#i think being a teacher has opened my brain a lot and i wish i could tell others how important it is

[1990danieljohnston]

tired of people thinking i have a “talent” with kids. getting along with children doesn’t require any special ability. it’s as easy as being understanding and patient. if you just stop and open your adult brain you might discover kids have very important and smart things to say

[sunohws]

fuck you - choi yeonjun

pairing: sub!yeonjun x dom!male!reader

synopsis: You find out Yeonjun has a degradation kink after an argument.

genre (w/tags): smut, minors dni.. degrading, semi-public sex, college au

word count: 0.8k words

a/n: yeonjun. i finally made smth for yeonjun. I CRIED FOR 2 DAYS JUST FOR THIS TO BE LIKE 800 WORDS. IM SO ASHAMED. I WANTED TO MAKE SMTH LONH AND UNFORGETTABLE FOR YEONJUN BUT I CANT CUS I GET FRUSTRATED..

im sorry its so short..

"You are so annoying, you know that?"

"Maybe you should cry about it."

"I don't know how you're even allowed to walk into this fucking college with that peanut brain."

"No swearing please Mr. Kim!" The teacher piped in, though she knew both students were much too caught up in their argument to listen to anyone.

"Oh my god, did you get any love as a child?"

"Apparently much more than you did."

"What shoes your mom got on?"

"Are you trying to get killed?"

"Try, you fucking lunatic."

"I'm not all bark like you are Babyboy I don't recommend saying shit like that."

"Oh, I'm so scared."

"Mr. Choi and Mr. Kim, would you please sit back down? I'd like to continue my class."

The looks she received was enough to nod her head and sit herself down, letting them continue. The entire class even looked entertained.

"You are just so entirely pathetic it's hard to even look at you."

"Oh really?"

Yeonjun looked a little taken aback, spitting out a "yes? you're so hopeless." You gave him an amused look, challenging almost. You leaned down, face coming terribly close to Yeonjun's ear so that no one else could possibly see what you were saying.

"Then why are you hard?" You whisper, lingering there for a second to watch Yeonjun's face go red. He sat down, faced forward, and told the teacher to continue with class. "Finally." She huffed, carrying out the lesson. Yeonjun put his head down on his desk, realizing he was actually hard. 'What the hell,' he thought.

He heard you laughing quietly, you were way too amused by this situation. Soon class ended, and Yeonjun was too embarrassed to say absolutely anything as he tried to silently leave the class. He checked to make sure you weren't following him, then slipped into an old janitor's closet. 'God I wish there was a lock on this fucker.'

He tried to go behind some buckets and such against the wall so if anyone did enter, he wouldn't automatically be caught. Yeonjun attempted to quietly palm himself, using majority of his brain power to not think about you. Maybe he really liked arguing. Maybe he really liked being littered with insults by a very gorgeous boy with rings and piercings and a soothing voice.

"So, yeonjunie has a degradation kink, hm?" Yeonjun's eyes flew open, seeing you standing tauntingly in front of him. "I don't have a-" You moved forward suddenly, flicking Yeonjun's chin up to meet your eyes. Your knee pressed in between his thighs.

"I really never took you for a slut, you know? You can't even stop yourself from moaning my name." Yeonjun choked on a moan, his head rolling back against the wall. "It just happened, okay? I would never like you like that you fucking creep" Your knee pressed against him more making Yeonjun's eyes roll to the back of his head.

"You seem to be enjoying this a lot." You leaned in further, "Are you okay with this?" He eagerly nodded yes of course, finally admitting he wanted it. "Tell me if i go too far, please." You pulled Yeonjun forward to connect their lips, bringing their bodies as close as possible to each other.

Yeonjun grabbed at your hand to force it onto his own throat, you got the message and lightly gripping his throat. You brought your other hand to palm at Yeonjun's dick that was still hanging out for some reason. Yeonjun whined loudly, his head banging against the wall roughly every time he threw it back.

"You like pain too, hm, whore?" You said against his skin, biting on the soft flesh. Yeonjun couldn't stop shivering and groaning. You slowly lowered yourself onto your knees, starting to pump at the base. "How pathetic, you're so hard for me?"

Yeonjun moaned purely at the words; tears were streaming down his face already from the stimulation. "Do you want me to suck your sad little cock, hm?" He nodded vigorously. "Words, Yeonjun."

"Yes, please! please y/n" He choked out. You slowly put the entire length into his mouth, Yeonjun rendered speechless as the moan was caught in his throat. You started to go faster, bobbing up and down until you could feel the back of your throat being hit. You gripped his thighs harshly, using all your might to bottom out each time.

"Oh my- oh my god, im-" Yeonjun suddenly came into your mouth, feeling embarrassed and scared that you might not have wanted that. Though, you swallowed every drop possible, wiping your chin and licking it off while making eye contact. You liked the bittersweet taste. Yeonjun swore he could get hard purely off of that sight alone, but he was still trying to catch his breath.

You re-did the black-haired boys' pants, making sure he was clean and okay to go back to class. Yeonjun brought their lips together again for a slower kiss once you got up. 

"Fuck you." he spat, though smiling slightly. 

"Name a time and place." you laughed, smiling as he left the closet. 

I FINALLY WROTE SMTH FOR YEONJUN...

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for repeatedly losing my temper at my kinda-friend? I (17F) have anger issues and I'm working on mitigating it, however, losing my temper always involves yelling and insulting people. Usually I think this is bad and apologize profusely when I lose control.

However, this kinda-friend (16F) who I'll call E, has absolutely no respect for other people's personal belongings, space, or time. She always grabs and plays with my things during class, or our mutual friend's items (16F), and as all three of us are artists, we carry around pretty expensive equipment. (Think Micron ink pens, Winsor & Newton paint, Derwent pencils, etc., just as reference. Thankfully no Copics lmao.)

The mutual friend will be referred to as J.

So, E has been told by both of us to stop taking our art supplies and playing with it, to the point where I'll yell sometimes, and she absolutely refuses to listen to us. She'll claim that she's forgotten what we've told her and put down the item just for her to pick it up again five seconds later. The problem is that she sometimes breaks these items or injures us - she'll play with my x-acto blade and cut me, or break J's graphite pencils, or push my watercolor palette off the desk. I've really tried to be patient about it, but it's proving to be difficult.

J is quite soft spoken, so I end up doing most of the reprimanding. E also brings up inappropriate topics that make J and I uncomfortable, as well as disturbing us when we're busy and then sulking when she doesn't get our immediate attention - once I told her three times to let me do my classwork before snapping, and E cried. She never does anything in school and hates all of our teachers, so she's pretty rude to them. All my work gets copied by her. She really annoys me, but I do feel terrible that I seem to lose control so often around E, since no one deserves to be yelled at.

However, this all came to a peak today when R (16M) and I won prizes for winning a mini-game and asking an interesting question during a seminar at school respectively; the gift was a black notebook that I didn't even like, which is an important tidbit to keep in mind. R left his gift still wrapped in his bag when he left the classroom for break time, so it was just J, E, and myself in there. Upon seeing what I had unwrapped, E went to R's bag and opened it - since all four of us are friends, we thought E was just being "jokingly" invasive as usual and were on alert, but didn't stop her.

J asked what she was doing and E said she was grabbing the gift out of R's bag. This caught my attention, so I asked why she was doing that. E told us that she wanted the book, and when J reminded her that the gift was, in fact, not hers, E said (and I wish I was kidding because this is replaying in my head in 4K HD right now like oh my god pls) "I know. It should be mine." Had she asked for my notebook, I would've given it up happily. I've got too many empty sketchbooks and notebooks at home.

I immediately stood up, but allowed J to handle the situation because I didn't trust myself not to react violently. J eventually lost her temper too and that's when I jumped in and started my yelling routine. I always feel bad whenever I do this, because it's not something I enjoy, but in this particular situation I just can't muster up the guilt? E is extremely irritating, but she tells us she has a horrible home life, so I try to be understanding. Except this was just completely intolerable. R even said that he'd predicted this would happen and to just give her the damn notebook - I vetoed that so we wouldn't enable E.

I really don't know if my reaction was overblown because I shouted a lot and said things like "you were given a brain - use it" and "you're a terrible person with no morals". It's ridiculous to say all that because it's (at the end of the day) high school drama, but I really can't understand why she acted that way. I don't know if I'm in the wrong in this situation. I wish she would listen when we tell her nicely not to do something, but even when I was blowing up at her, she was just smiling as if it was a joke. Should I apologize? I've apologized before when I lost my temper, but I have completely lost all will to be civil with her after this. The teachers are tired too - when she disappears from class or talks back, they just let her be. We can't really go to them because she'll feel betrayed and then get mad at us, which is a whole ordeal, because she's known to destroy and sabotage other people's items because of a grudge.

This is really lengthy. I apologize. I just feel terrible about the situation because I don't feel any guilt for my anger like I probably should. So, AITA?

What are these acronyms?

[sntafe]

i want to know more about your davey. what makes him tick! what music do you think he’d listen to! what are his pastimes and hobbies and what makes him like them so much!! PLEASEEE rant about your davey i love him!!

- @we-are-inevitable ✨

OH MY GOD. YES. OKAY. you just opened pandora’s box you have no clue. (btw most of this is based on my tattoo au although a lot of this stuff is just stuff i have connected to davey no matter the au)

okay. so. my davey is a high school english teacher and i think something that makes him really upset is when he sees his good students start skipping, not paying attention, etc. while i don’t think this would make him tick per say, i do think it would def make him anxious and on edge. he would absolutely come home and rant to jack about how he doesn’t know what he’s doing wrong and how he’s worried about them and how he wishes he can do more but all he is an english teacher. (and jack would assure him that he’s doing more than enough and just being there and noticing these things is all some kids need) (but davey would def pull them aside in class and just talk to them like they’re humans bc he knows some teachers treat their students as children and they hate that. so he will just talk and try to pick their brains and help them in literally whatever way he can)

MUSIC. okay so davey definitely tries a TON of different genres simply because he is curious and he wants to hear it all. (he wants to experience every bit of life that he can and that includes different genres of music.) at the end of the day tho he’s a slut for sad queer indie pop: hozier, lucy dacus, and kevin atwater are his favs. (i could go on a whole different rant about how davey coded some of kevin atwater’s songs are but i’ll refrain for now.) he grew up listening to billy joel and still listens to him when he’s feeling particularly nostalgic or homesick. the album “the stranger” is one of his favorites in the entire world. his parents had it on record, and one year in middle school for his birthday he was gifted a record player, so he was playing that shit NONSTOP. to read to, to study to, to hangout to, etc. les used to come and sit in davey's room while he was doing domestic tasks, like cleaning or homework, so les now has attached that album to davey. (they get a tattoo for vienna, their fav song on the album—davey gets “slow down, you’re doing fine” on his left forearm and les gets “you can’t be everything you wanna be before your time” on his right forearm) (done by jack of course)

jack listens to more alternative stuff, and although it’s not something davey listens to on his own, he finds himself humming along to the pierce the veil and green day songs on jack’s playlist 

as far as hobbies and stuff, obviously he reads. he’s always been an avid reader because he loves to get lost in other worlds and he likes to learn about things that he otherwise wouldn’t have had the opportunity to. he gets into reading slumps around midterms and finals because he’s grading sooooo many papers but like as SOON as that’s over he falls back into finishing a novel in a couple days and he absolutely loves it. it’s just so… refreshing in a way. (sometimes, when he’s particularly missing jack, he’ll go and just sit at the tattoo shop and read. he’s content to simply be in the same space with jack and he also loves sneaking glimpses of jack working.)

he also absolutely loves to cook. he grew up often helping his mother in the kitchen, so he’s sort of always loved it. once he moved out and began living by himself he found a whole new appreciation for it. it’s his way to decompress at the end of the day and … in a way food is his language?? like he will make meals based on what he’s feeling. if he’s really happy he doesn’t mind making something that takes a while. it’ll be bright and fresh. if he’s had a particularly rough day though, he’ll throw something frozen in the oven and call it a day. (over time, jack slowly realizes this, and can gauge what davey needs based on what he says they’re having for dinner. for example; if davey’s just making something frozen, jack will give him an extra long hug and force him to take a hot shower in order to relax. jack often takes over “cooking” on these days)

don’t even play on his animal crossing island. he likes the domestic video games with goals that he can take at any speed simply because they’re relaxing and cozy. he loves making his island all organized and pretty 

meanwhile jack is like begging for the switch to play mario kart 

thank you for letting me rant GOD I LOVE DAVID JACOBS if there’s anything else you want me to yap about PLEASE ask!!!

@we-are-inevitable :)

[lonely-layla]

Amazing experience

Budo Masuta x fem!chubby!reader

Not proof read so if you see errors use ur brain

You made it to the martial arts club, You’re not sure who you’re looking for but from the flier it was someone named Budo. You take a deep breath and fix my skirt as you open the door to 5 people training.

“Welcome to the Martial Arts Club! What brings you here?” A man, around 5’8 with black hair approaches you. “Uhm hi. Imr looking for someone named…” you look at paper double checking the name on the flier. “Budo Masuta?” You hear a chuckled come from the black haired guy in front of you. “Well, that would be me. And you are?” He looks at you waiting for your response. “Y/n” you respond nearvously. “It's nice to meet you, y/n. And I assume you wish to join the Martial Arts Club?” He asks you with a standard enthusiastic tone he always has.

“Y-yeah” you stutter in response. “Excellent! I always welcome more members to our club. Do you have any experience in martial arts, or would you be a complete beginner?” You pause for a moment before answering “no…im a beginner”. “Don't worry, we'll start you off slowly. That should give you a good foundation to work with, and then you can always advance as you improve your skills!” He smile at you. It makes you feel warm inside, how a complete stranger is being nicer to you than anyone in the whole school has. You begin your classes with Budo until the bell rings for class.

You walk to your class when you see and you and Budo are both in class 3-2. As you sit down in class, you see that Budo is already seated next to you. He glances in your direction and smiles, then turns back to the front of the class.

“The first 6 digits of pie are 3.14159” you say answering the question. “Correct y/n” the teacher congratulates you. “It seems you know a lot about pie don’t you, fatty” Musume comments from the back of the class, giggling as some of the people in the class also laugh a little.

Budo glances over at you and notices you’re much less confident than you were before. He shoots a dangerous glare at Musume. She immediately shuts up and faces forward, visibly shaken.

Class bell rings again and everyone leaves to lunch. You pack up your stuff but Musume had stayed. You notice the rest of her friends walking into the classroom. *what the hell are they gonna do now?* you think to yourself.

Just as you ask that, you turn around and is faced with a little pig that got thrown at your face. You don’t even worry about yourself you worry if the little pig is alright as it squeals and runs away. “OMG Y/n! It’s your twin ahahaha” Hanna yells and they all laugh and walk away. You burst out into tears and run to the zen garden.

Once you arrive at the garden to calm down you take a seat at one of the benches. You hear footsteps come up behind you, and you can sense someone approaching you from behind as your breathing slows down. *Oh no, it’s probably them again. Please stop, don’t come any closer* you think, you brace for an impact but you feel a soft hand on my arm.

Budo is standing behind you. He looks worried when he sees your wet cheeks and red eyes from crying. You feel his hand squeeze gently. “Hey...are you alright?” He asks you with a worried expression on his face. It was embarrassing for you, for him to see you like this. You didn’t know how to respond, so you turn away and curl into a ball and continue sobbing.

He kneels down and rests on the ground beside you. He pulls you close to him and gently pats your back as he tries to comfort you. “Shhh, everything will be okay. I know it's tough right now, but just try to hold on and let your emotions flow naturally. I promise it gets better” . Those comforting words proved to you that he wasn’t here to judge you.

“Why do I have to look like this?” You ask softly, trying to hide your body. “Why do so many people find time out of their day to tell me what’s wrong with me?” You sigh out of exhaustion. Budo gives you a reassuring gaze as he continues to hug you.

“I don't think there's anything wrong with how you look. Yes, you may have a few extra pounds on you, but that just makes you more beautiful in my eyes. There's nothing wrong with having a little bit of extra curve, it just shows that you have a healthy amount of energy and nutrients. Musume and her friends are just jealous of your natural beauty.” He comforts you rubbings circles into your shoulder.

The bell rings to go back to class as I stand up and just him as tight as I can. Thinking about how no one had ever said that to me before. “Thank you” I say feeling more tears fall. Budo smiles warmly, angles your face to face his and gently wipes away your tears with his thumbs. “It's no problem at all, really. Just try to keep your eyes dry. I'd hate for your pretty face to be stained with tears” he giggles as he smiles at you.

This was the moment you realized you were in love with him. The man that actually care about you unlike anyone else. We both walk back to class together and I sit down, instinctively putting my bag on my lap hiding my stomach. Budo noticed this subtle act and notes it.

As the day comes to a close and you make your way to the gate, you hear footsteps approach you and you sense someone approaching you. “Hey y/n, I just wanted to ask you about one of the math problems from class today. I didn’t really understand it” Budo speaks to you, obviously trying to make an excuse to walk you home, but you don’t mind. He walks beside you discussing the problem bruh you reach your home.

You feel his hand fall to the small of your back as you two walk together, this brings butterflies to your stomach. Budo glances down as you walk up your driveway. The sight of you fills him with so much emotion. The way your soft cheeks glisten in the sunlight, the gentle sway of your hips as you walk, the way your cute little Akademi uniform clings your tummy, everything is just perfect. He waves goodbye to you as he walks to his own home.

That night you thought of making Budo a fresh batch of cookies as a gratitude gift. The next day, you walk into school and spot Budo walking in with the rest of the martial arts club. “Hey Budo!” I say waking over to him.

Before he could say good morning back I speak “thank you for protecting me yesterday. I-I brought you some fresh baked cookies. You don’t have to eat them if you don’t want but I just wanted to do something ni-“ your rambling is interrupted by Budo putting his hand on your shoulder. “Thank you for the cookies, but you don't have to buy me anything. I'm just doing my part as the Martial Arts Club leader. And I was only being a gentleman by accompanying you home; it's something that I'd do for anyone” Budo states as he continues to walk into the school.

“id do that for anyone”, those words ran in your head all day. Was what he said and did back in the garden, just because he felt bad for me? Did he not actually like me the same way I liked him? Was all of his actions just him being friendly? There was so thoughts in my mind.

Today, you decide to keep your distance from Budo so that you can clear your head and make some sense of your feelings. Budo noticed that you were avoiding him,but he didn't make an effort of contacting you. He just thought that you didn’t want to talk to him because of this morning. As you sit alone, you're filled with mixed emotions, excitement, frustration, uncertainty.

Your school day concludes and you walk to the gate like you always do. Still compressing the thoughts, but then you hear footsteps behind you. You can tell it’s Budo, because… well who else would it be. But his footsteps sound fast.

You turn around to feel his lips crash into yours with a passionate kiss. It sends a jolt of butterflies through your body as you melt into Budo's embrace. His hands caress the side of your face as he kisses you. It's like all your negative feelings are being erased, leaving only pure, blissful happiness.

You break the kiss as you look at him, this kiss lingers on your lips, almost tasting the sweetness from where his lips touched yours. “I've wanted to do that for so long... You're so beautiful.” He states, tilting his head a bit smiling at you.

Why now? Why all of a sudden? He was so distant a couple hours ago, why does he think this is the right time? You look away from is gaze with a concerned look. You can’t understand why all of a sudden he’s showing you affections after being distant all day.

He noticed this body language and takes a step back. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable, I should have asked before I did something like tha-”

“nonono! You didn’t! I- I just didn’t think you liked me the way I liked you” you meekly say adverting his gaze. He smiles and exhales as he moves closer, “Oh, honey... I've always thought you were so cute. You don't think I kept following you around because I hate you, do you? I thought you would have put two and two together by now, but I'm guessing you didn't pick up on those hints” he awkwardly smiles.

You make eye contact again but slowly look someplace else. “I just didn’t think someone like you could like someone…like me. The whole reason why I join your club is because Musume and her friends told me to lose some weight” Budo's expression widened hearing your wirds.

*flashback to before you met Budo*

“Ahaha y/n! Don’t you think you should lost some weight you fat pig” Hanna Daidaiyama comments walking by you. “Don’t you think you need to re-dye your roots bitch?!” You angrily snap back at her. She frantically looks around as she walks towards you and pushes you to the ground. “Yeah, but unlike you, I know how to fight” she says as she walks away.

You stand up and amidst yourself off, walking to the stairs of the first floor you see a post o Brie wall “Martial Arts Club! Come show off your self defense skills and learn new ones!” Those seems like exactly what you need. You rip the poster off the wall and go straight to the class

*back to present time*

Budo pulls you into a hug. “Don't let anyone tell you any different: you are beautiful. Those bullies were just jealous of your beauty, and they took it out on you just because they had some personal problems to deal with. I know you've gone through a lot, but I swear to you that everything is going to change. From here on out, none of that bullshit is going to happen again.”

You feel tears fill your eyes to this. You finally found someone who loves you for you, who doenst want to change you. “T-thank you Budo” you sob out.

He smiles as he wipes away your tears with his thumb “Oh, my sweet little angel~” He kisses you on the forehead and wipes a few more tears before gently placing his hand on your cheek. “I'm so happy that you're mine now” he tells you warmly as the smile grows wider and brighter than ever as he stares into your eyes.

You both walk home together and this time, when you get to your doorstep, you invite him into you house. Since your parents are out on a business trip it was just you and your dog “do you want to come inside?” You asks gesturing at the door. Budo face lights up as he nods ands walks inside. He follows you inside the hallway. He pets your dog softly, then smiles warmly as he turns to look at the inside of the house.

You both get to your room as you walk to the closet to change. YIY close the door and walk out in a hoodie and some shorts. Budo couldn’t stop staring at you as you sit on the bed. “Do you wanna watch a movie?” You ask him with a light blush on your cheeks, he smiles and agrees.

Budo curls around you tightly as he rests his head against your chest. Your soft, warm body is incredibly comforting, and he feels completely at peace. He wraps his arms carefully around you, and pulls you into a tight hug. He kisses your forehead.

“I guess listening to Musume actually did do something good for once hmm~” you exhale softly as you adjust your position to be more comfortable. Budo laughs at your comment and gently strokes your hair as he rests his head on your chest. “I guess that’s one thing to thank her for. I couldn’t be happier than I am right now”

You shifted your weight so your on my side, letting out a soft groan to the movement. Budo picked up on the slight noise and it sends shivers down his spine. He begins to caress your body more intimately, stroking your hair and running his hands along your side. His touch feels heavenly, and you could almost feel the heat coming from his palms.

You turn again to face him and lean in to a kiss. Budo wraps his arms around your waist, returning the kiss. Holding you tightly against him as he kisses back with all the passion in world. He then movers you up onto his lap in a quick movement.

You are surprised at his strength as no one else was able to move you like that before. His lips are warm and tender, and they feel like heaven as they make contact with your own. You feel your body heat up with excitement, and your mind becomes clouded with pure ecstasy.

Your hips begin to unconsciously start rocking on his groin, making his breath hitch. His hands start to roam your body going from your thick thighs and ending on your lump ass.

As you continue to ride him he throws his head back “Mmm~” he melts a deep moan escape his lips as his hands grip your ass tighter, urging you on.

He begins to take off your shirt when you put your hand over his go stop him “Budo are you sure about this?” You ask letting my insecurities get the better of you. “I-I just don’t want you to be… disappointed” I look down in shame. His hands go to my chip and it leads me to connect with his lips once more. “I love you and your body, there’s nothing about you that will disappoint me” I gives you a smile.

Grabs your wrist firmly, pulling your hand away from his “You are beautiful the way you are and II’ve every inch of you. You're perfect exactly as you are.” He reassures you as he continues to undress you.

His hands start to move your pants down to expose your stomach. He pecks kisses all over your body. Once your bottom parts are exposed, he kisses you deeper, his hand gently caressing your bare thigh, moving closer to your already wet pussy “You are so beautiful” his eyes hold yours as his hand moves further up your thigh, making you shiver from anticipation and desire.

He inserts two digits inside of you. “Oh my, looks like you wanted this as much as I did~” he says getting more hard by the minute as he pumps two digits in and out of you. You take his pants off as you start pumping his already hard cock in your chubby palm. “Ahh~ damn you good” his laugh turned into a moan as he continued to pump into you, now adding a third digit and hitting deeper.

Budo groans loudly "Fuck~, I can't take this much longer~" he breathes heavily as his hips buck into your hand. He feels his orgasm coming over him as he lets out a loud moan as he comes onto your hand. his whole body shivers as his breath hitches.

His eyes widen when you don’t stop pumping and you lower your plump ass onto his cock and begin moving. “W-wait wait wait! Ah~ fuck~” he moans out loud joy expecting you to overstimulate him.

As you continue to bounce, he in clasps your bra letting your heavy breasts fall and bounce freely he reaches up to cup your breasts and his mouth goes to your right nipple "You are so fucking beautiful right now," he muffles into your breast, his hands falling to your stomach massaging it slowly.

You couldn’t believe the amount of praise you were getting from this man in the moment. it was too much for you to handle. “ahh~ fuck Budo!” You yell out as you come to my climax and squirt over his cock.

He watches in amazement, watching the liquid seep out, feeling your tightness release around him “Oh my~” He whispers as he feels the warmth of your climax cover his cock, it's something he's never experienced before with another person.

His words snap you back to reality as you see the mess you made around you. “B-Budo I’m.. Fuck I-” before u ou could spew out your apology, he kisses you softly, “Don't worry about it honey~” he soothes, pressing his lips to the curve of your neck as both of your breathing patterns even out. “It was incredible”

You lean on his chests as you two both fall into a soothing sleep. Feeling each others chests rise and fall.

[usernamesarehard1]

I feel like we don't talk enough about Call's backstory. I mean, it was really tragic and set the stage for all of his emotional turmoil throughout the series.

He lives in a town where his dad is considered crazy/insane/etc, and so everyone assumes that Call is crazy too or that Alastair is causing some kind of harm to him.

Adults and children alike hate him solely because they don't understand him. He is literally physically and verbally attacked and beaten constantly by his classmates for being disabled and for being "weird", and the teachers do nothing about it. Like he actually canoncially experiences constant abuse

And then he gets home and he can't even really open up to his dad, the ONLY person in his life, because Alastair is so emotionally closed off due to his own traumas. And then he has to worry about Alastair instead of worrying about himself.

Like, Call was literally traumatized and thought that he was an awful person because everyone told him he was and physically punished him for his existence.

And I am in no way an expert on any psychological disorders but when I have read about the basics of certain ones, it would not surprise me if Call would be diagnosed with some of them irl. Like when I was researching "quiet bpd" at one point it sounded just like Call to me. He has no sense of person identity and tears himself down inside thinking he is a terrible person, while simultaneously going back and forth between putting his friends on a pedestal and distrusting them entirely. And we see in the books how he is very clingy to Aaron and Tamara, especially Aaron, and has to use them as a safety net for himself. And how he is just constantly terrified of abandonment, especially by Aaron and Tamara. And how he isolated himself so much and struggles to process or express his emotions.

And when I read a bit about ODD (oppositional defiance disorder) I sounded similar to Call. Like, Call does seem to have a distrust for and rejection of authority in the beginning of the series, which makes sense because the authority in his life (teachers, etc) only put him down for struggling. It isn't until he realizes Rufus has his best interests at heart (most of the time) that be begins to trust him, but he is still very wary of the other Masters and Assembly members. And from what I have read ODD tends to primarily affect children and becomes easier to move past as they get older so Call slowly becoming more trusting of authority over the course of the books makes sense.

(Sorry if I didn't explain those things well, it's very indepth in my brain but hard to put into words)

Obviously these two diagnoses are very broad spectrums but it would not surprise me if Call feel somewhere on them.

And then of course Call obviously has social anxiety and depression in the books. And it would not surprise me if he had some sort of PTSD going into the Magisterium based on his upbringing. And I have seen a few people say that his Evil Overlord List could be a sign of a specific type of OCD.

Like, Call was a KID. This was the only world he ever knew. In his most impressionable years he knew nothing but hate from people outside his family and very limited emotional support or connection inside his family.

Again, I'm no expert on any of these things. I just have basic info, but when I did learn immediately made me think of Call. Tbh I feel anxious about posting this because I'm terrified I have something wrong here or that i am misremembering something. I just wanted to share the connections my brain made.

I really wish the books had more about Call's friendship with Aaron and Tamara helping all of them to start heal through each other's comfort since none of them ever really had that emotional support prior to each other.

And tbh I'm kinda surprised Rufus didn't notice a lot of what was going on with Call. I really wish the books had delved into that more rather than having Rufus get mad at Call for his trauma responses.

Also, what happens when Call goes home during the summer (especially when Aaron wasn't there)? Was he attacked again? Was he verbally harassed again? Did he return to the Magisterium with bruises or anything? The books did say that he would often have injures from the attacks by his classmates (I remember them mentioning a black eye, split lip, and bandaged arm in one flashback).

I have just been thinking about it a lot recently.

[qqueenofhades]

thank you for your post i’m doing my best to stay informed on the conflict and i’m very young. i feel guilty being quiet as i understand to uplift voices helps prevent their silencing but this has lead me to not critically think about what i’m spreading

it’s been a long month. i’m only a kid and watching the world go to shit like this has been awful, I always wondered how millennials who lived through post nine eleven imperialism coped and god i’m still not sure how.

I am as a white gentile in a position of privilege and mostly my own person is unaffected by the uptick in violence and evil in the world right now. But my friends who i see every day are in more danger due to this conflict and i feel awful that i cannot ever fully understand or fix the deaths of people.

Right now I’m being a bit too reactionary. I’m doing my best but in the end I am not immune to fearmongering and propoganda, especially in these last couple sleepless weeks.

So thank you and everyone who is keeping level heads and desconstructing what’s happening. I’m sorry and i strive to be better. Thank you.

To anyone living in fear right now i’m so sorry. I will listen when you speak.

Once again I just want to say that I am a busy and uninformed student, and I wish that i had more teachers and authority figures that had objective facts to tell me. It’s suffocating to have fake news everywhere but feel powerless if you don’t know anything

it’s ok if you don’t respond to this

Thank you for your post

Thanks for this message and for taking the time to put it into words and to reflect on your own actions and rhetoric. It takes a lot of courage and self-awareness to admit that you were wrong and that you want to do better, and I'm not going to rip into you or blame you or otherwise shame you for it. So I hope this gives you the confidence to read on without feeling like you'll be raked over the coals for it, and open you to hear some ideas for doing things differently.

First, I do have a ton of sympathy for you as a young person who feels overwhelmed and exhausted by all the evil in the world, and is wondering how to get through it, react to it, or otherwise make some kind of moral response in the face of this soul-crushing trauma. I will say here that I am a little bit older than your average Tumblr user (the majority of this site is in their early-mid twenties), I do personally remember 9/11 and its aftermath when a lot of people here weren't even born yet, and I am an academic historian with a doctorate. That does not mean I am better or smarter or More Perfect or whatever at what I say, but it means that I do have a considerable amount of institutional, formal, and professional practice at analyzing a lot of complex information, putting it into words, breaking it down for less-specialist audiences, pointing out logical fallacies, and so forth.

That is not a skill that everyone has, and in the face of nonstop 24-hour news-cycle social media information overload, it can be incredibly difficult to parse it or understand how you're supposed to respond to it or what your moral obligation in response to this knowledge might be. I wrote this ask the other day in response to someone else asking how to improve their critical thinking skills and be more discerning about what they understood, shared, and analyzed. I strongly encourage you to read it, as it addresses a lot of what you're saying about feeling negative, depressed, panicked, angry, and all the other emotions that are naturally evoked in you from reading this stuff nonstop and feeling like the only thing you can (or should) do is immerse your brain in it at all times. In short, that is absolutely the worst environment to do actual substantial analysis or critical thinking, and it is designed so on purpose.

It has been said before, but it bears repeating: the human brain simply is not designed to be constantly aware of all the atrocities in the world and thus (thanks to social media) feeling as if the only way they can do anything about it is to then post the Correct Opinions on social media (regardless of whether these are informed or relevant or otherwise useful). Especially now, the rush to demonstrate Correct Thinking has warped a lot of otherwise well-meaning young people into becoming eager disinformation mouthpieces. There are a TON of explicitly bad-faith actors and far-right fascists who are posting pro-Palestine content (factual or uh, otherwise) because they know that's an instant way to get an audience of said young left-leaning people who will then be suckered into and exposed to their far more dangerous content and mindset, because that is how radicalization works. Even in the support of an obviously worthy cause, you and everyone else ARE NOT IMMUNE to fearmongering, disinformation, and virulently anti-Semitic propaganda, especially when it's being eagerly and constantly offered in a deliberate attempt to radicalize you further into violence and conspiracy theories, turn you against other vulnerable groups and people, and explicitly disengage you from the electoral/political process, which will harm the Democrats and other liberal establishment parties in favor of more far-right radical fascist theocrats and otherwise make everything, everywhere, many orders of magnitude worse.

I know the feeling that you need to do something, and since you're a long way from the conflict, it seems as if posting on social media is the best and/or the only way to go about it. In that environment, and especially right now, you will make mistakes. I know it is difficult in an online environment where popularity or acceptance by your peers often rests on never being wrong about anything (i.e. saying the same thing everyone else is saying), but it always helps to think about what you're doing, what you're saying, and if you actually need the approval of people who are conditioning you, implicitly or explicitly, into negative and violent ideological nihilism.

The hardest thing to understand is that yes, there is a lot of terrible shit going on in the world; no, you cannot personally fix it and you have to accept that as a limitation; yes, there are many multiple and complex causes and reasons for its existence and there is almost never a black-and-white simplistic moral solution that just hasn't been magically implemented yet; yes, it is always worth it to take the time to inform yourself and consider what you're saying, where it comes from, who it helps and who it hurts, and why you feel the need to say it in the first place. Of course you want to help. Of course you want to stop the needless suffering and death that has gone on in the world for millennia and unfortunately, as long as humans are humans, will continue to do so. But even so, take it away Gandalf:

[0rb0t]

Don't mind me, just talking about Shadow as being on the autistic spectrum, and how his portrayal in the games and anime (before 2010s era) reflected this even if it was never outright stated.

(TIME FOR A CHARACTER ANALYSIS ABOUT SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG)

    When I was in high school, I struggled a lot in social situations, I'd go completely stiff and just watch people. I had a "resting bitch face", I never really could have conversations and seemed to just fixate on things. I'd make observations that irritated people. I'd ask "why" a lot. (Asking why or even asking 'obvious' questions seemed to make people think I was questioning their judgment, or that I was challenging them. But no, I just didn't understand and wanted clarification. I still run into this a lot and I wish people would stop assuming I have ulterior motives. I just wanna understand stuff better cause it doesn't connect for me. Even if it seems obvious. I'm the genius that asked my mom why she was crying at her dad's funeral when I was 11. It's not that I didn't understand why Grandpa was gone, I knew he passed away, but it hadn't really landed for me, and my brain registered my mom's sadness before it registered the why.)

    I didn't like small talk (still don't) and would rather every interaction have a specific purpose. You'd never catch me at a party and I didn't think drinking or drugs looked fun or interesting. The act of rebelling didn't interest me either. The few interests I did have were something I'd always go back to, and I couldn't function without them. (For me, drawing has always been a huge part of my life and if I didn't have a pencil or pen and paper, then I couldn't hear. I know, very weird. If I were doodling or just even had my sketchbook open, I could study a lot easier. In High school, my teachers started telling me to put the sketchbook away, and my grades plummeted because my attention did, too. Trying to tell them just kind of led to the same old "well everyone else can't doodle so you can't either". I wasn't in any of the special ed stuff because I guess I masked too well.)

    Sonic 06 and Sonic X have the same characterization for Shadow, especially in Japanese, and I think that's honestly the best he'd ever been-- he's quiet, he's reserved, he observes and he doesn't like to "waste time". Not because he's edgy, not because he's a jerk or too serious, but because he struggles in social situations and he's more introverted. He doesn't want to be the centre of attention, he doesn't enjoy any of that. Shadow also behaves like an adult, and I'm sure a ton of us on the spectrum have heard that before, that we're very mature for our age. In reality, we can't relate with our peers and have very fixated interests that don't really expand to other things. Limited interests and we just wanna do stuff tied to that. We know so much about that one thing or those things, but those things won't get you ahead in school. Unless you're LUCKY and your fixation is math, oy vey! (My fixation was etymology. I loved learning and knowing where words came from. Useful for 2 seconds in English class, quickly loses its usefulness in a skill-oriented world.)

    I don't even think he's naturally boastful, at least he wasn't since SA2 (when he was an antagonist), but Sonic brings out a competitive side in him. Sonic brings out the childhood-self that he lost to trauma and being sealed away. Shadow never got to be a normal kid/adult. He has always had expectations placed on him. I think Sonic really brings out a side of him that even surprises himself. It's why he will even say very often "What am I doing?" or "This is such a waste of time!" but he won't STOP… Because he's having fun and doesn't know how to describe his own feelings. Shadow's the type who'll say "I'm fine" no matter what state he's in when you ask if he's okay. My spouse is like this actually-- I can often tell when he's feeling down, but he doesn't know how to describe emotions beyond functional things like "i'm healthy" or "i'm unhealthy", so he'll say he's fine even if he's having a melancholy day. I struggle with understanding my emotional responses, but not necessarily identifying them. A lot of people on the spectrum do struggle with identifying their emotions beyond empirical things. "Do I feel sick? No? then I'm fine" Shadow is exactly like this. And because his expression is so neutral, sometimes intense, he gets mistaken as being angry or too serious. In reality, he's just standing there. He's not gonna expend energy smiling when he's got nothing to smile about. Why force yourself to emote for people? Especially if it feels unnatural.

    Another thing about Shadow being autistic is if he's got nothing to say, then he won't say it. If he wants to leave, he'll leave. Good luck stopping him! But for many actual people it's not an option to leave. We can't just teleport out or skate at lightning speeds like he can, so we have to just sit there and do little coping or self soothing methods to keep ourselves in the moment and calm. We don't often see Shadow stimming in traditionally understood ways, like lip biting or rubbing his arms or fidgeting with his fingers-- but he often stands with his arms crossed. This CAN BE a stim. Feeling the weight of your arms on top of each other, it allows for you to be aware of your own body. I fold my arms a lot in public, because I'm usually playing with the hem of my sleeves, or I'm rubbing my arms or squeezing them. Shadow doesn't seem to do any of that but he's rarely seen without his arms folded.

    When his arms aren't folded, he stands so still and just stares at people. He looks completely out of his element. He doesn't seem to have a relaxed stance--until the anime, where he's shown standing with his hand on his hip. Rouge also does this, leading to the popular headcanons that Shadow is unintentionally imitating Rouge-- his masking leads him to identify the most 'normal' person in the room and copy their behavior in order to blend in better. Unfortunately it rarely, in my experience, leads to people NOT thinking I'm weird. Sometimes I'll even start imitating speech patterns or accents and BOY. I don't even realize I'm doing it until it HAPPENS. So embarrassing. But Shadow absolutely imitates everyone around him. We can see him do this even as far back as Sonic Heroes--that scene where he's nodding or shaking his head to whatever Rouge is saying. The scene where Sonic starts getting competitive and Shadow starts kind of imitating his posture and his way of speaking to become competitive with them-- I don't even think he realizes he's doing it. But it also makes sense with his NAME.

    His name is Shadow. I think of Peter Pan, where Peter's Shadow can sometimes get away from him. Usually it does everything he does, but sometimes it gets away and does its own things, and Peter has to catch it. Wendy sews the shadow back on in Hook. I think Shadow's name is referencing that as well, that just like a shadow, he mimics those around him. He's watching over them, but also copying them. Learning to blend in.

    Another moment I adore is in SA2 (and Sonic X) when Amy Rose hugs him from behind. According to the 2010s era and early IDW, you'd have expected Shadow to push her away or yell DONT TOUCH ME or whatever. But no, he actually just goes REALLY RIGID and doesn't even say anything. It isn't until Amy realizes her mistake that Shadow turns around to look at her, smiling like 'What are you doing???' But in Sonic X, they changed this scene further into autistic territory--

    Shadow doesn't even TURN to her. He goes rigid, yes, and his eyes widen and he just stands there looking towards the audience like 8| He's completely OUT OF HIS ELEMENT. He prepared for the mission, NOT to deal with random people HUGGING HIM. He's probably not been hugged since Maria over 50 years ago. We don't even know if Maria hugged him much because Shadow has always seemed pretty touch-averse. I love GIVING hugs and I love receiving hugs but only from people I'm REALLY close to. I don't even like getting hugs from extended family. My spouse? VERY touch averse. He'll get hugs from me but hugging and touch are just not his thing. Shadow is not a huggy person, but he does tend to hold hands.

    We know he grabbed and held Maria's hand, running with her-- but we never actually saw that until Sonic X (2003) he can be seen running with her away from the military, and he's holding her hand as he leads her. In Shadow the Hedgehog, Maria often grabs Shadow's hand when telling him things. This is also a grounding method to bring the person into the moment. For me, I feel like I can focus better on what my spouse is saying to me when he holds my hand and it's crowded or busy. Even in our home, if he wants to tell me something, I recommend that he hold my hand or touch my arm so I can focus on him better. This happens with Shadow.

    Sonic doesn't tend to hold peoples' hands. In Sonic X he usually just picks people up, but we do see him grab Elise's arm in 06 and run with her. But holding hands? Not really his thing! Shadow does do it more often though. In Sonic X S3, in the episode, Molly's Dream, Shadow's immediate way of leading Molly away from danger is to grab and hold her hand. He even keeps holding her hand until she lets go. It speaks to me the sort of childlike behavior he may still be exhibiting, but not that I'm trying to say that autistic people are more like children. From my experience on the spectrum, I am more childish than my peers. I still react like a kid might to things, and I don't really think like an adult is expected to. I am mentally behind my peers as well, I think my emotional maturity is lower? But it's hard to measure that without a doctor. It's not just about laughing at fart jokes or knowing to pay bills, it's like, how I problem solve is more creatively aligned with kids than it is adults. This is both great and terrible, depending on the situation. A situation that requires math and stuff cannot be solved my way. A situation that involves encouraging kids to try again or be nice to each other, well it's very useful because I can communicate with them on their level (I was a teacher in South Korea for over half a decade, my brain was great for being a teacher but not great for other things).

    I think Shadow really gets misread as a mean guy a lot, but he really isn't. I also don't really enjoy the headcanons that imagine him as very outgoing and whimsical when he was on the ARK, and I especially don't like headcanons that infantilize him-- I really don't like headcanons where people infantilize autistic people. We've seen Shadow when he loses his memories a few times. In Heroes, but also in S3 of Sonic X-- his personality is still the same. He's still reserved, he's still quiet, he still struggles in social situations and prefers getting to the point rather than dilly-dallying. I'd argue that he was exactly like that before the incident on the ARK, too. It's just that the incident caused his inner peace to be destroyed. His precious person, Maria, was no longer around and he lost everything all at once. He doubled down on the one thing that made sense: Revenge. But even after all of that was sorted out, he's not gonna just magically be a different person. He's still reserved, he's still serious, he's still "get to the point". If he played FFXIV, he'd only focus on main quests, and never do side quests. He'd never spend money on cosmetics, probably. He's likely a person who values gameplay over story. If the game is broken or the mechanics aren't utilized well, that's probably more what he'd be fixated on than whether the story was good or not. He'd skip through dialogue because he reads fast, even if the dialogue is voiced (my spouse does this and it drives me nuts. SHADOW I BEG OF YOU PLEASE DO IT FOR ME, DISABLE THE VOICE ACTING IN OPTIONS SO I STOP HEARING THE FIRST UTTERANCE OF A WORD EVERY TIME U MASH THROUGH THE DIALOGUE)

    Trauma affects people in all kinds of ways. I don't think all autistic people are like Shadow, because autism is a spectrum and no two people present exactly the same, although there will be similarities. Shadow's trauma happened at a time where he barely knew himself already, so that's why it was so easy for him to fixate on revenge, and then he'd be content with dying afterwards because he figured he had nothing left to live for. Finding out he was wrong was the best thing that could have happened to him.

    I was really saddened when SEGA decided he was an edgelord who hated everything and had no friends because that's such a horrible read of this nuanced character. In my personal headcanons for Shadow, he's actually very into plants and flowers, because Maria loved the planet so much. And eventually he learns to love the planet because of nature. Shadow's never going to be a people person, in fact he probably still doesn't care much for people as a whole, but that doesn't mean he won't step up when they need his help. Which is why his line in Sonic 06 is still so poignant. "If the world chooses to become my enemy, then I'll fight like I always have." Basically, it really doesn't matter, I've made my choice, I know who I am now and I get to make those decisions. No one else will shake the foundations of who I am.

    And because he knows who he is, he doesn't feel the need to repeat it and boast about himself. He's confident, not arrogant. He can be smug and competitive, but that's playfulness, not cruelty. He's quiet and may just straight up walk away while someone is mid-sentence, but that's not because he's evil or intentionally being a jerk-- it's just how he is. He needs to work on it if he wants to have friends, but his friends already understand him very well. They know that he's like that, and from what we saw in The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, occasionally they forget it's not personal. I'm happy to see them admitting "oh no, I completely misjudged you, I'm so sorry!" because it's been way too long since we've heard the main cast apologize to Shadow for assuming he was a big jerk on purpose.

    Knowing the restrictions on how Shadow is written have been lifted, I'm really hoping we can get more of how he's meant to be, the reserved, socially awkward but well-meaning hedgehog we love. Autistic Shadow FTW!

    

(our experiences and headcanons

may differ, that's okay.)

[wheeboo]

MOOT GAME: " make up a trope for your moots and their biases. doesn’t need to be romantic. can be crackfic/funny. ^ㅇ(๑>◡<๑)ㅇ^ "

okay i received this ask game 3 times so JDFKLS i guess i shall do it rn . i will be doing my moots svt biases <3 rlly wish i could do a lot more moots but this took more brain power than it needed 😭😭

@slytherinshua -> joshua

first thought was cute lil teacher x teacher couple!! maybe he's a new hire as a music teacher and him and zanna both have a lil meet ugly at first in the staff room (one of them spilling coffee on the other or something dsjfklfsd) but its all full of shy smiles and fumbled apologies, and joshua smoothly gives her his # with the purpose of starting over 😍

@etherealyoungk -> hoshi

the classic case of the class president x class clown. skye our big brain queen is just trying her best to sort through all these plans and plans for school while hoshi keeps curiously meddling in her business, trying to get close with her by proposing these weird n funny ideas at meetings (even tho he's not in the student council???) that don't make any sort of sense, and overall just wanting to make her smile cuz he may or may not have a tiny tiny crush on her. and skye may or may not like him having around...

@roziesmei -> jeonghan

love at first sight. not the biggest fan of this trope but hello who wouldn't fall head over heels over this man at first glance? maybe mimi is out and about running some errands to the store, and as she's about to grab for the door, another hand meets hers, and i WONDER who it is!!!! the two of them gaze at each other for a second, and maybe the world feels a lil brighter and a lil warmer in those few moments, before maybe jeonghan pulls away and holds the door open for her. she spends her entire time shopping thinking abt him wondering if they'll ever cross paths again (they do)

@bookyeom -> seokmin

i love the whole concept/trope of exchanging letters. maybe leslie gets received this Very long letter detailing something she has no idea what is and its signed sorry from me & my dog, lee seokmin. does she know who lee seokmin is? absolutely not. but is she very curious why he seems so STRESSED in this letter over his dog accidentally stealing a stranger's pair of socks from the laundromat? yes

@welcometomyoasis -> seungcheol

ngl the whole enemies to lovers arc from rival families has always been a concept in the back of my mind and i've ALWAYS envisioned something for cheol for it so here you go shu 😭!! and perhaps there's some forced proximity involved, where they both become reluctant allies for some overly complicated business reasons and realise 'maybe we aren't exactly enemies after all...'

@haecien -> jun

fake dating!! maybe cien accidentally says to his group of friends that he has a partner but like... who is it ?? and so he gets jun to play as his fake boyfriend for the time being and it's this whole cute mess but yeah they're both sorta falling for each other. i can imagine this whole cute prom scene where they are each other's dates and this cute slow dancing scene... yeah you get i'm going with this i think lmao

@planetkiimchi -> minghao

strangers to friends to lovers!! but it's the most natural, sorta slow burn ever. it's kinda like reading your favourite comfort book with your favourite comfort couple where they get together and it's like THE standard ?! they're both communicative with each other, understand each other's boundaries, etc. bonus for the plot since they're both dancers and meet each other for the first time at practice, and it kinda just blossoms from there :)

@blue-jisungs -> wonwoo

a very very cute office romance. axe may be like a new intern at this workplace and is nervous asf abt everything, but she gets assigned this very handsome man with the power of glasses in his eyes to help her around and get adjusted. but even after settling in axe really tries her best to get close with wonwoo. he's a little reserved, composed, maybe a bit cold at first, but it's enough to cause some gossip to float around the office hehe. one thing leads to another, and they're both trying to hide their relationship from everyone else (but they all know anyway)

[comfort-writing]

Crayons and Cassettes

Chapter 7: Kindergarten Graduation

You are a kindergarten teacher. Eddie’s daughter, Sage, is in your class. Sage finally graduates from your class.

warnings: this fic will be 18+ in later chapters- minors DNI!! no use of y/n. (please let me know if I missed anything)

a/n: a short but important chapter! btw idk why the cover art has a weird filter on some of the pics- it wouldn’t let me remove it so please bear with me. I am a humble writer, not a graphic designer lol. canva is a bitch. anyways, enjoy! let me know in the comments or my asks if you want to be added to the tag list! requests are open!

word count: 2k

Chapter 1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6 || 7 || 8 || 9 || 10 || 11 || 12 || 13 || 14 (coming soon!)

After the party, you been trying to schedule time for yourself to relax or take a break. You originally didn’t think it would help with your anxiety because you thought that while you were ‘relaxing’, you’d be worried about work, but once you allowed yourself to shut your brain off, the breaks really helped your anxiety.

Throughout April, you helped your kids do everything they’d needed, and by May, you’d gotten news that every single one was going to pass your grade. You called Eddie that night, excitedly explaining that all your kids, including Sage, did an excellent job. You finished out the semester, relieved and proud of their accomplishments.

On the last day of school, Hawkins Elementary held a kindergarten graduation. All the parents and families were invited, and the kids had their very own tiny caps and gowns in emerald green and gold. You’d printed out certificates, writing small stories and well wishes on the back of each one so when they grew older, they could look back and read about what they were like at such a young age.

The morning of their graduation, you’d dressed in a kind of casual black dress and platform sandals. You wore rainbow clay earrings for a pop of color, and had your hair tied up in a clip. Today was supposed to be a little more dressy, as there would be lots of photos and parents, so you’d wanted to make a good, lasting impression.

You got to school early that morning, tidying up your classroom and finishing up the portfolios of all of your students work that they’d completed during the year. You’d kept all the projects, knowing that some parents would like to keep these things forever. You’d packed the portfolios into a rolling bin, and headed down to the cafeteria, ready to help set up for the day.

You, along with the other kindergarten teachers, the principal, and a janitor, cleaned up the cafeteria, set out snacks and coffee, and made sure the sound system was working. The principal had brought a Polaroid camera to take photos of the kindergarten class, so you helped him set it up and test it out. You’d made a silly face as he snapped a photo, and once it developed, the two of you laughed and were ready for everyone to come in.

You opened the doors to the cafeteria, propping them open, then opened the access doors near by so the parents could walk in. There were already a few waiting, so you welcomed them as they walked in. You then guided the kindergarteners to the ‘backstage’ area, or really, just behind a small space behind the curtains on the small stage, and helped them zip their gowns over their clothes and place the caps on their heads. Once they were ready, you instructed them to find their name on the tape on the risers and sit in their spots, to which they complied.

It felt bittersweet, helping all the kids you’d helped mould over the past year for the last time. You’d still see them, of course, in the hallways and in town, but this was your last time being their teacher.

Around 9am, all the kindergarteners were in place and the parents had settled into the cafeteria tables, so you, along with Mrs. Robinson, gathered your little diplomas and stood near the middle of the stage as the principal began his speech, kicking off graduation.

He discussed how much the kids had grown and learned during the year, and how proud he was of their hard work, as well as yours. He continued on and talked about how he looked forward to working with the kids next year, and how he hoped he’d never see them in his office, which got a laugh from the parents.

He then began to read off the names in alphabetical order, and each child walked across the stage, received a little diploma from you or Mrs. Robinson, and took a photo with their respective teacher. After the photo, you hugged every one of your students, and instructed them to go back to their seat on the riser.

When Sage’s name was called, you heard Eddie whoop loudly, and Sage ran to you, hugging you so tight it took your breath away. You laughed and hugged her back before taking your photo and sending her back to her seat.

Once all the names had been called, the kids all stood and took a class photo, then moved their tassels from one side to the other. The parents and staff clapped and cheered, then the students were dismissed to their parents. The principal made a small announcement to see the teachers for their portfolios and to distribute their individual photos.

You’d set everything up on a table, and began placing their photos on top of their portfolios. You greeted each parent, discussing how well each of their respective children did and that you’d hoped that you’d see them in the fall.

Eddie made his way over to your table, holding Sage in one of his arms and her little cap in the other. Her curly hair was a bit of a mess from the cap, and he set it on the table to mess over her hair to fix it. You smiled and greeted him, like you would any other parent, still trying to seem casual in public for now. He went along with it, knowing the drill by now.

Sage pouted, “I don’t wanna go to first grade.”

Eddie laughed, “Well, kiddo, I really want you to.” Only the two of you knew what that really meant. “You wanna grow up big and smart like your teacher?” He asked

Sage sighed and buried her head in Eddie’s neck, mumbling a small, “Yeah.” You and Eddie chuckled at that.

“Here’s her portfolio. It has all of the work she’s done this year. You can keep it or throw it away- but it might be nice to have when she’s older.”

Eddie nodded and took it from you gladly, along with the photo of you and Sage. He smiled fondly at the picture. Sage had a huge smile across her face, and you looked gorgeous. He wanted to frame it and keep it forever.

“Thanks.” He smiled. “Can I call you if I have any questions about registration for next semester?” He asked. The two of you spoke in code at this point.

“Of course.” You smiled.

He hugged Sage close and whispered at her to say goodbye to you, to which she looked up sadly and gave the tiniest, saddest wave in the world. You placed your hand over your heart, thinking the scene was so sad and cute, then said goodbye to Eddie. He turned and walked out of the cafeteria, Sage still pouting into his shoulder as he reassured her that she would see you soon.

You turned back and got the rest of the parents and kids sent off on their way, then cleaned up with the staff. You walked back to your classroom, feeling the emptiness of the hallways, and sighed once you entered. You erased the board completely, gathered the rest of your things, then turned out the lights and locked the door on the way out.

Once you arrived home, you walked in the door and heard the phone ringing. You quickly rushed over, picking it up.

“Hello?”

“Can I come over?” Eddie asked, sounding like a little kid on Christmas morning.

You laughed, “Right now? Aren’t you spending the day with Sage?”

“She’s with Wayne. He got the day off work to spend it with her. So, can I?”

“Are you sure? You don’t need some alone time to brood? Your kid just graduated kindergarten.” You teased.

He groaned, “You’re absolutely going to be the death of me. Please.”

You giggled. “Alright, Eddie. You can come ove-“

He hung up the phone as soon as he’d received your confirmation, and you held the receiver to your ear, listening to the dial tone for a minute before cackling. You knew what was about to happen. You couldn’t help but be excited, but geez, this guy was chomping at the bit. His excitement made you giddy too, though.

About ten minutes passed, and you were sitting on your couch, feeling a bit anxious, but not in a bad way. You tapped your foot on the floor, petting Pencil for reassurance. You heard his van screech into your driveway, and in under a minute he was knocking fervently on your front door.

You laughed and yelled, “It’s open!” Within seconds, he was walking into your house. He was beaming, and he kicked his shoes off quickly before practically jogging to where you were on the couch. Pencil scurried off, and Eddie plopped down next to you, facing your direction.

“Will you go out with me?” He asked quickly, smiling and out of breath, getting right to the point.

You laughed and pretended to contemplate it, “Hmm… I don’t know… I’m not so sure. I might have met this guy who wants to take me off into the sunset or something?” You joked.

He groaned and grabbed your shoulders, smiling like a mad man, “You are infuriating!” He laughed, shaking you lightly.

You laughed too, loudly and genuinely. After a moment, you looked into Eddie’s beautiful, brown eyes and smiled, “Yes, Eddie. I will totally go out with you.”

He melted in front of you and leaned forward, kissing you like a man starved. You couldn’t help but giggle against his lips as you attempted to kiss him back, wrapping your arms around his shoulders. The two of you shared a giddy kiss, not being able to hold yourselves together. After a while, the two of you separated and he sat back a little, calming down from all the excitement. “God, this school year was way too long.”

“I agree. Let’s make sure Sage is never in my class again.”

Eddie nodded, chuckling and wincing, holding his ribs, as they were sore from laughing too much.

You smiled and leaned onto his shoulder, “So, where are you taking me, Romeo?”

He laid his head on top of yours. “Anywhere. Everywhere.”

You smiled as he grabbed your hand and squeezed it gently. You noticed how small yours felt in comparison. “I mean for our first date.”

“You’ll see. Does tonight sound okay?” He asked.

“Wow, jumping right on into it, aren’t we?” You teased.

“We’ve wasted enough time being all secretive. I’m ready to show you off.” He smiled.

“What if the date doesn’t go well?” You asked, squeezing his hand.

“Well, we’ve got about a million more to go on, so the first one doesn’t have to be perfect.” He explained, squeezing yours back. “But it will be. Trust me.”

You nodded and hummed, enjoying his company for a while before asking, “What do I wear?”

“Something pretty nice, but comfortable.”

You nodded, not really knowing what to expect from him. The two of you stayed cuddled up on the couch for about half an hour before he sighed and made a move to get up. You released him, though you weren’t happy about it.

“Sorry, beautiful, but I’ve got to go. I have a hot date tonight.” He smiled, standing up.

“Oh yeah, with who?” You smirked.

He bent down and kissed you chastely, “Just the most amazing girl I’ve ever met. It’s tonight at 8.”

You couldn’t fight the blush that rose in your cheeks and you shoved him away gently, “You’re such a sap.”

“Yeah. You like me, though, so what does that make you?”

“Touché.” You glared.

He threw you a wink before slipping his shoes back on and leaving your house.

Finally. It was all starting to click into place.

Tag List: @mcueveryday @bebe0701 @emma77645 @edsforehead @manda-panda-monium @nina211544

[boyprincessarchives]

i hate being selectively mute so bad! i just wish i could be like everyone else and just speak. why is it so hard for my brain to translate my thoughts into coherent sounds. i freeze up and sometimes my mind just goes blank, like the connection from my brain to my mouth disappears. i open my mouth and no sounds come out, i have so much to say i promise!!

i wish i could call with my friends more than i do, but i just really sit in the call muted, and text my replies in the chat. sometimes people need verbal communication, they need to hear it, but i cant accommodate them. i’d like to tell my friend that was a funny joke, i’d like to comfort my friend while they vent to me on calls, but my hand can only hover over the unmute button, let alone actually speak. and usually it’s fine, my friends are quite understanding, but sometimes i feel bad. speaking is a more instant communication, and writing, drawing, typing, takes a bit more time. then the person has to pause what they’re doing to read it. it’s not that bad of a hinderance, but i hate being an inconvenience.

and the worst part is i think my voice is all messed up from not speaking. my voice is all extra high, its hard to raise my own voice or change pitch sometimes… my throat gets all tired if i speak too many words that day.

my professors think im stupid, they think im not paying attention. the amount of times a teacher has spoken the words of “see? you have so much potential, you just have to use it,” throughout my entire educational career actually pains me. my family members will frown, “oh, you dont want to talk again?” and will begrudgingly oblige to my needs, but i know they're annoyed, i know they hate it.

and sometimes, i just wish i never had a voice at all. i wish i was born without vocal cords or something, so that no one would ever have to ask me to at least try and speak. but i know that would only hurt me more. im a very expressive person, and even on days where i speak, i use lots of sounds and hums to respond.

[cq-studios]

Questions for 15 Friends Tag Game

Tagged by @corishadowfang ^^

Rules: Answer the questions, then tag 15 people.

ARE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?

Not that I know of. I think my middle name was after someone but, if that's the case, I don't know who.

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?

This weekend watching Days. That game breaks me every time.

DO YOU HAVE KIDS?

Nope and don't ever plan on it.

WHAT SPORTS DO YOU PLAY/HAVE YOU PLAYED?

Uhhhh, none.

I tried out for the basketball team twice in elementary school but didn't make the team either time. That school, and especially the coach, had it out for me though (I am neurodivergent had behavioural issues so they didn't let me do much).

If it counts, I was on the Improv team in middle school. That was a ton of fun and I would've kept doing it into highschool if the teacher who was in charge of the competitions didn't retire (no one stepped up after that)

Other than that not really anything.

DO YOU USE SARCASM?

Oh definitely. I grew up in an incredibly sarcastic household lol

WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?

Uhhh, I haven't really thought about it...

Probably hair? That's how I tend to recognise most people, which is most definitely unreliable (thanks for that brain lol).

Shout out to that one time my friend got a drastically different haircut than usual, didn't tell me, and I didn't recognise her until she spoke to me lol

WHAT’S YOUR EYE COLOUR?

Brown.

SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?

Definitely happy endings. I have absolutely no tolerance for scary things.

My pour soul got nightmares so easy as a kid I wasn't allowed to watch Scooby Doo because it would keep me up at night lol

ANY TALENTS?

I'd feel weird saying anything artistic, because honestly I consider those skills more than talents (since they're something I actually work towards improving and not something that I can just do for some reason lol).

So alternatively, I think my talent is simultaneously have the worlds worst and best balance. Like I can fill up a cup completely (and I mean completely, there's a meniscus and everything) and I can bring that up to my mouth without spilling a drop, but at the same time, there have been several occasions where I have fallen out of chairs while doing nothing but colouring. I can walk across a completely rounded balance beam (like curtain rod look and size) eyes closed and backwards, but walking I'm tripping every other step.

I can also quack like a duck so convincingly I've tricked hunters lol

WHERE WERE YOU BORN?

I'm not entirely sure...

Somewhere around the southern Quebec-Ontario border I think?

WHAT ARE YOUR HOBBIES?

Drawing, animating, reading, writing, and playing video games (and doing stuff for local theatre productions if that counts).

DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS?

Yes, currently I have a dog, Neve. She's a Golden Retriever-Labrador mix and she's very strange.

My brother also has a cat, but she lives in the basement and I never see her lol

HOW TALL ARE YOU?

I couldn't tell you the last time I measured my height, but I'm only a bit taller than my mom (4"11 and a bit), so probably 5"-5"1.

FAVOURITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL?

Chemistry.

I love chemistry. I love balancing formulas. I love the experiments and demonstrations (even if when I was doing them I kept burning my hands... I swear I was being careful I'm just cursed lol). I love learning about all the elements properties and stuff. The math isn't awful (like in physics). And it makes me feel smart.

DREAM JOB?

My dream job is whatever I have to do to be able to make my own show (my current plan is making an indie studio) and also being able to make a living off of doing tables at cons.

I'm actually slowly but surely working towards both right now. A lot of just saving and planning at the moment but I'm getting there.

Gonna start applying for grants soon-ish, so wish me luck lol

I don't really have 15 people to tag so, uhh, open tag I guess lol

[godsofthecatz]

Excuse me if I come off as rude (I don't mean to be!) though I'm curious...

How do you get by the LMK fandom when you're a plumsynoodles shipper? A lot of people or either ships that or PeachyNoodles usually gets the door slammed on them? Do you not go through that? Or do you?

I mean, i dont think you're coming off as rude!-

I personally haven't gotten too much of it? (I was called a proshipper once, but that was also from me trying to ask them for details/info they said they had about it being gross) But it could also be that probably because I'm not too popular?

And I mean, I try to stay out of the drama-...I also just straight up say when i do post something related to Plumsynoodles that if they don't like it, they can block me or just block the tag! (if they still like what I post otherwise)... because I mean- idk- it's a whole topic on its own - i can actually talk about my feelings on ships in general below if anyone wants to hear about it!

I don't post too many different ships- though I did a small request for unusual ships on Twitter and saw a few different ones-...

I don't want to get people upset or mad at me...but if people openly start trying to call me something I'm not, I don't want to get involved with that-... it's not hurting anyone and again, I'm giving them a small note that if they don't like it they can block me! But hey! I'll gladly talk about it openly with an open mind if someone like you asks about it!

Personally...I don't mind what people ship or think of other ships, as long as your not shoving it on me I'm all cool! I'm not trying to shove my ships on others as well! (ill mostly be referencing lmk)

shipping fictional characters is to me- and like....I don't care what others ship- (one ship i dont like is Mei with *just* MK... i like to see her as a sister to him! But i still like Chimerashipping...) like iv been around people shipping Iron fan with Mei or someone else, while for one with the Mei is that she is around MK's Age- and two...if people really care about it 'she's married and the only cannon ship that's in the show-...there's a lot of funky ships that can scratch the "problematic" tag... like any of the demon/human ships- ...

Some of my favorites and/or views with ships-... I also really like Jin and MK! Even though they don't interact all to much- I like to imagine the interaction! Again, it's fiction!

With Plumsynoodles...though yes- Macaque is his own is a sea of problems- I mean...to me you can personally apply that to any ship he is in- kinda the same with Wukong... but I like to use the fiction and mix it up with my brain of MK would help Macaque be a better person despite everything that has happened between them... and one popular topic that effects both of the mythical monkeys with MK- is the teacher student thing-... for me, again it's fiction...and at least MK is an adult- I also personally don't see Macaque as a teacher to MK??? It feels like a week, and sure they tease each other about it- but ya know??? And with Wukong- idk- I like to think of the 'after math'...like once MK is no longer the student- and they have both improved!...(even once saw a really cool post about someone talking about how the two stones MK/Wukong were born from are different stones! I wish I could find it- maybe I could if I remembered where to look or who it was from! It was actually really interesting)

I love shipping and hearing people's ideas on romance, or friendship! Like...regardless on what it is- to *me* as long as they are not related, and both adults/ or around the same age...I really don't care on what you ship-

[reginrokkr]

» @maquiscursed asked: “ every time i touch you, there’s a moment where you look like you think it will hurt. ” (from neuvi, forgive him he's still learning to read the room)

Time is the best teacher to those who don't lack any due to their exceptional condition outside the realm of conventional mortality. Individuals who have different learning paces have all the time in the world to ultimately discover matters alien to their nature or their circumstances that will not allow them to occupy their endeavors with much more that isn't within the sphere of obligations. Same case can be applied to two individuals whose lifespan has already exceeded half a millennium and, by some amusing irony, they still are behind many men that hardly reach to a century of life.

Matters of physical contact that differ from anything that can be found in battle, the poison of the world or divine curses are one such topic that Dáinsleif has yet to learn a lot from— and, at the same time, Neuvillette doesn't stay behind. It would be a matter of time until these expressions of closeness that bring peace to burdened minds would open a can of worms that Twilight Sword was uncertain it would ever be open. Nevertheless, never once he had the intention to keep the truth away from him were it ever addressed.

Like today.

Soothing warmth and comfort are like balms to a wary soul and deteriorated body byproduct of erosion, corruption and divine curse. However, when it comes to such a novel thing such as touch, experiences accumulated for the past centuries make themselves manifest through involuntary reactions that Dáinsleif didn't notice he has— and that he wished he didn't in Neuvillette's presence, now that he has found out that he indeed has.

◜My apologies.◞ Crystalline azures drop with muttered apology, guilt making home of his heart at the knowledge that Neuvillette has struggled for a very long time to make a place for himself in Fontaine without human fear that, as a non-human —how wrong they are, for even if it is just half, he's still just like them— being, he may hurt them. Having known him for centuries and established a solid terrain of trust, Dáinsleif is well cognizant that in all his gentle nature he would never seek to harm him in any way.

But what must cross his mind, when his involuntary reactions may be communicating otherwise?

◜Before what I am about to entrust you, I want to preface that it is not your touch what hurts.◞ For he does indeed hurt at times and it is futile to deny the evident— specially when he's been caught red-handed. Dáinsleif takes a long breath to still his racing heart, to calm his rushing mind with hundreds of thoughts and put them in order. Sapphire irises look at his right hand, bereft of the glove that usually covers the monstrosity of darkness and strangeness of visible Ley Lines covering it. ◜My body struggles with two ailments as you may already know: the curse of immortality laid by the gods and the corruption.◞

◜The curse of immortality not only denies me conventional ways to death, but it rises me into a planar of existence higher than that of the humans. For that reason, I am hyper aware of the deterioration of my body and my soul... of the pain it causes.◞ A pause. ◜Lest the deterioration is heightened all of a sudden, it would stand to reason to think that this pain remains unchanging and you would be correct to think so, but there is one more factor.◞ His hand rises to the spot over his heart, glowing gently in sapphire light with every beat. ◜The corruption within me alters my senses sometimes, including touch. I have learned that my touch receptors transmit faulty information to my brain, which in turn sends a response in accordance to the information it has received. So no matter if I know that immersing myself in a warm bathtub won't harm me, sometimes this alteration will make me feel as if it will scald me. This is naught but a result of my endless struggle against the corruption of my body, so it doesn't overtake me completely.◞

And turns me in a monster entirely.

Stellar pupils quiver within glacial sapphire depths as he looks into Neuvillette's eyes, his gaze drops to his hand thereafter to gently reach out for it and, despite visible quivering, he brings it to his face and holds it in place. Albescent lashes flutter close, fair brows knit in a subtle frown as he feels disproportionate pain acting up. But he doesn't let go— he doesn't want to let go. ◜Forgive me. It was never my intention to make you feel like I do not desire your touch. On the contrary.◞ Dáinsleif leans into the palm of his hand and opens his eyes anew. ◜It does not always happen, of course. It fluctuates with the corruption's multifactorial highs and lows. But when it does... I want you to know that I am doing everything in my power to fight it back.◞

For you, whom showed nothing but compassion to the monster I am... deserve at least earnest reciprocity and to know that it is greatly appreciated.

[ambriel-angstwitch]

Waiting Room is Merthur Coded

If you were a teacher, I would fail your class Take it over and over 'til you noticed me

In this hypothetical situation Arthur is a teacher which implies power over Merlin which in a way he often did. It also speaks to the way Merlin would fail at his own goals (making magic free) in order to keep Arthur

If you were a waiting room, I would never see a doctor I would sit there with my first-aid kit and bleed

Merlin is ridiculously self sacrificing when it comes to Arthur. He would die over over again just to ensure Arthur’s safety. But having the First Aid kit symbolizes that even with that self sacrificing nature he doesn’t want to die. He still tries to survive even if he doesn’t put as much priority as he does Arthur.

I wanna be the power ballad that lifts you up and holds you down

Merlin wants to affect Arthur as much as Arthur affects him. He wants to be able to lift Arthur up to the heights he wants to achieve but he also wants to hold Arthur back from the stupid or brave decision that would get him killed.

I wanna be the broken love song that feeds your misery

Their lives were a broken love song. They didn’t get a happy ending. Arthur instead ended up with Gwen and then he died.

And I can wish all that I want, but it won't bring us together Plus, I know whatever happens to me, I know it's for the better

Merlin could wish for them to be together but Gwen was Arthur’s destiny. Then Arthur died and all Merlin wanted was for him to come back. But Merlin all along has just been destinies play thing, whatever happens to him is “for the better”

And when broken bodies are washed ashore Who am I to ask for more, more, more?

This could be interpreted as Merlin wondering why he gets to live when all of his friends have just become broken bodies. It could also been seen as him being self deprecating with commentary on how he’s lost everyone he’s cared about but what has he done to deserve to ask for anything else.

But you're breathing in my open mouth

Brings to mind imagery of CPR, which is a life giving procedure where someone uses the air in their lungs to put air in yours. They’ve both risked their life in order to save the other on multiple occasions.

You're the gun in my lips that will blow my brains out

In contrast to the last line comments on how in a way they destroy each other but only through the others choice. One may be the weapon but the other is the one who wields them, they can only hurt each other if they let them. Arthur may have hurt Merlin by continuing to be against magic but that was only through Merlin’s suggestion, if Merlin had ever showed Arthur it was good he would have believed him.

I wanna make you drive all night just because I said, "Maybe you should come over"

They both wish for the other to care about them as much as they do them. The sad thing is they do, it’s just that the other doesn’t see it. Merlin does magic and fights for Arthur in the shadows because he’s afraid of what would happen if people knew about his magic. Arthur cares for Merlin too, he’ll go on dangerous quests for him and he’ll speak out against his father for him but as time went on this clear love for Merlin seemed to fade but he still valued his opinion above all else. But Merlin failed to see how much love these actions showed

Wanna make you fall in love as hard as my poor parents' teenage daughter She'll be the best you ever had if you let her

Once again he wants that returned feeling. A lot of people do think that Merlin was a teenager at the start of the series. Merlin and Arthur would have been great together if they had just been able to establish their relationship. They both longed for something they thought they couldn’t have

I know it's for the better Know it's for the better Know it's for the better…

As the stanza of know it’s for the better repeats over and over again it seems as though it gets more desperate. Merlin is trying to convince himself that it was for the better. I also find it interesting how without the I it can end up sounding like “no, it’s for the better” like the person is having an argument. Which connects to the first point because he could be having an argument with himself.

Know it’s for the better. I never grew up with you…

Arthur and Merlin never got to grow old together. Though they did get to grow up together a bit as ten years is a long time, but in those ten years a lot of bad things happened. So Merlin tries to convince himself that maybe it’s for the better that they didn’t get to grow old together.

… and your not my waiting room.

Arthur is not Merlin’s waiting room because Merlin doesn’t get to abide in Arthur instead Merlin is left constantly waiting for Arthur.

[legolasghosty]

Alex drags his feet as Willie tugs him down the sidewalk. His long, blond hair started falling out of its bun around lunchtime and strands are stuck to the back of his neck. The first day of school is always the worst. No one ever knows where they're going and there's new locker combinations and a stupidly loud assembly and way too much chaos.

And Alex would be lying if it wasn't a little bit worse this year sitting through class attendance eight times in a row. Somehow, now that he's out to his friends and they call him Alex, hearing his deadname feels even worse.

Summer break had been amazing! He'd had to spend a week at church camp, which had been exhausting, but for the rest of it he had been free to spend all his time in Julie's garage practicing with the band, or hanging out in the living room playing board games, or going on random outings and walks with Willie.

Going on dates with Willie. Cause they're together now. The giddy butterflies that appear in his stomach whenever he remembers that fact is probably the only reason he's still following his partner down the sidewalk.

Cause after a mostly blissful summer, coming back to school and everything that comes with is exhausting. Alex just wants to go home and crash in bed and pretend today didn't happen. He wishes he could tell his brain to stop replaying every single awkward moment of the day on repeat.

But as soon as they got out of the building, Willie had grabbed Alex by the hand and asked if he wanted to try something. And Alex is very bad at saying no to Willie.

So here they are, probably about a twenty-minute walk away from LFHS, stopping in front of a small coffee shop.

"Umm, what are we doing?" Alex asks finally, turning to stare at his boyfriend in confusion. Not that he couldn't use a nice iced drink at the moment, but he doesn't recognize the name of the store or anything.

Willie bites his lower lip and grins. "So I know first days of school suck," they starts, moving closer to grab ahold of Alex's other hand as well, "and getting deadnamed all day sucks."

Alex winces at the reminder, but the acknowledgment is nice honestly. Willie actually gets it. They came out as transmasc back in 6th grade and had their dad's full support, but the feeling of being called the wrong name doesn't go away with time like some things do. And it had been another year or two before Willie started actively correcting teachers and adults on his name.

"So," Willie continues, his smile growing with every passing second, "I was wondering if you wanted to get a drink. As Alex."

It takes Alex a second to understand what Willie is implying: giving a stranger his chosen name. As if it's his name. His real name. Which... it is.

"We're far enough away from the school that we probably won't see anyone we know," Willie rushes on. "And I've been here a couple times and they're super queer friendly. So if you don't want to, that's totally fine, but it should be totally safe if you want to go for it."

"You're amazing," Alex breathes after a long moment. Then he nods. "Yeah. Yeah, let's do it."

Willie grins and pushes open the door. "After you, m'lord," they chuckle, ushering Alex inside.

Alex laughs as they head for the counter of the small, cozy coffee shop. It's very homey, he thinks. Lots of plants and wooden tables and comfy-looking chairs. And there's a large, rainbow pride flag hanging on one wall alongside a bunch of photos.

Willie stops just before they reach the counter and pulls out his wallet. "Also, this is my treat and you're not gonna win that fight," they state, nudging Alex's shoulder. "I think dad has started sneaking 'spoil your boyfriend' money in with my normal allowance."

Alex blushes but nods in agreement. Usually they have a good-natured argument about who pays for stuff when they go out, but he knows that tone. He's not gonna beat Willie this time.

Instead, he leads Willie up to the counter, where a middle-aged Asian woman is wiping it down.

"Hello, what can I get for you two?" she asks, smiling up at them.

Alex glances over at Willie, who takes the hint and goes first. "Can I get a medium iced decaf caramel latte?" they tell her.

She nods, then raises her brows in question at Alex. "Ummm, can I get a medium iced decaf mocha?" he responds.

"Of course, is that going to be all for you two?"

Willie nods and pulls out his card.

"And can I get a name for the order?"

Alex bites his lip, suddenly nervous. Willie squeezes his hand and moves a bit closer so their shoulders are pressed together. Alex uses their warmth to ground himself.

"Um, Alex," he says hesitantly.

He half expects the woman to challenge him on it, to laugh and ask him for his real name, but she just nods and tells them that the drinks will be out shortly. Willie pulls him away to a small table to wait. Then they pull another chair around so they can sit right beside him.

"You okay?" Willie asks softly once they're both seated.

Alex takes a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm okay," he answers, laughing a bit under his breath. "Dang, that's a bit of a rush," he comments, trying to stop his whole body from shaking in the wave of adrenaline running through his system.

"Right?" Willie agrees, shifting to take place their right hand in Alex's lap so he can play with their rings. "Dad took me out to do this back when I first came out," he adds. Then he laughs. "Well, not exactly, we got smoothies, not coffee. But he took me out somewhere no one we knew would be and let me put my name on the order."

Alex squeezes Willie's hand. "That's awesome," he murmurs. "Thank you, Willie, for sharing this with me."

Willie nods, his smile soft, and for a moment, their gaze seems to drift down toward Alex's lips. Alex licks them instinctively, glancing down at Willie's mouth. Almost without thinking, he leans forward just a bit...

"Alex?"

They both move back suddenly as the barista's voice echoes through the little shop. Alex glances over Willie's shoulder to see her setting a pair of to-go cups on the counter. Then he looks back at Willie and they both burst out laughing.

Alex gets up and grabs their drinks, calling a "Thank you," over his shoulder to the woman behind the counter. He hands Willie their drink and they head out the door.

Once they're outside, Alex takes a long sip of his drink. A little spark of joy forms in his chest when he catches sight of his name written in black sharpie on the side of the cup. When he looks back at Willie, they're giving him a wide, knowing smile.

"Feels good, right?" they say, taking his free hand.

Alex lets his gaze wander from the cup to his partner's smiling face to their hands tangled together between them. "Yeah, it does," he responds, squeezing his hand.