#worker arc pissed me off ��

[kittykatninja321]

Actually there is something so choice about how the narrative around Jason’s death pre-ressurection spends so much time reassuring Bruce (and the audience) that Bruce has no culpability and that Jason was hopeless and even at times tries to convince us that actually Jason wasn’t even really his son so Bruce didn’t fail as a father, he did the best he could really. Bruce doesn’t owe him anything. This could be seen as an attempt to distort history in order cope with Jason’s death, but this narrative is never actually challenged, we’re meant to take it as truth. And then Jason comes back and drags Bruce by the ear and goes actually no bitch you do owe me something you owe me a death. Bruce doesn’t get to wash his hands of him. Jason forces the issue, he refuses to let Bruce walk away clean. Good, he shouldn’t <3

[captainjonnitkessler]

I think I've identified the reason I get so worked up about anarchism in relation to labor rights and safety in particular.

Three years ago I watched my coworker almost die when a piece of machinery we were moving unsafely fell on him. It missed his head by an inch and snapped his leg in half instead. It took months of recovery and multiple surgeries for him to walk again and he will be disabled for the rest of his life. And it didn't happen because of Capitalism or profit motive or because our evil bosses were forcing us to work unsafely. It happened because he'd done similar things a hundred times before and it had always been fine, and because I didn't know enough to clock just how dangerous what we were doing was, and just because of some plain shitty luck. Mentally it fucked me up for months in ways I didn't recognize until well after the fact.

And the thing is, almost every construction worker can tell you about the time they saw a fatal or near-fatal accident. An apprentice younger than me had a heart attack and was out of work for over a year after shocking himself on a live circuit. The woman who runs our apprenticeship program has a husband who had his arm blown off in an arc flash incident. One of my teachers had a coworker die after getting hung up on a live circuit and he wasn't found until the end of the day.

Construction is one of the single most dangerous industries to work in, and I believe this is why rates of drug and alcohol abuse and suicide are sky-high in the industry. I think many construction workers are low-key traumatized by knowing constantly that they could die or be permanently disabled due to a very simple mistake or oversight. It is simply inherently unsafe when you are working with live electricity, power tools, heights, thousands of pounds of machinery, cranes, etc. And so yes, I do believe that safety protocols and the ability to enforce them are absolutely necessary to preventing a massive amount of death. The number of worker deaths in the US has been slashed by 60% since OSHA was instated.

And so to get online and have someone who has never set foot on a jobsite in their life condescendingly explain to me that actually, we don't need OSHA or the ability to enforce safety standards because in a perfect world everyone will just suddenly start working perfectly safely, and I'm just too stupid or brainwashed to realize that The Real Villain Is Capitalism, and if we just get rid of that it will somehow also get rid of the inherent safety issues involved in the entire construction industry - well it turns out it pisses me off a little bit!

[brella-boi]

Okay guys this is becoming a tradition of me seeing films recently so heres a

Sonic 3 review from a technical standpoint

Look im no film critic or anything, but i AM an animator and theres a lot of. Things. I see whether I want to or not. Its just how my brain is wired because of my profession lol

(This is full of spoilers btw so now's your time to fast scroll away)

Anyway lets begin!

The movie is great. Cool even. I liked it! But theres a lot of direction decision that I am just. Baffled by I guess?

First of all- the models are different. (Httyd ass moment) And the way they sculpted the characters lips absolutely destroys anything theyre trying to emote. It looks like theyre CONSTANTLY pursing their lips. Like they ate a lemon. Do you understand? Sonic also has much more pronounced brows which makes him look more pissed off constantly LOL

[Sonic 1 model vs sonic 3 models, pay attention to the lips]

Eggman and Dr Stone had possibly the best interactions in the entire movie. Their dynamic was fantastic, and I would argue they kinda carried the movie. Unfortunately! The ending left their issues unresolved. And Dr Stone looked entirely unbothered by the possible death of Eggman.

This brings me to some writing choices that I feel may be due to... Either infantalising or time cuts. The storyboarding of this film was just. God how do I even describe this. It feels like a lot of crucial scenes where cherry picked to be deleted between shots. Thats not good at all- and while character continuity WAS there, it really did feel like something crucial was missing in some scenes. This is especially evident in the Chao Garden scenes. Specifically when the general dies (WHY DOES HE DIE LIKE THAT. WE DIDNT EVEN SEE THE RUBBLE GO ANYWHERE OR PIN ANYONE DOWN OR SEE MASS PANIC FOR PEOPLE TO DIE?) The characters COMPLETELY gloss over his death- a death that feels like its out of a show for 8 year olds Im not going to lie to you. He just flops, delivers a line, and thats it.

It feels like the two halves of the movie were written by two different writers.

The first half is weak. The jokes are stale. And the storybeats almost feel off. The actions scenes- while there's nothing particularly offendish about them- don't *hit*. If you're an animator or writer you understand that important beats need to pack a punch. It was severely lacking in packing punches in the first half.

I also wanna speak to the animators. Are you okay? Was this made on tight deadlines? Where is the fun and whimsy? Did you outsource this? Did you give your workers a good environment or were they crunching and hating life? Or did you hire younger animators with no senior feedback because they're cheaper to hire?

Look, the animation is good. Just that. Its good. Its TV show standard, not movie standard. Its lacking a good push to the poses, its using slow keyframing between poses instead of it being snappy, with good silhouettes, with good visual gags. Instead were left with this.. subpar passable animation for every character instead of something energetic and snappy like Sonics personality. I think this is where I take the most issue with because guys come on. You didnt push the models to their limits at ALL. And Sonics speedy running is... Well read my previous points. Where are the fundamentals of animation about exaggeration? Not in Sonics run cycle.

The second half of the movie carried the first half on its back thanks to Eggman. I am SO GLAD to see giant spaceships and mechs and whatnot. Thats great! Loved to see the lovely mech models and once again- interactions between Eggman and Dr Stone. Id go as far as say they should be gay tbh (hello? The scene where theyre tied up?)

I didn't bring up Shadow entirely so far. And honestly Ive no notes about him. All my notes are entirely about just the animation and not hitting the beats well. His characterisation was great- it actually explains his aggression pretty well and then redemption. Genuinely the last arc of the movie was fantastic. And finally we got to hear a rock score to go with it. Maria was fun, the flashbacks were fun, the scientific exploration was fun. All in the second half of the movie of course!

My overall score is 6/10.

To untrained eyes the movie is going to be extremely fun- if a little more childish in some parts than others. I'm glad they took some risky moments, I'm glad the characterisation is well written. I just wish other aspects were tightened down, mainly animation and storyboarding.

6/10 but I never thought Id leave the cinema with the thoughts "I could storyboard some of these scenes in a lot more meaningful way, and Im not even a storyboarder."

I recommend a watch! Its not a bad movie. Its not a rock-it-out-of-the-park movie either though. I feel like maybe all the anticipation and high expectations maybe made it not as gut punching for me as it couldve been. Overall, all I can gleam from it is theres a lot of things to improve on! But nothing that really destroys it or makes it bad. Just a lot of room for improvement.

Thanks for reading!

[yunalinwrites]

saved by the bell (chapter 2) | fushiguro toji x reader

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available on wattpad

summary: fushiguro toji never makes first moves--until he happens to meet the teacher of the son he hasn't seen in years.

strangers -> fwb -> lovers

takes place in 2006 around the star plasma vessel/hidden inventory/premature death arc; megumi is a first grader

about reader: female, around 30 or older, teacher, has a soft spot for megumi, speaks kind of formally, has daddy issues + abandonment issues

warnings: eventual smut, cursing, alcohol, smoking, daddy issues, abandonment issues, mention of child abuse/trauma, toji is initially kind of an ass, spoilers for the season 2 arc mentioned above

"Don't get how a puny thing like him can burn through a gallon in a week," he'd complained, watching the infant chug his bottle eagerly in his lap. "Damn FamilyMart workers are starting to know my name."

His friend turned back to face him, looking inside from the balcony as he took a drag from his cigarette and adjusted his tie.

"If you want him to look anything like you by the time you sell him off, you better get used to it," his friend advised. "Probably the cheapest source of protein out there."

Finally, the little boy lifted his mouth from the bottle, but only to let out sharp wails. At this, the man's friend put down his cigarette and came back inside.

"Not like they'll give me any extra money for it," the man grumbled, handing his son awkwardly to his friend. "He'll be strong enough. And fuck if I help the Zenin clan more than I need to."

Patting the baby's back gently, his friend made a suggestion: "You could always keep him. Learn how to raise him yourself. Spite 'em that way."

The man didn't appear to be listening, already having shifted his attention to the glitchy TV he'd gotten off the street and sinking into his cracked leather couch. Sighing, his friend laid down the now quiet baby beside him and headed towards the balcony to continue where he left off, his suggestion met only with the sound of footsteps as he was followed out.

"They'll make sure he's strong," the man guaranteed, taking a cigarette from his friend's pack. Once he'd successfully flicked the lighter at the end, he continued: "Probably gonna breastfeed him till age fuckin' eight."

And though he was met with no contest from his friend, he went on, with a breath of nicotine concluding, "'Just not something I'm made to provide."

***

Tossing the cap behind himself, he took a long swig straight from the jug.

He slammed the refrigerator door shut and leaned back against the counter, but--thanks to the lack of distance between everything in his cramped unit--this move forced him to meet the reflection of himself in the glass of the balcony door.

His friend seemed to have been right all those years ago. The incorporation of milk into his diet gave the man a body that he was, for the most part, proud of--mountainous biceps, chiseled abs, bulging pecs; the works. The only thing that irked him about his appearance, though, was his face--that scar, that fucking scar.

He vaguely remembered hearing somewhere else that protein was good for building tissue, which was a claim sufficiently evidenced by his body--from the neck down, that is. So it was both confusing and disappointing when he'd wake up in the middle of the night to take a piss and that nasty mark of his past would be the first thing he saw in his dirty mirror. Still, not really knowing what else to do about it, he took another sip and tried focusing his attention through the glass door rather than on it. In doing this, his eyes found refuge on the polka-dot umbrella he'd left out to dry.

It had been a little over a week since that night at the bar. It was still quite rainy here and there, so he found himself still using the item almost every night. It's not nearly as romantic as it sounds, though--at least not for you. He had mostly been using it to escort other women home.

To be fair, he had some self awareness. He felt worse every time he saw your name and number whenever he opened it for someone other than himself. But what was he supposed to do, return it? You hadn't been back at that bar since. Not that he was really checking he just figured if he was going to go out to do his nightly ritual, he might as well do it at that same joint. You know, in case you wanted your umbrella back.

And before you ask, no, he couldn't call you. He almost never, ever called first; it went against his morals, if you can even refer to them as that.

Again, he had some self-awareness. He knew he was kind of a piece of shit, so much so that even through the gray clouds and even among the 8-billion-some-odd people on His earth, he supposed God recognized him as such. So, just like how God decided whether or not the boats he bet on would get him out of this apartment, he assumed God also decided which women ended up in his web, and which would come back for a second night. By this logic, so long as he didn't make too many overt first moves, all broken hearts could simply be attributed to and excused by fate. It was a sort of heavenly restriction, if you will; he would sacrifice his initiative for the ability to keep being an absolute fucking asshole.

His sacrifices also included curiosity, he tried reminding himself; if he was meant to know something, then he would just know it already--so there was no point in wondering about you or, by association, his... that little boy.

Yes, there was no point in wondering how he managed to look that much like him, or where he got the balls to just follow curses around whenever he pleased, or why his name was Fushiguro, and not Zenin

Or, for that matter... fuck, what was his first name?

He headed towards the couch and took a seat, jug still in hand.

Shit. I don't even remember what it started with...

Forcing out a low laugh at this realization, he fished for the TV remote in between the cracked cushions.

Whatever.

He flicked through the channels with occasional sips from his drink, letting clips of people talking, singing, and laughing play no longer than a second before he cut them off with the press of a button. He kept spamming it, tapping and tapping, faster and faster, sounds merging together until:

Wasn't it an M...?

Placing the milk jug down on the dusty coffee table, he stared at the characters on the remote's number pad, his attention focused on a singular key in particular.

Fuck.

Putting the remote down beside him, he rubbed his eyes in distress, trying to massage the thought out of his head.

Goddammit...

He cursed His name, but as he used his arms to push himself up off his imprinted spot on the couch, hoped that God would forgive him just this once.

Hastily, he headed towards the balcony door and shoved the stubborn thing open. Snatching the umbrella with one hand, he punched in your number with the other, a firmness in his thumb. As soon as the phone rang with his outgoing call, though, whatever resolution that was just occupying his body had completely vanished. By the second ring, he was tapping impatiently on the rusty railing. By the third, he was trying to steady himself against it, which only resulted in a concerning creak. By the fourth, he'd headed back inside out of fear that he'd drop his outdated device, something that he couldn't afford. The fifth ring had his thumb just millimeters shy of the red button on his keypad, getting dangerously close due to his trembling, but then:

"Hello, this is Miss L/N speaking."

He exhaled after what felt like an eternity of holding his breath. As his lungs regained their rhythm, he felt his shoulders melt back down into relaxation, and soon, a smirk found itself creeping onto his lips. "Jesus--you really do talk like a princess."

"Um... I'm sorry, could I ask who this is?"

Still smirking, he took another deep breath and spoke up: "Think you left your glass slipper with me at the bar the other night," he started, absentmindedly studying the item. "But you made my job a lot easier by putting your number on it, Miss L/N Y/N."

There was a short pause, but then she realized: "O-oh! It's you--Oh my God, um... Hello..."

He chuckled lightly at her stuttered response. "It's me."

"So," he began again, "What are you doing tonight?"

For a while, nothing came through the speaker. He bit his cheek.

When she finally did speak, her tone was lowered: "I can't stay out late. It's a school night."

He placed the umbrella on the coffee table and took a seat on the couch, putting his free arm over the back.

"Won't take that long to return an umbrella," he pointed out. "Didn't realize you had something else in mind."

"N-no, that's fine, you can just--"

"I'm just pulling your leg," he interrupted. "How about now--what're you up to right now?"

That came out a little more eager than he meant for it to be. In an attempt to fill the awkward silence, he grabbed the milk jug from the coffee table and resumed his drink, gulping as he held the microphone away from his mouth.

"I'm out running errands."

"Where?"

Slamming his drink down--again, a little too eagerly--he reached for the remote and switched off the TV.

"Um..."

The hesitation was discouraging at first, but as her microphone betrayed her, it would seem that the aforementioned God was on his side today. In the background, he heard the familiar chime that indicated someone had come through the automatic door.

"Which FamilyMart is that?"

This time, there was surprisingly little hesitation: "...the one by the station."

And with that, he finished off the last few ounces left in the container and tossed the empty jug on the table, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Don't move," he instructed, grabbing the umbrella with one hand and pulling the phone from his ear with the other. Bringing his thumb back to that red button, this time with returned unwavering confidence, he finished, "See you there, princess."

***

The door chimed welcomingly as it automatically slid open, causing you to whip your head around in anticipation. To both your disappointment and relief, it was just a gaggle of teens looking for some after school snacks.

As you turned your head back to your shopping, your eyes caught on to something right next to the entrance: a bin of umbrellas, for only a couple hundred yen each. You sighed as you took your eyes off the salt in your wound. Your mother had taught you well enough to know how bad this was: a stranger knowing your name, number, and current location. So, really, the too-late sight of an alternative was just unnecessary on God's part.

But then again, as much as you didn't love the pattern she'd chosen, it would've been cruel to replace a gift from your mother. She also always said herself to pick public spaces for first dates and, given that the local high school usually wrapped up clubs around this time, more than enough people were coming in by the second. Just now, for example, a young couple walked in holding hands in their uniforms.

And this wasn't even anywhere near a first date anyway; he was just coming to give you your umbrella, that's all. But, also... Even if he were to stick around for, say, a cordial conversation about the weather, and, hypothetically, he did so long enough that it would only be polite to ask for his name... Well, you always did preach both manners and curiosity to your students.

Deciding that you'd overthought enough, you tried to direct that curiosity to the crackers, chips, and cookies in front of you. You scanned over the rainbow of packaging, searching for something that looked both appealing and healthy. Nothing in particular jumped out at you until you looked to the top shelf, focused on a specific bag. At first, you couldn't tell why you recognized it, especially considering you couldn't see all of it due to its height, but then you realized: Megumi's brought that one to lunch before...

The shelf was well over your head, but it seemed like the only employee around--the cashier--had gone to the bathroom, so you reached your arm up as best as you could. The bag brushed your fingers, which only pushed it farther back, so you had to employ the help of your tippy toes. You could feel it just within reach of your fingertips, as the crease in your flats dug into your feet.

C'mon, just a little closer...

"Need a hand?"

Suddenly, a muscular arm emerged from behind you, reaching over you and grabbing the bag with ease.

Planting your heels back down on the floor, you spun around and smoothed out your pencil skirt, only to look up and find him--him and his scarred face--startlingly close to you.

"Thanks..." you obliged, trying to look away as you gently took the bag of sweet potato chips from his hand.

Even after you had placed the product in your basket, he didn't back up, so it was almost hard to see his entire body. But, you were still able to recognize he was wearing the same thing as when you saw him for the very first time: a black short-sleeve shirt and gray sweatpants.

As you had learned to make note of in your students, wearing repeated outfits that didn't fit the season or didn't fit the wearer was typically an indicator of a low-income background. In this case, it wasn't so much that the clothes were ill-fitting... it was just that the waistband of his pants were hanging loosely, dangerously low on hips, and his shirt was.... Tight. Very tight. And thin, which was interesting considering the chilly breeze that came through the door with every customer. Along with that, you were feeling the air from the heavy exhales of his nose.

"My eyes are up here, Miss."

You didn't realize how long you'd been watching his chest rise and fall rather quickly.

"Sorry," you corrected shyly. "You didn't rush to come here, did you?"

He shrugged. "Said you couldn't stay out late. Wouldn't wanna keep you from your royal duties."

"Oh, I see... Well, I didn't mean to hurry you. You could've at least put on a coat."

He looked down to where his compression shirt hugged the grooves of his abs. "Didn't realize there was a dress code, Miss," he teased. "Am I being indecent?'

"I-It's not that," you stuttered. "It's still cold out, you know."

"Cold? It's spring."

"Yes, but you could still get sick. Especially if it rains. You know the saying, 'In like a lion, out like a lamb'?"

"With all due respect, Miss, I'm not fucking stupid."

As soon as the profanity left his mouth, he winced at his own words. He was hoping to keep up his gentleman facade a little longer, but he supposed couldn't hide his true nature forever. Taking off the wrist strap of your umbrella, he began preparing to never see you again.

But then you spoke, surprisingly calmly: "I never said you were. But you never know. People aren't born knowing everything, are they?"

He froze in his place, thinking about your words--about how they didn't hold even a hint of anger or hurt in them. He couldn't tell if that made him feel more or less guilty.

Hearing his silence and seeing the solemn expression on his face, you felt the need to apologize for your preaching: "Sorry... I guess I'm still in teacher-mode. I swear, it's what being in this uniform does to me."

Suddenly, he smiled, and his eyes were almost soft as they looked down at you and your dainty button-up. "It's alright," he rasped. His pupils definitely darkened, though, as they drifted lower, down to your form-fitting pencil skirt and your pantyhose-clad thighs. "Yeah, no, it's... it's fine."

Feeling you remove the umbrella from his hands, he snapped out of his gaze on your body as you spoke again: "Thank you for coming all this way to return it. I wasn't really expecting you to."

Cockily, he put his hands on his hips. "Yeah, well, I just happened to run out of milk, so you can thank God for that. I mean, I'm a busy man, you know? Part of why I rushed here."

You laughed. "Physical therapy, was it?"

He paused for a second, almost as if he forgot what he did for work, but resumed the banter soon enough. "Right, yeah. Got appointments left and right. Seriously, I mean, you should consider yourself lucky."

"Well, I appreciate you squeezing me in."

"I'll let it slide just this once, princess, but you'll have to pay a fee next time."

Your stomach fluttered at the prospect of seeing him again, but you still tried to hold your guard up around the near-stranger. "Next time...?" you questioned.

"Yeah. Next time you need physical therapy."

You laughed nervously. "I don't think I... understand..."

"C'mon, Miss. You're smarter than that."

You blushed, putting together that he probably wasn't talking about yoga balls.

"I'm flattered, but... we've only just met, haven't we?" you argued, though unsure if it was to him or yourself.

He shrugged again. "Don't usually meet my clients before I meet with 'em."

You were given an opportunity to turn away when you heard the door chime again. A young man and woman had come in to shamelessly ask for where the condoms were, though they weren't holding hands. And despite it being only around 5 p.m., they were obviously somewhat inebriated, which brought up a good point--you two had met before, and you'd done so at a bar, where it was common for such shallow appointments to be made. In context, it was a little less weird when you thought of it as him picking up where he left off, underneath that bar awning.

Still, you looked down instead of back at him, imagining how he probably did this often. "I don't see why you can't just find another one, then."

He sighed through his nose and shoved his hands in his pockets. For a second, you thought you'd said something wrong--he looked uneasy, dreadful almost. But just as quick, he combed his hair back and painted a charming smile across his face.

"Yeah, I guess so," he pretended to consider. "But I noticed something about you." He crossed his arms, showing off his veiny forearms.

"When you were walkin' away from me that night, you had this... sway in your hips." He looked you up and down, squinting his hooded gray eyes.

"Could sense an underlying condition, beneath that little dress of yours." His tongue peeked out of his pale lips, teasing the scar at the corner.

"Just sayin', in my professional opinion, something oughta be done about that."

You let out a shaky breath, staring up at him, eyes wide and cheeks pink. He certainly did have some expert words to say. Meanwhile, your teeth had a deathly grip on your bottom lip, so you couldn't come up with even a single consonant to respond with. Figuring that you weren't going to respond any time soon, he began to back off.

"I should probably get going," he told you, "but don't be a stranger, yeah? Ain't got a business card or anything but my number should be in your Recents."

Even as he walked away, you couldn't say anything, and the only movement made by you came from your lip managing to escape your painful bite. All you could find in yourself to do was watch, mouth agape, as he made his way to the fridges at the end of the aisle, not even realizing you didn't yet have a name for his contact.

As he grabbed the cold handle of the refrigerator door, he could see his now frowning reflection in the glass.

He was probably going to beat himself up later over all the creepy and corny things he'd let himself utter to you, but right now, he didn't think about that; he was just glad the conversation was over. Making a number of first moves and doing so in a FamilyMart snack aisle before it was even dark out--he couldn't even focus on why he'd come here in the first place. Whatever he was trying to do-which he himself wasn't even exactly sure of-it was stupid. He felt like a fish out of water, and all he wanted to do was jump out of his skin and drown himself in the current, never daring to swim against divine intervention again.

But as if he didn't regret coming here enough, he recognized another familiar face as he moved toward the registers.

"Ah, Fushiguro!" the elderly woman would always greet. "Just milk again, Fushiguro? That's good. Lots of protein. Helps build tissue. Huh? What's that, Fushiguro? You want a pack of Marlboros? Oh, you're just like my son, Fushiguro..."

He tsked. He always hated how that old hag managed to fit his name in at the end of every other sentence, loud enough for her half-deaf ears--along with the entire store--to hear. And of course, just his luck, she lived another day to work this specific shift.

He put the milk jug back as quickly as he could and searched for the most inconspicuous route to the exit. Of course, that just happened to be through the aisle you were still in. With little time to think, he swallowed his pride. Making his way over and brushing past you, he mumbled something about having forgotten his wallet as he briskly made his way to the door.

"Wait!" you called. Head darting between the milk fridge and the back of his figure, you moved quickly after him.

Frantically tossing bills at the cashier on your way out, you bolted out of the store, this time darting your head left and right as you searched desperately among the sea of other dark-haired pedestrians. You were considering giving up as you began to get dizzy, but then you saw him--the only tall, muscular figure outfitted in a T-shirt in this weather. You continued to run after him and, thankfully--since you opted for flats over heels today--you were able to catch up with him before the pedestrian light turned red again. He was already halfway through the crossing, but he stopped in the middle of the road, eyes widened in shock as you were bent over, leaning on your knee as you panted and held the jug of milk up towards him.

Realizing that you'd bought it for him, he took it from your hand and awkwardly obliged: "...Thanks."

You were able to stand up straight now, but your breathing was still somewhat labored as you spoke: "At least... let me know... your name..."

He hesitated for a moment, as if he didn't even know what his own name was.

"You know mine," you reminded him, impatiently putting a hand on your hip. "It's only fair."

His face was grave, but his eyes were narrow as they jumped everywhere around you: at the passing taxis and vans, at the salarymen flocking from their building, at the park fenced in. It seemed he found his name somewhere, but it wasn't as comically artificial as you might think: "It's Zenin. Zenin Toji."

"Zenin?" you confirmed.

"Yeah," he replied, swallowing away the dryness in his throat. "But what do you say we skip the formalities? Just call me Toji."

"Oh, um. Okay, then. Toji," you repeated, testing it out on your tongue.

A loud honk brought the two of you back to the reality of where you were, prompting you to finish crossing the street. Now back on the curb, you turned to him again.

"Um, Toji," you spoke, still getting used to the syllables.

"Yeah?" he answered.

"I, um... I want to make it clear I'm not looking to do anything tonight," you enforced, projecting as much as you could muster. "But I have one more thing to take care of, if you'd like to come along."

You had your eyes focused on the tips of your flats, so if he was in disapproval-which you assumed from his silence-he didn't need to do much with his expression to hide it. But eventually, you heard his voice, relenting with an exhale that could've been interpreted as both disappointed and relieved: "Sure."

And so, silently, he followed behind you as you traversed the city, inferring it was a path you traveled often as you didn't stop your pace once to look at a map or even the street signs.

It wasn't far from where you'd started; a few corners later, the two of you were in a residential area that he didn't recognize, although the shady alleys between dingy apartment buildings weren't much different from where he lived. He knew teaching didn't pay much, but he was still surprised that you brought him here.

"Just wait here a moment," you told him, and he did as you knocked on the nearby door with the small bag of groceries in your other hand. He waited patiently and, watching you do the same in front of the grimy door, he considered the possibility that you two weren't so different after all.

But then the door opened, and you said something, and you were only a couple feet away so he heard, but it was as if all of a sudden there were miles between you two.

"Hi!" you'd chirped. "Is Megumi home?"

Everything else faded into muffles. He watched, paralyzed, as you handed over your groceries to a young brown-haired girl who looked vaguely--uncomfortably--familiar, but he didn't process a single thing either of you said. All he could hear was that M-word ringing throughout his head.

Meanwhile, you continued to converse in front of the drab doorway, telling the girl that you had to get going because you had some business to attend to, unconsciously pointing your thumb in the direction of where you had left Toji. You bid farewell to her with a smile and turned to where you were just pointing but, immediately, your smile dropped, as did your eyes to the corner on the pavement where he'd just stood-as if you'd find him there, hidden among the weeds sprouting from the cracks in the sidewalk. But, no-it would seem that the man named Toji was already long gone.

***

previous | series masterlist | next - should b available by next week :')

[etoilesbienne]

had some thoughts that aren't as serious and nothing to do with the allegations but i want to talk about them before theyre irrelevant for the rest of time so i will readmore them ok

i really really hated it back when the marriage proposal happened and everyone made it out into this cutesy romantic thing 😭 that shit was so uncomfortable. like if you want a deranged forced marriage thats cool i had nothing against that! but every take that was like "they have a fake wedding to kill forever and then everyone just takes it as a real marriage and calls them husbands" and i was like wow thats horrifically fucked up i hope that doesn't happen jesus christ. i would hope their friends wouldnt do that to either of them?? like murder wedding? cool! forced marriage? cool! acting like bbh would want a marriage and not be miserable? nnnnnooo???????? genuinely a nightmare? this drove me insaaaane during the wedding thing i just did not get why people wanted 4halo to be this cutesy romance like dawg i saw people comparing it to pissa and wanting that for them. i did not want pissa that sounds like kinda horrific given 4halo's history?

anyway besides that during the election arc i was always annoyed with the accusation bbh wouldnt let people vote if they were okay with skeppy being added. and then he clarified he would let people vote to approve whoever his new addition was. but then literally no one else had to do that? nobody else gave a fuck about the other islanders voting for a new addition? for the record i would not trade bagi for skeppy. skeppy would not be logging on much at all and bagi is by far such an active and fun character. it was just the fact that was a point of contention that only ever applied to bbh that pissed me off

ok and finally: forever using dapper who was at the time missing to get information out of bbh about the kidnapped worker was extremely fucked up and people taking it as a romantic gesture was fucking weird as hell. like first of all who gives a shit about a worker why would you /EVER/ use someone's missing child you have NO INFORMATION ON to lie to get information out of them. THAT SHIT WAS FUCKED I DO NOT GET HOW PEOPLE SAW IT AS CUTE AND ROMANTIC?

also forever's voting system sucked it got nothing done except ban furniture and literally no recommendations to improve it were ever taken into account. and he wasn't even online enough during his presidency to like actually do anything with it. bbh was right about how to do the voting system and tubbo independently coming up with a similar voting system suggestion to bbh's when he saw it was wildly vindicating

[bloodpen-to-paper]

Favorite Qsmp Moments By Yours Truly

Reblogged this post about my Top 3, and felt compelled to put down all the moments I remember the most fondly (which is a lot so good luck getting through the whole post, if you make it to end you get the eggs back on the server)

#Lore

Pretty much the entire Happy Pills arc (Philza seeing the fake room and fake Richas, the lead up to Forever pulling a gun on him, Cellbit and Forever's argument, Forever hysterically sobbing while talking to fake Richas, the reveal that Forever destroyed the entire goddamn server and forced the Fed to do a server rollback, the Curing, the calm afterwards)

Pac being walked back to Chume Labs by Cellbit after being cured, them having their heart to heart, Cellbit recognizing his struggle and telling him he saved himself and Forever, that he was a hero, and Pac quietly recovering in his first moment of peace since it all started.

The hospital visits when Forever was comatose. Philza, Bad and Cellbit's visits are the ones people talk about the most for the serious parts but Fit also visited and opened up a surprising amount, I feel like it said a lot about his character that he opened up to a man in a coma, desperate to get his words off his chest, but not trusting enough to tell someone who would remember them the next day

Bad getting really pissed at the Federation for the first time and lassoing Cucurucho to "walk him like a dog" (you could feel the anti-Federation sentiment really solidify in this moment, before it was more so Cellbit's personal vendetta but this became one of the moments that made it a server-wide stance)

Vegetta and later Foolish fighting off the Codes who were trying to kill Leo (the absolute stress from Foolish's fight when he kept shouting at Leo to warp out and her not doing it was unreal)

Tallulah's first death, how hard Fit, Forever and their eggs fought to protect her, and how absolutely furious Philza was

Pretty much every Forever and Cucurucho interaction post-Happy Pills; their dynamic was never the same after that, and you can see how tense Forever is every time he's alone with Cucurucho

Charlie's rampage after Flippa died the first time (pre-trial); he's too good at voice acting cause holy shit

Maxo's "King of the Codes" dream after his leg got infected

Quackity coming back after El Quackity vanished and being himself yet completely different (not remembering anyone, only speaking spanish, not being able to read or write), and Maxo and Roier sticking by him trying to press for answers while Q just wanted to build his house

Etoiles getting hyped for his big final fight with the Codes, and the excitement immediately being sapped out of him when he sees Pomme in the cage

The first time we saw a Federation worker other than Cucurucho (Cellbit was the first to see one I believe)

Tubbo's "Fire won't break it. TNT won't break it. I will." speech after Quackity abducted Fred

Funnies/Generally Cool

The Gordinho Gostozinho highlights (from funny ones like the Foolish and Austin kiss to lore like the ambush on El Quackity)

Foolish roleplaying being very fucking drunk in the club after the spiderbit wedding (him being like "you want a shot? I'll give you a fucking shot" and pulling out a gun and shooting Charlie was so goddamn funny, second time he shot Charlie that night); he was wildly good at roleplaying a drunk person and after the Brazil meetup where we learned he's apparently a tank when it comes to drinking I'm starting to see where it comes from lmao

Maxo waking up in Pierre's bed with his moan remix playing after he died during a serious lore moment, and his face of absolute defeat and bitter resentment actually had me struggling to breath from how hard I was laughing (also Baghera hysterically laughing at the clip and showing it to people)

Polis singing My Heart Will Go On with his very crunchy microphone to Cellbit (and Cell losing his shit)

Vegetta starting to suck off Foolish in the middle of a theater full of people the first fucking day the French were on the server, and the ensuing shouting from everyone angrily trying to stop them

SASUKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Debate moderator Fit during the election arc (+him reading out Gegg's speeches, as well as just Gegg's speeches in general)

Lawyer Jaiden/Bad/Quackity/Roier being genuinely really good at acting as lawyers (and lawyer Fit offering to bribe and then murder the judge if the trial didn't go their way. Also the trial derailing into exposing Foolish for his love life with Mariana for some reason)

All the victims of Eh Vegetta

The emotional rollercoaster that is the Frubbo arc, Tubbo's thirst tweets included

Felps

The first time the admins did a roundup of everyone's early-game builds and they kept showing Mariana's base with the negative buzzer sound, each time of which made Mariana more angry until he was just swearing in spanish

Mousey's first experiences in Lucky Ducks, and the pinpointable moments that led to her totally not gambling addiction

Abueloier (specifically his first interaction with Quackity cause of how good Roier is at making Q laugh with horny humor + the moment when Abueloier said he had been fighting with Roier for 20 years and Cellbit asked "how did you fight with a baby" and them cracking up cause Roier hadn't thought that part through)

Baghera being consistently bad at predicting mines for the sake of avoiding them

Fit killing Tubbo with the potato gun after he started strip teasing on Pac

That clip of Missa jumping off the wall to hit a bucket clutch, miscalculating and hitting part of the wall, falling further, hitting part of the wall again and getting downed on it, falling while downed, and finally hitting the ground where he was unable to clutch because he was downed, and immediately dying

Every moment where Tina is unhinged (her raging at Bad when he's being a nuisance, her being down horrendous for Bagi, etc)

Charlie talking about his dead daughter and Foolish interrupting him to ask if he lactates (Charlie doesn't usually hesitate with responses cause of how quick witted he is but he had to fully pause after that one)

Spreen teaching Fit how to do a line being his most meaningful contribution to their marriage

Felps Square, and the rise of Squole (Felps Square x Tubhole)

The Jaidens (and how hilariously shit they were at being stealthy)

The French Beast aka Etoiles various adventures destroying the Codes and typing his win streak in chat after every fight

Philza getting to really know Tazercraft during Tallulah's birthday party (seriously watch the clips Mike is fucking hilarious)

The post-lore hangout (might've been the election dinner?) where Foolish, Mouse, Tina, and Felps went dungeoning together; I got to learn more about Mouse, and the chemistry the Foolish/Tina/Mouse group had with Felps was really fun

Rivers being awkward as fuck around other people that aren't Roier

The entire trial of Juanaflippa, including Charlie and Mariana being in holding and breaking out

Antoine's "because he's a fucking troll" about Pierre

The moment when Kameto logged on

Forever calling Bad "sir" (if yk yk)

Fit complaining to Philza and co. about Spreen being a "fucking asshole husband who went out for cigarettes"

Vegetta and Roier debuting as strippers and Quackity's reaction (+Vegetta getting stuck in the wall)

Flippa's turtle falling off a ledge and killing itself right in front of Charlie and Mariana's sex roleplay

Mine Roulette with Antoine, Bad, Baghera, Pomme and Foolish (that evening was such a vibe and it was my first time watching from Antoine's stream)

Etoiles saying that Pierre is married and has kids but all he can think about is being depressed over the admins nerfing Create after Tubbo kept breaking things

Ramón being mad at Fit for keeping secrets from him and saying "talk to my shell" before carrying on with his redstone

The pinpointable moments where Tallulah gets more sassy and confident until she's unironically putting "serve cunt" in her signs

Bad trying to get info from Cucurucho, being told by Dapper and Ramón not to flirt, and immediately slipping up with the "you come here often"

Missa singing When You're Gone during his dog funeral (I know this sounds sad but it was really fucking funny, Missa's language vocabulary is 70% incompressible whimpering)

Fit losing his absolute mind after Cucuruchito started heavy flirting with him out of no where

Vegetta's mines and all the carnage they have caused (you could make a whole comp from just the French's arrival)

That era where Tazercraft where abusing create mod and breaking Federation shit near on the daily (the poor admins lmao)

Forever and Bad exploring the Federation construction site and Forever making Cucurucho drink his pee before being shot at for making Cucurucho drink his pee

And of course, all of the lovely Qsmp songs/memes (Vivo Turbo ad, Pac e Mike wow wow, Eh Vegetta, Maxo moan remix, Pomme Pomme Dapper Dapper remix, Quackity paga el servidor, honorary French member Bebou, meus pais/minhas mães, the inactive members being referenced to this day, Amiga...)

[bellaxgiornata]

Falling For the Devil [Part forty-two: "The Argument in the Hotel Room"]

Pairing: Matt Murdock x Fem!Reader

Summary: Matt and you make it back to your hotel room after dinner, both of you angry from the conversation you'd had.

Or

You find it very hard to control your body and not become aroused by Matt's anger.

[Series of one-shots about Reader meeting, falling for, and dating Matt Murdock.]

Warnings: 18+ for this series; contains humor, fluff, romance, angst, smut (like...a lot of it later in the series), language, some violence

Word Count: 3.9k

a/n: This is a smupdate where y'all begin to see a bit of what I call Feral Matt (you see him fully in part 52 but Feral Matt comes hand in hand with consequences in our Big Angst arc). Hopefully you enjoy a little angry Matt smut in this one! You can find the entire list of installments for this series on tumblr here. And if you're enjoying the series, please let me know!

With a huff you swiped the keycard through the reader on the door, gritting your teeth when you’d realized you’d swiped too fast and it beeped back at you. Your grip tightened around the handle of your luggage as you tried again, very aware of Matt behind you. You could practically feel the frustration radiating off of him. 

This was certainly not how you’d pictured your evening with Matt going after the over six hour first half of your trip you’d just completed. And as you pushed the now unlocked door handle down harder than necessary, you’d regretted indulging Matt’s line of questioning about your ongoing investigation into Wayland Corporation and Heinrich Backman over dinner. You’d finally told him that one of your co-worker’s sources had a lead on a particularly interesting and powerful investor in Wayland and that you, during work hours two days before you and Matt left the city for your trip, had gone off to meet with a representative of said powerful investor for an interview under the guise of a false article you weren’t really working on. And Matt, ever the stubborn and overprotective superhero vigilante boyfriend that he was, had gotten absolutely pissed at you for not only not telling him about the meeting, but also the fact that you’d gone without Daredevil nearby to protect you.

You were still gritting your teeth together as you tugged your luggage in, holding the door for Matt to follow in behind you with his own suitcase. The muscles in his cheeks were jumping as he ground his own teeth. 

“You need me to help lay out the room for you?” you asked him, trying hard to push the edge out of your voice.

Matt effortlessly made his way further into the room, setting his luggage to the side of a nightstand beside the bed. For a moment he didn’t respond, just continued to run a hand repeatedly through his hair which was quickly becoming a mess with his irritated actions.

Fighting the urge to roll your eyes, you shook your head and made your way past the bed to the other side. You deposited your own suitcase next to the nightstand and out of the way. Even if you were currently angry with Matt, it’s not like you wanted him to trip over your luggage. 

“What I need,” Matt snapped, breaking the tense silence, “is for you to be honest with me.”

Squaring your shoulders, you spun on your heel to face him. Both of you were standing on opposite sides of the bed, the queen-sized mattress acting as a buffer.

“Honest?” you shot back. “Matt, I wasn’t lying about anything to you! I’ve been keeping you updated about the entire investigation except for that one little detail because I’d been busy getting everything ready for our trip! And you were busy at the office with Foggy that day! How is it being dishonest when I told you everything at dinner when you asked about it?"

“It shouldn’t have taken you so long to tell me at all!” he growled back, his voice rising. “We just spent hours in a car together doing nothing but talk and you never said a word until I asked you about it!”

“Well excuse me for not wanting to bring up a topic that I know causes tension when we have an almost thirteen hour road trip for Christmas together!” you snapped.

The corner of his left eye was twitching, his nostrils flaring as he glared back at you in frustration. He’d shrugged out of his coat, leaving him in those form fitting gray tee-shirts he always wore. You couldn’t help but notice the way the fabric hugged his muscles as his chest and shoulders heaved. It wasn’t fair that he was so distractingly sexy–even when he was pissed at you.

“You shouldn’t have gone when you did,” he continued, voice lowered to something oddly dangerous. “You should have called me first, at the very least.”

“And what?” you asked bitterly, taking a few irritated steps around the bed towards him. “Told their assistant that I had to reschedule our appointment to a time that was convenient for Daredevil to chaperone me?”

Matt’s eyes narrowed, his intimidating form stalking around the bed towards you, stopping just feet away. He towered above you, nostrils still flaring sharply as he gazed back down at you. The hair on the back of your neck rose, but oddly not from fear.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he ground out. “Obviously you wouldn’t tell them that and I’d be nearby, not out in the open. You know I don’t want anyone finding out your connection to me,” he replied.

“Won’t be hard to recognize,” you said sharply, “if Daredevil is always hanging around my interviews.”

His lips twitched downwards, head canting to the side as his hands flew to his hips. He was shifting back and forth on his feet before you, tongue frustratedly swiping over his lips a few times. Your eyes were drawn to the movement, your breath briefly catching in your throat. Matt froze almost instantly, all of his frustrated movements coming to a stop. You watched as his eyes narrowed towards the bed, his head tilting further to the side. 

Soon, his attention was shifting swiftly back towards you with furrowed brows. “Are you actually getting turned on right now?” he asked, his tone a mix of irritation and confusion.

“No," you quickly denied.

His face scrunched up for a moment as he studied you. As if it would help, you crossed your arms over your chest. But you couldn’t stop your gaze from raking over the way his shirt clung to his tensed muscles.

“Yes you are,” he countered. “I can practically taste your arousal in the air, sweetheart.” He shook his head, laughing humorlessly. “Here we are discussing something important–me worrying about you making some poor decisions that could end up getting you hurt–and you’re just thinking about sex?”

Face turning red, you threw your hands in the air. “I can’t fucking help how my body reacts to you, Matt!”

Spinning on your heel in a huff, you took a step away from Matt and wished this hotel room had an adjoining room for you to go and cry in privately. Except it wouldn’t be private because Matt would hear you–and probably taste the salt of your tears in the air. Unfortunately you didn’t get far before Matt’s hand roughly caught your wrist, drawing you to an abrupt stop.

“Let me go,” you shot over your shoulder.

He took a step closer to you, only inches away from the back of you. His hand was still holding your wrist in a grip that was just shy of being hard enough to actually hurt. With the way he was looking at you, you couldn’t control the goosebumps that rose along your skin.

“Is that what you want me to do?” he asked, his tone low. “Or do you want me to yell at you some more? Tell me sweetheart,” he said, almost spitting out the pet name in his anger, “do you enjoy watching how worked up I get over your safety?”

Your breath was quickly coming in short. “What?” you asked in a small voice.

Before you had time to register what was going on, Matt had you pinned to the wall. He was holding both of your wrists above your head, the front of him so close to yours that you could feel the heat radiating off of his body. Your cunt ached noticeably at the sight of Matt’s angered and hungry face before you.

“You should have told me about that interview,” he snapped. “Should have given me a chance to be there if something went wrong.”

Your eyes narrowed at him in curiosity and confusion. He was sending you mixed signals, continuing to argue with you while you thought he’d been switching gears and trying to fuck you. What the hell was this?

“I was fine,” you reiterated. “Nothing happened to me.”

“You don’t think they’re not going to look into that article and find out it's not real?” Matt shot back. “Don’t think they won’t then begin looking into you? Find out who you are? Realize you were the journalist who outed Figureoa?” 

“Alright, I get it,” you ground out, tugging against his hold on you. “Now knock it off, Matt.”

His hands immediately released yours, but he continued to block your path. There was a coy smirk sliding onto his lips as he gazed down at you, one that was doing things to your body that you weren’t currently thrilled about. Of course he’d be able to turn you the fuck on during an argument–was there anything this beautiful man couldn’t do?

“Move,” you ordered him.

He shifted sideways, allowing you to storm past him. You were rubbing at your wrists as you headed to the opposite side of the room towards the empty desk and the window. This was definitely not how you foresaw your trip going.

“You want me,” he called after you. “Can’t deny it sweetheart. I can taste how wet you’re getting.”

“You know, that’s not helping,” you snapped back.

“Clearly it is,” Matt mused, his voice getting closer, “because you’re getting wetter the angrier you get.”

You spun back around, mouth open as you were about to deny his claim, but he was suddenly right there. He was still smirking down at you, too. 

“You’re being very–”

His mouth slammed hard into yours so forcefully you stumbled back a step, your ass bumping into the desk behind you as he cut your sentence clean off. There was absolutely nothing sweet and loving about how he was kissing you either–he was biting and growling and lapping mercilessly into your mouth. You could barely catch your breath, your own hands frantically tugging at his hair, yanking him closer to you in a wave of frustrated desire that you’d never experienced before. 

He roughly picked you up and dropped you onto the desk behind you, forcing your legs apart as he slotted himself between them. Breaking away briefly from your mouth, he grinned down at you.

“I’m being very what, sweetheart?” he goaded, breath coming in hard.

Breathing hard yourself, desire and irritation still both coursing through you, you shook your head. “Stop arguing,” you ground out. 

Without hesitation, your hand that was still fisting his hair roughly tugged his mouth back down to yours. You could feel the brief smile on his lips before he kissed you back with that same raging intensity he had only moments ago. His hands were focused on undoing your pants, moving swift and clumsily as he focused on kissing you. A moment later he broke away from your mouth, panting hard as he sharply yanked your jeans and underwear down your legs simultaneously. Your own hands reached down, gripping the hem of his shirt and ripping it up and over his head. Brain too focused solely on your need for Matt, your mouth dove forward, biting at his abominable muscles as your hands landed back on his hips, nails digging in. Matt hissed out a sound of pleasure above you, the sound encouraging your tongue to slip out and slide along his muscled, bare skin. Both of his hands were in your hair, gripping the strands tight as he let out a low moan when your tongue swiped just above the waistline of his pants. You could feel the twitch of his muscles beneath your tongue, the feeling drawing more wet heat between your thighs.

As you began frantically unbuttoning his jeans, his hands slid down to grip the hem of your own shirt. He tugged it over your head just after you’d gotten his pants unzipped. After he tossed your shirt aside, you were unclasping your bra while he was peeling his pants and boxers off of himself. As usual, your eyes were instantly drawn to his hard cock, every intention of taking him into your mouth and watching him fall apart, but the moment your hands were on him, his own hands halted yours.

“No,” he said, shaking his head and placing your hands on his hips. “That's not how this is going to go, sweetheart.”

He nudged your legs open wider and slipped between them. His left hand snaked its way up your thigh, one of his thick fingers lightly dipping inside of you. Your body shuddered on the desk, knees shaking against Matt’s body.

“Mmm,” he hummed, satisfied. “You definitely enjoyed that argument more than you should have.” His finger slipped back out, hand grabbing his cock and rubbing it along the slick of your entrance while you fought the tremble of your lips. “You like seeing me that protective over you? Is that it?” He slid just the tip of himself inside of you and you gasped out, hips begging for more. "Is that why you were getting so worked up?"

“Maybe,” you whispered.

His eyes narrowed, the very tip of him still just sitting inside of you. You shifted your hips again, bucking them towards him. You needed more of him. Instead, his hands came down hard and held your thighs firmly to the desk, keeping you still.

“I meant what I said,” he told you sternly. “You’re going to tell me when you’re involved with that organization, sweetheart. Whenever you're interviewing someone. Chasing down a lead. You're going to tell me so I can make sure you stay safe.”

“Matt, I don’t– fuck ,” you cried out, eyelids sharply closing as he entered into you fully in one swift thrust.

“You will or I won’t fuck you,” he shot back. “You want me, sweetie?”

“Yes,” you answered instantly.

“Then promise me,” he almost growled, face lowering towards yours. “Promise me you’ll tell me everything about your investigation into Wayland whenever something comes up. Promise me that you will let me help you, that you’ll let me keep you safe."

You were squirming against him, desperate for him to do more than just fill you. Your nails were clawing at his skin as you tried to buck into him yet again, but Matt remained still and immobile as he stared down at you expectantly. 

“Yes, Matt, yes, I promise,” you ground out in a frustrated whine. Your hands tugged impatiently at his hips. “Fuck, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I didn’t think you’d be this upset.”

One of his hands released your thigh, fingers gently grabbing your chin and tilting your face up further towards his. “I take every threat to you seriously, sweetheart," he told you, tone dark and dangerous. "Of course I was going to be upset."

“Alright, I’ll–I’ll tell you first thing when I get another lead,” you replied quickly. "Any-any time I get something new to check out," you promised.

"Good," he growled.

His mouth was back on yours, kissing you fiercely before either of you could say more. When his hands landed on your waist, his fingers dug deep into your bare skin before his hips finally began to move. Without preamble or any build up, he frantically pumped into you. Your hands helplessly tried to find purchase along the muscles of his naked back as you moaned out, eyes closing at the feel of him finally moving inside of you. 

You'd been next to him all day in the car, unable to really touch each other for hours, and even you could tell Matt was just as riled up over that as he had been over your arousal. With the way he was grunting and thrusting into you so resolutely, you could tell he'd been desperate to touch you, too. That he had needed this just as much as you did right now.

Matt's head shifted, coming to bite your shoulder, pulling your skin between his teeth. You moaned out, turning your head to give him room as his lips began kissing the skin afterwards. He was still rapidly pumping into you, the desk repeatedly slamming into the wall loudly behind you with each thrust. You were too far gone to even think if there were people in a nearby room listening to the way Matt was roughly fucking you. You didn’t even care.

“I made you a promise,” Matt said firmly, his pace unwavering. “I told you I’d always do whatever I had to–” he broke off on a moan, head falling back over his shoulders for a few seconds as your nails raked down his bare back. “I–I promised,” he continued, his head rolling back forward, teeth gritted, “that I’d do whatever I needed to to keep you safe.”

“I know, baby,” you whispered, eyes closed.

With a grunt, he picked you up from off the desk, eliciting a surprised yelp from you as you clung to him. His cock remained inside of you, your cunt continually squeezing him in a desperate plea for him to continue fucking you. Matt was muttering curses at the feel of it as he walked you to the bed, eventually coming to rest your back along the edge of it. He repositioned your legs along his shoulders as he stood at the edge of the bed, one hand holding each of your ankles as he gazed down at you. You bit your lip at that hungry look on his face.

“I don’t care how pissed at me you get,” he ground out, “I’m keeping that promise. No matter what .”

Immediately he began thrusting into you again with a fierce pace, your hands roughly fisting the hotel sheets beside you as your head flew back along the mattress. With this new angle, his cock was striking that spot deep inside that was causing flashes of white to dance across your closed lids. A series of breathy, needy whines fell out of you as you held tight to the sheets.

“Fuck, Matt,” you whimpered.

“Not so fucking angry now, are you?” he countered roughly, though his own voice sounded strained.

Forcing your eyes open, you gazed up at him from the bed. He was gritting his teeth, hands clamped tight around your ankles as he slammed his hips into your body over and over. His dark brows were furrowed together like they often were when he was focused on fucking you.

“You’re one to talk,” you shot back.

Instantly you saw his eyes narrow before he sharply buried his cock so deep inside of you that you screamed out, eyes momentarily closing in shock. When they reopened, he was grinning down at you, but you were too stunned to speak.

“That’s what I thought, sweetheart,” he replied cockily.

You didn’t really even care to argue back with him right now. Not really sure what it was about Matt’s cocky, overprotective attitude tonight, you found yourself quickly about to fall over the edge of your climax. Hips rising from off the bed, your head flew back along the mattress again as your eyes snapped shut.

“You fucking like this, don’t you?” he asked.

“I thought I said,” you began, voice light and breathy as you almost hit that peak, “to stop arguing.”

One of his hands released your ankles only to moments later land on your clit. Touching you just right, you entirely lost it on the bed below him. Your hips quaked against Matt as he moaned out in response, your cunt clenching his cock. Eyes rolling back behind your closed lids, you cried out a curse into the hotel room. His hand left your clit a few moments later, instead landing hard on your ass with a sharp smack that sounded throughout the room. His fingers dug into the flesh there as his hips began clumsily ramming into you, his cock twitching inside of you. As a lightheadedness began to wash over you, you felt Matt’s warm release fill you, his pleased rumbling groan filling the air around you. 

He proceeded to slowly thrust into you a few more times before his hips finally came to a stop. Your eyes opened slowly, trying to come back down from your climax. You could see the light glisten of sweat along his skin as he slowly slipped out of you, releasing your legs carefully to the floor. Running a hand over your forehead, you tried to recover from whatever had just happened. A minute ago you’d been yelling at each other, and now your body was feeling pleasantly light post-orgasm.

“What was that?” you asked him curiously, slowly sitting up on the bed.

Matt was running his own hands through his hair, his shoulders heaving. “You tell me,” he panted out, shooting you a little smile. “You’re the one who got aroused from an argument.”

You felt heat rise to your cheeks, your gaze dropping to the floor. “I told you I can’t help my reaction to you,” you mumbled, embarrassed. “Even when you’re apparently pissed at me.”

Matt walked over, coming to sit on the bed beside you. “Hey,” he whispered, wrapping an arm around your waist and pulling you into him, “I’m not–not pissed at you,” he began, still trying to catch his breath. “I just…I don’t want to see you get hurt. Okay? I love you and I can’t even imagine if something were to ever happen to you. I wouldn’t–” 

You saw his eyes snap shut, brows pinching together. His lips twitched and you saw his throat bob as he swallowed roughly. Pulling him into yourself, you held him as he burrowed into your neck. 

“I can’t let anything happen to you,” he whispered into your skin. “Not you.”

“I’m sorry,” you apologized. “I’ll tell you next time.”

For a moment you just sat there together, holding each other naked and silent. Your head eventually lowered onto the top of his, eyes closing.

“So that was our first argument,” you muttered.

“Yeah, it was,” Matt murmured. “I’m sorry I yelled, sweetheart. Even if you did seem to enjoy it.”

You laughed lightly above him, eyes still closed. “I have to admit, that was the most satisfying argument I’ve ever had,” you told him.

“I won’t argue with that,” Matt agreed.

“You sure?” you countered cheekily. “Because if you did, maybe that could be the most satisfying argument you’ve ever had.”

The pair of you burst into a fit of hysterics on the bed together, Matt laughing loudly beside you. The sound eased any worry you might’ve had after that argument. 

When the laughter subsided, your gaze dropped to the carpeted hotel floor. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," you whispered. "I didn't think you'd be this upset. I was planning to tell you after the entire Christmas trip because I didn't want to potentially cause problems. I'm not trying to hide things from you, Matt."

"Sweetheart," he began slowly, "when it comes to dangerous people like Backman, you need to be careful. Everyone you talk to about them, or anyone involved in the company you speak with, it's all being kept track of. I'm honestly a bit worried about the fake article. They're not stupid, sweetheart."

"No, but articles fall through all the time," you countered. "Ellison already corroborated a story with me about how a different piece took precedence and we're tabling the other article for now. After Christmas I'll be emailing them with a sort of consolatory message about it. They won't even think twice."

Matt sighed heavily, shifting so his head was resting along your shoulder. You leaned your head back atop his, your gaze once again on the hotel floor. 

"I hope you're right," Matt whispered.

[tommyssupercoolblog]

This is a vent post probably no one's going to care about and i haven't slept all night (it's 4 am now) so there's prolly typos. but like.... I like Angel Dust and I Like Poison from Hazbin Hotel, but SO MANY COMMENTS on YouTube refer to the general idea of prostitution (or even "sleeping around" without pay!!! Like just being dtf!!!) as self-harm and it's pissing me off.

There's nothing wrong with having lots of sex, yes even with people you don't know very well or people who are paying you- when you CONSENT.

Angel Dust is being ABUSED by a guy who literally owns him, and on top of that has no way to screen or refuse clients. This isn't "just sex work"- nothing about this is inherent to the premise of him having sex or shooting porn for money- it's abuse WITHIN his line of work, it's RAPE because he can't say no and can't call the shots and can't even refuse to see a client again. Angel Dust has no autonomy in this situation- after he signed he was kept like a pet.

Sex work isn't bad inherently, it's bad when you as a worker have no legal rights or protections to help you stay safe (which sex workers in many parts of the world don't since sex work being criminalized prevents them from doing things like persecuting someone who crossed boundaries, or even just being able to have legal "protections" outside of just getting arrested for their field of work even if it's what they want to do. And of course they get killed and abused by cops too because they're criminals and cops are SHIT), when you're working under a pimp like angel works under Valentino, or when you are forced into it due to poverty or other circumstances and don't want to be there.

As for sleeping around being self harm...first of all, cut off the goddamn slut shaming. Second of all, yes maybe some people lie about wanting sex (NOT in CNC, that's just actual consent with noncon roleplay) as a way of self harming. But nothing about liking to fuck is self harm in itself. Those specific people might need help but not every neighborhood whore needs a redemption arc- maybe they actually love themselves and just like to fuck??!!!!!

At this rate a part of me hopes that after Angel fucking murders Valentino or otherwise gets freed, he still does sex work in some capacity but in a healthy way where he's happy and able to negotiate for what he's willing to do and when- just so people will stop acting like "sex work is always bad and all sex workers want to be freed" is the only takeaway here. If he doesn't I'm not going to be mad or anything of course, and if that's not the vision for his character then that's not the vision. But it'd certainly help make comment threads less....victim blamey and awful.

There's a good philosophy tube video on Sex Work as well, with interviews included- and there's probably sex workers here on Tumblr you can talk to. But just please stop acting like being a prostitute is self harm inherently.

If I see one more post like "I love Angel Dust because people don't talk about how being slutty is just self destructive" or "Poison is such a good rep of why sex work is so disgusting and shouldnt be allowed" I'M GOING TO FUCKING BREAK SOMETHING.

If you want to protect sex workers, listen to them and help them campaign for legalization (because again they need it for safety and to ensure they can protect themselves from clients) and other things they might need. But for the love of GOD don't act like it's some inherent evil that's always abusive because, ironically, that's the shit that makes it so easy for abuse to happen in that field in the first fucking place.

[mysteriouslybluepirate]

Just did a rewatch of OFMD S2 Eps 6/7 and: (Yes, it DEFINITELY got better)

*All pacing issues and some cast being in scenes when others aren't is the fault of the studios being cheap and not the writers/creators. :) Flying the cast to New Zealand + housing them for filming meant some crew just couldn't be there (Fang, Roach, Olu) or mostly written out (Buttons, Swede).

The reason this season feels *weird* is just that. It is not the fault of the actors or any of the workers in New Zealand who got jobs because they were the cheaper, nonunion, option.

I was mainly mad due to some pacing things that, after I thought about it, I don't think *I* was ready for them to make jokes about, if that makes sense. Izzy is such a personal character for me that some of the stuff they joke about just...hits.

*While the show kind of blowing off Izzy's repressed feelings for Ed did originally piss me off (the 'jealous' comment from Ed in ep 7 especially), reframing the scenes as Izzy letting himself mourn this and seeing how easily he lets Ed go does make me happy. He will love Ed. That's just a fact. But he is not his relationship with Ed he is defined by what he does with it. Yes, they can joke about it. Izzy has probably defined their relationship as something that just can't happen. Either by thinking Ed could never love him or that Ed never cared. Izzy knew Ed's attention was always fleeting and MAYBE that's some BS way we can say eps 5, 6, and 7 happened within a few days of each other. Because...if Izzy is just repressing everything again. I swear. This show will not give me the polycule I want.

*Stede and Izzy work so fucking well as friends. Like. Izzy knows how Stede will use the bar as validation and is READY to fight for him. Stede knows Izzy will stand to fight with him. The way Izzy looks so DONE when Stede starts to fight? Izzy just lost Ed god damn it. That, and the thigh grab will be in my head forever... stizzy fans also win.

*Imagine having sex with the only person you've ever loved and they ditch the next day. Add that to Stede's own insecurities and it's like the writers had a checklist on how to break Stede Bonnet.

*Ed is leaving a manic period (started maybe ep 2), and entering a depressive period in episode 6 where he remembers 'oh yeah, I fucking hate pirating'.

*Both Stede and Ed want very different things in life and this conflict was always going to happen. But at the begining of ep 6 we see Ed replaying the abuse he's caused/experienced. He's mentally framing himself as a hazard. Stede enjoys the life Ed is desperately running from. This is why Izzy is so quick to grab Stede I think. To help him understand that Ed is just...a complicated man.

*Izzy was right about Ed needing to give Stede some time to sit with the death of Ned Low. Ed barging in allowed Stede to put his negative feelings into something positive, not fully allowing him to process his actions. Ed then uses their first time as an excuse to run away.

*Izzy is hot in both episodes :) End note. But for me, the reason the Drag scene felt weird on first watch is just that I can't read half the cast's face soemtimes. Its a me thing. On this rewatch I noticed them cheering and generally being more supportive, lol.

*I wish we got to see Izzy putting the drag makeup on. Even just a line of concealer. Putting on the character he'd embody for the night. Drag is such a practice of self realizion and community. I wish we got to see Izzy staring at himself, applying the mark on his face that he clearly loves so much.

*The concept of Ned Low- A vicious torture-focused pirate, sadly was handled like a minor inconvenience, and... while I like the masochism joke from Izzy, and the implications for Stede's arc, he felt weird and out of place. Like. Instead of tying Low's bad management to something like the Navy, why not the Kraken? The stuff was there for it. Show how shitty working on a ship that prioritizes violence is, and mirror it with Ed's growth.

*I love the ship design for Ep 6 so much.

*The Ed&Izzy apology still bugs me but I have hope Izzy and Ed will talk it out a bit more after talks with some of the lovelies online

*I love the crew but acknowledge that this season has shafted a lot of stories. Clearly, the writers did what they could.

*Izzy's 'love interest' this season is clearly just the 'community/self' and finding comfort in humanity again...its so GOOD.

*Izzy casually making sex jokes is so weird. Like a coworker you've known for a few years that finally starts talking shit with you on the job. It feels weird to me now, but I also write him like this? So it's a lot of wires crossing in my mind. Like...he FUCKS!

*Same with Izzy smiling. It feels wrong in the best way. Again, I wish we had ONE MORE episode of Izzy being in the middle of healing, but this more self-realized Izzy is lovely to watch.

*They changed the gender of the song Izzy sings so he's singing about a man. I will not be normal about this.

*I'm so happy I caught Izzy's hand being that FUCKING HIGH on Stede's inner leg first watch. It's changed me. Izzy really said 'When the dogs are away the cats are out to play' and POUNCED.

*I didn't catch Izzy pointedly calling Stede captain until I saw it online and now I love it. Stede adopted the stray cat and god damn he'll stay loyal until the day he dies.

*Spoilers for the teaser: If the series Ends and Izzy is in solitary confinement/Izzy is locked away from the others I will scream

*"Hiya, Boys" I LOVE HIM. Izzy confidently grinning and being a prick is my favorite.

*izzy loving Ed enough to let him go is just....so tragic and good. Especially since we know Ed just tried to hold izzy closer in s1

[wonwhilebeingyoung]

This might be controversial but i saw someone say in twitter gojohime don’t work for them because utahime deserves better AND IM LIKE— YES!!

Tbh when it comes to utahime, she’s a very interesting character, like from what i noticed she’s like a foil to Gojo (like how Nanami and Mei Mei are)— Utahime and Gojo’s teachings are different from one another, Uta actually teaches basic education and Gojo doesn’t (have you seen their classroom grades in comparison?), Uta teaches her students in jujutsu sorcery that its okay to rely on teamwork and Gojo teaches his students that they will never bring out their true potential if they’re self-sacrificing, Uta is adored by all of her students for being a mother-figure and Gojo… well not that much because he can’t be serious about his job 😭 so he’s like that one annoying/cool uncle.

I love the contrast between them, but Uta’s mostly known as Gojo’s potential love interest and it pisses me off so bad, it took 200+ chapters for her CT to be revealed and she got a cool technique that can buff up ANY willing sorcerer. So that would that mean that she’s VALUABLE LIKE SHOKO?? LIKE WHY DIDNT GEGE GO DEEPER INTO THAT??? Also she was never mentioned again after supporting Gojo’s hollow purple???? I bet the anime will give her Screen time during the Culling game arc like how they did in Inventory arc (they better).

Don’t get me started people pinning gojohime as enemies to lovers when it’s so one-sided 😭😭 it’s just my girl utahime hating on gojo not being respectful/bullying her and gojo saying he does not give a damn about them honorifics 😭😭

They work better as colleagues/co-workers than lovers tbh.

I ranted too much, byeeeeee

[kittykatninja321]

There is a power imbalance between all children and their parents but I’m thinking about the one between Jason and Bruce. Jason wasn’t being abused (as a child) but if he was, the Gotham Knights social worker arc posits that he would’ve had little to no outside allies because Jason is a street kid with a record and Bruce is the richest man in Gotham and the people in the position to help him would’ve been content to let it go uninvestigated 😵‍💫. And it’s like yeah. That would be the case wouldn’t it? *stares at the wall*

[treetownconfessions]

concept: handy x lifty. worlds most pissed off construction worker x "that annoying guy who won't stop trying to pickpocket me but he's kinda hot so it's fine i guess" enemies to lovers arc. is this anything or am i insane as per usual

.

[cru5h-cascades]

LORE-fi Bag: the Hell is Felix Up to Post Main Story, Anyways?

Okay I said Felix probably wasn't going to get one of these but I said probably not that he wasn't. Anyways let's just get into this.

Post Reunion-Epilouge

After being reunited with his fam, Felix attempts to readjust to his old life. His memory is fully restored and is living a pretty much normal life with his fam. When somebody asks about where he was while he was missing he tends to stick to this version of the story:

Well my sister and I got into a fight, I got out of the house to try to blow off steam and soon enough some crazy lady tried giving me some stupid doll. I tried to walk away but I think not taking the doll pissed her off and she tried killing me. While I was trying to get away I guess I fell down somewhere like hard and then my memory was just gone. And would luck have it I ended up in this one guy's apartment and I'd end up living there for a while until we figured out who exactly I was.

Felix goes back onto the blog to keep in touch with Lofi (of course) and to make sure he hasn't done anything crazy. He didn't go onto the blog during the "I miss my wife and my short term son, Reverse" arc cuz he was readjusting to his old life and because he needed a breather from having to bear witness to Lofi's episodes. He also goes back there just to see what the flower bois are up to (even if he doesn't interact with them too much) (he kinda sees Reverse!Makoto as an older brother figure and thinks he's overall just a chill dude).

Felix does try to make music from time to time, but his stuff is somewhat simplistic and blatantly beginners work.

Timeskip

15 years after the main story of the AU, Felix keeps in touch with Lofi and has a job as a construction worker. He doesn't think about Lofi's low points as much anymore and has completely dropped the nickname he gave Lofi and now just either calls him by his actual name or Lo-Guy. He just sees Lofi as an old friend of his. As for how he takes the truth about Reverse? Felix feels pissed off about him lying to so many people about who he is, but then that anger just turns into feeling bad for Reverse!Makoto for having a pretty much normal life taken away from him and Lofi because Reverse meant so much to him and it turns out he killed a bunch of kids.

[myobsessionsspace]

TWD thoughts

Finished rewatching ‘The Saviors Arc’, second half of season 6, all of season 7 & 8 and boy oh boy. 😪

a) Carol is a badass and her and Ezekiel make so much sense. Ngl her bond with Daryl is beautiful but they’re kindred, bonded but not romantic, no heat, no tension, not romantic to me

b) the lack of Michonne was CRIMINAL for real I get that Danai was probably filming Black Panther around that time but nah Michonne needed way more camera time, Richonne needed way more camera time😤

c) in connection with b, so much unnecessary camera time was given to others, The Saviors plot strung on for waaaayyyy too long, ugh.

d) f**k Negan, f**k the saviors, they ALL needed to go. WHAT COMES AFTER could still have been without them, no amount of letters make it make sense in my eyes. Seeing him bash people heads in like that, tryna pull a sacrificial lamb bit with Rick & Carl, everything he and his henchmen did.

Naaahh sorry Junior Grimes but Rick & Michonne could have did good by you without him, without the goons.

The powers that be wanted JDM a part of the show, the spin off etc, but couldn’t give a better way to make that happen than that piss poor way? They choose when they stay true to the comics and not, they couldn’t make his ‘redemption’ better (not that there really was in season 8 anyway)

d) The workers in the Sanctuary, the families, for real?! With every new plan, no one and I mean no one could plan for them, so The Saviors could all be taken out but the workers protected?! Yea Daryl & Tara can have that one. Only difference is I wudda thrown molotovs in there and STAYED to finish the job. They’ve all survived herds previously and thought a herd could finish it? Tuh.

e) So Daryl and Dwight (trying not to spoil for anyone that hasn’t seen it)

…but Daryl and Maggie end of Season 8?! I 3000% get Maggie and her hate for Negan, see point d, but…I do also place some blame on them for the bridge, sorry, not sorry.

Again the writers??? The writers finally gave us canon Richonne, so little of it 🙁, but still brought them together

but everything else 😑

Thoughts?

[kim-ruzek]

It pisses me off that people are mad at Matt because he went to see the young girl for Sylvie and saying Matt didn't do enough for Gabby. Even making it personal saying they're glad Monica stayed away.

One, Monica left the show. It was her decision. I'm sorry if you're mad that your ship didn't end up how you wanted but you have to understand it was because of the decision of the actor, this storyline happened because she left.

Secondly, Matt is at a different point in his life. He probably wasn't ready then but he's ready now. He was also there for Gabby in every way he could and loved her so much that he didn't want to see her die. She was the one who didn't want an adoption.

With Sylvie, she welcomes the help that anyone wants to provide.

I don't see how that fandom can differentiate that Matt loved/loves these two women differently and that he is going to support them anyway he can.

I really need to stay away from the bird app or else my blood pressure is going to go through the roof with some of these takes I'm reading.

LITERALLY it is so fucking maddening to see!

It already just drives me mad when people don't ever seem to respect the fact that these actors leave, because they wanted to, so it's to be expected that the end of that storyline will be a little shit. Like you can forever be sad d*wsey isn't canonically together anymore and that Matt moved on, because if d*wsey is The Ship for you that is sad but at the end of the day, the actress wanted out and the show continued.

I also hate the argument that he didn't do enough for Gabby... Because he did. He did so so much. She was the problem, she didn't want the help he gave her. That's fine, in some ways I get that attitude and it's fine to see it that way, but lord you cannot say he didn't try.

And it's not like Brettsey was rushed. It's been built up. It's been shown again and again that they love each other, how that is shown. And they've grown together. Also Matt has seen the whole development of this arc really, from helping Sylvie with Julia and then Amelia and all that and to now the decision to adopt baby Julia, he's the most qualified to speak on the matter honestly because he's seen all that.

I would generally recommend staying away from twitter atm at least. I am currently too lol. My blood pressure definitely couldn't handle it.

I'm just so fucking done with all the people who one) keep dragging Monica into this, like damn the woman left l can guarantee you the only thoughts she has is pride for her former co workers and two) people just needlessly hating on brettsey.

Idk if it's because I'm also having to deal with the same sort of idiocy when it comes to u*stead stans on twitter (which already is laughable to me bc the stans tend to be the same people as the d*wsey stans) so I'm already pretty damn tired of people not getting things and mixing up not personally liking a storyline direction Vs bad writing.

It's also tiring to see the hypocrisy (like adoption is Valid when d*wsey does it but not Sylvie or that Sigan is a brilliant writer/show runner until upstead has to be broken down because the actor left of his own choice 🙄) and like. Just ship and let ship. And if the show choices upset you... You don't need to watch. That's fine. But attacking other ships is just not on.

Ugh I'll stop now before this turns into a full on rant. I could bitch for days about d*wsey stans but especially as you only sent the ask about brettsey I should stop because I'll just also rant about u*stead and idk how you feel about them lol.

Thank you for asking!! 💖

[stxrfaced]

SO I FINISHED TANGLED THE SERIES and I feel like saying some stuff!!! TW// Dark subject matters

I understand Varian's villain arc on as close to a personal level as it gets. I think I'm qualified to talk on this subject because, see, when I was 14 myself- my dad collapsed with what I thought was a stroke at the time.

We were arguing over how he sounded drunk and I just wanted to spend some time together on his weekend with me. I panicked so bad, I thought it was my fault for having made him go to theme parks with me frequently, knowing of his high blood pressure. I thought it was my fault for not achieving enough? I panicked, I called an ambulance, I was in absolute hysterics. They wouldn't come fast enough, so I was sobbing on the edge of my driveway HOPING a car would stop and take him hospital right away. I got comforted by some girl from school who I was pretty sure actually hated me up until that point, but no adults came to save the day.

I was on the phone to 999 on and off on my own phone, with the landline being used for the main call. I thought about what would happen if my dad didn't make it. I was pissed that the state of the NHS allowed for this to happen. I was 14, terrified, and angry. I thought if my dad died, I would do something drastic. I'd unalive myself, or I'd fight the government head on. Bonfire night core! It was a badly thought up plan, but what else could I do? The person on the other end of the line to me was horrible I think; she sounded so apathetic- like a kid just wanted their father to be okay, why be so harsh in your tone? But it's a job, a career- how many other crying children call every day? A lot I imagine! Well anyway, my dad came to, and he later got diagnosed with having a different condition after a mini stroke- but if he was having a full, normal sized blood clot in brain stroke- he would've died because the ambulance took too long.

For a while, I was bitter at the NHS- at the ambulance staff. My dad was clearly more important, why couldn't they help him FIRST? But as I grew up, I realised that's what everyone thinks. Why would my family be more important to a grandma with a failing heart? To victims of a car accident? It's the system's fault, not the helpless medical workers.

The same thing can be applied to tangled the series. Varian's villain arc stems from what he thought to be his father dying due to his own reckless actions and Rapunzel not helping. In the eyes of a kid, this is the ultimate betrayal- not realising that his situation was clearly more important. His situation was a priority. Couldn't she see that? Well, that's because she physically couldn't spend her time going to help Varian when the entire kingdom was on the line. Just like how a 999 operator has to work in a 'who called first' and 'how severe' order, Rapunzel had to work with what could prevent the most amount of deaths. It physically wasn't her fault, she couldn't let everyone else die for one person. If she didn't make that choice, everyone would've died. She didn't WANT this to happen to Quirin, but she couldn't stop it or else EVERYONE would've died. Varian wouldn't have understood that though; he was like 14-16, his whole world got shaken up negatively and now one of his only friends is actively refusing to help. Did she not care about him? Did she not care about his dad? Were they lesser citizens as they were from old corona? That was obviously not the case, but that's certainly what Varian was thinking as he got dragged out of the castle. Rapunzel wasn't in the wrong for not being able to help Varian- but Varian wasn't in the wrong for freaking out and going slightly insane after his entire life went to shit as a child.

I pride myself on always being intellectually above my age group, but it took time and actual, intentional reflection for my thought processes to change on the 999 operator who kept speaking to me on the phone when my dad was unconscious- unresponsive. I assume it took Varian even longer as his dad never semi recovered after a few hours. Varian went to jail, where he probably realised he lashed out at the wrong people. Whole heartedly though, just like how I still dislike the Gov't now- Varian had every reason to be mad at the King and the adviser who let the rocks in Corona get as bad as they got. He just took his frustration out on the wrong member of that Royal family. Remember, Rapunzel was 18- she was still a teenager too. Not as young as Varian, but she certainly wasn't a mature adult- ready to handle such a situation.