#he becomes way more likeable after the fact

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

Funniest thing ever is that Hobie has NO IDEA how cocky and arrogant he comes off as.

Like the first time we meet Spider-punk he comes off as so obnoxious and condescending and oblivious 😭😭

He's making fun of Miles' suit and giving him pointers and cracking jokes and shit and we're watching this like

'who the hell do this man think he is frfr'

Cause we write Hobie all friendly and warm and stuff meanwhile most people's ACTUAL first reaction to Hobie and his introduction is confusion and distain 😭😭

Couldn't understand a word he was saying and he was still pissing me off 😭

Meanwhile Hobie probably thinks he's the most inviting and friendly looking person on planet Earth.

He probably thinks him and Miles hit it off right away. NO ONE has told Hobie how he comes off so he just.. doesn't know.

Imagine Miles breaking it to him like

Miles: You know Hobie, the first time we met, I couldn't stand you! Then you helped me out and I was like 'huh, this guy isn't so bad'-

Hobie: You what, mate? Why??

Miles: What do you mean 'why'? You have the biggest ego ever!

Hobie: ...What

Gwen: Yeah, Hobie. You do come off a bit.. gosh, how do I say this?

Pavitr: Conceited? Cocky? Really really arrogant?

Gwen: No, I-

Miles: Egotistical? Pretentious? Big-headed? Kinda annoying?

Gwen: PATRONIZING! That's the word I was thinking of.

Pavitr and Miles: Oh!! Yeah, that one too.

Hobie: Please tell me you're taking the piss. You're joking. Please tell me you're joking right now.

Gwen: You bringing up the time you were briefly a model?

Pavitr: Poking fun at people's fashion taste 30 seconds after meeting them?

Miles: Giving unsolicited (but eventually useful) advice no one asked for?

Gwen, Pavitr, and Miles in unison: 'I was this cool the whole time'?

Hobie: For fucks sake.

[kesujo]

Chapter 14: Miss Not-So-Innocent - Part 1

Previous chapter here. 8.4k words

“Hey, by the way, how’s it going with Tiffany?”

“Hm?”

Jessica showed up an hour or so after Parker had finished dinner. Seeing that she arrived in her pajamas, Parker was about to turn her away when she said she just wanted to hang out and was feeling a little lonely. He knew Hunter had to leave the state for an emergency for one of the hotels he was responsible for—a safety threat of some kind—leaving Jessica by herself for a few days now, so he shrugged and let her in. Fortunately, Jessica stayed true to her word, joining him in watching a volleyball match in the living room and doing nothing more.

In fact, with how much Parker’s been interacting with Jessica recently due to work, casual conversations in the office in which the subject of sex didn’t come up even in subtle, teasing jest were becoming more and more frequent. It was nice, even if Jessica had called him into her office the other day to coat his penis with some weird stuff while she kept it erect for a few minutes and refused to elaborate further afterwards. Otherwise, however, their conversations were … exceedingly normal. It’s only been a week, but having normal interactions with Jessica was a nice breath of fresh air. When she wasn’t dragging him to film pornos or dragging him into her office to be railed with her tits hanging out the windows, Jessica was a very charming, very likeable person. So, Parker’s guard slowly but surely dropped, to the point that he had pretty much forgotten that Jessica was sitting next to him on the couch until she posed the question.

“Pretty…” Parker racked his brain for any possible way he might’ve wronged Tiffany that would thus elicit the question from Jessica. Was it that kiss? But she didn’t seem to mind that much … was there anything else? Did he find some other way to mess up? “…good?”

Seeing Parker’s hesitation, Jessica laughed. “Relax, I’ve heard from Tiffany but want to hear from you too.”

Hearing that, Parker let out a sigh. “Yeah. Pretty good. I took her mini-golfing and then had seafood for dinner. It was a ton of fun, at least for me, but…”

“Hm?”

With how socially aware Jessica was, Parker was really hoping he wouldn’t have to spell it out for her. “Well … you know, how—what’d you hear about it from her?”

When Jessica stayed silent for a few seconds, Parker’s heart plummeted. Was it that bad?

“Do you want to know how Tiffany reacted to watching that porno we shot?”

Parker didn’t know what he thought Jessica said at first. He had to do a triple-take to fully understand it, and when he did, “Ti—” actually, was he hearing correctly? “—Tiffany?!”

“Hm?”

“You showed that to her?!”

Jessica met Parker’s bewilderment with a nonchalant smile. “Yeah. Don’t worry though, she loved it. You should’ve seen how red her face was.” In the back of Parker’s mind, he had to admit that the sight would’ve been really endearing. “But, I mean, it’s not like she doesn’t know we fuck on a regular basis.”

Parker groaned. Was that a good sign? What did Jessica’s answer even mean? “But … ah, but that’s … and she knows it was us?”

“Mhm.”

Parker’s mind was beginning to short circuit. The fact that Jessica was so jovial about this was a good thing, right? “And she knew it was us when she asked to see it?”

“Mmhm.”

“And … she really watched it, all the way through?”

“Yep.”

“And she … she liked it?”

Jessica laughed. “Yeah! Why are you asking me so many questions?”

“I mean … are you sure it was ok to show Tiffany something like that?”

“Well yeah, considering she was the one who insisted on watching it.”

Parker’s jaw dropped. “She—” if it wasn’t Jessica who was telling him this, he never in a million years would’ve believed it. Heck, even though it was Jessica, Parker was still unsure if he believed that. “—she wanted to watch it?”

“Yep. I know, I was surprised too.”

The adorable, wide-eyed Tiffany, who could barely say the words ‘sex’ or ‘fuck’ without turning beet red, who was hesitant to even ask for a goodbye kiss after their last date … that Tiffany asked to see a porno her best friend and said date featured in?

“I can see that you don’t believe me.”

“I mean, you can understand why, though.”

“Yeah. I teased Tiff about it for days.” There was laughter in Jessica’s voice, and a little bit within Parker himself, he couldn’t help but feel bad for her. “You know, you two are so darn cute together!” Unable to contain the excited schoolgirl inside her any longer, she let out a squeal so loud that Parker jumped. “I knew you’d be perfect for each other! You should’ve heard her squealing to me about how perfect you are after every single one of your dates!”

Hearing that put Parker a bit more at ease. “Well, glad to hear it. Just, go easy on her, alright?”

“Aw, worried about your girl?”

“She’s not—” Parker stopped, realizing Jessica wasn’t going to listen no matter how firmly he denied it.

“I mean, she pretty much is, right?”

“What?”

Jessica’s grin grew wider. “Come on, you don’t think Tiff didn’t fill me in on all the deets about your dates? How you got a discount at that restaurant for being a ‘really cute couple’, how you kissed her goodnight in front of her parents after that one date, and how that turned into an impromptu first meeting with them, and how they ended up adoring you?” Parker groaned. He could feel the tips of his ears turning redder by the second: he just wanted to smash his head into the couch’s armrest, but the rally going on in the volleyball match was too intense to turn his eyes away from.

“Jess—”

“Oh, and of course, on your most recent date, where you gave her a pad when she forgot to put extras in her purse?!” Parker was now convinced: the reason why Jessica was so giddy about Tiffany getting together with him was so that she could tease both of them relentlessly. Never mind what he thought before, about Jessica being incredibly likeable: she was the Devil herself. “I’ve heard from Tiff’s parents about male friends of hers they disapprove of. But to think you managed to charm them after kissing their daughter goodnight?! That’s almost unheard of! No, scratch that, that is absolutely unheard of!”

“Can you please stop?”

Jessica let out a giggle. “You and Tiff both, the way your voices get so quiet and your ears turn so red, are just too adorable.”

After a brief pause, Parker spoke back up. “So, you know how I only asked you twenty-two questions about Tiffany?” Jessica nodded. “I’m going to use one of them now.” Sensing the seriousness in his voice, the smile faded from her face. “Are you one-hundred-percent sure Tiffany is willing to have an open relationship?” This was the one hangup that was preventing Parker from asking Tiffany to be his girlfriend. Going out with Tiffany while fucking her best friend just felt wrong. Spending time with Tiffany, talking to her, just being around her made Parker feel like he was on cloud nine, but that thought lingering in the back of his mind prevented him from fully enjoying it. He wouldn’t put it past Tiffany to simply be too nice to acquiesce with an open relationship when she, in reality, wasn’t. Or maybe she even gaslit herself into believing that she was. “I mean, maybe you’re not the right person to ask, but…”

“Yeah … I know, right? A sweet, innocent, traditionalist girl like Tiffany? Especially after what she went through?” Parker didn’t respond, continuing to watch the match. Parker figured Jessica was talking about the troublesome experience Tiffany had with an ex, but seeing as how she kept her wording vague, he didn’t pry. “I’ve talked to her a lot about it, reassuring her I’d be willing to give up on my competition with Hunter in a heartbeat for her, but every time, she said that she’s sure about it.”

“I … I see.”

It set Parker’s mind at ease somewhat, but still didn’t fully clear up the muddiness in his mind about the topic. He would just have to talk to Tiffany about it.

“Have you two fucked since the first time?”

Parker snorted. “What—what are you asking all of the sudden?!”

Jessica just smiled. “So, that’s a no?”

“No! For your information, it’s already not normal to have had sex with someone before starting to date them.”

“That’s such a waste though, with how hot Tiff is and how much of a blast you two were having last time.” Parker’s face flushed a little at that memory. It was true that having sex with Tiffany was great, and he would be lying if he said that he never thought about it, but Parker prioritized taking the proper steps in their relationship first. He was thankful for Jessica for introducing them, but he didn’t need her to influence it with her salacious tendencies.

“It’ll happen when it happens.”

“That might be sooner than you think. I’m pretty sure Tiffany is—” the notification sound of a phone interrupted her, and when Jessica whipped hers out to check it, she got up. “—sorry, my friend just got here, she’s in the lobby. We were supposed to hang out, but do you mind if she comes here?”

No. No, no no no. He wasn’t going to get roped into this again. He didn’t care how unlikely it seemed that this friend of Jessica’s would want to have sex with him, he had gotten caught off guard too many times with thoughts like surely not or but this is too far-fetched or Jessica isn’t this insane to disregard that possibility.

“I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

“Oh, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.”

“But she came to hang out with you, right?”

“I’m sure she’d love to meet you.”

What was Jessica doing here? Did this friend know about him for some reason? Sure, if Parker was visiting a friend, he wouldn’t mind meeting a friend of his friend’s, but saying he’d love to was stretching it a bit. Maybe this friend just liked meeting new people … otherwise, Parker couldn’t shake off the paranoid feeling that this was going where he feared it might be going. “I’m nothing special.”

“I beg to differ, you’re my husband’s best friend. Such a man is not ‘nothing special’.”

Parker sighed. He knew where this was going: they would go back and forth until Jessica made him feel guilty for refusing to accommodate this friend of hers. In fact, they didn’t even need to go back-and-forth much more, he was already starting to feel that guilt, but trying to disregard it to fend off his paranoia felt a moot task. “If she really wants to come over, then yeah, she can.”

“Great! I’ll be right back!”

In the few minutes Jessica took to retrieve her friend, Parker weighed the possibility that he would be roped into more shenanigans. If she was even able to rope Tiffany in, then what about her friends who were more like her? Parker didn’t really know many of Jessica’s friends, but from what little he heard about them from Tiffany, she was more so the odd-one-out than the normal one. Given, in that context, it seemed like Tiffany was joking, so all Parker could hope was that Tiffany was exaggerating a bit for comedic effect.

When a knock came at the door, Parker jumped out of his seat. “Coming!” Opening the door, he was greeted with the smiling visage of Jessica and one other, slightly shorter but truly breathtakingly beautiful woman. If Parker was tasked with the objective to sculpt the most aesthetically pleasing face he could imagine, this woman would’ve easily beaten the product of his imagination. Parker didn’t know what it was with Jessica and having the most attractive friends, but she was an almost mystical, ethereal beauty that he almost couldn’t believe existed in the real world. Her skin was fair, unblemished, and porcelain white; her hair jet black, silky smooth, stopping at her chest; the only thing that could be said about her was that her slim figure didn’t make way for many curves, but even that seemed to suit her pure, innocent visuals well. Above all else, though, was how well her facial features fit on her face: her eyes were large, her eyelashes long, her eyebrows perfectly trimmed, her nose slim and long, her lips full, her cheekbones protruding and her perfectly aligned teeth shining white against his apartment’s lights.

“Parker, this is Irene, a childhood f—…”

Jessica abruptly cut herself off, looking over at the other woman, who gave her an encouraging nod, emphatically interjecting, “Friend!”

“—friend of mine.”

“Hi!” The luminescent woman stepped in and embraced the significantly taller man in a hug, a gesture which momentarily caught him off guard. “Oh wow, you’re pretty tall.”

“Uh—” He had never met Irene before, so being introduced with such a friendly gesture stunned him for a brief second. “—yeah, sorry.”

“Oh, no need to apologize! It would probably be easy to tackle you, I would just have to duck a little and your arms would go right over my head!”

Parker let out an utterly bewildered chuckle. “Wh-What?”

“See?” Irene demonstrated by doing exactly what she said, ducking a little and wrapping her arms around his torso, planting her face against the bottom of his sternum. “It goes right over,” she said, tilting her head upwards to see Parker’s arms swiping at open air.

“Yeah … I guess it does…” Parker looked over at Jessica who was just looking at the two with a bemused smile. He shot her a confused glance, to which she replied with a shrug.

Irene released Parker, squatting down to pick up a package she had dropped to hug him. It was only then that Parker noticed it. “What’s that?”

“Oh, it’s just something Jessica asked me to pick up for her.”

“…Right, gotcha.” The vague answer reminded Parker of the hesitation with this entire ordeal, something that Irene’s effervescent introduction had caused him to forget. Did he really want to know what that package contained? Did he even care? Why didn’t they drop it off at Jessica’s place, which was right next door, first? None of these were questions he was going to get answers to anyway, so Parker just kept them to himself.

“Were you watching volleyball?”

“Yeah. Do you watch?”

“Nope!”

The answer, again, caught Parker off guard. With the amount of enthusiasm Irene asked the question, Parker figured she recognized the teams or at least had some degree of interest in the sport. “Oh.” Usually, Parker was able to carry a conversation better and more naturally. With Irene, he couldn’t even formulate a proper response in his mind.

“Oh—oh my gosh, they’re hitting that ball so fast! I can’t imagine intentionally letting that hit my own arms.”

Well, that was something to work with at least. “Yeah, those spikes can get up to sixty miles-per-hour.”

“Don’t you need to be tall to play volleyball?” Irene turned to face Parker. “You’re pretty tall, right? Have you ever played it?”

“Me? No, I just like to watch. I’m probably on the shorter side for volleyball players, honestly.”

Hearing that made Irene’s eyes bulge out of their sockets. “Really?! Wow … I probably wouldn’t even have to duck to tackle them.”

Another chuckle escaped Parker’s lips. “Why would you want to tackle them?”

“I don’t know. Isn’t it fun to tackle people sometimes?”

“I don’t…” Parker trailed off, completely unable to formulate a response. “…Jessica, how do you keep up with her?”

Jessica smiled. “I don’t. I just let her say whatever she wants.”

“Hm…”

Irene didn’t seem to mind, plopping down on the sofa and setting the package down next to her. “Oh wait, number nine is pretty hot, isn’t he?”

“Hm?” Jessica turned towards the TV screen, finding the player with the corresponding jersey. “Yeah, he is.”

“How tall is he? Do you know?”

Irene turned towards Parker, who could only shrug. “My guess is somewhere between six-two and six-five.”

“Holy … that’s a bit too tall, isn’t it? I mean, if someone’s that tall, would I even have to kneel to give him a blowjob?”

Parker let out a hacking cough. “Wha-What?”

“I mean, you’d probably have to bend down a little. Like, for Parker, I can still kneel and be level with his dick, but I need to pull it down a little while straining my neck up a little to compensate.”

“Oh, I see. But what if their penis isn’t as big? Then wouldn’t it be slightly harder to pull it down to the level of your face while kneeling?”

“Oh, that may be true…” What the hell kind of a conversation were they having? And why were they speaking about it so casually? And especially in front of someone else? “So I guess you’d have to squat or something.”

“Hmm … wouldn’t it be pretty hot to be riding one of their dicks while another one of them stuffed your mouth from above?” Jessica pondered it, not seeming to be very convinced of the idea. Parker, on the other hand, was still recovering from the whiplash from the stream of vulgar words coming out of the mouth of the woman with contrastingly angelic, pure visuals. “Or maybe they could spitroast you with your feet off the ground, or maybe even suspend you in midair while fucking you in both your pussy and your ass.”

“Hm … I’m pretty sure Hunter’s a little shorter than Parker, but the suspended spitroast idea sounds so hot…” Parker, no longer feeling comfortable with the conversation, slowly got up and off the couch, but before he could escape, Jessica grabbed ahold of his arm. “Where are you going?”

“Uh … bathroom?”

“Right there,” Jessica motioned towards Irene, who simply shot Parker a smile.

“What?”

“There’s your urinal,” she repeated, Irene opening her mouth in tandem.

Parker scoffed. “Wha-What are you even saying?”

“What she’s saying is that you’re free to use me like a toilet.”

Oh god, now there were two of them. He knew it—he knew it was a bad idea to let Jessica invite her friend into his apartment. Why was he so soft on her? “I’m not—” hearing Parker sigh caused the two to burst into a fit of giggles. “—you tw—what’s wrong with you, Jessica?”

“Huh? Were you about to ask Irene what’s wrong with her?”

“What?” Irene’s face took on an exaggerated look of offense. “How could you? All I did was offer my mouth as your urinal.”

“Like—” Even when there was one Jessica, Parker often found himself overwhelmed with how sexually and kinkily she spoke. “—I, like, I mean, you realize why that’s a really—” But now that there was a second one just as sexual and kinky, if not more so … how was he supposed to react? “—that’s, like, you know, not … normal … not a normal thing to say?”

Irene shrugged. “Normal’s boring.”

Oh. Was this where Jessica got that idea from?

“Right…”

“Well?”

“Hm?”

“You need to go to the bathroom, right?”

“No, and even if I did, I wouldn’t use Irene’s mouth. I mean, I just met her, you know.”

“Oh, but she knows all about you.”

That couldn’t be good. How could he escape? But this was his apartment. Where could he even run to?

“I really don’t want to know—”

“She watched our porno.”

“God damn it, is there anyone you didn’t show that to?”

Jessica giggled. “Just like one or two more friends, don’t worry.” That was not the answer Parker was hoping Jessica would give him, but he figured he should be thankful it was only one or two more of her friends.

“Can I see it?” Irene couldn’t be talking about what he thought she might be talking about. There was no way. A woman he met just minutes ago for the first time … surely, she wasn’t asking to see his—“I want to see your dick for myself.”

Parker could only laugh. Ordinarily, having such a beautiful woman request such a thing would’ve been at least somewhat humbling, but given the situation, Parker couldn’t feel anything less than absolutely and utterly bewildered. Not only was it difficult to keep up with another Jessica, but the implication that something about the porno made Irene want to see his penis in person made Parker’s mind spin. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to know why that was, but now he had to grapple with that fact with the eager-eyed woman sitting on the other side of the couch from him. “Jessica, what…?”

“Oh, I forgot, you probably didn’t watch. There were some shots that made your penis look amazing, so I’d say Irene’s reaction is understandable.”

That wasn’t what Parker was trying to ask Jessica in the slightest, nor did he really understand Jessica’s explanation of Irene’s reaction, so he ended up just saying, “No, I—I’m, I’m not—I mean, I literally just met you, why would you want to go there already?”

Irene furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. “Do I need to know someone for a while to see their dick?” Was she being serious? Either Irene was the best actress in the world, or she actually didn’t see an issue with her proposal. “I mean, people have one-night stands all the time, don’t they?”

“I mean—” Parker had to admit Irene had a point. But still … his brain was starting to hurt. It really was too much, trying to keep up with two Jessicas at the same time. “—no, I guess, but…”

“…But what? Did you want to see my tits first? I mean, they aren’t anything too impressive, especially compared to Jessica, but—” Parker stopped Irene as she moved to throw her short off.

“No! That wasn’t what I was trying to say. It’s just … I thought you came here to hang out with Jessica?”

“Um … I thought she invited me over to introduce me to you.” It was only then that Parker remembered Jessica mentioning introducing a childhood friend to him a week ago.

“Ah, right…” Thinking back on it, Jessica’s description of her at the time matched Irene pretty well: her figure wasn’t the best, but she was insanely beautiful. Parker just wished Jessica had given him a better heads up as to what kind of a person she was. Then again, she was Jessica’s friend. “…but that wasn’t the impression I got from Jessica.”

“…whoops, forgot to tell you?”

Parker rolled his eyes and sighed. “Well, now that you’ve introduced us…”

A brief silence followed in which the two ladies exchanged glances. Whatever telepathy that transpired between the two, the result was Irene saying, “I guess Jessica didn’t tell you much about me.”

Parker shook his head. “Sorry, not really.”

“Well, basically, all you need to know is that I have a breeding kink.” Again, Parker was caught off guard, letting out a hacking cough. “I came here because I want you to pump me so full of cum, my womb will have no choice but to give me a baby.”

That was a hell of a proposal, but what was Parker even supposed to do with it? Sure, Irene was definitely attractive enough to elicit a positive desire to acquiesce with that demand, but first off, why him, specifically? Was it because of that porno? The way she worded it … ‘my womb will have no choice but to give me a baby’ … Parker didn’t want to pry, but it almost sounded like Irene had tried multiple times before and had failed just as many times. But why would he have any better of a shot than all the other presumed guys she’s had in the past?

He felt like Irene was burdening him with a task, and the expectant way she was looking at him reinforced that.

“Ordinarily, I would want proof that you were tested recently for STIs, but since Jessica vouched for you, that’s not necessary. I have my own STI test report from last week in case you wanted to see it for yourself.” Irene handed him a bundle of papers that Parker briefly looked at—not that he was that interested in them, more so because he was so perplexed that looking at the bundle of papers placed in his hand was a reflexive action to being handed them. “Also, if you do manage to impregnate me, I promise to not burden you with child support. I can sign a contract if you’d like. I have one here,” she said, procuring another bundle of papers from her purse.

“Um…” Parker was overwhelmed, and this time, it wasn’t because of her eccentricity. It was almost like a business transaction, except it was one of those too-good-to-be-true proposals that had to be a scam. But if it was, where was the detriment to himself? This was Jessica’s friend, after all: would she try to scam a friend of her friend?

All this preparation reinforced his theory that Irene had done this with multiple other men, but aside from that, Parker didn’t know what else to think. Irene certainly seemed determined, even if she had said everything with the same jovial expression on her face. Thinking about the amount of times Irene must’ve tried and failed to become impregnated made him feel bad for her, even if he didn’t know why it was that Irene so badly wanted a child. But the question remained: why did he have to be the next one to try to knock her up?

“Come on, Parker—Irene’s giving you a free pass to fuck her until you’ve emptied your balls inside her. When’s the next opportunity to fuck someone like Irene without worrying about any consequences going to come up?”

Parker didn’t want to admit that Jessica had a point, but first… “Just to make sure—you aren’t in a relationship, right?” Irene shook her head. There was one concern gone, but with that, another arose. “Then … I’m sorry if this is insensitive, but do you mind telling me why you want a baby so badly?”

“Well, they’re so cute, aren’t they? Ever since I was little, I’ve loved kids, but guys don’t really like me, so I decided I’ll just raise one myself.” Parker didn’t believe Irene in the slightest when she said that guys didn’t like her, but there had to be a basis for that. What that was wasn’t Parker’s business to determine. In the corner of his eyes, he could also see Jessica shift uncomfortably a little, but he didn’t want to try to read into things. “Having sex with a bunch of different kinds of people is just a bonus. I don’t think I’ve ever had sex with someone as huge as you, though.”

Parker almost felt like he had to accept Irene’s proposal, which was weird because no man in his right mind would reject a chance to have sex with her. If they had met at a bar and Irene proposed to go back to his place, they might’ve had a one-night stand even if he didn’t know her ultimate goal with the sex. But… “So … you brought Irene over to have sex with me?”

“…Yeah?”

Sometimes, Parker wished he could dive into Jessica’s head to figure out why she didn’t find it weird that she did this. If Parker had a nickel every time Jessica brought over a friend with the explicit purpose of getting the two of them to have sex, Parker would have two nickels, which wasn’t that many nickels but it was weird it happened twice. Or maybe it wasn’t weird, considering this was Jessica. Did this mean he could anticipate Jessica doing this more in the future? If he and Tiffany became a couple, what would that say about him as a boyfriend, even if Tiffany stated she was fine with being in an open relationship? At least right now, he and Tiffany weren’t an item, but if they ever did, could he, in good conscience, do this?

“You gotta stop pimping me out.”

“Well, think about it like this: you get to fuck a bunch of hot women, and my friends get to experience your cock. It’s a win-win!”

“So, is that a no then?”

At the point they were in, needing to talk about being exclusive to each other was implied, but with what Jessica said … of all people, Jessica, the best friend of the woman he was seeing, who so woefully begged Parker to take care of Tiffany well, telling him Tiffany said that it was fine for him to have sex with other women … and to top it all off, as much as Parker tried to stave off the feeling, he could feel himself getting turned on ever so slightly. Was he bad for feeling this way? It felt wrong in so many ways, but when such an amazingly attractive woman was pushing herself onto him like this, wasn’t feeling turned on natural? No, a man with principles would be able to turn her away. But, then again, a man of principles might also claim that it was a man’s duty to acquiesce to the demands of a woman in need, and Irene was presenting herself to him as exactly that. “Well, first of all, let’s move.”

Just as he moved to stand up, Irene pushed him back down onto the couch. “Nope. I’m way too horny now. Do you mind?” Irene asked, her fingers looping around his pants.

“Wha—um—” Not that he wasn’t used to very forward women, but the eagerness with which Irene situated herself between his legs stunned him for a second. “—n-no, I guess?”

Off came his pants and boxers, and out came his mostly-limp dick. “Ooh, wow…” Irene’s dainty fingers brushed against his member. Parker felt his lower half tense up, his dick twitching at the soft sensations of her fingers wrapping around his shaft. “You’re not even hard yet, huh?”

Shit. Parker wasn’t mentally prepared yet, so, scrambling to answer, he stammered out a, “not really.”

“Hmm…” Irene’s fingers wrapped more tightly around him. With each firm tug and jerk, the soft reproductive organ grew more and more erect. “It’s so beautiful, too…”

Parker blinked, then let out a chuckle. “What?”

“Isn’t it?”

Irene turned to Jessica, who nodded in response. “It is!”

“What…” the question died in his throat. Not that he’s seen many other penises, but Parker figured his was pretty average, appearance-wise. What about it was aesthetically pleasing? He knew he probably wasn’t going to get a very good answer though, so he let the question die in his throat.

“Wow, and it’s still getting bigger.”

Figuring it was pointless to continue ponder about the morality of the situation, Parker shifted his mind towards Irene. The slightly deeper breaths Parker was taking gradually turned into gasps and hisses, his erection hardening and growing with every stroke. “Mmm…”

The fact that Jessica was very avidly watching didn’t help at all. Parker shot her a glare, but she just responded with a confused expression, her drawn-together eyebrows asking him ‘what?’. He didn’t have high hopes that would drive Jessica away, but Irene didn’t even seem to mind. She continued stroking him, egging it on further by planting chaste kisses along its hardening length.

“You said it was … seven inches?”

“Yea—”

“Seven point five,” Jessica interjected.

Parker had felt it irrelevant to correct such a minute difference, but of course Jessica would know the precise measurement, and of course she would be the one to correct Irene.

“Oh, god … so this is what seven-point-five looks like, huh?” Irene said in marvel, staring at his now fully-erect penis.

“Yeah. How do you feel, finally seeing it in person now?”

Parker tried not to think about the implications of Jessica’s use of the word ‘finally’. He, for a brief moment, wondered if women talked about the porn they watched and if they used it, but knowing it was Jessica and a slightly smaller and less curvy Jessica, he realized it was pointless to even wonder about it. “It’s … amazing. I thought they must’ve spent some serious budget to make his cock look so mouth-wateringly appealing, but now I realize the camera didn’t do it justice.”

“This is so weird.”

“Hm? What is?”

Parker could only gape at the clueless Irene. “Wha-What? What isn’t?”

“Oh, I guess you would want me to at least do this shirtless, huh?”

“That’s not—” Parker’s interjection fell upon deaf ears, Irene proceeding to throw off her shirt and revealing her breasts. The loose top she wore hid how well-developed they actually were, but they still probably couldn’t fill Parker’s palm. That didn’t mean he didn’t appreciate them, though: with its even paler, milky white color tightly stretching across her chest, each mound decorated with a golf-ball sized, light-brown areola with two equally squeezable-looking nubs sitting in the center, they were as pleasant a sight to look at as the rest of her. “—what I meant in the slightest, but ok.”

“Hm? What did you mean, then?”

“I mean, Jessica’s right there.”

“So?”

Parker shook his head. He should know better than to try to appeal to common sense with a Jessica. “Never mind.”

Irene gave him a smile, giving his shaft a few more firm pumps before saying, “You’re funny,” then swallowing his tip whole in one swift motion.

“Agh—” Irene didn’t stop until she was halfway down his length, and by then, he could feel her throat tightening around his cock. “—ah, Irene—”

Irene, on the other hand, had placed hands on either side of his inner thigh to stabilize herself, unable to respond except with a few gagging noises. Tears started welling up in her eyes the further she went down, suppressing her gag reflex when it reached deep enough. It felt like it would never stop, not that Irene wanted it to; she felt like she had completely unhinged her jaw, her nose almost pressing against his shaft. Being that she could only breathe from her nostrils, with every intake of air she took in, accompanying it was the musky smell of Parker’s cock, and that invigorated Irene even more. With how much space Parker was occupying her mouth, her tongue had no choice but to be firmly pressed against the underside of his dick, haplessly drooling all over it. She tried to pay as much attention to his balls while doing so, but the truth was, at some point, both Irene’s mind and her throat had become completely occupied with Parker’s penis.

“Ah, shit.”

“Wow, look at her go…”

Irene barley registered the fighting words of her friend, taking a few moments to steel herself before beginning to bob her head against his length. Another swear flew out Parker’s mouth at the feeling of her velvety tongue expertly gliding and coiling along his length, her throat flexing and tightening against his member like it was made to house him. However, if that was indeed the case, then the housing was grossly undersized: Irene still had a third left to go before she could claim to have taken in his entire dick with her mouth.

Part of Irene began to wonder how he’d fit inside her pussy. How far would he reach, how would it feel to have him cum that deep inside her? Irene’s pussy ached, translated in the increased vigor of her deepthroating of Parker.

“Irene, holy shit—”

Parker was doing everything in his power to keep her hands off her hair. While Irene’s impressive blowjob-turned-deepthroating felt amazing, and while she sank a bit deeper with each bobbing motion, having the little bit unattended left something to be desired. Even if she talked and acted like Jessica, it didn’t mean she wanted to be treated like her, nor did it mean he even felt comfortable doing so. The fact that, in watching her and experiencing what Irene was doing to him, he felt inclined to shove her face until her nose touched his crotch made him wonder if Jessica had become too much of a negative influence on him.

Like clockwork, as soon as Parker felt sufficiently warmed up to want to reciprocate, Irene came up for air.

“Wow, you almost got all of it by the end there.”

“Really?” Irene wiped the drool coming out of the corner of her mouth, but even as she did so, she looked insanely beautiful. It wasn’t the same pure-innocent beauty as from before: this time, it was more so a femme fatale kind of beauty, one that made you realize she was dangerous but in all the ways you didn’t care about.

“Yeah, you had like an inch to go, it looked like.”

“Hm…” Irene looked up at Parker with a grin. “Maybe next time, I’ll go for all of it.”

“…Right.”

Irene giggled at Parker’s confounded reaction. “How was my throat?”

“It felt…” Was it normal to ask the question so giddily? “…uh, it was good…?”

“Why do you never tell me that?”

“Well,” Irene said, ignoring her friend and climbing onto Parker’s lap, shooting a dazzling, seductive smile at him, “wait until you feel my pussy.” It should’ve hardly been a surprise that Irene talked this way, but it still caught Parker a bit by surprise. By the time he had processed it fully, Irene was already aligning his cock with her entrance. “Ready?”

“This is … shouldn’t it normally be me who’s asking you?”

“Oh, you won’t have to ask me if I’m ready.”

The next sound to come out of Parker’s mouth was a surprised moan, the feeling of Irene’s blazing hot sex wrapping around his cock overriding his ability to speak.

“Mmm…”

Irene had her eyes closed, a mixture of a bliss and lust on her face as she lowered herself onto him at an astonishingly quick pace—quicker than Jessica their first few times, if he remembered correctly. “Ah, Irene—”

“Wow, fuck you’re big…”

More than halfway down, Irene started to slow down, electing to rotate her hips and slowly grind her way down his shaft. It felt incredible, alright: the intense tightness with which her pussy squeezed his cock, the wetness that counteracted any resistance the tightness offered, the warmth, the way her pussy walls seemed to be massaging his shaft … but the fact that Jessica was right there, and he was inside a woman he didn’t even know an hour before lingered in the back of his mind. Irene didn’t seem affected at all, but it stuck in Parker’s mind: was this normal? It couldn’t be, right?

Who was he kidding, of course it wasn’t normal. Even one-night stands, picking up chicks from bars or meeting from Tinder or the like involved getting to know someone at least somewhat before getting to the sex. For Parker, he had been made aware of Irene’s existence for only a few minutes before his cock was already two-thirds of the way inside her. How much his sense of what’s normal dulled since he started spending time around Jessica … Parker didn’t even want to think about it.

“Wa-Wait, Irene…”

He could tell Irene was going considerably slower, and if she was in pain, she was doing an immaculate job of hiding it. The intensity her pussy was squeezing his cock, however, was teetering on the line of pleasure and pain. However, perhaps it was due to some kind of pride, or maybe it didn’t feel painful to her, or maybe it even was Irene wanting to brag about being able to take his entire length in one go to Jessica, but she didn’t stop.

“Hmm … mmm…”

The low rumble of Irene’s husky voice was a nice distraction to the burgeoning pain on his cock, but Parker still had to grit his teeth to endure it.

“Irene, please…”

Parker had hardly ever begged for anything in his life. Maybe there were some times when he was a kid, begging his parents to let him finish the gym battle in the Pokémon game he was playing or begging his parents for ice cream on a hot summer day, but his parents otherwise treated him well. His first couple of sexual encounters with Jessica was what broke his streak of not needing to beg for anything, but ever since she told him about her competition with Hunter, the need to do that vanished.

At this moment, that need reemerged.

“Too … it’s too tight…”

The plea seemed to translate into a compliment to Irene’s ears, though. “Yeah? You like how tight my pussy is?”

It wasn’t that it didn’t feel good at all, but a combination of things distracted Parker from the pleasure aside from the pain—namely, self-consciousness from the knowledge that Jessica was watching them and the fact that he and Irene were essentially strangers. Asking Jessica to leave wasn’t going to actually make her leave, and addressing the fact that he met Irene only minutes before didn’t seem like it’d affect Irene, so the only thing he could point out was the thing she was bragging to him about.

“N—Irene, slower, please…”

“Hm?" Parker’s hands cupped her cheeks and pushed upwards. “Oh!” Jessica let out a giggle as Parker lifted her up enough that the pain mostly subsided.

“You’re too eager, Rene.”

“Sorry…”

Irene shared a sheepish smile with Parker, who just shook his head at it. “Just, more slowly, ok?”

Irene nodded, and it was only after that when Parker realized what he had said: or rather, how casually he said it.

Being around Jessica really was messing with his capability to withstand a level of bullshit a normal person shouldn’t. Then again, a normal person would probably be willing to withstand more bullshit for the chance to have sex with Irene.

“Righty-do.” Parker blinked a few times, a bemused smile starting to play at his lips. “But you have to control the pacing this time, ok? Because I can’t promise I won’t do the same thing if you don’t.”

“Uh, right.”

When they resumed, Irene’s eyes fluttered shut. Her lips parted again, something Parker couldn’t help but look at: of all the beautiful features perfectly placed on her face, her lips had to be the most alluring. Even when slightly parted, or perhaps even more so when they were slightly parted, they seemed to naturally form a pout.

He wasn’t dating Tiffany yet. Plus, according to her best friend, she was even fine with an open relationship. And said best friend, who seemed to be invested in the relationship between the two, introduced Irene to Parker for this exact purpose. This wasn’t cheating. He shouldn’t feel bad for wanting to lean forward and capture Irene’s perfect, kissable lips.

“Shit.”

“Ooh yeah, fuck…”

Irene, perhaps interpreting Parker’s frustrated groan as one of pleasure, responded in kind, gently biting the corner of her lower lip and throwing her head back.

Having sex with Jessica was one thing, but having sex with another woman, even if she was Jessica in another body … Parker couldn’t rid himself of the thought that he was betraying Tiffany, somehow.

“Deeper, babe…”

“…Shit.”

Tiffany didn’t seem the least bit phased when Jessica was riding him; in fact, she seemed intrigued more than anything. But then again, that was before they started seeing each other. Maybe now it would be different.

Was he thinking about this too deeply?

“Parker…?” Irene turned around, her eyes landing on the conflicted, downcast gaze of the man whose cock was inside her.

“Damn it. Jessica, are you really sure about Tiffany?”

“Oh, wait, Parker’s the guy Fany’s been seeing recently, right?” Jessica nodded. “In that case, we should probably send her some pic—” she abruptly cut herself off upon seeing Jessica hastily motioning for her to stop.

What? Was this some kind of extreme teasing? Did Irene hate Tiffany or something? Why would she propose such a thing? But, most of all, why wasn’t Jessica reprimanding Irene for suggesting them to do such a thing for what seemed to be their mutual friend?

“I was going to let Tiff tell him!”

“Oh! Oh my god, I’m so sorry—”

“Ok—” Parker lifted Irene off his lap and set her down next to him. It was definitely strange, preparing to dive into a serious topic with his erection out for all to see, but this seemed too important to pass up. “—what? What kinds of pictures were you going to send her?”

“Um, sorry Parker, I need to ask her something first.”

“Just to be clear, were you talking about pictures of … of … this?” Parker didn’t intend to raise his voice, but he felt as though he had been deceived into playing some kind of cruel prank on Tiffany. Irene seemed so nice, so likeable, and so genuine, too.

“I can tell you what Irene meant by that, but first I need Tiff’s—” Jessica’s voice trailed off a little, her eyes darting back to her phone notifying her of a text message. “—um, Tiff’s permission.”

After finally blowing up on Jessica about what they had been doing behind Hunter’s back after nearly being caught by him on his balcony, Parker figured Jessica needn’t hide much else from him. Jessica, too, seemed glad to be cleared of that misunderstanding … but where did Tiffany play a part in this?

“Give me a little…”

Irene sat idly next to Parker, a clearly guilty expression on her face. That wasn’t the face of someone who wanted to do something mean to Tiffany. Or did she just look that way because she had been caught?

“…ok, I got her permission. You know how I told you Tiffany was fine with an open relationship, but didn’t elaborate?” Parker hesitantly nodded. He didn’t want to antagonize Jessica, nor Irene, too quickly, so he made sure to reign in any kind of animosity that was starting to form within himself. “Well, I figured Tiffany wanted to be the one to tell you, but now the cat’s out of the bag, and now that I got her permission, I’ll let you know. I actually do know why Tiffany’s fine with an open relationship: it’s because she’s … how should I put this, a voyeur?” Parker didn’t even know how to interpret that. “Hm … no…” but what did that have to do with anything? “…well, the bottom line is, she finds the idea of another woman fucking her man hot.”

Parker’s first reaction was to scoff at that. “What?”

“I know! It’s always the purest, most innocent ones that are the freakiest, huh?” In Parker’s eyes, Jessica had no grounds to say such a thing, but … looking into her eyes, there didn’t seem to be a hint of deceit. Not that he knew her well enough to be able to detect it. “Why do you think she asked me to watch that porno we shot?”

Shit … well, that did explain that one thing, given it was true.

“But…”

“I can show you what I just texted her if you want proof.” It felt like a violation of privacy of the woman he was seeing, but his curiosity got the better of him. He nodded, leaning forward, Jessica turning her phone’s screen toward him. Sure enough, the text exchange was with Tiffany, and Jessica was explicitly asking permission to tell him about that aspect about herself. What probably took Jessica a bit to inform him was the little bit of hesitation Tiffany showed, but when Jessica promised some pictures and videos of him fucking Irene, Tiffany buckled.

“Do … you have a single normal friend?!”

Jessica burst into laughter. “That’s rude! Aren’t you pretty much dating her?”

Parker groaned. On the side, he could hear the faint chuckles of Irene. “I mean…” he didn’t mean it like that. It was just a guttural reaction he couldn’t contain … but wasn’t it pretty normal? Actually, he shouldn’t justify that outburst like that. Admittedly, it was pretty awful of him to say such a thing about a woman he was seeing, but … well, at the very least, this was something he did not see coming. And he wondered why Tiffany was friends with Jessica; turns out, they maybe had more in common than he initially thought. “…yeah, but … wait, are you actually gonna send pictures to her?”

“Well, I promised, so … unless you’re unwilling?”

Parker almost laughed at that. Leave it to Jessica to just assume he was on board with such a ridiculous proposal. If it was something the woman he was seeing wanted … should he deny her? It wasn’t even like the idea that Tiffany was a cuck of sorts turned him off from her; maybe it was Jessica’s influence on him, but he saw it as nothing more than a quirk, albeit a pretty extreme one.

“Irene…?”

“Um…” Irene’s downtrodden gaze alerted Parker that she still felt bad despite things having been cleared up.

“It’s—” it was only then Parker remembered his dick was out, which he began to move to cover but stopped halfway. “—uh, it’s fine.”

“So … then, are you also ok with the pictures?”

Parker sighed. When did his life become so weird? “Yeah, I guess.”

At that, Irene’s eyes lit up. “Great!” Actually, maybe Parker was the weird one. Maybe his preference for missionary, and at most, doggy, made him the odd-man-out. “Then…” Irene sprung off the couch and repositioned herself in his lap, her hands resting on his knees while her ass hovered inches over his softening erection. Parker tentatively put his hands on her plump cheeks, spreading them out to see her still-glistening pink folds, drooling at the prospect of being torn open again by his cock. “…go ahead. Make me scream with that dick.”

Next part here.

[ilikekidsshows]

I've seen people said Adrien doesn't have motivation to be a hero but Marinette does, which is weird because I feel like it's Marinette who doesn't have a motivation to be hero beyond "people listen to Ladybug". Her lack of motivation is what confused me because as a protagonist, she's inevitably become a role model for the young audience and I find nothing about her is likeable, even more so after she become a guardian. It's as if being a guardian inflate her ego and she forgot that everyone else is a human with feelings, not just a pawn or a doll for her to play and ordered around.

Recently I found out a website that contain the concept plot and it confused me more because I feel like concept Marinette is a more grounded character than she is in the show.

Marinette's goal isn't just to be Adrien/Felix's girlfriend but she also need to collect the kwamis that she accidentally releases and she become a guardian not because of luck or favoritism like how it is in the show, it's because her grandfather is the guardian. Adrien/Felix doesn't even become Chat Noir because he's chosen by the guardian, it's Plagg who chose him. It's actually much better than the whole "I choose you but also I'm not going to do anything with you" that Fu pulls in the show.

i don't understand why the higher up/the sponsor reject this plot because I think this much better than whatever we have now. If they have a problem with Chat Noir being an anti-hero, then why do they accept Marinette being written like one while also hailing her as a hero?

---

“Adrien isn't motivated to be a hero” he actually likes being a hero, unlike our role model protagonist, who’d rather do anything than be Ladybug even when she's being lauded for her heroic deeds. Is this based on Adrien trying to quit when Fu or Marinette is making his job needlessly more difficult to do? Because, like, that's the only thing that he seems to dislike about being a hero, which, like, makes Marinette an even worse hero. She’s so bad at her job, she makes otherwise eager heroes lose their motivation.

I’m gonna be very honest here; Marinette becoming Ladybug because she accidentally released a bunch of magical creatures and Adrien/Félix being more of an anti-hero rival than a full-on ally would have been copied straight from Cardcaptor Sakura’s starting setup. Like, I’m not surprised that even the rejected ideas for Miraculous are copied from other properties, but it just proves that regardless of any other variables, Astruc’s creation was always going to be highly derivative. Regardless, I do feel that Fu being her grandfather instead of a stranger would have gone a long way in justifying Marinette’s special treatment both in-universe and to the audience, but that’s probably why it was rejected.

Like, we can mock the fact that Marinette isn’t actually within spitting distance of being a “normal girl with a normal life” all we like, but that doesn’t change the fact that, from a purely on-paper angle, she is pretty average. She’s a middle-schooler with pretty average hobbies who deals with normal teen problems like bullies and a crush on a boy she doesn’t know how to deal with. There’s a reason it’s the opening line for the show’s opening. It's marketable. A special chosen one from the start wouldn’t have been as marketable in the same way. Especially when we take into account how hypersensitive Astruc is to Marinette being less liked than he’d want. He’d do whatever he can think of to make sure Marinette isn’t immediately judged a “Mary Sue”.

The thing with executives is that they don't watch the shows they fund. They read the pitch, synopses, and maybe the scripts if they can find the time. And even then, they might not want to put in the money to get a script revised even if they paid enough attention to tell it was dogshit. They wouldn't be interested as long as the different Miraculous bedsheets and shampoos keep selling and as long as the show isn’t too gay to sell to other countries. Like, the show bible that Gloob leaked? The one full of inaccuracies because it was outdated? That was what the executives were most likely given when the retool went into development. In addition, corporate oversight on the show has actually decreased the longer it’s gone on, because the show’s proven itself to be a success. I’m pretty sure the higher-ups were not asked: “hey, is it okay if we make Marinette an entitled jerk who gets validated at every turn while she starts treating people worse and worse?” I’m pretty sure no one okayed Marinette’s “villain arc”, it was just allowed to pass because it didn’t make the show less marketable.

That’s the thing with any property that becomes “too big to fail”. Less oversight means less quality control. It’s like one anonymous Gamefreak employee said about making Pokémon games: “It’ll sell anyway, so it doesn’t matter if it’s bad.”

[butter-bubbles]

Why Not Making Byler Canon Would be a Massive Mistake...

Okay, so clearly the Byler brainrot has been getting to me. But this post will be about how Byler would fundamentally improve Mike (and Will's) characters, and making them canon would be an insanely easy way for the Duffer brothers to prove their masters in story crafting and writing.

Unlike a lot of people on this sub, I'm not one to believe Mike was secretly in love with Will the whole time and was using El as his beard to conceal being gay. I think there's enough evidence to prove that he was in love with El, probably for all/most of S3. I'm also not one to just ship two guys because I'm a "teen girl who likes f*tishizing MLM" like a lot of (honestly mainly misogynistic) believe.

I ship them for one simply reason: Mike, especially, becomes an infinitely more interesting, complex, and likeable character by doing so. I loved S1 and S2 Mike, and was so deeply invested in his character, his eventual reunion with Eleven, and his friendship with Will when I was younger.

And I never understood what happened to Mike between S2 and S3. Being a good friend was his defining trait of S1/2, so what happened that made him such a selfish and self-absorbed character? It never made any sense to me, and I just chalked it up to him being a cringy preteen.

But no one else has trouble maintaining a relationship and their own sense of identity/selfhood, even the other preteens on the show. Hell, El's whole arc is about moving away from this sense of dependence on others for her identity.

Now I don't think he was secretly in love with Will the whole time; there's just not enough evidence to say that he wasn't in love with El (atp) and I do think his feelings were genuine. What there is evidence for is that he fused his identity/self with being El's boyfriend, to the detriment of his friends, his girlfriend, and ultimately himself. He could think of nothing and no one outside of El, which is age appropriate but also deeply unhealthy.

There's also evidence to suggest that he feels playing with his friends and otherwise indulging in hobbies/anything outside of his girlfriend is a "kid" thing based on his fight with Will. In fact, he intentionally distances himself from Will, which to me indicates that he viewed Will as "childish" and too far from heternormative boyhood to fully indulge in a friendship with.

At the end of S3, we see the infamous awkward make-out session that was one of the first indications that Byler could be real to me. Because it just didn't make sense to me; I get struggling to say I love you, especially for an adolescent boy (even if they really mean it), but after El affirms her feelings shouldn't he look happy? Instead, he's just confused.

In S4, I believe that this is when Mike really begins to fall for Will (without even knowing it). He's so obviously jealous over who the painting is for, which just doesn't have a heterosexual explanation; he's paying close attention to Will when he should notice his girlfriend's struggling; he, for some reason, is still having issues with saying I love you even though there's been no explanation for why he can't; all he does is fight with El and seems more "in love" with (the idea of) her when she's absent.

I think what's happening here is he's realizing that everything he wants in his relationship with El, he gets from Will. Self-assurance: emotional intimacy: mutual understanding: and especially a need for him that validates his protective instincts. And I don't think he's even conscious of it, but he just can't hide it from his face (or his actions) at all.

I've been on the fence about canon-Byler because of David Harbour's comment about Mileven being firmly at the forefront of S5 and that moment in S4 at the pizza parlour where Mike almost confesses to loving El, which seemed incredibly sincere. And ultimately, I still don't know if they have any chance in S5.

But what I do know is that Mike and Will complement each other the most out of anyone in the show. They can complete one another, recontextualize all of Mike's incongruous behavior, and illustrate that the Duffer brothers are thinking about their story beyond basic (and outdated) tropes about teenage boyhood and douchey male behavior that emerges post-puberty.

So even if Byler never becomes canon, I will maintain that they would be one of the best things to happen to Stranger Things. I'd be content with another love interest being introduced for Will, but I honestly don't think anyone else could do this much for the writing and story as making Byler canon (at least not in a single season). Only time will tell.

[jals-stuff]

it feels like the death penalty.

Orter Mádl x f!reader

Having to leave him because of your father's decision is the worst outcome you could imagine.

Warnings: female reader, angst with comfort, arranged marriage, anxiety, mentions of death (only mentions).

Note: written in approximately 15 minutes, not proofread, no sleep.

word count: 1.8k ish

i swear i have never simped that hard for a man. sorry for any mistakes, i am very tired <3

As a fellow Divine Visionary, Orter Mádl was not exactly the perfect colleague. Intimidating, cold and sometimes even condescending, working with him could be a hassle for most people, but it wasn’t for you.

His attitude had nothing on his allure, his punctuality and his diligence. You admired him as an absolute idol even though you and him had the same status now. You were probably the only one in the whole Bureau who could stand spending time with him, and also the only one he tolerated as well.

The two of you had become a really good team, being sent on missions together and sometimes celebrating an especially hard one at the bar, but that was all.

To him, you were but another colleague, maybe a little more friendly and likeable than the others but it was nothing more; yet to you, he was your reason to wake up in the morning and clock in. 

It was pretty much obvious to anyone who wasn’t him that your feelings were beyond “friendship”.

You had always been raised in a traditional way for women; taking dancing and piano classes, learning manners and ethics, and mostly; you knew you wouldn’t get to choose whoever you married.

Before you had met Orter, you were quite indifferent to that fact. What was an arranged marriage other than an alliance between two families, after all? You didn’t need to love your husband; and a marriage would only be an etiquette put on you and whoever your parents would pick for you.

But the more you spent time around him, the more your heart ached at the thought of never being able to have him, ever. Marrying another man suddenly became your nightmare, and a sword of Damocles hanging over your head every day and night, like an impending sense of doom you knew you couldn’t escape.

One morning before clocking in, you had received a note from your father: he had found a suitor for you, and you would get to meet him as soon as you’d come home. For the first time since you had started working at the bureau, you couldn’t muster your usual smile; only a polite one to greet the man you could never have.

Spending time with him, working in his office or having a random coffee break was just painful now, and your usual clinging to this hope that maybe, just maybe you’d ever be able to be more than just colleagues was starting to grow distant like an echo.

As dense as he was, your depressed demeanour did not go unnoticed by Orter and as you sipped on your coffee, he let go of his pen and looked at you, adjusting his glasses.

“Is something the matter today? You aren’t quite as energetic as usual.”

Where to begin? Were you supposed to tell him about it? Your father would probably dislike that very much, and you didn’t want to bring it up around him anyway, lest he’d find out about your feelings if you accidentally let it slip.

“Just received some… terrible news from my father this morning, it’s nothing you should concern yourself with." You politely said and gave him a small smile; as honest as you could. But your chest and throat felt tight and every second you spent looking at him only brought you closer to tearing up. 

He simply gave a nod and kept working, yet your eyes simply couldn’t let go of his figure, like a death row prisoner savouring their last meal before facing the ultimate punishment. You probably wouldn’t be allowed to keep working around him after today, would you? A sigh escaped your lips as you plunged your mind right back into your paperwork, determined to finish it before you would have to leave it forever.

“Say,” Orter started. “I think you have been working very hard lately, and I must say I am not against blowing some steam off.” He trailed off, his eyes now on yours, with his usual neutral face. “I have an appointment after work, but what about a drink at the bar afterwards?”

Yet another thing you would have to let go… you wouldn’t ever be able to spend these private moments with him anymore, and the thought made you swallow your emotions down as hard as you could.

“I wish I could, but I unfortunately have something to do with my family tonight.” You managed to speak without tearing up or letting your feelings get the best of you; you couldn’t, no matter how hard it was. 

He hummed in understanding and went back to his paperwork, he didn’t seem too bothered either… After all, why would he? You were but a colleague for him and, as likeable as you were, there was nothing more to it.

Every minute spent in his office felt like your doom was approaching, and time flew really quickly today, no matter how much paperwork you were torturing yourself with. Although you were focused on your work, many thoughts crossed your mind.

You had already refused the idea of running away; where would you go anyway? And you’d obviously be running away from Orter as well. You could always refuse your suitor, but your parents would not let that slide and you would probably be severely punished for it.

…unless your future husband was the one refusing you; then there would be no issue, right? If you were unbearable, rough and ungraceful, maybe he wouldn’t see you as a possible partner anymore, and you could always play dumb if your father scolded you afterwards.

There weren’t many options, but this one was probably the least unrealistic. Of course, you would rather ask Orter to take you and elope, but you were sure as hell that he would refuse and not even understand where that request is coming from.

The day went on rather quickly and, before you left to clock out, you stood in front of his desk for a bit longer than necessary, your eyes on his. 

“I’m glad we became such a great team, Orter. I don’t think I would’ve appreciated working with anyone else that much.”

He raised an eyebrow and leaned back in his chair in surprise. Why would you say such a thing? “Are you planning on leaving?” He asked, clearly a little suspicious. “I doubt you would say such a thing on any normal day.”

You gulped down and chuckled a little dryly, looking at his desk while your hands fiddled with the hem of your shirt. “I… might not be able to work here anymore starting tomorrow, I don’t know yet. So, just in case I do have to quit, I just wanted you to know that you have been a fantastic coworker.”

He was a little taken aback by your sudden gratitude. In fact, no one had ever complimented him that way since he was rather cold and sour to other people, but he accepted it nonetheless. “Thank you, (Y/N). You have also been a great coworker, no matter what happens, I hope you will find satisfaction in the path you are following.”

“...thank you.” You turned around immediately as you felt tears grow in the corners of your eyes, and you couldn’t let him see it. You simply waved at him and left his office, every step you took feeling heavier and heavier. All you could hope for was that your potential suitor wouldn’t make you stop working at the Bureau. 

Your chauffeur was waiting for you outside and you sat on the back seat as if it was an electric chair. The ride home felt awfully quick and you couldn’t stop squirming and nervously pulling on your sleeves in anxiety.

As soon as you stepped inside your family’s manor, your father ordered you to get changed into something more refined, and hearing his authoritative tone demotivated you from your initial goal of appearing rude and ungraceful; the consequences would be too great.

You stepped into your room and picked a nice black dress that stopped at your ankles and had long sleeves. Your shoes were simple, with small heels to make your legs appear thinner. A bride supposedly dresses in white, for her marriage is the happiest day in her life, and here you were, wearing all black. It fit you really well and you were still graceful; your father probably wouldn’t say anything about it.

As you brushed your hair, you put on some discrete jewellery and refreshed your makeup a little, reminding yourself not to cry so you wouldn’t ruin it a second time. 

The belfry that tolls your death knell resonated in the form of a knock, followed by the screeching of the front door. Now was probably your last chance to jump out the window and run away, but you knew better than to disappoint your parents in such a way. 

One of the maids came to get you, and you made sure to take your time and walk slowly, savouring these last moments of freedom, your mind filled with Orter’s face and voice, his beautiful golden eyes, the way he would look so silly whenever he took his glasses off to rest, and the words he had said today. 

A long sigh escaped you and you stepped into the living room, your eyes on the ground the whole time as you sat on the couch next to your father, finally facing the man who was unwillingly about to crush all of your dreams, not even sparing a glance at him.

“My offer still stands, (Y/N).” The man spoke and your eyes widened slightly. It had this tone, this unmistakable neutrality to it, a voice you could probably differentiate amongst thousands. You looked up slowly and your heart stopped beating for a second.

Here he was, sitting in front of you, next to his own father, his legs crossed and his figure leaning back against the couch as he adjusted his glasses. You couldn’t believe your eyes and immediately thought you were dreaming. 

Why, of all the people your father could have chosen, why was Orter Mádl the one sitting in your living room? You were suffocating, but not in a bad way. It was as if a huge weight had been lifted off your shoulders and chest, your diaphragm finally free from the oppressing grip anxiety had on it.

“That is, of course, if your father allows it.” He added, looking at your father who chuckled in a surprised way. It seemed he had no idea Orter was your coworker— and additionally, the only man you truly desired. “Am I allowed to take your daughter out?”

You looked at your father in surprise, and he looked back at you in confusion. “Why, yes. It would be better if you two get to know each other first anyway.” He added, and you let out a sigh of relief. Sure, Orter was probably not in love with you, but this scenario was much better than you had anticipated. He stood up and adjusted his waistcoat and tie, then held out a hand for you to take. 

“Well then, miss (L/N), let’s have a drink and talk about this all, shall we?”

And suddenly, it felt like the death penalty wasn’t so bad anymore.

[smilingformoney]

Rickmas Day 8: Never-Ending Consequences

Character: Severus Snape (Harry Potter) Relationship(s): Snape/Persephone, Snape & Abbie, Snape & Lily Warnings: None

Based on Soul of Ice

Read on Ao3 or below:

Three years had passed since the Battle of Hogwarts, and still, nobody seemed to be able to let it go. Immediately after the battle, almost every single day, an owl flew into the kitchen of Nightingale House in Lamorna, on the coast of the Celtic Sea, and dropped a letter or two on the table before flying off again. They were always the same - requests for interviews from the Daily Prophet, from independent writers and former students who suddenly realised they’d always respected Professor Snape.

By now, the frequency had lessened, and the letters were down to a few per month. Still, any interview requests always wound up in the same place: disappearing into ash at the bottom of the fireplace.

Severus Snape didn’t care to give strangers his life story. Neither did his wife Persephone for that matter, and as for their daughters - well, Abbie was off in America most of the year, and when she was home she had better things to do. April and Ariadne were both two and a half, so they had little to say about anything - nothing comprehensible, anyway. Most of Ariadne’s speech was babbling, and April wasn’t speaking yet at all.

It came as a surprise to Severus, therefore, that during a trip to London to pick up some supplies for his Potions research, he saw his own name in the window of Flourish & Blott’s.

He almost missed it, as he was focused on avoiding the crowded streets to get to Knockturn Alley, but he happened to glance at the book shop, and stopped in his tracks when he saw a new release being advertised.

A black leather book cover, and green writing emblazoned across the front: Snape: Scoundrel or Saint?

A few steps closer to the bookstore, frowning in disbelief, and Severus was able to make out the author’s name on the cover.

Rita Skeeter. Of fucking course.

Irritated, Severus immediately turned and stormed away. The last thing he wanted now was for anyone to see him looking at that book cover.

He almost stormed right into someone; after they managed to jump out of his way, another wizard wasn’t so lucky, and found himself shoved aside as Severus made a beeline for the darkened entrance to Knockturn Alley and disappeared into the shadows.

Later, after putting April and Ariadne to bed, Severus went outside to his garden; now the sun was down, it was the perfect time for him to cultivate his moonflowers. That was what he told himself, anyway - perhaps a more truthful reasoning was so that he could ruminate on the fact Rita bloody Skeeter had had the audacity to write a book about him! He had spent years ignoring requests for interviews because he specifically didn’t want anyone other than the very few people in the world that he trusted to know anything about him. If it were up to him, he would fade into obscurity and no one would know his name except for his immediate family.

Unfortunately, Severus didn’t have that luxury. Apparently, it was illegal to obliviate the entire wizarding population, as Harry Potter had reminded him. Harry Potter, the boy who broke every rule he could find in the Hogwarts rulebook, was now an Auror, and he was the one enforcing the law. How unjust.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the whole. damn. world. knew his name - the whole damn wizarding world, at least. Muggles had fortunately yet been saved the misfortune of knowing the name Severus Snape. 

And why? Why had Severus, the least likeable, most asocial and unfriendly wizard in the country, become famous?

He could blame it on Harry Potter, who liked to blurt out at every opportunity what a hero Severus was. He often did blame it on Harry Potter, because blaming things on Potter! had been second nature to him since he was eleven years old.

But Potter didn’t make up Severus’ role in the wizarding war. He had indeed been a key player in the war, acting as double agent between Dumbledore and the Dark Lord, risking his life by deceiving one of the greatest Legilimens of all time, planting false information with the Dark Lord and bringing valuable truths back to Dumbledore.

And why had he done that?

Guilt. Shame. An impressive amount of self-hatred that stemmed from stupid decisions he’d made when he was barely a child.

Because, being young and stupid and naïve, and very stupid, a twenty-year-old Severus had thought it a good idea to tell the Dark Lord of a prophecy he’d overheard. He hadn’t thought of the consequences outside of the immediate. “If I tell the Dark Lord of this prophecy of his doom, he’ll reward me for warning him.” That was the only consequence Severus thought of, the only consequence he cared about at the time.

He didn’t consider that telling a psychopath that a yet unborn child was fated to bring him down would cause that child to be in danger. Perhaps he did; perhaps he didn’t care.

Nor did he consider that the Dark Lord wouldn’t just try to kill the child - he’d kill anyone who stood against him. Someone like the child’s parents. Someone like the child’s mother.

And so Severus was left with nothing. Lily, his first friend, dead; Persephone, his first love, so disgusted by him that she cut off all ties.

He had visited her, once, after Lily’s death. He wasn’t sure why. Perhaps some stupid part of him thought that, if he showed her he regretted who he’d been, she could forgive him. Instead, she asked him to leave, and he lived over a decade with the burden of guilt resting on his shoulders, knowing the consequences were all his own doing. Lily and Persephone had both loved him in different ways at different times - and it was because of him they were gone from his life.

And the question, the ultimate question, the one he wrote on parchments a hundred times before throwing them in the fire in disgust with himself.

Is the child mine?

That was the ultimate consequence. A decision to divulge valuable information had led to death; and a decision to do as humans naturally do had led to life.

If the consequences never ended, his penance never would. So even though it had been well over a decade, when the Dark Lord returned, Severus knew what he had to do.

He had to protect Lily’s child, for her sake.

He had to protect his own child - for her sake.

Did being a Death Eater make him a scoundrel? Did being a spy make him a saint? Or was he just a man, making mistakes as men do, and fixing them as men should?

The consequences of his actions as a spy weren’t always good, even if he told himself they were in the name of good. People died. He may have only killed one, but there were so many he could have saved. Hearts broke. He continued to make poor decisions. After being so reckless in his youth, the older Severus questioned everything he did. Would the plans he made work? Was he right to make the sacrifices he did? Could he have achieved his aim with less pain, less death, less betrayal?

He knew the questions would haunt him for the rest of his life. He knew he would never find the answers.

That was why, kneeling in the dirt of his garden as he shaved the dead leaves from his moonflowers, Severus started to laugh. Saint or Scoundrel? What sort of question was that? It was impossible, unknowable. He didn’t have the answer. His own wife wouldn’t have the answer if he asked. Yet this woman who knew nothing about him thought she could answer. She thought she could weigh a feather against the heart of a man she knew nothing about and give judgment.

But that, he supposed, was a consequence everybody faced. People always try to make judgments of others when they have little to no facts. He, by misfortune, was being judged publicly.

He couldn’t control what the general population of dunderheads did, or what they thought. Sixteen years of teaching had taught him a lesson too - one cannot force someone to learn something they don’t want to know. If they wanted to believe him one or the other, there was nothing he could do about it.

What he could do was control his own reaction. He could burn every copy of the blasted book - and admittedly, this was the most tempting and would be the most cathartic. He could petition the Ministry to force the recall of the book - but knowing a book was recalled would only make people want to read it, and believe it, more.

Or, of course, he could continue to live his life. He rarely left home anyway. The only people who mattered in the world - his wife and three daughters - they knew the truth. They knew who he was. Persephone and Abbie were the only people who saw him for what he was, who knew what he’d done and in some cases had seen it too. They, more than anyone else, knew the worst of him.

And yet they loved him.

Persephone had married him. Abbie had taken his name. They called themselves Snape with pride, knowing what it meant to most people, but that didn’t deter them. Because they knew what it really meant and who he really was - and they loved him as much as he loved them.

Severus had too many regrets to count. And yet, if changing a single thing would risk losing what he had found, he knew he would do it all again in a heartbeat. The consequences of his decisions from many years ago may be never-ending, but so was the love he had found with his family, and he wouldn’t change that for anything. Certainly not for a bloody book.

[theonethatwatchesalotofshows]

I have already talked about how people hate Rory for the same negative traits that they ignore or even praise in Paris but I would like to talk more about the narrative that Paris is sooo hard-working while Rory just slides through life on pure luck and privilege.. because that's literally not what happens. Let's break this down:

Claim 1: "Rory is privileged while Paris is hard-working."

How is Rory more privileged than Paris? They are literally both white and go to the same fancy prep school, except Paris went to fancy schools like this literally all her life while Rory transferred in her sophomore year. I would argue Paris is more privileged than Rory. Out of the two of them she is the one that grew up in a mansion with lawyer parents and a silver spoon in her mouth, while Rory grew up in a shed (they lived there for more than half of her childhood) with a single working blue-collar mom. Yes Rory has rich grandparents and will inherit one day but she didn't even really know them until she was 16, so she didn't benefit from their money and connections for all her childhood, while Paris has.

How is Paris more hard-working than Rory? They are both top students in the same prep school, they are both in the student government and school paper, they both built that house one summer. People love to say how "Rory never has a job" but Paris literally didn't have a paid job till she was 21 and when she got one she spent the whole time complaining that she has to work. While Rory worked at the inn part-time in high school, worked at the school cafeteria in Yale, did the inventory at the Stars Hollow bookstore (although this one annoys me because she ended up spending more on books than earning), did the internship at Mitchum's newspaper, worked for the DAR, at the Standford Gazette and then had the tutoring business along with Paris. She worked, we just sadly didn't see it that often.

"But Paris had extracurriculars" so did Rory- the aforementioned student government and paper, volunteering to build the house that one summer, and I am sure all those years of helping out at Stars Hollow's festivals and town events count. Rory had extracurriculars, volunteering and work experience, while Paris only had the first two.

Claim 2: "Rory takes everything from Paris that Paris deserves more"

If you watch the show you will see that's not true and I don't say that because I think Paris is dumb or lazy. The problem with Paris is that she lives in her own personal hell where everyone is out to get her or sabotage her, so she acts accordingly and ends up getting in her own way and sabotages herself. It happens time and time again. Rory didn't get into Harvard over Paris because she was more privileged or luckier, she got in because she is likeable and didn't bomb the interview unlike Paris. Rory didn't become the new Yale Daily News editor in chief over Paris because of dumb luck, it was again because she was likeable and capable, which made the people like her more and vote for her over Paris, who was a terrible editor. As to how Rory became valedictorian over Paris I don't know, I am not American so I have no idea how that works, but maybe if Rory's grades from Stars Hollow High counted and Paris's grades slipped after she got rejected from Harvard, it is possible that Rory had better grades than her? I have another theory that the headmaster didn't want Paris to give a speech after the fiasco on C-SPAN, so he just named Rory and Brad over Paris, but I have no idea if he can do that.

Anyway, I don't hate Paris but these double standards just piss me off. I mean I understand that Paris seems more relatable to most people exactly for these reasons- because things usually don't go her way and she gets in her own way a lot. But please don't ignore the facts.

[thebottomfromhell]

Hiiii! Could I request something for Hantengu (main body). I could imagine him getting jealous over his clones. Maybe they’re being extra touchy feely and he’s jealous. Thank you so much!

No prob, jealous Hantengu coming up! Sorry for the wait, as always.

Hantengu being jealous over his clones, GN Reader

Warnings: idk, this one seems pretty safe, Slight harm to reader (Hantengu just grabs you). Also a description of Hantengu that might inply sexua content.

Hantengu has always been fine with having you around the clones. Who else is meant to protect you? To keep you around? Him? HAH! Nice one, the idea of you depending on him make him want to throw up of the nerves. How is he supposed to keep you safe and happu when everything is so scary? So unfortunate! He can't, he can't do it by his own, that is why he has clones!

Amd of course, just like he loves you, his clones adore you. Sekido watches over you, Aizetsu likes to spend time with you, Karaku is the first one to come up with something fun to do and Urogi even sleeps over you (he doesn't need to sleep, he likes the cuddles). The four are rather protective over you, which is good. Is good, of course it's....

"And Sekido was like "Urogi, you better stop before get angry" but he didn't need time to get angry before attacking us all! We are so in pain! We need attention and adoration to heal up!" Karaku justifies the fact that he si sitting in your feet while Urogi is grabbing you from behind to lean in your back. Aizetsu is just quietly cleaning his spear besides you and Sekido is fumming some steps away. "You should be more respectful of people's property and personal space!" Aizetsu speaks without looking. "You can leave if you want to. It's sad that you pretend you don't want attention too, getting the short stick for your pride." Holy shi- as if Heantengu didn't need more reasons to feel insecure. His clones are so.... likeable, maybe, probably even more than him, and the fact that They. Keep. Touching. You.

It's an impulse that gets him into grabbing your arm and pull you from Urogi's hold, pushing Karaku to the ground in the process. "Eeeeeeck! Get away! Get away!" The clones just look at him, slightly confused, as the main body keeps pulling you to himself. "Get away!" Hantengu is trembling, thick tears rning through his arms as he squeezes hard enough to leave some marks in your skin. The clones then look at each other, Urogi and Karaku smirking at each other.

"Oh! Is Hantengu jealous? Is he afraid that his emotions will take his beloved Y/N away from him?" Karaku stands to tease, passing his arm through Hantengu's shoulder, making the main body squeal and release your arm as he brigs his hands to cover himself. "That's not true! That is not true!" He blushes hard as he keeps crying and sobbing, specially when Urogi starts flying around them. "So cute! So cute! Hantengu wants attention! He wants attention but he is too shy to ask for it!"

Even Sekido and Aizetsu smile a little as the pleasure clone and the joy clone keep teasing their main body. You must also contain a laugh, the scene is cute. Your beloved looks so nervious, shy and a embarrased... soft, in a way. He always looks so delicate and fragile, so pitiful. "I'm not! Stop bullying me! It hurts! It hurts!" And honestly, you are into that. "It's so pitiful, so sad. Y/N is Hantengu's lover after all. But the fact that he is jealous of clones of himself. It's very, very sad, pathetic even." Even Aizetsu joined in!

Part of you wants to wait and see if Sekido will also join to tease and bully Hantengu, to let you see that face become more flustered, the body shaky, the whimpers louder. A pretty mess for you to pick up for yourself. But. You can also feel the intense, begging gaze, of Hantengu upon you. He wants you, needs you, he can't share you with anyone. Help him, make him feel safe, pleasepleasepleaseplease

"I think that's enough." You decide to have mercy with Hantengu and push Karaku off gently, the main body taking the chance to cling into your waist, kness on the ground and face burried in your stomach as he weeps. "Y/N! Y/N! Y/N! Too much accusations! Please! I'm being bullied!" You can only smile as you pet his head. "Don't worry darling. You are safe with me." He keeps crying against you as you comfort him, the rest of the clones looking. Urogi chuckles, Karaku looks bored, Aizetsu is pitying Hantengu with a side-eye and Sekido just looks uncomfortable.

"Can you leave me alone with my little Hantengu? I want to have a moment." Sekido rushes before anyone else can speak, using his staff to stab both joy and pleasure before they can speak. As they complain of the pain, anger stamps the ground with the end of his weapon. "We will be leaving now! We don't want to see whatever you will do! So you all three fuckING MOVE!" He stamps the floor again, this time attacking with the electricity, forcing everyone but you and Hantengu to move before joining them.

"Mine... mine... please! Please let me-" He can't even articulate his thoughts, but you don't mind. "Yes, I am yours. No need to make a little scene." He relaxes once you say that, and damn- "Or do, it's so cute when you act so helplessly." He sobs again as he grips harder against you. What? He is fun and cute to tease.

[kassandrasdisciple]

~spoilers for ATLA, LOK and ALL COMICS~

A critique of

(Significant Spoilers / final panel spoilers)

Tl:dr at the end

Disclosure

Hi, this is going to be a critique specifically about how June and irohs interaction in bato of the watertribe (BotWT) was delt with in the bounty hunter and the tea maker (BHatTB).

I recognize this is only 1 page in a 78 page long comic but I think it's worthy critiquing how this was handled. I've watched both shows, read all the ATLA comics, along with the one shot ALTA comics, I'm not meatriding for Iroh in this as you'll see, neither will I do the like for the writers of the show or the comics, I also won't demonize either, I'll just be stating what i disagree with and what direction I think would serve the world/characters better.

1. The Comic in Question

This comic is an okay comic, like the other one shots it's self-contained, if you don't read these, it's fine as they won't come up in any other works from avatar studios (apart from maybe Azula: and the spirit temple). Due to this microcosm, they have all focused on characters or world building that either the audience or the writers think is worthy of expansion (the metelbending academy, sukis imprisonment, ect). You'll also notice a meta theme in that all these comics are woman-focused, expanding the role and background of our female cast, this is a mystery mouse KaTool that'll help us later. This is interrupted by our deuteragoists of BHatTB.

The plot, in summary, is that June is hired to capture Iroh by an old soldier who served under iroh and wants revenge for Iroh leaving him in Ba Sing Sei. In the background is tea cartels and the dying career as a bounty hunter in a peaceful world.

The title would lead you to believe that both protagonists have equal impact but make no mistake this is an Iroh comic. I love Iroh as a character, bit this comic was written with the explicit effect of maintaining his pedestal. After hes captured by June he gives the "perfect" apology by hitting all the action points, initiating the apology and leaving June to accept it on her own time. Later we get an acceptance of the apology and she starts working for Iroh, making it explicit that he's been forgiven by June for how he acted in BotWT.

Secondly, in the beginning and end of the comic he explicitly rebukes his warmongering ways, apologizing to a earth kingdom protester (side note: this scene is a whole thing, I personally found it distasteful but I'll leave it to another day) and later apologizing to his ex-soldier while reinforcing his repentance for being a general. This is a more general apology to all the people who make "Iroh is a war criminal" memes.

2. Why was this nessesary

Because BotWT aged like milk. There's a conspiracy theory that the third writer, Ian Wilcox, was blacklisted from writing for the show after this, but I can't find any evidence other than the fact this was the only episode he wrote, compared to others writing multiple episodes, however he was a busy writer so he might've just not had time. Also both Bryan and Micheal are credited so their just as complicit.

It makes the most likeable fire nation character so far seem incredibly creepy. Unfortunately it aired in 2005 and this was an incredibly common gag, especially in anime(and still is), which avatar took a lot of inspiration from (think of master Roshi from DB or Jiraiya from Naruto). Iroh is filling the pervy old man trope and in the early 2000s that was perfectly fine.

Tragically time isn't stationary and as writers rooms for cartoons have gotten more diverse we've all come to the conclusion it's weird as fuck. I think it's weird as fuck. However why did 1 scene from 1 episode nearly 20 years ago (I just gave myself psychic damage FUCK I'm old) need a comic tie in?

Because media literacy is dead and CinemaSins.

Okay no, so the TL;DR is that Iroh has become a mascot for avatar studios, but also people make perv and war criminal memes about him, and you don't want to sell merch with the war criminal on. So they did the beauty and the beast remake move and made a follow-up to address all the CinemaSin-esque takes.

Unfortunately the interesting part of Iroh is that he was a war criminal (this is a joke, IK they dont have Geneva, chill). He was an interesting shade of grey but when you put someone on a pedestal they either stay in the sky or fall, and avatar studios decided to build some scaffolding. This entire comic was a way to scrub the morally bad parts of Iroh away, and personally? I think that's pretty boring, so what else could we do?

3. The ReWrite

So first thing what's the comics theme? I don't want to change too much so let's keep that the same, luckily I think June's mum sums it up.

Freedom, and along with that, responsibility to grant freedom. June wants to be free and gives freedom to Iroh, Iroh wants to be free of his guilt but to do so he must take responsibility, Fan and the others wanted freedom and took responsibility for their lives, making a homestead, and lastly Keung wanted Freedom from his past and was going to make Iroh take responsibility.

Metatextually this is also a comic about freedom for Iroh and June's characters by taking responsibility for what happened in BotWT, so we'll keep that theme.

Secondly, I lied about not making big changes, we're kicking out Iroh and the tea cartel plot. Our new title is The Bounty Hunter And The Fire Lord. Our new plot is going to be set after azula and the spirit temple, and follow an unsuccessful attempt my Zuko to find Azula with June's help. We're keep June struggling to find work, and even meeting Fan and the ex-hunters. We're also going to keep the fallout of BotWT.

5. Why Zuko

For this story I envision a fire nation that is returning to pre-war mentalities, and I think in this nation sexism would be returning hard. Just like the UK after WW2 women had been moving towards egalitarianism but were shoved back to the household once peace was established. In this climate Zuko doesn't know what to do, remember, the 2 non-genociding states are both patriarchal with misogyny baked in, the Water tribes are Overt, but outside of Kyoshi island we don't see women in power in the Earth Kingdom. Zuko doesn't have a societal reference for equality other than his homeland, and he's previously been erasing alot of fire nation culture (dragon hunting, colonies, royal deification), he's now dealing with advisors trying to tell him how women should act and he's frozen, should they be like the water tribes?

Secondly, Zuko has no female advisors, he has Katara and Toph as friends, he has Suki and Mai in the palace but none of them know the court machinations, not like Azula would. His mother has been out of the court longer than she was in it, and is still pretty traumatized. So, spurred on by his need to do the right thing and as another excuse to bring Azula back into the family, he hires June to help him find his sister.

I know it might seem out of left field but personally, it would be great worldbuilding for how we went from the treatment of Zeisan and Ursa to fire lord Izumi. Secondly Zuko is always itching to reconnect with Azula in the comics and he loves making bad decisions, he's also got more backstory with June than Iroh.

Onto the meat of it, on their road trip June opens up more to Zuko, same as she did with Iroh, and zuko uses June as a sounding board for all these questions he wants to ask Azula. June has traveled the world's underbelly, she knows what women are capable of and the calculating demeanor means she gives similar answers Azula would.

Eventually Zuko says he could've asked Iroh for his help on the topic, but June snorts at him, she tells the story of what happened to her from her POV. We don't have Iroh to give us a perfect apology, we have Zuko having to choose if he defends his uncles honour or not, who does he believe? This is what his story is about, does he believe his advisors or the women of his country.

Let June use her knowledge of what the dark side of the world is like, let her say what a noble fire nation man probably grew up hearing about women, especially when in the beginning of the war we see no female soldiers, so the gender roles where probably still enforced.

If you want to address Iroh's actions then have them serve the greater narrative, how have women been treated by the fire nation, and also don't have the interaction be kept to just June and Iroh, have it between a woman extending trust and a Fire lord who all to often puts Iroh on the same pedestal as the audience.

If you want, you can have a final scene with Iroh, where he sides with June and apologizes, but I think what we where given serves only the male cast and relegates June's story to a checklist, instead of treating it like a narrative she should get to control.

TL:DR

BHatTB whimped out on adressing Irohs actions, and it's easy to see that they did so just to get people to stop bringing it up. I'd instead propose this conversation happens with Zuko; with Zuko being treated as the audience, glamourisng Iroh, and June reinstating that he's still a human man, and that he isn't free of societal influence.

Have it be about freedom, both individually and societally, and responsibilities; to those you hurt and to those you've sworn to protect.

Again, this critique was focused on this one interaction, if I was to do a full rewrite I would change other aspects and flesh out how I think a June/Zuko road trip would go, still it would be vastly more interesting than what we got.

[noxer]

"Getaway - from hero to zero"

DISCLAIMER: Everything expressed is a subjective opinion that does not claim to be true or significant, I am not justifying anyone, and all this is necessary to simply examine one character under a magnifying glass.

I really love Getaway as a character because you can endlessly interpret him and his actions, even though he only appears in MTMTE and LL, which I remember were written by the same writing team. Getaway is interesting as an antagonist, especially since at first he is presented as a rather likeable character, and at the time of the events of MTMTE his motivation is still quite understandable. And the fact that it's getting such a negative reaction shows how well it's written (or how much people like Cygate). And he’s so pathetic that I want to tenderly bite his head off. So I want to put together what we have on this special agent and see what he’s like. After all, despite the fact that he is revealed to us in comics, we can only guess about many details, since the writers could not show everything as it is, so as not to disrupt the intrigue.

First steps

The only thing we know about Getaway's past is his telling Tailgate about his first battle, from which the newly activated Getaway escaped. I don’t want to analyze specifically the act itself, because it is quite difficult to judge whether this escape was justified or not (pro - what else did the Autobots expect from a newborn?; con - the other MTO, it seems, remained to fight). I want to talk more about the impact of this act on Getaway's personality. Because Getaway is definitely ashamed of what happened, since it doesn’t fit into the image he wants to create. The only reason he shares this story with Tailgate is to a) make Tailgate feel sorry for him; b) instill in Tailgate an even greater sense of hostility towards Decepticons; c) a kind of therapy - he needs to share this with someone, and he doesn’t feel an emotional attachment to Tailgate, that is, he doesn’t care what he thinks about him, plus, Tailgate still has to die according to the plan, which means he’s already won't tell anyone anything.

Shame in most cases leads to anger, either at oneself or at others. Getaway chooses the second, and begins to slowly accumulate resentment and anger towards both the Autobots and the Decepticons, that is, towards those who started this war and thus forced him to be born as a soldier. In addition, the feeling that he is now forever branded a coward lays the first bricks of Getaway's exorbitant ambitions, as a way to make amends for his initial transgression. Let's add to this the very status of Getaway as literally a consumable item - the fact that he could die in the first minutes of his life was quite expected. Then attempts to become something big become a matter not only of ambition, but also of banal survival, because a specialist is less likely to be sent directly under fire than an ordinary soldier.

Diplomatic corps

We know almost nothing about Getaway’s work in the special unit. What I want to highlight here is Getaway's attitude towards Prowl. He clearly has a certain respect for him, and we have no reason to believe that this respect is feigned, if only because Getaway's behavior is in many ways a copy of Prowl's, only a little more inept. Getaway tries to manipulate like Prowl, tries to scheme like Prowl, but since he has less experience being the one who plans the operations rather than the one who executes them, things do not go entirely smoothly. Honestly, I can't get out of my head the image of Prowl berating Getaway not for attempted mutiny, but for how clumsy it was.

I mean, his entire plan rested on one Tailgate, and if something happened (and it did), all, literally all the threads would lead to Getaway. Getaway tries to be smart and accurate, but in the end his actions still amount to brutal blows to the head (sometimes literally), simply because that's how Getaway is used to acting. He is an operative, not a tactician or strategist. He acts here and now, with small goals like “kill X”, “successfully escape”, “survive”, and when fate confronts him with the need for long-term planning, Getaway simply cannot cope. No matter how manipulative the scriptwriters make him out to be, for the most part Getaway behaves almost instinctively. I highlight this this way because a similar pattern of “a small person (bot) trying to seem like something big” is clearly visible in Getaway’s behavior almost always. He tries to be an Autobot, but escapes from his first battle. He tries to be an "evil genius", but in the end, all his plans fail and he gets through only through luck and evil chaotic throwing, in the hope that something will work. He wants to become Prime, but does everything to ensure that his name is associated with this title as little as possible. Getaway may be a villain, but he's primarily a failed villain, not a villain with a plan.

"Primus apotheosis" - or similar symptoms?

I'm actually very wary of the whole "primus apotheosis" situation, because it was only added in LL, and therefore there are some doubts and inconsistencies with MTMTE, but more on that a little later. What do we know at all: there are certain signs that distinguish Prime from among ordinary bots, and Getaway, having discovered them in himself, becomes fixated on this. Why is that? Back to the “I’m-more-than-I-seem” pattern. For Getaway, it is important to be more significant than he is, so much so that he is ready to cling to semi-mythical descriptions just to feel better. In fact, these signs are no better than some “aryan standards” - they are just an easy way to gain superiority over others. For Getaway, “primus apotheosis” is only a consequence of his ambitions and inferiority complex, which took this form due to the war surrounding him and a certain “cult of Prime” that reigned among the Autobots. Since 1) i am a doctor not in the field of psychology, 2) we have no information about the Cybertronian psyche, 3) Freud’s diagnoses is not the most reliable, in principle, it is difficult to say whether Getaway actually has such a disorder, but if yes, it fits perfectly into his image.

Also, the “primus apotheosis” fits into another aspect of Getaway’s personality – his rather contradictory relationship with their god. The Autobots, unlike the Decepticons, in some places still retain a somewhat functional attitude, as well as faith in Primus. From this point of view, Getaway is in a rather unenviable position - he is a MTO who ran away from his battle, that is, in some sense, did not fulfill his function, he is constructed cold, that have long been considered second-class, he is a murderer, no matter what he said. And Getaway simultaneously hates Primus for who he created him, who he forced him to be, and longs for recognition and forgiveness from him. Becoming a Prime was about affirming that he was worthy, that he was forgiven, that everything he had done was right. Because if sinners like Optimus and Rodimus could become Primes, then so could Getaway.

Mutiny

We already know that Getaway hates his origins, and this anger is constantly projected onto others, but especially Megatron. The logical chain is as follows: “if you had not started the war, I would not have been created as MTO, I would not have had to become what I became, I would not have had to prove my right to life, I could have been like others.” For Getaway, Megatron is another obstacle to being as valuable as the others. He dared to start this war, and made Getaway's life like this. I also wonder if Getaway might see killing Megatron as some kind of “redemption”? "I killed the greatest monster in our history, something previous Primes couldn't do, I'm not that hopeless, right?" However, even if you remove the specific reasons, Getaway will still have the motivation to get rid of Megatron, because of whom many, many cybertronians died. Removing the one who started and supported the most destructive war of your species away sounds like a good reason. And Getaway does everything for this purpose, at least until the ill-fated events of LL.

Crucial moment

The difference between Getaway MTMTE and Getaway LL is quite noticeable. In MTMTE, Getaway is motivated precisely by his hatred of Megatron as a military leader; his “primus apotheosis” was only added into LL. In MTMTE, Getaway really was a mini-Prowl - he had a completely understandable and even justified motivation - to get rid of an objectively dangerous crew member - which he solves in a not the most humane way, using Tailgate. Getaway in MTMTE has a lot of likeable traits until we are gradually introduced to his slightly less pleasant sides, making it difficult for us to know how to feel about him. Yes, he put one of the beloved characters in danger, but he did it for a reason we can understand. We get asked a pretty tough question, which is great, right?

Now forget all this. Because in LL, Getaway does terrible things for terrible reasons, and his “primus apotheosis” is revealed, and it just becomes difficult for us to respect him at least as a villain.

But why is this even the case?

Doylist explanation

It was vital to the writers that the core cast was Always Right™. In MTMTE, it was quite easy to sympathize with Getaway (unless you are a fierce fan of Tailgate and Cygate). And since the main goal was the redemption of Megatron, Getaway had to be removed. Because Getaway's character asked this question: "Maybe Megatron can redeem himself. Maybe he deserves it. But what if we, who suffered from his decisions, are physically unable to forgive him after all? Don't we deserve our good ending?" And the writers didn't have an answer to that question (because there's no right answer). And they had to make Getaway much worse so that readers would not have the slightest desire to understand and and accept his ideas.

Watsonian explanation

Getaway has really, truly gone crazy. He has currently spent some time in a cell, unable to move or speak, having previously been held captive by Tyrest for an undetermined amount of time. Yes, Getaway is an operative, his psyche must be prepared, but everyone has their own limit of strength. Getaway later leaves the team at the mercy of DJD because they were the ones who threw him into the cell, even though he was doing them a favor by getting rid of Megatron. Thus, he allows his partner and friend to die, which is also unlikely to contribute to mental health. And as time goes on, Getaway's actions become increasingly desperate and insane in an attempt to survive and reach Cyberutopia, where he hopes he can find forgiveness for all the terrible things he has done. In the end, his last actions are, in order, 1) an attempt to blow up the ship along with himself; 2) unsuccessful suicide attempt; 3) an absolutely senseless attack on Cyclonus, either out of desperation or in the hope that he would kill him; 4) he lost his sense of reality so much that he believed the illusion created by the scraplet colony. By the end of LL, Getaway is more of a hunted animal than the calculating saboteur he was in MTMTE.

Bottom line

So what do we get in the bottom line? Getaway was destined from birth to become a bargaining chip in a conflict to which he had nothing to do. His unsuccessful "debut" began his quest to become something significant, in the hopes that others would forget who he was. Prowl gives him this opportunity, which is why Getaway begins to see him as a role model, adopting his worldview, ways of acting and attitude towards others. At the same time, Getaway “grows up” in an environment where some stereotypes and prejudices, including religious ones, still persist, and there is also an idealized figure of Prime. Since his promotion to special agent has hardly changed anything for Getaway about himself, he becomes fixated on the supposed signs (perhaps with the occasional intervention from Skids), although most of the time he "keeps it under control" until something serious happens. Getaway has loyalties and principles, he can have feelings towards others, and I don't believe his attempts to kill Megatron were always purely selfish. But Getaway puts these feelings aside in favor of “more important things,” because the fear of being a nobody again, of being just MTO running away from battle, is stronger than all his attachments. Getaway is a terrible (and rather unhappy) bot, not because he has always been like this, as they tried to present it in LL, but because between real significance - being important to someone - he chooses false significance - being important to everyone, which the same as being important to no one. It is still easier for Getaway to run away, chasing something illusory, than to fight for something important. And no one is to blame for this but him.

[esosage]

God i need more movie robotnik angst! Like my man is prime angst material and theres just not enough for him!

Need him to be sobbing, and crying, and haveing a mental breakdown.

Especially when it involves stone, since it forces him to let his walls down, and bear his soul to the other man wether he likes it or not. Which could really offer some interesting developments in their relationship.

I can see movie eggman being very antsy after he has a mental break down infront of stone, since he's primarily waiting for the other to either take advantage of him or leave him. Since thats probobly what he's experienced in relationships up till now (with the whole trust issues thing.)

Infact, i'd say he gets so antsy that he becomes a self fulfilling profocy. Being so pent up, and not beliveing stone has anything but maliciouse intent twards him now, he lashes out at the other. Saying some real horrible shit in an attempt to push him away before stone can hurt him.

He ends up secretly regretting it after the fact. He tries to convince himself that its better this way, or that he doesn't care, or that he likes hurting the other, in attempt to cover up that guilt, but he knows deep down that its just not true. Even so, that doesnt stop him from returning back to old habbits to cope with being in a very unframiliar situation: aka him being a dick. Maybe not directly to stone this time, but by avoiding him. He isn't really angry at stone, more so angry at himself, but he doesnt have the emotional intelligence to recognize that. So he tries to put up walls. In his mind hes gotten far to attached to stone and needs to cut the other man out before he has a one up over him, or uses robotniks emotions against him. But robotnik just cant do it. He cant force himself to get rid of stone, he cant force himself to just fire the man, because stone is the only person who takes care of robotnik.

Now, robotnik doesnt think that stone genuinlly cares for him, he doesnt think anyone is capable of that, but stone does give him attention. Attention, that he despretly seeks and searches for. Infact, stone has probobly cared for robotnik, more than anyone else before. Which isnt a high bar, since robotnik isn't exactly a likeable person, but its still a very big thing for a robotnnik. Because in his whole life, stone is one of the very few people who has cared about him somewhat, and managed to stick around him for this long without gwtting tired of his bulshit. And as someone who has been longing and desperate for attention their entire life, who craves it, robotnik just cant give stone up. Regardless of if stone huets him or not, because he doesn't think he'll find anyone else who will care for him as much as stone does.

Of course, he never acknowledges this, because to him, saying that he needs the agent on such a deep level is admitting to being weak. Since he's supposed to be untouchable (and perfect.) And he much less has enough emotional intelligence to understand this, so he puts up walls instead, in the hopes that stone will do it for him. That stone, just like everyone else, will get sick of his bullshit and leave. (He doesnt really want this in reality. But because he's in such an unframilar situation, hes resorting back to old habbits and lashing out to feel more incontrol. Because theres nothing robotnik hates more, than not being in control, because in his mind, if hes not incontrol then he's going to get hurt.)

Thankfully for robotnik though, stone is crazy and refuses to leave. He might have before robotnik had the mental breakdown, since he didnt belive the doctor genuinlly cared about him before then, but after the mental breakdown, he knows that the doctor cares about him more than he's letting on. So he refuses to leave, because he knows somethings up with the doctor, and he's not going until its fixed. Careing more about robotniks wellbeing than his own, (regardless of how unhealthy it is.)

This confuses to robotnik till no end, and sets his mind down another spiral. Because normally, your mean to people and they leave, but stone isn't doing that...... why? Thats the part that catches robotnik up the most: the why. In robotniks mind, he's an asshole, he knows he is, he plays into it sometimes, and thusly he thinks nobody can care about him. That because he's a horrible person, and because, in his mind, he'll never be anything but one, its simply impossible for anyone to care, much less love him. So he doesnt think stone is capable of loveing him. Which begs the question of why stone is staying.

If stone doesn't love him, and has every reason to leave him right now outside of the pay, why stay? Does he want revenge? Does he have a card up his sleeve? Is he trying to take robotnik down? Is that why he's been more nosey lately?

All of those are questions floating in robotniks head. His trust issues takeing his anxiety twards the issue and going wild. Which naturally sends robotnik down a paranoid spyral.

All of this, culminates in another argument. Stone demanding to know whats wrong, and robotnik eventually slipping up in the moment, and admiting that he thinks stone hates him, and is trying to sabatouge him.

The agent vehemently goes against this motion, claiming he would never tries that, and that he doesn't hate robotnik. Of course, due to his trust issues, robotnik doesnt buy it. Combating this with the "facts" he has gathered thus far. Asking why stone would stay with him otherwise if it wasn't to gain something.

Another thing the agent opposes, stuttering over his words to avoid saying the obviouse, but just enough to hopefully convince robotnik when he says he cares. Though robotnik keeps pushing back, still not buyinh it.

And exaughsted, stone just screams out rhe truth in the hopes that it will get through the others thick skull. Admiting that he loves robotnik, and thats why he stays, because he cares about him dammit!

This leaves robotnik floored, he doesn't belive it at first, can't fathom the thought of someone actually being in love with someone like him outside of what he can give them (relationships arw transactional in his mind,) but hes putting up a lot less ressistancdñe than before. And while he doesnt want ot admit it, logically speaking, it would explain t a lot of things.

Eventually robotnik does something slightly emotionally intelligent for once in his damn life, and asks for a moment, (he doesnt say its to prosess his emotions, but its deffinetly implied,) and he asks stone to leave.

This obviously leaves the other anxiouse, wondering if he did something wrong in admiting his feelings, but he complies. Thr two on their own to process everything..

They end up haveing a conversation about it later once they've calmed down, (something stone had to initiate,) and it ends up being productive! The two of them planning a path forward for the both of them (with no romance by robotniks request) and they begin to work on things.. very slowly yes, and with a lot of cognitive disonence on robotniks part (he still cant admit that he cares, much less loces stone yet, even if he does,) but its progress and stone is satisfied with it.

Anyhow, sorry i went on a ramble, my thoughts decided to just go this way lol. Regardless, my point still stands, robotnik is a very deep and interesting character, and deserves to ve explored more. And also deserves a hell of a lot more angst.

Thank you for listening to my bullshit.

[plusvanity]

Thanks to your blog — that I discovered randomly — I got sucked into the whole Mayhem lore. 🥲 I got the general order and gist of the things (especially around the whole mythos that people build over the years) but there is one thing that I can't stop thinking and it just bothers me.

So, we all already know that Varg and Øystein start as friends, good ones at that. Varg admires Øystein meanwhile Øystein thinks they share the same vision music wise, they burn churches together, he defends him from the press (and generally TO ME, it seems like it was Ø doing the heavy lifting and all the work in this friendship but whatever) and so on; until Varg's opinion of him shifted all of a sudden: Øystein became full of flaws, or only flaws at that point, and the tension arises. Many people spoke about how they were kind of fighting for dominance of the BM scene, but really, how much is this a factoid? Yeah Varg can brag alllll he wants about how Øystein was jealous because he was becoming more popular, but to me it's more that Ø was just annoyed by his behaviour, he did not feel threatened of being 'dethroned'; it reads like a fantasy of Varg (that besides, came out of nowhere and all of a sudden in the scene meanwhile Øystein was already a well established personality). I also do not really agree on the stance that Øystein was a megalomaniac, but I'll put that aside.

Varg at a certain point says that he 'listened to a call' where Ø was talking about how he wanted (and would) kill him. Is this even true or pulled out from his ass to justify himself? I only found one source that mentions briefly that he THOUGHT about 'getting to him first' but A) he never really wanted that nor was violent and B) it was a private conversation that got out after his death, and I'm referring to Mortiis.

Either way, it does seem that Øystein was a bit preoccupied when it came to Varg. He wanted him out and most importantly, far from himself. There is also what I'll label as a rumor that Ø was agitated after hearing that one clairvoyant (sprinkle of salt). So why would he EVER open the door to him that night? It certainly was weird and he knew that Varg was dangerous, hence why, among other things, he wanted to put him in jail. And even Varg admits that Øystein was clearly uncomfortable seeing him. Would Varg have killed him even if Øystein never opened that damn door (oh, how I wish!), or would his impulsive anger cool down?

Varg and Øystein started as friends because Varg was looking up to Øystein. I have no doubt that Varg was putting up a mark at first to seem more likeable, to get closer to Øystein and eventually become relevant in the Black Metal scene since back then he was a nobody and Øystein was a well-established personality between their friends. As time progressed, Varg's admiration turned into jealousy and envy since he was an undisclosed egomaniac and wanted to have what his 'mentor' had. Their fight for dominance is not a rumor. It is a fact that led to Øystein's tragic end.

No one can blame Øystein for getting sick of Varg's bullshit and giving him the taste of his own medicine by talking badly about Varg's on his back. I believe their animosity was going back and forth because I think I'm one of the few people who believe that Øystein had a bit of an ego too, because after all he was leading a brand new music scene and he was entitled to his position. I don't necessarily think there is something bad about this because after all he was the one (together with Pelle) who built their own, unique style. Whether he really felt threatened by Vikernes or not, we can't tell for sure.

Varg will use everything in his side of the story to make people believe that he was right all along in what he did and not only that, but he even 'did the right thing' by his delusional, egoistic and envious standards, so, my suggestion is to believe anybody else but Varg. You cannot tell what is real and what is fiction, including the call that he pretends he heard. I would say (with indulgence) that 90% of what he states is pulled straight of his ass. He is a nothing but a pathological liar and that's it.

I believe that Øystein was, to a certain extent, having the thought of Varg doing 'something' against, but when all they ever did was throwing empty threats, how could Øystein be sure that this time Varg means business? He wanted Varg out of his life, that's for certain. Vikernes' actions cause him bad publicity and his shop, Helvete, to close.

Why Øystein opened the door that night, I can only speculate the most plausible answer. It was 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning and he woke up from his sleep, too tired to realize how late it must've been, and answering the door came as an automatic reflex. He didn't know who was waiting on the other side and he was surprised to see Varg there. In retrospect, Øystein would've had the chance to put up a better fight if he wasn't taken by surprise like this, but after all, Varg had a knife on him and this was the surprise element that, if you don't have an equalizer, you've already lost the fight unfortunately.

Varg must've been a madman to drive 5-6 hours in the middle of the night from Bergen to Oslo to kill. I don't think that not having that door open, you would just shrug and be like 'Well, that's it, folks. I'm going home'. No, he would've find a way to get in. It's the adrenaline that brought you there that won't allow you to leave even if you would somehow realize that what you do is gonna cost you a lot of trouble. The impulse is too strong, you can't just walk away simply.

I also wish Øystein never opened that door, but I guess we all wish that.

[they-breasted-boobily]

Ways the plot of tua s4 could have been improved while including a lot of the same storyline:

It goes without saying that a 6 episode season was too rushed for even the shitty plot we got given, but I'll mention that these ideas would have worked better for an 8-10 episode season. Or maybe you could use them for fics or comics- I'd love to see them!

1. The careers and new lives of non-powered umbrellas: While Lila, Klaus, and Viktor had decent set-ups, the others seemed out of place. Diego's personality and desire to be a hero would have been better suited to a mall cop or traffic cop, where he feels undervalued and underutilised, rather than just beaten down as a delivery driver for jokes about peeing in a bottle. Luther only mentioned Sloane a couple of times in the entire series- with more than 6 episodes, it could have been possible to give flashbacks of him trying to get back to her, but her not recognising him and not being romantically interested. Not sure what changes could be made to his job or housing though. Allison's setup was mostly fine, but we really should have been given an explanation for why Raymond left- maybe lean into the horror of being taken from your time and timeline raising a daughter you suddenly have? Five would not work for the CIA except as a double-agent, either that or he would be retired as a fishing supplies store owner. Ben is his own whole point later in this post.

2. The marigold sake shots: I feel like this plot point added to Ben just being an asshole and scapegoat for the entire season, which could benefit from major changes. If left relatively unchanged, the fact that Klaus threw it over his shoulder could have led to greater implications if it landed on an unknown person behind them and gave them powers. This person could have been the subject of an episode or two as they were tracked down when it was necessary.

3. Ben's character: While s3 Sparrow Ben was a dick, he was not as edgy, conceited, or self-absorbed as he was in s4. I think it's fine to start his arc with him leaving prison, but making the crime as major as crypto fraud (just because you think it's funny) makes it much more difficult for him to seem likeable and relateable to Jessica or anyone else. If the crime was something more minor, or he was framed/unfairly jailed it could set up a revenge/redemption arc from the get-go. With his relationship with Jessica, it would have benefited from being more of a slow burn, or if the gradual unnatural obsession had more than 6 episodes to build up.

4. The subway romance: While I can almost understand why it was Five and Lila due to their history working together and especially using time travel together, I think if Five needed a romance (which I don't but show writers can't stand having one member of the main cast never being in a relationship), it should have been someone he met while on that 7 year subway adventure (probably an older woman) and settled with in Strawberry Tradwife timeline while Lila keeps looking for a way out for the sake of her children. Lila would find the journal a few months later and using both it and the subway map, get back to Five because she still needs his powers to get entirely out of the subway system. Could you imagine a scene with Lila trying to convince Five to leave the peaceful Strawberry Tradwife life he's always wanted after dealing with the trauma of being stuck in time twice?

5. Klaus's return to addiction: I think Klaus's arc could have definitely benefited from the season being longer. If there was a slower burn towards his addiction returning and his confrontation with Claire and if she stressed more that he didn't need to go down this path again, it could have really been impactful. The ghost sex trafficking thing was gross but if that was the only way to get him buried alive then so be it, because having him in a situation where he would have to directly face his trauma from the mausoleum and become stronger would be so good for the sendoff of his character. Maybe that could have been the point where he learned how to levitate?

6. Reginald and false memories: Why was the fact that he's literally not human and crafted this timeline so he could have as much power as possible (including a militia town) not explored at all? The plot should have revolved a lot more around at least verifying what he was saying about marigold and durango, if not about handing him a final defeat for this final season. Everything around him killing Ben led to huge plot holes (why wouldn't Klaus know the truth from Ben's ghost? Ben easily could have been spared and only Jessica shot. Why was Jessica being in a squid never explained?). While it's interesting to see the Umbrellas all give a brainwashed explanation for Ben's death, it couldn't be something as blatant as that, because Klaus would have to know even if everyone else was brainwashed. The brainwashing is an idea with promise, but it should have been something like Ben and Jessica being consumed by the giant squid together because Ben went against orders.

What other things could have been changed? I personally liked the CIA subplot, especially as it taught Diego to appreciate his family more. I also found Jean and Gene and the Cleanse conspiracy theorists to be fun new mini-villains.

[deeplyshalllow]

Hi!

So I really liked your analysis on Glinda and why where she ends up narratively makes sense; it kind of reminded me of The Hunger Games to some extent where Glinda's arc parallels Gale even though personality and physical wise, she's more like Peeta (blonde and likeable).

TBH, I think Wicked and Hunger Games mirror each other where Elphaba becomes an enemy to Oz and Katniss becomes the symbol of hope for Panem, while Fiyero parallels Peeta to some extent where his transformation into the Scarecrow is similar to Peeta's hijacking.

Also... And I just had this thought - would you agree that Fiyeraba is a reverse Beauty and the Beast? Let me clarify: while in the BATB story, the "Beast" is turned due to his arrogance, Elphaba is cursed by both her parents (her mother's infidelity and her father's rejection), there's a process where Beauty helps the Beast develop his goodness while Fiyero helps Elphaba heal from the trauma and "wickedness thrust" upon her. That last part helps the Beast regain his physical appearance while Fiyero loses his beauty but is with the women who loves him for his kindness and inner self. Now that I think about it, it's more O Henry's Gift of the Magi vibes. 😆

Would love to know your thoughts on this. 😃

Hmmm I'm not sure where I'd place Gelphiyero in the Hunger Games triangle. Though I sort of feel if anything Elphaba might be Gale to be honest? She thinks there's something wrong with the system, she's angry and wants to protest, and eventually she gets to the point where she's angry enough that she starts harming people to get her way.

Glinda, I'd probably put as Katniss, because she ends up being swept into something she wasn't expecting and doesn't necessarily agree with, and is used by a lot of people more powerful than her to get what she wants. It's only near the end that she fights back against those people and manages to have some say over her own future.

I agree Fiyero is closest to Peeta. Likeable, able to use words and charm to get his way, but when it comes down to it, willing to do anything for love.

But, as I said, I'm not sure there's a direct 1 to 1 comparison to anyone. I have actually considered before how the characters would fair in the Hunger Games (I wrote a fic with Heathers character in the Hunger Games once which worked very well for obvious reasons lol so it does mean I think about my other fandoms), and I think Elphaba would die very early as she refused to kill anyone. Glinda would probably get quite far but end up trusting the wrong person and not manage the final kill. Fiyero might be willing to make the sacrifices to win, but I think, if he didn't just become an outright alcoholic after, would immediately join the revolution.

I think Fiyeraba has a lot of beauty and the beast similarities, especially, as you said, about inner beauty. I know people take ire with the "looking at things another way" line, but it really is all about the fact that Fiyero and Elphaba value each other for their inner beauty not what's on the outside.

[luminique]

Hello, Anon who uses translator again! XD

I also loved the idea of ​​a Reader who works in Cheesetopia, do you think a Reader who is both an official mechanic for the Sons of Calydon and a cook in Cheesetopia would be possible? I think this possibility would be interesting, because, considering that it is difficult to survive in the outside area, having two jobs would be something that would make your life more stable, because it is not every day that you will probably have a motorcycle for Reader to fix or make improvements, so having another place to earn money would probably be viable, and I believe Kasa would be understanding and would allow him to have a flexible work schedule so Reader can dedicate himself to both jobs.

I would also like to know what you think of Harumasa, to be honest, I currently think he is cute, especially after seeing him in Yanagi's Demo. I know we don't know much about him yet (in fact, I think that out of many characters in ZZZ, unlike Genshin and Honkai where we have information or clues about the characters' past and goals, ZZZ leaves its characters with more mystery), but well, that doesn't stop me from imagining more about him, just like I do with Lighter. XD But about what I think of Harumasa: he seems like someone who is easy to get along with and who will easily become your friend (as long as you don't try to make him work more than necessary haha ​​XD); well, we already know from the official posts that he is much stronger than his appearance conveys, but he also gives me the feeling that he is quick to do his duties so he can rest easy and sleep (I say this considering that he was sleepy and still took care of part of Yanagi's duties); Harumasa's personality is probably more complex than just what I said, since Hoyo makes his characters with well-developed personalities, and in the 1.3 live stream it is said that the members of section 6 are all eccentric, and this must certainly apply to Harumasa.

Also considering the statements of Harumasa's former classmate and an older classmate of Harumasa's (who I believe is Yanagi, since there are already comments from Miyabi and Soukaku about him), I believe that his former master was someone decisive for him to act the way he is today, now whether this is something positive or negative we will only know with time.

Now Harumasa in relation to Reader, I can't help but imagine him trying to persuade Reader (who is his romantic partner or his crush) to relax with him, and especially using Reader as his personal teddy bear. Those typical scenes of someone using their legs or shoulder as a pillow are certainly typical of Harumasa x Reader. I also believe that making Harumasa more comfortable when he's sleeping is something that would make him captivated by Reader. I may be wrong about his personality, but he gives me this energy of someone who would like someone sweet and kind taking care of him, and that he probably couldn't wait to finish his workload so he could go out with Reader to a relaxing place.

HI TRANSLATOR ANON !! sorry for such a late reply. this is very much before i’ve played the newest story so anything i write out rn may change after i finish the story !

i think that kasa understands how hard it is to live in blazewood, so she might be willing to let you work more flexibly. even if its not as a cook, maybe a waiter or at the register.

for what i think about harumasa (pre 1.3 story), i agree that he seems to be quite easygoing especially when we first met him. he seems to have a naturally likeable personality and also understanding his own tasks and duties. in yanagi’s demo, he seems to be someone who is willing to share the workload (as long as it isn’t too much?) but maybe because it’s yanagi and she was busy.

he does seem like someone who just wants to do what he came here for though, not wanting to do too much or that will make him do overtime. if he ends up doing overtime, then that means he doesn’t get as much time with you. i think he can be that kind of person who likes spending quality time and can relax with a partner that knows he works a lot.

this is just my thoughts on harumasa and i agree with a lot about what you said !! i can’t wait to know more about section 6. if i like harumasa enough, maybe i will write for him !

[meetinginsamarra]

mayprompts2024, #32 determined

Chapters 1 to 8 here on AO3

If you like the tattoo AU give it some love on my AO3, please. It would mean a lot to me. TYSM!

The remaining chapters will be uploaded one every following day.

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White Pony Tattoo - Part Twelve (determined)

Sherlock was completely stunned by John’s angry rant.

For once, witnessing the fierce side of John’s, the fearsome soldier, the way he was bristling with furious energy and righteous anger about Sherlock deriding and loathing himself was simply spectacular.

Also, because thinking about what John had actually said, Sherlock realized with growing surprise that firstly, he himself had never seen it this way and secondly, that John had made a brilliant deduction Sherlock had been so far uncapable of observing and thus, John was pretty damn smart, too.

Sherlock blinked rapidly, trying to compute the new point of view.

“I’ve never thought about it this way before.” Sherlock said in a small but not unhappy voice.

“Obviously.” John commented gruffly and sat down in the recliner chair again.

They were quiet for the next hour, the only sound to be heard was the whirring of the tattoo gun and Sherlock’s occasional instructions for John how to hold the arm.

It was a comfortable and contemplative silence as each of the two men pondered what had been said and what there was to be learned from it.

Sometime in the midst of the tattoo job, Sherlock began to speak.

“The tattooing helped a lot, with coping, I mean.”

Then the dam of keeping his past inside broke quickly and Sherlock told John everything. He had not been right out rejected by John after confessing his junkie past and the ongoing struggle of resististing to cure the itch. He hoped that John would still not reject him after confessing how stupid and gullible he had been.

“I’ve been studying chemistry at uni and apart from the equations and chemical reactions and experiments everything else bored me. I had no other hobbies and I especially had no friends. All of my peers thought I’m was weirdo and an asshole and shunned me for very good reasons because I was both.

I always wanted to be perfect, to fit in. Just be normal. But I am not a likeable person, I’m abrasive and obnoxious and I see things that people want to hide and I hurl these into their faces so that they’ll leave me alone.

One day I met Darren on campus, a drug dealer looking for new clients and he introduced me to cocaine.

It was heaven, John.

The cocaine softened all of this. I could concentrate better. I was happy, really truely happy with myself and my life for the first time since I was a teenager.

Shortly after, I fell in love with my now regular supplier and he became my first boyfriend. Darren might even have really loved me but that didn’t stop him from taking advantage of me.

He soon talked me into using my proficient chemistry skills for synthesising Ecstasy and I didn’t think a lot about it because he gave me free cocaine that I had quickly become addicted to.

I’ve been on a continuous high for over one year and have been able to hide it very well from everybody. In fact, my peers had become more friendly and open with me now that I apparently acted like what was generally perceived as “normal”. Which only confirmed my belief that without the drug I’d never be able to function adequately.

I had developed a severe drug addiction in the meantime. I was injecting cocaine several times a day and the veins in my left arm were utterly ruined.

The first time I tried to shoot up with my left hand using the good veins on my right arm I accidentally overdosed. It happened to be right here in the shop. Back then, the locality had still been a café. Mrs Hudson had run it, serving coffee and the best home-made bakeries. She found me unconscious on the toilet floor, barely breathing. She called the ambulance and I died on the way to the hospital due to cardiac arrest but they could reanimate me just in time.”

Sherlock was grateful that all the while he talked John merely listened without any judgemental comments. Being allowed to finally let go of at least some of the hurt was a huge relief.

“While I was in rehab, I made the acquaintance of another recovering addict who was a very skilful tattoo artist. When we were both clean, I asked her to put the white pony I had designed onto my back. Her art of painting with ink on skin intrigued me and she taught me all there was to know.”

“And now you are here.” John stated.

“And now I am here.” Sherlock confirmed. “And I’ll do everything to keep being here.”

“Including to keep everybody from eventually becoming part of your life?” John asked quietly. It sounded a bit defeated.

Sherlock sighed. “So far, yes.” He looked at John. “But that might change.”

“I’d be very happy if it would.” John gathered his courage. “If you would let me into your life.”

They watched each other silently for a minute, examining their feelings and what might be found in the depths of each others eyes. The seconds stretched out, trickling by agonizingly slow.

“I’ll make you a deal.” Sherlock said, fiddling with the tattoo gun. “We’ll finish your tattoo now. You will let it heal thoroughly for two weeks and I will think thoroughly about all that’s been said today. We both have to be sure.”

“That’s okay with me.”

“And then, we will go out on a date and have dinner, if you’re still interested in getting to know me by then.”

John had already opened his mouth to strongly object that he could ever lose interest in Sherlock but was shut off by Sherlock’s gesture to keep mum.

Sherlock smiled softly and pointed to his shop sign. “No arguing, John.”

“Okay, fine, good.” John nodded and swallowed. Somehow, a tiny tear of joy at the prospect to have a chance formed in his eye.

Sherlock smiled some more. “Also, no crying, John.”

++++++

Two weeks later, John arrived exactly on time at “Angelo’s Italian Restaurant” to have dinner with Sherlock.

This time, John did not hover in front of the door, he did not hesitate, or oscillate around on the pavement.

This time, John knew what he wanted and what he needed to do. Determined, he opened the door, entered and saw that Sherlock was waiting for him at a candle-decorated table for two.

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(and they tattooed happily ever after)

Thank you all for reading, liking and commenting. It's been great to write this!

tagging some people @calaisreno @totallysilvergirl @lisbeth-kk @raina-at @peageetibbs