A Reylo prompt appeared on my Twitter FYP with a comment recommending a fic has probably added a trope I have not actively searched for for the first time ever.
figure skating au where rey niima is training under luke skywalker but after being deemed unfit to teach by him she is forced to continue her training with disgraced olympian & former student of luke, ben solo
The fic rec was an incomplete one, and I was ready to take it on because I saw the word count despite it having only 5 chapters on display. The risk I had to take, however, was its being SLOWBURN.
What could possibly be achieved in 5 chapters? Not that much, to be honest, but the pacing was good, despite that fact.
Chapter 1 already got me. The following chapters drove me into the further. Tensions rose, and the exchanges were getting hotter.
Tell me why after having read the first chapter Teyana Taylor's Morning was playing in my head. The tension was heavy at that point already.
Add to the song list Britney's Break the Ice
The fic is entitled Black Ice by koderenn.
Rey believed she knew all there was to know about her newly appointed coach. She had watched him win two Olympic medals and multiple other awards in both national and international competitions for years. She had watched his cutting-edge technique and breathtaking innovations make history on ice. And she had felt his pain when she watched the legendary fall that cracked his leg and ended his figure skating career. Now that she was the new rising star, there were many things to learn from him still. So Ben Solo speaks to her about fierceness and cold-blooded dedication. How excellence and victory come at great cost. And how a heart of ice must feel nothing, for noone--
After devouring the 5 chapters, I proceeded to search for more fics like it, but to my dismay... there was only 5. 1 of them was not even in English. I was livid.
So I had to look for something else. Modern AU Teacher x student Reylo. Lord help me.
And then I remembered I had bookmarked a teacher x student trope that was set in Hogwarts, entitled Defense Against the Dark Desires by maytrix. This one's another slowburn, but each chapter is really long so I let it cook after having read like 10 chapters, and I cannot even remember what it's about, but there are now 24 chapters!
In 1951, Hogwarts makes a startling change - for the first time ever, girls are permitted to shadow professors as part of their fifth-year curriculum. Sixteen-year-old Rey Niima, diligent and eager to please, finds herself placed under the tutelage of the school’s newest instructor: the grim and glowering veteran, Professor Ben Solo. What begins between the two as contemptuous, becomes something far more perilous when they become inexplicably linked. Soon, Rey finds herself in over her head with a desire she cannot begin to understand. Devotion and danger often wear the same face, and in this case - that face holds a scar and a gaze that Rey can’t hold for long.
I can only pray that Black ice would be continued, because I really loved it! The writing is clear cut. Loves it! 👌👌👌✨✨✨