omg I'm so sorry! I didn't even realise I had this ask!!! It got completely lost in the inbox, I'm so sorry!!!
I'm going to write a whole fic for professor!baelor because I want to hop on that train as well, but I thought I would give you some thoughts/headcannons I have about professor!baelor. Also, this tiktok is insane and made me think so many thoughts about this au!!!
professor!baelor is that really intense professor who is very clearly passionate and caring about the subject he studied. He knows everything about it, from the littlest details to the wider more abstract thoughts around the subject, and if anyone asks him a question, he can get them the answer off the top of their head without consulting a website or a textbook.
that intensity also makes him quite difficult to approach though. He's happy to talk to students, to answer questions, discuss topics, etc. but because he's so intelligent and so serious, you feel really apprehensive to speak to him and have to really work yourself and your courage to be able to make it happen.
he makes really intense eye contact when he teaches or speaks. He believes in eye contact as a form of respect so if you go up to speak to him, be ready to just be absolutely pierced by that heterochromia. Like, you're flustered and looking around here and there to be able to handle it, and he's just fixed on you.
professor!baelor is the professor that you literally craveeee academic validation from. You want it desperately from him. Like, if you get even a nod from him, your day is made. When he asks a difficult question and waits for the class to volunteer an answer, you see no one does, so you put up your hand and make an attempt. He smiles and nods and says "exactly right, well done" and you are on cloud nine for the rest of the day.
if professor!baelor has his name involved in any event on campus, you best believe you are thereeee. A talk discussing the implications of monarchies and hereditary-based rule is being held in the auditorium on a tuesday evening hosted by professor baelor? You were the first one to book a ticket. Professor Baelor is inviting all his students to a talk and q&a with a political historian from Braavos? You're in the front row with ten questions prepared in case of audience participation.
professor!baelor drives a really fancy car and chooses to work at the university instead of heading up TargCorp. He knows he can go back whenever he wants, but this is his passion and he wants to pursue it for a little while before committing to the family legacy.
OR professor!baelor is the CEO of TargCorp but as a favour to the university has agreed to teach on a module for a semester. He is an alumni and he did his thesis on the connections to dorne in the ruling history of westeros.
professor!baelor is the most well-dressed man you've ever seen in your entire life. He has a black full length raincoat that looks too expensive to be functional but still works so well. He wears tasteful, minimalist sweaters and turtlenecks, or proper white button-downs and blazers with smart trousers and the shiniest dress-shoes. He wears an array of silver rings and always has his hair neatly cut and settled and his beard carefully trimmed.
and you best believe that man has the sexiestttt habit of fiddling with his rings, as he speaks or listens to students answer his questions.
professor!baelor is not interested in students. He has never looked at anyone in his classes as anything more than a young person ready to learn. But professor!baelor also knows that many students fawn over him for a million reasons, and he is careful not to be too open with them lest it give anyone ideas.
professor!baelor has a soft spot for you. He thinks you are very smart and well-spoken (if a little nervous and rambly) and is happy to speak with you whenever you gather the courage to come up to him. He gets particularly happy when you come to see him during office hours just to talk about that day/week's lecture and ask deeper questions about the content.
professor!baelor who eventually becomes your confidant the more you come to see him during office hours because he gives you such good advice and is so patient with you that you just want to tell him everything about yourself.
professor!baelor who is wracked with guilt at having this soft sport for you but will never ever express it out loud. No one needs to know he feels that way about you and they don't need to know about his guilt around it either.
professor!baelor who sees you attempting to walk back to your off-campus apartment in the rain and kindly offers you a ride because he can't bear to see you like that. You offer him to come inside for a cup of tea or coffee in thanks for the ride and to wait out the dangerous rain, and despite knowing he shouldn't, he says yes.
professor!baelor who sits on your little sofa in your little apartment, drinking tea from a cutesy mug you made at some pottery workshop with your friends. who lets you kiss him for a few moments when you nervously sidle up to him and press your mouth to his. who then pulls away and sadly smiles at you and tells you that you shouldn't do that again, that he will let it go but you shouldn't be in this position.
he puts the coffee down and gets up and leaves and you're just absolutely mortified/horrified and never want to show your face in the world again. he's just sitting in his car in the rain, cursing himself and the world and praying to the seven to absolve him. who gets back out and goes back up to your apartment and knocks on the door, who kisses you when you open the door.
a lot of conflict and angst ensues after this, but I'll leave that for the oneshot hehehe!
