#much more manageable to have proper interaction with people only when i actively want to

[wndaswife]

centre of attention | wanda maximoff & fem!reader

Ex-wife of a church preacher and a member of a popular parent-teacher group, Wanda Maximoff is one of the town’s most infamous figures, but you soon learn that she is much more than she seems.

Word count: 13 783

Tags: smut, fluff, age gap, jealousy, allusions to slut-shaming, mentions of a gangbang, brief cunnilingus, strap-ons, fingering, brief masturbation, hair-pulling, spanking, degradation, mommy kink, power bottom!wanda maximoff. MINORS DNI.

gif credit to vanessacarlylse

Pitchy hums of singing cicadas greeted you the moment you drove into the small northern Californian town you were to spend the next few months in. 

None of it was really ideal for you’d wanted to land a placement as a teacher’s assistant at least somewhere in southern California as you’d lived in Los Angeles your whole life. But the moment you drove further into the town and saw groups of families walking hand-in-hand down the surprisingly-lively streets and children retiring towards their bus stops after their days at school, you knew your stay wouldn’t be as dull as you imagined.

The only thing that gave you pause was passing by the town’s local and only church that was as bustling with people as the schoolyard was.

What you could already tell was that the townspeople were certainly close-knit, valued their communities, and were a rather religious group of people.

In worrying about your interactions with the town’s church, you hadn’t meant to be crass, but rather sincerely concerned for the possibility that you might truly have found yourself stuck in a strictly old-fashioned and highly religious town hours away from Los Angeles for the next several months.

When you met with your assigned teacher and principal of the schoolhouse to go over some extra paperwork upon your arrival the next day, you met Agatha Harkness, a woman you immediately pinned as the town gossip. She was the vice-principal of the elementary school and she was quick and very kind to go over what you needed to know about the town you now resided in — which ended up being everything she knew from secret divorces to scandalous affairs.

Honestly, you were grateful for her warm welcome, even if the way you secretly mused at all of Agatha’s gossip would certainly be interpreted as rather unseemly for such a new resident of the town.

On Saturdays, the church held breakfasts after early-morning mass for there was also a specially-run youth program that was managed by the church every week on the same day. Eager to introduce you to some of the town’s families, some of whom were involved in the school’s particularly active parent-teacher group at school, Agatha took you to the breakfast.

As you expected, the spacious church basement where the breakfast was taking place was bustling. Families that crowded the buffet tables were dressed in their formal church attire, mothers with their hair done and husbands well-coiffed, and children in clothing that looked proper for the occasion though they were most definitely forced into them. 

“Oh, there’s Monica,” Agatha told you before calling the bright-faced woman over.

She greeted the vice-principal then turned to you and stuck out her hand with a large grin. “Hey there,” she beamed. 

“Hi,” you answered with a nervous smile, slightly intimidated by the crowd and in stunned admiration of the charming woman in front of you. You shook her hand. 

“Monica is likely the greatest science teacher one could ever have the pleasure of meeting in all of northern California,” Agatha said with confident sincerity.

The cheery brunette waved her hand at her dismissively. “Oh, please, Agatha,” she uttered bashfully. Then she turned to you with a smile. “Are you new to the church?”

“I just started my placement as a teacher’s assistant here for my teaching degree in LA,” you said.

With raised eyebrows and an intrigued nod, Monica replied and crossed her arms as if impressed, “Is that so? It’s been a good while since we’ve had visitors come up here, especially from the Valley.”

You’d been living in Los Angeles for so long that you hadn’t ever really considered how renowned it was in the more rural areas of California; even Agatha had been surprised when you’d told her where you were coming in from.

“I don’t mean to hold you up,” Monica told you. “Help yourself to any of the food.” She exchanged a few words with Agatha before you were led further into the large room, and for the next forty minutes you stood by Agatha’s side eating and being introduced to the local families.

To your dismay, Agatha excused herself for a moment to greet what looked like a family who’d just entered the dining hall. You were forced to stand alone by one of the tables, busying yourself by looking around and playing with the hem of your shirt in a desperate attempt not to look awkward or out of place.

When two young boys and their father approached the table you were leaning against, you quickly straightened and stepped back to allow them to pull out the chairs. 

You saw Agatha reapproaching when you turned around, but she was walking back with a woman you hadn’t yet met. She looked a few years younger than Agatha, but still older than you. Her hair was wrapped in a neat French twist, blonde strands that’d become loose from the hairstyle curling lightly around her face.

With her perfect done-up hair, the dark brown lip colour, a pair of black flats, and a dark green blouse tucked into black high-waisted straight-legged pants, she was a bit hard to take your eyes away from. 

Thankfully, she didn’t seem to notice what an obsessive idiot you must’ve looked like for she was busy balancing a few platefuls of food as she approached the table behind you with Agatha. She set the plates down for the young boys and the man you saw earlier, and you then realised that they were a family. 

“This is Y/N — who I was telling you about just a moment ago,” Agatha brought you into the conversation then stepped to your side, wrapping a supportive arm around your shoulders. 

The other woman she was with carefully placed the plates of food in front of who you supposed was her husband and children then straightened to look at you. She brushed the strands of her hair out of her face and smiled at you after taking a breath. 

“Wanda,” she introduced herself then extended her hand to you with a warm smile.

“Hi,” you replied then shook her hand. “Y/N.” You kicked yourself internally for bringing your name up again when you recalled that Agatha had just mentioned it. 

Wanda nodded then ran her palms down her hips. “So I’ve heard,” she said, a tinge of gaiety in her tone as her smile widened. “Are you starting your assistant position at the school on Monday?”

You nodded and attempted to return her smile though you were a little overwhelmed by the crowds of families you were currently standing in the middle of. Wanda caught onto the bashfulness of your tiny awkward smile and thought it was endearing.

“Well, don’t you worry. I think you’ll fit right in,” she reassured, the unbroken eye contact making you take a deep breath that you hoped wasn’t as obvious as it felt. 

Before you could answer, one of Wanda’s young sons tugged at his mother’s blouse and asked in an adorably mousy voice, “Momma, can I please get a ginger ale?”

“Of course, moya zvezda. But just a little,” she answered, reaching down to stroke her son’s chin with her fingers. Then she looked back up at you with a warm smile. “It was lovely meeting you, Y/N.”

You straightened and hoped you were only imagining the way you felt yourself blushing at her undivided attention. “L-Likewise, Mrs Maximoff,” you managed to say. 

It was just over a week until you saw Wanda Maximoff again, much to your disappointment. 

During the first week of your placement, you learned a whole lot of things. Firstly, dull heaps of information that you hadn’t said was anything but wholly interesting when the baker by your new place dumped years and years worth of the small town’s history on you when you were purchasing a loaf of rye bread, then more gossip shared with you from the teachers’ staff, suggestions for where the best hiking trails were around town which you happily utilised, and most importantly that there was a parent-teacher association that volunteered twice a week at the school.

At first that last bit seemed unimportant until you were given a sheet of the association’s members so you could familiarise yourself with them as you’d be seeing much of them throughout your time there, one of which was a familiar ‘Wanda Maximoff.’

Out of all the gossip Agatha had told you since you arrived, the resident she talked the least about was the one you were the most interested in. You supposed it was because they were close friends, and it would make sense that certain things about someone’s life — including their friends — were naturally private, even if not consciously.

But you didn’t think Agatha would mind if you asked about her, so you subtly brought her up while you were helping her clean up some of her things after school, a habit you picked up after the first time when you planned to go out for coffee together after work.

With the sheet of the members’ names in your hand, you asked Agatha as discreetly as you could, “Is, um, this the same Wanda I met on Saturday? At the breakfast?”

“Only one Wanda in this town, bumblebee,” Agatha replied and hung her purse from her shoulder. It was obvious she held her to a high regard, and that the two women were good friends. “Why do you ask?”

Continuing on with your goal to know more about Wanda, you answered, “I was just curious. I don’t know a lot about her compared to everyone else.”

“You’d like to know more?” she asked then led you out of her office, locking the door behind her. As the two of you walked out of school, she offered, “What would you like to know about her?”

The opportunity made you feel a little giddy as you recalled the image of Wanda when you met her earlier that week and thought of all the things you had been curious about since then. But you didn’t want to come off as obsessive or like you’d been thinking about her as much as you had, so instead you simply asked, “Were those her kids? The two young boys?”

Agatha nodded. “Tommy and Billy. They’re the sweetest four-year-old angels.”

The two of you approached her car and slid into your respective sides — Agatha in front of the wheel and you in the passenger’s seat.

“And that was her… husband with them?” you asked, buckling yourself in then tucking your hands under your knees.

“Her ex-husband,” Agatha corrected and started the car. “I don’t know if you’ve been to any of the masses, but Vision’s the church’s favourite preacher, so you’d see a lot of him if you attended regularly.”

So she wasn’t married. 

You recalled calling her ‘Mrs Maximoff’ the last time you saw her and you shrunk a little in your seat in embarrassment.

While you tried to imagine Wanda marrying and divorcing a church preacher, not that you knew much about her to begin with to have anything to imagine, Agatha added, “The divorce was, you know, as scandalous as you’d expect in a small town like this, especially given how important the church is here and that both Wanda and Vision are such well-known residents.”

That was the first time anyone had mentioned any sort of distaste for how traditional the town seemed to be and it felt like your first breath of relief, for you’d felt so different from the crowd here since you arrived.

The weight from your shoulders was lessened exponentially when she also said, “But this town is full of younger families of a different generation, and there were more who offered their support than not.

“Although age isn’t entirely indicative of beliefs, so there are still a few younger parents both in the congregation and the parent-teacher association who harbour some distaste towards Wanda and her personal life.”

Up until now, you hadn’t said very much besides uttering a few hums of affirmation and acknowledgement. 

“You alright over there, sweetie?” Agatha asked after not hearing your voice for a while. She looked over to you.

You nodded. “I’m okay. Just listening,” you told her with a reassuring smile.

She looked back to the road. “If you want to know more about her, I could give you her number and you could send her a message.”

A fervent blush formed on your face and you looked through the window to avert your face from Agatha. Something about being given Wanda’s number from someone else because they’d known you wanted to talk more with her made you feel awkward. “Oh, no, it’s fine. I’m sure I’ll… probably see her again.”

God, you felt like an idiot. 

No matter what you said, it felt like it was only becoming more glaringly obvious how much Wanda was on your mind. And with the two women being close friends, you could only imagine the things Agatha would tell her about how you were acting like a giddy little schoolgirl thinking about her. 

That was sort of what you felt like, anyways.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell her we talked about her,” Agatha reassured and winked at you. “I know you’re a shy one.” 

You were grateful for that, but still pretty embarrassed.

Dottie was the first PTA member you had a real conversation with. It was on a Tuesday, and you were walking your class of twenty fourth-graders to the church alongside their teacher — you were assigned to assist Bruce Banner, an awkward but brilliant science teacher you came to enjoy the comfortable company of. A few times a month, students attended mass with enough time for the service before school ended, after which their parents would pick them up in front of the church.

You ended up sitting beside a blonde woman who immediately started a conversation with you when she recognised your face from the breakfast last week. After introducing yourself and mentioning a few of the people you’d met so far, Dottie seemed to perk up at the sound of Wanda’s name.

“Oh, that woman is trouble, Y/N,” she warned, her voice low as the two of you were still surrounded by churchgoers patiently waiting for the mass to start. 

Though you were well-aware of the things Agatha told you about Wanda and how she’d been interpreted by some people in town, you were curious to know pretty much anything about her. 

So you asked, “Why?”

Dottie turned her head to you so her chin was brushing her shoulder as she kept herself quiet when she said, “What kind of woman divorces a church preacher of her ex-husband’s regard?” She said it with a kind of humour and a small disbelieving scoff. “It just isn’t proper, especially not for a woman with children.”

Suddenly you felt pretty regretful for being so desperate to know things about Wanda, because now you were feeling rather offended and uncomfortable hearing the things Dottie was telling you, even if what she was saying wasn’t at all about you.

As if it couldn’t get worse, Dottie ducked her head and looked at you, uttering, “Have you caught word of her little… expeditions once she got her divorce finalised?”

You bit down along the side of your tongue with your molars and looked up at the altar, silently hoping that the mass would soon start, but the church chatter between students only continued as the congregation waited for the priest to step onto the podium.

“It was all rather hush-hush because of her…” Dottie trailed off with a disapproving shake of her head, seemingly feeling some contempt simply speaking of any form of esteem for Wanda. But she continued after readjusting herself on the pew, “Because of her standing in town.”

She quickly regained her confidence when she picked up her badmouthing of Wanda again. “Allegedly,” she said with a sly grin and a demeaning chuckle, “Wanda broke out into some sort of midlife crisis and had an affair with four younger men. Four men, one of her, one measly hotel room. I mean, we’re both adults here — you do the math.”

You stuttered out an awkward hum and turned your body subtly, making sure no one around was paying attention to your conversation. No one was. It seemed to you that Dottie’s words were a lot louder than they were due to their subject matter.

“Well… Wasn’t she divorced by then?” you asked.

Dottie laughed and waved her hand. “That’s as good as an affair, honey. Marriage is for life.” 

Then she placed a supportive hand on your knee that sent shivers up your arms before advising, “Besides, it’s good you know early which people to befriend and which to avoid, and Wanda Maximoff is nothing but trouble, junebug.”

Though the general consensus was that everyone liked her if not admired her, there were rumours of similar concerns about Wanda as she seemed to be much less of a conservative woman compared to the rest of the town. It wasn’t necessarily that every resident was a traditionalist, but that even those second to Wanda’s independence from the constricting life of an upper middle-class suburban housewife simply lacked the confidence only she seemed to have in choosing to live a life by her own freedoms and little else.

The rumour Dottie had told you was entirely true aside from the missing detail that her expedition — as she had put it — with the younger men could be accurately construed as a gangbang instead of an orgy or any form of tame sex. But Wanda was so cherished by her community that one would become instantly disliked if their suspicions of her scandalous life reflected in the way they came about interacting with her. 

Some were shocked and almost insulted that anyone could take such accusations about the most warm and charismatic woman in town so seriously, and others lacking in the confidence to outright say there was nothing wrong with a sexually-adventurous woman but nontraditionalists nonetheless would come to her defence albeit in slightly ambiguous ways.

Moreover, the men she’d fucked were so proud of their performances and achievements in sleeping with her that the most they did to indicate what had happened between them was walk with their chests out and chins tipped up in public, feeling proud of the accomplished little secrets they had with her. Sharing dirty secrets with a woman like Wanda, and keeping them secret, amounted to a lot more pride received than repeating what had happened in the shared hotel room that afternoon.

The mass was painfully dull and all you’d been able to think of the last few days was Wanda, and that afternoon was no exception. Your thoughts of her only intensified after your conversation with Dottie and to make matters worse, at one point when you looked around at the pews, you spotted that very woman on your mind sitting between her two sons at one of the seats lined up horizontally in front of one of the side staircases leading up to the altar.

With Dottie’s words still echoing in your mind, your thoughts then wandered to Wanda being fucked by a group of younger men, cum adorining whatever gorgeous body you knew she had under all her conservative clothing, fingers wrapped around erect cocks while she took another one down her throat and another fucking her ass, fingers pumping in and out of her wet pussy.

You felt terrible for having your mind travel there, so you looked away from her and readjusted yourself in your seat. But from the corner of your eye you noticed her tuck her hair behind her ear and fix the collar on one of her sons’ blouses. She caught your attention again.

By then it was hard to stop thinking about her, especially when you watched her whisper an inaudible forewarning to her other son that was getting particularly squirmy in his seat. You watched the parting and movement of her lips and you couldn’t help the way you imagined how she’d look with her lips wrapped around a strap fucking its way into her throat, your fingers buried in her soft hair.

Then you imagined unbuttoning her jeans and revealing her smooth legs, pulling her shirt off and uncovering perfect tits that made you shift uncomfortably when you envisioned burying your face in them and kissing up the soft swells, making Wanda moan and grip at your shoulders while your other hand groped one of her breasts.

When you began imagining the view of her sore red ass while you fucked her from behind — her head thrown back as she cried out in long groans and whimpers, her cunt constricting around your thick cock — you forced your thoughts to come to a full stop.

You felt like an awful person thinking such things anyways, for it somehow felt like you were taking advantage of her. Trying to pretend like Wanda wasn’t on your mind was practically impossible, so you just decided to focus on something else.

Wanda was wearing a cozy-looking brown knit pullover. From the angle of your spot on the pews, you could see she was wearing a pair of jeans and butterscotch ankle boots. She had her hair combed neatly and tucked behind her ears and with it let down this time, you could see that its length reached just above her shoulders.

For the most part, she paid attention to the sermons with a still expression unless she was tending to her sons’ squirming and playful whispers, a testament to the impatience of young children.

When another man stepped up to the microphone after the priest stepped down and took a seat, Dottie leaned to the side and whispered, “Wanda’s ex-husband.”

Your attention was suddenly piqued and you looked up at the man. He was slender and tall and had blonde brushed-back wavy hair that swooped around his clean-shaven face. He had a pair of aviator glasses perched on his straight and jutted nose, and he was dressed in a beige blazer, navy blue slacks, a knit vest that was a few shades darker, and underneath, a grey blouse with an orange tie.

By all accounts, he was a pretty decent-looking guy. 

His smooth and animated tone of voice that emanated through the church as he read a parable from a small leather-bound notebook made it clear that he was passionate about the church and his position there, and with his appearance that made him seem friendly and introspective, it was no wonder why Agatha had told you he was the church’s most popular preacher.

Wanda’s expression was ever-still and indifferent with no indication that she harboured any remaining emotional sentiments towards seeing her ex-husband in public nor any hint of being bitter towards him.

The service finally came to an end and it was then time to help the class line up by the church parking lot to have their parents pick them up. 

When you stood up, you looked for Wanda but lost sight of her in the crowds of people filing out of the church. So you said your goodbyes to Dottie and led the class out of the building and towards the parking lot with their teacher.

It was about thirty minutes later waiting by the church’s front doors when only three students remained to be picked up. One of the students’ mothers were engaged in conversation with Bruce, the remaining children were talking amongst themselves, and you were standing by the side, just waiting for the rest of them to get picked up so you could walk back to school with Banner.

“Fancy seeing you here, stranger,” a voice spoke behind you. You turned to see Wanda smiling widely at you as she approached. She stopped in front of you and leaned her shoulder against the brick wall of the church. 

You smiled, feeling happy to see her. She really was charming, and so warm. “Hi,” you said. “Were you here for the service?”

Bruce glanced at you from the corner of his eye as he continued to talk with one of the students’ parents. He was glad you were getting along with people in town so well, and felt a little impressed that you seemed to be so friendly with Wanda so early into your stay. He was a shy and rather soft-spoken man, and the most he’d ever outwardly expressed his thoughts about Wanda was in the privacy of his wife's company. He had friendly feelings towards the renowned preacher’s ex-wife, and if the town had to be divided into groups, he’d certainly be categorised as a nontraditionalist.

Wanda replied, “Tommy and Billy’s father had a scripture reading today and he has them for the rest of the week, so I picked them up early after lunch to spend some time with them. I just said goodbye to them a few minutes ago.”

“About that…” you said and curled a lock of your hair between your fingers nervously. “I didn’t know you weren’t married last time we talked, and I shouldn’t have assumed…”

She ran her hand down your forearm, the one that was lifted so you could play with your hair. Her hand was so close to your face, and you caught a whiff of her perfume. “Oh, don’t worry about it, honey,” she reassured. “I completely understand, and you didn’t offend me.”

Wanda squeezed your forearm gently before her hand returned to her side. She straightened away from the wall and tucked her hair behind both ears. “Anyway, I saw you a bit ago and wanted to come up earlier, but I caught up chatting. I’m glad I could catch you.”

You fiddled with your fingers and perked up a little. “R… Really?”

Wanda hummed in what was either confirmation or amusement from your nervous response. “I was wondering if you wanted to come over for coffee,” she offered. “I’ve been thinking about you a lot since we met on Saturday, and I’d love to get to know you more.”

“Today? Now?” you asked.

“If that works for you.”

“It does,” you told her cheerily. 

She nodded with a wide smile. “Alright then, great. I can wait until you’re done here.”

Bruce, as if partially-listening into the whole conversation, turned and told you, “You can leave early if you want, Y/N. Just waiting on two more students here, so it’s no big deal.”

You asked, “Are you sure?” 

He reassured you it would be fine, and you soon found yourself walking through the church parking lot to Wanda’s car. 

Since Agatha picked you up from home that morning, Wanda only had to stop at school so you could get your things from the classroom before the both of you were on your way back to her house.

Wanda’s house was just off the edge of town, surrounded by farmland. In spite of that, her house was rather modern and of contemporary architecture. A white-picket fence extended down the grove of trees that surrounded the long gravel driveway. From afar where her expansive backyard was visible, you could see a sizable in-ground pool and what looked like a tennis court beyond that. She parked her car in front of the dual parking garage and you looked through the car window at her house.

When the two of you stepped onto her porch, Wanda told you, “The property used to be mine and Vision’s, but after we divorced I kept it for myself and he moved into town.”

“It’s a really nice place,” you complimented as you followed her lead, placing your shoes by the door and setting your things down on the table in the foyer.

“Thank you,” she said, looking over her shoulder at you. “I’ll make us some coffee and I can give you a tour?”

You nodded and Wanda smiled at your leniency. She had you sit at the kitchen island counter while she made coffee with a pretty-looking French Press.

“So, darling, how are you liking it here so far?” she asked, setting up two mugs by the steeping coffee. She turned and leaned back against the counter, her hands resting against the edge. 

“I’ve really been enjoying myself,” you replied, sitting up in your chair.

Wanda appreciated your almost innocent enthusiasm as she regarded you with a smile. Then after a second, seemingly momentarily distracted by whatever was running through her mind as she stared at you, she inquired, “Have you made friends with anyone yet?”

“I talk to Agatha a lot, but this is my first time seeing anyone out of work or anything like that.”

There was a glint of pride in her smile when you said that as if she felt satisfied that she was the first person you were truly getting close with. It was almost territorial.

She turned back to the coffee once it finished steeping and you watched as she slowly pressed the top of it down, separating the grinds from the coffee. She poured it into both cups and discarded the grinds and rinsed out the press as the drinks took a moment to cool. 

“How do you take your coffee, sweetheart?” Wanda asked. It made you feel sorta giddy when she used those kinds of names on you. She then placed the mug in front of you when she made it how you liked it. 

As promised, she gave you a tour of the house which ended up feeling more like a casual stroll as you were outside with her more than not, walking the expanses of the tree groves out by the gardens and through her sizable backyard together.

You were largely an occasionally-stuttering and slightly-embarrassing mess with Wanda, but she didn’t seem to mind at all and led most of the conversation with you. In fact, she found your shy demeanour rather attractive, and she was delighted every time she caught you blushing or stumbling over your words.

Talking with her was so simple in spite of how awkward you felt, and if you didn’t have anything to say, it was just as easy to listen while she did the talking. She was different from other people you’d met thus far, because she was bold and not at all shy about being honest. She was adept in balancing the weight of being a single mother to two children while also being a leading figure in both the church community and in the school’s parent-teacher association. But she was also radiant and warm, and most especially, a huge tease.

When the topic of her divorce came up, Wanda made a joke about how her sex life with Vision was dull and how she’d been indulging in leaving her husband to get properly fucked months before the divorce papers were ever served, and though she did promptly say she was joking, you had an inkling that she was being at least partially honest. She made no further effort to convince you that she was simply jesting.

She then told you more seriously that her marriage with Vision had simply become less passionate over the years and that they confessed to each other that neither of them would feel particularly anguished if they ended up divorcing, which was reason enough without their other existing troubles. Essentially, their divorce was amicable and they still worked well enough together in order to raise their children.

Additionally, Wanda confirmed your impressions of her ex-husband from the service earlier, that he was the sensitive type who was reflective and intelligent. She told you she was impressed by how proficient you were in reading people.

The compliment flattered you, but you were secretly a bit insecure as you thought about her and Vision’s marriage. You knew fully well that they were divorced, but you couldn’t help comparing yourself to him and wondering if Wanda had a type — more precisely, if you were her type.

Another thing that you distinctly enjoyed about Wanda was that she was a very physical person. When she thought something was funny, she laughed in a rich way that crinkled the corners of her eyes and pulled her lips back into the prettiest of smiles. She touched you when she felt like it, without hesitation, running her hand down your arm or squeezing your shoulder. She was expressive with her body language and facial expressions and never made you feel for a moment that she was doing anything else but listening with undivided attention when you were speaking. She wasn’t very much withdrawn at all; she was a very sociable and confident woman.

“And you, Y/N?” she asked, placing both mugs, empty of coffee, into the sink once the two of you made it back into the kitchen. 

Wanda turned to you and leaned forward against the island counter you had sat back down at. Her hips were pressed against the edge of it and her forearms rested against the countertop, her hands folded in front of her. Her sleeves were pushed up to her elbows from earlier when the two of you had been walking out under the sun for a while.

You stuttered under her focused gaze, “M-Me? What about me?”

“Do you have a special someone?” she asked with a teasing little grin, resting her chin in her palm and looking straight at you. 

Discussing the topic of your love life with Wanda made you feel flustered and you looked away from her, fiddling with your fingers and looking down at your thumbs. “No, I don’t,” you answered.

“But you have someone in mind?” Wanda playfully pressed, raising her eyebrows at you curiously.

You looked back up and told her honestly, “Not really.” You attempted to be more honest with her given that she’d been so open and warm with you. “I haven’t had much of a chance to meet anyone.”

She straightened and ran her hands flat down against the counter. “Oh?” she questioned. “But you’re such a sweet girl.” Wanda rounded the island counter until she was standing behind you and laid her hands on your shoulders. “I figured that you would’ve had boys all over you, honey,” she whispered.

You knew she was teasing, or at least that was what you kept telling yourself when you found yourself slightly overwhelmed and rather overheated with Wanda’s hands on your shoulders, her thumbs slowly sliding up the sides of your neck.

“I’m just poking fun at you, sweetness,” Wanda giggled and squeezed your shoulder before stepping away from you. She walked out of the kitchen momentarily and came back with her purse. She laid it down on the counter and pulled her phone out.

“I’m sorry, Y/N, I let the time get away from me,” she apologised. “I have to meet Vision and the kids for dinner in about an hour.”

To avoid thinking of Wanda getting all ready and dressed-up to see Vision, although it was for a dinner with Tommy and Billy, you stood up from your seat and answered, “It’s no problem at all. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you more. And the coffee was really great. Thank you.”

Wanda led you to the door, a gentle hand on your lower back. “I’d love to have you over again,” she told you. Her hand slid up your back, making you straighten immediately before she took her hand away from you to unlock the front door.

Though you looked away to hide the way your cheeks flushed at the contact, Wanda caught sight of your embarrassed expression and felt a flurry of adoration for you.

After saying goodbye to each other, Wanda called you back before you could step off her porch. “Would you be able to put your number in my phone?” she asked, holding her cellphone out to you.

Sounding a little too excited, you walked back over to her and answered, “Sure!”

For the next little while since you exchanged numbers that late afternoon, you’d had a few conversations with Wanda over text message. She was a busy woman though; she was always the most free to talk in the evening or rather early in the morning when you weren’t often awake. 

You talked a lot about Tommy and Billy, your assistant position and how you’d been finding things, what Wanda did on a day-to-day basis, and a few other leisurely things when you both had time to discuss things like recent movies and favourite books. 

It was incredible what Wanda took on in a day. Sometimes she was organising the youth church events or in meetings with the parent-teacher association — during which you sometimes passed the meeting rooms they were in, but never got the chance to see her because they were always so busy. 

She went out of town a few days a week for any sports or clubs either of her sons were in outside of school as there wasn’t much availability regarding extracurriculars in town, which was also something she’d been trying to bring up to the municipality.

If she didn’t have to tend to the PTA, the church, or her sons, she had errands. She was always doing something from dropping something off at someone’s place to picking something up, going out of town to get something fixed, or doing one thing or another for someone else.

She always apologised for it as she’d told you that she wished she had more time to talk with you or at least be able to make a plan to get lunch together.

Though you also desperately wished to see her again, you didn’t mind at all. In a way, you really admired her drive and how capable she was, and  how readily available she was to those who needed her while also being the most friendly and warm woman in town. 

Plans to see each other again either fell through or never had the chance to be made for the both of you were beginning to have busier schedules. 

Wanda was virtually always busy, but for you, since the season had begun to reach some of its warmest temperatures, there were more school events being organised from field trips to sports’ days which took up a majority of your time as you planned with Banner both during and out of class. 

The next time you saw Wanda in person was on a Thursday, nearly three weeks since you had coffee with her. But in spite of that, you felt a lot more excited than the last time, for you now had three more week’s worth of having been able to get to know her. In fact, you were almost certain Wanda considered you a friend.

She was friendly with a lot of people. Nearly everyone in town knew her and held her in high regard. She’d take on extra work just to cover for a committee member who couldn’t make a meeting or cut an off-day short to do errands for anyone who’d ask her to, but from what you knew, she was only really friends with Agatha.

And now, you hoped she felt she was friends with you too.

Today was one of the hottest days of the season so far and also the day of the biggest school event. In association with the church, the sports festival equally divided their earnings from the festival and put it towards the school, church, and municipal government. 

It was perhaps one of the biggest events in town for local businesses would also set up their stands and sell their products and services, and along with the carnival games and freshly-cooked food that stretched all the way down the expanse of Main Street under the sunny warmth of a budding summer, the festival was an attraction that had the small Californian town bustling with both locals and tourists alike.

Needless to say, the planning for the festival was extensive and it was one of the primary reasons both you and Wanda had become so busy over the last few weeks, planning completely different portions of the festival at the same time.

The festival was teeming with families and couples and it reminded you a lot of home; you felt a bit nostalgic. But mostly, you felt proud for having taken part in such a successful turnout. You looked around at the game and food concessions and small-business booths that extended down the long stretch of the lively street. 

On one side of the street, a grassy clearing with a large playground and plenty of picnic tables served as a seating area, mostly. People ate and chatted with one another, watched their children as they swung around on the playground, and were overall just enjoying spending such a cherished event under the sun in the charming town. 

Some that occupied the grassy plain were sprawled out under the sunny green expanse, some were sitting together with loved ones on picnic blankets they’d brought, and some, including a familiar woman sitting with a group of less-familiar women, were sitting at the picnic tables.

You approached the table of women after spotting Wanda and saw that her hair was tied back and that she was wearing jean shorts that revealed smooth legs, tennis shoes, and a white blouse that she had rolled up to her elbows.

By the time you’d gotten to the picnic table you felt a bit regretful, for you didn’t know any of the other women she was sitting with and you felt rather awkward walking up to the group of women, some of whom were sitting with their husbands.

But Wanda had already caught sight of you. She turned when you came into her peripheral and called out your name cheerfully, waving you over so you really couldn’t walk back now.

She stood from her seat and wrapped an arm around you. “Hi,” she then said after pulling away from the embrace to meet your eyes. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

You nodded with a smile. “Yeah, it’s been pretty nice,” you answered. 

Her eyes ran over your face for a moment longer before she stepped back and allowed the rest of the picnic table to see you. With her hand resting on your shoulder, she introduced, “This is Y/N. She’s moved here from Los Angeles for the time being to work on her teaching degree.”

While you and the table exchanged hellos with each other, Wanda turned to you and said, “This is the school’s PTA. Most of it.”

Then she offered, “Why don’t you come and sit here with us, honey?” She sat back down and moved over to the side, one hand on the empty space beside her. 

You quickly looked over the picnic table of couples and single mothers as they’d resumed their conversations, then over at the empty spot. 

“Oh… Well, I wouldn’t want to bother any of you, and I think Vision is around here somewhere looking for a seat,” you answered and looked around for him. 

Wanda then stood from her seat again, enough to be able to reach over to you and take your hand. “Nonsense, darling. Come here,” she told you. She pulled you to the table and took the small plate of food from your hand before setting it down on the table. She sat you down beside her.

Discussion around the picnic table continued and Wanda poured you a glass of water from the pitcher at the middle of the table. You smiled gratefully at her and she was quickly reined back into the table’s conversation.

Unsurprisingly, she was pretty talkative with the table. You’d known how open and social Wanda was, you’d seen it yourself, but you hadn’t seen her interact with other people yet. 

She was as charismatic as ever. She told jokes that everyone laughed at, and when she spoke, everyone at the table listened with their full attention. She was actively part of every conversation that took place between the table of mothers and their husbands. 

It was comforting in a way, because with Wanda leading every conversation, you didn’t have to feel pressured to do anything but sit beside her and listen to everyone talk. You spoke when you were spoken to and felt completely content sitting beside Wanda, eating your food and occasionally participating in discussion. 

Wanda was rather happy to have you sitting beside her. She looked at you with an adoring smile every time you answered a question or voiced your opinions on something, and she rewarded you by running her hand down your back or squeezing your shoulder, and a few times, she even grazed the back of her fingers against your thigh. 

A voice called your name from behind and you turned to see Bruce waving you over. You stood from your seat and Wanda looked up at you.

“Come right back when you’re done, honey,” she told you.

You promised you would, then threw out your empty plate of food to head over to Banner.

From the picnic table, Wanda eyed you as you dashed around doing favour to favour, first starting with you being asked to bring back some papers from the classroom, which was only just down the road. She was eager to have you back the moment you handed Bruce his paperwork, but you were soon caught up being asked to run around only further by people who suddenly needed your help, from parents who wanted to talk with you to being asked to fetch things from inside the church.

“Wanda?” a woman at the table said, trying to get her attention. She waved her hand in front of her face and Wanda looked away from you, blinking out of her concentration.

With a superficial laugh, she replied, “Sorry. I must have zoned out there.”

Tommy and Billy came from playing carnival games with their father to settle down for a moment and sit on their mother’s lap. With her arms wrapped around her twins’ waists securely as they drank from her cup of water and ate from her plate, they told her how eventful their day had been and that soon their father would let them help one of his friends run his game booth.

After filling their bellies and hydrating themselves, they slid off of their mother’s lap and were nearly about to run back to Vision before Wanda took hold of their wrists and had them stand still while she reapplied their sunscreen in spite of their whines.

When she was finished, they ran back over to Vision and were practically hopping around anticipating the chance to help with the ring game.

Later, Monica came up to Wanda and tapped her on the shoulder. She was holding a clipboard in her arm and looking a tad flustered. “I’m so sorry to ask this of you, Wanda, but one of the booths are about to run right out of food, and normally we’d just have them close for the day but there’s a line for it right down the street, and—”

“I understand,” Wanda interrupted her frazzled rambling with a warm smile and stood from the picnic table. “What do you want me to do?” she asked with a supportive hand on the brunette’s upper arm.

“Oh, thank you.” She breathed out a sigh of relief. “There’s a rice cooker and a few vegetables they need diced in the church basement’s kitchen. Would you be able to cut a few of them and get some rice going? That’s all, and I’ll be down in a little to bring it out for them.”

Wanda nodded and squeezed her arm gently. “Of course,” she said and reassured Monica again when she was a flurry of apologies again. She excused herself from the table and walked over to the church, which was just across the road. 

As she walked, she looked for you, hoping that perhaps she could get you for herself, even if that meant just dicing some vegetables in a church basement.

When she caught sight of you with a particular blonde standing by an inflatable bouncy house Dottie was put in charge of to watch the kids, Wanda felt a wave of scorn come over her. She watched from the church steps as you conversed with Dottie, the wide grin on her lips as she discussed God knows what with you.

What business could she possibly have with you?

Did she even have anything interesting or intelligent to say, anything that warranted the friendly smile that formed on your lips as you spoke with her?

Dottie never liked Wanda, which never concerned her too much until she began to question what kinds of things Dottie must’ve said about her to you. Wanda was self-assured in her reputation and confident in the relationship she’d developed with you, but the image she created in her head of the blonde’s snarky little smirk as she got in close to you made Wanda’s blood boil.

It’d been hard to make plans with you for the past few weeks and Wanda couldn’t help but wonder how many times you’d seen Dottie, and for the first time, Wanda felt strongly remorseful for how much time she put into things other than her personal life.

Have you ever visited her house for coffee? 

Did you have her number too?

Tearing her eyes away from the two of you, Wanda continued up the stairs and into the church, where she felt her teeth clenching tight against each other in irritation. She headed downstairs and into the kitchen where she took out the refrigerated vegetables and set them out on a cutting board. 

Then she looked through the cabinets for the rice cooker and immediately became increasingly vexed when she couldn’t find it. She knelt down by the bottom of the shelves where a mess of boxes and tupperware made it impossible to find the rice cooker if it were hiding there on the shelves somewhere.

Unbeknownst to her, Agatha had come in following behind her when she saw Wanda heading into the church in hopes of finally taking some time to catch up with her friend. When she went into the basement, she saw Wanda crouching down beside one of the kitchen cabinets, arms deep in a clutter of plastic tupperware and storage boxes.

She was making quite a mess, chaotically sorting through the cabinets with less of an intention to find whatever she was looking for and instead with the intention of simply taking out some form of anger on the poor boxes of plastic spoons and serving napkins.

“I can’t find this goddamned rice cooker,” Wanda hissed when she saw Agatha standing by the kitchen door frame. 

“Cursing the name of the Lord in a church,” Agatha said in feigned disapproval then whistled.

Looking over her shoulder, Wanda shot her friend a poisonous glare then went back to searching for the rice cooker. After a moment, she stood up and slammed the cabinet door shut. “It’s not in here,” she snapped and brought a hand up to her forehead as she sighed out.

“I’ll look. Just cut the vegetables,” Agatha told her and looked through the kitchen while Wanda began rinsing the vegetables. She had no luck with finding the rice cooker either.

From behind her, Wanda was dicing a carrot slice especially aggressively and Agatha turned to see it practically diced to a sad little orange paste. “Honey…” Agatha muttered, leaning against the counter and staring at her. Wanda didn’t respond as she continued to dice the carrot slice into mush. “Wanda.”

She snapped her head up and bit, “What?”

Agatha pointed at the half-paste, half-solid pile of carrot. “I think you got it,” she said, her nose scrunched up. 

Wanda looked down at it as if really seeing it for the first time then flicked it off the cutting board and into the sink. She continued dicing the rest of the carrot.

“Something on your mind, sweetpea?” the brunette asked and pulled off a bit of washed broccoli from its head before sticking it in her mouth.

“No.”

Agatha hummed, unconvinced. She continued to watch Wanda dice up the carrots and move onto the bell peppers with startling focus as if she was revenge-chopping the poor things. Then, feeling the need to tease her, she said, “I saw Y/N and Dottie talking outside.”

Wanda visibly bristled and she cut down particularly hard on a slice of yellow pepper so the edge of the knife met loudly with the plastic cutting board. “Did you now?” she asked with a steady voice.

“Have you gotten a chance to speak with her today?” 

“I did.”

“And?”

“And what?” she asked and looked up from the cutting board.

Slightly amused by seeing her friend so occupied by the thought of someone, Agatha admitted, “I was just wondering, because a few days ago Y/N asked how you were doing.”

“She did?” she inquired, untensing for a moment. Then she looked back down to the bell peppers and continued slicing them. “And what did you say?”

Agatha replied, “I said that you’d been busy. She said that she’d been texting with you but she wanted to know how you were.”

After some silence, Wanda asked, “Has she ever asked you about Dottie?” 

It’d been such a long time since she’s seen Wanda behave like this. Repressing a little laugh but not being able to hide her grin, Agatha insisted, “You’re jealous.”

With a scoff and a mockingly amused smile, Wanda replied, “I am not jealous.” Then after a moment she added, “Who would I be jealous of? Dottie? Please.”

“I’d understand if you were. They seem to be quite close.”

At that, Wanda visibly tensed and set the knife down before saying, “How about you pick things up here, and I’ll head back home to fetch a rice cooker? I think I have one in my kitchen.”

It was more of an instruction than a suggestion, for she immediately rounded Agatha before waiting for her response and stormed out of the basement and out of the building.

When Wanda stepped outside, you were no longer standing around with Dottie but instead chatting with one of the teachers from the school’s staff. But Wanda was impatient and now set aflame by Agatha’s purposefully-baiting words, and she walked towards you until she could place a hand against your lower back.

“Hi, honey,” Wanda greeted with a soft smile when you turned your head to look at her. She looked over to Pepper, who you were in the middle of a conversation with. “I apologise, but I have to steal her away from you. I’m afraid I need Y/N’s assistance with something.”

Pepper was more than understanding and bid you a goodbye before Wanda circled her hand around to your hip, bringing you against her.

“Busy, are we?” she asked, looking at you as the two of you headed down the sidewalk to where Wanda’s car was parked.

Not picking up on what she was implying, you replied with a smile, “Not too busy, so I can help you. Where are we going?”

“Back to my place. There’s a rice cooker I need to pick up for the church and I need someone to help me look,” Wanda answered and let go of you to round the car and unlock the doors. She slid into the driver’s seat.

You buckled yourself into the passenger’s seat and immediately felt more comfortable having a break from the bustling crowds of people. And you were finally able to spend some time with Wanda again. 

“Let me get you a drink,” Wanda offered when arrived at her house and passed by her kitchen. “It’s hot out there.”

You didn’t decline, for when you ran your tongue against the roof of your mouth you realised how thirsty you were, especially after doing not much else but talking with people the whole time.

While Wanda poured what looked like homemade lemonade into a glass, she said, “I wasn’t aware that you were so popular, Y/N.”

You looked up, but her eyes were focused on the pitcher of lemonade. “I’m not popular,” you said, laughing a little at the mere suggestion. You stepped into the kitchen in front of the island counter where Wanda was pouring your drink.

“No?” She looked up from the glass and set the pitcher down. She chuckled a little and did away with your suspicions that she was upset with you. “It looked like everyone was lining up just to talk with you.” She slid your glass of lemonade over to you. “You didn’t notice?”

“I, um… Well, I guess not.”

Pleased with your simplicity, Wanda leaned against the counter and rested her cheek against the heel of her hand. “Don’t worry about it, sweetheart,” she reassured and watched you take a drink of the lemonade, her eyes focused on the way your lips parted around the rim of the glass. She felt far more comfortable than she was before now that she was alone with you, having you to herself and not having to worry about the next time you might be stolen away from her.

After a few moments of watching how cute you looked sitting at the island complimenting how good her homemade lemonade was, Wanda said, “Shall we start looking for the rice cooker? I believe it’s in the storage closet.” 

You set the glass down and Wanda led you forward to the storage closet, which was just by the doorframe of the entrance to the kitchen. You searched through it then crouched down to start digging through the set of boxes on the floor.

Wanda’s phone buzzed with a text and she turned to take her phone out of her purse on top of the kitchen counter. The text was from Monica that read: ‘Agatha and I found the rice cooker!! I’m so sorry that you had to drive all the way back home.’

Keeping her expression still, she tucked her phone back into her purse then turned to you as you continued to dig through the lowest shelf of the storage closet. Her eyes were trained on your ass as you had your back turned to her unassumingly. She leaned back against the kitchen counter, watching you from behind.

“I found it!” you said and carefully manoeuvred a box out from the back of the closet. The rice cooker was still in its box, likely having been used about a handful of times since it was purchased. 

To Wanda’s dismay, you stood back up and closed the closet door. But when you turned around with the most eager little smile on your face from having found what she was looking for, she felt warmed.

“Thank you, honey,” Wanda cooed and took the box from you. She set it down onto the kitchen counter by her purse. She turned back around and her breath hitched when she felt herself fueled with a twinge of adrenaline at the sight of you. 

After weeks of being away from you and a chaotic day of watching you talk with nearly everyone else but her, Wanda reached out and wrapped her fingers around the corner of your shirt, gently tugging you towards her.

Your face flushed and you looked away from her, but the closer she brought you, the more difficult it became to do anything but look into her eyes that were trained on your face.

“Y/N, there is something I’ve been meaning to give you. It’s upstairs,” she whispered when you were close enough to hear the quiet hush of her voice. The tip of her tongue peeked out when she ran it across her bottom lip and she asked, “Would you mind coming up with me?”

You swallowed and felt yourself nodding, but you weren’t entirely sure if you really did nod or if you just imagined it; you sort of felt a bit lightheaded.

A ghost of a smirk formed on Wanda’s lips and she let go of your shirt before she led you towards the staircase and up to the second level of the house.

Your heart began beating faster in your chest as you continued to follow behind her nervously. You hesitated a moment when Wanda opened her bedroom door and stepped in, but eventually you forced yourself forward and followed her to the closed closet.

She turned around suddenly and asked, “Can I ask you a question, Y/N?”

“S-Sure,” you stuttered, feeling out of place.

Wanda stepped forward so her face was just inches in front of yours. “Have you ever been with a woman before, sweetheart?”

You felt no need to lie, and you felt no need to be embarrassed around Wanda although you felt that your face was warm and flushed.

When you nodded, Wanda added, “More than once?” She seemed increasingly interested at your second nod as she raised her eyebrows in piqued interest, a small intrigued smirk forming on her lips. 

“You enjoyed yourself?” she asked, now overtly teasing you as her fingers ran down the collar of your shirt. 

You nodded once more, and she was appreciative of your willingness to answer her questions with little hesitation. Then her eyes flickered up from your shirt to your face, curious juniper irises sinking into your focus. “And men?” she inquired with a slight tip of her head. 

This time you shook your head and Wanda’s breath seemed to hitch, her interest now at an all-time high. 

Her fingers tightened around the collar of your shirt and she pulled you towards her, crushing your lips against hers. She was quick to take control of the kiss and tip her head to the side. Her hand let go of your shirt and she wrapped her fingers around the back of your neck, releasing a soft moan in the form of a warm exhale into your open mouth.

She pulled you backwards with her as she reached for the knob of her closet door. She opened it and pulled you in then momentarily disconnected from your lips to search for something. 

You were distracted by the sight of her lips that were parted to allow her to pant softly. You leaned forward and pressed kisses up her neck, causing Wanda to stumble back slightly and hum out with pleasured appreciation. Her fingers ran up the back of your head and were interlaced with your hair, encouraging you to continue kissing her neck.

Her head pulled back enough to uncover your eyes and she lifted an all-black silicone cock already attached to its harness up to your face. Your eyes widened at the sight of the toy and Wanda leaned down to press her lips against your ear so she could whisper, “I want you to fuck me.”

When she read in your expression that you were more nervous than shocked that Wanda had brought the topic up to you, she reassured, “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, honey.”

“B-But I want…” You raised your head and looked at her with a determined look in your eyes. “I want to. I want to make you feel good.” 

Wanda grinned and she kissed you. “That’s sweet of you, but I want you to enjoy yourself too. We can go as slow or fast as you’d like. How about you start whatever speed you’re comfortable with, hm? And we can work from there.”

“I know you’ve had better…” you said quietly, bouts of your insecurity evident in your soft, unsure tone of voice. Though you didn’t explicitly mention it, the both of you knew exactly what you were referencing. 

Wanda wasn’t surprised and instead just grinned and asked in a teasing way, “Who told you about that?” 

You looked away, embarrassed. You hadn’t meant to bring it up. 

She leaned forward and kissed the corner of your mouth before grinning against it and saying, “Does that make you jealous?” She was looking up at you mischievously. Then you look away again, the other way so she disconnected from the corner of your lips.

Wanda walked forward so you were forced to walk back out of the closet and into her bedroom again. She closed the closet door behind her and nudged you backwards so you were forced to sit at the edge of her bed. She placed the strap down by your hip.

“Does that interest you?” she asked and began to unbutton her blouse as she looked down at you sitting on her bed with the most innocent little eyes. “Thinking about how I had a cock shoved down my throat while I jerked two more off with my hands, watching them stroke their dicks to how I was getting my ass fucked underneath them, cum in my hair and on my tits, being violated by all those braindead men just so I could get off until I was — almost — just as fucked stupid as they were.”

She giggled when you were in a deep stupor, eyes following her fingers and listening to her every word. She slipped her blouse off her shoulders and let it slip to the bedroom floor before working on her shorts, unbuttoning the top then unzipping it, revealing a maroon pair of panties that matched her bra.

“Well, you don’t have to think about that anymore,” she said when she was now only in her lingerie. She held your chin in her hands and tipped your head up to look at her. She stepped forward between your legs so your face was perhaps only an inch or two away from her tits. “Because what’ll be far more interesting is what I’m going to do with you.”

Wanda leaned down and kissed you, and with her other hand, began undressing you. You helped her and she couldn’t help but blush seeing how eager you were to have sex with her. She kissed down your body as she continued to undress your body. 

“Besides, honey, it’s different,” she muttered against your shoulder as she kissed up to your neck. “It matters to me who I’m having sex with. Sex isn’t just a thing you do. It’s more than that. It’s about connection and passion, though sometimes it can be purely shallow. Like it was that time.

“But it’s far sexier doing it with someone you connect with. Don’t you feel the same?” 

You met her eyes when she lifted her head, her hair coming loose from the hair tie that had been holding it back neatly through the day. “I agree,” you said to her.

Though you spoke little sometimes, overtaken by feelings of nerves and overwhelming libido, Wanda understood you completely. She liked how soft-spoken and sensitive you were. She couldn’t wait to have someone so delicate and gentle rough-fuck her from behind. How terribly she wanted to have you moan in her ear, telling her how much you loved her pussy.

She ran her hands up your sides, caressing your body with gentle admiration and affection. She kissed the swells of your breasts. “You’re such a sweet girl, Y/N,” she cooed and stood up once she fastened the harness around your hips. She brought your head against her chest and kissed your temple. She was so affectionate and was full of so much passion. Her touches were so soft as she led you further up onto the bed and climbed on top of you. Her hands rounded her body and she unclipped her bra so she could discard it onto the floor. 

“Wanda, you’re so gorgeous,” you uttered as you ran your eyes up her body.

She allowed herself only a moment or two to blush at your compliment before she ran her palms up your chest and rubbed her still-clothed centre against your cock. “Are you just going to lay there and talk about it the whole time?” she questioned.

You gripped her hips harshly and pulled her down onto you so you could reach her lips and kiss them. Your hands adjusted their positions and you flipped her around and got on top of her, eliciting a tiny giggle from the older woman.

Moving down her body, you gently flicked your tongue across one of her erect nipples before you suddenly bit down on it, causing her to yelp and reach up to cradle the back of your head. You kissed the plain of her stomach, nipping at the soft flesh and running a flattened tongue over the stretch marks over her hips. She made a noise of appreciation and continued petting your head, watching you cover her body in your delicate traces of adoration.

Her hand moved to the side of your face and lifted your head, allowing her to turn onto her stomach and lift herself onto her elbows. When you straightened onto your knees, she lifted her ass into the air and pressed back against your strap.

Wordlessly, Wanda looked back at you over her shoulder with eyes that dared you to go further and an ass that stroked the length of your cock in the most mesmerising way you’d ever seen. 

With shaky fingers, you pulled her panties to the side and found her wet cunt sticking to the fabric, pink folds glistening and sticking out from between gorgeous smooth thighs. Not being able to help yourself, you leaned down and ran your tongue through her pussy, making Wanda shudder. She tasted unbelievably good. 

Your own cunt throbbed and you knew you had to do more. You parted from her sticky mess and pressed a kiss to the hood of her clit before straightening again.

Wanda hastily dug through the drawer of her nightstand and pulled out a clear bottle then reached back and handed it to you. Quickly, you squirted the lube into your hand then lathered your cock in it. Wanda took the bottle back and discarded it somewhere on the bed, uncaring of where it ended up for the time being. 

She whimpered when you ran the length of your cock along her cunt, especially when you took her folds between your thumb and forefinger and ran it right through. The lubed strap slid beautifully across the delicate pink and Wanda felt herself trickle down onto her throbbing clit.

Wanda encouraged, “Don’t rush if you don’t want to. That makes me feel really good.” 

Her panties threatened to slip back into place and you became impatient and pulled back a bit, tugging her panties down her thighs and from her ankles.

“Someone’s impa–” Wanda was cut off suddenly when you shoved your cock into her without warning, making her gasp and flinch forward, eyes squeezed shut as she was forced to adjust to your size. It didn’t help that you immediately began thrusting into her, making Wanda nearly lose her balance and fall forward. But she kept herself up with her ass in the air for you. 

She didn’t have time to think of how shocking it was that such a quiet and docile girl like you had such fire brewing within her, for she was immediately overtaken by her desire. 

“Pull my hair,” she instructed between groans and you obliged, reaching forward and taking a handful of her shoulder-length dirty blonde hair. “Tighter,” she said, and you tightened your fingers into a stern fist, pulling Wanda backwards and watching as her back curved into a beautiful arch.

“Oh, that’s right, Y/N!” she yelped as you quickened your hips against her. “Perfect.” Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as you watched her ass redden and bounce from the harshness of your thrusts. 

Wanda reached back to get your attention. “Spank me,” she told you.

Following her instruction, you brought your hand up and back down to deliver a harsh spank to her ass. You truly couldn’t believe the effect it had on her. She lost balance and laid flat against the bed, her arms being unable to hold herself up as she squealed out. 

You spanked her repeatedly like she wanted, each time eliciting a tiny whimper from her with half her face buried in her blankets. You pulled your cock out of her and rubbed her throbbing clit with the pads of your fingers. She groaned when you left her and she looked back at you, watching as your eyes ran over her pussy. 

Her cunt was swollen and so beautiful, the trimmed tuft of dark hair and the shade of soft pink glistening from the juices dripping from her hole that squeezed around nothing, desperate for more of your cock. 

Her pussy was so, so perfect.

“Y/N,” Wanda said, speaking with a gentle rasp to her voice. “I can only be patient for so long. I need your cock.” She said it with a soft smile on her lips, and although her shoulder partially-shrouded it, you could see her cheeks were tinted a soft pink as she’d watched you look her over with such overwhelming admiration. 

You pressed a kiss to her opening then straightened back up, repositioning yourself against her. You were distracted momentarily when you looked down and saw her looking up at you, green eyes still so full of appreciation for you. 

Then suddenly she repositioned herself and turned onto her back. She sat up for a second and wrapped her arms around your waist before pulling you down onto her. Her lips met yours in a gentle, passionate kiss.

Wanda was amused by how distracted you were by her and she kissed your cheek while she reached down and entered your cock into her opening herself. Her legs wrapped around your hips and she tightened them around you, moaning into your ear as you slowly entered her again.

“Say that I’m a desperate slut who loves to get fucked.”

“W-Wanda,” you panted. “You’re a desperate slut that wants nothing but to get her pussy fucked.”

“That’s right,” she purred, her thighs tightening around your hips. “Mommy’s just a dirty bitch who’s nothing without a cock filling up her filthy fuckholes. Ah… Don’t you like that, Y/N?”

You squeezed your eyes shut and focused on fucking her how she liked, and a part of you almost felt bad for the way she degraded herself for no other lover you’d ever had has ever spoken like that. But fuck, Wanda was right — it was hot. 

“I-I like that, mommy,” you confessed.

“Oh, I know you do.” She pet the back of your head. “Make mommy come, angel. I’ve had such a hard last few weeks, baby. Doesn’t mommy deserve to feel good? She does, doesn’t she?”

You opened your eyes and nodded, the sincerity in your eyes as you agreed that Wanda needed to feel good after the last few weeks making her melt. “I wanna make mommy feel good…” you mumbled. “Make mommy come.”

Wanda groped her breast then twisted her nipple between her fingers. You leaned down and wrapped your lips around her other hardened bud, making her moan out and arch her back up against your body.

Feeling her lower stomach tighten with a familiar, beloved pressure, Wanda wrapped her legs around your firmly and crossed her ankles against your lower back. She manually fucked herself up against you, bringing her hips up and meeting yours repeatedly in desperation. It was a messy out-of-sync attempt at first as you continued to thrust into her, but the both of you soon found a rhythm with Wanda fucking herself and you pounding her back into her bed.

“Fuck, Y/N,” she mewled into your ear. “I’m–”

She was cut off when her orgasm was wrenched out of her, and she arched her back up and clung onto you, her arms wrapping around your torso and pulling you close. Her fingernails scratched down your back and she cried out loudly, throwing her head back and exposing her neck.

You released her nipple and kissed up her neck until your lips reached her cheek and you could watch her orgasm come over her, your other hand cradling the side of her head as her eyes clenched shut and her jaw was slack, a guttural cry being pulled out of her.

Then finally she slumped back down onto the bed tiredly, her body a sore and sweaty mess of weak limbs. She shook with the tremors of her orgasm’s aftermath and you fell to her side, hugging her around her waist and burying your face in her sweet-smelling hair. She reached up and intertwined her fingers with your hair, fingernails gently scratching at the back of your head.

“That was the best sex I’ve had in a very, very long time,” she huffed out. She’d forgotten how good it felt to have sex wanting to have every string attached. 

Wanda turned her head and looked at you. “Y/N,” she said seriously. She cupped your cheek with her hand and stroked her thumb against your soft skin. “I want to commit to you. And you only.”

You perked up and lifted yourself onto your elbow. “So we can… date?”

She laughed and pulled you down so she could kiss your cheek. She spoke against it, “You are the most unassuming, sincere person I have ever met.”

“I-Is that a yes?” 

“That’s a yes, honey.”

You practically beamed and Wanda could only laugh again, feeling such a warm burst of joy spreading through her at the sight of you and how happy you looked.

“I’ve never started dating someone right after having sex with them,” you said, looking down at her with your head above hers. Your hand was on her stomach, drawing gentle shapes against it.

“Does that bother you?” she asked quietly, lifting both her hands to either side of your face.

You shook your head immediately, the happy smile reminiscent of a small puppy. 

A large smile pulled at Wanda's lips. “You are a terribly, terribly lovely girl, Y/N,” she said then kissed you. When she laid her head back down and looked up at you, the both of you exchanged a silent stare in which every hope for your relationship was conveyed in the silent fondness you shared looking at each other.

Wanda turned her head and looked at the clock on the nightstand. “I think we can get away with making me come one more time before we have to go back.” She moved herself closer to you and had you lay down beside her. “Make me come with your fingers.”

She spread her legs and rubbed her fingers against her wet folds while she tucked her other hand between your legs and met your cunt with them. She slid two manicured fingers into her pussy at the same time she entered you. 

Eventually after a few moments when she’d become bored of herself, she pulled out and took your wrist, placing your fingers against her warm pussy. You started fingering her while Wanda continued with her own hand still tucked between your thighs, gentle and smooth and ensuring you could follow her lead, feeling with your tight walls the way she carefully fucked her fingers in and out of you.

“You feel amazing,” she uttered against your lips. “So wet.” She leaned forward and tugged at your earlobe with her teeth. “I wanna see you come for me.”

Wanda quickened her fingers and you did the same, following her obediently. Soon, the both of you were exclusively reliant on each other for your releases, mutual pleasure tying the two of you together in the sweaty meshing of your bodies amongst Wanda’s soft bed sheets and heavy exhales from your mouths.

Finally, with Wanda holding herself back until she felt you near your orgasm, the both of you came together, tightening around each other’s fingers and for a moment making it seem like you shared a body, crying out against each other and feeling the other come around their fingers as they felt themselves riding through their orgasms. 

A few minutes later, the both of you were a cluster of two warm bodies, limbs entangled with each other. Your head was on Wanda’s chest as she stroked your hair and held your hand, your other idly running its thumb across the stretch marks that went up the side of her stomach.

The strap had been removed and was laying by the bottle of lube Wanda eventually found so she could be reminded to clean it properly later. 

“Why all of this so suddenly?” you asked, looking up at her from her shoulder. “I mean, bringing me home and then confessing and everything.”

Wanda hummed and circled a lock of your hair around her forefinger. “I’d just had it on my mind for a while, and it’d been so long since I last had you to myself,” she explained. “So I suppose when we got time alone, I just couldn’t wait anymore.”

“Agatha said you were jealous earlier.”

Her face contorted and she looked down at you as if she thought she hadn’t heard it right the first time. At the sight of you and realising you were serious, she looked away and attempted to conceal her embarrassed expression with a laugh. 

“What? Why would she–” She tried to chuckle, but it came out sounding nervous. “Agatha doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” she insisted with a shake of her head.

Then after a moment, more seriously albeit still hesitant, she asked, “Why did she say that?”

“She said you looked jealous.”

“I wasn’t jealous,” Wanda asserted. “I wasn’t.”

You smiled, and for the first time, Wanda didn’t catch onto the subtleties of your expression because she was occupied trying to obscure her own. It didn’t take long for you to catch onto the fact that she truly had been feeling jealous earlier.

“Besides,” she said, “you’re mine now, so…” She looked over at you and pulled you close so her body was against yours. “No reason to feel jealous anymore, is there?”

With a grin, you climbed onto her lap and Wanda placed her hands on your hips. You leaned down so your foreheads were pressed against each other. “No reason at all,” you answered.

Wanda kissed you and you felt her grin widely against your lips. 

“Good,” she said.

Neither of you realised nor would you care if either of you remembered that you’d both been expected back at the festival nearly forty minutes ago.

[forthevillains]

Albert Wesker headcanons

[these will be purely my opinion on what he does and how he is in and outside of relationship. Also let me know if I should write NSFW headcanons too!]

~ Albert is not a very open person so it’s difficult to get to him in the first place. It’s not like he lacks emotions, but as he can get easily attached, he prefers to only interact with people he must and that stays professional

~ though if you managed to get through that tough facade of his, you’ve earned yourself a loyal ally, a partner, a friend. People always make him seem bad, but gladly you didn’t care and wanted to find out for yourself, determined to find out as much as you could about this mysterious guy. And Wesker really appreciates it, even though someone being so interested in him feels odd

~ he is still distant at the beginning of the relationship, but it slowly develops into something warm and intimate. You have to give the poor man time, he hasn’t been in a proper relationship in ages if ever at all

~ the definition of you fell first, he fell harder

~ also he’s an active pet name user, so it’s very rare for him to call you by your actual name, though the more he falls for you, the more common it is for him to actually do that. Definitely adds ‘my’ before he says any pet name when he’s talking to you, just to make it known that you are special

~ he very much prefers women younger than him for a mere reason of spending as much time with you as possible. He doesn’t age like a normal person and he needs someone who would meet him at the very end so that you could leave this world together. He also wouldn’t want you to stay behind, however if you were actually his age, he would surely take care of you and make sure you still feel beautiful despite getting old

~ with the relationship come the secrets that he was able to hide from you before you got together. It’s safe to say that this man is not really a green flag due to the scars his trauma left on him. He’s not good for you and even though he wouldn’t admit it, he’s aware (somewhere deep down)

~ Albert insisted that you two live together, he needs you by his side and even when it might come off as if he’s trying to just be controlling - he’s just very scared of either you running away or someone hurting you while he’s not there to protect you

~ when it comes to sleeping by his side, for the first few months he just sleeps on his side of the bed, leaving you enough space only until he’s deep asleep. Then he’ll subconsciously wrap his arms around your body, pulling you close and making a personal teddy bear out of you. He’s touch starved after all the years alone, so much that even if he tries to give you enough space, his body won’t let him do so. You better not tell him though, because he’d feel embarrassed. Just wait for him to do it consciously and enjoy it;)

~ he’s often busy meaning you’ll have to find a hobbies of your own inside the house

~ he’s very keen on taking care of you in his free time, especially your hair. It’s kind of a therapy to him, not just playing with it, but also washing or braiding, even dying it. He’s up to do all of that for you

~ when there’s something going on with him, he probably just leaves, so that he doesn’t bother you with his problems, but if you come to him, offering your love and affection, he’s up for it. He will gladly lay on your chest, wrapping his arms around your waist, closing his tired eyes. Might as well fall asleep in that position because the exhaustion would get to him

~ if you worked in Umbrella with him, then you’re aware of his plans for the future, though if you haven’t, he’s gonna keep you unaware for the rest of your life, feeding you with delusions he came up with. But don’t you worry, it won’t affect your relationship at all, he’s gonna make up for all the lies;)

~ he wouldn’t dare cry in front of you, if he ever cried at all. He’s not the type of person who would go cry to the corner, he usually overcomes the sadness with anger, so good luck calming him down

~ Wesker is actually a really good cook! He doesn’t have much time for it, of course, but when he does, he makes you delicious meals (he really likes to spoil you)

~ speaking of spoiling… His favorite thing to buy you is lingerie, without a doubt. It’s just a bad habit of his, whenever he sees something you’d look good in (which is everything in his eyes), he just has to buy it for you and then watch you try it on knowing that it’s going to end up torn apart in less than a week. He tries not to do so, but he’s so eager to have you at times he just rips your clothes off:( so he buys new new ones quite often

~ he often comes home too late, finding you asleep on the couch as you were waiting for him for too long. His heart aches at the thought of someone being so excited just to see him, of someone actually caring about him and loving him as he knows how much of a risk he’s putting you in just by being with you. He would come up to you, gently taking you in his arms and carrying you to bed. He wouldn’t join you anytime soon, but he’d definitely stop by just to look at your peaceful, sleeping form, wondering just why on earth did you choose him

~ loves it when you sit on his lap while he’s working or even while he’s just reading a book. One of his arms is wrapped around your waist, keeping you close, while he holds a pen/documents/book in the other. Your presence is very important to him, he loves touching you, feeling you. He needs you and having you so close brings him enough comfort to let loose (and if you’d look up at him you’d probably see a tiny smile on his face)

~ absolutely loves listening to you. Even when he’s exhausted after a very bad day, he’ll pull you close to him, asking you how your day went and just lets you talk, only reassuring you that he’s still listening whenever you stop. Your voice is comforting to him and it’s his way of relaxation, to just be close to you and listen

~ underrated opinion, but in my eyes he’d hate smoking. It’s basically killing you, so why would you do that? If you’re a smoker, he’ll ask you to stop, but won’t do anything against it if you tolerate that he doesn’t want you to do it inside the house. He’s still annoyed whenever you light up a cig though

~ he likes it when you take his sunglasses and try them on. It always gets him to smile for some unknown reason as he watches you giggle, happy that you have a thing of his in your possession, even if for just a few minutes

~ secretly, his dream is to settle down and live a life he never got to have. He’s just a broken man after all and having you gave him a different view on life. Of course, he still wants to save the world (in his own ways), but he also wishes he got to have a peaceful life by your side, seeing you smile everyday, traveling across the world if you’d like to. He wished he could be the perfect man just for you

[kymsys]

(okay i was going about my day yesterday but i really couldn't get the merman au out of my head😭😭 i just imagine for a while somehow geto managed to sneak satoru into the palace and then it's a whole ordeal trying to hide him. panicked geto and oblivious gojo and really for all that image is stuck in my head i still have yet to write a proper interaction w them but!! it's not proofread so sorry if there are mistakes and it's a bit scattered but i had to get this one scene out that was brewing in my mind so🥺 ignore this if you want❗️❗️)

--

From the mezzanine, everyone looked like ants. Suguru had to squint to make out familiar faces in the crowd, and even then, the only person he could identify was a distant aunt of his that he had never really liked. Usually, he'd have been able to pick apart anyone of significance; he'd have known their name, their title, their interests. 

Suguru would've known, he always memorises the details before public events — he spends days in his room at a time, talking into the mirror and telling his reflection things about these people who he has never met. Perhaps, lately, he'd been busy with Satoru.

Suguru smiled. He didn't feel as guilty as he thought he would.

A hand clapped on his back, and he jolted. Shoko beside him, cocking a brow. “What's got you looking like a dumbass?” Her voice was flat, eyes busy scanning the crowd and Suguru knew who she was looking for.

He cleared his throat. He couldn't really tell her that he was keeping a siren in the little pond in his private garden — well, it wasn't exactly little, but that information held no relevance anyway. Shoko was his dear friend, and he knew she would always support him, but he had to keep Satoru a secret, more for her sake. Suguru bit his lip in thought. If only Satoru didn't have such a strong taste for human flesh.

“Is meat more nutritious than fish?”

“What?”

“Nevermind.” Suguru winced at the look he was being sent. He didn't mean to blurt the question out, but he'd been thinking about it for days. The salmon that he'd been feeding Satoru probably wasn't enough to sustain a creature his size — especially when he was so active — which would mean he burnt through a lot of calories very quickly. “Utahime is on the balcony,” Suguru pointed in the general direction, giving Shoko a pat on the shoulder, “good luck.”

From his peripheral vision, he could see Shoko roll her eyes as he walked away, but she muttered a small 'thanks' before she turned to find the other woman. He was glad she finally had someone to open up to other than him — he saw how happy Shoko was with Utahime, and with the burden of inheriting the throne giving her sleepless nights, it was all Suguru could want for his closest friend.

He turned his attention back to the winding flight of stairs before him. Now, to find some meat.

KINGGGGGGGGGGGG (can i call you like that??)!!!! ♥ GAHHH IM SO HONOURED AND HAPPY, you actually wrote MORE??? bless you, this is truely amazing, this has me by my throat. thank you so fucking much, i love it!! <3 WHY THE FUCK WOULD I EVER IGNORE THIS, are u out of your mind. i LOVEEEE the way suguru keeps thinking about his little "pet" gojo and what would probably be the best food for him! like indeed he is a massive creature, he will probably need...a lot?? but also at the same time i can imagine that he is maybe not that....needy. isnt that a thing with lots of sharks or deep sea fish that they eat very little, just because its so hard to get by food? so their organism is evolved to survive on very little food and thrive nonetheless. MAYBE suguru just thinks gojo is in need of lots of food, but actually gojo just likes to eat bc he enjoys the food, but doesnt neccessarily need it?(he is also a mystical creature, so in that sense anything is possible really xD) I ALSO LOVE HOW SUGURU JUST RANDOMLY ASKS SHOKO ABOUT NUTRITIONS AND SHOKO IS JUST LIKE WHAT, i adore that ; u ; <3 AND OMG gojo lives in a pond in his private garden??? HOW CUTE!! so that makes me wonder (pls indulge with me) why would he bring this technically "monster" into his home? generally i would think maybe that a creature like that needs its space and would need their freedom? so MAYBEEEEE smth has happened? maybe gojo got hurt, maybe even when he was caught in the fishernet situation? MAYBE suguru needs to take care of him until he gets better and maybe gojo, the curious creepy creature that he is, enjoys the change of environment and the new feeling of being cared for?? its exciting for both! what do you think ?? 👉👈 maybe you had a different idea?? im so excited to hear your thoughts!! AND AGAIN THANK YOU, i love it SO much, i feel so lucky that you actually like it so much that you wanna write about it T___T ♥

EVERYONE LOOK !!!!!!!!

[tommi3boy]

“I think you’re breathtaking to look at“| {SDV Harvey x GN! reader}

Word count: 1.5k

Warnings: none

Pairing: Harvey x gn! Farmer

A/N: no name used, established relationship but not dating, slow burn confession

Summary: Harvey sees how sunburnt you’ve gotten and asks that you take a few days off from being in the sun. While you spend the day indoors, Harvey visits you and y’all do some Zumba together.

Like clockwork, you could find a handsome doctor at Gunther’s library every Saturday. This is the day of the week when you would normally come by and donate some of the relics you found to the libraries museum. Seeing Harvey outside the clinic was somehow refreshing, so you found yourself (un)intentionally picking up on his schedule. This Saturday was no different; Harvey was standing in the nonfiction section of the library, flipping through a hardcover book. He’s normally more relaxed and approachable at this time, so you went to greet him. “What’s a handsome fella like yourself doing with their face in a book?” The question slightly startled Harvey, his shoulders relaxed when he realized it was just you. “Hello to you too farmer” a soft smile suited Harvey’s face after realizing you called him handsome. However, that expression of his slowly dissipated once he studied your appearance more closely. “Your burnt to a crisp farmer! The summer UV’s are no joke, have you not been using proper sun protection?”

This interaction didn’t go how you planned, Harvey ended up lecturing you about the importance of sunscreen and said to take a few days break away from direct sunlight.

-

Because you respect Harvey’s judgement you’re now lathered in aloe vera, spending the day in your cabin. There was still daily upkeep needed on the farm so you got up before the sunrise; your poor chickens didn’t enjoy their beauty sleep being interrupted.

You were so used to running around all day with stuff lined up to do, that a break from it took you off guard. Almost like the feeling of being on edge, needing a way to stimulate that same routine of yours. This lend to you rummaging through your grandpas few belonging left in the cabin; you ended up finding an old phone book with numbers of the townsfolk. Most of the numbers were outdated; many of the names you didn’t recognize. But Evelyn and George’s home phone was scribbled out, as well as the Mayors. Unless the landlines in the townsfolk’s homes were disconnected, you bet you could eventually contact someone in the valley by going down the list on the old phone book.

-

Ring . Ring . Ring

“Hello? This is Pelican Town’s clinic, how may I help you?”

“Harvey! wow this thing really works, you’re one of the only people in town that still have their landline connected.”

“Farmer? Why are you calling the clinic, are you alright?”

“I’ve been screwed around with this phone all morning, I thought maybe it didn’t work because I wasn’t getting through to anyone but then I managed to get you on the line.”

“Sounds like an eventful morning, I’ve kept the line connected for my older clients, it tends to be easier for them to contact me with it.”

You felt like you were in an old 80s rom-com listening to Harvey speak on the phone. You imagined him leaned back in that old office chair behind the clinics counter. Was he excited to hear from you? He doesn’t sound very busy but that doesn’t mean he wants to sit and chat’ you thought to yourself.

“Alright, well I was just seeing if the phone worked, I’ll let you get back to work doctor.”

“O-, there’s not much work to be done actually, might close a little early today. How’s your sunburn? I have a good cream for burns if you need any.”

“It’s fine, I’m sure in a few days it’ll start to peel and I’ll get a fresh new layer of skin. I could use like, melatonin or something though; this lack of activity is making me all jittery.”

“Hm, well I wouldn’t recommend melatonin unless you exhibited sleep issues. Let’s see,, I normally get off in about 2 hours, but if you’d like I can do an at home visit and help you relieve some of that energy?”

Get your mind out of the gutter. This is a nice man trying to help you out, a very attractive one at that. If it wasn’t Harvey saying it you’d think that sort of offer was flirting. All your flirtatious efforts in the past directed at Harvey seem to go in one ear and out the other; he just doesn’t seem interested in that way.

“sure I wouldn’t mind that at all.”

“Alright then, let me close up the clinic and I’ll be over shortly.”

Your skin feels sort of tingly now, maybe it’s just from the sunburn.

-

Harvey arrived at your doorstep roughly 30 minutes later. He had changed from his work clothes into a more casual t-shirt and sweats; and was carrying a small tote bag. You noticed he was flushed in the face after walking all the way to your farm. When you invited him in, he pulled out an iPod and a small speaker from his bag and said “l thought you might be interested in doing a bit of Zumba with me.” ‘So that’s what he meant when he said he could help.’ It’s endearing how a few months ago he was practically begging you not to tell anyone he attends Caroline’s aerobic class, and is now asking you to do Zumba with him.

-

Once he set up the speaker, he shortly briefed you on doing either 1. You can copy him, or 2. Just make up your own groove. He then got an 80’s dance playlist on shuffle. Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’ started playing, the small speaker was surprisingly loud. Harvey seemed to really be in the zone while he was trying to find his rhythm. Mostly light foot work at first, like he was warming his way up the body, then some shoulder shimmies; soon he seemed to be fully immersed in the upbeat music. It was honestly adorable that he felt comfortable enough to do this with you. You wanted to make sure that Harvey wasn’t the only dork in the room, so you quickly found your rhythm and started doing your own little thing. Out of all the people in town, you’d only let Harvey see this is side of you; by no means were you a good dancer. You didn’t feel judged in the slightest letting off some steam with him.

After 3 songs played and a lot of groofing off, you felt surprisingly winded, you hadn’t realize Zumba was this much of a workout. Once the 3rd song finished, you took a break and sat on the floor. Harvey quickly joined you trying to catch his own breath.

“God I didn’t know zumba was such a workout, that wiped me out quick”

You and Harvey laughed at the state both of you were in.

“It’s definitely more taxing than it looks, I could barely get through 1 song when I was starting out”

Harvey told you he had started going to Caroline’s classes roughly the same time you moved in to the valley.

“Were you trying to get in shape since a hot new face had moved in?” You were joking but the comment had Harvey turning his head away from you. You saw his ear turn red. The moment of silence was awkward since Harvey didn’t laugh at your flirtatious joke like he normally would.

“In all honesty, I think that might be true. When you moved in I felt more motivated to do things that would better myself. Looking back at it I wanted to catch your attention but I was never very up front about that kind of thing. I made it seem like I was solely doing it for health reasons.”

This response came as a shock to you, Harvey never really opened up to you like this. Internally cursing yourself for joking like that, you wanted the joke to be true but now that it is you’re at a loss for words. Harvey was patiently waiting for a response.

“If anyone else in this town had brought an iPod to my cabin and asked me to do Zumba with them, I’d say HELL no. You’re the only person in town I’d do this with.”

“, I’m glad to hear that farmer”

“You should try and be more up front with me about these kinds of things, I mean, I call you The Handsome Doctor like every other day”

“I can never tell if that’s a joke or not, if anything, your the one who should try and be more up front”

“I feel like calling you attractive is pretty up front”

“Alright well, I think you’re breathtaking to look at, even when you’re extremely sunburnt, so much so that I often have to not look at you or I lose my train of thought.”

You don’t know if you can handle up front Harvey. What are you supposed to say to that confession.

“You better watch out cuz you’re going to end up seeing this face a lot more now that you’ve said that” Your response sounded more like threatening than you wanted it to, why couldn’t you have said something sweet’ you thought.

“I’d love to see you more often farmer, I’m glad I got that off my chest.”

-

Harvey packed up his iPod and speaker shortly after that eventful conversation. The Zumba did in fact help your nerves, or maybe it was Harvey’s presence that put you at ease. You thanked Harvey for helping you, and he said “Let me know if you ever need a dance partner again, oh and here-”

Harvey handed you a bottle of sunscreen.

[elkkiel]

Sorry friends, this is gonna be a long one. I feel like speaking in a space where someone may see and perceive what I'm saying is helpful to personal accountability. Please feel free to skip, it's more of a thought dump than anything (I am midway through writing now and I think I lost the plot a while ago lol)

Topics covered: grind culture, mental health, self-care, and learning when to manually sound the alarm for yourself as an audhd-er in the deep end of life.

Here's some tags that I left on the the grind culture reblog before this. I just wanted to share some thoughts and didn't want them to get lost; I feel like making a proper post really solidifies the situation (sorta like getting those abstract thoughts from your head onto paper, and realizing just how bad it is when it's all laid out before you.) And I want to make a change when I can finally get my head above water.

I think it can be especially difficult for us AuDHDers, since we don't necessarily have alarm bells installed that neurotypicals in similar situations may have but "choose" (consciously or not) to ignore. Things can really spiral into a bad place quickly if you don't have the cues or signs to alert you. We need to be diligent in doing those manual checks ourselves, KNOWING that we have struggles that make life just that much more difficult.

Take inventory of your life. Do you allocate time to self-care activities, and/or are those the right activities for you? Turns out for me that building a complex skin care routine (as suggested by mainstream self-care culture) only stresses me out more. Especially when I never have the energy to do it, making me feel bad when I only manage to do the basics *sometimes* (and the stress acne persists smh my head). My therapist recommended productive activities that involve both current hyperfixes and that ADHD Motor™. I want to learn basic carpentry over the summer, since I love working with my hands! For now, drawing masked men as cats will suffice (though I will not complain about the kittenification of my faves)

Choose a moment to consciously feel how your body is feeling. Check in with yourself! This is important for my alexithymia bitches. Are you more fatigued than usual? Are your muscles tense for some reason? Have you been hungry with no appetite? If you notice anything, let's make some connections—really dig into it. The instance I mentioned in the tags above was a really clear one for me. I took like 12 hours on the IV in the Ivy art instead of coursework, and that weekend I slept almost 22 hours. A few days later, I'm still in a cycle of horrible fatigue and excessive sleep. Connecting the trigger event (taking the time to create "unnecessary" art) to current sensations (extreme fatigue) is giving me insight into how stressed I actually am that I wouldn't have really seen otherwise.

I'm also feeling more and more aware of how activities and things become a bit of a crutch to avoid expending energy on social activities. Idk how many other people deal with this particular problem, but I have almost zero social drive. Like I legitimately don't feel the need to meet people and see friends. Almost 100% of my social needs are covered by talking to my parents, chatting with the girls at work (while at work) and passively absorbing interactions from complete strangers within earshot. It's one of the big things I'm continually documenting for when I can finally afford to get evaluated for autism (babygirl I don't even have enough for the ADHD assessment yet and that's more crucial for disability stuff lol) and it makes life real tough.

Not having the time nor the drive to invest in relationships really stunts you as a person in my experience. I don't know how to actually quantify what makes a friend (e.g. are we friends because we are Tumblr mutuals who haven't had an actual conversation but hype each other up in notes?) and I don't have any time to learn. I can't participate in leisure activities that may take some of the pressure off since I haven't been able to practice initiating interactions. It baffles me how some of the girls at work just casually meet up outside of work, or make plans out of the blue in a conversation (how tf do you gauge when/if to propose something????)

Like, it's bad. I haven't seen my best friend in a year and a half, and even the term "best friend" almost definitely isn't accurate in this scenario anymore. It's just another stressor that could potentially be avoided by lifting one's nose from the grindstone, but it's so intimidating to even try at this point. I don't feel the drive to be friends, but something tells me it's healthier than being alone with my work and thoughts.

Idk I think that's all I have for now. I definitely went on a tangent or two that don't connect back to the original idea so apologies for the letter-based vomit.

ty if you read any of this, if you have any thoughts or input I'm always open for replies or asks. The world is big and fast and horrible and confusing a lot of the time, but I think sharing experiences helps to keep things in perspective.

maybe I'll ask more targeted questions for community input some other time because I'm genuinely curious how to navigate around social deficits (the "who is a Friend and why?" thing especially because I genuinely have zero clue)

anyways have a good day, drink some water, take ur meds, and be kind to yourself

[callsign-bunnie]

Wow… I always thought you were inclusive to all fans. Guess not.

Spoilers

I tried to be, and I still try to be to MOST fans, but I have limits and I have lines. I know it's probably been obvious, but I've really drawn back from being socially active in the fandom. I take stands, occasionally, but for the most part, I just block and move on. My block list on tiktok is long, because if I don't like content, I block rather than get upset.

I don't really look at my home page, anymore. Going onto AO3 hits me with so many (niche and specific to me) triggers in a day, that my reason for not reading others' works has shifted from, even though I'm working on managing it, my Dyslexia to just being unable to navigate my own triggers. This isn't anyone's fault, it's mine.

If I'm being honest? My mental health is in the dumpster and while this has a wide variety of reasons, if I can protect it in any way I can, I will. And if this includes having to tell a certain group of fans that they're not welcome on my blog? Unfortunately, that's what has to happen.

I'm not a stranger to fandom wars, as stupid as I think they are, I'm not a stranger to the aggression that happens here. And I have, definitely, been on the other side a few times. My first proper introduction to fandom was Supernatural and FNAF. I STILL deal with seeing posts talking about how a ship I didn't ship is superior to one I do ship for no fucking reason. I understand liking a character, and I understand having villain characters that you still like and love, and I can appreciate the "he's my precious pookie bear and does nothing wrong" mindset to a certain extent.

But I think ignoring Makarov's actions, even if he's a fictional character, even if it's just a game, is ignorant, in today's climate. A prime example of why I cannot get behind it is Russian Terminator. I have... so many reasons I can go through why this man is just awful, but my wife is slightly more educated, so I'll let her take the reigns on that one if she wants. However, he sucks. Objectively. But because he's masked and ripped, I see so many edits of him. So many.

I see people call themselves his "simps" and actively ignore and block those who try to point out his horrific actions and opinions and views and values to them. This man is not a fictional character. He's a real person.

I have always been a huge advocate for "live and let live" in fandom spaces. To an extent that even my wife and I get into arguments over it. My only limit seems to be pedophilia, for personal reasons. And I am not telling you to stop writing Makarov. I'm not even telling you not to find him hot. You can giggle and kick your feet when he "activates your praise kink" in the first mission, I don't care I won't stop you.

But I don't want that in my own space. I protect my peace. This ranges from silly things that just bother me (pricegraves) to big things like this. As my wife stated, Graves committed war crimes. Yes. He killed civilians, and that's inexcusable. But, I feel like this is comparing a passion killing, to systematic murder. Graves would have committed those crimes in any country, but the US. France, England, pretty much any country he could have gotten away with it.

Makarov targeted a country of Arabic people, because he knew about the aggression and islamophobia that exists in the west. He knew that if he pulled some strings a little, he could very easily turn a country just looking for peace into a country of terrorists, in the western media's eyes. This is irredeemable in my eyes.

So, no. I try to be inclusive. Pricegraves fans are still welcome to interact with me. They know by now that I won't write it, I don't really entertain it, and to go to my wife. The same for FarahAlex shippers, and really anyone who ships something on my No-Ship list. (Though please get the memo on that second ship, I'm never gonna budge, I'm sorry.)

I'm sorry if you feel alienated, I know it probably sucks. Trust me, I understand. But, unfortunately, I want to protect my peace, and I want my blog to continue to be my own safe space.

Thank you for understanding.

[sparatus]

4 & 7 for that one ask game and then 12 so you can rant about grandpa I already know that’s the answer

you know me so well

choose violence🔥

4. what was the last straw that made you finally block that annoying person?

genderbending saren to make kryterius m/f like a fucking coward*. tagged me in wip games featuring her sharterius work when i am very openly and vocally an aggressive hater of that ship and also wrote saren horrifically ooc. other annoying crimes. finally rbed a post from me and tagged it as being about "milf saren" and i lost it and blocked goodbye

*note: i enjoy a good gb fic myself, there's a few from ye olde kmeme that i still like, but she ONLY wrote kryterius as gb m/f and didn't ever interact with my stuff for them that was m/m which reeks of bad implications to me. go away straight

7. what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

kaidan. kaidan kaidan kaidan. the ONLY way i managed to save him for myself was retreating from fandom and finding a few sane shenko mutuals (they know who they are). he's a good fun character! i enjoy writing him! he's my friend! but my god shenkos (and frankly ESPECIALLY mshenkos) make me hate him so much.

garrus also started to suffer this fate but tragically there are no sane shakarians only ex-shakarians who migrated to the niche corner (mwah) so instead i had to just ship him in a rarepair nobody likes but me, quite literally i'm making the fucking tag, that's the only thing that's saved him and tbh i still kinda worry im not writing him in character

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

i mean really. is there any other character i COULD talk about. look at my entire brand here.

the councilors in general have WAY more character than they're given credit for, especially the original three who have 3 games of dialogue to work with instead of just 1 for the replacement three, and i could honestly do an entire essay for each of them, but let's stick to grandpa for now. putting this under a cut i went insane

this man is the ONLY councilor who's actually DOING HIS FUCKING JOB CORRECTLY. he's the one who's always trying to stick to the law and uphold it, tevos's hand-wringing about diplomacy be damned, especially in the first game. he's a representative of the people and he CARES about the people, every SINGLE time he scolds you in the first game and when he makes his dramatic entrance in udina's office in the third he's specifically concerned with the public at large:

after feros he's concerned that you only intervened because it's a human colony, and wants to be certain you aren't going to just ignore non-humans and will protect the galaxy at large, not just humans

after therum he's reasonably worried that liara is working with her mother and you've just helped a huge threat to the galaxy walk free

after noveria, if you killed the rachni queen he's reasonably concerned about why you just acted without any sort of "yo heads up" call or advice, whereas if you saved her. YEAH NO SHIT HE'S WORRIED ABOUT THAT ACTUALLY did you hear all the reasons the rachni returning should be a much bigger deal than the game treats it of course he's like "that's extremely fucked up why would you do that"

at the start of me3 he is the ONLY one of all 4 councilors to actively, directly state that people are scared and it's their duty as galactic leaders to stay calm and protect their people, indirectly calling out udina for calling him a coward because udina demanding help for earth and ignoring the alien worlds is doing the exact same thing he's complaining about them doing in turn

keep in mind that from his perspective in me1 YOU ARE LITERALLY A POLITICAL POWER PLAY. you literally get the job because udina wants a human spectre and it's convenient to send you after saren, you didn't actually go through the proper process to be vetted and confirmed, for all they know you're every inch as human-centric and unconcerned with aliens as every other alliance twat they've met at this point. and the alliance, via hackett and anderson's attitudes, REGULARLY prove that all they care about is having somebody who can ignore the law! and depending on how you play the game you can in fact confirm that you shouldn't have been given this authority and are just doing shady shit for hackett that he can't do on the level! you can in fact PROVE SPARKY RIGHT! high-renegade shepard actually fucking proves why sparky was right to vote no on you i will die on this hill

he's also the only one to actually fucking help you in the third game right away. literally goes behind the others' backs to do it. they just voted "nah we have to worry about our own people first" and he swooces right around with a solid first step for you to take and a clear understanding that everyone has to work together regardless of udina being a lil bitch. everyone who likes those mods/edits of doing air quotes and "ah yes, reapers"-ing him back to mock him in this scene is my enemy and also a fucking idiot you don't mock the person who is 1) actively trying to help you and 2) YOUR LITERAL BOSS SHUT UPPPPP

speaking of ah yes reapers. he's justified in saying that. i dont care what whiny little princesses your shepards are. he's been dealing with anderson for TWO FUCKING YEARS who has literally not shut the fuck up about it, when inciting galactic panic is the LAST thing they should be doing. of course he's tired. of course he's annoyed this is coming up again. the man has been putting up with this for two fucking years he wants to go back to bed.

ALSO in the opening scroll in 2 it's in fact strongly implied they DO believe you but are keeping quiet to avoid a panic ("the official story") and then the archives in citadel dlc confirm it with the secret spectres-only edition of sovereign's entry. they're not fucking ignoring you or dismissing the threat they're trying to avoid GALAXY-WIDE PANIC YOU FUCKING MORONS

also he has some BITCHING quotes, these two are my favorites they're burned into my brain:

[in response to udina saying he and the council are scared and trying to save their own asses] "Our people are scared, and we're looking out for them the best we know how."

[if you save the rachni queen on noveria] "I hope you're right, Shepard. Our children's children will pay the price if you're not."

also his facial scarring is badass and implies there's so much more to him than just "consummate politician" like bioware's little bio of him implies, and his "children's children" line strongly implies he actually has children's children which lines up with him being visibly older and more aged than the turians we're usually running into in the games and im sure ill think of more stuff later on but that's my unhinged rant for the day

also if you ship him with shepard i am loading my shotgun

[dorakonia]

ok so this was the draft i was talking about earlier skdfjhsdf

giant wall of text incoming but it's been on my mind for the longest time now and i had to get it off my chest ksjfsdfgdfg

i feel so insanely tired and overwhelmed lately. istg, ever since i started at my new job earlier this year, i have like... no fucking energy whatsoever whenever a workday is over. like... i'm very happy that i've found a place to work at that takes my 'needs' into account - i'm allowed to take as many small breaks as i want, i can listen to music all day, i get to sit in an office where i don't have to see or talk to anyone, the work that i do requires me to sit by the computer and the task itself very easy, and i only work 5 hours 3 days a week. it's like heaven, and yet i feel so insanely tired whenever i get home.

i haven't had a 'proper' job since 2019 and it really shows. it's fucking hard to get back into a routine like this and still manage to maintain my free time in an efficient way. all i do when i get home is play video games and watch yt, and sometimes take a nap if i'm really really tired. and then i ofc have to maintain my apartment and make sure my cats are taken care of ( although at this point it feels like they are taking care of me by simply being there to keep me company DSKJFHSDJFH ).

it's... a lot, i'm ngl. writing on tumblr hasn't really come to me as easily lately as it used to, not to mention i've really been struggling with keeping in touch with people in general ( although that's not something new ksdjfhsdf i've always struggled with that ) aside from the people i'm closest to, both irl and online.

this blog has always been set to low activity, ever since i first made it over a year ago, and i more or less have only interacted with people that i have an established verse with because it's easier for me to muster up the willpower to sit down and write when i know what it is that i'm replying to - and even then it sometimes take me a while to get to it depending on what it is. and considering i'm not fully caught up with twst yet, replying to already established verses have only been that much more convenient and easy for me to do. this has nothing to do with me not wanting to talk to and interact with new people, believe me, there's nothing that i want more - but given my current situation as a whole, it has just been really really hard for me to prioritize new interactions.

it is not my intention to suddenly go poof while in the middle of a conversation or plotting session - sometimes i just can't bring myself to talk to new people because it requires a lot of my energy because it means that i'm putting myself in a situation where i have to get to know someone new. don't get me wrong, i love meeting new people and getting to know them, it's just that the energy and effort i have to put into it drains my battery way faster than what it would 'normally' do for others. there is only so much i can do in terms of getting better at socializing in general, because i can't control my own battery. what i can do though is to try and getting back to people i've unintentionally left on read without feeling like 'too much time has passed so now i feel awkward talking to them again' or something along those lines. because lord knows feeling insecure about that has been a real issue too sdkjfhsdf and sometimes i even feel scared of showing that i'm online and active on the dash or discord because i don't want people to think that i'm ignoring them or that it's on purpose.

but i know that not everyone has all the patience in the world, and that's totally valid. especially if i vanish for weeks without a word. but i want people to know that if i suddenly go poof for a while and then suddenly appears again to talk to you, it's not because i'm bored and have nothing better to do, or because i want something from you. it's because i needed some time to recharge and think of ways to better formulate my words in my reply to you- especially when i'm talking to new people. it's not a very good first impression, i know, and i don't blame you for thinking the worst of me if i suddenly stop replying and haven't given you an explanation as to why that is. sometimes i try to say something like "i need some time to recharge and think about this and i'll get back to you when i can" just so there won't be any misunderstandings, but sometimes i don't for whatever reason and that's totally on me.

but sometimes people in general simply don't have the patience, or even understands what i go through on a daily basis to even be able to manage things that are otherwise simple and trivial to most people - and i completely understand that. i understand that everyone is different, and i understand that i will not mesh well with everyone and vice versa.

but the reason for this giant wall of text is mostly just that things have been more tough than usual for me lately, and i want to put it out there that it's never my intention to leave you hanging - if we're mutuals, it means that i want to write with you when there is an opening of opportunity for me to do so. but i also want to put it out there that you are of course free to look after yourself too, and if you feel like we aren't going to be compatible writing partners then i will obviously not hold it against you if you no longer want to plot and/or write together - and you are free to softblock me whenever you want.

i have oftentimes been thinking about if indie rp really is for me or not - even though i've done it for a couple of years now, and i've often considered putting it on the shelf all together and just turn to 1x1s and possibly group rps on discord. but i feel like the issue with this is that leaving tumblr rp would take away any chances i have of meeting new people to write with and become friends with, and it would simply just make my social situation worse than what it already is. i know that certain parts of this post makes it sound like i'm leaving or whatever but i promise that i'm not skdjfhsf i just wanted to put my thoughts and feelings out there in the hopes of being better understood and avoiding misunderstandings ( because that is one of the many things i need to get better at ). and if you've made it this far, regardless of what you feel is the best thing for you to do in terms of being mutuals with me, i'm still insanely grateful that you have taken your time to read my post✨

[feralmoonlight]

THE BOYS BEING STUCK AS ECLIPSE MUST BE SO STRESSFUL FOR THEM. Do you know *why* they’re stuck, or is that too spoilery? If it is, then what would the Reader’s reaction be to this whole Thing if they don’t get a proper job description? Does it take them a bit to realize Eclipse is two animatronics, or are Sun and Moon immediately panicking about that? 🌻

I mean, if you were trapped in a single room and left alone(awake) for 12 hours at a time and every other adult human you encountered saw you as little more than a fancy washing machine to be dismantled and tampered with on a whim regardless of your own concerns since the moment you came into being, you might get a bit stressed too? Constant threats of decommission, random upgrades and swapping parts on the same scale as having an organ transplant while conscious, getting ordered to parts and service because the 'new tech' wants to poke around and familiarize themself with your inner workings. CASUALLY TAMPERING WITH THE BASE AI and fucking over your entire sense of self until you manage to work with this new normal that never feels normal? There's a lot. But mostly it's just it finally got to be too much. Eclipse wasn't programmed into them. It just... Happened. And it's not responding to it's usual protocols. Because Eclipse has no programmed protocols or rules. It can hurt people. It can move around freely. It can, will, and has injured the P&S guys that tried to drag him down for maintenance. He's probably been stuck like this for a few weeks while people try and figure out that if it's someone that's obviously trying to force them to get help, they reject it. Moving into Reader's reaction~ The gist of "Help the Daycare Attendants" is vague enough. They'd know Sun and Moon are a thing from just general advertising for the plex through osmosis, like those commercials you can't totally ignore so you know about it even if it's not something you look into a lot. The first reaction of them walking into the daycare, half lit, mostly empty, and in an absolute MESS (Half destroyed jungle gyms, craft supplies thrown everywhere, some of the floor padding thrown up and some unfortunate staff bots that got sacrificed for science) it would be startling. THEN you've got this looming, jittery, MASSIVE animatronic just perched at the top of the tower, mostly in shadow, that just rumbles out this dual tone, static heavy "Go AWAY." Nope nope nope, fuck that. Fuck ALL of that. Except the employee that showed you to the daycare locked you in. HA HA HA fuck. alternate option is trying to go up the slide to the ball pit. BUT... that means getting closer to the thing that wants you out. Full on panic. But you're not leaving. Granted you CANT, you're still there. And he's getting twitchier. Agitated. Banging on the door and yelling at the person on the other side to open up, at least maybe it can see you WANT to leave. And maybe he does. When you look back up, it's gone. This isn't comforting. It takes a few hours, till the end of your shift, before someone finally comes back to open the door and you could PUNCH them. You didn't see him again, so at least that's ok, but fuck. For some reason you come back the next day, and the next. If he's just gonna hide, you'll take the free pay for dealing with this creepy ass room. Eventually it would click that the Daycare Attendants are kind of both active, in varying levels. Different vibes from the short first interactions would lean more towards an anxious fidgety Sun or a dark, dangerous, spiteful Moon. It's a coin toss on who's more present at the moment. Some days it's nothing though. Some days he just perches and hisses static at you from the tower. ON THE FLIP SIDE for Sun and Moon, they're in a really weird state. Like the AI Have blended. They're only really aware they're two AI when the swing is REALLY HEAVY one way or the other. If one goes dormant and lets the other lead while they rest (usually after exhausting their reserves). The true blend of eclipse is dual speech overlaid with heavy static, conflicting words and phrases, showing off the torrent of mixed emotions inside. The more they can split and flipflop between one or the other, the better off they'll be. If they can fully split their minds, they can undo the Eclipse state. But as long as they're so fucking stressed and distrustful, and one is latching onto the other mentally, they're stuck.

[viaviv124]

My problems with DreamTale

First off, i don't care if all of @jokublog 's hardcore fans come and witchhunt me. This rant is my opinion (+ facts) and why would i care if a bunch of random people i dont know hate me? In fact, go on and hate me! Hate me all you like! Everytime you interact with my blog in any way thats free promo for me. Also i don't care if DreamTale is independant of Undertale nowdays or not because it started out as an Undertale AU and i will treat it as such.

Anyway lets get to it.

Let's start at the beginning with the childhood of Dream and Nightmare. After Nim merged with the tree she left them behind without a proper caretaker and she put the responsibility of taking care of the balance between positivity and negativity on their shoulders. May i remind you that they were basically children back then? And when the village came to be (or it already existed idk one of these) no one, absolutely no one, decided "hey there's these two kids that are basically homeless and live by a tree! Why don't i care for them?" even if they hated Nightmare, someone would've surely taken them in. To the homeless factor, sure they were fine when it was dry but what the hell did they do during rain, storms or snow? You can't tell me that it never rained or snowed in DreamTale. That is absolute bulshit. Also how did Dream and Nightmare provide for themselves? Did they work? As far as i remember the thing with giving apples to villagers was unpaid. Did they have a part time job? If yes, oh dear- If not, did they steal? Did the villagers just provide them with everything they needed to survive for free? I need answers.

Then lets move on to something i literally did math on. The apple incident. The story goes that Nightmare ate 999 black apples under peer pressure and Dream ate the last golden apple. First off, 1000 apples on a tree? Max an old and big Apple tree can carry is 800. Oh well it's magic, who cares. It's only 200 off. But can we talk about how incredibly nonsensical it is to have Nightmare eat 999 apples? He ate them, not ansorbed them. Well lets do the math then! The average time it takes to eat a whole apple would be around 11 minutes, lets round it to 10 for simplicity. 10 x 999 = 9990 minutes. 9990 minutes = roughly 7 days. These villagers pressured a kid with a panic attack for 7 days straight to eat apples, and thats not even counting possible breaks! Do these people not have anything better to do that insult and yell at a crying kid for 7 days straight to eat 999 apples? And the thing where Dream froze up or smth idk whatever reason he had to not stop Nightmare. 7 days. He had 7 days to do something and he didn't.

So, after 7 days of forcing a kid to eat a stupid amount of apples he corrupts. The story goes on as usual and we fast forward 500 years to when Dream and Nightmare fight. How does Dream even have a slight chance? If we go with videogame terms i assume the apples boost the stats of the one who ate them, otherwise they'd be pretty useless if they only increased positivity or negativity each. Nightmare had 999 black apples plus the corruption that altered his mind and body. The man's pretty much an elder god. Before we continue, how did he not manage to take over the multiverse or destroy or it whatever his plan is in the past 500 years when no one was actively opposing him? Was he waiting for Dream to break free? Did he simply not try? What DID Nightmare even do in the past 500 years? Whatever. So we have pretty much an elder god and then theres Dream. He has 1 apple. If the apples make you stronger how can one apple rival 999? Does the stat boost not stack? If yes, i remember there being a thing where Dream and Nightmare protected the tree from bad people who wanted the apples for themselves. If more apples don't increase your strength whats the point again? Or are golden apples simply so OP that 1GA = 999BA? If yes, why did they give out golden apples to others then? Or did Dream simply have way higher base stats than Nightmare? Then that's unfair as fuck and Nim is an even worse mother than she already is. The 1 = 999 ratio is bulshit and makes no sense.

Then let's go to the fun part! The personalities and they don't make sense! Look, i can forgive their personalities at the beginning of the story because they were pretty much children but holy shit are they awful later on-

Let's start with Joku's favorite, Dream. Dream is as bland as a brick, dense like one too. His entrie character is "perfect uwu boy" and Joku acts like he has no flaws and would never do anything bad. Thats not the case and that is not how you write a good character. Why do y'all think everyone hates on Mary Sue characters? Everything resolves around them and their only "flaws" the creators gave them are that they're "too good for this world". And thats the same case with Dream. He has no personality other than that he's perfect and a good guy. The only character depth is that his brother is evil. Thats it. And it's not good character design. Funnily enough in the original story Dream has a shit ton of flaws that Joku decides to ignore lmao

Let's get to Nightmare, a character who only exists to be hated by everyone and even his creator. His personality did a complete 180° after the corruption and i don't mind that. But the execution is dogshit. The original Nightmare (from now on referred to as Passive) apperantly died due to corruption. That makes no sense? What? If a plant is corrupted with a parasite it'll eventually die, sure, but then the parasite living on it will die too. Thats entire point. Passive wasn't corrupted by a virus or fungus or whatever but it's still the same concept. The parasite needs a host. If the host dies the parasite is screwed. If Passive is dead, so is the corruption. Because it needs the soul and if Passive is supposedly dead, so is the soul. So the "Passive is dead and there's only corruption" is bulshit. He's dead in spirit at least. Moving on, apperantly Nightmare became sexist after the corruption? What? From what i caught up he gained alot of traits simply to make him hateable and that is not how personalities work? If he wasn't sexist before why would he be sexist now? Did a woman wrong him in some way or why does he hate all women all of the sudden? Everything in a person's personality can be explained with psychology. Give me me the psychological answer to this, Joku. I get other shit in his personality because he's quite literally traumatized by a life of bullying and abuse but what the fuck are these new traits that make no sense? Also i remember reading somewhere that he can't feel positive feelings anymore. That is quite literally impossible because not all feelings can be categorized as positive and negative. Too much of positive shit can also quickly turn negative. What about neutral feelings? Please someone explain.

There's a good reason why everyone rewrites these two to fit their interpretation of them. They write them in a way that actually makes sense on levels other than surface level.

Conclusion: DreamTale has alot of plotholes and flaws, but nothing that can't be fixed over time. Characters and stories develop over time and the longer you use them the better they get. Unless you stubbornly believe your first draft is the perfect version and refuse to change anything despite some critism here and there. I'm not saying that i hate DreamTale, quite the opposite. I love the concept and what the fandom does with it. I just hate the original execution and the fact that Joku believes that it's perfect the way it is when it really isn't. Dear Joku, criticism isn't a bad thing and can cause alot of improvement because you hear the opinion from people with different points of views. But you'll reach nothing if you stay in your echo chamber where everyone looks up to you like you're a god and agrees with everything you say.

[briamichellewrites]

20

briajo: I’m posting this because I need to make sense of what happened.

Bria made a lengthy post about Stephanie falling off the bed, her experience at the emergency room, and her interaction with the doctor and CPS. It sounded like she was being investigated because she was young and didn’t have a lot of money, not because they thought she was abusing her daughter. Her social worker was cooperating with the investigation, as was the manager of the apartment complex where they lived. Mike and Brad were also involved.

Yes, they had a job to do but it didn’t make it any more fair. Stephanie’s teachers were interviewed. They did not suspect child abuse. It was the opposite. Bria was a great mother and Stephanie was a very happy child. She was dressed appropriately for the weather, always spoke highly of her mother, and was compassionate towards the other children.

“Mommy got in trouble.”

“Yeah, I heard about that. How is your arm”, her teacher asked.

“It hurts like a big owie.”

“Be careful when you’re playing, okay? We don’t want it to hurt more than it already does. Maybe you could play with the dolls. That will be good for your arm. Or, you could color.”

She wanted to color, so she went over to that station. There were other children and another teacher over there. Coloring helped her arm rest. Because her arm hurt, she couldn’t be as active as she usually was. She liked coloring, even though she had to share and wait her turn for the crayons she wanted. Sharing and taking turns were things they were learning.

They were also learning how to say please and thank you. Can I have that crayon, please? Thank you! The teacher complimented them on how nice they were being to their friends. Stephanie was more tired than usual, so she fell asleep easily during nap time. The children were able to choose what they wanted to sleep with. She chose a stuffed bear. After getting under the covers of her blanket, she held the bear tightly and closed her eyes.

They each had a cot, a pillow, and a blanket. The cot wasn’t as comfortable as her bed at home but it was better than sleeping on the floor. While the children slept, the teachers got ready for the next activity. Snack time.

Bria was a little distracted but it didn’t interfere with her work. Brad and Mike could tell she was trying. She could have called in for a day off. Instead, she had come to work. Mike had to leave his phone on Do Not Disturb because he was distracted. After hooking up with Brad, he asked him out for a proper date. He accepted immediately, though he didn’t want to seem desperate or too eager.

He was just ecstatic that a guy was taking an interest in him! Brad would understand if he didn’t respond to him right away. They were sending flirty messages to each other and he felt happier than he had in a long time. Brad mentioned how his wife, Elisa wanted to invite Bria and Stephanie over sometime during the weekend for dinner. They had three children: Jonah, fifteen; Noah, thirteen; and Evan, eleven. Evan was their only daughter and she was a daddy’s girl.

They thought Stephanie would have fun playing with her. The boys? Not so much. That was fine. Mike thought she would be delighted with the invitation! It didn’t seem like she knew a lot of people or had very many, if any friends. He got up to go ask her. While he was doing that, he also got up and went out to get a refill of coffee. He suddenly had a flashback to Chester and the band.

“Chester, where are you going”, Phoenix asked.

“To get more coffee.”

“You don’t need more coffee!”

“Chester, we are not peeling you from the ceiling”, Brad joked.

“Dude, shut up.”

He laughed. Chester loved coffee just as much as he loved women. Just as much as he loved the people around him. As he was pouring himself a cup, Joe came in with Rob, Phoenix, and Joe. They noticed they had a new assistant, so they waited until she was done talking to introduce themselves to her. She was young and beautiful with long brown hair that was pulled back into a ponytail.

Brad introduced her to them. They said hello and shook her hand. It was nice to meet them. They were then pulled into a meeting. After closing the door to the conference room, Rob asked who she was. Brad laughed. Joe commented on how beautiful she was. He was married and not looking to have an affair, he just had to say it. They agreed with him. Mike told them she was hired after they posted a job opening for an assistant. She was a perfect addition to their team.

After catching up, they talked about the reason for the meeting. Phoenix was going grey, as well as Rob. They were not twenty-something guys anymore but full-grown men with families. It was amazing how time had passed.

No matter what, they would always be brothers who would always be there for each other. Rob was having a difficult time with his anxiety and he didn’t participate in all of their anniversary celebrations. His girlfriend was great at listening to him talk about the thoughts in his head beating him up. She comforted him by reminding him that the thoughts were not real.

He was on medication and was going to therapy. It was only because she pushed him. They had only been together for six months but he wanted to marry her. He was getting older, at forty-four years old and he didn’t want to be too old to get married. His family was telling him to wait to get engaged because they didn’t want him to be impulsive. He was still young and had plenty of time. Having a new girlfriend was exciting and he was in the honeymoon phase.

Things could change and they didn’t want him to get hurt. Divorce was expensive and they were worried it would hurt him mentally. After discussing what they needed to discuss, they continued hanging out and chatting. There was a knock on the door, so Joe opened it. A woman wearing a name tag asked for either Mike or Brad. Mike got up and walked outside with her.

Bria was crying and talking to a CPS agent. He asked what happened. They were taking Stephanie while they conducted their investigation. He did his best to make them see they were making a mistake, but it didn’t work. They were just doing their job. Bria asked if she could tell them important allergy concerns about her daughter. Yes, she could. She told them about her allergy to onions. In her book bag, she had an Epi-pen, just in case she had anaphylaxis. She also had Celiac disease.

If she accidentally ate gluten, she would get very sick and would throw up. She needed to go to the emergency room right away. Was there anything else? No. They thanked her for that information before leaving. She sat down distraught. Mike asked if they could do anything for her. She had to hire a lawyer but couldn’t afford one. They would help her pay for one. Thank you. She was welcome.

@zoeykaytesmom @feelingsofaithless @alina-dixon @fiickle-nia @boricuacherry-blog

[strangefellows]

:) Dantes, Oberon, and Luxu?

First impression

Dantes: KOMAEDA?????????????????????????

Oberon: Oh, cool, Oberon, he has a nice des-- WHAT THE FUCK IS HIS FULL NAME???????? NO FUCKING WAY?????? I NEED HIM

Luxu: Oh, okay, faceless apprentice, he seems sweet-- [cue epilogue of KH3] brb screaming into my pillow

Impression now

Dantes: My god, I love this absolute fucking madlad. My good sir you fuck severely, please keep protecting me in my dreams from horrible beasties.

Oberon: I LOVE HIM I LOVE HIM I LOVE HIM OH MY GOD I AM SAVING LITERALLY ALL MY SQ FOR HIM IN AUGUST I WILL CRY IF I DON'T PULL HIM I LOVE HIM SO MUCH I AM ACTUALLY GOING INSANE I CANNOT EVEN BEGIN TO TELL YOU HOW MUCH I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT HIM AS A CHARACTER

Luxu: That's my tired old man that's my boy that's my love oh my fucking god. I was so mad when they squished him into Braig because I had sO MANY HEADCANONS FOR BRAIG but I worked with it and I love him so much now.

Favorite moment

Dantes: Every time he shows up in our mind to sweep us out of trouble dramatically. Bonus points for everything in Shimousa. He loves us so much, the weirdo.

Oberon: GOD. GOD. His flashback with Castoria where he teaches her magic and barely manages not to blow his cover with just sheer outrage at how they treat her. His genuine vengeful rage over the burning of the Welsh forest despite how much he claimed to loathe it there. The way he almost tore Koyan's throat out immediately on seeing her. How he's one of the only people to look at Fujimaru and be angry about what they've been through on their behalf. Everything about the final confrontation with him. When you summon him after beating LB6 and he's just completely fucking gobsmacked you'd actually want him around after All That Bullshit.

Luxu: The epilogue. His confrontation with Ava. Everything about Bragi.

Idea for a story

Dantes: I want to explore more of his time in Chaldea, not just in Fujimaru's dreams, go talk to other people, have interactions!

Oberon: I NEED PHH VORTIGERN EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW IMMEDIATELY I WANT TO SEE PHH VORTIGERN RECONTEXTUALIZED WITH THIS NEW INFORMATION FROM LB6 I WANT MORE OF THE VORTIGERN PART OF HIS EXISTENCE!!!!

Luxu: Goddd, more of his past lives please.

Unpopular opinion

Dantes: IDK what's popular or not lmao.

Oberon: Related to the above, I think people tend to focus too much on the Oberon aspect? I want to see more focus on Vortigern he's my favorite part of this whole amalgam, I desperately want to see PHH Vortigern looked at again now that they've retconned Garden of Avalon's version. There's SO much potential.

Luxu: I absolutely do not like this painting of him as cruelly stealing other people's bodies like Xehanort, I don't like the idea that Braig was bodysnatched DURING BBS, I don't like the focus on what if Braig/Bragi are still in there. I prefer a juxtaposition where he's gentler about it and I definitely think we've only ever known Braig as Luxu.

Favorite relationship

Dantes: Besides the comedy of Dantes and Nightingale, I love him and Fujimaru's relationship so much. I kinda ship it ngl.

Oberon: LB6 TRIO OBERON FUJIMARU CASTORIA I CRY UNCONTROLLABLY, DEAR GOD. But also please for the love of god let me explore Oberon and Merlin's relationship especially in context of the mythos with Vortigern and Emrys holy shit.

Luxu: RADIANT GARDEN SQUAD ACTIVATE but also him and the other Foretellers, Oof.

Favorite headcanon

Dantes: Despite being his usual batshit self in most settings, due to my Fujimaru's unique abilities he's a bit more chill if he's in Chaldea proper, and he actually Needs those glasses he wears in the summer alt outfit.

Oberon: OH GOD I CANNOT EVEN BEGIN WITH THESE. Please don't make me start in on my Vortigern headcanons and my hcs for my version of him in Chaldea, I have way too many. But here's one: PHH Vortigern raised Merlin for at least part of his life. Fuck your timeline weirdness.

Luxu: Luxu and Braig's hearts accidentally merged so they're literally the same person now, whoopsie. That's why he says this is his last vessel. He Can't Leave. Good thing he doesn't need to!

[junowritings]

Hello! Can I request hcs of the dorm leaders having a crush on reader please? Normally reader is a pretty shy and serious person. But one day, they see reader from afar (alone or with Grimm): Reader is acting happy go lucky and goofy, without a care in the world. How would they react? (Reader is the type to be silent and introverted in social situations but when they are alone or with someone they are comfortable with, they act bubbly and lively) Thank you!

dfghjhgfds okay so I really got carried away with this one and it shows - this focused less on the crush and more like moments between them so I hope that you like this hun~! ------

Riddle

♡ How someone so serious and reserved managed to wrangle Heartslabyul’s first years into an unlikely friendship is anyone’s guess, but it really didn’t take long after your appearance at Night Raven College before Ace and Deuce started hanging out with you and Grim. Riddle’s heard talk about you before actually meeting you for himself - it seems that even despite your shy demeanor, you’ve become fast friends with some of the other dorm members. Trey’s talked about you coming over to watch him bake, and how you were pretty adept at listening to instructions; and Cater often brings you up in conversation, bringing up some of the selfies he’s roped you into taking with him and showing them to Riddle, lamenting about how you seem to clam up at the mere prospect of large crowds.  ♡ It’s because of this that he’s somewhat prepared when the two of you initially run into one another - if only the circumstances were better given the whole unbirthday party issue. Still, that doesn’t seem to ward you off, if anything, Riddle finds you visiting Heartslabyul even more often after that event ♡ All things considered, you and Riddle actually get along rather well - whilst you don’t talk much, preferring to let the people around you do that talking for you, you’re rather pleasant company to have around. You don’t know even a quarter of the dorm’s rules, but he recognizes your effort to adhere to them as best as you’re able when you come to visit, and for what it’s worth the effort doesn’t go unappreciated on Riddle’s part, especially on his journey to be a little more lenient. He’s not exactly sure when you start winning his favor, or when he starts paying attention to little details about you when you’re around, but he notices he seems to act a little softer during your interactions, though he swears to himself that’s an unconscious reaction to a friend and nothing more. ♡ He’s heard Grim mention that you’re way more outgoing when you’re at Ramshackle alone, and Riddle has to ponder on if it’s because you’re more comfortable being yourself on your own. He’s the first to recognize that you’re more bubbly and lively when you’re comfortable, but doesn’t see it for himself till later on.  ♡ He’s walking through the dorm halls on his way back to his room, when he hears snickering coming from the common room. Nothing too unusual, but he finds himself idly wondering what’s going on in there, so he makes a small detour to double check, just in case there’s trouble brewing. Riddle walks past the common room, watches a familiar black furball go flying up into the air, and promptly backtracks to see what’s going on. He’s already preparing to chew what he assumes is some plucky first years making a mess of the common room, when he spots you, arms outstretched as Grim falls and drops on top of you, where you skillfully catch him.  ♡ You’re beaming at such a simple action, scritching Grim behind the ears as you hold the monster back up; Riddle doesn’t understand exactly what you’re doing until he watches Grim go soaring back into the air thanks to you promptly tossing him up at the cat’s signal. The sight is weird - especially because he’s pretty sure that Grim could fly just fine the last time he checked, but you genuinely look like you’re having a lot of fun throwing the feline up into the air and catching him, getting progressively higher each time. ♡ It appears Grim must trust you more than he lets on to let you do this, either that or the head pats you give him every time he comes back down is enough of a bribe to go along with the little game you’re playing. It’s rather childish, and not something he expected to ever catch you doing, which is exactly why he justifies staring at the scene for as long as he does instead of stepping in. There’s something about the way that you’re acting now that seems almost carefree, nothing quite like the stern, solemn look on your face back when he’d first caught sight of you at the induction. In all honesty it’s an almost enviable expression, or at least, that’s the feeling Riddle assumes he’s feeling when a warmth starts welling up in his chest the longer he watches the two of you play together.

Leona

♡ Has no idea how he ended up crushing on you - you’re quiet, keeping to yourself most of the time unless you get dragged into other people’s problems. That honestly suits him just fine since it means you’re less of a pain to have around - he doesn’t have to concern himself with needless blabbering or deal with the stunts the more reckless ones of his dorm seem to have a field day trying to pull off. 

♡ The longer you and Leona are around one another, the more he’s convinced that there’s more to you than what you’re letting on. Sometimes, he’ll see little flashes of something beneath your usual silent demeanor, especially during moments when you’re happy; it’s like you want to express yourself more, be more open with your feelings. But every time he sees those flashes they’re gone just as quick, which makes him start actively keeping an eye out for those little moments.

♡ One such moment is where he gets a proper glimpse at what you’re like when you’re truly comfortable. Leona was more focused on trying to nap rather than entertain guests, so he’d let Ruggie take care of you while he found a spot to get comfortable; he’s in and out of it, only half paying attention when the sound of giggling rouses him. With a grumble, unamused at being disturbed, Leona cracks an eye open to see what Ruggie’s up to now - fully expecting you to be the latest recipient of one of the hyena’s latest trick when he sees the two of you sat on the floor, legs crossed and facing each other.

♡ It’s easy to assume at first that Ruggie’s just using his unique magic on you to make you follow along with his expressions and actions, but the longer Leona watches the pair of you, he notices that your reactions are just a beat slower than Ruggies, as though you’re waiting for the hyena to move first and acting accordingly. If imitating Ruggie’s your game, you’re doing a pretty good job of it, but every time you mirror his expression Leona can see the pair of you physically struggling to stop yourselves from laughing, watching you bite your lip and seeing the corners of your eyes crinkle in an effort to steel your expression even as a smile tugs at your lips. Ruggie’s not much better, grinning like a fool as he works to make you pull the silliest expressions he can muster, making himself look equally ridiculous in the process.

♡ It’s a childish game, and you’re sure that you can hear Leona huff at the silly display, but that doesn’t stop him from watching the scene play out, easing himself up from his previous napping position into one more comfortable to keep watching. He’s more focused on you than he is Ruggie, watching your expression contort every which way before breaking out into that same grin when a snort of laughter ruins the otherwise quiet of the game. You don’t look as serious and timid as what he’s used to seeing, and you’re interacting way more than you usually do, even sticking Ruggie with some spicy retorts every time he snickers about how silly you look. It’s actually kind of refreshing, in a way, to have his suspicions confirmed that you weren’t just that silent stone wall that others had stuck you to be, so he finds himself looking at that grin of yours like he’s trying to carve it into memory.

♡ Leona makes a comment about your expressions, a little jab that you’re used to hearing by now after being around him for so long; but Leona’s surprised to find that you’ve got a little backbone this time around, sticking him with a defiant huff as you stick your tongue out at him. It’s bratty behavior, but he at least appreciates the cheek you have to pull that face at him before you whirl back around, hands excitedly patting your legs as you egg Ruggie to keep going with this little imitation show. You can’t see it, but that action earns you a raised brow before Leona shakes his head, running a hand through his hair as he flops back down, making you assume that he’s trying to get back to sleep as you continue playing - and he would be, if he didn’t want to keep listening to the sound of your carefree laughter for just a it longer. 

Azul

♡ Azul knows better than to just assume that everyone shows their true personalities without hesitation - keeping your cards to yourself until it’s safe and avoiding moments of vulnerability around those you aren’t close to are traits that he knows all too well. And it’s precisely because of this that he doesn’t immediately judge you based on your initial shyness, instead opting to give it time and see how things pan out. Besides, after the events of that whole contract incident, the way you ended up handling it, and the things that have been thrown at you since, has piqued the dorm leader’s interest.

♡ Visiting Monstro lounge after hours has become a common occurrence, to the point where Azul’s more used to seeing you sitting somewhere in the lounge than he is not - there’s an unusual emptiness to the place on the days that you can’t make it, even if Azul’s not always interacting with you outside of the nod of acknowledgment and initial greeting. Whether you enjoy the quiet atmosphere or the company is anybody's guess, but when you’re visiting on your own you hardly cause any trouble, so Azul doesn’t mind you coming around in the slightest. Plus, you have a tendency to keep Floyd occupied when things get slow, which works out for everybody working there since he enjoys having you around as well. Today’s one such day where you’ve got his attention, as you’re helping to move some of the stuff people have left behind on the counter for the brother’s to pick up. Upon seeing the little collection of cups you’re making, Floyd doesn’t think twice about sliding one over to you, with little warning other than telling you to catch as he does so.

♡ You’d acted without thinking; all you’d seen was a glass coming at you from the corner of your eye and you swatted it back the way it came, almost immediately realizing your mistake as you whip your head around to watch the cup coast back over to Floyd. He looks down at the glass with a look of surprise as he catches it, but in the next  moment that confusion is replaced with an amused grin and he nudges once again over to your side of the counter. This time you actually grab it, and after a second of skeptically eyeing the glass and Floyd you send it back at him; and, just like that, your new little minigame is afoot.

♡ The glass whizzes back and forth, getting progressively faster with each clink across the counter. And it’s that clinking that draws Azul’s attention, as the sound is enough to draw him into turning his focus over to the counter, watching the two of you play. You’re focused, tongue poking from the corner of your mouth as you focus on the glass as it comes back towards you; Floyd’s also thoroughly invested by the little game, and Azul can see his grin getting a little wider every time you have to lean over to bat it back over in his direction. It’s only a matter of time before something happens, Azul can see that clearly with how fast the glass is moving, but instead of calling out to the two of you to stop, Azul watches the exchange anyways, if only to wait for that moment to come.

♡ You must have underestimated the shot, as the next time that the glass goes whizzing towards Floyd it slips right past him and rockets off the counter. You both yell and make a grab for it even though you’re on the far end - Floyd just about falls off of the bar stool trying to snag it only to hit the floor hard enough to make the shelves rattle. Thankfully, Jade’s able to pluck it right from the air right before it hits the ground, sauntering back to the kitchen and carrying the leftover glasses from the remaining tables with him.

♡ Floyd pouts and mourns the loss of your playing glass, but you burst out into a cheer at the nice save, clapping for the Leech twin as he nods in your direction and offers you a smile as he disappears into the back room. The sudden outburst actually shocks Azul, who regards your shout with wide eyes; he’s never heard you yell before, much less that loud, so the sound catches him off guard. It seems that you catch yourself just as fast however, as the second you spot Azul looking at you, your face visibly flushes, embarrassed over him watching over the little scene, face only turning brighter when he flashes you a smile upon noticing you looking at him.

Kalim

♡ Honestly, the two of you couldn’t be more polar opposites to people on the outside looking in. Kalim’s good vibes personified, whereas you’re incredibly introverted and shy around people that you don’t know too well; it makes for an interesting dynamic between the two of you, but Kalim takes it all in stride! Regardless of whether you’re the shyest person in the world, or if you’re the most outgoing, Kalim has a way of finding the best in people and wants to be friends if you’re up for it. So when you first meet at the induction ceremony and you greet him, timid and nervous, Kalim’s really excited to greet you back, already armed with a slew of questions and things he wants to know - what can he say? He’s always interested in getting to know new people! And you’re no exception.

♡ You’re not much of a talker, preferring to let Grim or your other friends do the talking for you, but Kalim doesn’t mind in the least! Though he’s the kind of person that tries to take any and all opportunities to coax you into talking more, which can be very overwhelming during the first few weeks that you spend getting to know him. Fortunately, Jamil’s almost always there to rear him back and stop him from getting overly excited whenever he starts noticing that you’re getting uncomfortable or overwhelmed. It helps that Kalim gets Grim to warm up to him really easily, as seeing that your dormmate actually wants to hang out around him too makes you feel a bit more comfortable hanging out around him and letting loose a little more than you usually would.

♡ And Kalim’s not the only one excited for your visits. His magic carpet’s got a mind of its own and a playful streak that’s apparently only amplified whenever Grim’s in the vicinity - looks like the fluffy monster makes for a prime playmate. You, frankly, find that fact adorable, but Grim gets so miffed being constantly hounded by a magic rug that he actively goes out of his way to avoid it, even if that means swallowing his pride and hiding under or behind something until it’s gone (a fact that you love to bring up when it’s just the two of you - that’s gained you more than a few singed hairs). Unfortunately for your fluffy companion however, neither of you have really been good at knowing where exactly it is when you drop by Scarabia to hang out with Kalim, which means you either don’t have any interactions with it at all, or you do and…well, you get situations such as this.

♡ You’re walking in stride with Kalim, listening to him as he talks - he loves that you’re such a great listener, though that’s only an added bonus thanks to your usually shy demeanor (not that you’d tell him that, he looks so happy every time he gets to ramble you could listen to him talk all day). He’s mid conversation when you spot something whizz across your vision from the corner of your eye - you have no idea what it is, but you’ve got an idea of what it could be when you spot another flash of vibrant fabric. 

♡ Unlike you Kalim’s completely oblivious to this, and you’re still not quite sure what you’re seeing till you finally watch a blur round the corner. The carpet spots Grim, and in the next second Grim’s gone from his spot and zipping down the hall on the carpet's back. His scream is abrupt and loud enough that your ears ring, but the sight of the cat clinging to the fabric and cussing up a storm of curses you didn’t even know he knew makes you react without thinking.

♡ You burst into laughter, throwing your head back before you can even stop yourself watching Grim disappear from view down the corridor. As soon as he hears you laugh, unabashed and unrestrained, Kalim just falls so hard. He’s seen you smile - he’s actually been responsible for making you smile on more than one occasion, and he loves that he’s been able to do so - but there’s just something about the pure joy in your voice, tinged with disbelief, that makes this moment different. It’s the type of laugh that has you leaning against the wall for support and clutching your side, and you only laugh harder when you hear Grim’s voice in the distance, shrieking at you to stop laughing.

♡ Your laughter is contagious, and it isn’t long before Kalim joins in laughing alongside you; that really doesn’t help calm you down, if anything it spurs you on into a spiral until both of you are laughing hard enough that you’re leaning up against each others shoulders every time you hear Grim’s voice carrying on the wind - it’s a moment to remember for sure.

Vil

♡ You’re shy, reserved and keep to yourself unless it’s something you need to actively get involved in, so perhaps it's exactly that reason that you fly under Vil’s radar for so long. Back at the auditions you had looked as though you’d rather be anywhere else rather than being swarmed by your fellow students, visibly shying away and keeping to your small little bubble of friends right up until the moment that the auditions started. Perhaps it was an act of mercy that you weren’t picked as one of the main performers, and he’d fully expected that to be the last direct interaction that he had with you and that fuzzy little thing that hovers around you all of the time.

♡ Only it isn't, even after the events of the VDC it's as though you’d resolved to go out of your way to visit Pomfiore, having gotten attached to your new friends and wanting to make the effort to keep them close even if it was through quick visits. Your self proclaimed task seems easier, given that little Epel has been unanimously adopted into your little gaggle of potatoes and you’ve gotten rather close to some of the other Pomfiore members since meeting them.

♡ It seems like you’ve wormed your way into the hearts of the Vil’s dormmates - Epel’s hanging around you just about every time that he’s spotted you on school grounds, and Rook is ever doting. Vil’s not really one to talk however, given that he’s the first person to greet you whenever you come to the Pomfiore dorm for one reason or another. This is one such instance - apparently one of your little group had decided to cook some desserts and had an abundance of fruits and treats leftover, so you’d brought a couple to share, with Ace and Grim in tow as you offered Vil a rather excited greeting upon seeing him at the door.

♡ An impromptu call had pulled him away from the group momentarily, and by the time the whole mess was sorted out he was already preparing for the chaos your friends must have caused in his absence (seriously, it’s like they go out of their way to nearly break something). However, as he comes to stand in the doorway, he’s accosted by the sight of what looks like a piece of fruit skimming through the air only to land in Grim’s mouth as the monster zips up to snag it. It appears that while he was gone you’d started up a little game of throwing food across the room for Grim to catch, and given the lack of mess on the floor it appears the monster’s been doing a fair job of catching what you toss. You’re biting back a chuckle as you reach for the next piece of fruit, aiming an apple slice in Grim’s direction and asking if he’s ready - in response he grins and rubs his paws together. 

♡ You toss the piece, watching it move through the air and waiting for Grim to catch it. It looks like your trajectory was a bit off however, as it ends up sailing directly over Grim’s head and towards the windowsill where Rook’s sitting; your face immediately flashes to one of panic as you start to rise from your chair, the beginnings of a warning starting to form. It’s almost seamless how swift Rook turns his head, and before you can even blink he’s holding the apple slice between his teeth, flashing a wink before eating it and praising you for the impeccable aim.

♡ This is the first time that Vil’s seen you visibly brighten at the sight of a challenge, and he finds himself pausing in the doorway as he watches you straighten up in your chair, leaning on your knees as you reach into the pack for the next piece of fruit. This time you pull out a grape, and you shoot Rook a grin as you rear back, aiming the fruit over at his direction as he swivels around in preparation. 

♡ This goes on for a few more tosses, and while Vil feels as though he should break up the little exchange, he can’t find it in himself to step in as he watches an orange slice sail across the room in a swift arc and Ace dives from his seat to slide across the floor and catch it, joining in on the fun. The moment he does a roar of triumph rips through the room, and you throw your hands up as you hollar and laugh at the successful shot; only to underestimate how far you’d leaned back and topple right off of your chair. You hit the floor, disappearing from sight, and your friends immediately make a move to check if you’re okay when they hear you laugh, still giggling to yourself by the time your head peeks back up from behind the counter.

♡ You’re disheveled from the fall, hair mussed and collar and tie left askew and loose - had this been usual circumstances, Vil’s first thought would have been to admonish you for letting yourself get into such a unkempt state and he’d have stepped in to correct the slight immediately; instead, his thoughts are trained on your expression, how different it looks from the carefully neutral facade you usually wore. How far that face had come since he’d first met you, now so warm and full of energy, it was as though you were alight with life with each little mark and awry hair only adding to your appearance. You looked...happy, imperfect but somehow...better than beautiful.

♡ Rook’s voice breaks him from entertaining that thought further, clapping his hands together and promptly announcing Vil’s sudden presence to the rest of the party. Vil watches the surprise cross your face, head ducking down so that only your eyes were visible behind the counter as you offer him a timid wave (though the reddening tips of your ears are enough to indicate your embarrassment). He’s swift to stride across the room, rounding the counter to where you’re still kneeling on the floor. You seem shocked when he offers you a hand, and Vil has to ponder just why you’re so shy in his presence as you eye the outstretched hand; you take the offer though, and honestly have to marvel at how soft his hand feels as it holds yours and tugs you up from the floor.

♡ You expect him to move away from you once you’re back onto your feet, but you’re hardly steady again when the hand holding yours moves to your shoulder, balancing you as he gives your disheveled state a once-over. He makes a noise akin to a hum before you feel a hand carding through your hair, smoothing out the otherwise untamable mess with precise fingers and you probably would have flushed under the attention were you not so surprised by the action. Instead of admonishment, Vil finds himself urging you to be careful - potatoes may be sturdy, but he’d rather not have this one getting hurt.

Idia

♡ In all honesty, Idia’s just as introverted, if not more so given his penchant for locking himself away from the world and sticking to the safety of his dorm room at any and all opportunities. So if there’s any chance of you interacting with him, it's either from pure luck, or because you befriended his brother - which given the circumstances, is definitely the latter of the two scenarios. Your shy and reserved personality around others and tendency to clam up in social situations reminds Ortho a lot of Idia, so after his first interaction with you during the Pomfiore auditions he makes an effort to get to know you! It takes you off guard, and Grim butting into the conversation every other minute to ask the boy something arbitrary really doesn’t help with your feelings on the situation; with time, and a little work however, you start opening up a little around him, and with the open and practiced way he approaches you, it isn’t long before the two of you actually become pretty decent friends.

♡ Idia just doesn’t know what to make of you when he hears of your first few meetings relayed directly through Ortho. It’s like you’re some kind of anomaly or glitch that slipped under his radar up until this point in time, and he doesn’t know what trick you’re pulling, but so long as you don’t have any malicious intentions he figures he can tolerate hearing about you. And boy, does he hear it - it’s like you’re involved in just about everything that goes wrong at Night Raven College one way or another, though it seems like it’s through no fault of your own if what he’s seen through the cameras is anything to go by. In a way he almost kind of sympathizes for you, being dragged around every which way by the other dorm heads and students looks exhausting, and you really seem to hate being around all the large crowds that all the school’s events attract. It’s like the only moment of respite you get is with your new flame-haired friend and that talking cat monster, Grim, but Idia doesn’t have much first hand experience when it comes to interacting with you.

♡ The first time you actually meet him face to face, it’s a complete accident. It’s not like he even knew you were going to be coming to the dorm because he hadn’t heard anything about it - it must have been an impromptu invitation, which is really unlike his little brother to do - so imagine his surprise when he rounds a corner and narrowly misses running headfirst into you. He knows what you look like, has seen it through his monitor a few times; hell, you’ve even greeted him through the tablet at dorm leader meetings once or twice when you were close enough to it. But seeing you through a monitor, and seeing you now in the flesh is so jarring that for a hot second he freezes up, looking at you with a baffled expression. You look so different face to face, and he watches you regard him curiously, head cocking to the side as though trying to size him up. It’s only when you give him a confused look and offer a quiet “uhhh,hi?” that Idia realizes what’s going on, and within the next moment he’s gone so fast that you have to double check that he was even there to begin with.

♡ Needless to say, not the best first impression, and Idia’s about ready for the earth to swallow him whole after that incident when you actually go out of your way to approach him the same day. You don’t try to burst into his room or demand him to come out like most of the others, instead you merely knock to announce your presence and mutter out a quiet yet surprisingly serious apology for scaring him back there, mentioning that you hope everything’s okay between you, afterall, you don’t to upset the person that you friend looks up to so much. And then just like that you’re gone, giving him some space as you go off to seek out Ortho.

♡ The friendship between you and Idia is definitely a slowburn, and often has Ortho as the middleman so to speak, being the more outgoing of the three of you when Grim isn’t following you around. Slowly but surely, you open up and start talking to him more, even asking him questions about his games and the kinds of things that he likes to tinker with - it’s a lengthy process, but as Idia spends more time answering your queries he realizes that he’s started to get used to having you around, even kind of looking forward to you coming over.  ♡ Idia recognizes the beginnings of a crush, being able to distinguish that these feelings are different than just friendship, and he gets so worked up about it. A lot of his pining is done from afar, as he’d rather keel over and burn the dorm down before he admits his feelings out loud - he’s always thinking of the worst case scenario with social interactions, and just thinking about all the ways you could possibly reject him is enough to make him feel nauseous, so he sticks to just keeping it to himself and lingering on these feelings safely behind closed doors. He’s sure he can keep it to himself, convinced of it...until he sees what you’re like when you’ve warmed up to someone.

♡ He’d crashed in his bed after staying up way too long grinding for an in-game event, leaving you and his brother to play whatever multiplayer he’d dug up for the two of you to take a crack at; Idia’s the first to admit that sometimes he can sleep like the dead if he’s particularly sleep deprived, so it’s not a surprise that he doesn’t wake up till quite a while later. What wakes him up however is laughter - one voice is Ortho’s, he recognizes it immediately, but the other voice takes him by surprise, and he finds himself peeking his head out from the covers, mindful to keep his hair underneath lest he give away that he’s awake.

♡ Idia finds the two of you giggling to yourselves, with you laughing so hard that there’s tears in your eyes as you clap a hand over your mouth to muffle the sound. Ortho isn’t much better, thoroughly entertained by your laughing and trying to hide his own chuckles as you struggle to recompose yourself - it’s a bizarre scene to watch, and Idia has no idea what’s got you so chuffed until you compose yourself enough to inch back over to your controller. Upon looking at the screen, he sees that you’re still playing that game - there’s a cutscene playing, however it doesn’t take much to realize that the model looks wrong, some kind of bug giving them hilariously static poses that look awkward as the panels switch from scene to scene. There’s a split second where it looks like the bug’s corrected itself, and the laughter dies down into breathy chuckles as you move to click the button prompt. But then all Idia sees is the flash of a stock horse model whizzing across the screen and into the sky and Idia watches you and his brother just about crumple with a wheeze all over again.

♡ He’s never seen you even laugh like that before, much less act so ridiculously silly over something as small as a game glitch, but he’s practically glued to watching your reaction, watching this new, boisterous side of you with a rapt fascination. It’s hard to compose yourself while fighting off the giggles, attempting to imitate some of the bizarre cutscenes as you ramble excitedly about how weird and funny that whole thing was. Ortho also makes an attempt to follow suit, and that starts the pair of you off all over again. Idia would be hard pressed to deny that the sight of you and his brother, grinning without a care as your face flushes from all the yelling, didn’t make him ridiculously happy. If this is what you’re usually like, then does that mean he hasn’t unlocked that with you yet? He’s quick to shake away the thought, instead continuing to watch the scene unfolding in his room - he almost wishes that he could join in on the fun.

♡ Well, it looks like that wish comes true, as Ortho spots his brother out of the corner of his eye and greets him as he excitedly points at the screen, wanting to fill him in on what’s happened while he’s been resting. Your head snaps over to his bed, and he sees the flush on your face turn a deeper shade now for a different reason as you offer a timid greeting of your own, still smiling that bright smile as you apologize for waking him up. At being caught Idia doesn’t know what to say so he reacts without thinking, letting out a choked noise and diving back into his covers so you can’t see his face burning in embarrassment, though the way his hair flares up makes the action futile. 

Malleus

♡ Malleus garners that you’re rather shy when you first cross paths outside of Ramshackle. He’d heard talk about what you were like, as Lilia had taken a particular interest not long after you’d first arrived at the school, having become what one might consider unconventional lunch buddies between breaks. Lilia spoke rather highly of you, though Malleus had yet to place a face to the name until he’d met you on the dorm grounds. He’s no stranger to others shying away from him or being scared in his presence, if anything, it’s the reaction that he expected you to have at the sight of him lingering within the grounds' poorly lit walkways. However, he’s quick to discern that the way you act in his presence isn’t because you’re scared of him, it’s rather just the way you usually act around others. 

♡ This suspicion is confirmed the next time he sees Lilia and brings you up in conversation; at the mention of your name, Lilia’s expression practically brightens up, interested in the young man's apparent newfound interest in you, and doesn’t hesitate to pry into what Mal wants to know. When it comes to your unusually silent demeanor, Lilia’s quick to add that you aren’t always like that - just give it a bit of time for you to warm up to him, and he’s sure that Malleus might well see that there’s more to your personality than what he’s seen. 

♡ Mal’s got no idea what Lilia means, but regardless he still finds himself coming back to Ramshackle - when his usual haunts become occupied he thinks little of finding another secluded location, but this time he finds himself returning. At first, you’d only come outside to check that it's him and not someone out wandering the dorm grounds, but after a handful of meetings, Malleus is intrigued to find you following in stride with him during one of his walks. You don’t give any explanation, nor do you bother with asking any arbitrary questions - which honestly suits Mal just fine - instead, when you cross paths, you just start to walk alongside him for a while. The nighttime strolls have no need for talking if you’re not the speaking sort, and he’s hardly the type to complain about trivial things like that - Malleus is fine simply having the company on what would otherwise be a solitary excursion. 

♡ The longer the two of you spend these nights together, the more he gets tiny flashes of your warmer side. You begin opening up a little more with talking, making small comments about the weather or any upcoming events of note - it’s mundane things, but the small talk is...surprisingly endearing when previously you said nothing more than what you absolutely had to. Perhaps this is what Lilia was on about back then, is what Malleus thinks to himself; either way, it's just another little thing that keeps him coming back. Mal honestly doesn’t see himself having a crush just yet - it’s just that he enjoys the company, and the way you interact with him, shy but unafraid, intrigues him in such a way that keeps him coming back. That’s how he rationalizes it at least.

♡ His first glimpse of your more open personality is by pure chance. Usually at this time of night he would find you wandering somewhere around the Ramshackle grounds, either actively seeking Malleus out or looking for some fresh air to shake off the stress of the morning hours; however when he can’t seem to find you at your usual spots, he resolves to approaching the ramshackle dorm to search for you. Chances are you’re just late or you aren’t interested in accompanying him tonight - either way, he’d rather find that out for himself so he approaches the dorm with little hesitation. All of the lights inside are off barring one, and Malleus finds himself walking around to see if he can make out whatever’s inside, hoping that it’s you.

♡ And he finds you, but the sight he’s greeted with catches him off guard. He can hear the music through the windows, an upbeat melody that Malleus would never quite pin you as a fan of until now. And as he gets closer to the lights he can see you inside the living room, sliding into view. At first, he doesn’t have a clue what you’re doing, moving across the floor in a weird way that’s not unlike shuffling. After a beat though, Malleus soon realizes that you’re dancing, spinning and jumping around the room without a care in the world, belting the words out at the top of your lungs loud enough that he’s sure you’d wake up your dormmates if you had any, though he can hardly make out the lyrics from beyond the glass.

♡ The sight is...oddly mesmerizing, in a way, not because you’re particularly professional, but because of how lively you’re acting. You look so happy, so carefree compared to the shy and silent persona that you usually convey around others - it's a bizarre sight, to say the least, but at the same time it’s a welcome one, and Malleus simply can’t tear his eyes away. He doesn’t know how long you’ve been at it, but it isn’t long before you tire yourself out, whirling around a final time before you finally stumble and topple back onto the floor. You fall so suddenly that Malleus would have moved closer to check that you were okay were it not for your surprised shout filtering off into giggling once you shake off the shock. You’re frazzled, with hair askew and breathing hard, but at the same time you’re visibly giddy, lost in your own little world and grinning like a fool as you run your hands through your hair and rest your head back against the floor.

♡ Malleus has no idea why, but the sight of you smiling, so unburdened by the world outside has him entranced - it’s like you’re practically glowing with energy that he hasn’t seen before, and he’s transfixed to soaking in all the little details, as though wanting to commit this image to memory. He probably would have strayed a moment longer had you not suddenly moved, rolling off of the floor and scrambling onto your feet as you disappear from view, apparently called away by someone - probably Grim - and as the moment’s broken Malleus finally catches himself, cursing himself for getting so distracted.

♡ He ends up completely forgetting what he came over to do, and ends up taking that walk on his own. But he finds his thoughts during that stroll almost completely occupied by the moment, replaying the scene in his mind and thinking back on that vibrant, beaming smile that had lit up your face - the way you looked when you laughed and moved without a care in the world. A part of him is a little sad that you’re not like that when in his presence, but at the same time he finds himself understanding why you keep that side of yourself so closely guarded. Still, that doesn’t stop Malleus from entertaining the idea that sometime in the future he can see that vibrancy face to face, maybe even directed at him - perhaps there’s something he could do to reassure you that you can open up around him...

[byebyler]

THAT WAS SO GOOD!!! I am truly just blown away by this season so far. My worst fear was that the show would just keep getting worse and worse until finally dragging to a stop but they really turned things around here. I don’t know if it’s surpassed season 1 but it’s right up there with it! Lots of happy, incoherent rambling and spoilers under the cut!

BYLER STANS RISE UP!! I said before everything was too good to be true but nooope I really think they’re going there. Only time will tell if it’s a one sided crush or if Byler is on its way to becoming canon. Depends on how the last two episodes go. But anyway, it’s really subtle but it’s so there. If you know what to look for, then you know. But if Byler isn’t even a passing thought then of course it’s not going to click for you. So obviously the reviews are skewed one way or another. And there are enough hints for a proper Mileven break up so really, who knows?? Like I said, last two episodes and then we’ll see

Of course the Byler stuff isn’t the only stuff I’m excited over. It really is such a good season. The whole time, except for maybe the last two eps, was really evenly split between all the plots. Pretty much hitting A, B, C, D, A, B, C, D like clockwork. I never felt bored with any part of the story. And despite the introduction of so many new characters, it never felt too cluttered to me.

Obviously El’s story is pretty heavy, since it’s only focused on her. And the Hawkins plots are harder to juggle bc you have so many characters on that side. But I still think they did a really wonderful job, considering. The only time I was really reaching for my phone was during the Russia stuff. But for the people only here for action, I’m sure they won’t have a problem with that :P

THEY FINALLY LEARNED SHOW, DON’T TELL. I’m in complete and utter shock that some romantic aspects could happen organically. It’s so easy to spot the Steve and Nancy hints and it made me sooo happy. But then of course they ruin it by having Eddie flat out tell Steve that Nancy is in love with him or whatever lmao alskfjsdlkfjs no one is perfect I guess. Still. It’s an improvement 

THE NANCY REVEAL HAD ME GAGGED. Genuinely did not see it coming and it caught my by surprise. We were screaming. But I’m 99.99% sure she’s going to be okay lmao. Although now I’m not so sure about Steve. All the hopeful optimistic talk of a future romance has me thinking that one of them is definitely going to die. And not saying I WANT that to happen but I mean come on. It only makes sense

I said before but I’m so thankful of Max’s friendship montage, and for her calling for Lucas AND Dustin when in distress. One thing I hate about Mileven is how singularly focused they were on each other. When El was in distress she was only calling for Mike, like Dustin and Lucas were just dust. So you know. It’s good to see close relationships being acknowledged even when they aren’t romantic. It’s good to see everyone being actual friends

And I’m so glad we’re shaking up the groups again. One reason s3 is so annoying is bc you knooow they saw people talking about s2 like “omg weren’t Steve and Dustin so funny together?? need more of that next season!” and as a result Steve and Dustin almost exclusively only talked to one another. I haaated that. So I’m glad Dustin and Lucas are close again, that they’re with Max, that all the teens are together, that Erica is there but not too much lol. And I loved all the Byler interactions, obviously. The trio of them with El. Them with Jonathan and Argyle, even. Fuck I even can tolerate Murray this season!! They’re doing such a good job with all the characters, it’s literally insane. I still can’t believe it

And everyone feels important. No one is just standing around. So many times last season half the characters or maybe just Will would literally just be standing there in a scene like 🧍🏼‍♂️ it was sooo frustrating. But no everyone actually manages to feel like an active part of the story this time around. It’s so impressive like I am still in genuine shock that it was so good

I’m sure the more I think about it and rewatch it the more I’ll find to complain about but I’m not interested in that right now. I just genuinely had such a wonderful time. It was hours and hours of content, I’ve been up since 3 am watching, but it felt like it just flew by. It was well worth the obscenely long wait, which I’m thankful for. It’s just a great fucking time and I’m so fucking excited for the last episodes and the last season. I really hope they can pull this energy through to the end and not ruin it for themselves!!

[primrose-path-of-dalliance]

jester began falling in love with caleb in episode 103.

not any earlier in my opinion, and not later, either.

there's two elements to why i believe e103 is the turning point.

(1) the first is caleb's actions and jester's responses to them during the night they all sleep by the waterfall—his support of her idea to sleep underwater, his conversation with her after her commune with artagan, and his casting of programmed illusion in the dome.

(2) the second is the way her behavior toward caleb pivots around e103. before e103 is a noticeably different beast to how she begins to treat him after e103—the attention she pays him, her efforts to hold more standout interactions with him, and a dramatic swell of emotion and thematic meaning in these scenes’ respective subtext.

the rumblecusp arc is the point in which jester’s character growth, and caleb’s efforts to unconditionally support her, really begin to shine. throughout the complex growing pains that jester and artagan's relationship was experiencing, the one person who truly takes a moment to offer her support without any agenda or judgment is caleb.

(e103, 1:22:55, bold mine)

CALEB: You okay over there?

JESTER: (tearful) Yeah, I'm fine. Just—I'm just drawing.

CALEB: Maybe didn't go as well as you were hoping?

JESTER: Um... In some ways it went better. But no.

CALEB: I can't speak for him. But you do have us.

JESTER: I know.

CALEB: So whatever you land on, Jester, we'll make it happen.

JESTER: (shaky laugh) I have to figure out what I want to land on.

CALEB: That is the, uh—sticky wicket, isn't it?

JESTER: Yeah. Everything's confusing.

CALEB: Maybe... Maybe we sleep on it, it'll make more sense in the morning.

JESTER: Yeah. Yeah. Thank you, Caleb.

CALEB: I didn't do anything.

jester confesses that her commune with artagan didn’t provide the answers she was hoping for—that he knew about the curse on the island—and caleb doesn’t remark on what that seems like. he deliberately avoids speculating on why artagan is doing these things because “he can’t speak for him.” he doesn’t assume anything about what she might choose to do and explicitly leaves that choice up to her. jester vents briefly about how difficult the choice is, and caleb offers her reassurance, a reminder that some time will make things clearer. he doesn’t suggest solutions.

unlike fjord or beau, caleb doesn’t ask her to voice outright whether artagan is being a good friend. he doesn’t continually question his character and imply any personal opinions to her or what he thinks she should do. instead, he asks whether she’s okay. he listens. and he offers unconditional support.

this is consistently the stance caleb takes in the rumblecusp arc. and it’s not discussed much, i think, exactly how monumental that was to jester.

(hold on, this is a long one.)

jester is a young woman who grew up sheltered and wants to define herself outside of that shelter. for her, this campaign has essentially been a coming-of-age journey (talks for e76-77, 14:12). she is deeply sensitive to whether or not she’s respected because she’s aware of how her personality and general lack of experience makes others think she’s naive, immature, or incapable (talks for e79, 31:51).

it’s also incredibly evident that her relationship with artagan is unique. in e105 (1:15:01), jester tells the m9, “he really got me through a lot when i was younger, you know? and he was all i had, really.” he was her best friend from childhood in a home where she spent most of her time hidden in a single room. when she was younger, the few times she left the chateau, she was bullied by other girls (e110, 3:34:59). her best friend, though? her best friend was a god. a god with an incredible sense of humor, an aggrandizing attitude, and adoring respect for a young girl in a difficult situation who had as wonderful a personality as him. in every way that matters, artagan’s friendship undoubtedly saved jester’s life.

and she is so, so aware of this. she cares for him deeply, trusts him unconditionally, and is determined to be there for the one person who had been there for her when no one else was, not even her mother.

the renegotiation of this friendship after artagan revealed his full identity was clearly extraordinarily difficult for jester. she was having to reevaluate her entire relationship with the being that pulled her through a childhood of isolation and misery, question his intentions with her and whether they could even remain friends at all. and this was amidst her arrival at a dangerous island with her other friends to help him clean up his mistakes.

asking her to make a judgment on artagan before she’s ready to do it on her own, while managing some high expectations at the same time—not only is it a lot of pressure, it’s frustrating and painful. jester did not want to judge artagan without giving him his fair due and a proper conversation. knowing that her new friends dislike her old friend, besides being hurt by it, distracted her. she had to both defend him outwardly and interrogate him internally. and if she tried to explain how important artagan is to her, a lot of vulnerability would’ve been necessary when she was trying to be a leader and seem competent and capable, instead of a child who needs patronizing guidance.

this latter point is exceptional. because jester lavorre is so vulnerable when it comes to how much she thinks her loved ones respect her and consider her a valuable, equal, and trustworthy individual. and it’s difficult to feel like you’re being valued and trusted when people are repeatedly questioning you about a person and a relationship that they don’t understand in a way that, despite genuine concern, comes across as them doubting your own judgment of one of the most intimate parts of your life.

in this precise moment in e103, caleb is the only person who acknowledges—to her in person, even—that he doesn't have any place in judging her relationship with artagan. that it’s not what she needs from him or anyone else. that he’s content waiting for her to reach a decision. that he will respect that decision.

and jester can believe him. caleb’s done nothing but remain consistent on this stance. he repeatedly supports her choices to run travelercon, trust artagan, and come to his aid.

when other party members question artagan's legitimacy, caleb is the one who almost always speaks up to support jester (some examples: e61, 30:43 / e77, 49:17 / e95, 1:09:17 and 1:15:24).

he actively and enthusiastically offers his magical talents to her to provide for the event preparations. he has a whole conversation with her in e91 (beginning 1:53:41) where he expresses his immense respect for her and her personality, explicitly validates her faith in artagan, and shows her a tangible example of how he wants to help her during the upcoming travelercon. when she suggests some ideas, despite their arguable silliness, caleb takes them at face value and openly admits his lack of expertise in this area (e91, 1:58:35).

when they first arrive at rumblecusp, he directly reassures jester about the ‘travelercon 3000’ banner she leaves on the wrong beach by mentioning that he can make her a new banner (e101, 48:18). once preparations begin in earnest, caleb expends spells very freely, including ones of higher-level, to produce whatever jester requests.

in e103, he hears out her idea of sleeping underwater and gives it equal consideration in spite of other party members trying to shoot it down. the first time she suggests it (36:23), caduceus comments against it and no other party member acknowledges her except for caleb, who agrees with her quietly while the others move on. the second time jester suggests it (46:08), veth comments against it and caleb steps in to openly agree that it’s a good idea, even after fjord and beau join veth in being dubious.

compare these active, consistent moments of support and validation from caleb to similarly active and consistent examples of the other attitudes that manifest during the rumblecusp arc, in contradiction to people’s apparent claims of trust (one such claim of trust: e95, 1:00:21).

plainly insulting artagan to jester as if it’s a given, such as fjord’s “he’s generally full of shit, right?” (e107, 49:42);

fjord, beau, and caduceus’s conversation about “not ruining jester’s big day,” yet distrusting artagan to the extent of planning to keep her from being alone with him, preparing to attack him should he try to sacrifice 200 people for some speculated unknown ritual and/or hurt jester, and discussing all of this behind jester’s back (e108, beginning 15:41);

caduceus’s said shift to distrust of artagan because of a semi-disturbing conversation that jester was equally a part of (e107, beginning 20:40);

and the discussion right before jester’s commune with artagan where beau questions if artagan sent them to rumblecusp knowing of the memory problems, without regard for their well-being (e103, 29:40).

the unfortunate assumption being made by these party members’ repeated questioning and protectiveness of jester is that she cannot be trusted to have good judgment. despite their familiarity with some of the context of her relationship with artagan (especially after e105), they disregard her repeatedly-expressed support of him. they indirectly disrespect her ability to judge for herself whether someone is dangerous to her or her friends. they don’t acknowledge jester’s own role in creating dubious situations and instead direct all their negative feelings and sense of fault to artagan, minimizing her agency.

the e108 conversation is a dense microcosm of how the party perpetrates these assumptions throughout the rumblecusp arc as a whole. without qualm, they discuss deliberately controlling jester’s time with artagan to ‘protect’ her and their willingness to kill the evil image they’ve constructed of him, and dodge jester directly asking them what they’re talking about—even though it is a known given that the m9 would defend her with their lives with or without any prior discussion. the purpose of holding this conversation isn’t to make sure that jester is safe. like caduceus near-explicitly says, it’s to “feel better knowing” that “anybody else was on board with this” (20:26 and 18:57)—to validate their unacknowledged distrust of jester’s judgment with each other, behind her back.

and as laura has said: jester, with her very high wisdom, tends to know what’s going on even if she acts like she doesn’t (talks for e79, 32:39).

in e103, when jester is crying because she’s found out that artagan did know about the island’s memory problems, caleb doesn’t show any sign of taking this as proof of artagan's ill intent. what he does instead: he offers compassion for her pain with zero judgment. he promises to support her, no matter what she ultimately decides to make of this information. these are offers of safety and trust, ones that jester desperately needed.

then—caleb creates a programmed illusion of the m9’s lives. and it’s beautiful.

in comparison to all the analysis prior, this moment is straightforward. jester is an artist. she paints, draws, and creates, and she loves doing it. moreover, she loves making art for other people. though she doesn’t get many chances to do so, the mural of a flowery meadow that she paints for yasha’s room in the xhorhaus is a perfect example. similarly, she enjoys the art she makes when defacing other people’s property—altered signage or statue of the platinum dragon painted in rainbow—in part because they’re gifts to the traveler. she loves making those she loves happy.

happiness and love to jester is overwhelmingly about emotional intimacy. i’ve talked about this to some degree in a previous post about jester’s jealousy. please refer there for in-depth explanation. in brief, though, she puts value on how deeply she knows a person; how often she’s been able to be there for them. this is the love she learned from her mother and from artagan, and how she continues to love once she’s older.

caleb’s arcane rendition of the m9′s lives floating around the inside of the dome is a display of exactly this kind of love. not only is it art crafted from his magic and imagination and love—it’s blatant evidence of how much he cares for every member of the party and where they’ve come from. he remembers their stories and hangs them in the air in hopes that it’ll help them resist the memory erasing. he moves the memory of yasha and zuala in a meadow over to yasha’s pillow-side so she can watch it until she falls asleep. he creates a memory for vilya of her, her husband, and her daughter, listening to and respecting the emotional gravity of what she’s confiding in them.

only a few minutes after jester’s disappointing commune with artagan and her conversation with caleb, she walks into the dome and sees this art. she laughs and stares in wonder at all the memories (e103, 1:46:08). when beau points out the humorous memories of fjord being attacked by turtles so they can all laugh, she tells caleb with equal awe and joy, “wow. this is amazing, caleb” (e103, 1:47:04).

...of course, as lovely and meaningful as these back-to-back moments were for jester, it's not quite evidence of her starting to fall in love with caleb around this time.

that’s where the following episodes come in.

[id: three screenshots of messages sent in a discord channel by the user “prim” (the op). all are timestamped to friday, august 28, 2020, the day after the live premiere of e107. the first has an additional timestamp of 12:53 PM, the second 1:03 PM, and the third 1:30 PM. they read:

honest to god though i don't know if it's just the shipper brain that is making me think laura is trying to roleplay jester beginning to reciprocate caleb's feelings [...]

like........ the golden dick hunt teasing is definitely on par with jester's past shenanigans, but the compliments have been Catching My Attention bc it's honestly not normal for jester to compliment caleb of her own volition like that, just as a one-on-one "i appreciate you" reassurance

and i'm thinking less about the spells from last night's episode (although how much jester was emphasizing the compliments made me go "awwwww") and more of the moments like jester telling caleb "that was impressive" after getting cad out of the tunnel with beau's help

but laura is absolutely a shipping troll with jester this campaign so i'm here like "I'M MAYBE 80% SURE I'M BEING FUCKED WITH BUT IT MAYBE HOLDS UP????" [...]

basically laura keeps doing things that make the alarm in my brain go off and i don't know if i'm picking up something legit or if i'm projecting my hopes, like the recent pattern of compliments from jester LOL

/end id.]

i’m not going to lie, if i try to list every single receipt like i otherwise prefer to do in these metas, i think we (and especially i) would all lose our minds. so while i’m about to provide a lot of citations, they genuinely are just a few possible examples that will mostly be within the dozen episodes after e103.

the more important detail that can be observed from this is that e103 is a turning point.

prior to e103, jester does not particularly go out of her way to interact with caleb. by and large, most of their direct interactions are either initiated by caleb or prompted by the context of a general party conversation. the majority of other moments that could be referred to as ‘widojest’ are of caleb’s evident feelings. beyond early campaign days, jester rarely teases caleb about sexual topics while insinuating things about her own sexual life at the same time.

after e103, laura and jester begin to go out of their way to interact with and intertwine jester’s time with caleb.

the rate of jester’s compliments and enthusiastic gratitude to caleb skyrocket (some examples: e104, 30:36 / e107, 16:49 and 1:11:28 and 1:12:15 and 3:10:39 / e110, 15:58 and 3:37:24 / e111, 36:15 and 38:41 and 50:58);

several mature jokes/flirtations she makes involve both caleb and herself (examples: e107, 1:16:17 / e110, 1:18:07 / e115, 1:52:53);

she deliberately and specifically engages caleb in full-blown interactions, such as the conversations during the tour of her childhood bedroom (e110, beginning 1:11:38), hanging out with him on the icebreaker ship (e112, beginning 3:45:29), and the reading of der katzenprinz (e115, beginning 1:52:43);

as well as the expansion of more extended ‘conversations’ like their motif of dancing (e108, 13:39 / e109, 2:54:14), their parental relationships (e110, 20:44 and 3:38:41 / e115′s der katzenprinz / e121, beginning 1:52:12), and polymorph shenanigans (examples: e107, beginning 2:58:41 / e117, beginning 1:13:55 / e118, 43:57).

thrown in are additional background details that further tie jester to caleb, such as her determination to recover caleb’s amulet after their defeat of vokodo (e106, 25:33), the knowing comments on his purchasing of paper (e109, 22:32 / e111, 1:25:49), her deliberate choice to ride whaleb during the avantika chase (e113, 2:32:28), her retrieval of caleb’s coat when he’s attempting to remove the necromantic emerald (e115, 1:30:56), and her deliberate reference to der katzenprinz to iver (e120, 3:05:14);

and simply everything about the tower. it’s another example of the art and creativity caleb produces with his magic to make his loved ones happy, which jester acknowledges at least twice (refer to the e111 compliments). contrarily, jester also makes note of the signs that this tower shows less love to caleb than she thinks he deserves, in keeping with her value of emotional intimacy (e115’s der katzenprinz / e122’s floor 8, room 1).

the reading of der katzenprinz in e115 is arguably the pinnacle of these examples. it’s intentionally initiated by jester. she both takes the step to visit caleb's room and indirectly requests him to read the story to her. laura’s implication that she remembered this subplot because of beau’s reading of a very romantic letter from yasha is particularly suggestive. the story itself incorporates many similar characters and themes that are present in jester’s backstory: the lonely, sheltered boy and his single working mom as jester and marion; the dubious cat prince who ultimately gives the boy freedom and confidence as artagan; and the deep love between the boy and his mother because of how they only have each other, which compels a powerful being to have compassion and thus set the boy free so that they can be together. very similar to both jester’s depth of relationship with her mother and her pleas on artagan’s behalf to the moonweaver’s celestial servant.

and the post-story conversation—caleb’s confiding of its importance to him because of his mother. jester’s open willingness to compare the cat prince to artagan, knowing that caleb respects their friendship and has treated artagan fairly. jester’s lingering, repeated looks toward caleb while smiling and holding her copy of der katzenprinz to her heart.

with all this dramatic expansion of the emotional and thematic intimacy between jester and caleb beginning to roll down the hill after e103—in brilliant contrast to their more muted, less reciprocal dynamic before this episode—e103 is more than likely the turning point of jester’s feelings. and based on the events and context, it was caused by the combined emotional appeal of caleb’s offer of unconditional support and his display of love for his family in the programmed illusion of memories.

[lazyliars]

The Quackity Meta: a Tale of Two Absolutes

More than anything else, Quackity wants control, and to never, ever lose his own autonomy. And that is why he despises Technoblade.

But wait, how is Technoblade a threat to Quackity's autonomy? Techno is all for individual freedom! He wants to eradicate the government so that no one can be controlled!

There's the question though... How do people exercise control within the framework of a video game like m/inec/raft?

“a person exercising power or control in a cruel, unreasonable, or arbitrary way.”

Power on the Dream SMP cannot be translated one-to-one with real  life power. In real life, yes, a government had infinitely more power than an individual, for numerous reasons. But on the Dream SMP, the government's power is always directly tied to the power of the individuals who are willing to defend that power.

Technoblade is powerful. This is not debatable. How he uses this power, historically, has been a mix of generosity and self-interest*, although primarily the latter.

Generously, He gains resources and then distributes them to his allies during the Pogtopia Rebellion, gearing everyone up and giving them a fighting chance against Dream. However, in the aftermath of Tubbo's being appointed president, Techno turns on them, swiftly and mercilessly. The moment that it becomes clear** that Pogtopia's interests don't align with his own, he crushes them with the aim to prevent them from ever recovering.

( *I use self-interest as a neutral term here. Everyone on the SMP is selfish to some extent – it doesn't make them evil, and in fact has been treated as a positive at times, as well as a negative.

**I want to note that whether or not Technoblade knew of Pogtopia's goal of reinstating the government is unclear. It would seem that from Techno's POV that he didn't know, or assumed that it was a minority who wanted another government. But on the other hand, no one was actively lying to him about their intent, and people like Tommy and Quackity made their goals very clear.  Further doubt is cast on the idea that Techno had no idea when you take into account that he enchanted the Netherite armor in the vault with worthless enchants like Fire Res.

Ultimately, there's no way to know until it is confirmed by cc!Techno himself, and it doesn't pertain that much to this analysis, but I'm aware that it's a hotly debated topic so I wanted to address it.)

It can be argued that Techno's destruction of L'manberg, both the first and especially the second time, was necessary. It can also be argued that it was cruel and a disproportionate retribution against both culpable and innocent parties. Extant of these arguments however, how does it feature into control?

Well, we can’t talk about control without mentioning the most controlling force on the server and the other person on Quackity's hitlist, Dream.

Dream is a tyrant. I don't think anyone can really make an argument against that in good faith at this point. He ticks off every box, no matter how vague or esoteric. This makes the interactions that Quackity and Techno have with him very interesting.

Quackity despises Dream. He's one of the earliest adopters of the hating-Dream-train, to the point that some people have compared him to Cassandra, a priestess who was cursed with the vision of prophecies that would always be true, but never believed. And indeed, Quackity's apprehension of Dream comes in as early as Pogtopia, and grows at a steady pace after the fact.

But despite his rightfully calling out Dream's hypocrisies and his controlling tendencies, Quackity was largely ignored on this front, especially when the time came to exile Tommy and Quackity basically predicted the next arc – If they gave Dream this concession, they would never be able to get out from under his thumb. Flash forwards to the Green Festival, and the moment Tubbo hands over the discs, any illusion of nicety drops and Dream proceeds to destroy them, side by side with...

Technoblade has always had an amiable relationship with Dream. From their first proper interaction on the server being Dream giving Techno some hefty resources, to their snap team-up on Doomsday, they've had a smooth time, with some notable bumps.

Techno fought against Dream during the Pogtopia rebellion, but when it became clear that Dream was more invested in chaos than his other allies, Techno temporarily allied with him to summon the Withers and drive the nail deeper into Manberg’s coffin.

The only time Techno has really bothered to challenge Dream directly is when he came for Tommy in exile. Techno went to great lengths to protect Tommy, hiding him and distracting Dream.

He did give Dream the option to call in his favor and take Tommy, but there are arguments to be made that he did this more as a challenge – that Tommy is worth the favor. Again, we probably wont ever know.

The difference in their relationships with Dream is polarizing. It also reflects the difference in personality – Quackity is an aggressive, ambitious person, whereas Techno leans more towards passivity and caution. Quackity is looking for enemies to challenge, where Techno is avoiding them, people who actually stand a chance against him most of all.

Technoblade is an individual with extraordinary amounts of power. Others have pointed out that he is rarely challenged by other characters or the narrative, and regardless of the merits or flaws in that, it paints him as nearly untouchable. His being in the good graces of Dream only adds to this.

And like with Dream, the only way that people have been able to threaten Techno is when they work together. The Butcher Army, for all it's flaws, managed to capture Techno through numbers – with Tubbo and Fundy (barely) holding off Techno's blood rage while Quackity snuck off to take Carl hostage. And they would have gotten away with it too, if the other most powerful person on the server hadn't stepped in – both by pointing Techno to a totem of undying in the days before the attack, and by getting Punz to cause a distraction and directing Techno to the final control room, where he could escape with Carl.

So, if the most powerful person in the world can only be threatened by people working together, and the most common form of organization is by government, then what does it say about Technoblade, who wants the government destroyed?

People like Tubbo, Fundy and yes, Quackity, all benefit from organizing and working together. They all tend to be less armed, less ready to defend themselves, and completely unable to stand up to titans like Techno and Dream on their own. It's safety in numbers, but it's also control, and control is power.

Ranboo's insistence that Snowchester is a Government is interesting when viewed through this lens. Ranboo is another person who is insanely rich, and able to defend himself and his belongings consistently. Ranboo doesn't need other people to defend him – he's living with Techno and Phil not out of necessity for his survival, but out of need for connection with others.

This seems to be the main difference he finds with Snowchester, which has a more structured environment, geared to defend itself and it's people, if harm should come their way.

Which makes sense, considering it's founder, Tubbo, holds no earthly belongings, and Jack, another prominent member, has made a character trait out of losing his things every other day. The two of them have no conceivable way to defend themselves against people who are stronger than they are. But together, holding the keys to nuclear armaments, they can suddenly play on the field of gods.

The anarchist commune, despite having all members working together and being on good terms, aren't really an organization, they're individuals with common goals and interests. They don't need to live together to be strong, they're all already strong, they choose to be near each other because they want to.

Snowchester is not a government and has no ruler, but together, it's members hold power. They have sway in the world when they work as a collective, and most members have a vested interest in keeping themselves and each other defended because of this. Consequently, the “identity” of Snowchester becomes more prominent, resulting in the flag, the uniforms and the, well, identity.

(Now, the more perceptive among you might have noticed that I basically just compared Techno Phil and Ranboo to the ultra rich 1%, which. Um. Is a pretty serious comparison to make about in a block game rp?

And I wanna say that I don’t think this was necessarily intentional on the parts of either the CCs or the characters, and beyond that, it’s just one way of examining the text. This analysis is by no means the “Right” way to view the story, just a different one.

Regardless...)

Techno uses his considerable power to further his own goals, first and foremost. This is not inherently good or evil, it just is.

Contrast with New L'manberg's cabinet; Four people, pooling their limited power to further their shared goals. Not good or evil, just a way of exercising power.

But power is not static. Power is fluid and changing, moreso now on the SMP than ever before, and Quackity and Technoblade are fighting to define what Power means going forwards.

Techno is fighting for the status quo, knowingly or not. Individuals with power should lead the world, and those without should strive to emulate their betters. He destroys all forms of government, which strip away the rights of the individual in exchange for hierarchy and consolidated power within that hierarchy.

At it's best, this is a very freeing ideology, where nothing and no one can hold back the individual. The world is your oyster if you are willing to work for it.

But at it's worst? “Violence is the only universal language,” is the key phrase. Where does this ideology leave people who aren't strong? Where does it leave those who cannot fend for themselves? If Violence is the only universal language, then the weak have no means to speak.

Quackity is fighting to get a foothold for a contrary ideology – One that prioritizes words over violence and offers alternative methods of gaining and exercising control, such as through currency and conversation. Quackity has tried to varying degrees of success to implement this on the level of his own individual power, such as during the elections, but his attempts at employing this on a grand scale have all been short-lived.

At it's best, this ideology can uplift anyone, regardless of their strength. It encourages more communication, more commerce, and thrives under, you guessed it, strong government.

At it's worst however, it creates a brutally controlling environment. Where a few people gain absurd amounts of power through the complex machinations of a fiat currency, and are then able to use their sway and influence with governing forces to exercise power that they would never be able to hold on their own.

Again, neither of these ideologies are inherently good or evil. They both have flaws and benefits, and benefit no one more than perhaps Techno and Quackity respectively, while hindering the other.

Techno is benefited by anarchy because he holds incredible amounts of individual power. He is the strongest person on the server, he is rich beyond anyone's wildest dreams, and on a meta level, he's straight up good at the game. The current status quo puts him firmly at the top of the food chain, and this is most obvious on Doomsday, when he and the other two most powerful individuals (Dream and Philza) come together and crush the combined forces of New L'manberg. They are not meaningfully challenged in any way, whatsoever.

Meanwhile, Quackity is deeply hindered by the current status quo. He's not strong, he's poor, and he's vulnerable to anyone who wants to bully him with brute force. On a meta level, cc!Quackity just straight up does not play m/inecraf/t as much as some of the other people that on the server. (To be clear, I do not mention that as a criticism, just to contrast Techno. Neither of their levels of play are better or worse for content, they just add to the experience differently.)

On the other hand, in a government? Quackity “Law Student” HQ is suddenly on top. He's charismatic enough to debate with Wilbur “Can Talk His Way out of Anything” Soot during the elections, and come out of that arena smelling like roses. Back during the days of El Rapids, Quackity held his men back from conflict with Dream, and talked him into a corner of technical truths where Dream had to concede that he viewed El Rapids as an independent nation if he wanted to get involved with their conflicts.

And Techno, while he is brilliant and an English Major, suddenly loses a lot of his intimidation factor if he has to respect laws preventing brutal murder. Techno can certainly debate, but his go to conflict resolution is usually violence, and if you take that away, you take away the threat of challenging him. Because make no mistake, challenging Technoblade right now? Is suicide.

And this duality, this grey morality and clash of ideals, is why Quackity is my favorite character on the SMP. He isn't strong. The power he holds is tenuous and balanced on a knife's edge. It would make more sense for him to stay quiet, keep his head down, and if anything, try to change things from the shadows, where he'll be in the least danger.

But he isn't quiet. He doesn't just challenge authority, he challenges the authority; Dream, Wilbur, and of course, Technoblade.

And in all but one of those matches, he's come out with a concession from his enemy gripped between his teeth. He schooled Wilbur in the debates. He forced Dream to grant El Rapids Independence at a time when he hadn't done so for New L'manberg.

But he failed miserably when he challenged Technoblade. Quackity lost that fight in the final control room before it began. He lost the moment he formed the Butcher Army. He would have lost if he managed to kill Technoblade, and he lost still when he died.

He lost because he conceded that the only way to achieve his goal was through violence. He decided that the only way to establish himself and New L'manberg as powerful? Was to kill Technoblade. And he lost that fight and he always will. There was never a way that he walked out of that fight with the victory; Quackity lost the ideological battle long ago.

But not the war.

As of writing this, Quackity is in the process of introducing an economy to the Dream SMP, on Sam's initiative. There is no action I can think of that is wiser for him to take right now. Now, when Dream has been deposed and there's a vacuum in power; Now, when people are getting tired of endless violence and the loss it brings; Now, when people are looking for something new.

An economy is a direct challenge to Might Makes Right. Trading, supply and demand, politics. It offers a new way for people to obtain resources and a direct alternative to brute force; other methods to pay for slights and breaches of honor and etiquette. No more will pet wars be fought with iron swords and shields, but with money! A healthy sum of cash for the murder of Fungi!

If Quackity can get this system off the ground (and with Sam's help, he definitely can,) the stage would suddenly be tilted in the favor of not just Quackity, but the people who he has associated himself with most closely – Tommy, Fundy, even Schlatt. They're all business men, all scammers. This could be Quackity's world, and he's damn well intending for everyone to live in it.

We’ll have to see what Techno thinks of this - Quackity hasn’t made any moves to start another government, and an economy doesn’t inherently contradict anarchy. But it does hold a potential threat to Techno’s current power.

And as for Quackity? What will he do once he’s at the top? Will he finally become a true tyrant? Will he usher in a new age of equality and justice? Or will he eschew all of that in favor of personal riches. For once, the cards are in Quackity's favor, and we might get the chance to see what he does when he holds real power.