Found this old fic concept in my notes, I doubt I'll ever get around to writing it or that I could do it justice if I did, but it still makes me laugh so I wrote it up as a little blurb. Perhaps it will make you laugh too.
Mega Popstar Dream and Hob, his extremely non-famous celebrity crush
So in this universe Dream is an extremely famous musician. He's like Taylor Swift level of famous, if you walk up to any random person on the street they would know who he is. Meanwhile Hob is an actor but really not very well known, he was in a few small projects and is in the core cast of one TV show that's well-regarded but not super popular.
It's Dream's FAVORITE TV SHOW and Hob is his FAVORITE ACTOR that he's ferally OBSESSED WITH. Everyone knows about this too, Dream is really obvious about it. In interviews people will ask him what he likes and he's like "this is my favorite TV show" "have you seen Hob Gadling in that show isn't he incredible", They'll ask him if he has a celebrity crush (as a joke) and he's like "YES HOB GADLING đ" like it's become a meme in Dream's fandom how much he has a crush on this random actor.
They've never met though, probably Dream was afraid to -- 'never meet your heroes' and all -- and never let his team book any overlapping events. So he's never seen Hob in person, only watched his favorite TV show 65 times in a row and memorized every inch of his face. Like a stalker.
So then a Buzzfeed-esque YouTube channel is running a special edition of their usual challenge show, "People Meet Their Celebrity Crush", except this time it's "CELEBRITIES Meet Their Celebrity Crush." Dream's entire team conspires against him to book him on this. Dream doesn't know what it is until the very moment since the whole point is to surprise people with their crush. Needless to say, Hob was REALLY dubious when the channel reached out like "do you want to come on as Dream's celebrity crush" but what's he gonna do say NO? say NO when Dream is so pretty and cute? So yeah he goes.
Anyway during the moment in the video when they revealed his celebrity crush to him -- aka Hob just looking like a totally normal and random guy -- Dream literally tripped over a chair and fell on the floor and then fainted. Instant meme and it became the thumbnail of the video. When Dream woke up to find Hob crouched by him all concerned asking if he was okay he nearly had a panic attack, he was never more flustered and nervous in his whole life not even performing for crowds of millions.
Hob fell in love instantly. He doesn't even know much about Dream, he hasn't even listened to Dream's music other than what's just playing ubiquitously on the radio all the time but all it took was watching Dream fall over a chair and then look up at him with his huge starry eyes and he was like 'This one's mine forever idc. I gotta protect this nerd he won't survive in the wild.'
Anyway they did start dating after that and Dream never leaves the honeymoon phase for the rest of his whole life, he truly thinks Hob is the most handsome man and best actor in the entire world and will tell anyone so at any opportunity, he goes around saying things like "see if you believe really hard you too can marry your celebrity crush đĽ°" with zero irony, he might have skipped the Grammys to go to the premiere of season 3 of Hob's show (Hob didn't ask him to do that) (Dream won the Grammy but had more fun staring at Hob's face for 2 hours than he would have had at the awards show). Meanwhile Hob never talks about Dream in public because Dream already has negative 500% privacy in his life, he's extremely protective of him, and he allegedly punched one of the paparazzi in the face when they tried to take stealth shots at their wedding which was supposed to be a private affair. ALLEGEDLY. No charges were filed.
Dream did post one photo of the wedding on insta for his adoring fandom in which he described Hob as his knight in shining armor and then denied any knowledge of any 'alleged' events when asked about it in the future. Because Hob was so much more private about their relationship than Dream, for a while Dream's fandom had been like HOB DOESN'T DESERVE DREAM but after the (alleged) story about Hob punching someone in the face came out they were all obsessed with him. So that solved that problem.
(Despite Hob's efforts a paparazzi photo did come out of them the morning after the wedding, Hob sitting on the terrace drinking coffee, Dream sitting on his lap wearing Hob's shirt and looking thoroughly ravished. Dream might have framed it.)
Then they lived happily ever after. Dream put Hob in every one of his music videos regardless of whether it made sense for the story. Hob got one of Dream's songs put in his favorite TV show which made Dream's whole entire year. The end :)
can you please do jake webber best friends to lovers. like jakes been y/ns best friend since they were kids and neither of them knew they liked eachother until they went to a party and all that. and then add some cute lil smut in there as well but theyre both virgins. â¤ď¸thank uuu:)
omg im so sorry for the delayed response, i was not motivated to write for a while! i hope you enjoy :)
best friend.
pairing: jake webber x reader
summary: same as request except i didn't include the smut <3
cw: fluff, language, alcohol, some spice/suggestive ending but nothing too crazy
word count: 2.5k + edited
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Since your childhood, Jake has been your best friend. Youâd grown up together in Kansas, and being the only two âalternativeâ people at your middle and high schools, you stuck together. Heâd always been the person you leaned on, and you were the same for him. Time didnât seem to exist when you two were together, you could talk for hours and never get bored. Both your parents had expected you to end up dating eventually, and were shocked that after over ten years, it still hadnât happened. But everyone always said you were soulmates, in one way or another.Â
When Jake got famous, you were so proud of him. It had been his dream for years, heâd been posting little vlogs for a while, and sometimes you were even featured in them. But meeting Sam & Colby had caused his career to skyrocket. Then he moved to LA to keep pursuing his dream, and of course you supported him. You wanted all the success in the world for him, so you said goodbye.Â
You made a point to visit him as often as possible, which he loved. You loved seeing him, and sometimes being featured in his videos. Being a side character in his on-screen persona had garnered you your own little fandom, and people loved seeing âwith y/n!â attached to his video titles. Being famous was never your âthingâ, though; it was Jakeâs, and you respected him for it. You were happy with your small subset of fans, and couldnât imagine constantly being scrutinized by millions of people. Jakeâs rising stardom had no effect on your friendship, and now, after many long years of hard work, he is finally gaining the recognition you had hoped heâd receive since you were kids.Â
With his newfound rise in fame came more money, and in turn, a bigger house in LA. Some time after his break up with Tara, Jake had asked you to move in with him and Johnnie. You worked from home, and had been visiting him so much that you practically lived with him part-time already, so of course youâd said yes.Â
What he didnât know was that for the last three years, you have been completely and hopelessly in love with him. You didnât know why or when it started, really. You just knew that one day, seeing him kiss Tara made you want to rip your heart out. Obviously you never told him, you could never do that to him. He was in love with Tara, and you loved and respected him too much to ever come between them. You had also become friends with Tara, and would never want to hurt her. So you yearned in silence, fully believing you were going to go to take your feelings to the grave. Their breakup was unexpected, and despite being irrevocably in love with Jake, you werenât happy about it. Seeing your best friend in pain was the worst feeling ever, so you made sure to help him through all the ups and downs until he and Tara were comfortably friends again.Â
Moving in with him may not have been the best thing for your romantic feelings, but your friendship is stronger than ever. You are constantly together, and knowing how affectionate the two of you are, youâre always touching, too. Whether it be a finger linked through the belt loop, hands intertwined, leaning on each otherâs shoulder, hugging from behind, or cuddled up on the couch, you always have to have your hands on each other. Jake wasnât very drawn to physical touch with many people, only his closest friends, which made you feel special. You loved that the only people he acted like this with were you and Johnnie. And even though he was touchy with Johnnie, it was nowhere near the level of touchiness he had with you. Some people say your relationship is weird, too close, or codependent, but you guys just laugh it off. You didnât care if people understood, you loved each other, full stop.Â
For the past three years you have wanted more, desperately so. But you knew that Jake didnât feel the same, so learning how to separate your romantic and platonic feelings for him was a challenge. You would never want to do anything to potentially ruin your perfect friendship, though, so you learned quickly.
This would all change tonight.Â
You and Jake had been curled up in his bed together under a mountain of fluffy blankets, watching one of your favorite movies, when he turned to you. Â
âTara is having a party tonight at her place, if you wanna be my plus one,â He smiled, always excited to ask you to be his plus one to events.
One of the many life changes that occurred when you moved to LA was that you were now roped into âeventsâ way more often than you were used to. Whether it be casual parties, brand deal socials, or filming videos, you were involved in more social interaction than youâd ever been exposed to back home. You were much more introverted than Jake, and the changes were sudden, but you were slowly getting the hang of it. Plus, Jake loved when you were involved, he wanted you to be there. You loved making him happy, so you were hardly one to say no. That being said, the once small group of fans youâd garnered from being featured in Jakeâs early videos was not-so-little anymore, and you were gaining quite the following. This had never been the life youâd wanted per se, but it was growing on you.Â
You turned your head towards Jakeâs and smiled back at him, âOf course Iâll go with you.âÂ
He blushed, âYayyyy, I love my best friend!â He squealed in a silly high pitched voice, and you giggled. You wrapped your arm around his waist and buried your head against his neck, spooning him for the rest of the movie.Â
After it ended you let go of his waist to go get ready for the party, which elicited a whine from Jake, âAww, I was comfy,â He pouted and let out a huff.Â
You laugh, âWe can cuddle later! I have to go get sexy for tonight,â You joke.Â
âYou always look sexy, weâre wasting valuable bestie nap time,â he gave you puppy eyes, and you blushed. It was the first time heâd ever called you sexy.Â
âDonât look at me like that,â You giggle, and look away, trying to hide your pink cheeks and hot ears.Â
âLook at you like what?â He asks innocently, continuing to give you his biggest, prettiest puppy eyes.Â
âShut up,â You laugh, swatting your hand at him as you walk towards the door.Â
âHate you!â He shouts after you as you walk across the hall toward your bedroom.Â
âHate you more!â You yell back.Â
â
Two hours later, youâre finally completely ready for the party. You took an âeverything showerâ, applied a full face of your favorite glam makeup, painted your nails, and put on a brand new lacy, skin-tight, black dress. You emerge from your bedroom and walk back across the hall to Jakeâs room, knocking on the door.
He opens it and stares at you in awe. He could hardly stop his jaw from dropping as he got his first look at you, and you giggle with embarrassment.
âHi,â You say, cheeks blushing.
âHi,â He responds, still looking you up and down, unable to tear his eyes away from your body. âYou look incredible.â
You let out a modest scoff and look away, âStop it.âÂ
âI mean it, y/n! You are⌠stunning.â
He makes eye contact with you as he thoughtfully lands on the last word, stunning. You feel a wide grin spread across your face, the rosy hue in your cheeks definitely deepening even more, but for some reason, you werenât embarrassed anymore, only confident.Â
âThanks, Jakey. You donât look so bad yourself,â You say, finally eyeing him up in the same way heâd done to you. He was wearing low waisted baggy jeans and a cropped baby tee, showcasing the star tattoos traveling down his v-line. Your eyes lingered there for a second too long, and you couldnât stop yourself from imagining kissing each of those stars before wrapping your mouth around his cock.Â
He caught the glint in your eye and leaned against the door frame, smirking down at you, âLike what you see?â he teased, casually placing a hand in his pocket.
You feel yourself blushing again, but you stay strong, taking a step closer and smiling up at him, âMaybe I do.âÂ
He maintains eye contact with you for a few seconds, and before you know it youâre competing, seeing who will break the awkward sexual tension first.
He breaks, and his smug smirk falls into a grin as he playfully pushes your forehead away from him, âCâmon ya freak, letâs go to the party,â He laughs.Â
You walk the few blocks to Taraâs house, listening to Jake rant about one of his recent hyperfixations. You loved listening to him rant. He wasnât a big talker, and usually you were the one who did the majority of the ranting in your friendship, but sometimes Jake would allow himself to rant about something he loved. He only did it with people he was super comfortable with, and it wasnât too often, even then. But tonight, he must have been in an extra good mood, because he talked the entire walk. You smiled, and nodded, and asked him questions, which he loved, both because it signified to him that he wasnât boring you, and because it meant he got to keep talking about something he enjoyed. You loved seeing him like this, bubbly and excited and blabbing on and on about a show youâd never even heard of. When you finally arrived at Taraâs house, he turned to you and said, âWoah, I really just talked that entire time about Peaky Blinders, didnât I?â
âYup. But donât worry, I love hearing your voice,â You smile, and he grins down at you.
âI love hearing your voice too, y/n.â
You knock on Taraâs door, and she opens within seconds. âJake! Y/n! Welcome!! Itâs so good to see you guys, you both look amazing!â She pulls you both into quick hugs and you follow behind her into the packed house. She had cleared out some of the furniture for a makeshift dance floor, and people were definitely putting it to use. She led you to the kitchen where you spotted bottles of liquor littered throughout. âHelp yourself!â She shouted over the loud Ice Spice song that was currently playing, and walked away to greet more guests.
You and Jake shared a look, already knowing this party was going to be overstimulating unless you got some alcohol in your systems ASAP. He poured you both a shot of whatever was closest and shouted âCheers!â before you both downed them.Â
It only took a few drinks for you both to start feeling warm and buzzed. You grab his hand and begin leading him to the dance floor, social anxiety be damned.Â
âY/n are we actually about to dance right now?â Jake asked from behind you, and when you turned to face him, you saw a big, stupid grin on his face.
âYes, Jake! I want to throw ass with my best friend, since when is that a crime?â You shout back dramatically, still tugging on his hand.Â
He suddenly yanks your hand, pulling your body closer to his. In one swift motion, heâs wrapped your arm around the back of his neck, while his hands grip your hips tightly, steadying your body in front of him. He leans into your neck, lips grazing your ear as he whispers, âYa know, I meant what I said earlier⌠you look beautiful.âÂ
You sigh at his words, leaning your head back to rest against his chest. You pull his neck closer, forcing his head down so you can whisper back, âI- I donât just want to be your best friend anymore.âÂ
âI know,â He says, âI think⌠I think a part of me has always known. It was always going to be you, I just couldnât see it yet. But I do now and⌠and I want you so bad-â You cut him off, closing whatever little space was left between your mouths, taking in all of him. You had imagined this situation millions of timesâ what it would feel like to envelope your lips in his. Were they soft? Warm? Was he messy or gentle? For years, you had fantasized about this moment, never thinking itâd actually happen. Yet here you are, finally. Kissing your best friend. And it was better than you could have ever dreamed, like a drug. As soon as you got a taste, you craved more. You swiveled your body so you were facing him, and his hands moved up and down your back and further down to squeeze your ass. You lifted yourself onto your tiptoes, bringing yourself even closer to him, hands tangling through his hair, as if in a desperate attempt to swallow him whole. One word rang out in your head over and over: more.Â
You broke away eventually, gasping for breath, but he didnât stop. Instead he moved down your jawline, sloppily kissing anywhere his lips landed, letting out soft grunts as he made his way down your neck, stopping to suck on a particularly sensitive area where he noticed your breath catch.Â
âWait,â You said, and he immediately stopped, placing a hand on your cheek.
âWhat is it? Iâm sorry, did I do something wrong?â He asks, genuine concern painting his face.
âNo, no! I just⌠I wanna make sure you mean it. Youâre not just saying this because weâre tipsy, right? Because itâs real for me. Youâre my best friend, Jake, and you always will be. But⌠I wanna be more. I wanna be yours.â
His face softens and he leans in to kiss you gently now, his hand still cradling your cheek. âY/n, I promise, you are mine. And Iâm yours. Iâve been yours since the day you moved in. I might be tipsy, but Iâm still aware of whatâs going on. I swear, I want this. I want you. Only you.âÂ
Tears well in your eyes and he wipes them away, âDonât cry, angel.âÂ
âI just really love you.â You say, and the biggest smile youâve ever seen spreads across his face.
âI really love you, too. God, Iâve wanted to say that for so long,â He lets out a relieved sigh.Â
You lower your voice to a whisper against his ear, âI really think we should get out of here. You look so fucking sexy.â Youâre the one kissing down his neck now, and he breathes out âFuck.âÂ
You lead him through the crowd again, this time toward the front door. An Irish goodbye would have to doâ being socially unacceptable would be worth it to be naked in his arms.Â
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this piece marks the end of my writing block! i have so many good johnnie requests from you guys that i'm excited to get working on :) as always likes and reblogs are appreciated!
This was originally a part of my compilation post as a short analysis on the Double Indemnity references, linking to this great thread by Manya on Twitter. However, I've recently watched the movie and found that the parallels run much deeper than just the mission name and the light cone itself, plus as the short synopsis I've read online. Since there isn't really an in-depth attempt at an analysis on the film in relation to the way Aventurine and Ratio present themselves throughout Penacony, I thought I'd take a stab at doing just that. I will also be bringing up things from Manya's thread as well as another thread that has some extra points.
Disclaimer that I... don't do analyses very often. Or write, in general â I'm someone who likes to illustrate their thoughts (in the artistic sense) more than write. There's just something about these two that makes me want to rip into them so badly, so here we are. If there's anything you'd like to add or correct me on, feel free to let me know in the replies or reblogs, or asks. This ended up being a rather extensive deep dive into the movie and its influences on the pairing, so please keep that in mind when pressing Read More.
There are two distinct layers on display in Ratio and Aventurine's relationship throughout Penacony, which are references to the two most important relationships in the movie â where they act like they hate/donât know each other, and where they trust each other.
SPOILER WARNING for the entire movie, by the way. You can watch the film for free here on archive.org, as well as follow along with the screenplay here. I will also be taking dialogue and such from the screenplay, and cite quotes from the original novel in its own dedicated section. SPOILER WARNING for the Cat Among Pigeons Trailblaze mission, as well.
CONTENT WARNING FOR MENTIONS OF SUICIDE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
To start, Double Indemnity (1944) is a film noir by Billy Wilder (and co-written by Raymond Chandler) based on the novel of the same name by James M. Cain (1927). There are stark differences between the movie adaptation and the original novel which I will get into later on in this post, albeit in a smaller section, as this analysis is mainly focused on the movie adaptation. I will talk about the basics (summaries for the movie and the game, specifically the Penacony mission in tandem with Ratio and Aventurine) before diving into the character and scene parallels, among other things.
â
[THE NAME]
The term "double indemnity" is a clause in which if thereâs a case of accidental death of a statistically rare variety, the insurance company has to pay out multiple of the original amount. This excludes deaths by murder, suicide, gross negligence, and natural causes.
The part of the mission in Cat Among Pigeons where Ratio and Aventurine meet with Sunday is named after the movie. And before we get further into things, let's get this part out of the way: The Chinese name used in the mission is the CN title of the movie, so there's no liberties taken with the localization â this makes it clear that itâs a nod to the movie and not localization doing its own thing like with the mission name for Heaven Is A Place On Earth (EN) / This Side of Paradise (äşşé´ĺ¤Šĺ ) (CN).
â
[SUMMARY OF THE 1944 MOVIE]
Here I summarised the important parts that will eventually be relevant in the analysis related to the game.
Insurance salesman Walter Neff, wounded from a gunshot, enters his office and confesses his crime on a dictaphone to his boss Barton Keyes, the claims manager. Much earlier, he had met Phyllis Dietrichson, the wife of Mr. Dietrichson and former nurse. Neff had initially wanted to meet Mr. Dietrichson because of car insurance. Phyllis claims her husband is mean to her and that his life insurance goes to his daughter Lola. With Neff seduced by Phyllis, they eventually brew up a scheme to murder Mr. Dietrichson in such a way that they activate the "double indemnity" clause, and the plan goes off almost perfectly. Initially, the death is labeled a suicide by the president of the company, Norton.Â
Keyes finds the whole situation suspicious, and starts to suspect Phyllis may have had an accomplice. The label on the death goes from accidental, to suicide, to then murder. When itâs ruled that the husband had no idea of the accidental policy, the company refuses to pay. Neff befriends Phyllisâ stepdaughter Lola, and after finding out Phyllis may have played a part in the death of her fatherâs previous wife, Neff begins to fear for Lola and himself, as the life insurance would go all towards her, not Phyllis.
After the plan begins to unravel as a witness is found, it comes out that Lolaâs boyfriend Nino Zachette has been visiting Phyllis every night after the murder. Neff goes to confront Phyllis, intending to kill her. Phyllis has her own plans, and ends up shooting him, but is unable to fire any more shots once she realises she did love him. Neff kills her in two shots. Soon after telling Zachette not to go inside the house, Neff drives to his office to record the confession. When Keyes arrives, Neff tells him he will go to Mexico, but he collapses before he could get out of the building.
â
[THE PENACONY MISSION TIMELINE]
I wonât be summarising the entirety of Aventurine and Ratioâs endeavours from the beginning of their relationship to their final conversation in Heaven Is A Place On Earth the same way as I summarised the plot of the movie, so I will instead present a timeline. Bolded parts means they are important and have clear parallels, and texts that are in [brackets] and italics stand for the names of either the light cone, or the mission names.
[Final Victor] Their first meeting. Ratioâs ideals are turned on its head as he finally meets his match.
Several missions happen in-between their first encounter and the Penacony project. They come to grow so close and trusting with each other that they can guess, understand each otherâs thoughts, way of thinking and minds even in high stakes missions. Enough to pull off the Prisonerâs Dilemma (Aventurineâs E1) and Stag Hunt Game (Aventurineâs E6) and come out on top.
Aventurine turns towards Ratio for assisting him in the Penacony project. Ratio's involvement in the project is implied to be done without the knowledge of Jade, Topaz, and the IPC in general, as he was only sent to Penacony to represent the Intelligentsia Guild, and the two other Stonehearts never mention Ratio.
Aventurine and Ratio cook up the plan to deceive Sunday before ever setting foot on Penacony. Aventurine does not tell Ratio the entirety of his plan.
Aventurine convinces Topaz and Jade to trust him with their Cornerstones. Aventurine also breaks his own Cornerstone and hides it along with the jade within a bag of gift money.
[The Youth Who Chase Dreams] They enter Penacony in the Reverie Hotel. Aventurine is taken to the side by Sunday and has all his valuables taken, which includes the gift money that contains the broken aventurine stone, the jade, and the case containing the topaz.
Aventurine and Ratio speak in a âprivateâ room about how Aventurine messed up the plan. After faking an argument to the all-seeing eyes of Sunday, Ratio leaves in a huff.
Ratio, wearing his alabaster head, is seen around Golden Hour in the (Dusk) Auction House by March 7th.
[Double Indemnity] Ratio meets up with Sunday and âexposesâ Aventurine to him. Sunday buys his âbetrayalâ, and is now in possession of the topaz and jade. Note that this is in truth Ratio betraying Sunday all along.
Ratio meets up with Aventurine again at the bar. Ratio tells Aventurine Sunday wants to see him again.
They go to Dewlight Pavilion and solve a bunch of puzzles to prove their worth to Sunday.
They meet up with Sunday. Sunday forces Aventurine to tell the truth using his Harmony powers. Ratio cannot watch on. It ends with Aventurine taking the gift money with his Cornerstone.
[Heaven Is A Place On Earth] They are in Golden Hour. Ratio tries to pry Aventurine about his plan, but Aventurine reins him in to stop breaking character. Ratio gives him the Mundaniteâs Insight before leaving. This is their final conversation before Aventurineâs grandest death.
Now how exactly does the word âdouble indemnityâ relate to their mission in-game? What is their payout? For the IPC, this would be Penacony itself â Aventurine, as the IPC ambassador, handing in the Jade Cornerstone as well as orchestrating a huge show for everybody to witness his death, means the IPC have a reason to reclaim the former prison frontier. As for Ratio, his payout would be information on Penaconyâs Stellaron, although whether or not this was actually something he sought out is debatable. And Aventurine? Itâs highly implied that he seeks an audience with Diamond, and breaking the Aventurine Cornerstone is a one way trip to getting into hot water with Diamond. With Aventurineâs self-destructive behaviour, however, it would also make sense to say that death would be his potential payout, had he taken that path in the realm of IX.
Compared to the movie, the timeline happens in reverse and opposite in some aspects. I will get into it later. As for the intended parallels, these are pretty clear and cut:
Veritas Ratio - Walter Neff
Aventurine - Phyllis Dietrichson
Sunday - Mr. Dietrichson
There is one other character who I feel also is represented in Ratio, but I wonât bring them up until later down the line.
For the sake of this analysis, I wonât be exploring Sundayâs parallel to Mr. Dietrichson, as there isnât much on Dietrichsonâs character in the first place in both the movie and the novel. He just kind of exists to be a bastard that is killed off at the halfway point. Plus, the analysis is specifically hyper focused on the other two.
â
[SO, WHATâS THE PLAN?]
To make things less confusing in the long run whenever I mention the words âschemeâ and âplanâ, I will be going through the details of Phyllis and Neffâs scheme, and Aventurine and Ratioâs plan respectively. Anything that happens after either pair separate from another isnât going to be included. Written in a way for the plans to have gone perfectly with no outside problems.
Phyllis and Neff â> Mr. Dietrichson
Goal: Activate the double indemnity clause by killing Mr. Dietrichson and making it look like a freak train accident
Payout: Twice or more of the face value of the life insurance ($100,000)
Main Actor: Walter Neff  |  Accomplice: Phyllis Dietrichson
During the entire time until the payout, Phyllis and Neff have to make sure to any outsiders that they look like complete strangers instead of lovers in an affair.
Step-by-step:
Neff convinces Mr. Dietrichson to sign the policy with the clause without him suspecting foul play, preferably with a third party to act as an alibi. This is done discreetly, making Mr. Dietrichson not read the policy closely and being told to just sign.
Neff and Phyllis talk to each other about small details through the phone (specified to be never at Phyllisâ own house and never when Neff was in his office) and in the marketplace only, to make their meetings look accidental. They shouldnât be seen nor tracked together, after all.
Phyllis asks Mr. Dietrichson to take the train. She will be the one driving him to the train station.
On the night of the murder, after making sure his alibi is airtight, Neff sneaks into their residence and hides in their car in the second row seating, behind the front row passenger seat. He wears the same colour of clothes as Mr. Dietrichson.
Phyllis and Mr. Dietrichson get inside the car â Phyllis in the driverâs seat and Mr. Dietrichson in the passenger seat. Phyllis drives. On the way to the train station, she makes a detour into an alley. She honks the horn three times.
After the third honk, Neff breaks Mr. Dietrichsonâs neck. The body is then hidden in the second row seating under a rug.
They drive to the train station. Phyllis helps Neff, now posing as Mr. Dietrichson, onto the train. The train leaves the station.
Neff makes it to the observation platform of the parlour car and drops onto the train tracks when nobody else is there.
Phyllis is at the dump beside the tracks. She makes the car blink twice as a signal.
The two drag Mr. Dietrichsonâs corpse onto the tracks.
They leave.
When Phyllis eventually gets questioned by the insurance company, she pretends she has no idea what they are talking about and eventually storms off.
Phyllis and Neff continue to lay low until the insurance company pays out.
Profit!
Actual Result: The actual murder plan goes almost smoothly, with a bonus of Mr. Dietrichson having broken a leg. But with him not filing a claim for the broken leg, a witness at the observation platform, and Zachette visiting Phyllis every night after the murder, Keyes works out the murder scheme on his own, but pins the blame on Phyllis and Zachette, not Neff.
Now for Aventurine and Ratio. You can skip this section if you understand how deep their act goes, but to those who need a refresher, hereâs a thorough explanation:
Aventurine and Ratio â> Sunday
Goal: Collect the aventurine stone without Sunday knowing, ruin the dream (and create the grandest death)
Payout: Penacony for the IPC, information on the Stellaron for Ratio, a meeting with Diamond / death for Aventurine
Main Actor: Aventurine  |  Accomplice: Veritas Ratio
From the moment they step onto Penacony, they are under Sundayâs ever present and watchful eyes. âPrivacyâ is a foreign word to The Family. They have to act like they donât like each otherâs company the entire time and feed Sunday information through indirect means so that the eventual âbetrayalâ by Ratio seems truthful to Sunday. Despite what it looks like, they are closer than one would ever think, and Ratio would never sell out a person purely for information.
Step-by-step:
After Sunday takes away the bag of gift money and box, Aventurine and Ratio talk in a room in the Reverie Hotel.
Aventurine establishes the Cornerstonesâ importance, and how he lost the gift money and the case containing the Cornerstones to Sunday. Ratio turns to leave, saying âsome idiot ruined everythingâ, meaning the Cornerstones were vital to their plan. (Note that Ratio is not wearing his alabaster head while saying it to said âidiotâ.)
Aventurine then proceeds to downplay the importance of the Cornerstones, stating they are ânothing more than a few rocksâ and âwho cares if they are goneâ. This lets Sunday know that something suspicious may be going on for him to act like itâs nothing, and the mention of multiple stones, and leaves him to look up what a Cornerstone is to the Ten Stonehearts of the IPC.
Ratio points out his absurd choice of outfit, mentioning the Attini Peacock and their song.
Ratio implies that without the aventurine stone, he is useless to the IPC. He also establishes that Aventurine is from Sigonia(-IV), and points out the mark on his neck. To Sunday, this means that Aventurine is shackled to the IPC, and how Aventurine may possibly go through extreme lengths to get the stone back, because a death sentence always looms above him.
Aventurine claims Ratio had done his homework on his background, which can be taken that this is their very first time working together. (It isnât, and it only takes one look to know that Aventurine is an Avgin because of his unique eyes, so this comment does not make sense even in a âsincereâ way, a running theme for the interaction.)
Ratio mentions how the true goal is to reclaim Penacony for the IPC, establishing their ulterior motive for attending the banquet.
Ratio asks if Aventurine went to pre-school in Sigonia after saying trust was reliant on cooperation. Aventurine mentions how he didnât go to school and how he doesnât have any parents. He even brings up how friends are weapons of the Avgins. This tells Sunday that the Avgins supposedly are good at manipulation and potentially sees Ratio possibly betraying Aventurine due to his carelessness with his âfriendsâ. Sunday would also then research about the Avgins in general (and research about Sigonia-IV comes straight from the Intelligentsia Guild.)
Ratio goes to Dewlight Pavilion in Sundayâs Mansion and exposes a part of Aventurineâs âplanâ. When being handed the suitcase, Ratio opens it up due to his apparent high status in the IPC. He tells Sunday that the Cornerstone in the suitcase is a topaz, not an aventurine, and that the real aventurine stone is in the bag of gift money. This is a double betrayal â on Aventurine (who knows) and Sunday (who doesnât). Note that while Ratio is not officially an IPC member in name â the Intelligentsia Guild (which is run by the IPC head of the Technology Department Yabuli) frequently collaborates with the IPC. Either Aventurine had given him access to the box, or Ratioâs status in general is ambiguous enough for Sunday not to question him further. He then explains parts of Aventurineâs gamble to Sunday in order to sell the betrayal. Note that Ratio does not ever mention Aventurineâs race to Sunday.
Ratio brings Aventurine to Sunday. Aventurine offers help in the investigation of Robin's death, requesting the gift money and the box in return.
Sunday objects to the trade offer. Aventurine then asks for just the bag. A classic car insurance sales tactic. Sunday then interrogates Aventurine, and uses everything Ratio and Aventurine brought up in the Reverie Hotel conversation and their interactions in the Mansion, as well as aspects that Ratio had brought up to Sunday himself.
Aventurine feigns defeat and ignorance enough so that Sunday willingly lets him go with the gift bag. After all is said and done, Aventurine leaves with the gift money, where the Aventurine Cornerstone is stored all along.
Ratio and Aventurine continue to pretend they dislike each other until they go their separate ways for their respective goals and plans. Aventurine would go on to orchestrate his own demise at the hands of Acheron, and Ratio⌠lurks in the shadows like the owl he is.
Profit!
Actual Result: The plan goes perfectly, even with minor hiccups like Ratio coming close to breaking character several times and Aventurine being sentenced to execution by Sunday.
This is how Sunday uses the information he gathered against Aventurine:
⢠Sunday going on a tirade about the way Aventurine dresses and how heâs not one to take risks â Ratioâs comment about Aventurineâs outfit being peacock-esque and how heâs âshort of a feather or twoâ.
⢠âDo you own a Cornerstone?â â Ratio talked about the aventurine stone.
⢠âDid you hand over the Cornerstone to The Family when you entered Penacony?â â Aventurine mentioned the box containing the Cornerstones.
⢠âDoes the Cornerstone you handed over to The Family belong to you?â â Aventurine specifically pluralized the word Cornerstone and âa bunch of rocksâ when talking to Ratio.
⢠âIs your Cornerstone in this room right now?â â The box in the room supposedly contained Aventurineâs own cornerstone, when Aventurine mentioned multiple stones.
⢠âAre you an Avgin from Sigonia?â âAventurine mentioned that heâs an Avgin, and Ratio brought up Sigonia.
⢠âDo the Avgins have any ability to read, control, and manipulate oneâs own or anotherâs minds?â â Aventurineâs comment on how friends are weapons, as well as Sundayâs own research on the Avgins, leading him to find out about the negative stereotypes associated with them.
⢠âDo you love your family more than yourself?â â His lost parents.
âAll the Avgins were killed in a massacre. Am I right?â â Based on Sundayâs research into his background.
⢠âAre you your clanâs sole survivor?â â Same as the last point.
âDo you hate and wish to destroy this world with your own hands?â â Ratio mentioned the IPCâs goal to regain Penacony, and Aventurineâs whole shtick is âall or nothingâ.
⢠âCan you swear that at this very moment, the aventurine stone is safe and sound in this box?â â Repeat.
As seen here, both duos have convoluted plans that involve the deception of one or more parties while also pretending that the relationship between each other isnât as close as in reality. Unless you knew both of them personally and their histories, there was no way you could tell that they have something else going on.Â
On to the next point: Comparing Aventurine and Ratio with Phyllis and Neff.
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[NEFF & PHYLLIS â RATIO & AVENTURINE]
With the short summaries of the movie and the mission out of the way, letâs look at Phyllis and Neff as characters and how Aventurine and Ratio are similar or opposite to them.
Starting off with Aventurine and Phyllis. Here is where they are the most similar:
Phyllis is blonde and described as a provocative woman. Aventurine is also a blond and eyes Ratio provocatively in the Final Victor light cone.
Phyllis was put under surveillance after Keyes starts figuring out that the so-called accidental death/suicide may have been a murder after all. Similarly, Aventurine was watched by Sunday the entire time in Penacony.
Phyllis never tells Neff how she's seeing another man on the side to possibly kill him too (as well as how she was responsible for the death of her husbandâs previous wife). Aventurine also didn't tell Ratio the entirety of his plan of his own death.
Phyllis puts on a somewhat helpless act at first but is incredibly capable of making things go her way, having everything seemingly wrapped around her finger. Aventurine â even when putting on a facade that masks his true motives â always comes out at the top.
Now the differences between Aventurine and Phyllis:
Phyllis does not care about her family and has no issue with killing her husband, his previous wife, and possibly her daughter Lola. Opposite of that, Aventurine is a family man⌠with no family left, as well as feeling an insane level of survivorâs guilt.
Really, Phyllis just⌠does not care at all about anyone but herself and the money. Aventurine, while he uses every trick in the book to get out on top, does care about the way Jade and Topaz had entrusted him with their Cornerstones, in spite of the stones being worth their lives.Â
Phyllis also uses other people to her advantage to get what she wants, often behind other people's backs, with the way she treats Neff and Zachette. Aventurine does as well (what with him making deals with the Trailblazer while also making a deal with Black Swan that involves the Trailblazer). The difference here is Phyllis uses her allure deliberately to seduce men while Aventurine simply uses others as pawns while also allowing others to do the same to himself.
Phyllis makes no attempt at compromising the policy when questioned by Norton. Aventurine ends up compromising by only taking the gift money (which is exactly what he needs).
The wig that Barbara Stanwyck (the actress of Phyllis) wore was chosen to make her look as âsleazyâ as possible, make her look insincere and a fraud, a manipulator. A sort of cheapness. Aventurineâs flashy peacock-esque outfit can be sort of seen as something similar, except the outfit isnât cheap.
Moving on to Ratioâs similarities to Neff⌠There isnât much to extrapolate here as Ratio is more of a side character in the grand scheme of Penacony, however this is what Iâve figured out.
Neff has dark hair. Ratio has dark purple hair.
Neff almost never refers to Phyllis by her name when speaking with her, only as âbabyâ. The few times he refers to her as Phyllis or Mrs. Dietrichson is during their first conversations and when he has to act like he doesnât know her. Ratio never calls Aventurine by his name when heâs around him â only as âgamblerâ, sometimes âdamnedâ or âdearâ (EN-only) gambler. Only in the Aventurine's Keeping Up With Star Rail episode does Ratio repeatedly say his name, and yet he still calls him by monikers like âgamblerâ or, bafflingly, a âsystem of chaos devoid of logicâ.
Both Neff and Ratio committed two betrayals: Neff on Mr. Dietrichson and Keyes, and Ratio on Sunday and Aventurine. With the former cases it was to reach the end of the trolley line, and with the latter it was on a man who had put his trust in him.
As for the differencesâŚ
Neff is described as someone whoâs not smart by his peers. Ratio is someone who is repeatedly idolised and put on a pedestal by other people.
Neff is excellent at pretending to not know nor care for Phyllis whenever he speaks about her with Keyes or when he and she are in a place that could land them in hot water (the office, the mansion when there are witnesses). His acting is on the same level as Phyllis. With Ratio itâs⌠complicated. While he does pull off the hater act well, he straight up isnât great at pretending not to care about Aventurineâs wellbeing.
Instead of getting his gunshot wound treated in the hospital like a normal person, Neff makes the absolutely brilliant decision of driving to his office and talking to a dictaphone for hours. Needless to say, this is something a medical doctor like Ratio would never do.
Now here's the thing. Though it's very easy to just look at Phyllis and Neff in the movie and go "okay, Aventurine is Phyllis and Ratio is Neff â end of story" and leave it at that, I find that they both take from the two leads in different ways. Let me explain. Beginning with Aventurine and NeffâŚ
Neff is the one who hatches the plan and encourages Phyllis to go through and claim the double indemnity clause in the first place. He is also the key player of his own risky plan, having to fake being the husband to enter the train as well as fake the death. Aventurine puts himself at great risk just by being in Sundayâs presence, and hoping that Sunday wouldnât figure out that the green stone he had uncovered wasnât the aventurine stone.
Adding onto the last point, Neff had fantasised about pulling off the perfect murder for a long time â the catalyst was simply him meeting Phyllis. Aventurine presumably sought out Ratio alone for his plan against Sunday.
Neff makes a roulette wheel analogy and talks about a pile of blue and yellow poker chips (the latter in the script only). I donât even have to explain why this is relevant here. (Aventurineâs Ultimate features a roulette wheel and the motif is on his belt, thigh strap, and back, too. And of course, Aventurine is all about his chips.)
Neff has certain ways to hide when heâs nervous, which include hiding his hands in his pockets when they were shaking, putting on glasses so people couldnât see his eyes. Aventurine hides his left hand behind his back when heâs nervous: Future Aventurine says that "they don't know the other hand is below the table, clutching [his] chips for dear life", and in multiple occasions such as the Final Victor LC, his character trailer, and even in his boss form in the overworld you can see that Aventurine hides his left hand behind his back. And he is also seen with his glasses on sometimes.
Neff says a bunch of stuff to make sure that Phyllis acts her part and does not act out of character (i.e. during their interactions at the market), like how Aventurine repeatedly tries to get Ratio back on track from his subpar acting.
Neff is always one step ahead of the game, and the only reason the plan blows up in his face is due to outside forces that he could not have foreseen (a witness, Keyes figuring out the plan, the broken leg). Aventurine meanwhile plays 5D chess and even with the odds against him, he uses everything he can to come out on the top (i. e. getting Acheron to kill him in the dream).
Even after coming home on the night of the murder, Neff still felt that everything could have gone wrong. Aventurine, with his blessed luck, occasionally wavers and fears everything could go wrong whenever he takes a gamble.
Neff was not put under surveillance by Keyes due to him being extensive with his alibi. After witnessing Robinâs death with eyewitnesses at the scene, the Family had accepted Aventurineâs alibi, though he would be under watch from the Bloodhounds according to Ratio.
Neff talks about the entire murder scheme to the dictaphone. Aventurine during Cat Among Pigeons also retells his plan, albeit in a more convoluted manner, what with his future self and all.
Continuing with Ratio and Phyllis, even with their personalities and motivations being quite different, they do have a few commonalities.
Phyllis was a nurse. Ratio is a medical doctor.
Her name is Greek of origin. Veritas Ratio, though his name is Latin, has Greco-Roman influences throughout his entire character.
The very first scene Phyllis appears in has her wearing a bath towel around her torso. Ratio loves to take baths to clear his mind.
Phyllis was instructed by Neff to be at the market every morning at eleven buying things. Ratio is seen in an auction house with his alabaster head on so no one could recognize him.
Phyllis mostly acts as an accomplice to the scheme, being the one to convince her husband to take the train instead. She is also generally seen only when Neff is involved. Ratio plays the same role as well, only really appearing in the story in relation to Aventurine as well as being the accomplice in Aventurineâs own death. Even him standing in the auction house randomly can be explained by the theory that he and Aventurine had attempted to destabilise Penaconyâs economy through a pump and dump scheme.
With these pointers out of the way, letâs take a closer look at select scenes from the film and their relation to the mission and the pair.Â
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[THE PHONE CALL â THE REVERIE HOTEL]
Before the murder, there is a scene with a phone call between Phyllis and Neff discussing the plan while Keyes is in the same room as Neff. Neff has to make sure that Keyes doesnât think of anything of the phone call, so he acts like heâs calling a âMargieâ, and says a bunch of stuff that sounds innocent out of context (âCanât I call you back, âMargieâ?â âWhat color did you pick out?â âNavy blue. I like that fineâ), but are actually hinting at the real plan all along (the suit that Mr. Dietrichson wears.)
In a roundabout way, the conversation between Ratio and Aventurine in the Reverie Hotel can be seen as the opposite of that scene â with the two talking about their supposed plan out loud on Penacony ground, a place where the Family (and in turn, Sunday) has eyes everywhere. Despite being in a âprivateâ room, they still act like they hate each other while airing out details that really do not make sense to air out if they really did meet the first time in Penacony (which they didnât â theyâve been on several missions beforehand). Itâs almost like they want a secret third person to know what they were doing, instead of trying to be hushed up about it. The TVs in the room that Sunday can look through based on Inherently Unjust Destiny â A Moment Among The Stars, the Bloodhound statue that disappears upon being inspected, the owl clock on the left which side eyes Ratio and Aventurine, all point to that Sunday is watching their every move, listening to every word.
Rewinding back to before the phone call, in one of the encounters at the marketplace where they âaccidentallyâ run into each other, Phyllis talks about how the trip was off. How her husband wouldnât get on the train, which was vital for their plan, because of a broken leg. All this, while pretending to be strangers by the passersby. You could say that the part where Ratio almost leaves because Aventurine had âruined the planâ is the opposite of this, as the husband breaking his leg was something they couldnât account for, while Aventurine âbeing short of a few feathersâ was entirely part of the plan.
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[QUESTIONING PHYLLIS â THE INTERROGATION]
This section is going to be a little longer as I will cover two scenes in the movie in a more detailed manner â Mr. Dietrichson signing the policy, and Phyllis being questioned â and how they are represented in the Sunday-Aventurine interrogation and the prior conversation between Ratio and Sunday in multitudes of ways.
Going about their plan, Neff has to make sure that Mr. Dietrichson signs the policy with the double indemnity clause without him knowing the details, all the while having Phyllis (and Lola) in the same room. He and Phyllis have to pretend that they donât know each other, and that this is just the standard accidental insurance process, instead of signing what would be his downfall. To sell it, he gets Mr. Dietrichson to sign two âcopiesâ of the form, except with Mr. Dietrichsonâs second signature, heâs duped into signing the accident insurance policy with the respective clause.
You can tie this to how Ratio goes to Sunday in order to âexposeâ the lie that the suitcase didnât actually contain the Aventurine Cornerstone, as well as there being more than one Cornerstone involved in the scheme. Ratio must make sure that Sunday truly believes that he dislikes Aventurineâs company, while also making sure that Sunday doesnât figure out the actual aventurine stone is broken and hidden in the gift bag. The scheme turns out to be successful, as Sunday retrieves the two Cornerstones, but not the aventurine stone, and truly does think that the green stone he has in his possession is the aventurine.
This whole scene with Sunday is also reminiscent of the interrogation scene in the middle of the movie, where Phyllis was questioned by the boss (Norton) who was deducing that Mr. Dietrichson's death was a suicide, not accidental death. Neff, Phyllis, Keyes and Norton were all in the same room, and Neff and Phyllis had to act like they never knew the other. Phyllis acts like she knows nothing about what Norton insinuates about her husband and eventually, Phyllis explodes in anger and storms out the room, even slamming the door. Her act is very believable to any outsider.
Now back to the Ratio and Sunday conversation. One glaring difference between the movie and here is that his acting isnât great compared to either Phyllis nor Neff. It never was throughout the Penacony mission. He even comes very close to breaking character several times, and is even defending Aventurine in a somewhat aggressive manner during his one-on-one conversation with Sunday, as in he literally tells Sunday to see a shrink. Itâs very different from the way he was acting in Herta Space Station â like Ratio cares about Aventurine too much to keep his hands off.
It's also worth pointing out that Neff doesn't speak a word when Phyllis was being interrogated. Similarly, Ratio is silent throughout the entire scene with Sunday and Aventurine, with his only âlineâ being a âhmâ. When Aventurine calls him a wretch to his face, all he does is look to the side. In fact, he can only look at Aventurine when the other isnât staring back. Almost like him uttering a single word would give them away. Or his acting is terrible when it has to do with Aventurine, as he has no issue doing the same thing in Crown of the Mundane and Divine (Mundane Troubles).
So, Sunday finds out about the Cornerstones and reveals them to Aventurine, and reasons that he cannot give them back to him because Aventurine had lied. Note that in that same scene, Aventurine attempted to use the two murders that had occurred beforehand against Sunday to retrieve his own cornerstone. Similarly, when it was revealed that Mr. Dietrichson did not know about the accident policy and that the so-called âaccidental deathâ was not, in fact, accidental, the insurance company refused to pay out the money.
Unlike the movie, this was all planned, however. The double-crossing by Ratio, the gift money being the only thing required for Aventurineâs real plan. All of it was an act of betrayal against Sunday, in the same manner as the meticulous planning as Mr. Dietrichsonâs murder â To sign the policy, get him to take the train, kill him on the way, and to have Neff pose as the husband on the train until the time is right to get off and lay the body on the tracks. A key difference is that they could not have expected their scheme to be busted wide open due to forces outside of their control, while Ratio and Aventurine went straight down the line for the both of them no matter what.
From here on out, we can conclude that the way Ratio and Aventurine present themselves in Penacony to onlookers is in line with Neff and Phyllis.
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[âGOODBYE, BABYâ â FINAL VICTOR]
And now for the (in)famous light cone, Final Victor. The thing that truly kickstarted the Ratio and Aventurine ship in the fanbase, and the partnership between the two in general. Itâs a direct reference to the final confrontation between Neff and Phyllis in the movie.
Iâll fire through all the similarities between the two scenes.
During the respective scenes, Aventurine and Phyllis both outsmart their partner one way or the other: Aventurine with his one-sided game of Russian Roulette, and Phyllis hiding her gun underneath the cushions until Neff turned away.
The guns are owned by Phyllis and Aventurine, not Neff and Ratio.
Phyllis couldnât bring herself to fire any more shots after she realised she truly did love Neff. Ratio could do nothing but watch as Aventurine did what he did â he couldnât even pull away if the LC animation is anything to go by him struggling as Aventurine firmly keeps the gun to his chest.
Neff says he doesnât buy (believe) that Phyllis loved him. She then goes âIâm not asking you to buy [âŚ]â. The LC description has Aventurine ask Ratio âYou donât believe me?â, while in the LC animation Ratio straight up says âYou expect me to believe you?â and Aventurine answering âWhy not, doctor/professor?â
The visual composition of the LC and the scene are nearly identical, from the lighting to the posing to the way Aventurine looks at Ratio â Aventurine and Ratio are even wearing different outfits to fit the scene better. The background in the LC is also like the blinders in the movie, just horizontal.
In the shot where Phyllisâ face is more visible, the way she looks at Neff is strikingly like the way provocatively looks at Ratio. Even their eyes have a visible shine â Phyllisâ eyes brightly shining the moment she realised she really fell in love with Neff, and Aventurine having just a little light return to his eyes in that specific moment.
And now the differences!
Neff holds the gun in his right hand. Aventurine makes Ratio hold his gun in his left.
Neff is the one who takes the gun from Phyllisâ hand. Aventurine is the one who places the gun in Ratioâs hand and fires it.
Three gunshots are fired. In the movie, Phyllis shoots the first shot and Neff the second and third. Aventurine unloads the gun and leaves only one bullet for this game of Russian Roulette. He pulls the trigger three times, but they all turn out to be blanks.
Phyllis does not break her façade of not smiling until the very last moment where she gets shot. Aventurine is smiling the entire time according to the light cone description, whilst in the animation, itâs only when he guides the gun to his chest that he puts it on.
So, you know how Neff meets Phyllis and it all goes off the rails from there. The way Neff goes from a decent guy to willingly involve himself in a murder scheme, having his morals corrupted by Phyllis. His world having been turned upside down the moment he lays eyes on Phyllis in that first meeting. Doesnât that sound like something that happened with the Final Victor LC? Ratio, a man all about logic and rationality â a scholar with eight PhDs to his name â all of that is flipped on its head the moment Aventurine pulls out his gun in their first meeting and forces Ratio to play a game of Russian roulette with him. Aventurine casually gambles using his own life like itâs nothing and seemingly without fear (barring his hidden left hand). All or nothing â and yet Aventurine comes out alive after three blanks. Poetic, considering thereâs a consumable in the game called âAll or Nothingâ which features a broken chess piece and a poker chip bound together by a tie. The poker chip obviously represents the gambler, but the chess piece specifically stands for Ratio because he plays chess in his character trailer, his Keeping Up With Star Rail episode and his introduction is centred around him playing chess with himself. Plus, the design of the chess piece has golden accents, similar to his own chess set. In the end, Aventurine will always be the final victor.
Furthermore, Neff had deduced that Phyllis wanted to kill her husband and initially wanted no part in it, but in a subsequent visit it was his own idea that they trigger the double indemnity clause for more money. As the movie progresses though, he starts to have his doubts (thanks in part to him befriending Lola) and makes the move to kill Phyllis when everything starts to come to light. Itâs strikingly similar to how Ratio initially wanted no part in whatever Aventurine had in mind when they first met, but in the subsequent missions where they were paired up, he willingly goes along with Aventurine's risky plans, and they come to trust each other. Enough so that Aventurine and Ratio can go to Penacony all on their own and put on an act, knowing that nobody in the IPC other than them can enter the Dreamscape. The mutual respect grew over time, instead of burning passionately before quickly fizzling out like in the movie.
Basically, in one scene, three shots (blanks) start a relationship, and in the other, it ends a relationship. In the anan magazine interview with Aventurine, he says himself that âform[ing] an alliance with just one bulletâ with Ratio was one of his personal achievements. The moment itself was so impactful for both parties that it was immortalised and turned into a light cone.
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[THE ENDING â GOLDEN HOUR]
The ending of Double Indemnity that made it into the final cut has Neff continue his confession on the dictaphone until he realised that he wasnât alone in the room. Keyes had come inside at some point, but none had said a thing, only listening to a dead man speak of his crime. When Neff sees Keyes, they talk for a moment, Neff says he plans on fleeing to Mexico. Keyes does not think he will make it. He tries to leave, only to collapse at the front of the elevator, Keyes following just behind him. Neff attempts to light a cigar but is too weak to do so, so Keyes does it for him.
Parts of the ending can still be attributed to the interrogation scene between Sunday and Aventurine, so Iâll make this quick before moving on to the conversation in Heaven Is A Place On Earth, Ratio and Aventurineâs final conversation together. Once Sunday mentions how quickly Aventurine gave up the suitcase, he inflicts the Harmonyâs consecration on him, which forces Aventurine to confess everything that Sunday asks of. In a way, itâs the opposite of what happens in the movie â where Neff willingly tells the truth about the murder to his coworker. Aventurine does not like Sunday, and Neff is close to Keyes. Ratio also does not speak, similarly to how Keyes didnât speak and stood silently off to the side.
Post-interrogation in Golden Hour, Ratio worriedly prods at Aventurine and asks him about his plan. He then gives him the Mundaniteâs Insight with the Doctorâs Advice inside when Aventurine tells him to leave. Throughout Heaven Is A Place On Earth, Aventurine gets weaker and his head starts to buzz, until he falls to the ground before he can hand in the final gems. Similarly, Neff progressively grows weaker as he records his confession. Keyes says heâs going to call a doctor and Neff says heâs planning to go to Mexico. And when Neff collapses near the elevator, they talk one final time and Keyes lights Neffâs cigar as the other was too weak to do so himself.
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[OPPOSITE TIMELINES AND DEVELOPMENTS]
Remember how I said the way certain events happen in the movie and the game are mostly opposite and reverse of one another?Â
The Final Victor LC is the first meeting of Ratio and Aventurine, and Neff killing Phyllis is their final meeting.
Between that first and last meeting between Phyllis and Neffâs whirlwind romance, their relationship becomes strained which ultimately leads to Neff not trusting whatever Phyllis has to say at the end point of the movie. As for Ratio and Aventurine, the exact opposite had happened, to the point where Ratio trusts Aventurine enough to go along with his plans even if they went against his own ideals. The basis of the mission involved Veritas Ratio, whose full name includes the Latin word for âtruthâ, lying the entire time on Penacony.
Aventurine is sentenced to the gallows by Sunday after his unwilling interrogation. The movie starts and ends with Neff willingly confessing everything to Keyes.
It bears repeating, but I have to make it so clear that the trust between Ratio and Aventurine runs incredibly deep. Being able to predict what your partner says and thinks and plans in a mission as critical as the Penacony project is not something first-time co-workers can pull off flawlessly. All the while having to put on masks that prevent you from speaking sincerely towards one another lest you rat yourselves out. You have no way of contacting outside reinforcements from within Penacony, as the rest of the IPC are barred from entering. To be able to play everybody for fools while said fools believe you yourselves have handed your case on a silver platter requires a lot â trust, knowledge of the other, past experience, and so on. With Phyllis and Neff, the trust they had had been snuffed out when Neff grew closer to Lola and found out what kind of person Phyllis truly was on the inside. Phyllis did not trust nor love Neff enough and was going behind his back to meet with Zachette to possibly take Neff and Lola out. And the whole reason Neff wanted to perpetrate the murder was due to him being initially taken by Phyllis' appearance, which single handedly got the ball rolling on the crime.
Now then, how come trust is one of the defining aspects of Aventurine and Ratioâs relationship, when Phyllis and Neffâs trust eventually lead to both their deaths at the hands of the other? Sure, this can be explained away with the opposite theory, but thereâs one other relationship involving Neff which I havenât brought up in excruciating detail yet. The other side of Ratio and Aventurineâs relationship.
â
[NEFF & KEYES â AVENTURINE & RATIO]
Here is where it gets more interesting â while Phyllis and Neff are at the centre point of the movie, there is another character to whom Neff has a close relationship with â Keyes. Itâs also the only relationship with no pretences, at least, until the whole murder thing happened and Neff had to hide his involvement from Keyes. Watching the movie, I couldn't help but feel there was something more to the two than meets the eye. I knew that queer readings of the film existed, but I didn't think too much of them until now. And though Aventurine and Ratio parallel Phyllis and Neff respectively, the fact that they also have traits of their opposite means that it wouldnât be completely out of the question if parts of their relationship were also influenced by Keyes and Neff on a deeper and personal level. Let me explain.
Keyes and Neff were intimate friends for eleven years and have shown mutual respect and trust towards one another. They understood each other on a level not seen with Phyllis and Neff. Even after hearing Neff confess his crimes through the dictaphone (and eventually standing in the same room while Neff confessed), he still cared for the other man, and stayed with him when Neff collapsed at the front door. The only reason Keyes hadnât deduced that it was Neff who was behind the murder was because he had his absolute trust in him. Keyes is also Neffâs boss, and they are always seen exchanging playful banter when they are on screen together. Neff even says the words âI love you, tooâ twice in the movie â first at the beginning and second at the end, as the final line. Thereâs also the persistent theme of Neff lighting Keyesâ cigarettes (which happens in every scene where they are face-to-face), except in the end where itâs Keyes who lights Neffâs.
Doesnât that sound familiar? Mutual respect, caring too much about the other person, the immense amount of trust⌠Ratio says heâs even the manager of the Penacony project (which may or may not be a lie), and despite their banter being laced with them acting as âenemiesâ, you can tell that in Dewlight Pavilion pre-Sunday confrontation that Aventurine genuinely likes Ratioâs company and believes him to be a reliable person. From the way he acts carefree in his words to the thoughts in his head, as seen in the mission descriptions for Double Indemnity. Their interactions in that specific mission are possibly the closest thing to their normal way of speaking that we get to see on Penacony.
Not to mention, this is the way Neff describes Keyes. He even says (not in the script) âyou never fooled me with your song and dance, not for a second.â Apart from the line about the cigar ashes, doesnât this ring a bell to a certain doctor? âJerkâ with a heart of gold?
After solving the puzzle with the statues, Ratio jokingly offers Aventurine to join the Genius Society. Aventurine then goes "Really? I thought youâve given up on that already", and then Ratio says it was, in fact, a joke. Solving the puzzle through brute force has Ratio telling Aventurine that the Council of Mundanites (which Ratio himself is a part of) should consider him a member. In the movie, where the scene with the phone call with Neff and Phyllis reiterating details of their plan happens, Keyes actually offered Neff a better job (specifically a desk job, as Keyesâ assistant). The two pairs saw the other as smart, equals, and were invested in each otherâs careers one way or another.
Because of all this, the character parallels for this side of the relationship are as follows:
Aventurine - Walter Neff
Veritas Ratio - Barton Keyes
With the way Iâve talked about how Aventurine and Ratio take from both leads in terms, it does fit to say that Aventurine is Neff, and Ratio is Keyes in this layer of their relationship. Since weâre on the topic of Keyes, let me also go through some similarities with him and Ratio specifically.
Keyes says the words âdimwitted amateursâ in his first on-screen conversation with Neff. You canât have Dr. Ratio without him talking about idiocy in some way.
Keyes almost only appears in the movie in relation to Neff, and barring a single interaction in Neffâs house, is also only seen in the office. Same with Phyllis, Ratio also only ever appears regarding Aventurine.
Keyes genuinely wanted the best for Neff, even offering to celebrate with him when he thought the case truly had been busted wide open by forces when Zachette entered the picture. You could say the same for Ratio, as he hoped that Aventurine wouldnât dwell on the past according to his response on Aventurineâs Interview, as well as telling him to âstay alive/live on (CN)â and wishing him the best of luck in his Doctorâs Advice note.
Whether or not you believe that there was more going on with Neff and Keyes is up to you, but what matters is that the two were very close. Just like Ratio and Aventurine.
â
[THE ORIGINAL FILM ENDING]
Something that I hadnât seen brought up is the original ending of Double Indemnity, where Neff is executed in a gas chamber while Keyes watches on, shocked, and afterwards leaves somberly. The ending was taken out because they were worried about the Hays Code, but I felt it was important to bring it up, because in a way, you can kind of see the Sunday interrogation scene as Sunday sending Aventurine to his death in seventeen system hours. And Ratio doesnât speak at all in that scene, and Keyes doesnât either according to the script.
Another thing thatâs noteworthy is that Wilder himself said âthe story was about the two guysâ in Conversations with Wilder. The two guys in question are Keyes and Neff.
â
[THE NOVEL]
With the original film ending covered, now it is time to bring up the novel by James M. Cain. I bought the book just to read about the differences between the adaptation and the original source material, and to list a few more similarities and opposites I could gather. For this section alone, due to the changes in the (last) names of certain characters, I will be referring to Walter Huff (Neff in the movie) as Walter, and Mr. Dietrichson as Nirdlinger. The plot is pretty much the same as the movieâs apart from a couple of changes so there isnât a need to recount everything.
From my two read-throughs of the novel, these are the following passages that stood out to me the most. Starting with Aventurine:
Walter, as a top businessman of the company, knows how to sway a deal and to get what he truly wants with what the other gives him. Aventurine is the same, reliant on his intuition, experience and whatever information he has on the table to claim the win. Him luring out Sparkle in Heaven Is A Place On Earth and his conversation with Acheron in the Nihility is indicative of that.
⢠"But you sell as many people as I do, you don't go by what they say. You feel it, how the deal is going. And after a while I knew this woman didn't care anything about the Automobile Club. Maybe the husband did, but she didn't. There was something else, and this was nothing but a stall. I figured it would be some kind of a proposition to split the commission, maybe so she could get a ten-spot out of it without the husband knowing. There's plenty of that going on. And I was just wondering what I would say to her."Â
Phyllis, like in the movie, had been hiding her true intentions of talking to Walter in their first conversations, always saying things that she didnât actually mean. In a similar vein, Aventurine consistently says stuff but almost never truly means any of it, which is all part of his façade.
⢠"And I could feel it again, that she wasn't saying what she meant. It was the same as it was the first afternoon I met her, that there was something else, besides what she was telling me. And I couldn't shake it off, that I had to call it on her."
When discussing the murder plan with Phyllis, Walter makes this comment, kind of like how Aventurine seems to operate in a way where he has a plan, but is ready to improvise and think fast when needed.
⢠"And then it's one of those things where you've got to watch for your chance, and you can't plan it in advance, and know where you're going to come out to the last decimal point."
Remember the roulette wheel line from the movie? In the novel, the gambling metaphor that Walter makes about the insurance business goes on for two paragraphs, mentioning a gambling wheel, stack of chips, a place with a big casino and the little ivory ball, even about a bet on the table. Walter also talks about how he thinks of tricks at night after being in the business for so long, and how he could game the system. Needless to say, insanely reminiscent of Aventurine.
⢠"You think Iâm nuts? All right, maybe I am. But you spend fifteen years in the business Iâm in, and maybe a little better than that, itâs the friend of the widow, the orphan, and the needy in time of trouble? Itâs not. Itâs the biggest gambling wheel in the world. It donât look like it, but it is, from the way they figure the percentage on the oo to the look on their face when they cash your chips. You bet that your house will burn down, they bet it wonât, thatâs all. What fools you is that you didnât want your house to burn down when you made the bet, and so you forget itâs a bet. To them, a bet is a bet, and a hedge bet donât look any different than any other bet. But there comes a time, maybe, when you do want your house to burn down, when the money is worth more than the house. And right there is where the trouble starts."
⢠"Alright, Iâm an agent. Iâm a croupier in that game. I know all their tricks, I lie awake thinking up tricks, so Iâll be ready for them when they come at me. And then one night I think up a trick, and get to thinking I could crook the wheel myself if I could only put a plant out there to put down my bet."
⢠"I had seen so many houses burned down, so many cars wrecked, so many corpses with blue holes in their temples, so many awful things that people had pulled to crook the wheel, that that stuff didnât seem real to me anymore. If you donât understand that, go to Monte Carlo or some other place where thereâs a big casino, sit at a table, and watch the face of the man that spins the little ivory ball. After youâve watched it a while, ask yourself how much he would care if you went out and plugged yourself in the head. His eyes might drop when he heard the shot, but it wouldnât be from the worry whether you lived or died. It would be to make sure you didnât leave a bet on the table, that he would have to cash for your estate. No, he wouldnât care."
Returning home from the murder, Walter attempted to pray, but was unable to do it. Some time passed and after speaking to Phyllis, he prayed. Aventurine presumably hadnât done the prayer ever since the day of the massacre, and the first time he does it again, he does it with his child self.
⢠"I went to the dining room and took a drink. I took another drink. I started mumbling to myself, trying to get so I could talk. I had to have something to mumble. I thought of the Lord's Prayer. I mumbled that, a couple of times. I tried to mumble it another time, and couldn't remember how it went."
⢠"That night I did something I hadnât done in years. I prayed."
Phyllis in the book is much more inclined towards death than her movie version, even thinking of herself as a personification of death. Sheâs killed ten other people (including infants) prior to the events of the novel. Something to keep in mind as Aventurine had mentioned several times that he attempted to kill himself in the dream, plus his leadup to his âgrandest deathâ. Just like Phyllis, heâs even killed at least a few people before, though the circumstances of that were less on his own volition and more so for the sake of his survival (i.e. the death game in the maze involving the 34 other slaves where he was the winner and another time where he murdered his own master). Instead of Phyllis playing the active role of Death towards everybody else, Aventurine himself dances with Death with every gamble, every time his luck comes into play. Danse Macabre.
⢠"But thereâs something in me, I donât know what. Maybe Iâm crazy. But thereâs something in me that loves Death. I think of myself as Death, sometimes."
⢠"Walter, The time has come. For me to meet my bridegroom [Death]. The only one I ever loved."
Moving on to Ratio:
Walter says several times that itâs hard to get along with Keyes, and how he says nice things after getting you all worked up. A hard-headed man to get along with, but damn good at his job. Sound like someone familiar?
⢠"That would be like Keyes, that even when he wanted to say something nice to you, he had to make you sore first."Â
⢠"It makes your head ache to be around him, but heâs the best claim man on the Coast, and he was the one I was afraid of."
Keyes sees Walter as smarter than half the fools in the company. Ratio can only stand the company of Aventurine in regards to the IPC.
⢠"Walter, I'm not beefing with you. I know you said he ought to be investigated. I've got your memo right here on my desk. That's what I wanted to tell you. If other departments of this company would show half the sense that you showâ"
⢠"Oh, he confessed. He's taking a plea tomorrow morning, and that ends it. But my point is, that if you, just by looking at that man, could have your suspicions, why couldn't theyâ! Oh well, what's the use? I just wanted you to know it."
After going on a rant about the H.S. Nirdlinger case (Phyllisâ husband) and how Norton is doing a horrible job, he ends it by saying that itâs sheer stupidity. âSupreme idiocyâ, anybody?
⢠"You canât take many body blows like this and last. Holy smoke. Fifty thousand bucks, and all from dumbness. Just sheer, willful, stupidity!"
Phyllisâ former occupation as a nurse is more elaborated on, including her specialization â pulmonary diseases. One of Ratioâs crowning achievements is curing lithogenesis, the âKing of Diseasesâ.
⢠"Sheâs one of the best nurses in the city of Los Angeles. [âŚ] Sheâs a nurse, and she specialized in pulmonary diseases. She would know the time of crisis, almost to a minute, as well as any doctor would."
As for the murder scheme, they talk about it a lot more explicitly in the novel. Specifically, Walter mentions how a single person cannot get away with it and that it requires more people to be involved. How everything is known to the party committing the crime, but not the victim. And most importantly: Audacity.
"Say, this is a beauty, if I do say it myself. I didn't spend all this time in the business for nothing, did I? Listen, he knows all about this policy, and yet he don't know a thing about it. He applies for it, in writing, and yet he don't apply for it. He pays me for it with his own check, and yet he don't pay me. He has an accident happen to him and yet he don't have an accident happen to him. He gets on the train, and yet he don't get on it."
"The first is, help. One person can't get away with it, that is unless they're going to admit it and plead the unwritten law or something. It takes more than one. The second is, the time, the place, the way, all known in advanceâto us, but not him. The third is, audacity. That's the one that all amateur murderers forget. They know the first two, sometimes, but that third, only a professional knows. There comes a time in any murder when the only thing that can see you through is audacity, and I can't tell you why."
"And if we want to get away with it, we've got to do it the way they do it, [âŚ]"
"Be bold?"
"Be bold. It's the only way."
"I still don't knowâwhat we're going to do."
"You'll know. You'll know in plenty of time."
"We were right up with it, the moment of audacity that has to be be part of any successful murder."
It fits the situation that Aventurine and Ratio find themselves in extremely well: For the first pointâ Aventurine would not be able to get away with simply airing out details by himself, as that would immediately cast suspicion on him. Having another person accompany him who not only isnât really a part of the IPC in name (as the IPC and The Family have a strenuous relationship) but would probably be able to get closer to Sunday because of that means they can simply bounce off each other without risking as much suspicion with a one-man army. Which is exactly what Ratio and Aventurine do in the conversations they have on Penacony. Secondly â they knew how Sunday operates: as a control freak, he leaves no stone unturned, which is how he became Head of the Oak Family, so their acting required them to give off the impression that a. they hated each other, b. Ratio would go against Aventurineâs wishes and expose him in return for knowledge, c. there were only the two Cornerstones that were hidden. This would give Sunday the illusion of control, and lead to Sunday to lower his guard long enough for Aventurine to take the gift money in the end. The pair knew this in advance, but not Sunday. And thirdly â the plan hinged on a high-level of risk. From breaking the Aventurine Cornerstone, to hoping that Sunday wouldnât find it in the gift bag, to not telling Ratio what the true plan is (meaning Ratio had to figure it out on his own later on), to Sunday even buying Ratioâs story, it was practically the only way they could go about it. âCharming audacityâ, indeed.
An interesting aspect about the novel is that the ending of the novel is divergent from the movieâs final cut and the original ending: Phyllis and Walter commit suicide during a ferry ride to Mexico. The main reason this was changed for the movie was because of the Hays Code, and they wouldnât allow a double suicide to be screened without reprecussions for criminals. Thereâs also a bunch of other aspects that differentiate the novel from the movie (no narration-confession as the confession happens in a hospital, less characterization for Keyes and instead a bigger focus on Lola and her boyfriend, the focus on the murderous aspect of Walter and Phyllisâ relationship instead of actual romance, Walter falling in love with Lola (with an unfortunately large age gap attached), etc.)
As for the ending, this wouldnât even be the first romance media reference related to Aventurine and Ratio where both the leads die, with the other being The Happy Prince and San Junipero (in relation to the EN-only Heaven Is A Place On Earth reference), which I normally would chalk up as a coincidence, though with the opposite line-of-thought I have going on here (and the fact that itâs three out of four media references where the couple die at the endâŚ), I think itâs reasonable to say that Ratio and Aventurine will get that happy ending. Subverting expectations, hopefully.
â
[THE HAYS CODE â LGBT CENSORSHIP IN CHINA]
Iâve brought up the Hays code twice now in the previous two sections, but I havenât actually explained what exactly it entails.
The Hays Code (also known as the Motion Picture Production Code) is a set of rules and guidelines imposed on all American films from around 1934 to 1968, intended to make films less scandalous, morally acceptable and more âsafeâ for the general audiences. Some of the âDonâtsâ and âBe Carefulsâ include but are not limited toâŚ
(Donât) Pointed profanity
(Donât) Inference of sex perversion (which includes homosexuality)
(Donât) Nudity
(Be Careful) Sympathy for criminals
(Be Careful) Use of firearms
(Be Careful) Man and woman in bed together
What does this have to do with a Chinese gacha game released in 2023? If you know a little bit about miHoYoâs past, you would know that pre-censorship laws being upheld to a much stronger and stricter degree, they had no problem showcasing their gay couples in Guns Girl Z (Honkai Gakuen 2/GGZ) and Honkai Impact 3rd, with the main three being Bronya/Seele, Kiana/Mei (admittedly the latter one is a more recent example, from 2023), and Sakura/Kallen. Ever since the Bronya and Seele kiss, censorship in regards to LGBT content ramped up, causing the kiss to be removed on the CN side, and they had to lay low with the way they present two same-sex characters who are meant to be together. They canât explicitly say that two female or male characters are romantically involved, but they can lace their dynamics with references for those âin the knowâ â Subtext. Just enough to imply something more but not too much that they get censored to hell and back.
So what Iâm getting at is this: The trouble that Double Indemnity had to go through in order to be made while also keeping the dialogue of Phyllis and Neff as flirtatious as they could under the Hays Code among other things is quite similar to the way Ratio and Aventurine are presented as of now. We never see them interact outside of Penacony (at least up until 2.2, when this post was drafted), so we can only infer those interactions specifically until they actually talk without the fear of being found out by Sunday. But, thereâs still some small moments scattered here and there, such as when Aventurine goes near Ratio in the Dewlight Pavilion Sandpit, he exclaims that âthe view here is breathtakingâ (he can only see Ratioâs chest from that distance) and that Ratio could âeasily squash [him] with just a pinchâ. Ratio then goes âIf that is your wish, I will do so without a momentâs hesitation.â Not to mention the (in)famous âDoctor, youâre huge!â quote.
Itâs not a coincidence that Ratio and Aventurine have three explicit references to romance media (Double Indemnity, Spellbound, Oscar Wildeâs The Happy Prince), possibly even four if you take the EN-only Heaven Is A Place On Earth as a reference to Black Mirrorâs San Junipero. Itâs not a coincidence that the storylines or characters of said references parallel the pairing, from surface-level to deep cuts. Itâs not a coincidence that the CN voice actors were asked to âtone it downâ by the voice director when it came to their chemistry. Itâs not a coincidence that Aventurine has only flirted with (three) men throughout Penacony, even referring to a Bloodhound NPC as a âhunk of a manâ inside his thoughts, all the while ignoring Himeko and Robin when it came to their looks â women who are known across the cosmos with a myriad of adoring fans. There are so many other so-called âcoincidencesâ related to the two that you could make an iceberg just based on versions 2.0-2.2 as well as content miHoYo themselves have put out on social media. They absolutely knew what they were doing, and were trying to get their point across through subtle means â the extent they went to with the Double Indemnity reference while also keeping it under wraps from a âsurfaceâ level point of view is proof of this â the implications are there if you take the time to look for them, and are simply hard to ignore or deny once you do find them.
â
[CONCLUSION]
This was supposed to be short considering the other analyses Iâve seen were also pretty short in comparison, but I couldnât get the movie out of my head and ended up getting carried away in the brainrot. I hope you could follow along with my line of thinking, even with the absurd length of this post, and the thirty-image limit. I tried to supplement context with some links to videos and wiki pages among other sources wherever I can to get around it.
I will end it with this though â the love in the movie turned out to be fake and a farce, going off track from what was a passionate romance in the beginning because of the murder scheme. Meanwhile, the whole reason why Ratio and Aventurine can pull off whatever they want is because of their immense trust in one another. What was initially shown to be distrust in the Final Victor LC grew into something more, for Ratio, someone who would have never put faith into mere chance and probability before this, put his trust in Aventurine, of all people.
TL;DR â (I get it, itâs over ten thousand words.)
Not only is the relationship between Neff and Phyllis represented in the deception and acting side of Ratio and Aventurine, but the real and trusting side is shown in Neff and Keyes. They have a fascinating, multi-layered dynamic that is extremely fun to pick apart once you realise whatâs going on underneath the bickering and âhatredâ they display.
Many thanks to Manya again for making the original thread on the movie. I wouldnât be here comparing the game and movie myself if it werenât for that.
By the way, I really do believe that Shaoji totally watched this movie at least once and really wanted that Double Indemnity AU for his OCs. I know exactly how it feels.
â
Other points I'd like to mention that didn't fit anywhere else in the main analysis and/or donât hold much significance, have nothing to do with the Penacony mission, or may even be considered reaching (...if some of the other points werenât). Just some potentially interesting side bits.
Phyllis honks three times to signal Neff to go for the kill. That, and the three gunshots in the confrontation. Aventurine is all about the number three.
The height difference Aventurine and Ratio have going on is close to Phyllis and Neffâs.
Phyllis had killed her husbandâs previous wife and went on to marry Mr. Dietrichson, pretty much taking the wifeâs place. Aventurine killed his previous master, and had taken certain attributes from him like his wristwatch and the rings on his hand and the âall or nothingâ mantra.
When calling Ratio a wretch (bastard), Aventurine smiles for a moment. This is exclusive to the EN, KR and JP voiceovers, as in CN, he does not smile at all. (Most definitely a quirk from the AI they use for lip syncing, but the smile is something thatâs been pointed out quite a few times so I thought Iâd mention it here.)
Sunday specifically says in the CN version that he knew of Aventurine's plans the moment Aventurine left the mansion, meaning that he realized he had been played the fool the moment Ratio and Aventurine talked in Golden Hour
In the description for the "All or Nothing" consumable, teenage Aventurine says this specific line: "Temptation is a virtue for mortals, whereas hesitation proves to be a fatal flaw for gamblers." According to Ratio, this is Aventurine's motto - he says as such in Aventurine's Keeping Up With Star Rail episode. Note that in the anan interview he explicitly says he does not have a motto, and yet Ratio in the video says otherwise. They definitely have to know each other for a while for Ratio to even know this.
A big reason why Neff even pulled off the murder scheme in the first place was because he wanted to see if his good friend Keyes could figure it out, the Mundane Troubles Trailblaze Continuance showcases Ratio attempting to teach the Herta Space Station researches a lesson to not trust the Genius society as much as they did.
In Keyesâ first scene heâs exposing a worker for writing a policy on his truck that he claimed had burnt down on its own, when he was the one who burnt it down. Ratio gets into an Ace Attorney-style argument with the Trailblazer in Mundane Troubles.
Neff talks repeatedly about how it wonât be sloppy. Nothing weak. And how itâll be perfect to Phyllis, and how sheâs going to do it and heâs going to help her. Doing it right â âstraight down the lineâ. Beautifully ironic, considering what happens in the movie, and even more ironic as Ratio and Aventurineâs scheme went exactly the way they wanted to in the end. Straight down the line.
How are you going to include songs from the before in the instrumental polls? As far as I know there arenât official instrumentals for his older albums. Or has someone made isolated versions of those?
Yeaaa CJ stated in the QnA about how all the instrumentals on the Covered in Discontent & the before. albums are just gone cos there was no reason to keep em at the time.
Like I said in the first poll, there was just some songs that don't have an isolated track to listen to, so you'd just have to listen to the song itself & focus on the instruments rather than the lyrics.
Not the greatest thing I know, but! Those songs have really good music & it didn't feel fair to not have em in it, just cos CJ never woulda known how many people would've wanted those down the line. [since like, 50-80% of his fans came from after the before was already finished]
All this is rlly just to say; bros original stuff are really good & deserve more love lol.
A compilation of all the guys Max has either flirted with or shown some interest in throughout the franchise, and by franchise I mean cartoon + Telltale because I couldn't find other moments or forgot about them/hadn't seen the entry of the franchise they come from yet.
(Btw you can click the quotes under each pic to get more context)
1. Sam (whole franchise)
"No way, Sam! I could never stop loving you!"
2. Mack Salmon ("They Came from Down There")
"He's a fancy talker ~"
3. Muskie ("They Came from Down There" Btw it's also the episode in which Max does the "gay hand thing", so whoever was making this episode really wanted to hammer it down that Max isn't straight)
"Whoo. He's a keeper ~"
4. Hugh Bliss (all of Telltale S1 + 1-2 lines in S2)
"Who, me? Well, I'm, I'm flattered, but..."
5. Abe Lincoln statue head (one line in Telltale 106)
"This is all happening so fast! I don't know what to say!"
6. Flint Paper (several dialogues in Telltale S2+S3, plus Max being literally unable to shut up about his "semi-attractive single neighbor" in Poker Night 1)
"Me too. I really love that guy"
7. Mr. Reaperphone (one line in Telltale 205)
"Hey, good lookin'! I'll be back to cut you down later!"
8. Grandpa Stinky ??? Not really but the dialogue still kinda shows Max is into guys ? I mean, he's likely being sarcastic but given the fact that it's Max, It could go either ways đ¤ (one line in Telltale 205)
"Making the moves on an attractive woman instead of a grizzled old man. Weird."
9. Skun-ka'pe (at least one line in Telltale S3)
"Well, he IS pretty charismatic, Sam. And he's from space, which is a plus."
10. Superball ? I don't really see it as Max showing attraction but just in case some might (one line in Telltale 301)
"Wow. I feel really very close to you now, Agent Superball."
11. Sam clones (Telltale 304; also the way Max has such a big-ass grin everytime he compliments the clones...)
"The ghost of J Edgar Hoover is raising an unholy army of sexually provocative Sam clones!"
12. Ash Williams (one line in Telltale Poker Night 2)
"Even the ultra-rare "naked Ash" variant. Yowza!"
Bonus : Max getting Harry's number for a mission and Sam knowing his partner all-too-well (Telltale 301)
"Nice work, little buddy! Make sure you wait three days to call, or he'll think you're desperate."
I have been on a Willy Wonkified journey today and I need y'all to come with me
It started so innocently. Scrolling Google News I come across this article on Ars Technica:
At first glance I thought what happened was parents saw AI-generated images of an event their kids were at and became concerned, then realized it was fake. The reality? Oh so much better.
On Saturday, event organizers shut down a Glasgow-based "Willy's Chocolate Experience" after customers complained that the unofficial Wonka-inspired event, which took place in a sparsely decorated venue, did not match the lush AI-generated images listed on its official website.... According to Sky News, police were called to the event, and "advice was given."
Thing is, the people who paid to go were obviously not expecting exactly this:
But I can see how they'd be a bit pissed upon arriving to this:
It gets worse.
"Tempest, how could it possibly--"
source of this video that also includes this charming description:
Made up a villain called The Unknown â 'an evil chocolate maker who lives in the walls'
There is already a meme.
Oh yes, the Wish.com Oompa Loompa:
Who has already done an interview!
As bad (and hilarious) as this all is, I got curious about the company that put on this event. Did they somehow overreach? Did the actors they hired back out at the last minute? (Or after they saw the script...) Oddly enough, it doesn't seem so!
Given what I found when poking around I'm legit surprised there was an event at all. Cuz this outfit seems to be 100% a scam.
The website for this specific event is here and it has many AI generated images on it, as stated. I don't think anyone who bought tickets looked very closely at these images, otherwise they might have been concerned about how much Catgacating their children would be exposed to.
Yes, Catgacating. You know, CATgacating!
I personally don't think anyone should serve exarserdray flavored lollipops in public spaces given how many people are allergic to it. And the sweet teats might not have been age appropriate.
Though the Twilight Tunnel looks pretty cool:
I'm not sure that Dim Tight Twdrding is safe. I've also been warned that Vivue Sounds are in that weird frequency range that makes you poop your pants upon hearing them.
Yes, Virginia, these folks used an AI image generator for everything on the website and used Chat GPT for some of the text! From the FAQ:
Q: I cannot go on the available days. Will you have more dates in the future?
A: Should there be capacity when you arrive, then you will be able to enter without any problems. In the event that this is not the case, we may ask you to wait a bit.
Fear not, for this question is asked again a few lines down and the answer makes more sense.
Curious about the events company behind this disaster, I took myself over to the homepage of House of Illuminati and I was not disappointed.
I would 100% trust these people to plan my wedding.
This abomination of a website is a badly edited WordPress blog filled with AI art and just enough blog posts to make the casual viewer think that it's a legit business for about 0.0004 seconds.
Their attention to detail is stunning, from how they left up the default first post every WP blog gets to how they didn't bother changing the name on several images, thus revealing where they came from. Like this one:
With the lovely and compact filename "DALL¡E-2024-01-30-09.50.54-Imagine-a-scene-where-fantasy-and-reality-merge-seamlessly.-In-the-foreground-a-grand-interactive-gala-is-taking-place-filled-with-elegant-guests-i.png"
"Concept.png" came from the same AI generator that gets text almost, but not quiiiiiite right:
There are a suspicious number of .webp images in the uploads, which makes me think they either stole them from other sites where AI "art" was uploaded or they didn't want to pay for the hi-res versions of some and just grabbed the preview image.
The real fun came when I noticed this filename: Before-and-After-Eventologists-Transformation-Edgbaston-Cricket-Ground-1024x1024-1.jpg and decided to do a Google image search. Friends, you will be shocked to hear that the image in question, found on this post touting how they can transform a boring warehouse into a fun event space, was stolen from this actual event planner.
Even better, this weirdly grainy image?
From a post that claims to be about the preparations for a "Willy Wonka" experience (we'll get to this in a minute), is not only NOT an actual image of anyone preparing anything for Illuminati's event, it is stolen from a YouTube thumbnail that's been chopped to remove the name of the company that actually made this. Here's the video.
If you actually read the blog posts they're all copypasta or some AI generated crap. To the point where this seems like not a real business at all. There's very specific business information at the bottom, but nothing else seems real.
As I said, I'm kinda surprised they put on an event at all. This has, "And then they ran off with all our money!" written all over it. I'm perplexed.
And also wondering when the copyright lawyers are gonna start calling, because...
This post explicitly says they're putting together a "Willy Wonkaâs Chocolate Factory Experience" complete with golden tickets.
Somewhere along the line someone must have wised up, because the actual event was called "Willys Chocolate Experience" (note the lack of apostrophe) and the script they handed to the actors about 10 minutes before they were supposed to "perform" was about a "Willy McDuff" and his chocolate factory.
As I was going through this madness with friends in a chat, one pointed out that it took very little prompting to get the free Chat GPT to spit out an event description and such very similar to all this while avoiding copyrighted phrases. But he couldn't figure out where the McDuff came from since it wasn't the type of thing GPT would usually spit out...
Until he altered the prompt to include it would be happening in Glasgow, Scotland.
You cannot make this stuff up.
But truly, honestly, I do not even understand why they didn't take the money and run. Clearly this was all set up to be a scam. A lazy, AI generated scam.
Everything from the website to the event images to the copy to the "script" to the names of things was either stolen or AI generated (aka stolen). Hell, I'd be looking for some poor Japanese visitor wandering the streets of Glasgow, confused, after being jacked for his mascot costume.
summary: so now youâre fucking your roommate on the regular, what could possibly go wrong? Itâs just for the camera, right?
an: You guys!! Iâm so so happy with the feedback if received for the first chapter of this fic, I want to give you guys as much camgirl!Ellie as I possibly can. So, as before, letâs keep this short and sweet so we can get into it, love you so so so much (also shout out to everyoneâs comments and asks on what they wanted to see for this chapter! Yoi all helped me sm! You all know who you are hehe)
warnings: smut!! 18+, MDNI, camgirl!ellie, roommate!ellie, biker!Ellie (thereâs lots of tropes in this one lol), JELOUS!ELLIE, mentions of an older woman but itâs so brief, mentions of alternate love interest, face sitting, fingering, filming of intercourse, use of strap, mentions of the word cock, ANGST!, slight fluff??, lmk if I missed anything!
You can read part 1 here!, and part 3 here!
A soft puff of air blew past your lips as you finished organizing the last shelf of records, your eyes looking down at the remainder vinyls that most definitely wouldnât fit into any of the space you had.
God you hated the holidays.
Well you didnât, you loved the colder months. It was so cozy, and welcoming, however you hated it as a retail worker. With the changing of the seasons came your manager with boxes of new vintage records that he explained were in high demand for the customers coming in and out of the city, all of which you had to change out and organize from the last collection youâd had for the summer time.
So the holidays were fine, just not when you were working.
Not to mention, the only thing plaguing your mind these days was a specific brunette who had quite the tongue on her.
After that night, Ellie had you rewatch the video, making sure you were okay with it, and it was okay to post. It was weird, because youâd never really seen yourself that way. You never moan too loud, or put on too much of a show during sex, it just was what it was, and it wasnât ever really done with an audience in mind. But seeing yourself in Ellieâs lap, her strong hands running up and down your body, working on your pussy like a fucking pro, you had to admit.
You looked damn fucking good on camera.
And you werenât the only one that thought so. After you gave Ellie the okay to post and edit the video, the response was amazing. Gone where the comments asking where Ellieâs usually girl was, missing the chemistry they had, her whiny moans and pretty body, all of which were replaced by a sea of comments and donations coming in, all on your behalf. They asked Ellie to please keep you around, putting in suggestions of what they wanted to see next, what they wanted to see her do to you, next.
Ellie wasnât wrong, the crowd fucking loved you.
So? You filmed another video. And another, and another, and another, until you and Ellie had created nearly an entire box set of home movies for her adoring fans, all of which had become your adoring fans practically over night.
And fuck, did Ellie know what she was doing.
Sure, youâd had your fair share of good sex in the past. Your ex was pretty good with her hands, and there was that one girl you were seeing for a few months, she was okay with her strap.
But Ellie? Jesus Christ, you quickly caught onto why Julia acted the way she did after Ellie was done with her.
It was all you could think about, the way that Ellie treated your body when you were filming. The way she never failed to pay attention to every part of you before herself, the way she kissed you, the way her hands ran down your body, the way she simply knew how to pleasure a woman.
And it wasnât like there was any real harm in any of it, right? In helping your roommate with her line of work? Thatâs what it was after all. You helped Ellie make her content, and she fucked you until you could barely think straight.
In simpler terms, Ellie knew how to fuck, and she knew how to fuck good. Filming with her only further proved that.
Your eyes scanned the record store once more, a stack of records in your hands as you tried looking for another place where these god forsaken vinyls could go. You were close to simply shoving them underneath the cash register, calling it a night and going home before the drunk tourists eager to visit the city got in your way of getting to your bus stop.
You spotted a spot on top of one of the shelves, which made you huff softly in annoyance. You usually avoided it since you couldnât reach it, vowing to never put yourself out of your way for a bunch of records no one will want to buy, but there werenât many and you figured you already had them out, so might as well finish what you started.
As you struggled to push the records up into the tall shelf, you heard the little ding at the front door of your shop over the soft music that you had playing. You couldnât even bother to turn around, knowing it was most definitely some drunk idiot trying to buy a last minute gift for someone.
âSorryâŚweâreâŚfuckâŚweâre closedâ you huffed out as you struggled even further, the tips of your fingers finally pushing one of the records up and sliding it into place. You didnât even realize you didnât hear the usual apology paired with the bell ringing again, signaling that the person had left.
It wasnât until you felt a hand push into the sliver of skin that was slightly exposed between your jeans and your top, making you shriek loudly and recoil from the persons touch. Once you turned around, you were prepared to smash the stack of records you had over the idiots head who thought it was okay to come in and touch random girls while they worked.
But you only came face to face with those gorgeous green eyes that you seemed to constantly see, even when she wasnât around.
You let out a soft gasp, reaching forward and landing a not so friendly punch on her leather clad arms, a soft huff leaving your lips as you watched your roommate snort softly at you, trying to stifle a laugh.
âWhat the hell is wrong with you, Ellie?? I couldâve dropped theseâ you whine, looking down at the disheveled records before you turned around, going back to trying to pushing them back into their spot.
Ellie sighed softly as she came down from her laughing fit, setting her helmet down on the row of records next to her as she leaned against it. âShouldnât you be locking the door once youâre closed? Sounds like a safety hazard to meâ she hummed out, clearly trying to get under your skin.
You could practically hear that stupid fucking smirk on her lips, which makes you roll your eyes, even if she was right.
âI had a customer before I started putting these awayâŚIâll lock up once Iâm finishedâ you explained, still struggling with the second record you had, which makes Ellie chuckle softly.
She pushed herself off of the row she was leaned up against before she stood behind you, her chest pressing against your back, one of her hands resting on your hip, giving it a gentle squeeze, before she reached up with ease and pushed the record in with ease.
You let out a soft huff softly, looking down at her hand on your waist before you turn around, looking up at her and narrowing your eyes at the girl. âIs that really necessary?â You question as you gesture to her hand, which only makes her shrug before bringing her hand down and giving your ass a firm squeeze, ânot at all. Gimme those and go grab your stuff, Iâm taking you homeâ she explained before she promptly took the records and put them away on the shelf for you.
You simply stare at her in disbelief, watching as she put away the records with ease. She looked over at you, nodding her head towards the back where she knew you kept your stuff while you were working. âGo on. I donât wanna get stuck in trafficâ she explained, which makes you roll your eyes at her before you stomp off to go and grab your things.
Damn her for being so fucking hot.
Soon, you had your jacket on and your bag was slung over your shoulder. When you walked out to the store front to shut off the lights and the music, Ellie was scrolling through her phone, leaned up against the cashier, seemingly waiting for you. She gave you a soft smile when she noticed you were there, pushing her phone into her pocket. âReady?â She asked, moving to grab her helmet.
You nodded, returning the soft smile before you grabbed the keys, nodding your head towards the door. âReadyâ you confirm.
She followed behind you, waiting for you as you locked up the store before leading her out.
You shivered slightly when you both step out into the cold air, watching as the lights of the city illuminate the street, welcoming everyone who was in need of a night out. You just wanted to get home.
You watched as Ellie walked in front of you, setting her helmet down before she opened up her seat to grab her spare and handing it to you before she put hers on and swung her leg over her bike to get on.
Usually, Ellie didnât pick you up from work. She was most likely busy filming with Julia, finishing up far too late to meet you at work. Sometimes, sheâd be in the area and sheâd pick you up, but that wasnât something that happened quite often for you two.
But, ever since you took Juliaâs place, Ellie had been picking you up a lot more often.
You took the helmet from her, putting it on your head before you got onto Ellieâs bike, wrapping your arms around her waist and resting your head along her leather clad back. You heard a soft chuckle muffled by her helmet, her head turning to the side a bit as she felt you cuddle into her from behind.
"Don't need to tell you to hold on tight, do I?" She teased, which earns a soft pinch to her side from you.
Before you know it, Ellie is turning on the engine to her bike, revving it a bit, and you two are speeding down the streets of the city towards your apartment.
The feeling of the cold breeze kissing your exposed skin as Ellie drove you both down the streets made your blood pump. It was fucking stupid, but drives home with her had a way of truly making you feel alive for a bit.
Youâd never tell her that, though. It would blow her head up way too much.
Ellie had a tendency to show off in many aspects of her life. One of those manifested whenever she was on her bike. Sheâd rev her engine when she saw a group of pretty girls, tattooed hands gripping the handles of her bike as she watched them swoon over her. Sheâd get a kick out of it whenever theyâd squeal over her, trying their best to call her back, an attempt at trying to get her to turn around and give them more attention.
You thought it was stupid. It was just Ellie on a bike after all.
Ellie stopped once she reached a red light, her back straightening out a bit as she rested one of her hands on her thighs, patting a mindlessly rhythm into her jean clad leg as she waited for it to turn green so you could both get moving again. Your hands loosened a bit on her waist as you waited as well.
You noticed from the corner of your eye a car pulling up next to you. Itâs a sleek black 1969 dodge charger, the lights of the city bouncing off of the shiny paint. It isnât too flashy, but enough so that anyone can appreciate. You canât help but gawk a bit at the beautiful car, not at all noticing the window slowly rolling down.
You hear a whistle, which catches both yours and Ellieâs attention. In the car, is an older woman. You took not of her features, noticing how pretty she was, long hair tucked up into a bun, body adorned in what you could only assume was an expensive suit. You notice her lips tugged beneath her teeth as her dark eyes bore holes into your direction, and you can only assume sheâs gawking at Ellie, as one usually does when sheâs out on her bike. As you look closer, you realize she isnât looking at Ellie.
Sheâs looking at you.
And you canât even deny that your chest doesnât warm up, because sheâs clearly extremely beautiful. Her strong, ring clad hands gripping the steering wheel as her eyes travel down your body. You didnât think that when you tugged on your favorite pair of jeans and your old brown jacket that same morning that youâd be getting attention from anyone, let alone from a fucking rich milf in the middle of the road.
But you arenât the only one to notice, because you feel Ellie shift forward, her own hands going back to grip the handle bars of her bike, her head never leaving the direction of the woman whoâs shamelessly undressing you with her eyes. You gasp softly underneath your own helmet when the feeling of Ellie revving her bike catches you off guard, ripping you away from the trance the woman has you in. You turn your head to look at Ellie, hands tightening a bit around her waist to prepare your take off.
But Ellieâs head never leaves the woman.
This catches the womanâs attention, and she merely chuckles softly before she sticks her hand out her window and gives Ellie a slight wave, as if to silently tell her sheâd back off. The light turns green, and while you think thatâs the end of it, you catch a glimpse of the woman sending a wink your way before she zooms off, which prompts Ellie to do soon after, just as fast, knuckles turning white as she gripped her handle bars.
If you werenât holding on tight enough to Ellie, youâd probably have gone flying.
When you both get home, you decide not to question the very bizarre interaction you both had with that woman, figuring it was just Ellie being Ellie, and there wasnât really anything to it anyways.
At least, thatâs what you told yourself.
It makes it even stranger that when you both walk through the door, Ellie doesnât show a single sign of annoyance, which makes you feel like youâre hallucinating even more than you were before. Sheâs walking into the apartment, tugging off her jacket and tossing it on a nearby chair, and grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge before plopping down onto the couch.
So yeah, youâre probably just tired.
You let out a soft hum as you tug off your own jacket before hanging it up, grabbing Ellieâs and hanging it up as well. She had a bad habit of shedding her layers off as soon as she got through the door.
You stand before Ellie in the living room, her legs spread as she babysits a bottle of water, eyes never leaving yours. You watch as she pats her lap quietly, which forces you to give her a look of disbelief.
Usually, youâd have a witty remark for that sort of gesture from Ellie, which would often times be paired with a pillow to her face. But thereâs simply something about the way her legs are spread out on the couch, looking so fucking inviting, that makes you quietly follow her orders, and straddle her lap.
Now, most intimacy was supposed to be saved for the camera, it was an unspoken rule of filming with Ellie, or it was a rule you set for yourself. Apart from warming up before filming, letting Ellie get you nice and wet for her before you got on camera with her, there wasnât really a reason to have any sort of intimacy with her. Things were supposed to go back to normal when you werenât on camera, back to how things were as roommates.
But, youâd be lying if you said thatâs how it was. You and Ellie had always had an affectionate relationship, one that never went without cuddling, caressing, even crashing in your bed from time to time when she couldnât sleep. You were no stranger to Ellieâs strong hands on your body, because that was just Ellie. She had a thing for gripping and groping, always wanting her hands to be occupied with something whenever you were near, you assumed thatâs how she was with everyone.
There just seemed to be something about getting regularly fucked by Ellie that made the intimacy take a different level, a different course that made things feelâŚdifferent.
And of course, thereâs no harm in that. You watched Ellie kiss Julia goodnight every time she left the house, always taking an extra few minutes to hold her when they were done. If they could do it, why couldnât you two do it?
Ellie let out a soft hum of approval when you straddled her lap, disregarding the water bottle so that both her hands were free to grip your hips, pulling you closer to her. Your hands went around her neck, toying with the hair at the nape of her neck as she pressed her face against your neck, giving your skin a deep inhale.
âMissed you todayâŚâ she mumbled softly against your skin, which makes you roll your eyes playfully, yet still keeping her close. âYou saw me this morning before I leftâ you argue softly, which only earns a soft whine from Ellie, you can feel her lips form a pout against your throat before she presses soft kisses to it.
âSo? Still missed youâ she explained, her voice low as she spoke. You canât help but giggle softly, staring down at the girl as she litters your throat with soft kisses.
But this feels way too fucking intimate, even for you and Ellie.
You clear your throat, tugging her hair back a bit to force her to look at you, which makes Ellie groan softly, half in annoyance, and half in pleasure. She loved it whenever you did what you wanted with her.
âWe filming tonight?â You ask quickly, a sorry attempt at trying to interrupt this soppy little scene you and her are having.
You see a flash of something ripple through Ellieâs green eyes, something you canât quite put your finger on, because sheâs changing her expression much too quickly, giving you and eager nod as her hands go from gently caressing you, to gripping your ass tightly. This makes you whine softly in her lap.
âEager to have meâŚarenât you babyâ she chuckles softly, the shift in her personality clear as her eyes quickly darken with lust. You swallow nervously, always feeling small in front of Ellie whenever she looked at you that way. You feel the way she slowly begins grinding your hips down into her lap, strong hands gripping you and moving you as she pleased. You can only nod, your lips forming a gentle pout before a gentle sigh leaves them.
âAlwaysâŚâ you moan out softly, which makes her smirk up at you proudly. Youâd gotten so good at voicing what you wanted these past few weeks, it made warmth pool at Ellieâs core.
She gives your ass a firm spank before she nodded her head towards her room. âGo get the camera, babyâ she ordered gently, that delicious tone of dominance lacing her words, you quickly followed her instructions, getting up from her lap and going to her room to get the equipment.
That was another thing, with your new presence in Ellieâs work, came a change of scenery in her videos.
Ellie usually kept her videos and streams exclusive to her bedroom, having the common courtesy to not fuck all over your shared apartment. But now that it was just you two, there was a new sense of freedom when it came to filming with you. It happened one day when Ellie was finger fucking your pussy on the couch, and had the bright idea to grab her camera, because it was just too fucking good to not hit record on.
Once again, another example of intimacy outside of filming.
You returned with all of the filming equipment, never knowing what Ellie had planned for a shoot, so instead opting to bring everything so she could choose from.
Ellie smirks softly as she sits up from her spot on the couch, eyes low and filled with lush as you walk back into the living room. You lift up her camera and her tripod, a confused frown on your lips as you look between the two. âMânot sure what you wanted to film, so I brought both. I can always go back and-â sheâs quickly cutting you off, standing up from the couch and slowly making her way to you before she takes both out of your hands gently, and sets them down on your coffee table.
âWe can focus on that, laterâŚI need to make sure youâre ready..â she purred out, making you swallow back a whimper.
Her hands go down to yours, gently gripping your arms before she pushes them to rest around her neck, her own hands wrapping around your waist and pulling you flush to her body.
âMaking sure you were readyâ was just Ellieâs way of saying she wanted a moment with you off camera.
You simply give her a nod, your head already tilting forward as you lean in to press a kiss to her soft lips. Ellie groans in approval, her head tilting to the side a bit as soon as you were pressed against her, deepening the kiss. Her nimble fingers slide down to your ass, giving it a firm squeeze while also using the leverage to pull you closer, pressing your chest firmly against hers. This make you gasp, and as always, she uses that opportunity to slip her tongue into your mouth.
Ellie smirks into the kiss, her tongue exploring your mouth as her hands massage your ass through your jeans.
âBeen needy for me, baby? Iâve been needy for youâŚâ she confessed between the feverish kiss. It was slow, and dirty, and so fucking erotic, it had your panties soaked already.
All you could do was nod, desperately pushing your lips back against hers as you tugged at her shirt. âThought about you all dayâŚâ you said mindlessly, which makes Ellie chuckle softly against you.
âYeah? GodâŚme fuckin tooâŚkept thinking about your pretty cunt all dayâŚfucked my self so many times to the thought of youâŚâ she groaned out. Her words make you moan a bit louder.
Youâre so fucked out already, that you can barely register what it is that she just confessed to you.
Ellie hums softly as she breaks the kiss, looking down at you as you stare up at her with lust filled eyes and a needy pout. She tucked a strand of your hair behind your ear, her own swollen lip tugged between her teeth.
âBet you loved when that woman was staring at youâŚdidnât you.â
This catches you off guard.
Your eyes widen a bit, shocked over the fact that Ellie was even bringing it up to you, especially when all you wanted was her hands on your cunt, not the image of another woman in your head.
You donât know why, but your first response is to quickly shake your head.
âWhat? She wasnâtâŚI didnât notice her staringâ you try, eyes wide like a deer caught in the headlights. Ellie chuckles softly as she watches you, catching your chin between her thumb and pointer finger as she angles your face up a bit more to stare up at her.
âItâs okay babyâŚshe was very prettyâŚâ she agreed, giving a slow nod before she clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, head cocking to the side in a teasing manner before she hummed out softly.
âYou think she could make you feel as good as I do?â She questioned, blown out pupils surrounded by a sliver of green staring down into your own.
And again, youâre quickly shaking your head, because you know for a fact that there is probably only a handful of people on this planet that can fuck you as good as Ellie can, and thatâs being generous to the general population. Ellie fucks good, and anyone who gets to experience that is fucking lucky.
Theyâre also ruined for anyone else who comes after her.
âFuckâŚyou know no one canâŚcome on ElâŚneed you so badâŚâ you whine softly, giving Ellie a whiny little pout as you tug at her shirt further, feeling like youâll explode if you donât have her hands on you in the next few seconds. Ellie simply chuckles, watching as you whine and pout for her, a sorry attempt at trying to find your way out of the conversation.
âYouâre damn right they canâtâŚsuch a good girlâŚâ she praises, which makes you whine softly.
Ellie hums softly as she stares down at your body, giving your waist a gentle tap. âStay here.â She ordered softly before she moved over to set up the camera.
You watch as she sets up the tripod, making it level with the couch, low enough so that it stops right where the back of the couch ends, so that it doesnât catch your kitchen in the background. She turns it on before she goes behind it, bending down a bit to make sure the angle is good before she nods to herself before she moved to sit down on the couch much like she was earlier, legs spread wide, her dark jeans stretching over her toned thighs. Her arms stretched along the back of the couch, dark eyes boring holes as she watched you.
âStripâ she ordered.
Fuck.
You immediately began slowly stripping for her. Staring with your t shirt, then with your jeans, leaving you in your bra and panties for a moment before you removed those as well, until you were fully naked in front of Ellie, her eyes eating you up like a hungry animal.
âSo fuckin prettyâŚJesusâŚâ she groaned softly underneath her breath, letting you simply stand there, naked for her, under the dim lighting of your cozy living room.
After a moment passed, she nodded her head towards the camera. âStart recording, and then come over here.â She instructed once again, and she didnât need to tell you twice.
You slowly walked over to the camera. On the screen, you could see Ellie on the camera, only her body visible, looking so fucking strong and confident. You knew from the angle of the camera alone, that Ellieâs viewers were in for a treat with this one.
And so were you.
When you hit record, you made your way over to Ellie slowly. She hummed softly, eyes staring up at you as you stood over her before she looked down at her lap, as if silently telling you to take a seat. You straddled her lap, the rough material of her jeans on your naked body making you hiss softly.
Ellie hummed, her large hands roaming your body the second you were on her lap. âFuckâŚlook at you baby..came home to all this?â Her words make you frown in confusion for only a moment, yet you quickly catch onto the fantasy that sheâs trying to sell to her viewers.
You give a soft giggle, nodding as you lean in to press a soft kiss to her temple. âMissed you so muchâŚwanted to surprise you..â you purr out softly, a soft whine leaving your lips once Ellie began to slowly grind you down on her lap as she was earlier, yet this time it makes you huff softly, the rough material of her jeans dragging along your sensitive core.
âArenât I luckyâŚcoming home to my pretty girl like thisâŚfuckâŚyouâve been on my mind all fucking dayâŚâ she groaned out, her eyebrows furrowing as she looked down at your naked body, a soft hiss leaving her lips as she let her hand come in between you both, catching your slippery clit against her thumb. She watches your facial expression change, a soft moan leaving your lips as you rest your hands on either one of her shoulders, looking down at her hand toying with you.
âSo wet alreadyâŚstand up for me babyâ she hummed out softly as she gave your hip a gentle pat. You listened, standing up from her lap, which allowed her to lay down onto the couch, one of her knees bent up as the other leg laid down. She gestured you over to her.
âCome sit on my face princessâ she ordered.
Her words alone made you whine, and you wasted no time straddled her face, either side of your legs shielding her face from the camera.
As soon as you were settled, her tongue was out, inviting you down to take a seat as you rested a bit of your wait onto it, your pussy pressing against the warm muscle. You moan out loudly, back arching as you slowly began rocking your hips back and forth on Ellieâs flattened tongue.
The apartment was soon filled with the sounds of your moans, and Ellieâs tongue lapping away at your soaked cunt. It was times like this that Ellie had to depend on you to carry out the vocals, seeing as her mouth was a bitâŚoccupied.
âF-feels so goodâŚmissed you so much todayâŚâ you moan out shyly, testing the waters with your voice a bit. Ellie groaned below you, her own hips bucking upwards, grinding into nothing as she gave you a quiet gesture to keep going.
You whined, giving her a slow nod as you kept going.
âYou look so prettyâŚfuckâŚI love your tongue so muchâŚâ you moan out again, which earns another moan from Ellie, sending vibrations onto your sopping cunt. You moan loudly again, one of her hands coming up from around your thigh, to snake up your body and toy with your boobs, massaging the skin, pinching your nipples, her hips still bucking up into nothing with need.
You notice, turning around a bit and catching the way her hips bucked up with need. You whimper softly, reaching a hand behind you to undo her jeans before you push them down her pants, her own clit throbbing against your fingers as you begin rubbing her, watching as her eyes roll back when you begin doing this.
âFeels good? FuckâŚyouâre so fucking wetâŚfuuuckkâŚwannaâŚwanna cum with youâŚpleaseâ you practically beg, your arm already becoming sore from the uncomfortable position, yet you still paid the upmost attention to her poor needy pussy.
Ellie always prioritized your pleasure, it was time you do the same.
Ellie moaned and groaned against your pussy, her tongue speeding up the closer she got, her pussy grinding into your fingers desperately. You arched your back, eyebrows furrowed as you let your head fall back, the pleasure becoming too much.
You knew she was close, the grip on your thighs was almost deadly, and you were too. It wasnât long before her hips were sputtering, her arousal soaking your fingers as she came. This alone was enough to make you shriek with pleasure, nearly falling back as your arm nearly gave out from behind you, but Ellieâs strong arms were already on your hips to keep you up, pulling you further up as she lapped at your core, helping you ride out your orgasm.
The thing you hated about filming with Ellie the most? You couldnât even scream her name when she made you cum.
You breathed hard, your exhausted pussy shying away from Ellieâs tongue as you stared down at her, body back in its upright position, her gorgeous green eyes staring up at yours, cheeks red as she gave your pussy kitty licks.
âYou should stay out late more often..â you tease, which earns a soft giggle from both of you.
Ellie gives your pussy one last kiss before she pushes you down her body so youâre straddling her waist, her eyes low and hazy as she stares up at you, gently massaging the skin of your thighs.
You always enjoyed the aftermath with her, the silence that came with it, the come down was almost as good as the sex itself. You were both so fucked out, so utterly satisfied, the warmth that overtook you was almost unbearable. You could stay there forever if you truly wanted to.
But alas, it never lasted long enough.
You felt the familiar tap on your thighs, a silent reminder that Ellie had to indeed get up and stop the camera recording. You roll off of her with wobbly thighs, cuddling into the couch and grabbing a nearby blanket to shield your body from the cold air of your apartment.
You watch with sleepy eyes as Ellie gets up, buttoning up her jeans and turning off the camera before pulling it front the tripod to look back at the footage, making sure it was all recorded correctly.
You hear your moans echoing from the device, which makes you whine softly. You always hated hearing yourself, no matter how hot you and Ellie looked. Ellie chuckles softly, shaking her head as she watched the video for a moment longer before she shut off the camera.
âThat improv of yours was pretty damn goodâŚtheyâre gonna like thatâ she added, making you giggle softly before giving her a shrug. âI always like playing with your pussyâ your words make Ellie groan, and sheâs suddenly giving you a look of warning, a smirk playing on her lips to match.
âDonât play with something you canât handle sweetheartâ she warned you, and you canât help but roll your eyes, despite the fire you feel from that look alone.
âPlease, you wouldnât know how to fuck me even if you had the chanceâ you challenge her.
Oh yeah, that was another thing. Ellie still hadnât properly fucked you yet.
You huffed softly as you tugged yet another top off of your body. Youâd tried on nearly every article of clothing you had in your closet, yet it just wasnât fucking working. It was times like this, that you simply wanted to burn all of your clothes and never leave your house again.
You were currently getting ready for a date, a girl youâd met at the record store had ended up asking you out on a date while you were showing her to the new age rock section that the store carried.
The first thing that went through your mind when the girl asked, wasnât how pretty she was, or how nice her fingers looked wrapped around the edge of the thin vinyls in her hand.
No, none of that went through your head. The only thing that went through your head when the girl asked you out was Ellie.
And that scared you.
Because itâs Ellie for gods sake. The girl youâve been living with for almost three years now, the girl who you watched eat dry cereal from the box instead of making herself a proper meal, the girl who youâve watched genuinely find family guy funnyâŚ
The girl whoâd been playing your body like a fucking guitar for almost a month now.
You realized, you needed this date.
So you agreed, giving the girl your number and telling her to text you so you guys could set up a date.
The guilt was eating you alive, because while Ellie would be fucking you with a dildo, her lips firmly on yours, you knew in the back of your head you had a girl waiting to see you at the end of the week.
And it was conflicting because did you even have to tell Ellie? Would it be stupid if you did? Would it be wrong if you didnât? It was still just Ellie, after all. Sure, sheâd seen you naked now, and sheâd made you cum more times than you could count, and you her, but she was still your friend. She was still your normal roommate, your Ellie. And there was nothing really holding you back from going on dates.
Right?
You chalked up all your guilt by convincing yourself that Ellie was probably talking to other girls too, actively searching for a girlfriend, or even a permanent filming partner while you temporarily filled that spot.
Because while you guys never formally spoke about it, thatâs all you were, temporary.
It worked out perfectly, because Ellie had gone out for the night, texting you and telling you she had some stuff to do, errands to run. It gave you the place all to yourself to get ready. You wouldâve felt extremely stupid sneaking out of your own apartment to avoid any awkward interactions with Ellie. Even though you werenât even sure if it would even be awkward.
You ended up settling on a little black dress, a pair of black boots and a leather bomber jacket, an outfit you had long since ran dry with how many times you wore, but you looked good, and you werenât going to to stray away from that.
You fluffed out your hair after you finished up your makeup, spraying on your favorite perfume before you grabbed your phone, sending record store girl a quick text, letting her know that youâd be leaving your house now to meet her at the bar that you two had agreed on going to for your first date.
You couldnât ignore the sour taste in your mouth, and the aching feeling in your belly as you looked around your room, making your final rounds before you left. There was something about the entire ordeal that just feltâŚdirty. The fact that you were sneaking around, hiding something that you felt needed to be hiddenâŚ
Leaving Ellie for the night.
All of it made you feel ill, and the fact that you felt that way made you feel even worse.
But regardless of it all, Ellie was out and it was all in your head. Ellie probably wouldnât even care if you went out with a girl! Sheâd be happy for you, sheâd send you out of the apartment with an encouraging slap on your ass before telling you to wrap it up before you-
Suddenly, you could hear Ellie opening up the door from the other side of your apartment door. You feel like youâll freeze up and die in that very moment.
She walks into the house humming a tune you canât quite find, probably some song that had been stuck in her head. She has her helmet tucked under her arm, and a brown paper bag with the logo of your favorite take out spot slung along her long fingers. She doesnât notice you at first, because sheâs too busy cursing under her breath as she tries to get herself inside, a low groan leaving her lips a she tosses her keys into the entrance bowl, kicking the door shut behind her.
âBabe? You home? I brought dinnerâ she calls out.
You feel sick to your fucking stomach.
Because it feels too domestic, too romantic, too fucking far for you and Ellie for her to be calling out for you that way, to be ordering your favorite dinner and bringing it home for you. You arenât even entirely sure what prompted her to do this, and you donât know who youâre more annoyed with, her for doing it, or you for not being honest with her.
Youâre too caught up in your thoughts, because you barely realize that Ellieâs eyes are finally on yours, a confused frown as she stares at you up and down, clearly readying yourself to leave the apartment.
âYouâŚlook so pretty. Are we going somewhere?â She questions slowly, her sentence slipping into a tone of worry, as if sheâd forgotten about something that you planned for the both of you, her big green eyes frantically searching yours.
You canât fucking do this anymore.
You inhale deeply, shaking your head as you clear your throat, your fingers tugging at the bottom of your dress as you try to find your voice, find your words to break it to Ellie.
âI umâŚ.I have a date tonightâ you mumble out softly, barely loud enough for Ellie to hear, hoping that she doesnât and some miracle snatches this ridiculous conversation away so you donât have to experience it.
But she does hear you.
Her face goes from worried to annoyed almost instantly, her brows knitted together as her lips form a confused frown. âA date? With who?â She spits out, and the tone is too accusing for you. It makes you wince slightly, your lips forming a frown of your own as you let out a soft sigh.
âGirl I met at the record storeâ you sigh out, and you hate this, because it feels so far from what you and Ellie are. It feels to reminiscent of a jealous girlfriend cornering you, confused as to why youâd ever leave her when she was there waiting for you, why on earth would you pass her up for anyone else when she gives you everything anyways?
The energy you can feel radiating off of Ellie is the same thing you felt when that woman was looking at you on the road. It feels hostile, and possessive, it feels like she has some claim on you that you arenât even fully aware of, and itâs the reason you decided to go on the date in the first place, because regardless of not fully knowing what it is thatâs happened between you and Ellie.
You know it isnât good.
Ellie moves to drop the food onto the coffee table, a bit too harshly in your opinion. Her strong hand goes up to run through her brown hair, one hand on her hip as she stares at the floor for a moment. You shouldâve just taken that as an opportunity to leave, to avoid all of this. But you donât.
âItâsâŚitâs Friday night. Weâre supposed to film. We film every Fridayâ she argues.
Fuck.
You chew your maroon tinted bottom lip, feeling like a kid whoâs done something bad and is now facing the repercussions of a disappointed parent. You feel small, and stupid, and you canât believe you forgot about it. There had been such a blur between the schedule you had with Ellie, with far too many moments of making out with her on the couch, or her fingers finding their way into your pants whenever you were watching a movie together, that the intimacy in your brain was becoming confused with the intimacy that was needed for the camera and the camera only.
And in that moment, you realize that this needs to end.
Because maybe you and Ellie can go back to normal, maybe you can forget about this and she can find someone who is better at this stuff than you are. Itâs too confusing, and itâs putting you in a bad position of thinking too deep into things while also missing the bigger picture, and youâre fucking exhausted.
You inhale deeply, opening your mouth to speak, to tell her that this isnât what you want anymore, that this isnât for you anymore. You have it all mapped out, how youâre going to finally tell her that this simply canât go on anymore.
But suddenly, your phone goes off.
You frown, looking down at the glowing device in your hands. Itâs a text from record store girl, sheâs telling you how she just left her house, and how excited she is to see you tonight. This catches Ellieâs attention too.
She looks down at your phone, her angry and annoyed expression still present on her face.
âIs that her?â She asks. You let out a soft sigh, shaking your head as you try pushing your phone in your jacket pocket. âEllie IâŚwhen I get back I really think we should talk about-â she quickly cuts you off, her voice a bit louder than it was when she first asked.
âI saidâŚis that her?â Her words are slower, clearer, as if she wants you to hear every goddamn syllable that leaves her mouth. You know she isnât fucking around, and you simply inhale deeply, taking your phone out of your pocket and looking at the message that was still lingering at the bottom of your Lock Screen.
âYeahâŚit isâŚ.â You admit, ignoring how fucking stupid you feel for telling Ellie this. You should have left, you should have ignored her and gone on your date and had a good time so you could come home and tell her that she needed to find a new filming partner, because you werenât cut out for this shit anymore.
She begins taking slow strides towards you, the closer she gets, the more you can smell her cologne. It makes you swallow back a whine, because her scent is the single most euphoric thing to you right now. It haunts you in your sleep, and it makes your mouth water whenever sheâs on top of you.
Soon, sheâs right in front of you, her green eyes staring down at your outfit, taking in everything that you have on, how pretty your hair and makeup is. Her slender fingers come up to tug at your jacket slightly, a soft puff of air exiting her nose before she speaks. âWhatâd she tell you? That sheâs on her way? So excited to see you?â She questions, her voice low and taunting as her nimble fingers dance along your jacket, ghosting along the fabric of your dress.
âFuckin idiotâŚsheâs on her way to some shitty bar and Iâve got her girl practically shaking for me..â she hummed out softly.
And it was true. Ellie had hardly touched you, yet your fists were balled at your side, body practically begging for her as her skilled fingers barely gave you what you wanted. The second she was in front of you, your brain was clouded with her, with all the things you wanted from her, all the things you knew she could do to you.
âHad so much planned for us tonight, babyâŚwanted to finally show you off live..wanted to take care of that pretty body of yoursâŚand you were getting all dolled up for some asshole who probably wouldnât know how to make you cum even if she got the chanceâ she explains, her voice low, minty breath fanning across your face, making you whine softly.
âYouâve never dress like this for me beforeâŚâ she groans out, and it makes your eyes widen a bit. Before you can open your mouth and say anything back, her skinny fingers are grabbing your chin and angling your face up to fully look at her, her green eyes staring down into yours as she licked her bottom lip slowly.
âGod I canât stand you sometimes..â she sighed out softly before she pressed her mouth against yours in a needy kiss. Your hands instantly wrap around her neck, keeping her close as her own arms wrap around your waist, pulling you flush against her body.
Itâs as if any and all moral high ground that you had was gone, replaced by only thoughts of Ellie. You let her fill you up, breath life into you as her warm tongue explored your mouth, dominated the kiss and took you on a wild fucking ride that only consisted of a single kiss from her.
Soon, sheâs breaking the kiss, and it makes you whine and chase her lips. She chuckles softly, the sound dark and taunting as she stares down at your needy eyes and swollen lips. âNow youâre chasing meâŚpoor thingâŚâ she tuts out, clearly mocking you with a pouty tone.
She slips her hand into your jacket pocket, taking out your phone and looking at the message. She rolls her eyes, pushing the phone in between you two.
âYouâre gonna call her, and youâre gonna tell her you arenât comingâ she demands. Your eyes go wide, looking up at Ellie before you quickly shake your head. âWhat? No! Ellie I canât! IâŚcanât I just text her?â Even your own words shock you a bit, because are you seriously staying with Ellie when there was a perfectly willing girl waiting for you at a bar down the street?
If Ellie said so, then yeah. Yeah you were.
Ellie shrugged before she unlocked your phone, having learned your password way back when you two first moved in together. âFine. Iâll call herâ she nodded, her fingers scrolling through your phone to find the girls contact. This makes your eyes go wider, and you quickly snatch your phone from Ellieâs hand, because you know that Ellie will be shameless with it, and itâll make you look way worse than you already do by flaking so last minute.
âNo! NoâŚfineâŚIâll do it. JustâŚplease be quiet, Ellieâ you plead, giving her a look of warning before you sigh softly, looking down at your phone for a moment before you click the girl contact, set it to call, and put your phone to your ear.
Ellie smiles proudly, pearly teeth gleaming as her hands give your hips a firm squeeze. âThatâs my fuckin girlâŚâ she praises. Her words makes your insides flutter, core tightening around nothing as you wait for the girl to answer, a gentle pout on your lips despite the fact that your arms were still wrapped around Ellie, and she still had your body pressed against hers.
After a few rings, she finally answers. Her voice is bright and bubbly and you want to kick yourself for doing this to someone so fucking sweet.
âHeyâŚ.lookâŚIâm really sorry but I think Iâm going to have to-â your words are cut off by Ellieâs lips pressing against your neck, wet mouth working against your skin, bitting and sucking, sure to leave marks in the morning. It makes you gasp softly..
Because Ellie never left marks.
It wasnât something that ever really bothered you. It helped in all honesty, you didnât really want to be walking around littered in Ellieâs hickies, it wouldâve resulted in too many questions from your coworkers and friends, and you really didnât want to deal with that. It was just an unspoken rule, Ellie didnât mark you, and you didnât mark her. That was too far along the lines of being a couple for you.
But clearly, that had all changed tonight.
There was a sense of possessiveness that you could feel when she did it. Teeth and tongue sucking and biting at your soft skin, eager to claim you in any way that she possibly could. Between the feeling of it, and the fact that she was doing it, it made it hard to talk, your eyes rolling back into your head as you bit back a whimper, covering it up with a couch as you tried finding the words in your fuzzy head to speak to the girl.
Ellie smirked against your throat as she listened to you struggle, listened to the muffled words of the confused girl on the other line try to understand what it was you were saying.
You tugged at Ellieâs hair slightly, yet still kept her close as she mouthed your neck. âIâŚI canâtâŚlook Iâm really not feeling well..IâŚmphâŚI canât come out tonight. Iâm sorryâ you quickly ramble out, knowing you were too close to moaning out Ellieâs name to keep this going on any longer. Before you were able to hear what the girl had to say on the other line, you hang up, turn your phone off and toss it onto the couch.
You moan softly, tilting your head to the side to give Ellie better access to your neck. âI canât believe you fucking did thatâŚâ you moan out as you began shrugging your jacket off, tossing it somewhere in the living room. You felt too hot, too fucking needy, everything was just too much and you struggled to wrap your head around what exactly was even happening.
âMe? I didnât do anythingâŚyouâre the one that cancelled on the poor girlâ Ellie teased gently, which earns a swat to her arm from your end.
You sigh softly, tugging her hair back so that sheâs pulled away from your neck. You waste no time in crashing your lips against hers, your tongue pushing into her mouth with need as you kiss her feverishly. Ellie groans into the kiss, her hands going down to give your ass a firm squeeze. âEager are we?â She grunts against your lips.
You huff softly, ignoring her words as you begin pushing her backwards towards her room, your lips never leaving the sloppy kiss. Itâs so fucking erotic, and messy, and needy, and thereâs so much filling it that you can both clearly feel. You decide to ignore it.
âI decided to stay with youâŚyou better make this worth itâ you groan out softly, which only earns a smirk from Ellie as she stares down at you, her heart fluttering at the way you pushed her around, did with her as you pleased.
âI always do, babyâ she chuckled softly, and all you want to do is wipe that smug fucking smirk off her beautiful face.
Once youâre in her bedroom, you press your palms against her chest, shoving her back to lay on her bed. She lets out a soft moan, clearly happy with the way that youâre handling her.
You tug your dress up a bit as you move to straddle her, her hands instantly moving to grip your thighs. She lets out a soft hiss, her lust filled eyes eating up the way your dress hugs your curves, pushes up your boobs. For a moment, you see a hint of something flash through her eyes as she watches you, taking in the dress that you wore for a date, wore for someone else.
You donât ignore it this time, because itâs clearly jealously.
You donât know whether or not you should say something, or kiss her, or do anything else to get your mind off of it, but you donât have to. Because as soon as youâre settled down on her lap, you can feel a foreign bulge pressing into your clothed core, and it makes your eyes widen and Ellie smirks and rolls her hips up to grind it into you, and then you realize what the surprise that Ellie had was.
Ellie was finally going to fuck you tonight.
And not with her fingers, or with a sex toy, it would be with her strap. She was going to fuck you, something youâd already assumed wasnât going to happen between the two of you.
She must have noticed the shocked look on your face, because she chuckles as she continues grinding her cock into you, making you whine softly as you press you hands on her hips to give yourself leverage as you roll your hips to meet her movements.
âFeel that baby? Itâs all yoursâŚwent out and brought a brand new one just for youâŚâ she explained, revealing what it was that sheâd been out doing while you were getting ready for your date.
She was buying new toys to fuck you with, and picking up dinner for after.
You felt like you were dreaming.
All you can do is moan in response, eagerly undoing Ellieâs jeans, wanting nothing more than to feel her fill you up, fucking into you deliciously, giving you what youâd always wanted.
Ellie is quick to grab your wrists, pulling them away from her jeans. âAhh, not so fast, princessâŚ.weâre gonna do this the right wayâ she hums out softly. You canât help but pout, a soft huff leaving your lips as you open your mouth to complain, but Ellie is already sitting up, gently pushing you back to lay on her bed properly as she crawls over you.
She hums softly, staring down at your body for a moment, silently taking you in before she pushes your dress up, pressing a soft kiss to your lips as her hands find its spot cupping your clothed pussy.
âHmmâŚ.so wet alreadyâŚIâm gonna have so much fun taking you, babyâŚâ she groaned against your lips, swallowing up your moans as her slender fingers pressed against your clit, rubbing you slowly, forcing the cotton material of your pantries to go translucent as your arousal soaked them almost entirely.
And your head is spinning as she kisses you, because sheâs being so slow, so gentle, treating your body with so much care. And itâs not unlike Ellie to do this, but you just assumed this would have gone differently. You expected her to be rough, fucking into you while telling you how no one could ever fuck her like she doesâŚ
But sheâs not. Sheâs so gentle, and soft, and itâs making your heart do dances itâs never done before..
Ellie lets out a soft sigh as she tugs your panties to the side, feeling your velvety folds better now without the fabric constricting her. She rubs you slowly, building you up, getting your sopping little pussy all warmed up for her cock. Soon, her hands leave your core, and she pulls you up to tug your dress off before laying you back down, and tugging off your panties as well, leaving you entirely naked before her.
Ellie hisses softly under her breath as she eyes you, sitting back on her legs as she begins tugging off her own shirt, before she crawls off the bed to tug her jeans off, leaving her completely naked as well, eyes never leaving your body.
âYouâre so fucking beautifulâŚâ she mumbles out softly before she crawls back onto you, pressing her naked chest against yours. The feeling makes you moan loudly into her mouth as she kisses you, because youâve never felt Ellie like this. Youâve never had her body pressed up against yours this way, and it feels like the single most intimate thing youâve ever felt in your entire life.
Ellieâs hand goes down to her cock, gripping the base before she brings it to your core, running it along your sopping wet folds, against your clit before she slowly feeds you her length, earning a whiny moan from you.
Ellie quickly nods as she kisses you softly, one of her hands giving your waist a squeeze. âI know babyâŚI know itâs bigâŚyou can take meâŚI know you canâ she praises you, and it makes you moan softly into her mouth as she rubs your clit, pushing further into your weeping cunt.
âEllieâŚfuckâŚmoreâŚneed moreâ you moan against her, the empty feeling still present as she waits for you to tell her itâs okay to keep going. She groans softly, pushing more of her length into you until she bottoms out completely, her thighs flushed against yours as she waits for you to adjust to her size.
You roll your hips slowly, already feeling yourself leaking around the length, and you give her a nod, staring into her green eyes as your hips buck up into her. âNeed you, ElâŚneed more of you..â you moan out softly.
And Ellie feels like her head is spinning when you say that.
Her strong hand goes down, gripping your thigh as she slowly fucks into you, moaning as her clit bumps against the back of the strap with her movements.
Her eyes never leaves you, watches as your face contorts in pleasure, moaning loudly for her, arching your back when the tip of her cock rubs against your velvety walls, watching as you fall apart on her length.
Her thrusts are slow, and calculated and sheâs staring down at all of you as she fucks into you. You suddenly feel her long fingers wrap around your cheeks, pulling you to look up at her because frankly, youâre having a hard time looking anywhere.
âEyes on me, babyâŚneed to see you right nowâŚf-fuckâŚthatâs my good fucking girlâŚtaking me so wellâ she praises, and it makes you moan loudly with her. You grab her wrist, watching as she fucks into you faster, both of you getting closer and closer to what youâve been needing for who knows how fucking long.
Suddenly, Ellieâs hand leaves your face and instead, grabs your hand, bringing it above your head as she interlocks your fingers. Her gaze is so intense, and the grip on your hand is so tight, you feel tears prickling at the ends of your eyes because whatever the hell is happening is too goddamn intense, itâs taking over you completely, and itâs making it all too much.
âEllieâŚEllie IâŚIâŚâ you choke out between little moans and whines, your eyes growing glossy as you stare up at her, and Ellie is already nodding despite your lack of words, because she understands, she feels it too, and you donât even have to say it.
âCome on babyâŚgive it to meâŚfuckâŚcum with my angelâŚpleaseâ sheâs practically begging, her own moans cutting off her words as she fucks you faster, the grip on your hand almost lethal as she stares down at you, tugging her bottom lip into her mouth.
And you feel it, how could you not? Your orgasm washes over you almost painfully, making you close your eyes shut as your back arches, squeezing Ellieâs hand as you cum hard on her cock. Itâs too much, too intimate, too fucking intense, and you feel like youâll explode just from the feeling of it.
Ellie has no other choice but to smash her lips against yours when she sees it, she can practically feel the way you grip her cock with your pussy and itâs the catalyst that sends her into her own sea of pleasure, euphoria swallowing her up and almost drowning her as she kisses you with everything sheâs feeling, pouring it all out into you as her hips slowly fuck into you, riding out both yours and her orgasm.
The come down is hard, because sheâs on top of you, and itâs quiet apart from the heavy breathing between you and hear, and her head is resting on her chestâŚ
And all Ellie can think about, is how utterly fucked she is..
A/N: Yes, he's my favorite, please make requests for me with this man, I need ideas, I need requests- I'm obsessed for him. Do you want to make a request? Read my blog rules in the pinned post.
TW: sfw, smut, fluff, sex, sexual positions, afab reader, pet names, vaginal sex, oral m!re. | f!re |, degradation, daddykink.
SFW:
Johnny Cage is the typical golden retriever boyfriend, he will want your attention because we know he is an attention slut, not only applies to his fans but also to you, you need to keep in mind that when Johnny wants your attention, He'll get it one way or another, whether it's sending you countless messages, asking you for affection, or even begging you to stay with him, if you're the type to get angry and punish him with silence, he'll be very upset. bad, even becoming physically ill.
He loves being emotionally pampered, a lot of cuddling with him with his head in your lap, while the two of you watch a movie together in the living room of his mansion, while you massage his scalp and the light brown locks of his silky hair, he would be happy. smiling like a fool in love - which he is - even if you pointed it out, he would deny it with some typical joke of his, if you threaten to leave his side or stop making out with him he will pout and complain, a lot.
He also likes tight arms just enjoying the silence between the two of you, chaste kisses on his forehead or cheek are welcome, especially if you wear lipstick or gloss, he will smile sideways and run his fingers through the warm residue on your lips on his skin.
Johnny likes to show you on all his social networks, always taking selfies with you and posting them, stories talking to his fans but always with you by his side, he loves sharing some couple story about the two of you so that everyone can laugh at such a situation that you passed by, like the time he got the location of the award show he was going to wrong and you had to walk a long way to get to the right place, with Johnny carrying you on his back obviously, he wasn't going to make his beautiful S/O walk. If you're the shy type, he'll push you a little, not because he's mean, but because he wants to show you to the world, show the person who makes Johnny Cage happy, but if you still don't want to, he'll respect your decision, Even if it upsets him a little at first, he will still take photos of you and the two of you together, with various filters, from the cute ones to the most cursed ones he finds.
The two of you have a YouTube and Twitch channel together, he already had a channel so now you are a regular guest, after all you date him. Johnny loves just chatting in chat, or reacting to some edits and fanarts that his fans make of him live, he always thanks everyone and is satisfied, from the most amateur to the most professional, everyone is valid and valuable from Cage's perspective , and he also loves the edits with the photo and video of you as a couple, with you and him thanking you for your affection, he leaves the @'s of the editors and designers, encouraging their growth. In the lives it also happens that Johnny plays some games with you, his favorite is the horror genre, he loves seeing your reactions because you feel tense around him and the chat, he sits on a black gaming chair in the center of the camera and you or in the background or on his side - it's your choice - he also gets scared very easily so you can take advantage and poke his shoulder or arm during a tense moment in the gameplay, he'll jump and scream from his chair like a scared kitten while letting out a series of swear words - he may or may not have let his glasses fall to the floor and break one of those times.
Johnny lets you wear his clothes, he's very stylish, if there's something you like, you can wear it, he has enough money to buy a new and identical piece, but obviously there are clothes that he's more zealous and jealous of, he He'll even let you use it if you tell him you'll be careful, if you tear it or get it dirty, he won't do anything other than sigh and get irritated for a few hours, then go buy a piece like the old one and pretend nothing happened.
He also loves that you make him breakfast, he loves his food, his seasoning, the smell of warm food makes Johnny wake up in bed with a satisfied smile, seeing you in his kitchen, preparing everything for him, that's it. it also made his ego rise, but in a good way after all he has you in his life and no Hollywood award compares to having you as his partner, he comes up behind you and while hugging you, giving you a kiss on the head and smelling you, even though he's drowsy, he wants to be there with you, watching you make his breakfast with such care - Cage also whispers in a hoarse and low voice how much he loves you, thanking you for being so helpful to him and that will reward you later however you want -
The two of you play 'just dance' together, Johnny knows practically all the choreographies and makes you dance with him, whether you're good or bad at dancing, what matters to him is that you just have fun with him, and he's great at dancing, knowing move the hips extremely well and being very elastic.
Johnny loves sending you memes, posts, songs, everything he sees and remembers about you he will send you immediately, Johnny is the type who has a gallery full of memes that he never sent because he forgot, he is the type who sends more than +99 reels in less than 10 minutes, so if you two have been chatting don't be surprised if you get distracted and have more than 60 videos in your dm, each with a caption and context from Cage:
"I remembered you."
"LMAO you that day (Y/N)"
"That song is the one you like, isn't it?"
"lol that's so me"
"That food looks delicious, can we make it later?"
"pookie wookie"
"This film appears a lot in my fy, let's see it this weekend"
"Am I bbg in this edit?"
He also uses a lot of emoji and stickers to communicate, with chibi versions of himself often in his chat to show his emotions, he uses emojis to Seriously, then get used to using them.
He also uses a lot of emoji and stickers to communicate, with chibi versions of himself often in his chat to show his emotions, he uses emojis to Seriously, then get used to using them.
The two of you have a typical mean girls night together, with skincare, hair moisturizing, movies together and gossiping together, Johnny doesn't mind if you want to try makeup on him, or paint his nails - as long as it's black and he's not in No acting roles at the moment - he accepts it willingly, and he even likes it when you do eyeliner on him - he looks even more handsome, believe me. -
Loves to pamper you materially! Johnny is the type that if he sees that you are looking too much at a certain product in a store, he will pull you and enter the place, calling the salesperson immediately and buying everything you want, and I guarantee you, he knows exactly when you want something. or when you're lying that you don't want to because you're embarrassed, if you lie and try to say that you didn't want to, Johnny will get serious and immediately take the most expensive products in the store for you, as a form of "punishment" for lying to him. He will be able to take you to the concert of your favorite band or singer when he is off work as a Hollywood star or he will hire the singer/band you want to do a private show at his mansion, nothing is too expensive or impossible for Johnny Cage.
He loves romantic nights with you. Johnny will put on a fancy suit, hire a good buffet for a candlelit dinner with you, something he does practically every weekend, it has become a couple's tradition in your relationship. A good dinner and expensive wine, to end the night with the lights of the Cage mansion partially turned off, with you and Johnny in the large marble area, the only light was from the moon that entered through the large video window, with the song: "You rock my world - Michael Jackson" playing in the background, on the speakers of the luxurious room, with the two of you pressed against each other, just singing while dancing intertwined in a heat of passion and love. - Johnny loves this song because he says it sums up what you did in his life, you rocked his world in a way that he can only thank you internally for being the love of his life, and being the person he can count on always, even though he is sometimes too arrogant and proud to admit it, he always says: "-This song sums up what I feel and have always felt about you honey." -It's his way of saying he loves you, when he can't say it directly.
He hates to show it, but he is extremely insecure, after the separation from his ex-wife - Cris - he always asks you if you still love him or if you will leave him one day, this insecurity causes some jealous attacks when you go out, doesn't it? nothing serious, just Johnny sulking and asking you why you're so different with him - which you weren't - just make this man sure of your relationship, holding his arm or hand when you go out helps a lot, with him smiling stupidly in the corner because you're proud to be dating him, after all who wouldn't be? he is Johnny Cage after all.
He's extremely intelligent, so he'll love rambling about everything about you, movies, art, history, everything. He will talk about several topics at the same time, while his head is in your lap.
NSFW:
Recorded sex: He carries that stupid phone of his 24 hours a day, that is, this also applies to sex, he will fuck you practically making a movie every time, recording in HD all your reactions and how you fit your body to his so well , moans, juices of lust, your face salivating with pleasure, the nicknames, the dirtiest things, all recorded and saved in a folder with a password on his cell phone. He uses the videos to masturbate when he is traveling to direct a film as a director, he becomes needy and needs you by his side, having to settle for the homemade porn videos that the two of you make together, your pussy jumping on his dick in the video, his body, his reactions, as he whimpered, fucking his own dick in his hand, writhing on the hotel bed he was in.
Sex on the phone: Well, when the porn videos you made, he will call you, begging you to masturbate on call with him, either just vocally, or on video call, or exchanging nudes while the two of you did it.
"-Come for me. Show me how much you want my cock, how much you need me to fill you like the submissive whore you are."
Daddykink: Self Explanatory, he loves being called daddy by you, he himself has a habit of calling himself daddy in random situations, with an arrogant air. "-Leave it to Daddy, Baby." "-Oh yes, Daddy Johnny is here to sort it out." And this applies to sex, he will fuck you while you call him Daddy or Daddy Johnny - he loves that shit, it boosts his ego like hell. -
Degradation and praise: He loves to praise you and degrade you at the same time, he also loves to be praised during sex, especially when you do the "missionary" position, while he looked at your face, fucking your pussy with greed and hunger.
"-Do you want to cum, my naughty little slut?"
"-You really want my seed to fill your pussy, don't you? You're such a dirty slut, wanting to be bred by me. You want to mark you as mine, don't you?"
"-You're nothing but a filthy whore, begging for my cock."
"-You're such a good boy/girl, taking my dick in that tight, pretty pussy, like the good slut you are."
His favorite sexual positions with you: 69, Doggy Style, Cowgirl, Reverse Cowgirl, Missionary, Scoop Me Up, The Seashell, The Pinball Wizard, Valedictorian, Table Top, The Lazy Man, The Snake, Stand and Deliver.
He also loves giving oral, he would really stay under your legs all day fucking you with his tongue if he could, in every corner of his mansion that he could, his tongue fucks you in the right spots, passing from your clitoris to the your entrance tight, his thick and firm hands keep you in place, holding the soft flesh of your hips, massaging the area in small circles with his thumb while looking into your eyes, while his mouth was too busy working for you. make you cum - maybe... Just maybe he rubs his nose on your clitoris to tease you, he has a big nose... Just maybe. -
Johnny likes blowjobs when he's angry, he likes to come home, have a good whiskey while sitting on the couch, and you between his legs, sucking him greedily, it was a relaxing sight, making Johnny remember the good things about life, you.
"-Yes fuck baby... Keep going... I really need to cum, you're my good boy/girl, sucking my dick so good."
Please squirt on this man! He loves to fuck you and make you squirt, whether with his dick, tongue, fingers or even vibrators - which you have to stimulate your pussy and his dick in some foreplay - Johnny just wants you to cum and get him all wet with your Sweet essence, the first time you squirted on him you were embarrassed, but he wasn't, he seemed to have discovered a new world, smiling like a fool.
"-Mmmm Johnny... I... Please take it off, I-" -You tried to speak between moans, while your pussy squeezed Johnny's cock more than ever, he felt something different, smiling sideways.
"-Fuck I bet that's a fucking squirt, come on, I want to see you squirt on my dick baby, this is going to be so fucking hot, just cum in that tight pussy." -Johnny says, thrusting his dick even more into your pussy, with all the strength and speed he could have in his hips at that moment, fucking you to the core, he gives a strong thrust, hitting his dick on your cervix, making you moan and squirt on his dick, abdomen and groin, dirtying him all over, while he smiled extremely happily.
"-I won't stop fucking you until you do it again baby." -He says smug with a cheesy wink, but he was serious, you were going to do that until he saw you squirt and cum like that again.
OP deactivated, and some of the links were broken/marked unsafe by Firefox, so here's a new compilation post of Leslie Feinburg's (She/her, ze/hir) novels and essays on being transgender:
Stone Butch Blues official free source directly from Author's website:
Stone Butch Blues, backup on the webarchive:
Transgender Liberation: A movement whose time has come, on the web archive:
Transgender Warriors: Making History from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman, on the web archive:
Lavender and Red, PDF essay collection:
Drag King Dreams, on the web archive:
(Also, if anyone ever tells you that the protagonist of Stone Butch Blues ""ends up with a man""........ they're transmisogynistic jackass TERFs who are straight up lying)
Please also check out your local public libraries for these books and see if they carry them, to help support public libraries! If you have a library card already you can checkout Libby and Overdrive to see if your public library carries it as an ebook that you can checkout :)
EDIT: another not included on the orignal masterpost-- Trans Liberation: Beyond Pink or blue !
annnnnd in light of the web archive losing it's court case, here's a backup of both PDFs and generated epubs a friend made:
5/26/2023: hello! I am adding on yet another book of queer history, this time the autobiography of Karl Baer, a Jewish, intersex trans man who was born in 1884! Please signal boost this version, and remember to check the notes whenever this crosses your dash for any new updates :)
6/24/2023:
Two links to share!
Someone made an Epub version of Memoirs of a Man's Maiden Years, which you can find Here , as a more accessible version than a pdf of a scanned book if you're like me and need larger text size for reading--
And from another post I reblogged earlier today, I discovered the existence of "TransSisters: the Journal of Transsexual Feminism", which has 10 issues from 1993-1995, and includes multiple interviews with Leslie Feinburg and other queer feminists / activists of the 90s!
Here's a link to all 10 issues of TransSisters, plus a 1996 "look back at" by one of the writers after the journal ended, you can find all 10 issues on the Internet Archive Here !
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8/28/2023:
"Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out", can be found on the web archive Here, for the 25th Anniversary Edition from 2015,
and also Here, for the original 1991 version.
Each of the above can be borrowed for one hour at a time as long as a copy is available :D
This is a living post that receives sporadic updates on the original, if you are seeing this on your dash, click Here to see the latest version of the post to make sure you're reblogging the most up to date one :)
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October, 25th 2023:
"I began to dawdle over breakfast during shift changes, asking both waitresses questions. After weeks of inquiries, they invited me to a demonstration, outside Kleinhan's Music Hall, protesting the Israeli war against Egypt and Syria. I was particularly interested in that protest. The state of Israel had been declared shortly before my birth. In Hebrew school I was taught "Palestine was a land without peo-ple, for a people without a land." That phrase haunted me as a child. I pictured ears with no one in them, and movies projected on screens in empty theaters. When I checked a map of that region of the Middle East in my school geography textbook, it was labeled Palestine, not Israel. Yet when I asked my grandmother who the Palestinians were, she told me there were no such people.
The puzzle had been solved for me in my adolescence. I developed a strong friendship with a Lebanese teenager, who explained to me that the Palestinian people had been driven off their land by Zionist settlers, like the Native peoples in the United States. I studied and thought a great deal about all she told me. From that point on I staunchly opposed Zionist ideology and the occupation of Palestine.
So I wanted to go to the protest. However, I feared the demonstration, no matter how justified, would be tainted by anti-Semitism. But I was so angered by the actions of the Israeli government and military, that I went to the event to check it out for myself. That evening, I arrived at Kleinhan's before the protest began. Cops in uniforms and plainclothes surrounded the music hall. I waited impatiently for the protesters to arrive. Suddenly, all the media swarmed down the street. I ran after them. Coming over the hill was a long column of people moving toward Kleinhan's.
The woman who led the march and spoke to reporters proudly told them she was Jewish! Others held signs and banners aloft that read: "Arab Land for Arab People!" and "Smash Anti-Semitism!" Now those were two slogans I could get behind! I wanted to know who these people were and where they had been all my life!
Hours later I followed the group back to their headquarters. Orange banners tacked up on the walls expressed solidarity with the Attica prisoners and the Vietnamese. One banner particularly haunted me. It read: Stop the War Against Black America, which made me realize that it wasn't just distant wars that needed opposing. Yet although I worked with two members of this organization, I felt nervous that night. These people were communists, Marxists! Yet I found it easy to get into discussions with them. I met waitresses, factory workers, secretaries, and truck drivers. And I decided they were some of the most principled people I had ever met. For example, I was impressed that many of the men I spoke with talked to me about the importance of fighting the oppression of gays and lesbians, and of all women. Yet I knew they thought they were talking to a straight man"
Transgender Warriors (1996) Leslie Feinberg
KENMAâs chat has never moved faster than now as you sit together and watch edits that fans have made of him, and the two of you. you jokingly coo and hug him when you find an edit about âhow he looks at you.â âken! oh my god, youâre soââ âshut up, scroll away already.â âno, iâm sending this to myself, stopâgive me the phone!â kenma turns away, forcing you to wrap yourself around him in a desperate attempt to grab the phone while itâs still on the video. the both of you are laughing when you yell, âchat, chat, somebody send that edit to me!â âchat, donât listen to them. we arenât even dating. this relationship was fake the whole time.â âshut the fuck up, kenma.â you say in mock annoyanceâa grin still on your faceâand hit his arm. he snickers as you stop to rest your head on his shoulder and frown. "please?" a beat passes before he huffs. âfine. iâll send it to you after.â it was an inevitable outcome, but you still cheer and turn back to the stream to see everyoneâs reaction, not catching the loving gaze he has on his face watching you again.
HINATA, despite his usual energy, finds his eyes drooping as he watches the live chat scroll past him. it was late, and he decided to talk to fans before going to bedâabout upcoming games, a new restaurant he visited that he thinks might become a favourite, how heâs been looking for new shoes. itâs been maybe an hour when his responses are filled with more hums than sentences, and he decides to rest his head. by the time you find him, heâs been asleep for 10 minutes. âhi guys, iâm gonna end the live and get this guy to bed now,â you whisper with an amused smile. shoyo shuffles at the sound of your voice, and his comes out muffled against the pillow. âbabe?â âsorry, sho, did i wake you?â âmm, âs okay. are you coming tâbed soon?â âyeah, just ending your live.â â...oh. goodnight everybody,â he murmurs and raises his fingers in whatâs supposed to be a wave. his fans watch as he reaches for you, eyes still closed, and make sure to take screenshots of the sleepy, lovesick smile on his face after you kiss his forehead before the live ends.
SAKUSAâs always been teased about how little he posts on his social media outside of things related to his career. itâs not a shock that your relationship isnât something he posts casually. after an interviewer jokes about how fans might think heâs single, or that youâve broken up by this point, kiyoomi decides to make a photo dump encompassing the last few months with you. it has a photo of you tucked in bed and sleeping the first night at the new apartment, a video of you singing where he can be heard softly laughing in the background, a photo of you smiling at the birthday gifts and dinner you enjoyed together, a blurry selfie with the two of you kissing, and one where kiyoomi, known for his stoic face and attitude, is a little tipsy and smiling as you wrap your arms around his neck from behind. fans pour out words of support and excitement below his caption of âi love you. happy anniversary, and thank you for letting me be yours.â
SUNA and you are chatting with some fans when one asks if youâve been watching anything lately. you both say the name of the drama youâre watching together without hesitation, the most recent episode still on your mind. âthe way he like, turned her to face him and they were so close before finally kissingââ you cut yourself off with a grin, flustered at the thought as everyone excitedly agrees. âhas suna ever done something like that?â someone asks. rintarou turns to you the same time you look at him, cocking his head to the side with a teasing smile. âyeah, have i ever done anything like that?â âno,â you lie, staring right at him. his fans team up, âoooohââs thrown his way. youâre not sure what anyone was expecting, but it wasnât for him to take it as a challenge and step closer. the crowd is suddenly quiet as he leans in, eyes flickering from looking into yours down to your lips. âare you sure?â he murmurs. your breath hitches as he moves in even closer, lips barely an inch from yours. before you realize it, your eyes are fluttering closed as his hand comes to cup your face and lips meet yours. itâs barely a few days later until a video of you kissing goes viral, and rintarou is saving it to his gallery.
summary ⢠jaeyunâs wondering which part of his fit made you barge to his place when he has a flight to catch.
warnings ⢠unprotected sex, dirty talk, creampie, orgasm delay/denial, he takes it from behind, this is a bit toxic but idk itâs angsty too ig
a/n: change of plans. was gonna post something else but i saw this edit again on twt someone help me i canât do this
you honestly have no idea which one it is.
but Jake doesnât stop asking you, delaying your orgasm each time you respond with a noncoherent answer. you donât even know why he does when heâs supposed to leave a couple of minutes ago.
you caught him by the door earlier just in time when he was about to close it, throwing yourself at him for a tight hug. he instantly put his arms around you, returning it with the same intensity without a word.
he knows you after all. which is why his incessant questions irked you a lot.
âtell me baby, was it the chains?â he rasps behind you, leaning his body closer to yours. by doing so, your skin and his touches and you feel the cold of his necklace brushing against your burning skin.
it doesnât help that his pace turned into slow strokes now, allowing you to feel every inch of his cock while he hits that soft spot inside you. his hand that was gripping your hips comes up to part the hair that was covering the back of your neck.
then his plump lips are mouthing your shoulders, trailing sideways throughout your neck until he reaches the tip of your ear and bites it.
âjake..jake-y pleaseâ you beg for the nth time but he canât seem to hear you with how loud heâs being, moaning right by your ear as his body pins you to the surface.
âyou canât just come here and not precisely tell me why right?â he asks again with that thick accent of his that sounds so good in your ears.
a deep chuckle resonates from him when you whine but you're hoping that's enough of an answer. if you didnât hear the mocking tone in this voice, youâd mistake it for something else.
how can you tell him that itâs because you miss him. you canât possibly inform him that knowing he might use it against you later on.
âah..j-jaeyunâŚâ
âfuck, you canât really resist me canât you?â he continues, ignoring your pleas as he leans back up and fastens his pace.
heâs right, you canât. or you wouldnât come running here to see him before he leaves the country for you donât know how long. ending whatever between you was clearly a mistake when by the end of the day, youâd always come running back to him.
it took one video he posted on ig for your resolve to crumble.
now youâre moaning uncontrollably against the kitchen island, holding the sides of the surface with all your might as he fucks you relentlessly from behind. it mustâve been you moaning jaeyun the entire time, something that you noticed a few times since sleeping with him.
he did say he likes it when you call him that.
"c-close, i'm close..."
"i know baby, i can feel you gripping me so tight" he groans, throwing his head back when he feels your warm cum around his dick. he slows his thrusts then, hand switching from supporting his strength to caressing your twitching body.
god heâd love to pull your hair and do more but you look so spent already, panting so hard with your cheeks planted on the surface.
âso itâs the glasses thenâ he chuckles amusingly after catching your eyes staring at the sunglasses sitting across your face that the company sent for him to wear.
âyeah..owh!â
jake hurriedly pulls your body up, turning you around before inserting himself back in your pussy.
âfuck, baby, iâ..â
âwant it inside me?â you ask like youâre offering his favourite ice cream but your eyes are half-lidded. he couldnât take it anymore, a few curses escaping his lips as he slams his hips against yours.
âmhmm, always, s-shit, alwaysâ he groans against your neck, never forgetting to leave kisses while you thread your hands his moussed hair.
oh how youâd love to hear that word from him in another scenario but youâd take this. even if itâs just because of the heat of the moment.
âgive it to me..then..â your sensitive walls welcomed his load, relishing feeling so full of his cum. he brings his face close to yours, his habit of biting his lower lip spurring you to clench around his cock.
youâre tempted to kiss him, wanting to feel those full lips against yours but you digress. heâs probably waiting for it but you canât add it to the plethora of dumbassery that youâve done because of him.
.
he stays inside you for a while until heâs done riding out his high even though his phone wonât stop ringing. heâs purposefully ignoring it, continuing to leave wet kisses along your neck so you nudge him to take it.
âthe babies have been callingâ he laughs breathlessly, pushing his hair back while his other hand types reply in their group chat. he steps back and walks around, probably looking for a tissue box to clean you up a bit.
how sweet. it made you grimace internally.
âyouâre surely get an earful from wonieâ you reply fondly while he wipes his cum spilling out from you. the mention of his friends whom he treats like little brothers momentarily distracted you.
then you remembered that he might miss his flight because of you so you stop him, taking over so he could redress and fix himself.
âiâll be back before you know itâ he grabs your jaw and gives you a kiss on your lower cheek, so near your lips before picking up his black leather bag somewhere beside you.
as much as jake wanted to kiss you, he wasnât sure if you wanted it on your lips. he did see the hesitation on your face earlier while you were lost in a trance, staring at his lips. he's not sure what's stopping you but it must be linked to your reason for letting him fuck you again.
you watch Jake fling his bag over his shoulders, putting on the sunglasses before he retreats to the door.
oh heâll be back for sure, but certainly not to you. thatâs why you lied earlier, playing it safe knowing how unpredictable Jake could be. having him again calmed your fear of losing him for good but you've long realized how temporary this is, a facade that you're hoping to keep up for as long as you can.
.
e/n: i tried freewriting in my other blogs and i feel like itâs making write lmao so here we are, not proofread or edited đđ¤§
Talk About Sensitivity In The COD Fandom **Important.**
THIS IS NOT A DEBATE POST. DO NOT BOTHER.
Hey, everyone. After the reveal of Makarov in the trailer (as well as general concern), I think a chat about sensitivity is important. Since the trailerâs release, I have seen a major increase in simping for Makarov posts as well as genuine romanticization of Russia and/or Russian Soldiers. First, I want to talk about the romanticization of Russia and/or Russian soldiers because itâs seriously getting out of hand. I need you guys to realize that Russia is an ultranationalist country and yes, maybe not everyone who lives there believes what their government does, but itâs important to know a big portion of their population does. I have seen multiple posts and edits of this man right here (pictures below).
THIS GUY IS NOT SOMEONE YOU SHOULD LIKE, AND PEOPLE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT HE DOES NOT LIKE YOU. This is one of the most popular Russian Soldiers amongst the internet due to the way he wears a mask, gear, has an accent, and is buff. He makes videos teaching soldiers how to kill peopleâinnocent people in Ukraine who are just trying to survive. I have seen people straight up ignore when someone tells them what this man has done, so let me put it this wayâhe does not like you. He wants you dead. He is racist, a homophobe, transphobe, antisemitic, etc. He absolutely hates The West, and he does not like you unless you are a cis, straight, white 100% Russian. Even if youâre a woman, he DOES NOT LIKE YOU. If you American, HE DOES NOT WANT YOU ALIVE.
[This part is not targeted; just a general statement.] Second; there is a serious problem with how you guys address Makarov as a character. There is absolutely no problem enjoying him as a villain because I do too, but you guys have to realize that Makarov is an ultranationalistâwhich is exactly what Russia is right now, an ultranationalist terrorist state. âBut heâs fictional, it doesnât matter! itâs not that deep!â It actually is that deep. I keep seeing content for Makarov and I canât force anyone to stop making âfluffy ficsâ, but I need yâall to have some fucking decency towards victims and people affected by the war. I know people who are affected by the war who feel ill seeing posts painting Makarov in a good light. If you are going to write Makarov, do NOT romanticize him as a characterâdo NOT paint him a decent or good light, because you canât. Write him like the bastard he is. And no, this isnât a âlet people write what they wanna writeâ situation. You can do that, but please be expected to be judged and blocked by me and many others. Makarov is quite literally the characterization of everything that is wrong with Russia, and what HAS been wrong with Russia. Makarov is not a bad boy, a rebel, etc, heâs a fucking terrorist. Please be for real. âBut the military in general is bad, so why does it matter specifically around Makarov?â Please see above my previous reasons. Thanks.
The overall message of this point is to be fucking respectful. There are actual people dying and slaughtered for no reason other than ruined pride and a lot of Ukrainian folk seek comfort and distractions in the internet and their fandoms. This ruins it for them and quite frankly, sometimes how Makarov is being written? Itâs completely insensitive. Anyway, below are a few links where you can directly support the efforts and the people of Ukraine. Peace and love, and please write with critical thinking.