#also this art style ?? drop dead gorgeous

[cattonicdragon]

could you do mantis, tigress, viper, po, shen, tai lung, kai x a white peacock reader that can manipulate all forms of physics? For reference, the White Peacock Reader has the ability to manipulate all forms of physics regardless of laws. Other have sent you this type of question, so I am sending you this type of question. And I love your stuff too.

mantis,tigress,viper,po,shen,tai lung and kai x white peacock reader who can manipulate all forms of physics

I'm glad you like my stuff! And of course I can

Not been proof read yet I just wanted to post it 😭

Mantis

He finds you beauty and grace very admirable

You fight with such ferocity and grace it's almost unbelievable

He thinks that your powers are really cool but also really scary since they dont abide to any of the laws

Meaning you can do things that shouldn't physically be possible

Thinks that your some kind of God or something,maybe you've just been blessed by the gods

Not to much sparing,he fears that hell be crushed before he can even move

He asks to trace the patterns on your feathers(if you have any patterns)

He wonders if your tail can get in the way when fighting

Your fighting style is literally drop dead gorgeous

Saw you phase through a wall once,cant unsee it

Scary for in battle but very useful as an ally

He asks if you know why your white instead of the usually colours

Very curious about you

Your very mysterious

Tigress

She finds your beauty breath taking but remembers during battle not to be distracted

Shes curious of how you got your powers,did you learn them?,if so who was your master?,were you born with them?,does it run in your family?

Lots of questions

Training constantly

You've bested her more times then she cares to admit

She'll say that you cheated

Shes not saying that because she thinks you incapable,shes just saying that to try and mend her wounded pride

Her leg has phased through you and she lost the match because her brain practically stopped working for a minute or so

She likes to stay on your good side,mainly because she genuinely fears your powers

She believes that you can control them well but the things you can do,shouldn't be humanly/animaly possible

She likes to help clean your tail if you allow her

She wonders how you can fight with such a big tail

She fears fears what people will say when she tells them she lost a match to you,so you tell her that she can say you lost sometimes

She finds it scary and impressiv how much you can do,you can control things like the weather,solid matter etc.

She asks about your origins and if there may have been a particular reason as to why you were born as a white peacock with such immense power

Viper

brought to you by the same gif,again

As a previous ribbon dancer she likes to see the art in different peopls kung fu/fighting style,which meand she loved the way you fight

Such precision and beauty

She thinks your way to overpowerd

Like if you wanted to you could legit just walk on water

Dont like cold noodles?,ok lemme just,heat that up for u rq

She likes to stay relatively on your good side

She will ask to put flowers in your feathers,if you allow her to she will be ecstatic

Such a sweet heart

If you give her a feather as a gift of luck she may just pass out

If you have any patterns on your feathers she likes to trance them with her tail or just look at it

Shes scared to get priced by your sharp talons in battle/sparing

Loves your feathers

Shes curious to your feather colour being white but wont dig or think to deep about it

She just puts it down as being an unique quality of yours

Your tail can get annoying every so often

She likes how you input your tail into your fighting style

Po

Your white feathers give him a tad bit of PTSD

He find the way you fight majestical,almost as if hes watching a play

He likes your feather and asks how you keep them so clean

He would be very hesitant with you sometimes due to the fact you remind him of someone

He thinks white suits you

Hes very surprised,fascinated and intrigued apon finding out about your powers

Your powers are like nothing hes ever seen before and he loves it

He likes to have long training sessions with you to try find a weakspot

He wants you to try teach him

Even if you tell him it's your genes and not taught he will still ask,there no hurt in trying

Liked your tail but it is very big

He likes making noodles for you both and sitting under a tree on a rainy day,knowing that your the reason your both not drenched in water

He wonders how you obtained such power and wonders what It would be like going all on out dragon warrior against you

He gets distracted by your feather alot

If you were to ever give him a feather hed treat it like a treasure that needs to be protected at any cost

Likes to watch your methods of fighting because he wants to try doing it himself

Shen

Hes rather shocked apon learning that there another white peacock

And your very powerful

In some ways hes happy that theres another peacock since he wont feel as lonely being the only white one but then again he in some ways feels like that was a huge part of his character

Apon first meeting you he gets extremely defensive and accuses you of being an imposter,even though you never said a single thing

Has alot of curiosity about your powers

Shen will try test your limits and see if you just unleash your powers out of pure emotion,he has morbid curiosity

He likes to spar ALOT

He likes to talk to you about how he created the cannons aswell as what he did to get the result

Hes very clingy and will often hang around you

Should anyone speak bad about you if you dont handle it,he will gladly

He finds a sick kind of pleasure from having so powerfull by his side

He throws firework shows for you

If you are good with close combat he will get a custom commissioned weapon of your choice for you

Tai lung

Although he finds your white feathers beautiful he also feels threatened

The pure reason for this is power

Hes been a star student for so long,the best of the best and you show up and have more power than him

Hes very stand off ish at first

He warms up to you eventually,its just a case of him getting there

He comes to find the brutality and accuracy of your fighting method

He trains with you at any given chance,hes not afraid to fight someone stronger than him and he will most likely go in blind,refusing to learn anything from his opponent

He asks if your methods can be taught and is a bit sulky if it cant

Hes not going to underestimate you by a long shot,hes more likely to overestimate you

He finds you feathers pretty and can momentarily find himself losing focus in training

If you gave him a feather he'd treat it as if it were his life sorce

He believes that when he achieves the dragon scroll you two will finally be even

Kai

Other than oogway he hasnt seen such powerful chi before

Nor has he seen the types of power you weild

Your a mystery at first,a mysterious white peacock shows up one day and has practically limitless power?

Hes going to be after your chi,no doubts

After awhile it's much like having a frenemy

"Still havnt given up your chi,(name)?""still havnt defeated oogway,kai?"

Its can go back and forth like this for a very long time,which it usually ends with you slipping through solid matter to escape

It gets to the point whether hes unsure if he still wants to take your chi

It would give him so much raw power but hes grown...fond of you

Which he hates to admit and probally wont

Once you become acquaintances tho it will turn into sparring seasons often

He brings his jombies out every so often to spice things up

He likes how smoothly you execute your kung fu moves/attacks

However in the end he still technically got what he wanted,just differently

[cellarspider]

Spider's Big Prometheus Thing: Index Post

Being a list of all the posts produced in the course of this inexplicable project of mine. This post will be updated as more entries are added, on days when I remember I made an index for these.

All entries will have at least a minimum level of citations for where to start looking for more facts on a subject. Be aware that there's also hidden rambling and bonus facts in the image alt text.

0. Introduction

Setting the scene, including my background, my intent, and where this movie is going.

1. Opening

Expectations, landscapes, and aliens.

Rambles: DNA, whether aliens would have it, and why it doesn't look like a pale bacon ladder.

Alt-text rambles: nano-bubbles.

2. Discovery

The Isle of Skye is gorgeous, the movie attempts to establish its themes, and why it had already got my hackles up. Rambles: how cool ancient and pre-modern peoples were, the implications of humanoid figures in European cave paintings, and misplaced lions. Alt-text rambles: seriously, Skye is just so cool. Erich von Däniken and modern publishing royalties are not.

3. David

We meet the loneliest android, and his fandom of choice. Rambles: I go nuts for a paragraph over Proto-Indo-European. Alt-text rambles: Help me remember a dude's name, that time Ron Perlman saw Sigourney Weaver do something so cool he forgot to act, and a Coronation Street conspiracy theory.

4. Humans (Derogatory)

We meet the human crew, and analyze why they're a mismatch to the movie's established expectations, and what subgenre they fit in most. It isn't the one the movie seems to be aiming for. Rambles: 50s B-movies and their Men Of Science, modern movies and their quietly suffering scientists. Alt-text rambles: inconsistently moist characters, Idris Elba's christmas tree decorations.

5. Pseudoarchaeology (Extremely Derogatory)

We meet Old Man Capitalism, poor logistics, and how the movie began to really lose me through dropping in some racist pseudoscience tropes. Rambles: more logistics (of alien bioengineering), historical art styles, what the world was getting up to in the 600s CE Alt-text rambles: Linguistics, more ranting, the life and extraordinarily ornate death of Kʼinich Janaabʼ Pakal. Rants: the existence of writing, people who don't look like you can still think, stargazing and how conspiracy theorists don't understand it.

6. Roads

Poor firearm safety with Chekhov's Gun, when movies move too fast, atmospheric chemistry, and the moment I began to yearn for blood. Rambles: First contact protocols, why 3% CO₂ won't kill you but it will make you weird, my personal experience digging up a Roman road. Alt-text rambles: the logistics of securing items in moving craft, linguistics, atmospheric science, colorblind-friendly diagram design, swearing about orology, and cursing the crew for their fictional crimes against archaeology. Rants: Why they should've stayed in orbit, and my impassioned defense of historically significant transportation infrastructure.

7. Masking

The bit that made most people realize these characters were idiots. Featuring an attempt at themes. Rambles: NASA's policies on biological contaminants Alt-text rambles: Benedict Wong having nothing to do, helmet design, driving on dusty track, the tiny overlap between archaeological horrors and Minecraft, the CDC's excellent captions on men sneezing. Rants: Nominating a man for the Heinrich Schliemann Archaeology Award, all these people are catching space covid

8. Ghosts

Comparing the Engineers to their series antecedents, and I develop a slight soft spot for the geologist. Rambles: Set design in Alien, how carbon dating works. Alt-text rambles: Adventure games, GET DOWN MISTER PRESIDENT, I get very excited for Dune: Part Two, the archival devotion of people with rare blorbos.

9. Dignity

Personal, professional, social, and media context for the treatment of people's remains. Rambles: Personal experiences around the archaeological discovery of human skeletons, professional codes of ethics, movies that handle dead bodies better by being more crass about it. Alt-text rambles: None, the main text gets full focus this time.

10. Atmosphere

How intertextual imagery is overused, how the one major character arc is developing, and a whole grab bag of miscellaneous shambolic events. Rambles: How tourist-breath can destroy artifacts, and a deleted scene Alt-text rambles: Whether explaining mysteries is always the wrong decision in fantasy, the usefulness of helmets, Mass Effect's loading screens, please someone give me more recommendations for things where Giger creatures aren't all bad, and how cultural variation in gestures can make you look like an asshole. Rants: they aren't done desecrating the dead oh boy it's just gonna get worse

11. Decontamination

How to present an audience with events that make no sense, how to do it eerily, and how Prometheus does this by accident. Rambles: NASA's Apollo 11 quarantine policies Alt-text rambles: How 2001: A Space Odyssey put on a cosmic lightshow, how traditions are faked for political and social power in Midsommar, confusing lab equipment, robot arm safety, the use of camper vans in space exploration, umarell behavior, and robot horror movies. Bonus text rambles: pressurized gas cylinder safety, and how the cargo of one truck apparently tried to join Roscosmos. Rants: Laboratory safety

12. Shocking

Mary Shelly would not be proud of them. Rambles: Which home electrical appliances their tomfoolery is equivalent to. Alt-text rambles: Semiotics and Alien, reuse of props and art department equipment, the cast's inability to look at things, how the first chestburster scene intelligently incorporated spontaneity, and I completely lose my mind over a single computer readout, finding out in the process that the Engineers are close cousins to the common house mouse. Rants: I didn't think that "don't stick electrical plugs in people's ears" would be something that needed to be said, but here we are.

13. Family Tree

A soothing ramble about some of the cool bits of my job. Rambles: How evolution has made some vertebrate blood white or green, how genomes are sequenced, and how to determine the relatedness of species. And more. A lot more. I love my job. It's so cool. Alt-text rambles: How Nickelodeon slime was made, how hecking tiny molecules are, why blue-tongued skinks have blue tongues, my review of Dune: Part Two, how hard I worked to not turn Gene Wilder into a jumpscare, lots of enthusiastic explanations of DNA sequencing techniques, the aesthetics of the machines wot do that for you, how "snip" no longer sounds like a verb to me, and how I started out as a computational scientist.

14. Cheers

David poisons a man, and how his character arc ties into christian-influenced existential dread. Rambles: series continuity, gnostic theology, Ridley Scott's beliefs. Alt-text rambles: How to ruin petri dishes, Vickers' questionably carbon-based existence, the game of Operation, hand doubles in filming, how the funniest possible misidentification of an early church figure is wandering around the internet, the cool genders of suit actors, gnostic Archons, and the Engineers as Sophia. Rants: Holloway seems unaware that archaeologists study dead people, Ridley Scott is his own biggest problem.

15. Unworthy

The movie does something I'm not going to joke about. Don't read this if you're having a bad day. Big content warning for Holocaust imagery.

16. Intimacy

Your asexual commentator grapples with Hollywood's terrible track record on romantic and sexual chemistry. Rambles: Why we don't say an archaic-looking species is "older" than another, how religious scientists do what they do Alt-text rambles: the human family tree, Abbott and Costello, pitcher plant cultivars, the creative possibilities of a Buddhist version of this movie, and Stephen Still's lack of accordions. Rants: I've never been a boyfriend but I'm pretty sure that's not how you do it

17. Threat

Prometheus takes a hard turn into old slasher movie tropes. Rambles: A movie trailer that gave Wee Spider the screaming heebies Alt-text rambles: The age rating of Prometheus, a spontaneous X-Files crossover AU, Pitch Black, how likely it may or may not be that the images in the post will get flagged, critter behavior, insufficient EVA suit design, and the content balancing I take into account when selecting screenshots. Rants: This movie does not seem to know what it is. Alt-text rants: Ditto, focusing on characterization.

18. Flames

"Mac wants the flamethrower!" Rambles: I wandered off in the middle to watch a 40k comedy video, does that count? Alt-text rambles: More content-balancing, what kind of very English critter David appears to be, dune buggy design, Star Wars: The Old Republic is worth your time, Dune: Part Two is worth your time, an extremely long ramble about integration of CG background elements, and Oblivion memes. Alt-text rants: Movie color grading and lighting, undercutting scares.

19. Stars

The movie shows how good it can be when no dialog is involved. Rambles: The movie Contact and how Prometheus could've learned from it. Alt-text rambles: How I estimate large numbers from a still image, a brief Baldur's Gate 3 appearance, the set design and staging of a room made for giants with squishy computers, the use of color to make a cohesive scene, facts about Uranus, visual intimation of threat, VFX wizardry, practical FX wizardry, Michael Fassbender's wordless acting.

20. Expectant

The movie shows how good it can be when character choice is removed from the horror. Rambles: the inspiration and place of chestbursting in Alien movies, the continuing religious symbolism in the movie, the clunky dialog, how to build or undermine tension, and the good blending of practical and CG effects, and how tiny creatures of the ocean manage to be more uncanny than horror critters. Alt-text rambles: reading details the prop department never meant for you to see. Alt-text Rants: the return of the head-exploder and the first sight of actual PPE, slowly mangling a plot point's name until it has been thoroughly folded, spindled, and mutilated.

21. Underdelivered

The movie shows how terrible it can be when horror doesn't build tension. Rambles: Contortionists in horror, hillbilly horror/hixploitation movies. Alt-text rambles: Resident Evil 7, Dead Space and "strategic dismemberment"

22. Hubris

The movie tries to do some themes again Rambles: my ineffable desire to genetically sequence ditch weeds, Left Behind Alt-text rambles: Brad Dourif's commitment to the bit in The Two Towers, nigh-invisible wheelchair product placement, the Fallout series in general and the upcoming show in particular, praise for an epic-length critique of Left Behind, Robert Zemeckis' bizarre quest to mocap everything Rants: This movie does a terrible job representing both religiosity and atheism

23. Informed

Exposition is delivered, and plot points try to knit together. Rambles: The Silent Hill movie, Pacific Rim Alt-text rambles: Pyramid Head's secret unclothed backside, demanding environmental enrichment for scientists, greebling, Tumblr's favorite shitty copper merchant Rants: What could've been done instead of an exposition dump and daddy issues Alt-text rants: these people and their interior design are tempting fate and testing my patience

24. Inscribed

I go rogue and ramble about constructed languages and cuneiform for an entire post. Guest appearances from Klingon pop music and a delightfully eccentric Assyriologist. Rambles: All of it. Alt-text rambles: the self-awareness of conlangers, fingernail length, Schleischer's Fable as a warm-up for the next section, my primary conlang derangement, speculation about whether cuneiform was legible for the blind, my beef with the cowards at Lucasfilm for refusing to use Star Wars' coolest letters, my love for Warframe's Grineer, going into far too much detail about redesigning Prometheus' Engineer script, and finally, the many crocodiles of ancient egyptian hieroglyphs. Rants: None/all of it

25. Judgement

We discuss some of what the movie doesn't. Rambles: Fiction and morality, Blade Runner, biblical allusions the story could've made and doesn't Alt-text rambles: Lance Henriksen's insane career, the paintings of John Martin and a surprise George Washington, Rutger Hauer's effect on Blade Runner, my tentative plans for the next essay series. Rants: Germs, old man makeup. Alt-text Rants: The characters are reading ahead in the script again, the half-assed Engineer writing system continues to hurt me

26. Awoken

I go bananas over PIE. Rambles: fix-it fic for this damned movie, PIE, how to avoid PIE, how to analyze PIE, and my personal alternative to PIE. Alt-text rambles: calculating how long the Engineer's overslept, their potential spiritual kinship to Moominpapa, behind the scenes photos of the suit actors, Prometheus rants in the days of LiveJournal, the game Hades, how hard it personally is to get PIE right, the linguistics nerdery of the Hittite empire, and watermarks. Rants: how the movie fails its premise and hurts my soul with linguistics

27. Shortcomings

The characters, and movie, fail to get their message across to someone bent on their destruction. Rambles: David's confused religious symbolism, Star Trek Alt-text rambles: My desire for fanfic, behind the scenes photos, what other critters the Engineer's suit actor has played, the naming of Australopithecines, crash-proofing a movie set, alien gender, Gandahar and how French animated SF in the 80s was awesome, Scorn and its expert consultation from a cenobite, and Doctor Strangelove. Rants: the assumptions of the human characters, I go from trying to be measured to actively spiting the writer for his take on thoughtful SF Alt-text Rants: Del Toro is the only one who gets me, the movie has forgotten its main character just had a major surgery, one last rant about how terribly unsafe the Prometheus was as a ship, before it becomes definitively not a ship.

28. Momentum

It's the bit where she doesn't turn. Rambles: How to fix the dumbest thing we've seen in a hot minute, Edge of Tomorrow and feeling Tom Cruise's fear, how the dead thing is never really dead in horror. Alt-text rambles: How hard it is to find the most catchy song in We Love Katamari, more behind the scenes pictures of my blorbos, Friday the 13th Part IV, bad braille, and trilobites. Rants: I mean how can you not when the movie forgets how space works? Like, the idea of 3D space as a concept? Also, a particular rock earns my ire, and my ranting about interior designs on ships finally pays off.

29. Dissonance

The ending of the movie, and its tonal incoherency. Rambles: Protagonist-centric morality and lack thereof Alt-text rambles: Star Trek TNG, green blood, caecilian teeth. Rants: shallow christian themes, sequels that could have been, Shaw's confusingly deployed robo-racism Alt-text rants: sequel disappointments, inadvisable post-caesarian activities, how the hell do you fit that much 'burster into one chest, biological plausibility in alien extend-o-mouths

30. Justification

A breakdown of a post-release interview with Ridley Scott, explaining some missing details. Rambles: Gnosticism again, Mesoamerican and European human sacrifice and the exoticization of shared cultural practices, and a hearty book recommendation. Alt-text rambles: Icelandic volcanoes, The Collector (2009), Stephen Speilberg's War of the Worlds and how scaring the shit out of someone isn't necessarily the job of a horror film, the Tollund Man, unique cultural practices, Hello Future Me, and my opinions on what we've seen of Alien: Romulus. Rants: Ancient peoples weren't stupid, an unexamined christian-centric worldview, an unexamined christian-centric worldview, I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGh

[godofthestupid]

I have been playing Reverse 1999 and enjoy it a lot more than I thought I would.

Sadly though,I couldn't really play through the halloween event quite as far as I wanted because I started out rather late into it and couldn't level up fast enough,but I really enjoyed what I could catch!

from the story to the characters to the drop dead gorgeous illustrations,it's a really cool game(I definetly don't screenshot every illustration and cutscene,....definetly....) and the story is so well written it had moved me more than once

I will probably do a separate post about the art style because I want to study it and understand how they can make such beautifull pieces,,,so I won't dwell on it too much. Just saying that the game is worth downloading almost exclusively for the illustrations.

Regardless,the characters are fascinatin too. Jessica for example,the one I did the fanart of. She is sweet,but also murderous in an almost innocent way. The event part of trying to make her adapt to human society really highlighted that part and it made her even more likeable(also I got her three times and is my best dps. Her with Sotheby,another character I enjoy greatly? match made in heaven)

[raspberryjars]

It’s You. (Miles’ POV)

word count: 1,328

summary: miles is on the subway when he sees the most beautiful guy he’s ever laid eyes on. unfortunately he doesn’t get his number, name or even to talk to him. but, what if they meet again?

tags: miles morales x hobie brown, miles morales & gwen stacy, hobie brown & gwen stacy, no powers au, subway meet-cute, but also introduced by a friend, they’re all around 20

tag list!! (lmk if u want to be added/removed)

@spo0kypigeon @not-gifted-but-burned-out

His old headphones had broken the previous day, so he’d been out to pick up some new ones. Fancy, high tech ones that he’d seen a few people on his feed wearing. They were pretty cool but he definitely needed some stickers or something, they were just kind of plain and grey, not exactly his style. They had amazing sound quality though. It was almost like someone was actually singing into his ears. Fucking expensive though, so if they broke like his others he’d actually lose it.

He was in the middle of texting Ganke about his headphones when the train stopped, signalling he should get off. And as he stood and walked to the sliding doors, something, well someone really, caught his eye.

An absolutely beautiful, and, like, he means beautiful, guy was sitting right there, across from where he’d been sitting literally not even two seconds ago. Like, this drop-dead-gorgeous guy, was sitting there, and it looked like he was looking at Miles. Or at least in his general direction. This guy, with beautiful dark eyes, like seriously beautiful eyes. And like a million piercings in his face that made Miles’ skinny little nose ring look practically invisible. And also, like, his whole look was really cool. He had boots that looked like they could smash someone’s face in, and probably had based on the blue ladder lacing on one, but like, this really cool, really really hot guy had just been staring at him on the subway? And he could do nothing about it but just walk away from him because by the time he’d finished his train of thought about the guy's style and eyes and everything, he was already walking up the stairs away from the platform and the train was long gone, along with the amazingly beautiful guy.

Fuck.

*

The guy from the train had been stuck in his mind since that day and had not left. He’d probably told everyone he knew about him by now. Ganke had been the first to hear about him, given that they were in the middle of a conversation when he saw the guy. Then Gwen, because he really just had to tell her every detail about his life. Then he’d accidentally told his Mami because she’d been talking about the subway and then he’d remembered the guy and then she’d asked what he was thinking about so then he’d ended up telling her. And once he’s told his Mami it’s only a matter of time before he ends up telling his dad too, and yep he’d found himself telling his dad all about the guy and the fact that he hadn’t even said anything to him. So he’d pretty much told everyone in his life, which was actually kind of sad thinking about it because he’d only told four people, one was his roomate, and two were his parents. So yeah, kind of sad.

But if he had actually said something to the guy, then maybe he’d have one more person to add to his contacts. They’d probably become fast friends, Miles would take him to see some good graffiti spots, he seemed like he’d be into that sort of thing, maybe they’d go for drinks after classes and smoke together. And they’d tell each other their problems and dreams and thoughts until eventually they confessed to each other and then they’d live a life of going to concerts and clubs and art shows and loads of other cool stuff.

Oh Jesus, he was going crazy. He was actually daydreaming about a life with a stranger that he hadn’t even spoken to. He really needed more friends.

(23:38) FROM: Gwen :p

hey dude do you want to come over tmrw?

my friend hobie might come too.

hope u can make it.

It was almost like an answer from the heavens. He had literally just been saying that he needed more friends, and his best friend was asking him to hang out with her and her friend? Definitely a sign.

(23:40) TO: Gwen :p

yes defo!! cant wait see u then!!

just tell me whenever time im free all day!

He watched as she read the message, typed for a few seconds and then went offline before discarding his phone on his bedside table. This was absolutely a sign that he and this Hobie guy were going to be good friends. It would definitely be good for him to have more than two friends.

*

He woke up to the noise of his phone ringing really, really loudly and for a split second he wondered if it had gained consciousness and learnt how to scream.

However the computer uprising had not started and it was actually just his father.

“Miles where have you been? Me and your mother have been calling you all morning!” Okay well he was fucked. He may be moved out and all that, but that wouldn’t stop his parents grounding him somehow.

“Sh- Sorry! Sorry Dad! I just forgot to set an alarm last night, and I didn’t know you were going to call and yeah.”

“Right well, your mother and I were wondering if you’d like to come for lunch today? We haven’t seen you in awhile and you know how she gets.” He could hear his mothers muffled voice in the background and he laughed slightly.

“I promised Gwen I’d see her today but I can probably make it for lunch.”

“None of this probably, you can make it for lunch. We miss you Miles.”

“Yeah miss you too dad, I’ll call you later, text me when you want me to come?”

“Will do son, I love you.”

“Love you too Dad.”

He had a complicated relationship with his dad at times, recently they’d been doing a little better, and he didn't want to mess that up by skipping going over for lunch so he sent a quick text to Gwen telling her he could probably come by around two or three and flopped back down into bed.

*

Thankfully lunch hadn’t taken too long, occasionally he’d been known to get sidetracked when at his parents and end up staying almost the whole day. But his mother had bought tickets to see some movie later that day so it wasn’t just him that had other things to do. It was nice to his parents though, plus it had taken his mind away from the guy from the train for a while.

As he neared Gwen’s apartment, her place not being too far from his parents’, he found himself wondering what type of guy Hobie would be. If he was a friend of Gwen’s he’d definitely be pretty cool. But maybe not from New York if he hadn’t heard of him before? Who knew honestly.

He ran up the last few steps to Gwen’s door and buzzed the doorbell. Hearing his name yelled from inside, he was laughing when Gwen opened the door.

“Miles! Hey man, how’ve you been?” Gwen asked as he walked in, slipping off his shoes as he did so.

“Yeah I’m good, you?” He smiled as he followed her to her front room.

Just as she opened her mouth to answer him, Miles quickly cut her off at the sight of her friend Hobie. “Holy shit, I saw you on the subway the other day right?” There was no way, Gwen’s friend was the hot guy from the train?

“Yeah I remember, you were texting!” So the guy from the train, or well, Hobie, had been looking at him, actually looking too. Like, looking enough to see what he was doing, which meant that he could’ve been checking him out, maybe.

“Shit wait, Hobie’s the hot punk you saw on the subway the other day? Man if I’d have known that I would’ve set you two up or something.” Gwen laughed, making him blush furiously.

Well that wasn’t embarrassing of her to say at all.

lmk what you think and also check out my ao3!!

[attic-club-sandwich]

Finally finished your request for you, Anon! I really appreciate your patience as I worked through this. I seriously was having a hard time for a little while omg. But I wrote for the 7 brothers and of course included Satan! If you can let me know what you think 💜

Summary: MC's hands are always a bit on the sweaty side, especially when they are nervous. When the brother ask them out on a date, they are extra on edge! A little bullet point style drabble on how the 7 brothers would react to you being hesitant about holding their hand for the first time. Based early on in their relationship with MC.

Taglist: @amberrskiies, @obey-me-posts, @sassykattery, @delphi-dreamin, @bite-sized-devil, @a-hidden-gem, @otomefoxystar, @siofrantic, @todothedodo, @marvelous-maniac, @nonbinary-disaster, @selfmadender, @animeismyhappyplace, @vampire-tr4mp, @gaychaosgremlin

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flower divider by @/saradika

I'll Hold all Your Worries

You were always painfully aware of how nervous you got around the brothers. They were to put it one way, drop dead gorgeous. Ethereal. Beauty unlike you've ever seen before. They may be demons, but their presence always managed to take your breath away. When things started to get a little more romantic with him though, you were hesitant. You could feel your palms begin to sweat when you went places with him, and you spent a majority of the time worrying and overthinking how disgusted he would be with you for it.

Lucifer:

When the day of your date with Lucifer finally comes, the butterflies in your stomach will not settle down.

You're heading to the human world today to visit a museum, and his outfit of choice has your head spinning.

The black turtle neck tucked into dress pants. The navy blue blazer. And....

Those damn glasses.

He notices right away how nervous you are.

But he stays quiet for now, not wanting to add to your discomfort.

You're walking together down a long corridor of the museum, admiring the many famous works of art.

You can feel your heart racing.

Your palms beginning to sweat.

And of course, his fingers brush against yours.

You squeak, pulling your hand away.

"MC? Is everything alright?"

You nod, your face flushing once more.

"I-It's just my um...hand...it's really sweaty. You shouldn't have to hold it...it's gross..."

He tilts his head, confused.

"That's why you don't want to hold my hand?"

The floor is very interesting to you as you nod, trying to avoid his worried gaze.

Suddenly, his long fingers are lacing themselves between yours.

"My love, I've experienced far worse things than a sweaty palm."

He brings your hand up to his lips, gently placing a kiss to the back.

"L-Lucifer...but..."

He chuckles, squeezing your hand.

"MC, I could never be disgusted by you. You are truly the most beautiful being in the entire three realms. I would be honored to hold your hand."

Your heart feels like it's soaring as you gaze up at him, wide-eyed.

"Let's head down this way shall we?"

You nod, a wide smile on your face as he guides you down the hall hand and hand.

Mammon

You stood nervously in the entryway of HoL waiting for him.

Mammon had finally got the courage to ask you out on a date.

A date. With The Avatar of Greed.

Needless to say, you were nervous.

You twisted your hands together, noticing that they were becoming noticeably sweaty.

Of course, you thought. They always get like this during the worst moments...

When he greets you, his face is flushed and he's stuttering.

"H-Hey, MC. Are ya um, ready to go?"

You can tell he's also nervous, which makes you giggle.

The two of you walk side by side to Devil Town.

He planned to take you out to lunch as well as shop around the many storefronts together.

As you walk down the cobblestone road Mammon bumps your shoulder, grinning.

You practically melt at his smile.

His golden-blue gaze was shimmering with nothing but adoration.

"What?" you ask, grinning.

He shakes his head, blushing again. "N-Nothin! I was uh, just wonderin' if you'd uh... hold my hand?"

You feel as if your heart skips a beat.

Your hand was definitely still damp with sweat.

But you want to hold his hand so bad....

"W-Well um.. It's just... I don't want you to be disgusted with me is all..."

Mammon is confused.

"Whaddya mean? Why would I be disgusted?"

You blush, staring down at your feet as you walk.

"My hand is so sweaty right now, I'm sorry."

To your surprise, he laughs.

"That's all? C'mon MC like that's gonna bother me!"

You feel his hand grasp yours, lacing his fingers in between your own.

"See? Not so bad is it?"

You feel like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders.

"You're sure you don't mind...?"

Mammon stops, turning you to face him.

"Of course not! You're um... really cute ya know? I've been wanting to do this for a long time now."

Now your face is really burning. "M-Me too... thank you Mams."

He grins, giving your hand a firm squeeze.

"I'll hold your hand all day. I'm never lettin' go."

Leviathan

You hesitate, taking a deep breath before knocking on Levi's door.

The two of you planned a movie night together, but this time it was...

A date.

After a few more moments, you finally got the courage to knock.

"C-Come in!"

You enter his room to see Levi adding the finishing touches to his bathtub, which is placed in front of his TV and has been filled with several blankets and pillows.

A small table filled with snacks stands right beside it for easy access.

"Wow, Levi, this looks so cozy!"

He smiles, nodding enthusiastically.

"Come on, we're all ready to go!"

He climbs in first, settling against the back of the tub.

Then it's your turn. You nestle yourself in front of him, right between his legs.

He pulls the blankets up over the both of you, and hits the remote to start the movie.

"Are you comfortable?" he whispers as the previews begin to play.

You nod. Hopefully he doesn't feel how fast your heart is beating.

Suddenly, you feel his hand moving, brushing against your wrist.

You flinch, pulling your own hand away.

"A-Ah, s-sorry...!" he blushes.

You shake your head, embarassed.

"N-No it's okay! It's just that um..."

You glance down at your now open palm.

"I'm a little nervous... so it's kinda sweaty... I know it's gross, I'M gross...so you don't have to touch it..."

Levi talks down on himself a lot, but he will not stand for you doing it to yourself.

"N-No! I want to! I-I mean... it doesn't bother me..."

He grasps your hand and your heart flutters.

"L-Levi..." you turn your head to glance at him, and he's bright red.

He's staring straight at the TV, unable to look you in the eyes.

After the initial shock of him grabbing your hand, you giggle.

He finally looks at you, still blushing.

"I-Is this okay?"

You nod, bringing your hands to rest on your chest.

"More than okay."

He smiles, hugging you just a bit closer to him.

"I won't let go the entire time!"

Satan

You had butterflies in your stomach the entire walk to the cafe.

Today you were on a date with The Avatar of Wrath himself.

Satan.

How did you get here? How were you so lucky?

Satan is another one to notice your nervousness.

So he tries to do what he can to ease your anxieties.

He orders your drink for you, knowing exactly how you take your coffee.

He's studied you for a long time, after all.

As you're sitting at the table sipping on your drinks, he rests his chin on his hand.

"Thank you for coming with me, today."

You give him a shy smile, suddenly nervous under his emerald green stare.

He's so beautiful...

"O-Of course! I love spending time with you."

He slides his other hand across the table, gently touching his fingertips to yours.

You can feel the palm of your hand sticking to the table.

Oh.

Not good.

You pull your hand back, your internal panic evident on your face.

"MC? What's the matter? I thought..."

His head tilted slightly, his blonde bangs falling into his eyes.

You glance away, your face flushing with embarrassment.

"I have this thing... when i'm nervous..."

You wipe your palms on your lap.

"My hands get disgustingly sweaty. I don't want you to have to touch them..."

Satan narrows his eyes. "Who told you it was disgusting?"

You glance back up at him, surprised at his tone.

"W-What? Um, no one I guess... Just me."

Satan reaches for your hand, gently clasping it in his.

"Well let me be the first one to tell you that I've been longing to touch you for quite some time now."

Blushing, you feel yourself squeezing his hand.

"I feel the same way."

The two of you sit hand in hand as the sounds of the cafe begin to fade away.

Only you exist to him right now.

And he's already made up his mind that he's going to hold your hand as much as possible.

Asmodeus

When Asmo asked you out on a date, you thought you were dreaming.

The Avatar of Lust? Interested in ME?

But here you were, trailing nervously behind Asmo as he took you to the biggest mall in the Devildom.

"You're gonna love this, MC! I'll show you all of my favorite stores!"

You began to sweat.

Was it out of nervousness or excitement?

You weren't sure which one.

After sometime of going in and out of several different stores, Asmo had already bought quite a few things.

"I want to buy you something too, MC!"

He went to grab for your hand, which was terribly sweaty.

"U-Um, wait..." you mumbled, slipping your hand behind you and attempting to wipe it off on your pants.

"What's wrong, darling? I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable..."

You shake your head, keeping your gaze focused on the floor.

"N-No it's not that...It's just..."

He guided you over to a bench, sitting you down next to him.

"Tell me."

His eyes are full of nothing but concern for you as he focuses completely on you.

"My hands get really sweaty when I'm nervous. I don't think you should touch them..."

Asmo pouted, sticking out his bottom lip.

"But, MC, I don't care about that!"

You finally looked him in the eyes.

"But...Asmo... you wouldn't be disgusted by me...?"

Asmodeus reaches a hand out, touching your cheek.

"I could never be disgusted by you, MC! You're so adorable and cute, I would be the one honored to hold your hand."

You blush, folding your hands together in your lap.

Cautiously, Asmo reaches down to grasp one of your hands.

"Let's try again. Is that okay?"

You nod. Your heart is practically in your throat at this point.

He gently clasps his hand in his, and pulls you up from the bench.

"Let's get some ice cream from the food court. That always cheers me up! You have to get the strawberry okay?"

You giggle as he leads the way, your hand in his and the several shopping bags in the other.

"Let's go, MC! After our ice cream we still have so many more shops to cover!"

Beelzebub

You had become a lot closer with Beel lately.

So when he asked you out to dinner one day, you were equally surprised and excited.

You were feeling almost euphoric as you sat with him at a table for two in Ristorante Six.

He was engulfed in his plate of food, but also couldn't seem take his eyes off of you.

Of course, you were in a similar state.

His violet eyes and red hair always had your heart soaring.

It was hard to look away.

The two of you finished up and began to head back to HoL.

"That was so good, Beel. Thanks for inviting me."

He glanced down at you, giving you a warm smile.

"You're welcome. I love eating food with you, MC. I hope you'll go with me again sometime."

You feel your face heat up.

Suddenly you're nervous.

Finally being alone with him had you sweating.

That also included your hands, which had a horrible habit of sweating anytime you felt even a hint of nervousness.

As you walk side by side, you feel his fingers brush against yours.

You loved his hands. They were big and comforting.

And you wanted to hold them so bad but...

"S-Sorry Beel um... I can't..."

He stops in his tracks, panic flashing across his face.

"No I'm sorry. Did I do something wrong...?"

You melt at the sadness in his eyes.

"No! Not at all... I just um.. my hands are so sweaty right now. I know it's disgusting..."

Beel furrows his eyebrows, clearly confused.

"Oh... But I don't think that's disgusting."

You glance up at him, surprised. "You don't?"

He nods, gently grasping your warm hand in his.

"Mine are sweaty, too."

You giggle, "Are you also nervous?"

Now it's his turn to chuckle.

"A little bit, I didn't think you'd say yes to a date with me."

You blush, leaning into him. "I'm looking forward to our next one."

Belphegor

You never thought you would be having a date with The Avatar of Sloth.

He had asked you to meet him in the garden that evening.

You weren't sure what he had planned, but your tummy was full of butterflies as you made your way to the garden.

When you arrive, you see Belphie spreading out a blanket onto the grass.

"Hi, MC. I'm glad you made it."

You walk over, helping him adjust the blanket.

"I wanted to show you the stars tonight."

You glance up to the sky, noticing the dozens of glimmering stars.

"The stars...?"

He nods, "Yeah, they are different than the human world stars."

As you lay down together on the blanket, you keep one hand crossed over your chest.

You're feeling nervous.

Being alone and in the dark with Belphegor?

It made your heart speed up so much you were sure he could hear it.

You watch as Belphie points to different constellations in the sky.

He tells you about every single one, not missing a single detail.

"Wow." you breathe, "You know a lot about them huh?"

He chuckles. "I spent a lot of time studying them."

A few moments of silence pass when he suddenly reaches for your hand which is now laying between the two of you.

You blush as you pull away slightly, feeling that the palm of your hand has become embarrassingly damp.

"S-Sorry. I...didn't think..."

You feel your face burning.

"It's just my hand... it's sweaty, I didn't want you to be surprised and get grossed out..."

He chuckles, propping himself up on his elbow.

"You really think I'd be grossed out by you? I'm the one that asked you on a date."

You blush. He had a point.

"I-I guess you're right."

He smirks, slowly reaching towards your hand again.

"Can I touch you, MC?"

You nod slowly, allowing him to lace his fingers in between yours.

He smiles, giving your hand a gentle squeeze.

"Your hand is soft and warm.... I like it."

He's blushing now, although he hopes you don't notice.

You do.

"Now don't let go of it okay? I'm not done telling you about the stars."

[sansas-amythest-hairnet]

I will never get over 1900’s Disney the stories were amazing, all the female protagonists had personalities besides just being cute and quirky, the art was just drop dead gorgeous specifically the background art and the villains were actually evil instead of having some backstory that makes them sympathetic, i would also argue that the movies were more interesting artistically especially Sleeping Beauty, the illuminated manuscript and medieval art style is just lovely. I wish that Disney would put the same effort into their new movies and create new stories instead of just creating live actions of every movie under the sun. Personally idc if we only got one movie every once in a while as long as they were the quality of the previous movies. Not to mention that 2d animation is much easier to achieve now than it was back then. Like can you imagine if encanto was in 2d animation and had a more distinct style.

[httpstes]

Hii hru??<3 Can u write a little about Taurus Venus in 10H?

Hey :)) i’m doing good i just finished majority of my exams and i am so over it 😭 anyways i’ll get on with the req so y’all don’t have to hear me complain ab how much i hate school🧏🏻‍♀️

⍣♀ in 10H:

Venus in 10H individuals garner a lot of attention from everyone around them. They’re viewed as being full of love. Regardless of whether they understand the beauty they hold or not, others can easily see this. They could be seen as that one random pretty person in class or at work that everyone looks forward to seeing.

Venus in 10H individuals have really good reputations unless Venus is negatively afflicted to malefic planets. These people have something special about them that just draws others in. It’s always something unique and random as well. On a individual level, Venus 10H natives may have certain hobbies, interests, beliefs that others just find endearing. This and, well, they’re hot 🗣. Need i say more ?

Venus 10H individuals may be interested in or pursue careers to do with the arts and or cosmetology. Anything that involved you expressing you’re pure creative talent is best suited. A career where you can design, invoke desire, draw, paint, beautify etc. My aunty has this placement and she does interior design and also is like really good at cutting and styling hair ??!? Y’all have a natural inclination towards beautiful things as well as wanting to create beauty wherever you go, even if it’s on a subconscious level.

This is unless Venus apsects Pluto harshly from the 10H, this creates a dynamic of wanting to create a peaceful atmosphere but also craving destruction and wanting to see how chaotic things can get 😭

⍣Taurus Venus:

Taurus Venusians. ah i love you guys sfm. literal princes/princesses. but not one that is easily woo'd over. they have a lot of self respect and know when someone is overstepping their boundaries.

Taurus Venusians radiate such calming energy and this is why they are considered to be many people's safe space :) The best at comforting and making someone feel welcomed. They’re love language is probably gift giving/receiving and or physical touch and quality time.

One of my closest friends has this placement and she is constantly spoiled by people 😭 Do y’all attract people who like giving gifts all the time bc if so, hook me up i want some free gifts 🤭 Ofc Taurus Venusians themselves also give pretty good gifts but it’s a all or nothing type of situation. They either don’t get anything or go all out and give you the most thoughtful gift (possibly an expensive one but it’s more so thoughtful and based on things they know you want/need)

⍣Summary:

ok now putting both placements into perspective, yea ur pretty and gorgeous and i will continue to say it. Like cmon taurus, the sign of sensuality and luxury (taurus is obv much more than that but yk) and Venus in 10H, you appear aesthetically pleasing to everyone who comes by you, like you’re charisma and beauty is just so mesmerising.

Individuals with these placements definitely love artistic things and or creating art/beauty themselves. Yall be decorating your room, drawing/writing, and putting a lot of time into your makeup and skincare routine and ily for that. This is the ultimate self-love placement and they know when people are over-stepping their boundaries.

And so, both these placements equate to a individual who is not only drop dead gorgeous and literally divine, but one who won’t take shit from anyone and knows how to stand their ground. If you’re currently struggling with setting boundaries as a Taurus/Venusian, do understand that you will get there and you will prove others wrong that you are not a push over or one to be easily fooled. Keep your head high and stay stubborn I love you bitches 💗

[ikimaru]

i was wondering if u were planning to make possessed hunter anytime id love to see my fav boy looking drop dead gorgeous in ur art style :>

I KNEW SOMEONE WAS GONNA ASK

I saw that and I was like.. he's evil.. but also that design is cool

I'm gonna try to make some sketches later 👌

[shimamitsu]

HI LITO oh jeez i cant even remember the first manga i ever read. i think it was probablyyyy "my summer of you" back in like 2021? i thought it was pretty good at the time but i reread some of it recently and it wasn't anything exceptional tbh.

other early possibilities include haikyuu and yotsuba, both of which i started reading at my school's library in 2021, and both of which i absolutely adore. i love haikyuu's overarching themes character development, and i love how yotsuba makes me laugh and appreciate the beauty of the world through a child's perspective. they're both great introductions to manga for people who haven't read much manga yet.

the latest manga i caught up with is "the guy she was interested in wasnt a guy at all"!! i love this series so much, mitsuki and aya are THE definition of awkward young blushy dykes LOL. and the art style is drop dead gorgeous... i just wish more of it was out :(

that's been my rant for today hope you enjoyed !! feel free to tell me your answers as well :>

HI MADDIE 🫂 i think have a faint memory of reading my summer of you but like most yaoi i read when i was younger i probably didn't finish it. also i totally agree i think both haikyuu and yotsuba are great introductions to manga! not being biased at all. not like i love both of them to death or something ofc. but honestly leaving the art and writing aside i think the paneling is pretty easy to follow for a manga beginner so i'd recommend them to people who want to get into manga. and tgswiiwagaa!!! (i say we shorten this to The Guy) you're mentioning so many good series we fucking love you green yuri ‼️ mitsuaya my belovedests... and it got licensed recently so i can't wait to hold them in my hands TT anddd my answers! i think the first manga i read was bnha? i never finished it but i did read a fair amount so ig it counts. and the last one i read is basara which i'm just starting hehe

[nagirambles]

i really like your meta/read-through posts and have a slightly odd question - i know the art style kinda devolves into same face/body type for most characters eventually, but before that, who do you think are meant to be the most objectively attractive characters in-universe, male and female? i'd like to track this as a reference for generating my own headcanons/etc, but after a point in the story all the guys have six-pack abs and all the ladies are generically cute and busty so... your thoughts?

Hmmm... honestly, it's a half-half on whether FT characters are canonically attractive or just attractive in Lucy's eyes. Let's go with somewhere down the middle of that. I'd say any girl that's made an appearance in canon Sorcerer spreads is considered canonically super attractive. I'd put a hold on putting guys on similar ranks though, since boys seem to be more based on strength. I'm currently memory blanking on everything from Alvarez onwards so don't mind me not mentioning them.

Note that I'm not caring for the harvest festival in fantasia, that was a real life popularity poll and thus has no standing in canon popularity.

For the girls: Top on the list are definitely Erza and Mirajane! They're pretty much specifically known for being drop-dead gorgeous who can kill you also. I'd put the mainliners of Mermaid Heel here, with Jenny Realight and Karen Lilica. Aries and Aquarius are also always mentioned for their beauty. Cana should be around here as well. Also Minerva. It feels weird to put Wendy and Chelia here, but they're canonically absolutely the cutest little angels in the world, so they fit on this scale in their own way. Human Carla too. And Ultear! Almost forgot Ultear. ALMOST FORGOT NIRVANA ARC SHERRY

Girls that are canonically considered 'upper to mid' or to whoever's tastes: Lucy, Bisca, Levy, Juvia? Not sure about Juvia, I feel she's complimented for both her strength and sometimes her appearance, but mostly it's just Lyon for the latter? Kinana! Virgo! I wanted to put Evergreen up top, but now that I think about it, maybe it's because of her ego, but she's never truly made out to be as attractive as she thinks she is. She's gorgeous to me, but everyone canonically just goes 'yeah, yeah' to her and she is always immediately shot down by being compared to Erza.

For the boys: The Trimens, Loke, and Jellal/Siegrain to cross off the obvious ones. They were all on Lucy's hotties list. Lyon. Freed. Gray if he has his clothes on.

For the boys, it's a bit harder to gauge. Cause for the boys, sometimes they're just hailed for being strong and buff, which means we go into some other attractiveness category. Elfman and Natsu are on this end, but they'd never cross over into the ranking with the Trimens-- but then again, Laxus and Gray could be in both! So, it's complicated. And Jason is enthusiastic about both of them so yeah. Also, while the girls are attractive no matter what, the boys always have a 'but' to them that drags them down on the scale. Loke's a womanizer, so Lucy is turned off. Gray's cool, but where are his clothes? etc.

Also, while most of our girls are on a canon attractive scale of some sort, most of our boys seem to be on a canon unattractive scale. Yes this is because Mashima and I think that's kinda funny

[moonleeai]

My Moon

“ARMY Birthday Bash” BWHQ Fic Gifting Event

🖤 Written for Sara🖤

➢ Fic Pairing: Vampire Jin x Human Namjoon ➢ First Person POV ➢ AU: Vampires ➢ Rating: MA 🔞 ➢ WC: 5,371 ➢ Genre: Fluff, Smut, Angst ➢ Trope: Strangers to Lovers ➢ Requested details: angsty vampire story ➢ Warnings: M x M sex, cursing, pain, blood drinking, obsession, forced vampirism

A/N: Thank you Jasz @downbad4yoongi , Leah @colormepurplex2, and Kari sunkissedwriter for beta reading and helping shape this story for Sara!!

Summary: Seokjin hides his vampire identity in a sleepy town as a restaurateur. He spends his time living off animals and creating to die for meals until a new handsome face comes to town. Like the moon loves the sky, there is an instant attraction, but Seokjin may be too much.

🌙🌙🖤🩸🖤🌙🌙

Living as a modern-day vampire is simple and fun. Nowadays, no one cares if you’re a vampire as long as you’re not trying to kill them. They also don’t want to see or hear about how I satiate my hunger. My body has adapted to being in the sun and living off more than just human blood. My powers have weakened some, but I can still use my levitation and greater strength whenever I need. I don’t use them too often because I want to fit in and act as human as possible.

Becoming a butcher in disguise at a trendy eatery is my most clever façade yet. Kosmos, nestled between plenty of pretty coffee and pastry cafes, is my haven, so to speak, my safe place where I can fit in with the crowd. A delicatessen with a condo above it, a rooftop deck, and a large garden in the back. I found this sleepy but safe town along the Baltic Sea when I fled my last city from vampire hunters. I quickly became named the most handsome man with a sleek and classy aesthetic delicatessen, where I sell sliced meats and creative dishes. 

Human blood became boring to me ages ago. The hunt for wild animals is much more thrilling but also has much less risk than hunting humans. I tame my violet eyes by thriving off animal blood, something I’ve been doing longer than I can remember. In the restaurant, I can slaughter and cook the most exquisite meals, satiating my deepest cravings. I only open Kosmos four days a week, staying open well into the late hours and spending the other evenings hunting and experimenting with new dishes. 

Tonight is busier than usual. In an effort to liven up the area, the town council brought in a new art gallery, and from the talks of everyone, there’s a fetching curator as well. Kosmos happens to be the closest eatery, drawing many patrons in after they’ve visited the gallery. The artwork descriptions are fascinating, but the person they describe sounds much more intriguing. Tall, broad, drop-dead dapper; all words I’ve only heard folks using on myself. I'm a bit jealous of all the attention this new curator is getting, so I must see him for myself.

Instead of my usual day hunting, I decide to take a gander at the art gallery. Everyone is correct. The tall, burly man that greets the guests is devastatingly beautiful. I am possessed by his loveliness which leads me to spend countless days taking peeks from the sidewalk inside the small space through the large Crittall-style window. The art keeps the people busy enough not to notice me lurking day after day. 

Tonight, out of curiosity, I follow the new man. He rides a bicycle slowly and seems to enjoy the small-town views. With earbuds, he hums along to a tune I cannot hear. His apartment building is nice. A stunning yellow two-story home with dark accents and a maroon roof aside a cobblestone path. Outside of the front door, somehow within the cracks of the stones, are robust red flower bushes that rest along the house perimeter.

I perch myself on the roof of the home across the street and have a perfect view of this gorgeous man. I watch as he relaxes with a glass of whiskey and reads a book until he’s cleaning up and going upstairs. A bedroom light shines dimly through the upstairs window, completely unobscured. I stare as he undresses, removing his clothing, rough and messy, and tossing them onto the floor. As he turns off the light and lies in bed, the moon casts a perfect glow onto his silhouette. His chest slowly rising and falling is soothing. 

So soothing that time passes too quickly, and before I know it, the sun is rising. Today, I will make my existence known and visit this dreamy man at his gallery. Slowly but surely, I will make him fall in love with me and want to live eternally by my side. 

When I arrive at the art gallery, the man is occupied with a few guests, so I walk around aimlessly. Black hair compliments his warm honey skin under a white shirt tucked into cream slacks. While conversing with others, his dimples shoot daggers into hearts, and his deep voice soothes the sharp pain. 

“Hello, I’m Namjoon,” his deep voice boasts. As if I haven’t been watching his every move, I feign startled when he arrives by my side. His chocolate eyes pierce my dead soul within seconds.

“Seokjin,” I reply, flashing my sultry grin while extending my hand to grasp his in a handshake. His scent is warm and inviting…a soft rose with a hint of jasmine, something I now wish to smell endlessly.

“What do you think? These are ones I’ve collected over the years.”

“I’m not much on art… just wanted to check out the newest talk of the town.” My eyes roam his tall, brawny frame, and a subtle blush blooms on his cheeks.

“There are no right or wrong answers when it comes to art,” Namjoon says while placing a hand on my shoulder and guiding me to another piece. “This one is by Yun Hyong-keun. Inspired by nature, he combined colors like those of earth and water tones.  He would spread the pigments over days, weeks, or even months to create intense darkness, implicative of the hardships he endured.” 

Not only is this man beautiful, but he is also intelligent. His eyes gleam as he speaks of the artist. 

“You got all that from looking at a painting?” Namjoon chuckles at my ignorance. “Do you do any painting yourself?” His eyes turn dark, and it looks like he’s deep in thought when he finally responds with a side grin. He nods his head to a side door and begins walking toward it, so I follow.

Namjoon slides the door open, holding it for me to pass through, and then closes it behind us. The dark room has a few paintings with a single dim spotlight casting over each piece. 

“These are my personal works,” Namjoon says.

There aren’t many colors, all gray, black, and red. A deep vibrant red. He tells me about a few of the pieces. The first one is like a window; two large black rectangles enclosed by a thick, vivid scarlet border. Hazy with muddy edges where the colors bleed together. There’s another canvas with a frail, ghostly white being against a black background smeared in red hues. At first glance, one may perceive that it’s a dress, but I see blood pouring over the body. Both are labeled as ‘Untitled’.

My favorite, though… displays interesting shadowy woods. The smudging of the paint looks like thick fog around grayish tree trunks. What’s fascinating is the leaves are clusters of red dots, bright and burgundy shades, creating a beautiful depth while also looking like blood splatter. 

I listen intently as Namjoon explains his art. Aside from his brawns and brains, his voice is hypnotic. I find myself stuck watching his mouth, his tongue bouncing around, forming each word perfectly. I subconsciously draw my bottom lip between my teeth, concentrating on his alluring mouth.

“You’re quite handsome; you know that?” Namjoon speaks, breaking me from my thoughts.

“I know, I never get old.” I wink, and Namjoon chuckles, clearly amused by my antics.

“Would you…maybe… like to spend more time together?” Namjoon asks, and I find the shyness of his words endearing. 

“I’d love that.” I reach for his hands and rub my thumbs over his knuckles. Namjoon notes my touch is cold but never pulls away. I know my heart would be shaking in my chest if it still beat, but it sits frozen in my ribcage as it has for centuries.

🌙🌙🖤🩸🖤🌙🌙

For our first date, we meet at a coffee shop. Quaint, relaxed, and the most refreshing iced Americanos. We both wear our version of casual attire. Namjoon’s slate-gray t-shirt is devilishly low, the v-cut plunging between his perky chesticles, hugging his biceps tightly. My eyes drift, following the curves he has on display; I don’t care if I get caught, either. The conversation is easy, steady. Small talk and casual getting to know each other. My mind is set on one thing…making him my lover…my forever, in just three lunar phases. I just need to tell him I’m a vampire.

On the next date, we take a stroll through architecture-filled historical sites and gardens with maps and pamphlets in one hand and our other hands busy with interlocked fingers. If my cold hands ever bother him, he never mentions it. We steal glances of each other every second we can. Here in the botanical garden, surrounded by lush trees with leafy branches, the weather is perfect, and flowers are in full bloom. Next to a pond is a gazebo where we find a bench to rest and hold hands. Listening to the birds sing around us, we talk and learn more about each other. I decide to tell him about my uniqueness. 

“There’s something I need to tell you, and I really hope it doesn’t scare you away.”

Namjoon turns toward me, giving his full attention.

“I’m just going to say it… no sugar coating… no—”

“Just say it,” Namjoon interrupts, his eyes frantically searching for clues as his heartbeat speeds up.

“I-- I’m-- a vampire.” I wince at the words shutting my eyes tight. When I hear no sounds, I peek through my eyelids, confronted by dimples. “I’m serious, Namjoon. I should’ve told you sooner, but—” My words are cut off by Namjoon’s finger delicately placed on my lips.

“Can I say I kind of knew?”

Confused, I reply, “You… knew?”

“Your skin is perfect porcelain, and you have the coldest touch. You dress more dapper than most our age. I’ve seen your violet eyes… and don’t get me started on your very interesting butcher hobby. Need I say more?”

“And that…none of that scared you away?”

Namjoon tightens his hands around mine. “I’ve never felt more smitten…more ensnared to a person like I am with you. A vampire, a wolf, or a bear…I’d still find you insanely attractive, and dare I say, I’d love you the same.”

“Love?” I feel like I’m hearing things, Namjoon really loves me already. “We’re like two volcanoes talking together then.” 

Namjoon scrunches his eyebrows. “What?”

“I lava you, too.” After we both laugh like windshield wipers on dry glass, I lean in and kiss his cheek. A huge weight lifted from my shoulders; now I know he will spend forever with me. 

🌙🌙🖤🩸🖤🌙🌙

I plan our third date wisely. I am yearning to be close to him, so we go to the Forest of Wisdom, an hour’s drive with thoughtful conversation and getting to know more about each other. He tells me he’s always been fascinated with vampires and their abilities. Much as to why his art is mostly black and red, aligning with my original impression of blood splatter. To my surprise, he has a vast knowledge and is very calm talking about vampires. Namjoon and I find seats on the floor, and he reads me a book of poems with our shoulders pressed together.

“Ah this one, by Alexandra Vasiliu…’I want to bloom in your arms like the moon blooms in the night’s arms.’ I love that.”

I stare at his chestnut orbs, reading over the words in a loop, watching his eyebrows furrow while he’s lost in thought. I look to the next page and read, “‘If I were the moon, I would want you to be my sky.’ Namjoon, I think I shall call you my moon.”

“I’d like that,” Namjoon coos, snuggling into my side.

Quickly I’m learning Namjoon’s pleasures. He enjoys touch, and I feel his infatuation grow as he sneaks light touches in disguise of picking or brushing lint balls off my shirt. I catch him staring quite often, obviously entranced by my ethereal beauty.

On the way back, seated in the car, his baggy shorts hike up to his mid-thigh. With one hand on the steering wheel and the other on his thigh, I move his shorts upward a bit more and feel his warmth under my icy palm. He shivers but places his hand on top of mine, keeping me there.

🌙🌙🖤🩸🖤🌙🌙

Tonight, Namjoon wants to try cooking, making something delicious together. This, I’m a master at. I close Kosmos for the night and teach him everything I know. He brought an expensive bottle of whiskey that we share most of the night, and I show him different techniques with knives. I leave him to cut an onion and carrot while I whisk the sauce; things happen so quickly I can’t remember the order in which they occur. A thud and a gasp from Namjoon, and then a smell that overwhelms my senses. My eyes flash violet, and I am next to Namjoon within seconds. I reach for his hand and bring it to my mouth, letting the droplets of blood fall on my tongue. He tastes like syrupy butterscotch. My eyes roll to the back of my head as a growl escapes my throat.

Fangs threatening to appear, I pull his hand away and pull him into me, close. “Are you okay, my moon?”

He pulls away and studies my eyes. “Kiss me,” he whispers.

Confused, I stay still, but his lips crash into mine. My cock throbs as he explores my mouth with his tongue, giving me a taste of his whiskey breath, a mixture of barley and vanilla.

“Let me get you upstairs to tend to your cut.” I lead him to the stairs up into my home and sit him on the couch while I go to get the first aid kit. I dab some ointment on and place a band-aid over the cut. Namjoon places a hand behind my head and brings me into another kiss that I can’t resist. Who would want to? 

He moans into my mouth before breaking the kiss, “That was fucking hot… the way you licked my wound.”

I sit back against the couch. Carefully watching this mountain of a man remove his shirt and press his body into mine. My eyebrows arch at his boldness.

“Your heart is racing,” I note while tracing my hand over his chest, riling goosebumps.

“Do you want to taste more?” Namjoon mewls, pecking my lips fiercely.

“What are you suggesting?”

“You like blood, and I have what you like. I’ll try new things… for you.” Namjoon’s eyes long for acceptance. Who am I to turn away his desire to please me? Especially if it lets me taste his saccharine blood again.

My breath gets caught in my throat, admiring his body as he tilts his head to the side to expose his neck. He leans closer and deeply whispers, “Bite me.”

My head spins at the words, lips barely brushing his skin as one of his hands firmly grips my inner thigh. The pounding of his heart sends shock waves through my body, and my cock strains against my pants. Namjoon eagerly climbs into my lap and entangles his fingers in my hair, yanking my head back to make eye contact.

“I don’t want to hurt you; a bite is painful,” I warn, giving Namjoon a chance to change his mind.

“Pain is pleasure, Seokjin. Do it. Bite me.”

I smirk, lick my lips, and dig my frosty fingers into his waist before pushing my mouth onto his plump lips. I trail my tongue to his neck and suck for a moment before my fangs appear and scrape against his skin. One moan from Namjoon and my fangs sink into his skin like a warm knife through butter. My eyes loll with ecstasy flowing through my body.

“Ah, fuck,” Namjoon groans, and his body squirms in discomfort. But as I swallow a tongue-full of blood, I withdraw my fangs and soothe the painful punctures. I suck again, grunting when his hips grind down on mine, hissing into his neck at the touch of his clothed bulge against mine. His soft whines turn me on further, lost in his soul as I take more blood, coating every crevice of my mouth. Human blood has never tasted this good; I need to control myself.

I feel blood dribble down my chin, and I pull away from him, fascinated by the maroon rivulets that flow down his neck toward his chest. I’ve never seen anything more erotic than him dripping with blood, lips turned in a pout, and asking for more. I watch, amused, as blood trickles down to his nipple, begging for my mouth. Latching onto him, I gently suck his nipple into my mouth and then lick up the blood trail, my tongue grazing his skin back up to the puncture marks. The marks will heal before the night ends, leaving just a bruise.

“Seokjin,” my name plummets from his lips in a soft gasp, his hips bucking into mine. “Touch me,” Namjoon pleads. His thumb runs over my lip to collect stray blood before pushing his thumb into my mouth. I suck on his thumb and pull from it, making a popping sound, then move my hands to his waist. He stands while I tug his pants and briefs off. He tugs at my pants, and I lift my hips off the couch as he eases them to my knees, my aching cock hitting my stomach.

Namjoon straddles me again, licks his lips, and presses his plush lips into mine. I kiss him back, moaning when he nips my bottom lip, tongue tangling with his as he deepens the kiss. His large hands grip my shoulders as he slides his cock against mine and rests his forehead on my shoulder. I fight the urge to sink my teeth into him again.

I fuck my cock against Namjoon’s, swipe my hand over our tips, and spread the precum over our shafts, squeezing them both with one hand. It doesn’t cover us both, but it’s enough friction to feel good, too good. I stroke us at various paces until Namjoon’s body tenses. I can feel he’s ready to burst.

“Cum all over me, paint my stomach,” I encourage him with my tongue in his mouth. Namjoon shakes, and hot cum spurts onto my stomach. He lowers his head and sinks his teeth into my shoulder as he rides out his high, hips stuttering and starting to slow.

His bite sends me over the edge, and I groan as my cum explodes and mixes with his. He deepens another kiss, pressing his body into the stickiness between us. We stay like this until our breathing slows, caressing each other. Namjoon sighs and grabs his shirt, wiping us off and cleaning my stomach.

“We should do this again sometime,” Namjoon praises before climbing off me and finding his clothes.

“Stay,” I say, a little more pleading than I intend. Namjoon smiles and drops his clothes back to their place on the floor.

🌙🌙🖤🩸🖤🌙🌙

The next morning, when I come back from my hunting, Namjoon is gone. I go to his home and find my place on the roof across the street and watch him through the window. This time, he’s painting. A black and gray scheme with a walking path between rocky hills and skinny bare trees. He dips his brush in red and paints a huge circle in the middle, a blood moon. Then he’s back to black, stroking lines into a figure of a person with a cape blowing in the wind. The finishing touch, though…I’m not sure what to make of it. He dips his brush in the white and creates a sword in the person’s hand. An individual with a silver-looking sword walking toward a blood moon.

I don’t think Namjoon knows or understands what the meaning of a blood moon is for vampires. My desire for blood is boosted times a thousand, which usually causes conflict for my kind. People become more aware of vampire existence during the blood moon, and therefore I, as well as others, are faced with imminent threats and conflicts.

I’ll tuck this in the back of my mind for a later conversation because, again, the time has quickly passed, and the sun is setting. On my way back to my place, a great idea sparks my mind to have Namjoon willingly agree to be my eternal lover. He loves plants and the outdoors, so I will create a garden for him. Something he can look forward to maintaining for all eternity. 

In between spending time with Namjoon, I spend the next few weeks preparing, finding, and importing exotic, fully bloomed night flowers and plants for a moon garden where I will confess my love and propose an immortal life together. Purple fountain grass that rustles in the breeze. Plenty of flowers to shine under the moonlight like the fragrant iceberg rose, giving off fruit and honey scents. White wonder caladium with its green edges and pink veins throughout the white leaf. Clusters of phlox, jasmine, and moon flowers with their lemony perfume. 

I use pebbles and white marble chips to create a crescent design on the ground. A small waterfall provides the soothing sound of running water and reflects the moonlight. In the middle of it all, a makeshift bed with comforters and pillows. This is where I will ask Namjoon to be my eternal lover and hear him beg me to turn him into an immortal like me. Here is where we will confess our love and be one with each other for time without end. I even set up an easel with a canvas and all the art supplies he could possibly need to paint boundless pictures of the garden.

Namjoon arrives for our evening together dressed casually elegant. A loose-fitting cream, cashmere sweater with a polo neck paired with black weaved leather pants. His style puts mine to shame with my white satin button-down shirt tucked liberally into black slacks. After sharing a meal and tender touches, I tell him I have a surprise. I’m nervous and have to hide my shaking hands as I blindfold him and take his hand, carefully guiding him outside into the garden I created out of love. I remove his blindfold, and he inhales sharply. While he takes in every detail, I watch the stars twinkle in his coffee-colored eyes. 

“A moon garden… for my moon.” I point to the area with the painting supplies and then shove my hands in my pockets, “and all the things for you to let out your creativity.” Waiting for his response, my stomach flips, thinking how close I am to spending an eternity with him.

“It's ethereal and perfect, just like you.” Namjoon kisses me deeply, holding the back of my head with one hand. Pulling away, he murmurs, “I love it.” 

I slot my lips with his and suck his lower lip between my teeth; feeling greedy, I declare, "I want to ruin you and make you mine for eternity." My brain short-circuits, and all subtleness is out the door. Namjoon tenses, then he simply grins at the statement.

“Ruin me, Seokjin,” he whimpers.

Namjoon glows under the full moon, and I am eager to make him mine. Standing next to the garden bed, I trace my hands along his mountainous ridges. I listen to his coos and swallow them as they escape from his throat. We tear at each other's pants, and he tugs roughly on my blouse, sending buttons soaring in opposite directions. I moan in response to both his passion and his palm caressing my confined cock. Free of our imprisonments, I lower him onto the blankets, surrounded by pillows. 

Namjoon’s eyebrows rise for a quick second before relaxing again. “Your eyes, they’re exquisite.” I drop my head to his neck, acting shy of his compliment, and sprinkle his skin with kisses. Is this when I ask him? No, not yet.

I feel Namjoon reaching for something, so I glance toward his hand. He’s pulling a bottle of lube from his pants pocket. I look into his eyes and wait for him to say something.

“Ruin me. Bite me. Make me yours.” Namjoon’s words have blood rushing to my cock, and I rut against his rock-hard thigh. 

“Your wish is my desire.”

“What are you? A genie?” 

I drench my fingers along with Namjoon's hole with the lube. Carefully, I push one finger past his rim, taking my time to loosen him up for me, showering him with gentle kisses... for now. "Is this okay?" I ask while dragging my teeth over his prickled skin.

"More, Seokjin, please," his whine spirals into my ear, sending a thrill down my spine. I insert another finger, praising him with words and soft suckles along his neck. I linger over his vein, letting it pulsate on my tongue. The throbbing on my tongue excites me more, and my hips rock, pushing my swelling cock into his leg again.

"More," he breathes. 

"My moon. You're so good for me," I moan low and soothe his tense body with my lips.

“Bite me, Seokjin, please. I need more–” his words are cut off by his moans.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, please…” he begs continuously, almost in tears. I gaze at his body’s slight movements, his chest heaving, before I sink my fangs into his succulent neck. His butterscotch blood fills my mouth immediately, and Namjoon hisses as I swallow. I pump my fingers quicker, scissoring them as I swallow more nectar.

"I'm ready, please. I can't wait any longer."

I pull away, hide my fangs and drown myself in more lube. I watch his blood trail onto his shoulder and slowly press my girth into him. His sounds, oh his sounds. If I didn't have centuries of self-control, I would've cum already.

"Seokjin–ah– you're s–so big. Go–ah–slow, please, please, please, slow," Namjoon begs as his body writhes underneath me.

Slowly, my cock bottoms out inside Namjoon, and I pause, allowing him to breathe through it. I press my lips on his and use my tongue to part his lips, tangling our tongues, numbing his mind from the sting of the stretch.

"So good, my moon. You're doing so so good." My cock throbs inside his tight muscle. "Mmmm, can you feel that?" I subtly move my hips and swallow each mewl he makes. I pull my face away and look into his eyes as I drag my cock slowly out of him and push back in a little quicker. His glassy eyes flutter, and I raise my hand to his cheek, brushing away a single tear with my thumb. "Shhh, it's going to feel so good. I promise."

The garden fills with moans and pants as I drag my cock slowly against Namjoon's walls, licking from his collarbone to his shoulder, getting every last drop. I cage his head with my arms and quicken my pace, watching and feeling how his body reacts to me. He ruts his cock against my stomach, seeking any kind of friction.

"Fuck. Yes, like that," Namjoon moans, his back arching off the makeshift bed of blankets. His ass swallows my cock so deliciously; it’s a torturous pleasure.

I rise to my knees, unsheathing myself, and a whimper escapes Namjoon's lips. I pull his hips to my waist, and his shoulder blades rest on the ground. I maneuver a pillow under his hips before turning my attention to his raging pink cock with pre-cum that glistens in the moonlight. I spit in my hand, then caress his thick length, smearing it around and mixing it with his fluids. His body shakes with pleasure, all for my eyes. I take my other hand and squeeze his throat before following his perfectly sculpted lines down his chest and to his abs. I abandon the lube and align myself with his hole, entering slowly and as deep as I can.

Namjoon rasps a deep, stuttered moan as he pushes his ass into me. I stroke his cock rhythmically with my thrusts until he releases his warm arousal onto my hand and all over his stomach. I slow, only to finish depleting his every last drop, then press my hand firmly against his stomach, smearing the sticky substance. He smells of jasmine and honey, like the flowers around us, I immediately want to taste it. 

I bring my hand to my mouth and lick his remnants, growling in pleasure. This excites Namjoon, and he clenches around my cock. I gasp and feel my cock twitch inside him. The moonlight highlights every bead of sweat on Namjoon's torso as I pump furiously inside him. His accentuated plump veins and arteries, with his breathless sobs, are the push I need to find my release. Head falling back, I roll over the edge and fill him with my release. My body crumbles on top of him, and I slow my hips milking my cock to completion. I place my arms on either side of his head, soaking in his beauty, feeling drunk on love. 

I kiss him wildly and then lazily lift myself and roll to his side as he wraps his arms around me. I run my hand over Namjoon's hair and tuck it behind his ear, basking in an afterglow.

But as we lock eyes, I sense something is off with my love. He’s next to me but seems so far away. My chest tightens.

“Everything…okay?”

“Why did you do all this for me? This garden with beautiful plants and a perfect view under the moon?”

“Because I love you, Namjoon. I want to be with you forever and make you the happiest—” I didn’t want to ask him to be my immortal partner this way, laying next to each other, naked, half covered in blankets.

“Happiest… what?” 

“Well, you already know so much about vampires, and you seem really fascinated with them, so I—I don’t know. I was hoping you’d maybe want to be one… with me.”

Namjoon’s lips move, but no words come out. 

“Have you ever thought about what it’d be like?” I ask, trying to pry words from him.

“No,” he answers quickly.

“Oh—okay…Wh—what about being with me? For good?”

“Why couldn’t I stay human?” Namjoon abruptly sits up and grabs for his clothes. Dressing frantically while I rush to do the same.

“I mean, I just thought we could be together…endlessly. It would hurt too much to watch you age and leave me.”

“I don’t want to give up my human life,” Namjoon nearly whispers, and I can feel the uncertainty of the future weighing heavily on his mind.

“Why? What can be better than eternal life with me? Your true love?”

“I—I want to experience life…I don’t want to be stuck here forever…” Namjoon sputters. 

“But you can see the world. Every country, every food, enjoy owning the rarest items or plants…” I try to reason with him, calm his worries even.

“I don’t want to survive off blood and watch the world pass me by!” Namjoon yells, and the blood I’ve stored in my body begins to boil. My eyes feel different, I can feel them change, but it’s not the same. “Your eyes, they’re a reddish tint.”

My anger boils through my limbs, and I lurch toward Namjoon. He runs behind the easel and picks up a paintbrush, angling the handle toward me like he wants to stab me. “Stop! Don’t come any closer!” Namjoon shouts, trying to keep me at bay.

“I’ll have you, no matter what!” 

I use my power and conquer him, sinking my fangs into his neck, this time, not letting go. My entire strength is used to subdue him and drink his blood. The difference is I don’t stop. Not until I feel a cold, black cloud surround me. I drank just enough to leave Namjoon alive but unconscious next to me.  I bite my wrist and open his mouth, squeezing drops of my blood into his mouth and coax his throat to help him swallow.

I have never wanted anyone this badly; this is the only way that will make him stay with me forever. I kiss his lips and lay patiently by his side, awaiting my new eternal lover to awaken to our new life.

[z0urcherri]

Not really a full review but just the thoughts at the forefront of my mind If they'd of just cut some horror references (Shining elevator especially) down into shorter scenes (it'd also work as an unobtrusive background element) AND made it easier to tell apart future and past characters that happen to be in the same scene together, this film would honestly be damn near perfect. It was still an enjoyable experience, though. Alot of scenes genuinely come close to freaking me out, like the respawn terminal failure. Having a fully voice acted cast and some custom models was a treat, i just don't see why some were custom and some were just Scout with a mustache slapped on. Plus, in the funeral scene, it's too noticeable how detailed Redmond and Blutarch are compared to everyone else in the room. I joked at one point that they blew the character budget on those two and couldn't afford to detail everyone else. The voice direction also felt lacking, with certain actors (excluding Scout's and Soldier's bc DAMN i actually asked a couple times if they got Rick, posthumously, and Nathan to do the voice work) focusing more on sounding as much as they could like the original mercs than the actual performance. Mind you i'm not saying they did a BAD job, they did after all do a fantastic job with the emotional line deliveries. Usually, you would complain about the cartoony art style of TF2 clashing with someone's high-end attempt to make the shots photorealistic or so, but since Fortress Films went to all the trouble of touching up everything with grit and keeping it consistent throughout scenes, it honestly works well even if non-TF2 models end up being used. The contrast actually fits. The plot...honestly, again, this is where i wish certain horror tropes got cut way down. Did we really need a whole scene of zombie mercs doing stereotypical zombie things? I don't even think it added anything to the plot, it just happened and was pretty easy to forget right after they're all killed. It's just how it never gets referenced again once it's over. I'm...also not really a fan of the shoehorned Christian imagery around the end. It's basically another trope and again it added pretty much nothing. It's also fun trying to figure out who can and can't actually die. This, ironically, might be the only thing from the zombie scene worth any salt, if the implication is RED mercs zombify after some time while BLU just infinitely respawns (Jules wouldn't be dead and therefore would not need saving if this were the case, which is inch resting) The attention to detail otherwise is fantastic. I keep finding parallels i didn't catch the first time. Along with shots that are legit drop-dead GORGEOUS, or even cutting-edge as far as cinematography goes and are incredibly rare to see in other SFM animations, the mo-cap is some of the best i've seen. It's rough sometimes and makes for some funny facial expressions, but when it works it WORKS. The theatrical feel is just...unmatched. You almost wonder if Valve themselves produced this because of how good the scenes look. I was also really impressed with the sound design, and also the fire and water effects, prominent throughout the film. Obviously, i think the film was really, really good, it's just that some parts feel like this project started as a shitpost animation, before getting stitched together with the parts where the team decided "no, we need to put actual effort into this". I also don't understand why, if the soundtrack is an original composition, the artist couldn't be credited anywhere. Anyway, go see Emesis Blue and come back with your own thoughts.

[popculturebuffet]

Scott Pilgrim Teaser Talk

I normally don't do this, especially these days when i'm so swamped with work thanks to my move and back pains putting me way behind. But... given I did a whole 6 part retrospective on this series, love it dearly and have covered pretty much every scrap of scott pilgrim media except the game (which I now feel confident enough in reviewing games to fix, wink wink), I couldn't.. not comment on this. So let's jump in.

Firstly the trailer diseplled my fears from the cast announcment that they were just adapting the film: the art style from the comics is lovingly presented while at the same time adding some nice wrinkles: there's apparently a segement of the kim and scott fight that takes place on vhs, it has a ncie little grainy quality and I notice the animation is slightly intentionally a touch stitled in spots while being every bit as fast pased and manic as it needs during fights,m amost like a comic in motion which I really appreciate. The animation is drop dead gorgeous and every bit as glorious as O'Malley's style in motion should be while still doing it's own things. Shots I really liked are gideon's screen thing, the split screen with the band all sweaty, and the vhs stuff. And that's really the vibe I get: going a bit closer to the comics but also adding shit. I love the oni half mask Roxy has in one shot, and a lot of the trailer seems to be showing off that we'll be geting some unique scenes neither the movie nor the comics had. I love Gideon's creepy layer with all those tv screens, Roxy and Wallace having a proper confrontation (and a hilarious one), more scenes with Ramona by herself, and what looks to be an absolutely BONKERS take on the roxy fight. It's one of the main reasons I wanted a full series adaptation: while I love the movie a combination of edgar only having access to volumes 1 and 3 primarily and having to slim the narrative down into two hours meant a lot of stuff got cut out out of necsity or, contrary to popular belief, him not being a psychic wizard from an outer dimension. it's an inner dimension. Diffrent thing. Diffrent power set.

So yeah this looks like everything I could've possibly hoped for and I look forward to seeing it this november.. and covering it. See the reason I don't cover a ton of streaming series when they come out, much as i'd love to, is that I'm not psychic. I can't predict when a service will deem to release their show unless they tell me and most wait till the very last second, long after i've filled up my schedule. IN this case though I hadn't gotten to november yet and even if I had now I have a hard date, I can carve out a space for this series. So expect a review of this show in november baby and like you i'm hoping it's gooood.

[looney-mooney-studio]

I love your Sam & Max Miraculous AU, I hope to see more in the future. Can you add Flint Paper in it? If so, what would you do with him? He's an ally/friend of Sam & Max.

I imagine that, for the most part, Flint Paper in this au is basically the same as he is in the original Sam and Max media, with the caveat of him being a college kid like the majority of the rest of the cast. He’s either their roommate or their neighbor, but either way they probably share a communal kitchen. He’s COOL. He’s in college, but not like, INVESTED in it, and he’s been doing a lot of like, vigilante stuff on the side despite not having any powers. His family probably comes from money, so it’s not like he has to worry about scholarships like Sam does or employment like Max does, and he tends to blow off his classes a lot to go fight monsters with his bare hands. This results in a sort of mutual idolization between Flint Paper and Sam&Max, in a pattern that almost mimics the Love Square?

Image ID and rest of words under the cut:

Image ID: Flint Paper from Sam and Max as a college kid. He has a mullet and is wearing flannel and ripped pants. Comic book style captions read: Flint Paper (Sam & Max Miraculous AU), shaved eyebrow or cool scar?, shaved sides with dyed streaks (changes colors every once in a while), Mullet, wears Miraculous as queer signifier earring, buttoned-down flannel shirt (cover them up, slut!), sleeves rolled up to show off forearms, got pride bracelets for free at various raves; wears them cuz they look cool, changes it out for a different one every day, torn dress pants (he tore them himself in various scuffles), fancy leather jazz shoes, and *is he gay or European voice* is he gay or a Butch Lesbian? /end id

He’s probably a film student, if only because he reminds me of some film students I knew back in college? He’s got the dramatics for it, and I assume he could use knowledge of practical effects and stunt man techniques for vigilante purposes. Who knows, maybe he even films his encounters and turns in the resulting footage for homework, Peter Parker style.

Eventually, he does get to use the Miraculous, but it’s very mid-late-game, and even then he doesn’t really have a single one that’s HIS (at least, not at first). Sam and Max might trust Flint Paper, but the Commissioner thinks he’s just a violent wild card, so he doesn’t get a permanent one like the rest of the cast. But Sam and Max both like him enough that they’re both thinking of him whenever they need a helping hand, so he ends up using a lot of different powers. He usually ends up with a sort of, like, Tom of Finland/DCAU Superhero aesthetic to his outfits whenever he gets a miraculous, and he’s gonna try fighting the monsters wether he has powers or not, soooo.

(If this was a show that sold toys like Miraculous does, Flint Paper would be the mold that the company reuses for EVERYTHING, and his designs in the show would reflect that. All his superhero designs are pretty much unimaginative reskins of each other, which is both cost effective and ENTIRELY in-character.) (He eventually - EVENTUALLY - ends up with the Ox Miraculous as his default, just cuz that’s the one he’s best at using.) (I’ll draw a buncha his superhero outfits later don’t worry lol)

Oh yeah and he’s also Not Straight. Like. You will see him unironically hitting up the gay bar, and leaving for an evening of no-strings-attached fun with a twink on one arm and a drop-dead Gorgeous drag queen on the other. He’s not gonna SAY he isn’t straight - he’s in college! He’s having fun, he’s experimenting! He’s also the kinda guy who assumes that’s what college is FOR. He’s probably aromantic tbh. He flunked his Art History midterm

[sometimesthatsbetter]

Everything I've read in Jan. 2024

Yona of the dawn

Yona was the first story that i read this year and damm was it the right way to set the tone for the year. It's a story that has all of the elements that I adore in the fantasy genre, its got the action, political drama, the multi-facted characters. I won't be saying much about this manga because i have already have an older post talking about my favorite aspects, so if you want more in depth thoughts you can search for that

Kashoku no shiro

Now here is a fun setting, Taisho era Japan with supernatural elements. Quick run down of the story, people are being affected by a mysterious disease that makes flowers bloom all over their bodies, once the flowers wilt so does the person but there are cases where they recover and become even healthier. But plot twist, the ones who survive will become demons who feast on human flesh. So thats where our protagonist Shiraume comes in, she acts as 'bait' for these demons, essentially luring them out for her master to slaughter

If i had to tell you what drew me to this story, it would be the art style, like it is drop dead gorgeous. Also the design of our heroine is just my type too which is a bonus

Plot wise it does feel a little all over the place, it jumps persecptive quite often. Like it jumps form a detective story, to a josei love story, to Demon slayer which feels kinda jarring for me. But the backstory of our protagonist was done quite well, one thing i can praise is that our heroine isn't a simpering doormat. It's true that she has lived a hard life but she just keep living in the best way that she can manage. Shiraume is never the type to mope around or bemoan her fate, she takes charge and endure, she does everything in her power to live for her loved ones.

Its a good read all in all, but since theres only about 20 chapters that are out i can't really tell if this is gonna flop or not. I'll be keeping on eye on it to see if the author manages to get it together.

Bibliophile princess

The most mediocre otome isekai story i've ever fucking read. Its vanilla, like 'sex with the lights off no kinky shit' vanilla.

Story-wise, it's a very simple set up. Book enthusiast Elianna is in a contract fiancee relationship with the crown prince who i cannot be bothered to remember or google the name of. She is beloved by all of the staff memebers, all the secondary male characters love her and she has a great family but oh no! It seems that the prince has fallen for another woman, which means that her engagement with the prince will be ending soon. Yeah if your an otome isekai reader you can guess where this is going, villainess tries to ruin our heroines rep by spreading false rumors yada yada yada...

Similar to Kashoku no shiro, what drew me in was the art nouveau style. I mean the amount of details in the illustrations are amazing, coupled with the dreamy pastel color palette it creates this feeling that you really are in a fairy tale world

One of my main problems with the first volume is how weirdly structured the story is. Like it begins with the prince asking Elianna to enter a contract relationship with him and them jumps to a four year time skip for no apparent reasoning? Like we don't get to see alot of romantic development between them so now suddenly Elianna is in love? But moving on, i felt like Elianna has like little to no self awareness or agency. The first volumes conflict is about how this noble girl is rumored to be the princes lover and is planning to take Eliannas place. At this point you would expect to see our heroine stand up for herself and assert her place in the court right? Wrong. She was basically left in the dark about whats truly going on until the end of the volume. It was revealed that the noble girl was a villain all along who was trying to frame Elianna for shit she didn't do, also conveniently our MC has a mile long list of accomplishments that we as the reader didn't know about, and apparently she didn't either. So yeah, the male leads basically was protecting her for the whole story and she just wandered around feeling insecure about being replaced

Cold game

Do you like the story of king Henry the eighths six wives? Do you wanna see all six of them do a battle royal for the chance to become queen? Do you like crossdressing heroines? Well look no further than Cold game

Our MC is princess Aruna of the B kingdom, yes i know weird name but bare with me here, who is meant to be engaged to the king of the E kingdom. But here's the sus part, he already has a queen from the S country but he's demanding another wife from the B country? Quite the odd request but since B is weaker than E they had to comply with the demands. Aruna knows she's being sent as a sacrificial lamb but her lord father told her to hang on for a bit, one day he will get her out of that place. So to protect herself, Aruna swap places with her handmaiden and pretended to be crossdressing knight.

One of the best things about this story is the political intrigue. Like from the get go, we are shown that the court is a brutal place where an inconspicuous letter can be the cause of your down fall. People here will always watch your every move, everyone fears one another to an extent. Also the side characters are so fucking cool, like these people can star in their own spin off kinda cool.

[reallyunluckyrunaway]

5 Twisted Book Recommendations for People who have a Dark Sense of Humor...

1.) Beautiful Darkness by: Kerascoët

The novel tells the tale of Aurora, a girl who finds herself taking a leadership role in her community after a horrible disaster occurs... The story starts out with a whimsical tone, but rapidly devolves into a more morbid narrative.

Beautiful Darkness is wickedly good and creepy. Surreal, surprisingly disturbing, and well...dark.

The twists in this made my jaw drop. Especially the initial one. It acts as sort of an anti-fairytale of sorts. Complemented with its cute, cartoon- ish, and simplistic art style. Its pleasant watercolors and... super bloody deaths and graphic violence. Obviously!

There is so much to unpack in this gorgeous graphic novel. Themes of death and mortality, the innate savagery within humankind, and so much more than I can get into here.

(Although if you are curious... you can read a better deconstruction of the novel here:)(Hopefully after you read it).

2.) The Bunny Suicides by: Andy Riley

Over The Top and hilarious. This is a series of feel good comic strips with no solid plot lines except for featuring cutsie creatures, (bunnies in this case) attempting a single goal: to die in the most brutally and over complicated ways imaginable. As a depressive person myself… I found this hilarious. As the name suggests, this was exactly that. A bunch of bunnies “ “unaliving “ themselves in a darkly humorous fashion. And somehow there was humor to be found in its gruesome yet, not gratuitous pages, unlike *ahem* some other shows with similar punchlines…

For me, this was what “Happy Tree Friends" was trying to be… Slightly edgy, fairly dark, outwardly innocent, and weirdly—fun?

3.) Dead Weight: Murder at Camp Bloom by: Terry Blas

✨Camp✨ is in the name and in the game for this graphic novel. When a group of misfit kids staying at a fat camp for the summer find out that one of the councilors have been brutally murdered, it's up to them to find out who did it, and if the killer plans on striking again… There's a nice diversity to the characters here, and their sleuthing reminded me of the Mystery Gang meets Sleep Away Camp. The art style was round and soft, and was somewhat reminiscent of the Gravity Falls art style to me.

5.) Stray Dogs by: Tony Fleecs

Stray Dogs, written by Tony Fleecs and illustrated by Trish Forstner follows a group of canine friends that wouldn't be out of place in a G-rated movie. But instead of discovering the power of friendship, they use their limited detective skills to uncover that their new owner is, in fact, a serial killer. Stray Dogs, is a strange mix of a cute Disney movie, meets "Silence of the Lambs." The overarching mystery pulled me in instantly, and the hits keep coming.

6.) I Kill Giants by: Joe Kelly

I Kill Giants is the story of a loner at school escaping into a fantasy world. But all is not as it seems with Barbara, and Barbara is not what they think she seems to the children at school that torment her, her family, or her only friend. Because Barbara has a secret: She kills Giants.

The art was sketchy, and simplistic, but charming.I liked the simple main character design. Which remained distinct, while also not trying too hard to be quirky.