#not doing an age reveal but im like. barely not a teenager. barely. but people think i am so there's that? anywho I'll stop rambling now

[syncrovoid-presents]

I return for a bit and then the shadow realm calls me back. I am packing all my stuff up and moving!! Yesterday I got to hang out with the friend I'll be roommates with and it's all very exciting!!

This is also hmmmmmm... the 5th(?) time I have relocated myself in the past year. Part of it was staying elsewhere for surgery healing (i heavily advise you all not to do at home surgery if you can avoid it!! It is a very long story why I had to haha) and general finding a place to live. BUT I have avoided the threat of homelessness AND gotten away from some Not Very Kind persons so this is a big

YIPPEE

moment!!

I am. Not dead. BUT will be gone for a like a day or few because the stuff at work did not! want! to! work!

Which I'd another way of saying that I finally was able to get free after working 34 consecutive hours in a row. The day prior I got 1 hour of sleep and that is all after 5 days of 10 or 11 hour work days.

I am so sleepy. I am taking tomorrow off and probably going to sleep right through it. Anywho cheers everyone!! I am going to go to the shadow realm now @:P

[yuna542]

Masterlist

Car Ride

Pairing: Im Jang-Do × Reader|Myeong-Gils daugther

Genre: Smut, Fluff

Word Count: 5.2k

Warnings: Mentions of Alcohol & Sex, Explicit Smut, Oral (m receiving), fingering, Daddy Kink, age difference, pet names, swearing, public sex

Summary: Im Jang-Do. The strategy management director of Smile Capital and right hand of Myeong-Gil has to do his job as a personal bodyguard for the daughter of his boss once again, as she ran away and pick her up at a party. But this night something is different...

Note: Yes he‘s a villain, and yes he’s hot. So don’t blame me… Have fun with this OS and tell me if you liked it <3

"Such a pain in the ass," you muttered, though loud enough for the ex-cop behind the wheel to hear. Through the rearview mirror, you could see him raise an eyebrow, eyes fixed on the road as you sped down Soul at a hundred miles an hour.

"You know very well that your father doesn't like to see you partying wildly and indulging in pleasure..."

His deep voice literally vibrated off the walls of the black SUV. He had chosen his private car for this assignment. It was swanky, shiny, suited him.

You crossed your arms and looked out the window:

"I'm not that drunk."

He smirked and looked at your long crossed legs through the mirror, disappearing endlessly behind the seats under the black minidress.

"Oh yeah? I got you out of there just in time. You were standing on a table getting undressed."

A snort was the only response. You just wanted a night out, to clear your head and get away from all the stress your father put on you every day. He wanted you to take over Smile Capital one day, taught you all the disciplines. In addition to economics, credit business and proper behavior, there was also how to hold a gun, manipulate or intimidate people to your advantage.

You were almost an adult, still a teenager at heart. You longed for freedom, fun and passion. Jang-Do could understand that. However, you were always going overboard. When you entered a room, all eyes were on you, one or the other gasped in awe, others just stared with envy. You were intelligent, beautiful, with attentive eyes and a body that would drive any man out of his mind. He couldn't help but notice your cleavage tonight, as the dress seductively revealed a glint of your breasts. Your waist narrow, your curves soft, plush, thick. It would never occur to him to touch his boss's daughter. After all, you were so young and he had become your nanny by now. He liked to talk himself into working as a bodyguard and yet it was he who picked you up from excessive parties or criminal events. If your father knew half of what he had seen, he would be more than incensed.

Even though you'd had a long night, the car smelled like sweet honey laced with rose water since you got in, in addition to its pungent aftershave.

"It was just getting fun, you have to barge in like my babysitter and ruin everything," you opined, bobbing your foot slightly with the red highheel shimmering on your foot in the car's blue LED light.

"Better call me your bodyguard.... It's less humiliating."

You smirked and returned his gaze over the mirror for the first time that evening. Your lips gleamed from the lip gloss you'd just applied and one eyebrow lifted in amusement.

"Did you wake up because of me?" you asked, noticing his rumpled shirt, only half buttoned, and messy hair that was usually neatly styled. Others would have felt guilty, might have apologized. You just smiled, as if pleased by that fact.

"Couldn't sleep anyway," he grumbled, quickly averting his eyes as he lost track of the road for a second, caught in your eyes. That was the truth. The call from Myeong-Gil had reached him just as he was tossing and turning in bed, desperate for sleep. His boss had informed him that his only daughter, a hothead, barely tamable, much like her father, had gone off on her own. He had found your bed empty. You had once again gotten out of the window to escape the gaze of the guards Myeong-Gil had hired to keep an eye on you. But this was a job that had to be handled with discretion. Therefore, Jang-Do was given the job once again. He already suspected that you had gone to one of the three bars you preferred, and he was asked to pick you up and bring you back.

Annoyed, he slipped into his clothes, took his car keys and went to the bars. He found what he was looking for in the second one.

A bar called Pink Flamingo. He was just through the door when he spotted your long legs on the bar. All around you full of people cheering you on as you danced, drank shots and singing along loudly. The way you drew attention to yourself, enjoying it and playing with the attentiveness of the men below made him pause for a moment and watch you. Your bright laughter cut through the sweat-soaked air like a glistening light. The way you moved your hips to the beat of the music, letting your hands roam over your stomach, your sides, your breasts. He had been entranced until one of the young men who were far too normal, far too inferior to even breathe in your presence:

"Strip!"

Directly others joined in. Both girls and boys. All charmed by you and your charisma. He couldn't help but think of the old tales of sirens and nymphs who made people run smiling to their doom with just the blink of an eye or a smile.

Until now, he thought you were a pretty but headstrong girl who hadn't seen much and knew even less. But now that you were sitting in his back seat, your eyes fixed on the colorful lights of Soul, he could see a certain wisdom in you.

Before you could pull your dress up further, he had closed his hand around your ankle and looked up at you warningly. It had taken you a while to recognize your father's right hand and strategy management director of Smile Capital through the fog caused by the alcohol.

"Get down! Now!" his voice was calm, cutting, and as deep as the ocean.

The sharp jawline, the high cheekbones, the deep black eyes radiated a masculinity that made you bite your lower lip. No one, really no one dared to speak to you like that. Because of your name, your father, or your appearance.

Most trembled at your presence, despite your age. Not Jang-Do. He'd always been untouchable to your charm. At least, that's how it seemed.

Always grim-faced, he did not respond to your attempts at flirtation, nor did he succumb to your looks.

Not even there when you smiled, sat down on the bar, and pulled his hand into your lap.

"Jang-do! Why don't you come and have a drink with me?"

Unimpressed, he stared at you while the people around you eyed you curiously. Your hand was small and soft in his big strong ones.

"We're leaving. Now!" he ordered, pulling you on from the bar. You resisted, trying to fight off his hands as he pushed you through the people.

"Stop it! If you don't let go of me, I'll have you fired!" you hissed, but he only snorted what sounded very much like a laugh.

Even if you had the power, you would never do it. Jang-Do has been a confidant for too long, and there were few of those among your kind.

Outside, in front of the club, you successfully refused to go any further, clinging to a lantern. Sighing, he massaged his temples as you stubbornly glared at him:

"You can't do this! Leave me alone already!"

He shoved his hands into his pockets and watched you cling to the lantern like a drowning woman. It almost looked cute.

"I can't and you know it. Now come on and save us both some time."

You drew your eyebrows together and pushed your lower lip forward. Pouting, you slowly disengaged your arms from the lantern, careful, as if one wrong move could set off a shot. Jang-Do raised his eyebrows in anticipation, recognizing the flash of an idea in your eyes before you could run. Squealing, he caught you and threw you over his shoulder. Cursing, you drummed on his broad shoulders as he carried you to his huge car in front of everyone who turned to look at you. His fingers were tight on your thighs and with a red face you noticed how your dress was riding up. At the car he opened the back door, lowered you and finally you got in. But not before giving him the middle finger in the face.

"Fuck you," you whispered, tugging your dress back into place.

There was actually a smile on his lips as he slammed the door behind you and climbed into the driver's seat.

After you sighed emphatically the third time, he exhaled audibly and looked in the mirror:

"What?"

You looked at his hands, veins trailing over them, like a ripened leaf.

"I'm hungry."

His index finger tapped up and down on the steering wheel until he finally said:

"Burger?"

With a satisfied smile, you nodded quickly and he caught himself smiling too as you looked out the window again, appeased.

At a fast food joint, he pulled up. The stars shone in the cloudy sky. It was a mild night, with balmy breezes swirling the dust on the streets.

You ordered a whole menu. Burgers, fries, coke with lots of ice. The alcohol and the dancing had made you hungry. He himself took a ginger beer and paid for everything.

He drove you to the Han River so the people in the parking lot couldn't keep staring at you. The girl in the Louis Vuitton dress, with the Chanel heels, and her big muscular protector in the Gucci shirt looked strangely out of place in a cheap fast food restaurant.

He parked the car under a bridge and you sat down in the open trunk overlooking the water. It was quiet, cooler than right in the city, and he watched you kick off your heels, put them behind you, and devour your menu with dangling feet.

Right now you didn't look like the daughter of an influential loan shark and brutal gangster. You looked like a pretty girl, just coming of age, happy to have a burger and full of energy. He wondered if you only showed yourself like that around him. You were always perfect in front of the others. You never flinched. Eloquent and above it all. Even in front of your father, you never seemed relaxed or like yourself.

"Jang-do?"

He startled up from his thoughts, noticing that you had finished eating and were just sipping your drink.

"Huh?"

"If you weren't here.... Where would you like to be?" you asked, looking at him with so much curiosity in your eyes that his breath caught.

Your thighs brushed his and he rolled up the sleeves of his shirt as he answered:

"You mean if I didn't have to babysit you?" he asked and you lifted your gaze from his muscular forearms.

"Bodyguard."

He laughed. It was a strange sound, and yet you wanted to hear it again. You leaned against his shoulder teasingly.

"You know what I mean."

He ran his hand through his hair, looking at your silver necklace with a crescent moon on it. You'd gotten it from your mother one day. Just before she died. Since then, he had never seen you without it. It lay on your skin like liquid silver and he resisted the urge to touch the place where it touched your collarbone.

"I've heard Hawaii is beautiful," he said, and you smiled. Immediately, images of raffia skirts and hula dancers popped into your head.

"And you? If you didn't have to take over Smile Capital? What would you do?" he asked, his interest making your cheeks blush a little.

"I'd like to dance."

He frowned in wonder, feeling your body lean against his, warm and soft.

"Dancing, really?" he asked incredulously.

You felt directly silly. You had never told anyone about your hobby. Since childhood, you loved to dance. From ballet to hip-hop and standard dances, you had done it all.

"Yes. Anywhere. On stages, in the theater, or teaching it to others. It doesn't matter."

You expected him to laugh at you. Make fun of you, or even be disgusted. Instead, he looked out at the river, the way the city lights shimmered on the surface like jewelry.

"It suits you."

The smile widened and he thought he had never seen anything more beautiful. Now it made sense to him why you went out partying so often. There you could dance regardless of your surroundings, let off steam without the fear of being stopped by your father. Or of being dragged out by his right hand.

But that was his job and the life you were born into.

That's when his eyes fell on the time on his phone and he stood up. Almost in a panic, you looked up at him.

"I really should take you home now."

"Please don't!" it escaped you and he closed his eyes for a moment, building up all his resistance against your big pleading eyes.

"Why don't you just want to go back?" he asked, rummaging in his back pocket for the car keys.

"I hate it there. Always the same. I'm trapped, never free to do what I want," you said, realizing you were finally being honest for once.

"And yet I have to take you back."

You stood up and just as he had the car keys in his hand, you sped forward and got a hold of them. Quickly you ran around the car, afraid he might grab you again.

But he stopped, looked at you blankly and tilted his head slightly.

"What are you doing?"

You raised the key in the air and jingled it playfully.

"If you want them, you'll have to get past me first."

You grinned wildly and he laughed throatily again. Glancing at the ground, he kicked a rock away and looked back up at you.

"You don't want to do that."

You continued around the car, to the passenger side, wiggling your eyebrows defiantly.

"You don't know what I want!"

Actually, he hadn't gotten up to play catch with a rebellious girl, and yet he felt the need to bend you over his hood to see if you still had such a big mouth with his handprint on your ass. Slowly he walked around the car, keeping you in his eyes like a lynx on the lookout. Your heart leapt with excitement and before you could react, he chased you around the car. Squealing, you tried to escape, but he reached you at the hood at the latest, grabbed your wrist and pressed you against the cold metal.

You hid the key behind your back and withstood his penetrating eye contact. Defiantly you jutted your chin at him, even as his eyes roamed over your face, scrutinizing your lips, and you realized how close he was to you. His chest was pressed against yours, his hip against yours, and he pushed one knee between your legs to get to the key.

Only when his lips hovered right in front of yours did he seem to realize what had just happened. You thought he would back away, turn away and scowl. Instead, you felt his hot breath bounce against your lips and his hand find its way to your hip. He was older. Much older and yet the gleam in his eyes was young, his broad shoulders agile and his desire real. Your body heat made him increasingly lose his mind, and he whispered in a voice so low it made you shiver:

"What are you doing?"

Your eyes wandered up and down until you gently placed your free hand against his chest.

"What are you doing?" you repeated his question, barely more than a breath.

"I want my key!"

"Uh-huh."

You slowly took out the hand with the key, but right now you could only pay attention to his firm chest, his attractive face hovering in front of yours, and his tart masculine smell.

The hood was pressed tighter and tighter against your butt and he made no effort to put distance between you. Gradually, pure fire rose in his eyes and desire slammed its claws into you.

"You can have them," you whispered, unable to speak louder.

Your hand with the key hovered next to his shoulder, but he was no longer interested. Instead, he pulled your chin closer and your lips collided. The key fell onto the hood with a click as he grabbed you by the hips, lifted you onto it, and stepped between your legs. Your hands flew into his hair, pulling at it as your lips collided hard.

It was a fireworks display of passion, lust and desire. Pure heat gripped you and you hurriedly unbuttoned his shirt, touching his abs, sighing into his mouth as he cupped your breasts, kneading them until you felt dizzy. Your legs were wrapped around his hips, pulling him closer

Desperately, he bit your lower lip until you opened your mouth a little. He let his tongue slip in and played with yours. His dominance made you melt like butter in his hands. His lips found their way down your neck, sucking on the crook of your neck as he pushed the straps of your dress off your shoulders.

"Shit... Jang-Do," you gasped, overwhelmed by the sudden excitement that gathered red-hot between your legs.

Your father would kill you both with his own hands. Jang-Do slowly and agonizingly, that was clear to him, and yet the idea that he was taking something that belonged to his boss fired him.

He pushed your dress down until your breasts sprang free and watched you for a moment. The cold air on your heated skin made you shiver. At your hips, the dress had ridden up so far that you sat with your bare ass on the cool hood. A red thong soaked between your legs.

"Such pretty tits... A shame I'm only seeing them now," he purred, and you gasped softly as he twirled your nipples between his fingers. Then he clasped a sensitive bud and sucked on it until you fell backward, clinging to his neck to stay even halfway upright.

He worked the soft flesh of your breasts with his mouth and kneaded the other breast until you felt dizzy and impatiently pressed your middle against his crotch.

"Jang-Do please!" you sighed, clawing into his chest. You could feel how hard he was. Even through the fabric of his pants.

"Please what? Use your words baby girl," he murmured in your ear, pulling lightly on your hair to press his mouth against your throat.

"Please fuck me. Please!"

You would have been embarrassed by the pleading otherwise, but right now, with him touching you in a way that made your body melt before him, you didn't care.

"Who would have thought? The little princess is a little whore...begging to be fucked by me," he murmured, stroking his fingers through your wet folds. Pressing his thumb on your clit, he murmured:

"Don't you think you should start by apologizing for making me work overtime tonight because of you?"

His eyes gleamed like those of a predator on the prowl. His jaw twitched and you would have done anything at that moment. He enjoyed the fact that the tough, untouchable girl looked pleadingly small with her big eyes, almost tearing up under his touch.

Quickly you nodded, gasping as he put more pressure directly on your clit and that's when he slid his index and middle fingers into your mouth. Greedily you sucked on it, circling it with your tongue as you would suck his dick and he grumbled:

"Fuck... You're way too sexy for your age."

Satisfied, you took his fingers all the way down your throat and bobbed your head until his pants were so tight it hurt.

"On your knees, princess!" he commanded, just as he commanded his employees, but with a hint of softness in his voice that immediately made you sink to the ground.

The sight made him tense as you knelt on your knees before him, tits out, lips plush and red, eyes sparkling with arousal.

He opened his pants, pushed them down along with his boxers, and sighed in relief when his hard dick finally sprung free.

You got wide-eyed, trembling at the size and doubting you could take it.

He took it in his hand, stroked himself a few times before saying with a slight grin:

"Suck my dick and maybe I'll consider fucking you senseless."

You put a hand around his base and first licked the bit of precum off his tip before licking the length of his massive dick once. He watched stunned as you wrapped your lips around his tip and began to move your head evenly. Each time you took him deeper until you were quietly gagging. The warmth and wetness of your mouth made him gasp and he buried one hand in your hair. The other landed on the hood with a loud clap as he guided your head to thrust deep into your throat. You couldn't breathe, his length teasing the back of your throat. Tears welled up in your eyes as his speed increased and he thrust ruthlessly into your mouth. The little sinful noises you made, the choking, the whimpering only turned him on more until he fucked your mouth roughly, hand tugging your hair and he gasped deeply breathless.

"So good for me... Taking my cock like a slut. Fuck," he murmured, and you pressed your thighs together to soothe the moist heat a bit.

Your throat ached, as did your knees from the gravel floor, and yet there was this insatiable arousal. His curses became throatier and heavier as he was about to cum. He thrust deep into your throat a few more times until your nose bumped against the soft fuzz on his lower belly and you gagged with narrowed eyes.

Then he came and his hot cum shot into your mouth, leaving you gasping and struggling for breath as you swallowed it all.

He pulled his still rock hard dick out of your mouth with a plop and the corners of his mouth twitched as saliva and his cum made your lips glisten.

With his thumb he brushed away a few remnants and hummed animatedly as you licked them from his finger.

He offered you a hand and helped you back to your feet, where he gently brushed the sweaty hair from your forehead and removed the smeared makeup from under your eyes with his hands. The sudden caring was a strange contrast after he had just abused your face so violently.

But the heat between your legs was by now so unbearable that you whimpered softly.

He noticed how you rubbed your legs together, smiled knowingly and kissed your lips lovingly.

"For sucking my cock that well, you should be rewarded..."

Happily, you pressed against him and nodded.

"Do you want to be rewarded, baby girl?" he asked, running his thumb over your nipple.

"Yes, Daddy."

The words came over your lips without you knowing how he would react. Surprised, he raised his eyebrows and with satisfaction you felt his dick twitching uneasily against your belly. He liked the nickname.

"Don't worry, Daddy will take care of your pretty little pussy," he growled and everything inside you cried out in anticipation.

That's when he spun you around, pressing you fast and hard onto the hood so that your hands banged loudly on it. Until your butt was raised and he pushed your legs apart with one foot so he had a better view of the wet spot between them.

"You think you can take my big cock? Have you ever had one this big?" he asked, hungry and full of desire as he pulled your panties down until he finally had a view of your shiny hole. Rattling your breath, you propped yourself up on the car and shook your head.

"Never. Never been fucked by such a big cock."

He nodded slowly, stroking his fingers through your folds, gathering your wetness until you gasped desperately. Then, without warning, he pushed two fingers into you from behind, began pumping them inside you, curling them so they hit your sweet spot each time. Gasping, you tried to see straight, but his long fingers were too good, too deep, for you to even think clearly.

"Fuck you're tight. I think I might be gonna break you..." he murmured, but sounded like he was looking forward to it.

You couldn't take it any longer, reaching your hips out for him to finally fill you up. You needed his dick as the air to breathe, which is why you breathlessly said:

"Please break me, Daddy! Ruin me! Have it your way."

He laughed softly, pumping his fingers inside you a few more times until you rolled your eyes with a moan. Then he put his tip to your entrance, teasing you by running it through your lips, and murmured:

"If that's what the princess wants, I can hardly refuse her wish."

Your head went blank as he sunk into you. Your body cracked in half and your eyes rolled to the back of your head as he stretched you, painfully widening your walls while groaning loudly.

Your knees went weak, but he held you so tightly at the waist that you couldn't fall.

As he slowly pulled out again, and slammed into you again tears welled up in your eyes, and from your throat only ticked off sounds escaped you.

"You're crushing me.... Fuck..." he gasped, throbbing deep inside you.

"So... so big..." you moaned, and as he began thrusting fast inside you, the curses and words became an incomprehensible high-pitched mixture of sounds. Soon the pain mixed with pleasure and the night air was filled with the slap of his hips against your ass and the wet sound of your aching cunt coupled with your naughty noises and his muffled moans. Your cunt swallowed his length deeper and he never wanted to sink into another pussy again. Yours was made for him. Your body arched under him, your breasts pressed tightly against the hood of his car and his fingers so tight on your hips that imprints would be left by his hands. He thrust into you faster, harder, enjoying how your walls welcomed him and you crumbled beneath him.

Curses escaped him as you moaned his name like a mantra between the pornographic noises.

The coil in your belly ruptured with a loud pop and a wave of white pleasure swept you along. Your orgasm rolled over you like a tsunami wave, leaving you world fading and your body trembling.

Jang-Do cursed between clenched teeth as you nearly crushed him and after a few deep thrusts that made you see stars he came inside you too.

He extended his climax by thrusting sloppy into your sore pussy a few more times and then pulled his dick out of you. Strings of his white hot load pulled out of your cunt as it ran down your thigh and you remained motionless on the hood. Fucked out and cockdrunk. Your thoughts only returned in shreds. Control of your body only much later. You heard him zipping your pants and looking at his handiwork.

"So pretty... Filled up with my cum," he murmured, catching what leaked out of you with his fingers to push it back into your hole.

You moaned and your fingernails clawed into the hood as he finger fucked his cum back into your cunt.

"We don't want to waste anything," he murmured, then helped you put on your panties and dress.

You still couldn't say anything, your head was buzzing too much and your body was completely wrecked. He helped you into the car. This time into the passenger seat and only when he sat next to you, slipping the key into the ignition, did you look at him. Your makeup was ruined, as was your hair, but Jang-Do could never look away. He had never seen anything more beautiful than your swollen lips, your tear stained cheeks, and the feathery expression from the orgasm that reverberated across your face.

"My dad will kill you if he finds out."

Your voice still sounded brittle, your throat felt sore.

He let the engine rev and pulled back onto the road.

"Then I hope he won't find out. But that's your decision."

His gaze was on the road, his handsome mouth contorted contentedly into a smirk. He placed his fate in your hands, just as you had revealed your soul and body to him. In doing so, he proved that he did not take it lightly. It had meaning. And he would pay with his life if it depended on it.

You nodded slowly and leaned back in your seat. The streets were empty so late and your eyelids grew heavy.

The silence was comfortable and you reached for his hand that lay loosely between you. Surprised, he gave you a quick glance as you placed it on your thigh, but then he closed his fingers around your soft flesh.

He accompanied you to your front door and gave you a curt nod before turning to leave, but you held him back by the arm. Questioning, he turned back to you and saw you smiling warmly.

With your hands firmly on his chest, you kissed him. It was more the promise of a kiss. Your soft lips feather light on his, barely a second before you pulled back and opened the door. Before you could disappear inside, your eyes met and your cheeks grew hot again.

"See you tomorrow," he said goodbye, memorizing every detail once more before the door would slam shut.

The line of your shoulders, the shape of your cupids bows, the shape of your legs under the hem of your dress.

Tomorrow you would meet again and today would never have happened. This was important to both of your survival and yet it didn't feel final.

"See you tomorrow," you murmured. Your voice sweet as caramel. He nodded curtly, turned, and before he could walk the long stone path to the mansion's exit, you stopped him once more:

"Jang-Do?"

He turned to you again, as he had so many times before.

"Huh?"

You leaned your temple against the door and said:

"Turn your cell phone on loud tomorrow night. You might have to work overtime again."

The corners of his mouth lifted slowly and he walked backward a few steps, a knowing gleam in his eye. Respectfully, he tilted his head and you thought you could really get used to the sincere smile.

"Understood."

You waited until he was out of sight and the engine of his car died away somewhere in the distance. Then you pulled the door shut, freezing as you felt the cool tiles beneath the soles of your feet.

A giggle escaped you in the darkness of the hallway as you realized you had left your shoes in Jang-Do's trunk.

--

© Sky-yuna — 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝.

[hampterguts]

sorry to be a hater but im socially obliged to watch all of twin peaks and um. when does it become watcheable.

thought-swarm rant below

i kept being told that theres a moment everything lines up and it all makes sense and the ppl who are going out of their way to let me watch it arent bigoted but the show is. the show is. not even in a conversational way its just unironic straight faced bigotry and the constant graphic depiction of sexual assault to women and teenage girls and the way the majority of adult characters the viewer is Definitely supposed to like are/were/arent upposed to having sex with high schoolers. not only are half the cast 18 theyre still supposed to be in high school.

like how am i supposed to like this show. the only main character thats a woman of color is the most unironic orientalist caricature. shes pure she's evil, shes loving but shes cold and has no feelings, shes innocent shes guilty, shes strong shes helpless, shes a manipulator shes being manipulated, shes the sole owner of a log company shes blackmailed into being a maid, shes a sexual abuse survivor, she loves america and hates her home country, her entire character story revolves around people who "own" her. she gets talked about like shes an item or a pet. she needs white cop man to save her from white people. one of white ppl whom literally spent an ENTIRE season "in disguise" as a vague east asian man. my ears still hurt from the racist accent. also the woman's dead husband who isnt dead bc she warned him hates her btw. the show acts like hes reasonable to. in fact another Good White Boy cop is seen as reasonable for not trusting her and holding her at gunpoint after she shoots ONE of her abusers. and again all of these things are shown BARE HANDEDLY AS IN WE ARE SUPPOSED TO TAKE IT ALL AT FACE VALUE- ok well i still have like 8 episodes left but im not getting utena levels of "isnt this so fucked up to expect from a human being?" im getting "isnt she a fucked up little thing?"

she has short hair too btw. do you understand my devastation. my dyke ass was SO excited to see a Cool Calm short haired business suit wearing woman in charge of a lumber factory all by herself. like "wow this isnt egregiously racist i cant wait to see-" only a few episodes later and its the worst ive seen. i cant stomach this at all.

im going to have an aneurysm. i swear if i have to experience any more of this all of my blood vessels are going to burst and im going to dissipate on the floor. i have at least 8 episodes left. the mystery isnt even interesting to me bc all that keeps happening is racism, ableism, pedophilia, sexual assault, and romantic issues. its all so character-relationship driven and it expects you to be invested in and also LIKE these characters. i cant! i thought the director was famous why does this suck so extremely bad!!!!! when does the reveal happen and when it DOES happen i have a bad feeling it wont be worth the mental emotional pain ive been through. like im sorry famous director i think you'll have to scramble a LOT to make this one mentally ill internet faggot consider watching your other work at all. you cant handle mental illness you cant handle physical disability you cant handle race you cant handle women you cant handle mystery what CAN you write.

like its not even artsy with it. one artsy scene does not count. it also had a teenage girl kissing an unknown-aged adult man who we ARE SUPPOSED TO LIKE!!!! he's consistently "our little sweetheart protag hes so sweet and kind and trying to Do Good!!!!" fuck him to hell. his biggest reason to Not Date an 18 yr old whos still in school was bc hes "still in love with a dead woman". why the fuck is this show popular. what was the norm for the time this came out bc it sounds PRETTY BAD IF THIS IS CONSIDERED GOOD.

[socktron]

some shiro headcanons

since it's his birthday i thought I'd write some up for the space dad 💖🌈🌸💞

• shiro flat out refuses to celebrate his birthday on the 28th of february when it isnt a leap year because he feels like its cheating and will only celebrate on the first of march

• lance: does it ever hit you that you're almost twenty and you think... god... im old

��� hunk: oh yeah all the time

• shiro, a 25 year old:

• shiro is kind of embarrassed on the days leading up to his birthday because he is That Person, but the gang still want to do smt for him so they decide to throw him a party

• as it turns out, throwing a surprise party on a ship where you're the only seven people is pretty hard

• allura, sticking paper man trains that hunk helped her make to the walls and covered in paint and glitter:

• shiro:

• allura: this is an ancient tradition for altean royalty and is something to be taken very seriously

• everyone expects keith to know what they need for shiro, and he does for the most part, but it turns out that lance knows quite a bit himself.

• hunk: does anybody even know what kind of cake shiro likes?

• lance: chocolate sponge with chocolate icing. he also really likes it when they have rainbow sprinkles and those tiny silver balls, but i dont really know how we could find them-

• hunk: how do you know this

• lance, sweating, thinking about his crush on shiro when he was fifteen and that he stalked him online regularly: uh. he told me.

• pidge is so bad at keeping the party a secret. they barely get any sleep and are therefore prone to being a blabber mouth. keith resorts to knocking cups off the counter as a distraction

• he actually really likes popular pop music!!! his brain is secretely that of a teenage girls and lance swears hes heard him humming nikki minaj in the shower before. he denies it to this day (he absolutely was)

• pidge, who purposely messes up shiros age just to piss him off: you dont look a day over 32 shiro!

• shiro: thanks pidge. five laps around the training room :)

• keith is absolutely the worst at trying to hide the birthday party. he cant lie to save his life and lying to shiro?? impossible

• shiro, knowing full well keith cant lie to him: so keith, where has everyone been recently? i wanted to catch up on some training but everyones been missing

• keith, panicking: dead

• for someone so smart,, shiro is shockingly oblivious. the rest of the castle have nearly revealed what they've been doing several times but shiro is on two hours of sleep and unable to comprehend what he assumes are their regular dumb antics

• back when he was on earth shiro never did anything extravagant, he only ever had dinner with his parents or stayed in bed with adam, and they would watch shitty reality tv show with a bottle of wine

• younger shiro: hey adam... do you think that i actually have delayed aging because im born on a leap year. will i live forever

• adam: takashi go to bed

• keith has given him little presents before and he has teared up,, he kept them all on the shelf on full view and constantly pointed them out for the next month much to Keith's embarrassment

• the party is space themed!! they managed go find some glow in the dark stars from an earth store and set up a hologram to show the galaxy and hunk made one of those cool galaxy mirror cakes. lance gets him a face mask kit and demands they have a makeover, whilst keith carries on his little tradition of giving shiro small trinkets he thought reminded him of him

• shiro is genuinely touched and didn't at all expect this. with everything that happened with the galra he forgot about his birthday and almost starts to cry

• shiro, during his birthday party with two hats on his head: everyone knows the more hats you wear, the more valid you are

• keith: you look stupid

• shiro, already putting on a third one: you're just jealous you didnt think of this first

• keith under his breath: dammit how did he know

• they all have a huge movie night with a bunch of earth dvds they managed to scrounge up from the space mall. hunk and pidge somehow make a working dvd player for them all to use

• hunk: ok shiro, since it's your birthday you can choose what we watch!

• shiro, already pulling out a dvd: have you guys watched naruto

[thatsthetriick]

Jjba characters in a coming of age movie with their s/o

Summary: What if you and (insert jjba character) are in a coming of age movie? What would happen in the movie, how would you interact?  Header photo: Haruiro astronaut Pairings: Joestars x s/o

Jonathan Joestar  ── Bleachers ♡ You’ll probably be in a boarding school in the 1960s in england. ♡ He is the star student and you’re probably just a normie and you wouldn’t want to associate yourself with him and you just want to live a peaceful life ♡ You’ll be asked to assist the rugby team in exchange for some grades and you couldn’t deny it so you agreed with your teacher and you two had a deal. Your job is simple, all you need to do is just to be in charge of the attendance and be the coach’s spokesman if he’s busy and it wasn’t that bad. ♡ You are also a supervisor whenever the coach is not around and you overall just support everyone just like an assistant. They need water? you’ll get some for the whole team, etc. ♡ Jonathan will honestly start developing feelings for you, and you to him, he starts helping you with your homework on the bleachers and you two will go anywhere together, and you’ll mostly be the one to rebel and sneak out at night to hang out with him and he’d usually feel scared to skip but he didnt let his fear take over him and he just followed you. ♡ The conflict is probably the fact that you witnessed a girl confessing to him near a fountain within school grounds, it kinda broke your heart and lost your motivation to assist the team yet you still continued. ♡ Your ending is probably depressing because he really likes this girl who confessed to him(probably Erina) so you’re left in the shadow and moreover it’s hard to skip and rebel with him when he prioritizes his girlfriend all the time. ♡ Your iconic scene with him is probably him helping you on the bleachers. Joseph Joestar  ──Coward ♡ It’ll be 2000s in america as well probably and this movie will be a enemies to lovers thing huehue.  ♡ You and Joseph hate each other and the whole school knew that and no one ever knew why, maybe because the first day you went to school you accidentally bumped to him and made your food go over him which made him held a grudge on you but at the same time flirt with you? Or make odd statements which just annoys you. ♡ You don’t take him seriously, you take him as a playboy so his flirts wouldn’t affect you at all and it’s not like you’ll take the praises that came out of that brunette’s mouth. ♡ It all changed when obviously you two got assigned in a project that requires the both of you to go to each other’s houses and at first you two argued a lot but you two started thinking that maybe it’s not that bad. ♡ The conflict is probably the fact that this guy likes another girl and you start getting confused with your emotions everytime he interacts with his girl crush, you really feel jealous but you’re still in denial. ♡ He also has feelings for you honestly but since he knew you practically hated so he knew he had NO chance which is why he just shooed his feelings away for you even though he genuinely really liked you.   ♡ You get into a rivalary with the girl he liked which led to the two of you arguing publicly and you probably got embarrassed since she revealed to everyone that you liked Joseph. ♡ Joseph actually felt really happy to hear this and the movie ends with the two of you dating but being really good friends as well. ♡ Your iconic scene with him is both of you lying down on his bed while looking at the ceiling and talking about stories you two experienced. Jotaro Kujo  ──Not that necessary ♡ The setting would probably be somewhere in the 1990s in america in a tiny town somewhere. ♡ Jotaro never really had a permanent home and by this he constantly moved town to town, which means he never really got close with anyone else in his schools and he’d prefer it that way that he wont just get close to anyone ♡ Though he continues being in arguments and physical fights and one of the fights got him in detention with you, now you in the other hand always get in detention for your little pranks to the teachers or skipping and getting caught, let’s just say that in this movie you’re not really the best student and you didn’t really care moreover mind, but when you saw Jotaro you got a vibe you two will get along. ♡ Since you two were the only ones in the classroom you whisper him to follow you as you two escape the window, he’ll probably groan or grunt at you at first but he’ll eventually follow you to get out of detention without using the front door. ♡ You two escape outside the window and run to a forest nearby probably, he’s not much of a talker so you did the talking for him most of the time, you two will do a lot of things in this movie, such as climbing rooftops of houses or going to playgrounds while talking or just bike around the neighbourhood, getting ice cream. ♡ The conflict here is that he’ll be moving soon and it’s hard for the both of you to be separated, since he doesnt’ want you to get hurt his immature 17 year old self would probably tell you that he doesn’t want to be friends or something that hurts, like “I never liked you as a friend anyways”, “ I just used you.” ♡ You would be heartbroken and deep inside you didn’t know why he would randomly tell these things to you and you would distance yourself from him and school generally that’s how much it affected your friendship. ♡ The ending would probably be upsetting and sad with you being left in the town and with Jotaro leaving, he really thought that he could make you leave him by insulting you but it just made you sad instead of being mad at him honestly. ♡ Though the epilogue would probably give the audiences hope since you two will bump to each other 8 years later as adults. ♡ Your iconic scene with him is probably walking to the forest and you doing the talking for him. Josuke Higashikata  ──It started at the Diner  ♡ The setting would probably be in the 50s in a 50s diner in america.  ♡ You were a teenage regular customer there probably a loner and perfect student who’s got everything and is technically bored of life ♡ Everything changed when a bunch of deliquents sat on a table across yours and one of them got your attention the most, he probably saw you staring and you would feel embarrassed honestly and you will hesitate talking to him. ♡ You’ll only probably meet him there but you’ll eventually find him in the town and encounter him everywhere but you still hesitate to talk to him but you two started to talk and there was instant connection. ♡ The iconic scenes you would have with him is probably talking to him in a diner. ♡ The movie would probably also show about your boring life becoming more interesting as you rebel with him, the movie will show the message that teenagers should have fun while they can especially when they are still in their childhood, and that you should never miss the opportunity of meeting new people. ♡ The conflict in the movie is probably your school and your parents and their expectations and the fear that Josuke will be bored of you the more you focus on your education than friends and that he’ll eventually leave you, and how simple things in your life can easily block you from hanging out with him. ♡ The ending would probably be sweet and happy with the two of you spending your whole school year and summer bonding with each other, probably a open ending for the audience to decide. Giorno Giovanna ──Oh to see without my eyes ♡ Two of you are two teenagers in nothern italy which means you’re in a more grassy parts of italy, and you are in a wealthy family. The setting is 80s-90s italy ♡ He honestly goes to the same highschool as you  and he was the new student probably. Your movie with him is probably wholesome and calming and peaceful. ♡ You always like going on the waters and beaches and he would just watch splashing water around and swimming. You two enjoy hanging out at nighttime the most, you would run around the town laughing and biking around near the forest and you would have midnight picnics where you would make snacks for the both of you. ♡ It’s instant connection, the day you met you two were already connected and already friends and it stayed until this day. You two eventually also get feelings for each other honestly as you guys hangout everyday to entertain yourselves. He was kind and polite moreover a gentleman ♡ The conflict is that he has a dream, that he wants to becoming a don of a mafia and you couldn’t stop him and instead you just wholeheartedly supported him till he eventually had to leave you to persue his dream, he went missing and missed a lot of school days because of this. ♡ The ending is sad you two never saw each other again and he intentionally did this because he didnt want you to be in danger ♡ Your iconic scene with him is probably you walking on the shore of the ocean with him by your side as you two talk away as you feel the cold touch of the water touching your bare feet as he stays dry on the sand.

Sorry dudes I’m still in part 5 :”DD, srry for typos im tryna speedrun this xD, might do the jobros and jofoes next >:DD

[meat--grindr]

another trans man fixated on Martin here!! 💕

could i request some NSFW of an ftm S/O teasing Martin while hes on the phone trying to do another interview as The Count? not a lot of talking from the S/O while hes on the phone, mostly physical stuff & feeling him up thru his clothes. the rest is up to you >:)))

(def going to use as a drawing prompt im just so so embarrassed to request off anon 😔😔😔)

Alright, so, this prompt has been living in my head rent-free ever since I first read it and I am so freaking excited to finally get to it. I’m sorry it took so long. I will admit this was a bit of a challenge for me because I am notoriously bad at writing dialogue. But I feel like it was good practice. Sorry if it sounds a little stilted in spots, I’m still learning.

Please, please, please link me to that art if you ever get around to it! You knocked it out of the park with this prompt and I’d love to give the art some love if you’re comfortable with sharing!

The Count Didn’t Count on This – Martin Mathias (Trans-Masculine Reader) – NSFW.

·       It’s late, and for once, you’re exactly where you feel you should be at this late hour—not sprawled across a chair reading, or gazing out of the window, watching the cars pass and counting the neighbours’ lights as they flick on and off in lieu of stargazing. And for the first time in at least a week, you’re not trapped at your desk, frantically typing the final draft of a paper, hindered by the slow keys of a typewriter that does not care a whit about the deadline steadily hurtling toward you. No, thankfully, this night has brought with it far more comfortable circumstances—you find yourself in bed, tired bones sinking into the plush mattress, consciousness caught in the bleary space between sleep and not.

·       Even better, you aren’t alone.

·       Tonight, your bed is warmed by another body, long and thin, curled tightly against your own, as though it were some sort of crime to leave even an inch of space between you. A bony hip digs into your thigh and you’re sure the press of your head and shoulder against his chest must make breathing difficult for him. But he’s made no attempt to shrug you off or shift your weight to a more comfortable spot, so you likewise let it be. In all honesty, you’re simply too comfortable to bother and you feel it’s safe to assume the same is true for Martin too.

·       The slow, even beat of his heart pulses against your cheek, and his long fingers stroke absently over your bare shoulder. The rough texture of burgeoning callouses catches against your skin—the sensation, though not wholly unpleasant, makes you shudder. Sometimes, you forget Martin works with his hands. When you hold them, they seem so delicate—his long fingers better suited to playing the piano than tightening screws or hammering nails. But he’s good at repairs and more importantly, he seems to find enjoyment the work. It certainly keeps him busy enough on the few afternoons that Cuda isn’t running him ragged in the shop, much to your personal dismay. But his nights—the nights like this—belong to you and you alone.

·       Your eyelids flutter closed, and for the first time in what feels like weeks, maybe even longer, you feel like you can rest. Really rest. Dimly, you find yourself wondering if it had more to do with finished papers and diminished responsibilities, or the reintroduction of the physical intimacy you’ve been missing so dearly. Though you can’t say for certain, you have a sneaking suspicion it’s the latter.

·       The longer you know Martin, the more you’re convinced that there is a preternatural bubble of calm that hangs around him. You can feel it in the way even the grouchiest old women in the store seem to soften toward him—hiding small smiles behind their sleeves, sometimes even calling him ‘dear,’ or in the way Cuda’s volatile temper deflates when his cruel words slide off Martin’s back as though he’s heard it all before from people who frightened him far greater. You’ve seen it at work on the feral cats that roam the neighbourhood—while they hiss and swipe at the children who chase them through the dusty streets, they sit willingly at Martin’s feet, rubbing against his legs with a familiarity that borders on friendly. And it’s in the way he looks at you—looks into you with those dark eyes that seem far too old for that handsome, youthful face—intense and all-seeing, but never judgemental. He is a point of unflappable calm in a world which never seems to slow for even a second. That calm has settled into you now, seeping into your bones as you lay there, listening to his heart thumping in the darkness.

·       The low crackle of the radio hovers at the edge of your hearing, a burst of static cutting through the droning voices. You’d stopped listening properly ages ago—the third time the DJ had made an attempt to dismiss his latest caller. It was an old man who was seven shades of pissed about the ‘teen-age hooligans’ who were ‘tipping over his bins every night and eating his trash.��� Of course, everyone with half a brain, including the host himself, knows it’s an animal—probably a raccoon, or a family of raccoons, but this old geezer has somehow convinced himself it’s a gaggle of ‘Satan-worshipping teenagers who have been brainwashed by heavy metal music and Pepsi Cola.’

·       Okay. Sure.

·       It’s utterly ridiculous, and just the sort of thing you’ve come to expect from the people who live in Braddock. Or the ones who call in to a show like this anyhow.

·       In a way, you feel bad for the poor DJ. Sure, he welcomes strange callers of all kinds, from alien abductees and bigfoot hunters to bereaved parents who teenagers are ‘just growing up too fast,’ or ‘a little too interested in the works of William Shakespeare.’ He even encourages them at times, but you’ve got to draw the line somewhere, and in your mind, this, funny as it may be, is probably it. You’re sure whatever the station is paying the guy, it isn’t enough to suffer through being called a ‘brainless sack of human garbage’ by a crazy old man.

·       “And that’s about all the time we have,” Despite his cheery tone, the poor guy sounds exhausted. “Thank you for calling!”

·       Another burst of static drowns out the old man’s reply, but you’re sure that whatever he’d said, it was not ‘radio-friendly.’

·       “…our next caller. You are on the air, Sir!”

·       “Yeah, uh…hi, Barry.” The man sounds young—probably not much older than yourself—and very nervous. He must be a first-time caller. As he and the DJ share opening pleasantries—what’s your name, how old are you, where are you calling in from tonight, is that a cat I hear in the background? —your attention begins to drift again. You teeter for a moment on the edge of sleep, the clean scent of your linen sheets and Martin’s shampoo filling your nose.

·       “I was just wondering if you’ve heard from the Count again since last time?”

·       And just like that, you’re awake again, attention fully focused on your radio and the funny little show that whispers through it.

·       The caller is asking about Martin. A cold shiver rumbles through your body. People ask about Martin on the show all the time—of course, they don’t know that’s who they’re asking about, but you do. It’s so strange, to hear a stranger talk about someone you know so well—even worse when they speak about him like they know him too. Sometimes, they make you laugh with their outlandish theories, but sometimes they make you sick—sick with worry: when he’s threatened with violence or exposure, sick with fear: when they make guesses that hit a little too close to home, and sick with jealousy: when they claim to have had an ‘encounter’ with him, or worse, try to set one up on air.

·       You know about Martin, of course—that he is a vampire, or at least he thinks he’s a vampire. Whether or not you believe him is another question entirely. He certainly does not abide by the ‘vampire rules’ as you know them from stories and television—he doesn’t sleep in a coffin, filled with dirt from his homeland or otherwise, rather he sleeps in a bed (curled up beside you more often than not these days). He cuts a handsome figure in mirrors and the photographs that you have pinned up above your desk. He walks about in the sun most days without complaint despite his pale complexion, and though he may not be a sleek. Predatory creature that oozes confidence, grace, and sex appeal, he’s no slouch either—lithe and handsome in a boyish sort of way, all knees, elbows, and wide dark eyes.

·       In fact, the only requirement he seems to meet on the proverbial ‘vampire checklist’ is his fixation with blood—and the need to consume it. Maybe that means something, maybe it doesn’t. You’ve come to the conclusion that what you think really doesn’t matter in the end—your opinion isn’t going to sway him on the subject one way or another. This is a truth about himself he believes perhaps more deeply than anything else. Who were you to try and change that?

·       So, you do your best to take everything in stride, and when you can’t, you humour him. Still, every once in a while, something will trip you up—you still can’t quite decide if he’s joking about being over eighty years old or not. But you do your best. You had even let him feed on you once. Though only once. In the end, it was Martin who had decided the experience was not one he would like to repeat.

·       He had laid you out on your bed, “I don’t want you to get hurt if you faint.” Though you’d told him nearly a hundred times that you’d be just fine, that you’d had blood taken before at the hospital, he had insisted.

·       You had expected things to be different. For a start, you had expected him to climb into your lap, to press his lips against your neck, seeking your pulse the way it’s done in the movies. Instead, he’d taken out a little white kit from his bag. He had unzipped it and laid it out on the bed, revealing a little bottle of clear liquid, a row of sterile, hypodermic needles, and a pack of fresh razor blades.

·       His long fingers fell upon the needles, caressing them lovingly one by one. Much to your relief, he did not pick one up. As if he could sense your apprehension, he’d said, “Don’t worry, I won’t need these.” He’d glanced up at you, measuring your reaction, “I won’t need them because you’re not going to fight me. Are you?” It wasn’t really a question. You shook your head, and the corners of his lips quirked up into a smile, “Good. It’s so much easier when they don’t fight me.” Those words had made you shudder. He really had done this before, then. Part of you hadn’t believed him—he seemed so…harmless

·       He’d picked out a single blade from the package, meticulously removing the white paper wrapping, taking extra care not to tear it, or let the blade cut into it. When he was through, he folded the paper into a neat square and dropped it onto the comforter. He lay the blade flat on his palm for you to see. “I don’t have pointy teeth, you see.” He took your hand, opening his mouth and guiding your fingers along the edges of his flat, dull teeth. “They aren’t sharp, so they don’t cut deep enough. You understand?” You’d nodded and he had kissed your fingertips gently, one by one.

·       “I’ll be careful, I promise,” He’d said, “I’ll only take a little. Just enough to take the edge off.” Despite the hungry glint in his eyes, you’d known he was telling the truth. He didn’t need to reassure you of that. You trusted him. Besides, you had asked for this. At least, he’d stopped asking if he still had your permission every five minutes. Of course he did.

·       And yet. Your heartbeat had kicked up, jittering like a frightened bird when you’d seen the needles and the razor. It was as though actually seeing them had made the whole situation feel more real. There was no denying you were afraid, but you didn’t tell him to stop—you didn’t want to. You had made up your mind. You wanted this; wanted to help.

·       He’d held your hand in his own like it was a thing made of glass. His fingers gripped the razor with a practiced grace as he held it just above your palm. Watching him, you were struck for the second time by just how rehearsed this seemed. How many times had he done this, with or without permission?

·       “Take a deep breath for me, okay? There’s a good boy.” Did he talk to the others too? Even the ones who fought back? You could picture him, chattering softly against the skin of some poor soul, sprawled limp across the floor.

·       Limp or lifeless?

·       The thought unsettled you, but you did as you were told, filling your lungs nearly to capacity as the sharp edge of the blade bit into the meat of your palm just below your thumb. As promised, he had been quick, pressing only as hard as was necessary. Even so, the sting of it made your flinch, your hand jumping in his own. His fingers tensed around yours, the tightness of his grip reflected in the grimace that flashed across his face as he bent his head to seal his lips around the wound.

·       You had expected to feel him pulling the blood from you, but he simply let it flow into his mouth, the coppery taste heavy on his tongue. He exhaled through his nose, long and low—a pleased sound. Something about that set you more at ease. He hadn’t recoiled or wrinkled his nose at the taste of your blood. You hadn’t even realized you were worried about how you tasted until that moment.

·       You had started to feel dizzy beneath him—dizzy not from a loss of blood, but the wet heat of his mouth against your skin. Your heart had stuttered in your chest as his tongue probed gently around the edges of the wound, soothing your sparking nerves, even as the blood continued to drip down his throat.

·       When at last, he pulled away, his face was flushed, and his breath came hard; his chest heaving as though he’d just run a great distance. Immediately, his hand shot to his front pocket, fingers searching for the roll of gauze bandages he’s swiped from Cuda’s first-aid kit.

·       He’d wrapped the clean white fabric around your hand with such care it made your heart ache almost as much as the wound itself. When he was finished, he’d flipped your hand over and pressed a gentle kiss against your knuckles. Then, he spoke. His voice was small, barely more than a ragged whisper, “Thank you.”

·       “Was that…was it okay?” Your skin felt feverish, as though the heat of his mouth had seeped into your flesh and was burning you from the inside out. And the dizzy feeling had only grown worse, forcing you to squeeze your eyes shut for a long moment.

·       Martin was still struggling to get his breathing under control, “Yes. I-It was good…better than good, actually. But…”

·       “But?” Had you done something wrong? Had you tasted bad after all? You cracked open one eye, then the other. The spinning had mostly subsided, but you still felt unsteady. “What can I do better next time?”

·       He’d gone stiff all over then, and his reply had come sudden and sharp, “No!” He cringed, the force behind his words clearly surprising himself as well. When he spoke again, his voice was softer, “No ‘next time.’ I…I can’t stand hurting you like that. I won’t do it again.”

·       You’d gazed up at him, blinking in confusion for a second. Then you realized what he’d meant—you had flinched when he’d cut you. Oh.

·       You reached up, cupping his cheek, “Oh, Martin. You didn’t hurt me. Not really.” It wasn’t strictly true—it had hurt a little, but you had been prepared for it to. You brushed a stray droplet of blood from the corner of his mouth with a careful swipe of your thumb.

·       “Yes, I did. I saw it.” You had tried to protest further, but he’d cut you off, much to your surprise. Martin almost never talked back like this, though perhaps you’d simply never given him a reason before. “I saw you flinch. I won’t put you through this again.”

·       And he hadn’t. Though you’d brought the idea up more than once, he had dismissed it each time with the same stubborn shake of his head. If Martin was anything, he was true to his word.

·       “…and it’s been such a long time since we heard from the guy.”

·       The DJ hums in agreement, “It has indeed, my friend. Maybe we’ll hear from him later tonight. If you’re out there listening, Count, don’t be a stranger! Give us a call,” He begins rattling off the stations toll-free number. “We’re all dying to hear from you again!”

·       You feel Martin stiffen up against you. You knew about the interviews he had done; you’d even heard one of them, back when Martin was little more to you than a silent, sullen face behind the counter at Cuda’s shop. And even when he’d started talking to you, he sounded different over the radio—his voice was deeper, and he sounded so confidant, so sure of himself when he talked about his ‘sickness.’ He almost never sounded like that in day-to-day life. You weren’t embarrassed to admit you found it attractive.

·       Martin on the other hand, was mortified to know you had heard him. He had known that people were listened to him, obviously, but they were supposed to be strangers. You actually knew him, and he’d talked about sex. Of course, reminding him you’d done a lot more in your time together than simply listen to him talk about sex did little to lessen his horror.

·       Of course, you also knew he’d been doing fewer and fewer interviews now that he had you to talk to and share his life with. But on occasion, when the pleading from the DJ gets too desperate, or he was simply that bored, Martin could be coaxed back onto the other end of the phoneline once again.

·       You glance up at him, but in the darkness, his expression is unreadable, eyes cast down toward the end of the bed, long lashes throwing feathered shadows across his pale cheeks. From the very beginning, he’s been hard to read. As you’ve come to know him better, you’ve needed to get comfortable with the idea of asking when you want to know something you could easily intuit if speaking to anyone else. He’s very good at hiding his thoughts and feelings behind a neutral expression and placid silence, but he would tell you almost anything if you asked him directly; so long as he had the words to explain it to you.

·       Do you want to make a call, Martin?”

·       For a long moment, he’s silent, turning the idea over in his mind a few times. You had never actually been with him when he’d done an interview in the past. He’d usually wait until you were three days deep in an assignment with no quick end in sight, or out of town with family. Maybe he would be too embarrassed to do it with you here or maybe he’s just not in the mood tonight. But, after a minute, he tilts his head down toward you and says, “Why not?”

·       The radio crackles out a jaunty tune—a commercial for some small business or another. “I’ll call in a few minutes. He doesn’t seem busy tonight.” Martin sits up, bracing his back against the headboard of your bed, and dislodging you from your perch. You grumble a little, irritated by the loss of your comfy spot, but you crawl into his lap anyway.

·       You press soft kisses into his skin, beginning at his hairline, and trailing down over his forehead, the bridge of his nose, his cheeks—the right then the left—the very tip of his nose, and finally his lips. He smiles against your mouth, leaning into the kiss with his whole body.

·       When you pull away only a moment later, you can practically hear the pouty turn of his mouth. He whines softly, but you pay him no mind, trailing kisses down his chin. “Are you nervous, Martin?” The question comes out muffled by the soft curve of his jaw.

·       “Not really, no…” He trails off, eyes cast to the ceiling, “I like the attention, I s’pose.”

·       You pull back to look at him, barely stifling a snort of amusement, “Don’t I give you enough?”

·       His eyes slide from the ceiling, falling upon you dark and wide. For a moment, you think he’s taken you seriously, but the pouty turn of his mouth breaks into a blinding grin, “You give me lots, sure, but I’m a creature of the night, remember? We always want more.”

·       The two of you sit there for a moment, gazing into each other’s eyes, the silence stretching on into the night. Then, you collapse into each other in a fit of giggles. Martin buries his head into the crook of your neck, shaking with quiet laughter. Sure, when he’d said wasn’t untrue, but when he put it like that, it was hard not to laugh.

·       “Welcome back, everybody. It’s almost the top of the hour at 01:57! I’m your host Barry…”

·       You hadn’t even heard the ads end! Martin scrambles for the chunky landline phone that rests on the beside table, nimble fingers punching in the numbers at speed. Though his calls had become less and less frequent, he evidently kept the number somewhere in his memory.

·       Martin’s voice is hushed as he speaks to whoever manned the phones down at the radio station, muttering something about ‘the Count.’ As he speaks, he winds the coiled phone cord around a delicate finger. It’s a simple, distracted habit of Martin’s but it makes your heart flutter whenever you catch him doing it.

·       You stretch your arm as far as you can, reaching for the radio, unwilling to give up your perch in Martin’s lap for even a second. Your fingertips brush the cool metal—once, twice—then you manage to curl your fingers around it. Pulling it into your lap you turn the volume down low so only you can hear it.

·       “I’m just getting word that we have a special guest on the line,” the DJ sounds positively elated, “Folks, it looks like the Count is back in town. Hello, Count! Where have ya’ been?”

·       Martin hesitates for a moment, his jaw working as he searches for the words, “Around.”

·       There is a definite lag between the words in his mouth, and those same words coming through the radio. The dissonance confounds your ears and makes your head ache in a dizzy sort of way, but you want to hear both halves of this conversation, not just Martin’s.

·       “So, what trouble have you been getting into since we last spoke, Count? Murdered any pretty ladies recently?”

·       There’s a smile in Martin’s voice, “Not ladies, no.”

·       “Oh really? Any men then?”

Martin glances down at you, though he makes a non-committal noise. The DJ takes a breath, as though he’s going to say something, but Martin cuts him off, “I wouldn’t call what I do murder, anyhow.”

·       “No? But you still need to drink blood, right?”

·       “Oh, yes.”

·       “How have you been getting your food, then? Don’t vampires uh…kill with every strike?”

·       Martin laughs, a soft, breathy sound that sends a shudder through you. “I’ve been managing.” His tone is damn near conversational. You gaze down at him, marvelling at how easy this seems to be for him. The Martin you’ve come to know and love rarely (if ever) speaks to strangers, and when he has no other choice, he’s never this talkative. It’s strange, but by no means an unwelcome change. You nuzzle against him, letting his voice thrum through your skull as it vibrates around in his chest.

·       “Enough talk of blood and guts, Count. What about your other problems, huh? Tell me, are the streets of Braddock safe at last from the real terror stalking them? Have you…” He pauses conspiratorially, “Found yourself a girl yet?”

·       Those words drive an icy spike of hurt deep into your guts. No, he had not found himself a girl. Martin must have felt your jaw clenching, as his free hand begins to card through your hair—soothing and soft.

·       “I’ve found…someone.” The implications of that word settles you almost as much as his touch. ‘Someone.’ Not a woman, but someone of significance, nonetheless. He bends down to press a quick kiss into the crown of your head. “Someone special.”

·       The DJ gasps, sounding scandalized. “Someone special! Well, I never. Good for you, Count.” You can’t say you’re a fan of the man’s tone—pleasant enough, but with a sharp edge that borders on condescending. But there’s little you can do but grit your teeth and bear it. “How long until you suck this one dry and move on?”

·       Wow. Fuck this guy. On some level, you’d known he was an asshole—sure you felt bad for him when people were rude, but he could dish it out just as well as he could take it. Every once in a while, he’d push a caller too hard or make a snide comment the conversation could have done without. You didn’t like hearing it when strangers were involved, and now that you were the subject of such a comment, you like it even less. He makes it sound like you’re some random conquest, or worse, little more than a meal to Martin. How wrong he was.

·       Suck this one dry and move on? Fat chance, Buddy. Though, his wording did give you an idea…maybe you could make this night just a little more interesting for the both of you.

You sit back, uncurling your legs and dropping your knees to either side of Martin’s hips, straddling his lap properly. Settling your weight back into his lap, you pull a face, pointing to the radio in your lap and mouthing, ‘What a jaggoff!’

·       Martin’s lips press into a thin line as he tries to stifle his laughter. He nods sympathetically but doesn’t say anything about it to the DJ. He’s slow to anger, preferring to divert the conversation rather than cause a scene. You can’t help but admire him for that. You lean forward, stamping a kiss against his collarbone.

·       “I…uh…try not to eat the things I love.”

·       “Ooooh, so it’s love, huh?”

·       You roll your eyes at the DJ, though you can’t deny hearing Martin say he loves you sends a little thrill through you—it was the same thrill you’d felt the first time he had said it to you, and the same thrill you hoped to feel for years to come. You trail little, open-mouthed kisses up the column of Martin’s throat, your mouth feverishly warm against his skin. A shudder jolts through him like an electric shock as your teeth scape across his Adam’s apple. You grin against his flesh, sliding up to nip along the underside of his jaw. There is a sensitive spot at the very corner that you love to exploit, and now seems like the perfect opportunity to do so.

·       Your teeth graze over the spot and his body jitters beneath you. His voice catches in his throat, though if the DJ notices, he doesn’t comment. You nip gently at the spot, reddening the pale skin as you worry it with your teeth. You long to suck a bruise there—the purple-blue hue would doubtless look stunning against the pallor of his skin, but you knew Cuda would have a conniption if he saw it, and you didn’t want to put Martin through that again. Not after last time. The pair of you had agreed that perhaps in future, it would be better if any hickeys you left remained under your clothes.

·       Pressing one final kiss against that spot, you pull back to look at him. You can tell he’s getting flustered—there’s a flush beginning to creep up his neck from beneath the collar of his t-shirt, deep pink and blotchy. You know, given time, it will reach his cheeks, the colour blooming high on his cheekbones. When you get him worked up enough, you could make Martin blush to the very tips of his ears. It was adorable.

·       Your fingers dig into the fabric of his shirt as you drag your nails down his chest. His teeth catch his lower lip. You can almost hear the whine trapped behind those pearly teeth.

·       “Why don’t you tell us a little about this special someone, Count?”

·       Martin hesitates, “I don’t know about that.”

·       “Nonsense! You can tell your good ol’ pal Barry. Who am I gonna tell?”

·       Martin isn’t that stupid. He knows Barry doesn’t need to tell anyone anything—he’s live on air, he’d be telling them himself. His eyes flick down to yours, searching for something, be it permission or resistance. He pulls the phone away from his ear, resting it against his shoulder as he waits for you to make up your mind. You know he’d hang up in an instant if you asked him to—he’d likely do you one better and never call in again if the DJ was just going to ask questions about you all night long. But you trusted Martin not to give too much information away—he’d managed to stay hidden all this time, after all.

·       You nodded at him, smiling and thumbing gently over a nipple. Though your touch is light, and the sensation is dampened by the fabric of his shirt, Martin makes a sound as though he’s been punched in the stomach. He shifts beneath you, tucking the phone underneath his chin as he moves.

·       You grip the striped fabric of his shirt, working it in your hands. You lift it a little, fingers slipping just beneath it to splay against the flat plane of his stomach. His skin is warm and soft beneath your hands. You look down at him, arching a brow and asking for permission with only your eyes.

·       “Fine.” He says, and though the word is an answer for the DJ’s pleading, he’s talking to you, looking directly into your eyes—granting the permission you were so hoping for.

·       “Great! So, how long have you been together?”

·       You fall into him, hands pushing the soft cotton of his shirt up over his chest. Your lips are on his skin in a matter of seconds, trailing kisses across every inch of exposed skin—stomach, ribs, hips, and everything in between.

·       “It’s been ahh—” His words are cut short by a tight little moan as you bite down hard just below his left nipple. However, he manages a solid recovery as your tongue laves over the spot soothing the sting, playing the whole thing off as though he had needed time to stop and think about it, “—bout a year, maybe a little longer.”

·       Clever boy.

·       You drag your tongue a little higher, flicking over the sensitive skin of his nipple. He arches into your touch, hips canting up against yours, threatening to buck you from your perch. He tilts his head, trapping the phone between his cheek and his shoulder, reaching for you with both hands.

·       He takes your cheeks into his hands, pulling your head away from his chest. You grin up at him, taking in his expression—his pupils blown so wide with want they swallow all but the slimmest ring of brown iris, his lips parted and shining in the semi-darkness, flushed to the tips of his ears.

·       You surge up to kiss him, remembering only at the last moment, he needs to keep his mouth free to carry on the conversation. With a huff, you divert your course, and fix your lips back against the skin of Martin’s neck.

·       He swallows hard as you press your lips back against his pulse, pushing his hips back up into yours. You can’t keep the grin form your face as you feel him pressing up against you—the outline in his pants far more noticeable now.

·       His hands tremble slightly as they search for yours, dragging them down to the front of his jeans. You grin widens as you press down. Even through the thick denim, you can feel his cock throb under your palm. Someone’s excited.

·       You look down at him and he turns his head away, flushing a shade darker. He was so easy to wind up like this, it was almost unbelievable. A few kisses here, and gentle touch there, and he was a blushing, whining mess spread out on your sheets for you to enjoy however your pleased. You had chalked the over-sensitivity up to a lack of experience, and had expected it to fade after a few months, but it hadn’t. He was just that reactive, not that you were complaining.

·       With deft fingers, you pop the button of his jeans, quietly dragging the zipper down. He lifts his hips, wriggling helpfully as you drag his pants and underwear down over his thighs.

·       His cock bobs free, flushed and leaking already. You ghost the pads of your fingers over the soft skin of his shaft, and he shudders, his whole body tensing. His knuckles are white where he grips the phone, and his jaw is tight with the struggle of keeping quiet.

·       You wrap your hand around him, stroking gently from base to tip. His back arches off from the headboard, and he falls forward, burying his head in the crook of your neck. The phone receiver bumps against your collarbone, hard and hollow. The plastic is pleasantly cool against your feverish skin.

·       “Is it different being with a…uh…forgive the expression, normal person?”

·       “They’re a…” His laugh is breathy, almost a moan as he glances down at you, “a real handful.”

·       You barely stifle a laugh. You glare down at him in mock disapproval, and he sticks his tongue out at you. Cheeky little bastard. Though the colour still sits high on his cheeks, and his breathing comes through parted lips in short puffs, he seems to have adjusted well to your pace.

·       “Nothing you can’t handle though, I’m sure. Do they know about your…condition, shall we say?”

·       “They are aware, yes.”

·       The DJ laughs, “And how did that go? Can’t be an easy thing to hear—that your boyfriend might vamp out and eat you whole!”

·       Martin sighs, “I already told you, I don’t eat people…” His voice is much steadier now, even as your fingers brush along the sensitive spots on the underside of his cock. That means its time to switch things up. You can’t have him getting too comfortable. Where would the fun be in that? You tighten your grip—something that usually makes Martin thrash against the sheets and sob into your pillows—and begin to swipe your thumb gently over the tip of his cock with every upward stroke. He almost drops the phone as he yanks it away from his mouth. He covers the receiver with a shaking hand just in time, as a soft whine slips through his teeth, “Oh, fuck…”

·       You press a finger up against your lips, reminding him to be quiet. He presses up into your fist, his hips stuttering as your thumb traces a lazy circle around his head. His free hand flutters nervously about his mouth, as he tries desperately to keep quiet. His breath comes sharp and quick though his nose as he struggles to keep control. You shift your weight, pinning his hips back down with your thighs, and though he tries to buck back up against you, you hold him firmly in place. He whines high in his throat, shooting a pleading look up at you, but you just shake your head and point at the phone, ‘Keep going.’

·       Slowly, Martin brings the receiver back up to his ear. His tongue flickers out over his lips and he lets out a shaky breath, “S-Sorry, I didn’t catch that?”

·       “I said, ‘let’s circle back to what you said before,’ about not eating what you love. Why not? If you don’t need to kill to feed, why not feed on this special someone? Surely if they love you back, they’d be willing.”

·       You slow your hand, wanting to give Martin a fighting chance at answering. You were momentarily intrigued by the DJ’s line of questioning. You knew why Martin didn’t want to feed on you, but you were curious as to what sort of excuse he would give.

·       “W-Well…it’s come up mo-ore than once but…” Martin goes silent as you squeeze down on him, his posture going rigid, his head thrown back against the headboard.

·       The DJ lets the silence hang for a moment, but when Martin doesn’t finish his thought, he cuts in, “But…? You still there, Count?”

·       You let up, and Martin takes a big gulp of air, as though he had only just remembered he needed to breathe. “Y-Yeah, I’m here. It’s…it’s complicated.”

·       “Oh yeah? How?”

·       “Well, it’s not about whether they’ll let me or not…” He takes a shaky breath, his eyes fluttering closed for a moment as he steadies himself. When he speaks again, his voice is low, barely more than a whisper, “It’s that I want more.”

·       He tries in vain to buck up into your fist, his hips rolling in shallow, abortive little thrusts. His teeth are sunk into his lower lip, his eyes boring deep into your own.

·       ‘I want more.’ Those words were meant for you.

·       You blink down at him, momentarily dumb founded. Then a grin spreads across your face, sharp and hungry. If he wants more, you’ll give it to him—you’d give it to him until he was begging you to stop.

·       Sliding down his body, you know this is risky. Martin has never been good at keeping quiet, especially not when you’ve got your mouth on him. But the idea is simply too enticing to pass up on. When were you ever going to get the change to suck his cock live on air again? Besides, this might be good practice for him in the art of keeping his voice down—not that you didn’t love to hear him, it just might be nice to keep your…activities a secret from the whole neighbourhood for once.

·       You wriggle down onto your stomach, bringing your face level with Martin’s cock. Settling yourself into a comfortable position between his knees, you bend your head, pressing a gentle kiss against the tip of his cock.

·       He makes an involuntary choking sound in the back of his throat. You look up at him, resting your chin on the tops of his thighs. You want to give him the time he needs to make up his mind. If he tells you ‘no,’ or pushes you away, you’d gladly go back to stroking his cock and kissing his neck. You would get just as much pleasure from the shivers and whimpers you could wring out of him that way.

·       But he doesn’t tell you no, rather he pushes his hips up against you, pressing the tip hard against your lips. You flick your tongue out, ghosting for only a moment over his sensitive flesh, but it’s enough to make his eyes roll back, his long lashes fluttering against his cheeks. You do it again, and his mouth falls open. Though no sound escapes the look on his face is just as glorious.

·       This is going to be fun.

·       You crane your neck, opening your mouth and gently taking the head inside.  Martin’s free hand shoots to his mouth, and he bites down hard on the meat of his palm to stop himself from sobbing out loud. You press your tongue flat against him, dragging it slowly against his hot flesh. He thrashes beneath you, jostling the phone against his cheek.

·       Carefully, you sink further down on him, taking him in inch by inch. He lets out a long sigh around a mouthful of palm.

·       “What was that, Count?”

·       “Oohh…nothing,” Martin grinds out, “Just…closing a window.”

·       The lie was flimsy, but the DJ, despite his skeptical tone, didn’t seem interested in pressed him on it further, “…Right…so how is your control around this person, huh? Do you ever get the urge to just go to town on them?”

·       Martin’s laugh comes out as a low purr, and he bucks into your mouth once, “Mmm, sometimes.” Ever so slowly, as you’ve sunk down onto his cock, he’s been curling in on himself. His head now rests atop your own, and you can feel the heat of his cheek radiating against your scalp. If that heat is anything to go by, he must be positively scarlet.

·       “And what does that entail for you exactly?”

·       With a little jolt, his cock brushes up against the back of your throat. You swallow down a little choking noise, breathing steadily through your nose in an attempt to calm your gag reflex.

·       The warmth of Martin’s cheeks is suddenly gone as he straightens up again. His head hits the headboard with a thump. “I-I just wanna…” He swallows thickly, his breath coming hard, “Push into…p-push my teeth into their throat and just,” He bucks up into your throat, either unable, or simply unwilling to stay still any longer, “just take what I want.”

·       “Their…blood?”

·       You swallow around Martin and his back arches so far he practically lifts off the bed “Yes! Yes, everything they have to give!”

·       “Right…for a moment there it sounded a bit more, uh, sexually motivated than that.”

·       Again, your throat contracts around him, and a hiss of air escapes through his teeth, “No difference really…”

·       The DJ is silent for a moment, “Now that’s an interesting tidbit about you, Count. I’m sure all the ladies out there would love to hear more about that.”

·       Marin fucks up into your throat again with a soft groan, “I’m…I’m sure they would but,” His breath is coming harder now, “unfortunately, I’m taken.”

·       The DJ laughs, “Hear that, Count? That’s the sound of hundreds of hearts all over Braddock breaking. Sorry, folks but it looks like you’re out of luck.”

·       Oh. He’s taken alright. You can just imagine the anguished looks on their faces when you learn he gets taken almost every other night by another man.

·       Though you’d love to keep him in this position, you’re struck by the sudden, possessive urge to have him on his back. You tap his thigh thrice in quick succession and Martin withdraws almost immediately. He’s always so respectful of your wishes, even if he whines a little when his cock slips from the wet heat of your mouth. The sudden chill of the air on his wet cock sends a shiver through him.

·       You scoot back, grabbing Martin by the calves, and pulling him down into a more horizontal position. He fumbles with the phone, as it slips from his grasp, landing on the bed near his shoulder.

·       “What’s going on, Count?”

·       “S-Sorry, I just…I just dropped the phone is all. I’m…I’m feeling awful shaky these days.”

·       “Oh, yeah? How long has it been?”

·       Martin’s tone is distracted, “Ages.” He is far more focused on you, his dark eyes trained on yours as you loom over him.

·       The DJ asks another question, but you’re not listening as you slip Martin’s slick cock into your mouth, wasting no time in taking him back into your throat where he belongs.

·       Though you can’t make out his words so well over the rushing in your ears, Martin’s voice sounds strained, slightly higher than usual. He’s fighting the pleasure hard.

·       His free hand fists itself in your hair, pushing you down tighter against his cock. You swallow hard, trying desperately not to gag as he rolls is hips into your mouth. He’s come such a long way since the first time you asked him to fuck your mouth. He’d been so nervous that you did most of the work, bobbing your head faster and faster until he’d spilled deep into your mouth. He had apologized for almost an hour after, thinking the rasp in your voice was all his fault. Now? He’s practically asphyxiating you, and you hadn’t needed to say a word.

·       Martin is shaking—his thighs tremble on either side of your head, and the phone in his hands nearly slips from his grasp again with the force of the tremors passing through him.

·       You hollow your cheeks and he’s forced to cover the receiver again as a series of whimpers tear free from his lips. You press your tongue flat against the underside of his cock, and he sobs, his hips canting up off the bed.

·       “I-I’m close,” His frantic whisper comes tight through his teeth, an edge bordering on panic creeping into his voice. You grip his thigh and redouble your efforts, gaining a high whine in return.

·       “Hey, Count? Count there’s a lot of interference on your end…I can’t really hear you. I think this is where this conversation has to end, but call back another night, huh?” Martin doesn’t even respond, he simply slams the receiver back into the cradle, ending the call.

·       Almost as soon as the call has disconnected, he’s a whimpering mess. “Oh, fuck! Your mouth…I-I can’t! Is it okay? Is it okay if I…?”

·       He can’t bring himself to say it, but you know what he means and hum a soft affirmation around his cock. He cries out as the sound vibrates around his over-sensitive flesh.

·       With a whimper, he fucks up into your mouth, once, twice, then he shudders, his whole body going rigid as he cums. His knees clamp around your ears, squeezing your head as he shakes with the pleasure. His fingers pull at your hair, any tighter and you’re sure he’ll pull some out. But you press on, hollowing your cheeks, letting him ride the high for as long as he can.

·       The sound he makes as you swallow around him is nothing short of wrecked. His fingers claw the sheets as though he’s trying to drag himself away from you, from your mouth, but his body remains locked in place beneath you.

·       His cock twitches against your tongue as you slowly pull back, the wet drag of your tongue digging raw little whimpers from his throat, and a shudder passed through him when you pull of and his cock is again exposed to the chilly air of the room. His hips press forward, seeking the tight heat of your throat again. It would seem almost desperate if the motion wasn’t so sluggish, almost sleepy.  

·       He reaches for you then in the dark. His hands, hot and sweaty from exertion and gripping both the phone and the sheets for so long, grasp either side of your face as he pulls you up for a kiss.

·       The salty taste of his cum still coats your tongue, but he doesn’t seem to care as he presses his lips against yours with a desperation you rarely see in him.

·       Pulling back, you whisper against his lips, “Was that enough attention?”

·       He smiles, “For me? Yes.” He presses another soft kiss against your lips. “But now it’s your turn.”

[chaoticevilbean]

Wings of Flame

"What are we doing out here again?" Rainbow Dash flew back and forth across the path ahead of her friends, scanning the ground for possible traps or obstacles. Probably weren't any, but anything can happen in the Everfree Forest.

"I already told ya. We're lookin' fer the Lost Library. Chances are, there's somethin' there that can help us defeat King Sombra." Applejack gave the avian a stern look, which got an eye roll in response.

"Well, where is the Lost Library anyway?" Pinkie Pie asked as she skipped next to Fluttershy.

"Princess Celestia said that it was once the Great Library of Equestria. People came from far and wide to simply gaze at its front door. To enter the library was told to be a magical experience, filled with wonder and beauty."

"Oh my, Rarity." Fluttershy held her hands close to her chest, nervous to be in the dark forest but interested in her friend's story. "That sounds wonderful. What happened to it?"

"Well, the Great Library was said to be a gift from the Spirits of Old, and when people stopped treating the library with respect and started neglecting its books and the building, the Spirits hid it. It became the Lost Library and avians, mages, and the earth-bound have all been searching for it since."

"Don't worry, Fluttershy," Shining Armor called from where he led the group. "The Lost Library has never once been said to have traps. It's just hidden."

"He's right, y'all. Granny never once mentioned no traps or tests. If ya find it, ya find it. If ya don't, ya ain't worthy."

The group kept walking with small chatter after that. No one wanted to be in the Everfree Forest, but it held the last known location of the Lost Library. Rarity and Shining Armor led the group, using a compass spell to find the spot.

Around noon, Rainbow Dash flew in front of the two mages, effectively stopping their movement.

"Rainbow Dash, what on earth ar-"

"Shh." They all fell silent, listening.

"I don't hear anything."

"Exactly. There should be at least a breeze, but there's nothing. We have to keep a close eye out." The others glanced around warily, suspicious of the quiet.

The quiet was broken by something breaking through the trees into the center of the path.

A small dragon sat, staring at them all with golden-green eyes. Purple scales glistened without any direct light and the claws on its feet were shining in a way that made it hard not to notice them. Green spikes and scales accentuated the purple, deep and rich in color.

"Is that a dragon?" Pinkie Pie shouted, shocked. Applejack gave her a sharp look, but the dragon hadn't spooked so it was nullified.

"I thought dragons were all extinct," Fluttershy murmured, eyes fixed on the small creature in wonder. It really was small, only about the size of a ferret.

"They are." Shining Armor slowly moved in front of his companions, but it seemed that while sound didn't set off any alarms, movement signaled danger. The dragon took off into the trees on the right, a violet blur.

"WAIT!" Fluttershy took off after it, her friends rushing after her as fast as they could.

"Fluttershy, wait up!" Rainbow Dash shouted, but even with her speed, she somehow couldn't keep up with the other avian. They ran left, right, over a log, under some hanging vines, all over. The only way the group was going to find their way back now was with scouting and magic.

Finally, the group broke through a treeline to see Fluttershy frozen and staring.

Right in front of an enormous building. The front doors were ornate, made of some strange material that seemed neither wood nor metal. The windows were stained glass, the walls a mottling of greys, browns and greens. Flowering bushes and trees decorated the grounds around the building, and a few park benches sat ready for a person to rest on.

"The Lost Library," Rarity breathed.

"Well, whaddya know," Applejack mimicked her sentiment.

"The dragon went in through a little doggy- er, dragon door," Fluttershy informed her friends, turning to face them timidly.

"Should we see if anyone's home?"

"I don't think anyone would be living in there, Pinkie Pie. I mean, it is a library. Who would want to live in a library?"

"We should check to see if anyone's here anyways," Shining Armor decided. "Look, there's lights on." Sure enough, as they approached the front door, light filtered through the windows in bright colors.

Knock knock knock. A collective breath was held as they all waited. And much to everyone's surprise, footsteps and speaking were heard immediately after. The words got clearer as whoever it was walked closer, their voice loud.

"I told you, Spike! They wouldn't have been able to follow you if they weren't worthy! Now stop fretting and go get some tea! No, not peppermint, we're out! Try green! Out as well? Jasmine will work! Just make sure to not burn it!" The doorknobs rattled a little before the not-wood-not-metal doors swung in, revealing a young teenage girl.

Her hair was black with hot pink and magenta highlights, all of the colors tinged with light purple. Her skin was pale, but more of a that's-just-the-color than never-seen-sunlight. Her eyes were a bright violet, like the scales of the dragon they had seen before. She wore a matching set of loose black pants and shirt, along with sturdy boots that were obviously made with running in mind. Trimming and light embroidery matching her highlights colored her neckline and waist. A black cloak with purple and pink stars hung down her back, clinging to her shoulders like a snug blanket.

"Greetings, Worthy Stallions. My name is Twilight Sparkle. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance," the girl, Twilight, said with a small bow and a voice befitting a princess.

"Greetings, Library Keeper," Shining Armor responded, trying to remember what Princess Luna had told him about how to greet anyone who was in the Lost Library when they got there.

"My name is Shining Armor, Head of the Canterlot Guard. These are my companions: Fluttershy, Keeper of the Ponyville Animals; Rarity, Master Tailor of Ponyville; Rainbow Dash, Right-Hand of the Leader of the Wonderbolts; Applejack, Mighty Farmer of Sweet Apple Acres; and Pinkie Pie, Smile Finder of All She Meets." Shining Armor pointed to each of them as he introduced them, eliciting waves and blushes.

"You learned the proper introductions!" Twilight Sparkle squealed, and then suddenly Shining Armor was being dragged into a giant library towards a table in the center that was the only one without any books on it. Instead, the dragon sat next to a setting of tea, looking amused, if dragons could look amused.

"You know, it's been so long since anyone's visited and most people don't know much about here that I haven't heard someone give the proper introductions in ages. I always wanted to know if I qualify as a librarian, because no one here can really tell me. Spike doesn't count, he's not a human, but you're a mage. You must know a lot about magic. What's your specialty? You said you're a guard so probably protection magic. Rarity's a mage, too, if I'm not mistaken. Does her magic help her sew? They call them designers now, I think, not Master Tailors, but that doesn't really matter here. And those avians have such pretty wings. The only wings I get to see aren't on another human."

"Whoa, slow down," the guard said quickly as she took a breath. "I can barely understand you. You talk really fast. Maybe say it again, but slower?" Twilight took this with ease, still smiling brightly.

"Do you know protection magic?"

"Yes, I do. It's my specialty. Especially barriers."

"I knew it! Does Rarity's magic help her sew? And is she called a designer?"

"Uh, sometimes and yes." Twilight let go of him then, moving towards the tea set and pouring out seven cups with practiced ease. The others had followed the two, and when Shining Armor looked back, he found all of them holding in laughter at his situation.

"So is there anything specific you're here to learn? No, I'm not going to hide the books, Spike. I'm a librarian, I have to help. I have plenty of friends already, I'm not like that. No, I'm not. Do I need to recount the Lonely Dragon Syndrome? That's what I thought." Twilight spoke to them first, but her attention was diverted by the dragon moving ever so slightly.

"You can speak to dragons?" Fluttershy asked excitedly, though it didn't really do much volume wise.

"Technically, I can't. I never learned, but I've spent too long around Spike to not know what he's saying. Anyways, what're you here for?"

"We need to defeat King Sombra. He's come back fer revenge an' we have to stop 'im." Twilight set down the teapot, looking at Applejack with worried confusion.

"Defeat King Sombra? Why? That kid is adorable!"

"Adorable? Try evil," Rainbow Dash said, flying up a bit. "He's trying to take over and enslave Equestria."

"That doesn't sound right," the other muttered, moving over to the shelves behind her. A wave of her hand and three books floated into her arms, which she then brought over and gestured for them to all sit.

"These are the books I have on King Sombra. Or, at least, the ones I've read. I can see if there're more later, but I think these are important." She opened the first book to a specific page it seemed she had read often because she had no trouble finding it. Turning the volume around, she showed them all a picture of a young boy, maybe fifteen or sixteen. He was rather cute, in an awkward sort of way.

"King Sombra was adorable as a kid. I guess he wouldn't be a kid now, but you might understand my confusion a little better knowing this. He was also known for being extremely kind, giving everything he had to those around him. I would think the only thing that could lead to him turning villainous is his crush on Princess Celestia going wrong. She is still a princess, right?"

"Yes, she's still a princess. In fact, she's the one that sent us."

"Well, if Princess Celestia is sending you after Sombra, then he's probably-"

"Hold up," Rainbow Dash held up her hand. "Sombra had a crush on Celestia?"

"A requited crush." At Rainbow's obvious confusion, Twilight simplified. "She loved him back." The effect on the table was instantaneous. All of them gasped and drew back, sharing all kinds of confused looks.

"Are ya sure?" Applejack asked, face loose in mild terror.

"Of course I'm sure, it's mentioned in at least five different books on Equestrian history and in all three of these books. Anyways, I don't really know anything that could defeat him power wise, but I'm sure I can find some volumes that might help. Spike, could you grab The Advanced Mage's Guide to Banishment and Keep the Shadows at Bay by Solar Aura? Lumin Shadow's series would be helpful as well, but are you sur- okay, okay! I get it, you've got good balance." The dragon, Spike as they assumed, flew off towards some of the upper shelves while Twilight went to fetch some books herself. It was then that the group took a look around at their surroundings.

The library was huge, with large arches and shelves going all the way to the ceiling. Perches and balconies were situated at regular intervals, meant for avians that might come. Doors were in seemingly random places, each one with simple doorknobs and pictures on the centers. All shelves and balconies and tables and chairs and doors were ornate, carved and crafted with exquisite worksmanship. It was obvious why people used to come just to look at the building.

BOOM!

Twilight dusted off her hands, grinning at the huge stack of books now in front of Shining Armor. Spike came over with his own stack of books balanced on all four of his claws. Another boom shook table as the books were dropped down.

"There you go," Twilight chirped. "All the books in this part of the library that might contain information to help defeat Sombra."

Rainbow Dash picked up one of the books, heaving under the weight. She sighed.

"Looks like we're gonna be here a while."

[gayregis]

Hi good morning can we talk about twn ciri for a sec? There is something about the way she’s portrayed by the actress that just drives me CRAZY and I don’t know quite how to put my finger on it. I think she’s just so reserved and serious and haughty, whereas in the books she’s really playful and lively and exaggerated and just?? Has emotions?? And also I was spoiled by Peter Kenny’s fantastic accent for ciri and can’t think of her any other way. ANYWAY WHAT R UR THOUGHTS CUZ IM SURE THEY’RE GOOD

ohohoh yes. just as a prefacee and for context, freya allan (ciri’s actress) is 18 years old, and i am 19 years old, so to say i didn’t like her acting in twn isn’t me bullying or being harsh on a minor. in addition, i also don’t think her acting was bad. i think her acting was great, but it was just out of character for ciri, at least the ciri we know from the books... i do not think the directors treated ciri with enough weight as she needed to have in the narrative. like with yennefer, they gave her way more screen time and much less significance in the overall story, because the moments that they gave them to be on screen were just pure filler with no effect on the character development, relationship development, setting, themes... the audience never learned anything useful when they were on screen, besides lore about aretuza and cintra that would immediately escape their minds after the episode was done.

i know for a fact that this “out of character” acting for ciri (her being “so reserved and serious and haughty”) was a result of the directors and people running the show, and NOT freya herself as an actress. like with joey batey and anya chalotra i think, they got the short stick in this deal. they’re actors, so their profession is to act, but they don’t always get to decide HOW they’re supposed to act and portray these beloved characters. that’s what the director is for, right? to direct how scenes play out, to make sure the characters are in-character. and the writers are the ones that write the actors’ lines and the scenes they exist in, so “then it’s just like any other place,” or “who’s yennefer,” and other ridiculous garbage throwaway lines were the writers’ fault and not the actors. i just think it’s important to establish that even though yes, freya is an older teenager/young adult, she’s not responsible for a lot of decisions involving ciri and the character. plus since she is 18 and just got done being 17, i feel like this is the first time she’s actually been able to legally make her own decisions. 

plus in this topic, because i’ve never mentioned it anywhere before, i’d like to bring light to how it’s super shady of netflix to decide to hire an actress for ciri who is BARELY an adult actor, because child actors (as opposed to adult ones) are restricted by many different laws concerning how many hours they can work, etc. the fact that freya is 18 means that they can give her more work and disregard any regulations that may have applied to a child actor, and i think i literally read this from lauren hissrich in an interview, that “older actors are easier to work with than child actors” or something like this, that it’s difficult to shoot with child actors due to the immense restrictions. so although they phrased the casting choice for freya allan more in the sense of “well, we were GOING to cast someone younger, but freya was just so fantastic in auditions that we NEEDED her in this production” is suspicious to me, i think they did it so they wouldn’t have to deal with the headache of laws surrounding child actors (note that i do NOT doubt that freya is a great actress, i liked her acting, i mean look at the scenes she is in! she is actually acting, unlike henry cavill).

speaking of henry cavill, anyone want to mention his 19 year old girlfriend or his “opinions” on the #MeToo movement? no? my more conspiratorial theory is that they might have just wanted to get a barely legal actress for ciri because if cavill were to “do anything”... ahem... it would be less complicated for all of the legality than if he “did anything” to a child. i’m not calling cavill a r*pist but he has made his views on women explicitly clear, and a LOT falls under the umbrella of sexual assault and harassment. innappropriate comments, etc... i don’t trust him to respect women just as much as i don’t trust him to act.

that was a big preface that pretty much went nowhere, apologies... but i think it’s significant to look at the context around the actor or actress when they’re likely being a tad exploited on set. but yes, ciri does come off as super out of character to me in the majority of scenes she is in. it’s because her character was set up to be a white feminist fantasy of being declared innocent from the sins of her family because she feels bad about it, with her “being so privileged and then she finds out her grandmamma committed mass genocide and she has to realize that her royal ways!” instead of anything related to what we see in the books, of a vulnerable child losing that childhood and trying to cling to some sense of normalcy and family. they set her up as “a princess” and not “a child.” 

in the books, she’s just a child, and then geralt learns she’s a princess and teases her that she doesn’t look much like one, being lost in a forest with a snotty nose... she’s not introduced in a royal court surrounded by noble guests. i doubt that books ciri spent all of her time in court, either... according to the lore, she wouldn’t even be able to sit down and she would have to stand in calanthe’s presence (season of storms, the princes must stand in the royal court alongside their father while coral gets to sit because she is a sorceress... of course, this is cidaris and not cintra, but it still stands). she is a princess, but she has difficulty acting like one... it’s something i’d rather erase from my mind because it’s one of those “problematic points of canon that only exist because they live in a medieval society,” but it’s made clear that calanthe gave ciri the belt for misbehaving, multiple times. ciri is obviously interested in more childlike pursuits and acts outside of her station a lot. after all, she is the reason that their entourage got pulled into brokilon in the sword of destiny, because ciri fucking ran away since she didn’t want to be brought to and married off to prince kirsten of verden.

again on ciri’s age, she was 8 or 9 when we first meet her in the books, and 14 when we meet her in the netflix series. that’s a vast amount of difference in age, not only by years, but by development and experience. an 8 year old is a 3rd grader, a 14 year old is a high school freshman. i think that makes a lot of difference in not only how much agency a character is treated with, but how an audience views them. i mean, 14 is a good age for a YA novel protagonist - think harry potter or percy jackson. ciri in the netflix adaptation was set up more as someone relatable (to those younger watching) as she’s like the hero of her own story! she escapes from her evil evil evil pursuers and has this great power she doesn’t yet understand! whereas books ciri is meant more for an audience to feel like geralt toward - protective, parental, you find a child in the middle of the woods, and you’re thinking, “what’s with this... sassy lost child?”

sapkowski is also the master of a good character reveal. i think ciri, cahir, regis, even characters like vilgefortz, have these GREAT reveals as to who they were all along! surprise, surprise, there is no black knight of cintra, it’s just a young man paralyzed with fear and pain! surprise, surprise, the guy that knew a lot about vampires and lived near a cemetery and dresses in all black is a vampire (ok, this reveal is weaker... but you’ve got to admit, the actual reveal scene... alright). 

ciri had a GREAT character reveal in the books. since we see everything from geralt’s perspective, she’s just some child, she’s just some brat geralt finds in the wilderness, he doesn’t have ANY reason to feel any sort of way to her, and he practically adopts her and she feels safe with him. he recognizes her vulnerability as a child and does anything to protect her and guide her. this is what is meant by “something more,” their relationship from the beginning was something more than strictly destiny. destiny may have led them together, but it did not make them become family, they did that themselves. and later when geralt learns that ciri is the princess of cintra, the child surprise promised to him, does he even consider destiny as part of the equation. and this is actually what drives them apart, because geralt believes that he will and refuses to ruin her life by introducing her to the blade, and thus, death. because it’s not incredibly special that ciri is a child surprise, i wouldn’t say it’s horribly common, but it’s not like she’s the only one. and she’s definitely not the only child to be taken/taken in and raised by witchers. and geralt knows what being raised as a witcher is like, and he refuses to do that to her, because he actually loves this child as his daughter. and this is where the conflict stems from, because geralt spit in destiny’s face and said, fuck you, i’m not going to hurt this child. and destiny said, i’m going to hurt her anyways.

in the netflix series? the first time we see ciri... is in cintra! the surprise is RUINED!! child surprise, more like child already-revealed. the audience has no reason to watch anymore, because we already know who she is and what happens to her. they literally kill calanthe and eist off in the first episode, and then expect the audience to CARE about them during episode 4 when they adapted a question of price. in the books, dandelion telling geralt the accounts of the massacre of cintra was a heavy scene, it was a tragic scene, and you knew somehow that it was geralt’s fault because of how he had refuted destiny, you had the lore on your side if you had been reading the stories beforehand, you understood why this was happening and what has happened to ciri.

also side note, i sincerely think the massacre of cintra is better coming from geralt’s best friend, someone he’s known for years and trusts immensely, also a poet so his account is horrifyingly immaculate and it really hits that mark of chilling, rather than geralt just... idk being there? i didn’t watch this far but he showed up to cintra and calanthe threw him in jail? this makes no sense, why would she... anyways. but yes, dandelion is a character that serves to be there for geralt, so it makes sense for him to tell geralt about cintra because then geralt can respond and thus demonstrate to the readers/audience all of the emotions about it that he is feeling.

but yeah so to summarize, my thoughts are that ciri really comes off as a weaker character in the netflix series than in the books because:

they treated her as older and introduced her as the lion cub of cintra and not as just some child found in the woods, taking BOTH the “child” and “surprise” out of “child surprise”

they removed geralt’s paternal relationship to her and why exactly he is significant in her story, and hyped up the “destiny” thing instead, which came off as completely meaningless, not to mention annoying to hear repeated when there has been no significance developed behind the word. i mean, they cut out both brokilon and something more (i will NOT accept that scene as the ending scene of something more. that wasn’t a hug fit to pick your kid up from afterschool, much less a hug that you run towards your kid with when you thought they perished and you were responsible for it, when you risked your life just to maybe be able to see them again. there was also no dialogue, no “geralt, you’ve found me! after all this time! i knew it! i’m your destiny! say it, i’m your destiny? am i your destiny?” “you’re much more than that, ciri. much more.” so that sucked).

they chose an older actress for ciri, likely to evade having to respect their actors by working within the confines of child labor laws, but not only this, they treated her older in the narrative and made the viewer empathize with her instead of with geralt, the parent... ciri only is supposed to become a “relatable” character when she reaches 13 or 14, in blood of elves and in time of contempt.

they reduced the significance of how deep her trauma was from the massacre of cintra (she makes one offhand comment about how cahir had a bird on his head... that’s not gonna cut it for me. she’s so far experienced a total of zero nightmares about the black knight of cintra).

they gave her a bunch of filler scenes that had absolutely no impact on the broad story or her character development or relationships with other characters (doppler plot). they also made her arc surround unlearning being a princess and finding what epic powers she might have, and nothing comes from both of these points. she doesn’t develop any character because of these points, they’re just there for more filler.

a tad unrelated but: they made yennefer’s wanting a child more of an obsession than a goal the character just happens to have, and have sexualized her character immensely, moreso than in the books... plus the fact that they made her super appealing to the audience and to every other character including geralt from the start (she’s not someone who is icy at first, then warms up), makes me feel like we are never going to get ciri and yennefer at ellander. ever. i just can’t imagine it with this ciri and this yennefer from the netflix series.

[embeanwrites]

Finding Home Gavin Reed x Reader

Chapter 15

Masterlist

Connor had driven me home after we finished the movie and now, I was laying in bed looking at my phone. I decided to send Gavin a text before heading to bed.

 How’s burning the midnight oil with Nines?

 lame, i wish i was with my cats

 Me too lol

 how was dinner

 Pretty good, we watched Into the Spider-Verse after. Connor had never seen it!

 i haven’t either

 You’re joking, right? Is this the Jameson and Ginger Ale thing again?

 i barely have time for new movies, let alone old ones

 We’re watching it ASAP

 lol ok pipsqueak

hey i have bad news

 Damn, you couldn’t secure a place for the Dead Mom Society to meet? Or is the bakery out of chocolate chip cookies?

 no i have to work through lunch on monday

 :(

What are you going to have for lunch then?

 idk a pb&j from the breakroom

 Would it ruin your “working through lunch” if I brought you lunch and we eat it in the breakroom?

 nines wont be too happy

 Tell him it’s revenge for lying and setting us up!

 ok ill work on him and let u know

 Awesome! Good luck saving the city tonight, Batman!

 ur the biggest nerd ive ever met

yet for some reason i like u

 Awwwwww you like me

 …hm

 Yeah, yeah I like you too

I gotta go to bed, talk to you later

 Sleep tight, pipsqueak

I smiled at the screen for a moment, even if that nickname was rude and had started as an insult, it was his thing for me now. I'm an adult woman. A nickname shouldn't make me feel this giddy, but here I am, grinning at a now black phone screen, thinking about how he only grins and never smiles and how handsome it is when half his face scrunches up to accommodate those grins. I wonder if he's grinning now, a small one at his desk, maybe into a cup of coffee to hide it while he returns to his case files. I hope he's grinning, feeling like a stupid teenager. I hope he likes me as much as I'm starting to like him. I fell asleep soon after, thinking of what I should bring him for lunch, trying to guess what would surprise him most without being too flashy, what I could do to make him grin for me again.

 I woke up the next morning around 10 am, and laid in bed for a moment questioning how necessary it was for me to get out of this nice warm cocoon of blankets, with the sunlight streaming in gently just out of my eyes, and sighed loudly when I remembered that it was indeed necessary that I get out of bed, as Tina would be here to pick me up at 11:30. I kicked the covers off, grabbing my phone off the charger and moving to sit on the edge of the bed to check it before truly getting up. The first notification was a text from Gavin, sent around 5 a.m. 

u can come on monday probs around 11 bring whatever im not picky

 Will do, Batman!

I turned on a throwback playlist while I got ready, a quick shower where I debated too long over shaving my legs before I actually did so, thinking about how Tina might have me try on a suit or dress for the wedding. I hadn't decided what I wanted to go for yet, hence the indecisiveness with the razor. Eventually I bit the bullet and just took the extra five minutes to shave just to the tops of my knees, not bothering with my thighs as I highly doubted I'd be wearing a mini dress to a formal event, though it might be fun to see how Gavin would react to more revealing clothes. I filed the thought away while I got out of the shower, toweling off and tying the towel around my hair and brushing my teeth. By the time I had thrown on a pair of well loved jeans and a plain tee, Tina was calling me, I answered and before I could even put the phone to my ear, I could hear music blaring in the background, and then Tina screamed "HERE BITCH!" and promptly hung up. I pocketed the phone, and hurried looking for my Birkenstocks, of course they weren't by the door, they were in front of the fridge, where I had stopped last night upon arriving home to grab some food before heading to bed. I slid the sandals on, stopping for a moment to grab two packets of the applesauce squeezies for a quick breakfast. 

By the time I got to the car, Tina was listening to a different song, but the volume was the same, I'm sure my poor neighbors who were trying to sleep in on a Sunday morning were not very pleased. I opened the door and slid in, Tina turned the volume down. What a shame, she had excellent taste in music, ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ by Arctic Monkeys isn't a song you just turn down! 

"Took you long enough!" She laughed, a smile stretching across her face. 

"Shut up I couldn't find my shoes!" I shouted, holding up my feet and wiggling my toes in the most comfortable pair of shoes ever made. She looked at my feet and raised her eyebrows, snorting.

"Jesus Christ I’m a lesbian and I still wouldn’t wear those ugly ass shoes, (Y/n)!” I gasped and smacked her arm. 

“You’re disrespecting your culture!” I shouted, as the car silently started and began to pull out into the street, heading towards the dress store. Tina just giggled and I huffed. 

“For that, I’m not giving you the applesauce I brought for you.” I tore open the packets, double fisting them and squeezing all their contents into my mouth. Tina howled with laughter 

“What are you, fucking two years old! I cannot believe you!” 

“You’re just jealous that you aren’t as stylish as me and now I’ve had a healthy breakfast which I assume you didn’t as you were at the station all night. I was going to be a good, kind, maid of honor and offer you sustenance but if you disrespect the birks, you disrespect me.” I joked, crossing my arms and looking out the windshield past her. 

“Oh my god my maid of honor is two years old!!” 

“Hey! That’s uncalled for, I’m not a toddler, if anything I’m like a seven year old, I make sense but just barely.” I joked. She laughed and nodded. 

“Still can’t buy booze.”

“That’s why there are other best people who are of age who can.” 

There was a natural pause in the conversation, the song changed and we both listened for a moment before Tina turned to me, a devilish grin on her face making me nervous. 

“What?”

“So, I noticed something strange at work last night.”

“Yeah, what did you notice?” I laughed.

“A certain someone kept texting on their phone and smiling AND Nines wasn’t giving them a hard time for being on their phone.” She smirked. “I thought the date went bad?”

“How do you even know it was me, future Detective Chen?”

“Well, I may have glanced over his shoulder at some point and saw your name.” I laughed.

“Tina! I was going to tell you. You didn’t have to spy on Gavin!” She laughed.

“It was the heat of the moment. I promise the next time I spy on him I won’t tell you.” I shoved her shoulder and we both laughed.

“Man, I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too.” The automatic car pulled into the bridal shop and we both squealed, jumping out of the car and practically running inside.

"I win." Tina said smugly as she crossed the threshold of the store before me. 

"Hey who's the kid now!"

Time went by fast in the shop, the consultants immediately brought us back to a sitting area, offering us complimentary champagne that we happily took. Our consultant, a happy-go-lucky android named Lance, brought out a selection of pantsuits for Tina to try, and offered excellent counsel on all of Tina's concerns. She wanted something elegant and more masculine. She tried a couple things before deciding pinstripe made her feel like a mobster and that white was definitely not her color. Lance was always smiling and laughing with them, not minding at all when they laughed at one of the options or didn't like what he had brought for her. He was very efficient in bringing options, and after three 'no's' he brought out a selection of black jackets and pants, assisting her in a pair of slim fit high waisted slacks with a center vertical pleat to help her look taller, a simple white dress shirt with a short popped collar, and a sleek black satin jacket, with a black lining. The fabric shone nicely in the light, a little bit of a sparkle in the thread. She looked gorgeous, and I could tell she felt it too, the way her eyes shone a bit, and her cheeks flushed, though she would probably blame that on the champagne if I brought it up later.

“You should try on some bridesmaids’ dresses. I’ve got my suit and now I want to judge others!”  Tina plopped down on the couch next to me and took my champagne from me.

"You haven't even decided on the style you want! Are you matching both bridal parties? Doesn't Valerie have a say in it then!" I squawked, reaching for the champagne flute she'd stolen from me. 

"We actually have talked about it, and we decided that as long as everyone has blush pink or yellow in their outfit, whatever style they want is best. It eliminates the drama and keeps our wedding day happy." Tina said, tipping her head back and downing my champagne in one big gulp. I smacked her arm. 

"Ah, I'd be happy to help you find a dress Miss. (L/N)." Lance offered, moving to sit next to me and offered out his hand, images of dresses popping up on his hand. 

"What are you thinking Miss (L/N)? Would you prefer the blush tone or yellow?" Lance asked, looking at my face instead of his hand. 

"Ah, blush please." I requested. 

"Not a problem, it's a popular color so we have a lot of options. Now, what style cut do you like?" I looked at him like a fish out of water. 

"I'm not sure, what do you think would look best, Lance?" He smiled, before pulling up a couple of images on his hand and explaining the styles and what design choices would flatter my features. I nodded, and he guided me back to the dressing room. 

"I'm going to run and grab some of the options we discussed Miss. (L/N)." He told me, before shutting the door. He knocked when he returned about five minutes later, hanging six dresses on the wall for me. "When you're ready, join us in the showing room, and we can adjust the fit and see what the bride thinks." He told me. I shouted 'Thanks!' through the door before turning to decide which dress I wanted to try first. 

 “Wow.” I murmured looking at myself in the mirror. From the tag on the dress I learned it’s a ‘long chiffon dress with halter neckline.’ I didn’t really understand what any of those words meant, but this dress was…amazing. It made me feel like a goddamn princess. 

“What’s taking so long!” I heard Tina shout.

“Give me a minute, you drunk!” I walked out of the dressing room, towards where Tina was sitting.

“Holy shit.” I laughed and spun around.

“It’s pretty good, right?” She got up and walked towards me.

“You’re getting this one. No question. I’m not letting you leave without it!”

“Are you sure? I can try a light-yellow dress if you want.”

“No, this one is perfect.” She smashed her cheek on mine and we both looked at ourselves in the mirror. I was smiling so wide my face was starting to hurt. She quickly grabbed her phone and snapped a picture of us, and I laughed.

“Tina!”

“What! I want to remember this moment.” She kissed my cheek. “I can’t wait to come back here with you when Gavin proposes.” She teased, causing you to laugh. 

“We’ve gone on one date! How much champagne have you had?” She shook her head.

“Just three glasses, I’m drunk on happiness! Come on, change back and buy that dress!” I laughed and walked back to the changing room. I picked up my phone and saw Tina had sent me the picture already. Smiling, I sent the picture to my dad.

 Got my dress for the wedding!

 Beautiful kiddo!

[yeeharley]

8 and 11 for Halloween prompts please🥺

Of course, dear! I really hope you like it!

8: came to investigate someone screaming next door

11: dog chased me up a tree when I tried to knock on the door

Isn’t it a major Halloween faux pas to follow the sound of extremely loud, shrill, terrifying screaming and find out what it is?

That feels like a bad idea. It feels like the moment a clown jumps out of the bushes and chops your head out. It feels like Harley is about to die a bloody and horrible death.

But it also feels like he really wants to know who’s making that awful noise, so. Onwards and upwards.

Armed with a baseball bat from his little league days and an amount of trepidation that could kill a horse, Harley creeps out of his apartment and closes the door behind him as quietly as he can. The screaming is quieter, further in between (which probably isn’t great).

The sound of a dog barking has joined it.

Don’t the Robertsons have a dog? A german shepard?

Yeah, they do.

Is the Robertsons’ dog mauling somebody to death?

Maybe, Harley thinks, creeping along the boundary of bushes between his house and his neighbors’, baseball bat still slung over his shoulder and gripped between white knuckles.

He would rather not have to hit a dog. He’s always liked them, but if someone is being actively attacked, he’s probably going to have to.

Abby would kill him if she found out.

She’ll have to never find out.

There aren’t many trick-or-treaters out anymore, which is probably a good thing considering the amount of attention screaming on Halloween would draw.

Harley crosses the yard, bare feet crunching against short-cropped grass, and makes his way around the driveway. The barking is louder now, more frequent.

And there it is.

Yeah, it’s the Robertsons’ german shepherd (Gertrude, he thinks, but it could also be Giselle or something else that starts with a ‘g’. Probably Gertrude). 

“What’ve you got?” Harley shouts, breaking into a light jog as Gertrude comes into view. She’s barking up the side of a tree, one paw set against its trunk, jaws moving quickly to reveal really sharp teeth (dear God, that’s terrifying). 

There’s another shout from the canopy of the tree. Then, “Hey, would you mind helping us get down?”

A boy’s voice, lower than that of the screams. So there are… two people in the tree? 

Okay. Okay, he can deal with this.

Harley reaches down to grab Gertrude by the collar and pulls her back, gritting his teeth as she tries to move closer. She’s big, strong, but not as strong as him. He’s able to pull her back to the house and attatch her leash (she must’ve gotten off of it) to the doorknob before turning back and peering up at the top of the tree.

Just as he’d guessed, there are two people clinging to the slim branches. One is a little girl in a Spider-Man costume- sans mask- with teary eyes and a bag of candy clutched between her little fists.

The other is a boy who looks to be around Harley’s age. He’s not dressed in a costume, just a pair of jeans and a gray t-shirt, and his curly hair droops down around his eyes as he peers down at Harley with a nervous grin on his face. 

“Uh- hey,” The boy says, freeing up one of his hands to wave. “Can you help us out?”

The little girl chokes out another sob, gripping the boy- her brother, maybe- like he’s her only lifeline.

“Yeah, I got you.” Harley drops the bat to the dewy grass, shaking his hands out before stretching his arms up above his head. He can reach just shy of the girl’s feet, but it’s high enough for the boy to lower her into his grip. 

The minute she can, she wraps her arms around Harley’s neck and attatches herself to him like a little monkey. He chuckles and bends down so her feet, clad in light-up sneakers, can reach the ground.

“I’ve gotta get your brother down now, okay?” He says gently, before nodding at her bag of candy. “Eat some of that while I help ‘im.”

She nods eagerly and digs into the bag with relish, fear clearly forgotten. “Thanks, mister.”

Main problem taken care of, Harley turns back to the boy in the tree and tilts his head, trying to figure out how in the world he’s supposed to do this. He can’t weigh that much if the branches can hold him, which is good, but he’s still just a little bit too far above Harley’s head for this to be easy. 

“What’s your name?” Harley calls up, neck craning uncomfortably.

The boy blinks, bites his lip. “Peter Parker. That’s Morgan.”

Sounds familiar, but he can’t seem to place it. 

“Alright, Peter.” God, this is hard. “Uh- can you come down a little so I can reach you?”

Peter grits his teeth, shakes his head. “I, uh, don’t think so?”

“You’re stuck?”

“In a way.” He shrugs before reaching up to grip the branch above his head. 

“Think you could jump?” Harley asks, spreading his arms wide like he’s about to catch something. “I won’t drop you if you do.”

From the way Peter’s face pales, he’s not exactly fond of that idea. Nontheless, he swallows convulsively and nods, staring down at Harley like he’s his saving grace. 

There’s a nasty scrape on the side of his face. It’s dripping blood into his eyebrow. Looks painful.

“Alright,” Harley says quietly, carefully. “Go ahead and jump. I’ll catch you- promise.”

He sees the minute Peter’s legs tense. He swings out, eyes clenched shut, and drops neatly from the treetop into Harley’s arms (he really doesn’t weigh that much, so it isn’t terribly difficult).

There’s a pair of arms around his neck and a pair of eyes fixed on his, glimmering with something akin to surprise. Harley stares, dumbfounded, as Peter tilts his head slightly to one side and makes absolutely no effort to get down.

He’s awfully cute. 

Even with the steady trail of blood making its way down to his eyelid.

“You’re bleeding,” Harley mutters. 

“Scraped my face on the tree when I was trying to get her up.”

Absently, he reaches up to brush his thumb over Peter’s eyebrow, wincing as the boy hisses and blinks rapidly. “You alright?”

He shrugs, eyes fixed on the red that stains Harley’s finger. “I think so.”

Harley stands there, still holding Peter securely in his arms, transfixed by the pink color of his lips, until there’s a quiet cough and a hand tugging at his pants.

“You got candy at your house, mister?” Morgan asks impatiently, staring up at him and showing off the little spider insignia painted onto her right cheek. “You gonna put Petey down?”

Harley chokes out a strangled laugh and sets down Peter as quickly as he can, leaning down to pick up his baseball bat. Peter brushes himself off, cheeks faintly pink, before turning to look down at Morgan.

“He’s done enough, Morg,” he says gently. “I think it’s time we go ahead-”

“Yeah, I’ve got candy,” Harley says. Smiles and jerks his head at his own house. “And first-aid supplies. You shouldn’t walk back with your head bleeding like that.”

If it’s possible, Peter’s face seems to get even redder. “I couldn’t impose on you like that-”

“It’s not an imposition if I invite you.”

Morgan laughs, high and clear, before attatching herself firmly to Harley’s leg and looking imploringly up at Peter. “He’s got candy!”

It’s obvious that he can’t say no to her; Harley recognizes that- he’d felt the same way about Abby when she’d still lived with him. Peter nods slowly, the corner of his lips curling up, before he reaches down and slips his hand into Harley’s.

Oh.

Oh.

Oooooooh, okay.

Harley leads the siblings (maybe?) back to his house, head turned away from Peter to hide his smile, before depositing his bat beside the front door and leading Morgan to the stash of candy under his kitchen sink. She happily starts to fill her bag, stuffing handfuls of candy into her pockets and under the neck of her suit.

He loves kids. God, he loves them.

When Morgan’s happily occupied, Harley sits Peter down at the counter before pulling his first ait kit out and digging through it for butterfly bandages, alcohol, and cotton pads. He perches on one of the stools a foot or so away, leaning in slowly and dabbing at the cut as gently as he possibly can. 

Peter still hisses and grits his teeth, but he doesn’t move, allowing Harley to finish his work and tape the bandages over the cut, holding it closed. The bleeding has pretty much stopped at this point, only a slow drip of red, and Harley leans back with a satisfied hum.

“Thanks,” Peter murmurs, reaching up to poke at his forehead. “I appreciate all your help.”

“No problem,” Harley says. He packs up the kit, closes it, and pushes it aside.

He does impulsive, possibly stupid things all the time.

This might be one of the most impulsive and stupid of them all.

He grabs a pen off of the counter, pulls a napkin out of the nearest drawer, and scribbles down his number before pressing it into Peter’s hand.

“Text me when you get back to wherever you’re supposed to be goin’,” he says with a smile. “So I know you got back safe.”

Peter nods and grins back at him, folding the napkin into fourths and shoving it into his pocket.

“Thanks.”

Thirty minutes after they’ve left, Harley’s phone vibrates twice in his jacket pocket. His stomach erupts into butterflies as he pulls it out and reads through the messages, eyes wide, a warm feeling growing in his chest.

hey it’s peter? we got back safe so

also i was wondering if you’d maybe want to get coffee with me sometime? totally fine if you don’t but i figured i might as well pay you back

Harley blinks, biting his lip. He feels like a lovesick teenager about to go on his first date- is that a date? That could totally be a date, right?

Yeah, I’d really like that. You free Saturday?

absolutely.

[knoxhq]

► ( rudy pankow & cis male ) according to the school’s records, knox drury is a 22-YEAR-OLD senior studying political science, and he lives over in moriarty. he is a gemini, so that must be why others describe him as dignified, humorous, cowardly and naive. when i see him, i’m reminded of walking into class an hour late with sunglasses on, the feeling of anticipation as you wait for a firework to fully blossom, the sound of party music leaking through the walls of a bathroom. ( gibby, 20, they/them, est. ) ◄

hello everyone !! so i won’t even lie to u guys, i am NERVOUS and it’s literally only bc this is the first group i’ve joined in so long like dfdhkjsfjad the last group i was in was almost a year ago but i ended up having to leave due to personal reasons and didn’t get to write so like !!! idk i’m excited !! anyways w that in mind, pls bARE with me bc i have like one (1) braincell and i forgot how to write intros. anyways enough of me rambling, lemme give you knox !!

also this is a bad intro pls dont judge me im trying 2 like. rewrite what i had b4 the storm took it out n like, i lost the braincell

basics. 

full name: knox hale drury.

nicknames: drury.

age: twenty two.

gender and pronouns: cis male and he/him

sexual & romantic orientations: bisexual, biromantic, femme leaning.

major: political science.

housing: moriarty.

backstory.

triggers: implied bullying, police and incarceration ( dw i didn’t make him jj 2.0 ).

nobody gets to pick their beginnings. it’s something that people tell knox all the time, hell, it’s plastered in every stupid coming of age movie, book, film, everything he’s ever seen. you don’t pick who your born into, you don’t pick who you get to be. and to an extent, he does think that this is true but he can’t help but wonder if maybe, if people could pick, if they’d pick differently. because he knows he certainly would pick differently.

it’s not that he even came from a bad home - hell no, he had the most loving family ever. his mother was a saint, a warm sensation bubbling up in his chest when he thinks about her warm cookies or the way she tried to still tuck him in even as a teenager. his father had his flaws, we all do, but he was a good and honest man. hardworking, he showed knox what that stupid american dream is that everyone likes to preach about. 

no, it had nothing to do with them but rather the overall opinion on him and his family. see, the drury’s weren’t well liked - they were seen as lowlives and as shady, the kind of people who you’d only go to if you wanted to get stabbed in the back. generations of drury’s fit this narrative but no, his father was determined to change that. and so was he, even if nobody around him seemed to want to give him a chance. 

knox would go throughout school with this name attached to him like a dagger to his throat - whisperings in the hallway of, “oh, my mom said the drury boy might be steal things if you let him over,” and other random, rude remarks. of course, the people that get close to him know better - they see him for who he really is.

that person is knox. he’s a golden light, often more selfless than the rich pricks who run that small town. he’d give his jacket or umbrella to people even if they didn’t ask if it just so happened to be raining outside, and despite the fact that his family didn’t have a lot, he’d still go out of his way to try to give when he could. 

he eventually graduated high school - one of the top people in his class due to his father’s encouragement, and after a lot of debate, settled on attending haddon university - miles away from that sweet, small little hometown he knew, but a fresh start where he didn’t have to work for anything. he could just go in being him, with nobody attaching a new narrative to him. it was what he wanted, what he dreamed of.

and he loved it. his first semester there was memorable as he found himself surrounded by new friends and people he even considered family. back home, however, things were slipping.

the drury family was never rich, ever by any means, but business was low. nobody wanted to go there, fearing that his father was just as shady as his grandfather. as things got worse, his father had to resort to other needs - stealing, lying about taxes, and doing everything he could to try to make it by. 

it finally caught up to him when knox came home for spring break - red and blue lights flashing outside as loud noises went on throughout the house, until finally someone swung knox’s door open and briefly blinded him with a flashlight, demanding to know where his father was. by the time knox got a grasp on the situation, his father was being rushed off in the back of a cop car. 

he plead guilty almost immediately and for the next few months, knox did school from home to stay with his mother. it was then that he switched his major from what had initially been just a vague, business degree to political science in hopes of going into law after getting that degree - a way of changing things, of helping people so they never got to that point. 

for now though, he’s gone back to haddon’s campus where he study’s away and occasionally finds himself slipping and partying, glasses always covering his eyes as he slinks back class, getting almost nO sleep every night.

study.

so i need u to know right now... knox is baby, FDSHJDFSHAJK

like he’s not by any means like he’s kinda a gross dude like, absolutely randomly burps n is like lol oops n shit, very little manners, will grab clothes off of the floor to put them on kind of man BUT LIKE as a whole ?? he means very well FDSJFAHJ he’s very gentle and will sit there and admire flowers on a bush and then get mad if u pick one bc ur hurting it like. he’s baby.

he also is very loyal to the ppl he’s friends w tbh like. damn he will never leave ur side

that also makes him kinda... super, actually, naive. you see, while knox is incredibly loyal, he often finds himself ignoring signs of toxicity for the sake of preserving a friendship - he fights for people who won’t fight for him, he lets people back in too easily, he just. he sees the good in everyone, even if there isn’t any good.

regardless, he’s not easy to just... manipulate to an extent. while he’ll fall for you being innocent, you can’t ever try to make him think he’s something he’s not - he knows his intentions and he knows they’re usually pure and he’s not gonna fold for anyone if it comes down to him or them. 

bt like again he’s baby

like i dont think he ever gets mad but damn when he does its probs scary as shit like bc he nEVER gets mad !!! hes like. a golden retriever ig

if u cannot tell im trying really hard not to make him too much like jj bc i realize that might be a big thing ppl do n i dont think jj is baby bt like. knox? knox is baby DSFHJKFDHKJ 

he’s just. idk. he’s very protective and cares about his friends a lot and will walk you home even if you went to HIS place and like is always ready to give you a jacket if it’s raining and he’s just lowkey a big, kinda dumb at times, teddy bear and i think that’s valid tyvm 

wanted connections.

friends. — please. knox will lOVE ur muses just let him be their friend tyvm plus he’s a bit of a social butterfly now and i think he’d honestly have a lot of friends.

best friend. — i’m gonna keep this to one muse bc idk i think it’d be really cute if knox got to have his own like, ride or die where they care abt him as much as he cares about them and they’re always there for each other and like !!! that’s cute !!! also found family trope bc i think that is.. again, kyoot, ty

frienemies. — so these are always like, super fun to plot out and i think there’s a lot to work w here... like give me ppl who are happy that knox is loyal and would defend them but would push knox to the side n not do the same for him... also friendships where knox fucked up ?? where knox, despite his goodness, couldn’t keep his mouth shut and revealed a secret to their friend group bc u see he can kinda be a gossip fsjfdaskj. idk there’s a lot u can do n i’d love to brainstorm!

enemies. — pls. like. we can brainstorm this too so i dont just ramble but pLEASE?? please.

flings. — honestly romantic ships are not the point of rps but romantic flings and stuff can be really fun to plot and i love getting soft about them so like ?? idk dude lets fling it up n have muses date for two weeks n then break up like thats swexi, dramatic, 10/10

exes. — i mean this is kind of like flings but i have an idea... give me an ex of knox’s who really was like. everything knox wanted. hell, the two had a really good relationship - they were in love and etc etc gushy details but they ended up breaking up bc they just. they weren’t meant to be! as sad as it is like it was as simple as that! and then the angst comes in after they break up bc god they still love each other so much but they just aren’t meant to be and they see them with other people and oh it just hurts but like, bonus points if they manage to become good friends even after this !! (sidenote, idk i wouldn’t want this to be a full ship tht gets back together bc idk i think there’s a bittersweetness in stuff like this n its just. like. its ok !!! idk !!! )

roommates. — and they were roomates- fdshjkfdsahjk

other things. — honestly these are half assed plots but i’m down for anything !!! i’m still fleshing out knox a lil too bc i really did make him on the spot so pls bare w me :)

[actuallylorelaigilmore]

thanks to a conversation with @declermontdiana i’m now thinking about the end of riverdale s2 and where all the characters were at after the chaos in town and the black hood reveal, and i think it’s time to talk about the fact that alice was perfectly positioned to be pulled into a cult.

because while she was vulnerable to the farm because of how traumatized she was, i’ve never seen a discussion of the way that she was also incredibly, horribly alone in the face of nearly being murdered by her husband and finding out he was the source of the town’s terror for all that time.

yes, we know that betty was trying to look after her, but not being able to pull herself together around betty could only have added ‘i suck as a mom’ feelings to alice’s emotional problems in the immediate aftermath. despite what betty thinks because she’s spent her life trying to be everything to everyone, alice would actually be a worse parent if she were using betty for friendship and emotional support, because that shouldn’t be her teenage daughter’s role.

and yes, polly also came and offered her support and potential help. but despite being a mom already, polly is her teenage daughter too, who she shouldn’t expect to lean on, so it makes sense that alice would be more likely to throw all her trust in with the adults in the cult that polly eased her into.

but why, after everything she had been through, would she decide to trust and get help from total strangers? we focus so much on the fact that she was an easy target, like her instability after hal and fake-charles and even polly is the only factor. but alice’s openness to the cult because of what happened to her is just part of it--the world around her matters too.

and the reality of it is that alice let the farm become her most trusted support system because nobody else was there for her.

alice doesn’t have a single female friend in riverdale. though she and sierra probably have the least antagonistic dynamic, that doesn’t make them friends...and hermione, mary, and penelope make it very clear how they feel about her. obviously there are valid reasons why she’s not well-liked, but having made more enemies than friends doesn’t change the fact that alice is a mess after hal and in need of sympathy and support.

arguably, the two people in town who you’d most expect might care about how alice is doing after she’s nearly strangled to death by her husband are fp and fred. with fp, there’s all the history and obvious feelings that s3 showed us were still there even after their affair ended...and fred has both known her forever and is a genuinely nice guy. he may snark back when alice is being a jerk about archie, but it’s hard for me to believe that he wouldn’t check in on his next door neighbor who’s just been through a tragedy.

however, that’s where the events of s2 really conspire to leave alice totally isolated. fp’s son is in the hospital barely alive, and fp dove into a losing fight with a rival gang--he’s in no shape to immediately rush to her side, even once word does reach him about hal. meanwhile, fred was hal’s first victim. he nearly died thanks to alice’s husband, which i imagine would make it hard to offer her unsolicited support, even though fred assures betty she’s not to blame when it comes up.

now personally for the sake of human decency, i think it’s totally crappy that alice was left alone in that house to suffer. i don’t care how little she was liked in town, anybody who’s nearly murdered should get checked on by someone. but as far as we’re aware, that doesn’t happen. after hal tries to kill alice, the only people who come to her door are reporters looking for more scandal. (you could argue that this part is a twisted kind of karma given how often alice’s reporting reveled in others’ pain, but that shouldn’t mean she’s also without other visitors.)

when you really think about it in context, alice and the farm make even less sense. the last thing alice cooper should want to do is trust a stranger just because her daughter vouches for him--the last time she did that, she had to bleach her whole kitchen! and by the end of s2, she’s found out that she can’t trust the last twenty years of her life, the most intimate partner she had, or her own judgement.

only desperation can explain her throwing herself into the arms of polly’s new friends, when she must have the worst trust issues she’s ever had in her life.

but honestly, of course she’s desperate. her entire carefully-crafted life unraveled a piece at a time over the last three years. she lost her older daughter to the blossoms, her younger daughter to the serpents, her husband to madness or evil or both depending on how you look at it, her credibility at her job once her history was revealed, and her rekindling with fp because they’re both idiots who can’t get it together. she wasn’t even left with a shred of normalcy--or the facade of it that made her life worthwhile before.

alice smith became alice cooper who reinvented herself again and again once things started falling apart, and it’s not clear if even she knows who she really is deep down. so she’s heading fast toward middle age, with very little to show for it, living in a house full of ruined memories with no one to talk to, and no reason to believe any of the other adults in riverdale would be there for her if she did reach out.

in the aftermath, all she has is one daughter she didn’t protect from her own father, who she never knows how to save...and another who’s offering her hope.

it’s terrible that she took it, as is everything alice has done since the farm became the center of her world. i don’t know anyone who’s blindly trying to defend her s3 behavior, or who isn’t expecting an awful reckoning someday.

but at the same time, of course she accepted the help that edgar evernever was reaching out to her, during the absolute lowest period in her life.

he was the only one who offered.

[thearcanasucks]

(anon pls) peep how sis in the back is completely secure meanwhile this child is one wrong move away from a nip slip in that second pic (got it from the author’s personal blog used/band/aid).

you know what im fusing this submission w these asks that we got bc lol “forbidden love”

from anon:  

JFC i read that same Greek mythology comic. But i forgot the name so I couldnt warn anyone. I'm hyper aware of visual media constantly infantilizing women looks, that was my first red flag. All women in that comic look like children compared to their male counter points. Then they kept talking about an age gap but never saying what it was, which I foolishly thought was gonna be 1000 years old compared to 2000 and thus meaningless. Basically another get out of jail free card to be a freak.(Part 1

im gagging

Part 2) But it was still wrong because the dynamic being pushed was a teenage girl with a middle aged man. And the story keeps REMINDING the audience of this fact over and over while trying to make the old man look sympathetic. Characters around the two keep repeating logical reasons why it's wrong to both characters. Then it's finally revealed Persephone is still a teenager. The story goes to far to spell out everything that's wrong, grooming included. Hera who was big against this relationship

im gagging

Part 3. Hera confronts Hades with everything one laat time after "thinking about it from his perspective." Then after addressing the big problem again, Hera freaking gives Hades her blessing! (TW: sexual assault discussion.) The rape scene is barely shown directly, and the chapter comes with a long warning. But it's all from the pov of Persephone the victim talking about the experience as it happens! Wtf. What worse imo. Apollo is one of the people addressing why the age gap is wrong to Perseph.

im super fucking gagging lmfao

Part 4. End) Apollo was reasonable and offends Persephone by insulting Hades, again being in the right. Then out of no where, he reveals he was judt just jealous and had his pride hurt when Persephone didn't throw herself at him bc she liked Hades. After that Apollo is like a completely different character. Also it's revealed Hades tried to hook up with Persephone's mom Demeter! Perseph is mad for like a second. And Demeter is an abusive mom who keep her daughter locked away all her life. :)

haha oh fuck im. lmao! wow! wild! if he can’t fuck the mom he’ll fuck the daughter? whoo!

this freak thinks she’s doing anything original by glorifying grooming as ~forbidden love~ i bet! holy shit!

[voidszoro]

In Denial // A Theo Raeken story

Chapter 6

Theo's pov:  (warning, a bit of violence in Theo's pov but none in Ruby's so if you want you can skip theos pov) (also update, Ruby's pov contains some hints of depression, anxiety, and mentions self harm. If you can't read, trust me, i completely understand. It was hard writing. All i want to say is that if you need help, if you are thinking of harming yourself in anyway, please ask for help. My messages are always open if you don't feel comfortable talking to anyone. I Promise i dont judge. Take care. Here is the chapter xoxo)

The dream always starts off the same way.

I wake up in the morgue. The box in which I lay is tight and dark, but beyond my feet, an infinite abyss streches out. I raise my arms over my head and push open the door to the box. It slams into the other boxes on the side and I take my arms out so I can push myself out. The cold metal trey that holds me slides out of the box and two legs, almost like a table, swing out from underneath the trey keeping me from falling on the hard tile floor. I sit up on my trey, finally out of the box and take a breath of fresh air.

The dream Isn't over yet.

I place my bare feet on the tiles and lift myself to a stand. The cool air in the morgue sends chills through my half naked body. I only wear a thin pair of basketball shorts. A woman's voice echos my name throughout the room. It repeats over and over and I get the feeling of it drawing me into it. I start to walk out of the room, pushing open the two swinging doors, but I hesitate. I know what's coming, but everytime I try to fight back, I fail. The voice rings louder as I push the doors open anyway, knowing there's no way out but through her. My sister. 

I walk down to the end of the hallway, each step I take feeding me more fear than the last.

"Theo," the voice gets louder and louder as I get closer to the end. I take a stop once coming to the end of the hallway and in front of the check in desk of the hospital.

"Theo!" The voice growls from behind me. I snap around and see what I dreaded. A teenage girl, about my age,  crawls towards me on her hands and knees. Her gaze pierces through my horrified eyes as I look down at her chest. Her rib cages poke out of her and there is an empty spot in the middle. That is where her heart would be.

This is my punishment. I deserve this for doing it to her.

She finally reaches me and I can't move a single muscle in my body like I've been poisoned by canima venom. My sister drags me down by the heel and crawls on top of me, her gaze not once faltering. The horror on my face spreads to my whole body as I scream at the top of my lungs. She takes her hand and plunges into my center which makes me squirm and scream louder. She digs around in my chest for a second until she pulls out my heart. The blood from the organ drips everywhere as she puts it inside of her own chest. She shouts at me with almost the same power as Lydia, a banshee.

"Helloooo" I hear another voice in my head. I shake my head, finding myself standing in front of Scott's front door, a hand wavig in front of my face.

"Theoooo, you still alive over there?" I nod my head.

"Yeah, sorry I was just thinking." I rub the wrinkles on my forehead caused by my furrowed brows.

"Pretty vivid thought huh? You were blank for a good minute there." She reaches out for my hand. Why is she being so nice to me?

I take her hand in mine and then squeeze it in three short intervals. She smiles at me and we stand there for a good thirty seconds until she finally lets go of my sweaty hand and opens the door.

Everyone is here. Well, everyone that is left. The wild hunt has taken almost everyone in Beacon Hills. Ruby finishes explaining my reason for being here and I step further into the small, tidey home. There are photos lining the walls right when you walk in, like a story. They hang neatly and precise. Some pictures have multiple people in them, some are just some yearbook photos of Scott. Unfortunately, I don't spend long admiring the delicate memories of Scott's family when Ruby pulls my hand and drags me fully into the living room. A tall man stands in the room, and I immediately recognize him, but Ruby takes a minute.

"Who's he?" She asks.

Scott replies, "It's Peter. As in Peter Hale." Ruby's eyes go wide for a second.

"Ohhh. How could I forget? You. Evil bitch."

"Hey, hey, hey. No need for any language Ruby. I'm actually here to help. I know where Stiles is."

RUBYS POV:

Of course I don't completely trust Peter. I never will. Even though, technically, he's my alpha. He's the one who bit me. The morning after Scott got bit. When I started taking morning jogs.

"What makes you think I belive you? What do you want in return?" My voice echos through the silent room.

"In return, I would like you to trust me. You know, I bit you for a reason. I needed a pack. I needed more power. But- but that doesn't matter anymore. All I ask is that you help me help you save Stiles so we can get Malia out too." His eyes are full of sincerity. I feel bad for him. He loves Malia. I know it.

I remember as soon as he found out that she was his daughter, he had some sort of scent to him. I've never smelt it before and it reminded me of pride and happiness mixed together.

"We'll get her out I promise," Scott is the one to speak this time. Peter might be my only chance to see Stiles again. To get him back. I know Lydia feels the same. She probably misses him more than I. I've seen the way the two look at eachother. It's mesmerizing to watch. It's love.

We go through our idea of finding another rip in the two dimensions, the wild hunt and earth. Part of me thinks we have no hope. I feel like I'm the only one who thinks that. Everyone just seems so confident in everything. Especially Scott. That's why after the pack meeting. I go home and take a long, hot shower.

The water burns my skin to the touch when I step into the wet oasis. I left Theo in my room. Unoccupied, which is probably not a good idea, but I don't  acknowledge it at the moment. I'm only focused on the burning feeling. The feeling not only on the surface of my skin, but on the inside. I feel the left over bits of passion from today start to melt away at the heat. My body tenses up, but only for a second. I close my eyes and drift off into bliss. The water running all the way down my bare body. I run my fingers through my hair and breath in the steam that accumulates in the shower with me. My mind starts racing as my body finally gets used to the warmth of the water. I think, what would my life be like if I was only human. What would my life be like without Stiles.

And then the memories flood my head, making me slightly dizzy.

(Once again, warning)

I'm sitting on my bed, a knife in my hand. I remember this day. I was exausted. I had had an anxiety attack in class that day. Everyone looked at me weird when the teacher asked if I was alright. My breaths were shallow but quick. Stiles saw me immediately and dragged me out of class. I remember his voice apologizeing to the teacher. He carries me into the girls locker room, I'm still taking quick breaths. My heartbeat increased by a million from the time I was in the class to the time I was proped up against the shower walls. Stiles had delt with my attacks before but not at school. He gets them too sometimes. He was trying everything to get me to clam down. He squeezed my nose and coverd my mouth, trying to get me to hold my breath. It obviously didn't work. I was squirming everywhere. Until I wasn't moving. The only movement was my chest moving up and down and the water that now coverd my entire body. The water even got on Stiles' clothes. He turned the shower on. The warm water engulfed me like a volcano of relief.

When Stiles walked me down the hallways to the outside of school where the Sheriff's car sat, the bell rang. Everyone in their classes came flooding outside. I was drenched in school locker room shower water and I look like I almost drowned. Everyone stared. Everyone's eyes stayed glued to me as Stiles had to forcefully drag me outside to the ride he called.

Dad dropped us home and Stiles stayed with me until seven. I remember, because immediately after he left my room, I looked at the clock as I pulled the knife out of my drawer.  Every part of me begging to take some of the pain away. I wasn't a wolf yet, didn't even know about that stuff. I didn't want to just get high, partially because I didn't know how to, it was 8th grade. I had made the decision earlier that day. I had had too many embarrassing moments during the three years of my middle school carrier. I couldn't get away from myself.

I lifted my shirt to reveal the scars on my stomach. They were almost gone. I was going to be one month clean tomorrow. Not anymore.

(Okay we good now)

I jolt back to reality in the shower. The water is turning colder the longer I stay inside. I finish my normal shower routine and switch the water off. I grab a towel from its hanger in the bathroom, dry off a bit, and wrap it around my cold body. I look up at the fogged mirror and see a smiley face drawn in the steam and "-T". I let out a giggle.

A giggle, seriously? My inner voice complains. I remember what I'm doing, which is putting clothes on, and do that.

Once im fully dressed im my comfy black leggings, blue tee shirt, and some white ankle socks with a check on the side, I step out of the steamy room. A chill sweeps through me. I quickly race to the thermostat and turn the temperature up a hell of a lot. Theo must've turned it down.

I walk into my room, seeing Theo sitting on my bed. His legs hang off as he faces me. This reminds me of the last time he was sitting like this, a few weeks ago when I let him stay in the spare room.

It's only four o'clock.

"I'm starving," I realize out loud. Theo keeps his gaze on me. For some reason, he seems to be analyzing me. I grab his hand and pull him up so he's standing. "My dad's gonna be home at five, let's get you something to eat."

Once in the kitchen, we rummage through the kitchen for any signs of food. Apparently, nobody in Beacon Hills, no pay check for the Sheriff. That also means no groceries.

I hear the front door creak open and then slam shut.

"Hey, anybody home?" My dad shouts from the living room. I go wide eyed at Theo. Dad's not the biggest fan of this boy who went to hell.

"Yeah, um- wait. I'm not wearing pants!" I shout and Theo shoots me a devious glare. Yep. There's the boy who went to hell.

"Why- Ruby." He takes a deep breath. I'm never gonna live this down.

"Just stay there, dad. Let me go upstairs." Unfortunately for me, the stairs were in the living room. "Can you cover your eyes?" He grunts a response which I take as a yes. I put a finger to my mouth and direct it at Theo. Then I signal him to follow me. He does.

I give it a few minutes upstairs before I come back down. My dad stands awkwardly in the kitchen.

"There's no food." I say. "Wanna order a pizza? It has to be that place outside of Beacon Hills."

Hii again. It's em. How was this chapter?? Also hello new readers ily sm. Ooh i have a questionnn what's your favorite pizza topping? Mine's cheese and extra cheese. Xoxo -em

Wc: wow 2171♡

[wannawrite]

Don’t I Know You From Somewhere?

PD 101 / YH's Justin X Reader [ fem ] 

part two Fluff Word count: 2571 • you're an idol, Justin is your #1 fan • you meet him at a fansign and tbh he's adorbs so you're hella heart eyes for him ;) • soMehow you land the spot as a guest mentor for PD101 S2 even tho ur like young ( okay I'm sorry anon I had to, it isn't part of the original request but...a bit more of Justin fluff never hurts anyone....right? ) omfg, I love love love love love Justin ?? And my Yuehua boys ?? Yes ?? Bless them ?? Freaking adorable Euiwoong and Hyungseob and Jonghyun was a judge hoW CUTE gOD BLESS anyways, hope you like this anon, even if I modified it a little ok but am i the only one who goes soft for China line im so soft for Jung Jung. I love Jung Jung so much. might make a part two for this as well as • Crushing On You - Kang Daniel drop me feedback - admin L __________ Justin could barely contain his excitement as he clutched tightly onto his copy of your second mini album, shuffling in his spot in the queue. The entire venue was packed, fans buzzed with joy and the energy in the atmosphere was insane. Today was the day that Justin had waited for his entire life as a fan of yours. Today was the day of your fansign. When your fansign was announced, he screamed so loudly the whole Yuehua building trembled. Then, he proceeded to beg his manager to allow him to go. It was tough since he was set to participate in the survival show, Produce 101 a few weeks after but he sweet talked his way through. Once he got the 'okay' from his company, he managed to wrangle his best friend and fellow trainee, Zheng Ting to accompany him. Zheng Ting now stood behind Justin with pink cheeks, mildly embarrassed by his best friend's enthusiasm. I suppose it shows how dedicated of a fan he is.....He spent ages picking out his outfit today. I bet that's his $500 Star Wars shirt he was going to save for Produce 101. Justin even visited the salon to re-dye his hair for today. Oh my god. Zheng Ting was downplaying his own elation for his own sanity's benefit. Sure, he wanted to meet such a great inspiration to him but he wasn't a super die hard fan like Justin. Zheng Ting knew that Justin could practically chemically combust from all his zest, his grin was so wide it was sure to hurt. Oblivious to all the judgmental glares from Zheng Ting, Justin continued to keep his exhilaration levels high. His legs couldn't seem to stay still or root him to the floor properly. Even with his height, he still tip-toed to get a better look at you above the crowd. He sighed dreamily when he caught sight of your hair. Oh my god, Y/N looks so pretty today. She's the perfect idol. There's so much to learn from her. I wish she would look at me. Is this love? The expression on his face was so sheepish and dreamy, Zheng Ting nearly slapped him. "Yah, Justin! Wake up! The line is moving," he hissed. It was entertaining to see the maknae so incredibly spellbound by someone. 

The snaking queue moved listlessly and Justin's patience was running thin. To fuel his energy into something else so that he won't be all jittery, he combed through your photo cards that were included in your mini album, taking them out and reassembling them multiple times. People around him stared at him like he was a lunatic but really, he couldn't care less. Justin clamped a hand over his mouth to cover his yawn, he secretly regretted waking up at the crack of dawn, forcing Zheng Ting to drive them an hour out to the venue at five am and sitting in the queue since seven am. He was lucky he managed to sneak in breakfast and breath mints. Dedications of a fan. He huffed and shuffled along as the line gradually started to move. At least he was getting close to you. ... "Hello, Y/N. How was today's fansign? Everything okay?" Your manager asked, scribbling whatever feedback there was from other staff on her notepad. "Hmm, it went well. Thank you for arranging it. I was happy to be there. But right now, I want to sleep," you admitted with a small groan. Thankfully, your manager was an understanding and kind one, you two got along super well much to everyone's surprise. She laughed and nodded, telling the driver to speed up a little. "Go ahead and sleep. I'll wake you when we reach." Truthfully, you were exhausted but your mind was plagued with thoughts of that handsome blonde fanboy at the fansign. His happiness was infectious, it put a smile on your face when you admired how his curls bounced with that skip in his step. You managed to catch his name, Justin, and you remembered exactly what had happened. It was rare you remembered everything word for word but something compelled you to. He had politely waited until the previous fan had stepped off the stage then, practically dashed up the stairs two at a time. He had run a hand through his curls before blurting out an excited 'Hello!' and bowing, nearly bumping his head on the table. As if he was ashamed, he used his right hand to cover his mouth and the other to pass you his bag of gifts and album. You had asked for his name which he gladly revealed. "I'm Justin." He beamed, revealing perfect pearly whites. "Well, thank you for the letter and the gifts Justin," you had said, shooting him your best cover-worthy smile. Justin couldn't be that much older than you. "You're very handsome." His face had turned beet red and he managed to stammer out a reply before nearly tripping on his way down from the stage. He was the most put together mess of a boy you had ever seen and somehow, you were attracted. It was rare you had male fans your age, cute ones at that. But, he was just fan, a face in the crowd you would have to force yourself to forget. You let out an irritated sigh, wishing it didn't need to be limited by its circumstances. Oh why, why couldn't I have gotten Justin's number or something? All I have is a name and a face I would hate to let go. It was safe to say sleep didn't come easy that night despite how worn out you were by the day's activities. You tossed and turned in your blanket, unable to block that blonde boy from your mind. Maybe it did you a favour by lulling you into a deep sleep and as creepy as it sounds, a dream of him. ... Justin was partially gone from your mind a month later but this morning, you could barely keep your eyes open as stylists bustled about, brushing your hair and whatnot, so once again, you found yourself thinking about him. You wondered what he was up to. Perhaps he was leading a normal teenage life. Going to school. Hanging out at the mall with his friends. All the regular, domestic things. A part of you was envious if he indeed had that kind of lifestyle. Today is going to be sooooo tiring. I just hope nothing terrible happens. Today was the day you were guesting on the survival show, Produce 101 Season 2. A few of your friends had participated in season 1 but so far, you hadn't heard from anyone about the second season. It was only the first week anyway, only one episode had aired but you were too busy to even watch teasers of it. Your role was simple, throughout the next week, you were going to support and supposedly mentor a couple of lower ranked teams as they prepared for their stages. It was a good opportunity for exposure and to make new friends. From what you had seen - or lack of since your van had pulled up to the location at six in the morning - all the contestants seemed to be pleasant. The plan was that you were surprising them with a wakeup call and a special buffet breakfast. ( bc i must feed my boys that's why let me live ) You hoped the directors knew what they were doing. "Y/N? Y/N." Manager unnie's voice shook you from your nap, you blinked bleary-eyed at her. She patted your head and helped you to your feet. "Go wash your face or something. Filming will begin soon." You complied, glad that the long-lasting stage makeup was sealed with a waterproof spray. After refreshing, you swiftly changed into your shooting outfit and followed a bunch of crew members to the dining hall. There, another team was busily preparing the surprise breakfast, probably the most the boys were allowed to eat. ( let them eat properly pls ) You stifled laughs when your mini album blasted through the speakers as an alarm. It could become pretty hilarious to hear your own music in public. When the main director signalled your cue, you raised the microphone - which was connected to the speakers - to your lips and delivered the message in a sickeningly sugary voice. "Good morning to all the gorgeous Produce 101 Season 2 contestants. This is not a drill. Please assemble in the dining hall in half an hour. Failure to comply will result in elimination. I repeat this is not a drill. Please assemble in the dining hall in half an hour. Failure to comply will result in elimination." The last part was a lie. No one would be going home on your watch. ... Oh my god. Is that Y/N's voice? Is that her album? How sweet of her to appear in my dreams. "Justin! Justin! Wake up!" What? Why is she calling me? A pillow smacked his face. "Yah! Justin! Wake up!" Justin shot up, rubbing the sleepiness away from his eyes. He blinked at his roommates. "Why? What is it?" They didn't need to reply as the announcement sounded again. "Attention all Produce 101 Season 2 contestants, good morning! This is not a drill, please assemble in the dining hall in twenty minutes. Failure to comply will result in elimination." His jaw dropped, almost hitting the bottom bunk. "Is-is-is that Y-Y/N sunbaenim?" He stuttered out his question. "Yes! So that is why we need to hurry!" That was all it took. He washed up in a matter of twenty seconds and changed into his best outfit in five. Justin grabbed his training things out of his suitcase and bolted to the dining hall as fast as his legs would carry him, his roommates trailing behind. He needed to see with his own two eyes that it was really you. It was so crowded he was already pushed back to the end of the crowd. Somehow, Euiwoong and Seunghyuk found him, they called for Hyungseob and Zheng Ting to come over. "Is it her? Is it really Y/N?" He asked, lips trembling. Zheng Ting nodded, star-struck. Euiwoong had to hold Justin up to prevent his legs from giving way. He almost started sobbing. Does she remember me? I hope she does. He thought hopefully before sighing in realisation. No, there's no way she would have remembered someone as insignificant as me. Once everyone had arrived, you introduced yourself and explained your arrival. There were yells of jubilation and cheers. Some of the boy's jaws hung open and they had a hand over their mouths. It made you smile and amp up. Justin listened in awe to your motivational speech, he was in a daze the whole time as his friends led him to their usual table. Then, he noticed you were walking around and greeting some of the other boys. He scrambled to grab Euiwoong's arm across the table, almost making his hyung topple his tray of food. "Yah! Justin, are you okay?" Euiwoong was puzzled by his sudden behaviour. Justin frantically shot questions at him. "Is my hair okay?" "Do I smell good?" "How does my sweater look? Cute enough?" Euiwoong rolled his eyes and spooned some rice into Justin's mouth to make him shut up. "You look fine. I bet everyone else is worried about their appearance too. Full offence, these uniforms look awful," he said in a hushed tone. Justin fussed with his hair even more. Meanwhile, you too grabbed a tray and marched around the dining hall with your manager by your side, scanning for a place to sit. Suddenly, you spotted a familiar tuft of blonde hair. Justin? Oh my god, Y/N! Stop being delusional. Stop relating everything back to that......... fan. But your pace quickened as you approached his table, partially because he reminded you a lot of your long time crush who you would most likely never see again. As you neared, his face became more clear and you gasped. Even though the first and supposedly last time you saw him was a month ago, you still could recall what his face looked like. There was no mistaking that this trainee was Justin. Is the boy sitting next to him Zheng Ting? I met him too. It was cute to see Justin brushing his hair repeatedly with his hands. He whined when it still stuck out in different directions, the other participants sitting next to him only made fun of him. Should I address them formally? Are we friends? What if he is older than me? How do I call him? Oh my god, I don't want to be rude. These thoughts filled your head as you drew closer, palms growing all the more clammy. 'Oppa' isn't rude right? ( lmao guys this is such a koreaboo thing for me to add in my works but tbh i just didn't want to sound rude ??? and more realistic, not so Americanised but pls tell me what I should do. I don't want to offend anyone out here ) Should I call him that? I bet Zheng Ting is older though? What if I offend them? Do you want to sit with them or not? Another voice piped up. Yes, but- Just go! It gave you a push which pulled yourself together. Like the confident idol you are, you strutted up to the Yuehua boy's table, showing off your perfectly sculpted legs in the process, and tapped Justin on the shoulder. He spun round to face you and when he realised it was you, his jaw hung open and large eyes grew bigger. "Hi, Justin oppa, do you remember me?" You asked, beaming brightly. Justin was so shocked he couldn't form a coherent sentence. "The world would end if Justin forgot who Y/N is. He is your number one fan. Believe me, his wall in our dorm back at the company is filled with your posters. If-" Seunghyuk was abruptly cut off with a desperate yell from Justin. Zheng Ting shoved another spoonful of rice into his maknae's mouth. "You haven't eaten a thing on your tray." "Hello, Jung Jung oppa, I believe we met too." You bowed out of respect and Justin nearly fell on his knees. "Ahh, it's okay! Sunbaenim!" Gesturing to your tray, you asked if you could sit with them for breakfast. Seunghyuk moved over to sit next to Hyungseob which created a space next to Justin. The boy went red when you slid into the seat next to him, accidentally bumping his arm. "Sorry! I'm sorry!" You exclaimed but he assured you he was fine. Regardless, you grabbed his arm and ran your hand over it. "Are you sure? You can't get hurt!" He couldn't even utter words. Should I? Whatever, I should. You took his arm and slung it over your shoulders before turning back to him, a sultry ( keep it PG you're both kids ) smile on your lips. "Don't I know you from somewhere?" Justin cleared his throat and suddenly adopted a blank expression. "My girlfriend is here today." No...... He held up his - well Euiwoong's pocket mirror - to your face. You burst into a fit of giggles. "Nice one, Justin. I knew I could recognise you." Sigh, let's see what happens during this short time of filming. ( this is so bittersweet i’m sorry )

[icharchivist]

Which are your favorite scenes from hxh (manga)? and the ones you don't like it? Do you have a favorite line?

Oooh heyo nonny!!

And… tricky question!! I have a lot of scenes I really love, I have different scenes depending on the characters, or the meaning, or the impact they had, or the planning, or even the framing. So it’s hard to pick one. 

I’ll try to answer as much as I can but I’ll go under the cut because it’ll get lengthy! (actually now i’m back to the top and yup i wrote about 5k that’s lengthy. I’m sorry I…. never know when to shut up.)

 Thanks for the question though ❤ Take care!

More under the cut!

Let’s start with the easy one to answer, I mostly love all of hxh, all of it. Begining to end, I really loved most of it.

But if I had to pick a scene I don’t like, it’ll be that weird bit of Leorio’s Prison Exam. This was a trainwreck, even in the manga, although at least in the manga they didn’t have… some stupid lines.

I hate this scene. The fact Leorio uses a slur, the fact he puts himself in a situation to touch Leroute… That was extremely uncomfortable to read and watch. I usually blame it on the fact it was 1997, that Togashi didn’t know any better, or even that it was an editor thing (since it was revealed recently that Togashi does the “let the Editors get what they want until you’re popular enough they can’t tell you anything anymore” - and the fact that when I see some anime art insisting on the gropping, it’s. probably something more insidious in the industry. Or so I hope since the rest of the manga isn’t like that).

To be fair both version of 1999 and 2011 changed this scene in 1999 a lot, in 2011 slightly. I’m not even touching 1999 since i hadn’t watched it and the few bits i’ve seen makes me “ehhh” but again, 2011 makes Leorio even more moronic in this scene. The line about Gon telling him to have her bet on his age and him yelling “it’s obvious i’m just a teenager” and her being surprised isn’t in the manga. I remember thinking “Leorio that’s stupid you know you can trick people with that you had that conversation earlier” and at first i laughed but when i realized it wasn’t in the manga and how much they removed of Leorio in the anime in order to make him complain more/be more idiot, it makes me really angry. Like the idea of the bet itself wouldn’t have been this bad if it wasn’t consistant with how much the 2011 anime shitted on Leorio.

Anyway, there’s still some pervy undertone of this scene and I just try to live with the knowledge this scene exists by thinking it was consensual and that she didn’t seem bothered at all by it, but guuuh.

I think this is the only real scene I have a complete reject of? It’s even worse since I love Leorio, I love his character in general and all of his scenes (that the anime deleted) so it pains me even more that this scene exists, and that this scene exists soon enough for the audience to get a bad idea of what Leorio’s character would be like.

Especially in the Prison Exam that is extremely forshadowing, and have a lot of character development. Imo it’s because this entiere exam is surrounding Leorio, outside of the actual fights. Because it’s all about, despite mistrusting Tonpa and having all the reasons to do it, he still wants to give him a chance, and that he’s angry that people would take this chance and turns it against him. It’s also a very important Leorio’s “mini arc” since every fights start and end with Leorio making comments about it, showing concerns for everyone, being ready to give up on his chance to become a hunter when he sees Killua is going after a killer. 

It was about his willingness to give people a chance (Tonpa), the fact he wanted to protect the others (Gon & Killua) to the point of giving up on his dream for now (to stop Killua from going after a killer because he’s worried for him (in the manga it’s even precised that the killer once tore apart the heart of an 11 years old with his bare hand - Killua going after him is supposed to be an irony (since he’s not 12 yet, he’s turning 12 in a few months, even if he mentions he is 12), since it’s something Leorio just told him*.), all while he has his ruthless moment exposed in that exams 

(his insistance for Kurapika to kill the guy which, imo is contrast for later with the whole “if you kill him i’ll kill you” when Kurapika is losing it toward Chrollo, and that Leorio starts to seriously worry about how Kurapika is reacting to actively killing and trying to kill people - since Leorio goes from “nah I’m sure he’s fine and he killed tons of spiders now” before hearing from him again, to realizing nothing is fine and he has misjudged the impact it would have on Kurapika. I will repeat, the Prison Exam was extremely forshadowing and that’s where Leorio’s forshadow was at: at his dynamic with people, not with the part with Leroute itself.)

ALL OF THAT TO SAY I’m still extremely upset at this scene because this Exam was set up to explore Leorio’s character, and yet the moment he had actual spotlight, while he showed his medecine wit (by almost killing Mitanji), and that he got caught up by how the fight was all about putting his trust into people in doubt, which is, again, like i was saying, the reccuring theme toward Leorio’s Prison Exam as a whole. And I think that “mistrusting this person’s gender” was going in that direction, but that was poorly done imo and it doesn’t excuse the slur nor how it got pervy. So I just. Really dislike how they went about all of this.

*ALSO IM COMING BACK ON THAT but there are like two major Killua & Leorio scenes that have been downplayed in the anime, this one and the one where Killua asks Leorio to do street auctions because Leorio is really good at it. If we’re going to talk about fav bits, i love those little moments. While they are probably the two characters of the main four who seems to get along the least (hell Killua didn’t even remember his name, but to be fair you’ll notice he barely remembers people’s name during the whole course of the manga. Even Wing, he barely ever called him by his real name, only nickname. I think it’s somethign that comes from isolation habits and the murders and all that kinda forced him to end up forgetting such things as names) they have such an amazing dynamic?

Leorio tries to protect everyone that’s a fact, but I love how in the Prison exam, when he explains why he wants to protect Killua from the killer, Killua goes against the killer by doing exactly what Leorio was saying. It’s not just him doing his family’s technique, it’s hearing Leorio go “This guy ripped hearts of kids” and Killua going “lmao okay watch this.” (this exam was also so great for Killua’s development since i’m p sure this is also where he realized he didn’t have to kill people after Kurapika insisted he didn’t want to but that’s another discussion).

Then in York New, we learn that Gon has no idea where they’re supposed to go and Killua mentions he’s the one in contact with Leorio because Gon doesn’t have a phone, which means him and Leorio had been talking for a while too. And again, later, Killua asks, with admiration and a smile, for Leorio to help with the auctions because he knows and values Leorio’s strength.

all i’m saying is that Leorio & Killua’s bond is criminally underrated.

So now more into the good stuff.

For most of the reasons I said earlier, I adore the Prison Exam. It’s full of forshadowing and it explains a lot about each characters when you know where to look. From the most obvious one being “we will face the spiders” to the least obvious ones with Gon using his wits against a guy who uses explosions’s techniques on candles and later the introduction of rock/paper/scissors, passing to everything that would have pushed Killua to end up moving out of the assassin’s life*, this was great.

*Also about that the common misconception is that it’s all about Gon and I kinda disagree? It’s a lot about Gon and Gon had a huge part to play don’t get me wrong, he’s like, 90% of it, but I think the anime changing the line from “Only 3 people can leave this place and I intend to be one of them” to “Only 3 people can leave this place, and Gon, I intend you and I to be two of them” was a serious issue because by the time of the prison exam, Killua isn’t settled over what he wants yet, and while he is attached to Gon, his first friend of his age, it’s not to that kind of devotion just yet.

which I think does a disservice to the scene where Gon gets tortured by Hanzo and Killua is barely reacting because he’s hurt in his ego. Killua realizes how much he cares and wants to care when he is distressed. Also i find it interesting because if Gon became his Goal at this moment, imo, it’s because the other two exposed all the ways that it was possible that makes Killua able to face it. From Kurapika refusing a fair kill that Killua wouldn’t have questioned, to Leorio’s caring that went as far as to yell at Illumi for Killua because he was telling him not only he could achieve his goal, but he already did and should screw anyone hwo would get into it.

Fuck i love those scenes Nonny what did you unleash. I’m just at the Hunter Exam and it’s not even when my favorite scenes happen.

It’s hard to really pick fav moments but it’s still clear to me, my fav arc is the York New Arc, so it’s ESPECIALLY in the York New arc that I have my favs moments.

Of course, there’s the soft moments: Kurapika’s smile and the “I have good friends” are excellent moments especially considering Kurapika’s minset about it. The smile happens when he feels like he lost all will to live, because the spiders died and he has no idea what to do with his life, he feels dead inside, he threw all his life out of the window for it, and seeing his friends again reminds him there is possibility for him to be happy. That he has a new family, that he can work on it, that all isn’t over. And it’s the feeling also with the “I have good friends”.

But the reasons I love those soft moment is also because of how much it comes back to bite him in the ass after.

I personally think that when he told Gon (and the other two) everything about his powers, and that Gon said that now he’s putting a lot of pressure on him, I think Kurapika’s intend was to make sure they won’t endanger themselves, especially Gon. Kurapika knows Gon really well, Gon was ready to climb up the walls of the Zoldyck and face Mike all alone, damn the consequences, because he didn’t care enough about his own life to protect a friend. It’s when he realized the guardian would be in danger that Gon backed off and found another solution. 

Kurapika was there when it happened and I think he was completely aware that this was the kind of shit Gon would be pulling. Hell, Gon kept provokating the Troupe, over and over again, because he knew they hurt his friend. 

Kurapika telling everything to Gon was for this precise intend. “If you get caught, you’ll put me in danger” is stronger to use against Gon than just “Be careful they would kill you.” The pressure Kurapika uses on them is directly to make sure that none of them will put themselves in danger, since they have Kurapika’s life in their hands.

Which is ironical because Kurapika throw his own life away all the time, so he’s barely using it as a pretext to make sure the others ones don’t hurt themselves in the way. 

Which to me leads to a scene I really love, once Gon and Killua are kidnapped. First of all, since we talked about fav lines, I adore the exchange between Gon and Chrollo. 

Chapter 111

I love this. Gon is still confrontional, but, while he is indeed hostile, his face is really soft still in the first panel? Gon still tries to understand others. And Chrollo’s answer is incredible because it’s a really perticular mindset that is really hard to comprehend imo.

But that’s not just why I love this scene, this is about the line, what I love and is overlooked, is the fact that right after that, Kurapika realizes where he fucked up.

Kurapika had a plan, and his plan involved making sure the other three will keep out of trouble by putting them under pressure to stay far from the Troupe. However, Kurapika’s impulsiveness got the best out of him and he rushed out, and Gon and Killua both sacrified themselves, knowing they wouldn’t be as hurt as if Kurapika was caught.

Kurapika fucked up so bad he is the reason why the plan went wrong, and he realizes that, he realizes that it’s his fault.

Chapter 111

Honestly just this explains everything about his current isolation and that’s something I love. No matter how Kurapika is trying to plan everything, to protect everyone, he ends up being the reason why it goes wrong. Suddenly all of his choices turned against him, and at this point, there’s nothing else he can do about it.

This is the turning point in Kurapika’s character that led to him handling everything on his own, so to me it’s such a key scene that I really like. Kurapika’s feeling of guilt, that he tries to never adress, seems like such an interesting concept to me, it’s such an interesting and important scene to me.

Chapter 117

Finally one of my favorite scene from this arc is when Pakunoda comes and accept all of Kurapika’s bargining about saving Chrollo. It throws Kurapika completely off the rail to realize that those people he always hated, who had no mercy torturing, killing, and selling the 128 people who were his entiere world, the people who went as far as to torture children to make sure to turn the parents’s eyes red, would feel that much self sacrifice and compassion toward each other. 

This is something that is reccuring with how Gon handles Pitou protecting Komugi later. Gon and Kurapika both were in a point where they completely demonized, for good reasons, the people who hurt them. There’s something when you only see them as monsters, it allows you to step out of it, to concentrate on wanting to kill them without remorse; The issue is when you consider that they can be as human as you, that they love people too. 

In York New, probably because his trauma was long lasting, Kurapika is extremely frustrated but he manages to work around it because of his guilt for putting his friends in this situation, and how much he doesn’t want to lose anyone ever again. Kurapika lost his entiere world to those people, and he’s about to lose the only part he managed to rebuild, so he sacrifices his own revenge to help his friends. 

But even there, he had to face the fact the Troupe were made of people who loved others, of people who would sacrifice everything for each other, the way Kurapika would sacrifice everything for his own. It’s so much easier when you’re facing a monster without emotions to take your pick, and I think that was the mistake with going for Uvogin first. 

While we, the audience, knows that Uvogin loved his own, that he was extremely close to Shalnark and Nobunaga, Kurapika didn’t know that. All he saw of Uvogin was this man, who behaved more like a monster than he did a human. A man he saw eat off the skull of another guy to use said skull as a weapon. A guy who had no memories of who he killed, a guy who outright told him he found it funny to kill people.

Ironically, Kurapika says it was perfect he could fight Uvogin first because of technicall reasons that are true : if he can use Chain Jail against Uvogin, he can use it against any member. But I find it extremely ironic that he says clearly that it’s perfect he could go against Uvogin first while Uvo was probably the one who acted the most like Kurapika expected the Troupe to be: Bloodthirsty, having fun killing people, laughing at the idea of massacre, never surrending. (the anime was… weird, idk if it was a mistranslation or something, but in the anime Uvo repeats “kill me” when Kurapika is attacking and asking questions, like begging for mercy, while in the manga it’s clear Uvo always replies “Go Die.” Even while dying, Uvogin behave with such pride that there’s no way for Kurapika to feel Pity for him, Uvogin didn’t beg for mercy.).

But if anything, Pakunoda was the complete opposite for Kurapika and it threw him off guard. I think if Phinks or Feitan would have done what they wanted to do (go after Kurapika and kill him for touching Chrollo) Kurapika would have been comforted in his idea that the Troupe was made of horrible people. But instead Pakunoda accepted the bargining and the fact she cared so much, and was even ready to help the kids as much as possible, and even came to Kurapika fully intending to give him back the kids, making sure the kids are okay - all of that was the worst case scenario for Kurapika. It humanized the Troupe much more than he wanted.

Even by identifying Uvogin as a monster, Kurapika still felt terrible killing him. Kurapika isn’t a killer, he doesn’t want to kill, and it was a blow for him. It has to be done, someone has to kill the troupe, and he knows he has the will to do it, but even there, he felt terrible. after Pakunoda though it was like “how dare they show humanity.” How dare people who knows love and care would actively destroy families and use the love the families have against each other? 

Which is why then Kurapika settles with Isolating Chrollo. Because if they are able of such selfless love and sacrifice for each other, this is what will hurt them. “Now you will know the feeling of being privated of everything you love”, Kurapika says. 

Because Kurapika is frustrated, shocked even, but the safety of his own is more important at this point, because he put them in this situation to start with, and he already lost everything and doesn’t want to lose anything ever again. And I think that’s the reason why he’s isolating himself now.

I’m not done yet, like I said, it’s also one of my fav because that’s exactly the same thing that happens when Gon meets Pitou, except that Gon reacts completely differently.

Kite was the one who kickstarted Gon’s goal, and he was someone that Gon held in high respect, and he feels responsible for his death - but Kite wasn’t his entiere world. So unlike Kurapika who felt the pain of losing everything and didn’t want to lose anything ever again, Gon went in the fight without even thinking about what else he could lose. He went in with pure fury.

The issue there is that the Ants are technically monsters, not metaphorical like the troupe. And they had to exterminate them, the whole mission was about that. During the full arc, people encouraged Gon to have this anger against Pitou, the adults even said that because of said anger, he was their best hopes. Some, like Shoot, was seeing that it was not a good idea, but they still left an unstable child on the battlefield.

And Killua who was there for Gon all along thought he could handle it, and didn’t know how to get Gon out of his denial: how could he? Gon is his light. (See also, one of my fav lines: the ‘you are light” monologue (and on that topic, the “I’m glad i met you” line))  And Killua never handled things like that before. Even when it was question of getting Kurapika out of his revenge, they did it behind Kurapika’s back, they only told to Pakunoda they didn’t want Kurapika to kill again, but they never outright told Kurapika to stop.

So we had Killua, also a child, unable to help, unable to know how to, and went with everything Gon wanted. And everyone around them were comforting them that it was the right thing to do: go against Pitou, not try to get why, and just kill them.

Hell, accidentally, that’s something Killua actually re-enforced: 

Chapter 230

This is a problem, Killua wanted to protect Gon and used as much as he could for it, but it pushed Gon to even more focus on Pitou to the point where stuff went all wrong.

And then meeting Pitou actually happened, with Pitou caring for Komugi and sacrificing themselves for her, for the King. (also, both Pitou and Pakunoda gets their arm broken during the events that will lead to both their confrontation to Gon and Kurapika). Just like Pakunoda, Pitou showed self sacrifice, showed humanity, showed pure caring and love for someone.

And that Gon couldn’t stand. For the same reasons as Kurapika did: it is easier to go against someone you consider a monster than someone who feel love the way you do. 

The problem is that, nothing prepared Gon for that, and for months he only focused on Pitou. Unlike Kurapika who lost everything and knew he wanted to protect what remained, Gon was just a lost kid. His anger that he focused on Pitou went all over the place, and eventually this is why he snapped at Killua when Killua tried to calm him down. Although Killua used Kite, Gon’s trigger, in order to do that. So while Killua did good, he used right the word that would get all of Gon’s anger attention and Gon ended up snapping at him.

It’s funny to me (ie super sad) that Kurapika is the character who’s entiere plot is about revenge, but yet he’s the one who’s able to work around it eventually when realizing he has to find another way. On the other, it consumed Gon. they both threw they life away for it, but Kurapika is doing it strategicly while Gon went all out about it.

This is so sad but that’s some of my fav scenes.

(so for short: Kurapika facing Pakunoda, Gon facing Pitou, Killua telling Gon to focus on Pitou and what it brought)

 Leading me to, especially the manga’s, I love how Gon’s breakdown is framed in the manga during the CA arc. This is such an intense scene in term of framing, and while the voice actor did an amazing job in the 2011 version, I still get chills over the manga panels:

Chapter 305

tHE FRAMING MAN.

The manga tried a lot to have an atmosphere, in fact, you do see a lot of the background during those scenes before it happens. But then, when the truth come out, everything is blank. It’s completely blank. The only things in Gon’s mind is him being helpless, Pitou, and Kite’s corpse, and those words he repeats and that takes the whole frame, that are slowly crumbling all over him. His word is crumbling, his denial is suddenly hitting him right in the face. It’s such a powerful scene.

Finally for the last huge scene I really love: 

Chapter 335

I already talked about it in length on others posts, so I won’t go as much in depth, but I love how Leorio opened up to the Hunter community all of the sudden. The Hunters tends to be extremely secret about their powers, and Leorio went on and showed them all when he punched Ging, because he reacted with his guts. Everytime Leorio talks in the Chairman Election arc, he is being more than honest, he always makes a point that he’s doing a selfish, honest thing. And everytime he does, it is because he cares too much about others.

I still laugh that Leorio saying why he’ll be Chairman was legit “if you elect me i’ll use the position for my own gain and my own gain is helping people.” Somehow Leorio believed it would make him unlikable, but instead, what he exposed was how devoted he was into helping others.

Ging mentions at some point that Hunters are really selfish by nature, and that’s something everyone kinda knows. But Leorio showed every sense of how much he was ready to do just to help others. He gives his everything for that.

I find it really appropriated too that it’s what had him join the Zodiacs, especially on the Boar position - since it’s also a quality that is supposed to be found with the Boar. While we could say it’s an improvement upon Ging, I wouldn’t agree completely because while Ging does everything he wants, Ging does all of it because he wants to see the people he works with being happy and therefore he doesn’t want to settle. 

There’s just a lot about it that I really love.

That’s about all for the Really Huge Scenes I love so i’ll move on to a few others scenes i like:

-Like i mentioned, Killua trusting Leorio with the auction, which is manga only, that I absolutly love because of how Leorio manipulates the guy, and also, ofc, Leorio’s arm whrestling contests. It shows a lot of how streetwise Leorio is. Of course he is, you’d tell me, he had to, but still i love how the manga shows it and it’s really, really nice scenes to see.

-Gon and Killua meeting up with Feitan and Phinks at the auction still makes me howl, I love it so damn much. I love how offended they were by it, and how they actually came at them to talk to them about why they’re not planning to go after Kurapika just yet, and how Phinks actually ended up liking them because of Pakunoda’s last memories. 

-Bisky revealing her true appearance.

-Every scenes between Meruem and Komugi

-The full Kurapika’s past chapters, all of it. Especially when he rides with Pairo, when they arrive the village and Kurapika gets so happy his eyes almost turn red, and the moments with his mom.

Fav lines in general:

“One could simply dodge the question with a plausible lie, but I consider lying a sin equal to greed, and as dishonorable.” - Kurapika

“I think maybe if i were here by myself that things probably wouldn’t go as smoothly…. But with Leorio here, I feel a lot better and at ease.” - Kurapika

“You should enjoy the little detours to the fullest. Because that’s where you’ll find the things more important than what you want.” - Ging

“Gon… you are Light. Sometimes you shine so bright I have to look away. Even so, is it okay if I stay by your side for a while?” - Killua

“Some people in the shadows deserve to be chained to hell”“Are you sure? It feels like you’re the one chaining yourself.” - Kurapika & Izunavi

… And because it’s me you’re asking:

-Every scenes between Kurapika and Leorio.

But now this is starting to get really long, I’ve been writting 4k  already and If i get in some of my favorite scenes for those two it’ll take hours. but so:

-Kurapika being taken aback when Leorio runs first to save the sailor man.

-I love the reccurance of Kurapika’s smiles about Leorio.

-Their conversation in the first exam -and the repercution it had on their storylines + more about their characters journey.

-Them meeting again in the DC arc. and some more DC arc stuff.

 -Leorio calming Kurapika down when facing Chrollo

 I’m trying not to ramble on repeating those because the post is already long enough but I have one tiny scene to talk about, and it’s to be understood I’m pretty sure i’m overreading it but I really love it, and it’s only a question of framing, ie, of up to interpretation. 

(..)

Chapter 38

First this, after they all got their licence and are thinking about going after Killua, there’s those strange little moments where Leorio  looks directly at Kurapika, a little taken aback. He’s silent, and honestly those panels almost seems out of place. It gets explained a few chapters later though: 

Chapter 44

“it’s been a long time i wanted to ask” This seems to be the reason why Leorio was that insistant in the previous chapters, without actually saying anything about it. He knew something was of, and we was wondering about it. He was seriously worried.

BUT I’m here to nerd about the framing, excuse me two minutes: It might be because Leorio is indeed the tallest and doesn’t stand in the frame all the time,but notice how Leorio is barely in the frame?

Especially this panel

Here’s the thing though, framing wise, what it could say is that Leorio is actually going out of the limits that are imposed by the stories. On this panel especially, he’s looking right at Kurapika’s face, which is itself completely closed by the framing. The Frame is hiding Kurapika’s face and emotions, like a metaphorical wall hiding him, like he was setting them up. (which is consistant with Kurapika’s narrative.)

And Leorio gets off of this wall. Leorio is out of the frames, he’s actively looking out from it. Even on frames where he could have easily been put in, the framing of those pages always show him getting out of them, like going out of those walls set up by the narrative and trying to look past them, getting concerned, trying to understand what is out of his sight. 

One of the few times he’s actually in the frame is when he asks his question, the framing focusing on his eyes: an insert that would generally mean something more personal, something he’s trying to look out for. The focus is on how he’s trying to reach out and how he’s being serious about it.

And of course, more than just the framing, there’s what is being said. Leorio had been really harsh at times during the hunter exam, but here, he’s been worried for weeks at this point, and he’s been looking for the right moment to ask what’s going on. He gets gentle, understanding, there’s a moment of silence after Kurapika reveals what was said where Leorio looks at him with concern. He takes into account evrything he knows about Kurapika, and it’s shown that it’s sort of bothering him, that he feels like things are getting suddenly more serious, that it’s not just words.

This is really hard to exactly talk about and I know it sounds like shipper nonsense, but I always loved framing and even without the shipping conotation and just with what we know of both characters, I find it quite coherent with their characterizations. Don’t take my word on it though, but this is also why this is one of the scenes that I really love (and incidentally, the scene, once i read the manga, that made me seriously ship them, because framing manipulates me more than you may think).

SO YE THAT’S ABOUT IT and I’ll stop there before I start remembering scenes I’ll damn myself for not including.

So… ye that’s about it dkhfjdkfhdjkfhdf sorry for the very long answer, one day i’ll manage to shut up I swear. One day.

Have a nice day!