#and I choose the other option and he was like 'you proved me right :)' and I looked at my brother dumbfolded

[nientedal]

What progress at home has biden enacted? What policies of his show that he is making progress that prove he is actually different than trump?

I like to pretend I have faith in humanity, so I'll answer as if you're asking this in good faith.

Biden's DEA has lifted restrictions on telehealth prescriptions to make appointments and assistance more accessible.

He put a funding package into place to help unhoused people get access to mental and physical healthcare, as well as short-term and long-term housing.

He has attempted and is still attempting to get student debt relief through - this was blocked by Republican judges appointed by Trump, but he's still working on it.

Infrastructure repair - his administration has budgeted funds to actually fix some severely-damaged and frequently-traveled bridges.

Trying to expand access to healthcare to include undocumented immigrants who came to the USA as children (Dreamers) under the Affordable Care Act. Support for Navigator programs and outreach has also been increased.

He has vetoed Republican-led bills that were attempting to overturn environmental protections - one that would have forbidden investment fund managers to consider climate change in their portfolios (I have two degrees in accounting and this is actually huge), and another that would have overturned restrictions on agricultural runoff into our waterways.

He and his administration worked for ages to get rail workers paid sick days.

This is just some of what he's been doing. Meanwhile, Trump and other Republicans want to criminalize the lives of LGBT people like you and me. They want to eliminate no-fault divorce and force births that will kill parents or devastate them financially. They have stated flat out that they want to install a military dictatorship in the USA. They attempted to put that in motion on January 6th, 2021. They failed once. They will do better next time.

One party wants to house the homeless and expand social safety nets, while the other one wants to criminalize homelessness. One of them wants a future in which I might be able to vote to change how much of a war machine my country is, while the other one wants to eliminate my ability to vote entirely. Those are not the same. Those literally are opposites.

At the end of the day, all you and I can do is choose to do the least amount of harm possible. You and I cannot choose to do no harm. This is the USA, we sell war, you and I cannot choose to do no harm. I wish we could, my god do I wish we could, but that is not an option. So we grieve for the harm we couldn't eliminate and work to minimize the harm that is done. Despite all the crap they support, Democrats are the minimum amount of harm right now. Acting like they aren't is exactly what brought us to an election where our options are a future where we are either wading in blood or drowning in it.

Not voting for Biden will not help Palestine. Not voting for Biden will guarantee a Republican president who will make the situation in Palestine WORSE. AND it'll hurt a lot of other places as well, both at home and abroad, because Republicans are about business and the USA is in the business of war! And I would very much like that to change someday! I would very much like to someday be able to choose to do no harm! And I know what I have to do to try for that future, so what are YOU going to do? There is no standing off to the side in this. If you aren't helping pull, you're the dead weight we're pulling. Are you going to dig your feet into the mud and blood and drown us there? Or are you going to get the fuck off your ass, grit your teeth, and help us pull free?

[belphegorey]

⌜games, leviathan⌟ ⎯ the perfect game. he had truly found the perfect game. ⎯ fem!reader x leviathan ⎯ warnings include: pervy leviathan, tails, accidental voyeurism and exhibitionism

Who would have believed that they could make such a game? Leviathan was giddy in his seat as the game loaded up. Moans played through his headset and he tapped his finger anxiously on the mouse. It wasn’t the first time he had played a hentai game while everyone was asleep, far from it in fact, but it was different.

Those other games weren’t customisable.They had pretty characters, he had fallen victim numerous times to the charms, but in the new game he could make anyone he wanted. He could make you , his only true friend that Leviathan knew would never be more. You were always with his brothers instead.

The game began with your character, almost a picture perfect design of you (he did spend far too long making sure it was akin to you) moved through the dark castle. His character’s POV, a demon lord of warriors, watched as your breasts, barely hidden in the bikini top, bounced with each step.

“ Mighty Leviachan, ” you bowed before the throne, Levi whimpered at just how similar your voice sounded to your real one. He couldn’t believe he was able to customise your voice too! Like that human game you had told him about, just without the magic charms. The camera panned down as his character stood above you. You bit your lip and looked up at him from your bow, “ I apologise for the disruption. ”

Options appeared for him to choose between. Leviathan clicked on the first one, questioning why your character was interrupting him. It made the slight glow around you turn pink as you looked away from him. The view followed your eyes and he noticed the concubines surrounding his throne. All who wanted him — Leviachan.

But, they weren’t you. He wanted you. Needed you. Craved you. “ I was sent to offer you a gift, my Lord. It is a thank you from Henry for saving his life. ” Your eyes still focused on the concubines even as his character stepped toward you. The pink flashed purple and blue in envy, it made Leviathan’s cock twitch. Jealousy, his own sun, looked so perfect on you. His character lifted your chin and made you stand tall…

… You were smaller than him. So cute and tiny. Just like in reality. No dialogue options appeared and instead  the automatic response played; “ What is my gift then ?”

The thin clothing you wore was shredded from your skin, leaving you nude before his very eyes. Your thighs pressed together and your arm went over your tits while the pink aura returned in vibrant effect. “ I am your gift, Master .” Leviathan’s character made your arms return to your side and allowed him the opportunity to ogle your tits. Just like your real ones. He closed his eyes and recalled the time you accidentally flashed him your whole body. A favourite memory of his. “ That is, if you would like me .”

More dialogue options appeared. If he was feeling patient, Leviathan would take the longer route by refusing the advances of your character. But, he was too excited, the tent in his sweatpants throbbed in eagerness. “ I see, ” Leviachan waved his hands and the throne room emptied of the concubines and servants. The power was explicating to him, Leviathan was sure he could become drunk off it (it must be how Lucifer felt, why couldn’t he command people the same way) but instead his character calmly went back to his throne and removed his clothing. Only briefly did the camera show the erection held by him, as it focused back on your nervous character, slowly walking toward his seat, “ then go ahead and prove yourself as a worthy present .”

“ Yes, Master .”

It cut away and jumped to you right before him. The tip of his cock was between your lips, and your tits rubbed against his length. The hands of Leviachan tapped on your hair with authority while Leviathan’s awkwardly fumbled to pull his cock from his pants. He was already leaking, and just the small touch of his fingers made him whimper. Your moans, muffled by the thick cock of the game, played in his ears and he couldn’t help but react to each noise.

It wasn’t bad if he already gave into the game, right? It was designed for this purpose, and it was you right in front of him. Leviathan groped at his desk for his fleshlight while keeping his eyes stuck on the screen. Sweat built on your forehead as you gagged on the cock. Options appeared for him again: Tease her. Choke her. Deepthroat her. He hastily clicked on the final one while teasing himself with the opening of his toy. So tight, Leviathan was sure you would be as well.

Leviachan’s hands on your head forced you lower on his cock, and you gasped against him. Your hands and tits fell from around him and instead moved between your thighs to play with your cunt.  “ Master,” you moaned around him as your eyes fluttered shut. He could see the bulge of the cock in your throat rubbing against you while your saliva dropped against him. Each whimper and whine you made was loud for him, but Leviathan turned the volume up to its full effect as he bottomed out in the fleshlight. “ Please,”

His hips moved in the same rhythm as his character, bucking into the toy with a slowly increasing speed. Leviathan shut an eye while the other still watched the screen. He wanted to fuck your mouth, it was a carnal emotion in his veins that had him growling. Asmo probably had. Mammon definitely tried. All of them had you, but not him. He needed you. Leviathan felt his tail sprout from his backside as sharp fangs pierced his bottom lip. The tang of his blood was nothing beneath the sour taste of jealousy.

Leviachan came into your mouth, his hips in the air and hands holding your head still at his base. He could see the cum slide down your throat as your fingers worked feverishly at your clit. Slick desire pooled on the stone floor and at uk to your thighs. Leviathan needed you. He wanted to taste you and please you. He wanted to take you and use you just like Leviachan did.

“ Master, ” you rubbed your face against his creamy cock while your eyes sparkled up at the camera. Love drunk. You would never look at the real him that way, “ please let me continue. ” Leviathan did not hesitate as he clicked the continue button, squeezing the fleshlight around him with a hiss.

The screen cut away again, but only to reveal the arch of your body as you slowly slid down his erection. Your tits were right in front of the camera, though it panned down to admire how your cunt took him so greedily. Hands squeezed around your waist while Leviathan held the desk between his claws. His tail wrapped tight around his wrist while he abused the fleshlight around him.

Your moans were the ultimate soundtrack to his moment. Like when the hero reaches the peak of his adventure, your vocals grew in pitch as the character fucked you as hard as you deserve. His fangs were daggers on his lip and he attempted to silence every moan Leviathan wanted to make.

Close. He was close. He focused on how your body bounced on him as he thrusted into the fleshlight with desperation. You would take it, he knew you would let him cum inside you and beg for more. Good human. His good human. Only his.

Leviathan’s eyes closed even as the shadows around his blue-lit room bent around a silhouette. He didn’t care, he was so close to the edge, Leviathan needed his release. Your face was dropped in awe at the cock inside you, little drops of drool building in the corner of your mouth between each moan of ecstasy. Perfect expression, the perfect human — he could imagine your sweet gaze watching him as he came in you.

But, just at the edge of release, his headphones were pulled from his head and fell around his neck. Leviathan turned around with a flush, ready to be chastised by Lucifer for playing such games with your likeness… only it was far worse. You, the real you; right before his envious eyes.

Your mouth was open wide in shock, as you flittered around to try and focus on something. There was so much evidence condemning him. He wanted to crawl into his fish tank and hide from the world. It was one thing to be caught playing such a game, but one where he purposely made the character look like you, isolation was the only option. You glanced between the screen illuminating the game version of you mewling for more cock, the fleshlight stuck on Leviathan’s cock, and at his neck were the moans were loudly playing for you both to hear.

In your hand held your D.D.D, his contact open to an ongoing phone call. Phone call. Phone call? Leviathan rushed to cover himself with his pants while searching for his own D.D.D. It was behind his monitor, which he hastily switched off to prevent further shame, but his cheeks were red enough as he discovered the screen. A minute long phone call, one he didn’t recall starting. Was it Karusu? Did the bastard bird hear his moans and take it for him needing to call you.

“I thought…” he looked back at you with wide eyes, shuffling his thighs to hide the erection and toy beneath his sweatpants. Your mouth opened and closed like a fish from your shock, still looking around the room for something to focus on. Leviathan attempted to remain strong, but he couldn’t help the glance at your chest. Blue decorated your body in the most revealing way possible, courtesy of Asmodeus, and your nipples poked through the satin. The nightgown barely hid your ass, he clenched his fingers to a fist to avoid desperately flicking it up. “I though you were in trouble…”

His voice cracked, “Nope!” His body was shaking from the nerves in his mind. You were going to hate him. Probably forever. And Leviathan couldn’t blame you for that. How mortifying for him and demeaning for you. All he could hope was that you were insulted that he used your image for a hentai game. “I’m fine! You can go back to sleep now!”

“That was me,” your finger shook in the air as you pointed at the now empty monitor. Your jaw was still slack while your eyebrows remained high on your forehead in shock, “I was… how?!”

He could visualise the dialog options before him. Leviathan stuttered over his words as he decided which sentence to choose, but he had no idea of what would result in the least amount of damage! There was no guide, no promise of your relationship ending well, he was nervous. “Was it?”

Playing dumb was the worst decision. Leviathan knew it as soon as the minimal words fell from his lips. Your eyes looked aflame as you stared down at him, he felt his tail coil around his waist as he shrunk inward. “Yes,” you leaned in and turned his monitor back on. The game hadn’t paused, the graphics of you, the character he designed, continued to moan over the demon cock snug inside, “that is me! Levi, what the fuck?”

“I’m so sorry!” He whimpered into his hands, covering his flushed face and avoiding your surely disgusted expression. “I just… I really like you but I’m always so scared to say anything and I get so pent up by it. I wasn’t going to make you, really! but I just thought about how beautiful you are and then you were there. Please don’t hate me, I need you in my life! Please!”

He heard the click of his monitor again, and Leviathan was sure the room had plunged into the darkness (only a deep blue glow from his LED lights that he refused to turn off) once more. You sighed and he sobbed into his palms yet again, he knew you were going to hate him. You would tell everyone what a filthy pervert he is and Leviathan would never be able to leave his room again.

Why were you still standing there? Leviathan wanted to cry and go silk into his bathtub for the better half of a century but you still stood right in front of him. Not even moving. Did you know it was torturing him? “Levi,” your soft hands traced his hands and slowly pulled them from his face. All he could muster was a pout as he watched you smile at him. Smile? Why were you smiling? “I could never hate you. Especially over something like this. There’s no harm,”

“Really?” Because only Leviathan could have such amazing timing, his cock throbbed beneath the material of his sweatpants. He was still on the edge. Your touch on his skin had only reminded him of such. He could see your cleavage pour from the satin nightgown and his fangs sunk into his lip again. “Promise?”

You nodded and leaned in closer, making Leviathan lean back in reflex. He was confused — what were you doing? Teasing him? Torturing him? Did he even care; your body sat atop him in the chair, crotch right on top of his throbbing erection. You had to be able to feel him, and the fleshlight, but there was no comment. “I promise,”

Leviathan gripped the armrests of his chair with wide eyes. He couldn’t move. One move and he would end up spilling all over himself and embarrassing himself even more. Your fingers danced against his cheek and teased the bottom of his lips, taping his sharp fangs. “Then…” you rolled your hips softly. He thought it was an accident at first, but your sultry smile made him moan quietly. You knew what you were doing. But, “why?”

You tutted your tongue and leaned closer. He could smell you so perfectly, sweet honey that he wished to taste along his tongue. Your hand tapped at his tail and he unfurled it for you without question — but, he felt himself choke as you guided the tip of his tail to your slick cunt.

Wet. You were wet. Because of… him? That couldn’t be so, yeah, it had to be because you had been with Beel or something. But, you were showing him and making him feel how slippery you were. On purpose! “I need you to help me out, Leviachan,” you purred the words as you sucked in the tip of his tail. So tight. He groaned into clenched teeth as your cunt greedily pulled his tail further in, warm muscle throbbing around him. His cock weeped in his pants in envy of his own tail, but the rocking of your hips are aided in the jealousy. “Think you can manage?”

He nodded dumbly. No words could be formed as he pushed his tail further inside of you. Your body shuddered in glee as you formed a beautiful smile for him. For Leviathan! No separation caused by it being augmented. This was real. You were real. You were on top of him and fucking yourself on his tail.

Your nails dug into his shoulder as you whimpered for him. Leviathan couldn’t help himself from thrusting upward, pushing his hard cock against you and making you gasp in glee. “Oh, Levi,” you mewled so loud he hoped that everyone could hear that it was his name on your lips. Your head fell back and your tits moved closer to his face. He couldn’t help himself. Leviathan pushed closer and hesitantly kissed the skin of your breasts, his fangs grazing along them, “Feels so good!”

He felt like a dog getting ear scratches at your praise. The goofiest of proud grind found its way to his lips as he moved your closer to him, sucking and biting your tits all he desired. His hands, tight on your hips, forced you to grind along his dick and made you bounce on his tail. Your moans were far better than the games. They were in his ears, around his room — and all for him. The real him.

Your cunt tightened around his tail and Leviathan pushed further, forcing himself in and out at a speed faster than his mind could cope with. So long. He had desired you so long. Your noises of pleasure raised an octave as you visibly grew tipsier for his touch. Leviathan himself felt the same, he was so close to messing himself up with cum, and the self control he held was slipping.

“Fuck,” he whined into your skin with a shiver as your hips continued to grind along his lap. The control of his tail was getting sloppy as his mind melted to ecstasy, “gonna… oh fuck fuck, fuck!”

His orgasm exploded into the forgotten fleshlight and along his sweatpants, sticking to his thighs and parts of his stomach. Your giggle was harmonious as you continued to greedily take his tail for your pleasure. “You have… the cutest orgasm face…” your breathing was ragged as you attempted to regain control of your voice. Each second caused more whimpers to leave you, and your nails caused little bruises to already show on his pale skin, “wanna see it more.”

Leviathan would happily let you. He would do anything for you. Anything. Everything. Your word was his law and he happily followed each rule. “Need to see you first,” he finally found his voice, though rough and quiet there was a foreign command to it that Leviathan had never felt before. His hold on your hips tightened as he pulled your body harder against his lap, only making his tail push further inside of you, “please, need you to cum for me. All over my tail. Gonna make you suck it clean while I finally taste you myself.” He pushed you against his desk as he stood up. Just like in the game, you were smaller than him. Your eyes were wide with playful innocence though it broke with your moan at his roughhousing. “All mine. Finally all mine.”

“All yours, Levi,” you kissed him for the first time as you came on his tail, your body shaking in his arms.

© belphegorey 2024 ⌜18+ banner from @/cafekitsune thank you <3⌟

[mywrittings]

pills / eddie munson

𝓈𝓊𝓂𝓂𝒶𝓇𝓎: After a long deep conversation with your friend, she ends up recommending you to a drug dealer who attends her high school.

𝓌𝑜𝓇𝒹 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓃𝓉: 3.8k+

𝓌𝒶𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈: 18+ only. drugs, usage of drugs, explicit language, kissing, heavily kissing, oral sex, unprotected sex, cum eating... smutty af.

𝒶/𝓃: oh my god. season 4 of stranger things is freaking amazing. but this character. when I saw him... I KNEW I had to write about him. I can't even comprehend how he made me feel so... anyways... hope you like the story! also this is spoiler free!

‘’I hope I’m at the right place.’’ you say to yourself, as you drive down a dark driveway until you notice a cluster of trailers, dispersed across the area in front of you

You were talking to your friend a few nights ago, and the topic became pretty deep. You expressed how sometimes you just wanted to feel numb due to your preoccupied thoughts lately. That's when she mentioned the drug dealer that attends her high school. She said that he has the best supplies for when you need to take a moment for yourself. Since you were from a different highschool you had no idea what he would look like let alone where he lived so you told her if she would get them for you. Of course she said no so you were left with a paper and scribbled on was the address followed by his name.

‘’Eddie Munson.’’ you say his name as you approach his trailer. You could see there was a light inside, meaning he was home and was expecting you as your friend told him you would be arriving sometime later this evening.

Parking the car outside, you grab your small pouch you had with the money inside. You weren’t sure how much he’d charge so you brought a fair amount just in case. 

After locking the car, you walk up to his front door and knock, hoping you knocked on the right door.

And you did

The door swung open and in front of you was standing a guy with very curly hair, a white shirt that said ‘Hellfire club’ and a leather jacket over it. Silver rings coated his fingers, and a few tattoos could be seen peeping out from beneath his shirt. You knew it was him without him having to prove it, and you thought to yourself, 'Damn he is hot.' 

‘’Y/n? Right?’’ he asks, biting his lower lip, while eyeing at you up and down

‘’That’s me. Eddie?’’ you point at him, and he nods, stepping aside from the door and motioning for you to enter.

Eddie closes the door behind you and moves past, to the table where he pulls a chair out for you and takes a seat across from you. You took a brief second just to look at his trailer. It was nice, cozy and big as well. You wondered if he was the only one here but your thoughts quickly got interrupted. As you sat, you see a variety of strange pills stored in little bags, while others store some kind of white powder. You never used drugs, not even smoked anything. That was never for you and you were always so opposed to it but you really needed something right now. Anything that would help your mind.

Eddie notices the look on your face as you were examining the drugs strewn across the table. He sets one of his hands on it while pointing at different drugs, trying to explain what they do. He assured you that they would not kill you, they would just be enough to calm you. But with so many options you were confused as to which one to choose.

‘’It’s your first time right?’’ he eventually asks, breaking the silence

‘’Yes,’’ you chuckle, as you continue to examine the many colored tablets ‘’I have never seen so many drugs at once.’’

He laughs with you as he leans back in his chair ‘’Yup. That’s why I’m the best of the best at Hawkins highschool.’’ he puts his arms behind his head as you stare up at him

‘’So your business is flourishing?’’ you inquire and he nods, I guess what your friend told you was right; it was worth it coming a long way to get the best this guy had to offer

‘’Have you decided yet which one you want? If you have some trouble, I can recommend this one,’’ he leans back on the table and gestures to one of the tablets in the transparent bag ‘’it’s good for beginners or if you want something a tiny bit stronger,’’ he points to another bag ‘’you can take this one.’’

‘’How do I take them? Like how does it work?’’ it was a silly question; you knew you had to swallow it but you weren't sure whether there was anything you should do to prepare for it in advance. 

‘’Just swallow it.’’ he briefly explains but this time in a different tone. His eyes kept drifting around your lips, before he looked up back at you as he leans back on the chair again.

‘’Well yes but is there anything else I need?’’ 

‘’No. That’s all.’’ he then picks one of the bags and takes one of them out. He puts it in his mouth and swirls it around with his tongue. He shows it to you before he swallows it and the pill disappears from his mouth.

‘’See? Like that.’’ he returns back in for another one and hands it to you, you were confused as to what he wanted but he hastily cuts you off until you could ask

‘’I am not telling you to take it now. That one is free of charge.’’ he says, the pill now sitting in the palm of his hand and you take it but instead of listening you put it in your mouth

‘’Oh.’’ he only manages to mutter as you mimic his moves, circling your tongue around the pill and just as you were about to swallow it Eddie interrupts you

‘’Show it to me.’’ and you stick out your tongue, the pill being at the tip of it

Eddie suddenly moves in closer to you and presses his lips against yours. You don’t pull away; instead kiss him back the same manner he was kissing you. His tongue is quick as he slips it in, molding it around with yours and you feel the pill getting lost in your mouth. Before you know it the pill is no longer there and Eddie pulls away, smirking at you as he shows the pill on his tongue before he swallows it.

‘’I don’t think drugs are for you Y/n. There’s other ways to take your mind off of things.’’ he once more leaned back on the chair, parting his legs a bit and your body flushed. The same second your eyes met his at that front door you could feel some kind of sexual tension between you two.

That’s when you place the pouch on the table and straddle him. Your legs at the either sides of him, his hands automatically finding their way to your waist. He holds you in place as you move closer to his face, brushing your lips against his. A buzz of electricity was spreading from your lips to his but then your entire body was going through that same sensation once Eddie slowly started swaying your hips.

‘’Is this okay?’’ he hums as he pulls away from your lips but still keeps his face near yours but you find it hard to respond with words so instead you plant your lips back on his

Eddie was rocking your body back and forth and soon you feel him hardening beneath you.  One of your hands reaches for his face, while the other one goes behind his neck. You sink your nails in his skin once he picks up the pace. His hands abruptly start moving up where he goes underneath your shirt and you jump in your place once you realize how cold they are. Then he moves back down to your hips, where he grips on them and rests there. 

He takes your bottom lip in his mouth and sucks on it before delicately biting on it, causing a gasp out of you. It was so hard to explain but you were eager for more of him. You were in bliss, Eddie’s kisses made your mind go completely blank with other thoughts. He was all you could think of right now.

‘’Grind on me,’’ he instructs as you moaned out ‘’grind that fucking pussy on my cock.’’  he mutters as you now wrap both of your hands around his neck. You whip your head back as you feel Eddie's wet lips in the middle of your neck. His hands were now traveling up your back before one went down to your ass. He playfully slaps it and gets another moan out of you.

‘’Fuck Eddie.’’ you shakily say, your breathing hitching as he pulls you back in

Eddie glides his lips at the side of your neck, carefully sucking the skin in his mouth before he drags them to your jawline. You couldn’t stop yourself, the feeling was too good as you kept pushing your hips and rotating around his cock. He then comes back up to your lips but all he does is laugh at you as he sees how desperate you were but you didn’t care. You desired him and made it clear how much you wanted him.

‘’Can you feel it, hm?’’ he inches to your ear, gets really close to it as you feel his hot breath trickling down the side of your neck ‘’Can you feel how hard I am for you?’’ you don’t say anything; it was difficult with him on your skin and so near you

‘’Answer me sweetheart.’’ he demands, his voice so sinful, his eyes lustful awaiting for your response

‘’Y-yes…’’ when he hears you stammer, he raises you up and wipes the table with his hand, causing all of the tablets to fall to the floor. He places you on the table, hovering over you as he pecks your lip, so innocently at first. He moves away for a split second only to get rid of his jacket followed by his shirt and you stare in awe. His body was covered in tattoos, the one peeking from his shirt was now fully visible to you and you could see what it actually was.

He comes back in, grabs at the hem of your shirt and pulls it over your head. You were now resting on the table in front of him, only wearing your bra. He bites his lip just like he did when you first saw him and dips his head in between your breasts. He gives a small kiss in the middle before you feel his fingers sneak behind and he unzips your bra. 

‘’Shit…’’ he grunts as he begins smothering your breasts in his kisses, your hand going to the back of his head while the other one kept supporting you on the table

As he’s kissing you, his other hand goes down to your jeans. He manages to unbutton them, before helping you get rid of them, tossing them on the floor next to your bra. Once he sees you with just your panties on he couldn’t help but to touch himself. You anticipated him to remove those damned pants, but instead he walks to the freezer and pulls something out. You were momentarily puzzled, but then you noticed him holding a little ice cube.

He steps back to you, placing the ice cube in between your breasts, slowly dragging it down to your stomach. It was so cold but at the same time it felt so good. He comes to a stop at your belly button as his other hand twists around your panties and he swiftly pulls them off, you only helping by kicking your legs.

That’s when you felt him going lower until the ice cube reached your pussy. You jolt in your place but Eddie has his other hand now on your hips, securing you in place. His eyes watched as you were melting in your moans, once he pushed the ice cube up your pussy lips. He had a grin on his face and couldn’t stop biting his lips. The scenery in front of him was beautiful.

He then drops his head and before you know it his lips are on your pussy. He slides the ice cube with his mouth around it, until it fully melts. His hands go to yours and he intertwines them together, once you feel his tongue flicking at your folds. You were already soaked from grinding on him, but the fact that you could feel him rapidly glide his tongue up and down made it 10 times better.

He was slurping up your juices, he didn’t seem to stop, he kept increasing the speed. His thumb was caressing the back of your hand as he tried to make you feel comfortable once his other finger plunged inside of you. You moaned aloud, surprised by his action and just like he was flicking his tongue faster and faster, he did the same thing with his finger. He was curling it inside, while his tongue looped around the top of your clit. Arching your back as you close your eyes, unable to control that sensation that was coursing through your body.

‘’You taste so good oh my god.’’ he purrs against it, sucking and fucking your pussy with his tongue

As your other hand was free you went to grab at the table, because it was so hard not to move in your place as Eddie lapped at your pussy, devouring in your juices. 

He then leaves your pussy for a moment, finally getting rid of his jeans and underwear. His cock was right there in front of you, hard and fucking huge. He palmed it in between his hand while his other hand played with your pussy before he smothers his dick with your juices.

Eddie then walks around to the other side of the table and as you attempt to rise up, believing he wants you to do something, he gently pushes you back down and pulls you closer to himself. His cock was now directly in front of your mouth and that’s when you knew what he wanted. Your head was a little bit over the table, just so that he was able to push his cock into your mouth. 

‘’Suck that cock baby.’’ he orders as he begins moving his hips. He didn’t let you do anything else other than to move your tongue around it and kiss it when he’d pull out, the rest was his doing. Your tongue was circling around his tip then all the way down to his balls where he tells you to suck on them as well. You take them each in your mouth, covering them with your saliva as Eddie’s eyes remain on you. He didn't take his gaze away, not even for a second; he wanted to see everything.

His hand went to your neck first but then he slowly pushed it down, to your clit. He feels your skin prickle at his touch, as your eyes flutter once his fingers begin playing around. He was only using the tips of his fingers, teasing you around making you move your body side to side. You clenched your hand around his arm and you were pushing it harder, trying to add more friction because he wasn’t touching you like before. Eddie didn’t care because he wanted to keep teasing you.

‘’You’re such a mess baby,’’ he whines as he sees you dig your fingers into his skin ‘’do you like it when I push my cock so deep in your fucking mouth that you can’t breath huh?’’ he asks, as you feel him go all the way in and when he takes it out you gasp for air. Eddie leaves your pussy and leans down to your lips. He kisses you, with reassurance that you are safe as his hands touch the sides of your body before he comes back around again. 

He lifts you back up and begins carrying you to his bed. He lays you down, hovering over you and you mentally thank him for bringing you somewhere much more comfortable. 

‘’Spread your legs for me.’’ you obey him and open up your legs, Eddie’s hands go to your thighs where he caresses them, while pecking your forehead

‘’Look at me,’’ he lifts your chin up, licking his lips ‘’I’m going to fuck you now okay? I don’t want you to hold back your moans, while I fuck this pussy. Is that okay?’’ you don’t even need to say anything, just a small nod was enough for him to slowly push at your entrance.

His cock slowly penetrates inside of you, stretching you out. He didn’t go all the way in at first as he wanted to help you adjust to him. He remained close to you when he moved in and out a couple of times. You were whining from his cock, as you clenched your pussy around him when he’d find that spot. 

‘’Fuck, keep doing that.’’ he whispers as you clench again, feeling his cock pulsating inside of you

You wrap your legs around him, pushing him closer and he sees that you want more from him. 

‘’Want me to go faster hm?’’ 

‘’Yes.’’ 

‘’Harder? Want me to fuck you harder?’’

‘’Y-yes.’’

‘’Hold onto me while I fuck you harder.’’ he started going faster until he was slamming himself in. He didn’t have a rhythm anymore, your pussy was making him feel way too good to even comprehend at what pace he was trying to fuck you. 

Your hands fly to his back, seeping your nails into him which evoked a groan out of him. He had his hands at either side of your face, while he thrusted harder and faster each time he’d push back and sink his cock back in you. His head goes past your face, burying it in the hollow of your neck as you feel his lips now closer than ever to your ear. He was panting, moaning, grunting from the pleasure of his dick going in and out of your pussy.

‘’You’re so tight fuck.’’ he groans and you scream out his name. The feeling slowly building up inside of you, he was so close to just pushing you off the edge. He devilish smiles into your neck, once you began moaning faster, without any control but he loved it. You were so close to orgasming and so was he.

‘’Are you close hm?’’ he says against your skin as you push him even more onto yourself. He almost collapsed from the last few thrusts he did but he managed to pull himself together. 

‘’Not yet sweetheart,’’ you felt his warm tongue lick at your neck  ‘’I don’t want you to come yet.’’ he licks you again before finally his lips are back on yours and you whine. Your eyes were asking for him to let you cum but he doesn’t let it happen.

‘’I’m going to come first and then I want to you to come all over my face,’’ he lustfully says ‘’while my tongue is buried deep in your pussy.’’ you were so close but managed to pull every ounce of power you had in you to stop yourself from letting go and going over that edge.

‘’Where do you want my cum? Want me to cum on that pretty face of yours hm?’’ he touches your face with his finger, the rings that were so cold grazing your skin ‘’Or should I cum on that pretty ass? Or do you want me in your mouth hm?’’ that’s what you were waiting for, you wanted his cum in your mouth, you wanted to taste him.

‘’Your mouth? Oh such a fucking filthy girl you are.’’ he kisses your lips, pounds your pussy one more time before he pulls out, standing up and you quickly go to your knees, taking him in your mouth. You wrap your hand around his cock and pump him as your mouth bobs around his head. His hand goes in your hair and once you feel him he is about to let go, you close your eyes and feel his hot cum fill your mouth. He grunts as you keep bobbing your head, sending him into orbit. 

‘’Stick out your tongue, let me see that cum.’’ he pulls out of your mouth and you put your tongue out ‘’Swallow it.’’ you do just as he says and as soon as you do that he pushes you on the bed, instantly attaching his lips to your pussy.

‘’Your turn, baby,’’ he licks a strip along your pussy before he starts flicking his tongue ‘’come for me.’’ and that’s when you push yourself over the edge. Your entire body goes numb, the feeling overtook you completely as you moved your hips while Eddie helped to ride off your orgasm. 

‘’Just like that, yes.’’ he encourages you and at last you couldn’t move anymore. You couldn’t feel anything for a moment, only Eddie's tongue that was still lapping around your pussy. Once he feels you come he kisses your pussy and begins kissing your thighs up your stomach until he’s at your lips. 

‘’You’re such a good girl Y/n.’’ he pressed his naked body against yours, moving the strands of your hair away from your face that were stuck due to the sweat. 

‘’Nobody has ever made me feel like this.’’ you giggle, still breating loudly, watching him stare deeply into your eyes as you trace your fingers along his back

‘’See? I told you there is a way to take one's mind off of something.’’ he lazily places a kiss on your lips and for a while just lets them sit there. 

‘’Stay.’’ he suddenly says, as he opens his eyes again ‘’Stay here with me.’’ he begs you, his voice became so soft

‘’I don’t think I’ll be able to let go of you, if I stay here Eddie.’’ and you were telling the truth. As soon as you saw him on the doorstep, you knew there was something about him. Something that your mind wouldn’t be able to just forget. He was that kind of person, that kind of a guy that would just stay in your head and you would think about him, think of different scenarios between the two of you. 

‘’I don’t want you to let go of me Y/n.’’ he replies back, his eyes were serious. He didn’t want you to go home, he wanted you to stay, stay around him, wrapped in his arms.

Eddie stands up and gets both of you underneath the blanket. He wraps it tightly around you and strongly presses your body up against him but still keeps a space between your faces. You don’t say anything, you let him do it, whatever he wanted, you let him do it.

‘’I think I found my favorite drug.’’ he says in a whisper, his thumb caressing your cheek. Every little move he made from that point on was so silky. So soft. He took care of you, made sure you felt safe even if you had just met him.

[silvery-orchid]

my vices are slow and steady.

neuvillete let you make your choice once. and now you are standing in front of him again after your divorce. you should be glad his patience takes on a special shape when with you.

possessive! neuvillete x gn! reader. (a small gift to thank the neuvillette lovers from my inbox.)

his office rings with an all familiar sound. it is two o'clock in the afternoon. four years ago when he bought this clock, you said you hated the sound it made.

'for such an extravagant clock, it doesn't sound cute at all.' neuvillette did not understand what you meant until two years later. the chimes of this clock sounded like the bells that were in your wedding. and he had to agree with you that it was a horrible sound.

neuvillette always thought that patience was one of his virtues but while he was sitting there (in the middle of the row because sitting up front would have been dangerous), he finally realized that it was a vice when applied to you.

he was too patient; too lenient some would say. he held you in such a high light that when you started dating the foolish man, he thought it was a simple phase. extending you his grace and waiting for you to come to your senses seemed like the best option. and sometimes he considers the rest a blur. while he was busy dealing with fontaine's court and the underground rebellion, that foolish man worth less than the dust on his shelves slipped a ring on your finger.

neuvillete voiced with resounding reason to try and get you to reconsider. he was your dear friend after all. tough love has never been a stranger to your conversations with him. because of it, he felt no issue saying that you should break it off.

'i asked you for your opinion about my happiness, but it seems you consider me incapable of choosing.' were your exact words. thinking of it now, you said them to him while this same clock was chiming away. he remembers the way you walked out and the wedding invite he got only a few days later. you attached a small note next to it. - i asked you once and you said what you had to say. allow me to prove that this is not a mistake. -

he still has that same note in his desk on the very bottom. he threw out the invite as soon as your wedding was over but would showing you the note now be far too cruel?

neuvillette did not consider his patience to be a waste however. deciding that he was too patient only made him realize he had to continue with it a bit more until you came around.

oh, and after only 2 years of a shaky marriage, he can hear your footsteps on the tiles in front of his office hallway.

truly, your choice was utterly idiotic. it was bound to fail. marrying a simple toy maker? really? you needed someone far better than that. and now you were coming back to him. he knows those footsteps belong to you. the click-clack of your shoes is unmistakable to his heart. the slower third step you take makes his chest heave. he reminds himself that this is relief and that anger existed when your steps were echoing on the way to the isle.

he decides not to show you the note; he decides not to be angry. as long as you are walking in his direction, he can find it in himself to forgive your foolishness. but he can feel his patience has hit a limit as your hand turn the doorknob.

he has waited long enough for you too be back here; long enough until your dumb decision expired. would he speak first or would you? he did visit you a few times after you got married but he hadn't seen you for half a year now. he takes a deep breath as you take the first step inside the room of chessboard tiles. he refuses to take any other role in your life from now on. no rooks or bishops or knights - he will be your king. and he is afraid this is the one decision you cannot make because he knows better.

he straightens up, makes sure it seems like he is writing his signature down. only you are allowed to enter his office without knocking but why should you know that? you have no right to know all of the exceptions he gives you.

'i see you still have that ugly clock in here.' typical, of course you would lead with that. it causes his face to relax as a small smile shows. 'if i said it reminds me of you, would you hold it against me'

you are halfway through his office. you halt on the white tile. your arms are halfway outstretched. they make it clear you had the intention of embracing him. when they fall back down as you stop, he has to keep it in himself not to tsk. instead, he puts down the pen and gets up.

'would i hold it against you that you said i remind you of an ugly clock?'

neuvillette is already in front of you, he makes sure to take up all your visual space. he stands on the black tile as he continues what you failed to do. he puts one hand on your back, holds your waist with the other as he brings you in for a hug. he can feel his line of patience start to diminish once your bodies are so close to one another. he was right to wait, from now on he will ensure you two become even closer.

your body warmth and your scent should all belong to him. he breaks the embrace once he realizes the ugly truth he hated to imagine; you were even closer with another man. neuvillette can feel copper in his throat at the images that flood his mind. for a second while moving away, his gloved fingers hold onto your hip with some roughness but it is immediately gone once he takes a deep breath.

it isn't anything that cannot be fixed.

'how could i hold it against you when you were the reason i managed to get those divorce papers and hearings approved so fast?'

you truly have no idea how lucky you are to have him. wait, no; you had no idea how lucky you were to have him. but now you do and he will make sure to use it to his advantage.

'i am glad you sent me a letter asking for my help when you did. it is unfortunate that our laws and procedures change so fast that even those like you, who abandoned our service, have trouble navigating them.'

lying comes easy to him now. it was an oh so fortunate thing that brought you right back here. he can see his words sting and make your shoulders tense up but you have to be reminded of your mistake. he said he was patient, he never said he wouldn't hold it against you with remarks like these.

until you live, neuvillette will keep reminding you of your failure; of the idiotic man you choose and how you went against his advice.

you bite your lower lip for a second. it is on the left side. the left corner means you want to ask a question. the right corner means you are hesitating with a remark. of course he knows your patterns.

'neu...did you perhaps know what would happen? and that is why you were against me marrying him?'

he has to hold back his laughter deep inside. you look so cute asking him a question like that. it doesn't really matter what he knew about that man. all that matters is that he knew no other man would be good for you. his vices always had a way of slowly growing. there is no need for you to know the lengths he went to to keep his patience up. take the new legislation he introduced to ensure only certain toy makers would be kept afloat. or, take that bar worker that your ex-husband cheated on you with. he spent 5 hours choosing the perfect candidate based on the stack of papers with the name and image of foolish choice.

'have i ever had anything besides your best interests in my mind? come, we shouldn't be late to the magic show. lynette and lyney have improved drastically since the last time you saw them.'

perhaps it is another vice of his. but he refuses to have you come back to him only to speak of another. there is a time and a place for everything and neuvillette is patient enough to wait for the right moments to use your weaknesses against you.

[autistichalsin]

The healing Halsin does can be summarized shortly with just one dialogue tree.

Ask Halsin to explain what happened with the Shadow Curse after rescuing Thaniel but before killing Ketheric, get to the part where he explains it was his first day as Archdruid, and you get the following three options:

Inauspicious? Sounds like you did what you had to, and saved lives.

Not every day as a leader can be a glorious one.

That's in the past. You've faced the curse, and rescued Thaniel from the Shadowfell.

Choosing option 1 gets you: You are right. But I must not lose focus until everything has been put right. I've wasted too much time already - years in which nature has suffered.

The devnote says: "conceding a point, but remains hard on himself."

Choosing option 2 gets you: Indeed. I know that all too well.

The devnote says: "downbeat."

Choosing option 3 gets you: You're right. But the work is not yet done - not while Ketheric Thorm still draws breath.

The devnote says: "conceding a point, but remains hard on himself."

All of these options either still have him feeling the trauma, and two have him still blaming himself.

On ther other hand, if you rescue Thaniel AND kill Ketheric before asking Halsin about the past, you get the option to say: Thaniel is safe, Ketheric is dead, and soon the curse will be no more. You have nothing left to prove.

To which Halsin says: You're right. I should not let the failures of the past sour the victories of the present. We have achieved something immense here. I will never forget your part in this. Nor will Thaniel.

And the devnote says: conceding a point. He's helped do a lot of good.

That alone shows, in just that short a time, with just that one act, how much healing comes to him. He blamed himself for getting Thaniel nearly killed, to the point that even the devnotes say he's being unfairly hard on himself, and it's only with the player's help saving him and the land that he can begin to forgive himself, treat himself with something resembling the kindness he shows others, again.

Honestly, it really gets me like a gut punch just how much of Halsin's healing journey can only happen because of the player. It's simultaneously beautiful and painful.

[merrinla]

Halsin and Minthara weren't always mutually exclusive

Even though you can recruit both of them, in the game it looks like a funny bug. I guess this is what's left of the original idea. It was previously planned not only letting you have them at the same time, but also that they would interact in the party like other companions.

In the audio files, you can find lines of their reactions to each other's deaths. I don't know if these are triggered or not. They are both so bugged that sometimes I can hardly tell which is the cut content and which is the bug.

It's kind of funny that Halsin would be so sad.

I recently completed Halsin's quest with Mintara in my party. In the scene by the lake, when Halsin entered the portal, Minthara said "He made it. Now let's just hope he survives what's on the other side"

Actually this is exactly the same line as Tav's.

Halsin also share many lines with Tav and other origins. Most of them are unused. But in this case the line is not only voiced by Emma Gregory (Minthara's VA), it's triggered.

There is another interesting line. In Moonrise Towers, when Ketheric punishes Mintara for a failure in the grove and sends her to the dungeon, the player can choose not to interfere and leave the location without helping her. In this case one of the characters in your party will remind you that she can be saved as a potential companion. I was wondering if Halsin would say anything. And he did. "Minthara may prove useful to us, should we wish to save her…"

This isn't cut content. This isn't new content added with patches. It's in the game since the release. And this line works. Moreover, this is his personal line.

If they implement the dialogue with an ultimatum it will be nonsense. I mean, first he suggests to save her from the Absolute as a useful ally, and then in the camp he will say that it's the right choice to kick her back under the Absolute control. It's even hard to blame the character for such contradiction. Rather, it's just a stupid limit set by the script.

Next. In Act 3 if you make one of them to go up on the clown stage, the other one will approve.

There is also an unused flag for Act 3 in the game files with the description "Orin pretended to kill Halsin during the Minthara abduction campnight." Which means in Act 3 they were both in the party.

You can see what the abduction of Mintara looks like in this video. Only instead of Halsin, Jaheira is mentioned here.

Maybe there are other confirmations that I do not know about, that they were not mutually exclusive before. But that's enough for me.

They were both not originally planned as companions. Their roles were expanded much later. Most likely, Larian didn't have time to polish their content, so scissors were used. This is why their content seems so unfinished compared to others. Except for Wyll, probably. That's why they are so buggy.

I suppose the reason they are both mutually exclusive is because it is the easiest solution when you have a deadline on the horizon. Just easiest as "it's fine for a companion to just hang out at the camp". Otherwise, you need dialogs, animations, scripts, etc. And you also need to make sure that it will work with everything else. This is time and resources. But this doesn't mean that it's impossible to fix anything later.

I faintly hope that the defenetive edition will have the option to recruit them both.

And I really hope that in the future Larian will look at the games of their colleagues from BioWare (who made the original BG). I mean games from better times than now. The companions below will show you how much they "loved" each other. Not all of them became friends in the end. But nevertheless, we saved the world. Together.

[vroomvroomwee]

I don't think enough people realise how incredible Aziraphale is.

He's always known how good and kind Crowley is. Even from the beginning. Now imagine being in his place, after meeting such a wonderful and sweet angel, and hearing that he's fallen, that he's evil and wicked. No wonder he was sceptical and on edge at the garden... except Crowley was still the same, chatty, witty, and funny angel he met before the beginning. Crowleys fall terrifies him because in his mind, if someone like that can get sent to Hell, then what hope is there for me?

So he learns just how thin the line is between being an angel and a demon, just how close he's cutting it, just how little it takes for him to fall as well.

In his eyes, Crowley's brilliant. He's resourceful, intelligent, capable, everything he wants to be. Everything he's told he should be. And it creates so much confusion in his mind. How can someone like that fall while I'm still here? And it doesn't help one single bit that he's falling in love with him.

Aziraphale isn't stupid. Despite what everyone says, he's very in tune with his emotions. So much so that Crowley fails to keep up with his logic and decision-making. He realises that he's falling in love with Crowley, and that causes panick in him. He's an angel. He's not supposed to fall for temptation.

So he has two options: try to prove to himself Crowley's good and therefore justify his own feelings, or to prove Crowley's evil, and that's why he fell. So... in a way, he does both.

Every time Crowley tries to convince him of his malice, Aziraphale proves him wrong, sees right through him. All the while constantly putting a wedge between them, of good and evil. "But, you, are fallen." "I'm good, you, are evil." Even though he knows deep down that's not the truth, which is precisely why he's saying it, he knows Crowley is good, just as he knows he himself isn't fully. And no one must ever find that out.

Not only is he keeping Crowley at a distance for his own safety, but also for Crowleys. Sacrificing both their happiness for each others safety. He knows precisely what Hell will do to him if they ever find out how kind he really is.

And it would be very very simple if he just stopped hanging out with Crowley, except... he can't. No matter how hard he tries he's always pulled back to him. And over time he's testing his limits, what can I do? Am I allowed to do this? Food? That's forbidden? The Arangement? etc.

And you can't really blame him for fearing Falling. Not just burning in boiling sulfur as each of his cells is being transformed in the most agonising way, but also having to spend eternity there as well as the humiliation and resentment he'll get from Heaven. "My lot don't send rude notes." he knows how horrible and terrifying it is down there, and he is all too aware how he won't be able to cope. Too weak, too mellow, too soft.

Crowleys kindness is constantly putting him on edge because he just can't understand why he's a demon. While angels like Gabriel and Michael, who always put him down, are apathetic towards humanity, are narcissistic and emotionless... are still up there. 6000 years he's spent wondering when his time will come. When he'll be pulled down to Hell.

He's so goddamn kind that it took him 6000 years to realise Heaven is not all that it should be. Kinder than Heaven could ever hope to be (and after the "stay back" from ep6 we can see how thay he is capable of being harsh and ruthless, which means he actively chooses to be kind, which makes him all the more extraordinary and astonishing for it). And I'm not even going to go into the strength it takes to manage to break out of the brainwashing that Heaven has done to him. Thousands of years of being humiliated, feeling worthless, not good enough, not angelic enough, not even appreciated. And despite all that feedback and ridicule, he's never given in, never relented, never let anyone modify or change him, has never lost his kindness, his softness, his generosity even after all that he's seen and been through. And that is so fucking incredible.

Validation and praise being at his fingertips, if only he could let go of his individuality, his uniqueness. Of himself. Thousands of years of it, and he has never surrendered to it. Never betrayed himself, kept his pride and his self-worth despite other people trying to rid him of it.

And he knows this. He's too clever not to. He knows just how thin the ice is he's standing on. Even at the beginning, which is not long after the Fall if I might point out, he's defying orders and keeping Adam and Eve safe, risking his own safety for the safety of others. And he still doesn't back down.

But he can't for the life of him keep away from Crowley. Because of how much love he has for him, how much affection. "He's risking his entire existence," and he'll do it again because that's who he is. (Not many people will put their lives on the line for the person that tried to annihilate them, completely destroy them in every plane of existence. Actually, no one ever will. Except him.)

He. Never. Backs. Down. Not from Armaggedon and not from the Second Coming.

It's not that he doesn't love Crowley enough, it's that he loves him too much. This is an angel so full of love that he's scattering himself, breaking himself, tearing himself apart, trying to give it to everyone. To Crowley, to humanity, to Earth. He's risking destruction for the things he loves. Both physically and emotionally. He would sacrifice his own happiness, his own future with Crowley just to save humanity. And he does it again and again and that is so fucking amazing, so fucking incredible that I don't believe such a selfless character exists in any other piece of media or television.

(Also, this is all mostly referring to his emotional strength, but let's not forget how he faced literal Satan and smote around 20 demons in just a matter of seconds.)

Edit: Just wanted to add what one of you pointed out in the comments.

Aziraphale realises that running away with Crowley isn't really a relaxing and peaceful life as Crowley thinks it is. Far away from humanity and it's pleasures that they both love and engage with, something that brought them close in the first place due to their shared love for it, and constantly on the run from Heaven and Hell. Aziraphale is doing this for Crowley, so that he can be happy, so that both of them can be together. Not only that but he offered Crowley his angel status back, since he thought that would make him happy again, since he hoped that he could one day see that same smile that Crowley had when they first met, that smile that he hasn't been able to bring back all these years.

Aziraphale is now in Heaven, the last place he wants to be, the place he barely escaped with his life from, a place that hates him, filled with angels that despise him and want to see him suffer or worse, and he's utterly and completely alone.

He's trying to save the entire universe alone.

Think about that for a little bit.

Edit 2: I think it's worth noting that Aziraphale isn't perfect. And that's the point. He doesn't need to be perfect. He's naive and gullible and sees the world in black and white. He still needs to learn, to grow, to deal with these things. Soon enough, he'll realise that despite all the hope he has that he could fix Heaven, it just can't be mended, something Crowley has learned a long time ago and desperately tries to shoe him. He'll realise the system is corrupt, and no matter how hard he tries, it won't change because it wasn't designed that way. And it just makes him all the more brilliant. He isn't perfect. He has flaws, and he makes mistakes. He's an angel, but he's the most human of them all. And he's incredible all the more for it.

[whoistrash]

Why change matters and how Amphibia did it better than The Owl House.

"Watching and Dreaming" made me cry a lot during its premiere. I was amazed and, I'd say, dazed by it. Then I forgot about it for a while. Now I finished re-watching Amphibia for the first time since TOH ended. My hype died down, and I have some thoughts. A lot, actually.

Amphibia's ending was incredibly painful and made me sob like a baby for two whole weeks the first time I watched it. That's because it was not only beautiful and heartbreaking, but truly GOOD. Brilliant, actually. I absolutely agree with a statement that any other ending would literally be a contradiction to the whole main plot, especially Anne's arc. The girls had to learn to let go in order to grow as individuals - the thing they had the biggest problem with. Saying goodbye was the only logical option, plot-wise. It still hurt like hell, though. Separating the multidimensional, against-all-odds relationships (especially my beloved spranne. Ouch, ouch, ouch). The Owl House does no such thing - everybody stays together. They live happily ever after.

Paradoxically, I think that it's the main reason why I'd choose "The Hardest Thing" over "Watching and Dreaming" every single time. I know we shouldn't really compare them in EVERY aspect, since TOH had way more things to deal with in the final episode, but the fact that Luz got to not only stay, but to freely travel between worlds as she pleases really took the whole "growing up and finding your true self no matter what the other people do/say about you" thing out the door. Luz from season one, episode one, and Luz from the finale are not really that different. Well, she certainly became more traumatised and depressed than before, but in terms of personal growth? Nope. Luz - from the very beginning - was cheerful, open, caring and very selfless, willing to literally help every stranger she met no matter how it would affect her. She had little to no boundaries, but, well, you can't argue that she was A GOOD, SELFLESS PERSON. Now, we could say that her arc here would be learning that sometimes you should put yourself before others, that you can't save everyone, that you can't trust every person you meet. And she learns it! She fucking does! She helps Philip not knowing who he will become, and then suffers from the consequences, because she helped the wrong person. And then it's all erased, when she saves Collector's life and meets Papa Titan (or whatever we call them).

I have so much to say about this. All of TOH's "villains" (Amity, Lilith, Hunter, The Collector) that were given a redemption arc literally get turned into lifeless, edgy trauma dumpsters, that suddenly loose all of their previous character, quirks and sass (well, maybe except for Lilith, she just started to express them differently, I think, but still, it was WAY too big of a change). I won't dwell on it (since many, many fans called it out already - as they should), and will focus on something different. The only one marked as irredeemable is Belos. Good. Okay. He's irredeemable, because he's a white, christian puritan who won't listen to anyone but himself. Also a genocidal maniac. That's the lesson for Luz here. "You can't save everyone. Some people are just straight up evil". And it's very, very true. But.

From all of the "villains" I mentioned before, Belos is the one that had the most reasons to, let's say, take a dark turn. Those reasons are what makes him irredeemable - he's just too convinced he's right, because, in his mind, he has evidence to prove it. But how do we learn about this? Maybe by seeing his part of the story? Maybe by learning about his brother and Evelyn, about their relationship? It couldn't be straight up awful, since Philip literally brought his brother back to life over and over again, he wanted his brother, or at least the picture of Caleb that satisfied him the most. There was more to it than only "you betrayed me and now I will hate you forever". Do we get to see any of that? No. Instead we get an all-knowing, all-doing being that literally choose Luz as "the one" for being kind and trusting, that convinces her that Belos is, indeed, a lost cause. Do you see where I'm going with this?

Luz, the person that on the literal episode two was told that there is no such thing as a "chosen one" and that she can't always hop into action to save everybody, because, it's, well, not always possible, DOES EXACTLY THAT in the finale by taking a bullet for The Collector, the, you know, very freshly redeemed and suddenly cute and funky villain, whom Luz trusts immediately. AND SHE IS REWARDED FOR IT BY BEING MADE THE CHOSEN ONE. BY A GOD-LIKE BEING THAT CLAIMS TO BE ALL-KNOWING AND CAN DECIDE WHO IS RIGHT AND WHO IS WRONG, BECAUSE OF PERSONAL (King) REASONS. Just like, you know... Belos? The irredeemable villain? And then Luz lets go of the moral dilemmas that's been keeping her up at night for the past months, makes up her mind, defeats the bad guy, learns nothing, and gets to stay in the Boiling Isles and on Earth. With her beautifully redeemed girlfriend and friends whom she kept secrets from and lied to out of fear of being ostracised (you see the pattern here, right?) for, again, months.

I love Amphibia. I love The Owl House. But Amphibia handles it's "villains", generally wronged characters and the whole change/no change thing way better. Well, maybe besides the Core - they got a bit wasted in my opinion. But still. Sasha. Grime. Marcy. Andrias. Anne herself. They learn and change. And more importantly, they face consequences and come to understand and accept them. There's no "chosen one" here. Anne gets the proposition because she's the first one to use the music box for good in literal millenia. A fact, plain and simple (not an opinion based on personal motivations), that makes sense plot-wise, and adds so, so much to Anne's arc. Because Anne from season one, episode one wouldn't care. The one from the finale cares very damn much. And that's the biggest difference.

Saying goodbye makes the message way stronger. The more I think about it, however, the more I'm starting to be afraid that there's no The Message in The Owl House to begin with. Luz learns very little, yet ends up with everything she ever wanted. There's no power behind it. The "find the right people and choose to trust them, not everyone will be your friend" and "some things are out of your control, some people are just bad" aspect is even weaker, as proven by basically the whole season 3. I will end it by my favorite quote from Amphibia, that I think about on daily basis. Have a good day, y'all.

"Change can be difficult, but it's how we grow. It can be the hardest thing to realize you can't hold on to something forever. Sometimes, you have to let it go; but, of the things you let go, you'd be surprised what makes its way back to you."

[lieutenantism]

i'm currently thinking about how jean loses himself completely to harry. just dissolves entirely. very little sense of identity left outside his partnership with him, which i find so intriguing. i mean, it's the definition of codependency, but that doesn't make it any less interesting (long post, again).

"i won't let my life unravel because of this." is just so insane and melodramatic to me because WHO is that man to you, jean? and why is his alcoholism the reason for your life unraveling? jean takes on harry's drinking problem as a problem of his own, a threat to his life before harry's, even though the drinking doesn't affect harry's ability to do his job, and jean acknowledges that as well as everyone else in the major crimes unit.

but why does he have such a big problem with harry's alcoholism? why's he the only one out of the task force who seems to care obsessively? because the one before him failed to save him, and he feels as though it's his responsibility now. to jean, harry's life is divided to three parts; before him, during him, and tragically, after him.

the fact jean puts himself in the same position as dora, harry's ex, tells you enough. almost as if he considers them to be the same, in terms of responsibility for harry's wellbeing. he's cleaning up her mess, he seems to think. she was way before my time, as though they hold the same significance to harry. of course, this isn't entirely jean's fault. both him and harry share the guilt of their twisted relationship; harry's guilty of getting too personal with anybody within arm's reach.

and jean's guilty for wanting to clean up a mess that he didn't make, and losing sight of himself and his true professional duties in the process. so it goes like this; they partner up, harry's bad at drawing the line between personal and professional relationships and jean's even worse, harry goes on benders every week and jean witnesses them and tries to pull him out of them relentlessly, which then leads to whatever fucked up partnership they had, right before martinaise. the question is why did jean feel the need to save him? because he projected onto him severely.

they're both broken men; mirrors of each other, though jean will never say it out loud. he sees himself in harry, and since he can't save himself and everyone's given up on him, even the professionals, he decides not to give up on harry. in a way, jean's trying to prove to himself that he's not a lost cause through sticking by harry's side through it all, because if even the most lost of causes manages to have at least one person who's there for them at all times, who says he can't have one too? why must he be labelled as the anomaly? if harry du bois could be saved, so can he. he maintains this "i have my shit together, i'm better than you." persona during the entire confrontation, when he isn't. like i said, harry is everything jean works hard in order not to become, yet he still manages to lose his sense of identity while "saving" him and only becomes "harry's partner". that's all he is. nothing but a safety net, there to catch him at all times.

that's why he becomes extremely defensive when you choose the "kim's cooler than you." option, because you're practically robbing him of his identity. throughout the entirety of the game, he keeps repeating: "i'm your partner", to reassure himself more so than anything else, and what the game does here is very clever. you first hear him say that on a call, so distant and away from you; he cannot convince you that he's your partner even if he tried. then, he says it when he's in an idiotic disguise that you didn't recognize, and quite frankly it's making you uncomfortable, it's hard to take him seriously when he looks so stupid so you don't believe him, again. then at last, when he confronts you, and he's himself. then you think it sticks.

but it doesn't, and you dismiss him again to ask about the others. i've always found it perplexing how there's no "how can you be my partner?" option during the confrontation. you can ask about mikael heidelstam for fuck's sake, but not your partner. simply because you don't believe he is, at least not anymore. he's just a very angry man who was in a stupid disguise, and that's all you can ask him about. isn't that so insanely tragic? when you think about how dismissive the "confrontation" is? and jean's lashing out that way because his whole identity is hanging in the balance? no matter what jean tells harry, there's no click, no lightbulb flickering moment, nothing. jean tries everything, it's painful to see, really. the "i didn't lie to you. no one lies to you." and his lines to judit and trant where he's like "i told you, it's typical harry behavior. it's our shitkid." and so on are all attempts to prove that he, jean, knows him, harry, better than anyone else, even himself. he KNOWS him, which is why harry has to need him. he has to keep him. as his partner or whatever the hell it was, because nobody else knows him or will ever get to know him that way.

jean's response to harry telling them "i don't wanna be in your unit." only further proves it. "i'm your partner, i answer for you when you're not there." considering the fact harry and jean had begun to blur ever since their partnership came into being makes the line funnier lol. jean had locked himself up in a prison of his own making, of course with harry giving him all the means necessary to build his own cage beforehand. it was a matter of time and conditioning, and severe loneliness. every crime of harry's feels like one jean is guilty of.

[the-fandom-abyss]

The Other Ghostface

Amber Freeman x Reader

Genre: Angst ❀/Fluff ♡

Word Count: 1,978 words

Warnings: blood, ghostface attack, violence, Richie because I feel like he needs one 🤷🏻‍♀️

The hospital was desolate come the afternoon. Nurses tucked away at their stations, monitoring the winding halls of various floors. One would think they were short staffed by the amount of times you clocked a nurse walk past. It was enough to count on one hand, if that. A police officer was stationed outside the door, in hopes to protect Tara and Sam from another attack. He didn't seem too worried as his eyes scanned his phone for his newest love interest. So when you ventured out of Tara's room in search of snacks, he missed the dark shadow that followed you.

The hum of the machine filled the otherwise empty hallway, offering a variety of snacks to choose from. The glow lit the white walls that surround you, creating a reflection on the glass. When a flicker passed behind you, it was your turn to watch your back. In the moments it took to turn around, the presence behind you had their hands gripped on your shoulders. In one swift movement, they had thrown you against the wall like you were nothing. A thud vibrated as your back and head slammed against the wall, leaving you crumpled on the floor. Adrenaline started to kick in at the familiar sight before you. Black boots, black cloak, black gloves and a mask that haunted the town you called home. They tilted their head at your state, calculating their next move. Flight was the only option, you weren't strong enough to compete with that and you did not dare to try. By the time you scrambled to your feet, Ghostface was ready to plunge their knife into your side. A scream ripples from your throat at the searing pain. Body frozen in the moment, scared that one twitch will move the blade inside of you.

A meek "Amber" escaped your lips, wide eyes staring at the black soul looking back at you. The mask shook, signalling that you had guessed wrong.

"I'm not Amber" the voice crackled to life, deep, dark and heavily modulated. The statement sending shivers down your spine. For all you knew it was Amber who reclaimed the prolific, alone. This had to be her which made this situation a lot worse.

"Please, let me live" a pathetic attempt at a plea, knowing that if Amber can go this far, she can go further. At the very least, you'll give her exactly what she wants, a show.

"You are so pathetic, begging for your life like it's important" Ghostface mocked, enjoying how you had become putty in their hands. They slowly twisted the knife, proving their point. A smaller scream found solace in the empty hallway, blood further coating your outfit. It trailed down your abdomen, leaving tracks down your lower body.

"Amber" one last plea should please the woman under the mask. The wound was enough to prove you weren't a suspect, you were merely a useless victim. When all you received was a throaty laugh in return, you knew that you truly had no clue what was happening. Their free hand grasped the bottom of the mask, pulling it above their head. When a masculine figure was revealed, it all clicked into place. This was not Amber, it was her minion that she neglected to mention. She let you believe it was a one woman show to gather the element of surprise.

"Richie?"

"That's right, the man that Amber deserves" even with the sharp weapon lodged in your side, you felt the need to roll your eyes at his statement. This angered the man, slamming you back against the wall. "She was too weak to harm you, but had no issue asking me to end your life"

"She wouldn't" without hesitation, he retracts the knife only to add another wound just below it. He leans close to your ear, his breath fanning over your neck.

"Oh she would. Don't worry, I'll take good care of her" another harsh movement pulls the knife out, Richie intent on initiating the final attack. A sickly grin spreads across his features, relishing in the doe eyed expression looking back at him. Using the last of your adrenaline, you kicked him in the groin, causing him to hunch over in pain. Without a second thought, you ran as fast as you could back to Tara's room, back to the safety of others. A trail of blood was the only evidence that a crime had been committed. Ghostface had disappeared just as quickly as he had appeared.

When the elevator doors opened, Sam observed the bloody mess in front of her. Her eyes followed the trail resembling a crime scene to discover you in the middle. She sprinted toward your bloodied body, screaming for help as loud as she could. The moments after became a blur as you slipped in and out of consciousness. A beat of black occurred only to be interrupted by consistent beeps, stirring you from your slumber. The bed felt wrong, the air smelled sterile, the sounds were confusing, it startled you. In a fright, you launched forward, aggravating the wounds you had sustained. A pained groan left your throat as your hands instinctively grasped at your wounds. At the sudden movement, Sam was up and out of her chair, ready to help in anyway she could.

"Woah, hey, it's okay, you're okay" Her voice filtered through the noise, hoping to ground you to this moment. Her hand wrapped around your shoulder, pulling you closer to her. She could feel how your muscles tensed at the physical affection, clearly traumatised from the earlier events. "Would you like me to let go?" She questioned, wanting to pass the control back to you. A weak shake of your head encouraged her to wrap you fully in a hug. After what she had seen, it will be very hard for her to let you go. It was when the door opened wide mixed with the noise of the wood bouncing of the stopper, that separated you both. One out of pure fear for the next attack and the other ready to defend at any given moment.

A very disheveled Amber stood at the entrance with wide eyes, tussled hair and laboured breaths. She looked like she had raced through every red light and ran up multiple flights of stairs just to reach you. The sight would have been endearing, if the attack was not replaying in your mind. How this could have all been part of her plan. That she had asked Richie to carry out your death like you had meant nothing. You couldn't decide what was worse, the act itself or the utter betrayal you felt.

"Are you okay?" Without a second thought, she rushed to your side, ignoring Sam as she eyed her carefully.

"No" the tone in which you spoke showed a side that Amber had yet to see. It was cold and blunt which contradicted your usual warm and happy tone.

"Can we have a moment alone?" Amber conjured her most friendly voice, in hopes that Sam would just leave.

"I don't think that's a good idea" Sam narrowed her eyes, stepping closer to your side. Amber was known for choosing her battles poorly and she truly believed she could take on Sam.

"And why's that?" She countered back, standing tall to add height to her defence.

"Because you were unaccounted for during the attack, again. How can I be so sure you're not the killer?" Sam noticed how you tensed, eyes averting to the sheets below. She thought it was due to the attack, not that she was completely correct in her statement.

"You think I would hurt Y/N?"

"Can't be too sure"

"You're insane"

"Says the killer"

"Enough" Both of your hands landed heavily against the bed, signalling the stand off to be over. "Sam it's okay, I can do this" you didn't miss the way Amber looked at you, eyebrows creased in confusion. She was under the impression that Sam did not care for you, turns out she was wrong.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure"

"Well I'll be right outside if you need me"

"Thank you" Sam placed a gentle kiss on your forehead, squeezing your hand in the process. She slowly walked past Amber, watching her closely as she left the room. All Amber did was roll her eyes at the action, like Sam could stop her if she really wanted to kill you. But that was besides the point.

“What happened?” She asked like she hadn’t the faintest idea of who or what could have done this.

“You know exactly what happened” you seethed, Amber could see the fear and anger swirling behind your eyes.

“I actually don’t, so why don’t you tell me?” Her patience was wearing thin, she was not one for push back. This may be a new side of you but Amber was not dealing with it, not right now at least.

“Richie”

“Don’t act stupid, it doesn’t suit you Amber”

“How do you know it was him?”

“He made some grand speech then revealed himself”

“He took off the mask?!” The shock was evident in her voice and that infuriated you. She was more worried about her boy toy revealing himself than her partner being stabbed to death.

"That's what you take away from all this?! Not that I could have died, or the fact you neglected to tell me there was an accomplice, or that you orchestrated the whole thing so you could avoid the blame" The tone in which you whisper shouted was full of rage. Even Amber could sense that she had gone about this all wrong.

"Baby I would never hurt you, and I would never be so cowardice to ask someone to harm you for me. He was talking shit, trying to turn you against me. Don’t listen to him, you’re stronger than that” she tucked a strand behind your ear, before her hand cradled your cheek. Her thumb stroking in hopes to calm you, bring you back to her.

“You should have told me” clearly defeated, you rested your head in her hand, allowing her to get closer to you. In the best way possible, you were now hugged tightly against Ambers chest, her fingers running through your hair and soothing your worries.

“I know, but I didn’t want to ruin the surprise. You’re not exactly the best actor” a moment of silence passed, both in deep thought that came with an attack like this. For you, you were walking a thin line between trust and double cross. With what had happened you didn’t know what to believe and that is more nerve wracking than the actual attack. For Amber, she was stewing inside over Richie’s actions. How dare he hurt you like you were a throw away character? You were the endgame, the one that Amber wants by her side when she’s claimed as the survivor. She would make Richie pay for his actions, even if that meant a gruesome death.

"I'm going to kill him" Amber stated, her inner thoughts seeping out into her vocal cords.

"Not unless I do it first" a chuckle vibrated from Ambers chest. The anger she once had turning into one of love and awe. How did she get so lucky to have you?

"Fuck baby, you know all the right things to say" you looked up at her in such a way that she could fall in love with you all over again. It was what you said next that really solidified that you were her one and only.

"How about we pin this all on him? Skip the final act and make it seem that it was all his idea. We kill him, we survive and live on victorious"

"I like the sound of that"

"Where do we start?"

[winktalks-com]

NO because that tiny tiny shot of gojo's 6? year old self and the way he looked and the way he spoke means so much. "stop looking at me you weakling" was so serious. this kid is obviously not the 17 year old Satoru we know from hidden inventory. and the fact that there's nothing else (that we know of) that changed from this particular flashback to the time hidden inventory takes place in (EXCEPT him meeting Suguru) just serves to drive the point further that he only really acts like that because of Geto.

Children don't act so mature and if they do they don't magically evolve into carefree childish teens.

Cause we know for a fact from the day he was born gojo was just adored by his family. Like "On the day Gojo Satoru was born the balance of the world was altered" type stuff which I am sure they didn't shy away from saying to his face. And children don't have that concept of power. He likely didn't even understand what he was compared to in terms of strength. I mean i doubt those adults would want to talk about the details of cursed spirits with a kid.

And being told you're supposed to be the strongest can be so scary. I mean sure he already had it in him but did he feel it? I doubt it. People born a certain way can't comprehend life beyond their perception.

And then he joined jujutsu high which- we aren't even told why? Cause clans have the option to train their kids themselves homeschooling style. I'd think they'd wanna keep him as close as possible)

But anyway he joins and here comes this other guy who is just as strong as him who has a very very different outlook on life and who speaks about it so confidently and convincingly that gojo starts trusting him with his whole being.

Like "oh Suguru thinks this so it must be the answer" "Suguru thinks I'm right so that's all that matters" "Suguru thinks I'm wrong so I MUST prove to him that I'm right"

And even if they fought a lot Geto remained his moral compass and all of his opinions stood on the pillars of getos belief system even while directly opposing it.

In hidden inventory after Riko's death Satoru asks Geto if he should kill all of those people. And when the other disagrees he doesn't argue. Because Suguru is always right.

And when Geto defects and kills a bunch of non sorcerers his whole world crumbles because His firend has never been inconsistent or hypocritical before. Cause Geto is suPOSED to always be right. Like fuck you mean you talk about how sorcerers are born to protect regular people and then you go kill a bunch of those people you're supposedly meant to protect?

And sure he's angry. But his whole personality and morality is built around Geto. And he still thinks its the right way to think. So he keeps acting like that because in those 4 years they spent together he forgot how to care about his family's opinion. Because the only opinion that mattered was Geto's.

And if I was Gojo I'd be pretty fucking upset. Because sure its "do as I say not as I do" but Geto didn't make that choice only for himself. And how dare he even think he's wise enough to make that type of decision at 17? At any age. He didn't just choose to kill that whole village he chose every consequence of that action too. He chose to have an execution order placed on his head and he chose to kill his parents after that and he cHOSE to leave Gojo behind.

And that's fucked up like ok you made a mistake?? But don't keep making mistakes just so you don't have to admit it.

I hate them

[airas-story]

Zero Stars

“How would you rate your pain?” Stephen asked quietly, trying to focus past the ill feeling in his chest. Tony was leaned against a wall while bleeding from several slashes in his side, his eyes screwed up in pain. Damn wraiths.

“Zero stars,” Tony told him, sending him what was probably meant to be a cheeky grin. It was rather ruined by the grimace of pain that won the battle of facial expressions. “Would not recommend.”

Stephen didn’t know whether he wanted to laugh, scream, or smack Tony upside the head. None of them felt like particularly appropriate reactions to the situation, though. “Zero to ten, Tony. How bad is it?”

Tony winced, gaze darting to look at anything but Stephen. “Four.”

And since Tony had a very flawed view of what constituted pain, Stephen could easily add several levels to that.

Stephen bit his lip, turning his eyes back to the claw marks in Tony’s side. Tony hadn’t been in his suit when he’d been attacked, and while he’d managed to handle himself fairly well, all told, the wraiths had still gotten a good few hits in.

Tony was lucky he wasn’t dead.

He could tell that Tony was trying to clear the pain from his face. “Stephen, sweetheart—“ It was always a bad sign when Tony pulled out ‘sweetheart’, ”—I’m going to be fine. I promise. You’ll badger Christine on her day off, I’ll be a terrible patient, you’ll hover and do that annoying ‘backseat doctor’ thing you do, Christine will give you the murder eye, and despite all that, she’ll patch me up just fine and I’ll be complaining about red-eyed shadow creatures—“

“Wraiths,” Stephen supplied.

“—And driving you insane within days.”

“You never could,” Stephen said quietly.

Tony’s lip tilted up in a pained smile. “Yeah, I know. But that doesn’t stop me from giving it my best shot. You know, before you, I was pretty sure I could irritate anyone into leaving me alone.”

“I’m too persistent for that,” Stephen acknowledged. Some of his tension was battling to release itself, soothed by Tony’s assurances.

Most of it was held stringently in place by the fact that Tony had been attacked because of his connection to Stephen. That Stephen had been the one to endanger Tony, that Tony was hurt because of him.

“Stephen.” Tony took his hand. “Stop. I’m going to be fine. Those little black gremlins—“

“Wraiths.” 

”—would have attacked someone, they didn’t need outside motivation for that. Maybe they chose me because of you, but the violence was already there. Better me than someone else.” Tony met his gaze. “And maybe you’d have chosen yourself instead, but that just proves me right. Better us than some civilians.”

Stephen wondered what it said about him that, yes, he’d choose for Tony to get attacked over someone innocent when he claimed to love Tony.

But then, Tony felt the same.

Yes, they’d both choose to take the pain themselves, but when that wasn’t an option, they’d hand that pain to each other before they’d ever risk anyone else.

Maybe it was messed up. Maybe it was who they were. Maybe it was simply how it had to be.

“But seriously,” Tony said, interrupting Stephen’s thoughts. “Zero stars. So get me to Christine already so I can get over this.”

[honey-flustered]

Scoops Ahoy Ken! - Steve Edition Imagine/Headcannon

Inspired by my post which is blowing up because everyone loves babygirl Steve 😫❤️

Ken Doll come to Life!Steve Harrington x Fem!Reader

Warnings: oral (f & m recieving)(implied), nsfw below cut, fluff

So I’m thinking in the scenario where you randomly decide you’d like to buy a doll because you didn’t have a childhood where you got to play with dolls or any toys but as an adult, now on your own, you get to live out your dreams.

So you purchased this limited edition ken doll called “Scoops Ahoy Steve” because you thought he looked so pretty.

One day, you have a dream that he comes to life. Then, some luck of god and the next morning he’s life-sized and alive, sitting in your living room and waiting for you. You’d teach him about life and he’d be such a cute little himbo.

🍦 🍦 🍦 🍦 🍦🍦 🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦

Fluffy Headcanons

I think he’s the type to be very possessive of you because he still has memories of himself as a doll and remembers how well you’ve taken care of him so he’s madly in love with you

He’d try cooking for you but he’s not very good at it—because how the frick do you work a stove without burning everything down?

He knows how to fix a mean ice cream sundae, though 🍨

Scoops Ahoy Steve’s lore is that he’s a part-time babysitter so he’s great with kids and he’d like to imagine that someday you and him could have kids, however that works 🤭

Scoops Ahoy Steve’s personality is very whimsical because he’s always wanting to know about the world. Think of him like Giselle from Enchanted. He’s always so friendly with everyone he meets and loves putting smiles on everyone’s faces.

Whenever you’d curse too much, he’d lovingly call you a “sailor mouth”

Scoops Ahoy Steve makes such a great boyfriend because he loves to be attentive to you like a true Ken doll. He’s very supportive of everything you do and always wants to make you feel special

He loves wearing his sailor suit from time to time even though he has plenty of options of clothes to choose from since you’ve taken him shopping. He especially loves the way you look at him when he’s in it.

He’s very stylish though with his Ken doll background and sometimes will coordinate outfits for the two of you

He never has a bad photo or bad hair day. Ever even if you’ve tried catching him off guard the guy’s a model. Meanwhile, he has tons of photos of you in his phone ranging from cute to down right embarrassing but he loves looking at them whenever you’re not around

He gets a job as a manager to an ice cream place and he’s so happy because it’s what he knows and that the real world’s not such a scary place after all

He eventually adjusts better to our world and figures out he’s good at other things like playing sports and making children laugh. So he dreams of some day going to college to work towards being a teacher or coach 👨‍🏫

Again this man loves you. Like he LOVES YOU and will go all out to prove his love and devotion to you. I’m talking extravagant parties, anniversaries, just any event where he can make it all about you.

🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦

NSFW Headcanons

Scoops Ahoy Steve would find your little ‘toy’ and he’d be so curious but jealous about it like, “Do you play with it as much as you did with me?” And it just be such an innocent question but he wouldn’t exactly understand the implications.

In the world he comes from, sex is nonexistent because everything is meant to be innocent. But he knows there’s more to just being boyfriend and girlfriend because he always gets the sudden urge to hold you down and kiss you, rubbing himself all over you

So when he finally does some research on exactly what that means, he’ll do everything he can to study the ways he can pleasure you

And pleasure you he does! The first time he performs oral for you was such an unsuspecting day because you didn’t see him as the type to be interested in sex. But that day he cooked you a meal he learned from a youtube tutorial, gave you some nice wine to sip on, and, of course, he wears thee suit. Then, once he feels like you’re relaxed enough he’ll start kissing all over your body.

You’d be so hot all over but feel like it’s wrong but he lips just feels so soft, wet against your skin after each kiss. You’d watch him kiss down your body, pulling off down your skirt and underwear and you’d know where this was going.

“You don’t have to do that, Steve. I’d love you even if we never—”

“But I need to,” He’d protest, eyes blown from a feeling of list he’s never experienced before. “I need to taste you.”

When the man eats, he’s a man starved. His studying paid off for sure because you think he’s mastered the art of cunnilingus. Every gasp and whine you make would egg him on and he’d do the most to get you to be as vocal as possible.

He wouldn’t mind when you’d curse all that much knowing how good you must feel. In fact, he’d even test some of those words on his lips as he moans into your core.

“Fuck, you taste so good, love. So creamy and sweet.” He’d groan against your core, thinking of all the various things he plans to do with you now that he’s had a taste. He’ll possibly involve some ice cream play in his next tryst with you.

Loves when you pull his hair and grind against his face because he knows he’s doing a good job

But he doesn’t understand the concept of overstimulation and tears of pleasure so when you weeping and forcing his head away 5 orgasms later, he thinks he did something wrong until you reassure that it’s so good that it becomes painful

He’s still confused asking you to show him so you ask if you could return the favor and you blow the hell out of him and his mind

Aftercare involves him just cuddling you and telling you how lucky he is to have you, hands all over your body to remind you that he loves your body as is even when you don’t always feel like beautiful.

We stan fictional men here! Scoops Ahoy Steve as white boy of the month pls 😘❤️😍

[onyourowndaisymae]

Hello! If possible, could I request the Obey Me brothers + dateables and their reactions to an MC with dyscalculia? If not, it's totally fine!! I hope you've an awesome week <3 !!

obey me brothers + an mc with dyscalculia (pt. 1)

in order to get shit out in even a remotely timely manner, i've decided to now and in the future start splitting asks into two individual posts based on character group (brothers vs dateables/side characters). it was between that and shortening the posts and since i'd rather bite my own fingers off than put out content i'm not proud of, this is my solution! so let's call this part 1 to this ask. also sorry it takes me obscenely long to post i am a mess

content warnings: none

"Dyscalculia is a learning disorder that affects a person's ability to do math. Much like dyslexia disrupts areas of the brain related to reading, dyscalculia affects brain areas that handle math- and number-related skills and understanding." - Cleveland Clinic

Lucifer

lucifer is such a dad about this, like i cannot express this enough.

he knows you have dyscalculia before you even arrive in the devildom. he sees it on your paperwork before they pull you from the human realm, so he's already preparing the best strategies to assist you. he will, however, wait until you say something about it to make that information known.

he will make you bring your math homework to his office every night so he can check it. that is not optional. he doesn't care how much you hate it, because at the end of the day you need to pass. tough love, in a sense.

but, on that same note-- he's not actually mean about correcting your work. it's very odd. you'd expect big, bad, "i'll string mammon up from the ceiling on any given day" ass lucifer would be a brutal teacher, but he's really not. he knows that you brain simply does not work the same way as others, so he's extra particular about his explanations. he doesn't ever call you out in a way that makes you feel stupid. this proud demon never wants to make you embarrassed over something you can't control.

ideally, you'll come around on doing homework in his office every night. he thinks this is the perfect choice for both of you. his office is quiet and warm, with the soothing sounds of a crackling fire comforting you as you work. he can make sure any distractions (aka, his brothers) are completely out of sight until you're finished for the night. he'll also be right there in case you need any help-- he'll drop whatever he's doing and help until you're sure you've got the problem down.

lucifer is protective of this time together. it's the one time where he's certain he can do more for you than the rest of his brothers, and he's determined to prove you won't ever need to turn to them for help.

if you get overwhelmed with your homework, he's easy on you for the rest of the night. lucifer knows when to call it quits-- he'll slide your homework away across the desk and set a reassuring hand on your back. he doesn't speak as you get all your frustrations out, whether they be tears or anger. it's easy to forget that lucifer is actually an older brother. but in moments like these, full of quiet comfort as he carefully works you down from the ledge, you think maybe he's not so intimidating after all.

Mammon

oh, you're not good with math? join the club, bestie.

mammon takes an embarrassing amount of time to realize that you've got dyscalculia. like, a near impossible amount of time. you're not hiding this information from him. he's seen lucifer help you with your math homework, heard you talk about special accommodations for tests, hell, you've even said it aloud! this man would lose a spelling bee to a box of bricks.

you eventually ask him if he knows what dyscalculia is. he tries to play it off like he knows, but of course, he's not a great actor. you let him flounder for a little bit before choosing mercy and explaining the concept to him. it takes him a bit to understand that it's an actual learning disorder and you're not just making shit up to explain why you suck at math.

mammon prefers when you do homework together. in his head, he justifies this by saying he'll be close by when if you need his help. in reality, he'd probably do more harm than good to your grade. he spends most nights trying to coax you into working on homework in his room. at the very least, he'll be able to spend some alone time with you

reality is often disappointing. you do actually spend most nights doing your math homework together... at the kitchen table, while lucifer sits between you two and makes sure you get your work done in a timely manner. no talking, mammon, or he'll hang you from the stairwell by your ankles.

don't ask him for help. just... don't. you'll honestly do worse than if you had just tried yourself.

if you get overwhelmed trying to do your work with dyscalculia, mammon is right there by your side. you won't be doing anymore work tonight, that's for sure. he'll pull you into his arms, red-faced and sheepish, as he soothes your frustrations with gentle, murmured affirmations. you are so much more than this math shit, alright? don't forget it.

Leviathan

levithan simply won't pick up on something as subtle as your difficulty with numbers. even if he notices it, he'd never say anything. what if he's wrong? what if you feel bad about it? what if he offers to help you with that math homework you're struggling with three feet in front of him and you hate him for it? oh god, maybe he should mind his own business. what if he's making all these assumptions about you-- assumptions that you'd hate him for? he can't handle if you-- oh, what? you want to talk about it with him? haha, no worries. totally chill. levi's nothing if not totally chill.

you have to tell levi about your dyscalculia if you ever want him to know, or at least tell one of his more loose-lipped brothers. he's willing to talk about it if you are. but no matter how close you are, he would never bring it up first.

he's got passable grades. he'd probably do better if he applied himself, but honestly, he's far too interested in throwing himself into another anime or video game to dedicate much brain space to school. if you want to do homework with him, he'll probably opt to play a game on some handheld next to you to keep you company. he's extra considerate to keep his headphones on and stay quiet for you. he's just honored you want to spend time with him like this.

you want levi to help you with homework? are you sure? you don't want one of his smarter brothers, like satan or belphie or-- you're sure you want him? he's not convinced he's stellar at tutoring or anything, but he'll try. he brings out his own (rushed) homework and explains his thought process to you... funnily enough, helping you points out the flaws in how own work, which he can now fix before turning it in. helping you has quiet literally raised his grades in the long run.

if you get overwhelmed, levi is quick to panic. please don't cry. his best solution is to distract you. wanna watch him beat this level? wanna start an anime together to take your mind off of it? you guys end up wasting the rest of the night recreating the HoL and demon brothers in the devildom equivalent of the sims. so much for raising your grades together... lucifer is not happy hearing how easily both of you got distracted (but lets it slide when he realizes it was math homework you skipped).

Satan

satan is an observant fellow. he probably knows within your first month at RAD that you've got an issue with numbers. he might not know the exact diagnosis, but he can tell you're not nearly as confident with math as you are in other subjects. he notices you're more dodgy about anything to do with numbers. he had not intention to bother you about it, of course, but he'll watch with a bit of curiosity as you encounter these sort of situations-- he doesn't understand you, after all, and he wants to know why.

by the time you guys are on friendly terms, he'll offer to help you with any homework you might struggle with. satan gives no indication that he knows you're not the most confident in math. while he hates lucifer, satan still knows the value of pride and dignity in these situations. he waits until you approach him one night for help-- bashful, a little ashamed, all interesting emotions for him to witness up close-- and carefully guides you through the work. that's when he sees it. you have an odd way of interacting with numbers. there he notices little mess ups when counting, longer pauses mid-equation, how quiet you are as he helps you out... interesting. guess he'll have to keep assisting you for now.

when you do eventually tell him, he... i mean he basically flat out tells you he knew from the moment he watched you solve a math problem. hopefully that explanation doesn't upset you. it's just facts. one time you had to pay for something at a festival stall in cash... watching you try to calculate the combination of coins and bills you should hand over was painful.

he doesn't really mind accommodating your dyscalculia. you, at least, aren't just a dumbass with no explanation (like mammon, he's talking about mammon). satan will usually ask if you want his help before stepping in, out of courtesy, but usually prefers to handle number-related tasks himself. it just goes faster.

if you get overwhelmed with your homework, you'll see satan get really confused. he didn't think it was something that could upset you in that way. he'd sooner expect you to get pissed off and storm out, y'know? that he can relate to. he'll follow your lead on this one. what would make you feel better? if you want to power through, he'll do his best to explain everything as simply as possible. if not, he'll do something with you to take your mind off of everything.

Asmodeus

it's easy to write asmodeus off as some sort of surface-level ditz, but that's truly a disservice to the bubbly demon. he's still one of the most powerful demons in the whole realm, after all. but he's always been good at picking up those small details-- your dyscalculia is something that stumps him for awhile, but eventually, he figures out something is up.

the main problem is shopping. he'll often drag you along with him to majolish, either as a pack mule to carry his things or as a lovely little doll to try on every outfit combo his pretty little head can put together. the real issue came about as he tried to get your help calculating a running total for the items in his arms. see, asmo is quite good with numbers (new headcanon alert? honestly i'm into it i now declare asmo's a secret lil math whiz). so as he's adding up the prices, he'll shout numbers at you from another changing room and ask you for help. what's $74.36 + 189.20? quickly! oh, too late, he's got it. will you remember $263.56? now say that back to him?

when you inevitably stumble through every single number-related task, even just counting certain things in the bag, asmodeus realizes that maybe you're just not that good with numbers. not in the way that mammon is, that's just general stupidity (so mean!), but in a way unlike you are with anything else. eventually he'll stop handing off number-related tasks to you and take a couple extra seconds to do it anyways.

asmo would help you with homework, but that requires doing his own homework, you see. and considering the fact that his nails are wet AND the devildom culture reading sounds boring as hell... he doesn't have any plans to do it. in fact, he'll calculate just what assignments he can skip while still passing. if he's not going to do his homework, he'll at least keep you company while you do yours! expect quite humming as he scrolls through social media next to you.

on the rare occasion that he does in fact do his work, asmo is more than willing to help you with your math homework! he does, however, have a system. first of all, you guys are studying in his room with the door closed. not to hide anything from the others-- unless you'd like to take advantage of the closed door?-- but to keep his brothers from interrupting you. then the two of you will spread out on his floor or his bed and get to work. if you help him with devildom history, he'll gladly help you with math!

if you get overwhelmed by your math homework, asmodeus is quick to ditch school work for the rest of the evening. honestly he didn't want to do it either! he's almost excited to be there by your side and comforting you-- in part because it's him you're asking for comfort and not his brothers, and in part because he gets the chance to charm you with one of his greatest strengths: hospitality! expect an evening of pampering with no expectation of reciprocation. he enjoys running you a bath (won't even joke about joining you... this time), doing your skincare, painting your nails... it's your call. he just can't wait to take your mind off of the stress and remind you just how wonderful you are.

Beelzebub

beelzebub doesn't even come close to finding out about your dyscalculia until you tell him. he thinks watching people work is a little rude, and he's usually too busy snacking, or thinking about snacking, or planning his next food order, or-- you get the picture. and even if he did notice you struggling, he'd kindly turn the other cheek to give you privacy. he might mention something to belphie later, considering how smart his twin is and all, but it's always out of a place of genuine concern and care for you. beel is trusts you to respect your own limits and, if you want him to know about your struggles, to approach him when you're ready.

beel is the type to have a structured homework routine. he just gets too distracted when left to his own devices! his stomach can lead him to the wildest of places. beel goes to the same spot in his room every night with a mountain of snacks and gets to work. belphie is usually somewhere in the room to "supervise", mainly acting to keep his twin on task when his brain goes into overdrive. no beel, you didn't miss fangol practice. it was cancelled tonight because of the weather. is lucifer making dinner toni-- i don't know who's on dinner duty. no, don't go check. beel.

if you're joining him to actually do your work, belphie is thankful. you essentially take over his job of "beel wrangler" and allow him to sleep peacefully nearby. if you're there to be a distraction, it's only a matter of time until you're either wrangled yourself (much to belphie's irritation) or shooed out of the room until beel finishes his work.

tutoring from beel is really collaborative. you tackle each question together, one at a time, until the assignment is complete. he wants to hear how your brain processes the question-- learning difficulty and all-- then he'll share his thoughts. somewhere in there the two of you will usually find the right answer. if not, belphie's always willing to try to help the two of you.

if you get overwhelmed with your math homework, beel is quick to comfort you. what can he do to help? he's got some snacks if that would take your mind off of things. actually, these are new ones from the convenience store across town. in a couple of minutes, you're playing a devildom version (and surprisingly tamer, considering this is supposed to be hell and all) version of beanboozled. beel never guesses a flavor incorrectly. eventually you and belphie are just feeding a blindfolded beel jellybeans and watching him guess each and every flavor correctly. at least you're not struggling with your work anymore!

Belphegor

belphie, after sitting in his assigned seat next to you for exactly one (1) math class, asks if you've always struggle with numbers. blunt but to the point, i guess? he doesn't mean to be offensive or anything, but he's not going to sugarcoat it, either. he noticed you were struggling keeping up with the notes. you're welcome to borrow his if you need to.

(i feel the need to note here that belphie's notetaking is ass. he's on the verge of passing out each class period, so all of his work is slanted heavily and mostly undecipherable. it's a shame, really, because he's got good handwriting when he's awake).

he's found most often in his room or the attic curled up among the blankets. because they assume he's asleep, wherever belphie is tends to be a good study spot. sometimes he'll beckon you to join him on the bed as he tries to distract you encourages you to pace yourself. other times he's fast asleep with the lights on, leaving you to your studies on the floor or at a nearby desk/table.

if you specifically request his tutoring, he'll make time for you. sure, he'll probably be half asleep and will appear in your room to help at an odd hour between naps, but he'll be sure to come. the problem is that his "tutoring" is mostly him just telling you the answers. if you're cool with this, great! if not, he's a bit less helpful. it's best to just use him as one would the answers section at the back of the textbook to check if you found the right result and, if not, as a resource to work backwards and find your mistake.

if you get overwhelmed with your math work while doing homework in belphegor's room, he immediately suggests a break to help calm you back down. unfortunately, this is the avatar of sloth we're discussing-- any break he suggests will most definitely turn into a distraction that stops any and all progress for the rest of the night. honestly? sometimes that's what you need. sometimes you know you're going to stress beyond the point of improvement, and those nights need to be stopped before you crash. his first suggestion will always be to curl up together to take a nap. if you're interested, you should be aware that the "nap" will not end until the next morning. if you decide to be responsible and veto that plan, then you will probably both curl up to watch a movie-- your pick-- and spend the rest of the night far, far away from any math homework that'll stress you out further.

[ineffable-sideburns]

Okay, so I’ve seen a few comments about how it took Gabriel and Beelzebub only 4 years to choose their own sides but 6,000 years after the garden wall where Aziraphale lied to God, he’s somehow still right where he started when it comes to breaking out of the terrible institution he’s a part of (I disagree there but that’s a different conversation and I just wanted to focus on Gabriel and Beelzebub for a second.) This is half baked and I’m not looking to prove anyone wrong because I don’t think anyone is necessarily wrong. It just got me thinking and I thought this context might be important as to why it was so “easy” for Gabriel and Beelzebub.

First of all, I think that Gabriel (and likely Beelzebub) are different from Aziraphale in a few ways, so imo it’s hard to directly compare their journeys. Gabriel in particular, doesn’t really think about things too deeply. His thought process after Armageddon’t was (reductively): what the fuck am I going to do now > oh hi beelzebub you’re tired of your job too? > okay I like the fly demon now they gave me a gift no one has done that > I’m just gonna tell my people “no Armageddon sequel” > now I’m on trial and I’m ready to be sent to hell, see ya soon babe! 🫶 > oh fuck he’s not going to send me to hell 🙄 > time to get naked and hide my memories before I’m erased as Gabriel

And the fact that Gabriel went about things the way he did, with the simplest plan and outlook, and it almost ended in him getting his current identity erased, shows that he either just doesn’t think about or worry about things the way Aziraphale and Crowley have had to, or he just doesn’t care. A bit of both, I think. This is me reading between the lines, but after season 2, Beelzebub and Gabriel come off as the kind of people who do their jobs out of necessity, not passion: “this is just what we do (follow the great plan), this is how the world is and it’s what I’ve always known”, and most importantly “what option do I have other than to keep doing this?”

I think you can certainly read the tarmac scene after Armageddon’t as the catalyst for them first questioning the purpose of it all, but it’s also where they see that doing something other than the Great Plan (or what they’ve been doing) is an option.

…I’d also argue that there’s a difference between reciting the company policy and feeding that as ambrosia to your underlings (season 1 Gabriel reads this way to me in hindsight), and believing it and caring about it yourself. Like I said above, Gabriel and Beelzebub are not very passionate, nor do they think about things in the way of “what does all of this mean about me?” They’re out of touch, they don’t interact with humans in ways to see them as people which might cause them to question their actions and their self-concept: this is just a job for them, they pull in the numbers, and they know what they’re meant to be doing, and do it. Even after they realize that it’s all pointless and they choose “their side”, neither of them really comes off as someone who thinks like someone like Aziraphale or Crowley. Beelzebub shows a desire for praise for all the work they’ve done for hell — the opposite of Crowley, who cares about how his actions affect humans, and avoids doing his real job as much as possible in order to minimize harm to them. Aziraphale is someone that believes in the company policy, and the message, to the point that it’s become the crux of his whole identity, even if he also thinks the company is going against its own preachings. This is part of what makes it harder for him to leave. Whereas Beelzebub and Gabriel, who have not internalized their actions, or self-identified with the company in the same way, can jump ship quite easily.

There’s also another reason Gabriel and Beelzebub could “work it all out” and leave so easily: they were in the highest positions possible aside from being the Metatron/God or Satan, and that comes with the vantage point to see more of the whole forest and not just the trees. Maybe enough to know that changing a corrupt institution from the inside is impossible, or at least certainly enough to know that their position isn’t as powerful as someone like Aziraphale might think it is. You could also argue falling and going to hell is an easier solution than fixing heaven so that Beelzebub can come up to join, and Gabriel went for the method with the quickest results.

Aziraphale both has a natural inclination (as evidenced as far back as the garden wall) to internalize his actions (not everyone does that, and there’s different degrees of doing so), and he then is left to experience humanity while heaven and hell do terrible things to it. Other than earth being a way for Gabriel and Beelzebub to meet up, and their affinity for Buddy Holly, they don’t really care about or understand humans…that’s ironically what makes their jobs just jobs and so easy to leave. This difference in perspective is why for them it’s like leaving a dead end job where they aren’t appreciated enough, when for Aziraphale it’s like leaving a cult.

[burst-of-iridescent]

Hello! (First I wanted to say I'm sorry if you've answered this before, and if so could you please direct me to it in your response?) but I was wondering what you thought of Zuko's betrayal toward Katara in The Crossroads of Destiny, if it felt in character or not for him, if not, how do you think it should have been written differently? On the same note, what are your (specifically Zutara related) thoughts on Season 3? Is there anything you would have written differently, and if so, how? Personally, I always felt dissatisfied with S3 in general, although it was still overall enjoyable. I don't even personally dislike kataang, but maiko disgusts (and I mean REALLY) disgusts me.

i know there are many who argue that zuko's choice in CoD was character assassination, that it was meant to torpedo zutara, that it was too sudden etc etc... but personally, i've always felt that it was both in-character and necessary for zuko at that point in his arc.

i can understand how on first watch it seems like too much of a turn-around, given how zuko's arc seemed to be heading, but i think this ignores two things: firstly, that the path to redemption isn't linear and secondly, the real context of the choice that lay before zuko in CoD.

it's one thing to give up on chasing the avatar and accept a quiet, humble life in ba sing se; it's another entirely to actively turn traitor yourself and work against your nation and your family. part of the reason zuko was able to reconcile himself to being lee the tea shop server forever is because it was essentially a path of passive neutrality: he was helping neither the avatar, nor the fire nation. it was the best option available to him, a grey area that allowed him to find some measure of peace without forcing him to pick a side.

azula's coup, however, destroys any chance zuko has of ever going back to that life. he's been dragged right back into the conflict, and this time there's no question of staying out of it. one way or another, he'll be forced to fight, and the only choice left to him is who his enemy will be. azula, his own sister, offering him everything he's ever wanted? or aang, the boy he's spent years hunting, who embodies everything he's been taught to oppose?

and so naturally, when confronted with a dangerous unknown, he chooses to go back to what's familiar and what he spent most of his life believing he wanted. remember that zuko is also a victim of a lifetime of abuse and indoctrination in a moment of extreme psychological stress, and it's no wonder that he picks what he sees as safe and easy (zuko isn't actually safe in the fire nation ofc and he knows that, but it comes back to the case of the devil you know vs the devil you don't), though he himself is aware deep down that it's the wrong choice.

from a character perspective, zuko also needed to go back to the fire nation to realize how much he's changed, and that the home he'd always yearned to return to didn't actually exist, and probably never had. had zuko actually gone with the gaang in the book 2 finale, i think a little part of him might have always wondered about the what-if of it all. ultimately, i think it strengthens zuko's redemption for him to backslide and then actively make the choice to change and still try to do better, further proving the show's message of how it's never too late to do the right thing.

the only thing i would have changed is how zuko's arc in the first half of book 3 is handled, because while i do get what the writers were going for, i think it was a wasted opportunity to get insight into the war from the fire nation's perspective. it would've been cool to see zuko learning about the gaang's exploits and slowly putting the pieces together about who was likely responsible for it, allowing us to see the effects of their actions from the other point of view.

book 3 was definitely the most unsatisfying of the series, because the season as a whole is the least cohesive and well-planned of the three, and coming on the heels of the near-perfect book 2, the disparity is even more obvious. it's somewhat masked by the fact that it does have some of the best individual episodes of the series, which is probably why many people overlook how weak the season is as a whole.

i actually wouldn't change anything zutara-related other than letting them have ONE conversation and a hug post-agni kai (as they deserved) because that entire arc was just *chef's kiss*. my problems with book 3 stem almost entirely from the finale and aang's overall arc, but that's probably too long to get into here so tldr: less magic pointy rock, lion turtle, and half-assed relationships, more letting go of katara, confronting grief over air nomads, and found family with hints of an actually well-developed romance for the future.

sigh, to think of all we could have had.