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#The beginning bits aren’t bad they’re just introductory

garfeildfanpage · 4 months

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CONTROVERSIAL OPINION ALERT 🗣️‼️

Jk anyways hot takes have always been kind of a drama-trigger for tbhk fans generally (though most takes aren’t exactly “hot” they’re either lukewarm or just bad), but most prominently on tbhktwt, which I don’t actively participate in. But I’ve noticed that every time one of those “what’s your unpopular tbhk opinion?” Posts gets popular everyone starts fighting and it’s kindof annoying. Which for a few reasons: they just like to argue when no huge announcements are happening to make sure the fan base stays alive, or someone just has a really bad opinion (ex the toxic nene post).

Now that’s not the point and has nothing to do with what I’m about to say but I thought it’d be a fun intro.

(tldr at end and also more concise points w/o the tired rambling)

Quick side note. I’m being super serious, these are all just opinions I possess but they don’t necessarily exist in a vacuum. I mostly just want to complain about a trope I don’t like, but I’m not die-hard about any of this. So take everything I say with a grain of salt

Mitsuba, Sousuke, and what makes a character interesting

(Mitsukou cameo 2 because staying on topic is hard)

After a while, I started to develop a bit of a dislike of Mitsuba, the fake one specifically

To elaborate: During Sousuke’s introductory arc (and the only one he’s in) despite the trope-y nature of his character, his opening up during the chapters and his pre-canon connection to Kou is what, to me, made me like him more. I personally cannot stand the “cute-boy but actually he’s really mean” archetype, and it really turned me off from him in general. But I continued through it anyway. I thought the subversion of it was nice, not having him on edge and actually have a somewhat heart-to-heart was nice. And then he died whoopsie

I liked the hell of mirrors, like a lot actually. At the beginning I really liked Mitsuba, but as the series went on the traits I disliked started to shine more than the ones I liked. His stoic act around Nene at the very beginning of the hell of mirrors was the peak I strived for, but it basically never appeared again. The gruesome horror of Mitsuba lost my interest as he began to behave more human, I think. Now really all of this just comes down to personal preference. I like subversion, so I liked how Mitsuba was at the very beginning, but I never loved him. And I know that the direction his character took was always going to be the same but some part of me prayed for some kind of miracle.

He’s not human, but he wants to be, and I liked the idea a lot. But I was never able to get invested because almost every time he was in a chapter I wanted to bang my head into a wall. The the sensitivity and tact of Mitsuba isn’t lost, but I feel like a lot of it is lost when he’s around certain characters. His interactions with Nene (with a few exceptions) demonstrates how he could be if he decided to tone it down on occasion, still irritating but y’know, not as much. This falters with Kou in specific though, as he is constantly flip-flopping between defensive and annoying. If he could learn to let his guard down a little, it could really go a long way

Speaking of Kou

They are peers, they knew each other, and now only Kou remembers. Great, love it. Mitsukou, now that’s where it gets a little complicated.

As true equals, I do love them. And I know “the fandom ruined it for me” is a ballshit excuse but it genuinely does this time ‘round, and I can give a few pinpoints.

1. The constant feminization of Mitsuba

Every fandom is guilty of this at some point, and tbhk is no different. Forcible feminization of one (typically smaller or younger) male characters because they act even somewhat effeminate. And I have a right to be upset! It’s my 2nd amendment right or whatever!

2. And in tandem, the over-masculinization of Kou

His ass is fourteen!!! He ain’t buff!!! he probably still squeaks when he gets scared!! Enter that scene where Dipper is singing ABBA in the bathroom and Stan walks in except it’s Kou!!

3. General disregard of canonical characterization

Mitsuba can absolutely handle himself I’m going to kill someone

IMO mitsukou only really works if there’s an underlying understanding that 1. They’re both stupid kids. 2. They’re peers, and wether supernatural or not they are in alot of ways equals. And 3. They’re both deeply flawed.

To add onto that, Kou is indecisive about values. He wants to be an exorcist but has gotten attached to every somewhat sympathetic spirit he’s come in contact with, showing that he’s far too empathetic for the profession. He claims to understand Teru’s view on the undead yet he holds his personal judgment over his brothers consistently, for better or worse (yeah IK hanako is the title character so obviously he has to be good so why would he die but I’m just trying to think about it more literally, y’dig?). Mitsuba (the fake one) is not, and never will be, he isn’t meant to last forever. Sousuke (the dead one) Left everything unresolved, even when trying after death, nothing ever came to any conclusion, not even with his mom.

They work alone, but not yet together. But they can, it’s not too late, if given care and some intense therapy, they could totally be awkward teen romance of the summer. But the cannibalism should probably be talked about b4 that

Overall I think the general populous of Mitsukou could really benefit by trying to understand their dynamics a lil better, but what would I know I��m no yaoiologist

TL;DR (and end notes don’t forget) Basically, I wish he kept the short-lived confidence he gained in the Hell of Mirrors. I wish his cutesy-mean attitude died after as well. I also wish he wasn’t nearly as feminized as he is. (He’s not 4,9 he’s taller than Nene and would most likely be (if he didn’t die, rest in rip) the same height if not taller than Kou). Also his dynamic with Tsukasa makes me uncomfortable, like deeply so, it’s kinda really weird. ALSO(also) I think the constant comparison to Hananene is weird because the same comparison can be made to literally 90% of the other ships, why is no one ever comparing them to Terukane? Or Aoiaoi? Or Sumi6 (actually I completely understand why not sumi6 but they’re literally all human x supernatural no one is special)

Anyway the point I’m attempting to get across (while sleep deprived) is that (to me) Mitsuba as a character just doesn’t tickle my fancy and I tried my best to explain some reasons why. if you don’t agree, that’s perfectly fine! No one is entitled to agree with me.

Sorry if bad grammar I,m moments away from death Uauuughhh ninja out

#hot cheese #jibaku shounen hanako kun #jshk #tbhk #toilet bound hanako kun #kou minamoto #minamoto kou #mitsuba sousuke #sousuke mitsuba #I’m going to eat a tire

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tarydarrington · 3 years

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"Alright, everyone," Veth says with authority, and everyone else quiets down. "Tomorrow is the big day."

Caleb sighs and ducks behind his drink. There is a speech coming. This is exactly the sort of ceremony he had hoped to avoid by having this get-together at his home rather than the bar Veth had suggested. It's only five of them, tonight; Beauregard and Yasha are always in town, and Veth had insisted on coming. And Essek, of course. He's not sure when the elf's presence at his side became an of course, but in a careful way, he likes it.

“As the person in this world who cares the most about Caleb--”

Essek silently quirks an eyebrow at that, and it doesn’t get past Veth.

“Alright, come on, just because you got him into bed and I didn’t doesn’t mean--”

Caleb clears his throat loudly, and Veth’s smile snaps back into place.

“As Caleb’s oldest, dearest, truest friend,” she says, and Essek manages to look dignified even while rolling his eyes, “it is my humble duty to tell you all how amazing he is on this momentous occasion.”

“You know, I am starting a new job, not getting married,” Caleb murmurs in her direction.

“And we’re all very proud of you!” Veth replies.

Caleb takes a long drink as the others chime in with agreement. Yasha shoots him a sympathetic look, and he returns a tight smile.

“Come on, man,” Beau says from where she leans against the table, “aren’t you excited, at all?”

He takes a long breath. Excited is a word for it. Ready to vomit at a moment’s notice is perhaps more accurate. The Soltryce Academy is tricky. He’s been back there a few times in recent weeks, for interviews and preparation, and each time, it’s felt like walking through a dream of a place the mind could not quite capture properly.

For whatever purpose, Trent has always wanted Caleb - Bren - to follow in his footsteps. Those footsteps feel a touch too literal in those hallways.

“Caleb?” Beau’s voice brings him out of his thoughts. “You still with us?”

He shakes his head. "Ja. Entschuldigung. There is a lot to think about."

Veth lowers her glass, frowning. "Nobody threatened you, did they? Because I'll have words with them."

"No, nothing like that." Not lately, anyway. He sets his own drink down on the table. "Just a bit worried, perhaps."

"Worried about what?" Beau asks flatly.

Caleb lets out a long breath, looking down at the floor. Where to begin? He’s worried that everything will go wrong. Worried that he’ll turn up with his clothes on backwards, or spill coffee down the front of his shirt, or trip over his words before the lesson even starts. Worried, most of all, about what comes after.

“I hope that I will not…” He searches for the right words. “I hope that I will be able to serve my students well enough,” he settles on. “The examples I have had were, ah….” Trent Ikithon is not one he wishes to emulate.

Essek frowns. “Carve your own path,” he says. “Someone as brilliant as you are needs no one to emulate.”

“Ja, well, that is fine for throwing together a spell or two, but I imagine the students will need a little more structure.” These are young minds. Any mistakes he makes will stick with them. He, of all people, knows just how much.

“Maybe you could ask them what they want from you,” Yasha pipes up. “You know, make sure you’re doing alright.”

Caleb lets out a long sigh. “Ja, maybe. That is a good idea.” Of course, it also requires that the students in question trust him enough to give him a straight answer.

They sit in relative silence for a moment, working away at their drinks. He hopes Veth doesn’t resent him for stepping on the atmosphere.

“Seriously, man, you’re gonna be great.” Beau knocks back the rest of her drink. “You’re already the best professor I’ve ever known.”

“I do not think the owl counts as a point of comparison,” Caleb deadpans. “Regardless, I will settle for not making a fool of myself for a first impression. That will be difficult enough.”

Beau shrugs, and reaches over to refill her glass. There’s a devious look in her eye that makes him nervous. "So why don't you practice?" she asks.

Caleb looks at her warily. "Practice?"

"Yeah, man." She gestures at the others. "Here's your class. Teach us something."

Before he can object, she’s already begun to pull an armchair toward the coffee table in the center of the room. Soon enough, three more seats have joined it, all on the same side. She throws her arms wide with a challenging grin.

“First day,” she says. “Don’t be late.” With that, she flops down onto the rightmost chair.

Transfixed in bemusement, Caleb watches as Yasha and Veth rush to occupy the next two seats in the makeshift classroom. The Expositor commands a room, it seems.

“Are you comfortable with this?” Essek murmurs as he brushes past as well. “I am willing to be the, ah... wet blanket, if need be.”

Caleb sighs, briefly twining their fingers together and squeezing once before letting him go. “Not comfortable, no, but it’s not a bad idea.”

Someone wolf whistles from the peanut gallery, and Caleb turns a fond glare on them all. All three of them are, of course, the picture of innocence. He shakes his head as Essek settles down primly in the last remaining chair. It’s not exactly the picture of an academic setting, with their glasses of half-finished booze still on the table in front of them and the lot of them draped over armchairs and ottomans.

“Alright,” says Beau, who has not even bothered to put her drink down. She makes a trilling sound that he thinks is probably meant to emulate a school bell. “Hit us.”

"We will be brutally honest," Veth promises. "Which means we will tell you honestly how perfect you are."

"Or if there's anything you could do better," Yasha adds.

Caleb stares back at them. It’s nothing he hasn’t gone over in his own head a hundred times. Even once or twice, to a captive audience of cats. It’s a short class. It will be over before he knows it.

The others look up at him expectantly. Watching him. Waiting. Caleb clears his throat.

"I, ah... feel a bit silly,” he admits.

Without a word, Essek waves a hand, and the familiar faces before him shift to those of strangers.

It’s almost embarrassing how much it helps. Caleb takes a deep breath and lets it out, running through the lesson plan in his head.

"Guten Morgen, class, I am, ah… Professor Widogast." It's the first time he's said that particular pair of words out loud.

"Whoo!" the student who is not Veth shouts.

"Yeah!" the student who is not Beau chimes in.

Caleb gives them a look and straightens his coat. "This is Introductory Transmutation, in room 142, so if you are all in the correct place--"

"Professor?" The student who is not Yasha raises her hand.

"Ah, ja, Miss…"

"Lionett."

Not-Beau slaps a hand over her own mouth and mutters, “Holy shit,” into it.

“Was that too much?” not-Yasha whispers.

“Babe, it was so hot,” not-Beau hisses back.

Caleb clears his throat. "Miss Lionett, do you have a question?"

Not-Yasha seems to suddenly remember her role, and she folds her hands in her lap. "No," she says, "I have to use the bathroom."

Caleb pinches the bridge of his nose as not-Beau bites back a giggle. “Ja, okay, go.”

“Don’t let her go!” not-Veth interjects. “She knew it was almost time for class; she should have gone earlier.”

“Dude, if she has to pee then she has to pee,” not-Beau protests.

Pointedly, not-Essek raises his hand.

Caleb lets himself sigh with relief. “Ja, Master…?”

“Gross, Professor, we don’t need to know about your weird sex dynamics,” not-Beau says.

Not-Essek’s face blooms red, and Caleb presses a hand to his face to hide the same. “You know very well, Beauregard, that it is an honorific.”

Not-Beau shrugs, looking very pleased with herself as she takes another sip of her drink. Not-Essek glares very polite daggers at her before clearing his throat.

“Thelyss,” he answers.

Beau cups both hands around her mouth and boos.

“No, it’s better that he’s honest,” Veth says. “We already know he’s a terrible actor.”

“Herr Thelyss,” Caleb says, raising his voice above the heckling. “Do you have a question?”

Essek leans forward, resting his elbows on the table in a gesture that’s much too endearing. “I wondered what you will be teaching us today, Professor Widogast.”

Caleb tries not to dwell on the way the title hits differently on Essek’s voice, instead straightening up and waving one hand behind him. An illusory chalkboard appears in the air behind him to polite applause from Veth and Yasha. Back on track.

“Well, this is your first day,” he says. “So I know that - Beauregard, please remove your feet from the table - I know that most of your other teachers will be spending time going over the material that you will be covering this semester, but, ah…” What is he meant to be doing with his hands? They feel limp if they’re at his sides, but too formal behind his back and too awkward in front of him. Perhaps he should have a lectern? Somewhere to rest them, or shuffle with papers?

His gaze drifts back to his “students,” who all blink back at him expectantly. Essek inclines his head as though to prompt him on. He clasps his hands in front of his chest, hoping it will do for now.

“Right,” he continues. “Ja, so I thought we would take a look at something more practical to start. We will leave the reading for tomorrow; you have enough of that today.”

He waves his hands again, and behind him, a set of runes and diagrams appears on the chalkboard. Above it is written the word Prestidigitation.

“So, ah, partner up,” he orders. “Introduce yourselves. If there is someone on their own, a group of three is perfectly acceptable.”

“I call Miss Lionett,” Beau shouts, grabbing Yasha’s hand.

“Can I go to the bathroom, first?” Yasha asks.

Caleb gives her an incredulous look.

“I really do need to go,” she says.

He gestures towards the hallway, and she shuffles off. In the meantime, Veth and Essek scoot their chairs closer together. Caleb’s gaze lingers questioningly on Beau, who shakes her head.

“She’s not learning anything tonight, man. Go ahead.”

“Ja, okay,” he says distantly.

It feels silly, explaining the spell to this motley crew. Beau has leaned back in her chair, arms crossed, eyes glassy, clearly not paying an ounce of attention. Essek has produced a piece of paper upon which Veth occasionally scribbles, though the way he periodically nods approval at Caleb’s points betrays his own prior knowledge of the subject. After a few minutes, Yasha returns and attempts to take down notes of her own.

“Is everyone following along?” he asks after a while, knowing it’s a futile question.

“Yep,” Beau lies.

“Hmm.” Yasha hums.

“Perfectly,” Essek says.

“You’re doing amazing, sweetie,” Veth confirms with a wink.

He continues, running them through the various applications one by one. Beau gives him an occasional “uh huh” that he believes not one bit. At one point, he catches Essek take a passing glance at Veth’s paper, widen his eyes, and lean forward to murmur something to her. He isn’t sure he wants to know what that’s about.

“Let’s keep focused, please, everyone,” he reminds them.

Essek waves a hand to signal him to continue. Nothing too scandalous, then. He goes through the final few points, then comes to stop in front of the chalkboard, hands awkwardly clasped again.

“Okay, that is it,” he says. “You have as much time as you require to finish the spell, and when you are finished, I would like one person from each group to demonstrate.”

He gives the others a questioning look. It’s one of the points he’s most worried about. A way to take pressure off some of the slower students could just as easily be a way to unintentionally foster competition and resentment. But none of them objects, so he gives them another nod.

“I suppose we should skip the demonstration portion,” he mumbles.

“I can do it,” Yasha chirps. Without warning, she swings the massive greatsword from her back and sinks the tip into the table, making the others jump. “I made a small mark.”

Caleb covers his eyes with one hand. “Ja, will it go away in one hour?”

Yasha silently places her drink down over the indentation. Caleb sighs. It isn’t as though he has very many guests, anyway.

“I can probably swing producing an odor, for you,” Beau offers. “But I figure you probably don’t want that.”

He ignores her, and instead gives Essek a tight smile.

“Well, would my second group care to demonstrate?”

Beau jerks a thumb in Essek’s direction and fake-coughs to Yasha, “Teacher’s pet.”

Essek ignores her and sits back, fingers working in those little patterns he draws when something has piqued his curiosity. “I believe so,” he says, and nods to Veth.

Caleb raises his eyebrows as all eyes turn to Veth. Though Essek had the courtesy to leave her a halfling, her features and coloring are entirely different - but that wide smile as she stands and rubs both hands together would give her away, no matter the face it was set in. And as Beau swears under her breath, Yasha and Caleb look on wide-eyed, and Essek watches with a smirk, she pulls her hands apart to let loose a shower of sparks.

“You… learned the spell,” Caleb says numbly. He hadn’t imagined any of them were actually paying attention.

“It was an excellent lesson!” Veth replies.

As she takes her seat again, Beau and Yasha give her a smattering of stunned applause. Essek clears his throat pointedly.

“And I guess, maybe, Essek gave me one pointer,” Veth amends with an eye-roll.

“Hey, so your partner system worked,” Yasha points out.

It had. The lesson had worked, the procedure had worked - his teaching had worked. There’s still a little voice in his head reminding him that Veth is brilliant, and an adult, and perfectly capable of learning things like this without even so much as his help - but he can’t deny that it’s his guidance that taught her this particular spell. ‘An excellent lesson,’ Veth had said. In this moment, he’s inclined to believe it might be half true. Caleb realizes very suddenly that he’s beaming.

With a snap of his fingers, Essek dispels the disguises. The soft smile on his face - his real face, and Caleb always misses it dearly when it’s hidden - says he hasn’t failed to notice Caleb’s relief.

“Danke, all of you,” he says sheepishly, waving a hand to vanish the chalkboard.

“Thank you!” Veth says. “For the shiny new spell and for the masterclass in professoring.”

“You were really good,” Yasha agrees. “I’m, uh... I’m sorry about the table.”

He dips his head to hide the way his face is flushing. They exaggerate, the lot of them. But there is something to be said for having friends who will say such things. “Ja, well,” he says, “I am not convinced it will translate to an actual class, but I will hope.”

Beau takes another swig of her drink, wiping her mouth afterwards. “Dude, we were the worst and you still managed to teach somebody something,” she says. “Those kids have nothing on us. You got this.”

He offers her a smile, retrieving his glass from the table as Yasha, Veth, and Essek do the same. He hopes it’s true. He hopes that, separate entirely from his ability to teach them the how of magic, he will be able to keep them safe. That he will be able to keep from passing on any damage he received in his own time in those halls.

He catches Essek’s eye, and the knowing look there puts some of the anxious buzzing to rest. He will be better. He will struggle, most likely. He will stumble, inevitably. But he will give better than he got. He’s been practicing that part for years.

“To Professor Widogast!” Veth shouts, breaking him out of his thoughts.

“Professor Widogast,” the others echo, and Caleb smiles.

“To my very good friends,” he replies.

“To the hottest professor the Soltryce Academy has ever seen,” Veth shouts in response, and Caleb nearly chokes on his drink when Essek casually clinks his glass against hers with a nod.

They drink together. Caleb thinks, just a little bit, he might be excited.

thanks @peregrintook for reading this over and telling me it wasn't the worst thing i had ever written (in much more generous words than that), and @saturdaysky for catching me red-handed last time i deleted it and being so kind about it 💜

#okay here's the strategy. i posted a ficlet i'm happy with last week and i finished another one i'm happy with yesterday #so if i sandwich this in between the two surely i will not believe i am entirely worthless as a writer because of it #...probably #queueing it to post when i'm not home to physically wrench my hand away from the delete post button #shadowgast #background beauyasha #caleb widogast #mine #mine:fic #caleb #essek #veth #beau #yasha

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gedankenspaziergang · 3 years

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Diversmagazin Interview Translation

Diversmagazin released an interview with director Sarah Blaßkiewitz and Head-Writer Jasmina Wesolowski today. Read it here in German.

Jasmina (she/her), DRUCK writer since season four and head writer since season six together with Jonas Lindt. In a writers Room with Paulina Lorenz and Raquel Kishori Dukpa (Jünglinge)

Sarah (she/her) director of the last four episodes from season six

I’m leaving out the general introductory questions.

Alicia: Can you talk about the writing process? And what’s the most important thing for you while writing and telling stories?

Jasmina: We especially wanted the profound exchange with young adults who represent our protagonists. For season six we had the challenge that we wanted to tell the lovestory of a Gambian-German girl and a Vietnamese-German girl, perspectives that aren’t represented in the writer’s room. That’s why we talked a lot to research partners, to make up for our lack of knowledge/ experience, but we also talked to the actors and actresses.

Alicia: Why do different directors work on DRUCK?

Sarah: We try to produce as much in real-time as possible. And of course, we have to pre-produce but still have to work [overlappingly]. While one director is already in the editing phase, the next one already starts to shoot. Another reason is of course, that this way, also in the writer’s room, there’s more space for diversity.

Alicia: It’s similar to the writer’s room. You’re also dividing the writing of scenes between different people. … Are you working together with racism and LGBTQIA+ experts?

Jasmina: I think we all have blind spots and that it’s absolutely impossible to end up with a perfect result. It was an important first step, that the Jünglinge collective joined. They are big advocates for queer BIPoc representation in German media. They were always present for feedback loops and made all of us, crew, actors and actresses, participate in an anti-racism workshop. We were lucky to have the brilliant author and anti-racism trainer Arpana Berndt, who advised us on these topics. On top of that, we did a lot of research on different topics. I think now it should be the only way to produce movies and shows this way, with an intensive research phase. This way you don’t appropriate the stories of others and also don’t tell inauthentic stories or, in the worst case, use hurtful clichés/stereotypes. It was helpful and needed that Black perspectives were present also behind the camera – Sara as a director, but also in the social media team, make-up department or costume design. But we are also aware that more can be done.

Sarah: It’s important to me to highlight the make-up and costume design department. When I, an afro-German person, joined this project and met other afro-German women in those departments, who can relate to me, the character of Fatou and Ava, I was really glad. I can say from many years of experience that that’s not a given.

Alicia: How about experts on LGBTQIA+ issues?

Jasmina: To talk a bit about the process: We were set on Fatou being a lesbian pretty early on, and that was already discussed in the earlier writer’s room, where that perspective wasn’t present yet. In the beginning, those were loose ideas, and we had to implement them with the casting. The casting team Raquel Kishori Dupka, Melek Yaparak and Angelika Buschina worked closely with the directors and contacted different institutions and specifically asked for actors and actresses who could be queer. At this age this is of course a super sensitive topic. You don’t want to force young people to [define themselves/come out]. It’s a huge challenge to handle that with care and it was extremely important that the Jünglinge collective was part of the casting process.

But also, apart from the casting process, we profited a lot from the queer people in the writer’s room in the cast.

Sarah: For my part I asked the authors and queer people “What would you like? What is nice? What hurts? What’s important? Or what have I never seen before?” And then I put those different experiences into the different scenes. On top you of course need common sense (?) to portray something that you haven’t experienced yourself.

Jasmin: I just thought of a small really beautiful example: How Fatou was given these rainbow socks as a Christmas present. You immediately notice, that was the idea of a queer person who knows what non-queer parents give to their kids as gifts. The fans notice: Queer people were in the writer’s room. Or “Ah, these actresses know, what they’re doing.“ And those are the small things that make a difference.

Alicia: For sure! In DRUCK you notice that queer people were part of this in really subtle ways, and that [resulted] in really nice fan-moments. I can confirm that.

Right now, the community is discussing the conflict between Mailin and Ava a lot. What role does that conflict play for you and what does it teach us?

Sarah: I’m editing the last episodes right now, so I really feel it, also because you already see the reactions online.

For me, the conflict is important because it shows over a long period of time, that not everything is always only good or only bad. That it takes a lot of time, patience and confrontation to understand all nuances of that kind of conflict.

That Ava could be prevented to outright say what’s bothering her, because we’re talking about a really serious trauma of exclusion. How do you even tell people really personal stuff when you were bullied for years? And now we have that conflict, that seemingly takes forever, and you’re always asking yourself: “Why aren’t they talking to each other?” But it’s only in real time that you realize how hurtful this conflict is. How hurtful it is what they experience. What racism means, and also what it means to [deal] with that topic as a white German girl. And I think it’s really important that everyone is going through that with this season. That takes time and sometimes hurts. And you don’t always understand Ava and you don’t always understand Mailin. When we really [dedicate ourselves to understand this conflict] then I think, we can experience what for example a person like me experienced their whole adolescence. I’m not saying I was bullied my whole adolescence, and maybe it wasn’t because of the color of my skin, but because of something else. But that went on for half a year. After being bullied in school for half a year you’re not up for school and your classmates anymore. And you don’t talk to them anymore. And if people realize that because of this season then I’m glad. I think it’s really touching that this conflict takes up so much space.

Jasmina: I found it really interesting what you said about the nuances, because it was a real process for me to learn how many facets this conflict has. And especially that us white people, who grow up in a society with structural racism, have a particular idea about what racism means. And that’s not a detailed and uncritical perspective of that topic: As soon as you call me racist, I feel attacked and start defending myself.

The role that this conflict played for us was to show how incredibly exhausting it is as a Person of Color, to always have to deal with these problems and that there’s a kind of fatigue, that you don’t want to talk (or should want to talk) about certain topics anymore, especially if you have other things going on in your life on top of it.

On the other hand, we have Mailin, who has a strong desire to understand. She’s not aware of her privileges as a white girl. We want to take this journey together, when she starts to realize things and when she goes through different stages; until she understands, what it is really about. We also have an arc there that isn’t finished. Because in real life, you have to deal with some topics over and over again. We think it’s especially important to show that it’s not the job of Black people to explain racism to their white friends. By now, they have all the resources to educate themselves and to talk with other white people about this topic, to unburden Black people.

Alicia: That’s really interesting! The lovestory of Kieu My and Fatou is an important part of season six, which many queer young adults love. How is the relationship between Fatou and Kieu My representative for a generation?

Sarah: I can actually also see it in an older generation. When I send the cuddle clip of Kieu My and Fatou to my grandpa, he says “Wow, how amazing that a Viet-German and a Afro-German girl are lying in bed together, talk in German and are in a relationship.” This generation hopefully isn’t alone anymore, for example in the sense of: being the only Afro-German person in a small city. That changed and now we see it in that second and third generation. And that’s why it shows me something very real and beautiful.

Alicia: Which scene are you really proud of and why?

Sarah: My favorite scene, and one I’m really proud of and that was really important concerning the pressure of school, was with the main character Fatou. It’s about a path of finding yourself from Fatou and a [Reinigungsmoment] with her brother. Two people, who know each other from the moment of their birth, are sitting together. When I read that scene I thought yes, I can relate, I can feel that, and when we shot that, a world opened for me. And that was partly because of the music, which was decided before we shot this scene. Then we shot it and it was fucking cold, but we shot it again and again but every time we really felt it like the first time. And when I now watch that scene while editing, it really is the perfect moment. Every facial expression is perfect, every reaction. And that’s that kind of truthful (?) moment you’re looking for as an actor, actress, director or author. When everything fits.

(There’s a script for every social media part, What’s App Chats and ideas for social media stories. )

Alicia: When can we expect the next season and what will it be about?

Jasmina: For now, DRUCK is finished and we have to wait how it will continue. Fingers are crossed and of course we’re hoping for a new season.

[Note by me: We‘re not gonna spiral, Jünglinge looked for more writers, Black writers, on facebook a while ago. Nothing is safe but they probably don’t want to make any promises]

#druck #I hope it's understandabl vghghv #It was really cool to hear their thoughts on the mailin ava conflict and bullying storyline

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kaizokuou-ni-naru · 3 years

Text

The Voyage So Far: Water Seven

east blue (1 | 2) || alabasta (1 | 2) || skypiea || water 7 || enies lobby || thriller bark || paramount war (1 | 2) || fishman island || punk hazard || dressrosa (1 | 2) || whole cake island || wano (1 | 2)

i’ve mentioned several times before that the davy back fight is one of my least favorite arcs, mostly because i found it very dragging and tedious when i was reading it, but there are a couple things i really like in it, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, most of them have to do with zoro. i really like his moment here with chopper, and it also showcases his ability to act as more of an authority figure to the crew, which is something that makes a substantial return after enies lobby with the matter of usopp’s return.

zoro and sanji’s match in the davy back fight is far and away my favorite part of the entire arc. it’s just really fun.

like i said, this arc isn’t a favorite of mine, but i do definitely understand why it’s important to the saga and greater story in a couple different ways. one of them is that it’s just an easy, lighthearted detour that both gives the audience a chance to breathe and the strawhats a chance to showcase just how much they love each other and work well together- which turns into a fucking sledgehammer to the skull in the next arc when that unity is directly threatened. and the other reason this arc is important...

...is because of aokiji.

aokiji’s introductory scene is a brutal showcase of absolute power, and a very clear reminder that the strawhats are still very much little fish in a very, very big pond. all of the strawhats are impacted by this to some degree- it’s how badly they get curb-stomped here that leads luffy to come up with his gears as a way of closing the huge power gap he’s just learned about.

most important, though, are robin and usopp. for robin, this is a stark reminder of the fact that the government will never stop hunting her down; for usopp, who’s less obvious, it’s the seeds of the full-blown inferiority crisis that will later explode with the news about merry. both of their arcs throughout water 7 and enies lobby, essentially the twin emotional backbones of the saga, start right here.

i really like that the other strawhats all fell asleep waiting for robin and luffy to wake up. it calls back to them doing the same when nami was sick before drum, and also it’s just so fucking sweet.

water seven is my favorite island, full stop. if i was going to live anywhere in one piece’s world, i’d want to live on water seven. it’s just so creatively designed and visually great, with the canals and the tiered city and the massive fountain in the middle. the supporting cast are still one of my favorites, and the culture feels very real and authentic. i just love water seven a lot.

i just said it but it bears repeating- the water seven supporting cast is really good. iceburg, the galley-la shipwrights, franky and his family, kokoro and chimney are all really memorable, and most of them are really likable, too- and cp9, with all their eccentricities, fit in perfectly. water seven’s cast is very interconnected, as well, and their relationships all feel very believable.

all of which, of course, only makes the later treachery hurt all the more.

the atmosphere of water seven is really, really well done. the bad starts slow, with the news that merry is unfixable, and then continues into an accelerating downwards spiral of hopelessness: usopp and luffy’s fight and usopp leaving the crew, robin’s seeming betrayal, the assassination attempt on iceburg, the city and galley-la turning on them as a result, and the agua laguna- it just gets worse and worse and worse.

and then, after they’ve been stomped down about as far as they can go and come out alive anyways, they pick themselves back up again and go to save their friend, because that’s what the strawhat pirates do.

i just really like getting to see these four going feral on the franky family, it’s one of my favorite scenes in this whole arc. in general, i tend to love the moments where luffy specifically gets properly angry, and we get a lot of them in this arc.

even though the fight between luffy and usopp is genuinely very tense and fast-paced and would probably be exciting if it were any other two characters fighting, it never really feels anything other than melancholy. i think that’s a testament to just how good oda is at setting the mood of the scene. it’s made very clear, especially through the reactions of the other characters- merry ‘crying’ is fucking heartbreaking- that this is nothing less than a tragedy.

i think it’s kind of interesting we aren’t shown franky’s face until about halfway into water seven. prior to this, we’re given pretty much only reasons to hate him, with his theft of the strawhats’ money and the franky family beating usopp to shit. but just after this point is when we start getting our first humanizing and sympathetic moments for him, starting when he gets worried and a little frantic when he hears about the attempt on iceburg’s life.

i just really, really like the way some of these water seven action sequences are depicted. they feel very tense and desperate, which matches the general mood of this part of the arc perfectly.

this panel of usopp working on merry always reminds me of the shots of the klabautermann doing the same during skypiea. i’m not sure if it’s even intentional, honestly, but it’s an extra little bit of heartbreak either way.

one piece has a lot of amazing spreads, but this might be one of my favorites for sheer impact. cp9, watching as the city they’ve lived and worked in for years burns down in a fire they set, satisfied by a job well done. it’s almost all in black and white with very little grey, which creates some fantastic contrast, and their pitch-black silhouettes against the nighttime inferno are just striking.

this entire scene between usopp and franky, as usopp works on the merry and franky gives him advice and tries to make him see its hopeless and they kind of awkwardly, accidentally bond, is probably my favorite in the whole of water seven. it was also the scene that singlehandedly made me love franky as a character.

they have a really good, really enjoyable dynamic, and at the same time the conflict between them is real and understandable, and brought about because they’re both trying to do the right thing.

tom’s workers are one of my favorite little groups of characters in the whole of one piece’s story, and they deserve more appreciation. they’re family!! a little family of broken pieces who worked together to build something really, really amazing. and they still care about each other in the present, even though they got shattered apart so badly and none of them ever really recovered.

this is a tremendously under-appreciated chopper moment. not only did he carry two full-grown men out of a fire, he even managed to get zoro’s sword and iceburg’s hamster. extremely cool of him.

this is also the exact moment the strawhats’ collective luck begins to turn: chopper saves the day, and nami learns that robin did what she did to protect them, and sanji gets aboard the sea train, and from there it’s a no-brakes train from their very lowest low straight to the triumph at enies lobby.

i love all the shenanigans sanji gets up to with the sea train, i think the whole sequence is absolutely one of his shining moments. it’s always a delight to see sanji get up to Sneaky Bastard Bullshit, and the whole thing is just so fun, which is a dearly needed breath of fresh air after how relentless this arc has been until this point.

robin’s little smile when thinking of luffy and when she joined the strawhats... :( i’ve noticed it’s a recurring trend for strawhats who try to leave the crew to flash back to when they joined as they do. usopp has it earlier this same arc just before leaving, and sanji does it in whole cake island in the sanji vs. luffy chapter.

i really like how much everyone comes together at the end of water seven leading into enies lobby. after how fractured and fraught things have been throughout the arc, both within and without the strawhat crew, it’s great to see them not only all united again for a common goal, but with a huge group of allies at their backs.

these three are SUCH a hilarious team, and i would love to see them work together again like this sometime. they’re literally just clowning on the marines all the way up the train, it’s fantastic.

factually i understand sanji’s aversion to fighting with his hands and his fighting style is very unique and cool and also meaningful to him because he learned from zeff, and also if i remember right it’s implied he learned how to swordfight from the vinsmokes which makes it very reasonable he would want absolutely nothing to do with that skillset

but speaking purely in terms of stupid idiot lizard brain i think sanji should fight with knives more

this is another of my absolute favorite spreads, and i think what makes it for me is the casual confidence- luffy tells zoro to cut the train, and zoro does, both of them with no doubts at all about zoro’s ability to do so. it really goes to show how far they’ve come from back in east blue when zoro couldn’t even cut luffy out of a metal cage.

there’s something very impactful about the fact that of all the strawhats, robin gets this speech from usopp. usopp, who’s had the worst falling-out with luffy in the series to date, is the one who tells robin: you haven’t left the crew yet, you can’t leave the crew yet, luffy is coming to get you. believe in him.

franky’s “existing is not a crime” line is one of the most memorable and iconic lines from this entire saga, and for good reason. it sums up one of the main themes of not just this arc but also the series as a whole- the very same idea will come up again for ace during marineford, and in law’s backstory as well. it’s never a crime to just exist, and people should not never be persecuted for their blood or heritage. one piece doesn’t fuck around with its theming, it really doesn’t.

to be continued next time, with enies lobby!

#the voyage so far #one piece #long post #arc: water 7 #not japanese #opmeta

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stxrrywildflower · 4 years

Text

carolina

pairing - emily prentiss x reader

summary - you meet emily in a bar, she doesn’t realize who you are until she hears a song about her on the radio

warnings - nsfw mentions (nothing graphic), cursing

series masterlist

the second emily layed eyes on you, she was instantly captivated.

you sat at the bar, your back pressed against the counter. a drink was in your hand, your cherry red lips occasionally taking a sip. you were observing the crowd, a slightly smile tugging at the corners of your lips.

and then came your outfit. tight black jeans and heels, a silver sparkly cropped tank as your top. a gold necklace was around your neck and hair in your natural style, or what she assumed was.

while emily could have stayed in her spot sneaking glances ever so often, a gentle shove to her back made her tear away her gaze. “emily come on, i need a drink,” j.j. teased.

the three girls pushed further into the venue, already buzzing about their night out.

penelope had been raving about a bar she had discovered. it wasn’t downtown, further away from everything in location. it was a more formal bar in details such as a taxi service and places to drop of coats and accessories if needed.

with no case being presented, they had all agreed to go out. after heading home and getting changed, they all met up to inevitably get drunk.

while j.j. and penelope quickly got drinks and headed out to socialize on the floor, emily decided to head over to the counter.

you shot a smile at the woman who slid into the seat beside you. she cooly ordered a drink, spinning around to face the same direction as you.

“going with a daiquiri? i can’t blame you, they’re my favorite,” you smiled, figuring you might as well introduce yourself to the woman beside you.

“i’m y/n,” you greeted.

“emily,” she replied.

you never really fell hard for someone, let alone a stranger. but something about emily was different. maybe it was her looks, her raven hair and dark brown eyes were nothing short of beautiful. or the way she spoke, her name flowing easily as she introduced herself.

maybe it was a combination of the two and her personality already begining to make an appearance. all the times you rolled your eyes at people mentioning love at first sight were really contradicting themselves. maybe not love yet but you knew emily was special.

“who are you watching?” emily asked, being the first one to initiate small talk.

you raised your drink in the general sea of people dancing. “alice and mel,” as you spoke, you pointed towards the two girls, each occupied with others. “you?”

“penelope and j.j. can’t believe we’re both the designated sober friends.”

“oh i’m not, i would just much rather be here talking to you,” the flirty remark rolled off your tongue easily. a blush passed across her cheeks, a smile tugging at her lips.

you ordered a second drink, offering to get emily something if she wanted a second. after shaking her head ‘no,’ you shrugged and leaned back against the counter.

“so what brings you to this bar?” emily questioned.

“night off from the public eye. figured i would spend one of last days in the city out with my friends.”

the alcohol clouded emily’s thinking process a bit, not allowing her to process the first part of the question. “last day?”

you nodded, “i live in d.c. most of the time but i have some work which involves traveling. i’ll be back soon, you can definitely find me here at least once.”

another drink was ordered for the both of you, your attention focusing on emily.

“so what do you do for a living?” conversation flowed easily.

“not sure if i want to reveal it so easily. any guesses?” emily replied.

you leaned close to her face. “well,” you started, eyes flickering down to her waist. “i’m going to go with something in law enforcement.”

a brief shocked look passed over emily’s face letting you know you were right.

emily chuckled. “i’m a profiler for the fbi. though with your guess i’m not so sure you aren’t. how’d you know?”

“well you have an imprint of some clip on your side. adding on your pant pocket is stretched out, probably from some badge. i just put the two and two together and guessed,” you answered, taking another sip of your drink.

“alright, how about you? i’ll be honest, i have absolutely no idea what you do and have no clues.”

your heart fluttered at that. “it’s not important. it’s not anything bad, i promise. just would like to enjoy this night without having to think about work,” you answered truthfully.

talk went on, mostly about your mutual interests and introductory questions.

you were only interrupted when some guy took the now empty seat on your right. he opened his mouth to talk, probably some dumb pickup like, but you caught him off. “don’t even try, i don’t play for your team.” both for you were thankfully he left you alone.

emily grinned into her drink. “sorry about that. i really hate men sometimes,” you apologized. “no it’s okay i promise. i’ve had to deal with people like that for so long with my work. you think they would just realize that we just aren’t into them.”

maybe you did internally smile when you realized you may actually have a chance with her.

flirty remarks were tossed around after that, both of you completely forgetting about your friends who came with you.

“come with me to grab my coat?”

emily nodded, leaving her drink at the counter and following you back.

the two of you couldn’t have been away from the center room of the building for more than a few moments before your lips were on hers.

“already undressing me here? thought you’d be more classy than that y/n,” emily groaned as you pushed her jacket back. you hummed against her neck, moving to the pulse point along her jawline.

“come back to mine?” you mumbled in between kisses. emily nodded, “call a cab.”

the entire ride back, the tension was almost unbearable.

you tired to be quiet for the sake of the driver but emily’s occasionally kisses to your neck made it quite difficult. to add on to that, she kept her hand on your thigh, it trailing higher and higher up as you neared your location.

after paying your ride fee (with a pretty hefty tip), you pulled emily out of the cab and towards your apartment bulding. you could tell she was in slight awe just from the outside. but with one quick tug of her hand, she was following you once more.

you fumbled with your key trying to open your door after waving to those at the front and heading up the elevator.

when the door was pushed open, you waisted no time pushing emily in. the two of you moved as quick as possible, kicking off your shoes and slowly moving towards your bedroom.

“you sure you want to do this?”

the question made you grin, “absolutely.”

____

you woke up to the weight on your chest being lifted, the sound of sheets shifting as well. your eyes struggled to open, fighting with tiredness, especially from the night before.

it was easily one of the best experiences ever.

your eyes slid open, head lolling to the side to find the creator of the noise.

emily was sitting up, sheets pooled around her waist. her raven hair fell down her back, covering up the top half of her body.

“what’s up?” you asked, pulling the covers up over your bare chest.

“i need to get going if i want to shower and be at work on time,” emily rushed out, standing up to grab her clothing strewn across the room. “shit,” she mumbled upon seeing her very revealing shirt she wore last night. there was no way to could go home in that.

“just borrow one of mine,” you offered, keeping a pillow over your eyes to block out all of the light.

she mumbled a quiet ‘thank you’ and was out the door without another word.

you later smiled to yourself at the shirt she chose.

____

neither of you could stop thinking about the night at the bar, well more the night after.

the bruises littering your neck served as a lasting reminder. the amount of concealer used in the days following was definitely a new record.

but, as always, life had to go on.

just like you had told emily, you had flown to los angeles the next day for work. well in your case, it meant photoshoots, writing music, and recording new songs.

with your hookup still in your mind, you channeled all your feelings about it into the best way you could.

emily went to work as normal, pounding through paperwork as no new case had been presented to the group.

j.j. and penelope has cornered her in the break room, already gushing out their girls night before bombarding her with questions. “where did you go that night? we looked around and one of the bartenders said you had already left.

“i know,” emily confirmed. “i saw your text.”

she grabbed her freshly made mug of coffee, already turning around to leave. j.j. followed, not quite done with figuring out where her friend went. “you met someone,” she concluded. “maybe i did j.j., i guess it’s a mystery.”

the conversation was done after that.

after work, everyone went their separate ways. the team all bid their goodbyes, each happy that they would be home on time.

emily grabbed her bag before heading out to her car, sitting in the drivers side for a few minutes before she could head out.

a text from penelope made her phone buzz. emily picked the device up before looking down at the screen and focusing on the message.

‘have you heard y/n y/l/n’s new song? oh my god it’s so good. i know you don’t really follow her but it sounds like your vibe. here’s a link with the cover art if you want to listen. i’m sure it’s playing on the radio too :)’ -p.g.

emily sucked in her breath as she read your name, mind already wandering back to the night at the bar. your words slowly pieced together in her mind, “night off, public eye, last day.” all were related to your status as a celebrity.

the first half of the song went by in a blur, emily only partially listening.

“she feels so good. i met her once and wrote a song about her, i wanna scream yeah i wanna shout it out, and i hope she hears me now,” your voice played out of the speakers.

there was absolutely no way those lyrics were about anyone else.

she examined the cover after listening to the entire song. it was fairly simple, having a more vintage vibe. you were seated on the end of a couch, arms resting on your knees and looking directly at the counter.

what initially caught her eye was your shirt. plastered across the white fabric was a band logo, the exact same one sitting in her drawer. even the small tear along the left shoulder stitching. it was the exact same one she had worn out of your apartment.

there were way to many factors for it to be a coincidence.

the lyrics. the shirt. your one night stand. it all just connected.

she was carolina.

☆ ☆ ☆

tags - @sapphicspence @itsmyblogandillreblogifiwantto @kissessforharryyy @garcias-batcave @zoseph @kissessfordraco @ogmilkis @cm-is-kinda-cool @matthewgublerswife @guessthatswhyiliveinhell @babyangellee @agentshortstacc

#criminal #criminal minds #spencer reid #spencer reid x oc #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x you #spencer reid x y/n #aaron hotchner #derek morgan #emily prentiss #emily prentiss x reader #jennifer jareau #david rossi #penelope garcia #luke alvez #matt simmons #tara lewis

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scrawnytreedemon · 3 years

Note

going off that last ask: loz/yazoo character opinion? i wanna read your thoughts!

Ohooooo, I was waiting for something like this!!! Thank you, Vee :) I’ll do my best to explain <333

Starting off with Yazoo:

First impression: Calm, level-headed, perhaps a bit shy. What surprised me the first time watching was how deep his voice was. He’s got this grace about him that leaves you simply... staring. I interpreted the introductory scene where Loz nearly cries and Yaz tells him not to as comforting-- Which I think is what a good chunk of Rem fans see it as? Overall, pretty, but not much else.

Impression now: I think he’s fucking ruthless under that dainty face, if you ask me. Honestly, it’d be right in line with Sephiroth. I think out of the both of his brothers, he gets along better with Kadaj, but if he wasn’t around, I doubt Yazoo would have nearly enough investment in their quest. He comes across as apathetic and uncompassionate, perhaps even a little haughty. I feel like his relationship with Loz is tolerable at best, and downright acidic at worst. With Loz being the way he is, I wouldn’t be surprised if Yazoo and Kadaj had to keep an eye on him at all times, just in case. I feel, though, at the end of the day Yazoo does care about his brothers, and would risk his life for them. It’s in his bones, and he can’t help it, whether he likes it or not. Still very pretty though, lmao.

Favourite moment: Been forever sinced I watched Advent Children, and, unfortunately, Yazoo my beloved doesn’t get many scenes. I’ll have to go with the introductory scene, as it gives us an idea of who they are and what their dynamic is like right off the bat.

Idea for a story: I feel like any story with Yazoo inevitably ends up involving Loz, so I’ll make a joint bullet-point for them at the end of the post <3

Unpopular opinion: Mmm, probably the more apathetic, if not downright spiteful characterisation. If my friend @vesaniens’s experience is to be believed, then at least Back In Her Day it was far more common for Yazoo and Loz to be buddy-buddy while Kadaj goes off and does his own thing. I can see the appeal in that dynamic, and understand where it comes from. There’s alot of ways you can interpret ‘don’t cry, Loz,‘ and as it is the introductory scene, however you do sets down the foundation for all that follows.

Favourite relationship: The Remnants aren’t characters I can find preferable ships for in-canon, so romantic is off the table here. I will say, though, a dynamic where Genesis and Yazoo are mentor and mentee would be downright tooth-rotting. Genesis preening him, taking him out to nice places, showing him fine literature-- I love it! I don’t see much talk about how the Remnants would relate to Gen and Geal, and I think that’s a damn shame. Plus, Yazoo can then quietly rub it in either of his brothers’ faces whenever he gets annoyed with them. To pick another, though, definitely him and Loz-- Especially if it is strained. It’s very clear they’re meant to contrast each other. Yazoo is lithe, subtle and venemous; Loz is big, loud and sensitive. I personally have a huge soft spot for fics where they recouncile their differences and learn to truly love each other.

Favourite headcanon: Honestly, I feel like I need to make a general headcanon post for the Rems as a whole. They’re all inherently tied, so a change to one of them usually affects the other two. To touch up on one from a theory I read about a year ago now(God, has it been that long?), I like the idea that the Remnants got a little bit of Genesis and Angeal mixed in. They’re like 90% Seph, give or take, but the other 10%~? Now that’s where the fun begins baby!!! In this case, the donor would be Genesis, and Yazoo would’ve gotten the more passive-aggressive, snarky, preening aspects of his character. The resentment and feelings of inferiority towards Sephiroth end up getting mixed into Kadaj, however I don’t want to elaborate on this too long lest I go off-topic. On a more crack-heavy note, I feel like if you waved a laser-pointer in front of him, he’d be transfixed. He’s too dignified to actually leap at it... But he likes watching :)

Now, as for Loz:

First impression: Big phuckign himbo, idiotte of a man. Probably can’t even buckle his own boots. Playtime??? Bitch NO, it’s not playtime! WHY ARE YOU CRYING??? But yeah, my initial view fell alot more in line with what I think is the most common interpretation of him. His excecution leans heavily to Big Dumb Idiot Man Who Cries When He Sees A Duckling.

Impression now: Baby. Poor fucking baby. Honestly, that could be said for all the Remnants, but I don’t think Loz’s struggle is discussed nearly enough. I’ve talked about this before, but, for me, it’s painfully clear that Loz is essentially a child in a grown man’s body. Writer Kazushige Nojima has Loz’s lines about playing during his fight with Tifa were based off his own son, and has described him as “missing a little something upstairs” --And looking at him through that lens, things become alot more disturbing. He’s Sephiroth’s love for Jenova; a doting, yearning, infantilising love. There’s an innocence to Loz, something sweet, something light and airy-- And to have him fight, have him torture, have him kill... just, man. This jarring dichotomy between such hulking, brutal strength, this bringer of destruction, and this kid who wants his mother. Is he aware? Does he truly understand the weight of his actions? Can he? Most of this, admittedly, is a bit of a stretch, but I love this doof alot jhdhjfdjhs can you blame me?

Favourite moment: Oh, definitely the crying scene-- You must be real tired of hearing that again. Though, in Loz’s case, it sets up his sensitivity, and his dynamic with his brothers-- Yazoo in particular.

Idea for a story: Same answer as Yaz.

Unpopular opinion: I think my more infantile view of Loz as a whole is semi-unpopular? Fandom seems pretty split on whether he’s just a himbo or actual babyman. Again, hard to tell, what with most Rem content and discussion being several years old and tricky to find. I’d be curious to have a discussion on this! But yeah, if we’re talking about the wider fanbase, I think my intense appreciation of him is definitely unusual. Alot of OG fans see the Rems as tropey villains, and while I will argue that it makes sense considering they’re fragments of a bigger, badder, more complex villain, I don’t think Loz is nearly as shallow as most would have you believe.

Favourite relationship: As discussed with Yazoo, there aren’t any canon characters I consistently ship the Remnants with -- Especially not for Loz, in particular when viewing him through that youthful lens -- Though as with everything, I am flexible :) On the platonic side... Honestly, I think Loz would just be a big softie who hangs around everyone. If Angeal was baking, Loz would definitely chip in to help, though he might cause more trouble than if he stayed aside. I think he’d try and reach out to Sephiroth, only for his affections to be rejected because the latter is Bad With Emotions and is torn between on whether the Remnants are a nuisance he hands off to his old friends or his children who he wants to scoop up and carry off into the vast cosmos.

Favourite headcanon: Loz eats alot of shit he isn’t meant to. Like, shit that would kill twenty grown men. At least once he has mistaken stinging nettle for mint, and spent the next two or three days scraping his tongue constantly. Would chase a ball if thrown, no questions asked; try playing frisbee with this dude, and you’ll end up on the other side of town by the end of it. If you try and pick him up, he just slumps, like a big, brawny ragdoll cat-- Probably purrs like one, too. Definitely appreciates a good scratch behind the ear :)

There’s like... probably mountains more, but this is what I’ve been able to coax out after a day of writing this on and off. Again, thank you so much for asking!! I’ve been meaning to ramble about the Remnants for ages now, but didn’t know how to go about it.

Aight, as promised:

Story idea: This is one I’ve had on my mind for years now. I haven’t gotten around to it, as it’d require greater familiarity with FFVII’s world as a whole, but the premise is that Yazoo and Loz escape far out into the countryside, and end up in a village. Yazoo soon falls ill, and Loz has to provide a living working for a local farmer. Their dynamic is initially strained, and without Kadaj to hold them together, they nearly end up splitting before arrival. As time passes, and as they grow closer to the community, Yazoo’s grumbles fade into concerned murmers. Slowly, he begins to trust Loz more, and Loz learns to take more responsibility. But as their friendship blossoms, Yazoo’s body withers. Bedbound, he wonders how Loz would fare without him, if he could make it. I imagine this ends up leading to Loz deliberately blowing their cover to get needed medical help from WRO, turning themselves in during the process.

Again, there’s probably more to it, but to be honest even I don’t know. That’s the great thing about creativity :) You never know where you end up!

Thank you for asking, and feel free to ask more if you’re curious! This goes for elaboration on characters already asked, certain headcanons, and even pairings! Also, feel free to add on with your own thoughts! Whether they be additions, refutations, or so on. Fandom discussion(provided it’s civil qwq) can be so much fun!

<333

#ffvii #advent children #yazoo #loz #remnants #ask meme #long post #scrawny speaks #love doing these!! keep em coming <33

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oftenderweapons · 3 years

Text

Apple of my pie (2) — Jin

A Small Town Swoons story

Chapter 2.

Pairing: Kim Seokjin x reader (nicknamed Buttercup)

Wordcount: 3.0k

Genre: non-idol!AU, Baker/Café owner!Seokjin, University student!reader Flatmates!AU, Friends To Lovers, Fluff, slightest angst

Rating: suggested 18+ (there are brief apparitions of dirty thoughts, also future episodes will contain NSFW material);

A/N: Hello my sweet poppies! Welcome to the Small Town Swoon Universe! 🥰✨

In this episode: Jin goes on his first date with Grace, who is actually a sweet person. However, during the date, he casually meets a friend who is more than capable of making him open his eyes. Meanwhile, Buttercup remembers exactly why they’re friends. The following day, the young woman faces a challenging conversation with her classmate and friend, Lara — who is also Jin’s assistant at the bakery.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Sweet date; some angst between friends (Yoongi, the psychiatrist who always cuts too deep when he speaks his mind). Meet Yoongi and his sweet and horny girlfriend, Spice. Lots of swearing, especially from Lara and Buttercup towards the end. Dirty thoughts, mentions of wet dreams, playful bickering and name calling between Buttercup and Lara. There are a couple very painful references to Severus Snape and Lily Potter (lowkey Harry Potter spoilers, just in case).

Remember to vote for next prompt (check the link in my bio) and in case you need it, here’s my masterlist 💜

In case you need it, here is the music companion (Spotify only, sorry 😔)

Enjoy! ✨💜

Navi: Chapter 1 — Chapter 2 — Chapter 3 — Chapter 4 — Chapter 5 — Chapter 6 — Chapter 7 (7/7)

Sitting at the pizza shack near the university campus, Seokjin realised that Grace wasn’t a plain human being.

She was actually cute and funny. He could see himself with someone like this.

Someone who didn’t make him feel dull and a bit of an understudy.

Grace liked puppies. She was at her last year of vet school, she was interning at the local animal clinic and she had spent all day visiting pregnant cows. She hoped she could assist to at least one birth, even though the first expected date of delivery was a couple days after her internship formally ended.

Jin grinned as he listened, genuinely warmed by her caring ways and her childlike laugh. Her name really did fit her. She had a gap between her front teeth and a very sweet dimple that made him grin each time it appeared. Small, a little soft in all the best ways — and best places, he had unwillingly noted — and terribly endearing.

The date wasn’t bad. At all.

And it was way more than decent. Almost too good for being a first date.

No misunderstandings, no embarrassment, no shyness whatsoever. The pizza was good — not as good as his, but it was an eight out of ten, solid — there had been no accidents of choking on drinks or on food, no talking while having mouths full, no uncomfortable flutters in his heart as he looked at her. It was warm. It all felt warm.

However, the more time went by, the more he realised that a few things were missing,

Like you, humming at how good the food was, making jokes about unsuspecting patrons sitting around you, people watching, building impossible scenarios and stories about specific clients, basing yourself on stolen snippets of their conversations.

The strident chord was the sudden appearance of a familiar face. Actually two of them, one slightly less familiar than the other.

“Seokjin?” The very familiar face called.

He turned. “Hello Yoongi!” He greeted with a smile and a small wave. “Hello Spice!” He said, turning to the woman at his side, his hand laced with hers.

“Where’s Buttercup?” Yoongi asked, before he turned and spotted a woman sitting before his friend.

That was not you. Yoongi turned to Seokjin and eyed him suspiciously, making sure that Jin’s table companion didn’t notice.

“Guys, this is Grace.” He introduced the girl.

Spice looked at Yoongi with a meaningful look before turning to the young woman.

“Nice to meet you, Grace.” She said warmly.

Grace blushed. “Nice to meet you too, guys,” she replied with a soft smile.

“We’ll leave you to your night, he seems to be enjoying your company, Grace.” Yoongi said politely, before turning to Seokjin. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

Seokjin’s ears blushed. He felt ashamed, “Sure. Have a good evening,” he said, bidding his friends goodbye.

“To you too,” Spice said it’s a tight smile.

The two left, moving like one, perfect as always.

Seokjin knew how that felt. That’s how he always moved with you.

“They seem good people.” Grace noted, genuinely kind, as she had been all dinner long.

“They are.” Seokjin agreed. “And they’re smart too.” He said, beginning to worry for himself.

You weren’t in the living room when Seokjin arrived at the apartment. He was glad. He was glad he could have a few minutes to rethink about how Grace had stretched to her tiptoes with her hands laced behind her back and had placed a playful peck on his cheek before wishing him goodnight and dashing upstairs.

He was glad he wouldn’t need to confront you. And from the sounds coming from your bedroom, you were very likely watching one of those dramas and films you loved so much. Once more, he was glad.

However, that small peace lasted little.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. He exhaled and picked it up.

Is Pollyanna still around?

Yoongi wrote. Seokjin shook his head in hopelessness.

I’ve just arrived home.

Yoongi called immediately. Seokjin hid into his room. “So you decided to follow Namjoon’s way?”

“I have to save myself. I can’t stand there forever, hoping for her to notice. Or to care.”

“You decided to follow the advice of a miserable man abandoned by the highschool sweetheart rather than that of other four sane men who told you to talk to her?” Yoongi said, raising his voice.

“You never said your opinion.” Seokjin noted.

“You don’t need my opinion. You didn’t care about anyone’s opinion. You had already made up your mind even before the discourse started.”

Seokjin exhaled, exasperated.

“Can’t you just say it?”

“What?” Yoongi snorted. Hearing his frustration, Spice rubbed his back trying to calm him down. He nuzzled into her warmth.

“Just say what you think for once in your life.”

Spice frowned at Seokjin’s voice blasting from Yoongi’s phone. He patted her head.

Yoongi huffed. “Fine. I think Buttercup deserves to know and choose for herself. I think she does care, no matter what you think. Also, all that self convincing you’re trying to do is just you trying to keep yourself from losing something that makes you feel comfortable. Because after all you’re comfortable, aren’t you? You just drown yourself in her so much that you don’t even have to face yourself and what you want. And we both know Pollyanna is not what you want.”

Seokjin frowned and pouted. He already knew he was being childish.

“This silence is precisely why I don’t state my opinion.” Yoongi said, speaking softly when he noticed Spice had closed his eyes beside him, on the pillow next to his. He smiled and looked at how beautiful she is. He cupped her cheek, brushing her hair off her face.

“Yoongi. I can’t go on like this forever.” Seokjin said, his voice hopeless and tired.

“I know. All I’m saying is… you should tell Buttercup first.” Yoongi replied, his voice more comprehensive and gentle.

“I am such a coward.” Jin whispered, sitting on the bed, combing his hair with his free hand.

“Listen. I know Buttercup is to you what Spice is to me. I know it.” Yoongi said, his girlfriend scooting closer to him and pressing her face to his chest. “I know I would give her anything she asks and do anything to stay as close as she allows me.” He petted her hair while her warm fingertips danced on his spine.

Seokjin shut his eyes tight. “I’m just trying to get as much as I can before they take her from me.”

“No one will ever break your bond except your lack of communication. Someday a brilliant, smart man will come along and realise how damn precious she is and snatch her for himself. All you’ll have left will be possibilities and smoky dreams.” Yoongi took a pause. “You guys are amazing. You are borderline disgusting with the amount of private stuff you know about each other. Tell her.” Yoongi said, smiling and closing his eyes once Spice’s lips tickled his throat.

“I’ll try.” Seokjin replied. “Goodnight doctor.”

“Goodnight, lover boy. Try not to have wet dreams of your flatmate.”

“Don’t you have better things to do? I bet your girlfriend keeps a list.” Jin said, biting back.

Spice’s voice rose in the background. “Jin is almost right. However, why be doing things when you could be doing me?”

Jin blushed and snickered. “Goodnight, lover boy.” He quipped before shutting the call.

Yoongi placed down his phone, then shook his head and chuckled. “Doing you, uh?”

Spice licked her lips and closed the light before she bent to his neck. “You’d better provide, Min.” She warned before he pounced on her with an ecstatic grin.

Seokjin went to grab a glass of water sometime around one a.m., quite unusually. His routine is basic: he falls asleep at ten thirty and wakes up at four thirty, showers, dresses and runs to the shop. He starts the ovens and by six fifteen the first morning batch is ready.

But that night for some reason, he woke up. He stood up. He reached the kitchen.

Maybe it was because his sleep had been fitful. Maybe because all he had been thinking about was you. You and how it would have been like to be on a date with you, what you were like on a date, if you would have kissed him goodbye on his cheek, if you would have invited him up, had you been in Grace’s shoes, hadn’t the two of you been flatmates.

First he noticed that the fridge was open. Next he noticed you, in thick flannel pjs and a tank top. You were sniffling and drying your eyes, filling your mouth with the leftovers from breakfast.

“What happened?” He asked, spying on you.

You stood up straight, his face appearing in the dim, yellow glow of the fridge.

“His patronus was a doe.” You said, your lip wobbly, cheeks still wet with tears, filling your mouth with chocolate pudding.

He rose from his position slowly, raising his head from his arms, once crossed on top of the fridge door.

Why are his shoulders are always so damn big? What’s the use of all of that… wingspan — ? — when your kitchen is so tiny? And when he needs to move in the narrow lanes of the bakery? What is he so big for?

As you watched him turn on his side, trying no to hit the fridge or the counter as he stood behind you and hugged you close.

“After all that time.” You murmured.

Seokjin held you closer as you turned around. That’s why he was so big. All those good bear hugs.

“I know.” He replied, one arm snaked around your waist, the other wrapped around your shoulders and head while his hand patted your head. “I know,” he repeated as you hiccuped and sobbed. Of course he knew. He had been stuck there himself. Loving someone after all that time. Always.

“Who pissed in your latte?” Lara asked the following day after your nine a.m. bibliology lesson. “You look awful.”

“Thank you Lara.” You said, pushing your stuff into your bag. “Jin went on a date last night.”

Lara frowned, “What do you mean?”

“On a date. Pizza. With a girl.”

She laughed. “You’re joking, right?”

“I’m serious.” You said, placing your bag on your shoulder and wrapping your scarf around your neck.

“Listen. You’ve been friends for years. Honestly, it was a matter of time before it happened.”

“He’s never had a girl, a boy, a… partner. In four years.” You said as you and Lara walked out of the room, stopping by the closest heater in the main corridor.

“Do you think he would be your loyal servant forever? Your knight in shining armour?” Lara took a small bag of caramelised almonds: she had negotiated that she would work for Seokjin for a monthly pay and a weekly amount of his grandmother’s almonds covered by raw crystallised sugar.

“I am not opposed to it, it’s just… I’m uncomfortable, okay? What if he moves out and leaves me paying full rent. I can’t do that!” You stated weakly with strong disappointment.

“He’s just dating the chick, not marrying her!” Lara replied, throwing another almond in her mouth.

The mere idea of him getting married made you even more petty. “I don’t want her to barge in and change our friendship.”

“Friendship...” Lara scoffed. “You weren’t screaming friendship at my birthday.”

“I was having a nightmare!” You snarled playfully.

“You were having a wet dream. How long has it been since you’ve—”

You pressed your hand to her mouth. “Shut the fuck up. Not talking about that.”

Lara licked your hand, making you yuck and pull it away, cleaning it against her jacket. “We should talk about that, though. Think about it, Buttercup; he’s not gonna be single forever and you definitely have a bone to pick with that Grace girl.”

“She can have him like… on weekdays.” You said, trying to be reasonable. “Except on free mornings. We have breakfast together on free mornings.”

Lara shook her head. “Don’t wanna burst your bubble, but you do realise that soon he’ll be out on dates on Saturday night and staying out until Sunday morning?”

You frowned, pouting. You opened your mouth, trying to object.

Lara snickered proudly. You couldn’t let her have that.

“Well, at least I’ll be able to get laid with him out of the house.”

“Don’t worry. He’ll be getting laid too, fucking finally. He needs it and deserves it.” Lara muttered as she thought about all those years he had spent looking at you with heart eyes. “And remember that Grace will be getting Saturday dinner. Filet mignon. All that meat...” Lara commented.

“The meat...” You said, dreamily. Juicy steaks and roasted chicken and ribs and… Meat.

Your brain short-circuited. He was tall. Handsome. Well-built. And you sort of knew he’s large. For fuck’s sake, that was your best friend you were talking about! Why would you suddenly think about his junk?

You shook your head.

Still, Lara went on, grinning as she saw you falter. “Grace will get all of that. Saturday evening. Sunday morning. Breakfast in bed. Milkshakes. Homemade gelato. Apple pies. Picnics with his granny. Trips to the lake. His granny’s roast-beef—”

“Don’t touch the roast-beef, bitch!” You hissed, pointing a finger against her chest. “Grace won’t have my roast-beef, my homemade gelato, my Sunday breakfast in bed, she won’t have my apple pies, my coffees, my picnics with granny and my Saturday dinners. And no, she will not have the meat either!” You snarled.

Lara cackled. “Nice. Then you should make a plan. ‘Cause I think she wants to take it all. Now that you’re having this sudden mystical revelation, can you also vaguely perceive that you are in L-O-V-E with your flatmate and he’s been pining for you for years and he’d love it if you accidentally fell tits-first on his cock, you big fucking dumb idiot?” Lara said, completely exasperated while a posh, preppy girl gave her the side eye, tutting in disappointment.

“Stop talking about love and all that jazz. We’re platonic. We’re fine. We’re great and we’ll always be, forever.” You said shrugging. “We’ve been friends for years. He’s had plenty of time to make a move, if he were interested.”

“He blushes when old ladies call him charming! God, you’re big dumb!” Lara said, kicking her foot against your toes.

“What?”

“He’s shy! You want him! You’re attracted to him!!! You were literally sobbing his name!” Lara punched your shoulder

You shook your head, making to walk away. “Night-fucking-mere!” You objected violently.

“Li-fucking-ar!” She mirrored as she tugged at your arm and followed you.

Yes. After all, you were a liar. And well, first and foremost, you liked lying to yourself.

“He’s my best friend. I am not attracted to him. And I know I’ll never be.”

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

Navi: Chapter 1 — Chapter 2 — Chapter 3 — Chapter 4 — Chapter 5 — Chapter 6 — Chapter 7 (7/7)

#bangtanhq #thetruthuntoldnet #kim seokjin x reader #jin x reader #kim seokjin #Baker!seokjin #bts fanfiction #bts blog #seokjin flatmates!au #seokjin friends to lovers

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drivingsideways · 3 years

Note

In your experience, how much can a fic really improve after a shitty first draft? I can never just make myself keep writing without editing because I always think: the better the first draft, the better the final product :(

Hi!

First a disclaimer: I am not the best editor! I hate it! When the first draft is done, my impulse is to get “rid” of the story as fast as I can; I often feel emotionally done with the fic before I’m actually done with fixing it, even at like, basic proof- reading level. And that’s something I’m trying to fix as a writing process, but I don’t always succeed. The luxury of fanfic writing is that it’s so low stakes that you can do this, and feel only a mild pinch of conscience.

Anyway, trufax: I don’t have the kind of patience that @rain-hat has for revisions. And I can see the difference in the quality of the fic! So this is why I’m trying to internalize and nurture within myself some discipline and patience.

So this “first draft only has to exist” rule is really something I currently use when I’m feeling particularly stuck. Which happens a lot, especially when writing long fics, or feeling that my fic is getting out of hand. (As I write this, I’m side-eyeing my current WIP where I really want to write just That One Scene, but I’m finding myself writing 5k words of back story to get there.)

Anyways! I think the point of first drafts- they are allowed to be shitty. Second, I don’t think first drafts are actually first drafts in the sense that they’re not just top of the head, no filter brain to paper/ word doc writing! It’s just the first version of the story where it’s completed in the most basic sense, but within it lies many “drafts” that you’ve discarded along the way.

Ok, so first, the different ways in which first drafts are shitty. There are so many.

There’s the kind where at some point you realize that ohhh, a key plot point is resting on something totally unworkable/ untenable even within the universe of your fic, forget “real life.” This is probably something you should fix straight up, as you write, because otherwise you end up with a lot of rewriting and midnight cursing.

Then there’s the kind where you’ve got midway or even three-fourths through your initial plan, and it feels patchy and incoherent- maybe you aren’t hitting the right emotional notes in sections or you’ve bogged yourself down in subplots that felt necessary when you started, but now JUST WON’T WRAP UP. This is the kind of thing where I think it’s super useful to remember that you can fix it later. Give the story some time to rest with you, and sometimes, writing ahead actually clarifies what it was that wasn’t working before. Enjoy going down the rabbit hole with whatever silly subplot or character is demanding your attention. Once it’s done, literally cut that section out into another document or something and let it sit there! Then come back. You’re a fic writer! There’s no deadline! Nobody outside of you ever even needs to read these parts where you reveal your obsession with idk, wine prices in 18th century NY, or whatever. It can be fixed!

There’s the kind of shitty where the sentences just sit there like ungainly rocks on a hill and you’re frantically looking up synonyms for “said”. Adjacent is the kind of shitty where you’ve been swinging between tenses like a trapeze artist within the same sentence. This is the kind of thing I’d say you can fix relatively stress free- even if you cringe a lot as you go through the edit. Thank god your English teacher won’t ever see this kind of thing. I’m REALLY bad at this kind of fixing though, so if I can bamboozle kind souls into beta reading for me, then I do so pretty shamelessly. But wow, it’s amazing just how much, idk, just neat punctuation and fewer adverbs will improve the readability of the fic dramatically. If you don’t have a beta reader- I think it’s great to take a few days off entirely from the fic, until you’ve more or less forgotten what you wrote. Fresh set of eyes- even your own- can help this part a LOT!

So the other thing I mentioned- the first draft isn’t actually “first”.

I’m also a fan of editing as I go along, or going back to a previous section to tweak things. Sometimes I write a chapter, and then wake up the next morning and think, well, that wasn’t great, and I’m not able to move on until I fix it. So then I do that, and the "first draft” version may more or less be this “second” version. And y’know, I know some fic writers who will draft and redraft each paragraph as they go along because they can’t get to the next section in their heads until they do that. And that’s fine, if that’s working for you! But for me, what happens is that I run out of patience, and then stress myself out, which makes the “imperfect” section have even less of a chance of being fixed.

So this is where non linear writing helps me, as a trick, to move the story along while also keeping me mentally in a good place re: the story. In my most recent fic, I actually wrote the end and then went back to the beginning. Which was a very, very weird thing to do, even for me--but after the prologue, that I’d written first, I just wasn’t able to make the introductory chapter work. Just staring at blank pages and feeling a rising panic. Because I was in that obsessive stage with the fic, y’know, when you’re thinking about it constantly , but the problem was I wasn’t thinking about the chapter I was supposed to write, it was the chapter I wanted to write. So that’s what I did!

And I think this trick works if your story isn’t very plot heavy; or it is, but you do have a good and detailed plot outline done. That way, you don’t mess up too much in terms of continuity and so on. Sometimes I find that just making chapter headings clear my head out A LOT. Also then I can do the - ok, you have 3 chapters to go ONLY. (Lies, this will become 5, but still.) Anyway, having some kind of progress bar does help a lot!

Ok, this is extremely long and somewhat rambly. I hope it’s encouraging!

Last thing: it’s fine if you trash the first draft and start all over. (Ok, don’t REALLY trash it, keep it there. You’ll find some of it would be useful!) Anyways, lots of pro authors say that their first draft and the final version are completely different- so you know, sometimes that does happen. Maybe the right thing to do IS trash it, and approach the story or the characters from a different perspective. It’ll be hard to do, and you need to allow yourself space and time to mourn the bits you’re trashing (the grief is REAL!) but at the end of the day, you’ll free yourself to write the better version of the story!

Ok, really shutting up now. :D

Take care and best of luck with your writing projects!

#writing things #Anonymous

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werewolves-are-real · 3 years

Text

hot take: writers on this site are amateurs. And you can’t expect them to be perfect.

Writing is hard - specifically, writing so that the audience comes to the exact conclusions/perspectives you want is difficult, and fic writers vary wildly in terms of experience and skill in this area. Short stories or fics are also often unedited, not workshopped or reviewed with others beforehand, and sometimes posted immediately. Some fic writers are TEENAGERS.

It’s insane to see people get worked up and indignant because writers - who are usually well-intentioned - make mistakes and portray situations poorly. (Or, as the case may be, run wild with headcanons that might be Problematic). Even if you dislike the implications of a scene, a characterization, a situation - there’s a big difference between someone trying to make a point and just *failing* versus someone trying to be malicious.

I don’t see this a lot in comments on AO3 - though I admit I don’t exactly scrawl through other people’s comment sections either - but people sure do like to get angry on tumblr. And the ‘cancel culture’ here can take things to ridiculous levels.

When I was taking an introductory creative writing course at college, someone in my class wrote a short story about an interfaith couple, a christian woman and muslim man, visiting the christian’s home for christmas. It was very brief, and if I recall correctly the big scene was the muslim eating pork to fit in/make his girlfriend’s parents happy.

I thought this was pretty gross - it read in a way that portrayed the muslim character as giving up important parts of his identity/religion to satisfy other people’s expectations, and framed this as a positive thing. The writer insisted that this wasn’t true, that the story was meant to show the importance of ‘compromise’ to make other people happy. It was supposed to show that some things in life - like getting along with other people, especially family - should be prioritized, and therefore wasn’t islamophobic at all. And they would know, because they were jewish and also didn’t eat pork.

And I said, okay, great. We’re not talking about you being jewish. I’m saying that this story has problems, and there’s nothing in it that talks about compromise, no hint that this christian couple is trying to ‘compromise’ or be considerate of the muslim character’s needs, and either way it’s wrong to think that it’s positive for someone to have to sacrifice such an important ideal for a relationship.

I would like to emphasize; I do not believe that this person was islamophobic. And yes, they were Jewish, and they weren’t trying to trivialize Islamic dietary restrictions either. The author was not malicious and I genuinely believe they were trying to write a story with a good moral meaning, but they did a bad job, it wasn’t portrayed well, and to me - as a reader - it held a bad and radically different message regardless of intent.

This is something worth pointing out to them in a workshop, obviously, since we were trying to improve each other’s writing. It is NOT something to get angry about, and it’s not a reason to accuse the author of being racist or islamophobic or whatever. They were not a professional writer, and imo they didn’t do a good job. The end.

I’m rambling but just - some of you need to calm down a bit and remember to be kind with people who are literally amateurs writing for fun. People who might be posting as soon as something’s written because they don’t want to stress over a *hobby*, people who do not have professional editors combing over their works and offering suggestions. Writing well is hard and it takes a lot of effort and skill to convey the meaning you *want*, and even then, people come into stories with their own backgrounds and assumptions that might not be shared.

And? If you accept that this is true for fanfic - it also applies to TV writing/professional authors/etc, at least to some degree. Yes, these people should be held to higher standards - they *are* doing this professionally, they have editors, etc - but writers still aren’t going to be perfect. They’re human, and humans make mistakes, and humans aren’t always aware of *what they don’t know* about a minority group/sensitive situation. You can accept this and still want them to do better. even call for them to do better, without outright ‘canceling’ someone or deciding they’re an irredeemable bigot. This won’t do anything but intimidate writers into *not* tackling difficult issues, which presumably is not the goal.

And the same principal ABSOLUTELY applies to everyday posts on this hellsite. I’m not saying the issues don’t ‘matter,’ but you can’t reasonably expect every single person to have perfect understanding of all the latest Discourses everywhere, about everything, AND be able to write casual posts with perfect vocab/phrasing that can’t be possibly (often deliberately!!) misinterpreted as hostile. People get angry about the tiniest things on here, often reading into messages to get angry about a message that wasn’t in the original post to begin with.

For example - people getting angry about posters who use ‘outdated’ terminology. This is not malicious - people just aren’t up-to-date on whatever is lately concerned the ‘correct’ vocabulary. Or, another example - if someone discusses a show and calls a bi character/actor gay they are probably not trying to deny bi people exist, they most likely a) don’t know better or b) just spoke imprecisely. That’s it!! You can correct them, I guess, but why are you getting so upset? I see long, angry, pointed rants about this all the time, tacked onto casual one-sentence posts which, believe it or not, were not meant as political declarations. I might tell people I’m a lesbian bc I don’t want to dredge into the details of my precise brand of queer and it gets the point across - people do that too.

People are going to use the wrong words and fumble, sometimes. That’s... really not the most important thing about what’s being said. Look at a person’s attitudes, not whether their language is perfectly PC.

Forgive mistakes, be patient. Start assuming that people have *good intentions* and you’ll be a lot happier

#writing #the brand of activism on this site is exhausting and I hate it #shouting at people does not help anything calm down #long #rant

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hp-fanfic-archive · 3 years

Text

an introductory rec list (that no one asked for) to some of my favorite ships: wolfstar [1/10]

First fic I read for the pairing: Where Rain And Smoke Mingle by smallestbird [1k,T] It doesn't matter if they've disowned you, they're still your family. It doesn't matter how often you walk away, it still hurts. [it’s a bit dreary, but the writing style is so nice and i’m a big sucker for hurt/comfort]

Fic that really sold me on the pairing: Of Brothers and Boyfriends by Amuly [38k,E] There’s no summary on the fic, but, essentially, Remus and Sirius’s secret relationship gets found out and things get… complicated. (warning for homophobia) [My note on my ao3 bookmark pretty much sums up how I feel about this fic: Honestly one of my favorites (and one of the stories that really got me hooked on Wolfstar tbh) and I've read it at least eight times. However, I’m not entirely sure how I feel about the homophobic James Potter (even though he does come around).]

Absolute favorite fic(s) for the pairing: Text Talk by merlywhirls [141k,Not Rated] Sirius is in boarding school, Remus is in hospital, and they don't know each other until Sirius texts the wrong number. (warnings for homophobia, mentions of abuse, and homophobic language) [One of the earlier fics I read and it’s always just been one of my favorites, even though it’s been 3 years since I read it for the first time.] Harry Potter and the Live Laugh Love Sign in the Basement by loudestfandomsoftheworld [24k,T] Harry spends his summer with his fugitive godfather and his former professor who is a jobless werewolf. It's probably the best summer he's ever had. [The humor, the characterizations, their relationships, it’s all so fucking perfect!!] Go East [+Podfic] by xinasvoice [84k,E] Remus has been running for a long time. Eventually, he runs into a strange castle built by a wizard and his young apprentice. The longer he stays, the more secrets he uncovers...and the less he wants to leave. This is a novel-length adventure story that loosely follows the plot of Howl's Moving Castle. It does not require knowledge of the HMC book or movie to enjoy it. [it made me laugh, it made me cry, and it’s plot is based on one of my all time favorite movies? 11/10] Of Queries and Quarantines by MoonCat457 [51k,E] LUPIN.RJ: James, WHY? POTTER.JF: Because you’re the one currently doing the job, so it makes sense that you’d be the one to train the person hired to take your place. LUPIN.RJ: No, I mean why is Monty hiring a new editor in the middle of a fucking pandemic? POTTER.JF: An old friend of mine is in a tough spot and needs a job, so of course, dad is helping him out. - - - - OR A story set in the middle of the pandemic in which Sirius is hired at the Potter’s publishing company and Remus is responsible for training him. Lots of texting, lots of video calls, lots of mutual pining, and a lot of really bad literature quotes. [i’ve largely avoided quarantine au fics, but sometimes they’re so well-written and hilarious and also a texting fic and i accidentally fall in love with them, so here we are.]

Most recent fic I’ve read for the pairing: There Is No Man, However Wise by enigmaticblue [87k,T] It’s 1988, Sirius has Harry, and possession is nine-tenths of the law. [i adore a good raising harry au and i also adore the premise of the series this is in and i also adore the writing story and characterizations. 10/10]

Favorite AU(s) I’ve read for the pairing: High School AU: Likewise Variable by ssstrychnine [28k,T] James has plans, Peter is the nurse, Sirius keeps fake blood up his sleeves, and Remus just tries to stay alive. [i first read this fic in 2017 and it still lives rent free in my mind. it’s hilarious, a perfect characterization of the marauders (even tho it’s a muggle modern high school au) and adding shakespeare? just icing on the fucking cake. it’s excellent.] University AU: Wannabe Your Lover by Maraudererasmut & shadow_prince [15k,M] Somewhere in America, Fall of 1997 - Returning to University, James refused to room with Sirius in the wake of The Great Cheez-it Battle of '96. They must adjust to living with someone new, Mr. Potter worried they'd both get scurvy, James unsuccessfully continued trying to court one Lily Evans, Snape got what was coming to him, and Sirius was the most confused of them all. [this is the university experience we all wish we had, lowkey. aside from the hilarity that comes from having the marauders in a fic, it’s just cute and well-written and i love it (and southern remus??? it’s everything i never knew i needed.] Alternate Sorting AU (Slytherin Remus): Half Agony, Half Hope by Barry_Manilows_Wardrobe [21k,E] A tale wherein Sirius Black loses 750 House Points for Gryffindor. But it’s totally worth it. [listen, if, before i read this fic, you asked me if remus could’ve been a slytherin, my answer would have been “perhaps but probably not.” now, however, yeah. 100%. it’s hilarious, it’s novel (which i love to see), but it’s still the same remus and sirius and it’s excellent.] Haunted House AU: Another Day in the Sun by REwrites [19k,T] Is it haunted? I suppose that depends on who is telling the story. [really really excellent and a little haunting (pun entirely intended). it’s romantic and sweet and a little bittersweet but i adore it.]

WIP(s) I really love for the pairing: We Were Infinite by WolfstarPups90 [336k,E] “The Marauders aren’t something that will just go away once we graduate.” James continued, taking a more serious tone and addressing not only Remus, but the fear that they all had found recently in the back of their minds about what may become of them outside the walls of Hogwarts. “We’re a family. We’ve proven that again and again, haven’t we? We’re forever. Unstoppable. We’re infinite.” The full story of The Marauders from September 1st 1971 - October 31st 1981. (Heavily centered around Wolfstar and Jily in later chapter) [the first WIP i ever read (usually i stick to completed works, but this was being pretty regularly updated when i started reading it and also it’s fucking iconic so what can i say?)] Of Leaves and Stars by irrationalmoony & LadyAmina [273k,T] Almost a year out of Hogwarts, Lily finally manages to convince Sirius and James to get more acquainted with muggle technology and buy phones. Sirius, of course, texts the wrong number. [everyone is queer! (as they well should be). also: is it complete? no. has that stopped me from reading it twice? also no.]

Favorite Series for the pairing: TransVerse by picascribit [30k,E,2 works] Canon-divergent AU in which Remus is a transgender boy instead of being a werewolf. (warnings for underage, transphobia, internalized transphobia, bullying, self-harm) [i am a trans remus stan and this series is iconic, but also heed the tags kids.]

Longest fic I’ve read for the pairing: Once in a Blue Moon by FullMoonDreams [408k,M] In a world where Remus never received his Hogwarts invitation and Sirius wasn't accepted by the Gryffindors the two lonely boys become friends. A story beginning in their first year, and continuing right through Hogwarts and beyond. RLSB. [this fic emotionally ruined me,,, but like,,, in a good way, you know? i will probably never reread it because i cried for hours the first time, but the plot does live rent free in my mind (and i do have a playlist of songs that remind me of it).]

Fic(s) with some of my favorite tropes: Matchmaking: Pining, Parchment, Plotting, and Pranks by KayBee1762 [12k,T] “Idea parchment,” James said. He unfolded it and smoothed it out. “You want to get them together, right? That’s why you came to me?” “Yeah,” Lily huffed, which was ridiculous because he was right, that’s why she came to him. But it was supposed to be her idea, because she wanted to help her dear friend Remus, not James or Sirius. But it was so nice to be able to talk about this with someone, and James looked so pleased and excited. “Good,” James said. “Good, because they need to get together, they would be so happy and so good together, and Sirius will stop sighing like a lovesick puppy and just snog him instead.” In which Lily considers changing Houses, James blushes a lot, Sirius is his usual dramatic self, Remus mopes, and Peter knew everything all along. [the marauders (especially james and lily) trying to play matchmaker is one of my favorite instances of the classic matchmaking trope.] Road Trips + Bed Sharing: Of Comets and Counter-Examples by Woldy [5k,T] If the past is a foreign country, can travel help to resolve a troubled history? Dumbledore assigns Remus and Sirius a mission to explore three European cities, or perhaps to find each other. [a lovely tale of travel, reunions, comfort, friendship, and self-rediscovery. plus, travel, bed sharing, and friends to lovers??? yeah] Matchmaking (again): In The Middle by Blossomwitch [3k,Not Rated] James is the natural confidant of both Remus and Sirius. When they both swear him to secrecy on the same topic, James is stuck watching his friends pine for each other without being able to say a word to bring them together. A lesser man might shrink from the challenge of finding a way to break his promise without breaking his promise, but not James Potter! [i already did a matchmaking trope fic i know but what can i say other than the trope fucking slaps and so does this fic.]

#wolfstar #remus/sirius #sirius/remus #wolfstar fic rec #wolfstar fic rec list #intro to my fav ships rec list #hp fic rec #hp fic rec list #queue is for quibbler

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warsofasoiaf · 3 years

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I've got a video game suggestion-you've mentioned that your favorite quest in Witcher 3 is Reason of State, and I would like to hear your analysis of that quest.

This is truly a god-tier quest, a very good example of well-done quest design, that culminates a world’s worth of quest-building and features some exceptional character work. Since we’re going to be up to our necks in spoilers, there’s a cut here.

Reason of State might be the grand climax and resolution of the quest arc, but context in this is critical and that goes. The northern wars between Nilfgaard and the Northern Kingdoms is all over the games. Nilfgaard’s plan to assassinate Northern kings using Letho of Gulet is the entire plot of Witcher 2, and the war between Radovid and Emhyr forms the backdrop for Witcher 3. The Northern Kingdoms are almost all broken by the time of the Witcher 3. Temeria is occupied, Foltest was murdered in the Witcher 2. Natalis missing from the Witcher 3, and Vernon Roche forced to fight a guerilla war in caves. Velen is a broken land thanks to this war and under the absentee rule of the Bloody Baron. Aedirn is a non-entity, Stennis is absent no matter what happened in Witcher 2. Kaedwyn is gone, Henselt either being killed by Roche or Radovid and forcibly integrated into Redania. Only Redania remains, forcibly integrating Kaedwyn, but it is run by Radovid V. By the third game, Radovid is a cruel, psychotic king, but has a solid understanding of tactics enough to fight the Nilfgaardians to a stalemate (and he will win, without player intervention). Nilfgaard is responsible for a lot of Northern disorder, their campaign to use Letho to kill Northern kings successfully rid themselves of Demavend III and Foltest, the first of whom was able to successfully predict Emhyr’s movements while the latter is the leader of the most powerful kingdom and successfully defeats Nilfgaard’s invasion. But it’s not all Nilfgaard, Philipa Eilhart murdered King Vizimir II, Radovid’s father and one of the chief architects of the First Northern War victory, largely out of a bid for personal power. This paragraph shows that things are bad all around. Emhyr is a blatant expansionist responsible for a great deal of suffering, and the only man capable of resisting him is an open sadist relentlessly persecuting mages, which might be the only hope for the North to remain independent (it won’t be, but you have no way of knowing that at present)

When the player begins to be introduced to the characters, they’re framed as desperate men on the fringe. Roche is waging a crusade with his Blue Stripes, but the Nilfgaardian advance has been stymied largely by Redania and the two sides attempting to compete for the fleets and treasures of Novigrad. He’s forced to working with Radovid, who he openly doesn’t like, out of a practical need to do something. Ves is even throwing herself into suicide missions against Mulbrydale, out of a desire to do something worthwhile, a far cry from the man who was such a major mover of the plot in Witcher 2. King Radovid does not present well, acting psychotic in his introductory scene with the chessmen, and acting poorly toward Geralt, the player character and thus the vector for exploring the game world even if he is an established character (it’s worth noting that one of the best ways to get a player to dislike a character is to have them be rude to the PC, no matter how justified it may be in-universe). His mage hunts are also not likely to endear themselves to the player; the two primary love interests to Geralt and friends to Ciri are mages, and the witch hunters attempt to bilk Geralt of his reward by demanding the megascope crystal in Redania’s Most Wanted. Djikstra is helpful enough to Geralt during his hunt for Dandelion, but the two end on a bad note which isn’t entirely Djikstra’s fault since Geralt did lie to him; he’s notably nicer if you secure him his vault key, but that requires botching a quest and ends up causing Triss to commit torture to progress the storyline. The player character inclined to be friendly to Roche, if only because he tends to be straight and polite with you. Sure enough, Roche and Ves help out during the climatic fight in Kaer Morhen. Radovid isn’t even an option (and will kill Kiera Metz, further engendering hatred from the player since she’s another character Geralt can shack up with and Kiera’s absence means fellow Wolf School witcher Lambert dies). Djikstra doesn’t help you at all if you don’t get his key back, and if you do he gives you gold, which isn’t likely to be very significant since you’re likely swimming in coin by that point in the game.

One of the things I like in this questline is that this is a big and monumental quest, but you will lose it if you don’t take the time to get in good with the plotters, you’ll simply miss this quest. If you don’t get in good with the plotters, they won’t trust you. And if you beat down Djikstra instead of giving him information, he despises you and won’t bring you in on the plot, Geralt’s effectiveness as a Witcher and as a protagonist be damned. That’s something that more games need to be doing, rewarding players for investing themselves in the game with content. A lot of Triple-A games these days are so scared of players missing or cutting themselves out of content that they refuse to do this, which makes a lot of RPG’s feel far more shallow. I’m sympathetic to a point to game developers, content is expensive. Graphics and voice acting are expensive and losing content means spending money on content that’s not going to hit 100% of the audience. Thing is though, the same argument can be made for sidequests, or even for alternative conversation paths, so I don’t consider it a good enough excuse on its own. Avoiding this is as brainless as it is lazy.

When the game circles back after the Isle of the Mists, things are clearly reaching a breaking point. Djikstra has recruited like-minded conspirators to his cause to kill Radovid, each of whom have their own reasons. Djikstra, who worked with Radovid’s father, finds him a poor king unlikely to continue Vizimir’s great reign. Gregor the Redanian guard sees the devastation wrought by Radovid’s lynchings and persecutions and despises it, his loyalty to his country is too high to desert but he feels he needs to do something. Thaler and Roche are devoted to the idea of a free Temeria that they’re willing to back Djikstra’s play to bring an end to the Third Northern War. The player is likely to support the conspirators, Radovid’s support of the witch hunters has led to the deaths of non-humans since you need to complete Now or Never and save the mages; pogroms aren’t a great way to endear a player character to Radovid, especially since Zoltan the dwarf has been nothing but a straight-up pal to Geralt. This is a good tactic in RPG quest design, by making the least appealing result the default, it encourages the player to do the quests. As any GM can tell you, you have to make your players want to do the quests, otherwise they’ll do something else. Games are not able to just make up a new quest off the cuff like an improvisational tabletop GM can (this was one of my strengths as a GM, if you trust my players’ judgment), so they must heavily rely on getting the player to do quests. Some are mechanical, do this quest for XP and loot that makes you better at the game. The Witcher excelled though, at getting people invested in characters.

The conspirators’ play won’t work though, not without help from Phillipa; the hated mage is the bait that they need for the trap to work (and coincidentally, it won’t work without Geralt as well both because Phillipa won’t give her ring to any of the other plotters and by virtue of Geralt as the protagonist in the RPG). The trap is laid for Radovid, and if the player goes through with it, Radovid is executed by Phillipa, who flies off into the night having murdered yet another Redanian king.

Then, after the conspirators escape, the stage is set for Geralt to make a moral choice when Djikstra betrays the conspiracy. It’s a wonderfully set and acted scene, from Djikstra quoting a Macbeth stand-in to the patriots’ giddy excitement at the future. Then, the shoe drops and the conspiracy falls apart. Djikstra plans to become the next Vizimir, taking Radovid’s consolidated northern kingdom of Redania and Kaedwyn and fighting Emhyr to a standstill. Temeria would be subsumed into that, ceasing to exist. Naturally, this enrages the Temerian patriots, who refuse to go along with that scheme. It leaves Geralt with a choice, leave and allow Djikstra to murder Roche, Ves, and Thaler, or stay and defend them, resulting in a fight that will end in Djisktra’s death. This is often the case in partisan movements throughout history, where a power struggle over the shape of the victory to come causes disunity and strife, ending with one faction murdering the other ones, so points for historical and thematic elements being on point for the gritty fantasy. Similarly, by making the choice being the resolution of a conspiracy, it threads the needle between the protagonist doing everything and solely resolving the ending for one faction, which often feels shallow, and giving the player no agency which robs investment in the ending. By allowing the conspirators their machinations and taking advantage of others already in place, it allows the player to feel a meaningful impact that has wide implications. Fallout’s ending slides could be hit or miss, though the small scale of post-apocalyptica does make it more relevant. It hits a nice sweet spot, where it’s probably a bit too much to be realistic in a straight history but works just nicely for the scope of fantasy fiction. By forcing the player to do the quests for these people, not only does it meet the threshold of believability by explaining why they would bring Geralt on the quest save that he’s the protagonist, but it invests the player in the characters. Of course, this can only be done because the game did such wonders with its character work. Even if you don’t play Witcher 2, you see Roche love his country, you see Ves try to defend Mulbrydale, and they both can contribute meaningfully in the Battle at Kaer Morhen. Djikstra does influence the main plot and he can be funny with his sarcastic quips delivered by excellent voice acting. Thaler is less of a presence, but he’s also side-splittingly hilarious when he taught the trolls to swear, the player likes these characters and so likes the quest they’re in, and picking between them does actually cut deep in a way that Telltale Games “pick which character you want” drama can only hope to achieve in its wildest dreams. It’s political game storytelling at it’s best, using character work which is easier for players to identify with as I mentioned in my geopolitics essay.

Backing Djikstra is tough in the short run, because you lose three characters that you probably like. Roche and Ves, after all, did join you in Kaer Morhen and it seems cold for them to help and then betray them, unless of course, you didn’t ask for their help. Djikstra rules and reforms the North on a program of modernization, often contrary to the wishes of his subjects. Plenty might think that to be a path of success for the North, since Djikstra will build a military that will defend them and ensure a general level of prosperity. You just have to turn a blind eye to the Temerian patriots being slaughtered by Djikstra.

The alternative, backing Roche and Thaler isn’t a pure win either. Temeria becomes a province of Nilfgaard, but Emhyr gets Aedirn and Lyria. Emhyr finally wins his war and isn’t likely to stop his expansionist ways unless Ciri becomes Empress. Even then, he’s a senior statesman and can exert influence if he wants, Ciri even says so. We can get Roche’s perspective, and we like Roche. After all, he (probably) helps us out in the grand fight at Kaer Morhen, but he’s not an unbiased observer. He’s a Temerian partisan happy to sell out the other Northern Realms for a dubious pretense at some internal autonomy for Temeria alone. In plenty of ways, the Roche path is a collaborationist success story, selling out the North for Temeria alone.

The choice is yours to take and to make what you will. Plenty of folks might hope for a change in direction if they put Ciri on the Nilfgaardian Throne, but they might instead desire for her to adventure on her own as a de facto Witcher. In that case, Emhyr fails, is killed, and who knows what happens next? Could more provinces break away, might there be further wars in Nilfgaard, or power struggles, or something else. It could go a lot of different ways and it’s up to the player to decide. In a way, that’s amazing in its own right, because it’s actually what the real world is like. The absence of a golden ending is standard fare for grimdark, but that so much is left open shows a level of restraint and trust in the player that I admire in a developer.

Thanks for the question, Anon. Hope you liked it.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

#witcher #witcher 3 #video game reviews

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thanksjro · 4 years

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Spotlight: Hoist - This One’s About the Guy I Keep Mistaking for Hound.

It’s time to focus on the straight man. Not, like, straight as in hetero. Don’t get it twisted, Hoist is queer by default just like every Cybertronian in IDW, not that that’s been established in-canon just yet. No, Hoist is the straight man because he’s the grounding line in this issue.

Hoist, as established during Spotlight: Trailcutter, is off the Lost Light currently on a mission. At this exact moment, he’s running from something.

Well, it was nice knowing you, Hoist!

No, he manages to escape Tarn’s grasp by doing some sweet grappling hook drifting using his tow line, and books it for the crashed shuttle that all his fellow mission-goers are hiding out in. Missionaries, if you will. Looks like Swerve left right after Trailcutter hung up on him, so it’s probably for the best that he didn’t get that forcefield around his voice box. Can’t imagine it working at that long a range. Sunstreaker’s here, along with his pet, Bob. Sunstreaker’s feeling a little salty right now, probably because he’s supposed to be the handsome one, and instead he’s got some sort of face thing going on in this issue.

Yeah, nobody looks quite right in Spotlight: Hoist. Then again, maybe I just don’t get Cybertronian beauty standards.

On that note, let’s take a real quick look at our interior artist for this issue, Agustin Padilla. Padilla doesn’t have a ton of work within the Transformers franchise, but he’s worked on some iconic pieces- specifically, MTMTE #16, The Gloaming.

Yeah, THAT one. We’ll get more into his work when we hit that issue, I promise.

Back to the story at hand: Hoist puts on the cloaking device for the ship, hiding them from Tarn, then gripes to Swerve about the scanner scope being a huge friggin’ liar, because it said that there wasn’t a gotdang thing out there, because there clearly is. Swerve is less than thrilled by the prospect of having Tarn in the general vicinity, to the point that he forgets how to talk for a solid .5 seconds. Swerve’s seen the DJD in action, and it’s not pretty.

They’ve got six hours before the cloaking shields drain the power, then it’s goodbye Safetytown, hello Murderville. So, what better way to spend their final hours than by sniping at one another over things like fault and who’s gotten the shortest end of the stick here?

Looks like Perceptor has a pretty strong lead on all the other guys, seeing as his legs have become one with the ship. Hoist’s busy trying to get in touch with the Lost Light, though no one’s picking up. Gee, wonder why.

Swerve is really in a needling mood, as he asks Sunstreaker where his apology is, seeing as he was the one piloting the ship when they crashed. Sunstreaker blows a gasket for a second over the fact that all he seems to do these days is apologize. Hoist manages to calm the situation and change the topic pretty smoothly, as he fiddles around with the internals of the shuttle to try and get the Lost Light’s attention.

Good at multitasking, Hoist is.

We get the backstory on Bob, who Sunstreaker found after Metroplex woke up and decimated the local Insecticon population on Cybertron, almost certainly upsetting the balance of the ecosystem and traumatizing poor Bob. Yes, even our dog stand-ins have trauma in MTMTE. Sunstreaker, in true pet-owner fashion, baby-talks Bob, saying that he’ll bite that big, nasty Tarn if he gets near them, won’t he? Oh yes he will! Yes he will! What a good boy, yes you are!

Swerve isn’t so optimistic.

Well, that’s certainly a sentence I just read with my own two eyes. Really hoping this is a bit of hyperbole, because I’d hate to think just what sort of life Swerve’s led that resulted in him watching a guy triple his size give himself an enema.

Sunstreaker, who knows that Swerve is kind of a massive baby, isn’t terribly impressed with how scared the DJD made Swerve, accidentally strokes the guy’s ego for a moment.

Swerve, completely on the defensive now, lists off the five things he’s afraid of. Hoist butts in to point out the implausibility of Swerve’s fears.

Smash cut to four hours later, and Swerve hasn’t slowed down a bit, having talked to the point that he doesn’t even realize he’s doing it anymore. Sunstreaker’s about had it with this marathon bashing he’s receiving, and suggests that Swerve pick on Hoist for a change. Swerve declines, saying that there just isn’t enough material to work with, because Hoist is boring.

Fun fact, this is his character quote for his introductory paragraph on the Wiki article. He had so little characterization up to this point, this is what they went with. Such is the fate of many of the Transformers who didn’t enter the original 80s cartoon until the second season. Roberts decided to run with it and take the rare opportunity to NOT give someone mental illness so severe and unchecked it’s simultaneously sad and hilarious. Hoist is probably the only dude in the entirety of the IDW run to just be a regular person.

After Swerve confirms that he does in fact know his colors, we blow past another hour, to find Hoist hard at work cutting Perceptor off of the ceiling/floor- Hoist, like most everyone on the Lost Light, is a doctor- as Sunstreaker and Swerve discuss previous scrapes they’ve gotten through. Apparently Sunstreaker fell off a bridge forever ago that was named after a biblical reference, because it doesn’t matter how little you believe in a higher power, you CANNOT escape the pull of the 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜.

Swerve asks Hoist if he has anything to contribute to the discussion, and while Hoist does have experience in near-death situations, he’d really rather not talk about it. Swerve respects his privacy.

Well, he tries.

Hoist indulges our little red and white idiot, because it’ll get everyone the Swerve-equivalent of peace and quiet, and begins his tale.

Long story short, it looks like another hotshot pilot had the same idea as Hoist’s, and things got a little crashy-explodey-everyone’s-deady. Hoist was the only survivor, and had to walk his sorry butt back to civilization. Then the exhaustion set in, and he was forced to sit there, fully convinced that he would die alone in the middle of nowhere.

Once he’s finished with his story, Hoist makes the horrific discovery that Swerve’s been bleeding to death over the last five hours, and failed to mention it.

No, Sunstreaker, he’s honestly just like that all the time.

Swerve’s spark casing has ruptured, which I can only imagine is somewhat similar to having a hole poked in your heart. A problem, to put it lightly. Sunstreaker and Hoist decide that, to keep Swerve from biting it, they’ll take the fight to the DJD, in an attempt to get some sort of transport back to the Lost Light and all the tasty medical equipment on board.

Man, it really is unfortunate that Rung’s still not got a head at this point in the timeline, because Swerve is like a jelly donut filled with self-loathing. God just took a jumbo-sized bakery syringe and jammed it right in there.

Hoist and Sunstreaker ignore Swerve’s protests/pained screaming, and gear up for a fight with what they can find. Hoist manages to make two working crossbows and a butt-ton of arrows, not to mention a couple bowie knives in about five minutes, and they head out to kick some tushie.

The lads split up, keeping in touch via communicators, and Sunstreaker manages to get found by Tarn. He gets his ass kicked, because of course he does- the DJD aren’t famous for their macramé and pies, they’re famous for super-murder and being horny for the Decepticause. As Sunstreaker has the realization that he’s leaving his beloved Bob behind, Hoist finds him. Sunstreaker’s in quite the pickle, because he’s had his chest blown in, and Tarn’s been replaced by Shockwave, Megatron, Sixshot, and Overlord.

This just gets better and better doesn’t it?

Then this happens:

Welp.

Swerve’s theory may hold some water, but we can’t worry about that right now, because Hoist is going to try and fight this bastard. Good luck with that, Hoist.

Yeah, that went about as well as it could have.

Hoist is about to get stomped like a bug, when the Con-biner suddenly phases out of existence. Weird.

Hoist runs back to the shuttle, I guess just leaving Sunstreaker in the middle of that clearing, even though he literally is a tow truck. He returns to find that Swerve’s passed out from blood loss, but Perceptor’s still awake, which is good, because there’s some grade-A bullshit going on on this planet, and we need the smart guy to info-dump for the sake of the plot.

Man, this is such a cool plot device, and I’m so mad it never comes up again after this Spotlight.

So, Tarn and all the big bads that Hoist ran into weren’t real, but projections of his and his team’s worst fears. It was feeding off of Swerve, but now that he’s down for the count, it’ll probably go for either Hoist or Perceptor next.

Then there’s what feels like an earthquake, one so powerful it finally removes Perceptor from the ceiling, letting what’s left of his body fall. Hoist runs outside to see just what the hell’s happening now, only to find Metroplex outside and closing in.

The phobia shields work on sub-sentient creatures too? Good lord, this thing just never stops, does it?

Thinking quickly, Hoist scoops up Swerve and the upper half of Perceptor and bolts for the edge of the cliff their ship is sitting next to. He must have been training for the Robot Olympics or something, because he makes the leap by a large margin, even when weighed down by two limp bodies.

Then he punches Perceptor in the face, knocking him out cold.

Then he commits an act of animal abuse as he knocks Bob out with his tow hook.

Our hero, folks! Let’s give him a hand!

As Metroplex fades out of existence, Hoist remembers that he is not immune to trauma, as he’s forced to sit there, completely alone, until help arrives.

No wonder he got that massive Rodimus Star. What a trooper.

Thus ends Spotlight: Hoist, as well as the Spotlight series as a whole.

So, Swerve may not have much of a read on Hoist, but I figure I can try and take a stab at it. Hoist is… helpful. The entire issue, he’s the one who never stops doing things. If he’s not trying to repair the shuttle, he’s cutting Perceptor out of the floor, or he’s patrolling the perimeter, or trying to defuse the tension between his crewmates, or building weaponry, or punching people in the face for the greater good.

The folks he’s surrounded with for his Spotlight accent the characteristics he lacks- he’s not insanely smart like Perceptor, or strikingly handsome like Sunstreaker is intended to be, or capable of holding a conversation like Swerve. He blends into the background, always has and always will, both within canon and as a character.

He’s just a guy. He’s the guy, a jack of all trades, master of none. And that’s okay.

#transformers #jro #mtmte #spotlight #maccadam #Hannzreads #text post #long post #comic script writing #overthinking about robots

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benelman · 4 years

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dinner & a scene // ben & quinn // @thelastlight

quinn

Mac's Diner was truly a staple of this town, and if Quinn wasn't dropping by before his drive to Denver for a coffee and a blueberry muffin, he was stopping by before he headed home to grade more lab notebooks for a burger and a milkshake. He had a bit of a sweet tooth; sue him. He made his way in closer to closing time because his office hours ended up running later than expected. Messenger bag slung over his shoulder, he placed it on the empty seat next to him at the counter before sliding onto the stool. He grinned when he saw his favorite waiter head over to him. "Did I make it before the kitchen closed? I'd like to think I'm too dignified to resort to ramen or a pizza from the freezer, and yet..." Adult Ben was a new conceptualization for him, but Quinn couldn't deny that he'd grown up to be hot. He was no longer Quinn's friend's kid brother, and well, Quinn hadn't really seen much of his old friend since he'd been back, so there wasn't a whole lot to feel guilty about. No harm in just looking after all. Especially if he kept it subtle. @sophie | ben & kyrie

Ben

It was always a shock to see Quinn in the diner as of late. Not that it was a bad shock, no - not at all. Just surprising to see him after what had seemed like ages apart. It had been ages, that's true - both of them had been away, Ben coming back sooner than Quinn, but it seemed like so much had changed. Quinn used to be the kid who was over at the Elman house for dinner frequently enough that Ben remembered his name, and, at some point, he turned into this man, this incredibly handsome professor, and Ben wouldn't admit that the professor thing checked a few boxes for him, too, but... Seeing Quinn come in always brightened his day. "As if this kitchen closes," he joked in return, leaning against the counter in front of him. "Burger and a milkshake again? Or are we changing things up tonight?"

Quinn

A laugh snuck past his lips at the joking comment, and he tilted his head to the side. "Does going from chocolate to strawberry count as spicing things up?" he joked. In some aspects, he really was a creature of habit. The burger and milkshake was such a quintessential diner food that he hadn't really thought of changing his tune. "Surprise me. That way if it sucks, I'll have someone to blame," he teased. There wasn't much going on in the diner at this time of night, which meant he had all the time in the world to talk to Ben after he put his order in. He probably shouldn't flirt with his former friend's brother, and yet.... If he was going to do it, he'd be subtle about it. It was his job, after all, and Quinn would have to figure out how much of his friendly demeanor was because he was a paying customer.

Ben

The sound of Quinn's laugh really did brighten Ben's day (and his smile), though he probably wouldn't admit that out loud. "No, Sir, I don't think it does," he joked in return, shaking his head. Quinn was the only customer in the diner - there was really nothing else to pull his attention away, and that's the way Ben liked it. "Oh, no - that's far too dangerous. When we're talking Brooke's menu, nothing on it's bad. But I'll surprise you, sure. Remember that you told me to surprise you, though. Give me a minute, I'll go put your order in." He gave Quinn a wink (was that too far? probably) before turning his back to head towards the kitchen and put the order in with Brooke. Once he had, he returned out to the dining area, running his hand down the counter before stopping in front of Quinn again. "How was work, then? Everything good, Professor Heartland?"

Quinn

"Damn, there goes that plan." Ben was just easy to get along with. He wasn't one of those townies that was immediately going to tell someone your business just for it to make its way clean through the gossip mill so everyone in the whole damn town knew. Not that Quinn's business was all that interesting to begin with, but that had been one of the main reasons he left. It had all just gotten old. A fond smile lingered on his lips as Ben praised Brooke's menu, and the wink left him absolutely endeared. Objectively, it was a good business model. Flirt a little bit with the customers, get a better tip. Quinn tipped him well anyway, but that was neither here nor there. "Everything's good. Some poor kid somehow managed to spill heptane on his pants while we were doing titrations in my intro chem lab, but all in all, that's a minor lab incident." He kept himself from rambling on too much about his day. "And how's your day been, handsome?" It rolled off his tongue before he could really second guess himself, so he rolled with it, pretending it had been intentional this whole time, waiting to see if it would make Ben blush.

Ben

"That's me, Ben Elman, plan-ruiner," he replied with a grin, tapping his fingers on the counter rhythmically. He was always more than willing to talk to Quinn - in fact, some people might call him eager to do so. In his childhood, he'd always been a little nervous around him, but, then again, he'd been a little nervous around most of his siblings' friends. He was glad he'd grown out of that stage of anxiety when it came to talking to people. When Quinn started talking about his day at school, Ben felt like he'd been thrown for a loop; he'd almost failed high school chemistry, and, since then, he'd avoided most talk about the topic. "Well, I've got no clue what heptane is and even less of a clue what a titration is, but I hope the kid's okay," he replied, concern in his eyes. Minor lab accidents could lead to major consequences, based on what little Ben remembered. When Quinn called him handsome, though, all worry for Quinn's student rushed out of his brain. He felt a flush rising to his cheeks, one hand coming up to cover his mouth to hide it at least a little bit. "Me?" he repeated, pointing at himself, glancing around as if Quinn was talking to somebody else. Once he was sure the flush had eased, he gave a shrug. "My day's been pretty good, same as usual, though. Of course, that's not a bad thing. Tell me - have you ever tried a fried Oreo? Or is it really as niche a treat as Brooke made me think it is?"

Quinn

"Oh, he's fine. Just had to talk a walk around the science building to let it dry," Quinn assured, not having realized that it wasn't immediately obvious. Of course it wasn't. Even though it was introductory chemistry, their high school chemistry class hadn't been all that comprehensive. Quinn couldn't imagine much had changed when Ben took it five years after him. His reaction was even better than Quinn had anticipated, all trepidation over whether he should've pushed the envelope with him gone. The word was overused among some of his students, but Ben really had to be the definition of wholesome. The blush, the genuine surprise at being addressed in such a way, even the fact that he'd likely been complimented in such a way before and he was still surprised was too damned cute. "A fried Oreo? Can't say that I have. Is that one of my surprises? If so, color me intrigued."

Ben

"Oh, okay, so it's not, like... deadly. That's good. I'm glad he's fine." Ben was just grateful that he only needed one science requirement to graduate and that his school let him take the world's simplest geology class to tick that requirement on his degree planning sheet. If he'd been forced into chemistry, he probably wouldn't have been able to graduate and he knew that. That was part of what made Quinn even more impressive to him; he had gotten enough degrees in chemistry to be able to teach chemistry in higher education - Ben couldn't come anywhere close to that. Raising his eyebrows at the fact that Quinn hadn't tried a fried Oreo either, Ben threw his hands up in the air. "Am I the only one in this town who has had one?" Returning back to the counter, Ben placed both hands in front of him, palms down, meeting Quinn's eyes. "No - no, they aren't on the menu yet, but come back, like... Friday? Next Friday? One of these Fridays, Brooke's gonna put them on there. And, when you do, you can try one with me. Because they're good. Definitely sweet as hell, but good. And I don't ruin surprises before they happen." He smiled a little bit, just enough to bring out his dimples, glancing over his shoulder towards the kitchen before returning his attention to Quinn. "I think you'll like what I picked out, though."

Quinn

"He was more embarrassed than anything. The lab TA automatically has to report a spill to me, regardless of whether or not it's something innocuous, but luckily I've never had any major lab catastrophes that resulted in serious injury." It was lucky. He was glad that his students all seemed to have at least the most basic level of competence. He couldn't help but chuckle at Ben's surprised reaction to him not having tried a fried Oreo. "So I'm not the only one to have disappointed you in the fried Oreo department? Good to know." He listened as Ben told him about when they were going to make it onto the menu, glancing at the appearance of those adorable dimples before meeting his gaze again. "One of these Fridays, huh? Will you be working when we try these fried Oreos?" It was a not so subtle commentary about how they tended to see each other when Ben was working. And as much as he enjoyed seeing him in his work environment, he did wonder about seeing him when he was off the clock. Wondered if there was any interest, or if he always reacted that way to a playful compliment. "I'm sure I will. I trust your judgment," he agreed. He was going to like it even if he didn't like it. Which seemed unlikely, considering his raving review of Brooke's cooking.

Ben

“Oh, you’ve got TAs? You’re fancy, huh?” Ben teased playfully, a grin remaining on his face. “But I’m glad you haven’t had any major spills, too. That’s probably why I should never be invited into a chemistry lab. I’d break something bad, or spill something worse. I’m kind of a disaster in the lab.” Despite the fact that he had good hand eye coordination - good enough that he started at shortstop for three out of his four years of high school baseball - he always seemed to manage to make a mess out of the chemistry lab. “Brooke’s never tried one either...!” He explained, a teasing hint of frustration seeping into his voice. He couldn’t believe that people hadn’t had fried Oreos in their life. Ben had a hard time turning them down; he was glad that he could introduce them to the diner’s menu soon enough. Tilting his head slightly at the question, he raised his eyebrows. “Am I going to be working...?” He repeated back at him. “Um... maybe...? Am I?” Part of Ben thought that that was Quinn’s way of asking him on a date, and, if it was, Ben wouldn’t hesitate to agree. “Oh- thanks. My judgement can be good when it comes to food, but that’s about it,” he joked, the smile returning to his features. When he heard the bell by the kitchen ding, he turned on his heel to grab the food, coming back with two plates. “Okay, so latkes or grilled cheese and tomato soup, take your pick. Whichever one you don’t eat, I will.” Maybe it was a bold decision, but he didn’t regret making it yet.

Quinn

"If you want to call it that," Quinn said with a casual shrug. Truth be told, he was well aware that the whole professor thing worked for him. He was hoping it would for a while. Truth be told, he didn't ever really plan on settling down for good. That ideal had bit the dust long ago. But he didn't assume that anyone he ended up dating or hooking up with wanted that sort of thing anyway. He was more of a mister right now than a mister forever. He chuckled at Ben's comments about avoiding a chemistry lab. "Well, if you had an interest in the lab, I'd invite you. Provided you were wearing safety goggles and didn't touch anything. Just to be safe," he teased. Truly, he doubted that Ben was as much of a disaster as he claimed to be. "Besides, you should probably give yourself more credit. Who's ever heard of a clumsy waiter?" He raised his eyebrows as Ben went on about how Brooke hadn't tried one. "I'm sure you'll remedy that as soon as you get the chance," he said with a playful smirk. Ben seemed genuinely baffled at the question, and Quinn blamed it on poor flirting. Seemed like Ben was someone he might have to be a bit more direct with. He could make that work. That smile of his was cute, though. He wouldn't mind being the cause of that more often. When he came back, Quinn immediately eyed the tomato soup and grilled cheese. "Yes, you do have good judgment. God. Ultimate comfort food right here, and you really can't have one without the other. Gotta dip it," he said with a grin.

Ben

"Yeah, I do want to call it that, actually," he joked with a smile, leaning against the counter a little more. At the teasing, he playfully rolled his eyes, locking his hands behind his back, left wrist over right wrist. "Yes, Sir, I'd keep my hands behind my back just like this to be safe. Good thing I'm good at following directions, huh?" Returning his hands to the counter in front of him, Ben's smile remained on his face. Maybe he'd have to take Quinn up on that offer to visit the lab someday - not just because his mind went plenty of dirty places thinking about being in Quinn's place of work, quickly shooing aside the professor fantasy he had in his head. He was at work, after all. "Oh - I wouldn't say I'm clumsy. Just that me and chemistry labs don't mix well. I've got good hand-eye coordination otherwise, I played baseball all through high school, varsity all four years, started my last three. But at the same time I was starting on the diamond, I was knocking over vials and shit in the chemistry classroom. God, Mr. Whatever-His-Name-Was hated me..." Ben muttered, shaking his head and rubbing at the back of his neck with a smile. "I definitely will. I'm swinging by the grocery store to pick up Oreos tomorrow, she's gotta try it. You've gotta try it. It's so good, I promise. But, like, cheat day only good. Because if you eat them every day, you'll feel like shit. Don't ask me how I know that." His freshman year of college had been a dangerous time. When he returned with the food, he smiled at the compliment, setting the grilled cheese and tomato soup down in front of Quinn and accepting the plate of latkes for himself. "For sure, yeah. It's not half as good without the dipping. But I'm glad I made a good choice. Enjoy, Professor."

Quinn

It was entirely too easy to lean into the sexy professor thing. Van Halen's Hot for Teacher had come out five years before he was born, but it sure as hell seemed to apply with some of his hookups. He'd never been stupid enough to hook up with a student, of course, but he had fucked more than one person over his desk with his office door locked behind him. "Very good thing," Quinn said, his mind inclined to wander about just how good he was at it. He'd find out later, if things turned out the way he wanted them to. It was endearing to hear about his high school days, considering his words until he got to Mr. Whatever-His-Name-Was. Eyes widening he said, "Oh, damn, did Dr. J finally retire when you got to high school chemistry? He looked like he was getting around to it when I graduated, but I always figured he'd be one of those that came back to sub when needed. Mr. Whatever-His-Name-Was sounds like a tool," he said with a dismissive roll of his eyes. He'd always admired his own chemistry teacher. He had a doctorate, but he came back to teach high school chemistry because the schedule was less demanding, and it was closer to home. Real family man. Quinn doubted he'd ever get to that point himself, but he could appreciate the fact that others were able to get their lives together enough to do something like that. "But if a chem lab makes you nervous, I can always show you my office," he added with a perfectly innocent expression. "Your choice." He chuckled when Ben went on about the Oreos as a cheat day only food. "I'll take your word for it," he promised before digging into his meal, promptly dipping the tip of the grilled cheese into the tomato soup and taking a bite. "Mm. I am already," he said after the first bite.

Ben

At the praise - if one could even consider it praise - Ben felt his cheeks flush a little bit more. Turning around to pretend to check the state of the milkshake machine behind him, Ben forced himself to take a deep breath. Now was not the time or the place - even though his shift was coming to a close, he was still at work, and Quinn was technically his customer. He was grateful for the talk of high school; there was nothing less sexy in Ben's book than high school chemistry. "Yeah, he retired a year before me. All my siblings praised Mr. J to all heavens, but I got stuck with this... yeah - he was a tool. All around asshole, glad I don't have to deal with him anymore -- I used to turn in homework and then get 0s on it because he claimed I never turned it in, when I very clearly did turn it in- which is how I nearly failed the class. Well, that, plus the fact that I can't do chemistry." It was too much memorization for him. How was he even supposed to begin to remember the whole periodic table, anyways? The next phrase caught him entirely off-guard again, his eyes dropping to the floor so he didn't have to make eye contact with Quinn while his mind wandered. "I'm sure your office is really nice." It was probably best to leave that at that for now. Grabbing a set of silverware for himself, he poured the applesauce onto the latkes, taking a bite with a hum. "Good, I'm glad you like it," he spoke, covering his mouth with the back of his hand in case there was any food in there while he talked. "You want a milkshake with that, too? On me...?" That was his best way of flirting while he was on the job, plus he knew that Quinn had his affinity for a chocolate milkshake.

Quinn

It was just too easy to make him blush, a fact that Quinn was taking full advantage of. He wasn't going to push it too much. After all, the poor guy was working. If he wanted an out, there was literally no getting away from him until he left. Still, his body language implied none of the sort, as far as he could tell. Well, maybe he was a little bit flustered. Quinn would take it easy on him. He looked more comfortable as they moved to the subject of high school chemistry. Truthfully, chemistry had kicked his ass a time or two in his undergraduate. He'd failed Calculus 1 the first go around in college and had to take it again in order to have enough working calculus knowledge to do chemistry. It had been a fucking shit show for a while there, but his stubbornness won out. "It's not for everyone. But I guarantee you'd've had a better time with it if you'd had Dr. J. Guy gets out of Edgewater to get his doctorate and comes back because he wants to teach high schoolers. Practically qualifies him for sainthood." He watched Ben's gaze move to the floor when he mentioned his office and held back a smirk. "It is. There's a desk for working and a couch for when it's time to take a break." His tone was even, not at all suggestive, but providing just enough information for Ben to have a mental picture. He grinned when Ben offered him a milkshake. Didn't go quite as well with this dish, but he sure as hell wasn't going to be turning it down, either. "I'd love that. But only if I'm buying your dinner."

Ben

"Wish I could turn back time and be born two years earlier, if only to have Dr. J. teaching me high school chemistry," he joked, tapping his fingers against the counter. He didn't want to think about himself as the type that peaked in high school. While he'd had some good experiences in high school, he truly hoped that the best was yet to come. He didn't want to think the peak of his life was winning the state championship in baseball his senior year, didn't want to think that the peak of his submission was kneeling in some barn to give a guy head after the homecoming bonfire in the fall. He had more to experience, he knew it. When Quinn continued to describe the office, Ben wondered if he was doing so on purpose just to tease him. He could practically picture it, if he closed his eyes and really tried to. He was sure that it looked good - better than what his imagination could come up with, in fact. "It's probably nice to have a couch in there for when you want it. But also nice to have a desk so you can actually focus when you need to." Don't think about it, Ben. Don't think about any of it. Turning around to make his milkshake, Ben quickly shook his head in dismissal. "No, no, don't worry about it. You don't have to do that." It was definitely a nice gesture, in Ben's mind, but he didn't want to be a burden to Quinn just because he'd decided to order an extra dish when Quinn only needed one. Quickly making the chocolate milkshake, he set it down on the counter in front of Quinn, setting a straw next to it. "But that's yours, no fighting back, Sir." A big grin accompanied those words, taking another bite of his latkes to occupy his mouth afterwards.

Quinn

"He gave you peanut m&ms if you got a hard question right, and I really don't think there's any topping that incentive," Quinn joked back. The longer they talked, the less he saw Ben as his high school friend's kid brother. It was easy to push the scrawny ten year old out of his mind when he looked like this. And when his back was turned, it was human nature that allowed for his gaze to dip down to his ass for just a moment. "It is nice having options," Quinn said. His tone of voice made the comment perfectly innocuous; it was up to Ben to interpret it how he would. He cracked a smile when Ben told him that he didn't have to do that. "I wouldn't offer if I didn't want to," he pointed out. "And it's really rare that I'll do something out of obligation. Well. Outside of a work context, anyway. I'll teach an eight A.M. class out of obligation, but I'll buy a hot guy dinner just because I want to." Much more of a direct flirtation, and he waited for the telltale blush. He was taking it easy, but Ben had walked right into it with his whole 'you don't have to do that'. He stuck the straw in the milkshake and took a sip, closing his eyes and humming with an approving nod of his head. He thought about mentioning how the milkshake was the second most delicious thing he'd seen tonight, but he really didn't want the poor guy to end up choking on his latke.

Ben

"I wish I got peanut M&Ms, instead I just got an inferiority complex and had to add humiliation to my list of hard limits," he replied, propping his chin up on his hand as he ate. That wasn't entirely true; he'd known his whole life that humiliation and degradation weren't things that turned him on, but he just thought that joking about it would make it easier to deal with in retrospect. "Yeah - yeah, options are nice..." he agreed, curious about what Quinn meant by that. He wasn't going to press, of course -- he was still at work, after all. But the thought would linger in his head long after he got off shift. When Quinn directly referred to him as a hot guy, Ben could feel his heart skip a beat. He almost felt like a kid again, crushing on his sibling's friend, but... there was something more to it. Maybe it was just the desire to submit. "Eight A.M.s suck... but you're the hot guy here, really." That sounded a lot better in his brain than it did coming out of his mouth. He never thought of himself as a bad flirt, so why was it so hard for him to flirt back right now? Taking another bite of his latke so his mouth was too occupied to talk and embarrass him again, he smiled at the hum of approval - Ben craved approval more than he'd ever be able to admit. Once he'd swallowed the bite, he spoke again, another attempt to flirt. "I'm really glad you like it, Sir." Using the honorific again, more than he typically would with old friends of his siblings'. He had always been taught to respect Dominants, sure, but this was going a bit more than respect, in his head; once per conversation was enough respect, but, now, he was really milking the honorific, trying to see what it would get out of Quinn.

Quinn

Quinn picked up on the interesting observation from the other. Truthfully, he could take or leave that sort of thing, anyway. He would do it if the person he was doing a scene with requested it, but it was by no means his favorite. He could be an asshole at times, without a doubt, but he didn't personally understand the appeal of being mean just to be mean. He was sure there were other perspectives on it as well, but that was for another conversation. "Thank you, Ben. This seems to be one of the cases where there are two right answers," he said with a teasing grin. It was sort of cute, how he was muddling through the whole flirting thing. Quinn was typically the type to go for the easy hook up, but he genuinely enjoyed talking with Ben like this. He wouldn't mind if this was as far as Ben wanted to take it, even though he was getting the hint that he might want more. He'd noticed all of the sirs Ben dropped in conversation, and he idly wondered if that meant that he wanted to submit to him in particular. A good looking, nice guy like him surely had no trouble finding someone to submit to, but he might still be shopping around. "There's a lot to like about the diner this time of night," he mused in return, taking another bite of his tomato soup dipped grilled cheese.

Ben

Ben had never felt quite like this with anyone else, which surprised him; he flirted a lot, with plenty of other people even during work hours. So why was he so uncertain of it now? Was it because of his childhood experience with Quinn? Or was it because of more recent conversations with him, their frequent run-ins at the diner? Or was it things in this conversation in particular that were making it difficult for Ben to keep up? Had it been that long since he'd submitted to someone else? No, not really. Then what was it...? "Oh - so you were just teasing me, knowing that whatever I was gonna say was gonna be right? That's sneaky, Quinn..." he joked, lips curling up into a smile again. "It's like giving a sub two options and the Dom knowing that both options are good but the sub doesn't know that, so you're being a tease..." Quickly taking another bite of his latkes to keep himself from rambling anymore, he looked down at his food, glancing back up at Quinn. He really did like the way that Quinn said his name. What would it sound like if he called him Benjamin...? "Oh, yeah, the neon looks really good, doesn't it?" glancing around, he gave a little smile. "It's quiet, but not bad quiet. Not creepy quiet, either. Just... comforting quiet. I like it a lot. Feels... cozy, y'know?"

Quinn

"What can I say? You looked like you'd be fun to tease," Quinn responded with a playful wink. He didn't let his mind wander around the specifics of how he'd tease Ben if the two of them were ever really alone. It was cute, the little routine of saying something and then quickly munching on his food to make sure he didn't say more than he intended to. "Do you like being teased, Benjamin?" The urge to touch had reached its peak, and the only thing holding him back was the fact that he had something to do with his hands. Sliding the milkshake closer, he sucked on the straw and gave Ben a quizzical look. However, then his wandering thoughts quieted as Ben commented on the neon and the quiet. Sure, he was cute flustered, but he was adorable in an environment that was clearly comfortable to him. "It's nice," he had to agree. "Part of the reason I didn't just get a place in Denver. A lot easier to find a quiet place to grade or relax in a place like Edgewater." When he'd left, the quiet had been too much. All he'd wanted was out of his thoughts, out of his head. He'd gotten that however he could at college. Throwing himself into extra-curriculars he didn't really care about. Throwing himself into his homework. Throwing himself into parties where he drank so much he couldn't remember. It was still hard being back, but thirteen years made it hurt a little less. A dull ache as opposed to a fresh wound.

Ben

Running his tongue over his teeth, Ben tried his best to hold back a blush this time. Did he look fun to tease? What did that mean, to look fun to tease? Was that a good thing? Mulling over the words in his mind, Ben was slightly distracted until Quinn spoke up again. Holy fuck... it was almost like Quinn could read his mind. And yes, he decided, he very much did like the way his full name sounded coming out of Quinn's mouth. He could almost imagine it now, Ben dropping into subspace with Quinn's hand in his hair, speaking kindly to him, calling him Benjamin and good boy and so many other beautiful things-- until he realized he'd been asked a question. "Yes, Sir..." Forcing himself to take deep breaths, Ben focused on things around them - the smell of the latkes and the grilled cheese, the way the neon reflected off of the counter, the way his nails were getting too long for his comfort and how he'd have to cut them when he got back home. The three glasses drying on the counter behind him. Enough to distract him until he felt calm enough to continue their conversation. "Well, I'm glad you came home. I mean that." Ben had understood the desire to leave, to see other things, when he graduated high school, too. He enjoyed his time in California, but he really had missed Edgewater; he had no regrets about coming back home afterwards. And now, those feelings were even stronger. Maybe his reasons were selfish, but he really was glad to see Quinn back in town.

Quinn

Quinn waited ever so patiently for Ben to answer his question, noting the long pause but deciding against pointing it out. His gaze wandered around the room, and Quinn had to wonder if Ben had been submitting regularly. Of course it was none of his business yet, and he wasn't going to ask. But he did seem awfully flustered for someone who was submitting on the regular. He'd find out if Ben wanted to tell him. All teasing aside, this would of course only go as far as Ben wanted it to. He quietly finished off his grilled cheese and soup, the silence comfortable enough for him even as he wondered what Ben might be thinking about. When he did finally speak up, the comment made him smile. It wasn't unequivocally good to be back, but it had been better than he expected. Family was a good enough reason to come back, for him. Everett was here. Noel was back. Quinn was by no means completely responsible, but the two of them needed someone to keep an eye on them before they crashed a tractor or worse. "You grew up," he mused, glancing over at him again. "I don't know if I can still call you kid now that you're taller than me."

Ben

How long had it been? Two weeks, maybe more? That thing with Theo, whatever it was, seemed like ages ago now. And he knew that she had her eyes on other subs, and the two of them would never end up together; it just wouldn't work, they were too close of friends to be Claim partners. Not to say that a Claim can't be a friend, too... A brief shake of his head stopped his thoughts from running again, finishing up his latkes in that comfortable silence again, the sound of silverware almost as comforting as the neon reflecting off the countertops. At the comment about him growing up, Ben shrugged. "I never really liked it when anybody called me kid, anyways, if I'm being honest." There are plenty of other things you could call me, though. Reaching to take his clean plate and bowl back to the kitchen, he looked over his shoulder at him. "Benjamin worked. Ben's good, too. Whatever you want, really. I'll grab your check in a minute."

Quinn

"Everett did it just to annoy me, which I caught on to pretty quick," he replied. He and his brother had had a relatively decent balance of getting along and fighting, but for the longest time, he'd been the one Quinn looked up to. Eventually he'd gotten over that, not wanting to get into any serious trouble that would prevent him from actually getting out of Edgewater some day. The Heartland name could only do a person so many favors, and it really didn't extend beyond the outskirts of town. "No rush on the check, Ben," he promised with an easygoing smile. "I'm enjoying your company." Back to a neutral enough compliment. He really didn't want to get the submissive too flustered, after all. There was a balance to it. The teasing comments and the more real things. Well, as real as Quinn got with anyone. This town made him nostalgic. He'd built up his walls in anticipation of them coming down easier in a place that was familiar even after over a decade away.

Ben

"We were never the 'kid' type of family, you know? Like, sure, I got called it at least a couple times, but it was never enough to get on my nerves. I just didn't prefer it." His siblings were certainly some of his closest friends, but that was likely a whole different story. He knew that he could look up to them no matter what, and he was grateful for everything they'd done in paving the way for him through school. A good reputation was definitely a nice starting block to have. Going to grab the check, he shot Quinn a smile. "No - no rush on your end. Seriously. I'm enjoying your company, too." Part of it was the easy flow of conversation, another part was that he was definitely attracted to Quinn, at least as a person who he could be friends with. He had no idea what Quinn was like as a Dominant, but part of Ben (a large part) hoped that he'd get to find out. Setting the check down in front of him, without the latkes and the milkshake on there, he leaned against the counter again. "So, classes tomorrow? Do you have to teach any 8 AMs this semester?"

Quinn

"How is your family, by the way?" He saw Ben because of the diner, but he hadn't really run into any of the other Elmans. It was a typical train of conversation, and truth be told, he was asking more out of habit than a general desire to know. Old habits apparently come back, even after thirteen years. It wasn't all that much of a surprise that he hadn't run into any of Ben's family. He didn't spend all that much time in Edgewater, even though he lived there. He went grocery shopping and to the diner, but he wasn't overly keen on socializing with many people. He'd be staying for at least the rest of the school year, but he had no idea if he was going to make a longer commitment than that. "Thank you," he added, looking over the check before raising his eyebrows. "You're really not going to let me buy you dinner, Benjamin?" He thought about making a comment about saving that for another time. "Yes, and yes. I just make my own coffee on 8 AM days so I can roll out of bed at the last minute possible. Luckily tomorrow my first is a 10:30 lecture. Then I have a lab from 2 to 5. What about you?"

Ben

"Oh, they're good - everybody's good. Dad's back into needlepointing, Mom's still cooking Sunday night dinners, everybody's good. You should come over one of these Sundays, catch up. We'd all like to have you, I'm sure of it." He nodded - Quinn used to be around so frequently when he was a kid; Ben was certain he'd be welcomed back into the Elman household with open arms. "I'd ask the same about your family, but I've seen pretty much everybody around, I think. Everyone looks healthy and happy. And the hayrides are as much of a hit as they ever were." It was nice, living someplace where he knew everyone. While it made dating more difficult, it made his day-to-day life much easier. There was less animosity when you knew everyone around you, it seemed. Except for the feud, and Ben pretended like that just didn't exist. At Quinn's question, Ben shook his head, biting back a smile. "No, Sir, I'm not." Holding back his own comment about saving it for another time, Ben looked him in the eyes, finally letting the smile raise up onto his cheeks. "I start at 9 tomorrow morning, get off at 5. Like a regular old businessman," he joked, grinning. "Or whenever Brooke tells me to leave. It's scheduled 9 to 5, but it all depends on how busy the diner is."

Quinn

He'd really walked right into that one, and he was kicking himself. Wholesome family dinners with people who weren't his family was exactly the sort of thing he had no desire to do. "Thanks. Maybe one of these Sundays I won't put off grading until the last minute." It was an easy out, and he was grateful for the fact that he was still pretty good at thinking on his feet when it came to this sort of thing. He chuckled at the mention of the hayrides. "Is it really hayride season if one of the Heartlands isn't joking about stealing the tractor?" Noel really needed to get his vehicle fixed. "If you insist," Quinn replied, pulling out his wallet, fully intending to leave a generous tip. "But I'll be buying you the fried Oreo when it gets added to the menu," he said with a grin of his own. "Ah. I get the feeling Stream would be a good boss, though," he said, the childhood nickname rolling off his tongue without a second thought. "I think the only times I've ever seen this place busy is when there's some sort of event going on in town." Which also happened a fair amount of the time. Edgewater was one of those little towns that stuck to its traditions.

Ben

"And I thought you would've figured out time management by now," Ben teased in a friendly manner, a smile on his lips. "You're always welcome, just let me know." Pushing a hand through his hair to get some of it out of his face, he propped his chin up on his wrist again after that. "You'll be able to see my naivety real quick, but don't tractors go, like, five miles an hour at best? What's the point of stealing one, you aren't gonna get anywhere." He didn't really get it, he knew he didn't. He'd grown up in town, not on the outskirts, so the farms around Edgewood weren't exactly his area of expertise, no matter how much Theo had tried to teach him over the years. "I do insist, actually. But I will take you up on one of those fried Oreos." Ben nodded in agreement, giving him a smile. "Stream?" he laughed at the nickname, looking over his shoulder. "Why do you call her that?" Genuinely curious, and also wanting to get Quinn to talk more, to stay longer, to be around him for as long as possible. "Yeah, that's true, but it's not like Edgewater is a dull place - especially with all that construction going on, people are talking, and people come here to talk over a good meal. It's interesting - nobody really seems to know what's going on. Weird, huh?" Glancing out the window, he turned his gaze back to Quinn. "But - yeah, you're right. It's not busy all that much, so... I've got plenty of free time, Sir."

Quinn

"That would be the adult thing to do. But I'm never out of bed before nine unless I absolutely have to be, so I guess I missed the memo on a few of those adult things," he joked back. It was one thing with Ben, he'd decided. But he really hadn't stayed close with all that many of his high school friends. Brooke was definitely an exception, not a rule. They'd been hanging out since they were in diapers because their moms had been best friends. When they were both out in California, they made time to see each other. When she was on tour in Baltimore, he skipped his homework for the night to catch her show. He hadn't ended up on bad terms with any of the Elmans, they'd just sort of fallen off each others' radars. "That's what it feels like when you get stuck behind one on the road," he admitted with a laugh. "But top speed's actually 25 miles per hour. So. Definitely quicker and less effort than riding a bike, if it really came down to it." He had a fair amount of useless farm knowledge considering he'd never planned to seriously work on the farm. It had been more of a summer job, helping out when needed. Quinn pulled out his phone, opening a new contact and offering it to Ben. "Text me when they're officially on the menu?" It was innocent enough, and an easy enough in. He shook his head at himself for the slip up. "Well, when you were a toddler, I was busy being absolutely insufferable in second grade, and when I learned that stream was a synonym for brook, she never had a chance." It was a dumb story, one he hadn't had the need to tell in years. "I'm sure someone knows what's going on," he reasoned. "But whoever that someone is is doing a damn good job of being tight lipped." That was almost more impressive, all things considered. It made him think that it had to be the doing of an out of towner. "Oh? And what do you like to do in your free time, Ben?"

Ben

"Oh, please - nine is still early, I'm not judging you at all. Between you and me? On days I don't work, sometimes I sleep in until ten." He chuckled at his own story, propping his elbows up on the counter again, despite how far he had to bend down to do so. Maybe he hadn't grown out of his high school days, off-season, when he could sleep in in the mornings on weekends and not have to worry about practice or games. "Oh, 25? That's fast as hell, please, forgive me," he teased, holding his hands up in a surrender-esque gesture. Despite his teasing, though, he had loved the sound of Quinn's laughter. His brain started to work on how he could hear the noise again. He hadn't ridden a bike in years, not since he got his car. He remembers liking it as a kid, though, despite how frequently he was lectured about wearing a helmet and staying off the streets. He was pleasantly surprised when Quinn offered him his phone to put his number in. "Yes, Sir, I can do that. Consider yourself on the exclusive Ben Elman Mac's Diner Mailing List," he joked, but he really was glowing with joy about getting to give Quinn his number. Typing it in, putting his name in as Benjamin Elman, he slid the phone back. He had been considering dropping his last name, but he knew that there were plenty of Benjamins out there, and he didn't want Quinn getting confused. "You'll have to text me later so I've got your number, too." He listened along with the story, feeling a little dumb when it took him a second to get it. "Oh, like - the- like a river, brook. Not like, Brooke with an e at the end. Science was not my thing, can you tell?" Nodding along with Quinn's commentary on the construction, Ben bit the inside of his cheek, silently pondering. "Yeah, I wish I could know more..." He muttered, fingers pulling at his sleeve. "In my free time? Read? Watch movies, relax, come to town... pretty much anything, you name it." Go on a date with you. "What do you like to do in your free time?"

Quinn

"How rebellious," Quinn replied immediately, laughing. The conversation between the two of them was so easy. It was impossible not to notice that, even though he wasn't sure what to do with the information. Ignore it, that was probably for the best. Not overthink it. At least, not while he was still right in front of him at the diner. "Fast enough for there to be a drive your tractor to school day. Although, come to think of it, that might've been something Everett made up when our folks grounded him from the car," he said with a shake of his head. "Exclusive, huh? Lucky me," he teased right back, taking the phone when it was handed back to him. He noticed the formal first name last name format, and he was pretty sure that Ben thought his social circle was a lot more extensive than it really was. "Oh, I intend to," he responded, immediately snapping a selfie with a goofy face and sending it to his new contact. "Use it responsibly," he said with a very serious expression before cracking a smile. "Science isn't my thing sometimes, so I get it. I worked in a lab after I graduated college, and my boss brought me donuts when I looked stressed, so apparently I have a very obvious stressed look," he joked. Ben looked genuinely concerned about the construction, and he wished he had some useful information if only to assuage whatever feelings he was having. It was a protective instinct, usually reserved for family or friends. "A lot of the same. I've been trying to go to the gym at least once a week, so that's been interesting." He certainly wasn't going to mention how he'd gone flying off the back of a treadmill the other day.

Ben

"That's me, Edgewood's most rebellious sub." Ben laughed at his own joke, knowing he was probably far to the opposite side of the spectrum. He was genuinely enjoying their conversation. It came easier now that he was comfortable with their flirting, easier to put the past in the past and accept the simple fact that he was attracted to Quinn. "Yeah, I don't think drive your tractor to school day was an actual thing, sorry to burst that bubble." Not that he would've been surprised if there had been; Edgewater was a town that would have something like that every year. "Yeah, it's really exclusive, 'cause you're the only one that gets it, and you can ask for updates on things, too. I hear the guy running the newsletter is a pretty quick responder, too." When he watched Quinn take the selfie, he smiled affectionately, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Yes, Sir. Sorry I forgot the picture for you, but I'm pretty sure I'm the only Benjamin Elman that you know, so." Now he wished he had put a picture in Quinn's phone. "Aren't you, like, a doctor of science, though? You've gotta be, like, ten times better at it than I am." He nodded along with what Quinn told him he was doing now that he was back in Edgewater. "Hey, that's more dedication than I've got. I go maybe once biweekly, but I also jog a lot, so... I guess there's that. I may not be in peak baseball shape, but I could still hold my own on a diamond, I think. I can still fit the letterman's jacket, at the very least, so that's a win."

Quinn

"You know, something tells me that isn't the case," Quinn teased. Truthfully, he had no idea what kind of submissive Ben was. That was part of the intrigue. With the data he had so far, he could see him going either way. He was curious to find out, but he didn't want to spook Ben too early on. "And here I was thinking they just quit the tradition before I got a chance to try it out," he said with a shake of his head. "Yeah? Glad I'm signed up for it, then," he said. "You're the only Benjamin that I know. Or at least, the only one to be a contact in my phone." His contact list was pretty sparse. He wasn't much of a casual texter. He chuckled when Ben commented on his being a doctor of science. "I am. But no one likes it when someone brags about being a doctor of science." Truthfully, it had been a lot of work, and he was still paying off student loans. But he liked teaching well enough. He'd had too many shitty professors along the way to not try to be one of the better ones, even if it was only better in comparison. "See, the idea of jogging is just so fundamentally unpleasant that I've decided to avoid it at all costs." The last time he'd tried it had been the treadmill fiasco, so it was clearly for good reason. More beneficial for his health not to jog, if you thought about it.

Ben

“You might be right on that assumption, but there’s only one way to find out...” Ben really hoped that Quinn wanted someone who could be obedient. Who was obedient. He just hoped that they were truly as compatible as they seemed to be. “I’m the only one, really?” So he could have just left it at Benjamin. Too late for regrets now. He almost never used his full name with anyone, but giving it to Quinn just felt right. With Quinn’s beautiful voice, he wanted to be Benjamin. “It’s not bragging. I’m more than happy to listen to you talking about your accomplishments, Sir.” That was true; even though Ben might not understand it all, he was definitely going to try. He laughed at Quinn’s feelings about jogging, propping his chin up on his knuckles again. “I just like the scenery changes better than I like the treadmill. And I can run at my perfect pace, not at a weird increment that’s just a tiny bit off. And I can slow down or speed up as much as I want whenever I want.” He realized soon after that he was probably rambling. “There are a lot of pros to it, I mean. I like it. But I’m not gonna push you into going jogging just because I like it. It’s perfectly normal to disagree with me, I mean. The gym is nice for weights, though.”

Quinn

And an awfully flirty comment coming from the youngest Elman. He was pleased with his poker face because if he didn't have one, he might very well have fallen right out of his stool. "And would you like for me to find out?" Asked innocently enough. He didn't bother putting any innuendo into the question because the words spoke for themselves. "You are," he added in response to Ben's question. Well aren't you just the cutest. He was hot, to be sure, but somehow he managed to be both all at once. "I'll let you in on a little secret, then. Half the reason I got my doctorate is because I knew the hot professor thing would work for me," he joked. Well, half-joked. The tie and button down sleeves rolled up to his elbows only served to emphasize his point. "Oh, I don't get along with a treadmill either," he replied immediately. "Probably wouldn't have bit the dust the other day if I had just gone on a jog outside." It was cute, though, the rambling about jogging. Quinn might actually consider rolling out of bed at a semi-decent hour to go on a jog with him. God, wasn't that a horrifying thought? "Yeah, I'll be sticking with the weights there from now on."

Ben

The question sounded so innocuous, but if Ben had been any less stable, it might’ve taken him out. Yes, it’s what I’ve been trying to get you to ask the whole night...! “I think I’d like that, Sir,” he replied after taking a deep breath to steady himself. That was the hardest part; admitting that he wanted that. He did it, though. He did it. “The hot professor thing really works for you. Like, really.” That was what he’d been thinking about the whole night, after all. Raising his eyebrows at Quinn’s seemingly continuous failures in cardio, he nodded at the comment about sticking to weights. “Well, if you ever need a spotter, you know where to find one. Especially now.”

Quinn

"Good boy, Benjamin. Thank you for telling me," he said, a sincere compliment as he looked at him across the counter. He stood up from his stool, knowing that both he and Brooke were likely wanting to close up shot, and he'd lingered long past his welcome. Well. Brooke had never failed him as a wingwoman before. Grinning at the compliment, he took his coat in hand. "Thank you. Hot waiter is not a trope I'd considered before, and yet..." He teased as he let his sentence trail off. "Oh? I suppose we'll have to work off those Oreos somehow." He contemplated making a comment about him getting too distracted, but he was still playing the balancing game, not flirting too much at once.

Ben

Oh, holy shit... Ben had to grip the counter to keep himself from stumbling. At the same time, he bit down on his tongue to keep himself from moaning. The words replayed over and over again in his mind, though. Good boy, Benjamin. Good boy, Benjamin. Good boy, Benjamin. “Oh, wait, don’t you want change for that...?” He asked as he saw Quinn gathering his coat. Picking up the check and the payment off of the counter, he figured Quinn had to want change; it was a pretty big tip otherwise. “Yeah, hot waiter isn’t exactly... peak sexy, I’ll admit,” he chuckled in concession. He was a service sub, though; with a little twist, something like this could be incredibly sexy to him. “I guess we will.” He did want to spend more time with Quinn outside of work; he’d do pretty much anything to get it. But he couldn’t just reach for him and ask him to stay until the end of his shift, to his dismay. “Just text me whenever. Seriously. I’m always around, Sir.” He sincerely hoped that that would be enough.

Quinn

Quinn saw the reaction to his words and seriously contemplated taking him home with him right now. His shift was clearly over, and those three words likely wouldn't have had such an effect on him if he were submitting regularly. "No change. I got excellent service," he replied with a grin. He thought about how Ben was easily the sexiest waiter he'd seen, but that was a thought better stuck in his head. Not to mention, he wasn't usually in the habit of having extended conversations with his waiters, so that ruled out a good deal of them out of hand. Whenever, he noted. The invitation was really open, and he couldn't help but wonder again if he wanted to do this right now. "What are you doing after your shift ends?" This was why his time management went to hell. He found a pretty sub and there went his plans to grade.

Ben

"Do you want to leave a note for Brooke letting her know you had good service at the diner tonight?" he teased, trying to get his mind to quiet down -- good boy, Benjamin -- it would be for the best if it just let him focus on the conversation at hand. "But thanks. Really." The tip was excessive, but Ben wasn't going to insist on giving the money back to Quinn. He could buy himself an extra hot chocolate or three in the morning. Or rent a movie. Or buy a toy. He could treat himself to something, and he was grateful. "After my shift..." he repeated, running his thumb over his lower lip, looking down at the counter as if he was contemplating. "Well, I was going to go home and make dinner, but now that I've already had dinner, it looks like my planner's empty. Why?" His eyes returned to Quinn's face as he spoke. Ben was almost bouncing on his toes with enthusiasm. He wanted the invitation - was it a dream that he was getting it so soon? Was he daydreaming? Had Quinn already left the diner, leaving him in the relative silence of the old Edgewater establishment? Or was this reality? Was he about to get something that he'd wanted since he first laid eyes on Quinn again...?

Quinn

“I might just. Never had a favorite waiter before, so here’s to new experiences,” he replied with an easygoing grin. He was aware that this tip was certainly bordering on excessive, but Ben didn’t seem to mind. Things were just easy with him in a way they hadn’t been since-. He should put the brakes on this. Logically he knew that. Still, was he going to actually listen to logic where Ben was involved? Probably fucking not. “I’m interested to find out if your claim about being Edgewater’s most rebellious sub is accurate,” he admitted. “I know it’s a rather last minute invitation; if you’d rather plan for another time, that can be arranged, too.” It was nice, knowing that regardless, Ben was interested in exploring this with him at some point. They had the hardest part of the conversation out of the way, now it was just a matter of when.

Ben

"Here's to new experiences," he repeated back with a smile, Quinn's grin enough to make Ben want to return it. Going to the cash register, he quickly put away what Quinn owed, storing the rest in his own tip compartment, closing things up after that. Turning his attention back to Quinn, his heart almost leapt out of his chest. "It's not accurate," he replied, unable to bite his tongue. "Unless rebellion is your thing? I could be- I mean- fuck--" he muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. Forcing himself to take a breath before he continued, he nodded. "I mean, now's good - not now, but, like..." glancing at the clock on the wall, he nodded. "Twenty minutes from now? I'm free. Are you sure you don't have... like... other things? You don't have to be up too early for this? Because I want this. I do - I just- are you sure?" Trying to get his words straight, Ben looked over at Quinn, both excited and anxious at the same time. "If you wanna sit with me 'til the end of my shift, we can maybe discuss limits and the rest? Unless somebody else comes in before my replacement, then I'd have to worry about them, but - if nobody does...? We could talk?"

Quinn

They were back to the part where Ben was incredibly flustered once again. “No, I didn’t think it was,” he agreed with a smile. “You like being a good boy too much to misbehave, right?” he asked, wanting to reach out and brush his hands through his hair but holding back for now. “Twenty minutes, sure. I can help you put the chairs on top of tables or whatever you do to close up shop, too,” he offered. He didn’t mind being put to work, particularly now that the place was Brooke’s. “I’m sure, Ben,” he added, making sure to make eye contact with him to drive the message home. “I’m interested in you. And I’m flattered that you’re willing to try this with me.” He wanted to make sure Ben was aware that he was wanted, too. Quinn then set his coat back down, pulling up the seat he’d just vacated. “Let’s talk about it,” he agreed.

Ben

"The more you call me good boy on shift, the less my brain realizes I'm on shift," he pointed out. As much as he wanted to drop to his knees right then and there, he couldn't exactly do that -- he was still working, after all. "The diner's 24/7, Sir. I'm not closing, I'm just off-shift. We've got replacements coming in in 20 minutes." Nineteen minutes. God, if only time could move a little bit faster, Ben would appreciate it endlessly. When Quinn pointed out that he was interested in him, Ben had to do his best to keep from blushing. "I'm flattered that you're willing to try this with me, too." Going to lean back against the counter, he nodded in agreement. It was an easy enough discussion to have; he'd had it plenty of times before. "My safeword is shortstop. My hard limits are scat, needle play, age play, and degradation. Softer limits are watersports, public sex, and heavy pain play."

Quinn

"Well, I can't have you distracted if there's a last minute customer, can I?" He took the hint, not wanting to overuse it anyway. "Is it really? Here I was thinking Edgewater's too small to have anything that's open at all hours." He wondered if that was a Brooke decision, or if it had been that way for a while and he just hadn't noticed. He was sure that they got some customers at 3 A.M., probably more around the weekend. Then Ben was complimenting him once again, and he was pulled out of his speculation. He smiled before listening as Ben went into the basic safeword, hard limits, soft limits spiel. "And what are your favorite things to do?" he asked, wanting to have the information instead of just guessing at it. "As for me, I use the stoplight system, and my hard limits are scat, vore, and age play."

Ben

"I appreciate that," he replied sincerely; if there was a last minute customer, god forbid, Ben didn't want to be as distracted as he was at any moment that Quinn decided to call him good boy. "Yeah, we get the three am customers in from Rammer Jammer drunk off their asses, because nothing says drunk food like fries and pancakes." He took the overnight shifts more often than usual, mostly because it was easier for him to handle the drunk crowds than any of the women who worked at the diner. He'd pretty much learned the ways of the customers by now. He just did his best to make sure that everyone left Mac's happy. "Stoplight system works for me, too," he quickly clarified - it was good to have something like 'yellow', something that said they needed to pause as opposed to a hard stop like a safeword brought. "As for my favorite things..." This was harder to talk about for Ben; it was easier to have quick hookups where neither of them cared about boxes being checked, favorites being hit. Nevertheless, he spoke up. "Um, I like bondage, ropes are better than leather, but either are good -- and orgasm control, those are the big two. Power exchange is good for me, body worship, sensory play, um... marking. I'm sure there's more, but... not at the top of my head. There's more stuff that I do like than stuff that I don't, let's say that."

Quinn

"Kinda forgot how popular the Rammer Jammer gets," he admitted. He hadn't been there since he'd been back, which was a testament to Everett not calling him for a ride home. Probably had other people to call since he'd gotten used to him not being around. "Gotta soak up the alcohol, though, right?" he asked with a playful roll of his eyes. He'd stumbled upon way too many people who genuinely believed the myth. Short stop and stop light, he noticed. Easy to remember. Then when he went into specific questions, Quinn thought about making a note on his phone, but he decided he'd do that once he was alone. It wasn't that serious, but he did like knowing what, specifically, Ben wanted. He was a little surprised that praise hadn't made the list because calling him a good boy had had such an effect on him. "Good," he said, leaving off the boy, as promised. He could work with all of that, and it had given him plenty to choose from, including two favorites. He thought about combining them, seeing how long Ben could last. He had fifteen minutes plus the drive home to decide how he wanted the scene to play out.

Ben

"Yeah, I don't really stay that late ever when I'm there, but I know that there are people who love it, and who am I to judge them...?" He was too much of a lightweight to fully enjoy the bar scene. But Theo did work there, so he did have to stop by every so often to say hello, to enjoy the company, to soak up the social scene, and nurse a beer. "Oh, yeah, um - I didn't mention praise, or, like, hair pulling - did I say hair pulling? I like it when people play with my hair. And body worship. I can't remember what I said at all, the words came out of my mouth and my brain decided to forget them." He nodded a bit, tapping his fingers on the counter, trying to recall what he'd said shortly before. "Um - did I ask what you like? Cause I wanna know what you like, too. Like... I want to make you feel good, you know? As a Dom, what makes you feel good?" He was genuinely curious; he did like to please his Dom whenever possible. And now they had plenty of time for Ben to get antsy with anticipation.

Quinn

"The latest I've ever stayed there was back when I wasn't old enough to buy my own drinks." It was beyond easy to get someone who was old enough to buy drinks to get one for you, but he didn't let himself think too much about that. That had been Callan's scene. Like Ben had read his mind, he mentioned praise and hair pulling, and Quinn added that to the mental list he had going. "Brains do that sometimes," he assured with a fond smile. "And if you'd like to know, I'll repeat what you said back to me," he said. It was worth note that he mentioned body worship twice. Maybe he'd tie him up and kiss him all over until he was begging. The thought sent a pleasant shiver down his spine. Ben changed gears, and Quinn nodded. "Thanks for asking. I do like a well-behaved sub. I don't mind putting a brat in their place, per se, but it's nice to just reward good behavior." He paused, considering. "Other than that, we have a lot of common interests. Edging, bondage... I might not tie your hands tonight so you're free to explore. Or I might make you wait for it, depending on your preference."

Ben

"Oh, god, I remember those days..." Ben admitted sheepishly. When he'd graduated high school, his siblings had brought him there, buying him drinks until he was too drunk to know his own name. "I really only go because my best friend works there. Bars aren't really my scene." He was glad that Quinn could repeat back what Ben said, because Ben genuinely couldn't remember half the things that had left his lips. "Did I mention power exchange and bondage?" He figured he had, but his mouth was moving faster than his mind could keep up. "Can you tell I'm nervous? But, like, good nervous. Excited nervous." Taking a deep breath, Ben shot a look at the clock. Less than ten minutes to go. "I'd like to think I'm a well-behaved sub. I can count on one hand the number of times I've been punished in my life, so... that's good, right?" Almost bouncing on his toes, Ben nodded along as Quinn spoke. "I -- I want you to surprise me. Is that asking too much? I trust you. If I didn't trust you I wouldn't have agreed to submit to you so quickly. I trust you - all that to say that I want you... to do what you think's best for both of us. I trust your mind, Sir."

Quinn

If you grew up in this town, it was all but predestined that you had some embarrassing story that happened at the Rammer Jammer. How many embarrassing stories; however, that all depends on a person's personality. "Yeah? Who's that?" He was just asking to make conversation. It was important to know things about any sub he was planning to do a scene with. Just run of the mill holding a conversation. "You did," he confirmed. "Ropes are better than leather, but either are good. You also mentioned orgasm control, sensory play, and marking." He neglected to mention the fact that he'd brought up body worship twice, although he found it endearing. "Excited nervous is good. We have the stoplight system if it ever gets into bad nervous," he said, which of course Ben already knew. Still, it seemed prudent to mention it again. He was well aware that Ben was giving him something with all of this. He wanted him to know that he wasn't taking it lightly. "That is good," he agreed. He listened intently as Ben said that he wanted him to surprise him, smiling again. "That's not too much. That's what it's all about, right? None of this works if the trust isn't there."

Ben

"Oh, her name's Theo. Theodora Flanigan. She's my age. You might've seen her around the house once or twice when we were kids." He was more than happy to talk about Theo; it was easier to talk about her than it was to talk about himself, after all. When Quinn started listing back everything he said, Ben nodded along. "Okay - yeah - yeah, I like all of that stuff. All of that stuff is really good. You said edging? That's good. Okay. We're on the same page." Taking another deep breath to calm his racing heart, Ben gave Quinn a smile. "We still have the stoplight system. We're green right now, I'm green, I mean. This is good. I'm looking forward to it." Fiddling with his hands a little bit, he glanced at the clock again, eagerly waiting for his shift to end. "Yeah, that's what it's all about. And I do trust you. I do. I've known you practically all my life, I know you aren't going to do anything to, like, hurt me or anything. It'll be nice." When his replacement finally - finally - walked through the door, Ben gave him a smile and a pleasant greeting about the night. Taking off his apron, he nodded again to Quinn. "Okay... ready...?"

Quinn

"The name sounds familiar," Quinn replied. It was Edgewater. What name didn't sound familiar? He noticed Ben relax a little bit when he asked about her, though, so he decided to continue talking about her. "What's she up to when she's not wrangling patrons at the Rammer Jammer?" he joked. It was good to hear back from his sub that they were on the same page. It had been a while since he'd so obviously overwhelmed a person, and as much as he was enjoying it, he really didn't want to take advantage. That smile of Ben's had to be enough to level the playing field, though. And when Ben started using the stoplight system before he even asked, the feeling of fondness hit him again. He glanced over at the clock when Ben did, also more than ready to head out. Quinn decided against pointing out the fact that he really hadn't been around a whole lot in the past thirteen years. People could change after all. He had in a lot of ways. But the main point of acknowledging that was knowing that he wasn't going to hurt him. He wouldn't. Fortunately, Ben's replacement came a little early. He wondered if that was a norm, people coming slightly early to their shifts to relieve the next person. In a place like Mac's, it definitely seemed plausible. "I am. Do you want to follow me to my place?" he asked, coat in one hand, bag slung over his shoulder. He didn't want Ben to be without a ride if he didn't end up wanting to stay the night.

Ben

"Yeah, but it's Edgewater. Every name of somebody who grew up here sounds familiar," he pointed out, pushing a hand through his hair again, the product he'd used to smooth some of it back quickly losing its grip on his hair, causing some of his curls to fall into his face. He was practically bouncing with excitement as he went to clock out, grabbing his keys and his coat and leaving his apron behind. Fidgeting with the keys in his hand, he nodded at Quinn's suggestion. "Yeah, that sounds great." He was going to offer to take Quinn's bag for him, but given the fact that they were driving separately, Ben didn't want to accidentally forget Quinn's bag in his car and leave him without his work materials. He'd offer small acts of submission elsewhere, then. "My car's the black one, over there--" he pointed at one end of the parking lot, scratching at the back of his neck. "Just so you know I'm not some random creep that's following you. I'm me." He tried to joke, giving a little smile. "I'll be right behind you, here's to hoping I don't get lost on these streets I've known my entire life."

Quinn

Quinn chuckled when Ben caught him in his non-committal comment. Truly, he didn't really remember any of the friends Ben had over when he hung out at the Elman place. Then they were headed outside into the crisp autumn air, and Quinn was glad that it was only a short walk to his vehicle, a white Equinox that was a few years old. "I'll make sure not to lose you. The traffic in this place is just awful," he said with a playful roll of his eyes. "See you when we get there," he said, settling into his car and turning on the heat. It was a pretty short drive, so it probably wouldn't even properly kick in until he got to his place. He made sure Ben was ready before he drove out of Mac's parking lot. He wasn't committed to staying in Edgewater long enough to buy a house, but he didn't mind his apartment. It wasn't as cluttered with boxes as it had once been, but it wasn't fit for company according to the standards he was raised on, either. He didn't feel self-conscious, though; he doubted Ben would judge. He mulled over what he wanted to do as he drove, careful not to get too distracted. He stepped out of his car when they got to the parking lot, gathering his things once again. This time it was his turn to ask if Ben was ready. "Still green?" he asked instead when he saw him.

Ben

"Oh, yeah, I've never sat in worse traffic in my life," Ben joked in return, unlocking his old Camaro convertible - something he'd spent plenty of paychecks saving up for, and something he still treasured to this day. "See you then." Going to get in the car, he didn't bother with the heat, figuring it would take too long to warm up between Mac's and Quinn's apartment. Edgewater wasn't exactly big, and it wasn't as if it was as cold as it got in winter quite yet. Following close behind Quinn's Equinox, Ben tapped his fingers against the steering wheel as he drove, both nervous and excited at the same time. It would be nice to scene with Quinn, nice to scene in general, but he was especially glad that it was Quinn. Once they reached an apartment complex that wasn't too far from Ben's own apartment, he took the parking spot beside Quinn's, climbing out of his car and locking it behind him. "Yes, Sir, still green," he replied confidently. "Can I take your bag for you? So your hands aren't so full?"

Quinn

"Good," Quinn replied with a small smile. "Nice car, by the way," he added, glancing over at it. He really didn't know much about cars in general, but a convertible definitely suited him. He could easily picture himself in the passenger's seat as they drove with the top down, showing Ben a new song he found. Of course, that would probably have to wait until summer, and that was something Quinn wasn't going to think about. "You can, thank you, Ben," Quinn replied to his next question. He hadn't yet put his bag over his shoulder yet, so it was easy enough to hand it over. He led the way inside his apartment complex, stopping in front of apartment 23. "That can just go on the table, thanks," he said, referring to what could technically be considered a dining room table, even though there were only four chairs, and there was no way in hell he'd be able to fit all of the aunts, uncles, and cousins at it. Lucky for him, he wasn't planning on hosting any family holidays anytime soon. Meanwhile, he busied himself getting both of them a glass of water.

Ben

“Oh, thanks. My pride and joy,” he admitted, looking down at the car. He already missed being able to drive with the top down during the warm summer months. He just had to wait the rest of the year before he could do that again. “My pleasure, Sir,” he replied with a smile, taking the bag from him and draping it over his shoulder. Following him up to the apartment, he noticed that it was still not quite unpacked, but who was Ben to judge? He hadn’t moved in the past four years, but, if he were to move, he would definitely take his time unpacking, too. Nodding at the instructions, he went and sat the bag down on the table, looking around. “It’s nice here. Cozy,” he smiled over at Quinn, leaning against the table. He could definitely see himself feeling at home here, but he decided against mentioning that. “I like it.”

Quinn

Quinn very nearly made a comment about how he hoped that would be the theme of the night, Ben’s pleasure, but he decided against it. He wanted to get Ben acclimated to his place a little bit before he got him flustered. “Yeah? The half unpacked boxes do it for ya?” he teased as he handed over a glass of water, taking a sip of his own. “Thanks for not minding it,” he said seriously. “My mom would be absolutely horrified that I’m allowing company in with my apartment looking like this, but I didn’t think you’d mind.” His tone was joking again, easygoing, wanting to make sure Ben was comfortable before he dragged him unceremoniously off to the bedroom. Normally, he’d have no qualms about it. They had their stoplights, after all. Stop lights and shortstop, and yes, the baseball reference was endearing too.

Ben

“It’s not the boxes, it’s... I don’t know, the place. It’s... I don’t know. It’s like you. Just showed up in Edgewater, for the first time in over a decade, still settling in, but... it suits you, you know?” Reaching for his glass of water and thanking Quinn for it, Ben took a little sip, shrugging. “Well, good thing I won’t tell your mom,” he teased back playfully, drinking more of the water. He knew he’d have to be hydrated for the scene; he was grateful for Quinn for taking that into account. “I’m happy to be here, really.” The more they stood there, though, the more antsy Ben became. He was excited, but the longer he had to wait, the more curious he got. Quickly finishing the glass of water, Ben set the cup aside, giving Quinn a smile. “Thanks again for that.”

Quinn

“I’ll take that as a compliment, then,” Quinn replied with a smile. He finished about half of his own glass before setting it down, deciding he’d come back for the rest. “Of course. You’re welcome to anything here,” he replied before reaching out to take Ben’s hand, showing him the way to the bedroom. He’d been wanting to touch him all night, and now the slightest thing had him all but vibrating. He already had an idea of what he wanted to do. “Take off your shoes, socks, and shirt, and kneel on the bed with your back facing me.” Quinn let go of his hand so he could follow his instructions, bending down to take off his converse and mismatched socks.

Ben

“Oh, yeah, it is a compliment. I promise.” He did mean what he had said— he really did think that Quinn’s place felt nice. Ben could definitely feel comfortable there. As soon as Quinn took his hand, Ben felt his heart pick up with excitement. Taking a deep breath, he let himself focus on the feeling of Quinn’s hand in his; it was softer than he expected, but a good size for holding, relative to Ben’s own hand. Following him into the bedroom, he did his best to keep himself from bouncing with excitement. As soon as Quinn uttered the word kneel, Ben felt his excitement pick up even more. “Yes, Sir, thank you, Sir...” he murmured happily, taking another deep breath. Bending down, he undid the laces on his shoes, tugging them off and putting them neatly off to the side, placing his socks inside of them. Then, he stood, tugging off his shirt. After folding it, he dropped it to sit on top of his shoes. Then, he finally made his way to the bed, climbing onto it, and kneeling with his back to Quinn, his butt resting on his calves, palms face up on his thighs. Closing his eyes, he took another deep breath, letting the feeling of kneeling for the first time in a while consume him. It felt amazing.

Quinn

"Good boy," Quinn murmured, taking in the sight of him, letting him kneel untouched for a moment. He was even more gorgeous with these extra layers removed, and Quinn was still contemplating all of the possibilities. He had time; Ben seemed more than content to be kneeling for him. Next time, he'd have him waiting and kneeling. If there was a next time. Normally, he was ambivalent about whether or not there was a next time. Shaking off the thought, Quinn focused again on the task at hand. Kneeling on the bed put Ben at an ideal height for what Quinn was going to do next. Typically, he'd do a quick hook up, but sometimes he liked to take his time. He hoped Ben wanted to take his time. Quinn stepped forward, putting his hands on Ben's shoulders and starting to massage his bare skin. He applied light pressure at first, not wanting to accidentally hurt him. His hands drifted downward, applying consistent pressure, and even as he was tempted to dip his head and press a kiss to the back of his neck, he held off for the moment, instead interested in Ben's reaction to what he was doing so far.

Ben

The praise drew a hum from his lips, Ben's eyes fluttering shut for a minute. He really couldn't overestimate the amount he liked to be called a good boy; he practically lived for the praise. He let the feeling of kneeling relax him, deciding against kneeling up - if Quinn wanted him to lift his ass off his legs, he was sure that Quinn would say so. His mind was silenced, no longer wondering about what Quinn wanted to do to him, with him, now just appreciating the feeling of being on his knees on the bed, the mattress far more comfortable than most other surfaces he'd knelt on in the past. "Oh, fuck..." he whispered as soon as he felt Quinn massaging his shoulders. He figured that he was allowed to speak - Quinn didn't gag him, didn't give him orders to hold his tongue, so why wouldn't he be allowed to comment? "Sir, your hands... where did you learn how to do that...?" Biting his lip gently, he could feel the stress running off of him in waves. "Mmm... thank you..." His muscles had been tenser than he realized, but, now, with Quinn working the tension out of them, he felt much looser, much more relaxed... the fact that subspace was already creeping in proved that to him.

Quinn

Feeling Ben relax under his hands was yet another good sign. Even though he'd explicitly stated that he trusted him, the first time doing a scene with someone could be a nerve-wracking experience. Quinn wanted him to feel as relaxed as possible. Safe with him. He smiled when Ben first spoke, a quiet curse word that was further indication that he was doing something right. He didn't really have an answer for how he'd gotten so good at it. It was just instinctual, a habit he'd picked up in college after someone had helped him out of a terrible drop. "You're welcome, handsome." He kept at it for a few more minutes before pulling his hands back. "Now, I'd like you to stand up and take off the rest of your clothes. Then get back on the bed, this time on all fours. I'm going to let you touch yourself while I rim you. I want you to say my name only when you're getting close. Then you stop, and wait for instructions. You may not come until I say so. Understood?"

Ben

Ben practically felt like putty in Quinn’s hands as the Dom continued to work at his muscles. He could certainly get used to this. He’d have to learn Quinn’s tricks for himself, too, already hoping to return the favor one day. His mind was nearly blank when he heard Quinn speak up again. He stayed silent as he gave the instructions, nodding along ever so slightly to show that he was listening. Every step of it seemed more exciting than the first. With a shiver running through him, Ben nodded. “I understand, Sir.” Rolling out of his kneeling position, he climbed off of the bed, making quick work of his slacks and his underwear. He wasn’t ashamed of his body; he never had been. He just wanted Quinn to like it, too. As he folded the clothes, he snuck a glance over at Quinn, trying not to moan at the knowledge that he was fully nude and Quinn was fully dressed. Climbing back onto the bed, he settled himself on all fours, making sure he was both comfortable and stable. He was genuinely looking forward to this- he’d never felt quite so excited about submitting before, and he wanted Quinn to have a good time Domming him. Taking a deep breath, he adjusted his hands just enough that he could comfortably wrap a hand around himself and stay balanced, his head hanging down as he gave himself a single stroke to test the water, a sharp inhale accompanying it. Eager wouldn’t even begin to cover how Ben was feeling in the moment.

Quinn

Ben was nothing if not respectful, never forgetting a title. It made him consider asking Ben to call him something different, besides sir. Sir was fine, but it was a bit nondescript. Neutral. He likely called every Dominant he came upon sir when they were first introduced. Filing that thought away for later, he watched Ben undress the rest of the way. The phrase body worship came to mind, and a part of him just wanted to pay special attention to all of him. Memorize every detail. For now, though, he just let his gaze linger. "Did you know that you're absolutely gorgeous, Benjamin?" The question slipped past his lips so casually, like he was pointing out the weather, but with a simmering heat behind it. Once again, he let Ben get himself positioned, this time loosening his tie and taking it off. Next came his shirt, right after Ben reacted to his own touch. His pants stayed on for the moment, and he figured his shirtlessness would come as a surprise when he turned Ben over. The bed dipped a little as Quinn came to join him, running a slow hand over the perfect curve of his ass. His own hard on was visible through his pants, now, and this was going to be an exercise in self-control for him as well. He then parted his cheeks and teased Ben's entrance with his tongue, exploring.

Ben

Taking a few deep breaths, Ben let his eyes slip shut, absorbing the moment without letting his eyes get distracted. He focused on the texture of the blankets beneath his hands and knees, the feeling of the air against his bare skin, the feeling of subspace at the edges of his mind slowly seeping in. When Quinn spoke up again, it took Ben a moment to respond, to breathe through the blush it raised to his cheeks and the shiver it sent through his skin. "Thank you, Sir..." he murmured back, shifting his hands and knees slightly. Taking another deep breath, he could hear Quinn's words echoing through his mind, the air in the room crackling like it was electric against his skin. It felt like Quinn was leaving him waiting like that on purpose, but who was Ben to say what Quinn was doing? He trusted him; he was letting Quinn Dom him, after all. Finally, after what felt like a millennia, he felt the bed dipping behind him. A shiver ran down his spine at the feeling of Quinn's hand running down his ass, Ben's mouth hanging open in desire. Forcing himself to raise a hand to his mouth, he spat in it for lubrication's sake, before wrapping it around his length, just as Quinn's tongue pressed against his hole. He moaned quietly, beginning to stroke himself at a leisurely rate, trying to match Quinn's pace. "Oh my god..." he whispered, mind nearly blank with desire. "Thank you..."

Quinn

Figuring that he must be doing something right with Ben's thanks, he kept going, varying his tactics as he went. Quinn moved down to lick along his taint before moving back, his lips forming an o as he lightly blew along where his tongue had once been. He gave a light press of his tongue against his hole before pressing in as far as he could. After he pulled back again, he took his time spelling Ben's name with his tongue, all thirteen letters. He listened the whole time, making sure that it was well received. He wasn't sure how Ben felt about rimming alone, but combined with giving himself a hand job, Quinn was sure that he would be able to get himself close, just like he was hoping for. The discomfort of his hard on straining through his pants was hardly noticeable as he distracted himself with Ben's glorious reactions to his ministrations.

Ben

The feelings were indescribable, every sensation amplified. Every time he felt Quinn's breath against his skin, he felt shivers going through him. What Quinn could do with his mouth was unbeatable. And the feeling of his tongue pressing into him was amazing. He tried to keep his strokes paced evenly, despite how ragged his breaths were, a moan breaking his lips every so often. He could feel himself getting closer and closer, pressing himself to last longer despite his hand picking up speed. He'd lost track of time long before he could feel himself getting close to climax, forcing his hand back to the bed as his mouth finally managed to speak Quinn's name, teeth biting down at his lips, hands curling in the blankets. "Oh my god -- Quinn--" his breathing was ragged at best, his whole body feeling like it was being shocked in the best way possible. He could feel an ache in him, an ache that would surely be worth it when Quinn allowed him to cum in the end - if Quinn allowed him to cum in the end. Even if he didn't, it would be worth it. This felt amazing.

Quinn

Ben's moans continued to affect him, even as he was listening for the sound of his own name on his lips. He couldn't wait to hear how it sounded, desperate and close. As he continued to use his breath and tongue, he pulled back immediately when Ben managed to say his name. Not a moment before, even though the oh my god would have made him smirk in satisfaction. He gave Ben a moment to collect himself, listening to his ragged breaths. "On your back, sweetheart." He cringed immediately after the term of endearment rolled off his lips, and he was just glad that Ben hadn't seen it. Where had that come from? He didn't just... Call people he did a scene with pet names. Sure, he'd called him a good boy, but that was different. Quickly correcting himself before he got lost in his thoughts, he scooted up so he was laying alongside Ben, on his side so he could get a good look at him. "Color?" Quinn prompted, his pointer finger tracing lightly over Ben's abs, very tempted to glance down at his dick, but for now just curiously watching his face.

Ben

The pet name was endearing - if Ben had been any more grounded in reality, he would have loved to say something about it. But, instead, all he could do was lower himself to the bed and roll over onto his back, pushing some of his hair out of his face. Finally managing to catch his breath, he laid his eyes on Quinn for the first time, and he looked amazing shirtless. It made Ben want to reach out and touch, but he wasn't sure if he was allowed to. "Green, Sir," he replied as soon as he was prompted to give his color, his hand moving to run over Quinn's shoulder and collarbones, forgetting about the fact that he hadn't asked permission to touch. He figured that Quinn would have told him if he wasn't allowed. Words weren't coming as easily to him - it was likely due to subspace creeping into his mind - but he knew better than to leave a prompt for a color hanging, especially when he felt as good as he did. Nodding a tiny bit, he let his eyes slip shut for a minute, appreciating the feeling of Quinn's finger running over his abs.

Quinn

Edging could get intense, and even though Ben had listed it as one of his top two favorites, Quinn was going to keep checking in for as many times as he was close and not allowed to come. Being brought to the edge once could be frustrating enough, and Quinn was planning to do it at least one more time before he let Ben have his release. He was thinking that the third time would be the charm, and he'd make it a surprise for Ben, continuing with the theme of saying his name and telling him he could come right after he did. For the moment, though, he was content to let Ben come down a little bit before he started in again. It took him by surprise when Ben touched him without asking for permission once he answered his question. He hadn't told him he couldn't, though, and really, Quinn had wanted him to. He glanced down at Ben's cock, red and leaking pre-cum, and then back up to his face, surprisingly relaxed for just having been denied an orgasm. He let a few more minutes pass before he started moving to position himself between Ben's legs. "This time I'm going to blow you. You can put your hands wherever you'd like them. Same deal, say my name when you're getting close."

Ben

Ben did appreciate the check-ins; if he was any more coherent, he would have said so. Instead, he could just lay there, absorbing the feeling of the moment, of being in Quinn's bed, beside him, just an edge shy of an orgasm. His balls did ache, but it was a good sort of ache, like the ache after a workout. Propping his head up slightly against the pillows, he let himself breathe for an indeterminate amount of time, knowing that Quinn was keeping an eye on him. He felt so good, it was almost like he had left his body on the bed and was floating above it, the air electric around him, his body feeling so good he could almost cry. He felt the bed moving, so he opened his eyes again, looking to see Quinn positioned between his legs. If he could manage to speak very much, he would explain that Quinn was a far more generous Dom than many he'd been with in the past, and that Ben was appreciating every second of their time, but all he could do was nod, one hand curling up in Quinn's hair lazily. "Yes, Sir," he managed to roll the words off his tongue, giving him a smile to show that he was enjoying himself despite his lack of vocabulary at the moment.

Quinn

He'd been hoping that Ben would put his hand in his hair, but he wasn't going to order him to do it. He was enjoying himself regardless. Ben was a wonderful submissive, and the fact that he'd had such an easy time coming up with this scene on the fly just spoke to their compatibility. He ignored that for the moment, taking it slow as he pressed soft kisses to his inner thighs, first. One hand reached up to tease his thumb over his nipple, glancing up to watch Ben's face for just a moment. After a bit more teasing, he withdrew his hand to spit in it, giving Ben's dick a few lazy strokes as he tongued over the tip. He started with a slow rhythm at first, more teasing with his tongue than moving back and forth. The movement of his tongue was constant and intentional, one hand stroking where his mouth couldn't reach and the other holding Ben's hip.

Ben

Playing with Quinn's hair gently, Ben was enjoying the feeling of it between his fingers. It felt silky, perhaps even more so because of the way his senses felt heightened. A sharp inhale escaped his lips at the feeling of Quinn's thumb teasing over his nipple - he hadn't realized how sensitive they'd be until Quinn did that. As soon as Quinn's mouth was on him, Ben had to do his best not to squirm. It had been a long time since someone had blown him, and he was loving every second of it. His hand curled up a little tighter in Quinn's hair, teeth biting into his lower lip. "Oh my god--" he whispered, arching his hips up slightly. Ben had to do his best to refrain from saying Quinn's name, knowing he wasn't close enough to the edge for that quite yet. "Sir--"

Quinn

Even if Ben hadn't been making the most delicious noises in response to his mouth, the hand in his hair was an indication that he was enjoying himself. Quinn loved the feeling as his grip tightened, and huh, maybe hair pulling was on his list of things that he enjoyed. He usually told subs they couldn't touch when he was giving a blowjob, but Ben had been so good for him that he'd allowed it. He certainly didn't regret it even as his cock twitched in his pants again at the sensation. He kept his wits about him as he hollowed out his cheeks, careful not to suck too hard as he did so. Moaning around his cock to show just how into it he was, his hand moved from his hip to lightly brush over his balls. Quinn glanced up at Ben as he took a teasing pace before he ramped up the intensity, moving up and down, swirling his tongue around, and god was he tempted to get his lube from the drawer of his bedside table and add a finger, but they hadn't discussed that, so he refrained for this time.

Ben

It was almost as if every single thing that Quinn did, he did it because he could read Ben's mind. Each movement brought him closer and closer to the edge in the best way possible. His breath was ragged as he felt Quinn brush a hand over his balls, his eyes opening at the teasing pace. He gave a little whine, mouth hanging open with desire. That teasing didn't last for long, though - soon after, Quinn picked up the intensity of everything, and Ben threw his head back with pleasure. He could feel himself getting close to the edge again, his hand tightening in Quinn's hair. "Oh - fuck-- Quinn-" he blurted out quickly, trying not to push past the point of no return; better to stop now than to cum without permission. His hand remained curled in Quinn's hair, his head back against the pillow, mouth hanging open as he gasped for air, not realizing he'd been holding his breath between moans.

Quinn

Quinn kept up his pace, idly wondering how quickly he could bring Ben to the edge, so he was saying his name that way again. Just when his jaw started to ache, Ben said his name, and he dutifully pulled off with a slight pop. He pressed one small kiss to Ben's thigh before pulling completely back. This time, instead of laying next to him, Quinn got off the bed entirely. He took off his pants and boxers so he could put them in his hamper. His half hard dick was obvious, but he wasn't paying attention to see if Ben looked. Instead, he reached into the drawer beside his bed to grab the lube and a condom. The bed dipped again as he laid down next to Ben on his side once again. "Very good boy, Benjamin," he murmured, brushing a hand through his hair and taking in his facial expression. He'd been doing so well that Quinn had to contemplate whether or not he still wanted to surprise him and let him come or just tell him point blank that he could come whenever he wanted for this third time around.

Ben

A whine escaped his throat when Quinn pulled off of him and then climbed off of the bed; he wanted the lazy touches that had come after the edging prior to come this time around, too. But he wasn't in charge of the situation, thankfully - and it seemed like Quinn had other plans. When Quinn undressed, Ben couldn't help but let his eyes rake over his body. Of course, his body was just as beautiful as his face, and Ben felt his mouth watering with desire. Finally, Ben was given what he wanted prior when Quinn laid down beside him again. It felt like his whole body was going to melt into the bed at the praise, leaning into the hand in his hair, his eyes fluttering shut. "Thank you, Sir..." he managed to reply, the warmth of subspace drifting underneath his skin. He could lay like this for hours, he decided. It felt amazing.

Quinn

It was lucky that Ben seemed to enjoy all of the sexual positions he'd suggested so far. Not every guy could come from a blow job, nor did every guy enjoy being rimmed. Ben, though, had been so good throughout. He continued playing with Ben's hair as he let him come down for the second time. He really was beautiful. So well controlled, trusting, looking absolutely content even though he'd just denied him a second orgasm. No complaints, just pliant, laying next to him. He wasn't sure how long exactly he'd just laid there playing with his hair before he used his free hand to give himself a few good strokes. Between that and remembering how fucking hot Ben sounded moaning his name, it didn't take long at all for him to get hard. Then he pulled back his other hand, needing both to open the condom. Rolling it onto his dick, it occurred to him that he could make it four rounds, see how close he could get Ben from fingering him and stroking his dick. Maybe they'd work up to it. He didn't want to push too many limits their first time around. "Same rules. This time I'm going to fuck you. Color?"

Ben

It had been a long time since Ben had experienced anything like this. Most of his experience submitting was nonsexual, just submitting to fend away headaches and keep himself in his peak of health. When he was in high school, he had a few repeated scenes with people in his class and the class above him that were sexual, and the same thing applied to college, but since his college graduation, sexual submission had been rare. It was a disappointment to Ben, of course, who would have preferred to be submitting in every aspect of his life, but he didn't know what he was missing out on until tonight. Maybe it was best that he'd waited this long to submit sexually, because everything Quinn did seemed to hit. There were no strikeouts, no foul balls; it was home run after home run. Leaning into the hand in his hair, he finally opened his eyes when that hand was pulled away. He understood why the hand was taken from him, though. Condoms were important and Ben was glad that Quinn had one at the ready. He was able to answer with less of a pause this time; "I'm green, Sir, thank you for asking."

Quinn

Quinn smiled at Ben's sweet response, before taking the lube and applying some to his hole and some on his finger. He had no idea how regularly Ben was doing this sort of thing, so he planned to err on the side of caution and take his time fingering him before he tried to actually fuck him. He slowly pushed in with his pointer finger first, carefully watching his face. He didn't touch his dick, and he wouldn't until he was actively fucking him, wanting to make sure that Ben was as open and relaxed as possible. Once his finger was all the way in, he gently moved around until he found his prostate, and crooked his finger against it, a reward for taking his finger so well. While he did this, he watched Ben's face, remembering full well the dual sensation of pleasure and pain bottoming brought on even though he hadn't done it in years. Once he seemed adjusted to one finger, he pulled out, added lube to two fingers, and ever so slowly pushed in again, ready to slowly retreat if he was asked to stop.

Ben

The lube was cool, but not cold. Enough to ground him to reality for just a second longer. As Quinn pushed in, Ben inhaled sharply, his hand going to curl up in the blankets, unsure if he was still allowed to touch him. It took Ben another moment to relax, knowing that the experience wouldn't be good for either of them if he was so tense. Once he had relaxed, he felt Quinn's finger pushing in more, his eyes fluttering shut again. Then, though, he felt Quinn's finger prodding around inside of him until it hit just the right spot, his eyes snapping open again. His mouth hung open in a silent moan, his hips arching upwards. "Oh my god--" he whispered again, the only words his brain could manage to form, along with a moaned-out "Sir..." Resisting the urge to wrap a hand around himself, Ben managed to relax even more afterwards, another moan being dragged from him as Quinn pushed in two fingers. "Yes..." Maybe he had needed this more than he would've admitted. "Thank you..."

Quinn

All of Ben's reactions were going straight to his cock, but he had absolutely no intention of rushing the process for his own gratification. He gave Ben more time to adjust to his two fingers, brushing against his prostate once again. After a few teasing come here motions from his middle finger, he pulled out again. To Quinn, there was no such thing as too much lube, so he applied just a bit more to Ben's hole and a generous amount to his dick. Then he helped move Ben's legs so they were hooked around his shoulders, positioning himself accordingly. Now for the moment of truth. Slowly, he pushed inside, knowing that the most difficult part would be getting the head in. Luckily, Ben had been relaxed, so it was easy enough to slide in, the head of his cock sliding relatively seamlessly past the tight ring of muscle. He couldn't help himself as a moan snuck past his lips as he slowly but surely sank all the way in. He waited to move, wanting to give Ben all the time he needed to adjust to the difference.

Ben

Ben was grateful for the time that Quinn was giving him to adjust; he hadn't done anything like this in a long time, and heaven knew he needed that adjustment period. Thanks to that adjustment, he could enjoy the pleasure-pain feeling, as opposed to just feeling the pain. Every time Quinn's finger brushed against his prostate, a moan escaped his lips, his hands curling up tight in the blankets and his cock leaking precum. It felt like Quinn was taking him apart, watching him melt into the blankets, and Ben loved every second of it. It took him a moment to realize that Quinn had pulled his fingers out of him and was maneuvering his legs to be over his shoulders. Shifting slightly to get himself into a more comfortable position, he took a few deep breaths to relax himself once again, eyes on Quinn's face, as if he could read his mind by looking him in the eyes. "Oh, fuck..." he groaned at the feeling of Quinn pushing inside of him. He could hear Quinn's moan, which drew another moan from him. "Thank you--" he whispered, mouth hanging open slightly, hips pressed up towards Quinn a little more. Nodding, he pushed some of his hair out of his eyes again, a hint of a smile on his lips. "Thank you Sir--"

Quinn

It took all of his restraint to take things slow. Ben felt so good, tight around his dick, moaning and thanking him, and he hadn’t even realized he’d closed his eyes until he opened them to see Ben’s slight smile. “So good for me, Ben,” he said, a hand reaching forward to cup his cheek, thumb brushing over his cheekbone. He let it linger for just a moment before pulling back and starting to move. He took a painfully slow pace at first, pulling back and pushing in again, the head of his cock brushing against that bundle of nerves, watching Ben’s face every time as his own breathing grew a little ragged. He was so ready to come, but he was drawing out this last part as long as he could.

Ben

Leaning into the hand on his cheek, Ben moaned a little bit at the praise. This all felt like a dream, a wonderful dream, a dream that, if he could choose, he would never wake up from. When Quinn started moving, it was at an achingly slow pace, as if Quinn was trying to tease him. Every time Quinn's cock brushed against his prostate, though, he felt like fireworks were going off inside of him, his cock leaking against his stomach. "Please, Sir--" he whispered, knowing he could hold on a little longer - at least long enough to make Quinn proud of him. "Oh-fuck--" he had to do his best to keep his hands to himself, curling up tight in the blankets. A little moan escaped his throat every time Quinn thrusted, sweat matting some of his hair to his forehead. He didn't want it to end.}

Quinn

This was without a doubt the best scene he'd had in a long time, but as much as he wanted it to last, Ben had been very good for him. He was going to let him come this time, just as soon as he said his name. He picked up his pace slowly, from teasing to more intense to all but relentless. He wondered if Ben would be able to come untouched if he kept it up. Either way it would be hot. He wanted to know what he looked like when he finally got to let go, even though he knew the clench of Ben's tight ass around his cock would be his own undoing. He was already holding himself back, having worked himself up in addition to Ben, although not quite as much. Fortunately, he still had his wits about him. He just had to remember to tell Ben it was okay when he ultimately said his name again.

Ben

It felt like each of Quinn's movements pushed the breath from his lungs with a moan. The longer the scene could go on, the more Ben wanted it to, which was why he was holding back as long as possible. Each time Quinn hit the bundle of nerves inside of him, though, more precum leaked out, and Ben was smart enough to know that he couldn't last much longer, especially as Quinn picked up the pace. Hooking his ankle against Quinn's back, trying to pull him in closer, Ben nodded quickly, opening his mouth. "Quinn- Quinn, I'm- I'm close--" he pleaded, his eyes staring up at the Dom above him, pushing his hips up a little more. "Please--" He didn't know how many more times Quinn planned on edging him, but he wasn't sure he could take much more; holding back was difficult enough already.

Quinn

As soon as Ben said his name, he stilled, leaning in a little closer. "You can come now," he told him, leaning in to press a quick kiss to his lips before pulling back and getting back into his rhythm. Eyes open, he watched Ben's face, wondering how long it would take after all of the back and forth he'd experienced tonight. He was still marveling over how well he'd done, how frequently he'd expressed his thanks, how perfect he looked spread out underneath him like this. Vulnerable and open, utterly gorgeous. He picked up the pace a bit more, hand not drifting between Ben's legs just yet. If he seemed to want it, Quinn would be more than happy to provide, but for the moment, he wanted to see if that gorgeous cock of his would come untouched.

Ben

The permission felt like relief, like a cold shower after a hard day of baseball practice. And then Quinn kissed him - if one could even consider something as chaste as that a kiss, because Ben desperately wanted more. When Quinn picked up his pace again, Ben's eyes fluttered shut. Little moans escaped him, Ben not making any attempt to quiet himself. It took his body another minute to warm back up to Quinn's movements, but it was as if Quinn knew him, inside and out. Every thrust hit him in just the right place, driving him closer and closer to the edge, his orgasm building much quicker. It wasn't long before he climaxed, moaning Quinn's name. His cum splattered against his chest, relief washing over him, the orgasm drawn out thanks to the edgings prior. "Fuck, Sir... thank you..." he moaned, eyes shut as he rocked his hips through it.

Quinn

After all the build up, finally watching him come was fucking incredible. His face was absolutely gorgeous, and Quinn let himself go too, eyes falling closed. Ben’s tight walls clenching around him was just what he needed to come shortly after him, Ben’s name on his lips. He rode out his orgasm, a few more thrusts until he was spent. Then, carefully he pulled out, tying off the condom and tossing it in the trash. He’d help Ben clean up in a moment, but for now, he just wrapped an arm around his waist and pressed a gentle kiss to his neck. He hadn’t gotten around to marking him up this time around, and it was a little disappointing. He wanted Ben to catch a glimpse of himself in the mirror and think of him.

Ben

He could feel Quinn's hips stutter inside of him, even through his post-orgasmic haze. A little smile came up onto his cheeks, knowing that he was good enough for Quinn to come while he was fucking him. A little whine surprised even himself when Quinn pulled out of him -- he didn't want the scene to be over, no matter how exhausted he was. Cuddling close to him as soon as Quinn's arm was around him, he took a few deep breaths, trying to ground himself. "Hi..." he whispered, pressing his nose to Quinn's hair. "That... was amazing..." He was still out of breath, even if he wouldn't admit it, his pulse still racing. Pushing some of his hair out of his face again, he gave Quinn a smile, putting a hand on his stomach. "Thank you..."

Quinn

"Hi," Quinn replied with an endeared grin, glancing over at Ben. "I'll bring a warm wash cloth in a second," he promised, glancing at Ben's chest. He looked just as good in their post orgasm haze as he had when he was edging him. He was just nice to look at. "It was amazing," he agreed. It had been a while since he'd had such a good scene. Someone he'd really connected with. It had been years, but he wasn't going to think about that. He was just going to enjoy it. "It was quite literally my pleasure, Ben," he responded with a teasing grin when he thanked him. He usually cuddled out of obligation when it seemed like a sub needed it post-scene, but this was actually sort of nice.

Ben

"Thank you," he replied to the promise of a warm wash cloth, not wanting his come to dry to his chest. When Quinn agreed that the scene was amazing, Ben practically lit up. It had been so long since he'd had a scene that good, since he'd felt subspace like that - and to know that Quinn agreed that it was a good scene, well, it made him feel incredible inside. Tucking himself a little closer to Quinn, Ben ran his fingers over Quinn's bicep, grounding himself to the feeling of having him next to him. "We'll... do a post-scene eval in, like... five minutes, just let me... lay like this for a minute..." he murmured, tucking his head a little closer to Quinn. Not every scene needed an evaluation, Ben had found, but he did want to know what was good for Quinn, for the future. That was implying that they'd have future scenes together, of course, but Ben really did hope that they would have them.

Quinn

Quinn let Ben explore his body at his leisure, eyebrows quirking up at the mention of a post-scene eval. It sounded so formal to him, and he definitely wasn't in the habit of doing them. Was that something he was supposed to lead? Ben brought it up. He'd had his fair share of once and dones, but he doubted that Ben was going to be a once and done. It had just been too good. And even though he'd eventually have to break it off before either of them got too close, he was going to enjoy what they had now. Beginning with the end in mind, something one of his friends from his college years had told him, who was majoring in social work. There is simply nothing worse than knowing how it ends. A lyric from the music he listened to when he needed to get out of his head. Pulling back to stand up, he brushed a hand through Ben's hair. "Be right back," he promised, going to the kitchen first to get a small bottle of juice. Then he came back to the room, heading to the bathroom off of his room to get the warm washcloth. He brought both back, offering Ben the juice and then kneeling on the bed to clean him up.

Ben

It wasn't common for Ben to feel like this after a scene. He felt incredibly comfortable, safe, warm - he didn't know how much time had passed since he'd left work, and, quite frankly, he didn't care. He could've laid there with Quinn for all of eternity and he would be happy. Leaning into the feeling of Quinn brushing his hand through his hair, Ben hummed an acknowledgement, scooting up on the bed slightly to rest his head against the pillows. The haze of subspace still surrounded him; he could fall asleep right there and then because of the warmth of it all. But he was coming down, and he wanted to talk with Quinn about all of this before anything left his head. Accepting the bottle of juice with another smile, Ben propped himself up so he could drink it without choking. Taking his time with it, he thanked Quinn for cleaning him up, leaning back against the pillows when he was finished with the bottle. Screwing the top back on, he fiddled with it in his hands, despite how tired his muscles were. "So..." he started, a hand moving to brush over Quinn's skin again. "How was that for you...? Anything you would change? Keep the same?"

Quinn

Once his bases were covered, Quinn settled back into bed next to Ben. Normally at this point if things seemed okay, he would have left. Or the sub would have left his place, as the case may be. But Ben wanted to talk about it, and he could give him that. "You were good," he replied to Ben's question, letting him explore some more. He wanted to start out with a compliment before he considered things that he would change. "Honestly, the things that I'd change were on my part. I didn't mark you up," he said, a hand moving over to his collarbone, thumb brushing over it. "And I could've added one more round to the edging where I just fingered you. You were very responsive to that as well. But by the look of you, three rounds was plenty," he ended his brief ramble, looking over at Ben, anticipating what he would say. He was fine with constructive criticism; he just had no idea what Ben would say. He'd seemed to enjoy all of it.

Ben

Figuring that Quinn would tell him to go home if he didn't want him there, Ben assumed that this conversation could be had now, as opposed to later. "You don't need to flatter me, but thank you," he replied to the praise, fingertips just barely brushing over Quinn's bicep. "I probably could've taken one more round of edging, if it wasn't such a hard edge, and there's nothing to say that you can't mark me up right now," he pointed out, propping one arm behind his head to rest on it. "It was good for me, genuinely. I felt subspace like I have't felt in a long time, it felt nice to be able to submit. I especially liked the part where I was fully naked and you were still dressed. The only thing I would change is about myself, too. I would've probably asked you more questions," he explained, trying not to scare Quinn off. "Like... your preferred honorific during scenes. Not everybody prefers Sir or Miss, I should've asked that. And I can kneel on something harder than the bed, for the record - one guy who Dommed me in high school had me kneeling on hay, so I think I can handle the carpet or the hardwood," he admitted with a chuckle. "I had a really good time, though, Quinn. Seriously, thank you."

Quinn

"I wouldn't flatter you," Quinn replied simply with a small shrug of his shoulder. Truly, he wouldn't have given such high praise if it hadn't been earned. Quinn thought about saying that maybe they would work on more rounds of edging the next time, but that was assuming there would be a next time, and he wasn't going to get into those details just yet. "Do you want me to? Hickeys always seem like foreplay to me," he admitted. The last time he'd given a hickey and it hadn't led to sex had been... Well, high school. His choice to have Ben strip for him had been more for convenience so he wouldn't have to take his clothes off while in the bed, but he was glad it had worked for him, and the little detail was noted. "Sir is fine," Quinn added. "I mean, if you had something else in mind, we can talk about it, but I don't mind sir." He chuckled at the kneeling comment. "I had you kneel on the bed because I wanted you to be at a convenient height for that back rub," he explained. "I don't doubt your kneeling abilities," he added. He was proud of himself for showing Ben such a good time, though. "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. I did, too."

Ben

"I don't think hickeys have to be classified into one area of a scene or sex. I just like them. I mean, if you don't want to right now, it's definitely not a requirement." Ben didn't want to pressure Quinn into doing anything he didn't want to do, even if it was something as simple as giving him a hickey. Pushing his hair out of his face again - was it really getting long enough to need a hair tie? He didn't think so - he looked over at Quinn, raising an eyebrow, laughing gently. "Sure, Sir is fine, sure, you don't mind it, but is there something you prefer? Something you like? Something you would enjoy to hear me moan?" he asked, tilting his head. "If you like Sir, then I'll stick with Sir. I just want to be sure I'm making this as good for you as it was for me." His eyes lit up at the mention of the back rub, though - "speaking of the back rub, that was excellent. Your hands are like magic. My body felt like putty. I'd seriously pay you to just give me the massage." Rolling onto his side to face Quinn more, he hummed. "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, too. Really glad."

Quinn

"If you want one, you're getting one," Quinn said with a smirk. Truly, Ben had been so good for him, and Quinn was absolutely in the business of rewarding good behavior. Not that the reward would be a hardship for him either. Quinn mulled over Ben's questions, not exactly sure where he stood on that side of things. "Let me get back to you on that one," he decided for the moment. None of the people he'd done a scene with had asked him what he wanted to be called. They just deferred to sir, and he accepted it because he was used to it. "You don't have to worry about that, Benjamin. It was definitely just as good for me," he said, grinning at his response to the back rub. "Maybe I missed a secret calling as a masseuse," he joked. "It's a seriously good trick to have up my sleeve for when I get to take my time in a scene," he admitted, rolling as well so he could see Ben better. "We're really going to have to thank Brooke for those fried oreos now," he quipped.

Ben

"If that's the case, then hell yeah, I want one." Ben wasn't going to lie about it; he wanted something that he could look at in the mirror the next day, something that would be a reminder of their scene for however long it lasted. Unlike the hickey, though, Ben knew that the memories would never fade. "Yeah, no worries. Take your time. If you think of something in an hour, let me know. Or tomorrow, or in a week, or a month-- you get it. Take your time, I'm happy to use Sir." When Quinn called him Benjamin again, Ben pushed him playfully. "Hey, now - you can't do that when I'm in the afterglow-- it'll just make me horny again, and I don't think either of us has the energy to deal with that right now," he joked, a smile on his face. "Well, I could do a 24 hour scene with you and I wouldn't grow tired of it, seriously. I'm a service sub, I'm happy to scene for as long as you'd like to, and -- I'm definitely off-topic, but the massage was great, so thanks for taking your time with me." His eyes went to Quinn's as soon as Quinn rolled to face him, Ben's tongue darting out to lick his lips. "We'll have to thank Brooke for not firing me when she bought the diner; if I was working anywhere else, who knows if we'd have gotten this chance reunion..." he murmured, eyes going down to rest on Quinn's lips. "Can I kiss you...?" the words came out before Ben realized that they had, but he wasn't going to take them back. He did want to feel Quinn's lips against his, especially now that they were laying like this.

Quinn

Quinn couldn't help but smile at Ben's enthusiasm. It was a small thing, really, but he'd do it for him. He thought about the title question some more as Ben told him to tell him if he thought of anything. His students called him professor, and he sure as hell wasn't going to be doing scenes with any of them. He had his Ph.D., but Doctor seemed a bit too extra. Although he was fond of Doctor Who. He was usually decisive about these sorts of things, but it was a pretty good point Ben made, about this being what he would be moaning in bed. God, if he wasn't hot when he was moaning his name. He chuckled when Ben pushed at him. "You mean I can't do that just to tease you? I think you should let me do that just to tease you. Although sometimes I don't even think about it consciously, so you might have to be careful," he teased. The usage of his full name couldn't make him that horny. "A 24 hour scene, huh?" He hadn't done a scene that long in his life; he'd have to do some research. "People do tend to like my hands," he said with a chuckle, his finger tracing an absentminded pattern on Ben's hip. "Brooke wouldn't fire you, you're too good at the job. And before you say I'm flattering you, just take the damn compliment," he joked. However, he caught Ben's gaze shifting to his lips. "Go ahead," he replied, not allowing himself to focus on the fact that this was different, definitely different, outside of the scene kissing in his bed.

Ben

Pushing a hand through Quinn's hair, Ben couldn't help the smile that remained on his face. There was just something about Quinn, something about their scene, something about the way they were interacting both before and after the scene. It made Ben feel better about himself than he'd felt in a long time, though he wouldn't have admitted that to anyone. "I mean, you can technically do whatever you want, because I'm not gonna safeword out of getting teased. But you know how teasing affects me. I mean, it's not, like, the worst teasing you could do - not even close, because, like, my mom still calls me Benjamin if I'm lying to her, but still. You know." He grinned, his hand moving down Quinn's side, just wanting to feel his skin beneath his fingers. "As for the 24 hour scene thing, it's not, like, 24 hours that are as intense as what we just did. It's more... simple, you know? Kneeling while you're working on things, me getting you snacks, stuff like that, I think - I mean, I've never, technically, done one, but I think I'd be happy to try it out, you know?" He tried his best not to ramble at Quinn, looking down at his shoulder so he didn't have to make eye contact. "Okay, okay, thank you, Quinn - I'm good at my job." He rolled his eyes playfully as he surrendered to the compliment. When he heard Quinn telling him that he could kiss him, Ben took a deep breath to muster up his courage, leaning in and pressing a gentle kiss to Quinn's lips, his hand cupping his cheek. It sent butterflies through him again, lips curling up into a smile through the kiss, despite how chaste he was keeping it.

Quinn

Eyes falling closed when Ben ran a hand through his hair, it was so easy to just relax into the touch. He all but hummed in contentment. He really loved it when someone played with his hair. Hadn't happened in a while. He opened them again to look at Ben when he started talking, laughing a little when he said that his mom still called him Benjamin. "Two very different effects of getting the full name dropped, huh?" he replied. He nodded thoughtfully when Ben elaborated on his 24 hour scene suggestion. "I'm open to it. I'll never say no to you getting me snacks," he joked. "Unless it's between you getting me a snack and you being the snack I get," he joked. He kept up with the meme culture as best as he could, considering the general age of his students. He didn't want to be completely out of touch as a professor. He chuckled a little as Ben reluctantly agreed to his compliment. This time, Quinn waited for Ben to come to him. The deep breath was adorable, like he was steeling himself through the nerves. Logically, there shouldn't be nerves. They'd just fucked, after all. But this was different, he guessed. Outside of scene, Ben laying in his bed, Quinn idly wondering if he was going to stay the night. However, it was easy to stop wondering and just enjoy the moment when Ben kissed him. It was soft and sweet, gentle and easy, almost achingly so. It wasn't foreplay and it wasn't sexual, it was romantic. Ah, fuck. After a moment, he pulled back, not daring to say anything, instead wriggling downward and pressing kisses along his neck, trying to decide where he was going to leave the hickey they'd talked about earlier.

Ben

"Yeah, there's, like, Benjamin, and then there's Benjamin. Two very different Benjamins," he laughed, laying his head back against the pillow again. He wasn't about to assume that he could stay the night, but if Quinn let him, Ben would gladly take the opportunity. Quinn's bed was comfortable, it felt safe, and Ben didn't particularly want to get up, get dressed, and drive home anytime soon. He rolled his eyes playfully as Quinn called him a snack, gently shoving at his shoulder. "Well, that'll be up to you, Sir, to dictate the scene," he teased. "I just get to come along for the ride." Running his fingers through Quinn's hair again, Ben hummed, the hand moving down to Quinn's neck, thumb running over his jawline as he kissed him. He kept it gentle, not wanting to escalate it past there, just wanting to be able to remember the feeling of Quinn's lips against his. He let Quinn pull back, his hand moving back up into his hair, his eyes opening. Humming at the feeling of Quinn kissing down his neck, he tilted his head to the side slightly so Quinn could have more access to his skin. Part of him hoped that Quinn was picturing how Ben would look with a collar on, but he knew that that was far too drastic for a first scene. It wasn't something that happened in real life, just something that the movies talked about. Pushing one hand under the pillow he was using, he took another deep breath. "Thank you..." he whispered again. "This is... really nice."

Quinn

"Perks of being the Dom," he had to agree. "Speaking of riding," Quinn said, not letting himself lose the point of what he was saying even though the hand in his hair was certainly distracting. "Next time," he finished, a little bit lamely. "Bet you look just as good above me as underneath me," he complimented, once Ben moved his hand. When Ben moved to give him better access, he thought it over, deciding whether the mark should be visible on his neck or further down. Well, if he didn't want one on his neck, Ben would stop him. He couldn't help but smile against his skin when Ben thanked him for the umpteenth time that night. He was so responsive and appreciative, and honestly, Quinn liked the validation. It was always good to know that he was doing something right. Maybe just a little bit too right. Pushing that thought aside, he sucked a mark onto his neck, pulling back and kissing the spot when he'd finished. Then he moved down and sucked another one into his collarbone. Finally, he moved back up to meet his lips again, running a hand through Ben's hair as he did so.

Ben

"Perks of being the Dom, of course." He laughed, shaking his head. "Honestly, I'm glad I'm not the Dom. That's too much decision making. And you enjoy it, and I don't, which makes me a good sub," he joked, leaning towards him a little more. "Bet I do look just as good above you. We'll have to wait and see, won't we?" Ben couldn't help but smile to know that Quinn was already making plans for a next time. Ben really did like Quinn, and he really had enjoyed their scene together; he was just grateful that there would be a next time. That's all he could hope for, realistically. In real life, one scene led to another which led to another, and it kept going like that until a couple decided to make a contract and a claim. Humming happily at the feeling of Quinn sucking hickeys into his skin, Ben smiled, his eyes drifting shut. The kiss was unexpected, but surprising in the best way. Meeting his lips, he leaned his head into the hand in his hair, his hand going down to rest on Quinn's waist. He darted his tongue out to lick at Quinn's lower lip, humming to him. This moment felt like an eternity in the best way; Ben didn't want it to end.

Quinn

"A very good sub," Quinn agreed with a grin, tracing his finger over Ben's bicep. He looked so good laying here next to him that it was pretty much impossible to keep his hands to himself for too long. "Unless you think you have one more round in you," Quinn teased. Truthfully, one more round was probably not the best idea, if only because both of them had responsibilities in the morning and he had no idea what time it was at the moment. He didn't want to look. That felt like it would somehow break the spell. Relief hit him when Ben deepened the kiss this time around. The soft, gentle kisses were making him get a little too much in his head, but this was familiar. He parted his lips a little more to allow Ben access if he wanted it, tugging ever so slightly at his hair. Alright, he might be a bit of an instigator.

Ben

“I’m glad you agree.” Ben smiled at that; the sound of Quinn calling him a very good sub made it feel like there were butterflies in his stomach again. Ben was glad that he’d kept a semi-regular gym routine; it seemed like Quinn was enjoying touching him, and Ben was more than proud to show off his body to him. “You know, I wouldn’t say no to another round if you didn’t have class in the morning. And I’ve got work, which is equally unfortunate when it comes to doing another scene right now.” Ben similarly didn’t know what time it was, and, quite frankly, he didn’t care. He could definitely lay with Quinn like this all night. Slipping his tongue into Quinn’s mouth, Ben hummed to him, hand on his stomach. He was taken entirely by surprise when Quinn pulled his hair, though, causing a moan to be dragged from his throat, head leaning with the tug. He just barely bit back the instinct to call Quinn Sir.

Quinn

Quinn had definitely expected some sort of remark about him being a flatterer, and he was pleased when it didn't come. Quinn didn't give out compliments without meaning them, and with Ben, he really did mean it. "Ugh, adult responsibilities," Quinn said with a playful roll of his eyes, smirking. He wanted Ben to stay, which should really be the indication that he should pull back and let him go. Instead, he tangled their legs together, enjoying the closeness without really thinking about it. Next time they'd do the scene at Ben's place, and he'd leave after he did the proper aftercare. That was all this was, really. Just aftercare. He was entirely too interested when he heard Ben moan, and he let the kiss go on for a few more moments before he pulled back, opening his eyes and looking at him. "Turns out I can behave. Shocking," he said, pulling his hand back and wrapping his arm around his waist again.

Ben

Ben knew that he was a good sub, but it was always nice to hear it from someone else. It was easier to accept compliments about his submission than it was to accept any other sort of compliment, in his experience. The number of times he'd been told he was a delight of a submissive was enough to convince him that it was true. Plus, he felt comfortable in his submission, and he valued it about himself. He didn't want to be any other way. "I agree." He smiled at the playful response about having adult responsibilities. If only they could lay there forever, not having to worry about anything else. He hummed against Quinn's lips at the feeling of him tangling their legs together, happy that it seemed like Quinn's way of asking him to stay. All that Ben could hope was that this wasn't just aftercare - that Quinn actually wanted him there. When Quinn pulled back and wrapped an arm around his waist, Ben nuzzled close to him. "I'd have to spank you if you couldn't," he joked, shaking his head, laughing at himself. Pressing his forehead to Quinn's shoulder for just a second, he kissed there, a smile on his lips. "This is nice..."

Quinn

A surprised huff of laughter escaped Quinn’s lips at Ben’s joking comment. “Oh yeah, tough guy? Got a big bad dom side I don’t know about?” he teased. Spanking could be hot, but he’d never really pictured himself on the receiving end. He couldn’t really imagine Ben being bratty enough to warrant a spanking either. If he wanted one, it would definitely be the sensual kind. Filing that thought away for later, he just relaxed into Ben’s touch. He didn’t have to think so hard about it. He was getting a little bit sleepy anyway, and Ben was right. It was nice. Do you wanna stay? He almost asked the question just like that, but at the last minute thought better of it. He didn’t want to put Ben into a position where he felt like he had to say yes to be a good submissive. The scene was over, and he was under no obligation to stay. He finally decided on, “Are you staying?” Much more neutral, the invitation obvious even if it wasn’t explicitly stated.

Ben

"Don't I look like it?" he joked back, propping his head up on the pillow a little more. More than once in his life, he'd had people confuse him for a Dom. Maybe it was because of his height, or his stature, whatever it was, it had happened. And, whenever it happened, Ben had to explain that no, he was a submissive, but thanks for asking. "But you should've seen your face," he grinned, a finger coming up to trace over one of Quinn's cheekbones. At the question, he felt his heart skip a beat. Yes, yes, yes, a million times yes, his heart told him, but he pushed that thought down, not wanting to scare Quinn off (despite the fact that they were in Quinn's apartment). "I'd like that," he replied, a far more simple yes. Reaching down to tug the blankets over them, he hummed. "You big spoon or little spoon?" he asked, his tone nonjudgmental - Ben was happy to oblige either way. "Or no spooning? Up to you, it's your bed."

Quinn

Quinn tilted his head to the side, considering. "No. But I know you, and I just had a scene with you, so my answer's biased," he replied. A mind-blowingly good scene, but he didn't want to go overboard on the praise now they were out of the scene, he was pretty sure Ben was out of subspace and therefore more likely to remember the specific words he's said. He was pretty sure he'd gotten away with the term of endearment he'd dropped because of how far gone Ben had been. Not that he was going to ask and find out. "You don't usually catch me by surprise," Quinn replied. That wasn't necessarily true, but usually he was better at hiding it. When Ben said that he'd like that, Quinn smiled. He was a step ahead of him with the blankets, and when Ben asked about cuddling, he didn't have an immediate answer for him. He hadn't spooned with someone in a long time. But clearly Ben had been thinking about it. His genuine answer and the answer he was giving Ben were different, so after a beat he said, "Big spoon." And it was dumb, picking his least favorite option because he didn't want to enjoy the other one as much, but he'd made his call.

Ben

"Yeah, and you knew me before I was this big, which also gives a different idea," he pointed out, still smiling. He'd almost never been confused for a Dom in Edgewater, but, when he was in college, it happened at least once a month. "I don't usually catch you by surprise, sure, but I've caught you by surprise before." He caught almost everyone who had left town and then come back by surprise, especially if they'd been away from Edgewater for a while. Those people who missed his growth spurt, his high school baseball days, filling out from the scrawny thing he used to be. He could tell that Quinn didn't have an answer about spooning immediately, so he gave him the time to think, not bringing anything else up, just running a finger over his shoulder. He nodded with a little smile as Quinn decided on big spoon, rolling over so that his back was to him. "If I pass out mid-conversation, I'm sorry. But you wore me out, Heartland, I'll give you that. It was a great scene, thank you."

Quinn

"True. You being this big was definitely a surprise." He wasn't just talking about his height, either. He didn't typically bottom, but it wasn't as though he'd never done it before either. He had no idea if Ben was interested in that, but it might be worth bringing up later on. His visits home had been so brief that he hadn't so much as stopped by Mac's. Mostly because it was all but guaranteed that you'd run into someone you knew there and end up locked in conversation for who knows how long. Not that he minded the conversation, per se. It was when the small talk got repetitive. Which, he'd definitely been guilty of now that he was back. Reaching over to grab his cell phone from the top of his bedside table, he asked, "What time am I setting the alarm for?" He was pretty sure Ben had to get to work before he had to get to class, and he had the added disadvantage of having to go home. Smiling at the compliment, he ducked his head to press a kiss to Ben's shoulder. "Glad you liked it."

Ben

"I think it was a surprise to my mom, too." Ben chuckled, completely missing the double entendre. Shifting to fluff up his pillow, he rested his head back against it, almost groaning at Quinn's next question. "Fuck-- alarm..." he mumbled to himself, rubbing at his eyes. "Dunno, like, 8? I should shower before work, and I gotta go home first to grab a change of uniform..." Ben continued to mumble to himself, half-hoping Quinn could hear him. Pressing his fingers to the bridge of his nose, he did his best to hold back a yawn, not wanting to seem as worn out as he was. "8 should be good, yeah." He didn't want it to be any earlier than 8; the longer he got to spend in Quinn's arms, the better. If he was a tiny bit late, Brooke wouldn't care. "I hope you liked it as much as I did..." this time, he couldn't hold back the yawn, nuzzling against the pillow. "Mm... your bed's comfy..."

Quinn

Quinn snorted at Ben's comment, amused at how the dual meaning seemed to go straight over his head. He set the alarm for 8 as requested and then another for 8:30 for when he inevitably ignored Ben's alarm. Ben was seriously worn out, and Quinn took some small satisfaction knowing it was because of him. Once the alarms were set, Quinn rolled to put the phone back and plug it in before ultimately settling, pressed against Ben, an arm wrapped around him. "I did," he promised, eyes falling closed as he heard Ben yawn. "G'night," he murmured, even as his own mind wandered. Had it been a good idea to invite him to stay? He'd have to work it into conversation at some point that he wasn't on the market for anything serious. Then again, who knew if Ben was? Maybe he'd ask Brooke before making assumptions. Satisfied with that course of action, he drifted off.

Ben

Ben found himself more than content. He hadn’t felt this satisfied with anything in a long, long time. He had no clue if this was a one-time thing, but the fact that Quinn wanted him to stay was a good sign, right? He hummed at the feeling of Quinn wrapping around him, his hand going to rest on top of Quinn’s. He pressed himself back against him, nuzzling against the pillow again. Feeling thoroughly content, it wasn’t much longer until he fell asleep, knowing he was both safe and warm tucked up against Quinn.

#quinn heartland.

9 notes · View notes

acidproofnotebook · 3 years

Text

OPM Chapter 84, Update 125

As first published online

Translator: u/Mynthence

Title Page: In order to remain solitary, instead of in solitude.

Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5

Movements that are a perfect blend of attack and defense.

Even though it’s the same Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist the difference in degrees of completion are plainly evident.

The result is obvious.

Page 6

Fuu!!

Page 7 Page 8 Page 9

grab

Bwoh!?

Page 10

Ubuh!!

Page 11

Wh…what’s…with…

This flashy assault, it’s not like the damn geezer at all…

Page 12

N…not good…

My consciousness is fad…

No….I’m gonna die…

…….tsk!!!

Gwah!

Page 13

What’s with those weird movements

where did you learn them?

Like a beast

Not yet!

Page 14

If I can use the heroes that are unconscious as hostages, there’s still a chance!!

I won’t let you

Ugah

Page 15 Page 16

Bang!

I’ve taken care of all the monsters that came out of the hole

All that’s left is Garou

Page 17

There’s still some monster-like reactions but

Beep beep…

For some reason I can’t ascertain the exact number and location…

Will going through that hole take us to the Monster Association’s base?

The guys from the Monster Association…were they wiped out?

They’re useless…!!!

Page 18

I thought we brought enough forces to capture Garou alive but…

Demon Cyborg…to think that he would be this strong

Silver Fang is here too. With this there’s no chance to take him away…

But if I go back empty-handed after expending all these troops, I might be the next one to be eaten by Orochi…

Page 19

Garou will just have to break through this situation with his own power…

…but it’s hopeless…

Should I start thinking about how to live after leaving the Monster Association…?

Hey brother…if it was you…

Would you still be able to stand up with his level of injuries?

…if I was 60 years younger I could try

…probably

Alright! Just a little bit more!!!

Let’s finish this before the other heroes show up, Bang!

Indeed

Page 20

Gugi…

My arms aren’t working properly anymore…

That geezer Bang, going after his former number one disciple when he’s been weakened…how vicious is he?

Page 21

Not to mention that the geezer that’s beating me up with him is Bomb, the master of the Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist

For the leaders of the martial arts world to come at me two-on-one, do they have no shame or care for their reputations?

Even if I pretend to beg for my life to these guys, I’m sure the Demon Cyborg won’t let me go

In other words, in order to overcome this extremely critical situation, I need to kill all three of them

Page 22

That’s impossible.

Know the pain of my “number one disciple” Charanko

Garou!!

Page 23

Let’s play Hero!

Garou. You’ll play too, right?

Let’s play, let’s play.

Okay

Page 24

Introductory music

Justice Man has arrived!

Justice Man Kick

Ouch!

Hey

Page 25

That’s dangerous

What?

I feel bad for him

………………

Then you should play the part of the Monster

Justice Man Cross Chop

Woah

Why did you dodge

S, sorry Tacchan

I scratched up my hand

You’re the Monster. Why can’t you read the mood?

Hold Garou down

Okay

Page 26

Justice Man Kick!

I’ve defeated the Monster, Garou Poop Man~

What’s this, is it the thing they call a flashback?

This is a fairly private memory I’d prefer to not remember

This should be…Right…Tacchan…the popular kid in my class…

Page 27

Eh? What? Why are the boys fighting?

Did anyone call the teacher?

Garou’s going wild

Garou got mad, even though we were just playing

I can’t…stand it anymore…

What’s with him?

Tacchan

Fight me!

Huh? What are you saying?

It’s just Hero

Page 28 I don’t want to be the Monster anymore! It’s not fun! Fight me, and if I win, you have to promise that you won’t bother me anymore!

Sabuchin, Yochan, hold Garou down

That’s not fair…stop…let me go! I…

Ugh

Damnit!!

Woah, he’s snapped! Call the teacher

Tacchan, run away

Hold him down! Hold him down!

What’s going on?

Perfect timing. You guys help out too.

He got carried away because Taachan’s too nice

Gross

I heard Garou got pissed off at Taachan while they were playing Hero. (lol)

Seriously? What’s he thinking?

Poor Taachan

Page 29

Taachan would easily get carried away

Taachan was good at sports

Taachan liked bullying weak people

Taachan was popular with the girls

Taachan was a disgusting guy

Taachan was popular

I was the gloomy guy who was always alone

I didn’t have any friends

I hated popular people

Why did you go wild?

Teacher, Taachan always

I heard you got mad while playing Hero. Is that true?

They always make me be the Monster

You can’t even tell the difference between make-believe and reality!?

That’s not it. Everyone says it’s my fault because Taachan is popular…

You’re the one who went crazy! How will you take responsibility if the windows get broken!

NO!

Page 30

It’s not that I hate being the Monster.

Is it that I didn’t like Taachan being the Hero?

No that’s not it

I was sensing a crushing sense of unfairness through the Hero game. A game designed in a way that would let the popular kid who was loved by everyone to one-sidedly beat up the weak kid that no one liked.

You did something bad, so go apologize.

I’m calling your parents too

This wasn’t just bullying. The game that faithfully reproduced the children’s TV shows was accepted by the public. You’re free to play any role that you want in this game, but the role of the Hero requires the approval of all those who are playing, so naturally I never had a chance to play that part. And of course, a scenario where the Monster wins doesn’t exist to begin with, so I have to always lose.

Page 31

What’s Justice! What’s Evil! In the end, I get killed because of the majority! I can’t accept that! It’s unfair!

I can’t explain the reason very well but I’m angry!

I just want to let them know!

I want them to experience a weakling’s attack!

I want to deny the positions of good and evil!

Page 32

He’s going to fall

This is the end

Page 33

Like I’d let myself be finished off in a place like this!

Page 34 Page 35

What?

Page 36

Oh!

Page 37 Page 38

What’s with that power…

from that broken body!?

Page 39

Give it up Garou!

If you keep on going… You’ll really die!!!

Bang, above you!

Page 40 Page 41

Woah!?

Page 42

A monster!?

So there were still some left!!!

Page 43

Genos!

Bang, you saw his appearance just now!

He’s a monster now! He even has companions!

It’s okay if I shoot Garou down with him, right?

Page 44

Did you hear that!!?

I’ll take Garou away from here

You can crush everyone on the ground right now!

I leave the rest to you!!

???

Page 45

Rasen Shoukyaku Hou (Spiral Incineration Cannon)

Page 46

Elder Centipede!

Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50

What was that!?

Page 51 Page 52

Disaster Level: Dragon Giant Mysterious Insect Elder Centipede

Page 53

W…what….

Is this a living being !!?

Oh no!!!

We need to protect them!

Page 54

Here we go

Page 55 Page 56

So this is the source of the reaction from before…

It’s not that I couldn’t pinpoint its location…it was too big!

Page 57

To think that it could take a direct hit from the cannon and have no injuries

This is going to be a tough opponent…

That centipede is…

Page 58

What do you think you’re doing, butting in like that!

Just let Elder Centipede take care of things here

He is a great calamity that swallows up everything

I’m fascinated by that unstoppable destructive power

You’re not thorough enough Hero Hunter

Once you defeat an opponent, you need to make sure you finish them off

It seems that all those heroes lying down over there are still alive

Page 59

Well…don’t worry

Elder Centipede will end everything

Stop interfering!

Let me down right now!

Those are my prey!

Hey, quit struggling

Damnit! Go back!

I won’t forgive you!

Hahaha…why are you so mad.

It’s your fault for not finishing the job.

Also…it’s convenient that we can erase two S-class here.

For the Monster Association, S-class heroes are the biggest threat

Page 60

You also directly experienced it

…..

In any fight there’s something called compatibility

According to our adviser Gyoro Gyoro

Out of all the heroes there are only four who can stand up against the Elder Centipede

Page 61

The peerless one wielding the strongest psychic ability “Tornado of Terror”

The one whose hidden military strength can’t be grasped by even the Hero Association “Metal Knight”

Page 62

The strongest man on earth “King”

And…the top hero that pushed Elder Centipede to the brink of death two years ago

“Blast”

Page 63

They say that Elder Centipede decided to cooperate with the Monster Association in order to get its revenge on Blast

It’s eager to pull Blast, who doesn’t come to the forefront, back onto the battlefield.

But…Unfortunately, those two don’t have the ability to break through this current situation.

Silver Fang is without equal in regards to his strength in hand-to-hand combat, but that only applies to opponents that are of a size that can be affected by martial arts.

Demon Cyborg’s abilities are outstanding but

He shouldn’t be equipped with any weapons that can take on a giant insect beast

And his firepower can’t go beyond the capabilities of his weapons

That’s his limit

Page 64

They will definitely be destroyed

Here it comes!!!

Page 65 Page 66

shine

Page 67

Whirl Wind

Water Stream

Page 68

Todoroki Kuuretsu Ken (Roaring Sky Splitting Fist)

Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72

What is that move

We have a special move that takes advantage of the opponent’s openings

We’re counting on you to distract it

It broken that super hard shell into pieces…!?

This is

The pinnacle of skill

Page 73

Not yet Not yet Not yet Not yet Not yet Not yet Not yet Not yet

Page 74 Page 75

Oh….

Goaaaahhhh

Guh

Page 76

Oww…

We let down our guard

But it was effective

The shockwave is circulating throughout its body

Blow up into pieces you monster

It’s a super move that can only be pulled off once by geezers like us

I’m glad it hit

Thank you Genos

Page 77

It’s finished

Page 78

Hm?

Page 79

Seriously?

Page 80

This guy molted…!!!

And didn’t it get bigger than before!?

No way!

Page 81

We can’t beat this thing…!

If we have to protect the unconscious heroes at the same time…

What should we do!? Bang!

Even if we back off, it would probably come after us and…

It’s all residential areas outside of Forest Park…

If we leave, it’ll affect the civilians…

Page 82

Bang

I’ll fight it

I’ll hold off that centipede as long as I can so

Take the injured and escape

Page 83

Genos

Are you saying that you’ll fight that thing on your own?

I can’t agree with that…

You don’t need to push yourself. You know that you can’t win

You young ones have still have a future

Genos

Just don’t overdo it

Page 84

Is that…

Really okay?

Page 85

There’s no way

Page 86

That’s okay

Page 87 Page 88 Page 89

There’s no way!

Cannons don’t work on it!

Page 90

This guy

And the guy from yesterday

Page 91

And Garou

Are all part of the Monster Association

This fight

Is unavoidable

Page 92 Page 93 Page 94

Dual Blade Rush

That’s what it means to fight against them

Page 95

I’m participating in this fight

Grind into pieces

Page 96

If you say that’s being reckless

Crack

Uh…

Page 97

Genos!!!

At this rate

I…

Page 98

Won’t be able to stay in the fight

Page 99 Page 100

Jet Drive Arrow

Page 101

Uooohhhh!!!

Page 102 Page 103

Ugoah

He went into its mouth

Oh no…

Page 104

Digestive juices

I’ll completely melt you in a few seconds

You’re the one that’s going to melt

Page 105

Chou Rasen Shoukyaku Hou (Super Spiral Incineration Cannon)

Page 106 Page 107

…….!!!

He did it!!

Clank

…..

Page 108

Crack crack

Page 109

Crack crack

Crack

grin

Again…

I…

Can’t win…

Can’t protect…

Page 110

We’re getting out of here

sizzle

Brother! Grab those guys and run!!

It’s useless

What’s wrong?

Are you disgusted that you ended up being partially responsible for slaughtering those heroes?

Page 111

That’s not it!

I’m just disappointed by this ending!!!

I…want to defeat them with my own power!

By doing so, I become the symbol of fear…!!

That’s the meaning behind the hero hunting!!!

The symbol of fear? You? Hahaha…

If you were to go back now, you would only end up getting stomped on together with the heroes.

Right now you don’t have the strength to go against Elder Centipede or the officers of the Monster Association.

Page 112

Guh…

Just…you wait…and see…

What should I do…

Page 113

What is it that I lack…!?

Are there still more guys like that?

In front of guys like that…

Am I only able to suck on my thumb while watching them…?

Bang! This isn’t good. If we keep going

We’ll exit the Forest Park!

Page 114

Also…I can’t run for very long while carrying this many people

How old do you think I am

Do or die…

Brother

Page 115

I’m going to go all out for the last time in my life

Page 116

Elder Centipede~!!!

Hey! You pest!!!!!

I’ve brought the “Blast” that you’ve been looking for!!!!!

Page 117

That voice is…King!!?

Blast!?

What…!

!!!?

Look!!

Its movements have stopped

And it’s turned around

Page 118

Blast…?

Yes…that’s right! The opponent that beat you up and made you run away while peeing your pants….the hero Blast!!

If you want to fight against Blast again, come over here!

What’s wrong? Are you so scared that you can’t move!? You’re spineless!!! Hey, if you’re going to shit yourself, do it at home!

A weak little bug like you should go back underground and suck on your mom’s tits!!!

Page 119

King made it to the location in City S where Elder Centipede reappeared!!!

That’s good! King should be able to do something about this situation…

Yes…there are still several heroes in that area

And when I told him that they might become casualties from any fighting nearby

He told me “Give me any information that might provoke Elder Centipede”

He undoubtedly plans on luring the enemy to where he is and fighting it one-on-one

Page 120

When Blast severely wounded it, it escaped and ran away underground

I hope we can defeat it this time…

It was top secret information, but I relayed the information detailing the monster and Blast’s connection to him

Also, I told him that if the battle were to be prolonged or if they were to change locations, the damage to the surrounding areas would be tremendous

And what how did he respond?

Just one word: “Understood”…

Together with the reverberations of the King Engine

Page 121

Draw the enemy this way so there aren’t any more casualties…

If the enemy is wounded, finish it off before it escapes underground…

Finish it as quickly as possible…

Any attacks should be contained within a limited range…and no attacks that might knock the centipede into the residential areas…

That’s all

Page 122

…..

…tama?

Page 123

Saitama~!!!?

It’s going to hit

Page 124 Page 125 Page 126

Ser

Page 127 Page 128

ious

Page 129

Pun

Page 130 Page 131

Page 132 Page 133 Oh

Page 134

Is that you, Genos?

Page 135

So you were here.

Just like King said

Yeah…and it looks like we came just in the nick of time

Good thing we came

Oh…?

Saitama…you look kind of refreshed

What happened?

I kind of feel like I let off a lot of steam

Page 136

I had a lot of stress built up because you kept beating me in those games

So he was still pissed off

Well…I wanted to teach you that your way of fighting with only one style of attack isn’t good…

Saitama-sensei, I wish to ask you a question

What is it?

What do you think I am lacking?

Isn’t it power?

Page 137

….!!!!

Thank you very much!

Ahhhhhhhh….That’s no good…

You probably shouldn’t use Saitama as a point of reference, Genos…

Sensei’s fights show me the path that I should take

The symbol of strength

That is what I should aim for…

I will also reach that place

Page 138

Garou…so you finally passed out

Rest well

We’ll reach Orochi soon

#OPM #manga #manga chapters #translation #chapter 84 #long #transcript

2 notes · View notes

bltngames · 4 years

Text

SAGE 2020: Fan Games

I’d hoped to have this article out a little bit sooner, but I overestimated how long it would take to write about some of these games. Whoops! Like I said when I outlined the posting “schedule” on the first day, we’re playing it fast and loose, so this is just what you get.

Today is the day I talk about fan games! And even though SAGE has “Sonic” right there in the acronym, it’s always hosted fan games from all types, so today we’ve got Mega Man, Mario, Rayman, and even fan games of fan games, if you can believe it.

Sonic Pinball Panic!

Pinball is one of those things where I’ve always been obsessed with it, but never very good at it. And now, with access to digital pinball collections like Pinball Arcade and Pinball FX, I don’t actually find myself playing as much pinball as I thought I would when I was 14 years old. Still, I find myself fascinated by a good pinball table, and this honestly caught me off guard. This could very easily be an official DLC release for one of those aforementioned pinball collections and I wouldn’t even bat an eyelash (in fact, if you ask me, this is better than Pinball FX, which has always had weird ball physics). This looks, sounds, and functions exactly like a real pinball table should. My complaints are minor: for starters, the table feels kind of easy. I’ve never been a pinball wizard, but I was losing balls left and right here and it still took a good 15 minutes before I finally got a game over. Score accumulation is also pretty slow; most pinball tables will dump millions and millions of points on you, but here, it felt like a struggle just to reach the 379k I finished with. Both contribute to the fact that the table feels a little flat, like it’s missing a spark to really put it over the top. And, third, it would be nice if it had controller support. The keyboard works just fine, here (it’s just pinball, after all) but I find that the triggers on a controller feel really good with pinball flippers, and mapping the plunger to the right stick is great, too. This is a Unity game, so I wouldn’t think it’d be that hard to hook it up to the controller mapper. Still, I came away impressed.

Mega Man: Perfect Blue

There are two things out there that always give me pause: fan-made Doom level packs, and Mega Man fan games. Fan made gaming content generally has problems when it comes to difficulty balancing anyway, but these games have earned a certain reputation for their difficulty, which creates a problem when you have content made by fans, for fans. This insularity means these things are usually way too hard for what I would consider “normal” people (read: casual fans and outsiders). Add on to the fact that I’d even say that there are official Mega Man games with bad difficulty balancing, and you have a recipe for frustration. Sadly, this is how I’d characterize Perfect Blue: though this introductory level isn’t impossibly hard, it’s definitely pushing that edge where it’s not very accommodating to someone who hasn’t played and finished every Classic Mega Man game ever made. It almost immediately throws you into scenarios where you have jumps you can barely reach, insta-kill spikes, and enemies that not only actively dodge your shots, but invincible enemies that launch counter attack homing missiles. And then it starts making you juggle all of this stuff, together, at the same time. None of this is insurmountable as long as you’re paying attention, but as a very casual Mega Man fan, it’s an unfriendly first impression and makes me worried about what the rest of the game is going to be like as the challenge naturally ramps up. For those hardcore Mega Man fans among you, the rest of this is solid, at least. The presentation and controls are excellent, and the new sprites are beautiful. It’s a game I’d love to enjoy when it’s done… but I’m assuming I’ll be left out in the cold. A shame, really, because there’s so much promise here.

Sonic and the Mayhem Master

There’s a lot to like about this game, but there’s a part of me that really wonders if this should even be considered a Sonic fan game. Mayhem Master’s depictions of Sonic and Amy Rose are atypical to put it mildly. Here, Sonic seems to be a bookish nerd of sorts, a sidekick to Amy Rose, who has been turned into a burnt out, cigar-smoking detective. Most of the game plays out as half an adventure game, half an RPG, where you roam around the world talking to NPCs and gather clues while being assaulted by random battles. The battle system is super off-the-wall, too, perhaps taking inspirations from games like Mario & Luigi and Undertale. This means that battles aren’t passive -- you spend most of each fight dodging or nullifying incoming attacks with simplistic action-based commands. It’s weird, and different, and occasionally even a little bit overwhelming. That’s kind of the whole game, really. It’s the sort of thing that really doesn’t feel like a Sonic game at all, but it also doesn’t feel bad. The artwork is very charming, I’m interested in seeing the characters develop, and there’s plenty of worldbuilding and mystery. Would this still be as intriguing if you removed the Sonic connection, even if it’s so threadbare? That’s a hard question to answer. I know that some of my interest in this game is seeing how it spins more familiar Sonic elements into something that’s completely different. Worth checking out, for curiosity’s sake if nothing else.

Sonic and the Dreamcatcher

This is a fairly brilliant little game with two unfortunate quirks. If you didn’t know, the special stages in the original Sonic the Hedgehog were inspired by an arcade game of the era called Cameltry, published by Taito in 1989. Now, Sonic’s special stages were different enough from Cameltry that it wasn’t a case of Sega outright stealing the gameplay, but there’s a clear lineage there, and it only becomes clearer when you compare the special stages in Sonic 4 Episode 1 to Cameltry (spoilers: in that game, they’re nearly identical). Dreamcatcher is also from this lineage, but is infinitely more charming than either Sonic 4 and maybe even Cameltry itself. The idea is that you must collect a specific number of blue spheres in order to reveal the Chaos Emerald, after which you have a limited amount of time to find and collect it. It’s very simple, but the presentation really sells the game’s charm. It’s just a game that looks good and sounds good, with an interesting premise executed very well. Also, you get a dedicated “& Knuckles” button to spawn infinite Knuckles to help you collect blue spheres and bash enemies. Being able to have unlimited numbers of these guys sounds like it would break the game, but once that countdown clock begins, the last thing you need is 20+ echidnas clogging up the route back to the emerald. The first quirk this game suffers from is that there’s only two levels. Parts of this have a very “game jam made in a weekend” vibe to it despite the rock-solid music, sound, and gameplay, and only having two levels contributes to that. Hopefully more are coming in the future. The other quirk? You can’t actually download this game -- it’s embedded in a webpage. I’m sure this is to make it easy to play on any platform with a web browser (phones, PCs, etc.) but I find myself greatly desiring a hard copy of this game that can live on my computer forever.

Sonic Galactic

Now here’s just a good old fashioned Sonic fan game. Though it clearly takes inspiration from Sonic Mania’s aesthetics in some places, it’s clearly doing its own thing, featuring not just the core cast of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, but also Fang the Sniper, and even a brand new character named Tunnel the Mole. Unlike a lot of Sonic fan games at SAGE, this appears to be using something besides Clickteam Fusion, Game Maker, or Unity. Here, it’s the “Hatch Game Engine,” whatever that is. Whatever the case may be, the game runs very well and is basically indistinguishable from just playing Sonic Mania. Visuals are sharp, music’s good, the two included boss fights are surprisingly fun to fight -- everything seems to be in order. As a result, there’s not really a lot to say. This is just a good, fun game. Anything else I’d say would come off sounding like nitpicks. For example, there’s no way to set graphics options yet, so the game is stuck in 2x Windowed mode. Fang and Tunnel are cute additions, but I wonder how much utility they have as characters. Unless I missed something, Fang’s pop gun is mainly for a weak double-jump ability, and Tunnel’s ability to dig and ricochet off floors, walls and ceilings is cool, but it doesn’t have quite the universal utility of Tails’ flight or Knuckles climbing and gliding. It’ll be interesting to see how or maybe even if their abilities have a chance to grow into something special. Anyway, like I said, those are nitpicks, so try to give this a shot if you can.

Sonic Robo-Blast!

Remasters seem to be a bit of a theme this SAGE, between Sonic Triple Trouble 16-bit, Sonic 2 SMS, Sonic 1 Revisited, but this is perhaps the most surprising of them all: a loving remaster of the original Sonic Robo-Blast. SRB1 was perhaps one of the first true “landmark” fan games, given that it was basically a whole entire game that people could play. It's not a stretch to say that SRB1 probably helped kickstart the fan gaming community that still survives to this day -- I certainly owe my involvement in the community to seeing SRB1 for the first time. The problem is, as historically significant as the game might be, it’s nearly impossible to go back to nowadays -- it’s much, much too dated to be any fun. This remaster completely re-envisions SRB1 as a regular Sonic game, while also pulling in gameplay elements from Sonic Robo-Blast 2. It’s a bit of a time paradox mindwarp, but it helps give it a bit more personality than just making a bog-standard 2D Sonic. It works, aided by the fact the sprites, music and overall presentation are fantastic. The only downside is the Act 2 boss, which commits the cardinal sin of taking away player agency and making you wait around far too much. Here’s hoping this gets finished, because it’s definitely on my radar now.

Super Mario Flashback

This has been floating around for a few years now and I’m glad to see it’s finally starting to get some more substantial content as it moves towards becoming an actual game. That being said, this is also one of those games that’s kind of hard to talk about because it’s just… really polished. The art is incredible, it controls exactly like a Mario game, and there’s already a decent mixture of ideas at play in the demo. Anything else I’d say would sound like nitpicking -- like, for example, the backseat game designer in me wonders if maybe the game is prioritizing aesthetics a little too much. This is a wonderfully animated game, absolutely gorgeous, but some actions, like the butt-stomp and the wall kick, feel a bit sluggish, and I think it’s because they show off fancy animations. Even if it’s a split second, waiting for Mario to attach to a wall to kick off of it feels slow. Really, though, that’s an insignificant complaint. This demo is still well worth checking out.

Sonic Advance 4 Advanced

This game seems like a greatest-hits of Dimps best ideas, spanning the first Sonic Advance all the way to Sonic Rush. There’s just one problem: the game seems broken. Now, my desktop PC is starting to show its age. I built it four and a half years ago, and though it can handle game like Gears of War 5 on high settings at 60fps, slowly, newer games seem to be leaving it behind. That being said, I don’t think a game like Sonic Advance 4 here should be running at what appears to be half its intended speed. It also originally launched in a teeny-tiny window (we’re talking, like, smaller than a postage stamp) and even though the options menu has a toggle for full screen mode, it doesn’t want to work. Something about this game under the hood seems to be struggling very, very, VERY hard. It’s a shame, because if this actually played at the proper speed, it seems like it might actually be an alright game, if a bit complex and busy.

Sonic 2 SMS Remake

Here’s a game I was all buckled in expecting to enjoy. Like it says on the tin, this is a remake of Sonic 2 for the Master System (and Game Gear), but with wide screen visuals and huge expansions to the mechanics, roster of playable characters, and levels. On the outside it seems really impressive, and to a certain degree it is, but something about the controls feel a little off. Sonic’s heavier here than he is on the Master System, perhaps to simulate “real” Sonic physics a little more accurately, but you can also pretty much stop on a dime, and the combination of the two feels awkward. The camera also needs a lot of work, as it’s basic at best and does a poor job of letting you see what’s below (to the dev if you’re reading this: there’s actually video tutorials out there on how 2D scrolling cameras work, it might be worth looking a couple of them up). It also leans into some of the tech limitations of the Master System, like how you aren’t given any rings for boss fights (and even hiding the HUD, a move done to save on resources for the large enemy sprites). I could be picky on a bunch of other little stuff, too, like how the flight mechanics feel, but there are other games to play at SAGE and I’ve got at least two more articles to write. Needless to say, this is a solid (impressive, even) foundation but it’s missing a lot of late-stage polish to clean up the tiny little rough edges.

Rayman Redemption

I tell this story every so often, but it was about three quarters of the way through Rayman 2 on the Sega Dreamcast when it struck me, suddenly: I love this game. I was being chased by a pirate ship through some rickety bridges and even though I was dying over and over and over again, I realized I had been enjoying Rayman 2 enough that I might put it in my top ten Dreamcast games. But that was 2002, and the years haven’t been so kind to ol’ Rayman. From the strangely celebrity-infused Rayman 3, to the tragedy of Rayman 4 (eventually becoming Raving Rabbids) to the endless, careless ports of Rayman 2 to every platform under the sun, one gets the impression Ubisoft maybe didn’t know what to do with Rayman. Especially now, when most of Ubisoft’s games are some form of online live service or cookie cutter open world experience (or increasingly both). But the fans know what they want. Rayman Redemption takes the original 1995 Rayman game and lovingly gives it a fresh coat of paint. The results are akin to what Taxman and Stealth did for Sonic CD in 2011, with wide screen visuals, improved controls, touched up level design, but gameplay that still feels faithful and accurate to the original experience. Except that Sega charged money for that, and here, fans have released this for free. Ubisoft’s loss, I guess. I didn’t play Rayman 1 until well after I’d finished Rayman 2, and I’ll admit, I kind of bounced off of it back then. It felt slow, and awkward, and when the difficulty ramped up, it got very hard, very quickly. Now, admittedly, I’ve only put about 30 minutes into Redemption here, but just the addition of a run button is incredibly welcome, and the retooled level design and powerup mechanics helps the game feel way less obtuse overall. It’s just a cleaner, tighter, more accessible and more polished version of Rayman.

Stay tuned for the next article: Indie games.

#sage #sonic amateur games expo #writing #review slew #rayman redemption #sonic pinball panic #mega man #perfect blue #mayhem master #dreamcatcher #sonic galactic #sonic robo-blast #super mario flashback #sonic advance 4 #sms remake #sonic the hedgehog #sega #sonic team #review

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