#eh it's always going major minor major minor major minor

[loverboybrightsideghost]

damn faroe's song is. so fucking good

[hellinistical]

fem! reader x rafayel. royal! au. sea horror! au. heavy angst. minor and major character death. slow burn. romance. fluff. explicit smut. trauma. religious themes. gore; hinted torture, cannibalism, decapitation, self-cannibalism. violence. wc: 4796 | status: on-going

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II: GOLD STRUCK

The wagon wheels were obviously wobbly, the axles needing immediate tightening, not that anyone would care to repair them, though. The rainy season was in full effect, and the roads were the sky’s first victim. A dog chased after a squirrel, it’s barking annoying the merchant nearby. He cursed the dog and his bloodline. 

“To hell with Linkon! To hell with this damned town!” His broom thwacked at the wood sign on his stall. “When I catch you, you damned dog, why, you’ll be roasted with your litter!”

“Oh Mr. Heggins, relax! It’s just a dog!” “Just a dog? Why you- you let him out, didn’t you, Caleb? I should get you fired from the mines for this!”

Caleb laughed, crow's feet forming by his eyes as he smiled big. His hands held orchids. He had picked them from his mother's garden earlier that morning, meticulously picking the best ones without her knowing. In his pocket, a small box rested.

Mr. Heggins eyes note the flowers and the small lump in his pocket. 

“Today's the day, eh?”

Caleb nodded, his cheeks tinging with red. 

“Yes, sir. I plan to ask tonight.”

“Ah, before the king's carriages come? Bad timing, no?”

“No, sir.”

It's quiet for a moment before the old man speaks up. 

“And out of everyone you could have, you chose the L/n's daughter.” He lets out a pitiful chuckle. “I won't question it, but to each their own.” 

As the old man walked off, Caleb hummed, his hand going to his pocket, patting it affectionately as he walked on through the streets.

He grabbed some pumpkin bread, the honey, and roasted almonds on it making it smell heavenly. 

He collected some gifts. A doll, a kite, perfumes, and a watch. 

And then he headed off towards Linkon's hill village. 

*** Hot water splashed onto the weathered wood floorboards, the basin full to the brim. Sprigs of lavender, rosemary, and orange slices floated on the water, and Mrs. L/n poured fresh milk into the tub. 

“Is this really necessary?” Y/n huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m not getting in there- I won’t even be selected.” “Yes, you are. And I’m tired of you not listening to me.” “Mother- owowowowowowow!” 

The older woman grabbed her ear, pinching it lightly as she pulled her daughter towards the tub. Y/n held onto the wall, protesting. “I’m not going in there you; put milk in there! It’ll feel weird!” “Take the damn bath, child! Eva! Call your sisters and come here!”

“Coming, Mother!”

In moments, Y/n’s sisters came into the room. Eva smiled cheekily. “Today’s the day~!” “Like hell it is.” She shot back, wriggling in her mother’s grip. “You all act like you want me to get picked! Does Gran even know what you’re doing? Ma?” Her mother looked away, her hands going to the clasp on the back of Y/n’s dress. She undid it quickly, and the fabric pooled at her feet, ignoring her question.

“Strip out of your garments- Gods, you reek- is this wool? Y/n! You messed with the sheep again!” “I did not! I was with the ram- hey!” She placed her hand on the back of her head, the sting from her mother’s popping strong.

Lucy laughed, her chubby hands taking the stripped clothes to the wash.

“You’ve all gone mad. I hope you know that.” It comes out as a grumble, but she goes into the tub. But as soon as she stepped in, she complained. “The water’s freezing!” “That’s what you get for talking so long.” Her mother quipped. Her face sours as an orange slice touches her knee.

Raising her leg, Eva takes it, scrubbing it down as her mother starts to work on her hair. She hisses, her scalp tender as it gets scrubbed as well. 

“The weather is lovely, isn’t it?” “Just dandy.”

“What time is it?” “Half after 12, mother.” “Lord! We need to hurry then.” “Did you always have such a strawberry complexion, sister?” Y/n kicks water at her sister. “Quiet, you-”

She’s interrupted by her mother pouring a bucket of water over her head. Her hair gets thrown in her face, and she swallows some soapy, milky water, sputtering and coughing.

“Both of you, quiet. I’ll be damned if our good name is tarnished because you both decide to act like Neanderthals.

Y/n coughed out some more water. “I think calling me a Neanderthal isn’t fair- but Eva on the other hand- Oh my fucki- can you stop getting soap in my eyes?!”

“Language!”

***

Y/n shivers as she steps out of the basin, her arms crossed, knees turned, and locked. 

Some of the rosemary was tangled in her hair, but she paid it no mind.

Wrapping a towel around her body, Eva grabbed a comb, getting to work on untangling the knots and rosemary in her hair.

“This is ridiculous.”

“You would still get picked if you were covered in cow shit, so cease your bitching,” her mother shot back, not missing a beat as she scrubbed her daughter’s hair with renewed vigor.

Y/n's mouth dropped open, and she groaned. “You’re impossible!”

But her mother only raised an eyebrow. “And yet, here you are, complaining like always.”

Lucy waddled into the room, her small arms bundled up with a light blue chemise gown, the fabric soft and worn from years of storage. The short sleeves were cuffed, and though the dress had once been elegant, it was now out of date- the gaudy stitching showing the era it was from. Y/n’s eyes widened in horror as she realized what Lucy was holding.

“You can’t seriously expect me to—” Y/n began, her voice rising in protest.

But before she could finish, her mother yanked the towel off her body with practiced efficiency. “Of course not,” Mrs. L/n replied, her tone calm and unwavering. “Not until you’ve been plucked.”

Eva stepped forward, smirking as she handed her mother a razor, her grin mischievous. Y/n stared at it, her lips parting in disbelief. “Oh, come on...”

Mrs. L/n motioned for the sisters to leave. Eva, Lucy, and the others filed out, whispering and giggling amongst themselves as they shut the door behind them, leaving the room unusually still. The bright daylight streaming through the window seemed too cheerful for what was about to happen.

Y/n sighed heavily and sat on the small stool, arms wrapped around herself in half-hearted defiance. Her mother wordlessly knelt beside her, taking the razor and beginning the task of smoothing over her skin with slow, deliberate strokes.

For a few moments, the only sound in the room was the quiet scrape of the blade against her skin, the soft splash of water, and the occasional sigh from Y/n. It was a silence filled with things left unsaid, the weight of what was coming pressing on both of them.

Y/n looked down at her hands, picking at a loose thread on the towel. "I still don't think this is going to work. They'll want someone else," she murmured, not meeting her mother's eyes.

Her mother didn't respond immediately, her hands steady as she worked. Finally, she spoke, her voice softer than before. "It’s not about what they want, Y/n. It’s about what you’re worth. Remember, the better you do, the better we all do."

“Why do you want me to get picked so badly?” Y/n asked quietly, her voice trembling despite her attempts to sound nonchalant. “You know I’ll mess up.”

Mrs. L/n paused mid-stroke, her hands hovering for a moment before continuing, the razor gently gliding over her daughter's skin. She didn't meet Y/n’s gaze, but her words were firm.

“I don’t want you to go. What gave you that idea?”

Y/n blinked, caught off guard by the blunt response. Her throat tightened, but she said nothing, the silence suddenly heavy between them. 

Her mother’s eyes were fixed on her task, but the strain in her voice betrayed her emotions. “You think I want to see you paraded around like livestock? Gods know I don’t.” She set the razor aside for a moment, finally looking up at Y/n. “But if you’re chosen… at least you’ll be safe.”

Y/n swallowed hard, not knowing what to say. For once, she had no sharp retort.

"...They'll smell the farm on me," Y/n tried to joke, a small smirk tugging at her lips. "And it's not like the town doesn't have a reputation for me."

Mrs. L/n froze, her brow furrowing before she snapped, "Y/n M/n L/n. You will stop talking this instant!" She threw her hands up in exasperation, the razor clattering against the basin. “Ugh, by the Gods, you will jinx yourself, and no amount of rosemary will be able to fix it!”

Y/n bit her lip, stifling a laugh despite the tension in the air. She knew her mother meant well, but the whole situation still felt so surreal—so out of place for someone like her.

There was a knock on the door. Y/n's head snapped toward it, her brows knitting in confusion. Her father’s voice called through the wooden frame, calm and warm as always. 

“The boy is here, my loves.”

Y/n frowned. "Caleb? What’s he doing here?"

Mrs. L/n didn’t answer, her focus entirely on finishing the task at hand. She ignored Y/n’s questioning gaze and continued to move the razor carefully, finishing her legs before working up to her cunt.

"Never mind that," her mother finally said, her tone clipped. "We need to finish."

She turned toward the door, calling out in her usual brisk, commanding voice, “There’s a roast in the oven! Check it for me, please!”

“Aye, I will,” her father replied, the sound of his footsteps retreating down the hall.

Y/n slouched slightly on the stool, still puzzled. “He does know today is the collection, right?” Y/n asked, a hint of uncertainty creeping into her voice.

“Perhaps he’s wishing to bid you good luck. But it will have to wait,” her mother replied, still focused on her work.

“Oh.”

Y/n sighed, the thought lingering in her mind. It made sense enough. They had talked about their plans—what they would do if she didn’t get picked. Caleb would take his father’s horse, and they’d ride out of Linkon together. A smile tugged at her lips as she recalled the silly memory of him telling her the same thing every year. 

But she hadn’t seen him lately; he was always busy with family matters, tending to the farm, or preparing for whatever life awaited him. 

Once Y/n was dressed, she stood stiffly, adjusting the light blue gown that felt foreign against her skin. “I can feel every stitch, Mama.”

“It’s because your skin’s bare. It’s a good feeling. A good thing,” her mother replied, a hint of pride in her voice.

“I’ll get cold easier.”

“Oh please. You weren’t even furry,” her mother teased.

Y/n let out an unexpected laugh, the tension breaking for just a moment. But then the door swung open, and her father stepped in, whistling a cheerful tune.

“There she is. My darlings!” He kissed his wife and then pressed a warm kiss to Y/n’s cheek. He pauses. “You smell like the farm.”

Y/n shot a look at her mother. “Told you so.”

“He's messing with you,” her mother said, rolling her eyes.

Just then, Caleb ducked his head under the doorframe, a bright smile on his face. “Good evening, Mrs. L/n. I’ve brought gifts.”

“Gifts? You shouldn’t have!” her mother exclaimed, a warm smile spreading across her face.

“I wanted to,” Caleb said, his tone sincere.

“Oh, you sweet boy. Come, let’s go talk.” Mrs. L/n took Caleb’s hand, pulling him out of the washroom. 

As their eyes met, Caleb’s purple gaze sparkled with a kind of mischief that made Y/n’s heart race. She felt her cheeks heat up but managed to wave, a shy smile breaking through her earlier worries.

Once they left, Y/n found herself alone with her father in the warm, sunlit room. The air was thick with the lingering scents of lavender and rosemary, remnants of her mother’s frantic preparations. Mr. L/n glanced out the door, ensuring it was securely closed before turning to face her, his expression suddenly serious.

“Are you nervous, child?” he asked, his voice low and steady, a contrast to the bustling energy that had just filled the space.

“Nervous?” Y/n echoed, furrowing her brow in confusion. “About today?”

“Hm... no, can’t say I am.” She crossed her arms, trying to project confidence, but the truth was a tangle of emotions lay beneath her surface.

He studied her for a moment, the lines on his face deepening with concern. “You’re a horrible liar. That’s my fault. Should have taught you better.”

“Papa—”

“Listen. You’re no fool. You’ve got a good head on you,” he said, placing a hand on his chin, his thumb tracing the stubble there as he exhaled slowly, the weight of his thoughts pressing down like a storm cloud.

Y/n felt a knot tighten in her stomach, her heart racing as he continued. “That boy is going to propose. And you need to accept.”

Her eyes widened in shock, disbelief flashing across her face. “Huh?”

“That's how you don’t get picked,” he insisted, his tone firm yet gentle, as if trying to shield her from the harsh realities of their world.

“But—”

“Listen to me, child. You need to accept—today. Before it’s too late. Once you’re engaged, they can’t collect you.” 

“To Caleb?” she asked, her voice trembling with a mix of hope and uncertainty. The idea danced in her mind like a flickering flame, both enticing and frightening. Would it truly save her? 

“Yes!” he affirmed, leaning closer, his eyes locking onto hers with a fervent intensity. “You think we have luck when it comes to this sort of thing? We don’t,” Mr. L/n continued, his voice lowering even further as he leaned closer. “We should have married you to him months ago, but there was never an opportunity. We have the papers. You just need to have some witnesses—”

“You cheated the system?!” Y/n whisper-yelled, her eyes wide with a mix of disbelief and indignation.

“Of course I did!” he replied, a hint of pride breaking through his urgency. “I did it to protect you. You have no idea what they do to the girls they collect. We have to outsmart them.”

“I can’t marry Caleb! Are you crazy? I don’t even want to get married—” Y/n protested, her voice rising in disbelief.

“This isn’t about what you want! You love the boy; he loves you!” Mr. L/n countered, his frustration simmering beneath the surface.

“Yeah, but—” she started, her mind racing as she tried to find the right words.

“Listen to me,” he urged, his voice softening as he stepped closer. “This is about survival. The kingdom doesn’t care about your dreams or desires; they only see you as another name on a list. But if you’re engaged, they can’t touch you.”

Y/n took a deep breath, the reality of her situation weighing heavily on her chest. “What if Caleb doesn’t want this? What if he thinks I’m just using him?”

“Caleb knows—he's been helping orchestrate this!” Mr. L/n interjected, a mix of urgency and relief washing over him.

Y/n’s eyes widened in disbelief. “What do you mean he knows? How could you—?”

“I spoke to him. He understands the situation, Y/n. He’s been looking out for you, and he wants to keep you safe.” Her father’s voice softened, but the intensity of his words remained.

“Caleb is in on this?” she asked, her mind racing. The idea that Caleb had been part of this plan, that he had considered her fate alongside his own, sent her heart racing.

“Yes! He cares for you deeply, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to protect you,” Mr. L/n explained, a hint of pride- and something else- in his voice.

She closed her eyes for a moment, envisioning Caleb’s kind smile and the playful banter they shared. Could he really be ready for something so serious? The thought of it both terrified and thrilled her. 

***

Caleb sat in the dingy dining room of the L/n household, his hand absently resting in his pocket. The scent of roasted meat wafted through the air, mingling with the musty smell of the worn furniture. Truthfully, the L/n farmland was rich and fruitful, bursting with potential, but the home itself felt shabby and neglected.

“Once we’re married, I can fix this place up…” he mumbled to himself, envisioning the changes he could make. The walls painted fresh, new furniture, perhaps even a small garden where Y/n could grow flowers. His heart swelled at the thought.

In the corner of the room, her sisters and mother were clustered together, giggling and gushing over the gifts he had brought—colorful ribbons, handmade trinkets, and sweets. Their excitement filled the air, but Caleb was lost in his own thoughts, barely noticing their chatter.

It wasn’t until Y/n emerged from the washroom, her father beside her, that he realized she was near. His heart skipped a beat as she stepped into the room, her vibrant orange hair catching the light. She looked radiant, even in the simple gown she wore, and a smile spread across his face as their eyes met.

“Good evenin', Y/n,” he greeted, warmth flooding his voice. “You look lovely.” 

Y/n’s cheeks flushed as she returned his smile, but there was an uncertainty in her gaze that made him wonder what was going through her mind. He wanted to ask about the selection ceremony, about her feelings, but for now, he simply stood there, hoping the moment would allow for the words to come.

“Er, hello, Caleb,” Y/n replied, her voice slightly shaky but warm.

He chuckled, a playful glint in his purple eyes. “You look like a strawberry.”

Eva snorted from the corner, unable to stifle her laughter. Y/n cleared her throat, determined to hold her ground. “Yes, well, thank you. They’re in season.”

“Are they now?” Caleb’s tone was teasing, and Y/n couldn’t help but smile despite the slight embarrassment. Strawberries weren’t in season, but he enjoyed the banter.

“They are,” she insisted, a spark lighting up her eyes.

“Then I trust you know where the ripe one is?” His gaze was warm, his smile contagious.

Y/n felt her cheeks flush deeper, but before she could respond, he gently took her hand, intertwining his fingers with hers. The touch sent a pleasant shiver down her spine. Together, they walked out of the house, the chatter of her family fading behind them.

As they stepped into the sunlit yard, the gentle breeze carried the scent of the sea, mingling with the earthy aromas of the farm. Caleb turned to her, his expression shifting to something more serious. “I’ve been thinking about what’s happening today…”

Y/n’s heart raced. She knew this was the moment to speak up, to share her fears and her father’s plan. But for now, she let the warmth of his hand and the softness of the afternoon settle around them, hoping to find the right words as they moved further from the house and deeper into the lush fields.

“Listen... I wanna marry you—” Caleb began, his tone earnest.

“Yes,” Y/n interrupted, her heart racing.

“What?” His expression shifted, surprise flashing across his face.

“Yes! I’ll marry you,” she declared, her excitement bubbling over.

“Let me finish,” he said, his brow furrowing slightly.

Y/n looked at him, confusion evident in her eyes.

Caleb’s smile faded, replaced by a serious expression. “Y/n. Don’t get me wrong. You’re a beautiful woman. And we’re good friends. But really, it’d be more of an exchange. I’ll marry you. But I want your father’s farm.”

Her eyes widened in disbelief. “Excuse me?”

“I mean it,” he pressed, his voice steady but tinged with urgency. “If we’re going to make this work, we need to secure the land. The L/n farm is rich, and with your hand in marriage, I’d have both a partner and a stake in something that could thrive.”

Y/n felt her heart drop. The warmth of the moment had evaporated, replaced by a chill of realization. “You want to marry me for the farm?” she asked, hurt creeping into her voice.

Caleb’s expression hardened, his jaw set. “You thought this wouldn’t have an exchange? Marriage is a contract. I keep you safe, I get the land.”

“I can’t give you what isn’t mine,” Y/n shot back, her voice rising in disbelief.

“Look, you’re inheriting the farm. Your father is old. When I marry you, I inherit the farm instead. You’ll still have your sheep and goats, but I want you to stay in the gardens with the flowers.” He stepped closer, his eyes earnest. “Think about it. I’ll spruce the place up, combine our land. We can make a name for ourselves!”

Y/n stared at him, the weight of his words settling heavily on her shoulders. “You’re talking about my life as if it’s just an asset, Caleb! What if I don’t want to be tied to the farm? What if I want to travel, to explore beyond Linkon?”

He paused, the intensity in his eyes faltering. “But this is our home! This is where our lives are. We can make it better together.”

Caleb’s expression softened momentarily, but he quickly masked it with determination. “I’m not trying to control you! I just see potential—”

“Potential for what? For you to fulfill your dreams at the expense of mine?” Y/n felt anger bubbling inside her. “You’re reducing our relationship to a business deal!”

“I’m trying to think practically!” he insisted, frustration creeping into his voice. “We live in a harsh world, Y/n. If you get chosen today, it could be the end of everything for us. I just want to protect you!.... I care about you. But this isn’t just about us. It’s about doing what’ll be best.”

Silence hung between them, heavy with unspoken words and emotions. Y/n looked at him.

...Why did it feel scripted?

She ignores the brief thought, letting it slip just as quickly as it had arrived. “I need time to think,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.

“You don’t have time to think,” Caleb said suddenly, pulling a small box from his pocket. He opened it to reveal a simple yet elegant ring. “I got the ring. Just wear it.”

“You’re kidding,” Y/n replied, disbelief flooding her voice.

“I’m not,” he insisted, his gaze steady.

“Caleb—” she started, but he interrupted her.

“That farm is precious, and your family doesn’t even see it. Just marry me and let me help you.”

Y/n’s heart raced as she stared at the ring. “You can’t just expect me to decide everything right now! This is my life we’re talking about!”

“I know it is! But we’re out of time. If you don’t make a choice before the selection, you could end up as one of those girls, the ones that don't get anything good!”

The gravity of his words settled in her chest like a stone. She thought of the stories her grandmother had told her, the dark legends woven through the village about the gathering and the sacrifices. The idea of becoming one of those girls made her stomach churn.

“Caleb, this isn’t the way,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t want to feel like I’m being sold off or bartered for land.”

“But you wouldn’t be! You’d be marrying someone who loves you, who wants to protect you!” He took a step closer, desperation flickering in his eyes. “Please, just wear the ring. We can figure everything else out together.”

Scripted. It felt so scripted. But why?

Y/n felt torn, her heart battling against her mind. The prospect of safety and partnership clashed with her desire for freedom and choice. “I… I need to think about it,” she said, her voice trembling.

“Look, if you’re not gonna marry me, I can wait for Eva. Or I’ll marry Lorraine—”

“Eva? Lorraine? Excuse me? Them of all people?” Y/n shot back, incredulous. The idea felt like a slap. Lorraine was the village gossip, always getting into trouble and never taking anything seriously. And her sister? Absolutely.

Caleb shrugged, a smirk playing on his lips. “I’m just saying, she wouldn’t mind. If you don’t want me, someone else will step in.”

“Right, because that’s how love works,” Y/n snapped, her frustration boiling over. “You can’t just jump from one sister to another like we’re some kind of game to you!”

“It’s not a game!” he argued, stepping closer, the tension thickening the air between them. “This is about survival, Y/n! Don’t you see? You can either have me fighting for you or risk being taken away, offered to the sea. I don’t want to lose you!”

Y/n’s heart raced as she considered his words again, the weight of the impending selection pressing down on her. The fear of the Dark Sea loomed larger than ever. “But I don’t want to feel trapped,” she said, her voice quieter now, almost pleading.

Caleb softened, his expression earnest. “You won’t be trapped with me. We can make it work, and build a life together. Just think about it—before it’s too late.”

As she looked into his eyes, Y/n felt a swirl of emotions—fear, anger, and- disgust? But the thought of marrying him out of desperation gnawed at her conscience. “I need more time- stop saying we don't have it."

“Time is the one thing we don’t have,” he replied, frustration creeping back into his voice. “Please, just wear the ring. Show me you’ll consider this. I can’t bear the thought of you being chosen—”

“Y/n! Come on, we’re waiting for you!” Eva’s voice called from the house, pulling her back to reality.

Caleb took her hand, his grip firm but gentle, as he slid the ring onto her finger. “Insurance. Just in case,” he said, his voice steady despite the uncertainty swirling around them.

Y/n blinked, her heart racing, but before she could respond, laughter echoed from inside the house. Her family had gathered, and when they saw Caleb placing the ring on her finger, their cheers erupted like a sudden storm.

“Oh, look at that!” her mother exclaimed, beaming. “My darling Y/n is engaged!”

Y/n’s eyes widened in shock. “No! Wait!” But the joyous noise drowned out her protests. Eva clapped her hands, and Lucy jumped up and down, her chubby cheeks flushed with excitement.

“Caleb! You clever boy!” Eva gushed. “We knew you’d come through!”

“But you don’t understand—” Y/n started, but her voice was lost in the commotion.

“Come here, you two!” Mrs. L/n pulled Y/n into a tight embrace, tears of joy glimmering in her eyes. “I’m so proud of you, my sweet girl. You’re all grown up!”

Y/n felt the weight of her mother’s affection, but dread settled heavily in her chest. She glanced at Caleb, searching for a flicker of understanding, but he was caught up in the whirlwind of celebration, a victorious grin plastered across his face.

“Now we can start planning the wedding!” her mother continued, clapping her hands together. “This is wonderful news! The whole village will be thrilled!”

Y/n’s heart sank. The idea of a wedding felt like a chain, tightening around her, and the implications of her father’s words crashed over her again. Marrying Caleb was supposed to be a lifeline, a way to escape the selection—but something was off.

“Are you really happy about this?” she whispered to Caleb, who was now being congratulated by her father.

He turned, his expression earnest. “Of course I am. This is our chance. You’ll see.”

But Y/n could only nod, a forced smile on her lips, as the celebration continued around her. 

And in the distance, carriages were coming, adorned with the rain clouds. 

taglist: @0chemicalwaste0 copyright © 2024 Hellinistical all rights reserved. no part of this story may be reposted, edited, or reproduced without the author’s permission.

[thankssteveditko]

Sony's PlayStation 5 Presents Insomniac's Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (the third game in the series)

I beat the main story and have enjoyed my time with the game overall! I want to talk about spoilers and things that I liked and disliked in the story, so here's a post with some scattered thoughts.

(Hello! I haven't forgotten that this blog exists! Like I said, no update schedule, I will read more of the Lee/Ditko comics whenever I make time for it. I've actually been sitting on a mostly-complete version of this post since I beat the game in October, thinking that I'd finish the rest of the side quests so I could throw in thoughts on those. But... eh, I'll do that whenever the inevitable DLC rolls around. I just wanna get these thoughts posted.)

Spider-Cop No More

First off: they downplayed the cop shit!!! This was the first thing that really struck me about the game, and I'm stunned that they actually listened to criticism on this. I thought we'd just be stuck with it forever.

It'll never be completely gone, of course. Spider-Man is always going to leave criminals webbed up for the police to take to prison, hoping that they'll do their time and come out the other side as Productive Members of Society. That's just a thing I begrudgingly accept as part of the genre that will probably never go away. But Spider-Man is no longer repairing police surveillance networks. You're no longer beating the shit out of random drug dealers. Gangs of escaped convicts still wearing their orange jumpsuits are no longer terrorizing the streets of New York.

Instead, Peter and Miles are played more as firefighters. Sometimes very literally! They work with firefighters, they rescue people from collapsing buildings, they rush injured people to the hospital. In general there's a huge increase in the number of random onlookers present during the big action setpieces, and the Spider-Men frequently have to save them from harm. One of the major side quest lines is even literally about a cult of arsonists, and you'll routinely find burning fuel tanker trucks you have to extinguish with your webs. It's great! Love this for them.

I also generally liked the side missions in this. There's a lot of good stuff with the Spider-Men being neighborhood heroes willing to help out anyone in need, no matter the problem. Some of them can get corny, sure, but that street level stuff has always been the real heart of Spider-Man to me.

Gameplay

The gameplay's as fun as ever. That probably goes without saying. I will not be spending a thousand words explaining that swinging is fun.

In particular, I really liked the changes to the Focus mechanic. I never loved the way Miles' game made you choose between healing and doing your special attacks, but here your four specials have their own cooldowns, and the Focus meter is spent on either healing or finishers. It still offers that risk/reward element, but those vicious cycles where you can't do any real damage because you keep needing to heal aren't nearly as bad as they were before.

Personally I didn't turn off the swing assist or turn on fall damage, because the streamlined swinging never bothered me in these games, but I'm glad the options are there for people who want them.

Kraven

I liked Kraven in this! I liked the way they leaned into his Hunters being this weird death cult, and him wanting to go down in a blaze of glory against a worthy foe, to the point that he's actually disappointed anytime a foe can't kill him. It riffs on things people liked in Kraven's Last Hunt without being the exact same story. I like that Kraven's gang is renting out this manor or whatever and just being a complete terror to the wait staff. I liked the way Kraven hunting Peter's rogues' gallery clashed with Peter's belief in giving his villains second chances. I liked that they were willing to have Kraven kill off a couple of the minor villains from the first game to sell how dangerous he is. (I know some people hated this, but like, come on. We already fought the Sinister Six. They don't need to do that again.) I like the way Kraven pushed Peter to the absolute brink, turning him more and more aggressive with the Black Suit. Good stuff all around, even if the Hunter enemy types did wear out their welcome a little bit by the end.

The Black Suit arc

I think I liked the way Insomniac handled Peter's Black Suit arc overall, but there's a tradeoff here.

They REALLY lean into the body horror tentacle stuff, with Black Suit Peter basically just being a skinny Venom by the end. The sequence where you play as Mary Jane while the symbiote puppets an unconscious Peter's body around and goes on a rampage against the Hunters was REALLY great at selling how scary Peter is becoming, and it made me completely change my tune on the inclusion of the MJ stealth missions in the sequel. Having to beat an out-of-control Peter as Miles immediately after Peter beats Kraven was also really good. This is all cool!

BUT, the thing is... with the symbiote powers being so freaky from the start, it really pushes my suspension of disbelief when Peter and co. take so long to become wary of it. I guess when you've been bitten by a radioactive spider and given superpowers, and when you live in the same universe as the Avengers and the X-Men, your perception of what's "normal" is going to be pretty warped. But they buy the whole "organic exosuit created to treat Harry's illness" story WAY too easily lmao. How do the self-aware slime tentacles help with his illness, exactly?

And I'm not sure how I feel about giving Peter Anti-Venom powers in the last act. It feels like it's primarily a concession so that they can give players that branch of their skill tree back, but honestly, the designer in me thinks it would be really cool (if risky) to just permanently lock players out of Peter's most powerful skills past a certain point. Yeah, it'd definitely piss people off, but it drives home the idea that Peter's given up greater power because it's the right thing to do. It'd put you in his shoes! Instead he just gets the symbiote powers back, but it's fine because the Venom voice in his head is gone and also the slime tendrils that explode out of his body are white now, which means they're good.

I have to say it. I'm sorry. The glistening white goo... they turned Peter into the Amazing Cum-Man. I changed back to the Classic Suit after rolling the credits and forgot I still had the Anti-Venom skills equipped, so I just saw regular old Spider-Man exploding his white goo everywhere. Terrible.

Assuming Peter is just stepping into more of a supporting role to Miles and not fully retiring after the events of this game, I really hope the Anti-Venom stuff is gone. I get that he needed it to counter Venom, but that's not what I want for Peter Parker.

Miles

Miles is good in this, and I really like his arc where he struggles with whether or not he should avenge his dad by killing Martin Li. I like how all that plays out. Unfortunately, they don't quite stick the landing when it comes to making him and Peter feel like equals in terms of narrative focus. His arc is definitely the B-plot to Peter's for the middle chunk of the story, which I guess was kind of inevitable since they decided to do the Black Suit arc. But Miles does at least get a lot of moments to shine, and by the end he's very much taking the lead as the main Spider-Man.

Becoming the main Spider-Man also gets Miles a new, wholly original suit that ended up being super controversial, and honestly... I kinda like it? Or at least I like what it's going for, even if the actual design could still use some work. It's something totally unique for Miles, and I like spandex/streetwear combo suits like what the Spider-Verse movies have popularized. But showing his hair is really pushing the limits of his secret identity. He hangs around Brooklyn Visions WAY too much for his classmates to not recognize his voice and haircut. And I understand why people would be wary about it becoming his "canon" look moving forward. But I think it's got potential.

On the subject of Miles, though, I will say that while I liked Miles' side missions, it feels like he's often saddled with the game's broad, kinda touristy, kinda token attempts at Showcasing The Diversity Of New York, in a way that Peter isn't.

I like that Miles has a deaf graffiti artist girlfriend that he and Ganke sign with, and I like that there's a series of side missions that explore some local jazz history, and I like that there's a mission where Miles helps a gay classmate ask his crush to prom. I like all these things! I like Spider-Man being involved with his community, and that said community includes such a wide variety of people! I like that this game slows down to savor these types of moments instead of just being all action all the time! But when I step back, I notice some patterns.

Hailey doesn't have a big role in the main plot, especially when compared to MJ, but Miles gets a side mission where you briefly play as her with muffled audio to teach you what being deaf is like. There are no major queer characters in the story - unless you count Felicia showing up for exactly one mission to mention she has an unseen, unnamed girlfriend in Paris now - but you get a side mission where Miles helps out a gay couple at his school, who then never come up again. To put it very uncharitably, they can feel like Very Special Episode missions. It's like the devs going: we're going to give Miles a Gay Mission, and an Impaired Hearing Mission, and a Cultural History Mission, so that we can say we touched on these things, but we're gonna make them all optional and keep them far away from the full-blown Superhero Stuff like fighting costumed villains. Those flavors cannot mix. Meanwhile, Peter gets to have a whole elaborate subplot about teaming up with Wraith to track down fucking Cletus Kasady. There's an imbalance here, and I think it's part of the reason why Peter still feels like the "main" Spider-Man for so much of the story.

I think this was all written with admirable intentions, but as others have pointed out, you can kinda tell that this game was mainly written by some white guys based in California. These attempts at depicting various marginalized groups can feel kind of detached in the same way that Insomniac's map of New York doesn't quite line up with the real thing. But I dunno. I'm not really the one to dig deep into some of this stuff as a white woman from Florida. I would be curious to read others' takes on this.

Maybe I'm just being overly cynical about the writers' well-meaning but corny and kinda out of touch liberal politics because of the podcasts.

The podcasters

I wish Jameson was in this more! They psyched us out by giving him a full character model for, like, two scenes. I like him being MJ's boss, but I wish we saw inside the Daily Bugle offices to get more Jameson.

At least his podcasts are better than the ones in the Miles game, though. Him completely trusting in Roxxon was just too much for me. Here he condemns Oscorp for the symbiote shit, and he also gets some moments where he takes the ongoing crises seriously and isn't just ranting about the Spider-Men. He isn't just a conspiracy theorist crackpot here. Shit like his "fuck Spider-Man, we have a justice system for a reason" speech makes him feel more like a human being with a point of view, rather than just a caricature. Definitely an improvement.

Unfortunately, I still find The Danikast grating. I'm sorry, Ashly Burch. It's not your fault. The quirky heckin' wholesome millennial podcaster lady who catches you up on current events and then reminds you to drink 64 ounces of water a day in the same breath is just too much for me. At least she doesn't have any lines as bad as her throwing in a "damn" and then going (direct quote here) "That's right - no censoring! That's how REAL I'm being right now!" like in Miles' game. Instead they give her this, like, almost psychic insight into the main plot to try and make her the angel on Peter's shoulder. The second Peter gets the symbiote she's like "Wow, y'all. Have you seen Spider-Man's new black suit? Something's different about him. He's been giving me such bad vibes lately. #NotMySpiderMan" Also she's supposed to be this, like, underdog independent podcaster who started her show on a whim and has become the voice of the people... but she's got billboards plastered all over the fucking city. Which makes her feel like an industry plant lmao

Again, there's a detachment with the writing. This is, like, some middle aged white liberal game dev guys' idea of what a modern leftist teenager would think is a Cool Activism Podcast. Unfortunately, because Insomniac thinks Danika's a hero, Mary Jane's triumphant ending is that she quits her job at the Bugle to become a podcaster, too, delivering a thinly veiled monologue about the pandemic to kick off her new podcast literally titled "The New Normal." She's going to save the world with podcasting, because that's the highest form of activism, I guess.

Venom

So! Venom! Venom was... okay.

Surprising no one, Harry Osborn is Venom. Harry's okay both as himself and as Venom, but I'm not sure his arc is a smooth one. He starts out as Peter's comically perfect best friend who returns to reminisce about the good ol' days and hand him his dream job on a silver platter, and then later he becomes a little ball of rage over the fact that Peter gets his symbiote and can't/won't give it back. I'm not sure that pivot is handled the most convincingly. You kind of have to write it off as the symbiote messing with their heads, I guess.

When he actually becomes Venom, I'm... mixed on the execution. On the one hand, the cool factor is absolutely there. He's a very cool big monster, and Tony Todd is great in the role. But he also wants to take over the world and make everyone a symbiote, and aside from any lingering resentment towards Peter, that's really all there is to him. It makes for a good video game to have a bunch of symbiote enemies and creepy symbiote nests and symbiote tentacles climbing up the sides of buildings in the last act... but is that really what I want out of Venom? Probably not. But he sure does look cool as a big monster guy to fight, and I was happy he was briefly playable.

Suits

Part of me feels like there's something lacking about the suit selection here, but almost every suit I liked in the previous games is back, and also I'm the type of person to give Peter the Classic Suit the second I unlock it and use that for most of the game. So does it really matter for me?

Peter's selection feels dominated by the various live action movie suits, but I get that those are going to be some of the suits people want to wear the most. I wish he had the Peter B. Parker skin to go with Miles' Spider-Verse alts, though. No idea why it's missing. Really I think I mainly just want more of the Spider-Verse designs.

Also I've complained about how most of the original suits designed for these games make Peter and Miles look like they were bitten by radioactive Alienware products, but I can just, you know. Wear other suits.

Misc thoughts

Everyone's already made this joke, but it's extremely funny that the Avengers didn't help with the symbiote invasion. Took one look at that and decided it wasn't their problem

On the subject of other superheroes, I do wish these games would acknowledge the Fantastic Four more. Peter's close relationship with that team feels woefully underutilized in his various adaptations

I like the trope of a boss fight that's a heightened version of a personal conflict between two people who are close, where throughout the fight the boss is airing out their grievances while the hero tries to get through to them emotionally. That especially works for Spider-Man! But WOW has Insomniac played that card a lot of times by the end of Spider-Man 2 lol

They're teasing the addition of Silk, I guess? I'm gonna be honest, I don't know shit about Silk, but I guess it was inevitable that they'd give us some form of Spider-Woman at some point. Gotta work all those costumes in somehow, and they're not brave enough to let one of the boys cosplay as Spider-Gwen.

They WERE, however, brave enough to let Harry say he loves Peter. I liked that little moment. They presumably meant it platonically, but clearly ol' Yaoi Lowenthal knows what's up

Post-leak addendum

So, obviously, by the time I got around to finishing this post the big Insomniac leak happened. I wish the game industry wasn't so secretive that it took a massive, dangerous data breach just to get our hands on some very basic info that would be public knowledge if Insomniac was a film studio, but here we are.

We now know that Insomniac spent somewhere around $315 million making Spider-Man 2 - triple what the first Spider-Man game cost to make. A quote about this from a leaked presentation has been stuck in my head ever since I first saw it on Twitter. “Is 3x the investment in [Spider-Man 2] evident to anyone who plays the game?”

To be honest, I'm not sure it is.

I liked Spider-Man 2, but I'd probably say that overall I liked it about as much as the first game. It's certainly a somewhat bigger game, with marginally more realistic looking graphics thanks to the power of the PS5. But I think I could do without ray tracing and more realistic hair rendering and whatnot if it meant that these games didn't take like five years and hundreds of millions of dollars to make. I could not give less of a shit if the swinging animations were recycled between games. I'd be fine with them being shorter, too.

I like these games, but as we look at that leaked project lineup and realize that Insomniac is turning into The Marvel Game Studio, I think about how many smaller, more original games that those resources could go towards if they scaled back the Marvel stuff just a bit. How many Ape Escapes or Patapons or Gravity Rushes could get made for the budget of just one of these massive AAA tentpole games of Sony's, which are apparently barely even breaking even? How many could be made for the budget of the "smaller, cheaper" Miles Morales game, which somehow cost $156 million to make despite using an updated version of the same Manhattan map from the first game? Hell, how many smaller games could have been made with the $39 million that went into remastering the first Spider-Man game for PS5 a mere two years after launch? How many people will lose their jobs if any one of Insomniac's upcoming Marvel games underperforms - which, in this case, could mean selling "only" 5 million copies? And would hardcore PlayStation fans even accept those smaller games at this point, now that they've been trained to only appreciate mega-budget Prestige Games with cutting edge graphics and treat everything else with disdain? How much worse will this get as the graphical arms race continues?

I think I just miss Japan Studio. Fuck Sony. Uhh but anyway the Spider-Man game this post was supposed to be about was good, some writing complaints aside. 8/10

[jazeswhbhaven]

👻👻Happy Spooky Month Ya'll👻👻

Have yourself a Asmo~

So as with any update of mine for the month, let's get it poppin' with some quick housekeeping rules since I've gained some new faces since the last update!

👻Don't come up in my space with the bullshit, meaning racism/colorism, homophobia, etc.

👻If you have a non-sharing yumeship do yourself a favor and don't follow me as I equally talk about and simp for pretty much the majority of the characters for this game

👻I talk and write cxc content, I always tag it so ya'll can mute it so just fair warning

👻Venting is welcome in my inbox, but no venting about other users in my inbox and using me as a mediator. That's ya'lls beef not mine.

👻Absolutely no minors.

👻Requests are s l o w. Like I still have stuff from weeks/months ago I haven't answered so please be patient with me ;w;

What's going on this month for my blog?

Uh tbh I was supposed to have a WHB OCversary event for myself and well that hasn't been going to well because of outside factors. If ya'll see it before Halloween that would be my ideal goal.

Also I was going to do a Halloween thingie like how I did for my other blog last year but I don't think I will end up getting to it...I might just update with the kings/nobles I didn't include!

Other than that keep an eye out for the following reacts:

👻Asmodeus Selfie 👻Gabriel X-mas Miracle And this is totally dependent on when my friends share the stories with me or if I get them myself. I was supposed to have a react for Levi and Mammon's bath story but I'll probably dish that out for next month instead.

Oh but another thing!

So after some thought, if I get myself together and figure out a sound schedule...and after doing more research I will possibly be opening a Patreon for ficlets/blurbs for other fandoms including this one based on a poll vote. Most of it will be never posted on tumblr so it will be exclusive to my patrons only! The tiers won't be too expensive tho. But this is still a up in the air thought and I'll let ya'll know if it's ever going forward. I'd like to think I'd get support but alas, gotta be realistic sometimes lol

Hey so, Asmodeus....eh? *wink*

yes. Asmodeus has the fandom up in a tizzy and I think that's a given. For LU(Love Unholyc) fans this has been a long time coming seeing him like this, and for folks like me who kinda know OF him or don't know him at all then yeah fucking side swept my ass.

Let me gather my strength to write some stuff about him...I want to I really do...and we shall see if I can get my brain going. There's so much potential with him too. Other than him being fine as fuck.

Anywayssssssss thank you all for following me and my crazy, engaging, and being the lovely folks ya'll are. Let's continue to simp and vibe for the bois~

your lovely admin~ ♡( •ॢ◡-ॢ)✧˖° ♡ʕ·ᴥ·ʔ

[oops-all-concrete]

Hi! I have a request for bg3 head-cannons. These entail Tav not being able to read and the group all separately trying to teach them how to. (I feel like gale would be the master at this). Thank you!❤️

Aw, I love this ask!! Thank you for the request, this is genuinely so sweet and is spawning like a million ideas in my head. (I have a Tav I always imagine being illiterate)

BG3 companions react to; Tav not knowing how to read!

No content warnings, just fluff and sweetness for the most part. Potentially minor spoilers for certain characters? But nothing major/important.

Lae'zel -

She's a little surprised, given how old Tav is. She knew how to read Tir'Su slate by age 6. Knew how to read and write common by 8. Learned a few other languages by 12. For Tav to not know their own language in writing is concerning. She wouldn't have the patience to teach them, but she would go out of her way to read out signs and plaques to Tav. They need to get by somehow and she's at least got the patience for that.

Shadowheart -

"Oh? Was this not a necessary skill where you grew up?" She's quite open minded. She understands not all societies have a lean on literacy, as much as she couldn't imagine living like that. She asks if they'd like to know and reads to them in the evenings. She only has some chappy romance novels and crime fiction, but she likes the books, so she's happy to read to them. It's a slow process, but she's patient.

Wyll -

He's stunned. He knows there's plenty of people who simply can't obtain the skill due to a number of reasons, dyslexia, bad vision, blindness entirely, but Tav should know if they can learn. He's quick to get as much reading material as he can find and invite Tav to little lessons. He's a wonderful teacher, praises every new word, applauds the reading of a sentence and smiles every time Tav reads something on their own during an adventure.

Karlach -

She's the least bothered. A little surprised, but not judging. "Eh, I can't ride any mounts or hold my breath for more than 20 seconds at a time. I've lived, so will you" She shrugs it off so easy. She does however keep that information to herself if she's the only one Tav has told. It's not worth judging, she refuses to look down on anyone for it, but she worries Gale, Astarion or Lae'zel will be critical and perhaps even mean about it? And Tav doesn't need that. Mama K's got you.

Gale -

He's not critical, but he is interested. Gale might have a bit of an ego and thinks the world of his skills, but his mother wouldn't let him leave the house if he thought less of others for not having skills. He does offer to teach, but he asks in a very particular way. "I'd be happy to teach you, should you wish to learn. It's fine if you don't though. Just tap me and point and I'll translate for you" He says, calm and even. Deep down, he is concerned, but stays level headed. Tav deserves that much.

Astarion -

"What, did your folks just get lazy? Ugh, what swine." He's offended on Tavs behalf. He thinks it's atrocious they don't have such a basic and essential skill and can't believe whoever/wherever Tav was brought up just didn't help them. So naturally, he pulls out some of his own reading material and finds some easier things during travel if he can. He'll be damned if he's going to let them sit there and not know what a warning sign is.

Bonus! The elder folks 💕

Halsin -

"Ah, you need not be ashamed. Nature never intended writing, as helpful as it can be." He smiles. He's happy to teach, but doesn't mind if Tav has no desire to learn. He thinks it would be helpful, but otherwise thinks nothing of it. He will read things if asked without question, but makes no other comments.

Jaheira -

"Cub, as long as you can remember what I say and know how to say what you're saying, I couldn't care less...but if you want to learn, you can always tell me or Halsin...or the wizard, Gale. They'd be happy to teach I'm sure" She just shrugs and keeps moving.

Minsc -

"Warriors have no need for words anyhow, my friend! We can just speak with our hands and feet...in combat!" With some encouraging squeaks from Boo.

[afreakingdork]

Soft Spot - Chapter 9

RotTMNT Donatello x Reader

Nothing but a little work under the table in this week’s chapter art by @garbagemilkshake (ALSO IT'S THEIR BIRTHDAY SO YOU BETTER WISH THEM ONE!)

Rated: Explicit

Warnings/Tags: Romance, Established Relationship, Married Couple, Married Life, Aged-Up Mutant Ninja Turtles, Villain Donatello (TMNT), Love, POV Second Person, Babies, Pregnancy, AFAB reader, Vaginal Sex, Rough Sex, Penis In Vagina Sex, Creampie, Breeding Kink, Multiple Orgasms, Angst, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Fertility Issues, Pregnant Sex, Pregnancy Kink, Reader-Insert, Cunnilingus, Fellatio, Cum Eating, Turtle Noises (TMNT), I have a Biology Degree and I’m Using it, Menstruation, There WILL NOT be any Miscarriages

Synopsis: First comes love. Then comes marriage. Then comes the next step about as smooth as the others arrived. The baby-oriented sequel to Weak Spot.

Also available on Ao3

First 💜 Previous

LAST WARNING FOR THE 🍋 UNDER THE CUT. MINORS DNI!

Donnie was skulking around like a cartoon villain. While you were busy finishing a show you were watching, you could sense him moving around. He wasn’t being invasive about it and you only really noticed him during lulls of action. He’d abandoned watching alongside you hours ago after the plot hadn’t interested him. For a while he toiled about on his computer until he inquired about bed. You had only two episodes to go in the season and replied that you were going to finish. He pecked you goodnight and you had figured that would be it.

He appeared to shut off the lights and tuck himself in. You had lowered the television volume for his sake and he’d been silent right up until he appeared in the corner of your vision checking in. You said nothing as you were relatively absorbed and it wasn’t unlike him to check a run time. He was always more prone to sleep when you joined him so you thought he might be waiting for you until he switched sides of the couch. From there he peeked again and it was obvious he wasn’t checking the screen.

He was looking at you in a not so pointed manner.

You tried to keep your lips in order through the duration of the final episode, but it was hard not to be amused by the way he crept all around the living room and kitchen. He never once interfered with your watch though you were losing rapid interest. The plot hadn’t come together as you’d hoped so you were mentally counting down the minutes until the credits rolled. You sank back amongst the final scroll of text with your mouth quirked to one side. You dully thought about the writer’s intention when Donnie finally coiled around the couch into full view.

“Couldn’t sleep?” You asked genially.

He had a hunch to his form and only looked between you and the TV.

“Too loud?” You wondered and moved aside so he could join you on the couch if he wanted.

He didn’t move further. “How was it?”

“Eh…” You tipped your head. “The other seasons were way better. The plot holes kept piling up and I don’t get why they wasted time on some of the side plots when there were still major plot points to deal with. Oh, and the recons-!”

Donnie lifted into better posture and seemed to gape.

He hadn’t meant to actually prompt you.

He clearly wanted something else.

He also completely failed at being coy so now you determined he was going to listen to your rant.

You went through all your gripes with more growing like fungi as you went on until he eventually was forced to join you.

You loved that he accepted his pseudo punishment. “So yeah… kind of a bummer.”

He nodded slowly and thoughtfully.

“You were right to skip out.” You sighed.

“Apologies.”

“Yeah…” You glanced at the time to find it teetering around 1am. “So, what were you up to?”

It took him a moment of processing before he remembered. “Ah.”

You waited and rested your head against the couch cushions.

“The lab.”

Your attention lifted.

“Would you like to go?”

By all indication, he meant now so you asked as much.

“Breaking and entering is considered through force and lack of authorization. We would enter through the front door and I have full access.”

“Isn’t it closed?”

“Yes.” He grinned.

“This is-”

“Surprising?” He had a smile to him that begged for validation.

“So spontaneous.” You cooed encouragement for him.

He ate it up with the slightest wiggle. “I must admit to some planning.”

“Oh?”

“I saw that Stockman requested time off. His protocols are coded so there’s no replacement. We only need thwart a computer.”

“Stockman…” You couldn’t remember who that was.

“It also regards our honeymoon.”

Now that you knew very well and switched topics since the other didn’t seem important. “What about it?”

“Do you recall our successful chase?”

A small thrill flickered in your chest. “I do.”

“I never elaborated on my deception.”

“Didn’t really matter when we fucked in the alley and then on that roof.” You teased.

Donnie’s gaze flickered away both to chase the memory and with some amount of guilt.

He had been on the mend, but he still hadn’t quite recovered from getting his hopes up that you might be pregnant.

He had come around on regular intimacy, but the sexual sort had continued to be, as of yet, off the table.

“Okay, let me think…” You shifted your posture.

You didn’t mind as he had all the time in the world to process.

“The alley…” You mouthed the phrase while running through the chase. “You were there, but I couldn’t see you. Is that it?”

“Yes.” He gave into a full smile.

You melted at it. “Let’s hear it.”

“I’d like to show you.”

“Oh, at the lab!” You connected the dots.

He gave a single sharp and excited nod.

“If you were waiting for Stockguy to take time off then we aren’t actually allowed in, are we? Permission or not.”

“The lab is closed…” Donnie led.

You watched with a knowing gaze.

“They could consider us violating protocol.”

You blinked once and it came with a small dose of fear. “Like with lab-aided fertility?”

Donnie grew similarly solemn. “Yes.”

“Are… we…?” You thought you had both agreed to not violate those measures.

“No.”

Your worries were immediately dashed, but you felt a little hollow as they disappeared too quickly. “Then why be sneaky?”

“What I’d like to do has no bar, but it is also both an act that most consider unsavory. Not something the employees or I would like stumbled upon.”

You couldn’t imagine anything else, but sex.

“You are for my eyes only.” He went on, cementing your thoughts.

“You did say it wasn’t in the biodome…” You remembered.

He wriggled the faintest amount. “Your answer?”

“It’s late…” You pretended to look forlorn toward the clock.

Donnie drooped so obviously that you had to fight every ounce of your will not to laugh at how adorable he was.

You turned your head to him and could only warp it into a cocksure grin. “But I suppose it sounds fun.”

Your husband gave a testy little trill at having fallen for your ploy and pounced at you.

You squeaked happily under his pecking kiss assault.

“I only need your tech gauntlet for a moment.” He eventually got out between nuzzles.

“What for?” You offered him your arm.

He slipped your bracelet off. “I will loop the necessary of Stockman’s footage once we’re inside the building, closed system, but on approach I require the image scrambled.”

“Won’t your keycard ping as you when you scan it?”

“Someone will call to inquire within 10 minutes.” Donnie pressed a few buttons and had your gauntlet syncing with his.

“Is that a problem?”

“No, I’ve picked up necessities in off hours before.”

“Then why all the effort?”

“Anonymity. My business.”

“I don’t understand…?”

“A moment.” He finished and reapplied your gauntlet to your arm.

You tilted your head as you waited.

“My gauntlet will take mapping footage to prepare stand-in imagery. Yours will initiate the feed interruption. I don’t want you ID'd. I don’t want you seen. If Stockman were available, he would see the temporary distortion. Since he is not, I will replace the footage, when I have access and before he is aware. The end result will appear as though only I entered.”

“Your eyes only.” You repeated what he had said.

He smiled warmly and caught your lips.

You kissed into him for one heavy press before releasing. “Should I change into anything in particular?”

He looked down at your pajamas and back up. “No need.”

You rounded out your mouth to show excitement without voicing it and you both prepared to leave. To match you, Donnie similarly left in his loungewear, but he stuck his coat over the top of his ensemble. You had never seen him throw the Burberry on over a tank top and you took a moment to look it over. He stood still to let you and you decided you weren’t sure about the pair as you shoved an arm through your puffer. It had only been a few weeks since you purchased it with S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. and you liked it quite a bit. It still looked a bit hokey, but the downy warmth it provided wasn’t something you would trade in the lingering cold.

The moment you exited the apartment you started to sneak similarly to the image Donnie had set. You exaggerated taking steps with your whole leg and held your wrists up limp in front of you. At first your mate stared on, unenthused, until you turned a corner and checked back with him playfully. The game of spy clicked for him and he joined in by slinking up without nearly the same posture. He shifted the tone more to one for covert ops and together you crept around. With hand signals that meant nothing you decided to avoid the elevator and hit the stairs. Donnie took one look over a banister before he held out an arm for you. As if he were about to shoot off some grappling hook, he held you close and hopped down.

Your stomach shot into your throat and Donnie levied the fall by hopping off a few floors instead of all the way down even though he was capable. Your heart beat an excited speed when you landed on the ground floor and you tried not to lose your cool secret agent exterior as you signaled that you would check the door. Donnie hung back and you cracked the opening to the lobby. It was predictably empty and you waved him through.

He came and together you strolled out of the building as if you’d made out like bandits when in reality you had just exited your residence. You let the joy of your game hit you the moment the cold outdoor air nipped your nose. Donnie joined in your merriment with a churr and the car sat idling with a puff of warm inviting smoke coming from the muffler.

Inside the cabin was glorious heat and you unzipped our jacket. Donnie followed suit and instructed you on what to expect once you got to the lab. It was bathed in purple neon and rolling through somewhat empty streets that Donnie urged you to stay on his left side. That was the location of his primary tech gauntlet and would make for the optimal footage. He didn’t anticipate running into anyone, but you were to duck behind him if that were the case and he would cover you if necessary.

Reaching the lab, you felt exhilarated. Unlike your trips to the Hidden City where there was seemingly danger at every turn, there was little peril here other than a scolding. Spencer had been keeping you posted in his quest to get your pregnancy granted, but there had been little movement. The man had also assured you that things like this took time and it hadn’t phased Donnie so you guessed that was true.

You had a vague notion that if you were caught here then there was always a chance it could delay your favored decision. They might try to say you were violating terms even though, as far as you knew, that wasn’t true. You were sure Donnie would also somehow back up the actual footage that he was going to tamper with. If things went that South you bet he would offer at least part of it as evidence and with his usual lack of shame, he’d probably admit to whatever act you were in for.

Something clandestine was about to occur.

You still didn’t know what. 

You had almost forgotten amongst the infiltration plans.

You were left wondering as Donnie tapped your shoulder to signal it was time. You nodded your readiness and he swept out of the vehicle first. He snapped the lapels of his coat clean and you zipped your jacket back up to follow him. You stood dutifully on his left and he appraised you with affection before approaching the building. The lights shined brightly on the exterior and Donnie moved to a far door as the others were gated. It was clearly an access door for this sort of afterhours entry and had a card scanner which Donnie swiped through. The door beeped and lurched with purple instead of green and you passed through.

The lobby was sparse in comparison to the sleek feel during the day. You thought a guard might be at the reception desk, but it was chillingly empty and partially dark. The only lights on were probably enough to illuminate security tapes and you tried not to fall behind as Donnie headed straight toward the elevators.

His phone rang as he was reaching out to scan one into operation.

He was smooth in removing the device with his right hand and answered in the motion of bringing it to his head. “You’ve reached Donatello.”

You heard a man’s voice on the line, but couldn’t make out what it was on the opposite side as you.

“Yes.” Donnie turned and looked pointedly at a wall.

You tried to peer at it without exposing yourself, but you didn’t see anything. 

“I’m going to use the testing facility.”

Donnie’s unused hand flapped once.

You tucked your fingers into it and he squeezed.

“Yes. Shall I account for how long you pester me?”

You could hear anger turn up on the line.

“You delay genius.”

You still couldn’t hear, but there was a sharp retort that caused your mate ooze hatred.

Donnie looked forward to the elevator and from his profile you could tell he was using all his willpower not to spit venom.

You heard a taunting whoop from the phone.

“Your parent’s anniversary?” Donnie’s lip ticked with a wicked grin. “They recently moved, East Elmhurst. You’re attending a dual celebration which, congratulations are in order. A family owned grocer of 50 years. Shall I recite the address of the resort you’re staying? Your personal room number? Your parents? How about their social security numbers? I can overturn the entire booking in an instant. I can upend such jubilation. What a headache for the occasion.”

There was stark silence and you tucked closer to Donnie.

He appeared to shield you.

This time you heard the man on the line. “One wrong move. Never forget.”

“Review the footage as you please.” Donnie dismissed the man. 

The call terminated and he put his phone in his pocket.

A swift exchange, he then swiped his key card through the slot.

The elevator was predictably on the ground floor and opened up.

He walked you in being careful to keep you on his left the entire time.

It placed him in front of the panel where he hit a floor and then swept a hand down to open the control panel. It took a few flicks of his finger and he kept his body otherwise stationary. The elevator door closed around the time Donnie revealed some circuitry. With one hand, he unearthed a port and plugged something into it. He then placed everything back as it was and went idle.

You waited beside him with growing concern.

He checked his gauntlet once and you saw a checkmark pass over the screen. “The entire company…”

You didn’t make a noise.

Your mate’s eyes flashed red. “All of them. Sent a notice without me attached!”

You searched his face. 

He shook with his fangs bared. “All made aware of my failures! All to monitor me! They turn my company against me!!!”

He panted from the effort and tried to settle himself. 

You ventured closer.

He pulled you right into a hug.

You squeezed him tight.

“The footage is doctored. You’re free to act.”

“Who was that? What did they say?”

“Stockman.” Donnie hissed. “He found it to kindly notify me of the Genius Built company wide alert. It notified all that one Donatello was barred from genetic testing equipment and materials for the time being, ect and so forth.”

“You threatened him.” You understood now and you began to remember what you were once told about this man. “Keep your enemies close…”

“I should ruin him. I should-!”

You shook your head against his plastron.

You felt him look down at you.

“I don’t know who he is, but he sounds like an asshole.”

You reached your floor and Donnie moved you just outside the elevator so it could shut.

“Maybe you should later. I’d need to know more, but this is for us, isn’t it? Fuck that guy.”

He didn’t disarm, but he relented a tiny bit.

“It sucks, but I guess it makes sense that they warned the employees.” You pulled your face from him, but didn’t look up. “I mean you couldn’t even get needles. Spencer told you that you couldn’t use the labs. He might have coordinated the email and cc’d some bigwig as proof. It’s probably all part of getting us the approval we want, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t really suck!”

Donnie popped a single irate click.

“Sure.” You finally met his eye. “Maybe it sounds like they’re talking shit about your manhood, but we both know you’re virile. It’s genetics stopping us! It’s always going to be your company. You’ll knock me up and then you can parade me around. We’ll go to that security room and I’ll tell that stock twerp off.”

Donnie watched you with an empty expression for a single second before all his weight came down on you.

You had to laugh as he rooted down to kiss your cheek and your knees buckled. “Too heavy!”

“I adore you.”

“Donnie!” Your legs were seconds away from giving out.

He gave a mating call before he relented.

It was just in time and you shook a little as he retreated.

He checked you over with more levity.

You were glad for it and caught your breath before wondering, “Testing facility?”

He gave you a confirming glance before he ushered you along. Not dissimilar to the lab floor, you were scanned in one room before walking out into a softly lit hallway. You imagined it was bright during the day, but it currently stood as a repeating pod to the far wall. Both walls were lined with either doors or glass and Donnie walked you straight down to the fifth one on the right.

It opened to a pitch black room and your husband disappeared into the void without hesitation. You clung to his coat as your eyes weren’t adjusted and he trended toward the side where he hit what sounded like a switch. The metallic click then blinked with fluorescents that woke up through a pane of glass. You pulled away from your mate and realized you were in an observation room. The lights had turned on in the attached room where someone was meant to be watched. When you looked through the pane of glass, all that stretched before you was a white cube. You guessed that made sense given that it was for testing and you reviewed what this room had to offer. There were a myriad of controls on a panel that you assumed changed variables along with some scant chairs for the observers. 

With nothing more to look at you frowned. 

You thought your surprise would have been waiting. 

Studying the empty space for a moment longer, you turned to Donnie.

He had a smile waiting.

You recalled your honeymoon and wondered if you just couldn’t see the object. “Well…”

“I will be observing.”

You had a feeling and nodded your understanding. “Okay. Should I go to the other room?”

He had a pause to his features.

“What?” You reached for him.

“My trusting mate…” He mumbled awe in a small way as if he had to say his thoughts aloud.

You slipped close enough so you could do a hop and peck him on the cheek. “Who wouldn’t trust you?”

“Everyone.” He eyed you playfully. “You often included.”

Your pupils slid to the top of your vision as he wasn’t wrong. “Sure, but that depends on how sneaky you’re being. Whatever we’re doing now you’ve been planning-”

He had a complaint to him.

“-but totally pulled off in a spontaneous way.” You rushed to correct yourself.

He ate it up like praise.

“You’re not trying to trick me. It’s a surprise that you’ve worked hard on so, of course you have my full confidence.”

He popped a few deafening mating calls as he swept you up.

He spun you around a few times before he set you down to cuddle you.

“We’ll never test like this!” You giggled.

He kissed you deeply.

For a moment, you forgot all about whatever Donnie had planned.

Donnie seemed to do the same because he ushered you towards a control panel. Once your legs bumped it, you hiked up in preparation at the same time your mate lifted you. You were sat down amongst little knobs and made out. You must have flicked something in your jostling, but cared little as Donnie’s tongue invaded your mouth. It was an expert slide against yours to taste and you wound your own appendage to his. He churred sweetness into your jawline and pulled back to peck you.

You knew he would head toward your mating mark and tipped to unveil it. Your clothes still covered it and Donnie slid down your zipper in a tantalizing drop. It was unraveling to your ears and you had to yank his mouth back to yours in an interruption. He gave you a few more rolling presses before he trailed for his intended destination. It came with a thump hard to the ground which shook through your delirium as he nosed against your shoulder. There was then another clink beside your head and you blinked more lucidity as that was exactly where you were looking.

There was nothing there.

Donnie pushed your collar back with his beak at the same time as you lifted a curious hand up.

You touched metal where there was nothing and twitched away in surprise.

Your husband caught movement and checked once before the scene made sense to him. “You’ve noticed.”

“What…?” You groped the empty air and felt cool metal once again.

Now that it was under your fingertips, you could grasp it and, with an encircling of your hand, you identified one of Donnie’s mechanical arms.

Only they weren’t visible. “This is wild…”

“Our honeymoon.” He reminded you.

“Invisibility tech…?” You felt down to where the mech arm’s claws were and they held your hand when you reached them.

He pressed a grin into your cheek.

“What are we testing?” You turned an owlish look on your partner.

“I integrated some of B.E.D.F.A.S.T.’s tech…”

The claw retracted and you felt soft silicone press the obvious shape of a dildo into your palm. “Oh!”

He churred caramel.

“B.E.D.F.A.S.T. I can’t see…”

“My trusting mate.” He encouraged with a nosing.

“You making me feel good when you aren’t up for it.”

He nodded.

You squeezed the dildo to feel it wasn’t very long. 

Following it to the base you could sort of feel part of it was still sheathed within the arm.

You could feel Donnie waiting with growing nerves.

You lingered for a second longer before turning. 

“Are all four arms here?”

He nodded with a hint of shyness to him.

“They’ll wrap me up?” You tried to keep your rapid pulse out of your words.

It was still there as he bobbed again with growing confidence.

“Let’s do it.” You sent Donnie hooded heat.

He chirped one excited time before he evacuated your space.

You hopped off the control panel that he moved to man. 

With his figure hunched, his coat dipped and spread as his battle shell presumably removed itself from his carapace. 

“Oh, that’s going to follow me, huh?”

“Yes.” Donnie’s grin was insatiable and he flicked a few switches on the board.

“But I’m not going to know where?” You swiped a testing hand to the air and felt nothing.

“No.”

“Same safe word?”

“Gargoyle, if at all necessary. It will also respond to the S.O.S. signaling.”

“But that’s our two-way test. That we’re both okay.”

“Yes.” Donnie looked at you, nonplused.

You chewed your lip giddily.

Donnie made a big show of pushing a button and you heard an intercom echo of a door unlocking. “Audio feed from the other room. I have full control.”

You took one excited deep breath before heading toward the door. You didn’t hear the battle shell pursue you, but you felt it was. You could almost picture it crawling out like a bug through the cracks in the door that you left to close on its own. It trailed with winding arms and crept along as you went one door down in the hall. It opened immediately with a tug and you threw it wide so the arms had space to easily enter.

There were faint lines marking off cubes within the white walled space. It was a stark contrast to the dark toned observatory and you felt the sterility in the form of a testing environment. Since Genius Built dealt in all kinds of products, you figured there were all sorts of different testing facilities. You had a feeling this room was for live subjects and you approached the center of the room for the sake of it. A long mirror stretched out on the wall that connected the two rooms and you waved at your image.

Your visage disappeared and in a shift of light you saw Donnie manning the control panel.

“You can turn it off.” You spoke the obvious.

He nodded.

“Can I hear you?”

He made it obvious he was pressing a button before his voice was fed through another intercom. “My feed must be activated, yours is continuous.”

“And Stock asshole can’t see us?”

“From his feeds I rode the elevator up alone, took this same room, and am currently testing out a small spider-like device.”

“Is that real?”

“The footage is not, but the device is, yes.”

“Huh.” You shrugged.

“I will leave in approximately one hour.”

“Is that all the time we have?” You tried not to sound too sad.

“No.” Donnie’s voice came through sharply. “We have until just before Genius Built opens. Leeway should give us 20 minutes to evacuate before first on staff at 7am. Meaning we have about three hours.”

“Should I ask how the invisibility tech works?” You waved your arms again to see if you could catch the mech arms.

Donnie chuffed from the speaker. “The usual advancement. Not dissimilar to how I scrambled your existence on the way up. Take surrounding footage and feed it through specialized micro cameras lining an object’s exterior. Trick the cones in one’s eyes and the same with video sensors.”

“And this is what you did in Italy…?” You walked out with your arms outstretched.

“The prototype, yes.”

“All to chase me?”

“What other use would it have?” He almost sounded bored.

“I feel like being invisible is pretty advantageous to a villain.”

“And where’s an active one of those?” He spoke with irony.

You gave him a dull look.

He smiled in return.

“I’m also guessing this isn’t for Genius Built which is double why it’s under wraps.”

“Shall I say something about not wanting the technology to fall into the wrong hands?”

“When it’s in yours…?” You fluttered your lashes.

A claw flicked your cheek and you sputtered.

Donnie laughed only for a moment before he lifted his hand from the button so you couldn’t hear him.

You swatted at the air and found the mech arms were gone so you sent him a sour look.

He tried to keep himself under control, but mirth leaked when he hit the button again. “Ready to begin?”

“Yes!” You huffed.

He nodded once and you watched him release the comm.

You then stood for a dreary moment waiting for something to happen.

When nothing did, you checked in with Donnie and found him watching with rapt attention.

You should have guessed he would play this like a cat and mouse game.

You took one deep breath before you turned to observe the room more closely. It was as you expected with three white walls trimmed with squares and the one observation glass. The floor and ceiling matched the pale walls exactly and the squares were the same width as the door so from the interior it appeared to disappear. You approached it and ran a hand over to feel the seam. It was still there and you figured if you went to escape with any purpose then Donnie would let you out.

You turned and trailed with your hand along the wall for the sake of it. Another glance up and you noted that the lights were mounted flush in the ceiling. You bet the whole room was reinforced and soundproof. It spoke of evil big corporations and to a point you supposed that was true. Spencer spoke as much and with Donnie’s hand there was a moment’s notice in which anything at Genius Built could turn nefarious.

You supposed that was a little like the scenario you were in and you rounded the back wall.

You still couldn’t believe those purple poison tipped claws could be replaced with sex toys and there were now four of them on the prowl. Your husband wasn’t wearing his glasses so you instead bet he had some sort of mechanism in the glass to see exactly where the battle shell was. He also had full mental control over it which added to his participation even if he was hands off.

It was similar to B.E.D.F.A.S.T. in more ways than just inspired designs.

Did it have different sized toys?

Was it self-lubricating?

Were you about to experience double penetration?

You hadn’t worked up to that, but if there were different sized toys then there was a likely chance that now was as good a time to start as any. You stretched both mentally and physically at the thought. The delay meant more possibilities sprouted as your imagination ran wild. You were thinking about how a position would work against the ceiling when a claw tip tapped your nose. You looked out clear across the empty room and it arched slowly around your cheek to show you where it was heading. You held still until it cupped your jaw before you leaned into it, totally relaxed.

You saw Donnie perk with emotion behind the glass.

You reached up for one false swipe before you caught the arm in the next. Following along the track of the limb, it held steady as you traced the length for a better hold. You could hear the metal undulating from this distance if you listened close enough. It rolled beneath your touch before curling close to your body. You stroked downward to hold it as it slicked heavily against your torso.

You sent Donnie a loving look before you returned your attention to the thing you couldn’t see.

It traced a claw tip from the junction of your jaw around your neck. You shivered and hugged the arm you had close as it traveled a light line to your spine. It tested weight there, soft pricks with that razor sharp tip until it pulled at your collar. With the width of the arm, it would surely stretch out your top and you weren’t particularly in the mood to go home wrapped only in Donnie’s coat for once. You urged the arm back and it relented away from you so you could pull at your top.

It was a quick shimmy of both that and your bottoms until you were nude and you watched as what must have been a pinch of another claw caught the clothes and tossed them into a corner. You giggled and tried to catch the arms again, but they’d moved out of your way. You couldn’t imagine that they’d gone too far and chased them with open arms only to find nothing. You pouted, a little put out, and folded your arms at your hips to give Donnie a stern look.

Your mate watched on with a love-struck expression from the booth.

You rolled your eyes at him and did a slow rotation, now listening for that churn of metal. You identified it for a split second to your right, but resisted a flashing turn to catch it. Instead you held firm for a consistent noise. There were a few snaps of metal and even one soft plod that said the bulk of the battle shell settled, but it wasn’t until you heard a roll of movement points coiling to your left that you struck. 

You caught the edge of the arm and it tried to evade you at the same time.

The fast revolution of metal rubbed against your hands like rope burn and you recoiled with a hiss.

“Are you alright?” Donnie’s voice appeared urgent.

“Yeah…” You reviewed your digits first before showing him. “No blood, just red.”

“I’ll calibrate.” He was leaned forward, almost pressed to the glass.

“Sure…” You shrank back into yourself and flicked your hands to help cool them off.

Worried metal slipped over your shoulders to hold you.

“I’m okay…” You told it with a turn of your head.

Prickled points tapped your fingertips to check.

“I feel it.” You pressed back. “No harm done.”

A second arm wrapped opposite around your waist.

You chuckled. “I’m okay. I’m okay.”

It held you and you looked at Donnie.

He had apology written on him and you gave him a scolding smile.

His eyes lowered as you did and you kissed at where you knew metal to be.

It held nervously still under your grip and you remembered the first time you had used B.E.D.F.A.S.T. All those years ago, your first chase had left you both scarred and it had been integral in you finding one another again. His emotions filtered through his tech as it was an extension of himself. Sending more reassurances through kisses, you turned amongst the coil of arms so they’d hold more of you.

They came with and it felt like a sort of dance as they revolved to get more of you. You were both a lead and a follow as you directed the movement, but they swirled to keep you spinning. Just shy of getting dizzy, they then dipped you and you felt secure enough to let go. You threw your hands out and what had to be the last two claws slipped between your fingers to hold you.

You giggled amongst the machinery and felt it pull you. You had a sense of where the pack they were sprouting from was and moved in the opposite way. Playfully the arms followed after, trying to get you on their tempo, but you moved without coordination. It meant the arms were a step behind in catching you and you were goading them on purpose.

You got only a few steps away before you were swept off your feet by a coil around your legs. It started from your ankles and, in a snake’s rotation, it wrapped all the way up your hips so you could be comfortably held up. You laughed brightly there as this was your goal and felt along the pipe of one of the arms until you found the tip.

“It’s all modeled after you, right?”

Donnie didn’t respond and you looked to see him focused on watching.

Your smile slipped into something more besotted. “You’ve never seen me like this from this angle, hm? Without anything in the way?”

He nodded slowly, entranced.

“The cocks...” You felt until you were between the claws and into their approximate of a palm where the attachments were housed. “… in here. These are modeled after you? You always do that.”

He gave the same distant agreement.

“Smaller, of course.” You returned your attention to the blank space. “Can’t have me getting stretched by anything, but your actual cock.”

You rubbed your finger into the metal and felt the split where it could open up.

It slowly cracked open and you immediately dipped a finger in to find the silicone.

You could also see a bit of a darkened circle as the cameras weren’t lining the inside of arms.

You didn’t need sight to recognize Donnie’s length, but you caught a glimpse of a familiar looking purple cockhead before it poked out and disappeared into the open air. You closed your eyes as there was no need for them and dipped forward with only a minor fear of poking your eye out. The claws gently rotated and bent backwards to save your face and you led with an open mouth.

It pressed the flattened tip of the dildo to your tongue and you rounded your lips to capture more of it. It took a single suck and some other mechanism for it to drop out what you imagined was the full length. It had a heavy weight and resisted bending in a way that made you think it was attached by a rod inside. That made sense to you for what it was and you bobbed your head to feel how much of it you could take.

It was a decent amount that paled in comparison to Donnie’s size and with one deep inhale you were able to get straight down to the metal at the base of the arm. You sucked in oxygen as you retracted so you wouldn’t have to pant and felt it move around you. Oddly lifelike without your vision, it curled across your cheek and you lapped at its warmth. The metal core or the machinery itself, you weren’t sure which, was adding to the real sensation as it had decent heat. It didn’t scald, but read alive to you and it even twitched when you tipped your head to lick at the glans.

You caught Donnie’s face during the exchange as his mouth was parted in denied desire.

You wondered if he would break from his show to join you and nuzzled into the cock only to feel another slide wet against your back. You felt one of your earlier questions answered and you arched reflexively as the lube was warm. It dripped with a honey-like consistency that was thinned by a sense of pre-cum. It read need, but since an arm was coiling all the way around your hips, there was no way for it to reach another of your holes. It seemed content instead to press into the dip of your lower back and the bump and grind of it soon fell in time with the cock in your mouth.

What did it look like from Donnie’s perspective?

Was your mouth openly agape and violated by nothing but air?

Did your cheeks hollow and spit drip out even though he could see your molars?

Did your body writhe as you floated with slick cropping up for nothing?

That and more you assumed.

You figured you only needed one thing to complete the gang bang imagery.

With one last squeeze to the arm you were holding, you released and put your limbs out.

In one needy flex of all your fingers, the battle shell got the message and you felt two more cocks slide into your hands. You moaned loudly at the one fucking your throat and grabbed both for a lethal squeeze. It was nothing more than prop work, but the heat and beading tips had reality skewing. You pumped the lengths in tandem and felt there was a faint give to their bounce. It read flesh and you chirped wanton out of habit for your mate.

He wasn’t here in anything more than remarkable shape and the only thing you were saddened by was there was no way any of the dildos could spread like him. That technology was a little too biological and very much only branded to Donatello. For that, you were thankful even if it did rob you of one of your favorite mechanisms.

The second of which you noticed as the cocks in your hands grew sticky with supposed pre. Donnie had failed to add knots to any of the devices and you might have laughed were you not working your neck furiously on the appendage in front of you. As you bobbed and the silicone rolled deliciously over your tongue, you doubted the bulge at his base wasn’t something he could recreate. The whole knotting concept was an age’s old fetish and surely available in the sex toy market. That meant Donnie omitted it for another reason, which you bet, again, had to do with not stretching you out by anything other than him.

You thought it silly as you swirled your tongue and you felt a certain type of readying pulse bounce that you usually akinned to cumming.

That seemed like a silly concept until on a backswing there was a sudden gush of fluid in your mouth.

You coughed it out on reflex and the cock disappeared to give you space.

You looked down to find what looked exactly like jizz leaking down your chest.

You could see it. 

You swirled the excess fluid with a swish of saliva in your mouth and found it to be an unmistakable flavor.

“Donatello, my love?” You spoke slowly.

There was no response and you turned toward the glass. 

Your mate had his hand down the front of his body and, even though the control panel blocked his lower body, you knew he was pleasuring himself.

“Donatello…!” You sang a teasing song. “Oh, where is my sweet mate?” 

He was sheepish as he looked up and pressed the intercom button with only his free hand.

You spoke before he could. “Is this thing filled with your cum?”

“The shell houses a reservoir.”

“It’s…!” You weren’t mad, but your features pinched at how audacious this all was. “How much?”

“Fluid does it hold or-?”

“How much…?” You reminded yourself again you weren’t angry. 

You truly weren’t. 

There was still a part of you that felt deceived. 

Not because he had actually tricked you, but because he had been getting off in some capacity without you. 

There was nothing wrong with that. 

You didn’t mind. 

You knew it was the vestiges of the pregnancy debacle. 

Cum had been a precious resource.

It needed to be in you in a particular way. 

Your hips had to be an exact angle, hoisted up by a pillow, so you could take it. 

You had to take it at a certain time. 

It was a never ending list of aggravations and now a load had been wasted in your mouth. 

You didn’t actually feel that way, but the rest of your sentence leaked out. “... of this did you dump into it instead of me…?”

Donnie made a startled sound. 

You squeezed the cocks in your hand. “When did you…?” 

“While you were watching your show.” He admitted and clearly released his member.

“Tonight!?” That wasn’t the timeline you expected. 

He nodded.

You thought for a moment and sighed. “Floor please.”

You were set onto your feet.

You walked straight up to the glass. “I just…. want to make sure I understand… You both planned this and it was random, right?”

“Yes.” He had your full attention.

“Did you actually get bored of the show or did you ditch to do this?”

“Both and neither. I was aware of Stockman’s upcoming absence and its advantage for weeks. Intention plagued me. Would you be ready? Would I? Would not aid spontaneity? I had yet to make a decision. To this evening and the lackluster program. I had every intention of sleeping.”

You watched on attentively. 

His gaze lowered. “I attempted, but I couldn’t stop thinking of this. Of you.”

“How did you…? Or where…?”

His head tipped to one side. “The B.E.D.F.A.S.T. inspired battle shell attachments were completed tech. Ready to deploy. What wasn’t was the reservoir. As I lie imagining you floating and pleasured, I saw through fantasy to completion. The satisfaction of you filled and coated. In an entranced fit, I devised how that might be possible. B.E.D.F.A.S.T. already had a reservoir that was as of yet unused and my tech has cross compatibility.”

The chilling cum on your chest felt heavy. 

“Aroused, I silently took the tank the bathroom and re-ran my simulation with you as fodder.” He finally looked at you. 

You wiped up a bit of spunk with your thumb and popped the globule into your mouth. 

“Again and again…” His pupils expanded as he watched. 

It was bitter, so you drank it down fast.

When you returned, you found your mate squirming slightly.

You hadn’t sucked him off in months so that made sense.

It all did.

His concerns. 

His secrecy. 

His creeping around. 

He wanted you so badly even though he wasn’t ready. 

His fantasies had sent him to masturbate. 

He collected the spill both for the answer he had given and because he probably felt equally guilty about wasting it. 

With his mixture of pre-planning and impulse, he concocted a scenario in which his desires played out both with his participation and not. 

“Is the cum viable…?”  You wondered.

“It has been kept at my bodily temperature, but I’ve never examined such.”

You softened with a wistful sigh. “You’re trying so hard.”

“An attempt was made.”  

“If this sperm did work, would you be upset?”

He openly thought about it.

You waited and wiped a bit of drying jizz off yourself.

“No, I don’t think I would be.”

“It is you.” You agreed while examining the stickiness of your hand and your lack of forethought of where it could go.

“Wipe it wherever. The room will be disinfected.”

You chose the glass for a smear.

You could still see his pupil expand with interest.

“Thank you.”

“Of course.” He shook himself back to his senses. “Any other questions, comments, or concerns? I can alleviate further surprise.”

“Nah. I’m good.” You took a few leading steps back. “Fuck me full. I’m pretty sure you’ll be able to see inside me when this thing cums.”

His hand slammed into the console to cut off the audio and you were immediately yanked into the air. Far less delicate than before you were spun around so your sex was on display for him. You didn’t need to spread as the arms caught your ankles to do it for you. Claws crept up and sank into your ass cheeks without a penetrating pierce. It had you flexing and arching to a gasp where a wet member slid against your slit. You tried to grind on it, but a coiling limb wound sturdy circles around your waist. You were lifted higher until your head hung back and you could see the dizzying distance to the floor.

You were floating a dangerous height to fall and despite feeling the components holding you up, your stomach clenched with concern. It fell in line with the flip that took up space as a dildo tested your entrance. It pumped gently, getting a feel for what you could handle and you tried to flex to grab it. The arms held you tightly, giving you little breathing room until they adjusted you for better entry. It was a slight lowering of your upper body that put your sex further on view just in time for the cock to push in.

You felt the pulse of it, one you read as high excitement and the spread where you could be viewed internally. You almost thought some sort of flashlight might appear to give Donnie a better view, but instead the toy only sank in partially before it pulled out to predictably work you up. It was a gentle stroking at first, surely showing your mate exactly how you accommodated for him before it sped up along with your juices.

The claws tucked further into the thick of your ass until it was stinging around the pull of your asshole. You worried he might add another toy then, but your concern spun out as a new cock appeared to instead press up perpendicular to you to stimulate your clit. You cried out Donnie’s name as that flat glans shape cupped and rubbed at the same time. Your body shot confused signals about how your partner had too many cocks in a way that you found comedic until the member teasing your clit trended downward.

It pressed against the leak from the cock fucking you and warning bells went off as they seemed to be trying to occupy the same space. A warning chirp popped off your lips and you thought Donnie might respond, but your mouth was stuffed up with another dildo. It cut off your oxygen flow for a messy moment until you remembered your nose and inhaled drivel.

A few snorts got your breathing clear and you could still feel both cocks rocking against your sex in tandem. The second didn’t seem to be trying to enter, but instead, as your immediate worries fell off, was pushing out against your labia. You had to keep reminding yourself that all of this wasn’t visible so if something moved on your body all it would reveal was more flesh. It was x-ray vision without any sort of light spectrum manipulation and a revving had the length of an arm lift and press roiling to your g-spot.

You bit down on the toy on your mouth in sheer surprise and felt the silicone bend threateningly. You could sever it if you dug deeper with your incisors and you would find that metal rod in the interior. Instead you released, eyes and tongue rolling back to accommodate further as you were fucked gaping.

You were tightening on the toy and the ground was getting closer to your face.

You thought about it drearily, but the pulsing of your jaw was distracting. You couldn’t think under the heat and pummel outside of the fact that you were going to cum soon. A long swipe of the secondary glans took up the last of your stimulation and you didn’t even cry out as you came. You only felt yourself vice grip on what was inside you before the snap reflex of your muscle milked it. The cock came then, spraying your insides with an indiscriminate hose of your mate’s seed and you felt it fill you before dripping out. Plops of it were visible to you on the floor and you made a guttural noise at the sight.

All motion stopped outside the pulse of your body and you sat with the tip sending more and more of the blood to your head. You were lightheaded when the toy in your snatch finally withdrew and with it the rest of the slick was coaxed out. It dripped and dribbled in a way that you read as falling down the battle shell arms. You were lifted up and the toy acting as a gag removed itself from your mouth. Your jaw sat slack from use and you sort of remembered you had never sucked your partner off twice in a consecutive row.

You were lifted carefully until you were in a pseudo-seated position facing the glass.

You saw Donnie hunched forward and panting where he’d clearly cum.

“Got a tank in there too or another disinfecting?” You slurred.

He bounced with amusement once before he sent you a darkened look.

His intent went straight through to your sex and filtered out of your mouth. “How much cum is left in your battle shell?”

His grin grew and your thighs were licked and spread.

You knew then he’d want to see every angle of which you could be opened wide.

You were brought straight up to the glass until your feet almost pressed against it and the toy slid up through the dripping cum ready to enter you once again.

“Bring it!” You cheered once before your available orifices were stuffed full.

💜 NEXT 💜

We got @tmntxthings We got @thepinkpanther83 They're both awesome betas!

[mosspace]

Dear PTJ, please develope your female characters

Someone complaining abt the way PTJ writes his female characters (truly, a never seen before concept); 1st Afilliate Arc and Cheongliang Arc spoilers (at this point, I think most people are up to date w/ the story, but I'm still gonna put this warning just in case)

Look, I don't take Lookism super seriously. In fact, I think I never did that, mainly thanks to the outlandish concepts it had since the beginning. I'm just here to have fun at this point, and to finally learn the truth about Daniel's 2nd body (omg, it's been 400+ chapters-).

I definitely wasn't expecting to find super well written female characters (even though I definitely should, it's 2024, for God's sake-), something a good number of fighting-related webtoons seem to struggle with. But damn, does Lookism waste its female characters in a way not many have done before.

Since the focus of the story has shifted primarly towards fighting and taking down the Four Crews and Charles Choi, I'm gonna focus on two of the characters most connected to these aspects: Mary Kim and Crystal Choi (ik Lua and Sally are also connected in this way, but I don't really have a lot to say about them and, besides, they've already been covered by another user here on Tumblr)

Mary Kim

The perfect opportunity to get her more involved came up not so long ago, in the ep just before the Allied vs 1st Afilliate fight properly started. We see Mary's reaction upon hearing Vin Jin tell her that Taejin Cheon is alive; we can see her anger asclear as day both in her expression and her words. She literally expresses how much she wants to kill this guy.

And yet, PTJ doesn't make her go and get her revenge. Instead, we have Vin Jin basically saying that he will do it for her because 'his hands are already dirty" (i heavily paraphrased his words, but you get it), which to me, at least, doesn't make sense.

Time and time again we see how close the two of them are in spite of the many jabs they throw at each other. Even without knowing the details of their shared past in Cheongliang (which comes up a couple episodes later), it's very strange that she would let Vin jin go to face him just like that.

By this point, it's already stablished that he murdered somebody, an act that even if deserved by the deceased person, takes a mental toll on the one who does it. Taking this into account, I don't see why Mary would just let who's basically her best friend go through the same thing again, alone. And I especially don't see why she would obey him and stay behind. Her, Mary, the person who never takes Vin Jin's bullshit and always calls him out.

Why not have them both go together? It would be a great opportunity to 1) deal with the last negative reminder of their past, and gain a little bit of closure once and for all, and 2) have Mary finally fight seriously and be able to demonstrate why she's called 'The Empress of Two Seconds' and why she's considered so strong.

We've only seen her take down minor opponents a very, very small number of times, all of which are altercations that don't ever last too long (i guess this last thing is to back up her nickname but, eh)

TLDR: Let Mary dirty her hands as much as Vin. Let them take down together one of the people who has brought them so much pain as the pair of strong besties they are. Stop telling us how strong she is and actually commit to showing it.

__

Crystal Choi

Oh boy, this character-

Like, you mean to tell me that the sole offspring/child of the Big Bad Guy tm the protagonist and his friends are meant to take down, who also happens to be friends with said protagonist, doesn't play a major role on the story? Absolutely insane

And that isn't even taking into account that she also has 2 bodies, which is something only one other character (Daniel, the PROTAGONIST), has and is a major plot point

I'd like to see her be more aware of her privilege as a rich person. Yeah, she was relentlesstly bullied and undermined for her appeareance (which is a horrible thing for anybody to go through) but at least she wasn't poor, too. Does she actually use her money or her status as the daughter of one of the richest men in Korea to change things or solve problems?

Jay literally bought an ambulance of the same type used by the 1st Afilliate so that Allied could sneak in, so why can't Crystal do something similar to help them, too? She helped them during the Gambling Arc by bringing Kouji

I'd like to see her realize and come to terms with the fact that her father's a horrible person. I don't think she knows everything that's going on behind closed doors, but she's definitely smart enough to have noticed that there's something shady going on with his bussiness.

Let her discover the truth. Let her pick either her father's or Daniel's side (the latter which I believe is the most plausible, since she doesn't seem the type to excuse murder, extorsion, etc.). She could act as an informant, helping Allied from the inside.

Heck, you could have her fight, too, if you wanted to. She trained with Gun, after all. And yeah, maybe she's not as strong as the other characters, but we know that she can hold her own against most people. We've seen it.

TLDR: how the hell do you set up a character with so much potential and don't do anything with it. Also, think abt the angst potential!

________________________________________________

Final thoughts, I guess:

I think that Crystal siding with Allied has a higher chance of happening than PTJ letting Mary fight. There's still a good chunk of the story yet to be told, so anything could happen.

I'm actually considering believing that the reason we rarely see the female characters is that they, also, are working secretly to take down the Four Crews and it's gonna get revealed in the last arc for the sake of my sanity

[zorosangell]

⛥ﾟ・。 protector: chapter twenty

synopsis: " you were supposed to stay a crewate, just another back to watch, " he tightened his hold, " i didn't even notice the change until i woke up one day and realized i'd take a bullet for you "

cw: violence, gore, fighting, mature themes, profanity, MAJOR/MINOR ANIME SPOILERS, follows the plot of the anime, slowww burn.

a/n: reposting from another account

A lot had happened in the crew's travels through the desert.

You ran into monstrous lizards, horrible sandstorms, thieving birds, sudden sinkholes, fake rebel armies, a desolate town, said goodbye to Ace, and everything else in between.

But now, you all had finally made it to your true destination...

Rainbase.

The current safe haven to the rebel army, Crocodile, and all of Baroque Works.

Luffy and Usopp had run off to go find some water, and Chopper went to the bathroom, so the rest of the crew was sitting in the shade, waiting for the three to return.

"I heard this place was a casino town," you smirked, looking up at Zoro, "Maybe we could hit up the slot machines before the final battle."

You had taken a nice shady spot next to Zoro, laying your head in his lap as you two conversed to pass the time.

And after a couple minutes of red cheeks and sweating from the man, which you blamed on the heat, he finally started responding in things other than rushed, one word replies.

Zoro smiled, tossing the stick he had been fiddling with in a nearby bush, "Eh, knowing Luffy and Usopp, they're bound to screw something up. I'd start getting ready to run."

You snickered, nodding your head, "Yeah, you're probably right. But we might as well enjoy this moment of peace while we got it, y'know?"

Suddenly, Zoro paused, and his eyes flickered with a question.

"How's it feel? ...Knowing that you're gonna be the first of the crew to reach your goal?" He asked, closing his eyes and tucking his hands behind his head.

"It feels... accomplishing. After all this time, I'll finally feel complete," you smiled, sticking out your tongue. 

"It's almost too good to be true."

Zoro almost let his own smile crack through, before he turned serious again, clearing his throat.

"After you do complete your dream, are you... leaving the crew?" he asked, looking at everything but you.

You smirked, the man's nervous state fueling your confidence, "Why you ask, swordsman? Don't want me to go?"

The poor man blushed profusely. "I was just wondering! You always gotta make everything weird..."

You hummed, calming shutting your eyes and shifting in his lap, getting comfortable.

"Whatever you say, Zoro."

"Run away! Protect the water!" the familiar voice of your captain shouted, him and Usopp running towards the crew lugging barrels of water, a large group of marines not too far behind.

"Looks like the marines are chasing them," Sanji sighed.

"Why are they leading them this way?!" Nami shouted.

"Y'know, just once I'd like to have two minutes of peace," you groaned, standing up and stretching your wings.

"Wouldn't we all," Zoro agreed, standing up as well.

"But Tony hasn't made his way back yet," Vivi chimed.

"Chopper can handle himself. We gotta get moving," you assured, pushing off the ground and flying away, the crew in tow.

The crew had split up once you reached Crocodile's casino, Raindinners, but now Luffy, Nami, Zoro, Usopp, and you had reconvened on the casino floor, now being chased by Captain Smoker.

 'I knew I recognized him from that other town! I just have the worst luck.'

"Hey, Smoker Captain Smoker! Never thought I'd see you again!" tou smirked, turning around in mid-air to face him.

"You didn't tell me you were part of the Strawhats!" his eyebrows furrowed.

"You never asked," you shrugged.

"You know this guy?" Zoro asked, cocking a brow.

"I met him back at Loguetown. We talked for a bit," you answered truthfully, "Why ask?"

The swordsman shook his head, "No reason."

"Please step this way! The VIP lounge welcomes you," a man in a suit cheesed, throwing up some flower petals and motioning towards a very ornate door.

"Did he say VIP lounge?" Usopp asked.

"Hold on, do you think this could be a trap?" Nami chimed.

"Don't places like these usually have free drinks for their guests?" Zoro smirked.

"Idiot," you scoffed, smacking him upside the head.

"Not like we have a choice! Run for it!" Luffy shouted, sprinting through the doors. 

"What's a Vip, anyways?!"

As the five of you ran down the hall, you began to approach a sign that said VIPs left and Pirates right.

"Which way do we go?" Nami asked, frantically.

"VIPs! Go VIPs!" you quickly answered.

"Nuh uh! We're pirates! We go right!" Luffy shouted again, turning right.

'Idiot!'

Everyone turned the corner, only to see it was a dead end, and you landed.

"See. I told you s—" Just like that, the ground dropped from beneath your feet.

"CRAP!" "(Y/N)!" Zoro quickly grabbed you, pulling you into him to shield your fall.

You held on tightly to him, flinching at the painful thud that echoed in the room as the two of you landed.

"Crap! Zoro! Are you alright?!" you frantically asked, wiggling out of his grip and sitting on your knees to face him. 

"Relax. I'm fine. I've been through worse," he assured, sitting up with a groan.

You could feel the eyes of a certain gray haired individual practically burning into you, but you decided to ignore it for the time being.

You felt this sudden wave of relief and gratitude wash over you, and despite the current situation, nothing mattered more than making sure he was okay and thanking him for his gesture.

It was something you've never felt before.

"Thank you," you smiled, looking into his eyes sincerely.

He blushed, quickly turning his gaze away from you. 

"Let's focus," he quickly replied, standing up.

You shook yourself out of it, turning your attention to the matter at hand. 

"Right," you nodded.

"What a foolproof trick," Usopp sighed.

"Never woulda guessed this," Luffy agreed.

"(y/n) tried to tell you idiots!" Nami exclaimed, smacking them both upside the head.

BAM!

"Crap!" you groaned, slumping against the bars as you held your fist painfully.

"The hell? I'm using Godlike Strength right now. The door should've been blown off its hinges."

A sudden wave of vertigo washed over you, making the world muddle and your strength sap away.

"I don't feel so good," Luffy grumbled, sticking his tongue out as he too slumped against the bars.

"Luffy! Watch out!" Zoro randomly warned.

Suddenly, the woosh of a staff cut through the air and knocked Luffy upside the head, the tip of it pinning him when he was on the ground.

"AHHHH! WHAT'RE YOU DOING?!" Usopp squealed.

Zoro got ready to draw his swords, but in a blink, you had already drew your mace and held its spikes up to Smoker's throat, a dangerous look in your eye.

"Bleugh! Why do I feel so weak all of a sudden? It's like when I fall into the sea," Luffy whined.

"The tip of my staff is made from a substance known as sea prism stone, a rare mineral. Not much is known about it but it supposedly gives off mystical energy at the same wavelength as the sea," Smoker curtly explained, his eyes intensely trained on you.

"So it affects those two the same as if they fell in the ocean?" Zoro asked, glaringly.

"Cells at navy headquarters are built with the same substance to keep criminals with devil fruit powers from escaping," Smoker confirmed.

"I may not have my powers at the moment, but that does not permit you to attack my captain. And seeing as you don't have your powers either, there's nothing stopping my spikes from finding a home in your throat. So choose your next actions carefully," you warned in a frigid tone, your demeanor glacial compared to who he met in Loguetown.

"Never took you for a pirate," he scoffed.

"Never took you as someone to kick a man while he's down," you scoffed right back.

"There's no point in fighting in a situation like this! Quit it!" Nami stated.

"She's right. Give it up," a gravelly voice smirked from across the room, everyone's attention turning to its source.

The chair at the desk swivels around to reveal man with greasy, slicked back hair and a very punchable face.

"Crocodile," Smoker spat.

"Navy Captain Smoker. A pleasure to finally meet you. You seem to be every bit of dog the rumors say," Crocodile sneered.

"So this is a warlord?" Zoro stated, quizzically.

Crocodile began to monologue about how stupid the navy was to trust him as a warlord, and how he had the entirety of Alabasta under his thumb, hell, he even started to eat.

That is, until Vivi came bursting in, setting off her ultimate peacock slasher attack and seemingly decapitating the warmonger.

Key word being seemingly.

In no time, the warlord had her in his grasp, having turned his neck into sand before she could cut it.

"Since you're a citizen of this country, you must surely know that I hold the power of the Sand-Sand fruit," he smirked, grabbing her face.

"Want to become a mummy?"

"Vivi!" you exclaimed, taking your mace away from Smoker's neck and bashing it against the bars, not making a single dent.

"Hey! You better leave her alone or I'm gonna kick your ass!" Luffy shouted, throwing up his arms in anguish. 

Just then, Miss All-Sunday came up out of nowhere, a pocket watch in hand.

"It's exactly noon. Time for Operation Utopia to begin," she smiled, setting off Crocodile's malicious laughter.

"What's a Operation Utopia?" Luffy asked, scratching his head.

"It means that it's time for me to wipe Alabasta off the map as if it never was," he turned to Vivi with an evil smirk, "Miss Wednesday."

The situation had gone from zero to a hundred pretty quickly.

Crocodile gave Vivi a choice of going to Alubarna to stop the war, or staying back to save the Strawhats plus Smoker, and naturally she picked the latter.

Though of course it wouldn't be Crocodile without making Vivi's life impossibly difficult, so he began to flood the room with water, fed the only key to the cage to a banan-o-dile, and released the banan-o-dile to eat Vivi.

She was doing her best trying to dodge the attacks of the monster, but time was of the essence and the rushing water was now up to waist level, making you, Luffy, and Smoker pretty much useless.

"I hate everything wet," you slurred, limp in Zoro's arms, "The sea can kiss my ass."

"I'd say trading the ability to tolerate water over a couple a powers is a pretty shitty deal on your end," he sighed.

"Shut up... mosshead," you groaned.

Just then, Sanji broke through the ceiling, beating up the creature and using an oddly discovered Mr. 3 to make a new key and free everyone.

Too bad his ceiling busting caused a gigantic wave of water to flood the room, sweeping everyone out of the casino.

Suddenly, a certain swordsman had placed you onto land, begrudgingly plopping a certain navy captain on the ground as well.

"Devil fruits... are a pain... in my ass," he panted, trying to catch his breath.

You groaned, still in a soaked haze as you coughed up some water, violently.

"Hey, hey, you alright?" Zoro's complaining turned concerned, him scooping you upright so you could breath.

"Peachy," you grumbled, abruptly sitting up, only to be met with the lips of the swordsman.

In your haze, you hadn't realized how close you two really were.

After a moment of shock, you two quickly jumped off each other.

"SORRY!" you two loudly apologized, both beet red and embarrassed as the entire crew snickered in the background. 

"RORONOA!" Smoker shouted, launching an attack at the swordsman.

Zoro recovered from the incident quickly, blocking the captain's attack with ease.

"Why did you save me?"

"All I did was follow my captain's orders, so I wouldn't read too much into it if I were you. It's one of his crazy whims, pay it no mind," the swordsman answered, glaringly, turning to Luffy, who had Usopp cranking his arm like a water spout to help resuscitate him.

"And you wouldn't have any cripes with me carrying out my duties and arresting you, right..." Smoker added.

"See, this is what you get for helping a marine," Sanji groaned.

You stood up from your spot on the floor, holding the navy captain's gaze as you walked up to him.

You stopped right before him, still keeping eye contact as you rested a hand on his chest.

"Now that we've saved your life... can you in clear conscious arrest us..." you looked up at him with doe eyes, "Smoker Captain Smoker?"

His breath hitched and he scoffed, removing your hand from him, though you could already tell his heartbeat accelerated.

"Just get out of here," he grumbled, turning away from you.

He had to. 

If he continued to look in your stupid (e/c) eyes, he would've done something very regrettable. 

"Thanks a ton, Smokey," you smiled, flashing him a quick wink.

The gray haired man scoffed, a small tinge of blush coming to his cheeks as he looked away from you once more.

"Devil woman," he grumbled.

"I love my (y/n) when she's flirty!" Sanji fawned, his eyes quite literally hearts.

Zoro crossed his arms, internally eye rolling at the scene in front of him.

"Alright, guys, let's head to Alubarna!" you cheered.

"YEAHHHHH!!" Luffy shouted, running off already.

"Wait, Luffy! I have to show you the way!" Vivi exclaimed, running off to catch up with him.

"Don't leave us behind!" Nami and Usopp followed, Sanji twirling behind them.

You and Zoro started to run as well, you opting for the more aerial option.

"What was all that back there?" Zoro curtly asked, trying his best not to come off as... off.

"That, my dear swordsman," you cheesed, sticking out your tongue and winking, "is the power of womanly charm."

Zoro went wide for a moment, before scoffing, "You're evil."

"I just know how to play the game, Zo~" you smirked, flying closer to him and caressing his cheek.

The poor man blushed at the new nickname and frantically shooed you away, grumbling.

"Let's just get to this damn capital already!" he hushed you.

You smiled widely, turning your attention ahead of you.

"Whatever you say," you snickered,��"...Zo~"

"SHADDUP!"

[coochellati]

Team Bruno fr, I think I was sold pretty quickly and he only got better and better for me haha-

It’s pretty funny because if I’m watching anything with someone and they see me taking notes they’re usually a bit confused but curious about what I might be writing down haha. Usually it’s never anything that important to the story (unless it’s some major detail I don’t wanna forget) and it’s just me just taking notes about traits about the characters I like.

Here, I’m happy to share a couple of my silly notes! I think this shows a pretty accurate variety of the stuff I was noting:

How it started😭😭: “Ok wow Bruno’s little partners are completely insane.

This guy in blue is super superstitious

Fugo acts all calm but he has QUITE a temper

Little guy is just learning. And also incredibly angry.

Abbacchio.”

“Bruno has a good heart🥺🥺”

I wrote out the bit of backstory they revealed about his childhood, which is one thing, but as I was scrolling through my notes looking for interesting examples I noticed I even wrote down a note about how Bruno weighed a little bit more than Prosciutto, I guess I just found that interesting lol.

And I found a special fondness for his place in the other team member’s backstories, but specifically Narancia’s. Bruno’s a specific character type I’ve always admired. I know I won’t be the best at explaining it but I loved that part about how he yelled at Narancia about joining the mafia, but he wasn’t really angry and was just trying to protect him from a life he might regret. One of my favorite scenes for sure. I love that kinda thing.

AND the way his face softened when Narancia swam after them, he was so. Happy. Please. Let Bruno be happy more often-

And I lost it at the “Arrivederci,” scene during the Grateful Dead arc, it was actually so cool and I feel like just watching that scene raised my own coolness by 5%.

Ok trying not to ramble too much but I especially appreciated his reaction to Abbacchio’s death. Watching the leader character having to be strong for the team, but inwardly it’s hurting them so badly-

And to end it on a lighter note, even before I had started jjba I always had a fondness for Bruno’s design since I considered it super iconic and cool. It was neat to finally get to actually see him since he was one of the few Jojo characters I actually knew by name before watching.

And of course the occasional: wow Bruno is so hot when he *insert various hot Bruno moments here*

Fell so hard for him, wow. I do enjoy a few Jojo characters, my other really big one being Rohan, but like. If I had to pick one to actually be with how could I Not pick Bruno-

Anyways thanks for listening to this little ramble about things I ended up writing down about Bruno❤️ and I’m so glad you liked the sketch! He’s fun to draw~

Ack !!! I’m sorry this took me so long to answer 😭

I love how you’re annotating Golden Wind. I wish that I took more notes on Bruno while watching.,,.,,.. Next rewatch i think i will do that,.,.,..

“Little guy is just learning. And also incredibly angry” 😭💀 IM DEAD

Okay, I’m glad you wrote down that Bruno weighs more than Prosciutto, because I totally forgot about that. Cool fact to know.

On the topic of Bruno’s role in Narancia’s backstory—I’m going to recommend you read Purple Haze Feedback. (Here’s a link to the translated story!) It’s a novel that takes place after the events of Golden Wind. The story follows Fugo as he attempts to redeem himself in Giorno’s eyes. The best part is that PHF expands on everyone’s backstory—especially for Narancia, Bruno, and of most of all, Fugo.

PHF is not written by Araki, but there’s original illustrations from him within the novel. So is it canon? Eh—it’s semi-canon. Because this was written well before the anime came out, there are some minor contradictions to the anime’s version of the story. PHF lines up fine with the manga. …So I guess you can choose if it’s canon or not. (I like to pretend it is.)

PHF isn’t very long. I read it straight through in about 4 hours. (I could NOT put it down.)

Anyway!

You know what’s funny? I also adored Bruno’s design before actually watching part 5. And then I watched it and the same shit happened to me. We’re absolutely twinning in this scenario. 😩

…And full confession, I’m also a Rohan stan. I need that narcissistic asshole to put me in my place.

I’m always happy to listen to anyone’s jojo info dumps! You are always welcome to ramble here :)

thanks for the ask! <3

[asksebs]

"Hm?" As Sebastian sort of trails off, they perk up, their focus centering back on him and having them mindlessly stare into his eyes for a second. Soon after, they go back to working. He really doesn't seem to be the type to take breaks. "Do you wanna elaborate on that?"

Genuine. The words are a genuine question, neutral as always and swearing, promising, not to push or prod. Their hands work at a steady pace with their mind, though each is focused on a different thing, he doesn't falter or seem to mess up. Deep down, part of her feels she's already said too much about themself. They should even the playing field so they're not too vulnerable to anyone at any particular time. But it's already too late, to be honest. He's already been vulnerable, and he knows it, but nothing bad happened. So he'll offer curiosity and let Sebastian tell them whatever he's comfortable with. The idle chatter helps push dangers away, after all. It always does.

- "Smiley" anon / [The Engineer]

“Eh,”

He shrugged slightly, glancing away as he shrugged.

“It’s just that what you said reminded me of my own experience in college. I started off majoring in business, only to end up hating it. As soon as I could, I switched to majoring in engineering, minoring in music.”

Sebastian paused again, lifting his hand to tuck a piece of his hair behind his ear-fin before continuing.

“What little I got to experience of the change in my area of study was far better than what I had originally picked, I’ll tell you that.”

[princess-of-the-corner]

Princess Bee

K, couple thoughts, my devices are being weird, so even though I sent an ask, I’m going to compile a few things here, just in case

1) On Artemis being the Fox, possible lore for a name - the Teumessian fox was an uncatchable fox from Greek Myth, sent to hassle the city of Thebes as a punishment. Eventually, when the gods felt the city had suffered enough, they ran into the problem that they had created a LITERALLY UNCATCHABLE CREATURE, so they couldn’t really get the fox to stop. So, they sent in a dog, called Laelaps, who was enchanted to be able to always catch her prey, to catch the fox. The two were basically a paradox, and eventually got put into the sky as constellations (Canis Major [the dog] and Canis Minor [the fox]).

2) I headcanon that the reason the SentiKids are Sapient is in part due to the fact they are “hybrids”. They aren’t “pure” Sentimonsters, the Parents used the Peacock to basically “fertilize” an egg and make a fetus. So while TECHNICALLY a Sentimonster, it’s a little closer to, say, how Steven Universe is technically a gem. And similarly, if Steven’s Gen is damaged, he gets hurt. Like, if the Amoks got broken before … whatever they do to severe the connection, the SentiKids would be hurt pretty badly. They MIGHT be able to do something to manage survival, but the Amoks are still connected to their life force. (I hope this is making sense?) Does any of this sound … like it fits, I guess?

3) OC Chester description, so you hopefully don’t have to go hunting for it. Originally conceived as Lila’s hench person, but he doesn’t HAVE to be, I just thought it would be a little boring if Lila doesn’t have another person to talk to. You can take or leave any part of him.

Chester Fester.

Age: close to Lila and the Miracuclass parents, so … What are we going with here, late thirties, early forties?

Looks: Only thing I ever got was brown hair, face looks … ratty.

General Notes: Rats are his favourite animal. He has two pet rats, Mister Whiskers, and Morning Glory. Likes fermented and/or cured foods. He hates food waste, and sees rats as performing a vital service by eating the food people throw out. Thinks rats are given unfair press as “plague spreaders”. Hates cats, dogs, anything that could pose a threat to a rat. Was nominally trained as a chef, but has been fired repeatedly for allowing “pests” into kitchens. Always seems to be between jobs as a result. Will cheerfully allow himself to be Akumatized into a “Rat King” style Akuma (original name was Ratatouille, but I’m kind of ‘eh’ on it, especially cause at that point, he’s basically Evil Linguini). Favourite movie, the Rats of N.I.M.H..

The man is a bit … morally vague. I mean, he isn’t the kind of guy to think murder is a viable solution to most problems, but he sees a lot of Laws as more guidelines than anything else. Like, “We’d rather you didn’t do this, but if you don’t get caught, we don’t care” is sort of how he sees it. He sees breaking and entering as more of a challenge. I think the only laws he would follow fastidiously would be traffic laws. He sees why those are there, people operating several tons of metal powered by explosions should follow the rules.

Lila specific: The two met sometime when Lila was pulling a con on a restaurant. Chester was really impressed with her skills, and offered to help her, because the restaurant in question had been putting out rat poison. They’ve been friends ever since.

Chester and Lila did have a brief period of dating, before Lila figured out she was AroAce. She was sure this meant Chester would be ditching her, but Chester surprised her by sticking around. In his words “We were friends first”, and he didn’t really see why whether the two of them slept together should mean anything. People do often assume Chester and Lila are a couple, especially as the pair live together, but the two are simply chaotic besties. The best term is probably “Queer Platonic”, but the two don’t really want to label it. They’re friends. Who else cares? They do have a pact that, if they ever need to, they’ll get married, but only as a last resort kind of thing.

-

1.) Did get this one! Rip to your tech though because while tumblr makes asks disappear it’s happening to you A LOT so idk what it is or how to fix it.

2.) Hm! Maybe it’s a combination? Like like like. Okay I made the post about the lore of what went down with the Sentikids and Kagami actually having a dad. So how about Mr. Tsurugi managed to make Kagami entirely from scratch, which is why he died real quick. Essentially giving his Life Energy to make her. But it broke the Peacock so everyone after still got fucked up. 

Emilie tried to mitigate the effects by doing the Senti-Human hybrid trick, so she’s only dealing with ‘broken Peacock’ not ‘took too much Life Energy at once’. Same with Colt. So they’re still dying, but not as quickly as Mr. Tsurugi did.

Adjust the fuckery in age differences by having like. It’s a Senti-baby she can just make it magic so it speeds up and she’s only actually pregnant for like a month. Colt can do the same with Amelie and then just gaslight her of ‘oh we must’ve been so convinced we were infertile that we didn’t notice you actually got pregnant!’.

3.) I love everything about Chester

[child0feden]

BLOODLUST

tomas “ samoth ” haugen x reader

♡ nsfw alphabet for samoth!

୨୧ why are black metal men so handsome? can someone explain that to me, pretty please with my GG cherries on top? <3

♡ related hc available here | view my metal masterlist here

reading music recommendations: thy eternal flame by funeral winds - black metal by venom

* 18 + content, please do not read if you’re a minor *

a = aftercare ( what they’re like after sex )

♡ similar to faust, samoth is really attentive when it comes to aftercare! especially because he can be quite rough

୨୧ right after he pulls out, he lays down next to you and gently traces any bruises forming on your body, asking if you need anything or want any ibuprofen before going to get you some if you do!

b = body part ( their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s )

♡ he absolutely loves your tits, i’m sorry… he just cannot get over them, especially if they’re on the bigger side… he loves watching them softly bounce as he thrusts into you! its a guarantee they’ll be covered in bite marks and hickeys after fucking samoth

୨୧ he likes his hands! they’re much bigger than yours and he loves how they look gripping your tits

c = cum ( anything to do with cum, basically )

♡ similar to faust, samoth likes to cum on you! almost always shooting his cum on your tits and watching as it drips down…

୨୧ but due to him being an exhibitionist and you guys having a lot of public sex, he can’t always cum on you so he does the next best thing and cums in you! usually always taking your underwear, if you’re even wearing any, and making you walk with his cum slowly making it’s way out of your cunt and down your legs

d = dirty secret ( a dirty secret of theirs )

♡ i can’t really see him having many secrets at all, let alone dirty ones! he’s super open with you about things

୨୧ but if i had to say anything one would probably be that when he first met you, he got a major boner from just staring at your tits as they bounced when you walked towards him and had to go jack off in the bathroom, imagining how his cock would feel between your tits

e = experience ( how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing? )

♡ he’s probably the most experienced of all the emperor members just due to him being the most confident and outgoing

୨୧ he’s not a sex god but he’s definitely had a couple hook ups and knows the basics of what he likes and doesn’t like

f = favourite position ( this goes without saying )

♡ to be honest, he’s just a big fan of missionary!

୨୧ it’s the easiest position for you guys to do when you’re in public, he’s able to get as deep as he possibly can and he has an amazing view of your tits

g = goofy ( are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? )

♡ he’s very serious during sex, he doesn’t really make jokes at all! the rare times he even laughs is usually when degrading you, just chucking before he calls you a desperate whore as you moan under him

୨୧ the only other time i could see him being more humorous during sex is when you’re both half drunk! he’d probably just let out some breathy chuckles as he’s getting undressed

h = hair ( how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? )

♡ samoth is very well groomed! he takes a lot of pride in his looks and hygiene

୨୧ he’s not completely shaved but he’s shaved enough so that it never irritates you when sucking him off or whatever!

i = intimacy ( how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect )

♡ he’s not super romantic… he likes degrading you and talking down to you! calling you his desperate little whore, holding his revolver to your head and so on

୨୧ the only times he’s ever really romantic is on your guys’ anniversaries when the sex is softer and instead of calling you filthy names, he’s telling you how much he loves you and how beautiful you are

j = jack off ( masturbation headcanon )

♡ eh, he’s kind of uncaring towards jacking off! he thinks it’s fine, he’ll do it if he has to but doesn’t think there’s anything that special about it

୨୧ on the rare times you’re not with him and he wants to get off, he’ll jack off whilst imagining you and looking at nude pictures you’d taken for him

k = kink ( one or more of their kinks )

♡ i expand on his kinks a lot in kinky business but i’ll put them here without the expansion

୨୧ gunplay, exhibitionism and bondage

l = location ( favorite places to do the do )

♡ he absolutely loves fucking you in public! he gets off on the risk, seeing people pass you two as you struggle to keep your moans in, some of them very clearly knowing what you two are doing

୨୧ you guys have sex in cemeteries a lot! mainly at night because then he can fully strip you with a lot less worry about other people seeing his girl fully naked… seeing your tits bathed in the moonlight glow and surrounded by death is one of his absolute favourite sights

m = motivation ( what turns them on, gets them going )

♡ he’s not super easy to get turned on, just sitting on his lap or making gestures towards him won’t phase him at all… he’s very strong headed

୨୧ but anything to do with your tits? that’s when he crumbles! you’re sitting on his lap in a bar and move his hand under your shirt and up towards your tit? yeah, his facade falls so fast and he’s dragging you off to an alley or something

n = no ( something they wouldn’t do, turn offs )

♡ he’d never share you, never ever!

୨୧ he might like public sex and the thrill of other people seeing you two getting down and dirty but no way would he ever let anyone else feel your cunt wrapped around them… so watching is fine but laying a hand on you? no way

o = oral ( preference in giving or receiving, skill )

♡ he prefers getting sucked off by you than eating you out…

୨୧ he’d never say no to eating you out if you asked, he just doesn’t think he’s that great at it when he absolutely is

p = pace ( are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? )

♡ sex at home? his thrusts are slow and rough but so damn deep! he nearly pulls all the way out of you every time, slowly dragging his cock back out of your walls with only his tip remaining inside of you before slamming back in

୨୧ but when it comes to quickies and public sex? he’s so fast, jutting his hips into you at lighting speed whilst your heels dig into his back

q = quickie ( their opinions on quickies, how often )

♡ he loves quickies! he’ll bend you over and take you anytime he wants

୨୧ it’s either bending you over or sitting you up somewhere, throwing your legs over his shoulders and dragging your shirt up to see your tits as he pounds into you

r = risk ( are they game to experiment? do they take risks? )

♡ oh he’s all for takings risks! he’s very overly confident and convincing, he couldn’t give a shit about consequences

୨୧ it’s the same with experimenting, he’ll always be trying new stuff with you as long as you agree! new kinks, positions, locations and so on

s = stamina ( how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last? )

♡ he’s got quite a bit of stamina! more than enough to thoroughly please you anyways

୨୧ you guys usually go for two or three rounds, lasting half and hour or an hour each but if you wanted more he’d definitely give it to you

t = toys ( do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves? )

♡ does his revolver count as a toy? i think it does

୨୧ he absolutely loves using his revolver on you… wether it be teasing you with it by dragging the cold steel across your nipples or actually fucking you with it, pushing the barrel in and out of your cunt as the steel glistens with your juices

u = unfair ( how much they like to tease )

♡ it’s rare that he ever teases you, he doesn’t enjoy being teased himself and finds it to just be a drag

୨୧ the only way he really teases you is by joke teasing, like when you’re fucking in public and he whispers in your ear about a guy who’s been looking at you two for the past minute, teasingly asking you if you think that guy could give you as much pleasure as he is right now

v = volume ( how loud they are, what sounds they make )

♡ when you’re doing public sex, he’s much quieter… just letting out pants and groans into your ear with the occasional whispered word of degradation

୨୧ but when you’re in the comfort of your shared apartment, he’s so much louder! practically yelling filthy names towards you and his deep groans ring out through the walls

w = wild card ( a random headcanon for the person )

♡ one night, he managed to convince you to break into a church with you and have raw sex right on top of the alter… you didn’t just have one round though, oh no! he was going to make the most of it and you guys desecrated practically everything holy in there by fucking on it

୨୧ was it some of the best sex you’ve ever had? yes! would you do it again with him? absolutely

x = x-ray ( let’s see what’s going on under those clothes )

♡ i just know this man has a big cock, i just know it… i’m saying 8.5 inches, he just comes off as someone that has a big cock to me, i don’t know how to explain it

୨୧ it’s pretty girthy and it has a killer vein on the underside

y = yearning ( how high is their sex drive? )

♡ his sex drive is very hot and cold! sometimes it’s really high and other times it’s just super average

୨୧ it’s much higher when he has a concert coming up due to the excitement and more average on days where not much is happening due to you guys just relaxing together

z = zzz ( how quickly they fall asleep afterwards )

♡ he’s not super sleepy after sex, especially because you guys have so much public sex! you guys usually just go about your day as usual after fucking

୨୧ the only time he falls asleep after sex is when it’s end of the day or night sex, when he’s been doing stuff all day and sex is the last event so to speak… he only falls asleep once he knows you’re taken care of too

[ghostie-ghoulie]

Hey there! I'm Ghostie-Ghoulie. I have had this app for years and always wanted to post, so here I am!

Currently, I'm obsessed with anything Until Dawn or Resident Evil related. I can't ever shut my mouth about them.

My content will either consist of possible art or my fanfiction about certain fandoms I enjoy.

This is an 18+ blog! So, if you are a minor, please, in the most polite way possible, leave my page.

These Fandoms that I am a part of happen to be:

Until Dawn

Resident Evil (a personal favorite)

Horror movies (Ghostface, Hellrasier, Chucky, IT, Etc)

The Wolf Among Us

Mortal Kombat

Cyberpunk

Arcane

Team Fortress 2

Star Wars

Star Wars: The Bad batch

Ghost (band)

Sallyface

Bendy And The Ink Machine

Spiderman (mostly the spiderverse movies)

Dark Deception

Devil May Cry

More fandoms can be added later!

I will write Smut, oneshots, small imagines, and multichapter stories. I'm a sucker for smut, so you're gonna get that out of me once I finally get the hang of it.

Important note: I only write XReaders for now. I know that might suck for a lot of people, but it is something I heavily enjoy. I know people don't like it (Y/n, I'm looking at you), but the stereotypical cringe XReader stories that drive me up a wall will not be here. I will try my hardest to make the apperence vague, but personality might be a challenge. Though, hey! Everyone needs their practice. I can't go writing an emotionless reader, eh?

The readers I write for will mostly, if not entirely, be gender neutral or feminine. I'm sorry if this is a major letdown, but I do not trust my abilities to delve into a male reader just yet. I most write for male characters in general, and as love interests, but I can write for women when it comes to romance. I am both for ladies and gents.

Another very important note: I have a major history regarding mental health. Stress comes to me easy, and with stress comes heavy burnout. My brain gets fried, and my creativity goes down 6 feet under. All I ask is that you be very patient with me until I recover. This might mean small breaks or long breaks. Requests may be hard to handle, but if I'm ready, I'll think about doing them. You are able to send in asks! I may not be able to do full requests, but maybe some thoughts for a writing I could possibly start off with.

I am very understanding when it comes to emotional and mental related things because I have experienced my fair share of dealing with it. These topics will show up sometimes in various writings. If these bother you, worry not! Warnings will be placed.

This is a page friendly one towards everyone. I do not stand for hate of any kind. Sure, we're through a damn screen, but I still won't tolerate it. So please, no hate or arguments. If opinions differ, it doesn't mean we need to clash.

Characters that I could possibly write for consist of:

Until Dawn

Chris Hartley

Mike Monroe

Josh Washington

Matt Taylor

Resident Evil

Leon Kennedy

Karl Heisenburg

Luis Sera

Jack Krauser

Albert Wesker

Devil May Cry

Johnny Cage

Vergil Sparda

Dante Sparda

Nero sparda

Mortal Kombat

Syzoth (Reptile)

Tomas (Smoke)

Bi-han (Sub-Zero)

Kuai liang (Scorpian)

Liu Kang

Cyberpunk

Johnny Silverhand

Viktor Vektor (he needs more love and attention. I love him sm)

Team Fortress 2

Spy

Sniper

Medic

(Possibly the rest)

Star Wars

Captain Rex

(Probably will write for a bunch of clones, tbh)

Hondo Ohnaka

Darth Maul

Darth Vader

Boba Fett

Din Djarin

Hunter

Crosshair

Tech

Wrecker

Echo

The Wolf Among Us

Bigby Wolf

I think that's all I've really got for now. More of course can be added later to masterlists. I'm just giving you good ideas on who I would love to write for.

(I will probably reform this because damn it looks jumbled, but hey, I'm inexperienced with actually posting on Tumblr.)

[acacia-may]

In Your Eyes (Kelbrey Feelings Realization Fic)

“Kel froze. His eyes widened—heart racing so loud he could hear it pounding in his ears which had turned red at the sight of her. His hands trembled. His breath caught in his throat as he met her eyes. Her brown eyes.”

OR

When Aubrey gets something stuck in her eye during a game of poker at a college party hosted by Hero’s fraternity, Kel has a realization that has been a long time coming…

Kelbrey-Centric Slice of Life, Feelings Realization, and Developing Romance several years Post-Good Ending with a side of Hero & Kel's brotherly love and support. Also, (briefly) feat. Hero actually being happy with his goofy college friends (and some hints at Hero/OC), Sunny the poker champion, and Basil wishing everyone would just play Crazy Eights.

Relationships: KELBREY (Romantic Kel x Aubrey) CENTRIC. Kel & Hero's brotherly bond is also included & important, as well as Aubrey, Basil, Hero Kel, & Sunny Friendship. Some (Minor) Hero & His College Friends (OCs) Friendship and Some (Potential?) Hero x OC. Past Romantic Hero x Mari is referenced.

Word Count: 9,110

Rating: T for some language, mentions of drinking, and sequences of partying.

Warnings: Major Spoilers for OMORI! A brief sequence of legal drinking. Some language. Some partying. Characters playing footsie. Characters playing poker. An almost kiss. Please see AO3 for additional tags.

Link to original post on AO3. Full Text Below the Cut.

A/N: This story is dedicated to my youngest sister who doesn’t know anything about OMORI but knows a lot about contact lenses. ^^

Thank you for reading!! 🧡🩷

Kel frowned at his cards. He had been having rotten luck all night and had the smallest pile of individually wrapped candies turned poker chips in front of him. Kel sighed. It probably would have been a little bit bigger if he hadn’t kept eating them.

As he absentmindedly plopped a taffy in his mouth, Aubrey glared at him with icy teal eyes. “Those are your chips, Kel.”

Kel shrugged. “Eh, I can spare a couple.”

Quirking an eyebrow, Aubrey blinked at him and his dwindling pile of candies even more pathetically puny next to the elaborate castle Sunny had been building out of the many, many he had collected throughout the course of the game. They should have known he would be virtually unbeatable at poker, but for her credit, Aubrey seemed to be doing fairly well for herself too with a modest stack of caramels in front of her. Basil would probably be doing better if he stopped folding every round, even when he had a good hand, but even he had more ‘chips’ than Kel, probably because he didn’t keep eating them.

Kel shrugged, then ate another taffy with a satisfied smack of his lips. He didn’t think it mattered much, seeing as he wasn’t going to win anyway, but Aubrey huffed—a long piece of pink hair falling into her face as she rolled her eyes, kicking him under the table. Chuckling, he playfully kicked her back. It clearly wasn’t the reaction she had been expecting. Pushing her hair out of her face, she tilted her head at him with a scowl, then kicked him again a little harder this time, but he just laughed, delighted by that twitch in the corners of her mouth she had tried to hide. He wondered if he could get her to actually smile—not always the easiest feat in the world with Aubrey, especially when she was annoyed like this.

Sunny dropped a piece of taffy in the center of the table—stone-faced and unreadable as usual, a truly unfair power in a poker game, and Kel picked one of his own up—appearing to follow suit until he plopped it into his mouth.

“Kel!” Aubrey huffed.

“I’m hungry,” he insisted with a smack of his lips as he chewed the taffy.

“Then have Hero make you a sandwich and stop eating your poker chips.”

With a sigh, Kel glanced off over Aubrey’s shoulder at his brother, hard at work in the kitchen as he generally was whenever his fraternity hosted a party. Hero had been nice enough to invite them along to this one, provided none of them drink anything that didn’t come out of a can or bottle clearly marked as “non-alcoholic,” since unlike Hero and most of his friends they weren’t of legal drinking age yet and Hero had warned them repeatedly that it was far too easy to accidentally get wasted, especially when you’re not used to it. Whether he knew that from personal experience or not, Kel wasn’t sure, and he didn’t think it was his place to ask. As far as he knew, Hero didn’t drink, even though he had legally been able to for the past few months, and Kel noticed that for the whole evening, he had been sipping a mug of hot tea rather than anything boozy…but, Kel supposed, that could have been because he had wanted to keep a watchful, sober eye on them. Always the responsible big brother, he had been checking in with them periodically all evening to make sure they were okay and to see if they needed anything even though he was busy taking care of party guests and making sure things didn’t get too rowdy and out of hand, like a “Mama” his roommate, the party’s host, had somewhat teasingly insisted.

Hero had politely opted not to play poker with them, however,—whether because he wanted to keep making sandwiches or because his group of college friends had teased him that he couldn’t lie well enough to last five minutes in a poker tournament had yet to be seen. Hero’s friends, for their credit, had seemingly tried to make up for it by playing in his place, however. Brandi and her boyfriend, C.J., made it through a couple rounds before getting called away to watch Hero’s roommate try to use a beer bong while standing on his head, which Hero had politely insisted Kel and their friends skip out on. Music major Tamra played five rounds mostly spent comforting Basil when he panicked and accidentally bet 7 Charleston Chews before realizing he had forgotten to look at his cards, and Kel had spent at least ten minutes trying to teach the bubbly Lorraine how to play before she finally decided she’d rather just sing Spice Girls karaoke with her sorority sisters. Out of Hero’s closest friends, at least the ones Kel knew of, only two hadn’t played: Hero’s roommate, Kyle, who was absolutely plastered after that thing with the beer bong, and spunky engineering major, Zoey, who had offered to keep Hero company in the kitchen so he wouldn’t feel so left out.

Glancing over at his brother now, Kel couldn’t help but think Hero didn’t seem to mind being left out at all now that he was busy cooking, chatting, and laughing with one of his best friends. Kel couldn’t make out what they were talking about, but he watched Zoey’s mouth curve into a dry, somewhat lopsided smile as she poked Hero in the chest with a spatula and Hero’s smile actually managed to reach his eyes as he laughed so loudly it caught the attention of everyone at the table.

They all blinked—wide-eyed at the rare occurrence of actual Hero happiness: a true unicorn over the past several years though not completely impossible anymore especially when he was with his college friends and, they had all noticed, this one in particular. Almost on some kind of unspoken cue, the whole table shared a glance at each other as if to acknowledge how much they were all indebted to the young lady and not just because she had helped Sunny build a trebuchet for his physics project, found the missing lens cap from Basil’s camera, invited Aubrey to stay with her during her college visit, and always let Kel call her whenever he was stuck on his math homework.

Aubrey cleared her throat—reminding them to quickly turn back to their cards before Hero caught them staring. He likely would have been mortified, but Kel knew none of them had been trying to pry, they were all just glad to see him enjoying the company of his friends and smiling again. It had been a very long time.

“On second thought, don’t bother him,” mumbled Aubrey though an affectionate smile tugged at her mouth. Sunny nodded in emphatic agreement, even handing Kel some of the candies from the palace he had been building.

Kel stifled a chuckle but shook his head. “Thanks, Sunny, but I’ll just eat later.” Staring back down at his cards, Kel hummed. “And I’ll raise you two licorices.”

“How much did we say a licorice is again?” asked Basil with a weary sigh.

“I think two licorices equals one caramel, and two caramels equal a taffy,” explained Aubrey rubbing her eyes.

Basil nodded, then sighed again. “Okay…I fold.”

“You know you don’t have to fold every time,” Kel teased with a good-natured chuckle. He glanced over at Aubrey, meeting her teal eyes—distant and a little exasperated but not unkind. Even so, she jabbed at him with her foot again before she reached for her own pile of candies.

As Aubrey thoughtfully hummed at her cards, Kel playfully poked her with his foot under the table again. Not even blinking or looking up from her hand—she jabbed back at him then he poked at her, and back and forth they went, hopefully, unnoticed by their friends. Finally, she dropped a handful of candy into the center pile meeting Kel’s eyes, the corners of her lips twitching again. As a smile began to spread across his own face, he ran his foot across her ankle, then without thinking, up the side of her calf. A yelp caught in the back of Aubrey’s throat—startling Sunny and Basil, and Kel stopped abruptly watching the bright red spots appearing between her indignant frown.

His own face grew warm. He had just been playing around and hadn’t been thinking, certainly hadn’t been intending to play footsie with her, even though, if he was being honest, it was kind of nice. Something swooped in his stomach as he was suddenly struck by the thought of Aubrey running her foot up his leg, instead of the other way around...

That blush in his face deepened, and he cleared his throat. He didn’t know where that thought had come from, honestly.

He reached for another piece of candy.

“Seriously?” Aubrey huffed, rolling her eyes at him again—that usual pale pallor returning to her face as Sunny met her bet. Kel tried his best to quiet that fluttery sensation in his stomach by turning back to his cards.

For a split second, he had actually forgotten he didn’t have anything in his hand. Even so, he exclaimed, “I’m going all in!”

Kel had always liked that phrase: “all in.” He supposed he was an “all in” kind of person—jumping into things with wholehearted enthusiasm, oftentimes without thinking. In a way, he guessed, that was a good thing sometimes—like when he dragged Sunny out of his house or pestered his brother into taking much needed breaks from constant studying, but it probably wasn’t the best when he was trying to play poker and annoying his friends by going “all in” with whole hands of nothing. Still, he shoved his remaining candies into the middle of the table.

Aubrey snickered. “What will you have to eat now?”

Before he could banter back, however, his stomach growled, loudly. He probably should grab something to eat beyond just his “poker chips.”

“Here, Scotty. Sounds like you need it more than me.” A plate with a hot sandwich on it appeared next to him on the table. Kel didn’t need to turn around to know who had put it there: Hero’s friend Zoey was the only person in the world who called him “Scotty,” a reference to his penchant for fixing things as far as he understood it.

“Thanks, but I can’t take your food,” Kel insisted as Hero ran up beside them, wiping his hands across his apron.

“Kel’s right,” he gently interrupted, patting Kel’s shoulder before quickly turning from him to Zoey.  “I can make him something. You don’t have to give him yours.”

Zoey quirked an eyebrow at him. “Your poor brother is practically starving over here,” she quipped in a dry, matter-of-fact voice. “And it looks like Sunny is wiping the floor with him. He deserves a sandwich.” She tilted her head towards Kel but met Hero’s dark eyes with her teasing green ones, just for a moment. Hero turned away, clearing his throat, and she turned to Sunny, with a bright smile, “Nice castle, by the way.”

“Thank you,” mumbled Sunny as a smile tugged at his mouth. “But…it’s having trouble staying up…”

As she tucked a piece of short, red hair behind her ear, Zoey’s brow furrowed, but her mouth twitched in its corners. “You want some help with that?” she asked, and Sunny nodded. “A stronger foundation should fix the problem, and you have plenty of candies to build a bigger base.” She paused, chuckling lightly. “Remind me never to play poker against you. We’ll just have to stick to crazy eights.”

“I’d like to play crazy eights,” sighed Basil. “Poker is stressing me out.”

“Everything stresses you out,” huffed Aubrey with an affectionate smile as she rubbed her eye. Basil chuckled lightly, somewhat helplessly as Hero gave him a reassuring pat on the back.

“I prefer crazy eights too,” he admitted with a sigh and a gentle smile before turning back to his brother. “Kel, please don’t eat Zoey’s sandwich. What would you like me to make for you? And does anyone else want anything?”

Aubrey, Basil, and Sunny all shook their heads, but Kel hummed thoughtfully, “I’ll just have something easy to make like ham and cheese. Or just some chips or something if you’re too tired. You’ve been cooking all night.”

“It’s fine. It’s actually…”—Hero’s face softened—“kind of fun. I’m usually so busy studying I don’t get to cook as much anymore, so it’s nice to have the opportunity.” He paused then sighed. “Sorry I haven’t been around much tonight though. It’s been kind of crazy around here, but after I finish cooking for you guys, maybe we can all play together.”

“You’re just saying that because they’re switching to crazy eights,” teased Zoey as she helped Sunny arrange his squares of caramels into a wide base for his castle.

Hero chuckled lightly but gently insisted, “I would have played poker too. Whatever you want.”

“Crazy eights is fine,” said Aubrey, still rubbing her eye. “Kel’s out of poker chips anyway.” Aubrey huffed, blinking rapidly and pulling on her eyelid with her finger. Her eye started to water.

“Are you okay?” asked Kel reaching out a hand to her, but she jerked away from him.

“Yeah, I think I just got something in my eye.” She blinked again with a disgruntled groan.  

“I have eyedrops in a first aid kit upstairs if that’ll help,” said Hero. “I’ll go get them.”

“No, I can do that.” Kel stopped, realizing what he had said only after he had said it. “I mean…I wouldn’t want you to have to leave everybody and you’re so busy hosting.”

“It’s no trouble,” Hero insisted. “But if you want to get the first aid kit, you can, Kel. It’s in the lower right drawer of my desk.”

“That’s okay,” interjected Aubrey. “I don’t think I need a first aid kit or anything. Whatever it is, it’s stuck up under my contact lens, so I’ll probably just have to take it out. My bag’s upstairs I think.”

As Aubrey stumbled to her feet, Kel followed. He and Hero both opened their mouths, about to say something when the slurred voice of Hero’s roommate Kyle called from across the room, “Mama! Mama!”

“Just a second,” Hero called back, but Kyle yelled again—a slurred and drawn-out whine.  

“Heroooooooooooooooooooooo!”

Hero let out a long heavy sigh. “Yes? Is everything okay?”

“Come here! Tamra’s gonna play a song for you.”

“I’ve been working on this transcription project, I think you’re really going to like it,” Tamra’s voice called from her seat at an old, chipped piano on the back wall of the busy living room.

“And we’re all going to sing,” giggled Lorraine.

“That’s really nice, but um…can you wait a couple minutes?” asked Hero.

There were teasing, playful groans before Zoey called, “Hold on, you big babies. He’s in the middle of something.”

“Unless someone’s dying or he’s making out with you, it can wait!” Kyle yelled then cracked himself up in raucous laughter. Given the bright red hue of his brother’s face, Kel felt bad for laughing a little himself, even though he tried his best to stifle it. It seemed Brandi and her boyfriend were trying and failing to do the same—laughing behind their hands as they curled up next to each other on the couch. Sunny and Basil were both blushing—probably from second-hand embarrassment for Hero’s sake, and Aubrey rolled her eyes before rubbing them again.

Hero pressed his palm to his forehead muttering something about being “so sorry.” Zoey, however, seemed annoyed but unsurprised as she got up from her seat at the table then walked over to lightly smack Kyle on the back of the head. “You’re such an ass sometimes, ‘Drunk Kyle.’”

“But you still love me. I know you love me, Zuzu…” Kyle cooed in a bantering melodrama, blowing kisses at her until she rolled her eyes.

“Don’t push your luck.”

Still red in the face, Hero sighed heavily, turning to explain to the table in stumbly, nervous words, “We’re not—! I’ve never…It’s not like that.” Hero took a deep breath before rambling very quickly, “We’re just friends, and Kyle’s known Zoey forever and just says…really weird and uncomfortable things when he’s drunk…” He sighed, shaking his head. “I’m sorry you had to hear that.”

Kel shrugged his shoulders with a reassuringly dismissive wave, but he bit his lip—trying his best to choose his words carefully for once in his life. He knew his brother would hate to hear him say it, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that Hero was fragile, especially when it came to something sensitive like this. He couldn’t tell if he was so flustered because he was actually, secretly attracted to this girl or because he was worried that everyone would be upset if they thought he was or because he was still so devoted to Mari that he was sickened by the idea of anyone thinking he had even noticed another woman. Or maybe it was just Hero’s shy personality and dislike for being the center of attention?

Kel’s head ached. He didn’t usually read this much into things, but he didn’t want to say the wrong thing. He had accidentally broken his brother once before, and he didn’t want to do that ever again.

“It’s okay,” said Sunny with an emphatic nod, pulling Kel’s attention out of his thoughts. It was a shock to say the least. Even Aubrey stopped fidgeting with her eye for a second to blink at him. Kel wracked his brain and tried to think of a time when Sunny had managed to have something to say while the rest of them were speechless. It was very possible that had never happened before, but Kel was extremely grateful that it had now.

Trying his best not to look too shocked, Hero stumbled a, “Thank you, Sunny.” He cleared his throat, then turned back to Aubrey. “Anyways…Aubrey…let’s get you—” He stopped as Aubrey reached out a hand to pat him on the shoulder, cutting him off.

“Hero, I’m fine. Go hang out with your friends.”

“Yeah, I’ll help Aubrey with the first aid kit and everything, and we’ll be right back,” Kel insisted with a reassuring smile, grateful to have something to do to help that didn’t depend on him saying the right thing. Honestly, with the way he tended to just say whatever popped into his head, he just didn’t trust himself not to make everything worse for Hero anymore.

“Okay…” stumbled Hero, unsurely but he eventually conceded at the cacophonous calls of his friends. “But if you need anything just call okay? If you don’t come back in a few minutes, I’ll come check on you.”

“It’ll be fine,” sighed Kel with an affectionate chuckle. Without thinking he grabbed Aubrey’s hand and started pulling her towards the staircase. By the time they reached the landing, they could hear the distant melodies of the piano and an enthusiastic, if also a little drunk, chorus of Hero’s friends loudly, teasingly belting out, “I can be your Hero, baby!”

Kel laughed. He would have paid to see his brother’s face when his friends started singing that song to him, but as it was now, Aubrey was much more important. Despite still rubbing at her eye, even she managed a chuckle and a somewhat affectionate, “Hero’s friends are such goofs.”

“Yeah…” chuckled Kel. “But I love them. They’ve made Hero so happy. I…really missed that.”

Aubrey sighed, a gentle smile twitching in the corners of her mouth. “Me too.”

As Kel led her down the hallway towards the room Hero shared with Kyle, Aubrey fidgeted then sighed again and asked, “Hey uh…Kel…?”

“Huh?”

She cleared her throat—her voice a little stiff as she answered, “You’re uh…still holding my hand…”

Blinking, Kel stared down at their hands. He hadn’t even realized he was still holding hers. His face flushed. “Oh uh…”—he cleared his throat—“I sorta forgot. Sorry about that…” Letting go of her hand, he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly then pushed open the door to Hero’s room. “It’s right here.”

There was something familiar, almost cozy about Hero’s room. In a way, it reminded Kel of the room they had shared back home. The left side of the room was bright and colorful with chaotic clusters of photos and posters on the wall. It was cleaner than Kel generally kept his room, but just as cluttered with books, CDs, school supplies, and bottles of something or other haphazardly strewn across the dresser and desk. Though the bed was made, the duvet was crinkled, wrinkly, and the pillows looked like they had been scooped up and thrown at the headboard in a hurry. Sunny would probably give it a 4 out of 10.

To be perfectly fair, however, it probably would have just looked “lived in” if it wasn’t for the right side of the room: simple with pale, muted colors, but perfectly pristine like something out of a catalog. Nothing was out of place, and there was no clutter to be had: no knickknacks, no mementos, and just three photos in matching gray frames on the desk. Every book, every record, every CD had been carefully placed on the shelf and all office supplies were housed in drawers or an unassuming gray pencil holder. The blue duvet was perfectly smooth with pillows perfectly arranged. Even their coats and bags that had been placed on the bed had been carefully, thoughtfully lined up in a neat order against the wall.

“No guessing which side’s Hero’s, huh?” quipped Aubrey as she climbed over the mattress for her purse. “Always neat as a pin.”

As she began digging through her bag, most likely for the case for her contact lenses, Kel turned towards Hero’s desk to search for the first aid kit. Like everything else belonging to his brother, it was clean, sanitized, boring though Kel felt badly for thinking that. He was happy to see the photos though—the only truly personalized things of Hero’s in the room. One was of him with his group of college friends—laughing together probably at some party just like this one by the look of it. The second was their most recent family photo, and the third was of their group of friends in Faraway Park when they were kids back when Mari had been alive.

Kel’s chest ached. They looked so different back then—especially Aubrey. He glanced over at her now, still digging through her bag, long pink hair rippling down her back rather than the dark brown locks she had sported in that photo and for the majority of her life. Her eyes were different too—an icy teal now from her colored contacts. That reminded him…he had better start looking for those eyedrops.

As he pulled open the bottom left drawer of Hero’s desk, he paused—blinking in surprise.

“Woah!” he exclaimed before he could stop himself.

“What?” asked Aubrey.

“This drawer is a mess,” he mumbled, so stunned he wasn’t even able to look up at her. In an entire lifetime of knowing Hero, Kel had never known anything of his brother’s to be a mess. He sighed and supposed that there really was a first time for everything. Kel’s brow furrowed as he began sifting through odds and ends—a whole junk drawer of papers, notebooks, books, a couple CDs, even some receipts, a few pictures, and who even knew what else. “There’s all kinds of crap in here…”

Aubrey snorted a partially stifled laugh. “I didn’t know Hero could make a mess.”

“Me neither,” quipped Kel, pushing some of the papers around looking for anything resembling a first aid kit.

“Hey uh…” She sighed. “Speaking of Hero…do you think he’s…”—she paused as if trying to think of the right word—“worried that we’d all be upset if he…if he was, you know—dating again?” 

Kel stopped, but he sighed heavily. He had just been wondering the same thing after all. He shrugged his shoulders—focusing his attention on digging through the desk drawer, but he answered, “I think Hero worries about a lot of things he doesn’t have to worry about.”

“I just wouldn’t want him to feel like he couldn’t put himself back out there, you know… because of what we’d think or because he’s scared we’d be upset or think he was disrespecting Mari…” Her voice trailed. “I wish there was a way we could tell him that we’d all be happy…without it sounding like we were prying or making assumptions.”

Kel nodded, but let out a heavy, somewhat helpless sigh. “Don’t look at me. I’d probably just say the wrong thing,” he chuckled, self-deprecatingly—rubbing his hand across the nape of his neck.

“Kel…” Aubrey’s tone softened, but he didn’t look up at her, instead choosing to quickly shrug it off and change directions.

“Besides he says he’s not interested in having that kind of relationship anymore anyway, so he probably just isn’t—no matter what we’d think about it. You know how Hero is. He’s been…”—he paused, unable to think of the right word—“really weird about that kind of thing ever since Mari died. I just…I don’t know if he’ll ever want that again…”

As Kel continued rifling through the drawer, Aubrey sighed. “I know…and I understand that. I wasn’t suggesting we push him or anything I just…didn’t want to be part of whatever was holding him back.” She paused, sighing again. “He looked so happy, and…I really like her.”

“Me too. I’m pretty sure she’s the only reason I’m not failing math right now,” Kel bantered with a laugh before his face softened. He knew he didn’t have to say the rest—didn’t have to say how much he loved her for being such a good friend to Hero, for always studying with him or going on runs with him at the crack of dawn, for helping him do the dishes at their college parties or talking to him about his favorite foods or favorite kinds of music, for being that lone voice of reason in Hero’s somewhat chaotic group of college friends, for making him laugh and smile, and, most of all, for bringing something out in him that they had never imagined they’d get to see again.

“But it’s really not like that,” Kel added, though he wasn’t sure if was reminding himself or reminding Aubrey. “They both swear they’re just friends, and I believe them. I mean, I wish…Maybe someday, but I just—it’s Hero. I don’t know if he’s ever gonna be ready for it.” Kel stopped with a heavy sigh—brow furrowing as he pushed some of the papers around in Hero’s messy desk drawer. “I mean…he’s got a bunch of books about widowers in here…”

“Kel, don’t snoop through Hero’s stuff,” Aubrey scolded with a huff.

Kel’s face flushed, but he shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not trying to. It’s just such a mess in here. There’s papers everywhere and notebooks and books and CDs and…ooh! A present!” Curiously if also a little impulsively, Kel picked up a small, wrapped box tied with a red ribbon. “It’s heavy. I bet it’s jewelry.”

“Kel! Stop snooping,” Aubrey snapped at him. He fumbled around with the box before placing it back in the drawer.

“Look, I’m not being nosy. I’m just looking for the first aid kit. It’s not in here.”

Aubrey huffed. “You’re looking in the wrong drawer. Hero said lower right not lower left.”

Kel took a step back to stare at the desk—tilting his head. “Okay but…my right or the desk’s right?”

“Just check the other drawer!”

Kel closed the messy drawer then opened its identical twin on the other side of the desk—nearly empty except for a neat stack of blank notebook paper, a metal pencil case, and a first aid kit. “Found it!” he declared triumphantly—ignoring the way Aubrey was shaking her head at him. Snapping the clasp of the first aid kit open, he sat the case on the desk and rifled through it for the eye drops. “Here…” he said, turning to Aubrey.

She looked up from her bag and turned to stare at him as she reached for the bottle of eye drops with a muttered, “Thanks.”

Kel froze. His eyes widened—heart racing so loud he could hear it pounding in his ears which had turned red at the sight of her. His hands trembled. His breath caught in his throat as he met her eyes. Her brown eyes.

Kel had nothing against Aubrey’s colored contacts. Her teal eyes certainly were pretty—even if he’d probably never tell her that, but there was something icy, something cold and distant in them. Her real eyes were warm, inviting—cozy like the gentle glow of a candle. The light reflected off of swirls of golden brown in them as they glimmered and sparked like a crackling fire, and Kel found himself suddenly taken back to happier days: to making flower crowns, buildings sandcastles, jumping through puddles, having picnics, and watching sunsets. But there was something more in them than just treasured memories—something that made a swooping sensation twist in the pit of his stomach, made him feel dizzy and seasick but deliriously happy. Something that left him wonderstruck, left his mind empty— hazy and bare except for the words that ached in the deepest part of his heart: So beautiful…

“Kel? Are you okay?”

Aubrey’s stiff and awkward voice drew him out of his thoughts. He caught sight of the pink blush in her cheeks, and his face burned. He was staring at her, and she had noticed.

He opened his mouth to say something in response but found that possibly for the first time in his life he didn’t have any words. “You—your eyes…”

Aubrey’s cheeks turned an even deeper red, but she shrugged her shoulders brusquely. “Yeah…they’re kind of red and irritated. But that’s because I got something in them.”

Kel’s brow furrowed in confusion. Tilting his head at her, he finally noticed the streaks of red irritation in her eyes and the tears caught in her long eyelashes. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen it before—too mesmerized by her warm, dark eyes to see much of anything else, he supposed.

Something swooped in the pit of his stomach as she met his eyes briefly before turning away again, adding stiffly, “I haven’t been crying or anything…”

“Right…uh…,” he stumbled over his words, fumbling around with the eye drops until he finally handed them to her. “Here.”

Aubrey nodded—carefully pouring the drops in her eyes. As she stared up at the ceiling, Kel took a seat next to her on the side of the bed—sinking into the soft mattress and fluffy duvet with a satisfying creak. Sunny was right this bed really was a 9 out of 10, perfect for Hero. Kel tried his best to focus on the squishy foam of the mattress or the comfort of the bed linens or anything—literally anything else besides the way he felt every time Aubrey looked at him with those wide, dark eyes.

After a few moments of silence, Aubrey finally blinked the eyedrops away, the watery mess spilling down her cheeks. As she wiped her eyes, she reached for her contact lens case again. “I think that got it. I’ll just put these back in—”

“Do you have to?” He hadn’t realized he had interrupted her until her brow furrowed at him. The tips of his ears burned as Aubrey blinked at him.

“Um…Yeah.”

“Why?” The question slipped out before he could even think to stop it.

Aubrey frowned—though she looked more confused than irritated. “Because I can’t see without them.”

“Oh,” Kel’s voice hitched before he cleared his throat. “I guess I didn’t realize they were prescription.”

“Yeah…I wouldn’t have paid for them otherwise. Contacts are expensive.”

Kel tilted his head at her. “But why the colored ones?”

“I guess I just thought they’d be fun—pretty…” Aubrey shrugged. “Why?”

Kel flushed again, but he shrugged his shoulders. “I guess I just wondered if you ever thought about getting just regular contacts.”

“I mean I guess…But I don’t think it makes much of a difference, does it?”

“I guess not,” sighed Kel. “But you have such pretty eyes it’d be nice to see them every now and again.”

Aubrey’s face turned as pink as her hair, and Kel let out a long, heavy sigh. He had spoken without thinking again. It was going to be the death of him one of these days.

Before he could say anything more though, Aubrey frowned and elbowed him with a bristly huff. “Knock it off, Kel.”

“I wasn’t kidding around,” Kel insisted, but Aubrey didn’t seem to hear him or at least didn’t seem to acknowledge his protests as she continued.

“First you try to play footsie with me. Now you’re complimenting my eyes. It’s”—she glared at him, but her voice hitched—“it’s not funny.”

“I didn’t mean to play footsie with you—I was just goofing around and…”

“Well, it was weird,” Aubrey interrupted him, crossing her arms with a huff.

“It wasn’t that weird,” he insisted, but he fidgeted with nervous energy—bumping into her legs as they dangled from the side of the bed. Her eyes narrowed, but she kicked at him with her feet. Then with a lopsided twitch of her mouth, she ran her feet over his ankles—then up and down his calf. Kel bit down hard on his lip. Was she doing this on purpose—trying to get back at him for playing footsie with her earlier?

A startled yelp got garbled in the back of his throat as she nudged her foot against his knee. Red in the face after a long, wavering breath, he somehow miraculously managed a stumbly laugh and teasingly conceded, “Okay…okay you win, princess. It was weird, sorry—is that what you wanna hear?”

“Yes.” A somewhat smug smile twitched in the corners of Aubrey’s mouth, but her face was flushed. “It was weird. I mean, if we were dating then maybe, but—” she stopped abruptly, eyes widening at him.

Kel could feel his face burning and could only imagine how red he must look to Aubrey. Dating? He swallowed hard. Hearing her even mention it made his stomach backflip.

A question tugged at his mind and slipped out of his mouth before he could even think to stop it, “If we were dating, would you wear regular contacts sometimes if I asked?”

The blush in Aubrey’s cheeks deepened, but she bristled. “You and those contacts…” she huffed, rolling her eyes. “What’s up with that? If I didn’t know better, I’d think you didn’t like them.”

“What? No! Uh…they’re great.” Kel’s ears burned as he scratched the back of his neck. “It’s just…what I said about your real eyes—it wasn’t a joke.”

Aubrey’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Huh?”

“They really are pretty,” he admitted with a sincere, somewhat helpless smile. “I…had honestly kind of forgotten what they looked like and I just…I guess I—” He stopped, his mind going blank as her eyes met his again.

Her eyes. Kel could have sworn his heart skipped a beat as they held his gaze. So beautiful…

He swallowed hard—trying to calm his pounding heartbeat and the butterflies erupting in his stomach enough to say, “I missed them.”

Aubrey blinked at him. Her long eyelashes fluttering as her eyes widened. He could hear her inhale sharply—breath getting caught in her throat. “K—Kel…”

She turned away from him abruptly, but he felt her reach out to cover his hand with hers.  Jolts of electricity riveted through him and that aching, twisting feeling returned to his stomach, but he couldn’t pry his eyes away from her to look down at their intwined hands on the duvet.

Instead, he could feel himself leaning forward—reaching out his free hand to her and getting lost once again in her eyes. He pushed a long strand of pink hair out of her face with his thumb before running his fingers across her watery cheek before he pressed his lower palm to her jaw—angling it towards him. Kel swallowed hard—his attention finally pulled from her big, dark eyes to her mouth. As he watched her bite her bottom lip, Kel’s stomach backflipped. He ran the end of his tongue across his lips—finding them chapped, still caked with the leftover taste of taffy.

Aubrey licked her own lips as she leaned forward—bracing herself by gripping his knee in her hand. When she was mere inches away from his face, he tilted his head towards her until the tip of his nose brushed up against the side of hers.

With a breathless sigh, he watched as her eyes finally fluttered closed—her long dark eyelashes tickling his skin and her warm breath whispering against his lips. She was so close—so close he could feel her trembling and could hear her wavering gasps of air. So close he could smell the hint of watermelon in her shampoo and could taste the mix of cola and caramel on her breath.

Kel chuckled lightly—his laugh reverberating in his chest. So she had been eating her candy poker chips too… Hypocrite. But the truth was Kel didn’t even mind—how could he? How could he care about anything else in the world when she was only a breath away from him?

Time stopped, and they froze, each seemingly waiting for the moment one of them would finally close that space between them. But the moment never came.

Instead, there was a mortified gasp of “Oh! I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

Kel and Aubrey quickly scrambled away from each other red in the face as they turned to find Hero standing in the open doorway—almost equally as red as Kel could only assume they were.

“Oh uh…no you’re not interrupting anything,” he insisted, the words racing out of his mouth as he struggled to catch his breath. “I was just…Aubrey was just…I found those eye drops and…”

In a swift motion, Aubrey gathered her things, stood up from her seat on the bed, and practically sprinted towards the door. “Yeah…I was just about to put my contacts back in. I think I’ll do that in the bathroom. Thanks, Hero.”

His brow furrowing in confusion, Hero could only blink at her as she sped past—her pale cheeks blushing a bright crimson red. She kept her head down, as if she was unable to look at him. “Oh uh…it’s no problem…” he stumbled over his words as she took off down the hallway.

As he turned back towards Kel in confusion, Kel swallowed hard. “I—I can explain…” Truthfully, he didn’t know how he could explain, but he was sure as hell going to try.

“That’s okay,” Hero gently insisted, his blush deepening. “You really don’t need to explain anything to me, Kel.”

“No, seriously,” rambled Kel. “I…Nothing happened. I was just helping her look for those eyedrops, and when I found them, she took her contacts out and her eyes…they were…were…” He scrambled around for the right word before finally deciding on, “brown.”

Hero’s expression softened. “It has been a long time since we’ve seen Aubrey without her contacts in.”

“I was just surprised. I forgot what her eyes looked like, I guess,” shrugged Kel. “I know she needs those contacts to see, but I tried to tell her that maybe she could just get regular contacts too, someday. Since her real eyes…they’re just so—” He stopped abruptly, but he wasn’t sure that mattered. The look on his face surely said everything he couldn’t, and Hero knew it. Kel could tell that he did. Kel sighed heavily—his blush deepening at the knowing look Hero was giving him. Kel frowned as he watched his brother stifle an amused laugh.

Thankfully, Hero didn’t call him out—just reached out to ruffle his hand through his hair with an affectionate, “It’s okay, Kel. It happens to the best of us.”

“Even you?” asked Kel before he could stop himself. Hero’s face flushed pink, but he chuckled lightly with a somewhat sheepish nod.

“Yes, even me,” he admitted with a sigh before his eyes grew misty—wistful. “I think…there are certain people in this world whose eyes are just filled with possibilities. When you look at them, you just know that there’s something more…something beyond what you can even imagine—a life…a future…even if you’re not ready to see it.”

“Wow…that’s deep…” Kel chuckled, watching the gentle smile that tugged at his brother’s mouth.

Somewhat bashfully, Hero scratched the back of his neck. “Sorry…was that too much?”

“Nah, I just…” Kel’s voice trailed, and he shook his head. He was used to this kind of deep, philosophical advice from Hero or, at least, he had been—Hero hadn’t really given advice like this to him in a while. While it was true that Hero was a changed person, probably permanently so, after losing Mari, Kel supposed it was more his fault than anything they didn’t talk to each other the way they used to. Hero was so private Kel was convinced he’d just say the wrong thing or hurt Hero by prying into his business, even if he was worried about him, and he didn’t feel right bugging him for advice with problems which he considered small and petty compared to everything Hero had going on. The truth was he had missed it—missed how intuitive his brother was, how he always seemed to know exactly what to do and what to say, like a real hero. His hero.

Something ached in his chest, and he wrapped his arms around him.

“I missed you,” he mumbled into his shoulder. Kel could feel Hero lurch backward a little in surprise before his shoulders relaxed and he pulled him into a tight hug.

“I missed you too, Kel.” He sighed—rubbing his hand across his back. “We’ll have to make plans for you to visit again or maybe I can start driving home more on the weekends. And summer break is coming up soon so we’ll see each other a lot then…”

Kel’s expression softened as he pressed his chin to Hero’s shoulder. That hadn’t really been what he had meant. But his brother was so earnest. It made him chuckle lightly.

“I’m sorry that I’ve been so busy with classes and med school applications and everything,” Hero continued with a guilty deep breath. “But I always have time for you. I know I’m a little far away from home now, but you can always call me. I’m not sure I’ll have much advice for you, but I’ll always be here.”

As he pulled away from his brother, Kel shrugged. “No, that was good advice.” Amazing, almost superhumanly relevant advice actually, but he wasn’t ready to tell Hero that.

Hero smiled. “I’m glad. Just hang in there, okay? There’s no need to rush into anything. You’ve got time to sort out your feelings.” He gently ruffled his hair before turning to open the messy drawer of his desk. “In the meantime, why don’t you take this?”

He pulled out a CD, and Kel’s brow furrowed. “Peter Gabriel?”

Hero chuckled. “There’s a song on there called ‘In Your Eyes.’ I think you’ll really like it.”

Kel tried his best to frown at his dry teasing, but a smile tugged at his mouth in spite of himself. If he was being honest, he supposed he had even missed that too��at least a little bit. He twisted the plastic case in his hands.

“I’m not sure I should take this. I mean it came out of your messy junk drawer…”

Hero’s face flushed, but he scratched his neck with a sheepish, “Yeah I really need to organize it.” He stopped and tilted his head. “How’d you know?”

“I wasn’t trying to snoop through your stuff,” Kel explained hurriedly. “I was just looking for the first aid kit, and I opened the wrong drawer but I didn’t know it was the wrong drawer so—”

“It’s okay, Kel.” Hero gently patted him on the arm. “I don’t have anything to hide.”

“You’re hiding a present in there,” Kel teased with a bright, crooked smile.

Running a hand through his hair, Hero blushed, but he cleared his throat. “Oh…uh…yeah…I guess there’s that...”

“What is it? What is it?” teased Kel, poking him in the arm. 

“It’s…uh…” The blush in Hero’s cheeks deepened, and he turned away from him, watching his shuffling feet on the rug. “A necklace.” Kel’s grin widened, and he puffed out his chest with pride, a bit smug at having guessed it was jewelry after all. He’d have to tell Aubrey.

Kel’s face grew hot at the thought of her—at the thought of how she had playfully grazed his legs with her feet, how she had leaned in so close to him and, could he even believe it, had almost kissed him, and most of all how she stared up at him with those warm, dark eyes...

“So ‘In Your Eyes’ huh?” shrugged Kel, flipping the CD case over in his hands.

Nodding, Hero hummed. “It’s a great song.”

“Are you sure you won’t miss it?”

Hero laughed, but his face flushed. “I uh…I’ve been listening to other things recently.”

“Yeah, Mama here can’t get enough of that Piano Man guy…” chortled Kyle—his speech slurred but enthusiastic as he stumbled through the doorway and draped his arms around Hero, practically hanging off of him.

“Billy Joel,” Hero explained but whether to his roommate or to Kel, Kel wasn’t entirely sure.

“He hasn’t been listening to ‘Piano Man’ though…it’s some other song…” Kyle’s voice trailed as he took a swig of whatever was in his cup then he sang, enthusiastically but off-key,  “‘She’s got a way about her…’ Something…something…”—he sighed—“I don’t know all the words but it keeps getting stuck in my head since Mama won’t stop listening to it.”

“Sorry, Kyle,” mumbled Hero, his face surprisingly red, as Kyle teasingly patted him on the head.

“Nah, it’s cool, man,” he said with a laugh that made his blonde curtain bangs fall into his eyes. “But seriously, where have you been? I had to come up here to make sure you weren’t dead or didn’t jump outta window or something…”

As Kyle laughed, Hero glanced at Kel with a kind smile that said he could keep a secret. “I was lending this CD to my brother. I’ll be right down.”

“Ooh what CD?” Kyle peered over the plastic case in Kel’s hands—tottering until Hero steadied him.

“Hero wants me to listen to some song called ‘In Your Eyes,’” Kel chuckled, teasingly rolling his eyes at his brother.

Kyle blinked at him for a long time—blankly as if waiting for the words to register, but then he laughed and started his slurred singing again, “‘In your eyes…I see the doorway…to a thousand churches…’”

Kel’s eyes widened, and his face grew hot again. He shook his head. No way… He must have misheard…

But Hero gently bantered, “That was beautiful, Kyle,” as he steadied his roommate on his feet “but you’re ‘karaoke drunk.’ Let’s get you some water and something to eat.”

“Is that…really a line in the song?” asked Kel, curiosity getting the best of them as they headed towards the door. He tried his best to frown, rather than laugh, but found that too difficult in the face of Hero’s knowing, teasing smile and the light chuckle he tried to hide behind his hand as he practically dragged Kyle out into the hallway.

“Yes,” he admitted—looking far too happy about it for Kel’s taste. Kel huffed and twisted his mouth so he wouldn’t smile in spite of himself. His stupid brother… He should have never told him about that thing with the nail bat.

“That’s not funny…” Kel pouted, playfully, with a huff, but Hero chuckled, clearly begging to differ but too kind to say. He ruffled a hand through Kel’s hair before he propped Kyle up against his side as they made their way down the stairs.

Hero shrugged his shoulders, but gave him one last, teasing look. “I told you, you’d like that song.”

Kel sighed, but his face flushed an even deeper red as Hero mumbled so quietly Kel almost couldn’t hear him. “And who knows…maybe we’ll be seeing more of Aubrey’s eyes pretty soon…” 

*-*-*

One Year Later…

“Okay…I will see your taffy and raise you two caramels.” Hero took a deep breath then placed his candy into the center of the table. Kel laughed watching his brother purse his lips together as if trying to force himself to keep a poker face. He supposed that even after a year of periodic poker tournaments, he still couldn’t lie very well. It was something they had in common.

Basil, it seemed, bought it, at least, nervously exclaiming, “I fold!” before throwing his cards on the table with shaking hands.

Aubrey shook her head. “It’s not even your turn, Basil.”

“Oh…right…” he stumbled, a flush of pink in his cheeks. “Never mind.”

“And don’t worry, Hero doesn’t have anything,” Zoey teased dryly with the twitch of a lopsided smile as she absent-mindedly ran the gold chain around her neck through her fingers.  

Hero’s face flushed. “Zoey…did you look at my cards?”

“No, I looked at your face,” she quipped, picking up a piece of taffy. As she placed it at the top of her candy pyramid, she added with a certain friendly affection, “You’re too sincere.”

Hero sighed, but his face turned red as he folded his hands over his cards, and Kel burst into laughter, somewhat in spite of himself.

Kyle, still and they often joked possibly forever Hero’s roommate, did the same before he bantered. “Poor Mama can’t lie to save his life.” He paused, laughing again. “But in that case, I’m all in.”

“You only have five pieces of candy, Kyle.” Zoey rolled her eyes—tugging at her necklace before tucking in back into the collar of her sweater, but Kyle just shrugged. He had been not-so-inconspicuously sneaking candies into his mouth the entire game, but Kel couldn’t judge that—he had been doing the same thing after all.

Aubrey had scolded him for it by lightly kicking him under the table, but Kel had just laughed and playfully kicked her back. He was playfully nudging her with his foot now—taking a certain sense of pride in the flush of red that filled her cheeks as he tickled her ankle with his toes. 

“Fine. I’ll throw in my watch too. Happy?” With a dramatic wave of his hand, Kyle dropped his candies and his watch into the pot. Sunny looked up from the fortress he had been building with the fortune of candies he had collected throughout the game, as always, and stared at the watch with wide eyes.

“Nice watch,” he mumbled before pushing all of his ‘chips’ in.

Kel laughed but stopped abruptly, a flush of red in his cheeks, as he felt Aubrey’s foot grazing his calf, slowly gliding up and down the side of his leg. Before she reached his knee, he caught her foot with his, intwining their ankles, and she yelped—pulling her leg back to kick him but missed—bumping Sunny instead. He turned towards her with wide eyes but his expression softened as a smile twitched in the corners of his mouth and he nodded at them with a knowing look and a blink-and-you’d-miss-it thumbs up. Aubrey’s blush deepened, and Kel did his best to stifle a chuckle.

Kyle cursed under his breath. “Sunny’s smiling now. He must have something really good. I take it back.”

“You can’t take it back,” Zoey huffed, swatting his hands away from the pile of candy.

“We can always play again. We have plenty of candy…” Hero gently insisted with a slight smile.

“I fold! I fold!” exclaimed Basil far more anxious than Kel felt this low-stakes poker game warranted.

The turn passed to Kel, who stared down at his cards. If he was being honest he had been so distracted he had completely forgotten what he had in his hand. He sighed. It was a whole lot of nothing again. Still…he looked up catching sight of Aubrey and meeting her eyes—her brown eyes. His breath caught in his throat as the light reflected off them, their warm, dark hues so soft, so inviting. So beautiful.

He smiled at her. “I’m all in.”

As he pushed his chips into the center of the table, he winked at Aubrey who frowned though a blush flushed in the corners of her cheeks.

“You have nothing in your hand,” she whispered through her teeth, but he just chuckled, catching her hand and holding it under the table.

He leaned close to her—practically whispering in her ear, “I do now.”

“You’re so corny…” Aubrey rolled her eyes, but the flush in her face and the twitch of a smile in the corners of her mouth was not lost on him. She squeezed his hand, and with a sigh, threw her candies into the pile. “Oh what the hell…I guess I’m all in too…” she sighed, but Kel’s heart jumped as she glanced over him—blinking at him with those warm, dark eyes.

Kel supposed Hero was right. Someone’s eyes could show you something more, something beyond what you could even imagine. When Kel looked into Aubrey’s, he saw a light. A promise. A world. A home. A future.

And as he intertwined his fingers with hers, he knew that whatever that future held for them, he was all in.

[mylordshesacactus]

For your hyena cowgirl: 1, 7, 15

THE NEW DYKE!!!!

Everybody, this is Kite:

I just perfected her today! Her actual name is Haliastur Proteles, Hali to acquaintances, Kite to her friends.

She's a Cavalier, mechanically. She became a stockhand, in classic cowboy fashion, to find some peace and quiet and honest work away from the constant noise and chaos of her high-paced city upbringing. And in classic heroic gnoll fashion, she left her clan because she was tired of her family's bloodthirsty amoral ways.

By which I mean of course that they are investment managers at a major hedge fund.

Kite didn't want to live the life of a filthy scavenger stained in the blood of slaughtered innocents, so she became an adventurer! ...Eh. Still better than a business major.

What does your OC feel most ashamed of and/or guilty about? Why?

Remember the housing market collapse in [major city] about eight years ago? That was like, 90% her baby sister. Made millions off it.

That was long after Kite walked out, but...well. She's not actually completely estranged from her family. I mean, her older sister Elanine did try to kill and eat her when she dropped her economics minor, but like, that was one time, you can't carry the past with you like that, if she held a grudge every time a member of her family tried to kill and eat her she'd be too busy to do anything else--

Anyway. She talks to her family, still. Not very close, bit of a rocky relationship, but she visits for holidays and when she's in town and such. They're not abusive, aside from the attempted cannibalism, just.....alien. So she shows up and keeps the peace, because a part of her still loves them even if she can't justify their actions.

She doesn't know how to justify that. Speaking with them, still. Knowing what they are.

What is one thing your OC desperately wants, but can’t have?

Freedom.

Kite would....love, to have no obligations beyond her horse and her family of choice. To go wherever the wind takes her. But that's a tie she.....can't sever. Even if she went no-contact, and she can't bring herself to really want that, she would always be tied to them in her mind. Her heart even.

What does ‘home’ mean to your OC?

When she finds it, she'll let you know.

[shadowsong26x]

So over this past weekend, I watched a 1978 TV movie version of Les Miserables, because it is my current brainrot.

Overall, I liked it. It's a movie/adaptation that very much knows what it wants to be about. Admittedly, (at least based on AO3 stats) I don't know if it would super appeal to the majority of the modern fandom, but it definitely appealed to me.

(I say this because...well, the entire 1832 sequence is condensed to the last 35ish minutes; a solid chunk of that is Cosette and Marius making googly eyes at each other (also dedicating a couple minutes to including his grandfather because sure); the only one of the boys who is named, let alone Identifiable, is Enjolras and he's...frankly kind of underwhelming.)

But basically, this movie knows it wants to be about Valjean and Javert first and foremost, and since the two of them (and their [actual or potential] dynamic(s) with Cosette) are what I'm here for, I'm good with that. For example, we spend a solid 15-20 minutes in Toulon with the two of them and it is Great.

In terms of marks against it, I will say that I think Fantine in particular gets kind of shortchanged in this adaptation; also Thenardier never resurfaces in Paris, he's only in the one scene where Valjean acquires Cosette--like I said, the 1832 sequence is relatively short compared to most other adaptations I'm familiar with, so a lot of stuff gets cut out. The movie also ends with Marius and Cosette's wedding, which feels a little abrupt (like...it goes sewers -> Javert's death -> wedding -> roll credits). There are also a few bits of staging that didn't age super well and some facial hair that is. Very Seventies, but those are fairly minor things.

Again, overall, I liked it. It knows what it wants to be; what it wants to be appeals to me, personally, very much. There are some Good bits and some Eh bits, overall it's solid.

So with all of that, now I get to the reason why I'm making this post, and why I think you should watch it anyway, and that is Anthony Perkins as Javert. Because he is just. Fucking incredible.

Like. Cannot overstate how well this man understood the assignment.

A lot of it comes down to pretty subtle things--facial expressions; the way he looks at Valjean at different points in the storyline; the way (apart from two scenes) he's always pretty collected on the surface, even in moments when he's Clearly either Seething or Breaking underneath. (The final conversation in the sewer is just. His Entire Face.) (Also the moment where he first spots Valjean again in 1832; doesn't recognize him at first; the wheels are Visibly turning in his head and then he goes oh my god what the fuck. It's a Delight.) (And of course, the 'I fucked up and denounced you unfairly, you should punish me' scene is. Again, holding himself together on the surface but Breaking underneath and. Especially in contrast to the next scene/the confrontation at Fantine's deathbed which is one of the two scenes where he is Not particularly collected.) (And then there's that one Really Awkward Carriage Ride shortly after.)

I was going to get screencaps of some of these and. It doesn't. It doesn't really convey the full effect if he's not in motion, alas.

Essentially, the movie is fully leaning into him as a deuteragonist and I am Here For It.

(Full disclosure, I do ship them, and. This movie supports that. There's. There's a lot of staring. One might even say Gazing.)

Anyway, the whole thing is on YouTube and I highly recommend watching it, if only for Anthony Perkins as Javert.

((I have also discovered that the 2012 film of the musical is available on Netflix; so that's probably what I'm going to do next weekend after I move. I haven't seen it since it was in theatres, and my recollection is that, while there were definitely some Choices that didn't work out, overall it got a lot more flak than it deserved. We'll see if I feel the same way now, 10 and a half years later, lol.))

((I am not currently planning to watch the 1998 film, even if I can find it, because...look, I want to want to watch it, but I remember how it ends and I have Serious Issues With That. And I feel like, if the movie so fundamentally misunderstands its protagonist at that point, I don't have super high hopes for the rest. Which is a Shame, because, like...it's Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush; Uma Thurman and Claire Danes; like. You Cannot Go Wrong With This Cast And Yet.))