#originally I was just going to let him grab a statue or something but they wouldn't have known how to preserve it

[jestiamy]

🤥 😨 💤🍟✨

your. favourite oc + venera if. they're not your favourite oc

there were. a lot of questions but i didnt wanna bombard you/hj

oh no I love. answering oc questions actually. do bombard next time there was a lot of good ones on this list I would not mind answering

🤥 LYING - are they good liars? do they have tells to show they're lying?

venera has the capacity to be a good liar, but would not have a reason to utilize this ability under typical circumstance. antag!venera (I really need to get a better shorthand to refer to her) does frequently have to utilize this ability for various differing reasons including, but not at all limited to, their general knowledge of the world, their general identity, their past, their relation to somewhat antagonistic celestial primates, how they came into existence, what they even are, who they even are, and what they know. they don't really have any avert tells to the fact they are lying, but I'd imagine venera would pull it off better then antag!venera purely by the fact she has a much better resting face (antag!venera looks suspicious always. it's the macaque in her. it makes her seem very untrustworthy, unfortunately. even when not lying) 😨 FEARFUL - when scared, do they go into "flight" or "fight"? it depends the context. antagonist venera's entire thing is that they flight-ed so hard they lived in a cave underground disconnected from society for a thousand or so years. but I'd imagine if sufficiently freaked out, and not given time to rationally think out their actions, they'd both resort to fight on pure reflex.

💤 SLEEPING - do they fall asleep easily? what helps them sleep? I think venera hypothetically sleeps easily when they remember to do it, but they often forget that's something they need to do on any level because of shapeshifter and celestial primate biology coming together in a weird mix that makes it so while venera doesn't need to sleep to stay alive, they still will be very negatively affected by not doing it after a week or so. they sleep easier when not on beds. they tend to not like the lack of comfort that comes from a bed vs something like a tree that's infinitely more comfortable and occasionally comes pre-equipped with food to eat upon waking. antagonist v does not sleep well. or often. though unlike venera they did not, in fact, luck out on the transformation process, and so they do in fact need to do it semi-often in order to stay alive. they sleep best when in dark, somewhat loud, soft environments, ideally a nice bush in a forest but they also can settle for just a normal dark bed room with some white noise or something. 🍟 FRIES - do they order food often? or they prefer to cook their own food?

antagonist venera survived several hundred years eating nothing but moss and the occasional bug. they are somehow still very picky. they don't like the kind of processed food that's in favour these days since they have had no way to adjust to the change of culture over time. even the fruit tastes different now. antagonist venera does not like 90% of all food available and trusts no ones judgement on what they should be able to eat that isn't their own, including macaques. macaque also does not favour processed foods, but he's still able to eat it without throwing it up - so antagonist venera cannot in good faith trust his judgement on food related things. they prefer cooking their own. venera prefers ordering out. they've been pretending for years now they don't know what an oven is and they aren't about to back down now. though they get sick of it sometimes and occasionally lack the funds, so they'll just go around and steal things from fruit trees every so often.

on the last one - I think you meant ❇️ SPARKLE - what is their most prized possession? what do they value? ?? but not sure

antagonist venera actually owns very little. the clothes on his back is basically it. he loves those clothes. he is very protective of said clothing. it does not help that they were technically a gift from a friend, so he feels even more emotionally connected to them then he would have otherwise. venera collects things from different eras that they like the shape of, or general energy of. right now their most prized possession is a book of sorts that they 'collected' (read; stole) from ancient greece during the dark ages. they can't read ancient greek. they have no idea what the book says or even is. for all they know it's some random guy's diary. they refuse to let anyone else read it all the same.

[libraryofgage]

Addams Family B-Side Four

Part of: Steve Deserves Good Parents, Actually

Debbie and Fester Addams One | Two | Three | Four (you’re here!) Rick and Evelyn O'Connell One | Two Harley Quinn One 10th Doctor and Rose One | Two (on the way!) Scooby Gang (there are plans for this one lmao, so plz be patient with me orz) Jedidiah and Octavius (from Night at the Museum) One

Here it is boys!

Actually, this part was line-jumped on Ko-Fi, which means y'all got it sooner than I originally planned lol

If you want to line jump your favorite series, you can learn more here

Anyway, we have more developments in this chapter! I hope you enjoy them 👀

A meme is at the end for your entertainment too!

As always, if you see any typos, no you didn't ;)

-------

Eddie has plans for the walk to Steve's house. He's going to compliment the bats on Steve's cropped hoodie. He's going to ask if Steve is aware he's allergic to raspberries. He's going to gently broach the subject of how Steve knows Pubert Addams.

And then, in a moment of cosmic injustice, Pubert fucking Addams is waiting with Steve at the end of the day. Eddie slows some when he sees them, his gaze lingering on Pubert as Steve offers him a thermos to drink from. He passes it back, and Steve looks like he's going to take a sip as well when Eddie calls out, "Stevie!"

Something gratifying and warm floods through him when Steve stops and looks his way. A smile tugs at his lips as Eddie hurries over, relieved to see the thermos being capped and put away. "Hope you didn't wait too long on me," Eddie says.

"We did," Pubert replies, grabbing Steve's hand and dragging him away.

Eddie frowns and catches up. "Why are you here?" he asks.

"Pubert and I walk together," Steve says, easily slipping his hand from Pubert's grip and moving to walk closer to Eddie. Their shoulders brush, Eddie gets another whiff of that cookies and cream scent, and Pubert glares. It's perfect. "Because we live next door to each other."

Eddie blinks, frowning slightly. Before he can say anything, Pubert smirks. "That's right," he says, pulling a cigar from his pocket. "We've known each other all our lives."

He strikes a match against his palm and lights the cigar, passing the match to Steve. When he takes it, Steve just lets the flame burn. Eddie watches as it gets dangerously close to Steve's fingertips, and without thinking, he licks his thumb and forefinger and pinches the flame to put it out.

Steve glances at him, a smile tugging at his lips. "Our parents are r--"

"Rather close," Pubert says, cutting Steve off and making Eddie's eye twitch at how rude it was. "In fact, Steve's parents specially requested I look after him at school."

"Oh," Eddie says, "you're the babysitter."

Pubert blinks and then frowns, looking upset that Eddie isn't more visibly jealous. That's good. That means Eddie is managing to hide his seething anger and envy well.

"So," Eddie says, deciding to steer the conversation away from Pubert. If he does it right, he can even ice him out entirely. "Why'd you transfer here, Stevie?"

"I caused irreparable emotional, psychological, and physical damage to students at my old school," Steve replies, finally passing the burnt match back to Pubert. He smiles lightly and adds, "That's what the police report says, anyway."

Eddie hums softly. "And, uh, why did you do that?"

"They wouldn't go to a museum with me."

"Sounds like they were just dumb, then."

That earns him a bright smile as Steve and Pubert stop outside a two-story home with fountains and cherub statues and an immaculate green lawn. It's surrounded by a white picket fence, the kind Eddie thought only existed in movies and 1950s nuclear family propaganda. Next to this house is a Gothic manor, for lack of a better description. It's dark, jagged, and seems to have clouds hanging over its rusted wrought iron fence.

"This is us," Steve says, gesturing to the Barbie Dreamhouse. "I'll see you tomorrow, Pubert."

With that, Steve grabs Eddie's hand and quickly pulls him through the fence's gate like they can't get inside fast enough. By the time Eddie has blinked, a large door is shutting behind him and he's standing in a foyer. "I'm home!" Steve calls, pulling off his shoes and gesturing for Eddie to do the same.

As he's wobbling to stay balanced while tugging one of his boots off, footsteps echo from the kitchen and a man's voice replies, "Welcome home, Steve!"

Eddie gets his first boot off and looks up as the owner of the voice steps into the foyer. The only thing that keeps him from dropping his shoe at the sight of the man is the unwavering desire to make a good impression on Steve and his parents.

"Father," Steve says, waving the man closer. "This is Eddie. We're going to be working on a project together. Eddie, this is my father, Fester."

Eddie sets his boot down and nods, taking the hand Fester offers. His skin is cold and clammy, probably corpse-like if Eddie had to guess, but he shakes with enthusiasm. Literally. The man's body is practically buzzing. "Great to finally meet you! Welcome to our home. Please make yourself comfortable. We'd love to have you for dinner."

"I thought we were having pot roast," Steve says.

"The oven is big enough for both."

It's a normal enough greeting and joking exchange that Eddie relaxes. He can see some of Steve's energy in Fester, the same wild glint in his eyes, and a similarly overwhelming gaze. Though, it puts him a little on edge when it's coming from Fester. Still. The same.

"Thanks. I, uh, I'll have to check about dinner, I guess, but I'll let you know." Fester drops his hand as he speaks, and Eddie hurries to take off his other boot.

"Of course," Fester says, nodding once. "You two go work. Just scream if you need anything."

"We will," Steve replies, waving for Eddie to follow him up a grand staircase. Literally. Eddie can't think of any other way to describe the marble steps with a polished railing and gilded edges. The whole thing looks like someone from HGTV should be waltzing through a doorway to describe the exact shade of paint they used.

He takes as much of it in as he can, eyes wide as Steve leads him to a balcony that overlooks the foyer. There are only two doors here, both of them across from each other, and Steve leads him to the one on the right. It's painted a soft yellow that reminds Eddie of ducklings.

"Oh," Eddie says, his voice soft and his eyes wide as he realizes just how rich Steve's family is.

The room is practically the size of Eddie's home and sectioned off into different areas. Against the back wall is a dramatic four-poster king-sized bed with one of those gauzy curtains hanging from the ceiling above it. The wall behind it is covered with flowering vines that crawl up and reach outward from behind the bed. A tiny three-step staircase to the left of it leads to what Eddie assumes is the bathroom, considering the edge of a sink that he can see through the crack in the door. To the right is a doorway that leads to a balcony, and Eddie can see a small set of porch furniture through the glass.

To Eddie's immediate left is a whole corner dedicated to a grand piano. Not a mini one, but a full-sized grand piano and its bench. A bookcase pushed against the wall next to it is filled with books of sheet music. To his immediate right is a large work table. Papers are scattered across it, and Eddie wouldn't think anything was wrong if not for the wall of weaponry directly above it. Swords, maces, a few tasers, two spears, and one trident, among others, are carefully arranged on hooks and display pins.

Suddenly, Eddie thinks about that mace Steve pulled out when they first met. He'd told himself that Steve couldn't possibly have been serious about using it, but now he's starting to second guess that assumption.

"Where do you work best?" Steve asks, pulling Eddie from his thoughts about the weaponry wall.

"Oh, uh, on the floor," he says.

Steve smiles and leads Eddie over to the glass balcony doors, sitting directly in a ray of sunshine that makes his hair glow and creates a halo effect. Eddie nervously wipes his palms on his jeans before sitting across from Steve, marveling at how plush the carpet is.

"What did you think of my idea in class?" Steve asks, glancing at Eddie before pulling notebooks and pens out of his bag.

It takes a few seconds for Eddie's brain to catch up. "I like it," he says, hesitating for a moment before asking, "Do you actually find it interesting, though? I mean...you don't really..."

"Look like I know anything about heavy metal?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I think the genre is given a little too much credit for converting people to Satanism. I mean, it's just discounting the work put in by others, you know? As a genre, though, it's pretty revolutionary, right? Like, it was doing and saying stuff nobody had heard before when it first made an appearance."

The more Eddie listens, the more excited he gets. Not only is Steve gorgeous and wild and unpredictable, he also knows a little about heavy metal and doesn't just write it off as unintelligible noise.

"How much of a history lesson are you prepared for, big boy?" Eddie asks, unable to help his grin as he leans forward.

Steve imitates his lean, his own smile a little softer. Eddie misses the way it becomes just a tiny bit smug when he glances down to see Steve's top hanging forward enough to see his chest. He's just about to do something incredibly stupid when Steve says, "As much as you're willing to give me."

Eddie blinks and looks back up, searching Steve's eyes for a few seconds. He doesn't seem sarcastic. In fact, he seems happy to listen to Eddie describe the genre, which only makes his already monumental crush grow three sizes.

--------

Eddie's heavy metal history lesson takes the better part of an hour to get through, and Steve spends the entire time slowly inching his way closer. He crosses the space between them as Eddie describes foundational bands and concept albums and the branching off of heavy metal from the rock 'n' roll genre tree.

By the time Eddie starts to lose steam, his eyes still bright and his face red from barely breathing the entire time, their knees are pressed together, Steve is happily leaning closer to occupy more of his space, and Eddie's hand had gravitated to Steve's calf without permission.

Steve smiles, happily filing away for later the bands Eddie mentioned and the albums he particularly liked. "So," he says, his voice soft but easily getting Eddie's attention, "sounds like we know everything for our presentation."

"You got the perfect partner for this project, sweetheart."

His grin widens, and Steve hums softly, leaning a little closer. This seems like a perfect chance to put one of his mother's lessons into action: ambiguously hint at more but don't follow through. "I'm not doing much work, though," he says, placing his hand on Eddie's knee.

Eddie squirms slightly, glancing down at Steve's hand before looking back up, a blush crawling along his cheeks and reaching for his ears. "You can, uh, design it. Yeah. Design the presentation."

"Is that really all I could do?"

Steve can see the moment Eddie registers his meaning, his eyes widening and the blush officially spreading to his ears and down his neck. He opens his mouth, glances away, and seems to blurt out the first thing he can think of to change the subject. "So, uh, w-what's with the weapons?"

"Doesn't everyone have a weapons wall?"

"Yeah, no. Uh, that might just be you, Stevie."

Steve tilts his head, humming softly as he glances at his weapons. "They're weapons I've won fights with," he says, looking back at Eddie with a bright smile. "I'm the best fighter in the family."

"Oh. Cool. And, who were you...fighting?"

"My cousins. Wednesday is the best opponent. She fights dirty. Pugsley isn't much of a fighter, really. What is much faster than me, but they always trip over their hair. I haven't won against Uncle Gomez just yet, but he has years of practice on me. Aunt Tish says it's just a matter of time, anyway. The trident, though, that was a bar mitzvah gift."

"You're Jewish?"

"On my mother's side."

"Oh," Eddie says, glancing at the wall again. His eyes linger on the trident for a moment before he asks, "And what about your dad's side?"

"I'm an Addams."

"An....Addams?"

Steve knows he's just killed Pubert's fun, but he doesn't care. He wants to see what Eddie looks like when he's angry. He wants to see what Eddie looks like when he's angry for and about Steve. "Fester Addams," he says, "Harrington is just a name of a family friend on my mom's side. She thought it sounded nicer."

Eddie's brain is visibly chugging along, turning this information over until his eyes spark with anger and frustration, his hand on Steve's calf tightening without him realizing. "And Pubert?" he asks, his voice low and more of a growl than anything else.

It sends an excited shiver down Steve's spine, and he suddenly knows Eddie can be mean and vicious and merciless if Steve only nurtured those tendencies with very positive reinforcement. "Pubert's great with explosives, but he's not good at close range fights. He doesn't even protect his kidneys. They're so easy to stab," Steve replies.

"Well, if it's that easy," Eddie mutters.

His words send a thrill down Steve's spine, and he can't help leaning into his space. He places his hands on Eddie's thighs for balance, far above the knee, and only stops when their noses are almost brushing. "I could hold him down for you," he offers, hearing Eddie gulp at their proximity.

"I, uh, might take you up on that," Eddie whispers, glancing down at Steve's mouth and staring at it.

Steve waits a few seconds, but Eddie doesn't do anything more. He internally sighs, lamenting the lack of initiative but happy that he gets to keep teasing, and leans back. "Well, just let me know," he says, his voice light as he shifts out of Eddie's reach.

He picks up his notebook, flipping it open to a blank page, and looks up. Eddie is staring at him like he's just seen Heaven only for the gates to close on him. He looks desperate but confused, and Steve decides it's a very cute look on him. "So, do you want to hear my ideas for the presentation?" he asks, flashing an innocent smile that pulls Eddie back to the present.

"Yeah. Sure. Explain away," Eddie says, his voice a little strained. Pride swells in Steve's chest at having caused the strain, and he pretends not to notice Eddie's attempts to subtly inch closer as he outlines design ideas.

When Eddie is finally close enough for their shoulders to touch, Steve rewards his initiative by leaning against him.

-------

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And now, two more memes because they're both funny

[onlyyourhallucination]

I love your fics. They get me want to grab the popcorn and enjoy it like a well done movie/show. Anyhow, your requests? For the 200 followers? Is it still open? If so! I got a plot idea for you. Okay, imagine this. Reader [female], is a trailblazer on the Astral Express. One of the badass members ofc. They got chemistry building up with Dan Heng and/or pinning hard for each other. BUT, somehow the reader is sent way back to the past... To the before the Sedition of Imbibitor of Lunae / when the High-Cloud Quintet wasn't disbanded. Reader , while trying to hide their origins and where they came from, tries to blend in. They can't change the past but dragged into the High-Cloud group. They also try to hard to distance themselves from Dan Feng, who is somehow attached/attracted to reader. Like he tries to confess... But reader is like trying to let him down gently. Eventually, the reader the reader sent back to the future. They get together finally with Dan Heng. You can add/change whatever you want to this request. Just make it happy ending. If you want to clear things up, jut message me. Thanks!

Past, Present, Love

Pairing : Imbibitor Lunae [ Dan heng ] x Reader

A/n : I am quite not sure if the Danheng you requested is already in his IL form yet, so I'll.. Just write it when he is already in his IL form.

Also thank you for your support! 🩵

Him constantly worrying over small things that happened to you, whenever you got hurt he'll scold you, gently for being reckless.

Him always going with you wherever you go, as long as you're safe and okay, he said.

Everyone know how obvious he is when it comes to his feelings, him doing something outside what he usually do just for you

Him going outside his boundaries for you, so that you can, pay attention to him.

Protective over you. Perhaps, a little bit overprotective for you who haven't even start dating yet.

What are you doing? Why are you not confessing yet?

Have I mention how he is easily flustered around you? For whatever that you do to make him feel embarrassed.

His face may not show it, but the shaky sigh and his tail that sways and hit the floor ever so slightly from the frustration and embarrassment.

Him constantly clearing his throat for no absolute reason is a sign for you that he is beyond flustered.

It was just one of the casual day, sitting on the high class, and fancy red couch in the express while playing with your phone.

Dan heng is in the archives, doing his thing. Like usual, you're getting bored, so you asked for himeko's permission to go visit xianzhou, she raised an eyebrow at the request, but eventually lets you. She was about to ask if she should call for Danheng to company you, because, aeons, he will despise the idea of you going out alone.

But you rejected the offer and wanted to go alone, she was a bit skeptical, but then oblige to your wishes. And so you left the express, alone.

To xianzhou you went, walking around, eventually ended up at scalegorge waterscape, the place where Danheng split the ocean into half. You remember that scene like the back of your hand, he looks majestic when he did so.

You were walking towards the statue, the most appealing to you, slowly approaching it looking up at it.

Dan Feng, huh.

You thought to yourself, your hand slowly reaching out to the statue, but before you could touch it, a bright light suddenly comes out of nowhere, making you instinctively covering your eyes.

Ringing in your ears lasted for a few second, after the ringing is out, you slowly shook your head and open your eyes. Blinking multiple times as you tried to register what just happened,

"I, never seen you around before" a familiar voice rings into your ear, you turned to see a familiar figure. You can't deny that, it's, Danheng. But, something's not right.

The familiar figure stared down at you, rising a brow confusedly at you. You both ended up staring in silence for a good minute, "Can you talk?" He cuts off the silence as he approached you. "Yeah, definitely. Uh, sorry for staring." You apologized, you frowned upon the way he talks.

He talks like he doesn't know you, well is it not obvious from how he said that he never see you before. And the next second another family face appeared, blade? With white hair, you are now getting even more confused.

Until you see Jingyuan that's, rather young.

You're sent to the past, well shit, you cursed under your breath. You definitely have to find a way to go back. To your timeline.

But the day after your encounter with Dan, Feng. He had always been, around you more than you expected him to be.

The more you tried to avoid him, the more times you'll see him around. Him constantly being close to you, and helped you with his gentle touch and healing whenever you got hurt.

"Becareful next time" , "Try not to be reckless, think before taking action" , "Why do I care? Hm, I do not know, It's an instinct I believe."

You don't know what to feel, and everything does not go according to your plan when he dropped subtle hints of him taking interest in you.

"Is there anything you like to do?" , "I bought this for you," .."oh, you, don't want it? ... it's okay."

Aeons, you pray that he stopped doing that, numerous times you tried to reject him. But the way he looked dejected made you feel guilty, the way his eyes lowered in disappointment when you rejected his offers, presents even, so you, accepted a few. Just to ease the guilt, but you know very well that it's useless for him to give things to you.

You can't bring them back to your timeline, you stared down at the simple present he gave you, it's a pair of earrings.

You remember how his face lightens up when you accepted his present, you sighed softly at the memory. You gently graze your finger tips at the esrrings, now you miss him.

Him who? Dan heng. The man that you know, that you love. You wonder if he will look for you, you don't know how long it has been ever since you got sent back to the past.

You accidentally got involved into the high cloud group, it was not the intention to get involved but dan feng. That man is quite stubborn that he unconsciously dragged you into the group.

You silently prayed every night for you to open your eyes not in the room you're currently in, but back to the express or back to the scalegorge waterscape.

. . .

And you did.

Thanks to that same ear ringing, followed with the light that shines bright out of nowhere.

You opened your eyes once again, and instead of staring at the ceiling of the unfamiliar room. You're greeted with the smell of the sea, also open skies.

You slowly rised from the ground, you look next to you, the statue standing tall and soon after you heard footsteps from the distance. The step quickens as you tried to look who's coming over, but before you could process what happened, you're engulfed into someone's arms.

You can feel the person's heart beating so fast, when you registered who the person is, you immediately wrapped your arms around the figure.

Danheng, he' shaking. Trembling in fear? Worry? "Dan h-" "Please. Don't do that again." He cuts you off, he sounded so desperate, his hug tightens around you.

He buried his face at the crook of your neck, his breathing slows down, matching yours. His arms slowly loosen as he took a step back, his teal eyes staring at yours.

He clenched his teeth as he looked away, "Dan heng.." he moved his eyes back towards you. "... I'm sorry" you whispered, his eyes widen slightly. He opened his mouth, but then he closed it again. He then frowned, before he looked at you once more.

Slowly leaning close to you, you instinctively leaned closer too, "I like you" you whispered before both of your lips collided.

The kiss is soft, and gentle. But it feels like he stole your breath away when he pulled away, "..I, kept.. going around, and around" he said in a whisper. "I thought.." he stopped half way as he pull you closer into him by the waist, "... Don't leave without me" he said as he buried his face at the crook of your neck once more.

"I won't, I promise.."

. . .

You were just taking off your coat until you heard something fell out, you frowned and looked down to see a small box that's, rather. Familiar.

"oh my god.." you slowly reached out to it, you hesitantly opened it. And it reveals, the earrings Dan Feng gave you. Your fingers grazed along the lines of the earrings, and the next second you felt a pair of arms around your waist.

"What is that?" A familiar voice appeared right next to your ear, "..A pair of earrings" you replied. You can feel him frowning, "It's not from anyone, don't worry. I, ... bought it because it's, ..pretty." you explained. He hummed softly as he kissed your neck, "..It looks exquisite indeed." He agreed.

You silently thanking aeons for him not asking any further, you slowly turned around and wrapped your arms around him. Kissing his cheeks, you let out a chuckle.

"What?"

"Nothing, I like you Danheng. I love you."

"... I love you too."

©onlyyourhallucinations ; do not copy/translate

A/n : I, hope you like this! Thank you for requesting! Reblogs are always appreciated! 🩵

( 1/5 )

[cartoon-cass]

Comprehensive breakdown of MURDER DRONES - Episode 7: Mass Destruction

I saw a breakdown of this episode on youtube and it was just clearly rushed so I want to do this episode justice so here's my comprehensive breakdown.

New intro, look at them! They look so happy, that is not the case in the episode, to say the least. With how much rubber hosing this animation has I would not be surprised if this was done by Kevin Temmer Tunes with what he learned from amazing digital circus Edit: N was animated by Micah Preciado and Uzi by Zachary Preciado

Bad day to accidentally grab the wrong uniform, I do wonder where the actual Dr.Chambers was in all this. Wonder if it would have made a difference... probably not.

Not actually important but having the shadows of the claws that aren't actually there be the thing to interact with the world is fucking cool as hell. This whole scene is a cool twist on an exorcism with robots and science.

Like look at this, it's a pentagram magnet, a normal pentagram from my basic pop culture understanding it's meant to not only summon a demon but also keep them from leaving the circle. A strong magnet is so smart for this case as it's used to keep Nori in place, I mean it doesn't end up working in the end but it's the thought that counts.

It took my second watch of this episode to realize why the lights got turned on, it revealed the tentacles and claws but it's sun light, the same stuff that burns the Disassembly Drones and Uzi. It even has the same effect as in the end of Episode 4

Can I just say how extra it is making the USB a crucifix, I love it. Also I just notice that on the end of the crucifix the detailing is actually in the shape of a USB symbol, the details in this show is amazing, you can see all the love that went in to it.

This is probably the most terrifying way to hold these robots. I couldn't blame any of the robots for wanting to kill the human good god. Also Yeva playing Tetris, the game has a lot of ties to Russia so wonder if she spoke Russian too, she doesn't speak in this episode and not sure if we'll get more flashback with her so not sure if we will ever find out.

Not sure why Mitchell stop Yeva from entering the church but I like to think he thought Yeva was like a kid, look at him holding her hand in the scene before, and was trying to keep her save and knew something was off. That being said I'd love to hear what you think is his reasoning, sound off in the comments/reblogs.

Pulling back we can see Nori, specifically her core, looking at a crucifix comparing it to the USB crucifix in the video to see if it's the one with the patch, it's not, so she goes out for the hunt to see if she can find it.

Like daughter, like mother, honestly cool little details that lets us know what kind of character Nori is with the very little time we have with her. Drawing made presumably by her of herself as a human cat girl, twice, motor oil cans everywhere, a fricking ninja star, nightcore music, a anime statue that might be a reference to something but I have no clue, also magnets which have been used in the passed like drugs so that's um... something.

was originally just going to point out the funny little animation errors in this scene, as the paper goes through the Ipod and the crinkled paper is mirrored but then I wanted to check what was on the paper and...

It's a missing poster of all things? it uses the exact posters used in episode 3 it's probably just reusing assets but I thought it was a cool thing to point out.

Uzi bleeds blood in these scenes and it's not necessarily mentioned out loud, clearly something AS related, but there might be more to it, or it just looks cool.

This man is in some serious denial, but credit where credit is due, when "Tessa" tells N to stop he turns around, and when Uzi apologized for not being able to help he immediately apologized for Snapping at her. Also look at Tessa's little pointing, thought it was funny.

N: "We're not going to hurt you."

I can't blame Uzi for taking this the wrong way, he's clearly telling Tessa off but all Uzi hears is "hurt you", hence why she only parrots that part.

Thad: "Aaand you won't tell me why we're wandering around 'cause...?" Lizzy: "I'm a good friend, and secrets are blackmail. And it's not about football." Thad: "Okay. Does your secret friend want to know about football, or...?"

Anyone else wondering who Lizzy's good friend is? The only 2 characters we know are good friends with Lizzy are Doll and V. It's possible that through everything Doll sent a text to Lizzy asking her to do something but I feel like V just makes more sense. This does assume V made her way away from the sentinels, if I had to guess she's just a core at the moment which might be why she couldn't do it herself, no wings nor weapons as a core, also makes the blackmail line make more sense.

N: "I deserve this. I deserve this. I deserve this."

Baby girl NO! no you don't, your too hard on your self

That scream. That cut. *chef's kiss* perfect.

This scene just shows us why Uzi went towards the church. Also note when she's the most stressed her eye turns yellow so it does seem stress is the deciding factor whether she can be possessed.

V/AS: You know, you're one of the main reasons... [voice glitching] ...I wanted your team to retain your personalities.

This quote I think has some interesting implications, I mean it obviously confirms that the DD squad was influence by AS but it might also be why it keeps a bit of the personality of which ever host it's using.

This scene holy shit, the music, the lighting, the sound design and animation, that's how you do horror! You don't even need detailed gore, in fact most of it is just off screen. like look at the DD's off in the distance one catches the pilot of the helicopter mid air then they fight over it like hungry animals.

Ok so I hit the image limit and it's almost 1 in the morning so I'm gonna go to bed and continue this tomorrow

~to be continued~

[bruh-changbin]

ivy league

pairing: uni boyfriend!hyunjin x afab reader

genre: fluff + smut (minors dni)

warnings: fingering (f receiving), public sex, lowkey exhibitionism, oral sex (m receiving), snowballing (tis’ the season), little bit of cum eating, unprotected sex (be safe), piv, creampie, tit sucking, both are kinda switches?, alcohol consumption

word count: 5.8K

a/n: HAPPY NEW YEAR MOFOS!!! my new years resolution is to find out why hyunjin is so fucking hard to write for 😻 maybe it’s bc his personality is kinda all over the place or maybe i just suck but anyways i hope i did him justice. (also for the sake of this fic pls pretend he still has long brown hair bc that was my fav look on him ever)i do apologize as this was supposed to be posted right after new years but i have been a busy busy gal as of late. nevertheless, i hope you enjoy (also apologies if this posts weird tumblr is being A MAJOR PAIN IN THE ASS AS I TRY TO EDIT THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

photos not mine, credit to original owners (retrieved from pinterest)

studying away from home was always a dream of yours. there’s something so enticing about living and learning in a new city that piques your interest. when you got an acceptance letter from an ivy league school a few hours away from your hometown, you didn’t think twice before enrolling. 

only then did you find out that 90% of the student body at ivy league schools - or any high status campus, really - are insufferable. there are wannabe jane austen’s and christopher nolan’s at every turn, griping about how getting a 98% on their most recent paper just isn’t good enough (news flash: it is). 

ergo, every time you’ve tried to befriend someone you met in the student centre or library or in one of your lectures you’ve discovered they’re too obsessed with their status to even hold a proper conversation with you. there’s only one person who makes studying here at least somewhat bearable: hwang hyunjin.

you met hyunjin in september, a mere 2 days before classes were set to begin for the fall semester. it was somewhat unfortunate, your first encounter, seeing as it entailed you spilling your iced french vanilla all over hyunjin’s silky white button up top. you were trying to shove your wallet back into your bag as you left a coffee shop and he was enthralled in his phone, both of you too distracted to notice the other before colliding. 

you both apologized profusely, you for being careless and him for being in the way (he wasn’t) until you insisted he came to your apartment to get cleaned up since it’s only a 3 minute walk away, i feel horrible for ruining your clothes. 

he complied, and you led him to your small studio apartment, giving him some privacy to shower and steal whatever clothes in your closet that fit him. 

when he stepped out of your bathroom, hair still damp and skin glowing, the rounds of i’m so sorry’s started up again as you handed him back his shirt, now with a large coffee stain on the chest that even your tide pen couldn’t tackle. he grabbed his shirt before chuckling, revealing that he too was a frequent customer of the cafe you were at and often opted to go there instead of indulging in the overpriced shit they sell on campus. 

upon discovering that you were both students at the same university you got to talking, which led to hyunjin staying for dinner at your place, which led to an impromptu make-out session on your second-hand couch. when you made it known that you wanted to take things further, he initially declined because hey, i’m not that kind of guy. in the end he couldn’t keep his hands off of you and you were more than happy to lead him down the hallway to your bedroom. 

soon after he had you writhing under your cotton bed sheets while making you cum on his tongue… and his fingers and his cock. his shaggy, shoulder length mocha hair felt like silk in between your fingers and the whines and whimpers he let out when you tugged on it sounded like heaven.

so, your first encounter with hyunjin was a catastrophe turned fuck session turned we should do this again sometime…

now it’s the heart of winter and you’re about to sock your boyfriend in the jaw when you see him leaning against the brick exterior of your lecture hall, the tips of his ears stained cherry red and his breath passing his lips in the form of a cloud.

“hyunjin i told you to stop waiting for me outside of my lecture hall’s, you’re seriously gonna get frostbite!” you emphasize by pinching his frozen ears - he winces.

“what happened to hello? how are you?” he complains before slipping his hand into the pocket of your puffer jacket and intertwining his fingers with yours; his hands are so cold you flinch.

“well sorry i don’t want you to get sick,” you roll your eyes while shoving your headphones into your tote bag, not needing them now that hyunjin has graced you with his presence, “and you know that class always puts me in a bad mood.”

“ahh yes that’s the one with the, what was it, douchey prof and even douchier students, right?”

“that’s the one.” you sniffle, nose going numb from the cold wind biting at your face as you let hyunjin drag you across campus to god knows where.

“well turn that frown upside down, i’m about to treat you to the most romantic study date ever,” hyunjin asserts while pulling you in the direction of the student lounge, careful not to walk too quickly so you don’t slip on the ice hidden underneath the blanket of snow on the ground.

although the trek from your lecture hall to the student common room is quite short, only subjecting you to the outside weather conditions for a mere minute or two, you rejoice when you step inside and regain shelter from the cold. a blast of hot air greets you and hyunjin shakes the snow off of his perfectly styled hair, retracting his hand from your jacket pocket.

the two of you make your way down the corridor before waltzing into the main study area of the student lounge, seating yourself on a worn in brown leather couch. 

once your winter jacket is discarded you pull your textbook out of your bag, using your peripherals to watch hyunjin pull out his laptop and begin editing photos for his photography class.

it’s serene; watching the snow fall through the window to your left, feeling the warmth radiating from hyunjin who’s sitting to your right. the feeling of hyunjin’s hand (which is still quite cold) on your knee comforts you and you immerse yourself in the words of your textbook, wanting to catch up on the chapters you were supposed to read for this week but didn’t have the time or patience to.

alas, you should’ve known that hyunjin had… other intentions when he said he was taking you on the most romantic study date ever. it only takes a few minutes before you feel his hand inching its way up your leg. 

his eager fingers dance across your thigh before groping your pelvis, causing you to clamp your legs shut in surprise, trapping your boyfriend’s hand in between them.

“are you fucking kidding me hyunjin? we’re in public…”

hyunjin scans the vicinity of the student lounge, which, admittedly, there are only two other students present, both so absorbed in their respective textbooks that they’re practically drooling. but that doesn’t mean you’re about to let him finger bang you in a public area in front of your fellow students. 

“what, you don’t wanna show everyone how well you take my fingers?” by now his index and middle fingers are playing with the waistband of your panties, waiting for you to give the go ahead before dipping underneath.

“come on, let me play with you.”

try as you may, you can’t resist the twisting of your stomach and the pitter-patter of your heart at hyunjin’s words. by now your pussy is leaking indefinitely and you shift in your spot in a pathetic attempt to alleviate the dull throbbing you feel in your pelvis.  

the more you squirm the more pressure you feel from hyunjin’s hand trapped in between your thighs, the heel of his palm pushing against your cunt that’s becoming more sensitive by the second. 

a pleasure induced haze clouds your brain and soon enough you’ve convinced yourself that hyunjin fingering you in the student lounge is in fact a good idea. it’s not like anyone can see you, right? you’re sandwiched between the wall and hyunjin, who’s broad shoulders block you from the curious gaze of others - no one would be the wiser. 

with a bashful look on your face you ease your legs open, granting hyunjin access to your sticky panties and aching clit. the dexterity in which hyunjin’s hand pushes past your waistband and into the dripping folds of your cunt almost gives you whiplash.  

like the little bitch he is he teases you for several moments, the tip of his index finger drawing lazy circles around your clit before gliding down to your hole and then back up again, never giving you what you actually want. 

you know hyunjin’s enjoying watching you twitch and shift in your seat as he plays with your cunt; even more so does he enjoy watching you bite back a frustrated whine when he pulls his hand from you entirely, takes a second to coat his digits in his own saliva by sucking on them, and shove his hand back down your pants.

with help from hyunjin’s makeshift lube his slender spit-covered fingers slip inside of you with little resistance, causing your stomach to flutter and churn. the stretch is subtle yet pleasurable and your body automatically folds in on itself: head hung low, knees knocking together, back hunched. 

if anyone were to walk by they would hopefully assume that you’re just worn out from the end of semester stress and not clue in on the fact that your boyfriend is knuckle deep in your pussy. 

hyunjin starts with small movements, his finger gliding in and out of you slowly while curling upwards in a ‘come-hither’ type motion. he’s trying to make his movements as undetectable as possible, struggling against your tight cunt that sucks him in with each and every thrust of his fingers. 

lucky for you your lover was blessed with long fingers, ones that reach so deep inside of you with so little effort that it makes the room spin. little shocks rock your body when hyunjin fully sheathes his index and middle fingers inside of you, the cold metal of the rings adorning his fingers a stark contrast to your hot wet pussy.

the pace of hyunjin’s fingers quickens; your bottom lip stings from how hard you’re biting down on it. your breath leaves you in the form of forced exhales through your nose, the urge to say fuck it and moan aloud for all of your peers to hear becoming almost irresistible and you pray that hyunjin’s going to make you finish before you do something you’ll regret. 

hyunjin pushes his fingers impossibly deeper into you, the heel of his palm now providing the most delicious friction on your neglected clit. you resist the urge to grind your hips against his hand. 

“are you close?” hyunjin whispers, his plush lips caressing the shell of your ear and sending shivers down your spine. how long has his face been that close to yours? you think, but you’re too out of it to turn your thoughts into words. you just nod frantically, eyes rolling backwards as your impending orgasm looms closer and closer.

the sensation of hyunjin’s fingers pistoning in and of you and his palm bumping your clit is enough to quickly send you over the edge, biting the inside of your cheek so hard you can taste the metallic tang of blood against your tongue. 

you cream all over his fingers while sucking in a breath so big it hurts your lungs so as to prevent yourself from making any noise. the grip you have on hyunjins wrist goes limp and you wince as he pulls his fingers from you, placing a chaste kiss on your temple as if to say i’m proud of you. 

with that hyunjin casually sucks your wetness from his fingers, briefly wiping them on his pants before returning to editing his photos on his laptop. you struggle to regain your focus on the textbook splayed out in front of you, the pages swimming before your eyes as the pleasure in the pit of your stomach slowly subsides.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

“i still don’t understand why you were so adamant about using my kitchen to bake instead of yours.”

hyunjin glances up from his phone at your words, his pupils so dark they remind you of tapioca pearls. 

“i live with three frat guys, my kitchen is a biohazard.”

ah yes, that’s right. hyunjin’s roommates, although very nice guys who treat you with respect, are frat guys nonetheless. chan is the cleanest of them all, although that's mostly due to him eating out the majority of the time. changbin and jisung however…

you raise your hands in defence, shuddering at the thought of the army of glasses filled with stale protein shakes that greeted you the last time you ventured into hyunjin’s apartment.

upon seeing you wash your hands in preparation for baking hyunjin joins you behind the kitchen counter. his ring-clad fingers roll up the sleeves of his white long sleeve top before tucking the stray hairs in front of his face behind his ears. 

“alright, what are we baking?” he says with his game-face on.

“i was thinking we could do gingerbread… you know, since it’s the holidays.” you begin to search for a recipe on your phone.

hyunjin makes a sour face at this: lips puckered, brows furrowed, eyelids lowered. dramatic. “i don’t like gingerbread,” he states.

“oh? why not?”

“it’s too spicy.”

this motherfucker…

“...spicy? what are you, twelve?”

“i have a sensitive palate!” your boyfriend whines like a toddler. 

“shut the fuck up hwang, we’re making gingerbread.”

hyunjin hangs his head in defeat while you trifle through your cupboards for the proper ingredients. soon enough a small pile is formed on your countertop and you begin sorting everything in order to start baking. a slender hand caresses your lower back and you jump slightly.

“you know it kinda turns me on when you’re all authoritative like that…”

of course. leave it to hyunjin to get horny at literally any hour of the day. 

“you’re insufferable. does hyunjin jr. ever take a day off?”

hyunjin scoffs, “he does, actually. remember the day you were so swamped with the paper you were writing and me, being the best boyfriend ever, had the decency to not try to get in your pants so you could focus?”

“wow, so chivalrous.”

hyunjin playfully shoves your head and then pats your hair as if to assure you his teasing is all in good fun (you know it is).

for someone who was so adamant about baking for the holidays, hyunjin is incredibly inept in the kitchen. first he adds baking powder to the mixing bowl instead of baking soda, then proceeds to knock over your precious bottle of pure vanilla extract, followed by him getting molasses on his tongue and wailing in disgust because it tastes like straight ass! this is all tied together by him spilling flour all over your countertops because why the fuck not. 

“remind me to never allow you to have access to my kitchen ever again,” you huff in frustration while rolling out your batter, a thin layer of sweat forming on your upper lip.

“why? I’m having fun… are you not having fun?” a cheeky grin is plastered across his face as he places his hand on the flour-covered counter before smacking your ass so hard you shriek. whipping your head around, you gape at the perfect flour handprint imprinted on the seat of your favourite pair of pants. 

“WHAT THE FUCK HYUNJIN!!???” you shove his chest before frantically dusting the flour off of your rear. hyunjin can’t seem to control his laughter.

“payback!” he says cheerily while wiping his hands on the hem of his shirt. by now the smell and taste of flour has filled the air of your kitchen. 

“payback for what you dipshit??”

he smiles, “for when you spilled coffee on my shirt.”

“are you fucking kidding me hwang? that was like four months ago!” you return to kneading the dough in front of you, although now you do so with much more aggression, “need i remind you that the coffee incident is how we met in the first place?”

“i knowww~” his palm glides across your upper back in a soothing motion before he rests his chin your your shoulder, “i’m just teasing.”

you bite back a smile before glancing at hyunjin perched on your shoulder, his squishy cheeks matching the soft gaze of his eyes. domestic bliss. you continue to knead the dough in front of you until it’s ready to be rolled out.

when you turn to look at hyunjin again he’s leaning into you even more, pink lips puckered slightly and eyelids closed causing his lashes to grace the tops of his cheeks.

you throw flour in his face.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

it’s new years eve and you don’t know what to wear.

“just throw on something skimpy and call it a day,” jeongin says through the speaker of your phone, “you’re supposed to be here in like an hour, remember?”

“i can get ready in an hour,” you respond while holding various garments up to your body and gazing at your reflection in the mirror. so many options, so little time.

“i don’t know about that y/n, remember halloween?”

you do remember halloween. more specifically, you remember jeongin whining and bitching for the entirety of the two and a half hours it took for you to transform yourself into ty lee from avatar: the last airbender. it was worth it though, you looked exactly like her. 

“come on, that was a one time thing. i’ll be at your place on time!” you whine while tossing an unworthy crop top onto the pile of clothes on your floor that’s steadily increasing.

“i don’t know y/n you’re pretty indecisive and-” you hang up on him, not wanting to hear him bitch and whine about your inability to make even the most minuscule decisions. 

it takes you half an hour to choose the perfect outfit, and then another half hour to do your makeup and hair, followed by a fifteen minute stare-down with your reflection in the mirror as you question everything. is this really the best look i can come up with? your head hurts and you haven’t even started drinking yet. 

“y/n~” hyunjin whines from his place in the living room, “are you almost ready?”

you give him a half-assed yea before exiting your bedroom, giving yourself and your outfit one final check in the mirror.

in preparation for tonight’s celebration you helped hyunjin bleach and dye his hair a shade of icy blue last night, almost permanently damaging his bathroom sink and counter in the process. his now cerulean mane matches the blue of his denim jacket that has an eye-catching collar lined with fluffy white fur (faux of course - no animal cruelty here). his pants are denim as well, a quintessential canadian tuxedo, and just a hint of silver glitter is detectable on his eyelids. you could eat him right the fuck up. 

“you look cute,” you purr before waltzing over to your boyfriend and standing in front of where he’s sat on the couch.

“as do you,” his eyes scan your body, “the five hours it took you to get ready paid off.”

“i did not take five hours to get ready hwang, you’re just impatient.” you pat his leg as if to say get off your ass, it’s time to go, prompting him to push himself off of his couch and over to the coat rack by his front door.

“this coat totally clashes with my outfit,” you complain as you pull on your thick puffer jacket.

hyunjin feigns sympathy, “it’s either that or you freeze. come on, chan’s wondering why we’re not there yet.”

hyunjin all but yanks you out the door, locking it behind him before the two of you step onto the bustling city streets that are teeming with people searching for a place to drink and celebrate. 

arriving at jeongin’s a mere couple of hours before midnight, you rid yourself of your chunky winter coat and start to mingle with the rest of the crowd. hyunjin, despite knowing more people at the party than you, stands behind you like a lost baby sheep for the entire night, waiting for you to loop him into whatever conversation you’re having. 

you briefly speak with jeongin, who teases you for arriving late (how he managed to spot you and hyunjin sneaking in later than you said you would arrive is beyond you) and then encourages you to get a drink and ‘let loose’.

in the kitchen you help yourself to whatever alcohol you can find - most of the selection isn’t to your liking and you regret not bringing your own drinks from home. nevertheless, you force some pathetic margarita mix down your throat before spotting hyunjin’s roommates, chan, changbin and jisung, in the crowd and heading over to converse with them.

time seems to fly by and soon enough there are only a few minutes left until it’s time to ring in the new year. someone, most likely felix, blasts madonna through the speakers and a livestream of the new york ball drop is displayed on the tv in the living room.

“y/n?” 

“yes hyunjin?”

he hesitates, starry eyes looking everywhere but your own, “will you be my new year’s kiss?”

you stifle a laugh; the poor boy looks like he’s about to puke after asking you that so you try your best to play nice.

“of course i will.” you caress your boyfriend's cheek ever so gently, his cheeks turning rosy and flushed as you do so.

around you the cheers from the other partygoers have increased as the countdown displayed on the tv hits the thirty second mark. as the ball descends on the screen your fingers reach for hyunjin, grasping his wrist in excitement as the two of you start to countdown alongside everyone else.

“3….2….1….HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!”

as soon as the clock strikes midnight hyunjin’s pillowy pink lips are attached to yours, capturing you in a heartfelt kiss to celebrate the ending of an old year and beginning of a new one. it would be a crime not to reciprocate so you do, only pulling away when you hear jeongin start to make gagging noises at the two of you over everyone else's cheers. 

felix jumps onto the couch and changbin uncorks a bottle of pommery cuvée louise with a celebratory pop! 

before you can approach changbin and ask for a glass of champagne that he splurged on for the special occasion, you’re being dragged down the hallway. away from the music and cheering and people and into a dark, empty bedroom; based on the decor you assume it’s felix’s.

the metallic click of a door being shut and locked echoes throughout the empty room and when you turn to face hyunjin pursues you again. away from the curious gazes of bystanders he kisses you with unrestrained passion and lust - a kiss that isn’t just a simple display of affection but a kiss that says i want this to lead to something more. 

in the confines of this empty bedroom you allow yourself to melt into his lips, his touch. you inhale his scent and push your tongue past his teeth and into his mouth, tasting a hint of the miller lite he was sipping on earlier on his tongue. with ease hyunjin makes his way down your jaw and to your neck, placing affectionate open mouth kisses against the sensitive skin of your throat. occasionally you feel his canines nip you before his tongue glides over your skin.

“i’ve been wanting to be alone with you since we left the apartment,” hyunjin admits sheepishly, the ends of his hair tickling your ear.

“is that why you spent the entire night hiding behind me?”

like a deer in headlights, hyunjin freezes, “maybe…” you can feel his lips curl into a small smile from where they’re attached to your neck.

not wanting to waste any more time you shove hyunjin off of you, your hands grasping the collar of his denim jacket before dragging it down his shoulders and arms, followed by his shirt. hyunjin follows suit and moves to unbutton his jeans, pulling them down his thick thighs. now he stands in front of you wearing only his briefs, his hard cock straining against the material, the glow from the moon painting his skin a cool shade of blue.

when you step closer to him you can feel his breath fan across your face, watch his eyes swim with curiosity and enamourment, see his chest rise and fall with each and every shaky breath. your fingertips hook into the elastic waistband of his briefs, yanking them down and letting them pool at his ankles before gently guiding him to sit on the bed behind him.

now that hyunjin’s seated you move to kneel in front of him, kissing your way down the soft milky skin of his abs and around his belly button and the insides of his thighs. his cock stands fully erect, and you lick your lips before getting yourself ready to suck him off. 

when you first fucked hyunjin all those months ago you were taken aback at how perfect his cock was. not to sound cliche, but it felt as if the two of you were destined to be together with how well he fit inside of your cunt and down your throat. now, you admire him once again before licking him from base to tip.

time is of the essence you think before taking his length in your hot mouth.

over the course of time you’ve spent dating and fucking hyunjin you’ve discovered that he’s very sensitive… and very vocal. as soon as his cock is in your mouth he’s struggling to keep quiet, the veins on his neck tensing and his knuckles white as he grips the bedsheets underneath him. it’s not like anyone would hear him lest they be pressed up right against the bedroom door, but still, he tries his best to preserve at least a little bit of his dignity. 

for the sake of your throat you wrap your hand around the base of hyunjin’s dick, opting to jerk what you can’t comfortably fit in your mouth. the soft muscle of your tongue expertly wraps around his length as you begin to bob your head, starting off slow so you don’t overwhelm hyunjin (who already seems to be going into sensory overload). 

the movements of your hand are in tandem with those of your mouth, the nails that you got done for new years looking so perfect wrapped around his sensitive cock. small beads of sweat begin to form on your temple as you continue to work hyunjin to his release, not wanting to stop until he’s satisfied. your knees are already starting to ache from being pressed against the cold, hard floor but you pay the discomfort no mind.

above you, hyunjin’s struggling to keep himself under control. he’s been on edge all evening, and now that you’re having your way with him he can’t quite contain his delectation. surely there are other people fucking at this party right now, right? what does it matter if he makes a bit of noise?

fuck dignity, he wants to let you know how good you’re making him feel. 

hyunjin’s bottom lip throbs in relief when he releases it from his teeth, allowing his head to fall back while groans of pleasure shamelessly tumble from his mouth. 

your ears strain to block out the noises from the ongoing party so you can hyperfocus on every single sound that passes hyunjin’s lips. your lips wrap around his length like a glove, providing him with the most perfect amount of friction. you pick up the pace in order to get him there faster, ignoring the slight cramping in your wrist.

“y/n i-” one of his hands lets go of the duvet and wraps around the back of your head, “i think i’m gonna-” he cuts himself off with a cry of desperation. 

with reluctance you pull your lips off of his cock, continuing to jerk him with your mouth agape and tongue sticking out. with a needy, high-pitched moan that he does nothing to try to suppress, hyunjin pumps his load into your waiting mouth.

his cum is pure and white like the snow falling softly outside of the bedroom window. it sits hot and heavy on your tongue as you rise from your spot on the floor, watching with hungry eyes as hyunjin’s pink-stained chest heaves sighs of pleasure before you press your lips to his. both of your mouths open automatically, his tongue slipping past your teeth allowing him to taste himself. your tongues swap semen and saliva and you reluctantly pull away when you need to swallow and regain your breath.

the view of hyunjin panting and covered in a sheen of sweat, his own cum seeping from the corners of his mouth, is a sight to behold. you’ve never laid eyes on anything so sinful yet so holy and beautiful at the same time - your panties become unbearably wet. 

hyunjin stares at you with eagle eyes as you rid yourself of your clothing, tossing each garment on top of his so a small pile is formed on the floor. 

in one swift move you’re on top of him, knees digging into the firm mattress on either side of his bony hips. without saying a word you line his cock, that’s already semi-hard again, up with the soaked hole of your pussy before sinking down his shaft. the two of you whine and groan into eachothers mouths at the sensation, and you still when your hips are flush with his. 

“i don’t… i don’t think i’m gonna last long,” hyunjin whines so pathetically you go weak in the knees. ugh! you wanna lick him all over. 

“that’s okay,” you coo while running your fingers through his hair, “just want you to feel good.”

grasping his shoulders for stability, you temptingly grind your pelvis against his. the tip of his cock is nestled deep inside of you that it makes you feel so unbelievably full and content. it’s moments like these where you wish to be consumed by hyunjin, wish to hold him and be in his hold forever and ever. 

the slick, wet sounds of you fucking hyunjin raw fill the room, your cunt sucking him deeper and deeper with each and every roll of your hips. your vision goes blurry when he attaches his soft lips to your breast, switching between sucking on it gently and using his tongue to tease your sensitive nipple.

the soft whimpers and please go faster’s that your boyfriend emits encourage you to pick up the pace, your hip bones knocking against his with each gyration. by now your clit is begging for attention so you lower your hand to press quick, somewhat careless circles into it, hissing at the pleasure it provides. 

the need to cum begins to creep its way into your senses: your vision becomes spotted and blurry, your legs begin to quiver and shake, the pit in your lower abdomen grows bigger and bigger threatening to swallow you whole. hyunjin continues to sloppily suck on your tit, the sensation going straight to your aching cunt.

no words need to be exchanged in order for each of you to know that the other is close. it’s evident in the way your movements become more frantic desperate and in the way hyunjin’s blunt nails dig into the flesh of your thighs, his jaw going slack against your breast. 

a few more movements and you reach your orgasm, muffling a lewd and graphic moan by biting down on hyunjin’s shoulder. for several moments it feels as if you’re on cloud nine. sparks fly behind your closed eyelids and the ringing in your eyes is loud enough to block out the sound of the party (which you almost forgot about) but not the increasingly loud moans coming from hyunjin.  you can hear and feel him cumming a few seconds after you, his stomach tensing as he cries out for you.

he spills his seed inside of you and you shudder, feeling incredibly warm and worn out. 

with limbs feeling like lead, you lift yourself off of hyunjin before collapsing onto the mattress, the duvet cover immediately clinging to your back that’s damp with sweat. you feel hyunjin’s cum slowly begin to seep out of you and you cringe, knowing that you’re going to have to explain and apologize to felix (or whoever the owner of this room is).

beside you, hyunjin works to get his breathing back under control, his eyes closed with a blissed-out expression on his face.

“i don’t wanna get up,” he whispers into the dark room.

“so don’t.”

the two of you lie there, basking in the post-orgasm bliss that  puts you on the verge of sleep. the room smells of sex and sweat and you can’t help the small smile that makes its way onto your face, knowing that there’s no other way you’d rather spend ringing in the new year. 

you hear him moving before you feel his touch. the soft tips of his fingers caress your clammy palms before intertwining with yours, an affectionate move that has your cheeks flushing and makes you wonder how did i get so god damn lucky?

if it weren’t for hyunjin your ivy league studies would be filled with empty days and empty nights. you somehow managed to find solace in a sensitive, 5’10” boy who teases you and then whines when you tease him back. on days where the cold seems to be unbearable he keeps you warm with his skin on your skin, his lips on your lips, his heart to your heart. 

without him you’d be stuck at a prestigious school filled with prestigious people pursuing a prestigious degree that you’re not sure you even like, yet he somehow makes you forget all of that. 

and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

[frompearl]

Vampire Slayer: THREE

Warnings: Baby Reader almost kills someone

A/N: Enjoy!

“What is that smell?” 

Four vampire children huddle around each other as they look around for the delicious smell.

It was another one of those boring parties where vampires of higher status mingled. Or more so an excuse for vampires to gossip and discuss the latest musings of the vampire world. 

That deliciously sweet smell being one of them. 

Kaname looked around boredly as Hanabusa sniffed the abnociously. An annoyed Ruka smacks him in the head, “what are you a dog? Don’t you dare act a fool in front of Lord Kuran.” She turns to him with expectant eyes of praise for doing something in his honor. 

Her eager look deflates as she realizes he’s not even looking at her. 

Instead he’s looking at the crowd of adult vampires, surrounding something. 

“What are they looking at?” Akatsuki mumbles trying to look over the taller vampires, letting out a grunt when he can’t see anything.

“Ooooh! I wanna see! I wanna see!” Hanabusa exclaims, already trying to push his way into the crowd. Before his small figure can be swallowed up by the bigger bodies of the adult vampires, Akatsuki grabs him by the back of the suit. “Hold on you idiot, don’t go seeking out trouble like you usually do.” 

Offended the blonde child gasps as he points an accusing finger to the ginger haired boy, “you hypocrite didn’t you get in trouble for sneaking out the other day-“

Grabbing him in a chokehold, the once stoic boy is flustered, “quiet you! Nobody knows about that!” 

Feeling frustrated by their immature behavior, Ruka starts to yell at them. “Stop this childish behavior! Really do you have no shame acting like this infront of Lord Kuran?!”

The three of them start to bicker, Kaname starts to walk away from the annoying trio as he pushes through the adults crowding the delicious smell.

As he gets closer, the sweet smell of honey starts to seep into his nostrils, his mouth watering. Even for a pureblood vampire, he was just as weak to the smell as any other vampire. 

“Alucard, you have lost your mind.” He hears one of the elder vampires scowl. Burgundy eyes shift to said vampire in question, Alucard only gives off a shrug as he offers a lazy smile. 

“What can I say? Hellsing was my greatest enemy after all, I’ve grown to respect him. It’s only right that I take his daughter as my apprentice.”

His response only causes an uproar as many vampires all try to get a word in to argue with the uncaring pureblood. 

Kaname doesn’t even bother to listen to the back and forth of the furious vampires and the uncaring responses of Alucard. 

He only focuses on the small girl in his grasp. He noticed how she stood motionless as the pure blood held her shoulders. 

Soft looking h/c hair that messily framed her chubby cheeks. Big e/c eyes that had an innocent gleam to them. She barely reached Alucard’s stomach and she seemed to be fiddling with something in her tiny hands. She looked dirty and unbathed. And yet the soft smell of honey emitted from her in waves.

She was like a lamb surrounded by wolves, he didn’t miss the hungry gazes that the vampires all gave her. She was easy prey, someone could just rip her from Alucards. grasp and devour her. She was harmless.

Is what he originally thought. 

“That human is going to die Alucard, she will be eaten by the end of the night, you have made a grave mistake bringing her here. Much less spewing out such blasphemy.” 

At the vampire’s words, an amused smile grows on his face. “Go right ahead, you can eat her.”

He lets go of her shoulders and steps back. He lifts his hands in surrender, motioning to the defenseless girl. 

“Anyone can take a bite.” 

No one says anything, baffled at his words.

For a second no one stepped forward too shocked by his nonchalant behavior. 

It isn’t until one brave soul steps forward. A teenage vampire who is practically salivating at the mouth as he approaches the girl. 

The girl in question has no reaction, unflinching as the vampire gets on his knees in front of her. 

Kaname sees her perfectly calm in areas where anyone else would be trembling and fighting. She remains a statue, unmoving and unemotional.

When he exposes her neck and sinks his fangs, Kaname doesn’t even see her flinch. In fact, he sees how her eyes stare down at the vampire feeding from her. Looking at him as if he were as insignificant as a mosquito rather than the bloodthirsty beast he was. Her hands continue to fiddle with the object in her hand. 

Everyone watches with bated breath as the sounds of him drinking her blood sound out through the room. Some start to inch forward to get a chance to sink their teeth into the little girl. 

Only they never get to before the teenager is ripping away from her with a gasp. His lips are stained with a black inky color that he immediately tries to hack out of his mouth. 

“What the hell?!-” He’s interrupted by a harsh cough from his throat. His red eyes widened in horror at the sight of his own blood coating the floor.

“What’s wrong with that girl! Her blood’s so-! OH MY GOD IT HURTS! SOMEONE HELP ME!”

He’s wailing in pain as he screams for help, crawling away from the little girl. 

Only the little girl follows him. 

With her soft looking hair and innocent looking eyes, she reveals the small knife she was fiddling with in her hands.

She makes a small incision in her hand, as she approaches the crying vampire.  Mercilessly, she clamps her bleeding hand over the vampire's wailing mouth. 

His eyes widen in fear as her black blood trails into his mouth, he’s trying to force her hand away but she overpowers him. 

She stares down at him as life begins to flicker out of his eyes. Her gaze was neutral as if she had only killed an annoying mosquito. 

As this happens, the vampires watch with horror, all of them moving away from the child they once thought helpless. Thinking she would turn on them and force them to drink her black blood. 

The only ones near her are Alucard and Kaname. Alucard clapped excitedly from the brutal murder of one of his acquaintances.

“I’ll be the first to admit that Hellsing was a difficult bastard to kill. But he was oh so fascinating! He survived in areas where many humans would have perished, I had always seen him with many vampire bite wounds and yet the old dog was still human! You can imagine my surprise when I tore him to shreds and his blood almost killed me!” He says cheerfully, as if he were relaying fantastic news.

Once the vampire stops squirming and he lays limp on the floor, the little girl moves her hand. Placing pressure on the wound, her big eyes find Kaname, who stands there watching her stoically. He’s unafraid, challenging her to try to kill him. She takes small steps to himself. For a moment he can see a rage deeply hidden in her pretty e/c eyes, that is directed at him. 

“This is what I have found out so far if you would all so kindly listen:

They have immunity from our kind.  They cannot turn into level E vampires. They are also quite resilient against pureblood powers, that’s why I’m careful with this little one.” He grunts as he bends down to pick up the little girl. Effectively stopping her from killing Kaname. If he weren’t a Kuran, he would gladly watch her smother him in her blood. He just didn’t want to deal with the wrath of the Kurans. 

He dodges her chubby hand trying to force her blood onto his mouth, “this one also has a natural inclination to kill us! Isn't the Hellsing bloodline so fascinating?” He jokes around, bouncing the girl in his arms as if she were a harmless little baby. 

He fakes a motion of throwing her at the vampire crowd, in which they all scream and try to back away. 

Alucard lets out a cackle at their fear, deeply amused. 

“What's the matter? Scared of a little brat?” He coos, rubbing his gaunt cheek against her chubby one. She makes a motion to bite him in which he moves his head away, not paying her mind.

“I just wanted to let you all know that Hellsing’s devil spawn will be my apprentice. Anyone who tries to interfere with my plans will be answering to me.” 

With that he swivels around with the little girl in his arms. Kaname watches as they leave, the little girl glaring at all the vampires with rage. 

He could feel the bloodlust rolling off of her in large waves as she gave them all hateful looks. Wiping her bloodied hand onto Alucard’s jacket, her doe eyes find him staring at her. She sneers at him, flipping him off. 

He can’t help but let a little chuckle, like Alucard he too was amused of the little girl. 

He was interested to see her again. 

[toots-senpai]

A/n: I have a little bit of a teaser for this nsfw ticci toby fic that people are asking for, but lol i truly dont know where to go with it and requests are still open especially for this one, also one hundred percent unedited so don't expect picasso

thank you @kiss4vicfuentes for making me post this teaser <33

small nsfw below the cut

Something is hidden in his small taps against the counter and his long stare into your abdomen as you move around the kitchen in the middle of the night for a snack. He’s yawned a few times and has rubbed his eyes alot yet his stare doesn’t let up. A laugh brings a smile to becoming brighter on his face when you come around the counter to give him a kiss while the microwave goes in the background. The whirr is background noise and a hum in your hearing besides his kisses to your throat and the shuffling of your clothes from his hands making his way under. One hand grabbing the small of your back while the other one slowly makes it way up your stomach and through the valley of your chest. He grabs your throat swiftly pulling you as close as he can with his firm grip at your throat right from the base of your jaw. Passionate, too fierce to be any form of healthy but too soft for him. You thought you knew what you were signing up for the moment you decided to stay with him. If you were ever able to say vows, 'for better or for worse' wouldn't be in them and “it can't be worse than what he gave you originally” as a solid vow. He's promised that. Your vows besides that before anything would rather involve 'in sickness or in health'. Not too traumatizing of an environment or even a situation yet the possibility of anything shaking the room. You have to be ready. Ready for his attention and the emotions that come with it because it's always for better. Inconsistency isn't something you're unfamiliar with and Toby will always be better than everything before but he is everything and inconsistent. A promise can be kept, but still that promise brings insecurities to the surface without trying.

It’s the statue of the promise, that it always has to be better. Confident that there will always be a problem ahead and things have to become better than then. You know he’s gone far for that promise. The house you’re in, compared to the original abandoned building, is an upgrade he paid in blood. Not murder though, the house was untouched and webbed from the corners of the floors to the ceilings once you stepped in this said day, the day he came down an uncuffed you from the pillar in that building.

It’s a sight you remember clearly. There was blood running down from multiple parts of his face with his lip busted open and an excited smile painted by a child. His words held more than true like the night before that day. You haven’t seen that smile since, the look in his eyes now are darker than before and for some reason his pupils are blown wider than crazy. He has you against the counter. now and you don’t have to look at yourself to know how disheveled you look. Your brows furrow and he gives you one of his silent chuckles against your lips before stripping you of your shirt and kissing up the bare skin of your stomach.

Toby gets off just knowing your his. Knowing confidently that anytime he slips into bed you’re there with the almost the same skimpy tanktop and shorts that he can slip his hand under whenever he wants. Your bedtime wear is almost made for him to easily take off, he slips into your panties always with ease. He’s keeping his eyes locked with yours as he latches onto one of your nipples, teeth teasing and tugging the nub while his fingers making lazy circles around the other, small pinches every time his teeth drag a bit on the other. His other hand is already sliding your shorts to the side and running his hand up and down your inner thighs. He wants you to twitch and quiver and pull him closer, his endgoal is always over stimulation. He loves you shoving while trying to push him away from his broad chest and he’ll push himself more into you, skin to skin. It’s always a game to Toby, cat and mouse. Push and shove. He’s towering over you now instead, looking you down with a cocky smile on his face. It’s more skin digging than the stare earlier, even more then when he bends down to reconnect his mouth against your skin. There's no urgency with his mouth or his fingers and he's appreciating all the skin that rubs against his and lands in his mouth. He's all over you with no ends to letting you go or letting his attention detour.

Only once do your eyes roll back and it's a one way ticket to your brain. There's your thinking. Your air is almost taken away from you when he bites you, your eyes lock with his again but the thought doesn't waver even more so regardless of his attentiveness.

'he's needy..'

He scoffs at you.

"What are you looking away for?" He mutters against your skin, his tone is raspy and his eyes are piercing while his teeth could break underneath the muscles of your collarbones and up to your cheeks with the piercing glare while you crane your neck a bit to look down at him. He's starting to kiss down your stomach slowly, teasing your hips with small grasps. your lungs push your stomach as you heave nervously. Your skin is already marked from his other nights of pent up aggression and how slow he is reminds you of the switch that can be flicked in a matter of seconds within him.

~~~~~~

a/n : lmao go wild with suggestion

[xxdreamersdesirexx]

Crash Into Me

Moira has finally made it as a rookie BSAA agent, and this was supposed to be a simple assignment. But nothing is ever simple when it comes to Leon Scott Kennedy. She hadn't met him before-- not directly-- but she comes face to face with the famous federal agent in an unexpected encounter that continues to escalate, in more ways than one.

AO3 Link

Rating: Mature (will be explicit) Status: In-progress

Tags: Hook-Up, Drunk Sex, Smoking, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Behavior, hook up turns serious, Rough Sex, Obsessive Behavior, toxic and trashy behavior, mission fic

*note: this was originally posted as x reader fic but I decided I liked it better in third person! 🙇 Thank you for understanding!

---

The first time Moira lay her eyes on Leon Scott Kennedy it was in the kitchenette of a BSAA safehouse in Sacramento California in 2013.

He was not supposed to be there.

He was draped over a kitchen chair, feet up with his boots on the table, and his leather jacket thrown carelessly over the back of the other chair. He had a mostly empty glass in one hand, and a cigarette in the other. There was a half empty bottle of Jack Daniels on the table in front of him.

It was not supposed to be there either.

Moira, however, was very much supposed to be there, much to her own annoyance. The mission, such as it was, was simply to check on the security of various safehouses in cities around the country, and report back to Chris if they needed re-equipping, or repair.

It was busy work. Or, it was supposed to be busy work. She hadn't expected any complications, and she was sure that Chris hadn't either, or he would have assigned someone else. This 'mission' was just supposed to give her something to do now that she'd officially completed her BSAA training. 

Technically she should have been a field agent already. She pretty sure someone pulled some strings to keep her out of danger and the idea rankled at the back of her mind as she stood there, watching Leon fucking Kennedy stare into space.

Yeah, somehow this was all her dad's fault.

"You aren't supposed to be here," Moira told him. It was her way of announcing her presence. 

"Chris let me in." He didn't look up at her , but he grabbed the bottle on the table. 

"Well that's a fucking lie. Chris sent me to check that the place was empty." She put her hand on her hip where her gun hung. It was nice, now, for it to feel like a reassurance instead of a terror. "You're lucky I recognize you, agent Kennedy."

"My lucky day," he drawled. He held up the bottle toward her. "Don't think we've met before– pour you a drink? You are old enough to drink, right, princess?"

"Hey fuck you, of course I'm old enough!" Moira glared hotly, self-conscious about her babyface and reputation as 'Barry's kid' in the presence of the older, and more famous agent. She swaggered deliberately over to the table, pulled out the other chair– the one with Leon's jacket on it– and sat down.

"Hey, hey, no need to get testy about it. I don't want Chris on my ass for boozing up an underage agent, that's all." 

He smiled smoothly at her, and poured more whiskey into the now-empty glass. He passed it across the table to her. And here I thought he might get me my own, she thought. But she picked it up anyway, and took a sip, well aware that over age or not she should not be drinking on the job.

"Yeah? But you don't mind Chris on your ass for fucking around in his safe houses?"

Leon shrugged, putting his arms behind his head and grinning at her. She could smell the whiskey on his breath from across the table mingling with the smell of cigarette smoke, and his leather jacket, and whatever cheap, musky cologne it is that he was wearing.

"What Chris doesn't know can't hurt me, right?"

"And you think you can, what, buy me off with a drink?" she demanded. She knocked back another long swallow of the liquor and felt it burn all the way down her throat. "It's not even a good drink. Chris is totally going to hear about this."

"Tch. Just my luck somebody comes to check on the place the one time I come to crash." He uncrossed, and recrossed his boots on the table.

"Don't you work for the government?" She put the glass down on the table, and leaned across toward Leon, scrutinizing him. He has a cocky, devil may care attitude, but underneath it she could tell there's something he's troubled about. What though, was impossible to know. But she'd heard stories about him. From Chris, and from Claire.

"Sure. And?"

"So don't they have their own safehouses for you to use?"

"Sure. And they're full of bugs and cameras and shit," Leon shrugged. "Maybe I just wanted to escape the panopticon for a little while."

"Fuck," Moire hissed, thinking about it. "They really have you pinned down like a bug under a microscope, huh, Kennedy?"

Moir watched his smile sour, and he licked his teeth in irritation.

"Wish you wouldn't put it that way," he said. He grabbed the glass from where Moirea put it, and drained it in front of her.

"Hey!"

"What, you weren't drinking it. If you want more, there's more." He grinned now, and took his feet off the table, leaning in toward her instead.

"I shouldn't be drinking on the job– and I'm pretty sure you shouldn't be either. Or smoking in here."

He took a long pull of his cigarette, and she watched his handsome lips wrap around the tip of it almost seductively.

"Smoking in safehouses is tradition, promise," he insisted. He pointed at her. "There's more in my pocket if you wanna light up with me."

"Are you still trying to buy me off?" Moira crossed her arms.

"Maybe," he agreed. "But I'm starting to get the sense that you're not a cheap date. What did you say you were here for, again?"

Her patience was already starting to thin as the man refused to take anything seriously.

"To check it over for Chris. Make sure the locks are in good condition, and there's still guns and ammo, and all that." She waved a hand and went to pat down the jacket, looking for Leon's cigarettes. The first thing that she found was, however, a condom. Her lips twisted in a half-disgusted, half unsurprised sneer.

Leon watched her pull it out, and grinned all the wider.

"Other pocket, princess. But you can give that over here."

She made a face, and slid it toward him, patting down the jacket once again until she found his cigarettes. The box was more than half empty but she pulled one out anyway.

"Okay, where's the lighter, then?" she demanded. He crooked two fingers toward her, beckoning her across the table. 

She leaned in, cigarette in hand.

He produced a lighter– an old metal flip style one– and flicked it open, lighting her cigarette for her. She put it in her mouth, and took a long puff. At least they weren't stale.

"Thanks," she murmured as the smoke curled up and around her head, joining the cloud that Leon had been producing. 

"No prob." She watched him lean on the table again, sucking on the dwindling end of the cigarette. "If you wanna just go, I can lock up here and check everything."

"What? No! I'm not going to leave it to you."

"You don't trust me?" He put his free hand to his heart, over the black t-shirt that covered his muscular frame. She couldn't help noticing how good he looked, even as he was heading straight for forty. 

"I don't know," she admitted. "But I sure as hell don't want to risk my agent status over it. If you're not going to leave, I'll just have to wait here until you do, and lock up then."

And probably tell Chris he needed to change the locks, she didn't tell him.

"Guess we're stuck together then," Leon purred. He grabbed a hold of the bottle of whiskey again and took a sip right from it.

"And all you're going to do is drink and smoke, I'm guessing?" Moire said, leaning on her hand.

"That was the plan," Leon admitted. "But now that you're here I've got some other ideas."

The way he looked at her when he said it sent a flush of heat through her face– and further downward. If wasn't suggesting what she thought he was suggesting then he really needed to learn to phrase things better.

But she'd heard a lot of things from Claire.

She moved to get up from the chair.

"I should go."

He stood too, and she felt a shiver go through her body.

"Hope you're not planning to drive after that whiskey."

"That's… none of your business," she insisted. She had driven. Her car was parked outside.

He shook his head.

"C'mon, kid, where's the harm?" He held the whiskey up again. "We can finish this off on the couch over there. More comfortable than the kitchen table, right?"

Moire moistened her lips thoughtfully. 

The idea was, admittedly, very tempting. Leon Kennedy was famous, amazing at what he does, and honestly, kind of exactly her type. Especially now that she could see that he absolutely had the disaster of a personality people whispered about, to go along with that pretty face.

A government agent hiding from fed tracking, and skipping off to smoke and get drunk in a BSAA safehouse. And now he wanted to screw around with her.

Chris definitely didn't send her on this mission to screw around with guys from other agencies. Or any guys. Or Leon Kennedy. Or to get drunk.

Not to mention the fact that her father would be pissed if he ever found out. 

The idea was thrilling, and dark.

Her resolve failed. 

She took a puff of the cigarette that had been dangling between her fingers.

"Alright, what the hell. The couch does sound more comfortable."

"I knew you'd see it my way." 

Leon stepped close, and scooped his heavy arm around her shoulders. Moira felt a shiver go through her at the warmth of his body and the smell of cheap cologne and whiskey, and cigarettes.

She let him pull her out of the kitchenette, and over to the couch.

[bebepac]

Six Sentence Sunday 03.31.24

Is it me you're looking for? Yes, I know I've been M.I.A. for a bit, but you guys I'm really trying to upper level adult here. I have decided I'm going to buy a house. So I have hired a realtor and have started the process. When my lease is up again, I WILL be moving into my home.

Let's see if I remember how to set one of these up!

Original post 03/31/24 at 8:02PM EST

Chapter 9: Riley Brooks's Day Off

The Series: Life of Riley Book 2

The Book: TRR

Pairings: Liam x Riley (Liam x F!MC)

Status: Still in the writing process

Since the challenges Constantine had been coming up with weekly for the suitors were getting a lot of publicity for the crown, the suitors met weekly for a meeting with a PR specialist to make sure they had the crown’s best interests in everything they did. They also passed out weekly itineraries of what the Suitors would be doing. Did it ever reveal any events they would be participating in? No, but that their sponsor would be revealing the new task and prize for that week."

Riley thumbed through the itinerary, once than again looking confused.

“Is something wrong Lady Riley?”

“Jenna, my booklet seems to be missing a page. I have nothing for Friday’s itinerary .”

“Actually no you’re not. None of you are. Since I've just been brought into this role, I know you ladies are going through a lot being thrust into the public eye in this magnitude. Lady Riley, you for example, you are coming to us from America and have no experience with dealing with the nobility on a daily basis, and are completely learning how to navigate court successfully from scratch. I recognize this to be quite the experience. The potential reward of all of this is indescribable, but you all need breathing moments for mental and physical wellbeing. We are building in “off days” to your schedule to do what you want with it, a recharge day of sorts, or a mental health day if you will.”

“Well if you’re weak you need days off. I will spend my time training.” Olivia chimed in.

“If that is how you want to spend your day Olivia, there are no wrong answers, it’s free to do whatever you want, as long as you enjoy it.”

That evening:

“Of course, you would have an off day when I’m out of the country.” Liam sounded genuinely disappointed.

“I know I thought about that too.”

“Take it as an opportunity Riley, do some exploring, sleep in a little bit, we both know you like your sleep. Relax. You know, life moves really fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

“You’re completely right Liam. Thanks.”

“Sounds like you have a plan.”

“I do.”

When she hung up with him, she called Maxwell.

“What’s up Little Blossom?”

“I need your help.”

WIP 2

Part 3: Spice Spice Baby

Series: Not officially one: Previous Parts include: Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice

The Book: TRR

Pairings: Liam x Bebe (Liam x F!OC)

Status: Still in the writing process

I have never required that much sleep. There has always been something so peaceful about the world at night for me. I glanced at her once more before getting out of bed. She was soundly sleeping and didn’t even stir from her slumber as I rose. A good mattress will do that, and honestly I think she needed the rest. I slipped on my pajama pants and walked to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water.

Night time was when I did my best thinking, and the thought crossed my mind that the two of us would be able to pull off this ruse with my coworkers. Bebe really did seem invested to make “us work.” Or maybe she was invested in the paycheck.

“Was my snoring keeping you awake?”

Bebe was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, resting her hip on the frame, her robe loosely tied.

“You don’t snore.”

“And you,” she gently tapped my nose with her pointer finger, “are a liar.”

“I wasn’t lying, I didn’t hear you snoring, or if you were, you weren’t disturbing me.”

“Why are you up, Liam?”

“Why are you up, Bebe?”

She quirked her eyebrow at me, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I rarely sleep through the whole night, I’m always up for a bit.”

“Why?”

Her stare from across the room was almost piercing my soul.

“Therapist was not one of your duties I'm paying you for in our contract.”

She looked surprised, but more importantly, hurt by my remark. In a split second I had turned her into a business arrangement that she was a prostitute, that I was paying for a service.

“Oh, well you’re paying me a handsome sum, therefore I feel like I should be anything you need me to be at the moment. I’ll just….”

I had hurt her feelings, and snapped at her, and I didn’t even know why, and the look in her eyes, I didn’t want to ever see that again.

“Life.” I called out to her before she was out of the room. Bebe immediately stopped and turned to face me.

“I can relate to that. Do you mind if I just sit up with you for a bit then?”

“No, not at all.”

Bebe settled into the couch next to me. She didn’t say a word, but I found her silence and non-judgment strangely comforting.

WIP 3

Part 4

Series: The Vampires Live On

The Book: TRR

The Pairing: Liam x Riley (in this decade Gabriel x Alice in the past)

Status: Still in the writing process

“We’re here.”

“I really didn’t think it would be this clean here. I know what you said, but looking at the other graves along the way here, I expected the same condition.”

“You know, I can be very persuasive, and keeping in contact as the groundskeeper’s changed over the years, very important in this. “

“I didn’t think they would be buried side by side.”

“Because that didn’t matter here, and since he died, protecting the two of you, his family wanted nothing to do with him.”

“Poor Max. He was such a good sweet guy. What we were, or not completely, never mattered to him.”

I placed the small flower arrangement into the vase at his grave.

“I have missed you dear friend,”

“I’m going to give you some time alone with your sister and friend.”

“You can stay.”

“No, I’ve been with you for an eternity, you have not had any time with her or him since that night. I want you to have some time alone with them. You deserve that.”

“Thank you, Liam.”

Even though the space around her grave was clean, I found myself picking up and pushing the few leaves and debris away to make her area more pristine.

I sat down in the grass in front of her grave and closed my eyes, letting the emotions of finally being here with her again wash over me.

“Hi Clara. I have missed you so much.”

WIP 4

Chapter 17: Finale Part 4: The Wedding

Series: The Rotten Apple 🍎

The Book: TRH & Beyond

Pairings: Eleanor x Nico (Elle x M!OC) / Liam x Riley

Status: Still in the writing process

Final exams for Liberty had ensured that she wouldn’t be able to come to Greece early to take part in some of the pre-wedding festivities that Elle had planned. Elle felt guilty that Liberty would be missing her graduation from the Crown Academy to come to her wedding; her father had wanted to pull some strings for Liberty, but Elle declined, citing the importance of her education, though she did want her there.

Elle smiled as she panned the camera around the back yard.

"I really wish I was there Ellie."

"I really wish I was there. Libby! Look at you in your cap and gown. Father and I stepped away for a bit to watch the live feed of the baccalaureate."

"Thanks Ellie."

"For what?"

"Just making an effort. I can't wait to see you and everyone."

“Does that include Michail? He looked so sad when I told him you would not be here tonight.”

A slow smile crept over Liberty’s face.

“He looks sad?”

Elle laughed, “You’re clearly not about that.”

“Did he dance with any other girls?”

“Just one.”

“Who?”

Elle’s smile widened.

“Only me, when he could pull me away from Nico, all he talked about was you. He really likes you Libby.”

“You think so?”

“I know so, and he can’t wait to see you tomorrow and neither can I.”

“Neither can I!”

[valentiyne]

𝗋𝖾𝗇𝖽𝖾𝗓𝗏𝗈𝗎𝗌 𝗉𝗍. three ☆ 𝖼𝖺𝗅𝗎𝗆 𝗁𝗈𝗈𝖽

Calum Hood x Fem!Reader part one part two Summary: It had been weeks since you heard Luke's voice- something needed to change no matter who stood in your way. Warnings: Mild cursing & Mentions of infidelity. Word Count: 2.1k Copyright © 2023 Valentine. All rights reserved. This original work is not allowed to be reposted on any platform in any format.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻

Calum Hood was guilty. He didn't show it though, putting on a smile every time he stepped out the door and posing with the numerous fans alongside his best friend, Luke.

Luke Hemmings wasn't guilty. He put on a front that he was the happiest man, having everything at the touch of his hand. His hand loosely wrapped around your waist as you both stood on red carpets together, showing off your "Hollywood couple" status.

But in reality, you hadn't talked in weeks. You'd been staying with Calum, you on the couch and him in his room. You couldn't dare sleep in that bed again, could hardly stand being in the same vicinity as him. He wasn't mad, neither was Luke, but you were mad at yourself and that was enough. The night Luke found out, he didn't tell you to leave or pack your stuff. He just pulled you in for a hug and turned on the balls of his feet and walked back into his room.

Luke wanted to hate him, he wanted nothing more than to march over to the end of the tour bus and knock his ass out- but for some odd reason, he couldn't put one foot before the other. Maybe it had something to do with you, knowing it'd made you upset. It shouldn't even matter to him how upset you were because you were the last person to take anyone's feelings into consideration.

Calum took note of the amount of uneasiness Luke showed, almost always going out of his way to sit as close to him as possible during interviews, borrowing his stuff without asking- even going as far as stealing his guitar picks to throw him over the edge.

"What are you thinking about", Calum asks from across the dining room table, his voice echoing through the room. I stared down at my plate, my fork trembling in my hand as I recounted all the times I've left Luke in the middle of the night- just to end up in this house.

"Just not hungry", I reply quietly, pushing my chair back as I stand, scooping up the plate and marching over to the trash can.

Calum sighs loudly and drops his fork onto his plate, letting it clatter loudly as he wipes his mouth with a napkin.

"For god's sake, Y/n", he starts, standing up and walking towards me. He grabs my arm gently and turns me to face him, examining my face. The rings under my eyes were apparent, regardless of the layers of concealer and powder I packed on. I looked like shit, and I didn't need a sympathetic look to tell me- I felt like shit too.

"When are we going to talk about this?". He pleads, his grip on my arm tightening ever so slightly.

"There's nothing to talk about, we did what we did and now I have to pay the price", I shrug softly and tear my arm from his reach, walking towards the trash can and scraping the food into the bin. He doesn't say anything as I slowly walk towards the sink and drop the dishes in, clasping my hands on the edge of the sink and I close my eyes and focus on my breathing.

"I'm going to Luke's tonight." I finally say, turning to Calum who stood in the dining room dumbfounded.

"Do you think that's a good idea?", He asks, turning to grab his wine off the table and taking a small sip.

"I don't know, but I want to see him", I rub my eyes with my hands, hard enough that I see fireworks. "I need to."

Calum nods a few times, swirling the red liquid in the glass before raising it up to his lips to finish off.

"Okay, do you want me to drive you?"

I shake my head; that's probably the last thing we need.

"I'll be okay", I say unconvinced, moving towards the living room which held my pile of stuff in the corner. I crouch down and bury my hands through my bag, pulling out my car keys and shoes before turning to look at Calum. He stood in the same position I left him in, staring at me cautiously. Almost as if I was a ticking time bomb, and he was scared that if he got too close or said the wrong thing, I'd explode.

"I'll call you if I need anything." I mentally curse myself, hating the very words that slip out of my mouth. It should be an innocent saying, but I was saying it to Calum Hood- the same person who was one call away when I needed him more than anything. With a swift movement, Calum stands in front of me and places a gentle platonic kiss on my forehead.

I sat in the driveway of our house for a while, looking up to see all the lights were out. I wanted to reverse back out and pretend I never came, it's been weeks since I've seen him and I don't want to rub salt on a fresh wound. But I also couldn't bring myself to shift the car into gear, staring frozen in time at the kitchen light that was now flicked on. I could see his silhouette, his messy hair, and his oversized shirt.

I could almost paint the picture in my head, the brown shirt encased in holes that he so desperately loved, the gold hair clip he stole from me knitted in his hair to keep his curls from his face, and the embroidered socks on his feet that I made him two years ago.

I opened the car door slowly, sliding out cautiously and onto the pavement. The light was still on so I picked up my pace towards the porch. I stepped over the creaky panel and placed my hand on the handle, the cold metal unwelcoming me. I look down at my feet, mentally telling myself to "get this shit over with" and see him.

The door swings open before I can react, dragging my hand with it, and my foot stumbles inside the door. I look up in horror to see Luke towering over me, a bag of chips in one hand and his phone in the other. He wore the brown shirt, his hair in the gold clip, and the socks were placed neatly on his feet.

We both don't say anything, he continues chewing a mouthful of chips before swallowing. I finally let go of the door handle and Luke steps aside, allowing me to fully walk into the house. I drop my purse on the shoe stand, my keys rested on the hook next to the door and I slip my shoes off- a habit Luke made me pick up. I slowly put my shoes on the stand, eyeing Luke's Converse now caked in mud. I turn around slowly to face him, the same emotionless eyes staring back at me. He shakes the chip bag, peering down inside before turning it towards me with a raised eyebrow.

"No thank you, i'm okay", I say quietly, putting a hand up at the offer.

He shrugs his shoulders and turns around, walking towards the living room and sitting on the floor- where the couch once was

"What happened to the couch?", I ask, following hot on his trail up until he sat down.

"Threw it out", Is all he responds with, stuffing his mouth with a handful of chips again.

I nod slowly, looking around the house to take note of anything else that's change. Everything else remained the exact same, aside from the couch now being gone and a photo of Calum, Luke and I surfing now shattered on the ground in the far corner.

Luke didn't dare look me in the eyes for a second time, just eating what was left of the bag and keeping his eyes focused on the movie playing in front of him.

"Lu?" My voice is quiet, almost like I was saying it for the first- or last time.

He mumbles in response, his body turning to slowly face me but his eyes meeting anywhere but me.

"Can we talk?"

He laughs now, a heartfelt chuckle that makes his cheeks turn red and the ground beneath us to vibrate gently.

"Talk? Talk about what, Y/n?"

I didn't have a response, I wasn't even sure we'd make it this far in a conversation.

"Luke," I start, crossing my hands over my body, "I love you. What I did-"

"Fuck you, Y/n" He spits out, finally meeting my eyes as he stares me down, mentally shooting daggers.

"Wha-"

"No fuck you for even trying to pull that on me right now. 'I love you Luke' and 'It was all a mistake, I'll never do it again." He mocks me now, standing up to his feet and walking up to me. "Were you rehearsing that in your head for the last year while my best friend took you on every fucking surface of this house?" His voice raises drastically, his body inching closer to me.

I don't cut him off, I let him speak his mind- knowing it's probably been bottling up for a while.

"I trusted you with everything, you've been by my side since day one- back when I had nothing. I just can't believe this, you show up here after a few weeks thinking things will go back to normal?", he throws his hands up in the air, "Nothing that happened was normal, I have to scrub my body in the shower for hours to try and get the idea of Calum touching you like I used to out of my head."

I stare at him, silent for almost an eternity before I dare to open my mouth.

"Luke, I'm sorry. I fucked up-"

"Fuck that, there's no fixing this. I don't want to kick you out but I think it'd probably be for the better. I'll help you pack and pay for a place, but I just don't think you being here is a good idea anymore." His voice cracks.

Nodding my head, I bite down on my tongue to stop the tears from flowing down my cheeks. It'd be selfish of me to cry, unfair to him and the pain I put him through.

"Okay", I walk past him, slowly inching my way up the stairs with our eyes locked. His hands were clenched at his side, watching my every step.

Once inside the bedroom, I closed the door behind me and sat on the edge of the bed. Many emotions ran through my head, I wasn't quite sure what I was feeling- but I knew I didn't like it either. The clock on the nightstand ticked agonizingly slow, causing my leg to bounce before I finally stood and made my way into our once-shared closet. To my surprise, all of my stuff was already packed neatly into a few boxes; my glassware was delicately wrapped in newspaper and my valuables were stored safely. I could hear the door swing open behind me, my eyes not averting from the box as I heard his footsteps slow right behind me. His hands wrapped around my chest, crouching down to put his head on mine as he rocked us both slowly.

"I'm sorry", his voice cracks for the second time tonight, and I feel my body start to tremble underneath his reach.

"For what", I whisper quietly, almost mentally praying he couldn't hear me.

"For not being good enough."

Luke had helped me carry all of my belongings to the car, gently placing them down in the truck and putting my stuffed animals behind the seatbelts. We had avoided each other's touch since the shared moment in the closet, retracing quickly if we even bumped hands reaching for the same object. It was killing me and I knew it had the same effect on him.

"I think that's everything", He dusted his hands onto his basketball shorts, a mere smile painted on his face. I return the smile towards him, rocking on my feet before nervously playing with my hair.

"Thanks for the help.", I watch as he slowly averts his gaze to me again, scanning my eyes before walking closer. His face is almost millimeters apart from mine and I could feel his breath on my cheeks. His eyes were emotionless, almost dark blue in hue and deadly.

He stares at me, almost contemplating his next actions before he bends down and plants a gentle kiss on my lips in one swift action. I return the kiss, almost too quickly- causing his to pull away and clear his throat.

"For what it's worth, I really hope Im the last person who gets to do that", He laughs innocently, swinging my drivers door open and letting me slip inside. I give a sympathetic smile, closing my eyes for a moment before sighing.

"I do too"

[manicformunson]

Ahh sorry i didnt mean to make you uncomfortable, i apologise if it may have brought any unwanted feeling or anything up. As for another request ah maybe the reader has a high pain tolerance and doesnt notice an injury and eddie helps her take care of it when he sees it. Or just another idea sorry😅 maybe when eddie is around the reader just doesnt talk cause she is nervous around him cause she has a crush on him, idk honestly you can write anything, especially with eddie in it and ill love it.

once bitten twice shy

pairing eddie munson x fem!reader

summary reader is hopelessly in love with eddie, she can't even speak coherent sentences around him. of course he assumes she's scared of him until a certain 15 year old can't keep his mouth shut.

note i'll do both and once again really my fault for not specifying! thanks for sticking with me though :)

It was a real problem, anyone could see that -- how choked up Y/N got around Hawkins' Freak Munson. Eddie had assumed it was because of just that, his freak status. Or maybe the way he wore his hair, or maybe it was his music that scared her.

Whatever it was, it made the metalhead's heart crush everytime he saw how visibly uncomfortable she was whenever he was around. One particular memory burned in his brain was when Hellfire held a campaign at Mike's house, Y/N had been there with Nancy.

Eddie remembered when Nancy had been ordered to take snacks to the club down in the basement and Y/N had followed; as soon as their eyes found each other Y/N grabbed Nancy's arm, whispering something inaudible before rushing as fast as she could back upstairs. It left him confused to say the least.

Last week though, was even weirder.

Y/N was with Nancy to pick up Mike, Eddie had remembered the way she lit up and slightly waved at him, her delicate lips mumbling a soft, "Bye Eddie." It was simple and sweet but he could not stop thinking about it.

If she had been scared of him like he originally thought why would she bother with goodbyes? Maybe she was just being nice -- it was in character for her anyway. He remembered how he had been shocked at how pretty her voice sounded, so taken back that he actually stuttered. "Oh yeah, b-bye."

Dustin Henderson made sure to not let him live that down. The freshman had told the Hellfire table that Monday how Eddie The Freak Munson had stuttered, and yes said freak slapped him upside the head for it.

All week he was thinking about Y/N. Eddie had always thought she was cute, even back in middle school when she had braces but now he felt like he was looking at her in a whole knew light. Shit, he thought to himself, he must been really lonely for a goodbye from a pretty girl to grind his gears for a whole week.

Y/N on the other hand, she was absolutely whole heartedly in love with him. She had been since watching him in the talent show years ago. The only other person who knew was Nancy who always was encouraging her to go for it and Y/N totally would, if she didn't become the world's biggest idiot in front of him.

It was so bad, Y/N couldn't even speak coherent sentences when he was around. Even when he had been nothing but polite to her, she still couldn't find words -- just her mouth gaping like a fish.

Graduation was coming into view so Y/N knew that if she didn't do anything she never would so, she asked Nancy if she could tag along with her while picking up Mike from Hellfire in hopes of seeing him.

Y/N had a big speak planned, how she was going to express her admiration for Eddie and how he makes her dumb but of course, the second she saw him all words left her. It was only when Nancy had nudged her shoulder did she muster up the courage to say goodbye.

That night Y/N was moping face down on her best friends bed, with her hand rubbing reassuring circles in her back. "I don't think it wasn't that bad." Nancy offered. But it was, Y/N knew it, Nancy knew it, hell the whole world knew it.

Y/N was hopeless.

She tried to go about her week like normal but all her thoughts surrounded the metalhead that stole her heart. Y/N snuck glances at him at lunch a lot, he was breathtaking.

It was the next Friday and Y/N had asked once again if she could tag along with Nancy, she was determined this time. Y/N had gone to Nancy's house immediately after school, allowing her to put on a little bit of makeup and fix her hair. "Eddie's sure to do a double take now."

Her and Nancy had gotten there a little early and decided to get out of the car to stretch their legs. Unlike last time, Y/N had no idea what her plan was she just hoped she could redeem herself.

Eddie was biting his nails all through the campaign, hoping he would see Y/N today. He knew it was probably unlikely but he couldn't help but get his hopes up. Dustin had been nothing but aggravating about Y/N all week, laughing at Eddie for getting nervous around her even though he can make a whole scene in the cafeteria unphased.

When it was over Eddie couldn't help himself, peeking outside and allowing a smile when he saw Y/N leaning up again the car next to Nancy. He had jogged a little ahead of the kids to get to her, ignoring the red that dusted her cheeks and chest he smiled, "Hey Y/N."

Her mind frozen once again as he flashed that adoring smile and Y/N had to take a second and force it to defrost before returning it. "Hey Eddie." Y/N twirled her hair between her fingers as a nervous habit. The two only looked at each other in awkward teen fashion before Dustin came up behind Eddie.

"He really likes you Y/N, you made him stutter!"

"Jesus Christ Henderson-"

Eddie went to grab the little twerp but missed as Dustin ducked into the backseat. It was Eddie's turn to sport the red on his cheeks, scratching the back of his neck. He couldn't tell if the look on Y/N's face was a good shock or a bad shock.

"Hey, I'm uh, I'm sorry about him he has this thing where-" Eddie had tried to explain but was shut up but small hands gripping his face, pulling it down to meet cherry flavored lips.

Y/N had done it. She actually did it! Granted she still hadn't really said anything but she was so overwhelmed at the mere thought of Dustin being right that she just acted on impulse.

Eddie's hands found her waist, pulling her closer to him as he intended on deepening the kiss, earning a sigh from Y/N. A hard bang on the window broke them free, "Hey love birds break it up! I'm ready to go home!" Mike yelled from the backseat, leaning over Dustin and earning a slap from Nancy.

Eddie grunted in disappointment against her lips as he met her eyes, for once she was the one to speak up. "I like you. A lot. I like you a lot." Y/N bit her lip, her hands moving down from Eddie's jaw only to be caught by his rough ones. His thumbs stroked her wrist as Eddie laughed, "I like you too, in case it wasn't obvious."

Y/N giggled before they were startled by another bang, "Let's GO." Eddie rolled his eyes and banged back before cupping Y/N's cheek, "Maybe I can call you later?" She nodded continuing to bite her lip, "Yeah, okay." Eddie snuck another kiss before turning and heading to his van, leaving her breathless.

"Y/N LET'S GO!"

"I'm coming! Jesus Mike."

[marwhoa]

request: okay soooo… i was wondering if you could write something abt the reader (gn please) being introverted??? and despite their shyness and quiet disposition, they’re drawn to more outgoing people?? (basically me irl lmao) any character from ouran & tmnt is good!!

🝮 “ high school sweethearts ”

hikaru hitachiin x reader

author’s note: i’m hungry and just realized i wrote this whole thing without putting on my glasses. Originally i was gonna write this for kasanoda then i was like “wait, he’s not so outgoing, he’s shy and easily embarrassed” then i looked at Hikaru and was like “… prankster… that’s outgoing… even though he can be a little.. immature” then i was like waaaaait i’ve read a bit of the manga, and he does change a bit!! so here’s my excuse at getting to write a casual hikaru x reader uwu

word count: 1.6k

The two of you had met during cooking class. He was always surrounded by all kinds of friendly faces, and you wanted to be one of them too! So, when he was assigned your cooking partner, you were secretly over the moon with the chance to hang out with him more one-on-one.

Unfortunately, it kind of seemed like didn’t feel the same. While getting ingredients ready, with everyone else distracted, he seemed to be… very focused on his side of the work instead. This made your lips tighten into a bit of a frown. There wasn’t even a chance to introduce yourself and he already disliked you? Harsh..

“ Y/N, can you hand me the onions? “

Hikaru asked, pointing at the onions you had diced up. Absentmindedly you nodded, handing it off and going to rub your increasingly-teary eyes—what? it was disheartening to fail so early on, don’t judge!

But, you were shocked. For two reasons.

1.) Did he just say your name? He knows your name? How? It wasn’t like you had friends in this class—acquaintances yes, and they knew your name because, well, you were pretty nice. Well liked, just not popular. Kindness gets you that status, I suppose!

2.) He had grabbed your hand before it touched your eyes. A little “ eep “ had escaped you with how fast it happened.

“ Hi… Hitachiin-kun …? “

“ Hikaru’s fine, but Y/N be careful. You didn’t wash off your hands. “

He pointed at the onion and you couldn’t help but connect the dots with fright. That would’ve burned! And been so embarrassing! So obviously you hastily washed your hands as an awkward silence slowly whirled between you both. Alright, so THAT was your first impression… At least you got a chance to fail this time…

You have a heavy sigh, continuing to chop up and dice ingredients, handing it off to him. With your head down, you were missing the smile he gave each time—and also didn’t see how it lessened with each hand-off.

Hikaru, on the other hand, was currently thinking of ways to get you to not be so cold. Classic two-sided misunderstanding! He opted for a casual approach, hoping it would stir something between you both.

“ So, have your chefs ever made this before? “

“ Ratatouille? “

You answered with a bit too excited of a voice, surprising even yourself. He was talking to you, after that? Albeit small talk, but still something!

“ Oh—! Um, well, probably once before. Not sure if I would call it a favorite enough to request it of them, though. Usually I let my chefs decide the menu. ”

Hikaru laughed, pulling a smile from you. You were starting to make more eye contact, and definitely couldn’t have missed how he brightened at that.

“ That’s fair. I send plenty of requests to my chefs—usually asking for soufflé pancakes or to surprise me with something spicy. “

You had began making your sauce, seasoning and sautéing the vegetables.

“ Pft, does your brother enjoy that, too? “

“ Obviously, it’s the twin-sense. “

He teased, sliding a few stray onions into your pan. Now, usually folks at this school detested cooking class the most. I mean, when you have chefs who prepare every meal, a class on cooking becomes all the more annoying and sometimes much too hard—seen with the perfect example by the partners toward the back window. One of them was screaming as the stove practically ignited. Wrong setting or too much oil.

But you? Well, this was pretty fun, and it’s a useful skill to know.

“ Oh right, you do have a twin! I don’t see you two together as much. Did something happen? “

This time, the smile he gave was nearly indecipherable. And by that, I mean you weren’t too sure what you said that made him happy.

“ No, nothing happened. We’re just… I’m becoming independent, you know? Thinking about dying my hair, even. “

——-

That answer had taken you off guard at the time, but now—looking back on it, all the pieces were falling into place.

Today, you were both seniors—and sweethearts— in the academy, counting down the last days together. Being partners in class worked wonders for you both getting closer, and it even led to you attending the Host club—specifically for him, of course.

At first, the other hosts didn’t really know what to think of you. Haruhi not included. If anyone were well-versed in the ways of gender, it would be them. They were actually the one taking weight off your shoulder to explain to the others why you dressed in the uniform you did—and why sometimes you would change. It would either be the pretty girl’s uniform (seldom that, but there were a couple times of outgoing-ness just for personal testing-out) or the cool guy’s uniform. In fact, sometimes you even wore a custom uniform. This caused a few jealous students, some turning to get their own custom uniforms while others tried to have a word with you.

Emphasis on try. It wasn’t like Hikaru played a part in deterring them or anything. If you asked what happened, he would shrug it off. Feign ignorance. But you knew he knew, and he knew you knew he knew!

So, now the hosts are on the same page. Their only issue presently is how often you come ONLY for Hikaru! Don’t you want to, maybe, hang out with another person? Talk? Share tea?

To pour salt into the metaphorical wound, there had been times you came for someone else other than Hikaru, but that alternative was always Haruhi.

They (coughtamakicoughattentionwantercough) were jealous! Hurt! … Hikaru lavished in it though.

Now, it was strange they were jealous. After all, your sessions were usually completely quiet and serene, with a little small talk sprinkled here and there (with Haruhi) or they were you being an avid listener to a talker (Hikaru). Not the most exciting, so…

Anyways, the latter was the situation going on now as you sat in the Host club. Your visits were Hikaru’s favorites for two reasons:

1.) He gets to see you. Huge plus!

2.) It’s like a break. He will do some flirty Host tricks or acts here and there to make you smile or laugh, but he will also hold just casual conversation. It also allows Kaoru a break, but he’ll usually just continue taking folks for fun.

Your head was laying in Hikaru’s lap, a rosy tint upon his cheeks as he talked to you about what plans he was thinking about pursuing come graduation and college.

“ I’m set on fashion—maybe I’ll add a S.T.E.M minor? “

“ Mmm, because you like science and math? “

“ Precisely that. “

He smiled at you fondly, especially so when your hand rose up to rustle through his short brunette locks. After a few minutes passed in mutual quiet, he suddenly straightened up, hands reaching out to ensure you weren’t accidentally thrown off.

“ Right! Y/N, will you help me after the club ends today? “

“ …? With what, Hikaru? “

Y/N yawned and started sitting up. The look settling in his eyes made you snort and simply interlock your fingers together.

“ I have been working on my fashion portfolio and have a few prototypes that would look nicer on a model instead of a mannequin. “

Still holding your hand, Hikaru leaned forward and propped his elbow on his thigh. He winked at the end of his sentence, sending a rosy hue upon your cheeks to match his.

You obliged, of course, and come the chime signifying the club’s closing, you were surprised to see your chauffeur wasn’t waiting for you. You were planning to tell him you would be going with Hikaru when you got out. Confused, you turned to Hikaru who gave you a glance, then a grin, then held out his hand. Kaoru walked past you both snickering, getting into the car (and probably taking the best seat for himself since you were both slowpokes).

“ What? You thought I wouldn’t take care of things myself? I am inviting you myself, it’s only expected that I handle any inconveniences. “

With that, the two of you went to his chauffeur and headed to the Hitachiin home as an impromptu model. There, he would take you to a room equipped with a few maids and dozens of clothes or different styles hung all around.

“ Whoa—Hikaru, I don’t think—“

“ Oh, you won’t have to try them all on. There’s a few I made specifically with your measurements in mind. “

“ How did you get my—“

“ Bella, could you help them into this? “

Hikaru interrupted you, with a nervous pitch. That made you a tad bit suspicious, but you would let it slide when the maid, Bella, led you and two others to the dressing room. You held the article of clothing he handed you, and it was a pair of pants made of such a delicate and nice-feeling silk. A smile snuck upon your features.

Now him saying you wouldn’t try them all on turned out to be a lie. The night would continue with you being handed different items, some swapped with others until the perfect combo was achieved (this seldom happened, he usually nailed it on the first try.)

With each different outfit you stepped out in, shyly presenting yourself, Hikaru would pause as if lost in a trance.

“ Does it look weird? “

“ What do you take me for? I’d never put you in something atrocious. You just make everything work too well. “

He shifted his weight to his hip, staring at you while thinking.

…

Hikaru sighed with a smile, shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders.

“ Well, it’s decided. I’ll just have to make new ones. These ones look so perfect on you that you just have to keep them. “

“ WHAT? Hikaru! “

“ You’ll wear one of them on our date this weekend, right? “

A blush flushed your face, and he couldn’t help but need to look away before you saw his expression at that cute display. How can he keep up a little “ flirty bad boy ” face when your eyes twinkle like that?

You muttered a little, “ yes “, nodding as well in case he hadn’t caught it, and he couldn’t help but sweep you up into a hug right then and there.

[forever-rogue]

Hey honey thank you for writing for Eddie! Can I request a drabble?

Eddie and the reader she's blind he is super protective, since they day they met. They are in a relationship and they are having a day together in his trailer or the lake. She is playing with his hair softly and he tells her he is totally in love with her since the day he saw her. They kiss and she whispers against his lips.. "Why do you love me?" He smiles and says "Because you are the only person that sees real me"

I been dreaming about this for the longest time... 🥺 Let me know what you think ❤️

AN | I had a lot of inspo and a lot of softness for this, so I hope you all enjoy! Is there anything better than Eddie and softness? 🥰

Warnings | None

Pairing | Eddie x (blind)Fem!Reader 

Word Count | 2k

Masterlist | Main, Eddie

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

He grumbled under his breath, a string of incoherent syllables and halfhearted curses, as he tramped back to his locker. He thought he’d grabbed everything he needed for that stupid tutoring session he was required to go, but apparently hadn’t remember his notebook or textbook. A waste of time, he thought to himself, but at the same time, he was determined to finally graduate. This was his year. So if he had to do some dumb extra stuff, he was going to do it. Even if he did complain the whole time.

But before he could go back to the library, he heard something that piqued his interest. The sound of soft piano music flooded the hallway around the band room and stopped him dead in his tracks. He poked his head into the room and took a quick look and saw you sitting at the aging piano. Your back was to him and he wondered if you’d heard him; if you did, you gave no indication. 

He listened for a few bars before you sighed heavily and slammed your fingers down on the keys. He completely understood frustration when it came to music and didn’t blame you. He hadn’t recognized the piece you were playing and wondered if you’d composed it. Unable to stop himself, he came closer, “not sure what comes next?”

You startled slightly at the bench before slowly turning around to face him. Eddie didn't know what to expect when turned around but he was…pleasantly surprised. You had a pretty face, one of the prettiest he’d seen if he was being honest, but he hadn’t expected you to be…so…well, blind. 

The corner of your mouth tugged up into a small smile as you relaxed. You closed the lid of the piano before shrugging your shoulders, “you could say that. It’s something I’ve been working on for a while but I just can’t figure out how to end it. That’s always the worst part for me. Do you play?”

“Not piano,” he admitted with a small laugh as he stepped closer, unsure of exactly what to say or do, his nerves getting the better of him, “guitar. I’m in a band actually -  we do some covers but a lot of original stuff and sometimes it sucks to come up with transitions.”

“Oh yeah, you totally understand,” you slowly stood up before taking a few steps closer to him, holding out your hand confidently towards him. He hesitated for just a moment before taking your hand in his and giving it a light squeeze. You couldn’t help but laugh, “limp fish! You can shake my hand harder, I’m blind, I don’t bite.”

“Oh, I-ugh, I’m-”

“You don’t have to pretend not to have noticed,” you promised softly, “it’s hard not to. I guess I’ll get some of the typical questions out of the way. I know…you probably wouldn’t pry, but I’d be curious too if it was the other way around. I wasn’t born blind, there was an accident a few years ago and it didn’t end well for me and I lost my vision, which is always why my eyes look like this and not what you’d normally expect of a blind person. Yes, my hearing has improved, but no it’s not super hero status. I can get around on my own well once I’ve mentally mapped out a place, but sometimes a cane can help. I’ve already spent plenty of time feeling sorry for myself and I’ve gotten over that. I’m still a normal average person. And yes, I’m a senior and I’m new here.”

“Wow,” he couldn’t help but laugh, the beaming smile on your face letting him know that he hadn’t overstepped any boundaries. You gave him a small little mock bow before laughing too, “that was impressive. And I think that definitely answers all of the burning questions for now. I’m Eddie, by the way. Eddie Munson.”

“Eddie,” you repeated, smiling to yourself at the name. You liked it, you liked the sound of his voice. You were pretty sure he was handsome, but you definitely knew that he was kind. You gave him yourself, and listened to him repeat, which sent a pleasant shiver down your spine, “it’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s-”

“Munson!” he heard the shout of his name from down the hall and groaned. He’d completely forgotten about the fact that he was in the middle of a tutoring session. 

“Fuck,” you laughed lightly at the exasperated tone in his voice, “I forgot about that. Tutoring. I gotta go before she kills me. I…it was nice to meet you. I hope I see you around. Wait - no, I didn’t-”

“Relax,” you reached over and gave his arm a gentle squeeze, “I know what you meant. I hope I get to see you around too, Eddie Munson.”

He murmured a few last goodbyes before he ran out of the room and you could hear his sneakers squeaking on the floor. Despite the annoyance of having to stay after school and do work, he was…exhilarated. He hadn’t met someone that fascinated him as much as you in a long time if ever. He was ready to make any excuse to see you again. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

“What color is your hair?” your question came along with the soft chirping of the spring birds as the two of you laid next to each other in the soft, fresh grass of the meadow that he’d stumbled upon. It had been a secret place for him for a long time; you were the first person that he’d brought here. He rolled onto his side and studied you intently as you played with a soft wildflower that you’d picked, “I think it’s brown. But like…a soft brown that gets lighter in the summer and darker in the winter. And curly, but not too curly. Am I…am I right?”

“Yes,” he let out a surprised little breath as he watched your smile grow, “you’re right.”

“Brown eyes?”

“Brown eyes.”

“I like brown eyes,” you sighed contently, “I think they’re underrated. No wonder you’ve got them…you’re underrated too.”

“And just how am I underrated?” he shuffled closer to you, leaving little distance between your bodies, “I did tell you early on that I’m the town freak and by associating with me you’ve doomed your entire societal status. If you know, the opinion of a bunch of lint lickers matters to you.”

“People think I’m a freak too,” you reminded him with a laugh, “I don’t know if its intentional but a lot of time people still just…they try to beat around the fact that I’m blind and that just makes it worse. I’m still a person, still the same as I’ve always been. But you, Eddie Munson, are a kind, wonderful soul that people are missing out on. If only people took the time to get to know the real you…they’d be hooked too. But in some ways, I’m glad they don’t.”

“And why is that?”

“That means I - we - the people that do matter - get you all to ourselves,” you explained as though it was the most obvious thing in the world, “that’s a good thing for us. The rest of them could never be deserving of you.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere,” for a moment he was glad you couldn’t see him, couldn’t see the warm, pink flush that colored his cheeks as he tried to still his racing heart. 

“Flattery will get me everywhere,” you cheekily stuck out your tongue at him, “can I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

“May I…can I touch your face?” you felt shy asking, turning your face away so you hopefully wouldn’t give away all of your emotions. Eddie Munson had been a startling surprise in your life, but he’d wormed his way into your heart effortlessly and easily. 

Instead of saying anything, Eddie gently reached for your hand, his rough, calloused fingertips a sharp contrast to your own. He liked your softness, your gentleness. He brought your hand to his face, setting it on his cheek. He watched your smile grow as you slowly traced your fingertips over his skin, mapping out each little detail to commit to memory. You stopped when you reached his lips, letting your fingers dance around them. You didn’t often miss getting to see, having made your peace with your circumstances a long time ago. But for once, you did wish you could look upon Eddie and see him as he really was. You were sure that the image you conjured up was nowhere near the real thing, but even if it was close, you were sure he was beautiful.

“Well?” he whispered after a few moments of silence, “as bad as you thought?”

“You’re beautiful, Eddie Munson,” you promised, ready to pull your hand back, but he quickly stopped you, his fingers delicately wrapping around your wrist. You made a small sound of surprise as he pressed a kiss to the back of your hand, “Eddie?”

“I…you’re beautiful too,” he whispered gently, almost as if he was too shy for you to fully hear it. The way your face lit up with happiness was enough to make his heart almost stop, “can I kiss you?”

“Yes,” you nodded softly, “please.”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You sat next to Eddie, your knees touching as you both munched down some s’mores he had made. The day was slowly bleeding into night, the shimmering water of Lover’s Lake making it much cooler than anywhere else. It had been a hot summer day and you’d decided that a dip in the lake was much needed. You felt him gently take your jaw in his hand, turning your face towards as he dragged his thumb along your bottom lip, “you had little something there, sugar.”

“Did I?” you teased, “or are you just looking for an excuse to touch me?”

“Do I even need an excuse?”

“Nope,” you moved towards him and he quickly took the hint and pulled you into his lap. His hands found purchase on your hips as you put yours on his shoulders and leaned in to kiss him. It was a sweet, slow thing, and when you pulled back you nudged his nose with yours. You could feel him smiling against your lips, a small sigh escaping him when you played with a few locks of long waves. You could feel his heart beating rapidly under the palm of your hand that was resting on his chest, and his breathing was stunted, “Eds? What’s wrong?”

“I think I love you,” he stammered it out before he could think about it and stop himself. He heard you inhale softly before a small sound of surprise reached his ears.

“You think?” you were laughing, the sound going straight to his heart.

“I know,” he corrected as you took his face in your hands, brushing your thumbs over the apples of his cheeks. He could see the corners of your mouth ticking up as you placed a kiss on each cheek, “I know I love you.”

“I know I love you,” Eddie’s hands delicately wrapped around your wrists before he brought your hands to his mouth as he lightly kissed them, “beautiful boy. I just…I’m surprised. Not in a bad way, but why would you love me? You could have anyone…”

He chased away whatever other doubts you had by gently pressing his lips to yours, “you are the only one that sees the real me.”

“I finished that piece, you know,” you admitted almost breathlessly, blurting it out, both excited and nervous to tell him, “that I was playing when you found me.”

“You finally found what you needed,” he loved listening to you play, just as much as you loved listening to him play his guitar, “what were you missing?”

“You,” the simple answer made him inhale sharply, “I guess all I needed was you.”

“Will you play it?” he whispered softly as you grinned at him, “for me?”

“Of course,” your heart was practically ready to burst with happiness as he almost crushed you to his chest, causing you to giggle wildly, “Eddie! You’re too much!”

“But I’m your too much,” he promised with a kiss, “sugar.”

“Yeah, Eds,” you grinned lightly, “you are. I hope I’m yours too.”

“Definitely.”

[wolfjackle-creates]

The Two Ghost Motel Chapter 3

Summary:

Danny is tired. Endless ghost fights with too many responsibilities and too little time; he barely passed sophomore year. When Ember visits town for a bit of fun, she mentions the Two Ghost Motel, a place of peace and refuge for restless ghosts who aren't ready to cross over. “I’m fine, Ember.” Danny’s got a home and friends. He’s fine, really. But when his parents begin experimenting with electricity to destabilize ghosts, it’s too much for Danny. Unfortunately, neither Sam nor Tucker can host him for the night and he’s left wandering in the night, alone. Then he sees it: The Two Ghost Motel. He checks in. “Welcome.”

Word Count: 5.9k

Warnings: Minor Original Character Death

Fandom: DPxDC (though no knowledge of DC is necessary for this fic.)

AO3, Chapter 1, Chapter 2

-----

All morning, they tried to catch the attention of any ghost they saw. They even knocked on doors if it seemed like someone was inside. After his fight with the receptionist, Danny was so low on energy he could feel his transformation pulling at him, but he refused to succumb to it.

Most people they saw ignored them entirely. Others would look in their general vicinity for a few seconds before continuing on their way. And some, usually the ones in more modern clothes, could be convinced to speak a few sentences.

Most only spoke about what they were currently doing. A dog walker told them about his dog, a smoker told them about his favorite brands of cigarettes. Sometimes they’d give a name, sometimes not. No one reacted to his questions about Tom and Alan.

The sun was much higher in the sky when they’d covered the front half of the building, still avoiding the office.

“Should we do the same for the back half?” asked Jay.

Danny groaned and leaned against the wall. “Let’s not. If I have one more person ignore me when I ask about Tom and Alan, I will punch something.”

Jay bumped their shoulders together. “Do you think there’s a way we could steal the log book from the receptionist?”

Danny chewed his lip and considered. “Let’s go back to one of our rooms. We need to plan. Do you know where all the entrances to the restricted areas are? Maybe we can find some answers there.”

“Duh, of course I do. That’s, like, the first thing you learn.”

“First thing you learn for what? I certainly never had anyone teach me stuff like that.”

Jay hesitated. “I— I don’t know. I think I had a job. Before, I mean. There was something I did. And I had to train a lot for it.”

“So you lived in an Alley that was also a Park that was near the ocean and you had a skilled job at fifteen. And you’re bird.”

“And there’s someone waiting for me,” added Jay.

“And there’s someone waiting for you,” agreed Danny.

“What are you trying to figure out?”

“I just, if I can figure it out, I’d like to know who you were. Maybe one day I can leave flowers on your grave or something.”

Jay shook his head. “Not my grave. I remember talking to a stone statue. It had wings and was up high. A…gargoyle? That’s where you should leave anything. And not flowers. Leave something cool, like a knife or a good book.”

“A gargoyle.” Danny raised an eyebrow, knowing Jay couldn’t see it. “Another clue.”

Jay grinned at him and grabbed his hand. “Come on,” he said as he pulled Danny up the stairs at the end of the building. “Let’s go and start planning.”

“Okay, okay!” Danny laughed as he ran after Jay. “I’m coming!”

Jay brought them to his room this time. It was much messier than Danny’s, more proof he’d been here for a long time. His bed was unmade and the drawer in the nightstand half ajar.

“The nightstand always had a favorite book of mine in it.”

“You like reading, then?”

“Yeah! It’s great. I used to spend so much time in the library before. They’d let anyone in and it was always warm in winter and cool in summer.”

Danny just hummed as he filed the information away.

Jay ignored the nightstand and book, though, and ran to the desk where he pulled open and slammed drawers shut. Until he pulled out a pad of paper and a pencil with an exclamation of success.

Quickly he began sketching out what Danny recognized as the general shape of the motel.

“How are you with heights? We should check the roof for other access points, too,” Jay said as he drew. When the general shape was sketched out, he added arrows. “This one is the office, obviously. Then here”—another arrow pointed near the right end of the motel—“Is a service door, but there’s no external handle on it.”

“Ghost can fly, birdie. Heights aren’t an issue.” He pointed to the side door. “And my intangibility seems to work here, so we can start there.”

Jay nodded. “You should teach me how to do that, too. If we get trapped or you get in trouble, I need to be able to help you.”

“You’re right. And it should be instinctual, so it won’t take long. When I first died, I had a harder time staying tangible than not. Dropped so many glasses. Got banned from chem class; it was a disaster.”

“Would there be a way to get past the receptionist? It’d make sense if she’s guarding the area we really need to get to.”

Danny tapped his fingers on the desk. “I could. But it would be loud and attract attention. And something about this place makes me more tired than I usually am. The fight this morning… I should’ve been able to redirect that fire with ease. She’s no where near as strong as some of the people I fight. But it was hard.”

Jay nodded and tapped his pencil near the office arrow. “We’ll leave it as a last resort, then.” He paused, then added, “Do you need to rest? If the fight took more out of you than you expected?”

Danny looked towards the bed and chewed his lip. It was edging into early afternoon. Jazz would know he was missing by now. Possibly his parents, too. But he could also feel the exhaustion under the surface. “I just need a bit of ectoplasm. And some food wouldn’t go amiss. Anywhere to get stuff like that besides the office?”

Jay hummed and looked towards the ceiling, only to shake his head. “No, I think the vending machine is the only option.”

“Think it’ll be safe to go back?”

Jay considered his question, then shrugged. “She calmed down at the end and then didn’t seem to give us a second glance. If we don’t try and cross her, it’ll probably be okay.”

“And I do need the ectoplasm…” Danny sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Let’s go.”

Jay nudged him with his elbow. “It’ll give us a chance to scope it out again before we have to attack later.”

“If we’re lucky, we won’t have to.”

Jay snorted. “Yeah, luck never works out like that. But we’ll do the other areas first. Now, intangibility?”

Danny laughed. “You just want superpowers.”

“Duh!”

“Intangibility and flight are easy. You’re a ghost. Ghosts don’t belong on Earth and don’t have to follow the physics of this universe. So just… remember that gravity is optional and your physical body doesn’t really exist here unless you want it to.”

Jay blinked at him. “That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“Huh.” Jay looked at his hand in wonder. Then he touched the desk. His finger was stopped by the wood. Jay scowled and jammed it again to the same results.

Danny shook his head with an unseen grin. “Let me show you.” He took Jay’s hand and extended his intangibility to the boy. “See how that feels? You’re not really here unless you want to be. So let go.” He plunged both their hands through the desk before withdrawing his and leaving Jay’s.

“What the fuck!” exclaimed Jay as he tugged at his hand, solidly encased in the wood of the desk.

“Focus, birdie,” said Danny. “If it’s hard to think that you don’t exist, imagine it’s the desk that doesn’t exist instead. After all, for you, it doesn’t. You’re not from the same dimension, the same universe. The laws that govern the desk don’t apply to you.”

Jay glared at him, but then closed his eyes and focused. A moment later, he successfully pulled his hand out of the desk.

“There you go! Told you you could do it.”

Jay looked at his hand in wonder. “I did, huh? That’s so cool! It’s like I’m a Martian or something.”

“Not really,” said Danny. “When I first died, I looked into how Martian phasing works. It’s totally different to ghostly intangibility. Even if the end results are the same.”

Jay stuck his tongue out at him. “Shush. Let me have this.” He plunged his hand back through the desk and out. Then he turned to the wall and ran through it into Danny’s room.

Danny laughed and flew through the wall after him. “See told you it was easy!”

Jay grinned. “And I can fly, too? Like you are?”

“Yep. Gravity only applies if you want it to. Just, now that you’ve mastered intangibility, try not to sink into the ground. It can be hard to figure out which way is back to the surface if you’re not tuned into the gravitational force of the Earth.”

Jay nodded with a thoughtful expression. Then he jumped into the air, only to fall back to the floor. “Give me your hand,” he ordered. “Let me see what flight feels like.”

Danny obligingly reached out and took his hand, raising him up until they were both floating a few feet in the air. “See, no gravity. You don’t feel that pull towards the ground at all. In fact, you might as well be on solid ground.” He flipped them upside down. “And even like this, there’s no blood rushing to your head. It feels no different than having your feet oriented towards Earth’s ground.”

“Huh. I do see.” He pulled on Danny’s hand until they were floating over the bed, then turned right side up again. When he let go, he remained in the air. He grinned. “Damn, this is so cool. I’ve always been jealous of those who can fly!”

“Flying is my favorite power. I like to just fly high above the town and look up at the stars. Plus it’s way faster than walking and easier than running.”

“I can see why.” Jay landed on the floor and took a few steps before rising back up until he was level with Danny. “This is so cool! But, come on. Let’s go get you that food you want.”

“I want one of those ectodrinks more,” commented Danny. “But yeah, let’s go, Birdie.”

“What is ectoplasm, anyway?” Jay asked as he opened the door.

Danny shook his head. “You really don’t know anything, do you? I’ll have to ask Frostbite about it next time I see him. These things are supposed to be instinctual. Ectoplasm is what ghosts are made of. It’s what everything in the Ghost Zone is made of. Those plants growing through the asphalt in the parking lot? Ectoplasm. Your body? Ectoplasm.”

“Does that make you a cannibal if you eat it?”

Danny rolled his head to show he was rolling his eyes. “First of all, I will be drinking it. And second of all, no.”

“Seems like it would.”

Danny just ignored him and kept walking. When they got to where Matt still sat playing jacks, he stopped to watch.

When Jay joined him a moment later, he was frowning. “Hey, Matt,” said Jay.

Matt ignored them. Danny and Jay exchanged a look and Danny repeated the greeting. Matt still didn’t respond.

“Let’s just get something to eat,” said Danny after a moment. When they reached the door, took every ounce of will power he had to keep from hesitating before reaching out for the doorknob. Just as it had that first time, it stuck slightly under his grip, but opened easily enough.

Inside, the ghosts on the couch had changed out again and now there was someone else standing and staring at the coffee bar.

The receptionist didn’t react to their presence, and Danny let out a low breath. “What do you like?” asked Danny as they made their way to the vending machine.

“I’m gonna take a Zesti,” said Jay, punching in the code. Again, the machine activated without Danny putting any money in.

Danny got himself an ectodrink, bag of chips, and a packet of m&ms. “Okay, that should be good. Let’s go.” He shot another wary glance at the receptionist who was still frozen in place.

“Give me just a sec,” said Jay. He opened his can and looked around the room. “Who chose the wallpaper here, do you think?”

Danny shrugged. “How should I know? Come on, let’s get out of here.”

Jay looked around one more time as he sipped from his drink. “Fine. Let’s go.”

Finally being able to close the door between him and the receptionist helped, though he knew walls and doors didn’t mean much to ghosts.

“Let’s go check out Matt’s room,” said Jay.

“What? Why?”

“Why not? We learned he was staying in room 117 and apparently we can still phase into other people’s rooms. After all, we got into yours from mine. Maybe he and Alan were staying together and just never checked Alan in. Would explain why he won’t talk about him.”

“Huh, it would. Let’s do it.”

Jay grinned at him and sprinted down the sidewalk. Danny outpaced him easily by flying and laughed when Jay scowled at him and called him a cheater. Neither bothered to knock before phasing through the door.

At first, all they could see was blackness. Then the room seemed to form around them as their eyes adjusted to the low light that the drawn curtains allowed through.

It was empty. Obviously it had a bed and desk and dresser. Really, it was just a carbon copy of Danny’s room. The bed was neatly made and every thing was in its proper place. If Danny didn’t know better, he’d have assumed no one was staying in this room.

“Do you think more people leave their rooms like this or messy like mine?” asked Jay.

“Only one way to find out,” Danny replied, grinning.

Jay laughed and ran through the wall into the next room. For a moment, he thought he saw a cape flare behind his friend.

The next room looked more lived in, though not by much. The bed was still made, but a book sat on the nightstand and the TV remote was on top of the sheets rather than the dresser.

In the third room, the resident was sill present and Danny walked in on Jay already stammering out apologies.

The woman barely glanced up from her book before looking back down and flipping a page.

“What book is that?” Jay asked.

She lifted it up so they could see the cover.

“Oliver Twist? I read that book. Love and hate it, to be honest. Lotta weird feelings about that one.”

She looked up and actually made eye contact this time. She tilted her head as if to ask why.

Jay shrugged. “Did the musical one year at school. Too many people tried to compare me to Oliver. Do you know how annoying it is to have people look at you and ask ‘Please, sir, can I have some more?’ in a fake British accent every lunch period?”

Her mouth twitched into a faint smile.

Danny’s Midwestern manners meant he had to give his own apologies as well. “What’s your name, Ma’am? I’m Phantom and this is Jay. So sorry for barging in on you.”

She looked back at her page, but said, “Sylvia.”

“Sylvia? Cool name,” said Jay. “Is this your first time reading Oliver Twist?”

She shook her head slightly. “It’s my favorite.”

Jay nodded in agreement. “The motel is good about always having your favorite on hand, isn’t it?”

She nodded and turned her page.

Danny shifted from foot to foot. “Look, not to interrupt or anything, but have you met any of the other guests here?”

She shrugged and didn’t look up from her book.

“It’s just, I’m looking for a kid named Alan. He was one of the two playing jacks over near the office. And a man named Tom. I met him the night I checked in, but he disappeared in front of me just a few hours ago.”

“People always leave. Oliver’s mother left. His friends abandoned him.”

Jay nodded. “But his grandfather didn’t. And Phantom here, he won’t leave either—not until he can confirm they’re safe.”

She just shrugged again. “I don’t know. Guests come and they go. No one comes here intending to stay for more than a night or two.”

“But they do stay for longer,” said Danny.

Sylvia shrugged and turned her page.

Danny let out a groan of frustration—the mask made it sound even more angry and Jay glared at him.

“Sorry,” said Danny. “How long have you been here, Sylvia?”

“Just a night or two.”

“Where are you in the book?” asked Jay.

“Oliver is with Fagin.”

“Have you ever seen the musical? Or the movie?”

Sylvia didn’t reply and kept reading her book.

“They’re like NPCs in a video game,” said Danny. “Once you complete all the dialog options, they stop interacting.”

Jay couldn’t quite hold back his snort. “Enjoy your reading, Sylvia. It’s a good book, even if it’s not one of my favorites!”

She didn’t react and the boys left. Through the door, this time.

“We should probably not go into random rooms anymore, should we?”

“Probably not,” agreed Jay. “Besides, I think we’ve confirmed that none of the other ghosts know anything about the other guests. Continuing to chase them down is pointless.”

“Let’s go back to our rooms. I need to eat my snacks and then we can pick back up with our investigation.”

Danny flew up to the second floor, forcing Jay to follow him, rather than waste time walking to the stairs.

“You’re getting the hang of that,” he commented. Jay grinned at him with pride.

Once in his room, Danny took off his mask. “What?” he asked when he noticed Jay staring at him.

“You look so different without the face mask.”

Danny raised an eyebrow at him. “I look different when you can see my face instead of safety goggles and a respirator?”

Jay waved off his sarcasm. “You know what I mean. You feel more human this way. Why don’t you take it off more?”

“The mask is part of me now. I have to focus on keeping it off or it’ll reform over my face.” He pulled out the ectoplasm first and frowned when he noticed it was much more watery than he was used to seeing. “That’s odd…”

“What’s odd?”

“Ectoplasm doesn’t usually look like this.” Danny carefully unscrewed the cap and sniffed the open bottle. The scent burned, ozone and garbage and dirty toilet all in one. Danny gagged and quickly screwed the cap back on. “What is that?”

“How am I supposed to know?”

“It was rhetorical! That’s rancid. Gross.” He sighed. “Looks like we’re doing this while exhausted. Not my first time, won’t be my last.” He opened his bag of chips and practically shoved his nose into it to overpower the smell of the not-ectoplasm.

Jay sat on the bed. “So where are we going first? The side door with no handle?”

“Yeah, might as well. That and the roof are where we’re planning to start, right?”

“From what I’ve seen, yeah. Only other place is behind the desk in the office.”

Danny shuddered remembering the receptionist’s transformation. “Hopefully not.” He shoved a handful of chips in his mouth. Enough ghosts liked to attack during his lunch period at school that he’d learned to eat fast. In no time, the chips and candy were gone and his mask was back in place.

Jay stood. “Let’s go, then.”

“Hang on a sec,” said Danny. “I want to go through my bag. See what supplies I have handy. Might have a weapon for you.”

“Ooo! Weapons! Let me see!” Jay bounced over to peer at the closed bag.

Danny laughed. “Hold on a minute!” Before touching his bag, he pulled the ectoknife out of his pocket and passed it over. “Have you used a knife before?”

Jay grabbed it and flicked the blade in and out. “Duh. You never left home without at least two weapons where I grew up. Been handling knives since I was a toddler.”

“Right. I’m not touching that one.” A quick feel around his pockets revealed nothing else useful. Turning to the bag, he quickly discarded most of the clothes he’d shoved in the top, though he paused on the socks.

He stood and grabbed the not-ectoplasm from where he’d left it on the desk and wrapped the bottle in the socks as protection before putting it in a pocket of his suit. At Jay’s confused look, Danny explained, “I can study it when I get home. See how it’s similar to and different from normal ectoplasm.”

Jay nodded, but asked, “Why do you even have clothes, anyway? I haven’t seen you change at all. And I know I haven’t.”

Danny shrugged. “I told you—I’m weird for a ghost.” Under his clothes, he unearthed a thermos which he immediately clipped to his hip.

“What’s that?”

“A containment device.” Although the answer clearly didn’t satisfy Jay, he didn’t ask any further questions. Unfortunately, Caspar High had banned blasters after some of the students had begun shooting each other with them, but he did find a lipstick laser he’d been meaning to give to Sam. For over a month now. “Here. Take this, too.”

“Lipstick?” asked Jay as he removed the cap.

“Wait! Don’t do tha—”

A laser shot from the tip and burned a mark in the wall. “Dude! What sort of movie-spy shit is this? Why do you have it?”

“My parents are ghost hunters. They like making stuff like that.”

“Ghost hunters? But aren’t you a ghost now?” The concern was practically oozing off Jay and it made Danny grimace.

“Look, it’s fine. My sister and friends know about me and my parents have a ton of useful things I can use to help fight ghosts.” He continued rummaging through his bag. He found his phone, but it was dead. Which shouldn’t have been possible since he’d switched to an ectoplasmic battery that should’ve kept it powered for years. Nothing he did would get it to work, though, so he shoved it back in his bag. He and Tucker would figure it out later.

“What’s that?”

“My phone. But it doesn’t seem to be working right now. And I don’t have anything else remotely useful on me. I need to figure out how to sneak a blaster into school or something. This is pathetic.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s better than I had before. And we’re just doing reconnaissance, right?”

Danny huffed out a half-laugh. “How often does reconnaissance stay reconnaissance?”

“Touche,” agreed Jay. But he still grabbed Danny’s hand and pulled him out of the room. “But that’s what makes it exciting.” He jumped over the railing, stopping their fall a few feet above the ground.

“You’re really getting the hang of flying.”

“I’m used to jumping off tall buildings. Even easier now that I can fly!”

“You jumped off tall buildings? Why!”

Jay grinned at him. “Yep. Don’t remember why, but I did it all the time. Now, let’s go!” Without waiting for a reply, Jay flew towards the end of the motel, leaving Danny to follow.

The area along the side of the motel hadn’t been cleared in a long time. The bushes, their leaves a bit too luminescent to be native earth plants, were overgrown and the grass reached halfway up their calves. Right in the wall where Jay had said it would be sat a solid, metal door without a handle. Jay didn’t hesitate before moving towards it, but Danny grabbed his arm to stop him.

“I’m gonna look in first. I’m better able to defend myself if things go wrong.”

Jay groaned. “Fine. But I can look after myself.”

“I’m realizing that, but this is my area of expertise.”

Jay pouted but didn’t argue, so Danny turned just his head invisible and looked through the door.

Only to be faced with pitch black. Absolutely no light made it’s way into the area behind the door. With a mental curse, he brought a hand through and pulled up an ectoblast for a bit of light. Dusty, cement stairs led down into a cellar. Wires hung from the ceiling and green ectoplasm, or maybe that not-ectoplasm—his mask effectively blocked scent so he wasn’t sure—dripped down the walls.

Danny pulled out. “I don’t see anyone. But there’s a steep stairway, so be careful.”

Jay nodded his agreement and the two stepped through the door. Danny used an ectoblast for light again, and the two picked their way down the stairs.

Danny reached out a gloved hand to touch the green fluid on the walls—it had the same consistency of the not-ectoplasm.

“Can you smell anything rotten?” asked Danny.

Jay sniffed. “I don’t know if I’d call it rotten, but it smells like old blood and fire.”

“Try not to touch anything, I don’t know if it’s dangerous to ghosts or not.”

“Trust me, Phantom. I had no intentions of touching it. Nothing good comes of weird, glowing liquids. Everyone knows that.”

Danny huffed a laugh. “Not in Amity. We’re used to it there.”

They fell silent as they reached the bottom of the stairs. Pipes ran along ceiling, and the floor was made of cheap linoleum. He still couldn’t see any light fixtures. The hall went on for a few dozen feet before ending at another solid metal door.

The breathing from Danny’s suit seemed to echo in the hallway. And his boots were nearly impossible to walk silently in. Each sound made him wince internally, especially since he had to look back to confirm Jay was still with him. When they reached the door, it was locked. Danny turned intangible again and tried to stick his head through, only to bang it hard on the door. “Ow,” he muttered under his breath. He shook his head and, more cautiously, tried to stick his hand through instead. It also hit resistance.

“What’s wrong?” whispered Jay.

“It’s warded against ghosts,” Danny replied. “Can’t phase through.” With his hands intangible, he started at the center of the door and reached outwards, then up to the ceiling, then to the floor. When every inch seemed to be blocked to him, he moved to the walls bordering the doorway, only to have the same problem.

“What do we do now?” asked Jay, who had reached out to try as well. His attempts were no better.

Danny worried at his lip. Even just maintaining the ectoblast for light was requiring constant focus. And the pull was taking far more energy that it should. “We’ll have to go back. Or figure out where the shield is generated from. If we can disrupt that, we may be able to get through.

“Damn. How would we know what the shield looks like?”

Danny shrugged. “I know what the ones my parents and the GIW use. But those designs were invented in the last two years. I’ve no idea how old this place is or what technology they’re using to ward off ghosts. Let’s go back outside and we can reassess.” Maybe something would come to him if he didn’t have to focus on making their light.

Jay nodded and the two navigated their way back out. Danny kept his hands on both walls, but at no point did the shield break. Not until they reached the exit door which only allowed them back outside.

“That was pointless,” Danny said as he collapsed on the ground. If he’d been human, he would’ve been panting.

“No it wasn’t,” argued Jay. “We know there’s something important down there now.”

Danny groaned. “But we can’t get to it. If only we were back in Amity. If I had access to the full Fenton arsenal, I could maybe do something.”

“What’s the Fenton arsenal?”

“My parents’ weapons vault. You have the laser. The thermos”—he gestured to his hip—“is another invention of theirs.”

“They have an entire weapons vault? And they just let you access it?”

“They’re ghost hunters and scientists,” said Danny with a shrug. “It’s my normal. Part of my chores growing up were to help clean the lab.” Danny groaned as he pushed himself up.

He swayed once on his feet and Jay helped steady him. “Woah, are you okay?”

Danny yawned. “I’m more tired than I thought.” He was close to transforming unwillingly, but he had enough control to force it back. “This place is doing something to me. Let’s go back to my room. If I can’t get any ectoplasm here, I need to nap for an hour or two. My core needs to recharge somehow. Then we can check out the roof.”

“Will I get tired like you if I keep flying and using intangibility?”

“Normally I’d say no. But I’m also never this wiped out from a minor fight, so…” He shrugged. When they reached room 114, he flew to the second story and walked through the wall into his room and collapsed face-first onto the bed.

Only to let out a grunt of pain when his mask pressed awkwardly against his face and his goggles dug into his eyes. He rolled to his side. “Sometimes I really hate that I died in this suit. It is not comfortable.”

Jay laughed and poked him in the back. “Get some rest, sleeping beauty. I’ll wake you up in a bit.”

“Thanks, birdie. Night.”

If he replied, Danny didn’t hear it.

---

“Jus’ five m’r minutes, Jazz,” mumbled Danny as he tried to shift away from the person shaking him awake.

“Phantom!” called out a male voice.

Not Jazz. Tucker? But he wouldn’t call him Phantom. Danny yawned and opened his eyes to see a black-haired, blue-eyed boy staring at him and an unfamiliar ceiling.

“Finally! I’ve been trying to wake you for ages.”

“Birdie?” Danny pushed himself up until he was leaning against the headboard.

“Yep! Since you were sleeping so hard, I went to the roof. There was a vent up there I was able to climb into. And guess what? It leads to an area over Ms. Creepy Receptionists’s desk! Could probably jump down from it and land behind her, giving us access to the forbidden area.”

Danny blinked a few times, his brain struggling to shake off the his nap. “What time is it?” he asked.

Jay rolled his eyes. “Are you even listening to me? It’s like six or seven or something. Not quite dark out yet.”

Danny yawned. “Sorry I slept for so long.”

“It’s fine. I figured you needed it. But come on! We have to get going now. There’s people waiting for us.”

“Right. Tom and Alan.”

Jay rolled his eyes. “Them, too. I guess.”

Danny yawned again and lifted his goggles to rub at his eyes. “So a passage to the receptionists office? You shouldn’t have explored without me.”

“I’m not some untrained kid. Besides, you gave me two weapons. I was perfectly safe. And aren’t you the one who said we had to hurry?”

Danny rolled out of the bed and stretched. “Yeah, yeah. I need to get home. I’m sure there’s already people looking for me.” He closed his eyes and reached for his core. He didn’t have as much power as usual, but he had enough. More than before his nap at least. He let it’s coolness center him. “I’m ready.”

Jay grinned and held open the door, following Danny out.

This time, Danny led them towards the stairs rather than flying down. Evening had settled in and the the overcast skies were darkening, though the horizon was still light. “Let’s try talking to Matt one more time. I’d like to avoid fighting the receptionist if at all possible.”

“But the kid doesn’t remember anything!” protested Jay.

“Then it won’t take long.”

Jay groaned theatrically, but he followed Danny to where Matt was still playing with his jacks.

“Hey, Matt,” greeted Danny. The boy didn’t react and Danny sat across from him on the ground. “Mind if we join in?” he asked.

Matt still didn’t respond, but he caught the ball and picked up all the jacks before tossing them back out. He handed the ball to Danny.

Jay took a seat between them. “Sweet, another round! Hey, Matt, how’s Alan doing? We’ve been all over the motel today and haven’t seen him.”

Matt looked at Jay and Danny tossed up the ball to play the onsies round. Matt never verbally replied, though Jay continued to ask more questions. He asked about Matt’s mother, where he lived, what classes he took in school. All of it was met with silence. Though the few times Danny was able to look up, Alan was staring at Jay rather than the game.

When he finished his round, Danny let out a celebratory, “Yes! Got it!”

Jay clapped his hands slowly. “Good for you. You managed to complete the easiest round,.”

“Shut up,” said Danny. “I’m still learning. Just for that, I vote Matt goes next. What do you say, Matt?” Danny held out his hand with the ball.

He didn’t say anything but did take the ball.

Danny and Jay watched as he tossed the ball up and let it bounce once before grabbing a jack and catching the ball.

He’d repeated the action twice when Jay asked, “Matt, are you feeling all right?”

Danny looked over at Jay in surprise before turning his attention back to Matt. The kid was pale, but not an unusual color for a ghost. Though… he rubbed his goggles. Was he blurry around the edges? A quick glance at Jay proved his goggles were fine. Matt was a bit faded around the edges.

“Are you turning invisible on us?” asked Danny, forcing his tone to be light and joking even as his core thrummed in fear.

Matt, as expected, didn’t reply to either of them. Jay and Danny exchanged a look, but neither could stand to take their eyes off the boy for long. With each toss of the ball, Matt looked more and more out of focus.

Then, when he was down to the last jack, his body disappeared entirely when he threw up the ball. All that remained visible was his shining core. Danny lunged forward even as the core and ball both fell to the ground.

His fingers only just brushed Matt’s core as it hit and shattered into sparkling dust.

The sound of the ball bouncing on the cement next to his head echoed in his ears as he stared.

The dust from Matt’s core flickered with light, though it kept getting dimmer and dimmer. Danny grasped at it, trying to gather it up in his hands. Jay joined him. But there was nothing they could do. The dust fell through their fingers and disappeared faster than they could gather it.

But Danny kept trying until the last speck faded and nothing of Matt remained. The ball finished bouncing and came to a rest against the wall.

“What just happened?” asked Jay.

The question was enough to jolt Danny back to motion. He snatched the bouncy ball and shoved it in his pocket then jumped to his feet. He grabbed Jay’s hand and pulled him up as well.

“We have to leave. Now.” He ran, dragging Jay behind him.

-----

Chapter 4

The ending of this chapter is one of the first scenes I planned for the fic. It may be the darkest thing I've ever written (and shared). Please let me know what you think. I've never written this genre before, so I want to know if something didn't hit right.

[jeannereames]

In "Dancing With The Lion", you seem to say that Alexander was not handsome. But when I searched about Alexander's appearance on Google, I found that almost everywhere he was described as a handsome man. He was even called extremely handsome in a couple of articles. I have seen the copy of Alexander's bust originally made by Lysippus. It's said that Lysippus made the bust during Alexander's lifetime & Alexander looked like that. The bust doesn't look bad. Why do you then think that Alexander wasn't good looking enough? By the way, I loved the guy who seemed to represent Alexander on the cover page of "Dancing With The Lion". Alexander might very well look like that :-)

First, a comment on my description and why I made it, then some background on the history.

What Hephaistion thinks to himself is actually, “Only a flatterer would call him handsome.” He doesn’t say he’s ugly or plain. He’s just normal looking. I made that choice partly for historical reasons, but also because I wanted to humanize him. Same reason I gave him acne. 😉 I don’t see him as unattractive, I just don’t see him as especially handsome. (A link to the novels, for anybody looking, with the new covers.)

I would caution about taking seriously much that you find via a Google search. It’s kinda a dumpster fire, honestly, unless you know exactly what you’re looking for.* Always check who wrote an article. How did they learn the information they relate? That’s part of why I cite things here, even if I don’t load y’all up with citations the way I would in a scholarly article. But I want readers to be able to chase down references for themselves, even as, in our post-expert era, I also want readers to trust that I know where to look in the first place—what’s reliable.

Although it’s now 30+ years old, probably the best book on Alexander’s appearance is Andrew Stewart’s Faces of Power: Alexander’s Image and Hellenistic Politics (1993). I know it’s expensive (LOTS and lots of picture plates inside), but because it’s been out a minute, you can probably find it used, or in a library.

So, let’s look at the history. There are several things going on here:

The ancient Greeks conflated wealth, class, intelligence, and beauty with heroic status. So Achilles is beautiful but Thersites is malformed and ugly. This motif rolled over onto historical individuals, and the Greeks purposely practiced “idealizing” in their sculpture, especially of anybody presented as heroic. There’s quite a lot written on Greek idealizing, but again, beware a simple Google search; I just tried to find something useful and gave up by the time I was on page 6; the best thing was an article in the NYT, behind a paywall. I’d suggest grabbing an art history textbook, especially a specialized one, like Shiela Dillon’s.

The Alexander head on the Akropolis (which was used to find the model for the cover of Becoming) is a perfect example of Classical-era idealization. We’d call it Photoshopped. 😉 Yes, it’s recognizably Alexander, but his face is made to match the canon of Greek ephebic beauty. (The publisher liked it. ha)

Add to this the divinization of Alexander and its impact on his sculptures across time. See Stewart mentioned above for a great description of how his Successors molded his image for their own purposes. Generally speaking, his hair gets longer and flowier, his eyes get larger, and his face get softened until he looks feminized. The sculpture below, from the Capitoline Museum, is a great example. It’s Alexander as Helios (the sun god), a Roman copy of a Hellenistic original, and that original is speculatively dated to sometime in the late 200s or early 100s BCE, based on style.

We in the modern world are inclined to these same assumptions. We got it from them! I’ve noticed that most sketches (especially AI pictures) of Alexander on the internet turn him pretty. One (below, yes with 6 fingers) has him looking suspiciously like Henry Cavill! LOL

There have been some better attempts to use AI to render him, based on ancient statuary, but most use statues I’m less fond of. Yet the one that uses the Azara Herm is, I think, pretty close. I agree with Stewart that the Azara Herm is as close to a likeness as it out there; see Stewart’s discussion as to why. I believe it’s the bust you’re referring to in the ask. Below with link to Royalty Now, who made it. I want to be sure she gets credit. I bought myself a copy of this one. She did two reconstructions, but I don’t care for the other because of the statue used. Royalty Now may have airbrushed him a bit (he lacks scars, for instance—highly unlikely in a soldier), but at least in basic facial structure, it’s good. Note the long face. If a long face with sharper features is more accepted today—largely thanks to what photographs well—the Greek ideal was a rounder face, like the Akropolis head above.

So the real Alexander wasn’t an ugly man, no, but if you passed him on the street, you probably wouldn’t stop and stare. Unless he wanted you to. It was his CHARISMA that people noted, not his physical appearance.

That, I also tried to note in the novels. At one point, Aristotle remarks to himself that Hephaistion might have the looks, but Alexander would always be the one to draw eyes. 😊

------------------------------------------

* For instance, my educational website on Hephaistion appears pages and pages and pages down from the top on Google … even though it’s written by one of the two leading world experts on him (Sabine Müller is the other). Ergo, you have to wade through a lot of stuff put out by sites that know how to rank themselves higher before you get to the actual specialist. Once upon a time, btw, it popped up higher, but pay-to-play has changed search engines.

[morticia-mystic]

Flower, gleam and glow...

(cw: child abuse, toxic parent, running away)

"No ? What do you mean, no ?"

Mother Gothel questioned, her tone so cold it made Johnny's and Ginny's blood run ice cold.

"You can't hear me, mother, I said no. I'm not putting up with your bullshit anymore."

It was that time of night again, where mother sat down with her children between her legs and had them sing the same magical incantation that Rapunzel sang all those years ago that kept her youth as she brushed through their hair. Gothel had done this for years; each night she would alternate between her children and have them sing as she brushed. Some nights were worse than others, the ones that were the worst was when she'd get violently angry.

"I'm so sick, of being locked up in this fucking tower with you and your sick fucking mind. We're not fucking Rapunzel, Mother."

Giovanni motioned to him and his siblings

"And there's no fucking flower."

Giovanni was 12 as he stood in front of his mother. He had just gotten his second growth spurt, he stands now just at eye level.

Giovanni was going to speak again before there was a loud crack.

The sound of skin hitting skin.

It was Mother Gothel's open palm against Giovanni's hand

Johnny and Ginny wince, and Johnny grapples onto his older sister, hiding his face.

"You will never speak to me like that, Maggio, never."

Gothel scolded, but her voice was calm, eerily calm. Like a calm breeze blowing through a motionless woods.

Giovanni stared into his mother's eyes. He felt how his cheek stung, and how tears stabbed at his eyes, threatening to break from their invisible barrier and fall down his cheeks.

Giovanni stood there, vacant. Like a statue, his expression, frozen, for what felt life forever

Ginny and Johnny looked on in fear of what would happen next.

Mother seemed to come to after what felt like an eternity. Her face morphed into one of horror and disbelief.

"My poor child, what have you led me to do."

She soothed, as she embraced Giovanni, holding his head against her. She pulled his face away before she spoke again. She was inspecting

"I could have damaged your beauty, child. I wouldn't know what to do with myself. You see why you should lead me to anger, child."

Her tone sounded like that of a concerned mother but her words betrayed that tone.

Giovanni stared blankly, his countenance held no expression. He wasn't there, not mentally, he still stood vacantly.

"Come now child, let's go to the reflection room."

The reflection room was a room in the tower that was small, damp, and cold. There was only a mirror and the purpose of the room was to stare at your reflection and think whenever you did something that mother didn't like.

There was never any way of knowing how long you'd have to be in there.

When Giovanni heard the mention of that hellish room he broke from his mothers hold.

"No."

He spoke, his voice sounded distant, he still wasn't truly there.

"No."

He spoke again as he started to back away.

"Child, stop this foolishness."

Gothel grabbed his wrist and started to drag him towards the room.

"NO !"

Giovanni screeched as he fell to the floor and began struggling away from his mothers grasp.

"Giovanni, stop struggling. You need to reflect."

Gothel scolded as she continued to tug at him.

Giovanni struggled out old his mothers hold and ran.

He ran down the stairs and to his room. He slammed the door and quickly looked around for some form of barricade. He frantically searched his dilapidated room and moved his run down dresser (that was missing most of its original drawers) in front of his door.

At this age, Giovanni was already a master escapist (being locked up in a tower, it was a skill that was valuable). He made his way quickly to his closest and pulled out a small box that held the tools that aided him in his escape.

He took the rope from the box and secured it to something in his room. By the time he was able to tie the knot (his hands were shaking too badly to tie correctly the first time), mother had made it to his room, and was banging on the door.

"Open the door Maggio."

She yelled. Giovanni moved faster, he grabbed his shoes and threw them out of the window before frantically making his way to the window himself and beginning to scale the side of the tower he was forced to call home.

When his feet hit the ground, he hastily put on his shoes and began to run.

There were only two people for him to run to, Mal or Sarah of Spades...

Giovanni began to run in the direction of Bargain Castle.