#which means hannibal loves his nose

[suchawrathfullamb]

flawless little fucker

[fel-09]

One day

You looked at him from afar, in the doorway watching him from afar as he put together his tie and vest for his tuxedo.

Hannibal was thoughtful, looking at the tie in his hands, the intricate patterns on the tie were fascinating in some way,At the same time, the day outside was quite mediocre, like the rest of the recent times.

Everything became routine, for you...and especially for him.

Life slowly passed, dreams of a wedding remained dreams, understanding the specificity of your relationship, and even if it becomes a burden... Then where will you go? He won't let you go.

And no, not because of deep love and all that, you thought that he wouldn't let you go because you knew his secret.

The agonizing sounds of the clock Down the corridor sometimes irritated, but today especially strongly, because the mind feverishly rushed from side to side , although if you think about it, it’s an ordinary day, what’s so special about it?

Hannibal noticed you in the doorway looking at him, a smile did not appear on his face, but he nodded at you in greeting, as if he didn't even want to waste words on you, Thoughts were confused while you Squeezed the door frame, scratching the door

You missed his hugs which were becoming a rare occurrence in the relationship.

You miss his smile that was always on his face when you were around

You miss the moment when you knew nothing

Then he at least pretended that he cared about your condition, he thought that you were interesting but then he lost interest, it became boring to live with you

And this became your main fear throughout the entire time you lived together.

Hannibal paused for a moment noticing your confusion and slowly walked towards you finally turning his attention to you.

His hand went to your cheek and he kissed your forehead and grinned.

"You're thinking too much again, dear." His warm smile almost melted your heart, it seemed like everything that had happened before that moment had lost its meaning.

He laughed when he hugged you and pressed himself to you, kissing your forehead, nose and lips.

His fingers were warm as he touched your back, running them down. "Let me stay home today and we read books together?"

Oh, I didn't tell you? Unreliable narrator is a real pain

[honeygrahambitch]

"Remember. Be yourself." Molly repeated as she parked the car in front of her parents' house.

"Trust me, you don't want that." Will replied, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

He and Molly had been dating for half a year when she had decided it was the time to introduce him to her parents.

"Don't be ridiculous." She laughed.

"Is there anything I should not say? Politics? Religion?" Will double-checked. The first impression from his probably future in-laws was important. Not as much to him as it was to Molly who was often stressed by her parents' antics.

He was doing it for Molly. That's why it had to go right.

"Maybe...maybe talk more about fishing and engines and less about the FBI? My dad is not afraid to be direct when he has some opinions. And he enjoys fishing as well, so it's a win-win?"

Will put on his fakest smile and sighed. "Got it."

He wouldn't have discussed the FBI part of his life with them anyway. He hardly did so with anyone. It occupied a certain locked room in his mind palace. Locked rooms were meant to stay locked.

They got out of the car and knocked at the door.

The first half hour went well. To Will it felt like the families dinners in Christmas movies. Molly's mom smiled too much and laughed at every single thing Will said. Molly looked satisfied and that mattered. The two women would keep the conversation going all the time which was a bit exhausting.

The only time Molly's dad had spoken was when they were welcomed in. He had been quiet and watching Will in complete silence ever since.

It was not difficult to read the room. Right next to him, Molly was stressed. Molly's mom overly-excited and Molly's dad clearly had something on the top of his tongue.

"You worked for the FBI, didn't you?"

"He also likes to fish. You should see his lures. He makes them himself. It's quite impressive." Molly cut him off.

"I was a teacher for a while. Then I worked as a consultant."

"That much I know." Her dad replied, a neutral yet unsatisfied expression on his face.

Then why are you asking? Will wondered.

"Mom, can you pass me the salad?" Molly requested loudly.

"You were the one who caught Lecter."

Will had expected that. It always led to that. Every single conversation about the FBI led to that. He was not taken aback. Molly was a lot more stressed than he was and he wished she would calm down.

"Indirectly. He surrendered."

Now every time he would say that, he would have to block the image of Hannibal kneeling in the snow.

"Dad, have you tried the potatoes?"

"He was your psychiatrist for almost two years until then. Then you ran off to Europe to find him. Quite strange after he gutted you like one would gut the bowels of a fish."

Molly dropped her fork on the floor. Her mom said nothing but walked quickly to the kitchen to bring a clean one for her.

Will was a bit phased by the comparison but found it fitting. Bittersweet.

"You can't catch someone like him by means which are not considered strange."

"And you really ate human flesh?"

"Dad."

"Molly, let me be, we are only chatting. You finally brought in a guy whose greatest achievement was not to win a football match in highschool."

Will subtly placed his right hand on Molly's knee under the table. He had to reassure her. He was okay.

"So, human flesh, right?"

"Right." Will said.

Her dad was a bit disappointed with his dry replies.

"You and Lecter were really close."

"Sorry, my dad loves reading tattlecrime.com ." Molly replied.

If only it was a lie made up by Freddie Lounds.

"So that's not true then?"

"We were close, you can say that, I suppose. It was necessary to get close to him."

He said that more for his own sake. More as a reminder. Old memories flashed through his mind. Hannibal cooking and telling him about the symbolism behind the dish he was preparing. Then he had refilled Will's glass of wine. Will had made a remark, he couldn't remember what but Hannibal had been very amused.

"And you had no regrets when he surrendered?"

"I..."

Blank.

He had only regrets. He would feel completely abandoned if he had not had the regrets to keep him company in the middle of the night. Just like Hannibal's voice. Especially when Will would contradict him and Hannibal would adopt a fake not-knowing stance.

"Dad, of course he had no regrets. He caught a serial killer. He saved hundreds of lives."

God bless Molly who always knew what to say.

"Then why are you now fixing boat engines?"

"Pardon?" Will asked even if he had clearly understood.

"You are young. Helping the FBI is not an ordinary job. Lecter must have broken you so much that you had to leave it all behind and do something mundane."

"Dad, seriously now, stop interrogating Will."

"It's okay, Molly." Will said and then directed his glance directly towards her dad. "It was not Hannibal who broke me." I broke him.

Saying his name didn't feel right. It felt like when you mention a dead relative whose death you had not yet processed. At the same time it felt like Hannibal was in that room, right behind him.

"It was the whole system per se. At some point you get tired of being a tool. If you don't leave, then the FBI will dispose of you if they think you are not functioning anymore. I wanted a much simpler life and I didn't want to put Molly and Wally in any danger."

Her dad was visibly phased by the fact that he used Hannibal's first name. He couldn't say anything to Will's answer.

"Do you drink beer?" The next question came.

He could hear Molly exhale relieved. He felt like he had passed some sort of a test.

At what cost?

Pandora's box had been opened. That room he had carefully locked. And it would take weeks to close it again. It always took a long time.

[celestialprincesse]

I JUST SAW YOUR POLY 141 AND UGGH IT WAS SO GOOD! If you’re interested! Could you do like poly 141 with an angst- hurt/comfort! Where supposedly one of the boys said something and the reader took it in a negative way? I liked to think that this reader is a more sensitive reader, maybe something some of us can relate too (cause I know I can <3)

with lots of love and positivity! - 🩰

Warnings: afab reader, mentions of periods 💕🎀

Cooking is your safe place. The bubbling of pots and sizzling of pans gets you out of your head. Working to delicately lattice the tops of pies or pipe cakes keeps your hands busy and your mind elsewhere. Today, the kitchen is less of a safe place, and more of a war room. The snap of your meat cleaver down onto the chopping board echoes through the house like a death knell, and the boys convene on the porch to work out what the hell happened.

"Mate, she sounds like fucking Hannibal in there." Kyle huffs, fingers pinching at the bridge of his nose to soothe the building headache that stress has dropped upon his temples. Simon is already looking at Johnny, who looks like a guilty child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Johnny." Simon murmurs, surprisingly warmly, in that way he does to coax someone to talk before he resorts to his 6'4 arsenal of intimidation tactics. John and Kyle proceed to look his way, his captain's eyes blazing with embers of fire just ready to spark. "I did no mean to say anythin'." His thick Scots accent drips with defeat as he looks at the other men around him. "But.." Kyle nods slowly, a comforting hand placed on Johnny's shoulder, giving an encouraging squeeze. "I said she was acting pissy." He huffs, running his hands over his face in frustration. "She was bein' all huffy an' puffy, tried to ask what was wrong and she went off." Simon immediately has his phone in hand, scrolling through their shared calendar until he comes to the date, and a little blood drop emoji a few days later. "Ah." Simon sighs, followed by a chorus of "Oh's" From the others.

Halfway through cooking whatever it is you'd stormed in here to make - you weren't really sure what - You'd managed to elbow a bowl full of eggs on the floor, and now, sat in a mess of egg yolks, shells, flour and porcelain, you sniffled pathetically into your hands.

"Hen?" Johnny calls softly, a quiet knock on the kitchen door, which he opens slowly, shuffling in with your three other massive soldiers shimmying into the kitchen at his back. "Oh, no." He coos, taking your cheeks in his palms, dropping a kiss to your forehead as he helps you up. "I didnae mean to make you cry, love. I was jus' being an idiot, yeah? Insensitive an that." Simon is at your back, gathering your hair away from your face, leaning the reassuring weight of his head into the crook of your neck, whilst John helps you out of your apron and Kyle grabs cleaning supplies for the mess you'd made on the floor. "I'm sorry for being pissy." You sniffle, stuffing your head into the ever warm skin of his chest, breathing in the scent of his cologne as your residual tears soak his shirt. "Ye was no bein' pissy. Ye jus weren't as chirpy as usual, eh? No problem with that, was jus surprised is all." "You know we all love you." John coos, pressing a gentle kiss to your shoulder as you're left smushed between four huge bodies. "Love you too."

[starfallforest]

Stop putting 'Too Sweet' by Hozier in your Sylus playlists

I am sorry—this was clickbait. I don’t actually care what you do with your life. But I need you to hear me out for just a second, okay? I am extremely not neurotypical about two things: Love and Deepspace, and Andrew John Hozier-Byrne. And I have seen more than one person in the tags talk about "Too Sweet" by Hozier being a perfect song for Sylus and MC. My only discourse about this is that Too Sweet is a song about a man who makes continuous self-sabotaging life decisions being incompatible with a partner who has her life put together. In my humble opinion, both Sylus and MC are hot messes of people in completely different ways. Anyway, it’s a good song so I don’t blame you for putting it in every playlist ever. In fact, you should. But if you're into this song, I want to show you a couple more pls pls pls 🙏​

I might just be autistic, but both Hozier's music and Love and Deepspace have something extremely important in common… and that’s BEAUTIFUL MEN YEARNING!!!1 And that’s not even to mention the haunting, raw sexuality we can project onto the stories that each of these things feeds to us. That's why I needed to make this post on the 1% chance that someone might hop on this brainrot train with me. So let me present, for just a moment of your time (if you're willing): other Hozier songs that fit Sylus so well I want to combust about it.

De Selby (Parts 1 & 2):

“At last, when all of the world is asleep You take in the blackness of air The likes of a darkness so deep That God—at the start—couldn't bear.” [azlyrics] [gaelic translation]

Imagine just casually writing THE love song that so beautifully says, “Before you were in my life, I kinda understood how God felt before he created the universe.” Excuse me? Andrew just dropped this stanza on us without so much as a cw: fuck you. And if that sickening portrait of gnawing loneliness isn’t enough, we have all the Genesis God references. Since all the LIs in the game are at some point likened to gods or rivaling gods with their power, then add the reverberating instrumentals and chillingly slow vocals in this 2-minute killer, tell me how this song does not fit Sylus. Not only that, but we also have imagery of his lover descending upon him like the night (which is invoked during Part 1 in the Gaelic verse), and I know that’s on the nose for Sylus but come on. I need you guys writing smut to have an orgasm during De Selby (at least Part 2) because it might change ur brain chemistry I'm just saying.

“When you fall on me like night—I wanna kill the lights.” [azlyrics]

This song still rules irt its playing with darkness symbolism, but it also refers to the darkness in the singer’s lover—which in Sylus’ case is MC and we all were there when she shot the guy in the heart like his freaky eye was telling her: “And your heart, love, has such darkness—I feel it in the corners of the room…” my goddddddd stop right there I can’t handle the METAPHORrrr. You think Sylus gives a flying fuck about MC’s frivolous morality bullshit? No he wants her to embrace her own darkness, sit under the blankies with him and cuddle after doing crimes and a beat poetry session. This is some fucking Hannibal Lecter beyond-dark-romance shit. I’m not even trying to write a dissertation here (and yet…)

Talk (from Wasteland, Baby!):

“I'd be the sweet feeling of release mankind now dreams of, That's found in the last witness before the wave hits, marveling at God… Imagine being loved by me.” [azlyrics]

Not only does this song utilize insane Greek mythology metaphor and Biblical comparison but the overall meaning of it is, “I want you so bad, I need to speak poetically to hide how down bad I am for you.” That sounds kinda like Old World Sylus and all his pretty nicknames to me.

NFWMB:

“If I was born as a black thorn tree, I'd wanna be felled by you, held by you, Fuel the pyre of your enemies… Ain't it warming you, the world going up in flames?” [azlyrics]

This whole song just some hard, deep and steady yearning for 4 and a half minutes. Are you kidding? The acronym in the title stands for Nothing Fucks With My Baby, which is sung in the chorus like some quietly violent war chant—soft, dark, and powerful. Anyway don’t tell me Mr. Sylus “Give me a list and then go to bed. I’ll take care of it” Loveanddeepspace wouldn’t scorch the earth for the love of his life—or do one better and stand by her side while she scorches the earth herself; here’s the protective/supportive mans anthem you ordered babes.

It Will Come Back:

“I know who I am when I'm alone—I'm something else when I see you. You don't understand, you should never know How easy you are to need.” [azlyrics]

This song has repeated imagery that warns of the dangers of taking care of a feral animal, and then compares the feral animal to the singer as a lover. Like fuck off, that’s sexy and haunted. And we know that not only does Sylus love animals more than people, but he’s pretty animalistic himself if we are to believe that maybe he’s secretly a demon or something.

Arsonist’s Lullaby:

“Don't you ever tame your demons, but always keep them on a leash.” [azlyrics]

Remember in Lost Oasis when MC goes on some tangent wondering what Sylus' past was like? Well it was this song. It's about troubled youth and learning to grow in your darkness. Also how cool is that imagery of demons? Hey Sylus, what do you have to say about demons? I'll wait. In the meantime I'm tattooing this shit on my clavicle

BONUS ROUND Through Me:

“Everytime I’d burn through the world, I’d see that the world—it burns through me.”

We got a man and we got some fire allusions so there ya go.

Blood Upon the Snow:

“To all things housed in her silence, Nature offers a violence.”

Blood upon the snow—it's red and white! Red!! And white!!! Also kind of a Sylus x Zayne anthem lbr

Ok I hope you found another song that inspires you to make Sylus art or fanfic with!! And before you ask, yes I've already assigned Hozier songs to every other love interest in the game. Ok thanks for reading!!! 🏃‍♀️​💨​

[rubin-therubix-loverofblorbos]

hey guys. Post-fall Hannibal looking like Elias because he nicked his lip on the cliff while he and Will fell OR he's had it since birth and just had a prosthetic but, because his very expensive artificial lip makes him easily recognizable and it needs to be refurbished every few months which means this purchase can be tracked periodically, he got rid of it. He also changed his clothing style just a little just because he thought his autistic ass might've needed it. also. Don't pay attention to the nose shape difference okay. it always looked like that

{Can you. can you guys tell I loved the makeup on Mads in this.}

[wastrelwoods]

new fucked up medical history rabbit hole I decided to jump into today because this reference went completely over my head and GOD it is SO INSANE. past the cut bc this is objectively a gross one

UH so summarizing the wiki page: this is a case study from 1822 of a french-canadian fur trader (Alexis St. Martin) who was shot with a musket ball that left a hole in both his side and his stomach. Beaumont (an army surgeon) treated the wound and monitored his progress, but the injury healed REALLY WEIRD and left a permanent fistula so you could see right into this poor guy’s guts. Like an ostomy but further up in the digestive tract and not actually serving a medical purpose except to make it possible to dangle food on a string into his stomach and take notes on how it digested, which Beaumont was super super happy to do for the next ten years. HUGELY unethical toward poor St Martin, who was like 20 and illiterate and on top of not really having a say in being treated as the subject of this case study was ALSO apparently tricked into signing a contract agreeing to work as a servant to Beaumont? When he wasn’t having his digestive system exploited he would literally do chores for him. over the top insane

VERY on the nose for Hannibal to bring up this case in a discussion between himself and Chilton, who have already bonded over being fans of unorthodox-cum-unethical experimentation. ALSO very on the nose for Hannibal to bring up this case immediately after discussion of Chilton’s very recent ordeal of being vivisected by Abel Gideon, and the ways that has impacted his digestion (the meal they’re eating is meatless because he can’t stomach too many proteins). It’s a fun dig at the fact that Chilton is as much a St. Martin as he is a Beaumont. Chilton aspires to contribute something great to the study of the mind, and he will stoop to anything to accomplish it, but really he’s only another body to be experimented on. Hannibal is the one who is really in charge

I also do love when physiology is brought in as an allegory on this show that is deeply interested in the human body and the meaning it holds and specifically the connection between digestion and Will’s imprisonment in the BHSCI. There’s an image invoked of Will as one of those pieces of food on a string, being dangled into this place like a stomach by Hannibal’s careful hand, while he waits to observe the transformation that has taken place when the time comes to pull him back out again.

[theinternetisaweboflies]

Love’s What Makes a Shatterdome a Shatterhome Chapter 4

“Sorry I woke you up.”

This time, the nightmare was about the Precursors, so they both knew it belonged to Newt. Hermann dreamed about what he saw in the drift sometimes, but it was always distant and a little bit disjointed, like looking at the world through cracked glasses. 

Newt took another drag on his cigarette and blew the smoke out over the bone slums, keeping his gaze fixed on Reckoner. The temple that had held worship in its skull seemed to have vanished along with the black marketeers, and it had become a settlement for people unhoused by the double event, the only part of Kowloon that could still be considered a shantytown. 

Hermann leaned against the roof’s guardrail and handed Newt a mug of tea. Something else he had learned at British boarding school.

The mug itself was an old PPDC promotional item from back when they could afford those. Newt had submitted so many requests for kaiju merch that the PR team ended up blocking his email. So he started using Hermann’s instead. 

Newt took a sip of tea, because even if it didn’t make him feel better, it would make Hermann feel better. 

Lavender and honey. To help him sleep.

Newt tasted salt on his lips, and told himself it was just another nosebleed. He scrubbed at his face with the hand not holding any tea, wondering at Hermann's wince until he realized it was the hand still holding a lit cigarette.

"Thanks for the tea," he said. "It tastes a lot better than this thing. I forgot how gross they are when you haven't put in the work of systematically destroying your taste buds."

“When was the last time you ate?” asked Hermann. 

“Yesterday.”

“And when do you think yesterday was?”

“Thurs-” at Hermann’s look, he amended midsentence, “Friday?”

“Yesterday was Saturday.”

“Oh.” 

Hermann sighed. “It is a measure more difficult to monitor you when you keep sneaking off like this.”

“Sorry.”

“That's not exactly like you, you know. Nor is apologizing. Nor smoking.” Hermann wrinkled his nose, which should not have been as cute as it was.

“I guess not.” Newt stubbed out the cigarette. Hermann had a point. “I used to smoke a pack a day back when I was in Black Velvet Rabbit. So it’s not completely abnormal behavior.”

Hermann looked like he regretted something. Probably meeting Newt. “Do you feel like the… Precursors are making you smoke?” 

Newt snorted. “No, I know they want me alive. They also want me to eat.”

Hermann put a hand on his shoulder, and Newt shuddered a little. Maybe he had some of that skin hunger too. 

“Well, then at least we can be certain they aren’t compelling your actions.”

Newt shrugged off the hand. “Not quite.”

“Newton-”

“They tried to- I tried to- Shit, Hermann.” 

Newt tried to stall by taking another sip of tea, but most of it ended up on his Gojiban sweatshirt. His hands were shaking around the PPDC mug like they had around the water glass Hermann had filled for him after his first drift. 

He walked over to an electrical junction box and set the mug down before he could drop it. It was probably a historical artifact now. 

“I got a job offer.”

“A job offer?”

Hermann had followed him, so Newt returned to the railing. Eye contact had never really been his thing. 

“From this tech wiz kid named Shao. She was talking about making drones to help with the reconstruction. Like Robots for Humanity, I guess? The job would be actually perfect for you. I was going to tell you, but I- I think the Precursors wanted me to take it. I don’t know why. I’m not even a tech guy. The thing is- it took me a minute to remember that. I had already started drafting a reply.”

“You think the Precursors wanted you to enter new employ?” Hermann asked slowly.

“Well, yes. I think? No, though. I mean, they mostly want me to…”

“To what?” Hermann had braced himself like he was expecting the answer to be ‘eat babies’ or something.  

“They want me to dress like Hannibal Chau. I ordered the ugliest fucking suit, man. Do you know if Dior takes returns?”

Newt could hear the faintest sound of music coming from Reckoner’s skull. Someone had a guitar or maybe even a pípá. 

“Tell me what were you really going to say, Newton.”

“They want me to leave you.” Newt could predict the awkward silence that would surely follow and rushed to fill it. “Since you’re my safety net and all. I mean, you’re my backup plan- I swear I’m not trying to equate you with, like, getting into CalTech or something, man.”

“Newton-”

“This is it,” said Newt. It was the first time he had admitted it to himself as well, but the preparations were basically complete. “I’ve written some letters to my dad, and my Uncle Illia. I think it’s better that way. I mean, you already know that I kind of peak in written correspondence. Anyway, uh- I guess it’s up to you to make sure the history wikis get it right.”

Hermann stepped forward, like he thought he might have to restrain New from jumping off the roof. That was ridiculous. Newt would never leave that kind of mess. Okay, well, not one that he couldn’t clean up eventually. 

He had the right chemicals to make everything very neat. 

“What are you saying, Newton?”

“I think it’s time.”

Newt had been hoping for at least a couple of months. It had barely been a couple of days. Their furniture was only half put together, meaning the half Hermann had agreed to do was done. The rest were still in their cardboard boxes. Hermann could probably return them.

“Don’t be foolish,” said Hermann. “You- You still have work to do. Who will organize your notes?”

Newt shrugged. “I’m pretty sure the PPDC can afford more than two scientists now that it saved the world.”

“As if any of them would be able to read your handwriting.”

“Hey, I’ve got six doctorates, dude. Of course I have bad handwriting.”

“Newton-”

“Look, Hermann. You don’t need to stick around for this part, but I put a deadbolt on the bathroom door, and I think you should lock it after me, just in case they- in case it triggers something.”

“Triggers…” Hermann sounded sort of like he couldn’t keep up, but Newt wasn’t sure, because that was a sound he’d never heard from Hermann before. 

“I can take care of the rest,” he said, as gently as he could. This couldn’t be fun for anyone, even someone who probably still hated him at least a little. Sure, Newt got his hopes up sometimes, but the truth was: Hermann had been in his head. 

Newt was the only other person who’d been in his own head and he couldn’t stand himself. 

“Can you take care of the deadbolt for me?” he asked when Hermann didn’t say anything else. Newt was still facing the horizon, so he could only guess at the look on his face.

“No.”

Before Newt could turn around, Hermann knocked him unconscious.

[circusgoth-dotcom]

Artists In The Sun

Ship: Hannibal Lecter x John Citta

Word Count: 874

Summary: Hannibal discovers that John also enjoys drawing and employs a cheeky tactic to improve his skills. CWs for romantic patient/doctor relationship, non-sexual nudity, brief food mentions, suggestive ending if you squint.

Tag List: @canongf @futurewife

John and Hannibal had been living together for a few months, though they had been seeing each other for longer than that- two years at John’s last count. They had met when Hannibal had been recommended as a psychiatrist for John, despite Dr. Lecter being a forensics psychiatrist and not your day-to-day therapist or psychologist, which is likely what John truly needed… still, Hannibal agreed to see him. Agreed to listen to him. And despite both knowing better, they fell in love. Luckily for John, Hannibal was very good at keeping secrets. Hannibal kept his job, relationship, and patient, all in one carefully planned swoop, while John worked at a record shop, content to turn a blind eye.

John was setting the dining table when Hannibal returned home from work, wasting no time in coming to his side and taking him in his arms, a soft and warm kiss passed between the two men.

“How was work?” John asked as Hannibal stroked the back of his hair, his maroon eyes full of adoration. He clucked his tongue.

“You know that’s nothing to discuss before dinner. But if you must know, no mishaps.”

John smiled. “That’s good.”

“How was your day?” Hannibal turned slightly and found his gaze captured by a set of papers on the tablecloth.

“I’d say the same as you. The usual.”

Hannibal picked up the papers, observing the graphite sketches tentatively. “Did you draw these, paukščiukas?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah,” John nodded, “when I had some downtime at work.”

A smile teased Hannibal’s features. “They’re me, I presume.”

John blushed and nodded again. Hannibal squeezed him and kissed his temple. “I’ve never seen any of your drawings. You’re very good.”

John waved his hand dismissively. “They’re just sketches… I’m more comfortable with digital art.” He wrinkled his nose as he looked at the drawings once more. “I hardly did you justice.”

“You’re too hard on yourself,” Hannibal touched his chin gently. “But if you insist on being humble, perhaps you would appreciate some pointers?”

John’s blush deepened. “Oh, Hanni, you already do so much for me. Don’t add arts tutoring to the list!”

Hannibal bent and kissed his hand gracefully. “It would be my highest pleasure, my darling. We’ll do a still life in the sunroom this weekend, if you would attend.”

“How could I refuse?” His stomach then growled and he covered his mouth behind his fingers, giggling in slight embarrassment.

“Ah, but first we must attend to our empty tenders.”

On Sunday, Hannibal arranged a canvas and easel in his sunroom, as well as the scene he wanted John to study. What he hadn’t told his boyfriend was that he planned for them to draw him, nude. It was both cheeky and well-meaning of him, to say the least.

“Come in, mein Schatz.”

John entered, wearing a loose-fitting, short-sleeved buttondown and houndstooth-patterned trousers. He approached the easel and gave Hannibal’s appearance an inquiring eyebrow raise. It wasn’t often that the doctor wore only his silken robe around the house. “Taking a casual day, Hanni?”

He smirked knowingly and began to loosen the robe’s simple belt. “I’ve deduced that the best first lesson I could give you was…” He elegantly removed the robe, revealing his soft but muscular body and a smattering of dark brunette body hair, streaked with somewhat premature grey. “Figure drawing.”

John briefly gasped, flushing instantly despite his intimate familiarity with Hannibal’s body. He could not draw his grey eyes away as Hannibal went to poise himself on the loveseat, picking up a book from the coffee table to quietly peruse as John worked. When no pencil was placed against the canvas, Hannibal gently cleared his throat. “Is there something wrong, John?”

John shook his head furiously, his blush creeping into his ears and neck. “Oh! Uhm, no, no, I was just a bit surprised, is all. Yes. Figure drawing. I could use a brush up on my anatomy.” He swallowed and returned his attention to the canvas. Amusement sparkled in Hannibal’s eyes. As he got over the initial shock, John’s lines began to flow smoothly. Hannibal had even lent him his good charcoal pencils. The minutes ticked by. At the hour mark, John excused himself and returned with glasses of water and a tin of cookies for them both. Another hour passed before John let his partner see the product, a shaded, loving depiction of such a dangerous man.

“I already see improvement from those initial sketches. Well done, darling.”

“You think so?” John’s eyes glittered expectantly. Hannibal chuckled, kissing his cheek.

“You are such a precious thing, John. Let’s put it in my office.” Hannibal put on his robe and the two of them moved the canvas to his home office. John spied his initial sketches on Hannibal’s desk.

“You’re keeping them?”

“Of course I am. Everything your hand touches is holy to me.”

John could have swooned. He held Hannibal’s face in his hands. “You are too much.”

“But its what you deserve. Would you like to see my recent drawings?”

“Of course.”

Hannibal led him to the desk, opening a top drawer. John had scarcely to look at them before passionately entwining with his lover. He already knew what was there on the pages.

[wyldblunt]

what are glyndwr's thoughts on joko

oh anon. ohhhhh, anon. where do we begin. also thank you for this i was having kind of a stressful night and trhis is taking my mind off it entirely

okay so. you know the whole Hello, Clarice hannibal lecter thing (he never actually said that in the movie but you know what i mean. that vibe. cat and mouse questionably mutual fascination). okay take that. but instead of hannibal and clarice it's TWO hannibals. except one of the hannibals is Reformed now and he has pinky-promised to stop being evil and to try his best not to kill civilians as collateral damage and to even [big heaving eye-rolling sigh] LIKE, BE NICE TO PEOPLE CLOSE TO HIM SOMETIMMMMEESSSS UGH, and maybe Good Guy Hannibal has even been doing pretty okay at all of this "being one of the good guys" thing. like, not GREAT. he's okay at it.

well, we're starting there.

glyndwr has not, like, had A Nemesis since callas, and frankly callas hasn't been his REAL nemesis in ages bc his "main character of an MMO" power creep WAYYYYY outstripped her whole thing like, back in the personal story, and i think he has kind of forgotten what having a nemesis does to his brain. and the answer to "what does having a nemesis do to glyndwr's brain" is IT FUCKING LIQUIFIES IT

so the whole joko thing starts, and maybe alan thought it was a little weird how aggressive glyn got poking at joko thru the bars of his cage in the domain of the lost but oh well, sometimes glyn gets really aggro and likes to antagonize people, what are you gonna do. but then after that, all of the "let's dress up as his archon and steal his armies!!!" and "let's make it look like there's a sunspear rebellion, don't you think that will make joko sooooooo mad. do you think he'll be mad. how mad do you think he'll get" etc etc is all glyndwr, and they are all plans that the rest of our main group are generally not JAZZED about. they are similarly not jazzed about the fact that glyndwr brings joko up at every single opportunity in every conversation, and generally is not sleeping At All, and is maybe back on bloodstone again?, and also his Evil Laugh is back after a multi-year absence

basically a lot of glyndwr's post-villainy progress backslides REALLY HARD bc he is just having, frankly, way too much fun playing Evil War Barbies with a lich king. a really big part of most of glyndwr's interpersonal conflicts thru lws4 kick up bc he is Actively Having Fun the whole time (in... in his own way...) which is unsettling and offputting for most of his loved ones.

i guess this is all more his BEHAVIOR about joko rather than his THOUGHTS about joko, so summary of his THOUGHTS about joko: as obsessed with joko as glyn is, he definitely does not RESPECT joko, but that's like. almost making him weirder about it? bc he refuses to lose to someone he doesn't respect and also he holds joko in so much contempt that 50% of this whole thing is just him fantasizing about how much he'll be able to rub joko's nose in it when he finally wins and assert once and for all that he is The Bigger Better More Awesomer And Most Devious Mastermind. but also maybe a little bit of all of this is that he envies joko a little. maybe glyndwr is a little too aware of how overpowered he is and is indulging in a little daydreaming about what he could have accomplished if he had stayed evil instead of switching over. and maybe he is then squashing those daydreams by putting every single ounce of his being into trying to annihilate joko off the face of the earth as loudly and violently as possible, to prove that he is actually still good

also it's not a sex thing. i know that because of how glyn is this looks indistinguishable from a sex thing for him. but it's not

[apostatehamster]

Watched OFMD, I have thoughts and feelings, and here be my outlet, whoopee. Spoilers, livewatching ramblings and screenshots ahead

Oh yeah Izzy focus, because I am me :)

Ep 6:

The episode had a villain of the day and I thought that was funny. Just some random guy who got jealous because Ed broke a record jkfhjk. Chill out, man

I've wanted Ed and Izzy to talk again for episodes but -

Bro, he confessed his love to you and you shot him down like a dog. Then knowing he loves you, you wanted him to end your life, which he refused. He tried to end his life instead, stripped of all meaning in life. You do not fucking get to be snappy with him, you were supposed to be the first one to talk,. Yes I am bitter, shut up- Kudos for Izzy being the bigger man (heh).

The drinking issues continue, i see :( "I thought you were Roach" hjkdfhkjl sur

Well, he managed to say the word Sorry at least, that's more than the crew got. I know he is working on the apologizing but. Oof man, it still needs work.

fucking love the crew but especially Archie, I think she's a great addition. Just good chaos. Also lmao Roach

Fang is so precious to me, you do not understand-

Everybody: AYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEE CALYPSO BIRTHDAAAY

Everybody is just adressing Stede as their captain. Frenchie's eyes nervously flick to Ed from time to time though. Ed just heaves in annoyance. This guy really just hates his life atm. He's the most disconnected from the crew, like they tolerate him but his only social contact is Stede basically. And somewhat Izzy. Speaking of, it feels like a role reversal to season 1 where Izzy was the one kind of isolated on board

idk why but the way he said "that"Oh." absolutely made me lose it- What emotion was that. Nobody nose

Ed, seeing two kids: "Here's a lot of money. Also here's a knife. Stab anyone who gets close to the money" Me: he'd be a great dad-

idk just LOOK at her, ugh. QUEEEEEEN

Love Feeney for having that idea. Love Izzy listening to this and thinking "...you can just. do this?" and then picturing himself like that next to feeney. We love the self-discovery and self-expression

I just love them, your honor <3

He absolutely fucking killed it man and I need to look at ref pics to draw this because holy shit what a look

my favorite guy and his two support pals <3

Love the way Stede's face goes from "ehh...?????" to "awww..." within seconds. Love the way Fang starts clapping immediately after like one Note of singing (honestly same) Love Izzy just casually grabbing for Calypso/feeney's hand and turning the whole boat into his stage. You stole the thunder you little drama queen. But man he can SING T_T it's so soft..... and a love song....

The throuple hugging..... and also wth Fang and Roach have going on. I love the crew....

And the wonderful singing gets interrupted by... Cannonball and torture!!

OK Ed stepping in front of stede to shield him is cute

Ed continues to look annoyed and pissed off at everything that is happening in his life. Fair enough, I mean he wants to leave the pirate life behind but his pirate life keeps catching up with him

"Struck a chord" haha music pun

Roach laughing "I dont think the torture has begun yet :D :D :D" are you okay, my guy hsdjkhsdjkl???

*they're about to be tortured* Izzy: "It's just gonna turn me on." Ffs Izzy you little freak lmao

Lucius and Pete celebrating their honeymoon for a whole day, that is. impressive and lowkey concerning hjkshdjk

this was just. a nice frame. okay-

This season has a really mixed vibe inbetween funny and dark. Like, this ep is very artsy but they're also being tortured, i almost felt like I was watching a bit of Hannibal

If you think I am going to make this about Izzy, you are absolutely right!!! (I guess Ned and Maggie are Captain and first mate too, so I am definitely drawing the parallels) Because I think most of the issues between Ed and Izzy stem from Ed seeing him only as his First Mate and not Izzy, to the point where Izzy wasn't a person anymore. And now that Ed doesn't want to be a pirate anymore, the First Mate following around is a thorn in his side, and he fails to see the loyal friend underneath the front of the First Mate

Live Mutiny reaction

Ned not caring about whether Maggie dies, because she deserves death if she can't do her job (tie a proper tie). Yeah I am thinking about Ed shooting down Izzy and replacing him immediately. "You're mercenaries, you don't have feelings." Yeah, hm.

Stede is an absolute handsome charmer in this season, I gotta say.

Izzy absolutely flinching in panic as LuPete kick in the door. My man has PTSD (like the rest of the BB crew probably)

"We got engaged" Everyone: Awwwww :)

Ned: "You used to be a killer" Hm not so sure about that. Not the way everyone thinks at least. I am actually not sure if Edward ever killed anyone after his dad and the one person during the raid. His flashbacks were of these two murders at least (and the almost murder of izzy) so I am guessing there weren't anymore off screen murders?

Ed giving absolute zero shits about Ned's taunting, but Stede steps in, my man is manning up.

I find the difference between Ed and Stede so fascinating. Ed, who feels like his whole life went downhill after he killed and who wants to run from his life as a pirate, versus Stede who has been taunted for being weak, who wants to prove his strength and become a proper pirate. They are progressing in opposite ways.

"See, that's why he likes you. Because of your bumbling amateur status" I wonder if Ed feels like he corrupted Stede, sort of like Stede was afraid he ruined Edward at the end of season 1.

Izzy the killer being like "Give him a minute. First kill is always a mindfuck." and Edward going to check on Stede anyway, makes me wonder when Izzy first killed. If it was for Edward or if it was on his own. And if it was for Edward, if he checked on him, because I think probably not. And judging by the way Izzy stares into nothingness as Ed goes to check on Stede... yeah, no.

EMOTIONALLY LOADED KISS AGAINST THE WALL!!!!!!!!!! hell llloo

Can't help but feel sad tho with Izzy continuing his love serenade as Stede and Ed make out. Singing about how "It's only him for me, and me for him for life. He told me, he swore to me, for life." while the guy you're in love with is hooking up with another. I swear if the ring he wears around his tie was a promise form Ed I'm gonna be so devastated, I really really hope it isnt. :')

Fingie sand footsies gdfgjh LET'S FUCKING PARTAAAAAY

OK will continue in another post for episode 7 because I can't post so many pictures

[starw1sh]

finished if we were v*llains and damn it, I really enjoyed the last 30 pages. Which is so unfortunate, because I hate read most of that book and only finished it because I bought a physical copy and there's no way I'm wasting money like that. More thoughts (with major spoilers) under the cut because jesus christ

Oh man, I am not immune to whatever the FUCK was happening between Oliver and James. There's a comparison to be made with their dynamic and Hannibal and Will in NBC's Hannibal that I can't quite put words to it yet. Like they made each other so much worse but would do anything for each other. Oliver finding out James literally MURDERED Richard and then deciding he would take the fall for the crime like 2 hours later was crazy. AND THEIR ONLY KISS BEING ON STAGE???? PERFORMING THE SAME SCENE WHERE IN REHEARSAL JAMES BROKE OLIVER'S NOSE???? Insane. Insane. How am I supposed to be normal about this. Yes he loved him. But the truth was, he still did. I need to run laps over this.

And God I LOVE an ambiguous ending. Like I do think James is dead at the end, but that one quote from earlier in the novel (and I'm paraphrasing) where it was like 'a tragedy always has you hoping everything will work out until the very end'. Like I do think ultimately Oliver's life IS a tragedy and it's that hope that will keep him going even if it's doomed. That’s why we don't get any confirmation that James is 100% dead or if he's 100% alive. There has to be hope. It's kind of like Richard not dying immediately in the water but being left to die, like he COULD have survived but he didn't. James COULD have survived but I don't think he did. That being said, Richard could have survived if he has been helped and Alexander ended up surviving his OD because he was helped. So maybe since it's implied that Oliver is going to go searching for James (and since he's already helped him by taking the fall for the crime), he will be able to "save" James and find him alive.

But what then? James is still overcome with guilt about Richard's death and Oliver is still Oliver. How do they move on from that?

Other than the ending, this book pissed me off. The way characters found out information felt contrived (ESPECIALLY Oliver having to do "work study" by cleaning his own house?? Which leads to him overhearing a bunch and finding a bunch of spooky clues. That was so stupid), the pacing felt unintentionally slow, and I think the whole book was bloated with characters that didn't really matter. Like I enjoyed Alexander and Wren, but besides occasionally pushing the plot along they didn't really do much. They just weren't fleshed out besides "queer guy who does a lot of drugs" and "weirdo rich blond girl who I imagine walks around with the scariest blue eye stare". And don't even get me started on the handful of side characters who get even less attention.

Also I UNDERSTAND the author has a masters in Shakespearen literature but god damn did a lot of that fly over my head. Honestly I didn't dislike the book more or less because of it but it was a little frustrating. The characters kept getting casting lists and I was like "wow :) idk what that means but congratulations or I'm so sorry"

Ughhhh I also feel like because of how HEAVILY this text relies on theatre and Shakespeare, it would be better in a different medium - like theatre or tv. I have not read a book in a while that I think could benefit so obviously from a good adaptation. Especially since Oliver is so oblivious, his internal narration could translate to just staring at people intensively without loosing much narrative weight.

Final rating is probably 2 and half stars out of 5. The ending did save it for me and there were some really compelling scenes but most of the time it was just. Annoying.

[hazbinextgeneration]

Hazbin Worlds Collide Ch34 End

(Hey everyone. I just wanted to thank everyone who read this far and liked our story enough to read it to it's end. I had a lot of fun writing it and it makes me happy knowing some people loved it enough to read it fully. If you liked this consider checking out my other works. Thanks to everyone for reading this, faving it, or leaving a nice comment. And thank you to Palettepainter101 for creating such wonderful characters and giving me permission to make this wonderful story, and for all the help you gave me. Velvet, Francis, Tristan, Aldo, Iridescence, Brinda, Mako, Junior, and Nidra belongs to Palettepainter101. She also made this final part. Please consider checking out their works too! Any other ocs belong to me. Any of vivziepop's mentioned ocs belongs to her.)

Velvet promptly snorted through her nose, her expression showing how thrilled she was to see her.

“I didn’t exactly plan to take a holiday in a another dimension” she answered flatly, turning on heel to face the doorway fully. “Come along Francis” with her eyes closed and nose held high she briskly left the room, ‘Hmph’-ing when she walked past Queeny. Hannibal watched them go with confusion, glancing to the other two before looking up at Queeny for answers.

“Oh don’t worry Hanny!” Queeny offered the smaller demon several quick pats to the head “Don’t worry that fuzzy little head off!~” for extra measure she ruffled her hand into his white locks, and she couldn’t help the way in which her smile grew a whole inch at the unimpressed frown he gave her through his bangs, that now hung in front of his eyes.

“Oh! That reminds me! I think Beauty said she wanted your help with cooking some treats!”

Watching the way his frown turned upside down and how he quickly skipped off down the hall she let out a small chuckle, Beauty hadn’t exactly said that, but she knew the other demon was too nice to turn him down. Once she was sure he was out of ear shot she followed after in the direction of the smaller fawn, finding her sitting in the hotels lobby. The smallest deers ear twitched, at seeing her younger brothers attention caught by something the two both turned to the doorway, where Queeny observed them from.

Velvet scowled again “...Francis go to the others” Velvet said, look not shifting from Queeny as she approached. With little persuasion the boy scampered off, tail between his legs when he glanced again the Queeny. Unphased, Velvet turned her back to her company and decided instead to idly twirl two feathers (which had fallen from the pillows on the couch she was currently sat on) about with her magic.

“Do you need something?” Velvet asked after letting a pause fall on them

“I was only trying to be polite you know” Queeny said, folding her arms while casually floating upside down.

“Hm” Velvet said, mouth pressed into a thin line “Oh I am so grateful for your concern-“ she turned towards her, forcing a smile “Thank you Queeny, for showing so much concern for my well being, it’s deeply appreciated! You know-“ she twirled her finger, causing the two feathers to spiral around each other “Just how you also decided to spare a slither of sympathy for me and my friends!” She vigorously nodded “Truly you are a HERO! A real sweetheart miss Queeny!”

Queeny opened her mouth to speak, but Velvet clearly wasn’t finished

“And why that’s of course why you based the terms of our deal on your little moth friend. Uh..” she mocked forgetfulness “Oh what did you call him?”

“Hannibal”

Velvet snapped her fingers “Ah yes! Hannibal! Or what is it Hanny you called him? So sweet, you two must get along SO well!”...Velvet’s smiles dropped “Which is why I just CANT figure out why in nine circles I ever got so mad at you!” She turned back to the feathers, giving Queeny no attention as she continued to rant “I mean: you only hung our fate of going home or not entirely on the fact that we - a group of adults - got along with a TEENAGER. Someone who is ENTIRELY out of our age group! And thus is BOUND to have to different interests. Oh!“ she held a hand to her face, blinking in surprise “And lets not forget the fact you admitted to viewing this entire thing as just some funny little game to pass the time!” She brought her hands together in a small applause, clapping her hands together while giving Queeny her trade mark poker face

“I am so sorry, truly! Clearly you are such an intelligent inter-dimensional life form that deserves my full respect and gratitude”

She turned back with a final toothy smile to the feathers, facade falling as her grump mode came back on. Lips pulled down in a frown and brows knitted together across her face, narrowed eyes staring intently at the feathers as though she wished to set them on fire. At this point, Velvet wouldn’t be surprised if she did.

Queeny hummed, giving a thoughtful nod “Hm..Yes, I suppose I DID do that” she said it so casually, sounding like she’d forgotten about the entire thing.

“You should know - it’s just the way I am.”

Velvet gave her a look

“...Okay let me explain-“ she floated downwards, turning right side up and opening up her palms. She snapped her fingers, conjuring up two red rose petals from a nearby rose plant that had been set up for decoration. “The red petal here is our father” she gestured to the palm which levitated the red petal “And this one my mother” she gestured to the other petal. “Now we both know all the stuff our father can-“

“We don’t share the same dad.” Velvet said through gritted teeth.

“Okay okay!..” Queeny rolled her eyes “Sheesh....We both know our seperate fathers can do a lot with their abilities” she rephrased her first sentence, floating the red petal up higher. She sent out a tiny little electric like zap of her magic, sending it up to circle around the petal “Hes powerful, dangerous, goes from zero to a hundred, blah blah blah..” she mimed a talking hand “You get the idea”

Velvet rolled her eyes

“Now, my mother-“ she raised her other palm “On the other hand...pun intended” she gave a quick half lidded smile, before continuing “Though on equal terms of power with my father, is still in an entirely new level” raising her long nailed finger she poked the petal lightly, within seconds little zaps of power cracked over it, yellow sparks jumping off it as it’s crimson colour bled away to a deathly white. Velvet rose a slow brow

“My mother is..” Queeny made a gesture with her hand as though she was trying to find the right word “..Well, I’ll spare the long explanation: my dearest mother, is a total nut job” she said paired with a shrug. The white petal floated up higher, whereas the red petal floated about with care and grace, the white one couldn’t seem to keep steady. It zipped and zapped left and right, twitching in mid air as it came to float along side the red petal. Velvet’s eyes had traveled upwards to watch the display, occasionally glancing back to Queeny, her brow still cocked.

“With that information on the table, here’s a pop question! What happens when you take one powerful being-“ she held out her right hand “And combine it with another equally powerful, yet drastically unstable being?” She held out her left hand, bringing the two together as - with a small poof - the two petals became one. Half red half white, little sparks of yellow still dancing around it at it hovered in the air.

Queeny gestured to herself “Me~” she said “You get a third very powerful being!..With the-“ the fussed petal above jolted, flickering about at random, before it returned to floating calmly “Occasional little glitch here or there”

Velvet’s eyes narrowed, leaning away with an unimpressed look, shuffling on the sofa “..So, what do you want? My PITY?”

“All I seek is for your petty little demon brain to understand!~” Queeny sang with a wide grin.

Velvet watched her float around besides her with a flat expression, arms crossed with her mouth pressed into a dee frown. “Even if I DO understand, that won’t make me forgive you” She stated bluntly, turning her head in the opposite direction to Queeny with her ears pinned back. “...Velvet” Queeny rolled onto her stomach, arms crossed with her legs slowly kicking back and fourth behind her. Velvet’s ear twitched a little “I can’t help the way I am” Queeny looked down into her palms, but all she saw was nothing but the sharp talons that sat at the end of her fingers. She didn’t feel particularly sad about it, but she didn’t exactly feel..her usual carefree self either.

Velvet slowly turned to peer a curious glance to her. Queeny shrugged, hands returning to her crossed arm position “I was born this way”

“Mm..” Velvet’s look softened juuust an itty bit. She chewed her lip, looking away with a thoughtful hum, Queeny watching her with a silent gaze. “...If it’s forgiveness you want, I’m not giving it to you” Velvet stated once again, back still turned to her company. “..BUT-“ she turned round slightly, eyes closed, brows furrowed down her face “..Your blood relations do..explain somethings” she admitted.

“So, bye gones be bye gones!” Queeny extended a hand, that Velvet pushed away with the back of her hand “You hold up your end of this ‘deal’, and I’ll consider it-“

“Okay then” Queeny said casually. Velvet barely got a ‘wait what-‘ out of her mouth before Queeny raised her fingers and -

snap

The red decor of the room and the plushness of the sofa was replaced with sudden cold, the drop in temperature so surprising that it actually draw a shiver from Velvet who hurriedly wrapped her arms round herself. “Wha..” Velvet blinked “The lab??” She questioned allowed. Queeny nodded with a sound of confirmation, floating over to inspect what progress had been made on the machine. “Hm, not bad” she admitted, though she was no engineer so who was she to judge?

..But on the other hand

Another snap of her fingers and the pieces of machinery gathered together in the blink of an eye, the pieces building themselves as parts locked and screwed into place. Queeny waited casually, inspecting her nails and idly looking about the room while Velvet blinked at the display.

“I..” she shook her head “You’re seriously doing this NOW?” She asked, hand pointing towards the machine. Queeny hummed as if confused at the question, before she gasped “Oh you’re right!” Another snap of her fingers, and every other kid in the hotel appeared with a poof behind them “There! Now everyone’s here!” She said

“What in the..” Mako muttered, looking around the room and then up to the lab exit, how did he end up here? “Take it your not a fan of black magic?” Angle cake asked, having become used to black magic and voodoo years ago. At this point casual teleportation was as mundane as brushing your teeth in the morning. Mako slowly shook his head “Uh...no”

“Ugh...what happened?”

“It would appear Queeny teleported us” Dexter grumbled from underneath Gemstone, who had unfortunately landed ontop of him

“I trust you two where the ones wh-..” Tristan stopped mid sentence, peering around Queeny and Velvet to look over at the still constructing machine...he looked to Velvet, who pointed at Queeny “It’ll take a few minutes for everyone to stabilise!” Queeny announced, tapping the ends of all her fingers together. “Why don’t you go say goodbye to all your chummy chummy?” like a mother Queeny leaned down and scooted Velvet and Tristan back to the group “I’ll be right here with the machine when it’s done!”

Velvet and Tristan exchanged looks, but deciding not to argue and both still being confused they walked back over to the group.

“So..” Angel cake was the first to speak, awkwardly circling her foot on the floor “Guess this is..goodbye?” Mako, who looked the least awkward or shy shrugged “Guess so” he replied in his usual gruff tone. For a while that was all that was said, and yet even with the little time they had left ticking away no one could seem to find an idea on what to say..Well, almost everyone

“Have a safe trip back home!~” Beauty leaped forward to enwrap Aldo’s leg in a hug, with her short figure it was the best she could do. Aldo blinked, caught off guard at the action. He lightly shook his leg a few times, before admitting defeat and patting his hand on her back “Uh, yes we will..”

Dexter smiled, Beauty’s little act of affection easing the mood in the air and giving him the confidence he needed to speak. “Hope you make it back home alright!” He said “..Uh-word of warning” Dexter lifted a finger, a shadow of worry falling over his face “Keep your eyes shut when entering the astral plane between universes, you Uh- you don’t know what you might see between worlds”

“And maybe try not to fall through a portal at all next time?”

Velvet snorted at the deers comment “Har har” she drawled with a smile, clearly joking around. “Well, from one deer to the next-“ Maizy shook Velvet hands, leaning down to be at height level with the slightly smaller girl “Good day to you when you return.”

“The same to you...make sure to keep your kitty in check”

Wild card bristled, while Maizy, playing along with the act, nodded “Dont worry! I have many, many tricks to help my ickle kitten behave~” The two girls where hardly able to stifle their snickers at how beet red Wild Card became at that sentence, feathers along his chest puffing up, a clear sign of his not so hidden embarrassment.

“Thank you for...Uh..housing us in your dimension?” Brinda finished awkwardly, not really sure how to phrase it. It was certainly a sentence she’d never thought she’d say...she gave Mako a look and then looked back towards the others. “Hm?” Mako cocked a brow, and then sighed “See ya”

“Or not” Angel cake said with a smile, earning a rare smile from the otherwise grumpy wolf. She crossed her arms “Maybe it’ll be better for everyone if we all stayed in our OWN universes from now on!”

“THAT I agree with” Velvet said tiredly “Ugh..I cant wait to get home” she said, the thought of being able to collapse into bed bringing a smile to her face. “So, whatcha gonna do when you get back?” Gemstone spoke up, arm loosely hanging around Beauty’s shoulders “Your folks must be pretty worried”

“Actually no, they’re fine!” Queeny spoke, interrupting Velvet just as she opened her mouth to speak.

“Beg pardon?” Tristan asked, raising a brow towards the floating she demon who turned to meet his gaze. “The time within universes is different for everyone! For example-“ she pointed towards the ground “A day in this universe-“ she jabbed a thumb over her shoulder to the nearly constructed portal machine “Could be less then a minute back in their world!”

...Hannibal slowly raised his hand “Uh, couldn’t that also have the opposite affect?” He asked

A pause

“Hm...” Queeny rubbed her chin...and then shrugged “Maybe”

The implication caused Tristan and everyone else to frown, sensing the unease, Angel Cake cleared her throat and promptly spoke up “W-Well, regardless, you’re going home right?” She shrugged “And besides, compared to some things in hell, time travel is one of the more tame things”

“I guess..” Velvet’s tone said how much she believed the spider, Francis shyly shuffling closer to her. Even Junior, whom had not shown any signs of being shy, stepped closer towards his sister in clear worry, the feeling of homesickness and the uncertainty of not knowing how his parents would react causing his tail to curl at his feet

“I..never really thought about that” Iridescence said, scuffing her shoe at the floor awkwardly. Tristan looked down to her with a small frown “I’m..sure it’ll be fine” Tristan attempted to reassure, Iridecence hummed back quietly.

Queeny was peering over her shoulder to the group while the magic continued its work on the machine, drawn to Hannibal who shyly offered two small pats to Francis’s shoulder and a teenie smile. Queeny couldn’t tell if Francis returned the smile, his back was turned to her, but the little deers ears perked up ever so slightly at the gesture.

“All done!” Queeny announced with a clap of her hands

Eyes where all drawn towards the machine which stood proudly in the centre of the room, rebuilt form the rubble it had been reduced to as though it was brand new. It the relief of knowing they could finally go home wasn’t so heavy in the room, they would have been impressed at how well Queeny has mended the damage. Then again, she did have dark magic, which worked in all sorts of mysterious ways

“And you’re sure it’s...safe?” Nidra asked with evident caution, glancing the machine up and down as if looking for a flaw. Casually as ever Queeny conjured a nail file out of thin air and rubbed it back and fourth over her nails “Eh, probably”

“Ahem” Maizy narrowed her eyes

“Oh don’t be so worried” Queeny said with an eye roll “A simple machine reconstruction is a walk in the park!~”

It was clear that after her rather dismissive attempt at humour mere seconds ago hadn’t earnt her any votes of confidence as their outer dimension guests exchanged rapid worried glances. Maizy gave Queeny another look

“It’ll be perfectly safe” Maizy knew Queeny enough that she didn’t make mistakes. Unless she had it planned ahead three steps in advance, if there wasn’t room for error, there wouldn’t be any. “All you have to do is step through, just one little step! And then you’re all back home!” Maizy turned back to her friends, then gestured to the group

“...Uh-“ Dexter cleared his throat loudly “Ahem! Uh-y-yes! In theory, anyway, you just step through and after a few seconds, you should be there”

“In theory?” Aldo repeated, not sounding assured

“....Well” Dexter approached the machine and lifted gloved hands towards the controls. Complicated to newbies, to him? Practically second nature. “Let’s start it up..” Dexter presses at various buttons and levers, the machine buzzing to life with noises and electrical whirrs. Francis shuffled further behind Velvet as if trying to feebly hide himself from sight. Iridescent gulped, unable to draw her eyes from the machine. She clutched at Tristan’s hand

Dexter’s ginger hovered over another control: he inhaled, then pressed the button.

With a crack of electricity that send Hannibale’s wings snapping open with a scream and darting to hide behind Velvet with Francis bright, powerful light burst from the machine: the structured doorway of metal filled with the white glowing light, spiralling inward before the glow dimmed to a more peaceful, alluring shade

Dexter, who’s eyes had clamped shut out of fear of another explosion, nervously peeled open. He let out a breath when all appeared stable “Phew!”

“So...” Velvet slowly looked to Maizy, but couldn’t stop glancing towards the machine through the corner of her eye “...We just..step through?”

“That’s the idea” Maizy said, but in truth she wasn’t a hundred percent sure if this would work. Maizy knee dark magic, not science. In truth this portal could..well, lead them anywhere! However she wasn’t going to voice that when the portal was literally before their eyes and appeared to be working

Getting the machine working was the easy part thanks to Queeny’s magic. Now, came the hard part

“Who’s going first?” Tristan asked quietly. No one replied. Everyone shuffled in uncertainty as everyone waited for someone else to step forward and be the bigger person.

Mako eyed each of them, ears falling back against his head as he chewed his gum. His eyes lingered on the princess and her younger brother, who looked uncharacteristically shy, huddled under Brinda’s wing which she had draped over him lightly.

He sighed, and stepped forward

“Mako!-“ Brinda reached out a hand, caution and fear reflecting on her face. Mako paused and offered her a quick glance over his shoulder, before he continued towards the machine. The fur on his neck bristled when he was within arms reach of the portal, if he squinted hard enough, he could see his one reflection staring back at him from the white void.

He stuck his hand out, resting the portal. His lower arm disappeared, it felt chilly, like he had stuck his arm into mist. He pulled his arm back, inspecting his hand. His eyes narrowed...his arm did appear to be in one piece. He hummed

And then stepped through

Everyone waited with baited breath as the end of Mako’s tail disappeared from sight, the portal glowed brighter as Mako’s presence marched through, before it once again dimmed and returned to normal.

“...See?” Queeny broke the silence “Nothing to it!”

This time Maizy and Cheshire shot her unimpressed looks

“Well...it looked safe” Tristan said, not sure if he was reassuring himself or the others at this point as he was the next to approach. Iridescence clung to his side like a leech, both hands grabbing at his wrist for dear life. Tristan’s fingers reached for the portal, surprised at its chilly feel. “...It’s cold” he said under his breath, Iridescence mimicking him and showing the same surprise on her face

Tristan and Iridescence stepped through

Velvet and Brinda looked up to each other

“Just for the record-“ Nidra slithered forward, Horner scooped you under one arm “-I guess your dimension wasn’t the worst one we could have ended up in”

It was the closest thing they would get to a thank you and a goodbye

“You’re..welcome?” Beauty replied, her tone showing just how stuck she was between being grateful and confused as the little naga disappeared through the portal.

Aldo went next, standing in front of the machine. He felt a sense of pride, perhaps a little bit of jealousy that he wouldn’t be able to study the technology, but mostly, he was happy to finally be heading home. “Well..” Aldo offered his hand “This is goodbye” Dexter blinked, eyeing his hand, before returning the gesture with a hearty shake “Thank you for..being my lab partner..” he shrugged “If only temporarily”

Aldo smiled a little “Youre welcome..” Dexter waved goodbye as he watched his one eyed friend step through to whatever lay beyond.

“Just..a simple step” Brinda said, at last shuffling towards the portal. She looked to Maizy as if seeking comfort, Maizy did a thumbs up then did a ‘go on!’ motion with her hands. Brinda stuck one leg through, fur bristling - it was cold! “Uh..goodbye” Brinda said with a small smile, waving back to the group as she stepped through with Junior in toe, screwing his eyes tightly shut as he let Brinda pull him along

“Your turn I believe” Queeny said down to Velvet, prompting Francis to quickly stumble to the opposite side of Velvet. Velvet reached down and firmly gripped Francis’s hand, guiding them towards the portal. Her ears twitched with curiosity, brows furrowed, she didn’t even know this type of technology was possible even for dark magic! Then again she would be perfectly happy to forget about this whole interaction (the crossing dimensions and being home sick part at least)

“Hm...” Velvet looked to the portal, then the group behind him. Her eyes landed on Queeny last. Queeny’s eyes met hers, it looked like Velvet had something to say, but she kept quite “Just step lively though!” Queeny spoke before Velvet could “And remember! Eyes closed! You don’t know what you might see between dimensions!~”

Velvet still looked at her with a strange expression, one Queeny couldn’t quite put her finger on. Perhaps there might have been a hint of gratitude there, but before she could think about it the red haired doe was gone, her little brother following in toe.

The room filled with the mechanical purr of the machine, until Dexter reached for its power switch, and silence returned.

“.......Well...” Angel Cake shrugged, crossing her arms “That’s that I guess..”

“Yeah..” Dexter nodded slowly as he walked to her side. He glanced back at his machine, he wondered if they all made it back safely, guess they’d never know “...Do you think they made it back? To their families?” Beauty turned towards her brother and peered up at him, Dexter’s brows narrowed by a fraction “I hope so..” his eyes went back to the machine

“...Queeny?” The white floating entity craned her neck down to Dexter, who’s hands clenched at his sides. He inhaled, sighed, then turned to look up at her “..I think it’s best we destroy the machine”

“What?” Gemstone leaned forward, abruptly entering Dexter’s line of sight “But you spent ages working on this thing! And we JUST got it fixed!”

“I know I know! But..” Its not like this was easy for him! Science was his pride and joy, this machine was basically his life’s work ever since he could hold a wrench! But, maybe it was better if they didn’t have any more incidents like..well, this

“But..maybe it’s best if some thing aren’t meddled with”

Gemstone, as always, looked ready to argue, however the others around her all looked to be in the same boat as Dexter. Even Beauty, who gently put her hand on Gemstone’s shoulder, looked to her with a plea of understanding. Gemstone sighed “Yeah..Yeah you’re right...Still-“ she stood up straight “It would have been cool to see what their dimension would have looked like”

“You never know-“ Maizy shrugged “-maybe one day we’ll find out”

“Uh-“ Angel cake wildly waved her hands “I think we’ve ALL had enough of portals for a while!...Come on-“ she gestured towards the flight of stairs out to the basement, turning her back on the invention that had caused this whole ordeal “-let’s get outta this basement and get some food. A total normal, boring, mundane food break”

“Keep your standard low” Gemstone deadpanned with a smirk “You KNOW that’s asking too much of this place” a chuckle left Angel-Cake, the others following in toe

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brinda blinked - it was as if she’d blinked and everything had turned back to normal. She had felt cold for a moment, but only for a moment. She stood outside the grand hotel, it’s welcoming, warm, familiar glow of the vintage lights illuminating its sign and doorway like a breath of fresh air

Home

“We’re...back” she said “..We’re back!” She said a little louder, wings fluttering in excitement. Various cheers and sighs came from the group, like a weight had finally been lifted and they where finally able to breath

The doors to the hotel creaked open, and a confused face stuck out “What are you kids all doing out here?” Charlie asked, opening the door wider “..And more importantly-“ Charlie three her gaze back inside then back to the children “-how did you all get out without me hearing you?”

“Mum!” Brinda and Junior rushes forward, eagerly engulfing their mother in a hug. Charlie was startled, but soon relaxed “Are you two okay?” She asked in worry, had something happened? Junior, who had been hugging her leg, pulled away with a blink “Wha..weren’t you worried?!”

“Worried about what?” Charlie asked

Brinda went to explain “....Nothing mum” She smiled “Don’t worry”

[rejectory]

Forever, seemingly inexhaustible, gives license. To the lazy, to start tomorrow. To the self-purportedly tuned in to life, to fear.

And because the only counterpart to the magnitude of its abstractness is death, what better religious spintale to soothe a lifetime of waste with than a marriage of both,

the afterlife?

’ Still wanting to settle down, ‘ which Will has tried before to an amusingly disastrous outcome.

Settled means having reviled one’s nature per the community guidelines. The person, if person, with whom one chooses to undertake this mutual dissolution appears to be a crucial ingredient.

One’s worth is determined by one’s partner. We agree that there is nothing more to us than what we settle for.

Will’s ex-wife says nothing kind about him.

And so he of her, but because she thought she was choosing a bland equal. Will admits to his own momentary clinical derangement, then. Molly was a choice as unfortunate as her parents’ name-giving skills. She should be tonight’s amuse-bouche not just in spirit, and the very first bite of her should have made Will as sick as the next in-memoriam hundred Hannibal plans to forcefeed him.

Thoroughly rare are moments which couldn’t do with retrospective heightening in his care—a more tightly sculpted feature, a surgical tuck of the jowled contour of his... resentment.

Strange news. It’s beneath him to be in 'competition' with a half-formed being.

In his memory palace, without a red-nosed cupid to raise the archway as to give the ordinary an illusion of wings, this moment will nonetheless be the unkempt room it is now, and it’ll always open its door to him. His hand next to Will’s as it is now; his knee butting Will’s like two dogs after a long parting.

Will, who appears to have been struck by a thrilling image. He must think of it as jealousy; the tone, the offense. And that pleases him?

Down his torso, Hannibal’s seduced but discontent peer. He in plain view thinks on a kiss. Thinks, nostrils flaring, on love, on reopening Will’s belly scar and massaging the infinite cling film self-layers that make his peritoneum—if only to tap the negative space thinly walling it off from his genitalia. Their anniversary is coming up.

’ Why? ‘

A Knock taps on their ornate moment, and Hannibal never finds out.

He pauses at the audacity.

Thud.

He snaps a minimizing look—free advice—at the wardrobe, then ticks back to Will. Curiously.

THUD.

A beechwood boom to send a flock flapping. It could be misconstrued as the struggle of fists that he for a fact knows cannot be. He’d roped the wrists behind the back.

Another.

He stares measuredly through the iron bars of his annoyance.

It’s the head, of course. Well on its infliction of a concussion if continued. In calm half-jerks, Hannibal rolls each of his sleeves up.

Just as he stands, a man falls out of the wardrobe close to Will’s left, biblically exhausted by his own birth, in the fanciest stables of his travels, out of his mother cow, temple cracked like an egg.

The meat looks how Cordell's cheek felt mulling over his tongue. Forgive him if he doesn't dig in right away. He could chalk it up to the elegance in the way Hannibal's fingers curl around a fork, knife as the oar leading fine minced chunks in from the tide of sunny side but he'd be half right.

More mesmerized by the hint of teeth beneath his lip as he takes his first bite. The pulse of muscle leaping between jaw and temple as he chews. The marinade of flavors settling over the flat of his tongue as he swallows.

Wondering too who the third guest is. If there is any at all. That's the brilliance of Hannibal's mask. They'll never know which of them swallowed his unfortunate victims. So to hell with it, all of them did. Lip half curls in amusement at the thought of the pale faced afficionados and their faux horror. Knowing damn well none of them hid their curiosity well enough.

Will catches his lips at the rim of his glass for show, wrapped around pristine crystal without the supplication of another drink which he takes now with an over exaggeration of forethought.

He's stopped asking who's on the menu and when, more interested in the basics of supposition and his peek behind the veil to tell him when its his turn to shell out some part of himself. Even more curious to see if he'll recognize it.

And what Hannibal's expressions will tell him then. Like what it's doing now. The meat wasn't personal, a source at best. Easier than going to the grocery store. The satisfaction is at his own cunning elevation of the dish. Who knows meat better than the butcher?

Would Hannibal celebrate every labored swallow, carve him slow till there's nothing left to keep alive? Slower than Gideon? Would it be a love letter like Bedelia? Could he stomach it at all.

He can hear the Tattlecrime bullshit headline of the day: They're On Their Honeymoon Now But Wait Till Desert.

That's right. Bâtard-Montrachet down the hatch.

First bite's the hardest to work through. Slimy, so raw it's still fighting to avoid his teeth, he chases it with a bite of bread and decides imitation is key. No one knows etiquette better than the host.

"Have you decided what our new lives are going to be? Can't play tourists forever."

[dominantslasherking]

Hey I'm so sorry to bother but you're like the only person that writes for male reader especially dominant male reader.

Honeslty I love you and everything you write.

Could I maybe request a part 2 of the Hannibal with a patient that has anger issues?

If not honestly anything with Hannibal would be awesome.

You're amazing and I hope you have a wonderful day.

Take care of yourself❤

~🦊

Yandere!Hannibal Lecter with Dominant Male S/o

My Stories are meant for the much more mature audience, 18+ YANDERE Hannibal.

Backstory: In which, you get kidnapped by Hannibal Lecter, as he could no longer hold himself back for his desirable and insatiable love for you.

Your eyes groggily blare open, your vision partly blurred from being unconscious for a while and the sleeping drugs finally draining out of your system. At the moment, you could only wonder how you got to this moment.

<>><>

"Thank you, Dr. Lecter..." You slowly spoke, taking a seat while Hannibal's gaze finally burned towards you, "Excuse me for my, questions but...where are all the other guests?" Hannibal stopped pouring your wine at those words you spoke, his body halted a bit, a fake smile appearing on his cold face.

"They will be arriving soon." There was a hint of darkness to his voice, but you paid no mind, he was known for being quite stoic. You just wondered why you were here, you didn't really have any type of relationship with him, you were far from friends, sometimes you swear Hannibal is glaring at you as you talk to Will Graham.

You of course knew Will Graham since you were forensic blood spatter analyst and usually spoke to Will to see if his stories added up with what you found. So it made you rather close

"I see, is there any reason you invited me? I mean we've barely even spoken a few words." Your voice etched out, Hannibal's eyes gleaming at you. He wondered that too, at first Hannibal believed the burning sensation deep within him was because he was jealous that Will was spending so much time with a random nobody...that nobody is you.

But after a few days of closely watching you, and you do your work. It made the cannibal curious, so curious that he became rather fantasized with you, stalking where you lived, your daily routines, what you ate, how you walked, etc.

His obsession grew and grew, which finally led the predator to make a move upon the prey.

Out of sheer awkwardness and nervousness from Hannibal's intense stare, you sipped on the wine, thinking nothing of it, while drinking some more and more, until you guzzled the entire wine class.

It took a few minutes for the drugs to kick in, your head feeling light and faint, the last thing you saw before everything went dark was Hannibal smirking down at you. <>><>

But---why?? Why did Hannibal drug you of all people, it made your thoughts run wild until you heard the door open?-- "I'm sorry for holding you hostage in such a manner." Hannibal slowly spoke, slowly unbinding your feet and then wrists.

Trying to move, you realized your body was fairly weak, barely able to get up, your eyes finally clearing a bit, as you saw his face.

"Let me help." He spoke again, taking hold of our body to help you up, your body was towering over his own as you weakly leaned against him, your nose brushing against his neck.

"Ah-~" Hannibal was surprised, as you pushed him onto the surprisingly clean cellar floor, Your body mounting onto him with much weakness, trying to lift your body up to stare down at him.

Your body pressed against his own, and as you let out a groan of dismay, encouraging your weak body to even let out a peep you spoke, "Fuck." I mean you didn't expect to suddenly pop a boner when your kidnapper was struggling underneath you....it just happened.

Hannibal seemed to have realized as he slowly looked at your face, his lips nearly touching your own, your hot breaths seeping onto one another.

You were always attracted to Hannibal, but seeing him always hang out with Will made you think the two were a pair, so you never made a move.

Coming to a realization, you didn't see any disgust or dislike on Hannibal's face from your body's reaction.

"Perhaps I can help you take care of that later..if, of course, you are up to it, but right now, I do not wish to have intercourse with you in such a state." He reasonably spoke.

"Okay." Shit, what were you saying, why did you say that? Your mind was running wild and endlessly...but---why did you actually like the idea of that?

[young-dumb-and-vaccinated]

The Sommelier (Hannibal x Female!Reader) pt. 1

Ding dong fannibals I’m back on my bullshit :) 

I discovered that I cannot for the life of me be concise so this one might come in a couple parts. I don't anticipate it's gonna go as long as Cult Girl but we'll see. Y/n is an introverted waitress at a fancy restaurant with a crush on a mysterious regular. An encounter with a dangerous criminal pulls her into his world.

Trigger warnings: graphic descriptions of violence; implied drug use; religiously-motivated violence.

In some ways, waitressing was the perfect job for an introvert. Customers didn’t see you as a person, they saw you as an NPC. As long as that was the case, you weren’t expected to engage with them beyond the script: you take their order, bring them the food and they, hopefully, leave a tip. To ensure that, you perfected the art of fake happiness. You were there to make money, not friends. 

Well, there was an exception to every rule. Yours was the sommelier. 

The sommelier was a regular at the restaurant, but never ordered a meal. He mostly just sat at the bar, drank expensive wine, and watched the people come and go for hours at a time. Among the waitstaff, he was a bit of a local cryptid. Waitresses whispered about the handsome gentleman with an unidentifiable accent and deep pockets. About how lucky you had to be to score a bartending shift on one of the nights he showed up. It got to the point where bartending shifts were swapped like currency, because every woman on staff wanted the chance to meet the sommelier. 

One of the more religious line chefs liked to remind you all that the devil would come as everything you could ever desire. He was fully convinced that the sommelier was Satan incarnate, and he wasn’t completely off the mark. Standing at six feet tall with features sharp enough to cut diamonds, the sommelier wouldn’t look out of place in a vampire thriller. He always dressed in dark suits. Your coworkers hypothesized this was so the bloodstains wouldn’t show. Despite the chef’s well-intended (if not condescending) warnings, even the threat of eternal damnation couldn’t scare you off. 

As much as you liked to believe you were above stupid workplace gossip, you knew you weren’t. You were never the most socially adept person, but this gave you something to connect over. It’s how you discovered that you and the other waitresses were all in the same boat; broke, lonely and in desperate need of some excitement. And if that came in the form of a wine-loving vampire taking a liking to your restaurant, there were certainly worse ways to go. 

Unfortunately, not even the chance at encountering the sommelier could make you look forward to working Easter Sunday. Your manager had you working from noon to midnight that day. As employers went, he wasn’t much of a tyrant. He offered you time and a half and even let you switch from waiting tables to bartending halfway through the shift. He, too, knew how coveted the bartending shifts were. And you weren’t in any position to refuse, either. You quite enjoyed having a roof over your head and food in your stomach. 

That didn’t make up for the fact that most of the other twenty-something employees had left for the holiday, and you were one of the few stragglers left available. Easter was the most dreaded workday of the year, because the infamous after-church crowd quadrupled in size and lasted all day. They came in double-digit parties, had no concept of birth control and tipped in prayer. Too many times had you reached for what looked like a generous cash tip, only to find that it was a church pamphlet disguised as a fifty.

You clocked in at noon exactly, after waiting for the second hand to pass the twelve just to be sure. 

“[F/N]!” Your coworker, Charissa, grabbed your attention before you could walk away. “I heard you’re at the bar this evening. Congratulations.” 

“He’s not going to show up, Charissa.” You rolled your eyes. You decided to go into this shift expecting the absolute worst, that way you wouldn’t be setting yourself up for disappointment. “It’s Easter.” 

“You don’t know that.” Charissa nudged you in the side. 

You grinned. “Why would a vampire come to dinner on the one day everyone is gonna be wearing a cross?” 

“Oh, shit, I didn’t think of that.” Charissa gasped. “Well, good luck anyway.”

The first wave of customers filing through the door and filling the restaurant with noise pushed all optimism out of your head. Sighing, you approached a person that Charissa had already seated. 

“Hi, my name is [F/N], I’ll be your server today.” You greeted the first customer in your block. “Can I get you something to drink today?” 

The man couldn’t have been a day over twenty-five, if that. He was still lively in a way that meant he hadn’t experienced the drain that was a minimum wage job. He was wearing a shirt that said ‘on fire for Christ’ under a flannel with no buttons. One look and you knew he wasn’t going to tip. 

The man flashed a row of eerily white teeth. “I thought you said you would bring the wine?” 

You momentarily thought you’d already taken his drink order and shook your head. “I’m sorry, did I--”

“Ah, I see your confusion.” The man shrugged and forced a laugh. “You’re waitressing this week, you and I are going on a date next week. My mistake.” 

Great. You thought. It hasn't even been five minutes and I'm already being gaslit.

Any interaction that forced you to go off-script was bad, but this was a particularly irritating diversion. “Would you like to see a wine list?”

“I’m Chase.” He said. “It’s nice to meet you, [F/N].” 

“Have you decided on a drink?” You repeated, trying not to grit your teeth too obviously. 

"I'll have a glass of your finest coke, please." He faked an English accent, poorly.

"We only carry Pepsi products." You said, dreading how this joker would react to such a minor inconvenience.

He threw his head back and made a face like he had just taken a bullet to the chest. "No, it's gotta be coke! It's coke or nothing!"

"Did you want something else, then?" You tried to hurry him along. "The bartender makes a very nice mimosa-"

He smacked the table as if he had some urgent question. "McDonald's or Chick-Fil-A? There is a right answer, so choose wisely."

"...uh," You mumbled, just praying that he would order a drink already. There wasn't even a Chick-fil-A in the area. "I like McDonald's."

Again, he acted like he was shot in the chest. "Oh, you're down zero to two!"

"If you need a few minutes to select a drink," You said. "I can come back-"

He grabbed your arm and forced a laugh. "I'm just kidding around with you, [F/N]. Pepsi is fine."

You scribbled the order down on your notepad, mostly just to pry your wrist from his grip. You wanted to go into the bathroom and scrub yourself down, but perhaps it was just easier to chop the whole arm off. That way you could get worker's compensation, too.

The tables were filling up and you had spent far too long coaxing a drink order out of this youth pastor creep. You had actual families to wait on. The shift was off to a horrible start.

You made him wait for as long as you could get away with. You took drink orders from three full booths before returning to the youth pastor. Because you knew he was raring to corner you again.

You planted the pop in front of him, the glass already wet with condensation. "Have you decided on a meal?"

"I was just looking over this menu and something caught my eye." He began, looking at the holiday menu your manager had printed off. "This rack of lamb, it's a special, right?"

"Right." You nodded. "It's a pretty large meal, though, so I'd recommend sharing it-"

"No, y'see.." he cut you off. "Jesus was the lamb of god. He died on the cross for your sins. And, look!"

He pointed to the menu. "It says it's a 'praying hands' lamb!"

"Oh!" You forced yet another smile. "I can see the confusion. That just refers to how the rack is arranged."

"I think it's a sign from god." He said.

You demonstrated the shape of the dish with your fingers. "See, the rib bones are long and the racks are Frenched, so the dish takes the shape of a pair of, well, praying hands."

"I'll take it." He nodded furiously.

He took a sharp breath in through his nose and you started to seriously wonder if his definition of "coke or nothing" had a double meaning. It formulated in your head as a joke, but it became more and more of a serious inquiry by the minute.

You leaned in just slightly to get a closer look at his face. Some details you hadn't noticed before were beginning to come into focus. His eyes were vacant and glassy. A small but noticeable stream of blood trickled from his nostril.

"Sir?" You said in a clear, projected voice. "Is there someone I could call for you?"

He turned his head. "Jesus died for your sins."

You looked around the room for any sign of your manager, a supervisor or anyone with a shred of authority. "This man needs help!"

In your haste to call attention to the situation, you didn't see him pick up his steak knife.

"You want to know what Jesus felt when you pierced him?" He muttered, just loud enough for your ears alone.

You felt the serrated knife puncture your skin before you had time to process his words. The pain shot through your body, making you freeze in place.

A chorus of screams filled the restaurant. Blood was pouring from the open wound in a quantity you didn't think possible. Underneath, the knife went straight through your hand and into the table.

The man gripped the handle and gave it a twist, a look of horrifying pleasure on his face. At this point, several people had stepped in to restrain him. He was tall and athletic and could easily overpower many of the other customers, which he did. He found another steak knife and began to cut throats while chanting an incomprehensible prayer.

An older woman claiming to be a doctor rushed to your side. She made a makeshift tourniquet from a napkin and a butter knife. Everything after that was a blur. You struggled to stay conscious as the woman tried to guide the knife from the table while keeping it embedded in your hand.

Soon enough, police and ambulances arrived on the scene. The woman placed you in the care of one of the many EMTs, then rushed away to assist the others.

"I'm just doing what Jesus says!" The youth pastor shouted, before gouging his knife into another man's throat. "Spreading his love!"

The officers notably didn't open fire and made an attempt to de-escalate. Maybe that was how the youth pastor was able to escape.