#i do wonder how they are going to explain that actually

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Shutter 1

Warnings: non/dubcon, stalking, and other dark elements. My username actually says you never asked for any of this.

My warnings are not exhaustive but be aware this is a dark fic and may include potentially triggering topics. Please use your common sense when consuming content. I am not responsible for your decisions.

Characters: Peter Parker

This AU is called Watcher Anonymous and will include different series for different characters. This is our introduction to Peter and Pipsqueak.

Summary: a community class brings together all sorts.

As usual, I would appreciate any and all feedback. I’m happy to once more go on this adventure with all of you! Thank you in advance for your comments and for reblogging ❤️

The community centre is a good place to waste time. After a particularly brutal break-up, it was Peter's only distraction. His only solace. He couldn't stay in that apartment he shared with MJ and working as a freelancer couldn't keep him busy if there's nothing going on.

It got even better when she showed up. Most of his students are seniors, looking for the same thing as him, a way to keep busy. She's younger but enthusiastic. While the others come once or twice a month, she's there every week.

That day, she walks in with Betsy. She always finds one of her classmates before she even gets there. She has her camera bag over her shoulder as she adjusts her thick-lensed glasses. They magnetize her irises and make the rest of her look even smaller. That's no great feat as she's tiny all over.

He welcomes each student as he always does, a smile, or a wave, a hello, or how are you. It's a bit awkward to teach people older than even his aunt, but it's more of a club than a class. There's a few new tag alongs; Jeffrey and Edith.

He goes over the focus for the week. There's lot of birds around and he asked them all to get some good snaps before migration season. There's a bit of technical difficulties as he helps them get their prints on the overhead or upload to the cloud from their SD cards. He always has to account for their varied skillset.

His attention strays from the blue jays and the cardinals to her. She sits with her legs twisted together, her eyes set on the large screen. Her glasses reflect the tint. When it comes her turn, she presents a hummingbird she proudly explains was lured to her balcony by her honey feeder. She adds that it's also against the rules but she doesn't care. She giggles and takes her seat again.

When the meeting comes to an end, the elders bluster about the traffic or bingo. It's only two in the afternoon but some are even on the way to dinner. As he waits for them to filter out, he shuts down his laptop.

"Um, excuse me, Mr. Parker," the warbly voice startles him. She stands across from him sheepishly. He almost laughs. No one calls him mister. "Um, I was hoping you could help me but if you're busy."

He's almost breathless. He's talked to her before. He talks to everyone but she's shier around the men in the class, even him.

"No, I don't have anywhere to be. What's going on?" He forces out, wondering if he sounds as nervous as he feels.

"Erm, okay," she moves her camera bag to the front of her. "I found this old camera at the thrift shop but um, I don't want to break it. I wanted to start using it..."

She pulls out the camera with the strap attached. He tilts his head as he examines it. He reaches for the compact device.

"May I?" He asks.

"Please," she hands it over. "I don't know if it's any good. It was ten bucks but... if it doesn't work I thought it would be a good ornament."

"Holy," he turns it over, "it's a Leica. That's... you know these go for a good penny on eBay. I restored a few myself..."

"Really?" She leans in and he almost loses feeling in his fingers. She's so close but doesn't seem to realise. Being so small, she probably doesn't think about it.

"Oh, sure," he plays with the shutter button. "I could have a look over and see if it's still in good condition. Do you mind if... I take it home?"

"Yeah, that would be--" she reaches for her bag again and finds her small blue wallet inside. "I could pay you--"

"What? No," he waves her off. "It's fun to me."

"Right, um..."

"I could have it done in like a day or two," he can barely hear himself over the thumping of his heart. Is he really going to ask? "Maybe we could meet up?"

"Oh, sure. I could... I could do that," she widens her eyes and they look even bigger.

"Okay... uh, maybe we could exchange numbers?"

"That sounds good," she bounces on her soles. "Let me just..." she takes out her phone in its butterfly case, "what's yours? I'll send you a message."

He recites the numbers, his tongue sticking as he focus on getting every digit right. She smiles and taps the screen triumphantly.

"There, uh, okay, you hold onto that," she sticks up a spindly finger, "and I will wait patiently for your phone call!"

"Sure, cool, yeah," he stammers, fighting his own excitement. He takes out his phone. "I'll save your number now."

"Have a good one, Mr. Parker," she gives a little hop. "I gotta go get my train."

'Guess who just got her number!'

She flits out right as he says "you two" missing the "sweetheart" at the end. He stares at the door then slowly peeks down at his phone. He adds her to his contacts then flips over to the discord chat. He smirks as he keys in his message.

A rolling eye emoji comes from Bucky and Thor sends a celebrating one. Curtis gives a thumb up and several others see the message.

'Did you get it or steal it?' Jake snarks.

Peter sneers and blacks the screen. He's not arguing with those idiots again. They're just jealous.

[gold-onthe-inside]

pair programming - part ii

navigator

who? spencer reid (s3) x analyst!reader summary: what happens after your roommate and better half is shot on the doorstep of your building by her date. turns out, you're support network seems to have more nodes that you'd thought. content warnings: reference to guns + gunshot injury, surgery, blood word count: 2.1k a/n: realised after writing this that reader has more interactions with everyone on the team than she does with penelope oops

Spencer handed you a cup of tea, sitting down beside you in the hospital waiting room, the rest of the team milling around, waiting for news on Penelope’s surgery. You hadn’t said a word about what happened, the team relying on a police officer and a paramedic’s account while you sat there in catatonic shock, blood staining your white shirt, your hoodie doing more work in hiding it. You could still feel the blood on your hands, stained from pressing down on Penelope’s gunshot wound.

Spencer didn’t know what to do or say, just pressing the warm beverage into your hands, Emily and JJ murmuring in the corner.

“Has anyone told Morgan yet?”

“He isn’t answering the phone.”

“Is she?”

“Still in shock. Hasn’t said a word.”

“And Penelope?”

“All we know is a gunshot wound to the chest, and that they’re operating now.”

Spencer’s eyes are still on you, a shell of yourself, unable to reconcile the person he sees with the person he knows. He knows you deal with threats far greater than the ones they do — they’ve just come back from arresting a cannibal, you prevent military secrets getting out and uncover espionage attempts. But it’s from the safety of a digital interface, the day to day of it so mundane that it makes him want to pull his eyeballs out. Your job doesn’t get you shot. Technically, Penelope’s job shouldn’t have gotten her shot either.

No-one was paying attention to him, or to you, which is why he’s on his knees in front of you, aligning his gaze with yours, and does one of the few things he knows how to do; explaining. He put the tea down on the floor, taking hold of your hands, your eyes distant, your fingers cold. If he couldn’t do anything for Penelope, maybe there was something he could do for you.

“When the brain experiences trauma it has an affect on the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system.” He said the words quietly, a distraction technique to bring your focus to something, even if it was nothing. “The physiological response is a fight or flight response. When your brain is unable to process the situation, it freezes in an effort to protect your mind and body. You might feel numb, or cry, or rage. You might just sit there, emotionally unable to move. You might dissociate, and feel like nothing around you is real, or that it‘s actually happening to someone else.” He squeezed your hands, hoping for a response. It felt like you weren’t even there.

“I can’t imagine how scared you must be, and I’m not going to try and tell you that everything will be okay, because it may not-,” and he hated saying the words, they felt like a lie in his mouth, but it was the truth “-but whatever happens next, I am here. I won’t leave, not unless you ask me to.”

“I can’t lose her,” you whispered. Thank god, Spencer thought as he looked at you again, and while he knew there wasn’t anything he could say that would make it all better, he also knew that the fact that you were finally verbal was probably a positive. You hadn’t said a word in hours.

“I know,” he said quietly. The team still milled around, waiting, the hospital buzzing with activity, but he felt like the words were just his and yours, the intimacy of the two of you cocooned away from the world.

"I don't..." You struggled to get the words out. "She's all I have." He watched as the tears welled in your eyes, watched as they fell down your cheeks. He wanted to reach out, to brush them away, and he hesitated, wondering what he possibly could do to comfort you.

Instead he pulled you towards him, wrapping you in his arms, a hug, and hoped that he wasn’t being too forward, and you crushed yourself against his chest, hugging him back. He ran a hand up and down your back as he held you to him, his cheek against the side of your head.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, and he didn’t know if he was apologising for Penelope’s injuries, or the fact that he couldn’t save her, or that he hadn’t been there, or because there was nothing he could do to make it better. He was just sorry.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to background check this guy?” you asked, offering Penelope your eyeliner as she finished curling her hair and she rolled her eyes.

“God, you sound like Derek,” she retorted spitefully and you frowned. It was unlike her to be say his name with such anger, when it was usually said with love, fondness, occasional lust, and just in an overall dreamy fashion. A part of you had always wondered if there was more to their relationship than just platonic friendship.

“Alright,” you replied, letting it go. Penelope was a grown woman, she could make her own decisions… and was also equally capable of running a background check as, if not more, thorough as you would have. You tried not to look at the mess that your shared bathroom had turned into, make-up supplied and jewellery scattered over the counter, leaving her to do her thing. “And I better not get a text saying you’re bringing him upstairs,” you called out as you leave.

“This is just wrong,” you murmured, looking at Penelope’s pale, all but lifeless body, tubes running from her nose and arms, wires strapped to her chest, the suite silent but for the steady beep of the heart monitor. You still hadn’t moved from the foot of the bed, willing yourself not to cry. You were not going to be one of those family members who couldn’t get a grip of themselves. You especially refused to become a blubbering mess in front of her co-workers.

“I know,” Spencer said softly, wanting to take your hand again, but holding himself back. He still never knew where he stood with you. Hell, he didn’t know how to process what was going on for him — the only thing he knew he had to do was stabilise you, never mind himself.

You finally manage to put one step in front of the other, going towards Penelope and Spencer could see your hand shaking as you gingerly took hers, the way you blinked back tears, almost refusing to breathe because you were convinced the only thing that would come out would be a sob. Spencer swallowed, moving to draw the curtains over the windows, closing the doors so it was only the three of you in the room, and kept his back turned as you finally gave in to the squeezing grip your lungs had on your heart, sinking into the chair as you cried, gripping the hand that wouldn’t squeeze back.

You started awake when you felt a large hand on your shoulder, shaking you gently, and it’s Aaron standing over you. “Sorry,” you mustered, wiping away dried tear tracks and he simply pulled up a chair beside you.

“I know it’s been a long night,” he said softly, leaning on his knees, looking at you kindly. “But we need your help.” He watches you nod, taking in a deep breath.

“Anything,” you said, a lot calmer now.

“We need to get some kind of identification on this guy,” Aaron told you, his voice measured and even and a part of you was jealous you couldn’t be as calm as he was, and partly angry that he could be this calm with Penelope this way.

“She said his name was Colby,” you said, remembering the joke you had made when she told you.

“Like the cheese?” you asked, raising an eyebrow skeptically and she scoffed.

“Do not ruin this for me,” she retorted, pointing her laptop charger at you like a wand. “He’s cute and he actually likes me. Do you even remember the last time I’ve been asked out?”

“That doesn’t mean you should go out with anyone who asks,” you replied. “I mean, what kind of person doesn’t turn on auto-save?” It earns you a glare from her and you quieten, turning back to your book.

You shook your head, trying to focus on your screen, set up right beside Penelope, refusing to leave her side even as she slept, and neither did Derek or Spencer, the former practically breathing down your neck. You glanced up at Spencer, a plea in your eyes to get him off your back, and he makes a pitiful attempt of asking Derek if he wants to go get a coffee with him, which he denies and so Spencer shrugged, so you let out a breath, focusing on what you were doing.

“There’s nothing on a James Colby Baylor,” you said, sounding tired, running a hand through your hair, then settling it back on your keyboard.

“If he knew Penelope was FBI, then maybe he used a pseudonym,” Spencer offered, his hands in his pockets, standing across from you. “Try using the same combination of letters, JCB.”

“I’m gonna need more parameters than just three letters,” you retorted, looking up at him.

“Check anyone who rented a white sedan in the last 24 hours,” Derek said, still leaning over you and you desperately wanted to hit the both of them. Repeatedly. Instead, you check car rentals across the city matching the description, matching the restaurant that they had gone to, adding your facial recognition program to look for blonde men with blue eyes. “Plus some kind of job in the justice department. Try law enforcement, former military, stuff like that,” Derek added. “He knew enough to use legal terms, but not enough to know city attorneys don’t try criminal cases. Law school dropout, failed the bar exam—”

“Jason Clark Battle,” you told him, pulling up the picture of him and you swallowed. That was him. The guy you’d seen run away from the front of your building after you heard the gunshot. Your hands curled into fists, oblivious to Derek calling Aaron about it, charging out the door. Spencer didn’t particularly want to leave either of you, but he muttered a quick, ‘Be right back’ before disappearing.

You handed Derek a mug of coffee while Penelope slept in her own bed, the door left open in case she needed either of them. He’s set up on your couch, a blanket and pillows, his gun set on the coffee table, a single light left on so he can read the file. “Can’t sleep either, huh?” he asked you and you shrugged, taking a seat on the corner of the coffee table.

“He shot her on the doorstep, Morgan,” you said quietly. “If I hadn’t been at home…”

Morgan placed his hand on your knee, warm and comforting, and even though you had made fun of him being here, calling him Penelope’s ‘guard dog’, deep down, you were glad he was here. “There’s a lot that went wrong that night,” he said smoothly, his voice low. “Don’t eat at yourself worrying about how it could have been worse.”

You huffed a little. “You mean like you’ve been doing?” you asked, looking at him pointedly and he narrowed his eyes at you.

“You sure you aren’t a profiler?” he asked, noticing the slight hint of a smile on your face as you shrug.

“I guess we’re both wired the same way,” you said, instead of the retort you had lined up in your head. “Protecting the people we care about, blaming ourselves when they get hurt.” You glanced at Penelope’s room, her open door. “She’s all I have, Morgan.” And maybe it’s the late night, the anxiety coursing through your body, the thing that makes it impossible to sleep, that starts in your head and works its way to your chest, but you can’t seem to stop yourself. “She’s everything. My emergency contact, my medical proxy… Hell, if I died tomorrow, everything I own goes to her. She’s my family. If I lose her, I have no-one.”

Derek lets a beat pass, watching you, and you can tell he knows something you don’t, because he said, “You have people. Even if you can’t see them.” You frowned a little as he went back to his file, clearly unwilling to say more, and you’ve never been one to push into personal space. Instead, you go back to your room, left with his cryptic words.

[gyeomsweetgyeom]

[2:24 pm]

(cw: f!reader, suggestive, profanity, written on my phone so expect some typos)

“Baby, are you sure your big gave you permission to drive his car?” You asked fratboy!Jaehyun, eyes on him as he drove.

“Sweetheart, he basically begged me to take this baby for a spin! He asked me to water his plants, feed the dogs, and asked me to make sure the car was alright! A car like this needs to be taken out on a regular basis!” Jaehyun explained, his eyes not leaving the road ahead of the both of you.

Earlier today when Jaehyun had told you to come to the frat house, you hadn’t expected anything out of the ordinary. Even when he’d told you to make sure you were dressed up, you didn’t question it. It was pretty safe to say that you definitely weren’t expecting to see your boyfriend waiting for you while leaning against a Maserati! A sleek and shiny luxury car that had you wondering if cars were actually sexy like guys always talked about.

“Please don’t tell me you took out a loan for this. I know guys find cars sexy, but you’re smarter than this. Did you mix alcohols last night?” You asked with concern clear in your tone.

Jaehyun waved you off with a laugh and explained that his big, a major donor to the frat, had asked him to house sit for the week. That’s how you’d gotten here, in the leather passenger seat of the fanciest car you’d ever been in and on your way to a restaurant equally as fancy.

This restaurant Jaehyun had insisted on taking you to was about half an hour from campus, so while he focused on the road, you were in charge of directions. At least you were supposed to be, but how could you possibly focus on the screen of your phone when your boyfriend looked absolutely scrumptious behind the wheel?

He was in a crisp dress shirt, a bow tie around his neck with one hand at the top of the wheel and the other pinching his bottom lip gently while he hummed along to the song on the radio. “How far away is the exit, sweetheart?” He asked, looking at you from the corner of his eye.

“Huh? Oh, um…” you looked at the screen of your phone in your hands, “oh shoot. It’s rerouting. The next exit is in 3 miles.”

“Alright, thanks, Sweets. I made a reservation for this place so we can’t be too late,” he tells you, leaning over to give your thigh a gentle squeeze.

With his touch you feel your heart pound even faster, face growing hot. Did he even know what the hell he was doing to you? Touching you, taking you on a spontaneous date, looking like a model right off the runway, and just being the best boyfriend ever. He was everything you’d ever dreamed of, everything any girl dreamed of.

This effect he had on you was something else completely. So strong and intense that you’d now missed the exit you were supposed to take and the next 4 that followed. You even make him accidentally take the wrong exit a couple times because you glance at the screen right after you miss the exit you’re supposed to take and panic as you tell him to take the next one, even if it’s the wrong one.

Jaehyun groaned, trying to keep himself calm despite how frustrated he was feeling,“Sweetheart, we have 5 minutes before we lose our reservation and we’re 15 minutes away. What is making you so distracted?! It’s not hard to look at your screen, Sweets, we do it all the time.”

You flush with embarrassment, “baby, I’m distracted!”

“Distracted by what?! Sweetheart I’m going to have to break a handful of driving laws to make it to this restaurant on time,” he sighs tiredly, trying to hide his frustration with you.

He was trying to be spontaneous! How often did a couple of college kids get to go to a restaurant this fancy? Never. Since his big was paying him pretty handsomely for house sitting, Jaehyun had figured he could treat you by taking you out to the nicest dinner both of you had ever shared. This was a big step up from the usual diners and small food shops you usually went to.

“But you just look so fucking good right now! How am I meant to be looking at a phone when I would so much rather be looking at you? Seriously, babe, you look so sexy. I don’t know if it’s the dress shirt or you behind the wheel but something is doing it for me,” you confess with hot cheeks.

It’s Jaehyun’s turn to flush now, was the car hitter or was it just him? And then the next words that leave your lips have him wishing for the earth to swallow him whole. Very sweetly, very calmly, you ask, “do your think your big would know if we had sex in here?”

Jaehyun swerves the car, hearing multiple honks from his fellow drivers on the freeway. He swallows hard, eyes wide, “Sweetheart, you can’t just ask a guy that when he’s driving!”

You pout at him, reaching across the center console to hold his hand, “but you’re not just a guy. You’re my guy, you’re my boyfriend.”

“God, you’re going to be the fucking death of me, Sweetheart,” he sighs under his breath, then his back straightens and a smug smile comes over his handsome features, “I’m that distracting in a bow tie, huh?”

“Don’t let it get to your big head, take this exit,” you instruct with a playful roll of your eyes.

So that’s how you and Jaehyun find yourselves sitting across from each other with the finest food you’ve ever eaten. You have a happy smile on your face while you take another bite of the delicious food on your plate, and Jaehyun who sits across from you and wishes he’d never chosen a restaurant so far from home and chosen some looser dress pants. The things he does for you…

[girl4music]

I wonder how they’re going to explain the girlfriend situation when Ellie still looks like she’s 12.

Not that a 12 year old can’t have a girlfriend.

I know Bella Ramsey is actually in her 20’s. It’s just there’s a lot that goes on between them that you wouldn’t expect to see from someone looking that young. Even if they are meant to be much older.

Likewise, the actress that plays Dina looks young too.

Maybe that means they’re just younger in this TV show compared to what they’re supposed to be in age.

That would make sense.

Still difficult story-wise but would definitely be better.

I mean how long would it take Ellie to get a girlfriend?

A girl like her. Not that long. And if I remember correctly, they don’t start out already dating in the game anyway. They know each other and are interested but they’re not dating right from the start of the game.

It’ll work. Druckmann knows what he’s doing. I hope.

As for Abby. I just hope she’s a lot more likeable than she is in the game. And I don’t just mean physically.

Like I said. I have no problem with buff females or “butches” as they’re often called. I just don’t want to see that be her only characteristic to her strong and powerful representation as a female and a warrior.

I want them to do something similar to what they did with Vi. Sure, fists first. But show that vulnerability. Show that that’s what makes her a strong character.

They unfortunately didn’t do that very well in the game.

I didn’t think so anyway. So as much as I’ll miss those amazing arms and back muscles, I think it’s for the best. Especially if she’s fighting someone who is 12.

TLOU

Season 2

[cripplecharacters]

Hi, I love the blog and everything you guys do. In my WIP, one of my characters experiences hearing loss in one ear thanks to a head injury. I was wondering how this might effect him going on and what are some difficulties he might face with this new situation.

Hello,

This is pretty broad, and I'm going to explain why

So, one thing you might want to consider is how small the auditory cortex is;

Most of it is actually inside of the brain- the red bit in the diagram, the secondary auditory cortex, is the only part of the auditory cortex on the surface of the brain. Here's a diagram of how deep the auditory cortex goes;

So, damaging that in the right way to cause permanent complete hearing loss would require a decently deep concussion, and that would probably also impact the surrounding temporal lobe unless the injury was sharp-force, penetrating trauma (a stab to the side of the head) rather than blunt-force and/or nonpenetrating trauma (a knock to the head that didn't cause laceration in his brain.) If the impact is deep enough to affect the red region, that's a severe traumatic brain injury and it can very easily be enough to kill him. For exactly how an injury to any part of the auditory cortex would impact hearing, I would need to refer you to the Wikipedia page, because you're getting into neuroscience.

Actually, considering where the auditory cortex is, right in the middle of the temporal, frontal, and parietal lobe, a blunt-force brain injury could lead to a complex traumatic brain injury, one that could very easily affect three of the four major lobes of the brain. Based on the surface size, depth, severity, and type of traumatic injury, there are hundreds of possible complications. I would recommend also looking into the areas that surround the auditory cortex and the symptoms caused by injuries to those areas, unless you're going to go with sharp-force penetrating trauma.

Deafness from brain injury is extremely rare due to how small the auditory cortex is and how little of it is on the surface of the brain. Unless you plan on having them stabbed in the side of the head and miraculously surviving with only damage to the auditory cortex, I'd advise going with an injury to the inner ear, such as a burst eardrum. or a bad injury to the hammer, anvil, stirrup, or cochlea.

Mod Aaron

[stitched-mouth]

Meet The Fives

Fandom: The Umbrella Academy.

Pairing: Other Five x Female! Reader x Brisket Five

Format: Long NSFW fic.

Summary: After losing your husband in the time travel subway, you meet several different Fives. Two of them, stand out to you.

Warnings: SMUT! NSFW! Seriously, this is some of the filthiest shit ever written. I finally got to write something with a stuck kink, something I love. It’s very consensual but stuck fantasies always need a CNC warning. Cheating, Angst (?), Cum eating, Spit roasting, Vaginal sex, Oral sex (male receiving), lots of grammar mistakes don’t be mad 🙏

Writing Time: 3 hours.

Word Count: over 3,500

A/N:

PLEASE READ MY NOTES BEFORE READING MY STORY, THIS ONE IS ACTUALLY IMPORTANT

Thank you to everyone that encouraged me to post this; @ifellinto-fantasy @voteforevilthoughts @fartsquelch7 I really hope you guys enjoy and stick around for a possible part two

You can skip straight to the smut, it’s sectioned off and highlighted.

I’ve had an idea to write a stuck smut fic with two Fives for ages now, so happy I finally did so. But this work isn’t perfect, like always I put a lot of into setting up the story and the smut and ending slightly suffered. I forget sometimes that I don’t need to give a backstory to all my stories, I’m sorry.

The backstory also might not make a lot of sense to everyone but I explained as well as could and even if there is a massive plot hole in this fic, please pretend like you don’t see it 🙏

But I’m still happy with the way this came out and I hope you will too.

But also some explanations, there’s a huge inconsistency with how long five worked for the commission, he is 13 years old when he jumped forward to the apocalypse and spends 45 years there and 58 years old when he jumps to 2019. But every source online confirms he worked for the commission for 4-5 years before he jumped to 2019… meaning he actually spent 40 or 41 years in the apocalypse and was 52 when he started working for the Commission. This is why in one line of this I mention that Five was 52 years old while working for the Commission. Feel free to correct me if you know something I don’t.

And the reader loves Bailey’s Hot Chocolate because I do.

Please enjoy!

—

It wasn’t such a great time for you, you had been wondering around the disconcerting train station. Your husband, Five, had brought you and Lila with him by accident due to his familiar but different and uncontrollable power and the bad part is you had been standing on the platform staring at the confusing map too long to notice your husband and your sister-in-law stepping onto a train.

It had left without you. And Five’s attempt to blink off the train when he realised you weren’t going to make it on was futile.

You tried your best not to panic, this wouldn’t be like the last time Five time travelled, right? He’d be back to any minute now, all you had to do was wait, right?

Yeah well you waited hours before deciding to step onto another train, it left from the same platform so it had to take you to him, right? You’re not right very often here.

You stepped onto the train and tried your best to navigate, but honestly, nothing made sense to you here. You had a very strong feeling the train maps were created by another Five in his own made up language, you just had to hope your Five would figure it out and find you.

You had so much time on the platform to remind how you had met Five while you both worked at the Commission as partners. You were only 20 years old but well-known as the Commission’s best assassin, hence why you were partnered up. You had been trained to kill since you were a pre teen and loved it, but you loved Five more than anything else. When you met Five, he was 52 years old, making Five very wary around you and avoiding you and his feelings for you until it was too much. You both finally hooked up after 2 years of working together and clumsily but intensely flirting, you called him your hot stuff and he called you Princess, he was hot and you certainly behaved like a Princess. He brought you back to 2019 with him and you had unofficially married right before the first end of the World. Legally doing so after Allison reset the Universe and living and again working together at the CIA.

You stepped off the train slowly and cautiously, when you deemed it safe you began calling for your husband. No response and nobody was in sight. You were about to step back onto the train when you noticed your husband, well he looked like your husband, walk past the train.

You suddenly felt extreme relief and joy as you ran after him, “Five! Hot Stuff!”

He kept walking so you continued chasing him and grew furious when you realised he could definitely hear you but not stopping, “Old man! Fuckface!”

You suddenly stood in front of ‘Max’s Delicatessen’

You looked around, bewildered and confused. Five quickly made his way inside but turned to look at you first and wink. The wink unsettled you. Something so Five and usually so comforting, now ate your stomach left and it feeling uneasy. That was not your husband.

You didn’t feel completely unsafe, but more intrigued instead. So you slowly entered the Deli and looked around, maybe 50 different Fives all enjoying themselves with coffee and deli meats. A few of them looked back at you in shock and or horror. The Deli became slow and quiet.

“Oi, Hot stuff!”

A Five was gesturing for you to join him, the same one you followed. You slowly moved over to his table.

“She’s mine, boys.”

Nearly all the Fives sighed sadly and continued with themselves. You raised an eyebrow at the Five now in front of you, “I’m definitely not yours.”

“Aw, was hoping I could convince you.” He smirked, “Please sit, Hot Stuff.”

You sat down and decided to mess with him, “I knew you wasn’t him. My Daddy usually calls me Princess.”

This Five choked on his coffee and you grinned, just as another Five dressed as a waiter, delivered you a Bailey’s Hot Chocolate. You were confused how he knew what you wanted before you had even ordered but you were even more confused with how he stared at you nervously. You had only once seen fear in your husband’s eyes and you had both fought the end of the World 3 times and worked as assassins together, it terrified you to see your Five or any Five scared. Especially of you.

They both quickly collected themselves, waiter Five left the table and the Five sitting opposite you dapped his face with his napkin before looking back at you.

“Well, I could call you Princess if you prefer. But only if you call me Daddy.”

“No thanks, I’m looking for my husband.” You sighed.

“Well, if he’s not in here, I haven’t seen him. He’s likely lost… with Lila.”

You raised an eyebrow, “How do you know he’s with Lila?”

“Because he’s not the first Five to get stuck down here with a Lila and cheat on his beautiful wife.”

“Cheat? You must be mistaken, my Five and I—“

“I’m really sorry Princess, but I am definitely not mistaken. If your Five isn’t here it’s because he’s not welcome, there’s a strict no cheating on your perfect wife ever but especially not with your brother’s wife policy here. Unless the World is actively ending, then we make an exception. Any of us, would reach out to help another one of us if lost, unless we spot them with a Lila.”

You glared at him, very offended. But the longer you stared into his eyes, you could see his sadness and pain. Your gaze soften but you still didn’t believe him.

“Maybe… maybe one or two Five would do that but mine wouldn’t.”

“Look, I would never do that and I’m disgusted some versions of me would. But as soon as one of us comes here with a Lila, it happens, it’s pre determined. And getting stuck down here, it’s our punishment… at least we leave them alone as punishment.”

“I still don’t believe you.”

“I don’t expect you too. I don’t doubt you love him and that he loves you too, but… I don’t know, I don’t know why any Five would betray their wives. But none of us are perfect and some are just totally undeserving of you.”

“Where’s your me?”

“Dead. Like most of you, sadly. You don’t tend you survive on your own down here… I didn’t come with a Lila, I came here with only my wife and… after years trapped here, she didn’t see a way out so… yeah.”

He trailed off and looked down, nearly in tears. His wife killed herself. You carefully took his hand, this may not be your Five but this sure was one of him. And you were haven’t trouble disconnecting him from the feelings you still had for your husband.

He sniffed his brewing tears away and looked back at you.

“But anyways, I found this Deli afterwards. A lot of us here, wondered in one day or was found by another one of us and was brought here. One of us could get you home if you wanted but we wouldn’t want to let you go especially if your timeline is ending, which it likely is.”

You sighed and gently rubbed his hand.

“Five… if my husband doesn’t want me anymore, I’d rather… find another Five who wouldn’t betray me.”

He gave you a small smile, “Look around and take your pick, Princess.”

You looked around at all the Fives in the room, all of them just as handsome as your husband but no familiar feeling. Expect the Five currently in front of you.

“Maybe I’ll pick after finishing this.”

You picked up your now lukewarm Baileys Hot Chocolate and began gulping it down. After the day you’ve had, you needed to get drunk, hopefully it would be easy since you hadn’t eaten yet and if these amazing Bailey Hot Chocolate kept coming and you kept chugging them. Five chuckled a bit before sipping on his own coffee. You quickly waved the same waiter Five for another, he promptly brought you another as well as some of your favourite snacks.

“So is the lovely young lady staying?”

You could still hear the nervous tone in his voice but it was more friendly now. You smiled at him and nodded.

“Wonderful, let me know if you need anything else.”

“Oh I will. Get me another one of these but hold the hot chocolate this time.”

You gave him a naughty grin as you looked at him up and down and quickly smacked his ass, he blushed and hurried off to help another Five. The Five in front of you chuckled again.

“What? I can pick anyone of you, right? That makes sexual harassing Five service works ok, right?”

“You are right. That’s Brisket Five, he wrecks shit.”

“Yeah hopefully he’ll be wrecking my pussy soon.”

Five choked on his coffee again but then laughed hard.

“Are you drunk already, darling?”

“Trying to be.”

He nodded understanding why.

“Hey! Brisket Five, scotch!”

A few hours later you and your new Five were drunk as skunks. The pain of losing your husband had been forgotten, you had a new Five that already loved you and wouldn’t betray you. And if that didn’t work, you still had many choices to repair your broken heart. You didn’t know if you were going to go back to you and Five’s family but you had all the time you wanted to decide, considering time was technically stopped in train stations and Deli.

It was closing time and Brisket Five was shooing all the drunk Fives out, including you. He still blushed and stuttered around you, telling you that this Five must be a lot younger than the other. You asked and found that mentally he was only 35, he was one of the few Five’s that didn’t get stuck in an apocalypse and instead grew up with his siblings. But he wasn’t as lucky as he seemed, growing up with his siblings and never working for the Commission meant he never met his you.

You and your new Five giggled and stumbled as you stepped out of the Deli, you drunkenly shhhed Five and he shhhed you back making you both laugh loudly. The moment suddenly became serious as you gazed into each other’s eyes and eventually began kissing.

His tongue was ferocious, you could feel had touch starved he was, much like your original Five. Your tongues danced sloppy but it was so intense and intoxicating you could feel your vagina open and burn with need. You strongly considered turning around and bending over for him right where you was but he suddenly broke away.

“Shit, I forgot my jacket.”

You rolled your eyes and began peeking in through the windows for Brisket Five, nobody was in sight and the lights had been turned off, except for one around the corner of the Deli, it looked like the kitchen.

“Can you blink inside?”

Five shook his head, no.

“Well didn’t you say it would only be closed for 2 hours? Because they are trying to be 24/7?”

“My map is in it.”

You sighed and made your way to the kitchen window and knocked gently, the window was unlocked and slowly creeped open the more you pushed on it. You poked your head inside and saw no one, you sighed again about to look back at Five but you felt touch your back gently.

“Please, let me help you inside and you can get it for me?”

“Ok.”

—-/// SMUT ///—-

You agreed seeing the task as easy, you maybe drunk but you’re still a cold blooded killer, you can break into a Deli easily and grab a coat. And even if you got caught, you’re you, any Five would let you off freely.

You crawled inside and pressed both your hands on the low kitchen counter in front of you, accidentally knocking over a pan you didn’t notice. You gritted your teeth as the pan hit the floor and made a loud bang noise.

“Pull me back! Pull me back!”

Five heard your whisper yelling and began trying pull you backwards by your hips, but you was stuck and all he did was pull your jeans halfway down.

‘Fuck’, you thought. You were definitely way too drunk for this.

You heard some shuffling in another room and in stepped Brisket Five.

“Hi…”

“I already told you, we’re closed Darling.”

“I know, I’m sorry but—“

“No no no babygirl, you can’t just break in and enter. Especially not so poorly.”

He walked over to you and was now face to face with his crotch. It gets better, you could hear the Five behind you groan with need and begin pulling off your jeans and panties all the way down. Your eyes widen with shock and lust as you heard him spit into his hand and then feel him slowly enter you.

Your burning cunt accepting him easily and you gasped with excitement.

“Um, I.. I’m sorry… let me make it up.. to you..”

Brisket Five was beyond shocked with your suddenly breathy horny voice and even more shocked when you began pulling his belt, pants and boxers off. You stared into his eyes as you licked up and down his dick before taking it fully into your mouth.

He groaned as you began moving your head back and forth, just as the other Five fucked you slowly but so deeply. Your cunt tighten as you took Brisket Five down your throat and Five moaned loudly, he grabbed your hips and increased his pace.

So you increased your pace, moving your mouth up and down faster on the younger Five’s cock. He sighed in pleasure and gently put his hand into your hair and moved your head back and forth. You was Heaven, being spit roasted by two Fives’ was your ultimate wet dream. And both of being so touch starved and whipped for you meant they were more than happy to take anything you gave them.

As you slurped down one Five’s dick and got pounded by another, you decided to never fucking leave.

You felt yourself nearing your release, so you threw your hips back, forcing Five to go deeper and pound your walls harder. Brisket Five’s large cock was nearly suffocating you, just how you liked it. You sucked like your life depended on it, only feeling desperation to have all of them both. You came and whined around Brisket Five as you did so.

Seeing you orgasm and stare so intently at him as you did so made him lose it.

“Fuck!”

Brisket Five suddenly ripped his soaking dick from your throat and with all his might began pulling you through the window, Five though, held onto you as tightly as he could. You let the two Fives fight over you, too drunk and pussy whipped to do anything. Brisket Five won and he pulled into him then stood up carefully and looked out the window at Five.

“You coming in?”

Five suddenly blinked inside.

“You, you asshole…”

“Sorry Princess, I knew you’d bend over me but Brisket Five needed some action too.”

He grabbed the back of your head and pushed you onto your knees and forced his dick down your throat. You choked slightly at first but Five throat fucked you through it, ignoring the tears running down your red puffed out cheeks and burning throat.

Brisket Five stood and watched for a second while jerking himself off before deciding to get on his knees behind you and enter your pussy. He moaned loudly and eagerly began fucking you.

The two seemed desperate and hellbent on using your holes as much as they could, sexual frustration had taken them over completely and they were blood thirsty, well in this case pussy thirsty.

After what felt like an eternity of being on your knees begging for more, Brisket Five cried as he came inside you. You came again at the same time. Five took slightly longer to enjoy your mouth but eventually pulled out and came onto your face. You moaned as he did so, relieved from your second orgasm and the ability to breathe again. His hot wet semen spoiled your face and you smiled up at him.

The Fives looked down at their work proudly. Brisket Five helped you slowly to your feet and you moaned again quickly as you felt his cum drip out of you, you began shamelessly scooping it up in your hands and licking it off your fingers and licking at the corners of your mouth for Five’s cum.

Brisket Five’s face flushed and he stuttered out, “I’ll get you a towel.”

He scurried off, almost tripping as he tried to fix his trousers as he walked.

You smiled and looked at Five, who was also fixing his trousers, he noticed you looking at him and he suddenly kissed you deeply. Your holes felt so used and your heart felt so loved and in love.

Yeah, you was never leaving.

[threestarsaboveclouds]

AMETHYST PEARL

[ NEOCITIES MIRROR ]

TSAC: ...

TSAC: Little animal.

TSAC: I'm rather busy at the moment. Unless you have something to show me, please leave.

TSAC: ...

TSAC: Ah, a pearl. Where did you find this one, I wonder? Hopefully you didn't take it from my Data Archives.

TSAC: ...

TSAC: This one appears to be from my city. You seem to be spending a lot of time in Zenith, considering your last pearl was also from there.

TSAC: Hm... this contains another data buffer from a dying citizen ID drone. I suppose it makes sense that so many drones malfunctioned, considering their owners were no longer around to maintain them.

TSAC: The drone this data is from belonged to an individual named Six Motes, Ten Tranquil Mists. Aside from basic census data, I can't find any more information about them in my archives. They must not have interacted with me or the House of Spheres at any point.

TSAC: There's a section of discernible audio here... I'll repeat it out loud for you.

[ AUDIO TRANSCRIPTION - AMETHYST PEARL ]

...

???: Ouch!

...

???: Damn blackouts. They always catch me off guard.

???: Greetings, Mists! Can't sleep?

Ten Tranquil Mists: Agh!!! Three Winds, is that you? Void below, don't scare me like that!

Fourteen Flowers in Three Winds: Hah! If you don't want to be startled by figures in the dark, perhaps you shouldn't be wandering the streets late at night.

TTM: Speak for yourself. I'm not the only one out past midnight.

TW: At least I have a proper excuse!

TTM: Late night nectar cravings?

TW: Ha, not tonight. Come, follow me.

TTM: Where?

TW: Up! I was just about to climb up to the roof. You should join me.

TTM: To do what?

TW: You'll see!

...

TTM: And there he goes.

TTM: ...well, if I go home I know I won't be able to sleep. I might as well climb up ten flights of stairs. [sigh]

...

...

...

TW: There you are! I was beginning to think you'd just up and left.

TTM: huff... no... huff... of course not...

TW: Come, sit.

...

[rustling]

TTM: What's that glowing thing you've got?

TW: Sliced lilypuck! They're fresh! Here, try one.

...

TTM: A bit too sweet for me. What, did you dip this in nectar?

TW: Maybe!

...

TTM: You still haven't told me why you climbed all the way up here. And late at night, no less.

TW: Look! You can see the Spires clearly from up here.

TTM: So? You can see them much more easily in the daytime.

TW: That right there!

TTM: Hm?

TW: You're not looking! Blink and you'll miss it.

...

TTM: What, that green light?

TW: Yes!

TTM: What's so special about that?

TW: Do you know what that is?

TTM: Well, it's coming from the Spires, so I guess it's something those stuffy old scholars are amusing themselves with late at night. I never paid too much attention. This late at night I'm usually staring down at the ground so I don't trip on things in the dark. There's only so far ahead you can see with such a dim lantern...

TW: A friend of mine who interns at the Institute explained it to me once. Those lights are called laser guide stars, and they help calibrate the telescopes!

TTM: Ah, so it is the scholars after all.

TW: Not quite! Those lights are actually the iterator!

TTM: The iterator?

TW: Yes! Three Stars Above Clouds controls the telescopes. And the lasers, too. If you watch the laser beams, you can tell where the iterator is looking!

TTM: Looks like they're pretty busy.

TW: Yes. They have a lot of work to do, I'm sure.

...

TTM: ... have you ever met the iterator?

TW: Not personally, no. Though, I was once fortunate enough to attend one of their public lectures.

TTM: And? What were they like?

TW: Three Stars Above Clouds is very intelligent. Though, I guess one can assume that about an iterator. They appeared to be very passionate as well, but they were also... distant.

TTM: Distant? In what way?

TW: I'm not sure how to describe it. They speak just like you or I, but there's something... missing... behind their words.

TTM: What do you mean, "missing"?

TW: I... mean no offense to the iterator, but their behavior seemed... artificial. Detached.

TW: An iterator's mind is nothing like our own, their thoughts enigmatic and unknowably complex. Their manner of speech seemed almost like a mimicry, an attempt to impersonate something they are not.

...

TTM: What does this have to do with the lights?

TW: I suppose the lights are a reminder that, despite our differences, we're both looking at the same night sky.

TW: Your eyes should be sufficiently dark adapted now, look up.

...

TTM: Oh, wow.

TW: That's the reason for the nightly blackouts. It's not just the House of Spheres trying to inconvenience us all; without the streetlights, you can see the stars with incredible clarity.

TTM: ...

TW: That cloudy thing up there is the Great River. It wraps all around the sky.

TTM: ... I guess I can understand why people would stay up late to see this.

TW: Iterators might be nothing like us, but I think a fascination with the night sky is something we both share. When I sit up here, I like to think that we're stargazing together.

TTM: The Iterator probably has no idea you're even up here, you know.

TW: I wouldn't be so sure. Hello!

TTM: Wh- who are you talking to?

TW: Ha! There was an overseer looking over your shoulder. It's gone now. Maybe Three Stars is feeling shy.~

TTM: You need to stop scaring me like that, Winds.

TW: And you need to stop wandering around at night all alone! Come, I'll help you back to your block. I can tell you're tired now.

TTM: Hmph.

TTM: ... I guess this did help. Thanks.

...

TSAC: The planned blackouts in my city were a nightly occurrence. They allowed me to collect data without the interference of light pollution. The blackouts were supposed to occur when the majority of the population was meant to be asleep, but I suppose that didn't stop some of them from walking around at night.

TSAC: The House of Spheres received many complaints about this; some cited the darkness as inconvenient or even dangerous. Streetlights were turned off, lights in homes dimmed, and citizens walking the streets were required to use the dimmest settings on the lanterns of their drones. Very few of the complaints ever made their way to me; the House of Spheres usually attempted to respond to them as professionally as possible.

TSAC: Despite the pushback, many enjoyed the opportunity to see the stars. Some would even visit Zenith specifically for this purpose.

TSAC: My city is eternally dark, now. There's no need to light the streets if my citizens are gone.

TSAC: That said, I would advise against wandering around my streets at night, little animal. You never know what could be lurking in the dark.

TSAC: ...now then, I have work I must attend to. Farewell.

TSAC: ...

TSAC: ...and stay safe.

[dr-spectre]

Hello!! I just had the sudden urge to rewrite Side Order, and i dont know if it was from you but i once saw a post about an antagonistic Marina being an interesting concept... but I do know you like Marina a fair bit so I was wondering, what would be a good way to go about it?

And I mean an ACTUAL antagonist Marina. Not Order controlling her one way or another.

I would also like to try doing something with Side Order's creepy vibe we got from the trailer...

"Like Marina a fair bit." Oh buddy, oh friend, it's more that just a fair bit....

I was actually gonna make a post about something similar like this, but since you brought it up, I'll just go ahead and explain some of my ideas.

It has been hinted at and shown to us that Marina has a strong urge to maintain order and keep the newfound happiness she now has in her life.

So what if this desire.... corrupts her? What if she becomes so stressed out and anxious that she descends into being an antagonist hellbent on making the perfect world? All born by her troubled upbringing in the Octarian domes and trying to make sure her life remains happy and safe. And for her Pearlie to be safe.

The dev diaries as well as Pearl's dialogue at the beginning of Side Order tell us that Marina after the Final Fest has been under a lot of stress due to balancing so many things and is suffering burnout.

Also Pearl and Marina do fight over music and this could have added to Marina's stress as well.

I think going about rewriting Marina Agitando is by showing Marina's stresses more clearly so that people can pick up on her motivation more. Also changing Marina Agitando to where Marina puts on the Controller VM willingly and instead of Order just possessing her body like a ghost, instead it allows Marina to communicate with Order and oversee the memverse as a whole. However because of Order's programming, they are more of a manipulative force, whispering and guiding Marina to what they want due to their goal of wanting a world under total order and "happiness." No stupid fucking "brainwashing" or "mind control" bullshit here. We doing something different. Order is just giving Marina a little push in a certain direction and Marina is going along with it because she's under a ton of stress and wants her life to be safe and happy, no matter the cost or how anyone else feels....

The developers did say in an interview that they wanted to tell a story about Marina getting lost in a machine of her own making and sadly Side Order doesn't really explore it all too well due to the short appearance of Marina Agitando.

All you gotta do to fix it is extend her runtime!! Make Marina Agitando a tutorial boss, but instead of you getting her out of there, you fail to reason to Marina and she kicks you out of the spire and it grows in size. And then you gotta go back up 30 floors while learning about why Marina is doing what she is doing and eventually learning about the ai Order. The final boss could be Marina Agitando and Pearl trying to reason with her and eventually break through Marina's anxieties and doubts. Marina breaks out of the Controller VM and Order turns into Overlorder and becomes the true antagonist in the end, feeling betrayed and hurt by their creator abandoning them.

Anyways. Those were my ideas. Much like Callie i do care a lot about Marina and thankfully Marina Agitando doesn't piss me off as much as what they did to Callie in Splatoon 2. But there's still a LOT of missed potential with an antagonistic Marina.

So yeah. Hopefully that helped your rewrite in some way. Hopefully.

[littlevices]

What is this man!? Or: Me Overthinking Reigen's Fighting Ability, lol

Reigen Arataka. 28 years old. Used to be a normal salaryman. Runs Spirits and Such Consultations and is the self-proclaimed "Greatest Psychic of the Twenty-First Century.

Where did he learn to dropkick a bitch?

No, seriously. Where did he learn half the shit he does. Sure, you can explain his punches as something he can learn with his green belt, but not the fact that not only did he dropkick someone, he rebounded and landed on his feet. That is almost some Dimple level acrobatics for someone without any supernatural abilities or enhancements.

Sure, we can chalk it up to anime logic all we want, but that's not as fun, so I'm going to ramble and overthink instead. (As I do.)

Disclaimer: Some spoilers for later events in the show.

Okay, so. Reigen has a surprisingly large repertoire of skills. Some of this I can chalk up to his family life.

His father is apparently a local politician/civil servant, his mother a housewife, and his sister a bank employee.

Clearly Reigen gets his speech skills from his father, and maybe some of his other tricks, like using rice as glue, may even be from his mother. Granted I'm probably stretching that a bit. He could have just as easily learned that from trying to save money, lol.

We also know he didn't fit in while in school, which, as we all know, can lead to instances of bullying. Whether that bullying is physical or not, who knows. All I've seen looking around is that he apparently got skipped over when it came to games and stuff, but there could have been more to it.

Where am I going with this? You'll see.

So, the green belt. We know from season one that Reigen specifically says he has a green belt in shorinji kenpo. Now, I will be the first to admit I don't know much of anything about martial arts on a deep level. I can, however, do some quick research *cough* google *cough* (Do you think Reigen would be proud of me, lol).

According to what I've found, a green belt in a number of martial arts can be anywhere from beginner to a beginner-intermediate or even intermediate level. It depends on the martial art of course, but I think also the school. The same seems to apply to what I could find on shorinji kenpo. Or Kempo, because that's what I keep finding, someone please correct me if need be. I think people have also called it Xiaolin Martial Arts, which I also took a brief look at, but the concept appears similar there as well. Now, let's give Reigen the benefit of the doubt considering what we've seen him actually do, and assume the man went to a pretty decent school. A green belt is clearly not a master level or even a high level belt. If anything, though, this means the man can handle a regular petty thug just fine, and we've seen that. The seance scene in season 1 by itself proves that easily.

However, it's the other stuff that makes me wonder.

Again, this man drop kicked a dude, an esper that was currently using his power by the way, then rebounded off him to land on his feet. Beyond the dropkick itself, which from what I understand is impractical in a fight, he also rebounded. Rebounding can be hard to do off a stationary object, let alone a person. Yet here Reigen is, doing it causally off an esper that controls gravity.

His punches are also pretty damn devastating. Again, he can knock people out. He did this during the seance, but then tried it on Muraki. While he didn't knock him out, he definitely did some damage.

Not only would he need to be strong to do this, he'd also need to be fast. He's also fast enough that someone like Suzuki had to make a clone of himself to dodge Reigen's fist, rather than block or just dodge it normally. Either Suzuki was feeling extra that day (much to Sho's chagrin) or Reigen caught him off guard enough he actually had to use his powers.

This brings me to the next point.

Reigen knows how to hold a gun.

No, no. Wait, hear me out. Yes, I know it's a toy gun, but it is still a toy gun supped up on psychic energy. Not only does Reigen hold it nice and steady, he's got some damn good aim. That shot went for Suzuki's face or at least his throat.

Now, granted, I hear airsoft is a popular past time in Japan, so maybe that's where some of it comes from, which is still pretty neat.

He also didn't hesitate to shoot. One look at Mob and he pulled the trigger. Suzuki got one warning before that, and he didn't even get the chance to defy it before Reigen shot. Now, Reigen is a smart man, he probably figured the gun wouldn't work, but damn if he didn't try. Honestly, he was probably panicking and kicking himself on the inside, but he certainly didn't show it.

There's also the fact that, when you look, Reigen almost always instinctively knows to protect his head and neck when he gets thrown around. It's probably the most obvious in the Mogami fight when he gets picked up and slammed, but you can see it in the final episode as well when getting flung around by ???'s tornado.

This man has either gotten enough sparring that he knows to do this on instinct, or he's been in enough scraps that he's had no choice but to learn or get concussed. Also, in the Mogami arc, Reigen tries to stop Mogami (in Minor's body) by kicking him in the head. Mogami was moving very fast, but Reigen's kick did land.

Too bad it was Mogami and not any one else because it might have worked.

He also knows a couple knee strikes, which again was used on a moving target.

Now, let's step back and bring up Reigen's family again. There's always the possibility that Reigen got his green belt young due to his father's occupation. Now, that might only apply if his father was a rather important one, but still something to consider. It could have also been in self-defense if the bullying he faced in school got physical. I personally think Reigen got his green belt at an older age, earliest highschool, but obviously there's nothing to back that up. It also makes me wonder just how many of his clients have gotten violent, because while he did flinch at the knife during the seance, he also didn't hesitate to deck the dude.

This doesn't even bring up the fact that Reigen knows all kinds of massage techniques (I heard that his family wanted him to be a massage therapist, but I don't know if it was said where that information came from), psychology, his ability to cold read people, and everything else this man does.

Granted, a lot of his effectiveness comes from him being smart and charismatic. This man is a manipulator and thank god he's got morals because holy hell the damage he could do being able to manipulate Mob.

Or the damage Mob could do if anything serious happened to Reigen. >.>;

All in all, I think Reigen has gotten into way more scraps than is suggested. I feel as if he might have had a rougher life at school than what little hints we've gotten. That whole thing with the Separation Arc felt kind of like him projecting onto Mob, but I could be wrong. Personally, I headcanon Reigen as being something of a truant and/or delinquent (or at least a gremlin) when he was younger, but that's just me, lol. I do think he's had a rougher go of it than he likes to tell, though.

I know I didn't cover absolutely everything here, like Shimazaki, and that there's probably more context or something in the manga, but this post was already long enough and I haven't read the manga in full yet so apologies if there is missing context.. If you made it to the end of this post, I want to both thank you, but also apologize for my long winded rambling, lol. I just - Have no idea what to make of Reigen and all that he does. It doesn't help that a lot of his backstory is fairly non-existent. We only know tidbits about this conman, but I guess that's part of what makes him interesting.

Well, hopefully you had fun reading this post as much as I had making it. I know most of this can probably be just anime logic, but I had looking into it at least! If this wasn't a world of espers, Reigen would probably fairly formidable in a fight, on a physical level anyway. He's already like that on several others already, lol. This sweaty rat just always seems to grab my attention. . .

[canirove]

Canary boy | Chapter 13

Previous chapter | Next chapter (coming out on Tuesday)

Masterlist

“He's mad at me.”

“Not this again, please” Carla says, rolling her eyes.

“But he is! Why else would he keep ignoring my texts and calls and being super cold when he bothers to reply?”

“You can't tell if someone is being cold through texts, Inés.”

“You can.”

“You can't. And didn't he say he is busy studying? That he wants to focus on that before getting distracted by the holidays?”

“He did, but…”

“And let's not forget about the fact that he's studying with a scholarship. He can't lose it.”

“I know, but…” I protest again.

“Inés, Pedri isn't mad at you or ignoring you on purpose. He is just busy” she says.

“But you take breaks from studying. You stop to eat, to go to the bathroom, to disconnect. Why can't he text me then? Or give me a quick call?”

“Maybe because he also knows you are busy with training and studying, and doesn't want to bother you?”

“Maybe… But…”

“Inés, no” Carla cuts me. “Stop this, I'm serious. We have an important game in a couple of hours. One we have to win not only because we can't go into the Christmas break with a defeat, but also because Real Madrid are breathing down our necks. So focus on this and stop all this Pedri nonsense.”

“Ok. I'll try” I sigh.

“No, you won't try. You will.”

“Fine, I will” I sigh again. Though easier said than done.

And you may be wondering, what happened for me to be so worried and think that Pedri is mad at me? Well, that the Christmas dinner with the team actually ended up being the worst night of my life (dramatic much? Maybe).

When Víctor and I left the restaurant, there still were photographers and some fans outside, and they obviously took photos of us together. Of me wearing his jacket, him just on his shirt, and us getting together into the same car. And those photos were everywhere online the next day, people going crazy about them. Because we had seemingly arrived together, been together during dinner, and then left together. So if you are a shipper or someone who doesn't know what is going on and saw those photos, you would think that we are a couple. I mean, I saw them myself and we did look like a couple. And I just… Urgh. 

But to make things even worse, Víctor posted one of our photos arriving and one of him hugging me to save me from flashing everyone, photos where I was smiling (even though on the second one I was actually panic smiling if that is a thing) and where we looked as if there was something going on between us, adding a heart emoji to his caption about being a great night or something like that. 

And I'm sure Pedri has seen everything. Even some sports newspapers and websites have written articles about it, using “Barça's new it couple?” as their headline. And even though I explained everything to him, maybe not in the best way at first because I just sent him a photo of my broken dress saying “this is how my night ended, what about yours?”, which Carla made me see could mean that something had actually happened between me and Víctor (as in him tearing my dress from my body if you know what I mean)... He is in his right to be upset. Like, I would. I've felt like that in the past because of him and Nerea. But I just… I… Urgh. Urgh!

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Ok, I can do this. It isn't a crazy idea. Or maybe it is. But Carla said that we need to talk, and at least we will be doing something of that so… Ok” I say, taking a deep breath and ringing the bell.

“Inés?” Pedri says after opening the door of his flat. “What are you doing here? It's Christmas Eve!”

“I know. But here is the thing. Like you may remember, I'm having dinner with my dad, his new girlfriend and her daughter, whom I haven't met yet. And according to my sisters, who have already met them, they are a pain in the ass and I can't go deal with them alone. So I thought that, even if you are mad at me, you could come and be there for me as moral support. Think of it as a Christmas good deed or something like that.”

“Inés…” he says, running a hand through his hair.

“It'll be just for tonight and then you can go back to being mad at me. But I could really do with you being there for me, Pedri. As one last act of friendship.”

“Inés, I'm not mad at you.”

“What?”

“Why don't you come in? My neighbours are a bit noisy and I'm sure they already are checking what is going on.”

“I… Umm… Ok.”

“You look beautiful, by the way” he smiles as I walk past him and inside his flat.

“Thank you” I reply, feeling my cheeks already getting warm. 

“Did you make sure the seams on that dress are all ok?”

“What?” I say, turning to look at him.

“We don't want it to end like the last one, do we?” he smirks. He is… smirking. Teasing me. He… what?

“We… Pedri, aren't you mad at me?”

“No. I already told you” he shrugs. 

“Then why… Then why have you been behaving so weird since those photos with Víctor came out?”

“What?” he chuckles.

“Yes, like… You've barely replied to my texts, and when you've done it, you've been super cold. And you have ignored my calls too. You haven't even liked my Instagram posts or watched my stories!” 

“I can explain, Inés. But why don't we do it while you help me iron my shirt?”

“What?” Is that the only word I know today? Yes, looks like it.

“I can't go meet your dad with a wrinkled shirt, can I?” 

“You… Wait, you are coming?”

“Of course I am. And not as one last act of friendship or whatever nonsense you said. Now, will you help me iron my shirt or not?”

“I… Yes, sure” I say, following him to his room. What the hell is going on?

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Done” I say when I finish ironing Pedri's shirt. 

“Thank you, Inés. I suck at this.”

“Are you going to tell me now why you have been acting so weird or…”

“Yes, sorry” he says, taking off his hoodie and t-shirt all in one go like happened… No, Inés. Don't go there. And don't stare at his naked chest and his abs and those things on his hips and… No. Just don't. Focus. “If I've been a bit weird lately it's because I've been stressed, and when that happens, I sometimes shut down” he says while putting on his shirt.

“You shut down?” I say as my eyes follow the way his fingers are buttoning his shirt. Who knew something like that could be so… sexy.

“Yeah. It's like I go into my own little shell and ignore everything else that is going on around me” he says, finishing with his shirt and taking off his joggers. Oh dear. “It started happening when I moved here and especially at the end of each semester. The pressure of having to pass all my exams if I don't want to lose my scholarship, being away from home and missing my family, all the other things going on in my life like making sure I make it to the end of the month with my bank account not being in red numbers, keeping up with friends, my relationship… It can be a lot, you know?” he says before putting on his suit trousers. “And when it gets too bad, like has happened lately, I shut down. I stop checking on friends and family, replying to their messages, going out… I focus on only one thing, usually studying, and ignore everything else, which is what has happened since we came back from Tenerife. That trip was like… Like a dream, Inés. Having you there with me, with my family and my childhood friends, in my house, finally getting to kiss you, to… you know” he says, his cheeks turning a bright shade of pink. He's blushing. Pedri is blushing just by thinking about what we did and… Holy shit. “Everything was perfect. And then we came back here, and it was like reality punched me right in the face. I had a lot of things to catch up with, feelings and thoughts to go through, decisions to make. And I just… I… It was too much and I shut down. But it was all me, Inés. All me” he says, moving to wear I am and taking my hands on his. “And I'm sorry for making you believe that it was you, that you had done something wrong, that I was mad at you. I should have explained myself, maybe have Mario talk with you. But since things between him and Carla are a bit awkward, I didn't want to get him involved. He's been doing enough already by dragging me to the gym every day.”

“The gym?”

“According to a therapist I talked with, working out can help de-stress because it releases something and for a while you don't think about anything. So at the end of each day, Mario has been forcing me to go to the gym, making me try different classes to see what works and what I like the best.”

“And have you found anything?” I ask him.

“Boxing is the one I've enjoyed the most. It leaves me shattered and that's why I haven't been answering to our usual before bed calls, because I am exhausted. And I know what you are going to say, but I tried yoga too and…”

“And?”

“And you were right, Inés. It isn't stupid or easy, and it feels so good.”

“Told you” I smile. “But if that's all that has been going on, then the photos with Víctor…”

“Those didn't bother me, they mean nothing. Because I know how you feel about him, and I think I know how you feel about me too” Pedri says, moving his hands from mine and resting them on my waist, pulling me closer to him.

“I… Ummm…”

“I like you, Inés. I like you very much.”

“You… you do?” 

“I do” he says, pulling me even closer. “And I think that you also like me. At least a tiny bit” he says with a teasing smile.

“Yeah, a tiny bit” I laugh. A tiny bit much. 

“At what time is this dinner with your dad?” 

“Ten.”

“Ten…” he says, looking at his watch. “And is the restaurant or wherever we are going too far from here?”

“Like half an hour. But the traffic is really bad, so…”

“Shame” he sighs. “I was hoping we could have enough time to make sure your dress won't be tearing apart tonight, but we'll have to take the risk.” 

“We can do it after dinner.” Wow, Inés. Wow. Bold. Because he was definitely not talking about checking all the seams of my dress and getting thread and needle if one was a bit wonky.

“What would be the point of doing it after?” he smirks as I wrap my arms around his neck. 

“Making sure it won't break the next time I wear it. And if that woman my dad is dating and her daughter are as annoying as my sisters say… I'll be needing a distraction, a physical activity to help me let go. To de-stress. And since you have some experience on that matter…”

“I'm an expert.”

“An expert?” I laugh.

“Make all the fun of me you want, Inés. But in the morning you will be agreeing with me. You'll see” he says, brushing his lips against mine. “Now let's finish getting ready” he says, taking a step back.

“Hell no” I say, stopping him.

“Inés, you are gonna wrinkle my shirt” Pedri smirks, looking down at where my hands are, at the way I'm holding him close to me.

“It’ll survive. But I won't if you don't kiss me right here and right now.”

“Is that an order?” he asks, arching an eyebrow.

“Yes.”

“Then make it sound as an order, Inés” he says, the way he is looking at me sending goosebumps all over my body.

“Kiss me, Pedri. Now.”

“Yes, ma'am” he smirks before kissing me, the feeling of his lips on mine turning the goosebumps into fire, making me forget about all my stupid doubts and crazy ideas about him being mad at me, but reminding me of something. Something very important.

He has told me that he likes me. He. Pedri… He likes me. And very much.

[always1star]

uncle!sukuna

my take on uncle sukuna :)

fluff, normal world au

no bad warnings (profanity)

just sukuna and yuji lol.

-----------------------------------

unclesukuna! who has been accurately ranked on yelp as the #1 best babysitter (this is a lie). when yuji became a babbling toddler, his parents finally had time to themselves again. so, to not waste their little money, they would phone sukuna. “hey man, i was wondering if you could watch yuji tonight? kaori and i were going to go to this new restaurant,” jin asked. sukuna groaned, because he was on his couch shirtless in his sweats doing absolutely nothing but drinking a beer, and he wanted to keep it that way for the rest of the night. nonetheless, he agreed. “send the brat over, and you owe me.”

unclesukuna! who opened the door to his brother and nephew. jin was frantically explaining what to do with him, how he already ate but what to give him if he wanted a snack, how to bathe him, what to do if he was sleepy, and what to do if there was an emergency. he kept digressing as he dropped yuji off, but then sukuna shut him up with a “yeah yeah, i got it.” and shut the door.

unclesukuna! who had to watch his energetic nephew until late, his previous rotting plans ruined. he watched from the couch as yuji jumped around. he sighed, wishing he could have a cigarette or glass of wine right now but he knew better than that. instead, he opted for the orange juice in his fridge, pouring two glasses to share with the little one. he also grabbed a couple ice cream bars from his freezer (the kid can have some sugar, it's fine, right?)

unclesukuna! who was so bored out of his mind he actually started listening to yuji’s ridiculous ramblings. “and so, when dad home from work, and when we have udon, he will.. um eat it very loud and he slurp like this” the toddler mimics his father “and he eat messy.” sukuna listened with his chin resting on his hand. he laughed, imagining his “prim and proper” brother be an absolute glutton.

unclesukuna! who noticed that yuji was losing his energy, no longer jumping around sukuna’s small apartment or babbling on and on about his life at home. yuji sat on the couch and was watching the cartoons his uncle put on, but his eyelids were getting droopy. sukuna took note of how yuji was slowly nodding off, and picked him up to take him somewhere more comfortable than a couch. “are you tired brat? did you waste all your energy annoying my neighbors by jumping off my walls, hm?” yuji laid his head on sukunas shoulder, falling asleep as sukuna walked to his bedroom.

unclesukuna! who tucked a now asleep yuji into his bed, and took his own spot next to him. sukuna smirked as he snapped a photo of his nephew, and sent the photo to jin and kaori, to prove to them that maybe, just maybe he wasn’t so damn terrible at this.

unclesukuna! who had such a successful babysitting experience that it had yuji begging his parents to see “uncle kuna,” as he calls him. sukuna acted like he greatly detested it every time, knowing that he would give in and watch yuji anyways. plus, maybe yuji isn’t so bad either. maybe he does fuck with his brother’s kid, just a little (that sleeping photo of yuji is sukuna’s screen saver)

-----------------------------------

bonus of when infant yuji was a thing

unclesukuna! who did not fuck with his twin brother’s kid when he first met him. why are babies so… small, helpless, and defenseless. “don’t look at my kid like that…” sukuna raised his eyebrows, his face all up in yuji’s like he was pondering something. unamused at yuji’s smiling face and coos, he said, “what’s he so happy for? life is full of shit.” yuji giggled as jin reprimanded sukuna for saying such things in front of his infant.

unclesukuna! who does not know how to hold babies. sukuna awkwardly held his jin's infant the way he taught him to. he was trying his best, although his best was dogshit. sukuna’s shoulders were tense, his hands supported the wrong spots, and he held the baby a little too far from his body. he really didnt know what to do. poor yuji was flailing in sukuna’s grasp.

[stinkw333d]

Episode title analysis

Not full episode analysis, literally just the titles. Since I googled what Sic Transit Gloria Mundi meant, I've paid more attention to the titles of the other episodes and what they tell us about the actual events of the episode, or vice versa. I'm mostly going crazy waiting for S3 and have rewatched this show, no joke, more times than I could probably count in the past two months. I have to put my thoughts somewhere. This is also just S1, I’ll probably analyze/post S2 tomorrow regardless of if this is interesting to anyone besides me.

 Pilot

- The literal pilot episode, doesn’t really count

- I guess there are pilots in the episode? (RIP pilot Robert, pilot Fred, and flight attendant Janet)

F- Sharp

- I do always enjoy when episode titles are just lines in the episode

- The juicy bit is that christian worship music is traditionally played in the key of F. Laura Lee wasn’t just having a regular piano lesson, she was probably practicing hymnals. 

- Laura Lee I’ll never forget you, no wonder your christian ass thought you caused the plane crash because you called your christian piano teacher a cunt in your head

The Dollhouse

-Not a line from the episode, though it is the episode where they find the cabin, and they’re all girls. Girl = doll, cabin = house? 

-Also reminds my girlfriend of a song from hairspray, “there's no food left in the big dollhouse!”

Bear Down

- Another ‘line from the episode’ title, Misty says it to Coach Ben while she’s propping him up to take a shit

- Also a double meaning of sorts. At this point it’s sinking in with everyone that they might not be rescued as soon as they think, and they have to simply “bear down” and assume their survivalist roles (Nat as hunter, Shauna as butcher, etc.) 

Blood Hive

- Line from the episode; “That cabin is like, the blood hive,” Travis to Nat

- This is maybe the most literal title besides Doomcoming. Everyone is stranded in a cabin (or hive, because they’re the Yellowjackets) together, on their synchronized periods. 

- Could double up with Lottie’s creepy french blood speech at the end of the seance. “It wants blood,” and the yellowjackets, in their hive, will provide. 

Saints

- We start seeing Lottie having hallucinations, and go to Laura Lee for spiritual advice. Laura Lee baptizes Lottie, and explains the visions of flames as “the holy spirit, you’ve been touched!” 

- In Catholicism, it is said that people canonized as saints have lived lives fully guided by the holy spirit. You could say that in this moment Laura Lee sees Lottie as a saint, as much as you could say the opposite. 

-Laura Lee knows what the bible says about visions, and “the lord working in mysterious ways,” and as far as she knows, Lottie just saw God; she was chosen specifically by the holy spirit.

-If Shauna thought she was annoyed by just Lottie’s woo woo bullshit over her baby, imagine if Laura Lee were still alive during her pregnancy. Van and Mari and Akilah all have faith in Lottie, but Laura Lee knows how to worship. 

- The opposite could be said, in that Lottie is having visions that she can’t explain, and Laura Lee gives her any explanation at all as to what’s happening. Lottie could just as well be envisioning Laura Lee as saintlike, in her own understanding, as Laura Lee is able to give spiritual explanations to what she’s seeing. 

No Compass

- Mostly literal, Tai has lost hope of rescue, and plans to blindly head south

- They do have the compass, it stops working, and with as little of a plan as they had, it probably wouldn’t have made much of a difference if they had the compass or not. 

-Also a metaphor for the internal, Tai even says at one point that she doesn't know what to do, but they can’t just do nothing- no one has any sense of what the right move could be 

Flight of The Bumblebee

- I was hoping for an F-sharp connection, as this is the last scene we get with Laura Lee while she’s alive, but there’s a noticeable lack of the F note in general in the song Flight of The Bumblebee

- Obviously Laura Lee does take flight, and we all know how it goes. I do also enjoy the thought of Laura Lee being a bumblebee among the yellowjackets. She’s part of the team, but there’s a gentleness in her that comes from her faith, that the rest of the yellowjackets just don’t understand. 

Doomcoming

- I mean, it’s Doomcoming bitch! 

- Literal title, iykyk

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi

- The episode title that made me want to do this in the first place

-Literally translates to, “Thus passes, the glory of the world,” or more simply, “Fame is fleeting.” 

- The episode title alone spoils Jackie’s death, if you’re well versed in Latin.

-Pre- crash, Jackie was the glory of the team. She was their captain, their leader. In the simplest terms, the most famous of the team.

-The light had clearly gone out in Jackie at this point, she knew she wasn’t cut out for off the grid survival, and she was passively suicidal. She saw that her fame did no good for her out in the wilderness, and she knew everyone else was seeing it too.

- Obviously can be framed in a Jackie/Shauna way. Jackie was the light, the glory, of Shauna’s world, full stop. I don’t think Shauna is a negative person because of the wilderness. I think she went into the wilderness and it certainly exacerbated the issue, but she had a glass-half-full view of the world already. Jackie was the positive one, the comedy to her tragedy. 

- Adult Shauna mentions looking at the world as if all the light has gone out of it; Jackie’s mother toasts her, “your light shone too bright to be extinguished from our memories.” I’m clearly using light synonymously with glory here, which isn't quite grammatically correct, but it is correct in reference to Jackie Taylor. When she dies, her light, the glory she provides, is taken from the world, (And most importantly, from Shauna’s world.)

[icarusredwings]

Tags + slight off topic rant about media literacy

Thiiisss some things are better left unexplained or for reader interpretation. We are in the point of media literacy where we SHOULDN'T have to have someone hold our hands for every single line or work

This does NOT apply to disabled or young readers, or readers who english is their second language, so do NOT take this as literacy level shaming.

This is about grown adults expecting every single thing media wise explained. This is actually WHY common sense is becoming less common, because everything is automatically told to people. I have witnessed a full grown woman with children ask her husband if a METAL bowl was microwavable and he said "i dont know read the bottom"

Ive also seen adults at teacher meetings protest at school that their student got a question wrong. The text was along the lines of "Harry was feeling blue" and the question asked "What is harry feeling?" With the options of sad angry happy and tired. I kid you not parents were arguing that the awnser is "blue" not sad.

Adult literacy is endangered at this point. Many of them are becoming incapable of deciding things for themsleves based on the context they have or can not identify an awnser without directly being told.

You may disagree with me if you wish, but I feel sometimes less words are better. Let people figure it out.

Even in the tags is a wonderful example. I just know somewhere out here is going to say 'what does uousrlf and gew mean??' Knowing full well they can figure it out themsleves with context clues. It is not quirky or silly or cute or "different" to be illiterate.

I'm sooo sorry but if you can not figure this out and you do not have a reason other then lacking common sense and spot reading, you may have not experianced proper education growing up and encourage you to better yourself.

The world NEEDS people to KNOW how to operate without every minor thing being written out word for word. Esspecially in a time where media is so easily munipulated and so many people can loudly broadcast their opinion that very well may be false or properganda thats meant to hurt others.

Please please PLEASE do not let big media and AI take away your ability to comprehend without someone holding your hand and explaining every step of the way.

As human beings, we have the responsibility to work on ourselves so we as a species do not crumble. Stop dumbing things down. Stop using more words to make up for bigger, complicated words. Stop submitting to the idea the the world is too dumb to understand you.

By submitting to this idea that you must replace large words with smaller ones, especially in fanfic, is ludicrous. How will people learn the big words and learn to differ things for themsleves if we must instantaneously lay it out for them while literacy is being produced.

I'm kind of feeling off put by how much of the Ao3 community is agreeing that they do not read fics under a certain amount of words.

Saw a comment saying "I dont read anything under 100k words" and Sooo many replies agreed. As someone who is extremely proud of their 12, 20, 40k fics It kind of makes me want to stop posting there entirely.

I know I shouldn't feel discouraged from posting there, but like.. if you guys aren't even going to read it, why should I?

I write for fun in my free time as a disabled father of two. I know I'm not going to have time to keep up with the highschool/ college writers and thats fine, but Im confused because people say "Ugh I really want a fic where __" and I say "hey! I have a fic where __!" And they say "Oh it's short" when it's half, or an entire novel length.

So idk. I don't want to see anyone complaining about not being able to find fics of what you like if you exclusively only read a certain number and act as if its our jobs as hobby writers who are unpaid to make every fic over 100k.

Thats just my thoughts on it..

[fingons-rad-harp]

lambert spent the entire time between the battle of KM -> ciri becoming a witcher developing versions of the potions that would be safe for her. he told me himself

[stagefoureddiediaz]

The Helena diaz of it all has me fascinated. I’ve said for a long while that Eddie’s real issues are his mommy issues and this episode just cemented for me that we’re gonna explore that and deal with it.

Because it’s Helena who forced Eddie to grow up to fast - because her husband wasn’t around much - so she pushed Eddie into de facto parent and husband role ls - selfishly filling her needs and ignoring the damage it was doing to her son (it is a form of abuse in my book).

Eddie then had the audacity to fall in love with and marry Shannon and get her pregnant. It’s why Helena was always so off with Shannon - she was punishing her. She is also punishing Eddie for all of this and his refusal to return to El Paso only cemented further her bitterness and resentment.

Now she does have Ramon back she doesn’t need Eddie any longer to fill that role so she is still punishing him and part of that is tied into her glee over now getting to parent Christopher - something she has always been intent on doing the doppelgänger just gave her the opportunity- as well as allowing her to further punish her son and his love of Shannon.

Her barbed comments about building a pool were all about showing what she can provide Christopher - how she is parenting him better than Eddie - it’s part of her mind games - making Eddie feel like more of a failure as a parent to his son.

The reality of course is that the reverse is true - Helena’s parenting is all superficial, flash and showy - it isn’t the hard day to day parenting when things get tough and you have to be the bad guy. While Eddie has made mistakes, there is nothing superficial, flash, or showy about his parenting. It’s why bucks comments about Eddie being a great dad are so important.

Eddie feel like a failure right now and that he is entirely to blame for everything. But in reality, while he does bear a bit of the responsibility, the truth of the matter is that he needs to learn and deal with the fact that all of it actually stems from Helena and her abuse of her young son - Shannon never stood a chance just like Eddie never has.

[unriding]

a … a gift from the talented @kruinka 🥹 thank you so much!! ദ്ദി ༎ຶ‿༎ຶ)