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popculturebuffet · 5 months

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Scott Pilgrim Takes Off Review: That's How It Could've Happened, But How About This?

WARNING: SPOILERS FOR SCOTT PILGRIM TAKES OFF AHEAD. IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN AT LEAST EPISODE ONE, TURN BACK. SERIOUSLY DUDE. DO IT NOW. IF YOUR COOL WITH SPOILING YOURSELF, ROCK ON.

Hello all you happy scottaholics. I"m back in the saddle again. For those just tuning in i'm Jake, I review stuff.. and a few years back I reviewed the entirety of Brian Lee O'Malley's masterpiece, and the movie as a chaser, having been a fan of Scott Pilgrim since my teens but only having just revisited it at the time I started my retrospective. It was a wonderful journey that made me appricate one of my favorite comics even more and gave me a ton of my best running gags. You can find links to each review HERE in one masterpost.

So naturally when the anime was announced last year, I was entirely on board: I loved this story in all three of it's major forms and was excited to see it again, maybe updated a tad. I was also curious if the story would get a setting update, what would change , and what subplots we'd FINALLY see on screen after the film had to trim a lot thanks to half the series not being finished yet and a tight two hour run time. I was cautiously optimistic when the cast was announced as while I was happy to see the massively talented breakout cast of the film return and get another shot at the characters, I was worried it'd just be the movie but animated.. which thankfully turned out not to be remotely true once trailers came out. Instead they'd simply get a shot at playing the characters again but this time with diffrent characterizations. I coudln't be more stoked.

As it turns out though.. O'Malley had zero intention of telling the same story again. In fact, he almost DIDN'T sign on despite getting the juciest of offer, with the anime's studio, Science Saru, wanting their next project after their breakout hit Devilman Crybaby to be Scott Pilgrim and coming to O'Malley Directly.

The problem wasn't the offer: O'Malley, unsuprisingly, was a fan of Science Saru, who in addition to Devilman had also made Space Dandy and the early pilot shorts for OK KO. The problem was O'Malley.. really didn't want to simply retell scott's story a fourth time. It was a story that was personal, deeply loved and made his career.. but after a movie that everyone knew and love and a video game that was so well loved it was many's holy grail for a rerelease for over a decade after it was delisted, he didn't know how to take the story in a new direction and didn't want to do the story again if it was simply going to be a rehash: people could read the book sometime or watch the movie if they wnated Scott fighting the exes.

Thankfully for us, Brian brought up the offer to his good friend BenDavid Grabinski, a tv and film writer. BenDavid was a huge fan of Scott Pilgrim and thus when the idea came up coudln't help spitballing ideas. And one stuck: What if Scott LOST that first fight. It was naturally just a joke.. but like when Superman died.. it's one that had some heft to it. If Scott were gone what would happen to everyone else? How would Ramona react to his loss? Was Scott really gone? how would his friends go on without him... and what would happen to the exes now they weren't guaranteed to die in a fist fight and the entire problem with Gideon's whole plan was laid bare?

These questions and more are answered as Ramona gets to the bottom of what REALLY happned to scott, who unsurprisingly is not dead and even more unsurprisingly the truth is all kinds of bananas. The story of a human tire fire learning to be a better person and not runa way from his problems... becomes the story of a much more composed tire fire learning she can't run away from her problems after she chases after what might have been, forced to get closure with most of her exes as she tries to hunt down the ex that never was. Along the way there's messy bisexual love triangles, movie rental melee's, Tony Hawk style antics done on swarms of paparazzi ninjas, the greatest musical of all time, the rise of Matthew patel, the fall and re-rise of Gordon Goose, explosions, cameos, and more as Ramona Flowers gets it together while Scott Pilgrim takes off, resulting in one of the best animated series of the 2020's and possibly the best of a very stacked 2023. So take off with me as we press start on a fresh new take on one of my favorite franchises under the cut.

Ramona Flowers Gets It Together

This one's going to be a LOT to unpack, and the best place to start is with our new lead: Ramona Flowers. Ramona has never been unimportant to this franchise: after all it's her exes that make up the fight of the week each volume and who give the franchise it's hook, and in the comics she develops alongside scott: As I said in my reviews, Ramona develops alongside him, having to learn to not keep people at arms length and to not run away, nearly running away from everything before coming back, realizing Scott's worth it. Through each other, they grow stronger.

So with Scott gone... Ramona is forced to grow all on her own. If she wants to date Scott, SHE has to fight this time, and she can't run like she tends to. In the comics, she had to scrap with Envy and Roxy, but all the weight to evolve as a person was put on Scott: Ramona had a stable job, was content in her life even if her friend group was basically "Whoever scott happened to be friends with", she was seemingly all together until the last three volumes slowly chip away at that and reveal she's just as bad at staying and improving instead of noping the fuck out of an intense situation as scott. She has to evolve.. but her getting better isn't the point till the climax of the story. It's a lesson in how while a relationship can HELP you grow, ultimately it's on you to: Scott grows because he stops running and embraces his evil self and thus the memories of all his fuckups, embraces that he could sometimes be shitty so he can learn past it. Ramona has to choose to stand and fight gideon and let go of hte hold he has on her, to let go of running and embrace what she has.

Here without Scott and only the vauge mystery of a guy she dated once, Ramona instead has to confront herself: many a character question her doing this. While it starts simple enough with just Julie questioning it, because Julie hates scott as much as I hate the comics version of her, we get harder questions from Kim, whose dated Scott and knows how insesntive he can be, and Lucas who KNOWS Ramona and knows her style is to run. That a happy ending isn't as easy as finding scott again andmaking out intensely. Ramona has to make her own happy ending.

As a result instead of being the sneaky deutratonist or a prop depending on the version (I Love the movie but man do they not do her well), Ramona has to confront her past on her own, and instead of just getting cathartic punchings, she has to actually.. TALK to her exes and resolve things like an adult. And you can imagine how much she likes the prospect of that.

And this flip in how the story works.. is brilliant: It allows us to get to know Ramona: We're seeing things from her perspective instead of Scotts so we see her way more vunerable, genuinely shaken by Scott's "Death", obssesed with solving his kidnapping, and forced to confront her past. Granted like the books we also get to see the lighter side: Ramona is still the straight man to a lot of the cast especially her exes. She and Kim are the sanest one's here and Kim is often out of focus, leaving Ramona one of the few rational people in a sea of gloriously goofy nonsense. Yet we also see her own intrests: she's a columbo fan, turns out to be a natural for stunt work, and has a meticulous routine for her hair dye. We also find out she's a blonde which is only TECHNICALLY cannon to this version.. but fits too well as her hair color to work.

We get to see Ramona not as some ideal to chase slowly turned into a person but just.. a person. Funny, aloof, kind, easily baffled... this is easily my favorite verison of her. Granted it's not exactly ac ontest: The comic's version is great and this simply takes the best of that and fleshes her out, the video game is a 16 bit brawler, and the movie... well look I like the movie, but the film version is a nigh emotionless prop that barely gave Mary Elizabeth Winstead anything to work wtih forgetting ramona HAS emotions who instead of simply having her emotoins amplified is outright brainwashed. I used to think Kim got the shortest end of the stick but doing this review.. no it was Ramona. Ramona got screentime but had any personality stripped. Thankfully both Ramona and Mary Elizabeth get a second shot on the screen here.

Mary Elizabeth's performanc ecan't be overstated: she nicely ballances Ramona's stocisim, something key to her charcter as her main problem is distance, that she puts up and that she creates by running away, with the emotoin peeking up just underneath to say hello. IT's a truly great performance and I hope she'll consider doing more voice acting, she's an natural.

And this is great as Ramona's quest eventually leads her back to scott.. and to an ending that's both profound.. and pokes some holes in the series itself.

The Adventures of Scott and Scott

So turns out Scott was kindapped by of ALL characters, Robot 01, the Katanagi Twin's robot minion who shows up for one fight in the comics and video game and then explodes real good. Here he's their little robot son.. and how Scott got kidnapped.

But thankfully the culrprit isn't the Twins. I would've liked for them to get more to do, more on that later. THeir involved, having leant their robot boy to a friend since , as a robot who can't eat, Robot 01 has never had meat and has no human limits and thus is the strongest robot vegan who ever existed.

God I love this stupid reveal. Anyways, turns out Scott's kidnapper.. is SCOTT. Specifically a version of him who did the usual story, won, had a happy ten years with Ramona, then it fell apart after an argument which he assumed ended in divorce.

This is another twist that was brilliant.. I thought Scott's kidnapper was another scott, but I assumed a clone situation. I never thought FUTURE Scott but it's such a brilliant move. We see a Scott who won.. but who simply didn't let the lessons he learned stick. It's easy to learn something about you sucks, I have many a time.. it's harder to make the changes stick. I can't tell you how many ephnaiinies i've had only to end up back where I started. Some change has stuck with effort, but it's not easy. You have to constantly work at it, to grow. And it's easy enough to backslide.. and thus sadly easy to buy that this verison of Scott , when hit with his relationship not working, spiralied instead of working at it , not helped by Old Ramona, their words not mine, ghosting him.

He's a ghost of Scott future, every bad thing about the guy amplified: he's oblivious, thinking his newest band is going anywhere with his gloriously crappy music video, and refusing to accept it was his fault, throwing a tantrum when Young Scott states the obvious solution: just tell his younger self some of his fuckups and hopefully that'll right the relationship. Instead Future Scott goes for the solution that's easiest and laziest: use time travel to undo his relationship. And naturally this being Scott he got this stupid idea from taking a joke Wallace told him seriously. I love Wallace's "Buddy I was kidding".

I also love the performance here. Rather than use Michael Cera , Future Scott is voiced by voice acting, comedy and beard legend Will Forte. Forte's goofy nature, penchant for playing man children blind to their own flaws, and deadpan deliveries make Future Scott work. He's deeplys ad, but also deeply hilarious, sharing some of Scott's weird intricates like assuming because Future Wallace's husband works for nintendo he gets all the video games for free and making a virtual boy scrapbook of his relationship.

He's still throughly Scott.. just one who can't get past himself, requiring Scott and Future Wallace to go to Future Ramona for help. Shockingly.. she's more than willing too: While she still has Ramona's own problem of running away at the first sign of trouble, she does still LOVE this idiot, she just dosen't know how to fix it and knows she can't talk him out of this, so she sends scott back to be with his ramona... well rides him back leading to some awkward selfies.

But naturally for this tale, Scott coming back.. dosen't fix things. And not just because his older self put anti kissing nanites in him.

Scott has grown some from seeing what he could be: He apologizes to Knives, in a scene that I truly love.. mostly for this line "Apparently a 23 year old dating a high schooler is frowned upon by society".

And I have to stop for a minute to give ALL the props to Michael Cera. He already had done plenty awesome this year as the boy of the year

He didn't need to go for two but he did. Cera wasn't at all bad as Scott the first go round: the character was different, a bit less goofy but still awkward as hell and oblivious to his own flaws: the core was there. Here .. Cera is playing the character as on page, if slightly amped up: Goofy, excitable, trying to ignore his painful past and flaws, charming.. all the good and bad of scott is bubbling around this guy. And the line deliveries my god: we have instant classics like "I'm using the world wide web" "The place where they make the video games", the instantly memetic sonic scene (Which would be me trying to flirt with a girl, ngl), and the above frowned upon line. Cera just bubbles in this roll, sliding into who scott is: Loveable but a total mess who needs to get his shit together and has made some grave mistakes.

Granted they also take steps to make sure Scott's relationship with Knives as judging from interviews, O'Malley is kinda tried of the take that scott pilgrim is a bastard man. I mean he is, but it's less that Scott has some shit to work out and need to be better and more that everyone acts like this is a new discovery. As the author himself said it's there on the first page and a good chunk of chapter one is the people who know him best asking what the hell is wrong with him.

Granted this is mixed with Stephen hooting and hollering as much as he can with his stoic personality, Neil being in awe and asking if they'd "done it yet" and Wallace being tempted with the idea of a high schooler himself, though I get the impression he never seriously considered it. So it is muddled slightly.. but not NEARLY enough.

I do get it with the movie: the movie.. outright portrays Knives as a legit love interest, and while it ages Scott down, it's not enough to make that not blehhhh and the game has Knives end up with Kim, which younger me didn't get was still pedophilia. So I do get it as while the comics make it clear this is messed up, it got muddled.. but it's also still a pretty weak gotcha when the source material has always said "This is wrong" They even bring up trainspotting for fucks sake, which I haven't seen but is a pretty good indication O'Malley knew what he was doing.

So here they make it clearer that while Scott's still stringing this poor baby girl angel baby along, he dosen't really consider it a relationship, or just dosen't want to and after seeing what he easily could be even with Ramona, apologizes way sooner. So they did make strides to make things a bit clearer here if only so another version didn't miss the point.

So one rant later while Scott and Ramona think things are wrapped up.. it's just not that easy. You can get closure, we'll get into the exes more shortly, but it dosen't mean your done or done growing... or that the past is done with you. Or future in this case. Like I said, Old Scott/Future Scott put nanintes in scott and after figuring out the exes aren't involved, the two get kidnapped along with the exes , knives, pretty much anyone who can throw a punch.

The kidnapper is naturally Old Scott.. EVEN OLDER SCOTT.

I love his look: he still has his old jacket, his iconic x-men one, but laso looks like Ryu from Street Fighter 5, just with a giant beard and crazy eyes, being a mix of that ryu and devil ryu.. and nega scott. Old Scott wasn't a great person but still had the potetial to turn it around if he got his finger out of his ass. Even Older Scott is every horrible thing Scott Could've been.. and this is something the comics foreshadowed was possible.

And the thing is while Ramona was being dickish in her own right there, not getting that while Scott cheated on Knives with Ramona he had changed since then, she's not WRONG. Scott was VERY close to giving up on change entirely if Kim hadn't turned him away. Hell had Ramona not come along Scott might've become Old Scott sooner just by dating a teenager. The potential to, like the exes, sink into his resintment and worst self was always there... this is just a Scott that did. A Scott who when faced with the fact change is hard would rather hull up, get buff and plan to kill everyone he cares about just to avoid changing. This is the Scott he almost became.. and sadly at least one scott did become.

He's also horrifying for more than just the implications of seeing this guy who while a dickhead, CAN be better if he puts in the effort and does change and grow in both main versions as his worst self. It's sad to see that.. but we also quickly see just how dangerous an evil ex scott would be: After all Scott beats all the evil exes... I mean original timeline scott beat Lucas and Todd via Indigo League style technicalities, but still. While Scott was still beatable, it took multiple rounds, a feint, and ramona's help to put down the last four exes, he was still fairly strong.. so give him 24 years more of experince with ten of those spent JUST training and specifically preparing to counter the exes , ramona and his past self.. and you have an unstoppable monster that NOTHING can stop and everyone else is very lucky they get sent back. They all put in a good offense.. but the league is out of their league.

Even Older Scott is a brick wall.. and one that smacks straight into Scott and Ramona trying to run from their problems. Scott is forced to face the fact that even getting better might not last even if he dosen't become this guy and Ramona's forced to face the hide this guy is right. Our heroes are up against the wall, their relationship almost over...

Enter Even Older Ramona. Turns out Even Older Scott just.. ghosted her. But her presence finally gives present Ramona the wakeup call she needs as finding our her older self just.. ran away each time her and scott had issues.. gives her a needed ephinay the same way Older Scott being a dumpster fire on cocaine gave this Scott one and Scott in the comics got one from seeing a dark mirror in gideon: Ramona Flowers.. always run. Lucas outright said as much and with the series fleshing out the exes more, almost there just give me a minute, we find out she just.. bounced on each relationship. Matt isn't a suprise, his backstory is the same as it ever was, and in some cases she was ENTIRELY justified in her assholery: Todd was an obnoxious prick she left another, far better guy for, the Twins were recontexculazed as serial predators who preyed on new freshman with Ramona dating them both being a way to get even on both of them, so while she still did a bad it was on legitly bad people, and Gideon.. is still Gideon. He may get more development here and have his own backstory.. but the series makes it VERY clear he was every bit as shitty to ramona as previous versions, he just hadn't got to using the glow or mind control chips levels of creep yet.

But as i'll get into more in a bit... she legitly hurt everyone else: While Matt didn't get into supervilanny till high school, it's hard not to think that being used as a weapon to keep other boys away didn't lead him down the tryhard path he now walks, Lucas was left devistated and became a xerox of a xerox of the kind of guy Ramona left him for, and Roxy was left genuinely devistated thinking she was nothing. All Ramona has done is run and deny people closure and the series reckons with that.. and like the comics forces Ramona to stand and fight, recognizing that her relationship with Scott could end badly.. but it's worth having.

It's a neat metaphor: our heroes see exactly how badly things could end... and that's how relationships can be. You worry about how badly things are going to go or how you'll fuck up. But the only way it can go forward.. is if you try. Risk the hurt for the good. present/past/whatever Scott made a valid point when trying to talk to his Older Self before seeing that was a lost cause: There had to be good times too? While Old Scott and even Older Scott bury them in self pity, a relationship, even if it fails.. has something to add. Something to help you grow. And given Brian himself had been through a divorce after a ten year marriage it's hard not to see the subtext, to see that idea of "would you talk yourself out of a relationship if you knew it'd end". And the answer he and Ramona have.. is no. It's worth the risk, worth the pain, and worth the possiblity that someone else can do it better.

Granted this being scott pilgrim doing it better involves the ramona's fusing and Even Older Ramona, while done with Scott (He ate up his second chance a LONG TIME AGO) gives both Scott's another chance. As she puts it "This one's just an idiot kid... and this one's a real mess" (When told to kick his ass) "It's never too late to clean up a mess.. " Despite it all.. part of her loves him.. and gives him another chance. Not with her, Oh lord no, but to be better. That .. we can always be better, no matter if your 23 or 47, you can become better. As Super Ramona says "What you've done in the past dosen't define you, hell me keep remembering that". It's a beautiful message: you can screw up, there is no happily ever after.. but you can always be better even if you stumble. And as our heroes face a new future together once again.. it feels a bit brighter this time, like these two kids will make it you know?

Not That Evil

One big pull of doing the story this way for Brian and BenDavid was the exes. Brian admitted in interviews he wrote the books by the seat of his pants and as a naive 20 something who didn't know how skaters or musicians worked except via magazines. Moving to LA among other stuff gave him more perspective, and he wanted to add that to the story, flesh the Exes out as people and use the bits he didn't have time for in the original.

As such 5/7 go from sometimes one dimension, sometimes wholly evil bastards for Scott to punch.. and Lucas, to 5 very flawed , very intresting people we get to see way more of and who all get something resembling a happy ending. Also Kyle and Ken are there. Getting them out of the way once again the adaptation barely uses them, as their more a plot device/backup so we can hear Will Forte sing the theme to Bubblegum Crisis. You know when Brian hinted at that scene in interviews pre show I expected to here Kirean Culkin, Bree Larson, maybe even Micheal Cera. I didn't expect Will Freakin Forte and god bless Brian for that.

So yeah the Twins are.. fine here and I love the anti climax: they don't get closure with ramona.. but are cool with Scott since they'll be buddies eventually. I also like that out of ALL the exes for Scott to befriend after they respawned it's these two guys.

Thankfully everyone else gets way more and no where is that more apparent than with MATTHEW PATEL, the first evil ex.. and the one who naturally gets the most to work with, going from the biggest jobber who ever jobbed, to the guy who killed scott pilgrim

Satya Bhabha gets to have a fucking feast here and I hope this leads to more rolls, voice acting or otherwise. While he was already one of the highlights of the film, easily, taking what was implied to be a music number and making it into this glorious thing.

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The series takes it to new heights.. mostly by giving Matt his best life. Granted.. this life naturally dosen't include Ramona who walks out pissed off and Matt is befuddled "Wait we DON'T get her automatically if we win?"

So he does what you'd expect from an egocentric theater kid who realizes he was just played and this whole evil exes setup is a sham... call a meeting in GIDEON"S OWN LAIR to dramatically reveal it all. And punch the head off a good soft robot boy because he's a prick and a half. A loveable prick and a half but still.

It's something I just.. never thought about with the league. I assumed it was simply a "If I can't have you" situation as that was GIdeon's whole goal.. and to put her in his girlfriend freezer which i'm sure Matt released. Gideon and Roxy seemed like the only ones who wanted her back. But given the weird logic of this unvierse even if some of them DIDN'T want her, I like the idea they'd still like to keep that option open by unaliving someone. It's fucked up as it is sensical for a group that all gathered to keep their ex from moving the fuck on.

It makes equal sense that this was all a ponzi scheme, Gideon , being an entiled dick, just.. assumed he got her if anyone won. That the exes wouldn't object or, more likely, they simply woudln't make it far enough. They were just patsies so he could swoop in and score her on the rebound, also not getting that would never work and sh'ed just hammer his nuts so far in they'd be impacted.

What threw me after this.. was Matt's Challenge to gideon. Not him challenging Gideon, I expected that easily: Matt gets all of Gideon's empire if he wins, Matt dies if he looses. I figured Gideon would kill Matt, again, and would do some sort of cordinated strike. But as before Scott Pilgrim Takes off Decides

Instead we get an absolutely gorgeous, awesome fight scenes. one of the best i've seen in animation and one of the best of the year, which given Invincible came back, is saying something. Gideon, while not having his pixel or glow powers, fights well with swords, a harness and pure skill while Matt is consistently forced to push his powers in new and creative ways. While we get the ones he got to show off against scott, fireballs and demon hipster chicks, we also get to see a lot of cool new shit as he manifests arms ala the Hindu god shiva, with all his powers seeming to tie into Hindu mythology instead of "magic stuff I guess" like the originals. It's a tense fight I assumed would end one way.. but instead... Matthew Patel FUCKING WINS and wins Gideon's emppire, only leaving him alive as a brag

Yeah I assumed from this when first watching that this was some sort of Buffy "Superstar" situation, that Matt had altereted reality to make it better for him. Instead.. nope. This just happened organically. Turns out Matt is badass as fuck, Scott simply had the power of friendship and punches. No power scaling here bitches.

As a result... the League falls apart. Matt is TECHNICALLY leader.. but in practice the exes all go off to do whatever, with Ramona instead encountering them organically. Matt spends the season as a highly paid CEO, mostly showing up once in a while to shut down a whole movie production because it makes him look bad, pathetically hit on ramona.. then get scared when he finds out Scott is alive. My faviorite bit of that is his very timid "Is he mad at me?" like he's a second grader and Ramona's understandably irritated "I dont' know dude" as a response.

Granted this dosen't stop his dreams as Knives and Stephen are able to pitch him a Scott Pilgrim Musical, one of the most gloriously batshit subplots in the history of this franchise. Which really can be said for.. most of this fucking show, but I digress. Despite seemingly hvaing no talent, the prospect of finally getting his broadway dreams back after his dad crushed them is enough for him to level up again, do a performance everyone loves and become a broadway icon. I assume the last part. Hamilton move over, your new compettiion's in town.

(Sidebar to that refrence, I think Hidgens and Matt would be besties. THeir both weirdly violent and obessed with musical theater).

Hell Matt.. dosen't even get upstaged by Gideon. When Gideon tries a looney tunes plan to bomb the theater, the Demon Hipster Chicks just.. disarm it and Matt.. gives Gideon his company back. Turns out being a CEO is hard yo. He's already lost billions. So Matt has his career, his musical, the only thing he didn't want to give up and Gideon could care less about anyway, and a new evil bestie. Life is good.

And naturally it sucks to be Gideon Graves as a result, or rather Gordon Goose. I liked giving Gideon a backstory, aging him down to be julie's old peer who used to wear no fear shirts every day and got shot down hard. Huh I never knew the guy I knew in high school who gave every girl he knew an invitation asking them out in high school became a super villian.

So Gideon spends most of the series in a depressed daze secretly plotting revenge and watching anime. Why is every guy I knew in high school compressed into one sad canadian?

Where he's crashing though was a nice twist: Julie. For those who read my reviews of the comics, you'll recall I didn't exactly like Julie very much. And for good reason: she's the worst. Here she still is.. but Brian found the secret to having a character whose human garbage around without making the audience pull their hair out. You have to make them entertaing. Julie is still a high school alpha bitch all grown up here, but instead of just constantly talking about how Scott sucks, she gets to be funny. She swears constantly, taking a great gag from the film and escalating it, slacks off at her job, and snarks to Ramona about her taste in men.

She also.. gets redeeming qualities. Something I never thought any verison of Julie could possibly have, but here we are. Instead of just seeming to know Ramona and only claming to be her friend because Julie Powers is a starfucker, she's GENUINELY a good friend to Ramona, giving her the info she needs and being contrite when Ramona catches her with Gideon. Julie here feels more like a person and less like a blob of all the worlds sins congealed into that bitch.

And yes she ends up with Gideon, a ship I never thought of in my darkest day but somehow works perfectly. Their both awful in a way that's made for each other and Julie taking in Gordon at his lowest is genuinely sweet.

We get to see Gideon not as G-Man.. but as a nerd whose lost everything.. and gets the greatest and most wholesome montage ever with Lucas Lee. Seriously Lucas and Gideon fucking around Julie's house like two teenage boys is one of the greatest thigns ever put to film, even greater knowing it was somehow only 90 fucking minutes. It's fucking adorable.

What helps though is that while Gideon is a touch more sympathetic and pathetic... he's still not let off the hook for how he treated Ramona. He's not putting the glow in her and stuff, but he was still the same controlling manipulative asshat. I mean he still made the league just to win her back. It's just without the league or the trappings of power... he's a less charming scott, something the books largely hinted at. Ramona DOES get him to be a better partner to Julie, calling him out for leaning on her hard and taking advantage of her, and as a result instead of leeching off her they become equal partners in villianny with vauge never to be elaborated on plans at the end. And it's honestly.. sweet. It's nice their evil together. Sure they'll probably be meancing our heroes with a super mario bros 3 airship eventually, i'm sure, but at least their better. And matt freed his frozen kidnapped wives so we're good.

So moving right along fun and fancy free we have Gordon's best bro, Lucas. Lucas Lee takes more after the film, something Brian admitted was unavoidable for some things: after the movie made some versions of the characters more iconic he really coudlnt' go back. It's why getting the movie cast was so important: While this was going to be it's own thing, having them added a layer and frankly he didn't think anyone else could do it as well. I do think someone could've, there's tones of great voice actors, but i'm still glad he got the all star cast back as their just.. giving it their fucking best. God bless Michael Cera for reviving that email chains.

And you can feel the enthusiasm in most performances, but especially Chris Evans, who responded back within 20 minutes of being asked and hams it up. This Lucas is a bro whose on the verge of being cancelled and who is delightfully try hard, saying let's party as every other line in his films, throwing parties, and generally being axe bodyspray made into a person. He also tony hawks a lot, and you can tell BenDavid loves skater culture.

Lucas is fun to watch, being arrogant and an asshole, but one whose hilarious epsecially squeezed into Scott's t-shirt playing him in young neil's movie. It's a great visual. And his downfall being dating a 30 year old who happens to LOOK like a high schooler is both a brilliant meta joke on ellen wong, and just.. fucking great.

The show also, like all the exes, fleshes him out: It takes what we knew ,that Ramona cheated on him in high school, and fleshes it out: Ramona was his everything, helping a skinny skater kid get by, fixing his boards and generally being sweet.. then aburbtly left him for a fuck boy, with Lucas deciding to become the KING of all fuck boys in revenge.

Lucas isn't super deep, but I love that he's not just the dudebro party massacre we see on the surface: he does actually read the script, has genuine insight into ramona pointing out how unlikely the regular ending of the story is .. simply because she always runs. He also willingly skates into a cloud of ninja paparazzi to cover for her.

And the skating scene.. is one of my favorites in the show. Granted I like me some tony hawk even if I suck eggs at it, so that helps, but the animation is gorgeous. Granted this whole damn cartoon is gorgeous: Science Saru put their heart and soul into every frame and everything looks stunning, having a very early 2000's look with it's frayed edges on the characters, and capturing Brian's style perfectly.

The Skating Segment shows this off, with fluid motion, some great set pieces and some impressive jokes like the alien. It's fucking great.

So Lucas ends up not even able to afford a first class ticket back home.. but finds happiness as a barita. and Stacey finds happiness starring at his ass. Everyone wins. I kinda low key ship those two.. I mean Stacey's a bit younger, yes, but it's not knives level of age gap, and Lucas could use someone with their head mostly on their shoulders. They do try teasing him and kim.. but she'd eat him alive. It'd be fun but she would. So speaking of Kim and the evil exes, let's roll on to my faviorite, Roxie. Roxie is a fucking delight this time, with Mae Whitman, unsuprisingly, bringing her best. It's fun to get to see her cut loose and just play a horny lesbian ninja gremlin like she deserves, with Roxy hamming it up. She spends the evil Ex meeting dunking on everyone else ("Act like you've been here todd!"), and already being the best. She comes off as a combo of her two versions: she has the manic gremlin energy of her film counterpart, being as bi-furious as ever, but has the snarky energy of her book counterpart, being willing to take shots at people and question them... it's just spread to all of the exes since Scott isn't around to be the sole obstacle in her way of ramona.

She's then the first ex Ramona has to deal with herself on her investigation, and it perfectly fits her character: In the film she tried to jump the line, but got a cup of accidental boob punch instead, and while she did wait for Todd to get headbutted out of existence in the books, she also started her attack with some ninja poster clones of Canadian hillary duff in the excellent Free Scott Pilgrim one shot (The very comic that got me into the series), and tried the same sneak attack that ended up in boob punch city. No matter the version Roxy is an impatient little cave goblin and of course the second she realized Ramona was free and the others had stopped giving a shit she'd be the one to show up at her door.

She's also the only one Ramona has to fight instead of just having an adult conversation. And while Takes Off changes a lot by design.. it dosen't deny giving us another excellent Roxie vs Ramona fight, something that I didn't realize was a tradition till this one. Still they saved the best for possibly last as the two's video store dustup is one of the best fights of the series, only topped by the final battle with Even Older Scott and even THEN it's a very close call.

Starting with a furious one on one in No Account Video, one of my faviorite settings from the books i'm glad to see get fully fleshed out and used here, even if it gets wrecked and then shut down as a result, with sprinkler's going off, discount tapes being bodied and Hollie deciding fuck this i'm clocking out, we then get a fun take on an old trope as a stack of tapes fall on them, leading to the two getting stuck in video land. We get westerns, film noir, samurai flicks, Hollie griping about them ruining her faviorite movie but watching anyway, it's a gorgeous fight and the video tape grain just adds to it.

We also get at least one fun bit using the medium as when Ramona gets sucker punched, Kim simply rewinds to help her new bestie out.. and Roxie takes it like a champ and... exits the tape JUST to stomp the remote. Fucking amazing.

The best part though, like a lot of SPTO, isn't the punching, though it's glorious but the payoff. With both exhausted, Roxie lashs out in a brutally painful way, blood down her cheek. It wasn't just that Ramona left, it's that she left.. without saying anything: we get an actual sense of their relationship this time and rather than be the "phase" Ramona cruelly brushed it off as the last two times, we see the two slowly fall in love, a really cute shot of ramona throwing a blanket over the two of them.. and then Ramona moving out, almost saying something but not wanting to, leaving Roxie devistated. It's easy to see WHY she has this bubbling anger at Ramona: every time they've fought, she's made her feel like nothing, something she vocalizes here. It takes what was an extremley dated bit that made Ramona come off like a giant asshole in the previous versions, it's fine if she realized she's not bisexual (which any scene with her and kim in both the comic and this very anime proves is just.. factually false), but it's a face punching way to put it, and puts it in the context of really hurting someone. Ramona realizes she done fucked up, genuinely apologizes and the two.. just collapse. Their friends now.

I also love Roxie hitting on Kim. I could honestly see those two working out.. I mean yes there were no sparks but Kim was kinda put on the spot there and Roxie was on the rebound. Give em some time. Plus I think Kim would work well with a feral gremlin she has to reign in. She's done it before. Roxie also asking about hollie right after before cheerfully leaving.. it's the best. Mae Whitman's the best and I could see her headlining a spinoff easily. Give me more of my feral cave gremlin daughter comma you cowards.

Finally we have Todd. Unlike the others, Todd.. isn't really fleshed out more and is given an entreily new personality from the comics swaggering egotistical rockstar jackass (Since Lucas very much had that niche filled), and the film's errrr...

Brandon Routh done good with the cleaning lady bit, but he wasn't given much to work with. Here... he makes Todd into a gloriously dumb and horny slab of moron. The guy can't go ONE SCENE without nearly fucking envy, which is one of the funniest bits in the show, capped off with the glorious wolf whistling, then fucks Wallace about ten diffrent times that we see over three days, then gets an adorable wallace sailor tatoo.

Todd.. really isn't changed. He was a fucklord in high school and he's a horny cheating mess now. He's an excus efor an already rediculous show to take it up to 11.

So let's unpack the show's sense of humor since I hadn't got to yet: Scott Pilgrim Takes Off takes an already ridiculous franchise with psychic vegans, bollywood hindu sorcerers and literal one ups, and decides to take it to the next level with film fights, lucas lee pro paparazi ninja skater 3, future renditions of Konya Wa No Hurricane by will forte, the montage from stepbrothers: Canadian edition, stunt double fights, and Matthew Patel: The Main Character. This is a series that takes it's emotinal consequences seriously and not much else. And I love it: I love weird shit, I Love balls to the wall humor, and the humor still feels very much scott pilgrim just taken up a notch.

And episode 5 is where it hits it's what the fuck is this peak as Ramona infiltrates the set of the Scott Pilgrim movie. The episode feels like one long shit post and i'm entirely in favor of it. We have Wallace fucking todd and casually dumping him, Envy and Wallace siccing their stunt doubles on each other, an Edgar Wright stand in voiced by Kevin Mcdonald for some reason and Young Neil, who in this series is entirely shit post and i'm here for it. IT's glorious chaos and only the ending is really at all emotional on some level. I mean I feel for Todd, even if he was a cheating bastard, but it's hard to take his grief or envy's seriously when Envy is a carcature of herself in this series and Todd's depression is eating a KFC bucket of poutine and sadly recounting every place he and Wallace made out. Todd isn't given extra depth.. but even as a villian he never really had depth to begin with. He had a disapproving dad and a massive ego. It's fine if he's a giant goofy blushy man who's soul wallace destroys. Brendon Routh does a phenomenal job with that.

Overall the expansion of the exes is part of what makes this adaptation so fantastic. With the exception of the twins they all get to live their best lives, and we get to see more of them. It's fun to see them implicitly join scot'ts friend group, and i've already written little chats about that, as it's fun as hell now their full characters in the world instead of respawning back probably not having learned much except not to punch scott in the face.

And the Rest

So with everything upside down, how do the rest of the people in Scott's Precious Little Life fare when the main character their built to support is gone? It's another hook of this series: if scott's gone, even just temporarily, what happens to everyone else.

Sex Bomb-Omb naturally gets impacted the most, and the versions here are superb.

The standout of course is Knives who deals with Scott's death by discovering a new love: playing music. While Knives had always been a huge fangirl in past versions, it was in the way more teens find music: by glomming on to the first band or two that makes them feel something and guarding that new faviorite thing like a cat with a ski chalet

See? Despite letting these characters live rent free in my head for the past decade, I never once thought of this idea, letting Neil join shatterband, sex bomb omb's followup as it crumbles to dust in the comics, instead.

In hindsight this idea is the most obvious thing: Knives loves music, it's an easy excuse for her parents that eases them into the fact her friends are all 20 year olds, so she can stay with the group easier, and as for why Stephen and Kim would let it happen... both have always liked her. Kim's annoyance is more worrying about Scott scarring her for life, and Stephen an dher get really close towards the end of the series, with him becoming a big brother towards her. The two becoming big siblings to her and letting her join makes sense.

It's especially nice to see with Kim. Kim interacted with Knives a BIT in the books, being the only one on Team Sex Bomb-Omb (The band plus knives and young neil), to take scott to task for the Knives thing to his face, at worst getting annoyed Knives is copying her. Granted like most of the Team, Kim still fucks up with her, most notably.. this

Which at the time I, and apparently the devleopers of the game, saw as a shippable moment but nowadays I see as NOPE PLEASE STOP, PLEASE STOP.. PLEASE NEVER AGAIN. AGE GAP'S STILL AS WEIRD AS WITH SCOTT. PLEASE DONT' TRAUMTIZE THIS CHILD MORE. Kim gets more of a pass than her band mates and neil because she was drunk at the time and clearly regrets it, but it's still something entirely fucked up I wish hadn't happened and feel bad for all involved. This is not how you should find out your bisexual.

The series wisely avoids this as they've realized "This is also statutory". and instead nicely has Kim take up the big sis roll to Knives, being the only one to really look after her after her boyfriend allgedly exploded and was found to have been cheating on her.

Hence we get one of the the best scenes in the series, the drum session. Which I know some did interpret romantically but first off...

And secondly.. really dosen't given the context: Kim sees the band needs a bassist.. but more importantly sees Knives is trying really hard to learn and is clearly spiraling after Scott's death. So she invites her to play since Neil is busy with his screenplay and Stephen, as usual is handeling this sudden loss with all the grace and dignity he's known for

IT's a beautiful scene as two people simply bond as they jam, and both heal a bit from what they've lost. And we find out Knives is a musical progidy who mastered the Bass in only four hours, and masters a keyboard later in less.

This gives Knives her first real plot in the series that isn't tethered to Scott in some way, something that was jarring to realize, but easy to see why: the books are centered around Scott's life, his friends, his love intrest, etc. Their there as needed for his story. Knives has one of the most detailed and intresting character arcs of the main cast.. but it's still thorughly tethered to Scott: his dumping her sends her on a journey of spiraling depression and growth, eventually going from someone who puts scott on such a pedestal that she attacks his new girlfriend instead of seeing the obvious, to accepting Scott wasn't perfect, he cheated and that while he opend her world up, they were really bad together and it was never an equal paring. Even the fun subplot with her dad as the mystery swordsman in book 4.. is because he thought she was still dating Scott and thus attacked him for dating his daugther. The movie makes this worse by trying to make the relationhsip seem legit missing the point entirely. While Knives has a friend in Tamara an da passle of high school drama she gleefully tells scott about, neither are important to the narrative. We only meet her parents because her mom was there when Knives met Scott and her dad tries to run him through.

Here while Scott certainly is part of her story, why she met sex bomb-omb and why she wears his jacket for most of the series, and his death certainly had an impact, she moves on quickly here not because she forgot Scott like it seems a chunk of the cast do or she's TRYING to avoid thinking about him like Kim and Wallace seem to be, she just found a healthy creative outlet, something to put her pain into in a healthy way instead of getting highlights and trying to murder Ramona or dating a guy who looks close enough to Scott. Knives moves on faster here, taking what's implied to be maybe a month at most to move on versus a year.. because she's not isolated in her pain. Scott's friends dont' dump her because it's awkward now and then awkwardly let her stay around post neil because they feel bad. Kim invites her in and after hearing she can wail, Stephen warmly welcomes her into the band, and the two become besties. So we have to talk about Stephen really quick as his plot dovetails into Knives, with the two being a duo for half the series. Stephen is based more on his movie self.

Yeahhh while I love the books on re-read, Book Stephen sucks. He just.. sucks. If your wondering some of the lowlights i'm glad you asked, here's an expertly crafted montage.

And that's just what I could fit into a montage: he also cheats on Julie for most of volume 4, focuses on his affair with joseph to the point he refuses gigs when it's clear playing live is something Kim LIKES doing and helps her relax, and never even informs Scott the band's broken up. The last one's .. iffy because Scott was in a waking depression coma after loosing Ramona, so he coudl've told him and forgot, but out of Scott's friend group he's the most consistently dickish, with Kim's grumpy nature mostly being a wall. It's partly the writing as , again given this is scott centric, we dont' peel back the layers on him the way we do with say Ramona, Knives or Kim. We don't see why he thought it was easier to cheat like we do with Scott and Knives, which wouldnt' make it okay but would make him less punchable. we don't know WHY he stays with Julie. Stephen is just an enigma and as such comes off immesnely annoying when most of his major endevors screw up everyone elses life in some way. And as one final coda to this rant, i'm not saying telling knives about Scott's two timing is bad... i'm saying he's the wrong person to tell her as not only did HE cheat on his partner, and as the last panel shows, KNOWS it's wrong Ramona clearly dosen't know half a year into the relationship, but won't tell her anyway for a friendship he REALLY dosen't seem to remotely care about.

So yeah a hammy constantly anxious relatable stephen was better, and Mark Webber was a delight by contrast. We didn't get to know movie Stephen.. but I didn't want to punch him either. So having Anime Stephen be more like the one who isn't punchable was smart: He's still panicky, crying more over the fact Scott leaves them baseless than over the fact his friend's dead (Which is mildly douchey but as we learned with Julie, if it's for a joke it's fine), and still obessed with making music his career while his band mates are like "Yeah fine whatever", so he's not really changed hard from the core of the character, but he is a delight and him and Knives becoming best friends in a far less hypocritical sense is adorable.

I also REALLY love their pet project: After Young Neil's movie falls through, more on him shortly, they make Scott Pilgrim, the original timeline, into a MUSICAL, complete with a bread makes you fat music number. I do like the ocasional nod here and there: O'Malley and Grabinski conciously didn't want to just.. repeat a gag because it was expected, but threw a few of the more iconic bits in as long as they could remix the joke. It's why the pee bar and the shoe tying making cameos, as their in new contexts, while there just wasn't room for the l-word or scott going out a window.

This whole subplot is gold from Stephens aying "as a creative to another creative" a hundred times, something I relate to since i say as a critic way more than I probably should, to it paying off.

And this is where Knives asceneds. By the end she not only gets closure with scott, admitting she's glad he's back but is glad he died, as the relationship wasn't healthy and she could grow into a hit songwriter, but she has a huge career with an award winning (Probably) musical, a new best friend and mentor, and writing songs for her fav envy.

And most nicely for me.. .I get a reality where Sex Bomb Omb dosen't fall to pieces in some way or form. Yeah without Stephen's drama or callousness depending on the version and with Knives creative vision the band not only stays together, but has a real shot at being something, giving everyone in it a bright future. Knives Chau really got to take off.

Kim is as usual the meaning in my life and the inspriation, with Allison Pill getting to do more with the character since she's not shunted to the background to say one or two lines. I mean she's still IN the background sadly: She gets a major roll in episode 3 and then just shows up when Sex Bomb Omb's together, not even getting that involved in the musical. I really wished after the film Kim got a big beefy roll. She could've been Ramona's sidekick or something like that, the two been clue buddies together. But I suppose the raw sexual tension would've left Scott out. Still she plays of Ramona well and it woudl've been nice ot have Kim around to response to the madness of episodess 4 and 5 with ramona. Still she gets a better shake than the movie: Episode 3 highlights how this version is actually over him, but encourages Ramona's attraction to him, simply warning her of what he's like, is a good friend to Rammy, and gets that moment with Roxie. I love how sh'es just like "I'm not... oh alright". And I think given another chance there would be sparks. Kim is sadly not given MUCH but it's still more kim pine, and i'm always in favor of that.

Finally we have my newly adopted son Young Neil. Unlike with Stephen, they didn't really take from the previous neil, whose super excited, and goofy and better than the graphic novel version whose alright. They go back to the Graphic Novel's glass eyed, barely emotive werido.. yet STILL make him something new rather than just adapt that version.

The result is a neil whose spacey, barely emotive.. but also REALLY dumb and really weird. Naturally I love him and relate immensely. Neil is somehow CRITICAL to the plot this time and entirely unaware of what is going on. He's season 1 todd chavez and it's wonderful.

This Neil gets most of the best bits, with Johnny Simmons having perfect timing. A good chunk of this series weird shit comes form Neil, who takes Scott's death as as sign he should persue his passion for screenwriting and get's his big break when in a half assed wel lmeaning plan, ramona adapts his book into a screenplay and sends it to him. Neil sees a mysteriously cloaked future ramona writing the script.. then assumes it's his sleep paralysis demon and he's a scripting genius.

We then get two glorious episodes of Neil at a movie set not remotely qulaified to be there as he assumes Americans and then the japanese call golf carts mario karts, gets a perscription but somehow winds up with sunglasses, and barely registers Matthew shutting his expesnive nightmare of a film down becuase he can't drive golf carts anymore. It even takes a lengthy and fucking glorious scene with sex bomb omb for him to realize "oh maybe my sleep paralysis demon didn't write this". Just the casual way he says it while everyone else is baffled, and how Kim and Knives have to slowly explain reality to him is great. Neil is comic relief incarnate and I love him, easily the best version. I'm also happy that like most of the cast, he gets a happy ending, as he apparently got a job at the studio after Gideon reopened it driving his cart around. Nick Frost is right, Young Neil really is off the chain.

So onto the one charcter who over FOUR DIFFRENT MEDIUMS has never really talked to anyone I just talked about but knives, we have Wallace. First off: yes i'm still disapointed he never really talked to Sex Bomb Omb. I got it vibe wise: everyone has friends who just.. don't know each other, but the intro got my hopes up they'd actually.. hang out at some point. But just like everything else, the intro isn't remotely indicative of what happened in the anime. The comics sure. And it's a true banger.

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Seriously the colors are vibrant, the song is vibrant and fits scott perfectly, with Necry Talkie really nailing him down, and it's a perfect intro. Even if it ends up being nothing like the series , I still love it. One of my faviorite anime intros of all time. Love that cute falling shot of scott and ramona and the bit showcasing the exes. So good.

What was I on about? Oh yeah Wallace. Wallace here is a mixed bag. As with the film Kirean Culkin is perfect as Wallace: he gets the dry tone down, his drunken antics down and the whole sarcastic vibes perfectly. He was the best performance of the film, and while the compettition's too steep here for him to win again, he's still amazing.

That said Wallace.. is a bit more of a dick here. He comes off more.. tolerating scott instead of having a genuine friendship with him, and the only hint we get of him mourning his best friend is just how plastered he is.. and even then he threatens to change the locks. If Ramona reminded him to. I get the two weren't going to be as focused on, but it's still sad.

I also wish his friendship with Ramona stayed. While it makes sense they don't bond, Scott isn't around to link them, it was one of the funnest parts of the books.

Really this Wallace shows why he needs Scott and what he might be like when his bestie isn't around: Just because Wallace is more put together.. dosen't make him not an asshole. While I admi the's more dickish here with reflection.. I have to say it's not out of character. He's still giving us killer bits from wanting to see a notriously straight actor play him, to his smug acceptance of becoming an actor, to his deadpan acceptance that todd's in love with him, he's still the wallace we love... it's just we're seeing the side of him that dosent look better with a dumpster fire constantly ned tot him.

The biggest douchery is of course stealing Todd from Envy.. but besides it taking two to cheat, Wallace stealing someone's boyfriend.. isn't new behavoir. I laughed at how out of left field the PARING was.. but Wallace is Jimmy's bi or gay or pan, whatever he is, awkaneing in the book and film, and Stacey's reaction in both makes it clear he steals her boyfriends CONSTANTLY. So him stealing Todd and then explaining it was just a fling to him.. is entirely in the realm of Wallac'es douchebagery. He's not a terrible person.. but like everyone else in the cast he's a mess. HIs abuse of his stunt doubles was a bit over the line, but is so over the top it works. And this wallace also sings us complicated. So while I wish we got to see more of the Wallace we don't in the books... what we do get is still great.

Envy.. gets the shortest end of the stick here next to the twins, as she at least had a fairly comepelling arc in the book, being the focus of volume 3 and a major part of volume 6. Here while Brie Larson is once again great there really.. isn't much for Envy here. Even the film, which basically squoozer her in at the last second, still gave us an awesome version of the phone call she gives scott and the iconic black sheep sequence. Here while Envy gets another all timer scene in her funeral concert, the second most obnoxiously awesome crashing of a funeral behind flintheart glomgold

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Envy DID at least get to dance on his casket. Or a stage above his casket. still counts.

Envy.. is left at the face value we meet her at the start of volume 3: queen biatch, queen of all the chaos, queen of all you love and adore. She's still a lot of fun from the above horny antics with todd to her yanking Ramona out of a talking head interview to fight her battles for her, but there's .. nothing really to her and it stand sout in a series that gives everyone else but the twins something new.

Okay ALMOST everyone as Stacey is once again out of focus like the comics. The movie gave her a bit more, but here she's scott's sister who calls people. That's it. It makes sense, Ramona has no real reason to talk to her, but it's a waste of your Anna Kendrick to not find more antics for her, especially since they found wallace and Neil great subplots. That said she does live her best life at the end starring at lucas' butt.

I also want to note the presence of Hollie, kim's roomate, best friend and co-worker. She does little, Shannon Woodward does a fine job, but I like that she's in here at all: Hollie was a character I liked in the comics.. who went on to steal kim's boyfriend for plot convience. So having a verison of her that dosen't do that shit and is just Kim's snarky foil and friend again works for me.

Finally we have a bunch of cameos, the bulk of them legendary. We get Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as security guards, Weird Al as the intro narator for the doc on the failed Scott Pilgrim film, comedy and voice acting legend MIcheal Mcdonald as Edgar Wrong, Bowen Yang as a tv gossip, kal Pen as matt's lawyers and Kirby HOwell Baptiste as Lucas Lee's agent. All fun one or two off bits, all fantastic.

Finishing off the character stuff we have a missed opportunity too: Joseph and Lisa get to cameo.. but are once again left out, to my annoyance. I get not being able to fit them in and Lisa has less of a point without Scott around.. but it'd still be nice to get a scene or something, especially since I was far from the only person asking for Lisa Miller to get a proper apperance.

So with that we close the book on Scott Pilgrim Takes Off.. and it was phenominal. While I would've loved a new adaptation, this.. is even better: a spirtual sequel that expands the characters, is not afraid to go full nonsense, let's a lot of the cast from the film fully shine, and has a bitching soundtrack once again. Not a ton of original songs sadly, but I Feel Fine and Orange Shirt are bangers, and we get Will Forte singing an anime theme song. If the last part dosen't appeal to you, I don't know how you got this far in the review. Takes Off is one of the best entries in this franchise and leaves me hopeful we'll return to this world again. Maybe not on screen but hey, even with the mountain of work it took to get this cast together again, tthis adaptatoin has proven anything is posisble.

Thanks for reading.

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tiannasfanfic · 2 years

Text

Just a Tiny Misunderstanding

Adrian Chase/Vigilante x Reader (Fluff)

Summary: When you notice that one of your coworkers at Fennel Fields has new injuries just about every day, you can't help but be concerned. You don't realize until later exactly how wrong your assumptions about Adrian Chase's situation is. (Crossposted to AO3)

Rating: Teen & Up

Author Notes: Happy Weekend everyone! Here’s something lighthearted and fun despite how serious it starts out. It was inspired by giving a friend some kinky advice, immediately followed by, “But don’t experiment with BDSM if you have a doctors appointment coming up and don’t want to have to explain exactly what y’all get up to in the bedroom in graphic detail.” Been there, done that. So, that got me thinking, Adrian probably goes into work at times beat up and someone would probably be concerned.

CW: Reader incorrectly assumes abuse, so there is implied abuse at the beginning. Mentions of injuries (bruises, scratches, broken ribs, etc), cursing, breaking and entering, a mild physical altercation between Vigilante and Reader. Adrian hints at having a fighting kink. Please let me know if I missed any!

Word Count: 2,816

Adrian Chase was in trouble. You were sure of it.

In the four months you had been working at Fennel Fields, you had noticed some things that made you uneasy. Sometimes he would come in with nasty looking bruises on his arms, other times a slightly black eye. Once he was even gone for a while only to come back all scratched up and limping.

The excuses were always ones you could easily see through. “I got mugged again” was a popular one of his, but you had figured out early on he was a terrible liar. And, even if he wasn’t, how many times can a person really get mugged in one week? Crime wasn’t that high in Evergreen anymore. Not since the vigilante roaming the streets got revealed as a government agent who could fight super charged aliens. Even though Vigilante had been around for years at that point, that seemed to finally make the criminal element take him seriously. You had even caught yourself wondering if Vigilante could fight those aliens, then what else he could do?

The final straw was the day you saw him wincing anytime he moved and caught him holding his side at times, like his ribs were hurting.

You knew then that you had to talk to him. You had to offer some kind of help or at least let him know he could trust you. You couldn’t just stand by and watch someone you were starting to really care about get hurt. Since the two of you were closing together that night and he always walked you to your car after closing, it gave you the time you needed alone with him to broach the topic.

“Hey, before you go, can I talk to you for a minute?” you asked after the two of you had reached your car.

“Sure!” Adrian said brightly then smiled big at you. “You can always talk to me about anything.”

When you looked into his eyes then and saw the happiness there, you almost chickened out. You’d never done anything like this before, but you knew it had the potential to go sideways. You knew you’d have to choose your words carefully. You just hoped you wouldn’t upset him.

“I just wanted to let you know that I’m always here for you,” you said quickly.

Adrian blinked a couple of times.

“Um, okay,” he said, then smiled again, looking slightly confused. “Thanks?”

Before you could lose your nerve, you fished a folded piece of paper out of your pocket and held it out to him.

“Here, take this,” you said, “It’s my phone number and address. If you ever need help, or need somewhere to go, come on over. Day or night, I don’t care what time it is. You don’t even have to call or text first.”

Adrian slowly took the slip of paper from you, his expression very confused at first. Then his face suddenly shifted to an alarmed expression, then quickly became suspicious. He took a step back and his gaze, now suddenly cold, swept you from head to foot, as if assessing you. That slightly confused you, but you just smiled with a warm softness when his gaze came back to your face.

“You don’t have you do this alone,” you said softly. “I’m here for you.”

Rather than be upset, Adrian suddenly brightened and was in an even better mood than before.

“Fucking sweet!” he said with the brightest smile you’d ever seen. “Thanks! I’ll definitely take you up on that!”

Relief washed over you. “Please do! Like I said, anytime, day or night.”

When you drove away just a little while later to go home, you noticed Adrian dancing by his car. You wondered what that was about but didn’t think much of it after that.

Five nights later, you were woken up in the early morning hours by a noise from your living room. This wasn’t unusual. Your bedroom door was halfway open to allow your cat to meander at night and sometimes he got bored. Bored cats in the middle of the night usually result in humans waking up in the middle of the night. You laid there for a moment, listening and trying to figure out if what Krieg was up to meant you needed to get up. When you didn’t hear anything else after a bit, you rolled over and closed your eyes to go back to sleep.

It didn’t take long for another sound from the living room to get your attention again. It sounded like something small had gotten knocked off a table, so you weren’t going to worry about it at first, but then your eyes flew open when you heard a muttered curse.

Someone was in your house.

Your eyes shifted to your bedroom door. It was angled in a way that you could see partially down the hall when the door was open, but with it halfway closed you couldn’t see much of anything. That meant no one could see in from that angle either. But you had to be quick.

Slowly, and quietly, you slid your legs out of bed. Keeping your eyes on the door, you leaned over to carefully grasp the baseball bat you had hidden just under your side of the bed. You carefully made your way to the door, trying to decide what to do. When you heard a creaking sound in the hallway, you froze for a second before ducking behind the door. That creaking meant someone was coming down the hallway toward your room.

Your mouth went dry, your heart hammering in your chest. You heard them step on another finicky floorboard, this one right outside the door. You adjusted the grip on your bat, holding it slightly above regular hand placement to get the maximum force from your swing in the close quarters.

A few moments later, the bedroom door slowly started moving inwards from someone pushing it open. You quietly stepped back against the wall, hoping they wouldn’t swing it open and into you.

They didn’t, it stopped just a few inches in front of your nose.

A figure came into view, slowly stepping into the bedroom. With your eyes more than adjusted to the dim lighting, you could see they were wearing some kind of costume that covered them from head to foot. You couldn’t make out any details since the outfit was mostly a matte black that blended easily in with the shadows. However, there was two horizontal stripes across his back that rang some bells. One was white, one was teal. You stared at them, trying to figure out where you had seen that color scheme before.

Then it dawned on you who you were looking at and your blood ran cold.

What the fuck was Vigilante doing in your house?

The worst thing you had ever done was pirate…well…everything. Movies, books, music, games, it didn’t matter to you. You even shared your streaming passwords with friends, and they did the same for you. You all were broke ass bitches that took care of each other like that. But there was no way Vigilante should know about any of that. Even if he did though, didn’t he have better things to do than come after a pirate? You were pretty sure there were still rapists and pedophiles in Evergreen. That should be more concerning than someone downloading Pathfinder books.

You watched him step further into your room, stopping once he got about halfway inside. You could just make out him turning his head, as if looking around your room.

If you were going to do something, it would have to be now before he turned around.

Slowly, and quietly, you pushed the door away from you until you had a clear path to him from your position. You held the bat at the ready, carefully avoiding another creaky spot on the floor. There were a lot of creaky spots since the house had been an unfortunate victim of termites many years ago, but you knew where they all were.

When you were just a few steps behind him, you raised the bat. You hesitated for a moment, trying to figure out where to aim. You didn’t want to kill him, just knock him out. The side of the neck maybe and hope it did the same as the Vulcan Neck Pinch? Or go for the back of the head and hope for the best?

While you only hesitated for a few seconds, it was enough time for Psycho Krieg to figure out there were two people in the house now, both were awake, and neither were petting him. And that just wouldn’t do.

“MROOOOW!” came from directly behind you.

Vigilante turned then and spotted you. You immediately swung.

He brought one arm up in time to deflect the blow, grabbing the bat with his other hand. He wrenched it easily from your grasp, which you were expecting since you weren’t a physically strong person. As soon as he started to yank the bat from you, you let go and quickly punched him in the face before taking off out the bedroom.

“Ow! What the fuck?” you heard him exclaim from behind you.

The voice rang some bells, but you didn’t stop.

Halfway down the hall, you heard his heavy footsteps close behind you and feigned as if to go towards your hall bathroom, but instead dodged into the living room at the last second. You heard him collide with the wall and start cursing. You still didn’t stop, running directly for the couch, jumping over it, and circling back around to head straight to the door.

Unfortunately, Vigilante predicted this move of yours and was ready for it. Since you were trying to get away, you didn’t see that he had shifted his direction when you were headed for the couch. He had a fifty-fifty shot of guessing which direction you would go after clearing the couch and chose correctly.

You were thrown against the wall, the wind getting knocked out if you. But you still put up a fight, thrashing wildly when he got close and getting a good knee to either his stomach or groin. You guessed his groin the way he doubled over with a sharp cry. Seizing this new chance, you made another break for the door, but your escape attempt was short lived. You were soon tackled to the floor. There was a struggle, and you ended up on your back.

“Fuck this,” you heard the man growl.

Then you felt the barrel of a gun pressing to your forehead, followed by the distinctive sound of the safety switching off and readied.

Immediately you went still.

You squeezed your eyes shut, heart hammering wildly in your chest.

This is it, you thought with an eerie calm. This is how I die.

At least it wasn’t from something stupid, like tripping over Krieg, falling into a table and breaking your neck, which is how you’d always assumed you would go out. You were pretty sure that cat was trying to kill you. At least getting killed by Vigilante would save what was left of your pride.

But the shot you were waiting for never came.

Silence filled the room save for Vigilante’s slightly winded breathing and your very heavy gasps for air. There was absolutely no question who was in better shape between the two of you.

Finally, after the longest moments of your life, Vigilante finally spoke.

“I’ve gotta say, you are sending some huge fucking mixed signals here,” he said, his breathing mostly normal by now. “First, you tell me I’m welcome over anytime, day or night, but then when I do come over, you try to beat the fuck out of me. What gives?”

That confused the shit out of you, so you opened your eyes. Vigilante was straddling your hips, the hand not holding the gun had a tight grip of both of your wrists and he had them held against your stomach. You swallowed heavily.

“W-what are you talking about?”

“You don’t remember?” the man quirked his head to the side, the tone of his voice confused. “We were standing right by your car, and you said if I ever needed help that I could come over, day or night.”

You stared at the masked figure above you in dismay.

Did this psycho overhear you talking to Adrian and, for whatever reason, think you meant him? No, that’s too stupid. No one is that dumb, even if they are a vigilante. But then why would he say…

Your eyes got wide.

You had recognized his voice as soon as you heard it but hadn’t placed it yet. The revelation that he knew what you had told Adrian was shocking and got your wheels turning. Both of those things nudged your conclusion in the right direction.

“Holy shit!” you exclaimed, yelling in dismay. “Adrian fucking Chase? You’re fucking Vigilante?!?”

Vigilante quickly dropped the gun and clamped his hand over your mouth.

“Shhhh!” he hissed. “You told me you knew! Why the fuck would you tell me that if you didn’t know already?”

You stared up at him incredulously, more confused than you ever had been in your life.

Then it dawned on you.

While you were correct in assuming that Adrian Chase was getting beat up every night, it was not for the reasons you thought.

And then, AND THEN, you just had to tell him that you were there for him, he didn’t have to do it alone and that he could always come to you for help.

Well shit.

You laid there completely still, staring up at him in shock. It’s not like you could do much else.

Vigilante seemed to realize that too.

“If I move my hand, are you going to scream?”

You shook your head. He studied you for a few seconds before he slowly removed his hand from your mouth.

You licked your lips nervously.

“I-I actually had no idea who you are until right now,” you said slowly, not sure if it was a good idea to admit that or not.

From the shadows in the room, you couldn’t see his eyes through the visor, but you could feel his eyes boring into you.

“Okay,” he said slowly, sounding even more confused. “Then why did you say all those things about coming to you for help and being here for me?”

You sighed and looked at the visor where you assumed his eyes were.

“Because I was afraid you were being mistreated by someone,” you said. “And no one deserves to go through that thinking they are alone and have no one that will help them.”

Vigilante’s head cocked to the side.

“What the hell does that even mean?” he said, sounding more confused than ever.

Now you just felt embarrassed. Your cheeks were burning.

“I thought you were being abused by your partner.”

Vigilante sat back on his heels a bit in surprise.

“Why would you think that?” he said.

“Dude, you kept coming into work looking like you had gotten into a fight with a wild cat.”

“Didn’t I say I was mugged?” Adrian just kept sounding increasingly confused with each question. “I had a good excuse.”

“You’re a terrible liar,” you said, breathing and heart rate mostly normal. “You couldn’t lie if your life depended on it.”

“Oh,” he said, then let go of your hands. He looked prepared to grab them again if he needed to, but you just laid there, rubbing your wrists. “Thanks for looking out for me though! That’s actually super nice of you.”

“No problem. Can you let me up, please?”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry.”

Vigilante got to his feet, then offered his hand to you. You accepted and he easily pulled you to you up to yours. He proceeded to take of the mask and replace it with a pair of glasses from his pouch.

You had to admit, he looked adorable flushed from heat of the mask and his hair damp with sweat.

But, adorable or not, that still didn’t stop you from slapping him.

“Ow! he exclaimed, then rubbed his cheek with stunned expression. “What the fuck was that for?”

“I said you could come over day or night,” you said, glaring at him. “Not break into my house day or night. You scared the shit out of me. Use the damn doorbell next time.”

Adrian’s eyes lit up when you said, ‘next time.’

“And, I have to say, it's fucking fun wrestling around with you," he said with a grin. "You are much, MUCH feistier than I’d have ever have thought! And what a slap! Keep that up and I might not ever leave!”

You didn’t have a good justification for yourself as to why exactly your face burned such a bright red at that.

#adrian chase #vigilante #adrian chase hc #adrian chase fluff #adrian chase imagine #adrian chase fanfiction #adrian chase x y/n #adrian chase x you #adrian chase x reader #vigilante hc #vigilante fanfiction #vigilante imagine #vigilante fluff #vigilante x y/n #vigilante x you #vigilante x reader

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im-in-love-with-pizza-bites · 1 year

Text

To Raise Children: Chapter 30

Chris Evans X Daughter!Reader, Grandpa!Chris Evans X Flynn and Felix Evans (OCs) Tom Holland X Single-Mom!Reader (Slow Burn)

Series Masterlist

OC List

Series Summary: It's been 4 years, your sons are starting kindergarten, you're starting junior year of college, a lot has changed.

Chapter Summary: Tom talks to him mom about you and the boys

Series Warnings: Age gap (Reader is 20, Tom is 29), absent father, mentions teen pregnancy, mentions abortion, if you see anymore please let me know politely.

Chapter Warnings:

Sequel to "It Takes A village"

A/n: It's been months I know. But hopefully the next chapter should come out sooner can't promise it.

Tom walks into his parents home. He kicks off his shoes before walking into the living room where his mom was sitting.

"Hey mum." He smiles at her.

"Tom dear! I didn't hear you come in." She sits up. "How are you?"

"Im good. Are Sam and Harry still coming for dinner too?" He says sitting next to her.

"Yes they are. They're gonna be a little later. How is Y/n?" Nikki asks smiling.

"She's good she's visiting family right now so I haven't talk to her yet. I hate the time differences." He says leaning back on the couch. "Mom I love her. She's just amazing, mum. She's kind, she's funny, she's so beautiful. She's an amazing mum too! I love her sons too, they're so much like her! Flynn he read to me! He's not even in first grade yet he's so smart, and Felix he is great at drawing! He drew spiderman and it was so good! I have a photo of it on my phone" Nikki has an amused smile on her face as she listens to him. She can't wait to meet you or the twins.

"You really love them don't you?"

"Yeah. How'd you know?" He laughs.

"Your eyes lit up when I asked about her. You're also bragging about those boys, it's sweet. I can't wait to meet them they must be very special."

"They are mum. I've never felt this way before about a woman. I think she's the one." He looks at her with a giddy grin.

"Im happy for you dear, I can't wait to meet her. And her sons, I've always wanted grandkids. You've been taking a while too." Nikki chuckles

"You have four kids Im not the only one who can give you grandkids."

"You are the oldest though you've had the most time."

"Yeah."

"But seriously when will I get to meet them." She smiles.

"I don't know I want to fly them here maybe as a Christmas gift but she still wants to keep me separate from the twins so maybe next summer if I don't have any projects."

"Okay, me and your dad really are happy for you."

"Thank you mum." He smiles looking down at his phone when he heard it ding. It was you, you sent him a photo of the twins and Amelia at brunch. He replies before showing the photo to his mom. "This one is Flynn you can tell cause his eyebrows are thicker than Felix's and Felix has bigger ears. The little girl is their sister, Amelia."

"Awe." She smiles looking at the photo. "They're so precious."

———

You were finally home. You sat the bags on the floor as the boys ran past you to the backyard. You sigh and go to the couch flopping down on it. You look towards the window the boys are playing on their playset. You pull your phone out texting your dad letting him know you got home safely before doing the same to Tom. Tom responds almost immediately says that's good. It's about 7pm here so it's about midnight there in London. You're not surprised hes aware hes been staying up late to talk to you since you became official. He calls you right as you start writing a response.

"How was the flight? Were the boys better this time?"

"It was alright, yeah they were great this time. Luckily this time we didn't wake up early and we got dinner right before the flight so they weren't cranky."

"That's good."

"How was dinner with your parents?" You ask looking out the window.

"Good."

"That's good." You say.

"Where's the boys?"

"The backyard playing. I don't know how but they have so much energy." You say taking a deep breath.

"Is it dark over there yet?"

"No they have maybe an hour or so." You says standing up and going to the back door. You could barely see them through the window of their playset.

"So you have time to talk!" Tom says you can't see it but he's grinning.

"Isn't it late for you? You should get to bed."

"No I wanted to talk to you about something actually." He says, "so you know how I told you I'm going to take a break from taking roles for a little while? Well I was thinking maybe I could get an apartment close to you. I've been thinking about applying for duel citizen ship anyway with how much I'm in America anyway."

"Really? You want to move out here?" You whispers looking outside to make sure the twins weren't listening.

"Yeah. It probably won't be till after Christmas though. But I do still want to come down for the boy's birthday."

"It would be nice having you close. And my dad will be back and able to babysit by then." You mention absentmindedly. "I'd like it but it's up to you."

"Okay."

"Uh I should go I need to get the boys asleep but I can call you back after?" You say.

"Yeah sure. Bye darling."

"Bye."

Taglist: @fic-for-readers @denisemarieangelina @thevelvetseries @kaitieskidmore1 @ellerosie2332 @tahniemarie @runawayolives @marajillana @buckybarnez @positivelyholland @firehoseevan @coldmuffinpartycloud @beautifulrose0809 @believinghurts @laura-naruto-fan1998 @shadow-dixon @claaaaaaire-blog @mrs-brekker15 @h-j-s-03 @moniffazictress11 @buxkybarnez @ducks118 @kalopsia-flaneur @silverrmist @some-lovely-day @peterparkerbae @Olivia197810 @gengen64 @Bellagaseta20 @hollzo-03 @bubb1eana1ee @cmalas @jamie0515 @mpamphsss @bucketbarnes12 @lyraficrecs @hunni-bunny @lyrarodriguez @snigdha-14 @cedricdiggorysimpp @Multifandom_Boss_Bitch @sea040561 @queensgirl718

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acidicbarkbeast · 1 year

Text

wip wordsearch game

rules: share snippets of your work containing each of the words the previous poster selected for you (optional addition: if you can't find the word in your WIPs, or you simply don't have any WIPs, you can just write a sentence around the word) invited by: @afewproblems i never get tagged in these so thank you for making yours an open invitation!!! here goes! last two happen together, just my luck. answering to the words -> concentrate, loose, fire, bubble, giddy

concentrate:

He knew that the kids would never take it seriously, how could someone like Steve be so concentrated, each stroke deft and thoughtful, meaningful.

Harrington Senior would call it useless, a waste of time better spent elsewhere, an expensive waste of money too, something that would never return a profit either.

He already knew what his mother thought of it all, when she’d stumbled to the basement instead of the wine cellar. She’d said a lot of things that evening; messy, senseless, uncoordinated and unfocused.

Steve had never stopped. He couldn’t help when the words occasionally got to him, when the basement door would stay closed for days or weeks, but ultimately he never quit. The paintings filled every corner, every wall, some sitting unfinished on easels, others stacked against furniture or piled on top of each other.

loose:

“I’m just saying that it doesn’t make any sense!” Steve threw his hands up in defense, shaking his head as if to clear the conversation from his brain. Eddie wouldn’t be surprised if he had to knock some words loose from all that hair, “Is this guy even a real, actual myth? I feel like I would've heard of him by now, if he was so interesting and important.”

"One; real myth is an oxymoron." Dustin accentuated, “Two; I’m sure there are plenty of things you don’t know, Steve. There are lots of things even I don’t know!” He patted the older teen’s chest reassuringly, “It’s good you’re curious, though. Curiosity is what drives most if not all of scientific exploration. Think of it, if not for our inquisitiveness and persistence, we would have never made it to the moon!”

“Sure.” Steve eyed the kid, “Just… Don’t call me a moron, pipsqueak.”

fire:

“Trailer shower barely fits one person, sunshine.” Not to mention, Eddie had never really been with anyone before Steve, at least, not so seriously. There was no need to say it aloud, they’d had the talk before, early on, followed by what was quite possibly the most tender night of Eddie’s life, every touch setting small fires on virgin skin.

Leaning down, Steve nosed along his jawline, breathing him in, “First time for both of us then, if you’re willing?”

Eddie leaned back, a mix of playful and surprised, “You haven't?”

“Felt too intimate, never got that far with a girl,” Steve mumbled, though not sadly. He’d been speaking quieter than Eddie’s ever known him since his hearing really went out after the bats, always unsure of how loud he was truly being. It made pulling those wanton sounds out of him all the more thrilling.

bubble:

Once. Twice. Eddie reread the letter three times before the first period bell went off, stragglers hurrying around him. He didn’t know what to think of it. Somehow, he found the odd few spelling mistakes endearing where he once might have found them annoying. It was confounding, the sheer effect this had on his lonely heart

It wasn’t like he was being summoned anywhere either, not like sophomore year, when he’d been foolishly lured to the football field and sent home with a black eye. This felt safer, like a phone call in a bubble. It felt private. He had a choice in receiving more letters. He could say no with just the flick of a marker, no time lost, no bruises. He could say yes just the same.

giddy:

An urge which he absolutely resented went off like an alarm in his head. He was mildly horrified, finding himself inclined to indulge some baser instinct of himself, something he’d normally chide others for doing. He rubbed the pads of his thumbs over the paper, possessive, before bringing the letter up to his nose, and breathing deep.

The smell had a vice on him immediately, scarily. Too sweet for a beta, too savory for an omega, not sharp and pungent like an alpha might be. It was smoked maple wood and marshmallows. It was breakfast for dinner: sausage rounds, pancakes drowning in pecan syrup, salty bacon. It had his mouth watering right there in public.

Eddie wanted more, he was giddy with it.

This was fun!!

anyone who wants to do this can say i tagged them, idc :3 Your words are -> heart, ink, brave, offence, consider

#barkbeastwriting #stranger things #steve harrington #eddie munson

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perpetuallurkernazanin · 2 years

Text

@mephiopad

I agree with you that call-outs are an extreme measure that should only be used in extreme situations, and that being uncomfortable with someone doesn’t justify publicly calling them out. That’s why I have only posted one call-out in my years on Tumblr, about a young adult who had committed statutory rape against a teen and continued to bully them online.

Eny has personally and directly hurt many people in multiple fandoms. He has shown a sweet and pitiful face to many people over the course of years, including me, which is the face you’re seeing now, but it’s always ended in betrayal. [see the firsthand account of @MaxDiscordance on Twitter]

You are an adult, who you consort with is your decision; but I am sincerely concerned for the well-being of minors in fandom that Eny choses to interact with, because of his abundantly-documented irresponsible and manipulative behavior.

And I am concerned for Eny as well. In his apology video he said he’s “addicted” to getting attention on the internet. Quote, emphasis mine. “I can't stop looking myself up, looking for people, anyone, talking about me. _It's not making things any better by doing that._” When social internet use is a self-admittedly self-destructive addiction, it’s not time to seek out enablers and fandoms full of minors to use as an emotional crutch – it’s time to take therapy seriously and focus on getting healthy in the real world.

Eny’s harmful behavior goes far beyond pro/anti-ship discourse. It’s about persistent bullying, lying, and manipulation. It’s hypocritical for him to claim that people who have been hurt by him are unfair to alert others to his behavior, and that a caution against call-outs is posted on his behalf, given that he bullied an anti for months when all they had done was privately let others in the fandom know about his pro-ship account (not to mention publicly gossiping and suggesting they were secretly pro-ship, when the truth is that they had been manipulated into producing NSFW content by an abusive adult years in the past... in other words, Eny publicly dragged and shamed someone for basically the same circumstance he now claims should excuse him from any culpability). I tried my best to dissuade Eny from this cruelty towards a real person (he publicly tweeted a fantasy that they would die a grisly death... after telling me multiple times he would stop bothering them). I did it privately and supportively because at that time I honestly believed he wanted to do better, but he just simpered and lied to my face. Since claiming to have left pro-ship circles, Eny’s been posting call-outs himself.

A particular call-out he posted against a member of Object Show Fandom contained not just relevant concerns about treatment of characters voiced by minors, but sex-related DM chats Eny had participated in, thereby exposing minors who saw the call-out to gore and scat NSFW.

I am also concerned that Eny apparently continues to protect the identity of his groomer. The whole time I was interacting with him (timeline in this document), I didn’t hear that he was actively being abused. I assumed his abuse had been in early childhood, by an adoptive or step-parent, because that was the type of ‘ships he promoted on Twitter. I turned a blind eye to his pro-ship content as long as he didn’t bring any of it into my (18+) server, because he said it was for coping, and I hoped he’d get healthier being in a supportive environment without pro-ship content and without heavy use of call-outs. If he had said he was being victimized in the present, I believe many – on both sides of the shipping discourse – would have offered him support and encouragement to break free. It horrifies me to think that a person who could manipulate a 13-to-17-year-old into reveling in gore, porn, talk of incest and child molestation, and sharing underage nudes of himself with unsuspecting and unconsenting adults, is still roaming around the internet unidentified and able to victimize more minors.

Finally – a note on why I keep on mentioning the safety of minors. Eny may try to retort that he’s only 18 while I’m twice that age. May I suggest that documented careless behavior around minors is a bigger red flag that mere chronological age. Here’s how I reacted the time I heard that a minor said they were uncomfortable with my presence in a fandom space (this was in Eny’s Voxman server; Eny is the mod here) vs. how Eny has reacted when it was suggested their behavior posed harm to minors.

So, @mephoipad … I’m not going to barge into the DMs of a person much younger than me. But, my Discord is Nazanin#0889

My DMs are open here and on Discord for anybody who has questions. Or Twitter, for that matter. To any minor reading this – I suggest you find a trusted adult in the fandom to approach me if you have questions you’d like to ask. Stay safe, everyone.

#cornenjoyer #stay safe

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aceofwhump · 2 years

Note

First off, I'm totally okay with you replying and posting my asks, because you're always so helpful and super detailed in your answers that I'm sure other people will find helpful too, so I don't mind being the naive, uneducated guinea pig to ask the stupid questions. X)

Okay, your reply actually made me tear up. Guess it's my emotional week, haha. Thank you so much for saying those things; my god it feels so good to hear that maybe I'm not weird, and to know that other people feel this way too and like these things and don't judge me for my preferences.

My whumping started as a kid too, with good ol' Teen Titans. It was the first time I had ever seen the show, and the first scene that I saw was Robin falling through the ground and presumed dead; the whumperflies hit me hard and I had no idea what the feeling was, and I just thought "Wow this is a good show." Since then I had always used my bed time to imagine whumpy scenes; sometimes I'd even go to bed early just to do it before I was too tired to think. But that feeling that I had really scared me, I thought I was a bad person this whole time, or a creepy child. I can't believe other children did this too, it's so relieving to hear.

Dude, I'm literally watching B99 right now and that episode where Jake breaks his ribs but still wants to go after the guy and keeps ignoring Terry's orders to rest is just chef's kiss. I also love Cardcaptor Sakura so that's awesome too!

Whump is so scary to even think about when I'm around people because what if they suddenly saw into my head and were completely weirded out? I kind of hate watching things with people because of that. And that makes me feel lonely, because I still like watching shows with my family but I always have that in the back of my mind. And what if a whump scene comes up and then I see how they react to it adversely and I feel bad for secretly relishing in it?

I read the post you linked, and one statement jumped out at me: "A lot of us are asexual too and I think whump gives us similar feelings to arousal without it being sexual. (at least for me it does)" so if it's okay with you, may I ask you to elaborate? I think that's me but I also don't want to assume if I'm interpretting it incorrectly. I don't know much about asexuality and I know even less about arousal so I could be totally wrong in thinking that's me, but I don't know how else to describe why I like whump.

Okay I have seriously become obsessed with Jason Ritter so if you or anyone else wants to squeal about him PLEEEEEEEEASE let me know because I have NO ONE to talk to about this man and it's seriously driving me crazy. I need all the whump for him! I've watched everything he's ever been in by now and his whump is sooooo little. DX But he has a good scene of whump in 'The Long Road Home' where he gets shot but still pushes himself and it's soooo good, but there's no aftermath for it and it suuuuucks. Still, I watch that scene over and over like a freak (ever seen 'Death Becomes Her'? I'm Goldie Hawn rewinding Meryl Streep's death scene over and over again. XD) Plus there's his whump in Raising Dion which is great too but they completely invalidate it with the twist and that's really annoying. X( God I could go on and on I'm sorry I'll shut up now.

Hi again! So sorry for the delayed response! Anyway, yay! I'm so glad it was helpful and that it was okay to post my response! I don't want you to feel to comfortable or anything. If you wanted things to be private I'm more than happy to do that. I'm glad you've found my responses helpful and I promise you you do not ask stupid questions at all 😊 ❤❤❤ I'm so glad I could be of help! You are definitely not alone. You're among friends here for sure! No judgement at all!

Teen Titans is great! That's a great show to first find out you like whump! Robin whump (for any Robin) is good whump 👍 Omg yes I had no idea other kids did it either until I found this community. Its soooo common! You're definitely not alone in doing that and you're definitely not a bad person for it! And I looove that episode of Brooklyn so much. It's THE BEST! I also like the episode where he got shot by Amy. Good stuff 👍 Jason Ritter is amazing!!! I still have a lot of his work I haven't seen but he is such an underrated whump actor!!! I think I first fell for him when i watched Kevin Probably Saves the World (and then i got very sad wehn it was cancelled after a season) but he's so good in The Long Road Home and Raising Dion which I haven't actually watched yet but whumpypepsigal made some great gifs of his whump in it and i looooove it. And oh my god his whump in The Event is SO GOOD I DIED!!!! I so want more Jason Ritter whump in my life.

Okay I 100% understand that feeling when watching shows with family. There is only one person in my real who knows that I like whump and that's my sister and she has been sworn to secrecy. I'm terrified of the day I slip up or she slips up and let my mom know what I actually like in my media because she would never ever understand it. I try very hard not to smile too much during whump scenes when I'm watching with people and I don't tell anyone what kind of fics I read or why certain episodes are my favorite. I love my family but they wouldn't get it. Especially my mom. She'd probably send me to therapy lol. I don't feel bad for enjoying what I enjoy anymore but I don't feel like trying to explain it to them ya know? So yes I understand completely and I think a lot of others here would as well. I wish I could offer some advice but I think we're in the same boat on this ❤ At least you can come here if you ever want to talk about your favorite whumps! That is just one of the many great things about having this community. When we can't show it in our real life, we can always come on here and chat with people who get it.

Okay the asexual attraction whumperflies comment. Yes. I would be more than happy to elaborate on that! It's a little hard to explain because I don't fully understand it myself and it's just kind of a theory I have about myself but I shall take a stab at it lol. So I'm asexual and that means i don't feel sexual attraction. At all. Don't know what that's like. But the feelings and sensations I experience when seeing good whump is similar to when I feel arousal (which is different from attraction by the way! Arousal can happen for a variety a reasons without the need of sexual attraction) and it's also very similar to what I've been told is sexual attraction but since I don't actually know what sexual attraction feels like I can't confirm that but I can describe what I experience. So when I find good whump I get flushed, my heart rate accelerates, I get a sort of clenching feeling in my genitals (tmi sorry), and sometimes my chest tightens. But those feelings for me are not at all associated with sex or anything related to sex. For some people it is but for me all those feelings mean to me is that the whump is good. I still have no desire to have sex and this isn't sexual to me at all. Funny enough I don't even think it has anything to do with the actor or character. It more so has to do with the visual or the sounds or the actions. Hence why sooo many characters and actors become my whumpees. So it's weird but my whumperflies and are like my ace version of what allos feel when they feel sexual attraction. I think? Like I said it's really hard to explain well. And this is just what I feel/think about it. I'm not speaking for anyone else. Did that even make sense?

#mod replies #ask #long post

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andiinaraethtash · 2 years

Text

Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warnings:

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Categories:

F/F

Gen

M/M

Fandoms:

Empires SMP

Minecraft (Video Game)

Relationships:

Bryce | fWhip & GeminiTay

Bryce | fWhip & MythicalSausage

Bryce | fWhip & Geminitay & MythicalSausage (Video Blogging RPF)

Katherine Elizabeth/Shelby Grace

Jimmy | Solidarity/Scott | Smajor1995 | Dangthatsalongname

Everyone & Everyone

Scott Smajor & Xornoth

Characters:

Bryce | fWhip

GeminiTay (Video Blogging RPF)

MythicalSausage (Video Blogging RPF)

Scott | Smajor1995 | Dangthatsalongname

Jimmy | Solidarity

Shrub - Character

Shelby Grace

Katherine Elizabeth (Video Blogging RPF)

Joey Graceffa

Joel | SmallishBeans

Lizzie | LDShadowLady (Video Blogging RPF)

Jonny | Pixlriffs (Video Blogging RPF)

Pearl | PearlescentMoon

Xornoth

sort of - Character

You'll see

Additional Tags:

Angst

Hurt/Comfort

roseblings

Wither Rose Alliance on Empires SMP Setting (Video Blogging RPF)

Alternate Universe - Empires SMP Setting (Video Blogging RPF)

Flower Husbands

Nature Wives

Minor/implied Jornoth

Possession

Corruption

Can't Escape the Fallout (Feel the Fire Rain Down)

AndiinaRaethTash

Summary:

Things are back to normal. No, seriously, they are. Sure, Scott’s ice powers are getting a little out of control, and fWhip is occasionally acting a little weird, and Pix can feel something brewing on the horizon, but things are fine, right? If only things would stay that way. But something dark has other plans, and the rulers and their lands will soon find themselves fighting for their lives as light and dark collide in a way that will either bring them all together, or tear them all apart…

Notes:

Here we are, the sequel to Before Something breaks That Cannot Be Fixed! (I'd say long-awaited, but it's only been a month or so.) Hopefully I'll finish this before Empires S2 comes out and consumes my soul, and if my guess is correct, that shouldn't be too hard, considering I'm projecting mid to late summer at the very earliest for that. I'm not quite to the point I wanted to be before I started posting, but I'm close enough, and I've got the inspiration going, so my buffer shouldn't run out. Hopefully. (Last time I said that, I accidentally deleted everything I'd written with no way of getting it back, so you know, knock on wood if you're superstitious and all that.) I'm projecting at least as many chapters as were in Before Something Breaks, but I don't have a final chapter count yet. I'll update the fic when I know for certain. With that out of the way, I'll let you get on to reading! (Chapter title from How Far We've Come by Matchbox Twenty)

Chapter 1: Waking Up at the Start of the End of the World

Once, Scott would have said he’s only a little scared by his ice powers. By now, he’s verging on terrified. There’s an ice storm that’s just now letting up, and it’s barely the first week of summer. An ice storm. In June. Aeor, but these powers were getting out of control.

He’s been on the verge of just heading over to Gem’s and seeing if she could help him; she’s been building a new magical academy since early spring, and from what he’s heard—mostly from Jimmy, one of the only ones brave enough to face the neverending winter—it’s nearly complete.

But he’s had other concerns, other… alright, excuses, to keep him in Rivendell. So he’s not too chuffed when he hears a knock on the door, because it can only be one of the other emperors, most likely one of them in particular.

“Jimmy, I’m not in the mood to—” He stops himself short as he opens the door, because that is not Jimmy.

Sausage raises an eyebrow. “Not in the mood for what? Do I need to give you the shovel talk?”

Scott gapes for a moment before blurting, “Lizzie and Joel already did that.”

They had. It had been rather terrifying, having a ten-foot-tall fish goddess, and her over-protective, hyperactive husband telling him they would absolutely smite him into smithereens if he hurt their little brother. Not that he ever intends to. That is the last thing he wants to do.

Sausage beams and pushes past Scott into the lodge. “Geez, it’s cold. Don’t you guys have summer up here?”

“Usually, yes,” Scott replies, closing the door behind his unexpected guest. “Don’t take this the wrong way, Sausage, but why are you here?”

“Oh, just acting as a messenger boy. I was hoping to see some cooler weather up here, but man, this is not what I had in mind.”

“The message, Sausage?” Scott has to fight not to grit his teeth. Aeor, he’s forgotten how annoying Sausage can be, and he needs him gone before he accidentally hurts him with his uncontrollable ice powers.

Sausage pulls out a scroll as he warms his other hand over the fire. “fWhip sent it,” he says unnecessarily, because Scott can see the seal of the Grimlands on the letter.

Still he takes it, removes the seal, and reads it. He raises an eyebrow as he does so, because that’s… interesting. “fWhip’s called a meeting of the twelve empires?”

“He has?” Sausage asks, scrambling over to read over Scott’s elbow. “Huh. You’d have thought he’d have told me.”

“Maybe he was counting on me telling you, or he was going to tell you when you went back to the Grimlands.” Scott pointedly raises an eyebrow, and Sausage flushes ever so slightly.

So he has been staying in the Grimlands. Jimmy had said something last time he’d been here about Joey complaining that one of Gem or Sausage or both was always with fWhip, and honestly, Scott understands. He’s their brother and/or best friend.

Still, he can’t help but be jealous of that close relationship, even though he knows he shouldn’t. He may not have his brother, but he does have this family, this little group of broken people who were trying to build each other back up by taking pieces of themselves and patching each other up with them.

Scott sets the scroll down on the table. “How are they doing?”

Sausage sighs heavily. “Gem… she says she’s forgiven me, but… she’s still wary. It’s not hard to tell, she won’t let me and fWhip alone for longer than she needs to. As for fWhip—I don’t know, he’s been acting funny. He won’t let us into his forge, he spends an awful lot of time in there, and when he comes out he’s exhausted and snappish.”

“Have you considered that maybe he’s tired of being babysat?” Scott asks, a hint of amusement leaking into his voice, because he knows he would be. Having someone always watching over your shoulder has to be annoying, and if anyone was going to understand that, it’d be Sausage, considering what he went through just three and a half months ago.

Sausage twists his face in consideration. “Maybe. That would actually make sense. Alright,” he says, clapping his hands together, “I’ll see if I can’t get Gem to back off a little.”

Scott nods and pointedly looks at the door. Sausage, thankfully, clues in for once in his life. “I should get going, huh?”

“Probably. I know I have stuff to do, and I can only imagine that you do as well.”

With a nod and a smile, Sausage steps out of the door, letting a blast of cold air in. Scott doesn’t even shudder.

Something is very, very wrong with him.

______

fWhip is nearly bouncing with excitement next to her, and Gem can’t help but smile. It’s good to see him like this, like nothing has changed. On her other side, Sausage is looking around, watching for the other rulers and occasionally making jabs about them to fWhip, who laughs, giddy and visibly shaking.

Currently, they’re at spawn, where the meeting of the empires is to take place. fWhip has pulled out a lectern, a book and quill, and a small table, and set them in the middle of the ring of pedestals. She has no idea what he’s doing—he’s kept quiet about the reason behind this meeting, but if he’s this excited, it’s either something really good or really stupid.

Joey, unsurprisingly is the first to arrive. He is, after all, closest to spawn, and he’s followed by Pix, who smiles at them all, and goes up to Joey to engage him in conversation. Katherine and Shrub arrive together, followed by Jimmy, Joel, and Lizzie, who all arrive at the same time, if not necessarily together. Pearl is next, sunny personality on full display as she greets each and every one of them.

Scott arrives last, so late she’s beginning to wonder if he is coming at all, accompanied by a gust of cold air. He hangs back, avoiding even Jimmy and watching nervously as they all settle down.

fWhip steps forward, fiddling with his scarf, a sure sign that he’s anxious. “Friends, allies, and cod—” he adds that last bit with a quick but genuine grin in Jimmy’s direction “—I’ve asked you here today to reveal a great vessel, the new power in the empires. I’ve been hard at work in the forges of the Grimlands to create, this.”

He produces a golden crown, dotted with jewels of various colours, setting it on the table. As the emperors ooh and ahh, she frowns slightly. She has a bad feeling about this.

“Infused with the magicks of the different empires, this crown grants the user the ability to create one rule that all the empires must comply with. Check the book here at spawn for terms and conditions.” fWhip steps back, looking proud, and all Gem can think is, I was right. This is bad.

#empires smp #empiresblr #creative writing #fanfiction #roseblings #scott smajor #geminitay #chapter one

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natedogx15 · 8 months

Text

Miraculous Descendent Chapter 43: Party Favor

Previous Chapter

It is the start of a new semester after the break and a disastrous attack on the hotel. Since then, Marinette and Adrien haven't seen anything like a dog-themed hero. As the autumn leaves fall. The two can't say they aren't nervous about who the Kwami will choose. But, right now, there is another reason for someone to panic.

"Wait, your birthday is today?" Nino asks in shock as he looks at Adrien with a surprised and slightly hurt expression, sad that his friend didn't give him a heads up.

The two sit on a bench in the courtyard to kill time since they came to school early.

"Y-yeah, I forgot about it until I checked my calendar this morning. I always found it to be the same as any other day." Adrien tells Nino while rubbing the back of his head.

"Are you serious? A birthday is one of the most important days for someone. It's like celebrating someone's anniversary. My parents love to treat their birthdays as one and always go out on nice dates to celebrate." Nino tells his friend with a grin as he stands up and punches his palm.

"Right, I've got some important work to get done for you after school today," Nino says before walking off.

Adrien watches him leave in shock, not expecting his friend to take this so seriously. Plagg, who decides to hide in Adrien's bag today and join him at school, looks at Nino with a raised eyebrow and smirk.

"Well, there's someone who's not afraid to do what they think is right. Not bad." Plagg nods toward him.

Walking over toward the school, Nate and Marinette are having a conversation of their own.

"So, are you sure you haven't seen anything involving the Kwami yet?" Nate asks his cousin with a worried expression.

"No, Cat Noir and I have been patrolling the streets longer just to try and see if anything has happened yet, but we still haven't seen anything." Marinette groans as she thinks about the hours she spent looking for anything about the recently released Barkk.

"That sucks. Honestly, I'm starting to get antsy myself. I didn't expect releasing another Kwami from the box to be this nerve-wracking." Nate says, showing his concerns about the current situation.

"Right. Hopefully, the person they choose will be a police officer or something." Marinette nods.

"Or Uncle Tom. Can you imagine how cool that would be? A mayor with superpowers, using them to protect the city from threats next to his stepdaughter." Nate says, placing his hands in front of him and moving them to the sides while wiggling his fingers.

There's an awkward pause in the conversation after he says that. Marinette is slightly uncomfortable with one of her parents fighting crime with her, especially Tom. Nate can feel the awkwardness and gives her an apologetic look.

"Sorry about that. I guess I've read too many comic books. I've gotten even more into them since my life became one." Nate tells her to try and get rid of the atmosphere.

It doesn't help much, and the two continue their walk until a third voice speaks up behind them.

"Yo, Marinette!" A female voice shouts behind them.

The two turn around to see Alix waving toward them with Kim and Max behind her.

"Hi, Alix." Marinette smiles and waves toward the shorter girl.

"How were your guys' break?" Max asks them with a smile.

"Pretty good other than the Akuma attack. That still sucked, even if I got to play hero for a little while." Nate groans in annoyance.

"Right. I was having fun working in your family's hotel." Alix nods in annoyance while Kim shrugs.

"Eh, my job was just to stand out front and wait for people to need someone to open the door," Kim shrugs to show his disinterest.

"I actually quite enjoyed my experience at the hotel. It was fascinating to observe the amount of work needed to have a five-star establishment." Max explains.

"Well, glad you enjoyed it then. Maybe we'll get to try again later." Nate says as the five teens walk to school together.

As they walk, Nate gets an idea and looks toward Alix.

"Hey Alix, I've been wondering something. How often are dogs depicted as a good thing in mythology?" Nate asks curiously.

Alix thinks about it for a second before saying.

"It depends on your definition of good. Plenty of different mythological dogs have something to do relating to death and the underworld. For example, the most famous one, Cerberus, guards the underworld. You can take that any way you want, but one way to look at it is that it defends dead souls to let them rest in peace." Alix explains calmly.

"I've been meaning to ask, but how do you know so much about mythology and history, Alix? You're the best in our class when it comes to those." Marinette says while looking at Alix with a curious expression.

"Oh, that's because my dad is a historian at the Louvre. I've grown up with these things my entire life and got into researching different cultures' stories. Actually, the designs on Greek pottery are what got me into street art. I loved recreating the designs on a larger scale around the city, and it led to me doing more designs." Alix grins at her.

Marinette smiles in interest when Alix says that.

"That's awesome. I got into fashion in a similar way. I watched a ton of magical girl shows when I was a kid and loved their outfits. It caused me to start designing my own and learning how to make them." Marinette says while blushing at the fact she's telling them about her past.

"Oh, is that so? Then you must love Ladybug since she's a magical girl who can change her outfit. She must give you plenty of inspiration." Kim says with a smile.

"O-oh, uh, sure, she sure does, I mean. Her outfits look absolutely stunning, heh, heh." Marinette nervously laughs while blushing at how she called herself stunning.

Max raises an eyebrow at Marinette's sudden change in behavior while Alix and Kim grin.

"Oh, does someone have a crush?" Kim asks teasingly.

Marinette's eyes widen, and she blushes lightly at the prospect of her having a crush on herself. On the other hand, Nate is snickering at the imagery.

"W-what. No, why would I have a crush on my-her-them?" Marinette starts fumbling with her words as she denies the accusations.

The rest of the group laughs at Marinette's reaction while Marinette blushes in embarrassment at how she can never handle being teased. Their pleasant talks continue for a while longer before they see a tired Nino running toward them. He stops in front of them while breathing heavily.

"You okay, dude?" Kim asks in worry.

"Please tell me there isn't another Akuma. It is too early to deal with them." Alix groans in annoyance while the others nod in agreement.

"Nope, this isn't me r-running from an Akuma. This is me trying to set up a party quickly." Nino says, his voice slightly shaky at the start because of his lack of breath.

"A party?" Nate asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, apparently, Adrien's birthday is today. So, I'm seeing how many of our classmates and Adrien's fencing class are interested in joining the party." Nino explains.

"Fencing practice is after school. You can probably ask them then." Nate helpfully adds after hearing that.

"Cool. Thanks, dude. So, are any of you interested in joining the party?" Nino asks them with a grin.

"I have plenty of free time right now. Maybe I can even show Adrien something I've been working on as a birthday present." Max says with a smile.

"Uh, do we have to bring a gift? I mean, this is so last minute, and I kind of don't have any money right now." Kim laughs awkwardly while rubbing the back of his head.

"You're cool if you can't bring a gift, dude. This is all last minute. Text you guys about it later. See ya, dudes." Nino says before running off to see if he can find anyone from their class or who he can remember from Adrien's fencing practice.

"Well, I guess we know what we'll be doing later today," Nate says as he looks toward the group.

"Will Adrien's dad even let this happen? The guy kept him locked up in his house his whole life." Kim says as Max thinks about it for a few seconds before opening his mouth.

"I believe there is a 9.79% chance of this party being allowed to happen due to his father seeming to let him out of the house despite the recent Akuma attacks. However, that doesn't mean he'll allow his son to have social events like a party." Max states, and Alix winches.

"So, practically no chance then. That's got to suck." Alix says, feeling slightly sad for Adrien since he seems like a nice guy from the few times he and her have talked.

The group continues on their way to school while Nino runs toward Ivan.

"Hey, Ivan. I need to talk to you for a sec." Nino says as he waves toward Ivan excitedly.

Ivan turns to Nino with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey, dude, are you interested in a birthday party I'm setting up for Adrien today? It's his birthday, apparently.

Ivan blinks at him before shaking his head to signal his disinterest.

"Uh, no thanks. I'm not much of a party person. Besides, no one probably wants me around still." Ivan says that last part in a sad and slightly bitter tone.

"Ah, come on, don't be like that dude. My buddy has been trying to become your friend for a while now. I'm sure he'll love it if you come to the party I'm setting up for him." Nino tells him to try and get Ivan to agree since he knows how much Adrien would love to see the other teen.

Ivan blinks at Nino in surprise when he says that and rubs the back of his head awkwardly.

"I guess I can try. Mainly to apologize to him for how I acted while we were in a group with Mylène." Ivan finally lets up and accepts the invitation.

"Great, I'll text you when I get the party set and manage to drag Adrien out of his house for it," Nino says with a grin before running off.

"Wait, you didn't get the okay before!" Ivan calls after him in confusion.

Nino doesn't hear him, though, as he's already heading toward Rose and Juleka.

"Hey, girls. How are you two today?" Nino asks with a grin.

"Great, I had a wonderful break and am excited to be back." Rose immediately says bubbly.

"It was fine, nothing too interesting." Juleka quietly mutters with an uncomfortable and sad expression, causing Rose and Nino to look at her worriedly.

"Do you know what's wrong with her?" Nino asks Rose since she's Juleka's best friend.

"I don't know. She's been like that ever since the hotel trip. I think the Akuma scared her." Rose states with an uncertain expression as she looks at her best friend.

"Uh, well, I have a way to up your spirits. Would you be interested in a party for my dude, Adrien? It's his birthday today. So, I'm trying to make a last-minute party happen." Nino explains.

"Oh, that sounds great. I can't wait. Where is it?" Rose asks curiously.

"I'll text you when I know that," Nino states before running off.

Rose watches him go before dragging Juleka to school.

With most of his classmates covered before class even starts and knowing there's fencing practice after school, Nino feels like he's making great time on making a guest list for Adrien's party. While looking for his other classmates, Nino is thinking.

"We should still have some leftover party supplies back home. I can probably use those to set up the party."

He continues to plan this out before seeing Alya walking toward the school with her face in her phone and earphones in her ears like usual.

"Hey, Alya. How are you doing?" Nino asks the girl, causing her to quickly look up in surprise and confusion before seeing Nino.

"Oh, hey, Nino. What's up?" She quickly says while taking her earphones out.

"I was wondering if you'd like to join my last-minute party. It's to celebrate Adrien's birthday today." Nino explains.

"It's Adrien's birthday?" Alya asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, I just found out today," Nino explains.

"Sure, I'll come to the party. I could use a break from my investigation." Alya smiles as she puts her phone away.

"Investigation? Don't tell me you're still trying to know the heroes' identities again. Didn't you learn anything from when Ladybug got after you about it?" Nino asks her with a raised eyebrow, not liking that she's still trying to figure out Ladybug and Cat Noir's identities.

"No, maybe, I haven't fully given up on learning who they are, but that's not what I'm looking into right now." Alya quickly says as she waves her hands in front of her.

"What are you looking into then?" Nino asks Alya, curious at what she could be up to now.

Alya looks around nervously before pulling Nino close to her, much to his surprise. She then whispers into his ear.

"Hawkmoth told me something while I was Lady Wifi, and I can remember it clearly. He said something about other heroes in Paris before Ladybug and Cat Noir." Alya whispers before pulling back and talking at a more normal volume.

"I've been using every resource I have to try and find out what he's talking about. But so far, I haven't found anything yet." Alya says in annoyance as she glares at the floor in dissatisfaction.

"Maybe the guy's just messing with you. I mean, he's already destroying the city every week. It's not like adding lying to his list of crimes will do much." Nino shrugs, causing Alya to glare at him.

"I refuse to believe that. There's no way he'd go out of his way to do something that petty. It's just so stupid." Alya tells him, her tone slightly aggressive, causing Nino to raise his hands defensively between them.

"Alright, alright. I'm just saying, dudette," Nino says as he backs up to a safer distance from the angry girl.

Upon seeing this, Alya takes a deep breath before sighing.

"Sorry, I'd rather not think about how I may have been tricked into wasting my time. I'm not giving up and will continue investigating this lead until I find something." ALya says, her conviction clear in her tone.

"Uh, cool. So, are you still interested in coming to the party?" Nino asks one last time to make sure he's clear on if she's coming or not.

"Oh, yeah. It sounds like fun." Alya nods.

"Cool, see ya," Nino says before running off to find Nathaniel.

As Nino prepares the guest list, someone else thinks about Adrien's birthday. More specifically, Gabriel is reminiscing about the happy moments of their family today while looking at a picture of him, his wife, and his son.

"Another year where you're not here to celebrate our son's birthday, my love. Hopefully, this will be the last one, though. I promise to find a way to bring you out of your state before the next year passes." Gabriel promises to himself as he gives the picture a sad smile while gently caressing the image of his wife with his thumb.

He suddenly hears a knock at his door.

"Enter." He says and sees Nathalie enter with a clipboard in hand.

"Morning, Gabriel. I have the potential gifts for Adrien this year." Nathalie says as she walks toward Gabriel to show him her findings.

However, Gabriel raises a hand to her to stop her.

"Just like last year, I want you to decide on the present. I'm sure you're the better person to decide what Adrien would like since you're around him more than I am lately." Gabriel tells her before going back to working on his latest design.

"Are you sure, Gabriel? I'm sure Adrien will appreciate anything you get him as long as he knows it's from you." Nathalie tells her boss and friend.

"I trust your judgment. I'd prefer it if you give him a gift he really will enjoy, like a new game or set of books." Gabriel tells her in a tone that shows he won't change his mind.

Nathalie sighs before silently nodding and leaving the room with the clipboard in hand, albeit tightly gripped now. Gabriel watches her go before looking at the picture with another sigh.

"He'll understand why I'm not focusing on finding him a gift this year. It's because I have a far better one in mind that may take longer." Gabriel says to himself before he finds someone else questioning him.

"On that topic, are you sure it was wise to inform that girl about your little secret? You worked so hard to rid Paris of all evidence of that time of your life." Nooroo says as he looks at Gabriel with an inquisitive expression.

"It will be fine, hardly anyone should remember that time, and I'm sure I erased all documents. The only way someone would have anything related to that is if they were a particular kind of hermit." Gabriel calmly explains to his partner.

"Humans like that exist still, Gabriel. There may be a leak in your information blockade." Nooroo calmly tells him.

"Even if that's the case, digging up my past won't affect events now. It's not like I was someone willing to reveal my identity for fame. At worst, they'll realize I used to be someone who's fallen. Something I'm willing to accept if it means I can accomplish my goal." Gabriel explains to Nooroo as he works on his latest design.

"If you're sure, Gabriel." Nooroo relents on the topic.

He then changes the topic to Gabriel's latest design.

"That design would look much better if you added some wings protruding from the legs, like Hermes' boots but for pants," Nooroo states while pointing at the design.

Gabriel's eyebrow twitches when he hears that, and he quickly covers the design while glaring at Nooroo.

"What have I told you about adding opinions to my designs? I still remember what the last Champion looked like when I let you take control of their design instead of letting the butterfly or I choose." Gabriel tells him as he tries to keep Nooroo away from the design.

Nooroo crosses his arms and pouts slightly when Gabriel says that before turning his head away.

"What's so wrong with orange and blue stripes on a suit with a winged hat?" Nooroo mutters to himself.

"It looked like a terrible version of Willy Wonka." Gabriel snaps at his Kwami in frustration.

"That was your opinion," Nooroo says while slowly floating away.

"Yes, as an up-and-coming fashion designer at the time. It was also everyone else's opinion that you didn't have a sense of aesthetics." Gabriel tells them.

"You humans don't know good fashion." Nooroo scoffs.

"Even your fellow Kwami said it looked terrible." Gabriel snaps at them.

"Maybe. I do not remember much from that time." Nooroo monotonously says as he flies off, plotting something due to this conversation.

Gabriel sighs as he watches Nooroo leave, knowing they'll do something as payback for insulting their tastes. Nooroo always did that in the past when someone commented on it, and Kwami can hold a grudge for a long time.

"Wonderful, just what I needed to deal with on top of everything else," Gabriel mutters before focusing on work.

Later that day, Nino talks to Adrien and Nate's fencing classmates and convinces a few, including Clément, to agree to join the party since a few have nothing better to do.

"Sweet, now all I have to do is talk his old man into letting Adrien come to the park," Nino says as he adjusts his cap and walks toward Adrien's mansion.

When he arrives and rings the doorbell, he almost falls in shock when an electric eye pops out of the wall and stares at him.

"Okay, that is creepy. I didn't think that was an actual thing." Nino can't help but mutter before a voice comes out of it, one distinctly familiar but somewhat distorted due to the speaker.

"You're Adrien's friend, Nino, correct?" Nathalie's voice comes from the electric eye.

"Uh, yeah. I want to meet my friend's dad and see if he'd let Adrien follow me to a party I'm setting up for him." Nino says somewhat awkwardly as he nervously stares into the eye.

"I'm not sure that's possible, Mr. Agreste is very busy, and his schedule is full," Nathalie tells him.

"Come on. It's for my friend. I want him to have the chance to celebrate his birthday." Nino begs while looking at the eye pleadingly.

Nathalie says nothing for a few seconds before the electric eye retracts into the wall. Nino assumes he's being denied before the gate opens, causing him to gain a mad grin.

"Sweet." He says as he walks through the gate toward the door.

While he's heading toward the door, Nathalie is informing Gabriel about their surprise guest.

"Gabriel, Adrien's friend, wishes to see you about letting Adrien go to a party being set up for him to celebrate his birthday." Nathalie quickly explains.

"Send them away. Adrien will likely be tired from school and fencing practice today." Gabriel states, not even a second later.

"Shouldn't you at least hear him out? I'm sure he's already talked to Adrien about this." Nathalie asks.

Gabriel doesn't say anything for a few seconds before Nathalie hears.

"Very well. I'll be down in a moment."

He says that in time as Nino arrives at the mansion's door and Nathalie lets him in.

"Gabriel will be down in a moment to see you. Please sit down and wait." Nathalie tells him while motioning toward one of the lobby seats.

Nino quickly sits down and nervously taps his hands on his legs while waiting for Gabriel's arrival. After a minute, Gabriel finally arrives and walks down the stairs toward them.

"So, you're the friend my son has been talking about since I let him go to school," Gabriel says while walking down the stairs as he looks at Nino.

Nino quickly stands up straight and looks at Gabriel nervously.

"T-that's right, du-I mean sir. I'm Nino. Your son is fun to hang around." Nino nervously tells the man.

"Quite. Thank you for quickly becoming my son's friend on his first day. It's been so long since I've seen him smile like he has. The last time I remember that is when his mother was around." Gabriel courteously thanks the teen in front of him.

"No problem, sir. Like I said, he's fun to hang out with. That's why I wanted to talk to you. Could you let Adrien stay out a little longer so I can throw him a party for his birthday?" Nino requests with a matching expression to his words.

"No. My son will be exhausted from school and fencing practice. Also, I will not have my son stay out for too long when there's a supervillain capable of creating beings that can destroy the city. Adrien will return to the safety of his home after fencing practice." Gabriel states with a tone of finality.

"Come on, dude; I mean, sir. Your son does his best to meet your expectations. Can't you give him a break by letting him celebrate his birthday?" Nino asks, his tone more frustrated at how dismissive Gabriel seems about Adrien's birthday.

"Hmm, I remember giving him a break on that holiday Tom Dupain made to try and bring people's spirit's up. He was attacked by said Akuma. Were you not also there when that happened?" Gabriel asks with a raised eyebrow.

Nino flinches at that and doesn't know how to respond.

"My son will not be going to your party. An Akuma could strike any time, and I feel more comfortable having him close to me when they happen. I'd prefer it if you don't return to my home again with something relating to my son. Your concern is appreciated but not needed. I know what's best for my family. Now, please leave." Gabriel says while motioning for Nathalie to have Nino leave.

"But-" Nino starts before Gabriel holds a hand up to him.

"This conversation is over. Good day." Gabriel states in a more forceful but still polite tone before turning around and leaving.

Nino looks at Gabriel in anger while Nathalie walks over to him with an expression of sadness and pity.

"I'm sorry, but Gabriel probably won't change his mind. Please follow me." She requests as she leads Nino out, not noticing the rush in Gabriel's steps nor how he adjusts his brooch in preparation for something.

#miraculous descendent #miraculous ladybug #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #nino lahiffe #original miraculous heroes #gabriel agreste #nathalie sancoeur

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kaitiedidslibrary · 11 months

Text

Book 22

Oooh boy. Is this one of those tongue in cheek books making fun of itself? It didn't feel like it. It was just... awful.

How does this have mostly three and four stars. Are you all lying to me.

So I started this at the end of April. It took me almost two months to get through it because I hated it so much. But Unfortunately it was a gift.

First person is immediately a turn-off, but I preservered.

The plot is teen influencers get murdered, I guess. Several tiktokers get invited to an early-access weekend at a Gothic amusement park. There's a storm coming and people are dying. But first you have to get through So. Much. Bullshit exposition where everyone is just annoyingly stereotypical and flat and cringe.

I had to make a reference list at first, since I couldn't keep every one of the cardboard cutout stereotypes straight. It's like the author scrolled tiktok and made characters based off the first five-ish videos.

We have Paisley (true crime MC), Ava (makeup bitch), Liam (gamer jock- couldn't make two characters, the gamer wouldn't have been hot on his own), James (movie critic bro), Harper (Booktok), and Will (makeup bitch, but make him a gay guy who's nicer).

Then there's Malcom, the rich weirdo Dracula knockoff. There's a couple other characters, but there's nothing to them. They're there to be the NPCs, and the guys are there to be hot for the MC to swoon over and show off for.

"My name is Paisley and I'm a rich white girl who's Different because I like death and I have so~ many followers. I'm not like ~other~ white girl influencers because my family wasn't rich to start and I'm just good at everything I try UwU"

"I'm so different and awkward but every guy is flirting with me but they're all hot so I'm ~blushing~ omg so awkward of me"

I hated the main character and reading from her perspective.

Why is there so much product placement. Seriously:

And that's just on that page.

The sad things is there would be sections were it would be interesting, and then Paisley would say something insufferable, and throw the whole thing off.

And I know they're teenagers, and teenagers do stupid shit, but you can't tell me the adult would be totally fine with her running out into the storm to find some guy with no idea where he is with an active murderer on the loose.

The other issue I have is that there is so much telling. You don't have a moment to make your own judgments of the characters, or react to them at all before the author tells you how to feel about them.

It did get slightly better towards the middle, because the action kept the insufferable scenes from dragging, but not by much. It was frustrating. There'd be a chase sequence that kicked the story off the ground, and then it was "we need to find and destroy that jammer and call for help", but that would immediately get sidelined because clearly it's more important to change your clothes first. It's very important for the reader to know she's wearing yoga pants while they're running from a serial murderer.

The ending just. Hm. How do I put this. The motive for the killer was a little meh. Like the "I guess" meme. But the ✨surprise twist✨ felt so much like just a "gotcha!" moment. I'm sure if I had the motivation to reread it, I would catch some clumsy foreshadowing that I mistook for bad writing, but I literally don't care.

And the ending felt like a Goosebumps ending. If you were a Goosebumps kid, I'm sure you can guess exactly what happens.

Overall, it was just frustrating and flat. You can't hold it to any degree of logic. I guess if you want to turn off your brain and mindlessly enjoy a thriller, this would be the one. But get used to the "but you just said-" feeling. ://

I'd give it one and a half stars if I were feeling generous, but I'm not.

⭐

#2023 reading challenge #The Island #book review

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basically-romealone · 2 years

Text

Rewatched B99 so here

Bonten x pregnant reader

So some of you may not know but I'm trans and I know like a lot about babies and pregnancy and such and I'm not afraid to write about it and I am quite paternal despite not wanting children of my own

-------

"Shit"

(name) sat at the meeting table, interrupting Kaku while the members of Bonten sat around her "something wrong (name)?" Kaku asked with a raised eyebrow to the director of arms who just waved him off "yeah nothing much, just my water broke" she said casually as the room froze at her words.

Then shit broke loose.

None of these men have interacted with a pregnant woman before and since they have known you as teens, they were protective to say the least.

"Shit! What no?! You're three weeks early!" Sanzu said panicked as the haitanis tried to get her out of the chair "I'm fine, could someone get me some sweatpants since these are ruined?" (Name) asked casually while swatting their hands "and I'm sorry let me just un break my water" she remarked annoyed "(name) you need to see the doctor!"

"I haven't even had my first contrAAAAAAGHtiion" (name) yelled out as she broke the pen in her hand in pain "what was that?" Koko asked seriously as he stared her down "a crazy yawn?"

"go to the doctor."

"I have to wait until the contractions are five minutes apart and last sixty seconds at least, so let me just change and continue the meeting" (name) asked Mikey with a look one could describe as 'please trust me' and Mikey just nodded as (name) got up with slight help from Ran and left with sweatpants that a grunt brought her.

Sighing in the private restroom (name) grumbled as she rubbed her belly gently "you really gotta be like this?" She asked gently before changing and tossing her ruined pants in the trash.

She could get more.

Cleaning up she thought about the babies dad.

He left the country when she told him she was pregnant.

It felt like a pain like no other and Bonten tried hunting the fucker down but alas, nothing came from it.

So she was going to raise the baby herself and teach them that they don't need a dad when they have her.

She will love them double what they would receive from a mom and dad.

She hadn't even realized she was tearing up until a wet sensation could be felt on her chest.

"god fucking damn it" she mumbled as she grabbed tissues to clean her leaking chest.

Stupid hormones.

Finally presentable she walked back to the meeting room and sat down as if there weren't two wet patches on her chest and tears rolling down her face.

"uhh?"

"it's hormones so shut it Haitani" she grumbled and urged Kaku to finish his report.

"ok your contractions are five minutes apart and 49 seconds each, GO!" Mochi yelled out as (name) looked startled "were you counting??" She asked a little weirded out as he just nodded, concern evident in his face.

"just listen to us please? You don't have to be strong, your literally shooting something the size of a watermelon out of something the size of a gum drop" Takeomi said going into big brother mode as he practically walked over and lifted the woman who shrieked as another contraction came, gripping his shirt hard enough that it tore "FUCK SHIT OH GOD, YUP LETS GO!" she yelled out as the men walked with her to the private clinic in Bonten where doctors were waiting for her.

Screams could be heard for hours as (name) gave birth, Mochi sitting beside her for support as she nearly broke his hand "nono I can't do this! Fuck nope!" She cried out as tears rolled down her face "you got this, shhh you are doing great!" Mochi said supportively to the woman he considered his sister as he urged her to push.

Eventually her yells were replaced with a shrill cry as a baby was cleaned and placed on her chest, (name) delirious and crying tears of joy as the other men came to see the baby, already claiming roles as uncle's.

"shit he's tiny..." Rindou asked while each man took turns washing their hands as (name) gently handed the baby to Mikey, the man she knew since they were kids.

Before Shinchiro died.

"his name is Shinchiro" (name) said softly as tears rolled down her cheeks "Shinchiro (last name)" she said barely above a whisper as Mikey stared down at the baby with an emotion no one could describe before pulling the baby closer to his chest and his throat tightened when the baby held his finger.

"hey shin... You're a Bonten baby now..."

#tokyo revengers x reader #ran haitani x reader #tokyo revengers fluff #tokyo revengers #pregnant #reader #fluff

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rommahh · 3 years

Text

I Carry Your Heart

Harry Styles x Reader

Word Count: 4k

{Ahhhh ok so this is my first work like ever. There will definitely be a second part because ive got more to say and it needs a second part. I hope whoever sees and reads this imagine enjoys it. I appreciate comments, likes, reblogs, ideas on what could go into the story, and any form of help and redirection as to how i should write things. Much love, R.}.

Part two

All Y/N wanted tonight was to hang out with her boyfriend, eat a mass amount of junk food, and watch a marvel movie or two. That was all she wanted and that was all she asked of her boyfriend. Instead of any of that happening, she found herself sitting on the nasty kitchen island of her boyfriend's frat at a party that she was trying to avoid going to.

This party was supposedly ‘the party of the year.’ The last rager before finals and then christmas break. Y/N had spent the whole week studying and finishing up end of semester projects hence the want for a chill night. When Harry came to her saying his frat was throwing a party tonight and that he just HAD to be here, Y/N didn't feel like she had a choice but to let him go. She came because she thought this would be the only time she would be able to have some time with Harry after a long week of barely seeing each other. With two vastly different majors, the couple wasnt able to find a lot of time in the middle of school work to make time for just the two of them. Obviously her hopes of quality time with her man were futile because here she was sitting by herself in the kitchen of the frat while Harry drank and got high with his friends in other parts of the house.

Of course she was disappointed. She felt a knot in her throat and a weight on her chest just sitting there in that kitchen. Her white claw was warm now- not that it was any cold when she opened it. She was starting to form a small headache from the too loud music and the ache in her heart was growing.

She stood from the countertop on the search for her boyfriend, hoping he wasn't too far gone from sober. Wiping the back of her jeans from anything that was left on the island, she began walking around the house. She doesn't remember the last time the two of them spent time together by themselves. Of course they occasionally ate dinner together in the dining hall but they were normally surrounded by friends. Y/N wanted to be alone with her boyfriend to talk and bask in his presence.

After pushing through groups of partying humans, she found Harry and at least ten other people sitting around playing some sort of drinking game.

“Y/N! Where have you been?” Luca, one of Harry's frat brothers yelled out to her from the circle. Luca was cool, he was one of the only tolerable boys in this frat aside from Harry. Hearing his girlfriend's name, Harry turned around from where he sat on the ground and reached out for his girlfriend to sit beside him. Much to Y/N’s dismay, Harry was wasted. His eyes were half mass and his words bumped and slurred together. “We are playing truth or dare, wanna play?” Luca asked.

“I don't wanna play but Ill sit and watch.” Sitting next to her boyfriend, she grabbed one of his hands holding it in her lap. She was annoyed at him but it did her no good to show it when he was this drunk.

This game of truth or dare was childish. Dares of licking people's shoes and taking multiple shots had been done and truths about money and relationships were being spilled among the group. It had finally become Harry’s turn to do something, making Y/N tense.

“Ok Harry, I dare you to…” One drunk frat boy started looking around the room trying to come up with something clever. His eyes landed on a pretty girl in the room, Yara, a stuck up girl who for sure got her way no matter what. “I dare you to kiss the hottest girl in the room- obviously not your girlfriend because that defeats the purpose.” The frat boy smirked knowing what his intentions were. Everyone in the group giggles and gasped shocked by the dare but ready to see what was going to go down. Y/N’s brows furrowed as she became angry with the stupid dare.

The ache in her chest seemed to tip over the edge when she felt her boyfriend in the room move to stand up. She grabbed at the bottom of his shirt as a way of stopping him. Harry halted his movements to look down at his girlfriend. He giggled a little.

“You’re not actually going to do this right?” She asked Harry with wide eyes of shock. Harry laughed at her like she made a joke, making her heart hurt even more.”Harry I do not want you to do this just take the shot and lose the dare.” Her tone held warning.

“Don't be silly of course I'm going to. It's just a dare, nothing serious. Don't be so clingy.” He stood walking over to Yara and planted a wet kiss on her mouth. Yara gripped Harry’s shirt and kissed him harder. The kiss went on for a few more seconds, the room absolutely silent out of shock. Harry stepped back from Yara slightly sobering up from his actions. Yara smirked at Y/N, hand gliding down the front of Harry's shirt.

Y/N stood from the seat she was in and scoffed. Scoffed because she should've known Harry would do something like this. Scoffed because it hurt to see her boyfriend do something so careless without any regard for his girl's feelings. She pulled herself together, feeling her throat tighten once again. She was quick to leave the room and down the hall of the frat.

Harry's clumsy steps could be heard from behind her as he mumbled her name. Or at least he tried to. He was still so out of it, his words not making much sense. Y/N was crying now, the strength that she had slowly dissolving as she walked further away from her boyfriend.

“Y/N wait. P-please wait. I cant-” Harry stumbled over his legs behind her falling into the grass of the front yard. The girl couldn't help but turn around looking at her stupid boyfriend. She was choking on sobs now. She wasn't crying over a measly little kiss but over an extreme amount of burnout from school and exhaustion from simply existing. She was crying because her boyfriend ignored her boundaries, crushing and erasing the boundaries she had set in their relationship. Harry tried reaching for her once she had stopped walking. His hand clasped around her wrist, he laid his head down on her shoulder. He hated seeing her cry even if he was too drunk to see why.

“Baby don't leave, Im-Im Sorry.” He hiccuped and burped due to the alcohol. Y/N felt her rage build. Shoving Harry off of her, she crossed her arms across her chest as a way to shield herself from Harry physically. He was hurt by her distance and the wall she put up around her.

“You're an idiot Harry. An idiot!” her sobs grew louder, some stray party goers watching in amusement- some even snapchatting it for shits and giggles. “I didnt want you to kiss her and you did. What provoked you to think that was ok? All I wanted was for us to hang out tonight and just be us and you did this!” She was yelling now. Her hurt is beyond her now. Anger and rage simmered throughout her body making her head dizzy and her fingers curl within themselves. She didnt like being angry. It wasn't an emotion she liked acting on, it felt impersonal.

“Baby I don't under-” Before Harry could finish his sentence he was barfing at his feet. Y/N stepped back disgusted with her boyfriend. She couldn't even feel remorseful because of how angry she was. Luca, the frat brother from earlier, caught up with Harry and his girl only to find Harry doubled over heaving. Luca wrapped his arms around Harry's shoulders.

“I'm sorry Luca but I can't do this tonight. Can you please make sure he gets some water and goes to bed. I-I can't do it tonight, I wish I could but I can't.” Y/N didn't want to leave her boyfriend in this state but she didn't deserve this. She wasn't going to care for her drunk boyfriend when all she wanted to do was care for herself. Selfishly, she enjoyed seeing him this way because of the anger he caused her.

Luca shook his head in understandment. “Of course, I'm really sorry for tonight. He's going to seriously regret this in the morning, especially since it will be circulating all over snapchat in the morning.” Luca waved to Y/N then proceeded to pull Harry into the house. Harry called out for Y/N not wanting to be away from her but Luca pulled him harder.

Harry woke up the next morning feeling like the bottom of a dumpster. He wasn't shocked by that. He knew he got trashed last night, he had planned to. He, just like Y/N, spent all week studying and completing projects while also fulfilling certain responsibilities for his frat. He wanted one night to be a normal teen. So he drank and drank and drank and maybe even smoked some weed. As he tried to recall last night's events he came up with nothing. He didn't understand why Y/N wasn't here with him like she normally would after a party on the weekend. They were normally always together during the weekend. A bad feeling loomed over him. He could tell something wasn't right but decided to put his feelings to the side.

He saw a bottle of water beside his bed making him think she was probably here and left early. Chugging the water he started to go through his socials to see if anyone had posted about the party. He had multiple tagged pics and videos in his notifications from snapchat. Way more than he normally would.

The first video he saw was a video of him and Y/N standing in the front yard of the frat house. Turning the volume all the way up he could hear Y/N yelling, it shocked him. She doesn't normally raise her voice, especially not at him. The angle changed showing her face which was red with anger, eyes filled with unshed tears. He could hear her yelling about him kissing someone else. He felt his heart stop. He had kissed someone else? On the next snap was a picture of him keeled over vomiting on his shoes with the caption saying, ‘are yall seeing this shit?’ Harry was embarrassed but he was more concerned than anything.

His head was hurting but it didn't stop him from rolling out of bed, washing up, and putting on a fresh set of clothes. He checked his phone hoping Y/N had messaged him but nothing was there. He walked into the kitchen only to see luca sitting at the counter eating cereal.

“Hey Harry….” Luca said warily. Luca pushed the cereal around his bowl feeling the tension begin to rise in the room. He felt horrible about his friends.

“Luca...what's up?” Harry was confused by Lucas' wariness.

“So do you remember anything about last night?” Luca asked, setting his cereal down in the sink behind him. Harry started playing with the frayed edges of a bracelet Y/N made for him. It had little beads with her name on it. They made them together at an event on campus.

“I don't, I only saw the videos of Y/N screaming at me. I think I fucked up but I- I don't know what happened.” Harry's cheek flushed with even more embarrassment. Luca awkwardly chuckled scratching the back of his neck.

“You got dared to kiss the hottest girl in the room and um actually did it in front of Y/N...even though she didn't want you to. Which led you guys outside and yeah you know the rest...Im sorry dude, I wish I had stopped you.”

“Who- who did I kiss?” Harrys stomach lurched when he heard Yara’s name come out of Lucas' name. Y/N didn't like Yara and it was understandable. Yara has been pining after Harry since their first year of college. Harry couldn't breathe. He felt disgusted with himself. He could only imagine how Y/N was feeling.

Y/N woke up the same morning, eyes puffy and crusty from tears and head hurting. She probably cried herself into dehydration. She was lucky enough to have no roommate because she wouldn't have wanted someone else to see her breakdown. She still couldn't believe last night went down the way it went down. She couldn't tell if she was just being overdramatic or if her emotions were in the right place. She didn't want to be mad at Harry. He was everything to her, she had an odd connection to him. Meeting him during their freshman welcome week they quickly became best friends with a growing romantic connection in the mix. They started dating before Christmas break. They had grown close so fast that he even came home with her to meet her family for the first few days of break. Even though they were in their junior year of college, Y/N could see them beyond college. She's imagined them getting married, travelling, sharing a home. She saw the whole future with him. She had her doubts though. He was immature just like every other boy in college. He was dumb with his actions and tended to only do things if they benefited him. He had a lot of growing to do as a person, so did she but she wanted to grow with him.

She heard a knock on her door hesitating to answer it because one, it could be Harry, and two, she looked like a wreck. Answering anyways, she was met with a very sorry looking Harry holding a small coffee and bagel from their cafe.

“Hi baby…” He sheepishly said holding out the items. She silently let him through the door not once looking him in the eye. He stepped into her room, setting her treats on her desk. He could see that her bed was messy meaning she recently woke up. Y/N never went about her day without making her bed. He turned back to her and finally their eyes met. He took in all of her facial features, from her puffy eyes, to her downturned lips that looked chapped, to her flushed cheeks that longed to be held for warmth. He hated to see her like this, the last time he saw her so upset was when her parents moved out of her childhood home. It took alot to make Y/N this upset. She was normally really headstrong and vigilant. She knew how to ease her way out of problematic situations and could talk her way through anything.

Harry opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by Y/N holding her hand up in front of his face. “Don't talk. I'm really hurt Harry, so if your plan was to come over here and apologize over bagels- think again.” She snapped, backing up to put space between the two of them. She sat down on her bed while Harry pulled the desk chair out and sat down. He much preferred to be on the bed with her holding her tight but he didn't want to overstep boundaries.

“Love, I don't know where to begin. I'm really sorry for what happened last night. I was really drunk and obviously wasn't in the right headspace.” Harry reached out and touched the tips of her fingers with his. She wanted to move but it felt good to be touched by Harry.

“I told you that a measly little apology won't do Harry. I didn't want you to kiss Yara and you did anyway. You know how Yara feels about you and you just let it happen!” She pulled her hand away remembering the prior night's events. Harry felt himself getting angry too. He felt like he needed to defend himself- even though it would be a very bad idea.

“I think you're being over dramatic.” Wrong move Harry. “It wasn't like I was making out with her!”

“You're joking right?” She scoffed and scooted further up her bed to create more distance. “Harry it's the simple fact that you did something that made me uncomfortable that shouldn't have even happened. I see myself getting married to you and it makes me worry that right now in our relationship you can't respect my boundaries!” She yelled. Harry’s eyes widened as he laughed sarcastically.

“Married? What the fuck are you on about? I'm a junior in college. In what world would it make sense for me to be prepping a relationship for marriage? Once again I think you're being over dramatic.” Her eyes watered hearing Harry's statement.

“I- I guess I'm the only one in this relationship thinking about the future? I thought we were on the same page. I'm not planning our marriage now, obviously. I'm thinking about how elements of our relationship now could play out in the future when we do want to get married. You cheated on me last night. I went to a party you begged ME to go to only to be there for you. I wanted to be here cuddling with you, pigging out on fast food but I was at a party with you and got cheated on!” Her volume rises once again, making Harry shove his chair from underneath him when he stands up.

“You're doing too much right now. I'm not planning a future right now because I don't want this future! I want to be myself without thinking about how to appease my girlfriend. I invited you to the party so you could lighten the fuck up. I love you, I do, but I'm not thinking of marriage and futures. I'm thinking about my life right now and having fun.” Harry snapped right back at her. Her chin wobbled. Obviously her and Harry were on different pages. It hurt so much to hear him say that he didn't want a future with her. Harry didn't mean it though.

“Ok, well I guess that's my fault for assuming we were thinking along the same lines. Um, I don't want to hold you back from being yourself so with that being said, you are a free man Harry.” She pushed herself up from her bed walking to the door ready to escort Harry out.

“Huh? Love, what?” Harry was confused on how they got to this point. Just a few days ago they were in love, meeting in the library to share a lunch and exchanging sweet words determined by their love.

“Listen I have a day full of exams tomorrow so if you could just leave that would be best. You don't really want this so I'm letting you go, Harry.” She had tears rolling down her face, falling from her eyes down to her chin where they fell to the ground in droplets. Harry’s eyes welled up watching his love cry before him.

“I don't-”

“Harry, leave, please.” She opened the door making room for him to go through. He walked through the door turning to look at her. She turned her face away from him whispering a small goodbye before shutting the door. Harry was left in the silent hallway, so silent he could hear his thoughts and the tears hitting the tile floor beneath him. He thinks he stood there for at least thirty more minutes before accepting what had happened and walking away.

Leaving Y/N in her room sobbing like she had never done before. Her tears coated her face and she thought her head could explode right then and there. She didn't want to accept what had happened but she had priorities. She composed herself enough to start studying for her exams.

The week rolled by quickly, Monday meeting Friday in a flash. Exams were done and Christmas break was on the horizon. Students were piling off of campus in a hurry ready to get home to their loved ones. People were outside by cars loading up their winter necessaries and saying their goodbyes to their close friends.

Harry cried everyday this week. He wasn't normally a crier. He hated crying, he hated the feeling of crying and the headache that came from it. He cried because he realized how wrong he was. He missed Y/N. He missed finals week dinner together where they tried to get off campus at least once and be alone for a moment. He missed watching her relax while eating food that wasn't from their school's cafeteria. He would pay for their meal just so she could have one less thing to worry about. They would normally get frozen yogurt right after too, Y/N getting as many toppings as she wanted because Harry would be the one paying. He missed her tight after exam hugs. She would squeeze his shoulders tight, smiling into his neck, telling him how proud she was of him. She would bring him tea in the morning when they met for breakfast. Sometimes they would spend the night in one or the others room so they could have time together to destress and just talk.

Y/N wasn't doing any better. She normally went into exam week feeling confident. She studied too hard not to. But this week she felt like shit. Her heart hurt and she kept thinking about the fight. She feels like she overreacted but hearing Harry talk about their lack of a future hurt nonetheless. She really assumed that they did have a future that included marriage and a life together. She didn't understand where his sudden lack of commitment came from. She regretted dumping him but at the same time she wished he did more to get them back together but he was silent. He hasn't contacted her at all and avoided all of their spots on campus all together.

She stood by her car prepping for her six hours car ride back home. Packing away her clothes and some essentials in the trunk of her car, she heard light footsteps behind her. Closing her trunk she turned to see Harry standing with his hands in his pockets.

“Hi.” He said. She looked at him, putting her own hands in her pockets. It was cold outside, the nippy air hinting at a possibility of snow.

“Hi Harry.” They shared a moment of silence together. Just staring at each other. It felt good to be near each other again. They felt like they could breathe again.

“I had to see you before you left. I know the break is only a month but I didn't want to leave without seeing you.” He replied quietly. She made him feel so shy. Her beauty always made him awestruck. Even in a hoodie with their college's logo and some large sweatpants and some fuzzy crocs, she was the most beautiful thing he's ever seen.

“I don't know what to say harry.”

“It's ok. I don't deserve anything from you after what I said. I just wanted to apologize and wish you a good break before you left. I also wanted to give you this.” He pulled a small box and envelope out of the front pocket of his backpack. “I know we agreed on no presents but I think thats a dumb rule and I love you too much to not get you something.” She smiled at his words, taking the gift from his hands.

“Thank you Harry, it means a lot to me. So what are your plans for a break?” She asked him, the tension that was in the air slowly dissipating.

“I couldn't get a flight home until next wednesday so i'll stay here on campus until then.” He shrugged.

“Oh ok. Well tell Anne I said hi. I have to go Harry but I'll see you after the break, ok?” She didn't want to leave him but she didn't want to drive through the dark.

“Ok, love. Drive safe. I lov- I mean have a good break.” Her chest tightened at his hesitation. She wants to hear him say the words but she knows he won't.

“Have a good break Harry.” She whispered. Before getting in her car she stood on her toes placing a kiss on the corner of his mouth. Rubbing her thumb across his cheek and turning away and into her car.

She drove away knowing that her heart was left in that parking lot in the hands of someone she loves way too much.

Harry stood in the parking lot watching his heart drive away for winter wanting nothing more than to be with her.

Part two

#harry styles x reader #frat!harry #i carry your heart #harry styles fic #harry styles one shot #harry styles imagine #harry styles #harry styles x y/n #college!harry #part 2 coming soon #harry styles smut #fratrry #boyfriend!harry

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maria-eve-falcon · 2 years

Text

all too well 10 minute version and short film

1. everyone wondering what the ending is.

I have seen people saying it is "oh she thinks they are still in love with her"...etc. etc. etc...

it could indeed be a couple of things

I personally thought it was resemblance to him having a story(the his side) waiting to be explored . also it could be a reminder to the line that he remembers it.

it could also be a resemblance to her current partner(which is very unlikely but) it could also mean that at the places the "he" was not there, the current "he" was

it could be just and ending to the sad love story

or it could be to show a happier ending with him coming back to her and she made that love story forever as a memento in the world's heart by writing about it cause it was that special to her.

or it could just plain be like " I wish you know about me and cherish our memories."

PS : what it can't be is her thinking that he still loves her. all too well is not a song like that. even the line "I hope sometimes you wonder bout me " doesn't suggest that . everyone wonders at a point of life if their exes or lovers before wonder about them. would it be different if one thing was different.

2. eww why did she talk about Jake !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! again!!!

she is rerecording it's inevitable

swifties are making it too much of a thing where she did not even name him

she did not even say say anything like maple latte! she is just rerecording

it is a little cringe to hear the "I get older but your lovers stay my age line" but because it's true, and truth bites. but also it's kind of shady so I will give that.

all too well is a beautiful song over all if you umm forget about the punchline line.

also since her, Jake's lovers really did not age. even though it is very wrong of me to judge him cause he dated adults technically. but that is still ok if you date an early 19 to 20 in your 30 to 40s once or twice or thrice. but seriously, he is just like Leo, like always is too much.

PS: Taylor has dated teenager Connor and harry at the age of 23 to 24

Jake is loosing little to nothing in the market or industry cause of Taylor 1 . he is doing a Michael bay(if one wants to argue, Tay did a cameo in David o Russell ) 2. he has a stability in industry and is constantly sued and has been before. it's not like he is losing a James bond role for it.

again. Taylor did not even mention him but never mind

3 the age gap. (reality and the film)

age gap:

people saying she should not make a hand touch thing in public as a huge deal and they should have made the scene like "hey I wanted to be comforted in front of your friends who are older then " 1. she was not an adult. 2. teenagers want the relationships to appreciate and cherish them and if people missed it, a 19 to 21 year old is very young and not an adult developed mind and not everyone is mature at that age. some are exceptions they should not be counted as mature to have a conversation with a man nearly in their thirties about how the relationship should go. 3. teens often do not know how to express their emotions, need and etc. sometimes we don't even know what we feel. even adults do that. 4. and that is when we scream . to feel just the little bit of validity . 5. so those who are saying that she should have wrote the dinner scene as some mature couple talking about their problems, no, because she was a teenager or a 19 year old who will not view or be as mature as the 29 year old to not scream and be mature.

so just like people are saying the dinner scenes should have been mature and should not be the first crack, teenagers are not like that

while taylor (or the character ) was dating the guy (the older 29 year old guy) her other friends or people around her and her aged kids(teens or 20 to early 20 people) had relationships that she idolize. and as any young adult person will imagine their relationship to be open and very free and something beautiful and fun she did too.

as any teen would, she was imagining to have a relationship when he was always there etc etc . because: 1. there is always this innocence of relationships or for relationships in young adults that it's free of problems. they think two people having an affair will always be fun and beautiful and problem free.

but it wasn't. specially an older guy in their 30's won't think like a teen or person in their early 20s. he was more matured and knew his priorities.

but young adults take the relationship as the first priorities. they cherish in the wrongs and find it adventurous. they look for the new and the forever. yes. any young adult or teen would think a relationship is forever. because innocence of the newness. that being said, these are the reasons why people saying the dinner scene is wrong are wrong themselves

a person new in the mature scheme of life will definitely not know how to communicate in it. so over reacting is the most natural and normal thing

it would be a bad thing if the dinner scene was calm and quiet instead of being a noisy loud fight cause that is the relate able part

not being able to tell why you are angry and everything into perfect sensible words.

hence the misunderstanding.

this is why the film was good.

if the scenes was calm it won't show the 19 year's perspective and won't do a justice.

also the older guy is indeed gaslighting. because not talking through and telling the inexperienced one about what went wrong or why they can't hold hands or didn't, he told her it was her fault. making her seem like the one committing a crime leading her to forgive him. and thinking it's her over all. it ends up pressuring her. maybe indirectly so, but it does emotionally messes with a person's head

in conclusion, an young adult dating a person in the their thirties can indeed work out, but only if both parties are matured enough. other than that it can be an emotionally messy and abusive relationship for one or the both of them.

the latter is beautifully shown in the film

#taylor swift #debunks #all too well #all too well 10 minutes version #people #criticism #review #all too well short film #jake gyllenhaal #swifties #red taylor's version #red #red tv #marvel

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behindthekitty · 3 years

Text

Apple Juice Royalty au!

Some of you might have seen my posts about it but basically i have created an au in which Epel is a prince and Deuce is a knight. I will talk more about them with their chatacter sheets ♡♡

First up our new prince Epel! If you cant read my handwriting I'll type it all out here

☆ Generally pretty emo

☆ Hates the cape and crown, but secretly likes the rest of the outfit

☆ likes horses and swordfighting and sports

☆ Was a boy in the village doin alright then he became a prince overnight now hes gotta figure out how to do it right so much to learn and see up in the c-

Epel is new prince adopted by the king. Under what circumstances, I'm not sure. Its possible his parents died and he was left all alone before Vil scooped him up. Despite what hes been given he's really miserable having to stay in the castle and learn a totally new dialect and manners and study all the time. He hates it. He wants to leave, and so he does. Epel escapes his home often. Also he's basically a disney princess at this point lol

About the outfit: Its based off of epel's dorm uniform and i also used some references from pinterest and Halloween costumes lol

Next is King Vil!

☆ In his 20's or so

☆ sighs a lot

☆ Having ro lead a country + lowkey raising a teen + looking good all the time is stressful

☆ But he manages

☆ Help

Vil became king, most likely when his father died. He decided to adopt an heir early on to save himself the trouble, but it really caused more trouble than it prevented. Epel's a handful and also really angsty. Dealing with him is bothersome, especially when he somehow keeps escaping even when Vil posts more and more guards around the castle, he always gets out somehow. It used to make him angry but he decided it wasn't worth the stress after a little while. Now he just sends people to go look for him whenever he escapes.

About the outfit: I used the same combination of references as I did for Epel, but i was also able to take influence from the evil queen.

Knight Deuce Spade!

☆ Takes his job seriously!

☆ a little too seriously!

☆ Obviously in love with Epel but will deny it to hell.

☆ Can't tall to Epel without blushing and sputtering

☆ Has a weakness for pretty boys

Deuce is a new knight trying to do everything right and make his mother proud. His backstory is the same as it is in canon. Wanting to do right by everyone ends up with him taking his job a little too seriously but he's also terrible at the job he tries so hard at. He's not a good fighter and also dumb. But lucky for him, nothing truly dangerous ever happens in their country.

His conflict is wanting to do his job right and also being head over heels for epel and wanting to see him happy.

About the outfit: I didnt design it, i stole it from some kid. But it fits him doesnt it? source

Chief Riddle Rosehearts!!

☆ Bite-sized knight

☆ Will actually destroy you

☆ Also tired of Epel's BS

☆ I wanted to draw him holding a sword :(

Riddle is another who takes his job very seriously. And he has to. He's the Chief knight and is thus the leader. Everyone has to follow his lead, no ifs ands or buts about it. If you argue, he'll yell at you and thats never fun.

Riddle is the guy Vil calls on whenever Epel escapes. At this point whenever Riddle is called in, this is what he expects the reason is. Riddle puts his all into finding Epel everytime and honestly cares more about it than everyone else does.

I wanted to draw him holdinga sword but couldn't figure it out

About the outfit: I couldn't find many refs of the kind of armor i was going for but it was fine. I took a lot of inspiration from his overblot form. Ignore the fact that he's on a tilt.

Other less important characters!

Trey!

☆ follows Riddle around

☆ Help

Cater!

☆ literally only became a knight to get closer to Vil (simp)

☆ commissions many paintings of himself

Ace!

☆ Messes around, isn't taking this seriously

☆ bad influence

Rook!

☆ Royal advisor

☆ What does he do? Vil doesnt even know.

Everyone else in hearstlabyul is a knight and so please imagine them in the same outfit as Deuce but with their respective symbols.

A lil plot i guess

Epel started sneaking out not too long after he became a prince. As soon as he had settled in he got tired of it. So he'd just leave. These early escapades happened at night whenever Epel was feeling especially emo. He'd normally go to the horse stables and take a ride to clear his mind, or climb a tree and stargaze, something like that. Stuff princes shouldn't do. He'd never leave the castle grounds, though. His secret was only exposed when Deuce found him. He should have reported Epel but that weakness for pretty boys and the empathy he's known for prevented him. It was basically love at first sight when Deuce saw Epel up close for the first time, not that Epel could tell.

After that, Deuce and the other knights (besides riddle) who gradually found out began helping Epel truly escape, like out into the real world. With their help, He could be out for a few days, or weeks even. And as Epel and Deuce start spending more time together, they get closer and closer 👀

My other ships might be here too but I don't really want to design an outfit for Rook lol so mostly just TreyRid on the sidelines maybe.

I do want to make a comic but uhhghnbchg i always quit those lmao I get so unmotivated.

Anyway thank you 4 reading! If you have any suggestions for this au, lmk. If you're wondering, I probably won't add any more characters to this au, since i see no reason to. this is it 4 now

#twisted wonderland #twst #disney twst #apple juice!!!!!#epedeu #twst epel #epel x deuce #epel felmier #deuce x epel #deuce/epel #deucepel #deuce spade #vil schoenheit #royalty au #riddle rosehearts #ace trappola #cater diamond #trey clover

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teaspoon-full-of-sugar · 4 years

Text

edge

pairing: harry styles x reader (au)

warnings: smut, dom/sub, exhibitionism, degradation, spit play, choking, face fucking, spanking, ring kink (if that’s even a thing ..?), orgasm denial, unprotected sex, subspace, aftercare, very fluffy and cheesy ending (like seriously so cheesy and cliche pls don’t bully me i didn’t know how to end it)

word count: 4.7k

synopsis: harry and y/n are a cam couple

author’s note: i hope you enjoy! xx all the love

masterlist

—

It started by accident, really, with a simple, offhand comment one night.

Already two-and-a-half bottles of wine deep, Y/N was close to tears with one glance at their pitiful bank account, and Harry was trying his best to comfort her and assure her that everything would end up fine, but he had absolutely no way to promise her that. Their part-time jobs did very little to cover their monthly expenses, and their next loan payment for school was coming up; needless to say, they were feeling overwhelmed.

And what better to do than drink and complain about your problems when you’re feeling overwhelmed?

“Maybe I should go into porn,” she sighed, and he rubbed his hand under her shirt, trying to soothe her. They knew that they were taking a risk moving across the world for uni, with no backup plan and nothing to fall back on, but in the end, it will, hopefully, be worth it. In the end, they would have a brighter future, despite the mountain of debt, but the middle part, the part where they struggle and contemplate giving up, is so difficult to get past.

“I—I’d do it with you,” he hiccuped, resting his head against her shoulder.

“Maybe we should do our own videos,” she said, “I heard that people can make a lot of money doing that.” Not noticing that he had gone quiet, she continued, laughing and raving. “Could you imagine? Oh, what if we did one of you going down on me? Harry, babe,” she moans lightly, “that would be hot.”

He smiled widely, eyes nearly rolling into the back of his head at the thought; he felt a rush of blood in his groin. They had talked about recording themselves and posting it online before, so the idea wasn’t something they were unfamiliar with, but it normally only happened when they were tipsy, and they never talked about it in any detail like she was. Now, the thought of her recording him between her legs or vice versa, for them to enjoy over and over, made arousal burn in his belly. He could imagine how the camera would shake as she came on his tongue, her hips bucking wildly, hand pulling at his hair. He holds back a moan.

“That would be so hot,” he said, “we should totally do it.” He downs the rest of his wine and pulls out his laptop.

“No,” she giggled, “no, no…”

“‘M doin’ it,” he said.

“Don’t do it,” she argued weakly, making no actual move to stop him. While she seemed to be on the fence about the idea, she had a slight grin on her face, her heart nearly racing out of her chest.

“We are so doing this,” he said, exploring the page. He gasps suddenly and taps on her leg, making her nearly spill the glass of wine. “Y/N, Y/N, Y/N—”

“What? What? What?” She mocked him. With mischievous smirk on his face, he faces her, a slight purple hue to his lips.

“What if we did cam?”

And the rest is history.

Now, they dedicate their Friday nights to do cam videos. It started off as something they did on special occasions, quick little teasers that lasted no longer than ten minutes, but they ended up getting a lot of money for it. It helped pay their school loans and get a head start on their savings, and it gradually turned into a regular occurance.

By the time they are ready to begin their live one evening, it’s nearing ten o’clock. They’re on their bed, pillows and comforter long gone, leaving nothing but faded floral sheets, stretched tautly beneath them. Y/N is nestled into his side while Harry’s on his knees and fiddles with the computer, brows pulled together and lips puckered slightly. She’s tired, her swollen eyelids closing every few seconds. He kisses her forehead, wrapping an arm around her. Their laptop, with the main webcam, is propped up on a stool right behind the footboard, and the secondary camera, a cheap handheld camcorder connected to the computer with flimsy wires, which is used for close up shots, is thrown off to the side. Harry leans back on his heels.

“Ready?” He asks with a teasing smile. Even with such a small gesture, his grin is still infectious, with cute little dimples and laugh lines. She returns the smile. It’s a redundant question at this point, whether or not she’s ready, but Harry asks every time. It never felt like a chore; it was something they both enjoyed, and if they were to grow tired of it, they would stop. They were finally financially stable enough to be able to make the decision.

While initially they decided to start doing cam for the money, it became something that they both enjoyed doing. She always got this little rush of excitement in the seconds before they finally went live. This was the last moment of secrecy they would have for the next hour or so. To many, the thought of some strangers watching her and Harry at their most intimate would make them apprehensive, but she always got this exhilaration from it.

“Always,” she says, stealing one last kiss from him.

It’s a tradition of theirs to hit the “Go Live” button together, cheesy as it is, and tonight is no different. Their faces light up the screen, and they both grin, arousal building with each thrilling second. There is only a moment of calm before dozens of familiar usernames flood the screen.

“See some new ones,” Harry comments under his breath. She rests her cheek against his shoulder, toying with the rings on his fingers. The introduction part is always the most awkward; there is no decorum or set way that they have to be done, and not feeling comfortable using their first names, she and Harry found it difficult to find their rhythm and interact with the viewers. It felt a bit unforthcoming for them to just dive in without saying anything.

“What are we feelin’ tonight, lovie? Soft and vanilla or rough and dirty?” Harry asks, like he normally does.

Comments fill the screen; a lot of them describe what they would do if they were there, but most of them have similar responses: rough and dirty.

The couple very rarely genuinely ask the viewers what they want to see because the most important thing, to them, is that they are enjoying it. What’s the point of doing it if they aren’t enjoying themselves? Sure, they sometimes cater toward the audience (that’s the easiest ways to make any money), but for the most part, they stick to what they both know the other would enjoy. Harry gives her a soft smile, leaning in a little closer. No matter what she wants, it’s all the same to him; as long as he is with her, he likes just about everything.

“Rough and dirty,” she smirks, tongue curling over her teeth teasingly. “I want you to fucking wreck me.” She whispers that part, low enough for only Harry to hear. He hums appreciatively, leaning back.

Ding!

“Be careful what you wish for.”

He kisses her, rough and gnawing, their teeth knocking together with his tongue slipping through, gently prying her lips apart. He bites on her tongue, and she lets out a small whimper, trying to hold off a smirk. Even after all this time being together, since they were just teens, he still knows what makes her tick and ache and melt; he knows exactly where to kiss and bite and lick to make her fall apart. She tucks her arms beneath his own, draping tightly around his waist, her fingertips tracing along the plain of his back, and he shivers.

His hand wraps easily around her throat, another thing he found early on that she enjoyed. He can feel her breathing pick up. She tugs at his bottom lip, suckling at the skin. He digs his fingers deeper into her neck, pressing harshly onto her pulse point. Eyes rolling back, she moans, strained and muffled, breaking slightly, and wraps her hands around his wrist.

“Open,” he beckons, and she does as best as she can, jaw still confined within his strong grasp. Her tongue dips out, ready and willing. “Good girl,” he says, loosening his grip on her throat. A breath of air slips past her swollen lips. Spit dribbles out from his puckered lips onto her greedy tongue. She closes her mouth quickly to keep it all in, his hand tightening around her neck once again. She sighs, head tipping back.

“You know the rules, babylove. Don’t swallow.”

“Mhm,” she nods, voice muffled. Her fingers dip into his boxers, nails tracing over the inked skin. She can trace the outline of his tattoos from memory at this point, every curve, point, and shadow etched in her brain. She pinches the extra skin at his abdomen lightly, and he smiles, pressing a kiss to her swollen lips.

“Wan’ my cock, huh?” He raises a brow. “Should I make you beg?

Ding! Ding!

“No,” she mumbles, pouting slightly. “Wanna make you feel good.” He hums appreciatively, tapping her cheek lightly.

“Taught you well, lovie,” he says. “Down.” He guides her onto her onto her elbows as he adjusts onto his knees, her hands moving back under the elastic band, the tips of her fingers teasing his skin. “Le’ me see,” he coaxes, fingers tugging on her chin. Sure enough, his spit is still in the divot of her tongue. “Good girl, you can swallow now.”

Ding!

Her fingers tease up his thighs and into his boxers, cupping his balls suddenly. He bites his lip, slapping her on the cheek. It’s not enough to do anything more than a slight burn, but it leaves her tingly with her eyes fluttering closed.

“Don’t be greedy, slut,” he spits, yanking her head back by her hair.

“I’m sorry,” she says, “Just want you so bad.”

She tugs his boxers down, but only enough for his hard cock to slip out. She normally starts off slow, teasing him until he can't take it anymore and pushes her all the way down, using her as he pleases. That’s not the case tonight. A part of her wants to take control, to suck him until he’s nearly falling apart, his knees weak. She takes nearly all of him in her mouth, and he gasps with surprise, his hands combing through her hair, guiding her. She gags on him, her bottom lip pressed tightly to his balls. He tugs her back.

“Watch the teeth,” he hisses. She gasps for air, lips lingering on the red, nearly purple, tip. His hips buck. He breathes out through gritted teeth, shaky and heavy.

“Sorry, just wanna make you feel good,” she says, pressing a wet kiss to his hip. She runs her tongue over the divot of his hip bone.

“Want me to fuck your mouth, lovie?” He asks, his fingers tracing over her tender lips. She nods, and he can feel her trying to move, but he holds her back by the hair, grip tight. “Beg,” he says, brows cocked.

“Please, H, want you to fuck my mouth, use me,” she moans, mouthing over the head of his cock. He holds himself steady, teasing her, just barely letting her feel but not allowing her to fully take him in her mouth. A pool of spit slides down her lips and into his hand, wetting the skin even more, before it falls onto the mattress. Her hands travel up the back of his thighs and onto his partially clothed bum, giving him a cheeky squeeze.

“M’kay, relax, babylove,” he says, brushing flyaways from her forehead, the skin already sticky with sweat. “Hold still and look at me. You know the rules.” She looks up at him, wide eyes never breaking from his as he guides his cock down the length of her throat, squeezing and stroking. She barely winces as he thrusts his hips, shoving himself deeper with every move. Her tongue runs along the bottom ridge of his cock, tracing every vein.

Ding!

She squeezes the skin of his thighs, guiding him further down her throat. The filthy wet sounds make her clit throb and her arousal seep into the sheets. There’s absolutely nothing better than seeing him above her, lost in pleasure, his chest flushing red, nearly incoherent: all because of her. There’s also something incredibly intimate about it as well; he always insists on keeping eye contact until there are tears in her eyes. With one hand gripping her hair tightly while the other gently caresses her cheek, he guides himself into her warm mouth. He nibbles on his lip.

“Take it, baby,” he moans, stuffing his cock deeper in her mouth. He traces his fingers along her throat, feeling the muscles swell and contract beneath them. Saliva dribbles from her lips, down her chin and the length of his shaft. She chokes and gags, but she doesn’t let up.

She barely reaches the base, her nose only just grazing the curls before he’s yanking her back, a string of saliva trailing from the head to her swollen lips, which breaks under the force of her gasps, and his cock twitches at the sight of her looking properly wrecked, eyes wide, blown with lust, her lips swollen and wet from spit and pre-cum, and chest heaving.

“Bend over,” he says, tapping her cheek. “Made such a mess, baby,” he says after she moves up, running a hand over the wet patch that formed on the sheets. Like a good girl, she turns until she’s facing the headboard, her glistening pussy on display to their hundreds of viewers. She shakes with anticipation.

Harry doesn’t deter from his normal routine, not touching her until she’s nearly in tears. She can feel the heat from his hand hovering over her skin, and she can feel hungry eyes on her; a small part of her wants to shrink away, but with Harry right beside her, it makes her feel like the strongest, sexiest woman in the world. Harry finally runs a finger along her slit after a few tense minutes and roughly presses into her clit. Her hips buck into his hand, and she presses a cheek into the mattress, moaning with relief.

“Such a good little slut,” he hums. “So wet for us, baby.”

Us.

When he says that, her pussy clenches and a rush of arousal threatens to slip down her trembling thighs; she sinks further into the mattress, sliding down until her chest is pressed tightly to the sheets, and her thighs spread even further until the joints of her hips ache with overexertion, but the pain is welcomed.

“Keep 'em on or off?” He asks.

“On,” she answers, the feeling of his cool rings against her heated skin is comforting almost. Her stomach tingles when he slips two fingers inside her pussy, with his thumb massaging at the tender skin between her holes. He easily finds that spot inside her, the spot that makes

Her orgasm comes painfully soon, her clit throbbing and begging for attention as he fucks her so close to oblivion, his rings adding extra friction to her sensitive walls. The scent of her arousal is thick in the air as it slips down his hands, traveling either down to her belly or her thighs. She’s so close, close enough to taste it; she just needs one more push until her high completely swallows her, bathing her in a warmth that only he’s been able to give her, but she is, perhaps, a little too optimistic. With every helpless jut of her hips, the more frequent moans, and the tightening of her walls, Harry knows the signs of her impending orgasm, but he can’t let her have it that easily.

A pained yelp slips past her lips when he suddenly pulls away and smacks her clit with wet fingers, the fervent climax drifting away until a dull ache, of yearning and lust, is all that remains. He spanks her sensitive pussy and lands two more on her bum. She groans, savoring the sting from his rings, cold yet burning.

“Not yet,” he says, running his hand along her prickled skin. He spanks her, harder than before, and she groans with pleasure. He wants to see the raised imprint of his hand on her smooth skin.

She can feel herself slipping. It starts off slow, a slight fog behind her eyes, and then it drifts and settles, spreading to her limbs. It feels like being high, swaddled in a soothing haze, and you can only feel yourself. The external earth doesn’t exist, and in that moment, it’s just her and Harry. Her world muffles, the sporadic chimes coming from the laptop ceasing, and the mattress disappears from beneath her, leaving her floating and vulnerable, with nothing to hold her other than him.

Harry.

He has always been able to make her teeter on the edge of pain and pleasure, and with her senses are in overdrive yet dulled at the same time, she feel that edge slip away into the abyss, with each slap delivered to her ass, they’re dulled just a little bit more. Like an addict, she yearns to feel the first one, the one that made her legs tremble, the one that sent tingles up her spine and a burning to her supple skin.

“More,” she says, inching closer to him.

“More?” She can hear the smile in his voice. She stretches her arms in front of her, back arching further than ever before. He lands another slap to her ass, lower and closer to her dripping pussy. He kisses the welts that raised over her skin from the rings, but she can barely feel them, nothing more than a welcomed prickle.

He spits on her pussy and slips three fingers inside this time, stretching her further than before, and with the extra friction from his rings, she tightens up almost instantly, the burning fire from before coming faster and stronger than before.

“Fuck,” she moans, long and drawn out. His free hand spanks her again, and she hisses, her arms giving out. Pleasure rushes through her veins, threatening to envelop her, and she can feel herself give in once again, sinking into him and accepting anything he has to offer. “Close,” she whines, but he pulls away again, slapping her clit roughly. She cries out, wanting to shy away from him, but her body betrays her, and she backs into him, craving yet another stolen high.

“Move t’ the side, button,” he says, tapping her leg, and she does, turning until they’re parallel to the webcam. He only teases the head of his cock through her folds for a moment before he slams into her with little warning, her warmth swallowing him easily. This is something he could never get tired of: the feeling of her hot, wet walls gripping him and of her arousal slipping down his thighs.

Ding! Ding!

His near brutal pace knocks the wind from her chest, making her drawn out cries of pleasure break and split. As he pounds into her, his hips smacking harshly against her raw skin, the remnants of her ruined climaxes leave her walls overly sensitive to every rough thrust, but she backs into him, meeting his hips, eager to finally come undone. He digs his nails into her tender skin, and she lets out a breath.

There has always been a fine line between pain and pleasure, and Harry knows exactly how to dangle her right at the very edge.

“Takin’ me so well,” he coos, but she can’t even fathom his compliment in her addled mind, let alone respond. He wraps his hands around her throat and pulls her head next to his. He wants to feel her, the heat of her breaths, the salt on her skin, the tremors of her thighs, everything. Her body grinds back against him, whether consciously or unconsciously, he doesn’t know. Her eyes are closed, features pinched, chasing her high.

Y/N can feel everything, every rush of blood flowing in her veins, every stroke of his cock inside her, every bead of sweat that drips from his skin and onto her back. She can feel everything, yet nothing at all; it all blurs together into a blanket of warmth and euphoria, and he’s at the center of it all: holding her and pleasing her and giving her everything she never knew she desired. She can barely speak, nothing more than a few broken whimpers filling the thick air, lost amongst his heaving breaths and the chimes from the laptop, which is at the back of their minds at this point.

She hooks her arm behind her, around his neck, her fingers carding through the sweat-drenched locks. She tugs on them painfully hard when he hits her weak spot, and he groans. Her heart is nearly racing out of her chest when yet another taunting orgasm tightens her stomach.

“Need cummies,” she whines, her words slurring, head falling to the side. He nestles his nose into the crook of her neck, hips grinding his cock deeper inside her.

“No cummies, yet, lovie,” he says. “Wait f’ me.” He can feel her struggling to hold her orgasm back, the walls of her pussy fluttering, milking him; he groans, feeling more blood rush to his cock when she squeezes him even tighter. “Relax,” he coos, scratching his nails along her scalp. He slaps her clit, making her twitch and buck even more, and he spreads his fingers around the swollen skin of her pussy, teasing where they’re connected. He lets go of her neck, and she nearly collapses without his support, leaning heavily on her elbows, back arched.

“Please,” she whimpers, shaking her head, “Can’t hold it.”

She slumps onto the mattress, her quivering knees slipping out from under her. Her hips buck, a long, drawn out moan slipping out as toe-curling orgasm washes over her, bathing her in warmth and relief and pure bliss. He comes soon after, hands gripping her hips tightly. Her shallow breaths are barely audible in the thick air, amongst a cacophony of chimes from the cam and his own heavy breathing. He rubs along her back, pressing sporadic kisses to her spine, following the ridges up to her neck.

“Babylove?”

She doesn’t answer, only a weak whimper and a sigh leaving her as she shifts beneath him, causing his softening cock to slip out, their releases pooling beneath them. He quickly closes the laptop to keep some semblance of privacy, and he tries to ease her onto her back, but she’s unresponsive, head nestled deep into the bed, but her breathing becomes more stable, muscles lax.

“Y/N?” She hums and turns onto her back. He cups her cheeks, trying to look into her eyes. They’re half-lidded, and she can’t seem to focus on much of anything. “Can you get up f’me? Need t’ get ya cleaned up.”

She finally looks at him, her pupils dilated, like she’s faded, lost in an empty mind. She blinks and looks down at his hands on her arms. Her brows furrow, and the tremors return, starting in her hands and spreading to her legs. They’re not pleasant, like before when she felt like she was floating; these ones make her blood run cold. Her high lessens, her head still foggy, but the feeling returns in her limbs, leaving her skin burning and bruised. When she meets his gaze again, there’s a sinking feeling in her stomach, shame and dread.

In her current state of mind, she mistakes the concern in his eyes for anger, and tears fill her eyes. She disappointed him; she was being greedy and dirty and bad. She covers her face with her arms to hide the tears that slip out, knees tucking to her chest.

“‘M sorry,” she cries suddenly. His heart stops for a second. What on earth could he have done to make her want to apologize? He tugs her arms away from her face.

“For wha’?”

“You said no cummies, and I couldn’t hold it—” Her face crumbles. “I was being a bad, bad girl.” She mutters to herself, biting her lip, which quivers pitifully. “Please, please, don’t be mad,” she begs, hands clinging to him. Before, she felt absolute euphoria, a high she didn’t want to come down from, but now, her skin aches, and there’s a pang of guilt and shame in her belly that she can’t seem to soothe. She doesn’t even feel it when her teeth break past the skin of her lips.

“Hey, none of that,” he says, easing her bruised lip from her teeth. He runs a thumb over her knuckles. “‘M not mad, never, lovie,” he reassures her. “C’mere,” he says, tugging her into his arms. “Look a’ me.” He rests his forehead against hers. He’s had to coax her out of a subspace only a handful of times, but she has never crashed this hard. Never has she been this shaken, nor has it ever happened during a cam. He just wishes he noticed sooner; he should have known not to go as rough as he did, especially when she was feeling tired to begin with. When she’s in her subspace, she tends to take it a little too far, thinking she can take more than what she would normally handle.

“Better?” He asks her after a moment, and she nods, but her hands still quiver at her side. “Be right back, yeah?” He lays her back down gently and goes into the washroom to draw a bath. When he comes back, he finds her with her hands over her face, shoulders shaking.

“Can ya walk?”

“Yeah,” she says, scooting up off the bed, but her knees buckle, and they barely make it to the bathroom.

“I gotcha,” he says. “Jus’ gonna getcha cleaned up, feelin’ all better.” Her bum, the skin raised with welts made by his own hand, barely touches the water before she’s wincing. There’s a tinge in his stomach, but he continues to help her in, holding her under the armpits.

“In ya go,” he whispers, nursing her like she’s a toddler. The water is hot and comforting against her aching muscles. The lavender oil he tossed in leaves her skin silky with a tingeful burn on her bum and thighs. She clings to his arm, which has now wrapped tightly around her middle, pressing into her tender breasts.

“Come in with me,” she says. He sinks to his knees and cups her neck, elbow dipping in the water.

“Be right back, button,” he says, kissing her forehead lightly, “Jus’ need t’ change the sheets.”

He returns not a moment later and joins her in the tub, washing her body with a sweetly scented scrub. She comes fully down in the bath, with his arms coiled tightly around her, one over her chest and the other around her middle, their fingers toying together. The water’s run cold, but they don’t make any move to get out any time soon, basking in the warmth of each other.

Despite how many years they have been together, he still finds it difficult to believe that he can be so comfortable with another person.

She puts her heart, body, and soul fully in his hands and trusts him not to break it.

He trusts that she’ll do the same for him.

And when she snuggles into him and presses a tired kiss to his cool skin, after he gets them dried and in their bed once again, he knows that there is no other person in the world he would trust more with his heart than her.

—

#harry styles #harry styles imagine #harry styles x reader #ellie writes #ellie writes smut #ellie writes fluff #ish #gif not mine #credit to owner

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