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#when i say i've been 'bad/done 'bad things' it is probably more accurate to say
starredforlife · 1 month
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i feel the need to reassure also that im exaggerating my mistakes a bit but it's like. almost like an exposure therapy thing.
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steddiehyperfixation · 4 months
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don't you forget about me (part seven)
(part one)(part two)(part three)(part four)(part five)(part six)
Eddie takes back everything he’d thought before; sex dreams are so much worse actually, especially when you wake up to the subject of them holding your hand. His face turns bright red the second his eyes open and land on Steve. He sits upright immediately, bunching up the blankets over his lap. 
The pounding of his heart - aka the rapid beeping of the heart monitor - alerts Steve who snaps awake instantly and tightens his grip on Eddie’s hand as he asks with urgent concern, “Are you alright? Did you have another nightmare?”
“No, no, definitely not a nightmare.” Eddie’s cheeks burn, feels the flush reach his ears and down his neck too. He clears his throat. “Just, uh- just a weird dream, that’s all. Not bad, just…weird, yeah. I’m fine.”
Steve relaxes. “Okay.” He hesitates, then adds hopefully, “Was it, uh- Do you think it was a memory?” 
Eddie shakes his head. “Definitely not.” 
“What makes you so sure?” Steve asks. 
“It was fantasy.” Eddie’s eyes rake over Steve, and he tries not to wonder just how accurate his dream was. 
Steve raises a skeptical eyebrow. “Fantasy?” 
“Yeah, fantasy. So unless you have some truly awesome news to give me about the existence of dragons,” Eddie lies (better to have Steve think he’d dreamt of riding on a dragon rather than that he’d dreamt of Steve riding him), “I’m pretty sure it was just a regular old dream.”
“Oh.” Steve's face falls; and Eddie almost wants to take it all back and tell a different lie, that it had been a memory, but he doesn't. “Yeah, no, I've yet to run into any dragons yet, I’m sorry.”
“No, I’m sorry,” Eddie says, running his thumb over Steve's hand. “I wish it was a memory. I mean- I wish I had more memories, and I'm sorry that I don't. I'm sorry that makes you so sad.” 
The apology only makes Steve look sadder. “Oh, Eddie, no, it's okay.” He shakes his head, squeezes Eddie's hand. “Don't apologize for that. It's not like you chose to forget.”
“I know. I’m still sorry though,” Eddie responds quietly. His dream-sparked lust has since curbed into something softer, inevitably. He looks into those downturned and devastating brown puppy dog eyes. “I didn't choose to forget, but I’m still the reason you're sad - I know that, so I'm sorry.” 
It's Steve this time who mutters “You don't have to worry about me so much, Eds, I'm alright,” and it's Steve this time who clasps Eddie’s hand in both of his and brushes a kiss over his knuckles. 
It sends a rush through Eddie's whole body to feel Steve's lips against his skin - in real life, that is. Heat rises in his cheeks again, heart rate kicking up for the millionth time. “Uh- yeah, uh, o-okay,” he stutters, can’t seem to form a coherent thought or sentence right now. He pulls his hand away and runs his fingers through his hair instead, changing the subject, “Um. Are you, uh- are you sticking around today?” 
“Yeah.” Though there’s still a trace of sadness behind his eyes, there’s something like flirtation there too as Steve smirks and says, “I’m all yours today.” 
God. Eddie really is done for, isn’t he.
It’s no wonder, then, that after spending another full day with Steve, another full day of being subjected to Steve’s bittersweet smiles and friendly banter and (that is, if Eddie’s not just being delusional, which is a very real and probable possibility) the occasional flirty comment, Eddie’s dreams soon turn sappy again:
They were sitting in some restaurant, in a corner booth, holding hands behind a propped up menu. Steve was looking gorgeous in a tastefully tight polo and perfectly styled hair streaked with gold, and he looked at Eddie with that warm little smile that always made his heart glow. It overflowed; Eddie almost couldn't take it. 
He said, “I know you said you wanted to do things right, so after how many dates can I ask you to be my boyfriend?” 
Steve's smile grew, eyes wide with a sort of wonder and disbelief and anticipation that was vaguely reminiscent of a child on christmas morning. “I, uh- I think the third date is just fine.” 
“Okay, good.” Eddie grinned. He caught Steve's other hand and held it right there out in the open without a care who saw or heard. “Because I like you so so much; you’re the best person I know, Stevie, and I wanna lock this down before someone else comes along and snatches you up. I want to be your boyfriend more than anything, and I want you to be mine, if you want that too. So, what do you say?” 
Steve must not’ve cared who saw or heard either because he immediately lunged across the table to kiss him, holding Eddie's hands tight as he pressed their lips together fervently. 
Eddie certainly wasn't about to complain. He indulged the kiss for a good long few moments before he pulled back to double check, “So that was a yes, right?” 
“Yeah, dumbass,” Steve laughed, fond and bright and beautiful. “That was absolutely a yes.” 
That ache is back when Eddie wakes up, the wanting, the wishing. 
He thinks this dream falls somewhere in between the events of the last two, like his brain is turning this fantasy into a whole connected narrative now, building and fleshing out this wishful story of him and Steve. Unless… No. Eddie can't let himself think like that. If these dreams have been memories, if that had really been the type of relationship they'd had, surely Steve would've said something. It's not unusual for Eddie's daydreams to become so involved and become entire worlds. This is, as he tells himself for the third time now, just another case of his overactive imagination. 
Steve doesn't ask about his dreams again, and he soon leaves for work and isn't around much that day, but that still doesn't stop Eddie's mind from continuing the fiction when he falls asleep holding Steve's hand, as always now, that night: 
Eddie sat on Steve's couch, his arm slung casually around Steve's shoulders as Steve leaned against him and idly played with the rings on Eddie's other hand while a movie played on the TV in front of them. It was Steve's turn to pick the movie, and there was a time when Eddie would've rolled his eyes and scoffed at the suggestion of watching The Breakfast Club, but it had just come out on VHS and Steve was so excited about it and Eddie was more than happy now to sit just there and watch Steve watch it. Because Steve was smiling and humming along to the songs on the soundtrack, and Eddie felt, suddenly, with such simple certainty that this is where he was meant to be, that this is who he was going to spend the rest of his life with. 
Something must've changed in his expression, in his stare, because Steve soon rolled his head to the side to look at Eddie and asked with an amused (and vaguely confused) smile, “What?” 
“Nothing, I just-” Eddie shook his head, pressed a kiss to Steve's temple and then said like it was the easiest thing in the world, “I think I've fallen in love with you.” 
Steve laughed as if this great big relief just bubbled free from his chest. “Oh thank god,” he said. “I’m in love with you too.” 
Eddie believed him, knew it with the same certainty as before. They shared gentle smiles and a sweet, chaste kiss. Steve slipped an arm around Eddie's waist and curled closer against his side. He went right back to watching the movie and Eddie went right back to watching Steve. And that was all there was to it. 
Clear, effortless, uncomplicated. Because how could they be anything else but in love with each other? 
Eddie sighs when he blinks awake. His eyes slowly shift to the side and he looks at Steve strangely for a few silent moments. 
Steve asks, “What?” 
Eddie's cheeks tinge pink, and Steve wonders, not for the first time, what Eddie had been dreaming about. He gets a devastating sense of deja vu when Eddie shakes his head and says, “Nothing.” But it stops there where Steve's memory doesn't. 
Although, Eddie is still considering him in that weird, just short of familiar way, and Steve wonders - again, not for the first time - if maybe Eddie just might remember too. But surely he'd say something if he did. 
Eddie taps his fingers against Steve's hand and asks after a long minute. “Are you gonna be around tomorrow?”
“I can be.” Steve is scheduled to work tomorrow, but he'd call out sick in an instant if Eddie asked him to.
“Okay, because, uh, that's when the doctor’s gonna have me try to walk and when they're gonna teach me and Wayne how to take care of my wounds at home for when I’m discharged, and I, um, I want you to be there for that too,” Eddie says. 
Steve finds himself a little surprised by this. “You really want me there?” 
“Yeah, I mean, If you don't mind,” Eddie starts, rambling like he's suddenly scared Steve might refuse, “I know it's not the most fun thing to be here for, but I just figured whatever the doctor tells us tomorrow you should know too, just in case, you know, like I might need you one day and Wayne can't be around all the time and-” 
“I’ll be there, Eddie,” Steve assures him, squeezing his hand. “Of course I’ll be there.”
And so he is. He calls out of work the next day, much to Keith’s annoyance, and stands there as the room fills with doctors and nurses and Eddie's uncle Wayne. 
Eddie's mobility is tested first. He makes a soft grunt of pain as he's instructed to swing his legs over the side of the bed, and then another when the doctor taps his knee and his injured leg kicks with the assessment of his reflexes. Satisfied with that response, the doctor moves on to pressing various pressure points on Eddie’s leg to measure how much he can feel (and Steve tries very hard not to feel so weirdly irrationally jealous at watching the doctor feel up Eddie's leg). After a few more soft painful hisses that let the doctor know Eddie's nerve endings are intact - or whatever it was she was testing - he's told to try and stand. He's understandably apprehensive, hesitant. The doctor and his uncle help coax him off the bed; the competent and the familiar. Steve hangs back still, sure he's not needed for this. 
But the second Eddie attempts to put pressure on his injured limb and he stumbles, his hand shoots out and it's Steve’s name he calls, as if on instinct. And, on instinct, Steve is there in a second to grab his hand and assist in steadying him. “I've got you,” he murmurs, guiding Eddie to the walker that's been set out for him. Eddie limps a few more feet with the help of the walker and the encouragement of Steve’s (hopefully) comforting hand on his shoulder until the doctor calls it and tells Eddie he can rest again. 
Once Eddie makes it back onto the bed, collapsing back into the pillows with a haggard sigh, the doctor and nurses immediately crowd him again, try to go straight into the next step of redressing his wounds. 
“Give him a second,” Steve snaps, protectively holding onto Eddie's hand and leaning over him. “Can't you see he's exhausted?” 
The doctor shoots the only other proper adult in the room a weary look. 
“They know what they're doing, kid.” Wayne's heavy hand lands on Steve's shoulder, both a reassurance and an alert for him to back off. 
“I’m okay, Stevie,” Eddie adds. He gives Steve a tired smile and squeezes his hand before prying it out of Steve's hold. “It's alright.” 
Steve reluctantly relents and steps back to give the medical professionals space to continue. 
Eddie's shirt is pushed up so the bandages on his chest and stomach are accessible as the nurses begin to explain and demonstrate the process of taking care of the injuries. Steve watches, listens intently, wants to absorb every ounce of information so he can best tend to Eddie if need be. Then his eyes flick up and he accidentally makes dead eye contact with Eddie who seems to realize then just how vulnerable and exposed he is right now because his cheeks burn red and his heart rate suddenly increases. 
The nurses don't seem to be too worried about this - if anything, they exchange knowing glances with everyone else in the room except Eddie and Steve before they continue their demonstration. Steve isn't worried either anymore - if anything, he finally resigns himself fully to the fact, the irrefutable proof, that Robin was right and Eddie really does have a schoolboy crush on him again. 
Steve does his best to keep paying attention, but in the background his mind is spinning and his heart aching. 
On the one hand it’s kind of sweet to know Eddie's feelings are not gone completely, that some level of attraction still swirls to the surface even through the empty space in his memory. And Steve has been indulging that crush the past couple days, little comments of flirtation just to feel like he still has Eddie in some way, just to see the reaction and have some evidence that Eddie still feels something at all for him. (Stupid, selfish.)
But on the other hand it is just a crush. Eddie used to love him, but now that's halved; and that's a very specific kind of agony. 
Steve’s not sure how much longer he can handle this. 
~
Something passed between them when they made eye contact; something sweet and sad flitted across Steve's expression, as it often does, but he looked away when Eddie blushed and has been avoiding his eyes again since. 
When the nurses are done showing them how to wrap him up, Steve retreats, saying kindly, though still not quite looking at him, “I'm gonna go get you some water, alright?” 
“Oh, yeah, thanks.” Eddie smiles gratefully after him. 
“Your boyfriend seems sweet,” Nurse Katie comments, carefully, as she secures the last of the fresh bandages. 
“Excuse me?” Eddie coughs, chokes on his own spit, spluttering, “I’m- he's not- we’re- it’s- um. He’s not my boyfriend.” 
“Oh, sorry,” the nurse is quick to apologize. “I didn't mean to assume, I just thought since he's always in here holding your hand, even before you woke up-” 
“We're friends,” Eddie says shortly. He feels a little dizzy at what she's suggesting and would really rather her stop talking. 
“Alright, my mistake.” Katie backs off the subject. 
Steve returns then anyways, further killing that topic of conversation. He hands a cup of water to Eddie, who takes it with another muttered “thanks” and starts gulping it down while the doctor goes off on some spiel about the process of having him discharged and more tests they’ll have to do tomorrow. Eddie’s not paying attention. He’s too tired. 
Not long after that, the doctor and nurses file out of the room, and Wayne stands to leave too. “I’m glad the two of you are getting close again,” he mentions to Steve and Eddie on his way out. “You were good for each other.” 
Whatever that means. 
Eddie doesn’t have the brainpower left to contemplate that. Being poked and prodded and trying to walk took a lot out of him. He’s exhausted, achy all over. It’s barely even late enough to be dinner time yet, but he could honestly just pass out right now. He sets his finished water cup on the bedside table and his now free hand reaches, once again, for Steve. 
“Tired?” Steve asks as he catches Eddie’s hand. 
“Mhmm.” Eddie settles against his pillows, closing his eyes. He adds in a sleepy mumble, “’M glad you were here today.”
“Me too.”
He feels Steve’s lips slide gently across the back of his hand, and then Eddie slides gently into sleep. 
Immediately, though, his dreams are not gentle; for the first time since he’s been falling asleep with Steve’s hand in his, Eddie dreams of the bats: 
Eddie was in that hell dimension, the scene all black and red and dotted with bats. But he wasn’t alone. Nancy Wheeler and Robin Buckley were there too, the three of them fending off the creatures with boat oars, and Steve- Steve was on the ground; two bats gnawed on his sides, another had its tail wrapped around his neck. Eddie’s heart was in his throat, roaring in his ears and pumping pure fear and adrenaline through his veins. He couldn’t save him; all he could do was try his best to keep more bats from joining in on the feast. 
Steve, however, seemed perfectly capable of saving himself. He managed to sink his teeth into the bat tail around his neck, getting it to let go. Eddie couldn’t see everything, too busy whacking away more incoming bats, but when the last of this fleet of creatures was fought off, Eddie turned back around to find Steve on his feet now, holding a bat by the tail and slamming it against the ground far more times than necessary. He watched as Steve stomped down on the bat’s neck and tore its head from its body. Blood from the bat’s tail hung from Steve’s lips in a thick, dark drip before he spat it into the dirt.
Eddie stared, jaw dropped, pounding heart pumping an entirely different sensation through his veins now. “That was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life.” 
Steve gave him a bloodstained grin and Eddie’s knees felt weak. He would’ve dropped to the ground in front of him right then and there if- 
“Keep it in your pants, Munson.” Robin shoulder-checked him as she walked past. “At least until we get the hell out of hell.” 
Eddie settled instead for sidling up to Steve and, after taking a second to make sure he was alright, whispering low and close to Steve’s ear, “If we were anywhere else and you weren’t injured right now…” The muttered end of that sentence was something so filthy it made Steve’s face burn red, and he laughed. 
“Freak,” Steve said affectionately as he smacked a kiss to Eddie’s cheek. 
Eddie was quick to turn his head and catch Steve’s lips, locking them together in something searing and intense. 
“Boys!” Nancy snapped impatiently from a few feet ahead, which startled them apart. “Seriously? Time and place, come on.” 
Both Eddie and Steve laughed as they followed after the girls. 
Eddie wakes up a little bit disoriented from that dream. He doesn’t know what to call it: Was it a nightmare or not? Was it a memory or another fantasy? The lines are blurred and Eddie finds himself confused. 
Steve must’ve seen this on his face because he asks, “Everything alright?” 
“Yeah…” Eddie answers slowly. “I had a dream about the Upside Down…but it wasn’t quite a nightmare, I don’t think. I’m just- I’m not sure if it was a memory or not.” He hesitates, then decides screw it, he might as well try to get some sort of clarification on the reality of some details of his dream. “Did you…rip a bat in half with your bare hands?”
“I did, yeah,” Steve confirms. His expression shifts, sparking with something like hope. 
“And, uh, did I tell you that was the hottest thing I’d ever seen?”
“You did, yeah.” 
“Okay, cool,” Eddie says, reeling. “Just checking.”  
Steve is watching him almost expectantly, but when Eddie doesn’t say anything more on the subject, his face falls into something more like disappointment.
(final part is here!) taglist (CLOSED): @romanticdestruction @daydreamsandcrashingwaves @paintsplatteredandimperfect @hallucinatedjosten @mugloversonly @estrellami-1 @alongcomesaspider @thatonebadideapanda @tell-me-a-secret-a-nice-one @dragonmama76 @wxrmland @nuggies4life @sirsnacksalot @myguiltyartpleasure @lolawonsstuff @marklee-blackmore @vinteraltus @sebastiansstanswhore @0happyeverafter0 @scarlet-malfoy @hotluncheddie @xxfiction-is-my-realityxx @emsgoodthinkin @alyelf @warlordess @stevesbipanic @lil-gremlin-things @rockandrolodex @badcaseofcasey @bat-outta-hel @fandomcartographer @manda-panda-monium @littlewildflowerkitten @giopandaonice @mightbeasleep @queenie-ofthe-void @krazyperson @worldofshea @marvel-ous-m @tartarusknight @a-little-unsteddie @xenon-demon @goodolefashionedloverboi @xxsky-shockxx @mc-i-r @bookbinderbitch @aspenshade88 @slowandsteddie @thedragonsaunt @daydreaming-mood @space-invading-pigeon @irregular-child @a-lovely-craziness (taglist continued in replies; please lmk if you'd like to be removed from this list. if you didn't make the taglist but still wanna follow along, you can follow the tag #dyfamsteddiefic to keep up with new updates!)
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toxicanonymity · 9 months
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Jailbird.
1.5k / Cellmate’s nephew!Joel x inmate f!reader
thank you @iamasaddie for the mood board!!!
PART 2 HERE: Collect calls
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Summary: Your cellmate introduces you to her hot nephew and he comes to visitation hours. A/N: Part 1 of 3. This one is due to @beskarandblasters and @wannab-urs and their hilarious list of new joel tropes and @raccoonhandedhottie's nerve to put the idea of doing one in my head. My masterlist WARNINGS: References to sex work, ACAB. Horny phone/visitation talk, mild/non-explicit over-pants masturbation. Mickey Avalon Easter egg.
Without Mabel, you're not sure how you would've survived your first six months in lock-up. You were cuffed for solicitation when a dirty cop wouldn't pay what he owed.  He says he took it easy on you -- you also clawed him and spit in his face.  As soon as you told your new cellmate what really happened, she took a liking to you. She said you should've bitten him in the pecker.   Mabel had been there, done that. She even knew of the cop who put you away.  It wasn't Mabel's first time behind bars. She had the ink and reputation to prove it. Her knuckles said "TAKE NONE" and that was accurate.  By now, nobody gave her any shit. Soon enough, no one gave you any either. 
Mabel had a few photographs on her wall, mostly of her and a younger man. Not a particularly young man, but certainly younger than Mabel. He was probably in his early forties in the pictures, which were five years prior, before she violated her parole. She was giving you a poke and stick tat of a four leaf clover on your hand one day when you asked about the pictures. 
"I was wonderin' when ya were gonna ask about my lil Jojo. I've seen ya lookin' at him, ya little horndog..." 
She let you stammer around in response. "No, I, I'm just, making conversation, wanna get to know you better." 
"It's okay, baby. He's my nephew. All I got left. He's a neat kid."
"He looks happy to be with you–ouch!"
"Don't be a pussy. Oh, he's a real sweet boy. Bet he'd like you, too."
"What makes you say that?"
She looked up from your hand "cause ya got a cunt and you're not bad lookin'," she laughed. "Hey,” she raised her eyebrows. “You ever wanna borrow one of those pics, you let me know, I'll give ya some privacy."
"No thanks."
"Oh, come on. You can fold it so ya don't have to see my pretty face." 
You laughed. 
"Bet he'd dick ya down real good, too."
"What?" You asked, quietly disturbed. 
"He lives with me. Walls are thin." 
"Ah. That must be awkward."
"Not really! We're all human. I could even tell ya the kinda shit he says if ya want. He can get real filthy.  Or shit, I could just give ya his number."
"That's ok."
"Baby, he'd love to hear from ya. Trust me. I've told him all about ya." She put down the needle and picked up a tissue to dab your skin. 
"You have??"
"Oh yeah. Here, I'm gonna write it down." 
She took one of the photos off the wall and wrote his number on the back. Then she folded it in half and winked at you as she handed it to you. 
—----------------
It only took a week of her nagging for you to call “Jojo.” 
Your breath hitched when you heard his smooth, deep voice. The first thing he said was, “Ah, call me Joel,” and you could hear the smile on his face. 
“Oh god, I’m sorry,” you laughed. “Well your aunt’s told me a lot about you, Joel.” 
“Yeah, I can only imagine what,” he faux grumbled. “Real character, ain’t she?”
“I love Mabel,” you blurted out. 
You found yourself opening up about how in some ways, she was more of a mother figure than you ever had.  Joel was easy to talk to. It just came pouring out. You told him about Mabel’s antics and the mischief the two of you got up to. Things you’d steal from the cafeteria. The way Mabel kept the ladies in line who tried to dom you. Next thing you knew, your time was up.  You apologized profusely for talking Joel’s ear off about yourself. 
“Nahhhh, it was nice,” Joel said. “Hell of a lot more interesting than my life.”
“Well it was good talking to you,” you told him. 
He said, “Hey, call me back any time.”
There was nothing sexy at all about that first conversation, but his voice did something to you.  You squeezed your thighs together when you got back to your cell and looked at the photo. Mabel kept giving you a knowing look. 
—------
You started calling Joel regularly.  Mabel told you he liked you a lot, but you weren’t sure if you should believe her. She seemed overly eager to set him up. The conversations were brief and casual. When you didn’t call him one week, the next time you spoke, he told you he missed the sound of your voice. 
Something came over you and you broke the tension. “My voice?” you asked. “Joel, your voice. . . you dunno what it does to me,” you blurted out. Zero to sixty, just like that. 
“Well damn,” Joel said. “Shoulda said somethin’. Coulda given ya better than stories about Mabel.” 
“Oh yeah? Like what?”
“Like whatever ya want, jailbird.” Your heart fluttered “Whatever gets ya hot and bothered.” 
“Honey, you could read me the phone book,” you told him. 
He chuckled. “Haven’t seen one of those in a few years.”  His voice was sexy to begin with but the sharp edge of the phone connection made it even hotter. 
After a moment of tense silence, he said, “Hey, uh, you notice any of your pictures missin’?”
“Huh?”
“Yeah, Mabel mailed me one. Didn’t tell me you were a fuckin’ smokeshow.”
You laughed bashfully. 
“Well she did. But I had to see it for myself, and shit”
“Well, thanks. You’re not bad looking yourself.” 
Your time was almost up. 
“Hey I’m comin’ to see Mabel later this week. Y’all got the same visitor’s night or what? Cause I’d love to see you, too, if it’s allowed.” 
“Nah, mine’s the next night.” 
“S’alright, i’ll come back for ya, sugar.” Your heart skipped a beat. 
“I’ve gotta go.”
“I know. Be good, jailbird.” 
—--------
It was visitation day and you were getting nervous. Mabel thought it was adorable. She helped you get ready. Did your hair nice. “He’s already smitten with ya, baby,” she said. 
You were escorted into the visitation room and sat at one of the booths, separated by glass, with a phone on each side. 
When Joel came in, you didn’t recognize him at first.  In just those five years, his beard had turned half-silver.  He was striking in person.  He was wearing a tight t-shirt and jeans. Tight jeans. You couldn’t help but size up the bulge in them. 
When you looked up at his face, he was raising his eyebrows at you like he caught you looking.  He sat down and put his elbows on the table. You picked up the phone, a little nervous, but more excited than anything.  He checked you out and smiled at you coyly before picking up the phone. 
“Like what ya see?” he said softly into the phone. 
You replied with a low whistle, then asked, “You always dress like a piece of meat?” He had a few hand tattoos of his own. Faded, blurred together. A spade between his thumb and forefinger. A spiderweb curving around one of his biceps. He’d probably done his own time. 
“When the hell are ya gettin’ outta here?”
“Up for parole next month,” you said. 
“No shit!” He looked genuinely excited. 
“Mabel didn’t tell you?”
“Thought she was yankin’ my chain.” He stretched his free hand behind his head and you watched his bicep.  “You been good? Think you’ll get out?” 
“Haven’t been bad.” 
“Good.” He lowered his voice. “‘Cause sugar, I’m gonna need to see what’s under that garb.”
You smiled with faux shyness, and he continued, “God damn,” looking at you like a juicy leg of lamb. 
You stared at each other, checking each other out for a moment. You watched his pupils dilate as your chest rose and fell with desire. 
You made small talk for a minute or two, all the while fucking each other with your eyes. But, things took a turn again.
“What do you miss the most?” he asked in a low, sultry voice. “Bet ya don’t miss the clients.” 
You shook your head. 
He lowered his voice further. “When’s the last time ya had a nice hard cock ya really wanted?”
Your eyes widened. “Shit, I dunno.” 
“Ohhh you’re in for it.” You looked around, paranoid, in disbelief that you could get away with a conversation like this. “Ain’t nothin’ harder than mine, baby.” He reached his hand into his lap. “Fuck. ‘specially for you.” You could see his arm moving very slowly but there was no mistaking what he was doing.  His eyes devoured you.
“Joel,” you sighed. “Fuck, I believe it.” 
And just like that, a guard approached him from behind. “Time’s up,” the guard said and glared at you.  You rolled your eyes as a guard approached you, too.
Joel said “Later, jailbird” and hung up the phone.  When he stood up, his massive erection was visible and made your heart skip a beat.  You glanced up to his face and he was wetting his lips. He winked at you with pink cheeks and your eyes immediately fell back to his crotch as he adjusted himself and the guard hurried him away. 
FUCK. You were gushing. Mabel’s Jojo. Joel. What a man.
---------
Part 2
Ty for reading. strip club manager!Joel will be an alternate timeline of this Joel set in the past while Mabel was on parole. DIFFERENT READER. preview
this trope actually gave me so many more elaborate ideas lmao.
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All Joel:@ethanhoewke @silkiers @eiviea @evyiione @xdaddysprincessxx @queerly-anxious @chernayawidow @ambassadortotrilliusprime @not-a-unique-snowflake-blog @jasminespringtime @romanarose @fandomsfallnomore @djarinxore @blackvelveteen1339 @manazo @wolvesandvampires @taeslarityy @str84pedro @lokanda  @kyloispunk @filthfairy @fieryglutenfreechickennoodles @harriedandharassed @moonlightdivine @worhols @fan-fiction-floozy @cutesyscreenname   @weddingfairy @pedropascal-whore @spideysimpossiblegirl @feministfanboi @gracieispunk @prettypartyfavor @am-3-thyst @babeincolor @milla-frenchy @switchbladedreamz @within-the-depths @am-3-thyst @may-machin @pedromania91 @sloanexx @paleidiot @yourmistysecret
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italiansteebie · 1 year
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Idk if it was u or someone else that has already done this but I need Steve so out of it (hit his head or high or sum??) he literally forgets to speak English- like maybe he’s just saying stuff in Italian and he’s so confused bcuz no one understands him and he realizes he’s speaking his first language and not English.
Also the party would be drooling after him like?? He’s already cute and he speaks more then one language? Literally screaming!!!
tbh i've probably written something similar to this but for you anon, i'll do it again.
--
steve was walking, and if we want to get technical, he was really wandering, with robin trailing behind him. they weren't paying attention, they weren't really thinking, so.
it just so happened that steve wandered right into an opening door, and he fell back and smacked his head on the side walk. robin proceeded to lose her shit, cackling loudly before realizing he'd actually been hurt.
"oh, shit. dingus. are you okay?"
"oh fuck, i killed him!"
and what a surprise that was. eddie just so happened to cause this brutal door attack. his head was already swimming from the fall and now he has to form words around eddie? really?
"non sono mort." he mumbled, reaching back to run the spot where he hit his head.
"oh my god. he's having a stroke, he can't talk. call 911!" eddie was always one for the dramatics.
"robin, smettila di urlare. per favore."
"is that... italian??"
"non essere ridicolo. sto parlando un inglese semplice."
"steve. oh my god. parli italiano sul serio."
and that caused him to realize what he'd been doing.
"oh no! ha fatto perdere il mio inglese!"
robin doubled over in laughter. she knew it wasn't serious enough to call an ambulance, just knocked a few screws out of place.
"what? what'd he say?! oh my god. i changed steve's language. quick find the reset button!"
this only caused robin to laugh harder, her face turning red and tears leaking from her eyes. steve started to giggle at the sight, but eddie was still watching them, wide eyed.
"are- did i hit steve so hard it started effecting you too?"
as robin sobered up, she took a few shuddering breaths before she realized what just happened. "you speak italian! since when?" she shoved her finger in steve's face.
he groaned, "since always." he brightened, "hey! it's back."
"so i- i didn't change your language?"
"no. he's bilingual."
"oh! so you just decided that for me? you told me that stuff was personal, rob. but what does that have to do with you speaking italian?"
robin laughed shortly, "that's bisexual, dingus. bi lingual means you speak two languages."
"oh. then yeah. im bilingual."
"yeah, we've covered that. but since when?"
steve shrugged. "it'd be odd if i couldn't talk to my mom, right?"
robin shook her head. "it's like every time you open your mouth i found out some new lore about you, steve." and he just shrugged.
and eddie was still there watching this whole thing, trying not to pop a stiffy at the idea of steve speaking italian to him, all slow and sexy- no! bad eddie! steve is hurt, this is not the time.
"so." he dragged out. "i'm okay, ed's." steve assured. "yeah. okay, um. are you... so like. you're one bi... are you the other bi too... or?" eddie said awkwardly.
steve blushed and robin gagged. "yeah. is this your way of asking me on a date?"
eddie nodded dumbly.
"okay. tomorrow? bennys at 6?"
"uh. uh huh."
"sounds good, ed's. i should probably get my head checked out now. a domani, amore mio."
and that was it. suddenly eddie felt like he just got hit with a door. he was still reeling from the interaction when robins distant squealing broke him from his trance.
he shook his head.
steve's got more layers than he thought.
// i did use google translate so it won't be accurate.
"i'm not dead."
"robin, stop yelling. please."
"don't be ridiculous. im speaking plain english."
"you're speaking italian. seriously."
"oh no! he knocked my english loose!"
"see you tomorrow, my love."
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randomperson339 · 7 months
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Anthropromorphization
(Xernalia, an alien, married to Thomas a human. She has found him hunched over cloth and scattered stuffing.)
Xernalia: Hubby... what are you doing?
Thomas: trying to stitch this teddy-bear back to life.
Xernalia: ...you know it's just stuffing, right? There isn't anything to bring back to life.
Thomas: Is that the weirdest thing I've done?
Xernalia: ...no, but I don't know how you're defining life here. It's inanimate
Thomas: yeah... but I feel bad now that it's all torn up, so I'm stitching him back together
Xernalia: Why do you have empathy for an inanimate object?
Thomas: probably because evolution would want me to have emathy for something that's inanimate than something that could be my mate
Xernalis: that's stupid, evolution should've given you a better way to detect the sentience of things.
Thomas: I mean, it did get me an amazing wife.
Xernalia: Wh-no, itt- not worth.... ahgiueaowjhBIEVUCybnowriadnsjc, how dare you say that's the reason you married me was because of some faulty neurons
Thomas: they're hardly faulty if they let me get with you
Xernalia: I mean- you're not wrong, but also. You're conflating several ideas.
Thomas: no, the "faulty neurons" are there to differentiate what is and isn't human, since you can't interbreed with non-humans.
Xernalia: but-
Thomas: yes, you can with genetic manipulation, but evolution wasn't made for to account for magical genetic engineering.
Xernalia:..........
(Thomas gives an affection peck on the head to Xernalia)
Thomas: yeah, I know it's stupid to get hung up about a destroyed plush, but I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I just didn't repair it.
Xernalia: What about the object puts such importance on it?
Thomas: *shrugs* I dunno, I just feel sad when I think about it all torn up.
Xernalia: so, it's like empathy?
Thomas: kinda? It's not sad on an intellectual level, but on an emotional one. I feel for the plush, but understand it's an object. And it doesn't have feelings.
Xernalia: would it change anything if it didn't have a face?
Thomas: probably.
Xernalia: what about a non-quad-limbed body structure?
Thomas: less so than the faceless version.
Xernalia: what about if it was a monster?
Thomas: I married you, didn't I?
Xernalia: >:[
Thomas: sorry, I just couldn't resist. And an actual answer would probably be... depends on how it's monstrous.
Xernalia: So it's about how... human-ish the thing is?
Thomas: roughly, yeah.
Xernalia: so what about a ball that's been left to rot? It was once used, lovingly, by a dog but it got lost in the drain and now it's decaying slowly at the top of a pile of trash?
Thomas: Xernalia... plz don't play with my emotions like that...
Xernalia: oh! Sorry. I- I thought you wouldn't get emotional over a ball.
Thomas: humans get emotions over a lot of things. I even got emotional over computers and satellites, which are very not-human.
Xernalia: so, you just empathize with... everything?
Thomas: yeah.
Xernalia: 8(
Thomas: What's that look for?
Xernalia: It must be so hard to live like that. I mean, you eat meat, right?
Thomas: well, it's different because I need to eat. Thinking about the animals is just something I try not to think about. Like everyone else
Xernalia: All humans feel bad for what they eat?
Thomas: I mean, not everyone, but that's the general feelings I've heard
Xernalia: so it's more... selective?
Thomas: Yeah. I mean, that's why wars happen I think.
Xernalia: so this empathy can both be given to anything, but also taken away from anything else. That seems... stupid.
Thomas: yeah, it's stupid, I feel like it shouldn't be so easy to stop thinking about people as... people
Xernalia: I think it's stupid that it's so arbitrary- you're here, trying to revive an inanimate object, despite it never living
Thomas: well, I was thinking more "I want there to be less violence in the world" not "I want humans to be more accurate in their assessment of sentience." You really want to make humans more sensical, don't you.
Xernalia: no, you're hot when you're nonsensical!
Thomas: Glad to know nonesense is hot, I shall endeavor to always put my socks over my shoes from now on
Xernalia: Not that kind of nonsense!
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lucy90712 · 2 months
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Road to recovery- part 8
Masterlist
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Part of me was hoping that the hate would slow down a bit but of course it didn't. Every time I checked any form of social media all I saw was people posting about how much they didn't like me and assuming that I'm only friends with Pablo to gain something. I thought I'd be able to handle the comments but I just can't there has been so many more than I thought there would be and people have said such hurtful things about my appearance and my character. Pablo keeps apologising and asking if I'm ok and I just keep telling him I'm fine which is a bit of a lie but I can tell he already feels bad enough I don't want to make him feel worse by telling him how I really feel. The worst part about it is that everyone seems to be drawing attention to the things I was already insecure about which hasn't helped my mental state at all.
Today though I have a chance to cheer myself up a bit as I have a big check up with my doctor to see how my recovery is progressing. I think it's going pretty good so hopefully he agrees and says something positive as that would really lift my spirits. I've been nervous about the appointment today as well which has really made the last few days even more challenging on my mental health but I'm trying to stay positive as I know wallowing in sadness and anxiety won't do me any good. 
Alonso came to pick me up a bit before my appointment; when I got in the car I expected him to tease me about everything that happened with the game this weekend but he didn't instead he asked if I was ok. I was going to lie to him too but because he's my brother he knows exactly when I'm lying so I had to tell him the truth. It was kind of nice to get all of my feelings off my chest and Alonso was really supportive and gave me some good advice. He's been through things like this before with getting hate for his performances out on track so he told me to just delete the apps off my phone for a bit that way I'm not tempted to look at what people are saying. In fact he stole my phone and did it for me as I think he knew I probably wouldn't do it myself. 
Once I had my phone back I went into the hospital on my own leaving Alonso to wait in the car for me. The wait for my appointment wasn't long at all and then I went in and was immediately taken for some new scans to see how everything was healing. After scans I was subjected to a load of tests on my range of movement, how much weight I could put on my leg and how much pain I was in. The testing was rigorous and honestly quite exhausting as it's been a long time since I've done this much movement with my knee but for the most part it felt good. After I had done everything the doctor left for a while to review it all and look at my scans which left me just staring at the wall hoping to hear good news. Just as I was daydreaming the door opened again and the doctor came back in, his expression was impossible to read which for some reason filled me with a few more nerves.
"Ok Lola things aren't progressing as we would like them too internally you aren't healing as quick as we thought you would and your movement isn't at the range we would expect it to be" he said 
"What does that mean?" I asked holding back tears 
"For now it doesn't mean too much this can happen as we can't always accurately predict how quickly people will recover but we will set another one of these appointments in a few weeks and if we aren't seeing improvement you may need a second surgery so that we can see what's going on" the doctor explained 
"Ok" was all I could manage to say 
"I know this isn't what you wanted to hear but don't let it discourage you if you keep working hard you won't need the surgery" he said 
We scheduled my next appointment and that was as long as I could hold it together. All of my emotions that I'd been holding onto for the last few days came out all at once, as soon as I left the hospital doors I burst into tears and I couldn't do anything to stop them. I made my way back to where Alonso parked but before I could get into the car Alonso had got out and wrapped me in his arms. He tried to get me to stop crying and tell him what was wrong but I just couldn't he tried everything to help me all of which had worked before but today nothing could stop me. Eventually he gave up and let me get in the car so we could go home because right now all I want is to just go home and get to grips with my emotions as I clearly have a lot to process. 
As much as my eyes were filled with tears I could tell that Alonso didn't take the turn to take me back to my place which meant he was going to take me somewhere in hopes of cheering me up. I really didn't want to go wherever it was he was planning to go but I was sobbing too much to tell him to take me home. We went a bit further before the car stopped and I looked round a bit as at first I didn't recognise where we were but then I saw Pablo's house and realised we were just down the street. I should've known Alonso was going to bring me here but this is the last place I want to be I don't want Pablo to see me like this. I knew we said we would help each other out but I know for a fact Pablo is doing better and I know he's in a better place mentally and I don't want to ruin that by projecting my problems onto him that wouldn't be fair. 
Alonso had to practically drag me out of the car and down the road which was rather easy for him as I'm not strong enough to put up too much of a fight. We walked down the street to Pablo's house where Alonso left me to ring the doorbell, part of me was hoping that he wouldn't be in even though he said he had no plans today. Of course after just a few seconds the door opened and I locked eyes with Pablo who straight away rushed over as quick as he could and wrapped me up in his arms. I wanted to stop crying but for some reason I only cried more once I was in Pablo's arms it was like he made me feel safe enough to truly let all of my feelings out. Pablo said a few words to my brother before taking me inside and allowing him to leave. 
Pablo took me to the sofa and allowed me to settle into his embrace with my head buried in his chest so he couldn't see my tear stained and probably red and puffy face. His hand was gently stroking my back trying to calm me down while he whispered comforting words in my ears. It wasn't anything special what he was doing but hearing his words and feeling his hands on me did wonders in helping calm my emotions which I didn't have any control over. As my tears began to slow down Pablo kept rubbing my back and he even wiped some of the tears from my face that he could reach as I was still hiding most of my face. I never would've thought he would be so good at comforting me I mean he's always so hyper and full of energy I never imagined that he'd be any good at keeping calm and radiating that onto others but clearly he is. Once I had completely stopped crying and my breathing was getting back to normal Pablo put a hand under my chin and got me to look at him.
"Can you tell me what's wrong I hate seeing you so upset and I want to help" he said 
"The doctor said my knee isn't healing properly and I might need another surgery if things don't get better" I said still sniffling slightly 
"I'm sorry that sounds awful but that's not the only thing on your mind is it" he probed further 
"No that's it" I lied 
"Don't lie to me please just tell me what's wrong I'll do whatever I can to help and I won't judge you you know that" he said 
Damn why doesn't he have to be able to read me like a book.
"Ok I've been getting a lot of hate since we were seen together at the game and it's been getting to me a bit I thought I could handle it as I'm used to criticism but I can't some people are just so mean" I admitted letting a few more tears fall 
"I knew it was getting to you people on social media are assholes because they don't feel the consequences of what they say but none of what they say is true" he said 
"But they keep talking about how I must be using you or how I don't deserve to even be friends with you which that part is kind of true" I rambled 
"No it's not true I can't even imagine what my life would be like without you I love spending time with you just because you aren't famous doesn't mean you don't deserve to be friends with me and despite what they say I know you aren't using me I know you would never do that" he said 
"And before you say anything all of the things they say about your appearance aren't true either you are beautiful inside and out and they are just jealous" he added 
Hearing him say that put a smile on my face. Pablo has never really complimented me before he's told me my outfit was cool a few times but he's never called me beautiful so hearing it made me feel a lot better about myself. He must've noticed that I was finally smiling again as he told me I looked pretty when I smiled which only made my cheeks heat up but luckily my face was already red from crying so Pablo probably wouldn't have noticed. Although I kind of wish he knew how he made me feel because as time goes on it's getting harder and harder to hide my true feelings from him. 
Pablo's POV
The pain in her eyes just shattered my heart. She's been my rock throughout every step of the way so far so to see her breakdown right in front of me really hurt. This whole time she's been the strong one never letting anything get to her but finally it's caught up with her and part of it's my fault because we got seen together at the game and now people are tearing her apart and one person can only handle so much. I feel so awful that I'm part of the reason she's so upset but knowing that I can be there for her and calm her down makes me feel a bit better. When she arrived she was hysterical and her brother told me he couldn't get a word out of her so he wanted me to try so that's what I did. I'm not very good at keeping myself calm at times let alone other people but I tried my best and after a while of just rubbing her back and whispering to her she calmed down. It felt good to be the one to help her because she's done so much for me that anything I can do to even remotely repay that I'll do in a heartbeat.
Hearing the way she criticised herself as well it pained me. She's the most beautiful and kind person I've ever met so to hear her say that she thought she didn't deserve to be friends with me hurt but what hurt more was to see that those horrible people got to her and made her feel insecure in herself. Throughout the time we've known each other I've always wanted to tell her just how beautiful she is but I've refrained as I know once I open the flood gates there's no going back. Once I start complimenting her I'm scared that I'll let my feelings show but today she needed it so I knew I had to take the risk. Seeing the smile that my compliments gave her made the risk feel worth it though as I'd do anything to keep her smiling 24/7.
Looking into her eyes as she smiled and blushed at my words made me feel some type of way. I've felt something for her since we first met and I've kept those feelings repressed until now but I don't know if I can do it any longer. She's just the most perfect girl I've ever met and I don't want to lose her whether that be to another guy or to the fear of what us being friends might mean for her. I have to tell her how I feel in hopes that as long as she feels the same way it gives her a reason to stick around even when things are tough like they are right now. As scary as it is I have to take the risk. 
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peapodbond · 6 days
Text
A (Mostly) Accurate Timeline of Tommy Kinard
Referencing Lou’s interview with Tommy’s Backstory, his actual age, the dates in Chimney Begins and Bobby Begins Again (with rough estimates of Hen Begins because those cute fuckers didn’t give me a date title card), and the ways that the characters interact with him.
(Lou's) Date of Birth: November 10, 1984.
1984 - 2001: Tommy was an awkward, overweight kid when he was younger. He flourished in classes such as shop, where he could use his hands and create things and didn't necessarily need to talk to anyone. Then he hit a growth spurt, got taller, and joined the football team. Tommy quickly becomes an all star football guy who stands up for any kids who were like him when he was younger.
Tommy says in 7x04 that he flew helicopters for the army before he was a firefighter.
2001 - 2005: In 2001, Tommy would have been seventeen. September 11th was likely the impetus for joining the army, which he could have done as soon as it was his birthday. Basic training is ten weeks for the army, slightly longer if he was aiming for a specialized group. Army tours of duty are between six and twelve months. He could very easily have gone through basic, done between two and four tours in Afghanistan, and still joined the fire academy so that he has just finished his probationary year when Chimney comes to the 118.
**updated: I've been reliably informed by multiple sources that a pilot would have to spend a minimum of five years with the army, and to that I can only say that the writers must be blamed for their timeline. ;) let us assume that there was a reason (good or bad) that Tommy only served four years and I will not speculate as to which in this post because that crosses over from a timeline to headcanons and I want everyone to be able to use this if they want. (please see this post for slightly more detail on my reasoning)
2006: 22 years old.
Chimney spends between ten and twenty-four weeks at the fire academy, so Chimney comes into the station in 2006/2007, depending on the time of year (c’mon guys give me something it’s LA and you don’t really have weather out there) and the episode covers most of his probationary year. Most likely it is two years from start to finish, as Chimney does spend part of the episode doing things other than starting at the fire academy.
Tommy is probably the probie who came in just before Chimney, and would have just finished his probationary year. There is a scene in the early part of the episode where Gerrard asks when Tommy’s girlfriend is coming by to cook dinner, but there’s also an offhand comment that she’s never been by the house before so who really knows if there was a girlfriend at all.
Sal DeLuca seems to be Tommy’s senior partner, the same way that Eli is Chimney’s senior partner, so they were probably paired up to show him the ropes when he showed up at the firehouse. Tommy definitely takes his cues from Sal, who takes his cues from Gerrard. Tommy is a bit of a bully because of who he is modeling himself after and the culture that he feels he has to assimilate into but he also does look uncomfortable at a lot of the jokes directed towards Chimney, and you catch him throwing a look to check on Chimney at the funeral in the flashback. After Chimney saves his life Tommy does reach out – awkwardly, but he still reaches out, and even asks Eli about him at the end of the episode.
2010: 26 years old. 
Hen has just arrived at the 118. These dates are based on the Twilight movie joke about being Team Jacob and the fact that Taylor Lautner was 18 when Eclipse came out (2010) and most of us agreed during the first two movies that we would not make gross jokes about minors, right guys? Right Sal? Tommy doesn’t react violently to the gay joke which could be proof that he’s comfortable with who he is even if he hasn’t told anyone. If he’d been truly insulted or grossed out by the joke it’s more likely he would have protested rather than blowing a kiss at Sal.
Tommy is splitting his time between Sal and Chimney — we see them sitting together at the dinner table in a similar formation to the way that Hen, Buck and Chim sit together in the current 118 — but still lets himself take cues from the way that Gerrard treats Hen at the beginning of the episode. He is less of a bully than he was in Chimney Begins but still going along with the crowd because he doesn’t want to rock the boat. Saying that the east coast vibes means she was being called a bitch isn’t great, but that entire scene does play into generally accepted stereotypes about the east and west coast in the states and it is perhaps a bad attempt at explaining that to Hen, rather than bullying – but it comes off badly so it doesn’t really matter what the intent was. Chimney looks very disappointed in him for this. (Tommy talks in 7x05 about not being out but knowing that he wasn’t straight when he was in the 118, and we can only assume that showing up to the 118 and meeting Sal and Gerrard in 2005 made it very clear right away that he should toe the line of the rest of the house or find a new job.) The look on his face when Hen does her speech on the fire truck is definitely a realization of who he’s become and it doesn’t appear that he likes who he is.
He is one of the firefighters who is impressed by Hen’s idea about the firehose in the mudslide and he and Sal make a point to come to Hen before she gets called upstairs to see Captain Cook and tell her that she was right about the call and that she is a good firefighter. In the captain’s office Hen is told that a few firefighters made reports – given that in this episode we are mostly focused on Chimney, Tommy, and Sal as her teammates, and they’re the only three that talk to her before this revelation, I believe the storytelling wants us to assume that those three were definitely some of the firefighters who made a report against Gerrard, though we can also safely assume that the entire house reported him.
2014: Bobby is in Minnesota.
Late 2014/early 2015: Bobby moves to LA. Tommy is 30 or 31.
Based on the montages, this episode covers more time than the other two episodes (both between a year and a half to two years long) and ends with Tommy leaving and Buck coming in. Buck is just finishing his probationary year in 2018, so it follows that Bobby Begins Again covers the three years between 2014 and 2017, with most of Buck’s probationary year happening off screen before the pilot.
We are told during the betting scene that pre-Bobby’s arrival there have been two years of captains switching in and out. Gerrard was kicked out pretty early in Hen’s career at the 118 and Captain Cook came in (but was close to retirement) so it tracks that he was their captain between 2010 and 2012 and then left. 
You’ll notice that during the betting scene and a lot of the fire house montages, Hen is no longer the only woman in the house or on their shift — the higher ups were serious about changing the culture in the LAFD and they did in fact put their money where their mouths were.
As of Bobby’s arrival to LA, Tommy is the third part of the Chimney and Hen trio – they get drinks together, they shit talk work (and Sal), they lend each other money, they talk about how scars get you the girls. (Tommy is obviously still not out at work, but he could be dating someone, it's hard to know.) This is the 118 mirror of Hen’s support group with Athena, and they would not be spending time with each other outside of work if they didn’t like each other. At this point Tommy and Chimney have been working together for eight years! Between Chimney and Hen they have worn off most of the asshole edges that Tommy had in the first two flashback episodes. Chimney, Hen and Tommy sit together at family dinner and Hen arranges a cake and a party for Tommy — something that she wouldn’t have done if she didn’t like him at that point — when he gets his transfer to the 217 and starts flying again. (This is also the first instance of Hen getting a cake to celebrate things happening at the 118.)
Tommy has been at the 118 for twelve years. Chimney and Tommy have worked together for eleven years. Hen and Tommy have worked together for seven years. Bobby and Tommy have worked together for three years.
2019: 35 years old
Tommy has been at the 217 for two years and redirects a flight of their water plane to the subdivision when Chimney calls him. Chim says “Hey it’s Howie,” and still has Tommy’s number saved in his phone. We can assume that they are at least in sporadic contact and have been since Tommy left. We’ll call the odds 50/50 on the chance that Tommy has told Chimney (and perhaps Hen) that he is not straight at this point. Everyone says the Chimney can’t keep a secret but both he and Hen know that there is a difference between a secret and outing someone.
Spring 2024: 39 years old
Steals a helicopter for Hen when Chimney calls, flies them to a capsized cruise ship in the middle of a hurricane, makes friends with Eddie and kisses Buck. Gets invited to Chimney and Maddie’s wedding as Buck’s date. (There is a higher than zero chance that he has already been invited by Chimney since they’re friends and he’s just shocked Buck considers that a good third date.)
References:
https://www.goarmy.com/how-to-join/requirements.html
https://www.operationmilitarykids.org/how-long-is-a-tour-of-duty-in-the-military/
https://www.operationmilitarykids.org/heres-how-long-basic-training-is-for-each-military-branch/
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/9-1-1-show-tommy-buck-kiss-relationship-lou-ferrigno-jr-1235872688/#
https://firefighternow.com/fire-academy-guide/
https://firefighternow.com/probationary-firefighter/
** https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/specialty-careers/aviation.html
** https://benefits.com/veterans-benefits/types-military-discharge/
**updated with some extra references and a little explanation as to why the timeline is off (hint: it's the writer's fault ;) )
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magicaljarofbeans · 2 months
Text
ATLA Live-Action Series
So.
I just finished the season, and there are some good things, and... some bad things :|
I have purposefully not engaged with what the rest of the internet think about it since it came out so keep that in mind. All I know is that it's not been well received and people hate the acting (all from other people telling me in person rather than me looking it up).
Let's start with what I consider the good bits:
Sokka is funny
Iroh is amazing as always
Zuko is pretty good, but specifically amazing with Iroh
Admiral Zhao is even more detestable
The bending looks pretty good (minus the ice sledding)
Iroh's backstory made me cry like the animated series (it's the goddamn music ok!)
The cabbage man makes an appearance
Firelord Ozai is cast and acted well
Suki is great
Ok, I think that's probably the extent of the actually good. Now for the absolute wreck that is the issues:
The removed Sokka's misogyny, a key aspect of his character development
Aang isn't running away from his duties as the Avatar (and doesn't at the start either), despite it being a key character trait he works through. However, everyone is gaslighting him into thinking he has been?
Katara and Aang are simply not acted well. They are the youngest cast members, but it's incredibly forced and not really written well to begin with.
Katara has become Gandhi. Well, is trying to be. She just keeps blurting out inspirational messages and not saying much else.
THEY CHANGED THE ORDER OF EVENTS. This doesn't have to be an issue, but it is when it's done in a way where story-lines no longer make sense. i.e. Sokka meets Suki before they go to the northern water tribe and meet Yue. Basically Sokka kinda cheated on Suki and just doesn't care. (There are several more examples of this)
Aang literally doesn't bend a single drop of water himself. As in, NOTHING (giant water monster doesn't count)
Katara and Aang don't end up getting trained at the Northern Water Tribe. Like. At all.
Katara is labelled a "Master Waterbender" and now has to train Aang???? Ummm, what?
Aang can just fly now. Glider don't glide, it fly. It woosh over continent in a single day!
That brings me to, WHAT EVEN IS TIME. Apparently going from a small village in the middle of nowhere to Roku's temple in the middle of the Fire Nation takes a day by glider (Katara and Sokka were just sleeping and weren't for long enough to worry about food or water)
Ozai is happy to sacrifice half his navy to "distract them while we take Omashu". Which is so far away from the Northern Water Tribe that the distraction wasn't needed.
It's Book 2 with Book 1's ending?????
The old people are clearly young guys with old age makeup. Apparently they can't get older guys anymore? (Except Iroh :)
Aang keeps talking to the previous Avatars but not actually getting anything out of it.
Apparently he has to be at a temple to talk to the past Avatars now.
Azula is introduced prior to the Northern Water Tribe fight
We see Ozai's face. It removes the mystery and power behind his presence
What is up with Jet? He's now a bomb placing terrorist. Not too far from accurate but still
Oh and his base sucks. Literally only like 2 meters off the ground at most.
I'm sure I have forgotten some atrocities, and there are several things that are ok that I haven't mentioned (Momo and Appa look fine) but overall, it's fine, I've watched worse shows, but it's not that great. Just watch it for Iroh.
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codylabs · 1 year
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I like Samus
(Miscellaneous notes in no order)
She's kind. I've gone into detail about that before on one page of my comic, but it bears repeating here. She doesn't often do things in anger, and she shows mercy and goodwill when she can. I think that's a big difference between her and somebody like Doomguy who just kills anything in his way; it's always more complicated than just "kill the monsters," and she does ponder and respect that complexity, even if, all too often, the only reasonable and responsible option IS killing.
Speaking of, dang there is blood on her hands. None of Batman's "There's one line I won't cross" philosophy; she's been in war and crossed lines. She's killed people. A lot of people. Fanon often characterizes her as the one who blows up planets, but that's not fair or accurate, since she was only involved with ONE [1] of those, but even if not, she IS still the type of person willing to make those tough calls. And leaving the planet-killing out of it, we can see the grizzly truth that most of her killing is intentional, and done in person, face-to-face. Watching interviews with real soldiers, that type of thing often has some serious effects on mental health, and I feel bad for her for that.
She's nearly silent, but she's not mute. More in a reserved, cowboy-just-passing-through sort of way. It's believable that she just doesn't have a lot to say, especially to strangers, or especially on missions. Super Metroid, Fusion, and Other M have her deliver longer dialogue, but it's usually a pretty dispassionate account of her actions, of what she's done and seen. Yeah that's probably a feature of the game format, but if you read into it, a lot of the personal interactions in her life may boil down to that: recounting stories or delivering reports.
*slaps roof of armor* shit's sturdy as hell.
Her gun can't be disarmed or set aside, but she carries it at the expense of a hand; it may be a little goofy, but if you read way WAY too far into it, it can be taken as symbolism for the violence inherent in her duty. But in that vein, there's another kinder side to the symbolism: the Chozo didn't give her two guns, they left her one hand. So killing isn't all that her duty entails.
Double genocide survivor is a frankly bizarre backstory. Like, this poor woman; what are the odds. But it's semi-necessary to the narrative, and I love it because it sets her so far apart. She looks human, she could be a human, any human she meets would think she was one, but deep down, her true people are the Chozo. And with the Chozo gone, she remains an alien wherever she goes. She's bound so tightly to her past that she will always be a stranger.
Related to previous, her armor is obviously alien technology. And not in a "ooh it's too advanced and shiny and glowy" way or whatever, but I mean it's distinctly Not Shaped Like A Human. Stand a Chozo next to a human and you can tell which one it was built to fit. As the series' art style has progressed its proportions have even evolved to match the Chozo's proportions; it's anatomical difficulties have never been resolved or lessened, it's never gotten more humanoid. Which is more than a little goofy (cue rekindling of decades-long debate of how her shoulders work or how her legs are so long) but I think it's awesome.
The built-in jetpack is not for flying, it's for running fast and sick flips.
g gre gr green lights...
The Mother complex is a controversial thing to like, since the only thing the games gave her to be motherly toward is a mindless jellyfish bioweapon (and that was in the worst-written game too, ouch) but I do like it. I like the idea of her being tender/caring/affectionate to the point of being good with kids or animals (if ever given the opportunity (which she never is.)) In another life, in some gentle elseworld, she could have excelled at a happy, perfectly normal domestic life, and it would be a happy ending to the series for her to finally find that life, though I don't expect such an end.
Most of the games represent her death animation as the suit exploding. Which I choose to interpret as a literal self-destruct, to avoid the horrors of her capture and the technology falling into wrong hands.
Ridley. I love her relationship with Ridley. It's the classic image of the knight vs. the dragon, but it never ends, and neither of them ever die. I feel like there's some symbolism I can't quite grasp about how he always comes back through the power of whatever OTHER thing she's currently dealing with, like he's never even plot-relevant, he's just there because she's there, tied to her, hounding her, he's there because her real duty isn't done.
Big strong woman let me touch your abs mommy
Actually could I take that last one back? Her modern fanon portrayal as 7 feet tall and shredded is probably better than some portrayals before (hourglass figure with heels), but I don't think it's accurate or necessary to her character either. Yes, I draw her more athletic, and yeah her job requires some physical prowess, but 90% of the time that prowess comes wholesale from the power armor, in which context the pilot's flesh isn't much more than wasted space. (Plus whenever I see abs I think of an interview with a powerlifter who was dissing bodybuilders, saying that abs aren't a sign of strength, they're just a sign you aren't eating enough.) In any case, I think the Samus portrayals I like best are those that make her just look like an ordinary lady, covered in the wrinkles and scars of her life. Prime Remastered did her right by my book.
The Chozo could have raised anybody to be their champion, a boy, a girl, one of their own, a defected pirate, why an alien like her? Why a human? Why an orphan who already had burdens enough? I am lead to believe by the canon that she selected by a Chozo prophecy, but from Whom does the prophecy spring?
And to what end is her prophecy? Is her great task in life to stop the lawlessness of the Space Pirates? To exterminate the X? Or Phaazon? (Judging by the events of Prime 3, I think the Federation could have done all such things on their own, and the Metroid Prime wearing her suit as an exoskeleton probably made the situation worse.) Or did the wellspring of the Chozo prophecy recognize the Chozo's own failings, and elect a champion intentionally not from among their own as a means of cleansing the universe of their mistakes, and handing the torch to the metaphorical next generation of races in the galaxy?
Prime 1 has a statue of a Chozo holding a tray, and a scan shows it's meant to represent their race balancing the weight of existence in their hands. Heck if I know whether that's an accurate assessment or just so much pride and hubris (the Metroid universe is admittedly a savage and fragile place in desperate need of balance and wisdom,) but it does make me wonder if Samus believes in all that.
If you held a gun to my head and made me give a headcanon about Samus's sexuality, I'd probably say cisgender and straight, since that's statistically most people, but I also recognize that she hit puberty surrounded by alien bird monks who wouldn't know what lips are without looking it up, and I don't know WHAT that does to a young lass, so I don't feel qualified to say. In any case, the canon never mentions friends, personal life, or significant other, in any way at all ever, which implies either A) she keeps privacy even from the narrative B) she doesn't have a lot of free time to spend in those contexts C) she's always on the move D) she tends toward a life of loneliness or E) all of the above.
One wonders what did her time in the military looked like. Did the Federation allow this genetically anomalous cyborg to just walk into the recruitment office? Did she have to apply for citizenship first? Did she just go into battle in her bright yellow? Did they know about her Power suit? Could she even speak human language at this point?? Did she like human food or does she prefer mixed grain and mealworms??? I headcanon: why not, yes, no, no, not much, sure.
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Two Sides of The Same Coin - Chapter 4: "Holy Ground"
"And darling, it was good never looking down. And right there where we stood was holy ground..."
Pairing: Grumpy!Bucky Barnes x Sunshine!Reader
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And then things got better. Your frame of reference for these things admittedly wasn't great, but you couldn't have imagined a better time over the next few months. It was absolutely perfect.
Mission after mission - day in, day out, now that you and Bucky were getting along, or more accurately now that Bucky stopped reading so much into Sam's words, you three actually made a pretty good team.
-
The playful dynamic between the three of you:
"This is a bad idea, right?" Sam murmurs, looking down at the overpass as you wait for the semi-truck to pass.
"Terrible idea," Bucky agrees.
"Too late, I've committed," you quip, stepping over the barricade. 
"But you haven't done anything yet!" Sam calls after you. 
-
"That's like a 20 foot drop, no way," Bucky says, his tone slightly playful but still sticking his arm out to stop you from dropping off the ledge of the rooftop the three of you were on. 
"That sounds like a challenge to me," you playfully remark. 
"It's not," Bucky deadpans.
You shrug, moving around Bucky's arm and leaping off the ledge.
“And I stick the landing!” you exclaim as your feet touch the ground, a well timed burst of air breaking your fall. As you land you turn around and stick your arms out much like a gymnast would at the end of their routine. You look up to find Bucky and Sam watching you in equal parts horror and awe. “Well come on!”
“How did-”
“I’m going to try that,” Sam decidedly mumbles.
“I wouldn’t-” But Sam’s already leaping off the ledge, mimicking your exact technique, at least without the mystical powers to further break his fall. 
“Sam, wait-” you start when you see him drop down without his wings extended.
Both you and Bucky wince as Sam lands on the lower rooftop. At first he remains standing, his knees awkwardly straight as he hits the gravel, only for him to audibly groan. “That’s going to hurt tomorrow.”
Bucky’s the next one to leap, this time with a much smoother landing. “That’s what you get for trying to copy a twenty-something year old with weird powers.”
“Hey!” you defend. “My powers aren’t weird.”
“I hate to side with Bucky,” Sam groans, rubbing at one of his knees. “But it’s definitely not normal.”
-
Or on Bucky's birthday: 
“James? What are you doing here?” you ask, wiping your hands on the dishtowel as he walks in the door.
He smirks, putting his jacket on one of the kitchen chairs. “Am I not supposed to be here?”
“You shouldn’t be working- it’s your birthday.”
“Crime doesn’t stop because of a birthday. How did you even know that it's my birthday?”
You coyly shrug. “I have my sources.”
“So Sam?” You shrug again, leaving Bucky once again without any answers. “Where is he anyway?”
“Upstairs having a very intense conversation with Nick Fury.”
“About?”
“I’ll give you one guess.”
“Oh…”
"Yeah... but back to your birthday," you smile. "No big plans? It's not everyday you turn 106."
He noncommittally grunts in response. Truthfully, this was his plan for the day. Sam had texted him earlier in the day inviting him over, and considering that most of the team was out doing their own things, it was a clear choice. Steve was out on a mission, though Bucky knew that Steve would probably call him later to wish him a happy birthday. The empty compound just felt particularly depressing today. And there was possibly a small, tiny part of him that wanted to see you.
"Well, this was supposed to be for later, but since we're waiting for Sam," you say, pulling out the cake that had been cooling in the fridge. "Happy Birthday, James."
“You didn’t have to do that," he says, though his heart swells at the thoughtfulness of the gesture.
“That’s what friends are for, right? Unless you’ve decided to go back to hating me.”
Bucky chuckles. “Not today. But you never know, I'm a cranky old man at heart.”
“Was that a joke?" you tease. "It’s truly a birthday miracle.”
He laughs again, a wry grin forming on his face, "They did exist back in my day."
"You know, you've got a really nice smile," you idly comment. 
A blush forms on Bucky's face and he's not quite sure how to respond, but you turn around to grab plates and utensils completely oblivious to how your compliment had thrown Bucky for a loop. “Well, what about you?" he asks after finally composing himself. "You know, since we’re friends and all.”
“What about me?”
“When’s your birthday?” 
Your smile drops slightly, which Bucky immediately notices.“I, uh, I don’t have a birthday.”
“What do you mean? Everyone has a birthday.”
“I mean, I’m sure I do- probably. I just don’t know it. I don’t even know how old I am.”
“I thought Sam said you were in your twenties?”
“I am, well at least that’s what they think. Somewhere in my mid-twenties, but we don’t actually know.”
"We're cutting cake!" Sam exclaims, walking into the room and effectively cutting your conversation with Bucky much to his frustration. It felt like for every question he had answered, a dozen new ones appeared, each answer more complicated than the last. 
-
Even the tense parts like when you had to be the buffer between Sam and Bucky's endless bickering.
"Move your seat up," Bucky demands, the three of you sitting in Sam's car. Him in the backseat, you in the front passenger seat. 
"No," Sam grunts.
"Move your seat up."
"Why do you insist I sit in the front if you don't have enough leg room in the back?" you ask, turning around to face Bucky, who remains glaring at Sam.
"Because I have manners."
"You know as well as I do that social cues are lost on me. We can just switch and I promise I won't be offended."
"Or Sam can move his seat up."
"You two are insufferable," you huff, facing forward until you can feel them both questioningly staring at you. "What? That was my word of the day a few days ago. Did I not use it right?"
"I am not insufferable," Bucky mutters, crossing his arms and sitting further back in his seat. "Pick a better word."
"Grumpy?" you suggest, mostly teasing.
"No."
"A crotchety old man," Sam offers.
Bucky rolls his eyes, then turns his gaze back to you waiting for you to come up with a better word. "Okay, well considering I’ve learned most of my vocabulary in the last six months, I'm still pretty limited in word choice, so we'll go with grumpy for you, and Sam will be the insufferable one."
Bucky huffs without saying another word, but you're pretty sure you see the corner of his lip twitch up through your sideview mirror.
-
On a few occasions, Bucky was regrettably the buffer between you and Sam.
"You're being ridiculous!" Bucky hears you say through the door to your's and Sam's apartment. He quietly opens the door to find Sam clutching several DVDs to his chest.
"I can't believe you!" Sam shouts. 
"It's not that big of a deal, Sam," you sigh, sitting on the couch with your arms folded watching Sam pace the length of the living room.
"Er...what's going on?" Bucky asks, eyes flickering to the two of you. 
Sam slaps the DVD cases down onto the coffee table. "You know what we did today? We finished the original Star Wars trilogy."
"Okay?" Bucky questions.
"And she didn't like them!"
"I didn't say that!" you vehemently object. "I said they were fine."
"Fine!" Sam rants. "Can you believe that? Just fine- these movies defined a generation! And you think they're just fine!"
You pinch the bridge of your nose, a habit you picked up from Bucky, and sigh,"It's not that big of a deal."
"Not a big deal," Sam scoffs. "Tell her, Bucky! Tell her that it is a big deal!"
Sam eye's remain narrowed at you as he waits for Bucky to back him up, only turning away from you when Bucky remains completely silent. Sam's face drops as he sees Bucky's awkward grimace, "Not you too. Please tell me not you too."
"No," Bucky immediately replies, quickly shaking his head. "I didn't say that. I just, I never watched them."
Your head drops in resignation, knowing exactly where this is headed.
"Well then I know what we're doing today," Sam announces, then turns to you with a pointed glare, "Pay attention this time."
-
And sometimes there was no buffer at all.
"You got to be the distraction last time!"
"So what?" Bucky argues, the three of you standing around the kitchen island. 
"Being the distraction is the best part and you know that!" Sam retorts.
"Alright, alright!" you interrupt, also wanting to be the one to create the distraction on this mission. "There's only one way to make this fair- rock, paper, scissors."
"Fine," Bucky and Sam grunt, each glaring at each other. You roll your eyes as the three of you stick your hands out. 
And much to their dismay, you get to be the distraction this time. “Can I set something on fire?”
“I said distraction not destruction," Sam grumbles.
“I’m pretty sure a fire would be pretty distracting," you wryly remark.
"You've been spending way too much time with Bucky."
"What does that mean?" Bucky scoffs in indignation. 
"You know exactly what it means."
-
And somewhere in those short few months, you noticed your relationship to Bucky changing, taking a turn in a way that your friendship to Sam hadn't. You constantly looked forward to the next time you'd see Bucky. Your smile would grow just a little wider when he was near. You immediately noticed when he walked in or out of a room. You just couldn't get him out of your head. You reconciled that it was probably nothing, just a blossoming friendship. But unbeknownst to you, Sam also noticed the changes in your relationship with Bucky.
"Hey, Doll," Bucky greets, warmly smiling at you before even acknowledging Sam.
You return the warm smile, "Hi."
"Oh my goodness. I forgot my phone upstairs, do you mind grabbing it?" Sam stiltedly asks you.
"Oh, sure," you reply, standing up to go retrieve Sam's phone.
“Don’t flirt with her," Sam hisses, swiftly elbowing Bucky in the ribs the second you're out of earshot.
Bucky’s eyebrows furrow in disbelief. “I literally just said hi!”
“You smiled.”
“I’m not allowed to smile?”
“Not when you’re flirting with my asset.”
“I wasn’t flirting!”
“You were totally flirting. Stop it," he warns, sounding like an older brother warning his friend about his sister being off limits.
“I can’t stop doing something that I didn’t do in the first place.”
"You can and you will."
You walk back into the room before Bucky and Sam can exchange anymore words. "I couldn't find your phone. Where did you leave it?"
"Oh, silly me! I've got it right in my pocket. My bad," he chuckles, dramatically slapping his forehead.
"Okay..." you trail off, definitely noting the strange atmosphere you just walked back into.
-
You could've stayed like that forever...
Previous Chapter ⏐ Next Chapter
"Two Sides Of The Same Coin" Chapter List AnonymityIsFun Masterlist
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anyablackwood · 7 months
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Tip for writers trying to make their story more immersive:
If your characters are supposed to be speaking in another (real life) language, but you're writing it in (for example) English (ex: the story takes place in medieval France but you're an English-speaking author writing it for an English-speaking audience), looking into the language's structure can be extremely helpful!
Obviously things like looking into connotations behind terms or trying to find colloquial equivalents to common expressions is more important, but if you really want to go the extra mile, figuring out if your dialogue makes sense in both languages can be a good idea!
For example, Japanese doesn't have gendered pronouns. It ironically has a boat load of pronouns, but none of them are gendered and for the most part, native speakers don't use any in a conversation once the subject has been established. Most of them are different variations of "I/me/my" (which is technically the same word) or "you/your/yours", and they also ironically go entirely unused in a conversation. Plural or gender-neutral pronouns, such as "they" also don't exist in the way it does in English; and they're also omitted 99% of the time in conversation.
So if your characters are having a conversation in Japanese, and they bring up someone's pronouns
Example:
"You have a girlfriend? That's good! What's her name?" "His name is Michael." "His...? Oh."
That is structurally impossible! There is no "she" or "his"! The conversation's structure, directly translated, would sound something like
"Made girlfriend? Good! Name is?" "Name is Michael."
There's not even a way for them to respond with "His?" because the word itself literally doesn't exist. In that case, you could make sure he says "My boyfriend's name is Michael." The name itself would obviously tip them off on its own, but if you want it to run smoothly in both English and Japanese, adding "boyfriend" and having them focus on that term would work.
Again, this isn't strictly necessary, and you're not a bad writer if you choose not to! It's just something that I noticed a lot when reading stories like this. As a bilingual person, it can kind of break my immersion a bit when the characters have what is essentially an impossible conversation, but it doesn't necessarily ruin the story and the world won't end just because I'm occasionally pulled out due to logistics. My chemist sister doesn't read a lot of sci-fi because she gets too absorbed in the probabilities of the science involved, but that doesn't invalidate sci-fi as a genre or any authors whose stories don't fully hold up under that level of scrutiny! It's just something I giggle at when I come across.
I've seen people arguing on online forums trying to prove a character's gender in an anime using subtitles or dub clips, and it never fails to make me laugh when they aggressively circle/clip and loop the "he" in the sentence. Sure, official translators have likely communicated with the original studio and confirmed these translations as accurate, but even so, that's for an English-speaking audience's ease of interpretation. They've done it before with Pokemon's infamous "jelly donuts". It's highly possible the studio just agreed because they've never heard of gender-neutral pronouns or just didn't really care.
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Reassurance 🖤
Billy butcher x (female reader)(no y/n)
Summary : You finally tell butcher how much you love him 🥹🖤
Warnings: Smut, piv, dirtytalk, mention of death, swearing, mention of drugs (compound V lmfao), praise kink, lemme know if there are any more !
Fandom : The boys obvi (if you haven't watched please do it's on prime)
Note : English isn't my first language so THERE WILL BE MISTAKES ‼️‼️ im sorry about that and i'll do my best 🫶🏻
I aldo changed the story just a little bit so not everything is 100% accurate !!
Let's go 👻
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As I help Kimiko with her calligraphy on the couch, i hear hughie and M.M arguing but they are too far for me to properly hear them. It's been days since we haven't seen Billy and i've been so worried. It's not unusual but everytime he leaves our spot im scaredd of him never coming back. Since my hushand died because of Homelander, he has been the first one to make me feel safe again. I love him so much but with our hidden lifestyle, there is no time for love. After Kimiko's done with her "homework" for the day, i leave her to watch tv and join frenchie next to the rest of the boys.
-The funny thing is that i called butcher an hour ago. He chuckles to himself.
-So they're fussing about butcher ? I look at frenchie in disbelief. I swear M.M's going lose it soon.
-Imbéciles.. (Idiots).He mumbles before glancing at them again.
I feel bad for hughie, he must be feeling so unsafe and alone without his dad... I don't know anything about him except for Transculent but it's obvious that this hidden part of the world is new to him.
We suddenly hear some groans and some noises on the floors above us. I run next to Kimiko and point my gun at the stairs when one of Frenchie's friend fall from the top of the stairs in a pained whimper. All of a sudden, Butcher appears at the top of the stairs with a wicked smile. Everyone lowers their guns after frenchie does. That's when Hughie loses it.
-You fucking called butcher, Frenchie ? He asks. Hughie walks up to Frenchie rapidly.
-Yes i did, we need butcher to get out of this shit hole espèce de bâtard. (You bastard)
Hughie gets aggressive with frenchie but butcher stops him easily before anything bad happens.
Butcher walks up to hughie and after a quick pep talk with him, hughie calms down a bit.
-But don't you worry, daddy's home. Butcher says, looking around before making eye contact with me.
That smile will always make my heart skip a beat.
But i realise soon enough that his chest is bleeding alot. His coat is barely covering the scarlet circle on his aloha shirt.
Time skip (Few hours)
After the boys and I finished creating a plan, we decided to take the evening to relax before leaving tomorrow. Everyone's watching tv except for hughie who's probably crying in his room (aka one of the closet 💀). Butcher's sitting at the dining table while im making him something to eat.
-Did you need anything else? I ask him, placing his plate on the table.
-No no you've already done enough.
-Butcher. I look at him with a serious face.
-What? He says, mouth full of cheap mac and cheese.
-I know you're bleeding, i saw it through your shirt.
-It's ok. Don't worry 'bout that.
I glance at him but do not insist.
After a couple hours, everyone went to sleep except for butcher, i was still awake and i couldn't sleep knowing he was probably in awful pain right now. This motherfuker was so god damn stubborn.
That's why i got up and brought the med kit with me to the dining room where billy was.
The gentle moonlight was the only source of light in the room. I could only see his lonely silhouette sat on the chair. I clear my throat.
-Butcher, please let me at least put you a bandage, you lost alot of blood. You ask quietly.
-I told you i didn't needed one. Go back to sleep.
That man will be the death of me.
I walk in front of him, admiring his face.
-I won't go to sleep until i know you are patched up.
He stands up slowly and looks at me dead in the eyes. I can see his eyebrows frowning.
-I ain't gon' tell you twice, go. To. Sleep. He says, putting his hands in his pockets.
I feel so annoying but i need to know he will be fine.
-Billy, i swear to god let me patch you up real quick and then i'll go to-
-Listen, i fucking told you to leave, now get outta my face before i make you.
I glance at him angrily and try to lift his shirt. Before i reach the hem of it he takes my hand and slam it on the table, holding it on the surface. I look at him with shock.
-Billy, Im just trying to help yo-
-You aren't helping me right now you're just annoying.
This bitch was getting on my fucking nerves, but i needed to take care of him. I already lost so much people, i cannot lose him.
-Come on billy let me do this i don't want you to be in pain i love yo-
My eyes widen and i put my free hand on my mouth before saying another word.
He glances at me with a small shocked look on his face and he slowly let go of my hand.
-What did you say? He looks at me tenderly.
Something's not right, why isn't he making fun of me ?
Anxiety took over my body as my legs became weak. I couldn't stop looking at his face.
Why would did i say that ? He doesn't like me, he just said i was annoying. I finally turn my head to the side, breaking eye contact.
-Hey, look at me.
I looked at him slowly and realised he was smiling seductively.
I couldn't believe my eyes, he was so god damn beautiful. Someone give me a fucking medal.
-You serious ? He asks, looking at my lips.
Mental note : Change underwear cause the one im wearing are soaked.
I get taken back by his reaction, but since i said it, let's go with it. After all it's the truth.
-Yes, yes i am.
My cheeks must be so red right now.
He looks at me with puppy eyes and i can almost hear his heart beating.
-I swear if it's one of your jokes i will kill you with my bare hands right now.
I start playing with the hem of my vest.
-I love you william.
Billy puts his hand on my cheek and gives me a soft smile.
-You really do ? He asks.
-I always loved you.
He starts to kiss me slowly at first, almost like he's scared to hurt me, but when he sees that im enjoying it, he puts his hands around my waist and presses me against his chest. He picks me up and put my legs around his hips, sitting me on the counter. I laughs a bit and he takes the opportunity to slip his tongue into my mouth, deepening the kiss. I moan into the kiss as he caress my thigh with his hand.
Billy picks me up again, brings me to his bedroom, and throws me on the small bed before removing his coat. He goes on top of me and starts kissing my neck agressively.
-I dreamed about this so often, sweet girl.
-You did ?
Just the thought of him dreaming about me made me wetter. How will i survive this.
-Since the firs' time i saw you.
He kisses my earlobe and lift my shirt before pressing soft kisses on my lower belly.
-Let me take care of you, love.
He looks at me with that iconic smile before unbuttoning my pants, lowering his kisses until he reaches my soaked panties.
-Looks like you dreamed about this too huh?
-Show me how much you wanted this, Butcher.
He puts my panties to the side before pressing small kisses on my slit. My body aches for his touch, i must be dreaming, because this is impossible. Having the butcher, William butcher, on his knees, ready for me, sounds so impossible.
He finally buries his face in my cunt and it takes me so much control not to be loud. His hands hold my thighs around his face while he sucks on my clit, making me already feel that familiar feeling i missed so much.
-So beautiful.. he mumbles under his breath.
I moan his name and put my hand on his head, guiding where i want him, where im aching.
He stands up, leaving my unsatified cunt and he unbuckles his belt, lowering his pants until i see his cock, already leaking a bead of precum. He is huge. I shouldn't act suprised, but his size doesn't fail to hypnotise me..
-Eyes up here beautiful. He says, now unbuttoning his shirt, revealing his strong chest and arms.
I see the wound he had on the side of his chest and i get up, thanking the universe he has a med kit in his room.
-Now, you shut up and let me patch you up or i swear i will-
-Calm down, pretty girl, go ahead, patch me up. He says, sitting on the edge of the bed.
I smile at him before sitting beside him.
I start to clean the wound but his finger start to draw small circles around my clit, making it more difficult for me to heal him.
I moan his name, trying my best to stay focused but he picks me up and sits me on his lap, not so far from his cock.
After a couple minutes, i finally close the med kit and hum at the kisses he gives me.
-Finally.
He lies down on the bed carefully not to ruin the bandage he has on. He lift me up and lines my heat with his cock.
-You ready for this, love ? He looks at me with a beautiful smile.
-Yes, please william make me feel good.
He pushes me down his groin, and i can't stay quiet. He puts his hand on my mouth, keeping me quiet while he puts his tongue on my breast, teasing me.
I try and grind down on him, but he is holding me down with his free hand.
-Please william.
-So desperate and needy huh?
He let out a small laughs before slamming into me again, making me cry out.
He gives me time to adjust to him before slamming back into me faster and rougher.
The sounds of our soft moans and skin collapsing together filled the room. My moans became more and more loud when he circled my clit with his finger until my orgasm exploded.
-Im im about to-. I stutter.
-I know i know don't you worry, go ahead, beautiful.
I let out the most sinful sounds ever known to mankind while William kept fucking me harder and harder, admiring me.
-You are dangerous. He says, smiling at me.
His groans started to fill the room and he started going even faster than before until he came inside of me, holding my hair and kissing my neck until he rode it off.
We eventually laid down, cuddling together. We didn't need to talk, we just enjoyed the moment. We fell asleep in each others arms, happily.
I woke up the next morning, next to him. It was still pretty early so i could stay by his side before leaving. After a couple minutes. He finally woke up.
-Well hello, butcher.
I could tell he forgot i was with him for quite a couple seconds, but when he remembered last night, a smirk appeared on his face.
-Hi pretty girl.
I put my head on his chest.
-Can i ask you a question, william.
-Sure, wha's up.
-Why didn't you want me to patch your wound.
He hesitated for a second, but glanced at me with a smile.
-I hate showing people that i'm weak. Since all that compound V shit, i've gotten some pretty bad injuries and i can't show that im hurt in this world.
-I understand, but you are strong butcher, stronger than alot of people.
-Thank you love.
HERE IT IS FINISHED.
#theboys #theboysamazon #amazonprime #smut #williambutcher #karlurban #billybutcher #butcher #smutbillybutcher #smutkarlurban #compoundV #prime #homlander #praisekink #petnames #names #noyn #hughie #hughcampbell #frenchie #MM #Theboyskarlurban #Theboyskimiko
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linkspooky · 10 months
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hi 👋
i was wondering how do you go about writing mai zen’in?
i wanted to write more about her but I don’t think I have her character voice completely right yet. 🫠
and out of all the fics I read that focused on mai (it’s not a lot 😭) i think you wrote mai the most accurately.
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I'll do my best anon, but fair warning ahead of time what you're going to get isn't exactly canon Mai, because Mai as a character has about three major scenes in canon, her introduction, her fight with Maki and then her death. I've done my best to flesh out Mai based on my interpretation of those three scenes. This is basically how I characterize her in my fics Werewolf and Inugami Family.
To understand Mai you have to understand Maki
As much as I enjoy Mai as her own character, the way Gege writes her within the story itself is basically as a tool to prop up Maki. Which means a lot of Mai's characterization is derived from how she relates to Maki, and also her relationship with Maki.
A lot of this is going to sound like, if Maki is X, then Mai is Y.
I think as a character Mai is designed to be everything that Maki is not. Nobara in fact makes that comparison between the two of them, that Mai is the shitty knock off version of Maki.
Maki looks at her situation in life, and doesn't mope or whine about it she earnestly works hard to improve it. In comparison, Mai not only pities herself a lot more than Maki does, she also blames the people around her (even her sister who she loves) rather than herself. Mai's the kind of person where if you were sitting there listening to them complain, you'd eventually get fed up hearing them and say "Well, aren't you going to do anything about it or are you just going to sit there?"
Mai's basically designed to be sort of unlikable, to make Maki look better. As an unintended side effect, she actually shows the symptoms of her traumatic upbringing in the Zen'in a lot clearer. Maki for someone who has apparently been violently abused her entire life, doesn't really lash out in anger that often, doesn't act up, and is for the most part just kind of introverted and a loner. Her worst quality is that she doesn't really respect or trust the people around her.
Mai on the other hand shows a lot of symptoms of what she endured. She's interalized the fact that she's weak and helpless and doesn't try to step beyond that. Mai is one of the complacent women of the Zen'in Clan like her mother. Naoya even says in his assessment of the twins that Mai may have a bad mouth but she ultimately knows her place. Mai acts oversexual and flirtatious when she's engaging women around her and seems to just get plain annoyed by men. Mai says the nastiest things imaginable, and she's totally willing to throw the same emotinoal abuse the clan constantly threw at Maki (you're weak, you're useless without a cursed technique) if she thinks it'll get attention from her sister. Mai's trauma is actually a problem which shows up in her everyday behavior. Nobara says trauma isn't an excuse to just do whatever you want, and like that's a quote from an unsympathetic source but I do think Mai has a tendency to play the victim.
Mai's also defined entirely by her cowardice. She just wants to run away and hide rather than face things. Part of the reason she wants her sister back is because her life would be easier if someone else was there to either protect her or suffer with her, even if that's not what's best for Maki. Mai's one backstory moment is her being so terrified of curses she wanted to close her eyes to everything and cling to her sister's hands rather than face it.
Mai's eternally running away from her problems, but if anything to me that makes her a far easier character to write than Maki. The best advice I can give about Mai is try to make her as unlikable as possible. She's whiney, mean, and rude. If you had her as a friend you'd probably get sick of her pretty quickly.
A big basis of my characterization for Mai is Faith from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, if you want a show to watch for inspiration. Faith is the negative character foil for the hero Buffy. Because Faith is first an anti-hero, and then an anti-villain she's allowed to have a lot more negative traits to explore than Buffy is as the hero. Faith is not required to be likable, she doesn't have to appear moral and because of that there's a lot more flexibility with her character. So, Faith to Buffy is take the heroes flaws, and make them more ugly. Mai to Maki, is lets take Maki's flaws and make them more annoying. What if Mai had Maki's exact same trauma, but she was annoying about it and nobody respected her?
As a character there's a lot you can work with for her, because she has a lot of flaws to overcome. Not only that but her internal world is very complex, basically nothing that comes out of her mouth is the truth and she never tells anyone how she really feels. Which means you can show a lot of that complexity by demonstrating say, the difference between her words and her actions. Or say, the difference between how she really feels about someone like her sister, and the things she says because she's trying to cover up that vulnerability.
My last advice is Mai is kind of in a continual state of pain. It's not like she's not getting over her childhood abuse as an adult, she's literally still living in that abusive home with really no way out and no therapist to talk to or adult figure to rely on. If she's not strong enough like Maki to just overcome it, then everything she does is a sort of twisted attempt to cope with the pain, like someone who drinks just to get through the day. If your every day reality is to be stuck in a painful home where you're continually reeling from that pain and feeling like you're in danger, then it's going to be hard for you to think straightforwardly about things or even try to self improve like Maki does because your brain is in survival mode.
That's all I've got for now, hope you had fun.
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celinou · 10 days
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Thanks @lenorelovesmax for tagging me 🤍
1. How many works do you have on AO3? 2, currently. Well, more like one and a half baked scene that has no context, to be more accurate.
2. What's your total AO3 word count? 194.036 words.
4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? I have like the one fic, the other thing has 2 kudos. So... - A Walk in Chiaroscuro (354)
5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Yes, absolutely. It's pretty rare when I don't. I like to tell people that I appreciate their support and comments or to answer questions they might have about the story or the choice I made.
6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I don't do angsty endings. I'm too old and too jaded by life to appreciate them anymore. I'm at a point in my life where I need to know there's hope and happiness at the end of the line.
7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? I'm guessing there will be some kind of repetition since I've only published Awic... Soooo, it's a Walk in Chiaroscuro! ...but if you want to know about the ones that I keep in my drawer never to see the light of AO3, the happiest ending goes to Let's Write a Love Story (it's a Homestuck fanfic)
8. Do you get hate on fics? No. I'm writing in a mostly dead fandom so far and for kind of a rare pair so, people have been starved of content. They were so nice and sweet to me in the comments.
9. Do you write smut? I wish! I don't have the chops for it but I so wish I could write good smut! Honestly it's something I really want to push myself into exploring. Unfortunately your girl is a bit too vanilla in her taste which makes for poor reading. I don't fear being bad... I fear being boring, you know?
10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've ever written? I've never done that, no. But who knows what future will lead me to write.
11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? No. I don't have enough reach to be the target of theft.
12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Nope. And tbh I don't have the patience to translate it myself in my native language.
13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Could have... but no. There was an attempt at a joined project for Dragon Age but, unfortunately, it didn't work out in the end. I'm not abandoning the idea of writing for Dragon Age but I'll probably go in a very different direction since it would be a solo project.
14. What's your all time favorite ship? I... don't have one... Yeah, I'm not much of a shipper at the core. I mean I did write for Caulscott but I practically ship Max with everybody in LIS so... I was more interested by Nathan's potential as a love interest more than the ship itself. Outside of LIS... I can't think of any ship rn, I'm afraid.
15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? Tough question. If I abandoned a project I don't consider it a WIP. It's a dropped thing that goes in the reusable idea bin... and if I'm still working on it, I don't go into thinking I won't finish it. So, it's hard to say really. To not leave you with such a vague answer, I'll give you this: the fic I planned to write about the Hidden Object Games series Dark Parable, that never took off and never will (for I have better/much more attractive projects to work on). It's a dropped thing. But now you can see I have weird and obscure taste.
As for original projects: I have a Horror RPG project that probably won't ever see the light of day, called: The Clockmaker. (because I realized I'm shit at pixel art, tragic)
18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? Hum... No. I don't mind people doing it but I tried it myself in my pirate epic and, let me tell you, I'm not that good a multilingual as to be witty in more than 2 languages. I found what I wrote cringe af when I read back my text in the editing phase and scrapped it all out.
19. First fandom you wrote for? Homestuck. I started writing fics very late in my life. (I wrote original stuff before that)
20. Favourite fic you've ever written? A Walk in Chiaroscuro. Because it's the only fic I went into unafraid to write what I wanted without thinking about who might read it. And to this day it's the truer work I've put out. Not the most personal by any stretch but the one I indulged in the most. And I'm so proud of it. Flaws and all.
I tag @sourrind and @momochizoey if you feel like doing it. And everybody who'd want to as well, consider yourself tagged, friend!
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anonzentimes · 13 days
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last asker here wahoo weehee but yeah i dont mind the ramble !!! honestly i do feel a little similar sometimes ourgh . maybe not with being in specific fandoms but especially when it comes to like . the smaller things like self inserts . the like
but anyway !!!!!! now im curious and im not too sure if you've answered anything of the sort before but i do wonder what you thought of the difference in characterization with Nagito in the games and in the anime?
not that nagito in the games r even one for one the same- same goes for the anime-
but i do know there's a difference , and i've heard so many differing opinions on how Nagito's potrayed in both, especially discussion on how faithful Nagito in danganronpa 3's character is to danganronpa 2, so i'll admit now im very interested on hearing your thoughts on him when looking at game nagito and anime nagito side by side eyes emoji
YAYY!!!!! I love getting asked to talk about him it's so fun!!! No one has actually asked this before, and I've been planning to do something on this for a bit!
Personally I think anime Nagito is actually really good! Although I think side lining him for a little bit was a weird decision, even if I understand why. But enough of that! Let's talk more about his characterization! I'll talk about what I think about Nagito's characterization in the anime and some annoyances I have with the misinterpretations!
I will admit that some of the fandom's opinions on, "Anime Nagito vs Game Nagito," kind of bother be because a lot of it stems from people not understanding his character in it's entirety in the first place.
The thing about Nagito is that he works as an amazing antagonist because he isn't ill intentioned and is just mentally screwed up. In the killing game his coping mechanisms and absolute beliefs are on display and he is at his worst, he's practically having multiple mental breakdowns and losing it. And his beliefs and coping mechanisms happen to be morally gray because he believes Anything is okay if it's for hope. With his luck cycle, coping mechanisms, and absolute beliefs that stem from both of these things we get Nagito. And when you place Nagito who thinks being trapped on the island forever without the ultimates impacting the world in any way is worse than one person surviving and making an impact on the world, he feels like he has to do something.
Basically, how Nagito acts in the anime and before the first trial is who he is when he's not mentally crumbling and I get really irritated when people try to say that in the game he was a "malicious psychopath" but in the anime he turned into "baby boy" like, just, GRRRAGHHH!!!!! IT MAKES ME FEEL LIKE HE NEEDS TO BE GATEKEPT WHEN PEOPLE DO THAT!!! THEY'RE MISUNDERSTANDING HIM SO BAD IT HURTS ☹️☹️☹️
I believe the anime's characterization is pretty great and still keeps in tact his absolute beliefs that lead him to do morally gray things for the sake of hope! I think he's very well done characterization wise in the anime. I liked the episode where he ends up blowing up the gym because he wants to postpone the test for his classmates it made a lot sense with how he thinks and his luck cycle! I also really love his encounter with Junko and Izuru. He says several good lines in the anime that are accurate and completely in character for him, and I love it!
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I think the addition that the class thought he was weird even before he was at his worst and didn't show much reciprocation is sad and adds to his tragic life. The fact that he isn't surprised when Chisa slaps him, but rather when he is shown affection gets me dude!!!
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I think it is sweet though that, his time at hope's peak is probably one of the best experiences he had until everything went wrong. He isn't shown much reciprocation but he genuinely cares for his classmates beyond them being ultimates from hanging out and knowing them so long. He has some reciprocation from Chisa and the other classmates somewhat care about him to varying degrees. I believe his overall luck cycle went, get accepted into hope's peak, good luck, gets diagnosed, bad luck, gains people he cares about in his life and some who care about him too, good luck, all of them become despairs, bad luck!
The other thing I wanted to touch upon is Bryce Pappenbrook listening to criticism about how Nagito sounds more sarcastic than intended. For a lot of the english fanbase the misinterpretation that Nagito's not honest is beyond repair especially since he's hard to understand, but I really do appreciate the effort to change it slightly. Even if people who misunderstood think there's a huge difference or even retcon with his character, I think it's a nice change that he sounds more genuine like his Japanese voice in the anime.
I think the real difference with him in the Anime versus Ultra Despair Girls and Danganronpa 2 is his role in the story. I think he's very in character, we just don't see him having meltdowns and go through his self unaware freak outs. We still see him do morally gray things and impact the plot though! In the anime he's doing better compared to the spiraling we see in Danganronpa 2 and rock bottom even more extreme beliefs we see in Udg.
Also I think the anime solidifying the fact that Nagito usually doesn't go out of his way for the ultimate's attention because he thinks he's unworthy of their time actually makes Danganronpa 2 more impactful. Because, if he doesn't try to seek the ultimates attention, then that's further solidifying the fact Nagito was interested in Hajime, he felt a connection with him even when they first met. We see him do the opposite of what he usually would just because of Hajime, and I think that's really sweet.
Nagito barely mentioning hope in Danganronpa 2's prologue is for the plot twist mostly, however, there could be multiple actual reasons for it. My interpretation is that it's because he wanted to make a good impression so he focuses on that instead, that combined with it not really coming up leads to them not really knowing what he thinks. There are hints of it and he's not purposely "hiding it" at all. Nagito is an honest person who only lies when he feels it's necessary, to further prove that point when he gets the despair disease, personality inverting disease, he gets the Lying disease.
Nagito in the prologue and in the anime are the same because he's not losing it yet, the only difference is Nagito talks slightly less about hope and his beliefs because It's not very relevant, he's trying to make a good impression, and he's focusing on keeping Hajime's attention. My favorite little thing supporting this is that he doesn't complain about going swimming. In the Dangan Island events we see him worry about it, but when he's focusing on everything else he didn't really think about it. He asks what Hajime is planning to do instead.
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In conclusion, I believe Nagito in the anime is pretty good. He serves his role well for it not being his usual one, info about what he was like adds a little more to Danganronpa 2 analyzing it, and it's nice that we get to see more of him when he's not at his worst. He's still absolutely the same person and I think his characterization is really good. I think they could have utilized him more or made him relevant to the plot sooner if they wanted, but I think the impact and scenes that he has still are great and work well since he, again, doesn't have his usual role in the anime.
One last thing while I'm here talking about the anime's Nagito, a lot of people like to make the joke that he's "hopesexual" because of the one fan service line of dialogue in Danganronpa 3 where he basically says, "Hope feels amazing," and I just. URAGGHHH!!!!!!!! I'm sorry but if someone unironically says "hopesexual" I hope that their pillow always remains warm on both sides because saying it Is ANNOYINGG!!! It's so easy to get I don't know why people do this, and I know I'm being a little over the top but it just bugs me sooo bad Like,
Hope = Absolute Good/Euphoric Feeling for him, Horny = Euphoric Feeling for him, CONCLUSION: GENERAL EUPHORIA DESCRIPTOR!! He doesn't have a hope kink and the people who make those jokes are weird especially since it's straight up wrong!! I know it's just a joke, but it still gets on my nerves regardless because some people take it seriously. Even one of his songs uses this comparison by allegorizing hope with sexual desires, conveying that both are euphoric emotions for him! >:(
Anyways!
Thank you for your ask and Hopefully I successfully got all of the points I wanted to across! <3
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thesweetnessofspring · 7 months
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"Why didn't he like me?" asked Jane dully. When all was said and done, that seemed to be what was hurting most. Her mother might not have wanted her either, to begin with, but Jane knew that mother loved her now. Mother suddenly gave a little laugh so sad that it nearly broke Jane's heart. "He was jealous of you, I think," she said. "He made your mother's life wretched," said grandmother, her voice hardening. "Oh, I was to blame, too," cried mother chokingly.
This exchange is very interesting. Jane has been told that "neither of them wanted you" and that her mother left her father when she was three. So he had (presumably) gotten a chance to know her. While Mrs. Stuart's love for Jane grew, it appears to Jane Mr. Stuart never came to like her. That she believes perhaps if he even liked her, not even loved her, but liked her, that he would have wanted her.
We've thankfully gotten more of an understanding of how to talk to kids about divorce/parents leaving, so how Mrs. Stuart and Mrs. Kennedy respond are very of the time (and despite the resources on how to talk to kids about absent parents/divorce/separation, many still persist in using these tactics).
"He was jealous of you" can seem positive, because it means I love you so much, you were more important. Doesn't that make you feel good? That I loved you so much your own father was jealous? Grandmother has a five chapters now of her being cold and cruel, but prior to research indicating otherwise, chalking up the blame to the bad parent you don't see was seen as "warning" the kid or "being honest" with them. It is NOT the appropriate response because children identify with their parents even if they haven't met them, so hypothetically (and everyone is different) if Jane's father made her mother's life wretched, and she is from her father, then she makes her mother's life wretched, too. And you know, in this case, Grandmother probably does know it will torment Jane and she wants to correlate the two of them.
Mrs. Stuart taking some of the blame is also interesting...I've had to deal with a lot of parents who are not in a relationship and it is rare they own any blame in the relationship (and often I only get one side of the story, so I can't judge on how true it is). Between this statement and how Jane says her mother is always sad, there is still regret for how things turned out, a desire that it had been different, if only she had behaved differently, too. And I don't know the parents' story yet so I'm waiting to see how accurate of a perception this is!
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