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mywitchyblog · 20 days ago

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Reacting Answering and debunking Kristine s take on shifting (girl who talked about genetics and shifting)

Let’s clear the air, babes. 💅✨"

So, I know some of y’all might have stumbled across that TikTok from @sectumsempress (Christine), and if you haven’t yet, let me sum it up: it’s a video where she dives into her takes on shifting—some thought-provoking, some solid, and others… well, let’s just say they need a little rethinking.

Now, before anyone panics or starts spiraling, let me reassure you: you’re not doing anything wrong. Shifting is a personal journey, and one person’s opinions (even if they’re loud and sassy) don’t define the truth. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by her claims, breathe, because I’ve got you.

I’m here to break down her points one by one: where she’s spot on, where she’s almost there, and where she’s just plain off the mark. This isn’t about dragging anyone—it’s about keeping the shifting community informed, confident, and empowered.

Remember, babe: shifting is real, it’s valid, and you are more than capable of mastering it. Let’s dive into this post with clarity, sass, and a sprinkle of tough love. We’re addressing it all, and we’re doing it together. 💖✨

Taglist :

1: "I don't know what it is, but I do think there is a genetic component to who can and cannot shift."

Oh, honey. Let me stop you right there. Reality shifting is about consciousness, not chromosomes. No one’s out here unlocking DRs with their DNA. If shifting were genetic, then wouldn’t identical twins always have the same shifting abilities? Newsflash: they don’t. Shifting is deeply personal—it’s shaped by belief systems, practice, and the state of your subconscious mind.

Let’s talk logic:

If shifting were genetic, why do people from all backgrounds, ages, and cultures shift successfully?

If genes dictated shifting ability, how do beginners with no spiritual training manage to shift while seasoned practitioners struggle sometimes?

This "genetic component" claim feels like an excuse to gatekeep shifting behind a veil of exclusivity. You don’t need elite DNA—you need clarity, discipline, and faith in your abilities. What you’re really saying here is “I’m struggling and need something to blame.” Blame your approach, babe, not your ancestors. Shifting doesn’t care about your family tree; it cares about your mindset. 🧬✨

2: "Out of everyone who can shift, most of them shouldn't, including myself when I first started."

Now this is projection if I’ve ever seen it. Just because you weren’t ready when you started doesn’t mean the rest of the community isn’t. People shift for their own reasons, whether it’s healing, exploration, fun, or growth. Who are you to decide who should and shouldn’t explore their consciousness?

Let’s unpack this:

Shifting is a skill, and like any skill, it comes with a learning curve. Mistakes and missteps are part of the process. No one is perfect at it from the jump, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t try.

This idea of “most people shouldn’t shift” reeks of elitism. What’s the criteria? Who makes the rules? Oh wait—you don’t, because this is an individual journey.

And let’s not ignore the thinly veiled guilt here. “Including myself when I first started” screams “I made mistakes, so no one else should try.” No, sis, you made mistakes so others can learn and grow. Let people figure it out for themselves—your experience isn’t universal. Stay humble. 💁‍♀️✨

3: "If shifting is affecting your current reality to the point where your mental health plummets and you can't function, the cost is too high. This is also at past me."

Okay, valid point. For once, we’re aligned—but let’s add nuance. Shifting itself isn’t the villain here. The problem arises when someone uses shifting as an escape or obsesses over their DR to the detriment of their CR.

Here’s the truth:

Shifting works best when you’re grounded in your CR. Neglecting your CR responsibilities, ignoring self-care, or avoiding real-life problems will inevitably lead to burnout. Your CR self is the foundation for all your realities. If you’re not taking care of yourself here, it’s going to show up in your DR too.

Balance is key. Shifting can be an incredible tool for healing and self-discovery, but it’s not a replacement for addressing your mental health or real-life challenges.

Let’s also call out this “past me” comment. You’re shading yourself for your mistakes, which is fair, but don’t let that self-criticism turn into fear-mongering for others. Instead of saying “the cost is too high,” try saying, “Learn from my mistakes and prioritize your well-being.” That’s the energy we need. 🧠✨

4: "I think there will come a time when shifting is able to be explained scientifically."

Now we’re getting somewhere. Yes, science may eventually catch up, but let’s not act like shifting is waiting for permission to exist. Just because something isn’t fully understood doesn’t mean it’s invalid. Dreams weren’t “real” until REM sleep was discovered. Electricity wasn’t harnessed until the right tools were developed. Shifting is the same—it’s ahead of its time.

Here’s the tea:

Quantum physics already hints at the nature of reality being far more fluid and observer-dependent than we once thought. Concepts like the observer effect and parallel universes align with what shifters describe.

Neurology is just scratching the surface of how visualization and intention shape the brain. Lucid dreaming, meditation, and neuroplasticity all prove that the mind is capable of extraordinary things.

The fact that shifting isn’t yet measurable doesn’t diminish its validity. Science is a tool, not a dictator of truth. Shifting is real now, and science will catch up later. Don’t let the lack of a peer-reviewed study make you doubt your own experiences. 🔬✨

5: "The majority of people on Shiftok in 2020 were lying."

You’re not wrong, but let’s dig deeper. Were there liars? Absolutely. TikTok’s algorithm rewards drama, and fake success stories grabbed attention. But dismissing the entire Shiftok community as liars is lazy and reductive.

Here’s what really happened:

Many people on Shiftok were genuine shifters sharing their tips and experiences. The problem was that TikTok favored sensationalism over authenticity. Real advice got buried under Hogwarts weddings and Draco stans claiming they had seven kids in one night. 🐍✨

The fake stories weren’t malicious—they were clout-chasing. People wanted likes, and exaggerating their experiences worked.

But let’s not let the liars overshadow the genuine shifters who were out there putting in the work. Misinformation thrived because of the platform, not because everyone was lying. Don’t throw out the whole community just because some people were playing the algorithm. 🌟✨

6: "Way more people outside of the internet shift than we think they do, and most of them are adults."

This one is surprisingly solid, but let’s add some layers. Shifting has been around forever—it’s not a TikTok invention. People have been exploring alternate realities under different names, like astral projection, lucid dreaming, and deep meditation, for centuries. These practices have roots in spiritual traditions across cultures, often led by—you guessed it—adults.

Why don’t we hear more about these adults?

They’re less likely to post about it online because they don’t care about clout or “DR trends.”

Many adults see shifting as a private, sacred practice rather than something to flex.

But here’s where the take falters: don’t dismiss teens and younger people just because they’re more visible online. Shifting transcends age. The internet didn’t create shifting; it just gave teens a platform to talk about it. And let’s not act like adults are automatically better at it—age doesn’t guarantee discipline or skill, hun. Stop pitting age groups against each other. Shifting is for everyone, whether you’re 15 or 50. 🌌✨

7: "Nine out of ten times, teenagers do not have the emotional maturity or mental capacity to handle a DR. I know I sure wouldn't have been able to."

Okay, this one SCREAMS projection. Just because you weren’t ready doesn’t mean an entire generation of teenagers isn’t. Emotional maturity isn’t an age—it’s a mindset. While it’s true that some teens might struggle with the responsibilities or intensity of a DR, plenty of them are capable of handling it.

Here’s what you’re missing:

Shifting is deeply personal. One teen’s DR might be about living in Hogwarts, while another’s might be about exploring their self-worth or healing trauma. What they can handle depends on their intent and preparation—not their birth year.

This take also assumes that adults magically have their lives together. Let’s be real—plenty of adults couldn’t handle a DR either. Emotional maturity is learned through experience, not something that just arrives with age.

Instead of writing off teenagers as too immature, why not empower them to approach shifting responsibly? Help them understand the importance of grounding techniques, journaling, and balancing their CR. Support them instead of gatekeeping, babe. Growth comes from guidance, not judgment. 🖤✨

8: "Shifting to live as a child when you are an adult is wrong."

Oh, let’s unpack this nonsense, because the judgment here is LOUD and unnecessary. Shifting to live as a child isn’t inherently “wrong”—it’s all about intent. People shift to younger ages for all kinds of valid reasons:

Healing: Someone who had a traumatic childhood might shift to experience the innocence and joy they missed out on. That’s not “wrong”—it’s deeply therapeutic.

Nostalgia: Revisiting a simpler time in life can be comforting and grounding.

Where’s the harm if someone is revisiting their childhood for healing or self-discovery? The only time this could be “wrong” is if someone’s doing it for malicious, fetishistic, or exploitative reasons. And let’s be clear—that’s an issue with the person’s intent, not the act of shifting itself.

This take reeks of moral grandstanding. If you don’t understand why someone might shift to a younger age, maybe try asking instead of judging. People’s reasons for shifting are complex and personal. Stay in your lane and let them live. 🍼✨

9: "Shifting to live as an adult when you are a child is wrong."

And here comes the hypocrisy. Why is shifting to an adult age suddenly a problem? If a teenager shifts to experience independence, maturity, or even just to see what adulthood is like, how is that “wrong”?

Let’s break it down:

Exploring independence: Teens often feel powerless in their CR lives. Shifting to adulthood can give them a sense of control or help them explore who they want to be.

Learning experiences: Shifting to an adult DR doesn’t mean teens are out here taking real-world risks. It’s an internal journey. They’re not suddenly going to have access to bank accounts or responsibilities in their CR.

The issue isn’t teens shifting to adult ages—it’s how they approach adult themes. If a teen shifts irresponsibly or romanticizes harmful aspects of adulthood, that’s a learning opportunity, not a reason to gatekeep. Let them explore and grow. The real world isn’t handing out “mature enough” badges; why should shifting? 🔑✨

10: "Shifting is a perception of reality that takes place inside your own mind, and this does not make it any less real."

Babe, what even IS this take? Calling shifting “a perception of reality inside your own mind” is the laziest oversimplification. It’s like saying the ocean is just “wet stuff” or the universe is just “space.” Shifting is SO much more than a mental exercise.

Here’s why this is bullshit:

Shifters report full sensory immersion in their DRs—smells, tastes, and even physical sensations. That’s not just perception; that’s a relocation of awareness.

Many shifters describe gaining knowledge or skills in their DRs that they couldn’t have fabricated in their CR minds. That’s evidence of connection to a separate reality, not just “perception.”

Saying it’s all in your head is reductive and dismissive. Shifting isn’t just a daydream or lucid dream—it’s a deliberate movement of consciousness.

By this logic, everything you experience is just “perception,” and therefore not real. Do better. Shifting is as real as the CR you’re reading this in—it’s just on a different frequency. 🌀✨

11: "Therefore, perma shifting is impossible."

Who told you this? Perma shifting isn’t just possible—it’s the logical extension of what shifting already is. If infinite realities exist and your consciousness can relocate temporarily, what exactly is stopping it from staying permanently?

Let’s debunk this thoroughly:

Shifting doesn’t require you to return to your CR. You’re not tethered here by some metaphysical leash. If you can spend weeks in a DR, why not forever?

This take assumes that your CR body is what keeps you “alive.” Wrong. Your consciousness is the seat of your existence, not the meat suit you’re wearing in your CR.

The only barrier to perma shifting is fear or lack of belief. People who say it’s impossible are projecting their own limitations. If shifting is real, so is perma shifting. Stop trying to box people into your doubts. Perma shifters are already out there living their best DR lives while you’re here arguing with yourself. 🖤✨

12: "Your body will not get up and do things while you're shifting."

Okay, I’ll give credit where it’s due—this one is spot on. Your CR body doesn’t suddenly start sleepwalking or doing the cha-cha while you’re in your DR. Shifting doesn’t override your physical body’s autopilot mode. Instead, your CR body stays in a deep state of rest, like sleeping or meditating.

Here’s why this is accurate:

Shifting is a relocation of consciousness, not physical movement. Your awareness moves to your DR, while your CR body stays put. It’s like putting your computer on sleep mode—it’s still there, just inactive.

If your CR body did start moving, you’d be blending realities, which isn’t how shifting works. Shifting creates a clear boundary between where your consciousness is and where your body remains.

That said, your CR body can react slightly to your DR state—like twitching or deepened breathing—but it’s not going to hop up and do laundry. So yes, you’re right, but don’t act like this is revolutionary knowledge. Most people know this already. Your body stays put while your mind does the exploring. 🛏️✨

13: "Most people treat scripting and shifting as a choose-your-own-path fanfic instead of reality."

This one’s got layers, and I’m ready to dig in. First of all, who cares if someone treats scripting like fanfic? Scripting is a personal tool, and people can approach it however they like. But let’s get real: scripting is way more than fanfiction.

Here’s the nuance:

Scripting is a powerful manifestation tool. It sets clear intentions for what you want to experience in your DR. Treating it like a story doesn’t make it any less valid. If imagining yourself as the protagonist in a beautifully detailed “fanfic” helps you focus, then it’s working, period.

Not everyone scripts for the same reasons. Some people use it to map out specific DR details, while others treat it as a loose guide. Neither approach is wrong—it’s about what works for YOU.

Also, let’s not act like scripting takes away from the “reality” of shifting. Scripting isn’t fake—it’s preparation. The moment you shift, what you scripted becomes as real as your CR. So stop invalidating people’s methods just because you don’t like the format. 💁‍♀️✨

14: "Putting your DR on a pedestal makes it harder to get to."

Okay, now we’re talking sense. This take is 100% accurate, and it’s a trap that a lot of shifters fall into. When you treat your DR like it’s some magical, unattainable place, you create mental resistance that makes shifting harder.

Here’s why this is true:

Your subconscious mind follows your beliefs. If you see your DR as something distant or godlike, your subconscious will act accordingly. It’ll say, “Oh, we’re not worthy yet? Cool, let’s not shift.”

When you overhype your DR, you’re also adding unnecessary pressure. Shifting becomes less about the journey and more about the desperation to “make it happen.” That desperation creates doubt, which blocks your progress.

The trick? Normalize your DR. Think of it as a natural extension of your existence, not some impossible dream. It’s real, attainable, and waiting for you—you just have to stop psyching yourself out. DRs are exciting, but they’re not fairy tales. Treat them as real, and your subconscious will follow suit. ✨

15: "I'm really excited about going to my DR in the same way that I'm really excited about going to a theme park or to a museum. Something very exciting but also very real and attainable."

Another solid take—this is exactly the right mindset. Approaching your DR with excitement, but without putting it on a pedestal, is the sweet spot for successful shifting. It’s the energy of anticipation, not desperation, that aligns your mind with your destination.

Here’s why this works:

Excitement fuels intention. When you’re genuinely excited about shifting, your subconscious is more likely to cooperate because it associates your DR with positive emotions.

Seeing your DR as “real and attainable” grounds your belief system. If you treat it like a natural part of your reality, your mind will perceive it as such.

This take is also a great reminder that shifting is a journey, not a chore. Approach it with the same joy you’d have for any adventure, and the process becomes smoother. Your DR isn’t some untouchable fantasy—it’s a place you can visit with the right mindset. Theme park energy, but make it metaphysical. 🎢✨

16: "I'm not excited about going to my DR like some heavenly dream world. That's just unrealistic."

Thank you for saying this, because it’s time to drag the “heavenly DR” myth. DRs aren’t utopias, and expecting them to be perfect sets you up for disappointment. Shifting is about experiencing another reality, not escaping to some flawless paradise.

Here’s the tea:

Every DR has challenges. Just like CR, your DR will have ups and downs. That doesn’t make it any less real or amazing—it just makes it dynamic and authentic.

Thinking of your DR as a “heavenly dream world” adds unnecessary pressure. When you finally shift and realize your DR isn’t perfect, you risk feeling disillusioned or disappointed.

The truth? Your DR is real, but it’s not going to solve all your problems or fulfill all your fantasies. Treat it as an exciting new chapter, not a flawless escape. The more grounded your expectations, the more satisfying your experience will be. ✨

17: "Judging people for what they do in their DR based on CR standards is usually wrong."

Finally, a take that makes sense! This is the kind of nuance we need in the shifting community. DRs operate on their own rules, and trying to apply CR standards to them is like judging a fish for not climbing a tree.

Here’s why this is on point:

Different realities, different rules. What might be morally or socially acceptable in CR could be completely irrelevant in a DR. People shift to explore and experience, not to replicate the exact conditions of CR.

Judging others is counterproductive. Shifting is deeply personal. Someone’s DR journey might be about exploring sides of themselves that they suppress in CR, and that’s valid. As long as they’re not harming others, it’s not your business.

Let’s be clear, though: this doesn’t excuse harmful behavior in DRs. If someone’s intentionally scripting unethical or damaging scenarios, that’s a different conversation. But for the most part, let people live and shift without your CR morality checklist. 🌀✨

18: "Every single thing you script has far-reaching consequences that you cannot imagine until you get there. If you script that you can't sweat or can't grow body hair, you'll show up in your DR with some medical condition that causes those things."

Girl, when we thought there was progress... you do THIS?! Let’s break it down, because this take is serving a mix of paranoia and half-truths, and I’m disappointed.

Yes, scripting can shape your DR reality, but this idea that every single detail comes with “far-reaching consequences” is dramatic and misleading.

Scripting sets intentions. If you script that you don’t sweat, your DR might interpret that literally, but it doesn’t mean you’re suddenly cursed with a medical condition. Your DR adapts to your intentions, not in some twisted monkey’s paw way, but in alignment with your desires.

This take leans heavily into fear-mongering. It’s important to script mindfully, but implying that a poorly worded script will backfire catastrophically is unnecessary drama.

Let’s not scare people into thinking shifting is a minefield of unintended consequences. Scripting is flexible and intuitive. If you don’t like something in your DR, you can shift back and adjust. Chill, girl—it’s not that deep. 😒✨

19: "Things in reality don't just fucking happen for no reason."

This is facts, but let’s unpack it fully. Whether it’s CR or DR, reality operates on cause and effect. Your actions, intentions, and beliefs shape your experience.

Here’s the tea:

In shifting, your subconscious mind plays a huge role. Nothing “just happens.” If you experience something unexpected in your DR, it’s often tied to unintentional thoughts, emotions, or residual CR beliefs.

This take is a good reminder to take responsibility for your scripting and intentions. You are the architect of your DR. If something goes awry, it’s not because the universe is out to get you—it’s because of how you set the framework.

That said, let’s not act like every single thing needs to be micromanaged. Part of the fun of shifting is letting your DR surprise you. Control the big stuff, but leave room for spontaneity. Your DR doesn’t need to feel like a sterile checklist. ✨

20: "Scripting yourself a dysfunctional abusive family on purpose is fucked up."

YES, babe, say it louder for the people in the back! This is a take I fully agree with. If you’re intentionally scripting harmful or abusive dynamics into your DR, you need to seriously reflect on why.

Here’s why this is so problematic:

Your DR is a space for growth, healing, and exploration. Why would you willingly bring toxicity into it? If you want to explore complex relationships, that’s fine, but scripting outright abuse is deeply concerning.

This kind of scripting raises ethical red flags. Even if DR characters are technically constructs, the energy and intent behind scripting abuse can reflect unresolved issues or harmful tendencies.

Shifting is a powerful tool—don’t misuse it by scripting negativity for the sake of drama. If you’re scripting toxic situations, ask yourself what you’re really seeking. Your DR should uplift you, not drag you into unnecessary harm. Do better. 🖤✨

Let’s wrap this up with love and clarity, babes. 💖✨"

So, after unpacking @sectumsempress’s (Christine’s) points, here’s the bottom line: Shifting is YOUR journey. Some of her takes were valid, others were shaky, and a few? Well, they needed a reality check. But hey, that’s the beauty of conversations like these—it gives us a chance to reflect, grow, and strengthen our understanding of shifting.

Remember:

Shifting is deeply personal. What works for one person might not work for you, and that’s okay.

Misinformation doesn’t define you. Always question, explore, and trust your intuition.

You are capable, worthy, and enough. Whether you’re scripting, visualizing, or just starting out, your DR is closer than you think.

At the end of the day, the shifting community thrives when we support, uplift, and educate each other. So let’s keep pushing forward with confidence, kindness, and a whole lot of sass. Your reality is yours to create—don’t let anyone dim that light. 💅✨

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hysteria-things · 1 year ago

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TOUR (part one)

read part two here

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: sub!matt x reader

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: matt’s been on tour for about a month, meaning he hasn’t seen or done anything with you in a month. he takes matters into his own hands when he’s finally alone, but he does need your help with it.

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: SMUT, mentions underage drinking, swearing, male masturbation, overstimulation (kinda)

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 830

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: umm guys i literally woke up to over a hundred notifications??? thank you SO much i didn’t expect this to happen at all. i’m having so much fun with this🥲

my notes app is COOKING right now and the ideas are ideaing. you guys and your support makes me low key emotional LMAO

i want to try and post once a day but i might do more than once sometimes instead because i am HYPE.

also conflicted if i should make a part two so let me know!

it’s friday night and you’re sitting in your best friend’s living room. the two of you and other close friends come together some weekends to hang out. you guys have been laughing, drinking (despite being underage by a year), watching TV, or playing games. in the middle of laughing, you feel your phone buzz repeatedly underneath your thigh. you lift your leg to retrieve it, seeing an incoming phone call from your boyfriend matt.

“hey, sorry. mind if i take this?” you ask the group, lifting your phone so they can see the screen.

“not at all.” your best friend smiles.

you get up from the couch. “thanks. continue the game without me.”

you speed walk to the bathroom and close the door accepting the call and bringing it to your ear. “hello?”

“hey.” he breathes out.

“hey, you.” you smile. “how are you doing?”

“fine,” he says. he’s silent for a beat before speaking again. “sorry i didn’t talk to you much today. it’s been busy, but we just finished the tampa show.”

you haven’t seen matt in over a month because he’s been touring with his brothers across the country. you couldn’t be more proud, but you guys miss each other like crazy.

“did you win?”

“damn right i did, baby,” he says hoarsely. he sounds a bit strange to you, but you shrug it off as exhaustion. doing shows almost every day can wear somebody out.

but oh boy are you wrong.

on the other line, matt sits on his bed in the tour bus with his hand wrapped around his dick. your recent post on instagram is displayed on his screen as you talk about your day on the other end, having no clue what’s happening.

the post consists of you posing, wearing a short navy blue dress. your tits practically spilled out of the top.

“…was crazy.” you finish. “anyway, is tour fun so far? it’s almost over already.”

“uh huh.” he squeezes his eyes shut and throws his head back. he hisses, his movements gradually becoming faster. he’s sensitive, and it hurts so fucking bad. he needs to release, but only you have the power to make him come undone.

“matt? you okay? you sound off.” you ask concerned.

“keep talking, baby. i’m so close.”

you go to say something, but instead, press your ear closer to the phone. you hear shuffling and grunting. it doesn’t take a mastermind to figure out what he’s doing.

“you’re being risky, matthew.” you say teasingly, a whine escaping his lips. he prefers being called matt, but with you, matthew rolls perfectly off of your tongue. “where’s everybody else, hm?”

“at the store,” he says shakily, his hand pumping faster. he takes his thumb and twirls it around his red tip where pre-cum is threatening to spew out. “i need to cum so bad.”

“then do it, baby. pretend it’s me making you feel so good,” you say seductively, biting your lip as you hear his sounds of pleasure.

you get that familiar feeling in your core, but because you’re at a friend's, you’ll feel weird doing it in her bathroom.

guess you’ll have to wait until you’re all alone.

“fuck.” he whispers, stomach jerking. he thrusts up into his fist a few times to finish the job. he whines as he makes a mess all over his stomach and thighs.

he whines again, purposely trying to overstimulate himself. “matt, don’t overdo it. you’re too sensitive.” you say, knowing he didn’t stop because you can still hear the commotion.

“please.” he exhales. “one more.”

“hold on,” you reply, opening the camera app on the phone. you pull the straps down of your dress and pull out your boobs, pushing them together and snapping a picture. you know how much matt goes crazy over them. you send the photo, waiting for his reaction.

you bring the phone back up to your ear to hear a sigh of “holy fuck” fall from his mouth.

“i need to fuck your tits so bad.” he groans, throwing his head back as he tries to reach his second orgasm.

you bite your lip to hide your smile, enjoying this a little too much. the wet noises on the other line drive you insane.

“i’m gonna— fuck, i’m cumming.” he lets out a loud moan as he makes another mess, his dick red and swollen. he’s still not satisfied, because you’re not there. he continues pumping his cramped hand, but you and he both know it’s no use.

“matt, that’s enough.” you say sternly. “don’t do it too much, okay? it’ll hurt.”

he obliges, removing his hand and lying there. his breathing starts to slow, but he’s still panting. “i miss you so much.”

“i miss you too.” you coo. “just a few more days, okay?”

“okay,” he mumbles.

you lied.

what matt doesn’t know is that you have a plane ticket for tomorrow, to fly out to ft. lauderdale for the last show.

𝐭𝐚𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭!

@bunbunbl0gs @lexisecretaccx @thy-mission @angelic-sturniolos111 @sophssturn @mattsneezing

#matt sturniolo #chris sturniolo #nick sturniolo #matthew sturniolo #christopher sturniolo #nicolas sturniolo #sturniolo smut #sturniolo x reader #sturniolo fanfic #sturniolo imagine #matt sturniolo fanfic #matt sturniolo smut #chris sturniolo fanfic #chris sturniolo smut #Spotify #chris sturniolo fluff #matt sturniolo fluff

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bibliophilesince2003 · 3 months ago

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Transformers One In-Depth Review

Transformers One is a must watch.

I’m tired of seeing a bad review go towards a movie that is actually extremely well done, especially if the reviewer hadn’t taken the time to watch it or considered the trailers enough content to draw a review from.

Seriously, it was so refreshing to see a new take on a franchise that has been around for years. In my personal opinion, it’s better than re-makes that offer even less room for creativity.

I am a huge Transformers fan. I grew up with Transformers Prime, and when I was older, I watched the movies. I’ve watched other shows here and there, and while I may not be a complete expert, I know the lore well enough to have been heavily, emotionally impacted by Transformers One.

I’ll start with the "non-spoiler take" followed by the "spoiler take” which will be “hidden” for those who do not want to be spoiled.

"Non-spoiler" take...

Peter Cullen’s voice is legendary. Chris Hemsworth himself acknowledged this in an interview, mentioning that the goal was to “re-create” and “do something new.” He intended to represent a “youthful, brash, and cocky version” of Orion Pax before he was known as Optimus Prime. This is a realistic representation. In Transformers Prime, Ratchet states that Optimus Prime was more like Jack in his youth. For those of you who don’t know, Jack is a strong-willed, selfless, but slightly impulsive teenager, as all teenagers should be. It is clear that Hemsworth has evaluated “hints” that other movies and shows have provided. Hemsworth wanted to “lean into” a more serious voice towards the end of Transformers One. He insisted “he wouldn’t dare mimic Peter Cullen.” I highly respect his choices, and he does not deserve the amount of hate thrown at him. Now, Orion Pax also comes across as a humble, soft-spoken character in other movies and shows. However, I can see why they would lean into his impulsiveness to better highlight and contrast the relationship between Orion Pax and D-16, especially as D-16’s true colors show. More about that in the “spoiler” section, though!

No, it would not have made sense for Orion Pax to have a deep, majestic voice. That comes with experience; that comes with hard decisions. Quite honestly, Hemsworth is pretty close to what I had imagined Orion Pax to sound like. It’s still slightly deep, and very soothing.

The character development in this movie? Oh. My. Word. Guys, as a writer, I can say that subtle character development – the best kind – is not easy to do. In Transformers One, it flowed naturally. It made me smile. It broke my heart. If you’ve seen other Transformers movies and shows, brace yourself. If you haven’t, still brace yourself. Again, more about that in the “spoiler” section.

The humor in the trailers has been re-posted so heavily I think it’s beginning to lose its effect and people, not knowing the context, are quick to judge. Yes, Bee is funny. It’s Bee. He’s supposed to be lovable, humorous, loyal, and powerful. I found no issue with most of the humor coming from him. There is more humor that is not mentioned in the trailers that is really worth chuckling over.

Finally, the fight scenes were clean, the animation was captivating, and the incredible Brian Tyler produced musical masterpieces for most every scene, some of it connecting to other movies and shows.

"Spoiler" take, now!

I expected to dislike Elita. Really, I did. I knew she was the “love interest” for Optimus Prime beforehand and expected big things from her, because Optimus Prime never struck me as having a “love interest” in the past. Not only that, but I expected her to be the female character I seem to find everywhere these days who strives to be better than everyone else without a lick of experience, complaining about the male figures in her life.

Elita, however, is ambitious. She leads. She doesn’t have to prove anything; she’s simply willing to work hard and do her job. Understandably, she gets upset with Orion Pax and the others when they interrupt her progress, though I can’t help but be amused by Orion Pax’s shy attempt to get her attention and adored his subtle acts of kindness. Sure, she’s a tad bit aggressive – she did punch Orion Pax, after all – but I really enjoyed seeing her adapt. When Orion Pax was feeling hopeless, she was there to encourage him. If she had stopped talking immediately after saying “I’m better” I would have been frustrated. Orion Pax and D-16 are the main characters in Transformers One, after all. She didn’t stop there, though. She highlighted the most important aspects of Orion Pax; his good heart, selflessness, and bravery. She told Shockwave and the others to shut up and listen to Orion Pax when they doubted his plan. She encouraged him to speak louder when others couldn’t hear him. She leaned towards the pit when Orion Pax fell.

Not only that, but Orion Pax was incredibly patient with her. He woke her up when she was unconscious and immediately took a punch to the face like a champ. He gently, subtlety smiled at her when they traveled to the surface and Elita announced "it's beautiful." He cried out her name and pushed her out of the way to save her during a battle. He listened to her. He told her to beat Arachnid “gently” when Elita managed to detain her, proving he fully understood Elita’s personality.

I’m sorry, but this kind of relationship takes the cake. If they’re meant to be a couple, I can see the signs. I love how well they work together and build each other up.

Bee is an icon. One of my favorite scenes is him eagerly saying to Orion Pax “I’m going to go cut these guys up, watch! C’MERE!” It’s like a proud kid trying to get their parent to watch. I love how loyal he is to Orion Pax right off the bat.

While they changed some lore in Transformers One, they included everything that was important. Orion Pax and D-16 are miners, but it seems Orion Pax may have been a clerk beforehand. When he broke into the archives, he seemed to know where he was going. When he ran, I can’t remember exactly, but I believe he was muttering numbers? I don’t mind the small twists and can see how they were necessary for the story; key details are kept.

Jazz and Ratchet mention! I was so excited to hear their names. Kind of wish they had shown Ratchet, maybe shouting “I needed that!” to a fumbling worker. Sorry, Transformers Prime reference.

Arachnid had an incredible design.

Sentinel is a well-written, hate-worthy villain. I… did not expect D-16 to rip him in half, though.

Also… can I just mention how epic that particular scene was? The switch from D-16 reaching his peak character development – showing no mercy – while Orion Pax reached his – making the ultimate sacrifice to preserve life and do things the right way; receiving the Matrix of Leadership. The music, the animation, the slow-motion… everything was incredibly cinematic.

Obviously, D-16 took things too far. I appreciated the fact that he didn’t just wake up one day and decide to be evil. It took time. It took motivation. Obviously, any sane person would stand with Optimus Prime, though he does make mistakes from time to time, but it was incredibly neat to actually appreciate D-16’s insight in the beginning, then notice the shift and feel every bit of emotion Orion Pax felt.

People say the ending is rushed, or that D-16’s change came too abruptly without any good motivation. Sure, the ending may be a little rushed, but movies are typically structured this way. Falling action does not have a set speed; it just needs to be well done. Bad things happen in a rush, and this leaves ample opportunity for the “good guys” to react a little too slowly. As for D-16’s motivation… even a person can take their worship of an item or figure too far. Megatronus was someone to look up to in D-16’s eyes. He agreed to Orion Pax’s plans, or at least tolerated them, but his admiration for Megatronus was his own interest. Orion Pax threatened that vision. D-16 wanted to kill Sentinel to satisfy his own needs and desires, not to liberate others. Sentinel deserved death after committing murder, yes. He didn’t, however, deserve a public execution, especially as he tried to get away and was relatively defenseless. Remember, Sentinel told D-16 and Bee that he would execute them in front of everyone. We can acknowledge his promise as brutal, so shouldn't D-16's actions be considered brutal, too? No "reason" could ever justify it.

When D-16 let Orion Pax drop, he proved he no longer cared about loyalty. The least he could do was hoist Orion Pax’s body up or break down after losing what he once called his best friend, but he didn’t.

It’s ironic… D-16 said “I’m done saving you” when in reality, Orion Pax was trying to save D-16 from doing something he knew D-16 should have regretted doing. Normally, yes, D-16 is the voice of reason, but not in this case. For once, this is where Orion Pax’s true personality shines through. His spark – the spark of a Prime – is in the right place. Orion Pax puts joking aside when serious matters arise. It seems D-16 didn’t really know his friend after all. The actions D-16 committed, my friends, are not actions you want to celebrate.

I really, really hope Transformers One gains more attention. We need the sequel! Transformers fans, tell your friends. Give an honest review, which are of more value than the reviews given by those who didn’t take the time to watch it. Hype it up and roll out!

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cleolinda · 9 months ago

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I’ve read a few of the umpteen thousand upset comments about the paid Watcher service, and I’ve read comments angry about the upset comments. There’s one thing I want to point out, and it’s that this isn’t, or shouldn’t be, “You’re saying people don’t deserve to earn money for their work.”

The Watcher guys do deserve to earn money. I already give them money. I give them $5 a month on Patreon, not because I think they do or don’t give me $5 worth of media, but because I want to support them. I canceled Netflix for pissing me off with its price hike/ad tier, but I give Watcher Entertainment money.

They’re saying now that the Patreon will be solely about the podcasts, and they understand if people leave. I’m perfectly happy to switch the support I can afford to the streaming service. With the early adopter 30% discount, I’d actually save money. In fact, I tried to subscribe, but the site didn’t work.

Watcher wanting to profit from their shows isn’t the problem. It’s that they’re now discovering that their fanbase is young and broke in a terrible economy, judging by tens of thousands of comments on multiple platforms. I can throw them $5/month, so I do. But the Patreon only has (checks notes) 5874 paying followers, and there’s a reason for that. $60/year upfront would not be “accessible.” Patreon is literally patronage from the people who can afford it.

If the guys had said up front, “ONLY new shows and episodes will be exclusive to the service,” I think we’d be having a different conversation right now. But at first they did say, “We’re pulling all our content from YouTube,” to the point where Variety had to issue an update. Like, that’s in print and I’m pretty sure it was on video. Now they’ve backtracked to ONLY new etc.—but most people haven’t heard, and they feel crushed. And the trust is probably gone regardless.

So now four years of back catalogue will stay public. And now, you’re paying $6.99 a month for one episode, maybe two, of something a week, and now, not an exclusive back catalogue. I would pay for Watcher shows before I’d pay for anyone else, but I just don’t think the company is big enough yet for a SVOD at that price. They’re not Dropout size. They needed to build more programming and get a higher follower count first, or at the very least, charge less.

The international price/exchange rate situation is a nightmare and I don’t know what it is they’re not doing to make it… not… be like that.

I don’t know what they should have done instead of a full streaming service, but surely there were alternatives? I’ve seen comments from people suggesting they GET a Patreon. Lean on that more! Do the shows exclusive for a month and then let them roll onto YouTube! I don’t know! Anything but One More Fucking Streaming Service, which enraged me, and I was willing to move my support to it!

And I shouldn’t say this, but I will. In the “Goodbye YouTube” video the guys posted, they say that setting up the streaming service has allowed Steven to do a remake of Worth It where he and his cohosts travel the world and eat expensive food. This is the first new show they announce. Not “We have always been committed to diversity and we’re now able to bring on new creator(s) to expand our programming.” No, a redo of an old show that by definition has got to be expensive. Commenters are saying they can’t pay for the streaming service because they can’t make ends meet in this economy. The optics are terrible. I genuinely question what the thought process even was here.

I love the guys and I still watch their shows. I want to see Watcher succeed. I started watching Buzzfeed Unsolved in 2018 while recovering from surgery—as with a lot of people, their shows got me through a tough time. I’m as attached as anyone. If I can continue to afford monthly support—this is not a certainty—I’ll give it to them. I’m not a ~hater who doesn’t want Watcher to make money. But I am absolutely BAFFLED by every single decision here. I want them to figure out how to turn this around and go in a better direction, because right now, this ain’t it.

#long post #I hope nobody hates me for this but like #this is someone supporting you #this is the best I can do #and that should tell you something #watcher

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artist-issues · 6 months ago

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Hi! First off, I want to say that I love how you analyze media and having really been enjoying reading all your posts :) I just wanted to ask—do you have tips for people who what to learn to think more critically about media and just storytelling in general? Like, are there questions that you usually ask yourself when looking at a character's journey or the messaging behind the movie? Just trying to learn how to better analyze the media I consume, as well as improve on pinpointing the specific reasons why I like the movies that I like, instead of just saying "Well, I liked it. It was great" and leaving it at that 🙈.

New favorite question!

I love that you want to know why you like something. I love it. I think so many people are ready to give a defense for why they dislike something, and the blood-sport of “picking it apart,” but then they don’t really know how to reverse the process and be like, “here’s why I liked this other thing,” or they can’t speak accurately and clearly about why they like something, which is a huge shame, and sort of raises other questions about critical thinking but you’re not doing that! So you’re already awesome!

I am not an expert. I could be 100% wrong about everything I do, and all the questions I ask. I only went to a normal amount of education for this. It does not mean I have all the insight and the good advice.

BUT you asked, and I love talking about it, so it’s going to be long, and here’s what I do:

Step 1. I Just Watch the Movie.

That’s it. Just take it in. No expectations. Do not try to figure out what’s wrong with it or what’s right with it. Don’t even assume there’s such a thing as “right” or “wrong” the first time you watch it. It is THE hardest thing to do, once you gain some “knowledge” of storytelling. But truthfully, if you go into a story with your eyes and ears open for flaws, or a checklist of “Right Things to Do,” then you’ve already lost any objectivity. You’ll be so busy going “good thing, bad thing,” that the movie will never be able to establish an “emotional train of thought,” with you. Because you’re already taking it piece by piece, like eating a burger one ingredient at a time, instead of taking a full bite. It’s meant to be one-successive-thought/feeling-on-top-of-another, but you’re picking it apart before it’s over.

Plus, you’re not letting the story do what it was meant to do—get under your mental guard. And that’s the whole point of stories. So in a way, if your Critical Analysis Cap is already conciously on, even the best movie in the world won’t come off as the best movie in the world. C.S. Lewis talks about this in one of his essays. I’ll try to simplify it:

You can’t decide if you like something or dislike something until after you’ve eaten it. You certainly can’t really experience “what ingredients it’s made of” before you’ve eaten it. You can make some observations about a food without ever putting it in your mouth and experiencing it—I can look at a brownie and go, “there’s chocolate in there.” I can cut into it and go, “oh, but it’s tough.” But I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of experiencing that brownie until I just shut up and put it in my mouth.

That is the hardest part and the part I suck at the very most. My suckiness at this part is why my friends hate watching movies with me. But on some level, you have to suspend your worldview, your opinions, and try to just listen.

It’s also why (this is just an aside) I struggle when people recommend a movie to me. Because they usually go, “what do you think of this movie?” And then I say, “I haven’t seen it.” And then they go, “oh you should watch it!” And I know for a fact that they’re going to ask me how it was, and my answer needs to be prepared—so then I’m already handicapped before I even try it. But it can’t be helped. And that’s just food for thought.

Step 2: “What Are They Trying to Tell Me?”

The only thing you need to think, when you go into analyzing a movie, before anything else, is, “They are trying to tell me something.”

That’s it. It’s just active listening, but in a movie. I think that’s like 90% of it. And so many people don’t know how to do that—in life, in conversation—let alone when they watch something. It’s the movie-watching equivalent of “stop thinking about what you’re going to say or how you’re going to respond to me, and just listen to what I’m saying.”

Remember, the whole storytelling team behind a movie or the writer of a novel sat down in front of a blank piece of paper. There was nothing there. They made several hundred thousand tiny and huge decisions to put something in front of you. Almost nothing you see in the story is there on accident. Because none of it would be there if they didn’t decide to transplant what they were thinking and feeling into you.

That’s all a movie is. That’s all a story is. It’s communication. It’s an essay. It’s a sermon. It’s a song. You can figure out what it means—but only if you start out by accepting, on good faith, that it means something.

I’m not saying every story of movie will have a well-thought-out meaning. I’m saying, you’re going into it as if it does. In good faith. And then the storytellers will either reward that good faith because they had something to say—or they’ll let you down. But you go in assuming they won’t let you down, that this is an agreed-upon conversation you two are having.

That takes a level of humility I don’t always have. Because if I know Christopher Nolan is directing a movie, at this point, it’s hard for me not to go into that movie with the story-version of this mindset: “well, I know he’ll have a lot of ‘big words’ to use, but nothing to actually say.” It’s hard to do.

But you have to do it, or else the risk of you projecting what you believe the movie is about onto it, or missing the meaning entirely, is astronomically high. You’ll watch a Disney Princess movie that’s total trash (I can’t stop coming for Wish) and you’ll see everything you’ve always wanted to see in it—because you’re projecting what you hope they’re saying onto the movie (when actually they were saying something very silly.) Or you’ll be like me watching The Dark Knight for the first time and trying desperately to wrestle my brain into “believe he’s trying to say something to you and not just snag your emotions on meaningless twists”-mode the whole time.

And the best way to figure out what they were trying to tell you is to start with where they succeeded in making you feel something. Wherever they succeeded, that’s where you’ll start looking for clues.

Step 3. What Did You Feel?

Sometimes you have to skip this step because you couldn’t get Step 1 right. You couldn’t just watch the movie, you were “out of the movie,” the whole time you were watching it. Sometimes that’s not your fault—sometimes a movie is so bad or so disingenuous that you can’t do Step 1, and you have to settle not for “What Did You Feel?” (Because you felt nothing) but “What Did They Want Me To Feel?”

…But if you were able to just watch it and it made you feel something, then this step is about analyzing that.

I recommend starting with a movie you watched when you were a kid—because kids almost never fail at Step 1. Their brains are sponges. Your brain was a willing sponge, you believed that the story was telling you something and you took it in without any conscious thought.

So like, if you felt like crying during the scene in Inside Out where Bing Bong fades away, or you did cry, ask yourself “why?”

The first answer to that question will be “because I liked Bing Bong and now he’s gone, and that’s sad.”

The second one will be: “because I miss my imaginary friend/because I miss my childhood/because I wish I didn’t have to lose memories of good things” etc. And all of that’s true.

But dig deeper. Because that’s exactly how the storyteller wanted you to feel. Reverse-engineer it. Figure out how they accomplished that goal.

Because we all had play-pretend characters when we were kids. We all had childhood friends who aren’t with us anymore. I guarantee you none of them looked like cotton-candy chimeras with hobo jackets. So why did you respond to Bing-Bong’s death as if you were losing something personal? How did they get you to believe that was happening, enough to make you sad, about a character you met an hour ago?

Because you got to know him well over the past hour. You got to know things about him that were easy to believe, things that were in common with your life experiences. You know what he wants, what he doesn’t like. You know where he was hoping to go, and what he was afraid of.

That ties into the next point, but you can do this with things that don’t have anything to do with the character—the other things that make up a movie.

What music was playing during the part where you Felt Something? Was that same melody or motif in another part of the movie—and if it was, what was happening in that part? Are they connected somehow?

What color predominates the screen during that part?

What is the lighting like? Does anything make the lighting different than what we’ve seen so far? Is the lighting creating interesting shapes—how would you describe those shapes?

Where are we? Is it a significant location? What makes the location significant?

Are we losing something? Why does it feel like a loss? Are we gaining something? Why does it feel like a gain? What was missing before that we’re glad is here now?

Those are just a few questions. Because remember, by answering them as honestly and simply as you can, you’re figuring out that the storytellers chose those things, and you’re figuring out why that was the right choice.

Do some compare-contrast: when Bing Bong fades away, what color is he turning before disappearing?

Deep blue, almost purple, right? If you can’t figure out why that would be a good choice, do some compare-contrast. What if the color he was vaguely dissolving into was green? That would look kind of sickly, or it would evoke feelings of “poison gas.” Weird for a moment that’s supposed to be sad. What if the color was yellow? Joy is yellow, in the movie. So pretty directly, that would be the wrong color because it would be kind of pretty, and it would make the audience feel a little “ooo” like they do when the Beast transforms in yellow light. But blue? Who’s blue in this movie? Sadness. Obviously. Sadness is blue—it’s very human to respond that way. You can do that same “what-if, compare/contrast” with the answer to every question on that bullet point list.

“When Genie is set free and I Felt Something, the location it’s in is on the throne room balcony. Well, why? Why’d the storytellers pick that? Because that’s where they were after the final battle, yeah, but that final battle could’ve been anywhere. Why didn’t the final battle with Jafar finish by having everybody in the throne room? Well, if it had been in the throne room, there would have been a lot of destruction from the final battle laying around. Having ruins behind Genie while he looks all sparkly and triumphant would’ve been a little odd. Plus, there would’ve been a roof. Would he have gone “I’m freee—hee!!” and flown out a window? That might’ve felt silly. But out on the balcony, he’s looking sparkly and triumphant against an open sky. Ohhh, an open sky makes you think of endless opportunity. That’s so smart. Even my subconscious was convinced, by the sky behind him, that something momentous and liberating was happening in this scene. And not just for Genie, but Aladdin is finally being “freed,” too, because they know who he is and love him anyway, and Jasmine is being ‘freed,’ too, because the law—“ Okay that’s enough, you get the idea.

Let’s go into the really fun part.

Step 4. I Look At The Characters

A good storyteller uses something that the audience can relate and empathize with for their main focus. And that’s usually a character (doesn’t have to be. You can describe a tree with personification in a poem, and a human will empathize with that tree’s “life,” or situation, and boom—suddenly you have a story.)

A super talented writer I know named @doverstar once wrote an entire story from the perspective of I think a paperclip? And I still remember it to this day. (Specifically I remember a crazy straw wrapper in the story, but you get my point.)

SO! Characters are the easiest and best way for a storyteller to get the person they’re trying to communicate with to engage. Which means, looking at characters is the easiest avenue to understand a story by. Usually, the storyteller jammed the whole message of the story into their characters in neat, interesting little packages. You just have to unpack them.

Here’s how I do it, roughly:

A. Figure Out What the Character Wants

In my post about The Lion King, I said Simba wants to be free to do whatever he wants all the time. And that’s true. But how did I figure that out? I’ll show you. It’s plain, because the storytellers wanted you to know.

Look At Dialogue - What a character says almost always gives you hints to what they want—even if they never say what they want out loud. Kids are most likely to say it, point-blank. So cub-Simba says, “But I thought a King could do whatever he wants.” But adults usually don’t say exactly what they want, because by that time, they’re either confused about what they want or they’re insecure about what people will think of what they want—whatever. The point is, pay attention to what a character says. Simba also sings, later, “free to do it all my way!” You can also find a lot out by what a character doesn’t say. Aladdin could’ve said, “yeah, well, at least I’m not a pompous jerk!” when Prince Achmed calls him “worthless.” That would’ve been more of his gutsiness, and he would’ve been right, like a hero should be when calling out a bully. But it wouldn’t have told you anything about what he thinks about what Achmed just said. Instead, he goes, “I’m not worthless!” …People who really believe obvious things don’t say those obvious things. Because they’re obvious. So when Aladdin says, to a closed door and an empty street, “I’m NOT worthless,” you realize that he’s just trying to convince himself. What he means is, “I don’t want to be worthless, and I don’t want to be seen that way.” Because on some level, he is afraid that he is worthless. See how you can tease that out based on what Aladdin says? Then it makes sense that, from that moment on, Aladdin does everything to prove he’s not worthless, or to make people believe he’s not—he goes to great lengths to preserve that image. That’s his motive. Just like Simba disobeys his father and Zazu because he wants to prove he’s a powerful Prince who can do whatever he wants. That’s his motive at the beginning of the movie. You can also learn a lot about what a different character says about another character. And whether or not they’re portrayed as right or wrong. When Prince Achmed says Aladdin is “worthless,” you don’t believe him. He’s drawn in gross curvy lines and he whips children and kicks poor people. You’re not inclined to believe he tells the truth, on top of all that. So the storytellers don’t want you to think Aladdin is worthless—they want you to believe that Aladdin thinks he’s worthless, on some level.

Look at Actions - Actions do speak louder than words. When a character is presented with a decision to make, look at what road they take.

Look at what that says about them. For example, when Andy Dufresne chooses to play music for all the people at Shawshank, even though it’s definitely going to get him in trouble, or when he dares to approach and talk to the abusive prison guard just for a few beers, you learn something about him. It might be confusing, and it might take cross-referencing that action with the fact that he’s digging himself a way out while everyone else is accepting their sentence. But you’ll see that he could have just done what everybody else did. Got through his sentence with the bare-minimum of work. Kept himself busy with any old thing. But that’s not what the storyteller has him do. The storyteller had him continue to bring new, life-lived things into the prison. He creates a space for people to learn and better themselves, he wheedles beers in just for the enjoyment of them, he’s beaten for the sake of music being played. The idea is that he’s going to keep pushing and living, reaching for more, instead of settling, like a man who’s already dead. So then by the time he digs his way out of Shawshank, you believe it. You’re like, “yeah, Andy would do that. I’ve seen him go to great lengths to live this whole time.” Through his actions, and the actions he doesn’t take even when he could, you figure out his motive.

Watch for the Change - Not every character changes. But when a character starts saying something that’s opposite to the kinds of things they said at the beginning, take note. When the character starts doing something they wouldn’t or couldn’t do at the beginning, take note. Miles Morales tries to jump off a building as his first test of being Spider-Man, and he can’t, he goes to a shorter building. Later in the movie, he jumps upside-down off of one. The change in action demonstrates a change in motive—he used to be focused on not-failing. Now he’s focused on taking action.

I’m sorry, I know this is already a long post, but wanna see it all come together?

(Dialogue) On Miles’ first day in class a girl points out that his shoes are untied, and Miles says, “I know. It’s a choice.” He leaves his shoes untied on purpose. (Action.) He also tries to fail in school on purpose. (Action and Dialogue: His teacher spells it out with her dialogue “You’re trying to quit. And I’m not going to let you.”) Then later when Mils tries to run and jump off a short building as Spider-Man, his shoes are still untied. Why? He does things sloppily on purpose. He leaves his shoes untied the same way he tries to fail tests he knows he can pass—because it’s easy. Because you can’t fail at something risky if you don’t try. So he trips and falls off the building. (Action.) That’s Miles’ motive. He’s got “Great Potential,” but he could succeed, but he chooses not to because he’s afraid of failure. Then later, when he leaps headfirst down a skyscraper, did you notice his shoes? They’re tied. (The Change.)

All from a pair of shoes.

Someone had to draw this kid’s shoes, before anyone knew what he would be wearing, and decide why it mattered. Someone had to pick what dismissive line a kid would say to him on his first day of school—and they had to pick exactly what words he would use to respond.

They’re trying to tell you something. All you have to do is believe that, and then you’ll start to not only hear what they’re saying, but appreciate how they choose to say it.

B. Figure out Who a Character Is

This one you can find clues for in the same three things: Dialogue, Actions, The Change. (If there is a change. There isn’t always.)

A character like Stitch is easy to analyze. Other characters straight up say (Dialogue) “You were built to destroy, you have no place among us, you wreck everything you touch, there is nothing inside you that is good.” Then he makes abominable choices (Action) pushes little girls down, rips up toys, chews on the heads of other aliens, actively tries to murder alien cops. But he also looks sad after a night of destroying things (Actions) and asks Lilo to explain to him a book about an ugly duckling (Dialogue? He sort of grunts.) So you’re starting to notice solid character traits: Stitch is evil, Stitch likes being evil, but Stitch feels empty being the way he is. Then when the Change comes, it’s meaningful, and it gives you a hint as to what the storytellers were trying to say.

You get a sense of what Stitch would do, what Stitch wouldn’t do—and you can ask why. With Stitch, it’s just because that’s how he was created by his literal creator. But with other characters, like Cinderella, you’re given background. Her parents taught her to be good and kind regardless of her circumstances. So then when her circumstances get worse and worse, and she chooses to hang on to what she was taught even when the parents are gone, that’s a big deal. And what happens as a result of that “big deal,” what happens as a result of “who the character is” and their “motive,” is our next step!

Remember, you can do this for almost all of the characters. And whichever character gets the most screen-time, what they’re doing during that screentime—all of those things matter.

Step 5: Look at What The Storytellers Reward & Punish

People mess this step up because they mess up Step 2. They forget that the storytellers are trying to tell them something—something specific, something with parameters—and they just start reading their own ideas and reasoning into the characters.

Prime example: people blaming Admiral Holdo for Poe’s actions in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The whole movie, Poe is doing things that are understandable, but ultimately, foolish. His Character Actions are coming from his Character Motives—which are flawed. Poe believes he should always stand and fight and do what’s heroic. There’s a little pride that goes with that—that he has to be the one to make the stand, or at least to know that there is a heroic plan. But every time he takes these actions, something bad results from it.

Disobeys Leia and Bombs the Dreadnaught -> Every other Pilot dies, and the ship is being tracked anyway. Leia slaps him and tries to tell him to learn a different lesson. Sad or intense music plays. One of the other main characters is majorly negatively affected by the death of her sister in this bombing run.

Sends Finn & Rose on a Mission Without Trusting His Superiors With the Plan -> They Don’t Make It and Nearly Die. His Superiors Trust Him Less.

Staged a Mutiny Necause He Doesn’t Trust Any Plan That’s Not Heroic, Especially if They Didn’t Tell Him First -> The Real Plan is Almost Foiled, Leia Stuns Him.

But some people see all that and they don’t willingly accept that the filmmakers are telling you Poe is in the wrong. They impose the fact that they like him, and they don’t like the purple-haired lady, over the narrative—against all reason, against all odds. They’ve stopped taking in the story, and they’re writing fanfiction before it’s even over. They believe Poe is in the right—if Admiral Holdo had just told him the plan, he would’ve gone alone with it! None of this had to happen!

Actually, the storytellers prove the opposite of that: that Poe would’ve been furious and put a stop to a life-saving plan, because he hates running away. But people are spinning out into “what SHOULD have happened,” or removing one tiny piece of the story and blowing it up and out of context, and judging the whole story on that. If you’re not a big Star Wars fan, consider this: I’ve seen people argue that in Beauty & the Beast, the Enchantress is the real villain and the Beast and his castle are the victims. This is ridiculous. Clearly, the storytellers are telling you that the Beast was in the wrong and the Enchantress was in the right.

They’re telling you this because they design the Enchntress beautifully. They align her with virtues like “value love, be kind to others, be humble,” and they introduce the beast to you with “sneered, selfish, spoiled, unkind, no love in his heart.” They straight up tell you that in the narrator’s voice. You have to believe them, in good faith, if you want to understand what they’re saying.

What about when there’s no voiceover narrating what’s good and bad? No problem. Look at other things. Like I said, look at how Poe is made a fool of by a benevolent and beloved character (Leia) whenever he makes decisions that the storytellers want you to see as bad decisions. Look at the lighting, the location, the colors, and the music during scenes where consequences of a characters’ actions are coming.

That’s what you’re looking for. What does the movie say is good, and what does the movie say is bad? What does the movie say is true, and what does the movie say is a lie?

At the beginning of E.T., the main character is disliked by everybody, including his older brother, because he only thinks of himself and how he feels. By the end, when the kid has taken such careful care of E.T. and reveals it to his big brother, his big brother wants to help him. They’re all brought together. Because the main character stopped doing something that the storytellers disapprove of, which is “thinking only about how you feel,” and he started “thinking about how other people feel” for a change. In the beginning of the movie, he’s lonely, angry, standing in shots that are wide and empty. By the end, he’s flying, beautiful music is playing, and he’s happy. The storytellers reward what they’re trying to convince you is good and right.

Step 6: Are the Storytellers Right?

I always stress remembering this last part. It’s all well and good to lower your defenses and take in a story in good faith. You should not ask this question until you’re done listening, in most cases. Just like it’s well and good to listen to someone with a different perspective than you—you might be wrong, and a story’s main function, like I say on my profile’s pinned post, is to act as a Signpost that Directs You Back to Truth When You’ve Wandered.

But the problem is, fallible humans are telling the stories, and fallible humans are listening to the stories.

So you need to know what you believe, and after the storytellers tell you something, measure it against reality. When Greta Gerwig says, “You Can Be Whatever You Want to Be, Because You’re God,” and she says it with the Barbie movie, is she right? When Cinderella says, “Have Courage and Be Kind, and You’ll Have Hope in the Worst Circumstances,” is the movie right? What if you find yourself in the worst of circumstances one day—you better hope Cinderella didn’t feed you lies. What if there is a God, and it’s not you—you better hope Barbie didn’t feed you lies. I really enjoyed going over this! I’m sorry it was so long. If there’s ever anything more or like, follow-up questions, go ahead and ask! I’ll try to make it briefer next time. Thanks again!

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badkitty3000 · 9 months ago

Text

I had to make a new post for the remaining chapters because it was getting too long to add them to the original. If you'd like to read chapters 1-6, here is the link.

☕Love In The Time Of Cholera And Coffee ☕

Part Two: Chapters 7-9

Five x Female Reader, Klaus x Female Reader

You and Klaus are in a casual relationship. No ties, just sex. When you start spending a lot of time at his apartment, you somehow manage to break through his brother's prickly outer shell. He seems to like you, or at least tolerate you the best that Five can. When you start to realize that maybe there is more than just mutual friendship between the two of you, it opens up a lot of feelings and unanswered questions. And a lot of problems.

This story contains sexually explicit material! (But also lots of humor and fluff)

Chapter Seven: Be My Baby

The morning rush is typical for a Saturday. Lots of parents on their way to soccer tournaments, and elderly couples that wake up early, starting their day when the sun rises. You don’t need to be there, necessarily. Your team can handle it. But you like it. You like the early morning sunrise and the smell of the first pot of coffee brewing. The smiles of the hopeful people as they start their days. The morning is perfect. It gives everyone the chance to start fresh.

As you’re surveying the pastries and taking note of inventory, the bell over the door rings. You don’t even look up as you focus on the spreadsheet on your tablet. The customer, however, is not the usual. You recognize the silhouette of the person walking towards you. How could you not? It’s been 6 months, but you’ll never forget it.

“Hey there,” he says, as he nears the counter.

He’s just as you remember him and he addresses you as if no time has passed.

“Hi, Klaus,” you respond with a timid smile, looking up from your tablet.

Klaus removes his sunglasses that had been perched on his nose, and he looks around, taking it all in. He smiles that smile that usually means he’s up to something.

“Wow, so this place is hopping!” he says as he leans against the counter.

He’s wearing a pair of way too-tight white jeans, and a tank top that says “Slut” across the chest. His signature dog tags hang down over the lettering and jingle when he moves.

“Yeah, we’re doing alright. Our profits are actually up since I bought it,” you respond with pride.

You haven’t seen Klaus since that day he and Five had their blow-out fight over you. Well, technically you haven’t seen him since the night before the blow-out. You had figured you’d never see either one of them again. Yet, here he was.

“Is that right? Well, mazel tov,” he answers with a genuine smile.

“Can I get you something?” you ask.

“I’ll take a green tea if you don’t mind,” Klaus says.

He doesn’t sound angry like you assumed he would be. Like he should be, honestly.

You nod at the barista who is working today and he busies himself with making Klaus’s drink. In the meantime, there is no one else in line, so you and he are stuck staring at each other. Klaus speaks first.

“So, it’s been a while. How are you?” he asks, a suspicious-looking smile on his face.

“I’m fine, thank you. And you?”

Klaus shrugs his shoulders and looks around again. “Oh, you know. I’m always here and there, doing something.”

You smile. “Same old Klaus. Like a feral tom cat just prowling the town.”

He winks back at you with a grin. “Meow.”

The barista hands him his tea and he reaches into his back pocket for his wallet to pay, but you hold out a hand.

“Don’t be silly. It’s on the house.”

Klaus raises his eyebrows, then lifts his cup up in a toasting gesture. “Thank you!”

You shrug. “It’s the least I can do. The very least.”

He nods thoughtfully and takes a sip, looking around the shop again. “Do you have a minute? You know, to talk?”

You swallow nervously and chew at your bottom lip. He doesn’t seem upset, but what does he want to talk to you about? It can’t be anything good. But you nod and come around the counter. You gesture to an empty table near the back, away from listening employees, and you both make your way over. Once you and Klaus are situated, sitting across from one another, you wait with hands folded in front of you.

“So…you’re probably wondering why I came here, aren’t you?” he asks, still with that same Klaus smile on his face.

You nod. “A little, yeah. I know we have good tea here but given the circumstances…” You look down at your hands and start picking at a cuticle. “I really never thought I’d be seeing you again.”

Klaus leans back and drapes an arm lazily over the back of the chair. “Yeah, well…I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. And maybe a little bit of therapy.” He rolls his eyes. “Anyway, I’ve been trying to be a better person and see the error of my ways, and all that shit. And I have come to the conclusion that I owe you an apology.”

The surprise on your face must be evident because Klaus gives a little laugh and shakes his head. “I know that’s not what you were expecting. But, it’s true. I owe you an apology and I’m sorry.”

“For…for what? I’m the one—”

He cuts you off with an airy wave of his hand. “Listen. I was selfish and I should have appreciated you more. I know we weren’t going to end up getting married or anything, but I could have made more of an effort. Like when you were sick…that was shitty of me and I’m sorry. If I had treated you just a little better, then maybe…”

You groan and drop your forehead onto your hands as they rest on the table. “Klaus, I appreciate the apology, but you had nothing to do with that. That was me and I’m the one that needs to apologize, not you. I’m the one that fucked everything up between you two.”

Klaus is quiet and you glance up at him. He has a tiny smile on his face again. “Ok, so we both had a hand in it. And I accept your apology. But you didn’t fuck everything up. I mean, you’re not that amazing,” he says with a smirk before taking another sip of his tea.

You lift your head. “What do you mean? You guys aren’t…”

Klaus shakes his head and gives another dismissive wave. “Nah, we’re good. He did move out, though. But that might have been more about me leaving wet towels on the bathroom floor than anything else.”

You chuckle a little and lean back in your chair, starting to relax somewhat. “Huh. Well, good. I’m glad to hear that.”

Klaus is looking at you with one eyebrow raised, his mouth turned up at the corner.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” you ask.

Klaus shrugs his shoulders, trying to look innocent. Then he reaches into the pocket of his pants and pulls out a small, folded piece of paper. He slides it across the table to you. You pick it up with a look of confusion. When you unfold it, you see there is an address scrawled on it in Klaus’s messy handwriting.

“What is this?”

He gives another shrug. “I think maybe you two need to talk.”

Your eyes widen and you glance back down at the paper. “Wait…this is his address?”

Klaus nods, but then he’s starting to stand up, apparently ready to leave. “If you don’t want it, throw it out. But I figured I owed you that much.” He puts his sunglasses back on and looks down at you. “You do know he’s in love with you, right?”

Your shocked expression makes him laugh and he leans down to give you a quick peck on the cheek.

“Thanks for the tea. Maybe I’ll see you around. You know, at family gatherings or something?”

Then Klaus is walking out the door, leaving you stunned and staring down at the piece of paper in your hands, your brain whirring.

A week goes by and you try not to think about it. But it’s kind of hard when you carry that paper around with you in your pocket every day. The address isn’t far from your store. Just a few blocks, actually. Which makes you realize that he has probably been avoiding you and the shop like the plague. Or has he been quickly walking by, taking a glance through the windows to see if you’re there? Maybe blinking away before you can raise your head and see him. Doubtful. Despite what Klaus told you, you have every reason to believe he has no desire to see you again.

Every time you think that maybe you should walk over there, to that address you have memorized now, you change your mind. Maybe it would be different if you still didn’t have a clear image of him in your head from the last time you saw him. That blank, uncaring look on his face. Those cold words he said to you. That’s what stops you each time.

But then at night, when you’re home alone and in bed trying in vain to sleep, different images come to mind. Memories of his face and his smile, and the way he would begrudgingly laugh at something funny you said. And of his body on yours, the heat of his skin, and his urgent kisses. You remember every word he said to you in the dark that night. And you just can’t believe he didn’t mean them. Not when he was pleading with you to be his.

The crazy thing was that you had already given yourself over to him. You wanted to be his. And you had thought that night was going to be just one of many you would spend together. Maybe it would have been awkward at first, with Klaus; but you were willing to try and work past that. Because that’s how much you wanted to be with him.

What an idiot you had been. On your way out of work one night, you throw the paper with the address into the trash can and walk away.

It has been two weeks since Klaus came by and even though you still can’t stop thinking about what he told you, you aren’t taking the bait. You’re better off without him or any of that mess. He’s better off without you, too.

The café is quiet, with only a few lights left on. It’s been closed for an hour now, all cleaned and the food stored away for the night. Your staff has gone home and it’s just you there. You’re finishing up some financial documents on your laptop at a table, a mix of some soft rock tunes playing on the speakers overhead. You’re humming along to a Whitney Houston song when you hear a knock on the glass door. When you look up, you take a sharp breath in and accidentally knock over the glass of water you had sitting next to you.

It's Five. He’s standing there, right outside the door, and he’s already spotted you, so you can’t exactly hide. Plus, now you’re jumping up and trying to mop up the spilled water with a few flimsy napkins and swearing to yourself out loud.

“Shit shit shit,” you mumble.

When you look up again, you can see Five watching the whole thing go down and he’s got that smirk on his face. The one you hate but also can’t stop thinking about. You huff, rolling your eyes, and motion for him to come in. The door is locked for the night, of course, but that doesn’t matter. He blinks in right away, reappearing a few feet away from you, hands in his pants pockets.

“Hi,” he says with a smile.

You pause, taking him in for a moment. Damn it, why is he so good-looking? With his stupid dark hair falling onto his forehead and his annoyingly perfect body and ridiculously chiseled jawline. And that goddamn sexy, smart-ass expression on his face. Fuck.

“What are you doing here?” you say, trying to appear like you couldn’t possibly care less that he’s standing right in front of you.

He shrugs. “Just walking by. I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d see if you were still here.”

After throwing the soggy napkins into the trash behind the counter, you come around again and lean against it, your arms crossed.

“Just walking by, huh?”

Five at least has the decency to look a little embarrassed as he glances at the floor and clears his throat.

“Yeah, well…something like that,” he mumbles.

“Why are you here, Five?”

You’re determined not to let him see the uncertainty in you and you raise your chin and square your shoulders to try and appear more confident. Inside, a million butterflies have taken residence in your stomach.

He rubs the back of his neck. “Yeah, so…Klaus told me he came by the other day.”

You raise an eyebrow. “Yes, he did. And?”

“He told me he talked to you and gave you my address.”

You make a circular motion with your hand to get him to hurry this little story along.

“Anyway, he said he gave it to you and I thought maybe…” he trails off and looks down at the floor again.

“Ohhh…you thought maybe I’d come crawling back to you? Run right on over and jump into your arms? Tell you all is forgiven. Is that what you thought?”

“No!” he snaps, and then his voice softens again. “No. I just thought…” He throws his hands in the air in frustration. “Fuck! I don’t know what I thought! This is stupid, I don’t know why I came here.”

He turns around to leave, but you call out so that he stops in his tracks. “I almost did!” He turns to you and you blush a little. “I came really close to going over there. I had a whole speech prepared and everything. It was good, too. I was really going to let you have it.” You give a short laugh.

“Why didn’t you?” he asks.

“Because I was afraid that what Klaus told me wasn’t true,” you admit.

“What did Klaus tell you?”

You’re not really sure you want to get into all of that quite yet, so you change the subject back to him.

“Really, why are you here, Five? It’s been six months, so why now?”

“I just…” he takes a deep breath. “I just wanted to see you again. And to say I’m sorry.”

Your eyebrows shoot up in surprise. Then they crease together again. “And which thing or things are you sorry for?”

Five sighs and takes a few steps toward you, but stops short of coming too close. He seems to gain a little more confidence and he looks you in the eyes.

“I’m sorry for everything. For putting you in that situation. And for saying what I did. I know I was a jerk and you didn’t deserve that.”

You look up and blink a few times to try and keep your emotions in check. Then you look back at him.

“Jerk doesn’t even begin to cover it. You hurt me, Five. Really hurt me. Do you realize that?”

He swallows hard and nods. “I know.”

“Why? Why did you do that? I don’t understand. I was ready to…” Your voice cracks and you don’t finish your sentence.

“After the fight with Klaus, I just felt so awful and ashamed, so I panicked and took it out on you. Which was a really shitty thing to do, and I’m so sorry. I also understand if you never want to see or talk to me again, but I thought I’d take a chance by coming here. I at least wanted to let you know.”

You nod slowly. “Yeah, ok, so you’re sorry. Is there anything else you’d like to confess?”

“What do you mean?”

You shift your weight to your other foot and cross and uncross your arms. “Did you even mean those things you said that night?”

He pauses for a minute and you see him swallow hard. “Yeah,” he says quietly. “I meant them.”

“Klaus said you’re in love with me,” you blurt out, and you watch as his eyes get wide and his face flushes.

He clenches his teeth together. “Fucking Klaus,” he mutters under his breath.

“So?” you challenge. “Is he right?”

He is visibly uncomfortable and his hands are in his pockets again as he looks at the floor. Then he gathers some courage and he looks up.

“He’s right,” he says. “I am in love with you. I have been for a long time.”

You sigh and put your hands on your hips and look up at the ceiling, then back at him again. “Damn it, Five!”

“What?”

“You know, just because you say that does not mean all is forgiven, or that I’m automatically in love with you too, even though I am, although why I have no fucking idea. I really cannot believe the nerve of you showing up here after all this time. You are still the biggest asshole I have ever met and I’m not even sure I want anything to do with you anymore—"

Your rant is cut short when Five closes the few feet between you in a short spatial jump, making you yelp sharply when he suddenly grabs you around the waist and pulls you into him.

“Let go of me!” you say in protest.

“What did you say?” he asks, that arrogant look on his face as his mouth turns up on one side.

You squirm, trying to get out of his grasp but it’s not very convincing, and it’s also making your body rub up against his, which is not helping matters. His hold on you is strong, though, and he doesn’t let up. He’s looking you right in the eyes and you can’t seem to look away.

“I said you’re a giant asshole,” you say, your voice much weaker all of a sudden.

“You said you’re in love with me.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did,” he says with a smirk, right before he jerks your body closer to him, his arm wrapped around your middle and his hand resting on the small of your back.

His eyes travel over your face and you look at his lips and suddenly you can’t think straight anymore. You nod your head slowly.

“Yeah, maybe I did,” you confess in a whisper, right before he kisses you.

His kiss is soft and slow, and he brings his hand up to the side of your face. All of those feelings that you had pushed down come rushing back to you with that touch. You kiss him back, savoring the feel of his soft lips and the way his body feels next to yours.

He smiles against your mouth, even as he continues kissing you, and you drape your arms over his shoulders. When you pull away, he keeps his hand on your cheek.

“I’m sorry it took me this long to get my shit together,” he tells you with a breathy laugh. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” you tell him with a smile, but when he goes in for another kiss, you pull back and place a hand on his chest. “Whoa there, buddy, not so fast.”

He scrunches his eyebrows together and it takes a lot of resolve for you not to kiss him right now because his pouty man face is so cute.

“What’s the matter?” he asks.

“Ok, so you said you’re sorry, but I’m going to need a little more than that.”

“More?”

“Yes. You can’t possibly think waltzing in here and simply saying you’re sorry and you love me is enough, can you?”

“So, what do you want? You want me to fall on my knees and grovel?”

You place a finger on your lips in thought. “Hmm…that does sound nice, but something tells me you’d actually like that. No, let me think…” When you hear the music that has been playing on the store speakers, your face lights up. “I got it!”

“I’m afraid to ask, but ok, what is it?”

“Sing.”

“Excuse me?”

You step out of his arms and lean back against the counter again. “I want you to sing the next song that comes on. No matter what it is. And I want it done with feeling. To me.”

Five’s face is hilarious because he looks like you just kicked him in the nuts. “Are you fucking serious? You want me to sing to you?”

You nod. “Yep.”

He stares in stunned silence for a minute before he crosses his arms and tilts his head. “You know I took a punch in the face for you.”

You shrug. “Sorry to hear that, but that’s not really relevant at the moment. Plus, I wasn’t there to witness or enjoy it, so it doesn’t count. No, I want you to sing, and if you half-ass it you will have to start over. I want to see some professional, Frank Sinatra-level, Elvis in Las Vegas-style crooning. And I want it right now.”

Five glances up and notices the security camera mounted in the corner behind you and runs a hand down his face. “Shit. And this is the only way you’re going to forgive me and stop torturing me by standing there looking cute but not letting me touch you?”

“Pretty much, yes.”

“And there’s no way I can talk my way out of this and get you to kiss me again? Because I really want to kiss you again.”

“Nope. You say you love me. Prove it.”

He sighs heavily. “Alright then.”

“Alright, what?”

“I guess I’m fucking singing.”

You smile widely and at just that precise moment, the song that had been playing fades out and another one starts up. You start laughing when you hear “Be My Baby” by the Ronettes. It’s such a cheesy, girly pop song, and it’s perfect.

“Don’t forget…with feeling,” you remind him as you perch yourself on the countertop and wait expectedly for him to start.

With another sigh and a sarcastic smile in your direction, Five reluctantly starts singing.

The night we met I knew I needed you so

And if I had the chance I’d never let you go

It’s bad and off-key and he’s stumbling over some of the words. He can’t decide if he wants to sing it in the high, women’s register or lower his voice, so his voice keeps cracking. But he’s putting the effort in, like you requested.

So won't you say you love me?

I’ll make you so proud of me

We’ll make ‘em turn their heads, every place we go

He’s starting to get into it a little, adding awkward dancing and elaborate hand choreography.

So won’t you please

Be my little baby

Say you’ll be my darling

It’s maybe the cutest thing you’ve ever seen and when you start giggling, that’s when he really kicks it into gear. He grabs a plastic knife from the counter and uses it as a microphone to up his performance.

Be my baby now…whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh

He is singing his heart out directly to you, as dramatically as he can. He is also trying not to laugh while you are barely holding it together as you watch his horribly wonderful performance that he is putting on just because you asked him to. The dramatic emoting and facial expressions are too much, so you cover your eyes with your hands and peek through two fingers to watch him.

I’ll make you happy, baby,

Just wait and see

For every kiss you give me

I’ll give you three

For this, he grabs your hand and kisses it dramatically as you toss your head back and laugh at him. You have never seen him act this stupid and silly, and it’s making you love him that much more because you know he’d never do this for anyone else. When the interlude comes on, Five tosses his knife microphone over his shoulder without taking his eyes off you and takes your hand again, pulling you into him. He holds you to him as he dances slowly with you and when the lyrics start up again, he finishes out the song by belting it out as loudly and as off-key as possible while you alternate between laughing and visibly cringing.

So won’t you please

Be my little baby

Say you’ll be my darlin’

Be my baby now

Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh

As the song winds down and fades away, he stops dancing, but he’s still holding you close to him. He stands there with a wicked grin, waiting for you to say something.

“That’s all on video, you know. So I can blackmail you whenever you act up,” you say with a smile.

“Do you believe that I am willing to do anything for you, including humiliating myself? Did I sufficiently prove my love to you?”

“Well, I reserve the right to demand further proof at future times, but for right now, yes. That was sufficient.”

He doesn’t wait any longer before he’s back to kissing you, and this time you don’t try to stop him. When he holds you tight to his chest, his arms wrapped around you and his hand winding into your hair, you feel happier than you have in months. You probably shouldn’t have taken him back so willingly, despite his apologies and musical performance. But you can’t help yourself. You want him like you’ve never wanted anyone in your life, and the fact that he came back here for you has immediately melted any stoniness you had in your heart for him.

It’s quickly obvious that a few kisses are not going to be enough and you are both breathing hard as you try to pull each other even closer. Five pushes you up against the counter, boosting you up so you’re sitting on top and he is standing between your legs, his hands gripping into your thighs and pulling them forward to wrap around his waist. After a few seconds, you place a hand on his chest again.

“Hang on, we can’t do this,” you say, your chest heaving.

Five frowns. “I’m sorry, am I moving too fast?”

“No, I mean we can’t do this here . This is a major health code violation and if someone sees I’ll be in deep shit.”

Five laughs. “Well, I wasn’t planning on jizzing into the espresso machine, but I guess I see your point. We can stop.”

“No, I don’t want to stop ! Can’t we go to your place? It’s just a few blocks over.”

Five raises his eyebrows in surprise and chuckles. “I thought you didn’t care where I lived.”

You blush. “Well…I may have thrown your address out but that doesn’t mean I didn’t memorize it or map out how to get there from here.”

“Stalker!”

“Shut up,” you tell him, even as you’re smiling. “I know you’re loving this, you bastard.”

He shakes his head. “You think I’m loving the fact that the girl I’m head over heels in love with has secretly been obsessed with me and stalking me like a total creep?”

“I wasn’t stalking you! Jesus Christ, Five…are we going back to your place or not?”

He laughs again and you find yourself laughing right along with him. “Come on, psycho, let’s go.” He holds out a hand for you and you hop down off the counter. “It’s a nine-minute walk. Three if you let me blink you part of the way there.”

“You know exactly down to the minute? Who’s the stalker now?”

“Alright, I confess. I may have walked past here a couple of times.”

“Only a couple?” you ask with a smile.

He rolls his eyes. “I think I already regret coming here.”

You give him a quick kiss and then pull him by his hand towards the door. “No, you don’t. Because, in a few minutes, I’m going to rock your world, baby.”

He gives a frustrated groan. “You’re definitely letting me blink you there, now. I can’t wait a full nine minutes.”

Chapter Eight: Slow Hand

When we arrive at my apartment (5 minutes later, after one blink and a quick make-out session on the street), we step inside and she takes a look around. It’s not much different than the one I shared with Klaus, just a little smaller. The furniture is nice but simple, and everything is clean. There’s nothing fancy about it, but it’s comfortable and cozy. She notices a folded-up newspaper on one of the tables, turned to a half-completed crossword puzzle.

She smiles and points at it. “Such an old man thing to have.” She glances around. “Where’s the bowl of butterscotch candies? Or the plastic furniture covers?”

I am watching her as she starts walking around the living room, but then I suddenly blink over and grab her from behind. My arms are around her middle, holding her close to me while my mouth makes its way to her neck. After her initial shock wears off, she melts into me and tips her head back onto my shoulder.

“I might be an old man, darling, but my body and my hormones are 21 and you are driving them fucking crazy right now.”

She inhales sharply and exhales a soft laugh as I caress her stomach and hips with my hands, letting my mouth trail over her neck.

“Good thing for you, I happen to have a thing for older men in hot, young bodies,” she says. She turns around to face me, my arms still around her, and she gives me a smile before kissing me.

“Lucky me,” I reply.

Before I can say anything else, she pushes me backward until my legs hit the back of the couch. She gives me a shove with a hand on my chest, making me sit down, and she immediately climbs onto my lap, straddling me. Just that move right there has me hard already and I grab her face with both hands, kissing her deeply while she pushes herself over my crotch.

“Can I ask you something?” she breathes out while my mouth returns to her neck.

“Hmmm,” I respond in between kisses.

“Have you been with anyone else since me?”

I stop and I just can’t help but tease her a little with an inside joke about the book we read together. I flash her a devious smile. “622. Give or take.”

She laughs and whacks me on the chest. “Yeah, right. You wish.”

I shake my head. “No, sweetheart. There’s been only you on my mind.” Then I trace my thumb across her bottom lip and look her in the eyes. “But it’s ok if you have.”

She kisses me again, running a hand through my hair. “I went on one date, that’s it.”

Despite what I just told her about it being ok, my body immediately tenses up when she says that and I know she can tell. I start to relax a little when she places her own kisses onto the side of my neck. I let out a long breath before I ask more questions, even though I don’t really want to hear about it.

“Just one?”

She nods, continuing her kisses. “Yes. Just one.”

“And how did this date end?” I ask, trying to play it cool, although I doubt it’s very convincing.

She runs her tongue under the curve of my jaw before giving it a small bite. I grab her hips in return.

“It ended with a very steamy good night hug.”

I let out a hum of approval, leaning my head back while she draws her lips over my Adam’s apple.

“Why nothing more?”

She pauses and waits until I’m looking at her again. “Because he wasn’t you,” she tells me. I think maybe she is teasing me, but the look on her face is completely serious.

“I like that answer.”

I put my hand on the back of her neck as I try to pull her in for another kiss, but she resists and pulls backward. I’m momentarily confused until I see her very devilish face as she slowly slides off my lap and onto the floor, kneeling in front of me with her hands on my thighs. She looks up at me, biting her lower lip and it’s a goddamn miracle I haven’t come in my pants yet. I let out a little whimper just from the sight of her.

“You know, you kicked me out before I had a chance to repay you for that amazing tongue action you gave me that night,” she tells me.

“That was pretty fucking stupid of me,” I joke, although I’m clearly breathing harder and I have to shift in my seat.

She smiles and leans forward, letting her mouth graze over the crotch of my pants where the hard swelling of my erection is impossible to miss. When I feel her warm breath seeping through the fabric, I suck in a loud breath and push my hips up.

“Fuck,” I whisper.

As she starts unbuckling my belt and opening my pants, she looks back up. “You don’t have to,” I tell her quietly.

She gives me a small smile but starts to pull at my pants until I help her out by lifting my hips up slightly. When she takes my straining cock in her hand, I make another groaning noise and swear under my breath.

“Let me give this to you,” she says softly.

She is licking and sucking up and down my shaft and circling her tongue over the head, and I’ve never experienced anything like this before. I may have had a few sexual experiences before her, but none of them involved anything sensual like this.

“You taste so good,” she moans before her lips pass over my entire length again and I have to close my eyes.

I move a hand to her head and she makes a little whining noise that I take to mean she’s ok with me doing that. Which is very good, because I am having one hell of a time controlling myself right now. I flex my fingers and pull her hair at the same time I just slightly push her head down. I want to fuck her face so badly right now, but I know if that happens, I’m going to be done in about three seconds and I’d really like to wait just a little longer before I embarrass myself again this evening.

“Oh fuck, honey, that feels so good and I really don’t want you to stop, but…shit…I’m not going to be able to hold out much longer if you keep doing that.”

She doesn’t laugh, or argue, and she looks pretty proud of herself as she removes her mouth from me and looks up. My chest is heaving and I lick my lips.

“Get up here,” I say with enough authority that she knows I’m not messing around.

It must have worked because she’s standing up in a second and stripping off her clothes until she is fully naked in front of me.

“God fucking damn it, you’re gorgeous,” I groan, reaching out a hand for her.

Rather than climb directly onto my lap again, she shakes her head and leans down to unbutton my shirt and drag it down my arms. I love the way her warm hands feel on me as she quickly undresses me. She yanks my pants the rest of the way down my legs and off until I’m completely naked, too. She stops for a minute and looks me over. My mind drifts back to the time she caught me in the shower, jerking off while thinking of her. Luckily now, I get to do a lot more than just imagine things.

This time when I pull her by the hand, she immediately relents, straddling my lap once more. I dive onto her mouth to kiss her hard while I grab her hips tightly. She whines quietly as she automatically starts rubbing her soaking wet slit over my cock. It feels amazing, but I need to be inside of her again; I can’t wait any longer. With one lift of her hips and some maneuvering with my hand, she sinks down onto my shaft, letting me fill her up entirely.

“Oh…oh my god!” she cries out.

We stay like that for a minute, neither one of us moving yet, and I bring my hand up to the back of her neck, pulling her closer to me.

“I’ve missed you so much…” I murmur into her shoulder and I hear her sigh happily.

When she starts to move, slowly, over my dick, my grip on her tightens and I thrust up to match her rhythm. I can’t stop looking her deep in the eyes, so when she tries to look away, I gently guide her face towards me again. My hands travel down her sides and back up again, around to her ass, and then over her thighs. I want to touch every part of her and I can’t believe how long I’ve gone without feeling her. I love how it feels with her slowly fucking me, but I can’t stop the urge to have her pounding away on top of me.

“Ride me harder, sweetheart,” I tell her with a groan as I jerk her body forward.

She does exactly what I say and starts moving hard and fast on top of me, her hands holding onto my shoulders and her forehead pressed to mine.

“I love you, Five. I need you and I love you,” she tells me, and she sounds so desperate.

I’ve never been so happy to hear something in my whole life and it’s almost painful to feel the amount of love that is flowing through me right now. “I know, baby. I’m so sorry for everything. I love you so much.”

It’s hard to focus on everything all at once. I want to keep kissing her and tell her so many things. I want to feel her body pressed against mine, her hands all over me, and her harsh breathing on my skin. The desperate noises we are making are getting louder and higher pitched, and underneath all of that, I can hear the wet slapping noises between the two of us as her cunt passes over my dick. She is fucking me as hard as she can, but it’s not enough; I want more.

I don’t say anything or ask if it’s ok before I lift her off by her hips, pulling out and throwing her next to me so that she’s lying on her back. She’s sprawled out, whining at the loss of my body against hers. That doesn’t last long though, because I’m back on top of her in a second, thrusting inside of her again while I hold myself over her.

“I do love you, but fuck , I want to destroy this body of yours right now,” I warn between clenched teeth.

“I’m all yours,” she moans, throwing her head back as I slam into her.

I am rough and relentless, and even though I’m fucking her to the point I’m sure it’s almost painful, she is screaming for more. She is gasping for air and whimpering with each forceful drive of my cock inside of her. I’m starting to sweat and my hair is hanging in my face, but I keep my eyes trained on her. I’m hoping to god she’s getting close because I know I am and this is one race I do not want to win.

“Five…Five, oh my god yes!”

Hearing that is too much, though, and suddenly I’m violently coming inside of her. “Ah, fff-fuck!”

She is falling apart, clutching at my shoulders and writhing beneath me, her body spasming with pleasure as she lets out a sobbing cry that is filled with emotions. My manic thrusting stops as I stiffen against her, my hips twitching as I fill her up with a surge of cum. My moans are loud and long as I hold myself over her, finally lowering myself down enough to kiss her through panting breaths.

As my body relaxes, she pulls me onto her so I can press my face into the crook of her neck, my chest flush with hers. We trade soft kisses back and forth as we both try to catch our breath. She smiles at me and pushes my hair off my damp forehead, trailing her fingers down the side of my neck and over my shoulder. I could stay like this forever.

“Shit, that was amazing. I want you like that every day,” she tells me. “Although, maybe you have lots of important things to do this evening? Should I leave?”

I let out a long sigh. “Is this going to be a thing? You’re just going to make me pay for my stupid behavior again and again?”

She shrugs and gives me that impossibly cute smart-ass look of hers. “Probably.”

I return it by giving her a small bite to the side of her neck and I chuckle when she yelps. I hold myself over her so I can look down on her, one eyebrow raised. “I suppose that’s fair. But you are the only important thing I have to do this evening and you are never leaving again.”

“Oh, so now you’re holding me captive?”

“I’m afraid so,” I tell her sadly.

She laughs and pulls me down to kiss me again. “You’re so cute when you’re all soft and sweet like this.”

“I think we’ve been over this,” I say with a frown. “I am not cute. I am an angry, smoldering, sex god.”

Running a hand over my back and down, she grabs my ass and gives it a squeeze. “Yes, you are. And you are my smoldering sex god.”

I don’t know about the sex god part of it, but I know I am undeniably hers from now on. I smile. “Yes, I am.”

After another quick kiss, I help her up off the couch and she heads to the bathroom to get cleaned up. I still can’t believe this is real and I just stand there like a big, naked dope smiling to myself because I’m so happy right now.

When she comes back out, I’m still there waiting for her and I watch as she bends down to pick up her underwear that was discarded on the floor. I startle her when I grab them from out of her hands and tilt her face up with a hand on her chin.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I ask with a smirk.

She blinks up at me and sticks her bottom lip out. “I thought I was getting dressed.”

Without taking my eyes off her, I hurl the balled-up panties over her shoulder so that they land halfway across the room. “Like hell you are.”

Then, just to be a giant prick, I grab her around the waist and in half a second we are falling out of one of my portals and onto my bed. She lets out a shriek as her back hits the mattress and I laugh evilly when I land next to her. This might be my favorite party trick and it never gets old.

After she gets her wits about her, she sits up with a scowl and punches me in the arm. “Don’t ever do that without giving me a heads-up again! Fuck, that was weird.”

“Sorry, darling. But when you have the ability to teleport a beautiful, naked woman into your bed, it’s nearly impossible not to take advantage of the opportunity.”

She’s probably still trying to get that foggy feeling to leave her brain, but I don’t wait before I kiss her again, deep and hard while I push her back onto the bed. I know she can already feel me getting harder as I lay myself over her.

With a giggle, she pulls back. “Already? Pretty impressive for someone your age.”

I flip a piece of hair out of my eyes and gaze down at her with an expression I’ve been told makes me look like an arrogant asshole. “Sweetheart, if you think for one minute you are getting any kind of break tonight, think again. We have a lot of time to make up for and with that amazing fucking body of yours, I get hard as a rock just looking at you.”

She lets out a little whimper that has me proving my previous statement as I start pressing myself against her thigh. She lays her head back and lets me kiss down her neck and over her chest. Her hands are warm and firm as they travel over my body in response. Everything is perfect and I’m in heaven.

"Five?”

“Yes, love?” I ask, not stopping as I move my mouth to her cleavage, sucking at the skin there while I massage her perfect tits and lightly graze her nipples with my fingertips.

“I want this to be real. And I want it to last.” I stop what I am doing and look up at her. “If you think there’s a chance that tomorrow or next week or even a month from now you are going to change your mind; if there’s any doubt at all…then I can’t do this. So, tell me now if this is just another impulse you are acting on but are going to regret in the morning. Tell me if you’re going to wake up tomorrow and say none of this was real. Because that shit hurt and I don’t want to feel that bad ever again.”

It’s like someone just ripped my heart out of my chest. I look at her face and it’s filled with so much uncertainty and hurt, and it was all caused by me. I want to reassure her that I will never do anything like that again, but I hardly know where to start. My mouth opens partially before closing again. I reposition myself so that I am lying next to her, placing my hand gently on the side of her face, urging her to look at me. I want to look her in the eyes so that she knows I mean it.

“I know I hurt you. I was horrible to you and I understand why you don’t want to trust me right now. I wish you could see inside my head and know how fucking sorry I am. How I wish I could take back everything I said to you that morning. All I can do is beg for your forgiveness and let me try and make it up to you. I meant everything I said. I’ll take care of you. I want to make you happy. And I want you with me not just for tonight, but always. I love you.”

“Ok,” she whispers with a small nod. “I believe you.”

“I’m serious. I can’t promise I will never do anything stupid again or that I will magically stop being an asshole sometimes, but I can promise that I will never deny my feelings for you again.”

She nods again, and then her mouth turns up in a cute little smile. “Never? Even when I’m incredibly annoying and wiping my snotty nose all over your shirtsleeve?”

I make a disgusted face that has her giggling. “You wiped your nose on me?”

“Just once or twice when you weren’t looking.”

I shake my head. “No wonder I ended up with your disease ten days later.”

She smiles and traces my lips with her fingertips. “A deadly disease and a punch in the face? Just for little old me?”

I kiss the tips of her fingers and nod. “And I would do it all over again a million times if it meant you’d end up here. Specifically, right here, underneath me and naked.”

When I start to kiss her again, I feel her body react as she sighs into me, and her hips start slowly rolling upwards. She tries to drag my body on top of hers, but I don’t let her. Instead, I pull away from her mouth to look at her again, my fingers following the curve of her jaw. I have been thinking of something she said while she was talking in her feverish dreams that night, and I’m going to need to try it out.

“I told you I’d take care of you and I meant it.” I give her another kiss. “So, let Daddy take care of you, my love.”

Her reaction is just what I was hoping for as she sucks in a loud breath and bites at her lip, her hips pressing up again. I laugh, kissing her gently while running the back of my hand down her cheek.

“I take it you like that, sweetheart?” I murmur as I move under her chin.

She whines out some sort of response that might resemble a yes, and I smile with approval while my mouth travels back down her neck and onto her collarbone.

“I want to make you feel good.” I go about sucking a dark bruise onto the hollow between her shoulder and neck, making her hiss through clenched teeth. “Tell Daddy what you want, darling.”

“Shit,” she breathes out, at the same time trying desperately to push herself against me, but I’m being mean and not letting her. “I really fucking like it when you say things like that,” she moans.

I’m trailing my lips over the soft skin of her neck. She’s so beautiful and I nuzzle my face into her shoulder, sighing happily. “Do you? Now, how did I know that I wonder?” My hands start roaming all over her body. I continue to speak close to her ear and bite her earlobe. “What else, my love? Tell me. Tell me everything you want.”

With a whine, she closes her eyes and tips her head back. “I want to feel your hands all over me. I dream about your hands.”

Well, that’s new information. But it’s definitely going to work in my favor because if she likes my hands, I love exploring every square inch of her body with them.

I place another deep, sucking kiss that brands a mark onto her neck and she tries to stifle a whimper, but it comes out anyway. One of my hands is already making its way down her side and onto her hip while my other gently pets her hair as I hold myself partially over her with my forearm.

My fingers trace along the curves of her thighs and onto her stomach. I continue watching her face as I map out her body, bit by bit until she is so starved for more, she tries to push my hand between her legs. I’m quicker and stronger, though, and I pull my hand away with a sly grin and a shake of my head. I really am being a bastard right now.

“If you want something, sweetheart, you need to tell me.”

She gives a small groan of frustration, but she meets my eyes as her hips jerk upwards.

“Fuck me with your hand, Daddy.”

Damn, if that isn’t the hottest thing I’ve ever heard and I think about forgetting her request altogether and just slamming my cock into her instead. I resist, though, and I lower my head to bury my face into her shoulder again. “Oh, shit I love hearing that,” I tell her.

I want to give her everything she wants though, so I get back to work, my hand slowly moving across her lower abdomen and then lower still. I tease by stroking the crease between her thighs and hips and then pull away again. She is getting more and more worked up by my fingers traveling over her body. I decide to crank up the dirtiness level just a little by bringing my hand up to her mouth and pushing my two fingers inside. She immediately grabs my hand by the wrist and starts sucking on them, wetting them all over and slipping her tongue in between. Her eyes fall shut and she moans. I push them in and out a few times, and I like the way she looks when I do that.

“You look so pretty like this, baby,” I tell her before I remove them and she licks at her lips.

I give her another kiss before I’m back to tracing lines over her breasts, leaving a trail of her own saliva over each one. I keep moving down, over her stomach again and around to her hip. It’s slow, but the anticipation makes it all the more erotic when my fingers finally make contact with the satiny area between her legs. The noise she lets out is loud and long and when I slip two digits inside of her tight hole, she cries out; pressing her hips up to try and fuck my fingers.

“Five! Ohhh...god...”

“Don’t close your eyes. Look at me,” I order her, and she obeys.

I want to see her reaction to every little movement and calculated maneuver I perform on her. I also want to hear her. I want her to cry out my name and scream so loud the neighbors will think something is wrong. The crease between her eyes deepens and her mouth falls open as she keeps her eyes on me like I want; all while I am fucking her slowly and deliberately with my hand.

“That’s my sweet girl. Just like that.”

When I curl my fingers inside of her and press my thumb into her clit, she grips the bed covers on either side with her fists and arches her back off the bed.

“Oh, fuck yes!” she screams out.

Watching her like this is turning me on like crazy, and I have to tell myself to keep going. I want to pound my cock inside of her again, to feel her tight cunt around me as I slam mercilessly against it. I keep fingering her, but the thought of everything else I want to do is getting to me and I can’t help rubbing my dick against her leg.

She is so wet that my hand is covered in the slick of her arousal, and it’s dripping down my wrist. I push in deeper and work her clit harder while she writhes around, thrusting her hips up. I’m practically humping her leg now, shoving my cock between her thigh and the bed, and I can’t fucking stop. Any contact with her body against my raging hard-on feels amazing and I want more.

Right before she comes, she grabs my hand and shoves it harder against herself, grinding and bucking against it while the noises she’s making get louder and louder. I feel like my dick is going to explode I’m so worked up right now and just watching her fall apart like this is making it worse.

When she starts to squeeze her eyes shut, I don’t let her. “Look at me,” I demand, and she does.

“Ff-iive!” she moans as she pulses against me, her grip on my wrist tightening.

When she calms down and her hand slackens on mine, I pull my soaking-wet fingers out. She smiles dreamily up at me and lets out a breathy laugh.

“Sorry, I got a little—”

I don’t let her finish what she was going to say, because all I can think about are my own needs at the moment. I want to fuck her so badly, but I know that I’m going to come instantaneously if I shove my dick into her right now. Instead, I take her hips and flip her over while I sit up on my knees behind her, pulling her towards me so that her ass is in the air directly in front of me. I hear her make a little squeal of surprise, but I barely register it.

When I haul back and smack her voluptuous ass cheek with the flat of my hand, leaving a beautiful pink mark on her skin, she cries out louder.

“Be a good girl and stay right there for Daddy,” I growl.

All I can think about is how she is finally mine and no one else can have her. I violently pump my hand over my dick as I stare at the perfectly round ass that belongs to only me. I rub one cheek while I’m still jerking my cock; she is moaning while sprawled out on the bed in front of me, ass in the air. It’s such a depraved scene and what I’m about to do will probably not be appreciated, but I can’t be bothered to care at the moment. After a few more strokes I am unloading all over her, covering her with ropes of my cum. I watch as it pools in the small of her back and drips down in between her crack. More of it lands directly on her ass and is sliding down the backs of her thighs.

I want this image to be burned into my brain, as sick as that sounds. I feel like I just marked her as my own like some sort of territorial animal. Some psychiatrist out there would probably have a field day with me right now, but fuck them. She is mine and here’s the sticky, milky proof all over her.

“Fuck!” I yell as the last few drops spurt out.

I’m breathing loud and hard and it takes me a minute to fully grasp what I just did, which was jerking off all over her ass and back without any warning or permission to do so. I can’t see her face either, because she has it turned to the side and her hair is partially covering it.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” I start to say, but then she pushes her hair away and glances back at me as she lowers her body so she’s flat on the bed again. I start to feel a little better when I see she’s smiling.

“Damn, Daddy, you are one horny, perverted old man!”

“Yeah, that was not my finest moment, was it? I am so sorry,” I say sheepishly.

She laughs. “Don’t be sorry. Anytime you want to take charge like that, you can do whatever you want to me.”

I break into a wide grin. “That’s a good thing, then, because I have many more dirty things in mind that I’d like to do to you.”

“Can’t wait,” she says in that sexy way I love.

She’s still lying there covered in my semen that is rapidly cooling and sticking to her skin. Even if she says she’s ok with me jerking off all over her, it is probably not the greatest feeling in the world, so I tell her to wait there as I blink into the bathroom to get a warm washcloth to clean her off with.

After all that is taken care of, we settle into bed. She feels so good snuggled up next to me, her body warm next to mine, and I breathe in the scent of her strawberry-infused hair that I have been missing so much. I love how soft her skin is and I can’t stop running my hands up and down her arm and hip as I pull her in closer, her back flush with my chest.

We are quiet for a while, just comfortable in the silence until I speak up. There’s so much I want to tell her, and I’m not even sure where to start.

“You know, for years I would dream about this. About having someone to fall asleep with and wake up with.”

“What about Dolores?”

“I loved Dolores with all my heart, and I will always love her. But there were many nights, after she fell asleep, that I would allow myself to think about what it would be like to have someone that could kiss or hug me back. To touch me at all, really. That’s probably why I liked reading all of those romance novels. There wasn’t a lot of physical love in my house growing up, and then there was only Dolores. My two sources for any affection in my life came from my robot mother and my mannequin wife.”

I let out a small laugh at that, but she doesn’t return it. Instead, she just squeezes my hand and pulls my arms tighter around her. She waits for me to keep going.

“So, those books were the only reference I had for real love. And I wanted that for so long. After a while, though, I just stopped thinking about it. Because I knew it was never going to happen. It was all just a made-up fantasy.”

“I’m so sorry, Five,” she says quietly.

“Don’t be. All of that made me into the fully functioning and mentally stable man you know and love today.”

At that, she does laugh. “You are one of a kind, Five, that’s for sure.”

“That’s another thing,” I start as I rub my cheek against her hair. “Are you sure you’re ok with…you know…my situation?”

“What does that mean?”

“Well, by my rusty mental math, I am technically more than double your age.”

She’s silent for a minute and I think maybe she really is re-thinking this whole thing. “I know that. I don’t care.”

“Are you sure? Because it’s not going to get any better, you know. I’m just going to keep getting older and crankier. Pretty soon, I’m going to want to eat dinner at 4 pm and bitch about my expired grocery coupons.”

She giggles. “I don’t think you can get any crankier than you already are, so I don’t have to worry about that. And the rest I can deal with.” She flips over so she’s looking at me. She threads her fingers into my hair at the back of my neck and I close my eyes at her touch. “I love you because of, not in spite of, all of that. I love you for all that you are, Five. Even the cranky, old man parts.”

When she kisses me, it’s the softest, most loving kiss I have ever felt and I want to melt into her. “With you, I get the best of both worlds. Hot young guy with the mature mind and life experiences of an older man. What’s not to love?”

I lean in for another kiss, and when she breaks away from it, she gives me a little smile. “Besides, as long as you keep fucking me like you’ve been, I don’t care if you’re sixty or six hundred years old.”

She throws her leg over my hip and I shake my head with a smile. “Honey, I really don’t think that’s going to be a problem.”

“I can tell,” she says before pushing harder against me and kissing me again.

The next morning, after one of the best sleeps of my life, I wake up to the smell of freshly roasted coffee and a soft kiss on my cheek. When I open my eyes, there’s my girl, standing over me and setting a tray down on the table next to the bed. I barely notice the coffee cups with their fragrant steam drifting out of the tops, because I can’t take my eyes off of her. I must be having one hell of a dream right now because she’s wearing one of my t-shirts with nothing else on except a pair of cotton panties adorned with little pink cats. When I smile blearily up at her, still in the process of fully waking, she laughs at me.

“What?” I ask, as I try and haul myself up to a sitting position.

“Your hair. It’s sticking up everywhere. You look like you stuck your finger in a light socket.”

I frown and pat my hand on top of my head, feeling the rat’s nest that’s there. “Give me a break, ok? I just had a pretty wild night. Some crazy woman kept trying to maul me all night long.”

She presses her lips together in an effort not to laugh. “Well, I can hardly blame her. Have you seen yourself with no clothes on? Kind of ridiculous to expect to be left alone.”

“Come here, crazy,” I say as I reach out and yank her towards me by her hand.

She lands sideways on my lap and I kiss her while she attempts to smooth my hair into place. “I brought you some coffee,” she tells me after I let her up for air.

“Thank you, love. Although that hardly seems fair that you’re serving me coffee. Don’t you have to work today?”

She shakes her head. “I was supposed to, but I asked my boss and she said I should stay here today, instead.”

I reach for one of the mugs of coffee and hand it to her before taking my own. “Your boss sounds very smart.” When she giggles at that, I run a hand over her bare thigh and give it a squeeze. “Especially since you’re wearing these little cat panties I love so much. I was hoping I’d get to see these again.

She makes a little face over her coffee mug. “What do you mean, again?”

I take a drink from my own mug and give her a crooked smile. “You already gave me a nice little show in them before. Although I definitely prefer you wearing my shirt over them instead of my brother’s.”

“What…wait…you remember that? You were wasted drunk!”

I roll my eyes at her. “No amount of alcohol would let me forget you standing half-naked in my doorway trying to look mad but not really succeeding.”

She scoffs at me. “I was mad! You were being obnoxious!”

“Right. And you weren’t being obnoxious when you decided to put on that little vocally-driven performance right afterward?”

That makes her break and laugh, and she leans in to give me a kiss. “You know why I did that, right?”

“To torture me until I considered stabbing a pencil into my ears?” I deadpan.

“No…” she smirks. “For one, I wanted to piss you off and make you jealous. Show you what you were missing out on.”

“Uh-huh…well mission accomplished.”

“And two, well, there was a reason I was acting much more spirited than usual.”

“Spirited? It sounded like you were possessed.”

She runs a hand down my chest. “Maybe I was thinking of someone else at the time.”

I like where this is going and I raise my eyebrows before taking a sip of my coffee. “Go on. I like the turn this story is taking.”

“Well, I won’t go into detail, but just know that all of those noises you heard, were caused by you.”

I set my mug down and then grab hers to do the same. With my hands free, I pull her closer to me while I slip a finger into the waistband of her underwear and snap it against her skin.

“Naughty girl,” I murmur before kissing her hard on the mouth.

“Maybe so,” she says when she pulls away, “But, I’m willing to bet that gave you some nice material to use for a few lonely nights?”

When I pull her by her hips over my lap, there is no way she is missing the growing hard-on I’ve got going on under the sheets. “Baby, you have no idea how much material that gave me.”

Before I can get too involved with my roaming hands and mouth, she stops me by pulling back. My eyebrows crease together and my lips form a tight line with annoyance. I don’t like not being able to indulge in an early morning bone session at the moment. Especially when she’s sitting here, grinding her tight little ass against said bone.

“Before you get too carried away, and before you start pouting any more than you already are, I have to show you something.”

“Is it under your panties?”

She sighs and rolls her eyes at me. “No.” Then she reaches over and takes something off the tray. She hands me a book and when I look at it, I see it’s the book we read together. Love In The Time Of Cholera. And it’s not just any copy, it’s my exact one.

I look up at her in surprise. “This is mine! I’ve been looking everywhere for it. I thought I lost it when I moved.”

She shrugs and smiles shyly. “I may have stolen it from your room before.”

“You stole it from me?”

“Kind of. After we were done reading it, I put it in my bag because I wanted to take it home to reread it again. And I meant to tell you and bring it back when I was done. But then you decided to be the world’s biggest asshole…”

“Yeah, I know that part, we don’t need to rehash that again.”

“Well, anyway, I forgot it was in there and I left with it. So, there it has stayed, in my bag for the past six months. Which is how it ended up here again because I brought my bag with me when I left work last night.”

I turn the book over in my hands and smile. “I love this book. For obvious reasons.”

“So…will you read to me?” she asks, just like she did before, with the big eyes and the pouty lip.

“You want me to read this again? Are you sure? Because there are a lot of other things I can think of that we could be doing right here, right now, in this bed.”

She shakes her head, and then climbs off my lap, taking her coffee cup, and then snuggling up next to me under the covers. “I want to lie right here next to you, all warm and cozy, while you read our book to me with that super sexy voice of yours.”

I smile and kiss her forehead. “Well, when you flatter me like that, how can I resist?” I start to settle in and open the book. “And then…”

She sighs. “Yes, and then you may use me to take care of that giant bed snake I felt stabbing me in the leg just now.”

“I’m going to remember you said ‘giant’, by the way.”

“Just read the damn book, Five.”

“Yes, my darling. Anything for you.”

Chapter Nine: Hey Daddy

“Five!” you yell from the bedroom, as you’re on your hands and knees, frantically searching under the bed. “Where are my shoes?”

You hear his voice from the other room. “How the hell do I know?”

“Well, can you come here and help me look for them? I’m going to be late!”

After a few seconds, Five comes striding casually into the room, holding out a pair of strappy black heels that are dangling from his fingers. “Looking for these?”

“Oh! Yes, thank you! Where were they?”

“One was on the kitchen counter and the other was lying on the sofa.”

You give an exasperated sigh as you start tugging them onto your feet, using Five’s shoulder to steady yourself so you don’t tip over. “How in the world…I am a walking disaster this morning!”

When you get your shoes on, you straighten up and tug your clothes down, then you smooth your hair. Your nerves and scattered brain are obvious and Five grabs your hands in his. You can see he’s trying not to laugh at you.

“Hey, everything is going to be fine. You’re supposed to be having fun. It’s a celebration, remember? Not a tax audit.”

You give him a strained smile and you’re dying to start picking at your fingernails, but he’s got your hands held tight. “I know, but there’s just so much to do. I have to make sure all of the food is there, and the gifts for my staff and the music…” Five gives your hands a squeeze when he sees you starting to panic again.

“You’ve gone over everything a million times, it’s all done. All you have to do now is show up, be your delightful, albeit slightly neurotic self, and celebrate your one-year anniversary of ownership.”

“You’re right,” you sigh.

“As always.”

You give him an irritated look at his response, but you only receive a smirk in return. Then he leans in to kiss you and suddenly you feel a little more relaxed.

“You’re going to come by later?” you ask him.

“Absolutely. I want to hear you make your big speech, and also snag some of that good champagne we bought. I can’t let all of that go to waste on the riff-raff over there.”

“They are not riff-raff, they are my loyal customers.”

“If Klaus is there, they are riff-raff.”

You laugh. “That’s true. He said he was coming and bringing friends.”

“See?”

“Well, anyway, don’t be late. What are you doing before then?”

“Going to visit Leroy and Mr. Featherbottom the Third. They’ll be expecting me.”

After a deep sigh and a look up, while you mutter under your breath, you look back at Five. “You’re naming them now?”

“Well, not all of them, that’s ridiculous. Just the frequent flyers.” A giant grin spreads across his face. “Get it?”

“Oh, I get it alright. I get that my boyfriend is a certifiable nutcase and is starting to name pigeons at the park.”

“You’re just jealous.”

“I’m jealous of some dirty old pigeons?”

“Yes. You’re jealous because I have to split my time between you and my feathered friends and you can’t handle the competition.”

You let out another frustrated sigh, but your exterior is starting to crack and you can’t help smiling as you pull your hands away from his and put them on his shoulders. “I can assure you, my sexy old man, that I am not jealous. Because if I were, that would mean you’d be doing something much weirder with those birds than feeding them in the park, and if that’s the case we need to have a long talk. And I don’t have time for that right now.”

He gives your cheeks a squeeze and kisses you on the mouth. “I promise you are the only one, human or non-human, that I am doing weird things with.”

“Glad to hear it. Now, I need to get going, so tell Mr. Featherbutt…”

“Bottom.”

“Whatever…tell him I said hi and I’ll see you later today, ok?”

“I’ll be there.”

You start looking around the room. “Now where the hell are my car keys, I know I just had them.”

Five fishes around in his pants pocket and pulls out your keys, holding them up in front of you with that know-it-all look of his.

“Damn it! Where were they?” you ask as you snatch them out of his hand.

“In the dishwasher.”

“In the dish…what in the hell is wrong with me today?”

Five shakes his head. “I’m not sure, but you are so damn cute, you know that?”

You give him a hasty kiss on the cheek and then you’re hurrying out the door. “Yes, I know I am, but thank you for reminding me. Love you!”

The anniversary party for your café has been planned for weeks. You never had a grand opening celebration, since you had just taken it over from the previous owner, but you decided you needed to mark the occasion somehow. Five had helped you with the planning, which ended up being extremely helpful and annoying at the same time. As it turns out, which was not a huge surprise, an uptight man with attention to detail and a lot of spare time on his hands can be a bit much. But he really did take care of a good portion of it, so you were very thankful in the end.

On your drive in to work, you let your mind wander and start thinking about how happy you are at this point in your life. Your business is profitable, you have a good staff that likes and respects you, and you are no longer lonely. Only a few weeks after your reunion, you had moved in with Five. Everyone you had told at the time had thought you were crazy and moving way too fast, but you knew deep down that it was the right choice. You two were happy together and neither of you were going anywhere. So, it just made sense.

Now it was six months later and you had never been so in love. He had not broken his promise of making sure you were always taken care of and he did everything in his power to make you happy. Not that you needed much. You made sure he was content with your life together, too. And even though his old man tendencies sometimes tried your patience, you were happy if he was happy. The amazing sex was an added bonus.

The party was supposed to be an all-day event, with free coffee, music, and glasses of champagne for every customer. Then, you were going to close early and have the party continue for just your staff. They were as much of a part of the success of your business as you were, and you want them to feel appreciated. The staff party was when Five was supposed to drop by.

The event goes well and when Five does walk in, you catch him out of the corner of your eye while you’re deep in conversation with someone. You are drawn immediately out of it, though, when you do a double take as he stands across the room, watching you and waiting for you to finish. You’re pretty sure your jaw drops open and you feel your heart start to beat faster.

“Holy shit,” you mutter to yourself as you rudely blow off the person you are talking to and start heading in Five’s direction.

He is dressed impeccably in a black, three-piece, tailored suit and black tie. His hair has been freshly cut and combed neatly into place. And he smells amazing. For a second, all you can do is stare and you feel like you’re back in the apartment when you were dating Klaus and you were eyeing him up from afar, imagining dirty scenarios about the two of you. Then you snap out of it and remember he’s yours now, even if you still find yourself imagining dirty scenarios.

You run the palms of your hands down the front of his suit coat and down to his waist before bringing them up again, grabbing his tie and smoothing it down.

“Hey, Daddy,” you say quietly while looking up at him hungrily.

When he draws a line down your cheek with the back of his finger, you shiver. “Hello, darling.” He places a hand on your chin and raises your face up before leaning down to kiss you sensually. You hope the sound you made wasn’t audible by anyone else because it is embarrassingly pathetic. Five pulls back with a satisfied smirk because he knows he looks fucking good and that you’re weak in the knees for him right now.

“Are you feeling alright, sweetheart?” he asks like the giant asshole he is.

“You look amazing…and I think you know it.”

Five shrugs and puts his hands in his pants pockets, which only accentuates the lean lines of his body even more. He looks around cooly and then back at you. “Thank you, but I was just trying to clean up a little for your special occasion. I didn’t want to come in here looking like a bum.”

“I don’t think it’s possible for you to look like a bum, but you most definitely went above and beyond with this suit.” You can’t help but run your hands down his chest again. “Damn it, Five, this isn’t fair.”

“What’s not fair?”

You look around to make sure no one is close enough to hear you. “How badly I want to take you into the back room so you can fuck me against a wall right now.”

He laughs. “Since I know you want to remain professional at the moment, how about this? I will most definitely fuck you against any wall you wish once we get home later tonight.”

“I can live with that, I suppose. I just want you to know, though, that you are the hottest man in here by a mile and I have already seen at least two women checking you out.”

“Is that so?” he asks with a quirk of his brow. He looks around the room. “Which ones?”

You roll your eyes. “Alright, your hotness factor is starting to diminish now.”

“Yours hasn’t,” he tells you before kissing you again.

Just then, Klaus enters the shop. You can see he has dressed for the occasion as well, with fitted red velvet pants that flare at the bottom and a flowy green shirt that is halfway unbuttoned down the front. It should be a hideous outfit, but Klaus makes it look good. You can already see a few people eyeing him up. When he sees you and Five, he makes his way over.

“Hey there,” he says as he saunters up. “Well, don’t you two look adorable? Kind of makes me nostalgic for the good old days, if you know what I’m saying.”

Klaus leans in to give you a quick kiss and Five scowls at him. “Watch it.”

Klaus puts a hand to his chest, feigning offense. “My dear brother, have no fear. I wasn’t suggesting anything lewd between me and your lady love.” He pauses and smiles while looking Five up and down. “You are most definitely included in the equation, too, you sexy bastard.”

Five gives an exacerbated huff. “Klaus, you’re disgusting.”

“Why thank you!” Klaus turns to look at you. “Great job, by the way, I’m very proud of you.”

“Thanks, Klaus,” you say.

“Now, I heard there was booze here?”

You laugh. “Yes, the champagne is over there. Help yourself.”

“I shall,” Klaus replies as he floats away in the direction of the table loaded with flutes of sparkling wine. You watch as one of your employees immediately rushes over to him, and within thirty seconds Klaus already has his arm around the lucky man. You laugh and shake your head. He really does have a way of charming everyone he meets.

After a few more minutes, you make sure everyone has a glass and you take one for yourself before you head to the front of the room, facing the small crowd of coworkers and friends. Klaus and his new boy toy go over to stand next to Five.

“Excuse me, everyone?” you start, gathering the group’s attention until the room is quiet and all eyes are on you. You suddenly feel very nervous, even though all of these people are close to you and they feel like family. Your gaze drifts to Five standing at the back of the room, and he gives you an encouraging smile.

“I just had a few brief words to say about marking this one-year anniversary of the café. I want to thank every single person in this room for all of their hard work and dedication. Without you, we would not be the success we have become today. I love my job and I love my staff, which is much more than most people can say about their work. You are all truly wonderful and I cannot thank you enough.”

Everyone claps at that and when the noise dies down again, you continue on.

“I also need to thank someone else, and that is my very supportive, yet mildly abrasive boyfriend.” When you see Five react with surprise, you smile. “Five, you are truly the love of my life and I owe a lot of my success to you, too. You make me a more confident person and I always know that you will have my back. Plus, I have become pretty good at conflict resolution because of you, since living with you every day has its definite conflicts.”

You laugh when he gives you an exhausted look. “But I wouldn’t change any of it, because you are my rock and I love you so much. Thank you for loving me back.”

There is a chorus of “aws” throughout the room. Five has a combined expression of embarrassment, pride, and love on his face. You watch as Klaus nudges him with his shoulder in a fond gesture.

You continue on with a smile. “Because I love you so much, I was trying to think of a new name for the place that would be a little tribute to you. The obvious name would be ‘Cholera and Coffee’, but I have a feeling that would not be good for business.” Everyone laughs, including Five. “Then I thought of ‘Bean My Baby’, since I know that’s your favorite song.” Five raises an eyebrow at you. “Then it was ‘The Old Man And The Tea’, but that was too long.”

“In the end, I decided on ‘Books, Love, and Coffee’, because you don’t know this yet, but I am going to add a small library of classic romance books to the store so that customers can sit and enjoy their drinks while they read about love. And hopefully, it will inspire them to find someone perfect for themselves, just like we have done.”

You can see Five get a little misty-eyed after you say that, and you have to control your happy tears, as well. After you finish your little speech with a toast to everyone, you go back over to Five where he immediately pulls you in close with an arm around your waist. He kisses you softly and looks deeply into your eyes.

“The Old Man And The Tea? Really?” he says dryly.

You laugh. “Come on, you have to admit that’s funny.”

“It’s not.”

You squeeze his cheeks in with your hand, just like he had done to you earlier and you plant a big kiss on his lips. “My grumpy old man…I love you.”

He tries to look irritated, but that makes his face squish together even more, which gets you giggling again before you let go.

“I love you, too. Against my better judgment,” he says.

“So, what do you think of my new idea with the library?”

“I think it’s great. I know you’ll make it work and it will draw more people in.”

“I might need your help with some logistical things.”

“I’d be happy to help, you know that. I’m always here for you.”

“I know that,” you smile. Then your eyes travel down his body again and suddenly you’re not thinking about the café anymore. You kind of wish everyone else would get the fuck out so he could pound you into one of the tables, health code violation be damned.

“We need to get home soon,” you tell him with a hand on his chest. “I can’t keep looking at you in this suit without having some very inappropriate thoughts.”

Five smirks and pulls you in closer, his hand rubbing up and down your back, making your skin tingle. “Yes, we do need to get home. I’m going to need details of these inappropriate thoughts and then we can work on making them happen.”

When you two arrive back home, it’s late and you’re exhausted. You kick off your heels in the middle of the living room, prompting Five to pick them up with a heavy sigh and place them neatly near the door.

“I need to shower,” you tell him.

His mouth turns up in a mischievous smile. “Is that an invitation?”

“I’ll let you decide.”

Once you are in the shower and you have washed the grime of the day off of you, you start to wonder if Five is going to join you in there after all. You are just about to turn the water off and step out when you shriek loudly as your body is forced flat against the tile wall. Five is behind you, his body pressed against yours and his lips on the damp skin of your neck.

“What took you so long?” you say as you try to catch your breath.

“I was torturing myself by seeing how long I could hold out before blinking in here to violate you. Turns out, it’s really not that long.”

“Felt like a long time to me.”

“Sweetheart, how many times do I have to tell you…just ask for what you want and I’ll give it to you,” he murmurs against you.

His hands drift down your arms, encircling your wrists to hold them tightly. He’s in complete control of you, trapping you between the wall and his body, your arms pinned to your side. You turn your head and look over your shoulder as best you can. His gaze catches yours and he grins.

“Lucky for you, I happen to know exactly what you want right now.”

“Oh, do you? And what’s that?” you answer back with as much sass as you can manage with your face smashed against the wall.

You feel the heat of his mouth against your wet and rapidly cooling shoulder. He licks up the water droplets that cover it and you can feel his teeth scrape lightly across your skin. You don’t think you will ever get tired of feeling his mouth on you and right now you would let him do just about anything without hesitation. And you have no doubt that he does know exactly what you want right now.

His voice is dark and husky as he speaks next to your ear. “You want me to make you helpless. You want to be fucked hard and rough until you can’t take it anymore.” He pauses to push his hard cock against your ass. “You need me, don’t you?”

“Yes,” you whimper, and maybe you sound a little pathetic but you know he likes it.

Taking your wrists, he roughly yanks them over your head and pins them to the wall. “Beg me,” he demands, and the hardness in his voice sends shivers down your spine. “Beg me to fuck you. I want to hear it.”

“Please,” you whine.

He takes your wrists and pulls them away from the wall before slamming them against the tile again. You notice that he keeps his hands around you in such a way that you don’t get hurt by the impact.

“You want to try that again, princess?” he hisses, before biting the side of your neck with enough force to make you flinch.

“Please, Five…I need you.”

“Keep going. Beg for my cock.”

He starts pushing against you harder, and your tits are smashed into the wall almost to the point of pain. But the feeling of him behind you, grinding his hard cock against your ass is making you so damn wet that it hardly matters what the rest of your body is doing.

You give out a little cry and try and push your ass back into him, but he’s stronger than you and there’s no way you can move. “Please, Five, please. I need you to fuck me.”

Five reaches over and grabs some soap off the shower shelf. He holds onto your wrists with one hand, using plenty of his strength to keep you there. You feel his soapy hand drag between your cheeks, his finger stopping and rubbing over your tight hole, dipping just a little inside before pulling back again. Then he is sliding his dick between your ass cheeks, pumping it back and forth with a long groan.

“God, I could come just from this,” he rasps before biting and sucking at your shoulder again, his hips jerking and snapping against you from behind.

“No…” you whimper sadly. You would much rather him come somewhere else.

“What’s that, sweetheart?” He slams his cock against you, the soap making it slide easily between your cheeks, rubbing over your hole. “You don’t want me to come like this? I thought you loved it when I cover that beautiful ass of yours with my cum.” His voice changes from sweet to menacing in a second and his hold on your wrists tightens, his fingers digging into the soft flesh of the underside.

He doesn’t demand an answer from you this time. Instead, he asks you another question. “Tell me, darling…who else fucks you like I do? Who else makes you scream?”

“No one,” you moan out, louder than you meant to. You’re so desperate and you don’t care how pitiful you’re becoming just from some dirty words and a dick pressed against you. “Only you, Five.”

His self-satisfied smirk is evident against your shoulder as he passes his lips over one and then moves to the other. He’s teasing you mercilessly as your pussy gets slicker with each second.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing that,” he muses.

He lets your wrists go, but it’s only so that he can grab your upper arms and spin you around so that you are facing him. His eyes are dark, and the spray from the water has dampened his hair. He takes one hand briefly off of you to slick it back off his forehead before he has you in his full grip again, your back flush against the wall. When he rubs his dick between your legs, you moan and close your eyes.

He suddenly drops to his knees in front of you, and there’s no time to react because he’s moved his hands to your wrists again. Once again, your arms are pinned against the wall. Five looks up at you with feral eyes.

He keeps his intense gaze on you, even as he gives a long, slow lick through your throbbing heat. The sound that comes out of your mouth is high-pitched and desperate as you jerk your hips into him.

“Ohhh…Five…”

He doesn’t give you anymore just yet but makes you sweat it out while he kneels before you and watches your face.

“Did you like that, baby? Want more?”

“Yes, fuck yes I want more!”

He gives one more long lick up through the middle and then he stops just like before, leaving you desperate. You push your hips into him again, but he pulls his head back just enough that you can’t make contact.

“I could do this all day; you taste so fucking good. Maybe I will,” he teases with a dirty smile before diving back in again for another long, single lick.

“Ohh…god…please, Fiiive…” You can barely stutter out a coherent sentence you’re aching so badly for him.

“I love hearing you beg for me. Fuck, that turns me on.” He runs his tongue over you again, one time. “Keep going, sweetheart.”

“Fuuck…Five, you’re not being fair.”

“Oh, I’m aware.” Another single lap wets your already-soaked sex as he drags his tongue over it. “But I really do like watching you squirm like this.” He licks you again. “And let’s not forget who’s in charge here. So, if I want to make you wait, I guess you’re waiting. Isn’t that right, darling?”

You tip your head back against the wall with a frustrated sigh. “Yes.”

Five resumes his torture for several more minutes, one agonizing lick at a time. He continues to hold your arms down and any time you try to push yourself into his face, he backs off. You’re dying to come, but he won’t let you, and the more he makes you wait, the more he gets off on it.

When you’re absolutely sure you’re going to die from lack of sexual satisfaction, and the water has run cold so that your skin is covered in goosebumps, he finally relents.

“I think I’ve made you wait long enough. What do you think? You want to come on my mouth or my dick?” he asks with a crooked smile.

Your chest is heaving and you try to answer the best you can in between gasping breaths. “Fuck…I don’t care…just…fuck me!” You’re practically screaming you’re so desperate.

“I think both,” he says, right before he covers your cunt with his entire mouth.

It hardly takes anything at all. As soon as he is sucking at your clit and tongue fucking your pussy, you are falling apart. This time he doesn’t stop when you’re bucking wildly against his face as your orgasm ripples throughout your body, but he does keep your arms restrained. Your cries are echoing off the shower walls and throughout the whole apartment. If the neighbors didn’t know Five’s name before, they sure as hell do now.

“Oh, fuck…oh fuck…oh my god…” you pant as you try to compose yourself just a little after your body stops shaking.

Five pulls away from you and stands up, letting go of your wrists as he gives you another direction.

“I’m not done with you yet,” he growls, before picking up one of your legs and wrapping it around his hip. He pushes his cock into you with one deep thrust. “I’d hang on if I were you.”

With that warning, he’s pounding into you hard and fast as you scramble for purchase on the slick shower floor with your one foot, grasping onto his shoulders for support. Your back is being slammed against the wall as he uses all of his strength to fuck you as hard as possible.

“I…fucking…love…you,” he tells you in between his grunts and groans.

You wrap your arms around his neck and kiss him, even as he is currently trying to destroy your body and smash it into a million pieces.

“Five, I love you,” you tell him as you’re hungrily trying to kiss him more and more.

You’re going to come again, you can feel it building inside of you, as he continues to penetrate you over and over again. He has one hand on your leg, holding you up, while the other is in your hair, alternating between pulling and stroking it.

Five is moaning as he talks to you. “Fuck, you feel amazing. I’ll never love anyone like I love you. Please, don’t ever leave. Ah fuck! Damn it, I’m going to marry you!”

It’s maybe not the best time for him to be confessing his undying love and proposing to you, but it doesn’t matter. You lock eyes with one another and you smile before you kiss him again. A few seconds later, you’re climaxing together, clutching onto one another, both of you wet, cold, and shivering. As soon as you are both finished, and he lets your leg down, Five reaches over and turns the water off. Without the sound of the shower going, it feels intimately quiet. You are still shaking from the cold and having just had two back-to-back orgasms when Five helps you step out and wraps a towel around your body. Then he pulls you in close again, holding you tight.

“I’m sorry, I know that was probably not—"

“My answer is yes, by the way. I know you didn’t actually ask me, but if you do, my answer will be yes.”

The smile that he flashes you is so full of love that it makes you want to melt into the bathroom rug at your feet. “Alright then. Will you marry me?”

“Yes, Five, I will marry you. I love you more than anything.”

Five lifts you up so that your feet are off the ground and he kisses you again. “I promise, I will give you everything you deserve.”

“I’m not even sure I deserve you, but I’m so lucky I have you. You make me happy every day.”

“Good. Because I plan on doing that for the rest of our lives.”

It is three months later and you are at home by yourself. Five has been out with his family most of the day. You know this usually pisses him off like nothing else, and he will most likely return in a foul mood. You don’t mind, though; you are used to dealing with his mood swings. The only difference today is that you can hardly wait until he gets home.

You can’t sit still and keep trying to sit down, only to pop up seconds later to do some mundane task like dusting the baseboards or scrubbing out the kitchen sink even though it was already clean. You really hope he gets home soon because you are majorly on edge and you feel like your brain is going a mile a minute, with a constant whir of thoughts and emotions running through it.

You are standing in the kitchen, wiping down the counters for the tenth time when you hear him appear inside the doorway with the familiar supernatural noise that you’ve come to associate with Five’s preferred form of transportation. And, as predicted, you can already hear him bitching and complaining to himself or anyone else that may be in the general vicinity.

When you walk out to the living room to find him, he is striding over to the liquor cabinet that resides there, taking out a crystal tumbler and filling it with a generous pour of bourbon. You watch as he slings some of it back with a grimace before looking over at you. He gives a tight smile, but you can tell he’s all wound up.

“These fucking morons! I swear, they get dumber by the day. Is it really that difficult to download the spreadsheets and charts that I have sent them all in preparation for our meeting today? And, per their request, I kept it under ten this time!”

He’s ranting in your general direction and you have to hold in your laughter so he doesn’t get even more pissed off. You perch yourself on the arm of one of the chairs.

“It’s really astounding the amount of stupidity they possess as individuals and as a group. I really don’t know why I waste my time on them.”

“Because you love them,” you offer matter-of-factly with a small smile.

Five scoffs in frustration, but he doesn’t deny it and seems to have stopped dwelling on the subject now. He takes another sip of his drink and when he lowers the glass, he manages a genuine smile.

“Sorry, this has nothing to do with you, really. I just needed to vent to someone.”

“I know. I’m used to being vented at by you.”

Five doesn’t comment on that, but he holds up his glass. “Do you want one?”

You shake your head and walk over to him. When you are standing in front of him, you can smell his usual scent of after-shave and general annoyance. You give him a kiss and you can immediately feel him start to morph into a normal, rational human again.

“How was your day, darling?” he asks after he kisses you back.

“It was good,” you say with a smile and a shrug.

“Nothing exciting happened, then?”

“Not really.” You reach up and give him another kiss. “But I did get some good news.”

“Oh yeah, what’s that?”

“Well, Daddy…I think we may need to move into a bigger apartment,” you say slyly while running a hand down his arm.

Five frowns and looks around. “Why? What’s wrong with this place?”

“You know, it’s kind of small, really only big enough for two people.”

Five is still looking at you with his eyebrows creased together and he takes another sip of his drink. “And last time I checked, we are only two people.”

You sigh but smile at him again. “Yes, we are right now. But what if there was another person here? Someone that we would love and take care of?”

“What do you mean?” Five puts his glass down and tilts his head. “Don’t tell me Klaus lost his apartment because he is not moving in here with us. I don’t care what sad story he told you. That is some history I do not need to repeat.”

“Christ,” you murmur under your breath, before trying again. “Listen very carefully, Five. Soon, it’s not going to be just the two of us. We’ll be a threesome.”

He crosses his arms over his chest and looks at you with what you like to call his ‘what the fuck’ face. “What are you talking about? Like a three-way? I don’t know, that’s pretty weird, and I’m not saying I never thought about it, of course, but…it still seems kind of awkward and where would we even meet a—”

“Jesus Fucking Crist, Five! For being a self-proclaimed genius, you are the densest person on the planet sometimes!” You run a hand down your face and try one more time, taking his hands and holding them tightly in yours. “Listen to my words. You are going to be a daddy. And not in the sexy way that you’re used to. Do you get it yet?”

He blinks down at you in confusion and you think you might need to resort to pulling up a PowerPoint presentation on the birds and bees when you see the lightbulb finally flick on. His eyes widen and his eyebrows shoot up his forehead.

“Wait what? You’re…”

You smile and nod, squeezing his hands. “Yep, I’m pregnant. And I really hope you’re as excited about it as I am.”

Five brings his hands up to his face in disbelief and he nods. “Yes, yes, of course I’m excited. This is…I don’t even know what to say.”

You stand there for a few seconds while he processes everything. Then he suddenly grabs you and picks you up, your legs wrapping around his waist. He kisses you while your arms loop over his shoulders. When he pulls away, you can see the tears welling up in his eyes.

“I can’t believe this. Are you sure?”

You nod. “Yes, I’m very sure.”

He kisses you again and you start laughing just from the pure joy of the moment. There are actual tears running down Five’s face and you wipe them away with a gentle touch of your hand.

“You’re happy?” you ask.

He nods and smiles through his tears. “I’ve never been happier in my whole life. And I promise to love you and our child for the rest of my life. I’ll take care of both of you with everything I have.”

“I know you will, Five. Because that’s who you are. You take care of the people you love, even if you pretend to be an old grouch most of the time.”

“I am an old grouch, that’s true. However, I am willing to change and try to be a little less grouchy for the sake of our kid. And you.”

“Well, don’t change too much. I still want the same old man I fell in love with.”

Five kisses you and another tear slides down his cheek. “Sweetheart, I promise I will always be the same old man that you love. And you will always be the beautiful young woman who saw right through me and stole my heart with her relentless love and annoyance.”

“And I promise to always love and annoy you.”

He rests his forehead against yours and closes his eyes with a happy sigh. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Thank you everyone for reading! If you'd like to check out my other, Five-centric fics, here is my MasterList :)

@baileebear @myinnermonologueisepic

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yourlocalbadgerscales · 2 months ago

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Oh. My. God.

Okay so, we all know Gracie Abrams is a very talented artist and she’s blowing up recently, as she should! But because of the mass coming out theory, I tend to pay attention to her lyrics more than I probably would otherwise, just like I do with Taylor Swift for obvious reasons (cough cough in gaylor…).

Close To You started playing earlier today, and I’m so intrigued!

To start off with the lyric “Under pink light in June”… June is pride month. Of course I reacted when I heard this lyric! And also… “pink light” immediately makes me think of the pink and orange lights Taylor uses to flag the lesbian colours throughout the Eras Tour! I’ve tried looking for pics with pink light from June 2024 and June 2023, but I haven’t found anything exciting so far! Anyone reading this, feel free to help me figure out what this lyric really means!

I do think it’s significant! Why? Because if you listen closely, you can hear something I can best describe as a glitch exactly when that lyric plays 👀

“We were supposed to be just friends”, anyone?

(That line is literally a summation of “Close To You” to me- like, the whole song just gives the vibes of having a massive crush on a girl best friend. Ya know?)

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I recommend listening to this! The glitch is at 00:27!

You still here? Good! I have even better stuff to say! Have some patience while I get to the best part 👀

Of course, we have the “Now your mouth is moving cinematic timing”. And we have this:

Has anybody else noticed that Gracie’s mouth has become clearer lately?

(Tumblr wouldn’t let me put another video here for some reason, so here you can find it in a separate post I made! Look at that, and then look at the video above. See the clear difference? 👀) For me it seems like Gracie is trying to say “Pay attention to what I’m saying and singing. Listen carefully and closely. We’re getting closer and closer to the big reveal. Have patience. We’re almost there.”

And here comes the best part!

We all know The Manuscript. The last song on the last album Taylor Swift has released, The Tortured Poets Department. Fucking heartbreaking to listen to when you know the meaning behind it. If you ask me, The Manuscript is basically Taylor saying goodbye to her fans and announcing that this is the end. “Now and then I re-read the manuscript, but the story isn’t mine anymore”…

I mean, c’mon, it’s the last lyric too! Of the last song… of the last album she’s released! This is a goodbye if I’ve ever seen one.

But that’s not what interests me the most about this song! Not right now, at least. Because here’s the thing. If you listen closely between the first and second verse of the song, you can hear the sound of a pen against paper… writing something.

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1:11

I’ve read theories about that symbolising Taylor signing the contract that made her lose ownership of her songs. I’m sure you know what contract I’m talking about. I, however, don’t think that’s what it means, and I don’t think that’s what the song is about. I think the sound of the writing is simply Taylor writing The Manuscript. But there’s more to it than that!

If you scroll back up to listen to the Close To You instrumental I so helpfully provided you with, and start playing it at 2:46-3:09, you might notice something… yup, that’s right.

Doesn’t it sound just like a pen writing down something on paper? 👀 Oh, I’m SO sure!

#Youtube #Spotify #kaylor #mass coming out theory #gracie abrams #the secret of us #ttpd #close to you #the manuscript #taylor swift #glitch #comingoutlor #gaylor #koincidences #us.#that’s so true #ellastag #jamstag

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marvelsmostwanted · 7 months ago

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I haven’t even watched this yet but I’m posting it here because truly, not enough people are taking this election seriously and it is giving me violent flashbacks to 2016. By all means take your time figuring out how to vote. Make sure you are fully informed. Make sure you fully understand the consequences before you decide. And once you do, I don’t think it will take very long to choose who to vote for.

If you’re already voting and feel like this doesn’t involve you, maybe consider how you can help others understand the importance of this election. Can you talk to someone in your life about it? Can you send postcards or texts? Or call voters? Volunteer or canvass? It’s tempting to sit on the sidelines and think you have no role in what happens here. That it’s simply up in the air and out of your hands. But if there’s one thing we should have learned from 2016, it’s that every single vote counts.

I’ve seen so much discourse about this election and far too much of it discounts the power you - specifically young voters - have to change things. “Voting doesn’t matter” “it didn’t change anything” Statements like these are not only meant to disenfranchise you, they are also blatantly untrue (see below - the two potential futures depending on the outcome of this election are, to understate it, substantially different). I could make a whole other post about the enormous list of things that have changed for the better because we voted in 2020 - and 2021, 2022, and 2023, by the way - but the point is, please don’t silence yourself by not voting because a random person online posted rage bait that told you it’s not cool. Instead, educate yourself about the choice and work toward the democracy you want to live in. Vote.

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#this is common sense I fear #us politics #john oliver #biden 2024 #as ever I am simply a shill for the Democratic Party #hope no one’s surprised #good morning!#mine

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bobbinfire · 2 months ago

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Wicked/Transformers One Crossover

Okay Okay Okay…

I finally got to watch Wicked (pt 1) recently. And I do see where people on a few random posts have made crossover opportunities between Wicked and Transformers One, obviously placing D-16 as Elphaba and Orion Pax as Glinda. But here me out…what if we have a very different type of casting? To best explain, let me first-

Set the stage….

(*waves hands dramatically to cue magical transition*)

We start with D-16. All things considered, his life is perfect. Really. He always does everything right, he is at the top of the charts in anything he competes in, and now to solidify that reality D-16 will be attending Shiz, the top school in all of CybertrOz. He barely steps a foot into the school and is already the most popular mech around. Nothing can ever go wrong. Well, until he is startled by Orion Pax. Pax has a… unwelcome disfigurement (I will figure out that later) that sets him apart from the others. It is because of that, and totally not his shimmering blue crystal optics, D-16 finds he can’t stop looking at him. Luckily for D-16, Orion states he is not attending and is only here for his brother, so he won’t have to worry about ever seeing him again. Later, D-16 tries to approach Alpha Trion, the top professor and head of the sorcery department (conveniently what D-16 is studying). He ignores D-16 inquiries about potentially hosting a class for it this semester, even after bringing back up his paper on t-cogs and their transformative purposes for sorcery. But he is D-16, so he will just have to work hard like always and he will get into that class in no time. Then out of nowhere he notices a well meaning professor over-handling a handicapped bot named B-127 (either he can’t walk or can’t talk haven’t decided). Objects in the room fly because Orion Pax, who as it turns out is the older brother, freaks out. Alpha Trion calms the students down by claiming it was a stunt he performed on his own, but D-16 knows it was that increasingly more mysterious Pax. He tries to approach Alpha Trion about it, only to somehow accidentally volunteer to room with Pax?! For the first time in his life he is not listened to and he doesn't get his way. And it’s all Orion Pax’s fault. Oh and to top it off he is so talented with magic he’s now getting PRIVATE lessons from Alpha Trion. But D-16 will rise above it. He is D-16, so everything will be perfect in the end. Within the first few moments of rooming together though, both of them express their deepest undying feelings for each other: loathing. The two proceed to spend the next few weeks purposely getting on each other's nerves as much as possible. The rest of the student body seems to back D-16 up too. Why wouldn’t they? They are obviously his friends. Orion Pax is unbothered by it, and while he makes it clear how much he hates him, there is the smallest twinkle in his optics each time he pulls a stunt. And D-16 hates to admit it, but he gets the smallest joy from their squabble as well. Only the absolute minimum joy, of course. One day after a class with Professor Ravage (not D-16’s favorite professor, I mean really how hard is it to pronounce his name? It is a D and then 16. Not hard at all) D-16 begins to see Orion Pax in a new light after someone rudely vandalizes Professor Ravage’s board saying “beastformers should be seen and not heard”. Pax stays behind after class is dismissed and helps clean up. While it is not D-16’s job to help, he does feel a stab at his spark from the sadness of the situation.

Oh well time to focus on other things because a royal is coming to attend classes at shiz! Princess Elita-One, a strong willed and goal oriented dreamer. While she can be a little intense and can list off all the codes of conduct at the drop of a hat, she knows how to really enjoy the moment (especially when it revolves around her). She is perfect, D-16 is perfect, so why not make the perfect situationship out of a perfectly timed impromptu dance party. As D-16 gets ready, his friends find an ugly old mask from his relatives that is meant for regal government parties but more looks like a battle mask that has gone through war. They claim it’s so ugly that there is only one bot who could wear it, and that is how D-16 finds himself giving it to Orion Pax claiming it will go with what he wears. He feels guilty about it but tries to dance away his feelings as the party begins. During the time of his life dancing with Elita-One, Alpha Trion approaches his saying he has been accepted into his class and hands over his training T-cog. A t-cog! An object that allows your body to transform and perform great visual and magical feats. Only the top ranking officials and the Prime himself have them. As D-16 tries it on and watches his future change before him both metaphorically and physically, he asks why now? Alpha Trion says he is doing it against his better judgment, but only because Orion Pax said he would quit otherwise. D-16 is about to ask why he would do that, only to realize not only did Orion see the mask as a kind gesture, but you ended up setting up B-127 with another bot for the dance tonight. Just then Orion Pax walks in, looking very unique with his worn mask covering his mouth. Realizing all too late that it was a prank, he begins this weird dance that has everyone staring. Elita points out how well he is reacting and that it’s almost like he doesn’t care. But D-16 knows that underneath that mask is all the hidden sadness that can be seen growing in Orion’s eyes. D-16 suddenly joins the dance, trying to make amends by damaging his own reputation. Instead the dance catches on and both rise in popularity.

D-16 and Orion are now the best of friends and decide to have each other's backs no matter what. Orion ends up sharing a secret with D-16 about how he feels responsible for B-127 disability, all because their father didn’t want Bee to be born looking like Orion. D-16 reassures him and decides to help Orion by making him more popular. All you have to do is be as cool looking and awesome as Megatronus Prime. Orion is put off at first, but nonetheless their friendship grows. And it feels nice, the word “friends” rolling off of D-16’s glossa. He is popular so he has a ton of friends but…this one…feels genuine. Perhaps more. An odd thing he notices though is Elita-One and Orion Pax acting odd around each other after a particularly sad day of class. Professor Ravage was removed from class and the new professor decided to bring in a baby Dinobot in a cage. He didn’t remember falling asleep, but when D-16 came to Orion, Elita, and the baby Dinobot were gone. The two came back later and that is when they started acting weird.

It isn’t long before D-16 focuses on other things because Orion is going to visit the Prime in the Golden City! The entire class is there to wave goodbye, including Elita who shares another awkward moment with Pax. Clearly it is in regards to professor Ravage’s dismissal, so D tries to make a connection with them by changing his name, since Ravage couldn’t pronounce D-16 right, to Megatron (named after Megatronus Prime himself). His peers cheer his selfless act, but D-16 doesn’t feel better by it, and Elita and Orion seem still in their own little moment. That moment soon ends and Orion is off on the train to the Golden City. Then suddenly he is calling for D- Megatron to join him. Megatron is unsure whether he leapt or was dragged on by Orion but soon they are off to meet the Prime.

Once there Megatron and Orion travel and see the sights. They party, tour, and Orion gets a special Megatronus sticker for Megatron. They even get a little convenient lore drop that explains how there once were great Primes that ruled over CybertrOz, then they passed away leaving the secrets of the all powerful Matrix to be left alone. Nobody was worthy to control it, until the day the Prime appeared. The two mull over that as they make their way to the Prime. The Prime himself is quite the show off. Sentinel Prime talks about his plans for the future of CybertrOz and that one day Orion will be a part of it, he just has to prove his worth. The next few moments flash by in a blur. Alpha Trion appears and leads the way to where they store the Matrix. The Matrix responds to Orion’s presence. But…something goes wrong. An unplanned outcome of a spell, a plan to use spies to capture the remaining talking beastformers, Orion running, Megatron running after Orion, guards chasing them. More chaos, more ruin, and then…and then, they are alone. Megatron scolds Orion for not filling the rules. What is happening to beastformers, while it does hurt Megatron’s spark, doesn’t affect them and therefore he can move past it. But Orion can’t and Megatron can see that. Orion brings an old jet pack back to life and gives Megatron the offer to leave with him. Megatron wants to…but he can’t. He can’t throw everything he’s worked for just for Orion. He notices Orion trembling so he searches for something to provide warmth. They’re in this old dusty tower though so there isn’t even a tarp to throw on the poor bot’s back. The only thing of warmth and worth is Megatron’s temporary t-cog. So he gives it to Orion, assuring him of his choice and wishing him well. Just then the guards break in and grab Megatron. Orion shouts to focus their attention on him before leaping out a window and falling towards an opening that leads to the depths of CybertrOz’s core. Right as he passes the barrier his jetpack launches him to the sky and he outflies several of the guards. He declares that nobody will bring him down before flying towards the vastness of the unknown surface singing like an Idina Menzel wannabe, everyone declaring he is wicked.

And that is only Act 1.

Hope you enjoyed my rambles. Originally I was gonna do a simple explanation and then I got too into it. I apologize for the horrid grammar.

(I have yet to see anything in regards to Act 2 and I would like to see Wicked Pt 2 as spoiler free as possible)

#funny #writing #dumb writing from work #wicked #wicked the movie #wicked 2024 #wicked musical #transformers one #tf one #elphaba thropp #glinda upland #orion pax #d 16 #I spent way to long on this stupid story seed #What would you even name this crossover?#Transicked? Wicked One? Till all are wicked?#transformers #maccadams

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illmoraineakoi · 1 month ago

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An Attempt to Predict AvA11, Using All The Sneak Peaks We’ve Been Given

So, given the fact that it’s the final 24 hours to the Episode drop, I really wanted to go deep into what I think might happen in the upcoming episode, as well as some potential theories.

To do this, I’ve gone back to the Newsletters first, to refresh myself on their contents.

Warning! VERY long post!

For those who don’t know, around the start of every month, Alan and his team send out email newsletters to those who register on his shop site. Within these newsletters have been Sneak Peaks, a lot of neat Behind-the Scenes stuff, and just generally really interesting information about the production of the episodes. I highly recommend signing up for them, they’re actually really cool!

But the most important part of them, for AvA11, has been the 3 Sneak Peaks sent out with the October, November, and December newsletters. Here they are:

October’s is the one I find the most interesting, and it’s strangely, the one I haven’t seen discussed nearly as much as the others.

October’s Sneak Peak is clearly showing one of two things: a new black stick figure, or (much more likely) victim in a reanimated/flashback scene from AvA1. The reason why it’s more likely to be Victim in a redone/flashback scene is because Victim was recolored gray to avoid confusion between him and TCO. Why would Alan then go an add a brand new black stick figure? [omg that sounds so accidentally racist I’m so sorry.]

Additionally, the focus of AvA11 will most likely be on Victim. The close-out of AvA10, of the Cursor burning, is the perfect leave off for a delve into the past. To show WHY Victim is burning the photo, why he hates the Animator so much, why he wants to find him. It’s a logical narrative flow.

Plus, the Episode is literally titled “Victim”.

And Victim’s backstory is going to be important. It’s going to be by far the most important backstory in AvA, ever. Purple’s, King’s, hell even Dark’s if he comes back, won’t ever even come close to Victim’s.

Because Victim was the first. He STARTED AvA, the series, which makes him so goddamn important to both the story but also to Alan himself. Alan brought back Victim for a reason, and I believe that he wants to give Victim the character arc and attention he deserves. For such an essential stick figure to the AvA series and to Alan’s own life, he’s been neglected for too long.

So I think a lot of time and effort has been put into AvA Season 3’s story, and Victim in particular. You can only ever bring Victim back into the story once, after all.

(Unless they kill him and go ‘sike!’ again, but, y’know, it just won’t hold as much weight. And people would probably be expecting it, like they’re still expecting Dark to pop out of his grave.)

Which brings me to my first theory, or more like my first hope: The Animator as a character is going to be important, and his past actions are going to matter.

It’s rather strange, but the Animator as a character has largely been pushed to the side for a long time now. He’s sort of just become the occasional cameo character or relegated to JUST being the Cursor.

But The Animator is very important to the entire AvA narrative, and his absence as a character is starting to feel strained.

His story is undeniably linked with Victim’s; I thoroughly believe that Victim’s arc cannot exist without him. And not just as the object of Victim’s ire and goals, not, I think there NEEDS to be an interaction, an altercation, between them. Victim’s current character is far too entangled with the Animator for anything else to be satisfying.

As well, The Animator hasn’t really ever truly taken accountability for his past actions. The most we’ve gotten is the nod between him and TCO, and the assistance he gave to TCO during the fight with Dark. That is it.

That’s not good enough. Not for Victim.

That’s not an admission of guilt or remorse. That’s not an apology.

And there is a LOT the Animator should be apologizing for. Or at least held responsible for. Nearly killing Victim. Imprisoning TCO. Trying to kill TCO, via Dark.

The Animator’s past actions are terrible to look at from the current standpoint of the series, no matter the intended viewing perceptive they were originally made for. And I thoroughly believe that Canon should address this. It’s important, both for putting the past behind all of the characters, but also to fully solidify just how the Animator has changed.

His spur-of-the-moment decision to make a deal with Orange instead of potentially deleting him no longer holds up his character as well as it used to. It is woefully weak, now. He needs more. He needs to be shown doing more.

Especially since Victim’s story is pretty much guaranteed to take a massive sledgehammer to the audience's opinion of the Animator. We the audience have almost always been on the Stick Figure’s sides, during those early episodes. The Animator was originally the antagonist. And Victim’s backstory might remind us of that and shake our faith in him.

This, too, is also a topic Alan has one shot to nail. The Animator’s potential true redemption/making amends is such a critical thing for the narrative. There’s a reason why the fandom has dabbled with the idea of the Animator being forced to deal with the consequences of his past for years now. It’s because it could make or break The Animator as a character. It’s probably one of the most important things Alan could ever touch upon in canon.

The Animator needs to show how much he’s changed, and he needs to show it to Victim specifically.

He needs to make right his original mistakes.

Enough about the Animator, lets get back to the Sneak Peak.

I believe this sneak peak is probably depicting this scene from a slightly different perspective:

Which is why I think that parts of AvA1 (or potentially another one of the Animator’s early animations that weren’t posted online, but since I believe it’s Victim specifically, I believe it’s AvA1) have been reanimated in a different perspective.

Victim’s perspective, to be specific. Showing it from his side, not the Animator’s like the original technically is.

Of note, Victim and the Cursor are the only two things shown in this Sneak Peak. I think that’s probably significant, for a variety of reasons, most of which I’ve already gone over above.

[As a side note, I think it’ll be so cool seeing the original style of AvA1 being ‘mimicked’ in the current AvA. I am a sucker for that kind of a call back.]

I’ve recently talked about this in another post, but I’d like to restate it here: Victim was probably fine when the Animator closed Flash, because his .EXE had been automatically saved in Flash’s directories upon his very creation. His .EXE is a separate application process that is not dependant on Flash to run.

This means there is nothing to suggest that Victim’s fight with the Animator ended when AvA1 did. It’s entirely possible that Victim continued the fight on the desktop after Flash closed, potentially till he found an alternative method of escape or the Animator had done something to ‘get rid’ of him.

Next up, November, and the one that made pretty much everyone loose their minds.

November’s newsletter was interesting, because it wasn’t just the Sneak Peak image included that got people hyped and speculating, it was something they added towards the end pf the letter:

1 Truth, 2 Lies Want to know what will happen in the next AVA? Well, I’ll tell you! The only trick is that I like lying >:) Only 1 of the following sentences is actually in the next AVA. It’s up to you guys to find out which one is the truth! 1- We learn about Purple’s origin 2- We see the Mercenaries interact for the first time 3- Victim builds a chicken coop

Most people already reading this are probably well aware of this 2 Lies and 1 Truth ‘game’, as well as the fact that the option “Victim builds a chicken coop” became the most popular one. There were a wide variety of posts going around in November about people’s thoughts on these options, debating which one was most likely the true option.

The general consensus I saw was that the Victim one was most likely, given the general belief AvA11 will focus on Victim and his backstory, but also because of the Sneak Peak image included: they seemed to match to hint at something – mainly that Victim might’ve spent some time on a farm or at least near one.

[Another popular counterpoint to this theory I saw was that this Sneak Peak image could just be a random background or transition shot from the episode with little greater significance that was included in the newsletter to obfuscate the truth. This is something I don’t actually put past Alan doing, especially since it seems he wrote the 2 Lies 1 Truth thing himself. Just something to keep in mind, I think.]

There are two possible places this image could be depicting: The Outernet (which has shown rural farmland-y areas in both the start of “Wanted” and around the area where King lives, so there’s precedence.) or, an option tying into the December Sneak Peak, an animation on Newgrounds.

Both are possible, as we’ve already seen different styled sticks with the Mercenaries, so the sticks in the background not being the ‘usual’ looking ones on the Outernet isn’t a deal-breaker.

I personally think that Farmer Vic will be likely, from both the Sneak Peak and the game option, but also because of Victim’s clear skill with the lasso in “The Box”. I think this might have been some really clever foreshadowing that was also a callback to AvA1. Victim was quite good with the lasso to begin with, but he’s much better in “The Box” (lassoing Chosen while he’s trying to fly away is, admittedly, impressive.) so I think he could have honed those skills on a farm during his absence from the limelight. I’m hoping, anyway, it’d be so cool if there was a scene where he’s being taught how to use a lasso more effectively.

The most popular theory I’ve seen (and may have have accidentally contributed to) is the idea that Victim lived on a farm after somehow escaping the PC until TCO and TDL destroy his life in their terrorist rampages.

I’m gonna be honest: I don’t want this to be the case.

I think it’s a bit too much of a cop-out, to pin the blame for Victim’s villain trigger on TCO and TDL. It’s too easy and lazy. And it would also muddy the viewer's perception of TCO, in particular, which kinda doesn’t fit with the vibe season 3 has been going for for TCO. TCO has thus far been painted quiet sympathetically in season 3, very much a victim of Victim. Furthermore, adding a negative backstory point with TCO and TDL would distract away from Victim’s main complicit with the Animator. Having Victim be laser-focused on hating and wanting revenge on his Creator is a good character motivation. Suddenly adding two extra characters that he might hate and have a grudge against? It makes it feel sloppy.

(The only way I could kinda see it working is if Victim doesn’t realize it was Chosen and TCO. Even then, I doubt Victim wouldn’t eventually figure it out.)

There is also too much of a parallel, between Victim and TCO and Victim and the Animator with this idea. TCO and the Animator’s positions would be far too similar: person who did terrible things in the past having those actions come back to bite him in the ass.

(There’s also the debate on weather or not TCO’s shitty actions need to be delved into more or him being held responsible for them. This comes down to what potential things TCO has done that we’ve not seen yet; we haven’t seen TCO actually hurting any stick figures, unlike Dark. As it stands, his past actions currently don’t look “that bad” in comparison. And even if he should be held responsible...does it need to happen in Victim’s arc???)

I, personally, don’t like this theory. It feels like we’ve just defaulted to TCO and TDL causing bad evil shit because they’re literally the only ‘bad’ characters we’ve had in AvA thus far.

This being said, the theory does make sense, especially with Victim’s previous behavior towards TCO in “The Box”.

Victim is a very vengeful stick. He holds grudges. He’s terrifyingly dedicated to hunting down those who’ve hurt him.

I originally though that Victim didn’t seem to care about who TCO is in “The Box”, he just careed that TCO is more powerful than him and has information about the Animator. But upon reconsideration, Victim’s behavior in the Box feels VERY vengeful. It feels like Victim is only beating the crap out of TCO to make a point. To prove he can, to make himself feel superior and powerful, to prove he’s better. It’s to force TCO to submit. To hurt him, for no other reason.

Victim could have used the Memory Scanner at any point. He could have started with it.

He chose not to. He WANTED that fight. He STARTED the fight, and forced TCO to participate, and then pushed him until TCO was desperate enough to start fighting to kill.

This was a very calculated effort to back TCO into a corner he couldn’t get out of. To make TCO the victim.

It feels like Victim has something out for TCO, a personal vendetta. It’s so aggressive.

(On the flip side, Victim gives literally zero attention to Dark getting murdered in the memory, which, if he had a vendetta against him too, you’d think there’d be a reaction? Instead, Victim only seems pissed at Orange because Victim himself is the only Alan-created stick to not have powers. Perhaps that discovery overpowered his reaction to Dark?)

It begs the question why Victim seems to hate TCO so much.

Not much more to say about this Sneak Peak (for now) so onto December.

This is the one that stumped me, because I personally didn’t recognize this at all. However, this is Newgrounds.

This really bumped the ‘Victim was somehow involved/affected by TCO and TDL’s attack on Newgrounds’ theory in popularity. That’s the only time we’ve seen Newgrounds in canon thus far.

But Newgrounds has likely been important to the Animator in the same way it was for Alan irl. After all, the Animator’s username “Noogai” comes directly from Alan’s own Newgrounds account (which is still there btw. Inactive, but still there.)

And Newgrounds is probably also significant, because AvA1 was posted there. Not only that, but that was the FIRST place it was posted online.

I think there might be a connection to the Animator being active on Newgrounds at this point in the timeline, rather than a nod towards TCO and TDL’s attack. I think it might be possible that Newgrounds could be how Victim gets off the computer.

It’s at this point that I feel like the question of how stick figure life works becomes a little important. TCO and TDL’s attack on StickPage show stick figures fleeing their respective games and animations. This implies that they can leave, and that their original ‘home’ games and animations are their own little digital pocket dimensions. This is even the case with RGBY and their home website; their home is shown to be much bigger with rooms the user of a computer would never see from their perspective. It’s also clearly a safe place for them to store items, because in Green’s tour video, we see a bunch of their stuff there.

So each stick figure game and animation is kind of like it’s own little world. Or, potentially, all digital things are, not just stick figure stuff.

As shown numerous times with RGBY, external stick figures can also enter these little worlds.

Which implies that every single thing on the Sneak Peak image is it’s own space that could be entered from the outside.

Of the things show in the Sneak Peak, two have been identified as not actually existing on Newgrounds, (Apparently. I don’t have the energy to verify this.) “Shepard” and “Mitsi”.

Well, it seems we have one more thing to add to the ‘farming’ theme.

I think this makes it much more likely that November’s Sneak Peak is depicting an animation world, rather than a place on the Outernet, specifically “Shepard”’s world, though “Mitsi”’s isn’t out of the question. There must be a story reason these two things were added to the list.

And Mitsi, at least, is going to be significant, because of this:

The new plushie set, the mystery one of which clearly being Mitsi. There is no reason why she’d get a plush alongside two of the most popular characters of the series if she wasn’t inordinately important. I think she’ll probably have a connection to Victim, again because the episode is probably going to be a Victim-centric, but also because I think there’s a secret theme to this plushie drop: best friends. Dark and Chosen were friends before Dark fucked that up, so it’s possible Mitsi’s will be Victim’s.

[As an aside, for those of you worried about (or even expecting) her to be a love interest: I’m very skeptical because Alan has explicitly stated he doesn’t want to include that in the series. It’s in his 7 million subs Q&A livestream, which is still on his channel under the livestreams tab. It’s 5 years old at this point, so it’s not impossible that he could have changed his mind, but I really don’t think he has. Whatever relationship or interaction between the two will probably be platonic.]

Finally, the last Sneak Peak image: the community announcement on Alan’s channel:

This one is really interesting, but it’s also a little confusing, because it shakes up everything else.

The other Sneak Peak images have seemed like they’ve been hinting towards Victim’s past, but this one is clearly happening in the current present of Season 3, because Victim’s in his facility. This might suggest that this episode might be like “The King”, and split between Victim’s backstory and continuing the events of Season 3.

The most interesting part of this image is the green sparkles, which are almost the exact same color as Orange’s power sparkles. The scene also looks VERY similar to when RGBY were revived in “Showdown”.

But we’ve not seen this scene before, so how is Orange connected to it? Is he even connected? Are those his powers, or someone else’s?

I wonder if it’s possible that, when Orange did whatever he did to revive his friends, he might’ve revived OTHER sticks on accident too. He wasn’t exactly in his right mind or in control of himself, really, so perhaps his riving had been more widespread than he might’ve intended.

(or perhaps it was limited to the sticks TDL might’ve killed…)

[Side note: Dark’s not getting brought back tomorrow. It’s just not happening, guys. Probably not until Season 4, if at all. We’ve already got so much other stuff going on right now to be bringing in Dark’s resurrection too.]

I’m personally very confused about the blue and pink floor. Is that some sort of device? Or just a fancy floor? A portal of some sort? Is there a connection between it and Orange’s powers?

Are they somehow testing Orange’s powers? Or manipulating them for their own use?

I thought the arm in the scene might’ve been Victim’s, implying it was Victim’s own memory, but I’m not sure anymore. It’s possible it could be TCO’s, since they could have gone searching through his memories even more, but I don’t think that’s the case. I think TCO’s served his ‘use’ already, and Victim’s turned his attention towards Yellow. It could also be a random stick who’s memory they have.

(A particularly crack-y theory I have is that that isn’t Orange’s powers, but Mitsi’s. This could be Victim’s memories of Mitsi using her powers. The only real reason why I think this is that the floor looks like a dance floor and Mitsi’s animation description is a dance test.)

This image is just so mysterious, it’s hard to try to find a place to put it or try to figure out what it’s supposed to be showing.

And those are all the Sneak Peaks!

Currently, there are several important holes that AvA11 would need to patch up in Victim’s backstory: how he survived, how he got off the Computer and into the Outernet, what happened to trigger his villain arc.

(And also personally where the hell did the rocket logo come from; I need that answered too.)

(The last of those I feel is probably the most important, though they’re all very important to Victim. But giving reasons for why the antagonist characters are doing what they’re doing is a lesson that Alan and his team learned from Dark. Dark did not have a definitively stated reason or motive for his actions, and it left his character feeling incomplete and confusing to the viewer. Come King Orange, they’ve learned to put more attention and focus on this aspect, and they did so amazingly with him. The same will likely be done with Victim, as it should, because it’s very important to him in particular. )

At this point, I think I’ve got a fairly decent way of putting these pieces together, so allow me to propose my AvA11 theory:

We might see the events of AvA1 again, from Victim's perspective. Hence, October’s Sneak Peak image.

The fight might continue past when Flash is closed, on the desktop.

Something might potentially happen that causes Victim to feel the need to flee, to escape, instead of trying to continue the fight against the Cursor (as Victim doesn't seem the type to give up that fight unless he absolutely HAD to, to potentially save his own life. He never faltered or showed any signs of fear or inclination to stop at all in AvA1. He was laser-focused on beating the Cursor. There has to be an external reason to force him to stop.)

Victim might escape onto Newgrounds, which the Animator might have had open in a web browser because he’s a frequent user of the site, fleeing from the computer onto the internet. On Newgrounds, he (maybe accidentally?) tumbles into one of the animations, probably "Shepard", where he's found by the denizens of that animation. Perhaps he chooses to stay, to hide from the Animator, or maybe he doesn't know how to leave.

Hence, November's.

I think he chooses to stay. And I think, if he can leave that animation, he might hop between the animations on Newgrounds too. Perhaps making friends with other animated beings. Including Mitsi, who probably becomes his best friend.

Alternatively, he might fall into Mitsi's animation first, and be found by her. He might also potentially be taken care of by her, allowing for the possibility that she's a more maternal figure to him in this version.

(Though Mitsi gives off pretty young vibes so I think the best friend angle would be more plausible.)

There will probably be scenes of Victim’s life, which is probably where we’ll see him build the chicken coop, as well as build his friendship with Mitsi. Establishing and building her character, y’know.

And then, Chosen and Dark's attack on Newgrounds.

If Victim stays on Newgrounds long enough, it's inevitable that he'd be caught up in the attack, and Bad Shit is gonna happen to him. Namely, Mitsi's probably dying. Because we gotta have a death to make his backstory Tragic. She'll probably die in a way where he'll witness it, or even in his arms, in a way he's helpless to prevent.

(This is the part I'm hoping I'm wrong about the most, because honestly it'll just feel bland and generic, especially after King's story. I want the episode to make me FEEL something for Mitsi, and this ain't gonna be it because it feels too obvious that she's gonna die.)

Minirant aside: Victim becomes displaced from Newgrounds by the portals/tunnels TCO and TDL use to access websites, either by accidentally tumbling into one, getting thrown into one, or deliberately following after TCO and TDL as they leave.

This brings him to the Outernet, where his new loss and grief turns to boiling anger, and his quest for vengeance finally starts in earnest.

But, we have a problem: what makes Victim angry at Alan?

Why, after so long on his own, would Victim turn his aggression on him? It doesn't make sense for Victim to pursue vengeance just based on the events of AvA1, not after so much time, and certainly not after TCO and TDL fucked his life over.

The idea that Victim gets angry at Alan for Chosen and Dark’s reign of destruction doesn't make sense either.

Again, he’s vengeful. He’d target THEM, not Alan. But he didn’t, not until “Wanted”, which is YEARS after the attack on Newgrounds. Even if we be conservative and say the Newgrounds attack happened a year before “Showdown”, it’s still been six years in between then and “Wanted”.

But the two of them didn't seem to matter that much to him. Not like Alan.

So why? Why is Victim targeting Alan?

Alan must have done something else to piss Victim off. Something that Victim KNOWS is Alan's fault, specifically, that’s pushed Victim over the edge and motivated him to come after him.

But if the Animator hasn’t had any contact with Victim since Victim escaped, what could he have possibly done?

It just doesn’t make sense.

[As a side note, I did have a theory that perhaps the Animator might do something to Mitsi that might enraged Victim, but again, the lack of contact after Victim escaped. The theory was that Mitsi would convince Victim to give the Animator a second chance, to return to try to make peace, and things go terribly bc it's before Alan's change. A tragic idea, but one that doesn't make any sense.]

This is where my ability to try to put the tiny pieces we've been given together breaks down.

As for what happens to continue the present day events, I think Victim’s attention might have turned towards Orange’s powers, though in what way I’m not sure. Orange’s powers seem to be hinted to be an important thing, by that last community sneak peak image.

Victim hadn’t seen Chosen’s memory of RGBY being revived for him to know that's one of Orange's abilities, but maybe they discover that another way, perhaps through another stick’s memory. Maybe it’s enough for Victim to make the connection between the two, and realize that Orange could revive sticks.

Maybe that’s why he seems interested in Orange’s powers; maybe he thinks Orange could revive Mitsi...

There might also be Yellow being forced to summon the Cursor. Which hopefully won’t include any torture [Yellow’s getting tortured enough in the AvG thumbnails.]

There’s also a question that’s been left unanswered at the end of “The Box”: Were Red, Green, and Blue captured too?

The workers look to be walking away from them. If not, what could they potentially do? Their efforts at infiltration have already been thwarted once. If so, how would they fit into things?

I honestly have no idea. And I’m running out of steam, so I’ll just end this here.

We’ll see what happens tomorrow. Regardless of what’s revealed, it’s guaranteed to be amazing.

See you all at the premiere!

#Animator vs Animation #AvA #Alan Becker #AvA 11 Predictions #AvA 11 Theories #ava11 #Illmoraine Theorizes #AvA Victim #AvA Mitsi #Long post #no seriously it's reaaaalllllly long #This took days for me to write out so sorry if it sounds disjointed in some places

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