#fun fact: the professors started the class yesterday in last year's team

[swish-swish-nyoom-nyoom]

.

#m.i.a. computational linguistics 2 class update: #i was going to write an email to the professor asking for the link of the team bc it's still not up #but before i did that i looked at yesterday's slides on the course moodle #and there was a /google sheet/ where students are supposed to sign up #found out that way that a person i knew from undergrad was taking that class #so i wrote her and she added me to the team #fun fact: the professors started the class yesterday in last year's team #this is going to be so messy but at least if the dumpster is on fire and rolling down a hill i am on board and ready to experience all of i #*all of it #personal

[bellasweetwriting]

Mysterious Girlfriend

Spencer Reid x Latina Reader

(not my gif)

masterlist

plot: Spencer Reid has a new girlfriend, and no matter how much evidence he has, Morgan and Hotch does not believe she exists

warnings: most fluff, kissing, criminal minds typical stuff

notes: this is s3-s4 spencer

word count: 1,8k

— • • • —

"Doctor!" Yelled Rossi arriving at where Spencer was filling his paperwork. "What are your plans tonight?"

"As if Reid has ever had plans in his life, " mocked Morgan.

"I actually do have plans tonight, Derek, " answered Reid surprising the BAU who could not believe the words that came out of Spencer’s mouth.

"Oh, really?" Questioned Morgan, putting down his paperwork. "You, Spencer Reid, have plans on a Friday night?"

"Yep... why? You don't?" That reply caught the attention of everyone, who started laughing. "I think it's the first time I have plans and you don't, isn't it?"

Morgan rolled his eyes. He didn't believe him. Reid doesn't go out, and if he does, he always goes out with the team, not on his own.

"And what plans do you have?"

"I'm going dancing tonight." That generated surprise from everyone.

"Reid, I've seen you dance, it’s embarrassing. Come up with a better lie next time, " intervened Emily sipping the last drop from her coffee.

"Oh, I'm aware of that, Emily. It's just that I got the perfect teacher." And with that, Rossi laughed.

"No way... she?" Reid nodded. "Did she finally say yes?"

"We've been dating for a month now, " announced Spencer with a big smile, confusing their other colleagues who didn't understand what was going on. "She's perfect."

"Wait, not only you have plans on a Friday night—" interrupted Hotch looking at the young Doctor—" but also you have a girlfriend?"

"And Rossi knows about her and we don't?" Asked Morgan. "Who are you?"

But at that moment, JJ interrupted the chit chat with a file on her hands, making everyone complain.

"Sorry, guys, it's urgent!" She yelled. "Cancel your plans."

"Conference room in five minutes, " announced Hotch.

"We’ll talk about this in the jet, pretty boy, " said Morgan to him before leaving towards the conference room with a coffee in his hand.

— • • • —

Morgan didn't waste a second and sat in front of Reid on the plain. The entire team was curious about Reid’s new "girlfriend" who Reid wouldn't give details about other than the fact that she could dance.

"Give me a name, " demanded Morgan and Spencer laughed.

"So that Garcia can investigate her? No thanks."

"Where does she work?" Asked Derek.

"At a college."

"She's a student or some?"

"What? No! She works at a college, not attends college."

"Don't forget to add—" interrupted Rossi— "that she's Latina." Reid nodded with a smile.

Derek was dying internally. If this girl was fake, he would never forgive Spencer for playing with his mind, but if she was real, it could be the biggest thing that has happened in the entire year.

"What does she do at this college?" Questioned Hotch who specifically said in the conference room that they were not going to interrogate more about Spencer’s mysterious girlfriend, but not even him could resist the curiosity.

"She's a professor, " answered Reid.

"You also wanna know, sir?" Asked Emily to Hotch and he nodded.

"Reid with a Latina girlfriend isn't something that happens every day, " pointed Hotch before looking at Reid again. "How old is she?"

"My age."

"That's impossible. She doesn't exist, " determined Morgan with a cocky smile. "A professor your age, Latina, interested in you? That's the perfect woman!"

Reid leaned in closer and smile. "I know... that's why I'm dating her, Morgan."

Morgan pointed at him with his index finger while Reid chuckled.

"Son of a bitch, " murmured Morgan. "I'm gonna demonstrate that this girl is fake."

"Why don't you do a bet?" Offered JJ, gaining the team's attention. "If Morgan can prove by the time we go home that Reid’s girlfriend is fake, Reid gives him something that he wants."

"I like that, " said Derek with a smile. "I have till the end of the case to prove that you are lying. If I do, you give me twenty bucks."

"Make it forty and we split, " interrupted Hotch sitting next to Morgan. "I'll help Morgan."

"Fine!" Accepted Reid. "I want to see what you guys come up with. But if you fail, between the two you have to give me forty bucks. Deal?"

"Deal, " agreed Morgan, and Hotch nodded. It was a closed deal.

— • • • —

"How are we gonna prove that Reid is lying?" Asked Morgan to Hotch.

"Reid isn't a good liar. There's gonna be something in his story that is not going to make sense, he's gonna make a mistake and that's how we are going to prove his lie. While we wait for that, get Garcia to look for a list of twenty-seven-year-old professors in colleges around the state. There shouldn't be much, she should try the whole country."

"On it." Morgan walked away, calling Garcia.

"What's up, sweetheart?" Asked Penelope on the other side of the line.

"Hey, baby girl, I need something."

"I’m all ears."

"I need a list of Latina professors around the country, twenty-seven-year-olds to be specific, works in a college."

"Nah, I'm not doing that, " said, confusing Morgan. "JJ told me about the bet with Hotch and Reid and I certainly know this is not for the case."

"Come on, girl, I need it."

"I'm sorry but Spencer prohibited me to research his girlfriend like two weeks ago. He made me promise in front of him that I wouldn't do it. And he called me when you guys got off the plane."

"He did what!?" Exclaimed Morgan, getting Hotch’s attention.

"He warned me that you and Hotch would try to get information on his girlfriend and he said that he would give me half of the forty bucks if I didn't help you. And I love you, chocolate baby, but I also love twenty bucks. Call me when involves something about the case. Bye, baby."

And with that, Garcia hung up the phone. Derek walked madly towards Hotch, who was looking at him confused.

"Reid bribed Garcia so she wouldn't give us any info."

"We could use that in our favor." Morgan looked at him confused. "Why would Reid bribe Garcia to not give us the information to prove that she's real if he isn't lying?"

"He doesn't want Garcia to look her up because she isn't real!" Hotch nodded. "These are going to be the sweetest twenty bucks I’ve ever received, baby. Let’s go!"

— • • • —

By the end of the case, Morgan and Hotch had collected all the information that they needed to win the bet. The whole team entered the jet, and both sat down in front of Reid filled with adrenaline, ready to prove that Reid’s girlfriend isn't real.

"Prepare the forty bucks, pretty boy." Spencer put down his book and looked over to his colleagues, pretty sure that they had nothing. "You bribed Garcia so she wouldn't do any research on your «girlfriend». Why would you prevent us from finding actual evidence of her existence if she isn't real?"

"What's the fun in that? For that, I would have called Garcia myself in front of you and made her look my girlfriend up and I would already have the forty bucks. That's all you have?"

"We asked you if she worked in the city and you said she worked outside the state, but that you met her with Rossi when you attended one of her classes in Virginia. How's that?"

"Well... she gives different lectures around different states. She was giving one in Virginia when I met her, but she doesn't live in Virginia"

Hotch and Morgan had so much evidence, but Reid had an answer for everything.

"You could still be lying! You aren't giving us her name, or what college she works in. You are just giving us random facts that you could’ve made up, " said Hotch. "There's no way to prove that you are telling the truth."

"And there isn't evidence to prove I'm lying, either. Why don't you guys just give up and give me my forty bucks?" Questioned Spencer.

"Or why don't you just simply agree that no one won?" Interrupted Emily. "You guys couldn't prove he is lying but no one is sure that she exists, Spencer, so you didn't win either. Just forget it."

"You believe that she exists, Prentiss?" Asked Morgan.

"Oh, no, she's fake, but Reid did you good. You can't prove it."

And with that, Morgan and Hotch gave up.

— • • • —

As soon as they arrived at the office, everyone sat down and filled his paperwork. When Spencer left to the bathroom, Morgan wasn't slow to get up and look over Reid’s desk.

"What are you doing?" Questioned Hotch as soon as he saw him, making the rest of the team look too. "Morgan—"

"I'm gonna prove this kid is lying. There’s gotta be something here that shows what really was gonna do Spencer yesterday."

"Y/N!" Rossi yelled, catching everyone’s attention.

A girl in a red dress with a leather jacket on top walked towards Rossi with a smile. She was young, beautiful with gorgeous y/e/c eyes who brightened the entire office. No one could stop looking at you.

"SSA Rossi! How are you doing? Haven't seen you for so long!" Exclaimed Y/N with a smile. "And this must be the team."

"I'm Derek." Morgan presented himself, standing up quickly from Spencer’s chair. "You are?"

"Y/N, " you repeated your name. Rossi introduced all the members and you greeted each one. "It's a pleasure to meet you, I've heard a lot about you."

"How do you know Agent Rossi?" Asked Hotch and Y/N smiled.

"I met him about two months ago? Three months? He assisted one of my lectures with Spencer."

Derek turned around to look at Hotch. There was no way.

"You..." started Morgan, not believing what he was hearing. "You are the professor."

"I guess," Y/N said with a smile.

"Baby!" They heard Spencer exclaiming as he came back from the bathroom. The professor walked towards him and he kissed her softly on the lips for a few seconds before pulling away. "What are you doing here? I was going to pick you up."

"I know, just... wanted to see you. After you canceled our plans yesterday—"

"I’m so sorry about that. I had an urgent case.”

"It’s okay," she interrupted. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah just let me give quickly my paperwork to Hotch," said Reid, walking towards his desk and giving Hotch his file. "Guys, did you meet Y/N?"

"Yeah we did," whispered Derek.

"Wonderful surprise," added Hotch.

Reid laughed.

"I’ll claim my forty bucks tomorrow," said the doctor with a smile before grabbing Y/N’s hand and interlocking their fingers. "See you Monday! Do not call!"

"Adios," said Y/N with a smile.

"Have fun!" Exclaimed JJ as they both left. "I can’t believe it."

"I can’t believe I felt attracted to Reid’s girlfriend," mumbled Derek. "I need to see a doctor, I’m having a heart attack."

"Reid’s got a girlfriend," whispered Emily. "Wow..."

#criminal minds #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid #fiction #fanfiction #fanfic

[chaislatt]

WAYV AS HOGWARTS STUDENTS

QIAN KUN

ravenclaw , head boy, muggleborn

excels in every class he takes

when he first discovered he was magic, he flipped out

he had a matilda episode in his room one night

he was staring intently at his toy planes, wondering how it would be like to fly one someday

then suddenly it just?? levitated??

as an eight year old, he did the only thing he could do in such situations—scream bloody murder

first year : in his newly pressed robes and neatly gelled hair, sat at an empty compartment and started reading his textbooks

until the compartment door opened and a cat just walked over him

“oh sorry, leon doesn’t behave very well” says ten who he did not think would stick around but guess what? his cats liked him

being sorted into ravenclaw, he quickly became famous for being the smartest and wittiest most sensible? wizard of his year

he was especially great at charms got so surprised that there was an incantation to make things float, since all he has been doing is just think it (flitwick got a shock at his first year doing wandless magic)

as he grew older, almost everyone depended on him for help in everything

he couldn’t go a day walking in the corridors without someone asking to meet up at the library or thanking him because they aced their tests

but of course, this little ravenclaw had a limit

he didn’t mean to, but one day he just snapped at a poor gryffindor who kept bugging him to meet at the courtyard to practice spells (everyone finally left him alone, too scared to face the wrath of a wizard who knows all the spells for duelling)

OWLS year—the most memorable year for him, as he and ten spent nights in the library (and sometimes in the kitchen but if anyone asks only ten was in there) studying their bums off

that summer, ten just received a holler from him (surprise! he got all o’s)

naturally, he had been picked for prefect and head boy

the first years LOVED him

he taught them all the secrets to their tower and even handed them a parchment full of riddle answers, because let’s be real, even though you’re a ravenclaw doesn’t necessarily mean you want to use your head all the time

eats at the hufflepuff table because they have better breakfast items

adopted a whole assortment of kids with ten (winwin kinda just sticked around because yangyang was his buddy)

would be the boys’ go to— from pesky spells, ink blotts on their robes, th right grams for mandrake powder, they all depended on him for it

hendery was once asked why he wasn’t scared of him (knowing what happened before)

“he’s not dumb enough to duel someone because they’re bugging him. that’s why he’s in ravenclaw”

overall 9/10. minus one point because he still feels the need to get the last remark in everything.

LI YONGQIN

hufflepuff, pureblood

loves hanging out at the common room

doesn't really care much for grades, but does his best when studying

his housemates call him a sloth

moves so slow, especially in the mornings

likes taking walks along the corridors because it's fun to see other students rush and run to their classes while he walks a leisurely pace

always has his tie loosened

sometimes, he doesn't even tie it, he just wraps it around his collar and hope no one notices everyone does

has a talent for transfiguration

will turn anything into cat snacks

he once turned his homework in kibble and his excuse was "my cat ate it"

befriends all the cats in hogwarts

sometimes he lays down at the courtyard and they all just gather around him

one legendary moment (as lucas likes to call it) was when he was walking down the corrider and a train of cats just followed behind him in a single file

sweet wizard boy, befriends humans as well

he's so likeable, everyone just feels drawn to him

has this laidback energy that feels like a breath of fresh air when things get hectic in the castle

speaking of fresh air

he likes to stroll around outside, most of the time dragging yangyang and winwin out with him

"winwin could use the fresh air and your voice doesn't echo" - ten to yangyang

his sister is friends with yangyang's sister, so growing up he kind of babysat the three whenever their families would be together

he didn't imagine that it would continue during school, but poor winwin looked like he just wanted to get his head bitten off

despite having a lot of friends, he sticks with kun most of the time because he's not as chatty when he's focused (and kun is focused all the time so)

his favourite thing to do anywhere is lay down on his back and play with his wand, sending wisps of magic swirling around in the air, creating beautiful artwork

received pencils and a notebook from kun so he could just draw because "your magic might hit someone and i do not want to be involved with any of that"

doodles all the time

he likes to draw butterflies and magic them off of the paper and makes them follow his friends around

doesn't really say much when no one's talking to him, but will keep the conversation going casually

wanted to become a prefect so he could have his own bathroom

would patrol around at night with his cats (hendery jokes how he looks like filch and now he takes his filch impersonation seriously)

when catching students, he makes obvious remarks like "oh wow good to know that there aren't any gryffindors in this corridor! it would be an awful hassle to report them. good thing everyone's in their chambers!"

very lenient on students he doesn't know, but will threaten those he does and ask for something in return

accidentally gave yangyang the idea of becoming a prefect so he needn't have to worry at night

also accidentally gives yangyang dare ideas to give to hendery

he doesn't mean it! most of the time

overall 10/10. everything is cancelled out by the fact that he goes around the castle with atleast 2 cats following him around.

DONG SICHENG

slytherin, pureblood

mr frowns-a-lot, mr don’t-talk-to-me, mr i-want-to-go-back-to-my-dorm

the most stereotyped slytherin

first years believe that slytherins are scary because of him (but they immediately get debunked by hendery “you’re scared of a tall dude who gets tired from talking and likes to eat chocolate? yeah okay”)

but yes this not so little bean finds talking draining

it’s not that he doesn’t want to, but why would he have to talk about his day when as far as he knows, everyone just did the same thing he did??

you can barely get a sentence out of him

will reply with nods or shrugs and just point or look at things

only talks during class when the professors ask him questions

yangyang bugs him the most

when he got assigned to take care of this chatty, full of energy first year he almost cried

ended up just following him around and yanking the back of his robes to stop him from getting into trouble

because of this, yangyang’s friend are his friends

first got introduced to xiaojun, lucas, and hendery

ended up becoming a babysitter for four

when he met ten, he almost cried again, but now out of happiness  because he got yangyang to shut up

met kun last, and immediately took a liking to him for no reason at all

no one knows how, but suddenly mr-i-dont-want-to-do-anything started getting more mischievous and talkative

the whole hall got surprised when he laughed at lucas’ lame joke

this may be an exaggeration but the boy doesn’t even smile

after this incident, lucas just kept talking to him and he just kept replying, and pretty soon the four little troublemakers would joke around with him and he’d just sit back with kun and ten when he got too tired

this made him attractive

but unlike lucas who got confessed to everyday, there was no one who confessed to him

he didn’t really talk to anyone else and just minded his own business when he was alone, so everyone was too scared to confess to him

which is a huge relief to him because the not so little bean is actually very awkward

proven when hendery accepted yangyang’s dare of going right up in winwin’s face omygod when i tell you his whole face turned red

he avoided hendery for a week until he realized it was too hard since they have most of their classes together??

speaking of classes, it’s a miracle how he just passes everything since no one actually ever sees him studying or doing homework

it’s like everything he does is magic well

overall 7/10. doesn’t really try that much and will only voluntarily hang out with kun.

HUANG XUXI

hufflepuff, halfblood

was tiny, like a little bug

no one knows when he got so tall (summer of second year, he had to buy new robes for third year because they were already too short)

spends breakfast half awake, focusing on eating his meal and listening to yangyang complain about how hard his transfiguration classes yesterday were

he’s never around for dinner because he’s always at the pitch and no one has the energy to talk to yangyang in the mornings so he’s the poor guy

everyone loves him, no one can find a single thing to hate about him even if they tried

loves care for magical creatures with hagrid (he measures his height with the half-giant)

other classes? not so much

sure he tried a little bit, but why would he need to transfigure something into a pen when he could just look for one, and why would he need to concoct a drowsiness potion if he can just will himself to sleep

speaking of sleep, he does that a lot

he likes to wait for xiaojun during fourth period because they had arithmancy next, and he would lean against the corridor and sleep

learned how to sleep hunched over so it looked like he was focusing on class (begs whoever he’s sitting with to wake him up)

why does he do this?

“i’m saving up my energy for later”

he’s a quidditch beast

part of the quidditch team, originally tried out for seeker but they realized he couldn’t go fast enough without loosing his balance on his broom

he switched to being a beater, which the team found out he was very good at aha great power comes with great biceps

everyone falls in love with him when he’s on the pitch

he looks big and scary and ultra focused

and they realized after 3 games that he focuses so much because he aims the bludger to hit the player’s upper thigh only (this prevents player from taking a fall and just bruise, not break a bone)

once he accidentally sent his bludger flying too hard and knocked the chaser off, but he was faster than the seeker and caught them (followed the poor chaser for a week saying sorry and giving them semi burnt cookies he made with xiaojun)

gets confessed to every other day and just says “thanks”

but why don’t you ever reject them? 

why deny that i’m handsome?

that makes no sense

as with rejecting them! 

but truly is an angel

he even got winwin to actually converse with him

he makes everyone feel comfortable, talks to everyone and just hangs around when they don’t want to, offering company

overall 10/10. his cockiness about his looks just makes him endearing since everyone knows he can’t break someone’s heart.

XIAO DEJUN

ravenclaw, halfblood

kun’s reincarnation

but there’s one problem

he’s still immature

you would think he’s the prime example of a ravenclaw

practices his passions all the time

likes doing brain-productive things

reads about anything he finds interesting

goes in and out of their tower because he thinks solving the riddles is fun

but ho ho ho oh oh no

he’s a little devil

makes snarky comebacks under his breath that takes a little bit for you to understand

makes things harder on purpose just for fun and because he’ll be the only one able to do it

has a joke for EVERYTHING and never repeats them so i guess he can get away with that

he’s a little menace to the society but he can get away with it because it’s all just minor inconveniences

but we all know minor inconveniences are the most annoying things

likes to annoy kun the most because he understands and reacts immediately

doesn’t like to annoy the hufflepuffs because they just smile at him in confusion

despite that, he’s also a little sweetheart

remembers everything his friends say, so he’s always there to remind them

reminds kun about a test he has to retake, ten about his changing patrolling schedule, winwin’s meeting with a professor, lucas’ need to polish his broom after dinner, hendery’s homework, and yangyang about that incoming howler from his parents

when he realized he’s such a great asset, he became a bit nosy too

likes to meddle with all of his friends’ business

so if someone wants to find any of the six, he can tell you a vague description where they are

because of course he’s not gonna tell you lucas is by the lake practicing his swinging, he’s gonna tell you he’s brushing up on his quidditch skills so you’d go running to the pitch

this way he’s not technically doing anything wrong to both parties

one day, kun asks why he likes doing this

“it makes me feel like a king maker. feeding things into their tiny brains and knowing exactly what they’ll be doing”

“that’s not exactly what a king maker does”

“yeah but does it look like i want them to be more powerful than me?”

co-parents a dog with lucas

aka lucas asked him to take care of bella while he’s in practice but he forgot to take her back with him for 2 days so now bella thinks she lives in the ravenclaw tower too

does random errands for his friends as a way of apologizing (but really just as a leverage so he can cause more trouble)

his ultimate goal was to brainwash everyone so they couldn’t live without him and he succeeded????

now they’re the receiving end of all the sermons his professors give him (you wouldn’t expect it, but he causes quite a ruckus in class)

but still, at the end of the day, they choose to sit next to him at the ravenclaw table during dinner

overall 7/10. he’s annoying, but he’s good at everything he does and helps his friends out in different ways. which makes him more annoying because why? why not

HUANG GUANHENG

gryffindor, muggleborn

does not understand magic. like at all

the only reason he’s still managing is because he refuses to be beaten by xiaojun

he doesn’t know why he’s in gryffindor but anyone who’s ever met him can vouch for the sorting hat

he’s courageous in the way he faces learning magic (it won’t hurt me, i’m magic) he's brave to speak up to anyone and ask for help when he needs it, and most of all, he has the nerve to get right into winwin’s face

surprisingly good at harder spells than that of his year level, so he’s in a few higher level classes

the reason being he wants to save face when with upperclassmen so he actually focuses real hard and actually understands 

because when he’s with his friends, his mind goes wandering and he can’t focus his magic 

a very strange wizard indeed

imagine getting help from xiaojun to levitate a piece of parchment but can explain to ten how to brew an advanced potion

he’s very confident in his abilities

why would he be nervous to stay after curfew??

if filch catches you

then don’t i just have to avoid him??

but has realistic fears

will not go near a broom

yeah okay the broom can fly, but can he?? he can’t even levitate a piece of parchment, how can he levitate himself?

also very practical

lucas kept struggling since he kept spilling his ink pot so he handed him a pen

“dude i forgot these existed!” “who writes with feathers??”

the most laid back yet extra ordinary wizard ever

you can start a conversation with him and he can keep it going for hours on end

very friendly, will talk to anyone but the downside to this is that he talks to everyone like they’re his friends asdkjshjkd even mcgonagall

overall 7/10. uses magic to solve trivial muggle things and still makes bets with yangyang up to this day.

LIU YANGYANG

slytherin, pureblood

a force to be reckoned with

spend a day with him and your ears will bleed

why?? does?? he?? talk?? so?? much??

his friends always complain but everyone else in the castle can’t see why

in the eyes of a stranger, he’s actually cold and reserved, hard to approach

but if you actually knew him

oh boy you’d want to not

can talk for hours

he and hendery wanted to know just how long he could talk

so they timed it

talked for 9 hours straight, no one knows how they managed

good thing this talking is actually useful

he likes to recite during class, always has a lengthy explanation for his answers

people aren’t the only one he talks to

he talks to the ghosts and to the paintings, greeting them a lovely day or whatever

besides talking, he also has another passion–quidditch

he plays as chaser for his house, often times taking his time to freshen up, so he goes back at about midnight during thursdays

good thing ten patrols during thursdays

speaking of ten, he’s been a brother figure for him all his life

so when he was introduced to winwin, he got so excited because he had another brother

by the end of the night, fourth year winwin knew everything about first year yangyang

he loooves his buddy

tries to do everything with winwin but he doesn’t let him

despite being too much to handle, winwin actually likes him too (but don’t let yangyang know)

likes to do dumb dares with hendery

isn’t really into pranking and getting all up into other’s business, so they manage their mischief between the two of them

and the whole of hogwarts just enjoys and guesses which of the two would be the one running around the great hall in their pajamas

yangyang actually encourages his fellow slytherins to stop sticking among themselves

mostly because he’s tired of them bugging him to “go ask your gryffindor friend if there’s homework on-”

at the end of the day, all his slytherin friends have been adopted by ten, took a liking to kun, and watches lucas, xiaojun and hendery fool around for entertainment

that being said, he loves his friends

thankful that he has classes with at least one of them for all his classes

all his professors have learned to sit him next to them, otherwise he’ll just slack off and stare into oblivion

he’s actually more productive when he has someone to remind him to be

okay maybe sitting him next to hendery wouldn’t result to school productivity

overall 9/10. it would be an 8 but he actually does acknowledge he talks too much.

#chaislatt #wayv as #kun #kun x reader #wayv kun #wayv kun x reader #ten #ten x reader #wayv ten #wayv ten x reader #winwin #winwin x reader #wayv winwin #wayv winwin x reader #lucas #lucas x reader #wayv lucas #wayv lucas x reader #xiaojun #xiaojun x reader #wayv xiaojun #wayv xiaojun x reader #hendery #hendery x reader #wayv hendery #wayv hendery x reader #yangyang #yangyang x reader #wayv yangyang #wayv yangyang x reader

[jalapeno-princess]

Bad For You Chapter 1

Fuckboy Mark Tuan X Reader

Genre: Angst, fluff (in future chapters), smut(maybe in a future chapter I’m still debating how I feel about that)

Word Count: 4.4K

Summary: Being a senior in college with less than two semesters in your entire educational career, you try your best not to get stuck in situations that will bring you any kind of stress. Unlike most of your classmates, you never searched for entertainment and fun in the college nightlife; partying, clubbing, getting drunk, high and hooking up with random strangers. You believed in working towards what will benefit you in the future. One day, your English professor gives you the opportunity of a lifetime; to pass his class without having to do anything at all. Most students would jump at his offer without hesitation. But what happens when what he’s asking of you just so happens to be the last thing you would ever find yourself wanting to do? Tutoring the same person you vowed never to get involved with? Mark Tuan was bad news and you’ve sworn to yourself that you wouldn’t interact with him under any circumstances. However, the offer is too good to refuse, but will it really be worth it in the end?

A/N: Hey guys! So this is the first chapter of my new series and I already have an idea of how I’m going to go about with this story I hope everything works out the way I want it to. I’m expecting to have about 5-6 chapters, but then again I never go through with what I plan. This first chapter is just an introduction as to how the main characters meet and so it might be kind of boring and more of a filler chapter but I’m sure the next one will be more interesting. Please enjoy!

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

The sound of a clock ticking during a very important exam that was worth more than half of your grade had to be one of the most annoying and infuriating noises in the entire world; you were sure of it. 

That damn clock on the wall mocked you—with each click, you could feel yourself getting closer and closer to the brink of insanity. Honestly, you wouldn’t be surprised if you were to scream out in frustration and cause every one of your classmates to turn and look at you as if you were a wild animal. You sure felt like one. 

It was as though every time the big hand moved, you’d forget one important piece of information that you studied multiple hours for in order to memorize. No matter how many all-nighters you pulled in the last week, all the notes that you took and repeatedly looked over—nothing seemed to be clicking. 

Your mind was drawing a blank and it was really upsetting you. Ever since you were a little girl, you ate, breathed and slept your education. All you ever wanted was to succeed and do well in school. 

It didn’t help that your parents put this immense pressure on you to succeed—being the youngest and only daughter out of four children led your parents in to expecting a lot more out of you than they did with your three older brothers. They were also extremely overprotective when it came to you. 

Your brothers could go out and do whatever it was that they wanted; attend all these college frat parties, go to numerous bars only to get drunk off their asses and have your parents go and pick them up, drive all around Los Angeles and even leaving your sunny state of California to travel around cities like Las Vegas, Chicago and even New York. Hell, you couldn’t even cross the street by yourself let alone do anything most people would consider fun and exciting. 

Everyone who knew of your existence considered you to be a goody two shoes; the teacher’s pet. You found fun in reading and watching documentaries about murderous affairs. Most people your age were constantly partying, getting drunk, high or both. You never understood why anyone would waste their time and money on unnecessary substances such as alcohol and drugs, but you were never one to judge. 

Every now and then, your professor would inform the class how much time everyone had left to complete the exam. To everyone’s dismay, the door was slammed open; all eyes turned towards the front of the room—curious about who just entered. As soon as your gaze landed on him, you rolled your eyes in irritation. 

“Professor Lee, I’m so sorry I’m late. I—“

“I don’t want to hear it Mr.Tuan, no excuses. You have less than twenty minutes to complete your exam. There’s no retakes, so instead of trying to get out of this one, I’d suggest you take out a pen, piece of paper and start writing.” 

The boy in question made his way towards where you were sitting and gave you a smirk before sitting right behind you. Anyone and everyone who knew Mark was well aware as to why he was tardy. His tousled hair and swollen lips gave it away; it didn’t take a genius to know exactly what he was up to. 

You couldn’t care less about what he did; you hardly even knew the guy, so whatever he would do in his free time didn’t matter to you. As you began to finish up on your last few questions, you felt a tap on your shoulder. 

“Pssst. Y/n.” 

Ignore him and he’ll leave you alone y/n. 

Every time Mark would try and get your attention, whether it was to borrow a pencil or to coerce you in to giving him the answers on one of your assignments, you’d find yourself groaning in frustration. It’s as though he got a rise out of getting under your skin. 

In the three months that you’ve had him in your English 345 class, you observed the fact that he never seemed to bother any of your other classmates except you. He had classmates sitting on either side of him, yet he never once spoke to them. 

You’ve known Mark since middle school; he was one year older than you and he lived down your road, but the two of you never really interacted with one another. You came from two different social groups; his group of friends were very well known throughout your entire campus. 

All seven members were apart of a sports team and they had to be the most attractive guys at your university. They were also notorious for being quite the players; none of them were in stable relationships. 

Mark and his friends were known to hook up with random girls whose names they’d never end up learning and none of them slept with the same person twice. That’s just who they were. 

Every Friday night, they’d throw a party at one of their apartments, one of the sorority houses or they’d rent out a hotel room. You made a pact with yourself to never get involved with any one of them. The last thing you needed was to get your heartbroken by an asshole who could give less of a shit about you. 

You refused to allow any one of his friends; Mark in particular, take advantage of your kind hearted and gentle personality. As much as you wish you could be a cold-hearted, selfish person; especially because so many people have done you wrong in the twenty-two years of your existence, you could never hurt anyone or do anyone wrong the way they would so easily do to you. It just never felt right. 

However, Mark Tuan was someone you wouldn’t care about hurting. He obviously didn’t care about anyone but himself and his atrocious group of friends; so you never allowed him to irritate you for longer than a few minutes. Luckily, he never took things further than a couple of snarky comments and throwing paper airplanes at you every now and then, but you could do without all of his childish antics. 

Sometimes, you wondered why he chose you of all people to pick on and disturb. Maybe it’s because you were one of the only people he’s known since childhood, or because everyone was well aware of your friendly and welcoming personality. You were also considered the teacher’s pet for most of your professors. 

A few of them; your biology, calculus—and even your English professor for this class had asked you to be their teacher’s assistant because they were confident they could trust in you to help them with their classes. Unfortunately, you had to decline. 

With having a full-time job and taking on five classes, there was so much on your plate already and you were afraid that you wouldn’t be able to give them the support and time they needed from their assistants. You had only three questions left to answer and you were more than happy to finally finish the test. 

The word exhausted wasn’t even enough to describe just how tired you were. You worked a ten hour shift yesterday because two of your co-workers called in sick and you didn’t have the courage to tell your boss that you were tired from pulling an all-nighter the day before. 

All you wanted to do was return back to your apartment and fall asleep for the rest of the week. The constant tap on your shoulder broke you out of your thoughts and for a second, you almost forgot that you were in the middle of an exam. A groan of disbelief was at the tip of your tongue; who did he think he was coming in to class just minutes before it ended, expecting you to help him because it was painfully obvious he had no idea what he was doing. 

“Y/n, what did you get for number 5? Hey—pssst—y/n—“ 

You continued to scribble down a few more sentences on the last question; wanting nothing more than to get out of the lecture hall but Mark adamantly had other plans. 

“Come on, please? I don’t know how to answer this—“

“Mark, this is an exam. I can’t help you—“

“Just this one time. I promise. I’m already doing bad in this class. I can’t afford to fail—“

“Well that’s not my problem Mark. You need to learn how to manage your priorities better—“

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean—“ 

Right as you were about to retaliate and make a comment about his fuckboy lifestyle, a new presence joined the two of you and you felt yourself tense up at his words. 

“Mr.Tuan, Miss y/l/n, is there a problem here?” 

You shook your head in disagreement and mentally cursed the older boy for putting you in this situation. Not once in your entire educational career have you ever been called out by one of your teachers for not doing what you were supposed to and that was because you never failed to accomplish whatever it was that you were expected to do. There was no way you would let Mark Tuan out of all people get in the way of the reputation you’ve worked so hard to maintain as one of the top students at your university.

“No problem here sir, I was just asking y/n to borrow an eraser.”

Absentmindedly, your eyes rolled to the back of your head at how easily the lie fell from his lips. This happened to be the first class you had him in, but you had a huge feeling he was like this whenever there was something he desired. Whether it was school related, or a way to soothe his carnal urges, Mark would do whatever in his power to get whatever or whoever it was that he wanted. 

It was adamant that he wasn’t going to do well on this test no matter how hard he tried. He didn’t strike you as someone who studied, nor did he seem like he cared about his education in the first place. None of his friends did. College was more about the night life experience; the alcohol, constant partying, drugs, sex—school was the last of any of their worries and you believed that one day, it would all come back to bite them all in the ass. 

“Hm, is that so? Well then, please return back to your exams and if you don’t mind staying back, I’d like to talk to the both of you about something.”

If looks could kill, Mark would be six feet underground with the glare you were now sending him. The universe was not on your side at all today. Not only did the coffee shop get your order wrong, but your botany professor assigned you a group project you weren’t at all excited for and now—you were in trouble for something that wasn’t even your fault. 

To both his and your surprise, you turned around and flipped Mark off. You hated the fact that his stupidity and ignorance was causing you to do all of these spiteful actions that you have never once done to anyone else. He was just that big of a narcissistic asshole and with the way he smirked at you, it was all the more evident that he was enjoying himself. 

Mark got in trouble many times in class—or so you’ve heard people talk about. Everyone talked about him; no matter who it was, every single student on your campus knew of him. Some had nothing but envy and respect towards him and others never understood what was so good about him that the boys wanted to be him and the girls wanted to be under him. 

You were one of the latter; other than his devastatingly handsome looks and how much of an amazing volleyball player he was, Mark didn’t have anything else going for him. He was the definition of a prick; he was cocky and treated people like shit. He also had a brain the size of a peanut which came as a shock seeing as how his younger brother Joey graduated over a year ago and had his bachelor’s degree in pharmaceutical engineering.

In fact, the entire Tuan family seemingly had great heads on their shoulders. Mark’s father owned one of the highest ranking tech companies in all of California. His mom and his oldest sister were realtors. You understood that his wealth and the success of his family were the only reasons why he wasn’t expelled from school. If it were anyone else, they would have been kicked out as soon as their g.p.a dropped below 2.0 like Mark’s was rumored to be. 

“Good going dickhead.” 

He cheekily winked at you before turning his attention back to his exam. You were going to make his life a living hell for what he put you through. Less than ten minutes later, your professor let the entire class know that time was up and one by one, your classmates began exiting the room. You could feel your blood pressure and anxiety levels rising at the thought of getting detention for Mark’s unintelligent disruption. 

As soon as the last person left, you began to come up with what you were going to tell your teacher. You were willing to admit the fact that Mark was trying to cheat and get some answers from you. It wasn’t as though anything bad would happen to him anyway. 

He’d get away with trying to get you to give him answers and maybe even torment you for throwing him under the bus. Oh God, what did you get yourself in to? Your professor sat on his desk as he motioned for the two of you to walk towards him. 

A soft sigh fell from his lips and you were sure you could pass out because of how nervous you were. Even if you knew you didn’t do anything wrong, you were still freaking out about the consequences that came with helping someone on a test. 

“Y/n, I just want to start off by saying you’re not in trouble. So, there’s nothing you need to worry about. However, it has come to my attention that you are looking towards getting an internship at the state capital. You’re majoring in law right? Well, I have a proposition for you, and I know—you might not like this and I’m sorry for asking you to do me such a huge favor like this. I’m sure you’re already busy as it is, but—“ He didn’t even have to ask just yet, you already had a feeling that his favor had to do with the remarkably inadequate boy on the right of you. 

“Could you tutor Mark for me? Well, not just for me. His professors sent me emails about what they can do to help him.” 

He turned over to Mark and released a soft sigh. You felt as though you were going to throw up. Tutor Mark? Seriously? You would rather rip out your eyelashes one by one. There was no way you would do such a thing. Sure, you were willing to stay after class and help your professors grade papers or you could come up with lesson plans in order to cut down the amount of work they had to do, but there was no way in hell you were going to do anything with or for Mark. 

“I don’t like talking negatively about students. I know you’re a smart kid Mark. I acknowledge the fact that you do try; you’re such a great writer, but you don’t put your heart or mind in to anything beneficial. There’s honestly nothing else I can say or do to get you to try harder. You have so much potential, but you fail to use any of it. You could go far in life Mark, but you choose paths that will bring you nothing but destruction. Don’t get me wrong, you’re still so young and I’m sure you want to live your life to the fullest. But sometimes, you need to give up any kind of toxicity that will only bring you down. Y/n—a few other professors and I are willing to write you multiple letters of recommendation and I’m going to give you an immediate A for this class. You don’t have to worry about any other exams or assignments. Most of your time will be taken up trying to help assist Mark. I still expect you to listen in on our lectures just so you can understand and learn the course material, but you don’t have to worry about studying for any tests. I trust that you would pass all of them nonetheless. I know, I shouldn’t be asking you to help another student and please don’t feel like you have to do this. But just know that I and all your other professors would be more than grateful if you do decide to go along with my offer. I’ll give you a week to think about it. You may go now.” 

All the blood in your body immediately began to rush to your head. Everything your professor explained to you went through one ear and out the other. You were being offered to pass the class with flying colors without having to worry about completing any assignments or taking quizzes—anyone in their right minds would willingly accept his proposition. It was the easiest A you could ever receive, yet in order to access it, you would have to go against everything you’ve set your mind to. 

All the pacts you’ve made with yourself regarding Mark or any of his inconsiderate group of friends, were you really going to allow yourself to get involved with someone notorious for manipulating and taking advantage of other individuals without a care in the world? Sure, you wouldn’t have to worry about one of your classes and you’d have more time to focus on your more difficult subjects, but it would be at the cost of your morals and beliefs. 

Mark Tuan was no good—even if it was only tutoring, you had a bad feeling in your gut that he would end up hurting you one way or another. You didn’t consider yourself to be the kind of girl Mark would mess around with or find attractive in any way, but then again—it didn’t matter what the person looked like or what their personality was like. 

Everyone was just another body added to his count of poor unfortunate souls who were tricked in to finding their way in to bed with him. Once your professor excused you, you practically ran out of the building. Knowing that you were his only option, you were well aware that Mark would probably look for you and try to coerce you in to accepting the offer. If that did end up happening, you would stand your ground. 

You weren’t afraid of Mark, nor did you consider him all that intimidating like everyone on campus did. He wasn’t going to get to you that easily, no matter how hard he would put in an effort to. Your professor gave you a week to think about it and there was nothing your school’s notorious bad boy could say or do to influence you to agree in helping him. As you were right about to unlock your car door, you heard feet running in the distance. It didn’t take a genius to know just who the footsteps belonged to. Hell, you picked up your pace in order to avoid him. 

“Y/n, wait!” 

If only you could continue your cold facade; there was a voice telling you to jump in your car and leave without giving him the time of day. You would just deal with him tomorrow. But  you knew being brash wasn’t in your nature—you could never be mean to anyone. Even people like Mark who obviously deserved it. 

There was no way you’d forgive yourself for showing him hostility; you’d only be sinking to his level. You released a frustrated groan—did he not even take a second to think about how much of an inconvenience he was right now? First, he bothered you during a very important exam, then he got you involved in catching the unwanted attention of your professor and now you’re being asked to tutor him. 

Mark Tuan was the devil in human form, he had to be. There was no other plausible explanation as to why he is the conniving asshole you’ve grown accustomed to interact with in the last few months. It’s as if he had vengeance against you. Why else would he include you in his toxic way of going through school? You turned around to face him and crossed your arms in irritation. Right after he caught up to you, he placed both hands on his knees as if he was trying to catch his breath. 

“What? Did you sprint here?”

“Obviously. I had a feeling there was a chance you’d want to talk to me about the deal our professor offered me, but I don’t have the energy to listen to you talk me in to doing so—“

“Come on y/n, you act like tutoring me is the worst thing on this entire earth—“

“Because it is. Look, I have a week to think about this okay? So if I were you, I’d watch how you act towards me and how you talk to me. Whether or not you graduate next spring is all on me. I’m going to warn you right now, nothing you can say or do will have an effect on my decision. If I decide to tutor you, it’s because I want to. Oh, and don’t think it’s because I don’t want to do work or tests. If anything, I would rather complete assignments and study for exams. The option he gave me isn’t an easy way out, so I don’t want you spreading bullshit lies about me just to make me look bad. If I say no, there’s no trying to get me to say yes. Am I clear?” 

This was the first time you’ve ever seen Mark look worried in the many years that you’ve known him for. Almost everyone in his life, teachers, professors, fellow classmates, his friends and even some of his family members—they willingly gave him whatever it was that he asked for. You never understood why; why was everyone so afraid of him? He wasn’t all that muscular or buff. In fact, you’d mentally call him a limp noodle whenever he’d get on your nerves because he was quite the skinny guy. 

But he’s always been like that. Mark was like a chihuahua; he was all bark and no bite. Maybe he used his family’s power and wealth against others, or maybe he would promise financial or social gain to make others succumb to his wishes. Whatever it was—you needed him to know that it wouldn’t work on you. It was obvious that no one has ever talked to Mark the way you currently were just by the way he looked at you in shock. 

You were a force to be reckoned with. If Mark considered you to be a soft spoken, quiet pushover, then boy—did he have something coming for him. He wasn’t wrong to think like that; you were a genuinely kind-hearted soul. However, that was to those who deserved it. Mark wasn’t on that list, nor would he ever make it there. Ever.

“Fine. Just—please think about it? No funny business, I promise. I just—I want to know. Be honest with me. Why do you hate me so much? What did I ever do to cause you so much anguish and distress? Is it something I said? Did? Whatever it is, I’m sorry. Sincerely. I’m not saying that in order to win brownie points or to get on your good side, I mean it. You are the only person on this entire campus who seems to take a disliking to me and I want you to know that I’m sorry.” 

As soon as the last word of apology fell from his lips, you could feel your throat getting choked up. You wanted to believe he was trying to come up with ways to make you feel bad for him; to get you to really think about helping him out. But there was no malice in his speech—his eyes looked so sincere. If he was lying, then damn—he deserved a fucking Oscar. 

Deep down in your heart though, you knew he was being serious. Why were you now feeling bad that you were vehemently treating him like the scum under your toes? Obviously, you weren’t going to grovel at his feet the way most of the girls at your university did—but that didn’t mean you couldn’t be civil with him. 

Mark hasn’t cared about his attendance or grade in this class since the beginning of the semester—so it really boggled your mind as to why he was trying to be involved in his education right now. That wasn’t your business to have knowledge of. You and Mark weren’t friends. You’d probably never ever be friends, so the reasoning for his sudden interest in putting his focus towards his education wasn’t your problem to deal with. 

You brought your vision to the ground; your converse seemed like the most interesting thing in the world at the moment. There was no way you could look at him, you were sure you’d give him your answer if you were to look at him and see how distraught he was from your hostility. You opened the back seat of your car and threw in your bag and your books before making your way to the front seat. 

Thankfully, Mark had a conscience and moved out of the way. He probably didn’t want to get even more so on your nerves and you appreciated his new timid nature. 

Mark Tuan had finally met his match. 

Once you pulled out of the stall, you rolled down your window and took in a deep breath—not sure if you were making the right decision as the words fell off your tongue; but it didn’t matter anymore. 

“Meet me tomorrow in the library at three. Don’t be late or you can forget about having me as a tutor. Oh, and I don’t hate you. But don’t think so highly of yourself, I don’t think all that highly of you either.” 

The soft smile that was now beaming on his face pulled on your heartstrings and soon you felt a warm sensation in your chest—wait. What? Oh God—no. No, no, no. What have you done? 

You just sold your soul to the devil.

#got7 imagines #mark tuan #mark tuan imagines #got7 #got7 mark

[ladybugsfanfics]

Shut Up And Kiss Me [11/?]

Pairing: Tom Hiddleston x reader

Style: Multichapter

WC: 2k

Warnings: mention of blackout, exstreme awkwardness, 

Summary: You and Professor Hiddleston have been colleagues for many years now, and through those years the hatred for each other has only grown. Now, as a new school year starts, you’re being told that you have to share a classroom or a class. Neither are happy about the outcome, but knowing you’ll never come to an agreement, you let the class choose for you. Team-teaching is rare in 2019, but it is a lot harder to do when you can’t stand the person you’re doing it with. 

A/N: aaaa, i have been so absent, I know. This has taken forever, but now I can promise you I’m gonna be back. Not only will this, hopefully be updated more often (I have inspiration), but I also got like a ton of writing mojo (wrote 4k words yesterday) and a Loki!Piarate au is soon done and i have other shits, my requests are becoming easier though turns out they’re getting long. Anyways, I hope this can please you and I hope to be able to post more in the coming time. I love you all so much ^_^ P.S. it’s close to christmas and a christmas party... ;)

Previous | Seires Masterlist | Part Twelve

You can’t place the feeling. Not really. All you know is that something feels… off. Wrong. 

It’s Sunday, three days since halloween and you met Emma’s friends. Even though that was fun and all, the night could have been better had you stuck with the people you know. Not only would you be able to continue to get Tom being nice (which had your heart race a mile a minute), but you could also, maybe, have more fun seeing as you wouldn’t panic everytime you said something. 

However, three days later, something feels off. You’re not even sure if it has anything to do with Halloween (if it has anything to do with Tom lending you his coat because you were barely dressed in your costume),  or if it has something to do with the fact that you have no recollection of what you did last night. 

All you know is that something is not as it should be. 

You try to shake off the feeling and reach for your phone, where it lies on your nightstand. The clock on it reads 07.39 AM and you curse your annoying drunk self for always making sure you wake up early―it’s not that you go to bed early, no rather late actually (like you gotta stay up ‘til at least 3 AM), but more that whenever you do get drunk, you actually fall asleep right away and you actually sleep. Maybe that’s the cure. 

Despite wanting to continue your slumber, you decide to get up. Maybe you can figure out what’s giving you this feeling of something being amiss. 

One slightly wrong, though not that surprising, thing lies on your couch. Y/BFF/N has their face half planted in one of your pillows, though the angle works for them to breathe. One arm hangs loosely off the couch and their legs have tangled themselves in a blanket, where one is thrown over the back of the couch. You have no idea how that can be comfortable, and you bet they’ll tell you how much they regret it when they wake up. 

Yet, you know that’s not the feeling that haunts you. Seeing your best friend crashing on your couch is not a rare sight, though it is becoming rarer as time passes. 

Nothing is amiss in your apartment. Everything where you left it when you went out last night, even the now half-full bottle of wine you opened before leaving that sits on your countertop. 

The mystery continues, but the answers are not in your apartment. One thing’s for sure, you’re not about to go out and find out. 

Before you decide to check any messages or notifications, you find a glass, fill it with water and down it in seconds. Pulling your head back you become aware of the ache in it, and with the water helping you clear your mind a little, the pounding slowly creeps into a loud drum. 

Okay, so you’re not getting away from being hungover. Good to know. 

Not being able to focus with the drums really taking off in your head, you rush to the bathroom and find aspirin. You take two and swallow them with another glass of water. It’s gonna take a little while before they help so you slide down the bathroom wall and sit there to let yourself ease into the beating that keeps interrupting your thoughts. 

It feels like it takes forever, but when you check the clock, the pounding starts to wind down a little after more or less fifteen minutes. You don’t have the energy to get up from the warmth of the bathroom floor, so you continue to sit as you open your phone. 

You have three snaps, five messenger texts, two texts and eleven missed phone calls. The phonecalls belong to three people; three from Tom (your heart skips a beat at the thought that he thinks of you), six from Benedict, and surprisingly, two from Chris. 

The two texts are one message of having voicemails (three), and one message from Tom; I heard from Benedict. He’s worried, are you okay? - Tom. You ignore it, making a note to reply and listen to the voicemails after checking messenger and snap. 

It takes three seconds to regret checking snap. Two of the snaps are from people you have no idea who are, but who you probably added last night. The last one is a video of you from Y/BFF/N embarrassing yourself to the nth degree on the dance floor. You know they saved it, and you know there is no point in asking to delete it―no matter what, you know they won’t post it anywhere. 

In a state of shock, checking messenger becomes more automated that anything else. You read the messages; one with a similar name to one of the snap usernames that you ignore and delete the friend request seeing as the message itself is not one you want; one that’s from a groupchat with you, Y/BFF/N and another mutual friend that you don’t see that often as they live abroad, but whom you trust fully and therefore has replied to your drunk texts about wanting to fuck a certain person whose name shall not be mentioned; three texts from Chris asking what’s going on, if you’re okay and if there’s anything he can do to help. You only reply to Chris’s by asking why he wonders, saying yes and asking him if he knows anything about what happened last night―you do not admit to having no memory of the evening. 

Waiting for a reply you listen to the voicemails. All three are from Benedict; one he sounds mad in, one he sounds worried in, and one he threatens to call the police and tell them that you’re missing and that you might be in danger―it feels a little weird not knowing if that actually happened. 

You sigh, blowing your hair so it falls in your face. Well, well, gotta keep searching. 

In the living room, Y/BFF/N lies in the same position as before. You ignore them, instead focusing on the low rumble from your stomach. 

Hopefully, some food will help clear the mystery. 

The food itself doesn’t help. However, the replies from Chris does. 

Chris: asking because you seemed very drunk and i wanted to know you’re okay, good that you are, and no, i don’t know since you never really gave me anything to go on

You: okay, well, there are no other messages between us, anything I did to alert you??

Chris: uhh, no, actually it was Tom that called me

You: Tom?? Hiddleston?? The dude who I teach with?? 

Chris: yeah… i was surprised too, maybe talk to him?

You: yeah, im gonna 

Of course, that’s what you tell Chris. You know, with every ounce of your body, that you will not pick up the phone and either text or call him because you know that that would be the death of you. 

You will wait, as long as you can, to ask Tom why he called Chris. The thought of it alone just has that feeling of wrongness expand. You shake it off, put away your phone and return your attention to your food. 

 --

Going into work on Monday is not on your list of fun activities, but it is something you have to do. You suppose it would have been on your list of fun if not for the looming conversation you need to have with a certain professor. 

It takes little time after your first class to meet him. Usually, your schedules don’t coincide but you guess the universe isn’t on your side today. 

“Hi.” Tom purses his lips and puts his hands in his pockets. 

You nod. “Hi.”

“How was your weekend?” he asks. 

“It was good,” you say and nod. “You know what, I can’t really talk right now. Catch you later?” You shoot him a pained smile and hurry away before Tom can answer. There is no way you’ve ever been in a more awkward situation (and the worst part is that you don’t even know what it is that made it awkward―what the fuck did you say?!). 

You try not to think too hard about it as you make your way back to your office. With two hours of office time, you can get back to focusing on your research project and get your mind off Saturday night and your possibly very embarrassing utterance to Tom. 

God, what the fuck did you say?

It takes a solid five minutes for your mind to rush back to what’s been circling around the last twenty-four hours. 

“Okay, you know what?” you say out loud to the silence of your office. It does not reply back. However, in the need to say it out loud, you act as if it did. “I have to just ask. I’m gonna go to wherever he currently is and I’m gonna ask what I said and I’m gonna cut right to the chase and it’s gonna be alright. It’s gonna be okay. It’s probably not as bad as I think it is.” 

However, you don’t get up. It’s like you’re glued to your chair and no matter how much the nerves in your brain tells your legs to get up, they don’t move. 

For two hours, you just sit there. Almost so you’re late to class even. 

 --

“We’re doing a what?” 

Both you and Tom frown at Dean McHallan who, though with a slight roll of his eyes, nods. “You’re going to a conference in Scotland. I know it’s sudden and it seems weird, but they specifically asked for you two to speak.”

You raise a brow. “They asked for us to speak about what exactly? Do I have to prepare some kind of presentation or something now because, honestly, I’m not ready for that.” 

“They asked for you both to speak on team-teaching creative writing. They wanted input from your students as well so during the week now, ask them some questions that you can quote them on. And they wanted you, Y/N, to speak on your research project as they find it interesting and they weirdly enough hadn’t thought about it before. They would love to hear how you’re going about it.” 

Your mind races as you nod along to his words. What are you supposed to do? Say no, nope, you can’t do that. You literally have no choice because he’s already said you’re going and McHallan makes the final decisions and he also knows neither of you really have anything that important going on currently. 

“Okay, I guess we’re going to Scotland next week.” You’ve always wanted to go so maybe it’s an opportunity you should take anyway. 

“It’s settled then. Tom?”

The literature professor nods. “I can’t argue with your reasoning so I guess we’re going. I have some inquiries. Accomodations? Travel? Food? And when?”

McHallan hands each of you a piece of paper. “You will be in the same hotel, though different rooms. I think they’ll be just across from each other or something. You’ll fly there on wednesday morning, together, and have all wednesday evening to settle in and make the last preparations and so on. Food will be accounted for unless you eat above budget. There are breakfast and dinner included at the hotel, and lunch is served with the conference. If you eat anything outside of that it will be out of your own pocket. The schedule for the conference is on the back of that paper and the information you need about your flights just under there.”

You nod, going over the paper as McHallan talks and making different mental notes. Some of those make no sense, and one of them is ‘get trapped somewhere so you have to ask Tom what you did on Saturday’, though you’re afraid that one might be the hardest one to see through with.

#tom hiddleston #tom hiddleston x reader #tom hiddleston fanfic #tom hiddleston imagine #tom hiddleston fanfiction #fanfic #fanfiction #thomas william hiddleston #twh #marvel #loki #rpf #real people fanfiction #professors au #professor hiddleston #tom hiddleston professor #slowburn #enemies to lovers #au

[slickedbackplatinum]

Little League

Summary: Hadlee Rosier and Draco Malfoy had grown up together. Draco was Hadlee’s best friend, partner in crime, and most importantly her first crush. Things changed quickly when the two headed to Hogwarts together for their first year. Since then they had taken their own paths and Hadlee’s feelings for the blonde boy faded, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t still love her. They could never be together now that Draco had made his decision though. 

Based on Little League by Conan Gray

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Do you remember days on our old block?

Messing with our neighbors, who called the cops

Coulda swore that you and me

Could get away with anything

Draco saw her walk into Potions and felt his heart skip a beat. He was used to this. Every time he caught a glimpse of her in the halls or walked through the common room and saw her sitting by the fire his heart would jump slightly, his pulse quickening. It had been like this since he could remember. Even when they were seven, flying their first brooms through their neighborhood together, he’d loved her. Those were some of his best memories. He and Hadlee had grown up down the street from each other and spent every second of their childhood together. She’d been his best friend. 

Things had changed since their arrival at Hogwarts for their first year though. Draco had chosen the path laid out for him by his father. He was known as the Slytherin Prince, been named Prefect last year in their fifth year, and had now committed himself fully to the Dark Lord, the proof burned into his left forearm. Hadlee was a model student. She spent much of her free time reading Potions textbooks in the library or, of course, practicing Quidditch. All their practicing as kids had landed both Hadlee and Draco starting spots on the Slytherin team in their second year. Hadlee was the best Chaser on the team from the start and her moves were unmatched by anyone at Hogwarts. Even if they hadn’t spoken much since their first year, Hadlee knew she was going to miss her favorite Seeker dearly this season. Draco had decided he didn’t have time for Quidditch and, with little to no explanation, had quit at the start of term this year.

Their lack of contact hadn’t changed the fact that Draco couldn’t take his eyes off her when she was in the same room as him. She radiated a confidence she hadn’t had until a few years prior. And, although he wasn’t sure where it had come from, he thought it suited her very nicely. He’d been silently watching over her since they started school, but she’d never seemed to need him. Maybe that was part of their drifting apart: She didn’t need him. 

We’d lay on the grass, all day talking

Cause we snuck out of class when no one was watching

I remember you and me

Yeah, I remember everything

Draco sat through Potions continuing to reminisce. He remembered a particularly great memory with Hadlee. It was during their first month of lessons in first year. A beautiful autumn day couldn’t go to waste sitting in a boring class like Care of Magical Creatures, so when the professor wasn’t looking Draco pulled Hadlee away and around a corner of the castle. 

“What are you doing? We have class,” she’d said and crossed her arms when she saw the excitement in his face at not learning about unicorns anymore.

“Had, come on! It’s the most beautiful day out. Plus, you already know everything there is to learn about unicorns. Please!” he begged when she didn’t move. 

After much effort on his part, Hadlee agreed to head down to the Quidditch pitch with their brooms instead of finish class. They spent the whole afternoon speeding across the pitch, throwing a ball into one of the goals while the other tried their best to guard it. And when they finally got tired, they laid together in the middle of the field pointing at pictures they found in the clouds. It seemed like only yesterday to Draco as he thought about it. A deep sadness crept across his chest as he looked up to see the back of her head. Did she remember that day too? Draco found himself wondering many things about the beautiful girl he used to know. Was her favorite color still forest green? Or did she hate it now because it was everywhere in the Slytherin common room? Did she still like the grass flavored Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans as much as she had when they were nine? Was she still a fan of the Tornados Quidditch team? But mostly, he just wanted to know if she thought about him as often as he thought about her. 

But, lately I’ve been feeling strange

And everybody’s telling me to act my age

I never thought that everything I had would fade away

As the building pressure of the task the Dark Lord assigned became more difficult to handle, Draco found himself daydreaming more and more about going back to his days with Hadlee. Back when there was nothing more to worry about than what Mother was making for dinner that night or whether or not Hadlee would want to play another game of Wizard’s Chess. But as much as he wished he could go back and live in that time again, Draco couldn’t ignore the importance of what he’d been asked to do. Being a Death Eater was something he’d always known was in his future and Lucius had expected Voldemort to give Draco the most important mission once he’d been sworn in. Draco couldn’t disappoint his father. Or the Dark Lord. The consequences for not fulfilling his duty would be detrimental to his future. It was too important.

Draco supposed his obvious affiliation with Voldemort had been part of why Hadlee didn’t speak to him very often anymore. And his open discussions of the Dark Arts throughout their time at Hogwarts had turned her away from him earlier. While a part of him wished this wasn’t his destiny, because maybe then she’d still be his friend, he knew he’d never had a choice in the matter. He did what was expected of him, even when he knew it meant losing her. So, since his first day at Hogwarts he’d been as cruel and arrogant as any Malfoy man would be. He’d never faltered, never shown any sign that he was anything other than the true Prince of Slytherin. 

When we were younger

We didn’t know how it would be

We were the dumb, the wild, the free

Little League

Hadlee spent her days focused on school and Quidditch. She was determined to learn as much as she could for her N.E.W.T.s this year. If she could do that and bring the Quidditch Cup back to Slytherin this year, she’d be on top of the world come June. So, her time was spent mostly in the library writing Potions essays or reading up on the most difficult spells for Transfiguration. By the time dinner rolled around, she was exhausted. Many nights she fell asleep in the chair by the fire with a book open on her lap. She’d never meant to let school take up all her time like this. Sometimes she wondered if she’d lost her fun side, seeing as all she did was study and play Quidditch nowadays. She was constantly reminding herself that it would all be worth it once school was over. She’d be playing professional Quidditch or working for the Ministry in no time. Everything would be better in a few short years, all it would take is hard work on her part.

Many of her friends worried about Hadlee being such a workaholic, but she reminded them that they too should care about the material they were learning right now. She wondered when she’d become so much like her mother. Wouldn’t things be simpler if they could all go back to how it used to be? She hadn’t spent much time thinking about her childhood, but with the workload of sixth year being drastically harder than fifth, she found herself dreaming of her childhood more and more often. Draco was always there with his broom, daring her to race him down the street or beating her once again at Wizard’s Chess. But, when she woke up she’d have to remember that the Draco she used to know didn’t exist anymore. He’d been absorbed into the Slytherin culture quickly after arriving at Hogwarts and Hadlee was forced to watch her best friend disappear into the shell of a Death Eater he was today. It made her quite sad, knowing he hadn’t chosen this for himself. Although they’d both been raised in pureblood families, their childhoods were drastically different. Draco was expected to follow in his father’s footsteps from the day he was born. Hadlee hadn’t been encouraged to pursue the Dark Arts. Her parents were indifferent to the matter, so they hadn’t minded their daughter being best friends with Draco Malfoy. 

And when we were younger

We wore our hearts out on our sleeves

Why did we ever have to leave?

Little League

These frequent dreams of her childhood also brought memories of her former crush on Draco Malfoy. She remembered hearing him shout at her to hurry up from the driveway, but she always made sure she looked her best before going to greet him for their afternoon adventure for that day. She’d dress in cute clothes, not bothering to change if they were doing something that could get them dirty. Hadlee’s mother would scold her for coming home with large grass stains on her shirts, even when she could erase it with a flick of her wand. Her efforts to get Draco’s attention seldom worked though. He seemed more occupied by beating her at whatever they were doing, or laughing at his own jokes. But Hadlee couldn’t help but find it charming. Plus, she’d lost many broom races because she’d been distracted by his hair catching in the sunlight. And when he’d turn around to gloat, his full smile made her heart stop. 

She wished she could make these dreams stop. As wonderful as it was for her to see her old best friend the way she used to, it was a painful reality check to walk into her class the next morning and see the broken man he’d become. She was sure he was a Death Eater by now. He’d looked more and more drained as the weeks passed, and she wondered what was hurting him so badly. Although she felt nothing more than pity and the occasional regret when it came to Draco, she couldn’t help but want his obvious pain to lessen. And maybe the small part of her that longed to be nine again also still loved him, but a quick reminder of his choices and she felt nothing for the man again. 

Could I get a rewind?

Get another chance, take it back in time

Cause I don’t know what to do

With everything that I’m going through

Draco walked into the Slytherin common room after his nightly prefect rounds and noticed Hadlee had fallen asleep again in her usual chair by the fire. He smiled to himself as he admired her calmed sleeping face. There were faint lines on her nose from wrinkling it while reading all day. He immediately noticed the fire wasn’t burning as brightly as it normally did, so he decided to slip a blanket over her. He wasn’t sure how late she usually slept out in the common room, but he didn’t want the fire to die and leave her cold. He grabbed a woolen blanket from the nearby basket and laid it gently over her, but as it hit her legs she started to stir and opened her eyes slightly.

“Draco?”

He stood up quickly. “Sorry. I was just, uh, making sure you didn’t get cold. The fire is dying.”

She sat up and smiled genuinely at him. “Thank you. I was actually meaning to say something to you. Do you remember the name of our old neighbor? The one with the loud screeching owl.”

He knew exactly what she was talking about. Mrs. Boggs’ owl kept both of them up every night one summer because it didn’t like their new cat. He laughed, remembering both of them often being too tired for their usual shenanigans that year.

“Mrs. Boggs, I believe.”

“Oh, yes! My mother was wondering. She heard she was admitted to St.Mungo’s. Apparently she isn’t in good health and may not make it through the winter.”

This saddened Draco deeply. His family wasn’t very close with their neighbors, but Hadlee’s family had been kind to everyone on the street when they’d lived there. “I’ll have to owl my mother and let her know. Maybe she’ll want to go see her over holiday. She’s always been very kind to me.”

“She always baked cookies for us, remember? She’d leave them out on the sidewalk with little enchanted notes! They were the coolest,” Hadlee continued to smile at him. He felt the familiar pang in his chest at her words. She did remember their memories together.

“They were delicious. She stopped leaving them a few years after you moved. Guess she knew I wouldn’t be out much in the summers anymore.”

Now it was Hadlee’s turn to feel sad. Their neighborhood had always been filled with the sounds of their laughter. She guessed there wasn’t much of that anymore. And, in a sudden burst of longing for the man in front of her, she admitted, “I miss that place a lot. And you.”

“Me too. That first summer without you was strange.”

Not sure what to say next, the pair sat in silence in the Slytherin common room for what felt like an eternity to Draco. For the first time in a long time, he felt comfortable. Just her presence seemed to calm him. He wasn’t thinking about his dreaded assignment, or schoolwork, or anything but his favorite memories of her. Then he had an idea.

“Hey, would you want to go see Mrs. Boggs together over holiday? I can owl you and meet you at St. Mungo’s if you’d like.”

“I’d love to, Dray.”

His heart swelled at his forgotten nickname. No one had called him that but her, and he felt the urge to spill everything to her like he had when he was a kid. “First week work for you? I’ll be free all of holiday, so whenever works best for you.”

“That sounds perfect.”

And where did all my friends go?

Standing on our street but nobody’s home

Swore we’d never move away

But now I’m going ninety-five on the interstate

Their plans for holiday kept Draco going through the last few weeks of Fall term. He’d hoped their conversation had opened the possibility of friendship again, but knew better when she didn’t make eye contact with him at breakfast or in class the next day. This didn’t bother him much and considering his reputation, he knew he should just be happy with the single conversation. By the time holiday rolled around, they hadn’t discussed their plans again, but Draco figured he’d just send her an owl like they’d planned.

He met his mother at the platform with a worn smile. He knew holiday wouldn’t be filled with the typical gifts and family laughter. His father would want to know how the assignment was coming along, and, if he was really unlucky, Voldemort would want to meet with him to discuss the finalities. He and his mother apparated from the station to the street in front of their house once he’d collected all his things off the train. Draco took a minute when they arrived to admire the long scuff on the road from Hadlee’s broom when she took a particularly nasty fall when they were eight. He smiled and went inside to write her letter.

He invited her to St. Mungo’s the following Wednesday and sent the owl off, hoping it would know where to find her. Dinner that night was as dreadful as he’d expected. His father had wanted to know every detail of the plan and exactly what Draco had done with the Vanishing Cabinet in Hogwarts and if there was any sign of suspicion from his fellow students, especially Harry Potter. He assured his father for what felt like the hundredth time that everything was under control and headed up to his room to check for a reply from Hadlee. He found his owl holding a new piece of perfectly folded parchment. She’d replied. Draco, immediately excited at the prospect of seeing Hadlee so soon, unfolded the letter and his smile widened.

His excitement became difficult to contain as Wednesday approached far too slowly for his liking. He arrived at St. Mungo’s early and waited at the front for Hadlee. Five minutes past two and he wondered if his watch was just fast. Ten past two and he was sure she was just running late. And, at quarter after, he was ready to just head up by himself when the front doors swung open. There was Hadlee, looking very tired, but smiling at Draco.

“I’m so sorry I’m late. Dad came back late from work and had promised to apparate me here,” she said, still breathing deeply from her run.

“Well, I’m glad you made it. Mother says she’s doing loads better than she was when she was admitted. Let’s go,” Draco said, and offered Hadlee his arm. She took it with no hesitation and Draco smiled.

They walked down the hall to Mrs. Bogg’s room and were greeted with joyous shouts from their aging neighbor. “What a lovely surprise! I’m sorry to say I don’t have cookies for the two of you,” Mrs .Boggs said when they sat down.

“That’s fine, Mrs. Boggs. We should have been the ones bringing you cookies! I think we owe you about a thousand,” Hadlee joked. Draco quickly pulled out his wand and conjured a plate of delicious smelling chocolate chip cookies with a smooth flick of his wand. “Draco! How do you know how to do that?” Hadlee said, impressed with his advanced magic.

“Mother taught me last week, said it would probably come in handy since the Healers won’t let many guests bring in food,” he replied, giving Hadlee a cookie and setting the rest next to Mrs. Boggs.

“You two haven’t changed a bit! I hoped you were still friends,” Mrs. Boggs said delightfully.

“Well we-,” Draco started.

“Yes, isn’t it wonderful? Many people don’t get to say they’ve had the same best friend their whole life,” Hadlee interrupted. Draco smiled at her white lie, wishing it was true.

They spent the next hour laughing at Mrs. Boggs reminders of their childhood antics in the neighborhood. They really had been quite crazy. Things were going well until Mrs. Boggs asked, “So, are you two a couple? You’ve always been awfully cute together.”

Hadlee felt her face go red, and sadness filled Draco’s face a little too quickly, but Hadlee tried to play it off and replied with a laugh, “No, ma’am. Draco and I have never been together like that, just friends. But I don’t think he knew I had a massive crush on him when we were younger!”

“Wait, what?” Draco was shocked at her confession.

“Oh my goodness, yes. I’m pretty sure I was in love with you for like three years and you had no idea. Of course, we were only kids.”

“Boys are so oblivious. And that doesn’t change as they get older either,” Mrs. Boggs said to Hadlee.

“Apparently girls are too,” mumbled Draco under his breath as his heart jumped again when Hadlee’s hand brushed against his.

“Well, it’s been lovely Mrs. Boggs, but I have to get back to my father. Thank you for all the cookies,” Hadlee said as she stood up to hug Mrs. Boggs.

“I’ll walk you out,” Draco said and followed. “Please let me know if there’s anything you need from my family Mrs. Boggs.”

He was headed out the door to follow Hadlee when Mrs. Boggs whispered, “Marry her, Draco.”

He looked out at the hall to Hadlee then smiled back and Mrs. Boggs. “I’ll try my hardest,” then Draco left with a wave.

Cause lately I’ve been feeling strange

And everybody’s telling me to act my age

I never thought that everything I had would fade away

“That was fun, Dray. Thanks for thinking of it,” Hadlee said as they left St. Mungo’s.

“I had a great time too. You know, I miss you Had,” he replied, throwing his nickname for her into the conversation as well.

She smiled at the forgotten nickname, and the nine year old in her swelled agian. “I miss you too. I just wish it didn’t have to be like this.”

“Who says it does?”

“You did when you chose being Slytherin Prince over me. But it’s in the past now, Draco. We can’t change it.”

His heart sank at her words. He’d never questioned his father’s path for him, but in this moment he wished he could scrub the ink on his arm off and kiss the girl in front of him.

“But, what if we can.”

“Judging by the way you looked at your arm just now, we can’t. No matter how much I may want to.” 

With that, Hadlee turned around, walked quickly to her father and apparated away. 

When we were younger

We didn’t know how it would be

We were the dumb, the wild, the free

Little League

#harry potter #draco malfoy #draco #malfoy #harry potter fan fic #harry potter fan fiction #draco x oc #draco x reader #draco malfoy x reader #draco malfoy x oc #fanfic #fanfiction #fan fic rec #my writing #slytherin #hogwarts #harry potter series #fan fiction #oneshot #one shot #ravenclaw #hufflepuff #gryffindor #songfic

[itsalliepg]

Fields of Gold – Zig X Scarlett (MC) (Part 5 of The Sweetest Thing Series)

SUMMARY: After the accident, the crisis between Zig and Scarlett (MC) finally gone?

PAIRING: Zig X Scarlett (MC)

RATING: Teen

WORDS: 2162

NOTE: Hey guys! They will finally talk!!!! But this story is far from an end!  English isn’t my native language. I write to practice and learn, so please sorry any mistakes. I hope you like it, and if you do, I’d appreciate if you like/comment/reblog!

Click here to read Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

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Will you stay with me, will you be my love Among the fields of barley We'll forget the sun in his jealous sky As we lie in the fields of gold

See the west wind move like a lover so Upon the fields of barley Feel her body rise when you kiss her mouth Among the fields of gold I never made promises lightly And there have been some that I've broken But I swear in the days still left We'll walk in the fields of gold We'll walk in the fields of gold

(Fields of Gold – Sting)

Zig looked up, and saw Scarlett awake. Her beautiful dark brown eyes opened, in her mouth a tired smile. Her voice was weak but clear.

               _Scarlett… - surprised, Zig smiled back – did you hear what I said?

               _Each single word – her eyes also left some tears – I woke up when you and the doctor came in. I recognized your footsteps and your voice. I refused to open my eyes because I thought I must be dreaming. But when you held my hand and started talking to me, I knew it was real… - her tears mingled with his tears on her face – I’m so happy to see you!

               _Me too! I mean, not in this state, of course, but…wow, I missed you so much – he grinned – I was afraid you wanted me to leave…

               _No, Zig! I want you to stay, you don’t know how much I want it – she lifted his hand to her lips and kissed it – I don’t hate you, Zig. And I understand your side. I also wanted to say…ouch! – she tried to shift on the bed, but suddenly stopped – everything hurts…

_Scar, don’t worry about it now …

               _Zig, as you said, this is heavy in my heart as well. I need to say it, please.

               _Right, sorry. Our fight was because I didn’t hear you – he lowered his head, then lifted to see her. She inhaled deeply before speaking.

_Geez, where should I begin? – she let some tears leave her eyes – Zig, I’m so, so sorry for everything. For hurting you, for hiding these things from you and I should have trusted you more. You protected me from the day we met, and I don’t call you my angel by chance. Since you always did that for me, I was trying to protect you too. But things didn’t end as I expected and I let it become an avalanche. I needed more evidence and I didn’t want to disappoint you if I couldn’t gather them. But with your help, things could have been different. I should never have said that I always acted by myself. It was so selfish of me – her crying increased – you have every reason to be mad at me. And I’d like to spend the rest of my life redeeming myself for this bunch of BS I've done and brought into our lives…I was afraid you would hate me, but now… - she smiled reluctantly – it gave me hope that you can come back to me.

               _Scarlett, I understand your side too. You just did what you thought was right to protect the people you care about. I did the same to Marie and, well, you know.

_There’s no comparison, Zig. Marie could get hurt, and you just defended her. I just wanted be the heroin and I didn’t have to do that.

               _I could have stopped when she asked me, but I didn’t listen to her. I just wanted to protect her and didn’t care about the consequences. That’s why I understand you now, Scarlett. Your intentions were the same as mine – she grinned. That was all she wanted to hear. He grinned too when he saw that smile he adored so much.

               _I’m so glad you understand now. But my fate will be the same as yours. I can be arrested at any moment, and there’s nothing I can do – her expression turned somber – but as I told Zack, I don’t care anymore. Maybe I deserve it.

_Of course you don’t deserve it! Beau is the only one who deserves it, he is to blame! And I bet Kassidy, Nathan and even Tyler are involved in some way. I won’t let it happen, Scar – he took her hand and sighed – and I broke a promise I made two years ago. I said I’d be there for whatever you needed, and you need me now more than ever. I want to help you to stop these Alphas. They can’t go unpunished.

               _When you said they couldn’t go after us if we were all together, you were right. We were always a team, and now we are the majority. We can beat them. Even more so now I found out Nathan was the driver last spring.

               _What? – Zig’s eyes widened. Scarlett told him about the picture. She just told Abbie about it – okay, now it’s a matter of life and death. He can’t escape it. And maybe this is crazy, but I think he ran you over.

               _I agree, I thought about that too. But we need to work together. Now I need you guys more than ever.

               _Exactly what I wanted you to understand that day, Scar. You aren’t alone. You always help us, and now that you have a problem you can count on us too – he kissed her hand affectionately.  

               _It’s so good to hear – she smiled, relieved – can you forgive me?

               _Of course I can, Scarlett – he smiled back – I also want to spend the rest of my life redeeming myself for what I made you suffer. And I feel so guilty about it – he looked her up and down.

               _But it’s not your fault, Zig!

               _I know, Scar, but what if you weren’t so lucky and, well, something worse happened before we could talk? – she grimaced.

               _Yeah, don’t tell me…I thought the same when I got here at the hospital…now I understand you after the car crash last spring.

               _So when we get back home, I’ll take care of you, if you’ll have me – he reached for her and cupped her face – forgive me too, Scarlett?

_Sure, Zig! I’m so glad I’ve got you back – after sharing a smile, Zig leaned over and caught her lips in a long, deep kiss. The first kiss in two weeks. Their lips moving slowly against each other’s, rediscovering that sensation and taste. They pulled back smiling and breathing heavily – I missed this kiss like crazy…

_Same here. I missed everything about you like crazy – he rested his forehead on hers – I love you, Scarlett.

_I love you too, Zig – they beamed. That was too good to be true – would you stay this night with me?

               _For sure, my princess – he answered, and she smiled even more.

               _I was missing hearing you calling me like that, my angel.

               _And I was missing hear you calling me like that – he also grinned – oh, I brought you something – he took the flowers and the doll behind him.

               _Oh, Zig… - she grinned – when Chris, Kaitlyn and Zack came in, I can’t believe I thought I didn’t want to see me…

               _I wanted to make a surprise – he kissed her cheek – I won’t abandon you, never more – she turned her head and kissed him again.

               Zig spent that night with Scarlett in the hospital. He slept holding her hand and woke up when he felt the sun through the window. He stood up to close the curtains so as not wake her, and heard a knock on the door. It was a nurse.

               _Sorry, I hope I didn’t wake you up – she smiled.

               _Don’t worry, ma’am. In fact, the sun woke me up – he smiled back, rubbing his eyes.

               _Here are the clothes she was wearing yesterday. They’re already washed – she handed him the clothes and a pair of sneakers – poor girl, she was so scared when she arrived here yesterday…

               _Oh, did you see her?

               _Yes. Actually, I was during her treatment, and after that I helped her wash and get dressed – she giggled – she asked so many times not to forget to put back her star necklace… - Zig also giggled.

               _That necklace was gift I gave her last year for her birthday. She never leaves home without it.

               _Oh, so you’re the famous boyfriend she mentioned so many times while I was helping her? – she stared at him – Zig, right?

               _Yes – he was surprised – what she said about me?

               _So many things I don’t remember, dear. She was under the influence of the accident and the anesthesia, but she hasn’t stopped talking about you – she laughed – but the main gist I could see is that she’s completely in love with you – Zig grinned. Even during that break, after everything he did and said, she talked about him, and said good things. And of course, he did the same.

               _Well, it’s reciprocal. I love her too, so much… - he looked at Scarlett, still sleeping – it’s a relief that she’s fine now…

               _Yeah, I’m always sad when I see young people here. And she’s a golden-hearted girl – the nurse smiled – I have work to do now. Call me if you need anything – she smiled and left the room. Zig closed the door and sat beside Scarlett again. The pair of sneakers she wore was her favorite. She was wearing a pair of denim shorts and a blouse Zig recognized was the birthday gift he gave her this year. He sniffed the fabric and despite the scent of the soap, he could felt her scent. How he missed that! He heard she was sighing deeply and noticed she woke up.

               _Hey, you – he smiled and stroked her hair – how do you feel today?

               _I’m fine – she stretched as best she could – still hurts, but less than yesterday.

               _Good to hear that – Zig kissed her forehead – are you hungry? I’ll ask a nurse to bring you something to eat.

               _Yes, thanks – in minutes, the same nurse that brought Scarlett’s clothes brought her breakfast. Zig helped Scarlett to cut her food and put the coffee on the cup.

_I need to get used to it, I'll do it a lot from now on. Like I didn’t do before with my sisters – they giggled.

_Glad my injured hand was the left, so I can still do my homework – he laughed, shaking his head negatively.

_You and your unbeatable sense of duty and responsibility. Now I’m sure your head is normal after the crash – she rolled her eyes.

_You and your unbeatable habit of making fun of me – she laughed and he kissed her cheek before put a piece of pancake in her mouth – but I don’t like this rest, I don’t like having to miss classes.

_It’s only a week, my princess. And you don’t have to worry, your professors know you’re an exemplary student, they’ll understand your situation. And your classmates will help you during these days when the doctor told you stay home – he chortled – did you see James and Becca yesterday trying to convince the doctor to let them stay for another ten minutes after the visit ended?

_Yeah, it was so fun – she giggled – I felt so beloved, they both told me they don’t like hospitals, but wanted to stay here with me…

_They love you, Scar, and after your recover, we’ll come up with a plan to catch the Alphas – Zig helped Scarlett to open a yogurt cup – and when your parents were leaving, I apologized to them. I was damn glad they’re also with me too.

_Zig, baby, I said it’s not your fault.

_I know, and that was what they said to me. But I felt guilty anyway, I told them I would always protect you, and I left you when you needed me. They trust me to take care of you, and I’ll ask my boss for a few days to be with you – he caressed her cheek and she smiled to him.

_Thanks, Zig – she blushed slightly – you were my first thought when that woman asked me who she should call, but I was afraid you wouldn’t answer me…but I also trust you to take care of me.

               _That’s what I imagined. You called the right person – he sighed – after everything I said to you before leave our apartment, I’d be surprised if you called me.

_I don’t like to remember that – her eyes let two tears escape – I was so afraid... I thought you didn’t love me anymore.

_No, Scarlett! I love you! I’ll love you forever! – he wiped away her tears – I was upset and not thinking well on what I was doing. Never doubt of my love for you – he frowned – and I’m sorry for doubting your loyalty.

_I always say I only have eyes for you! I’m all yours, forever – she put her hand to his face – you know, I’m so happy you were willing to talk and make it up to me, on Thursday I had a great conversation with Zack and yesterday I was going to talk with you after your shift.

_Yesterday I talked to Chris too and…- he interrupted and after some seconds they smiled knowingly – they were acting together, weren’t they?

               _Definitely. But that’s fair, we needed it. How many times have I done this to my friends before… - she finished eating and took his hand – you know, despite everything that happened, I’m very happy we’re fine now – they smiled – I love you.

_I love you too.

#long post #zig ortega #zig x mc #zig x scarlett #the junior #fanfic #choices fanfic #choices #playchoices

[candle-light-writings]

Magnetic

Colossus x Mutant!Reader

Summary: You were up early in the morning practising with your powers: magnetism. Piotr finds you awake and decides to keep you company.

Word count: 2.0K+

A/N: oof I’m so happy of getting this one out. I have so many fic ideas, but they’re just taking me a while to write (cuz I like to write them long & have got no patience). Hopefully I can get the next fic out in a few days. Hope you enjoy ;u;

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5:30 AM

It was way too early in the morning, but you decided to start the day. At this time, it was still dark and quiet -which you liked. You were outside in the garden, wearing gym attire, already sitting on a mat and breathing slowly. There wasn’t anything important to do, except to teach a class later in the afternoon. For that particular class, it was a team building lesson, which they had to “capture” you. Though they didn’t like the idea of working together, so you had to make it more fun and simple. Which lead to a simple game of “tag”. 

All they had to do was tag you. Which they’ve failed twice so far. You chuckled to yourself as you began to stretch. 

You thought it would be nice to warm up outside because its quietness allowed you to concentrate on coming up with a plan yourself. After failing the second time, the kids were desperate to take you down. So desperate that you found them in small groups around the mansion- strategizing on how to get around your mutation.

Your mutation?

Magnetism.

Sure, Wade poked fun at you- calling you Lil’ Magneto for example- but you found ways to utilise your power efficiently and (probably) creatively. Students thought that you would grab whatever objects you were surrounded by and just throw it at them. 

That was the beauty of your powers. With some experimenting, trial and error, and doing that daily grind from the start, you had a few tricks up your sleeve.

While you were stretching, you heard footsteps approach you. You opened your eyes to meet your large, muscular, steel friend. He was already in his uniform and he was surprised to see you.

“You’re up early, Y/N.” Piotr said. Hearing his thick Russian accent never fails to make you smile.

“Same goes to you.” You chuckled and lifted your lower body in the air, positioning yourself in a head stand. You knew that Piotr was an early riser, but you didn’t know that he was awake around this time. Without further exchange, Piotr went to sit beside you. It was common that you two spend a lot of time together. You understood each other well and a deep bond was made during your earlier years. 

“You preparing for the class?” Piotr asked. 

You breathed out, trying to maintain balance.

“Yeah, and I’m also thinking about what they might do. One of them almost got me-“ you grunted, “-but I don’t think they’ve realised they’re not actually working together. Whenever we start, they’re always charging at me with their powers and such.” You carefully brought your lower half back on the ground and laid there on your stomach. “It’s cute, but not effective.” You said, sitting up and grabbing a pouch full of coins that you brought with you. 

“I found them brainstorming yesterday, but I reckon not all of it will go according to plan. We’ll see.” You grinned. “Why’re you here, Pete?” You asked, giving a quizzical look.

Piotr smiled timidly and looked down at his lap. “I was going to workout, but found you here. Thought I would enjoy the quiet morning with you.” He explained while you shook out the contents of the pouch onto your palm, not really hearing the last couple words. The coins began to levitate from your hand. Piotr watched in awe.

“You’ve improved a lot, Y/N.” He said, hinting how proud he was of you.

“Yeah... I have.” You took the moment to reminisce on how far you’ve come since the first time you discovered your abilities. When you first came to the X-Mansion, you had a lot of trouble getting a hold of your powers. You would randomly act as a magnet and every metallic object near you would suddenly charge at you. Moments of these required a lot of running because there would be knives following you. 

There was also that time when Piotr was armoured up and was attached to you for an uncomfortable half-an-hour.

That being said, when he first met you and learned you had magnetic abilities, he knew that you were his weakness. In your case, you thought that you were a burden to him (which he never thought). This lead to you being partnered up with him during training sessions because the Professor believed it was possible for you and him to work together.

From there, you would use your powers to give Piotr a boost, or to pull him back whenever he was in danger. It wasn’t much, but Piotr told you countless times that he wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for you, especially in those ‘life or death’ moments. That’s how your friendship kept growing.

The more you trained together, the more you could build upon your own skills. You learned how to deal with larger and heavier objects, without fainting, while Piotr... he hasn’t found a way to combat your magnetism. Let’s just say that him being armoured down was his only option.

Not only did the two of you feel stronger working together, you became close. Aside from all of the training, missions, and now, teaching, you would hang out.

A lot. 

The garden was where you usually met up. He would sit down somewhere and draw while you laid down next him with some coins lazily swirling around in the air. Or just fall asleep. You felt at home in each other’s presence. Moreover, safe. Piotr would try to find you whenever you weren’t in the same room as him in the mansion. He liked being with you as much as you liked being with him.

From hanging out in the garden, it moved to each other’s rooms. There was this unyielding love that kept growing, and neither of you said anything. There were a few signs that the two of showed that you loved each other, but neither weren’t seeing it. It was too subtle. From the compliments and encouragement you and him exchanged, and the things Piotr would give and do for you, both of you have been wanting to be together. 

With Piotr, he didn’t want to admit- actually, no- he couldn’t admit it. It’s a shame that his shyness brought him down. There was this strong connection you felt for each other, but didn’t know how or when to say it.

Thinking about how much you love being with Piotr caused you to lose yourself from controlling the coins. 

“Y/N?” Piotr watched you zone out as the coins were now spinning rapidly in circles. 

“Y/N, you okay?” Piotr carefully tapped your shoulder. Once you realised what you were doing, the coins flew everywhere as you snapped your attention him, wide-eyed, as if you just ignored every single thing about whatever he was talking about.

“Huh? I-I’m Sorry- I didn’t mean to ignore you- did you say something?” 

“Bozhe moi, your coins.” He said. Feeling the absence of your tiny weapons, you brought them back by attracting them wherever they’ve scattered off to.

“So what were you saying?” You made sure your mind didn’t wander off. 

“I didn’t say anything,” He laughed and patted your head. “but, I wanted to say that you should go easy on them this time.” Piotr said. He was referring to your class. 

“Oh. Piotr, I know they’re kids, but I think now is a good time for them to learn persistence, and that people work best when they work together. Only if they put the effort.” You patted his arm. “That’s what happened with us. Didn’t it?” You smiled at him like he would remember the late nights and long hours of figuring out how you could benefit each other by testing and playing around with your powers. Not only did you want to be independent, you wanted to make sure that you were able to help others. 

“...You’re right. That wasn’t fun, but was worth it.” He agreed. 

“And you’ve also got fifteen kids against one adult.” You added. “One who is fully capable of taking care of themselves.” Piotr pointed out. You didn’t know if he was complimenting you, in a way, but judging by his playful tone, but you shrugged it off.

“Petey, these kids are smarter than you think. They know they have a lot of potential, and as their third try, I have a feeling that they’ve got a good chance.” You grinned then checked your watch.

6:20 AM

You wanted to play around with the coins a bit more, to see what you could do in the lesson. However, you took Piotr’s advice on taking it easy. 

When you first gave this task to the students, you’ve never had so much fun in your life. How you would run all over the mansion, dodge the students, and seeing their determination, you might’ve taken it a bit too seriously. In fact, Piotr knew what you were doing with the students because he saw you run away from them. 

“How about we have breakfast?” You offered, putting the coins back into the pouch. Piotr smiled and nodded.

“That sounds nice. I’ll cook for you. I don’t have anything to do today.” He said as he stood up and waited for you to pack up everything. He was such a sweetheart. He was so kind and giving to you that you felt like you don’t deserve it. You saved him countless times, but so has he. You had to do something special.

Which gave you an idea. 

You didn’t like using your powers on him when you were at the mansion, but you had no choice and wanted to surprise him. Right here. Right now.

Just this once.

After you’ve finished rolling the mat, Piotr began to walk. Expecting you to follow him, you lifted your hand up and began working your magic.

“Huh-?” You giggled as Piotr tried to move onwards as this sudden force was holding him back. “Y/N, is that you- ah!” When he turned around, you were able to pull him with ease. 

Come here, Petey. You grinned as Piotr was standing in front of you. You were pleased that you knew when to withdraw your magnetism and he didn’t knock you over.

“You should stop being in defense mode whenever I’m around.” You joked. With that, Piotr laughed lightly as he did what you said. Then, with caution, he leaned forward and gently pressed his lips against your forehead. You froze. 

Oh, how bad you wanted to have an intimate moment like this. After all these years of wanting to be with him, and likewise, you finally take it all in.

“I love you very much, Y/N.” Piotr’s voice rang through your ears. 

You stepped back and stared at him, shocked. Did he just… You opened your mouth, thinking how you were going to respond.

“I...I…” Piotr waited patiently for your response- anticipating that you might say I love you too.

“I was going to say that!” You finally say, blushing furiously. You then shoved your face in your hands, hiding your embarrassment. That was your last minute surprise. You were going to pull him to you, kiss him, and say ‘I love you’.

Looks like he beat you to it.

Piotr’s heart dropped for a second, but thought about what you just said and watched how you were acting all flustered- he couldn’t help but smile apologetically. It was cute how you wanted to say it first. Well, at least he knows you love him. He then felt your arms wrapping around his waist and you burying your face in his chest.

“I love you so much, Petey.” You mumbled. Your heart was beating hard as you were meaning to say that for a long time and finally did. “I really do.” You added.

Touched by your confession, Piotr revealed how much he loves you.

“You are very beautiful, strong, smart, and everything you do amazes me.” He began. “There is something about your power that makes you so-”

“Attractive?” You smiled weakly, letting go of him.  

“Well...actually...yeah. Attractive.” He chuckled, whether that pun was intended or not. “Come on, let’s go back inside.” Piotr said, holding his hand out to you. You thought about carrying him back using your powers, but you discarded the idea and walked beside him. Hand in hand. 

Like metal attracted by a magnet. 

#colossus x reader #colossus imagine #piotr rasputin x reader #piotr rasputin #colossus #fuuu i'm so tired #moving on to the next fic uwu

[theliterateape]

The Cinema of 2019: A Literate Ape End-of-Year Review

By Don Hall and Brett Dworski

Editor’s Note:

With projects like Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Watchmen, The Mandalorian, and pretty much everything produced for the CW, we are smack dab in the epicenter of the Age of Fan Fiction. The films of 2019 have some nods to this trend with Joker, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and Yesterday playing hard and loose with expanding the existing iconography to tell new stories.

We enjoyed a lot of movies in 2019. While not a banner year like 1968 or 1999, the year certainly had its standouts. Here is our end of the year list of the films that impacted us the most compiled by Don Hall and Brett Dworski, both film fans and people with acceptable vision and hearing.

NOTE: These are not ranked because generally, we believe the practice of ranking films is fucking stupid. However, we do rate them from 1 to 5 Apes. Enjoy.

Apollo 11

4 Apes (DH)

There really was a time when America was great. Sure, there was still segregation and violence, the war overseas, the draft, and the host of problems faced by the country but the men and women who took up Kennedy’s challenge to get a human being on the surface of the moon elevated us all. Apollo 11 is a documentary using entirely archival footage of this historic moment when mankind exceeded itself.

Honey Boy

1 Ape (BD)

The anticipated debut of writer Shia LaBeouf is choppy and disappointing. Newcomer Noah Jupe plays child actor Otis—based on LaBeouf—whose drunken father disrupts his recent success. The film’s inconsistencies stem across the plot, casting and performances. The father, played by LaBeouf, flops between abusive asshole and tender daddy by the minute; neither is compelling. Lucas Hedges, who plays Otis as a drug-abusing teenager, looks nothing like LaBeouf or Jupe. And once things get interesting, Otis forgives his pop and tells him he’s “going to make a movie about him.” Very original, Shia. The fact that Honey Boy is based on LaBeouf’s life is intriguing, but the film is ultimately a huge letdown.

Midsommar

4 Apes (DH)

Ari Astor gives us a twisted break up story wrapped in the bloody flowered crown of a horror film set in blinding sunlight. I loved Hereditary for a million reasons. I loved Midsommar for five: Florence Pugh, the bizarre mating ritual, the fucked up mushroom visuals, old people willingly plunging to their deaths, and a dude being stuffed into the skin of a recently slaughtered bear and burned alive.

Dolemite Is My Name

3 Apes (BD)

Eddie Murphy rewinds the clock to his Raw and Delirious days in this biopic of Rudy Ray Moore, a comedian and musician behind the Blaxploitation movement of the 1970s. While wildly erratic at times, it’s also an affectionate and sobering look at the hustle of show business. It took years for Murphy to ditch his affable family-man routine, but it was worth the wait: Dolemite Is My Name cements the raunchy, cocksure comic as one of the greatest talents of all time.

Yesterday

3 Apes (DH)

I wrote about this here. Loved it.

The Lighthouse

3 Apes (BD)

Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe are exhilarating in this delirious indie thriller. They play 19th century lighthouse keepers who struggle to maintain their sanity upon learning they’re stuck on an island off the coast of New England. The stunning black and white landscapes of Nova Scotia are overshadowed by Dafoe’s and Pattinson’s constant bickering, farting, masturbating, and binge drinking. The Lighthouse is bizarre, hilarious, terrifying, peculiar… and quite good. You’ll never view seagulls the same way after watching it.

Endgame

5 Apes (DH)

The culmination of nearly two dozen interconnected films all stemming from my Gen X childhood? I’ve been waiting since I read my first Avengers comic when I was ten years old for this and it did not disappoint. Packed with incredibly satisfying moments (Professor Hulk, Cap gets the Hammer, “...on your left...,” and “I... am... Iron Man”) this was the most fun three hours I could imagine that didn’t involve cheese or sex.

The Art of Self Defense

4 Apes (BD)

This deadpan and absurdist comedy highlights toxic masculinity through a ruthless karate class. Jessie Eisenberg plays Casey, a lonely, frightened accountant who enlists in the course after a mugging leaves him hospitalized. Led by a vain and puzzling instructor, the class soon absorbs Casey’s life and brainwashes him to commit barbaric acts beyond self-protection. Although clearly a blend of Fight Club and The Karate Kid, The Art of Self Defense carries an unusual rhythm that separates it from its predecessors—and displays a refreshing kind of filmmaking from newcomer Riley Streams.

Joker

4 Apes (DH)

The politics that suddenly surrounded this were nothing more than distraction. Was it a response to the humorless Woke culture? An Incel Fantasy? Who gives a fuck. It was a film that did something a lot of movies lately refuse to do—it surprised us. It also included an amazing, painful performance by Joaquin Phoenix and, like Logan before it, used the pop culture iconography of the comic book tropes and deepened them in ways that only a bold approach could.

High Life

4 Apes (BD)

Visually-stunning cinematography and a harrowing storyline carry High Life, one of the most daunting films of the year. Set in a futuristic world where death-row inmates are sent to conduct eerie experiments in outer space, High Life is as morbid as it is alluring. The movie—which was made in 2018 but not released in theaters until 2019—resembles a space version of The Shining with its isolation-leads-to-madness concept. While too edgy for some, High Life is one of the most uniquely made films in years.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

5 Apes (DH)

Tarantino’s homage to revisionist history, the plight of growing old and becoming replaceable, 1960s Hollywood, and chock full of snappy dialogue, incredible performances, and both a sense of celebration and melancholy makes this one of the best movies about movies ever made.

John Wick Chapter 3

5 Apes (DH)

With next year’s Keanu-mas when they release both John Wick 4 and the Matrix 4 movies on the same day (yes, I will participate fully) the franchise that spawned the newfound love for all things Reeves is absolutely worth noting. Full of that comic book/video game world-building, odd but sensible rituals and oaths and rules plus plenty of head-shot, bloody violence, I sat in a Las Vegas theater with a crowd and we all gasped, laughed, and applauded at the absolute action-porn that is John Wick. Yes, these films are pornography of comic book violence and Reeves is our big-dicked John Holmes.

The Painted Bird

5 Apes (BD)

Those seeking a feel good shan’t see The Painted Bird, a bloodcurdling Holocaust drama seen through the eyes of a child. Petr Kotlár gives a robust performance as a nameless boy fighting to survive the violent societal breakdown in Eastern Europe. In doing so, he experiences one nightmare after another—each worse than the former—and loses hope in human kindness along the way. The beautifully shot black-and-white landscapes are a mirage for the routine abuse the boy encounters, leaving audiences as numb to it as he is by the film’s end.

The Irishman

4 Apes (DH)

Scorsese caps a triptych of films over decades with this much slower but no less magnificent look into the Italian Mafia from the inside/out. Goodfellas is an Irish kid’s ascent and is an explosive young man’s movie. Casino is a Jewish man’s climb up in the Mob and, while still explosive, is a bit more subdued and a decidedly middle-aged man’s film. The Irishman is an old man’s view, looking back, reliving awful and magnificent moments.

Together, the three films mark a masterwork in a genius director’s canon.

Ad Astra

5 Apes (BD)

Ad Astra takes a different approach than most solar-system journeys by exploring the man behind the suit. Brad Pitt is Roy McBride, an accomplished astronaut whose dedication to space has damaged his marriage. When called upon for secret mission to Neptune, the stoic McBride finds he’s more than a government robot, and his ascent to madness results in one of Pitt’s finest performances. Supported by a wonderfully played asshole in Tommy Lee Jones, Ad Astra is as much a family drama as it is a space adventure.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

5 Apes (DH)

Sure, there were unanswered questions leftover and I really didn’t care for that kiss at the end but I loved this film from start to finish. Completing a story as massive and, in many ways, disconnected, was a tall order and I think Abrams and team did about as good a job as anyone could expect. This will be in rotation at least a couple more times in the next few weeks.

Marriage Story

5 Apes (BD)

Oscar-worthy performances from Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson drive Marriage Story, a clever, poignant narrative about divorce. Noah Baumbach’s behind-the-scenes view of the crippling situation separates it from movies alike, exploring factors beyond courtroom troubles and custody battles. Marriage Story empathetically—and even comically—shows both sides of the fight, and its effect will last far beyond the screen. Get your box of tissues ready.

Alita: Battle Angel

3 Apes (DH)

Not a Manga-Boy so the inconsistencies with the story and characters didn’t bother me. I thought this was the closest to watching a dramatic video game with some cool performances and great use of camera and technology. It was also the film I saw first as a resident of Las Vegas so that counts for something at least to me.

Parasite

5 Apes (BD)

Superbly written, shot and performed, Bong Joon-ho’s account of class discrimination in Korea is an electrifying and emotional masterpiece. What begins as a lighthearted story of two families—one rich, one destitute—spirals into shocking sequences of deception. It has every element of an instant classic: witty comedy, sexual tension, thrilling violence, social themes and a stunning finale that mirrors the horrors of reality. Calling it the best movie of 2019 isn’t enough: Parasite is one of the top films of the decade and transcends the arc of modern cinema.

#Movies of 2019 #Honey Boy #High Life #Parasite #Ad Astra #Once Upon a Time in Hollywood #Yesterday #Marriage Story #Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker #The Irishman #The Painted Bird #John Wick Chapter 3 — Parabellum #Joker #The Art of Self Defense #The Lighthouse #Dolemite Is My Name #Midsommar

[thesilverstaganddoe]

The Beginning: Psychology and the Law (Killing Eve Fic) Chapter 8

AO3 Link Chapter [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Chapter 8: Casual [Explicit]

Eve ended up staying with Oksana for two days. She wanted to stay longer, but Oksana ultimately told her that she was annoying and smelled and needed to go home. Which both embarrassed Eve and made it clear to her that Oksana was back to her usual self. She was also no longer taking pain meds, although she was still limping a bit and Eve had caught a few glimpses of the brilliant bruises on her right hip and thigh.

So she left. She continually checked in via text and fortunately Oksana always responded and without enough delay to worry Eve. So she felt fine. She did. She didn’t see Oksana, though. But that was fine. It was.

A few days later, the Sunday night before the start of classes, Oksana texted Eve for the first time herself.

It’s our last night of freedom and I’m better now. Let’s go out.

Eve’s stomach flipped. She didn’t miss Oksana or anything, but it really would be nice to do something fun before getting back into the swing of work.

Sounds great.

Oksana met Eve at the bar. She was dressed more casual than usual, in looser, flowing pants and flat shoes that Eve had never seen before. Eve wondered if she was still sore, but she walked just fine and when she settled onto a stool it was with apparent ease.

She smiled when she saw Eve, a normal, genuine smile that Eve hadn’t really seen in a while. There had been the dopey grins when she’d been on the pain meds, but that wasn’t the same. It felt really good to see and Eve felt a tension release from her shoulders that she hadn’t even known she was carrying.

Oksana hugged her and that was the real surprise. She’d done it once or twice in the past, but it was still strange, especially given the discomfort and slight awkwardness that had hovered since Eve had been a total shit.

“Hello nursemaid,” Oksana said jokingly, as she sat down. “It’s good to see you.”

They both ordered drinks and then Oksana turned to Eve, drumming her fingers on the bar counter, looking at her expectantly.

“Um, how are you?” she asked.

“Good,” Oksana nodded. “Much better.”

“I’m glad. Really glad.”

“How are you? Ready for classes?”

“Good. I guess I’m ready. The break has been nice, but I think I need the routine.”

“Yes, I agree. I’m not sure I’m entirely ready to deal with the students, but it’ll be good to do something.”

“You don’t like them.”

Oksana scrunched up her face. “They’re idiots. Last term one of them asked me what the difference between sociology and social psychology was.”

“That’s a reasonable question.”

“For the start of the term, sure. I told them on the very first day of class. Syllabus day, in fact. But they asked me more than halfway through the term. Do they just not pay any attention? Do they just forget everything?”

Eve gave her a look. “Don’t be an ass, Oksana.”

Oksana threw up her hands. “I’m not, it was a stupid question!”

“There are no stupid questions.”

“People say that, but I don’t believe it.”

“What did you say? Did you answer it?”

“Well, yes. I stared him down, but I did answer. As a professor, I’m supposed to answer all question. It’s how I get good ratings.”

Eve looked down at her lap. The last sentence was pretty snarky but Eve deserved it.

“That’s probably true. What is your definition, then?”

Oksana gave her a highly critical look. “You don’t know?” she asked incredulously. “I had much higher expectations, Eve.”

Eve rolled her eyes. “Of course I have my own definition. I’m just curious what yours is. Definitions vary.”

“Well I say that sociology focuses on general theories about groups and societies while social psychology is more about individuals and what they have in common with each other that makes them susceptible to social influence.”

“I agree.” Oksana nodded, seemings satisfied. “And that’s why you prefer teaching the social and personality classes, rather than sociology stuff. And why you liked your jury selection job.”

Oksana studied her, as if she was trying to decide on how much of an answer she wanted to give. “Yes. And why I don’t like the clinical and abnormal classes you teach.”

“Because you think they’re boring?”

“I suppose.” She paused and stared ahead of her at the bottles behind the bar, absently tracing a finger around the edge of her glass. “And they bother me a little.”

That surprised Eve. “Why?”

Oksana ran her tongue along the edge of her teeth. “I don’t know. They just do.”

It didn’t feel like an entirely honest answer and Eve really wanted to get a better one but she felt like she was on somewhat thin ice with Oksana and didn’t think pushing it was a good idea. “Okay, well I like them. I’m happy to teach more than my share of them.”

Oksana looked over at her with a smile and a nod. “Go team.”

———-

They talked for a long time and the conversation flowed as easily as it ever had, maybe even more so. At some point, Eve heard the bartender make the last call and she looked at her watch in disbelief.

“It’s...already one.”

Oksana laughed lightly. “I guess it is. Time flies.”

“We didn’t even really drink at all.”

“Distracted, I guess. We had a lot of catching up to do.” Oksana was looking at her Eve as she said it and her stare was penetrating, but not in the way Eve had often seen. It wasn’t the one she gave Eve when she was angry or when she seemed like she was staring deep into Eve’s soul and could probably read her every thought.

It was almost soft.

“Yeah, we did.”

“A little rude of us. We should tip well.” Oksana looked as if she expected Eve to say something else, but she didn’t know what that would be. Oksana made a popping sound with her lips and said, “Do you want to come back to my place? I have wine, we can actually drink and finish our conversation.”

“Sure, that sounds good.”

Oksana nodded, placed some money on the counter and got up from her seat to make her way towards the door. Eve followed.

They’d gone to the bar around the corner from Oksana’s place, the one they’d intended to go to the night of the fight, so it was just a short walk to get back to her apartment. Oksana headed towards the kitchen while Eve shrugged off her coat, draped it over the back of the coach, and sat down. She set two glasses of wine on the table in front of them and then joined Eve on the coach, tucking her legs up under her.

Silence fell between them, the earlier ease of conversation from the bar somehow gone.

Finally, Oksana spoke. “Ask me a question.”

“What?”

“A question. Ask me something. What would you want to know about me?”

“Um...what is your favorite color?”

Oksana scrunched up her face. “That is a terrible question, Eve.” She sighed. “Pink. My favorite color is pink.”

Eve snorted. “Seriously?”

Oksana looked insulted. “Yes. Pink. What’s your favorite color?”

“I don’t know. Navy blue?”

“That’s boring. Just like your question.”

“Fine, what’s a good question?”

“When was the last time you masturbated?”

Eve blushed bright red and looked across the room in the opposite direction of Oksana.

“Excuse me? That’s personal.”

“Personal is interesting.”

“I...the day before yesterday.” Eve didn’t know why she actually answered.

“Hmm. I masturbated this morning.”

Eve looked over at her. She seemed entirely calm, a bit entertained. Not at all flustered like Eve was.

“I didn’t ask.”

“No, but it’s only polite to answer as well.”

“Nothing about this conversation is polite.”

“There is nothing wrong with talking about sex, Eve. People are too uptight.” Eve sighed. “Okay, now ask me a question. A better question.”

“How many women have you brought home?” She had no idea why she asked the question and was pretty sure she might not actually want the answer.

“I do not know. There have been many.”

The answer triggered an unidentifiable feeling in Eve’s chest. Some combination of frustrated...flustered...uncomfortable...something else.

“I suppose it’s your turn,” she said, by way of a response.

Oksansa was quiet for awhile.

“What would you do if I kissed you?” Her voice was quiet, flat. She stared straight ahead of her, her face entirely unreadable.

“I…” Eve paused. It was the moment where she had to make a decision. She couldn’t hedge, couldn’t give a half answer. She had to decide. She wished Oksana had an expression, wished she could tell if she was serious or if she was teasing. Wished she could tell if she was asking because she just wanted to know if Eve liked her or if she wanted to know if it was a two-way street.

Eve took a deep breath and decided.

“I would kiss you back.”

Oksana looked at her with a sharp turn of her neck and in just that instant she had come alive with emotion, her eyes were on fire, her lips parting. Before Eve knew it, Oksana was on her knees in front of Eve and her face was cupped in Oksana’s hands.

And Oksana was kissing her. And she kept kissing her. And kissing her. She didn’t stop, not like the last time.

It was Eve who broke away. “I was mad about New Year’s,” she said in a rush.

Oksana looked dazed. “What?”

“When I yelled at you about the ratings. I was mad about New Year’s.”

“You were mad that I kissed you?”

Eve shook her head. “No, I was mad that that’s all you did.” Oksana didn’t respond, she looked like she was processing Eve’s words very slowly. “I was mad that you kissed me and then just left and kissed a bunch of other girls instead of...I thought something else was going to happen. I know it certainly does with the other women you find.”

“Oh. Why didn’t you just say that?”

“I...think it’s only really sinking in now.”

“I would have gone home with you that night if you’d asked. Telling me that would also have been much better than the yelling.”

“I don’t know, I was just...annoyed. And frustrated. And I couldn’t pinpoint exactly why until now. Until, well, until you just...kissed me like that.”

Oksana grinned and her settled her hands on the couch on either side of Eve’s waist, pushing her onto her back. She leaned over Eve, their chests bumping lightly together, their faces inches apart. “Would you feel better if you got some, too?”

Eve swallowed hard, her pulse pounding in her ears. “Probably.”

Oksana leaned in, lips brushing Eve’s ear. “Yes or no, Eve? Would you feel better if you got some, too?”

Eve let out a small gasp at the just the slight contact and she cursed herself for the reaction.

“Yes.”

Her lips were on Eve’s neck, just below her ear, kissing down across her neck, under her jawbone. Eve’s hands found their way to Oksana’s waist slipping up the back of her sweater. Her fingers ran over the divets in her lower back and then the shallow bumps of her spine, made more prominent by the way she was bent over Eve’s body.

Oksana’s lips found their way back to Eve’s and before Eve knew it her fingers had slipped down to the button of Eve’s pants, undoing it and then pausing, all her fingers splayed out along the skin just under her waistband. It was the lightest touch, but every one of Eve’s nerve endings screamed out at it.

Then Oksana pulled back, face becoming serious. “This needs to be casual, Eve.”

“Of course.”

“Because, you know, I told you I don’t do relationships.”

“That’s fine.”

“You’re really sure? Because people say that and then they change their minds and things get weird.”

“I told you, I’m not jealous. I just...yeah I wanted some, too. I’m just really fucking into you and it’s been driving me crazy.”

“Okay, but I need to make sure that-”

“Seriously, Oksana, it’s fine.” Eve was starting to get frustrated, in more ways that one. “Please just fuck me, I swear to god you’ve been teasing me for months.”

Oksana looked utterly delighted and planted her hands on either side of Eve’s head, pressing their hips flush against each other. Eve could feel her breath on her lips as she spoke. “Oh, honey, I’ve been teasing you since the moment we met.”

Before Eve could come up with a response, Oksana was kissing her again. Her teeth were on Eve’s lip and her tongue was pressing into Eve’s mouth and it was hard and passionate and fantastic.

Oksana shifted herself to kneel above Eve. She pinched Eve’s hips tight between her knees to make space for her hands to travel back down to the top of Eve’s pants. This time, though, she didn’t pause and her hands slid under the fabric, cupped Eve’s ass, her nails biting into Eve’s skin.

For just a moment Eve gasped into Oksana’s mouth, but then she was caught up in the kiss again, caught up in Oksana’s lips and teeth and tongue. She could barely breathe pure air, but in no way did she want to. All she could want, all she could focus on was Oksana, her breath, her taste, her touch.

Oksana’s hands slid lower under Eve’s pants pulling them down along with her underwear in a single movement. Her thumbs traced Eve’s hip bones as she did so and the touch sent a shock through Eve’s stomach and spine. Her hips jerked involuntarily up into Oksana’s hands and Oksana laughed into the next kissed that followed.

Her pants were gone, her shoes kicked across the room in a frantic motion, and Oksana pressed a knee between Eve’s legs. Eve groaned as soon as she felt the pressure directly against her, bucked her hips, no longer caring how unbelievably desperate she seemed.

Oksana’s hands came forward and tangled themselves in Eve’s hair. Her grip was tight, almost painful, and she pulled Eve harder into the kiss, if that was even possible. Eve jutted her hips against Oksana’s leg, craving the contact, needing more. And Oksana let her, held her position firm, let Eve press against her.

But that was all she did. Until Eve begged.

“Oksana…” Eve whimpered. Her name was muffled, it barely broke through the kiss that had preceded it. But Oksana heard and she pulled back to look at Eve. Her face was flushed, as much as Eve’s surely was, and light danced in her eyes. “Please,” Eve mumbled.

Oksana grinned, wider than Eve had ever seen and she dipped her head forward once more to bite Eve on the lip hard before moving to Eve’s neck, kissing along her jawbone. And she pulled a hand from Eve’s hair and pushed it between her legs.

Eve was wet, incredibly so, and Oksana fingers slid against her with ease. Eve gasped before they even found their place on her clit and once they did. Oksana was firm with her movements, not harsh, but incredibly precise, and the overwhelming sensation of it shot through Eve’s brain like wildfire.

She lasted barely any time at all and she would have been ashamed at how easily she came for Oksana if she hadn’t been so desperate, hadn’t needed it for so long. She didn’t have the capacity to care how pathetic she might look.

She opened her eyes and Oksana was smirking at her. Once she saw Eve looking, she pulled her fingers away from her and raised them to her lips, where she slowly began to lick them one by one, never breaking eye contact. Eve watched her. She was still breathing hard and the sight of Oksana, that look on her face, tongue slipping across her fingers to lick Eve off of them, that sight didn’t help.

Suddenly she was struck by a new desire, a fierceness that settled over her body and mind and she sat up. Her hands landed against Oksana’s shoulders and she pushed her back against the arm of the opposite side of the couch. Oksana’s hand dropped to the side, wet fingers forgotten.  Her eyes had gone wide and the cheeky grin, her self-satisfied look of control was gone. Eve had actually surprised her.

“What are you going to do, Eve?” Her voice was an octave higher than normal, her breathing strained.

“Well, obviously I’m going to fuck you. Make sure you come as well. It’s only polite, right?” It was Eve’s turn to bask in the satisfaction of looking down at the other and watch her facial features twitch in response.

“Only polite,” Oksana murmured.

“Yeah, that’s it,” Eve said moving forward to brush her lips against the sensitive skin below Oksana’s ear, “Just polite. Not like I desperately want it or anything. Not like I’m dying to touch you. Put my hands on you. Get my tongue between your legs and run it along the places you are most in need of pleasure. Hear what sounds you make when I do that.”

Oksana’s fingers dug into Eve’s waist and her eyelashes fluttered. “Eve...” It was almost, but not quite, a moan. Eve vowed she would make it into one before the night was out.

Her hands found the bottom of Oksana’s sweater and tugged it up. Oksana obediently ducked her head and slipped her arms out, reaching up towards Eve’s face as soon as they were free.

“Take yours off too, Eve,” Oksana said. Her voice was breathy, her pupils blown. She reached out a hand and trailed her fingertips down the front of Eve’s blouse. “I want to see you, I should have torn this off of you ages ago.” Eve pulled it over her head and tossed it aside. She bent back down over Oksana, intending to kiss her again, but Oksana’s hands wrapped around her back to fiddle with the clasp of her bra. “No, Eve. Everything. I want to see everything, all of you.”

Oksana finished with the clasp and then moved slower, a finger tracing under each strap, studying Eve’s reaction as she did so. Then she seemed to lose her patience. She flicked the straps off Eve’s shoulders and let the bra fall so her hands could cup Eve’s breasts. She held Eve’s gaze for a while after that before letting her eyes travel down Eve’s body. She sucked in her breath and her grip on Eve’s breasts tightened.

“You’re gorgeous, you know.”

A smile played on Eve’s lips. “You’re one to talk. I’ve tried, without success, not to look at you for however long I’ve known you. But, I mean, how can someone not? I kind of hate you for it.”

Oksana grinned. “I’ve heard that before but I don’t think that’s true. I don’t think you hate me. I think you desire me.” She rolled her hips against Eve’s and Eve huffed out a breath, pressing her lips against Oksana’s neck.

“Yes, well the desire is infuriating.”

“Well, then you’ll just have to satisfy it, won’t you?” Eve couldn’t breathe. She pulled back to look at Oksana. She'd meant what she said. It was infuriating. Oksana was infuriating. But she wanted her more than she’d ever wanted anything. Oksana clasped her hands behind her head. “Don’t you want a better view, Eve?” She wiggled her hips and pressed her chest out towards Eve, showing off the red lace of her bra. Thin and revealing, certainly, but still more coverage than Eve wanted.

She tore it off of Oksana and her lips and tongue were on Oksana’s nipple before the garment was even fully untangled from Oksana’s wrists. Oksana gasped and arched her back up against Eve’s mouth. Eve’s sudden movement had clearly taken her by surprise, the self-assured, overly confident demeanor once again knocked to the side, at least for the moment. Her hands settled in Eve’s hair, not pulling, just winding through, making contact.

“I like your hair,” she mumbled. Eve lips broke from Oksana’s skin briefly when she smiled but then they were back and Oksana gasped again. Eve reached up to toy with Oksana’s other nipple and allowed her kisses to travel to the side of her breast. She moved across the curve of it, just as round and perky as she’d always imagined from the way she dressed, but even more incredible when the woman was naked below her, with Eve’s lips upon her.

Eve’s mouth pressed down onto Oksana’s sternum and traveled down in a straight line across her stomach, down towards her belly button. Oksana’s hips arched up as she moved lower. Satisfaction and lust swept through Eve’s stomach.

She placed firmer, deeper kisses into the crevices above Oksana’s hipbones and then she hooked a thumb under each side of her waistband and pulled Oksana’s pants off as roughly as Oksana had removed hers. Oksana’s fingers clenched tight in Eve’s hair when she did so.

Eve grabbed Oksana’s knees and pushed them up so they were bent on either side of Eve’s head and Oksana's legs were spread before her. Her mouth moved to her thigh, traveling down ever so slowly, one single, soft kiss at a time.

Oksana glared down at her. “Is this punishment? Because I teased you?”

“Yes. And not just when you were fucking me before, you said you were teasing me for months.”

Oksana rolled her eyes. “You were teasing me, too.”

“No, I wasn’t. Not on purpose.”

“You’re not that dense, Eve.”

“Apparently I am.”

Oksana slammed her head back against the arm of the couch. “God, Eve, shut up. You said you’d make up to me. Make up to me.”

Eve grinned and placed a single kiss just above Oksana’s clit. Oksana slammed a fist into the couch cushion.

“Eve-”

Eve interrupted the beginning of her next objection. “Happy to.”

And then Eve’s tongue was on Oksana’s clit for real and Oksana whimpered as soon as she felt it. Her hands were back in Eve’s hair, pulling much harder than before. It hurt but it was a very satisfying pain, a clear indication of Oksana’s pleasure and her desperation.

Eve swept her tongue up, down, circled it. She brought a hand between Oksana’s legs and ran a finger lightly across her entrance. Oksana shuddered. It was almost teasing, and it would have been if Eve had kept at it for more than a fraction of a second, but instead it was just a ghost of her previous taunting because she quickly slipped two fingers in.

And Oksana cried out.

Her hips bucked against Eve and her eyes clenched tighter closed. “Faster,” she whispered. Eve obliged.

Any embarrassment Eve may have felt for how quickly she had orgasmed under Oksana’s hand disappeared when Oksana came almost as quickly. It was intensely satisfying. She relished in the evidence that Oksana had been just as wanting, that it seemed she had been waiting for it just as long and desperately as Eve had. Eve watched the last of the orgasm fade from Oksana’s face and then she pulled her hand away and ran her fingers down Oksana’s chest and stomach. They left wet trails behind them.

Suddenly Eve felt exhausted. She lay down, partially on Oksana, still between her legs. She clasped her hands across Oksana’s stomach and rested her head on top of them, let her eyes drift closed. Oksana hooked her legs tight around Eve’s back. She recognized that it was a somewhat strange position to be in, but in spite of that it was comfortable. The contact and the tight grip of Oksana’s legs against her was appealing. She could hear Oksana breathing hard and Eve’s own breathing wasn’t particularly slow either. After a moment she found her words.

“Oksana?”

“Yes?”

“Does casual have to mean only this once?”

Oksana gasped out a laugh, “God, I hope not.”

#killing eve fic #killing eve #killing eve smut #villanelle #Eve Polastri #oksana #eve x oksana #oksana astankova #eve x Villanelle #killing eve au #killing eve university au #killing eve teacher au #my posts #my fics

[obsidianarchives]

Ujima

Ujima - Collective Work and Responsibility; To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers' and sisters' problems our problems and to solve them together.

[Book Year 3]

“It’s our O.W.L. year,” Alicia complained, “Wood can’t possibly think he can set this packed of a practice schedule.”

“Of course he does,” Katie said with a sigh, “When has Wood ever been known to slow down?”

Angelina sat with her teammates on the floor of the Gryffindor common room near the fireplace as they read over the latest Gryffindor Quidditch practice schedule, which Oliver Wood told them at dinner he had been devising over Christmas break. She had immediately gone over to Alicia and Katie after reading it through, sure she had gotten the wrong paper.

She sighed, “I knew he would do this after we lost to Hufflepuff.”

“But he has exams too!” Alicia exclaimed, “There’s no time!”

Angelina set down the color-coded parchment complete with outlines of individual workouts, group practices, and strategic meetings. “I’ll talk to him about scaling back.” They didn’t need more practice. Everyone knew that Harry would have caught the Snitch had the dementors not chosen that moment to see what all the fun was about. She shuddered, reminded of the cold, dark feeling that had washed over her as she’d flown at the Hufflepuff goals.

“Angelina?”

She looked up to see Lavender Brown standing above her, a worried look on her face.

“What’s up?” Angelina asked. The girl rarely spoke to her outside of BSU meetings, which she had only recently begun attending, but Angelina had long since taken it upon herself to be available to all of the younger Black Gryffindors who needed her guidance, as others had been for her.

“Can we talk?”

“Sure,” Angelina folded up Wood’s practice schedule and pushed herself up off the ground. She followed Lavender over to two armchairs just vacated by two first years, wondering what the issue was. Lavender had only started coming to BSU meetings just before the end of last term, and though she was new, she’d seemed fairly comfortable. From the look on her face, Angelina worried that something had happened.

“What’s going on?”

“Something’s wrong with Hermione,” Lavender said, “I wasn’t going to say anything after how insensitive she was after my bunny died, but I’m really worried.”

Angelina hadn’t seen Hermione much this year, and the few times she’d caught a glimpse of her she had either been running to the library, running to class, or running to her room to get another book. She wasn’t sure it was much different from how Hermione had acted in previous years, but Lavender was the girl’s roommate, so Angelina knew she would have more insight.

“What makes you think so?”

“She only ever does homework — I know that doesn’t sound so different from how she is normally, but it’s like she never sleeps. Parvati picked up her schedule yesterday morning to give back to her after she dropped it on her way out of our room, and she swears Hermione had multiple classes in the same time slot!”

Angelina frowned, “No one can be in two places at once.”

“Well obviously not, but she’s never missed a Divination class and she goes on and on about Arithmancy, but they’re at the same time.”

“Maybe she’s worked something out with the professor,” Angelina offered, unable to see anything else for it.

“Maybe, but that’s not the point. She’s been crying a lot lately and I know for a fact that she and Ron Weasley had a row. Of course, Harry sided with him, so now all she does is hang out with Hagrid.” Her voice dripped with derision at the thought of anyone wanting to spend their free time with the school’s newest and most untrained professor.

“Why haven’t you offered to let her hang out with you and Parvati?”

“Obviously we have, and we’ll occasionally have lunch but we have nothing in common,” Lavender leaned in, her tone hushed, “She doesn’t even care about the Boys With Magic’s Screech Tour!”

Angelina watched Lavender, bemused. She supposed Lavender and Hermione were about as different from each other as you could get, but still, she appreciated the fact that Lavender was willing to seek help for her roommate.

“Why are you coming to me about this? Surely Professor McGonagall could help her with her schedule, or talk some sense into Harry and Ron.”

“Well, she looks up to you,” Lavender says, “I wanted to invite her to a BSU meeting, but I think she might respond to it better coming from you.”

“I don’t know…” Angelina said, unsure, “If anything, her coming to BSU might make her scheduling issues worse.” She vaguely wondered if she could go to Wood with the BSU as an excuse for why she couldn’t do so many practices.

“True, but BSU makes me feel like I have a real support system here,��� Lavender said, “It seems like Hermione is flailing. Maybe it could help her too.”

…

Angelina promised Lavender that she would talk to Hermione about joining the BSU, but for the rest of the week, she didn’t find the time. Her professors were piling on more and more homework as O.W.L.s loomed. As their match against Ravenclaw came closer, Wood became more pumped up than ever, approaching team members in the hall to shout tips and getting into a very loud and public argument with Percy Weasley in the entrance hall about why having a full working model of the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch in their room shouldn’t be a hindrance to a good night’s sleep. She had spoken to Wood about calming down, and in response, he relented on the individual workouts, but increased the constructive feedback he seemed to feel obligated to hurl at them in passing.

With Saturday morning came Quidditch practice, but Angelina had a book she needed to return to the library before Madam Pince began stalking her for it — she had heard from Colin Creevey that Pince had taken to popping around corners after he’d put off returning a book for too long. She left her broomstick at the doorway, knowing the librarian wouldn’t like it in her sanctuary.

She wasn’t all that surprised to see Hermione there, surrounded by stacks of books near one of the windows, the early morning light filtering in through the thin gray clouds. She was bent over an open book, but when Angelina got closer, she realized the girl was fast asleep.

“Hey,” Angelina nudged her awake.

Hermione shot up, eyes wild. The side of her dense curly hair was flattened, packed together, and lopsided. “Wha—? Oh, hey Angelina.”

Angelina knew she needed to get to practice, but now that she was really looking at Hermione up close, she could see that Lavender had a point. The girl had large bags under her eyes, her clothes looked disheveled, and it was clear she hadn’t moisturized her hair in at least two weeks. Angelina sat down next to her, reaching out to fluff up the side of Hermione’s hair that had been mashed together when she dozed off. It felt dry and brittle.

“What’s going on?”

“Oh, nothing,” Hermione mumbled, rubbing her eyes, “I’ve been looking up precedents for hippogriff pardons after they’ve attacked humans. I must have fallen asleep.”

Angelina slid a stack of books out of her way and glanced down at the huge tome Hermione had been sleeping on. It was a book about legal cases against violent magical creatures from the 19th century. “Why would you be doing that?”

“The Ministry is holding a hearing for Buckbeak soon and Hagrid needs all the help he can get,” Hermione’s words were slower than Angelina was used to, but she could still hear the indignation in her voice. “It isn’t fair to punish Buckbeak just because Malfoy was being stupid.”

“Sure,” Angelina had heard all about the hippogriff issue, it was one of the reasons they had played Hufflepuff in their first Quidditch match of the year, and by extension, the reason Wood was so frantic after losing. “But why is that on you?”

Hermione blinked. “Hagrid is my friend.”

“Yes, but Hagrid is also a grown man,” Angelina said gently, “Are you sure you have time to focus on this given all of your classes?”

Hermione wouldn’t meet her eyes, “I’m handling it.”

“I won’t tell you how to manage your time,” Angelina conceded, leaning back. “But it seems like you need some support. Some of us — Black students, I mean — we meet on Sunday mornings to hang out and talk. Professor Sinistra gave us her classroom to use.”

Hermione frowned, “I heard about that. I figured Zabini just sent that note as a courtesy. He doesn’t like me very much, and the others think I’m too high strung.”

Angelina grimaced, “That may be true, but the BSU isn’t about that. It’s about community, having each other’s backs even if you’re not exactly close.”

“I don’t know,” Hermione said, rubbing her eye again. Angelina wondered if all Hermione really needed was a good night’s sleep.

“Well just think about it,” Angelina said, pushing herself up from her seat. She was going to hear it from Wood for being late. “And stop by my room later. I’ve been developing a quick moisturizing spell for hair that I think you’ll be able to learn fairly easily.”

Hermione yawned. “Thanks, Angelina,” she said before bending over further to read about the trial of a bowtruckle with a penchant for pulling out the hair of anyone who came within ten feet of its trees.

Angelina nodded and turned to leave the library.

…

Angelina sat in Sinistra’s classroom in the circle of chairs Blaise Zabini and Desiree Warbeck had configured before the start of the meeting. Desiree was now passing around the fresh cookies she’d baked in the Hogwarts kitchens (“You can get a lot done when you’re friendly with the house elves.”) while Dean Thomas wrote a few things on the board in the front of the classroom.

Angelina’s younger brother Alex sat nearby, poised to take minutes. It was his first year at Hogwarts, and he’d been sorted into Ravenclaw. When Angelina had told him about the group, he’d jumped at the chance to join, and when Blaise had casually asked if anyone could take notes, Alex took it upon himself to bring his own quills and parchment to every meeting from there on out.

“Did you talk to her?” Lavender hissed at Angelina as she sat down in the circle, leaving a seat between them.

“Yeah,” Angelina said, “I don’t know if she’ll come, but we’ll see.”

“Alright everyone,” Blaise said, after thanking Desiree for a cookie, “We should start.”

Dean finished writing down the last bullet point with a flourish and came to sit between Blaise and Alex. Desiree kept walking around the circle, while Blaise continued.

“Let’s check in. How’s the beginning of the new term going for everyone so far?”

There was a beat of silence as the students all looked around at each other, unwilling to go first.

“I’ll start,” Dean said, sitting up straighter. “I’m okay. School’s fine, but I’ve been having a hard time talking to my mum. My parents are Muggles, so they don’t know about all the...stuff going on here. I was too scared to tell them about the Chamber of Secrets, and with Sirius Black on the loose near Hogwarts…I don’t know I guess I’m just having a hard time figuring out what to tell my family.”

Blaise nodded, looking around the room. “Anyone have any advice for Dean?”

“Don’t be stupid,” Lee Jordan said next to Angelina. “The Chamber’s been closed and the Ministry will get Black. Don’t tell them about any danger unless you don’t want to stay here anymore.”

“Of course I want to stay!” Dean exclaimed.

“Then keep your mouth shut,” Lee said, “Trust me, it’s a pain to have your parents worrying about you at school, Muggle or not.”

Angelina silently agreed. She and Alex had been getting long-winded letters from their mother about all of the anonymous tips the Daily Prophet was getting about Black, and after the attack on the Fat Lady, she knew her parents were of half a mind to pull them out of school altogether. Angelina wished she could tell her not to worry, especially with Dumbledore around, but instead she thanked her mum for the information and moved on with trying to balance her schoolwork and Quidditch.

“Who’s next?” Blaise asked.

“I’ll go,” said Lee. “Everything’s brilliant mostly, except I’ve got detention for the next four Saturdays just for putting fake snakes in Alicia’s stew.”

“You deserve it!” Alicia interrupted scathingly from across the room. Several people giggled.

“Oh come on, it was just a bit of fun,” Lee said with a smile. “Anyway, I’m supposed to be sorting Flitterblooms from Devil’s Snare with Sprout, which is cruel and unusual punishment if you ask me — what if I get attacked and there’s no one to save me? On top of that, Snape’s given me extra Potions homework just because I misspelled ‘monkshood’ in my essay, so now I’ll be missing out on some prime planning time with the twins — we’ve got some brilliant jokes for April but they take time —”

“Sorry,” a small voice said from the doorway.

Lee stopped as the room turned to see Hermione, looking unsure. She wore a burgundy sweater and jeans, her thick hair pulled up into a pineapple on her head. She was clearly still exhausted, but she looked far better than when Angelina had seen her last.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Hermione said, eyes darting around the room, “I just wasn’t sure if this was the right place.”

Dean smiled kindly, “You came at the right time. Lee was rambling.”

“Sorry for trying to share my life,” Lee said, crossing his arms dramatically, “I thought I was amongst friends.”

“Take a seat,” Blaise said, gesturing to the circle.

Hermione made her way over to the chair between Angelina and a beaming Lavender. Desiree hurried over to offer her a cookie.

“Why don’t you check in, Granger?” Blaise said as Desiree took her seat. “We’re just talking about how our years are going so far.”

“Oh,” Hermione said, taking a small bite of her cookie and wiping her mouth. “Mine has been really hectic, but I’m managing…”

#Angelina Johnson #Lavender Brown #Hermione Granger #HogwartsBSU

[thatlittledandere]

Firsts

@yoosungweek day 1: First Date

General audiences, no archive warnings

Words: 1,625

Summary: You can have a first date three times.

Ao3

She arrives at the party venue and starts looking for Yoosung immediately. She knows it's very possible he isn't here yet; he needs rest. The mission he went on with Seven the day before yesterday was dangerous. They came back, but the cryptic messages Seven sent in the chat room last night and his uncharacteristic silence this morning weren't the most reassuring.

Still, she keeps holding on to hope that Yoosung will make it and be alright. She wants to finally meet her new friend and pre-boyfriend - is there such a thing? The word Yoosung coined was, in any case, cute and kind of practical.

She introduces herself to Jaehee who's in charge of welcoming the guests and exchanges a few words with Zen and Jumin. They're all pleased with how well the party is going, but worried about Yoosung. Nobody has heard a word from either him or V.

Inside, they meet Seven. She thinks it's a little tactless of Zen to comment on his appearance, but she has to admit he's right. Seven definitely looks worse for wear. He doesn't acknowledge anything anyone says, and the next thing he starts crying and blaming himself for god knows what. She's even more worried now, for more reasons than just one.

Then Seven reveals that Yoosung did, in fact, get hurt in the hacker's hideout and is now in a hospital. Her eyes widen and mouth opens in shock, and she's afraid her worst fears may come true. She feels scared, angry and disappointed all at once, but knows she has to keep her cool. For everyone's sake. Including her own.

But before anyone can react, a voice welcomes everyone to the RFA party. It's a voice the others seems to recognize; she is told it's V. And soon Yoosung is there on the stage too, holding a microphone, speaking with a smile on his face as if half of it wasn't covered in bandages. Her dread leaves as soon as it came and is replaced with relief, surprise and a tight feeling in her chest she wants to feel more of.

Yoosung finishes his short speech and makes his way towards her. She can feel her heart pounding, and wouldn't be able to stop herself from smiling brightly even if she, for some strange reason, wanted to. If she was the type to cry easily, she surely would be by now. Yoosung looks so pretty, so cute, so cool, and most importantly, as happy as she is. He's right in front of her now, and as they kiss, she can't help forgetting all the danger and anxiety they’ve been through.

He's here, they're together. But it's the RFA party, so even though they're meeting face-to-face for the first time and the setting is unquestionably romantic, she's not sure if she can call it a first date. She can't wait to go on one.

After a week has passed, she has returned to her own apartment and can attend classes again. Her friends are still in disbelief of her story. The professors at uni have graciously given her the new assignments she missed. Her parents worry about their daughter's safety; the organization she suddenly joined sounds dangerous to them. She wonders if she should have worded things differently or left the bomb out altogether. On surface, her life has returned to what it was before RFA.

With the exception that she has a boyfriend now. The type she always wanted - kind, cute, caring but not overbearing. Except that Yoosung is even better. She can't put a finger on it, but even with his negative traits (nobody is perfect, after all) Yoosung is even better than she could have ever imagined. Maybe it's the rush of passion she's heard is typical for new relationships, but she likes to think it's genuine love and something that will last.

She wants to do so many things with him she can't even count them; things both clean and dirty. She shakes away the dirty thoughts for now - she believes it's better not to rush things before talking about them thoroughly.

Right now she's content with texting and talking on the phone, sharing trivial details of their life as well as the big things. Especially the big things that may sound trivial to some: Yoosung’s team on LOLOL winning against a team known as unbeatable or her favorite anime getting a new season.

But she also wants to see Yoosung face to face. Now that she knows what that smile looks like in real life she's hooked. She wants to be the reason for that smile; she wants to tell Yoosung all the things she likes about him and all the things she wants to experience together. She wants to walk around town holding hands, she wants to share a soda with two straws and look into Yoosung's eyes, she wants to kiss him in a movie theater in sync with the actors, she wants to talk until it's so late they decide it's better to sleep over.

Her phone rings with Yoosung's custom ringtone and she jolts out of her dreams to answer. Yoosung starts with the usual small talk but sounds nervous. She’s curious and asks if Yoosung has something on his mind. He's startled, but manages to sputter an invitation on a date. A real, actual date, downtown, as boyfriend and girlfriend. They could go to the park, movies or a cafe, hold hands and be a proper young couple.

She would more than love to.

It's been exactly five years since the first RFA party she took part in. The one they're organizing now is going to be the biggest one in the history of RFA, even going as far as to having guests coming from abroad. Chinese animal rights activists, an American actor known for his contributions in protecting the environment, a Spanish editor-in-chief doing research in Korean LGBTQ+ organizations for her article series. Everyone is excited and proud of each other's work.

She, however, also has another reason to be excited. She and Yoosung are going out to eat this night - in a place far fancier than usual. She made the reservation three weeks ago just to make sure. Neither has dined there before, but she's confident they'll both love it. After dinner it's time for a movie; they're both the type to appreciate the mundane, after all. That, and she wants to see other moviegoers’ faces when a couple steps into the theater wearing their best to see an average chick flick.

The night will surely be memorable, as it should. They married just last week, but thanks to the party preparations, they haven't had a night to spend with just the two of them since. This will be their first date as wife and husband.

She chuckles to herself, already knowing how the night is going to go down. Yoosung will be nervous about whether he'll mess something up at such a fine venue, she will remind him that he's done a wonderful job in professional contexts before, and he'll calm down. She will forget her promise to forget work and bring up the party preparations, and Yoosung will scold her, but good-natured and with a smile. Yoosung will bring up having kids. Not yet, Yoosung, she'll answer; taking care of their cat and the RFA in addition to their day jobs is enough responsibility for now. They'll play footsie under the table and giggle remembering how Jaehee once said they're too old for it. Neither of them thinks you're ever too old to have some innocent fun.

They will both enter the movie theater whispering and giggling like teenagers. After the doors closed and lights dimmed, she will still get startled when the first commercial starts rolling. Yoosung will stifle a chuckle give her a kiss on the cheek, and she will tell him not to make fun of her for being jumpy even though he didn't and wasn't going to. They will both get ridiculously engrossed with the movie and completely forget about making out until the first big romantic scene. They will still more or less follow the movie, and Yoosung will be crying by the end of it. She will offer him a paper napkin and kiss his cheek, and he will tell her not to make fun of him for being emotional even though she didn't and wasn't going to.

They will be holding hands on the way home even though Yoosung is driving, and she will rub her head on his shoulder for just a couple of second a few times. He will smile and gently tell her not to distract him, and she will sigh unnecessarily dramatically but comply. They both know it doesn't matter; they'll have all the closure they want and need at home.

But now they're still going through the final plans for the party in the chat room. Zen is telling Jumin not to bring his fur ball, Jumin replies that he wasn't planning on it since some of their guests prefer dogs and she doesn't want to subject Elizabeth the 3rd for anything stressful, and Seven is insisting Jumin should still bring the cat because he, the God of Justice, will keep her safe. Jumin exits the chat room and Jaehee says she believes everything is in order and they can wrap things up for now, if it suits V. V agrees, so everyone logs out one after another.

She leans on Yoosung a bit more; they are sitting back to back on their bed. Yoosung hums, signaling that he knows what she means.It was a silent question: are you ready to start preparing?

He is more than so.

#mystic messenger #yoosung #yoosung kim #yoosung x mc #yoosungweek #i've never written for mysme before #(ok i kind of have i started another prompt earlier) #so i went easy on myself with this one #i'm just.. self-indulging... writing for myself exclusively.... #i love yoosung so much and i want this relationship with him #mc is basically me except i do cry easily #i just didn't want to get too dramatic this time #mysme #my stuff

[your-dietician]

2021 MBAs To Watch: Christina Gohl, IE Business School

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/business/2021-mbas-to-watch-christina-gohl-ie-business-school/

2021 MBAs To Watch: Christina Gohl, IE Business School

“I’m a results-oriented, people-oriented, ex-scientist turned business development professional who loves skiing in the Rockies.”

Hometown: Vancouver, BC

Fun fact about yourself: I met my husband on an airplane!

Undergraduate School and Degree: University of Alberta, Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Santevia Water Systems, Role: Director of Sales

Where did you intern during the summer of 2020? There’s no summer break in a one-year MBA – we go 11 months straight – so nowhere!

Where will you be working after graduation? Great question! One-year MBAs are a unique breed, so given that I don’t graduate until the end of July I haven’t accepted an offer yet.

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

Awards:

Forte Fellowship

Community Work and Leadership Roles

IE Consulting Club Leadership Team. Role: Vice President

The club had slipped in the IE club rankings (a measure of value and effectiveness). I identified the need for a turnaround. I led and implemented a strategy and vision building process with the leadership team which included setting simple but powerful key metrics to measure success. In four weeks, we increased the club’s score by over 100 points, moving from 4th to 1st place.

IE Ambassador – Women4Women Program

Women continue to be underrepresented in MBA programs and through IE’s Women4Women program I aim to change that. Once paired with a prospective female student, I developed a connection and then we explored their needs and goals. My aim is to reduce anxiety by answering their questions but also to act as an advisor. Together we find the right fit, both for them and for IE.

Mentor

Junior profiles in my network have asked for mentorship from me in three areas: sales/business development, team management, and networking. I am currently working with a Masters in Management student to advance his networking skills with a goal to increase his chance of success in consulting applications.

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? Being published in IE’s Finance Talks. I’m a sales and marketing profile with a Bachelor in Science, so while I’m right at home in data analysis, all the finance I know I learned in a boardroom. As a result, when I came to business school I expected to struggle amongst peers with significantly more experience. I had been following the Game Stop short squeeze in the news, so when it came time to pick a topic for my Financial Markets final paper, GME seemed both interesting and relevant. I’m a good writer, but by no means a financial expert. As a result, I was shocked when my professor reached out saying that not only had I gotten 100% on the paper, but that he wanted to publish it. Since then, it has been reprinted in IE’s student newspaper at the request of the IE Investment Club and I got a 4.0 in Financial Markets to boot.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? I always hit sales targets. This started in my first role as a Management Trainee at Enterprise, where I was in the top 1% of sales people province-wide every month I worked there. When I moved to Santevia, I repeated the same pattern. The business was young when I joined, so we had aggressive growth targets: double digits every year. I never missed an annual target. As the business grew, so did my level of responsibility and the size of my team. This meant hitting sales targets was now a function of my ability to lead and motivate 75 others instead of a result of my own direct work. This was a learning curve for me, but a challenge where I excelled. My team never missed an annual sales target in my 7-year tenure at the company.

Why did you choose this business school? I had progressed to the senior leadership team at Santevia and I remember sitting at the boardroom table realizing that while I understood the sales vertical very well, I couldn’t always predict with accuracy the impact my sales strategies would have on other areas of the business. I was a highly competent middle manager, but I needed to up-skill to become an executive. I came to IE Business School to improve my business strategy skills. For me, IE was the right choice because the institution is very forward looking.

The world had just undergone the quickest technical adoption I’ve seen in my lifetime as a result of COVID. Businesses are thus demanding technology savvy, entrepreneurial thinkers now more than ever before. This is IE’s specialty. At this school, I’m building an exam automation start-up called Examind and in two weeks I start a business challenge helping SMEs implement technology accelerators with Microsoft. Without the support and guidance of the professors and administrators at IE, I would never have dreamed of these accomplishments and opportunities.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school?

COVID has affected almost every event or tradition this year. However, one thing that it did not change was the value of diversity at IE. IE ensures that every MBA class hails from all over the globe (our class has 70 different nationalities). While this prompts truly interesting class discussions, it also challenges us to question norms. Sometimes it’s simple things: yesterday, I learned that Italians break a candle from their birthday cake to make a wish instead of doing it when they blow out the candles. And sometimes it’s big, such as how working with multicultural teams presents both challenges and opportunities. Learning to do this well is a skill that I will take with me and I sincerely believe will set me up for success in a world that becomes more diverse by the day. The fact that IE not only understands the value of diverse teams but also has implemented recruiting practices that make it a reality is a testament to their belief in the power of diversity.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? I would have focused less on the job hunt in my first semester. The one-year MBA is short, so there is pressure throughout to consider what’s next. While there is a definite benefit in being clear on your next steps and strategy to get there, I struggled with the transition from a career in Canada to academia in Spain. I think I could have been a little easier on myself in those first months and allowed myself more space to make the transition.

What is the biggest myth about your school? You’ll learn a ton of Spanish while you’re here. While it is possible to learn Spanish (and IE provides us ample opportunity), the reality is that you spend most of your time immersed in English. In addition, the demands of a one-year MBA mean that it’s difficult to find time to practice. As such, I’ve found my language skills progressing more slowly than I’d like.

What is one thing you did during the application process that gave you an edge at the school you chose? I focused my time on what I was world-class at. I had to make a choice mid-application: spend more time devoted to studying and re-writing the GMAT to score in the upper ranks of the quant section or focus on my strengths (strong interpersonal skills that allow me to interview well and strong writing skills to write great entrance essays). I decided to do the latter and it paid off: I got into every school I applied to, with generous scholarships.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? Luis Fernando Marcos Yepes. Luis is a part of my workgroup (an assigned group with which we do all our group projects for core academic classes). The people in your workgroup are always a bit of a gamble. Will we have similar goals? How do our workstyles differ? Coming together as a team is an art and it can be incredibly difficult. Specifically, at the end of a semester, when a mountain of projects are due, the stress increases and groups tend to struggle, our group included. However, Luis never backed away from hard work or difficult conversations. Not only was he a high performer — excelling at and taking the lead in finance projects as a result of his background as an auditor at EY — he also never shied away from the difficult times. His consistency and dependability was something I really counted on in the midst of some stressful days in the MBA. On top of that, he has been very conscious about growing his team leadership skills. He had natural people skills that he has refined in just a few months into persuasion and motivation abilities. He is constantly seeking out advice and feedback to improve as a leader and I truly admire his growth mindset.

How disruptive was it to shift to an online or hybrid environment after COVID hit? Very smooth. A key reason I chose IE Business School was because of the thought they had put into the post-COVID class experience. IE is the only top business school (to my knowledge) that maintained an in-class experience throughout the entirety of my degree (September 2020 start). This came with some restrictions (mask wearing, class size reductions, COVID tests) but the limitations were far outweighed by the benefit of an in-class experience. My classmates and I frequently discuss how fortunate we are to have benefitted from IE’s planning and dedication to preserving our in-class experience.

Who most influenced your decision to pursue business in college? I didn’t pursue business in college (my undergrad), but pursuing my MBA has been a dream of mine since 25. However the push to do it, at 30, came from my mother. She came from a blue collar family in Ontario and was the only one of her four siblings who graduated from university. She pursued her Master’s degree as a single mother when I was young and now she is a successful business owner. She always instilled in me the power of hard work and perseverance. She also taught me that unlike material things, education is something that always stays with you. She showed me the value of investing in yourself.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list?

I want to be in a position to significantly impact the availability of senior leadership roles for women.

I want to own my own business.

What made Christina such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2021?

“My subject is sometimes completely new for the students. In addition, it is very quantitative and full of very specific terms typical of the financial world. So, it is very easy that, at some point in class, communication is “lost”. The truth is that the lack of interaction with the students, causes a certain feeling of helplessness in myself as a teacher. Precisely when I was having the worst time, Christina began her interventions in class, summarizing difficult topics out loud, giving them her own interpretation, obviously much more within the reach of the rest of the classmates. Through her words, concepts were clarified for the rest. And so, it was throughout the course. I found in Christina a total, unique support that made me feel more comfortable when teaching. That’s because I knew that in a natural way, her intervention would allow us to adequately complete the topic, “round it up”. After more than thirty years teaching, on very few occasions I have had such special students and Christina has undoubtedly been one of them.

In the evaluation process of my subject, it is necessary to present an individual work on a topic associated. I suggest some and the students are free to choose another as long as it has to do with the subject. Christina surprised me again by choosing a current issue, related to the behavior of the GameStop stock. She brilliantly described the functioning of “securities lending” and the establishment of short positions in the market, posing unavoidable questions about the concept of market efficiency and the possible gaps in regulation in a world where the importance of social networks is increasing. I think it has been one of the best-written articles I have read on a current topic. When I finished reading it, I felt that I had something very special on my hands. For this reason, and with the approval of the IMBA management, her article was published on a blog of the Institute. The person in charge defined it as a Top Tier item.

In conclusion, Christina has been an exemplary contributor to the course, she has shown passion towards a subject that was completely new to her and not only has she obtained the highest possible grade with an incredible final work but has left an indelible mark on an old professor who is no longer used to seeing so much talent and humanity.”

Rodrigo Manero IE Business School Professor

DON’T MISS: THE FULL LIST OF MBAS TO WATCH IN 2021

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