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oftenwantedafton · 2 months

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Personal Space - Steve Raglan/William Afton x Female Reader

Chapter 3

Rating -Explicit

Warnings - none for this chapter

Also available on AO3

taglist @123124133

Back inside the office, it’s as if none of it had ever happened. No insults hurled. No reprimands. No time spent outside, doing…whatever that was. You take charge of the next client. Steve’s pleasantly surprised by how well you handle the meeting. Maybe the harsh words have done you some good.

Maybe it wasn’t the words at all. Maybe it was the other…

There’s a bit of a routine to end the day. Coffee mug rinsed a final time. Blinds closed. Lights turned off. The schedule for the next day printed and left on top of his desk, the job hopefuls’ files pulled. You’re familiar with it now. Moving in sync. The last lamp is switched off, the room much darker now that the cozier lighting has been extinguished and the outdoor light is barred from entering. There’s a little illumination from a night light panel set low on the wall near the door. Enough to see by before closing and locking the office for the night.

“Do you have everything?” At least you aren’t lugging around that foolish oversized backpack anymore. The miniature version that serves as your handbag is much more tolerable. The top strap is hooked in your fingers. Raglan moves forward, thinking you’ll open the door.

You don’t. You remain standing in front of it. He’s only just realized you’re wearing a lavender blouse. Something you’d already had in your wardrobe, or a nod towards his favorite color?

“What are you…” The rest of the sentence is lost. You’ve dropped your bag. You’re leaning against the wooden surface behind you. Meeting his stare. So many shadows in the room now. Your face underlit from the wall’s fixture. There’s so little space between you and your mentor. “Move away from the door.”

“No.”

“Move…” It was happening again. His breathing going ragged. Yours matching his. Your palms resting flat against his chest. Lifting and falling in rapid succession. “Inappropriate…have you reassigned…” He cannot form complete sentences. The threat comes in soft pants.

“Is that what you want?”

He thinks on that. Isn’t that what he wants? To have you gone, to have his solitary routine returned?

“I want…I want…” His hand rests heavily on the side of your throat. Thumb pressing along your jaw. Your fingers clawing at him now. Nails scratching against poplin. What does he want? His mouth on yours. He places it there.

“Steve. Steve.”

It takes him a moment for the false name to register. The daydream dissipates. He’s still seated at his desk. The last client of the day across from him. You’re frantically trying to get his attention when discretion clearly isn’t working.

He clears his throat. Mumbles some excuse, leaning forward. Heat creeping underneath his collar. To indulge in the fantasy of it bad enough; to do it in the middle of a session with a client worse still. He’s always prided himself on his professionalism. Yet here he was, making an absolute fool of himself over some girl he barely knew. All because he’d touched you and…

His grip on his pen tightens. He was doing it again. Losing focus. You seem to realize he’s struggling and you take command of the conversation. A relatively smooth transition, all things considered. Placement found. Applicant dismissed. He releases his death grip on the writing instrument and flops back against the chair with a heavy sigh of relief.

The older man feels your eyes on him. “What?”

“What happened? You just like zoned out. Mid-sentence. I thought you were having a seizure or something.”

“I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

Is he? No, not at all. But he’s not about to divulge the reason why. So he tells another lie. What’s one more on the already massive heap piling up?

“Yes. Just tired. Didn’t sleep well last night. Anyway, we’re done for today.”

There’s an eerie sense of deja vu as the office is shuttered for the evening. Except you’re not blocking the door. You’re hanging back, waiting to follow him through it. He tells himself he’s not disappointed.

The ride on the elevator is silent.

You’re parked directly next to him today. Serendipity or perhaps a deliberate move on your part. He struggles opening his door, distracted, watching you settle behind the wheel. You begin pulling down the decorations, removing everything he’d mocked earlier. His fingers cease their fumbling. He walks around his car, lightly tapping the key against the glass of your passenger window. You glance over, then hit the button to unlock the door.

Crammed back inside next to you. Knees hitting the dashboard.

“What do you want?” You pull the last of the clips off the air vents.

“You don’t have to do that. I didn’t mean…”

“Yeah, you did.” The rearview mirror is now unadorned. The cup holders are filled with the former decor. “Let’s see, what’s next on the list of my flaws. Oh yes. What’s wrong with my clothes?”

His head drops back against the headrest. It’s too short and it hits him at an awkward angle. “Nothing. I only meant you should wear things that are better tailored to suit you. It doesn’t really matter.”

“And that was nothing at lunch today too, right?”

“I…apologize for the inappropriate behavior. It won’t happen again, I assure you.”

“That’s what you’re apologizing for? Out of everything that happened today?” You scoff in disbelief.

He tips his head in your direction. Glasses sliding down with the motion so he’s looking over the tops of the frames at you. “Fine. I was unnecessarily harsh about certain things I said earlier.”

“That’s a funny way of saying you’re sorry.”

“I’m not sorry. You do need to toughen up. I’ve been too lenient.”

“I don’t understand. You told me to socialize and get to know my coworkers—”

“—Because they can be assets.”

“Is that all people are to you? Just tools to be used?”

“No one does anything in this life without motivation for personal gain.”

You look away, fidgeting with the last clip you still haven’t placed in the cup holder. “I think that’s a really sad way to view things.”

“I’m simply being realistic. Anyway, that’s all I wanted to say. You don’t have to do all of this for my benefit.” He waves his hands. “Just don’t be so sensitive. People will take advantage and walk all over you.”

He reaches for the door handle.

“You’re the only person I have even resembling a friend. You told me to go back home to be with the ones I’ve left behind. There aren’t any. You’re it.”

“You should make another, then. I’m not what you’re looking for.” He shoves the door open and exits. So uncharacteristic of him, not to just reach out and take what he wants. But that was a trait he’d harbored when he’d had another identity, lived another life.

Now he is just the middle aged career counselor. Focused solely on work. Reclusive.

Alone.

***

You’re talking to someone outside Steve’s office.

A client who’s young, attractive, he’d recognized the man’s appreciative gaze on you. Speaking as if the older man wasn’t even present. Flirtatious smiles. Friendly off topic conversation that is now extending past the allotted visit, continuing in the hallway. Low murmurs and the occasional laughter. The career counselor grits his teeth. Shuts the applicant’s folder and thrusts it back inside the filing cabinet, slamming the drawer with more force than necessary. He gets up to make another cup of coffee, trying to casually view what is happening beyond the open door. You’re finally saying goodbye, striding back into the room. Today, of all days, you’re wearing the suit that compliments your curves, the hem of the pants and sleeves of the blazer just the correct length. A little narrow v of blank skin at the base of your throat he’s haunted by, trying to avoid looking at and failing miserably.

You seem to notice his stern gaze. “What?”

“When I said you should make friends, I didn’t mean the clients. It’s unprofessional,” he says disapprovingly.

“We’re not friends. We just met. We were only talking.”

“That was not ‘only talking’.”

“I have to socialize with someone, don’t I? Since you’re treating me like I have the plague.”

“I’m not. It’s called maintaining professional boundaries. Personal space, like we’ve discussed before.” He takes a sip from his mug. Watching you wilt a little. Quiet when you return to your seat.

He settles back into the leather swivel chair, placing his cup on the worn coaster. The phone rings. A new client coming in the next day. Reaching for the stack of Post Its to jot down the name. Jostling the coffee by mistake, reaching to grab it before it can spill, your own reflexes kicking in, moving at the same time. Fingers colliding. His friendly tone suddenly tight and cool. Controlled. Neither of you has moved. Still touching. Warm fingers, warm beverage heating the ceramic. He hangs up the phone, staring at your joined hands.

The social worker’s fingers slide off the mug, his hand settling on the desk. Yours curl around it. Small over large. Smooth over rough. He lets you turn his hand over, tracing over the creases of his palm, the callouses of his fingertips. Your digits weaving between his. Holding his hand properly. Interwoven. Linked. How long had it been since he’d held someone’s hand? Whose had it been? A child. His own; someone else’s. Led further into the restaurant, into the darkness.

“Steve.”

He blinks. Swallows. He shouldn’t be allowing this. How insufferable you are. Infuriating. You’re simply impossible to work with. He should have you reassigned to someone else. He should push you away.

He holds tighter.

***

You return from morning break the next day and place a small white envelope on the desk blotter.

“What’s that?”

“Wedding invitation. It’s this Saturday. Short notice, but it’s really nice they invited me.”

You withdraw the card inside and check the box announcing you’re attending.

Steve grunts. “Oh, yes. I received one of those awhile back.”

You look at him. “Are you attending?”

He scoffs. “Of course not. Why would I?”

“Because it will be fun. And they’re, you know, our coworkers.”

“Have you ever been to a wedding?” You shake your head. “They’re not fun. The catering is usually terrible. Sappy speeches. The time absolutely drags.”

“It says I can bring one guest.”

“That’s standard.”

“Come with me.”

A look of disbelief. “Why on earth would I accompany you when I declined the invitation myself already? I just finished telling you how much I dislike them.”

“Did you dislike yours?”

Raglan’s features darken. “Overstepping.”

You duck your head. “Okay, sorry. But let’s go together.”

“I’ll consider it.” He’s not sure who’s more surprised when the words leave his mouth. Why the hell would he do that? He has no intention of going. None. You smile for what seems like the first time since your recent confrontation. His weakness.

By the afternoon he’s agreed to accompany you. “Fine, I’ll go. But you’re in charge of the gift. I’ll pick you up. Be ready on time.”

He’s rewarded another smile. “Really? You’ll go with me?”

“I will attend.” As if there’s a distinction. Going but not necessarily as a couple, of course. Merely agreeing to also be present. Almost a coincidence, really. Nothing improper about it.

That’s the mantra that’s running through his mind.

***

It never occurs to Steve to consider what you’ll be wearing to the event.

So when you exit your appartment building in a sleeveless lace affair with a modest neckline and a hem that finally hits you properly he has to suck in his breath a little roughly. High heels. Hair styled. The most put together he’s ever seen you.

You tuck a gift bag behind your seat before you settle inside the car. He has to clear his throat before he can properly greet you. “Hi. You look nice.”

You grin, smoothing your hands over the lower half of the dress even though it doesn’t need it. “Thank you. Not immature, right? Not going to be embarrassed to be seen with me?”

You weren’t letting this go. Well, he can hardly blame you. “No.”

“No, not immature, or no, not embarrassed to be seen with me?”

“Neither. But we’re not…” He doesn’t finish the sentence. Not going as a couple. Just both attending. Surely you understood the distinction. Well. He decides to leave it alone for now, for the sake of the occasion.

***

Once again Raglan finds himself occupying the last row, one in from the aisle while you settle into the folding chair beside his. It’s an outdoor wedding, beginning late afternoon into early evening. The weather is perfect. The career counselor folds his arms, fixing his gaze on nothing in particular while waiting for the ceremony to start.

He can feel the anticipation wafting from you. Sees you fidgeting and can’t resist hissing a reprimand. It’s like holding the collar of a golden retriever puppy, all full of nervous energy. A lost cause.

He doesn’t know the couple getting married that well. They’d met at work, and that was about the extent of what he was aware of. Lets his mind wander while the music cues up and the bride walks down the aisle beside her father. Very pointedly avoiding thinking about his own personal experience with getting married. It was a lifetime ago now. When he’d been someone else.

As predicted, less than ideal catering. Small portions. Bland food. Slice of cake so thin you could practically see through it. His face hurts from plastering a smile on it so often. Murmuring the same noncommittal greetings to everyone he encounters. Issuing obligatory congratulations to the newlyweds. People are starting to break off into groups. Casual music after the couple has their first dance. His attention wavering more and more.

“Do you dance?”

“Not to this contemporary selection, no.” His arms are folded across his chest again. Closed body language indicating he wants to be left alone. By the other wedding guests, anyway. The rest of the table he’s seated at is mercifully devoid of anyone else at the moment. No small talk has to be made.

“But you can dance,” you persist.

“You should go over there. Have fun.” He nods to the space that’s been set up as a dance floor.

“Come walk with me instead.”

He glances over at you. “And go where?”

You shrug. “I don’t know. It’s a country club. Plenty of places to go. I need to stretch my legs. Come on, Steve. Please?”

He considers the well lit area they’re currently seated in. Weighs that against being alone with you, somewhere cloaked in shadows. Surrenders with a sigh. “Alright. For a few minutes.”

You’re struggling in the heels. He recognizes it immediately. Waits while you stop long enough to remove them. Carrying them hooked on index and middle finger. Nylon covered feet now tredding on cropped grass. There’s water near this tee, faintly visible. The sounds of the party fading behind. It really is pleasant out.

“Okay. Now dance with me.” You bend to place your shoes on the ground.

“What? That wasn’t part of the deal.”

“No one can see us over here.”

“There isn’t even any music.”

“I’ll hum for you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

You move to stand in front of him. Reach for one hand. The other curling over his shoulder. His own unoccupied one sitting stiffly on your waist. He doesn’t want to do this. Why does he keep giving in to you?

He doesn’t recognize whatever melody you’re attempting to recreate. The entire thing is foolish. Turning you in a circle. An abrupt dip down that has you giggling like mad. And he’s actually smiling. Enjoying this. Being with you. Pressed this close against you.

You stumble a bit, wincing, your improvised tune abruptly ending. “Sorry, my feet are killing me. I feel like I’m getting a blister.”

“Sit down.” You struggle a bit in the dress. It’s a long way down for him. But you both manage. He taps his thighs. “Let me see your feet.” You shift, stockinged feet now in his lap. Hands gently probing, assessing. “No blisters yet but you should probably keep the shoes off as much as possible. You’re not used to wearing heels, are you?” He hasn’t paid much attention up until now but he thinks you always wear flats to the office.

“No. And they’re brand new. I just got them because they matched the dress. I thought they were pretty.” He hums, maybe in agreement, maybe in disapproval. “That feels nice.” He hasn’t stopped touching you, now massaging your sore extremities without even realizing what he’s doing.

His hands abruptly abandon you. “Anyway, you’ll be fine,” he says dismissively. You sigh, moving until your legs are stretched in front of you. Your bare shoulder close enough to nearly brush against his clothed one.

“Can I ask you something?”

“I can’t promise I’ll answer.”

“Why do you always wear long sleeves?”

“Overstepping again.”

“You told me I needed to be more aggressive with the applicants. Firm. Decisive. Direct. Focused. Getting to the point.”

“True, but I’m not a client. At least you’re retaining something,” he adds. Not mocking. Maybe a little proud.

“It doesn’t bother me if…”

“If what?”

“If you have some, I don’t know, some condition you’re ashamed of.”

“It’s not a condition.” He hesitates. Fumbles with the button of his shirt sleeve, shoving it up. Reaching blindly for your hand and guiding your fingertips to his forearm.

“Scars,” you realize aloud. “What happened?”

“Accident at a previous job. And no, I’m not giving you any more information than that.” Your fingers trace the furrowed skin. At first curious. Now the touch has evolved into more of a caress. It feels good. He doesn’t want it to. Swallows loudly when you lift the appendage. Allowing you to manipulate the limb. Mouth grazing knuckles. Fuck. Immediate heat to his groin. He needs to stop this, right now. “You shouldn’t…I’m not who you think I am.”

“What do you mean? Steve?”

It’s exactly what he needs. Bringing him back to reality. The person that you want doesn’t exist. Not really. It’s the facade you like. Not the man underneath. You don’t know who he really is. Can never know, because discovering that means a return to what he was before.

“We should probably leave.” Dragging his arm free from your warm touch. He hates it. Absolutely despises himself for not pressing you down beneath him and kissing you under the stars. But at least you’re safe. That was more important.

He knows you’re hurt, confused. That happy little bubble you’d recreated popped again. Stiff goodbyes to the bride and groom before leaving. A silent ride back to your apartment.

“Thanks for going with me.”

“I’m…glad I did. Genuinely.” It is the truth. He’d enjoyed himself, in spite of everything. Because of you. He likes being with you.

“I don’t understand you.” You reach for his hand again, and he allows it. Because really, at this point, what does it matter if it happens once or twice or a dozen times? He’s already crossed a line with you he never should have.

“Why do you fight yourself so much?” Your voice is quiet.

Because that hand you’re holding so gently has done terrible things. Because there is so little keeping me from doing what I want, from tearing right through this fragile barrier between us.

Those are the real answers, but he can’t tell you that. So he simply says “Because.” Which is no answer at all. He stares at your still joined fingers. “It’s not a rejection based on your merit as a person. You deserve to know that.”

“Is it because we work together?”

“Well, that’s a definite drawback. Workplace relationships are never a good idea.”

“The age gap?”

“Are you calling me old again?”

“Maybe.” A small smile.

“That’s another concern. But that’s not the main reason.”

You shift in your seat, turning your body more to his. “What is the main reason?”

“I can’t tell you that. Not any differently than I already have.”

“But you do like me.”

“You’re…tolerable, at times.”

“Tolerable.”

“Yes, I like you,” he admits, his voice tight. His gaze shifts to the windshield. It’s too difficult to look at you. To see that hope. That desire he’s certain is mirrored on his own features.

You reach for his glasses, slipping them free before he can stop you. You carefully fold them and tuck your arm behind your back. You know what you’re doing. He knows it, too. Playing along. Leaning. Grasping. Tugging the gold framed lenses free. Your face tips up. That ripe mouth he wants to defile within reach. So close. Just the slightest movement would bring his lips to yours. Touching you. Tasting you. The barest little shift is all that’s required.

He leans back, away from you. “You should go inside and soak your feet and get some rest. I’ll see you Monday.” Staring very hard at nothing. It’s a cold dismissal. Contrasting so starkly from the warmth stoked inside of him. He heaves a shuddering sigh when you finally exit his car. Watching your retreating figure. How much he wants to chase after you. Drag you against him. Surrender.

And you would, too. He knows you’d succumb to him. Do whatever he wanted.

If only he’d ask.

#william afton x reader #william afton x you #steve raglan x you #steve raglan x reader #dividers credit @saradika-graphics

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belmottetower · 1 year

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3.10 International Meta

Ted Lasso’s International Break details - actually extremely accurate! I am pleasantly surprised! If you read my review of episode 9, you’d have seen at the end the part where we freaked out about the potential for bad exposition regarding this stuff. But they actually fucking nailed it! And they left so much space for amazing fic and headcanons!

I’m going to overhaul the International Break page on the primer to include all the new information and erase stuff that is now erroneous and I will post again when done, but in the meantime, here are some notes about details in this episode that hopefully will be exciting to think about, in terms of gap-filling fic or otherwise. Trust me, applying some of the below information to the show really heightens an already VERY AMAZING episode. Uncle’s Day! Gareth Southgate! 24!

Ted Lasso season 3 is set in the 2021/2022 football season. We have a thorough timeline of season 3 coming for the primer, but in 3.10, Richmond has played 31 league matches so far (16 wins, 6 losses, 9 draws according to the board) and the time being featured in this episode is the annual March international break.

In real life, this break happened from 21-29 March 2022. There also would have been international breaks in August, October and November 2021. These were not featured on the show but would have occurred in between episodes, regardless of whether any players were called up during them or not. The August break would have happened during the Zava montage of wins in episode 3, the October break would have happened directly after episode 3 and before episode 4, and the November break would have happened in the bad run of matches that happened off screen between episode 4 and episode 5.

The March break is usually dedicated to continental friendlies rather than tournament qualifiers. Each international team would have played TWO games that week within their confederation, so Canada played Mexico once and some other CONCACAF nation once. England and Wales would have each played two UEFA opponents, and so on.

The international matches are generally spaced out over something like Thursday and Saturday, or Friday and Sunday - a few days training, play one game, more days training, play the next game, recovery, press, back to the regular league club by the following Tuesday.

The moment Beard reads out the names in the dressing room after the Leicester match would not be the first moment the players are finding out this news. That international announcement does not happen on a match day, and they guys are responding happily but not as excitedly as they would if this was The Big News Announcement, especially for Jamie’s very first time. That moment was a summary of already known information, the call-ups would have come in the week before.

They’ve just played Leicester on the Saturday and Jamie for instance would have got the news sometime between Monday to Thursday of the prior week. This year, the England squad announcement for the March break was released to the public on Thursday 16th March before the players showed up at St George’s Park to train on the following Monday the 20th. I’m sad we did not actually get to see Jamie’s call-up moment, but the primer has a BUNCH of examples about how he may have gotten the news so feel free to peruse and imagine your favourite situation for Jamie.

Dani is the only person we know for sure has had prior call ups - he’s listed as a Mexico international on the cheat sheet since before he even came to Richmond - but on this break, Jamie is the only person they mention making his debut, his very first call-up (invitation to be in the squad) and potential cap (cap being the term for actually making an appearance - he could have been called up but not capped, as in, didn’t come off the bench.) That Jamie detail kind of implies all the others have done it before, but that doesn’t quite fit with Ted not knowing that Bumbercatch is playing for Switzerland, as they would have gone through like, nine prior international breaks before this one since Ted’s arrival.

Pretty sure Bumbercatch IS English, but he must be eligible for Switzerland under the grandparent rule. Basically, when you select your international eligibility, you can claim it for the country of birth of one of your parents or grandparents. Players will sometimes do this if their main nationality is from a more competitive footballing country. You can switch allegiance between junior and senior levels (Jack Grealish and Declan Rice, both VERY ENGLISH MEN, played for Ireland as juniors because they had a better chance of being selected there. When it became clear they were England-good, they switched allegiances for senior selection. Irish fans are still angry about this.) I’m assuming Bumbercatch has at least one Swiss parent or grandparent so put himself up for FIFA eligibility as Swiss rather than English, as the Switzerland team is easier to get into than the England team.

England trains at St George’s Park near Birmingham, about 130 miles/ 2 and a half hours drive from Richmond. Jamie would have trained at SGP before as a junior England player in the age group teams (see the primer about how this is almost 100% a given) so it would not be a brand new place for him to visit, but it would be very special coming in as an England senior player for the first time on the Monday morning.

The team travels down from SGP to London to play their home matches at Wembley Stadium, the home of English football and the same place the semi-final against Man City took place last season. This is only about 10 miles from Richmond, hence Beard saying “up the way at Wembley.” Sometimes both matches of the break are at home, or sometimes one is abroad and they fly to the other country. FWIW, in real life, the two England games in the March 2022 break were both at Wembley, so no overseas travel.

The jacket Jamie is wearing for Uncle’s Day is an example of the casual England wear the players get given upon their call up (as opposed to their training kit or match kit.) This is what they will wear to travel as a group, or in their free time around camp. Sometimes they get gear sent over the week before so they can already be dressed in the team gear when they arrive (there are social media videos made of their arrivals) or sometimes they pick it all their gear on arrival.

Jamie would have reported for International Duty probably on Monday. Occasionally the report-in is Tuesday. But Uncle’s Day is happening on WEDNESDAY. (Keeley references the day of the week in her scenes set that same day.) The reason I bring this timeline up is because it’s looking likely that Jamie ran away from the England camp to attend this party. He either drove himself down from Birmingham after training on Wednesday afternoon - very not allowed, they are kept pretty firmly on campus - or the team traveled down to London VERY early, because Jamie’s first Wembley match takes place on Friday, not Thursday. The fact that he has sourced an original copy of the 2014 World Cup kit for Roy and was able to get the name cuntified in a legitimate manner suggests to me that he actually got that done at by the kit men at the England base camp, making it even more likely that he’s been at camp and snuck away back to London for the afternoon.

2014 was Roy’s last World Cup, but his last England cap, ever, was in the 2016 Euros (in a real life game that England lost, a very low point - we suspect this is also when he left Chelsea, at the end of the 15/16 season) and given his legendary status in the game, it’s not unlikely his first international tournament was either the 2000 Euros or the 2002 World Cup. Comparing how the show frames him to other players like him, I would guess he has anywhere between 70 to 120 caps.

3.10 establishes, via Jamie’s gift to Roy, that the World Cup cycle within Ted Lasso is the same years as real life, so there is a World Cup coming up for the players right after season 3 finishes. If Ted Lasso-verse does a different host to real life (the controversial choice of Qatar) the 2022 Ted Lasso World Cup will be in the June and July immediately following the finale. If Qatar is mentioned, the 2022 World Cup won’t take place until November 2022, disrupting the Premier League during the following season (season 4, if we get it.)

The commentary of the England match mentions Southgate - meaning that Gareth Southgate, the real England manager, is also the manager within the show. This is GREAT news for Jamie enjoyers, almost as good news as Real Pep. See primer for details on Southgate and how he would have crossed paths with Jamie before. This is a VERY BIG DEAL and a bit of a dream come true for me. Gareth is about a decade older than Roy, they would know each other from some crossover playing time in the early 2000s. He would have played at England alongside Roy if Roy debuted for England before 2004.

I just had a conversation that made me realise that some people might think that league or club coaches might also join the England team for breaks the way that players do. Not how it works. Managing England is a full time job - Gareth Southgate is not ALSO a club coach. Sometimes the assistant coaches have other jobs - for a while Ted Lasso match commentator Chris Powell was helping to coach England while also helping to coach the Tottenham Hotspur academy team. But Gareth's ONLY job is the England men's first team, including keeping up with the status of potential squad members all year and so on.

It's not impossible that Roy could eventually be brought on to the England assistant coaching staff while also assistant coaching Richmond - in real life one of West Ham’s assistant coaches does this - but Roy doesn't have a lot of experience coaching so it's unlikely, and it's not going to happen if Roy becomes the actual manager of Richmond at the end of the season. Still. It could be a fun idea if Roy doesn’t become the manager.

Jamie wearing 24 is very plausible within how national squad numbering works and it is actually the number we suggested for him in the primer before this episode aired! Our choice was nothing to do with Sam, but was chosen because it was the number given to Callum Wilson, England’s non-starting striker, in the World Cup. Jamie will not be England’s go-to 9 for many years.

Jamie could have requested 24, but the international shirt numbering is not a free for all. You can’t select 54 or 81 or something. The squad is numbered from 1 to however many (usually 26) with no gaps, and it’s not fixed and permanent like club numbers. Who gets what number is altered every match based on the starting line up, unless you’re in a big tournament where you keep the same shirt number the whole month. For an international friendly like this, the starters for that game will wear 1 through 11, then all the substitutes will be numbered on from there.

Given that Jamie is brand new to the team, and on the bench (he comes on at the 65th minute when it’s 6-0 to England, replacing the not-Harry-Kane England starting striker who wears the 9, a very normal situation for a game that’s going successfully, rest your stars and give the newbies a chance to stretch their legs) being numerically low in list makes sense. He would have always had a number between say 22 and 26, but within that, he could probably make a request, if it isn’t putting anyone else out, like “Hey, if no one minds, can I have 24?” as opposed to 22, 23, 25 or whatever. They do give people their favorites if they ask for it, so it works PERFECTLY for him to have 24, as it fits his position in the team as well as the Sam tribute.

However, his squad number would have been listed on the team sheet in advance of the match. Sam being surprised in the moment is slightly off - they would have seen his number when they learned he'd been selected for the game's lineup at all.

For those bummed out that Jamie’s friends were not there in person - England would have played another match on the Sunday, there is never just one in a break. Maybe Roy, Keeley, Ted, Isaac, Sam and so on went to Wembley to support him at the Sunday match in person before club training resumed at Richmond on the Monday or Tuesday.

#ted lasso #jamie tartt #roy kent #dani rojas #moe bumbercatch #sam obisanya #ted lasso spoilers

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akookminsupporter · 2 months

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Hey Rosie! Hope you’re doing well. Now that it has been revealed that J Hope is releasing a mini album for hope on the street - Do you think we will be seeing albums from any of the other members while in enlistment? I thought that Jimin and RM would definitely release projects but Hobi has (very pleasantly) surprised me! I’m sure Jin will release music/album later this year. Have a good day and take care of yourself x

Hi, anon! How are you? I do believe it's possible. I couldn't find the tweet where I read it, but I remember in a year-end report, it was mentioned that 2-3 members of the group would release an album or music this year. Initially, many thought it would be Jimin, Joon, and Jin, but with the news of Hobi releasing an album, I now think Jin's album might come out next year? If he has intentions to release one, of course. Unless he left several things prepared before enlisting, preparing an album takes some time, doesn't it? And I don't think Jin would want to release something just for the sake of it. So, it would make sense for him to drop something next year.

Joon definitely prepared something for this year and has been hinting at it for a while, and Jimin worked with several producers who were not part of FACE, so many of us concluded that he also left things prepared. We still don't even know what he went to do in Budapest, for example.

Needless to say, those reports aren't 100% certain, so there might be more than 3 albums/singles. Jungkook also mentioned a surprise for mid-year, and Tae also talked about leaving things prepared, so I think it's safe to say we'll see more things from other members related to music this year.

#Anon #ask #bts #bts solo careers #bts fan opinions #Preg 111

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madame-fear · 1 year

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Maybe Lucerys giving Reader first blowjob? 🫣🤭

ABSOLUTELY

I think that maybe, your very first time receiving head/a blowjob from Lucerys, would've been one night you visited his chambers late at night because you suffered from bad nightmares, and went looking for him to comfort.

Without a second thought, seeing that you were badly distressed from it and you were in serious need of his comfort, he allowed you to enter his chambers, locked the door, and got on bed with you. Luke would've properly comforted you by listening attentively, hugging you tightly, whispering sweet nothings, and... kissing. Of course because Lucerys asked you if he could kiss you — our boy can't resist your grace and preciousness —, but things escalated afterwards.

Kissing you, until you both got a bit too passionate with each other to the point you craved one another in a more deeper way; and so, you ended up half-laying on the edge of his bed, with your nightgown up to your waist, and his head buried deep in your wet in-between legs.

Lucerys isn't exactly the most experimented boy on these topics, but when it comes to you, he'll use all the knowledge he has on the erotic studying books he read. And even so, his strangely good experience with it is pleasantly surprising for you — he knows where to suck, kiss, and nibble in the perfect, most sensitive zones to make you moan for his name, become wetter, and interwine your trembling fingers on his messy dark hair. The moment is enough to make him get a tight boner in his own pants while he delightfully satisfies every single one of your needs.

Luke will literally not leave a single inch of yours untreated. Both his hands would be firmly holding your hips, and his head would be buried in your in-between leg, while he tries to satisfy you the best he can. Though, the way you violently tremble — legs, hands, voice tone when moaning/groaning, etc — already lets him pridefully know he's doing an astounding job.

His tongue would try to recollect every single of your dripping wetness on his mouth, and while he does that, he'd also even dare to slip a finger or two. Plus, Luke would release some small moans and heavily breathe against your genitalia just to stimulate you even more, and smirk to himself at hearing your shaky moans intensifying, and your legs becoming more vulnerable.

Once you finally release in his mouth — by screaming his name with great pleasure even —, he will keep happily taking all of your coming to himself, even getting some slick at the corner of his lips. Afterwards, he'll lower your nightgown delicately and would pop his head from in between your legs, just to find you vastly smiling to yourself, absolutely dumbfounded, and trying to catch back your breath. Obviously, your state would make him joyfully proud; keeping the sight to admire as a tremendously treasured memory.

“Are you okay? Did you like it?” expect him to ask. And the answer is, obviously, yes.

His lips would then unevitably go to kiss yours in a rather fervid way, while he cups your cheeks, and you'd even be able to taste some of yourself on his very own lips.

Our sweet gentle boy doesn't want you to go lonely to your chambers, especially since you had nightmares and also shared a first important intimate moment with each other, so he'd invite you to spend the rest of the night with him. And so you did.

You accepted staying with him, and most of his bedsheets covered your entire body up to your neck while Lucerys protectively held your body against his, filling your head and forehead with many little kisses, and whispering in High Valyrian how much he adores and treasures you. <3

♡ taglist : ♡

@jjamieberry @anemicroyalcore @countsmoon @tickle-euphoria @beeebo234 @manuholland6 @capellaadara @kyuupidwrites @tchatso @dopepersonacloudllama @phantasyy @tasty-nutella @mstxdes @valeriecash

#lucerys velaryon x reader #lucerys velaryon x reader smut #lucerys strong x reader #lucerys targaryen x reader #prince lucerys x reader #lucerys velaryon smut #hotd smut #hotd x reader #hotd x you #hotd x y/n #house of the dragon x reader #house of the dragon smut #house of the dragon x you #house of the dragon imagine #house of the dragon imagines

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runes-menagerie · 6 months

Text

Analysis of Ascendant Astarion Part 2

WARNING!! This post contains spoilers for Act 3 of Balder's Gate 3. Specifically for one of the possible endings of 'The Pale Elf' companion questline along with the entirety of the Astarion romance plotline since I do reference earlier romance cutscenes.

This analysis focuses on the dialogue trees available during the Ascendant Astarion romance scene that happens the next time you rest after completing the ritual. Given the difficulty of the fight against Cazador and his minions, in addition to the fight with the Gur Tribe as you leave, most players are likely to rest before going on to other quests. That is the timeline I'm assuming for the purposes of how long Astarion has had to process the events outlined in my previous analysis post.

I would also like to preface this by saying that I was not expecting the dialogue trees in this scene to be as complex as they are, Most videos you can find will only show you one or two possible paths but there are actually many possible paths and even a few loops that you could theoretically go around indefinitely.

That said it does all boil down to a very simply choice: continue the romance by letting his turn you or break up with him. I started this project thinking that there were very few ways to accomplish the first and many ways the second could happen. What I found when I actually mapped out the trees was the exact opposite. Discovering this changed my perceptions this scene and I hope that shows in my analysis.

One last thing I'd like to address before getting on with the analysis. While researching the character I found the predominate interpretation of Ascendant Astarion is that he's abusive, condescending and manipulative. While I can certainly see how this came about and I will be including it in my analysis. These two interpretations will largely be my focus but I am sure there are others. This is not any sort of end all be all analysis.

Now, without further ado. On to the analysis!

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(start of romance scene)

"I can't believe you let me do that. Killing all those people. A pleasant surprise."

-- As mentioned above I find it likely that this scene takes place within a few hours of the completion of the ritual. Long enough for the high of victory and Ascension to have worn off but not long enough for him to have fully settled into who he is now and go through all the implications of what he's done. This open dialogue indicates that he might be starting to now and is surprised you helped him. The pleasantly part comes in fact that he likely didn't think the player would go to such lengths for him.

(Possible player responses A1)

I wanted what was best for you.

I wasn't about to release seven thousand hungry vampire spawn into the world.

I don't feel great about it honestly.

I wanted a powerful ally, And now I have one.

-- I won't be saying much about the possible player responses since that isn't the focus of this analysis. I will just say to pay attention to the markers such as A1 and A2 since they show how the trees link together and were the best way I could think of to organize what is more like a web than a tree in this format.

A1 -- Prompt 1 -> A2 "You sweet, sweet thing. I want what's best for you too, of course. And one wicked turn deserves another. So tell me what you desire. What can I do for my dearest pet?"

-- Note that many of the reactions to each set of prompts share dialogue so I will only be analyzing those once unless something about the rest of the prompt changes the interpretation of the common part.

-- This feels similar to his pre-Ascension dialogue in terms of the first few lines. The last two lines however show something is going on in his head. This is where I feel he could be seen as starting to come across as condescending since the use of the name 'pet' is new for him. On the other hand, he does given the player numerous pet names throughout the game and this could simply be a new one. Edit: I was informed that he does use the term pet prior to this as a Spawn as a dialogue option if you visit the brothel. "Sorry pet, I'm not quite comfortable doing this sort of thing just yet." --quote courtesy of @astriel-nya This fact makes me more inclined to think that it is simply a pet name rather than being indicative an abusive mindset.

-- Another thing to consider when interpreting this dialogue is the fact that he's asking what he can do for the player. If we look back at his romance scenes early on then this could be a call back to his "nice, simple plan" of trading his body and affection for the player's protection. If this is in fact a call back then it could indicate he's reverting to past "instinctive" behaviors while figuring out who he is now that he is finally free of Cazador. Not to mention any lingering side effects of the ritual that could be impacting his thinking.

A1 -- Prompt 2 -> A2 "Of course, whatever you need to tell yourself, darling. But make no mistake, I will forever remember what you did for me today. And one wicked turn deserves another. So tell me what you desire. What can I do for my dearest pet?"

-- Here is another example of a line that could be condescending even with the use of the familiar pet name. He seems dismissive of the player's reasoning and attempts to moralize the choice to pay the price of the ritual.

-- Another take is that Astarion has always been rather morally dubious and this isn't the first time he's questioned the player's morality.

-- I find the second line more telling than the first since it seems to be another call back, this time to his lines after you let him feed from you the first time. These connections to the past seem to indicate that he hasn't completely forgotten who he was before the ritual.

A1 -- Prompt 3 -> A2 "Well, what's done is done. And there's simply no point in dwelling on the past, is there? No, you have given me a glorious new future. And one wicked turn deserves another. So tell me what you desire. What can I do for my dearest pet?"

-- As with the last response, this one can also be interpreted as condescending and dismissive. Both of the player and of the past. It could be an indication that he no longer cares as much for the player's opinions and thoughts.

-- However, given just what Astarion's past has contained for the last 200 years, I find it difficult to blame him for wanting to focus on the future now that he can finally see one that isn't more of what he's suffered all those years.

A1 -- Prompt 4 -> A2 "Indeed you do. I am so very, very powerful - all thanks to you. And one wicked turn deserves another. So tell me what you desire. What can I do for my dearest pet?"

-- Given that this response is given to the most cold and calculated of the possible player prompts. It seems logical for him to respond in kind. Now this could be seen as his ego talking and it does fall in line with his speech patterns when talking about himself early game. But that is just the thing. At that point in the game, his goal was to make himself seem useful so you would keep him around. He could be doing the same here, reminding you of just how useful he is so you won't turn on him now that he's changed.

-- In this prompt I believe that common section more strongly supports the second interpretation rather than the first but that is simply my opinion.

(Possible player responses -- A2)

I want to be a vampire like you.

I want you. I want your body.

You can tell me that you've learned something from all this.

I am not your pet.

-- I will admit that when I first encountered this set of player responses, I greatly detested them. Now having mapped out all the dialogue trees, my hatred has lessened but I still don't entirely like the options given to player at this point in the dialogue tree.

-- Also note that this is the point where it becomes less dialogue tree and more dialogue web.

A2 -- Prompt 1 -> A3 "Oh my sweet, there are no vampires like me. And there never will be again. But if you want the gift of eternity, I can give you that. One more bite is all it would take. That's what you want, isn't it? To be mine? Forever?"

-- The first two lines are both a statement of fact since it has been stated in game that no one had ever attempted the Rite of Profane Ascension before Cazador, making Astation the first Vampire Ascendant. Given this fact and how long it took for someone to attempt the ritual it does seem rather unlikely there will ever be another but not impossible.

-- That said, it's also possible that his ego is talking here as well since he is the first to achieve such a thing and he is more powerful than he was, both lore wise and in game mechanics. However, the second line can be taken as more than a simple statement of fact. It could be interpreted as him stating an intention to prevent the ritual from being repeated, either to prevent competitors or to prevent 7000 more souls from being sacrificed again. It could also be an indication of his intent never to turn the player into a true vampire but to keep them a spawn, however since we have no way of knowing if the spawn of the Vampire Ascendant would also become a Vampire Ascendant, this may be a mote point.

-- As for the rest of his words this could either be taken as him trying to manipulate you into becoming his slave and putting yourself under his control. Or it could be him acknowledging the differences in your lifespans and being afraid to lose the player since even if the player is one of the Elf variants they wouldn't live even a fraction of his lifespan. As in most vampire romance stories, this could be seen as gesture of love rather than one intended to enslave.

A2 -- Prompt 2 -> A3 "You've earned it. But don't you want more -- don't you want eternity? One more bite is all it would take? That's what you want, isn't it? To be mine? Forever?"

-- This is in response to the option I dislike the most so I apologize if that influences my analysis. That said I do find it telling how he says that the player has 'earned' the ability to sleep with him. And then he quickly offers to turn the player.

-- I will be honest that I struggle to find an abusive interpretation for this one other than what was mentioned above with the offer to become a vampire being a manipulation tactic to control the player.

-- The interpretation I find more likely in this case is that the offer to turn the player is a distraction from the idea of sex. Which given that in order to get this far in the romance the player would have already agreed to hold off on sex until he was ready, seems plausible.

-- Note that there is another way to get this dialogue but again, it is the player requesting sex, not him offering or asking for it. Now it is possible that with the power boost he gets from Ascension that he feels safe enough to explore sex now since it's possible he could overpower the player or at least escape. It could also be another case of him reverting to his early game thinking. Giving his body so the player will accept being turned and not leave him. Or giving his body as a method of tricking the player into becoming his slave.

-- This also brings to mind the scene where he tells you he doesn't want sex, specifically that if you insist on it he will then break up with you after saying that he didn't know how to tell the player no. I wonder if something similar might be the case here, thus the distraction of offering to turn the player rather than saying no outright.

A2 -- Prompt 3 -> B1 "Truly? What was I supposed to learn from this?"

-- He does have a point here, until I read the possible player responses to this I wasn't fully sure what I would expect him to learn from recent events either. I feel his confusion and defensiveness is justified here.

A2 -- Prompt 4 -> C1 "Oh don't be such a humorless little wretch - It's nothing but a joke."

-- This reaction seems to support the interpretation of the 'pet' name not just being a new way to refer to the player but a test to see if the player would be open to submitting. One that he isn't happy the player rejected.

-- However he does only call you pet the one time in this entire scene regardless of if you call him on it or not. This could mean that he is more reacting to being called out than the fact that you don't accept the name. Or he could simply be deciding not to push his luck with you at this time since his primary goal seems to be getting the player to agree to become a vampire.

(Possible player responses from Prompt 3 -- B1)

I hoped you'd learn to love me.

Not to become Cazador yourself.

That sex and relationships aren't about power over someone else.

-- I thought that the 2nd and 3rd responses would be breakup routes when I was mapping this out and was rather surprised to find I was wrong. This is where my opinion on this scene began to change.

B1 -- bullet 1 -> B3 "Who's to say I don't? I'm willing to share all of this with you. What's that if not love? Of course if that's not enough - if you need something more - perhaps this isn't for you. So. What's it to be, darling? Is this it?"

-- Given Astarion's past, sharing power like this would be a significant gesture for him since he has had all power stripped from him before and had to claw his way up to where he is now. That said, it does indicate that he might be viewing relationships as transactions as he did near the start of the game. The next line both supports this idea and brings it into question depending on the interpretation. It could either be interpreted as a manipulation or as him genuinely asking if he's enough for the player.

-- Lastly he asks what the player wants rather than assuming the relationship is over. Once more this could be a show of caring in order to manipulate the player's emotions. Or it be him giving the player the choice he didn't have. Since let's not forget that he was turned against his will. His unwillingness to forcibly turn the player is rather telling I feel no matter how the rest of this words are interpreted.

B1 -- bullet 2 -> B2 "Don't you ever compare me to him! Never! How dare you stand there and judge me. As if you know the first thing. Your hands are as bloody as mine, darling. Why would you go along with any of this just to pretend you're innocent now?"

-- Even as pissed off at the player as he is here, this still leads to a prompt that gives the option to save the relationship. Given that Spawn Astarion doesn't react this way to mentions of Cazador I find this response rather interesting.

-- One possible interpretation is that Astarion secretly fears that he will become just like Cazador. That he will hurt those around him, especially the player. We've seen in the Love Test earlier in the game that he doesn't like his fears being brought to light which seems to support this interpretation.

-- Another interpretation is that he does actually plan to be like Cazador to some extent, either consciously or unconsciously, and he doesn't want you thinking about that otherwise you might walk away from him before he can make you his spawn.

-- The last few lines seem to be him once more questioning the player's morals while reminding you that he would have never been able to Ascend without someone's help. With this in mind his willingness to keep giving you chances to save the relationship might be an acknowledgement of this fact. He literally owes everything to the player and he knows it.

B1 -- bullet 3 -> B2 "Please, everything is about power. Sex, relationships, violence - They're all just different forms of control. And now you think you can stand there and tell me how to feel? Because - what? Because you care? Your hands are as bloody as mine, darling. Why would you go along with any of this just to pretend you're innocent now?"

-- This seems to support the theory that he's reverting back to his early game thinking in terms of how he views relationships. As stated in the believing, it isn't surprising that he would fall back onto familiar thought patterns while processing and adapting to his new power and freedom.

-- He could be lashing out because he's aware of this fact but he doesn't know how else to handle what's going on in his head. He could also be upset that the player is so easily seeing through his manipulation.

(possible player responses from bullets 2 and 3 above B2)

I wanted you to feel safe.

Because I cared! But maybe now I see how wrong I was!

I did it for you, you piece of shit.

-- Even though all of these responses gain his disapproval, none outright end the romance at this stage. Even the last two don't and I thought they would when I was making this.

B2 -- All prompts "It seems I misjudged you. I thought we might have a future together - even an eternity - But perhaps you're not worthy. So. What's it to be, darling? Is this it?"

-- This is very similar to how he responds to the first prompt in the response list before this one. (B1 -- bullet 1) He asks the player what they was want rather than making a demand or trying to focus it. As mentioned before there is a chance that Ascendant Astarion could overpower the player, especially if this does in fact take place right after the Cazador/Gur fight when everyone it hurt/tired except perhaps him, which would give him the best chance of doing so.

-- One interpretation is that even if his thinking has changed with Ascension, he's still unwilling to put the player through what he was when he was turned. It has to be the player's choice to become his spawn.

-- Another interpretation that is similar to the first but distinctly different is that he wants it to be the player's choice so that they are less likely to scheme against him as he did against Cazador. He doesn't want to create an enemy with the potential to actually harm him one day after all since from reading Vellioth's scroll we know that it is in fact possible for a spawn to kill their master without there being a Mindfalyer tadpole involved.

(Possible player response to all of the above B3)

I hope we can work things out and stay together.

I still care for you, but it can't be like this.

You're a hypocrite, and I don't want to be with you.

I don't want to look at you again. Get out of my camp.

-- Only bullet 1 will continue the romance so that response is the only one that will be analyzed in this post. The breakup responses will be analyzed in a later post.

B3 -- bullet 1 -> A4 "Of course we can. You're the one I want - the one that I love. And you could be so much more, if you want it. One little bite and you could be mine forever. My dark consort. My right hand. My most beloved spawn."

-- The fact that he is still willing to work things out with the player could be interpreted as him still hoping to manipulate and control the player. Or we could be seeing some of his genuine emotions beneath the act he's trying to put on as he falls back into his old thought patterns. This feels like something he would have said pre-Ascension which may indicate that he hasn't completely changed but it merely reverting back to old behaviors as stated before and this is him breaking from that due to thinking you might actually leave him.

-- The last set of lines are repeated a great deal in the A3 responses so I will analyze there since it feels like it makes more sense.

(Posssible player responses C1)

It doesn't feel like a joke. It feels like you mean it.

You haven't learned anything have you?

All right. But if your offer is still open, I want to be a vampire. Just like you.

Then stop joking around and let's sleep together.

-- This is part of the 'pet' comment branch, if that helps with navigation.

C1 -- Prompt 1 -> A3 "Life's a joke, dear, but now we're the ones laughing. But if you want the gift of eternity, I can give you that. One more bite is all it would take. That's what you want, isn't it? To be mine? Forever?"

-- This feels both like him backtracking but also makes me think of when he's trying to justify him drinking the blood of your enemies right after revealing what he is to the player early game. I think the reason for that is in both situations he trying to laugh off a rather serious matter.

-- That aside he does seem to be dismissing the player's feelings on the matter. And yet he doesn't use the word 'pet again'. Even during the sex scene when a perfect chance for it comes up.

-- This dialogue branch seems to be the one with the most support for the interpretation of Ascendant Astarion as abusive, condescending, and manipulative. I don't think it should be dismissed because of that but I do think it should be noted that it is only one possible dialogue branch and that is is possible to go through the scene without ever encountering any of these responses.

C1 -- Prompt 2 -> A2 Prompt 3

C1 -- Prompt 3 -> A2 Prompt 1

C1 -- Prompt 4 -> A2 Prompt 2

-- The fact that all other prompt responses lead back to the second set of choices feels rather significant to me as well. This could support the interpretation that there is a darker motive behind all of his dialogue in this scene. Or it could indicate that he's simply testing to see where the line is with the player now that he's changed so much. It's also possible that the ritual changed his thinking just as he states it has changed his blood in the post Ascension scene.

(Possible player responses A3)

Yes, that's all I want.

So what would I be? A vampire? Or your spawn?

What if I don't want forever?

I wanted a good time, that's all.

I wanted you to be free. It seems you never will be.

-- All the dialogue options above will eventually lead here unless a breakup option is chosen. Of these, only the last one will lead to a breakup option.

A3 -- Prompt 1 -> A5 "Then it's everything you shall receive. I will miss this warm flesh mind you. Shall we have one last night together before you join me in immortality? One for the road, so to speak."

-- Here he is the one offering sex, however this line can come after the player has asked for it or if the player I was going to analyze the implications of each but I found as I was writing it that there really isn't much of a difference other than whether or not he's actually interested in sex or merely doing it for the player's benefit.

-- This offer could be him resigning himself to going through with it as the price of getting to keep the player. He could also be ready for sex and the player just happened to ask for it before he could offer, if that route was taken. It could also be a manipulation, a way to sweeten the deal to ensure that the player goes through with the turning. It could also be exactly as he said, that he'll miss the player's warmth and wants to feel it one more time before it's gone forever.

-- To sum up. This could be a manipulation. It could be fondness for the player prompting him to spend one more night with you.

A3 -- Prompt 2 -> A4 "You wouldn't be just some spawn -- you're far more than that to me. My dark consort. My right hand. My most beloved spawn."

-- This is in response to a very valid question from the player. The answer is rather poetic, as many of his early game words are when he's trying to seduce the play.

-- With that thought in mind he could be trying to manipulate and seduce the player into giving in to him and becoming his spawn so he has complete power over you.

-- He could also be honestly trying to reassure the player that even as his spawn, he won't abuse you but will treat you as a partner. Not quite an equal perhaps but not a victim either.

A3 -- Prompt 3 -> A4 "What's not to want? We could be together for all time. My dark consort. My right hand. My most beloved spawn."

-- Given his own lack of choice in becoming a vampire and just how many people in the game seem to be seeking ways to extend their own lifespans, it's really not a surprise why he would question why you don't want to live longer.

-- He could also be questioning if he's not enough for you even now that he's become the Vampire Ascendant. At the same time this could be another attempt at manipulation.

A3 -- Prompt 4 -> A3 "What do you mean? Think of the things I can offer you! You're not going to say no to that, surely?

-- I was surprised this one didn't lead straight to a breakup but it doesn't. Which I feel reinforces the interpretation that regardless of his reasoning, he does want to keep you in his life.

-- But to explore that reasoning, one way this response can be interpreted is him asking if he is not enough for you. If everything he has to offer you now and everything he is, isn't enough.

-- In the same vein, he could be asking if you're really going to turn down all the power that he strove so hard to get. This would explain why he seems so offended by the idea that you would turn him down.

A3 -- Prompt 5 -> B2 All prompts (minus 1 aka breakup route)

-- This is a break up route and as such will be analyzed in another post. But I do think it's significant that it took this long to get to another break up route in comparison to how many ways there are to continue the romance.

(possible player responses A4)

Yes, that's all I want.

Spawn? I want to be a true vampire.

A beloved slave is still a slave.

After everything you went through with Cazador, you're going to make me a spawn?

-- No really anything to say about this set of prompts other than that Astarion is surprisingly patient considering all the questions you could be asking him. Granted they are rather reasonable and understandable questions given the situation.

A4 -- Prompt 1 -> A3 Prompt 1

A4 -- Prompt 2 -> A3 Prompt 2

-- Unsurprisingly these two link back up to other parts of the dialogue tree.

A4 -- Prompt 3 -> D1 "Oh don't be like that, I'd never want to control you. I love you. That's what you've been waiting to hear, isn't it? That's what you want. We could be together for eternity, ruling this world side by side. We could have it all."

-- The first part of this is pretty straight forwards, he's either lying or he's not. On one hand he knows what's like to be a spawn, to be controlled, to have his body obey against his will. It seems unlikely he would inflict that on someone he cares about and the fact is that within the game he doesn't actually try unless you count him forbidding you from dying at one point. On the other hand, if his feeling for the player have changed then he might be lying and simply had no need to control you during the gameplay. Or he was subtle enough about it that you don't notice it.

-- As for his confession of love, the phrasing of it is closer to that of his first confession when he's telling you all his favorite lines. This could be interpreted as a sign his feelings for the player have changed. It could also be interpreted as him being more theatrical about it simply because, as stated previously, he's defaulted back to familiar speech patterns.

-- Once more he's making an offer to the player, to get them to agree to be his spawn. These continued offers could be him trying to sweeten or remind you of the deal being offered in order to tempt you into giving in to him. Or they could be him expressing his hopes. He hopes for a future with you, for an eternity of you by his side.

-- The ruling comment is a potential red flag but given that he has made comments like that the entire game I don't feel it's out of character or sign that his thinking has changed. He doesn't voice any particular plans for it in this scene however.

A4 -- Prompt 4 -> D1 "Oh that was completely different, I'd never hurt you. I love you. That's what you've been waiting to hear, isn't it? That's what you want. We could be together for eternity, ruling this world side by side. We could have it all."

-- This one is very similar to the previous one and can be interpreted with the same thought processes in my opinion. That said, I do find the difference in wording between the two rather interesting. In the previous one he claims he doesn't want to control you and in this one that he doesn't want to hurt you. This difference is rather curious.

-- It could be that he doesn't think of controlling the player as hurting you as long as he doesn't actually give you a command that would hurt you or cause you to get hurt. Or the opposite could be true and he does think controlling the player would hurt you. Either interpretation has interesting connotations as does this difference in phrasing.

(Possible player responses D1)

That does sound appealing...

Sounds like you'd have it all.

No, this isn't what I want.

-- Another chance to break up here. As with the others, the player has to voice a direct refusal for him to accept it. On one hand that could be seen as a red flag and him not taking no for an answer. On the other hand, with the more ambiguous responses he doesn't assume consent or refusal but asks for clarification of the player's desires. How he reacts to being rejected with be covered in another post as stated previously but I think it's significant to note that he didn't forcibly turn the player upon rejection.

D1 -- bullet 1 -> A5 "I knew you'd come around. Shall we have one last night together before you join me in immortality? One for the road, so to speak."

-- The second part of this has been covered already. As for the first part. This could be interpreted as being rather condescending with him being confident that he could manipulate you into giving into him. It could also be interpreted as him simply knowing the player well and being confident that if he was patient and laid everything out that you would agree to stay with him. It could also be a false show of confidence, a show he often puts on throughout the game with his vulnerable side only coming out sometimes.

D1 -- bullet 2 -> D1 "I already have everything. Except you by my side. Are you ready to join me? To accept this immortal gift?"

-- He's not wrong here. He has everything he's stated he wanted from the beginning. Cazador is dead and Astarion has the power to theoretically do whatever he wants to. The fact that he doesn't assume he has you, that he's doing all this to get your consent when he could theoretically force you feels significant. As does the fact that he wants you by his side, rather than going his own way as he likely intended before his 'nice, simple plan fell apart.'

D1 -- bullet 3 -> B2 All prompts (minus 1 aka breakup route)

-- A clear break up route unsurprisingly.

(possible player responses A5)

Please, yes.

We shall not. I just need you to bite me.

Huh. I forgot I'd be cold to the touch once I changed...

-- No breakup option at this point but that's not terribly surprising.

A5 -- Prompt 1 -> Sex scene "Then come with me, my love, and live your final night."

-- This leads directly to the sex scene you can get from this interaction, which has it's own analysis. As for this response, he's gotten what he wants. Your consent. But even so he's willing to draw out turning you by having sex first either as part of the deal or because he wants to be with you one last time while you're still technically alive.

A5 -- Prompt 2 -> Post sex scene "Impatient are we? Well who am I to deny you?

-- As expected, this skips the sex scene and goes straight to the turning scene. He doesn't fight this which could mean he wasn't ready and or interested in sex. Or it could mean that he's placing the player's wishes ahead of his own.

A5 -- Prompt 3 -> E1 "Not having second thoughts, are we?"

-- Once more checking for consent from the player when you voice would could be seen as doubts. Whether he's being manipulative or honest during this entire conversation tree, your consent clearly matters to him when it comes to being turned.

(Possible player responses E1)

No, let's do this.

I don't want this after all.

-- A final check for consent. You can either give it or break up with him.

E1 -- bullet 1 -> A5 Prompt 1

E1 -- bullet 2 -> B2 All prompts (minus 1 aka breakup route)

-- Nothing new to say here.

(sex scene)

-- I'm not going to recap the sex scene here. There are plenty of videos of it out there. That said, I do find the parallels between this sex scene and the first one you get with him rather interesting. In both scenes the focus seems to be on the player, this more clear in this scene since it is longer but even in the first one he talks about what the player wants and only vaguely about his own desires. Now this could be do to his history with seducing for Cazador. But I find it interesting that the same is true of this scene.

-- This could be because he's acting on instinct as stated previously. He could also be trying to make the player's last night alive particularly good. It's also possible given his history that he doesn't remember how to take pleasure for himself and so it just doing what he knows. It could also be about control, in this case controlling how much pleasure the player feels during this scene.

(Post sex scene)

"On your knees, darling."

-- Here we have another example of a response that could be read as condescending and abusive. Another interpretation of it is the ritual of it. We're not told very much about vampire culture by the game even we find documents that talk about various rituals. It's possible that there's a significance here we're ignorant of. It's also possible he's testing to see if you'll obey him if he asks for something like when you aren't forced to obey him.

(Possible player responses A6)

Kneel.

(Wis check) Explore his mind - see what he really thinks about you.

No.

Kick him in the balls.

-- The last one is obviously a break up prompt but the third one isn't.

A6 -- Prompt 1 -> A7 "Tonight, I shall drink every drop of your blood. Own your body, kill your mind. It will only hurt a bit, the pleasure will be far greater than the pain."

-- Technically these are statements of fact. He has to drain you to turn you. It's also true that he will own your body once the player is his spawn since if he did give a command then your body would follow it whether you wanted to or not. Technically your mind would die when he drains you since you would be dead then undead.

-- As for the pleasure being greater than the pain. This could be a lie to comfort or manipulate the player into not fighting him at this point. He could also be telling the truth, he only gives a brief description of how he was turned so we don't know how it actually feels. Edit: I couldn't accurately remember how he described being turned but @astriel-nya once more provided me with a quote. "I remember how it hurt when I turned to a vampire. My body writhed and warped while I was utterly helpless, the grip of death owned my heart as it beat its last." This could support either side but given the narration of the turning scene and that of the first time he bites the player, I find it likely that he at least hopes that his words will be true for the player.

A6 -- Prompt 2 ->A6 Successful check *He will always see you as degrading yourself if you continue to be with him. But perhaps you wish to degrade yourself. And he knows it.* Failed check "Bad boy/girl." or "Tut tut. Very bad."

-- It's very easy to interpret the successful check dialogue as confirmation that Astarion has become or will become abusive towards the player. Just as easy is a more kinky interpretation since it would not at all surprise me if he were interested in such games as long as he wasn't the one being degraded.

-- There is another interpretation however. Rather than degrading as in being put down, the player is lowering themselves by staying with Astarion when they could do better. With him knowing you want this even though there are others who are more worthy of you.

-- For the failed check, I can't entirely blame him for scolding you for trying to read his mind without permission. That said the phrasing is rather condescending and while he doesn't use 'pet' the words do have similar connotations. On the other hand he could simply be being playful and reassuring you that he isn't mad you trying to read his mind.

A6 -- Prompt 3 -> F1 "Yes."

-- Here he rejects the player setting a boundary by refusing to kneel. This could be interpreted as a red flag for certain. This is also one of the few times he doesn't go along with the player's wishes which implies there's something significant about you agreeing to kneel. Despite his words he doesn't force the player to kneel, indicating he does still care about consent.

A6 -- Prompt 4 -> Breakup route + leaves party "Argh! How DARE you! To hells with you, I'm done. I hope you rot."

-- Not terribly surprising that kicking him leads to a break up. I was rather shocked that he left the party however since he doesn't with the other break up options unless you actually kick him out. I can't exactly blame him however.

(Possible player responses F1)

No.

Give in and kneel.

F1 -- bullet 1 -> Breakup route "You're missing the chance of a lifetime. You'll never have another like me. I won't take me until the end of time to find another like you."

-- The fact that he breaks up with you if you continue to refuse to kneel supports the idea that there is something significant about you consenting to kneel before he turns you. It could simply be his own desires and ego. Or it could be something required for the process. it could also be him needing to be in a position of certain control since it wouldn't surprise me if turning the player is mildly triggering for him given his own experience being turned.

F1 -- bullet 2 -> A6 prompt 1

-- Nothing new to add here since kneeling is required to continue the scene.

(Possible player responses A7)

Be gentle... if you can.

Oh come on. Let it hurt.

Both lead to "You have given me everything. Thank you."

-- Whichever option you choose he obeys. If you ask for gentle then he gives you kisses and treats you gently. If you ask for it to hurt then he grabs your neck and is rough with you. The fact that he does listen can be interpreted as him caring about your wishes to some extent or at least he wants you to think he still does.

(turning scene)

-- Again, not giving the play by play since there are plenty of videos.

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

Final analysis

Having gone through this entire thing I found that there was evidence within the dialogue to support the abusive interpretations of Ascendant Astarion and I found evidence to support a non-abusive interpretation. I believe both are equally valid, especially given the fact that this event happens so close to the end game, even if done as soon as possible, so we don't really get to see more than a few scenes to show us who he becomes post Ascension.

I do feel that the fact that the player has to explicitly tell him 'no' to end the romance and that he asks for a clear yes or no in response to all of the more ambiguous prompts to be rather significant. It doesn't easily fit with an abusive interpretation and yet it's also something that many players won't realize unless they go through all the dialogue options with save scumming as I did. Especially since when I was making this post I couldn't find any videos that actually went through all the possible dialogue trees. I found some that got most of them but no complete ones and none that really conveyed how complex the dialogue trees are.

I feel that this is part of why the abusive interpretation is so prevalent. It's the one that comes across the most easily on a casual playthrough. Diving deep into the dialogue however reveals that it isn't the only possible interpretation since aside from a few obvious red flags most of it is more ambiguous.

And so, to sum up my non-abusive interpretation. I believe that after the trauma of dealing not only with being in Cazador's palace - a place that is no doubt triggering for him - then being trapped in the ritual not knowing if he would make it, then fighting Cazador, and finally Ascending, that he would largely be running on instinct once the high of victory and Ascending as worn off. We see evidence for this in how worn out he is if you choose not to Ascend him since it's reasonable to assume that Ascendant Astarion would be just as tired once the high wears off. In this more instinctive mindset he seeks to secure the player's loyalty just as he did in the early stages of the game. To that end he makes the offer to turn the player and will even agree to sex if the player asks and offer it if they don't. He wants the player by his side so he's patient with all the questions the player might ask and checks to make sure he's understanding the player's wishes if something is too ambiguous. If the time comes for sex then his focus is on the player, both because it's what his instincts are telling him and because he wants this last night to be enjoyable for the player. Finally when it comes time to turn the player he makes his only demand, that they kneel. There could be ritual reasons for this, or he could simply need to be in a position of clear control to keep the memories of his own turning at bay. Regardless of reason, this is important to him.

Final thoughts.

While I do find the abusive interpretation Ascendant Astarion interesting, I personally find the non-abusive interpretation more intriguing from a role-play and psychology standpoint. That said, I'm sure there are other interpretations out there that are just as valid. This is simply my personal take on things.

If I missed anything or if you want to talk about any part of this then be sure to let me know. Hate will be laughed at but I'd love to have a discussion about all of this and hear other veiwpoints.

#ooc #astarion muse #bg3 spoilers #headcanon #character analysis #ascendant astarion #astarion headcanon

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optiwashere · 21 days

Text

Fanfic Writer Questions

Yay, thanks for the tag @askweisswolf! 💜

I'm gonna tag a few folks to do this if they want, but anyone that sees this and wants to join in can consider me tagging them! @bottombatch @jasminethetransvampire @centaursniper @underworldobsessed @quitefair @siyurikspakvariisis @riteontime

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

89, but that's not quite telling the whole story. I've written a number of one-shot collections, and those have upwards of 200+ short fics in them.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

As of right now, my stats page says 829, 334 words, but that's not correct really. I've abandoned/deleted/orphaned some works. The real number is probably over 1M.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

I only write for Baldur's Gate 3 at the moment and that's gonna color the rest of the questions. Once I find a fandom that I like writing for then I tend to stick to that fandom for years. I'm interested in dipping my toes into the Pathfinder WOTR ficdom eventually, but probably only a little because my Golarion knowledge is real slim. If Dreadwolf is good, I'll probably wind up writing something for that as well. I wasn't very interested in video game fandoms for a long time, which is odd because it's only become more compelling as I've gotten older when I'm also playing fewer games.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Currently? I'm actually not at all surprised by this order, except for the one OC fic that managed to find its way there. That is pleasantly surprising, and I'm glad it's one that I also like a fair bit. 1. Take Me Under Your Wing (E-rated Aylin/Shadowheart/Isobel) 2. Black and Red and Smoking All Over (E-rated Shadowheart/Karlach) 3. Her Private Shore (E-rated Shadowheart/Asheera) 4. Arcane Mishaps (E-rated Shadowheart/Karlach -- yay, some t4t made it!) 5. Tasting Moonlight (E-rated Aylin/Isobel) Now, this tells a certain story on its face, but you have to remember that 4/5 of these were posted in Kinktober only two months after the full release of the game. That was the height of its popularity on AO3, and I highly doubt if these fics were released today they would have hit the same numbers. That also includes the Shadowheart/Asheera fic, by the way. I could see that one barely breaking 40-50 kudos these days. P.S. Stats are silly

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes, all of them. I get quite a few, and with so many fics across a fresh fandom it means that I occasionally get newcomers to various niche fics. Sometimes people stumble into a pile of fics that they like in one of the ships, and it's so delightful when I see it. Same with people that I see reading Light Casts a Shadow in order :') Most of the fun in fandom is interacting with like-minded people, anyways. Kudos and such are also people saying they like the thing, but people actually coming out to talk to me are my #1 priority. I like to hear y'all's thoughts and even wind up chatting a little in some cases :)

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

When Everything is Dark and Guided Through Gardens Gray both have fairly angsty endings, but I think Melpomene might be one of the darker endings of my smutty fics. Fragrant is My Many Flower'd Crown is absolutely my angstiest non-smut ending though.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Almost certainly it's the final ficlet of my headcanuary collection, The Missing Piece. It's open-ended, but it's overwhelmingly saying that things will be all right.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Yeah, occasionally. The open stuff is a lot less common now, but there are a couple fics that have gotten pretty ugly comments. I moderate those away without locking down because my skin is plenty thick. I get a fair few anons, again thankfully reduced these days, that absolutely despise me. They make me laugh more than anything now because I've blocked so many. I've also seen some passive aggressive vague posting about me here and elsewhere, which is always hilarious.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Oh yes. Kinky, vanilla, descriptive and action heavy, flowery and emotive. All kinds, really. Usually trends towards loving and hopeful and sweetly emotional.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I haven't for BG3. Yet. There's a BG3/WOTR crossover that I really want to write, but I need to find the time for it between everything else.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yep, twice. And it was way more than one fic both times!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I don't think so? At least, not that anyone has ever told me. I'd love for someone to feel the urge to do that, though.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I don't think so? Technically, at least? I've certainly had writing brainstorm sessions that could count for this, but never anything where either of us wanted to call it co-writing.

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

Ouch. I don't really have an answer for this tbh. I like to compartmentalize ships to fandoms. BTW, it's Shadowheart/Original Female Character for BG3. Yeah, all of your Tavs and Durges. Asheera's my favorite, of course, but I've never been so invested in a Canon/OC ship.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

There's a fantasy AU I wrote for Parks and Rec with April Ludgate as a witch/vampire that I know I'll never get back to.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Emotional forwardness, probably. Maybe solid grammar? Writing speed? Anyways, I like to explore emotions explicitly with characters where they really feel everything to extreme degrees. It's hyperreal, but I think it's also compelling to both write and read.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Plotting, weak metaphors, and consistent characterization.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I do it fairly often in fantasy fandoms without qualms. Also, I tend to use the italicized text in fiction to indicate that it's a different language, not that it's "wrong" or anything like that. Doing that in nonfiction, however, feels pretty gross. Real world languages? I don't do it unless I'm familiar with the language or know someone that can beta it.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Technically wrote for? That's really hard to remember for me, but it was probably something like R.A. Salvatore Drizzt fanfic tbh. Could have been any number of fantasy series at that age though. The Dragonlance books, Black Company, or Discworld, maybe? Hard for me to really think back that far because I know for a fact that I used to write stories as a kid, but it's all very foggy and I lost all that stuff in a flood years ago. Posted for? A fandom I don't really want to associate with anymore.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Bend to Break to Mend is my favorite thing I've written for BG3, followed closely by It Is the Wound She Gave Me and Like I Am Safe Again.

#random fandom thoughts #random rambling about writing #my fic

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smutty-books · 2 years

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Hoodie Guy Chapter 3

Eminem x Reader

Summary:A surprising start to the morning, a conversation and a meeting

Eminem/reader, Marshall matters/reader, reader’s sons, Paul Rosenberg

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

Chapter 3

You awaken to your alarm and the sound of a text message. You groan and stretch and lay under your comforter for a few blissful minutes before reaching over to check your phone, wondering if it was your coworker/best friend texting to say she wouldn’t be clinic in again today. You are pleasantly surprised to see its from Marshall. You hurriedly open it with a smile on your face.

M: Mornin’, y/n. Just wanted to tell you I enjoyed talkin’ to you last night and look forward to workin’ out tonight. Maybe we can talk a little more after? Maybe get some coffee?

You smiled at the message and at the thoughtfulness. You quickly replied back.

Y: Good morning! 😁 I’d like that! I had a good time talking with you too. Have a great day? Are you working today?

M: Sounds good. I’ve got to go into the studio today for some meeting my manager has set up. Then I’ve got some tracks I need to work on. What you got going on that has you up so early?

Y:Nice! Well I hope you have a great day and that it’s productive. I’m usually up this early, to get my boys up and going to school and then I work part-time at a clinic.

You added the part about your boys without thinking about it. Marshall didn’t reply back and you didn’t think anything of it, knowing he was a busy man. You stretched again when your phone rang. Looking at the display you saw it was Marshall. Your eyebrows shot up and you wondered why he was calling.

“Are you married?” His voice started in a low growly tone but ended on a high note. It was cute. You furrowed your brow wondering where this was coming from.

“Nooooooo. Why?” You asked slowly, your poor brain trying to put pieces together without it’s morning shot of caffeine. He huffed impatiently.

“You said your boys. You have to get your boys ready for school. You have kids?” he demanded. You started to get a little defensive at the interrogation right off the bat and at his accusatory tone. You stilled a moment and took a deep breath and released it.

“ Good morning to you to, Marshall. Yes, I slept well. Did you sleep well? Good glad to hear it. Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, your questions. I’m divorced, for about 12 years now, almost as long as I was married. And 2, I have 3 sons from that marriage. The two youngest live with me and the oldest is in their Force” You answered his questions calmly and quietly, knowing that it was best to bring him down to your level instead of rising up to his. You waited patiently for what was to come next. You heard him take a breath and then exhale loudly. In the background you could family hear a female voice. “See dad! Told you there was an explanation. Give her a chance dad.” The female voice could be heard saying.

“ Marshall, is everything okay? What brought this on?” You asked patiently and quietly with a firm voice. You heard him once again inhale and exhale.

“You a mom alright, you got that mom tone down.” He grumbled. You smiled at the petulant tone, sensing he was willing to talk.

“ I’ve had a lot of practice. You ever try raising three boys? Herding cats!” You exclaimed dramatically, hamming it up. You heard him chuckle.

“ Yeah, well, girls ain’t no picnic neither. Especially nosy, interfering ones!!!” He said the last part rather loudly and pointedly.” You love me!” you heard the voice retort back. You chuckled at the exchange cause its one you would have with your 16-year-old son. You heard him take another deep breath and then let it out.

“ I’m sorry, ” he said quietly, sincerely. You raised an eyebrow sensing this wasn't easy for him to say.

“ Apology accepted,” you said softly. You heard him sigh out in relief.

“ How about we get coffee this evening and just play 20 questions?” You proposed softly. You heard him chuckle.

“I’m sure there’s not much you don’t know about me.” He started derisively.

“I'm not going to lie; I’ve read a lot about you, your autobiographies, and other books, mainly because you fascinate me. I’ve watched reaction videos to better understand your raps and bars and lyrics. And I've watched your interviews. I know those pieces of you don't make up the whole. Knowing that, it’s up to you to decide if you want to still meet and get to know each other or run for the hills right now. No hard feeling. You won’t have lost a fan either.” You told him quietly and honestly. He was quiet for awhile.

“You must be a damn saint. Most chicks woulda reamed me out by now.” He admitted ruefully. You smiled.

“ Not a saint, Marshall, far from it. Your reaction is understandable so I get it, trust me.” You said softly.

“Mom, Andrew is saying bad words” you hear through your door. You hear Marshall chuckle. “ Stupid is not a bad word.” You hear your 16 year old call back. “ Andrew, bad word” Nicks voice yells

“ That sounds familiar.” He stated sympathetically.

“Mommy will be right out, sweetheart.” you called to your youngest son.

“ Mom duty calls. I’ll let you get to your boys. So tonight? Same time but at the coffee shop next to the gym?” Marshall asked, confirming your plans.

“ Sounds good, I’ll meet you there.Have a great day, Marshall. Spit some good raps. I’ll see you tonight” you told him with a smile.

“ Aight, later. Have a good day, y/n.” And hung up. You laid there for a few moments bemused at the turn of the morning until you heard,

“ Moooooommmm. ..”

“Coming!!!!!!” you say as you get out of bed and go to start your day, looking forward to the night but nervous as you hadn’t been out with a guy in a long time.

You go to the kitchen and quickly get coffee brewing and breakfast going for your boys as well as setting out your boys’ morning meds. You ran back to your room and threw on I your scrubs, pulled your hair back into a bun, and put on some make-up, taking a little more time as you had a meeting with some manager about contracting with your clinic for services for their clients. Your boss had been a little light on the details, so you weren't sure who the client was, but your boss was excited.

You hurriedly rush back into the kitchen make yourself a protein shake with some frozen fruit and pour some coffee into a Contigo cup. You add some oat creamer. You next, fill up your water bottle with ice and then water. That done you turn your attention to your sons. Your 16-year-old was eating cereal and playing on his phone. Your 12-year-old was eating pancakes and a banana and playing on his tablet. You rolled your eyes and got onto both boys about electronic use at the table. You checked the time and realized it was time for them to get to the bus stop.

“ Come on boys, finish up or you’ll be late for the bus.” you urge your boys on as you grab your lunch bag that you had packed the night before and your assorted cups. Ypu hustled the boys put the door and made sure your door was locked. You saw Nick’s bus pulling up and you made sure he got on and greeted the bus driver and the helper. Once his bus had pulled away, Andrew’s bus pulled up to take him to the high school. You watched him get on and the bus pull away and then made your way to your car. You checked your time and then started for the clinic.

On the drive you contemplated your meeting with Marshall tonight and once again couldn’t believe you were not only talking to Eminem but you were comfortable with him which you never thought would happen in a million years. He was so down to earth though, very humble and kinda awkward and shy and easy to get along with. Which again was surreal to even think that.When you got to the clinic your first patients were signed in and waiting their treatment. You got to work after checking when the meeting was. Your doctor told you noon. Angie walked in shortly afterward and you both work seamlessly treating your patients. You said goodbye to your lady client of the morning at 1130. Your boss revealed where you were going which was a recording studio.

You each took your own vehicle and pulled up outside a warehouse looking building. It did not look like a recording studio. It looked familiar to you though and your mind started to puzzle things together. “ Hey, Doc, what’s this guys name?” Ypu asked conversationally, already knowing the answer “ Rosenberg. Paul Rosenburg.” You boss answered. The pieces clicked and you remembered Marshall said he had a meeting set up.

“Eminem’s manager?” You clarified, trying to decide how you felt about this.You saw Angie perk up and immediately felt a sinking feeling in your stomach. Angie was everything you weren’t and very flirtatious and vivacious. Marshall would take one look at her and fall for her charm and you’d be out. Angie had said on multiple occasions she would fuck all three of his personas. You struggled to put on professional expression. Marshall was a grown man and could make his own decisions. You self consciously messed with your bun, wondering if you should have taken it down. All three of you walked into the building and greeted the receptionist.

“ Detroit Nerve Center to see Mr. Rosenberg” your boss told the receptionist. The receptionist picked up the phone.

“Paul, Detroit Nerve Center is here.” She listened for a few seconds. “ I’ll send them up.”

She gave you directions to his office. You all thanked her and made your way to Paul’s office.

#eminem #eminem x reader #marshall mathers x reader

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incorrectbatfam · 2 years

Note

canonically, how are each member of the batfam these days? I don't keep up with the comics because it's a mess and the characterization varies so much (especially Dami)

As of 8/2/2022

(spoilers ahead)

Bruce, Dick, Tim, Steph, Cass, Duke, Babs, and Selina all appeared in Batman #126, which just came out today. So far the storyline about piecing together the Penguin's lineage, including an introduction to two new members of the Cobblepot family. This specific issue did a good job of showcasing how the batfamily works together in an intense fight against Failsafe, however, the battle takes up a large chunk of the story—I give that part a 7/10 because Failsafe wasn't exactly the most compelling antagonist and the fight was a bit out of the blue. The focus also did lean more heavily on Dick than the other batkids. However, Selina's concurrent story with piecing together the Penguin's family made up for that as we uncover a new dimension to a long-time Batman villain. The expected release date for the next issue is September 6th, so hopefully they can clean it up a little then.

Jason appeared in Task Force Z #10 on July 26th. Jason and what remains of the team after the previous 9 issues are investigating Power Industries, where in a HUGE twist, they discover that Bane was Nobody the entire time (yes, the Nobody). The artwork fits the tone of the story and Jason's characterization has been pretty good, sort of on par with Urban Legends. I thought this was gonna be a filler issue so I was pleasantly surprised when they just jumped right into the main point. Also, I love seeing Jason's dynamic with Amanda Waller and other villains because it reinforces the fact that he's not 100% good or bad (as fandom likes to polarize him as)—he's versatile and can get along with people all over the moral spectrum. The projected release date for the next issue is 8/23.

Meanwhile, Damian's latest appearance was in Robin #16, which came out on July 26th, where Lord Death Man (yes, that weirdo) puts Damian's investigation into the Lazarus Island on pause. Flatline then calls Damian and Connor Hawke to Tokyo to deal with Lord Death Man, so we get a bit of international traveling bits. Mara Al Ghul and the Batman of Japan also appear in this, if you wanna count them as batfam? I like that this balances the sharper edges of Damian's personality with the classic Robin charm and I do kind of wish the series wasn't ending (alas, DC won't allow its characters to grow up). I also like that the setting of this story influences the artwork—you can see the subtle manga influences. Next issue comes out on 8/23. Overall I give this run an 8/10 because it explores a new, slightly more mature version of Damian's character, but I'm taking two points off because Lord Death Man annoys me to no end.

We see Alfred in Batman: One Dark Knight #3, which came out on 7/26. The story is a simplistic mini-run with good art as Batman nears the end of his journey to Blackgate. I like that this story takes place over a single night rather than stretched over a few days/weeks/etc. like we normally see—it's almost like Batman's typical Tuesday night. Alfred is still alive here, so it's nice to hear his sarcastic sense of humor after missing him for so long—it's sort of like seeing a family member at the airport. This comic also establishes him as DC's best trash-talker in his classic Alfred Pennyworth style. If I recall the miniseries is done, but the hardcover comes out on 9/13.

Luke Fox makes a cameo in Harley Quinn #18. Yes, that came out today too (#19 comes out on the 9th). Apparently the JLA left some old science experiments on their moon base so Luke puts together a team of former villains to... send them to the moon and clean it up (including Harley Quinn, Solomon Grundy, Bronze Tiger, and Killer Frost). I just read it and I'm too confused to actually criticize at the moment. First, I think Task Force XX is a dumb name—it sounds like an account on an adult website. Second, I think the artwork is alright in that you have all these bright, poppy designs, but the bodies and expressions feel kinda stiff and off-putting. I think it has potential to be one of the more absurd, fun, campy storylines, so I'll hold out and see where this goes.

An alternate-universe Thomas Wayne closes in on the Clockwork Killer in Flashpoint Beyond #4, which also came out today. However, Dexter Dent gets in the way with his own mission to break his mother out of Arkham. I already had skepticism about Flashpoint Beyond because I tend to be skeptical about a lot of alternate timelines and was never the biggest fan of Thomas Wayne as Batman or Martha as the Joker. I don't know if I should be happy or not that they proved me right, because this run has been moving a bit slowly—it feels like they're dragging what could be summarized in 4 sentence out to 32 pages. Overall I'd say it's a 4/10 (since the artwork isn't too shabby). Again, I'm biased because I never liked the Thomas Wayne concept in the first place so take it with a pinch of salt. Next issue also comes out 9/6.

#ask #anonymous #personal #batfamily #batfam #batboys #batbros #batkids #batsiblings #batman family #dc comics #tw violence mention

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firstdivisiongirl · 1 month

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Hello! Before I continue, I'd just like to say that you have been doing wonderfully with the plethora of matchups you have received! I'm pleasantly surprised by your level of pace and generosity; I haven't seen such a prolific writer on this app in a while. :)) Thanks for all the amazing works you've written so far! Well, going forward, I would like to make a request for a matchup myself, if you don't mind: Can I please have a Tokyo Revengers perfect match with one of the males? If so, thank you so much in advance. ^^ — ABOUT ME (see below) — — My pronouns: I am a cisgender female, so I go by pronouns aligned with my sex.

— My love languages:

• What I give: I primarily give Quality Time, Acts of Service and Words of Affirmation.

• What I'd like to receive: I have a preference for receiving Acts of Service and Words of affirmation. They definitely make me feel most appreciated! Though, since I don't frequently initiate physical intimacy, a partner who is well-versed in expressing Physical Touch is sweet, too.

— My personality:

• I’m an extroverted-introvert: though I can be long-winded, and I appreciate the many beautiful impacts conversing can bring, my solitude tends to be where I feel most comfortable. I also much rather prefer a small circle of trusted people to a large group, unless they’re my family. • I’m a broad thinker and enjoy delving deep into topics with close friends and family members, especially my mother! Being insightful and empathetic—and with what I deem deep holistic perception of others—I can act as a great advisor to others—if they're receptive to my aid.

• I tend to work quite hard and ambitiously in honor of my goals and plans; I'm very dedicated and hardworking when I set my mind to something.

• I’m self-aware and introspective, and I need plenty time to reflect and shift inwards; after all, the source of my art and insights is my vivid internal world. My imagination is strong, too, and in much mental processing, I tend to creatively articulate my thoughts and feelings; thus, analogies and longer, verbose dialogue is practically an inveterate habit of mine — when I'm doing well. ^^'

• Though I'm caring and even friendly at times, I’m known to be just as direct and firm; to an extent, I've carried intensity in my aura ever since a young age—it's much been embedded in my soul, I believe, so essentially, it's an integral part of my being.

• I dislike superficiality and shallowness, uncleanliness, procrastination, overstimulation, and those who hold little regard for others and themselves...

• My downsides reside in my tendency to overanalyze and overthink. I'm highly detail-oriented and put much care and thought to whatever I may be handling, and while I consider that to be one of my greatest strengths, it can also warp into a weakness as it can greatly impede me from taking necessary steps forward.

Secondly, I also have a small liability for self-sacrifice: I care profoundly for others, but—mind you—as an introvert and sensitive person, I've found that my usage in energy matters greatly—so on occasions, I have ended up overextending myself as I attempt to satisfy the needs/wants of those around me.

And lastly, when I've not been well or have been overstimulated from my environment, I can feel either a) drained and tired, and consequently isolate myself from others until rejuvenated; or b) infused with anger, on constant edge, and have near explosive reactions (and while this takes much more of a push than the former state, it is extreme). :')

And if it is of any help to you, here is part of my typology and Big 3 in astrology: I'm an INFJ 1w2 125, and an Aries sun, Virgo moon, and Libra rising individual.

— My hobbies:

During my leisure, I orient my time mainly towards productivity and relaxation, as well as activities geared towards learning and expanding my knowledge.

• Dancing and singing (both are my high-energy releasers), reading, listening to music, cleaning around my home, and studying astrology, psychology, and philosophy are all hobbies I do here-and-there.

Again, if you do accept this matchup, then you have my gratitude — I truly appreciate it. Have a great day, Aly!ヾ(＠⌒ー⌒＠)ノ

Hello 😊. Thank you so much. It gets very overwhelming but I’m powering through it. I’m happy you like my work and I hope you like your matchup!

You Got…

Takashi Mitsuya!!!!

He’s very loving person and likes to help those he cares about whenever he can.

Would love that you show much interest in what he likes. Would talk to you for hours about sewing, fashion, Toman, etc.

I think his sisters would love you. They’d ask for you to teach them how to dance or sing.

Mitsuya can handle any person in any mode (apparently his youngest sister Mana is scary if you wake her up lol). So if you are overstimulated, he will do whatever he needs to do for you depending on your mood.

Loves imagination and creativity and I think philosophical and astrological topics. It would help give inspiration for new designs.

He’d help you clean.

Dates would be something like star gazing or walks in the park. Something where you two can have great talks.

#first division girl #tokyo rev #tokyo revengers #tr matchups #tr matchup #tokyo revengers matchups #tokyo revengers matchup #tokyo rev matchup #character matchup

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tearsofthefilmreviews · 3 months

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MEAN GIRLS 2024 REVIEW

“You could be really hot, if you like, change everything.”

I was excited for this film from its first announcement, which I caught wind of prior to my Eras Tour screening. I am a huge fan of the original 2004 film, and was quite interested in seeing a mew version of it, and particularly, was wondering how the new Regina George would perform. I am very happy to say that she is absolutely fantastic, and steals the show for sure. The entire cast is great atop of that, particularly Auli’i Cravalho as Janice and Angourie Rice and Cady. I also especially loved Avantika’s portrayal of Karen. The music surprised me very pleasantly; the songs were all good, catchy and quite memorable; I will get into those later on, but my absolute favourite song of the film was "World Burn", performed by Reneé Rapp. That being said, the review truly starts from beyond this point.

-The Cast-

The original Mean Girls has a perfect cast. And, I am happy to say, this musical rendition of Mean Girls, 20 years later , follows suit! Everyone is great here, though the obvious highlight is Reneé Rapp as Regina George, who absolutely steals the show with fantastic outings in both the acting and singing. She nails the attitude and personality down to a t, with her own twist on it that separates her from Rachel McAdams’ portrayal; it isn’t a mimic of the performance, but rather one that respects it while making itself distinct. My other favourite performances were Angourie Rice as Cady, Auli’i Cravalho as Janis, and Avantika’s portrayal of Karen. All of them bring their own interesting and fun energies to the characters we know and love, and along with other highlights such as Bebe Wood(Gretchen), breathe a great life into this film. I was very impressed by the cast and their performances overall, and was especially happy to see Reneé shining as Regina, which was admittedly the performance I was looking towards the most leading up to this film’s release. Nothing bad to say about any of the cast!

-The Music-

I loved the music of this film. The songs are very well integrated into the story, and move it along while also playing around with the surrealism that musicals often delve into; one musical scene in particular take place in the character’s head, and we will see the reactions of this around them as they imagine this song happening. The opening song is a great force for opening exposition, with a really interesting visual transition that takes place at its end, and gets us right where we need to be for the story to happen, and sets up Cady for us. The songs in general do great jobs at moving the plot along and developing characters in interesting ways, as well as being visually fun, creative and well sung. The following paragraphs will be some details on the three particular songs that I liked the most, and the reasons why.

#3 - “Someone Gets Hurt” (Reneé Rapp/Regina George)

I am absolutely in love with the dark, silky vibes of this song, and the power in Reneé’s voice sells it even further. Has some more of my favourite visuals of the film as well, with the rest of the partygoers being suspended and puppeteered in visually interesting ways that go with the lighting, which takes a cold and dark tone as opposed to the bright warmth that the halloween party is otherwised bathed in. The way the visuals follow the music in this sequence in this particular is downright lovely.

#2 - “Apex Predator” (Auli’i Cravalho & Jaquel Spivey/Janis & Damian)

This song has a lovely sound to it and is a very fun track as well. It essentially serves as a contrasting view to what Regina and the other Plastics initially present her as, qite literally calling her the 'apex predator' - the untouchable top dog. One of the catchiest songs of the film as well, with great duet vocals and rhythm to it that really sells the energy of the scene, along with some great shots visually. The lyrics are great as well and feature some creative usage of the animal kingdom as a metaphor. It also does a great job visually at furthering the metaphor, by showing all the students acting like animals; scared mice and dogs running from Regina, as an example. Everyone hopping around and on all fours, painting a picture of how the high school drama sphere is quite literally a zoo of chaos that's held down by the one, the apex.

#1 - “World Burn” (Reneé Rapp/Regina George)

This was not only my favourite song of the film, but also has some of the best visuals of any of the musical sequences. The red lighting looks great and is also symbolically indicative and adds onto the song’s mood, which turns from simply bitter to angry as it ramps up in intensity. Its greatly placed in the soundtrack itself too, following the much brighter-toned “Revenge Party”, which allows for Regina’s mood in singing this song to be even more greatly contrasted. The vocals and instrumental on this track work so perfectly together with the visuals and create a perfect portrait, hitting the climax button on the plot while also communicating in multiple sensory manners Regina’s mental state and thought process that leads to her quite significantly setting the high school’s social sphere ablaze. Reneé absolutely hirs every note, literally and figuratively, in delivering this section of the film, and it even heightens her portrayal of Regina further. I love all of the red-lit scenes, and especially once we get towards the song's end, with all the glitching in of the social media as things go haywire? Chef's kiss. I love the backing vocals singing out the lines from the Burn Book as well, and the absolute power of Reneé’s voice that hits so damn hard and is so wonderful on the ears.

I do love all of the songs in the film - I listen to them individually, and in the film they all work superbly and smoothly, and add to the refreshed identity that this film has. If you’re curious, this is my full ranking of the film’s soundtrack:

1. World Burn

2. Apex Predator

3. Someone Gets Hurt

4. I’d Rather Be Me

5. Stupid With Love

6. Revenge Party

7. What’s Wrong With Me?

8. A Cautionary Tale

9. Sexy

10. What Ifs

11. Meet The Plastics

12. I See Stars

(I’d Rather Be Me)

This song is genuinely gorgeous, lyrics-wise and sonically. It is hard-hitting and strong, and has an absolutely stunning long-take sequence as Janis sings it. It's a song that is also very socially relevant in its message, which in essence is to not stay in and enable toxic relationships in your life. Janis sings this after having been betrayed by both Regina and Cady, and also speaks about staying who she is, not changing herself for those around her. It's very well-written and has great vocals from Auli'i Cravalho, and fits very well into the film, as well as capping off that scene in a very satisfying manner. The next few paragraphs are some small dives into the songs, particular things that stood out about each one to me, and why I loved them.

(Stupid With Love)

This song is so fun and joyful, with Cady fresh off of meeting Aaron and becoming smitten with him. The song is a pretty and happy one both lyrically and sonically, the soft instrumentals letting the daydreamy voice flow through. It's such a cute love song as well, with how she compares herself being great with math - book smarts - but being 'stupid with love' - street smarts. It's also a statement on herself beyond the love aspect, as she does lack clear street smarts as she is drawn quickly into Regina's world, and struggles to balance between that realm and that of her friendship with Janis and Damian. Through the song she comes to understand her feelings and affections more, and it also plays with the fact that she is daydreaming the song during class in a pretty funny way.

(Revenge Party)

This song is practically the embodiment of fun and chaotic, especially visually, in a great way. Its the big moment where Cady turns against Regina, with Janis and Damian making many references to (metaphoricallly) murdering Regina and eventually convincing Cady to be part of this master plan with Aaron. The climax of the song is also what kickstarts Cady's big changes, as she decides to go "fuck it" and backstab Gretchen just to get with Aaron, whom doesn't even fulfill that wish until the very end of the film.

(What’s Wrong With Me)

Such a beautiful little solo song from Gretchen, that gives us a little insight into her psyche, after some particularly harsh remarks from Regina. She gets a moment alone to contemplate and introspect on herself, while being yelled at in the background to leave the closet. It's this moment in particular that truly begins our connecting with Gretchen and Karen, the former in particular. Gretchen stayed with Regina, unlike Janis, and goes forth with the rocky relationship and social status despite the clear effect it is taking on her mental health, especially later when she snaps and blurts everything out to Cady during Revenge Party.

(A Cautionary Tale)

Great opening to the film! I love the touch of making it visually stylized for social media, as if filmed on a phone to be saved and posted afterwards. Lyrically, its essentially a statement of the film's themes and thesis, as well as foreshadowing the film in a way that sets the vibe in a very fun way. Its a bite-sized little jam that quickly becomes an addictive earworm, and feels right at home in the 2020s.

(Sexy)

This is such a goofy little bop that I fell in love with. It sets the mood for the halloween party, and gives Karen a fun time in the limelight, the song stylized quite well to what she is doing; a social media video, and Avantika's delivery is simply great. It has such a fun charm to it, as well as a nice message to it despite its inherent siliness(given the character); being who you want to be, not following some sort of predetermined social norms.

(What Ifs)

This song introduces us to Cady, living out in Kenya. She speaks as if she is happy there, living alone with her single mother, but also desires to have the social experience of high school; a fear of missing out on that part of life. It has an amazing visual transition between Kenya and the high school, and sets up her character and part of the main exposition of the first act very smoothly and nicely. Great visuals and lyrics that do their job very well, at integrating her cleanly into her first day of public school.

(Meet The Plastics)

Great introduction to the titular Plastics, with gorgeous vocals from Reneé and some interesting foreshadowing with the "My Name is Regina George..." lines, which show up later in a very different context in World Burn. The way it contrasts against the much brighter "What Ifs" sets the differences between Regina and Cady in a very stark fashion, that immediately exemplifies how different they are before they even have their first conversation, moments later.

(I See Stars)

Such a pretty ending song to the film. It's really exemplary of the character development that many characters have gone through, with the touching symbolism of Cady throwing the tiara pieces to others while she sings this lower-key, soft ballad. It ties things up in a very nice, pink bow, and really solidifies the ending in a lovely way. Also plays a strong role in solidifying the redemption that Cady goes through towards the end; a fuller redemption than Regina has.

(Not My Fault)

While it's not really part of the film - a song that plays only in the credits - I felt it worthwhile to mention the thematic significance to some of it. The opening spoken line, the chorus, and many of the lyrics that Reneé sings fit the film's themes and vibe very well, as if to paint the picture with those particular parts of the song, of Janis and Regina's fallout, from the latter's perspective. The line "It's not my fault" also works for much of the rest of the film, as characters often struggle to accept blame or that their methods are wrong.

-New Life-

The film has a new life in it, a different take on the classic tale. A large change from the 2004 film is the prevalence of social media and the internet in how the story is told, essentially a generational shift. Events and words spread more than ever before due to this, which adds another layer to all the drama that occurs. In particular, it demonstrates cyberbullying and gossip in the digital age; as an example, Regina’s accident during the dance performance is movoed widely all over social networks, particularly TikTok. Another particular interesting change is the falling out between Janis and Regina; its a particular thing that caught my attention. Instead of how it happened in the original, Janis and Regina fell out because Regina began to bully Janis behind her back by using a plush she nicknamed “Sissy Liz”, shorthand for “obsessed lesbian”. In anger, Janis torched the doll, accidentally setting Regina’s backpack ablaze and leading to her dismissal from the school. This leads to another interesting and welcome change, Janis being queer and open about it. This adds another interesting layer to the backstories of the characters. I found the new portrayal of Aaron quite interesting too, especially in contrast to the original film; he’s much more quiet and sensitive in this version, and that definitely changed the air of the scenes he was involved in.

This film is its own film while retaining the classic overall story we know and love, adding new elements, nuances and performances that create a special experience that was a joy to see on the screen. Everything comes together to make a truly wonderful final product. The cinematography is also great, as is the score. Especially during song sequences, there are some absolutely *mean* visuals; and interestingly enough, some of my favourite visuals tend to be from Regina’s songs.

Something I always loved about the original, and continue to in this film, is the whole ambivalence it gives the audience. Throughout the film, we feel badly for many characters, including the two leads in Cady and Regina. Yes, Regina does a lot of awful things, but we begin to question Janis and Cady once they start to go too far with it; ruining Regina’s life more than she had ever done theirs. In particular, what strikes is the “health bars” Cady gives Regina, which turn out to be bars that make the user gain weight instead of lose it; Regina is quite health-conscious, and perhaps even in a destructive way - she is perfectly thin, yet she constantly counts calories in hopes of losing more pounds. This is the main thing the protagonists do that really starts to set the unease about them, because they are quite literally ruining Regina’s health in retort for what is essentially petty drama(it isn’t even Gretchen who’s involved, who honestly got the worst of Regina in the film). It leads to the best song and moments of the film, where Regina sets things ablaze by bringing out the Burn Book she had so openly mocked before, and displays her cleverness by adding herself into it to ensure she wouldn’t be accused. On the other hand, she’s quite awful, especially towards Gretchen and most people around her, her attitude only really changing towards the end. She becomes more softly spoken, and after she’s hit by the bus, and quite literally is dead for a few seconds, is when she mentions to Cady her plans to change her ways. Regina is one of my favourite characters of all time, and Reneé’s portrayal does not miss a bit in furthering that.

Another way that leads to Cady becoming what Regina is essentially emotional abuse towards Gretchen, which is never admitted. Cady, Janis and Damian rig it so that she doesn’t get any candy canes that are given out, and make her feel like Regina specifically disowned her for it. It helps their takedown of Regina, but made me feel horribly for Gretchen, who is nowhere near an antagonist in the film. Cady becomes the antagonist and replaces Regina in that role, honestly. Regina isn’t reforming personality-wise at this point yet, but its clear who’s taken the new antagonistic role. Another way we see Cady change over the story is how in the beginning, her grades in such a high level of math are stellar, but as her focus drifts solely to Aaron, they slip down hard, something that she will later be criticized for. Earlier in the film, she refuses to take alcohol, but once she has gone full ‘Plastic’, she goes right into it and drunkenly harms her relationship with Aaron by essentially insulting his math skills and admitting what she had been doing, that the tutoring had all been a lie.

Overall, I loved how this film made all these plot points we know and love feel refreshed by applying its own features and intricacies to it, that make it feel distinct while also not disrespecting the original classic film. The fact that it is a musical also affects the tones in really interesting ways, both the positive and the negative.

-Regina and Cady-

Regina is a wonderful character. Mot in the sense that’s she is a nice person; mostly far from it, as it is not even until the very end that she truly changes. However, we do see growth through the film; Cady’s backstabbing of her, though is immediately followed by some Burn Book revenge, clearly affects her perspective. Regina in the first act and part of the second act of the movie would never have even raised her hand during the rally; yet she does it after unleashing the Burn Book, even if it is half-assedly. It’s a clear symbol that she has been affected. Obviously, she isn't going to become a complete new person, especially not overnight; that's not what the film preaches. In fact, it preaches exactly against changing yourself to 'fit in' with others, using Cady's corruption as a clear example of what can happen. She can become less mean, but changing her whole personality would lead to issues down the line as it did for Cady. She's a great example of very solid character writing and growth through a film. Contender for favourite film character?

As is Cady. We follow her for most of the film's runtime. She goes from being a socially nervous freshman to basically winding up where Regina spends a solid chunk of runtime character-wise, while Regina fades out of that role. She becomes more confident, but as a result of the exact things she did to get back at Regina for stealing Aaron from her, she deviates strongly from her initial self, adopting the personality traits that made Regina the villain. It is very well-done in both versions of this film. Cady becomes the new defacto leader of the Plastics after she pushes Regina out, as her own social standing increases and the intoxicating feeling that comes with it clearly gets to her head. Cady in the beginning of the film would never have fucked Janis and her own mother over in the way she did, when she held a party in her home after claiming she was going to Janis' art show. “I See Stars” serves as such a gorgeous way to cap off her redemption, which starts from admitting about her single Burn Book contribution. The mathletes scene was very well done, and it was lovely to see Lohan cameo in there - and having the Cady Heron of 2004 talk to the Cady Heron of 2024. Cady is the main lead, with some very clear flaws to her that get exploited into changing her character, and is very well written, and the performance from Rice is another standout from the film. Gorgeous singing voice to her too.

-Janis-

Janis comes out of the film with the cleaner record between her, Cady and Regina. She is, however, also one of the ones (along with Damian) who admittedly drives things too far and plays a role in Cady’s corruption. She pushes Cady too hard into the direction of going after Regina, and admittedly it is clear that she is doing that out of more self-focused reasons; she wants payback at Regina, and is both befriending Cady but also using and manipulating her for petty drama, which ends up backfiring as it corrupts and changes Cady and how she acts. Her record is not pristine, but it is definitely the cleaner of the three. It is worth noting her character growth as well; in the end, she is ready to make an apology to Regina about the fire incident, and possibly what she and Damian egged Cady into doing to her - but Regina’s snide comment, at the last minute, changes her tune and she sings the fantastic “I’d Rather Be Me”, which features a gorgeous long-take and leads into a very impactful bus crash scene, which was just as viscerally done as the original film. This cements her as the most “good” character in the film(though I will explain later why this label isn’t really valid for anybody here) and she is one of the best characters with a lovely portrayal by Auli’i. She is the one who received the worst bullying from Regina and ends up in a much better spot, especially after her powerful solo song. Auli’i Cravalho does not disappoint to any degree.

-The Comedy-

This film had me laughing and chuckling quite a lot. I found the comedy to be quite well done and crafted, and it honestly added to the musical vibes we got; some of the funniest moments come from characters bursting into song, whether physically or mentally, and having others react to what they’re doing as a result of it. Also, so many lines or simple actions were hilarious; it didn’t miss a single best on this front for me, personally. Karen brought the most laughs with her loveable demeanour for sure; both times that I saw the film this far, my crowd has laughed all along with me at pretty much everything that I found funny. They really nailed the funny moments in this one!

-The Technical Details-

First off, I will reiterate that the cinematography is great here, and consistently so as well. There were no shots that stuck out as misplaced or bad to me, and it especially excels once we get surreal with the musical segments.

Beyond the songs, the score itself is also very well composed, and heightens the scenes that its used in, and the lack of it in some scenes works perfectly too, to set a certain tension between characters, often involving Regina in some way. Big kudos to the composer, both for the score and the instrumentals of each of the musical songs.

The sets, props, hairstyling, makeup and costumes are unsurprisingly done flawlessly. Fantastic wardrobe we get in this film, and everyone absolutely - slays - the appearances of their characters, along with giving their knockout performances. Obvious as it was that it would show up, it was so nice to see the Burn Book back onto the screen in all its glory. Its used so well in the World Burn scene. The film has great use of colour as well, beyond the wardrobe - the Revenge Party sequence is a perfect example of this.

Seeing behind the scenes clips on social media from the film, its clear that everyone had a good time making this film; the set definitely had a fun, supportive energy to it, and those involved clearly loved the project they made. This work atmosphere comes through into the project itself, and makes it feel like a labour of love. This is clear in how well the film is directed and crafted, leaving a wonderful, theatrical experience. It's so much fun to watch, especially in a cinema with others.

-More About The Cinematography-

Because it deserves its own section. Its freaking great and super visually engaging all through, but especially in musical scenes it shines. I’d Rather Be Me in its entirety is a lovely, minutes-long take, and the World Burn sequence is amazing as well. I also want to appreciate the cinematography of What Ifs and Stupid With Love more, because those sequences are also amazingly done, and especially both transitions in What Ifs are really smooth and visually pleasing. I love that the filmmakers leaned into the musical side of this film as much as they did and allowed themselves to make it fun, which it clearly feels like they had some of that during the filmmaking process for this film.

-More About Costuming&Hairstyling-

I wanted to give some more spotlight to the significant work put into getting the characters to all look right. Hairstyling and costumes are all-around excellent and vivid, and there’s no better example than the Halloween party, where all of the costumes are super well made, many of them that we see during Karen’s song. Even the non-flashy wardrobing, particularly the clothes we see Regina and Janis wear, are great and also such an interesting, visually symbolic clash. Regina sees herself as in the right and Janis as in the wrong, so she’s all bright and wearing colourful clothes for most of the film, whereas Janis often opts for darker colours in hers. Its also a representation of the whole “Rebel vs. Leader” dynamic they have going on, in terms of the school’s social hierarchy. The hair plays an important role too, particularly with showing how Cady changes and takes Regina’s place, as her hairstyle and appearance become more in line with the Plastics, while Regina begins to wear more casual clothing.

-The Score and Instrumentals-

The score hits so well, and enhances a lot of scenes. One particular moment that always gets me is when the score picks up as Cady tells Regina she can’t sit with her and the others, particularly kicking in as she adjusts her sitting position in a way that utterly demonstrates how her character has changed. This applies to the instrumentals of the songs as well, which are all distinctly suited to each track and set the mood and character of the songs very well. Compare, for example, the bright tune of Revenge Party against the darker, heavy tones of Someone Gets Hurt or World Burn, and its clear who is being portrayed and how. Regina’s portrayed as the antagonist for most of the film, and so her songs take on that darker tone to them, whereas when our protagonists sing, the vocals and instrumental are always brighter and cheerful.

-The Thesis-

I have talked about how the characters change and the narrative and themes elsewhere in this review, but to cap it off, I want to dive deep into what I interpreted as the film's main thesis statement. The film deals with many themes; love, betrayal, vengeance, identity, social status quo, and social media as primary examples of the most prominent ones. The film's overall main point, regarding everything mentioned here and through the review, the music, and the character arcs, can be boiled down to this mess of a sentence from me:

"You are who you are, don't change for others; don't play the social game; everyone has a 'Mean Girl' in them, whether they'll admit it or not."

Let me divulge a bit. The song I'd Rather Be Me is perhaps the most clear display of the film's main point, and I went into the track earlier. But beyond that, through the basic plot of events of the film:

>Cady transfers to the high school.

>Cady befriends Janis and Damian.

>Cady falls into Regina's social group, and begins hanging out with her often.

>Cady, despite Gretchen's stern words to not go after Aaron, goes for him secretly in her calculus class. Janis tells her off for pretending to be dumb just to get the attention.

>Regina finds out at the halloween party, and steals Aaron from her.

>Cady, angry and tearful, is drawn into Janis and Damian's big revenge plan to ruin Regina's life.

>They go too far in doing this, and end up corrupting Cady and making her the new Regina.

>Regina, in retaliation for it all, though especially the ruining of her health, drops the Burn Book and implicates the Plastics, who rejected her at the lunch table earlier.

>The chaos leads to the rally scene, which turns towards everyone walking outside in an angry, musical fashion, and Regina being hit by the bus - giving everyone a shock, and further damaging Cady's reputation; especially with social media hawking down on her with no hesitation, accusing her of attempted murder.

>Cady says that she was the one who insulted Norbury in the Burn Book, but doesn't reveal that Regina did the full book.

>The characters are split and feeling interpersonal spite, but in the ending party, we see Cady splitting the tiara, and see her and Regina both turning more to the light.

The main displays of this are between Cady and Regina, with Janis and Gretchen playing the most thematically significant supporting characters. Cady changes herself in many ways for others; adjusting to the rules of the Plastics, pretending to be dumb so she can spend more time with Aaron, and slowly adopting personality traits from Regina, while Regina herself begins to slowly slip out of them, and goes from outright mean to more just snide and snark. Gretchen is hurt by Regina, and the 'betrayal' of the candy cane is her breaking point, though we know its false. Gretchen is one of the other characters who gets done really dirty by our main protagonist, in the way that her world is rocked and emotions hurt on a lie. Yes, Regina was mean to her, but from what we have here empirically, we can assume that the tradition would have continued, and Regina would have given the candy cane to Gretchen, if not for the meddling of the "good guys." This is where we truly see the Mean Girl coming out in Cady, Janis and Damian, as they take their revenge for the harm Regina's caused too far and ruin her in a way that Regina never did; physically. What really clicks is when Cady tricks Regina, who is quite health-conscious and calorie counting, into eating the weight gain bars. Janis has more of a motive than Cady, really; Janis was bullied in a derogatory way, while the main motive for Cady is Aaron being stolen from her, which seems just peachy in contrast to ruining someone's weight. The point is that everyone comes out of this as a better person, but through most of the film, nobody is truly the “good” side, as everyone has their own hidden agendas and have their mean moments. Even Janis, who’s open queerness and rebellious attitude makes her an extremely relatable character besides this universal statement that “everyone is a Mean Girl inside,” has that moment. Damian not as much, but he isn’t really the focus out of the dup; he has impact on the film, yes, but he is less thematically relevant than Janis by a clear distinction. Regina’s exit from the Plastics makes Cady into the Mean Girl instead, and both eventually get to a similar middle ground of wanting to change by the end. Gretchen and Karen are both positively affected by the end as well, after the tumultuous events of the film run their course. This film also shows how the main characters changing themselves for others is inherently a negative attitude to take, primarily through Cady and Gretchen. Both of them

try to change themselves for a social group, and end up hurt as a result of it.

The film’s many songs work fantastically to communicate character development, story progression and themes. Character appearances play a part as well; we see a stark contrast between the outfits and hair of Regina and the other Plastics versus Janis, Damian, and particularly Cady as she was in the first bunch or so of the film. Through the film, Cady changes her look until it culminates in her ‘Plastic’ appearance once she and her friends succeed in getting Regina out, only to immediately betray them too, leaving her with Gretchen and Karen as she becomes more of a Regina. She does makeup and jewelry like she never did before, and changes her hairstyle in a way that looks like how Regina’s is for much of the runtime. The superficiality of it all, the high school sphere, becomes crystal clear through this symbolism, and the Burn Book also represents absolute toxicity. It is the true dark side of the high school world of drama, which also is made crystal clear, both visually and song-wise during World Burn. Something that this and the 2004 film both get perfectly down is making its characters strongly written, and full of depth; they all have a proper arc and story to them, and all share the “Mean Girl” quality in one manner or another, whether they’re Gretchen and Karen; dragged around by Regina, Cady and Janis; motives for revenge that don’t quite match the crime, Regina; who needs no introduction to how verbally awful she gets, mainly in the first half. None of them are truly in the clear, even by the end; there is much repairing to be done, especially once Cady’s new attitude begins to bleed into her home life, and she has emotional moments with her mother that edge her towards the start of redeeming herself both socially and cleaning up her conscience.

Ultimately this all leads to another theme, of forgiveness and character growth. In the end, Cady’s final song and actions during the Spring Fling serve as her apology, and though it was a rocky road, she ultimately grows more as a result of her experiences. Another message then makes itself clear, that to truly grow you need to experience things both bad and good, even if it hurts to do so. The hedonistic desire of constant positivity is brutalized in this film, and for good reason; its a psychological fact that if you remain on the loop, or rather the hedonistic treadmill, your happiness and well-being levels will stagnate, whereas if you experience both bad and good things, you will come to appreciate the good more than you would otherwise. This is something the film clearly takes seriously, and as a result, is more compelling drama-wise.

Next for this section, I will touch on the cyberbullying portrayed through the movie. Especially after the Burn Book is dropped, a lot of people are mocked on internet platforms, most prominently TikTok. Particularly though, the focus is put on Regina and Cady, as they both face rises and downfalls; in opposing orders. Cady rises but then is slammed online because people accuse her of pushing Regina, and Regina falls in two ways but rises back up after her accident, as the sympathy takes hold. It shows how fickle the digital world is, in how they flip on an instant and don’t hesitate to go toxic, following trends like sheep. Even with how bad Regina has acted up until the talent show, that shot of her looking back to the crowd after her harsh fall…chills. That made me feel badly for her, and severely question Janis for a good few minutes when she laughed at it. Yes, I get that Janis was treated horribly by Regina, but this immediately feels off given the newfound context of social media toxicity, especially once we see exactly how much it spreads. This was one of the primary examples of the revenge going too far - although Regina’s stubbornness to not bother to rehearse indeed led to the issue happening due to the weight gain, the worst sin that Cady commits towards Regina - and definitely got to Regina. We see her being so health-conscious, and from subtle curs in her voice, face, and things she says, we can tell that it is negatively affecting her in a way that is going beyond what was necessary. That being said, I would be less inclined to dub Janis and Cady as letting their mean selves out in that if they had cut those parts out. However, as the opening song says, everyone has a mean side to themselves. So, this was not a surprise to see - even if you’ve never seen the original 2004 film - but the extents that it goes to should make any viewer ambivalent about who is in the right, and that is something else that is so fantastic about Mean Girls. All sides do actions both good and bad, that really paint the proper portrait that, in life, there isn’t anyone who’s truly pure. Everyone has a darker side, that makes you question their true intentions and motivations, even if they’re otherwise splayed out clearly. Thus, nobody is inherently ‘good’ and nobody is inherently ‘bad’, and especially for the latter, the film shows the negatives of treating others like the bad ones and of propping yourself up as the good one.

And that’s the main point of the film, I believe. A Cautionary Tale sets this out and the film picks it up and displays the idea in really interesting and fun ways, which leads to an amazing, strongly-crafted experience all-around, with plenty to analyze and discuss about it.

-Conclusion and Rating-

In the end, I think its pretty clear to anyone who has read the review to this point what I will be giving this film as a rating. I personally had 0 issues with it and nothing stuck out to me as a flaw; it all worked together into a perfectly sublime platter that impressed me all around, more than I’d even been prepared for. It is with absolute joy, especially as a huge fan of the original film, that I bestow this rating of mine. Will need to binge this with the original on the 20th anniversary of the original. For me this was…joyous perfection. I hope this review made my love of it clear via both the gushing and the analysis. It was an absolute joy of a viewing experience on the biggest screen my cinema has, and I cannot wait to see the film again.

Mean Girls 2024 is so absolutely fetch. I highly recommend this film, especially if you love the original how I do; its truly wonderful.

10/10

#fetch #mean girls #regina george #film review #10/10

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fairybinie · 1 year

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i can now say that copyccino has officially come to an end!

i wanted to make this post considering this was my first smau and i have so much emotional attachment to it. this had been in the works since the end of 2021 (with a very different plot) and i finally got to do it in june of 2022. although i had to make many changes, i’m happy with the result.

i was nervous when i first posted it, considering i didn’t know if people would dig the plot. as time went on i was pleasantly surprised! seeing the copyccino community grow through each chapter released was so nice to experience. answering your asks (min hate club rise!) and seeing your reblogs always made my day.

i especially want to thank my friends for helping me out with the story and continuing to motivate me to continue with it. if it wasn’t for their support this smau would’ve been on a 2 month hiatus 😭 and although i did take my breaks, i still went through and i’m proud of myself for it! i was worried once the main angst of the story was over, i didn’t know if y’all would still stick around for it. but i can see that people stayed for the characters and the dynamics and i love that!!

i think this smau really made me grow as a writer and explore new things (also ty for putting up with the long chapters 😭) and seeing compliments about my writing made me feel so </3 bc i never considered my work to touch people or make them feel something when at the end of the day, that’s what i strive to do.

i don’t want to make this long, but thank you to everyone for supporting my first smau! i’ll hold it near and dear to my heart and although it’s over, you’re more than welcome to send in asks talking about it or when you’re in your copyccino #missing hours 😞 i did get quite emotional tagging y’all for the last time since i remember your blogs so vividly sjsjsnsn

my plans for right now is to take a little break (not really), still post some fics every now and then when i have time, until i post my next smau. which if you read this last chapter carefully, i’m sure you can figure out who it’s for 🤫

won’t be long now! i hope you all continue to support my future works and thank you so much for loving copyccino <3 💫🪷☕️

#y/nsoob forever <333 #☕️ — copyccino!

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datastate · 4 months

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Which one of the currently released yttd mini-episodes is your favorite? Why? (via)

hm-hm... if i'm honest? i would have to say sara's because:

1) it presents the sonobenos' friendship openly. i've always been curious to see how sara balanced her friendships with both of them - on my first playthrough, i was actually under the impression ryoko went to a different high school simply due to the fact that she hadn't yet/sparsely met with joe until their date.

and 2) it fulfills a theoretical that sara's shown to be tortured by, and likely will be until the end -- if there was any possible way to save joe, and if escaping with him would be worth the pain wrought upon others. it's fascinating to see her reaction/reasoning for distancing herself from joe as juxtaposed to kai's. i remember getting to the line of sara referencing darkness within herself almost verbatim for kai's lines in ytts. it's a mindset that's consistently reinforced with mr. chidouin and with personal events that inevitably prop up this intense guilt. seeing sara escape after establishing how quickly she can spiral under this weight is just... so interesting to me, and does really well in establishing how this affects her normal life even before something so devastating.

...well, all that, as well as having a fun minigame :'P

but! i feel as if it may be too predictable to say as much, so i will say that the yabusame's minisode was an immediate favorite upon initial release, and certainly raised much higher above the other three personally.

(i enjoy seeing more of anzu, though it was disappointing to see some notes on her character dismissed; and as for kurumada, but i do find some difficulty with the consistent assertions of aggression (although i realize nankidai does provide reasoning for it + appreciate his mirror to keiji's story); and as for kai's with asunaro's... i enjoyed confirmation kai does confide some tales of asunaro to mr. chidouin, that level of trust, but i feel as though a lot of asunaro's secrecy was lost in this minisode and it'd be better fit for after the base game is finished. i realize i'm someone who tends to feast on subtext, though i do feel that presenting what happened with the satous on a silver platter has somewhat spoiled how people view them + messed with ranger's significance... but i digress. i did still enjoy these ones, after all)

in any case!! similar to the sonobeno's friendship, i've always been curious to see more of how the yabusames used to behave around each other until the murder. it's easy enough to speculate, of course, with fake reko's values, but i remember replaying that one cutscene at the very beginning of 2-2 because it just. completely dug at my heart knowing what became of them.

what i didn't expect, however, was getting to see alice's own feelings toward music - i know in hindsight it should've been expected, due to the nature of their work, but i was pleasantly surprised to see how it actually touched on his feelings of inadequacy by comparison & yet... reko's always been kind in her own way and insisted on teaching him, or inviting him to listen, and valued his input even if it was inaccurate in a technical sense. she was sharing a passion with him, and that's why she was so heartbroken when he willingly cut himself away from it, from her, despite her best efforts to uplift/encourage him to try again.

it's just...!! ahh it confirmed a lot of what i already expected while building upon it and just. enhancing what alice has already divulged of who he assumes reko to be. there's always been a bit of underlying remorse after the bongo scene, but properly getting to see how deep this guilt runs is <3 + the symbolic sense of the drums split in two, but rather than again accepting he's incapable of repairing it, he still tries because this is his - their - last effort ... i don't know. they get to me. i really love thinking about the yabusames.

#i have a quick break before we start walking again so i decided i'll get to this now :D #jestersvaguely #ask #anonymous #yttdposting #hope this is okayyy. there's a lot more i actually meant to extrapolate on with the yabusame minisode bc it feels so much more. finished #than anzu's + succeeds in actually building on what's given in the base game which was my main qualm with kai's...#but that's. all technical. of course... emotionally too though i feel like it balanced the bittersweetness very well

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dogwatch05 · 2 years

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Human: The Space Dog Chapter 5

First Previous Next

So this thing has been way way way back on the back burner, but chapter 5 is in fact here. Sorry about that. Anyway, college classes have decided that homework is the way to go so that's why I haven't been posting lately. That and procrastination. I also said it would be out hopefully by the end of the month on Feb. 28. My apologies that it is now some point in May and only now being released. Another post will be coming out shortly after this one, so stay tuned.

Montressa walked down the hallways with Frantal and Torell following her. When they approached Frantal's room, Montressa inspected the door way and control tablets for damage. Seeing none, she waved Frantal and Torell into the room. Once Torell had settled Frantal down into the room, she turned to him.

"Torell, did you lock the door behind you?"

"I don't remember. I think I did. It's possible I didn't. I was preoccupied with my annoyance and frustration."

Montressa nodded, "All right, remember to lock it next time you leave. And turn the camera on, it should be working now. We don't want him getting out again."

Leaving Torell to take care of Frantal, Montressa went back to her office. While she walked, she thought of the past few minute's events. Frantal somehow escaped his room, found his way to the hydroponics bay, scared, but didn't injure, the workers there, didn't react negatively to the aggression being shown to him by the Komdos, but did react negatively toward F'rangel yelling at Torell. Negatively, yes, but not aggressively. Even when F'rangel tried to kick him, he simply swayed to the side. And after all of that, he still followed her out of the bay and back to his room with nothing more than an annoyed or upset growl.

Perhaps there was more to Frantal than met the eye. The Beast Master had said that Frantal was a dumb brute, but Montressa had the same opinion of the Beast Master. It was possible that Frantal had just leapt at the door and hit the sensor on accident, however, Montressa had a gut feeling that Frantal was much more complex than that.

When Torell, F'rangel, and Montressa sat down to dinner later that evening, Montressa was expecting an outburst from F'rangel about Frantal. She was pleasantly surprised to find that F'rangel was content to sit in moody silence for most of the meal. At the end of the meal, F'rangel simply said, "I want that beast kept supervised. Do what you want with it, just keep Torell and the crew safe." Montressa nodded her thanks. Had F'rangel wanted, he could have easily had Frantal dropped at the next habitable planet.

Montressa stayed up late that night working on tests and challenges that would hopefully push Frantal's mental abilities and show her just how much more there was to him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Diary

How's your day going? Because mine sucked.

Remember how in grade school there were standardized exams? 3 hours per exam and a whole week of them at the end of the year. Well I haven't had to do those for 7 years, and now that I've been abducted by aliens, guess who gets to go back to school.

Sounder "settled me down" after my foray into the farm area and left me to my own devices after double checking the lock on the door. Now that the door was locked and I had no clue how to work the pad, I decided to look around my room. It was actually quite nice. There was my bed, a soft, cushioned section of slightly raised floor, a small fountain of constantly moving water set to the side of the bed, and a bowl where food would go. The walls were a warm green, and the floor were so soft they felt almost like moss. There were also structures built into it. A tall climbing structure with platforms at various levels was the predominant item in the room, but there were smaller, more accessible sections of the room built into the wall like small dens or caves. Some were higher and connected to the platforms, but others were at a slight decline from the floor. They obviously had put some thought into this prior to my arrival.

I spent the rest of that day exploring the room and exercising to the best of my abilities. When the lights started to dim, then shut off, I assumed that meant it would be dark out if we were on a planet, so I started winding down to sleep.

The next morning, Sounder and Momma came into my room appearing very pleased. Sounder put some of the lettuce similar to what I had taken yesterday into the bowl and checked the water before backing back up to Momma. They both sat down and watched me for a second, then scooted back a pace, then one more, then another. I figured they were waiting on me to do something so I walked over to the lettuce, grabbed it, and walked over to them. I sat down maybe 4 feet away and took a bite. The bitter flavor of plain lettuce is not a pleasant sensation, but like I said yesterday, it is nice to have some variation.

Once I had eaten, Momma got up and walked over to the door and Sounder attempted to put a lead around my neck, but I dodged him. This went on for maybe 5 minutes before Momma stopped him and simply opened the door. She and sounder walked out and waited by the exit so I walked out after them. Momma led the way and Sounder walked directly behind me.

We walked down several hallways until we came to a room that had several stations set up in various locations. Closing the door behind us, Momma walked over to the first station and looked at me.

You know that uncomfortable silence that happens when you don't know what to do? Yeah, that was pretty much it.

Eventually I just walked over to her and that seemed to satisfy Momma. After I approached her, she picked up an object off the table, and held its front toward herself. Watching me carefully, she turned the object around to show the face of a mirror.

Now I'll admit, I jumped a little when she showed it to me. I looked like I hadn't had a bath in months (which was quite possible). My hair was matted, my cloths needed a good washing, and quite honestly my forehead could have been a mirror with all the grease on it. I don't know why she showed me the mirror, but I was certainly going to use it while I could. I got what mats out that I could with my fingers and used the hem of my shirt to scrub at my face.

While I was doing that, Momma was quickly typing on her tablet. Picking up the mirror and putting it back on the table, she moved to the next table, so I followed her. On this table was a wire hook and a bottle with a neck too small to fit my hand in. I'd seen this on the nature channel before. The goal was to see if the subject could figure out how to get the food out of the bottle. Momma set both the wire hook and bottle on the ground then took a step back. I quickly grabbed the bottle and looked inside it. A shred of cooked meat. Should be easy enough to get the wire through it.

Let's just say that I appreciate the crows and ravens even more now, because that pesky thing did not want to hook onto the meat. I eventually got it out and set everything to the side without eating the "treat". Momma waited a few more moments before reaching down and putting everything back on the table. Tapping a few notes into the tablet, she led the way to the next and final table.

This table had three boxes on it, each with a different color of either red, green, or blue. Lowering the table a bit, Momma showed me a piece of the lettuce from the farm. She then slid it under the red box and watched me. I stood there for a second, thinking, then tilted the red box back a bit and grabbed the lettuce and held it out to Momma. She again put it back under the red box. We repeated this process five more times before she moved it under the blue box. I grabbed it, handed it over, and she placed it under the green box. This time when I grabbed it, she raised the table back to its original height and made a few more noted before walking back to Sounder.

Then without warning, she flung her arm up and pointed at the wall behind me with a look of panic on her face. I spun around to look at what she was pointing at only to find an empty room except for the tables.

"Well that was cruel. You gave me a heart attack," I groaned as my heart returned to a normal pace. Turning back around, I saw Momma finishing typing in her tablet and opening the door. We walked back to my room and spent a few moments simply sitting in each other's presence. Then, they left the room and left me to my own devises for the little time remaining before the lights began to dim.

To be continued

#humans are space orcs #humans are weird #hfy #humans are deathworlders #DogWatch05

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