#teenagers are mean

[let-your-chaos-explode]

The Secrets of Lady Lesso - Chapter 5, Rumors

Rumors have a way of reframing the way you look at a person. Whether they’re true or not, they can make you question everything you’ve ever known about them. Rumors invite the imagination to get creative. And while often harmless, rumors could also bite. 

The students of the School for Good and Evil were rising heroes and villains waiting for their own epic tales to be written. But at the end of the day, they were still, at their core, children. And as children are prone to do…they gossip. That was how Professor Clarissa Dovey found herself in quite the predicament one spring morning. 

The sun glittered merrily outside, melting the last vestiges of the winter’s snow on the lawn. The bright rays through the window caught the crystal gem hanging against the glass and reflected colorful rainbows across the room. The dance of colors was truly beautiful and brought a wistful smile to her face. 

A tentative knock sounded against the office door, drawing Clarissa out of her wandering thoughts. It was soft enough that she wasn’t certain it had happened at all. A second knock followed, just as hesitant as the first. 

Clarissa rose from behind her desk and opened the office door, peering curiously out into the hall. A small Ever student, one of their youngest around age twelve, shuffled awkwardly in the threshold. 

“Elia, dear!” Dovey said with surprise. “What can I help you with?”

The poor child looked up at her with absolute dread etched across her features. 

“It’s about your wife, ma’am…”

“My wife?” She asked, confusion clear in her voice. 

“I told them not to do it, but they didn’t listen to me.” The girl exclaimed in a hurried rush. “They took her cane from the chair while she was yelling at Elliot.”

Heat pooled in her cheeks as she understood the implication before being washed away by the concern for her friend. 

“She was heading over to the School for Evil, but she didn’t look too good, ma’am. Snapped at me when I offered to help. I thought she might feel better if it was you.” 

“Thank you, Elia. You did the right thing.” Dovey hushed. “If you would please leave a note on my desk with the names of those students, I would be ever so grateful.”

She collected her skirts and started running down the hall. 

“Oh! And Elia... Please, let’s not use spousal terms when referring to the staff. It will be Lady Lesso or Dean Lesso from now on. She gets a bit tetchy about proper titles.” Clarissa called over her shoulder. 

She would deal with that at a later date…after she has had the opportunity to speak to Leonora about it. 

Clarissa made it to the dark castle in record time, despite her heels and cumbersome skirts. The halls were blessedly empty and she only had to navigate two corridors before finding the other woman. Lady Lesso was leaning against the grimy, stone wall in a darkened corner of the alcove. She was holding her thigh in a white-knuckled grasp and, even from this distance, she could see the pain in her posture. 

“Lady Lesso!” Dovey greeted casually as she closed the distance. “Fancy meeting you here!”

Upon closer inspection, Lesso’s face appeared unnaturally pale. Beads of sweat clung to her hairline and her hands trembled in her effort to appear composed. 

“I was just heading to your chambers to find you. I was hoping to get your opinion on a suitable punishment for a set of Ever students who believed that torturing others was great entertainment.”

“Of course.” Lesso grit through bared teeth. “I have several ideas, actually.”

“Oh, but my feet are killing me from these heels. Be a dear, and help me the rest of the way?”

Clarissa didn’t ask. She linked her arm with Leonora’s and pulled the taller woman’s weight onto her frame. To anyone else, it would have looked like they were going for another one of their evening strolls. To Lesso, it was an immediate relief to her throbbing leg. They finished the stretch of the corridor and turned into an archway with a spiral staircase heading to the corner tower. Halfway to the top, Leonora pulled away and sat on the stairs with a hiss of pain. 

“How can I help you right now?” Clarissa whispered, joining her on the step. 

Her hands hovered anxiously over Lesso’s bad leg with a lost expression painted on her face. 

“I’m fine.” Lesso groaned, slapping her hands away. “Let’s just keep moving. We’re almost there.”

A sharp frown pulled at Clarissa’s lips, but she allowed the avoidance. She stood and offered her arm once more to her struggling friend. Together, they stumbled up the remaining stairs and into Leonora’s private chambers. 

“What happened?” Clarissa asked her as she collapsed onto the edge of her bed. 

“Oh, I thought that was common knowledge. I trained Cerberus for Hades back in the day as a favor.” Lesso answered blankly. 

Dovey’s heart constricted at the emptiness in Lesso’s response. She wrinkled her nose and sat gingerly next to her on the bed, trapping Lesso’s hand between her both of her own. 

“You don’t have to pretend with me, Nora.” She whispered against the tears burning in her eyes. 

“Yes, yes, I’m fine Dove.” Leonora sighed. “Just wondering the best way to kill some teenagers and manage to keep my job.” 

Dovey snorted a laugh and leaned her head onto Lesso’s shoulder. “I may or may not have a list waiting on my desk of the students responsible.” 

“Little shits. Your little Evers were too cowardly to try something face to face, they had to team up while my back was turned!” 

“I'm sure it’s the only way anyone at this school could have possibly gotten away with it. I defer all consequences to you, dear.” 

“When I’m done with them, they’ll be the ones needing a cane.” Lesso muttered darkly. 

Dovey pulled away and dipped to the floor, pulling at the laces on Lesso’s stiletto boots. The Dean of Evil quirked a curious eyebrow but said nothing. 

“You kind of set yourself up for it, you know.” Clarissa stated matter-of-fact as she tucked the boots neatly under the bed. “You don’t let anyone get close to you and you keep them guessing. Me included! Especially when you spin your fantastical tales about your injury. They’re dumb teenagers, Leonora. I’m not saying what they did was right. I’m just saying they are testing their boundaries and they have no earthly idea as to what consequences might come of it.”

A pensive pout pulled at Lesso’s lips and Clarissa was overcome with the sudden desire to kiss it away. Shaking the thought away, she quickly stood and fled to the ensuite to retrieve a glass of water and some pain medication, using the opportunity to hide the blush surely forming on her cheeks. 

“You know, I heard this fascinating rumor today.” She heard Lesso shout over the sound of the faucet. 

“What did you hear?” Dovey questioned with genuine intrigue as she passed Lesso the pain relief. 

Clarissa allowed herself to relax on the already rumpled bedspread and propped her head up with her hand, looking at her friend curiously. Leonora set the glass on the nightstand and mirrored her position. 

“We look and sound like a couple of teenagers gossiping.” Clarissa giggled. 

“Oh, just you wait, Rissa.” Leonora barked with barely contained laughter. 

The redhead cleared her throat dramatically and lowered her voice into a stage whisper. 

“I heard some Ever boys saying some rather salacious comments about the lovely shape of…” She gestured rudely in the direction of her chest. “And then something about being a fairy godmother they’d like to…”

Clarissa’s offended gasp cut off the rest of Lesso’s statement. A wide and entirely too mirthful grin split across the Evil Dean’s face. 

“Based on the very descriptive details I overheard, I don’t think they were referencing our resident beauty teacher.” 

“While disgusting and highly inappropriate, that’s not exactly the definition of a rumor.” Dovey sputtered. 

The glee in Lesso’s eyes ignited and, if possible, her smile only widened. 

“One of your less than chivalrous boys asked how long the rest of them thought we had been dirty dancing for. Elliot, I believe his name was? He had some rather imaginative scenarios as to what we really do during the weekly staff meetings. Should I describe it for you?”

Clarissa choked on her own saliva and said a silent  prayer to the Storian to kill her now. Lady Lesso must have seen the mortification plain on her face, as she finally released the uncontrollable laughter she had been holding back. 

“I will cherish the horror that dawned on their faces the second they saw me behind him for as long as I shall live.” Leonora sighed as her laughter dissipated, wiping the joyful tears from her eyes. 

Dovey was still recovering from the heat of embarrassment and covered her face with her hands. She couldn’t look at her. If she looked at her, it was over. Lesso would be able to see the want and love staring back at her and this farce of being happy with merely friendship would be over. 

“Well, as a Dean of this hallowed institution, I, of course, could not let this behavior abide. While delivering a verbal reprimand, one of yours thought it would be hilarious to take my cane. And here we are.” Leonora concluded. 

“Well thank you for defending my honor.” Dovey said with only a hint of sarcasm from behind her fingers. 

Lesso let quietness settle between them. The stillness was comfortable, but she could feel the unexplained tension rolling off of the Fairy Godmother. 

“Thank you for coming to find me. I know that Ava girl sent for you.” She said quietly. 

“Elia.” Clarissa corrected. 

“I’m not a liar!”

Clarissa rolled her eyes at Leonora’s antics and didn’t fight the smile pulling at her lips. Lesso gave her a small smile in return, relieved to feel the tension dissipating with her terrible joke. 

“Leonora, how do you deal with all the rumors?” Dovey asked after a beat. 

The question was soft in its earnestness. Though quietly spoken, the weight of it seemed to fill the room. Clarissa watched as Leonora’s eyebrows knitted together in thought. A contemplative hum reverberated in her throat and she rolled herself to her belly. Lesso rested her head in the cradle of her folded arms and studied Clarissa intently. 

“It has been my experience that people are going to talk, no matter what you say or do.” She said slowly, choosing her words carefully. “No amount of threatening or punishment truly makes it stop. They just find other ways to communicate it. I have found that dealing with it, as you say, is more about not letting the things that are said affect me.”

“How do you do that?” Clarissa probed with genuine interest. 

“Well…” Lesso drawled. “I can’t be surprised or offended by a rumor if I’m the one creating it. I like to get ahead of the curve. It lets me control the narrative.”

The Fairy Godmother closed her eyes and nodded in a sorrowful understanding. 

“That’s why you make up stories about your leg.”

“It’s…easier than having to listen to idiots try to guess about something so outside of what their teeny tiny brains could possibly understand.”

Leonora shrugged her shoulders and pushed herself off the mattress. She held out her hand and helped Clarissa to her feet. 

“Come on, princess. At this rate, we are going to miss lunch.”

She rummaged through the wardrobe and retrieved the raven-headed cane and opened the door. 

“And we don’t need any more of those kinds of rumors going around.” She joked with a flirty wink. 

Clarissa flushed once more and let loose a nervous laugh. “About that…I heard this lovely little rumor from Elia this morning…”

“Who?” Lesso asked with feigned ignorance. 

Dovey’s expression fell flat and she deadpanned, “Ava.”

“Oh! Yes! Delightful girl, that one.” Lesso smirked. 

The pair began their descent down the staircase and into the hall. 

“How do you feel about a spring wedding?” 

Clarissa felt a broad smirk of her own form as Leonora’s steps beside her faltered. Maybe she wasn’t the only one feeling so affected by the implications of wild gossip. 

Chapter 4 (previous chapter)

Chapter 3

Chapter 2

Chapter 1

[sharkboywrites]

Starting my own Etsy business and learning how to sell and ship things is scary, but I think making an instagram for it where the mean teenagers from my school can find it is another level of terrifying

[lizard-dumbass]

I'm dressing up for halloween purposes for school tomorrow and holy fuck am i scared

[gothcoast]

coming home to my cats after a hectic day🫶🏼

[observinghenrywinter]

[ruby-red-inky-blue]

hello, sexiest man alive committee? yes I'd love to nominate Lou Wilson and Brian Murphy for attempting to speed-write an actual in-universe 300-word essay in 5 minutes of real time as Fabian and Riz posing as Fabian with complete earnest and a 120 percent commitment. both this effort and the incredibly smooth hand-off in the middle of it was maybe the most attractive thing i've ever seen a man do

yes it's a dungeons and dragons show. don't put me on hold. hello

[dollyticia]

✩ ⋆｡° 𖦹 ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧⋆ ˚｡⋆𖦹⋆｡°✩⋆

✩ ⋆｡° 𖦹 ⋆ ˚｡⋆lux lisbon girls ⋆ ˚｡⋆𖦹⋆｡°✩⋆

[haunted-xander]

Well, I guess you didn't have much of a choice either

[lyuhsk]

[ministarfruit]

day 24: plagued by the horrors ♡

(femslashfeb prompt list)

[missmisnomer]

POV you are a single mutant rat-dad trying to keep four rambunctious boys from tearing the damn house and each other apart. Four boys who also just so happen to be turtle-tots roided up on experimental supersoldier juice that was pumped into them by their other megalomaniac father who was hell-bent on destroying humanity.

🌟 Good luck babe 🌟

More Rise silliness [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ]

[classy-thief]

🌻🌺 THANK YOU GUYS FOR OVER 2K FOLLOWERS!! 🎉🎉

Here's a drawing we collabed on to celebrate and to show our appreciation! Thank you guys again!! <3

[bacchuschucklefuck]

soon it'll be dawn again

transcript under the cut ⏬

page 01

Fig: no way? - you're still up?

Riz: Wh– yes?

Riz: Why'd I not be.

page 02

Fig: I me~~ean - that took.

Fig: whole day.

Riz: Yeah?

Fig: 'm beat.

Riz: you should sleep.

page 03

Fig: nah. my guy's still up

Fig: I wanna hang out.

page 04

Riz: That's really nice.

Fig: Hah! - Nobody ever expects an Archdevil rockstar to be nice.

Riz: … yeah. - 's just budget work tho. (the stuff I'm working on) - I've heard it's boring.

page 05

Fig: yeah, but you do it…

Riz: It keeps things going, right? - Nothing happens if nobody sits down and - does the thing.

Fig: That's right… - though. Yeah.

page 06

Fig: sometimes it's someone else who - doesn't want the same thing to happen.

Riz: … - mm.

page 07

Riz (off screen): …It took me a long time to get that not everyone likes doing what I do. - 's probably because you guys are so nice– - or. - kind.

Riz (off screen): to anyone too, not just. - the people you /love/.

page 08

Riz: that's not how it is elsewhere. - The world's– not. hostile. - but 's not like it's kind.

Riz: So I'm doing as much as I can now… 

page 09

Fig: Hey.

Riz: ?

Fig: Go dig some dirt with me.

page 10

Riz: [blank speech bubble] - oh you meant like - actual dirt. (not incriminating information)

Fig: o yea.

Fig: there's clay in the backyard soil. - sometimes when I'm sun deficient or something I go touch dirt for a bit.

page 11

Fig: here u go

page 12

Riz: uh

Fig: now we make a thing! - 'm pretty good at freehanding a bowl.

Fig: I'll show u

page 13

Fig: just– yep, flatten that out as evenly as u can, then–! - actually ur nails'd be so good at cutting out the strip. [larger than usual space] wait. - wait. wait u can carve patterns with them! we HAVE to try

Riz: uh - What. do I carve?

Fig: anything!!!

page 14

Fig: and– yep just seal the inside uh. seam?

Fig: yep that works - okay time's up! all contestant hands up

Riz: [blank speech bubble] - okay - wh. what's next?

Fig: haha - watch this.

(sound effect text): FWOO—MP

page 15

Riz: WH– DON'T JUST DO THAT???

Fig: Now it's fired!

Riz: THAT WAS NOT SAFE

Fig: (actually it's just dry. if u add water rn it'll dissolve)

Fig: ok catch!

Riz: [blank speech bubble] - careful!!

Fig: dw no need haha

page 16

Riz (thought bubble): oh - it's warm…

Fig: now I want you to throw this.

page 17

Fig: u gotta do it - c'mon

page 18

Riz: wh– - It's like 3AM right now

Fig: oh it's not /fired/ fired it's not gonna make a loud noise

Riz: And then just? leave a pile out here?

Fig: pour water over it & it'll be gone I told u

Riz: but

page 19

Fig (off screen): RIz.

page 20

Fig: I've done all this before.

Fig: Can you trust that at least?

page 21

Riz: no, I– - I do. - I trust you.

page 23

Riz: okay what happens now

(sound effect text): glob

page 24

Fig: we do it again!

page 25

Riz: wh. [larger than usual space] What do you mean. (this clay's too wet also)

Fig: see! you're already learning

Fig: [blank speech bubble] - there are flows that are futile to fight. - The world changes.

Fig: Things change.

page 26

Fig: I've learned my lessons with "forevers". - But - as an artist

Fig: I can give you one thing: - You can always do it again.

page 27

Fig: most of everything depends on the rest of the world, - but this. - making new. - that's yours as long as you want it.

page 28

Fig: So?

page 29

Riz: Yeah. - Yeah! - let's make another one.

[onionninjasstuff]

[luriuan]

Sokka and Zuko get SO much funnier when you remember this is both of their first times talking to another teenage boy in years. Sokka had all the other boys leave the tribe when he was little and Zuko just hasn’t talked to other teenage boys. They wanna be friends but have absolutely no clue how to talk to other teenagers. I love them so much.

[pandorem]

Ok fiiiine I don’t even really go here but my brain conjured up the idea of Steve Harrington, pre season 4, like after school picking up the kiddos after Hellfire, defending Lucas’s sports playing to his friends and Eddie. Like “wait I thought you liked nonconformity, or does it only count if it’s about the stuff you like? Let the kid do the things he likes, man”. Which is something they all need to hear I think but then it turns into Steve COMPLETELY obliviously and accidentally turning it into “it’s ok to be Bi” subtext.

Like “you can be more than one thing, you know? It’s ok to like both. They don’t have to cancel each other out.”

And the kids maybe aren’t picking up on anything but maybe one or two of them are subconsciously like “you can??? This is good to know and keep in my mind for future crises” meanwhile Eddie is like “Holy fucking shit is STEVE HARRINGTON bisexual?” and being launched head first into a crisis of his own.

It is so, so important to me that Steve has no idea that he’s doing this, and may not even be aware that he himself is, in fact, bi.