Bad Influences (Story)

Hey everyone! 

I finished the first half of a story I've been talking about for a while!  

If you want to jump right into it, check out the story here. 

Otherwise... 

I was going to wait to post this after the Hypnosis update, but I'm still finishing that and wanted to put out something for February. 

If you want a quick summary without spoilers, I'll say that this story acts as a prequel of sorts, and it works as an origins story for two different characters in the Expanding Universe, one from a story and one from a game.

If that sounds like a good read, check it out! It is currently 65 pages.

If you aren't sure, I'll continue with some background info to give more context.

Background:

The concept for this story came to me while watching White Lotus and hating the characters. 

What I was expecting was an HBO murder mystery with my girl Alexandra Daddario walking around in a bikini. That’s the trailer. And for that, it delivers. But it turns out she’s a pretty good actress because in a show about people you’re supposed to hate, she plays the role very well. I hated her in this.

If you’ve seen the show, that’s the point. You’re supposed to hate everyone. But I’m not a big fan of that kind of story. Usually, that’s the typical slasher movie. A bunch of kids go out in the woods, they all suck and you hope they die. Then, you watch them die.

If you haven’t seen the show, but you plan to, here’s a spoiler warning.

The issue I had with this show is that it’s billed as a murder mystery. The first scene is a body bag, followed by the cliché “a week before” title card. Seven episodes go by and… no one dies. It’s painful.

If I was told “this show is about terrible people, and that’s the point” I might have been able to take it for what it is.

A murder mystery is typically based on who the killer is, not just who is going to die. Not when they go through a lot of effort to make you want everyone and their mom to die, because they are all horrible human beings.

The other reason I watched the show was that it was filmed next to the hotel we spent a week at for my honeymoon, so it was fun to watch a story set at the same beach I was at a month before the show aired. I guess they filmed it during quarantine while everything was shut down.

But it had decent reviews and people seem to like the stupid show, so you might too. Like I was saying, my main complaint was that it was nothing like my expectations, and instead of using that to be charming, it ended every week with my wife and I yelling “fuck this show!” to the TV when each episode ended with no one dying, especially when I don't remember ever wanting everyone to die more.

End of spoilers for White Lotus

Anyway, why did this show inspire me to write a story?

Sydney Sweeney.

Who?

One of the actresses, playing the college age daughter in the main family who is spoiled and bitchy. She has that slightly trashy thing going on where you want to slap her. But dammit, she has something else too.

She has that look where you think, “where have I seen her before?” And it turns out she has little hesitation in taking her clothes off and filming a decent scene. (Not so safe link there, as it contains clips to scenes of her in the show Euphoria).

Her character treats her little brother like shit while she’s in love with her best friend. So, as I was watching the show, I started writing a short story with the change: What if the brother wasn’t a little bitch and tried to put his spoiled sister and her friend in their place?

And, dammit, it was a lot of fun.

You probably noticed by now that most of my protagonists are loosely based on me. They go around on these little adventures based on my life with people I used to know. So this was a fun detour to switch to a fictional universe.

It wasn’t until I was halfway through the story that I realized who the characters really were and how they fit into the Expanding Universe.

That gave everything more meaning. This story acts as a prequel of sorts, and as an origins story for two different characters.

There are the usual elements you’d expect. Some girl on girl action, BE, lactation, and multiple love interests.

Hope you enjoy it!

Part Two is taking longer than I expected, as I realized the character wasn't as much of a "good guy" as he was meant to be, so I'm re-writing a few scenes before posting it. I'll probably post it after this Hypnosis update is finished.

Thanks, everyone!