near future.

Yeo Jung-Hwa felt his face burn at the idea of seeing you walking down the aisle in a beautiful gown, smiling brightly and eyes shining with happiness. Yes. He will go through with the engagement. He will become your husband and the sole breadwinner so that you wouldn’t have to stress about deadlines or meetings, converting that boundless energy into nurturing your children in a loving home.

But before these fantasies could become a reality, he needed to rebuild the foundation of your relationship. To gain your trust and sever ties completely with Hyeung Mun-Hee. He’s already taken the first step to putting distance between himself and that woman by blocking her phone calls and avoiding her entirely at the office during work hours. It might have only been a day, but it is progress in the right direction.

The reservations for The Lotus Pavilion were made in less than two minutes with explicit instructions on your food preferences. Failure was not an option or else he would personally speak to the manager about his staff’s lack of training. The maitre’d stutter over the phone as he tried to reassure him that everything will go according to plan before Yeo Jung-Hwa hung up. Soon, he thought with a smile. Soon everything will be alright again between Park Seo-yun and I and we will be happy.

You really wished Friday evening hadn’t come as quickly as it did. The work week went by in a flash, and before you realized what was happening, you had entered the main lobby on the first floor and informed the maitre’d that you were here under the reservation of your dinner companion. Her shocked expression told you everything, much to your chagrin. That son of a bitch made no effort to hide his affair with the female lead in this place, and now that you were with him tonight ...well, this is going to turn into a big mess if you weren’t too careful. There is still the possibility of being kicked out of here for causing a ruckus.

Question is, will it help the male lead realize that he must break things off with you and put his energy into mending things with Hyeung Mun-Hee? Couples who can’t communicate their feelings to each other properly are doomed to fail. Moreover, their romance is the driving force behind Love and Fortune. Without these two characters, this world would not exist.

And how you wished for its destruction every goddamned time you were forced to relive these scenes when Being X disapproved of your acting.

Although the name itself is a bit misleading because the restaurant’s interior design looked nothing like a pavilion from those historical dramas, you did have credit to whoever came up with the idea of planting a cherry blossom tree in the center of the first floor. It wasn’t completely in the way for the kitchen staff or clients, and it gave off an ethereal glow thanks to the low lighting from the ceiling lamps, almost as if the tree was possessed by a spirit or a goddess of love.

When the reservation was found, you followed a waiter up the stairs to the second floor and all the way to the back where the VIP section for the Lotus Pavilion’s wealthiest clients could enjoy a peaceful evening away from prying eyes so long as they were willing to pay the fee. Sitting at a table for two with a view of the city was Yeo Jung-Hwa, looking amazing as ever because of plot armor and he’s the male lead. No matter what is going on in this world, he’s always dressed to the nines. If he wants to go out in style then so be it.

Was the day’s exhaustion catching up to you or did his eyes actually brighten when you made eye contact with him? No. That can’t be right.

“I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long.” You said as you gracefully sat down in the leather chair. You thanked the waiter under your breath as he carefully scooted you in before he pulled out a notepad. You ordered ice water and the evening’s special mocktail. Yeo Jung Hwa raised an eyebrow. “No alcohol?” He said after the server disappeared back towards the door. Or was there a bar here? It was too dark to tell.

You shrugged. “Didn’t feel like it.” You said, folding your hands in your lap. “And to what do I owe the pleasure of your company tonight? I was certain that you had…other plans.” You watched him swallow thickly, the fingers coiling tighter around the stem of his wine glass before he lifted it to his lips, took a few sips, and set it back down. He then grabbed the menu sitting on his left, offering it to you.

“Please select what you would like tonight. There is no need to be worried about paying for your own meal. It’s my treat.”

“I would have paid for it even if you had not offered to do so.” You said lightly. “Nor did you answer my question.” You plucked the menu from his outstretched hand, opening it to see the evening’s specials recommended by the chef. “But I suppose that doesn’t matter, does it? That was then, this is now.” You looked up at him with a quirked brow. “Or should I be concerned? I am to be your wife, and any matters regarding the conglomerate could be stressful to the employees, and to you, even myself who is a team leader in the Finance Department.”

His eyes widened. "Do you need to take any time off?” He asked suddenly. “I will gladly give it to you! You need to take care of yourself!"

You blinked. Well, that was an answer you had not expected from the cold-hearted CEO of this drama world to say to his villainous fiancee. Suppose you’ll take it with a grain of salt for now? After all, Being X has allowed some leeway in your assigned role. Why wouldn’t the puppetmaster do the same thing for one of his beloved actors?

“Thank you for your concern.” You said. “If I need to take some time off, I will submit a request in advance so I won’t cause any trouble for the team.” You watched Yeo Jung-Hwa exhale a sigh in relief before he reached for his phone, tapping on it for a few moments before he put it back on the table face down. Then it kept vibrating every couple of minutes until he grabbed it again and presumably shut it off, just right when the waiter came back with drinks. Yeo Jung-Hwa ordered a Hanwoo steak with rice, steamed vegetables and an American side salad. You asked for the same thing, but requested a thicker slice of the meat and doubled the size of the side dishes, if the chef would be so kind as to do that. Also dessert. You couldn’t top off a meal without something sweet, and everything looked delicious. You were pretty hungry after working hard today~.

"Are you really going to eat all that? Wouldn't you like something lighter?"

You paused, turning towards Yeo Jung-Hwa in astonishment. Did…he really just say that? This son of a bitch actually has the fucking nerve to make a comment like that in public? Humiliation and anger boiled in your veins simultaneously, and you could hear the other patrons whispering. Their assumptions, their spiteful comments, even how Yeo Jung-Hwa is engaged to a glutton instead of one of their daughters. Unbelievable.

You inhaled a deep breath through your nose, and exhaled through your mouth before you looked back at the waiter with a tight smile. “If it’s all right, could you put my order in a carry-out box?” You flashed a black card at him. “The fees won’t be an issue, and I’ll add an extra tip to you and the staff for accommodating me.”

“Wait, what are you-”

“I am going home to enjoy my meal without being judged.” You said icily, your smile still stretched across your lips. “I will not apologize for ordering as much food as I am because I did not have much time today to enjoy my lunch, no thanks to an emergency meeting that you arranged and taking Hyeung Mun-Hee aside in my office as she is being negligent of her work again. Even after I gave her a lecture, she still had the nerve to believe I was bullying her, and said I would be the one on her knees begging for forgiveness once her lover had heard about it. Tell me Yeo Jung-Hwa, who in the world would put such thoughts into her mind?” You laced your hands together, resting your elbows on the table. “As my supervisor, I am asking for advice as to how I should discipline her.”

“....”

“Well, thank you for a lovely evening, Yeo Jung-Hwa. I’ll see on Monday morning.” You said, taking the plastic bag from the waiter who had returned your card. You shoved the card in your purse and left the restaurant. You heard him call out to you, but you ignored him and unlocked your vehicle. Your arm would have been grabbed a second sooner if you didn’t quicken your pace, opening and slamming the driver’s side. You turned on the engine and drove off into the night towards home. Well, your temporary sanctuary anyway.

About an hour later you had retreated to your room, brushing off your father’s concern for the tears that were trickling down your face in favor of a much needed self-care session. A hot bath with burning incense and music playing in the background, comfortable clothes, and your meal that you hadn’t gotten a chance to try. Caretaker Lee was kind enough to deliver it on a silver tray with a steaming cup of hot cocoa next to your dessert. She always knew how to make you feel better and unashamed of who you are.

A complete contrast to a certain someone who hasn’t stopped texting or leaving you voicemails when you’ve refused to pick your phone. Asshole.

Frustrated and hungry, you unlocked your device and shut it off. You threw it on the bed and turned on the television, tray on your lap and your attention now glued to the opening credits of a high stakes baking competition.

Yeo Jung-Hwa was embarrassed with how you acted this evening. Why were you so mad? Yes, he knew you had a big appetite but he did not know that you had skipped lunch because he can’t install cameras in your office!

And why would Hyeung Mun-Hee say something like that to you?! Is she trying to broadcast their relationship to the conglomerate when he’s told her to keep her mouth shut about it? If it’s known that he, the leader of his family’s empire and an engaged man is having an affair, the stocks would plummet! He would be ruined, you would be ruined!

Can’t she understand that I do want to mend our relationship, and she has the nerve to walk out on me like that?! He thought, anger swelling up inside of him and ready to burst from his chest as he lifted his hands to card through his hair, tugging at the roots in frustration. God, he needed a stiff drink after this fiasco.

He informed the server to put his food in a carry-out box as well, paying for the meal that he didn’t get to enjoy while trying very hard to ignore the other patrons as they whispered to each other about what they had seen tonight. The scene you had caused.

He returned home, ate his meal and retreated to his office with a second drink in his hand. He booted up the computer and tapped into the camera feed. Yeo Jung-Hwa’s heart lurched uncomfortably. He had expected you to be asleep or reading or kitting or watching television, not crying in your father’s arms!

Yeo Jung-Hwa leaned back in his leather chair, widened violet eyes unable to tear away from the screen as he watched your shoulders tremble in your father’s embrace. The head of the Park family rocked you back and forth, whispering softly in your hair. Gone is the fearless leader and in his place is a loving, concerned parent. Someone he wanted to be after having children with you…but was that even possible now?

He hadn’t meant to upset you, to make you cry. His mind was now clear, all of the anger gone and out of his system. In retrospect, you were not wrong with how you acted. He was the one who acted inappropriately, making a callous comment about your appetite when he hadn’t meant to say it as an insult. It was an honest slip of the tongue!

His hands trembled, now suddenly terrified that your father would be the one to call off the engagement and arrange you to marry someone else. No. No, that couldn’t happen! He wanted to be with you! He wanted to make this relationship work!

He exhaled a shaky breath, taking another swing from his glass before he set down on the table. When he did so, his phone chimed with a notification. Another phone call from Hyeung Mun-Hee.

His thumb swiped across the screen as he declined the call and turned his attention back to you and your father, praying that his worst nightmare would not be made a reality on Monday morning.

That he still had a chance to make things right.

“Am I overreacting? Did you not hear me when I said he took that woman to our favorite restaurant, and she made a scene?! It’s a good thing no one actually posted a video about it, and I heard about this incident from a reliable source, or the situation could have been a lot worse! What? No! No, this will not be a determinant to our plans. Have a little faith in me! I need to go. I have an important call to make. I’ll see you soon.”

Taglist: @suiana @f4turemom @ixchelhernandez4 @sleep-all-day-everyday @the-cat-queen-peasants @slowlyswimmingmoon @obsessedwithromance @pinkgoldweebgirl @mochinon-yah @cerisearan @julietdelamare @nunezs-stuff @sourlove @yandere-writer-momo @yandere-dark-cupid @persephone-kore-law @faux-ecrivain @cassanderasblog @marooseshawnash @diannaflight @tonightwrites @majestichugs @detectivesparrow @beardedblizzardexpert @valeriinee @vee-love @vivyolite @somerandomdere @ghostdoodlen @tired-of-life-86 @hotnbloodied @yourdoorisunlocked @stingywiththeirusername @lanxianschoenheit @witch-of-the-writing-desk @victoria1676 @lu-zo-san @facelessfionna @dreamlessnight @c4xcocoa @queenmimis @ozzgin @aiimee9 @solandis-does-stuff @sarcastic-cookie @reiivven @reallysparklychaos and anyone else I might have forgotten because this list got so long since the last update. Thank you so much for your support!

©️do not repost or use any of the characters depicted here without the author’s permission. forbidden-sunlight, 2024

#forbidden-sunlight #yandere x reader #yandere #yandere male #yandere manhwa x reader #yandere oc #yandere oc x reader #yandere!ceo #ns.fw #cw dubious consent #cw verbal abuse #tw verbal abuse #cw work toxicity #tw work toxicity #femreader #fem!reader

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scentedpeachlandcreator · 5 months

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Random things to manifest:

ੈ✩‧₊˚A fancy car.

ੈ✩‧₊˚To become a billionaire or a millionaire.

ੈ✩‧₊˚A tiny fairy.(success story here and here)

ੈ✩‧₊˚A flying magical pet or plushie that helps you and grants your wishes.

ੈ✩‧₊˚A magical wand.

ੈ✩‧₊˚A Magic door that exists inside your closet.

ੈ✩‧₊˚A hidden garden just for yourself.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Superpowers.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Able to shapeshift.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Just snapping your finger once and you tap into the void state instantly.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Having a photographic memory.

ੈ✩‧₊˚A billion dollar mansion/penthouse. (Success story here)

ੈ✩‧₊˚Owning a Land.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Having a (hot😏)Bodyguard.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Princess treatment.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Ideal boyfriend (down to smallest details, they could even be your fictional character).

ੈ✩‧₊˚Winning a lottery.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Always receiving expensive gifts.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Desired phones (iPhones or even Samsung).

ੈ✩‧₊˚Supernatural Friends.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Your desired Friend group.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Desired best Friend. (Success story here)

ੈ✩‧₊˚How people view you (high self-concept).

ੈ✩‧₊˚Desired career.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Being a famous youtuber.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Meeting with your favorite celebrities.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Owning a big company.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Being a nepobaby.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Having the ability to appear things from thin air.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Being popular in school.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Being the most beautiful girl in the entire universe.

ੈ✩‧₊˚modeling.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Having A marks in every subject no matter what without studying.(success story here)

ੈ✩‧₊˚Revising your past grades to perfection.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Revising your whole life.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Having pretty privilege.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Getting food for free.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Manifesting fictional characters to reality.( A success story about it here)

ੈ✩‧₊˚Desired scenarios to happen (even the most unrealistic one).

ੈ✩‧₊˚Dating your crush (they Can be your celebrity crush). (Success story here and here)

ੈ✩‧₊˚Ability to fly.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Turning into mythical creatures.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Expensive apartment.(success story here)

ੈ✩‧₊˚Desired pet (cats or dogs).

ੈ✩‧₊˚Getting accepted into a desired college.(success story here)

ੈ✩‧₊˚Desired face and body.

ੈ✩‧₊˚You Can change the eye color of your eyes at will.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Your house get all cleaned with just a Snap of a finger.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Turning into a vampire or mermaid.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Can read Minds.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Telekinesis power. (Success story here)

ੈ✩‧₊˚Superhuman intelligence.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Living in a castle.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Having maids.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Revising your whole family.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Ranking first place in your school or college.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Having fans.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Having rich parents.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Get popular on tik tok.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Being the trend.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Revising embarrassing events.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Getting asked out by hot and loyal guys.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Living the Wattpad life.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Being skilled in something (art,sports,..ect).

ੈ✩‧₊˚Less period pain.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Able to shift instantly on commands.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Having your Desired wardrobe.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Skilled in playing games at first try.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Your desired setup.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Getting money out of nowhere. (Success story here)

ੈ✩‧₊˚Lucky girl syndrome.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Scripting your own story.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Your Pinterest board becomes true.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Manifest your desired app.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Making classes get canceled.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Making exams get canceled.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Manifesting Xbox or PlayStation 5.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Ability to Time Travel.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Travel to your desired country.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Move out to your desired country or place.

ੈ✩‧₊˚Having a Magic tattoo that have powers (inspired by the k-drama “my demon”).

ੈ✩‧₊˚being a math genius.

#loa tumblr #law of assumption #things to manifest #how to manifest #fun things to manifest #loa

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kkginfo · 2 years

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App permissions information returns to the Google Play Store | KKG INFO

Google is changing the trend by bringing back the App Permissions section in the Google Play Store. App permissions provided valuable insight into what apps could do once installed on a phone. After introducing Data Protection, Google decided to remove the section, a feature that allowed developers to declare what their apps did with the data they accessed. Google has decided to bring back this…

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#app #easy seo tips #Google #how to ask high quality questions #improve seo tips #INFO #Information #KKG #Permissions #Play #returns #seo help rankings #seo tips ecommerce #seo tips for product pages #seo title tips #Store

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selkies-world · 6 months

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Language resources

(Duolingo alternatives)

For those who no longer use or trust Duolingo, I've put together a list of resources - apps, learning methods, programmes, etc - with a list of whether or not they are free, and my personal experience with their success at teaching a language. I have also included new ones that I haven't tried yet but which I have researched; for these, I have included a rating of how much hope I have for them panning out in the future.

[I grew up bilingual & went to a multicultural school that had a student body consisting of children from refugee families who spoke little to no English. The school prioritised teaching the entire student body the minority languages, and finding a bridge language we could all learn together to fill in any gaps in communication. Due to this, I spent the last 4 years of primary school learning new languages with the rest of the student body.

We would have a school-wide lesson for 1 hour once a week - usually with a child or staff member fluent in that language leading the lesson at the front of the gym with a microphone so we could hear the correct pronunciation in time with reading the native spelling & English phonetics on the projector screen at the front of the hall. We were expected to use this language in the corridors when we spoke with teachers or staff members and when we passed by other students regardless of what their or our native languages were. As far as fluency went, we were expected to be able to recognise and say greetings and goodbyes, enquire to each others well-being, know how to ask for assistance, how to ask for medical help for various things, how to ask where the bathroom was, to give and receive directions around the entire school, as well as colours, names of things found around the school, make small talk about our activities of the day and our family, and why we were out of class - all with relative ease & mutual understanding.

We changed language after every break, so it was roughly 8 hours of lessons in each language, before we would start again with a new one.

Alongside this, the older students in the school (final 3 years, aged 9 - 11/12) would learn French 3+ hours a week for those 3 years so their writing, reading and speaking standards were acceptable for the beginning of high school. In 1 of these years, we also studied both of our native languages for the first time, for 6 weeks each.

I left traditional schooling at 11, and while I was home-schooled I taught myself Italian, Russian, and Latin from scratch, along with relearning my preferred native language, and 2 forms of sign - I used Makaton as a young child and in school as I have a form of mutism, but as a teen I realised I associated this language with the severe trauma I experienced at school, and so suffered from flashbacks and dissociative episodes when I used it. This, along with medical concerns, led to me learning BSL, and then SSE. Today, I use a combination of English, SSE and my native language in everyday settings. I have a mental block for learning French due to it being heavily associated with my trauma.

I am saying all this not for sympathy, but so that you can see firstly how much I enjoy and value learning languages, and in order to show my experience levels with learning languages. I've used, tried, and tested all of the learning methods I will be talking about in this post. I have either used or done a lot of research into the apps and programmes discussed in this post.

And yes, I have prioritised ones that teach endangered languages, indigenous languages and languages that aren't often included in language media such as Hebrew, various forms of Arabic, Navajo, Gaelic, and others. I have also included ones that teach and / or document sign languages and sign communication systems.]

Please note that the following lists are arranged in no particular order. They are not ranked best to worst or by any other X to Y ratio. They are simply ranked according to how I remembered, tested, or found each of them.

Apps

1: Fluyo.

Rating for hope / faith: ☆☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆

Effectiveness: n/a

Cost: unknown

Status: not yet publicly available

Please note that while Fluyo is not yet available, its Kickstarter page is flourishing, its app is in development, and the developer is a man of colour who has continued to devote himself to this app and its development despite rising health concerns, developing a life-changing disabling condition, and numerous set-backs. His YouTube channel is very educational, and he has also written a book on language-learning. If you would like to know more, you can learn about him here. Fluyo is set up like a computer game with multiple cute characters who are interactive rather than stationary, and I genuinely have high hopes for it once it is released.

2: Babble

Personal experience: ☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free trial for the first lesson, but a paid subscription is required for any further lessons

Status: available to download

3: Language Drops

Personal experience: ☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆

Cost: free for some lessons, but a paid account is required for access to all lessons

Status: available to download

4: Fluent forever

Hope for: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆☆

Cost: free access to basic lessons to build your confidence with the language, but a paid subscription is required for unlimited access

Status: available to download

5: Lingopie

Hope for: ☆☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆☆

Cost: free trial for 7 days, but a paid subscription is required after that for continued use of the app

Status: available to download

6: Fluenday

Hope for: ☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free

Status: available to download

7: Language flower

Hope for: ☆

Languages available: ☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆

Cost: free, as far as I can tell

Status: available to download

8: Sign BSL / Daniel Mitchell

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free

Status: available to download

Please note that Daniel Mitchel offers a BSL version of this, along with an ASL version.

9: Bright BSL / sign lab

Personal experience: ☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness:☆☆☆☆

Cost: free for some lessons + premium for all other lessons

Status: available to download

Please note that Sign Lab offers this app for the following sign languages: BSL (Bright BSL), ASL (ASL Bloom), LSF (Pause LSF / Langue des Signes, yoDGS, Libras (LibrasLab), Italian Sign Language (MeLISegno), and Toleio: Norsk Tegnspråk.

10: BSL zone

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free

Status: available to download

11: Reverso context

Personal experience: ☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free

Status: available to download

This is less for learning a language, more for quick reference / fact-checking a translation.

12: Pimsleur

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free 7 day trial, but a paid subscription is required for continued use

Status: available to download

13: Memrise

Personal experience: ☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free for introductory levels, with a premium option to unlock majority of lessons

Status: available to download

14: Busluu

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆☆

Cost: Free, with a premium option to download lessons, more repetition, and extra lessons

Status: available to download

15: Hello Talk

Hope for: ☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆

Cost: free

Status: available to download

16: Rosetta Stone

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆☆

Cost: monthly subscription is required

Status: available to download

17: Lingo Deer

Personal experience: ☆

Languages available: ☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free, with a premium option for all lessons beyond Basics 1

Status: available to download

18: Beelinguapp

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆☆

Cost: free trial, but a subscription is required for total access

Status: available to download

19: Lingvist

Personal experience: ☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆ (though it does have an option to suggest other languages for them to add, and which language you would like to learn from, and they'll email you when / if that language becomes available)

Effectiveness: unknown

Cost: free

Status: available to download

[Please note this one is not photosensitive friendly or seizure friendly. I had to close the app as soon as I opened it due to the design on their opening page, and even when I reopened it and clicked straight through, their colour scheme was still upsetting to my senses.]

20: Lingvano

Hope for: ☆☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free for a few lessons, but for access to all lessons, a paid subscription is required

Status: available to download

21: Duocards

Personal experience: ☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free, but a more advanced version is available for premium accounts

Status: available to download

22: Chatterbug

Hope for: ☆☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free with limited access, but a paid version is available

Status: available to download

23: Mango languages learning

Hope for: ☆☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free trial, with a premium account required for further access

Status: available to download

24: EdX

Hope for: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost:

Status: available to download

Please note that EdX is an app which houses courses on multiple subjects, not specifically a language-learning app.

25: Mondly Languages

Personal experience: ☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆

Cost: free, though it does repeatedly offer you a subscription account for an experience catered to you and your interests

Status: available to download

Please note this one may be triggering to those who are photosensitive or whose senses are upset by rapid moving gifs. There is a crown in the top right-hand corner which vibrates very quickly.

26: Speakly

Hope for: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free trial, with a subscription account required for further use

Status: available to download

27: Pocket sign

Hope for: ☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free, as far as I can tell

Status: available to download

28: Lingo legend language learning

Hope for: ☆☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free, though I think there may be a premium option either available but unmentioned, or in the works

Status: available to download

Please note that this app offers you the chance to vote for which languages should be added to its interface, so they can prioritise which ones to fund.

29: INC sign language app

Hope for: ☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free

Status: available to download

For those with religious trauma, please note that INC stands for Iglesia Ni Cristo, and the INC Sign Language App "is a project of the Christian Society for the Deaf under the Christian Family Organizations Office of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ)". While it does not appear to prioritise religious content, the content does feature people dressed in suits as if for attending a church sermon.

30: My signing time

Hope for: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆☆

Cost: 14 day free trial, and a subscription is required after this point

Status: available to download

Please note that this one is aimed at babies / toddlers & families.

32: Falou

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free, with a premium option if you want to learn more than 1 language & unlock additional courses in your chosen language

Status: available to download

33: Earworms

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆☆

Cost: free for the demo, then after that, the lessons are broken into two "volumes" to buy individually, or 1 bonus-pack which contains both to buy once at a slightly reduced cost.

Status: available to download

Please note that Earworms used to be available as CD lessons, which is when I first used them. The CDs were in Volumes and were more expensive than all costs on this app. I used them 10 years ago and still remember what I learned despite not getting to use the language very often, so I can guarantee their method is very effective.

34: Qlango

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆☆

Cost: free, with a premium option for the final 3 levels

Status: available to download

Please note that this one is laid out more like a semi-immersive lesson plan rather than a game. However, it is currently my favourite one.

Other resources

1: Signing hands (YouTube)

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆

Cost: free

Status: available to watch

2: Military style

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆☆

Cost: n/a

Status: available to begin for free, though it will be difficult for you to find an environment that allows you to experience this authentically. If you would like to learn more about what the military style is, I will speak about it further below.

3: Textbooks / Reading materials

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free, or otherwise up to you (what you are willing / able to spend on it)

Status: available to start whenever you feel like it

You can find numerous language-learning resources listed at the end of this post. I also recommend buying an up-to-date dictionary and thesaurus in your chosen language, and studying it. Study the grammar noted in the front, and then actually read the dictionary. It will seem strange, but it will benefit you in the long-run. Make notes as you go, highlight and colour some things in as you see fit.

Learning methods

1: Immersion

Over and over again, we are told that immersion is the best, most effective way to learn a language. This is because this is how we often think children learn languages - and we're partly right about that.

Immersion is the process of immersing yourself in the chosen language, with one single choice: learn the language, or suffer.

If our brains have to choose between struggling to pronounce a few words while gesturing to something we want and clinging onto sounds we hear like trying to hold onto a wet otter, or not getting what we want, we're going to choose to sound & look like an idiot, pointing and saying basic sounds, even if trying to remember the reply is like trying to remember Pi.

With enough time, though, we pick the language up remarkably well when we have no choice but to pick it up. This is the method which has us mimicking accents and gestures and expressions in order to best gain what we want: to express ourselves, our needs and our desires.

However, immersion is often critiqued because unless you have the means to fly to the country that speaks your desired language and live there with 0 influence from your native language for 6+ months... Well, you're not fully immersed, are you? Language apps try to give you an immersive experience, but you can always put your phone down. Depending on where you were educated, you may have had an immersive language class, where you had to learn the language or not be able to join in and so failed by default.

Good ways to mimic immersion are: finding radio channels in your chosen language and watching TV shows in your chosen language without subtitles, and listening to music in your chosen language.

2: Flashcards

Flashcards often tend to be a popular way to test your memory and retention of a particular subject. However, using them to begin learning a language can lead to a loss of motivation.

If you are creating the flashcards yourself, I would recommend creating them in 2 sets: 1 which is the traditional flashcard (your first language OR a picture on one side, and the translation on the other side), and 1 which has twice as many, with only 1 side being used. This second set should be designed like playing cards - the word or picture on one side, and a plain back.

This second set can be used when you're wanting to boost your motivation or confidence - arrange the cards face down, and begin playing the children's game of Pairs. Another option would be Snap.

When you return to using the traditional flashcards, you'll have a better foundation to build on if you've taught yourself to see these as fun, and taught your brain to associate these cards with quickfire responses - such as are brought to the surface during childrens' cards games.

3: Stickers

This is a method which seems obvious once it's pointed out, but seems confusing if you've never done it before.

Simply put, using stickers is when you create or buy stickers with the translation of everyday objects, words and phrases in your chosen language, and put them up around your house. "Door" goes on the door. "Cupboard" goes on the outside of a cupboard, "bread" goes on the inside. "Fridge" goes on the fridge door. "Milk" goes behind the milk so you see it every time you pick the milk up. "Lightswitch" goes above / under the lightswitch. Etc etc etc.

This is a memory retention technique used for multiple scenarios. Nurseries and schools may sometimes have the Makaton sign for something shown in a large diagram stuck to the walls / surfaces. Carehomes may have the names & purposes of objects stuck to the surfaces / objects in the dominant language, for the residents with memory issues or communication barriers.

While this is a good technique for quickfire memory boosts, it can be a slow way to learn a language from scraps, and is better suited for when you are semi-familiar with the written form of the language you are learning. It is also a good way to get everyone involved, as everyone in the home will be interacting with the stickers.

4: Forced conversation

This one is controversial, but can be very effective if it is approached with an open mind, clear communication and previously-agreed upon rules and lines.

The method of forced conversation is exactly what it sounds like: it is when you are engaged in a conversation in your target language, in which the person whom you are conversing with refuses to speak your original language. However, no matter how poor your language skills are, or how uncomfortable you get, they do not stop the conversation, and you do not let to leave the situation until they are satisfied you have communicated well enough, and have understood them. This will usually be "proven" by them giving you instructions, asking a specific question, or requesting you do something for them - if you follow the action through, you have understood them, if you try to give a vague answer and do not do the task, you have not understood them, and the interaction is forced to continue. Again.

This method is controversial because it is not immediately inclusive or welcoming for those who are shy, have anxiety, any form of Mutism, or who have a neurodiversiry or learning disability which impacts their communication. In formal situations, it is often these people who fall behind or get put off from learning a language if forced conversations are the only method they have the option of.

However, if there are adaptions made and accommodation previously discussed and provided, this can still be a viable method which is inclusive to all.

If the person speaking your target language is previously informed of your communication issues or complications, and are instructed in how to accommodate you (ie: Do they need to point at something, or use picture cards as prompts? Do you prefer using picture cards? Do you get distracted if they use hand gestures? Do you need fidget toys provided? Will it be easier for you if you are not forced to maintain eye contact? Will it be better for you if one or both of you are moving around rather than sitting down directly across from each other? Do the lights need to be altered in your environment to make the sensory experience less overwhelming? Do you use noise cancelling headphones? Do you focus better if there is music on in the background? Are there certain tones of voice or volume levels that need to be avoided? Does constantly changing body language stress you out? Do you have a stutter or speech impediment that may impact your pronunciation? Etc.)

Accomodaring these issues, and coming up with a signal to take a break (ie, if you have issues telling the difference between "I am angry at you personally" and "I am tired today" in vocal tones and facial expressions, will you get upset if you think the person is angry at you for not knowing their language? If so, do you need a signal to take a break so you can clearly communicate your stress, and they can give you an answer in your original language and clarify anything which is upsetting or confusing you, before continuing the conversation in your target language?) or to speak in simpler terms? Is their one subject you can talk about particularly well (a hyperfixation) which they can use in the conversation to help you engage?

All of these accommodations may seem intimidating, but if all those involved are aware of these accommodations going into the conversation, it can make the interaction much more positive and productive.

Forced conversation uses the same logic as immersion: if your brain has to choose between looking / sounding like an idiot who stumbles over words, or a very uncomfortable situation which lasts longer each time you make a mistake, your brain will choose to look like an idiot in order to achieve what it wants.

5: Repetition

Repetition is a very common method of learning a language, though it is often criticised for being ineffective.

It is when a phrase or word is said by one party, and repeated by another. If the second party does not pronounce it correctly, the first party repeats it again. This continues until the second party gets it correct. Then the pattern is repeated with another phrase / word. Once a certain number of words have been said correctly by the second party, the first party will return to the start and repeat the process again, with the second party having to say the phrases / words correctly multiple times before being able to move onto the next. The entire process continues in this loop until the second party is saying things correctly with ease.

This method is part of what makes up both immersion, flashcards and military style methods for language learning. It can also be used with textbook learning.

However, it is often critiqued because once the second party is away from the first party and left to their own devices, their confidence in their previous pronunciation will falter, and when they return to the lesson or need to use the language again, they'll be at a lower level of achievement than they were when they left. It is also very tedious, and can become boring.

6: Music

When I spoke about immersion, I briefly mentioned music. I also said that we assume children learn language via immersion. However, as adults we often overlook something else which plays a crucial role in teaching children language: music.

Children learn language, rhythm, speech patterns, and turn-of-phrase via songs, rhymes, riddles, fables, tongue-twisters, and music.

This is why it can be priceless to learn songs in your chosen language. Lullabies. Nursery rhymes. Children's songs. Pop songs that are ridiculed as being too simple or written without talent. Theme tunes from children's shows. Traditional rhymes and tongue-twisters. Most of these can be found via a long time on YouTube.

Music works in a unique way, worming its way into our minds. Our brains are hardwired to recognise and remember patterns - and music is made up of patterns. This is why we get songs stuck in our heads for no reason. Being able to use this to your advantage to learn or remember a new language can be an amazing experience.

7: Subtitles and language swap

This is a method which can be useful when you are learning more than one language, but are more familiar with one than the other.

It is where you watch / listen to a certain media in 1 language, while reading the subtitles / lyrics in another language. This way, the language you are more familiar with / fluent in will fill the gaps of understanding the less familiar one.

You can then challenge yourself by removing one language (muting the media & only reading the subtitles, or removing the subtitles and only listening to the provided audio) and seeing how well you follow along / understand.

This can also be used with your target language and your original language.

8: Writing it down

This is another form of repetitive learning which can be useful when studying / retaining for an exam, but can also be useful when you are first learning the written-to-verbal patterns of a language.

One method is longterm recall: this is where you write down short notes, words & phrases in your target language 1+ hour after engaging with your learning resources. This tests how much you retained. It is a physical show of how much you have actually learned.

Another method is short term recall & build-up: this is where you choose a single word / phrase, and write it as lines (Ducks are green and brown. Ducks are green and brown. Ducks are green and brown. Ducks are-) until your page is full. Then go back to the start and write over the top of your own writing, staying as close to your original marks as possible. Repeating this pattern multiple times until your page rips or the words become close to unreadable tricks your brain into focusing morenon your handwriting than on the language - as such, you will start to see the phrase / word as a pattern to follow, and it is then left to your subconscious mind to retain it while your conscious mind prioritises hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills.

9: Textbook

If you're more academically inclined, you may prefer a textbook method of study. This is the style used in most night classes and / or some traditional education classes.

Textbook methods have everything arranged by date and time, and learning goals are broken down & laid out according to a set calender: by x, you will have learned this amount, by y, you will have learned this amount, so on so forty until the final set date when you will be "fluent" or a certain level of reasonably fluent.

Most of the time with this method, you will be following guidelines, activities and lesson plans previously arranged in a chosen textbook, and that textbook will be your sole or primary resource.

10: Bilingual books (page by page)

Using page-by-page bilingual books can be confusing and is often overlooked in regards to adult education - however, it can be somewhat interesting to try.

On one page, the text will be written in your original language - on the opposite page, the same text will be repeated in your target language. Seeing the two side-by-side allows you to read your target language and instantly refer back to your original language if you get stuck on a word or phrase.

There is another form of bilingual books often given to children: line-by-line. These feature the image / picture, with the original text written clearly and simply, usually no more than 1 or 2 sentences per page. Directly underneath them will be the translated text written in a different font.

11: Same story / movie, different language

While this can be a fun method, it isn't always the most beneficial if you're looking for accuracy - however, it can be useful if you're wanting to test yourself.

It uses a similar logic to the subtitles & language swap method: you put on a movie you are familiar with, but you put it on in your target language with 0 subtitles. This allows you to engage with the language while using the familiar movie / story as a bridge.

12: Military Style

This is perhaps the most effective technique to use of you have a set amount of time to reach a specified level of understanding / fluency in a language. However, it is also one of the most difficult to fully replicate yourself.

Military style is a form of forced immersion combined with forced conversation and repetitive loops, but with reward and punishment techniques to make you prioritise learning the language over your own comfort zone / personal boundaries.

An example of this style would be party 1 having party 2 engage in forced conversation in front of an audience, then having them repeat a phrase they got wrong over and over until they get it right - all in front of the audience, with a rule set which forbids party 2 from sitting down or disengaging the interaction until they have finished the task. Nobody in the audience is allowed to help party 2. Party 1 continues to push party 2 outside of their comfort zone by having them continue the conversation, repeating any mistakes until they are corrected, and the conversation does not end until it is completed.

After that, party 2 has to do 100 push-ups while repeating the phrase they got wrong the most - and they have to pronounce it correctly while doing the push-ups. Any mistakes, and they go back to 1, regardless of if they were at 7 or 98.

This combined punishment of mild public humiliation and physically pushing their body beyond its limits makes the brain see learning the language as the solution to ending this treatment - as such, party 2 will be far less likely to repeat those mistakes again.

Alongside this, there is forced immersion, in the sense that nobody is allowed to speak their original language in any context or to anyone - they must use the target language or be ignored at best or ridiculed at worst.

Understandably, this method is difficult to replicate on your own or outside of the army.

However, there are some tokens which can be taken from it: notably forced repetition & physical exercise.

Set yourself a challenge using any of the previously mentioned learning methods or apps. Keep note of your mistakes.

At the end of the challenge (say 30 minutes of learning) count up all your mistakes. Now do a push-up / squat / pull-up / sit-up / etc for each mistake you made while repeating the phrase out loud. If you stall too long on making a connection in your mind or stumble over the sounds, start counting from 1 again. Repeat this until you're continuously getting the mistakes correct.

At the end, go back to your lesson and repeat it. Did you get less mistakes?

Thoughts & considerations when it comes to learning a language - for language savants and novices alike

"If you don't use it, you lose it" is probably one of the most hated phrases in terms of learning anything new - and especially in terms of learning a language. I think a better expression would be "If you don't make room for it, you won't keep it".

If you don't make time to learn a language, you won't learn it.

If you don't challenge yourself to reach a certain standard, you won't achieve any standard.

If you don't make the effort to retain the new information, you'll forget it.

When you learn a new language, you have to make room for it in your mind. You have to be willing to make mistakes and continue, knowing you're not doing it perfectly. You have to be willing to make it a priority, even if nobody else in your life sees it as one. You have to be willing to be frustrated and tired and bored. You have to be willing to get every single thing wrong and try again. You have to be willing to be uncomfortable with the new sounds you're making and you have to be willing to be patient while your brain digs out a new burrow of tunnels and connections which didn't previously exist.

If you genuinely want to learn a new language, you have to make room for it in your mind and life. Even when sometimes it's a tight fit.

Resources, as promised

Reading, writing & textbook materials:

Book 1

Book 2

Book 3

Book 4

Book 5

Structured notebook 1

Structured notebook 2

Structured notebook 3

Something worth checking out 1

Other things to invest in:

A dictionary in your target language

Picture cards

Flashcards

Stickers

Books in your target language

Children's books in your target language

Nursery rhyme books in your target language

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roosterforme · 1 year

Text

Earning His Rank | Rooster x Reader

Summary: Bradley knew you wanted to make his promotion night special for him as he got his new pin. He could tell by the teasing way you asked "What are you going to do to me when we get home, Lieutenant Commander?" He had something in mind.

Warnings: Smut, fluff and swearing

Length: 2100 words

Pairing: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x Female Reader

Written for a request! Check out my masterlist for more!

"Congratulations, Lieutenant Commander Bradshaw," you murmured against his lips for probably the hundredth time tonight. "I'm so proud of you."

There was no doubt in his mind that you were teasing him. Bradley responded by wrapping his arms around your waist, his hands meeting your bare skin. You were wearing a backless red gown with a high slit up your leg, but he still managed to only touch you in the most loving and respectful ways. Which was surely something you found annoying at the moment. His fingers stayed on your elbows, waist and hands only. And he kept his eyes above your tits as much as he could.

You, on the other hand, were getting a little grabby as the evening's banquet wore on. An extra brush of your fingers here and there turned into Bradley noticing he had a few buttons open on his uniform jacket that shouldn't have been. When you sat down next to him, your hand was higher on his thigh than it ought to have been. Your red lips were grazing his neck with a lot more frequency, and you kept touching his hat.

You were needy for him in his dress whites, and he fucking loved it.

As you sat and sipped some champagne, you eased your hand higher and higher on his thigh with the most innocent expression on your face. He was a little afraid your behavior would further deteriorate as the night wore on, and it was barely time for dessert.

"You almost ready to head home?" he asked softly, and your head snapped to face him.

Bradley tried not to laugh as your red lips parted in delight. "You already have your sexy, new pin. Let's go now." You popped up out of your seat and started saying goodbye to everyone else at the table. Bradley paused to shake hands and accept hugs, knowing you were just inches away from him with peaked nipples and an expression of unfulfilled lust on your pretty face. So he took his time, made his farewells linger, just to tease you back a bit.

"Lieutenant Commander," you whined softly, and the sound of your voice bathed in desire went right to his cock. "I'm getting really tired. Let's have dessert at home."

You weren't getting tired. Bradley was certain you'd have him up all night. You were just trying to get him to move faster so he'd take you to bed. And as Admiral Simpson glanced at you while you pouted your red lips up at Bradley and jutted your tits out in the most desirable way, he knew you had won.

"Let's go," Bradley growled, and your face instantly changed to a giddy smile. He ushered you away from the admirals with his big hand planted on the middle of your back. "You're really getting to be a handful, aren't you."

You scoffed at his words. "You knew exactly what you signed up for."

"Yeah," Bradley agreed. "A needy, cock drunk little angel." He let his hand drift down to cup your perfect ass once he had you out in the deserted lobby. Your unholy moan had him opening the Uber app while he guided you outside into the humid night air.

"How long until it arrives?" you asked, tipping his white uniform hat back on his head a little bit.

"Two minutes," he replied, and you had his pants unzipped and your hand inside his underwear right away. "Oh, fuck!"

You and he were next to the venue building, tucked back in the shadows, but there were still a number of pedestrians out tonight. When your smaller hand cupped his balls softly while you looked up at him and said, "I love you," he let you keep going.

"I love you, too," he replied, kissing your forehead gently as you dragged your manicured nails back behind his balls until he was groaning.

"What are you going to do to me when we get home, Lieutenant Commander?"

Bradley could come up with dozens of ideas for how he'd like to celebrate in bed with you tonight. But you were being so naughty right now, and he knew exactly what he wanted from you.

"Ride's here," he grunted a moment later, and you ran your fingers along the underside of his hard cock one last time before turning and strolling toward the car. He was left to struggle with the zipper before sliding onto the seat next to you with his very obvious erection.

As the car pulled away, you leaned closer so you could whisper in Bradley's ear. "Tell me. What do you want?"

He took your hand in his, pressing soft kisses to your palm and knuckles. "I'm going to put my mouth all over your pussy."

"Tell me more," you whispered, pushing his hand down until it was tucked neatly inside the slit of your dress and between your warm thighs.

Bradley cleared his throat and spoke at a normal volume, making sure you knew he didn't care if the driver heard. "I won't stop. I'll keep going, even after you're done. Even if you beg. I will not stop until I want to. How does that sound?" He squeezed your thigh and slid his index finger along your slit, feeling that you were already wet.

"Sounds perfect," you gasped as the car stopped in front of the house. He took your hand, helping you out of the car as you started grabbing for him again. "Please, please, please keep your uniform on? I want to feel the fabric and the metallic pins against my skin."

Bradley groaned softly as he scooped you up and carried you inside. You knocked his hat askew but then straightened it out as he took you to bed. When he flipped on the bedside lamp, there you were, and everything was red as you lounged on your back. Your red lips were parted, your red heels were up in the air, and your red dress was bunched up around your thighs.

When you spread your legs, keeping your feet up in the air, Bradley was delighted to see your wet pussy bare for his use. He was going to make you cry if he could. He wanted to smell you. He wanted to smell like you.

When you started to reach for the tiny strap on your shoulder, he shook his head. "You're keeping that on," he grunted. "You look too perfect." He watched you squirm, your eyes wide and your breath already short as he settled himself between your legs. He circled his hands around your ankles and kissed along the pretty, dainty bones, tasting your skin as you spread your thighs open further for him.

"Lieutenant Commander," you whispered, and he knew you were going to be a handful forever. He let both hands slide to the backs on your knees as he kissed along one leg and then the other, teasing your pristine skin with his mustache. "Sir?" you gasped.

He met your eyes and grinned as you reached for the front of his white pants, but instead he settled down with his face just inches from your core. He inhaled your scent and leaned on his elbows, hands up your dress and caressing your hips. "This is how I wanted to touch you all night while you were teasing me."

You bit down on your plush, red lip with your teeth and watched as he lowered his mouth to your slit, placing the softest kiss there. You smelled heavenly, and he knew you were going to taste even better when you were dripping from his face. He licked gently along your slit with just a little bit of pressure, not quite spreading you open yet. You already sounded desperate for him, and his cock swelled along with his ego.

"Lieutenant Commanders are such teases," you whined, trying to thrust your pussy up against his face, but he held you tight.

"You always tease me," he replied, running his nose through your sparse hair and kissing the apex of your thigh. "Now it's my turn."

Then he pressed his tongue against your opening before sucking kisses all the way up to your clit. He pushed your thighs back, and your legs bent until he felt your high heels come to rest on his shoulders. He pushed your dress up and kissed along your belly, taking time to rub his smooth pins and rough uniform against your spread open pussy until your hands were scrambling in the bedding.

"So good, so good," you whispered, rubbing yourself along his uniform buttons. Bradley nipped at your tits through the thin fabric that was covering them while your head tipped to the side in pleasure. And then he pulled back abruptly, loving the outraged gasp you made.

But as soon as he buried his face in your pussy, your gasps turned satisfied once more. He loved this, so he took his time, licking leisurely stripes up and back down. When you started to grind softly against his nose on your clit, Bradley encouraged you with his big hands on your hips. "I think they should promote you again," you whined. "Is there a champion pussy eater rank? Isn't that the next one?"

Bradley chucked before he took your clit between his lips. Yeah, that was enough to keep you quiet. Or at least change your sassy words to incoherent moans. He worked his tongue in rapid movements while he sucked on you, and your back started to arch off the bed as you grabbed at his hat.

He released you, and you keened loudly with need while his hat rolled to rest on your belly. "Please?" The syllable was long and drawn out, and Bradley nodded, knowing you were dying to cum. He licked you from one pretty hole to the other and all the way up to your clit over and over again until everything was soaked from you. "Please."

He took your clit between his lips again, prickling your soft skin with his mustache while he sucked and licked until your hands were tight in his hair and you were riding his face. With a loud whine, you came, and Bradley kept licking you everywhere.

"You're soaking," he whispered, your fingers limp in his hair. "Just for me." And then he went rougher, getting his moustache wet and sucking on you everywhere. "You taste so good."

"Bradley." Your voice was tiny now as you covered your face with your hands. He could feel your right leg shaking as he pulled your still swollen clit between his lips, sucking until he let you pop free. Over and over again. He moved his right hand down to ease two fingers inside you, hooking them forward to prop you up a bit, making you groan loudly. Then he worked on your clit until you were hiccupping and begging him to stop. But the light roll of your hips as you fucked his fingers deeper told him there was still some pleasure there for you.

"Not yet," he scolded softly, finger fucking you and grinding his cock against the bed. He was getting closer as your leg drifted down his arm and came to rest on the bed. He was still moving his tongue in quick, purposeful strokes, getting everything he wanted out of you right now. All the little sounds you were making and the way you were going limp had him grinning. You looked so pretty like this as a tear slipped from the corner of your eye. "God, I love you."

He fucked you hard with his fingers, watching your tits bounce in your dress until his whole hand was covered in you. Then he knelt and worked his zipper down quickly, using his hand with your silky wetness to jerk himself off. You watched with the softest smile on your lips and tears in your eyes as he grunted and came all over your pussy, belly and red dress. His cum looked like a pretty adornment on the fabric as you eased your leg back up to his shoulder and teased the back of his neck with your heel.

As you wiped the tears from your eyes, you guided him closer with your legs. He kissed your cheeks and your lips, and you started running your tongue through his mustache with a soft whimper.

"Congratulations, sir," you finally whispered after cleaning up his facial hair. You kissed his nose as he eased himself back to see that your dress and his uniform were a mess.

Bradley grunted as he started to unbutton his uniform jacket, and you tucked his oversized hat on your own head. "What exactly are you congratulating me for now, Mrs. Bradshaw?"

You smiled so sweetly. "For being awarded Champion Pussy Eater rank by your wife. I'll get you another pin for your uniform."

He ran his fingers along your slit until you were whining for him again. "I'll wear it with pride."

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

He earned two promotions! What a man! Thanks @mak-32 and @beyondthesefourwalls for putting up with me.

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beyondthesefourwalls · 7 months

Text

Twin Fire Signs

Summary: When the majority of your squad intentionally leaves you drunk and alone at a bar, you resign yourself to finding your own way home and dealing with your wounded pride in peace. But then your phone rings, the name of the last person you expected to be calling you on a Friday night flashing on your screen. You know you shouldn’t answer, but too much tequila has never led to great decisions.

Pairing: Jake Seresin x Reader (no use of y/n)

Word Count: 5.2K

Warnings: language, drinking

-------

—

You were drunk.

There wasn’t really any denying it now, just like there was no denying that you were alone without any of the people you came here with. It took a complete lap of the bar and waiting outside of the bathrooms for an eyebrow raising amount of time for you to accept it, but it was an inevitable conclusion now: your team, your squad, had ditched you. By the looks they had exchanged in the ready room in the tower, you were sure the invitation had only been extended as a courtesy and that none of them had expected you to actually say yes. Which was fair, because up until this point, you hadn’t. But you decided to accept on a whim, high off the adrenaline from the phenomenal flying you had just done, mixed with a lapse in judgment and a previous night of feeling particularly lonely. You had been off-brand craving social interaction. Now, you were regretting it and remembering why you preferred being alone. They had bought you a few shots, and all it took was a quick trip to the bathroom for you to come back and all of them be just…gone.

You never should have let your guard down.

There was a reason you had declined nearly every invitation from them to go out for drinks, and it wasn’t because of your desperate need to keep work separate from your private life. You knew the people on your squad were assholes, and you knew they didn’t like you all that much. You were the lone Lieutenant Junior Grade amongst a squad of Lieutenants. On top of that, the first woman of said rank to not only make it there, but be handed the trophy at the end of Top Gun.

You were good. Very good. You knew it, and so did the rest of the squad you had been assigned to when, following your win, you were transferred from Corpus Christi and stationed at Top Gun permanently two months ago. You had come in and blown them all out of the water, and none of them particularly liked it.

You should have known that something like this would happen tonight.

You tried not to let it bother you as you plopped down on a barstool. The bartender, an older man tattooed from his bald head to the tips of his fingers, slid a glass of water in front of you with a roll of his eyes. You gave what you hoped was an appreciative thank you and hiccuped as you took your first sip. After downing half the glass and a handful of bar pretzels, you fumbled with your phone, looking through several rideshare apps to see which one would get you the cheapest and quickest ride home so you could sulk in private.

You were debating if the extra ten bucks for a ride that would show up five minutes quicker was worth it when your screen switched over to an incoming call. Your eyes widened in shock at the name staring up at you.

Lieutenant Seresin

Oh no. Oh no.

It was almost 10pm on a Friday night and Hangman was calling you. And you were drunk. He hadn’t come out with you all tonight, but that wasn’t uncommon. If you were an outcast in one regard, he was an outcast in another. Your squad wanted little to do with you, but they worshiped him. But instead of humoring them, he spent the majority of his time with the special squadron he was also assigned to, who were spread out amongst other teams on base.

You didn’t think that he'd said two words to you that weren’t criticism or a challenge since that day. So why the hell was he calling you now?

You considered not answering and letting the call go to voicemail. You stared at the name for so long weighing your options that the screen darkened as the vibrations stopped. You heaved out a sigh of relief, only to squeak in surprise when the phone started vibrating again.

You tried to take a deep breath when you answered, a slightly high pitched “Hello?” being offered. You winced when it was quickly followed by a hiccup, and then another.

“Are you drunk?”

Fuck.

“Um. Yes.”

You winced at your answer. Being blunt was one of your many character flaws, but you probably could have tried to have a little more tact, considering who you were talking to.

“Are you still at Lumpys?”

“Yes,” you answered automatically, but your brows furrowed as your alcohol soaked brain processed his words. “Wait. How did you know that?”

“Are you okay?” he asked, completely ignoring your question. The bar was so loud around you that you had a bit of trouble hearing him, but that last tequila shot must have done you in, because you could hear annoyance, certainly, but you thought maybe you heard concern, too. You took a gulp of your water to try and clear your mind, because there was no way.

You must have taken too long to respond because he snapped out your name, your first name, and you almost gasped at the sound of it. You don’t think he’s ever actually said your name before; the deep timber of his voice sent a shiver down your spine.

Oh no.

Now was not the time for your thoughts to run away from you into that territory.

“I’m drunk,” you said dumbly.

You could practically feel the pause on the other end before he let out a sigh of your call sign that sounded almost angry.

“Are you safe?” he asked, since you hadn’t directly answered his question on being okay. You took in your surroundings with a long glance, your normal ability to clock everything delayed.

Lumpys wasn’t the nicest place. You had never even heard of it before tonight. It was dark and loud and smokey despite the laws prohibiting it in California. It definitely wasn’t a military bar, that was for sure. You wondered for the first time why the rest of the squad had chosen this spot when the Hard Deck was so close to base, as well as two or three other bars that were frequented by uniforms not of the biker variety. You swallowed the lump that formed in your throat when you realized that maybe they had done that on purpose, because you were coming with them and they knew they wouldn’t stick around. From the end of the bar, the bartender glanced at the water in front of you to see if a refill was needed before rolling his eyes again and looking away as he cleaned glasses.

“Well,” you drew out, pushing down the unwanted emotions suddenly hitting you. “I can’t decide if the bartender is a giant tattooed teddy bear or a gang enforcer. Could go either way, honestly.”

He cursed on the other end and you thought maybe you heard the sound of a vehicle starting. You weren’t really sure, thinking maybe the loudness of the bar was making you hear things, but then his next words affirmed it.

“Don’t move. I’ll come get you.”

Your eyes widened and you sat up straighter in the barstool you had been slumped over in. “Wait, what?”

“I’m coming to get you.”

“No, no, you don’t have to do that. I was about to get an Uber or something-”

He said your first name again, and it set butterflies loose in your stomach that you tried desperately to catch and put back in the box they came from. His voice lowered into something gentle, a tone you hadn’t heard in weeks from the fellow aviator. “Just hang tight. I’ll be there in 20, maybe less.”

You thought about arguing with him and insisting that that wasn’t necessary and you could make your way home just fine by yourself. Even if you were sober, you’d have been in charge of finding your own way home tonight. Quarterback had given you a ride from base after work, and you had assumed you’d be able to catch a ride back, too. But he was long gone with the rest of your squad.

“I…okay,” you finally said, accepting your fate.

He hung up without a goodbye, and you were sure if this was a regular phone call, you’d roll your eyes at how rude the gesture was. But all you could focus on at this point was the sound of your name in his voice and the fact that he was apparently coming to get you.

You were fucked.

You chugged your water, some of it spilling down your chin in the process. When you set the glass down it was with a little too much force right as the bartender walked by. You winced at the annoyed look he shot you.

“Sorry,” you mumbled. He refilled your water with a glare and without a word, moving onto other customers before you could say anything else. You took another gulp of it with a grimace and then set your head in your hand, taking in a deep breath.

Your team leader, Hangman, Jake, would be picking you up from the bar, because the rest of your squad had abandoned you after you had taken a few too many shots.

The same one who you had more respect for than anyone else, who you’ve also maybe harbored a crush on since you came to Top Gun, and who had barely looked at you since you almost kissed four weeks ago.

Great.

Lieutenant Jake “Hangman” Seresin was a legend in the small population of aviators in the US Navy. He was truly the 1% of the 1%. You tried to model a lot of your own career and techniques after him. It helped that you seemed to be similar on an instinctual level, and you had the same indifferent attitudes. Standoffish, as some would say. You both knew you were good, too good to be true in a lot of ways. You had earned the right to have the attitude.

You had been thrilled to be assigned to the same squad as him. You were excited to learn as much as you could from him, to befriend him. And that’s what it had been, at first. The two of you flew together well, and it translated on the ground. He noticed the similarities too, and didn’t hesitate with sharing notes and advice with you. He was so passionate and intelligent about what he did, and that’s what drew you to him first. He knew what he was doing and wasn’t ashamed of it, and that had attracted you more than anything. His good looks certainly didn’t hurt, though.

You had taken to spending time together between hops, and eventually, started talking about more than just flying. It turned out you had a lot in common outside of the Navy, too. He was so easy to talk to. But then almost a month ago, you had been alone in the rec room, talking about the previous night's Cowboys game, of all things, when he had suddenly stepped into your personal space.

His eyes had been dark and intense, and you could feel the heat emanating from his body. The intoxicating combination of his cologne and the smell of jet fuel that you had started associating with him had been even more palpable that close together. You thought he was going to kiss you, to finally give into the tension you thought had been building, and you wanted him to. But then just as quickly as he stepped forward, he had pulled away, leaving you hanging and confused.

And you’ve been that way ever since.

After that moment, things had been different between you. He barely spared you a second glance when you were on the ground and criticized everything you did when you were in the cockpit. You had tried to speak with him, to understand what the fuck had happened, but Jake Seresin was just as good at evading on the ground as he was in the air. So you buried your feelings as deep as you could inside of yourself and tried to mark him off as just another asshole who wasn’t worth your time.

But damn if the alcohol and the way he said your name and sounded something like concerned didn’t have your heart racing and you questioning everything.

A little over fifteen minutes and another glass of water later, a shiver ran through your body. You turned your head right as the door to the bar swung open, eyes meeting the unmistakable figure of the aviator occupying your mind. He wasn’t donning his usual khaki uniform or flight suit that you were used to seeing him in — snug jeans hugged his legs and a white shirt clung to his chest, and you realized it was the first time you’d seen him so casual. Your lips parted slightly as you watched him look around. He stood in the entrance, scanning the room with narrowed eyes and a clenched jaw. Your heart skipped a beat when his eyes finally locked onto you.

You raised your hand in a pitiful, unneeded wave, and in the dimly lit bar, you swore you saw some of the tension leave his shoulders. He started making his way through the crowd to you immediately. You watched him with wary, cautious eyes.

“You alright?” he asked. His demeanor remained stoic, but those intense green eyes that you had admired for so long seemed to hold a blend of concern and something else you couldn't quite decipher. From this close up, you could see the way they flicked up and down your body as if assessing for himself your current state.

“Yeah,” you said softly, feeling flushed under his scrutiny. “I’m fine.”

He gave a slight nod, his gaze lingering on you for a moment before he turned to the bar. Without a word, he pulled out his wallet and slipped his credit card from the leather. Your eyes widened.

“Wait, Hangman, no.”

You scrambled for your wallet in your tiny small crossbody bag, but before you could get the zipper opened, your self-appointed savior waved you off and handed his card to the approaching bartender. You watched in defeat as the card was swiped and handed back and his signature scrawled on the receipt all in what looked like one smooth motion. Why had you not thought to pay your tab before he had shown up? You were never going to live this down.

“Finish your water and we’ll go,” he told you as he slipped his wallet back into his back pocket.

“It’s my third glass since you called me. If I finish it I can’t be held responsible for your upholstery.”

You squeezed your eyes shut as soon as the words left your mouth. You rubbed at your temples with a groan, your face twisted into a disbelieving grimace. “Please tell me I didn’t just say that.”

To your surprise, Hangman let out a chuckle. Your eyes popped open in shock. His laughter was a rare occurrence in your presence these days, and the butterflies in your stomach fluttered wildly at the sound. Damnit.

"You did," he replied with a faint smirk, his stoic demeanor cracking just a bit. You groaned, and the blonde laughed again before he glanced around the bar, his expression settling back into something more serious. “Are you ready?”

You slid off the barstool, feeling slightly unbalanced on your feet. When you stumbled, he reached out to steady you. You sucked in a breath. It was a simple touch, but it sent a jolt of electricity through your body. For a moment, the two of you just…stared. It was almost reminiscent of that day. But then a bottle broke from a few feet away, shattering the moment — whatever it was — right along with it. Hangman cleared his throat and dropped his hand back to his side.

“Come on,” he said. “Let’s get you home.” You thought maybe you saw the faintest hint of red creeping up on his neck before he turned away, and your mind struggled to rationalize it.

Once you were outside, the cool night air hit you, and it was a welcome relief. You breathed in deeply as you followed behind him to where his large black truck was parked. You knew from one of your conversations before that he had boughten it last year when he was stationed in California after only ever leasing vehicles before. It was a way for him to establish roots now that he was given the opportunity to settle in one place.

The lights flashed as he unlocked it, opening the passenger door and motioning for you to get in. You hesitated for a moment, wondering if this was really how your night was going. You chanced a glance at the man holding the door open and he raised an eyebrow, clearly wondering what the hold up was. You could have laughed at the irony. It took you a second to realize that you had.

“What’s so funny?” he asked, and you felt the heat of embarrassment in your face.

“Nothing,” you muttered, and you turned away before you could say or do anything else to make a fool out of yourself.

The leather seats were comfortable when you clumsily climbed in, and the interior of the car was immaculate, crisp and clean just like you often thought he was. It didn’t surprise you a bit. Hangman settled into the driver's seat, and you couldn't help but steal glances at him as he started the engine. He handed you his phone to put your address in and as country music played quietly over the speakers, he put the truck in drive.

You didn’t know what to say, and Hangman seemed content with the quiet. You watched him from the corner of your eye as he drove, the muscles in his arms flexing with every turn of the wheel. You couldn’t help but wonder what those arms would feel like around you, holding you against him. It was a dangerous thought, and you shook it off before it could take root.

You closed your eyes and leant your head back against the seat as you let the wind from the open windows cool your skin. The effects of the alcohol were slowly wearing off, leaving your mind clearer, but no less confused. Being in his presence like this was still throwing you for a loop.

Why had he dropped everything and shown up for you tonight, after doing everything professionally possible to avoid you for the last month? Why had he ignored you to begin with?

Why did you even care?

Neither of you spoke the entire way, and all the questions in your head were like a stoking fire that was rapidly sparking by the time he turned into your apartment complex. Instead of dropping you off in front of your building, he pulled into one of the visitors spots and put the truck in park. He didn’t kill the engine, though, and you wondered if that meant something.

For a moment, you both just sat there, staring straight ahead. You could feel the tension between you, slowly but surely simmering. You knew the smart thing to do would be to get out of the truck. Thank him for coming to get you and go inside, and then come Monday morning, go back to the same routine. You knew you were capable of it — you had mastered the art of indifference years ago.

“Think you’ll make it upstairs?” he asked, disrupting the silence. You frowned at his choice of words, feeling just the tiniest bit offended. You knew how it looked, being drunk and alone. But he was the one who took it upon himself to show up. He had no right to judge you. You couldn’t help the scoff you let out.

“You didn’t have to come get me, you know. You didn’t have to call at all.”

His eyes widened before they squeezed shut, and it was almost like he realized the tone of what he said. You shook your head with a sigh, suddenly so unbelievably tired.

“Thanks for the ride,” you mumbled. You unbuckled your seatbelt and leant down to grab your purse from the floor. “I’ll see you on Monday.”

Hangman’s hand shot out and grabbed your wrist before you could open the door. You turned to look at him and found him staring at you intently, his green eyes dark and brooding.

“Wait,” he said, his voice urgent and rough. “I’m sorry.”

“Are you?”

He said your name in such a way that you knew nothing would follow it, the blonde at a loss for words for once in his life.

"How did you know where I was?" you blurted out, the words escaping before you could censor them. But the question had been plaguing you since he called, so you didn’t backtrack. You felt like you had a right to know.

You could see the tension in his jaw before he spoke. “Quarterback.”

You raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Quarterback told you where I was?”

“Yes.”

“Did he call you, or….?”

Hangman let out a long sigh, tilting his head back to rest against the seat. “The squad was at the Hard Deck like they normally are, being obnoxious —”

“Like they normally are?” you couldn’t help but interrupt. He cracked a half smile, the faintest hint of amusement in his eyes as he dipped his chin in agreement. Your shared tolerance level for the other members of your squad was something you had discussed at length before.

“Like they usually are. I asked them where you were, since you were the only one not there and I had heard you tell them yes earlier. He told me they left you at Lumpy’s. They thought it was funny.”

You nodded slowly, processing the information. You’d be lying if you said it didn’t sting, just a little bit, that they went as far as going somewhere out of the ordinary just so they could leave you there and make you the punchline of a joke. You let your eyes close and sulked in the feeling for a brief moment. You didn’t need these people. You didn’t even particularly like them, outside of being in the air. But damn. You swallowed thickly and shook your head, as if to completely dislodge the feeling. You supposed them ditching you wasn’t necessarily surprising. You knew how they felt about you, just as they knew your opinions, too. What you were surprised about was that Hangman had bothered to ask about your whereabouts in the first place. It was almost like he cared. Almost.

“So why’d you come?” you asked, still trying to understand. “I could have gotten an Uber.”

For a long moment, he just stared, and you looked right back. His expression was hard to decipher. The streetlights outside cast shifting patterns of light and shadow across his face, and you felt like he was seeing right through you. Still, he said nothing. The silence stretched on, tension growing thick in the air. You couldn’t stand it.

You were about to ask him again, to demand an answer, when he finally spoke. His voice was low and measured, a hint of anger looping through the words, and you shivered at the tone of it.

“They had no right to leave you there like that. I couldn’t — I had to know you were okay.”

You stared at him, feeling something deep and aching stir inside you. You didn't know what to say, didn't know how to react. Everything was suddenly so much more complicated than it had been before.

“Jake…” you whispered, and you don’t know if it was the way you used his first name over his callsign or if he was just finally ready to get it off of his chest, but it was like the single syllable finally cracked the floodgates open.

“I was seeing somebody,” he said. You sucked in a deep breath at the words, a soft “oh” falling from your lips. He continued on before you could think to say anything else. “For a while. Almost a year. She’s exactly what I always pictured I wanted, you know? She travels a lot, but we were figuring it out. But we were serious.”

A beat passed, and you cleared your throat in the silence of the truck. You almost felt awkward when you asked, “Were?”

He nodded, clenching his jaw, before laughing in a way that sounded more self-deprecating than you had ever heard from him. “I’m a lot of things, darlin. But I’m not a cheater, physical or otherwise. It wouldn’t have been so easy for me to catch feelings for someone else if she and I were meant to be together. And the way I had started to feel…”

He cut himself off with a shake of his head, gripping the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles turned ghostly white. You processed the words slowly, mulling over them over and over again as you tried to figure out the implications behind them.

“About me?” you dared yourself to ask, your heart beating hard in your chest and damn near holding your breath after you did.

He met your gaze head on, his green eyes blazing with an intensity that made your breath catch in your throat. “Yeah,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “About you. I think I’ve been feeling this way for a while now, but it wasn’t until that day in the ready room that I realized I couldn’t keep denying it anymore. I care about you more than I should.”

The weight of his words was heavy, and you felt a flush start to creep up your neck. It was like all the air had been sucked out of the truck, leaving the two of you suspended in a moment that felt both infinite and fleeting. You didn't know what to say, didn't even know exactly what you were feeling right now. You never thought he would feel the same way that you did, to the point where he had apparently broken up with a girlfriend you had no idea about. But then he hadn’t said anything, hadn’t acted.

You had no idea what any of this meant.

You opened your mouth to speak, to ask him, but before you could get a word out, he leaned in and pressed his lips to yours. You gasped against his mouth, but his lips were warm and firm and you couldn’t help the way you relaxed into it. It wasn’t more than a press of your lips together, neither of you moving to deepen it, but it left you dizzy like it was the most intense kiss of your life.

When you pulled back, you were both breathing heavier, your foreheads pressed together.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, voice thick with something that felt emotional. “I shouldn't have...not yet. But I had to know what it felt like.”

You swallowed, focusing on one word.“Yet?”

Hangman, Jake, nodded, and the silence stretched on for a long moment. You were still reeling from his kiss, the emotion, your own confusion over your feelings and what it all might mean. Then he sighed, loud and deep. From this close, you could smell the peppermint from the gum he always chewed on his breath. He pulled away so he could look into your eyes and cupped your cheek. The smile he gave you was tinged with sadness and longing, and the strangest mix of hope. You knew before he said anything that nothing would be happening tonight.

“I’m not…I’m not ready yet,” he said softly. Even though you knew something of the sort was coming, there was a flash of disappointment. He must have read it on your face, because he was quick to try and reassure you. “It’s not you. It’s just…I just ended it with her. And I’m still confused as hell over what I feel for you. I think you both deserve more than me rushing into something without figuring that out. Please understand.”

You nodded, even though you weren't entirely sure if you did. You wanted him, that much was clear. But you also didn't want to be someone's rebound. You wanted something real, something meaningful. And you were willing to wait for that. You just hoped he was too.

“Okay," you whispered, taking a deep breath. "I understand.”

He smiled at you again, a small, sad curve of his lips, before leaning in to press his forehead against yours. "Thank you," he murmured, his breath ghosting over your lips. "You're amazing, you know that?"

You wanted him to kiss you again. You ached for it, almost. But you knew if you closed the distance that you’d be going back on everything he had just asked for and the understanding you had promised him you had. So instead, you swallowed thickly and pulled away from him all together. He seemed to understand the distance you were creating and released another deep breath, clearing his throat.

"Thank you," you said, your voice barely above a whisper. "For coming to get me."

He nodded, and the two of you fell into silence again. There was something in his eyes that made you think he wasn't done yet. "Can I walk you up to your door?" he asked, his voice laced with a hint of desperation.

You hesitated for a moment, unsure if it was a good idea. But at the same time, you didn't want this moment to end, either, even if it was just a few more minutes. "Sure," you finally said.

The two of you got out of the truck and made your way up to your apartment, the silence between you heavy. He was walking so close that you could feel the body heat radiating from him, and you were starting to feel hot all over. When you reached your door, you turned to face him, unsure of what to say. You drew your bottom lip between your teeth as you stared.

"Thank you again," you said softly.

He nodded, his eyes searching yours for a moment before he let out a deep breath. "Of course,” he said, before leaning in to press a soft kiss to your forehead. Your skin tingled when he pulled away. “I'll see you Monday?" he asked, his voice uncertain.

You nodded. "Yeah, I'll see you then."

He stepped away, staring for just a moment longer before he whispered out a goodnight and turned and walked back down the hallway. You watched him go, a strange mix of emotions swirling inside of you. You didn't know what was going to happen between the two of you, but you thought maybe you were ready to find out. You turned to your door and pulled out your keys, taking a deep breath before unlocking it and stepping inside.

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

Main Masterlist

Notes: More of The Blonde One™️needed to be added to my masterlist. I hope you enjoyed whatever this was lol. Likes/comments/reblogs are the best encouragement!

Thanks to @roosterforme @mak-32 @thedroneranger for the help! And to Mak for the prettiest banner that finally gets to see the light of day😍

#alli writes #jake seresin x reader #jake seresin x oc #jake seresin x you #jake seresin x y/n #hangman x you #jake seresin imagine #hangman imagine #hangman x reader #top gun fanfiction #tgm fanfiction #tgm fic #jake hangman x reader #hangman x oc #hangman x y/n #jake seresin x female reader

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teliphone · 24 days

Text

Rank F

Summary: Baekyeon Girls High School isn’t your typical day-to-day high school. We run in a voting game system of A - F rank where the students get to vote for their classmates on an app called Pyramid Game. The more votes you get, the higher you will rank. Level A students have power over students while F is the opposite. I accepted the offer letter to go to this school without thinking deeply. Level A student, Baek Harin is there to protect me in exchange for myself. Would I be able to escape this messed-up game or fall helplessly?

Warning(s): Bullying, Hitting, Threats, Guilt, Emotional Manipulation, Overstimulation, Smut, Fingering, Oral, Sub!Reader, slight exhibitionism, slight praise kink

Word Count: 7.2k

I shift uncomfortably on the single-cushion couch. I glance around the office, examining the architecture and interior. Compared to my current school, this one is much better. It is clear that whoever owns this school is rich. I clench onto my offer letter.

“Ahem,” The head chief clears her throat. I snap my attention back to her. She holds her hands together on the desk and smiles.

“Thank you for being patient with our meeting time. My schedule has been hectic, but I am glad we agreed on a day. Now, what is the question you have been asking?” She questions. I unfold the letter and place it on her desk. She tilts her head to the side as she reads the message. Her eyebrows lift with a delighted hum.

“You have been offered to go to Baekyeon Girl’s High School,” She beams. I blink at her in confusion. She continues smiling as she waits for me to speak.

“But I didn’t do anything to get this offer,” I explain. She purses and puckers her lips.

“Well, you see… This is a special offer letter,” She points at the signature on the bottom of the letter, “The president must have heard good things about you which resulted in you receiving an offer letter.”

“Who would tell the president about me? I don’t know anyone who goes here,” I try not to sound tense.

“There are many students that go to this school, I am afraid I can’t figure that out. But whoever requested for you must have done a good job influencing the president,” She chirps. She brings her hands over to the cup of pens. She plays around with it a little.

“Are you interested in taking the offer?” She asks with a calm voice. I look down at the letter, deep in thought. I have heard good things about Baekyeon Girls High School. Most of the high-power parent’s daughter goes here. If I go to this school, I may have a chance to become friends with them. It sounds selfish, but this is where I can network. What if I meet one of their parents? My mind buzzes with future opportunities that I might receive.

“Yes.”

I nervously brush my uniform: classic white button-up, black tie, and a long black skirt. Today is the first day of attending this school. The head chief offers to walk me to my classroom. The walk is quite longer than I expected. The classroom is on the far left of the building. I glance around and notice how quiet the halls are. She stops in front of a door and turns to face me.

“This is the room. You know where to find me if you have any more questions. Welcome to Baekyeon Girls High Y/n,” She smiles and leaves me. I nervously gulp while staring at the door. I feel small compared to the door all of a sudden. I slide the door open which causes all the students to pause and stare. I anxiously walk over to the professor. I give him the slip of paper. As he reads the paper, I quickly glance around the room. My eyes stop at a figure I recognize. I widen my eyes. It’s Baek Harin. Our history is not much. She’s a regular customer at a restaurant I worked at. I quit a few months ago.

“New student huh?” The professor says. I nod my head. He gestures toward the girls and looks at me bored.

“Well, introduce yourself,” He sighs. I lift my head higher and clench my fist.

“Hello everyone. My name is Y/n L/n. Please treat me well,” I announce while bowing my head. He looks around the room and hums.

“I guess you can sit in the back with Sooji-”

“She can sit with me,” Harin cuts. I look at her confused. There is already another girl sitting next to her. The girl looks at Harin in shock, but Harin remains emotionless. She turns her head to face the girl.

“Move,” She snaps.

“B-but,”

“Do I have to repeat myself?” Harin smiles coldly. The girl looks like she’s about to cry as she gets up from her seat. The classroom remains silent beside the sound of the girl gathering all her stuff in a hurry. I wonder how Harin has so much authority over the students. Is there a power system happening in class? Once she leaves to sit in the back, Harin turns her attention to me.

“You can sit with me,” She suggests, but it sounds more like a demand. My feet automatically move in her direction and she smiles brightly. I take a seat next to her and I get a sniff of her perfume. She smells good. There is also a hint of something I can’t place my finger on. Maybe cigarettes? That’s not possible though. How can a pretty angel-looking girl like her smoke?

“Thank you,” I whisper to her. She nods her head happily and then returns her attention to the professor. I look around the room and notice all the students staring at me besides Harin. I snap my neck away from them. From the corner of my eyes, I can observe her more. Her brushed and slightly curled hair catches my attention. It looks so soft. My eyes lowered to look at her long and black eyelashes. She flutters them slowly, expressing she's paying close attention to the lesson. My eyes dip to her lips. They are so plump, glossy, and pink. Her lips curve into a small smile suddenly. I glance up to catch her looking at me in the corner of her eye. Embarrassment blossoms on my cheeks and I avert my attention to my textbooks.

It took a while, but the lesson finally ended. I lean back onto my chair to stretch a little. Harin turns her body to me and rests her chin on the palm of her hand. Her eyes glint with muse.

“I placed you as grade A,” She starts. I furrow my eyebrows in confusion.

“A?”

“Yes. You are welcome. No one is going to hurt you as long as you’re here with me,” She explains. I decide not to question. I didn’t understand, but as long as I’m with her I would be okay. I slowly nod my head. She giggles and leans closer to my bubble like she’s testing how far she can go. I notice but I don’t move. She drags her tongue on her lips and I foolishly watch. She puckers her lips out in expression.

“How did you hear about this school?” She asks.

“I got an offer letter… and I accepted it,” I cut it short. She nods her head playfully.

“Who do you think requested you to come?” She teases. It didn’t take long for me to realize she was the one who requested me. My eyebrows arch up in confusion. I didn’t understand why Harin would request me to come to her school. Why is it now that she wants to get close? I hear her chuckle which brings me out of my thoughts.

“Why would you do that?” I question. She bursts my bubble by leaning into my ear.

“Because I think you’re cute. Have I ever told you that?” Her mouth brushes lightly against my earlobe. My hands clench. I avert my eyes down and feel my cheeks blushing shamefully. I hate how much she makes me react with little knowledge of her. The way my stomach feels makes me shaky. I tap my feet anxiously. She notices my obvious reaction and smiles.

“When you quit your job I got so sad. I searched everywhere for you. Once I found you I wanted you to go to the best school there is… which is here. Will you show your gratitude to me?” She hums. She places her cold hand on my upper thigh, halting my movement. I snap my head towards her with widen eyes. She beams happily with a curious glare in her eyes. I shake my head no. She dares by moving her hands higher, nearly touching my panties. I abruptly stand from my seat, squeaking my chair backward. My breathing is heavy as if I am a mad woman. My classmates stare at me in surprise while Harin smirks and leans back in her chair. I avert my eyes to the door. I need to escape. The only place to excuse myself is the bathroom. I shuffle my feet quickly to get out. I made a mistake by accepting the letter. Harin sighs and tilts her head towards the window. The blue sky is clear.

“Fun,” She grins.

It has been a week since that happened and Harin always wants me near her.

There was a time when I heard a loud slam from the back of the room. I flinched and turned to look. I watched as rank B students kicked rank F students in the stomach. My eyes widen and I freeze. How is no one in this room helping her? Why is everyone just continuing their day like nothing? I got up to help, but Harin grabbed my arm. She smiled and shook her head.

“Don’t get involved. It’s just part of the game,” She beamed. I stared at her in shock. She tugged my arm harder causing me to sit down.

“It’s okay. As long as you’re with me… that will never happen to you!” She chirped and returned her attention to her assignment. I am speechless. I hear student F begging for them to stop. I shudder in fear.

Harin drags me by my arm to her secret hideout during break time. I sit on the high wooden crates and watch her light up her cigarettes. I widen my eyes in shock. So the hint of cigarette smell did come from her. How does a beautiful angelic face like her enjoy smoking? One of her hands holds her white and gold lighter, while the other grips a cigarette between two fingers. She sucks in the stick and breathes out. The smoke bothers me, but I watch her in awe. She looks at me with a playful glint in her eyes.

“Why are you staring at me like that? Are you shocked I smoke?” She laughs. I shake my head no. She walks closer to me til she can sneak her body between my legs and blows smoke into my face. I grimace at the scent. She chuckles and places her free hand on my chin. Her thumb gently grazes my button lip curiously before she pulls it down. She places her cigarette between my lips and nods her head.

“Suck.” She orders. I shake my head no which results in her gripping my chin harder. I wince in pain, but her face remains blank. Her wide dilated eyes stare back.

“Suck,” She repeats more sternly. I try to find a way to refuse, but with the way she looks… I decided to submit. My eyes gloss as I obey her. I wrap my lips around the tip of the cigarette while looking at her. I realize that something stirs in her every time I listen to her. She becomes flustered and watches closely as I suck in the deadly fumes. The smoke burns the back of my throat and I start coughing. Yanking the cig out, she places it back into her mouth and takes a short drag. She smiles with her dull eyes. Tears gather on the surface of my eyes as I come out of the cough. She places her free on top of my black skirt. She brings her face close to mine.

“I want to kiss you,” She hums. I immediately lean my face to the side to avoid her glossy lips. She grips my skirt in anger, her face remains emotionless, but her eyes express so much disappointment. After composing herself she fakes a smile.

“The harder you deny me, the more I want to break you,” She admits. My heart rate picks up at her confession. I gulp nervously. She decides to stop her action and removes herself from me. I suddenly feel guilty. I didn’t want to disappoint her. I didn’t want her to lose interest in me.

“I’m sorry,” I apologize. She crosses her free hand and waves her other hand that holds the cig.

“Get lost,” She concludes. I slide off the wooden crates and onto my feet. I wanted to say more, but with her back to my face, I couldn’t utter a sound. I lower my head and walk away. When I get close to the classroom door I accidentally bump into someone. I turn my head up to see who. It’s Sooji. She looks emotionless til she furrows her eyebrows at me. I feel guilty again.

“Sorry. I should’ve watched where I was going-“

“You smoke?” She questions. I widen my eyes and wave my hands timidly. I didn’t realize how the scent of cigarettes had stuck itself onto my clothes.

“N-no. It’s-“ I stop myself. I shouldn’t reveal Harin’s secret. It will ruin her image.

“These guys were smoking near my bus stop,” I lie. Sooji nods her head slowly. I smile at her because she took the lie. She takes a step towards the door but I stop her by holding her arm. She looks at me curiously. Her deep and emotionless stare reminds me of Harin. I lick my lips and avert my eyes to the ground.

“How do you feel about the game?” I ask, looking back up. Sooji grips her fist.

“...I hate the game. Whoever made the game is a psychopath,” She reveals. As she answers me I notice she’s staring past my head. I follow her gaze and see Harin walking over. She eyes my hand on Sooji’s arm and I self-cautiously return my hand to my side.

“Hi, Sooji!” She beams sweetly. Sooji doesn’t respond. Harin smiles widely with her teeth showing. A fake, numbing smile which I’ve seen many times before. She turns her attention to me and it makes me halt my thoughts.

“Hi, Y/N… Ready for class?” She chirps.

“Y-yes,” I reply, rubbing my thumb across my knuckles. She stares at me carefully before placing her hand on the door behind me. I cowardly under her pressure. Her body and the door trap me in between. I blush at her body heat against mine. I glance over at Sooji who is examining our interaction. I feel a wave of embarrassment run down my spine. Why is Harin doing this in front of her? It’s making me shy and… greedy. Harin chuckles darkly. She slides the door open and leaves me breathless. Sooji watches me silently with an unexplainable look. I turn to walk in the door without looking back.

I have rejected Harin’s kiss over and over and it has finally ticked her off.

“Aren’t you grateful you’re in grade A? If it weren’t for me, you would be in F,” She hisses, “Is this how you thank me? Do you need to learn your place?” Tears threaten to fall down my cheekbones. I can’t bear to look at her further. She looks evil. Her eyes are dilated and blank. She takes small steps forward which results in me walking backwards. She grabs my tie and slams me against the wall. I wince at the pain that spread across my back. She leans her lips to my ears. I push her shoulders, but she remains taking up my space and mind.

“Since you’re making yourself difficult for me… I have no choice but to make you rank F,” She sighs, “So that I can do anything I want to you.” I halt my movement to stare at her in fear. I am lost for words. Her true nature is revealing and it frightens me. She looks down to my lips and a sigh escapes hers. She looks back into my eyes. Lust clouds her mind.

“Stop,” I beg. She begins to lean her face in. I close my eyes as tears roll down. I hate it. I don’t want it. The classroom door suddenly slams open. Harin removes herself from me and I weakly collapse onto the ground. I look up to see Soojin walking in. She spares me one glance before walking to her seat. Ignoring us, she starts placing her notebooks and pens on the table. I wanted to get up and thank her for saving me from that, but I remained seated at the bottom of Harin’s feet. Harin remains emotionless and returns to her seat. She pulls out her phone and types something. Her posture is straight. I let out a sound of disbelief. She did all of that and can still act normal?

“What are you doing on the ground?” My classmates ask as they start flooding in.

“I dropped a pencil. It’s gone now,” I lie. They help me stand to my feet. I shuffle over to my seat. Harin ignores my presence and I feel a pain in my heart. I sit down quietly. I glance over her to see her emotionlessly staring at the board. Seo Doah, our class president, stands in front of the class.

“Today is the last Thursday of the month,” She says. I widen my eyes. Already? How is it already the end of the month? I look at Harin to see her lips curl into a small smile. Memories of her threatening my rank flood my mind.

“The 13th Pyramid game…starts now,” Doah announces. Shuffling sounds of students getting out the phones start. I reach for my phone with shaky hands. I press on the pyramid app and freeze. I have always placed Harin as my first vote and I assume she would do the same to me. There’s no way she would switch up now right? Just because I didn’t let her kiss me? I type down Baek Harin as my first. I look over to see that Harin had already finished. Her phone rests on the table as she crosses her arms. I quickly finish up my votes. After a couple more minutes, the voting officially ended. Doah looks at the results and hesitates. Her eyes glance at me for a second before she looks down again.

“The results are up. Please refresh,” She says. I hover my finger over the refresh button. Sounds of students mumbling amongst each other start getting louder. I press it. My eyes gloss in fear as I lift my head to look at Harin. I am grade F just like she said I would be. Suddenly I hear a loud whistle which makes me flinch. Three students grades B, C and D surround me like predators.

“I am surprised to see Harin’s pet drop from A to F!” Student B laughs. She strokes my hair like I am a dog. Student D pushes my textbooks onto the ground so she can sit on my desk. She tugs my chin and forces me to look at her.

“This is exciting. I always wanted to play with you,” She chuckles. Harin gently gets up from her seat and I beg her with my eyes to help me. She looks at the three students with a fake happy look.

“I don’t want to see any bruises or cuts on her, remember the rules,” She says. Student B giggles and pulls my head into her chest.

“Of course~” She chirps. Tears threaten to fall down my cheek. I feel so betrayed. I feel so lost. Harin’s talking about me as if it didn’t matter if they bully me. Did she not care? Am I just another toy? I clench my fist and try pushing the student's hands away from me.

“Harin please,” I beg. She ignores me and walks away from her desk. I am abandoned.

I grunt in pain as student D throws me against the basketball metal cart. She places her shoes against my stomach and leans her weight onto me. The softness of my stomach feels crushed under her feet. I claw at her ankles.

“Please stop,” I cry out. They have been bullying me for the past fifteen minutes since it was announced that I am ranked F. Student C laughs and leans down to level with my face. She brushes her thumb against my cheeks to wipe my tears.

“Awh is Y/N begging?” She pouts. She stands up and kicks the side of my stomach multiple times.

“Hey wait. Harin told us not to get her bruised,” Student B remembers. They stop their movement which allows me to suck in a breath. I groan in pain and roll aside in an attempt to run away from them.

“Oh shoot you’re right,” Student D worries.

“What are we going to do?”

“If Harin finds out… We’ll be in big trouble,”

“How about we-”

As they discuss amongst themselves, I pull myself to my feet using the metal cart. I bite my lips in pain to avoid making noises. I quietly walk myself towards the door. Suddenly a hand grabs my hair and pulls me back onto the ground. I let out a yelp.

“You thought you could just sneak past us?” Student B chuckles. She tugs my tie and slaps me across the face.

The bullying continued for another five minutes until they got tired and left me on the floor of the gym storage room. Finally, it is silent. I let out a shaky breath. Tears continue to roll down. I cry, but no sound comes out. I clench my jaw and pull myself off the ground. I drag myself to the door.

I bump into Sooji first in the middle of the soccer field. She has a notepad in her hands which indicates she’s running an errand for the professor. Her eyes soften when she notices my watery eyes.

“Sooji,” I start to sob. I face down to the ground in humiliation. My fist clenches to my sides and my body shakes uncontrollably. She drops the notepad and walks over. She places her fingers over the buttons on my shirt which have gotten loose during the bullying session. She fixes it as I continue to cry.

“T-thank you,” I sniff.

“I can help you. We can get rid of this game once and for all. If you want to join me… give me your phone,” She explains. With shaky hands, I grasp and pull out my phone. I wipe my tears with my sleeves.

“Can you really get rid of it?” I whimper. She looks deep into my eyes.

“Do you trust me?” She asks. The wind blows past my shoulders. I pause deep in thought. I would do anything to get rid of the F rank from my name. Desperation floods my veins. Without answering her vocally, I hand her my device and watch her type in her number. She hands it back to me.

“We’ll keep in contact secretly. I still don’t know who is running this game, but I have a hunch,” She discusses. She picks up the notepad.

“I’m going to leave so that people won’t get suspicious. I’ll message you soon,” She says before walking past me. I smile sadly and continue dragging myself to class. The pain in my stomach is starting to throb. As I walk up the stairs of the school building, I wince at each step. Sweat starts collecting on my neck. I take a break to catch my breath. This can’t be the reality I live in… I refuse. I hear footsteps which causes me to look over.

Harin.

She wears a beige sweater over the school's white button-up. Her neatly brushed hair rests on her shoulders. She has a bright smile on her face. She walks over and scans my body carefully. I feel small and dirty under her gaze. My white button-up has patches of dirt and shoe marks. My hair is messy and tangled. Her nose scrunches in disgust and my stomach flips. Do I look that bad?

“I’m sorry,” I don’t know why those words came out of my mouth. I don’t even know what I am apologizing for. My lips quiver in shame. She fakes a pout and leans close to my ears.

“Hang in there. It’s not your fault,” She whispers in venom. She takes a step away from me, but I clench onto her arm. She gasps in shock.

“Please help me, Harin. I will do anything,” I cry. She leans her face down and chuckles darkly. She tugs her arm away from me and my hand falls to my side. I stare up at her between my water eyelashes. She places her shoes on top of mine and presses down. An act of power.

“I’ll think about it. For now, I need to break you more,” She shrugs and walks away. Leaving me sobbing. As she walks away I feel my life crashing. No! Why is she leaving me? I need her! She is the answer to my escape!

“There you are~” I hear student B tease. I freeze in fear.

The bullying continues for five more days. Harin continues to ignore me. I watch as she laughs joyfully with her friends. I worry she has truly forgotten about me. I’ve started to accept my fate. The bruises and cuts on my body have gotten more intense.

I stare at myself in front of the PE locker room mirror. My button shirt is unbuttoned, exposing my bra and stomach. The bruises and cuts have started to become more visible. I rub my fingers across the bruise on my hip and hiss in pain. My under-eye bag has gotten darker. I have started to lose weight. I hug my body tight. The door swings open and I quickly cover my chest with my arms. I watch the culprit walk over using the mirror.

“What are you doing here?” Harin asks. I shake my head, unable to speak. She examines my exposed stomach and I see her eyes widen.

“What is that?” She points at my bruises. I stay quiet. She tugs my shirt and I try to push her hands away. She doesn’t stop til she successfully removes the shirt from my body. The cold air makes my skin prickle. She stares at my body and I blush in embarrassment. I have cuts and bruises all over. I feel ugly. I don’t want her to see me like this. She gently puts her hand over my cut and I hiss as she scraps her fingernail across it.

“Those fools… I told them not to leave a bruise or cut on you,” She fumes. She looks up to my watery eyes.

“I’ll fix this,” She promises. She picks up my shirt and helps me get into it. Then she hugs me. Her gentle and warm touches make me sob. I have not felt this in so long. She successfully broke me. I nervously clench my hands on her sweater. I want to hold onto her. I want to be in her arms forever. I feel safe. She removes herself from the hug. She smiles and cups my face. She brings her face close.

“Do you agree with everything I say? I can help you with this,” She asks.

“Yes. Please help me,” I beg. Her eyes dilate and she places a kiss on my forehead.

“Let's get you clean up.” Her gentle fingers help me the whole way. Once she sees that I am good, she tells me to come back to class.

I walk behind her as we enter the classroom. The room grows quiet and they stare at us. Harin looks around till she sees the three students that have been bullying me. She calls them over with a smile which they gladly obey. She suddenly pulls me forward with her hand on the back of my neck and rips the top of my shirt open. My collarbone is exposed, revealing a bruise. I blush at the stares of students on my skin.

“Didn’t I tell you not to leave a bruise on her?” Harin hums. The three students' eyes widen like a deer caught in headlights. Harin waits patiently with her fingers rubbing my neck. She waits to see what kind of lame excuse they are going to come up with.

“We left a bruise?! Oh my goodness I did not know! I promise we didn’t go hard. She must have done that to herself!” Student B urges.

“Is that true? Did you do this to yourself?” Harin asks me. Why is the attention back on me? I hate it. I turn to look at the three students who stare at me with anger. I can tell they want me to lie or I would get punished worse. My fist clenches in frustration. All the days they have tortured me. They deserve to rot.

“They did this to me,” I fum. They stare at me in shock.

“I see,” Harin breathes. The three girls quickly bow down to our feet. I feel a sense of power seeing them at my feet.

“I order no one to touch Y/n from now on even though she’s an F. She’s mine,” Harin announces. I feel a gush of love flood all over my body. I’m hers. She told the whole classroom. I am not a secret. She saved me. I watch as she places her foot onto Student B’s hand. She applies pressure, causing the student to wince.

“As for you three. I have exposed your family's dirty company secrets to the world. This is what happens when you don’t listen to me,” She chuckles. The three students gasps and cry out, but Harin turns her attention to me. She buttons up my shirt and pats my cheeks.

“Let’s go to our seat Y/n,” She chirps. Her hands never leave my upper thighs the whole class time. Rubbing her thumb against the flesh of my inner thigh. She gives it a squish a couple of times and bites her bottom lip. Embarrassingly enough, I ignore the wetness that has built up between my legs. I am addicted to being hers.

“Come home with me today,” She whispers.

“Okay,” I breathe. She gives my thighs another squeeze. My body humiliatingly jerks up. I gently place a hand on top of hers. She raises an eyebrow. She wonders if I am planning to remove her hand, but I wasn’t planning that. In fact I start playing with her fingers. In awe at how smooth and long her fingers are. She allows me to play with her fingers.

“Ready to come home?” She asks me as she puts on her backpack. I put mine on and nod my head. I don’t know what she has planned, but I trust her. I want her to do anything to me and I would be thankful for it. She holds my hands and I feel my cheeks burn up. During the whole walk, she never let go. Students would stare, but I am glad they are. They need to know I am hers and, hopefully, in some way, she is mine. We wait by the road of the school and a black Mercedes pulls up. The driver comes out and opens the door for us. I agape in amazement. She is super rich. During the car ride, she distanced herself. She focuses her attention on her phone. I stay quiet, but I deeply crave her attention and touch. I distract myself by staring out the window. Twenty minutes pass and we start pulling up at a mansion. I gulp nervously.

“You live here?” I gasp. She laughs and pulls out a cigarette. In a quick motion, she flicks the lighter and lights the end of the cig. She smokes it and continues walking. I follow behind like a lost dog. She finishes about halfway before flicking it to the ground. She continues walking, I turn around to see a maid picking up the cig. The doors of the mansion open as she approaches. A few maid bows to greet us.

“Leave us alone for the rest of the day,” Harin orders. They quietly nod their heads and turn to exit. I stare around the building. The ceilings are tall and the windows expose large amounts of light in. The walls are pearl white and the chandelier glow. We end up in her room. I can tell by the scent that engulfed me when I entered. I stand awkwardly at the door, not knowing what to do. Harin walks to her closet and pulls out a pink bathrobe. She hands it to me and I blush.

“Go use my shower. I’ll be next door showering as well,” She explains. I stare at the robe.

“What? Do you not want to?” She questions slowly. I immediately shake my head.

“I do! I will do anything you ask,” I promise. She chuckles, her eyes dilating. She licks her lips and crosses her arms. She turns her body to the door and exits. I stand like a fool in the middle of her room. I enter her bathroom and bite my lips. I slowly pull the black tie from my collar. I stare at myself in her mirror; watching my fingers unbutton each button on my white shirt. I tug my black skirt down til it falls to my ankle. I stare at my body that only has a bra and underwear. I blush. I turn my face away from the mirror and remove my underclothes. I step into the shower and turn on the water. Once the water touches my skin I relax. I hum and close my eyes. The water relaxes my tense body.

Once I was done I walked out and wrapped myself in the pink bathrobe. I explore all her skin care products. With curiosity, I apply some to my face. The moisturizer sinks into my skin. I feel refreshed and clean. I walk out of the bathroom and see her sitting on her bed typing on her phone. With close inspection, it’s my phone she’s looking at. She’s in a white bathrobe. Her face lightens up when she sees me. She pats the empty side of the bed next to her. I shyly obey and crawl onto the bed. My knees feel the soft and smooth textures of her bed sheets. I sit next to her and play with my fingers. She places my phone on her bed desk and turns her attention to me. My face is already flustered red. She draws her fingers along my face. She drags her thumb across my bottom lip.

“I’ve been waiting to kiss you for so long,” She sighs. She tilts her head to stare at my eyes as she continues to play with my lips. My eyes feel heavy with lust. She gets in between my legs, her skin brushes against mine. She places her hands beside my head and leans in. She doesn’t ask for permission as she grazes her lips against mine as a test. Her lips are so soft and plump. I crave more. She returns to kissing me. I sigh in pleasure as her tongue brushes against mine. I wrap my arms around her neck to pull her closer. My mind is clouded with lust, I forget to breathe. She pulls away, leaving a trail of spit that connects us. She smiles sinfully. She bends to my ear as her hands explore my body underneath the robe.

“I broke you,” She chuckles. She nips my ear and I yelp. She laughs and brushes her tongue against the shell of my ear. She dips her face against my neck and grazes her teeth against it. She bites and I shut my eyes while wincing.

“Please be gentle,” I choke. She tugs my bathrobe open and cups her cold fingers around my chest. She pinches my nub harshly. My body thrashes and arches.

“I don’t want to,” She purrs. She starts sucking on my nibble. Her tongue rolls around it, coating her wet saliva all over. Every time she bites down I cry out. Tears start collecting in the corner of my eye. She glances at my teary eyes and her eyes soften. She leans up to gently kiss my temple. Her other hand sneaks between my legs.

“W-wait!” I gasp. She quiets me by leaving sloppy kisses on my lips. Her fingers play with my inner thigh, not touching my core. She pulls away, her eyes heavy and cheeks red. I stare at her between my legs. Her white robe fell off her shoulders, exposing her body. My thighs forcefully open between her hips. She leans back to look at me. My hair is displaced all over her pillow. My chest rose up and down fast. My cunt glistens and her mouth waters.

‘Let me in,” She blushes. I reach down to cover my cunt, but she jerks my hand above my head. Her skin rubs against my core and I grunt in embarrassment. She pepper kisses around my neck and ear.

“Let me make you feel good,” She purrs. I gasp for air when I feel her middle finger graze my wet cunt. She touches just the surface area and it leaves me sighing. She brings the finger to my face with a proud smile.

“You’re wet,” She breathes. She returns her fingers to the top of my cunt and refuses to move. She leans in.

“I am going to ask just one more time. Will you let me in?” Her eyes are dark. My train of thought is messed up. I can’t think clearly. She clouds my mind.

“Yes,” I finally choke out. She immediately rubs her two fingers against my clit. I arch my back and let out a cry. The humiliating sound of my wet core being played by her finger starts to sound louder. Suddenly she removes her fingers, allowing me to breathe. She kneels back.

“Take the bathrobe off,” She demands. I rub my wet eyes before obeying her. I tug the pink robe off my completely and the cold air tickles me. She takes off her white rub and I stare lustfully at her body. Her smooth skin and curves look so biteable. She places two hands on both my thighs and splits them apart wider. I widen my eyes when I see her lowering her face to my core. Her bare butt lifts up.

“H-harin!” I blush. She sticks out her tongue and licks a long drag up. I moan, putting the back of my hand against my mouth. She spreads my wetness and her saliva around my clit. She licks and sucks. My thighs shake around her head. I moan loudly. My hands go down to touch her head. She looks up at me between my thighs. I see her mouth glisten with my wetness. I breathe heavily. My hair sticks against my sweaty forehead and neck. She pushes my thighs apart further and licks harshly.

“W-wait! I- I am,” I can’t continue my sentence without moaning. Her tongue is so good against my core. I shove my hand against her head to push her away. I am too stimulated. I don’t know how much longer I can last. She leans away with a hard look on her features. She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. She shoves her two fingers into my core. I cry out and thrash my body.

“Don’t push me away ever again,” She grunts between each thrust. Tears roll down my cheeks. Her long and skillful fingers plunge into me deep. I lean my head back into the pillow. I moan loudly which makes her smile. My legs fall onto her shoulders and she leans her body forward. She watches my features carefully; examining how my eyes close and my mouth opens wide to release sighs and moans.

“Harin.. Ah!” I cry. She continues abusing her fingers into me. Deep and fast. I knew I wasn’t going to last longer. I feel my walls clenching around her digits. My stomach feels funny.

“Agh! I am close!” She kisses my forehead. With a few more thrusts, I come to her hand. She lets me catch my breath against her ear. She removes her soaking fingers from my core. As she examines the wetness coating her finger, my phone rings. She looks at my phone on her side desk and watches how it vibrates against the wood. I turn my head over to see who is calling me. My heart drops.

Sooji is calling me.

Harin laughs bitterly, her eyes glinting with jealousy. I turn my body over and reach for my phone. My bare butt facing Harin. I fumble as I try to decline the call, but Harin presses her body against my back. She leans her mouth onto my ear.

“Answer it,” She hisses. She kisses my shoulders.

“What?” I blush. Harin rubs her hand down my back. She stops at my butt and slaps it. I flinch forward.

“Answer it and don’t moan,” I let out a breathy sigh. With shaky fingers, I click on the green answer button.

“Hello?” I ask. Harin plunges her fingers into me. I fall onto the bed with my ass up.

“Y/n, I am glad you answered. Are you free for the next five minutes?” Sooji asks. Harin thrusts harder as if she wants me to fail. I muffle my moans into the bed.

“Y-yes,” I choke out. Harin bites my shoulders and I let out a wince.

“Are you okay?” Sooji questions.

“Yes! Yes- Ah! I am okay,” I could feel myself losing control. I don’t know if I could keep my moans down with how Harin is abusing my cunt.

“Okay… I am wondering if you’re still on the same side as me. Do you want to take down the pyramid game?” Harin halts her movement which allows me to answer.

“I am not sure,” I breathe out. My mind is foggy.

“I found out that Harin is the creator of the game,” Sooji reveals. I freeze. I am lying here with Harin’s finger in me. The creator of this fucked up game. The game that broke me down til I am nothing but Harin’s submissive friend.

“I- I see…” I blurt. I can feel Harin breathing against my ear. I wish I could see her face.

“To remove the game, we must take down Baek Harin,” The clock ticks and I repeat the sentence in my head. Am I willing to take down Harin? The girl who saved me? The girl who would destroy the world for me? The girl who has her fingers resting in my soaking cunt? My wetness runs down my thighs.

“I can’t do that to Harin,” I finally answer. Harin feels her heart flutter.

“What? Why? This game caused you to-” Sooji’s voice gets muffled out by Harins.

“Good girl,” She purrs. I moan shamelessly. She starts to gradually increase her speed again. I buckle my hips against her finger. I sigh and pant against the bed sheets. Harin picks up the phone. She places it against her ear and smiles.

“Hi Sooji. Sorry, Y/n’s busy right now,” She chuckles before ending the call. She tosses the phone to the side, her eyes not leaving my body. She loves how my body chases after her digits. She loves hearing how I moan her name. She has broken me, but I have never felt more alive because of her.

#yandere reader female #yandere #baek harin #pyramid game #female reader #fem reader #x reader #you dont have to watch the show to understand lol #reader insert #baek harin x reader #baek harin fanfics #lgbt #fanfic #seong suji #seo doah #pyramid game kdrama #kdrama #reader #female yandere

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animentality · 1 year

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And yes. These are all characters from my demon summoning assassin novel, 7 Deadly Habits of the Modern Demon Summoner.

Which is COMPLETELY FREE to download on the free Kindle app (available for iOS, Android, tablet, etc. on the app store) from February 22nd to February 26th!

eBook only, but if you download it for free now, and like it, then you can always buy the physical copy to have on your shelf :D

Link here.

Full description below. I'd appreciate a reblog/signal boost, because I don't want anyone to miss grabbing the book while it's most accessible. But also vote on which one you think is the worst, because I promise you, they are much, much, much worse in the actual novel.

Anyway. Thanks for listening. Sorry to bother. But not that sorry.

Transcription in case the photo does not load:

Twenty-three-year-old CEO Don Francisco wants one of the richest women in the world dead. Which one? Daphne Oakland: actress, model, heir to the Oakland financial empire, and unbeknownst to the general public, talented demon summoner. But since Francisco isn’t nearly as rich as the established Oakland family, he hires the only assassin he can afford: Sebastián Monterey, a down-on-his-luck, struggling demon summoner, the cheapest and lowest ranking one there is.

But Monterey is nothing like Cisco expected. He’s high-spirited, reckless, relentlessly cheerful …and worse, he’s a bit of a slut. The CEO is horrified to find out that Monterey has not just one, but seven angry exes in the killing business, who will stop at nothing to get in the way of an already impossible hit. Not only do they have personal reasons for wanting to see their former lover dead, they also have professional reasons: they are all currently employed by the Oakland family members!

To make matters worse, Monterey finds out the Oaklands are each protecting a demon ritual artifact for Daphne. When brought together, all 7 can be used to summon a demon more powerful than any currently contracted on earth. If he is to carry out this hit at all, he’ll have to interfere with the summon by stealing every artifact, and maybe even summon the demon before Daphne can.

But that's only if none of his exes kill him first!

And here's some lovely art of the MC, Rey, which I commissioned from the talented @marcissistv (Twitter).

#writing #writers on tumblr #spilled ink #literature #bookblr #book recs #fantasy #romance #enemies to lovers #demons #assassins #remember that being mean to me bc i rudely leapt thru ur tumblr living room window is homophobic #dont be homophobic today #dont bully me for setting your dashboard on fire and leaving a trail of ashes on the carpet #i have an excuse which is that im a creative and that makes me a little evil

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artificial-transmutations · 2 months

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3k - A celebration!

Hey there, guys and gals!

TLDR: There's a poll at the bottom asking which story deserves a sequel!

Today is a very special day, at least to me. After a little more of one year posting stories to Tumblr, I have reached the absolutely staggering number of 3000 followers. During this time, I have posted about 100 stories with a unbelievable (and I kid you not) 33,333 likes and reblogs. Yes, this is the exact number at the time of writing this post. Yes, I wrote a program to look that up and the number is accurate.

Let me just say: Wow. And thank you. 3000 of you found my writing enjoyable enough to want me in their feed. And there were exactly 33,333 times in the past year-and-a-bit that someone actually *liked* what they saw/read/skimmed over. I couldn't feel more honored, really.

As a celebration, I am going to do something I usually don't (even though I have been asked a couple of times): I will write a sequel or prequel or related story to one of those stories YOU liked most. Remember the program I wrote to find out my total number of notes? Yeah, the original function was to find out the stories with the most notes. Out of the top six of those, I will let you chose the one story you want to see more of. Additionally (although it is only at rank 10), as a seventh option I'll add "Your wish is my command", since that is the story I have received the most sequel requests. So, without further lamenting, here are the stories!

#1: 11:48

#2: Boyfriend Material

#3: ATArena

#4: Spice Up

#5: Beating Recession

#6: Calling the Plumber

#7: Your Wish is my Command

So! Which one is it going to be? Choose wisely!

That's it from my side for today. Stay awesome!

#not a story

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theycallmejeezycreezy · 1 month

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FOR NOW ON ALL OF MY FOLLOWERS ON THIS APP ARE MY HIGH RANKING (can’t come up with another word) CHILDREN

PLEASE REBLOG WITH YOUR PRONOUNS AND THE NAME(S) YOU GO BY🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

- peace and love, ya boy Jess 🌸🌸🌈🌈☮️☮️🤘🏼🤘🏼

#jeezy talks #peace and love

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blackmoonlightexpress · 1 year

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About the mixed response in China & why I think TTEOTM will prevail in the end 💪

Saw the "Badly Received in China?" post earlier and thought to share a longer take on the situation in China, why are there so many antis, and my own predictions on its future.

First, a clarification, TTEOTM has been an massive hit in China. The data speaks for itself in every way you can measure commercial success: viewership, platform membership, app downloads, social media heat index, advertisements, merchandise sales, unintended tourism GDP contribution. The drama has shattered records and outperformed all the recent xianxias, which you'd never dare to expect for a drama with no dingliu (顶流) that airs exclusively in the dead April slot on a platform that's 3rd (sometimes 4th) amongst online streamers. (Some day I'll create a master post just on the stats.)

The only area it falls short on is critical response. It's not just the low Douban rating (opened at 6.x and now dropped to 5.6). The three Bs - Douban, Weibo, and Bilibili (which you can think of as China's IMDB, Twitter, and Youtube) were full of attacks against the show. This included trending topics on how the actors looked (LYX too thin, BL looking old/big/overshadowed by CDL, CDL 照骗 not looking as good as in photo) as well as allegations of plagiarism and drama behind the scenes between cast & crew members. A lot of people watched video edits that twisted the facts and had a poor impression of the drama and even left 1/2-star reviews on Douban without ever watching an episode. (This type of brainwashing is more effective than you'd think. I've been reading a lot of negative posts about the Little Mermaid movie and almost caught myself writing something negative about it without ever watching.)

As all of this unfolded, I kept asking myself, why all the smearing? Who is behind it? And why TTEOTM in particular?

A lot of what appears to be normal user activity is driven by water armies, marketing accounts, and "black" hot search ranking, all paid. This is all backed up by photo evidence captured by netizens. It comes down to commercial interests of rival platforms, productions, actors. This actually happens to every drama that is threatening in some way (almost a proof of success), but TTEOTM attracted more anti $$$. Why? For one, it's seen as the secret weapon that could elevate Youku's status as a 3rd/4th player to a close 2nd to rival and even at times overshadow Tencent. It's no coincidence that, Bilibili, which is owned by Tencent and has way more daily active users than Youku, has promoted hate videos and limited the traffic of fan videos - at some point not even recognizing the drama's Chinese title in search results. (Bilibili used to be a haven for LYX fans and a platform LYX has partnered with extensively. This flipped 180 degrees since he no longer has any unaired dramas with Tencent.)

TTEOTM is also a target for rival productions. It's got big name stars with solid acting reputation, one of the hottest IPs, and high anticipation from all the promotional materials - they've been super loud in letting everyone know that they have better costumes, special effects etc Meanwhile, there's a massive pipeline of unaired xianxia dramas that stick to the old formula and will likely feel dated after people have watched TTEOTM. People even started questioning how some productions with bigger rumored budgets ended up with cheaper-looking promotional materials, costumes, CGI (read: embezzling). So if you've invested in xianxia 101, you'd really want to discredit TTEOTM and stop people from watching it.

But there's also rival fandom jealousy, which is almost worse. Someone asked which fandom is behind it, I would say everyone. There are only so many "resources" to go around in the "entertainment winter" and it's a zero sum game. LYX and BL are both already big stars but still not at the top yet. They are big enough to threaten the dinglius, but not big enough to be accepted as having "made it" by other rising stars. E.g. Yang Mi, Yang Zi, Xiao Zhan receive a lot of hate too, but it's less realistic as a prospect to bring them down. In contrast, the smearing of Bai Lu actually kind of worked. (And I'm really talking about the fans. The actors probably leave it to their agencies/companies.)

Other fandoms are especially bitter in this case because TTEOTM really upset the status quo and commonly accepted truths in a way that kind of discredits everyone else. A lot of the below have been used by fans of dinglius as excuses for when a drama doesn't perform:

Youku is a rubbish platform and Youku exclusive web dramas will never have high viewership

It’s impossible for an actor to break out twice within the same genre

An actor can only develop a big dedicated fan base with CP marketing

Breakout hits are always unanticipated dramas that come out of nowhere

Autumn/Spring is a dead slot. Hits can only come out of the summer and winter holidays.

IMHO A lot of the intense hatred comes from long held beliefs being proven wrong. LYX has always been thought of someone who’s borderline A list and B list, yet the opening viewership of TTEOTM is like double that of dramas led by bigger stars. It would have been less threatening if it started low and slowly gained traction because the drama proved to be good. But the initial hype speaks to the market power of a LYX xianxia, so a lot of people wanted to see it fail and looked for faults everywhere.

Moreover, because TTEOTM had an explosive opening, it did not have enough time for word of mouth to develop before people started bashing it. If you look at Douban ratings, shows that fewer people watched tend to have better reviews because only fans bother to rate it. Starry Love and Back from the Brink, both harshly dismissed as flops by the industry, both have >7.0 on Douban. Meanwhile, people love to hate on a show that is receiving a lot of hype - suddenly they are held to completely different standards even if the budget is similar. Why are people more accepting of the rise of Dylan Wang and Esther Yu in LBFAD? In the end because the expectations were pretty low. They were able to build up a fan base while no one was watching.

Finally, TTEOTM does have lots of production problems, some of their own doing and others not their fault. Either way this left the drama less defensible in the face of scrutiny or tucao (吐槽) culture. The production is very ambitious and took risks, but did not deliver everywhere. It's got parts that look like a blockbuster film and parts that look like a B grade TV show. I personally did not like some of the editing, lighting, cinematography, color grading, special effects, makeup. AND this is precisely the type of production details Chinese viewers LOVE to fixate on. Meanwhile, compared to western viewers, they are more forgiving about things like mediocre acting, dubbing, slow pacing, repetitive tropes or storylines, uninteresting characters. (I think this has something to do with cultural differences around rewarding perfect execution over innovation/risk-taking, sum of the parts over parts that carry the sum.)

And then, there are creative choices that are daring and controversial. These are not problems per se - for every viewer that hates it, someone loves it because it's different. But this perhaps explain why its score has dropped further, even in non-Chinese platforms like MDL, even amongst fans of the show. For example... (spoilers ahead)

Opting for a bad/open ending, knowing that it'll upset some fans, but sticking to it because they feel that it protects the overall integrity of the story (no deus ex machina). Of course, most viewers prefer a happy ending. It would have been easy to just give people what they want. The screenwriter doesn't even have to come up with a new ending for god's sake! However, almost every xianxia that has come before has resurrected the lead character after the big climax. Viewers have been making fun of the cop out: What's the significance of life and death if everyone just reincarnates?

Packing lots of details in a fast-paced, highly complicated, non-linear plot, trusting viewers to be engaged enough to use their brain, rewatch, and discuss outside the show (a bit like Christopher Nolan films). The downside of this is that it's hard to edit out a scene. There's also high risk of viewers getting confused and complaining that the plot makes no sense. Even though most things do if you go several layers down, some rightly point out that they just want to be entertained and the drama should stand on its own.

Making this a male lead centric (大男主) drama, which is rare in the xianxia genre that more recently has targeted young women exclusively. The story shifts from focusing on LSS's mission to TTJ overcoming his fate, perhaps at the expense of the romance (a criticism I see a lot from viewers looking for a pure love story). However, for context, viewers in China (including CCTV itself) have been complaining that the xianxia genre has lost the "xia” (heroism). It's gone from Chinese Paladin, which is about ordinary people overcoming odds to become heroes, to stories that are just about pretty people, who happen to be gods, falling in love since the success of Eternal Love and Journey of the Flower. TTEOTM brings the focus back to "zero to hero" character development, so this is also a change that many welcome.

Allocating a crazy portion of budget and screentime to superhero fight sequences. I agree with all the critics who say these scenes don't add much to the story, the B roll looks better without CGI, and they could have kept other scenes instead. BUT guess which scenes I find myself rewatching and showing off to friends the most? Episodes 14, 15, 32. Because it is thrilling and glorious. Plus after enduring so many Marvel films over the years, I'm pleased to see a version that's genuinely Chinese (not some pan-Asian BS), rooted in our philosophy and martial arts tradition, featuring Chinese faces that have real kungfu training.

Going over the top on aesthetics - colorful costumes, hair accessories, and heavy makeup. A violent reaction against the simple pastel aesthetics that have dominated xianxias over the years. Of course, lots of people hated on the eyeliner and found the extravagant visuals distracting.

However, even with all its flaws, I'm glad it aired and did not wait for perfection. (A lot of May dramas did not go live last minute due to "technical problems" i.e. government censorship. These days, airing = success.) In addition, I predict that over time people will come to appreciate TTEOTM more. Here's why:

1) A lot of dramas now widely lauded as classics started out with poor ratings. Over time, the noise will die down and make way for what really matters - compelling acting and story. Empresses in the Palace (2011) opened with a Douban rating of 2.7 out of 10 (yes, this bad). Viewers didn't like the casting choice. They thought the actors looked bad. There were also issues with the costumes. Over time, its rating increased to 9.4. It's now a show rewatched so loyally that data analysts use its viewership to track market size. Similarly, a lot of the issues people have with TTEOTM are superficial. The things that matter most like acting are good, and even if you dislike the story and editing choices, it did manage to keep 70M people watching and engaged till the end, incl. people who don't watch a lot of TV or like this genre.

2) Moreover, when people look back or rewatch, they tend to focus on just the highlights, and TTEOTM is full of memorable scenes. There are also so many standout memes/gags (出圈梗) that will live in our cultural fabric forever. Fans on Douban were surveyed on who they would have chosen as the director instead and still overwhelming "rehired" Kuk Kok Leung. Biases aside, I think people realize that you could have a better executed drama overall - higher production value, greater consistency, more attention to detail, BUT you might also lose a lot of the things we loved. I don't know if another director would have allowed TTJ go full creepy/evil/weak in the first few episodes or filmed all the steamy love scenes without a modesty backlight. TTEOTM feels so different because it breaks ALL the rules (see above) that I'm not sure if dramas in the future will try to replicate. If they do, TTEOTM would have started a trend. If they don't, TTEOTM will remain the only option.

3) Only dramas that inspire passion will stand the test of time. There are plenty of dramas that score well but don't inspire passion - they will fade away over time. The TTEOTM fan community is intense - there's so much discussion and engagement everywhere. Its Douban group is the #3 most active ever (measured by # of comments). Its MDL page has 68K comments, highest of all aired CDrama. Its Douyin topic has close to 29B views, highest of all costume drama. (Interesting to note that TTEOTM has an excellent reputation on Douyin, the platform with the most active users and least amount of toxic fan activity.) Fans have spent >25M RMB on merchandise, an unprecedented amount - 3M RMB on a character that appears for <10 mins (OG Devil God). It's got to have done something right because this is way more buying power than the fans of LYX and BL combined. And in my N=1, I've not been this excited about a franchise since Game of Thrones and then Harry Potter.

Bottom line, you might have liked it, liked it with regrets, hated it... but if you're spending the time to read this post, all the way till the end, you've become a luna-tic (or 烬神病人)!

#till the end of the moon #black moonlight holds the be script #luo yunxi #bai lu #tantai jin #ye xiwu #chang yue jin ming #chinese drama #cdrama

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