anj ur fics are so fun and well-crafted i am a huge secret admirer of them who has been following u for a yr (and i respect the dilf prof anthony agenda frfr it's always the english depts too getting called daddy thank u for this homage) but omfg as someone in the humanities phd track, i cannot help but ask why kate is so young for a prof???? esp since almost all humanities profs start a fulltime teaching position at 28-30 yrs old minimum... i had a hard time imagining how 25 yr old would allowed to teach as a professor full-time by effect of her 'merit' unless it's some exploitative semi-illegal gag clause contingency hidden in her contract that renders her basically a 'pre-'grad student but w/o even their flimsy benefits n protections which actually usually is the case... 😭😭 knowing the dysfunctional politics embedded in uk and north american tenure systems, i unfortunately couldnt get past it! but looking forward to ur milf kate writing, hope u dont find this question too nosy or offensive lol (i enjoyed the fic for what it is hehe) i realize traumatized phds r probs not the target audience of this fic nor entitled to an explanation for why ur not reading and incorporating paywalled exposes of uni working conditions into a fic but was still curious if u were just taking reference from a different context or more ethical precedent of academic labor (which may ease my conscious reading it haha). tysm!

First of all—thank you! I appreciate you reading and being a secret admirer (tho I promise I don’t bite, ur always welcome to say hey!). I appreciate it 💘

Second of all—lmfao I was wondering when I’d get this ask or comment 😭😭😭😭😭 I just knew there’d be some poor phd student or some professor reading this fic who’d be like “hang on… what’s that?” and the answer I’ve got for you is let’s have a healthy dose of suspension of complete disbelief because it was the only way I could make this work 🤓

I wanted it to be an age gap because I wanted to write an age gap but I didn’t want there to be too horrible of a power imbalance that would definitely come with it being a student/professor relationship. That was just too far for me to personally go, even though with the ages I have them at, it would be the most realistic thing. Idk making them student/professor made me feel icky. I suppose I could’ve made her work some admin job within the university but I really liked the idea of them both teaching, and I originally planned on having him sort of rediscover his own love of teaching thanks to her enthusiasm. For some background (this didn’t make it into the fic, but I did hint at it); Anthony specializes in teaching a lot of western lit canon/comp lit things and Kates specializes in post-colonial lit/Asian American lit, and I liked the idea of her challenging his perspectives and changing up some of the ways he approaches his work and the things he assigns, and that all helping him rediscover his love of teaching as well. There’s a repeated theme in this oneshot of rebirth; how love can find us at unexpected times and make the world feel brand new again. I kinda heavy-handedly drove the theme home when he says I love you and I write that it washes over Kate like rainwater in spring—a sort of nod to baptism/rebirth imagery, a nod to rain being necessary for renewal even though she’s afraid of storms but the storm scene is a huge turning point for them, and rain and springtime and rebirth etc lol. ANYWAYS—all this to say, I really do try and make things as realistic as possible, because that matters to me and I like world building and tbh I do get paranoid that someone might read my fic and go “oh well that’s wrong, a mechanic would never say that” or something lol, but it is fanfiction land and I do have to make some concessions to make the story work in the way I want it to work, and I sort of ended up here lol! Trust me, though, I totally hear you; I was an English major myself (if you couldn’t tell) with a concentration in post-colonial lit and a minor in poli-sci and for a while I thought I’d get my masters or a PhD in the humanities and then teach, before a professor discouraged me from it bc ya know this is the US and that usually means a lot of debt and no teaching positions lol. But all that to say—I totally hear you! It’s not realistic and it’s icky if you work/study in it and know exactly what the dark and ugly side of academia looks like! But most folks probably didn’t catch that bc no one really knows what it’s like until you’re in it tbh. I tried to sort of make it work by having her have these two masters degrees (again, insane) and be some sort of wunderkind and exciting new voice in the post-colonial lit field that Agatha just had to bring on lmao. Basically it’s not perfect and it doesn’t totally work irl, but it’s not too big of a plot point besides getting them in the same place, and it’s not a huge focus, just in the background as they’re grading things or walking around campus, and I hope it doesn’t totally impede your ability to read it, but I totally understand if it does 😭

Got tagged by @notallsandmen for a WIP paragraph game, and I’m incredibly flattered, considering ... this doesn’t feel on the level of fic, this is fun little sketches of dialogue at most. But this is what I had, so here’s more of the mortal dreamling silliness (previous bits: modern day mortal dreamling and newlyweds with ravens)

How Hob asked Johanna to be his witness for his wedding:

He texted her asking if she was free that afternoon, because he needed her for something.  Historically "something" has meant anything from "taste-testing 3 different scone recipe variations to figure out the best one" to "hustling drunk pricks at darts". Likewise, Hob has done her favors ranging from picking up tampons to providing an alibi. In theory there is a ledger of favors owed, but in reality there will never be a balancing of books (because they're best friends, even if Johanna is too prickly to admit it and Hob is too smart to).

Johanna texted back "yeah, what's up?", and practically broke a land speed record pressing "Call" when she got the response.

Johanna: what the fuck kind of text exchange is confirming I'm around and then sending "getting married today, hello, witness!" and a selfie of you and some goth twink?

Hob: it felt pretty self-explanatory

Johanna: last I'd checked, you weren't even seeing anybody!

Hob: things change?

Johanna: I got dinner with you 5 weeks ago, you bastard, and you were single then.

Hob: ... things change fast?

Johanna: how the fuck did you even meet him?

Hob: I was running back from class during that awful rainstorm last month, and he was just outside my tube station.

Johanna: Hob.

Hob: His umbrella'd broken and he was soaking wet, and he looked absolutely miserable, poor darling.

Johanna: ...

Hob: So I offered him towels and dry clothes, since my flat was just up the road. And by the time the rain stopped I knew I wanted to marry him, and he said yes.

Johanna: what lunatic just follows strange men home?

Hob: he was pretty suspicious until I gave him my phone so he could text my address to his sister.

Johanna: and she was somehow fine with it, like 'yeah, go on'?


Hob:

Hob: he got a bit distracted by my phone background and never actually texted her.

Johanna: the fuck

Hob: you know Julian of Norwich is gorgeous

Johanna: your cat is a lesser demon escaped from hell. I'm going to exorcise your cat someday

Hob: Jules is a sweetheart. She doesn't even hunt birds!

Johanna: That thing won't kill any of the bloody birds in your neighborhood because she's saving all her energy to someday murder me and you know it.

Hob: ... undeserved paranoia about my extremely photogenic cat aside --

Johanna: WELL-deserved!

Hob: --will you be my witness?

Johanna: Left it a bit late, if you're asking me today. Did everybody else say no?

Hob: Didn't ask anybody else. Been planning to ask you since Dream said yes, but I figured if I gave you too much notice you'd flee the country.

Johanna: [tearing up, because even if you're an independent badass, it's nice to hear you're somebody's person] you're fucking right I would.

(Johanna's custom ringtone on Hob's phone is from Sweeney Todd, the final verse in Johanna where you can hear the body drop ("Wake up, Johanna, another bright red day"), because Hob and Johanna are black-hearted bastards/absolutely in cahoots with each other and think it’s funny. Hob's ringtone is Being Alive from Company ("Somebody need me too much...").  Sondheim all the way, motherfuckers)

It is truly so funny to work myself out of depression in a 2.5 year upwards crawl, reach a point where I actually like and value myself and think I may, in fact, be a treasure-

only for the academic job market to turn to me, lovingly take my face in its hands, and say "...then perish."

at the joking risk of being called chronically online i think it's funny when people (especially those who also spend a lot of time on the internet) act scandalized when people find academic ways to talk abt pop-culture media/fandom like. 1) fandom is actually a wide phenomenon now so there is understandably a lot to study about masses of people that come together and form a type of "culture" around a certain thing 2) it's always lowkey said with the "oh it's so embarrassing that their professor has to read that" as if these are not topics that have had to be approved somewhere by at least one person and 3) my own experience being in a graduate level rhetoric/composition/theory course is that i am writing a rhetorical analysis of pathos in undertale and my professor helped me start my research

this isnt in response to anything recent i was just thinking abt how a couple months ago there was something on twitter going around like "someone is writing their dissertation on BL that's so embarrassing" and after like thinking abt it for a minute it's like. yeah. there's probably a lot of research you can do on that. a lot to say to generate academic discussion.

coming out of my baldurs gate 3 delirium (aka i am working a night shift and can't physically play it. at work.) to say that horikoshi. horikoshi when i GET YOU. you are NOT leaving izuku with no quirk and no arms. i am in your walls

League of Villains are so fucking lucky they targeted 1A instead of 1B because that class could kick their ass so badly if given the same amount of experience and pratice 1A got

Went to South Park Street Cemetery in Kolkata today.

This was my second time visiting this place after exactly 17 months, the first being my Kolkata trip with my ex. I never thought that I'd go to this place ever again but this time I was there with my friends, and it didn't feel as bad as I'd expected. It was fine, the world didn't end. Though I remembered the exact spot, the grave atop which, once upon a time, both of us sat down and took a picture (which seems to be lost in my gallery but I very distinctly remember) and talked about stupid things, and that brought back some very warm and strong memories, that I'd forgotten over time cuz I avoided those, as it used to be painful reminiscing those cute little moments. But, I guess, today I was able to come to terms with them, atleayst the memories associated with this special place. I've always loved graveyards. Visiting these places of death, reminds me of Oscar Wilde's famous lines from his book "The Canterville Ghost", when he says, and I quote,

"Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one's head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no to-morrow. To forget time, to forget life, to be at peace."

I wish I could get that peace too. Today, it felt like, all this while, I was mourning for a dead person close to my heart, and I had come to visit his grave.

“When you are better acquainted with me, you will know that there is so much more of the madman than of the artist in me.”

if you get an ask from me (probably from @clawsextended ) yes you absolutely did i have selina brainrot and i have for literally like three hours now.

humbling day in the book studio lads

Sometimes I think about how Ash Ketchum and Manuela Casagranda have same voice actor and it’s terrible I hate thank you

yes im a fangirl and yes I AM GOING TO WRITE FLUFF HEADCANONS WITH HENRY WINTER AND FRANCIS ABERNATHY and yes, i am accepting requests

The concept of homophobia in bnha universe is just so funny to me. like

“Oh that guy with the clothespin head started dating the goo monster girl? good for them! oh wait the goo person is actually a guy? time to commit a hate crime”

you can’t have a world where people look like shouji and kurogiri and still think mlm/sapphics/etc are going to hell or whatever

You know you have a supportive and very understanding friend when...

(pov: instead of writing a thesis, you send a catchy song about ADHD to your friend, saying it reminds you of her and the dynamics she has with her husband (he is the ADHD one); and she absolutely loves the song and sends you back “just a little something to mentally support you in your eternal thesis/diploma battle" - so you click the link and...)

...the song she sends to you is "I've No More Fucks To Give" (by Thomas Benjamin Wild Esq.) and she wishes you to get to this Point Of No Return because SHE KNOWS your life will be so much better when you get there.

I love her, your honor.

(And no, I’m still very far away from this point - I still give waaaay to many fucks about anything, really - but it’s nice to know your friend has faith you can do better than that. lol)

“Cause when you’re out.. of.. sight.. you’re in.. my.. mind…”