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#i'm doing everything i can in the classroom to help YOUR KID when ur doing shit at home so OBVIOUSLY she is losing basically everything she
exactoknife · 1 year
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its just like. if your child is actively struggling to read at a kindergarten level when they're supposed to be moving on to second grade... WHAT is so wrong with you that you do not want them to receive tutoring to help them get better. at fucking. READING
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radiant-reid · 1 year
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I’m about to come onto my period and ur dad Spencer blurb has sent me!!!! Pls pls pls do an other one May be with like elementary school kid (only if u want of course!)
okay this is what i came up with because it's so spencer
The morning sun is peeking through the blinds as Spencer stands in the doorway, watching Maisie pack up her backpack and lunch box. She's at the age where she loves her independence, but Spencer is a planner, and he needs to know she has everything she might need for her first day of school.
He's feeling some big feelings - a phrase you've both used with Maisie. It's a mix of emotions, some excitement for her new journey, but also a sense of sadness that his little girl is growing up so quickly.
"Daddy, are you okay?" Maisie looks up at her father with concern.
Spencer blinks away his tears and smiles down at her. He knows he needs to be brave for her. "I'm fine, sweetie. I'm just a little sad today. You're growing up so fast."
Maisie gives him a tight hug before grabbing his hand and leading him to the car. "It's okay, Daddy. I'll always be your little girl."
That makes him want to sob more.
As you drive to school, Spencer's nerves begin to set in. As much as he doesn't want to, he can't help but feel a sense of sadness at the thought of letting her go. There are some nerves too, a lump forming in his throat as he runs through the worst possibilities.
All three of you go in, making sure she remembers where her classroom is and ensuring she's okay. Once it's time to say goodbye, she's happy to leave you both, a welcomed surprise considering she's clingy with her dad. She waves goodbye to both of you with her wide, Spencer-like grin.
He's not okay on the way to the car. You can tell he's holding back tears and you squeeze his hand affectionately.
It's when you're back in the car that he lets it out, tears falling down his cheeks that he doesn't make an effort to hide.
"Baby." You coo, still holding his hand as you wait for him to tell you what's going on in his big beautiful brain, even though you can guess.
He leans his head back on the headrest, sighing. "It's just... she's growing up so fast. It feels like only yesterday that she was a baby, and now she's starting school. Before we know it, she'll be graduating, going off to college, and starting her own life."
All the memories of her younger years flood his mind. He misses the times when she would fall asleep on his chest,= and how he could hold her tiny body in his.
It seemed like only yesterday she was a newborn, wrapped in a blanket and sleeping soundly in his arms in the hospital. Then she was a toddler, gaining confidence on her feet and getting into everything. And now, she was a bright, curious five-year-old eager to start her education.
You run your hand through his curls before wiping his slower-flowing tears. "I know." You agree. "But we still have so many more memories to make with her between now and then. And she'll be okay." You know that's one of his worries, deep down, after what happened to him. "She's already so smart, and she'll make so many friends."
Spencer nods, taking a deep breath to steady himself. "You're right. I just... I can't help but feel like I'm losing her. Like she's slipping away from me."
You lean over and place a soft kiss on his cheek. "You're not losing her, Spencer. You're just sharing her with the world. And she's going to do amazing things, I know it."
He smiles at you gently, grateful for your endless support. "Thank you, sweetheart. You always know what to say."
You sit there for a few more moments, thinking about how much fun she's probably already having. Spencer feels endless amounts of joy, knowing she's going to have the best time in her new chapter.
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kaiisenn · 3 years
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Regular school Au
Noritoshi Kamo is a teacehrs pet, listening to everything the teachers say and following their every command. He was annoying to say the least, reminding the teachers of yesterday nights homework and asking "is that all?" When the class gets a little amount of homework.
"Woah! Y/n , nice one! " Yuji yelled out after your homerun after you returned back to home. You were apart of the joint baseball team in school, since a lot of kids didnt want to join they had to combine the girls team and the boys team. "Thanks Yu, I didnt want to get striked" Yuji nodding his head looks, he turns to look slightly behind you to see Noritoshi coming up to the two of you. "L/n, I have to speak to you for a moment!" Noritoshi speaks out with confidence "Hah? We're in the middle of a game right now." You say putting your hands on your hips "It's fine, Y/n you just batted so it will be awhile for you to bat again and I'll fill in for you on field!" Yuji spoke up giving you a thumbs up and a dumb smile "Thank you, Itadori. L/n if you would come with me." Noritoshi finalized leading you away from the baseball field
Away from the field behind the gym, you against the wall with your arms crossed against your chest and Noritoshi infront of you, he spoke up breaking the thick air between you two "L/n you barely passed your last test, the teacher is concerned for your future grade and wanted me to tutor you. I was thinking we cou-" putting your hand up stopping him from continuing on "Hold up, Hold up! I never asked for your help and I dont need some teachers pet feeling the need to help me just cause the teacher asked you to." You told him voice strict "L/n I dont understand your retaliation, this would benefit you and if your grades begin to slip you might have to resign from the baseball team. Why not give it a try?" Noristoshi asked head tilting to the side, making him look like a confused puppy "Fine" saying the f longer than needed to show your disinterest.
After finishing your game and walking home to freshen up, you shoot Noritoshi a text giving him your address for the study session 'cant believe he made me give him my number, how annoying'.
Hearing the doorbell ring 30 minutes after the text was sent, you walked to open the front door, pulling the door to you revealing Noritoshi in a nice button up with black dress pants "where were you going to?" You asked looking him up and down wondering why the boy was wearing such a formal outfit "I'm going to tutor you." He said as a fact "well so duh, but what's up with the get up?" You asked pointing at his attire, he begins to blush moving his head to look anywhere besides you "I thought I would make a gold first impression... as a tutor" he spoke rigidly "nah it's fine, you can come as bummy as you want. I dont really care, your probably gonna be uncomfortable in those clothes, wanna borrow one of mine?" You asked leading him up the stairs to your room "are you sure? Your clothes might not fit me and o wouldnt want to ruin your clothes" he asked "it's fine, besides o usually have all my house clothes be a lot bigger so it fits me longer. I'm sure something of mine has to fit" opening up y e ur drawer you got a large tshirt and shorts out for him throwing it to him and giving him directions to the nearest bathroom.
When he came back he looked a little uncomfortable mentally but in those clothes he seemed a lot more relaxed "See I knew something would fit you, I mean you are pretty skinny" you told him while looking through your book bag for a textbook , after he sat down next to you the two of you began your study session.
After awhile you three you head back onto the side of your bed and made a loud groaning noise "Arrgghh! This is so boring, cant we take a break? Watch a movie, play some games, eat something! I mean we've been at this for three hours straight.." Noritoshi turned to you brows furrowed "it is important to learn the topic and know it in and out but I suppose a break wouldnt hurt." He said closing the text book and putting the cap on his pen "Ah! Thank you so much Toshi!" You said jumping from your spot to give him a hug, after a couple of seconds you removed yourself from him to go get some snack from downstairs.
While you were gone, Noritoshi put his hand over his heart trying to suppress the loud pounding, wondering if you could hear the way his heart beat out his chest for you. For awhile now the raven haired boy liked you, he would always state at you from afar while you would play your games with your team, watching in astonishment as you would run back to home base with the confidence of a Queen. God how he loved your stubbornness, and your aggressiveness when you came up to someones bully to tell them off, but he also loved your soft side how you would shy away from embarrassment when you answer would be slightly off in math, he wanted to shield you from outsiders eyes and only keep that side of you for him. He loved every part of you, but he knew he would never get the chance to be close with you so when the teacher asked him if he could tutor you, he jumped on the opportunity without hesitation.
"Hey Toshi, I'm not sure what you would like so I made some popcorn and got a couple of snacks and candies for us to eat. Also I brought some games up, I got Mario Cart, COD, Minecraft, and a couple of others in my back pocket" you informed putting all the snacks on the small coffee table you had in your room "Which one do you wanna play" you asked holding up the different games to his face like a fortune teller telling their client to pick a card "I'll try Mario Cart" he answered "Good choice!" You put the disk in and waiting for the game to load you got the rest set up giving him a controller and popping a swedish fish into your mouth.
"Booyah! You just got yoshi'd, toshi! That's 3 for me and 0 for you my friend." You teased elbowing his side "Why dont we make a bet, whoever's wins has to do what the other person wants" you offered him, Noritoshi lighting up at your offer nodded his head and got serious changing his character to princess peach.
After a long and grueling round, Noritoshi was pronounced the winner "Alright you got lucky that round but ne-" you were suddenly shut off by Noritoshis lips colliding with yours! After getting over the initial shock you began kissing back putting the controller down and wrapping your arms around his neck tangling your hands into the hair at the base of his neck. The kiss began to get more heated with Noritoshi pushing you down to the floor and asking for permission into your mouth, with new found access he got to work exploring your mouth with his tongue. But all good things must come to an end when you couldnt breathe you tapped his shoulder twice and he hesitantly pulled away from your lips. "W-Wow, I didnt think you would be so straight foward" you huffed out trying to catch your breath "god I've been wanting to do that forever" he revealed dropping his head to make home in the crook of your neck "is this a confession I smell?" You teased stroking the back of his head with your right hand while your left was drawing shaped onto his back. "God Y/n you have no idea how obsessed I am with you. Everything you do has me going crazy" he breathed out "I could kinda tell, you would always stare at me from across the classroom. Although I also have a crush on you, I didnt think I would have a chance i mean you're so nice, gentle and caring and even though you kinda annoy me when you remind the teacher of homework I could never be mad at you. You're too cute to ever be mad at, like a otter or a big cuddly dog." You laugh kissing his neck
"You mean it? You really like me too?" He asked pulling his head away from your neck "Of course I do" you say bringing his face closer to yours for another kiss, after awhile you two broke away not getting too far from each other though "Wanna make a bet? Who ever wins gets to choose where we go for our next date." You spoke against his lips slightly kissing the bottom "You're gonna lose then dear" he said quickly getting up to grab his controller "No, you're gonna lose!"
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Omfg I'm so in love with him ahh Noeitoshi supremacy!!!
-Kaii
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The Story (Sanders' Sides Human AU)
Ft. Platonic Moxiety, trans Roman, Imaginality (Remus x Patton), and Emciet (Janus x Emile)
Tw: suicide, homophobia, implied abuse, transphobia, f*g said, tra**y said, bullying, anorexia
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Patton stared at his phone. He had a shift at the office in a few minutes, but he couldn't..... He didn't quite know what he couldn't do today, but he couldn't do it. He called in sick. Emile was very understanding. "Take as long as you need, Pat," he said. "Your mental health comes first."
"Thanks, Dr. Picani." He hung up and continued to stare at the message on his phone.
Unknown Number
Got ur number from Jan. How u doing?
It was him. After all these years, it was really him. And, paired with the fact that it was only a week till his brother's birthday.... The last two years of high school came rushing back.
Patton's phone chimed.
Ro's birthday is coming up.
Like Patton didn't compulsively write down the date in his calender every year. June 4. They would have been twenty-six.
I'm moving to ur area 4 work. I finally caught up 2 u.
Patton stared at his phone without really seeing the messages. Tears started to bluer his vision. He wiped them away, only for them to return with a vengeance. Finally, Patton just let himself sob, hoping to get everything out by the time Virgil got home.
***
Virgil waved to his friends as he walked to his front door. His dad's car was in the driveway, which was a surprise. Normally, he wouldn't be back until dinner. He slowly opened the door. "Dad," he asked. Patton gave Virgil a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Hey, kiddo! How was school?"
"Okay. How are you doing? Are you sick?"
"No, no, I'm fine. Just taking a mental health day. Sit down! I made popcorn. We can watch Black Cauldron."
Virgil sighed and sat down, leaning on Patton. Patton put part of his blanket around the teen and pulled him closer. He loved his son more than anything. He would not let Virgil go through the same things he did.
***
Just as Virgil was about to go to sleep, someone knocked on his door. "Come in," he called. Patton opened the door and gave him another fake smile. He sat down on the chair beside Virgil's desk.
"Can I tell you a story," Patton asked.
"I'm a little old for bedtime stories."
"Please? It's kinda boring, but.... I'll be quick. Please?" Virgil stared at his dad. He hated the desperate look in hs eyes. It was getting closer to June, which meant he'd grow quiet and a bit withdrawn. Maybe this was to preemptively make up for it?
"Sure." Virgil laid down and looked up at Patton.
"Thanks, Virge," he said with a slightly more real, relieved smile. "Let me tell you a story about six boys growing up in Florida."
***
Logan Crofters, Roman and Remus Ryan, Janus Pine, Emile Picani, and Patton Hart. They had been best friends since kindergarten. They were all inseparable. Things got worse in middle school when Roman came out as trans. His parents refused to let him transition or cut his hair, and the other kids were less than supportive. Remus let him wear his clothes, though, and his friends all defended him when they could. And they all survived until high school.
Fast foreward to sophmore year. Logan was on the fast track to becoming valedictorian. The other kids, in addition to whispering, "Fag," and, "Tranny," at them all in the halls, taunted Logan for his intelligence. Remus and Janus got into fights often to protect the others. Patton and Emile tried to keep the group's moral up. Logan and Roman always took it all harder than the others, but they had one teacher, Mr. Sanders, who let them eat lunch in his classroom and used Roman's proper pronouns. He even congratulated Patton and Remus when they started dating. He'd always pair up Janus and Emile for group projects, just to watch them flirt.
Patton, Roman, and Remus's parents passed around a petition to get him fired the next year. It was successful. That was the year everything fell apart.
Roman and Logan couldn't handle the pressure that came with the grades and the bullying. They always said they were fine, but....
One day, Logan quit his job at the library. Said it just wasn't worth it anymore. Roman stopped eating and always brushed his friends off when they begged him to try.
They died the same night. June 4, Roman's birthday. Roman overdosed on antidepressants. Janus, Remus, Emile, and Patton read his note over and over again.
Dear Friends,
I want to start by saying this isn't your fault. Remus, you were the most amazing, supportive brother anyone could ask for. Patton, Janus, Emile, Logan, you are all wonderful and perfect, and you all deserve the world. But.... I can't do this anymore. I can't live in this body one more day or hear someone call me Rachel one more time. I just can't do it. I love you all so much. Please don't dwell on this for too long. I want you all to be happy, okay?
Mom, Dad, I'm sorry I couldn't be everything you wanted me to be. I wish I could have been as good a son as Remus was. I wish you could have loved me as much as he did.
And, Mr. Sanders, if you ever see this.... Thank you. For everything.
Adeiu, best of friends and best of men,
Roman
Logan hung himself. He didn't leave a note. His parents at least gave him a funeral. Roman's parents didn't care enough to even do that.
Luckily, Remus, Janus, Emile, and Patton had saved enough from their various jobs to have him cremated. Emile's parents insisted on helping out, which helped a lot.
The group burried Roman's urn just outside the cemetery where Logan rested. Luckily, his grave was at the edge of the gate so Roman's could be near his. Remus painted a large rock to use as a marker. They all stood by the small grave, Janus holding Emile and Patton and Remus squeezing each other's hands, until the sun rose.
Patton stayed with Remus after Janus and Emile left.
"I can't stay here anymore," Remus had whispered. "I can't stay with the people who killed my brother."
"I know," Patton whispered. "I hate our parents." He brushed back his bangs to show Remus a black eye and a bruised cheek. "If we save enough, we'll run away together," he promised. "We'll get Janus and Emile, and we'll all go to Massachusetts, and we'll get married." Remus nodded.
"I like that." He gently pulled Patton close, and they shared a long, sweet kiss.
Things didn't work out. Senior year was worse. Janus, Emile, Patton, and Remus were the gays who were friends with the two who killed themselves, and that's all anyone ever treated them as. Janus's parents took him and moved to Delaware. He and Emile stayed in touch for a few months before the lost contact. Janus and Patton still talked occasionally, though, even after high school. Emile, Patton, and Remus stuck together, but things would never be the same.
When senior year ended, Patton and Emile prepared to move to Massachusetts, but Remus wouldn't go.
"Please," Patton begged. "We found a cute apartment in Salem. We can start over. We can get jobs while Emile is at school. We can build our own lives. Please come with us." Remus shook his head.
"I can't," he said. "It's only been a year since they died. I just can't leave them yet." Patton hugged him tightly.
"Keep in touch," he asked. Remus nodded and pressed a kiss to his lips.
Over the next few years, Patton kept in touch with Remus. Every year, he said he would finally move in with him, and every year, he had an excuse not to. Eventually, they stopped talking as much, and when Patton changed his number, he forgot to tell Remus.
***
"He and Emile stayed together, though," Patton finished. "Patton became Emile's receptionist when he started practicing independently."
"What about Janus and Remus," Virgil asked.
"Janus is still in Delaware, and I guess Remus is with him." Virgil nodded. He wasn't an idiot. He knew Patton had just told him his life story. He just wasn't going to press any further than that. Maybe someday, Patton would tell him more, but it was almost the day his friends killed themselves. Patton needed time.
***
The next day, Patton went back to work. Larry and Dot were happy to see him. When their appointment was almost over, another patient entered the waiting room and walked up to Patton's desk. "Hey," he said, head tilted down. His voice was low and familiar.
"Hi! Do you have an appointment?"
"N-no. I just moved here and was hoping I could set one up."
"Okay.... Dr. Picani is with a patient right now, but-- Remus?" Remus was staring at Patton, a sad frown accepting his dull eyes. "L-like I was saying, Emile--"
"Why didn't you answer my texts?" Patton began to fiddle with a pen. "You could have just said you didn't want to see me. I get it. I probably remind you of Ro and Logan, and that's fine. I failed you and I put off moving even though I said I would, and I understand that you're mad, and it's okay. But--"
"I wanted to see you." Remus stared at Patton, who stared right back.
"What?"
"I wanted to see you, but I couldn't say it. It's just so close to Roman's birthday, and I didn't know what to do or what to tell my son--"
"You have a son?" Patton nodded, tears in his eyes.
"I adopted him five years ago. His name is Virgil. He's funny, he's dark, and strange and sarcastic, and I love him more than anything."
"Boyfriend or husband?"
"Single dad and rockin' it." Remus laughed despite the tears that were escaping his eyes. Patton laughed with him, also crying. "I'm sorry. For everything," he sobbed. Remus took his hand.
"Me too." And that's how Larry and Dot found them five minutes later.
Holding hands and crying, together again.
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queenangst · 6 years
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More Than Friends
by: achievingelysium Summary: A classic, two-part throwback to "mortals-meet" fics. Part one: Annabeth's having a no good, very bad day. Percy swings by to help. Things go about as well as can be expected. Post-TLO, Annabeth's POV. / Part two: Much to his friends' chagrin, Percy tends to show up late to class and flakes out on a meetup, until they meet his elusive girlfriend. Post-HoO, mortal's POV.
Read on AO3 | FFN
Her phone buzzed.
Buzzed, then buzzed again.
Annabeth snarled under her breath, eyeing the teacher whose back was turned to the class, and then snatched the phone from her pocket. Whoever was texting her had better have something important to tell her, or gods help her—
It was Percy.
Despite herself, Annabeth smiled. The annoyance didn't fade—no, from this morning to that stupid brat earlier—she'd just about had it with the day. She'd only come back to school for a week, but already she ached to leave and go back to camp where she belonged.
Percy, 11:14 AM  hows it going babe me and grvoer r headed for the beach
Percy, 11:16 AM  wait grover and i?
You, 11:17 AM  you got it.
Annabeth ducked her head and grinned. She caught Lydia's attention in the seat next to her, her friend's eyes widening almost comically as she leaned over to see.
"You're texting in class?" Lydia hissed.
"Shh," she whispered back, batting Lydia away. Still, the girl was hooked, far too interested in what Annabeth was doing.
There was a noise from the front of the room, and the two of them froze, glancing up.
"False alarm," Lydia whispered as Ms. Martin kept writing on the board.
"You should all be writing this down," Ms. Martin said. "See, this is why you guys aren't doing well. I can only do so much, but if you want to learn, you have to be paying attention in class. It's not as hard as you think it is. Is anybody writing?"
Annabeth gritted her teeth, glaring across the room before looking pointedly at her open notebook. Scrawled on the page were notes, though Annabeth hadn't finished writing down everything. Her dyslexia wasn't helpful, nor was the way Ms. Martin organized her thoughts on the board, completely different from Annabeth's.
There was a general grumbling from the class. Furtive glances were cast around the room.
"Yeah, if only she would teach us," Michael muttered from two seats up. Annabeth and Lydia snorted.
It was no secret that no one in their school liked Ms. Martin. She was a hit-or-miss teacher, and she often berated her students on their less-than-stellar work in her class—even though that had always been a result of her teaching.
"There she goes again," Lydia said, sighing as she jotted down another line.
Annabeth wasn't paying attention, though.
Percy, 11:18 AM soo? good day [IMG _FILE] look at this cool shell grover said the pattern makes it look like its frowning but i don't see it
You, 11:24 AM  tell grover I don't see it either. also today's been awful
Percy, 11:24 AM  what wht why
You, 11:25 AM  ugh Helem got mad at me this morning. Again. *Helen
Percy, 11:25 AM she's too hard on u I thought u 2 were getting better
You, 11:26 AM yeah but last week I took off my necklace so I could go shower she almost threw it away. didn't know what it was
Percy, 11:27 AM she WHAT
You, 11:27 AM I guess it's not totally her fault but she should know by now right not to touch my stuff I hate it when people touch my stuf *stuff and I got really upset about it
Percy, 11:29 AM  u didn't tell me :(( ims orry
You, 11:30 AM its fine now I guess I got it back forgot about it when you called a couple days ago
Percy, 11:31 AM  what were u saying about this morning
You, 11:32 AM  UGH
You, 11:32 AM I came home yesterday [Unsent]
You, 11:32 AM went back yesterday at 2am because I ran into a couple monsters took care of everything but I got a little blood and monster dust on the carpet and in the bathroom was too tired to clean up got yelled at this morning for it
Percy, 11:33 AM ur fine right? ugh it wasn't ur fault
You, 11:34 AM I know she hates monsters and really wants to look out for the boys but she just and earlier I saw this girl talking about this kid in the bathroom and she was so rude I
Percy, 11:35 AM  did u get in trouble
You, 11:35 AM almost did I was about to punch her I was so mad and now I'm in English and I hate English and Martin
Percy, 11:42 AM hey… u have lunch next period i'll swing by with grover and take u out we can get those curly fries u like
Annabeth groaned. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate Percy, but her friends had been pestering her about her boyfriend since she'd gotten back to school.
They were just scraping two months from the war; Annabeth had decided to go back with Percy and Sally's encouragement. She'd missed about a month—school had started late August, but Annabeth had wanted to spend more time with the other campers and with Percy before leaving.
Now Annabeth was currently drowning in work to catch up, but Percy seemed to have managed just fine starting in mid-September. He'd gone back to Goode, surprisingly, and had bounced between home, school, and camp.
They had some kind of parent-teacher conferences this week, or maybe a holiday, which meant Percy had four days of weekend instead of two. It made Annabeth insanely jealous.
Percy, 11:44 AM so what do you say
Percy's text brought her back to the present. Lydia had gotten back to leaning over, but Annabeth blocked her friend's attempt to read the screen, furiously typing back.
You, 11:44 AM no you cant my frien [Unsent]
"Miss Chase. Miss Faris."
Annabeth's fingers froze over the keyboard just as her heart stopped. She fumbled to turn off her phone, looking up to see Ms. Martin with crossed arms.
"Ma'am," she replied, feeling her heart start to pound against her ribs. She cast a frantic look towards Lydia.
Monsters, Titans, fire-breathing Chihuahuas… Annabeth had seen them all. Still, there was something about teachers that sent them to a completely different level.
The class had gone quiet, broken only by Jay.
"Ooooh," he sang quietly, and the class tittered.
"Would you like to share what you're looking at instead of what you should've been learning in class?"
Annabeth ground her teeth together. She needed to text Percy back to tell him not to come, wanted to keep talking to him, wanted desperately to leave the classroom and find something she could break. The anger and annoyance that had hounded her came back; Percy had been cooling it off, but now something had snapped again.
"Learning," she said deliberately. Someone audibly sucked in a breath at her tone.
Ms. Martin arched an eyebrow.
"Indeed, Miss Chase. Something you would know to do if you want to do well in my class."
This was dumb. This was dumb, and Annabeth hated it, hated the way her skin was crawling like spiders were climbing across her front. She hated Ms. Martin with her stupid voice, who'd failed her first assignment even after Annabeth had worked on it for three days straight.
Hated the way the teacher was looking at her, like she was dumb.
"Maybe if you were teaching us something, I'd pay attention," Annabeth said hotly, standing up. Her fists clenched at her side.
The classroom, which had been filling with whispers and murmured conversation, went silent. Lydia couldn't seem to decide if she wanted to gape at Annabeth or cower in her seat with the way Ms. Martin was glaring at them.
Ms. Martin strode forward.
"Phone," she said, holding her hand out. "I want to see you after class."
Annabeth glanced at her phone, shutting it off and handing it over. They stood off for another moment before Annabeth forced herself to slowly sit down.
It wasn't worth it, she reminded herself, but a little part of her whispered that it had. Ms. Martin had turned around, marching back to the front of the classroom. People had erupted into conversation.
"Girl," Lydia exploded once she'd sat down. "Wow. You… wow."
"Shouldn't have done that, should I?" Annabeth grumbled, sliding lower in her seat.
"Maybe," Lydia offered, "but that was the most badass thing I've ever seen. Just wait until lunch. Everyone's going to be all over you."
"Oh, gods," Annabeth said. She covered her hands with her hands for a moment and then lowered them, sending a satisfied grin at her friend. "Well… I guess that was a pretty good line, huh?"
The remaining time in English passed quickly. Ms. Martin went back to lecturing them, occasionally interjecting with a comment about their work ethic as she glared vaguely in Annabeth's direction. Everyone went back to taking notes, but there was a restless energy that lasted until the bell rang.
"Dismissed," Ms. Martin called, and the students surged for the door, yelling over each other and chatting. Lydia shoved her stuff into her bag.
"I'll save you a spot," she told Annabeth. She glanced at Ms. Martin. "Good luck."
Annabeth took her time putting her things away. She wasn't a terribly organized person, but today she made sure everything had a place. While she worked, she reminded herself that she couldn't afford to have Ms. Martin hate her. Any more, and she'd be failing English.
Not to mention phone calls. The minute Helen heard a word about what had gone down, she'd go off on Annabeth. What little relationship they'd been carefully building would come crumbling down. She'd be the unruly, good-for-nothing demigod.
She took a deep breath and forced herself towards Ms. Martin's desk.
"I'll have you remember that I tolerate no disrespect, Annabeth," Ms. Martin said. "I don't like it when any student uses their phone in class, and if you have constructive criticism, I'd like you to bring it up to me in a more helpful way."
Annabeth held her tongue. She could tell Ms. Martin meant it, but it didn't make Annabeth feel any less unhappy.
"I'm… sorry," she said.
Ms. Martin made a noncommittal noise. "Are we on the same page?"
Annabeth glanced at the clock.
"Yes, ma'am."
"If this happens again, Annabeth, I can call your parents." Here, Annabeth's lip curled in distaste. "And I will send you out of class. You know that."
"Yes, ma'am."
Ms. Martin sighed. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, and though Annabeth didn't like her one bit, she thought maybe she was starting to understand where the teacher was coming from.
"It won't happen again," Annabeth offered quietly. She wanted to leave and slam the door.
"Be sure of it." Ms. Martin nodded, reaching over to a drawer and handing Annabeth's phone over. "You can go."
Annabeth left without saying goodbye, darting out into the hall and sighing.
"That could've gone better," she muttered, heading towards the cafeteria. She was five minutes late, give or take a few—the lunch line would be packed, and she'd have to wait longer to get food.
Annabeth stopped, suddenly remembering why she'd gotten into trouble in the first place. She checked her phone and found a number of missed texts and a call from Percy.
"Oh, gods."
"Annabeth!" a voice yelled before she could check it.
As she pushed her way towards her friends at the table in the corner, she caught sight of a small crowd. Over the din, she could hear a loud voice chattering away.
"What's Beatrice up to?" Annabeth said, sliding into her spot. Lydia lit up.
"Annabeth! You made it out alive!"
"Lydia told us all about it," Samarth said. He passed her a soda can. "Bought this from the vending machine as a gift, you brave, brave soul."
"Uh, thanks," Annabeth said.
"I still can't believe you said that," Jay crowed. "Did you see the look on her face?"
"What'd she say? Spill."
"It was fine," Annabeth muttered. "So what's all the commotion about?"
"Oh," Lydia said, slamming her water bottle down in excitement. "Queen Bea found a new guy to drool over."
Annabeth wrinkled her nose. "I'm sure."
Beatrice was nice enough, but she reminded Annabeth of Aphrodite kids. Cool, but sometimes overwhelming… and maybe a little too obsessed with getting a boyfriend.
She was pretty forward and could get a little bossy, hence the nickname Queen Bea. Still, the few times she'd seen her outside of being boy-crazy had admittedly impressed Annabeth. She was driven and smart. Med school, if she remembered correctly, though Annabeth never knew if that was her own ambition or if maybe she was fishing for a good-looking doctor in her future. Probably both.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
Annabeth yelped, pulling her phone from her pocket.
Buzz.
"It's her boyfriend," Lydia said immediately. The table oohed.
"It's not," Annabeth said, hitting reply. It was Percy.
Percy, 12:21 PM hey its lunch but i don't see u i could use some help um u can probably tell where i am theres kind of a crowd is this normal
"Shit," Annabeth said. No doubt the "new guy to drool over" was Percy.
"Annabeth?" Jay called after her as she crossed the cafeteria. "Woah, wait, did we upset you?"
She shoved through the crowd, and there he was.
"Look, I'm sorry, I'm just here to find someone," Percy was saying. Beatrice was unsurprisingly talking to him, too close for both Percy and Annabeth's liking.
"Well, you found me," Beatrice said. She leaned a little closer. "Wanna go to lunch together?"
"Uh," Percy said. He looked nervous, eyes darting around the group of people surrounding him. There weren't actually that many people, maybe twelve in total, but they were all excitedly chattering about the new guy. With their small school and class size, everybody knew everybody, and anyone remotely new got people excited.
He tried to step away.
"I'm sorry," he said again. "I'm gonna go."
"Hey, wait, what's your name?"
"Percy," he replied. He was starting to get jittery, Riptide appearing in his hands as he twisted the cap like he did when he got nervous. "And I'm looking for—"
Annabeth finally pushed through.
"Looking for me?"
Percy and Beatrice both turned at the sound of her voice.
"Annabeth," Percy said, obviously relieved. She'd been his best friend for years, knew the way he ticked, knew what every look meant. It made her stomach flip when his eyes lit up, his lips lifting in that crooked, troublemaker grin.
He held out his hand, and Annabeth took it.
"Oh my God," she heard distantly. "That's gotta be him. The boyfriend. Samarth, get a picture."
Annabeth wasn't paying attention.
"Hey, Percy," she said, not fighting as he wrapped an arm around her and daring to press his lips to her forehead. She closed her eyes for a moment. "What are you doing here?"
He grinned, eyes crinkling at the corners. "Curly fries, remember? I promised."
"Do you two… know each other?"
Beatrice looked like her dreams were being crushed slightly. Annabeth felt bad, then remembered she'd been flirting with her boyfriend and felt a little better.
Before Annabeth could open her mouth, Percy beat her to the punch. "I'm Annabeth's boyfriend."
It was a little silly, but it made her smile. Every time she got to call him her boyfriend, it sent warmth through her body.
Annabeth ducked her head to hide her blush, and Percy tightened his arm around her.
"Oh," Beatrice said. "Um. Sorry."
Now she was blushing, looking a little embarrassed.
"It's cool, I guess. Flattering, but I'm taken," Percy said. "Uh, sorry?"
Annabeth couldn't help but roll her eyes. Her friends took the moment to press in like predators hunting prey.
"So you're Annabeth's boyfriend," Lydia said triumphantly. She was grinning as she stuck a hand out. "Nice to meet you."
"That's Lydia," Annabeth said, sighing. They'd never let her get the end of it. "Samarth and Jay over there."
"Oh, man," Jay said. "Liv is going to be so mad she missed this. Uh, nice to meet you, man."
Percy shook hands with Jay, then Lydia, then Samarth.
"I guess Annabeth talks about me, huh?"
"Oh, she never shuts up," Lydia said. Annabeth kicked at her ankles.
"Lydia!"
"Really?" Percy asked, grinning. He slipped his arm down from around her shoulders, grabbing her hand instead. Her face burned.
"No," she grumbled.
"Kind of," Samarth said. "I think Lydia talks more than her, though."
"What? I'm interested."
There was a beat of awkward silence before Lydia blurted, "How'd you guys meet?"
"Oh, um," Percy said. "We met when we were twelve. Went to the same camp, and we got looped into some of the same, er, camp activities together."
"Arts and crafts?"
Percy was grinning again, and it was infectious. "Something like that."
"Cool," Jay said. "I got shipped off to summer camp a few times, too, but my summers were never quite as exciting as Annabeth's. Any way I can get in?"
Annabeth pursed her lips. "It's one of those you gotta apply at, but it's a little hard to get in. Pretty specific requirements."
Percy laughed. "You're not wrong."
"Guess I'm not going."
Percy shrugged and raised an eyebrow. "Maybe. You never know."
"You're from New York, right?"
"Yeah, but I'm on break, so me and another friend came down for a visit. Then Annabeth said she was having a bad day, so I thought I'd come pick her up to get some food."
Jay poked Samarth. "Why don't you ever do that for me?"
Samarth only squinted back. "You're the one who can drive."
Percy glanced over at Annabeth, and she squeezed his hand.
"Missed you," she said quietly, stepping closer. "It's been weird being here."
"Hey, San Fran's pretty nice."
She looked away. "You know what I mean, Percy. I don't get to see your stupid face around."
He leaned their shoulders together. "Missed you, too."
Percy turned to the rest of the group. "It was nice meeting you guys, but I think we gotta go. Fries don't buy themselves."
There was a chorus of "You, too"s as Percy led Annabeth away.
"Mortals, huh," Percy said. "Cool bunch. Though I'm interested in what you've had to say about me, Wise Girl."
She shoved him. "Come on. Let's get some fries."
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simkjrs · 7 years
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Hi please PLEASE talk to me abt the socioeconomic state of japan in bnh verse I am SO interested to hear ur thoughts? I'm a poli theory major and let me tell u im a SLUT for fic that deal w the political/social repercussions of fictional happenings
sure thing! 
disclaimer: i only just graduated high school so i’m pulling all of this out of my ass one semester of macroeconomics i took in senior year. feel free to add onto or correct any of this 
edit: if anyone wants to use this for reference when writing boku no hero japan, feel free! i’d appreciate any credit, but it’s not necessary. 
--
what really got me thinking about the socioeconomic state of boku no hero japan was probably the difference between orudera junior high (bakugou and izuku’s school) vs. yuuei, both of which are in the same city, musutafu. orudera junior high gives off the feeling of a school that’s a bit run down; not terrible enough that it obstructs the kids’ education, but enough that you think the school probably can’t afford to keep it in good repair. 
here’s a screenshot of bakugou and izuku’s classroom:
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and then here’s izuku’s desk, which has details indicating that it’s in slight disrepair: 
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if you go back through the chapters and look at the setting at yuuei, it’s spic-n-span. just super clean and well-kept. it’s an entire world of difference… so already there is this huge disparity between the junior high school in izuku’s neighborhood, and yuuei, which is a 40 minute subway ride away (chapter 3).
makes sense that yuuei would be so nice and expensive if it’s the most prestigious hero academy in the country, right? but there’s more details too, like this brief exchange between bakugou & iida right at the very beginning: 
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bakugou’s resentful comment about iida being an “elite” really only makes sense to me in the context of economic disparity. let’s infer that soumei junior high is better funded, better equipped, better everything in general. of course bakugou will resent iida for that, especially coming from the more ill-maintained orudera junior high. the difference in their economic status is already apparent. 
this isn’t even going into the difference between yaoyorozu’s incredibly rich status vs the rest of the class vs uraraka, who has decided to become a hero because she wants the financial security, and who also lives in an apartment by herself and skips meals to save on money. so even within the class itself there’s a huuuge difference in economic status. 
you could just think of it as the individual circumstances of the characters, but i think it’s more of a systematic problem – see, again, the difference in infrastructure quality between the different schools (the public school is not doing so great but yuuei is doing fantastic). maybe the city is poor, or maybe all of its funds go towards repairing the constant property damage from villain attacks, or maybe there’s just some areas they don’t care to maintain. either way: just by traversing different parts of the city you’ll probably see big differences in how well the neighborhoods are kept. 
and now, for a different question: if this is the golden age of peace, why are there still so many villain fights? 
looking at chapter one (the first villain we see is a guy who stole a purse and then tried to fight back when he was caught) and chapter 115 (villain activity increases sharply after all might’s retirement), i feel like… these attacks are driven by financial need. look at this: 
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a group of adults gathered to commit crime… just to steal a register from a convenience store. that’s such a small sum of money! but they were so elated to get just that amount. it seems like the kind of thing that would happen if you were strapped for money, right? 
and then the villain from chapter 1: why would he fight so hard just because he got caught stealing a purse? he stopped the trains, for pete’s sake. all i can think is that a) he needed the money he’d be able to get by selling the purse, or b) he knew he wouldn’t be able to afford the fines, and that’s why he fought. 
maybe i’m reading too much into this, but based off these crimes, plus the other details provided above, i really feel like there’s a growing problem in boku no hero japan where there’s an increasing disparity in wealth. 
another thing to consider: in the golden age of peace, you’d have to be pretty stupid, pretty reckless, or pretty desperate to commit a crime where heroes frequent. (or you’re a black market dealer and/or evil.) if you’ve got an increasing number of people who are poor, who are dropping from the middle class to under the poverty line, or who have no upwards economic mobility, then you’ve got plenty of people desperate enough to try some petty crime for the sake of just a bit more cash for rent this month. that would be enough to explain the frequent villain fights that heroes get into – which are common enough that people will stop by and watch the show on their way to work. (chapter 1) 
this is really just a theory… but what could you use to explain why there’s a growing number of people struggling to make ends meet? 
here’s some factoids about japan (this article is from 2016): 
its real wages were falling, and as such, had weak domestic consumption; people buying less & saving more, or people just not having the money to spend in the first place, resulting in less money circulating in the economy and causing the economy to slow down. efforts to stimulate wage growth in 2015 did not make it down to the workers 
there was an increasing number of people with non-regular jobs, part time jobs, etc. as opposed to full time jobs, so they couldn’t get the financial security of a full time job (source)
one in six people in 2014 were living in relative poverty. this rate is higher among single mothers and among middle aged men without families, i believe. 
japan was like, 39th of 41 developed countries in terms of child poverty (the higher the number, the worse it is). something like that
this is despite japan having a high labor participation rate and a low unemployment rate, and also a low violent crime rate 
basing boku no hero japan off of actual real world japan’s current economic problems: we could surmise that, in boku no hero japan, although nominal wages are rising, real wages are falling; infrastructure spending is poor and disorganized, geared towards repairing villain-inflicted property damage and not enough towards everything else; and people are finding difficulty holding onto jobs (as seen with uraraka’s parents) and are forced into low-paying, part-time work, and may find themselves struggling with debt. 
oh, and here’s a quote from the guardian (jan 2017): “experts say programmes to help needy children are underfunded and held back by bureaucratic inefficiency and political apathy.” 
so it’d actually be quite viable for boku no hero japan to be doing quite badly, economically, and to be struggling with wealth inequality and other super fun things like that. 
boku no hero japan is also like centuries in the future, one where villainy is commonplace, so it’s not a surprise that people’s response to struggling to make ends meet would be “well, i have a pretty good quirk. if i’m lucky, i think i’ll be able to steal some cash, and i’m desperate enough to do it, too.” SO, my personal guess, is that this is a biiiig portion of the crimes that heroes fight. 
i mean, it doesn’t really make sense for villains to do so much… villain-ing… when there’s footage almost every single week of the heroes taking down yet ANOTHER criminal. why do they keep coming out of the woodwork? why’s there still enough criminals to keep all the heroes in business? ‘cause they’re desperate and need the money, probably. which is understandable. so even if you eliminate a villain, you haven’t addressed the economic problems that drove them to become a villain in the first place; hence, there’s always someone else rising up to take their place. 
on that note, let’s take a closer look at the hero industry! 
in chapter 1, horikoshi gives us a brief history of heroics. quirks emerged, the government wasn’t sure what to do to combat quirk-related crime, heroes emerged, and heroes eventually became sanctioned by the law. and when that happened: 
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so that’s pretty cool! seems like heroes aren’t specifically a government institution, but they are affiliated with & rewarded by it. makes sense, since heroes have to work closely with law enforcement on some matters, anyways. heroes =/= police only because heroes are specifically there to combat quirk-related crime. 
but times have changed since then, as shown in the latest manga chapter: 
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“it’s all about entertainment and approval ratings and whatnot.” 
we know from the stain arc that heroes are still paid by the government: 
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‘given my status’ – in other words: his hero ranking? popularity? how respected he is as a hero? hmmm. 
uraraka’s mentor that arc explains that heroes are sort of “paid on commission” by the number of crimes they can resolve, but said commissions usually get sent their way by the police: 
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but to get your name out there (both to the police and to the public), and to become higher ranking in the popularity polls, you need to cultivate a public image, too. get yourself some attention. 
so to cultivate a public image, one thing that heroes can do is to conduct a fight in a public, open space where anyone can see. apparently this happens often enough that izuku would actually regularly run into one of these fights on his way to/from school, and would stay to take notes and learn from them. villain attacks are ALSO frequent enough that apparently all might keeps arriving at yuuei late because he stops to help out: 
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in other words, villain attacks and fights are a regular, almost quotidian experience. more on that in a sec. for now, just think about how the heroes benefit from public fights: they get to show off, and their fights are broadcasted, and they can get a boost in their rankings. fighting against a villain, they don’t just have a motive to do their job and save people; they have a motive to grab the spotlight and show off. popularity boost! we actually see this happen in chapter one, when mount lady leaps into kamui woods’ fight and defeats a villain in one kick. 
so, as a citizen, you may be grateful to the heroes for saving people – but you might resent them for turning these situations into a spectacle for showing off. incidents sometimes turn into competitions between heroes. if you take that a step further, you might think some of the heroes are only helping because they want to look good. and hey, that’s not the kind of person you’d want to entrust your life to, right? 
because heroics is now partially driven by entertainment and image, heroes are all forming their separate hero agencies to try and differentiate themselves. for example, this list: 
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while they work together to fight crime, they have to battle for popularity and attention… they probably even have to vie for commissions/crime cases from the police. they all need to make themselves stronger, cooler, & a better choice than the other hero agencies. it’s something of a conflict of interest. you can imagine sometimes that gets in the way of cooperation (i.e. endeavor’s forever grudge against all might. y’all should read the illegals spin off.) 
and if you’re battling for popularity and attention… it would also make sense for you to center your hero office somewhere with lots of crime, and lots of people to see you fighting crime. right? urban centers would provide plenty of both. what about slums, and the underground, and the outskirts, then? these are places that news reporters and cameras can’t reach easily – and possibly might not want to travel to at all. these are also places where passersby and onlookers might run away instead of praising you. you won’t get a lot of return (in terms of publicity) by working here. so if you’re business-minded… you’re not going to conduct your hero investigations here. 
i mean, yuuei even has a business department. heroics is a business. you make money off of this, and you have to sell your image to the police and the public. if you focus more attention on places that are profitable to you, then the other areas lose. there’s no way around that. 
so poor neighborhoods, bad neighborhoods, camera- and television broadcasting-inaccessible places get the short end of the stick. the heroes don’t go here as often, because it’s not profitable. (well, the heroes probably come down here if they get a police commission. but where are they if a spontaneous crime happens, hm?) meanwhile you turn on the t.v. and you see like five heroes show up at one battle downtown, which is complete overkill. you’d feel pretty resentful, right? do the heroes think your area of residence isn’t worth protecting, just because it doesn’t get them as much attention? do the heroes think it’s okay to just ignore your area of residence? fuck that, right? heroes are supposed to serve the public, and you’re still part of the public too, right? 
that’s gonna build up more resentment between bad neighborhoods & areas v.s. the areas that heroes frequent (often urban, downtown, lots of people to witness their good deeds). and it definitely builds up resentment towards heroes who aren’t so discreet about the money-making aspects of their businesses. 
like: all might sells merchandise. okay, understandable. present mic has a radio show (which probably gets paid to run advertisements). okay, that’s pretty cool! but then you get things like this: 
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a hero using their public service, publicly paid hours… to shoot a commercial and make themselves a little bit of cash on the side. if you’re in one of those areas that heroes don’t frequent so often – wouldn’t you be pretty furious to find out that the person who’s supposed to be fighting crime in your neighborhood just made $500,000 by filming a commercial instead? 
you’re going to turn on the television and see ads with pro heroes in them – pro heroes who used their public service hours to do something for their own profit. this isn’t to say that heroes can’t film commercials, or make money on the side. if they’re helping people, it’s great that they can make a living! but they’re making that living by pandering to the entertainment industry when they’re supposed to be… you know… helping people. even kendou (in the picture above) comments that it’s not very hero like. the next page, momo replies that this aspect of the hero business is ‘unavoidable.’ ads, entertainment – it’s all part of the hero industry now. 
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and they don’t feel that good about it. 
if all this conjecture is true, then – as grateful as people are to the heroes – they might be quite critical of the hero industry itself, and the heroes that embody the worst parts of it. i’m not surprised that there are a whole bunch of people who feel “othered” by heroes, and by society as a whole. 
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like… that’s no excuse to be a villain. stop that. but it would certainly be a reason for people to dislike the hero industry. AND it would explain why it is that stain’s ideology resonated so deeply with other people. 
AAAAND that’s basically the rundown of what i think the socioeconomic state of boku no hero japan is like. sorry this was horribly long
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