#the one about “which character would you remove from a show for a petty reason”

[shoyoist]

omfg 😭

[dazai-anon-archive-taketwo]

Your answer is complete bullshit. What the dazai anon did is nowhere as serious as what you are doing. You want her personal life basically sabotaged, and all she did was send you a couple of cruel messages that made you have a bad day, guess what? That’s everyday for the dazai anon. She’s just fucking tired of the treatment her favorite character faces form this shitty fandom, even his own “stans” join in the hate against him but there seems to be some hypocrisy against chuuya or even the fucking pedophile mori.

All she did was send mean things out of frustration and anger, she deserves to feel that way. I don’t agree with death threats, but nothing about her behavior is “harassment” or “grooming minors” you’re all dumb fucking idiotic children and it shows seeing how you label petty internet fights as “crimes”, at the end of the day, did you lose your degree? did you lose your job? are you in constant fear and suicidal ideations because you’re scared you’re going to jail over THE FICTIONAL CHARACTER CHUUYA NAKAHARA of all things???? No! You are completely fine and living your life with no fears or anxieties as she is. Your blog is also completely useless btw! No one is gonna make a case on this, your parents didn’t which is why they asked u to delete the previous blog. Follow their advice again and leave the Dazai anon the FUCK alone and have the balls to actually face her without holding legal threats over her head. You pieces of shits.

What she does is tell people to kill themselves and say that she hopes they die, that their pets die, that they fail their finals, that their mental health/life gets worse. All over fictional characters, and we are just documenting it. At most she might get a fine, or have her Tumblr/Twitter privileges removed. I'm not sure how that second one would play out but I know people have been banned from sites.

As for the. having a bad day bit. I've mentioned this to her before but I have several disorders that make everyday hard for me too, most notably that I've been either passively or actively suicidal for the last 6 years. How do you think her damn near constant hate and harassment of me and my friends affects my mental state? I say it doesn't get to me because it doesn't incapacitate me and I don't want my friends to worry. The shit builds up. I have blocked her, I have reported her, I have ignored her, I have asked her to leave me alone. None of that has worked.

I understand the frustration she goes through, that's the whole reason I don't interact with the pjo fandom anymore. I was taking everything personally, I couldn't play nice with others and I realized that I was problem so I stopped interacting with it. That is my oldest special interest that has kept me alive multiple times. I do not post about it. Because it is unreasonable for me to ask everyone else in the fandom to only see it my way.

She has become the problem here and needs to deal with that. It is not fair to everyone else here for her to decide that her way is the only right way and everyone who disagrees is against her specifically. She absolutely has every right to feel angry or frustrated but she does not have the right to take that out on everyone else, if she doesn't want to block people and respect people blocking her she needs to leave until she can play nice.

As for the legal action, she can stop harassing people right now and case will likely go nowhere. And I have tried to talk to her about the things she does without "threatening legal action" and she called me a cunt and stupid and jobless and a dickrider and a doormat. She isn't willing to talk things out and treat others with respect, so we have this blog. And we have gotten a few asks regarding legal action, we haven't answered them publicly because Kavya tends to harass anyone mentioned here.

-2

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

I actually thought that Adrien and Gabriel's relationship seemed like it might have been possible to salvage in the early seasons. What do you think?

@tallwriter Starting a new post since this one was getting super long as this is a different topic.

The problem with Gabriel Agreste's character is that they very clearly wanted to write a sympathetic villain - you can tell that from how the show handles his death - but sympathetic villains don't work if you make them cartoonishly evil. You have to handle the situation with nuance and delicacy, especially when one of the main heroes is the villain's son.

Gorizilla is not a perfect episode by any means, but it does showcase how Gabriel should have been written if they wanted him to come across as complex and sympathetic. In that episode, Gabe thinks that Adrien is Chat Noir and, because there's no way to magically force Adrien to reveal himself or confess his secrets, Gabriel has to come up with a situation where Adrien would be forced to transform of his own free will (since that can't be overwritten with a ring or something crazy like that). Which is how we get Adrien hurtling to his death while his father looks on:

Adrien: Always! (jumps out of Gorizilla's hand, and over the side of the building) Yeah-ha! Hawk Moth:(from his lair) No! ... Hawk Moth:(from his lair) If indeed you are Cat Noir, then transform, son. Please. (Adrien continues to fall downward, resolutely remaining as he is) Come on, son! (Ladybug looks down at Adrien, then raises her head, eyes closed.) Ladybug: Cat Noir, help!! Hawk Moth:(from his lair, to Gorizilla) Drop Ladybug!

This is good writing. Yes, Gabe's plan was kind of dumb (you live with Adrien, dude, just bug his room), but if we accept that this was the only way to go about a forced reveal - and that does seem to be the writer's logic - then we see a situation where Gabriel put his son above winning. A situation where he's still very much the villain, but he's not a dastardly, cold-hearted one. He does love his son.

There are actually several of these moments in the first three seasons. Some involve Adrien and many more involve Nathalie. It's why season five's claim that Gabe put beating Ladybug above everything else rings hollow. He never actually did that outside of Evolution (S5E1). He's almost always been loved-ones first when it really counts, a thing that Ladybug uses against him in the final when she tries to crush Emilie. The whole "Ladybug obsession" thing truly feels like something they just made up for that one episode to justify Nathalie "turning sides" aka doing nothing useful beyond maintaining the status quo (hey, they needed someone to keep the senti plot from having consequences and it wasn't like she was doing anything useful anyway!)

The problem is that this "loved ones first" mentality is only used for big dramatic moments, often as a way to keep Gabriel from winning. It's not Gabriel's main characterization even though it needed to be if you want season five's ending to feel even remotely earned. Going into that ending, we should have all thought that Gabe was a messed up dude who truly did love his son. And, if Gorizilla, Style Queen, and Ladybug had all been examples of his standard characterization, then we would have thought that.

But that's not who the writers told us Gabe was.

Instead, his standard characterization paints him as petty, controlling, and manipulative. Which is wild because there was no reason to do that! Gabe could - and should - have been played as stern and removed, but generally loving when he's outside of the mask. In other words, Gabriel Agreste could be well liked while Hawk Moth was hated.

The crazy thing is that this is such a simple change to make. You either removed the episodes where Gabe's awful parenting is the source of the conflict (ex: Bubbler) or you just make a few minor changes to show that he's conflicted about his actions.

For example, take Chat Blanc, the episode that ruined so many elements of this show! In that episode, Gabe is a total bastard. He happily sacrifices his son's happiness to make an akuma in the form of Marinette and then, when Adrien's secret is revealed, does Gabe have any sort of conflict about traumatizing his son? The kind of conflict we'd expect after episodes like Gorizilla? Nope! He straight up delights in showing Adrien Emilie's... corpse? Comatose form? Whatever! Gabe then akumatizes Adrien with a smile on his face.

That gets the writers a solid F for consistent characterization. It's why I highlighted "almost" in red when I mentioned Gabe's motivation. Because in Ephemeral and Chat Blanc, the writing ignores the sympathetic stuff that characterizes the dramatic moments and goes straight for the worst-father-of-the-year, love-to-hate-him, please-let-him-die-now characterization that we get in most episodes.

If you were writing Chat Blanc's Gabriel to fit his intended complex, sympathetic mold, then you would probably drop the breakup plot or you'd have spent all season setting Marinette up as the perfect akuma target, changing the breakup into something that Gabriel felt that he HAD to do instead of opportunistic evilness. You'd also have Gabe drop a line like, "I'm sorry, Adrien. You'll thank me later" before the Chat Blanc akumatization. Or at least don't have him grinning! Do something, ANYTHING to show that Gabe sees using his son like this as a necessary evil and not a fun time! You know, like how he was begging Adrien to transform during Gorizilla? Almost like Gabe had stopped caring about winning and started just wanting his son to live.

Would these changes make Gabe less of a fun cartoon villain? Yes, but that's the point. Cartoon villains are cartoony. They're over the top. They have no nuance. Sympathetic villains don't work with those characteristics.

The normal way to get around this in a cartoon setting is to have secondary antagonists who can be played as cartoonishly evil. And, confusingly, Miraculous has those characters. Chloe, Sabrina, and Lila have been here since season one (Kim could also have stayed a bully and been added to that list, but he's not a teenage girl, so I get why they didn't do that /s.) Felix has been around since seasons three. Nathalie has been an active villain since season two. Any or all of these characters could be the cartoonish, nuance-less villain while Gabriel stays sympathetic.

Instead, they play Gabe however they want to play him in any given episode, making it so that he's impossible to understand from an audience perspective. I personally like the sympathetic take and think that those are the show's best episodes because I like complex villains. It's even how I write Gabe in my stuff because I go for less cartoony takes on canon.

I don't think a redemption was needed, but a sympathetic villain doesn't require one. All that term means is that you can understand the villain and be sympathetic to their plight. Redemption is optional. In fact, the goal is often not redemption, but an understand that, "there but for the grace of the gods go I." I mean, we've all lost loved ones. Wouldn't the power to bring a loved one back tempt you, too?

If they wanted to go for evil, cartoony Gabe, then they needed to drop all of the complexity and go for a Disney villain type character who gets a Disney villain death a la Scar or Mother Gothel. Don't give Gabe the wish. Let him fall to his own hubris by falling into the water of his secret layer and lading as a puddle of ash while a sad Ladybug looks on, having just failed to save him.

If you want to see an excellent look at how cartoon Gabe could have worked, then I highly recommend @zoe-oneesama's Scarlet Lady comic, which is just nearing its end after a multi-year run. I think it's fair to say that Zoe and I largely agree on canon's flaws, she just fixes them by leaning into the cartoon side of things, creating a hilarious story with lots of heart. Canon could have absolutely gone that way too and worked out wonderfully! The issue is not a lack of nuance, it's that they tried to add nuance without ever fully committing to it, making a story that is the worst of both worlds. While a more serious nuanced reboot would be my ideal dream, a reboot that scraps all of Gabe's nuance and just makes him go full evil would be just as satisfying and Zoe proves that.

[st4rryecl1pse]

There’s this little theory in my head right now regarding TPOT, although it is mostly based on speculation (and copium) and there are quite a few counterclaims that I thought of that I’ll cover too to be fair. I also doubt that the writing team had anything too big planned for Teardrop after Satomi was removed so.. :,] let me just jump into it (of course, SPOILERS FOR TPOT haha)

The gist of my theory is that One is the reason why Teardrop joined TPOT (yeah I know, weird theory I just wanted something more to grasp onto than “teardrop was being a sore petty loser and wanted to win somewhere else despite placing 3rd which is pretty good”).

1. First of all, seemingly nobody from post-split BFB knew where Teardrop went after BFB 30 (either TD is just really sneaky and didn’t bother to tell anyone about her leaving, or she was poofed away to TPOT land by One or something.. I mean, how have sudden disappearances of characters happened in TPOT?).

1 Counterclaim: We don’t truly know if everyone at that beach was clueless about where Teardrop went. We know for a fact that Ruby doesn’t know, but the fact that Lollipop replies to her so nonchalantly instead of also being worried about her friends suggests that she does know where Teardrop is. It would make sense for Teardrop to tell Lollipop, too, because of their friendship from the newbie alliance. The second counterclaim is that One probably would have still been trapped in the moon during BFB 30. If One was incapable of doing anything while inside the moon, then they wouldn’t be able to reach Teardrop. Overall, the more probable scenario is that Teardrop along with Profily decided they wanted to join TPOT, so off they went without telling (mostly?) everyone.

2. One makes their first appearance after Teardrop’s elimination, in the same episode (TPOT 9). It is a little goofy to imagine, but maybe once One saw that Teardrop was eliminated, they went “real sh!t” and busted out of the moon when they realized it was broken enough. They would see that they’d need to be a little more active and make deals with more objects at once if they were to achieve their goal.

2 Counterclaim: This could be entirely a coincidence, and most likely, One escaped from the moon because it was weakened enough to be broken, not because their algebraley senses were tingling because Teardrop got eliminated •_•

3: This could possible explain why Teardrop suddenly gained all these abilities in TPOT she never showcased before; One could be giving her those powers to help her out, such as PLOT ARMOR especially since she was put on a team on her own. Also, this could explain why One seems to like messing with the teams and being more in control of the contestants (rearranging the teams themselves in TPOT 12, and allowing 2 debuters in TPOT 13), since she wasn’t able to with Teardrop.

3 Counterclaim: It is very likely that Teardrop had just gained these powers herself, and she was already capable of gaining new ones in BFB with her magically walking up walls (please tell me if BFB was the first season she ever did that). Teardrop has a strong sense of self-preservation in TPOT, so it’d make sense why she’d train herself to have this influx of abilities to give her an advantage in challenges. Also, the tidbit with One rearranging teams themselves because they weren’t able to put Teardrop in a better position to win Two’s power is a little bit of a stretch, in my opinion.

4: One possiblyyy getting Leafy at the start of TPOT 13 shows that they’ll make deals with just about anyone to get Two’s power, even people who aren’t even in TPOT. Maybe One is trying their chances again with getting outside help to get Two’s power. No counterclaim to this one, just a thought.

5: This is not really evidence, but Eraser’s “do you even need the power of two?” comment to Teardrop in her TPOT 9 elimination would be a moment to look back on and go “HMMM” if this theory ever turns out to be true somehow (because One wants the power of Two hahhah and Teardrop FAILED hahaha). Look, I’m just picking at scraps here, leave me alone >:[ no counterclaim again.

6: What kind of deal would One make with Teardrop anyway? As a strong believer that, mute or not, Teardrop does not want to speak, it wouldn’t be to have a voice or whatever. Aaand now this is where I go back and think “maybe Teardrop is just a little salty saltwater drop” because my best guess is that One promised to give Teardrop the BFB or something. Teardrop is visibly disappointed when she was eliminated in BFB (I mean… who wouldn’t be?) and she seems to have a disliking for Flower, who won BFB. Again, this isn’t really evidence, just more speculation.

7: Out of the post-split BFB cast, I can see One seeing Teardrop as the most viable option out of all of them. She’s intelligent, she’s athletic (just lacking in physical strength), she’s got powers of her own already, and she’s not afraid to betray other contestants to save herself. Again, this is more of me picking for whatever scraps I can get :,)

Aaand that’s my theory about Teardrop working with One in TPOT 👍 I don’t believe it’s very likely to happen, I counterclaimed the heck out of my own theory, but hey, it’s fun to theorize and speculate :] please i just want a definitive canon reason as to why teardrop joined tpot in the first place that isn’t just satomi liking her so much

[just-absolutely-super]

I see we're trashing 03 again lol. You know what else I hate about this show? That Winry is so far "removed" from her automail. In the manga and BH Ed constantly mentiones who made his automail, that Winry is the one who made it possible for him to walk again and even when his arm is about to give out, but is still working he's like "I really have an amazing mechanic (girlfriend) for my arm to still work in this condition". She loved him to the point of invention. But in 03 the automail is just treated as a cool part of Ed himself and doesn't really have a strong connection to Winry, he never mentiones who made it for him, or acknowledges that she helped him walk again. Hell Winry doesn't even stay in Rush Valley in 03 and Paninya and Dominic are barely characters. They instead put her in some Nancy Drew type of situation with Sheska. I think we only see her once in her work clothes in 03 and it's at the beginning when she's first introduced. It felt like her being a geek about mechanics and automail is treated more like a silly quirk she has rather than an actual part of her character.

Bro you are so right

I think the problem was that the manga wasn’t very far along so the people making 03….wasn’t fully aware of Winry’s importance?

They knew the basics about her, but when it comes to developing her character it’s like they wanted to focus more on her relationship with some other characters rather than Ed and improving her automail engineering

She grew close to Hughes and his family so that meant she should be investigating his death

Roy killed her parents so she has to have some weird angsty tension with him that doesn’t have a good pay off

She does care about the brothers but they’re so focused on themselves and their problems, they literally push her to the back of their minds (and then they LEAVE her at the end of the movie I HATE EVERYTHING)

Winry did care enough about the automail to make a big stink about Ed cheating in arm wrestling with it, but that was such a dumb and downright bastardized adaptation of the Rush Valley arc imho. Winry didn’t care about that in the manga because she knows Ed’s a little shit like that. 03 had her be so pissy about it she made Paninya steal Ed’s watch and have this elaborate chase scene to prove some really stupid point that he needs to….appreciate her work more???? It was so dumb, I honestly didn’t get it

((edit: I’m sorry, I forgot the reason for the watch stealing was so people could appreciate Dominic’s work with Paninya’s automail. So that entire sequence was just Winry being petty AF and wanted to punish Ed for just….being himself???? Ugh I forgot how absolute GARBAGE that episode truly was))

After that Winry gets shoved into the Nancy Drew role, which was so mehhh. I get they wanted her to have screentime, but her absence in the manga/BH meant something

Winry is a healer. She gave Ed a means to get up and move forward in his goals to save his brother. She is aware of her limitations as an automail engineer and decides to stay in Rush Valley to perfect the craft

She’s so damn good at what she does, her customers in RV are piling out the door waiting for her return when she leaves for a few days to go to Central. This is after Ed stops her from shooting Scar, proving the point that Winry saving lives and helping people have a semblance of normalcy is her purpose. Her hands were made to help and heal, not kill

She’s so important to Ed that the fucking president of the country sees it and threatens her life so Ed can be under his thumb. He cares so much about her and he values her work and opinions. He refuses to die because then it would make her cry and he promised he wouldn’t do that unless they were tears of joy like YOUR MAN COULD NEVER

UGH I AM SO MAD FMA 03 DIDN’T DO MY GIRL AND THE EDWIN RELATIONSHIP THAT SAME JUSTICE FUCK THIS ANIME

[aclatural-tilt]

Book: BioShock & Philsophy Author: William Irwin Essay [2]; The Value of Art in BioShock. Ayn Rand, Emotion, & Choice [Page 15] 'Indeed, any project that doesn't account for emotion is doomed.' I would usually begin with the first and last line but for this essay, I think we could use the second section. The first introduces both BioShock and some background information about Ayn Rand. The actual purpose of the essay becomes clear... [Page 16] 'Society benefits most if everyone is free to act in their own mutual respect for ones peers.' Given the capitalist lens that you usually hear about in regards to this game, an essay focusing on mutual respect and the importance of emotion is surprising. What is there to say when you agree with something? It speaks for itself. Not respecting other people and thier personhood leads to breaking down their personhood. You own self-interest eentually sonsumeds eliminating any concern you might have for other people. And failing to account for your own emotions removes you from your own humanity. You may sacrificed so much of yourself that abandoning your ambition seems impossible. You need to have compromised yourself for a reason. Otherwise how would you reconcile with the choices you've made? Acting in an uncaring manner towards others will push them away leaving you only with who you've made yourself into. 'Art concretizes humanities' fundamental view of ourselves and our existence.' I can't help but notice this playing out today. There are many focused on the importance of story in this modern age (though it has always had an important role.) The stories that have been produced are dark and focus on bad people doing bad things only occasionally fort he right reason. That 'good' is nothing but naive.

And, right now, people are afraid of one another. Our visual focal points for society are built on shaky ground or have been behaving in less than worthy ways to be or remain cornerstones of society.

Illness is rampant and a lack of meaning is pervalent. People's view of themselves and others is dismal. And they are only being shown in what we call art today confirms that view of it all.

Art is also meant to say something. To challenge societal norms. The days, we are comfortable in our suffering. Even though it is suffering. [Page 17] 'contemplating artworks teaches us how to integrate our values. this coupled with the earlier statment, "Artists reproduce the qualities of man they think are essential to humankind."' What values have we been asked to integrate lately? There are some shows which value growth like 'The Good Place' whose lesson is, 'people improve when they get external love and support. How can we fault them when they don't?' And that, is an amazing value to stuff a show with. But the majority paint a grim picture and put the worst of what people are capable of up for all to see. Then they attempt to justify it as any other story with reasonable characters with good values and boring. Others beefore me have said that they wholly just aren't good at writing character with different motivations. As a result, we get cynics who haven't been shown how differently life could look. Where trust can benefit you. That love can be simple. It's unfortunate that you have to intentionally seek out stories that have a different message than 'whatever it takes to achieve my goals' type thing. And, 'whatever' means violence, lying, stealing, and often worse. [Page 18] 'the artist would not fear the censor, the scientist would not be bound by petty morality, and the great would not be constrained by the small.' And, 'the economy plummets, scientific progress halts, and the 'parasites' struggle and fail... the world comes tumbling down.' This was a long quote. - the scientist not bound by morality... it is known that those in stem do not have critical thinking skills. It isn't the focus. It is also known that the little bit of ethics classes that are required of them, are hated by them. The thing about that is we have very stark examples throughout history and the studies conducted in the past which drastically highlight a need for these teachings. Ayn Rand herself lived from 1905 to 1982. Worl War II particularly is unfortunately filled with many examples of thics missing their place in society. Do I really need to write more?

Then, for the second part - the world would crumble... how much of society would be willing to enter this utopia? People would be willing, sure but not all. And with the way regular folk are seen as 'parasites' I didn't think just anyone would be brought into the project.

I don't think society is as fragile as they are positing. I mean' vault-tech in Fallout thought, too, that humanity would be completely wiped out. And that's in nuclear wastelands.

Some artists and scientists leaving for this city wouldn't end things. - I assume some rich people would also vanish into this city. To that I say, good riddance, honestly.

'let great people be grate, because in the long run, it's better for everyone.' Often the people who believe themselves to be larger than life or gifted or see themselves as grand - are the people you don't want running things. They make choices that aren't in support of causes or foundations but themselves. And power. The people who want power, want it to be above consequences. I wish this weren't the case but it is - also access to what allows them to suppress the rest. Glaring opportunities due to connection or because of expendable income. Which begs the question, how do you know you are truly one of the greats? It is you who could be mediocre if we evened the playing field. What if another outpaced you? Horror Beneath the Waves [First Line] 'BioShock goes further by playing on emotional responses.' [Last Line] 'Right from the get-go, BioShock is focused no showing us what a horrific place Rapture has become.' Seems to focus on the basis that Ayn Rand's philosophy lacked emotion? And it does. It looks as though you communicate human values and emotions through the realizing of your ambition. But it is at no concern how to get there. How do you have values reflecting the human condition or emotions if your process does not consider them? Moral truth through reason... But rationalizations can become delusional if they are from the individualistic perspective Rand advocates for. ...We feel more due to the way the game is structured. And that emotional attachemtn due to the heightened horror causes and larger reation in us at the end? Is that it? [Page 20] 'Video games are the ultimate form of horror fiction, because they give players agency' Kind of what I was saying. 'Success - weaving survival-horror into the narrative and a criticism of an extreme ideology that's presented' The game looks at the role emotions play. So the game made you truly feel like Jack. It did as much as it could to make the two experiences similar - until it wasn't at all. This added to your emotional role and Jacks. Ryan was designed to be undone by emotion being unable to move ambition across the line Jack (you) presented. And Atlas crafted Jack (you) emotional experience. Emotions are the cause, crux, and experience that drives us forward to play through to the end. The horror, what place does it have? To feel accomplished as we believe, in some way, we are working to end it. [Page 21] 'emotional appeals (horror elements, Ryan's death)' -> Shows yu the outcome of Rand's philosophy as horrific. I'm not sure what point this part is trying to make. Navigating your emotional responses to confirm that Rapture failed. You conclude it as 'bad' ... maybe? Ryan's death can then show you how blind lacking and ignoring emotion can make you(?) While Fontaine (Atlas) teaches you that selfish (unenlightened) ambition sows terror and violence? Althout with the various endings tied to your moral choices, I suppose you decide whether to act compassionately (enlightened) or selfishly (unenlightened). But the point is to show how the ideology is flawed, this very nearly agrees with it. At least on this point. 'Much of the storytelling is explaining how and why thing went wrong.' I suppose this is where we find the criticism. With it being a video game, we ar edirectly shown the 'end result.' Uncovering the history as we see example after example of consequence - we are slowly let in on what was and how it was all brought down.

Why Randians should Celebrate BioShock [Page 21; First Line] 'BioShock depicts Ryan as an objectivist who wrongly dismisses emotions as being opposed to rationality." [Page 24; Last Line] 'It wasn't necessarily Ryan's objectivist views that doomed Rapture, but rather, his stubborn refusal to put people first - before his ideology.' In this ideology, if emotions aren't opposed to rationality then where do they fall? -> Emotions are a product of one's values and rational thought.

They do not motivate action but indicate an alignment with tose values. Indication of judements about the world. Passive awareness. Know what emotions are present but think through the. (Intellectualization - generally not a good long-term process). A good emotion = good alignment; bad emotion = misalignment with values or goals (ambition). Pursuit of values equates to positive emotion and alignment. Emotions informing moral judgements but intellectualized in rationsal principles. Ethical behaviour stems from rational understanding of one's self-interests.

-> I see some worrying problems in this way of thinking.

Rational does mean critical thinking but it is still tied to a single person's long-term goals.

Emotional play a supportive role. But, they are thought not felt. I see a pervasive issue of emotions being side-stepped in this thought bannk. They are acknowledged only to be dismissed. And values are shown through art. But as said before, this prmeval ambition is seen as an artiform. And a person's happiness would be dependent on the values or goals... and it is overly converned with the self with only some reminders to act in an 'enlightened' fashion.

Action determined by values -> you're acting in alignment with values by obtaining your goals. If you are happy, why would you question the morals involved? It doesn't serve what you wish to accomlish! And you are encouraged to rationalize your way out of 'enlightened' principles you may have started with which ask to consider your fellow human beings.

Ryan didn't make a good objectivist, but arguably, Fontaine / Atlas did. He acted ina ccordance with his goals and self-interested happiness.

[page 23] And allowing humans to live lives worth living is the point of Rand's entire philosophy.' Maybe tha tis the intention of her philosophy but it employs some thought processes which could easily be abused and twisted. But I've already given that spiel, so I'll leave that here.

[Page 24] 'BioShock isn't necessarily claiing that Randian objectivism will always ead to horror.' No, but the potential is built into it. One following the ideology would have to make a very pointed effort to be aware of their ethical impact. It also relies on the emotional current informing you of when you are doing wrong to others. Many people do not inherently have that internal reaction. Capitalism and an emphasis on productivity doesn't exactly support that kind of automatic compassion. It wants us to push ourselves well past our limitations. This andthe abandoning of those who are not 'great' kind of shows this inclination as well. These poeple want to be unlimited for their own futuare projection to be unencumbered by those umable to share in their 'goals' and ambition already showing a lack of connectivity with others.

[sentientdessert]

This is a long post, discussing personal things.  If you want to read, feel free.  

It’s taken a few years to deal with a lot of the emotional issues that came from being kicked out of my D&D group.  Why was I kicked out?  I was not told what was wrong with the games I was running, only that they “weren’t having fun.”  No one would ever explain further.  And I recognize that I started taking out my frustration at that on the players.  The first time anyone said anything direct was the day before the ostracization started.  So I spent that day reworking things for the next session to try to get things on a track where we’d all enjoy again.  But it was decided before that by them that I was no longer going to be welcome to play or run a game.  The facebook group had a posted list of my crimes, the majority petty, like requesting permision before touching someone else’s dice or mine.  Some were stating that I was forcing things on the group, the example given was an event in which we were going to skip time for travelling and one player suggested ‘gm and the player roll d100 to see if the character dies.”  Everyone was like, hey that’s a good idea, and on the first roll a player character died.  There was no protest, just some incredulous laughter, me asking one of the other players to check my roll.  I know this because I recorded the sessions to go over later and looked that up.  So, I was being unfair in having killed the character in the middle of the campaign and there needed to be a maguffin event to get the new character to the group.  Despite the idea and insistence on that method not being mine, and no complaints or pushback on that at the time.  Would I have given in and changed things if pushed on that matter?  Probably.  The last thing, and it’s the one that I shouldn’t have done, was single out on of the players for overt sexual comments.  I was not the only one at the table doing so, and I thought it was one of those “this is fun joking situation,” things.  No it wasn’t acceptable, and I sincerely hope I wasn’t the only told off for it, because she shouldn’t have to deal with that.  And I really am sorry for causing her any harm.

It still bothers me today, not an every day all consuming thing like it was at the beginning.  For a few reasons it still sticks in my craw...  firstly, they didn’t want to talk to be face to face at the initial point, because they didn’t want me to feel ganged up on.  Within 5 minutes of the post being made, all of them had responded to it.  When I responded poorly to it, there were placations that what they were saying wasn’t what they were saying.  And my “need for time alone to think” was taken as “oh, don’t talk to you at all.”  I removed them all from the group we were in for the game because of the constant messages from the group, they took that as me lashing out at them, when I was trying to protect myself and NOT lash out at them.  When I was feeling better I attempted to reach out to speak to, someone I thought was my best friend, I got met with hostility and told that if I wanted to talk it had to be to everyone.  The hostility made me hold off longer.   One didn’t cut off all contact with me, but I think that was a detriment more than a benefit.  Because I was not taking the ostracism well.  They didn’t talk or discuss any of the things, just let me get more and more upset, almost feeding it with their responses.  Eventually there was a meeting set up where we all sat down and spoke face to face, because “they thought it would be better to not discuss it, but post a list of all my crimes.”  That meeting didn’t go well...  I had my hopes inspired because of things they said, but the actions of the coming weeks showed that it was just a means of making themselves feel better, that they “did all they could” to salvage a friendship they purposefully set fire to. I eventually did lash out.  About 6 weeks after the sit down.  Everyone of them was ignoring most anything I said.  The few repsonses I would get were single word replies or statements that shutdown any further conversation.  No invitations extended to anything.  Game related or otherwise.  And after 6 weeks of the silent treatment after being told by them they wanted to try to mend things, I lashed out.  And from then on it wasn’t the silent treatment it was complete removal from their lives.   I met one last time with the aforementioned friend, in, what i believed at the time, was a good thing for me, trying to keep a relationship with someone.  After time to think about it, looking at what had happened to former members of the group, and talking with a therapist...  it was purposeful on someone’s part.  I wouldn’t be able to explain why, but a few other members from the past were similarly kicked out and I didn’t notice.  I expect someone else will be soon if it hasn’t already happened yet.   The big thing that sticks with me though...  I admit to all my failings in this matter.  I acknowledge the things I did wrong.  I can’t make amends for it because I wasn’t allowed to.  By their own lips, they spent at least an hour each week discussing me...  and when a group has decided to villify you without your presence or anyone defending you...  it is hard to get any of them to admit their hand in the damage they caused.  They absolved each other.  I know this because of the last person I met with.  My attempts to talk, after the meeting where everyone said they wanted to mend things, were viewed as harassing them.  They had already decided before we sat down to talk. So, it’s a few years on right now, and I’ve been dealing with some PTSD over the whole thing.  I know I am not perfect, but I have been trying to get help for myself.  Therapy has helped.  Finding other things to use my time has helped.  Trying to make a character for a table top game still gives me severe anxiety, and being asked to play causes panic attacks...  yeah, perfectly normal responses...  *sighs* And if any of them find this post...  I am doing a lot better than I was back then.  Someone cared enough to be honest about what you were doing, and eventually told me...  either out of guilt or pity I couldn’t say, but it definately wasn’t out of love.  I was able to acknowledge what I did wrong.  I hope that one day you will be able to acknowledge what you did, and not just what you did to me. In an effort to try to get past some of the stresses...  I’m going to try to write out a story using my last played character...  hoping that getting through her story will help me overcome the chains I’ve been living with the last few years... My main goal in life is to be a better person than I was the previous day...  and I am working hard to do this...

[300iqprower]

@so-no-headpats

The Good:

Vivian is canonically trans in every language

There is a partner wheel so you dont have to pause constantly like its Ocarina of Time Boots syndrome

The shortcut pipes are now labeled and there are two mini shortcuts to the steeple and pirate cave.

The game looks prettier and there's extended/remastered music that FUCKS.

There is now an official reward for filling out the badge and tattle logs, although it's just a skin but its not like theres much to reward you with if you've thoroughly beaten the game like that. At least its acknowledged now.

You can interact with objects and characters while on yoshi, no need to mount and dismount every other second.

You can use Goombella's field ability even when she's not out but this lowkey sucks for reasons i'll get to later

The Bad: Quite literally everything else.

Firstly i wanna clear up there's a lot of false advertised "Quality of life". Fuck purism but literally all the "QoL" changes are just removing challenge from the game which Nintnedo loves to do with their remasters, looking at you Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition.

More inventory slots: So you can stack even more life shrooms basically. Quality of Life would have been letting us send itmes we find in the field directly to storage, which you still cannot do.

Restarting failed boss battles: The game is very good about save points and specifically has back-to-back boss battles meant to test your preparation that now dont work like that.

No penalty for fleeing fights: Self explanatory, the game has a badge that lets you skip fights you're overleveled for already.

"New Content" there are literally 2 new fights in the post game. 2. That's it. And they both require grinding out a bunch of fights that were already in the base game,. FFS one of them literally requires you to do the pit of 100 trials TWICE. That's padding and a half.

"Balance changes" are just nonsense. Its very Nintendo brand where the game is objectively easier but it makes it much harder for you to play the game how YOU want and not how Nintendo intends, case in point the frame perfect nerfs to things like Power Bounce and Multibonk.

"we'll put in a concept art gallery showing all the idea we didnt have time to implement in the original 2004 release but no way are we gonna put in any effort and actually finish our vision and add that as new content to justify the remake"

NOW FOR THE STRAIGHT UP ACTUAL DOWNGRADES.

The framerate is halved

You cannot mash through dialogue anymore

the game explicitly has longer intro and ending battle animations

HAVE YOU NOTICED A TREND OF SHAMELESS PADDING YET???

Theres a useless yet detailed tutorial NPC who follows you around. How about using that time on new REAL content instead jackoffs?

The big one: Unfortunately the chuds were lowkey right about "censorship" and blah blah. Aside from Vivian, who deserves the world like the not-evil shadow queen she is, there are SO many changes to the dialogue and unlike Vivian they are not for the better. Pretty much all the edges have been sanded off, and I don't mean they removed offensive jokes I mean they've even done some truly petty shit that makes the story objectively worse. The straw that broke the camel's back for me was finding out they retconned the Shadow Queen's hidden lore to remove any possible nuance to her motivations. That's just one of a TON of examples of the dialogue having all its personality sucked out.

So have fun freely seeing all Goombella's sassy dialogue now that a good chunk of sass has been removed!

Also remember those improvements to Yoshi? Well his ability still sucks because now it has a windup rather than being an actually effective mobility tool because again this shit is padded as hell.

this is in no way a comprehensive list of either positive or negative changes but it should be enough to make clear I sure as shit know where I stand on whether or not this garbage is more worth it than just using the HD texture pack on dolphin.

Literally only a duo as incompetent as Nintendo + IntelligentSystems would manage to fuck up a rerelease of TTYD

[anniestvramblings]

if you need any proof that Euphoria S2 is such a downgrade from S1, just like, look at how people TALK about Euphoria nowadays. what was considered high-concept TV - as one of the few teen dramas to tackle its topics with empathy and nuance - has become lauded as dumb ratings-chasing borderline High-School-gossip-tier petty character conflicts and been consistently compared to RIVERDALE of all things.

they dropped two whole ass love triangles into the plot, removed any self-awareness from Jules (as if “Fuck Anyone Who’s Not a Sea Blob” wasn’t entirely dedicated to showing how self critical she is (among other things S2 threw out. looking at “i’m not longer interested in men”.)), turned Cassie's character flaw into a parody of itself (from struggling with how men perceive her and being unsure of what she is outside of that, to simping for the first guy who has sex with her and becoming obsessed with the idea of being his fetish object), and just COMPLETELY ignored Kat (her story was all about her insecurities trying to find power and self-love through a patriarchy that teaches girls a narrow understanding of what power and self-love look like (objectification). only for her to then subvert those ideals by wielding her sexuality as a means to control her oppressors, taking until the finale to realize that this role is not authentic to who she is, and would still center her identity around a patriarchal system that now would just serve to isolate her from a true love (Ethan). then her story became “she doesn’t like Ethan because he isn’t manly enough” LIKE HUH?)

literally the only two characters with consistent development that isn’t flanderized for the sake of drama are Rue and Maddie. Rue’s addiction and how it impacts herself and her relationships with the people around her is still the much deserved focal point, and Maddie subverting the ideals of the “popular girl” and slowly becoming aware of how those ideals have shaped her toxic relationship with Nate actually come to a head .

and if you look at which characters the audience has responded to the most - yeah no shit it’s them.

Lexi has some interesting stuff going on too fwiw (and a fandom to boot), i just couldn’t get into it for a number of personal reasons. and that should be fine! Euphoria was once a show about so many different stories yet still managed to carry the same thought and care throughout ALL of them.

now we have like, 2 or 3 to look forward to? while the rest are the mangled remains of what they once were.

[irrelevantwriter]

Unspoken

Pairing: Rio (Good Girls) x Female Reader/You

Rating: Explicit, NSFW

Warnings: Language, vaginal fingering, public sex, car sex, unprotected vaginal sex, mild choking, mention of bodily fluids, shitty exes, petty Rio (yaaaass)

Word Count: 5.8K

Summary: Part 6. Feelings were shared. Where does that leave you and Rio? A dinner with your ex? A car in a dark parking lot? 

A/N: The last part is here! Though as I said yesterday I am definitely not calling this the end. I have lots of ideas for Rio and I’ve thought about adding to this in the future as inspiration hits. I’ve also thought about developing a Rio x OFC fic and/or something for Beth x Rio. I’ve had a lot of fun writing and exploring his character so I’m nowhere near close to done. And I also need to shoutout the ladies from the discord for this part. They suggested it and I ran with it (as I do). So big thank you to @woahitslucyylu, @whatupitshuff, and @fvckthisbxtchup! You inspired this. Be proud of yourselves. Anyway, I hope you guys like it. Feedback is that good shit. 💗

*Read Part 1 here

*Read Part 2 here

*Read Part 3 here

*Read Part 4 here

*Read Part 5 here

*Give and Take series masterlist

*Masterlist in bio.

*********************

He sighed, turning off the engine and checking his phone one last time for messages. The restaurant lot was full, patrons shuffling in and out of the newest establishment in downtown Detroit. It was in a historic building that had obviously recently been renovated, though efforts had been made to keep its old world charm. The restaurant was a place he’d yet to visit and this impromptu pop-up offered the perfect opportunity for him to do so.

Rio exited his vehicle into the cool air of the night. It wasn’t frigid, but it was enough for those outside to don a jacket. He stuffed his hands into his pockets as he made his way to the entrance, noting the stylish fashions of most of the restaurant's occupants. He didn’t worry about the supposed dress code. Wearing black often gave him an air of sophistication, even with the tattoo splashed across his throat. It was a duality he’d mastered over the years. The tattoo kept him grounded to his roots. His nature. His business. The wardrobe kept him aligned with the civilian world. People would often eye his throat warily, suspicion clear in their gaze. But one look at the clean lines of his pressed shirt and somehow they’d come to the conclusion that he’d made a mistake as a young kid. Got involved in the wrong crowd. Hadn’t gotten around to getting the hideous atrocity on his neck removed. They believed what they wanted to believe.

Cowards.

He smiled at the passing elderly couple as he held the door open for them, their smiles making their eyes crinkle at the edges. They probably thought he worked there. He stepped through the threshold, taking in the dim lighting and soothing melody of jazz that filtered through the space. His eyes scanned the open area with practiced diligence until he found what he was looking for amongst the black booths that ran the length of the right wall. They were high and designed for privacy, but he could spot your face anywhere.

The hostess greeted him and he politely gestured to the booth you sat at, easing by the podium as she took a moment to trail her eyes along his body. He smirked at the blatant attempt at flirtation, not bothering to return the sentiment. Instead, he weaved through the aisles of tables as he made his way towards you.

Your brow was tensed, your lips pursed. The discomfort showed on your features, all the way down to your stiffened shoulders. He watched as you took a sip from your wine, nodding along to whatever the person across from you had said. When he came into view, your eyes widened, almost comically so. He grinned, finding your shock amusing. It was the exact reaction he was going for.

“Hey mama, sorry I’m late.” He announced as he made it to the table. He ignored the couple sitting with you and leaned down to press a kiss to your temple, feeling you sway into it despite your obvious surprise.

“Uh...h-hi.” You choked out, shifting over so that he could slip in next to you.

He shed his jacket as he sat down, pulling you close once he’d gotten comfortable. You let him maneuver you, still trying to understand why he was there. He could see the slight panic in your eyes, as if he were here for business purposes, crashing a dinner as a strategic move. But that couldn’t have been farther from the truth.

His eyes finally met Paul’s, your ex, and then slid over to his fiancé’s at his left. They both looked just as stunned as you, except for the displeasure that radiated from Paul’s gaze and onto him. His fiancé, Erica, he thought her name was, looked intrigued; curious about his arrival.

“Sup, man…” Rio greeted, extending his hand for Paul to take. He let it hang in the air for a moment, eyes trying to remain unflinching against his. After only a second, the man broke eye contact. He reluctantly took Rio’s hand and shook it, his palm sweaty and warm.

“Who is this?” Erica questioned after she realized no one was going to introduce him.

“Oh, um...sorry. This is Rio.” You replied shakily, looking at him as if trying to convince yourself that he wasn’t a figment of your imagination.

He noticed your nervousness and rested his left hand on your bare knee, gently squeezing in silent reassurance. He felt you relax immediately, your body uncoiling beside his and once again seeking out his touch.

“Nice to meet you.” Rio smoothly directed to Erica, taking her offered hand. She smiled back in return, her lips painted a vivid pink. It was a harsh shade and one that made her look like she’d been playing dress-up. He knew from the comments you’d made to him that Erica was not the woman you’d caught Paul with during your marriage. It’d been someone different. Someone from his firm. But you’d quickly pieced together that there had been many throughout the years. All slightly younger and the exact opposite to you in appearance.

Rio let his eyes covertly take in the woman across from him. She wasn’t unattractive. But she also wasn’t someone he’d ever think about leaving you for.  

“You’ve met Paul. And this is Erica.” You stated, hand gesturing to the uncomfortable-looking couple across the table.

Rio nodded in their direction, Paul’s stare still unmoving. He sat straight and rigidly, the arm that sat around Erica’s shoulders now taut and awkward looking. He found satisfaction in that. He let his own arm rest comfortably across your shoulders, his fingers dancing along your upper arm in soothing patterns. He felt you shiver in response.

“We didn’t know you were coming.” Erica said with a smile, giggling for whatever reason.

“Oh yeah, last minute change of plans.” He propped his chin into his hand and met your eyes, seeing the relief in them.

You’d told him about the dinner three nights ago when he’d been at your house. He was in your bed, lounging against the headboard after he’d fucked you on the stairs. And then once again on the dining table. You were checking your phone, mumbling curses to yourself when he’d asked you what was wrong. You’d complained about your ex and how he was now suggesting a dinner alone with you and his fiancé to “talk some things over”. The whole thing seemed innocuous enough to him, but you’d insisted Paul had an ulterior motive, which according to you, never meant anything good. You’d been worried ever since. Anxious about having dinner alone with them and dreading the reason he wanted to meet.

Rio had funneled the information out, not giving it much thought because your ex was none of his business. But something had struck him the night before when you’d called. He’d been going over some of his books, mind completely focused on numbers, when his phone rang. You were in the bathtub, voice tinged with ease and alcohol. Just wanted to hear your voice, you’d said. And for some unknown reason, that sliver of vulnerability made his chest feel tight. He hadn’t stopped thinking about it since.

The newest development in your situation was slow-going. After that night in his car and the semi-proclamation of feelings, you’d both taken cues from the other, waiting for someone to speak up and declare...something. None of that had happened though. What had happened was amazing sex on the regular and sporadic outings to dine. He preferred not to call them dates because they really hadn’t been. They were usually moments right after a round of rigorous sex when neither of you had eaten. It was usually a decision agreed upon mutually and without fanfare. Just two people who were hungry and accompanying the other. The barest of human needs. Just like the sex. It was satiation.

But even he knew that there was an underlying current of unsaid words. Which is why your tipsy admission had startled him. For so long you’d both denied what was so obvious. It was practically a subconscious act now. And he realized, as long as he let you dictate the speed, you’d come to him. As long as he didn’t push or ask for more, you’d show up. And you had. So now, so was he.

“Something to drink?” The waiter asked, interrupting the tense moment.

“Vodka on the rocks, please.” Rio replied, the waiter nodding and disappearing into the fray.

“So, Rio…” Paul finally spoke up, clearing his throat as he straightened his tie. It seemed he’d found his voice. “I take it you don’t actually deal with home plumbing.” He said the sentence snidely and with a poignant glance in your direction. “So what is it that you do?” He finished, swirling the amber liquid in his glass.

He could feel you tense up beside him.

“I own a couple of businesses.”

“What kind of businesses?” Paul retorted, an eyebrow raised in doubt.

“The kind that do business.”

A moment of silence stretched out as Paul took in the nonanswer. Rio could see the wheels working in his head, see him weighing the pros and cons of arguing with him on the matter. The man opened his mouth, more than likely to continue to probe, but Erica beat him to the punch.

“How’d you guys meet?” She implored with an excited gleam, clearly hoping for a magical meet-cute moment that had never happened.

“Bar bathroom.” Rio said with a smug smile, enjoying the sputtered cough you expelled.

“He means outside of a bar bathroom. We sorta ran into each other.” You hastily lied, biting into your lip when his arm shifted off your shoulders and under the table, landing on your knee once again. He let his palm glide over the swatch of skin afforded to him by your dress, feeling your thighs clench together the higher he got.

“That’s adorable.” Eric chimed in, a genuine smile plastered on her pink lips. The same couldn’t be said for Paul, who looked as if he’d tasted something bitter.

Rio snickered because nothing about what either of you had been doing in the time since you’d met was adorable. It was the exact opposite. And he thrived off of it.

He turned his attention on you, hovering close to your ear, his fingers trailing along your inner thigh as he ignored the other diners at the table. “You good, mama?” He rasped, knowing what the action did to you.

Your eyes weren’t on him. They were shifting anxiously between Paul and Erica, concerned with the proximity of his lips and hand. Of course, they couldn’t see his arm disappearing beneath your dress, but they did notice the intimacy of the moment. Erica’s eyes looked on in admiration while Paul’s darted to anywhere but the two of you.

“Yeah.” You breathlessly replied, your own hand coming to rest on his. You squeezed and then set your gaze on his, reassuring him.

“You sure?”

His eyes flicked to your mouth, the flesh wet from both your lipstick and your tongue. He licked his own as he got lost in thoughts of tasting you.

You nodded, your eyes following the movements of his tongue, seemingly just as entranced as he was.  

The moment was shattered with the waiter bringing Rio’s drink and taking food orders. It was for the better. He couldn’t very well fuck you on the table, though he’d save that fantasy for nights when he couldn’t have you.

Everyone kept the conversion polite and vague, choosing to stay away from certain topics. It was rigid and uncomfortable for everyone involved, unsurprisingly so. The subject transitioned to the kids, upcoming events and appointments being the main points. The food arrived and Rio busied himself with eating an exquisite dinner. The food was delicious and he had a fleeting thought about investing into something like this. He owned the bar and had arrangements with other small businesses, but he’d been hesitant to enter the restaurant realm. It was tricky. There were always new places offering something no other eatery could. He’d have to get with the owner, Joel Pinet. Rio knew him from around the neighborhood. His own bar was only a couple of blocks away and he’d met Joel on more than one occasion, the man a regular in his establishment.

“What’d you mean you won’t be here this summer?”

Your question brought him back to the moment, the irritation in your voice making him alert. His dark eyes settled on Paul as he twirled his fork in his pasta. The action annoyed Rio.

“Erica and I are going to Europe over the summer.”

“He promised to take me.” She chimed in, giddy and blissfully unaware of the anger mounting between the exes.

Your narrowed gaze bounced between the two, your irritation palpable. You were stiff as your spine straightened against the booth. “What about the kids? The summer is when they have time with you. They look forward to it.”

Paul raised his hand in a placating gesture and Rio noticed how your lips pinched together in response, as if physically restraining yourself from saying something. You were a better person than he was. The man across from him was barely that, and barely one that deserved your attention, much less the wasted love of a ruined marriage.

“I’ll make it up to them. But we’ve had this trip planned for months.”

“And you didn’t think to tell me that?”

“Because I knew how you’d react.”

“Yeah, because the summer is your time, Paul.”

Paul sighed, as if frustrated with your reasonable argument. “So we’ll switch. You’ve had to have my help with alternating weekends when stuff comes up.”

“For work. Not a trip to fucking Europe.” You seethed, voice low but spewing with venom.

Rio only looked on, silently admiring your ability to not beat the guy’s ass. He deserved it. He was a piece of shit husband and an even bigger piece of shit father.

“The kids will be fine. We’ll be gone for a few weeks and then they can come stay with us for the remainder of the summer.” He brushed off your concerns, seeing no real issue with forgoing time with his children to peruse foreign streets.

Rio scoffed at the boldness. The action didn’t go unnoticed.

“Something to say?” Paul directed at him, his chest posturing in a show of male dominance.

Rio laughed lowly, amused by the man’s antics. How you’d ever ended up with someone like that was a mystery to him. After seeing your determination, your fire, Rio had been enthralled. He’d recognized something raw inside of you. Something that matched him. Outwardly, you appeared to be opposites. Strangers from two different worlds. But inside you were more alike than either of you really understood. There was something waiting to be uncaged within you. Waiting for a reason to be unleashed. He was going to get you there. Because you deserved to see your potential, even if the bitch of a man across from you didn’t.

“Nah man...you clearly got the situation under control.” Rio taunted, the sarcasm dripping from his words. He clenched his jaw and swallowed, two sets of eyes watching the bird at his throat move. It was his own alpha display. His own performance of just who king dick was. And it wasn’t your ex.  

When it was clear that Paul wasn’t going to rise to the occasion, Rio drained the last of his drink and turned to face you. He lowered his lips to your ear and spoke so only you could hear.

“You ready to go, darlin’?”

“Yeah.” You said with a sharp nod of your head, chin held high in reproach towards the man opposite you.

Rio stood, grabbing his jacket and helping you slide out of your seat. His eyes never wavered from Paul’s as he did. You smoothed out your dress, clutching your purse and not bothering to acknowledge the couple at all. He dug into his pocket for his wallet and made a show of grabbing a few crisp hundred dollar bills. He pulled out two and threw them on the table.

“Dinner’s on me. Keep the change, yeah?” He offered with a smirk, letting his hand come to rest on your lower back. He led you away, keeping his touch secured to you as you stepped into the night.

You released a sigh immediately and then inhaled, eyes closing as if centering yourself. He watched you closely, wondering if he’d see tears in your eyes when you opened them. Instead, he saw amusement. A laugh erupted from your throat, your chest shaking as the volume grew with each passing second. He only watched, entertained by the sound. For the first time that evening, he let his eyes trail along your body. Your dress was black and velvet, hitting just below the knee. There was a small slit up the side, exposing the smooth flesh of your thigh. A tie was cinched around your waist, accentuating your figure, while short sleeves helped stave off the chill in the air. The entirety of you was elegant...captivating, and far too striking to be meeting up with your ex-husband for dinner.

Your laughter died down when you noticed his gaze. You stepped towards him, holding your purse in front of you so that your cleavage pulled his focus. He licked his lips and waited as you crowded his space, your perfume swirling into a fog around him. He studied your face, noting the tiny details he often overlooked. You were beautiful, a fact that never went unnoticed by him, but sometimes he forgot just how much. And he wondered if you’d always been this attractive or if it was just the blinding haze of attraction that made him think so. Either way, he didn’t really care. It didn’t change how much he ached to fuck you.

“How’d you know where I’d be?”

“I got my ways.” He offered, taking in the way your lashes fluttered at him. It was a familiar tell. One he’d come to associate with you flat on your back and gazing up at him, usually with his cock buried to the hilt inside of you.

“Thank you.” You whispered, sobering for a second so that he could read the honesty across your features. There was that vulnerability again. And his chest tightened just as it had the previous night.

“No problem.”

You took a step back and waited as he began to follow you to your car. You’d parked along the side of the building and he noted how full the lot still was. You halted once you noticed his SUV next to your car, stopping at the bumper and turning to face him.

“Your car?” You asked, nodding in the direction of the black G Wagon.

He wordlessly nodded, once again using the moment to appreciate the way your dress hugged your frame. He appraised your black heels and the deep red polish that adorned your toes, remembering that last time he’d seen you they’d been a light pink. He waited and watched as you walked to the passenger side of his car, fitting yourself in the space between the two vehicles.

“How tinted are your windows?” You asked, the innocence in your words making him suspicious. “Like no one can see in kind of tinted?”

You stared at him as you waited for his reply, biting your bottom lip in a way that could only be described as seductive.

“Yeah, why?”

You grinned, pleased with his answer. His face remained expressionless as you looked around the lot, the area void of other people. You slowly reached under your dress, careful not to expose yourself. Your hands disappeared under the skirt and then reappeared a second later, a scrap of dark green lace trailing down your legs. Your gaze stayed on him as you stepped out of the underwear and dangled them on your fingers, a proud grin making its way onto your lips. You flung the panties in his direction and he caught them against his chest.

“Open the door.” You softly demanded, gesturing to the rear passenger seat.

Rio let your words hang in the air, taking satisfaction in seeing you begin to squirm. There was doubt in your eyes, like perhaps he’d turn you down. You hadn’t caught on to the fact that he could do no such thing.

He took mercy on you, figuring you’d had enough unease for the night and found the key in his jacket pocket, hitting the button. The lights of the car flashed as the vehicle unlocked itself. You sent him a playful smile as you got in without another word, the door closing behind you with a resounding echo. He chuckled and shook his head, biting his lip as he pocketed your panties and walked to the other side of the vehicle. He got in, sliding in next to you and discarding his jacket along the way. He seated himself in the middle and you immediately straddled his lap. His hands found their way under your dress, skimming the soft planes of your thighs.

“So that’s what it takes, huh?” He whispered against your lips, leaning into your touch that ran along the back of his neck.

“What?”

“Me being a dick to your ex. That’s what it takes.” He supplied, hands gliding further under your dress until they began massaging your ass. You moaned at the sensation, eyes fluttering shut as you ground down onto his crotch.

“Takes a little more than that.” You insisted, your hips rocking against his in a sensual rhythm.

“Let me see.” He gruffly commanded, chin angling to the hem of your dress that was bunched around your thighs.

You stilled your hips and did as he requested, lifting the fabric and exposing your bare slit to his hungry eyes. He could see the evidence of your arousal, even in the dark. Your pussy glistened in the muted light of the night, swollen and needy for him like aloe to a scathing burn. He reached forward and ran his index finger along your opening, making you jump at the contact. He instantly became drenched in you, the clear stickiness coating his finger. Your hips searched for a firmer hand, wordlessly begging him to slip past your lips.

“You seem plenty wet for me already, ma.” He taunted, letting his finger press against your clit. You gasped and bit your lip, nails digging into the tops of his shoulders.

“Rio...please,” You pleaded, chasing his touch every time it disappeared from your body.

His dick twitched at the sound of his name falling from your parted lips. It was something you’d only recently started doing, using his name in bed. He was addicted to the sound of it. You always said it with desperation and longing, usually while clinging to him in trembling pleasure.

“What do you need?”

You gripped his wrist and directed his finger into your waiting walls in response. He was  overcome with heat and slick immediately. You both released moans that signaled just what it did to you to be so intimately joined.

“That what you need, baby?” He added another finger while his thumb continued to massage your clit. He could feel you clench around him, nipping at your chin as your moans turned to whimpers.

“More.”

“Let me see all of you.” He ordered, his free hand pulling at the neckline of your dress.

You dutifully obeyed, pulling your arms out of the garment and slipping it down to rest around your waist. The same shade of green that had adorned your lower half also encased your breasts, the lace affording him glimpses of your hardened nipples. He curled his fingers inside of you in reciprocation, reaching up to mouth at your neck. Your hands held him to you, running along his scalp and sending bolts of electricity straight to his dick. He shifted his hips in search of friction, feeling the warmth from between your thighs calling to him.

“Feel good?”

“Yes…” You breathed, unclasping your bra and hurriedly pulling the lace away. He followed your lead and trailed wet kisses across your flesh, his tongue reaching out to taste you. You pushed your chest into him in return.

“You can take more, right mama?” He urged, not bothering to wait for your answer. He added another finger, his movements speeding up as he reached that sweet spot deep within.

“Fuck, fuck…” You cursed, riding his fingers while he sucked at your nipple.

He worked your body like a fine-tuned car, hitting each switch with expert precision. He could read your face, gauge the tension in your limbs the further he brought you to the edge. His guilty pleasure was watching you cum, watching you uninhibited and practically blessing his very existence. He knew if he flicked his wrist more to the left and pressed down on your clit at the same time that you’d call out his name. He knew if he bit down on your breast he’d be rewarded with your pussy fluttering around him. He knew if he told you how good you looked, how good you felt, you’d cum...and hard.

“You look so good like this. Like you belong to me.” He praised. You gasped, throwing your head back, and he knew you were close. “Who gets you like this? Who makes you feel this good?”

“You do.”

“That’s right. No one else.” He affirmed, thrusting his fingers as rapidly as he could at that angle. The muscles in your thighs twitched as you came, tightening around his fingers in a way that made him long for it to be his dick instead. He let you ride out the ecstasy, your body rocking into the stiffness pressed along his zipper. Your head was thrown back, your mouth agape as a litany of cries and moans filtered through the air. He could make out the rasp of his name amongst the sounds. He could feel the surge of moisture as it slid down his hand. You were enraptured; a victim to his touch.

He waited until your body had stilled, the aftershocks having long passed, before he slipped from your clutches. He caught your hooded gaze and slowly took his slickened fingers into his mouth, your essence exploding onto his tongue. He savored you, taking in the way your chest expanded with each breath. Your fingers curled into his shirt and dragged along his chest, your hips dropping down to grind into him. He barely had enough time to remove his fingers before you were pulling his lips to yours. Your tongue coaxed his into your mouth and he could taste the remnants of the wine you’d drank. The alcohol mixed with you, creating an erotic elixir, one that had him intoxicated. He hissed against your lips, bucking his hips when you unzipped his pants and licked your palm in a show of lustful desire.

“I need you. Inside.” You panted between kisses, situating your pussy over him as you stroked his throbbing flesh.

Rio slid his hand up between your breasts and grasped your neck, feeling your pulse jump. He tilted your chin towards him and ensured your eyes were nowhere else but on him.

“Put me in. Go slow.” He squeezed his fingers around your throat as you moved, angling the head of his cock along your folds. You released a shaky breath as you eased him into you, gaze not wavering. He rested against the seat as he took in the view, licking his lips. He tsked and maneuvered your chin back in position when your eyes began to close, the fullness of him stretching you tight.

“Keep going, mama. All of it.”

You held his forearm, the one still attached to your neck, as you bottomed out, your ass finally meeting his thighs. Your pussy sucked him, walls gripping him with an unforgiving strength. You both remained still, relishing the myriad of sensations that assaulted your restless bodies.

“Touch yourself.”

You worked your hands over his arm, cupping your breasts at his request. Your movements mirrored his, matching the force and pressure of how he usually touched you. He was transfixed by you. Utterly lost in the way your body begged for him and still wanted more. He respected your greediness. Could understand the need for more once a craving had been satisfied. It was the business he was in. He was an expert on the matter. And he’d deliver for you.

His left hand dug into the flesh of your ass in a show of impatience. You caught on and started to move, leaning down to nibble at his throat. Your pace was languid, almost lazy as you swiveled your hips. Each down thrust had you rubbing your clit along his pelvic bone, triggering your pussy to spasm.

“Rio...”

There was a warning in your tone. He could hear it clearly as you bounced on his cock, the plea almost drowned out by the slapping of bodies.

“Shit, already?” He asked, somewhat surprised at the rate at which your body was responding to him. He let both of his hands fall to your ass, directing you forward so that he could thrust. You whimpered into his ear as his hips pushed up and into you, hitting deep. You clamped down around him, making him squeeze his eyes shut.

“Right there. Don’t stop.” You gasped, face buried into his neck as he slapped your ass. The hit made you convulse. So he did it again.

The closing in of your walls made him double his efforts. He secured his arm around your waist and held you steady. He kept your pussy at his desired angle as he fucked you, hearing that hitch in your breath that let him know you were on the cusp of orgasm.

“M’gonna cum.” You slurred, primal lust making the words run together. His dick swelled inside of you, his balls tightening with every desperate breath you expelled. He could feel that familiar tingle at the base of his spine start to expand, signaling to him what was coming next. He worked his hand between your bodies, gathering moisture and ravaging your clit. You jerked in surprise, yelping when his touch didn’t retreat or ease up.

“Too much.”

“Nah, you take it, ma. You take it and you cum for me.” Rio provoked, forcing you to abide by his commands.

Seconds later you were doing as he said once again, cumming on his cock with a force that made him grit his teeth. Your body shuddered as barely intelligible words floated from your lips. You nuzzled further into him while he continued to chase his own release. He dug his fingers into your hips and thrust, the rapid speed making the car sway. He could already tell the windows were fogged up, the stench of sex permeating the air. You were boneless as you sat astride him, your soft moans of residual pleasure going straight to his dick, luring him off the edge.

“Fuck,” He growled, feeling the eletric shocks of climax start to claim him. He closed his eyes and buried his face into the crook of your neck, teeth biting down into the otherwise unblemished skin. He held you firm as he emptied his cum and filled you, rivulets already beginning to spill from your connected bodies. His chest moved with the rapid beats of his heart as the entire moment culminated into a drug-level euphoria.

Minutes ticked by as you both struggled to catch your breath and calm your racing hearts. Rio felt you ghost a kiss along his jaw; a low, satisfied laugh making him smirk.

“You think anyone heard us?” You asked, beginning to shift in his arms.

Beyond the fogged windows, the lot was still without people. But who knew who’d walked by in the meantime. The SUV wasn’t necessarily equipped to withhold sound, though it could cause a bullet to ricochet.

“Probably.” He let you sit up, eyes falling to your still naked chest. You both seemed to have an affinity for fucking in public spaces.

You eased forward to kiss him, the action much more intimate than it’d been moments ago. Your fingers trailed along his jaw and combed through his facial hair, a gesture he secretly loved. His own hands skimmed your back, eliciting shivers that radiated down your body.

“I didn’t ask you to do this.” You whispered once you’d pulled away, eyes imploring him to understand what you meant.

He did. He knew what this kind of gesture meant. He’d been truthful in confessing his want for you. It was a selfish need. Something that grew because you’d continuously denied him. And then it’d shattered before it’d even had a chance to become anything. And during that time he’d admitted to himself that he was willing to compromise. To follow your rules. And as a boss who ran his own shit by his own decree, it was difficult to come to terms with. But he’d done it. Why? Because something told him it’d be worth it. Whether for the great sex or the companionship.

Time would tell.

He ran his finger along your cheek, observing the way you fell into the touch. “You didn’t have to.” He assured you, meaning every word.

“Thank you.”

“You already thanked me, darlin’.”

“Well, thank you again.” You smiled, pressing your chest to his.

“Call it even.” He joked, gesturing to the state of your bodies still twisted around each other.

“Let’s get some pizza.” You suggested suddenly, pulling the sleeves of your dress back up, sans bra.

He laughed at both your words and the fact that you were getting dressed with his dick still sheathed inside you. “You hungry?”

“I didn’t get to finish my dinner.” You reminded him, retying the tassel around your waist. His hands sluggishly skimmed your thighs, stopping to squeeze whenever you suddenly straightened. “Oh, what about that food truck you took me to last week? The one with the fried mac and cheese?”

Rio took in your enthusiasm, finding it endearing. He didn’t have to use words to figure out where your head was at in all this. It was written on your face. In your voice. Beaming from your eyes and seeping from your pores. And like so many other things between you, it would go unsaid. For now. Because that’s just how it was. And maybe it was fucked up. But it didn’t invalidate any of the chemistry between you. Words just...weren’t needed. And that was sort of how it had always been.

“I got you.” He assured, patting your ass as he did. You beamed at him, not knowing that his words ran much deeper than a meal.

Rio Tags:

@tomhardydallasstarsgirl​

@thebookisbtr​

@beardburnsupersoldiers​

@nina-nkl​

@gemini0410​

[jackoshadows]

A lot of these review comparisons between WOT and GOT don’t even make sense considering that GOT was being sold as a show that non fantasy folks would like because it has very little fantasy in it. GOT was not sold as - Look, here’s a great fantasy story with these fun fantasy aspects - cool world building, magic, magical creatures etc.

It was more about the characters, backstabbing, politics, wars etc. For example this review before season 1 of GOT:

Five Reasons You Might Like Game Of Thrones Even If You Don't Like Fantasy

After listing all the non-fantasy parts of the story, they talk about  the Wall this way:

Maybe the Wall is too fantasy-oriented for non-fantasy fans to appreciate but considering how grounded to natural reality most of the rest of the story is, I think the contrast between the two different sides of the Wall is one of the most fascinating parts of the story.

It reminds me of how Benioff and Weiss stated that they wrote GOT for “NFL players and soccer moms” and not for fantasy fans and that’s why they kept stripping away the fantasy aspects of the story (Bran Stark getting zero story and development, Jon and Arya’s warging/direwolves ignored etc.) and completely ignored the central theme of the series to highlight the petty wars as being more important than this existential apocalyptic threat headed their way.

And I remember that while the show aired the majority viewers on forums used to complain that the Wall story was too boring and they wanted more of the KL politics. But that did change in season 5 when ‘Hardhome’ aired and for the first time the audience could see the brutality and threat of the White Walkers and wights. That would have been when the show should have pivoted to the fantasy half of the story as the books would have done. But then D and D pivoted back to fantasy is boring, let’s get back to KL and Cersei.

But this is impossible to do with Wheel of Time which is basically hard core fantasy and where it’s the world building and an amazing magic system underpinned by science that are the main selling points. Take that way, and the series loses it’s charm. Does anyone want to have more focus on Elayne playing the Game of Thrones in Andor for like 3 seasons? Plus it was Aes Sedai Elayne who was ruling and the magic was a big component of her story there as well. And while Rand and Daes Dae'mar in Cairhien was a lot of fun in book two - it was also pointing out how silly the whole thing is, and I am glad that it was short lived. In the later books, the game between the different houses and the magical aspects were closely intertwined in Rand’s story - ex: Rand and Colavaere. One can’t separate the fantasy from the political in WOT - they exist side by side.

The point should not be that this or that show is good because there’s less fantasy and more real world shenanigans - that only pushes show runners to change/remove the reasons for why these books are popular and have millions of fans in the first place.

Rather the point should be that fantasy can also have good characters, and interesting character journeys and themes that are relevant to our real lives and experiences.

Fantasy is escapism. We want to get away from our depressing, dreary life and job stress, health issues etc and just enjoy this made up world where things are different and people who look like us actually wield power and can do amazing things. I like that the world of WOT is matriarchal and by the rules of this world the female characters are actually either on the same level playing field as the men or more powerful. I enjoy reading about how this changes the different cultures and dynamics.

I like that female friendships, sisterhood, competitiveness, rivalry etc. are given as much place and importance in the story, independent of the male characters. I like that there are no love triangle shenanigans and the characters are just like - oh we like the same person? Let’s just share or on the TV show we have polyamory for the win! Or, my friend likes my ex? Ok you can have them, I don’t care. Hopefully this will reduce the toxic ship wars in fandoms when the TV show premieres 😁

Once again, to quote Robert Jordan:

In the real world we have a great deal of uncertainty, a great deal of danger and very little certainty of where we are going, how we are going to get there, what the end result is going to be. In fantasy, you face a great deal of danger, a great deal of uncertainty, but you have one particular certainty when you get into fantasy. You know that evil is not going to win the final victory. There will be victories by evil along the way, people you like, people you love may die but in the end good will win out. And that I believe is becoming more important to people - to have that certainty. - Robert Jordan

[iceheap]

Thank you!! I read your tags too and omg I'm so glad you liked my redemption arc hc for my lil gremlin boy cjfhfgzjhosvj and wow I don't really interact with a lot of hc on here so I didn't know ppl had tried to just hand magic Zane's actions away with like, chores around the village? ???? What???? That makes no sense, Zane is literally responsible for GENOCIDE I think in a way I'm also letting him off easy with house arrest like wtf. You can't just be like "and then they forgave and it was all okay!!!" Like wtf.

Zane was a nice challenge for me because it shows how reframing certain things canake a character a lot more sympathetic. I mentioned it in the post a bit, but the part I feel is the most inexcusable of Zane's actions is the anililation of Falcon Claw. You can't remove it from Zane's crimes, but you can REFRAME it.

This might totally ruin your good feelings about this hc or make it better, but basically this is a small glimpse of my process into recontextualising characters. I hc that, one: Zane was under orders to destroy falcon claw. It makes sense because FC was the closest village to O'Khasis. They were practically neighbors.

Two: during Aaron's time as lord, FC was going through an economical recession. Similar to how Phoenix Drop was at the start of the series. Except they had a lord and phonix drop didn't. It was going on because of a combination of factors, none of which were Aaron's fault. Lily was a big part of FC political climate going down the drain, actually. I know that Jess probably made her a terrible person in Mystreet due to like, romance and competition reasons so Aphmau and Aaron would end up together, but I like to mirror characters and their personalities etc and it makes sense to keep Lily consistent. Aaron frames her as a good person and never has anything bad to say about her because she's dead and also he was loyal to her and tried his best to be a good husband.

They were arranged for marriage, they didn't marry out of love. Aaron tried to make it work, Lily did not. Lily was a serial cheater and there were big odds that Jacob wasn't actually Aaron's child.

Lily had been planning a coup to take the title of lord of Falcon Claw for herself and had roped the rest of the village into it. Most of the children had been sent away temporarily as a result.

Zane arrives to "visit" the day the coup is planned. The villagers aren't subtle and Zane is really good at politics and listening to/finding gossip (it's considered information and can be useful even though Zane hates having to resort to petty gossip) so he figures out what's going on pretty quickly, and who's behind it.

And he also finds out about how Jacob might not actually be the Lord's biological child.

So he tests it. Aaron would let Jacom play around the village pretty independently since he trusted the rest of the villagers to keep an eye on him. Zane gets him alone and uses one of hisqny relics to test his paternity.

It comes back negative. Jacob is not Aaron's son.

And, keep in mind, the only reference to how an illegitimate child is treated is in his own family. So Zane, feeling bad for him (not gat he realizes it or admits it) kidnapps him. He puts him in this medallion thing, I think there was a mod where you could put pets in necklaces? Yeah he does that.

And then he sends a manmade imp to deliver the relic that will kill the rest of the village.

Zane leaves Aaron alive as MERCY. He thought he was doing him a FAVOR by killing his traitorous village members and his shit wife.

He delivers Jacob off to a couple in the country side who take care of him as their own and pays them off pretty well so they'll take care of him. Jacob grows up to be a NPC villager floating around somewhere in the world. I hc he probably actually moved to Phoenix Drop during their population boom since he probably has a business of some sort and wanted to take advantage of the high traffic in the area, and integrates himself into the community pretty well. Odds are is he goes by Jay instead of Jacob so no one even suspects he might be Aaron's kid.

Anyway, yeah. Does this excuse Zane killing a bunch of people? No, obviously, and when Aaron is eventually resurrected (that will happen, because not letting Jess get away with the clusterfuck that was his arc, my boy deserves justice and a proper developed romance) he doesn't just forgive Zane and call it a day. Aaron was robbed of seeing his kid grow up. He suspected Jacob wasn't his child but loved him anyway. He knew the villagers and Lily didn't like him and tried his best anyway. None of this excuses Zane's actions, but it changes him from a power hubgy monster who kills people for fun into someone who can even take accountability and change.

Anyway, yes, I try my best to keep original character beats and twist them around a little bit. I'm so glad you liked the og hc! I might have gone a bit wild with this response I'm so sorry!!!uenyhsybysnyney

@panicataphmausinsanity okay so Zane HC's LETS GOOOOOOOO

Before we start trigger warning for like, child abuse and torture and shit. Seriously this gets dark. Zane redemption must come at a price >:D

So. Something interesting to me in regards to Zane is how in MCD, He's like, this evil, terrible human being, but in Mystreet, he's like, a semi functional human being who can be a NOT bad person and NOT do bad things. And so I got to thinking.

I don't think Zane was born a bad person.

Personally, I kind of hate the way Jess wrote Zane. Like, yes, evil for the sake of evil is great and all, but like. In season one and two, Zane was this overarching antagonist who was always one step ahead of the cast and plotting and having a good time being a paice of shit.

And then season 3 comes around and now he's a shadow knight, on the run, has PTSD...

Look, I'm not knocking the guy for having PTSD. I'm just saying that the way it's portrayed kind of makes him seem like a whimpery coward. AGAIN, NOT KNOCKING PTSD!!

I think the position that Zane found himself in season 3 was a PERFECT set up for a redemption arc and it makes me SO MAD that it didn't happen.

So I guess I have to do it myself apparently -_-

I've been thinking a lot about Zane. I don't want him to stop being evil. Not right away. So we keep what happened in the first two seasons the same. He's a cackling maniac that has killed a shit ton of people and is on his father's payroll.

And then he dies.

(skill issue lol)

Anyway, Zane is dead. But he's also Zane, so of course he weasels his way out of being dead. And then he gets tortured and is subjected to the same suffering he condemned so many others to yada yada yada PTSD bleh.

Everything seems to be the same so far.

But then he breaks out if the nether. Still, we're on track, right?

He gets captured, he gets expedited to Phoenix Drop, he gets interrogated, it's all the same.

But here we find a canon divergence. Instead of being absolute dumbasses, they don't bring him into the nether. Let's scrap that plot point entirely.

Instead, we're going to let Zane bake in prison for a while!

Here are the main issues that make Zane irredeemable.

1. He's killed like, a shit ton of people, for funsies ig

2. He killed Vylad.

3. He destroyed Aaron's village.

Let's keep those things in mind.

So he's in prison. While in prison, Garroth starts to visit him (along with Travis but shhhh we'll get to him another day) and just. You know. Be angry.

Garroth has seen Zane as a spoiled brat his entire life. He's always been their father's favorite. He's always had everything handed to him on a silver platter. He's always been willing to do whatever it takes for power. He's greedy. He's psychotic. Garroth hates him.

But Zane is Garroth's brother. And Garroth is the type of golden retriever, gold hearted, kind type of character to still love his brother even if he hates him.

That doesn't mean he goes in and is like, nice to him though. Nope. Garroth goes to visit him and nine times out of ten it devolves into a screaming match where Zane antagonizes him the entire time and Garroth yells at him for being a shitty human being.

And then one day Phoenix Drop is attacked and Zane escapes.

They track him down eventually. When they find him, they strike a deal with him. Due to Irene related shenanigans they need his expertise as a scholar of Irene to figure out some more stuff for Aphmau. In exchange, they'll protect him from the Shadow Lord (who he pissed off by stealing one of his soul fragments lol Zane behavior).

Eventually they're able to establish a rapore with Zane. Garroth still gets a migraine whenever they have a conversation. Vylad still refuses to speak to him (oh btw he's visiting from his nether revolution vacation just so u know) and Aphmau still wants to tear out his guts for killing the love of her life or whatever, but he becomes manageable. They can like, stand him. A little bit. Slightly.

And then Zianna gets kidnapped or whatever. So they go rescue her. But when they get back to Phoenix Drop they forget to mention the fact that Zane is like. There and in the wild and not currently killing entire villages worth of people.

So Zianna rolls up to Phoenix Drop and gets jumpscared by her youngest son and also, notably, Zane is NOT happy to see her. He shuts the front door in her face. It's hilarious even though Garroth doesn't think of it that way.

So, now we have our key players all in one place. Garroth, Vylad, Zane, and Zianna.

Let's say they have to all go find an artifact toghether or something and they need Zianna there because it's related to something she knows and they need Zane there because of Irene lore reasons. they go on this mission. One day, they sit and set up for the night, set up bedrolls, whatever. They're lounging around the fire and talking when Vylad eventually mentions his time as a shadow knight in the nether and something about torture.

Zane blinks, and, having not been included in the conversation initially, buts it to say,

"Oh, please. Don't tell me getting tortured by those amatures was DISTRESSING for you. I would have thought father's methods would have given you thicker skin."

The others bristle and start scolding him, of course, because Zane is like, the reason Vylad became a shadow knight in the first place. But Vylad himself, who is very observant and hard to antagonize, latches into something Zane said.

"Methods? What methods?" He says. He says it sharply, too.

Of course, Zane doesn't pick up on this. He just rolls his eyes.

"Don't tell me you forgot. Father had a whole floor dedicated to torture and loved collecting new methods from around the region. I think he even had a historian employed who would research for him..."

"What?" Garroth says, stunned out of his anger.

Zianna has gone silent. So has everyone else, and now they're watching with baited breaths.

"So what? What would that have to do with me?"

And for the first time that they've ever seen, Zane looks... Puzzled.

"What, did he go easy on you? Didn't you talk back to him all the time? Once, after just asking him a question, he had two of my nails pulled. Shadow Knight torture was child's play in comparison," he shrugs, then takes a bite out of his stale price of bread.

There's silence.

Zane looks back at all of them, confused and now kind of pissed off. He looks like he usually does when he feels like he's about to be scolded for saying something crass. Except, that's not what happens. Instead, Vylad looks him in the eye for the first time since Zane killed him, and with the most emotion they've ever heard from him, says,

"What?"

Zane hums.

"Come on. Don't play dumb. He hated you. Im sure he must have sent you to the "torture basement" at least once. You got on his nerves constantly,"

Garroth makes an aborted movement, like he's going to stand up and rush him, but Vylad stops him with a flick of his hand. And then Vylad starts doing what he does best. Interrogating him.

So remember that list, right? Let's reframe a few things.

Zane was not the favorite child. Garroth was.

Garte was a paice of shit. Garte hated Vylad. But he also hates Zane. Why wouldn't he? Vylad was his wife's affair child, sure, but Zane, Zane was Zianna's spitting image.

When Zane was little, he used to take snails and out them in the grass after it rained. He uses to clamor for his mother's pastries just like his brothers. He was a normal child, and he was NOT born a psychopath.

But Garte had a thought, one day.

Wouldn't it be funny... If he made his wife think he WAS one?

Wouldn't it be funny to punish her that way? Wouldn't it be funny to turn Zane into a terrible person, and have her think it was for no reason? Make her think that she birthed a psychopath? How much would it hurt her? How much would she weep?

Garte used to punish Zane for Vylad's joy. One of Vylad's laughs would equal one slap to the face. One side remark in defence of their mother would equal one hour locked in his father's study closet in his office.

Garte turns Zane against himself brothers. And the best part in his mind?

He makes Zane believe that they know about all of it.

He tells Zane that his mother knows about it. That his brothers don't care that he's beaten. That Vylad does things so he gets punished on purpose.

Zane grows up thinking that his brothers probably go through this too. He grows up thinking that his mother just doesn't love him. And so he doesn't say a thing.

Garte starts having him tortured instead of superficially physically abused? He says nothing.

Garte makes him become a priest of Okasis even though the consequence of failing the academy is death? He says nothing.

Garte would encourage Zane to blugeon animals to death and bring them to Zianna and laugh at her horrified face from afar. Garte encourages Zane to say psychotic things while they're eating dinner, and watches as his family becomes more and more convinced Zane is a monster.

Until Zane is one.

But this reframes a few things.

The people Zane killed? It was under orders. He eventually became his father's right hand man. Most of his overarching goals have been in service of his father.

For Aaron's village, we'll stick a pin in that one, but long story short, Aaron's village had been planning a coup that night under his wife's orders. Zane had them killed under his father's orders so they could eliminate them as political neighbors. He let Aaron live out of pity.

And Vylad.

Basically, remember when I said that Garte used to punish Zane according to Vylad's actions?

One day, Vylad gets into an explosive argument with Garte defending Zianna. And Garte, again, without the other's knowing, has Zane tortured. Except this time it's for a WEEK STRAIGHT.

So when Zane gets out. He's. Very unstable.

And then he comes across Vylad in a semi secluded area.

And Vylad is acting like he did nothing, and all he's ever done is make Zane suffer, and Zane hates him hates him HATES HIM--

And so he snaps. And he kills him.

Keep in mind, though, Zane thinks this is all normal. He doesn't realize that killing his own brother has traumatized him. He doesn't realize that he's a victim of abuse. He doesn't realize that what his dad did is not okay because he THINKS HIS FAMILY KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED, and if they didn't contradict his abuse, then this must be normal. He thinks that Vylad has probably been tortured too. He thinks Garroth is their father's favorite because in his mind he's determined that Garroth not receiving any attention from their father is a GOOD thing because ATTENTION EQUALS TORTURE to him.

And this reframes a few things. His constant bid for power? It's not greed, it's DESPERATION. Power makes him feel safe. Hurting others makes him feel powerful because that's how his father had power over him.

His highly volatile and violent personality? It's l he's ever known. Do you have ANY idea what torture could do to a child? He has severe PTSD. Like, severe and repressed and his outburst are more common when he's uncomfortable or anxious or experiencing any negative emotion, which is often.

Garte took Zane's empathy from him. Turned him against his family. Made him into a monster. With these types of characters, I imagine it would probably be very difficult for them to redevelop their emotions and empathy because if they do that, they would have to face their whole mountain of trauma and the guilt of all the lives they've ruined.

I think eventually, after a lot of work, Zane does eventually regain his empathy. It probably finally sinks in during a small gathering. His mother makes her famous cake. Zane has long gotten used to being excluded during these sorts of things, but then...

His mother slides a plate of cake right in front of him.

Strawberry.

His favorite.

And she smiles at him.

This is probably after they found out about Garte being a peice of shit. Maybe a few months.

All Zane has ever wanted is to be loved. Maybe he didn't know it, but when he takes a bite of his mother's strawberry cake for the first time in decades and the nostalgic taste registers in his brain, something snaps.

And he becomes human again.

And he realizes:

Oh.

I'm a person.

I'm a murderer.

I'm a monster.

LMAO WAS THIS COHERENT SORRY PANIC I TRIED MY BEST I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS ONE OSIBWIBDIBSIBU

[arlakos]

Miraculous Rant

Actually, you know what, while im still mad from the previous post I made, lets go off on a rant. No punches pulled. Lets do this.

The lovesquare is the most terrible ship in this fandom. One girl is a hyper obsessed stalker who tracks her crush with her planner for 3 whole seasons, while the boy couldn’t learn to take a hint and stop flirting for 3 whole seasons until he decided to move on with another girl. Ironically that makes them perfect for eachother, but its in a creepy kind of way, not a loving kind of way.

Adrigami and Lukanette in the S3 Finale were wasted events and never should have occured because they were immediately axed in the first few episodes of the next season. I feel sorry for those that were hoping their ships could be real for at least a short actual while, and it makes me want to curse the writers for their story-boner for the status quo of teases

Despite what I said earlier, none of the girls are good for Adrien. Marinette’s stalkery and a borderline yandere, Kagami’s somewhat controlling and too similar to Adrien help him grow as a person, Chloe is a queen bee beyotch and honestly too much like a sibling to Adrien, and Lila is garbage. Fuck it, have Luka date Adrien and they can play some sweet music together (not like that you pervs, I meant they both play instruments).

Nino needs more love. Not only that, but there needs to be more Adrien/Nino bro moments. If Marinette and Alya can have moments together, why not the bros?

Chloe’s character is a mess, and is neither redeemable, nor notably evil. Her role as a villain in season 1 is very hamfisted, such as in the episodes Mr Pigeon and Kung Food. Not only that, Chloe also lacks any of the qualities that makes a good “bully villain” or rival to Marinette, and her sympathetic moments (which are Written by Sebastien) are mostly overshadowed by the fact that Astruc wants her to be a bully, so it just makes her bipolar and confusing when her character is tugged between two writers.

Chloe should not have joined Hawkmoth in Miracle Queen, see my other post as to why I think so. TLDR, its kinda ooc  for her to go full on 2d villain like Hawkmoth especially after Miraculer, plus Lila was being build up to be the main antagonist of S3

Chloe got kicked from the Team in Miraculer because people know her identity? Fine. Kagami gets to be Ryuko again despite being known to Hawkmoth in Ikari Gozen? Not cool. Ladybug shouldn’t be a hypocrite and be willing to break her own rules just because “Kagami is my friend and Chloe’s not”. Same goes for her breaking the rule with secrect identities with Alya, only for her to go on and on about the rules to Chat when he pries.

Zoe is a bland character who’s only notable trait that she likes Marinette, which automatically makes her worthy of a miraculous after two episodes and no actual development.

Astruc is a petty frick who makes episodes that give the finger to fans of the show that have a different opinion than him. Queen Banana, Miracle Queen, and Reverser are good examples of this (Reverser did Nathaniel dirty).

Master Fu is a shit guardian. Read my post for more.

FRICK THE FEAST EPISODE. Not only did is ruin Fu as character, it ruined all the good theories as to why the order fell, and wasted the idea of a new villain being introduced or even taking over as the main antagonist! Speaking of Feast, despite the sentimonster destroying an order when he wasn’t even big, he still go beat by 2 kids even when he was supersized!

Marinette is not a good Guardian. Her ability to choose heroes does not make her capable, and just because “tradition is stupid” doesnt mean that Marinette shouldn’t be tested like others before her!

Despite the Kwami’s being ancient magical buildings, they seem to act like kids a lot, and that annoys me when in S1 they are supposed to apparently be mentors to their wielders, like how Tikki was before she was mentally de-aged.

Lila is trash and should be removed from the show. The only reasons her lies work is because the writers dumb down every other character in the show and ignore the fact the people have smartphones with google.

The “Miraculous” Ladybug spell should require both Ladybug and Chat Noir to cast, because not only does the power have nothing to do with creation, but it also “destroys” anything created by the akuma, which thematically makes no sense. Also it would place more emphasis on the two heroes being equals and “two halfs of the same coin”

On that note, Ladybug has too many powers. Not only is she the only one who can purify akumas, and can cast a spell that can fix Paris time and time again like its no one’s buisness, but she also now gets a new suit and the ability to nullify Hawkmoth’s akumas. Like COME ON! Give Chat some powers too.

Mayura’s feather’s shouldnt be able to be purified by Ladybug since they have no dark energy, and (thematically speaking) Chat should be given an ability that allows him to “vanquish” the energy in Mayura[’s feathers similar to how Ladybug can purify Hawkmoth’s akumas. At least it would develop a rivalry between Chat and Mayura, and would make Chat necassary against Shadowmoth rather than being replacable with any other hero.

The are too many temporary heroes. They should have just stuck with the 3 heroes from s2 and leave it at that. Sure, new heroes were cool, but the overuse has made the whole hero thing feel less special. It made sense for the first 3 to have them, but now it’s just like Oprah where everyone gets a miraculous. Except Gabe.

Chat Blanc was a stupid reason as to why secret identities cant be revealed, also Chat could have told LB who Hawkmoth once he returned back to normal was and the show would be over.

Hawkmoth should not be Gabriel. Frick the lore about Gabriel’s wife dying and him going evil to get her back, it makes the story feel too much like a star wars/Darth vader reference and leaves Gabriel acting bipolar, flipping from wanting to save his wife and doing this out of necessity to being a power hungry madman wanting to take over the world ( which is said in his canon music video). Having Hawkmoth be his own character means he can be an actual maniac who wants world domination and not just have villanous plot that rely on obtaining magical jewellery (perhaps doing other evil things/taking a more active role), while Gabriel being his own character means he can be a father that has become estranged from his son due to the lose of his S,O, and thus can have a plot about him reuniting with his son (I liked the end seen in Simon says, ok?)

On that same note, I think Mayura shouldn’t have been Nathalie. Considering Hawkmoth’s plans were repetitive as heck for most of the show, when I heard about the Mayura leaks back in Season 2 (when she was called “le Paon”) I was theorising that Mayura would actually being Hawkmoth’s boss, the villain the was responsible for giving him his Miraculous and the one who destroyed the Order of the Miraculous, and would take over as the main villain in season 3 due to Hawkmoth’s failures. However, that turned out not to be the case.

Not only that, but Mayuras power is a copy paste power with some modifications to make it complement Hawkmoth’s power, by basically giving his akuma’s magic pokemon.

Speaking of Hawkmoth’s power, for a miraculous that is supposed to be used for good, how can his power mind control people and make them become evil? More importantly, for a miraculous that is supposedly weaker than the main heroes of the show, having it be able to multiply and posses people to create an army is kinda strong.

Fuck the Maribat ship that the salt fandom came up with. Its trash, it was made to bash most of the Miraculous cast sans Marinette, and anyone thinks it is good are either those same salters or are the same people who think that Rey-lo and the Twilight Saga are masterpieces of romance.

Whew! I needed that vent. Hope you enjoyed it as as much as I did, and Tune in next time on the next episode of:  Arlakos loses his Mind and Rants for 2 pages of writing!

[dontbipanicjonsa]

Can't believe they Pol!Jon-baited us (I finished the show, unfortunately)

Like queer-baiting, yes.

Lucky for me I'm used to being baited.

No but really. I cannot believe how they utterly ruined Jon's character by the end.

Sure, I can still say Pol!Jon was happening. I can say that Jon told Varys his, "she is my Queen" because he didn't trust that Varys wouldn't betray him to Dany. Kind of like how Sansa would call Joffrey her King and renounce her family while she was stuck in KL.

I can say that Jon was clearly trying to talk down/calm Dany when he said "I love you" and then immediately followed it with "you are my Queen" (again) because he knew that was what really mattered to Dany.

I can say plenty of his actions were driven by fear.

I can say that his "love is the death of duty" can be interpreted as his love for his family and his need to protect them which led him down the Pol!Jon path that proceeded to grow utterly out of his control (death of his duty to the realm of men etc)

But that still doesn't cut it.

At some point his actions cross from Pol!Jon to nonsensical. Is he really the kind of guy who would follow an obvious tyrant because he "loves" her? Does he love her??? HOW

Is he so deeply in love that his vocabulary has been cut down to only "you are my Queen" and "I don't want it"? Very romantic.

Basically, I can't believe that he loved her, I also can't believe he would hesitate to try to stop her unless he did love her. So basically......idk. It doesn't make sense. Why did he need to be convinced that Dany has to be removed from power??

On a lighter note- wtf are we all still debating about???? Last episode made it clear that Jon and Sansa love each other.

I mean....

When Danaerys and Jon talk about the "others" that Dany says "won't get to choose", who are they really talking about? Who is "they"?

Let's see, Edmure from the Riverlands ? Nah, dude has too strong self preservation skills.

Who's at Highgarden? Sam? Some rando? The Unsullied? They're not gonna wage war on Dany alone. So no.

The Westerlands? Well, the Lannisters just died, besides Tyrion who's imprisoned. Dany would have probably elected somebody to take over that place.

The Vale? Right. Sweetrobin would utterly destroy Dany with his smirky face, but it's unlikely he'd try.

The Pyke? Last we checked, Yara took it back in Dany's name.

The Stormlands? Why would Gendry do that ? To avenge KL? Unlikely.

Dorne? We don't even know the freaking name of that supposed Prince.

The wildlings? Why??

That's right. Neither Jon nor Dany have reason to believe that anybody else will rebel in Westeros....except the North. Except Sansa.

"They" is Sansa. Jon killed Dany for Sansa.

Not to mention, Sansa is repeatedly brought up in the scenes leading up to Jon killing Dany, because she is the point of conflict between them. Besides his parentage, of course.

And Sansa. My girl brought a whole ass army to the capital just for Jon. Straight up said she'd declare war if anyone hurt him. Honestly, she can declare war on me anytime she wants.

Actually it's pretty hilarious-

Sansa to Bran: you ain't my king

Sansa to Jon: but you're my king :/

And also-

Sansa to Jon: can you forgive me

Jon to Sansa: dammit let me stay angry for a moment :(

Dorks.

I will say, if the show had actually been consistent till the end, I would believe that Sansa being seemingly not angry at Jon is a sign that Pol!Jon was a thing. Because otherwise he would have given away the North to a foreign queen simply because he was in love with her, and put his entire Kingdom and family at a huge risk of being burnt alive, as KL was. Not sure if Sansa would still say things like "but we lost our king" then.

But the show ISN'T consistent so what's the point anymore?

Another thing-

Dany is a tragic figure ultimately. She needs the love of her subjects, but fails to realise that conquering a continent with fire breathing dragons and the "love of the people"....do not go hand in hand.

Jon's "I love you" was calculated, but he failed to follow through on it the way she wanted.

Now, I'm going to list three ways in which Jonerys stagnated the story and generally sucked, because I'm petty like that.

1) Sansa says- you have to be smarter than Father.

Say Jon did fall in love with Dany, and he really was honorable the entire time....even at the Dragon Pit where he refused to lie to Cersei. A true Northern Fool. What was the point of that line then? He didn't learn shit. No, he got worse. Because we know Jon has lied in the previous seasons.

Actually, this lends more to making me believe Pol!Jon was real. Jon mentions his Father quite a bit in S7, and it is always about how honorable his father was. Seriously, we know Ned was honorable. You don't have to keep telling us. Unless.....?

Arya and Sansa talk about Ned too, but their conversation is not about honor.

So seriously Jon, don't you have anything else to say about your dad? Or are you trying to convince everyone of your own supposed honor by connecting yourself so strongly to your Father's honorable-ness.

We really didn't need that many reminders. It's sus.

2) Sansa says- you have to be smarter than Robb.

And then what did Jon do? Went South, fell for a foreigner, lost his crown, lost some of his standing in the North, and eventually the story ended tragically and a whole lot of people died.

Once again, what was the point? Why have Sansa specifically tell Jon not to make the same mistakes as his father and brother only to have him go and make those same mistakes? That's not how stories move forward.

If Jon really pulled a Robb, then Sansa and the North are perfectly justified in their anger.

3) Jon and Ygritte.

So....Jon goes to place where he's essentially a prisoner, meets woman who's into him, falls into Stockholm Syndrome with her, puts his duty and honor on hold to enter an abusive relationship with her, wilfully blinds himself to her flaws to cope, and then eventually (directly or indirectly) leads to her death.

Ygritte and Dany are....the same. Dany is Ygritte with dragons. Once again, what was the point?

Did Jon's story really just repeat itself, beat for beat? Is this like some loop he's cursed to live in?

Pol!Jon is the only way we can respect Jon's character growth from the time he was with Ygritte till the end of S6. Jon from S6 would not fall in love with Dany.

Side note- how do you put that "read more" cut in these posts? I feel like this one got too long.

[eideticmemory]

TWO GHOSTS III | MATTHEW G. GUBLER

It’s been 15 years. 15 years has to be long enough . . . right? Read PART 2.

Set 15 years after the end of Ever Since New York, so give that a read first!

Word Count: 3.9k.

Warning: Usual angst, porn, and poor communication amongst characters.

SOUNDTRACK:

Closure - Taylor Swift

Demolition Lovers - My Chemical Romance

Bang the Doldrums - Fall Out Boy

It’s a cliché.

Your life, certainly.

And the saying, as it goes, that the show must go on.

You’re blindsided. You’re a little nauseated, and irritated. You’re looking at Matthew, you’re thinking no one’s told him what’s going on, either.

But the two of you make eye contact, for just a few seconds, then his eyes rake down your body, pausing to take you in. Your dress, black against your skin, tight against your body. You hold his gaze as it returns to your face — your lips, your cheekbones, your eyes.

And a mutual understanding is formed. Silently, through nothing but an exchange of looks.

“After you,” Matthew smiles, politely, holding his arm out in front of his torso.

“Wow,” you smile, your voice kind, formal, as you pass him by. “How professional of you.”

He can’t help but chuckle to himself. He looks down, shakes his head, and he puts his hands in his pockets. You can feel his eyes running over your skin like a laser, tracing the shape of your spine, and you nearly tip over in your heels.

Ramona goes to follow you, and Matthew’s aligns beside her, working up the urge to speak.

“[y/n] didn’t . . .” he whispers, pausing to lick his lips, point up ahead at you you trailing down the hall. “She didn’t agree to this, did she?” he asks Ramona.

“Look,” Ramona stops, turns to Matthew, holds her palm up to silence him. It works. He stops, his words, his footsteps, come to halt. “I don’t know the story, but . . . I don’t think I’m supposed to talk to you. So . . . anything you want to . . . ask about or say to [y/n], then — then, you can say it to her yourself.”

And she quickly scurries away to catch up with you. She pauses, turns around, tells him, “I love Criminal Minds, by the way.” And she continues on her way.

Matthew laughs.

You’re already standing, set and center, ready to walk on stage on command. You look out at the crowd, each individual face. The bright lights. And you hate to be dramatic, but you’d give anything to not be here right now. Seriously, anything.

“Hey,” Ramona murmurs, walking up behind you. “You alright?”

“It’s too late for me to get out of this, isn’t it?” You ask.

“. . . a little bit,” she nods.

Matthew joins, taking his place behind the curtain, waiting to go on stage. You look over at him, let out a deep sigh.

“Okay,” you shrug, look forward. “Let’s do this, then.”

There’s an art to every interview. To being a polite, and attentive, and humble guest. For 30 minutes, for an hour, forever. It seems to be muscle memory for both you and Matthew. You flash your smiles, and they’re wide, they’re bright, they’re pretty, and completely, utterly inauthentic.

You put on a show for the crowd. You’re not an actress, but anyone who thinks you’re enjoying yourself has been fooled. And that’s enough for you.

You laugh along as questions bounce back and forth, the interviewer leaned over his desk as he speaks to the both you. There’s a gravitational pull that fights and fights to make you look at Matthew. It catches you once, and the two of you awkwardly avoid eye contact by averting your heads from one another.

Your eyes flicker over to the timer offstage, counting down the minutes until the interview was officially off air. It wasn’t until twenty minutes were left on the clock, that the questions became, a bit . . . pushy, to say the least.

“So, you and Matthew went to college together, is that right?”

“Yes,” you nodded, only looking to Matthew for a second of acknowledgement, before returning your glimmering smile to the host. “Yes, we did.”

“Were you two friends?” he asks. “Now, I don’t know why, but I see you both being in very different cliques,” he laughs, the audience joining.

You giggle, nodding, “Um, yeah, yes, I would say we were friends.”

“And what would you say, Matthew?”

“Eh, I’d say we were acquaintances,” he jokes, giving a shrug in response.

Everyone but you finds it funny. You cross your legs, passive aggressively, biting down on your bottom lip.

“Oh, so she was in with the cool crowd, is that what it was?”

“Hm . . .” Matthew hums. “Define cool?”

Your laugh is dry, quiet, drowned out by the laughter of the crowd. Your eyes are glued to your shoes, your feet swaying back and forth on your heel.

“But in all honesty . . .” Matthew adds. He leans over, puts his arm around you. It was the one thing to make you lose all sense of clairty, lose your solid ground. You shuffled in your seat, awkwardly, straining your face just to keep your smile in place. “If I could describe knowing [y/n] in college, in one, single word, it’d probably be . . .” he turns his head to you, slowly, “. . . exhausting.”

His voice comes out in a joking manner, and it prompts another uproar of laughter, which drowns in your ears as you gaze at Matthew. Your face is laced with a numb, distant kind of hurt.

Fifteen more minutes on the clock.

And you spend every one of them with a fire burning in your belly. Burning, and burning, until it filled your entire body.

Ramona runs up to you the second you step off stage, happy, beaming, “That went well! You were composed, funny, you handled his nosey ass questions with, like, no visible reaction.”

Continuing down the hallway, you focus on the steps ahead of you, counting down to the moment you return to the sanctuary of your dressing room.

“And the way you subtly promoted the show without being too pretentious, I mean, very well done. I — oh —“

She’s cut off by the door slamming in her face, as you disappear into the private room, leaving yourself to find peace. Stability.

“. . . I’m still proud of you!” Ramona shouts through the barrier. You sigh, close your eyes, rest your back against the cold wood. “I’m going to call you a car, I’ll be back!”

It’s not until you hear her retreating footsteps, that you take a seat at the vanity set to the side of the room. You put your head in your hands, unable to look at yourself in the mirror. Unable to do anything but sit, and feel.

Ramona weighs on your mind, and you can’t seem to shake the guilt of sending her away, so cold, so unfair. You huff, and rise to your feet. They’re swollen, and achey, from the pair of heels encapsulating them, but you push through. You march up to the door, and as soon as you swing it open, you walk down the hallway.

“Ro?” you call. “Ramona!”

And as if an invisible force knocked you back, jilted you in your steps, you stop. You turn your body, looking to the door at your left. It’s a magnetic attraction. You know he’s in there. Hell, you know he could walk out at any moment. But you stay, stuck in front of the barrier like a deer in headlights.

“No,” you whisper to yourself, shaking your head. “No . . . “

You walk away. You make the decision to walk away. But you only manage to make it a few feet . . . before you’re turning back around.

Your knuckles rasp on the wooden door, and you cross your arms as you await an answer. When Matthew comes to the door, the first thing you notice is that his tie has been removed, the top buttons of his shirt undone. Your breath catches in your throat, but only for a moment.

He exhales, “Haven’t we used all of our time for today?” he quips, tilting his head as he looks at you.

“I just want you to know that this is not . . . fair,” you tell him. “I have been polite and understanding, and you have been . . . a dick.”

He stands up straight, physically taken aback by your words, and the venom with which you speak them. “Have I?”

“Yes. You are being petty, and mean, and dragging this out for no, damn, reason, Matthew Gubler.”

“I didn’t know there was anything to drag out,” he shrugs. “Now, if you’ll excuse me,” he goes to close the door, right in your face. But you catch it with your elbow, force your way in.

You slam the door behind you, standing firm on your feet, firm in your anger. “No, no. You don’t get to treat me like this. Whatever is bothering you, whatever issue you have with me, that doesn’t give you the right to slam the door in my face, and disregard the fact that you have been an utter asshole!”

“Oh,” he backs away, snidely clicking his tongue at you. “We’re getting into a screaming match now?”

“What the fuck is your deal, Matthew?” you seeth. “You’re mad, you’re hurt, I get it —“

“I’m not mad, I’m not hurt. I’m . . . annoyed, more than anything.”

“Oh, please,” you scoff, crossing your arms. “The way I see it, there’s two options, here. Either, you’re still mad, and you want to hurt me. Or, you want to fuck me so badly, you’re just making yourself look stupid!”

A lot has changed. Too many things to count on one hand.

But the way Matthew’s eyes darken . . .

The way the wire snaps.

It hasn’t changed, at all. His irises are still as dark and intense, as they always were when they were focused on you. Dreamy, and powerful. Almost, hypnotic.

It’s hard to tell exactly who kisses who, first.

So, we’ll call it a mutual decision.

Your bodies collide, fall in sync with one another almost automatically, as you hold his face in your hands. His skin feels different, covered by a layer of scruff. But his mouth tastes the same.

Addicting.

You drop your jaw, let his tongue slide between your lips. He moans into the kiss, and his hands grip onto your waist, pulling you closer. Closer. Until you can feel his heartbeat against your chest. You offer no resistance as he sweeps you off your feet, instead wrapping your legs around his waist.

Your back slams into the wall, and you gasp, tangle your hands in Matthew’s hair. It curls around your fingers, and he hums at the sensation of your fingertips grazing his scalp. His hands make their way underneath the hem of your dress, maneuvering up your thighs, onto your ass.

He pauses to put his forehead against yours, watch the drool drip down your lips. “You want it as badly as I do . . .” he whispers, heaving as his breath reels from the kiss.

“Shut up.”

“Don’t you?”

“You’re ruining it, jackass,” you spit.

“Mm, that’s what I thought,” he grins into another kiss, catching your bottom lip between his teeth. His hand wraps around the elastic band of your panties, tightly, and he uses minimal strength to rip the fabric apart. It pops against your leg, and you squeak out loud, causing Matthew to chuckle against your lips.

Your dress rides up your thighs, bunching up around your waist, while your hands work quickly to undo Matthew’s belt. His stomach is flushed, and warm under the thin material of his shirt.

He grunts into his mouth as you free him from his boxers, stroke him in your palm with a familiar and steady rhythm. He could’ve fallen to his knees right then, right there. But he didn’t. Because, God, he’s going to fuck you if it was the last thing he ever does. He’s going to do it well, and he’s going to make it quick.

Pinning you to the wall, he spits on her fingers, covering them in his saliva and reaching down to touch you between your legs. You whimper into his mouth, pleading, begging for it.

Matthew pulls away from the kiss only to watch your face, to see your eyes roll back as he pushes into you. Again. For the first time in so long. Your entire body, just, relaxes, and you melt into each other, weak already.

His hips push forward, forcefully, until he’s buried inside of you, and you can’t help but let out a loud whine. He puts a hand over your mouth, his forehead against yours, and begins to move your bodies in this slow, steady rhythm. Your back is moving up and down against the wall, and your moans are aligning with every one that comes from Matthew’s mouth.

The two of you can’t keep your eyes off each other, as though neither of you can believe this is happening. That you’re here. With each other. Bonded. Chained. Like there was no amount of fate, or time, or distance that could keep you apart.

Matthew buries his face in your neck, trying to contain his high pitched groans. He absentmindedly starts to increase his pace, encouraged by the way your nails rake down his back. You rest your head back against the wall, you eyes screwed shut and your mouth wide open. His fingers slide between your lips, and muffle the loud squeaks that won’t seem to stop.

And you’re not sure if it’s him, the way he’s only gotten better, and manages to hit a golden spot inside of you with every thrust. Or, if it’s the fact that you haven’t gotten laid in a while. But when Matthew takes his hand away from his mouth, starts to rub your clit, you yelp.

“Shhh,” he cooes, but follows his soft order with a roll of his hips.

Your body is completely rested, dependent, on his. He cradles you in his arms as his hips contain to move, his fingers work tirelessly on your clit, and he moans in your ear.

You don’t have to tell him. He already knows. He remembers. How your thighs tighten around his waist when you’re close. How you mumble incoherently, and try to catch your breath but it only comes out at jumbled gasps. He feels you tighten around his cock, your nails digging into his back and your fingers pulling at his hair.

He supports you as your body crumbles from the pressure, releases it all in one big, intense rush of energy that leaves your body tense and on edge. You hold him close as you tremble, muffle your whimpers against his shoulder. Sliding out of you, he uses your inner thighs to bring himself there with you. You have to lay against the wall, as you watch him in a daze. Your vision blurry, blurry, until you focused on him.

Sweat beads on his forehead, soaking the hair on his face, and the collar of his shirt. He bites down on his bottom lip hard enough to draw blood. And when he comes, his jaw drops, but no noise comes out. He’s silent, and beautiful, and his face scrunches up in the exact same way it always did. He makes a mess on your thighs, your stomach, and stares you in the eye while he does it.

Matthew lowers you to the ground, holding your hips as you plant your feet on the floor. You stare at each other for a moment, out of breath, and strangely calm, both of you fixing your clothes.

You advert your eyes, distracting yourself by correcting the wrinkles in your dress. You reach over, grab some tissues to wipe yourself off with. Silence fills the room, and it’s deafening.

Nothing’s changed. Nothing’s different. The past is still the past, you’re still you, Matthew’s still him. And the remnants of who you two used to be still hang in the air, haunting. Dangerous.

You push your hair out of your face, clear your throat as you toss the tissues into the trash, look Matthew in the face, “We done here?”

You move around him, heading to the door without looking back.

“[y/n],” he calls. You turn around, your hand on the door knob. Matthew steps towards you, shoving his hands into his pockets. “You don’t have to treat me like, some situation that needs to be handled . . .” he purses his lips, “I’ll be alright.”

You sigh at him, at a loss for words. And you leave.

Ramona nearly collides into you as she rushes down the hall, exclaiming as she stops in her tracks. “There you are! I’ve been looking for you!” She catches a glimpse of Matthew’s door, her jaw dropping as she connects the dots. “I —“ she stutters. “Did you —?”

“Let’s go,” you command.

“But, I —“

“Let’s go.”

So you went. It felt cowardly, and . . . wrong. Wrong, simply because of Matthew. His broken voice. The memory of his eyes, and the sadness that glossed over them as you left.

After situating yourself in the backseat, you lock the car door. Out of some irrational fear . . . that, if given the chance, you’ll hop out. Rush back to Matthew, take him in your arms, and never let him go. Never is a long time, but not enough to make up for the years that have gone by.

You sigh to yourself, rub your tired eyes as the car begins to move, begins on its journey to take you home. “Actually . . .” you say to the driver., leaning forward. “Can you take me somewhere else, instead?”

You knock, forcefully, on the door in front of you, after trekking up the stairs to the luxury apartment. Out of breath, you huff, and add another tireless knock upon the door.

“It’s open!”

You furrow your eyebrows, walk in to see Claire and Roni sitting on the couch. They give you welcoming smiles, popping snacks into their mouth.

“Are you trying to wake the kid, dude?” Claire asks you, causing Roni to chuckle under her breath.

“Sorry, I . . .” you apologize. “I thought you guys were asleep.”

“We’re up,”Claire shrugs. “Want a snack? We’ve got those tropical gummies that you really like.”

You stare for a moment, inhale, exhale, look to Claire, “You knew I was coming . . .”

“Oh, yeah,” she nods. “We saw the interview. You were expected.”

“Ugh,” you groan, putting your face in your hands, out of nothing but pure exhaustion.

Claire sighs, sadly, knowing you so well, that it’s evident to her just how much your struggling. How, once again, your body is being weighed down by a heavy heart.

“You said you’re alright here, babe?” Roni whispers to her, and Claire responds with a gentle nod.

“We’re fine, mama,” she tells her, following her words with a soft kiss on the lips. “I’ll be down soon.”

“Okay,” and with that, Roni leaves the two best friends to themselves, occupying herself by going to check on Dorthy.

Claire pats the newly available spot beside her, and you shuffle your feet over the couch, plopping down with a hum of relief.

“Here,” Claire says, picking up a pack of gummies, handing them to you, “Have a snack.”

You take the packet, and tear it open, not hesitating to pop the candy in your mouth. You chew anxiously, obnoxiously.

Claire is patient. Of all things, Claire is kind. And she waits for you to process. Your feelings, your thoughts, your words, and when you finally, finally open your mouth to speak, she just smiles. It’s as though everything comes out in one breathe. A film made in one take. You use all your energy to rant and mumble and whine tonight’s events.

Even the dirty details. They’re important to the story.

“And I just left . . .” you trail off. “What else was I supposed to do?”

Claire looks at you for a long time. She goes to speak. She stops herself. She puts her finger to her lips, contemplating. Goes to speak again. Stops herself, again.

You furrow your eyebrows at her, “Is this like, charades or something?” you ask.

“No . . . I . . .” she stutters. “I . . . you fucked him?”

“It was, more mutual,” you shrug.

“So, now what?”

“I, I don’t know? I have no clue.”

“But you want to be with Matthew?”

“No . . . I . . . I don’t know.”

“Well, does he want to be with you?”

“I don’t know.”

“[y/n] . . .” she sighs. “Don’t you think . . . maybe, you and Matthew are a little too . . . big . . . for this?”

You tilt your head, “Big?”

“Old!” Claire shouts. “Old! You’re old! You’re too old for this!”

“Wha —“ you stutter. “I —“

“Look,” she pauses, turns her body to you, and takes your hands in her grasp. “I was here before Matthew, I was here after Matthew. So . . . I’m, I’m telling you, as the person who watched it happen once . . . don’t drag yourself through hell again. If Matthew’s the one, if he’s who you’ve been waiting for, if it’s always been him, then go. Run to him. He’s here.”

And for no reason at all, you could’ve cried. Tears brim your eyes, and you have to blink them away. “Um . . .” you reply. “Can I crash here tonight.”

Claire sighs, rests her chin on her hand. “Of course.”

“Cool . . . can I borrow some pajamas?”

“Yes.”

You nod, rise from the couch, prepared to walk yourself to the guest room. You turn, nervously, back to Claire and she looks up at you. “Do you, um, do you have any underwear I can borrow, too?”

She purses her lips at you.

“Okay, yeah, nevermind, I’ll go commando.”

So you slept without any underwear. And you forced yourself not to dream of him. Not to allow yourself to be haunted by memories, by pain.

But when you closed your eyes, he was all you could see. The way he looked, and talked, and smelled fifteen years ago. The way you slept beside him for the very last time, and had convinced yourself it would not be the last time.

It would not be the last time.

He made you laugh so hard in your dream that you woke up, and your heart broke as you awake in a dark and empty room. You reach over, turn on the bedside lamp, and rub your tired eyes. You only managed to sleep until three in the morning. And Matthew, and Claire’s words, were the first thing on your mind.

He wasn’t hard to find.

You have your strings. And you, sneakily, tiredly, in a haze of exhaustion, pull all of them. It’s insane, and as you drag yourself out of bed, you ask yourself what you’re doing. Why you’re doing it. What is the point?

But it’s him. And he’s here. And he won’t be for much longer, and he’s only ten minutes away.

The car is able to pick you up and get you to the hotel in under twenty minutes. You’re dressed in a pair of sweats and a cozy sweatshirt, well aware of how crazy you look, well aware of how crazy you’re behaving. And unable to stop yourself.

You march into the building, your feet moving on autopilot to guide you to the elevator, up to the ninth floor. You catch your breath as you move up each level, and lose it again the moment the doors open. You push yourself forward, follow the arrows to his room.

You round the corner, and he calls out, “Hey!”

You smile. Matthew happy to see you.

No.

Not you.

You step back, stopped in your tracks as the girl giggles in his face, holds onto his waist.

“Surprise!” she exclaims, the two of them standing outside his hotel door.

“What are you doing here? I was going to pick you up,” he says.

“Call me impatient, but I couldn’t wait to see you,” she places a soft kiss to his lips, smiles at Matthew. He smiles back.

But that smiles quickly fades when he turns his head, sees you standing there. Matthew is not happy to see you.

“[y/n] . . .”

TAGLIST:

@muffin-cup

@pinkdiamond1016

@spencersbed

@safertokiss

@calm-and-doctor

@spencerreid-mgg

@reidsconverse

@reidemandweep

[justkarama]

To throw my two cents in the only way for Quaritch to be redeemed is if he fully acknowledges the damage he and RDA have caused to eywa Navi Pandora as a whole

To have a redemption means to atone for your actions which is something you need for a redemption arc you can't have a redemption if there's no atonement for what you've done

Yes while quratich showing he cares about spider does prove he's not a mustache twirling Saturday morning cartoon villain it doesn't automatically mean he's a good person

I can be nice to my family but be an utter scumbag to strangers I've never met before that's quratich in a nutshell but being around spider brings out a softer more merciful side of spider quratich spares the sea Navi ( I cannot for the life of me spell or remember their name) because of spider for quratich spider brings out the good in him considering James himself stated spider an integral part of Jake and quratich character arcs spider likely the key reason quratich gets a redemption arc

But even then Quaritch himself has to realize he's wrong the RDA is wrong his petty grudge with Jake is wrong quratich has to atone for his actions the only way how is

From him to turn sides and fight the RDA who are the true villains the one's actually leading colonization effort quratich can't undo his actions the best he can do is put a stop to the machine that is the RDA write his wrongs in a sense of stopping the RDA making sure they can't do this again in the near future

Jake in the first movie did a similar thing he worked for the RDA meaning no matter how big or small his part was he still actively helped the RDA with their colonization effort

It's just he realized what he was doing was wrong the person who helped him see that was Neytiri Jake fell in love with her then Pandora remove Neytiri out of the equation Jake would probably still work for the RDA

Spider serves a similar role for quratich he has to do what Jake did right his wrongs

Lastly it's up to the characters in the universe and ewya to pass judgement on whatever or not he's atone

@tigrain1994​ I can’t address this comment properly in my comments with the text limit!! 

Bestie, my friend, my darling, kidnapping a child and taking him to be tortured for information and then coming into the child’s prison cell and saying “you can come help me rn or you can stay here and be tortured more” is not saving him from torture. It is manipulation, textbook. It makes us (the audience) understand how Quartich can endear himself to Spider, how Spider, the vulnerable and manipulated party in this, can begin to get to the point where he would save him at the end. It makes us understand and sympathize with how Spider would empathize with Quaritch, because in Spider’s warped perspective it seems like Quaritch gives Spider a choice, a way out. That is not a choice, and he doesn’t. Quaritch just deliberately puts himself in the perfect position to seem like it. Understand? If you (or James Cameron, idk I’ve never heard of this interview) find that relatable or sympathetic, that’s sus buddy!

Now, I know they have emphasized how they wanted the show that love is not always good or healthy in the relationships in the movie. We can debate all day and go in circles about if Quaritch loves Spider, but if he does, it is distinctly not healthy or good! The scene of Quaritch and Spider in the cell is not a sign of redemption or something to see as sympathetic. It is another major part of his manipulation. 

I do not and did not say anything about Quaritch fans. I criticize people who think Quaritch can be redeemed, because this is a media trend that is harmful. He can’t be, not by anything in this movie that’s for sure, and he has not started down that path. I don’t think he ever can. The themes he represents are extremely heavy. A path to redeem him properly while treating these themes with the proper respect and seriousness, and doing it in a way that doesn’t spit on the movies point would be very complex and layered and much more complicated, frankly, then the writers have shown themselves capable of. If you want a story of a bigot being redeemed in a way that respects the seriousness of bigotry, watch the other Avatar. Zuko is a masterclass in a proper redemption arc, and we shouldn’t take anything less in our stories. These topics are serious, and they shouldn’t be swept under the rug because you find the white man hot.