Vol 2 Outline Part 3 (Patreon)

Wakeup and Morning

unsurprisingly, Oliver wakes up with his dick in Mia's mouth. It's described briefly, but not an extended scene. He teases her a little over not wasting any time and she is playful back at him. Climax is building when Zoe knocks on the door. Doesn't barge in this time, so that's progress.

Tells them not to fool around for too long now that they're awake. Rebecca texted her that she'll be coming over around noon. Mia checks her phone and sees she slept through a couple messages. It's mentioned that she's bringing breakfast for everyone. Shrugs it off, she needed the sleep after all the excitement last night. Tells Zoe to scram so she can finish Oliver off, and then does so.

They are both in a good mood. Mia is in a rush to get ready for the day, she has a feeling she should probably brush her teeth. He didn't want to be rude but yes that would be for the best. She points out he could use a shower, too, and Oliver says he can zip back to his place. He needs to get in the habit of preparing an overnight bag in his inventory as well as some additional changes in clothing.

Mia heads the bathroom while he heads out. Zoe is as usual on the couch- she's wearing more clothes than he is used to seeing. He greets her casually, asks if she slept. She obviously makes a comment about how loud they were last night(her door was cracked). Oliver gets nervous and Zoe continues to tease- pointing out how she heard him making noise a lot more than she heard Mia. He takes the chance to try and tease back saying he hope it didn't distract her but she brushes him off.

She is slightly passive-aggressive, like she is still mildly sour about how they abandoned her last night. Jokingly, of course. But he is able to bounce it back on her and keep Zoe in a strange, self reflecting mood. He doesn't outright repeat Mia's  suggestion but it's still fresh on her mind.

He tells her he'll be back, he has to swing by his place and grab a shower etc. She waves him off lethargically and he goes to do his thing. After showering and changing, Oliver briefly calls Bradley to his apartment for a quick chat. The gag continues and he appears seconds after he was called, asking what the problem was since he didn't expect to be needed this weekend.

Oliver talks about the change in Mia's affection cap and asks about that. Why didn't it escalate sooner, he wonders. Bradley posits that the amount of affection it takes to reach heart events will vary from heroine to heroine. That makes sense, but he wonders why Mia's first three were all 100. He's overthinking it again, Bradley says. The barrier was low because she was already in love with you.

This makes him blush but he supposes that Bradley has a point. Bradley asks if Oliver has any new plans now that the game has slightly changed. Oliver tells him to just get on with it and tell him what he means to suggest. Bradley proposes he push the Rebecca angle a little harder. He is adamant that she has the potential to become a heroine but for some reason or other registration hasn't gone through because it's not 'possible' yet.

Oliver asks what exactly this means and Bradley says perhaps she has crippling self-doubt, perhaps her family says she's not allowed to date. Something could be holding her back. At any rate, Oliver isn't entirely against it like he was the other day as LP has been in high demand lately. He's still not planning to take the initiative, though. If it happens, it happens, and he's not comfortable forcing it.

Bradley asks why and Oliver explains that not only are his hands still full from trying to fix things with Zoe but he would feel like a creep. He can't think of a natural way to suggest anything toward her without it being weird. I'm her friend's boyfriend and she barely knows me- Rebecca and Mia don't seem as tied to the hip as she is with Zoe so he has no idea how she'd react. Maybe once they are a little closer he'll change his mind on this.

Bradley says or Mia will push for them to get closer herself. Oliver cannot deny that being a possibility, sighs. He thanks Bradley for the suggestion on purchasing massage again. This reminds him to buy the next level of it while he's got the time. After doing so, the meeting ends. Bradley wishes him good luck and Oliver heads back to Mia's apartment -AFTER locking the door. Foreshadowing for later.

Morning 2

Mia is now in the living room with Zoe, has gotten dressed. She commented on how long that took him, asking if he ran into traffic. He plays it off and joins them on the couch after Zoe invites him on the middle seat (Mia also mentions that Rebecca will be here in like 5 to 10 minutes). He does so, making a comment about how this is the third day in a row of sitting around on a couch fucking around with the two of them and that it would be nice if they did something new for once. Zoe is dismissive and says they are doing something new; now he's going to sit around and fuck around with three nerd girls and instead of two.

Mia says not to get his hopes up, Oliver counters that his hopes are fine. He is more than satisfied with his current arrangement. They smile at each other and Zoe gags. Mia makes a comment about gagging and how it wasn't as bad as she thought. Oliver can't believe she just drops that out of nowhere and Zoe feels very awkward now, too. She's like you put that thing in your mouth?

Mia asks why that's so unbelievable and Zoe doesn't understand what she would get out of it. It's not about getting something out of it, it's about making someone else feel nice. Zoe mildly follows along, thinking she did kind of enjoy seeing the faces he was making the other day. Mia asks if she wants a demonstration sometime claiming that his blowjob face is way cuter than his getting grinding on face and Zoe is blindsided.

So is Oliver, who ends this whole tangent abruptly by asserting himself and asking Mia not to create this atmosphere of sexual tension moments before her friend gets here.

Before anyone can say anything, Rebecca is at the door fumbling to unlock it. Mia calls out that it's unlocked. This establishes that Rebecca has a key to the apartment which is foreshadowing for later down the line.

Rebecca comes in carrying a bunch of takeout bags from a diner and has a big heavy backpack that's bulging at the seams. She is very clearly struggling and Oliver rushes to go help her out. She is nervous when he approaches but gladly hands him some of the bags. They seem to share a moment.

The girls back on the couch notice this and Zoe turns to Mia, who whispers is she crushing on your boyfriend? Yep. How the fuck did that happen? He was nice to her. Zoe frowns, feeling bad for her. That really is all it would take, wouldn't it? Yep. Does she know you're into the shit you are? Apparently she can barely look at Mia's artwork without getting flustered, of course they've never talked about sex things.

Zoe asks if she's gonna tell Rebecca. Why would I? Because you're obviously trying to set me up with him, so- Mia counters that she isn't- Zoe says she is not an idiot which Mia says is demonstrably false. The conversation gets interrupted when they approach and set everything down on the coffee table.

Rebecca is very happy to see Zoe. It's been a couple months by now. Zoe mentions that she should stop by the stream more often. Rebecca is mildly disappointed to hear this but says she hasn't played anything she is interested in watching for a while. Rebecca works up the courage to actually suggest something, says she was meaning to tell her that a new CRPG in the 40th Space Reich setting was released.

Oliver asks if she is a fan, too, and it's revealed that Zoe likes a lot of the series' video games and that she and Rebecca used to play a lot of them. Oliver asks if Mia did, too, and we see her looking slightly frazzled. She's not good at tactical stuff and admits that they're above her.

We get a minor kick the puppy moment to further reinforce Zoe's messed up priorities. Zoe reveals she knows about the new game and is actively interested in playing it but her chat wouldn't really give a shit about it. Rebecca is visibly upset about this before she eventually forces herself to say that's totally understandable. Even worse, Rebecca meekly suggest that she'd watch her play it and Zoe says I wish that was enough but you know how things are. R-Right...

Oliver and Mia exchange looks, neither happy with the way she brushed her off like this. Oliver sees that he has to get through to Zoe not just for Mia's sake but for Rebecca's as well. He is easier to cheer her up and moves the discussion along breakfast, asking her what she brought. Her dad is brought up again saying that he just ordered them bunch of random stuff from a diner. Oliver knows that one and is a little humbled because he remembers hearing it's expensive.

Rebecca says that it's fine and that he's just happy to get her out of the house for once on a weekend. Oliver asks about this and she elaborates on what Mia hinted at the other day. She usually stays home and plays tabletop or wargames with her dad and his friends, sometimes with her grandpa online. He lives in London and Oliver is interested in hearing about her heritage.

Mia and Zoe are having another cutaway as this happens. Zoe comments that they are almost as awkwardly adorable as the two of them. Mia jokingly admits she's wondered what it would've been like in an alternate reality where Rebecca was his coworker instead of her. I'm guessing you haven't pushed for this just because it feels inevitable? Pretty much. Not sure how she'd react to the whole sharing thing, but we'll cross that bridge if we come to it.

Mia helps Rebecca set out the food and tells Oliver to go grab a chair from the kitchen. He is about to, but Zoe gets up and says he doesn't have to. She'll go grab her beanbag chair of her room and offers her seat to Rebecca. She is flustered at the idea of sitting next to Oliver and insists Zoe was here first but Zoe reassures her it's fine, she's a guest and deserves to be treated as such. She winks at Rebecca on her way.

Rebecca awkwardly sits next to him after setting her giant backpack on the floor. He asks what all did she bring but she is pretty flustered and says they'll talk about it after they eat. Mia whispers a word of warning to be careful with Rebecca. She's very delicate and is prone to overheating. He teases and 'you aren't?' and gets jabbed.

Zoe returns with a big beanbag shaped like a sloth's head. He is starting to sense a pattern here. Zoe tells him to fuck off, sloths are the shit. Rebecca tries to make a joke here at her own expense about everyone having their own hyperfixations, some of us more than others. It's an awkward attempt but it does get a couple laughs.

Zoe throws down her chair and she's as hungry as ever so they begin breakfast.

Hangout 1

we start this chapter on an unexpected and somewhat concerning note. It's a mini POV shift to Rebecca as we are exposed to more of her mind and struggles. We saw glimpses of it but it's a bit more explicit this time around. It's still not out right confirmed she has autism but anyone familiar with the condition will recognize what she's going through.

Basically, she is faking her way through what would otherwise be be a completely normal breakfast if we were seeing it through Oliver's eyes. She's overly conscious about sitting next to him. Her thoughts are fast and choppy. She has to remind herself to eat at the same pace as everyone else and not do anything weird. She might be suppressing an odd habit with a certain food. She doesn't follow along with the conversation very well and forces herself to laugh at a couple jokes even though they go over her head.

I'll be trying not to play my hands too hard here, but I want to establish that despite being friends Rebecca feels somewhat disconnected from Mia and Zoe and that she doesn't feel she can fully be herself around them. Especially not around Oliver, who is a different can of worms altogether. She feels very guilty about him. She's only got two friends in the entire world and the second one of them gets a boyfriend Rebecca gets a crush on him after he was nice to her single time.

There is an obvious parallel to Oliver here. We'll see her think almost his exact words as she stresses about how shallow she is. She's also very firm in trying to convince herself that isn't possible. While not outright said, this sheer mental willpower is what's keeping Rebecca from registering as a heroine. 

This segment ends when breakfast does and Oliver calls out to her. She snaps out of her stupor and everyone thanks her for bringing breakfast again. This is somewhat sad since we know Rebecca didn't really get to enjoy it.

Someone asks her about her backpack again and it's assumed that she brought a game or something. All of her worries if Zoe will even be interested in playing something that isn't a videogame but she claps back at him and told him a change of pace is fine every once in a while. Rebecca hints that she brought one that Zoe specifically might like anyway but before that she has something to give to Oliver.

This is as a thank you for giving her the cards the other day. She claims to have had a spare set of these sitting around and offers him an intro kit to 40th Space Reich with five models from two different factions. She also gives him a set of basic paints and supplies. Nippers, plastic cement, files for sending down the edges. She delivers a lot of the information about what it's for in an autistic rant that she eventually forces herself out of.

She's adamant that it's okay if he doesn't end up liking it but it's still a way of showing her thanks.

Oliver is a bit overwhelmed as usual when people do nice things for him, she's able to convince him it's not a big deal because she and her dad are both into the hobby but and they literally have this stuff overflowing in every room of the house. Mia and Zoe can both confirm this and they convince him to take it. Doing Rebecca a favor, Mia also recommends that she give Oliver her number.

Rebecca freaks out at this suggestion and scoots further away from him. Doesn't know if that's a good idea. Mia says that it is. Putting those things together and painting them is complicated. Wouldn't it be better if he could message you if he has any questions?

Rebecca tries to argue that there are tons of tutorials and guidelines online but Zoe says it's way better to have someone to actually talk to about it and to stop being so nervous. Oliver is protective of Rebecca during this but when pressed he admits that he would prefer the option to message her if he has any questions. This gives him Rebecca's number. Like with Tessa, he will retroactively gain the points when she is registered as a heroine. I'm already actually secretly keeping a tab on any milestones Rebecca has already had with him.

Oliver is happy, both about the number and the gift. He promises to try and put them together sometime soon and hopefully learn how to play. Rebecca is happy about this but she's also beating herself up over it. Like it was a bad idea and things are even worse than before because she has his number now. In her head she is remembering some autistic quote from one of her books to fortify her willpower and not betray Mia.

He stores the gift into his inventory and the conversation moves towards the game that Rebecca brought. I don't remember exactly what it was but I made reference to a dark souls parody in volume 1 and Rebecca brought the board game adaptation of it hoping it would appeal to Zoe. It does. She's casually interested.

This gets Rebecca in a good mood and she gets on the floor to unpack the contents. Oliver and Mia joined the others on the floor as well. There are an absurd number of dice, cards, tokens, and figurines, as well as an instruction manual that looked like a novella. Oliver asks if he can inspect one of the figures it is told of course. It's really pretty. Someone points out that Rebecca probably painted it and she is very dismissive of her talent.

She's not the best painter in the world or anything, her dad and grandfather will be revealed to be much better, and Rebecca isn't a spark centric heroine. She just enjoys the painting aspect of the hobby but isn't actively trying to become the best miniature painter or anything. She's still good, though, her self-deprecation here is more out of habit than doubt.

After begrudgingly accepting praise, it's finally time to learn how to play. We only get a small gist for flavor but the mechanics are made out to be similar to dark souls. Rebecca isn't the best explainer and she has to put on a video tutorial at some point to clarify some things but after an hour of prep time everyone is ready to play. The game begins, but we get a hint of what's to come as Zoe makes a side eye at her phone.

Incident

they've been playing for hours and somehow Oliver isn't tired of it. His experience with boardgames is pretty much limited to childhood memories of playing simple ones with his parents so his first taste of an adult one is quite fun. It also helps that it isn't as friendship ruining as Dokadon Empire and thus far no one has made Rebecca cry.

This is the third game and Oliver nearly clutches victory. It's brought up that Rebecca could've won a few turn to go if she had made a different decision. It's highlighted but not emphasized, setting up a frequent problem of hers that will be explored when there's more emphasis on her.

The mood between everyone is great. Again, Oliver's heart feels full from doing all of this friendship stuff. They all agree to another round but Rebecca mentions she brought a few other party games if anyone gets tired of this one. She's interrupted when Zoe's phone started buzzing again and Mia brings up she should either silence it by now or see what's going on. It's mentioned that it's been going off a lot this last thirty minutes or so and Zoe is getting distracted because of it.

She says it's probably fine, though. Someone might've tagged her in something that went viral. It happens from time to time. They point out that she should just get it out of her system because it's affecting her concentration. Zoe makes sure it's okay for her to do so and after getting the go-ahead she looks at her phone.

Almost instantly, there is a change in her expression. She looks serious out of nowhere and she starts rapidly scrolling. Bad feeling about this. Oliver calls out to her, asking if everything is fine, but she ignores him and keeps scrolling. Mia snaps her fingers, which works. Zoe is taken aback and reveals that her temp ban has been lifted.

The atmosphere sours immediately, tension rising. Oliver asks more about it and she explains the site's content moderation team reviewed the footage and determined no violation of the TOS occurred and just like that they lifted her punishment. Mia is troubled but Rebecca tries to be positive and congratulate her friend.

Zoe awkwardly accepts the thanks. She is on pins and needles. It becomes immediately obvious that she doesn't want to be here anymore but that she feels very, very bad about that fact. Oliver tries to move forward and suggest they start up another round and Zoe is very noncommittally like yeah sure why not as she is twitching and fidgety. She keeps looking down the hall toward her room. There is sweat on her brow. It's hammered home that Zoe has an actual problem. What she's doing is really shitty but I hope to make it come across that she has an addiction.

To make her look a little better, she's going to try and resist here and Mia makes things worse unintentionally. She makes a passive-aggressive comment about how Zoe should just go. It's obvious she can't even entertain the thought of hanging out with them if she doesn't have to. Zoe insist that isn't the case and says they can keep playing. She even starts setting up the pieces back on the board and piling up tokens to make her case.

Mia points out that her heart obviously isn't in it and you're just saying that because you already agreed to another round. You'll force yourself through it and then once it's done you'll come up with an excuse to slink off back to your room. Zoe feels deservedly called out and Rebecca is not taking any of this very well. Oliver tries to comfort her politely and asks Mia to maybe tone it down a little bit and we can talk this out.

There's nothing to talk about. She knows how this goes by now which is why Zoe should just cut the bullshit and go away to perform for her precious fans because they obviously aren't enough for her. Zoe tries to argue but Mia snaps and asks how else is she supposed to take it when Zoe constantly brushes her and Rebecca off.

Zoe cycles through her excuses and Mia continue standing up for herself, shooting every last one of them down. Everything Mia has been bottling up till now bursts out and we see what she's like when she's actually mad. She's not doing it for her fans, for her money, she's doing it for herself. Because she's an attention whore making up for the fact that mommy and daddy didn't love her enough.

This statement hangs in the air and it's very obvious Mia knows she shouldn't have said that. Zoe is close to crying but apologizes one last time. Conflicted, Mia dismisses her and tells her to just go. She's done looking after her. Ashamed of herself, Zoe looks at the others and then leaves.

Mia is doing terrible, but Rebecca is doing worse. She's shivering as she cries. Oliver is still trying to process everything. Mia apologizes to Rebecca. Rebecca is understanding even as she cries. It's brought up that she doesn't handle people yelling very well at all. She thinks a lot of what Mia said was justified and it needed to be said, but points out that she went a little too far. Mia obviously knows that, but she is not apologizing.

She does go over and hug Rebecca, though. It's implied she's familiar with how to handle her when she's like this, likely having been present for a similar event before. She strokes her hair and it starts to slowly calm her.

Oliver tries to be the mature one here. He wants to give Zoe a chance to process everything Mia said. This is the first time you actually expressed yourself to this extent- there is a chance she might actually take it to heart. Mia is doubtful but supposes it's possible. More likely that she's gonna lay in her room and cry for an hour and then stream, though.

Oliver asks the obvious question of so what now. Rebecca wants to go home but doesn't want to bother her dad since he's probably playing games with his friends. Mia volunteers Oliver to drive her home and he is fine with that. Rebecca is nervous about this but ultimately accepts.

What about Mia. She wants to be alone for a few hours, maybe go for a walk. She'll let him know later. That's very understandable. Offers to let her stay at his place if she needs to. This is comforting and she thanks him for it but stresses she genuinely might need alone alone time before having to see her family tomorrow. Oliver is respectful and says he'll do his own thing after dropping Rebecca off and she can let him know later tonight. This gets him points from Mia and he leaves with Rebecca after helping pack the board game up.

When hugging Mia goodbye she gives him some advice. He doesn't have to take Rebecca straight home. He asks what she's implying and she says obviously nothing weird, just offer to take her out somewhere to make her feel better. She'll probably resist but will give in if you insist. Oliver relents and says he'll do it.

She's quiet as they walk to his car together. Oliver asks how she's doing and the answer is not great. She opens of his backseat door and he tells her that she can sit in the front with him. She doesn't really give a good answer as to why she doesn't want to, just more nervous fumbling around. When his map pops up he chooses manual, dismissing it.

He turns to face her and asks if he could take her anywhere to make her feel better. It's only like three in the afternoon, so there's plenty of time she wants to stop somewhere. The suggestion overwhelms Rebecca somewhat and she tries to say she's fine and that he can just take her home. He insists, but not in a creepy or persistent way. He is gentle and comforting, which she is weak to.

She is quiet for a moment and when he asks if she's okay she responds by wanting to know if he would judge her for wanting him to take her somewhere childish. This is an odd question but he tries not to show it. He is accepting and reiterates he'll take her wherever she wants. She asks him to take her to get ice cream.

Rebecca time

we hard cut to them in line. Oliver took them to a really nice ice cream shop because he has the money and why not. It turns out that this was actually her favorite chain in town. She is still little nervous that he finds this weird. He says a lot of people like ice cream. I like ice cream, why would it be weird. She shows self-awareness and says that she does so many weird things that she has trouble keeping track of what is and isn't.

That sounds rough. She thanks him for taking her here, though. She came here a lot with her dad when she was younger. He would always take her out for ice cream whenever she had a bad day. Might be a joke about her chubbiness and alluding to having a lot of bad days. Oliver brings up a similar memory with his family and the two bond slightly. It's their turn to order. The lady at the counter is quite nice, very high energy, not the type of person that either of them are good at handling.

Oliver gives her his order and then they turn to Rebecca, who struggles to get the words out. It doesn't help that it's a very long order with a lot of steps. The lady is patient with her and at some point she notices Rebecca's autism awareness bracelet and her tone changes slightly. It's not overly demeaning and it's coming from a kind place but it still irks Rebecca.

She gives up trying to explain her order and takes a small notepad from her fanny pack and writes her order down before handing it off. The lady is obviously weirded out when she reads the instructions and reads them back out loud to her just to make sure she understood right. This embarrasses her because it's very, very strange, but she says yes.

Oliver also finds her order incredibly strange and to be fair it totally is. It's like a double scoop of mint chocolate chip with hot fudge sauce, cookie dough, skittles but only the yellow ones, gummy worms, raisins, and a single cherry on top- and she wants two small empty containers.

Rebecca tries to pay for herself but Oliver is insistent and she relents. They get their ice cream a few minutes later and Rebecca was given an extra scoop free of charge. Oliver tries to cheer her up over this but Rebecca is mildly upset. She fumbles with her bracelet. She wears it to spread awareness, not as an ID badge for people to give her special treatment.

She has a humorous line here where she is like I went to college, I have a job, I pay taxes! She stops herself short of saying she is normal and they sit down together. She apologizes after they do. She's not usually this worked up, but everything that just happen has left her in a bad mood obviously.

Oliver acknowledges this and asks what her thoughts are like regarding the situation. Rebecca doesn't like it when people fight and yell at each other. It makes her uncomfortable and she wishes things could go back to how they were a few years ago. She wonders if this makes her bad friend for essentially wishing Zoe never became successful.

Oliver comforts her and says that the only bad friend in this scenario is Zoe and she's going to need to come to terms with that if she doesn't want to lose them. Internally, he's thinking or someone's going to need to help her reach that conclusion mainly himself.

Rebecca asks a little about his thoughts on Zoe. He just got to meet her recently but they been spending a lot of time together. He's casual about it, says he likes her, she is fun to be around, but his first impressions weren't very good. He says it point blank that Mia and Zoe seem codependent on each other. Rebecca agrees. They are very close. She frowns as she says this, looking upset.

He's curious about this but notices her doing something strange. She's picking off the raisins and the gummy worms, sorting them into the two small containers she asked for. He asks if she's saving them for later. Rebecca clarifies she's saving the gummy worms but getting rid of the raisins. She likes gummy worms but not on ice cream but not raisins, only the aftertaste they leave on the ice cream.

He struggles to process this and she apologizes for being weird again but he comforts her. She doesn't need to keep worrying about this kind of stuff. He might stop and think that something she does is weird for a second but it doesn't change overall thoughts on her. This sentiment isn't good for her crush on him, and she nervously asks what does he think about her. There is an awkward pause before she apologizes for if that's a weird question, she's just curious.

Oliver is of two minds. He feels like saying something more direct in response could potentially get him somewhere in regards to the heroine status, but now is definitely not the time. Rebecca barely knows him and he doesn't want to give the impression that he's the kind of guy who flirts randomly when his girlfriend isn't around. He gives her a polite answer that still manages to embarrass her heavily.

He finds her interesting, very fun to talk to, and he wants to get to know her better. It's very jarring for him because she reacts like she just got a huge affection boost but without the number it feels off. She asks for clarification that she is not too weird. He doesn't see weird as a bad thing and points out that Mia and Zoe are both pretty weird in their own ways, too.

She supposes so but she has no illusions that she's much weirder. He comforts her further as it's not something she can help and he likes that she's so honest about herself and her interests. He let his past incel shit slip a little bit here saying sorry for sounding edgy but in a world where everyone is trying to be someone they're not, he is starting to realize he has a thing for people who are unapologetically themselves.

Rebecca is very happy to hear this, but it's definitely not helping her inner turmoil. She thanks him for being so kind and asks him to keep being her friend from here on out. He promises.

The conversation slips back to Mia and Zoe. He really wants to help them and he wants to know more of her thoughts as their friend. He brings up that Zoe looked really hurt when Mia made that dig about her parents. Rebecca gets uncomfortable. She knows about Zoe's circumstances but apologizes because she doesn't want to tell him about it. It's not that she wouldn't it's just that it brings up some of her own bad memories.

Oliver apologizes. Rebecca shakes it off and says what he already knows. She thinks that someone is going to have to get through to Zoe. Oliver asks if she doesn't think that Mia snapping was enough. She frowns in silence for a few moments before taking out her phone and showing him an email she got a bit ago alerting her that LazySlothGaming is live on Tweak as of about ten minutes ago.

This is pretty depressing for him and he thinks out loud fucking damn it Zoe. She gets the impression that he really cares about this whole situation a lot. She asks point blank why that is, she has trouble conceptualizing things sometimes especially when they aren't logical. He explains to Rebecca how Mia means the world to him and the world where she's happiest is one where both me and Zoe are in her life. He'll do whatever it takes to fix things.

Rebecca is overwhelmed thinking how lucky Mia is to have him but he simply counters but how lucky he is to have her. She is having very conflicted thoughts as you might imagine. She wishes she could give him more advice but to be honest she sometimes feel like she doesn't know her friends very well. Oliver is curious after hearing this, asks to elaborate.

She doesn't say much about it but the feeling behind it gets through to him and really hurts to hear because of how much he can relate her. She's always felt like a third wheel. Has trouble fitting in. Mia and Zoe are 'best friends', but she's just a friend to them. Now Oliver is the one thinking unwise thoughts, like how much he wants to hug her and tell her everything is going to be okay.

He comforts her by telling her he will help her with this once everything is settled down. She's flustered, doesn't get what he means. You want to get closer to Mia and Zoe, don't you? It's not going to happen if you don't take the initiative, but since he knows how hard that kind of thing can be, he knows will be easier if she doesn't have to do it alone.

This is the most she's been tested as of yet. She's very, very thankful. She wishes she could help him more but then gets an idea, she tells him there's someone else who might be able to shed some light on Zoe. The reader isn't told who but Oliver is like oh, that makes sense. He's not super enthused about the idea, though, and he doesn't have their number, either. Rebecca apologizes because she doesn't have it either, mentions he could always ask Mia once she's in a better mood and he brushes the society, saying he has his ways.

They've been finished with their ice cream for a while now and he asks if she's about ready to go home. She debates asking him to take her somewhere else but knows it would be a bad idea and relents saying yeah we should probably get going. He unlocks the car from here and tells her she can go wait since he has to go the bathroom and she says okay.

When he's in there, he verifies that he is alone before texting Bradley something simple like 'get here'. Bradley kicks open one of the stalls where he is revealed to be sitting on a toilet shooting finger guns. This startles Oliver, who really thought he was getting used to the uncanny valley jump scares. Bradley asks what the situation is and Oliver clarifies bad. He keeps it brief, tells him about the fight and that his new focus is on getting through to Zoe and making her apologize to Mia.

Bradley is like so you're trying to fix her. He shrugs, accepting that yeah, pretty much. He needs more information, though, and he's got a job for Bradley. Bradley tries to offer his extensive information gathering resources but Oliver stamps that out and says he just needs to track them down and get their number for him. Still kept vague on who but Bradley says roger and Oliver tells him he'll call him for a strategy meeting later. They bro fist.

When Oliver gives to his car, he's surprised to see that Rebecca is sitting in the front seat this time. Her mental fortitude is still strong, but it's slipping.

Mini Zoe chapter

we rewind a bit to directly after Zoe went back to her room. This will be a pretty harsh one as we see she has some very deep-seeded issues regarding self-worth. My goal isn't to make her actions excusable- they absolutely are not- but to provide context and a path forward toward improvement. She throws herself on her big, silky expensive bed and is crying. She's thinking very destructive thoughts. Why am I like this. Why can't I stop. Why am I putting the people who care about me through this shit.

The only answer she has for herself is that she's just a bitch who doesn't care about anyone but herself, and she hates herself even more for that. She's struggling thinking maybe I can be better. Maybe I can work on myself. I can start by apologizing to Mia. Rebecca, too. God, she made Rebecca cry. It's like kicking a puppy- inexcusable- and she ruined their day together, too.

Oliver probably hates her now. She finds it weird how she's thinking this despite only knowing him for a few days, but she supposes he is just the kind of guy who slowly worms his way into your heart. Like a parasite that makes cute faces when you dry hump him. Maybe not the best metaphor.

She's jittery. Another crash is coming. She goes to her mini fridge and her stock is running low. She'll have to ask Mia to- no, God damn it, she hates you because you're lazy, selfish piece of shit who can't do anything on your own. It's a miracle she's taken care of you for so long because you sure you shit don't deserve it. You don't deserve anything nice that ever happened to you.

You ruin everything you ever touch and it's been like that ever since you were born.

Zoe cracks open one of the few remaining cans and drinks it. It tastes like this and it makes her want to throw up but she needs the caffeine. Her phone keeps buzzing and buzzing but she ignores it. She is staring at her wall. Mia is probably on the other side of it crying.

She tries to get herself to go over and apologize. Maybe offer to get her a present- no, you stupid sack of shit, you drown her in stupid crap all the time so you get to pretend that you're still good friend. She just wants to hang out with you. That's all she's ever wanted, and you couldn't even give her that much. Besides, it's easier to just stay in here where you won't bother anyone else. Where it's safe and you can ignore all your problems. Just like always.

She tries to fight these poisonous thoughts. Just because she ruined everything doesn't mean she has to ruin her friendships. Zoe tries hyping herself up to go out her door, get on her knees, and beg for forgiveness. Her phone keeps buzzing, still trying to ignore. She manages to stand up and take a few steps to her door. She's almost there. She reaches for the handle and is shaking with nerves.

Phone buzzes. The caffeine and sugar rush has her blood pumping and it's making her angry. Zoe wants to throw the fucking thing and go Dokadon Empire on her wall. She almost does, but somehow, she winds up pressing the home button instead. This shows her her most recent notification- another message from a fan telling her they loved her and that they can't wait for her return stream.

Zoe freezes staring at the screen. Something clicks in her brain but she tries to fight against it. She reiterates that she needs to go on apologize to Mia, but she can't have her phone keeps distracting her. She rationalizes that she should open it up to turn off notifications but instead of that, the Xitter app opens. Mentally she's like wait, that's not what I meant to do... But now that I'm here, maybe I should check my mentions...

We are treated to a selection of fan comments, giving us a sad insight of how reliant she is on these random Internet people for validation. They say she is hot, they love her, they miss her, etc. The addiction to feeling loved makes her slip and slip until eventually she reaches the point where she decides that she will apologize to Mia later. She gaslights herself into thinking she's not pushing it off. She's not, she's really not. She'll do it. Just... after a little stream.

We watch Zoe slip further and further. She gets on her computer, fires it up, feels the dopamine as she types up a stream announcement and posts it. In a number of seconds the likes and repost start. They love her. They really love her.

She gets up, changes into something slutty, adjusts her lighting, her mic, sends a message to her mods, and then goes live. Chapter ends on a sad note where she looks really happy and says something along the lines of "guess who's back, losers. Did you miss me? Because I missed you." 

Rebecca Drop-off, Getting Advice

to balance out the dark we start right back up with cuteness. Oliver and Rebecca are chatting in his car, as he elected to drive manual to spend more time with her. He is surprised to learn that she lives on one of the nicer side of town. Her dad owns a beachside property and Oliver thinks that would be really nice. She brushes him off saying she doesn't really use it that much but I guess that's obvious. They have a cute laugh together. She tells him that her dad is a freelance software engineer, a really good one, so they do all right for themselves.

Oliver asks what she does for a living. The mood sours and he makes sure she's okay. She's fine, she just doesn't really like her job. He kind of got that impression. I met you when you were skipping work, remember? Mia seemed to imply that happens a lot. Not as much as Rebecca would like. She opens up about working at a call center for a big bank. Her job is to let people yell at her all day as she delivers robotic lines about how she can't help them.

He thinks that sounds really rough, but Rebecca says it's easy and it pays really well. Her hobbies don't pay for themselves, and she has a lot of hobbies. He asks what she would do if she could have any job in the world. Rebecca thinks about it but doesn't want to answer because it's silly. He gets her to open up, though and she just says playing games. You mean like Zoe? No, like actual tournaments for STG, 40SR and stuff, though pretty much all the big players have streams or me2ube channels since you can't really get by on just tournament winnings.

Oliver thinks it's a nice dream and it doesn't matter if it sounds silly. She musters up the courage to ask what about him, what does he want out of life. He's embarrassed to admit that he doesn't really have anything he's majorly passionate about.

Rebecca says he's still young enough to be a pro boxer. He's good at that. He reiterates that he'll probably dabble in fighting some more when he needs cash but it's not like he did that because he liked it or anything. Then he kinda admits it's more complicated than that. He likes it to an extent but not enough to where he wants to get punched in the face all the time.

Rebecca's job makes are able to relate to this and they laugh again. She asks a second time if there's really not anything he's really, really into. She has hyper fixations so it's hard for her to imagine someone not having anything.

Oliver is not comfortable enough telling her that he is obsessed with dating sims, but he does open up that he is passionate about love, he guesses. She's confused and then he beats himself up over it saying it was stupid. She asks if he means that he is passionate about Mia and Oliver says yes but he meant more than that, just the physical act of being in love is everything to him. Everyone always says that you need to love yourself before you can love anyone else could but he doesn't think he's built like that and it scares him sometimes. Scares him how? Well, I guess I don't really need to be scared anymore since Mia told me it's okay-

dramatic irony, his sentence is interrupted by him noticing her house in the distance and how there's a bunch of cars in front of it. Her dad hosts games every weekend for a bunch of his friends, you can park on the curb and I'll head in. She tries to get him to finish his sentence but Oliver unfortunately reconsiders it thinking it wouldn't look good on him and just settles with telling her that Mia is helping him figure out some of his feelings.

It takes a lot of courage for her to do so, but Rebecca adorably offers to let him know if he ever needs any help on that front. Given that Oliver is especially talking about his polyamorous feelings, there's comedy in that she doesn't know what she is signing up for. He lets her off easy saying thank you I'll let you know if it ever comes to that or something. A bit awkward, but still cute.

She idles once he parks, not wanting to leave his company. She ultimately thanks him for taking her out. She feels a lot better now and wishes him good luck on sorting things out with- she gets distracted as her front door opens. Oliver reacts to the person he sees. It's a man in full 40th Space Reich cosplay. He's distinguished looking, serious and grim. He lights up a pipe before noticing the car and waving at them.

He doesn't even have to guess that this is her dad, and Rebecca clarifies as such. She asks if he would go say hi to him with her. She doesn't want there to be any misunderstandings as he is definitely going to wonder why she's in a car with a boy. While nervous at the prospect, he complies.

They go over to meet him. I don't remember his name currently, not important right now. He is very cute towards Rebecca. He has a British accent. They have a LARP thing going on together but not in a army brat kind of way. You can tell it's all fun and games to them. Their affectionate, they hug, she kisses his cheek and then he asks to be introduced to her friend. Says this is Mia's boyfriend, it's implied she has told her dad about him.

Rebecca's dad is very chill, offers a handshake but isn't threatening about it. Oliver complies and manages to make a decent enough impression. They explain why Rebecca is coming home early and dad is sympathetic. He asks Oliver if he considers himself a nerd. Oliver believes this accusation is unescapable which gets a laugh, is more specifically asked if he likes anything tabletop.

Oliver mentions the tabletop podcast he likes again, Rebecca is also a fan and is happy to have this common interest but he clarifies he doesn't actually play. Her dad is jokingly disappointed. Too many of your generation is a fan of stuff like that without actually playing. There is a campaign going on downstairs and he's welcome to join whenever he'd like. Rebecca is embarrassed and so is Oliver honestly but it's a good kind of embarrassed. He really likes Rebecca's dad.

Sadly Oliver has to take a rain check. Things are pretty rough right now and he's still trying to figure them out. Dad likes that sense of responsibility and determination. He tells Rebecca to go and get a dice rolls and dungeons players manual out of his office for her friend and she is excited about the prospect and thus rushes off to do so.

Obviously, he wanted a word with Oliver alone and Oliver senses this. He expects the worst but the tone doesn't really shift much. Dad is still kind and he airs his concerns gently. My daughter seems quite taken by you. Oliver must react visibly to this because he makes sure to ease Oliver saying here him out he's not trying to do the threatening dad thing. He just establishes that Rebecca probably has a mild crush on him because he's been nice to her.

All he wants to say is please let her down easy and it would mean a lot if you could do it in a way where you could still be friends. She doesn't have enough. We see he's being genuine here, and since Oliver was put on the spot, he doesn't really have a choice but to accept. Dad is astute. Notices his hesitation but doesn't say anything about it. Still, he thanks Oliver for being Rebecca's friend and she comes back with the manual as well as a set of dice from her own collection. It's okay, she has like five hundred sets.

He doesn't know where he's going to find the time to pick up this hobby between everything else going on in his life but he's thankful regardless. He says goodbye to Rebecca and her dad before getting in his car. He chooses to drive manual again and collapses backwards onto his seat with a sigh. If even her dad is saying something about it then it's not like he can deny Rebecca has a crush on him, and at this point is not like he can deny he has a crush on her, as well. He's annoyed at himself, doesn't think pursuing her is the best idea even if it doesn't look like there is much holding her her back from becoming a heroine. He doesn't want to upset her dad.

He gets a text from Bradley saying the deed is done. Oliver asks if he got the number but Bradley doesn't answer. Weird. He chooses to drive home manually to clear his head. So much stuff is going on, things are starting to really remind him of a dating sims RPG now. There are too many options that he wishes he had more time in the day for- but figuring out what to do with Zoe is his biggest concern at the moment. Hopefully they'll be able to provide some good advice, but he has his doubts.

He gets back home after spending the entire car ride thinking about the incident earlier today. He hopes Mia is okay but resist the urge to check in on her, knowing she wants to be alone. He goes up to his apartment and opens the door. After he steps through, he remembers that he locked it earlier today.

Hyper Reflexes kicks in, alerting him to sudden movement over his shoulder. He pivots, takes up a fighting stance, and almost attacks Juan, who is hyena laughing at how freaked out he is and asking if he's really that eager for round two. The twins were waiting on both sides of the door, Julio standing there with his arms crossed looking stoic. Oliver is already regretting this and he sighs. Julio says Bradley came around the gym saying you needed our help.

Oliver sucks it up and says yeah, I kind of do. How would you guys feel about getting some beers. They reply and Oliver is whisked away by his future brothers-in-law.

Mia mini chapter

another quick POV shift just so we see how she's holding up on her walk. We hear this is how she's always dealt with her frustrations, by going on walks. Naturally, her thoughts are a mess. She's very pissed at Zoe.

There is an element of inevitability to it. Like she should've seen this coming. The real world isn't good enough for Zoe, and neither is she. Mia beats back these depressing thoughts saying no. She doesn't deserve me is what she focuses on.

The only fault Mia has in this is that she didn't notice the signs and didn't push back hard enough after she did. She's also still feeling guilty about the dig she made at Zoe's parents. Mia feels stupid for caring so much about people who don't deserve it.

Her walk isn't going great. It's not helping her clear her head. She just keeps making herself more frustrated. Hungry, too. She struggles with her appetite and keeps buying all the little eateries she passes by on her walk. Her temptation is put to the test when someone calls out to her- Akira the ramen cart guy from last volume. He's friendly and notices how hungry she looks, offers to whip her up something.

Mia, anxious with new people, struggles to turn the guy down. Then she has a moment of recognition where she squints at him and remembers. She's like wait, aren't you that karate guy my boyfriend beat up (remember that Oliver sent her his fight vids). Probably, but you will have to be a lot more specific. Little bit taller than me, twiggy, looks kinda like the world's most anxious fuckboy?

Oh, shit. You're Oliver's girl. Mia smiles at this. I guess I am. Well, come on then. He wants to know how everything panned out and promises to feed Mia. She hesitates but ultimately gives in. This proves to be a mistake as soon as she sees the menu. She's very, very tempted and ultimately caves. She wants one of everything. Just this once, because she deserves it, God damn it.

That's more than he was expecting and she is like I'll pay it's fine. Akira is thankful, then asks how things went. He hasn't heard from Oliver since Tuesday and would love to be filled in. Mia gives a summary as her food is made and we get some meta-humor from Akira. He would've really liked to have been there to support Oliver, too. Sounds like it would've been a lot of fun. Mia dismisses him saying it was a cluster fuck and there were too many people already.

Akira asks how things have been with him since then and Mia brightens up. Really good. Almost like a dream. Then what's wrong? Mia jokes what are you a bartender? Well he does serve sake. She shrugs, deciding she doesn't have much to lose by telling him. Problems with a friend of hers. She's had a rough upbringing and doesn't know how to take care of herself so Mia spoiled her like crazy and things have spiraled out of control now that she's big and famous.

He's not sure what to say to this. Was a bit crazier than expected. You gonna cut ties, or what? Mia doesn't want to. She wants to believe there's still hope for her, but she can't just give Zoe a another chance after the shit she pulled today. Ruined our plans and made another of our friends cry. Akira admits that's pretty bad. If it was him, he would've cut things off.

Mia talks about context. She understands why Zoe ended up this way and... and? Mia admits to this stranger that she spoiled Zoe so hard because it felt good to take care of someone. Made her feel... special knowing that someone depended on her. Should've put my foot down more often, helped her be self-reliant, but... Mia holds her wrist and frowns.

I didn't have much else to look forward to in life. She used Zoe to feel better about herself. She's not saying this exonerates Zoe- she's still mad- but she can't pretend as if she's blameless, here, either.

Akira asks if Oliver knows all this. Most of it. Hasn't really told him the last bit because she's worried it'd make her look bad, but if I can't trust a ramen cart owner with my secrets than who can I trust? Akira asks what he thinks.

He wants to sort things out and make things better between us. She thought there was maybe a chance of that happening- the three of them have been hanging out a lot these last couple days because Zoe was on a break from work, and... it felt 'right'. Especially the part where- Huh? N-Nothing.

Akira is ready to give his final advice. Mia makes a joke about sagely japanese guys showing up to give advice and isn't that a little 'old fashioned' and Akira jokes back 'lady I just noticed you were hungry, I didn't sign up to sort all this soap opera shit out' and they laugh. He tells her to trust in Oliver.

If he says he'll sort it out, he'll sort it out. We crossed fists. I know what's in his heart. He's obviously carrying a lot of weight, but he's a good guy and Akira gets the impression he's single-minded and won't stop until he gets what he wants. Mia jokes he doesn't know how right he is, i.e. the compulsions.

She says she was optimistic about him sorting things out but it's harder to believe now that Zoe went and did what she did. He counters but you still want to work things out with her even after what she did, right? Yes. Then let him cook. Mia supposes she should, is a little more relaxed now.

Akira also throws out that she needs more self-respect and not to roll over and Mia is like oh no yeah Zoe's gonna have to fucking earn me back, I ain't taking anymore of her shit. Good, good. He's just about done with the last item on her order.

Mia has the idea of taking a selfie since he's probably still worried about her, so she does and the chapter ends with that.

Twins Advice

Oliver is shown staring at Mia's text with a big smile on his face. She lets him know that she's doing okay, found a friend on a walk, and is treating herself just this once. Still wants to be alone tonight but she's feeling good enough to stay at her place and will probably get high to destress. Says they'll catch up after she gets home from family night tomorrow.

The text is comforting because he is currently in hell. The twins dragged him away on motorcycle to the seediest fucking bar imaginable. Loud music. Fighting. Pretty sure he watched a hooker and two dudes go into the bathroom together. The poor little white boy is so out of place here it's hilarious.

He's at the bar, sandwiched between the twins. He shows them the text, says she's doing okay now. He hasn't gotten to tell them what all's going on yet but they know Mia wasn't doing great and that Oliver needed advice on a few things.

They have a nice moment where Julio and Juan both stress he should feel safe relying on them- you're our hermanito now and the only one we can trust with our fucked up, sexually deviant sister. This tender moment is undercut someone hurling a bottle that Oliver only barely manages to dodge. He asks if they couldn't have gone anywhere else.

It's their favorite and it'll put hair on his chest Juan insists. Oliver sighs and gets to the point. Mia and Zoe are having some rough times and he promised to help fix them. He wanted to ask them more about Zoe since he knows she used to go to their house a lot so she's presumably interacted with the twins.

They have a strange reaction. They expected this sooner or later; for him to show up with a Zoe-related problem. How so? Ever since they learned Mia was into the shit she is they figured it was only a matter of time before there was 'trouble in paradise'. Oliver tries to play dumb but Julio counters isn't it already established we see straight through you? They can tell he's got a thing for Zoe just from the way he's talking about her and the twinkle in his eyes. They acknowledge it's not as deep as his love for Mia, but it very well might be given enough time.

He's kind of ashamed and hangs his head. He admits that his motives are not solely to help Mia. He has been having a lot of fun getting to know Zoe and he's upset that she did what she did today, too. He tells them what she did and Julio is disappointed in Zoe while Juan is oddly defensive.

Julio gets on his case for this. There's a slapstick bit where he smacks him around telling him to stop simping, Juan says he would never. Julio unzips Juan's jacket and it's revealed he's wearing a tanktop of Zoe's channel mascot. Fuck do you call this then if not simping, simp? I call it supporting my honorary hermanita, pendejo!

Oliver looks at the bartender while this is going on, who is as stoic as a statue.

They sit down again after Julio convinces his brother to work on his carvings again. Julio lights up and lays down some facts. He wants Oliver to get rid of the notion that they are his enemies. Knowing what they know now, they support whatever polyamorous bullshit he gets up to so long he doesn't hurt Mia. Oliver immediately says he won't, and Julio agrees. He doesn't think he will. Not anymore.

Julio also concedes that they think becoming a throuple with Zoe is probably what would make Mia happiest and that's what they want for her. Juan mumbles that he doesn't approve but Julio stresses no simping again, to which Juan grumbles. With all that out of the way, Julio tells Oliver he has carte blanche to ask them whatever he wants.

Oliver is thankful and he wants to know why he's so sure about the throuple thing. They knew she was bi before she was poly. She's been crushing on Zoe ever since puberty but they also knew she liked drawing dicks too much to be fully gay. Oliver is like yeah that checks out. Julio admits he was surprised to hear her talking about a boy because they just assumed them being 'roommates' was, you know.

Oliver says no. He's not even sure where Zoe stands sexually. Julio guesses she cares more about gaming than sex? Yeah. Figures. He's fairly sure she's not asexual, though, because- he stops short.

Because? He hangs his head, ashamed. Julio reminds him they're his brothers and they support him. Juan mumbles the opposite. He opens up about the making out thing and that she seemed into it but doesn't know how to process it, and was interested in doing more sometime before all this happened.

Julio offers him a sleazy fistbump saying respect. He forces Juan to respect his hermanito and Juan looks like he's gonna kill Oliver while doing so. Oliver definitely feels sleazy but... it's not the worst thing in the world being congratulated over this. Julio mentions he's been with a few girls like that before. Not to generalize but there's some chicks who just don't have any taste for sex until something clicks.

Juan is mildly helpful too stating he was with a girl once who didn't have much of a sex drive until she formed an emotional connection with someone. Could be something like that. Oliver asks how that turned out and Juan tries to brag about how he was too cool for it but Julio points out he was scared of commitment. Like you aren't? Never said I wasn't.

Julio clarifies that yeah Zoe could be demisexual but it's brought back around that this kind of shit isn't important right now. Oliver agrees, he's more worried about the short term. He wants to understand Zoe better and asks them about their experiences of her. He's filled in that Zoe used to be a lot different. Edgy, guarded, quiet, nasty look in her eyes. She still does, but it used to be nastier.

He has a hard time reconciling this. Julio says the proof is on the net. Juan pulls up one of Zoe's earliest streams and Zoe looks like a stereotypical NEET. Unwashed hair, uncomfortable looking, shitty at talking, she's constant looking to the side of her stream where he assumes Mia is giving her cues. He's stunned, but it's definitely her.

How the hell did she get like that? Julio spells it out that kids turn out like that when they've got shitty parents. Oliver keeps hearing this tossed around and finally asks what's the deal there. They obviously don't know the full story but they heard whispers from their parents over the years and Juan has heard bits and pieces from her stream.

It's established that she has well off parents who constantly fought each other whenever they were in the same room together and who thought all it took to be good parents was to buy her whatever she wanted. They didn't abuse Zoe, but they didn't care enough about her to take an active interest in her life either.

Oliver processes this and feels bad for her. That does explain some things.

Julio goes on to say that he isn't someone who likes to generalize women. It's demeaning and sexist to classify them like that, but he does say that in his experience, he's known other girls who grew up like that and a common thing they've all shared was-

An obsessive need for attention? Oliver guesses. Juan teases him, how'd you figure that one out, genius? Because nobody can relate to that more than me.

Julio pats him on the shoulder, congratulating him for accepting this about himself. They reiterate what we know. Zoe suffers from a lack of love and getting some in the real world would go a long way toward getting her to move away from her online shit. Oliver isn't sure if being aggressive about that is really the best call. He's known her for four days.

Surprisingly, its Juan who encourages him. Man the fuck up. Love doesn't care how long you've known her. It's instant. Instinctual. When it happens, you gotta fucking go for it and be aggressive. Oliver thinks about it, turns to Julio, expecting him to offer opposing advice. He doesn't, he's actually in agreement.

He points out that according to Oliver, Zoe was very shaken up by Mia standing up for herself. She's not that far gone and there's still hope, but she needs someone stupid who doesn't give a shit about her feelings who's willing to pull the rug out from under her. Oliver is getting uncomfortable- this advice is sounding like some blackpilled content creators he used to watch.

Comedic moment where Juan is like yo you talking about [Andrew Tate parody]? I love that fucking guy! And Juan hits him saying fuck did we say about following toxic male role models? We're womanizing scum, but we're womanizing scum with principles. Juan says he only watches his shit every now and then and to fuck off.

Julio then further clarifies his thoughts. He bets Oliver has been afraid of calling Zoe out on her shit, yeah? Yeah. He's thinking short term. She'll get mad at you for holding a mirror up to her and calling her out, definitely, and she might even like you a little less for it, but it'll pass.

He hammers in that making Zoe mad at him may be a necessary sacrifice toward making her like him a lot more. No one wants to be called out on their shit, but if you call her out on it and then actually help her through her problems? You're no longer an asshole, you're her savior.

Oliver is floored by how wise this actually sounds. Then again he's a few beers deep by now and it could also be really, really bad advice, but his intuition is telling him this might work. Oliver works up the courage and then commits to it.

Julio is proud, Juan is aloofly proud. Julio does mention that he should keep his romantic intentions on the downlow. Frame things that he's doing it mostly for Mia but don't be afraid to drop subtle hints that he's into her, too. Keep her wanting. Juan suggests negging, too. Julio almost hits him again but this one was actually a joke.

Everyone inexplicably cracks up. There's a genuine brotherly bond forming here, and Oliver's heart feels full from the male bonding.

Julio asks if he's got any ideas on what to do. Oliver actually does. He has the beginnings of a plan, but it's kind of risky. Risky is good. Risky gets shit done. They ask him for the details and he needs to discuss things with his secret weapon before he can say anything concrete.

Bradley appears conveniently on time with some manner of one liner. Oliver isn't surprised. Julio says you could've just come with us if you were gonna show up anyway but Bradley says while his role is to serve as Oliver's best bro, there is advice he simply just isn't suited to give. Better to leave the more explicit romance stuff to Oliver's actual brothers.

Juan is tsundere as fuck about this, claiming they only call him hermanito to be cute and shit. He doesn't actually mean it. Oliver actually teases Juan by looking at him disappointedly, looking genuinely sad as he asks not even a little bit? Which Juan gets nervous about and clarifies maybe a little bit.

Juan moves so Bradley can join them, they order another round, and Oliver explains his plan now that his secret weapon is here. The details are not explained, we only see the reactions.

Julio describes it as some 'low key Scooby Doo shit' but he thinks it's not bad. Just... a bit more elaborate than any of the stupid shit they've done to pick up chicks. Oliver defends himself saying he needs to do something to get her to stop streaming long enough to bond with Zoe, and they concede that stupid shit is probably his best option.

The most important part goes to Bradley, who is ready to sacrifice himself for the cause. He raises his bottle and suggests a toast- to stupid shit.

---

Okay, postscript thoughts.

I'll say that I'm quite excited for all this material. Not to Obama giving himself a medal myself here but I think it'll be all pretty great when finished.

My biggest concern is making sure Zoe comes off as sympathetic despite the shittiness of what she did. I plan to mitigate this a bit by after Oliver's plan works and he wears down her guard tomorrow she'll actually ask him for help to stop being like this. She needs to accept that she's not capable of fixing herself without help and show the initiative that she wants to change, otherwise she will look quite bad. Getting her to that point should be quite fun, though, and then emotional once we get there.

Also Mia will be true to her word and not just forgive her. I had the random idea of her mini chapter last night and thought it'd be a cute addition. I might have something planned with Akira so showing him again here is good. Also after he's done with Zoe tomorrow I think he might go on a mini date with Mia. I think it'd be romantic if he takes her to a smash room to vent her current feelings.

This is about as much Rebecca focus as we'll get this volume so I hope it's a good enough tease of what's to come. I think the stuff with her will be quite good if I'm able to portray her struggles realistically.

It's looking increasingly likely that Stacy won't factor into this volume much at all but I'll make sure to compensate next time around even though vol 3 will most likely be focused on Rebecca. Not to the same extent as Zoe's focus in this volume, though. I've learned that I don't want to write conflicts in a way where Oliver has to explicitly focus on one girl at a time by how constricted some of Zoe's stuff has made me feel, but I think all that set up was necessary to get the full effect of the stuff in this outline and the rest of this volume.

Looking forward to writing the twins more. I've had the twist of Juan being one of Zoe's simps in mind this entire time lmao, but I think Oliver forging actual relationships with them is just as important for healing his heart as his romantic relationships. Same with Rebecca's dad eventually, who I have a lot of fun ideas for.

If anyone has any questions feel free to DM me on here, would love to talk about things I've only alluded to and explain some rambling ideas I have to anyone that wants to know and doesn't mind potential spoilers. Otherwise please give me your thoughts in the comments, Oliver's need for attention comes directly from me and I am fueled by validation and praise.