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August Bonus Story, "Prima Facie"
🕑 Added 2025-09-20 23:43:57 +0000 UTCMan, this is an unusual one. It might have big tonal problems, or it might be gold. I really don't know. Last month, y'all voted for me to write a story about a bully who gets his hands on a magic book in Latin but needs a nerd to translate it for him, and then suddenly notices the womenfolk in his life getting sweet on the nerd. Pretty straightforward stuff for the genre, right?
IT IS NOT STRAIGHTFORWARD. It will seem straightforward. But it is not. And I have so many weird feels in here, and I am sorry for some of them and hope you enjoy the rest.
If you haven't voted on this month's bonus story, do so! In the meantime, gonna see if I can squeeze in another RA chapter before I tackle that once voting's done, and maybe another live write, too. I surprised myself with how much fun I had with the previous one, and since we skipped last month's there seems to be an obvious solution.
More to come.
Comments
WDB
Up very late from watching AEW All Out with friends (goddamn thing ended at midnight because we started it late), but how am I not going to read a hot new Ice Bear story where a nrd steals a bully's family? That shit is always hot! This one... sort of isn't? It's a weirder, sadder story, where we spend so much time in the bully's head that it's something akin to Of Infidelity, where a support system inverts itself into cruelty and dismissal. Topher's a selfish asshole, and casually cruel to everyone in his life, but a few dozen pages makes him feel more like a victim than, uh, *gestures to everyone else in Topher's life.* This isn't the story where the put-upon nerd turns the tables on the two-dimensional jerk, or even one where relentless sexy things happen to a nice guy. It's like a satirical horror story, where we try to find sympathy for how the world shapes its monsters. Which is what I loved about it? And I *did* love it, even if the angle it attacked from wasn't the one I'd've expected. It's nicely of the moment, asking us to understand that bullies don't come from nowhere, and while we don't have to forgive them, we can at least extend them the grace to confront their flaws and try to remake themselves in a new light. It's less about revenge, and more about freeing yourself from their power. That's nice. It's... yeah, boy, not how I saw this one going! But that's so great, to have it surprise and affect, when it could've been easier to have it just be hot. I appreciate the hard work and unique perspective. Worth staying up late for!
WDB
Ugh, *Australia*. We don't get enough of that place on the Discord?
