#Framing My Perception - EP | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

selya711-twiste · 2 years

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male yuu x azul ashengrotto

fishy love

Azul Ashengrotto x reader Yuu staring at Azul from afar and Azul notices him each time but this Yuu is kinda shy about it! Then he finds out that Yuu actually has a crush on him!!

sal never send me anything ever again. male yuu but he's pining like a high school anime girl. JUST like you. this is how you sound like every day /lh is this before or after ep 3? maybe i should specify something like that in my pinned since characterizations and the relationship with/perception of Yuu changes as the story progresses... anyway, the answer is "perhaps."

His lithe frame, his graceful, confident movements, the way his lavender hair almost shines in the light, and the little fringe that bounces each time he walks...

You can't help but be bewitched by his presence each time he walks into the room. Whether it's in the hallways between classes, in the cafeteria with the rest of the student body, or even when he's struggling in flying class in the sports field, you always find time to gaze at the dorm leader of Octavinelle.

Unbeknownst to you, however, Azul is very sensitive to his surroundings. It's not as great as Floyd's and Jade's, but he can definitely feel it when someone is observing him from afar over long periods of time. Recently, he has finally caught on to you being the reason behind this.

You're just as interesting to him, you know? You're the otherworldly prefect of the Ramshackle dorm and by your side is your aggressive familiar, Grim.

To him, you're just the perfect individual to have a deal with. Azul is very intrigued by what you could possibly offer despite the fact that it was glaringly obvious that you had nothing to your name.

It's always the humble ones.

So, the fact that you're already constantly on the lookout for him makes him feel that all is going well. He's careful not to catch you staring, lest it makes you turn away as it's happened a few times. Azul initially disliked being stared at constantly, due to the fact that being stalked over his position and deals isn't new. As soon as he found out it was just adorable little you, things softened over time and he didn't mind your surveillance. His appearance in public is perfectly tailored, after all. There is no way he would present any aspect of himself in an unsightly way.

Azul is in the most pleasant of moods as he thinks of how to meet you over things. Just to prepare you for your eventual encounter with him, he sends the twins over to your side every now and then to ask you about him.

"Is there any wish you'd like granted?" "What'cha think of Azul, shrimpy?" It's things like these that make your head swirl with expectations. You answered all of them earnestly the more they showed up to you, even if Ace, Deuce, and Grim were all vocally against them being near you and them. For a while, it felt good that you were most likely being noticed by Azul in this way when all Jade and Floyd would come by to talk about how great he is. You tossed aside all doubts as you felt giddy about the chance of becoming closer to him. You didn't think you'd come to regret this decision.

One day, they invite you to visit Mostro Lounge's V.I.P. room.

You only simply had a crush on Azul, but as you connect the dots, you begin to realize that maybe you have been misinterpreting things. Given everything else about Azul, you instead start fearing for your life.

As suave as he is, Azul is also incredibly secretive. Your innocent staring might have been perceived as stalking. You begin to think that you might have accidentally discovered something hidden and he sent the Leech brothers after you. You fell for their trap. Maybe you should've listened to your friends after all. You begin to overthink everything that has happened over the past two weeks. It's not your fault your mind races to the worst-case scenario given the nature of this school and everyone in it.

"This way, shrimpy!"

As friendly as Floyd was in escorting you to Octavinelle along with Jade, you feel like you're being sentenced to death. Your mind races towards every single interaction you've had with these three from Octavinelle. Did you notice anything off about Azul? Did you see something you shouldn't have? Did you laugh too loudly as he stumbled down from his broom a few days ago?! Did you give out some personal information that he could use against you?

The twins keep giggling about how much you were shaking on the way to Mostro Lounge. Your heart fluttered at the thought of coming face-to-face with your crush, but there was the prospect of the three of them literally crushing you. You might not have actually committed any crime, but everyone's warnings about the Octavinelle trio weren't mere jokes.

"Come in, come in."

There he was, the object of your affection. You're so stiff that Floyd suggested carrying you over to his desk, and you almost wouldn't have minded.

Your heart pounds in your ears as you try to keep your palms flat against your thighs as much as possible, yet you can't help but grip the fabric between your fingers from the sheer anxiety of being here. Before you know it, you're already seated in front of him.

Azul is composed and is even smiling at you while his chin rests on his hands. "You seem to be troubled, may I know the reason?" He asks in his voice you adored so much. He doesn't seem mad at all, but you know you couldn't let your guard down. You don't know what he knows.

On the other hand, Azul already knows everything about you up until this moment, but he was still anticipating your very presence. Certainly, there was something only you could say to him.

When you look, you find that his face is very beautiful up close. You can almost count the eyelashes behind his glasses, the mole dotting his face, the softness of the surface as well as the curve of his lips as he looked at you so gently. You take a deep breath and gaze at him in awe, even for a little bit. He looked like any other student in the school uniform, but seeing him in his dorm attire gives him that additional air of formality that was just so attractive to you.

"I... I, you..."

Azul makes a gesture, and Jade comes up from behind you to pour tea into the cups on the desk. There was one for you and another for Azul, the guest and host respectively. The chamomile calms your nerves and you finally think clearly of a valid excuse in case he's upset about something until he speaks again.

"My dear, sweet-"

"It's because I have a crush on you!"

...

What was that? You were certain you were only going to say you didn't mean to stalk him. Why did you skip past your first point? In fact, where did that even come from? That wasn't part of your script at all. You watch the way Azul's expression contorts slightly in confusion until Floyd immediately captures everyone's attention from bursting into laughter. You feel like you're being made fun of. You wish that there was something you could crawl into and hide in right now as you bow your head in embarrassment.

Azul, without any hesitation, makes another gesture to have the twins leave to give you two some privacy. You could hear Jade affirming him as he escorts Floyd out, who doesn't miss on telling you to "Go get him, shrimpy!"

The door closes shut, and the room falls silent.

"Is that all?"

His voice was so gentle, you feel relieved that he didn't react some other way to such a botched confession. You nod your head and he leans back into his chair. "Having admirers isn't new to me, just so you know. This development is rather amusing, don't you think?" He keeps his attention on your hunched-over form and feels great pity for you.

You feel a weight off your shoulders when he assures you that your infatuation with him won't change how he sees you. Azul tells you to look up, then shares with you how he still looks forward to making your dreams come true. You can feel yourself fall for him even more with the way he was so passionate about his craft. Azul lists down every small thing you remember telling the Leech twins.

None of them are grand, they're all mundane, everyday things that you wished were easier in your school life. As a star pupil, Azul is more than capable of helping a poor, simple soul such as yourself.

"Now, onto the subject of the payment."

Oh, right.

You should have seen that coming. How could you forget something so crucial, actually? It's such a huge chunk of Azul's reputation. You had nothing valuable to give up, and you definitely weren't going to put down your own dorm building. You try to think if your talents are good enough, but you also fear giving up parts of yourself for him, crush or not.

"Don't be so tense," he smiles. "I'm well aware of your predicament, more than anyone, maybe. Since you love to see me all the time, I propose you start working in Mostro Lounge in exchange for all that I can do for your academic requirements."

"R-Really? That's it?" There wasn't anything wrong with the café at all. In fact, the vibes of the place were right up your alley. You just wished you had more to your allowance to come by more often. Seeing Azul every day... doesn't seem so bad. You're now certain that it's going to be worth the labor.

"It's a deal!"

Azul readies your contract. Unbeknownst to you, he congratulates himself for keeping it cool after what just happened earlier. He should have seen that coming. The way you innocently looked for him in the crowd every now and then was endearing, but all he thought about those days was what he could possibly gain from you. He could tell that you wanted to do nothing more but leave the room now, so he kept it brief as it was for his own sake as well. He didn't get to learn any more of your secrets today, but surely he will over the next few days.

If nothing else, you definitely fit in the dorm uniform for Octavinelle.

#azul ashengrotto x reader #twst x reader #twisted wonderland x reader #azul ashengrotto #microsoft word #this is so corny lol #endearingly btw azul is just one of the harder characters to write when it comes to his relationships with people #im hoping this blog will be a learning experience for me to understand the boys better #“fanservice through and through” -new york times #this ones for you sal (shoots my shot and misses)#well at least azul doesnt know you saw him fumble on his broomstick

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lavenderjewels · 10 months

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Rewatched the latest jjk ep 18 so going to throw my random thoughts about this season here with manga spoilers

I didn’t want to rewatch this episode, but my family hadn’t watched it yet, so I went along with it. Didn’t have anything to worry about, since I didn’t get emotional this time and mostly just had fun with Mahito

Something I loved about JJK when I started it is how it set up some of its death scenes—With Junpei, Nanami, even Jogo, it’s obvious at a certain point they’re not going to survive. Junpei when he realizes Mahito isn’t a good person, Nanami the second the scene shows Mahito in the photobooth, Sukuna being Sukuna, etc. This isn’t going to work for everyone watching, especially if you don’t care for the character(s), but that anticipation for their deaths always made the scenes more tragic for me.

Mahito being a great villain also helps for those scenes. His personality and ability makes him some of the most fun to read and watch, and he’s incredibly smart, or, at least, perceptive in a way that’s sometimes hidden by how chaotic and childish he can be. I can’t wait to see the rest of his fight with Yuuji and his final words towards Kenjaku. I never noticed this in the manga, but in the anime, the look that Mahito gives Kenjaku the last time they met makes it clearer that Mahito had some understanding of Kenjaku.

Mahito and Nobara’s confrontation was gorgeous with the colors and lighting. It’s devastating knowing this is just. it for her. It’s too short and I’m still hoping for her return, but it’s been a long time with nothing

This season has been an interesting watch, since it’s changed a lot of my feelings on the shibuya arc and some characters. Had an opposite situation than with csm (spoilers for s1) where I was surprised after watching season 1 because I thought power was way more prominent than she actually was in the manga, except this jjk season was me being surprised at how much Megumi was here. It wasn’t an overwhelming amount, but he was involved in the background and at the focus more than I remembered. That and how his expressions/body language was animated with the voice acting made me like his character more

Somehow I ended up liking the shibuya arc a little less—also like with the csm anime, although these aren’t animation faults, only seeing the series in a new light and in a different medium. I was never huge on the grasshopper, seance curse users, miracle curse user (haruta??) fights, which take up a good portion. The toji fights were great, although I’ve always been neutral-ish about his character. The Mei Mei fight was surprisingly better, mostly since the comedy gag aspects with her brother were toned down (its still evident she’s grooming him to die for her but it’s not framed as comedic as the manga) and the atmosphere was unnerving and dark. Nanami is also a character I’ve always been neutral-ish on, so overall not the most interesting parts of the series for me. Love the kenjaku and curses team though.

But on the positive side, it made me appreciate what’s to come more. I didn’t care as much for some of the fights and most of my personal favorite characters (yuuji, choso, maki, kenjaku) get explored more after this arc, minus yuuji who gets time near the very end. I’m very curious to see if I’ll end up enjoying the Culling Games colonies more and less when they’re animated. A part of that will likely depend on how the future chapters handle things set up or continuing in this arc.

As of now, Hidden Inventory/Premature Death and the stretch of chapters from the end of shibuya to the Higuruma scenes are my favorite parts of jjk. For the latter, I honestly love when the characters have long talks, whether it’s about themselves, lore, or anything. The power system is fun, but when the chapters focus too much on that technical side, that’s really the only time I’m bored by dialogue or narration heavy chapters. Thinking mainly of the Gojo and Sukuna fight with that, but there’s a few minor instances in the series.

Choso and Yuuji episode is still my favorite! I am incredibly biased

Part of me wishes I watched this show first without ever reading it, but the manga is still more impactful for me, probably because I got to read at my own pace/digest what was happening and read it without expectations coming in

#my family doesn’t want to hear me talk about JJK so my blog will 🫵😤#jjk spoilers #jujutsu kaisen season 2 #long post

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godunlap · 11 months

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NOTES ON EP. 8 ( part 1/? ) 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚞𝚝. absolutely criminal in length, WHAT CAN I SAY, she does it 2 me.

here we go again guys WHAT THE FUCK???? sorry i always have to get that out first. [ i loved it ] not everyone's cup of tea i know but 'twas mine !!!

◌ the overlapping thoughts in the beginning? that's something she's going to need time to gain control over. looking back on her childhood, she didn't hear people's thoughts right away, it all started with persuasion. once the voices did start, they were overwhelming, but it was only a few people at a time, thinking relatively calm thoughts. - then she was exposed to the truth of how her parents felt about her, with nothing to block it out. this added to her parents resilience in keeping her locked up, the voices made it impossible to participate normally in society anyway. so cut back to the present & she's bombarded with several thoughts in times of CHAOS, it's a lot for her.

◌ so much to say about the sam/cate dynamic, VERY much in connection with @riordsam's portrayal because... yeah. but the loyalty displayed in such a short time was !! it says so much about them individually for one thing, but as a duo, i really am expecting so much of them in the future.

◌ the dead student was the final nail in the coffin for g.odolkin i fear. it was a blatant & brutal display of how (in cate's mind) they will never be left in peace & almost always hated & feared for who they are.

◌ now, with the switch up in public perception [ my mind's been going crazy over this thanks to @gadflies always having the most insightful questions at the ready ] this might actually have a hand in shifting cate's perspective. seen as the hero, she'll finally know what it's like to be loved & admired rather than feared. no matter how shallow, fleeting, or uninformed that 'love' may be. that said, i don't believe she'll be a big fan of the narrative rewrite being worked by v.ought because the woods & all their sins are being buried along with it.

◌ more on sam/cate but the scene following/during sam's hallucination of luke was SO INTERESTING!!! "do you want me to help you, sam?" the specific framing of 'help', respecting his choice in the matter but urging him to accept!!! once again zawn gets me thinking, the details of that scene : her hand placement, her choice of words, even body language / tone. she touches his face in a show of comfort, her words reflecting the same. cate tells sam to feel nothing because in her mind, this is the ideal. no more pain, shame, or guilt about anything that happened to them or anything they had to do now. her body language is extremely wary because she knows he's fighting a battle in his mind & she fears the outcome might be him abandoning her or turning against her.

◌ CATE WAS A LITTLE TOO GOOD WITH THE CAMPUS TAKE - DOWN. she went in with no hesitation, the beginnings of a plan & she bulldozed their whole shit. do i love that they went off & killed a bunch of innocent people for the sake of "supe superiority"? hell to the no, but i understand the progression of their characters & accept that this is the route they've taken. i plan to explore it to the fullest extent while taking my own liberties with cate post - finale & gearing up to the b/oys s4.

◌ sorry but the "that's your real superpower isn't it? acting like you're doing something when really you're doing nothing" OOOOF. this was one of the more disappointing aspects of andre's character for me. they built him up in the first few eps like he was gonna get to the bottom of things & free the kids from the woods & then... nothing.

◌ "you're a product to them, i'm trying to save you" in such a short time period cate has completely re - framed the past few years of her life. those people were not doing the right thing, meaning everything she ever did for them was wrong. stripping back the layers of the TOTAL denial necessary for her complacency has taken an extreme toll.

◌ the arm. . . cate had to be stopped SOMEHOW so u know, i get it. cool possibilities for the future !! (lea got my brain going again about a prosthetic arm possibly) I COULD SEE IT, definitely now after sitting with it for a bit. there's a few reasons / implications with this. 1st of all with vought money / tech, she knows she'd be very taken care of. there's also the fact that it might help in terms of safety? in potential combat, there's always the chance that an opponent might not know she lost an arm or even which arm she lost. it might give her an edge, buy her a second or two. then there's the heartbreaking idea that it might give her a new way to connect with people. one hand that wouldn't strike fear or distrust in the hearts of even her closest of friends & family to touch.

◌ my feariest fear is that they're going to go the route of pulling sam back from the precipice while pushing cate fully over the edge. while sam has at least a few moments of genuine doubt, cate showed no hesitation. with every move, she was sure. what i hope is that they realize very quickly that h.omelander is not a friend & they simply lump him in with vought, part of the system that needs dismantling rather than supes vs. humans.

this is INSANELY long, thoughts on cate post - finale will have to follow, also considering an alternate verse sticking with the idea that sam & cate liberate the woods, being stealthy about it instead & hiding out at shetty's to come up with a plan focused on taking down v.ought/godolkin as entities rather than targeting the individuals within the organizations.

#⁰³ ⁾ ᴺᴼᵀᴱˢ. forced to disconnect.#i'm going to bed now #what's gotten INTO ME #!!!#gen v spoilers /

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absolutebl · 2 years

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This Week in BL - 2022 is the Year of Cheaters

Sept 2022 Wk 4

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying the most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

The Eclipse (Fri YT) Ep 7 of 15 - Screw you GMMTV, that was a dream kiss? That’s some Kdrama bullshit, that is. Still Aye is such a good character, so perceptive, I ADORED his interaction with Kan. Neo is doing an epic job with that role. That was that softest achey stolen kiss in the world. Also this ep = Beach frolic trope and a Make It Right moment.

Vice Versa (Sat on YT) Ep 11 of 12 - DOOM EP was not very doom for an ep 11 (except for the acoustic guitar). Pluen goes back because of what Tun did accidentally, not him, which honestly I kinda like as a twist. I was very confused about the “month long tidal inaction,” did the alt universe have extra moons or something?

My Only 12% (Fri iQIYI) Ep 7 of 15 - a tear jerker this week and likely next too. Also piggybacking across a bridge, two tropes in one. We about to get the time jump which is going to be interesting.

Work from Heart (Thurs YouTube) pulp office drama featuring lots of couples starring Gameplay. Started dropping on YT so I picked it up and stuck it into rotation. Poor Dee, his gramps is so overactingly bad, mean, evil, and homophobic. Still there is a sweet little masked meet cute. There’s a bunch of drama around a workplace and other couples all over the rainbow, so that’s fun. Sort of SCOY goes to work. There’s some nifty linguistic stuff going on so I’m actually enjoying this pulp trash. Shocking. Truly TERRIBLE wardrobe tho. And I don’t love Nammon w facial hair.

Love in the Air (Thurs iQIYI) Ep 6 of 13 - Not a bad episode, I wasn’t mad about it. But that’s kind of how I am with MAME, it’s always up or down and last week’s a cappella counter liftt situation rough, so I’m glad this one was a bit of a break. DUMPSTER FIRE TRASH WATCH ALONG HERE.

Fahlanruk (Sun GaGa) 2 of 12 - I do not like the narrative framing technique of the female blogger/whatever. Her character does not belong in this show. What she hast to say is unnecessary, pat, and boring. In other news we got into KP bathroom territory really quickly. “Do you really like him or do you just want to win?” would appear to be the premise of this show. Both characters are players, cheaters, flirts, and anti-heroes. They better both be deeply wounded or the narrative can’t save them. I’m assuming Sher made himself this way after some similar player type broke his heart. Not sure about Fah. That said, I do like how very gay, switchy, and verse these two are. Although a complete change of underwear in the middle of a sex scene was weird to say the least. I like the side dishes. No surprise there. Still I’m not sure I can take 12 episodes of this nonsense. I contemplated a trash watch but I’m not feeling snark-inspired just sad about it.

Linguistics corner:

Fah is using phi/nai or nong (in a belittling way) with Sher. Sher is using guu/mueng with Fah, Which is highly inappropriate and rude with a phi. These two are linguistically combative, to say the least. Also the show has all the wifey language your a little heart could possibly desire.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Takara-kun and Amagi-kun (Japan Thurs GaGa & Viki) 6 of 8 - No new Ep 6 this week. Have a lovely Shūbun no Hi if you celebrate. Otherwise it’s a good tome to be self reflective and contemplate about life balance etc.. around the Autumnal Equinox.

Once Again (Korea Fri GaGa) 3-4 of 8 - It’s a little bit more creepy than it is romantic, but it’s also weirdly amusing (this strange kid just keeps hugging him - that’s like 1000x even weirder in Korea than most places) and more enjoyable than it has a right to be. It’s a really interesting take on the childhood crush trope among other things. JaeWoo must seem like SUCH a weirdo to JiHoon. I guess what I’m saying is, it’s odd but tense and well acted, which is a nice change for BL.

More Than Words (Japan indie subbed by furritsubs - TIP ‘EM if you like em!) Adaptation of Etsuko’s two mangas In The Apartment + More Than Words. Has a violent crazy beginning but it is necessary for the story. About a lonely neglected/abused girl and a cheerful kindly popular boy who go to school together and become besties. When they get part-time work at a restaurant, a cute older gay boy enters the picture. This is classic Japanese close-filmed melodrama, and it isn’t a BL. But it is excellent. Can’t be relied on to resolve happily, or even resolve at all. I’m engaged even knowing this, and I love this subber so I’m gonna stick with it.

It’s Airing But I’m Not Watching It

War of Y - too hard on my soul. Will I watch it eventually? Maybe? Probably not. I think we have and ITSAY situation going on here. Also BL Express was not best pleased, and I while we rarely share taste, in this instance I trust their reporting.

My Tempo - a Thai BL movie about the Thai music industry. Yeah, no thank you.

Oh My Sunshine Night - I’m scared it’s gonna be sad, so I’m waiting for spies to tell me it’s safe

180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us - ditto above

Finished This Week

Coffee Melody (Mon Viki) Ep 10fin - (I am assuming episode 11 is a bts or music video.) The family dinner with the new bf was endearing awkward. We had a classic Korean one year time jump in the last five minutes of the final episode. (Which shoudl be left to Korea. Actually, even Korea should get to have it anymore. We’re done with this trope. I say this on behalf of the international viewing public.) My side crumbs got a cute little mutual kiss, unfortunately ALSO multiple sing your feelings tropes. (Will I ever get a week of BL without this trope?) It will be a long time before I forgive this BL for muffling Pavel’s light this way, I know he can do better. Very disappointing. Ultimately this show is so forgettable I’ve pretty much already forgotten it. 5/10 JUST DULL

Papa & Daddy 2 (Mon GaGa) Ep 8fin - It was a standard execution of the “marriage finale” endemic to most romcoms, just v. gay. I do like that my second lead syndrome got a little prospective action. Did I tear up at the wedding? Of course I did. We have established this before, I am a sap. All in all, this was a serviceable follow up to the first installment in the series, if riddled by unbearably unlikable parents, lack of story, and sappiness. 6/10 WORTH WATCHING BUT FLAWED

About Youth (Taiwan Mon GaGa) Ep 7-8 of 10 - I thought this was a 10 episode arc so I’m a little sad to find it ending this week. Are we ever going to get an explanation about what happened with the side dishes Taiwan really likes a romantic “one boy balances another boy on wheels” thing. I really wanted Guang to leave his awful parents but Im glad he at least threw the test. And I really appreciated that he sent a video since it was a way for him to accurately communicate his feelings without being interrupted. Cute final kiss! Very squee-worthy. Rainbow was a little on the nose. tho. All in all it was great little BL. Classic YA low drama but high angst, I didn’t even mind the singing, and that’s saying a lot. I wish it had been given a bit more space to breathe, but all in all a great edition to the Taiwanese Bl lexicon which was in dire need of a good sold high school BL. Full review here. 8/10 RECOMMENDED

Everyone say “Thank you Taiwan, may we have another?”

Gossip

In a Forbes interview the executive producer of Semantic Error (and CEO of AXIS CPP) revealed that AXIS production will be opening Blue by Blue, a drama label whose first BL project is about vampires. Interview here.

Kimmon and Copter are reported to star on their 7th BL together, a romantic comedy series, Boy Never Smiles. KimCop aren’t the longest running pair (MaxTul, BoomPeak, OffGun, and KarnNut trade that crown around) but they may now have the most BLs under their collective belts.

New Thai BL from Uncommon Studio Midnight Fortune adapted from a Y-novel by wickedwish for 2023. The MDL and tag lines are bonkers so I’m not dignifying them here.

Cutie Pie is getting a least one special episode, The Wedding, we assume.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Starting: Tomorrow Sept 25, 2022.

ErthMix’s Cupid’s Last Wish special spin-off mini series Oishi advertisement Ep3 of Magic Of Zero: Zero Supporter on GMMTV’s YouTube.

Male Entertainer (movie?) from Wayfilm, about a young man who works as an escort to support his family, on their YouTube channel (Trailer)

Monday Sept 26, 2022

Ai Long Nhai (Thai Mon 10 eps iQIYI) About a man expelled from foreign university who returns to a Thai univ in disgrace and meets A Boy. Adapted from a y-novel, directed by Nob (La Cuisine, Gen Y). Secondary couple Nan & Sippakorn are IRL husbands Arm & Porsch (Together with Me). Familiar faces include Gun (Love Area’s Valen) and Jom (Nitiman’s Jin).

Ending: Vice Versa

October line up coming soon, still waiting on distribution for some.

This week’s best moments?

Heartbreaking but so good, My Only 12%.

About Youth giving us a seriously classic old romance trope 1950s style.

4th wall breaking snarky bestie in Work From Heart.

And even more snarky queers.

They were shiny crumbs in a sea of dull, Coffee Melody.

This week’s worst fashion?

OMG Work from Heart with the HELL?

(last week)

Current earworm? Blackpink’s Shut Down

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nerice · 10 months

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not directly related to lrb but also been. on my mind: this comment to a ANN article on recent mappa drama w/ the jjks ep quality & like

YEAH. like i super enjoyed the sukuna beatdowns two episodes back 2 back but esp the mahoraga battle as epic as it was it was just. too much. nothing except maybe two or three shots of it (the streetlight screen one + nge pose...) have stayed in my memory. + the general issue of shibuya fights being completely untethered from any stakes which,, again might just be culling game poisoning my perception bc binging the manga all of this fucked but it definitely doesn't work on a week to week presentation esp not if you are aware of the culling game disaster lurking on the horizon. anwy the point. compare that to frieren which (unfair ik. but) every frame a painting and fight scenes are so incredibly well choreographed but also short enough 2 stand out in an episode. i rly rly rly think the visual noise comment hits on smth that has been bothering me with these big spectacle episodes & it's not like they are something new per se. there is always the climactic battle of the arc that you can look forward to going hard as fuck & maybe that is simply not compatible with high octane arcs like shibuya or fkcin. csm as a whole bc lord knows once we hit quanxi/hell devil there will not be a calm frame on the screen for weeks. but the solution is not 2 burn animators into suicide and have all non-battle content (understandably) look like it was drawn on a typewriter a week prior and after. animation has just become too polished and ngl idk how the frieren production goes behind the scenes. we all remember wonder egg priority. contrasting jjks mappa with frieren (madhouse) is just thematically funny given their history & the jjks visual noise comment stands whether or not it is ethically produced (which it isn't) so like. all these animators are being put thru the wringer just to produce sakuga for sakuga's sake bc mappa has decided to multitrack draft every single major shounen release & then some absolutely stoned out of their mind on hubris and as good as some of it looks. it isn't even all that good!!!!!!!!!!! lol

#if this post is incoherent it's bc i have a new break timer that goes off every 3mins it's infuriating but necessary for my wrist stamina #elia txts #jjk blogging #i havent even watched the new jjks eps bc everything past this point is whatever 2 me until we see utahime again #(ok also the uraume bit. will be :)))#but the point of the post and also last rb #everything has become too polished just bc it can. i think we should have a year where every studio can only produce one show #i think that wld be funny

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divinekangaroo · 1 year

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S1 teeters on overly dense but relatively entertaining, and despite the density of action/fact also feels quite shallow? Potentially the standardised plot/romantic expectation?

S2 by contrast feels like it doesn’t know what it is, but is way more entertaining.

Sabini (Noah Taylor) is utterly not my cup of tea and his Aussie-Italian accent should be cut from his mouth brutally because it’s awful; but S2 also sets up sooooo many good arcs for later on, and also contains a lot of truly hilarious moments (the glass of gin lolllll; a racehorse is a good investment lolllll, almost everything Tommy says to Campbell including calling him up about Grace’s booty call my God). I also wonder about Alfie and this fannish perception of his perceptiveness; from what I can remember of later series, and now this in S2, Alfie is nearly almost always losing total control of his business, and it’s Tommy that manages to somehow manoeuvre this self-destructive wildcard of a gangster into positions where they can mutually profit.

I feel, better than S1, S2 also shows the boundaries that Tommy consciously crosses and disrespects to get what he wants. The final ep pre-execution scene and his screaming at the sky was so honest, and even though he repeats these themes in later series as his motivation, in S2 I really believe it. He is fucking angry. S1 often felt like it was trying to sell him as a mostly good, petty criminal style man making the most of an opportunity gone complex and wrong; S2 clearly paints him as consciously choosing to abuse, albeit not entirely without sympathy/empathy, just not enough to change his path. And that scene in London where the brothers smash up a club, just the three of them, then go out after on the street absolutely high and bonded on the violence, uh the best. Let’s not forget that side of them, too.

I adore the thematic structure of that S2 final episode where Tommy fails all three of his women (four if you count Polly and that he had to let her sort it out herself).

I adore the emotional swings and roundabouts he has with Arthur’s suicide attempts, which also feels very, very real.

I felt that the sex scenes with May seem to have the camera focus on her orgasm/s, when pretty much every other sex scene in the series, the camera’s very focused on Tommy, and what that means in framing their brief and odd relationship.

I like Michael’s honest hunger for the life and the power.

I also find interesting that end of S1 had Danny (Flashback-Partner #1) die, and the start of S2 had Freddie (Flashback-Partner #2) die, and that all of S2 then has Tommy leveraging the good things war gave him — connections, colleagues, reputation, weaponry skills and tactical skills. He also says to Arthur that comment about ‘closing the door on the war’, which yes, starts to roar open again for Tommy in later series, but right now in S2 the war is almost put to bed for Tommy; part of that being S1 Grace let him see he could sleep/live without it for a bit, but I also think it has something to do with Freddie and Danny now both being deceased. The constant reminder of Danny’s volatility and Tommy’s sense of responsibility to him; the constant moral and ethical battle he had with Freddie about their mutual moral trauma, and Freddie’s constant quasi-suicidal language around Tommy (but putting the onus back on Tommy to execute him) suddenly gone.

In S1, what I carried away more of was character and symbolism rather than plot or theme. Polly hits Tommy around the head a lot, including once nearly with a poker; he allows it. In S2, he’s not allowing it any more. Tommy’s nearly monk-like at the start and there’s lots of symbolic monk references (eg, Monaghan means monk, red dust in Buddhism); in the whole of Episode 1 he doesn’t manage to get a single drink in; yet he’s human and vulnerable and drunk by S6. His white horse (his opportunity for balance against the black horse) and having to kill it himself because he did something not moral to win the horse, sacrificing his potential for balancing light and dark. The whole Monaghan Boy scam and how it’s structured to represent exactly how Tommy plays himself in scams (Tommy takes a hit/pays out so more people buy in; Tommy takes a bigger hit/pays out more so even more people buy in; then turn the tables and cash in when everyone’s gone all in).

Also I quantified the S1 guns in current day pounds:

Tommy’s original scam of four stolen motorbikes - about 50-60k in current day pounds

The value of the guns he finds - about 2.1 million current day pounds

Can totally picture him sitting in the yard staring at his unexpected loot just sweating bricks trying to work out how to turn it into actual money.

#peaky rewatch #tommy shelby #Final comment being #there are still way too many convenience coincidences and people just conforming to the necessary plot steps to make for believability #which is interesting given the effort put into making the Shelby family’s characterisation believable #The plots are unreal but the people are real #A strangeness

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koalas-koalas-everywhere · 2 years

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So! We’ve reached the final curve! Can’t say I’m exactly sad to see this end. Here are my thoughts.

It’s high time Mike started calling himself Nightwing. I’ve been thinking it for a while, the fact that he’s reached the point of inviting Harvey to Jump City cinches it. (I know that’s a tv thing, but shhh.)

Does it count as colluding if Katrina... isn’t really part of the legal team? Like, it would be if Louis and Harvey conspired with Mike (as they were trying to do) or if the whole firm was being sued, but the person on trial is Faye. I guess, if they pulled the same thing that they did with Mike, where listed counsel was PSWW, otherwise it was just a dick move.

I am. LOSING IT. At how much they hate Faye. For what? Telling them to follow the law? I know I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. Wtf. Children. And I know this might sound weird considering Mike’s my favorite character - to be clear, my stance is, generally speaking, breaking the law is bad, so you better make sure that what you’re doing it for is worth is and be ready to face the consequences if you’re caught. If he’d gotten sanctioned for breaking confidence in the Brick Street case, I would’ve thought it sucked, because he’s my fave and he was doing it for a good cause, but he would’ve had it coming. Fabricating evidence 1) was worse, 2) accomplished nothing but letting an abusive company get away scot-free and 3) if Samantha was fine with doing that, she should’ve been fine with facing the consequences. Like. Faye’s RIGHT. She might be a dick about it, but she’s RIGHT. Like she was right to demote Louis for how he treated Benjamin.

The show’s reached the point where they know that Donna should have the spotlight because she’s the leading lady, but they haven’t bothered to build her character otherwise all season and they sure as hell won’t bother to do it now, so they keep shoehorning her into everything hoping it will look like she’s actually doing something.

Still seething about Lily. I wasn’t really the other ep bc the focus was less in downplaying what she did/shoving it under the rug than it was in saying that forgiveness is good and something the forgiving person needs. In this ep it was about not only painting her as a better mother (by trashing Gordon, how cute - makes me think that the writers are under the impression that her biggest crime was cheating on her husband (in which case, painting him in a bad light would help make her more sympathetic, like he had it coming or they were just two flawed people trying to deal with the hand they were dealt and whose natural tendencies clashed in the worst ways, which, maybe!) and not, you know, asking her son to lie about it to the other parent. WHICH ALSO DOESN’T MESH WELL WITH THAT “OWNING HER MISTAKES” BS, DOES IT) but also setting up a dynamic where Harvey has a warped, unfair perception of her and directs a lot of anger at his father towards her, ALSO framing Harvey’s grudge all these decades as misdirected. You see, there’s no reason for you as the audience not to forgive her, since she was under extenuating circumstances and Harvey’s hurt was not only unfair, but not really about her after all!

#Suits TV #Thunder Away #9x09 #season 9 spoilers #a bit?#Mike Ross #Katrina Bennet #Samantha Wheeler #a bit #I'm not tagging the other one bc I'm not looking for a fight #Lily (derogative)#Lily whatshername #imdb says Specter #also it's hilarious how they keep pushing the mother knows best to promote d**vey #whereas the 'everyone can see it' is getting OLD - I'd like to get through a scene where it doesn't appear to break the rhythm please

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romchat · 1 year

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My Journey to You Ep. 11 visuals: Peering through paper doors

Something I love about historical (-esque) dramas is a director's ability to use architectural framing to represent character emotions and change. Episode 11 gave us some interesting character moments for the two main couples and each happened through paper doors.

This was one of the first episodes where I finally felt Gong Ziyu intentionally stepped into his leadership position as Sword Wielder by not giving in to his natural impulsivity and naivety. He's made aware of Yun Weishan's possible betrayal, and while he's clearly trying to give her an opportunity to explain herself and join him, he's also refreshingly cautious.

Him keeping the door closed is both a political and personal choice. Ziyu can't reasonably let her go without addressing the medical records, but he wants to reassure Weishan that he won't recreate the political cage he believes her to be trapped in. They both desire freedom and the soft life, but she needs to articulate what she's going through so that he can politically maneuver the situation.

Ultimately, she (literally) opens the door to that possibility—and (literally) steps into the light of her true feelings.

Now, returning to our favorite emotionally repressed and overly cocky couple...

(Side Note: I'm obsessed with this pool in the center of Gong Shangjue's chambers and really hope they make more use of it in future episodes. Think! Of! All! The! Metaphors! I'll take a suggestive shot of dipping her hand into those still waters for $400 dollars, Alex. Please, show, give me something to hold me over until the sexy bath scene from the trailer. Anything.)

Do I sense a disturbance in the Force or is Shangguan Qian actually starting to feel something other than blood-thirst? Of course, she's angry at having been bested by Weishan (and probably a bit wary of having to recalibrate her perception of the other assassin), and Lu Yuxiao is doing some lovely acting letting that jumble of emotions play out on her face. And then she turns her gaze to Shangjue. It's in that shot through the open door that we start seeing the stirring of something else. Whether it's guilt, concern, or just a healthy dose of empathy who knows but it's there.

What I appreciate about the architectural framing of the scene's last shot is that it works on multiple levels:

Shangjue's isolation and shame after obliterating his reputation with the clan's elders. This man wants to be the Sword Wielder because he truly believes he would be a more capable leader. Being seen as having to rely on petty tricks is incredibly humbling.

The depth of the shot through multiple doorways—barriers—makes it seem like Qian's master plan for Shangjue is even further from her grasp now that he is less secure in his plans to depose Gong Zuyi.

And yet...she is also seeing him through the door. Usually, the camera films Shangjue to look powerful: he's shot to look tall and untouchable, looking down from his horse or surrounded by regalia. But here, blocked in by these two doors, he's stripped of all of it. I could imagine Qian feels vulnerable seeing the man whom she has envisioned as larger than life since he rescued her years ago tucked away like this, and so I'm super excited to see if and how she attempts to cross this literal and metaphorical threshold to get closer to him to execute her mission.

#my journey to you #云之羽 #zhang ling he #esther yu #lu yuxiao #ryan cheng #cdrama #it's all about doors

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noloveforned · 2 years

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no love for ned is on wlur tonight from 8pm until midnight and we're doing the old flippity flop so that last week's show airs first followed by the new show at 10pm- it's been a busy day for me but the show must go on!

no love for ned on wlur – february 24th, 2023 from 8-10pm

artist // track // album // label elvis costello // welcome to the working week // my aim is true // stiff lousy sue // ferma jean // artless artifacts // sweet time ervin berlin // junior's got brain damage // junior's got brain damage 7”// total punk abi ooze // problematic // julie's apartment (demos) cassette // (self-released) fluf // j'n it on the net // road rage // honest don's fuss // but it's a dry heat // we're not alone // phat 'n' phunky phonics body type // miss the world // expired candy // poison city cathedrale // silent castle // words/silence // howlin' banana spiral xp // the end // it's been a while ep // danger collective index for working musik // ambiguous fauna // dragging the needlework for the kids at uphole // tough love bingo trappers // solar holiday // roger // almost haloween time dwaal troupe // some blood for luna // lucky dog // ally superchunk // everything hurts // everything hurts 7” // merge ned's atomic dustbin // grey cell green // ned's acoustic dustbin // good deeds music jeffrey lewis // what i love most in england (is the food!) // when that really old cat dies // (self-released) jimmyjack toth // correspondence class // the caretaker (winter 2023 demos) // (self-released) willie nelson and kimmie rhodes // love me like a song // picture in a frame // sunbird angel olsen // something on your mind // angel olsen plays karen dalton split 7" // light in the attic resound // i will always love you // i will always love you digital single // spacebomb h.e.r. // the office // songs about the mysteries of housework and nature // persian cardinal patrick shiroishi and dylan fujioka // birth light // no-no 3 / のの三 // (self-released) john dikeman, pat thomas, john edwards and steve noble // no comment // volume one // 577 albert ayler featuring mary parks // oh! love of life // revelations - the complete ortf 1970 fondation maeght recordings // elemental dizzy gillespie // closer // the real thing // perception phil ranelin and wendell harrison with adrian younge and ali shaheed muhammad // open eye // jazz is dead, volume sixteen // jazz is dead lmno, m.e.d. and declaime featuring fly anakin and j rocc // kool // flying high // bang ya head lizzo featuring sza // special (remix) // special (remix) digital single // atlantic little simz // you should call mum // drop six ep // age 101 laika // marimba song // silver apples of the moon // too pure la jvnta // ronda nocturna // sendas cambembas ep // grabaciones bonicas frankie valet // stop apologizing // cadillac frank cassette // (self-released) lovers without borders // she wants a baby (yeah, yeah) // she wants a baby 7" // (self-released) galore // ladders // blush cassette // paisley shirt wild carnation // acid rain and ‘the big one’ // tricycle // delmore

#wlur #radio shows

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jokin-izar · 2 years

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BALANCE OTOÑO 2022

- - - LIBROS - - -

“Aguacates en el bunquer”, M. Markusen. "Altar”, Catherine Lacey.

“Cuento de hadas”, Stephen King.

“Desde el otro lado”, Bernardo Atxaga. “El bazar de la cebra con lunares”, Raphaëlle Giordano.

“En la casa”, Philip Le Roy.

“Ese día cayó en domingo”, Sergio Ramírez.

“Horizonte de estrellas”, Víctor Conde - Guillem Sánchez. “Huesos olvidados”, Preston & Child.

“La cosecha pálida”, Josan Mosteiro. “La llama de Focea”, Lorenzo Silva. “Nieve en Marte”, Pablo Tévar. “Punto ciego”, Paula Hawkins. “Read zombie”, Diego G. Andreu. “Sobre hormigas y dinosaurios”, Cixin Liu.

“Todo arde”, Juan Gómez-Jurado.

“Tren bala”, Kotaro Isaka.

- - - SERIES - - -

“1899” "Apagón" “El Club de Medianoche”

“El Gabinete de curiosidades”

“Heridas abiertas - Sharp objets”

“Historias para no dormir” T2 "Infiniti" "La Brea" “La Casa del Dragón”

"La novia gitana" “Los anillos del poder"

“Manifest" T1 - T2

“Miércoles"

“She-Hulk" “Star Wars - Andor" T3 “Star Wars - Crónicas Jedi" “The Devils Hour" “The Peripheral"

- - - PELÍCULAS - - -

“Attack the Block” "Cerdita" “Déjame entrar”

“El espíritu de Bridge Hollow”

“El teléfono del señor Harrigan ”

“Enola Holmes 2” "Freaks" "Jaula"

“Logan” "Los renglones torcidos de Dios" “Lou"

"Mad Heidi" "Mañana es hoy" “Men” “Un Mundo Extraño” "Padre no hay más que uno 3" "Pasajero oculto" "The Innocents" "Troll" "Valerian" "Vesper" "Wind River" "Zona mortal"

- - - - - - - - - - MÚSICA - - - - - - - - - -

Octubre 2022

ANTI-CLONE - "Human" [EP] (2022) BJÖRK - "Fossora" (2022) PARKWAY DRIVE - "Darker Still" (2022) NEOMAK - "Neomak" (2022) GOLD, FRANKINCENSE & MYRRH - "Framing My Perception" [EP] (2022) BUSH - "The Art Of Survival" (2022) NEROARGENTO - "Land Of Silence" (2022) QUEENSRYCHE - "Digital Noise Alliance" (2022) STRATOVARIUS - "Survive" (2022) RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS - "Return Of The Dream Canteen" (2022) ORIANTHI - "Rock Candy" (2022) ELLEFSON-SOTO - "Vacation In The Underworld" (2022) RED ELM - "Arena" (2022) THE ELECTRIC ALLEY - "Apache" (2022) CELLDWELLER - "Satellites" (2022) LACUNA COIL - "Comalies XX" (2022)

Noviembre 2022

ALTER BRIDGE - "Pawns And Kings" (2022) COLLATERAL- "Re-Wired" (2022) WARCRY - "Daimon" (2022) HÄMATOM - "Lang lebe der Hass" (2022) CHAOSEUM - "The Third Eye" (2022) MICE - "Lautada" (2022) THE PRETTY RECKLESS - "Other Worlds" (2022) MEDINA AZAHARA - "La Cápsula del Tiempo" (2022) FRONTSTREET - "Moving Balance" [EP] (2022) SOEN - "Atlantis" (2022) RAMMSTEIN - "Adieu" (2022) -videoclip- THE SMASHING PUMPKINS - "Atum, Act I" (2022) LEATHERWOLF - "Kill The Hunted" (2022)

Diciembre 2022

NICKELBACK - "Get rollin' " (2022) LEE AARON - "Elevate" (2022) SAINT ASONIA - "Extrovert" (2022) JEVO - "Fatality" (2022) SU TA GAR - "Alarma" (2022) MELIORA - "Aethereus" (2022) KRILLOAN - "Emperor rising" (2022) LEANDER KILLS - " Vérkeringö " (2022) ASGARTH - "Zeldatik" (2022) CIRCE - "Odisea" (2022) ††† (CROSSES) - "Permanent Radiant" (2022) CITIZEN SOLDIER - "Scarecrow" (2022) SOZIEDAD ALKOHOLIKA - "Mendizorrotza" (2022)

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infraredmag · 2 years

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GOLD, FRANKINCENSE, & MYRRH 'Framing My Perception - EP'

@TheGFMBand new EP 'Framing My Perception - EP' out on 5/27 via @RockfestRecords @WTFpublicity. Preview it now at: www.InfraredMAG.com #NewMusic #GoldFrankincenseMyrrh #GFM #TheGFMBand #FramingMyPerception #RockfestRecords #WTF #WhoaThatsFresh

GOLD, FRANKINCENSE, & MYRRH Framing My Perception – EP May 27, 2022 Rockfest Records (more…)

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#Framing My Perception #Framing My Perception - EP #GFM #Gold Frankincense & Myrrh #Rockfest Records #The GFM Band #Whoa That&039;s Fresh!#WTF! Publicity

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biffhofosho · 3 years

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Succumbing to Sybaris | Chapter Ten

Chapter Word Count: 7.9k

A/N: SMUT. It’s Minhyuk’s turn. This chapter, like the last smutty one, is also archived in my Trashterlist for convenience under the title “Exposure”.

Cvr | Tr | Pr | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | Ep

It was dark inside Sweet Pea Photography Studio, and Amber realized she'd just wasted her time. Minhyuk was probably already out doing whatever it was a vampire did, probably helping his brothers score more hapless victims.

As her hand fell away from the handle, the door rattled in its frame. It was open. She couldn't go in without cause, but it was an unlocked business in a moderate-crime area. Wouldn't she be neglecting her duties if she didn't make sure the place was secure?

Amber slipped inside.

The studio was even smaller in the dark, and she had to be careful not to knock over anything. She skirted past the counter toward the forbidden dark room when she heard a noise behind the curtain, something like a little gasp. Instantly, her gun was in her hand.

“Hello?” she called out. “Portland PD! Show yourself.”

She smelled smoke and that distinct singe of a candle blown out. She heard hushed voices and what she thought was a laugh, but it could have been the darkness playing tricks on her. As if in answer, a light flicked on beyond the curtain and a young black woman stepped out, her button-up draped loosely around her shoulders and over her bra but the collar gathered snugly against her neck. Minhyuk emerged a moment later, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth before he broke into an ear-to-ear grin.

“Detective Spiros! This is a nice surprise.”

“Is it, Mr. Lee?” Amber said with narrowed eyes. Then, to the girl next to him, she said, “Everything all right in here?”

“Hell yeah,” the 20-something said with a slow blink to her eyes. It was a sight that Amber was getting used to, that intoxicated look that everybody seemed to have around the brothers.

“What's that?” the detective said with her eyes trained on a trickle of rich brown drizzling beneath the girl's shirt collar.

“Cut myself shaving,” the girl giggled before Minhyuk shooed her out the door.

“I wanted to talk to her,” Amber protested.

“No, you didn't,” he replied with an infuriating smile. “Ah, it's so good to see you. You know what? Guess? You’ll never guess. I'm not supposed to be talking to you.”

He jumped up on his counter, kicking his leg with the same energy as a cat flicking its tail.

“That lawyer brother of yours?” Amber said miserably and Minhyuk laughed.

“Lucky for you, I don't like listening to a thing Kihyun tells me to do. Come on in. Let me show you around the studio now that you don't have your warden with you.”

Minhyuk was too perceptive and too charming, and he knew how to give Amber exactly what she wanted. Her gun was out, but her guard was already down.

“I know what you are,” she said without preamble.

He hummed. “I heard.”

“You can't hypnotize me—or whatever that thing is you do to make people look like they’re drunk on you.”

“Why would I want to? This is the first exciting thing that's happened to us in centuries.”

Amber ignored Minhyuk’s earnest gaze in favor of her intuition before she got herself in trouble again. “What were you doing with that girl?”

“Feeding.” He said it without shame.

“What would you have done if I hadn't interrupted?”

“I would have slept with her.” He said it with even less shame.

Amber pursed her lips, her eyes sliding to the door where the girl had disappeared. “You sleep with all your meals?”

“You're cute when you're jealous,” Minhyuk said with a tap to her nose. Amber swatted him away, which only made his smile broaden. “I sleep with the ones who ask for it.”

“Just like that?” she said with a snap of her fingers. “You’re all that indiscriminate?”

“Ah, our lovely detective is jealous.”

“Don’t mistake disgust for jealousy. Answer the question.”

Minhyuk appraised her from the corner of his eye and smiled. “Yes and no.”

“You like to be difficult, don’t you, Mr. Lee?”

“Extremely,” he said, every tooth showing, though his fangs were nowhere in sight. “Yes, I sleep with them just like that. I don’t discriminate; I love anyone with an open heart—and vein. Besides, you humans say grace as a thank you for a meal. How is it any different?”

Amber glowered at him. “Most of us don’t have sex with our smoothies.”

His mouth twisted up to one side and Minhyuk paused. “Never thought about it like that. Ah well, I guess I’m a one-off then. A lot of my kind is more selective after all, I guess, especially some of my brothers.”

“Hyungwon told me you trade sex for blood.”

The photographer shrugged one shoulder as he picked up the sweater his last meal had conspicuously left behind. “Sometimes. Other times it’s favors. Just depends on the person.”

“What about hookers?” she hedged, thinking about Bom and Minzy. “You ever use them?”

“Not usually. Not to be crass, but there’s a lot of tainted blood.”

Amber didn’t want to admit it, but it broke her heart a little. She knew so many of the girls out there, what they endured and what they had to live with. Disease was as rampant as abuse. Even vampires judged them.

“We may not get sick, but you wouldn’t eat a green steak, would you? Now, Detective Spiros,” Minhyuk said with narrowed eyes, “did you come here to ask silly questions or just to feel better about your tryst with Joohoney and Kyun?”

Her hand tightened around the butt of her gun. “I thought they didn’t— How do you know about that?”

“Oh, it’s all out in the open now. Had to have a big family pow-wow last night. You’re all anybody’s talking about these days…”

“I want you to forget everything you think you know about me, Mr. Lee. I’m here on official business. I need answers, and I think you’re the one who’s going to give them to me.”

Minhyuk raised an eyebrow as he looked over her shoulder to the street. “Hm. I don’t see that uptight blowhard from last time—not that official, I take it. At any rate, it seems you were right. As indiscriminate as I am, I generally respond better to a lady’s touch.”

Amber finally holstered her gun and dove back behind the curtain into the studio, leaving Minhyuk to scramble behind her. “Listen, I’m in a fucking mood, Lee. Your little shit of a brother hypnotized my partner, and now I’ve got more women missing.”

“Which shit brother? I have six.”

The detective stopped in front of a wall of portraits and studied them as she said, “You know, Mr. Lee, I thought I might actually be able to trust you. Didn’t know why I got that feeling, but you seemed like someone who might actually give a damn. I thought with enough time, we might be able to work together to save these missing women. Now, I know that you probably just did one of those Jedi mind tricks you all seem to be able to do. It was all bullshit, huh? Me thinking I could trust you?”

“It's not bullshit!” Minhyuk protested. “You can. I'll always tell you the truth. Just ask.”

Amber smiled inside but kept her steely gaze on him. “Was it you last night?”

“The one who dragged you away? No, nor was it any of my brothers.”

She crossed her arms over her chest as she appraised his earnest eyes and soft lips.

“Think about it, Detective,” he said as he circled her. “Now you know what we are. What would be the point of revealing ourselves to you?”

As he passed behind her, Minhyuk flicked her ponytail and chuckled when she flinched.

Amber cleared her throat and backed up to the wall so she could keep the troublemaker in her line of sight. “Chae told me that if I knew what you were, he thought I couldn’t pursue the case. Makes sense. Tell the cop you’re a vampire, and no one will ever take her seriously again.”

“Yes, but didn't he also try to remove those memories?”

“He already suspected I couldn’t be hypnotized. Could have been for show. I get the feeling you all like putting on a show.”

Minhyuk raised a slender finger to his lips as he considered. “Yeah, I guess that could look bad. But why do all of this now? We've been living here for 150 years.”

Amber shook her head. “Come on, you’re a vampire. You’ve seen the world change firsthand. Now that we’ve got the world wide web, you have a menu at your beck and call. You can order custom takeout that delivers itself to you.”

“You’re making me want to rethink this whole internet thing,” Minhyuk teased, and despite herself, the corner of Amber’s mouth twitched.

She quickly scowled and added, “The truth is, the fact that you’re vampires is irrelevant. Hyungwon may be four hundred years old, but just last week, I arrested a 22-year-old for shooting a stranger at a gas station for $28 to buy crack. Everyone reaches a breaking point sooner or later when they're hunting for something they want.”

Minhyuk fell surprisingly silent and Amber turned back to the portraits. Rows of generic suburban families posed in their Sunday finest, babies squeezed teddy bears as they gaped glassy-eyed off-camera, and surly teenagers forced smiles for senior portraits. She wondered where these people were now, whether they had any suspicion that the man who had immortalized them was actually immortal.

As her eyes trailed down the line, toward the bottom, Amber recognized a photo of an innocent, freckled blonde, and she snatched it off the wall. She shoved the frame in Minhyuk’s face until he backed into the wall.

“Hey,” he said, squinting at the picture, “isn’t that the kid you asked me about yesterday?”

“Yes! Why do you have a picture of Daisy Hartley on your wall? I thought you swore you’d never seen her, you lying son of a bitch.”

In a flash, the dowel rod Amber had packed was in her hand and poised like a blade above the place where Minhyuk had presumably once had a heart. Her breaths stabbed the air as readily as the rod prepared to above his chest.

“Easy, Detective,” he said with an irritating smile. “That looks painful.”

“I’ll turn you to dust if you lie to me again, Lee.”

He outright laughed now. “First of all, that’s a stick, not a stake, and secondly, best that’ll do is give me a mean splinter. You shouldn’t believe everything you read. We don’t turn to dust, and a stake should be silver, not wood, if you’re planning on taking us out. Why do you think there’re so many of us skulking about? Nobody carries a silver stake these days.”

“Thanks for the tip,” she spat. The rod wavered with her newfound understanding, but she didn’t remove it. “You were supposed to tell me the truth.”

“Is it a lie if I just forgot? I said I’d never seen her at the manor. I must have taken her senior picture here.”

“And you didn’t remember that?” Amber snarled as she clutched the portrait to her chest.

Minhyuk shrugged. “I have a contract with four different districts. I take a lot of school portraits. Wouldn’t you worry more about me if I remembered all the teens I photographed?”

Damn him and his charisma. She wanted to believe him, which was worse than actually believing him. Somehow, the more she delved into the brothers’ world of sin and shadows, the more familiar it became and the less she recognized her old life. Maybe she was becoming one with the darkness, or maybe, since her sister’s death, she was already a part of it, but one by one, the brothers were switching off the rest of the lights. Soon, there would be nothing left but the abyss.

Amber fought to cling to what was left. She looked down at Daisy’s hopeful face as her fingers tightened around the frame.

“Are you the only one who works here?” she asked.

“Sure am,” Minhyuk answered.

“What about your brothers?”

“I mean, they stop by occasionally, but that’s it.”

Any one of them could have seen Daisy’s photo and helped himself to whatever records the photographer kept. Images of Hyungwon standing, hands in his pockets, in front of this very wall searching for his next victim plagued Amber’s mind. Maybe this was his first hunting ground or maybe it was all a happy accident. Just another breadcrumb in an endless trail, but if she saved enough of them, maybe she could reconstruct the bread.

“You don’t make it easy,” she whispered, but Minhyuk was too keen-eared to miss it.

“Why don’t you have a seat, Detective?” he asked as he guided her to a lone stool in the center of the studio. “You can ask me whatever you want, and I’ll answer. Deal?”

“Okay.”

“And in exchange, I only ask that you let me do what I do best.” Minhyuk waved his camera in front of her, and she rolled her eyes. “Come on. You can ask me anything about anything, and I’ll tell you the truth.”

He craned his head to the side, his lips pressed together and his brow high—the picture of impish innocence.

Amber nodded.

Minhyuk grinned and immediately brought the view finder to his eye, snapping away.

The detective crossed her arms as she said, “So how long have you been a…”

“A vampire?” Snap. “Since 1867. I was a painter in my old life. My last subject made a meal of me.” Snap.

“Choi Seunghyun?”

“The one and only. Said it was payment for a portrait well done.”

With a growl, she shook her head. “The guy sounds like a real dick.”

Minhyuk lowered his camera as he laughed. “Maybe sometimes, but he does take care of us. He brought me here, and I found a family I never had. By the time he sired me, I already had three brothers, so I never had to be alone. The one you should feel bad for is Hyungwonnie. He had to spend almost a hundred years alone before dear old Dad made him a playmate.”

Amber pictured Hyungwon’s big, dark eyes roving over countless multitudes searching for someone—anyone—to end his eternal loneliness. A hundred years with no one to understand him and no one to care. It was a recipe for desperation, the kind she had seen dozens of times with killers and psychopaths, and there was a small part of her that, foolish as it was, felt the urge to comfort him.

She forced her attention back to the photographer, who snapped a picture the moment her eyes flicked to him.

“You’ve never turned anyone?” the detective asked.

Minhyuk dropped his camera again, staring at her surprisingly seriously. “My brothers and I made a pact long ago—we would never turn anyone. We don’t want to be responsible for what happens.”

“What does that mean?”

“We don’t all turn out so well-adjusted, Detective Spiros.”

It would have been a brag if he didn’t sound so ominous, and a second later, he hid behind his camera lens again.

The tone had shifted to something sinister, and, for some reason, beads of sweat collected at the back of her neck. Suddenly, Amber was whisked back to that dark canopy, dangling above the ground like a chandelier about to come crashing down. She winced, bracing for impact.

“You all right, Detective?”

“I’m fine. Just take your pictures so we can be done.”

Minhyuk pouted at her words, but it was no match for Jooheon’s pout, and he switched back to his easy effervescence. “Always rushing out of my studio, you’re going to give me a complex. Come on, look up here please. Let me take a closeup of your eyes.”

“Why are all of you so obsessed with my eyes? I mean, they’re rare, but you’ve lived hundreds of years. You can’t tell me you haven’t seen eyes like mine before.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. I’ve seen eyes of every color and combination, but none like yours, Detective Spiros. You’re special.”

Amber pursed her lips. “Sounds like a thing someone would say who’s trying to get in my pants.”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m trying to do that, too, but I mean this sincerely.”

She shouldn’t have laughed.

Amber cleared her throat and changed the subject. “So, you were a painter and now a photographer. Have you always been an artist?”

“I was a waiter for a little while, but I had to give that up. It was too hard not to eat the rude customers.”

“And you thought children's photography would be safer?” she scoffed.

“Sure. Kids are like grape juice. Takes a couple decades to mature to a fine red wine.”

“Wow, disgusting.”

“Well, you asked,” he replied with a playful shrug.

Despite the fact that none of the brothers were actually biologically related after all, it was clear to Amber that Minhyuk couldn’t be related to the others. He was refreshing and open and honest. His smile pulled her in, and his laugh soothed her perpetually rankled nerves. She’d just caught him red-handed feasting on a victim, and yet, in his presence, she felt safe—she wanted to trust him.

He adjusted the collar of her shirt, his fingers dusting along her throat, before he pulled back with a satisfied nod.

“Do you still paint?” Amber wondered.

“If the mood strikes. But if I’m honest, since they invented the camera, I’ve been obsessed. It’s been something to see it evolve.”

“I guess I haven’t thought about what that would be like to see the world change in slow motion. Senior portraits are a big leap from still life.”

“I don't just take pictures of children. It’s a job, but it's not my passion. What I really love is capturing beautiful things,” he continued. He raised his camera and snapped a photo of Amber’s face. When he pulled back to look at the tiny digital screen, he grinned. “See? Beautiful.”

He brushed a few loose strands of hair behind her ear, and she let him. She couldn’t help it. Every time he looked at her, his eyes were so bright and his teeth were so white, all traces of blood sucked clean. Somehow, Minhyuk made Amber feel less like a detective and more like a woman.

Abruptly, he snapped his fingers and whirled around to rifle through a huge pile of equipment and props. “Hang on, let me switch to vintage. There's a warmth to you I can't capture with digital.”

The photographer produced an antique camera with a large flash and a clunky handset. Dimly, in the back of her mind, Amber remembered something like it in her grandfather's hands. It was familiar and nostalgic, and she relaxed into the shush-shush as he swiped out film slides.

“You can laugh at me if you want, but this was new when I bought it,” he said between shots, and she did laugh because it was an impossible thought.

“Yeah, and how many women have you photographed with that hunk of scrap? Probably too many to count.”

Amber said it as a joke, but she tasted the bitter curiosity at the back of her throat, though that could have been other things, too. It was hard to focus with the flash flaring over and over again. It was hard to picture anything other than Minhyuk’s ill-intentioned fingers manipulating every button and toggle. It was hard to break through the fog of honey and cinnamon that perfumed the air now.

“How about we take a break from the hard-nosed detective act and revisit your tough-as-nails beat cop days? Maybe lose the jacket?”

When he spoke, Minhyuk was every bit the photog instructing his model. In his mouth, they weren’t suggestions—they were requirements, and they didn’t seem unreasonable.

Easily enough, Amber found herself slipping back into her patrol officer days, as though shedding her jacket was shedding all of her pretenses. She remembered what it was like to be hungry to prove everything, determined to make a name for herself, and clueless to her own naïveté. Mistakes were easy to make because everyone expected her to make them.

“This looks more like the real you,” hummed Minhyuk as he snapped another shot.

“It does?” Amber asked and he nodded.

“Try popping the top button,” he said and she did. “Much better. Tell me, Detective Spiros, was there ever a time you thought about crossing that thin blue line?”

“I know what you're doing, Mr. Lee, but your hypnosis-schtick doesn't work.”

He tutted as he appraised her. “No, I know. I'm just the mood maker, remember? I'm setting the mood. It’s still too uptight in here. Two more buttons please, Detective, and that nasty gun.”

“What mood are you making?” Amber asked as she complied. Her white utility bra now peeped between the part in her shirt, but she didn’t have time to think about that when Minhyuk was in front of her.

“I'm making you more comfortable. You seemed determined to hate me when you came in. Do you still hate me?”

“I never hated you, Mr. Lee, but you are a vampire and a killer. I have to be wary of you.”

“We’ve changed over the years, Detective. We’ve evolved. We learned humans can offer us things even more delicious than a meal.”

Her breath stuttered.

“What’s it like to be bitten?”

Her words caught her off-guard as they left her lips, yet Amber’s heart accelerated in anticipation of the vampire’s answer.

Minhyuk sucked on his bottom lip as he studied her. He excused himself for a second, and when he came back, he had a black ribbon unspooling between his fingers. “Put this on, and I’ll tell you.”

“A blindfold?” she deadpanned. “Why?”

“To show that Justice is blind? Whatever, just put it on.”

Amber stared at him skeptically, but he urged her on with a nudge of his chin. “Come on, do you want me to answer or not?”

“Fine,” she relented and tied the satin behind her head. Thin blades of light pierced the darkness underneath the blindfold, leaving her with only a small window to the floor.

A moment later, he scooped her hands from her lap and secured her handcuffs around one wrist. The cold metal wasn’t nearly as startling as the ice of Minhyuk’s skin. “These, too, Detective.”

“You’re fucking kidding me,” she snapped as she peeled the blindfold up over one eye.

Minhyuk smoothed it back down and reaffirmed his conditions with a juddering click of the cuff around her other wrist. “I am not. If you’re worried, I’m sure you have a handcuff key stashed somewhere like a good police officer.”

She exhaled noisily but relented.

The camera clicked a few more times, the blaze of the flash stunning her through the narrow windows beneath the fabric. Her world now reduced to near total darkness, Amber’s other senses awoke. The honey and cinnamon were more intense now, warm and luscious despite the chill of a vampire’s skin so near. She could hear every wrinkle of his jeans and the slick of his tongue as it traced his lips.

“You look so sexy,” Minhyuk said as he snapped a dozen more shots. “You’re in the wrong line of work.”

“You’re stalling, Lee,” Amber reprimanded.

She heard a whoosh just like the one that had tried to spirit her away last night, and she tensed, but the moment Minhyuk’s fingers curled over her shoulders, the tension moved to her thighs.

He tugged her shirt apart so her neck and collar were fully exposed now. His soft hair tickled against her ear as he whispered from behind, “You want to know what it’s like to be bitten?”

Amber nodded absent-mindedly as his hand traced her neck. This close, he smelled wild and exotic, like an invitation to somewhere she’d never been, and it was so spicy, she could taste him. His lips fluttered against the base of her throat, and she could hear Minhyuk’s hunger in his ragged breaths.

“It’s different for everyone. Some say it tickles and others say it makes them sleepy, but for most, there’s pain first and then pleasure, the kind of pleasure that makes your whole body beg for release. There’s nothing like feeling someone from the inside as she offers up her veins to me. I wish I could show you, but it’s forbidden.”

Amber’s brow knitted under the blindfold. “What about that other—”

“You’re forbidden,” he purred.

“Why?”

“I told you. You’re special.”

Minhyuk lifted his hands from her shoulder, and Amber felt the urge to cry out.

The camera clicked again, but the photographer tsked as he circled her. “Almost, almost. So close. Just need a little more.”

“What?” she asked. It was almost a whisper.

“Vulnerability.”

It was dead silent but for Amber’s firm breaths.

“You believe everything I’ve told you tonight, right?” Minhyuk said at last. “You know I’m telling you the truth?”

She nodded. “For some reason, I do.”

“And you believe I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you, right?”

Now, she frowned. “Where is this going, Lee?”

Minhyuk tugged her up and close to him before his fingers were at her jeans now, popping the button. Those elegant digits filled the thin windows beneath her blindfold and teased a gasp from her as they grazed the skin at her waist.

“You might be my perfect shot, Detective Amber Spiros.”

In a flash, he slid her jeans to her ankles and guided her back onto the stool so he could take them off along with her boots. She was alone in the center of the room in nothing but her underwear and her unbuttoned shirt.

Amber brought one cuffed hand to her brow to steady herself. Her body was light and tingling all over, and without her feet on the ground, she felt like she could float away.

“Minhyuk?”

He hummed as he slid fresh film into his camera.

“If I can’t be hypnotized, why do I keep doing these things?”

He snapped a picture. She could hear his triumphant grin.

“What do you mean?” he said without hesitation. “Because you want to.”

The world ground to a halt. Amber’s eyes searched the darkness on the other side of the blindfold, but that was all she found—darkness. If Minhyuk was right and this was the kind of person she was at her core, didn’t that make her a monster, too?

“You want to spread your legs for me, don’t you?” he said. There was a deep husk to his voice she never expected from the bright, inviting man she knew. It made her tremble. “I want you to as well, Amber.”

She bit her lip, hoping the pain would wake her from her dream, but all it did was remind her of the bite Minhyuk had teased. Depraved as it was, she did want it.

“Go on,” he urged, “spread them.”

Amber braced against the front of the stool as her knees parted.

“Move your hands.”

Chest shuddering and skin flushed, she brought her manacled hands to her mouth, and Minhyuk sighed.

“Look at that cute little stain on your panties.”

Snap.

The shutter woke Amber from her reverie, and she snarled, handcuffs clanking in protest. “Don’t you dare take pictures of me like this!”

“That’s fair,” he said, and she heard him tuck away the camera. “It’s just the one, and it’s only for me. Promise. I need something to cum again to later.”

“Again?” Her voice stumbled.

“I did everything you asked. Shouldn’t I get something in return?”

“You got your pictures,” Amber retorted. “That’s what you wanted.”

Minhyuk stepped between her open legs and scooted her hips flush to his so she could feel his hard-on against her heat. He lifted her chin so her mouth tipped up to him and he could rest his lips there as he said, “What can I say? I’m greedy.”

But he didn’t kiss like it. Minhyuk’s lips moved in gentle waves, always coaxing her into him—her lips, her tongue, her breaths. He liked drawing Amber out and hearing her whimper. Her hands gripped his shirt as she yearned for more, but his self-control was awe-inspiring. She tried to speed things up by nibbling his lower lip, but he pulled back and laughed.

“Aren’t you the impatient one?” he mused. “Haven’t you ever heard ‘good things come to those who wait?’”

“It’s a stupid saying,” Amber balked.

“I really think you’re going to change your mind by the end of the night.” Minhyuk’s thumb smudged the darkening stain on her underwear, and her hips jolted at the contact, but a second later, he took a step back and another whimper escaped her. “In the meantime, let’s practice patience.”

The unmistakable thrill of a zipper parting had Amber on the edge of her seat.

“Jerk me off,” Minhyuk commanded as he seated her cuffed hands around the base of his cock. Her mouth opened in surprise, but he planted a quick kiss on it and added, “Please?”

It was hard to argue with his charm, especially when his iron member was already in her hands. He was cold to the touch, same as the others, but there was a softness to his skin that was so inviting. Amber’s hands worked of their own accord, gliding up and down his stony ridges as she memorized Minhyuk through touch. Because of the cuffs, she had to get her balance just right to work her hands together up and down his length, but eventually, she settled into a flawless rhythm.

She started off slowly, marveling at his gentle curve and tantalizing thickness. He felt so good in her hands, and she longed to feel something this impressive filling her up. A rush of desire flooded to her core at the thought, and Amber rubbed her thighs together hoping for a little relief.

She’d figured him for a vocal guy, but Minhyuk was surprisingly quiet, save for a few soft grunts, and she wondered if she was even pleasing him. She shouldn’t care—he was a goddamn vampire and brother to her chief suspect—but she did, so she released him and brought her hands up so she could lick her palms.

At first, she heard him gasp because she’d left him hanging, but then she heard the growl in the back of his throat, and fresh wetness leaked between her legs.

In a dangerously low voice, he said, “I've never seen anything hotter in my life, and I’ve lived a very long time, baby.”

“Want to feel you inside me,” Amber murmured as she returned her freshly damp palms to his cock and picked up speed.

In one swift motion, Minhyuk tugged her underwear to the side and shoved a finger into her cunt all the way to the knuckle, but he was gone in the same heartbeat, leaving her clenching shamelessly around nothing. A moment later, wet sucking filled the air, and he hummed as he smacked his lips. “Wet, but not wet enough. I like it messy. Let’s see what we can do about that.”

With the same finger, Minhyuk circled one of Amber’s nipples through her flimsy bra. The ministration was so sensual, her head spun with his fingertip. Tingles shot straight to her core as her peaks stiffened, and when he pinched the swollen bud, she moaned and trembled, her hands skipping carelessly along his length. He repeated the same tantalizing treatment on her other breast, and now her underwear was uncomfortably sticky with lust.

It must have showed because those troublesome fingers were at Amber’s hips now, with one lone digit tracing her obscene seam through the sodden fabric as she continued to worship his cock with her hands.

“So close,” he mumbled before he pressed firmly on her clothed clit. Her head lolled back and she sputtered out a reedy moan into the studio. “Damn, I can’t wait to fill you up.”

“Hurry up,” Amber whined, and, mercifully, Minhyuk moved her hands from his member and guided her to the edge of the stool.

Because of her manacles, he helped her slide her underwear down her legs, but the moment they were gone and she could invite him between her thighs again, he stopped short. His nails bit suddenly into the meat of her thigh, and the detective yelped.

“What’s wrong?” she said.

“Your scent. It’s overwhelming.”

“Do we need to stop?” she asked, but Minhyuk laughed tightly.

“That might be the one thing that could kill me.”

A long, cold minute ticked by before the vampire’s hand loosened on her thigh, and his fingers curled around Amber’s as he placed them back around his length. Together, they guided his cock toward her heat. Through the little slashes beneath her blindfold, she stole a glance of his flushed shaft gliding along her cunt until it glistened with her juices. Each stroke had her keening, but he let her go and pulled back again.

As tortuous as it was, his teasing was addictive. Minhyuk knew just how to play with her body to keep her alive with tension, and the more he held her in suspense, the more her pussy throbbed for him. Amber couldn’t remember being this keyed up in her life, not even when sex was uncharted and so illicit, it had to be done in total darkness.

She was still in the dark now, but her hands knew just what to do. Her thumb traced the swollen head of his dick before she swirled it around her clit. She could sense his mouth so close to hers, and she tipped her chin up so she could mewl against it. She was swallowed up by the sensuality with nowhere to go but down deeper.

Gripping him by the base, Amber canted her hips up and engulfed his tip. Minhyuk jerked back, but her bound hands tethered him to her. Back she glided him into her hungry cunt and squeezed until his nails bit into her shoulder.

“Naughty minx,” he scolded, but she heard his delight.

Amber didn’t bother responding. She couldn’t. He felt so good, and all she’d had was a taste. She wondered if she could cum just like this, flexing her walls around him until she was begging for release, and just as she was teetering at the edge, he’d plunge his full length deep as it would go until they came together.

Minhyuk sighed and coaxed a finger under her chin to channel her attention on him. He sniffed a light laugh. “I’m inside you, but you’re fantasizing about me, aren’t you? So cute.”

He booped her on the nose and followed it with a quick kiss before he pulled back out. But Amber wasn’t done, and she nestled him just inside her sex again, only this time, it had become a little battle of wills between them.

In and out, in and out. Over and over again, Amber fucked herself on the head of his cock. For the briefest of moments, he would stretch her wider and then disappear, leaving an unquenchable ache in the pit of her belly. There wasn’t a part of her that wasn’t solely focused on the pleasure between her legs. She burned for more, and yet she didn’t want to let Minhyuk go. He was a mistake she wanted to keep making.

“You like teasing yourself?” he said, spellbound. “Are you trying to steal all my fun?”

“No, I’m trying to prolong mine,” she admitted.

But Minhyuk had other ideas. He thrust in suddenly, and Amber threw back her head with a cry of ecstasy. A second later though, he was gone and her core ached with need. She whimpered pathetically, and he laughed again as his hands carded through her hair, the perfect blend of tender lover and mischievous devil.

“You’re so much fun to play with. Go on, use me however you like, my pretty girl. Just know, I might bite back.”

This time, it was harder to hold Minhyuk exactly where she needed since he was sticky with her lust. Amber’s hips worked twice as hard to resume her slow fuck on his tip. Every tease added lighter fluid to her kindling fire, and she knew the next time he took her, she would be consumed by the flames.

But Minhyuk wasn’t one to be out of the action for long, and he grasped her cheeks and kissed her again in his same deliberate way. One hand twined in her chocolate hair while his other thumb stroked the side of her neck. The velvet of his lips and the velvet of his cock drew out every last breath in Amber’s body, and it was heaven.

His greed was finally getting the better of him though. He lifted her hands from his length and threaded his head through them so she hugged him close. Then, he slid his hands under her ass and hoisted her up.

“You’re strong,” she muttered with a stupid pink tinge to her cheeks.

“You’re gorgeous,” he replied and pecked her lips once again before he kissed her in earnest.

Gone were the come-hither kisses. Now Minhyuk was ravenous, and he wouldn’t rest until he’d devoured every last part of her. He squeezed her ass as he crushed his lips against hers. Amber dragged her nails along the base of his scalp, and he rewarded her with a delicious moan.

Her back collided with the wall, and Minhyuk used the brace to free one hand. He glossed a finger along her gushing folds as his other hand tightened on her hip. Something deep in his chest rumbled, and the vibrations traveled like shockwaves into her.

“It’s time, princess,” he said with a growl.

Amber’s body thrummed with anticipation as every ounce of energy funneled to her core. Minhyuk positioned his cock at her hole, and finally, he pushed in. It wasn’t like his balls-deep thrust this time; it was torturous and thrilling and so very, very welcome. Behind her blindfold, it was easy to appreciate each ridge of his length and the full breadth of his girth. The chill of his skin was foreign inside her, but it wasn’t long before the heat of her desire overwhelmed him.

Her cuffs dug into his neck as she adjusted to accommodate him, and the smallest movements triggered tsunamis of pleasure. She moaned obscenely next to his ear, and Minhyuk smiled.

“You sound so pretty, my love,” cooed the vampire. “Do I feel good?”

“Mm-hm,” was all Amber could manage as she bit her lip.

“You feel… No one’s ever felt so good. It’s like you were made for me. My pretty girl…” He brushed back a lock of her hair and nuzzled his nose along her cheek. “Hold me just like this. Keep my cock warm.”

Minhyuk’s strength never faltered as he held her up and kept himself buried inside her cunt. He rested his head on her shoulder while his lips stilled against the base of her throat. Amber knew his fangs lurked just on the other side, ready to tear into her if he so desired. A moment later, his tongue peeked between them and filled the hollow of her clavicle. Her core tightened automatically, and the game was over.

“So, so messy,” he mumbled. “You’re dripping down my balls, messy girl. You’ve taken my teasing so well. So well… You ready to cum?”

She nodded and squeezed her legs around him.

Greenlight given, Minhyuk propped her up higher against the wall, giving him enough room for the hard, fast stride he wanted.

With nothing but sensation to focus on, Amber melted into his rhythm. His fingers slipped under her shirt and gripped her waist as his cock speared her. The friction was all-consuming, and every thrust drove her to madness.

She was sticky with sweat and her pussy was drenched, and the sound of wet sex rebounded off the walls until there was no escaping their sins. Minhyuk added his own music to the symphony with needy little grunts so elegant in their obscenity. His mouth squared over hers as his hips pounded up into her. Each thrust massaged her clit and coaxed decadent cries from her, too.

“Minhyuk,” Amber begged against his ear.

“So warm,” he murmured as his answer.

She was so close to release, but her heels were slipping and her arms were tired. Minhyuk seemed to sense it and pulled out of her to an angry slew of curse words.

“No more teasing!” Amber wailed, half in tears.

He pecked her lips reassuringly as he ducked out of her arms. “No, no more, princess. I’m going to make you cum now, I promise.”

Minhyuk spun her around and pushed her forward. Breath already accelerating, Amber bent over on wobbly legs, cuffed hands bracing against the wall.

She waited for what felt like an eternity, shirt bunched around her neck, ass exposed to the silent studio. For a heart-stopping moment, she thought Minhyuk had left her like that.

All at once, he lined up with her eager cunt and impaled her on his dick. He alternated between shallow and fast and deep and hard as he learned what made her body tighten for him. His hands controlled her hips, teaching her exactly how to milk every drop of pleasure from him, until, finally, one wicked finger ventured forward to her throbbing clit.

Amber was losing herself, and Minhyuk could feel it. He switched back to shallow and quick and let the drooping curve of his length rub the front of her tensing walls. In the all-consuming blackness, there was nothing else to focus on but the filthy indulgence, and she offered herself up to it as black became white. She was already shaking with the intensity before every muscle stiffened and then spasmed. She cried out with her release, a long deep wail that echoed in the empty studio.

Minhyuk was quick to follow. Just as she’d hoped, he fucked into her as deep as he could go—once, twice, three times—before he stilled and unloaded his cold cum into her warmth. He tipped forward, one hand on the wall for support, while his cock emptied inside her shivering walls.

The moment her senses came rushing back, so did unavoidable truth. Amber ripped off the blindfold and whipped her head around. “Did you cum inside me!”

“I wasn’t supposed to?”

His eyes were huge, round marbles, and his mouth hung open as his other hand clutched his heart.

“Fuck,” she whimpered. It was supposed to be fantasy, and now it was inescapable reality.

“I told you I like it messy,” he said as though it was an apology. He slipped out of her and helped her stand up, his arms locking around her from behind to toy with her tits as he nuzzled her neck and nibbled along her shoulder. “Do you forgive me?”

Amber didn’t know what to say. For a terrifying moment, it felt like a relationship and not a terrible, terrible lapse in judgment.

“So Joohoney and Kyun didn’t get to cum inside you?” he questioned as he idly flicked her nipple.

“I told them not to.”

She could feel Minhyuk’s grin against her shoulder clear as day. “I can’t wait to rub it in.”

“What would happen if I shot you right now?”

Amber wasn’t sure if she’d asked it as a joke or not, and neither was Minhyuk. He raised an eyebrow and held her a notch tighter. “It would hurt like hell for a minute, then it would heal. Is that a no to forgiveness then?”

“I’m still thinking,” she said and wriggled free of his grasp. “I find it hard to believe they really didn’t tell any of you about what happened.”

He shrugged a shoulder. “I think they were just trying to protect you.”

“I find that even harder to believe,” she scoffed.

She swiveled toward where her jeans had been tossed, but Minhyuk stopped her and pushed her chest-first against the wall as he propped her ass out on full display.

“Wait a minute,” he said and staggered back. Amber figured he was grabbing her clothes, but instead, the vampire leaned back and watched her as he said, “This is my favorite part. Don’t move.”

Her brow furrowed, and she was about to snap at him when she felt the lewd trickle along her inner thigh.

Minhyuk purred. “You look unbelievably sexy with my cum dripping down your legs, filthy girl. Let me take a picture.”

Amber scrambled back, but when she turned around, she found the tousled photographer with his fingers in a mock rectangle, one long digit pressing the imaginary shutter release with a cluck of his tongue.

“That’s an image I never want to forget as long as I live.”

“Prick,” she grumbled through a smile as she shoved past him for her clothes.

Amber found her handcuff key in her pants pocket and released her binds with a grateful sigh. Her hands ringed her wrists as she welcomed the blood flow back into her tingling fingers, and finally, she wormed into her clothes again. With every button she did, her head hung a little lower.

“Why does this happen every time?” she whispered as she tugged on her boots.

“Incredible sex?” Minhyuk offered hopefully.

“Crushing guilt and shame. What is wrong with me?”

She could feel the man beside her even though she hadn’t heard him approaching. He placed a hand on the small of her back and stroked her spine with his thumb. “You belong with us, Amber. To us. Nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Uh-uh, no,” she snapped as she shook him off. When she looked back up, she could see Daisy’s face staring back at her from the portrait wall. Sickness bubbled up inside her. Amber grabbed her head to steady herself. “This psychosis is over, Lee. I don’t know what it is about you and your brothers that makes me feel—”

What? she thought. Alive? Reckless? Primal?

“—stupid,” she finished, “but it’s over now. No matter how many times I fall into these traps, you can’t seduce me into forgetting what you are. Nine girls are missing, maybe more. I won’t be responsible for what happens to you when one of them turns up dead.”

The light in Minhyuk’s eyes faded a little. “You know Hyungwon has nothing to do with those girls?”

“I believe you believe that, but that doesn’t make it true.”

His brow furrowed as he insisted, “We’re brothers. We don’t keep secrets from each other.”

“Oh really?” Amber challenged. “What’s Hyunwoo’s last name again?”

A rare frown formed on Minhyuk’s slender face. “Okay, you’re right, Hyungwon probably has his fair share of secrets, too, but I know he’d never do anything to jeopardize our family. We’re the only thing he has.”

“You’ve lived a long time, Mr. Lee,” she said, forcing distance between them, “but you don’t know the darkness inside people like I do. Sooner or later, the villain always shows himself, and no matter how much you want to believe it isn’t true, he cannot be denied.”

She grabbed her gun and the last of dignity and left the studio with a slam of the door.

#minhyuk is the sweetest tease #monsta x smut #novel #succumbing to sybaris #original character #shownu #wonho #minhyuk #kihyun #hyungwon #jooheon #changkyun #detective au #vampire au #enemies to lovers #reverse harem #1990s #WE GO HARD YO

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